[User] It looked as though Subaru’s cover wasn’t completely enough, as Rom looked as though he was covered in milk and other things, but Subaru thought he deserved to be cut a little slack.

[Assistant] “What do you mean, ‘Fighting monsters is my specialty’? You’re enough of a monster yourself!”

[User] “Even I get hurt when you say things like that, Subaru.”

[Assistant] Reinhard, the root cause of all of this destruction, replied with a weak smile as the gusts of wind blew his fiery red hair. After all of this, even Reinhard had beads of sweat formed on his cool-looking face, and in his hands…

[User] “I’m sorry for pushing you so hard. Rest well.” …his two-handed sword disintegrated. Something of such a poor making could not last even one of Reinhard’s true swings. The strike was enough to make the steel of the sword’s blade rot away, so as for Elsa…

[Assistant] “Forget a corpse, I don’t even see any trace of her left… This is all just from one swing of your sword?” In the path of Reinhard’s attack, which had seemed to rip through the very fabric of the world, there was absolutely nothing left. In the destruction, the counter next to the cellar’s entrance was blown completely away with all of its chairs, and the residual waves of damage extended even into the open space in front of the building. The resulting gusts of wind had wrecked the supports of the building, and it seemed ready to collapse at any moment. The space where Elsa had been standing was of course within range of Reinhard’s attack, and her tall, black-clothed figure was nowhere to be seen.

[User] “But then, that means…” Subaru said, stretching his stiff body and breathing a big sigh of relief. Still unable to quite believe had happened, Subaru turned to look at the silver-haired girl still leaning against him. Not-Satella’s breathing was still shallow, but when she saw Subaru looking at her she turned her violet eyes toward him.

[Assistant] “Is it over…?” she asked weakly.

[User] “Yeah… In the true sense of the word, it looks like it is,” Subaru said, helping her stand. Not-Satella ran her fingers through her own hair, and with still uncertain steps, let go of Subaru, while Subaru stared.

[Assistant] “Why are you staring at me like that? That’s very rude of you.” she said.

[User] “Your limbs and head are all still attached to your body, right?”

[Assistant] “…Why wouldn’t they be? Could you please not say something so ominous?” replied Not-Satella, not understanding what Subaru was trying to say. As Not-Satella stared back at Subaru with an annoyed look in her eyes, Subaru gave her a thumbs-up and smiled.

[User] “That’s right. I mean, that makes perfect sense. I, myself, have all my limbs; I don’t have a knife stuck in my back or a huge hole in my stomach!”

[Assistant] “The way you say that, it sounds like you had experienced all of that at one time.” Well…he had.


[User] Because of Subaru’s uselessness, Not-Satella had had her life taken, Rom lost his arm and his head, and Felt was cut down, too.

[Assistant] "Now that I think of it, Reinhard, I haven’t thanked you yet. You really saved us there. There’s also what happened in the alley… Did you hear the screams of my heart or something, my friend?”

[User] “Well, I certainly would be proud of myself if I could do that, friend." Replied Reinhard, relaxing his shoulders, looking sorry. With his chin, he motioned toward the entrance of the loot cellar.

[Assistant] As Subaru followed with his eyes…

[User] “Oh hey." Said Subaru as he saw the person there, feeling his mouth form an unexpected smile.


[Assistant] At the entrance to the loot cellar, which had been at this point pretty much destroyed, was a small blond-haired girl with a canine tooth poking out from her mouth, hiding in the shadow of one of the few pillars left standing.

[User] “That girl over there was running frantically down the street, where she asked me for help. The only reason I was able to come here is because of her. After that, I was just doing my job as a knight.”

[Assistant] “Is flattening old buildings part of your job description?”

[User] “Don’t you think that’s a bit harsh, Subaru?" Said Reinhard, wincing and putting his hand over his chest.

[Assistant] Despite having dealt this much destruction, the fact that he was acting just as friendly with Subaru as he had before was frightening in and of itself.

[User] “That’s…” Not-Satella, still trying to regain her footing, had noticed Felt.

[Assistant] Subaru stepped between them, running to Felt’s defense.

[User] “Wait a minute. If she hadn’t called Reinhard for help, we both probably wouldn’t be here right now. So for my sake, overlook her crimes and please don’t turn her into an ice statue.”

[Assistant] “I wasn’t going to do that! And what do you mean, ‘for your sake’?” Not-Satella rubbed her fingers up against her brow, looking tired.

[User] Even in that action of hers, Subaru was able to feel happiness in some way. Since everyone was alive, they could all be joking around.

[Assistant] “I guess now it’s all up to my negotiation skills…which are something I’d never want to put my trust in!”

[User] “What is with you, all of a sudden? The way you’re flailing about like that is really lame.”

[Assistant] In response to Not-Satella’s words, Subaru put his hand on his chest and reenacted Reinhard’s previous reaction. Of course, it didn’t look remotely as cool and dignified as when he did it.

[User] As Reinhard watched Subaru’s antics, he smiled. He raised a hand toward Felt, who was looking in on everyone, and started walking toward her.

[Assistant] Subaru watched from behind at Reinhard’s gallant figure as he walked over to Felt, and he couldn’t even feel envious of him. Subaru could only shrug his shoulders and think that this was the difference between someone who had it and someone who didn’t.


[User] Even while Felt was cautious of him, perhaps because she was feeling gratitude that he had come to save everyone, Felt didn’t try to run away as Reinhard approached.

[Assistant] Watching the two, Subaru felt like smiling, when…

[User] "Subaru! !" Reinhard suddenly turned toward him and yelled.

[Assistant] Subaru realized that they hadn’t escaped danger yet. Scraps of the building had been thrown up, and underneath them was a black shadow. The black shadow, with black hair trailing behind it and blood dripping from it, kicked firmly off against the ground and accelerated.

[User] Holding a blade that was bent out of shape, a bloody Elsa wordlessly raced toward Subaru.

[Assistant] "Enough already…!" After having somehow survived Reinhard’s incredible strike, Elsa’s murderous eyes were filled with a pitch blackness. The murderous intent that she released was greater than any she had before, and it sent chills racing down Subaru’s back. It would only be a few seconds before she was close enough to strike, and in that short amount of time, Subaru sent his thoughts racing. One instant and it would all be over. Elsa was counting everything on this one strike. Reinhard wouldn’t make it in time. If Subaru could stop Elsa this one time, Reinhard could handle the rest. Not-Satella didn’t even have time to turn around. Where was the target this time? Subaru had experienced this twice before: two deaths, the fear and the pain. He would protect her the third time. Protect the girl!!

[User] "She’s aiming for your stomach! !" Subaru pushed Not-Satella out of the way, and using the club from before still in his hands, he guarded his own stomach as Elsa’s strike collided with him. The horizontal slice felt less like a cut and more like being struck by a heavy blunt object. The force of the collision swept Subaru off his feet and he felt the world spin 180 degrees as he vomited blood. It wasn’t just his vision but his entire body that was spinning. Unsure of how far he had been thrown, Subaru struck the wall, unable to catch himself.

[Assistant] "There you go, getting in my way aga—" Elsa spat, clicking her tongue as she watched Subaru fly.

[User] "That’s enough, Elsa!" As Reinhard came running up, Elsa understood that there was no longer any meaning in continuing the fight. She threw at Reinhard her knife, which had been completely bent in that last attack that Subaru took. Her aim was off, but the throw succeeded in drawing Reinhard’s attention away from her, and that was enough.

[Assistant] "One day, I will open the stomachs of everyone here, so take care of your bowels for me until then!" Elsa cried, using a part of the collapsing building as a foothold to leap up onto the roof. It didn’t look possible to chase her down as she leapt lightly from roof to roof as she made her getaway. Reinhard, who was not interested in pursuing this fight any further, didn’t run after her.


[User] Reinhard watched Elsa go, then ran over to the silver-haired girl. "Are you all right?"

[Assistant] "I’m perfectly fine! Can’t you see?! Rather than me, you should be worried about…" Not-Satella shouted, before racing over to the wall with her unsteady feet where Subaru was collapsed upside down. "Are you all right?! What were you thinking?!"

[User] "Ugghh… Oh… It’s no big deal… If there was ever a time to act before thinking that was it, don’t you think? I’m the only one who could move, and I was able to quickly guess where she was going to attack." Subaru raised one hand to Not-Satella as she walked over to him and using the other to carefully touch his tender stomach.

[Assistant] "Ugh…" Subaru was immensely bruised, and everything under his clothes as he lifted them up was purple. Subaru was disgusted by the way it looked, before turning over and getting back on his feet. “She’s completely gone now, right?”

[User] "I’m sorry, Subaru. This is all my fault for letting my guard down. If you weren’t there we would have been in trouble. If that person there had gotten wounded, then…"

[Assistant] "Stop stop stop stop! Don’t say it! Don’t say it! I forbid you to speak any more than that! You’re going to steal my thunder." Subaru said to Reinhard as he tried to apologize, and smiled at him as he went quiet. After that, Subaru slowly turned around to face the silver-haired girl looking up at him. She fidgeted and then stood up beside him. They were about two steps away from each other. If Subaru reached out with his hand, he could touch her. It had been a long time coming, and Subaru paused to think about everything that had happened for him to get here. As Subaru closed his eyes in silence, the girl looked as though she wanted to say something, but before she could open her mouth, Subaru pointed a finger up to the heavens. With his left hand on his hip and his right hand pointed in the air, Subaru disregarded the surprised stares coming from all around him, and declared in a loud voice, “My name is Subaru Natsuki! I know there’s a ton of things you want to say and a ton of things you want to ask, but before all of that let me confirm just one thing!”

[User] "W-what…?"

[Assistant] “I totally just saved your life right now from that terrible weapon, didn’t I? We okay so far?”

[User] "O…kay?"

[Assistant] “It means everything’s fine. So, are we okay? !” Subaru used his upper body to form an O and a K, and while the silver-haired girl in front of him seemed to twitch a little, she replied.

[User] "O-okay…"

[Assistant] “I’m the person who saved your life! Your rescuer! Now you are the heroine I rescued. Don’t you think that I should get some kind of reward? Don’t you think so? !”

[User] “…I understand.


[User] “Only if it’s something I’m able to do, though.”

[Assistant] “As long as you understand! Now I only have one, just one request of you!” Subaru put his finger out in front of him to emphasize this point.

[User] While the girl looked a bit worried in response, she seemed to find her determination and nodded firmly.

[Assistant] “So my wish is…”

[User] “Go on.”

[Assistant] Subaru smiled, showing his teeth, then snapped his fingers and then gave a thumbs-up, striking a pose. “…I want you to tell me your name.”

[User] The girl’s eyes opened wide in shock, and a moment of silence fell upon the two. Subaru’s gaze would not waver, and he looked the silver-haired girl in front of him straight in the eye. The girl then put her hand to her mouth and started to giggle, her white cheeks blushing, and her silver hair swaying behind her as she smiled. That smile of hers was not one of resignation, or a faint fleeting smile. It was not a tragic smile, either. She was simply smiling because she was happy. That was all there was to it. “…Emilia,” she said, laughing.

[Assistant] “…” Hearing that single response Subaru took in a short breath, and then breathed out.

[User] In response the girl straightened herself, put a finger to her lips, and smiled in a teasing sort of way. “My name is Emilia. Just Emilia. Thank you, Subaru. Thank you for saving me,” Emilia said, holding out her hand.

[Assistant] Looking down at that hand, Subaru hesitantly took it in his. Her fingers and wrist were slender and her palm was small, and her hand was very warm. It was a living hand, with blood running through it.


[User] —Thank you for saving me. Subaru wanted to say the same to her. She was the one who had saved him first. With this, he had finally repaid her, after dying three times from blade wounds to get here. After all of that pain and suffering, after all that fighting with everything he had, his reward was her name and a smile. Ahh…

[Assistant] “Man, that wasn’t worth it at all,” said Subaru, smiling as he gripped Emilia’s hand.


[User] "Though really, I have to say I’m surprised to see you’re all right." Reinhard said, as though he had been waiting for the right moment to jump in after Subaru and Emilia had finished, breaking the silence he had been forced into before.

[Assistant] Subaru gently put pressure on his hurt abdomen and pointed to the club lying on the ground. "I quickly guarded myself with that thing. If it weren’t for that, right now I’d be cut in two."

[User] "You’re right. If it weren’t for this—" Reinhard started to say, reaching for the fallen club to pick it up.

[Assistant] "—I wouldn’t have been able to avoid ‘BAD END 4.’" Subaru laughed, finishing his sentence.

[User] "Huh?" As Reinhard picked up the club, part of it slid across a smooth cut going through it, and fell to the ground with a thud. Cut completely in two, its service was done. Reinhard slowly looked up at Subaru with an uncomfortable look on his face.

[Assistant] Subaru followed Reinhard’s gaze nervously and pulled up his tracksuit. "This doesn’t look good. Even I can see what’s coming next."

[User] Just as Subaru finished his statement a searing pain shot through him, and then his stomach opened along the cut, spilling bright red blood everywhere.

[Assistant] "S-Subaru?!" Right beside him, Subaru could hear Emilia’s panicked voice.

[User] Subaru’s vision shifted sideways, and he thought that he must have fallen over. He could see that Reinhard was panicked as well, and as Emilia looked straight at him, close to his face, he could see that she was very distressed. She looks cute even when she’s panicking… What a place this fantasy world is, Subaru thought, feeling he had thought something similar before, before the pain and shock swept his consciousness away like a storm at sea.


[User] "—I have been waiting for you, DISCIPLE of love." The man in a priestly habit had come to greet him with arms spread wide, immersed in a world of madness and delight.

[Assistant] "I am Petelgeuse Romanée-Conti—Archbishop of the Seven Deadly Sins of the Witch Cult, entruuuusted with Sloth!" With spittle on the tip of his outstretched tongue, the madman—Petelgeuse—laughed, proudly invoking his name as he extended Subaru his hospitality.

[User] Standing before Petelgeuse, his mortal enemy, he realized that he was exceedingly calm. "It’s strange…"

[Assistant] "I welcome thee, beloved child, recipient of Her favor! Spleeendid…ahh, splendiiiid! What depths of love entwined about you! What heights of love wrapped around you! What heat with which love embraces you! I am grateful! I am TRULY, sincerely grateful! !" In front of Subaru, deep feelings stirring in him, Petelgeuse quickly broke into madness. He plucked at his hair and scratched the back of a hand, drawing blood; the madman was overwhelmed, unable to keep his fierce emotions inside him.

[User] Without thinking, Subaru gave his cheek a tug, then took a deep breath. After calming himself, he waved lightly at Petelgeuse, offering the friendliest smile he could manage. "Yo. Wasn’t expecting such a big welcome. I’ve gotta say, all this doesn’t seem real…"

[Assistant] "That iiis to be expected! For many, the beginning comes as a surprise.


[User] “Anyone can realize one particular day, ‘I am loved.’ And once realizing it for the fiiirst time, you cannot let that love go—yes, for love is everything! !” When Subaru sought a place to begin, Petelgeuse eagerly ran with the conversation. Spreading his blood-smeared arms wide, he extolled his particularly insane vision of love—very twisted yet forthright.

[Assistant] “For love! For the love granted to us! I, we cannot fail to reeespond with diligence! Accordingly, we administer the trial, the ordeal! To give meaning to the favor the Witch has granted to this world, to this age, to me! For love, for love forloveforloveforloooove!”

[User] "So you can’t be lazy about it. You’ve gotta be diligent to faithfully repay that love.”

[Assistant] “YES—precisely! !”

[User] When Subaru picked up the gist and pretended to understand, Petelgeuse laughed maniacally, deeply impressed. The understanding and agreement were strictly on the surface. With Subaru keeping pace on the surface, and Petelgeuse unable to peer into his soul, the words were nothing more than sweet, empty nothings. Truly, Subaru wished he could end the conversation there and then. “Ah, er, so what should I do now? Can I…join you people? What else is needed? A handwritten letter, a formal document with a stamp? I don’t have an actual stamp, so will a fingerprint do?” But Subaru suppressed all the disgust welling in him and turned to face Petelgeuse. The longer he kept the conversation going, the more likely it was that he could drag useful information out of the madman.

[Assistant] “Hmm, hmm…that spirit, that enthusiasm, that forward thinking, is to be treeeeasured… However…” As the calculating Subaru stepped nearer, Petelgeuse sniffed the air, as if confirming that the scent of the Witch was really present. Then, as an ecstatic smile came over him, the madman extended both hands, showing Subaru his ten perfectly intact fingers. The slender, gnarled digits that resembled branches quivered. “…The favor that you have been granted is too thick to add you to my fingers at thiiis juncture… I wonder, just how rich is the love of the Witch I see before me? Even Wrath would be envious of this… Could it be that you are Pride? !”

[User] “Pride…?”

[Assistant] “Among the six Archbishops of the Seven Deadly Sins, only the seeeat of Pride is currently vacant! None of this generation worthy of the sin had appeared in this era…but the Witch Factor has suuurely reached the next generation’s Pride—you have received your Gospel, of course?” Taking a step, Petelgeuse closed the distance between them. Petelgeuse’s question, posed with his head tilted ninety degrees, could not fail to throw Subaru off. He accepted at face value the good news that the seat of Pride among the Archbishops of the Seven Deadly Sins was vacant. But Petelgeuse suspected that Subaru might be the one to fill that vacancy. It was easy for him to claim that he could, but should he do so, and how would Petelgeuse react if he did?


[User] It was a hurdle he hadn’t anticipated at all. And he didn’t have a clue about the Gospel the guy was asking about. Was it some kind of code word used among members of the Witch Cult, or a trap for the unwary? If the former, it was hazing the rookie Witch Cultist; if the latter, the madman was engaging in psychological warfare. “Errr, well, you see…” He didn’t want to clumsily say anything rash, but silence would only make him seem more suspicious. Amid that extreme stress, Subaru strongly closed his eyes—once.

[Assistant] Behind his closed eyelids, faces rose up—faces of the people Subaru had to protect. That was all he needed to harden his resolve. “Setting aside the Gospel, about this Pride…if it takes a lousy personality to qualify, I just might be who you’re looking for. I’m interested, but I’d like to hear a few more details first…about Archbishops of the Seven Deadly Sins, and this trial you mentioned.” With few avenues for follow-up, Subaru kicked the Gospel issue down the road and pursued the madman’s statements—about the Archbishops of the Seven Deadly Sins, of which much was unclear, and the trial Petelgeuse had spoken of several times over.

[User] Trial—given the situation, it was probably the current plan of attack. If he could find out details, perhaps even where the fingers were hiding out, it’d be the perfect intel to gather. Naturally, the meddlesome question might send Petelgeuse flying into a rage, but Subaru was already on guard for that. Behind his lighthearted tone of voice, Subaru was already prepared to commence hostilities when he let the question fly.

[Assistant] For his part, the madman slowly stuck his right hand’s thumb into his own mouth. “—My brain—is—shaking.” With a dull sound, he crushed his thumb with his back teeth, sending fresh blood trickling out of the corner of his mouth. There was a slight tremble in his halting murmur, but the mad delight from a moment earlier had completely vanished. His hollow gaze sent a shudder through Subaru, quickening his pulse.

[User] His heart beat at such a high tempo it hurt, feeling as if it were slamming against his rib cage from the inside—and right before Subaru’s eyes, Petelgeuse withdrew his thumb from his mouth and said: “The trial… Thaaat is fine. I do not mind at all.”

[User] “It ought to be some time until word reaches all regions that the highway is sealed. Similarly, the trial will not begin yet—for time is something we still pooossess.”

[Assistant] In contrast to his disquieting actions, Petelgeuse’s words to the eager-to-learn Subaru were, if anything, amiable. A smile came over Subaru at the reaction; he strained not to let his cheek twitch. “Huh…sealed the highway? What trick did you use to do that?”

[User] “A very simple ONE. The mist. That is eeeenough explanation, I believe?”

[Assistant] “—Yeah, it’s plenty.” Subaru nodded at Petelgeuse’s brief reply.


[User] The statement, suggesting that the mist and the sealing of the highway were connected, was proof positive that the White Whale and the Witch Cult were linked behind the scenes. Furthermore, from that exchange Subaru learned that word of the White Whale’s subjugation had not yet reached Petelgeuse’s ears. The cultists hadn’t realized Subaru had brought the expeditionary force with him. "So you sealed the highway so that you could do the trial with no one to interfere. That’s a pretty shrewd way to operate, Mr. Petelgeuse.”

[Assistant] “Yes, the trial is sacred, inviolable! To fail to overcome at all costs, no maaatter the predicament, would be insincerity toward love! Yes, toward love! The love granted to us! The love poured onto us! We must RESPOND to that love!”

[User] “Yeah!” Separate from his statements regarding the trial, Petelgeuse got fired up by his personal thoughts on love. The madman bent back, eyes bulging, stretching his tongue as he gazed intently at the heavens, frothing at the mouth as he searched for something intangible.

[Assistant] “Aaaaaall must be sacrificed for love! The silver-haired half-demon, whose very existence is insolent, must answer for the deep crime of her very life! Those who bear sins must undergo trials! Yes, they must be TESTED! To find whether they are slothful or diligent! And it is my hand that must be FIRST!”

[User] “So the trials are…to question their sins, to test if they bear sins?”

[Assistant] “For that purpose, the trials! For that purpose, the sins! The Archbishops of the Seven Deadly Sins! Accordingly, I MUST test her! If she is not tested to see if she truly possesses the Witch Factor, then whether she is a suitable vessel cannot be—” Gripped by madness, Petelgeuse slipped an arm into his habit. Then, after a little rummaging, his fingertips pulled out a small, case-bound book. Subaru thought it about the size of the pocket dictionaries that were common in the world he came from. Deftly opening the book with one hand, Petelgeuse ran his bloodshot eyes along its pages.

[User] “My duty is recorded within the Gospel, and I must fulfill it as proof of my love! If you are indeed Pride, you will understand my loooofty ideals! After all, it has been centuries since the vacancy among US, the forsaken bearing the titles of sins, has been filled! !”

[Assistant] “Hold on a sec! I need to hear more about this Pride and this Witch Factor stuff…”

[User] “—Present your Gospel.”

[Assistant] “—!” Petelgeuse suppressed his madness once more, forcing back a sudden wave of emotion. Subaru, unable to keep up with the shift, unwittingly took a step back when Petelgeuse pressed closer.

[User] At Subaru’s reaction, Petelgeuse, the crazed zeal still absent from his eyes, tilted his head ninety degrees. "Present your Gospel. The proof of your favor—” Speaking this, the madman extended his blood-smeared right hand toward Subaru, demanding proof that he was a coconspirator.


[User] His undamaged left hand touched the beloved book within it. From his demeanor and actions, Subaru understood. That book was a Gospel. And as if to affirm his conviction, Petelgeuse thrust his Gospel text toward Subaru. “You are not recorded within the text of my Gospel. Therefore, who aaare you, and why have you fortuitously come to appear in this place?”

[Assistant] “Ah! So that book is called a Gospel! I see, I see, I get it, I get it. Well, you should have said so!” On the brink of a decisive rupture, Subaru made a grand show of patting his chest and putting a hand into his pocket. Of course, he didn’t have a single page inside it, let alone a book.

[User] “—” Petelgeuse’s pupils contracted slightly as they watched Subaru’s pantomime. His madness-filled eyes caused a countdown to destruction to begin ticking down in the back of Subaru’s mind. The numbers were proceeding with unusual speed; failure was surely close at hand. Therefore—

[Assistant] “Oh, my bad. So, so sorry.”

[User] “What IS it?”

[Assistant] “About my Gospel, you see, I…used it as a pot stand and it got dirty, so I threw it out.” —Therefore, this was the watershed moment. Judging that it was impossible to drag things out any longer, Subaru instantly brought the conversation to a conclusion.

[User] Petelgeuse looked taken aback the instant Subaru’s frivolous reply reached his ears. But when the statement immediately transformed to an insult inside the madman’s brain, his visage turned fiendish. “Proof of her favor!! Authority of Sloth!! Unseen HAAAAANDS! !” The madman screamed with a reptilian look as his shadow exploded—no, the shadow swelled up as if exploding, becoming multiple black arms that stretched toward the heavens. These were evil hands, imperceptible to normal people, able to destroy a human body with ease. The hands danced high above like serpentine heads, locking on to Subaru. The black, shadowy, evil hands snapped down like whips, the tips of their fingers aimed at the ground, shooting out at breakneck speed.

[Assistant] And a moment before those black tendrils reached him, Subaru beat a hasty retreat from the spot. “I told you before—if you can see ’em, they’re not that hard to dodge!”

[User] “What is this—? !”. Subaru had said it the last time around, so to Petelgeuse it was an assertion ungrounded in fact. However, the madman did not take the time to dismiss Subaru’s statement as nonsense. A total of seven pitch-black hands bore down on Subaru to tear him limb from limb. On bad, rocky footing, he leaped over them with legwork that could not be called pretty, even if one was charitable. With Petelgeuse to the front, Subaru leaped heavily to the rear, putting as much distance between them as he could. He did this both to escape the range of the attack and to get out of the way of the counterattack.


[User] “Just now, YOU saw my Unseen Hands—”

[Assistant] “Right now, I’m not the one you should worry about.” After his all-powerful move was countered, froth rose to the corners of Petelgeuse’s mouth as he seemed ready to raise his voice again.

[User] To forestall him, Subaru pointed behind the madman’s back. That was the signal for the counterattack.

[Assistant] “Wa—!”

[User] “Ha—!” Overlapping bestial howls formed a destructive shock wave that rumbled through the air and tore up the ground. The rocky ground was stripped bare, kicking up a dusty swirl of wind. The wave caused cracks in the ground, leaving crevices resembling a spiderweb; a hole was gouged into the sheer cliff, precipitating a landslide.

[Assistant] “Wha—? !” Petelgeuse looked back, raising his voice in shock, eyes bulging as the beast person siblings landed, unleashing their combo attack. The sleeves of their white robes fluttered as the brother and sister—TB and Mimi—roared on all fours. The two had landed behind Petelgeuse, opposite Subaru, ignoring the madman as they pounded a roaring wave into the freshly cut cliff. The ferocious shock wave pulverized the rock face, the blasted pieces flowing downward like an avalanche, clamping shut the entrance of the Witch Cult’s hideaway. Rock and earth collapsed into a massive pile, and in an instant the cavern lair had become a tomb.

[User] “Awesome, now they’re buried alive—you guys can suffer and regret all that you’ve done!” It was Subaru who raised his middle finger, teeth bared as he ferociously pounded the insult home. As dust danced in the air, and the impact of the landslide was conveyed by the rumbling ground beneath their feet, it went without saying that the fate of the Witch Cultists inside the crushed, buried entrance was sealed. Their plight sent Petelgeuse gazing toward the heavens.

[Assistant] “How…how can THIS be…?” The madman’s throat trembled; he plucked at his head, causing droplets of blood to begin to flow. His violent gesture tore hair away, and as the skin on his head bled, Petelgeuse stamped the ground in fury. “My fingers…cruelly, without mercy, without order, without warning, without provocation, without meaning, slain, murdered, slaughtered… Ahh, ahh! My brain is shaaaaaaking!”

[User] “Woahoo, that old guy sure has a screw loose!”

[Assistant] “Sis, I think all the Witch Cultists are like that.” Viewing Petelgeuse’s passion with childlike disgust, the siblings, Mimi and TB, exchanged sour looks and lighthearted banter. Of course, their intervention at that juncture was no coincidence or miracle. They were Subaru’s reinforcements, coordinating with him according to plan. The two had concealed their presence while accompanying Subaru and had responded to his signal to block the entrance to the Witch Cult hideout. Now the enemy was Petelgeuse alone, putting Subaru and company at an overwhelming advantage.

[User] “…Ah yes, that is right—it is fine.” However, Petelgeuse’s tears were just ceasing to flow as he calmly murmured. The madman slowly looked at the faces of Subaru and the others, one by one, and calmly laughed.

[Assistant] “IT is fine. It IS fine—it is fine!"


[User] "Ahh, fine! FINE! Yesyesyesyesyesyesyesyes! !” “Uhyaa!” The way the madman’s mood rose midway through his words, his voice turning shrill, made Mimi’s shoulders jump.

[Assistant] Having exposed his madness, and coated with a thin layer of cold dread, Petelgeuse thrust the fingers of both hands into his mouth at the same time. Then, one by one, he crushed the fingertips with his teeth.

[User] With all ten of his fingertips crushed, a considerable amount of blood flowed as Petelgeuse said, “It is fine. Now I uuunderstand! Now IS the time for struggle! For love, yes, for looooove! !”

[Assistant] Petelgeuse raked the ground with his fingernails, ignoring Mimi and TB as he declared war on Subaru alone.

[User] “…Sorry to disappoint when you’re all worked up like this, but…” Subaru shrugged his shoulders toward the madman, his face displaying none of the same militancy.

[Assistant] “What is this?! I shall attend to this trial with love— This! Very! Moment!” When Petelgeuse thrust out a bloody finger, proclaiming vehemently.

[User] “I’m having someone else take you on.”

[Assistant] The answer made Petelgeuse’s eyes widen. And the instant he tried to raise a skeptical voice—


[User] "Wait a—! Don’t just turn it our way like that! Subawu, don’t you do something stupid and try to read a Gospel! I genuinely don’t know what it’ll do to you!" Ferris averted his eyes, raging like an inferno toward the book raised before him.

[Assistant] Wilhelm turned his back, displaying his aversion to the book as well.

[User] "I know TB reacted like that, too, but what, the book’s seriously dangerous?" The book was about as big and heavy as a pocket dictionary, with binding that was strictly ordinary. As it was from the Witch Cult, he would’ve expected a cover made out of human skin, but there was no sign of that. However, the grimaces on the faces of all save Subaru made their sentiments easy to read.

[Assistant] "To the Witch Cult, having one of those books…those Gospels is proof you are a fellow cultist. Yes, I suppose one could say they are like holy scripture to them."

[User] "Scripture…?"

[Assistant] "Rumor has it that the Witch Cult sends them to particular people, meow. And when they arrive, that’s it…poof, another pious Witch Cultist is born! Or so they say."

[User] "Huh? !" Subaru’s voice went shrill at the unexpected and astounding tale. These Witch Cultists were eerie, creepy people he couldn’t understand even the tiniest bit. Yet, they had once been normal human beings, their transformation triggered by the arrival of such a book. A deep reading of Ferris’s words suggested that the Gospels were books that brainwashed the human beings reading them. If that was so, many of the Witch Cultists were brainwashed, ordinary people—

[Assistant] "If that’s true, then maybe all the people we buried alive in the cave were just…"

[User] "Sir Subaru, you are mistaken. By the time the Gospel reaches them, they have already passed the point of no return. They are not innocent people brainwashed into obedience that can be saved. Sir Subaru, did that Archbishop of the Seven Deadly Sins appear sane to you?"

[Assistant] "N-nah. He didn’t, but…I thought maybe he was an exception." Brought back from the brink of thoughts of regret, Subaru passively shut his mouth. So Petelgeuse’s madness, far beyond the norm, was just one example of the dangerous mental states within the Witch Cult that didn’t involve brainwashing. Put bluntly, a part of him was reluctant to take their current conversation as absolute proof it was so.

[User] "Now, Subawu, I know you did a great job as a decoy against the White Whale and the Witch Cult…but I feel like this is putting you in a lot of danger, meow, so don’t let the Gospel get you, ’kay?"

[Assistant] "I must ask that as well, Sir Subaru. Please do not make me cut you down."

[User] "I’ll try, but is being careful really gonna cut it…?" It seemed that whether the book “got” someone or not depended on the recipient’s mood. If the other side was headhunting, it depended on whether Subaru accepted or declined.


[User] The notion left him distinctly uncomfortable. Sighing at the various things being said, Subaru looked down at the book, which suddenly felt very heavy. "I guess I’ll…keep it with me for now. Even if I can’t read it, it might be useful some other way.”

[Assistant] It had belonged to an Archbishop of the Seven Deadly Sins. Just maybe deciphering the Gospel might bring him closer to the truth about the Witch Cult. With that hope in mind, Subaru stuffed the book into his pocket, but no matter how much time passed, the suspicious gazes from the three, looking at him as if he were some crazed daredevil, did not disappear. “So was there anything else on him that caught your eye? It’d be a super-huge help if he was stupidly walking around with, say, a map with hideouts marked on it…”

[User] “I did not see anything like that among his belongings. Aside from the Gospel text, he was walking around with exactly what one would expect for a man in his attire.” TB replied to Subaru’s rebound as he checked the confiscated belongings.

[Assistant] Certainly, judging from Petelgeuse’s attire, it seemed he traveled light. But even if they wrung his neck, dead men told no tales.

[User] “Hey, hey, can’t we just leave? No point fussing over everything here, right? Better to finally head back to everyone?” At that point, Mimi, having stayed out of the conversation so far, spoke up while tossing dirt over the remains. Her tail sticking out from her hem, she pointed at Petelgeuse, now completely buried, and said: “We’ve buried the enemy, so isn’t it best to check on how everyone else is doing? Hey, we really should! Really!”

[Assistant] “You say it so innocently, but you’re really heartless, wow. With your adorable looks, that contrast’s really slapping me in the face.”

[User] “Hu-huu, calling me cute’s gonna make me blush!” With convenient hearing, Mimi blushed at the part she liked, drawing a strained smile from Subaru.

[Assistant] But it was a fact that she referred to a good opportunity. It really was best to ditch the place and regroup with the main force. “…” Looking back, Subaru stared at the place, now completely silent. The cave was buried in earth and sand, the minions spectacularly crushed, their trump card rendered useless, Petelgeuse slaughtered before he could pull anything—clueless as to what was happening until the bitter end. Via Return by Death, Subaru had seen what future lay before them if he employed his power to its full extent. They’d scored a complete shutout—and that meant complete victory against the Witch Cult. It meant that, but— “Er, no, this is me, right…? There’s no way it goes this smoothly. Up till now, no matter how hard I try, there’s always a downside. It can’t be this good…there’s gotta be a catch somewhere…”


[User] "What's with all the suspicion, meow? Hurry up, there's still a lot to do, isn't there?"

[Assistant] “A-ah, yeah.


[User] "That’s right… You’re right.” Ferris turned a disbelieving eye toward Subaru.

[Assistant] Subaru still couldn’t believe the fruits of his labors. Nodding at Ferris’s words, he tugged on the back of his hair as he departed the rocky place. Victory. Yes, victory. It wasn’t an accident; he’d won. What was wrong with that? “—Maybe he comes back to life as soon as our backs are turned? !”

[User] "What are you going on about? Ferri is really angry already! Sheesh!”

[Assistant] "Ow, ow, ow!” When Subaru looked back, unable to drop his suspicious mind-set, Ferris grabbed hold of his hair and dragged him along. It might have gone without saying, but neither the plugged cave nor Petelgeuse’s corpse showed any change. This time, they would truly take their leave. And then, as the icing on the cake—

[User] “Mister’s noisy about it, so just to make sure!” Saying this, Mimi held her cane in her hand. Magic erupted from it—and Petelgeuse’s grave, along with his corpse, exploded. This time, without exaggeration, Petelgeuse, the Witch Cult’s Archbishop of Sloth, was blown to bits.


[Assistant] “From the look of things, it would appear you return with fair tidings.” With a modest, composed smile, Julius greeted Subaru and the others, who were rejoining the rest of the group after taking Petelgeuse down. They were stationed at an expeditionary-force field camp, constructed outside the forest and somewhat far off from the highway. With the Witch Cultists lurking in the forest, they were avoiding prying eyes from there and the highway to not give away their presence. That said, now that Petelgeuse, their top dog, was dead, it was unlikely the remaining fingers would fail to notice for long. Their future movements required not just caution, but audacious haste. “What about the fingers’ base spotted along the way?”

[User] “One detachment is still keeping it under watch. They will surely contact us if anything occurs. But the other detachment made inopportune contact and engaged the Witch Cultists in combat.”

[Assistant] “Serious?! So what happened, then?! Did we lose anyone…?” Having thought this a routine report, Subaru was stricken with nervousness when he heard it had come to a fight.

[User] However, when Subaru pressed closer, Julius gave a strained smile. Hand-combing his slightly disheveled forelocks, he gave his cavalry saber a slight tilt with his hand. “You may rest easy. Several among the Witch Cultists were formidable, but all were dispatched without difficulty. The base in question was mopped up, so there should be nine fingers left.”

[Assistant] “…There’s no wounded? Also, none of the enemies got away?”

[User] “Rest easy. We have thoroughly addressed all of your concerns.” Julius was too classy to conceal his own failures. Hearing there had been neither casualties nor failures.

[Assistant] Subaru sighed a breath of relief.

[User] Julius gave a slightly pained smile at his reaction as he said, “And you were not followed?


[User] "All went according to plan against the Archbishop of the Seven Deadly Sins?”

[Assistant] “Wilhelm cut off his head, and magic blew his corpse into teeny bits, so that should be it… It should be it, right? Any normal way of thinking, there’s no way he’d come back from that, right?”

[User] "You witnessed it for yourself, so I am uncertain why you look so uneasy.” Julius skeptically knit his brows at Subaru’s lingering suspicions. Then he continued to grimace when he looked at Ferris, standing at Subaru’s side. “…Besides, though I understand the urge to be certain, destruction of remains lacks elegance. And you were with him, Ferris.”

[Assistant] "Sowwy, Ferri desperately tried to stop them, but Subawu just wouldn’t…”

[User] “Don’t say it like it’s some tragedy caused by my violent nature!! What’s with all the excess theatrics?! I’ll have you know, it was the big sis of those kitty siblings that did it!” When Julius scolded them for violating the dead, Ferris sold Subaru out with a tear in the corner of his eye. Subaru objected to his statement and pointed to the real culprit—Mimi, who’d returned along with them.

[Assistant] Incidentally, Mimi was sulking from having been scolded for her excess by everyone on the way back. Currently, she was curled over TB’s back out of spite, sulking to the point of refusing to walk under her own power.

[User] “I see, Mimi, was it? Then it cannot be helped. She had her reasons, I’m sure.”

[Assistant] “Her little brothers do it, too, but don’t you and Anastasia spoil her a little too much…?”

[User] “That is neither our intent nor fact. Incidentally, it was Master Wilhelm who struck down the archbishop…?” Evading Subaru’s stare, Julius addressed Wilhelm, looking in the latter’s direction.

[Assistant] “I cut off his head, and without doubt severed the thread of his life. I know of no living creature able to live through that.” Wilhelm reciprocated, pulling back his shoulders as he said

[User] “I am relieved. If Master Wilhelm speaks such a thing, there can be no mistake—so this time we have greatly impeded the future activities of the Witch Cult led by Sloth.”

[Assistant] “What, you didn’t believe it when I said it?! I’m not playing around here, so I checked the corpse with my own eyes! Two or three times at that!”

[User] “I would like you to take my not checking with Ferris as a sign of my sincerity toward you.”

[Assistant] “Sincerity is based on the word sincere. You knew that, right?” A vein bulged on Subaru’s forehead as he rebuffed the unapologetic Julius.

[User] But Julius did not reply to Subaru as he raised an expectant hand toward the other knights and mercenaries. At his signal, conversing voices died out, and with all eyes on Julius, he motioned to Subaru. “They, too, await your report. It should come from your own mouth."


[User] “Am I wrong?”

[Assistant] “You’re not wrong, but it annoys me to have you set the stage.”

[User] “Petty stubbornness, meow…” Ferris sent an exasperated expression toward Subaru and Julius, arguing regardless of the situation.

[Assistant] “Boys really can be so stupid. And Subawu, especially stupid.”

[User] “Seen from the outside, a man’s pride might often be seen as trivial. Does this ring any bells with you, Ferris?”

[Assistant] “…Who knows? There might have been someone stubborn like that once upon a time…” Somehow, Ferris’s reply to Wilhelm’s words sounded awkward. Turning his face away, seemingly to avoid the aged swordsman’s gaze, Ferris made a heavy sigh.

[User] With that exchange taking place off behind Subaru, he reported the good news to everyone focused on him. "So things went pretty much as expected. We took down the Archbishop of the Seven Deadly Sins!”

[Assistant] “Ohhh—”

[User] Narrating with poses and gestures, Subaru made his explanation as vivid as possible, conveying the high points of the success of their operation against the archbishop, bringing joy to the faces of those stewing at having to wait.

[Assistant] “W-wait, wait! No loud voices! They’ll hear you!”

[User] “—!” And they came to the brink of breaking into shouts of joy, which would have made their having camped outside the forest meaningless. No doubt was left that the result was optimal for them all.

[Assistant] “With that done, that leaves moppin’ up the stragglers, pretty simple stuff. If we don’t hurry, the lady’ll be the granny by the time we’re done… Ah, that’s just a stock joke o’ mine.”

[User] “Somehow, I don’t feel like laughing at that one… Well, that’s fine, though.” Setting aside Ricardo’s sense of humor, the fact remained that it was best to move nimbly from that point forward. Unfortunately, it was also a fact that the remaining job wasn’t as simple as Ricardo made it out to be.

[Assistant] “Just ’cause we beat Petelgeuse doesn’t mean everything’s wrapped up with a bow, after all.”

[User] “Won’t do any good to be drunk on victory and trip over our own feet, meow. And if they know the Archbishop of the Seven Deadly Sins died, the rest of the Witch Cultists won’t be lured out so easily, huh…?”

[Assistant] “Hey, these are Witch Cultists. Best to stop expecting ’em to have sane, rational thoughts.” Ferris and Ricardo picked up where Subaru left off, apparently sharing his concerns. The faces of the others seemed to indicate agreement; not a single one seemed slacker at the news of their first victory.

[User] “First off, smashing the fingers under his command is our top priority. Besides that, there’s no one here extreme enough to slaughter all the Witch Cultists, right? I’d like us to capture any of them we can…”

[Assistant] “I have a feeling they’ll just kill themselves, though… That’s what they’ve always done to date, after all.” With Subaru plotting to capture some alive, Ferris’s lips thinned in dismay.


[User] "I understand your skepticism, Ferris. But if we can refrain from taking their lives, it is incumbent upon us to do so. I agree that we should prioritize capture when we confront the remaining Witch Cultists. Having said that, we must not lose sight of the fact that our own well-being comes first, to avoid any sudden reversal of fortune.” With Ferris sullen, Julius was considerate toward him while agreeing with Subaru’s opinion.

[Assistant] “—And while locating the fingers does come first, we should not neglect that the dragon carriages you arranged should reach us soon enough.”

[User] "That so? There’s that, too, yeah.” At Julius’s declaration, Subaru clapped his hands together, recalling the detachment heading to rendezvous with the expeditionary force.

[Assistant] “Though that is as planned, it would surely be difficult for the expeditionary force to act in concert with the merchants concerned. We should order them either to remain at the camp, or to go into the village to proceed with the evacuation as agreed. In that case, we should take care not to cause a panic from the arrival of a large force. What do you think?”

[User] "Think? …About what?”

[Assistant] "If there is someone familiar to both the village and the mansion, I believe unnecessary panic can be avoided.”

[User] “Don’t make me mix public and private business. I still have things to do out here.”

[Assistant] “Surely you too are in high spirits. None here would call it mixing the public and private.”

[User] "I volunteered to be bait against the Witch Cult, and I’m still the best guy for the job… Besides, I don’t deserve to go back to the mansion yet.” Shaking his head at Julius’s suggestion, Subaru looked toward the forest—and the mansion that lay beyond.


[User] "You still think so, after all this?" Subaru’s moment of reflection made Ferris’s eyes go round as he spoke with a look of disbelief.

[Assistant] Ferris spoke the words because he knew all that Subaru had done to that point. He’d formed an alliance with Crusch and her people and cooperated in subjugating the White Whale and crushing the Archbishop of Sloth. Lined up in a row, these successes were more than enough to earn words of admiration. But inside Subaru, their combined weight was not sufficient to wipe away his own stupidity. "No matter what you do, you can’t change the past—when you make a mistake, you have to clean it up."

[Assistant] "That’s what Anastasia said to me before. It’s harsh, but…I think that way, too. Over in the mountain of things I’ve piled up to date is a big blob of stupidity. That’s why I can’t let myself stop halfway." In reality, those words had been spoken to him the last time around. Accordingly, Anastasia had never scolded him so sternly in this world. But it was not so inside Subaru. Even if no one else remembered, Subaru would not forget, nor was it something he ought to.

[User] "So I finally can go back when the problem—taking care of all of the Witch Cult in the forest—is done."

[Assistant] "If that is what you say, it shall be so. To begin with, it is a fact that having you is an advantage." When Subaru declined to return to the mansion, Julius honored his choice. Almost all those around Subaru displayed an understanding for his assertion.

[User] Ferris, the only one with a dissatisfied look to the bitter end, said, "I’m a little worried you’re that hung up about it… I really can’t understand why you’d invent so many reasons not to meet the person you really, really, really like. You can just quit if you want to, meow…"

[Assistant] "Don’t harp on people like that. And it’s not that I don’t want to. You understand, right?"

[User] "I do not. Ferri’s never had a breakup with Lady Crusch like that, meow. Don’t blame me if you have regrets for not meeting her when you had the chance."

[Assistant] "…Don’t harp, geez." Perhaps Ferris’s anger was that of a healer who’d experienced so much human life and death. His words carried great weight indeed.

[User] "Sir Subaru, there is no need to be overly concerned. When people are young, they are emotional, and their feelings lead them astray. However, these things are not irreparable."

[Assistant] "Muuu, Old Man Wil, you spoil Subawu too much."

[User] "If I must say so, you are somewhat excessively strict with Sir Subaru—though I do appreciate the reason why."

[Assistant] "…Don’t go talking like you understand it." Wilhelm’s words made Ferris fall silent with a guilty look. The conversation between the longtime acquaintances conveyed sentiments that only they could understand, flying well over Subaru’s head.

[User] Though he didn’t know the details, Subaru gave Wilhelm a light wave and said, "Thanks for the follow-up."


[User] "I feel a little better about it now… It’s not like it didn’t bother me at all."

[Assistant] "At least you seem more at ease. After all, if all it took to solve misunderstandings between men and women were one piece of advice from an old man, far fewer human beings would need worry about such things."

[User] "Wilhelm, you felt bad when you argued with your wife, too, huh?" Subaru inquires with renewed interest.

[Assistant] Wilhelm closed his eyes, seemingly reminiscing about days long past. "Of course. In my case, my wife was physically invincible when brought to anger. She pounded me into the floor quite a few times."

[User] "Sword Saints don’t do half measures, geez! !"

[Assistant] "Afterward, I forced my arms around her, holding her close until her anger abated."

[User] "That’s like an Easter egg for married life? !"

[Assistant] Wilhelm’s face looked brighter as he related the tale from life with his beloved.

[User] Subaru, seized by envy, slapped his own cheeks. "I think this is still you thinking too much, Subawu."

[Assistant] "Errr, it’s not like I made him just spill stuff out about his wife like that…right?"

[User] "—Now then, it would seem we are prepared to depart." Wilhelm pretended not to hear as he looked at the people standing by.

[Assistant] "Man, I sure come off as young and foolish, don’t I…?"

[User] "Well, anyway, that’s how it is, so…everyone, please and thank you for your cooperation so I can reunite with Emilia-tan on good terms."

[Assistant] "It is mildly deflating to think of that as our objective." Julius responded in kind.


[User] Subaru spoke flippantly to gloss over his blush.

[Assistant] In that moment, Subaru believed without a doubt that they could pull it off.


[User] Watched by lookouts from the expeditionary force, the fingers they’d encountered just before taking down Petelgeuse were in a field camp within a grove of trees, a frontline base with excellent sight lines in every direction.

[Assistant] "Heya. It’s me. Everyone in a good mood?" Action/Narration In lackadaisical fashion, Subaru exposed himself, drawing attention from all the Witch Cultists present.

[User] "Sorry to trick you, but…no, that’s a lie. I’m not sorry at all." Action/Narration Pricked by their upturned eyes, Subaru tossed such words to the Witch Cultists standing in place.

[Assistant] A number of silver flashes crossed the battlefield, and the Witch Cultists, reacting too late, tumbled one after another.

[User] The conquest of the camp was finished in a matter of seconds. Action/Narration Julius’s eyes went wide at the Witch Cultists, cut down with little resistance, while Ricardo, carrying his great hatchet, grinned in high spirits.

[Assistant] "Gah-ha-ha-ha! What the heck?! That’s the Witch Cult, and look at ’em! Hey, bro, this might turn into one helluva big achievement for ya!"

[User] "Having said that, even I didn’t think it’d work this well." Action/Narration The overwhelming results scared Subaru himself more than anyone.


[Assistant] "—Ah, darn it! This one’s done for! And this one! What’s with these people? !" Action/Narration Ferris, his tail standing on end, letting up an angry shout as he bound the Witch Cultists. Several black-robed figures rested tumbled at his feet, never to move again.

[User] "They took their own lives?" Action/Narration Slipping past the indignant Ferris, Wilhelm stripped the hood from one of the fallen figures in black, revealing the face of an ordinary-looking and very dead middle-aged man.


[User] “The tongue is intact. No sign of using a blade on himself.”

[Assistant] “They probably all have magic crystals embedded in their bodies, the sort that kill you by sending poison through your system when activated. Antitoxins won’t work if the magical elements aren’t deciphered prior to death, so they took the time to plant different rituals for each one…the sophistication disgusts me!” Ferris, mortified, vented as he checked the abdomen of the man-turned-corpse and found a faintly colored magic crystal.

[User] “Maybe it’s not just them, and these things are stuck in all of the other fingers, too…? So they killed themselves with poison even Ferris can’t stop.”

[Assistant] “Unforgivable. This is…blasphemy against life. What do they think life is…? !”

[User] As Subaru’s voice trembled with shock.

[Assistant] Ferris used the back of his hand to roughly wipe away the tears brought on by fierce emotion, transferring blood to his pale cheek in the process.

[User] Standing astride that righteous fury, Subaru couldn’t take his eyes off the Witch Cultist corpses lined up in a row.

[Assistant] “Sir Subaru, it may be best not to pay them so much heed.” Wilhelm stood in the way of Subaru’s gaze, shaking his head. “You are not accustomed to this, and there is no need to force yourself to be. If you feel responsibility or guilt, these too are unnecessary.”

[User] “You mean because of the kind of enemy we’re facing?”

[Assistant] “That is correct.” The firm, unhesitant reply to Subaru was Wilhelm’s idea of consideration.

[User] Subaru tried to give a pained smile at the harsh show of concern, but he failed. He could only sigh at himself. “It’s not that I sympathize with them, or that I’m beating myself up with guilt. Even I get why I can’t be doing either of those things.” Subaru had no right to lament the Witch Cultists’ deaths.


[User] He wouldn’t even if he did, but it was he who had asked the expeditionary force to annihilate them. Even Subaru wasn’t that stupid. But looking at their corpses, Subaru was uncomfortable with the thought that he’d become accustomed to death. "Not that I’ll ever be used to my own death…" Subaru had already experienced over ten deaths, but he wasn’t used to death at all. The sense of loss from his death was always raw, and his fear of it would likely never diminish. In spite of this, Subaru’s heart was becoming numb to the deaths of others, and this fact frightened him. "Seeing their corpses lined up like that makes ’em look like dolls to me… That scared me."

[Assistant] "Certainly, they might resemble dolls, doing whatever they are told."

[User] However, Subaru had not accurately conveyed his sentiment to Wilhelm. Subaru managed a strained smile at the Sword Devil’s agreeing with that part. As was exceedingly natural, their view of life’s worth differed. Subaru, seized by modern Japanese notions of life and death, accepted death differently from Wilhelm, a man who’d seen countless lives ended on the field of battle. Accordingly, the chasm between their perspectives could not be filled. But Subaru didn’t think it needed to be. "These Witch Cultists…" When Wilhelm knit his brows at Subaru’s strained smile, Subaru continued without switching topics. Aside from matters of death, gazing at their corpses brought a different issue to mind. "I wonder why they wanted to do all this stuff. The Witch is this weird being hated the world over, so why do they adore her so much…?"

[Assistant] Wilhelm's murmur deepened the creases of Wilhelm’s brow. Stern looks came over the faces of people around them who’d managed to overhear their conversation.

[User] "—Perhaps they yearn for destruction?" It was TB who spoke, his own cane in hand. He did not raise his kitty face, giving his monocle a slight nudge as he said, "The Witch Cult is infamous the world over, but as you can see, there is no shortage of new converts… Though, I believe such thoughts to be a luxury."

[Assistant] "Luxury?"

[User] "I believe it is a choice to make time for such thoughts when we could be taking action to destroy them. It is not as if they deserve such thoughts." Keeping his head bowed till the last, TB fell into silence. The sight of his adorable kitten face rejected further pursuit of the matter. Perhaps he was reminiscing about painful memories from his past.

[Assistant] "Hmm? What? Mister, something happen?" Though, the fact that Mimi, who ought to have shared his circumstances, did not react to her younger brother’s words meant that even she couldn’t guess what he meant. But TB had a point.

[User] "Despair at everything and yearning for destruction…huh."


[User] “I can’t say there’s no part of me that understands, but…” Surely anyone pressed by despairing circumstances would have a yearning for destruction, a desire to lash out and wreck anything and everything around them. That inclination was especially strong in Subaru, so he could understand that part. “—You don’t need to understand people like them one tiny bit. Don’t make me say it over and over.”

[Assistant] Listening to Subaru’s comment, Ferris turned stern eyes toward him. Having finished examining the Witch Cultist corpses, he glared at Subaru with a look full of exhaustion and anger. “You can’t give Witch Cultists the benefit of even a single hair of your fur, or else you’ll be sucked into the darkness, too… You’re particularly vulnerable, Subawu, so be careful.”

[User] “I get it already, you don’t need to keep pounding it into me. So enough with the suspicious gazes, please… It just bothered me a little.” Responding to Ferris’s sharp glare, Subaru raised both hands, excusing himself as he looked at the corpses once more. Now that the Witch Cultists’ faces were exposed, they seemed to truly be male and female, young and old alike. He couldn’t even guess at what had spurred them to join the Witch Cult. Considering the creepiness of that fact, dismissing them as incomprehensible monsters might be the wisest choice. It was just that Subaru, the trigger for their deaths, felt that dismissing them as incomprehensible monsters was…running from it, somehow.

[Assistant] "Subawu?"

[User] “Nothin’. Did any of the Witch Cultists have useful info on them?”

[Assistant] “Nothing whatsoever. They were walking around with nothing but weapons on them, not even a Gospel, like they never intended to return home alive from the start. So stupid.”

[User] So Subaru would let him handle raging toward them for the time being. “Well, I’d better stay calm. Time to get moving and hit a different camp, I guess.” Subaru did a few squats on the spot, switching mental gears to carrying out decoy duty on a larger scale. Unlike dealing with Petelgeuse and the finger at set camps, luring out the Witch Cultists lurking in the forest would be Witch Cult hunting’s main event. Subaru began forging ahead into the forest, searching for a new fishing spot. “You just watch, you miscalculating bastard. Don’t underestimate the power of my posse…!”

[Assistant] Hearing the declaration, a fervent appeal to the power of others, left Ricardo beside himself as he grinned. “Real roundabout way of talkin’. I can’t tell if yer worked up for this or not…”

[User] But despite Subaru’s fainthearted statement, their advance continued apace.


[User] "Ohh! They really came!" Secretly elated as he was that things were going so smoothly, Subaru’s voice leaped at the report.

[Assistant] "Seems like getting ’em all together might prove wasted effort, though. But the fact that they got here safely means that the plains are completely open, then?"

[User] "There seems to be no mistake about that. The enemy has not realized the mist ended in failure. Accordingly, just as we imagined, they have left the highway unguarded, surely thinking it sealed."

[Assistant] "Guess he really didn’t have any reason to lie to me. Petelgeuse is the last guy I wanted to take at face value, but that’s good news." The madman had spoken true. Now that this was clear, he wasn’t sure what to say. Either way, Subaru wanted to meet the traveling merchants who had assembled at his behest. He needed to speak to them about the unique situation they’d become involved in, too.


[User] "So we got back to the camp, but…" Having broken off the decoy operation, Subaru returned outside the forest, scratching his face with a conflicted look.

[Assistant] "But they’re huddled awfully tight together."

[User] "They are intimidated by the turbulent atmosphere. You can hardly blame them."

[Assistant] Seeing this, Subaru concurred with Julius’s explanation, twisting his neck as he tried to figure out how to explain everything. He was grateful that they’d come together. But whether their mercantile souls were in it was another matter.

[User] "If this is how they are about friendlies, won’t they head for the hills if they know this involves the Witch Cult?"

[Assistant] "Each individual has his own net amount of courage.


[User] "But you are likely right to be concerned.”

[Assistant] The pair’s shoulders sank together as he agreed with Subaru’s concerns.

[User] Looking at them now, he couldn’t tell how many had the courage not to flinch from involvement with the Witch Cult. “Well, having them run off is bad. We’d lose the hauling capacity, but more importantly, I don’t want the leftovers to get wind that something’s up.”

[Assistant] It was callous, but they were already involved in a callous situation. If ignorance helped them get cooperation on happier terms, it was doubtless better for both sides. “You don’t like what I’m thinking, do you?”

[User] “I would not call it elegant. But I am not foolish enough to dwell on that in an emergency. Everything has a time and a place. And in this case, I believe the conditions of time and place have been fulfilled.”

[Assistant] “Roundabout, but that’s a yes, huh?” Accepting Julius’s roundabout consent, Subaru met the eyes of the other expeditionary force members to see what they thought of the matter.

[User] Fortunately, Wilhelm and Ferris did not raise opinions to the contrary; thus, the proposal to explain the circumstances while glossing over the important parts passed by consensus. “To begin with, it’s possible I have to lie to the villagers to get them evacuated, too, so maybe I should just think of this as a rehearsal…” Concealing the involvement of the Witch Cult was a necessary measure to avoid needless panic. Subaru told himself that for his own benefit as he stepped in the direction of the nervous merchants. “Er, thank you very much for coming all this way. Since I’m the one who sent for you, I’ll explain the circumstances.”

[Assistant] "…You did?” Seeing Subaru step forward as a representative, the traveling merchants looked at one another with surprised faces.

[User] Their reaction brought a pained smile over Subaru as he recalled the leading lights in the expeditionary force. With the aged Wilhelm and the chivalrous Julius present, no one had expected Subaru to represent them. Accepting that as the natural reaction, Subaru switched mental gears. When he did so, he realized that the lineup of traveling merchants contained familiar faces, particularly one smack in the middle of them. “You’re…right, I don’t remember your name, but you introduced me to Otto the first time. And a bunch of others were helping out when I ran into the White Whale for the first time.”

[Assistant] "First time? White Whale? What are you talking about?”

[User] “Sorry, just talking to myself. So about what’s gonna happen from here on out…” His deeply moved words threw the man off, but Subaru papered it over with a smile. Incidentally, he searched to see if Otto was among the traveling merchants, but apparently, he was not. Apparently, the connection between his fate and that of the young man hauling a large amount of oil had been severed.


[User] “Either way, this is an important business discussion for all of you, right? Anyway, the offer was name your price for what you’re hauling, so I assume you agreed with those terms?”

[Assistant] “Y-yes, you aren’t mistaken. And those terms, your side spoke the truth?”

[User] “Of course. But the terms were to borrow everyone’s dragon carriages. I’m sure you’ve already been told this, but I want your cooperation in evacuating the nearby villagers during the mountain hunt.”

[Assistant] “Mountain hunt…?” Skeptical voices arose, and the traveling merchants all cocked their heads at the discordant ring of the words.

[User] “Demon beasts called Urugarum have built a nest in this forest. As you can see, we’ve put together a pretty large expeditionary force. I want you to help us get the villagers to safety during the mountain hunt.” —A brazen, shameless exaggeration of the situation, some two months out of date.


[Assistant] “You put together a rather lifelike tale. Perhaps you have talent as a fantasist, or a writer?”

[User] “That’s not a compliment, is it?” The details seemed to be resulting in a fight, causing a vein to bulge on Subaru’s forehead.

[Assistant] “Cut it out, Subawu. This is just Julius being his normal self. Besides, to be honest, Ferri thinks it was a well-done story, too.”

[User] “Geez, both of you… In the first place, I didn’t have to make up very much. It’s a real story from two months ago.” When Subaru received Ferris’s sad assessment, perhaps an attempt to smooth things over (and perhaps not), he let the comment slip with a look of resignation. As he did, the two knights exchanged glances at that particular detail.

[Assistant] “By a real story, were you referring to this forest being colonized by demon beasts?”

[User] “I’m not sure I’d use the word colonized, but they were here, yeah. But barriers in the forest split the demon beast habitat away from people. This here’s a human being area, no problems at all.” Seeing the wariness in the pair’s eyes, Subaru quickly explained why the area around them was safe.

[Assistant] "Subawu, you’re not leading Ferri and the others blissfully to their slaughter, are you, meow? We can trust you on that?”

[User] “That’s putting it way too harshly! Didn’t you say that Crusch decided to trust me, so you’re not going to doubt me, either?


[User] "With all this coming after the fact, it makes me want to start doubting, meow… As for the demon beasts, though, I think Marquis Mathers has a screw loose for building his mansion near a demon beast habitat."

[Assistant] Subaru grimaced at the sight of Ferris looking toward the mansion and talking like that. "There’s no way that could be true, meow."

[User] "Without exception, demon beasts instinctively strive to slaughter living beings. They are simply dangerous creatures, unsuitable for domestication or sustenance. Barriers or not, placing residences next to them is unthinkable."

[Assistant] "Along with him not being around this time, I’ve got way too many things I’ve gotta say to that bastard…" Feeling fed up, Subaru shoved the rising sense of weariness to one side. "Anyway, Team Merchant is happily lending us their resources. That said, we can’t bring them on the mountain hunt. So they’ll wait at the camp, ready to move any time we need ’em."

[User] "Then, we should demand no evacuation, no reward as part of the d—"

[Assistant] "As if I could do something that vicious! Verbal or not, a deal’s a deal. We’ll keep our promise… That’s right, it’s important to keep your promises! Understand?"

[User] "I—I understand, meow, but why are you so worked up about it…?" Ferris cringed, cowed by Subaru’s dramatic overreaction to the issue of the contract.

[Assistant] Standing astride that exchange, Julius touched his own forelocks as he looked toward the traveling merchants. "But it would be careless to leave them here by themselves. Increasing the number of people to protect them all means that we need to divert more people to defending the camp…"

[User] "Yeah, I think we should leave about half back at camp. Right now, the fishing is going super-well, and if we do find a finger camp, I want to have the option to fight or to run… Hmm, but…"

[Assistant] Julius closed his eyes and shook his head at Subaru’s lack of confidence. "That is fine. We shall respect your wishes. I believe devoting half our numbers to defense is an appropriate choice.


[User] "If the fingers are all groups of ten, double their numbers is more than sufficient to deal with them.”

[Assistant] “The way you act makes it super-hard to know whether you’re agreeing or not.”

[User] “I am often told that it is charming.”

[Assistant] “It’s mysterious, at least. But with that handsome face… Yeah, I can kinda see it.”

[User] Though he was compelled to agree, it rubbed Subaru the wrong way. Accordingly, he stuck his tongue out at Julius. “The Iron Fangs are cut out for mountain hunting, so we’ll have the knights defend the place.” It wasn’t exactly a pronouncement from above, but Subaru’s declaration reorganized the expeditionary force in short order. As directed, twenty knights remained at the camp to protect the fifteen dragon carriages. The worried expressions on the traveling merchants did not abate, but Subaru gave them an especially cheerful wave, so as not to scare them, before heading for the forest. If things went sour, their cooperation would be indispensable. But the ideal outcome was for all the advance preparation with them to have been for naught. And at that moment, Subaru was convinced that this was no mere dream, but a realistic prospect.


[Assistant] “That makes—five down!”

[User] “Indeed it does.” Wiping blood from his treasured sword, Wilhelm, having ended his dance of the blade, reacted to Subaru’s celebrating shout by drawing himself up. The place was a depression in the western part of the forest, and they had just destroyed the finger camp located there. Dividing the expeditionary force in half had had no effect on the outcome; they had half destroyed the Witch Cultists in the initial attack. That left the enemy with no time to regroup and recover; they fell quickly to the blades of the Sword Devil and “The Finest.”

[Assistant] “Ferris, how about it?”

[User] “…Sorry. Still no good. They got us again.” But as was now usual, success in preventing them from sealing their own lips remained elusive. Subaru and Julius watched Ferris lower his eyes in abhorrence; neither could find words to speak to him. If Ferris could not do it, no one could—but that was no consolation to him.

[Assistant] “Hey, don’t get bent outta shape, switch gears. Let’s head fer the next one.”

[User] “Meow? !” Ferris was still in the dumps when Ricardo roughly rubbed his head, making his slender body shoot to its feet. For an instant, Ferris was surprised by the pushy attempt to console, but he immediately slapped his own cheeks and began walking anew.

[Assistant] Seeing Ferris like that made Ricardo bare his fangs, grinning in satisfaction.

[User] Seeing him behave that way, Subaru could appreciate that Ricardo had long led his organization. “Mmm, the wins are too easy, I need more exercise… How do you feel, TB?”

[Assistant] “I think it is good when jobs are simple. If I make my darling sister do dangerous things, our brother will raise a fuss, so this is preferable.”

[User] “Nnn!"


[User] "You’re such weaklings for boys!”

[Assistant] “I guess when this is all done we go back to being rivals, huh…?”

[User] "It seems you have the leeway to worry about the future." As Subaru indulged in sentiment, Julius stood beside him, wiping the blood from his cavalry saber. His crisp handsomeness never seemed ruffled in the midst of combat. He brushed the edge of his white mantle with an elegant gesture.

[Assistant] Subaru hated to admit it, but Julius’s point was sound as he averted his gaze while scratching his cheek. “My bad. Maybe I’m letting my guard down a bit because it’s gone insanely smoothly.”

[User] "I did not go as far as to call it bad. As a matter of fact, we are functioning so well, none would think we were so hastily assembled. I can understand why you find the relationships between us to be…regrettable.”

[Assistant] “…Man, I didn’t expect that from you.” Subaru had anticipated barbed sarcasm, but Julius’s show of sympathy made him widen his eyes.

[User] "The royal selection has begun, and we find ourselves in rival camps. But wherever we stand in the dispute, we can accept the help of others in a common cause. Perhaps we should regard feeling this for ourselves so early after the start of the selection process as our good fortune?”

[Assistant] “…Can’t really think of the Witch Cult going after Emilia as ‘good fortune.’”

[User] "I suppose not. I am sorry, that was inconsiderate of me.” Julius immediately apologized for his faux pas, touching his own forelocks as he sighed.

[Assistant] Subaru felt small for his reflexive indignance in contrast to Julius’s forthright remark.

[User] “Really is careless of me to worry about it, though. I’m being an idiot.”


[User] "—Sorry for flaking out on you like that. I’ll get back to fishing, so I’m counting on all of you." Pressing a fist into his own cheek, Subaru used the dull pain to get himself going again.

[Assistant] "Oh—" When they finished searching deep in the western part of the forest, he immediately judged that they should switch to the riverside. Subaru was just feeling the cool air around him when he saw shadows gliding in front of him.


[User] "…" Four Witch Cultists appeared.

[Assistant] "...!" Clapping his hands together was the signal that something unforeseen had happened.

[User] "—Heya. Mind if I take a look around?" Subaru forced his contracting heart to expand, somehow managing to toss a smile their way.

[Assistant] "Good thinking, moving in bigger groups, but there’s no problem over here. There’s no problem, you can go back to your place. Mmm, yes, do that, please."

[Assistant] "I outrank you here, right? Best to grease the wheels and do as you’re told, I think?"

[User] "…" The silence after he gave the directive was bad for his heart.

[Assistant] "—Phew." Relieved of the tension making even his lungs harden, Subaru wiped off his cold sweat.


[User] With the cultists on the move, he made the hand signal for success and quickly moved in pursuit.

[Assistant] “—?! They split up?” Subaru gazed in wonderment as the detachment of four people he was following behaved contrary to his expectations—a first.

[User] “…” After only a second of thought, Subaru immediately called his allies with a hand signal.

[Assistant] “They split up. I’ll go after the one by himself. The other three…”

[User] “Right on. We got this.”

[Assistant] “Do not lay a hand on them. If you spot their camp, regroup with the others.”

[User] “You got it.” Giving his slender mustache a flick, the fox-man leaped into the forest to Subaru’s right without so much as a sound.

[Assistant] Gently and carefully, he followed the figure deeper and deeper into the forest. Keeping his head down, Subaru roughly wiped away the sweat threatening to get into his eyes.


[Assistant] “What the hell are you doin’? !” When green fell away from his field of vision, he leaped into the ash-gray scene before his eyes. Some several hours before, the rocky place that had become a battlefield had been a caved-in cavern and an unmarked grave. But the writhing Witch Cultists were defiling the grave, seemingly trying to unearth the remains of the madman buried there. —For this was the final resting place of Petelgeuse Romanée-Conti.

[User] “—” When Subaru spontaneously raised his voice, the Witch Cultists’ eyes gathered upon him.

[Assistant] “—” The finger moved as one at about the same time that Subaru internally came to that conclusion. The Witch Cultists who knew Petelgeuse was dead instantly reached out toward Subaru. Subaru didn’t know if they were trying to kill him or nab a replacement for their Archbishop of the Seven Deadly Sins. He would never know, for the results were permanently erased by the running silver slash that followed. Blood spatter scattered as the diagonal blow severed a Witch Cultist in half. The black-robed figure spewed dark red as he collapsed. His silent death throes signaled the start of the battle.

[User] “Sir Subaru, get behind me.” Taking the first kill, Wilhelm lightly pushed Subaru behind him. As Subaru tottered, Ricardo’s huge frame and Julius’s slender physique slipped past his flanks, with their differing forms of enmity flying. The battle was one-sided. Because of Subaru’s blunder in impulsively leaping forward, the battle began under fairer conditions. But the expeditionary force paid no heed to this, crushing the Witch Cultists with overwhelming martial force. In a few tens of seconds, the battle was decided, and the battlefield soon contained only the fallen corpses of the cultists.


[User] "What were they trying to do here anyway?" Watching the end of the battle, Subaru raised his voice in the barren place turned battlefield once more.

[Assistant] It is as if they were digging in the earth, searching for something…

[User] “…I’ve got a bad feeling about this.”

[Assistant] “Let’s regroup with the other ones following the group of three. Gotta hurry.” Pressing a fist to his chest, Subaru forced himself to ignore the ache as he hurried to rejoin the fox-man’s detachment.


[User] “…Don’t look like…any survived, huh?” Subaru was in shock, unable to speak.

[Assistant] Ricardo spoke with a snort.

[User] "I told ya. No survivors. There ain’t no wounded here, man."

[Assistant] When Subaru spoke with a shaking voice

[User] Ricardo shook his head, his usual haughtiness muted.

[Assistant] “—A disturbing situation. The fight was entirely too one-sided.”

[User] Agreed.


[User] Considering how well the Iron Fangs are trained, it is difficult to think they could be so overwhelmed.” Subaru’s mind was struck by the surreal sight, unable to keep up.

[Assistant] When Subaru looked around, he saw Julius and Wilhelm agree that it was disturbing. “One-sided…?”

[User] “It is precisely that. There are no corpses save those of Rajan and our other allies here. It is unnatural by any measure.”

[User] “Even against the Witch Cult, it is unthinkable they would be killed without putting up resistance. The Iron Fangs are so elite, it is barely imaginable the enemy would strike down even one… A strange situation, is it not?”

[Assistant] When Subaru stayed silent, Julius mulled over the situation, but Subaru had no time to answer.

[User] “Why are you acting like this is normal…?”

[Assistant] “Subaru?”

[User] “We came rushing and our buddies are dead, you know?! So why are you acting like this is no big…”

[Assistant] “We cannot change what has happened, just as one cannot change the past.” Subaru was speechless, and Julius pulled his gaze away, walking toward Ferris.


[User] Ferris had said nothing to this point, but unlike Subaru, he hadn’t been standing still. He was looking at one beast person corpse after another, examining their wounds.

[Assistant] Subaru wondered if the young fox-man pursuing the Witch Cultists was the one Julius had called Rajan. Subaru recalled his aloof face and witty phrases uttered in Kararagi dialect. He and the other four beast people had been cruelly ripped apart to the point that they were unrecognizable.

[User] “Ferris, have you learned anything?”

[Assistant] “…Let’s start with no survivors. Based on the state of the wounds, it seems like they were taken down by the same person, but these aren’t blade wounds. Of course, it wasn’t magic, either. They were torn apart by force.”

[User] “Some guy was sayin’ there were demon beasts around, huh? Gimme a break…” When Ferris calmly gave his report, Ricardo gave an appropriate sound through his canine teeth.

[Assistant] Subaru, brought back to reality by the sound, wobbled into the exchange. “Torn apart… You’re not saying this was by demon beasts?”

[User] “These aren’t bite wounds, so I don’t think we need to worry about that. It feels more like brute strength. But it seems like they died pretty much instantly, so I don’t think they suffered much.”

[Assistant] “…Why are you mentioning something like that…?”

[User] “Because I thought it might put your mind at ease a little, Subawu.”

[Assistant] Unfortunately, Ferris’s show of consideration had no such effect on Subaru’s mind. There was nothing to death save death. As a result, whether they’d suffered or not was of little import.


[User] It didn’t change the fact that Subaru and the others had not saved them, or that they had died without putting up a fight. "I…I should have been…more on top of things…!"

[Assistant] "Sir Subaru, I understand your feelings of regret. However, this is not the time or place."

[User] "Wilhelm…"

[Assistant] "A Witch Cult site is likely nearby. Since our allies were attacked, we should assume the terrain favors the enemy. We should pull back and regroup." Wilhelm shook his head as he grasped the boy’s shoulders, making Subaru set his regrets aside.

[User] "Then let’s pull back fer now, come back for revenge later." With a heave of his jaw, Ricardo announced their departure from the tragic sight.

[Assistant] Ricardo asked if any objected, but none did, certainly not Julius or Wilhelm, or even Mimi as she consoled a tearful TB.

[User] “…We should at least take something of them.”

[Assistant] "That’s accounted for already. No more than rings or hair, though." Ferris quietly replied to the reluctant Subaru. Ferris gave a pocket a light pat.

[User] "…" Subaru seemed to cling to the tragic sight as he looked back at it one last time. The remains, lined up atop bare soil, were comrades he’d traded words with tens of minutes before. As he gazed upon that death, Subaru’s mind let out a heavy, painful scream.

[Assistant] Subaru’s mind was continuing such frenzied shouts that moment.

[User] "Subawu, we have to go."

[Assistant] “…I know.” Subaru followed the others, the last to leave that place.


[User] "Get down—! !" Subaru was in a daze as he shouted.

[Assistant] The ones able to instantly respond to the sudden directive were Wilhelm and the other heavy hitters.

[User] Those who remained standing screamed, they were death cries.


[User] The fingers seemed to move without resistance, rending human flesh with the ease of passing through water. Blood spurted forth, and multiple lives were snuffed out right before Subaru’s eyes. Subaru was in shock from this, but immediately after, others unfroze and raised their own voices.

[Assistant] “—What is it? What happened? !"


[User] “I don’t know! Blood spurted from their throats all of a sudden…”

[Assistant] “—It’s Unseen Hands! !”

[User] “So who the hell is using Unseen Hands then? !” Subaru’s voice was raw with surprise.

[Assistant] "Sir Subaru! Indicate the arms’ locations!” Wilhelm shouted, sword poised, with Ferris tumbled at his feet.

[User] “They vanished…? !”

[Assistant] “Bro, what happened to the attack?! Where’s it comin’ from? !”

[User] “They vanished! They were pulled back! I don’t know why!” Replying to Ricardo’s angry shout with an angry shout of his own, Subaru desperately swept his gaze across the area.

[Assistant] “Ugh—? !”

[User] Subaru's neck bones seemed to creak from the powerful grip raising him, pulling his feet off the ground. Floating in the air, he could neither kick at the ground nor stand firm. His limbs writhed and flailed, but Subaru’s body was pulled into the darkness in a single swoop.

[Assistant] “No! Subaru—!”

[User] “Julius, don’t! The enemy’s here!”

[Assistant] “Shit!


[User] "Let me go, damn it…!” As sword began to ring against sword, Subaru alone was being pulled away from the battlefield. As he swung his limbs, they struck tree branches, picking up painful scrapes in the process, but he had no time to care about that. The hand restraining him possessed tremendous physical strength, carrying Subaru with movements impossible for any man-made device. That, and the fact that he couldn’t break free, made it easy for him to guess what was pulling him. That very moment, Subaru was being whisked away by Unseen Hands. Therefore, his enemy was—

[Assistant] “Gu—aaah—!” The impact forced an interruption in his thought process. The forced floating in midair came to an end when his back was slammed against a large tree. After that, Subaru was pressed against the trunk, legs still off the ground, suspended in midair as he came face-to-face with his foe.

[User] “Geheh! Shit! Who the hell is…?”

[Assistant] “Ahh—my brain—is—shaking.”

[User] “—” When Subaru coughed, turning his eyes toward his surroundings, that phrase froze his heart. The nonsensical line seemed to flow into his ears as if it were teasing him, but it was far too evil to ignore.


[Assistant] Slowly, the darkness seemed to dissolve as a slender figure walked out of it. So far as Subaru knew, the Witch Cultists all wore the same hooded black robes, and this figure was no exception. But this individual left the hood down, leaving a face exposed.

[User] “—” For an instant, Subaru hallucinated that this figure was Petelgeuse’s body double. But an instant later, he rejected the idea. The figure resembled the madman yet was different somehow. After all, the person appearing before Subaru was a young, redheaded woman with conspicuous freckles.

[Assistant] “So why…? What are you…? What the—what the hell…? !” With strong pressure over his entire body, Subaru writhed, moaning in pain as he looked down at the woman. The previous finger exterminations had already established that the Witch Cultists were male and female, young and old alike. Having a woman as his enemy was nothing to be shocked over, but Subaru’s fright would not abate. The problem was not his opponent’s gender—it was that the woman and that madman were two of a kind. The woman made Subaru feel disgust and terror rivaling those caused by Petelgeuse Romanée-Conti himself. They absolutely had nothing to do with the fact that the shadows wriggling at her feet were keeping Subaru bound.

[User] “You’re…Petelgeuse’s…what…?! Get these hands off me…!”

[Assistant] “—A finger, you SEE.”

[User] “Ah?” Forcing his shudder back down, Subaru wrung out a raspy voice with which to speak to her. The instant after that voice raised Subaru’s doubts, the woman forcefully shook her head like a spring-operated doll. Then she raised her right hand and put a finger into her mouth; this, she violently bit and crushed. The dull sound, the droplets of fresh blood, they were that madman’s blasphemous self-harm through and through—

[Assistant] “I am a finger! One rewarded with Her favor!"


[User] A diligent diiisciple carrying out the trial, faithfully obeying the guidance of Her love! Ahh! Ahh, are you lazy? !”

[Assistant] “Uu…!” The woman waved her bloody finger, scattering droplets of blood around as she instinctively unveiled her madness. Subaru squirming, forgetting all about how hard it was to breathe, at the sight of the angrily raging woman who called herself a finger

[User] “A dead ringer…a copy? With Petelgeuse’s exact personality…!” He couldn’t help but think of the woman as Petelgeuse himself rather than someone who merely resembled him.

[Assistant] “If that’s so, worst case doesn’t even cover it…!”

[User] “Being able to recover you this early is a great relief! You are troublesome, you are dangerous, you are particularly vile! You can see Unseen Hands, can you not?”

[Assistant] “…No comment…”

[User] “You cannot hold your SILENCE with me! You have been captured by Her favor, when by riiights you would be discarded as rubbish! Thiiiis cannot be mere happenstaaance! When it is not once, but twice, it is not happenstance, but inevitability! And inevitability INSTILLS diligence!” Her inability to listen to others was just like the original’s. As she opened her eyes wide enough that her eyeballs threatened to pop out, saliva scattered from the madwoman’s long tongue.

[Assistant] “Now, now then, then then then. Although THIS is extremely regrettable, there is something that I SIMPLY must confirm. Who are you, and what is your purpose?”

[User] “What am I doing…?” Subaru grimaced at the question, his disgust with his unsightly opponent plain.

[Assistant] “Yes! That is precisely what I ask! The favor you wear is far greater thaaan that of an ordinary believer, rivaling the Archbishops of the Seven Deadly Sins themselves! If so, are you indeed this generation’s Pride? Pride, come here to carry out the trial in the place of Sloth? !”

[User] “You pull this as soon as you make me think you’re gonna take it easy and spare my life…? And if you think I am him, why are you puttin’ the screws to me like this…? !”

[Assistant] “Even if you are an archbishop, it is an unwritten rule we do not interfere with one another!


[User] "Beyond that, if this is to result in conflict, there is only greater diligence! To push forward and persist against any obstacle in THE way of love! After all, illogical clashes are far from rare!” The madwoman responded to Subaru’s question with a loud, derisive, insane laugh.

[Assistant] "If you are Pride, the empty seat among the sins has beeeeen filled! Once the trial is completed, we must assemble the remaining sins so that the Witch may display her favor to us! And for that, among other things—”

[User] “I must begin the trial early so that you may sever your lingering attachments. Tomorrow? No, beginning right now! Naturally, I ask that you watch until the very end!” The madwoman gleefully thrust her demand into Subaru’s face from a position of absolute superiority.

[Assistant] “Even so…shit! Even if I see ’em, I can’t do anything about ’em from my end!” The largest obstacle to regaining his freedom was the Unseen Hands still keeping him pinned.

[User] Subaru cursed the wholly unnatural phenomenon.

[Assistant] “So you can indeed see my Unseen Hands. I am exceedingly dissatisfied, disturbed, dismayed, discontented at the absurdity of this, but this proves you are iiindeed Pride!”

[User] “Don’t make me say it twice… Ahh, it’s the first time for you, is it? I’m not your Pride—I haven’t even gotten my special admission book yet…!”

[Assistant] “What obstinacy! However, even you shall become more cooperative, and s—” When Subaru resumed struggling, the woman’s visage twisted in wicked delight as she stared at the sight.

[User] “…That is right.” The woman drew her hand out of her own pocket as she haltingly spoke. It held nothing in it.

[Assistant] “—Gospel! !” The fact that it held nothing made the madwoman claw at her own face, gouging the flesh as she shouted.

[User] Subaru’s body went rigid at the reverberation of the throat-splitting scream.


[User] It was a sudden explosion of emotion. Her scratch wounds did not fit the rawness of the word, so the woman deepened the lacerations on her cheek as she looked up at Subaru, the object of her rage, flesh under the fingernail she turned toward him. "Even if this diminutive body offers ten thousand words spent, ten thousand lives taken, ten thousand human laments, it is insufficient! A guide is necessary so that my foolish, immature self MAY properly repay Her favor! And for that purpose, the Gospel! Which is now beyond my grasp!"

[Assistant] "Uu…"

[User] "If it was lost, then where?! Ahh, but I understand. My Gospel, the guide of my love! You, youyouyouuu must have seized it!" When she directed her unstable hatred toward Subaru, the malice thrust through him, chilling his spine. The madwoman, rightful heir to Petelgeuse’s spirit, brought her bloody visage close to Subaru.

[Assistant] "Stay back…!" Her approach made Subaru feel the presence of death, something he had not tasted in some time. When death drew near, it had a scent that only Subaru could pick out. It was this death that hovered around the woman’s body as she came to seal Subaru Natsuki’s fate.

[User] "It is futile to struggle any further. This is as far as youuu…" Responding to the madwoman’s mocking voice, the evil hand’s grip made Subaru’s neck bones creak. He was on the verge of losing consciousness, sinking into a lethal abyss.

[Assistant] "—What is this?"

[User] "—Aah—" The questioning voice led to a slackening of the grip, letting Subaru breathe easier for that single instant. Subaru forced his hazy eyes open to see for himself what had created that time for him. Then Subaru saw it: a wavering, flickering cluster of red light, right before his eyes.

[Assistant] "What th…?"

[User] "Spirit—! !" Before Subaru could figure out what the light was, the madwoman raised a vivid, hateful shout. For its part, the light responded with vibrant clarity. The light surged, as if about to explode, burning Subaru’s and the woman’s eyes with white light.


[Assistant] "—" When the light exploded without warning, Subaru let out a shriek and bent backward. The pain, like needles stuck in his retinas, brought a flood of tears, making him cover his face with his palms—and the next moment, he was hurled free.

[User] "Whoaaa!" The instant Subaru, overtaken by the floating feeling, realized he had escaped from the hand, he moved to break his fall. He rolled feetfirst over the root of a large tree, minimizing the damage from the fall. Thanks to the Sword Devil’s lessons, he was an expert at breaking falls after being sent flying. He rubbed his eyes with the backs of his hands and lifted his face. "That was…er, uh-oh!" When he lifted his head up to check the situation, the pitch-black hand came at high speed to mow him down. Subaru shuddered at the attack, which would have knocked his head clean off had it hit, and glared at the culprit in outrage.