[Assistant] 4 —The days passed peacefully. Various things had happened to Ryuzu before arriving in this land, both good and bad. The good had been somewhat outweighed by the bad, but it was by resiliently carrying on that she had lived to this day. There were others who came from similar backgrounds, and they were kind, taking care to keep young, frail Ryuzu out of harm’s way. Once, when their homelands came up in conversation, and Ryuzu said she did not have any good memories of her own, someone responded with, Same here, and laughed. After that, they continued with, Let’s make this everyone’s homeland. She didn’t remember the speaker. But Ryuzu had always remembered those words since. Recently, Echidna visited the settlement with ever-increasing frequency. Everyone was fond of the Witch, for she was the savior not only of Ryuzu but everyone in the settlement.

[User] No one could thank Her Lady enough for the salvation of being granted a homeland. Inconveniences in their day-to-day life were swept away, their needs were well met, and she asked for nothing in return for all she did for them. It was but once, when Echidna had replied with Pay it no mind to everyone’s thanks that Ryuzu saw her making a little smile.

[Assistant] From that faint smile, Ryuzu felt she understood why Echidna went to such great efforts: so that she could continue to smile just like that. Whenever Echidna visited, her daughter, Beatrice, would invariably come along with her.


[User] Echidna, surrounded by a large throng of people when she came to the settlement, always ordered Beatrice to act freely.

[Assistant] Beatrice spent her free time close to Ryuzu.

[User] Ryuzu had a lot of work to do. On occasion, Beatrice would grudgingly aid her with laundry and sewing. Ryuzu often saw her pounding away at her magic lessons. Ryuzu often saw her pounding away at her magic lessons.

[Assistant] Roswaal, who came to meet with Echidna, would inevitably interrupt, invariably angering Beatrice and igniting her temper.

[User] Suffering Roswaal’s teasing, it was common to see Beatrice go red in the face as she launched her counterattacks.

[Assistant] Whenever Ryuzu caught a glimpse of the pair’s magical duels, she always smiled at the sight of them fighting like siblings.

[User] From time to time, Echidna would happen upon their quarrels, making both Roswaal’s and Beatrice’s faces go pale, a sight that made everyone in the settlement laugh.

[Assistant] For Ryuzu Meyer, these days in her new homeland were happy, happy, happy times indeed.


[User] "These are fragments of the memories I have gathered together… I had meant to organize them in chronological order in my own way, but I have found that telling a story from the memories of another person—even when they belong to the person closest to me above all others—is still quite a difficult thing." Shima was carefully choosing her words and memories as she spoke of Ryuzu Meyer’s past. Perhaps she was accustomed to drawing on memories, for her relaxed tale flowed smoothly. From her pause in that tale of the past, the cast around Ryuzu Meyer seemed to be complete for the moment.

[Assistant] "—Perhaps I should say Lady Beatrice has not changed at all?"

[User] "My opinion about that’s the same as yours…but there’s something…before that… Way before that." Subaru had received a shock just from discovering that she appeared in Ryuzu Meyer’s memories. But at the same time, it wasn’t difficult to come to terms with. He’d known to begin with that Beatrice was Echidna’s contracted spirit from four centuries prior. Echidna had worked with Roswaal’s ancestor to build the Sanctuary and ordered Beatrice to stand watch over the archive of forbidden books at Roswaal’s mansion and await That Person after Echidna’s own death.


[User] “This Lady Beatrice… Certainly, she would be the one at the marquis’s mansion, of whom I have heard nothing but her name? I have not yet had the opportunity to meet her…”

[Assistant] "Yeah, that Beatrice. So she really is connected to the Sanctuary… Plus, she transported me to the Sanctuary back then…”

[User] Nodding after Otto checked with him, Subaru mulled over a memory from a previous iteration of the loop.

[Assistant] “Even if she was using the Passage, it bothered me when I tried to figure out how she could spirit me all the way to the Sanctuary. If the Passage can only send people flying to places familiar to you, then to her, the Sanctuary has to be…”

[User] For Beatrice, it was surely a place filled with memories. Perhaps it was essentially her homeland. That was how, in that emergency situation, Beatrice had enabled Subaru’s escape to the Sanctuary.

[Assistant] “—I dunno about the little shrimp, but I’m payin’ more attention to the Witch. I knew this was the testing grounds of the Witch of Greed, but I never had a chance to hear about the Witch herself.”

[User] “Wait, what? Garfiel, you’ve never met the Witch?”

[Assistant] “Er, I hate to put it this bluntly, but is your question not rather unusual, Mr. Natsuki?”

[User] Subaru couldn’t let go of Garfiel’s murmur from a moment before.

[Assistant] “But from the way you put it just now, Echidna never came out during your Trial, right? So how did you figure that you’d overcome the Trial?”

[User] “General, the way ya put that makes it sound like you met the Witch… As for me, I settled it, that’s all. I didn’t meet the Witch. Won’t talk about what happened inside no more.” Garfiel avoided speaking clearly about the contents of his Trial while answering the question relating to the Witch.

[Assistant] Subaru nodded in response.

[User] “—In other words, Barusu has met the Witch of Greed?” Slowly narrowing her pink eyes, she quietly stared at Subaru.

[Assistant] “…Happened on the first day, when I went into the tomb to bring Emilia back. I asked her about Ryuzu and…some other stuff.”

[Assistant] "Hey, what gives?"

[User] Without revealing the details of his own Trial, Subaru explained his fleeting encounter with the Witch.


[User] Subaru was dubious about Ram’s silence over the contents thereof, but she immediately gave a brief exhale.

[Assistant] “I see. I simply thought, it all makes sense now. For someone who had come to the Sanctuary for the first time, you have made very deft arrangements, Barusu. If anything, I am relieved to know that it is not through Barusu’s proper talents.”

[User] “Wait, is there something wrong with me being a capable man…?”

[Assistant] “Ha! Barusu, a capable man? Do not say that even in your sleep. It is disturbing.”

[User] “Do you have to go that far? !” As Ram snorted, Subaru’s voice went shrill. But oddly, he could not wipe away his suspicions toward Ram’s demeanor. He felt like he had a little bone stuck in the back of his throat.

[Assistant] “Let us return to the topic at hand. This is how I understood it, but it seems there was indeed a Witch in this Sanctuary. I shudder at the thought of a time when a Witch’s presence was taken for granted.” Otto sought to put the conversation back on track but ended up hugging his own shoulders as he involuntarily shivered.

[User] “The era in which Her Lady the Witch existed was certainly long ago. Perhaps that is why you know not of it. In fact, even for me, these are memories from another, not anything I know directly myself.”

[Assistant] “Hearing that from someone with the same face as mine makes me feel like I’ve gone senile…”

[User] “This just sounds like bad clone humor… So I take it that Echidna came here from time to time? And Beatrice came with her?”

[Assistant] Subaru interrupted Shima and Ryuzu’s low-tension exchange with a question.

[User] Shima nodded deeply in response. "A great many of Ryuzu Meyer’s memories are of Lady Beatrice. Just as I have told you, they seem to have gotten along very pleasantly together.” Shima’s memories, which accompanied a slight softening of her expression, contained within them a version of Beatrice that Subaru knew. That girl’s personality, unable to deal honestly with others, had remained unchanging since four hundred years prior. Hence, she had obstinately refrained from showing others her true thoughts, keeping various feelings stuffed inside her tiny body. —Subaru felt sadness welling up in his chest as he thought back to Beatrice, clinging to her pact and the archive of forbidden books.

[Assistant] “To be honest, I’m surprised that Echidna walked around with Beatrice alongside her. So far as I know, you wouldn’t think she had one shred of love for Beatrice as if she was family.”

[User] “I wonder just what conversations Young Su has had with Her Lady the Witch to make him go that far…”

[Assistant] “I, too, concur with our opinion.


[User] "In the memories I have seen, I do not think of Her Lady the Witch as lacking in humanity as Young Su suggests…toward her daughter, her apprentice, and Ryuzu Meyer as well."

[Assistant] "That’s… I agree with you on that." Subaru could say it didn’t match with the Echidna he knew, but that was as far as it went. It had been four centuries since her death; perhaps a period so long brought tremendous changes even to the mind of a Witch possessing such great power. Perhaps that had resulted in a twisting of the Witch’s personality, rotting her core nature.

[User] "—Please continue your story. Up till now, you’ve only spoken of heartwarming memories of the past. But all of us know that a Trial doesn’t end with just that." Subaru’s words made everyone present nod with various feelings in their chests.

[Assistant] "Life in the Sanctuary, peaceful on the surface, continued like that… So what happened?"

[User] "What happened, you ask…?" All by herself, Shima, the teller of the tale, lowered her gaze, murmuring with a weary voice. Then she slowly surveyed the faces of all present.

[Assistant] "Ruin is what happened. And the true reason for the Sanctuary’s existence came to pass."

[User] "The real reason this place exists…?" The energy she gave off was far from gentle, and Subaru could feel it from the cold sweat on his brow. After watching that sweat form a droplet, which then fell from his chin, Shima closed her eyes, peering under the lid of her memories once more—

[Assistant] "That day also, Her Lady the Witch, Lady Beatrice, and Young Ros’s ancestor were in the Sanctuary. The settlement was the same as always…and I thought those days would continue onward, peaceful and unchanging forever."


[User] "Truly, how can Roswaal be such an annoying person, I wonder? He is almost impossible to forgive." Clutching her knees and red-faced as she made an adorable huff, Beatrice murmured with a whiff of anger.

[Assistant] Seeing the girl in the dress sitting on a stump and hearing her words, Ryuzu formed a vaguely pained smile.

[User] "Does that face of yours irk me, I wonder? If you have something to say, come right out and say it."

[Assistant] “…Is it not because Lady Beatrice played a prank upon me in the first place that Master Roswaal had an excuse to take revenge?"

[User] "C-could you not refer to it as a prank, I wonder? That was a more, yes, a more refined thing than that." Once Ryuzu pointed out the source of the conflict, Beatrice clumsily tried to justify her actions. Since she was honest to the bone, the girl was terrible at coming up with excuses. Though Ryuzu thought that, too, was cute, the prank the adorable girl had played on Ryuzu made it something she could not simply dismiss with a laugh—After all, she’d twisted space, trapping her in a meandering, looping corridor.


[User] "Opening door after door only to find the same room each time was a rather terrifying experience for me."

[Assistant] "…Was it using but a trifle of Dark magic, I wonder? There is no reason to be so sore about it."

[User] "—I see. In that case, Beatrice cannot be sore whatsoever over my using countermagic to return the favor in kind. Good to know."

[Assistant] "Nghhh…!" Beatrice, taken by surprise by the voice coming from behind, found her own caught in her throat.

[User] Roswaal smiles as he stands behind the stump upon which both girls sat side by side. "What a fine face you’re making, Beatrice. After Teacher’s reaction, I like that look the most."

[Assistant] "What an impudent manner of speaking!! You are nothing more than someone blessed with a wealthy family and a smidgeon of talent, fortunate to have access to the greatest teacher in the world! Do not get carried away!"

[User] "Lady Beatrice, I believe you are only praising him…"

[Assistant] "Ryuzu, do tell me if Beatrice troubles you in some way again. I shall immediately chastise her and give her butt a good spanking."

[User] "Ha! Would this girl depend upon you in the slightest, I wonder?! Go on, you tell him."

[Assistant] "Thank you very much, Master Roswaal. I shall surely report to you if anything happens."

[User] "Like what, I wonder?!" Seeing Beatrice’s shoulders droop and a betrayed look appear on her face.

[Assistant] Roswaal nodded, looking like he was fully aware that Ryuzu would report no such thing. "All that said, I am sorry to have interrupted your reading. Allow me to apologize in Beatrice’s place."

[User] "No, that is too gracious of you. Besides, I hesitate to call it reading just yet." Shaking her head at Roswaal and his apology as Ryuzu stroked the pages of the book on her lap.

[Assistant] She had yet to have a firm comprehension of I-script, but she was right in the middle of learning that bit by bit.

[User] "Hmm… Can reading books be anything but good, I wonder? Reading leads to a more bountiful life."

[Assistant] "Beatrice has truly taken the words straight out of Teacher’s mouth—Actually, Beatrice, since you’re already with her often, how about becoming Ryuzu’s teacher?"

[User] "You mean Betty would be this girl’s…?" For an instant, Roswaal’s suggestion made Beatrice widen her eyes, reacting as if he was teasing her.


[User] But Ryuzu was more surprised than Beatrice.

[Assistant] “Th-that is simply—! I could not impose such trouble on Lady Beatrice, who is very busy…”

[User] “—Is it a real problem, I wonder? This much is child’s play.” Perhaps out of her sense of rivalry toward Roswaal, Beatrice crossed her arms and accepted the role of Ryuzu’s teacher.

[Assistant] Ryuzu was agape at her reply.

[User] “What, I wonder? If you do not like it, Betty has no intention of forcing it upon you. It is not as if Betty is particularly enthusiastic about—”

[Assistant] “No, if Lady Beatrice will teach me, I would be very happy.” Beatrice had been the impetus behind Ryuzu wanting to study how to read in the first place. Having fallen in love with the sight of her always carrying around that large book, Ryuzu came to hold an interest in reading all her own. If she could ask Beatrice to teach her, that would be a great honor.

[User] “I-if you insist, what choice is there, I wonder? You are a truly fortunate girl.” Instantly, Beatrice averted her face, blushing happily as she responded to Ryuzu’s plea. Toying with her extravagantly curled hair, Beatrice seemed set to continue rambling—

[Assistant] “Lady Beatrice?”

[User] “…Is Mother calling, I wonder?” Abruptly, the nature of Beatrice’s expression underwent a great change as she hopped down from the stump. Glancing at the perplexed Ryuzu out of the corner of her eye, she proceeded to motion her hand toward a house close by.

[Assistant] “Roswaal, Mother is calling for you as well. Is this an emergency situation, I wonder?”

[User] “I understand. You do as Teacher instructs. I shall…”

[Assistant] With that exchange of few words, Beatrice smoothly glided through the open doorway. But she was not seen on the other side of the door; she had surely crossed over to a distant place the moment she passed the portal’s threshold.

[User] “—The circumstances have changed somewhat. For the moment, come with me to where Teacher is.” The look on Roswaal’s face allowed no second-guessing. Without a word, Ryuzu could not help but obey.


[Assistant] —She felt as if she sensed some kind of disquieting wind at the horizon of the cloudless sky.

[User] —The atmosphere had grown heavy and strained. Ryuzu felt like her own blood was drying up.

[Assistant] “We should flee from here immediately. We are not prepared yet; if he appears in this place here and now, the project will be ruined. Rebuilding will become impossible.”

[Assistant] “Teacher! The time we are spending here is precious! He…he has already come this far!” In the hut, Roswaal pounded the table, his voice ragged. The boy normally placed such an emphasis on behaving with composure, but in this moment, he sounded stressed, nervous, and frayed.

[User] Echidna the Witch closed her eyes, not responding to his pleas.

[Assistant] Seeing his teacher pressed into silence made Roswaal beg even more earnestly, his voice high-pitched, that they should evacuate. “We must not hesitate.


[User] "His power is too overwhelming! I cannot be of service to Teacher just yet. If you tell me to be your shield, I shall gladly be your shield. However, without countermeasures planned, we cannot…”

[Assistant] "It is not that I lack for methods. To a certain extent, the Sanctuary already meets my expectations.”

[User] “Eh…?” Opening her eyes, Echidna glared at the grainy table.

[Assistant] Judging from his expression, Roswaal was flabbergasted by her words.

[User] "The theoretical structure is complete. Sufficient amounts of the necessary blood that’s requisite for the barrier should already have been assembled at the Cathedral.”

[Assistant] “Th-then…!”

[User] “—However, there is not yet a sufficient ‘core’ with which to activate the barrier.”

[Assistant] Roswaal was on the verge of seizing a new hope, but Echidna’s chagrin-tinged words made him draw in his breath.

[User] “Without the all-important core, the barrier cannot be activated. Without the barrier, it is impossible to repel him. If we cannot maintain a complete security net, he will surely destroy us.”

[Assistant] Roswaal, ruefully hanging his head, pounded the table with his strongest fist up to that point. The legs of the old table creaked, and Roswaal’s torn fist oozed with blood. Silence filled the interior of the cabin. The passage of time slowed, and the weight of the air could be felt on one’s skin.


[User] As if to defy that gloomy atmosphere, one timid girl—Ryuzu—raised her hand. "Regarding that insufficient core…might I be of service?”

[Assistant] “Ryuzu…? !” As Roswaal gaped.

[User] Ryuzu slowly shook her head and looked at Echidna. "I heard of this some time ago. Namely, that I meet the conditions for the core of the barrier that Lady Echidna is building…and that this is why you set eyes upon me.”

[Assistant] “—From Beatrice, perhaps?”

[User] “Yes.” With quiet resolve resting within her, Ryuzu nodded in response to Echidna’s question without fear.

[Assistant] Her bold demeanor made Echidna the Witch open her eyes wide. Ryuzu recalled when Echidna had been surprised by Roswaal. She took a small measure of pride at having been able to do the same.

[User] “According to Lady Beatrice, Lady Echidna had told her that I am extremely suitable for meeting these conditions. Also, I heard that Lady Beatrice has taken samples of my mana several times during these last months for this purpose.”

[Assistant] “If that is what Beatrice told you, then I suppose it must be so.” With an ever so slightly hostile manner of speech, Echidna sincerely inspected Ryuzu before continuing. "Certainly, the possibility you could function as a core for the barrier is high. With you as the core, the establishment of the Sanctuary is theoretically complete. However, that would have to wait until after your mana becomes more accustomed to this land.”

[User] “So it cannot yet be done right now?”

[Assistant] “This is no ordinary barrier. This barrier must not be broken. For that sake, I have moved things forward meticulously.


[User] Breaking off his words, Roswaal gnashed his teeth.

[Assistant] Ryuzu did not understand such difficult language.

[User] "The two of you surely have some way of overcoming this, do you not?" Sensing their breaths catch, Ryuzu felt encouraged to go on.

[Assistant] "...I was saved by Lady Echidna and Master Roswaal. I have been happy coming to this land and having the chance to live without being shunned or despised. If there is a way to repay you for such precious time, I believe it will grant meaning to my life." Bit by bit, Ryuzu put the feelings welling up inside her into words as she clenched her fists so tightly that her hands turned white.

[User] Echidna coolly peered at her with her black eyes.

[Assistant] "T-Teacher…" Roswaal called out to Echidna, seemingly gasping for air. It was an address carrying the implication, *You cannot mean…*

[User] Echidna did not give her apprentice his desired reply, as she kept her black eyes trained upon Ryuzu.

[Assistant] "—We will build the Sanctuary’s core by placing your Odo into a catalyst. By doing this, the time you will require to acclimate to the soil’s mana shall be shortened, allowing us to render the barrier functional."

[User] "If this is done, this land…this Sanctuary can be saved?"

[Assistant] "That would depend on the definition of salvation. However, it would surely become possible to fend off the menace closing in on us at this very moment. Per my original aim, with a long enough reprieve, we can refine our countermeasures as well."

[User] Echidna’s reply was not to put her mind at ease. The Witch did not deal in optimistic assessments or sugarcoating of any kind, so If Echidna declared she could do it, she could make it a reality, at the cost of Ryuzu's life.

[Assistant] "...When can you begin?"

[User] "—We can begin right away. A facility has been prepared to accept the core. What remains is the purification of the magic crystal that will become the catalyst and readying the ritual linked to the blood of the residents gathered at the Cathedral. The problem is buying time against the menace…"

[Assistant] "That…is my duty. Isn’t that right, Teacher? I shall strive to give everything until my dying breath… Ryuzu." Concealing the grief deep within his eyes, Roswaal turned toward Ryuzu.


[User] There was no hint of frailty in the youth’s expression—only respect for Ryuzu, whose resolve was as firm as his own.

[Assistant] “I am sorry. I lack the power to save Teacher all on my own.”

[User] “Not at all. To me, Master Roswaal, you, too, are my benefactor, granting me time I would not replace for anything. I am grateful for this. There is nothing to resent you for whatsoever.” Placing a hand over her meager breasts, Ryuzu slowly shook her head side to side.

[Assistant] Roswaal exhaled at her reply, whereupon he shifted his gaze toward Echidna. “I will depart immediately. Teacher, take care of preparing the barrier…and please summon Beatrice back.”

[User] “…Would it not be better if Beatrice does not know?”

[Assistant] “If you do not call Beatrice now, that girl will resent you and me both for the rest of her life… Albeit, perhaps it will be so even if you do summon her.”

[User] “I see… Understood. I shall call her shortly.” Seeing Echidna nod, Roswaal headed toward the entrance to the cabin. Midway, he placed a hand on Ryuzu’s shoulder, putting substantial strength into it for only a moment. The trembling of his fingers was more proof than anything that Roswaal would miss Ryuzu’s presence.

[Assistant] “…Lady Beatrice.” Closing her eyes, Ryuzu murmured the name of a little girl. As Ryuzu thought of that obstinate girl who was not present, her heart ached terribly.


[User] The scene flipped upside down.

[Assistant] “Ga, hu…!” With an anguished cry, the young man coughed up a clump of blood as he flew parallel to the ground. The sight of him ferociously kicking up a cloud of dust as he rolled made Ryuzu unable to do anything but gape, forgetting even to breathe.

[User] Overwhelming. It was truly an overwhelming spectacle. At the young age of sixteen, he wielded the six colors of magic, attaining the excellence of what was essentially the highest sorcery mankind was capable of reaching. He had gained a Witch as a teacher, yet he had not lost his drive to improve further still. He was a true genius—there was no more suitable word in that world than genius to describe Roswaal A. Mathers. It was this Roswaal who lay upon the ground, out of breath and spewing bloody froth. Could one call such a spectacle anything but a nightmare? Was there any option but to be aghast?

[Assistant] Gloomily, a languid-seeming man peered down at Roswaal as he spoke those words. "…You still want more?” His age was twenty, more or less. His hair, colored a charred brown, was tied in the back, and the unhealthy-looking bags under his eyes were those of a sickly individual. The color of his face was poor, and his posture was crooked. He gave off the impression of one wholly divorced from the word vitality, seeming so lethargic that he barely managed to put on clothes and walk around. However, that outfit was the only thing striking and eccentric about him.


[User] He was clad in clothing reminiscent of a jester’s, yet his posture contained not even the slightest shred of cheer. As the man walked forward, he kicked Roswaal as if amusing himself with a pebble, blood spattering up as Roswaal was sent flying in agony.

[Assistant] “Gahhh! Guhhh! Goah…!”

[User] “Shut up. You’re annoying me. Depressing. Irritating. Pathetic. Dismal.” Seemingly grumbling to himself, the man murmured, apparently without any intention of actually speaking to others. However, with each word, each step, the damage to Roswaal’s flesh increased. His bones creaked, his flesh exploded, and Roswaal’s body crumpled, seemingly being crushed by the air as bloody tears spilled out from him. "Well done. Very well done. You’ve tried very hard. You didn’t beat me, but you tried very, very hard. The fact that you tried so hard is good, right? …It’s useless to try anymore, you know.”

[Assistant] “What nonsense are you…? If I do not stop you here…gu, ah! Aaaaagh! !”

[User] “That stuff weighs down your spirit the most. It makes your chest go bad. Makes your mood all gloomy.” When Roswaal would not obey his words to give in, the man bent a knee with an attitude of disgust. Letting out a sigh, seemingly in a dismal mood, the man poked a finger against Roswaal’s chest.


[Assistant] —The next moment, Roswaal let up a scream as his limbs crumpled and twisted, his blood and flesh ruined. “I really hate this. It really gets me down. Me doing twisted stuff like this is really the worst. It’s dismal. It’s lame. It’s disheartening. It’s dreary. It’s withering. It’s the worst. Worst of the worst of the worst—so depressing.”

[User] “Ah—” As Roswaal listened to those melancholic words that seemed to seep into his heart, the final murmured word seemed to land a decisive blow. Unable to withstand the additional pressure, Roswaal’s torso was “crushed.” He coughed up a great quantity of blood, enough to convince anyone his torso had been pulped right at its center, his internal organs pushed up through his mouth. The whites of his eyes were bared, his limbs convulsed, and Roswaal fell silent.

[Assistant] “Ahhh, ahhh, aaah, what. What, what. What’s with thiiiis. I really hate this, my chest feels bad. My mood’s sinking. My head’s heavy. It’s depressing. Depressing, depressing, depressingdepressingdepressingdepressing—” As Roswaal sank into a sea of blood, not moving a muscle, the man continued to vent gloomily. Roswaal’s grand demise and the unorthodox man who had inflicted it—unable to do anything but watch the scene to its conclusion, Ryuzu, who had forgotten even to breathe, belatedly remembered how to do so at that late moment—

[User] “Ahhh…? My heart is heavy, but it seems like there’s someone over there?”

[Assistant] “—!” The instant a slight bit of air passed into her lungs, the man’s attention turned in her direction. That fact left Ryuzu astonished. Ryuzu had been peeking at the battle from a cabin some distance away.


[User] The man had noticed her from her gaze through a gap in the crude wall and the slightest of breaths she had taken. "Hey, you know, I’m noooot doin’ all this ’cause I want to. Taking lives pains my heart. Hearing shrieks ruins my mood. Being cursed by other people means a dreary life… Would you save me some time?"

[Assistant] "Eep."

[User] "…Depressing." With Ryuzu unable to move, unable to speak, the man turned a palm toward the cabin where she was frozen in place. She did not understand the principles behind it, but Ryuzu took this as the man serving her a death sentence. Roswaal had been crushed by some kind of incomprehensible power. And now Ryuzu’s body would be contorted by this same—

[Assistant] "Al…goaaaaa! !" There came a roar that literally spat flecks of blood as it summoned explosive flames, dyeing the world crimson. An enormous amount of heat emerged from the fallen Roswaal’s raised hand. The mysterious man was assaulted by flames that seemed intent on reducing him to ashes. This was scarlet hellfire spawned from a plane of scorching heat. The tall, thin man, a menace beyond human comprehension, was suddenly assaulted from behind, his very soul burned to a—

[User] "Breaking a sweat is so depressing." Murmuring melancholically, the man pounded the hellish flames into the ground before they arrived.


[User] The incandescent red sphere should have scorched the man to ash, searing him out of the world altogether. Yet, it had failed to singe even a single strand of the man’s hair, turning into a tiny red clump that tumbled onto the ground.

[Assistant] "I’m rather surprised that you haven’t vanished yet. Having to use my power is so depressing, I just want to die." When the grumbling man clenched his upraised hand, the gesture caused the sphere that had fallen to the ground to burst apart. The sound of scalding heat scorching the air echoed but once—then it dissipated, its mana completely exhausted.

[User] Roswaal, on death’s door, had cast with the whole of his body and spirit, hoping for a miraculous turnaround. He’d wrung his dying breaths, and all he’d accomplished was making the strange man break a sweat. The only matter that remained was whose death—Roswaal’s or Ryuzu’s—would precede the other’s by a few scant seconds.

[Assistant] "Damn you, Devil of Melancholy—!"

[User] "What a terrible nickname. It dampens my spirits. Do you think I ended up this way by choice, hmm?"

[Assistant] "Even if your life has been twisted or corrupted somehow…you became your current self through the choices you made, no matter how limited they were. Don’t try to pass yourself off as a victim…Devil of Melancholy, Hector!"

[User] "A sound argument. My ears hurt. It makes me feel bad. Hmm. Truly, I do not get along well with you. That’s why—" Cutting off his own words, the man—Hector—turned his palm toward Roswaal.

[Assistant] "—Rgh, ghh!"

[User] "Your bones are clattering. Your internal organs are squishing. Your heart’s cracking. What are you gonna do now, hmm?" The instant Hector spoke in a low voice, an anguished cry resounded. It was the cry of Roswaal’s impending death. This time, Roswaal truly ceased to move. Hector paid him but a glance before languidly turning back around. He looked toward the cabin Ryuzu was in—and without warning, it was crushed under the strain.


[Assistant] "—Uuugh, aah? !" She was not able to endure it for even a single second. She was smashed from above by a force that was far greater than her own mass. By some miracle, she fell forward as she collapsed to the floor; had her posture been even slightly different, her joints would have surely been bent backward and snapped. However, that miracle achieved nothing beyond mitigating some of the agony prior to her death.

[User] "If she isn’t resisting, she’s not Echidna. And if she’s not Echidna, who cares about her, hmm?"

[Assistant] "—Wha?" Her entire body enveloped by some inescapable strain, she felt as if she were being crushed by the air. Right after she thought Hector’s distant voice would be the last thing she knew in this world, that strain suddenly vanished. Her breaths were ragged. Her face was marred by tears and drool. Ryuzu wheezed as she lifted up her face.


[User] "Given the situation, it is most difficult to say I’ve arrived on time." There, behind the collapsed cabin, stood a white-haired Witch. Somehow, someway, the Witch had caused the summoned force to vanish.

[Assistant] Hector raises his eyebrows, “…No, you came just in time. Your apprentice slowed me down, gallantly delaying me as a result, you see. Thanks to that, not a single thing has gone according to schedule. It dampens my mood. Really, it does.”

[User] "That style of speech… You have not changed at all. You’re exactly the same as you were when we parted ways.”

[Assistant] "Your manner of talking is the same as always, too. How did you end up with such an uncute way of speaking, I wonder? Even though you were so cute back then…"

[User] Echidna removed her gaze from the lamenting Hector, looking at Roswaal, who lay motionless, jumbled in a pool of blood. Echidna narrowed her eyes slightly at the sight of her apprentice having fulfilled his duty to the bitter end. “…My chest hurts more than I expected. I cannot remain objective in regards to this result…”

[Assistant] "In a case like this, remaining composed and without emotion would be far creepier, would it not? If you want to cry, take at least enough time to do so. I am not that heartless.”

[User] "You are the very one who harmed him so. How dare you speak such words?” Their exchange was barbed. This pair of apparent acquaintances most certainly did not have a friendly relationship. In contrast to Echidna, who kept her distance, Hector behaved how he normally would. There was no room to doubt Echidna’s might, but Hector was also a being who exceeded all bounds of sense. Ryuzu could not even conceive of another getting the better of him in battle.


[Assistant] "—Just how long are you going to lay there pathetically like that?”

[User] “…Eh?” Suddenly seized by the collar, Ryuzu, who had been prone, found herself hauled upward. Surprised by this turn of events, she noticed by her side was a familiar girl, looking down on her with a sour face.

[Assistant] "Lady…Beatrice…”

[User] "This isn’t the time to lay about in a daze. All you are doing here is slowing others down… Would you leave with haste while Mother is buying time for you, I wonder?”

[Assistant] "B-but…Master Roswaal and Lady Echidna told me to wait here."

[User] “…That Roswaal is now a mess on the floor. Look here, will Betty go with you, I wonder? This is doing as Mother told her—the one method through which this situation can be turned around.” Unsurprisingly, even Beatrice could not maintain her cool at the sight of Roswaal fallen and the presence of that unfathomable Devil. She was putting excessive strength into her cheeks, her expression one of scolding as she looked toward Ryuzu. Even so, Beatrice was far stronger compared with her, who was able only to shrink and cower. "The preparations are complete. Did Mother inform you of this, I wonder?


[User] "Even you would fully understand, she said."

[Assistant] "—I understand." Receiving Echidna’s verbal message, Ryuzu’s breath caught as she nodded.

[User] In contrast, Beatrice did not look like she understood the true meaning of those words, but this was not a place where Ryuzu had the luxury of explaining. Behind the pair, the air grew strained as the excited mana within eagerly transformed into power. Hostilities had already commenced; a battle had begun between supernatural entities beyond the ken of normal human beings. To reel victory in from that battle, which was beyond the realm of human comprehension, they had to leave.

[Assistant] "Let us go, Lady Beatrice. Where have the preparations been made?"

[User] “…In the forest, at a building that’s emitting a disgusting scent. All Mother said to do was to take you there, through the bothersome means of Betty’s Passage, I wonder?” Even as her implicit dissatisfaction over this slipshod explanation oozed out of her, Beatrice led Ryuzu away from the battlefield by hand. As Witch confronted Devil, they needed to make it to their destination before they were enveloped by the pair’s mutual battle.

[Assistant] One final time, Ryuzu bowed her head toward Echidna’s back. The Witch paid no heed to Ryuzu. But she had to do it anyway.

[User] —After all, no opportunity to exchange words with her, or to convey her thanks, would ever come again.


[Assistant] The crystal was blue, transparent, and so beautiful that it made Ryuzu tremble.

[User] "Do not become so charmed that you touch it by accident. Would you become part of the crystal, I wonder?" Beatrice was warning Ryuzu not to be so enraptured, so enthralled by the crystal that she would do something rash. The magic crystal held such magical energy as to ensnare the mind, enough to instill one with the desire to do something that would be considered rash.

[Assistant] Coming back to her senses, Ryuzu hurriedly went "I’m sorry!" and bowed her head. To be entranced by a magic crystal at a time like this…

[User] "It contains such a great amount of mana that it is no wonder for you to be intoxicated by it… Now, what do we do from here? All I heard from Mother was to bring you here."

[Assistant] "Even so, Lady Beatrice, you faithfully did as Lady Echidna told you."

[User] "Is that not par for the course, I wonder? To Betty, Mother is absolute… You and the residents here are blessed to have her. Once we safely resolve all this, will you work diligently to repay her, I wonder?" Beatrice responded to Ryuzu’s words with a snort and what came off as a rather haughty attitude. Ryuzu looked back fondly upon the time she took such statements at face value, rendering her deeply apologetic. Albeit, by that time, she understood this was a form of the girl’s difficult-to-discern gentleness and an expression of her deep affection.

[Assistant] —It would have been so wonderful to continue spending time with Beatrice like that.


[User] "—Right now, you are smiling with a rather disconcerting look on your face." Beatrice pointed out the deeply sentimental face Ryuzu had shown her.

[Assistant] Tears filled the corners of her eyes. "I—I am very sorry…! I have a little dust in my eyes…"

[User] "—Worry not. Do you not realize that even Betty understands you would be anxious in such a situation, I wonder? You really should keep quiet and stay right here." Beatrice shifted her attention beyond the facility, toward where Echidna and Roswaal had been left behind. Then she nodded to Ryuzu several times over. "Once Betty takes Mother’s side, will all be as it was, I wonder? That jerk Roswaal is on the brink of death, so I must save him quickly as well. Then after tomorrow, once more, we can…" Beatrice presented Ryuzu with a list of all the reassuring things she could think of.

[Assistant] Ryuzu was proud of Beatrice. "Lady Beatrice, thank you for looking after me for such a terribly great length of time— This is farewell." Ryuzu stepped barefoot toward an ordeal of thorns.

[User] "—Eh?" Her voice was weak as she blinked, not understanding.

[Assistant] Ryuzu looked back as Beatrice stared straight at her in astonishment. "What do you mean, farewell…? Do you mean you’re running away?"

[User] "No, you are mistaken. If I ran away, I might hope to be reunited with Lady Beatrice again someday. However, this is farewell for life… I shall never be able to speak to Lady Beatrice again."

[Assistant] Tightly pursing her lips, Beatrice gazed deeply into Ryuzu’s eyes.

[User] Ryuzu quietly chose her words. "This facility…was designed to deploy a barrier over the forest. Eventually, I was meant to become the core of that barrier…but now, there is insufficient time for the original plan."

[Assistant] "Time for the barrier…and that man is in the way? Then we need to…"

[User] "He cannot be beaten merely through fighting. That conclusion was the reason for creating the Sanctuary in the first place."


[User] “I imagine the reason Master Roswaal was so devoted was because he understood that if he was not, Lady Echidna could not be saved.” That was how overwhelming a being the Devil of Melancholy was. Not even Ryuzu understood what effect activating the barrier might have against that Devil. But it was the one and only firm promise Echidna had ever made to Ryuzu. “If the barrier is activated, this place will become a Sanctuary. It will be protected. Lady Echidna promised this to me… Therefore, I will offer up my body for its sake.”

[Assistant] "A-are you not speaking stupidity, I wonder?! Offering up your body… What are you saying you can do?! You know nothing of magic! You know…aaa…” Beatrice closed the distance to Ryuzu with a loud voice and a rapid mouth.

[User] Aghast, Beatrice looked up at the blue magic crystal right beside them in the middle of her own words, the clever girl arrived at the answer to the question that came from her own lips. “With this crystal as the catalyst, you would make your Odo the core of the barrier…? If you do that, you can overwrite the mana of the soil without any delay in time and make this forest a Sanctuary…”

[Assistant] “Yes. That is what Lady Echidna said.” That was the conclusion Echidna and Roswaal had agreed upon prior to the Devil launching his assault.

[User] Beatrice stood still, already at a loss for words, she had transported the magic crystal herself. And she knew full well Ryuzu’s suitability to serve as the core of the Sanctuary—

[Assistant] “—By your reaction, you have guaranteed this is how it will turn out as well, Lady Beatrice.”

[User] “You are wro…! Betty… Betty had no such intention…” Voice trembling, Beatrice lifted her face as if she’d been slapped, unable to mend her composure. “I did not do that with Mother with the intention of… Wait, no, will you wait, I wonder? Wait. C-can Betty make a personal appeal to Mother, I wonder? Mother is soft on Betty; she will surely listen…”

[Assistant] “There is no time for that. A decision is required this very instant.”

[User] “Then Betty has decided to go to Mother’s aid this very instant! If Mother and Betty are together, will someone like that go down in one hit, I wonder?! Betty will heal Roswaal swiftly, too, and then…” Beatrice shook her head in denial, but her words trailed off at the end, she herself knew more than anyone how unconvincing her agonized declaration sounded.


[User] She loved her mother, Echidna, so much, and the smile she let Ryuzu see from time to time was adorable.

[Assistant] "—If Betty uses Passage so that everyone escapes from here, all will be well.”

[Assistant] “Right? Shall I do so, I wonder? Such a crowd is troublesome for Betty, but Betty can make do. Pick up Roswaal when there is an opening, bring Mother along, too… Hey, and then—!”

[User] “And after fleeing in that manner, live in fear of that man pursuing us again? Thanks to Lady Echidna and Master Roswaal, we have finally obtained a place of peace… If we abandon this, I can’t help but wonder how long will it take to build a new Sanctuary?” Ryuzu responded with words that were gentle but harsh. When she saw a hurt look spread across the girl’s face, a bitter sentiment ran through Ryuzu’s chest as well. Beatrice was simply being kind. Ryuzu was trampling her kindness underfoot as she asserted her own opinion. —She was betraying all the things they had done together, all the feelings they shared together, day after day. How cruel, how selfish, how ungrateful an act was this?

[Assistant] “Lady Beatrice. I love this place. I truly believe it was wonderful to have been allowed to live here. I love very much the smiling faces of everyone who lives here. This place must not be lost.”

[Assistant] “I have had my fill of warm memories. I, an unwanted, taboo child, was taken in and given happiness that I did nothing to deserve… Therefore, I am satisfied.”

[User] “Can that even be possible, I wonder…? N-no matter what you think of it, the true meaning of this place was never for your sakes…!”

[Assistant] “Yes. I understand.” Interrupting Beatrice’s words, Ryuzu nodded deeply, for that was something she already knew. She understood the true purpose of the Sanctuary.

[User] “This place is a place for Lady Echidna to deal with the man who pursues her.” Of course, even she understood that Echidna and Roswaal had not searched for her and others of mixed blood out of the goodness of their hearts…even though it had nonetheless granted them a new homeland and a new hope.

[Assistant] “Right now, I understand this is what this place, what I am for.”

[User] “Then…if you understand, then why …?” Unable to comprehend, Beatrice weakly shook her head side to side.

[Assistant] “It is fine. Perhaps that was how this place began, but all the time we have spent here surely changed things. Living here, being able to speak with Lady Beatrice, being with everyone…these are all choices that I made.” Ryuzu made a bright, cheerful smile. Until she had arrived at the Sanctuary, she had lived a life without ever having decided anything for herself. Cruelly treated as a half-demon by the world, Ryuzu had gone through innumerable bitter experiences despite her young age. However, this place was different.


[User] "I am not losing anything. I carry everything right here with me."

[Assistant] "I have lived happily here. That is why I must go. I will protect that happiness. Lady Beatrice, I thank you very much for the compassion you have shown me many times over and many times today."

[User] Ryuzu closes her eyes, concealing the faint unease within her.

[Assistant] Beatrice is desperately searching for words.

[User] "Lady Beatrice."

[Assistant] "Make sure you do not eat too many sweets."

[User] Ryuzu turns back, looking at the deep, glimmering magic crystal.

[Assistant] Ryuzu thought she was pathetic for finding that just a tiny bit scary.

[User] Ryuzu felt a tug on her sleeve.

[Assistant] Beatrice is grasping Ryuzu’s sleeve with unsteady fingertips.


[User] But even without an explanation, Ryuzu saw the earnestness residing in Beatrice’s round eyes.

[Assistant] "I—I…promised to…teach you how to read…"

[User] The fact that at the very, very end, the future traced in both their thoughts was one and the same gave Ryuzu’s courage the final push it needed. Ryuzu gently removed Beatrice’s fingers from her sleeve. At the end, with their touching fingertips conveying each other’s warmth, Ryuzu smiled like a flower in bloom. She was afraid of nothing—Beatrice had blown all trace of it away.

[Assistant] "Thank you— Good-bye, Betty." Having shared her affection with the one she had loved most in her life, Ryuzu’s consciousness was enveloped by blue light.


[User] “—These are all the memories of Ryuzu Meyer that I saw within the tomb.” Shima bowed her head deeply, concluding what was a brief, but seemingly lengthy, tale of the past.

[Assistant] Subaru and the others, listening to the end with rapt faces, had no comments about Shima’s gesture.

[User] She must have endured anguish for many long years over what she had spoken about: the origin of the Sanctuary and the weight of the hidden truth about Ryuzu Meyer, the girl who was her ancestor. “The memories end there. I have no way of knowing what happened thereafter. But from the fact that the Sanctuary continues to exist, Ryuzu Meyer’s decision does not seem to have been in vain.”

[Assistant] “However, this is…far too different from the existence of the Sanctuary as I know it…” Ryuzu is shaken.

[User] Though not on the same level as her, Subaru could not help but be surprised by the truth, either. “Young Su and others know where the magic crystal as well as Ryuzu Meyer ended up.”

[Assistant] “Yeah, it’s right there in the replication facility… But the purpose of the facility, including the crystal, is completely different from what I’d heard. Echidna didn’t say one word about the barrier, either…”

[User] To avoid being caught by any more lies, Subaru decided that for investigating the Sanctuary’s creation and the nature of the barrier, he would check not with— "Where did Shima…or rather, the Ryuzus hear about Echidna’s objective?”

[Assistant] Echidna’s objective was immortality—by transferring her memory to one of the replicas, she could establish a false eternal life. Then some kind of failure had occurred; only the construction of the replicas and would-be vessels remained, and even to the present day, their numbers continued to increase. That had been the story.

[User] “I… We are the initial replicas assigned the duty of administrator. Intelligence…and the objective…were in our heads from the beginning. That is why we never once thought to question…”

[Assistant] “At first, I swallowed that hook, line and sinker myself. As a result, my thoughts and actions lost their normal functionality, and thus, I was removed from the Ryuzus’ duty of administrator.”

[User] Shima nodded to the bewildered Ryuzu, having overcome that very same shock some ten years prior. It was clear Ryuzu had not taken it all in yet. However, Shima had no time. They could not afford to wait for Ryuzu to regain her bearings. “I’m sorry, Ryuzu, but let’s move the conversation forward. I’m not surprised that Echidna hid her real goal.


[User] "That’s very normal of her. So about that hidden objective…”

[Assistant] “Mr. Natsuki, this has been on my mind from time to time, but you speak most recklessly about Witches, don’t…?”

[User] “That’s because I have a grudge against ’em. So who is this Melancholy who came out in the story?” Subaru pressed about the term Melancholy, which had played such a prominent, conspicuous role. If it was just something Subaru didn’t know out of ignorance, just like the seven Witches bearing the names of the Seven Deadly Sins, then fine. But if not—

[Assistant] "This is the first time Ram has heard of this Melancholy as well. Even concerning the Witch of Greed, I know little but the name… However, I have not heard a single thing of this Melancholy.”

[User] “I dunno of it, either… If it ain’t Granny Shi gettin’ senile, what gives?”

[Assistant] Faced with Subaru’s question, Ram and Garfiel respectively shook their heads side to side. When Subaru looked, Otto was also shrugging, wholly at a loss, his state of confusion over the circumstances only deepening. But Subaru had a single idea that came to mind, though it was not one he particularly wanted to believe. "The Seven Deadly Sins are Pride, Jealousy, Wrath, Sloth, Greed, Gluttony, and Lust…but I’ve heard that in the past, it was different, and there were other Deadly Sins included with the ones currently recognized."

[User] “Where did you…? I suppose it is futile to ask… So what were these other Deadly Sins?”

[Assistant] “I’m…pretty sure they were Melancholy and Vanity, I think.” —Stripped out of the Seven Deadly Sins, Melancholy and Vanity could be called the “old” Deadly Sins. If this was related to the Melancholy that was connected to the Sanctuary’s past, then a Vanity might also exist.

[User] "However, this is not only vexing but a terrible thing indeed.” At that point, no one present had any room to doubt Subaru’s information, which came from uncertain origins.

[Assistant] “Is that not so?” Said Otto, at the top of the list of believers, surveying the various faces of those present. "Just by existing, the Witches of the Seven Deadly Sins left their mark upon history. And yet, there are Deadly Sins unrecorded in history? Furthermore, just from hearing of them, they seem to be brutal beings indeed. Something is definitely strange.”

[User] “In the first place, even the purpose behind the Sanctuary’s creation was hidden from Lady Ryuzu. In other words, the existence of Melancholy was deliberately erased. We do not know for what purpose, but…”

[Assistant] “Having people with good heads on their shoulders really speeds up the conversation…” Sighing in admiration at the speed of Otto’s and Ram’s respective thought processes, Subaru then looked at Shima. From the group’s conclusion and everything Subaru knew based on the current state of the Sanctuary, the story of what had occurred in the Sanctuary was—

[User] “—The whole thing is fake."


[User] "The duty assigned to Ryuzu, the process to give birth to replicas—it was all camouflage to cover up the countermeasures Echidna made to deal with Melancholy, huh?"

[Assistant] "—It would seem that Melancholy’s existence was something she had to go through such lengths to conceal.”

[User] “—! Granny!" Subaru announced his final conclusion.

[Assistant] Ram agrees, Ryuzu blanched and wobbled.

[User] Instantly, Garfiel supported her by her shoulders, gently sitting his grandmother down on the tomb’s stone steps.

[Assistant] "Sorry, poor way to say it. But I’m not sure how I should put it…"

[User] "No, it is fine. I have come to the same conclusion as you, Young Su… I am merely a little tired." Lowering her eyes, Ryuzu spoke in a heavy voice.

[Assistant] One could hardly blame her. Nor was there any reason to make her push herself. The duty she had continued believing in for her entire lifetime had been exposed as a complete fraud. Neither Subaru nor anyone else could imagine how bitter it was to know that.

[User] "Do you think it was all futile, Lady Ryuzu?"

[Assistant] Ram…?

[User] Amid that silence, Ram tossed her voice toward Ryuzu as the latter hung her head. Ram crossed her arms, glancing at Garfiel, who was right beside Ryuzu, with her usual penetrating gaze. "I am guessing you feel dejected from knowing that the duty you long believed in was a false one. However, Lady Ryuzu, was the time you spent in the Sanctuary that of duty alone?"

[User] "No matter how it may have begun, surely, it was not duty alone that spurred you on. At the very least, that’s how it was for Ram." It was a barbed way to console someone and a scolding way to be soft. It was very in character for Ram.

[Assistant] Ryuzu’s lips trembled slightly as she digested those words. Then she used her slender hand to grip Garfiel’s.

[User] Without a word, Garfiel held her hand in return. That was plenty. It was just as Ram had said. However it may have begun, false that it might have been, that did not need taint everything that happened thereafter. Ryuzu had firmly taken those words to heart.

[Assistant] And the more he thought about it, the more Subaru felt emotions of painful longing claw at his chest. "—Beatrice lost a friend, didn’t she?"

[User] Because Ryuzu Meyer was so timid and Beatrice was so obstinate, neither had made plain the friendship the pair felt for each other until the absolute, final moment. The tender love Ryuzu Meyer had left behind when she was enveloped by the magic crystal had probably eaten away at Beatrice’s heart like a curse, continuing to throb with the pain of a wound that would not heal. He finally understood why Beatrice had rejected Subaru and why it was her true and honest wish to be allowed to die. The wound in Beatrice’s heart from having lost her one and only friend had remained a scar ever since.


[User] —The four hundred years Beatrice had spent was a blank, with her empty hand still extended toward what she had lost.

[Assistant] “…Ryuzu, has Beatrice ever met you or the others?”

[User] “No, she has not. Lady Beatrice has not set foot upon this land ever since we replicas have been born. I, too, have always wondered: Is she not someone we should meet?” So spoke Shima, acting as a representative for the replicas.

[Assistant] Subaru partially concurred with her opinion.

[User] “That was Ryuzu Meyer’s final wish, right? That this place would become a Sanctuary, where everyone can smile…and she wanted Beatrice to be part of that.”

[Assistant] “I suppose so. That was not what happened, but…”

[User] “Certainly, four hundred years is a bit overdue…but it’s not too late, either.”

[Assistant] “—This time, I’ll smash her stopped time apart.” Subaru clenched his fist, thrusting it out as he spoke with firm resolve. A fire had been lit inside his chest. In the back of his eyes, he saw the light. Ahead of his arm was a girl he wanted to reach.

[User] “…I have been ever fearful that lifting the barrier might trample upon the wishes of our ancestor Ryuzu Meyer.” Hearing Subaru’s declaration, Shima slowly shook her head as she spoke.

[Assistant] “With the passage of time, eras change as well. There was a time when our brethren, once called Cursebloods, were driven to this place…but those of mixed blood have been treated better of late. I was deceiving myself, using my ancestor’s wish as an excuse.”

[User] “…I understand why you’re worried. This isn’t completely separate from the issue of blood, but there’s still discrimination based on outside appearance here and there. Even if you go outside the forest, you might have some bitter experiences. But.”

[Assistant] “When Emilia brings that about, the finished Sanctuary will begin again.


[User] “When everything is set right, anyone will be able to call the whole world a Sanctuary.” Emilia would spare no effort for that sake. He couldn’t speak firmly for all the other candidates, but he figured at least half of them were the sort of people to work for the greater good. It was Subaru’s role to support her from close by until someday, her ideals were extolled far and wide.

[Assistant] “A fantastic tale that is comfortable to the ear… They are fine-sounding words and nothing more.”

[User] “But me, I’m all in!”

[Assistant] When Shima loosened her lips, making that listless murmur,

[User] Garfiel vigorously pounded his chest. Smiling with a show of his sharp fangs, Garfiel nodded to Subaru, his face clear of all doubt.

[Assistant] “Don’t let it end with just words, General… Even if ya have to give the Princess…Lady Emilia a good kick in the butt!”

[User] “I won’t treat Emilia-tan’s cute butt roughly like that. But I get you.”

[Assistant] Shima seemed dazzled by the enthusiastic exchange between Garfiel and Subaru. “The whole world beyond this Sanctuary…will become a Sanctuary itself, you say?”

[User] “When that time comes, it’ll be a crying shame to stay cooped up in here. As for the people giving off those disbelieving looks, you can bet I’ll be right there with a smug look on my face telling them I was the first guy on board.”

[Assistant] “Fu, kuku. I see… No doubt you will.” Shima humored Subaru’s comedic manner of speaking with a smile. Judging from Shima’s expression, it seemed as if she had set down a heavy, long-carried burden—no, that was indeed fact. She had finally laid it to rest. And in setting down the heavy burden she had always carried alone, she could begin walking forward anew.

[User] “Looks like we’ll all be walking side by side going forward… Er, Shima?”

[Assistant] “…Oh, I have hit my operating time limit, nothing more. I’ve worked a little too hard for someone my age.” Wobbly, Shima made a flippant reply as Ram supported her frail frame. From Shima’s words and the sleepy way she hung her head, Subaru could tell she had certainly reached her limits. She’d reached the limit of a replica, relying on a faint supply of mana and being able to be active only at certain times. Talk of the past was over. They would let Shima sleep, her duty fulfilled. The rest had been entrusted to Subaru and the others.

[User] “Sorry to push you so much. But you told us the things I wanted to ask and more. Thank you.”

[Assistant] “—It’s in your hands, Young Su.” When Subaru thanked her, Shima offered only a vague reply. After that, she placed her weight on Ram as her consciousness gently let go. The next time she would awaken was likely the next day, after everything had been decided.


[User] "Yeah, those hopes from four hundred years ago are in my hands now… And they’re really heavy…" They were not something he could entrust to another and of course not something he could drop at his feet. He carried them in both arms, and if even that was insufficient, he’d beg and borrow other people’s hands.

[Assistant] "Either way, I want to let Shima rest… Ram, can I leave this to you?"

[User] "Garf’s run-down shack…or rather, Lady Shima’s hideaway is closest."

[Assistant] "Hey, if you’re headed there, then I can go with…"

[User] "Ahhh, please wait. Garfiel, it is too soon for you to push yourself. If you wish for Miss Ram to have an escort, let us ask Miss Ryuzu to do so."

[Assistant] "Ahnnn?" As Ram embraced Shima, Garfiel tried to volunteer his assistance when Otto stopped him.

[User] "I suppose so." Casually agreeing.

[Assistant] "If crude, rude Garf comes and interferes with Lady Shima’s rest, we would be putting the cart before the dragon. I would have a guilty conscience if I left insensitive, inconsiderate men at her side instead of Lady Ryuzu."

[User] "Yes, preci… Huh?! When you said men just now, did you include me as well?"

[Assistant] Ignoring Otto’s shout of disagreement, Ram took Shima and Ryuzu with her and left.

[User] "Hmm," cocking his head pensively as these three people with similarly colored hair departed.

[Assistant] "I imagine it is likely that Ram still suspects us."

[User] "Well, Ram’s intuition is real sharp, so it’s completely possible. But the fact that she let us go means…no, the fact that she cooperated with us in the first place means she’s on our side, I’m pretty sure?" Nodding deeply at Otto’s comment, Subaru bowed his head toward Ram’s already vanished back.

[Assistant] "Hey, don’t go leavin’ me in the dark! What gives? Explain already. If ya let stuff like this go, it’s just like Morglello’s Ten and One, damn it!" It was there that Garfiel, completely unable to keep up with the conversation, howled in a loud voice.

[User] "About that," said Subaru to the angry Garfiel, "you getting ticked off puts us in a bind, which is exactly why I wanted to keep that wild card Ram out of this. It doesn’t feel like that meant all that much, though… She’s probably hiding how run-down she is, too."

[Assistant] "Keep Ram out of this? Hey now, I still don’t understand what the heck you’re talkin’ about…"

[User] "—From this point, we shall be intruding upon Marquis Mathers’s abode, you see. With Garfiel’s two hands, and two people who are deadweight, I am sure we can manage somehow." As Garfiel fell silent while struggling to decide how he should react, Otto winked at him.

[Assistant] Glancing toward the pair, Subaru kept thinking about the tomb—and Emilia’s Trial. "Really gotta get back here before Emilia-tan comes all chest out and proud…"


[User] The tale now returns to the forest of a hundred years past, the time of the Trial that was being visited by a single girl.

[Assistant] "I am a member of the Witch Cult, the Archbishop of the Seven Deadly Sins who has been entrusted with Greed—Regulus Corneas." The boy introduced himself with a laugh, the quintessence of an anomaly.

[User] At a glance, the boy had assumed no discernible stance, instead looking full of openings. His eyes were filled with composure and conceit that would be nonexistent in a wary person. His face projected that he could not even conceive of the slightest harm being done to him. In peaceful times, or if he was inside a formidable fortress, there would be no problem with that whatsoever. However, the boy was an uninvited guest, and right in front of him was Fortuna, her enmity high and a grave look in her eyes. To maintain that posture even under such conditions blew right past composure into the surreal. But the man—Regulus—was anomalous in having forced others to accept his existence. And Emilia also remembered the title this man bore.

[Assistant] "An Archbishop of the Seven Deadly Sins from the Witch Cult…that’s like the people who attacked the mansion and Earlham Village…!"

[User] She’d heard that Archbishop of the Seven Deadly Sins was a title granted to the leaders commanding the Witch Cult—the group that had turned its enmity toward Roswaal Manor and Earlham Village, and thus, the trigger for the villagers taking refuge in the Sanctuary. The other thing she’d learned was that one of those Archbishops had been personally after Emilia and that another was a bitter foe responsible for Rem’s unnaturally long sleep.

[Assistant] "Why is a person like that in this forest…?"

[User] "—Archbishop Regulus Corneas! Why are you here? !" Geuse, standing in the forest of the past, shouted in a shrill voice the question Emilia also desperately wanted to ask. His expression was grave, as if he were a wholly different person than the one who had shown such benevolent love toward the young Emilia and Fortuna.

[Assistant] "I was promised that no one save me would involve themselves with this forest and this incident!"

[User] "Promised? That’s an arrangement you arbitrarily declared and started with an arbitrary decision, right? Quite a conceited little spirit, aren’t you, trying to push that onto other people and make them obey it. There are limits involving other people’s wills and thoughts, so would you stop intruding upon my mind and body already?"

[Assistant] "That is not an answer! If you do not like the arrangement, then you should have raised the issue at the church! Yet, you showed your face here! To start with, who told you about this pla…?"

[User] The angered Geuse and the sour Regulus seemed to be mutual acquaintances of some sort.


[User] But there was not a single shred of affection between them, nor did their conversation hold any hope of compromise. However—

[Assistant] "—That is because I instructed him to do so." A gentle, bell-like voice interrupts the heated exchange.

[User] A look of fright appeared in Geuse’s eyes.

[Assistant] Fortuna’s eyes were filled with anger.

[User] Inside her mother’s arms, young Emilia’s teary eyes became clouded.

[Assistant] Regulus’s lips curled into a vile, malevolent smile.

[User] And as she viewed the past, Emilia gasped in shock.

[Assistant] Echidna merely gaped.


[User] Slipping through gaps between the trees of the forest, the sight of a single girl appeared at that place. The girl came to a halt, lining up side by side with Regulus to face off against Emilia and the others. She was a girl with inhuman, terrifying beauty, enough to make those who set eyes upon her unable to stop themselves from trembling. Her long, seemingly transparent platinum hair gave off a soft glow like sunlight personified, creating a waterfall of light that traveled from her slender shoulders down her back. Her eyes, rimmed with long eyelashes, were deep blue, almost like they were trapping the world within. Altogether, her facial features were excessively lovely and seemed like the ideal image of “beauty” harbored by human beings. Her small body seemed so delicate that the thought of carrying her felt precarious. She was clad in but a single sheet of fabric, yet the very idea that anything was permitted to touch her bare flesh seemed unreal. If, truly for instance, it was possible to kill through beauty alone, it was such “beauty” she possessed.

[Assistant] "What is the matter, Archbishop Romanée-Conti?" The girl with looks that could kill inclined her head, posing that simple question.

[User] “Why…why are you here…Regulus Corneas?! Why have you brought her?! !” Geuse gritted his teeth, seemingly to reject the difficult-to-resist urges welling up within him.

[Assistant] “Are you saying I brought her here? Now, just hold on a minute; I resent people who arbitrarily decide those kinds of things. You know I despise coercing someone more than anything else, right? Her accompanying me is of her own volition. Do you have a grudge against me to make anything and everything my fault?” This blood-tinged rejection made Regulus snort with a thoroughly exasperated look on his face.

[User] "Archbishop Corneas, our friend seems confused. Do not be too hard on him.”

[Assistant] Regulus respectfully bowed, and the corners of his lips curled in enjoyment.


[User] Written or spoken words were no longer sufficient to describe the abnormality of the vile man. "This is… Is this not too cruel even for you, Lady Pandora…? !" Geuse’s voice, nearly out of breath.

[Assistant] The girl breaks into a thin smile. "Now, bring the Key and the seal here—so that the Witch Cult’s greatest desire may be fulfilled at last." She spread her slender hands, as if her dainty arms could embrace anything and everything.

[User] "Pandoraaaaaa—! !" Shielding young Emilia behind her back, Fortuna howls as she summons blue lights around her.

[Assistant] "I’ll make it up to Brother by turning you into a pincushion! !" As Pandora casually stood there, Fortuna mercilessly launched a magical barrage at her.

[User] "With this, you will be no more—! !" Furiously contorting her beautiful face, Fortuna cruelly brought the glimmering scene to an emphatic end. The forest sky parted, and a giant mass of ice fell, directly striking Pandora. The cold gravestone smashed into the earth.


[Assistant] They heard deeply resentful lines emanating from within the white haze. "Right now, you’re not even paying attention to me, are you? Yet, the fact is that despite this, you attempted to involve me in your attack regardless… What’s with that? That’s trampling on my life, my existence, my rights, and my very humanity, is it not?" The next moment, the fallen glacier broke apart. The sight of Regulus standing leisurely in the middle of that surreal scene of glimmering ice fragments was terrifyingly abnormal.

[User] Pandora, standing behind him unharmed, fixes her hair, askew from the wind.


[User] "When I consider this encounter is normally impossible, it is deeply interesting indeed.”

[Assistant] “…Echidna, do you know what happened just now?” Emilia posed the question to Echidna as the latter departed from the shade of the trees, shifting to a location from which it was easier to observe the battle.

[User] Echidna lifted the corners of her lips as she frowned at Emilia, who’d moved right beside her like it was the natural thing to do, but she immediately sighed and spoke. “I can hazard a guess, but I am far from certain. I would have liked to observe the situation a little longer before speculating about his Authority…but it would seem the circumstances will not permit it— They are on the move.”

[Assistant] Emilia felt vexed by how authoritatively Echidna seemed on everything they were watching but decided to focus her attention on the past.

[User] Fortuna gritted her teeth at her initial attack being fended off.

[Assistant] Geuse stretched an arm before her. “Lady Fortuna! Please take Lady Emilia and retreat from this place! At present, we are entirely too powerless against Regulus Corneas!”

[User] “No…! Are you telling me to back off with that woman in front of me? !”

[Assistant] “Please think of the situation! Who are you protecting right now?! !”

[User] “Urk…!” Geuse scolded Fortuna for her aggressive position.

[Assistant] “M-Mom…” Fortuna remembered that her beloved daughter, right behind her, was clinging to her clothes. Her comment made her open her eyes wide.

[User] “Emilia…”

[Assistant] Geuse spoke with a calm voice as Fortuna picked young Emilia up into her arms. “Please withdraw. And immediately seek aid from the settlement. I and the believers who came with me share a common wish. They will surely be of aid to you.”

[User] “But if we do that, what will become of you?”

[Assistant] “—Rest at ease. I do not intend to simply stay behind without a plan.” Countering Fortuna’s morose gaze, Geuse responded with a smile, even while tension oozed from every pore he had.

[User] “I will come back to save you— I will.” In response to that proudly smiling face, Fortuna closed her eyes tight, as if severing all reluctance asunder. Fortuna raced into the forest with young Emilia in her arms, leaving those words behind.

[Assistant] “Geuse—! !” Writhing within her mother’s arms, young Emilia desperately shouted toward the fast-receding Geuse.

[User] From there, Emilia receded deeper into the forest, from where she could see Geuse’s slender figure no more. That youthful, tender love brought a peaceful smile to Geuse’s face as he raised his hand.


[Assistant] In spite of that, the scene, which Emilia surely had no memory of, continued on. This threw her into confusion. “Geuse got separated from us… What’s going to happen to the Trial now? !”

[User] “Naturally, it will continue. This is a past you did not set eyes upon, but the book of knowledge is working to adjust the course of this replicated world. Considering this is a Trial, however, you should pursue your own self."


[User] "What will you do?" Replying to Emilia’s question, Echidna unexpectedly stated she should go after Fortuna. That option tempted Emilia’s heart. Of course, Emilia’s objective was to break past the Trial. She had no room to doubt that she should pursue her own past for that sake. However, this was where Geuse had fought so boldly, a battle for which he had put everything on the line so that Fortuna, and moreover, young Emilia could escape. Besides—

[Assistant] "Heh, you’re staying?"

[User] "Echidna, from how you spoke just now…it feels like you are saying there isn’t a particular reason to do so."

[User] "Perhaps I’m overthinking this, but it’s almost as if you want me to go that way…"

[Assistant] "—You are free to think as you please. Besides, even as you linger, events are already in motion." Echidna took a step back, putting some distance between them without replying to Emilia’s question. This was so that she might occupy a position with a commanding view of the battleground that the space had become.


[User] Hmm, putting on a decent show, aren’t you? But you know, who are you rejecting in allowing them to escape? Any way you think of it, my business is with them, not you. In other words, your interference is a violation of my actions, of my rights.” And as Geuse stood still in the battlefield that spread before the Witch’s eyes, the fiendish, white-haired man uttered a mocking laugh.

[Assistant] “Put it however you please, Regulus Corneas. I shall wager my very existence. I will not allow you to advance any farther toward them!”

[User] “Don’t say that. You might have been one of the founders of the Witch Cult, and you may have your seat because of a few past services you contributed, but if the question of who deserves it more was to come up now, that seat would be mine! Do you think you can beat me if you try hard enough? What kind of head do you have on those shoulders?”

[Assistant] “That…I will show you from this moment forward.” To Regulus, who was whipping himself into a frenzy with self-serving logic, Geuse gave a simple, quiet reply.

[User] "No… Geuse, what are you…? !" Geuse put his hand into his habit. Recognizing that his expression was that of a man resigned to death, Emilia instantly reached a hand out toward the past. But she had no way to interfere with a tale recounting a past already long over. The hand that had once held hers slipped away. Her outstretched hand stood untouched, unable to halt his determination.

[Assistant] "Hey, don’t tell me that you…!"

[User] Geuse had taken out of his habit a small black box. Setting eyes upon that little box, Regulus momentarily knit his brow, but he immediately gazed in astonishment as he realized just what it was. Geuse shot Regulus, all his initial composure fallen away, a look of determination.

[Assistant] “Surely, you feel it?


[User] "After all, this is something you, too, once held in your hands."

[Assistant] "I can tell what it is. It is because I


[User] "Huh—?" It was as if some angry child had grasped a doll by its feet before hurling it with all the force a child could muster. Sent flying, Regulus made it clear on his face he had no idea what had transpired as he flew past the tops of the trees, instantly reaching a zenith, and from there on, he precipitously fell toward the ground. Cast down as if his feet were still in a child’s grasp, there was nothing Regulus could do as he was slammed headfirst into the ground, kicking up a large cloud of smoke. With a roar and a tremor, the ground exploded, and one tree fell after another, caught up in Regulus’s point of impact. The man was crushed under the additional impact of the great trees, and silence befell the boisterous forest.

[Assistant] "—Ah." Emilia lost her voice as she desperately tried to piece back together the string of scenes that had just happened. —She hadn’t seen any of it. But there was a single thing she did understand. "It is aaaas…I told you." She saw the front of the man in the black habit kneeling on the ground, tears of blood flowing from his eyes. Glaring at the cloud of dust kicked up between the gaps in the trees, that single man—raggedly coughing at the victory he had won in exchange for all his resolve—rose to his feet, pulling away from the agony of the black something eating away at him. His breaths were shallow, his legs unsteady. However, his soul burned hot from the flames of unyielding determination.

[User] "Here lies hope…and the great, unforgettable debt of gratitude I owe to the people of this place…" Mixed with his blood-tinged coughs was a sense of solemn duty that seemed to claw at his mind even as he spoke. Over many years, his feelings must have grown and grown; just how deep they ran, none could see. None save the man himself, who gave himself over completely in service of that wish so that he might not forget what was dearest to him for even a single moment. "Those days, that bond, that wish…these, they gave, granted unto me. No matter how much time passes, I shall forget nothing… That is why, this moment, if I am still fit enough to cough blood…" Tears of blood flowed freely. His blood and flesh were at their limits, and the man heaved up a clump of blood as he stubbornly clung to blessings beyond his reach. His eye sockets were vivid crimson. Drenched in blood, his pupils were unfocused; even as he gazed straight ahead, it was doubtful whether he truly saw the world as it was.

[Assistant] "Just what do you see with those scarlet-hued eyes, Archbishop Romanée-Conti?"

[User] "—Love." Tears of blood flowed freely.


[User] When she paid no heed to this and posed her question, the man replied without hesitation.

[Assistant] “In this world, at this moment, it is likely me who loves you most.”

[User] Enraptured, Pandora made her confession with heated breath.

[Assistant] Those words made the man close his eyes but once, whereupon the man bared his fangs toward the woman who dared to act like she understood him most in the world.

[User] “You will not go after them. You…shall…not…pass! !” Crying tears of blood and having let a black something take up residence inside him, Geuse howled.

[Assistant] That ghastly sight combined with the solemn determination beyond anything she’d imagined sent a chill running up Emilia’s spine.


[User] "Geuse…what—? What have you done? What did you…?” What had he taken inside him? What was the power he had used to bury Regulus with a single blow?

[Assistant] It was as if something had happened that she could not see, and yet, Emilia had a feeling of déjà vu nonetheless.

[User] Somehow, it resembled the blow with which Subaru had settled his duel with Garfiel.

[Assistant] Watching Geuse as he panted and literally coughed up blood, Pandora remained aloof as she voiced her praise. "You have splendidly proven your resolve, Archbishop Petelgeuse Romanée-Conti."

[User] She hadn’t even batted an eye at the death of Regulus, who’d stood right at her side; her natural beauty had not been blemished in the slightest. "You, without qualified flesh, have done well to accept the Witch Factor into you. In the name of the Witch of Vanity, I hereby honor your resolve and resolute will by granting thee the seat of Sloth."

[Assistant] "Did you think I desiiired such a seat? This moment, I desire but a single thing without a shred of doubt…tranquility for that mother and daughter—! !" Thinking of Fortuna and Emilia, who had departed from the battlefield, Geuse poured the blood of his heart and his very life into his resolve to give the pair a chance to escape, thrusting both his arms toward Pandora.

[User] "Love. Such a marvelous thing…"

[Assistant] "It contains warmth that your falsehoods will never attain!” Geuse yelled as he turned his thoughts toward offense.

[User] The next moment, Emilia could sense an abnormal pressure materializing from thin air, but she could not see anything.

[Assistant] Nothing had happened. Nothing could have happened.

[User] "The forest is being torn away…? !" A wave of destruction spread, almost as if giant, transparent serpents were writhing all around Petelgeuse. Trees were mowed down, the earth was split, and clumps of dirt, flowers, and grass were scattered all about. In accordance with Geuse’s will, this gradually transformed from indiscriminate destruction into destruction of a more targeted kind.

[Assistant] The forest’s collapse, as if some giant were trampling upon it, thrust forward in a straight line toward Pandora, who was standing still. Accordingly, the destruction would proceed to transform Pandora’s little body into a cloud of blood—

[User] "Now, just a minute."

[User] "I came here. I am here. What is with this line of thinking, advancing the conversation while ignoring me? I think it’s time even someone as generous and unselfish as me should get a little…angry." Just before the invisible blow was to reach Pandora, a white figure intercepted the strike. The next moment, there was an explosion. The air rebounded, and the aftershock seemed to reshape the forest’s very topography.


[User] In spite of this, the young man bearing the brunt of that might from the front—the supposedly dead Regulus—made no move to retreat. His body displayed no wounds from events prior or even a single blemish. “You’re kidding…” Emilia could force herself to accept the fact that he had shrugged off Fortuna’s initial blow without a scratch.

[Assistant] If the gap in strength between two fighters was far enough apart, perhaps fending off ferocious, lethal attacks was indeed possible. But Geuse’s invisible attack was another matter entirely. Emilia had most certainly seen Regulus being slammed into the ground, unable to do a thing about it— Why wasn’t he wounded? He wasn’t even dirty. Regulus had some kind of trick that kept attacks—no, something preventing everyone from affecting him at all.

[User] “Regulus Corneas…! !”

[Assistant] “How unpleasant. You, the one who refuses to acknowledge the Witch Factor, ignored its cost and forced it into yourself, yes? Is this not showing contempt for we who rightly hold our seats? Does this not wound my tiny yet unshakable self-esteem?”

[User] “You may say it is futile, but I—!”

[Assistant] As Regulus spoke provocatively, his head violently snapped back from some invisible blow. But when Regulus returned his twisted neck to its previous position, once again his face showed no trace of the strike. The vile man merely grimaced in open displeasure, standing defenseless as he continued to be showered by Geuse’s attacks. Standing still and unguarded, he made no attempt to defend himself, yet even as his entire body sustained blow after blow, Regulus did not fall. The power Geuse had wagered some undefined thing to obtain was ineffective, yet he showed no sign of being daunted, either. Even if Geuse could not advance, he could slow his opponent down. He continued launching his attacks so as to pin Regulus in place.

[User] “—This is going nowhere. During this time of stalemate, there seem to be developments where ‘you’ have gone.”


[Assistant] The battle consisted of Geuse’s valiant onslaught and Regulus’s ruthless rebuff—as Emilia observed the fighting, Echidna spoke to her from behind. Her emotionless statement made Emilia raise her refined eyebrows and grit her teeth.

[User] “Are you telling me to leave this place? Even though Geuse is fighting with everything he’s got? !”

[Assistant] “There is room for me to argue that the strength of one’s feelings bears no effect upon the results, but unfortunately, I have no intention of debating that with you. I have little interest in bullying the weak, and I find your voice extremely unpleasant.”

[User] “Then why don’t you just shut up and watch?! I…!” —She wanted to remain in that place and watch over Geuse.

[Assistant] “—!” When she tried to speak those words, Emilia froze, stopped by none other than her own heart. Instantly reaching her hand up, she touched the cracked crystal at her neck. The sensation reminded Emilia of her objective. Emilia had come to challenge the Trial and to come to terms with her regrets about the past.


[User] Perhaps this moment was her one and only chance to watch Geuse’s battle until its conclusion. But she would be betraying both Subaru, who had seen her off at the tomb’s entrance, and Geuse, who was sacrificing everything to let young Emilia and Fortuna escape. There was a past beyond Geuse’s valiant struggle, a true past that Emilia had forgotten.

[Assistant] "—Surely, even your deficient mind can understand which course is wiser."

[User] “…I think you were right after all. Let’s go after Mom and me. Geuse is…”

[Assistant] "This is a battle between two Archbishops of the Seven Deadly Sins. The scales shall not be so easily tipped. That said, if the remaining person became involved, that would be a different story…but it is inconceivable that she would join in."

[User] Emilia had lingering regrets as Geuse’s one-sided offensive against Regulus increased in ferocity before her eyes. His tears of blood continued, and blood also flowed out from Geuse’s nostrils and the corner of his mouth. The more that something infringed on the inside of his body, the more the force and the accuracy of the invisible destruction rose by leaps and bounds. But in contrast, Regulus’s inexplicable defensive might was unwavering. It was a total stalemate.

[Assistant] "Haaa…" Then just as Echidna had pointed out, she noticed how enraptured Pandora was while watching the fighting continue; she did not show even a smidgeon of intent to join in the battle. The abnormality of the scene made Emilia feel a shudder.

[User] "Echidna?"

[Assistant] "—. Let us switch locations and go after you and your mother. They were fleeing into the forest, yes?" For a moment, something else seemed to have captured Echidna’s attention. However, it was truly momentary.

[User] Echidna snapped her fingers right before Emilia’s eyes. The next instant, Emilia’s vision swam, and the scene shifted.


[Assistant] Then, as they were split off from the battlefield of such fierce combat, the first thing that reached Emilia was—

[User] "No! Mom, no! Please don’t leave me! !" Hearing the high-pitched, tearful voice of a child, Emilia reflexively turned around. Right before her, Emilia saw a familiar, great tree—and in front of the door that led to the Princess Room, Fortuna was trying to get the sobbing young Emilia to listen to her.

[Assistant] "I’m begging you, do as I say, Emilia. It’s all right; very soon…yes, very soon, everything will be over, and I’ll come back for you. So please, just for a little while, stay here and hide."

[User] "No! Absolutely not! Mom, you have the same face as Geuse! Why do you look like you’re not coming back?! Wh-what are you going to…leave me here for…?! ?" Using the entirety of her tiny being, Emilia desperately clung to her mother so she wouldn’t slip away. Considering that she was a young child, shrugging her off should have been a simple thing. Even so, Fortuna could not bring herself to be callous to her own daughter.


[User] Fortuna was Emilia’s mother. That was why she could not simply cast aside her tearful daughter’s hand.

[Assistant] "Don’t leave me! Let me go with you! I won’t lie anymore! I won’t break any more promises!! I’ll be a good girl! I’ll be a good girl, so…please don’t leave me…!"

[User] "Emilia… Emilia, Emilia, Emilia…!" Wanting to stay with her mother no matter what it took, Emilia offered up everything she could think of. Her voice made Fortuna spontaneously hold her daughter tight. Had she not done so, Emilia would have seen the state her face was in —her daughter would have seen her mother sobbing a flood of tears.

[Assistant] "Mom…" And so with clear eyes, the Emilia of the present beheld the scene that young Emilia could not.


[User] "Mom…you’re my real mother…"

[Assistant] "Mom…I love you…!"

[User] "—Lady Fortuna! And Emilia, too!" The voice made Fortuna vigorously wipe her tears away and rise to see who was there. It was Archi, the young man with swaying triple braids. Nervousness rested in his green eyes, but the sight of Fortuna and Emilia together made him say, "I’m so glad," visibly relieved.

[Assistant] "Archi! The forest… Is everyone in the settlement safe?!"

[User] "—. No, I am sad to say. Those who came with Lord Archbishop are engaged in combat with a group of men!" No doubt Archi noticed the traces of Fortuna’s tears, but he did not press the issue, prioritizing his report.

[Assistant] "Emilia, there is no need to be so afraid. It’s all right. Believe in me and everyone in the settlement. Plus your mother is a very strong and scary person." In an attempt to comfort the young girl, Archi reassured her.

[User] "O-okay…"

[Assistant] "Archi, scary is excessive."


[User] "Goodness…” Archi smiled at Emilia.

[Assistant] Fortuna indignantly crossed her arms at Archi’s words. Having regained a portion of her usual composure, Fortuna exhaled sharply at Archi’s show of consideration. “I suppose that even if I return Emilia to her room, it won’t keep her hidden for long…”

[User] “It pains me to say it, but if she is in this forest, they will eventually find her. Their objective…”

[Assistant] “—Is the seal, I imagine. I don’t know how they heard of it, but even that woman came crawling out…” Fortuna’s anger toward the assailants—in particular, Pandora—was incredible. Something must have happened between them to cause Fortuna to lose her calm like that. Even if that was not the case, combat was breaking out in every corner of the forest. Emilia’s homeland had already been turned into a battlefield. “Fine. At any rate, I’m heading out. I have the greatest fighting ability of anyone in the forest, so this is not the time to dawdle in a place like this.”

[User] “No! We will fight! Lady Fortuna, please take Emilia out of the forest!”

[Assistant] “If we run from here, what then? All that will accomplish is allowing this peaceful land to be stolen. If we lose, it means the seal will fall into their hands. This time, the world will be destroyed!”

[User] When Archi tried to get her to reconsider, Fortuna silenced him with an even stronger tone of voice. After that, seemingly embarrassed by her angry retort, he added, “I am sorry.”

[Assistant] “You resent me, don’t you? You should never have been caught up in all this. All because you took Emilia and me in… This is a hardship you never needed.”

[User] “—!! No one— There isn’t a single person among us who thinks that way! !”

[Assistant] “Archi…”

[User] Archi met Fortuna’s regretful voice with a fierce retort, as if that was the only thing he could not allow her to say. Archi was indignant, his face red up to the tips of his long, pointy ears, a trait distinctive of the elves. “Please stop treating us like strangers! It’s true that compared to our long life spans, the time we spent here may seem as brief as the blink of an eye! But—but even so, have you forgotten the time we have spent together in this forest? !” “”

[Assistant] “Who could think of you…of family as unwanted?! You, your older brother, and… Do not make us out to be ingrates who would forget the debt of gratitude we owe to Emilia’s mother!” Archi’s emotions exploded, his voice tearful and pleading. The young elf, still a boy at heart, went down on his knees, sniffing as he gazed at Fortuna. His face left Fortuna wide-eyed.

[User] “I’m sorry—I came very close to once again rejecting my family.”

[Assistant] “Lady Fortuna… I—I said too much…”

[User] “No, you helped me remember something very important. I have always disappointed those who love me. Even though I have regretted it many times, I forget again soon after."


[User] Shaking her head to the kneeling Archi, Fortuna slowly went down on one knee before Emilia. "Emilia, listen carefully. Mom has a duty to protect everyone. It’s very important. That’s why I’ll be away, just for a tiny bit."

[Assistant] "N…no, Mom. I—I…!"

[User] "Please. Do as I say, just for a little while. I want you to go with Archi and head outside the forest. This forest…is really dangerous, so please." Fortuna spoke to Emilia, who shook her head with teary eyes, then looked back to Archi.

[Assistant] Seeing the resolve resting in those violet eyes, Archi felt his slender body stiffen. "L-Lady Fortuna… I—!"

[User] "Archi…it is a little soon, but I entrust the duty of Guardian to you. Please take Emilia with you out of the forest. It is a difficult world to live in, but surely, there is hope. I know there is. So…"

[Assistant] "Please don’t speak as if this is the end! I’ll stand with you and everyone until the very…"

[User] "Take care of Emilia. For my brother, my sister-in-law, and me, she’s our precious, irreplaceable daughter." Fortuna spoke in a frail, fleeting voice, so removed from her usual strong and sublime self.

[Assistant] Hearing Fortuna, both as a mother and as a woman, brought Archi to tears. He sobbed, covering his face with both hands. "That’s low…! You know that if you say it that way, there’s no way I can refuse… I—I want to fight with everyone, too…! Yet…!"

[User] "I’m sorry, forcing so many burdens onto you children like this. Forgive us for being so unfair." Placing a hand on the crying young man’s shoulder, Fortuna painfully asked for his forgiveness.

[Assistant] Archi said nothing, but his unceasing tears were proof that he had already accepted her request.

[User] "Emilia."

[Assistant] "No!! Mom, I wanna be with you! Please! Pretty please! I’m asking nicely! Please let me be with you!! I don’t want… I don’t want to be alone! !"

[User] "You’re not alone at all. Listen to me." Weeping and wailing, Emilia covered her ears, trying to block out her mother’s parting words. Seeing this made the Emilia of the present want to go and pinch her younger self on the cheeks. It was not that she wanted to scold her unwillingness to listen. It was because she wanted to convey that all the words Fortuna was saying, every word and every phrase, were things the girl absolutely had to remember.

[Assistant] "Emilia." Fortuna bent down low, gently embracing Emilia and pulling her close. She grabbed Emilia’s arms, though the girl was desperately trying to cover her own ears, and nestled her head in her daughter’s silver hair. Then she brought their faces close, rubbing cheek to cheek with a gentle touch, as if she was taking care to not damage a thing more precious than anything else in all of existence. "Mom is always by your side. When you close your eyes, I’ll be there, inside your memories. When you hug yourself, I’ll be the warmth inside your chest.


[User] "When you call, I will be the echo under the sky. Mom is with you. Always, always, forever and ever, together.”

[Assistant] “Liar. Liar. Liar. Liar… Mom, you liar…!”

[User] “Emilia—I promise.” Emilia refused all her mother’s reassurances, but that last word made her breath catch.

[Assistant] Her smiling mother offered a palm right in front of her, seemingly drawing in Emilia’s palm until they finally touched. "Mom and Emilia will always be together. I promise you.”

[User] “W-we’ll really…be together…?”

[Assistant] “Yes, really. Emilia… Lia, Mom really loves you, more than anyone in this world.”

[User] The gentle voice with which she called her Lia made Emilia, and Emilia’s emotions, fall apart. Sobs spilled out, and the two Emilias, past and present, collapsed into tears on the spot.

[Assistant] “Mom… I—I love you, too… I love… I love…! !”

[User] “I love you. I love you, Mom. I really love you so much…” Present and past, the two Emilias’ emotions overlapped, desperately trying to return those feelings of love. They strained their voices as much as their bodies would let them, as if they knew that if they failed to pour it all out now, if they didn’t share with their mother everything they felt, they would never have another chance.

[Assistant] “—Lia, I love you.” Fortuna gently touched her hot lips to her daughter’s cheek, eyelid, and brow. They touched. They embraced. At that late stage, Fortuna did so to display her motherly love—this was the only moment Fortuna allowed herself to be Emilia’s mother.

[User] “…Archi, please.”

[Assistant] “—Yes. I understand.” Having expressed her undying love to her beloved daughter with all her being, Fortuna stood up and addressed Archi. The tearful young man accepted Emilia from Fortuna, firmly holding that tiny body in his arms as he deeply bowed his head.

[User] “You will probably get away safely…”

[Assistant] “Yes……I understand! Emilia…this girl will absolutely not be harmed by anyone!” As Archi shouted it like a vow, Fortuna relaxed, her relief visible on her face.

[User] After that, she pointed in the direction that led outside the forest. "Please. Go.” Archi, who no longer had words left to speak, broke into a run in the direction Fortuna pointed. Held tight by the young man racing through the woods, Emilia looked back over his shoulder one last time— She looked at her receding mother, raising an incoherent voice. That voice made the sharp look in Fortuna’s eyes truly soften gently.

[Assistant] “—I love you, Emilia.”


[User] Held by Archi, Emilia desperately gazed in the direction of her mother, who was no longer in view. Perhaps if she kept staring over there, the sight of her unseen mother might pop out somewhere without warning. Perhaps her mother was chasing after her. Those were the hopes she clung to.

[Assistant] “Emilia…!” The little girl’s earnest hopes reached even Archi as he clutched her tiny body. What could anyone say to a little girl who’d been separated from her beloved mother? No one had a good answer to that.

[User] “Why…why…?! Why did it end up like…this…?"


[User] “I-is it because I broke my promise…because I left the room…?”

[Assistant] “No. You’re wrong, Emilia. Emilia, it’s not your fault! It’s not Lady Fortuna’s fault; it’s not anyone’s fault! There’s no reason for you to blame yourself!”

[User] “Then why…? Why are they leaving me…? Mom, Geuse… Is—is it because they hate me…because I did all kinds of bad things…?” Emilia looked back on her own actions, trying to find some way she was responsible, the reason why everything had gone so badly.

[Assistant] “Would it be better if I’d been alone…alone locked in that room the whole time? If I’d done that, could I have been with everyone…not losing anyone…?”

[User] “Emilia…!”

[Assistant] “Was I a bad girl…? Is that why everyone hates me…why I’ll be alone?”

[User] “You’re wrong… You’re wrong, Emilia. No one— No one hates you at all. This world doesn’t exist to make you suffer. This world, and everyone in it, is here to make you happy…!” Archi desperately tried to get through to her.