Getting up to his feet, Subaru brushed the dirt off as he took a look to his newfound companion.

"Couldn't you just explain what you're going to do instead of just shoving it up people's faces?!"

"But it's more fun if it's unexpected, right? Fufufu…."

'This witch ghka!' was what Subaru wanted to say but if he did that there would be no end to that conversation. As usual in her black dress and wearing the same as ever uncanny smile, Echidna stood beside Subaru within a forest.

"Where are we?"

Subaru examined their surroundings as he followed Echidna who had started walking. A calm wind brushed the high tree leaves against each other. He heard a lot of streams, so this was somewhere full of rivers. They at least didn't have to worry about a water source in the middle of nowhere. Though drinking from rivers would be dangerous. He'd rather not have parasites roam around his brain later on. They'd have to pass it through a cloth or something and then boil it; gross.

Echidna put a finger onto her lip as she pondered.

"Judging by these trees, we're near one of Lugunia's borders. But that's not the only question you should ask; Rather, 'what time is it right now?'"

"Huh? What do you mean? It's evening I guess…"

Dark clouds covered the sky, and no apparent trace of sun could Subaru's eyes find. Echidna ignored Subaru's obliviousness.

"Depending on the answer, we could be running into a dragon or a witch or a monster of some unknown kind."

Oh, that's what she meant. Not only they didn't know where they were thrown to, but also what time, or rather what age it was. Present, past or future? And if it was something other than the present, how distant was it?

"Witch? But I thought they were your friends…"

"Perhaps, but my being their friend wouldn't help you much. That's not what I meant though."

"…"

"We may have been the last witches, but not the only ones. Witch factors transform from one host to another. I might be strong compared to average people, but it's not much when it's against my fellow witches. Going against those of the past is only a gamble"

Great. But if it was something from the past then Echidna might know something about it. They weren't going in completely empty-handed. It was the future that concerned Subaru.

"You said your book contains basically everything, right? So you know something about the future…"

"I might want to know anything and everything, but using a book as such to achieve it takes away that excitement the process of acquiring the knowledge brings."

Even though the things she said were of concern, her smile was still on her face. A good combo with her white eyebrows and pitch black eyes.

"Echidna, something was on the back of my mind since we came here… unlike the castle, it feels more real. The scratches hurt and I can feel the cold my skin. And with what you just said it became more concerning. What will happen to us if we die here?"

Echidna stopped in her tracks and turn around to look at Subaru.

"Since this is a perfect simulation of reality, we are as we would've been in the outside world. If one were to die here, they'd really die. I could change that if I wanted to …"

"But if you did that, then it'll become dull, is that what you want to say?"

She basically didn't want to be spoiled about the story, and didn't like cheats either, that type of player.

"You know me too well!"

"Tsk"

A perfect simulation… then perhaps he still had Return by Death. Only 'perhaps' though.

'I shouldn't rely on it, and go around assuming that it'll just work because a book is supposedly filled with all the information in the world. Just act like you would if it wasn't there, Natsuki Subaru. Yeah, right, just do that."

They continued to walk through the forest. Subaru followed Echidna since she seemed to know what she was doing but she was walking slow, too slow.

"Dragon you say… this place I'm in is turning into a real fantasy world little by little."

Though if there was anything he had learned from this world, hearing news like that shouldn't make someone happy at all.

"We're here."

Echidna stopped walking and Subaru followed her. A few dozens of meters away a village lied in front of them. Though, it seemed too quite without any motion.

"What's with the smell in the air?"

It was an unpleasant smell, though Subaru couldn't quite tell its exact nature. It smelled like a mixture of iron and something burned… ominous.

"We have to hurry!"

"Hey wh-where are you going all of a sudden! You don't expect a maiden as fragile as flower to run in that speed, right? Hey at least wait for me!"

Subaru ran as fast as he could without paying Echidna's words any heed. He didn't have time to spend on such matters. This smell, was one that he had became familiar with a few days ago. When-

"Ah…"

Seeing the running Subaru who was approaching them, the murder of crows flew away. Subaru fell onto his knees and vomited. There was a short hillock of corpses piled on top of each other. All were full of massive holes, the inner parts of which were burned and so not a lot of blood had leaked out. The bodies weren't rotten and the blood hadn't dried, an indication of the time that had passed since their death. Or rather, their murder.

Subaru got up to his feet and cleaned away the vomit trail on his mouth with the back of his sleeve. It was just like when the witch cult raided Arlarm. The one who had done this massacre didn't even have the decency to burry the corpses.

"A grave tragedy indeed."

"Echidna."

She stood a few meters behind Subaru and examined the pile of corpses from afar off without getting too close.

"What could have done this…"

"The holes in the body are definitely caused by a small yet fast projectile."

"Projectile…"

"They were infused with yang magic. That's my guess. And the burns in the bodies confirm it."

Except for the cold breeze clashing against the hard of the walls of the wooden houses, the village was almost certainly quite. It was to be expected from a place that had lost all of its inhabitants. Even so-

"Echidna, I can hear the sound of someone breathing"

He didn't know from where, but it was there if one paid close attention. In one of the houses, someone was breathing loud enough for Echidna and Subaru to hear it. Was it one of the survivors?

"Perhaps it's the culprit?"

"No… that voice, is the voice of someone that's on the verge of tears."

Putting a hand to his ear to sharpen his hearing, Subaru followed the voice until he reached house. The door was left open, the ones who left the house hadn't cared enough to close it. Subaru slowly walked in so that he didn't scare anyone inside. There was someone, but they didn't bother to acknowledge Subaru who had entered.

"It's a child, Echidna… we shouldn't leave her here just like that"

Subaru came out of the house and spoke to Echidna who hadn't bothered to get close.

"We can't bring her with ourselves. If someone got too close to me, they'd experience the effects of my miasma. Vomiting, or even death."

"But I-"

"There are a few individuals who're an exception. You're an anomaly. The best course of action is to get some supplies and leave this village."

She wasn't smiling, but her expression wasn't concerned or sorrowful. She wore a calm and apathetic face.

"How can you say that with a face like this?! You say it's a tragedy, but I don't see any reflection of that on your face, as if it doesn't matter to you that something like this has just happened and you witnessed it!"

"It's a tragedy but ultimately, unlike me and you, they're not real people, are they?"

"-hrk!"

"Neither is that little girl. It's a perfect simulation of reality. Nevertheless a simulation. Your reaction is normal and expected but you should remind yourself of that fact every once in a while."

"R-right."

Without continuing the conversation any further, Subaru checked the houses of the dead villages one by one to find some containers and food to put it in them for their journey ahead. There didn't seem to be any cities nearby, so they probably had to walk on foot for a few days. Subaru could still hear the breaths of that lonely girl, even though he was far away from the house she was in. Was it in his head? Each time he heard that voice, he repeated what Echidna told him in his mind, but that didn't stop it.

Putting her fingers to the edge of the one of the containers, Echidna froze the inner surface.

"So it's like a refrigerator, but wouldn't the ice melt and …?"

"This is ice is not from water, but frozen mana. It should last for a few days and won't affect the food once it evaporates."

Binding the containers together with a rope he found in one of the houses, Subaru placed them to his back in order to carry them. They walked towards the north as they had nothing to do in this village anymore. However, he stopped as they were about to live.

"Echidna"

"…"

"When that little girl's hunger eats away at her stomach or thirst dries her throat, she'll come out of that house looking for food and water. And when she does it, she'll see that pile of corpses. And she'll definitely see the faces of her parents and siblings between those bodies. No one else is there beside her, and when that happens she'll be alone, all by herself. You're right that they aren't real people but, from that little girl's perspective she and her family are real just as you and I are. I don't know about you, but I absolutely can't allow something like this to happen to that kid."

To the world, what happens wouldn't hold the same weight as it would if it happened in the outside. Maybe Echidna was the logical one, but Natsuki Subaru knew that if he allowed it in here, there would be no guaranty he won't allow it to happen in the world outside.

"Where are you going?"

"Inside the forest I heard the sound of streams. I'll fill this bottle and come back."

Closing her eyes and sighing at Subaru, Echidna held out her hand towards the bottle and after a moment, water started to form.

"Echidna?"

"That won't be necessary."

"H-hey there!"

Hearing his voice, the little girl breaths ceased and her eyes widened. But when her eyes fell on Subaru, confusion took over her face.

"I'm Natsuki Subaru."

After a few seconds, she managed to answer.

"… Amue"

Subaru knelt to speak to her.

"I wanted to pull that coin trick but you're a little too late. Amue, this is filled with food. It's basically a mini-refrigerator but I don't know whether if you have that word here not. It basically keeps the foods fresh for a few days. And this is a large bottle of water. Both should be enough, for a couple of days at least."

"…"

"There's probably some glasses and utensils here, right? You don't need me to find you one. Anyway, unfortunately I can't take you to a city or something like that because of some special circumstances. But someone helpful will come here eventually. I'm sure of it."

"…"

"Farewell"

"..."
Natsuki Subaru? Wasn't that the name which-