Watching Arc 4 in The Theater of Despair

by Ostap Bender99

This fanfic is a prequel to the work "The Secret" by Continuer123. The cast is still trapped in an enchanted theater by the enigmatic "Warden". And now they are about to see the trials of Natsuki Subaru that took place in Sanctuary. P.S. - this work is a translation of the finished fanfic.

13. Episode 12

Took longer that we first anticipated, but you know — reality & stuff.

But don't fret! I can assure you that as long as I'm alive and have an internet, I won't drop this fic until I finish its translation.)

Thanks to 'Launciel' for beta reading the chapter.

And kudos to 'Cake' for providing the transcript of the next episode. Perhaps the next one won't take so long.

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Waking up inside the tomb for the umpteenth time, Subaru first checked to see if his eye was in place. Breathing out a sigh of relief, he looked at Emilia. Putting his finger to his lips, he recalled the last sensations before his death. The feeling of someone else's lips touching him.

Seeing these images, Felix felt a painful pang of guilt for his joke after the Whale hunt, which destroyed the romantic moment between Subaru and Rem. How the hell could he even imagine what nightmare the black-haired guy had to go through to get to this romantic scene?! How could he even consider that because of a simple joke, Subaru's first kiss did not happen at the moment of his triumph over the legendary monster with a girl who fought alongside him?! Instead, the first time Subaru locked lips with a girl, he was on the verge of death, having lost everything, losing blood from numerous lacerations, while his beloved was reduced to a deranged state.

Emilia was still sitting silently, trying to collect her thoughts after the end of the 'kiss of death' scene. Now she had proof this terrifying moment was preserved in her knight's memory. This made her wonder, what was Subaru thinking when he was preparing to kiss her in the tomb before the Trial?

"Of course… It was stupid of me to hope that at least this part would remain outside his memory! I'm starting to believe that our world really hates my big bro!" Felt grumbled, worried about how her friend's relationship with big sis would develop now.

"With each episode, I become more and more convinced that I was right about the request I asked of Sir Felix." Emilia said sullenly.

"You're afraid Betty's Subaru won't want to kiss you after that, I suppose?" Beatrice asked.

"No. I don't want him to remember that his first kiss he got from a delirious lunatic, while being practically a corpse." The half-elf replied coldly.

She will ensure that her Subaru will not suffer from these nightmarish images. Let her be the one of two to have the memory that their first kiss was desecrated by death. Subaru deserved only happy moments, and it will be her duty to make sure that from now on her knight does not face any new horrors.

"I agree, in fact. Betty regrets that she does not have the necessary magic to rid her contractor's memory of such moments." The spirit girl did not argue with this.

"I was thinking, what if Subaru-kun wouldn't want to erase these moments from his memory?" Rem suddenly voiced her thoughts. "Of course, they are painful and terrifying, but they are still his memories. This is his memory and proof of what Subaru-kun went through to achieve success. Will he agree to part with them?"

"If you had ever seen him screaming in horror and scratching his stomach until it bled when he sees a dream about rabbits, then you wouldn't even have such a thought, girl!" Beatrice replied harshly, casting a displeased glance at the maid.

"Don't get me wrong, Beatrice-sama. Personally, I would be happy if we manage to erase every trace of his horrific experiences. What bothers me is if Subaru-kun himself will agree to this. Remember how he was distraught by the loss of the first few loops in the mansion?"

"In any case, even if we manage to develop a working method for suppressing such memories, we will have to ask Subaru-kyun to recall each painful episode separately for each session. Therefore, if he does not want to forget some important detail, then we simply won't be able to do anything. Right now, this question is purely academic." Felix decided to remind the disputing girls.

"If I'm not at her side…then that happens. I don't want to…make her sad…" He muttered softly.

"Emilia, how are you?" he woke up the princess.

'I will save Emilia, the Sanctuary, the mansion. I won't let anyone die! I'll die, but I will not let them down!' The young man's confident thoughts sounded against the background of the night view of the tomb.

"I am glad that even after all that Subaru-kun has been through, he does not want to give up, but I am seriously worried about how he will continue to treat himself and his life from now on." Rem said, anxious about how many more unsuccessful attempts awaited her hero ahead.

The number of threats that needed to be overcome was even greater than last time. Elsa herself might not be as dangerous as Betelgeuse, but Rem could no longer be there to help and support him. What's worse, her hero was forced to act alone because of Garfiel's suspicions, and because of his own fears of losing someone. Most importantly, the main culprit knew about Subaru's ability, and deliberately set traps in such a way as to neutralize his only advantage. It was hard to imagine a more hopeless situation.

Footage of the conversation at Emilia's house from previous attempts began to repeat on the screen. Natsuki's thoughts were on their background.

'The main problem is the Roswaal. He knew that I was rolling back time, but he didn't understand I had to die to do it. Roswaal clearly follows the instructions of the Book of Wisdom and does not allow events to deviate from them. He even takes advantage of the fact I'm remaking the future. Why is he acting so desperate?'

'No way…' he thought, remembering the magician's last words: 'And then you can become like me.'

"You know, I don't even care what the clown said about not being a cultist. Just how crazy one must be to voluntarily make oneself a snack for a mabeast?! Even if he knew that the big bro would return to the past!" Felt said firmly.

When she saw it for the first time, she was too angry and afraid for Subaru's fate to pay attention to the magician's death.

"I agree. He went to his death without any doubt only because it was said so in a book that is not much different from the teachings that he follows without any doubt. If this is not a sign of a cultist, then I do not know what is!" The duchess nodded.

Looking with affectionate eyes at the sleeping Emilia, he firmly decided:

'I'm not going to be like you. Never.'

"As you can plainly see, you never had a chance to win Betty's Subaru over to your side, Roswaal." Beatrice grinned, without even turning her head in the direction of the magician.

"What Subaru-dono does not lack is firmness of spirit and determination! If he has decided to save everyone who is dear to him, then no obstacles will stand in front of him!" Wilhelm added confidently.

"He has plenty of determination, no doubt, but just as gold does not turn into goods by itself, so firmness of spirit does not turn into a fighting force. Namely, he himself is deprived of it. He needs strong fighters to overcome these difficulties." Anastasia noted thoughtfully.

"And he'll get dat power as soon as he finds a way to get my amazin' self on his side, and then everythin' will be cool!" Garfiel declared fervently.

The scene changed, showing Subaru approaching the entrance of Echidna's tomb.

'Didn't he go to the tomb again that night? Could it be that we are close to the right loop?' Otto mused, noticing a familiar detail, but not daring to believe in what he wanted ahead of time.

He was afraid that if he reassured the others ahead of time with his assumption, and later it turned out that this was another failed loop… Everyone was already too exhausted by the latest episodes to be tortured with false hopes.

"Can I rely on you again? There are a lot of things I need to know and consult about!

When he entered the Trial room, he knelt down.

"Call me again, Echidna! Take my life if you have to. I will dutifully do whatever you want! Please, Echidna! Let me in…

"He went to meet the Witch again…" Garfiel said with displeasure.

"Who else could he turn to for help, I suppose? He needs knowledge and help, and he has already used up all obvious options. It hurts Betty to admit it, but, as he is now, he won't be able to convince Betty to become an ally, in fact. There simply won't be enough time before the Bowel Hunter attacks." Beatrice added sadly, feeling a nasty sense of her own uselessness again.

"The way he pleads to the witch sounds like he's ready to become her servant! That's a very dangerous offer!" Anastasia said tensely.

"The kid is close to despair. He seeks help wherever he can find it. In this state, whatever the witch demands of him as a price, he will most likely agree in order to save his close ones." Ricardo replied in a serious tone.

"I understand it, but such a state only makes him more vulnerable to manipulation. I'm ready to make a bet that it's a part of the margrave's plan. To break the boy and then make a demand to become obedient in exchange for help, basically making him a slave! " The merchant princess replied passionately with dangerous fire in her eyes, directed at the mage.

Before he could finish, a new Trial began, and he lost consciousness.

"Behold the unthinkable present." His own voice sounded in his head.

"The unthinkable present?" Rem didn't understand.

"The first Trial revolved around a person's past and tested their ability to accept it." Emilia began to explain aloud. "In the second, Echidna showed me what my life could have been if Regulus and Pandora had not attacked our village."

"So, this second Trial answers the question 'what if life had turned out differently', I suppose." Beatrice understood her.

"Exactly! I was shown wonderful pictures of how I lived peacefully in the Elior forest with Juice and Mother Fortuna. It was most enjoyable. I re-e-eally wanted to stay there longer! Apparently, the Trial's goal was to see if the person will succumb to the temptations of the Trial or deny them and choose real life. I passed it the first time, refusing to accept this illusion and selecting the life I had. The one in which I have Subaru and everyone else by my side."

"At least we can count on Subaru to be shown some nice images. Maybe this will calm him down a little. I just hope he won't prefer the illusory world to the real one…" Crusch concluded with some apprehension in her voice.

"I won't blame my big bro if he decides to stay in a fake but happy world. Considering how much he's been through in just a couple of weeks." Felt remarked sadly, leaning her head on Reinhard's shoulder.

"I wonder what the mini-boss will see in his ideal world?"

"Knowing Barusu's boundless lust, I am sure that in it, he will lay his wanton hands on both Emilia-sama and my unfortunate sister!" Ram said ruthlessly.

But deep down, she hoped that such an illusion would give the young man at least some peace of mind. In the maid's eyes he deserved to see a little fantasy about happiness.

"I'm eager to see what will make you more angry? If in his fantasy you end up being a part of his harem? Or if not?" Al asked the pink maid scurrilously.

"Kindly go and die of indigestion!" There was an immediate response from her.

"Judging by the speed of the response, definitely the second one!" Ricardo laughed.

"Let's get on with it!" The Finest knight asked them to be silent.

Julius also wanted to see what kind of illusion of an ideal world his friend would see? How does he see an ideal life? And is there a place in this life for Julius as a friend?

Meanwhile, sounds came from the dark screen:

"ar… Liar…"

"That's the princess' voice!" Garfiel reacted immediately.

"And she doesn't sound all too happy…" Otto added worriedly.

"You're a liar! A liar! A liar!"

The screen cleared, showing the audience a sobbing Emilia bent over Subaru's body. Rem lay motionless next to them.

"You lied! You lied to me!"

'Where did I get to?' Subaru's thoughts were heard as he watched the scene.

"This is…" Emilia began, but the words stuck in her throat.

"The end of the loop, when Subaru first saw Rem's fate." Crusch finished for her, clutching the armrests of the chair with tension.

"But… he's already dead! The loop ended with his death!" Reinhard noted anxiously.

"Why is Betty's Subaru seeing this scene? The second Trial was supposed to show an alternative life!" Beatrice added, startled.

"What if he's not dead yet? There were a lot of healers there! Perhaps, in this illusion, they will manage to save him? Maybe I can come to the rescue in time!" Felix said hopefully.

"Emilia-sama is a good healer herself! Why isn't she trying to save him?" Tivey tried to keep a cool head as best he could.

"Because she panicked, and because of this shock, she didn't think straight." Ricardo explained to her.

Still, Emilia was mentally more of a child than an adult, so it was not surprising that she was overwhelmed by such a situation.

"You're a liar, Subaru!"

"Emilia-sama!" Wilhelm ran up to her.

"You're a liar! Subaru! Subaru! A deceiver…" the girl did not react, continuing to sob.

"Soldier! Don't stand there! Get the doctor over here! Quickly!" The gray—haired warrior ordered.

"You said we'd be together…"

'I didn't know …' the young man said mentally. 'I haven't seen this scene.'

"Old Man Wil!" Felix asked when he arrived.

"Ferris has arrived! Maybe they can really save him in time, and after that an alternative path of his life will start?" Crusch dared to hope.

"If there's even a spark of life left in him, then I'll get him out!" The healer said confidently.

"That won't stop him from trying again! He was sure back then he could save Rem-san, so even if they manage to save him now, it will only make him angry! So much for a happy alternative life!" Otto grumbled, not knowing what to expect next.

'How was I supposed to know?'

"He put a blade in his throat! Don't waste any time!" The gray—haired warrior commanded. The Blue Knight immediately began to heal the wound on his neck with magic.

'No need! To no avail! He's already dead.'

"You're not going to die! I will not let my comrade leave so ignominiously!" Wilhelm called out.

"To leave us at such a time! Don't you dare do that! Don't you dare!" Felix shouted at him without holding back his tears.

"How many times have we already seen Subaru die … but for some reason this scene evokes in me especially heavy emotions." Julius answered honestly. Many nodded in agreement.

It didn't matter that they never saw Subaru's death personally. After everything they witnessed in the last few days, everyone to whom he was close to, at least once imagined a scene where they would witness such a tragedy. In each case, the most terrible aspect for them was not even his death, but the subconscious fear that this time it would be his final death. That this amazing black-haired troublemaker will no longer appear in their lives, will not smile, will not make some kind of stupid antic or joke.

The thought was terrifying. The audience, as best they could, convinced themselves that this would not happen. No matter how many times he died, no matter what terrible death he accepted, Subaru Natsuki will return. This has already been perceived by many as an axiom. Right until they saw this scene.

'Stop… that's enough! Enough! Enough! Enough!' Subaru's voice was babbling in panic.

"It's useless… His soul is no longer in his body…" The healer said in a hoarse voice.

"Why? Why, Subaru-dono? Why did you give up so easily? Subaru-dono, how could you?!"

"If I knew how much you've been through, I wouldn't dare to blame you, Subaru-dono, but Rem-dono was right — giving up doesn't suit you at all, and by my sword, I will do everything in my power to make sure that such thought never visits you again!" Wilhelm clenched his fists and quietly muttered to himself.

"Weakling. Jerk." Felix muttered. "He abandoned everyone he cared about. He put pain and adversity on their shoulders."

Felix involuntarily cringed, expecting another verbal attack from Subaru's friends. He perfectly understood the feelings of his other self on the screen. After all, that Felix saw the hero of the battle with the White Whale and Sloth simply kill himself for seemingly no reason! Right after Crusch-sama fell victim to the Cult, he abandoned his allies at a time of crisis, as if he was so afraid of the consequences of a clash with the Archbishops of the Sin, but will others see it that way? And yet, no one threw an evil word or even a glance in his direction. Everyone was too stunned by what they saw and lost in thought.

"You said so… Subaru, you said you loved me." Emilia sobbed in frustration.

The next moment, Natsuki woke up in the tomb. Somehow, he got to his knees and scratched his throat in horror.

"What was that?" A second later, he threw up on the floor.

"It looks… like the world after my death."…

"And that's it?!" Emilia was surprised. "B-but what was the goal of the Trial then? He wasn't even given any choice o-or an explanation! He just… saw a horrifying scene and that was the end of it!"

"Perhaps Barusu did not fulfill some condition unknown to him, and therefore failed the Trial so quickly." Ram tried to think calmly and steadily. It was important for her now not to let her emotions run wild.

"I'm glad about one thing. At least this nightmare ended quickly for Subaru-kun." Rem tried to calm herself and the others

"Yes, but he did not achieve his goal! He wants to meet with Echidna, and for this he needs to pass the second Trial." The one-armed knight reminded them.

"What was the point of this Trial anyway? What was the witch trying to verify with these images?" Ricardo asked.

"A New Trial? Not the past, but the second one…"

"Behold the unthinkable present." He heard his own voice in his head again and lost consciousness. The screen went dark.

"Wait! So that was not all of it?! Emilia was scared.

"What will he see now? That scene again?! Will these images now torment him over and over again, like it happened with Emilia-sama?!" Petra was horrified by this prospect.

"In this case he risks ending up just like big sis in the last loop!" Felt blurted out, grabbing Reinhard's hand in fear.

"Beatrice-sama. Could this be part of the Witch of Greed's plan? Maybe she wants to break Subaru-kun's will for some nefarious plan?" Rem asked the ancient spirit worriedly.

"B-Betty can't say for sure, I suppose. Betty's contractor was definitely interesting to Mother because of his ability. Betty more than expects her Mother to offer him a pact or something to gain access to his Authority, but why and for what purpose would she arrange such a Trial, I can't imagine. To achieve her goal, she needs him in sound mind, in fact!"

The image changed to Felix, sitting miserably on the ground in rags. Julius was standing next to him with a mournful expression on his face. Together they stared at Subaru's lifeless body.

"A new scene. A failed attempt against Petelgeuse this time." Julius remarked gloomily.

"Once again, we see what happened after Subaru-kyun's death." Felix added.

"And it's the second time, when the screen shows us the consequences of his suicide…" Priscilla noted another detail.

"Do you think that's the key, Princess?" Al asked.

"I'm not sure yet, but I feel that the purpose of the Trial is related to his willingness to give up his life so easily." The baroness replied thoughtfully. It was necessary to see more.

Turning towards the sound, Julius saw that Emilia had come up to them.

"Subaru?

"Emilia-sama, please wipe Subaru's face." Julius handed the handkerchief to the girl who came up. She stared at her friend's dead body, not believing in the reality of what was happening. Her legs couldn't hold her up, and she collapsed to her knees.

"What happened? Why did he have to die? Why was he willing to die to save me? Why did he do that?" The half-elf asked, barely holding back tears.

"Ah, yes. In this loop, they were never able to talk and reconcile. For this version of Emilia-sama, the boy appeared out of nowhere, bringing soldiers to fight off the Cult's surprise attack, and he died without even saying a word to her…" Ricardo remarked bitterly.

"If he had lasted just a couple more minutes, he would have been able to say goodbye to his lady at least." Tivey said dryly, restraining emotions in his voice as much as he could.

"Those words make this scene look even sadder." Mimi sniffed.

"Or, he could lose control over his body completely, become an obedient puppet for Petelgeuse and thereby spell doom for everyone!" Crusch decided to remind everyone from what terrible alternative Felix had saved the young knight.

"I wish I could talk to you longer, Subaru Natsuki. I wanted to call you a friend."

'I still want that, Subaru. I really want to earn the honor of calling you a friend. If only I am given a chance, I swear on my honor, I will be worthy of your trust!' The best of the knights has firmly decided.

The next moment, the young man woke up in the tomb. Clutching his head, he began to roll on the floor, moaning in horror.

"Please stop… Enough! No more!"

"Now the commoner has to face his biggest fear. The one he ignored in every possible way, driving into the depths of subconsciousness!" Priscilla said coldly.

She herself was not really worried by such a possibility. In the end, no matter how things turn out for other mortals, she will still remain at the top. Such was her will, and therefore, the will of the world. What she didn't like was the way this realization would hit the battered psyche of the dog, whom she mercifully decided to take under her wing.

"What horror was he trying to ignore, Priscilla-sama?" Reinhard asked.

"That the wo-o-orlds, after the death of Natsuki Subaru, do not disappear, but continue to exist, while he is being transferred to some other rea-a-ality." Roswaal answered instead of her, himself being extremely cautious about this theory.

"But… if that's the case… then it turns out that we all…" Otto felt the sticky tentacles of fear tighten around his heart with every word.

"Ye-e-es, Otto-kun. If it is really so, then we are by no means the lucky ones who got the opportunity to witness how Natsuki Subaru found a way out of the most impo-o-ossible situations. In this case, we are nothing more than residents of the 'current loop', in which he has not yet encountered a ne-e-ew threat, and once he dies, he will move on, and we will be left behind to live with the knowledge that he is irreversibly de-e-ead." The ancient magician declared in an emotionless voice.

His words sent goosebumps running down a lot of backs at once. It was especially hard for the four girls sitting around the sleeping young man and one young maid in the third row. The peacefully sleeping Subaru immediately began to seem to them almost like a mirage, ready to disappear at any moment.

'We can't let the Captain die! This must not happen, no matter what! I have to protect him! I have to get stronger! Much stronger! Strong enough to protect the Captain from any adversity!' Garfiel thought on the verge of panic, trying to get out of his head the images of his friend. Dead. Forever. Without a chance to correct this tragedy.

"If Subaru ever dies… his death will be final for us?" Emilia whispered with difficulty, feeling how she began to tremble from sheer terror of this thought.

No! She won't let that happen! Her Subaru won't die! She would not allow him to disappear from her life! She will find a suitable place for him to live! He will live in safety and peace! Nothing will happen to him! He will live! With her! In love and…

"Stop it, in fact! You'll make a mess out of his hand again!" Beatrice hissed at her.

Emilia, breaking out of the torrent of her thoughts, looked at Subaru's hand. In her panic attack, she didn't notice how she grabbed his hand again and almost turned the bones of his palm into splinters.

"I-I'm sorry!"

The Warden didn't say anything, but Emilia subconsciously felt his gaze on her. A very meaningful gaze. A look that conveyed idioms the princess would never understand, but just in case, she decided to press her hands to her chest and looked down in shame.

"Just get out of there, Barusu! Run away from this wretched place!" Ram said, not caring about her own image. Right now she was genuinely scared. She didn't even want to think about the possibility that Barusu could die for good.

He tried to get up to run away, but the voice of the Trial overtook him again, and he fell to the floor.

"Behold the unthinkable present."

"The Trial won't let him go!" Petra said in panic.

"It doesn't look like a trial anymore. More like a torture session." Frederica clenched her fist in anger at the wicked witch who orchestrated the whole thing.

"Or a form of punishment. Although I can't understand why would the Witch of Greed care about the guy's past decisions." Ricardo commented on the maid's words.

The screen showed the cliff where Archbishop Sloth was defeated, and where Subaru committed suicide for the first time. Beatrice and Ram were standing next to the broken, bloody body.

"Looks like I got it right, as usual! The point of the Trial is not to break the commoner. On the contrary, its goal is to show him the consequences when he treats his life as a tool for solving problems!" Priscilla said firmly.

"Are you saying, Princess, that the Trial is trying to… shame him?" Al asked.

"Something like that, yes. Each of the three scenes are united by one factor — in every case, he committed suicide, hoping to solve the problem he was facing this way. Simply erase his mistakes from existence and try again. Although in each case he could have done otherwise, he could continue to fight, to resist the temptation of death. Each time he chose the easiest way out."

"Do you really consider suicide as an easy way out?!" Crusch was amazed at these words.

"Life is considered the most precious thing in the world, only because everyone has only one! You cannot multiply it, cannot buy a spare one no matter how rich you are, cannot be resurrected after death and stay the same way you were before!" The fire-haired princess began confidently. "That's why the actions of those who are willing to put their lives at risk for the sake of others are so highly regarded in the world. If everyone had an ability like this commoner, or at least a few lives, then the value of each individual life would be much lower!"

Seeing that some faces in the room haven't shown understanding, she decided to expand her thought:

"A soldier will not be afraid to go into the fray, knowing that he is not in danger of final death on the battlefield. The magician will not be careful during a dangerous experiment, because if anything, he will come to life and take into account the result of the errors. The fear of death will cease to dominate mortals, and even a goddess like me can't know what the world would look like under such conditions! Only this commoner has this privilege!" She pointed with her fan at the sleeping man.

"That's why, yes. Knowing the greedy nature of this pig, it is much easier for him to accept death, than to accept the consequences of his mistakes! But even he was inwardly afraid that by doing so, he might leave behind those who would mourn his miserable life! He simply refused to believe it, considering himself expendable! And now this fear came to torment him in the form of a Trial!" Priscilla summed it up mercilessly.

"He kept talking nonsense until the very end." The maid said in disappointment. With a dissatisfied hiss, he looked sternly at the great spirit.

"Did this also meet your expectations, Beatrice-sama?"

"Why? I knew you weren't the one I was expecting anyway, and yet…" The girl muttered, sobbing uncontrollably.

"He loves us, yeah, right. Honestly, there is no help for you." Ram finished, looking contemptuously at the dead body.

"I've never thought of you like that, Barusu. I never thought you were hopeless…" Ram muttered, clenching her fists, feeling a sense of guilt returning.

She couldn't even imagine what it would be like for her to live in such a world. Where her little sister died, and Barusu committed suicide because of fear of undeserved revenge from Ram.

"That's right, even back then, I wished for him to be 'that person', to come to me and to take me away from that accursed library, but was too afraid to let someone get to me and risk losing them again." Beatrice admitted softly, pressing her back tightly against the sleeping contractor. It was vital for her to feel his heartbeat right now.

"Behold the unthinkable present."

The screen showed a panorama of the Roswaal mansion. Everything was covered with snow. A blizzard was raging. For a second, Subaru's stiffened body and Rem appeared in his arms. They were almost completely covered with snow.

"This is not the scene after his suicide. There were only three of them. Right now, we see… the consequences of Subaru's second attempt to save Emilia-sama from the Witch Cult." Wilhelm said thoughtfully.

"So maybe the essence of the Trial is different from what Priscilla-sama said?" Otto asked.

"I would not reject the baroness's suggestion yet. Judging by the emphasis of these visions and Subaru-dono's reaction, she may well be right. We need to see what will be shown next." The gray-haired warrior replied.

"Fools! My position has not changed at all! This death is the same as the previous ones!" Priscilla said firmly, fanning herself.

"Why?" Mimi didn't understand.

"In that loop, the blue-haired girl burned the last crumbs of her life to save him. And it was her desire for him to continue living that she conveyed to the commoner with her last breath. And yet he, not caring about it, deliberately went to where his imminent death awaited him. The only difference was that he expected to face the cultists, not the Beast of the End! So this is the same suicide and escape from the consequences as the previous ones."

"It's really you…" Puck's otherworldly voice sounded.

In the next frame, the monstrous cat was shown against the background of Reinhard standing.

"They don't seem to be anywhere." the Sword Saint said calmly. "Neither Subaru nor Emilia-sama.

"Lia fell asleep. Forever. I don't need to live in a world where she doesn't exist. Now I'm going to cover it with ice, as required by my pact. We share this sin equally with him."

The last words provoked an extremely unusual outburst of rage in Emilia.

"Don't… don't you dare push your sins on Subaru! It's not his fault! You created all this yourself! You didn't even tell me anything! Don't you dare put your blame on others! Puck, you're a hypocrite! I hate hypocrites!"

"But why would he blame Natsuki-kun for something? In the very next loop, he'll blame him for returning to Emilia without asking, and now he blames him for Emilia's death, when he himself turned out to be useless!" Anastasia made a contemptuous face.

"Damn, and here I was scolding the overindulged aristocrats for hypocrisy. It turns out that great spirits can be even worse!" Felt spat out in anger.

"In any other situation, I would have disputed these words, but I can't find any arguments against them now. Why didn't the Great Spirit protect Emilia-sama, and why does he blame Subaru for what happened?" No matter how hard Julius tried to find at least some logic in Puck's words and actions, he couldn't.

"So it was enough to destroy the world?" Reinhard asked, drawing the Dragon sword from its scabbard.

"This is the first time I've seen a Dragon sword in person. The weapon of the first Sword Saint…" Julius said in amazement.

Despite his unpleasant state of mind, he couldn't help but feel blessed and thrilled at the sight of the legendary weapon. If it wasn't for the horrific context of the scene they were being shown, he would have taken this view as a great honor.

"No wonder. Who else if not a Great Spirit should be considered a worthy rival?" Wilhelm noted, also staring at the mythical sword with trepidation in the eyes.

"It's time to pay the piper, you damn monster!" Felt hissed through her teeth, wishing that at least in this alternate reality, the spirit would get what he deserved for what he did to her big bro.

"Bubby… you're going to fight, aren't you? Even knowing that you don't stand a chance? Even knowing that you are responsible for what happened! Is it because your pact is so cruel? Beatrice whispered with tears in her eyes, lamenting the unfortunate fate of her older brother and hating him at the same time for what he did to her most cherished person.

"I knew that you would try to prevent this, but if I don't, then this girl can't be saved.

"Can't be saved? What does he mean by that?" Frederica was surprised by these words.

"Is it possible… that this cat also knew about the Cap'n's ability, like the clown?" Garfiel suggested.

"I do-o-oubt it." Roswaal shook his head. "If the great spirit had known about Natsuki Subaru's ability to change the past, he would, just like me-e-e, have done everything to bind him to Emilia-sama. As an insurance that, she will no-o-o-t die under any circumstances. Yet he, on the contrary, tried in every possible way to keep him awa-a-ay."

"More than that. He said he was destroying the world to save her, so it's possible that he knows about Subaru's ability activation method. Crusch interjected with her thoughts.

"Maybe. However, the clown is right about one thing. If the Great Spirit''d known about the Return by Death, he would never have allowed Natsuki-kun to leave his daughter's side." Anastasia doubted.

"So it could be the Great Spirit knows that there is a bearer of this ability somewhere, but does not know who exactly they are?" Otto reasoned aloud.

"And therefore he decided to end the whole world in order to kill the bearer of the Authority of Envy for sure, wherever he is, and force him to find a way to save Emilia-sama." William continued his thought.

"Now, this kind of behavior fits perfectly into the logic of the great spirit. If he destroys the world like this not out of a simple desire of revenge, but as a way to save his contractor, then this explains a lot." Julius nodded in agreement, who could have imagined such behavior from an ancient being.

To do whatever it takes for the sake of one's contractor and their pact. This at least, Julius could if not accept, but at least understand.

"But how could Puck know for sure there is a carrier of such an ability in the world?" Otto persisted. "Okay, let's say he knows. He is, after all, the Great Spirit who knew the Witch of Envy personally. The question is, how would the bearer of the Authority even understand what is going on?! It could have happened, for example, that Natsuki-san was in the south of Vollachia at the time of Emilia-sama's death! He wouldn't have made it to Roswaal's mansion even in a month!

"Perhaps he has li-i-imited information." Roswaal took the floor again. "And all he knows is that there is definitely a carrier of the Autho-o-ority, and by forcing him to restart the loop again and aga-a-ain, sooner or later he will save Emilia-sama-a-a. If such a condition is pre-e-escribed in his pact, then everything falls into place. For spirits, it does not matter how many times the wo-o-orld will have to be restarted or what it will cost to mortals if it is necessary to fulfill the pa-a-act."

"Bubby was created by Mother, in fact." Beatrice decided to admit.

What was unfolding on the screen right now was extremely important to her Subaru, and, just as Puck was ready to freeze the whole world for his contractor, Betty was ready to do anything for her own. "He's an artificially created spirit, just like Betty."

"Is that why you always treated him like an older brother? Because you are real relatives, and not just two ancient spirits?" Petra asked her.

Beatrice nodded to her silently and continued her thought:

"With the help of her Authority, Mother could've known about the appearance of Betty's Subaru in our world, I suppose. Through Roswaal, she prepared for his appearance in the Sanctuary and made sure that Betty's contractor'll begin to rely on her, seeking advice and help. Maybe she somehow managed to pass on some information to Bubby. About the question of why she did it that way, Betty don't even want to guess. Only Mother could fully understand her own motives, in fact."

"I suggest we leave this idea for later. In any case, there is no point in speculating now without additional facts." Reinhard decided to return to the views.

"I won't let you do any more harm. Curse me if you want to."

"I can't blame you, Reinhard. After all, you're a hero, and you're not good for other roles." Puck said unequivocally.

"It's not like that! You are much more than just a hero! You are my knight! Don't let the words of that lousy cat hurt you!" Felt grabbed her companion's hand, noticing how he reacted to the words of the Great Spirit about his unenviable role in the world.

"Yes, Princess. I… I'm not going to let those words hurt me. Since you ordered it." Reinhard replied quietly, squeezing the girl's hand in response.

Without saying another word, Reinhard swung his sword. A ray of magic pierced the heavens and dispersed the clouds. The body of the great fire spirit was sprayed with a stream of dazzling magic.

"To destroy the Beast of the End with one strike… that's the real power of the Holy Sword. If it weren't for the terrible circumstances, I would have expressed my admiration." Crusch said thoughtfully.

"Behold the unthinkable present."

The image changed. Subaru and Emilia were lying dead on the floor of the stolen goods warehouse. Elsa was standing nearby, looking pleased.

"Now the job is done. It turned out to be simple to the point of banality. Not a very clean job… although who knows."

"These are the consequences of Subaru's very first death." Reinhard voiced a general guess.

"Will you also say that it was suicide on the part of Natsuki-kun, Bariel?" Anastasia asked sarcastically, really wanting to remove the smug expression from the baroness' face.

And she saw with grim satisfaction that Priscilla had indeed stopped smiling. Although the worried and displeased expression on the face of the fire-haired princess made the merchant princess tense up. Despite her personality, Priscilla was very perceptive, and if she was looking at the screen with such a look, it didn't spell anything good.

[The following excerpt is taken from a web novel]

Tilting her head, she jumped back sharply. At the same moment, ice spikes appeared in its place. They flew after Elsa.

"How dare you!" Puck's angry voice rang out.

Particles of light gathered in the place where Elsa was, and a small figure of a spirit appeared. Puck stared at the maniac with an evil expression on his face, and his muffled voice trembled in rage.

"You're going to pay for taking Lia's life."

"And once again he only appears when it's too late. What can I say, that is one hell of a reliable spirit companion!" Ricardo declared with a snarl, having long-lost any remnants of his former respect for the status of the Great Spirit.

"Oh, that's right… This girl made a pact with the spirit. Excellent! I've never ripped open a spirit's stomach before… Why didn't you show up before I killed her? I could enjoy a fight with two of you at once…"

"Shut your filthy mouth, you damn maniac. If it wasn't for the contract…!" Annoyance appeared on his face. He bared his teeth, pointing at Elsa.

"WHAT?!" A number of voices rang out in the hall at the same time.

"Now I completely stopped understanding anything at all!" Felt threw up her hands, confused by Puck's words.

"'Tis contract did not allow 'em to protect the princess?! How the heck does it even work then?!" Garfiel protested loudly.

"Well, that would explain why the Great Spirit allowed Emilia-sama's to die in other loops. Although I can't imagine him willingly agreeing to the condition of not defending his contractor." Julius said thoughtfully, trying to cope with his own amazement.

"But he fought for her against the Bowel hunter. And in the first attempt to defeat Petelgeuse, the great spirit participated in the battle. Perhaps here he refers to the condition that he is active only until the evening?" Tivey mused aloud.

"And then what about the Cult's attack on the mansion? There was clearly a clash before Emilia-sama was captured. So even if they attacked at night, she had the time and opportunity to summon the Great Spirit. Why didn't he help her then?!" Rem asked with anger in her voice.

"Puck wouldn't just leave me like that! He wouldn't! Even before we signed the contract, he voluntarily got involved in a deadly battle with the previous Great Spirit of fire Melaquera to save my life!" Emilia tried to come to her foster father's defense.

"Beatrice-sama. You and Puck are both Great Spirits created by Echidna. Can you tell us anything about his motives?" Reinhard turned to the spirit girl.

If anyone could give them a clue that isn't a bare guess, it's her.

"Betty doesn't know the details of Bubby's contract. He was created first and had his own life even before Betty has appeared. One thing Betty can say for sure — the notion of him wanting to protect the girl with all his being is an absolute fact! That's why Betty has only one guess so far — Bubby's contract with the half-elf was not his only one." Beatrice replied, tensely twirling a lock of her hair.

She had a guess who could be her brother's second contractor, but what could be her goal?

"Another contract? But with whom?" Emilia was surprised.

"With the Witch of Greed, who else." Priscilla declared. "Since she created this monster. There is another question that should be asked. What was her plan for the half-devil, and what role does this spirit play in her plans?"

"Is it even possible for a spirit to have more than one contract at a time?" Julius added another detail.

"Bubby is an artificial spirit, in fact. Which means he can have traits that cannot be found in usual spirits, I suppose. It would be foolish to make such assumptions based on just your knowledge of natural spirits, knight."

"I guess the only one who can provide us with answers is Puck himself. All the more reasons to get him a new crystal so we could communicate with him. I have too many questions for my 'father'! And if he wants to ever get my forgiveness, he will give me satisfactory answers to all of them!" Emilia concluded with a cold and quiet voice that only Beatrice heard.

Before, the spirit girl would have lamented for her older brother. But not now. Not after what she saw. Contract or not, he's brought much suffering to her Subaru!

"I have no desire for further conversations. I'll just turn you into ice! I hope that at least it will put Lia's soul to rest, and after you, everyone will die! The country, the world, the dragon, and the witch… everything!"

"Oh, how exciting it is… I can't take it anymore!"

Jumping up, she began to crawl along the walls and ceiling — like a spider. Because of her thin build, it was hard for Puck to hit her-and the ice spears flew past. The temperature around began to drop. Gradually, everything turned white so much that the view completely disappeared — and even the corpses of Subaru and Emilia, holding hands, ceased to be visible…

"Behold the unthinkable present."

"My actions were just a precaution. When I found him, Subaru had no chance of escape. He wouldn't want to suffer himself." Rem's emotionless voice rang out.

"Even so… You mean that's why he died so terribly, right, Rem? I am in debt to Subaru, and we could spend so much time together… And you…"

Subaru heard a quarrel between two of his favorite girls. The blue-haired maid and the silver-haired half-elf looked at each other with anger. All this took place in the living room of the mansion. They were sitting at the table.

"And this is…" Felt began to wonder.

"Apparently, these are the consequences of the second death in the mansion, when Rem finished off the mini-boss, when he was dying from a curse." Tivey thought.

'Is this how I tried to justify my actions?! Was I that pathetic?!' Rem thought, glaring at her previous version on the screen.

"Had the half-wit went into denial?! 'Spend so much time together'? With a corpse?! Maybe the kiss we saw in the previous loop was her real fetish and not just the aftermath of madness?" Priscilla commented with a poisonous grin. The numerous angry glares were the best reward for her.

"Let's not get too excited, Emilia-sama. Why don't you start by listening to Rem's words?"

"Roswaal… do you even understand what happened? Rem… your maid killed my savior and your guest, Subaru."

"Technically, of course, she's right, but it seems Emilia-sama completely ignores the fact that the lil' guy was already doomed the moment the curse was activated. Even if the blue maid had just stood aside or even rushed to save him, it would not have changed the outcome." Ricardo noted the inconsistency in Emilia's words.

"Emilia-sama on the screen is in deep emotional turmoil. Therefore, she is unlikely to think rationally." Ram noted, most of all, worried about how her sister would react to this scene.

"I understand everything. That's why… we need to discuss everything first. As they say, to achieve mutual understanding and to stop disagreements."

He narrowed his yellow eye and looked at Rem, who was sitting next to him. She nodded in response.

"Last night, an unknown person appeared in the east wing… next to Emilia-sama's room. After receiving a signal from the security crystals, I headed there and found Subaru walking in circles.

"Well, that sheds light on exactly what happened at the end of that loop. If you think about it this way, then Rem's actions look more reasonable. Probably, having identified him, she decided to follow him in order to understand why he was going to Emilia-sama's room. Once she realized that he was under the influence of a curse, she followed the protocol of protecting the princess." Ricardo reasoned.

"Barusu was already under the effect of the curse at that time."

"Yes, my sister is right. Subaru was so weakened that he had one foot in the grave. The curse had almost completely drained the life out of him, and further attempts to save him would have been futile…"

"At least you understood that he was already doomed and did not kill him, just because he was out of the room at night, I suppose." Beatrice tried to calm the blue-haired maid a little, seeing the changes in her face.

The memories of how she burned with self-loathing were still fresh in her mind. Therefore, Rem's newly appeared anger was crushed in the bud. They were both the same in this regard, and from Beatrice's point of view, her guilt was even greater. Her contractor will be extremely upset if Rem is in a broken state upon his awakening. So it was necessary to support the girl somehow.

"And that's why you beat him to death… and with such cruelty?"

"Emilia-sama! Sitting next to her younger sister and holding her hand, Ram glared at Emilia. But she boldly answered her with a stern look.

"Do not turn a blind eye to the truth… Subaru's body — in particular, his torso and head — is in terrible condition. If you wanted to lighten his lot, you could have done it much more gently. Then the question is, why all this?"

"This is in order to…"

She fell silent, not knowing how to explain her actions.

"Really, why did you do that, Rem? If you were in such a situation, why would you decide to tear off his arm first, and only then finish him off? Why didn't you come up to him and explain the situation? Why didn't you suggest a less… gruesome way to go?" Emilia asked the maid.

No matter how the girl suppressed her anger at Rem, the memories of that terrible death, and what awaited her beloved in the next attempt, flooded her consciousness again and fanned the nearly extinguished embers of anger in her soul.

"If Rem, after seeing the Subaru-kyun's condition, realized that he was under the influence of a curse, then her actions in this situation were correct." Felix expressed his professional opinion.

"Correct? Emilia looked at the knight in surprise, demanding an explanation. Realizing that the half-elf princess would not calm down without explanation, Felix raised his finger, making it clear that he should be listened to carefully:

"Rem couldn't have knyown that Subaru-kyun was dying from the ulgarm's curse exactly. The symptoms of different active curses can be similar, which makes them even more dangerous, nya. In addition to the usual curses like one of the ulgarms, which simply sucks mana out of the victim, and therefore is harmless to others, there are much more dangerous types that are used by shamans, nya.

For example there are curses that react when someone approaches the cursed one tries to help him via healing magic, cause the body to explode in order to spread this curse to everyone around. By using a curse, it is quite possible to tyurn a person into a living bomb or into a walking spreader of curses. Therefore, the theory that Subaru-kyun could have been used as a curse-bearer in order to eliminate you, Emilia-sama, is not withyout its reason, nya. The most appropriate course of action in this case is to kill the carrier as soon as possible. From a distance If possible."

"Good. So be it. Security measures. A potential assassination attempt on a candidate by using an unsuspecting carrier. I can understand that, but why kill him so brutally?" Anastasia asked.

"I have an inkling that brutality was not the goal there, Hoshin-sama. It seems to me that Rem-dono wanted to end everything with one blow." Wilhelm suddenly joined the conversation.

"And what gave you this idea?" Anastasia asked.

"Emilia-sama's words from the screen. That Subaru-dono's torso was in a terrible state. It made me think, that when the screen showed us the scene of Subaru-dono's death, we didn't see the … gruesome details. Perhaps her weapon hit not directly the arm, but the edge of his body, inflicting a fatal wound, but, alas, not killing him immediately.

"That blow tore off Barusu's left arm." Ram recalled thoughtfully. "And if Wilhelm-san is right…"

"Then, apparently, Rem was aiming at his heart, but missed a bit because of the distance or the darkness. Had that blow hit directly, his entire torso would have been torn apart, but death would have been almost instantaneous." Ricardo finished the thought.

"After the first blow, Subaru was thrown several meters down the corridor. He did not immediately notice the loss of his arm. From a distance, one could think he was dead, and when the pain came, he couldn't even get up. He remained lying on the floor, facing Rem, and began to scream in agony. Then Rem picked up the weapon and struck a second blow, this time on the head. There were simply no other options to finish the job without approaching him." Using his perfect memory, Reinhard voiced the events of that scene in detail.

"I'm sorry for my cynicism, but are you sure she didn't just want to make him suffer before he died, thinking that he was a cultist after all?" Al asked skeptically.

"If she wanted the Cap'n to suffa before he died, she'd have blown off his leg, or aimed at his groin, and surely she would not have struck a finishing blow as soon as it became clear tha' the first one did not kill him!" Garfiel replied angrily, who did not like the one-armed warrior's hints at all.

"But then why didn't she hit him in the head right away? It would guarantee a quick death!" Emilia did not let go of her suspicions.

"So that you could say goodbye to him at the funeral." Ricardo replied melancholically. "Any injuries to the limbs or body can be hidden by clothing, but if the head is mutilated, then you can't even look at it him. It will just be a bag with a corpse."

"I… see." Emilia nodded thoughtfully and looked at the blue-haired maid who was sobbing softly.

"Rem, I'm sorry that I was so inquisitive about your motives. I know that the current you are not responsible for past Rem's actions on the screen. It's just… that scene… his screams…"

"I am grateful to you all for your words, but please do not try to justify my actions in that loop. If I really wanted to put Subaru-kun out of his misery, then I could have done better. If I had been at least a little kinder to Subaru-kun, maybe if I'd explained to him that he was dying of a curse, he wouldn't have started looking for the killer inside the mansion in the next loop. He would not have made the mistakes that led to that nightmare, but instead focused on finding the one who cursed him."

"There's no point worrying about how we could have done otherwise. We should all focus on making sure that this does not happen again in the future." Emilia addressed the girl in an unexpectedly serious tone.

'If we have a future with him at all.' Beatrice thought, too afraid to say the words out loud.

"I was hoping to hear that you missed… or at least confused him with someone… but no." Emilia said accusingly.

Emilia closed her eyes sadly. She got to her feet, brushing off her skirt.

"Emilia-sama, where are you going?" Roswaal's expression changed as soon as he saw it. Emilia smoothed her long silver hair.

"I'm leaving. It may not have been long, but thank you for your hospitality. I know that I will not be able to participate in the royal elections without support. But… now I can't trust you."

"Even so… don't you believe in a mutually beneficial relationship? Decisions based solely on emotions cannot be called wise."

"Only on emotion?" Her face twisted in anger.

"I can't believe it, but I'm ready to agree with this bastard. If this had happened to Sir Natsuki in our reality, it would have been a cruel and unfair tragedy, of course, but still, you would know that the cause of his death was not Rem's actions, but a curse. Is it worth it to abandon your goal of unfreezing the Elior forest because of this?" Crusch shook her head, completely unaware of the girl's motives.

"As Ram said, Emilia-sama on the screen is nyot in a state to think rationally, nya." Felix decided to remind his lady.

"I do not know what I could think about in that reality. Unless… Puck told me earlier that sooner or later the ice in the forest would melt. So, if I wanted to, I could just wait for that day to come."

"But this day may not come for many years! Maybe even centuries!" Otto was amazed at this way of thinking.

"Maybe. So I would have to show a lot of patience." Emilia replied without a trace of a grin.

The rest could only think about how differently the elven blood carriers perceived the world around them and time itself.

"Damn… with this mindset, if we hadn't got into this theater… Bro could have had to wait twenty years for an answer from this girl. Simply because she doesn't feel the flow of time." Al commented, shaking his head.

She went up to Roswaal and did what no one expected — she slapped the clown's pale cheek with a good slap. Emilia exhaled angrily. The Roswaal did nothing, but Ram, turning pale, jumped up.

"Damn! My amazin' self neva thought such a situation was even possible!" Garfiel noted in surprise. For a princess to slap someone like that? She must have been fuming with rage.

"Ram." Roswaal raised his hand in warning.

"But, Roswaal-sama…"

"It's okay. Sit back down. Emilia-sama, please accept my apologies for Ram's actions."

"That's the problem… you still haven't thought about poor Subaru."

Biting her lip, she looked at the calm Roswaal. There was fury in her violet eyes, but Roswaal looked completely cool.

"Did Subaru really mean that little to you, Roswaal?" Emilia asked resentfully, turning to the clown.

"And why-y-y should I worry so much about him in that reality? At that time, he was just a boy with an uncertain sta-a-atus.

"He saved my life!" The half-elf reminded him.

"For which he received from me exactly the rewa-a-ard that he asked for. That's why we were even with him. Moreover, if he had really died, it would have meant that he was not the trump card that was promised to me by the tome of wi-i-isdom, but just a young man. Therefore, his death would have been a tragic event, but one that changes nothing for me. His potential became obvious to me after he brilliantly solved the incident with the ma-a-abeasts.

"Is it possible that by leaving the mansion and returning to the forest, you will achieve something?"

"I was wrong to believe your stories. I'll have to redeem everything… There are many different ways to do this. I shouldn't have believed you… And because of that, Subaru died."

She closed her eyes in response to the Collapse and quietly announced her decision. Shaking his head slightly…

"I will take his body with me to bury him peacefully in the forest. I will devote myself to making amends to Subaru and the others. The conversation is over."

"What a fabulous nonsense! So many beautiful and empty words! Such hypocrisy makes me want to spit on the floor! She decided to make amends! Ha! By tucking his tail between her legs, pouting resentfully and tossing everything into the cesspool!" Priscilla added indignantly.

"She was lamenting the big bro's death! It's clear that a heartless creature like you has never had anyone in your life over whose death you even sighed bitterly, but big sis is not like you!"

"First, your yapping shows once again that you can't produce anything but loud barking, sewer rat!

Second, this scene shows once again how weak-willed and devoid of character this half-wit really is! According to her own words, she decided to participate in the race for the throne in order to free her own people from the magic ice and change the world for the better! And what do we see here? It was enough for some commoner she hadn't known even for a week to die and that's it?! All her grand plans are called off?! The future of the elves suddenly ceased to matter?!

Third! She knows he died because of a curse! But she doesn't even ask herself how he got cursed! She's not even trying to figure out who did it! Instead of at least trying to find the killer and get revenge, she chose to blindly pin all responsibility on the blue maid and escape, making empty platitudes about making amends! Showing how much she truly appreciated this dog in reality!"

Twisting her face into a contemptuous grimace, Priscilla began to imitate Emilia's voice, as if speaking on her behalf:

"Oh, who would have thought, the world of politics and the fight for the royal throne could be cruel! It turns out, someone can be killed, what a shock! I should hurry up and run back to the forest to my squirrels!" Ending her mockery of Emilia's voice she returned to her disgusted expression. "Such brats have no place in the competition even for the title of village chief!"

Emilia did not notice how fiercely she clenched her fists, and she couldn't even figure out who she was madder at. At Priscilla, who dared to belittle her feelings for Subaru like that? Or at her copy on the screen, because there from the current Emilia's point of view she acted exactly as the baroness described.

Not wanting to say anymore, Emilia turned away from Roswaal. Sitting on a chair, he held out his hand after her, and immediately lowered it.

"If this crossroads is not described in the book, then… my path ends here."

"Roswaal-sama…"

While he was muttering to himself, she anxiously took his hand. The clown looked at Ram and smiled slightly.

"Ram, it looks like you were right. My existence has reached a dead end… So, the contract can be considered fulfilled."

"Yes… yes, Roswaal-sama."

"What kind of contract?" Garfiel asked with a note of indignation in his voice.

"An agreement that was forged between two parties and which the third party does not need to know about at all!" Ram subtly asked not to pry into her affairs.

And she stared at the screen with an impenetrable face, where she quite unexpectedly received what she had dreamed of for so long. Although, neither Ram in the theater nor Ram on the screen were happy with this outcome.

'It turns out that without you, Barusu, even if I fulfilled my dream, I would only get an empty shell… and would have to live an empty life. How is it that everything I can truly enjoy in this life is tied to you? How is it that without you there is only darkness and hopelessness ahead?'

While the two were quietly exchanging words, Emilia walked over to the blue-haired maid, who stood up to open the door. She looked at Rem, who bowed her head.

"Take me to Subaru's body."

"Emilia-sama, he…"

"I know what condition he's in. I will bring him back to normal as much as I have the strength… and take him to the forest."

Seeing her incredibly sad and sad expression, Rem looked down. There was anger and remorse on her face at the same time.

"Sorry, Subaru. I still couldn't do anything for you."

[End of the excerpt from the web novel]

"Behold the unthinkable present.

The frame changed: three street bandits were running away down an alley. An apple seller ran up to Subaru, who was lying with a stab wound in his back.

"Behold the unthinkable present."

The frame changed: the inhabitants of the Roswaal mansion were standing by the bed where Subaru, who died in his sleep from the curse, lay.

"This Trial… It will destroy him!" Priscilla hissed in a strained voice.

Al, being the only one who heard her words, literally froze in place. Not only because of the surprise that the princess showed genuine concern for his Bro, but also because she sounded scared at that moment. For the princess to be so worried about someone?!

"Behold the unthinkable present."

The frame changed: pieces of the frozen bodies of Betelgeuse and Natsuki, who died with a crazy grin on his face, were lying in the snow.

"He won't be able to accept it. He's going to blame himself for everything!" hugging Mimi and Tivey, Ricardo said, already guessing what Subaru would think when the Trial was over.

"I wouldn't be surprised if this loop ends right here during this Trial. Sir Natsuki just might not be able to handle such torment." Crusch agreed.

"Behold the unthinkable present."

The frame changed: Elsa, satisfied with her work, looked at the young man who died on the floor of the mansion.

"Enough! Please, no more!" Petra cried with tears in her eyes.

She was afraid not so much of the scenes that she had already seen, but for her hero, who had to live though it all.

"Behold the unthinkable present."

The frame changed: rabbits were devouring Subaru alive.

"Stop it, Echidna! Why are you making him suffer like that?! What did Subaru ever did to you?!" Emilia had no strength to hold back sobs, not daring to look away from the screen.

"Big bro… when will this all finally stop?" Felt asked weakly, she no longer had enough anger to react violently.

"Behold the unthinkable present."

The frame changed: Emilia, who had gone mad, was hugging a young man who had died of wounds.

Then the screen began to change pictures like a kaleidoscope, showing over and over again all his deaths, repeating without stopping: "Behold the unthinkable present."

"Behold the unthinkable present. Behold the unthinkable present. Behold the unthinkable present."

"Behold the unthinkable present…" The phrase was repeated for the last time.

The screen showed Subaru lying motionless on the floor, with a completely devastated look.

Feeling the emotional turmoil of the audience, the screen paused the show. Emilia, Rem, and Beatrice stared at the screen in silence, unable to say a word because of their tears.

Garfiel was once again breaking the arms of his chair, squeezing them with all his might out of anger.

Otto covered his eyes with his hand, trying to contain his emotions. All thoughts of how they could help their friend to lighten the burden of terrible memories now seemed like childish nonsense. It's like a little child thinking that a hastily daubed drawing will help relatives forget about the death of a family member. People are just not meant to live thought such horrors. They are simply not built that way.

Knights and warriors sat in silence, not knowing what to say to them in this situation. Such a problem could not be solved with a sword strike and a fireball.

Frederica hugged the sobbing Petra habitual, but couldn't stop her own tears.

Ram sat, doing her best not to join her distraught colleagues. She needed to stay strong, for their sake… for Barusu's sake.

"The Trial tortured him until he broke down." Crusch said dryly.

She forced herself to suppress all emotions as best as she could, so to not become devastated by the previous images.

"How did Subaru ever manage to recover his spirit after receiving such a blow? Will it be the Witch of Greed again to bring him to her Castle of Dreams to help him calm down?" Reinhard mused aloud.

"Maybe that was the witch's plan? Break his will, turn his mind to mush so she could do whatever she wanted with him? Felix asked.

"It sounds quite realistic, since we're talking about a witch." Frederica said through tears.

"But we do know that he will gather his strength and succeed later." Petra replied. "When he came to the mansion to save us, he looked completely healthy and confident."

"Subaru-dono has an incredibly strong spirit! This isn't the first time we've seen him on the edge. Just a bit of help and support is enough for him to get back on his feet and continue the fight." Wilhelm said hopefully, recalling the previous case.

"Yeah, but last time Rem was with him! She stood by him and helped him to regain his spirit. Right now, my big bro is all alone in this damn tomb! And even if big sis runs to his rescue, she herself will be hit by the Trial!" Felt reminded him worriedly.

"Perhaps in the next loop he will have a heart-to-heart talk with Emilia-sama, and she will reignite his will to fight?" Otto thought out loud.

"Stop guessing like the village's charlatans! Wipe your snot, keep watching and you'll see everything for yourself!" Priscilla said in a commanding tone.

The goddess was frankly tired of looking at this bunch of whiners. She wanted to know what would happen next and how this commoner would break through. On his own, or he will find help from at least someone.

"What, you can't get up anymore, Subaru-kun?" Suddenly, a girlish voice rang out in the room, forcing Subaru out of his stupor.

A girl in a maid's uniform stood in front of him.

"It can't be…" Said Emilia in amazement.

"R-rem?! How did ya get 'ere?! Weren't ya sleepin' in the mansion at that time?!" Garfiel asked, startled.

"Don't be stupid! We have seen more than once that Rem has been in a sleeping beauty state all this time!" Otto snapped at him, frantically trying to find an answer to what was happening on the screen.

"I… I don't know, there's never been anything like this in my memory." Rem assured them.

But inwardly she prayed to all the spirits of the world so that she could at least help her hero in some way.

"I'm delirious…" He muttered, not believing what he was seeing.

"But you're not delusional! The girl answered him good-naturedly. "I am always ready to be there, just wish."

"Rem…"

"Yes, it's me, your Rem."

Natsuki struggled to his knees. Focusing on the face, the camera showed a mixture of disbelief, happiness, relief and sadness. Without even trying to stop the tears, he repeated:

"Rem!"

[Melody playing — The Past's Destination]

The camera focused on the girl's smiling face.

"Yes, this is Rem. Your personal maid, ready to help in any case."

"Obviously, this is not the real Rem!" Ram said firmly.

She did her best to restrain herself from any caustic comments about the fact that Rem called herself Barusu's personal maid on the screen. Still reeling from the incident between her master and her sister, she preferred not to add fuel to the fire.

"Then what is it?" An illusion? A hollow?! I hate hollows!" Mimi rattled off, the last thing she wanted in this story was the spirits of the dead haunting the living.

"It could be an image that Subaru-kyun's subconscious had conjured up." Felix said with a serious look.

After receiving a few questioning glances, he decided to expand the idea:

"We saw that this Trial threatened to destroy his sanity, right? Therefore, his subconscious mind could have created such an illusion as a protective measure. Something to help him… to switch over. Focus on something else, nya."

"If that is the case, I wonder why his mind conjured up the image of Rem, and not Emilia, to offer him to rest on her lap?" Anastasia was interested.

And judging by the stiff faces of the girls sitting around Natsuki, she was not the only one who was pondering this question.

"Obviously, because in the most arduous moments of his life, his heart calls out Rem-dono first." The gray-haired butler replied confidently.

"Wilhelm-san, you understand Sir Natsuki's mindset better than most of us, why did you come to this conclusion?" The duchess asked him.

"I'm sorry, Crusch-sama, but… I would not like to create inconvenience for those present here with my senile fantasies."

"It's all right, Wilhelm-san. You don't need to worry that your words might hurt me." Emilia addressed him in a sad, but firm voice. The girl immediately understood who might not like the words of the old warrior. "Crusch-sama is absolutely right. Out of all of us, you are probably the best to judge of how Subaru thinks. I would also like to understand his mindset. To become better in the future."

"If that's your wish, Emilia-sama." William bowed respectfully and began to reason out loud:

"From what we saw earlier, we can conclude that Subaru-dono's feelings for Emilia-sama and for Rem-dono are actually not inferior to each other in their intensity. Still, they stem from different sources and appeal to different parts of his soul. Emilia-sama was the first one who came to his aid in our world. She appeared to him in the form of a beautiful and kind-hearted savior, who helps all those in need selflessly and nobly. In addition, she possesses many features that for Subaru-dono were associated with more… 'fabulous' aspects of our world. Magic, elven heritage.

Emilia couldn't help but chuckle softly. She found it incredibly ironic that in order for her elven features to seem pleasant to someone, a person had to come from another world. Still, it made her happy, that for the most important person in her life her elven heritage was only a boon.

"With her kindness and care, Emilia-sama became a beacon of hope for him in a foreign environment. She stayed by his side regardless of the situation in the mansion and was always ready to support him. In her, he sees the concentration of all that is beautiful and pure in our world. Thanks to this, the desire to make her happy and be with her at the same time became for Subaru-dono the very idea of the 'happy ending' that he so dreams of.

Talking about this, the old man had a kind fatherly smile on his face, as if he was indulging in pleasant memories of the past. Then his face darkened somewhat as he moved on to the second part of his thoughts:

"The case with Rem-dono is completely different. Their relationship was born and developed amidst the most difficult and perilous pages of his journey. Because of the tragic events associated with the Witch Cult and the ability to sense miasma her initial interactions with him had been of … antagonistic nature."

"Atagoni-wha?" Mimi didn't understand.

"That means she considered him her enemy." Tivey prompted her.

"Ah!"

"But, thanks to his merciful nature and heroism, Subaru-dono was able to dispel the girl's suspicions. Moreover, as a result, he gained a loyal companion. This friendship was the result of not of a chain of lucky coincidences, but of hard work in which each side risked their lives to help the other. Alas, further development of their feelings happened while trying to overcome new tragedies. They acted together in their attempts to save the villagers and the inhabitants of the mansion from the attack of the Cult. This time it was Rem-dono who stayed by his side, regardless of the severity of the situation. Even when everyone else wouldn't listen."

Those sitting next to him noticed that the old man clenched his fists tightly at that moment. He still blamed himself for the failed attempts of the third arc no less than the others.

"In the end, when all attempts to turn the situation around have proven fruitless and Subaru-dono was ready to give up, Rem-dono refused to turn away from him. With her love, her faith in him, she gave him strength and inspired him to fight on. She had become a pillar of his strength, that allows him not to break even after the most terrible deaths. Their love was forged by the pain of loss, self-sacrifice and loyalty to each other.

Without the desire to help Emilia-sama, there simply would not be the need for Subaru-dono to awaken a hero in himself. I guess he would settle down in a quiet place, maybe start a family and live quietly, away from the events that are changing the fate of our nation. Emilia-sama became his reason to fight the horrors of our world, and her happiness is the ultimate goal of his path. She is the beacon that illuminates his path of a hero.

While Rem-dono is the source of strength that allows him to walk this path. To continue to fight and overcome even impossible obstacles. Without her, he won't have the will to carry on. Subaru-dono's current goal is obvious — he wants to save Emilia-sama and everyone else. What he wants now is to be given strength. Therefore, it was the image of Rem-dono that shone in his soul and appeared in front of him when he was on the brink again. The image of the one, who can make him get back on his feet, even when the weight of the whole world is pressing down on him."

Some nodded in agreement with the old warrior's thoughts, agreeing with his logic. Even Priscilla didn't feel like making caustic comments. Right now she, like several other girls, was interested in something else — if Emilia and Rem occupied such different but important positions in his heart, then was it even possible for anyone else even shake their position and make Subaru look the other way.

Rem sat in silence, deep in thought. The realization of how important she had become to her beloved inspired her soul. According to the gray-haired butler, it turned out that after that fateful conversation on the hill, she actually became a 'horn' for Subaru. The girl wanted to cry with happiness from this feeling of wholeness and accomplishment, but at the same time, she couldn't let go of the feeling of shame. After all, it was because of her selfish desire that he decided to become the hero she imagined him to be, and it was this desire that eventually led him to the Sanctuary, where he endured the most painful trials. While she turned from a reliable companion into a burden and a source of stress.

"Is that you…"

"What's the matter? Are you tired?" The girl who came up to him asked.

"I don't know… Maybe I'm really tired? Although I haven't achieved anything yet… if I had been stronger, smarter, if I had been capable of more… the guys wouldn't have had to suffer, trouble would have spared them…"

"He's throwing all his achievements aside again and blaming himself for all the tragedies." Frederica said sadly.

"How can one he so perversely selfish as to consider himself responsible for everything that happens to everyone he knows?! Did he subconsciously believe himself to be a god because of his ability?!" Priscilla became indignant.

Everyone has already gotten used to ignoring most of the insults or arrogance of the fiery princess and extract the essence of what she wanted to say. Some recalled Otto's words, said many sessions ago — that Subaru's ability, in fact, gives him the right to decide what will become reality and what will be doomed to oblivion. Who lives and who dies. Realizing, albeit subconsciously, this power and the corresponding responsibility, Subaru refused to take on the role of 'judge', trying to save everyone.

"Say what you want but to some extent, he is responsible for the fact that we are alive today and sitting here. He could have gone his own way on the very first day, which would have led to many deaths. Even the royal elections would not have started without his interference!" The young merchant reasoned.

"But if earlier he comforted himself with the fact that his suffering was compensated by the fact that in the end of the day everyone was saved, the second Trial took away even this little consolation. It is not surprising that now he will blame himself for all the tragedies. Even in those that he could not have prevented in any way." Frederica could only rally her will and stand firm in the face of the prospect that in the future they could all become just another 'failed loop' in the young man's memory.

"Subaru-kun…" Rem couldn't find anything to say.

"If the worlds did not end after my death… then how many times did I leave everyone to certain death?"

"Subaru-kun…"

"How many times have I let you die? How many more times do I have to kill you?"

"Subaru-kun." Rem gently but confidently hugged the young man and pressed her forehead against his, "Don't be afraid of anything."

"Rem…"

"I love you. I love you, Subaru-kun. Therefore, everything will definitely get better."

"Why does Rem talk about it as if her love alone will solve all the problems?" Mimi asked doubtfully.

"Remember, sister. This is not the real Rem. It's just a vision, born of mister's madness. No wonder it can make no sense." Tivey corrected her.

"But if these are his inner thoughts or desires, that what does he wish to hear? That someone still loves him?" Julius asked.

"Perhaps he's looking for forgiveness. Right now, the guy blames himself for every failed loop. And, knowing his inclination for self-flagellation, he must be thinking that everyone else would blame him for everything. Yet still, deep down, he wants to be forgiven." Ricardo mused out loud."

"That doesn't… solve anything."

"No, it will. The fact that I'm hugging you tightly now will solve everything. Did you have a hard time, Subaru-kun? You've suffered so much alone, but you don't have to think only about the bad anymore."

"But I…"

"Rem will take the place of everything Subaru-kun is feeling. Just entrust everything to Rem, and just rest for now. In the meantime, rest, you need to sleep." Rem whispered, slowly bringing her lips closer to him.

'I wonder. Does this apparition really says what you would like to hear from me, Subaru-kun? Would you really prefer to rely on me, to share your problems with me? If only I'd been there, if I'd known what you were going through, I would take on all your problems just to give you a moment of respite! When we see each other again, I hope you will trust me more and share the burdens on your soul. After all, we promised this to each other.'

While Rem was mentally discussing her future interactions with her beloved, Emilia could only silently berate herself for her helplessness. After all, unlike Rem, she was there. She was with Subaru, but, instead of helping, she only created an extra headache for him and made him feel like a cheap replacement for Puck. Even in the loop that ultimately became a reality.

"Useless…" She cursed herself softly, clenching her fists in anger.

"Rem…" It was all Subaru could whisper, waiting for this moment.

"Probably now he is subconsciously trying to forget that kiss of death that he received recently." Al reasoned aloud.

"Who wouldn't want to forget this." Julius echoed, perfectly understanding his friend's emotions on the screen.

But then other words of Rem surfaced in his head, which once prompted him to soar out of the same deep mental pit: 'It's easy to give up. But it doesn't suit you at all.'

At that moment, it was as if an obsession had come off him.

"Who are you?" He asked firmly.

"Huh?" Rem looked surprised.

"HUH?!" Half of the audience repeated after her.

"What does he mean by dat? Isn't dat the image that the cap'n wished for himself?!" Garfiel was completely confused.

"Obviously, he doesn't think so. What if this is still part of the Trial?" Reinhard suggested.

"This hypothesis is not without reason, I suppose. The second Trial forces a person to see the unrealized present. It is possible that now Betty's contractor sees a version of the present, where the younger sister did not become a victim of Gluttony and therefore is now next to him."

"If that were the case, and if this Rem was the same as me, then she would not have suggested that he leave all the problems to others. Like last time, I would've asked him to get back on his feet, tell me what's bothering him and offer to help." Rem argued, looking bitterly at the screen. Her thoughts and desires were in complete disarray right now.

"I'm asking, who are you?" The young man repeated.

"Subaru-kun, what are you talking about?" Rem asked, startled.

"When I was cornered, I wanted to curl up into a ball and howl in pain, you would have shared the warmth with me. You would have listened to my whining, let me talk and hugged me until the tears dried up, and then you would have asked me to stand up!"

Rem recoiled slightly from him.

"You wouldn't suggest I take a break. You wouldn't say to give up and rely on you! You love me, I love you, but you're more demanding of me than anyone else! The one who is strictest with me! The one who is most gentle with me! That's the real Rem!" Putting aside his moping and worries, Natsuki stated in a firm voice.

With that, he jumped to his feet and walked away.

The blue-haired maid wanted to grab the sleeping hero and hug him close to her because of overflowing emotions. She barely managed to restrain herself and contented with snuggling up to him. Her hero accepted and came to love Rem exactly the way she wanted him to. The most gentle one, who will always find a kind word for him and give him a gentle touch. The strictest, who will never allow him to give up, fall into despair or stray off the path he has chosen. The most reliable one that will always stand by him and lend a helping hand even if the whole world is against him.

"I love you, Subaru-kun." She gently whispered into his ear.

"You've got it all wrong, Subaru-kun, listen! I just wanted to comfort you…"

"I do not hide my weakness, I do not hide that I am broken, but she will never see that I have given up! — he said adamantly, recalling the fateful conversation on the hill: "You are my hero, Subaru-kun!"

"Go away, you fake! Don't you dare take the form of Rem and comfort me with her voice!" He shouted, finally coming to his senses.

"Amazing. Even while rejecting this 'fake' Rem, he still found the strength to get back on his feet thanks to her." Commented Julius, rejoicing at what he sees on the screen.

His friend might look angry now, but he was no longer lying with faded eyes on the floor. Anger was better than despair.

"Just like Old Man Will said, she is the source of his strength, nya." Felix added happily, thinking about the same thing.

Petra, Beatrice, and Emilia sniffed jealously. Every girl thought about what she could do to become the same support for her beloved boy.

Struck by this change of mood, Rem sadly lowered her head.

"I was told that everything would be… completely different…"

"Em…somehow I doubt the imaginary Rem would say something like that." Tivey commented with caution.

"Looks like the Sword Saint's theory will prove to be correct." Priscilla noted, fanning herself with interest. All this lovey-dovey interactions were boring her to no end, and now she once again saw something interesting.

After these words, her image began to change. A few seconds later, a completely unfamiliar girl stood in front of Natsuki. She had light pink hair, red eyes, a long dress that covered her body completely and a green scarf around her neck, behind which she hid her face.

"Well, I didn't expect this turn of events at all!" Al admitted honestly.

"Why did a completely new face suddenly appeared in the tomb?!" Felt was surprised. "And why wasn't she there before? And if she did show up here, then why don't the others know about her? Or you knew, but kept silent about it?"

"I swear, this is the first time I've seen this girl!" Otto hastened to assure her.

"Apparently the Sword Saint guessed correctly, I suppose. The second Trial is not over yet, and in front of us is either one of the witches, or some other soul, living in the mother's Dream Castle." Beatrice explained, together with her contractor, throwing aside sadness and starting to study the screen carefully again.

"Who are you?" He asked again.

"I'm Carmilla… The Witch of Lust. Nice to meet you…" the girl replied very uncertainly, as if she was afraid to communicate with him.

"THAT is the Witch Of Lust?! She looks like the most modest girl I've ever met!" Ricardo said in surprise.

"Talk about subverted expectations." Al added grumpily.

"Remembering the Witch of Pride or Gluttony, I would not draw conclusions based on appearance alone. She's still a Witch, which means any aspect of her can be deceptive." Otto replied, looking suspiciously at the screen.

"In total, Subaru Natsuki has already met si-i-ix witches out of seven. Only the Witch of Sloth has not yet revealed herse-e-elf." Noted Roswaal.

"So that was her plan? She looked into Subaru-kun's memory and stole my image to seduce him?! Well, she definitely doesn't know Subaru-kun! Looks alone won't be enough to win him over!" Rem was angered and content at the same time.

Seeing how a witch of sin failed to seduce her hero using her own image was a real boost of confidence for a blue-haired maid. It was very pleasant for a girl that it was her attitude that Subaru put first. The same way he rejected the assertive, but mind-broken Emilia the loop before.

"What kind of crazy images did I just see? What do you want from me?" Subaru demanded

"What do you mean?" The witch pretended that she did not understand what she was talking about.

"Why did you pretend to be Rem?! Is this your power?!"

"You don't understand! If I looked different in front of you, then you wanted to see me like this."

"It seems, even if the image of Rem was not a figment of mister's imagination, Sir William's assumption does not lose its validity. The Witch of Lust takes on the form that people crave to see the most." Tivey pointed out this fact.

"Her nature as a witch has already begun to manifest itself. If she were among the living, then imagine how she could use this power for manipulation and espionage?" Crusch remarked with some indignation.

"You mean?"

"I was against it at all, but Echidna insisted that you need affection…"

"If Echidna sent this Carmilla to help the mini-boss, does this mean she didn't want to bring him to the state of a potato?" Mimi asked an unexpectedly smart question that made many people think.

"Or she wanted to bring him back to the state he was in after the first encounter with the Great rabbit, so that she could do anything she wants with him!" Ram expressed her suspicions.

"Although Betty have to admit that her mother is quite capable of such an act, Betty doubts that it is in her best interests right now. If Betty's guessed her plan correctly, then the images that Betty's Subaru saw will have an extremely negative effect on his reaction and disposition, I suppose.

"But if what happened wasn't her plan, then why didn't Echidna immediately interrupt the Trial?" Emilia asked.

"Probably because Betty's mother wanted to know what Betty's contractor would see and how he would react to it. Her nature of the Witch of Greed will not allow her to give up such knowledge, even if as a result the mind of the subject will be destroyed, in fact."

"So this is really the tricks of the Echidna!" Subaru said angrily, starting to approach the girl.

"A little more and you will die." The voice of the Witch of Greed appeared out of nowhere.

At that moment, Natsuki sighed in pain, pressed his hands to his chest and fell to his knees, starting to cough, as if he had been suffocating all this time. The world around him transformed, and he found himself back in Echidna's Dream Castle.

"Left alone with the Faceless bride Carmilla, you can forget how to breathe. In the end, even the heart will forget how to beat." The witch calmly reported, sitting at her tea table.

"What terrible power! Add her ability to disguise herself as the closest people, and we have the ultimate assassin in front of us!" Ricardo was impressed by such frightening possibilities.

"Maybe that explains why she behaves with uncertainty? Could it be that Carmilla is not an evil girl at all, but because of her powers, she is afraid to get close to someone?" Emilia, as always, tried to see only the good in everyone.

"Well, that would explain why she's dressed like that and even hides her face, I suppose. Witches often suffered from their own powers no less than others, in fact." Beatrice did not argue with her.

"Echidna, what kind of wildness did you come up with?" The young man was clearly annoyed.

"What's on the witch's mind? Bad things, of course." The girl replied indifferently.

"Why did you use it?"

"It was the most effective solution, wasn't it? If I hadn't intervened, the Ordeal would have tormented your soul."

"You mean you saved me?"

"I do not deny, in the process I hurt your heart and am ready to accept any abuse." Echidna replied calmly, playing with her curls and not even looking at the guy.

"Although Echidna is still a meanie, she does care about Subaru in her own way." Emilia noted, feeling a pang of jealousy.

"Does she now? May I remind you, by whose grace did Subaru-kun go through all these horrors in the Sanctuary, Emilia-sama?" Rem was indignant at such a positive assessment of the witch's actions. "Roswaal is entirely to blame, but he is only an executioner who acted on someone else's instructions, and it was this witch who came up with this whole vile plan!"

"Rem is right. If the Witch of Greed cares about Natsuki-kun, it's only because she wants to make him her puppet." Anastasia agreed grimly.

Roswaal could only grit his teeth in helpless anger. Right now, there was no option for him to deflect Rem's words and protect his Teacher's image. Even if he starts screaming that everything was part of his plan, the screen already showed the others that he was kept in the dark about many things. Any emotions tight now will prove to be detrimental.

Instead of answering, Subaru got to his feet, silently walked over to the table and sat down on a chair. The witch smiled, accepting his behavior as an answer.

"I know what worries you most of all. I will explain the essence of the Trial. Just like last time, the second Trial creates a world based on your memory. Superbly made, but unreal.

"Oh, thank Od Laguna!" Otto almost slid off the chair to the floor in relief.

There were many relieved sighs in the auditorium.

"So… we won't lose Subaru forever if some kind of tragedy happens again?!" Petra asked her mentor with hope in her voice.

The girl knew that it sounded extremely selfish, but she couldn't help herself. If Subaru get in a tight spot again, she will do everything in her power to lighten the burden of her hero and be useful to him, but If any of his deaths in their world would be final… She didn't even want to think about that.

"Now we can hope that it will be so, Petra-chan." Frederica gently ruffled her student's hair. She really wanted to believe in those words herself.

Subaru let out a sigh of relief.

"That means…

"However… returning from the other world is the privilege of the Witch of Envy. Only she knows for sure if what you saw during the Trial actually happened." Echidna warned.

"Stop! Are you saying all this could have been real?"

"This is nothing more than a hypothesis. Rather than counting those you may not have saved, it's better to count those who were saved after all."

"Let's not give cheap advice!"

"So… the probability that each loop that we saw is a separate world has not disappeared…" William said in a flat voice.

If so, it will be even more difficult for him in the future. If so, then he simply has to be near Subaru-dono at all times and protect him from any dangers, but how could he do that if he had the same responsibilities to Crusch-sama. Suddenly, his mistress's idea of taking advantage of the margrave's soon to happen fall from grace and making Emilia's camp part of Crusch-sama's camp took on a completely different meaning. From the simple wish of his mistress, this scenario became an extremely important personal matter for the gray-haired butler. If Subaru-dono and Crusch-sama are in the same camp, then it will be much easier for Wilhelm to guard them both, and if they become more than allies, then it would be even easier.

'Emilia-sama. I'm sorry for your feelings, but I believe that you will understand this old man's desire to protect your knight.' William firmly decided for himself.

Unless Emilia agrees to be one of the young man's wives, as Rem on the screen had previously suggested, but how would his lady react to such an idea? The life of the old warrior promised to become much more complicated in the near future.

"Well, personally I still think that Bro is just moving back in time, and not jumping to different worlds." Al suddenly decided to speak out on this topic.

He did not plan to reveal his own ability, which was also tied to time-manipulation. He simply didn't want everyone to be constantly oppressed by the thoughts that they were nothing more than residents of another loop until the end of the shows.

"And what is the basis for such confidence, Al?" Asked Priscilla.

The one-armed knight noted with pleasure that the princess addressed him by name, which meant she was interested in hearing his thoughts.

"Well, I was just thinking along those lines. If the Bro started each new loop in a different world then this would be the proof of the theory of the Multiverse.

"The Multiverse?! What's this?" Tivey cheered up.

He had never heard of such a term. Which meant that right now he will hear scientific theories previously unknown to him. What could be more exciting?

"Beatrice, have you ever heard of such a thing?" Emilia asked.

"I remember my mother's entire library from the first page to the last, in fact, but I have not read about such a thing."

Seeing that everyone's eyes were on him, Al began to explain.

"Well, this is a hypothesis from my and Bro's world. I read about it in comics in my younger days. It's an assumption that there is not just one reality. Imagine that you are going to a meeting and have reached an intersection. You make a choice and turn left to reach your goal. This choice becomes the reality in which you now exist, and only this choice is real for you. All others become nothing more than fantasies and speculations, such as 'what if I chose another path?'.

While the theory of the Multiverse states: that the moment you decided to turn left, several more realities appeared, and in each new reality you made a different choice. Turned right, went straight, or even decided to go back, and now all these new realities exist in parallel with the one you live in. Well, considering that such a rule applies to absolutely all choices made in all worlds by anyone and everywhere, the number of such realities equates to infinity."

"And what will change in these new parallel worlds?" Ricardo asked him.

"Who knows. Maybe nothing. You will also successfully attend the meeting. After that, the only difference between your reality and another one will be that you have traveled different paths. Or It's also possible that in reality, where you turned right, your life will follow a completely different path. A fateful meeting will take place, or you will be attacked, or the road will take longer and you will be late. Anything can happen. Or nothing at all."

Tivey was literally bursting with anticipation of a wonderful scientific debate. The assumptions made by the knight of the baroness were extremely entertaining. In the next break, Tivey planned to think about this theory of the Multiverse properly and, perhaps, even steal Al from his mistress for some time in order to properly question. Still, he had a couple of arguments against this theory and the young demi-human was extremely glad to have the opportunity to discuss:

"But doesn't such a theory on the contrary reinforces the assumption that mister travels to a new world in every loop? It's just that the Witch of Envy might be able to choose the worlds that are least different from the one he is used to. Therefore, the changes are minimal. It would explain why in the arc about the first week in the mansion, the pink maid always reacted differently to mister's offer to become a butler. As well as why he couldn't go the same way a second time."

He saw how his words negatively affected the mood in the audience, but scientific truth stood above emotions!

"That's a good argument." Al nodded in agreement. "Although Chaos theory could be involved here."

"Another theory?! Mimi's head is going to hurt from the number of difficult words!" The girl pleaded.

She didn't need to learn any theories to blow the bad guys to smithereens. Just training and practice were enough.

"I also don't want to get into details right now. In a nutshell, Chaos theory describes how the tiniest changes can drastically impact the expected result. To put it simple — the Bro started a conversation with the maids differently when he woke up, and this already created a chain of changes that did not allow him to go the same way. Note that I'm not even saying that after the first death from the curse, he began to stink of miasma more strongly, which made him more suspicious in their eyes."

"But now we know for sure that different worlds exist! At least yours and ours." Tivey persisted.

"That's right, but these worlds are not necessarily exist in parallel realities. Perhaps this world is just located in another part of the galaxy and exists together with ours. The fact that the Witch of Envy was able to bring me and Bro here does not mean that we got into another reality. Who knows, maybe she used the same magic door spell as the spirit girl here. Only on a cosmic scale, and connected two worlds in different parts of the Universe with a magical corridor. Also, Bro's time travel ability and existence of parallel worlds are not mutually exclusive concepts. It may very well be that other realities exist with other Bros who live and loop in them, whose story at some point could have taken a completely different path. I'm sure all of you at least once thought about what could've happened if my Bro didn't go to the loot house on his first day. That's just one example.

Al held up his index finger, making it clear that he was going to say important things now.

"But! Why do I think that the theory of multiple worlds is inapplicable to the Bro's case? Time. Even in the case of the Multiverse, time flow should remain linear. New realities that are generated exists in the same time stream. If Bro had moved between worlds, he would have just been transported to the same moment he died, but with the difference that he would find himself in a world where the tragedy he faced did not happen. It's hard to imagine that the world Bro arrives to after his death is exactly the same, but, for some unknown reason, located several days further in the time flow than the previous one. It is much more logical in this case to assume that the Authority of Envy allows the wearer to manipulate time and travel through it, instead of traveling to another world and then going back in time.

Tivey found no arguments against it, but he was extremely pleased that he had a lot of new thoughts for careful analysis. The others looked at Al with grateful expressions. Even if it was just a guess, he gave them sound arguments to believe that Subaru won't leave them and go to some another reality.

"So be it, Al. I like the way you think! I approve of your opinion about commoner's time traveling!" Priscilla nodded contentedly, as if the work of the fundamental laws of the universe depended on her opinion.

"I think Al's version sounds the most realistic. I suggest we stop at it and continue watching the episode." Crusch voiced the collective sentiment.

They didn't want to look for possible holes in the one-armed knight's logic. They just wanted to believe that he was right. For their own sake.

"I know perfectly well that before we met, you did everything in your power and survived as best you could. You have not taken a single step in vain on the path you have traveled. Up to this point, you have done everything you can, not even sparing your life. You should be proud of yourself.

"Why are you so insistent on helping me?

"Isn't it too rude to demand a direct answer from a girl to such a question?" The witch blushed in embarrassment.

Ostentatiously clearing her throat, she continued in a more formal tone.:

"Would you like to make a pact with me, Subaru Natsuki?"

"Just as Betty thought! That's what she started it all for, in fact!" Beatrice clenched her fists in indignation.

"So, everything that happened to Natsuki-kun from the very first day was part of the Witch of Greed's plan to make a pact with him?" At first, Anastasia found it difficult to believe in the possibility of such a thing.

Then she put herself in Echidna's place and thought about it. If she had known in advance that at some point a person with similar abilities and knowledge from another world would appear in the right place, she would not have spared any money and assets to get him for herself. She would have resorted to tricks, deception, blackmail, tied him up with debts, gifts, promises, women. Just to have all this potential in her hands. Of course, it would never have occurred to her to unleash the Great Rabbit on the poor man for her own ulterior motives, she was not a witch by any means.

"By signing a contract with Betty's Subaru and being able to influence how he uses his ability, Mother would've received an endless source to sate her thirst for knowledge, in fact! She'll be able to solve any task or problem with all possible variables and find out all the outcomes. Try all the ways to strike a deal, taste all dishes, explore the effects of all poisons or spells. The possibilities would be almost limitless, I suppose!

"And all this at the cost of Subaru-kun's endless deaths!" Rem clenched her fists viciously, who, from the picture described by the spirit, was ready to go to the Sanctuary at the first opportunity to personally raise the witch's tomb to the ground with her weapon.

"Make a pact?" The guy didn't understand.

"A proper pact with the Witch of Greed. Would you like to sign it?"

"And what would that mean?"

"It's nothing complicated. From now on, when you encounter an insurmountable obstacle or fall under the weight of your sins, I will come to your aid. I am confident in my knowledge, and I'm sure I'll find a way out of most situations. Besides, it will be possible to discuss the Return By Death with me.

"Is it just me, or are you persistently trying to push it through to me?"

"It's only natural to mention what you'll get. If I can get you to agree even a little bit, then it's not for nothing. A clean calculation."

"Cunning. Knowing Natsuki-kun's predicament perfectly well, she skillfully lures him by showing the pros of the deal, while not saying a word about the cons or the price he'll have to pay. She even used the technique of cynical honesty. It's not the most subtle job, but considering that Natsuki-kun already trusts her, it's quite a good. My money says he will be inclined to accept the deal.

"But he rejected my mother's offer in the end, in fact!" Beatrice reminded her. Anastasia was slightly surprised, but quickly found something to answer:

"So either Echidna is going to say something that will break the whole deal, or a third party will intervene. After all, the witch just mentioned Return By Death out loud."

"I really hope we won't have to witness another calamity at the Sanctuary!" Julius said warily.

Sighing at the witch's manner of conversation, Subaru looked up at the sky.

"Maybe it is a good idea."

"So you agree?!" Echidna jumped up from her chair and leaned on the table. After a couple of seconds, realizing how it looked, she hurriedly tried to correct her reaction, trying to seem like she was doing him a favor:

"Or rather, if you persistently ask, so be it, I will conclude it.

"Bad! I don't believe it!" Ricardo laughed.

"This is the most unconvincing attempt to play tsundere of all that I have seen! I'll give her two points out of ten." Al said authoritatively.

"Ha! No amount of knowledge can replace the beauty of a character! " Ram remarked triumphantly, proudly puffing out her chest.

Echidna had nothing to oppose her in this regard. In terms of character, not the chest size. Ram refused to think in that direction on principle.

"Mother, you're not cut out to act, I suppose. You look bad, in fact!" Despite her conflicting feelings towards Echidna, Beatrice felt a certain shame because of Echidna's poor performance.

"This is so unfair! With me, she didn't even try to pretend to be a nice girl! She only scoffed and castigated me for nothing!" Emilia puffed out her cheeks resentfully.

"Does anyone even says 'castigated' in this day and age?" Anastasia said quietly to Julius, barely suppressing giggles. He smiled elegantly at her and shook his head.

"It's too late to hide your interest!" Subaru broke off her. "Okay, but how do they make a pact?"

"To make a proper pact, we must bind our souls together. First, touch my hand." She instructed, walking up to the young man and holding out her hand.

Seeing no trick in what was happening, he was about to extend his hand when suddenly an explosion sounded from the side. Dust and pink hearts filled everything around.

"Oh, I remember who's in charge of the circus with props!" Al commented.

"Yes! Go-go, Minerva-san! Show this mean girl!" The half-elf said triumphantly.

"What did I say about the interference of a third party?" Anastasia chuckled contentedly.

"What?!" Natsuki was surprised.

"Don't rush to make a pact!" A buxom blonde shouted, standing in the center of the crater that she had created.

"The Witch of Wrath!" Recognized her Subaru.

"I don't recognize him!" Minerva added loudly.

"Interesting. Looks like this witch is not very fond of the idea of Echidna creating a pact with Sir Natsuki. I wonder why? Is it because it's Echidna or maybe Minerva wants to create one with him herself?" Crusch pondered about the situation.

"If she wanted to seal a pact with him, why she didn't offer it first when she healed him the first time, nya? I say she just doesn't like Echidna that much."

"Are you interested in Subaru too? Are you jealous?" Echidna asked.

"Stop fooling around! I'm burning with rage! I am indignant! And ready to explode at any moment!"

"Why did she show up here? I thought other witches should switch places with you." Subaru asked.

"Now that's a good question! I remember Echidna warning mister about this." Tivey commented, adjusting his monocle.

"It's simple, I suppose. Betty's mother deliberately hid or distorted the information she gave to Betty's contractor in order to gradually bring him to the right state of mind to make her move at the right moment, in fact. It's quite in her style to give only the necessary minimum of information to others."

"Sounds jus' like one fuckin' clown my anazin' self knows." Garfiel grumbled.

"That was a lie! She is nasty by nature and can harass others for no reason!" Minerva explained.

"I totally agree!" Emilia said indignantly and crossed her arms defiantly, nodding confidently.

"You two look like sisters now. The same reactions and manners." Crusch giggled, enjoying both what was happening on the screen and in the audience.

"I just didn't want to release them all at once, so you wouldn't fall victim to one of them."

"She's not very good at making excuses when she's caught red-handed at lying, is she, nya?" Felix noted Echidna's weak attempts to justify herself.

"Mother was never good at understanding other people, I suppose. The fact that ordinary people in her immediate vicinity felt sick from the miasma clearly did not help to establish a relationship." Beatrice said with a note of sadness.

Maybe if her mother could interact normally with others, she would understand emotions better and be more… human. Maybe.

"Why are you hanging your ears! Stop taking everything Echidna says for granted! What did she say about the bad sides of the pact? Not a single word yet!" Raging, Minerva began to trample the ground for persuasion.

"What are the bad sides?" Subaru didn't understand.

"She's talking about the necessary payment. Although it seems superfluous to call it the bad side." Echidna tried to evade the answer.

"Okay, so what do you want in return? How can I pay?"

"It's nothing complicated. Everything that you felt, what you thought, what sunk into your heart… the future that you saw and what you were able to achieve, the opportunities you created and the fruit you are growing, the name of which is unknown. Let me try it all out."

"Betty can bet that Mother's not lying, I suppose. To gain new knowledge — is the alpha and omega of her existence, as Betty's Subaru would say." The girl did not miss the opportunity to boast of a subarism unknown to others.

"And what does it…" Tivey began to ask, but Ricardo interrupted him.

"You can ask her later. Eyes on the screen!"

"She's not lying to you, but she didn't tell you the whole… truth." Another voice joined the conversation. Carmilla was standing next to them.

"Witch of Lust!" Subaru reacted.

"Echidna is not trying to lie to you, but she keeps a lot of things quiet."

"You shouldn't listen to them, Subaru Natsuki. If you make a pact with me, I will definitely lead you to the future you desire." The witch of Greed calmly dissuaded him.

"I get the feeling she's panicking because things didn't go according to plan, but she's hiding it carefully." Felt said.

"Looks like I was wrong about her. She's terrible at the art of persuasion. Probably she is very good at making complex and very detailed plans, but if anything goes wrong, she gets lost and can't react quickly. Truly, knowledge alone cannot even sell snow in summer." Anastasia noted.

"What a banality to add that the desired result is guaranteed" Another voice joined the conversation.

A curvaceous lady with very long purple hair, eyes of the same color, in a loose, but at the same time rather defiant outfit is lying on the ground. She could easily be mistaken for a real Witch of Lust. If the face did not demonstrate universal laziness, which, perhaps, seals are capable of.

"Hello-o-o-o nurse! Now that's how a Witch of Lust should look like!" Al gave out a phrase in unknown language, akin to some subarisms, and commented playfully, eliciting a chuckle from Ricardo, an exasperated sigh from Ram, and a warning slap on the helmet from Priscilla.

"It sure is. But by the method of exclusion we can confidently state that this is Sloth." The mercenary captain commented.

"At least this Sloth looks much more pleasant than the creepy guy mimi-boss defeated."

"And unlike Petelgeuse she really looks slothful. We can hope she's not as crazy or aggressive as her successor. Or at least too lazy to do something drastic." Tivey supported his sister's statement.

"…and who are you?" Subaru asked.

"Sekhmet, the Witch of Sloth. Should I at least introduce myself?" The lady replied lazily, as if every word cost her a lot of effort.

"This is probably the first time a witch's appearance matches her sin." Reinhard noted.

"I wonder what her power is? Does she have invisible hands too, like a creepy guy?" Mimi asked.

"Who knows, but if she had invisible hands, it would allow her to move stuff and eat food without even gettin' up from the floor." Garfiel agreed with her.

"The sixth witch…"

"Yep, now he personally met all seven. Honestly the amount of discoveries this guy makes is astonishing! I start to seriously think that he if no one else can get inside the Pleiades Watchtower." Ricardo sounded impressed.

"Actually, I'm only here to maintain the balance of power. I would not like to remain in debt to her." Sekhmet muttered vaguely.

"Oh, Baru's here! Why are you all here? How unusual!" Typhon happily declared as she appeared.

The sound of tapping once again makes Subaru turn, revealing Daphne, still in her coffin. "It's been a long time since we had a tea party. You should have invited Daphne, too."

"Why do you guys keep on appearing one after the other?! What do you want from me?!" Subaru began to get annoyed, surrounded by witches.

"I told you, it's a platitude to end promises with such words." The Witch of Sloth told him.

"What did she promise?" Subaru asked more for himself and turned to the witch of Greed.

"Echidna. You said you would lead me to a better future. Right?"

"Yes, of course. It's true."

"If I achieve the best future, does it mean that I will go to it the best way?"

But there was no response.

"Why are you silent? Answer me, Echidna! I'm waiting for an answer, witch of Greed!"

"He caught her. She can't find a decent excuse!" Anastasia said gloatingly.

She was experiencing the pleasure of a professional watching the young man on the screen reveal the clumsily drawn up, in her opinion, witch's plan to turn Subaru into her asset. "Still, when you want to use manipulation, you need to be able to feel people subtly, and witches, apparently, are not capable of that at all."

"The very nature of their powers makes them alien creatures to our world. The miasma coming from witches alone says a lot about it." Julius added.

"Maybe she understood it herself? Is that why she drove Subaru to a state of utter despair so that he would grab her offer as his last chance, not even considering the possible consequence?" Reinhard suggested.

"My mother was fully aware that it was difficult for her to communicate with other people, in fact. Therefore, Sword Saint, your assumptions are not without reason, I suppose. If other witches didn't show up, Betty's contractor would most likely agree to form a pact." Beatrice agreed with him.

"And that makes it even stranger, that they appeared. As far as we know, this Castle of Dreams is her domain. Even the Witch of Envy couldn't get there as we saw it. And other witches didn't appear along with Echidna before. So why she allowed it to happen now, during such an important moment? Could she'd lost her concentration or something?" Julius noted.

"An interesting thought. But completely irrelevant right now. It happened, they came and ruined her plan, that's all that matters." Anastasia rushed to cut off the possibility of another long and, ultimately pointless pondering.

"To achieve the desired future, you will have to accept losses. Aren't you ready for them, Subaru Natsuki?"

"Stop, stop, stop, slow down!"

"I won't wait! You should know more! Just imagine!" While saying this, Echidna solemnly spread her hands up, as if she was going to present something incredible to the public:

"Returning from the other World is an amazing privilege. You don't understand how to treat her. You can remake the world until you achieve the desired result! This is an environment that a researcher can only dream of! I will not force you to use the privilege — everything will be according to your will, in order to achieve your goals, and in order for you to succeed, I am willing to share my wisdom. I am sure that the results obtained in the process will already satisfy my curiosity in due measure. We will puzzle over the answers, and we will find them. This will be the ideal relationship between us. I will use your power, and I hope that in return you will use me. There's nothing to hide, I've fallen in love with you, and I sincerely hope to be useful to you. I am willing to give you everything you want from me. My body is at your disposal if it helps to ease your pain. I will gladly give myself to you. My words will give you the strength to move on. They will comfort, enrage, and give love. If you want, hate. I am ready to serve you and be useful! You like devoted girls, don't you? And you need me. Without you, I can no longer satisfy my hunger for knowledge. If you use your power to save me, then I wish the same! I can't stop my own greed! No matter what happens, I will definitely lead you to the desired future. I will, I give you my word! You have to liberate the Sanctuary. With my help, you will be able to save your beloved, imprisoned within its limits! Don't be shy, take possession of me, use me, let your Greed run wild and achieve the future! Everything that you are looking for and desire, I am ready to offer you in return! I have said everything, without a trace, I have spoken to you frankly and passionately. I must have confessed my love to you. I'm sure it is. How will you respond to my feelings? I want to know. After all, these words can also satisfy my curiosity.

The screen paused, giving the viewers time to digest everything they just heard.

'I wonder how much of what you said is true, Teacher? Can you really have fallen in love with Natsuki Subaru just because he has this Authority? Were you really ready to give all of yourself to him? Could it be that all these centuries and sacrifices I made to bring you back were for nothing?' Roswaal was thinking, while clenching his fists, feeling the wave of jealousy and rage rising up within him.

'NO! This changes nothing! It doesn't matter if she ever looks at me the same way! I will bring her back! I will give her an opportunity to walk among the living again and strive to obtain new knowledge! And every time she will enjoy a new discovery she will remember that it was me who made it possible! Not another witch, not a Sage candidate! ME! Just a human whose love defied death itself! It will be so!'

'What does this witch allows herself?! She loves him?! Why all of a sudden?! Subaru is mine! And you, Echidna, I won't even let touch him with a finger!' Emilia thought furiously, not at all restraining her feeling of jealousy. When it came to witches, she wasn't going to hold back!

"That was… creepy." Was all Ricardo could say.

"That's the true nature of witches, I suppose. They live, bound by the powers of their witch factor, which takes their essence and shapes their worldview based on it. Now you've seen both sides of Mother, in fact." Beatrice decided to explain to them.

"On the one hand, she is an extremely curious, knowledge-hungry girl who does not understand how feelings work, in fact. On the other hand, she is a witch, who is hungry to know everything in the world and who will stop at nothing to get said knowledge. It doesn't matter, good deeds or terrible ones. All for the sake of satisfying her greed, and she will not be able to go against this desire, even its fulfillment will lead to her demise or the loss of those she cherishes, I suppose." Beatrice finished, holding back her tears.

"What do you mean she cannot go against their desires, Beatrice-sama? Will the witch factor compel her?" Julius was interested.

"Rather, it will suppress her will, creating an insatiable desire to do what corresponds to the essence of her sin, I suppose. Witch factors embody the absolute and unlimited passion and desire inherent in every sin. Whether it's a desire for satiety, a desire for love, a desire for fame, a desire to own something. The owner of the witch factor receives tremendous power corresponding to the desires associated with the corresponding sin, but the price for this power is that the bearer turns into a slave of this sin, in fact. Daphne is constantly tormented by unbearable hunger. My mother was greedily looking for new knowledge. For Sekhmet, even breathing is an annoying necessity, not to mention movement. I'm scared to imagine what she smelled like when she was alive, I suppose."

"Eeeww! This lady probably didn't wash herself at all!" Mimi and Petra's faces twisted at such an unsightly detail.

"All these revelations make me even more convinced of how correctly the code of chivalry is built, which in every possible way calls for suppressing one's passions and cultivating seven virtuous!" Julius stated firmly and confidently, who decided to redouble his efforts to become the embodiment of everything that knighthood stood for. Seeing the consequences of indulging in sins, even involuntarily, he decided that this was the only right course of action.

"Your thoughts are too obvious on your face, boy." Said Beatrice, who was not too impressed by the knight's words.

Normally, she wouldn't give a damn about anyone except her contractor, but… this young man clearly wanted to be friends with Betty's Subaru. Her contractor also appreciated the relationship with this knight, no matter how he tried to mask his feelings behind antics and swearing. Therefore, there was nothing wrong with giving the young man free advice, the great spirit decided.

"You say so confidently that you will suppress the manifestation of the seven sins in every possible way, without understanding their essence, in fact." Betty said in an even and instructive tone.

"I beg to differ, Beatrice-sama. What I have seen is enough for me to understand that the presence of sins in a person leads to the destruction of everything that a knight should protect!" To the surprise of everyone who knew Julius well, he dared to enter into a dispute with the great spirit.

"You don't even realize that by completely suppressing your passions, you will cease to be both a knight and a man, I suppose." The girl continued in the same tone.

"What are you talking about, Beatrice-sama?" For the first time, Julius sounded confused.

He clearly did not expect such words from the great spirit. How is it possible that if he suppresses any manifestation of pride, anger or lust, he will cease to be a knight.

"You've focused entirely on the negative aspects of sins, I suppose. Sins themselves are not pure evil. It is a motivating force that creates in people a desire for something. Uncontrolled indulgence in them is what breeds evil, and that's what separates the witches from the rest." Beatrice announced firmly, standing on her contractor's feet to stand on equal terms with Julius. Even so, she was slightly shorter than the knight sitting in the next row.

"Do you want to completely suppress your gluttony, I suppose? Daphne has already told this to Betty's contractor: no matter how happy the soul is, and the mind is satisfied, if the stomach is empty, then you will not last long. Not to mention that your life will be empty and devoid of joy. Gluttony is not just about filling your stomach, it's about getting pleasure from life, from the fact of existence in all its manifestations. Do you want to become as diligent as Juice once was? You will die in a matter of weeks from overexertion if your sloth does not restrain you. Completely repressing your lust will make you the last of your kin. You will spend your whole life in chastity and loneliness, leaving no offspring behind and not only that. The sin of lust is not only about animalistic urges, but also about love, about the desire for intimacy and connection with others like you.

You want to crush your anger, I suppose? Then you won't even lift a sword against someone who will try to kill your lady or anyone else, in fact! Because without anger, there can be no will to punish those who do evil. Without anger, you will not be able to force yourself to overcome obstacles and difficulties, you will not recognize your shortcomings, and you will not be able to fix them Without pride, you will not strive to achieve anything. You will not need the title of knight, your own honor or your position beside your candidate. Should I continue, or my point is clear to you, knight?" Beatrice tilted her head sweetly to one side, looking at Julius, who was clearly tormented by conflicting thoughts.

"But… we were always taught that the seven virtues…" He began to speak with uncertainty, but Beatrice immediately interrupted him in a stern tone:

"Can be just as disastrous if brought to the same extreme as the sins inside the witches, in fact! Have you seen even a fraction of sloth in Petelgeuse? Even during his lifetime, he was an embodiment of diligence and hard work. Even the witch factor of Sloth couldn't suppress Juice's workaholic nature! Moreover, the madness that struck Juice turned him into the antithesis of the sin of Sloth. An unrepentant, tenacious maniac, ready to tear apart even his own henchman for the slightest manifestation of insufficient diligence. Even after he lost most of the physical shell he refused to give in. That is what the virtue of diligence can lead to if allowed to take complete reign, in fact!

A person who has devoted oneself entirely to patience will never stand up to protect or help oneself or others. The one who is ruled by humility will never know the desire for something more or to be better. Virtues are not substitutes for sins, they act as boundaries. They are needed so that you can control your desires and urges. To direct your wrath only against those who deserve it, to love those who appreciate you, to enjoy life and aspire to be better. That's what you should learn, knight. Find a balance in yourself. Become the master of your desires by moderating them with virtues, not their slave, like the witches, in fact!"

Julius sat looking at the great spirit with his eyes wide open. For many years of training as a knight and studying the codes, he had never thought about such an interpretation of seemingly obvious things. The others, especially the knights, who were carefully listening to the dialogue between the great spirit and the spiritual knights, also pondered on Beatrice's words.

"That sounded very wise, Beatrice! You looked like a real great spirit right now!" The admiring Emilia decided to praise her.

"What do you mean, 'now', in fact?! And how do you think I usually look, girl?!" Beatrice immediately turned to the half-elf, cutely puffing out her cheeks with indignation.

"Like Subaru's little, sweet, moody sister?" Emilia replied innocently, after which a very light, cutely growling pink cat attacked her.

"I'm not moody! And not little! I'm older than you and I have perfectly cute proportions, in fact!"

"Undoubtedly, these words were very thought-provoking. Thank you for your wisdom, Beatrice-sama." William bowed to her. "And now, I propose we continue watching."

Everyone was silent, waiting for the young man's answer.

"Echidna." Subaru said calmly.

"Tell me."

"Do you want to use me?"

"Of course, and I expect the same from you. That's what the pact is for. You can blame me for not wanting to let you go, but that's the truth." The witch replied quite calmly.

"I understood that you helped me not only out of good intentions. But I didn't think I'd be so wrong about you." He said with a note of desperation in his voice, covering his face with his hands.

"I don't understand what exactly caused your outrage." Echidna raised her eyebrows slightly, clearly not understanding his reaction.

"Your every emotion looks fake. You're never serious! When you laugh, even when you're angry, it's all a lie. Echidna, you don't understand how other people feel!"

"Looks like her heated speech was not as impressive as she hoped it to be. He saw right through her!" Anastasia said contentedly.

"So she lied about loving him and being ready to do anything for him?" Emilia asked hopefully.

"I would guess that she said everything she thought would convince Natsuki-san to accept her offer" Otto replied to her.

"She could have as well told the truth, but in order to convince him, she tried to simulate vivid emotions. But it turned out to look unnatural and drove Subaru away i nthe end." Reinhard said.

But the artificial smile on the witch's face didn't even twitch.

"You should be angry." Natsuki prompted her.

"I see. This is a valuable lesson. I'll try to take it into account if I get the chance." The fake smile was replaced by a stern expression on his face.

"Now she looks sincere. However, her gaze makes me worry about how this loop will end." Al reacted to the change in Echidna's mood.

Snapping her fingers, Echidna forced the surrounding landscape to return to its original state.

"Shall we sit down? I'd like to talk more about the pact." She suggested.

"She's a stubborn one, isn't she? Wasn't it clear to her that the big bro wouldn't accept her offer? Didn't he completely reveal her true nature?" Felt was surprised by this behavior.

"Apparently she can't understand his behavior, or she still thinks she can convince him."

"I remembered… another question I wanted to ask at the meeting."

"Please, voice it."

"I think I'll figure it out if you give me an answer. You know Beatrice, right?"

The spirit girl was startled by the mention of her name.

"Subaru. What do you want to ask Mother about, I suppose? Is it possible that you want to know about my pact with her?" She mumbled quietly.

"Of course. I am closely connected with her birth."

"The pact obliged her to wait for the appearance of a certain person. Admit it, she made it with you."

"That's right. It was I who ordered her to guard the library and wait for the arrival of the guest."

"Then tell me his name and how to free Beatrice."

Echidna was silent for several seconds. Then she replied mockingly:

"I wonder who it could be?"

"What?! Don't you know who Beatrice is waiting for?!" Subaru was instantly furious.

"No, I don't know."

"Why? You told her to wait!"

"You misunderstood what's going on. I didn't take an oath from her in order to pass it on to the right person."

"What?"

"I was pursuing a completely different goal. I'm wondering which person Beatrice would consider right if I demanded to wait for him. That's what I want to know. The fact that she hasn't chosen anyone in four hundred years is also a result, and the fact that from the inability to make a choice, the oath became so burdensome to her that she wished herself dead is also a result.

"And what do you think about it?

"In my opinion, this is wonderful."

"Truly a witch…" Rem hissed through her clenched teeth.

"Damn crow!" Garfiel added.

"How can you condemn someone who is actually your daughter to four hundred years of loneliness?!" Petra declared angrily.

"Why didn't she just tell her to choose the right person herself?!" Mimi was indignant.

"For the sake of the purity of the expe-e-eriment." Roswaal replied dryly. "If Beatrice had been told right away that she was free to choose anyone, she would have handed o-o-over the library as soon as she got tired of waiting. Such an outcome would hardly suit Echidna. She was i-i-interested in whom Beatrice would select against all odds. So that the desire to ge-e-et rid of the pact would be so strong that she would make a choice on her own, not caring about the lack of the right words in the boo–o-ok."

"If the Witch of Greed was so omniscient, then she couldn't help but know how important pacts are to spirits!" Julius was indignant at such inhuman thinking.

"Can a spirit be so-o-o eager to end its burdensome contract, it would be able to overcome its nature and find a way out on its o-o-own? It seems to me that this is a question worthy of the attention of the Witch of Gree-e-ed." Roswaal retorted.

"This sounds repulsive, even if such experiment was conducted with the simple lesser spirit! But here she made her own daughter into a lab rat!" Crusch answered with disdain in her voice.

"I find it hila-a-arious that it is you, who would say that, Crusch-sama-a-a. Wasn't it you who stated that the kingdom should break the covenant with the Holy Dragon in order to become independent and follow its o-o-own will? Why do you refuse the idea that Echidna might've had the same idea in her mi-i-ind? To see if her creation can become truly independent, make her own decisions, based on her own desires, her own gree-e-ed? Isn't the ability to break the rules and make conscious decisions based on your own will is one of the proofs of true persona-a-ality?"

"Yer jus' tryin' to whitewash 'tis Witch, clown!" Garfiel hissed at the margrave.

"And ca-a-an you debunk my words with valid points and not just emo-o-tions, Garfiel-kun?" Roswaal smiled smugly at the exasperated tiger-boy.

"Echidna… You really are a witch! A monster that the human mind cannot understand! I definitely won't take your hand! And I already know who I need. Out of pure curiosity, without any malicious intent, you chained her for four hundred years!

"He understands her pretty well. She has lost her chance for good" Anastasia noted with satisfaction.

Looking up, he looked firmly into the witch's eyes.

"I thought I'd better hold out my hand to her. I don't need your help."

"Subaru!" Elated, Beatrice rushed to hug her contractor. Even after all her failures, Betty's contractor remembered her and was looking for a way to free her from the ruinous contract. This fact alone made Betty want to start jumping on the spot.

'When you wake up, Betty will pat you on the head for a long time, I suppose! I'll take your hand and never let you go again! I swear you will never feel alone again, in fact!'

"My hero never forgets about those who are dear to him." Rem said proudly, really enjoying the scene to her right.

"Well, the cap'n's firmly decided to get our Beatrice out of the library. The mansion is finished!" Garfiel remarked with satisfaction, biting his lips in anticipation, waiting for the right loop to finally come.

Echidna's eyes narrowed, unfriendly. She was clearly not happy with this answer. But they were interrupted by the worried cries of the other witches, whose presence they had forgotten to think about. A shadow quickly covered the ground below them, although the sky did not change.

"She appeared!" Minerva said.

"No! I have nothing to do with it at all!" Carmilla panicked, covering her head.

"A troublesome girl came at a difficult time to throw problems at us." Sekhmet said, sighing wearily.

"I have a bad feeling about this…" said Otto cautiously.

"The witches of sin are scared or preparing for a fight. Who else can we expect?!" Ram spoke tensely, guessing what they were about to be shown. Or more precisely, who.

"This meeting has whetted my appetite!" Daphne said cheerfully.

Seeing how Echidna's face was distorted with undisguised malice, Subaru turned his gaze and froze in horror.

"Oh! Tella's here! Long time no see! "Typhon waved her hands joyfully.

The Witch of Envy was slowly approaching the group.

[Screen caption: Witch's Tea Party]

"Fuckin' hell!" Garfiel pressed his back to the armchair, genuinely worried.

"Again?! But how did she get there?!" Rem echoed him.

"So the Witch was able to invade this domain? Why didn't she do that the last time then?! Felt noted with fear evident in her voice.

"Rather, one should ask how she was able to penetrate the Echidna's personal reality. This is the most complex magic! Of course, many barriers and forbidding spells will stand in the way of any outsider!" It was a rare case when the nervousness was clearly evident in Roswaal's voice.

After all, if the Witch of Envy did something to Echidna's soul during the events in the Sanctuary, then his entire centuries-old life would lose all its meaning. When the realization of his dream is almost in at arm's reach! One could only hope that this was not the final loop.

"I'm afraid, Frederica nee-sama! What if the Witch abducts Subaru again?" Petra muttered, squeezing into her mentor.

"Don't forget, your protective charm is still with him! Subaru-sama will definitely be able to escape!" Frederica tried to calm her and, at the same time, herself.

"This is getting more and more interesting! Why did the devil decide to act differently this time around? What has changed?" Priscilla mused.

The second time, the appearance of Satella did not plunge her into a stupor. The baroness successfully suppressed the trembling of her fingers and pretended that what was happening on the screen was only amusing her.

"Last time, the Witch attacked the Sanctuary as punishment for Barusu. This time she came here personally. What could be her goal? Could this be due to the fact that all the other witches gathered in one place?" Ram suggested, unconsciously grabbing Roswaal's arm.

"Are you suggesting that their gathering might have attracted her in the same way the Great Rabbit is attracted to mana?" Al asked her. She just shrugged in response.

"But the other witches won't just let themselves be gobbled up, right? We've already seen that even in this space they still have some of their old powers, nya!" Felix hoped.

"But are they strong enough to resist the one that has already swallowed them up once before?" Reinhard mused.

"There is no point in thinking about what will happen next! Let's move on to the next episode as soon as possible! I'm sure we'll find out very soon!" Crusch habitually entered the commander's mode, trying to suppress her own fear of the Witch of Envy in this way.

The rest did not argue with the duchess. Rather than make assumptions, it was better to immediately see what else their friend had gone through. And that's what they decided to do, waiting for the next installment that was uploading as they spoke.