The Witch Who Interrupted
"Have you calmed down?"
"Ah, yeah... I'm so embarrassed. I can't believe I cried twice in one day. Thanks, Echidna."
Subaru looked once again at the scene of the trial.
The image stopped at the very moment when he didn't move the knife from his throat—that is, the moment he lost the chance to Return by Death.
"You're not talking to me about Return by Death because of this reason, right?"
"Yes, Echidna. Its number of uses is unlimited, right?"
Looking at Echidna nodding, Subaru continued.
"I knew it... Actually, ever since the eighth time I revived at Roswaal's mansion, every time I came back, I felt a bit guilty inside.
I kept thinking, what if I hadn't given up so quickly back then? What if I had looped a few more times—would the outcome have been different?"
Echidna's powerful thirst for knowledge led her to keep asking questions, and Subaru, who was no longer avoiding the topic, answered each one seriously.
The dark thoughts that he should never have been able to share with anyone because they involved Return by Death now finally had a loyal listener.
A deep sense of fulfillment gradually filled Echidna's heart. A strong feeling of release also began to fill Subaru's.
"Echidna, do you have flowers? The kind used in funerals in this world."
"Is this your choice? Using flowers whose language of flowers is best suited for farewells, even though they've gone extinct?"
Subaru accepted the beautiful bouquet, then walked through the window to the cemetery.
He stood next to Reinhild, looked at the gravestones before him, and after a moment of silence, began pulling apart the bouquet.
He placed a flower in front of each grave.
If the deceased was someone he knew, he would talk a little with them; if they were strangers, he sincerely apologized.
"This might sound weird, but I promise I'll visit your graves again."
Subaru bowed deeply.
The space began to blur, and in his hazy vision, he saw translucent figures nodding and smiling at him, as if they had accepted his apology.
"So this is your answer, huh? Not bad. With this, you've completely passed the first trial."
Clapping her hands, Echidna returned to her familiar black outfit and stretched lazily.
"Well then, the official business is done. Let's take care of our private matter. Come."
Echidna smiled and extended her right hand toward Subaru.
"Let's form a contract.
You've already overcome that one crisis with my help, and I've just shown you my knowledge and wisdom.
I believe you've already made up your mind.
Trust me, no one is more suited to be your partner than me. I can definitely lead you to the perfect ending."
Subaru reconfirmed the terms of the contract with the witch whose lips couldn't hide her excitement.
Holding expectations for a perfect future, he slowly overlapped his hand with hers.
A loud wind and cracking noise interrupted Subaru's movement, and his body swayed from the tremor in the ground.
"Hold it right there with that contract."
The one who spoke with overwhelming authority was a blonde girl with blue eyes.
Steam rose from her fist, and a massive crater appeared where she had punched.
"You are...?"
"I'm the Witch of Wrath, Minerva! Not someone who needs to give her name to people like you!!"
Faced with Subaru's instinctive question, the girl answered.
The Witch of Wrath glared intensely at the two of them—more precisely, at Echidna—with incredible anger radiating from her blue eyes.
"I'll say it again—stop. I will not approve of such a contract."
"...Hmm. I didn't expect this development either."
Echidna, holding her arms under her ample chest, calmly took a sip of tea and spoke again.
"A witch's contract—surely you understand what that means. Knowing that, yet you still want to get involved? Don't tell me... you want to form a contract with him too? Could this be jealousy?"
"Seeing how mad I am, you should know it's not for some silly reason like that, right? I'm furious, enraged, burning with blazing anger!"
Minerva replied to Echidna's teasing tone with a reddening face.
Though the tears welling at the corners of her eyes made her look like a sulking child, the tremors in the ground caused by her stomping reminded everyone of her true identity.
"Wait, Witch of Wrath! Aren't you supposed to be dead? Why are you here? No—what's going on right now?"
Finally coming to his senses, Subaru looked at Echidna in confusion.
"I collected the remnants of the five witches, excluding Satella—you can think of them as souls or traces from their lives.
Basically, there are six witches here in a state similar to mine.
It wasn't necessary information for you, so I didn't say anything.
Of course, I won't deny that I was also worried—if a witch more charming than me or someone who might be more helpful to you appeared, someone like you might shift your interest to another witch. I wanted to avoid that."
From Echidna's explanation, Subaru sensed her possessiveness toward him.
"What kind of nonsense did she trick you into believing?!"
Lost in thought, Subaru suddenly felt a soft fist gently knocking on his head from behind. Then, he was swiftly taken down with a joint lock.
"Doesn't hurt?"
"When I touch other living beings, any action gets converted into healing effects. If I keep using joint locks like this, it can even get rid of your shoulder stiffness!"
Experiencing the Witch of Wrath's mysterious powers firsthand, Subaru twisted his head around to look at Minerva applying the hold with full force.
"So what are you even trying to do?"
"If I don't stop you, you're going to be fooled by Echidna's sweet talk and form a contract with her, aren't you? That kind of reckless, thoughtless attitude really ticks me off!"
"Sweet talk—that's a bit harsh. I merely clearly laid out the benefits and conditions of forming a contract with me. My words contain no lies. I simply want both sides to come to an agreement..."
"That's true. While the mood just now definitely played a role, I did seriously consider the terms of the contract. So even after calming down, I'd probably still make the same choice."
Subaru tried to pat Minerva to get her to release him, but she tightened her hold even more.
"It's your 'I've done my duty explaining, so everything's fine' attitude that annoys me! You didn't say anything about the worst-case scenario after forming the contract!"
After tearing into Echidna, Minerva turned her gaze to Subaru.
"I've seen your past.
With Echidna, you're probably thinking things couldn't get worse than they are now, right?
But you're underestimating witches.
Among the seven witches bearing the names of deadly sins, the one who's made the most contracts, interacted with the most humans, and interfered most with history—is the Witch of Greed."
"That's all part of the glory of my past life.
But I won't deny that just because you form a contract with me doesn't mean you'll be able to save everything.
That's also a fact.
However, it's different now. With the unlimited trial-and-error opportunities granted by Return by Death, I will bring him to a perfect ending."
Echidna spoke confidently, then looked down at Subaru, still pinned beneath Minerva.