A great variety of food was arrayed atop the table that was being brought into the great hall.
At this buffet-style feast, none of the participants in the ceremony paid much attention to stuffy manners and merrily helped themselves in any which way they pleased.
"Everyone sure is having a good time. I've never been so tense before in my life, though."
Subaru was out on the terrace, showered by the nighttime breeze as he watched the festivities with distant eyes.
A dinner plate and drinking glass had been placed on the handrail, but he hadn't touched either. The burning sensation shooting up his neck made it unlikely he would manage to get anything down his throat.
Inside the manor, Petra was doing a little dance performance in her dress in the middle of the hall. It looked like a sort of dance that was often performed at festivals in Earlham Village, but Petra seemed to have arranged this one herself; the dignified way she carried herself meant she didn't look out of place even at a nobleman's court.
Dragged along by Petra and dancing with matching steps was a red-faced Beatrice. She desperately tried to maintain her composure, but Subaru couldn't help but notice her ears and the tip of her nose were trembling with bashfulness.
Mysteriously, Beatrice seemed unable to act headstrong whenever Petra was concerned. Petra seemed to have taken Subaru's words to heart and had somehow managed to make a friend out of Beatrice.
The heartwarming scene made Subaru feel more at ease when—
"—Watching something like that makes you deeply appreciate having brought Beatrice out, does it noooot?"
"Ugh."
A tall body abruptly cut into Subaru's peripheral vision, coming beside
Subaru to rest its weight against the handrail. He glanced over to see Roswaal wearing a formal, long-sleeve dress outfit that differed from the norm.
With his long hair in proper order and wearing clothing with minimal pomp, he would be very much a handsome aristocrat at a glance. However—
"…All that kinda clashes with the clown makeup."
"Oh my, how harsh. But if I don't have this on, it just isn't me. Is that not sooooo?"
"I wish you'd respect the time, place, and circumstance for selfexpression. Not that I'm one to talk, but this is a formal occasion, y'know?"
Subaru flashed an expression of exasperation at Roswaal, who was wearing his clown face without a shred of guilt. He was recalling his own barbaric actions that despoiled the royal-selection conference. This said, that hadn't been a formal occasion, so his judgment was technically sound. "Speaking of this formal occasion, I gotta say… You sure went all out for this conferring-knighthood thing."
"I had reasons to hurry. However, I believe you have yearned for this for quite some time."
"Well, you're not wrong about that, but I'm just not cut out for this stuff…"
Roswaal had poked right at the crux of the matter, leaving Subaru with a wry smile on his lips without any words to refute him.
—Subaru had craved knighthood ever since he found out about it. It qualified him to stand at Emilia's side.
Roswaal had a number of reasons for allowing Subaru this and holding a formal occasion for the event.
The ceremony to confer honors on Subaru would play up his meritorious deeds in quelling the White Whale and dispatching the Archbishop of Sloth, spreading the news to even neighboring kingdoms.
Ultimately, he wished to announce Subaru had become Emilia's knight to foreign and domestic interests alike. For that, it was necessary to confer knighthood over any mere medal, and with appropriate urgency, pomp, and ceremony at that.
"All that said, isn't allowing a knighthood ceremony in a place we're borrowing and staying at temporarily stretching our goodwill really far?"
"When you put it that way, it is difficult to denyyyy. Well, the Miload family is a branch of the Mathers family, and its head, Annerose, is head over heels for Lady Emilia. If we must live away until the main estate is restored and can serve in the burned mansion's place, should we not have a little fuuuuun with it?"
"You sure say that so casually…"
Roswaal tilted his glass as his lips loosened with amusement.
Annerose Miload—this was the name of the head of the household where Subaru and company were staying for about a month after Roswaal Manor had burned down. Her being a distant relative of Roswaal's and already being on good terms with Emilia beforehand made the place a perfect location for a temporary stay.
Seeing how close Emilia and Annerose, age nine, were made Subaru just a little jealous, though.
"Mentally speaking, Anne and Emilia are not as far apart as some might think. If anything, Anne puts on greater airs than Lady Emilia. She might very well be the more mature of the two."
"I'm still holding a grudge against her for planting the idea in Emilia-tan's head that babies are made by kissing."
As the victim of that childish, adorable, and tragic misunderstanding, he absolutely would never forget.
" "
He and Roswaal let the frivolities lapse. A silence fell over the terrace save for the passing wind. The sounds of music being played, dancing, and voices of delight conveyed the excitement of the feast.
—And yet, the terrace seemed the only place apart from the tumult as a faint whiff of tension stretched across it.
"Did you put some kind of people-repelling barrier around us or something?"
"Your intuition has truly improved. Or perhaps to you, this evening is not…"
Your first, he might have said, but Subaru's gaze silenced those barbed words.
It was an insult. He did not want that night, that ceremony, sullied by such slights.
"You made sure it'd be just us at a time like this 'cause you have something to talk about, right?"
"—Teacher was assuredly alone without a single relative. That of course includes any sisters. She had none save Beatrice she could call her own daughter. I know this better than anyone."
When Subaru sharpened his gaze and pressed the point, Roswaal cut straight to a rather uncomfortable topic. He was talking about Echidna—for the issue of the Echidna at the tomb concerned them both.
Roswaal's opinion was the same as Beatrice's from back at the tomb. Namely, that the remains in the coffin were those of Echidna, and the being who had imposed the Trials on Subaru and Emilia was someone else.
It was difficult for him to nod and accept the being he met was a fake. That Echidna—the Witch of Greed in the castle of dreams, along with the other Witches of the Deadly Sins—was unmistakably real.
There was no way to decipher the mystery. The tomb had lost all functionality, and there was no way Subaru would ever meet her again.
Besides—
"So the woman inside the coffin was your goal. There's that cursed seal, too. You…"
"—My objective was to be reunited with Teacher, young Subaru. However, please do not misunderstand."
"Misunderstand what? You and Beatrice… You met her… You met Echidna. Now you can…"
"What I desire is a reunion with blood flowing through her, a soul resting in her—a living, breathing Teacher. It is all I desire. It is my greatest wish, and I cannot relinquish it."
Subaru blinked hard not only at Roswaal's dreamlike speech but also at the content of his words.
"But that means…bringing her back from the dead. Do you have a…way to do that?"
"No, not a theory that would work upon ordinary souls. But because this is Teacher, a way remains. The liberation of the Sanctuary…the recovery of her remains…these are but preliminary steps."
So that was why he wanted the Sanctuary liberated. Roswaal had achieved his own objective.
But as for a method to revive the dead, and one that would work only upon the Witch in the coffin…
"So as to not give rise to misunderstandings, I wish to be clear about this one thing, young Subaru."
"…Say it."
"The book of knowledge has burned to ash, denying me my promised future. As I am bound by the cursed seal, I cannot continue any of the machinations I have attempted to date—however, I have no intention of giving up on Teacher because of this."
Tilting his glass to his lips, Roswaal spoke those implacable words without crossing gazes. It was more than enough to send a shiver of fear through Subaru, supposedly in an advantageous position now that Roswaal had given up on his secret plotting.
"I really don't mind you not giving up… Er, this might be gutsy to say to someone like you, but just do whatever you like. Thing is, what can you do to make that goal come true?"
"It is a simple matter—I shall continue watching over you."
" "
—He'd keep watching.
This ominous phrase left Subaru at a loss for words. Roswaal turned and faced Subaru with his differently colored eyes—and with the same fire burning in both, he continued:
"Fortunately, your goal of placing Lady Emilia on the royal throne aligns your objective with mine. And so we shall continue our relationship as coconspirators just as before… It is merely that, just as before, I pity you for remaining unchanged."
"What the hell?"
Subaru raised his eyebrows, unable to easily dismiss the word pity. His reaction made Roswaal pull back his shoulders. He'd deciphered the emotions resting in Roswaal's eyes—sympathy and compassion.
"You should have known loss. You should have felt loss so great that you would have become a Sage who would doggedly protect only that most
precious to him—in my own way, I wanted to save you."
"What the hell's wise about that? What does simply accepting loss get you?!"
"You, who have rejected loss and have decided to carry everything in your arms, will continue to suffer. You will experience wounds that can never be undone, experience loss over and over, and you will rise up for the sake of regaining what you have lost, continuing to add to your invisible injuries. That is simply…too cruel."
"—!"
Roswaal's words carried too much weight to dismiss without a second thought, because the man knew. Even if he didn't know it was through Return by Death, Roswaal knew Subaru repeated events. Accordingly, he was the only one who could realistically imagine just what a road of thorns Subaru walked.
"And now that you have rejected the path of the Sage and chosen the path of the Fool, I will never allow you to compromise. Is this not natural? It is you who wished for this."
With Subaru unable to speak a word, Roswaal took a step forward, closing the distance between them. Then, reaching out with a hand, he grasped Subaru's shoulder, gently pulled his face close, and whispered into Subaru's ear.
"—Hereafter, if you lose someone around you who you should have protected, I will swiftly burn the remaining others away without hesitation and, with the cursed seal, become ash myself."
"—?!"
"You have decided to shoulder all. You must not abandon anything. I will not allow a lost world to continue into the future. I reject your compromise— now that I have lost the book of knowledge, I have only you to guide me to
Teacher, young Subaru. You and the path you walk."
Pulling his face away, Roswaal gave Subaru's chest a light shove. Even though it had little strength behind it, Subaru wobbled as if he had been thrust away, grabbing hold of the railing to support his body.
—This was Roswaal L. Mathers, the man who lived for a wish that was four hundred years old.
He would never seek to inflict undesired suffering upon Subaru and Emilia again. If Subaru wished it, he would no doubt cooperate to work toward Subaru's objectives, even lending Emilia a hand with his full strength.
But if Subaru miscalculated even slightly, Roswaal would flip the table over, rendering everything futile.
This was no lie or deception. Roswaal absolutely would do it for the sake of his greatest desire.
"My, there is no need to be so frightened. So long as you remain true to yourself and continue in your duty, I shall cooperate with you fully—this is simply the new pact between you and I."
"…I've learned that for pacts, you have to check not just the fine print but the guy you're signing it with, too."
Subaru's sarcasm and anguished sigh made Roswaal widen his eyes. Immediately after, he put his hand to his mouth as he began to laugh. He laughed for a while before saying, "Ah, yes," and lifting his face. "I only just said I would cooperate in full, so there is something of which I must properly inform you."
"You're still holding on to secrets to shake me up?"
"In the royal capital and this time, that makes it twice that I have hired the Bowel Hunter. But the girl in bonds underground…this Beast Master, I had nothing to do with either of her attacks."
"—Huh?"
Subaru, on guard for what more might come, could only drop his mouth wide open.
The girl held in bonds underground meant Meili, captured at the mansion and kept prisoner since. At present, the death of her partner in crime, Elsa, had left her too uncooperative to deal with in any other fashion.
That had hurt his head enough, but Roswaal's next words were a thunderclap out of the clear blue sky.
"This time, my contract only targeted Beatrice. In accordance with the book of knowledge, I was to liberate that girl from her twisted fate… But if I heard correctly, those girls had plans that went beyond my request, did they not?"
"Yeah, Elsa and Meili were part of the same group, I figure, so Meili was helping her out with her contract. Because if that wasn't the case, who
could've tipped them off about the mansion's interior like that…?"
"—In other words, there was another culprit who planned this attack on the mansion besides meeee."
" "
"Your troubles shall continue. Truly, that is where you shine. You really are cut out for struggling, are you not?"
Letting those words of sarcasm dangle, Roswaal inverted his now-empty glass over his mouth. A single droplet of alcohol fell and struck his lips. With that, he departed from the terrace, advancing in the direction of the great hall.
"Congratulations, young Subaru. Take this as praise from a Witch's apprentice—you have won…today, at least."
Leaving those final words behind, Roswaal left the terrace.
A cold wind blew. The chill from wind and his sweat sent a small tremble through Subaru's body.
The traces of the fire continued to smolder. Subaru felt the heat of those lingering flames as he let out a very deep breath.
3
"—So this is where you were, Subaru."
Subaru was resting his weight against the handrail and gazing at the stars
in the night sky when a voice called to him. When he lowered his gaze, the moonlight only increased the beauty of the silver fairy standing before him—
"Emilia-tan? I thought an angel or a fairy had come for me."
"There you go saying strange things again. Don't tell me that you're drunk?"
"I messed up bad before, so I'm really careful about alcohol. This time,
I'm just drunk on the atmosphere."
"So you really are drunk."
Emilia shot Subaru a smile as she leaned on the handrail right beside Subaru. The white flesh poking out from her pure ceremonial garment, the nape of her neck, and her cheeks were ever so slightly reddened as she made a small, amused-looking smile.
"I've been looking for you this whole time… Where did you run off to, Subaru?"
"Setting aside the location, event-wise, it sure felt like a long, drawn-out battle against the final boss. Somehow, I got through it, but I feel like it shaved years off my life span. Emilia-tan, will you console me?"
"Yes, yes. Today, Subaru is drunk on the mood as well as himself."
Mysteriously, he returned to his normal state after talking with Emilia. Now that he was freed from the weighty mental state left by his exchange with Roswaal, the feeling of exhilaration over the ceremony came rushing right back. Setting that aside, standing in front of Emilia was making him feel awkward, so Subaru put his glass to his lips to conceal his blush.
"By the way, did you manage to make up with Roswaal?"
"Geh! Ack! Th-that's one hell of a timely question…!"
"From the looks of it, Roswaal really teased you quite a bit."
She touched a sore point for him. Her use of the word teased was so cute that it bothered him somewhat, but Subaru made no effort to refute the point. "A bit, yeah," he straight-up admitted with a nod. "After all that, it almost feels like nothing changed from before…or if anything, it got even worse."
"Roswaal's probably afraid of everyone forgetting what he's done. That's why he's doing that to draw everyone's attention to himself. He's really childish deep down, you know."
Subaru was taken back by how Emilia put her hands on her hips, speaking those words with the faintest hint of anger.
He was not taken back by her cuteness—it was because Subaru, too, believed this was the truth.
The instant he had the thought, his interpretation of Roswaal's earlier admonition changed considerably.
"…You're really something, Emilia-tan."
"Is that so? Tee-hee, thank you. I think Subaru's really something, too."
"Hmm, I wonder."
"Yes, you are! Goodness, Subaru… Hey, look over there."
Emilia irritably walked over to Subaru, whose face showed scant appreciation for everything he'd done, and then she spread both arms wide to indicate the scene in the great hall.
—Inside were all their companions and the visible result of Subaru's, Emilia's, and everyone else's efforts.
"Everyone's having fun, aren't they?"
"…I suppose you're right. It's like an at-home banquet, kind of the ideal for my small-time, common-man sensibilities."
"Mm, I think so, too. This is a really nice scene."
Her violet eyes contained affection and envy in equal measure. Glancing at them from the side made Subaru's heart tremble.
—This was the scene Emilia had wanted to see. In a broader sense, this was the ideal she was seeking to make a reality.
The atmosphere offered tranquility for nobles, merchants, commoners, humans, demi-humans, and mixed-blood people, without any discrimination of social standing or race.
"—Subaru, you're making a really gentle face."
"Guess that figures. I think I'm just happy watching the same scene as
Emilia-tan and also thinking how nice everything is."
"Ahhh, I get it. I'm happy Subaru feels the same way I do, too."
"Hmm, I wonder. I might disagree with you on that. Sometimes, it's fine to be different."
Even though they were looking at the same thing and sharing the same feelings of happiness, they were still looking at the scene before them two different ways.
It wasn't necessary for lovers to be the same in anything and everything. The thought he had that moment was, It's fine to be different.
" "
Emilia narrowed her violet eyes, gently gazing at Subaru.
He didn't know if the entire meaning of his words had reached her. But the important part had been conveyed.
If they could share this much, it was plenty. Beyond that was not just extravagance but arrogance.
"…Hey, Subaru. After this, there's something I want to discuss with my knight."
"What a coincidence. I have plenty of things I want to ask Emilia-tan, too."
The words Emilia spoke in a show of courage left Subaru shrugging and flashing a smile back at her. Emilia breathed out in relief, gently offering him the pinkie finger of her right hand.
"It's a promise, then. You did this with Petra. This is a tradition from
Subaru's homeland, yes?"
"Ohhh, it sure is. What sharp eyes you have. Break this promise, and your meals will be needles for breakfast, lunch, and supper."
"Oh no, so scary… You better keep this promise, then."
Nervously, Emilia wrapped her slender finger around Subaru's right pinkie.
"When the celebration is over, let's have an important talk in my room.
Don't break our promise this time, okay?"
"I'm a serial promise-breaker and all, but is it even an option to not keep my word to go to Emilia-tan's room at night after I've been summoned? I'm thinking no."
"I'm sorry—I don't have any idea what you're talking about."
The two engaged in such typical banter as they formed that promise between them. Missing the touch of their joined pinkies as they parted, Subaru went, "Now, then," as he winked. "I'll have fun finding out what this talk's all about."
"…I need to talk to you about…me. One night might not even be enough to finish."
"If it's that important, I'll be with you as many nights as it takes. I'm your one and only knight, okay?"
"O-okay."
She did her best to mimic Subaru's usual jesting tone. Emilia's nervous behavior reflected her underlying concern. She felt uneasy talking about herself.
If this was connected to the past she saw in the Trial, Subaru could understand her unease. He understood, but he wanted to tell her it was an unnecessary concern nonetheless.
"It's all right, Emilia-tan. No matter what happens, you'll never disappoint me." "Subaru…"
"It's just like I told you at the tomb. I love you, so everything'll be okay.
That's all there is to it."
No matter what she'd tell him, no matter what it triggered, nothing would change.
"—What's important isn't where you start or what happens midway but how it ends."
Led to his parents and the thoughts they'd conveyed to him, this was the answer he'd arrived at in the tomb.
—He really couldn't hold a candle to his mom. Or his dad, either, for that matter.
"Besides, even if there are issues, it's not like it's a big deal now, right?"
"…How can you tell?"
"It was the way you looked at the great hall with gentle eyes just now. I can already tell from that."
The scene spread forth in the great hall of Miload Manor was one without discrimination between human and demi-human, noble and commoner. When Subaru called that his ideal, Emilia accepted it with a look of longing.
Whatever ideals might be raised high in Emilia's heart, Subaru had no doubt he could believe in them.
"If you want to make this happen everywhere, I'll help. I think this is a good cause. If that scene becomes a part of why Emilia-tan always works so hard, then I'll be first in line to help you."
"Subaru, can I…really depend on you?"
"What do you think that oath I swore to you earlier was all about? Go and depend on me before anyone else. I'll do anything I can do to help, and if I don't understand something, we'll think about it together."
" "
Emilia's eyes trembled more than at any point before, almost like the reply wasn't the one she had expected at all.
She was searching for something appropriate to say. But she couldn't find anything.
"—Okay."
Hence, Emilia murmured that single word, nodding.
Then she made a small, lovely, captivating smile.
—That was the best answer. It was plenty.
"All right, all doubts cleared up."
Saying this, Subaru took the glass standing on the handrail and went bottoms up. Then he grasped the now-cold meat pie and stuffed his cheeks, chewing it down.
The delicious taste was undiminished by the temperature; he savored the texture as the pie crumbled in his mouth. The flavor was the final product of a rather large commotion involving Garfiel, Frederica, and Ryuzu, but that was another story.
Either way, to Subaru, the pie formed by those familial bonds was exquisite.
"Oh. Subaru, if you eat it so fast, you're going to choke on it."
"Well. I'm hungry. I'll savor the taste more if Emilia-tan says aah for me, though."
"I feel like I've done that before when Subaru was all tired…" Emilia wore a slight, strained smile as she replied.
"Now then," said Subaru, leading her by the hand toward the great hall.
As she was led by the hand, Emilia looked up at the sky but once. Then she smiled and let Subaru escort her, entering the hall at his side.
The pair's return in the middle of the banquet only served to heighten the excitement.
Maybe Otto had imbibed too much; his clothes were all disheveled as he stumbled around in a drunken stupor. Garfiel was right there with Otto, but when he tried to bring alcohol to his mouth, he received a lecture from Frederica about it.
Petra and Beatrice had reached the climax of their disparate dancing. Petra had sweat on her brow as she smiled like a flower; Beatrice was putting on quite a passionate performance of her own in her desperation to not be beaten.
Ryuzu and Roswaal sat beside each other, lightly tapping their glasses together and exchanging words a little here and there, like old acquaintances rekindling their relationship.
Subaru spotted Ram nearby, watching the scene from a distance, her lips relaxing in apparent relief. Instead of staying at Roswaal's side, she stood by the younger sister she had lost all memory of and yet still felt a tangible, lingering bond between them. It was almost like she knew Rem would have wanted her to be close.
Others partaking in the festivities included various associates of the Miload family. Numerous demi-human servants busily hurried about, while their mistress, the young lady of the household, was venting in annoyance at a rather courteous butler.
Later, Subaru would have to celebrate that special night with his favorite dragon, waiting patiently for him outside the manor.
—It was with various such thoughts that he spent the evening of festivities with everyone.
"It's a really nice atmosphere, Emilia-tan."
"Yes. This really does represent everything I'm trying to achieve. I'll never forget this."
They began by entering the great hall at the most prominent place, suddenly joining the two dancing girls.
They didn't know the first thing about dancing, but the feelings of enjoyment would probably be the same regardless.
Even if the steps were haphazard and offbeat.
The knight and the witch—now officially master and servant—stepped forward amid a mix of bewilderment and laughter.
ADDENDUM
—THE RETURN
—In a dark, cold, and indistinct space, the soft patter of bare feet continued to echo at regular intervals.
In that lightless world, that space with nothing but unfathomable darkness spreading forth, the source of those footsteps had arrived without ever going astray. The trip had been made with the ease of someone walking into their own bedroom.
The sound of dripping water, the cries of insects crawling about, the sensation of mud and gravel beneath the soles of her bare feet—she pushed past them all.
Finally, she arrived at the deepest reaches of that darkness. She stretched out a hand and stroked a mossy, slippery wall.
Instantly, faint lights floated up and danced around her as a lukewarm wind blew through the wall. Her long pink hair and white cloak flapped in that wind. The hovering pinpricks of light circled around her as she slowly passed through the barrier.
"So the reactivation ritual has remained intact."
The figure—no, the girl—murmured offhandedly as she slipped outside. The next instant, a dazzling shaft of light made her close her eyes. After walking through the darkness underground, the sunrays outside were like daggers to her eyes. She blinked several times before she could see the world anew.
—In the sky taller than the trees of the forest, she saw the sun had only just begun to rise.
"…Surprisingly, I am unmoved."
With the sunlight striking her eyes, the girl seemed disappointed as she tilted her head.
Just as she had said, there was no surge of emotion visible within her impassive eyes. She'd expected something from seeing the real sun after gazing upon a false one for so long, but it didn't affect her as much as she'd thought it would.
All that said, she was free to applaud the trick she had played, the performance she had delivered. She felt a sense of accomplishment. She'd recovered the magic crystal she'd had her eye on from the very beginning, and for the moment, she had nothing to be concerned of while wandering about.
"My only regret is that since I was forced to borrow that thing's help, I was unable to see her crushed by the Trial…but she did lift the barrier. I suppose I shall chalk it up as breaking even."
Had it not been for that, she—no, the vessel—would never have been able to venture out from the Sanctuary.
She had been in a veritable deadlock, drowning in the cleverness of her own scheme. Atypically, thinking of the girl who'd freed her from that situation made her chest overflow with emotions that were difficult to put into words.
"…Well, I don't really mind. I really can't overwork this body, and I'd anticipated having to walk around for a while to fill in all the blanks. There's
no need to obsess over such things…for now."
The girl opened and closed her hands to check on the condition of her body.
This was the result of repeatedly exerting herself on the replica, who had a soul identical in nature to the girl whose body had become the core of the barrier. She'd grafted a piece of her soul inside the replica who had once entered the tomb, taking over bit by tiny bit.
Revival by attaching a soul to the body of another—strictly speaking, this differed from reviving the dead, but it was unquestionably similar, rough around the edges as it might be. It would take time to become fully accustomed to the body, but there was no way around that.
Surely, it was a time to be grateful that she could walk around with her old soul and her new body at all.
"As for a name…it has been so long. Perhaps, in accordance with his knowledge, I should call myself Omega?"
The word bore the meaning of "the end." Given her current situation, there was no name more fitting.
The girl relaxed her lips as she stepped onto grass, slipping through gaps between the trees and emerging from the forest.
An ever-so-slight discomfort could be detected in her gait, but it was nothing truly significant. Fatigue and pain merely meant body and soul were well and truly connected. She could not help but enjoy the feeling of being alive after so long.
"Beatrice has parted ways with the archive of forbidden books. Roswaal has lost his guiding light. But that young man pulled something from the embers, and Garf… Garfiel, with all that anger stored up inside, is a pile of smoldering coals indeed. From the shadows, I suppose I should watch over
their valiant exploits as they face him under the light of day."
The girl intentionally avoided commenting on her slight mental slip as she walked forth.
A world was waiting for her—a world where nothing was faded and muted, a mountain filled with treasure to satisfy her inexhaustible greed for knowledge.
"And as I go, perhaps the day will come when I finally understand?" The girl smiled as she gazed at a single flower along the road.
Plucking one of its petals with her fingers, she breathed in its scent and subsequently tossed it into her mouth.
The flower, so proudly displaying its beauty to the world, would someday wither. Why did flowers wither?
Why did beautiful memories shared by people grow faint one day?
"—Ahhh, why does love fade so…?"
The girl walked forward, her long pink hair swaying as she murmured to herself.
The Witch had been released unto the world once more.