"It's fragmented memories, but I've organized the timeline as best I can. The events probably unfolded something like this..."
"............"
Subaru responded to Theta's halting narration with silence.
Silence was the only option. The volume of information she'd laid out was simply too vast—he needed time to sort through it before he could form any coherent words.
The origin of the "
The existence of
"Honestly, it's hard to picture Echidna just… walking around like it was normal."
"For someone who doesn't know that era, Suu-boy, the Witch's existence may feel rather distant. Well, even for me, it's more a sense of proximity than anything—I never met her directly, mind you."
"Hearing secondhand accounts like you lived through them yourself is kind of the first step toward senility, huh? So… Echidna came to the Sanctuary often?"
"It's not from my own memories, of course. But judging from the scenes I witnessed and the words that were exchanged, the frequency seems to have been fairly regular."
Unlike Theta, who had seen the memories firsthand, Subaru was working entirely from hearsay—there was little emotional weight to the stories for him.
And the other point that had been nagging at him from Theta's account was, of course— "So
"Beatrice-sama was there as Echidna's daughter, as I just described. As for Roz-boy—the Roswaal who appeared in my account is the first-generation Mathers… the one who truly laid the groundwork for the Mathers family to flourish. The name Roswaal has been passed down through the generations, after all."
"…Was she close with Beako?"
"From what I saw, it seemed like a rather endearing relationship."
In Theta's narration, Subaru could picture nothing other than the prickly, emotionally guarded Beatrice he knew.
Had that girl remained unchanged for four hundred years, still unable to be honest with anyone, still maintaining that brusque defensiveness? Was that why, even after four centuries, she was still the same way?
Never letting anyone see her true feelings, keeping all manner of emotions locked inside that tiny body.
Thinking of the girl who lingered in the Forbidden Library, a sharp pang of sympathy passed through Subaru's chest.
He pressed a hand to his chest, enduring the surge of sentiment, and shook his head.
"Echidna carrying Beatrice around is the real surprise. From the way that girl talks, you'd think Echidna was nothing special to her."
"I've never met the Witch directly myself, either. However, from the memories of Ryuzu Meyer that I peered into, the Witch did seem to possess something resembling human warmth."
"Yeah… I'd more or less agree with that, actually."
It wasn't an image that overlapped with Subaru's own impression of Echidna, but then again—four hundred years, a gap between life and death… that was a long time to spend. Could it be that, within that dream castle, she had grown tired of seeing through life?
"She was the one I had the most definitive falling-out with, and yet here I am, still wanting to believe in her…"
Even he himself recognized it as an irredeemable weakness.
It was different from the situations with
"For now, what we've heard is just a cozy little trip down memory lane. I don't get the sense that anything happened serious enough to warrant Theta-san hiding it from everyone else."
"............"
"Tell me what comes next. What happened to the supposedly peaceful Sanctuary?"
At Subaru's low-voiced demand, Theta took a sip of her completely cold tea.
She muttered "It's awful…" under her breath, and then— "What happened, you ask…"
"............"
"A collapse. And the true reason the Sanctuary was created becomes clear."
"The true… reason…?"
Subaru caught his breath at those words, and Theta drew her chin inward.
Then, one piece at a time—as though opening the lid on her memories once more—she narrowed her eyes.
"At that time, the Sanctuary held both the Witch and the first-generation Roswaal. There was an oppressive atmosphere—something different from the usual—and not just Theta, but everyone in the Sanctuary felt a sense of unease."
※ ※ ※ A heavy, suffocating pressure hung in the air, and Ryuzu experienced the illusion that her throat was drying out.
"We should flee this place immediately. Our preparations aren't complete yet. —If the Sanctuary's location is discovered by him now, the plan falls apart."
"............"
"Master! We don't have time to waste! He's… he's almost here!"
The one slamming his palm on the table and raising his voice inside the cottage was a thin-faced boy.
This was a youth who had always carried himself with composure and elegance, but now his expression was carved with desperate urgency.
Hearing his appeal, the one sitting with eyes quietly closed and hands clasped together was the Witch, Echidna. As she remained silent, the boy leaned forward, making sweeping gestures to plead once more.
"There's no time for indecision! His power is overwhelming! I still can't be of use to you, Master…! If you told me to be a shield, I would gladly serve as one. But as long as we have no countermeasure against him, throwing myself in his path would just be a pointless death…"
"It's not that there's no option. —I do have something of a plan."
The boy—Roswaal—was cut off by Echidna, who opened her eyes and fixed her gaze on the grain of the desk.
At her words, Roswaal let out a stunned "I… see," and Echidna slowly shook her head.
"I've visited the Sanctuary numerous times and constructed the theory. The conditional binding of the barrier should activate with a fairly high probability."
"T-Then…!"
"—However, we're short of the 'core' needed to activate the barrier."
"............"
Roswaal's face, which had lit up with hope, froze at Echidna's pained words.
"Without a core, the barrier won't activate. Without the barrier, driving him from this place is impossible. If we can't secure a safe perimeter, eventually we'll be found and destroyed."
"Then all that time we spent meticulously preparing the Sanctuary… and now, at this point… with just one step left!"
Roswaal ground his teeth in frustration and slammed his fist against the table.
The old table leg groaned, and blood seeped from Roswaal's hand.
Silence fell over the cottage.
As time grew late, the air took on a viscous, cloying heaviness.
In the midst of it, a girl timidly raised her hand.
"Um… for the barrier's 'core'… would I not be sufficient?"
"............"
"I've heard for some time now that this was a possibility—that I was compatible with the conditions for the barrier Lady Echidna intended to construct. …That was why you took an interest in me."
"From Beatrice, was it?"
"Yes."
Lowering her chin with quiet resolve was Ryuzu Meyer, her light-pink hair grown long.
The girl steeled her expression with the determination of one who knew what she was asking, and looked straight at Echidna, whose own face had gone blank.
"Lady Beatrice told me that Lady Echidna was verifying my compatibility with the conditions. The fact that my mana was extracted several times over these past months—that was related to this, wasn't it?"
After a brief pause, Echidna inclined her chin.
"Indeed. Your compatibility rate for the barrier's construction is high. If you remain within the Sanctuary, maintaining the barrier would be possible. That much I've already theorized. Given more time to acclimate the Sanctuary's soil to your mana, it should be achievable."
"But right now, it can't be done."
"This is no ordinary barrier. This time, the barrier cannot be allowed to break. I've proceeded with the utmost care and caution. I spent years gathering the Halfs and keeping them within the Sanctuary, layering conditions onto the barrier. Your existence is the final, decisive element that locks it all into place. But…"
She cut herself off. Roswaal wore an expression of barely contained frustration.
Ryuzu didn't understand the details, but even brilliant minds like Echidna and Roswaal, working in concert, seemed to face an insurmountable obstacle in realizing this plan.
Was there really nothing they could do?
—That wasn't the case, Ryuzu judged from her brief life experience.
"Isn't there… some definitive method?"
"............"
"…I was saved by Lady Echidna and Lord Roswaal. Coming to this land, living a life where I was neither scorned nor shunned by anyone—it made me happy. If I can repay the time I was given… I believe that is the meaning of my life."
One by one, she laid bare what lay within her heart.
As her white knuckles tightened further, Echidna's black pupils seemed to drain of all warmth. In her place, it was Roswaal, standing at Echidna's side, who was visibly shaken by complex emotions.
"M-Master…"
It wasn't a call to defer judgment to Echidna. There was a note of "you can't be serious" in his voice.
But regardless, the trigger would be pulled.
"—If I crystallize your Od and use it as the 'core' of the Sanctuary itself, the process of acclimating your mana to the soil can be drastically shortened. The barrier would be complete."
"If we do that… will the Sanctuary be saved?"
"It should be possible to prevent the devastation that the approaching threat would bring. If we can buy enough time, we can formulate countermeasures as well."
"............"
Echidna's answer was no platitude. She dealt in neither false hope nor hollow comfort.
If Echidna judged it could be done, then it could be done.
In other words, offering her life here and now held a genuine, certain purpose in protecting this place. Her devotion—a way to repay her debt—would absolutely be fulfilled.
"…When do we begin?"
"—Ideally, I'd like to start preparations immediately. I'll prepare a crystallization vessel on my end and then construct the formula. Buying time against the threat will be…"
"That's my role, then. I'll do everything in my power. …Ryuzu-kun."
Roswaal, who had been wearing a face full of anguish, lifted his head. There was no longer a trace of weakness in his expression. He looked straight into Ryuzu's eyes—eyes that had already steeled with resolve— "I'm sorry. It's my inadequacy that I can't do more to help Master."
"No. Lord Roswaal, you too gave me irreplaceable time. For that, I have nothing but gratitude—no resentment whatsoever."
Ryuzu placed a hand on her chest and shook her head.
Roswaal took a small breath, released it, and looked to Echidna.
"I'll head out immediately. Master, please make preparations and… call Beatrice."
"…Wouldn't it be better not to tell Beatrice?"
"If I don't call Beatrice here now, Master—both of us will spend the rest of our lives being hated by that child. …Although even if we do call her, that may still happen."
"I see. …Very well. I'll summon her after you've gone."
Watching Echidna nod, Roswaal turned toward the cottage door. On his way, he paused and placed a hand on Ryuzu's shoulder, squeezing once, firmly.
Ryuzu closed her eyes, savoring the slight pressure of his fingertips—the fact that Roswaal had wanted to hold on to her existence, just for a moment.
"…Beatrice-sama."
A small, murmured word.
Thinking of that girl who wasn't here, Ryuzu's chest constricted with a terrible, cramped pain.
※ ※ ※ The scene shifted once more.
"............"
—When she witnessed the sheer totality of that power, something worse than the acceptance of death took root in Ryuzu's heart.
"Guh—"
Roswaal let out a grunt, coughed up a clot of blood, and his body was sent skidding horizontally across the ground.
He hit shoulder-first, and in a cloud of dust he rolled and tumbled. Watching him, Ryuzu could only stare in mute shock, forgetting even to breathe.
One who could scorch the earth with overwhelming mana, carve through stone walls with blades of wind, conjure torrents of water that could push back the flow of a great river, and raise fortresses from earth and stone.
And yet there existed a being of such overwhelming power that even someone like Roswaal could not so much as lay a finger on him.
"…You still want to go?"
Walking with a languid, listless air, the boy shook his dark brown head.
He was roughly the same age as Roswaal. His hair was a near-black brown, cut just to the length of his brows, and his features were refined enough to be mistaken for a girl's. His eyes, half-lidded in a drowsy expression, were black. He wore a white shirt and black trousers—an exceedingly plain outfit.
—And with each step he took, each idle kick of a pebble, Roswaal's body bounced off the ground. Bounced again. Was sent flying.
"Gah! Guh! Gugh!"
"Annoying. Bothering me. Irritating. Troublesome. Depressing. Demoralizing."
In a low, flat monotone, the boy listed off negative words, one after another. But with each utterance, each step forward, Roswaal's groans grew darker, and the sound of bones cracking reached them even from a distance.
Roswaal's body, collapsed on the ground, was sinking into the earth as though being crushed by invisible pressure from directly above. In truth, his limbs were already half-buried—the flesh had split open, and from bulging, bloodshot eyes, tears of blood streamed down.
"You can stop now, you know? You did your best. You couldn't win, but you tried real hard. Tried, tried, tried—so that should be enough. …Trying more is pointless anyway."
"Futile… thing… If I don't… stop you here… why would… guah! Ah! Aaargh!!"
"Haaah… That kind of thing is what weighs heaviest on my mind. Makes my chest feel sick. Depresses my mood."
When Roswaal refused to heed the call to surrender, the boy crouched down on the spot. He let out a deep, weary sigh and touched the ground with a gentle, stroking motion. Following the movement of his fingertips, Roswaal's limbs on the ground were crushed, twisted, and the sounds of flesh tearing and screams filled the air.
"I really, truly hate this. It's such a drag. Feeling this low about myself—it's been so long, it's truly the worst. The worst, the worst, the absolute worst of the worst. —I'm so… depressed."
"Guh, a—!"
At the very end of the boy's words—words that were enough to make one's spirit crumble just from hearing—the moment that final, decisive word was spoken, Roswaal's torso gave way under the pressure and collapsed.
The center of his body was flattened, and he vomited such copious amounts of blood that it seemed his innards were being expelled from his mouth. Roswaal's eyes rolled back, his limbs spasmed. The price of never letting his fighting spirit waver was that the young mage's very life force had been ground to nothing.
"Aah, aah, aaah. What's this. What is this. Is this how it ends. Like this. Ahh, I really hate this. My chest feels sick. My mood is sinking. My head is heavy. Depressed. Depressed, depressed, depressed-depressed-depressed-depressed-depressed—"
With the sound of dripping blood, Roswaal could no longer even groan. Watching his beaten body with bored eyes, the boy laced his words with a dark, sullen irritation.
Roswaal's brutal end, and the boy who had wrought it—someone beyond all reckoning. Ryuzu, who could do nothing but watch, suddenly realized she had forgotten to breathe.
"—Hah."
Her lungs, squeezed to their limit, drew oxygen for her brain and body with desperate urgency. One breath—she needed to fill herself with air and then hide again within the silence. Even the vibration of a single breath might brush against the edge of that boy's awareness, and the thought terrified her.
Her benefactor had been crushed before her eyes, and rather than seek revenge, she had chosen self-preservation. She couldn't even fathom the wretched attachment to life that drove her to such a thing.
"Oh? …Is someone over there, by any chance?"
"—!"
As if to prove Ryuzu's fear correct, the boy turned his gaze toward her.
Ryuzu had been watching the battle between Roswaal and the boy from inside a cottage some distance away, peeking through a knot in the wall—an impossibly small gap.
She shuddered at the boy's remark. There was no way he could have spotted it. The knot was smaller than a cat's forehead. It was impossible for anyone to detect from afar.
And yet the boy approached with unhesitating steps— "It's not like I particularly want to do this, you know. Even if I killed everyone, there's not exactly anything great in it for me. …It'd save me some trouble, though."
"…Eep."
"Hmm. Well, that about covers it… Actually, you know what, let's just wipe everyone out. God, I really want to throw everything away and go home right now. My chest feels sick. My mood is sinking. I'm depressed."
The boy turned his palm toward the cottage where Ryuzu was hiding, and pronounced a death sentence in those gloomy, leaden words.
In that instant, a chill raced up Ryuzu's spine, and a sharp pain like a needle driving into the crown of her head shot through her. Tears welled at the corners of her eyes, and a scream she could not contain lodged in her throat.
And then, under the invisible weight, Ryuzu's small body would have been crushed, bones and all— "AL—GOA!!"
A roar that could have torn apart the soul—no, a roar that literally spat blood—rang out, and an explosion of flame dyed the square crimson.
Even at a distance, the searing heat struck at her face. An enormous thermal output had manifested in an instant, originating from Roswaal's upraised palm as he lay on the ground, aimed squarely at the boy's back.
"............"
Even the boy, for all his power, showed a flicker of agitation as he turned to face the overwhelming wave of heat. But having turned, he realized that this inferno was not a force that existed on any plane accessible to human understanding.
With no recourse whatsoever, the boy's body was swallowed by a sphere of red light.
"This sweat is unpleasant. —Annoying."
At his final murmur, the converging crimson mana was slammed back into the earth.
The red-hot sphere that should have incinerated the boy, erasing even his shadow from the world, failed to disperse its heat outward. Instead, it contracted into a small, round, red mass and rolled across the ground.
"Agh, ugh, fu…"
"You're still not gone? How much power are you really putting into this? Don't make me exert myself. The harder I try, the more depressed I get."
Grumbling, the boy clenched his raised fist. In response, the red sphere compressed violently inward.
A single, sharp crack rang out as the heat split the air, and then all energy dissipated completely.
Not even Algoa—the most powerful fire-aspected magic—could reach him.
Roswaal, who had staked everything on a last-ditch reversal from the brink of death, stared blankly at the result. This was what his desperate final effort had amounted to.
Only barely cheated of death by a hair's breadth, Ryuzu realized with searing clarity that Roswaal's death—and her own—had merely been postponed by the slimmest margin.
"Devil… No, demon…!"
"Unflattering name. Makes me feel depressed. Do you think I wanted to become like this? That I chose this?"
"Whatever… twisted your life… whatever path forced you… the one who chose this moment… was you. Don't make that face… like you're the victim… 'Melancholy'
"Hurts to hear the truth, and stings even worse. I really, truly find you disagreeable."
The boy crouched beside Roswaal's fallen body and extended his hand toward Roswaal's head.
Without even touching him, the destruction was absolute. If his fingertips made contact, and that invisible annihilation transferred through them, Roswaal's body would be crushed beyond recognition.
"Guh… Urgh…"
"Too slow, too late, not letting you."
Before Roswaal could gather mana and activate a spell, the boy spoke flatly.
And the fingers of death reached Roswaal, delivering certain death to his broken body.
"…Rgh, buh…"
"Rattling bones. Pulped organs. Cracked heart. That's no way to go."
A short, final groan. That was Roswaal's death rattle.
The boy looked down at Roswaal, now completely still, brushed off his knees, and stood. Then, at last, he turned toward Ryuzu, who had been unable to move.
Without any warning this time, he pointed his palm her way and unleashed that invisible weight.
"—!"
Enduring it was not possible for even a single second.
A pressure descending from directly above, far exceeding her own body weight. That she managed to fall forward onto the ground was sheer luck; had her posture been even slightly different, her joints would have been bent in impossible directions and she would have been pinned to the ground regardless.
"If you're not Echidna, it doesn't matter. If you're not that woman, you're nothing."
"…Aah, ee…"
"Crush like this, and be buried in the earth. Saves me the trouble of digging a grave—"
Ryuzu felt as though every inch of skin on her body was being pulled by invisible hands, threatening to peel her from the ground. The boy's voice, heard from a distance, might have been the last words she would ever hear—when, without warning, the pressure vanished.
She gasped, her face streaked with tears and drool, and looked up to see what had happened. And in her line of sight— "I'd hardly call it 'just in time,' under the circumstances."
"You're too kind. Your student bought me time, you know—fought like a real trooper to stall. Thanks to that, nothing went my way at all, and it really put me in a foul mood."
"That manner of speaking of yours… you really haven't changed. You're exactly the same as when we parted ways."
"And your way of speaking to people hasn't improved one bit either. How did you end up with such an unlikeable way of talking? You used to be so cute, back in the day."
The boy shook his head with a sigh. Standing between him and Ryuzu, blocking his path, was a woman in black robes—Echidna.
The Witch turned her gaze to Roswaal's fallen form and narrowed her eyes ever so slightly.
"An unexpectedly… heart-rending sight. How shameful of me to be unable to approach the result objectively, even knowing that my sentimentality is an improper lapse of judgment."
"Wouldn't processing it coldly, with no emotion, feel worse in this case? Not that I know. If you want to cry, take the time. I'm not that heartless."
"Since when does the one who just did this get to say such things?"
Their words were barbed, and though the two clearly recognized each other, it was plain even to an outside observer that their relationship was far from friendly.
A tense standoff—they measured each other, the distance between them shrinking. Ryuzu had no doubts about Echidna's strength, but even Roswaal, whom she had trusted, had been swatted aside like nothing.
Given that, Echidna's title alone was no guarantee of safety.
"—How long are you going to stay there, prostrate like some pathetic worm?"
"…Eh?"
Without warning, a hand reached from behind and pulled Ryuzu up from her prone position. Startled, she turned around.
There stood a familiar, adorable girl wearing her characteristic scowl.
"B-Beatrice-sama…"
"Now is not the time to be spacing off. While Mother is buying us time like that, we need to leave this place at once."
"B-But… Lord Roswaal and Lady Echidna told me to wait here…"
"It was because that Roswaal messed up that he sniffed us out in the first place. Now come—follow Betty. Mother told me to bring you along."
"Lady Echidna's…"
Beatrice's brow was furrowed with irritation, but her expression was tight with tension as well. Even she—the normally brash, supremely confident girl—was feeling the pressure from the incomprehensible boy.
And yet, she was still far stronger than Ryuzu, who could only cower and tremble here.
"Preparations are complete. Mother said so, didn't she? Come to think of it, she said you'd understand."
"…I understand."
At Echidna's message, Ryuzu drew a faint, shaky breath and nodded. Beatrice narrowed her eyes at Ryuzu's reaction, suspicious, but there was no time to address it.
Behind them, the torrent of mana was building. A collision between Echidna and the boy was only a matter of time. The outcome of a battle she could not predict. To wrestle that outcome into certain victory, Ryuzu's decision was the most critical factor of all.
"Let's go. Beatrice-sama—where are the preparations?"
"…In that stuffy, ancient stone chamber deeper inside. Mother had me carry it over, but it was quite a chore even for Betty's Door traveling."
With a verbal aside to ensure her own contribution was noted, Beatrice took Ryuzu's hand and began to move.
As she hurried to keep up with Beatrice's bouncing strides, Ryuzu took one last look back at Echidna and bowed toward the Witch's retreating back.
—They would likely never exchange words again.
※ ※ ※ It was a crystal of breathtaking beauty—translucent blue, so luminous it seemed to tremble.
"Don't be so mesmerized that you accidentally touch it. If you touch it, you'll be swallowed up and become part of this crystal."
Ryuzu had let out a heated sigh of admiration, almost forgetting the situation entirely. At her side, arms folded, Beatrice warned her against any reckless actions.
Ryuzu, who had very nearly done exactly what Beatrice called reckless, pulled back her outstretched fingers in a hurry. "Ah—I'm sorry," she apologized.
"There's nothing to apologize for. …So, what do we do now? Betty was only told to bring this crystal and to bring you here."
"How exactly are you planning to transport this crystal, Beatrice-sama?"
"For someone like Betty, it's a simple matter to move something of this size without touching it. My Door traveling accuracy and range are something even Mother praises."
It was the same composed, self-assured Beatrice as always, but with an unmistakable hint of pride. Ryuzu couldn't help but smile at the sight.
She had grown so used to conversing with Beatrice like this. In the beginning, she had taken every word Beatrice said at face value and been mortified more times than she could count.
After spending time together, she had come to understand that this seemingly overbearing girl's true feelings were surprisingly easy to read—and once she understood that, they could laugh together, realizing that Beatrice was every bit as adorable as she looked.
If she could just keep talking with Beatrice like this—forgetting the calamity befalling the Sanctuary, forgetting the fate awaiting Ryuzu, just staying like this— But that was something she could never allow herself.
"…? You just made a very unpleasant smile."
Ryuzu's sentimentality must have shown on her face, because the perceptive Beatrice pointed it out immediately.
The fact that she could discern the difference between this smile and Ryuzu's usual ones—that was proof of how carefully Beatrice had been watching her. The moment Ryuzu realized this, tears pricked at the corners of her eyes.
Beatrice's eyes widened. Ryuzu quickly wiped them with her sleeve.
"I-I'm terribly sorry… It's just a bit of dust in my eyes…"
"It's not like Betty is concerned about it or anything. —I know that telling you not to worry is easier said than done, even for Betty."
It was off the mark, but it was undeniably Beatrice's way of showing concern. The warmth spread from deep within Ryuzu's chest. How much strength she drew from those words—and how proud she felt, right now, to have them.
"Beatrice-sama."
"What is it? If you need more time, Betty will go and support Mother herself. That Roswaal fellow looks like he's about to die anyway, and even someone like that needs saving…"
"You have been so kind to me for so very long. But—this is where we say goodbye."
"…Eh?"
A choked sound escaped Beatrice, and she blinked in incomprehension.
In the cold stone chamber, the two girls faced each other—Beatrice and Ryuzu.
Beatrice blinked repeatedly, glaring at Ryuzu, who met her gaze steadily. Despite the sharpness of Beatrice's stare, Ryuzu knew the warmth behind it, and she did not so much as flinch.
"What do you mean, 'goodbye'? Are you saying you're going to run away?"
"No. Not at all. If I escaped and survived, I might be able to reunite with you someday, Beatrice-sama. But this goodbye is a farewell for this lifetime. I will never again have the chance to exchange words with you like this."
"............"
Beatrice pressed her lips together and peered into Ryuzu's eyes, searching for the truth behind her words.
Meeting Beatrice's confused expression—a look Ryuzu had never seen from her before—Ryuzu chose her words with quiet care.
"Lady Echidna's 'preparations' were for the purpose of casting a barrier around this Sanctuary. Originally, it was said that considerable time was needed to root the barrier into the Sanctuary's soil… but because of what's happened, there isn't enough time."
"Not enough time… The barrier won't be ready? And that barrier was the necessary means to keep that man at bay?"
"Yes. I saw it for myself—that man's danger. He is a threat. I understand now why Lady Echidna would stop at nothing to defeat him. And Lord Roswaal's sacrifice… he must have known that this was the only way to save Lady Echidna."
That boy's power had been absolute.
Ryuzu didn't know in what form the barrier's activation would ultimately benefit Echidna, or how it would lead to that being's destruction.
But there was one thing Echidna had assured her of.
"Lady Echidna personally assured me that once the barrier is activated, protecting this Sanctuary will be possible. …That is why I offer my life."
"Don't—don't say something so foolish! Offering your life… you don't have a single magical aptitude—how could you possibly—"
Panic entered Beatrice's eyes, and the words tumbled from her in a rush. But as the brilliant girl she was, midway through forming her own protest, she inadvertently arrived at the answer to her own question.
Her eyes flew open, and she looked at the blue crystal standing beside them.
"You'll bind your existence to the heart of this crystal… use your Od as the core and extend it across the entire Sanctuary… that way, you wouldn't need time to acclimate the mana to the soil…"
"Yes. That is what Lady Echidna told me."
It was a conclusion reached in discussion with Echidna and Roswaal—before the attack.
Beatrice stood frozen, now utterly without words. Ryuzu moved to enter Beatrice's line of sight and smiled at her.
"My affinity with the Sanctuary's mana… that was guaranteed by you, Beatrice-sama."
"——!"
Ryuzu's words struck Beatrice like a blow. The girl raised her face sharply, bit her pink lip until a trace of blood seeped through her pale skin— "That's… wrong. Betty… Betty didn't… didn't ask Mother to… wait, no—wait, hold on. Betty will go and speak to Mother directly! Mother is soft on Betty, she'll surely listen—"
"There isn't time for that. In this very moment, a decision must be made."
"Then Betty will go help Mother right now! If Mother and Betty work together, we could crush that man without breaking a sweat! Roswaal can be healed quickly enough, and the three of us—"
Beatrice's words trailed off as she shook her head in denial.
She had realized it herself—the complete lack of conviction in what she was saying.
Beatrice was undeniably remarkable. Ryuzu had always sincerely admired that a girl her own age could wield magic with such skill and never cease to sharpen her abilities.
She had watched Beatrice—from a distance while folding laundry, doing mending, or cooking—throw herself into magical training with fierce dedication, while maintaining her fierce love for her mother and her bickering but genuine bond with Roswaal.
Having spent such intimate time together, Beatrice understood her own capabilities perfectly well. Which meant she understood, with painful clarity, the gulf between their respective combat strengths.
The girl who could not bring herself to risk her mother's life on a comfort that wasn't even comforting.
"—If everyone just used Betty's Door traveling to escape from here…"
"............"
"Right? That's what we should do. It would require a little extra effort, but Betty can handle it. While Mother buys time, we gather the people of the Sanctuary and flee to Mother's mansion. We rescue Roswaal when we see an opening, and then Mother and Betty step through the Door and we're away from him. …Yes. That's what we should do."
"And in the place we flee to, we'd spend our lives cowering in fear of being found again? Discarding this sanctuary of peace we finally found after being scorned and rejected by so many… how long would it take to build a life like this somewhere new?"
Ryuzu's words to Beatrice's alternative plan were gentle but firm.
Seeing the hurt spread across the girl's face sent a sharp pain lancing through Ryuzu's chest.
She was trampling on Beatrice's concern—concern for them, concern for Ryuzu—and kicking it aside. And she had no choice but to push through.
How cruel, how selfish, how utterly in betrayal of everything their days together had built.
—She was betraying the accumulated weight of their shared days, betraying all they had felt.
"Beatrice-sama. I love the Sanctuary. I am truly glad I was able to live here. I love the smiles of everyone who lives here. I don't want to lose that."
"............"
"I have already been given so much warmth. For someone with blood like mine—blood this tainted—it was a happiness I should never have been afforded. And so… I am content."
"That can't be… right. No matter how you all felt about this place, the true meaning of this Sanctuary isn't what you think it is…"
"Yes. I know."
"——!"
Beatrice, who had let those words slip before she could stop them, looked stricken. Ryuzu gave a small nod.
She had always known. The true meaning of this Sanctuary.
She had known that Echidna and Roswaal hadn't gathered people like them—outsiders from a dozen different races—out of mere charity.
She had known, and yet she had wanted to believe. Had wanted to cling to the surface-level hope that even the scorned and despised could live with their heads held high in a paradise.
Now, in this moment, she understood with resignation that there was no point in gazing only at the light anymore.
"This place was created for the purpose of dealing with the man pursuing Lady Echidna."
"............"
"It was made for that purpose, and we were made for that purpose. I understand that now."
"Then… if you understand that, then why—"
Beatrice shook her head, unable to comprehend.
Ryuzu smiled softly at the pleading look in Beatrice's eyes.
"It's alright. Perhaps that is how it began. But not every moment we spent here was wrapped up in Lady Echidna's designs. The time I spent here—the conversations I had with you, Beatrice-sama—none of it was all like that."
"............"
"What matters isn't how something begins. It's how it ends, and what you feel along the way."
"............"
"This time here was happy. And so I will go to protect that time. Beatrice-sama—I offer you my thanks, now and always, for your countless kindnesses."
In the distance, beyond the stone chamber, a deep rumble echoed.
The ground shook, the air trembled—it was the aftershock of the clash between Echidna and the boy, playing out at the heart of the Sanctuary.
Faint but unmistakable, and growing closer by degrees—it was proof, more than anything, that Echidna was losing the fight to keep the battle from reaching this place.
"——!"
Ryuzu closed her eyes, solidifying her quiet resolve. Before her, Beatrice's shoulders rose and fell as she desperately searched for the right words.
Some magical phrase that would break Ryuzu's will, overturn her feelings, reverse her decision.
But no such convenient magic existed anywhere in this world.
"Beatrice-sama."
"…What?"
"Please be careful not to eat too many sweets."
"............"
She had a habit of reaching for the pastries during tea time without restraint. She was so cute—the least she could do was not let herself go. And she should take care to keep her teeth clean, too.
She rarely showed it, but when she smiled, she was truly the most adorable girl.
Turning away, Ryuzu walked in silence toward the blue crystal—the Crystal.
The crystal's radiance was deep and mesmerizing, the kind of light that could truly draw you in.
Would there be pain? Would there be suffering?
Even having steeled herself for the end, she had no way of knowing what form it would take.
She was afraid. Simply put, she was afraid.
But when she was swallowed into that light, she could make this Sanctuary real.
In that real world, everyone could spend their days in kindness and peace.
If that was the kind of Sanctuary Echidna and Beatrice would continue to watch over— "............"
She felt a tug at her sleeve.
When Ryuzu turned, Beatrice stood right beside her.
Wearing an expression Ryuzu had never seen before, Beatrice was pulling at her sleeve with hesitant, trembling fingers.
The grip was weak; even Beatrice herself probably didn't know what she wanted by reaching out. But the fact that her hand had reached out anyway spoke, more than words ever could, of this girl's true feelings— "............"
Gently, Ryuzu detached Beatrice's fingers from her sleeve.
From the brief touch of their fingertips, warmth passed between them. And at last, Ryuzu smiled.
And then— "Thank you. —Goodbye, Betty."
—With those final words, Ryuzu's consciousness was swallowed into the blue light.
She vanished.