"That concludes everything I saw in the tomb—fragments of the past."
Having finished her tale, Theta moistened her lips with a sip of cold tea and spoke.
Subaru had been sitting on the bed, listening with a solemn expression. When Theta signaled that the recounting of the past had come to an end, he held his breath, then let out a deep exhale.
He squeezed his lungs to their limit, expelling the air and all the nameless emotions gathering in his chest—then raised his face.
"So that's the true origin of the '
"As for what happened to Ryuzu after she was swallowed by that blue crystal, that was something you already knew, Sue. She's still preserved in exactly the same state she was back then, deep inside the
"But the role of that crystal contradicts what I know.
According to what Echidna had told him in the Dream Castle, she had sealed Ryuzu Meyer in the crystal as a result of her experiments to achieve eternal life—immortality.
She would create replicas of the girl trapped in the crystal, then transcribe her own memories into them, establishing a form of pseudo-immortality. Had this not borne fruit due to Echidna's own death or some technical flaw, leaving behind only the perpetual machine of multiplying Ryuzu replicas over the passage of time—wasn't that how it was supposed to go?
Yet in Theta's account just now, not a single trace of such ambition for immortality had surfaced.
On the contrary, there had been numerous pieces of information too important to ignore.
"The real reason Echidna created the 'Sanctuary'... meaning, the one she was trying to keep out—who is that?"
"............"
"In your story, it was called 'Melancholy,' but I've never heard of or seen any such thing. This is completely new to me. I always assumed that if anyone was hunting Echidna, it would be the 'Witch of Envy.'"
The Witch of Envy—who in the past had annihilated all six of the Witches of Sin, one after another.
He had believed that it was this being, encountered in the Dream Castle, who had cornered Echidna. Yet instead, the one who appeared was an entirely different person, one who had left no trace or shadow whatsoever.
Subaru's confusion was entirely understandable.
However, the name "Melancholy" did ring a bell. Not that it was a story he wanted to believe.
"The Seven Deadly Sins are Pride, Envy, Wrath, Sloth, Greed, Gluttony, and Lust—right? ...But I've heard that in the old days, there were different ones, and that some of the sins had been consolidated."
The Seven Deadly Sins were one of those keywords that made Subaru's heart race—someone of his background, anyway. Subaru had certainly encountered them as part of his general knowledge, and when he rummaged through those memories, there it was indeed.
"If I remember right... 'Melancholy' and 'Vanity' were definitely counted among the Deadly Sins."
Melancholy and Vanity—the old sins that had been removed from the Seven Deadly Sins. If Melancholy existed, then it wouldn't be strange for Vanity to have existed as well.
If there was another presence among the famous Witches of history that had been erased...
"I'd appreciate it if you could understand why I wasn't able to carelessly speak of these memories before."
"Why...?"
When Subaru furrowed his brow at Theta's words, she put on a shrewd smile that didn't match her appearance at all, and said: "Just as you said moments ago, Sue. I've never heard the name of any being called 'Melancholy' outside of these memories. Ask anyone and you'll get the same answer. In a world where the names of the Witches of Sin have been forgotten but their existence still lives on in stories—an entity of that magnitude, whose very existence has been completely erased... Do you realize how terrifying that is?"
"———"
Theta's concern, made clear by her explanation, became sharply apparent.
Truly, it was abnormal.
The Witch of Envy was spoken of throughout the world as a byword for terror and hatred. The other Witches, too—while they existed as beings "consumed" by the Witch of Envy, their existence did remain in the historical record.
And yet "Melancholy" left not a trace, not a shadow. Could it simply be that, by pure coincidence, the subject had never come up in the range of people Subaru and Theta interacted with?
—Could it really be possible that even Subaru, who had attended the Witches' Tea Party and met every single one of them, had been given not the slightest hint of this entity's existence?
"...Did the first Roswaal die? If so, what about the current Roswaal, his descendant? Is it from a branch family, or from that bloodline?"
"I've heard the first didn't die in battle. In the memories I saw, he was half-dead, but he managed to cling to life afterward. Though I'm told he never recovered enough to live a normal life. ...After that, the first Roswaal—who should have already mastered magic—threw himself even deeper into the study of magic."
Theta, too, must have once tried to uncover the truth. No one would have wanted to verify the authenticity of the memories about "Melancholy" more than she did.
But judging from the fact that no clear answer had come, her efforts had not borne fruit.
"The original purpose of the 'Sanctuary' was to keep 'Melancholy' away from Echidna. Ryuzu Meyer sacrificed herself, playing along with Echidna's scheme, to protect this place called the 'Sanctuary.' ...And the replicas being born from the crystal—that was something tacked on afterward...?"
"A mechanism designed solely to generate the Barrier would have no need for a replica-producing function. Nine times out of ten, that's how it was. The question is: what was the motive for adding the replica mechanism later?"
"If it was Echidna who did it... then the motive was what she'd talked about—immortality itself. But if that's all it was... I can't figure out what she was thinking the moment she came up with it."
Upon finding Ryuzu Meyer sleeping inside the crystal, what judgment had Echidna made?
She should have known about the existence of "Melancholy." According to Theta's memories, that was certain. But if she had known, then her behavior during Subaru's conversation with her only grew more and more unnatural.
—Where could the answer to this disconnect, this incongruity that wouldn't align, be found?
"Guess I'm still missing pieces of the puzzle, huh?"
Gritting his teeth, Subaru cursed the missing pieces in his mental picture.
He scratched and pulled at his hair, temporarily abandoning the effort to drag out an answer on the spot. And of the final part of Theta's recounting that followed—the part Subaru couldn't afford to miss— "In the end,
"...Indeed."
Ryuzu Meyer, out of fear. Beatrice, out of stubbornness.
Perhaps Ryuzu Meyer, until the very end, and Beatrice, even in that final moment, had been unable to acknowledge that about each other.
Ryuzu Meyer dissolving into the crystal—that curse-like expression of love she left behind, how deep a wound must it have carved into Beatrice's heart?
Was the result of experiencing that parting the sight of a girl who spent four hundred years refusing all others?
"Because she lost someone so painfully, the thought of wanting something again is absolutely terrifying. ...I can't say I don't understand how you feel."
He recalled Beatrice, who had rejected his hand and pleaded to be "allowed to die."
Was it because the memory of Ryuzu Meyer—the one who had been the first catalyst for four hundred years of loneliness and that parting—had left a wound so deep and so sharp that Beatrice couldn't bring herself to expect anything from others?
He felt he finally understood why the heartbroken Beatrice had become dependent on the figure Echidna designated as "that person," spending so long allowing her heart to erode.
The wound in Beatrice's heart, from losing her only friend, had remained scabbed over all this time. A wound that should have healed upon meeting "that person" and fulfilling Echidna's directive had instead, through the sheer cruelty of passing years, festered and swelled to the point of bursting.
That was why she had reached her limit.
"...Have Beatrice and the Ryuzu ladies ever met?"
"No, they haven't. By the time we replicas were born, Lady Beatrice had already stopped coming near the 'Sanctuary,' and she never visited afterward. The other replicas don't know about this, but speaking as one who does—I believe it's better that they don't meet."
"———"
At this extreme, Subaru agreed with Theta's thinking.
Ryuzu Meyer, sleeping in the crystal. Theta, who as a replica kept her appearance exactly as it had been back then, was her spitting image. And yet, within Theta, there existed no memory of Ryuzu Meyer interacting with Beatrice.
With the wound still unhealed, encountering Theta or the other replicas would only bring Beatrice pain.
However— "She's going to have to meet you and everyone else eventually. That's something I have to make happen."
Because that was what was necessary for the girl who had witnessed the birth of the "Sanctuary" and been entrusted with Ryuzu Meyer's wish to finally move her stalled feet.
"So can I take it that the reasons you've been hiding—going so far as to conceal the past—are now all accounted for?"
"...Indeed. That is everything. An anomalous magical being calling itself 'Melancholy,' existing only within the memories of Ryuzu Meyer that I've seen. The fact that such a thing existed, yet no trace of that reality remains anywhere—it's far too strange, far too abnormal."
"I'm with you on that. Combined with Echidna's behavior, there's clearly some kind of trick at work."
"And also... there's this."
Theta paused, her gaze dropping before Subaru's furrowed brow. Then, without looking at him, she continued: "If this 'Sanctuary' was born from the wish of Ryuzu Meyer—our progenitor—the wish for which she sacrificed her life to create the Barrier... then what does it mean to break that Barrier and set this place free? I didn't have the courage."
"———"
"Times have changed. The era is different from Ryuzu Meyer's by a hundred years, at least. Half-elf treatment, which was scorned and shunned during the peak of fear surrounding the 'Witch of Envy'—that must have improved at least a little. ...Enough that someone might appeal to us, saying we should set this place free and look outward."
"...Of course, it's still far from perfect. Discriminating eyes still linger everywhere. Even after leaving this place, there would be plenty of unpleasant experiences. But—"
He recalled what had happened at the royal castle.
In the world where her ideal was realized, the inhabitants of this "Sanctuary" would be saved. Ryuzu Meyer's wish would be fulfilled.
"When Emilia pulls that off, the 'Sanctuary' that was brought to an end will begin anew. When everything falls into place, the whole world will become a 'Sanctuary' for everyone."
"———"
At the very least, Emilia would strive to make it so. The other Royal Selection candidates—it couldn't be said with certainty, but perhaps half of them seemed like the type who would work toward that goal too.
Inherently, there was no noble or lowly worth between people that could be measured by race.
For Subaru, that was the most obvious thing in the world—and the time when it would be widely embraced would surely come.
"A pipe dream. Pleasant to hear, flattering words indeed."
"Right? Tugs at your heart, doesn't it?"
"Coaxing this old bag of bones, you're a bad man, Sue."
Theta chuckled softly in her throat, her elderly dignity seeping through her childlike features.
Shrugging off Subaru's quip with a grin, Theta looked oddly proud as she said: "Perhaps I'm drawn to those pleasant words precisely because I'm so old."
"Or maybe, being a girl, you were swept off your feet by my dangerous charm."
"Hmph."
"That's the first time I've gotten a snort of laughter out of you—including all the other Ryuzus!"
Subaru threw both hands to the sky and struck a pose of utter defeat. Theta shook her head at his antics and set her empty cup on the table.
Then, gazing up at the crossed silver shields mounted on the wall: "When the entire world outside this 'Sanctuary'—becomes a 'Sanctuary' itself."
"That time will surely come. And when it does, it'd be a waste to stay cooped up. The best feeling in the world is giving the finger to all those people who said you couldn't do it, and being the first ones to ride that wave."
Value was born from surpassing those who declared you incapable.
Challenge—that was what it meant to challenge.
Because it was toward a place like an endless dream that they pressed forward, struggling was a beautiful thing.
"I understand, Sue. You and Lady Emilia may do as you wish."
"Theta..."
"It was decided from the start. If the one who found me in this place was to be you, Sue, then I would tell of the past and leave the judgment to you. And after hearing my story, you didn't try to abandon the idea of freeing the 'Sanctuary'... you even laughed away my fears."
"I wouldn't say I laughed them away—I was mostly just putting on a brave face."
"But that's enough. Yes, that is enough."
As if shaking something off, Theta nodded repeatedly, affirming Subaru's resolve.
Through her attitude, Subaru realized that Theta was finally reaching out from the prison of memories she had carried alone for so long without confiding in anyone.
Whether he could take that hand and lead her outside—that was the judgment she had entrusted to him.
"With this, there's not a single Ryuzu who opposes freeing the 'Sanctuary.'"
"So there is. ...But that only holds meaning once the freeing of the 'Sanctuary' is accomplished and the Barrier is dissolved. The 'Trial' still comes down to Lady Emilia—nothing has changed there."
Theta spoke firmly, as if to tighten Subaru's resolve just when he was beginning to relax. Hearing this, Subaru pulled his loosened expression back into focus.
Finding Theta had indeed eased some of his tension. But the problems that had arisen were still unresolved.
Theta had found Garfiel before anyone else.
But Emilia had yet to be found.
"You do believe there's a real chance Lady Emilia can overcome the 'Trial,' don't you?"
"I've made arrangements for that... or rather, I've had them made. But the medicine worked a bit too well, and she's currently somewhere between missing and unreachable. It's looking like we'll need to act fast."
"M-missing!? I-Is she alright!? If, after revealing everything about the past, the key Lady Emilia fails, all that resolve will have been for nothing!?"
"That worry is entirely valid, and honestly, I'm in no position to say anything definitive myself... But while I was listening to your story just now, something occurred to me."
Ryuzu Meyer—who had thrown away her life to protect the "Sanctuary."
Her self-sacrifice, prioritizing others until the very end, overlapped terribly with that other girl, who was always the same—always putting others first, always taking the loss.
Even if hardships piled up now, even if she was caught in a cycle of pain and her heart had withered— He couldn't believe that girl would lose sight of what she was needed for, of what she had to do.
"So I'm pretty sure I know where she is."
"———"
"Besides, we've been desperately searching the narrow confines of the 'Sanctuary' already. My partner is probably rolling around in tears as we speak. If she still hasn't been found, then there's only one place she could be—somewhere you can't find her."
At the conviction in Subaru's expression, even the somewhat anxious Theta let out a deep breath. She didn't press him on what that hunch was, and instead continued: "If you find Lady Emilia, and she overcomes the 'Trial'... then the final obstacle is none other than Gar, isn't it?"
"From what Sigma heard in fragments, his past involves a separation from his mother. You slipped into the tomb at the same time—do you have any insights?"
"That boy is extremely reluctant to talk about family matters. He may be considerate toward me, too... and he's been holding back quite a bit about Frederica."
The parting between Frederica and Garfiel had become definitive when he shook off her hand—the hand of a girl who had decided to set out into the outside world.
Garfiel had stayed in the "Sanctuary" to protect the residents—who unlike him, the quarter-blood, couldn't leave—from a presence that might threaten them.
—This aligned with Echidna's words that Garfiel feared the outside world.
"The trauma of separating from his mother... Does he hate the outside world? I want him to come out and do things with me, you know."
"Sue and Gar, together... Yes. Yes, that would be lovely."
As Theta thought of Garfiel and her lips softened, the childlike quality faded from her face, and a maternal warmth—like a grandmother doting on her grandchild—overflowed.
For her and the other Ryuzu clones—four people sharing one soul—that shared yet unspoken affection for Garfiel was perhaps the closest thing they had in common.
And what Garfiel directed toward the Ryuzus was surely the same.
"...First, I need to meet with Emilia."
As for winning over Garfiel, preparations were already underway for the worst-case scenario.
The contract with Roswaal—woven into the terms of their bet as a condition for victory—made dialogue with him one hurdle that absolutely could not be avoided.
And Emilia overcoming the "Trial" was also something Roswaal had declared "impossible." Subaru could only do so much from the outside; she would have to conquer it on her own.
Having lost her bond with
At least, that was how it should go if Puck's plan worked out. Once she pushed past that and faced the "Trial," a different landscape than before should greet her.
But in that moment, could Emilia give an answer different from the one she always had?
—Even if he couldn't be there at that moment, his role—the one
"I'd like to lean in Garfiel's favor, but could you stay here a while longer, Theta? If he can't get close to this place, then it's better for you to remain unseen—it'll keep Garfiel's attention distracted."
"While Gar's attention is wandering, Sue will be plotting his schemes, then?"
"Everyone acts like everything I do is some kind of scheme or conspiracy. Do I really come across as that devious and underhanded?"
Subaru tilted his head, but Theta offered no answer.
Sensing something unpleasant in her silence, Subaru scratched his head with a sigh.
"The original plan was to finish today, with tomorrow as a backup. Can we stick to that...? If Emilia's where I think she is, the remaining concerns are Garfiel and Roswaal."
The conditions for victory within the "Sanctuary," and the two figures who might obstruct them—those were the crux.
And the coordination to keep them at bay had been thoroughly worked out with Otto. The problem was timing, preparation time, and certainty.
Timing varied. More preparation time was always better. Certainty increased with better timing and more preparation time. —An obvious conclusion, but it should be so.
"One way or another, it has to be settled by the day after tomorrow. I can't afford to misjudge the critical moment. ...Right, Theta?"
"I can only offer agreement if that's all you're asking for. —When a young man has made up his mind, that is the moment for it. I shall be waiting with anticipation."
Even if he hadn't reached his conclusion yet, Theta affirmed his will—that slightly troubled smile of hers was perhaps the same one Ryuzu Meyer had worn many times. Surely, a face Beatrice had seen again and again.
Convincing Garfiel, supporting Emilia, going to retrieve Beatrice.
Even to himself, the things that needed doing—and the obstacles in the way—seemed like too many.
The dark clouds overhead showed no sign of clearing, and the answer remained elusive.
And yet, Subaru's heart was strangely not looking down.
Because what he needed to do and what he wanted to do were one and the same.
No matter how difficult the path ahead, with the wall he needed to charge into now visible, it was incomparably clearer than the time he'd spent lost, not even knowing what he should be crashing into.
At last, he had prepared himself to reach out and grasp the shapeless thing called fate.
Subaru slapped both cheeks with his hands, the dry crack filling the air, and psyched himself up.
He flashed a grin at the wide-eyed Theta, gave a small wave, and headed for the building's exit.
Then, with his hand on the entrance door, he turned back as if something had just occurred to him.
"Come to think of it, Ryuzu Meyer spoke like a normal girl her age, so why do you clones like Theta talk like old women? Part of character building?"
"What are you talking about? —I am, well, simply speaking in a manner befitting my age."
Theta snorted indignantly and planted her short hands on her hips, puffing out her flat chest.
Calling that appearance "befitting her age" was a bit of a stretch, to say the least.
With the image of the young girl in a dress—unchanged after all those years—fresh in his mind, Subaru stepped outside and let the wind wash over him.
With a strangely bright feeling in his heart, ready to take on the final battle.
—Natsuki Subaru's resistance began: to end the "Sanctuary," and to set the "Sanctuary" in motion.