Re:Zero Arc 4 Chapter 20 [Test Results]

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Translator: TranslationChicken

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Editor: TranslationChicken

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ALL RIGHTS BELONG TO TAPPEI NAGATSUKI, THE ORIGINAL AUTHOR OF RE:ZERO, THIS IS A TRANSLATION OF THE FREE JAPANESE WEB NOVEL INTO ENGLISH
JAPANESE WEB NOVEL SOURCE: HTTP://NCODE.SYOSETU.COM/N2267BE/186/

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Previous Chapter: https://translationchicken.com/2017/03/15/rezero-arc-4-chapter-19-homework-part-344/

ARC 4

THE EVERLASTING COVENANT

 Chapter 20 [Test Results]

 

――Seated in the center of the classroom, the white haired girl slightly tilted her head.

Receiving her gaze, Subaru quickly looked around the room to make sure there was no one else present. And then, sticking out half of his body into the hallway, he checked left and right just to be sure――Confirming once again that there was no one else, he scratched his head and let out a sigh.

[Subaru: There’s just something I have to say first]

[Echidona: Sure, I’m listening. What are you feeling, what are you thinking, and what do you want to say to me. I am very interested to hear all of it]

[Subaru: You look, super good in that uniform]

Facing the Witch whose eyes were beaming with curiosity, Subaru stuck out a finger and blurted out his thoughts. And hearing this, the Witch seemed to blank out for a moment, until she couldn’t hold it in anymore and burst out laughing,

[Echidona: Waha, why thank you. If you think so, then it was worth it for me to reconstruct this from your memories. In fact, this outfit seems to be the most vivid out of all your memories, and the one you’ve looked at the most. Is it a favourite of yours?]

Standing up from her seat, picking up the hems of her grey skirt――Echidona did a quick little spin on the spot. Her white, shoulder-length hair dancing with her movements, her playful figure looked perfectly like a youthful girl of her age.
Grey skirts, and a deep blue blazer. The red ribbon below her neck marked her as in the same year as Subaru, and in contrast underneath, her white dress-shirt shone bright and dazzling.
Only, if there was one thing that he was dissatisfied with,

[Subaru: Compared to short skirts, I prefer long skirts a little better. That way it takes longer to lift them up and there’s more time to ignite one’s imaginations]

[Echidona: I see. Then, to measure up to your skirt-lifting expectations, I will wear a longer skirt next time]

[Subaru: We won’t get a chance for that! Also, it’s not because I like it that everyone wears this uniform. It’s just a rule here that we have to dress like this. Kind of like the Imperial Knights and stuff]

“Kusukusu”, Echidona covered her lips and giggled. With an attitude as if she wasn’t really planning to take Subaru’s excuses seriously, even if he tried to exonerate himself, he won’t be getting the result he wanted.
Shrugging, Subaru walked to the back of the classroom――to the seat beside the window in the second-to-last row, and pulling out his chair in that half-assed location, he plonked himself down.

The tactile sensation of the hard, wooden chair. The edges of the desk that had alphabets carved into it by some previous occupant. The desk-leg that creaked whenever he put his weight on it while falling asleep. And the festering rust on the insides of the drawer. They were all fragments of Subaru’s distant, and bygone days.

[Echidona: And here I thought you’d be a little more surprised]

[Subaru: If you wanted to hide it, you’ll have to put more effort into the background, you know. There wasn’t even a single person walking around on my way here, that’s just way too unrealistic]

Even considering that it was a weekday afternoon, it may have just been a little too unpopulated along Subaru’s path. Almost as if everything irrelevant to Subaru’s past had simply been cut from this world.

[Subaru: This world was just way too convenient for me. So it’s your own damn fault that you didn’t get to see the reaction you wanted]

[Echidona: No no no, that’s a part of the fun too. Experimenting, and receiving the results are in themselves a kind of happiness for me. What the results are at this point, doesn’t matter much. Unless, of course, if we are talking about how future events will be influenced by these results, then it would be a different matter]

Echidona waved her hands left and right as she said this, as if she really wasn’t sour about the way things had veered outside her expectations. Seeing her without a trace of negative emotion, in his heart, Subaru secretly wanted to click his tongue.

[Subaru: So then, what is this world supposed to be? I’m sure I went in your Tomb while it was in the middle of the Trials, and then……]

[Echidona: You entered while possessing the qualifications. So naturally, you began the trials as well, correct? Didn’t you hear it? “First, you must face your past”]

Confirming Subaru’s thoughts with these words, Echidona placed her hands behind her back as she slowly walked toward Subaru. Her beautiful hair swaying in the cool, refreshing breeze that had blown into the classroom, without a sense of incongruity, the girl in her uniform blended seamlessly into her surroundings.
Her every casual gesture feeling like a trap set to entice his heart, Subaru consciously turned his gaze away from her. Then,

[Echidona: Anyone, would have regrets about the past. As long as they live day after day, no one is without regrets. Today they regret yesterday, yesterday they regret further before that, and when tomorrow comes, surely, you would regret something about today. ――People have the capacity to regret, after all]

[Subaru: That’s a pretty pessimistic way of thinking about it. If we just replace “regret” with “self-reflection”, then today we’d be reflecting on yesterday, and tomorrow we’d be reflecting on today, and, maybe, we might find some kind of breakthrough, isn’t that’s a human ability as well?]

[Echidona: ――Precisely!]

Clapping her hands together with an insatiable voice, Echidona shoved her face up close, making Subaru instinctively shrink back. But, undeterred, she continued leaning in, staring into his eyes with her black pupils, at a distance where they could feel each other’s breaths,

[Echidona: It’s a simple play on words, or, rather, a slightly different way of thinking. But depending on whether you view the past with pessimism or optimism, the answers become worlds apart. Most people look to the past pessimistically and always only see the bad memories, and so they treat the path they have walked with denial. Then, growing even more repulsed by the sight of what they have denied, they close their hearts, and try to forget]

[Subaru: Hey, your face……is kinda close……]

[Echidona: But can you blame them? Compared to today, your yesterday’s self was certainly more ignorant. And compared to what you will know tomorrow, your today’s self would no doubt be found lacking. The total sum of knowledge, or even just the number of memories, would always put the past at a disadvantage compared to the present and the future. That is simply the fact!]

Completely disregarding Subaru who was being pushed back by her aura, in a state of heated passion, Echidona pressed on her delivery. Suddenly turning her body away, she forcefully slammed her palms on the top of the desk,

[Echidona: And so, when people face their past, or when they actually meet their past, they become lost, confused, lamenting, suffering, anguishing, despairing, and there, they will find their answer. As long as they find their answer, no matter what kind of answer it is, I will give it my affirmation. Whether it was an answer they received by turning their backs, or by reaching their arms forward, it would be unmistakable proof that they have overcome their past]

[Subaru: That’s, the purpose of this Trial?]

[Echidona: Correct. It is to face one’s past, and come to some kind of answer about that past. If they are afraid of finding the answer, loathing it, or are hesitating and at their wit’s end, then the Trials could never be overcome. However, if they could either accept their past, or if they could deny it completely and sever themselves from it, then I would see them off with my praises. That, is the first of the Trials]

Nodding to Subaru, who seemed to have understood, Echidona returned to her original self, and, with a slight blush on her cheeks, she quietly cleared her throat.

[Echidona: I, I seem to have gotten a little overexcited. I’m sorry I showed you something unsightly]

[Subaru: No worries. If you had bad breath though, that would’ve gone badly, but fortunately, yours smelled like citrus. More importantly……]

Feeling a bit sentimental over the rare chance to see Echidona embarrassed, Subaru pulled up his chair and leaned his body forward, and,

[Subaru: If those points you mentioned are the conditions for passing the Trial, can I take that to mean I’ve passed the Trial?]

[Echidona: Having watched everything from beginning to end……I think the results were more than satisfactory]

Placing her hand over her chest, Echidona inhaled deeply as if filling her lungs with the aroma of fragrant black-tea, and then, with a terribly satisfied look on her face,

[Echidona: Whether it was the symbol of the traumas of your past, or the representation of your past guilt, you have found your answers. For that, I send you off with my praises]

[Subaru: From beginning to end……doesn’t that mean you saw me crying with snot dripping down my nose too!?]

[Echidona: I’m sowee, even I couldn’t help tearing up in the eyes at those parts]

[Subaru: Shut up!! And don’t you tell anyone, it’s embarrassing!!]

The scene of his parting with his father where he poured out all his emotions, it wouldn’t be funny at all if some pervert had been watching them all that time. Above all, it would be an insult to the emotions between Subaru and Kenichi in that moment.
“Kusukusu”, regardless of whether she could understand such sentiments, Echidona bursted out laughing,

[Echidona: If there was anything I was disappointed with, it would be that you hadn’t experienced the agony even deeper when you came face to face with your past]

[Subaru: Huh?]

[Echidona: I like when people reach their answers, but I think the suffering on their path to the answers is something praiseworthy in itself. I was looking forward to watching you find an answer through the anguish and struggles, but……]

Casting a side-glance at Subaru, as if peering into the depths of his black irises, she narrowed her eyes,

[Echidona: Unfortunately, this Trial seems to have started a little too late for me to enjoy such a treat. It appears you have already found the answer to the negative feelings from your past before coming here]

[Subaru: Aah……is that so. If that’s the case, I really should offer my sympathies]

Somewhat able to understand Echidona’s disappointment, Subaru exhaled a deep sigh through his nose.
If the Trials had gone the way she had hoped, Subaru would have returned to his parents, the source of his past trauma, and over the time spent with them, realized his own weakness, agonized over it, and reached an answer either by running away or facing it head on, and, at last, found the resolve to come here.
But Subaru had already…

[Subaru: Even when I was completely, hopelessly useless, there was a girl who told me I was a hero. So there was no need for me to face my past, I’ve already come to terms with the fact that I’m useless]

[Echidona: So you’ve arrived at a different form of resignation, I see. But to have it stray so far from my expectations, it really is an utter disappointment. The next time you meet that person outside, tell her that a Witch had some complaints to say about her]

Just as he was about to throw in a joke about that threatening remark, Subaru suddenly noticed. There was something Echidona said that he couldn’t let slide.

[Subaru: A while ago you said you formed this reconstruction from on my memories……If you can peek inside my head, then shouldn’t you know about the girl I spoke of?]

Or, perhaps rather than noticing it, it was him desperately clinging to a feeling that he could not let go of. Even if it meant having someone peek inside his head, if there was just someone who could remember Rem after she had been forgotten by all the world, remember her lovely features, remember that this girl still existed… But,

[Echidona: Sorry to disappoint you. But even being a thing of Greed, I can distinguish between what is right and wrong. Though I have extracted the information I needed to conduct this Trial, I have not touched anything else. If I simply stole all the knowledge out of your head, then where would be the fun in that? I am not quite ready to abandon the pleasures of simply listening to others just yet]

The only thing he got as a reply, was some kind of Witch’s sense of honor that was beyond his capacity to understand.
One could even call them Echidona’s convictions. However shameless that logic may be, it was not something Subaru could argue with. Still,

[Subaru: If you only pulled out parts that were relevant to the Trial…..then why did you pull out that uniform…..]

[Echidona: Obviously, I pulled it because it was a piece of information necessary for me to reconstruct this building you call “School”. It definitely wasn’t because after discovering a new Parallel World, I wondered what the girls here wore and whether it would maybe look nice on me or anything of that sort]

[Subaru: Are you, one of those highly intelligent idiots?]

After listening to Echidona essentially confessing the whole thing, Subaru sighed and shook his head.
So it was like that. It wasn’t the answer he had hoped to hear, but at least now he knew something for certain. Which was that,

[Subaru: There’s probably no need for me to ask this. But this world is……]

[Echidona: Aah, that’s right. This is a fabricated world created based on your memories, meant to be an extremely faithful reconstruction of reality. Which means, of course――your real parents still have no idea where you are or what you are doing, and must be worrying to no end about their son, who had simply disappeared]

[Subaru: ――――]

[Echidona: As for the information you didn’t know before, who knows if you hadn’t inadvertently brought them here…… are you so sure that you didn’t know about them? The letters from your parents’ old friend, can you be certain that you have never seen them? The old man who had known your father since he was a child, have you really never met him before? And have you truly never imagined an image of your father that was different from the one you knew, and never once traced it over inside your mind?]

Firing off her words in rapid succession, [Or rather,] Echidona continued,

[Echidona: Did you really think that as long you didn’t know what was hidden in your heart, they would simply stay hidden? The contents your true heart that are yearning to be freed, how could you be certain that they are safely sealed away, and would not leak through along with the rest of the mundane little details? And still, can you be sure that your self-serving desire to be loved, did not beg your fictional father and mother to behave the way they did?]

Putting her face up close against the silent Subaru’s, Echidona’s last words fell to a bewitching whisper, teasing at the strings of his heart. And then, at a distance close enough to feel each other’s breaths,

[Echidona: It was just too ideal, and too convenient――don’t you think?]

[Subaru: ――――]

Tenderly gouging open Subaru’s heart with her soft fingertips, Echidona smiled sweetly.
Unlike a smile that would have suited a girl her age, this one was abominable, like one belonging to a Witch out of the folklores.
His mind toyed and tormented by her penetrating words, Subaru squeezed close his eyes. In the back of his closed eyelids, in that pitch-black world, emerged his last impressions of his parents――

[Subaru: Don’t belittle my parents just because you didn’t get what you wanted, Witch]

[Echidona: …….what?]

[Subaru: I’ve already told them all of my answers. And my mom and dad both received it. I’ve told them everything that I was never able to say, and they told me to give it my best, and then wished me a safe journey]

Standing up from his chair, placing his hands on the desk, he pressed back his face against Echidona’s so that their foreheads touched. Watching the Witch’s black eyes opening wide in surprise, Subaru,

[Subaru: Their voices, their smiles, everything from those moments shattered my imaginations. ――My parents, are not some empty casks that can be filled with my fantasies. Don’t you underestimate them]

[Echidona: ――――]

[Subaru: I’ve already told them everything I wanted to say. And after having put everything to rest, I came here.――Nothing you say can trick me]

Pulling back his forehead from her’s, Subaru sat down in his chair once more. Then, leaning backwards into his chair, he rudely crossed his legs and stared at Echidona with an insolent gaze.
For a moment, Echidona seemed astounded by Subaru’s reaction,

[Echidona: Really……You wouldn’t even let me see you questioning your answers for a minute, you really are a human who would make a Witch cry. How exceptional indeed]

[Subaru: I’m gonna blush if you praise me like that. I’m the kind of guy who grows when he gets praised, you know. I can feel myself getting taller as we speak!]

[Echidona: I see you’re never at a loss for words…… Aah, but it’s good enough. It’s more than good enough. It’s a delightful thing, to see such a firm answer that would not allow itself to be shaken]

As if giving up, Echidona shook her head with a smile, and then, pulling out the chair in front of Subaru, she sat down facing him,

[Echidona: The Trial is now over, in its truest sense. You have escaped the evil clutches of a Witch, it seems. As a reward……is there anything you wish to ask me before you go back?]

[Subaru: Oh, then there is one thing]

[Echidona: En, let’s hear it]

Echidona nodded, as Subaru stuck out a finger pointing directly at her,

[Subaru: Before, you said you had nothing to do the Trials…… How is this nothing to do with it!? You’re not just involved, you’re pretty much the main culprit. What’s with that blatant straight-faced lie about having no influence over the Trials!]

[Echidona: To take a Witch at her word… even naivety and gullibility should have a limit. Didn’t I tell you the last time we parted? I am a wicked Witch, after all]

[Subaru: Aah, is that right. Then, I can’t trust a single word from this wicked Witch, can I. In that case I have nothing else to ask. ……By the way, is the seal on the Sanctuary removed now?]

[Echidona: And here you are asking another question as if nothing happened… you really don’t bother putting up appearances, do you? Unfortunately, it would be too simple if the Trials ended with this. There are a total three parts to the Trials. But since you already passed the first Trial, I don’t think they would be too difficult for you]

Sidestepping Subaru’s indignation, Echidona held out three fingers as she answered him. Receiving this, Subaru muttered [Three parts……] under his breath,

[Subaru: One way or another, I’ll have to unseal the Sanctuary. So, once I clear the other two Trials, it will be released, right? Can I take that as a guarantee?]

[Echidona: That’s why I gave you the Qualifications. So of course. If you or any qualified halfblood overcomes the Trials, the Sanctuary will be liberated with my blessings. How will you overcome the next two Trials, I wonder. I will happily look forward to the answers you will give]

Watching Echidona nodding in affirmation, Subaru responded [Is that so], and stood up.
There was nothing else he wanted to ask. So there was nothing more to gain by dawdling in this fabricated world. A certain nostalgic feeling made him almost want to stay, but he had already said all his reluctant goodbyes.
Even if, as the Witch said, they were only transient and fleeting things.

[Subaru: Hey, Echidona]

[Echidona: What is it? Perhaps you would like to punch me before you go? Well, I realize I would deserve it, considering my conduct towards you. So if you wish, I am willing to accept it without complaints. But still, I am only a young girl, after all. If you could please avoid the face if possible……]

[Subaru: Thank you]

[Echidona: ――――]

Speechless, after going on and on trying to vindicate herself, Echidona suddenly lost her words.
Seeing her like this, for the first time, Subaru felt a small sense of gratification,

[Subaru: Even if it didn’t really happen, and my words didn’t really reach those two, I was able to say the things I wanted to say thanks to you. Even if it was because of your crappy-gossip-deprived curiosity, I was able to see the people I thought I would never see again, and say my goodbyes]

And show them that their hopeless, small, disappointing son had become a little less hopeless, had grown a little more, and could now hold his head a little higher.

[Subaru: For that, I am grateful. So, thank you]

[Echidona: ……You’re a human I can’t understand at all, it’s very fascinating. It’s almost frightening, in fact]

Echidona wasn’t joking or lying, and the look in her eyes seemed as if she was genuinely threatened by him. Seeing her like this, Subaru lifted the corners of his lips and smiled in reply,

[Subaru: Witch-sama must get frightened easily if she could be caught by a little kid like me. Oh well. So um, where’s the exit?]

[Echidona: Leaving won’t be difficult. Even now, this world is already beginning to fade. Nothing outside of this building is solid anymore. ――Leaving this building should return you directly to the insides of the Tomb]

[Subaru: That’s pretty convenient. ――In that case, see you next Trial, I guess]

With a wave of his hand, Subaru got up from his seat and headed out of the classroom. Sensing Echidona’s gaze trailing behind him, Subaru walked out without looking back.
In the world outside the window, dissolving into the encroaching vast, blue sky, the scenes in the distance began to fade. The fabricated world which had fulfilled its purpose, was vanishing into nothing.

The father who had patted on Subaru’s back, and the mother who had walked with Subaru to send him off, were both fading along with the disappearance of this world. Until they were nowhere to be found.

[Subaru: ……You guys have already taught me all the most important things]

His emotions swelling up in his chest, feeling the back of his eyes growing hot, Subaru roughly wiped his eyes with his sleeves just once. And after that, lifting up his head, there was no longer any trace of tears in his eyes.
Looking straight ahead, Subaru walked toward the exit of this dying world.

In front of him, the world gradually turned to white, as far as his eyes can see, and――

※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※



[Echidona: ――Already gone, I see. My my, he’s a lot more formidable than I thought]

――In the classroom after Subaru had left,
among the rows upon rows of empty desks, Echidona, having been left behind, stuck a hand into the front of her hair, and, enjoying a moment of quiet to herself, she leaned her weight onto the desk behind her.

Little by little, the World had began to collapse.
The fleeting world reconstructed out of memories, with the loss of its source, was turning back to dust. With the sensation of the disintegration of the world upon her skin, Echidona did not pay any mind to the crumbling footings or the vanishing atmosphere around her.
Her attention was fixed on a single point―― in front of the blackboard, toward the teacher’s podium. There,

[Echidona: Just what I should expect from the man you fell for, I suppose]

[???: ――My special someone my special someone to my someone to my someone to my someone to my someone to my someone to my someone to my someone to my someone to my someone to my someone to my someone to my someone to my someone to my someone to my someone to my someone to my someone to my someone to my someone to my someone to my someone to my someone to my someone to my someone to my someone to my someone to my someone to my someone to my someone to my someone to my someone to my someone to my someone to my someone to my someone to my someone to my someone to my someone to my someone to my someone to my someone]

[Echidona: Shut away in your own citadel, even though you meet him every so often you’re still afraid of being forgotten. In such pathetic circumstances, to have the audacity to make this kind of assertion. I, can’t understand you at all]

[???: None of your business none of your business none of your business none of your business none of your business none of your business breathe on breathe on breathe on breathe on breathe on talk to talk to talk to talk to touch touch touch touch touch my my my my my my my LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE]

With the other person insisting on speaking in nonsense, Echidona frowned in disgust.
Before her eyes, there was the shadow of a person standing in front of the teacher’s podium――the shadow of a girl in a pitch black gown, with long, flowing, silver hair. Like a curse, everything above her chest was engulfed in darkness, making it impossible to see her face.
Every word she spoke and every ounce of the insane aura emanating from her filled the imagination with unspeakable horror.

Echidona seemed to accept the fact that this existence suddenly descended after Subaru left the room, as if it was only natural. As if she already knew that it would appear here.

[Echidona: Of course, it’s only natural. Without asking permission, I trespassed into your beloved’s heart, after all. I didn’t intend to encroach into your territories……but even so, there was no way for us to avoid each other completely, now was there?]

[???: A fingertip a flake of skin a piece of nail a strand of hair a drop of sweat a particle of spit a single word a single breath a single fragment of emotion all of it all of it all of it all of it all of it all of it all of it all of it all of it all of it all of it all of it all of it all of it all of it all of it all of it all of it all of it all of it all of it]

[Echidona: “Belongs to me”, you mean to say? Hyahaha, being with you makes me even want to give up my title of Greed. How you could go so far for one single person, I can never understand]

[???: I love him I love him I love him I love him I love him I love him I love him I love him I love him I love him I love him I love him I love him I love him I love him I love him I love him I love him I love him I love him I love him I love him I love him I love him I love him I love him]

Therefore, Envy will not forgive Echidona, who had touched what was forbidden.
The shadow took a step forward. And with that alone, the room up to where she stood was swallowed into darkness. In an instant, the front of the classroom, the wall that held the blackboard, and the first three rows of desks were devoured by the Witch’s shadow.

Leaping backwards, Echidona narrowly avoided annihilation, while, as if in pursuit, shadowy arms extended out, aiming for her neck. In the face of the pitch-black serpents baring their fangs, Echidona let out a sigh,

[Echidona: I would leave behind too many regrets if I let myself get erased here. So I’m afraid I’ll have to be a little unfair――]

Saying this, Echidona slightly lowered her body, when the shadows that were aiming for her throat exploded from the impact.
Seeing this, the encroaching shadow halted its steps. In front of the shade with its two dangling arms, in the place where Echidona should have been,

[Sekhmet: Looks like I got called up again, haaaaa. I can’t even get a good night’s sleep, huuu]

Languidly huffing with her legs sprawled out on the floor, the purple haired girl ――The Witch of Sloth, Sekhmet appeared.

[Sekhmet: Haaa, it’s no use]

As if struck by a devastating impact, the upper half of the shadow flew backwards.
Beaten back by the power of the strike, the rest of shadow sank into the darkness it had created. Lightly shaking its head at this outcome, the shadow reached out its right arm toward Sekhmet.
Immediately after, the darkness that had engulfed half of the classroom attacked at once, as dark demonic claws shot out, covering over everything in sight. The impenetrable blackness sealed off every direction―― But,

[Sekhmet: Didn’t I just say it’s useless, huuuu]

The Maelstrom of black claws scattered in the blink of an eye, and without the least resistance or reserve, the counter-attack struck into the shadow’s entire body. While the shock of impact after impact were nailing the shadow’s flesh into the cracks of the wall, Sekhmet only remained crouched up on the floor without the slightest movement, lazily looking on.
But even so, Sekhmet’s attacks continued to assail the shadow’s entire body, until gradually, that bottomless form began to break apart.

Against the deafening sound of the impacts, and the sight of the writhing shadow, Sekhmet only scratched at her hair as she watched,

[Sekhmet: With most of your power sealed away, haaa. And being inside nasty Echidona’s citadel, huu. In a state that deprives you of your full potential, haaa, you’re no match against me, huu]

Trying to hold back a yawn, Sekhmet’s attacks ceased, and the defeated shadow dropped to its knees――when a strike from above mercilessly nailed it into the floor.
Sinking into the pitch-black darkness, the fading Envy looked up at Sekhmet.

[???: Why do you why do you why do you why do you why do you why do you why do you stand in between in between in between in between in between in between in between me me me me me and him and him and him and him and him and him――?]

[Sekhmet: Haaaa. ――It’d be too much of a bother to explain]

With this bitter reply, Sekhmet made a little downward swing with her raised hand.
In that same instant, half of the school building collapsed, and along with the crumbling dirt and lumps of earth, the shadow of Envy was swallowed into the depths of the ground.
In a world that was already fading, there would be no way to return from there.

[Sekhmet: Even after I’m dead, huuu. Why do I still have to deal with this stuff, haaaa]

Her own actions havings sped up the collapse of this world, the Witch of Sloth found a relatively nicer spot in the corner of the decaying classroom, and nudged herself over on her butt.
Huddling up with her back against the wall, feeling herself being drawn into the void of the dying world that had finished serving its purpose, she looked out through a shattered window at the Sun.

[Sekhmet: Nothing ever goes the way you want them to, huuu. Whether you’re a Witch――or the one ensnared by a Witch, haaaa]

With a final, languorous sigh, the world vanished into light.

-=Chapter 20 End=-

 

 

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OH GOD ENVY. WE GOT ENVY. WE GOT ENVY!!!!!!!!!

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Next Chapter: https://translationchicken.com/2017/03/23/rezero-arc-4-chapter-21-a-renewed-resolve-part-13/

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***As a side note, when Echidona was speaking to Envy, she changed to using “watashi” to refer to herself, instead of “boku” which she uses in front of Subaru. According to Safin this will be significant as her personality changes as the arc progresses.***

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Hope you guys like it! Let me know if you find typos. :3

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Chapter 21 Live Draft Link: https://www.patreon.com/posts/re-zero-arc-4-21-8507813

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Next Chapter: https://translationchicken.com/2017/03/23/rezero-arc-4-chapter-21-a-renewed-resolve-part-13/

174 thoughts on “Re:Zero Arc 4 Chapter 20 [Test Results]

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      1. I didn’t necessarily have to know that (I edited it out now :3 -tc) before we got there in the story but I guess it isn’t that painful of a spoiler 😦

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  1. Thank you for the chapter, it was wonderful. with the chat with Echidna, her personality is so delightfully evil, with her wanting to see Subaru suffer more n the Trial XD nice too see sekmet again, and last but not least we finally got a scene with Envy.

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  2. WOW, i dont know about you guys, but this chapter is by far the best until now, no joke, for fuck sake! Btw Echidona is love, best waifu! I was kinda wondering where the witch is last time already when he saw Echidona, since she entered his mind. But this time we get the interaction between the 2 😀 god im so hyped now! Thx Chicken!

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  3. Cant believe i am soo early to comment….
    Omg😱 is “???” Satela?😱😱😱

    Thank you chicken sama for this wonderful chapter 😍

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  4. Not gonna lie after reading this I think I like echidona a little more than Rem. Yea she’s a witch but I like her conversations with Subaru I always get a good laugh from them.
    “[Echidona: What is it? Perhaps you would like to punch me before you go? Well, I realize I would deserve it, considering my conduct towards you. So if you wish, I am willing to accept it without complaints. But still, I am only a young girl, after all. If you could please avoid the face if possible……]”

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  5. “If you had bad breath though, that would’ve went badly”

    Should be

    “If you had bad breath though, that would’ve gone badly”

    Other than that splendid translation, I closely followed your work on the draft, was really cool to see the progress.

    By the way, what do you use to get the machine translation that you add to the draft?? It seems pretty bad. This is in comparison to Google translate which seems to be doing a pretty decent job (though FAAAAAR from perfect) nowadays (deep neural networks FTW).

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Oooh, ok I’ll change it to gone.

      Google translate is too misleading when it misinterprets a sentence. I mostly use the machine translate to pull vocabulary from and to double check. The one I use is Weblio, which is the online dictionary I always search on.

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      1. looking at subaru’s memories why dint echidona right away get the question that hes from an other world

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  6. Thanks for the chapter. 🙂 but i feel Subaru forgot to ask an important question there. if that world was created by her then didnet he again eat and drink her bodily fluids??

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      1. And the loving scene from the previus chapters where Subaru and his dad sitt outside and drink cola suddenly turns into a father and son sitting outside drinking a girls bodily fluids…………

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  7. Thanks for another chapter! I’m really starting to like Echidona, eventhough she is a witch and probably quite evil. Her conversations with Subaru are refreshing. Also, nice to see she recognizes Subaru comes from an alternate wold; I was wondering if that would happen because of the clearly different memories. But for her it is nothing shocking apparently. Interesting.

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  8. For a moment, Echidona seemed astounded by Subaru’s reaction,

    [Echidona: Really……You wouldn’t even let me see you questioning your answers for a minute, you really are a human who would make a Witch cry. How exceptional indeed]

    [Subaru: I’m going blush if you praise me like that. I’m the kind of guy who grows when he gets praised, you know. I can feel myself getting taller as we speak!]

    [Echidona: I see you’re never at a loss for words……]

    Such a nice and funny moment .

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      1. When you say it like that i t makes sense . Yea . And it actually gives some sense of familiarity which is in line with Subaru’s character .

        Liked by 1 person

  9. [Echidona: Waha, why thank you. If you think so, then it was worth it for me to reconstruct this from your memories. In fact, his outfit seems to be the most vivid out of all your memories, and the one you’ve looked at the most. Is it a favourite of yours?]

    *this? Sorry if I’m wrong

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  10. OMG I still can’t believe it the Witch of Envy herself made an appearance and she is even scarier then I imagined. She acts a lot like betelgeuse (or he acted a lot like her). I love all the witches though and Echidonais now my favorite. Thanks as always for the translations and I can’t wait to read the next one.

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  11. [Echidona: . . . Then, growing even more repulsed by the sight of the what they have denied, they close their hearts, and try to forget]

    What if you write it without “the” before “what”?

    Sorry, bad english. Hope you understand. Cmiiw

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  12. “Echidona did a quick little spin on the spot. Her white, shoulder-length hair dancing with her movements, her playful figure looked perfectly like a youthful girl of her age.”

    Are you sure it’s shoulder length? It doesn’t match the pictures at all.

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  13. Finally!! A conversation with Satella! (or is it Envy?) Scaryyy >.<
    And when Echidona ask whether Subaru going to punch her, i was kinda hoped he would 'kiss her while saying thank you' haha
    And thank you Chicken-sama for this awesome release! After Envy makes appearences, now i missed my Emilia-tan!

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  14. I ‘envy’ you.
    Anyway Thanks!
    When I read half in the live draft, couldn’t even imagine for things to take such a turn of events…Keep up the Good Work!Bless the Chicken-Sama!

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  15. Woooow well this was the best chapter till now ,actually when subaru left i was sure something will happen but i think that roswaal will come or something but this was waaaaaay better I reread this chapter the second I finished and i think i’ reread after a while ,sooo thanks alot chicken sama

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    1. Nope. The 3 trials are for one person. Which means that either Subaru or some half blood has to go through three trials.
      There is nothing like “Subaru do one and then Emilia do one and then Rem(?) do one.
      All three Trial are completely different and has to be conquered by the same person.

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    1. It is entirely possible now Subaru is already dead btw, n the witch of envy is simply keeping him in this world, while he literally exists outside if realms of time n space…

      Somehw, I mean.

      What if he was summoned there By SOME1 COMPLETELY ELSE n them met Satella, they fell in love, then he dies, she goes berserk n destroys the world. Or most of it. Then she is sealed, and Subaru is somehow … here my idea is none. He was born a human from another dimension, so… there must be a time loop imho.

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    2. I know nothing btw; but what if the Subaru we know is a ‘copy’ of her loved one, rather: what if the world he is in now had its own version of him, n that person died ? And so the allmighty witch crossed dimemsions n literally abducted his clone~ …

      Nah, I know too little lol

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    3. Or worse ( NOT SPOILERS, I KŃOW NOTHING OUTISDE THE REALMS OF THE TRANSLATION AND ANIME ): what if the time for the netire world is already frozen, and she tries to reach a certain conclusion ?! Like playing chess with time, endlessly.

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      1. and she even froze herself maybe ? thus preventing herself from DYING. he place where he is ‘pleaded’ might indeed be her ‘resting’ spot ! she moved from bodily existence onto the higher plane of pure consciousness, to try and rebuild what’s lost…

        NOT A SPOILER SINCE I AM AN ANIME/CHICKEN ONLY

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      2. Well I have a theory . A long one that is based most of the ”facts” that have already been translated here and also in some minor spoilers in arc 7 of the web novel . I am pretty confident I know what direction Re:Zero is going so I can safely say your theory most likely is false .

        Liked by 1 person

  16. “and there’s more time ignite one’s imaginations”
    “Echidona returned to her original herself, and”

    I may be wrong, but I presume they should be:

    “and there’s more time to ignite one’s imaginations”
    “Echidona returned to her original self, and”

    Liked by 1 person

  17. didn’t really expect to see the witch of envy or satella right away!!! OMG. the truth reveals tho she loves subaru is that a reason enough to summon him from their world? how the heck does that happened, woah still too many questions, I’m a bit greedy with the answers
    lol okay looking forward to see the next chapter! thanks for this Chicken sama ❤

    Liked by 1 person

  18. I did not expect the witch of envy to appear right after subaru left the room.
    JUST WOW!!, she’s crazy as hell.
    Great chapter chicken sama !
    I teared a bit when subaru said:
    [Subaru: Even if it didn’t really happen, and my words didn’t really reach those two, I was able to say the things I wanted to say thanks to you. Even if it was because of your crappy-gossip-deprived curiosity, I was able to see the people I thought I would never see again, and say my goodbyes]

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      1. Thanks, cause when i search online i only get either ekidona or echidna. I’m drawing subaru, rem, emilia and all the witches, so far it looks awesome

        Liked by 1 person

  19. Sabaru…..I wish he ask alittle more questions….sign….Why does every single time he gets a chance to solve some of most important question in the series, somehow spend the whole chapter describing a god d**n skirt. Like how did he get here? Why was she not surprise that he was from another world? What’s the point of this whole maze? who is stella? Why is she stalking him? Is she a vegetarian? He should at least listen to her answers first instead of just outright rejecting her completely. He should listen to the information first and then determine there later, that way he has atleast something rather than having a lot, lot more questions. Sign…. Just my little rant.

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    1. Question:
      1. It is self explained and I am not sure but Echidna said what was the point in all this .
      2. Good question . The author might just avoided this question for certain reasons I should probably not talk about .
      3. Self explained .
      4. Subaru doesn’t really care . She is a bad person with really big powers that did some bad things . And probably also Emil… oups
      5. She is in LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE ehm self explained .
      6. No .

      I hope that is good enough .

      Liked by 1 person

      1. The only people who wouldn’t ask questions in that situation are complete imbeciles. To not ask from a highly knowledgeable source when you are in dire situation or in unfamiliar grounds is moronic. I guess I’ll be more thorough with my question. First of all 1. They never explain how stella has magical power to teleport to different dimension or teleport people. Saying because she is a witch or has “magical powers” to do so is shallow and is just complete garbage in story telling kind of sense. 3) The maze was set there to to trap people and test people? First of all, for what? Secondly, Why even trap people at all? This is counter productive, don’t they want to find someone who can actually complete the task and not wait thousands of years hoping to trap the right candidate? The only way this would work is if some magical prophetic bs proclaiming that the candidate would somehow show up EXACTLY 10 years from now or something or they are actually willing to wait thousands of years to trap this unlikely candidate. Shouldn’t there be a more practical and efficient way to do this? 4) saying Subaru doesn’t care is pretty much saying he is just a stupid and a foolish idiot to the absolute most extreme degree. Not knowing your opponent is the most crucially flawed and naive mistake someone can possible make. To not atleast inquire information about an enemy is irresponsibly and is the absolute worst thing to do humanly possible, at least tactically anyways That’s like fighting a nation with spears and swords when your enemies had guns. If you don’t understand this concept or atleast the advantage, then you are not someone suitable to making good judgement at critical situation. 5. Saying, she is just a crazy stalker or is madly in love, is weak and childish. That’s like saying a killer kills because he is simply insane. That might work in B rated horror movie without needing much substance, but for a emotionally driven book, this just doesn’t fly well. 6) How do you know? Are you the author now? Don’t state things as fact without proficient evidence.

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      2. I will be interested to see your reply to this if you have any objection .
        1. Since you meant how Subaru came from the main world to this one , no it isn’t explained . But it isn’t also stated that Satela is the one that did it . So no there isn’t a problem with the story telling like you said , but we are barely in the half of the story and this is something that the author would like to state in the end .
        3. The reason that the candidates for the trials are trap is so that they will not have the option to give up completely , or if they do one of their descendant will try it eventually and maybe find the solution . If they had the option to leave then i don’t believe that they will encourage someone to go with such a painful trial so the creator of this wouldn’t benefit from something like this . The ones that are trapped there also serve as guards and keep the sanctuary clean and stuff . As for why the trial exist , as they said , when you finish it all the trials you can leave and this is stated and is good enough . But what the creator of the trials get from this ? Well that is a spoiler .
        4. Subaru has a clear understanding of who Satela is . He have seen the book that told the story of Satela , he knows about the archbishops that might become an obstacle to him , and they were created after Echidna died so asking for them is pointless , he knows that the powers she has are stolen from the witches and he clearly saw all of their powers . I was wrong to simply say he doesn’t care . I meant he doesn’t care to learn anything more for her .
        5. Do you know why Satela is in love with Subaru ? I can’t state something for sure . I do have a theory about it , and is in more in line with what most people say ( that Satela is Emilia ) , but in the end the reason she is in love with him is something to be explained later in the series . Now if we accept that she is love then if we see her as a psychopath ( which she is ) then ”love” is quite a good reason for everything she does . I mean did you judge the reason of Petelgeuse ? I think not . This isn’t a b rated horror movie trick as you describe it .
        6. A foolish question has a foolish answer .

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      3. I’m NOT saying the author is doing a bad job moving the plot or that there is a problem with the pacing. I’m saying the author made a huge mistake by introducing a character who knows too much. All Subaru needed to do was ASK, and he could have solve almost everything but decided that it was not worth the trouble asking. Like for example, if all Subaru had to do to get back to home was to ask ANYONE then it would make subaru just absolutely stupid because the way out was always in front of him but he just REFUSES to do the most simplest and most rationale thing. That is what gets me,
        1) So what you mean is that it will be explain later right? So its not “self explain” as you said it is right?
        3) The villagers and candidate was lock in with the most inefficent and ineffective strategy ever to protect a tomb? What? What if subara decided to never go to that village because he heard some bad rumor about it? Then he would have NEVER completed the trail and the witches would have to wait another what? Hundred to thousands of years? They are fine with that!? The story of the tomb is basing everything on the small chance that the correct candidate is going to somehow going to show up to there village by pure chance. Since the villagers themselves can never leave the village, the witch is relying on a incredibly slim and improbable chance someone important and special enough come to the village RATHER than having the villagers themselves look for that candidate instead? Beside, assuming all the people you trap in your prison are just going to protect and guard your death maze with there life, is not a very compelling offer to the villagers. I’m suprise no one try to destroy it instead, even though that’s doubtful if it would succeed. TLDL it needs to be better expanded on and needs to be explain why it’s so inefficent.
        4) He SHOULD care because he still knows nothing about her! What he knows about her, or anything, is not enough. He needs more. Heck, I know nothing about her! I don’t know why she’s insane, if she was from this or other world or what she’s like before she became a witch. I don’t want Theories, I need cold, hard facts! He knows he has her “power” but don’t know how or why or it’s limits or what he could really do. Like if he HAD(not saying he does) the power to STOP FRICKEN TIME and all he had to do was ask about it, then why the hell didn’t he? To be honest, He should already be investigating, gathering information and trying to solve this query at best he can. But he’s not! Still, I don’t blame him for not trying to find evidence and gather info from locals because that’s alot of work and time. BUT!!! If hes not asking from a INCREDIBLE knowledge source that is literally 5 feet from him, I question his intelligence. He doesn’t even know if Envy is an enemy or a friend! Well….probably not the ladder lol. At best, she might not an enemy even though I find that unlikely. Still, he had the chance to ask and should have. Saying he doesn’t need to or doesn’t care is just too naive and not a very compelling answer. That’s saying he is incompetent. Beside, there is no such thing as too much knowledge. You should always, ALWAYS be asking questions and looking for a solution around you especially when you are in an unknown environment with your life on the line. If you are in Subaru shoe’s, you are saying you wouldn’t ask? Really!? This is a loophole that can be solve very easily because there is hundreds of ways to do plug it. If he ask a question she, Echidona, didn’t like (or is a major spoiler for the story), she could have just denied that question. Or, she would limit the topic of the question or something. Anything else would have been fine! But the author decided to go with “Subaru is just NOT GOING TO ASK!” WHAT!? Maybe it’s just me, but this is immersive breaking (if that’s a word) that just completely baffled me.
        5) I’m not looking for theory or hypothesis on who she is. What I’m looking for is the reason he is not asking about it. “Subaru, SHOULD be asking! Why isn’t he!?” That’s what I’m asking, that’s all. Here is another example, while extreme, kind of prove my point I think? lol. If you have the chance to question someone who knows who murder your brother, why wouldn’t you ask? Second point, I also never found Petelgeuse a very interesting character but it’s just because I don’t have enough information to make an accurate deduction of his character. Sure, I didn’t question his character authenticity, but that is just because he is not really a part of the “main cast” or crucial to the story. He was just suppose to be a villain with not much of a back story. But that’s ok, because we don’t need to know much about him and he was suppose to be represented as such. That’s just bat s*** crazy. But Stella, a character this ENTIRE STORY IS BASE ON, better have some compelling points on why she is bat S**t crazy. If it’s that answer to that question is “she was just lonely”……F*** my life…..
        6) A foolish question should not have a foolish answer, but an answer that is base on information, fact, and a compelling argument. Not because someone said so because someone can back it up. If the author decided to make her a vegetarian later, that is just how it is. But for now, we don’t know anything. You shouldn’t stated as such.
        The problem I have with your original post was that you were stating things as FACT, like “self explain” and “no” as if all your statements are true and there is no denying it. Like some sort of Absolute truth without even having sufficient evidence. LIke answer to Number 1 should be, “we don’t know how Subaru got here, let’s find out later”. NOT “self explain.” What? As if you already know how Subaru got transported to this world. Answer to question Number 3 should be, “we don’t really know much about it, it’s probably alittle later ahead, but that’s probably be a spoiler.” NOT “self explain.” Ineffective and stupid strategy is suppose to be a norm somehow? Answer to number 4 should be “we don’t really know why subaru didn’t ask but let’s just go with it for now” NOT “Subaru doesn’t care.” Is this guy suppose to be a complete and utter idiot? Question 5 should be, “dude, we don’t know why she’s a crazy stalker b****, but let’s wait alittle more because it’s probably going to be a major spoiler.” NOT “LOVE LOVE LOVE ehm self explained.” What does that even mean? That doesn’t explain anything! I still know nothing about her or her stalker ways but apparently, you know the exact reason right!? Apparently, it’s already “self-explained” somewhere, I just have to look it up. Like some sort of dictionary. And finally we get to 6. Your answer was “no.” Without evidence or anything to support your claim, you shine your absolute truth on us as if you ARE the author himself/herself. LOOK, if you have evidence, I’m all ears and willing to listen. I’m not trying to attack you but attack the legitimacy of the story. To be honest I don’t care if I’m right or wrong and I obviously don’t care, what so ever, if these question is ever answered. (especially the last one) It was a joke if you didn’t get that. Lol. I just wanted you to prove your point next time with evidence because I’m looking for legitimate answers. What I originally wanted from my original post was just….. one …..question. This question was not “Tell us more about the plot author! GIVE ME MORE! I’m mad!?” But more like “Subaru, are you kidding me?! You’re not even going to ask about wtf is going on around you? Ask about these questions, they are important and can save your life. JUST ASK GODDAMMIT SUBARU! I’m mad…” That’s it. To be honest, I wasn’t really that mad, just frustrated with how the author treat that character here. I’m someone who tries to read VERY deeply into a story, especially the ones I like. Like If for example, you are reading a book about about a guy confine in a prison looking for his way out, his escape better not involve him ESCAPING. BY. RUNNING. THROUGH. THE. FRONT. DOOR! Because this proves how ridiculous and unreal the situation is. A prison, a building use to confine the most dangerous and psychotic criminals, one of the most absolutely secure place in the world, got F*** by a 15 year old, because he outsmarted a single guard and just walked pass hundreds of unsuspecting blocking all entrances? What is going on? That is what it feels like when I read this. I like cohesiveness in the story I read so sometimes I nitpick about these things. I imagine myself vicariously through Subaru and imagine, “what would he do? What would I do?” and there better be some common grounds…OR….. welp, not much I can do about it but Nitpick I guess. lol

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        1. It’s shown that Echidona lies.
          And, even on their first encounter, Echidona claimed to know nothing about the Present World, only the Past from 400 years ago. Regardless of whether it is true, it is an excuse to not answer anything relevant to the present situation.

          In other words, Subaru didn’t trust her to begin with, and at first he did ask her something, but once she said she has nothing to do with the Trials and knows nothing except ancient history, Subaru had nothing useful to ask.
          This time, Subaru confirmed that Echidona had blatantly lied to him and has no qualms about lying whatsoever. The fact is, she will never give him any useful information unless she intended to tell him anyway. So there was no point in asking.

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        1. Echidona’s offer to answer his questions is in reality a trap to create opportunities to manipulate him.

          It’s not just that she might lie, but that the offer itself is a part of her design to ensnare him.

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      4. I will state now that I am not mad either about this matter or the commends.

        1. I said ”Since you meant how Subaru came from…” meaning I didn’t get that you wanted to know how Subaru came to this world , but sth else so i wrote self explained ( which it was )
        3. You can’t force the villagers or any candidate for that matter to search for victims for the trial . They will just leave after the pain of the first trial , recommending that everyone should not approach anywhere close to this tomb . I don’t believe that Subaru was the only one that could solve the trial . I mean Emilia could . After some years . Centuries . But she could right ? Anyway what I want to say is again , one of their descendant will try it eventually and maybe find the solution . Besides looking for the a candidate is not an option . Even if they managed to get someone like Subaru , or even Subaru himself , there is no motive to continue to the second trial . Lastly Re:Zero plot is related to some extent with time travel , so it wouldn’t be impossible to have a good prediction on when and if a candidate will come . But it doesn’t seem like they have a big problem with waiting anyway so yea . Oh and why the villagers didn’t try to destroy it ? Well I don’t have a clear answer to that since I didn’t get it either but knowing that the tomb is related to a witch , with enough power to keep them all imprisoned and also their master ( and basically all the Roswall family , that I am pretty sure they have to obey to some extent at least ) saying that you should protect would be enough to convince some cowards with not too much will power to not try harm the tomb .
        4. The reasons of Satella are good enough at this stage of the story ( we are not even in the 1/3 of it ) and of course there are more to be explained later to the series ( many things are already explained in the releasted arcs until arc 6 or so ) . BUT I agree with you when you sayied ”you should always ask more and more questions” or sth like that . And I was about to agree with everything you said on your answer on 4 until i say what Chicken said . You know , that she is mostly lying about what she says ( or maybe everything ?! ) and that this is just a strategy to manipulate his way of thinking and ensnare him while not giving any useful information .
        6. I got it from the first time this was a joke . And that is why I simply said ”no” . It is like when a character from a series starts asking some random and silly question and the guy who is talking with him saying ”no” with a straight face . I hope you get what i mean. But from your second reply you seemed like you truly wanted an answer to that and also said ”are you the author now” so I just wanted to shut down the whole argument . The reply ”he doesn’t care” is explained in my other commend in which i said ”i was wrong to simple say he doesn’t care . i wanted to say he doesn’t care to learn more …” and you know the comment continues . As for the replies ”self explained ” . The first one was really explained , but you actually meant how Subaru came to this world so it wasn’t . And that is why i wrote in the other reply the answer to this question . The second one was answering to the question ”why she is stalking him” meaning ”what are her reasons to stalk him” in which i replied ”she is in LOVE LOVE … etc” and also added ”ehm self explained ” only to make a joke . I could have just wrote there ”she is love” and truly those are ”the reasons” she is doing it . The question didn’t ask ”why she is in love” in which I would reply you will learn later .

        Also when you see a guy making a lot questions and he might doesn’t even care for a reply in the end ( but you do and i like that just saying ) , and also the fact this was the first question and i didn’t even know how much time it will get me to write everything ( the second self explained doesn’t even need to be there ) you just put a self explained there ( and it was really obvious for my standpoint , but it doesn’t have to be from yours ) and you are done .

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      5. Oh and also forgot to say . Petelgeuse is actually a character with a pretty big role in the story , and I have many suspicions that we will see a lot of him in later arcs ( i mean like arc 9 or . keep in mind the latest arc is arc 7 ) and also he got some backstory in arc 3 , but wasn’t animated , and i think he will get more later .

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      6. When I say pretty big i mean above average and is my suspicions are correct he will be quite an important character later on . Just to clarify .

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      7. Look. I never really wanted these question answered, because I already know the answers to all these questions. They don’t exist yet. The original statement was directed at Subaru’s decision making and the question only serve as examples of questions he COULD have asked. The questions were not suppose be the answered, but apparently you had them….None of these question has any TRUE answer to them because there is not evidence or facts that you could can even build a case around. Just assumption and conjectures. I was on your case NOT because I thought you we annoying or making things up, but for the clear fact that you stated things as genuine fact without showing any evidence, even though I KNEW that there was no clear answers for.
        1) Fine. I was not thorough enough and you misunderstood
        3) look. I don’t want your opinion on the matter. What I care about is the FACT of the matter. The fact is that no one knows anything… period. There are inference and maybe well fabricate theory but that’s still not solid evidence! The reason I harp on you on it, was that we don’t really know why it was design so weird. If you have evidence on the EXACT REASON ( with quote and reference) about why the infrastructure was design the way it is. I’m all ears.
        4) I don’t care what stage of the story this is on, if the author wanted to hide the information about Stella more, he should have done a better job on it. The mentality of a character is not base on the “flow” of a story. He should have his own personality and should always be looking for ways to accomplish his goal. Let’s pretend I’m a god in the story. I show up in the story,out of nowhere, and ask Subaru a question. “Do you want to go home.” If we don’t involve Rem and Emilia in this equation, the answer should be “yes,without a doubt”. I teleport him back and that’s the end. That is the end of re:zero. It’s an extreme example, but that this what Subaru WOULD HAVE DONE. The thing about Subaru is that he doesn’t know that he is in a story! IF(another example) Subaru can end all of this mess by throwing a ring into a volcano using extremely large birds but decided to walk the whole way instead, THAT is a major plot hole. (lord of the ring reference) The only reason he is NOT using those large bird is because he thought walking on foot was……. the best way? What? The real reason was that the author forgot that the birds can even do that in the first place. The author should have just removed the birds in the first place if he wanted to avoid awkward plot holes! Subaru’s decision should be rational and that’s it. He should base all of his decision on furthering his own goal and not trying to please us readers. His decision should NEVER be about furthering the plot. Which brings me to this point, If I(me) was Subaru and was in Subaru’s shoes, in that point in time, would I try to inquire information. The answer is YES!! I would have definitely asked Echidona all these questions and much much more! I would have ask as much question as possible and try to get as much answer as I can. This is because there is no limit and there are NO good reasons that are compelling enough for me to NOT ASK. “If I was in Subaru shoe, what would I do.” Empathy. That is what you should be thinking about, not the pacing of how Stella is portrayed or how the plot is at the moment. You should be looking things through Subaru’s shoes. Look, if the author don’t want us to know more about stella, fine. All he/she has to do is lock that information away. If Subaru wanted to know more about Stella (but the author don’t want to spoil that part of the story yet) all the author needed to do was have Echidona deny his request. All Echidona had to say was “No, I won’t tell you” That’s all the author had to do. But the author went with the idea that “Subaru won’t ask because he don’t trust her” is a poor argument. And again. The argument about her not being a reliable source is just bad…… THAT IS NOT HOW INFORMATION WORK. If you want to understand it a little, I had a pretty lengthy conversation with theholychicken below. It’s about how information ACTUALLY works. Check on it further down you might be intrested. To make a long story short. It was about how Information can NEVER be evil or manipulating. Only people can and only idiots can be be tricked by them. Information is just data and if you get screwed by it, it’s not the information fault, it is yours. You decided to listen, follow, and screw up instead of just gathering and verifying. Wrong information can still be useful! You just need to gather it and make accurate judgement. That’s it.

        If you are going to make a response to a question. Make sure you can back it up with cold, hard facts. A passage or reference I can read line for line so I can verify your information. Maybe my phrasing was a little harsh but that is what I truly believe. That if you are going to give someone information, it better be from a reliable source rather than someone’s word.

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        1. “He should have his own personality and should always be looking for ways to accomplish his goal. ” His goal… Yeah? So what is “his” goal? Are you sure, that it is his goal, not yours? Most of your “possible” questions have nothing to do with Subaru’s goal or desire to know something. About the reason of his summon… Subaru never was interested in that since the very start(he said that somewhere in 1-2 arc), why would he suddenly became interested in it? About witches. He said by himself, that he don’t want to know anything about them(Satella included), because they are all dead. So yes, he is literally DON’T care about Satella, who is pretty much “dead”. You should only be interested in keeping her sealed. If you are really talking about HIS goals, then answers on these question are not valuable to him at all. More than that, when Echidna slipped couple of words about Envy, Subaru felt her anger and huge danger, he understood, that he shouldn’t ask anything about Envy. Seems like you wasn’t reading carefully. He also asked about the purpose of the Sanctuary. She said : “I won’t answer on that”. He also asked about the trials, she said, that she don’t know about them or anything that happened after her death. She lied and Subaru knows that. This were two questions in which Subaru was really interested. That’s why after the fact of her lie surfaced Subaru said, that then he won’t ask anything anymore. You said that it is always better to get as much info as possible and I can’t agree with that. If you get false information, you will make false judgement in the future based on false information and consequences might be disastorous and might be unfixable even with Subaru’s ability. So If you already got a false answer on the question you are really interested in, which is part of your goal, it is unreasonable to continue Q/A. Or do you declare, that listening to this Creature is rational, when one of this Creatures destroyed half of a world? Sure thing. Subaru KNOWS about her nature. And ofc, he sees her as his enemy, he is feeling terror and the sense of danger because of her presence, I’m not sure if you can be “rational” as you said, when your instinct of self-preservation shouts about the danger. Your brain will just force you to avoid this danger as fast as possible. Will you ask the dragon, for example, the wise creature, about anything, when you will be terrified by this creature? You won’t be able to ask anything and you will not have desire to ask. Seems like you are underestimating the impact of this horror on Subaru’s mental state. It is not about Subaru’s intelligence, it is about instincts, how the brain works and Subaru’s weak willpower. I don’t see anything valuable Subaru could ask about, for HIM, not for you, as a reader. The only value for him would be satisfying a sense of curiosity, but that’s it, no practical value for achieving his goals. You just want to see an answer for an answer. And once again stop projecting your interests on to Subaru’s interests.
          “you don’t have to accept deals” that’s a nice thesis to see, especially when Echidna forced him to accept one without his consent.
          ” You just ask, and if there ARE strings attach, then you don’t listen especially if you are sure about it.” Sure, that’s how it works right? All you have to do is put your fingers in your ears and you are saved from the all mighty Witch, right?
          ” If your friend lies to you ONCE do you automatic label him as an implosive lair.” stop with this nonsense. Are you fore real? Are you sure that you should speak about “rationality”, while you are making such comparisons?
          ” I don’t see her trying to capture him as hostage, because if she wanted to, she could have just refuse to let him go.” Are you sure about that? In fact we saw the opposite, you should read more carefully. Quote : “[Subaru: I thought you said it’ll only end when you want it to end……]
          [Echidona: We have reached the limit of the time in the real world. The “Trials” you mentioned, it seems they will begin soon. When it does begin, all the functions of this Tomb will be directed towards it. And it won’t be caring about the lonely ghost anymore]”

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      8. 3) I don’t have exact reason ( with quote and reference) about why the infrastructure was design the way it is so I can only hope those answers will come out soon and maybe my hypothesis is correct .
        4) I did read most of the things you said with Chicken down there and I also left a comment on all that saying that false information is actually the best way to manipulate someone , especially for Echidna because she can’t usu physical force and she is supposed to be really smart , and also left an example . While questioning Echidna might seem like using the eagles from Lord of The Rings it is more like the whole thing is a trap , a way to slow you down , and walking is the best way . Like if they usu the Eagles they can only get further away from Mordor or something . I don’t know . Oh it is like someone saying ”there are 2 paths but the left one is way shorter ” and if you chose the left you die or something along those lines . But in the end this whole conversation with Echidna can be viewed from 2 different perspectives . One that Subaru is pretty ”stupid” for not asking the obvious questions and the other is Subaru seems really ”smart” or at least had the right approach to this matter for not falling for this trap . I will go for the second one myself but I guess if you have the other perspective on the matter I can’t really argue with that since it also seems right with this logic as well . ( good to note that the second logic helps furthering the plot , as you said that this shouldn’t be his goal and i agree but he does it in a good way in my opinion )

        Synopsis . No hard evidence because some things that could back up what I say could come in later chapters ( or maybe they will not who knows . I didn’t read any detail spoiler on the matter ) and the way Subaru is acting can be viewed in 2 ways .

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      9. Let’s just agree to disagree because I don’t think this is going to change anyone’s mind anyways when we are talking about what “Subaru should have done”. But I will say this. You are thinking about false information in the wrong way. That is not how it REALLY works. The thing about false information is that it is always a two way road. Firstly,The informant, who has to convince the taker that the information is correct, even though it’s not and Secondly, the taker, who must believe in his words. Both of these must be in play for false information to be effective. No matter what happens though, it is always the taker’s fault if he gets tricked or manipulated. This is because for manipulation to work in the first place, you have to believe in what the informant is giving you. So instead of listening to the informant, you are relying on his word, which makes you a fool. Here is the thing. You can’t manipulate someone if they never believed or trust you in the first place. When the witch said Subaru parent was just figment of Subaru imagination, it should have been less about Echidona trying to manipulate Subaru, but more about Subaru trying to NOT get manipulated. It sounds the same, but bear with me here. Here is why it’s not about Echidona trying to manipulate Subaru. If she actually wanted to manipulate Subaru, she did it the wrong way. The best way she could have done it was this. She would first need to gather enough proof to rebuttal against Subaru’s counter argument. Second, she would need to find facts that Subaru would have trouble denying. She then needs to build a strong case with her information (whether they are real or fake, doesn’t matter) and then corner Subaru until he accept those “fact” even though they are false. That is true manipulation, but even that form of manipulation is full of holes, and to be an expert you need to redirect and dissuade them from the truth. Instead, what she did was just spat information about Subaru’s parent without much backing or proof, which in this case, was easily rebuttal. All Subaru did was to chose to not believe her. Thus, Subaru escapeing from her “manipulation.” This wasn’t about Echidona trying to masterfully make Subaru her puppet, but about Subaru being competent enough to NOT believe every word she was saying. So if someone said “I won’t listen to you because you are just going to trick me” is pretty much saying I AM TOO dimwitted and can’t evaluate information given to me OR I am just not dependable and is easily manipulated. That is what Subaru is saying to me, that he doesn’t have what it takes to accept those responisibility. I’m not saying that’s a bad thing (ok, to be honest, it mostly is), but that a lot of people are easily manipulated anyways. That’s not their fault though for being ignorant about how to properly use the information given to them and to not get used by it. It is not their fault because they are just not train for it. If a man knocks on your door and said he was a police officer that needed to use your house for a undercover investigation for two day, would you believe him? If it was me, I would highly doubt his credential until proficient enough evidence would say otherwise, but many, many people would have believed him. That’s fine if they believe him and let him in without proper checkup,but that shouldn’t be something painted in a positive light because what if he’s just there to trick or steal from you!? If you believe in everything you read and hear, that’s fine. Just don’t ignorantly think that it is something to be proud of. This is not really directed at you, but just something to think about.

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        1. Talking about this theoretically and with irrelevant examples is pointless.

          Try think about it this way. The kinds of information Echidona would give Subaru would be:

          1)Something that helps Subaru defeat Echidona’s enemies (the dragon, possibly the Witch Cult, possibly EMILIA).
          —This can be useful. I think this is what you are talking about. Subaru will benefit. But he doesn’t NEED it right now. There are no enemies other than Echidona at the moment. He can always ask her WHEN he actually NEEDS that specific information, and when he is more confident that he knows what Echidona really is—

          2)Something that that will make Subaru WANT to defeat Echidona’s enemies(again, possibly Emilia)
          —This is NOT useful at the moment, and can be MISLEADING. She will selectively feed him information that will turn Subaru against people who may not necessarily be Subaru’s enemies. Remember Echidona isn’t stupid, don’t expect Subaru to EASILY verify these information. If it is so easy to check, she simply won’t say it in the first place. She will meticulously be crafting every story, every piece of information, don’t expect whole truths. Subaru will NOT be able to immediately make use of it—

          3)Something that will make Subaru want to free Echidona(either by striking a contract, or for a one-time favor)
          —This COULD benefit Subaru, Echidona’s favor can be very powerful, but HE DOESN’T NEED IT YET. Right now his only goal is to pass the Trials, he doesn’t need her help for that. When he needs her help, he WILL ask her for it. Just not now.

          4)Make Subaru mentally unsettled so he could be easily manipulated by Echidona
          —This is not impossible at all. If Subaru asks her how his real parents are doing, Echidona can show him a nightmare created from all his worst fears about his parents. She could show him his mother and father committing double suicide. That will break Subaru.
          She could easily do worse IF SUBARU ALLOWS HER BY ASKING THE QUESTION. By asking a question, Subaru gives her permission to show him information. The offer of answers is a trap and curiosity is the bait. By declining the offer, Subaru is not vulnerable, but by accepting, Subaru is essentially opening his mind to allow the poison to enter.—

          5)Something that would help make Subaru devoted to Echidona like how Roswaal is devoted to her.
          — If she managed to break Subaru before hand(to a state like when Subaru was about to give up before Ep.18, but worse), she can easily make him fall under her influence, which could be her goal.—

          The key point is that:
          A) Subaru doesn’t NEED the information RIGHT AWAY. Subaru will meet Echidona many times in the future. WHEN he actually needs it, he WILL ask.

          If you say, “why not gather as much as he could”?
          It’s because:
          B)Asking early leaves him open to attack, to mindbreak, to nightmare, o manipulation. He has to choose WHEN to take the risk. Weigh the risk and benefits. Again, it would be foolish to open himself to mind-break by asking a question like “how are my real parents doing”.

          So Subaru is not being ignorant. He has plenty of reasons not to ask everything at this point in time. He will ask, just not yet.

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      10. All you are actually saying is that Subaru is too weak. He can’t handle to pick a fight because he will make a mistake, he might falling for temptation and manipulation, and is too afraid of the risk. Remember, you don’t have to accept deals, and you don’t have to do favors especially if you think they are detrimental. I’m not saying if they are beneficial, always do them. Do them if you feel that you aren’t going to regret it especially if you get something out of it. What I’m asking for is information with no strings attach. Free information because that’s what she said she was going to do. That’s it. If you can’t even accept free information without questioning your own mentality, then I don’t know what to say. I don’t think I’m setting the bar too high here, or is that too much to expect out of Subaru? Also, I’m a firm believer of “it’s better to not need when you have it then need it when you don’t have it.” Meaning that it is always better to carry useless junk rather than to need those useless junk but you don’t have it. I think that not preparing and not knowing are wasted opportunity, but I’m pretty bias to things that will benefit me versus things that might has a small chance to cripple me so you can’t really say I’m neutral to this arguement. Take it as you will, but I don’t see any of these things as so detrimental that you would completely ignore the advantages. That’s my stand point anyways.

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        1. What part of Echidona’s behavior so far indicates that she has any intention of giving Subaru free information? You have to get rid of your overoptimism before you can think about this in a meaningful way.

          Look at her answers to Subaru’s questions so far. She has no problem lying and she has no intention of giving free information with no string attached. If that much still isn’t clear there’s nothing we can discuss here.

          Subaru hasn’t fallen into any of her traps so far, and hasn’t received any damage… because he was careful. That is not a valid reason to underestimate her. It’s foolish to forget for a second that she is dangerous.

          You have to realize that Echidona is Subaru’s greatest potential enemy at the moment.
          From Subaru’s perspective, he instinctively recognizes her as an enemy. Once again, as far as he knows, she is his ONLY enemy at this moment.
          It’s utterly naive to expect to play her game without very significant risks.

          It is a matter of PRIORITY. Subaru’s current priorities are 1)to survive and 2)to pass the Trials.

          Making himself VULNERABLE to mind-break that could damage him across Return By Deaths goes AGAINST his primary priority of survival.
          When his NEED for a piece information is greater than the RISK to his survival, he WILL ask for it.

          The conclusion is simply that he has very valid reasons NOT to ask Echidona questions YET. NOT YET.

          There is no wasted opportunity. What has been wasted? He has plenty of opportunities to ask her questions in their future meetings. He won’t be seeing the last of Echidona until he HAS asked ALL of the questions he wanted to ask.

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      11. First of all, It doesn’t matter what her behavior indicate because that’s not how free information work in the first place. We also don’t know if it’s free or not, because Subaru never took the initiative to ask. It’s not optimism. You don’t know if information is free, unless you ask! That’s how it work and that’s how you determine it. You just ask, and if there ARE strings attach, then you don’t listen especially if you are sure about it. It’s not a trick question here. The part about “She has no problem lying and she has no intention of giving free information with no string attached.” Now this is just not a true statement. We know she atleast lied ONCE, but maybe there was other factors in her decision. The second part of this sentence is just full of bias without any form of proof. We don’t know if she’s going to have strings attach because he never asked. Saying “she will have strings attach because she is too smarter or won’t give it because it won’t advance her agenda” is not a good argument, because we don’t know her true intention at this point in time. Not only that, I can’t find enough proof that says her main goal was to manipulate him and that’s it. We atleast know that she is not a friend, but that doesn’t automatically label her an enemy. If it does, then your judgement is too extreme on the matter and we won’t find common ground on this.

        When we are talking about “Subaru priority” of your conversation, I agree. Like I said previously, if he wants to tackle things one at a time (1 priority at a time), I’m ok with that. I’m just saying it’s not very efficient. Keeping your options wide and unbiased, is the corner stone to adaption and survival, but arguing about that is probably not going to get us anywhere anyways. So let’s just agree to drop that topic.

        Wasted opportunity comes into play when when other factors come into play as well. We don’t know if he will ever get to speak with her again and just assuming that the person will give you the same opportunity is not a good arguement. If Emilia completed the trail faster than him, he might never get a chance to talk with her again. If Echidona dies somehow, though unlikely, he will lose his chance too. If there was a time limit on how much question he could ask per trial, then he wasted all of that time too because instead of asking questions, he is just ignoring opportunities. Opportunities that he might never get back again. If you are saying he WILL get those opportunities again later because the plot dictates so, then that’s just not being realistic here and is actually true OPTIMISM right here. But that’s just how I see things anyways.

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    2. It will be revealed in later chapters why Echidona isn’t surprised. And why Envy showed up. Everything are actually clues and foreshadowings, especially if they appeared odd when you first read it.

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    3. Again. That is not a good enough of a reason. He still knows nothing about everything, he needs any information he can get. He needs to TEST the information first, before completely ignoring them. If your friend lies to you ONCE, do you automatic label him as an implosive lair. No. Beside, information is very EASY to identify the authenticity of it. All he needs to do is ask questions he already know is right. If she lies again, then she is a compulsive liar, if not, then you have something rather than nothing. Only idiots, take things at face value. Absorb your information, then use it at best you can. If it’s wrong, you at least know something….what a b**** LOL

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      1. It’s obvious that Echidona has no reason to give Subaru any useful information *except* what she wants him to know, or what she want to see him react to. Both of those she will tell him of her own accord.

        By this time, he has already confirmed that Echidona lied in the last encounter. Not just by omission, but blatantly lying.

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      2. If that’s true, Subaru should have not been asking any question at all. We know that he believe he to some degree or he wouldn’t have listened at all. Or even gave her a question in the first place. This proves, that he is atleast willing to listen to some degree wouldn’t it? Still, I believe information should alway be GATHER, not used. This is the absolute, and most important thing in information gathering. And as I said, should be tested. Always.

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        1. The only two question Subaru asked her this time were 1) to make her admit she lied and 2) to make her confirm that he had passed the Trial so she would let him go.

          In their conversations, Subaru is sparring with Echidona. At this point, to genuinely ask questions like she asked him to would be like dropping his sword and offering himself up to let his opponent poke at him.

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      3. Also, I would like to add, this is her first time lying. This is not a clear indication of disinformation and deception. It just shows that she lied. That’s it. Because Subara, at this point in time, is not willing to pursing this and ask more question; It doesn’t mean she it out there to deceive him any time she gets a chance to. It just mean she lied.

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        1. Look at her trying to make him lose his resolve by telling him that his parents were actually just fictional constructs that were being manipulated by his own hidden desires to be loved.

          She is not a benevolent and altruistic character, and Subaru is aware of that. She has her own goals, intends to use Subaru in some way, and perhaps a desire to play with Subaru for her own amusement. Until Subaru becomes more powerful than Echidona, if Subaru goes along with her offers, he will only be furthering her goals, not his own.

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      4. Again. As I said, information is NOT HARD to check the authenticity. I’m not sure about the ensnaring part of your argument, as there is not enough information on Echidona at this point in time.. I don’t see her trying to capture him as hostage, because if she wanted to, she could have just refuse to let him go. I also don’t see much of this “manipulation”, I don’t think it’s gone far enough to him being called a puppet. Too little is know without concrete and solid evidence. The first encounter, not much was ask so we don’t really know much. Second encounter, spent the whole chapter on skirt so I’m still lost there. I’m not sure any of these encounter show a good or clear indication of who she is. That is just my opinion.

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        1. From their first encounter, Subaru was already overwhelmed by her oppressive aura. He intuitively knows that she is more dangerous than the White Whale.
          In the end of Chapter 21, Lewes called her Witch-sama, and mentioned that she was masterminding something.

          Echidona is not trying to harm Subaru, but trying to manipulate him to her advantage. Echidona’s power is limited to within the dream, and I think she wants Subaru to do something for her outside in the real world.

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      5. No matter what Subaru chose, it will always further her goal. He has no choice but to go along with her. What Subaru should think about is not how she is minupating him and how he can screw her, but should be how to make a bad situation good right? It’s not like he loses anything and besides he has his own situation to ponder about. He just has to be careful about what he gets. That’s all. If she wants him dead, there is nothing he can do about it. He is literally, at the palm of her hands. Make use of it Subaru.

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        1. It’s a matter of trying to keep the interactions under his own terms rather than her’s.
          If Echidona requires something of him, he could choose to avoid furthering her goals by not doing what she wants him to do. It will be very difficult to not come under her influence, but that is why they are sparring. From their exchange about his parents, Subaru has shown that he is able to resist her. That is what he is trying to do.

          Asking everything he wants to ask when she prompts him to would be completely surrendering the initiative to her and leaving himself wide open.

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      6. No matter how I see it, I don’t think that she is so untrustworthy that you would not inquiry anything at all. Remember, he know almost nothing about anything. So the information gathering thing still stands. If you and your family are going to die from dehydration in a desert and meet someone who clearly has a very small jug of water but denys having any water. BUT still says water is in the south, would you believe him? First check you need to check his fact, make up bs info you already know and mix it with some of the questions you need answers to. Identify if they are real or fake and remember just because he lied to you once doesn’t mean he wants you dead, there might be other reason and factors(ike (he doesn’t have enough water if he gives his jug to you)!! Thirdly, if all things check, you are just going to have to trust him, you are screwed either way. You might as well go with something than nothing right? or your saying wandering the desert the other way is better? Whether she is a demon or just a girl with many secrets is still up in the air.

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      7. Also know. He never had any leverage over her. From his perspective, he never had much to give her anyways. So he is just grinding gears with her and accomplishing not much. No matter how you see it, he still stuck in a cave, without any reliable information about ANYTHING, and with barely any grounds to even give to her anyways. He doesn’t have great power, or any strong connection, or even enormous wealth but refuses to give any inch of ground even though he doesn’t have much to give in the first place. Worst of all, no matter what she say or do, if she wants to manipulate him; he is screwed either way. No matter what he chose to do, he has to follow her instruction anyways. If she told him that the second trail can only be accomplish by jumping off a cliff, he’s not going to have much choice. Sure he can try to do everything else, but if all things and information is exhausted, he is probably just going to have to jump off that cliff in the end. This is because he can’t chose to do nothing, because his objective is to leave the village as soon as possible and if he can’t dissuade her arguement; Subaru’s only choice in the matter is to either listen to her and do it or value his life and not jump off that cliff. That’s it. No matter what he does, he is still screwed. Just be lucky she is giving you anything at all, let’s pretend she never gave you that info in the first place. You would have spent your entire life in that village and never leave because you need even thought of that idea in the first place. At least with the “cliff” idea, you have more options. Not saying it’s very good but you can at least use it when you ABSOLUTELY needs to.

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        1. Failing to resist her influence isn’t the same as not resisting her influence.
          Subaru does have leverage over her, the fact that he constantly breaks her flow is his successful effort to assert his independence (whether consciously or unconsciously).

          You can draw comparisons with Temptations of the devil. Or the biblical snake on the tree of knowledge. Echidna uses knowledge to harm, or otherwise manipulate.

          Subaru’s primary goal is to pass the Trials, and he had managed to pass the first Trial without Echidna help.
          Subaru clearly said “you won’t trick me” in this encounter, and said to her face that he “can’t trust a word she says”.

          In his situation, he is not completely at her mercy at all, since she still has use for him and clearly does not want to imprison him or maim him, or even cannot imprison him since she is trapped within the Tomb. She might possibly want to cripple him mentally, which could only happen WITH his consent which is why he is refusing to give it.

          Once again, if he does ask about the present at this point, Echidna will stand by her lie that she doesn’t know the present world.

          This is only why he didn’t ask so far, but as the story progresses he will certainly ask her vital questions either because it is immediately necessary (like getting looped back to save someone) or because he understands her motives well enough not to be so easily manipulated without realizing it.

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      8. There is absolutely no way anything she tells him can EVER cripple him or manipulated him when we are talking about information. That is just NOT a true sentiment and a big misconception. If you have an example of how less information is better than more, I can easily retort. Because the idea of that is just ludicrous. More is absolutely better even if it’s wrong! The thing about information is that it is YOUR fault if the information backfires. Because no matter what you do, it is ALWAYS your choice to listen or to not listen. To follow it or to not follow it. This happens all the time even in real life cases. Officers will have to constantly listen to false statements, deceit, and cover up, But somehow still manage to get the perpetrator in the end. This is not because he had some god like power to identify who is lying and telling the truth. He just listen, with a grain of salt, and build his cases with other claim, evidence, and other necessities. True, It can lead him to accusing a innocent bystander but at least he did it by using LOTS and LOTS of evidence! If he still misidentify a perp, its not the information fault that “John got put in jail for 20 years for something he didn’t do”; It is the officers fault for not doing a thorough enough of an investigation, the fault of the attorney for not being convincing enough and finally the fault of the jury for putting someone in jail when they don’t belong there. It is THEIR JOB to identify what is important, why would the victim or perpetrator lie, separate truth from accusation, and build a strong case. That is how information is gather and used! Also. “Breaking someones flow” IS NOT LEVERAGE! You are just refusing to listen and refusing to do what someone is telling you to do! That is what “breaking their flow” sounds like to me. Resisting someone’s “influence” is also not a very strong argument because I don’t really understand that concept. If you don’t like what they are saying, DON’T LISTEN. There is absolutely no way someone can influence your or guide your idea as long as you stay sharp and on your toes. Don’t kiss up to them, don’t make deals, don’t be desperate, and don’t look at all information as fact (EVEN MINE). That’s all you need. The Temptations of the devil and the biblical snake have always been about CHOICES. It is not the snake fault for offering the apple to Eve. It is her OWN fault for eating it without taking proper repercussions. I’m not saying the snake has no part in it, but JUST blaming the snake, and only the snake, is stupid when she is definitely a part of it. If the snake gave her the apple and never told her anything about the apple or it’s consequence , then sure, it’s the snakes fault because at that point, he is intentionally trying to pin the blame on her. Not taking blame for the stupid things you did, that you are RESPONSIBLE FOR, is not very healthy. No matter what she says, whether she stick with her lie or tell him the truth, does not matter. It is up to YOU to decide the validity of her statement. Let me give you another example, If Subaru says “how do I get home.” If she says “I refuse to answer” you AT LEAST ASKED. You know she won’t give you important info, and because she DIDN’T say “I don’t know” instead, she might actually know of a way back. You get more info!! YAY! If she however say “It’s at the gulf of the world.” You just don’t take that as FACT. Firstly, You have to look at the distance and the time needed to travel there. Secondly, you need to identify the authenticity of it by using reliable sources from a library or someone important, like a government official. You THEN need to identify the policy, government system they are using, that country relation with other countries, mannerism, language, history and much more. You have to weigh all of that in, make a clear and rational reason why it would be worth all that time. Even if the whole trip turns out sour, it’s not the witch fault you wasted all that time on nothing. It your own fault for not doing a thorough enough of an investigation or abandoning the idea much earlier. TLDL, what Subaru did was foolish, there is a chance, while rather small, of getting major information and now he might never get any of these questions ever answer. He needed to be much more inquisitive, even if he didn’t like her. He need to be less emotional and less sentimental. Rather than that, he needed to be more pragmatic and reasonable right there.

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        1. It would be naively underestimating Echidona to think she would allow him to secretly figure out anything from her answers that would put herself at a disadvantage.

          Simply look at the first encounter where she easily blocked him as soon as he asked about the Trials. She will only give him what serves her goal, possibly making him more powerful in the process so that he is more useful to her.

          It will be a chess match to outmaneuver her, and Subaru isn’t in a position to fight that battle yet. He will, but not yet.
          This is only their opening moves so far, and he will meet her again many times in the future. It is not foolish at all for Subaru to gather more information about her *without* relying on her words.

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      9. Look, I’m not saying I don’t agree with any of your points, to be honest, most of them are quite reasonable. If Subaru main goal is just to complete the trails and tackle only one problem at a time. That’s fine by me even though I don’t really like that concept and believe you should always keep your options open; It is still fine with me. What I don’t like about what the author did was deciding that Subaru was not going to ask because he didn’t trust her. That was all. It was too emotional and poignant of a response. If she wanted to lie to him, it could have been very easy to. She could have told him he pass the test and there is no more test. All he had to do was wait a year or something along the line. He would have spent years waiting for this imaginary barrier to dissipate. He would have never knew how many trails there are and how to escape even. It is up to her if she wants to be nice or not. Subaru should have realize this and get try to accomplish as much as he humanly can. If she’s will to say something, then listen. It’s not like you have anything else to go on. It’s not like I’m saying what Subaru did was out of character or incomprehensible. But just foolish, through a tactical perspective. That’s all.

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      10. He doesn’t need to underestimate her to get information. Information is just data. While they can be wrong, can always be opted to change. The “making him more powerful in the process so that he is more useful to her” is ….. an interesting idea. Never thought of that. Still, if her goal was to make Subaru more power, then I would probably embrace it but that is an extremely controversial topic so I’ll drop my idea on that point. “It is not foolish at all for Subaru to gather more information about her *without* relying on her words.” I will only agree a bit on this statement but not much. The problem is that he doesn’t know enough and doesn’t know if he will ever get these questions answered. If he doesn’t say it now, he might never get a chance to. Because the author made her all knowing being, asking about these important detail right now seems to be ideal time to unload it all, well, at least for me. There are too much factors Like who would know more or if anyone else in the world could even answer them? A highly knowledge witch, with alot of knowledge about your enemy and the world around you!? I feel asking a question right then and there should be automatic. But apparently it’s alot more controversial than I thought. I get the idea that Subaru doesn’t want to seem desperate and ,even more, relying on someone who might be an enemy but still. He doesn’t give that much ground for the information he can possible get. That’s my point anyways

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      11. Seems like you find a conclusion to all this . But I might add to sentence you said ”you can’t get manipulated by information” and you can filter it and stuff . Remember when Echidna said that his parents where a creation of his memories , and practically fake ( and i actually agree with that but that is not what i want to say ) . That is a kind of information that could easily break the resolve of Subaru that he managed to forge in the past chapters . At first I didn’t even get that this was her intention if I am honest with you , because it seemed to logical to me . If Subaru had the same response he would feel really bad about all this and it would cancel all of the good things he managed to figure out about himself .
        Every sound , every word is information and that is the only and best way to manipulate someone and make him do what you want , if you can’t usu force , and also when you are as smart as Echidna is supposed to be .

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      1. I really like to talk about Re:Zero in general , but since in this site spoilers are not welcome and in the end most of the spoilers I know came from Re:Zero Wiki and some other posts and interviews if you want spoilers this is the fastest way to go .
        I am also the type that actually prefers spoilers . The reason I like Re:Zero so much it because the author made the decision to end Arc 3 with Rem in a coma which made me appreciate the author for making such a hard decision and also showing that he intended to continue the series . Plus this series made me like the style ”I want to give sth to my protagonist only to take it away ” . This probably is a bad thing but I like it . If I hadn’t all this I would probably never knew how great this story is and gave up on it on the ending of the anime or in the cringe moments in the start of arc 4 .

        Anyway if you want spoilers you should go on wiki and search arc 4 , or sanctuary ( in general ) and probably a little from arc 6 . This will probably spoil not too much really , but when you see the first thing you want to also see the rest so y . Just see the entire wiki . That will probably do 😀 The time will go by fast trust me .

        Liked by 1 person

  20. The eternal struggle of knowing chapters take time versus the need to know what happens next… Anyways, thanks for the great work chicken sama, I’m so hyped to understand more about the witch of envy. Why does she love Subaru? Or is it that she actually just wants him like an object? These questions are burning in me, I hope we find out more soon. ❤️

    Liked by 1 person

  21. “as if she really wasn’t sour …”
    Instead of ‘sour’ should there be not ‘sure’?
    Nevertheless ,thank you very much chicken- sama for your continuous efforts to bring the translated version of this novel to us!

    Liked by 1 person

      1. Thank you! I realized it soon after leaving the comment but couldn’t find a way to correct it.
        And thank you so much for the latest chapter .I just read it!

        Liked by 1 person

  22. There’s a typo in your comments. Ironically it’s where you say to tell you about typos. “Hope you guys liked it! Let me now if you see any typos.” You put ‘now’ instead of ‘know’

    Liked by 1 person

  23. Yo buddy thanks for your great efforts we love you ❤
    And btw i heard that the other witches didn't appear in the tea party in the light novel
    Did this happen in the light novel too because the anime will be created from the light novel and this is a very great scene to watch
    Hope you answer me
    Much love

    Liked by 1 person

  24. OMG…this chapter was…wow..so great… The first part was filled with sensitive emotional topics(the feels).. And then the last part was full of excitement and hype.. Satella’s appearance and their scary yet awesome battle of witches. Oooooh~ So good! Good thing Sekhmet was there, was worried that Echidona might get erased by Satella.
    Awesome chapter! Love it! Thank you Chicken!

    Liked by 1 person

  25. If Echidona gave Subaru the qualification during that time he drunk that tea with her and Subaru received the Witche’s gene from Betelgeuse (?), doesn’t that mean that Subaru is also a half-blood now, basically half-human and half-witch? If that’s the case it could result in very interesting developments.

    Liked by 1 person

      1. Well, I guess that witches are a species, since there are only seven of them and they have special distinctive traits, also the question would be, if witches are not a species of their own, what are they? I also thought that there will be some “reactions” or “changes” within/ in Subaru’s body, because Echidona mentioned something like that during his first time in the tomb. Not sure what could happen with Subaru, but for example a life span like a the one of a witch or similiar magical powers could be result, though that’s only a speulation.

        Liked by 1 person

  26. How and why is Subaru connected to the Witch (Satella)?

    It all comes down to one of those complicated time things, like what came first the chicken or the egg. Subaru got pulled back in time, where he met Emilia, who became the witch and he became the finger which led to subaru being pulled into the past in the first place.

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  27. Your amazing I am playing catchup an I hope I never do keep up the great work if you need help just let me know what I can do

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  28. Subaru: Before, you said you had nothing to do the Trials…… How is this nothing to do with it!?
    It should be: Before, you said you had nothing to do “with” the trials……

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  29. IS ECHIDONA BEATRICE’S MOTHER?
    [Echidona: Just what I should expect from the man you fell for, I suppose]
    SHE SAYS “I suppose”.
    SHE LIKES KNOWLEDGE AND STUFF AND BEATRICE LIVES IN A LIBRARY. BEATRICE SAYS “MOTHER” WHILE HOLDING A BLACK BOOK. WHAT IF BEATRICE AND ROSWAAL ARE THE ONLY TWO WORSHIPPERS/FOLLOWERS OF THE WITCH OF GREED?

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  30. woah woah woah wait,hold on there,Envy,take a deeeep breath and use cOHERENT SENTENCES (Thank you for translating)

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  31. I finally get to see how Envy is portrayed in WN version!!! seems like this is the first time she’s ever made an appearance? haha~ I kinda freaked out when she started talking in chants omfg @_@

    Also this might seem like a very minute and irrelevant detail, but I cant seem to get it out of my head: A few parts back, it was said that Subaru was fixing his “green necktie”, but the picture and Echidona “wearing a red ribbon marking her to be the same year as Subaru” says otherwise. What is the truth?!?!?!

    But for reals, I enjoyed this chapter a lot! As always, thanks for the translation, Chicken-sama!! ❤

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  32. Echidona taking to Satella
    “Echidona: Shut away in your own citadel, even though you meet him every so often you’re still afraid of being forgotten.” So Satella has her own citadel like Echidona and she meets Sabaru in it, probably after he dies.

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