“More like, there’s probably no one who has a good compatibility in this situation!”

In front of the completely restrained girl, Subaru made this completely heartfelt remark.

The Witch of “Gluttony”—that’s how she was introduced to him.

Lying in a slanted coffin, the girl, around 150 centimeters tall with shoulder-length, grayish hair tied in twos, appeared pale and delicate, looking more like a child of around thirteen or fourteen.

“Not only is she tightly bound by restraints, but both her eyes are sealed too… With her age, I can’t believe it, but…”

At an age like hers, anyone would dream of having “supernatural powers lacking in ordinary people” or “latent abilities seen as a threat by others due to being sealed.”

Thinking back to middle school, Subaru remembered being influenced by the manga he read and having a desire to be a hidden weapon user, sneaking sewing needles into various parts of his school uniform.

“Well, in the end, I cried when the needles all jabbed me after I tripped.”

Reflecting on this dark history he had no one to show off, Subaru hesitated on how to act towards the witch before him.

Up until now, the witches would always take the initiative and attack him with overly intense first strikes before he could act.

——

Silence hung heavy as the witch in the coffin remained completely unresponsive.

With a rare sense of hesitation in front of a new acquaintance, the weight of the silence pressed down on Subaru. If he could just figure out whether she was friendly or hostile, it would ease his decision of whether to be overly familiar or provoke her.

“……”

Both remained silent, dominating the small hilltop tea party with an aura of stillness.

Despite this, Subaru found himself being consumed by the overwhelming pressure from the witch before him. Though his entire body was restrained and he couldn’t even meet her gaze, the intimidating aura radiating from her small frame was entirely witch-like.

Even with his easygoing interactions with the “Pride,” “Wrath,” and “Sloth” witches, there was a good reason Echidna was hesitating to introduce him to this one.

The Witch of “Gluttony,” Daphne, was distinctly different from the witches he had encountered before.

“……n”

“——!?”

As the tension made sweat trickle down Subaru’s forehead, he wiped it with the back of his hand. Suddenly, Daphne moved, sending Subaru into a shiver.

The girl wrapped in restraints slightly twisted her neck within the coffin, and Subaru caught a faint breath.

What kind of action would come from that? Subaru felt the tension build in his entire body.

And then,

“….suu, mnyaa”

“——You’re sleeping!?”

“——Funyah!?”

The moment he heard what sounded like a sleeping breath, Subaru piped up.

His feet landed on the green hill with a satisfying sound, startling the witch and causing her to jump up in surprise.

With her vision sealed, she shook her head left and right.

“What, what is it? I was finally getting a good sleep…”

Her complaint came out in an extraordinarily sluggish tone.

Whether her speech was slow because she had just woken up or it was just her habit, the overwhelming pressure he felt earlier had all but vanished.

Could it have been a misunderstanding on his part? Subaru couldn’t hide his feeling of relief.

“Ah, ah, sorry about that. I got a bit too heated. I didn’t mean to shout.”

“Ehh, being surprised by something like that, Daphne is in trouble too…”

“Ugh… I said I’m sorry. So can you please cheer up? Don’t be mad.”

“Isn’t it just that I’m not angry? If I get mad, then my stomach is going to get hungry! But more importantly, who are you?”

After Subaru apologized, Daphne denied it and casually asked him instead.

Having exchanged only a few words, the rhythm of their conversation was already disturbed. Moreover, he started to understand the meaning behind Echidna’s comments regarding Daphne.

—This witch doesn’t engage in the same conversation rhythm as Subaru.

With an uneasy start, Subaru sighed, shook off his unpleasant expression, and smiled at her warmly.

“My name is Natsuki Subaru. For reasons, I was invited by Echidna to the Witch’s Tea Party… Uh, well, friends who drink tea together. Yeah, something like that.”

“Wow, so Donadon has friends, huh? Subaru, you should probably choose your friends more carefully. If you say you’re friends with a witch, your real friends and family might dislike you… you know?”

Receiving Subaru’s introduction, Daphne injected her own unsolicited advice. The latter part of her words came out in clipped bursts, as if she was struggling to catch her breath while talking.

Seeing her, visibly fatigued even as she moved her shoulders, Subaru asked, “Hey, why do you look so exhausted? Does that coffin have some kind of effect that drains the life force of whoever’s inside?”

“Nah, not really? It’s just that Daphne tires easily and, um, I’m really hungry so I don’t have any energy… Is there something to eat?”

“To get out of breath just by chatting? Talk about weakling vibes… As for food, well, there’s just the tea and some cookies that look like they might be tea snacks on the table.”

In reality, the tea snack looked like some weird cookies. Considering the tea was Echidna’s bodily fluid, it’s possible the dessert could be made out of her body cells.

Unlike the tea, which could be finished quickly, he had deliberately avoided touching the cookies, but when Daphne heard “cookie!?” her bright and eager reaction was clear.

“Y-yes, that’s perfect. Just for me, please! Hurry, come on, hurry…!”

“Could you tone down those remarks? It kinda sounds sketchy when taken out of context! Though I’m not that sadistic to tease someone who wants something that badly.”

Picking up the plate with the treats, Subaru approached Daphne’s coffin, trying to feed her the cookie. But just before he did that—

“Oh, but can you wait just a moment, Subaru?”

“Huh? What is it? Just so you know, I think there’s probably only one flavor. I don’t feel any hint of chocolate or anything, just plain type. If you say you hate it, I can only say no leftovers!”

“That’s not it… um, when you feed me, I’d prefer if you didn’t get too close, okay?”

“Refusing to get close when I’m trying to serve it to you? That’s a hard request!”

Daphne, slightly getting up in the coffin, said, “Please don’t misunderstand, it’s not that I dislike you or find you active like that!”

“That reassurance actually lowers my confidence! What’s the reason? Please tell me!”

“Your scent. If Subaru gets too close, I might consider it poison.”

“My body odor is treated like poison!?”

Being taken aback by this comment, Subaru hurriedly raised his arm to smell it. He didn’t sense any particularly terrible odor but, in truth, humans are generally dull to their own scents.

While Subaru scanned his body from top to bottom, he wondered,

“Do I smell? Did I? I’ve bathed since coming to the ‘Sanctuary,’ you know? Admittedly, I don’t have fancy soap unless I return to the mansion, but I’ve at least maintained the basics to interact with Emilia… No, but still, since we’re in the spirit world, how could the poor environmental conditions affect me?”

“N-no, it’s not that! Look, um, you know, Subaru?”

“I don’t! Stop with the vague words! Say it simply, ‘se!’”

Impatiently, Subaru waved his hand. In response, Daphne slowly shook her head, creaking the coffin as she spoke in her unique tempo.

“While smelling your scent, if I end up wanting to eat you more than the cookie, that would be a problem, wouldn’t it?”

“…Huh? Sorry, I’m not sure what you just said.”

“Daphne prefers meat over vegetables. I like tougher meat rather than softer kinds. It’s kind of like that.”

Subaru suddenly felt a chilling sensation racing up his spine.

Holding his breath, he stared at Daphne. Her demeanor had not changed at all. Still sealed in the coffin and restrained, her two eyes remained closed to him in darkness.

If that wasn’t binding for fashion’s sake, then what was the purpose?

“As far as I can tell, Subaru’s full of muscle and tough and seems to have thick bones… It smells very delicious to me. So if you get too close, I might just want to eat you.”

“W-wait, eat me… in a sexual way?”

“In a primal way…”

With a word choice distinctly different from what he expected, Subaru gasped.

Then, he quickly distanced himself from her and pinched a cookie from the plate.

“I’m going to throw this at you from here. Sorry if it doesn’t reach your mouth!”

“That’s fine, Subaru. Just throw it as lazily as you like, I’ll pick it up myself.”

“The vibe of that is way too unsettling! But here we go!”

With a rearing motion, Subaru made a casual overhand toss of the cookie.

The cookie, about the size of a 500-yen coin, arched beautifully, flying into Daphne’s mouth with unexpected precision. His utmost focus granted extraordinary control.

With a needle-like precision, the cookie landed on Daphne’s tongue. She swallowed the treat in one go,

“Mnya… mmm, so tasty. It tastes like Donadona!”

“Not sure if that means it was made by Echidna, or that she put some kind of black magic into this cookie… but moving on!”

“Yes! I’m impatient! More… come on, more…”

“Just stop! Throwing these makes it even weirder!”

Subaru shut down Daphne’s suggestive pleas and tossed cookies one after another. It might seem like he was playing with food, which might draw some criticism, but his earnestness made him unyielding to such reprimands.

Although Daphne had to move her head slightly, the cookies all found their way to her mouth. Just as he sighed in relief when the plate of cookies was almost cleared…

“—Ah.”

When a strong gust of wind swept through the hill, it disrupted the trajectory of a light cookie that flew off course, veering off aimlessly onto the hill slope. It could have ended up as an ant’s meal.

But just a moment later…

“Don’t waste it…”

Daphne noticed the cookie being off-track with her acute sense of smell. As she followed the cookie with her invisible gaze, the next moment, Subaru witnessed something.

“———!?”

With a violent sound, sharp claws dug into the hilltop, causing destruction.

The soil flew up, and the consecutive sounds exaggerated the damage, reaching the cookie that was about to fall down.

“A, muuh.”

Daphne stretched her neck and caught the cookie between her red lips, chewing silently with a blissful expression.

Once she swallowed, her pink tongue slowly licked her lips, releasing a sensuous sigh.

Witnessing this display, Subaru stood in stunned silence.

Noticing Subaru’s silence, Daphne’s tiny nose twitched.

“Subaru… there’s still two cookies left, right? Don’t be mean…”

The way her cheeks flushed and her lips trembled like a little bird’s was adorable.

All the while, she was bound, eyes sealed, entangled in restraint, and stuck in that black coffin—

“…No, with all this, it’s impossible not to be shaken.”

Unless those crab-like legs sprouting from the coffin were to transport the host’s body in a way that defies normalcy.

※※　※　※　※　※　※　※　※　※　※　※　※

“Th-that’s… can I ask you something?”

Still unable to recover from the initial shock, Subaru tossed the remaining two cookies as directed. Even the two that missed their target flew into Daphne’s mouth thanks to the quick movement of the coffin.

Delighting in the sweets, Daphne sighed happily, “Mmm…” But then she acknowledged Subaru’s hesitant question.

“What are you referring to? This invisibility makes it hard for me to understand.”

“Um… it’s a moving coffin with a formidable aesthetic. In my narrow, shallow, knowledge, coffins don’t have legs and don’t move around like bugs at high speed.”

The coffin creaked and returned slowly to its original position while holding Daphne within. It dropped into the grass with a thud, with its crab-like legs disappearing into the coffin like a turtle retracting its limbs.

As Subaru took in this impression, Daphne laughed, “Ah, are you referring to the centipede coffin? This was created because Daphne couldn’t move easily! It’s usually quite calm and a good child!”

“You made that? Is it a living thing?”

Although it moved organically and had functional organs, he couldn’t be sure if its existence qualified as a living being. It was undoubtedly not mechanical, either.

“It doesn’t eat or drink, but the centipede coffin absorbs mana, so it’s alive! It’s kind of enviable not to feel hunger!”

“It absorbs mana… No, let’s set that aside. More importantly, you said you made it? You can create living beings?”

“Not living beings, but magic beasts. They’re born from my feelings, whims, and so on.”

From Daphne’s mouth, as she twisted in the coffin, no concrete images emerged. However, from that ambiguous atmosphere, he sensed that an incredible feat was being performed.

—To create living beings is certainly a godly act.

In his original world, humans dabbled in taboo sciences like breeding and cloning, but creating something from nothing remains a pure act of god.

Whether one views it as an abomination to life or as a steward of mysteries varies from person to person.

“C-could it be… Daphne’s heritage of negativity is the act of creating magic beasts?”

“Nn-nn?”

“The White Whale, the Black Snake, the Great Rabbit… all of those were created by you, like that centipede coffin?”

“Mmh… Oh, those names are nostalgic. Yup, they’re all creatures Daphne made!”

“Why!?”

With her affirmative response, Subaru stepped closer, angering him as he pointed his finger at Daphne.

“Why would you create such monsters? Do you have any idea how much chaos they’ve caused in the outside world for the last four hundred years after your death? How many have suffered…!?”

Images flooded his mind of the fierce battle on the Leifaus highway with the White Whale.

The cries and vengeance of Wilhelm, whose wife was killed, and the knight who participated in that fight’s lamentation and anger— all rooted in the tragedy conjured by the White Whale and the witch who birthed it.

If he failed to address the Great Rabbit’s continuous attacks on the “Sanctuary,” all the inhabitants, starting with Emilia, would be devoured.

The Great Rabbit had time and again wreaked havoc as a disaster whose causes lay in this witch standing right before him.

“What was it for! Tell me! What purpose did you have in creating these monsters that caused countless people to suffer!? A reason to let them harm others!?”

“….? Bigger creatures are more filling, you know?”

“——A-uh?”

Daphne responded with confusion to Subaru’s impassioned statement.

Troubled by her words stalling him unexpectedly, Subaru let out a sound of discontent.

Daphne looked at him as if bewildered, “Wasn’t the White Whale immense? If you ate that, wouldn’t it fill a lot of people?”

“What do you mean…?”

“The Great Rabbit also keeps multiplying! So as long as we have that one, it’ll keep increasing, right? We’d never have to worry about food again!”

“Multiply…?!”

Daphne’s words entered his ears but failed to resonate in his thoughts.

If the words causing this tremor were to mean what they seemed to indicate, he couldn’t comprehend what this witch was trying to convey.

Truly, from the depths of his being, what she was saying made zero sense.

“So… are you saying you created magic beasts to resolve the food crisis? That the White Whale and Great Rabbit were made to help those suffering from hunger? Yet, many are being eaten because of your kindness!?”

“….? Isn’t it a bit selfish not to consider the possibility of being eaten themselves while trying to consume others?”

“…………”

“And, uhm, there’re just too many humans and subhumans in this world. If those beasts could reduce that a little, I think that’d be fine, you know?”

“But… what about that White Whale spewing fog to erase existence and the Great Rabbit raiding villages at will…?”

“Daphne doesn’t need to know about how they hunt. How they grow, how much they eat, or where they end up being eaten… Learning that won’t fill my stomach, you know?”

As Subaru saw Daphne smile while saying this, he grasped the late realization.

Finally, he understood the meaning behind Echidna’s words.

Subaru and Daphne had the worst compatibility, she said.

Subaru initially thought it was due to her carefree ways and his impatient nature not meshing well—but what an optimistic and misguided conclusion that was!

——Subaru and Daphne did not share the same values.

No, this wasn’t limited to Subaru alone. There wasn’t a single person who could align with her values.

She perceives matters from a different dimension entirely, one where she is not biased, even towards the magic beasts she herself produced.

Survival of the fittest—her philosophy was solely based on this concept, wherein recognizing, increasing, and devouring those that existed was all that mattered to her. Any other thoughts were trivial.

Words escaped him. Their fundamental mental structures were too different.

Until now, all the witches Subaru had encountered each had their own problems but could still hold a conversation.

She was a witch. They are witches. The real deal—only seven in the entire world.

“Isn’t everyone like you, Subaru… thinking too lightly of ‘Gluttony’?”

“…………”

“Ultimately, hunger is the most critical desire for living, right? If that need isn’t satisfied, you can’t survive, can you?”

“…………”

“Even without a sense of peace, love, expression of emotions, or maintaining one’s self-identity, humans won’t die just from missing what they desire. But… ”

“…………”

“If you can’t eat, people die, you know?”

Among the Seven Deadly Sins, “Gluttony” is the only one directly tied to life.

The true essence of “Gluttony” is the excessive pursuit of appetite. However, Daphne’s underlying intention in this case seems to relate to the necessary appetite for survival.

Subaru found it impossible to deny her words, recognizing that they indeed pointed towards a truth of life. However, to think that this was everything was undeniably mistaken.

“What you’re saying is partially correct… but that kind of outlook is…”

“You should try being hungry until your limits at least once, Subaru. If you do… you’ll surely understand what I’m trying to convey.”

Such was an attitude and suggestion exuding sheer witchiness.

Slowly, Daphne rose from the coffin. The sound of paper tearing echoed as the crisscrossing belts of the restraints she wore came undone. With a nonchalant gesture, she brushed away the grayish-white restraints before stepping barefoot onto the grass.

Shaking her tiny limbs, she tested the condition of her previously stiff body.

“Moving on my own feet just because I’m hungry is a drag, you know…”

She even gasped from the minimal warm-up.

But in front of her, Subaru found himself unable to move an inch. Even breathing felt restricted.

The little witch—an immense pressure radiated from her entire being, gripping Subaru as though he were firmly held in a gigantic hand.

“As it stands, I might as well eat Subaru, but Donadona and Metomet might get mad, so… hmm, maybe just the left eye would suffice?”

Saying so, Daphne put her hand near her eye patch covering one eye.

“Don’t undo the restraints, don’t touch me, and don’t look into my eyes”—those were Echidna’s warning before letting Daphne lower towards him.

But the restraints were undone of her own accord, and though she wasn’t touching him, she still kept him immobile under the weight of her pressure. And the last warning…

“———”

Her golden left eye.

A seemingly ordinary round pupil belonging to a young girl.

She lifted only the eye patch on her left side, exposing that eye towards Subaru.

As if entrapped by her gaze, he found it difficult to move. After she blinked a few times, she said,

“That’s enough now.”

While she spoke, her fatigued movements took her back towards her coffin. Her body fell into it, and the moving coffin embraced her softly.

As she squirmed inside, dwarfing her body to find the most comfortable position, Subaru was still bound without movement, chewing silently on what remained in his mouth.

Daphne yawned, placing the eye patch she had uncovered back over her eyes, sealing them closed again. Slow tremors rippled through her body as the inner lining of the coffin shifted, coiling around her petite frame and constricting tightly.

There was nothing to it, she had bound herself of her own volition.

“What exactly… why are you doing that?”

“Still not noticing?”

Subaru scoffed at her question as he attempted to challenge her self-binding. She carefully rocked back and forth, confirming her bound situation within the coffin.

At Daphne’s words, Subaru momentarily furrowed his brows as a realization struck him.

“Oh, uh…?”

Pain. That was pain.

He felt an overwhelming sensation from his abdomen, as if a hole were opening.

The deep-seated hunger squeezed at his stomach, voicing cravings and desires. Subaru groaned against it and knelt upon the grass.

As drool dripped from the corner of his mouth, he desperately fought against that pain. Hunger, hunger, hunger. Hunger without end. It was a matter of life and death. A sensation so intense it felt like his stomach might tear. He could die; if he didn’t satisfy this need soon, he might actually perish. Die. Die. Die.

“Still not realizing?”

Daphne looked down at the writhing Subaru. She couldn’t actually see him, but seemed to gauge his state through voice and scent.

He couldn’t understand the meaning behind her words. What realization? This hunger was enough to drive him crazy. While he grasped this was a result of her influence, his overwhelming craving overpowered any resentment. He had to satisfy this hunger or suffer. As it was, he managed to hold on to his consciousness through whatever was currently in his mouth…

“———”

Right now, what was he eating?

“Did you realize? That’s ‘Gluttony.'”

At Daphne’s words, Subaru noticed his right hand—the one missing pieces from his pinky and ring finger.

Where had those fingers gone? There was no need to search. He felt the ache in his molars where he had just bitten off a piece of his pinky.

Blood flowed from the jagged wound, dying the green grass crimson.

Watching the dripping stream, a blankness filled Subaru’s mind.

And that emptiness would soon be filled with a simmering emotion.

—Ah, how wasteful it is to spill blood.

It was nothing more than pure dismay arising from unquenched hunger.