Ryuzu led Subaru to a detached house where she had once invited him for tea.

“Just throw yourself onto the bed. I’ll brew some drinks now.”

“I can make the tea if it’s just that. Since I’ve been trained by Ram, I think I can manage a bit better, you know?”

“I’d love for you to do so, but it seems we won’t be able to do that right now.”

With a voice laced with laughter, Ryuzu pointed to Subaru sitting on the bed and the girl startlingly similar to her, clutching the hem of Subaru’s clothes and refusing to let go.

She was a girl who could be called Ryuzu’s Replica, and after much hesitation on what to call her,

“But Pikko just won’t leave me alone!”

“I find that name Pikko a bit questionable, but at this point, there’s no helping it. It happens because you touch beings you don’t fully understand.”

“You say that, but…”

Although Ryuzu was scolding Subaru, it would be quite unreasonable to blame him for being careless in that frantic state. Upon seeing Subaru display a sullen expression of discontent, Ryuzu returned, holding a tray with tea.

“Here, it’s hot, so cool it down before you drink.”

“I’m not a child; I won’t chug it down and burn my mouth.”

“There’s always that cat-tongued person nearby who never settles down, so it’s become a habit to warn you.”

In a teasing tone, the image of Garfiel, known for his cat tongue, came to Subaru’s mind.

For someone who can transform into a large tiger, indeed, it suits him perfectly, combining restlessness with a cat tongue. His seeming low learning ability could be preconception, but it fit the expected image.

As Ryuzu said, he took a sip of the tea brewed quite hot, moistening his dry tongue with a sigh. It occurred to him that drinking something like this was the first since he had “returned from death,” meaning since waking up in the graveyard.

“Sure, it has a flavor of the leaves, but it tastes better than expected.”

“I feel like I’m being unfairly criticized here.”

“Just a misunderstanding.”

After swallowing the unpleasant tea, Subaru shoved the cup back onto the tray noisily.

Then, he pulled a chair in front of the bed and turned to Ryuzu, who was watching him comfortably.

“Well then, now that I’ve calmed down, can we start talking about various things?”

“Yes, I have many things to share too.”

Subaru felt relieved at Ryuzu’s willingness to engage genuinely in conversation. Up until now, he had had several meetings with the relevant parties face to face. Yet, even now, Subaru found himself unable to reach the truth because they were intentionally concealing information, but there was also an underlying issue: namely,

“I haven’t even arrived at the main point I need to hear yet.”

He has yet to connect all the answers with a single line of questioning, meaning Subaru didn’t notice he was being sidestepped or that he was asking entirely wrong questions.

He needed to confront those who held the knowledge he didn’t know. Just that simple act felt incomprehensibly distant to him.

“That building… what was that facility from earlier?”

“Hmm… starting with that question, are we?”

It was a neutral question posed as a means of checking how much Ryuzu was willing to confront Subaru directly.

Accepting it, Ryuzu stroked her chin with a gesture that belied her youthful appearance and said,

“If I were to answer what that facility is, it is in a way the core of this ‘Sanctuary.’ To put it simply, it is one aspect of the reason for the existence of the ‘Sanctuary.'”

“The reason for the existence of the ‘Sanctuary’…!?”

“First of all, Subaru. Who do you think created this ‘Sanctuary’?”

“That would be Roswaal…”

He reflexively began to answer but quickly realized it was incorrect. It’s true that Roswaal owns this ‘Sanctuary’ and manages it even now.

However, when it comes to the expression of who created this place, the story changes.

“This place was created by the ‘Greedy’ Witch… Echidna, isn’t it?”

“That’s right. Echidna, that witch, created this place because it was necessary for her. To put it sharply, it’s only for that reason.”

“That’s a bit too extreme. You’re skipping over too many processes… at least go into a bit more detail.”

“Regarding the content of the experiments, you’ve already seen successful examples in front of you, haven’t you?”

In Ryuzu’s words laced with mischief, Subaru felt a momentary sense of breathlessness.

He understood, at least vaguely, the implications of Ryuzu’s words.

In other words, she wanted to say,

“Are you saying that the results of this place are Ryuzu-san, and that girl too?”

“You’re such a kind child, or perhaps too naive. –It would be fair to call them the results of experiments.”

Facing the reality, even Subaru hesitated to voice that thought.

It’s one thing to be oblivious, and another to be insensitive. He could easily gauge that it wasn’t an atmosphere suitable for making light of things.

“You saw that girl imprisoned in the crystal, right?”

“… Yeah. She’s a spitting image of you. Can I think of her as a triplet or something?”

“If you’re grouping similar looking beings together as relatives, then triplets might fall a bit short in numbers.”

“A bit short, right?”

“Just a bit short.”

When Ryuzu mentioned a bit, it made Subaru wonder if she meant a drop in a different magnitude entirely.

Having actually seen about twenty copies of Ryuzu, he couldn’t help but think that inwardly.

Letting out a breath, he pushed away irrelevant thoughts.

With everything at this point, Ryuzu showed no signs of evading the conversation. It was time to step further into things.

“–What’s the relationship between the girl in the crystal and you, Ryuzu-san?”

Therefore, Subaru asked the question outright.

Ryuzu, maintaining her calm expression over her lightly blushed pink hair, directed a meaningful gaze toward Subaru—no, toward the silent girl next to him.

“It won’t just be about me. That girl is in the same situation as I am.”

“You mean even including the girl in the crystal?”

“No, that girl is different. The girl inside the crystal is the real deal.”

For a moment, Subaru couldn’t digest the content of her words, and with furrowed brows, he expressed confusion. Then, as he processed the meaning, he sat up on the bed and said,

“What do you mean by real?”

“Don’t be so hasty. Understanding an old person’s tale requires retrospective thinking. You must relax and wait patiently.”

“Don’t go acting old, especially considering this girl next to me feels like she hasn’t even been seasoned yet.”

“Hmm, that’s a sad misconception. Everything that shapes who I am now is important—it’s a form of acquired individuality.”

“Acquired individuality?”

The development of the conversation was not something he could ignore, so Subaru repeated the phrase in the form of a question. Ryuzu nodded, prefacing with “That’s right.”

“Just as you imagined, I was initially born empty like that girl over there, without anything filling my vessel. Over the years, I have lived by gradually pouring in the emptiness.”

“Wait, wait, wait, hold on a second! What do you mean ‘born empty’? That’s got to relate to what you said about the girl in the crystal being ‘the real one.'”

“The girl in the crystal is the real Ryuzu Meier. All other Ryuzus, including myself, become replicas of Ryuzu Meier.”

As if casually clarifying her origin, Ryuzu left Subaru in a state of hesitation over whether to even call her Ryuzu.

The content she had just shared was precisely from the vague hypothesis that had formed in Subaru’s mind when he saw numerous Ryuzu replicas. While he half-expected something like this, he couldn’t reach a conclusion due to his strong incredulity about the existence of clones of someone he knew.

To state it outright, such ideas stemmed from Subaru’s prejudice arising from his rigid worldview.

“If I hear ‘duplicates,’ does your expression toward me change?”

“… I don’t know. I want to say it doesn’t change, but if you ask me to say it in front of the person itself…”

–He couldn’t make a confident declaration.

Given this was another world, strictly speaking, Ryuzu’s existence could not be called a clone. The way she was created was most likely different from the vague concept that filled Subaru’s imagination.

There was no doubt that she was a life born not of scientific means, but magical ones. He felt it was a moment to assert that no value distinction arises from her method of creation.

“While I can say that easily, I don’t have the confidence to state that I’m fine with it. Therefore, I can’t declare that it hasn’t changed.”

“What you said before, I’ll correct it. You’re kind and naive, but—more importantly—you are overly straightforward.”

Such words didn’t sound especially comforting; however, Ryuzu nodded as if satisfied with Subaru’s response. Unsure, Subaru unveiled his frustrations while looking at the girl beside him—who Ryuzu called Pikko and who stood in the same position.

–Pikko, silently clutching the hem of Subaru’s clothes, gazed blankly around the room. Although her eyes should see the same scenery as Subaru, the lack of any visible emotion made her seem like a glass marble simply reflecting the surroundings.

Not a single change of expression nor an utterance escaped her lips. That was,

“You said this girl is empty…?”

“She’s a newly born replica—an empty vessel, so to speak. She has basic knowledge to follow simple commands, but beyond that, she’s no different from a baby. Since she doesn’t cry or need to eat, she’s quite easy to handle.”

“Doesn’t need to eat…? That’s…”

“Reproducing a body isn’t something that can simply be done. Can you imagine how it’s possible for someone like me and that girl to exist?”

Subaru restrained his immediate craving for an answer in response to Ryuzu’s testing hint.

He couldn’t just be a child who only sought answers and waited to be handed everything. Ryuzu was not merely asking him to do that.

Under the weight of Ryuzu’s serious gaze looking straight at him, Subaru contemplated her words and then, pooling his knowledge, concluded,

“Is it possible it’s mana?”

The thought came up triggered by the recollection of the Great Spirit that was a cat.

Pack, the spirit, materializes through the use of mana to form his corporeal body. If applied, perhaps creating a human-sized body is also possible.

At Subaru’s hypothesis, Ryuzu raised her eyebrows and clapped her hands lightly.

“Exactly right. I’m impressed you could arrive at that conclusion all on your own.”

“You led me to it so that it would be possible! It’s just that I happened to have a spirit around to think of it… so, am I right?”

“Almost right. In practice, creating a body using just mana can be somewhat energy inefficient. However, the ‘Greedy’ Witch has bypassed this problem by creating a special ritual.”

“What do you mean by a ‘forceful ritual’?”

“The construction of a pseudo ‘Odo’ generating organ through this ritual allows a certain amount of mana to be accumulated, enabling the physical body to materialize. Hence, the body may be made of mana, but resembles a ‘normal’ living being that has ‘Odo’ inside them.”

Odo—that is different than the mana that fills the air, as it refers to the energy inherently present in living beings which performs the same function as mana.

However, unlike mana, Odo cannot be taken in from the outside, and the total amount a life can possess is inherently predetermined from birth. Squeezing Odo directly correlates to shortening lifespan, making depletion equate to death—a prime example of an “unbreakable trump card.”

In scenarios where magic is called using HP because there isn’t enough MP—it could be said to be akin to that. However, that HP is irreplaceable.

“You said it nonchalantly, but isn’t that… pretty amazing? Reproducing Odo, even if it’s pseudo, means creating life itself.”

“Of course, this is a phenomenon that only becomes possible after certain rare conditions are met. Unfortunately, my head isn’t capable of comprehending all the intricacies—still, it’s safe to say that the Witch succeeded in creating life.”

“What an unimaginable story… turns out she was actually something incredible.”

An image of the white-haired witch flickered in his mind, and he could almost picture her gazing down at Subaru smugly. But soon after, he thought this way.

“But wait, Daphne said she also created beasts, so does becoming a witch mean that life creation is surprisingly low in difficulty? It’s not as rare as I thought.”

The white-haired witch appeared again in his mind, and he could vividly envision the shocked expression on her face as she replied, “I-It’s not like I’m trying to be praised or anything, okay?”

“What’s with that, you seem to be imagining quite a cozy scenario.”

“Interestingly, I feel like I’ve drained most of my wariness towards her through a few exchanges. Either way, now I get Ryuzu’s origin. Echidna was creating replicas of the girl Ryuzu Meier here, that much is clear.”

He understood the principle of the existence of Ryuzu’s replicas and that Ryuzu herself had accepted this fact. Additionally, if he were to layer on another question,

“The next question would be, why was Echidna doing such a thing?”

“Hmm…”

“As someone totally incompetent with magic and related techniques, I only vaguely grasp how amazing Echidna’s results were. However, even from that limited understanding, I can tell it was a huge deal.”

Folding his arms and displaying a readiness to hear, Ryuzu encouraged Subaru to continue. With a breath, he proceeded.

“So, what motivates someone to do such a big thing? What’s the motivation? Why did Echidna feel the need to create a copy of Ryuzu Meier?”

The position of the girl Ryuzu Meier held in the ‘Sanctuary’ was unclear.

While the Ryuzu in front of him played the role of both representative and replica within the current ‘Sanctuary,’ what role did the original Ryuzu Meier hold in the creation of the ‘Sanctuary’?

Alternatively, if she were the very reason it was created,

“There’s a possible explanation that comes to mind.”

“Oh?”

“It’s the classic plot twist. There could be a possibility that the original Ryuzu Meier, for some reason, met her demise and they wanted to create a replacement.”

In mediums like manga and novels, methods to reclaim lost lives are often explored. The notion of creating clones of the deceased and making an existence with identical DNA is a familiar theme. In most cases, those attempts fail with the reasoning that ‘though the body may be the same, the soul cannot be identical.’

“From what Ryuzu said and seeing Pikko’s demeanor, it seems the attempts in the ‘Sanctuary’ likely fell through for the same reasons. Even if they managed to create an exact likeness, connecting it on the inside might be impossible.”

Still, if they persistently keep creating replicas, it can only be called an insane act. If she continued despite twenty or so failures, still hoping that a soul might take residence in the next body, then,

“I don’t wish to dismiss it as an obsession…”

It wouldn’t be wrong to desire the return of someone’s life that desperately. At the very least, it was something Subaru could never voice aloud.

Even now, Natsuki Subaru was acting to witness a future where he picks up everything.

The only difference was in the means and the processes—the parallels with the witch’s endeavors were unavoidable.

As for how the resulting Ryuzus would feel about it, the only answers lay within their hearts, something nobody else could unravel.

Finishing his own theory, Subaru fell silent. In response, Ryuzu exhaled.

“You’re surprisingly sharp, Subaru.”

“Given you’ve set up all this? It’s more than overdue. I’ve been forced to say lots of things I didn’t want to.”

His thoughts, slow enough to want to smack himself for how long it took to reach them. Subaru felt frustration gnawing at him.

But Ryuzu shook her head slowly, and that gesture was not meant to comfort Subaru. The faint smile held a sense of loneliness.

“However, it seems you are thinking a bit too much. You could also say you’re daydreaming.”

“Daydreaming…? I didn’t think it was such an off-base opinion…”

“It is indeed daydreaming. You must think like this, right? –They would go through all this trouble to bring a life back. For the ‘Greedy’ Witch, Ryuzu Meier must be a valuable, important existence. Am I wrong?”

“…………”

Under the gaze that made it clear she struck home, Subaru found himself unable to continue speaking.

The truth was, he had actually thought that way. To create a new technique and persist through messy processes to sustain someone’s existence—if one goes to such lengths, it’s only natural to conclude that the person in question was of immense importance to the Witch.

That conclusion from Subaru elicited a smile from Ryuzu, who denied it with a faintly painful, dry grin.

“Ryuzu Meier was just a village girl. There’s nothing special about being particularly close with the ‘Greedy’ Witch. There was certainly no blood relation or any marital connection. Ryuzu Meier and the Witch were ultimately strangers, having exchanged their words only minimally.”

“That can’t be… no, wait a second.”

Shocked by the words from Ryuzu that felt as though she were recounting an eyewitness account, Subaru interrupted her. He hit his forehead with the open hand.

“That’s strange. Just a bit earlier, you said you were like Pikko, born empty inside. How could you know about Ryuzu Meier who’s in the crystal? It doesn’t add up!”

“That’s precisely the result of yet another experiment conducted within this ‘Sanctuary.'”

Gently accepting Subaru’s counterargument, Ryuzu placed her hand on her chest.

If what she said was true, then there probably was no sensation of a heartbeat there. The warmth that she felt—where could it possibly come from? Ignoring Subaru’s thoughts, Ryuzu closed her eyes and spoke,

“Ryuzu Meier was not close to the Witch. However, she devoted herself to the experiment. The Witch used Ryuzu Meier’s body and sealed her within a crystal, allowing her to span time indefinitely. Then, she constructed the ritual, leaving behind a mechanism to produce a replica of Ryuzu Meier every time a set amount of mana was accumulated, generating pseudo Odo.”

“…For what purpose?”

“The replicas of Ryuzu Meier are born in a state similar to that of an infant, lacking knowledge beyond language and basic common sense. But that in itself is strange. If they are akin to infants, they should only know how to cry without exception. So why do they possess enough knowledge to follow basic commands?”

“That’s… could it be?”

Coming to the worst realization, Subaru found his voice stolen.

By simply observing his expression, Ryuzu seemed to grasp the understanding instantly. She nodded.

“The Witch had constructed a method to allocate and filter knowledge to the replica as they were born. It was designed to provide only the minimum level of knowledge while leaving everything else empty.”

“So, does that mean being born that way was intentional? But if so, what could possibly be the purpose?”

It would result in nothing more than a ritual to create puppets that only follow commands. Of course, considering such aspects wasn’t entirely implausible, but it felt way too far removed from Echidna’s character as the ‘Greedy’ Witch.

It was hard to believe that the white-haired girl would indulge in such convoluted methods only to create a being that would merely act as her own limb.

“I don’t know if it’s possible, but wouldn’t it be easier to just kidnap someone randomly, brainwash them, or whatever? That seems much quicker and more convenient. There has to be a reason beyond that.”

To create an empty, pristine existence, from nothing to something—

“—Ah.”

For a moment, a peculiar possibility flickered in his mind.

However, it seemed absurd, and Subaru immediately shook his head, trying to forget it. Yet, once that thought manifested, it wouldn’t release its grip on him.

If that were true…

“I don’t want you to despise me,”

It would also fit the witch’s intentions perfectly that her true motives were hidden from Subaru.

The reason Ryuzu before him retained at least some memory of Ryuzu Meier was also explained.

“The reason to create an empty replica capable of filtering knowledge and memories is, what could it be?”

“…………”

“An empty vessel is prepared for the purpose of what? A hollow container sits on the table for what reason?”

“…………”

“—To pour something inside.”

If they were to ready an empty replica vessel and could fill it with knowledge and memories,

Inside the crystal waits the original that can never be lost. If they could create limitless replicas out of it and continually fill them with knowledge and memories afterward,

It would mean—

“Burn past memories and knowledge into the body of Ryuzu Meier and repeat the process. If it were possible, it would mean—”

“—a specific kind of immortality.”

—And that was the true nature of the experiments taking place in the ‘Sanctuary.’