Re:Zero Kara Hajimeru Isekai Seikatsu Volume 4 Chapter 75 part5

(Thank you Rodolfo, Federico, Brototype, Tamas, S Alal, A S Lord, Roanz, White Rice, Lucky, Danny89, Vojta, Daisuke, Kam, Glavos for helping me proofread on the Live Draft!! ❤ )

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[Echidona: I don't remember specifying a location…… but I was the one who received her promise to guard the Forbidden Library and to wait for someone to come]

[Subaru: Then… who is "That Person"? What'll I have to do to free her?]

Through four hundred years of solitude, Beatrice had been waiting for "Someone".
Yet not even Beatrice herself knew who that "Someone" was. Nor did Subaru have the slightest clue.
But if he asked Echidona herself, the one who had arranged this promise in the first place――

[Echidona: Now who would it be, I wonder?]

[Subaru ――H, uh?]

[Echidona: No no, I wasn't joking, I really am wondering. Who do you think Beatrice's awaited "Person" would be?]

Echidona asked, as if she had been presented with a question she did not know the answer to. Stunned by this reply, Subaru shook his head,

[Subaru: Even you… don't know who Beatrice is waiting for?]

[Echidona: No, I don't. I have no idea who Beatrice's awaited "Person" would be]

[Subaru: But… how? Weren't you the one who told her to wait in the Forbidden Library? If you don't know, then…… unless…]

The one who instructed Beatrice to wait in the Forbidden Library was Echidona, but it could've been someone else who set the condition for her to wait for "That Person" to come.
If so, then the one who would know the answer would again be someone else――

[Echidona: No, you're mistaken]

[Subaru: ――――]

[Echidona: I was the one who instructed Beatrice to wait for "That Person". You weren't wrong about that. What you got wrong was something more fundamental]

[Subaru: Funda..mental?]

[Echidona: Just why in the world did I seal this contract with Beatrice? That is where you are misunderstanding. I made Beatrice guard the Forbidden Library so that she could give its contents to "That Person", is that what you thought?]

He couldn't understand what Echidona was saying.
It was just a natural assumption. When instructing someone to give something to someone else, naturally, the intention was for that thing to end up in the right person's hands.

But, in front of Subaru's instinctive interpretation, Echidona shook her head, and said,

[Echidona: That wasn't the point of my instruction to Beatrice. I sealed the contract with her, having her wait for "That Person"…… but I was also waiting to see who she would choose "That Person" to be]

[Subaru: ――――]

――――――――――――――――――――what?

[Echidona: You see, that child was created for a specific purpose. But necessity arose for her to live in a way that differed from her original purpose…… for that, she had to go far away from here, and there, she needed to be given a new purpose. For that child, who now had nothing, it was necessary to give her a reason to live. It was for that, that I sealed this contract with her]

[Subaru: ――Tha..t's]

[Echidona: Watching over the Forbidden Library, and eventually handing it over in its entirety to "That Person" who was destined to come. I placed no limitations, since, in the first place, there is no correct answer. She stays alive just as planned, and I have another result to look forward to. It's quite logical, don't you think?]

[Subaru: ――――]

[Echidona: Of course, going four hundred years without choosing anyone is a result in itself. So was the fact that she did not simply choose one of the people she had met in her days to be "That Person". And potentially, her deliberations over whether to break the contract, desiring for her own death, is also a result in itself]

[Subaru: And how… do you feel about that?]

[Echidona: ――? It's quite marvellous, I think?]

As if she had just been asked something incredibly obvious, Echidona innocently tilted her head.
That reply, that attitude, and the expression of the girl he saw in his mind, all led him to the answer.

It's decided. Understood. Clearly understood.
――His misconception about who this person was that he was dealing with, has been rectified.

[Subaru: Echidona…… you really, are a Witch]

[Echidona: ――――]

[Subaru: An inexplicable, unfathomable, monster]

[Echidona: ――――]

He told her. The answer that was in his heart.
He withdrew the hand he had almost given her, and as for who it would now reach out to, he has already decided.

[Subaru: I…… I can't take your hand. I've already decided whose hand I'll be taking]

[Echidona: ――――]

[Subaru: With those callous, binding words, without the slightest malice, you stole four hundred years from that girl. ――I've already decided. I’ll be taking that girl's hand. Not yours]

That was their farewell.
With it, he shook away the hand of the one he once thought would walk alongside him.

He lifted his face. And looked forward.
Beneath his eyelids, he saw that girl's final expression.

――Disappearing, dying, afraid, twisted as if about to cry, but nonetheless relieved that she had protected Subaru.

He would take the hand of the girl who mourned his "Death", that much was decided.

[Echidona: ――――]

Echidona's eyes narrowed.
Flickers of thought flashed through her irises as if pondering on what words to say to Subaru.

Yet before she could, the change had arrived.

[Minerva: ――――she's here]

[Camilla: Oh, no, I…… I don't want, anything, to do with…… this, anymore]

[Sekhmet: At a troublesome time, a troublesome person, has come to cause more trouble, haa…]

The three onlooking Witches all gave their respective reactions.
He felt an overwhelming pressure on his back.
While in front, staring at what was behind him, Echidona's eyes slightly widened. Following her astonished gaze, Subaru turned around, and saw it――

――With everything above her neck shrouded in pitch darkness, there stood the Witch of Envy.

-=Chapter 75 End=-

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Oooooh Satella vs Echidona!!! ❤ ❤ ❤

This part was so sad for Beatrice… she only waited this long because she stayed faithful to the contract.

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(The amazing fan art is by @HaruSabin! I finally got a chance to use it >_<)

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Let me know if you find any typos! ❤

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Chapter 76 Live Draft:
[I’ll post it when I can get a few pages done]

Chapter end