There was a girl with purple hair and a small body. Half of her cute face was buried in her collar, and her pointed elf ears were very obvious.
"Granny!"
Garfield saw her and immediately burst into a smile. It seemed their relationship was quite close.
"I heard you brought more people to the Sanctuary, little Gar."
The girl spoke in a slow, steady voice, but it sounded very childish.
Satou Kazuma frowned, staring intently at her.
"Oh? Is there something on my face?"
She looked puzzled.
"I want to ask first, are you one of those who looks like a little girl but has actually lived for many years?"
As Satou Kazuma spoke, his eyes couldn't help but wander elsewhere.
"BaKazuma, why are you suddenly looking at Betty! And what do you mean by 'also'!"
Beatrice glared at Satou Kazuma, gritting her teeth.
"I just happened to glance at you."
Satou Kazuma gave the answer he had already prepared without hesitation.
"BaKazuma!"
Beatrice snorted, then turned her gaze to the girl, her expression becoming complicated, as if she were an old acquaintance.
But Beatrice knew very well that this person was not the one she knew.
"Although I don't fully understand what you're saying, I have indeed lived for many years. My name is Ryuzu Meyer, and I'm the representative of this tribe. As you can see, I'm an old bone."
"Do you little girls all like to pretend to be old?"
"What does this have to do with Betty! Stop looking at Betty every time we talk about little girls!"
"Isn't Betty a little girl?"
"Betty is not!"
"Then are you a mature woman?"
"What are you talking about, Dumb Kazuma?!"
"Then aren't you still a little girl?"
"Ughhhhh!"
Meyer looked at the two interacting in front of her, a smile on her face. Then, she looked at Satou Kazuma.
"What is your name?"
"My name is Kazuma."
"Kazu-chan."
"Hahahahaha, Kazu-chan, hahahahaha!"
Aqua, as if she had been hit by some strange laughing point, collapsed on the table and laughed wildly.
"Hey, hey, why are you giving me a strange nickname all of a sudden?"
Satou Kazuma recalled that he had already been given several inexplicable nicknames in this world.
And they were all by little girls or lolis!
Felt was the first one, calling him Kuzuma.
Beatrice only uses the name BaKazuma.
Typhon in the Dream Castle called him Gezuma.
Now Meyer is inexplicably calling him Kazu-chan.
Why does it feel so wrong?
"Are you here to challenge the trials of the Sanctuary?"
After confirming the purpose of Satou Kazuma and the others, Meyer began to talk about the Sanctuary's barrier.
"Um, the Sanctuary's barrier has already been lifted."
"I see... What?!"
Meyer was stunned, her eyes suddenly filled with shock.
"Kazu-chan, are you serious?"
"Very serious. This guy next to me did it."
As Satou Kazuma spoke, he turned to look at Aqua.
"Oh, it was nothing!"
Aqua patted her chest.
Meyer stared blankly at the two in front of her, and it took several seconds before she recovered.
"I, I need to verify it."
"Is there anything else? Let's go to the trial area first."
Satou Kazuma said.
. . . . . .
Soon, Satou Kazuma and the others returned to the location of the ruins from daytime.
The building, which had originally looked dilapidated, now emitted a faint blue light, making it look somewhat eerie.
"I'm going in."
Emilia held the crystal pendant at her chest with her right hand, her expression becoming determined as she spoke to everyone.
"Be careful, Emilia."
Natsuki Subaru said worriedly.
"Yes, I will do everything I can to get my memories back. I can't let Geuse down—and to understand what happened to Puck."
Emilia nodded, then took a step and walked toward the depths of the ruins.
The moment she stepped into the deepest room, Emilia suddenly lost consciousness and fell to the ground.
The next second, she arrived in an unknown space.
Green grass, a blue sky, and a delicate pavilion.
"Is this the place that Subaru and Kazuma-sama were talking about?"
Emilia curiously looked around.
Just then, Emilia heard a sound coming from ahead.
"What's going on? How could this happen? The Sanctuary's barrier has been broken? How could they do this without challenging the trials? I don't understand!"
At this moment, Echidna was lying on her stomach on the desk, muttering to herself with a hint of resentment.
"What's the point of everything I've done? It's all meaningless! And what does 'Witch has to have big ones' mean? Aren't my chests big enough!"
As Echidna spoke, she straightened her upper body and gestured at the size of her breasts with both hands.
Only then did she notice that there were uninvited guests in the Dream Castle.
Echidna and Emilia stared at each other awkwardly.
Emilia's brain raced. She thought that as a junior, she should be more polite.
The situation did seem a bit awkward, but Emilia remembered Satou Kazuma saying that when you encounter awkward situations, you must find a way to comfort the other person and help them resolve their inner struggles.
Satou Kazuma had built very strong bonds with those around him.
Think about what Kazuma-sama would do!
"Um, are you Echidna?"
Emilia took the initiative to greet, breaking the silence.
"You?!"
Echidna's face immediately showed a look of disgust.
In her eyes, Emilia was a hateful being.
Emilia's brain raced, thinking about what Satou Kazuma would say!
Finally, she spoke.
"Echidna, your chests are already big even without padding! There's no need to feel inferior!"
Emilia's face was pure and earnest. She really wanted to build rapport with the other person.
Echidna was stunned.
"?"
What's up with this person?
What does she mean by "already big without padding?"
Is she mocking me??????
Echidna's eyes moved to Emilia's chest.
Slightly bigger than mine.
Is it just slightly bigger?
Why is she mocking me?
This hateful person.
Just as annoying as the Witch of Envy!
Echidna felt her breathing quicken. She stood up and walked toward Emilia.
With each step, her chest seemed to get a little bigger. When she reached Emilia, her chest was just a little bigger than Emilia's.
"Amazing, Echidna!"
Emilia said with a sincere smile,
"No wonder Kazuma-sama mentioned so many things about Echidna."
"?"
Just as Echidna was puzzled, she suddenly felt a dark shadow appear in front of her.
"Hey, did you forget what this goddess told you earlier? This is as bad as using breast pads! Be careful, I'll squeeze them until they explode!"
Echidna trembled and turned her head to look at the person next to her. What she saw was Aqua's oppressive face, fierce like a god of death.
"Ahhhhh!"
Echidna was startled and took several steps back, almost falling to the ground.
"Change them back now!"
"I, I'm sorry!"
Echidna said immediately, and her breasts returned to their original size.
"I didn't expect the great Witch of Greed to become a comedic character."
Satou Kazuma slowly walked out from the side.
"Oh, Kazuma-sama, Aqua-sama, why are you here?"
Emilia asked curiously.
"Subaru said he was a little worried about you, so he asked us to come with you."
Satou Kazuma said,
"But Aqua just wanted to come here to drink. After all, you can drink as much as you want here. As for me..."
In theory, only those who have the qualifications for the trial can enter it during the trial.
Emilia, as a half-elf, was naturally able to.
Aqua herself cannot be judged by common sense, so she just barged in.
Natsuki Subaru and Satou Kazuma were not given the trial qualification, so they could not enter the Dream Castle again. They were able to enter earlier only because Echidna changed the conditions for entering the Dream Castle, allowing those with witch factors to enter.
For people without the trial to forcibly enter the ruins, they would be strongly repelled by the magic, and might even be crushed to pieces, or even lose their lives.
When Satou Kazuma tried to enter the ruins, he was immediately hit hard and passed out.
But Aqua thought Satou Kazuma had just fallen down, so she dragged him into the ruins by force.
This meant that Satou Kazuma was hit by the magic repulsion again and again during this process.
By the time they entered the ruins, Satou Kazuma had already kicked the bucket.
Aqua casually used resurrection magic to revive Satou Kazuma, and then brought him to the Dream Castle together.
"Anyway, I'm here."
Satou Kazuma sighed.
"What do you mean, I only came here to drink! I was worried about Emilia's safety."
Aqua looked at Satou Kazuma with dissatisfaction.
"Then don't let Echidna make you wine to drink later."
"Oh, I can't do that! Echidna! I want to drink now! Anyway, aren't you going to do the trials? We can't just wait on the side, can we?!"
"Okay, okay!"
Echidna quickly used her ability to turn a table full of all kinds of drinks and put them in front of Aqua.
For some reason, the great Witch of Greed had turned into a waiter.
She had never been so humiliated in four hundred years.
"Then let's start the trials quickly!"
Aqua sat down next to her, already opening the bottle caps at a speed beyond human comprehension, and shouted loudly.
"But... the Sanctuary's barrier has already been broken, so why are you here for the trials?"
Echidna asked with some confusion.
"We're here to help Emilia get her memories back from the past. Roswaal said the trials can do that, so we came."
Satou Kazuma paused suddenly,
"Could it be that you useless witch can't do it—"
"The trials will start now!"
Echidna said through gritted teeth, her voice trembling.
At the same time, her brain was racing.
Now that the Sanctuary's barrier had been opened, she could successfully implement her previous plan.
She had left a backup of her soul in one of her creations, which she could use to achieve rebirth.
Although it wouldn't be a true resurrection, she would be able to leave the Sanctuary and go to other places, satisfying her intense curiosity.
But...
Aqua seemed to be able to revive people.
Using Natsuki Subaru's memory, Echidna saw the moment when Aqua revived Satou Kazuma.
Could it be that they could really do it?
. . . . . .
Meanwhile, outside the ruins.
"Just now, is Kazuma-sama really okay?"
Otto swallowed and turned to look at Natsuki Subaru.
He had just heard Satou Kazuma scream and fall down.
Although he eventually successfully entered the ruins, he seemed to have been dragged in by Aqua.
There seemed to be a smell of burning in the air.
"He... should be fine."
Natsuki Subaru pursed his lips and answered,
"After all, you've heard about it, right? He's the kind of person who can be hit by the White Whale and still be unharmed."
"As expected of the man who defeated me!"
Garfield cast a look of admiration.
"That's not necessary..."
Natsuki Subaru shook his head helplessly.
"But Subaru, is that Elsa-san? What is she doing?"
Otto pointed to the side. Elsa was constantly trying to rush into the ruins—but was blasted away by the trial magic the next second.
But she quickly got up, muttering:
"Amazing, amazing! This is really amazing! As expected of Kazuma-sama!"
Natsuki Subaru was left speechless.
"Elsa-san, is she worried about Kazuma-sama?"
"If you want to understand it that way, it's fine."
"Kazuma-sama really has a lot of personal charm!"