You woke up to see Subaru shaking your body.

"(Y/N)! What just happened?! We walked into the ruins, and I don't remember what happened, but I woke up and saw you passed out next to me! Weren't we supposed to meet a witch?!" He was still shaking your body, so you brushed him off.

Before you could tell Subaru something, you heard a voice inside your head. '(Y/N), act like you don't remember anything as well. He will believe you.'

This was Echidna. Right before you were forced to leave her tea party, the Witch of Greed had given you a black pendant, which had surprisingly materialized under your shirt, where you had put it on back there.

Following her advice, you scratched your head. "Well, I can't remember anything either."

Subaru looked down at the ground. "It kind of feels like someone said something to me..." He shrugged his shoulders. "Anyways, we should get back outside and look for Emilia and Otto."

You stood up and followed him out of the ruins.

'As you can tell, Subaru has no recollection of his meeting with me. You, on the other hand, have made a contract with me, so you will naturally remember everything.'

'Well, I can't imagine it any other way. If I had a contract with you and couldn't remember it, that would be pretty bad.'

Echidna chuckled. 'Maybe for you.'

This didn't sit well with you, but the bright light caught your attention. Squinting your eyes and covering them with your arm, you looked out from the ruins.

Otto was on the ground, and he was stunned. Literally.

All of a sudden, Subaru, who was standing next to you, was lifted up in the air. You took a step back and observed what was going on.

It was none other than Garfiel who picked Subaru up by the scruff of his tracksuit. Before you could do anything, he decided to pick you up as well. "Look 't the two 'f you, just waltzin' out 'f there! You've got some nerves, outsiders!"

When the two of you struggled to get out of his grasp, Garfiel began to laugh. "Is this like a magmarin laughin' when it's full 'f holes?"

'Uh... Echidna? What's a magmarin?'

'I would like to know as well. Ask him for us, would you?'

You sighed. It seems like nobody can understand whatever it was that Garfiel was saying.

But that sigh stopped when he threw Subaru away from him, towards the field where Otto was lying. Luckily enough for Subaru, Patrasche caught his body with her dragon carriage before it could hit the ground.

You wouldn't be so lucky.

"Don't throw me! Garfiel! Please let me down! I'm not trying to pull anything! Let me down!" You started to squirm frantically because you didn't feel like breaking some more bones today.

Just as you asked, Garfiel let you down. Let it be noted, however, that he did it quite violently. If it wasn't for your regeneration, you would have been left with several bruises for the rest of the week.

"How th' f'ck do ya know m' amazin' self?" Garfiel asked while he towered above your body, which was still on the ground before him.

Naturally, you bluffed your way out of it. "I didn't come here without doing some preparation. Why wouldn't I know who the Shield of the Sanctuary was?"

Hearing this boosted Garfiel's ego. "Aha! I like you! Now, what were ya doin' in there? If you're up t' no good, then I've got n' choice but t' kick ya out'ta here."

'Tell him a close version of the truth.'

"Well, me and Subaru, who you threw, got lost in the forest. And then we saw this little girl who had pink hair and white robes, and we followed her. We came out over here, and decided to go inside those ruins."

Garfiel narrowed his eyes. "That still ain't explainin' why you're here!" He began to pick you up again, ready to throw you as well.

Subaru saw this, and shouted from his position on the dragon carriage. "You know Frederica, right?!"

Garfiel froze where he was, and turned to face Subaru. "Why did I hear th't name from y'r digustin' mouth?"

"Just think about it!" Subaru yelled.

Without pausing and without putting you down, Garfiel replied, "Thought about it. Don't know." His face transformed into a wicked smile. "I'll think some more aft'r I chunk this guy here across the forest!"

Before Garfiel could 'chunk' you, you decided to get a few words in. "It's because we know her too! She came to the mansion to take care of it for Ram, and we met her when we got there!"

Garfiel slowly put you down. Then, he leaped to where Subaru was. Apparently, you weren't as high on his kill list as he was.

"How th' h'll did ya know I have anythin' t' do with Frederica?!" he screamed. You had no issue hearing him, even though you were a good distance away from him.

You didn't hear Subaru's response, but you could tell from his facial expression that he said something along the lines of, "Are you serious?"

Garfiel obviously resembled his sister, as they both had golden hair, and their faces looked pretty similar.

This really proved how little the demi-human was thinking right now.

'Hmph. So I guess that you won't be asking him what a magmarin is? You might kill me with the anticipation that I had.'

'But you're already dead...'

'...Did you like my joke?'

Time Skip

After Garfiel finally understood that you and everyone else wasn't a trespasser, he became a lot less angry.

Now, you were sitting with him in the dragon carriage as Otto was steering Patrasche to where everybody in the Sanctuary lived.

The mentioned merchant was still rubbing his head from the bash that Garfiel had given him. "I got beaten up for nothing..What am I supposed to do with this anger?" he asked with a straight face.

Garfiel put his hands behind his head and leaned back in his seat. "Ya nev'r shut up, do ya, trader? I apologized, didn't I?"

"You call 'Hey, sorry, numbskull, I kinda jumped the gun,' an apology?!"

Inside of your head, you agreed. With Garfiel, of course. His apology was reasonable.

'You know some amusing people, (Y/N). I haven't witnessed such excitement for the past few centuries!'

'And that might not be a good thing.'

'As long as I am here, nothing can be as bad as you believe it will be. Any situation will be turned around in your favor when the Witch of Greed is helping you.'

'Thanks. I guess.'

'That's i-"

You tuned Echidna out as you found out that someone was talking to you. Holding a conversation in your head and one with the physical world was something that you haven't gotten the hang of since you don't have any practice doing it.

Garfiel leaned over and hit you playfully, though it still hurt. "You agree with me, right? Ya gotta act on a ganglion before ya think about it."

You nodded your head slowly. "Yep. That's right. Thinking just gets in the way." Of course, this wasn't necessarily true, but getting in an argument with Garfiel was not a wise thing to do.

He laughed, which showed off his sharp teeth. "He knows what's goin' on! What's ya name?" he asked you.

You cleared your throat and introduced yourself. "I'm (Y/N) (L/N). As of right now, I'm a part of Emilia's camp, and that's about it."

Garfiel looked over to where Emilia was sleeping. "And that must be her, right? The famous silver-haired half-devil that Roswaal's helpin' out."

Subaru stood up in objection. "She's a half-elf! Don't ever call her that again!"

Garfiel waved his hands in dismissal. "Don't get so work'd up about 't. I'm just messin' with ya." He leaned forward again and clasped his hands together, and looked as if he just had a wonderful idea.

"Do ya wanna know how it feels to be a bazomazo bein' flung back an' forth?" He cracked his knuckles, and looked expectantly at Subaru.

'Actually, I would like to know more about this. (Y/N)! Volunteer yourself!'

At this point, Echidna wasn't really providing any helpful feedback, and you were questioning your choice to make a contract with her.

'No thanks.'

You used the short and abrupt reply method to get her to stop pestering you. Did it work, or did she just decide to be quiet for another reason? Either way, Echidna went silent after that response.

Meanwhile, Subaru was just as confused as everyone else was at what Garfiel was trying to say. "Um... Is there a translation glitch between us? If that's the case, I would like to report a bug."

"Huh?" Garfiel started to look for a bug, but couldn't find one in the dragon carriage.

At that point, Emilia was finally starting to wake up.

When Subaru noticed this, he called her name. "Emilia!" He then rushed over to her side, and went down on his knees in front of her. "Thank goodness you're okay!"

Emilia rubbed her eyes, obviously still drowsy from the forced sleep that she was put in to. "Subaru...?" She then looked around the carriage, and noticed Garfiel sitting at the other end of it. She snapped up, and covered Subaru's body. You were sitting pretty close to Garfiel, so you were out of her reach.

"Who are you?! Just so you know, I won't let you lay a finger on Subaru. And don't you dare lay a finger on (Y/N)!"

Subaru, who was standing behind Emilia, began to blush. "Hang on, Emilia-tan! I appreciate it, but as a guy, I have mixed feelings about this! Really, I'm fine!"

You nodded your head in agreement, and Emilia was beginning to look confused.

Garfiel, the reason for her confusion, just closed his eyes and rested his head on his arms behind it. "I ain't gonna do nothin'. I don't want Ram givin' me h'll lat'r," he exclaimed confidently.

"Ram?" Emilia blinked in surprise.

Subaru began to explain the situation to her, but you were listening to a different voice now.

'Tsk. She's revolting. If possible, I would like for you to avoid her at all costs.'

'Why do you hate Emilia so much?'

There was a slight pause before Echidna continued. 'That is something very personal, so I will not be sharing that with you. I am confident that I will tell you in time, so you will have to wait for that explanation.'

You considered this, and then nodded your head, even though Echidna wasn't physically with you. 'Fine. I'll be pretty busy, and I'm leaving it up to Subaru to figure out how to help her through everything here, so I probably won't be seeing much of Emilia anyway.'

Echidna didn't say 'thank you', but the lack of a reply was just as good.

But it really was a shame. You might have been able to figure something out about Emilia's actual heritage, but it looks like it's still going to be a long time until you figure that out.

And there was one more thing that made you a lot more nervous.

Ram.

It finally hit you that you were about to meet her again, and it was probably going to be rough. At the very least, the confrontation was going to be awkward. At worst, you might have your heart shredded again. No amount of regeneration could fix the damage from her verbal assaults.

You were snapped out of your thoughts when a breeze hit you. Both Subaru and Emilia were poking their heads out of a window, presumably to look at the Sanctuary.

Garfiel, similarly to a tour guide, began to introduce the three of you - plus Otto - to your destination.

"This 's a place where a bunch 'f demi-humans with mixed blood live. We welcome you, Emilia-sama, and your three escorts too!" Garfiel raised his arms dramatically, though you were the only one who saw his display. "Roswaal likes callin' it the Sanctuary, but it ain't the kind 'f place that deserves such a nice name. Nothin' here but a hodgepodge of halfwits. It's just a dead-end testin' ground."

All of a sudden, the dragon carriage stopped.

"You're back? It took you long enough." Hearing this voice, your heart rate shot up.

Subaru moved around the carriage, and opened up the front window, and you could now clearly see who it was that made Otto stop.

"Ram!" Subaru exclaimed.

You gulped, and peeled yourself off of the seat. You stood next to Subaru, and waved at her with a nervous smile on your face.

Ram huffed. "What are you doing in there? Get out. Roswaal-sama wants to talk to all of you."

You climbed to the back of the carriage, and opened the door for the rest of the passengers. Once they all safely exited, you took a deep breath and followed them out.

You walked to the front, and as soon as you got there, you and Ram made eye contact. She was just finishing her greeting with Emilia. "H-hey Ram. How are you doing? It's been a while since we last talked."

Thankfully, Ram reacted in her usual manner. "As you can see, I am still as lovely and healthy as ever." She flipped her pink hair as if to show off.

When Subaru exhaled a sigh of relief, she added, "And all of the villagers are safe as well."

Subaru looked a lot more at peace, and you were as well. Ram wasn't acting weird towards you, so maybe this wouldn't be so bad after all.

Subaru, on the other hand, had been worrying about something else. "Yeah, that's a relief. After the last time that I saw you and everyone else, I haven't been able to make any contact, so in all honesty, I was pretty worried..."

Subaru's sentence died off as he thought of something. You knew very well what he was thinking of.

Rem.

Ram couldn't remember her, and the guilt of this was still crushing you. She had lost a major part of her life, but she didn't know anything about it.

Should you tell her? Should you let someone else tell her? Should you let her find out on her own?

'If I may, I do believe that you should be the one to tell her, but at a later time. This does not seem to be a very appropriate place to tell her about a sister whom she does not recollect.'

'Yeah, that seems to be a good idea. Thank you.'

Echidna chuckled in response to your thanks, and went silent again.

Emilia, who had noticed the tension that you and Subaru were feeling, decided to guide the flow of the conversation elsewhere. "Hey, Ram. This really isn't a place to stand around and talk. Would you show us inside?'

Ram bowed towards Emilia. "Certainly." She then looked around the three of you, and addressed Garfiel. "Garf, take the ground dragon and carriage somewhere suitable. Merchant-san, you can join us once Garf has settled this."

Garfiel looked angry at Ram's request. "Is that any way t' treat me?" All of a sudden, he smiled. "That's jus' how I like 't, though."

So he's a masochist. Nice.

Garfiel started to walk away. "Yo, cabbie, follow me."

Otto looked stricken when he heard this. "Are you referring to me?! That's the worst name you've called me yet! Also, I have to be alone with you?!"

Subaru jokingly gave Otto a thumbs up. "I'll pick up what's left of you!"

"Why am I being treated so roughly?" Otto cried.

Reassuringly, Subaru shook his head. "What are you talking about? When me and (Y/N) were unconscious, Emilia only stayed safe because you were there. I'm grateful."

"O-oh?" Otto smiled sheepishly. "W-well, as long as you guys are appreciative..." He then followed Garfiel, and the rest of you followed Ram to where Roswaal was currently resting.

"How pathetic of me..." you heard Subaru mumble shortly after you began to walk.

You lightly tapped his arm, which made him look at you. You gave him an affirming nod to let him know that he wasn't the pathetic one. Neither of you could find it in yourselves to tell Ram about her sister yet, but there was nothing pathetic about that.

The three of you continued to follow Ram past worn-out buildings, and several demi-humans almost seemed to be hiding in between the structures.

After a short, silent walk, you finally reached the house where Roswaal was supposed to be at. Ram opened the door, and you whispered, "Thank you," as you walked past her. Even in tense situations, manners were a good thing to have.

"Aaaaaah, Emilia-sama. Subaru-kun. (Y/Nnnnnnnnnn)-kun. It feels like it's been sooooo very long since I last saw you."

You heard someone gasp when they saw Roswaal's appearance. His whole body was wrapped up with white cloth, and his usual makeup was gone.

Even though he was in such a pitiful state, you couldn't help but let out a small smirk. Roswaal shouldn't know that you made a contract with Echidna, so he was in for a nasty surprise. He narrowed his eyes when he saw that, but he shrugged it off as you just enjoying the fact that he was injured.

Subaru looked surprised at Roswaal's condition. "I know that the letter said that you were injured, but I didn't think that it was this bad! To be honest, I was going to slug you for leaving us at such a bad time, but now..."

Emilia, on the other hand, was actually worrying about his state. "What happened? What could have hurt you so badly?" she asked.

"Well, now, wheeeeere shall I begin?

"Before that, just one thing," Subaru interrupted. "The alliance with Crusch is on. And you're not going to interfere with that."

"Oh my! I am impressed with what you and (Y/N) were able to accomplish. I wouldn't daaaaare interfere with it." He then smiled, which looked weird on his face. "Truly, you two were the once-in-a-lifetime windfall I had waited for."

"Oh, really?" Subaru questioned.

Roswaal's words made your eye twitch. Up to this point, he had been using you. Well, there was going to be no more of that.

Emilia was feeling troubled, and since neither you or Subaru were talking, she asked, "Roswaal, what is this place? Since we got here... no, since we passed the barrier... I've had this anxious feeling in my chest, and I can't relax. I've heard it called the 'Sanctuary,' but it doesn't seem like one to me at all. In fact, it feels more like..."

Roswaal suddenly had a gleam in his eyes. "The Witch's Graveyard?"

Emilia jumped back when he said that. Continuing, Roswaal said, "Does it seem to make far more sense for me to call it that?"

'Ugh. I feel as if my maidenly self is being defiled by this man. How dare he expose the nature of my resting place so casually? Just because he has an obsession with my being does not mean that I have an infatuation with him as well.'

As it would turn out, Echidna did not have feelings for Roswaal. 

'Echidna, would you mind explaining what you just said later? I didn't know that Roswaal liked you.'

'This is a matter that I have no qualms discussing with you. When you are prepared for the explanation, I will freely tell you.'

"What do you mean?" Emilia asked Roswaal while you were mentally talking to Echidna.

"Exactly what I said. Nothing more, and noooothing less. This was where the Witch of Greed, Echidna, met her end long ago. In my mind, it is worth calling a 'Sanctuary.'"

'You know what, I can kind of see what is happening.'

You heard Echidna sigh. 'I will explain it later. It is quite embarrassing, to be honest.'

At the same time, Subaru was mumbling to himself. "Echidna..."

Emilia finally noticed that you and Subaru seemed to be in deep thought. "Subaru, (Y/N)? Are you two all right?"

Subaru shook his head to clear it, and replied, "Yeah, I'm fine."

You just stayed the way you were and quietly nodded your head.

Just