Standing inside the corridor used for the Sanctuary's trial, Hayashi Maki's mouth twitched.
"'Granting me the qualifications for the trial'… more like she wants to peek at my memories. That witch really is insatiably curious."
The Witch of Greed was no simple opponent.
Maybe when she was alive, she still had a sliver of humanity.
But now that she was dead—reduced to a soul—she was basically a monster driven by pure thirst for knowledge.
To put it plainly: that "Al" was something Echidna made—an attempt to replace Natsuki Subaru, a creation that copied part of Subaru's abilities.
And to keep Al from collapsing under the concept of death, Echidna had killed him in every way imaginable—over ten thousand times.
Hayashi Maki had just seen that fragment. A glimpse he pulled from the Dream World using Gluttony's authority.
When Echidna tried to pull him into her dream space to look through his memories, Hayashi Maki had also caught a sliver of hers.
Walking down the corridor—lined with strange green crystals—Hayashi Maki suddenly heard someone crying ahead.
And the voice was painfully familiar.
He quickened his pace.
Then—
He saw Emilia kneeling on the floor, sobbing uncontrollably.
"Emilia!"
Hayashi Maki rushed over and pulled her into his arms.
Her body jolted. She lifted her head to look at him, and then she burst into louder sobs.
"Hayashi Maki… I… I… w-wah…"
She didn't even finish. The mental shock was too much—she went limp, fainting in his arms.
Hayashi Maki sighed.
Same as always. Recovering her memories was still brutally difficult for her.
Which made sense.
It was a self-protection mechanism.
Memories sealed by the mind weren't going to come loose easily.
In other words, she still couldn't accept what her past self had done—what she believed were "mistakes."
But none of that was her fault.
This girl looked easy to comfort, but in reality she was the type who could spiral into a dead-end corner once she latched onto an idea.
No choice. He'd take her out first.
The moment he stepped out of the "tomb," a short blond boy with an X-shaped scar on his forehead was already waiting.
"Oh? You finally came out, intruder of the Sanctuary!"
Garfiel Tinzel bared his jagged teeth—sharklike, just like Frederica's—and cracked his fists together with a vicious grin.
"Intruder? Little bro, you didn't hear who we are from Ram?"
Hayashi Maki asked with a lazy smile.
"Hah? 'Garfiel'? Don't call me that. Who's your 'little brother'?"
Garfiel snarled, irritated.
Hayashi Maki stared at him calmly. "You are. Frederica asked me to look after you. Since I'm her… employer, calling you 'little brother' should be an honor."
"Honor? More like bad luck! So you're connected to that woman?"
Garfiel clicked his tongue, face darkening.
"What, you and your sister aren't close?"
"Heh. She's been gone for over ten years! You think you can be close to someone you haven't seen in a decade? You're arrogant, man—deciding people's relationships like you know everything."
"Arrogance requires strength," Hayashi Maki said evenly. "And I happen to have more than enough to crush you."
"So how about you put those claws away, little brother? I'm going to see Ram. I don't have time to play with you."
"Play? And you're looking for Ram? So what are you to her, then?"
"Nothing much," Hayashi Maki said. "Just her man."
"Yes, you heard right. Roswaal already transferred her 'ownership' to me."
"Hah?! That's a thing? That's disgusting on every level!"
Garfiel's face twisted.
He'd liked Ram for a long time. Hearing she was now "taken" by the man he already hated made his hostility spike.
"You can be mad if you want," Hayashi Maki replied. "Just get out of the way."
"I don't feel like ripping your claws off—Frederica would complain that I bullied her little brother."
"You've got a mouth on you! My claws aren't something you can just 'rip off'! You want to see who's stronger?!"
Still furious about being pinned earlier, Garfiel couldn't take it anymore.
He liked challenging strong opponents—and if he could prove he was stronger, maybe Ram would finally look at him differently, even just a little.
But the moment the words left his mouth, a force he couldn't see bound his limbs.
He was yanked into the air like a puppet.
Hayashi Maki, carrying Emilia in his arms, simply smiled and walked away.
"Looks like I'm stronger, little brother."
"And since you regenerate well on the ground… hanging you up and beating you here should make it harder for you to recover, huh?"
"Coward!"
Garfiel roared, body erupting into beastform.
In seconds, a massive golden tiger was suspended midair, roaring at Hayashi Maki.
Hayashi Maki found him too loud.
A single invisible flick struck Garfiel squarely on the forehead.
Before he could show off the "claws of the Sanctuary's guardian," he blacked out.
Hayashi Maki then used the invisible force to keep Garfiel bound and—using his ability to appear beside a bound companion—teleported straight to Ram.
"Ram, I'm back."
"Hayashi Maki… you're fine. And… that's Garfiel?"
Ram's eyes widened for a moment at the unconscious tiger-boy floating in the air.
Then she relaxed. Seeing both Hayashi Maki and Emilia unharmed eased her completely.
And again, Hayashi Maki's strength left a deeper impression on her.
Even the Sanctuary's guardian wasn't his match.
His power really was unfathomable.
Ignoring Garfiel for now, Ram explained what had happened earlier.
A spirit crystal had flown toward them and released a burst of white light—teleporting Hayashi Maki and Emilia away.
Ram sensed through their contract that Hayashi Maki was safe, so she brought Aqua and Beatrice, along with Rem, to the nearest shelter.
They were in a small house—a temporary lodging provided by the mixed-blood demi-humans living in the Sanctuary.
After hesitating, Ram added, "Hayashi Maki… Roswaal wants to see you. He's in the house next door."
Hayashi Maki smiled and nodded.
He laid Emilia onto the bed, pulled out a blanket, and covered her carefully.
"Let's go. I'm curious what kind of state Roswaal's in."
In the next room, Roswaal lay in bed wrapped in bandages, looking miserable.
"Oh my—what a long time. Forgive me for letting you see me like this… quite disgraceful."
"So you got rejected by the trial," Hayashi Maki said with an amused smile—stabbing right into Roswaal's sore spot.
"…Yes. Rejected," Roswaal gave a bitter laugh. "You could tell at a glance? You really do know far too much, Hayashi Maki."
Was he too filthy? Too unworthy? Was that why the person he worshiped wouldn't even look at him?
Hayashi Maki nodded mildly. "I do know more than you."
"And I got the qualifications for the trial. It's a little different from what we agreed on—but as long as we clear it, we can try to bring her back."
Roswaal smiled faintly and didn't respond.
In truth, "reviving Echidna" wasn't his real dream.
His real dream was to return to that time—back when he was with her—and erase everything that went wrong.
But the past couldn't be changed.
So for hundreds of years, he clung to the next-best thing: bringing her back.
Step by step.
Hayashi Maki didn't care about Roswaal's inner pain.
He just needed Echidna—needed to bind her to his side.
And he knew she wouldn't be easy to fool.
So he'd have to fabricate a "story" convincing enough to hook her.
Because under no circumstances could Echidna learn the true mechanism of his contracts.
That witch wasn't trustworthy.
Calling Echidna "a monster hungry for the unknown" wasn't even an insult.
It was simply accurate.
To satisfy her curiosity, she would do anything—again and again—no matter how self-destructive it was.