If one had to describe the emotions of those waiting outside in a single word, it would undoubtedly be anxiety.
Whether they were the "leave faction," hoping for a successful challenge, or the "stay faction," wishing for both challengers to fail, everyone waited in restless unease. Fifteen minutes had already passed, and neither of the two had emerged.
"This is taking a while…"
Garfiel grew impatient. He—and the other demi-human villagers—usually obtained results from the trial within just a few minutes.
"Could it be… that success is possible?"
Someone whispered this quietly. Meanwhile, the ever-restless Subaru could no longer endure the waiting. Shouting, "I can't wait any longer! I'm going to check on them!" he ran toward the stone steps.
"Wait! You don't have the—"
Before the word "qualification" could even be spoken, Subaru's foot had already landed on the stone stair. To everyone's surprise, no special force attacked him. He was not rejected.
"Another human with the qualification?" Ryuzu murmured in astonishment. "This old one has never witnessed such a situation."
"If Roswaal were here, he'd probably be furious," Garfiel said, stunned for a moment before turning to Ram. "So he's the only human who got rejected."
"..."
Watching Subaru disappear into the cave's entrance, Ram recalled what Roswaal had once told her back at the mansion.
{That boy is very interesting~ Oh, it seems this world changes according to his will.}
The one he spoke of was Subaru. A person worthy of such an evaluation was naturally no ordinary individual. Yet what intrigued Ram even more was the identity of the masked man. From their very first meeting, she had sensed a faint familiarity about him. Who was he? And as a human, how had he obtained the "qualification" granted by the Witch?
---
Meanwhile, after rushing inside, Subaru immediately spotted the two figures.
He saw the cloaked, masked man standing motionless, while Emilia crouched nearby with her arms wrapped around her knees. Her eyes were tightly shut, and she kept murmuring, "Help me… Puck…"
"Emilia! What's wrong with you?!"
Subaru hurried to her side and questioned her anxiously, but she did not respond. She seemed trapped in a nightmare from which she could not awaken.
"Emilia! Emilia!"
No matter how loudly he called, the girl could not hear him.
---
Within the dream world, Echidna's eyes shifted slightly as she smiled at Lillian.
"A new challenger has arrived."
"Is that so."
Before Lillian's eyes, the room, the desk, the hairpin, and even the sky and sunset outside began to disintegrate like grains of sand, scattering into nothingness. Without Echidna's will, there was no power sustaining this world of memories.
"Since I've passed the first stage, I should be able to ask a question, correct?"
"You may—but you must save it for the tea party afterward," Echidna said, standing within a space that had faded into emptiness. "This new challenger is quite interesting as well. The two of you may even share a certain connection."
"A connection…"
Lillian immediately understood that she was referring to Subaru. If one insisted on naming a similarity between them, perhaps it was simply that they both came from a modern world—but the differences between them were as vast as heaven and earth.
"Besides," Echidna added, "he carries an aura I find rather unpleasant."
"..."
"Well then—until the tea party."
---
Lillian's consciousness left the dream world.
Outside, Subaru still could not awaken Emilia and could only wait helplessly at her side. Not knowing the contents of the trial, he dared not rashly carry her away. However… his gaze shifted to Lillian, who stood motionless nearby.
"If Emilia can't wake up now… then he must be in the same state too, right?"
Thinking this, Subaru grew extremely curious about the spiral-patterned mask on Lillian's face. It should be fine if I just take a look, he thought, and curiosity drove him to action. He raised his hand and reached toward Lillian's face.
Just one centimeter before his fingers touched the mask, his hand was suddenly blocked by an invisible barrier.
"What is this?"
Though the space between his hand and the mask was clearly transparent, something undeniably stood in the way. The unseen force felt soft to the touch, yet he could not push it forward even a fraction.
Smack.
A hand suddenly seized his wrist. The spiral pattern shifted, and the two deep black openings of the mask aligned with Subaru's eyes, startling him so badly he nearly cried out.
"What are you doing?"
"Ah?!" Subaru had not expected Lillian to awaken at that exact moment and immediately became flustered. "N-Nothing…"
Lillian released his hand without saying anything further.
"S-sorry, I—uh—"
Before Subaru could finish speaking, his eyes suddenly rolled back, and his body collapsed limply to the ground.
Lillian knew that Echidna had pulled Subaru's consciousness into her dream world.
He turned his head to glance at Emilia. Her expression was extremely strained. Just as Echidna had said—if one could not overcome that "knot" in the heart, one would be tormented by memories. Each attempt at the trial meant reliving the same suffering again and again.
For the present Emilia, passing the trial was likely still impossible.
As Lillian was lost in thought, Emilia opened her eyes, clutching her chest and gasping heavily.
"Not an easy challenge, huh?"
The low, calm voice startled her. Looking up, she realized it was Lillian.
"Sir...Y-Yeager.."
"Just call me Eren."
"…Eren, sir… you too…"
Lillian nodded. "I revisited some past memories I'd rather forget."
Emilia looked at him, body and voice composed, and asked, "Could it be—Eren, you passed the trial?"
"Yes."
Her face brightened slightly. "In that case—"
"In that case, the barrier won't disappear," Lillian interrupted. "The trial has three stages. Only completing the first stage—the 'Past'—isn't enough."
"Three stages…"
Emilia visibly paled further. Clearly, the first stage alone had given her a sense of despair. What would the next two stages be like? How difficult could they be?
She was still processing this when she noticed Subaru beside her.
"Subaru… he also—"
"He participated as well," Lillian confirmed, turning to leave. "I'll go ahead first, Miss Emilia."
Echidna wouldn't be hosting a tea party at this moment. She was thoroughly interested in Subaru, likely gathering more information and probing his capabilities. Even those slightly perceptive could sense a witch's aura around him, and Echidna—once killed by the jealous witch—would have noticed much earlier. Likely, she knew of his [Return by Death] ability from the first time Beatrice encountered him.
Lillian assumed Echidna was aware of the ability but hadn't told Roswaal that it only triggers upon death. Regarding Echidna herself, he didn't trust her to be a "harmless witch." Her outwardly composed, intellectual persona hid an insatiable desire for knowledge. A "greedy witch" wouldn't remain confined in a dream world forever; observing the outside through the Gospel was a torment. If given the chance, she would surely seek resurrection in the real world.
"If dragon blood can truly reconstruct a body, would she stay idle…"
Roswaal's plan was to slay the dragon and obtain its blood. He aimed to have Emilia become queen first, so that when Lugunica, the Dragon kingdom, signed a treaty with the divine dragon Volcanica, the dragon would appear. As a supporter of Emilia, Roswaal could then be present to strike the dragon. Was he confident enough to commit dragon-slaying?
Lillian didn't know Roswaal's exact plan but noticed that both of their goals now overlapped, focusing on dragon blood. Lillian himself preferred less extreme methods. Roswaal wasn't reckless, having lived over four centuries—he wouldn't be a fool. Perhaps he had no alternative to slaying the dragon for its blood.
Shaking his head, Lillian put these thoughts aside for now. Outside the cave, the villagers looked at him with curious eyes.
For the others who attempted the trial, one could often judge success from their expressions. Pale, sallow faces needed no explanation. For Lillian, masked as he was, such visual cues didn't apply.
"Failed, I bet." Garfiel commented, arms crossed, sneering at Lillian as he descended the steps. "Told you, it's not that easy."
Lillian didn't react, ignoring him completely. He wasn't here to impress these locals; the trial was for himself. Success didn't require praise, failure didn't require mockery.
Echidna would answer his questions at the tea party. Judging from the first tea session, it would take him back to her tomb. But first, he needed rest—and there was another matter to attend to.
Back in his room, sitting on his bed, Lillian removed his mask and exhaled.
Even though he had reconciled with the past, the images still left an impact. As Echidna said, these memories were the most vivid and intense of his twenty years—reunions with old friends, violence, fleeing abroad—all major life changes condensed into a short span.
After returning to his country, he had moved to a distant city and lived alone. He assumed he would continue in isolation until old age or illness required care—at which point, he might end his life quietly. But fate had other plans, drawing him into this infinite world.
Lillian looked at the mask in his hands and smiled silently. Thanks to this memory trial, he could accept that he didn't want to return. That previous life was just an excuse to mask his true thought: only in this world did he feel alive, only here did life feel meaningful.