While Emilia—the castle's current master—was quietly resting, Tatsuki wasn't idle. The apocalypse expedition was far from over.
"Reinhard, Suoh—how's the situation on your end?" Tatsuki asked.
"All clear," replied Suoh.
Reinhard added, "The demon beasts that attacked the royal capital have been completely exterminated. I didn't expect all three of the Great Demon Beasts to appear… the scale of this chaos was far beyond expectation. The interior of the royal capital is secure, but the outer areas still need cleanup."
"I'll handle it," Tatsuki said.
"Tatsuki-san, I can't thank you enough!" Reinhard responded sincerely.
"Satella, I'll leave the magic beasts and the Witch Factor from the Witch Cult members to you."
Out from the shadows emerged Satella, formed entirely of darkness.
"I'll take care of it properly, Master," she said before dissolving into shadow again.
"Who was that just now? I felt an overwhelming power from her." Esdeath, ever sensitive to energy, narrowed her eyes.
"The Witch of Envy—Satella. A new subordinate of mine."
"Ohhh! The Witch of Envy? I remember Emilia mentioning her in the group chat," Exusiai piped up.
"She said Satella was incredibly dangerous. Nearly swallowed the entire world, right? And since she's also a half-elf like Emilia, that's part of why people here hated her so much."
"She also talked about the other witches. All of them sounded mysterious and dangerous," Exusiai added. Even though she wasn't human, her memory was oddly sharp.
Nami rolled her eyes—a dramatic and elegant one.
"Subordinate? Didn't you say earlier that one of them was your slave—the Witch of Greed or something? Don't tell me… you've turned all the witches in this world into your slaves?"
Clap clap clap!
Tatsuki clapped in appreciation. "You nailed it."
"...Slaves?" Bronya blinked. She couldn't quite find the right words for that term.
She hadn't expected Tatsuki to have such… tastes.
"Tatsuki, isn't that dangerous? Taming witches like those?" Shinobu didn't seem to care much about the whole slave thing. As long as Tatsuki was happy, she was happy. But safety always came first.
"I imagine witches this dangerous can't be easy to control, right?" Saeko Busujima added, frowning slightly. The witches this world feared—especially that Witch of Envy who once almost devoured half the world—were not to be underestimated.
"Don't worry. Everything is under my control." Tatsuki gave them a reassuring smile. Their concern clearly touched him.
"…Hmm?"
Suddenly, he sensed a gaze—someone watching him. He turned sharply to look in that direction. It came from behind a closed door.
"What is it?" Exusiai followed his gaze but saw nothing.
"I'm going to check it out."
Tatsuki walked over to the door. Curling his fingers slightly, he pushed—and the door creaked open under his touch.
"Who allowed you to enter the library without permission?"
He had just set foot in the room when a sharp, commanding voice rang out.
As he stepped fully inside, the door behind him shut on its own.
"What the…?" Exusiai pushed the same door, only to find a supply closet—completely empty.
No trace of Tatsuki at all.
"Must be some kind of magic. Let's just wait here," she said, crossing her arms.
In truth, Tatsuki had entered another space entirely—a room filled wall-to-wall with books.
Standing before him was a girl with spiral twin-tails, golden-blonde hair like cream, and snow-white skin. Her irises were a soft pink crossed with pale blue, giving her a faint X-like pattern. She wore a frilly, extravagant dress, exuding a delicate, almost doll-like charm. But the girl had her hands on her hips and was glaring at him, clearly annoyed.
Tatsuki blinked innocently. "Hey now, you were the one who was spying on me first."
"Betty just sensed a powerful magical presence. I was checking for the library's safety," the girl—Beatrice—said, sticking out her chest defiantly, clearly seeing no problem with what she did.
Tatsuki didn't argue. Instead, he casually wandered over to a nearby bookshelf and started scanning titles.
"Hey! This is the Forbidden Library! You can't just read whatever you want! If you don't leave, Betty will have to force you out!"
"Go ahead, feel free."
Ignoring her protests, Tatsuki walked over to a single book lying alone on a pedestal. Reaching out his hand—
"Don't touch that!" Beatrice shouted, but Tatsuki didn't even pause.
"Betty's going to eject you!"
She activated her space-manipulating magic, intending to teleport him out. But it had no effect.
He was already holding the book. Calmly, he flipped through the pages—one by one.
Every page was blank. Not a single word.
"So this is a Gospel?" he muttered. It was the first time he'd held one. And yet… it offered no prophecy, no guidance.
"You know what a Gospel is?" Beatrice asked, a flicker of unease in her voice. For someone to intrude here and know about the Gospel…
"Roswaal has one too," Tatsuki replied, glancing down at the book. "But yours has no writing."
"…"
Just as she expected… no prophecy.
Beatrice's eyes dimmed. She lowered her voice, tone flat. "Now that you've seen it, you can leave, right?"
"But I'm Emilia's guest," Tatsuki said shamelessly, showing no sign of moving. "Are you sure you want to kick me out?"
"Whatever's going on outside has nothing to do with Betty. The Forbidden Library is mine. I make the rules here."
So she was asserting herself as the library's sole master. But not only did Tatsuki not leave, he even doubled down.
"I'm Tatsuki. What's your name?"
As if trying to freeze him out, she scowled. "Beatrice."
Of course he knew that already. Beatrice—a spirit created by Echidna herself.
He held up the book. "So you follow the Gospel's guidance, just like Roswaal?"
Beatrice bit her lip and didn't respond.
"Why don't you tell me what kind of prophecy you're waiting for? I like stories."
He had already sat down, one leg crossed over the other, resting his cheek in his palm with the Gospel still in hand—the perfect picture of a lazy listener. With a flash of golden light, a cold bottle of beer appeared in his free hand.
"I've got the beer. You've got the story."
"…"
This guy was so annoying. Beatrice didn't even know him. Why did he keep asking so many questions?
Even if he found out about the prophecy—so what?
That prophecy…
Beatrice lowered her head. After a moment, her lips trembled as she finally whispered:
"Betty… must wait for the person foretold by the Gospel—only then can a contract be formed and rewritten. Only then can Betty be free to leave this place."
"How long have you been waiting?" Tatsuki asked softly.
"…Four hundred years."
Her memories drifted back. Back to the beginning. Her mother—Echidna—had left her behind with this massive library and a contract: to wait for "that person."
After that day, the Book of Fate never gave Beatrice another prophecy.
Inside that narrow, dim room, she had lived through an agonizingly long stretch of time. Even after reading her way through the endless sea of books, the person she had been waiting for still never arrived. The Gospel that was supposed to guide her, to show her the path forward—remained completely blank.
How many times had that crushing loneliness torn her heart to pieces?
Every day, she checked that book over and over, hoping that maybe this time, something would appear. She clung to the belief that one day, she would fulfill her mission. But as the years dragged on, one by one, everyone left her behind.
The door opened countless times—and each time, it only led to more betrayal.
There's only so much a fragile heart can endure before the endless waiting wears it down to nothing.
Four hundred years… long enough to span most of this world's history.
The age of the witches, the end of the Collapse, the rise of prosperity, the kingdom's protection, and the prejudice against half-elves—Beatrice had lived through it all.
The weight of that experience, of that waiting, was something no outsider could possibly understand.
A contract with no end. A prophetic book filled with nothing but silence.
It felt like one giant joke Echidna had played on her.
The way witches thought was beyond comprehension.
Echidna—the Witch of Greed—was someone who would abandon anything in pursuit of knowledge. Yet Beatrice had spent four centuries praying for the arrival of "that person," over and over again. Dreaming that the Gospel would finally give her guidance… but it was always just a dream.
Four hundred years had long since smoothed away any remnants of hope or longing. The expectations she once had had already twisted into despair.
And she couldn't even sever the contract—her identity as a spirit bound her from taking her own life.
Truly, Echidna… you were a cruel monster.
"Eh, I was just curious," Echidna's voice echoed faintly in his mind.
"Hmph, no wonder you're called the Witch of Greed."
"Say, isn't Beatrice basically your daughter?"
"Well, I guess you could say that."
"Then I guess that makes her my daughter too, doesn't it?"
"Ohhh? Is my master proposing to me?"
"Sorry, no. You're just my slave. Know your place."
"Come now~ just because I'm a slave doesn't mean I can't have aspirations, does it?"
Tatsuki ignored her. He was just making casual mental conversation.
But seriously, the fact that these women were called witches was no accident. Every last one of them had some kind of extreme psychological issue.
Looking at Beatrice—lost in her memories, wallowing in sorrow, seemingly on the verge of tears—Tatsuki let out a quiet sigh.
His poor little slave witch really had been through hell.
Riiiip.
A sharp tearing sound echoed through the library.
Beatrice's head snapped up.
"!"
What did she see?
That man—Tatsuki—had torn her Gospel in half.
"What are you doing?!" she screamed.
Her hands trembled. That book… her Gospel… it was gone. Her last hope—destroyed.
"Just helping my slave repay a debt," Tatsuki said casually, shrugging. "Freeing you, a little."
"Freeing… me?"
Beatrice stared into his eyes. Her crystalline gaze shimmered with a desperate glimmer of hope—a faint, trembling light struggling to stay alive.
"Can you place me above all else?" she asked.
"Can you think of me first, choose me first, rewrite the contract, overwrite the contract, erase the contract, take me away, hold me tight, and never let go?"
"Can you do that?"
Her hands clenched behind her back, trembling slightly. This was the condition required to rewrite the contract.
The only condition that could free her.
But Tatsuki's response made her freeze.
"I can't. I have many girlfriends, and each one holds an important place in my heart."
He answered without hesitation. He didn't like lying.
He couldn't place just one person first—or rather, all of his lovers were his number one.
You could call him a disgusting womanizer.
Mock him as a pervert.
Sneer at him as a scumbag.
Label him a smooth-talking player.
Or admire him as someone capable of loving many.
He didn't care.
Whether he was ruled by lust or drowning in emotion—he accepted all of it.
Because that was who he truly was.
No matter how many emotional debts he piled up, he would take responsibility for every promise he made.
When it came to love, no one saw it more lightly—and more seriously—than him.
He wouldn't make promises lightly.
And he'd never lie just to satisfy a moment of lust.
Sometimes, sincerity and honesty wouldn't win someone's heart.
But when it did, it would be as dazzling and precious as a pearl.
Just like Yukino, who once sought true sincerity—he had never lied to her.
His desire and his tenderness were always sincere. That was the kind of heart Tatsuki possessed.
But this time, that sincerity brought nothing but pain.
"…"
Beatrice slumped to the floor, hollow-eyed.
Tatsuki's honesty had only given her despair.
So much for salvation.
She should have known. After four hundred years, she should have known.
It was all fake from the start.
That person was never coming.
Not even a belated savior could fill the void left by four centuries of loneliness.
Tears slid down her cheeks—the pure condensation of despair.
She slowly raised her hands, her eyes still glistening.
"If you can't save me," she whispered, "then please kill me. Please… end this endless contract."
...
For every 50 Power Stones → +1 extra chapter.
Read 50+ chapters ahead on Patreon! [patreon.com/METARLN]
Use code FREE2ALL for 30% OFF!