A Random in Re:Zero

Loop 5 - Part 30

"Pay attention." I gripped her hands firmly, looking into her eyes. "I don't give a shit if you're a witch, a dragon, or anything else. What matters is that you have a big heart and want to help everyone, even though most people judge you without even knowing you. That's what I like most about you (besides your beautiful voice, your hair, eyes, mouth, nose, ears...). Well, I like everything about you."

I was a little embarrassed saying all that (I tried not to think about the fact that Otto and Rem were probably hearing everything from the front of the carriage), but I managed to do it without stuttering. As soon as she heard my statement, Emilia flinched a little and lowered her head.

"If you say things like that, you leave me no choice but to believe you." She replied timidly.

"That's what I wanted to hear." I smiled, seeing that my statement made her happy.

A light illuminated Emilia's pendant at that very moment. I had a vague memory of Subaru being teleported near Echidna's grave while holding said object, so I took it from Emilia to prevent any unnecessary changes. She fainted immediately, but I caught her and left her lying down.

Finally, the glare became too intense, and I was forced to close my eyes. When it ended, I found myself standing in the middle of the forest.

"It's already started." I muttered.

I slowly looked around, making a 360-degree turn. As I completed the turn, I noticed a little girl with pink hair, pointy ears, and blue eyes silently watching me. Without saying anything, I walked toward her.

The girl turned around and started running with agility comparable to Felt's. I wasn't sure I could catch up with her, but that wasn't my intention. I just had to go in the same direction as her.

As I expected, the trees stopped appearing when I crossed a certain point, revealing an open space in the center of which stood an old stone building.

I swallowed, but I couldn't hesitate any longer. I wasn't even halfway through the story, and there were still plenty of worse challenges ahead than having tea with a witch.

"Fuck it." I took a deep breath and headed towards the ruins.

The interior of the room was dark and felt like entering a cave. The light outside faded until it disappeared completely.

I continued walking anyway, ignoring the absolute darkness around me and the gradual drop in temperature as I walked deeper into the place.

Very soon, I began to lose my sense of reality due to the lack of sensory input. I could hear my own heavy breathing and uneven footsteps. I couldn't see anything, and the growing smell of dampness was saturating my brain.

"Come on, Echidna. Stop playing with me."

I knew this was a simple joke or mind game from the witch.

"I'm probably not making any progress, and if I turn around, I'll be a few feet away from the entrance. What a pain."

Minutes passed, maybe even hours. As I said, I didn't have a very clear idea of what it was. I began to believe that Echidna was just making fun of me.

"Damn, I don't have time for this. If you don't want to talk, goodbye and have a good trip."

I turned around to leave the tomb, but when I did, I found myself in a new place that reminded me of the Windows XP wallpaper.

The blue sky stretched endlessly everywhere, as did the green hills. Everything felt too real to be a dream.

"Finally."