Beatrice's eyes lit up immediately. But a hint of sadness passed through them.
She couldn't just leave. She was bound by a verbal contract with Echidna.
Takumi noticed her change in expression and said:
"I know about you." "I plan to visit the sealed witches." "If you'd like, I can take you to see Echidna."
Takumi smiled as he said it.
Echidnathe Witch of Greed. She created Puck, Beatrice, and Dona Foxartificial spirits. Beatrice even saw her as a mother.
Her soul was currently sealed by the Divine Dragon in a tombto suppress Satella's power.
Naturally, Takumi intended to meet the witches of this world.
They each represented the power of one of the deadly sins:
Satella, the Witch of Envy. Echidna, the Witch of Greed. Minerva, the Witch of Wrath. Daphne, the Witch of Gluttony. Typhon, the Witch of Pride. Sekhmet, the Witch of Sloth. Carmilla, the Witch of Lust.
In addition to the seven, there was Pandora, the Witch of Vainglory from HIA, and Hector, the male witch hidden in history.
The Four Heavenly Kings number five, The Seven Deadly Sins number nine.
Makes perfect sense, doesn't it?
Chapter 424: Youre Disqualified Anyway, So Why Not Come With Us?
These witches possessed various Authorities.
The Witch of Envy, Satella, controlled Return by Death and the Shadow Realm. The Witch of Greed, Echidna, wielded the Tome of Wisdom, a book recording all knowledge across time. The Witch of Wrath had healing powersthough it's unclear if it's the same kind of healing as some hero types. The Witch of Gluttony, Daphne, had the Authority to create magical beasts. The White Whale, Great Rabbit, and Black Serpent were all her creationsapparently made for consumption? The Witch of Pride, Typhon, had the Authority of Judgment.
In short, the witches' powers were impressive.
Takumi definitely intended to meet them.
Those beings had long merged with the world itself. That was likely why this world hadn't acknowledged Takumi's presence.
It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say they were part of the world now.
Otherwise, with Takumi's divine-level soul rank, he should've absorbed all the world's knowledge upon arrival.
Instead, he had to go hunting for it.
That reminded him
The Gospel Book... heh, just a nerfed version of the Tome of Wisdom. Might as well ask Echidna for a look at the real deal.
The book that records all existence.
The Gospel only forecasts the futureit's nowhere near as useful.
At the same time, Takumi was wondering:
Why was he even running around like this? He could've just gone straight to Echidna from the start.
The moment he thought that, Takumi felt like an absolute fool.
Beatrice, upon hearing that Takumi intended to visit the witchesspecifically Echidnawas stunned.
"You can find Mother?!"
Her eyes widened. Ram and Rem were equally shocked.
"Of course I can. Don't underestimate my power."
Clearly, they had no idea how strong he really was. Takumi sighed. They were underestimating him.
This was nothing to him.
The group stared at each other, momentarily speechless.
"You can think it over. No rush." "Decide later whether you want to come with us."
Takumi didn't press them. He simply spoke calmly.
Then, he opened a gate right in front of them.
Beatrice looked through the doorway and froze.
That was... her library?
"Let me look at your grimoires." "In return, I'll give you some of mine."
Takumi didn't step in immediately. He turned to Beatrice.
She thought it over, then agreed.
"Fine."
A fair exchange. That seemed acceptable.
Takumi created a terminal and tossed it over.
"Let Kaguya show you how to use it." "All my grimoires are stored inside." "They don't have magical power, but the knowledge is there in full."
With that, Takumi stepped into Beatrice's archive.
Kaguya began instructing her on how to use the device.
...
Takumi began copying the grimoires stored in her library. There were many, and he wasn't going to miss a single one.
This world's magic tomes were invaluable.
Many included time magic, which Takumi found particularly useful.
Meanwhile, Beatrice was browsing through the device. It indeed contained a vast collection of grimoires.
Even better, they were automatically rendered in her world's language. She could read them with no issue.
While she read, Ram, Rem, and Emilia huddled together in discussion.
With Roswaal gone, it was likely they couldn't stay here. After all, Roswaal was the estate's owner. The Margrave's manor would be reclaimed soon.
Which meantthey had nothing left.
They were now considering whether to stay or leave with Takumi.
Ram and Rem were leaning toward leaving.
As Takumi had said: She had no hope of winning the royal selection.
Why not leave this world and go elsewhere?
In Takumi's world, there was no discrimination against Emilia. It was a far better environment than this one.
Here, she'd suffered constant prejudice over her appearance.
If someone else became king, she might even get exiled.
Unlikely, maybebut they had to think it through.
After some discussion, Emilia made up her mind.
"Kaguya, can you tell me more about that world?" "I want to understand better."
Kaguya, who had been playing a game nearby, heard her and understood that Emilia had made her decision.
"Alright! Come on, everyone. Gather around."
Beaming, Kaguya excitedly began explaining Takumi's world.
They had to understand it more deeply before they'd be willing to go.
As Kaguya explained, the others gradually understood:
Takumi's world was a fusion of many others.
Once upon a time, he had been the only person there. The humans of that world had gone extinct for unknown reasons.
Takumi stumbled upon it and began to build it up.
A brand new world.
Most of its people had been brought in from other worlds.
It was crazy.
Everyone there had come from somewhere else. There were no natives. Not even Takumi.
Thinking about that, Emilia nodded.
"Then let's go." "We'll pack up and make arrangements."
She sighed.
"Have you truly decided?"
Puck looked at her seriously.
Emilia nodded firmly.
"Yes. I've made my decision."
Nothing more to say.
Given the situation, there was no choice. They'd leave and start a new life in another world.
Maybe that wouldn't be so bad.
With that thought, Emilia brightened.
"Mm, then just bring whatever valuable items you can carry." "Materials and such can be sold there for money." "People will buy them."
"I'll borrow some spatial storage equipment from Takumi."
"Beatrice, would you mind opening a portal?"
Seeing Emilia had decided, Kaguya moved to help again.
A spatial container would be enough. They had a lot to bring, and it wouldn't be elegant to lug around a mountain of bags.
Beatrice didn't say anything. She lifted her hand and cast a spell.
A gate opened.
But as she looked at what was inside, her eyes widened in shock.
This was... her library?!
Are you serious?
Chapter 425: Packing Up the Entire Frozen Wasteland
Beatrice stared blankly at her own library.
At the moment, the entire place was filled with robots scanning her magical books. Anyone who didn't know better would think it was some kind of robot factory.
Seeing the scene inside, Beatrice was completely dumbfounded.
"Is there a problem?"
Takumi was holding a magic book, tilting his head toward the doorway.
"Give me a spatial item. We need to pack things up!"
Kaguya sounded a little exasperated but didn't hesitate to speak up.
Upon hearing that, Takumi immediately tossed over a spatial bracelet.
He understoodEmilia had made her decision.
"Since you've decided, that's good. One more thingI'll help rescue your family later."
"You don't need to worry about that."
Takumi looked calmly at Emilia.
Even if he hadn't mentioned it, she would've brought it up eventually.
Emilia was stunned.
"You know?"
Her eyes widened. Takumi knew about this too?
She hadn't told anyone yet. She had planned to bring it up to Takumi slowly.
But now Takumi had taken the initiative.
"Of course I know. I know many things about this worldincluding the fact that you lost your memories."
"So, what do you think? Do you want me to help restore them?"
Takumi smiled at her.
If she wanted, all he had to do was dissolve her contract with Puck.
Then the sealed memories would return.
As for the frozen forestchild's play.
Emilia and Puck were both dumbfounded.
Restore her memories.
"Can you really do it?"
Emilia looked nervously at Takumi.
She truly wanted to recover her past memories.
"Of course. All I have to do is dissolve your contract with Puck."
"Also, I can make it so Puck can stay materialized outside all the time."
"After your memories return, you can form a new contract with him."
"It's really no big deal."
Restoring memories was too easy.
And Takumi could solve Puck's issue in passing.
Wouldn't it be great if Puck could always stay by her side?
"Really?"
Emilia's eyes sparkled, especially at the thought of keeping Puck outside at all times.
That would be amazing.
Thinking this, she turned her gaze to Puck.
Puck, considering everything, nodded in agreement.
Seeing Puck's response, Emilia immediately said, "If it's possible, I'll trouble you with it."
There was no reason to refuse.
Takumi, seeing this, handed off the book in his hand to a nearby robot to continue scanning, then walked out of the room.
Emilia turned and told Ram and Rem to start packing.
She looked at Takumi with anticipation.
"Give me your pendant," Takumi said plainly, pointing at the one hanging from her neck.
That pendant was where Puck resided.
Emilia quickly handed it over.
"Should I go back in?"
Puck asked, wondering if he needed to do anything.
Takumi shook his head.
"No need. Just stay still and don't resist."
Takumi infused the pendant with terrifying Honkai energy, shattering the vessel.
Power surged into Puck's body.
He was stunned.
That's it? So brute-force?
Before he could react, Takumi had already severed the contract between Puck and Emilia.
Puck, sensing this, straightened up.
So simple?
Then he noticed his internal power had changed.
All of his existing contracts were dissolved. He was now a fully independent being.
This shocked Puck to his core.
Just how strong was Takumi?
Why did these sacred contracts dissolve like child's play before him?
At the same time, Emilia's sealed memories began to surface.
She stood frozen.
Unnoticed, tears trickled down her cheeks.
Slowly, she remembered everything.
Everything that had happened.
"All done."
"Once you're all packed, we'll go to the Frozen Wasteland and retrieve your family. Then we can leave."
Everything resolved with ease.
Hearing that, Emilia slowly returned to her senses.
"Thank you."
This was it.
She could finally let go of her worries.
Looking at Emilia, Takumi added:
"As for the new contract, you can handle that yourself. You don't need me for it, right?"
Since everything was sorted, Takumi returned to duplicating the magical books.
Emilia nodded.
She could handle forming a contract.
Puck was ready tooit would be simple.
Seeing that, Takumi didn't interfere further.
After easily wrapping up Emilia's situation, he went back to copying magic books.
Meanwhile, Emilia quickly formed a new contract with Puck.
The rest was straightforward.
Once everything was settled, they began packing.
They gathered everything they needed.
Emilia also made a trip to the capital to formally withdraw from the royal selection.
The council members weren't upsetthey even thought she was wise.
By the time she finished, everything back home had been handled.
Returning with Kaguya, Emilia found Ram and Rem had finished packing.
Even Takumi had helped Beatrice move the entire library.
"Everything ready?"
Seeing her return, Takumi looked toward her.
Emilia nodded.
"All ready! They... didn't say much."
She didn't show much expression.
But remembering her past had made her stronger.
Takumi nodded.
"Alright then. Let's head outto the Frozen Wasteland."
With that, he opened a spatial portal and stepped through.
On the other side, an icy, snow-covered world awaited.
A sharp chill surged through the air.
Sensing the familiar atmosphere, Emilia felt reinvigorated.
With everyone in tow, they followed Takumi.
As they returned to the frozen forest, emotions swelled within Emilia.
Soon, she spotted her family, still frozen in place.
Chapter 426: Completely Identical
Takumi returned to the Eternal Frozen Lands with Emilia. From here, things became much simpler. He directly used his authority to resurrect everyone who had been frozen here. As the ice dispersed, the people inside gradually came back to life.
Seeing so many familiar faces, Emilia burst into tears.
After reviving everyone, Takumi didn't bother searching the area piece by piece. He simply packaged the entire frozen forest up. There were still plenty of valuable things inside. Rather than waste time looking for them, he figured he'd just take the whole place with him.
He dug up the ground down to its roots.
Any problems could be slowly resolved once he got back.
Emilia and the others were also swept into the Imaginary Space by Takumi, including himself.
The sky suddenly changed color, causing confusion among the remaining people.
Takumi calmly explained, "Stay here for now."
"Beatrice, let's go. I'm taking you to meet the witches."
Saying that, Takumi grabbed Beatrice and Kaguya, and they vanished from the spot. He left this place in Emilia's care. She likely had many things to say to her family.
When they returned to the outside world, the sight that greeted them was an immeasurably deep crater.
Seeing that the Eternal Frozen Lands had completely vanished, Beatrice was dumbfounded.
"You took the entire Eternal Frozen Lands?" she asked in disbelief.
"Of course," Takumi replied. "A place that even the witches attackedI'm quite curious. We'll study it thoroughly after we get back. But for now, let's go meet those witches."
With that, he opened another spatial portal and stepped through.
Beatrice and Kaguya followed closely behind him.
