Re:Zero Light Novel Volume 15/Synopsis

Chapter 4: We'll Have a Tea Party Next Time for Sure
Upon entering the Tomb once again, the third trial begins, with Emilia noticing that unlike the first two, she had no body, just her consciousness floating in empty space filled with darkness. She sees various colors of light flying around and touches one, which creates a vision of her standing in a scorched plain and ruined building all covered in blood and constantly telling an unknown person that she hates them. The scenes ends and Emilia returns to the darkness, figuring that what she saw was a future that could potentially happen. She nonetheless continues touching the other lights in the void and seeing the futures they contain play out, though most of them seemed tragic and unpleasant.

Afterwards, Emilia finds herself standing in a grassy plain with her body restored and seeing Echidna's tea table with six chairs all set out. She started reaching for the confectionaries on the table but she stops when she hears a voice from behind advises her to not. She also found herself unable to turn her head to face the owner of the voice, feeling her finger touch the back of her head and immobilize her with her pressure. Emilia decides not to turn around as the person, who is revealed to be Minerva, tells her that that is a good choice. Emilia asks for Minerva's name but Minerva says that she is a Witch so terrifying her hair would stand on end. After Emilia stands down, Minerva says that "the boy with the foul look" is a strange one, who Emilia figures is Subaru as Minerva asks what she thinks of him, causing her to tell her that he confessed his love to her and that he is special to her, yet she is unable to finish her question.

Emilia asks Minerva if she is Echidna's friend and where she is, with Minerva saying that she didn't want to see Emilia because she had a rough time in Emilia's trials. Emilia wonders why Echidna seemed so hurt and Minerva says that she was just upset at the results of the trial and that she herself is admirable to be concerned for someone who did nothing but insult her. Emilia insinuates that it was because Echidna was talking with her and cites that she would like to talk to her, but Minerva insists she doesn't or she will use her fists to hurt her. After a moment, Minerva reveals that she came in Echidna's place as administrator and asks Emilia what she saw in the trial. Emilia responds that she saw many sad worlds and questions if those events will happen. Minerva says that they could in Echidna's view, but whether or not they could or could not happen, they were still real, though she finds the fact that Echidna only showed her unpleasant futures to be unbelievably petty, but Emilia just calls her naughty.

Minerva asks Emilia why she seems so relieved after witnessing so many terrible futures, and Emilia says that it is because those futures aren't guaranteed, and even if some were a result of her own choices, there were many that wouldn't turn out that way, which is why feels she can face the future overall and any challenge standing in her way. Minerva warns she might regret that and fall down rather quickly but Emilia stands proud, citing she won't be alone; she will have other people beside her. Minerva tells Emilia that she is strong, which she can't say for her mother. That surprises Emilia and she asks if Minerva knows her, and while she does, she tells her that she promised not to say anything about her, which Emilia accepts. She then says that her mother is Fortuna and even though Echidna deeds were wicked, she nevertheless helped her remember all of her loved ones, and she is okay with knowing that much. Minerva starts crying but she insists to Emilia that she isn't, just as Emilia turns to help her. Immediately Minerva hugs her and holds her close to her chest making sure she never sees her face while she says she is badly behaved for turning around after all. Minerva finishes crying and tells Emilia that they are done here as a portal out of Echidna's Castle of Dreams appears where the tea table was. Minerva tells Emilia that it is time for her to go back as she quickly turns her head to face it. After a moment of pondering, Emilia proceeds to walk to the door, but she also says to Minerva to tell Echidna to let her come to her tea party, and invite all of the other Witches too. Minerva accepts and Emilia leaves the dream world.

Awaking in the tomb, she notices the door at the back open and goes past it. She ends up seeing what appeared to be a coffin with a woman within who Emilia says resembles Echidna but she isn't sure who she exactly is. As she tries to figure it out, she notices the ritual above the coffin and figures it is the key to the barrier surrounding the Sanctuary. She stops the flow of the core of the ritual, causing it to dissipate and therefore, break the barrier. Afterwards she wonders if the woman in the coffin is Roswaal's teacher like he mentioned before and remembers she wants to talk to him and Ram outside. However, once she exits the tomb, she sees that the entire Sanctuary has become covered in snow.

Chapter 8: The Faces of Snow
Subaru praises Emilia for holding back the Oousagi for as long as she did and deduces that her having everyone evacuated to the tomb means the Trials were completed. His attention is drawn to the injured Ram but Beatrice asks him to focus back on the Oousagi. Subaru does take a moment to savor hearing Beatrice address him by name before asking if she is ready to fight the Oousagi. Beatrice replies that the two of them just formed a pact and the Oousagi is one of the Three Great Demon Beasts, not to mention the fact that Subaru is an amateur and she herself hasn't fought anyone seriously in four hundred years. Nevertheless, she says it is the perfect handicap with a smile as Subaru tells Emilia to take down any stragglers while he and Beatrice take down the horde, which she agrees to. Beatrice asks if he is nervous but he says he he isn't since he has her and Emilia beside and behind him, respectively.

The two raise their hands and Beatrice uses El Minya to destroy several Oousagi in front of her. Subaru is surprised to see such power as Beatrice explains that it is a Dark Element spell, and while she demonstrates its strength, all he has to do is hold her hand and not leave her alone. She also tells him that she will use magic to directly manipulate the mana in the air rather than his own, especially since his Gate is broken. As a result, she tells him to focus on her hand and imagine weaving mana and shaping it into the shape of an arrow before chanting it and unleashing it, which he does. The two continue to use El Minya on the Oousagi as Beatrice teleports herself and Subaru behind the horde and destroy several more of them before Subaru asks what their plan is. She says that she does and that the first stage is complete: they have successfully gathered all of the Oousagi in one place. Beatrice then explains to Subaru that while the Oousagi can reproduce at an incredible rate, there is a limit it can not pass, and they have ensured the Oousagi is reaching that limit. For the second step, Subaru picks up Beatrice and started running through the horde and up to Emilia asking her to help them, which she agrees to.

Subaru proceeds to lure the Oousagi to him while mocking them as he draws a marker in the snow around the Oousagi before unleashing several purple crystals in the maker to trap the Demon Beast in a cage. Emilia then uses her magic to lift the cage into the air and close it with a layer of ice, leaving the Oousagi nowhere to run. After making sure he caught all of the Oousagi, he turns to Beatrice to finish it off, as she uses a spell called Al Shamak. As a result, the Oousagi finds itself unable to see or sense anything, yet it proceeded to eat and devour any member of its kind nearby and reproducing when there was nothing left to eat. Meanwhile, the darkness that Beatrice summoned compressed the cage until the beast completely disappeared. It is revealed that Al Shamak creates an isolated space and therefore the Oousagi have been banished into another dimension which it will never be able to escape from.

After defeating the Oousagi, Beatrice tells Subaru to praise her for her hard work, which he does by picking her up and spinning her around and praising her relentlessly until the two of them fall over.

Interlude: Their Individual Compromises
While Beatrice and Roswaal go inside the tomb, Subaru, Emilia, and Ram stay outside waiting, with Subaru passing the time by making snow sculptures of Puck, something he praises himself for. Inside the tomb, Beatrice gazes upon the tomb containing Echidna, with guilt welling up within her for not keeping their promise and not finding "that person" and letting the library be destroyed. Roswaal, however, surmised she had a look of relief on her face. She retorts that he is the most relieved since he is facing her without his makeup on and that he can meet his teacher again after all this time.

Roswaal asks Beatrice if Subaru became "that person" for her, but she laughs in response. She says that Subaru isn't "that person", but when Roswaal asks how she was able to come out then, she says that he isn't suited to be "that person", but she chose him. She does add that when she asked him though, he answered that he could make her happier than some random stranger, and while she saw it as arrogant, she likes it anyway. Roswaal points out that she will never be his first, but Beatrice clarifies that he is her number one. Roswaal accepts her answer and says that she is still the same as back then.

Beatrice is confused by Roswaal's words, but she quickly realizes that the Roswaal she is currently talking to right now is in fact the very same Roswaal she knew from around 400 years ago. She asks if he used soul transcription despite knowing Echidna couldn't use it herself, but he reveals that he was able to perform it with similar vessels and souls. In other words, he had been transferring his soul among the children of the Mathers line.

Roswaal asks if she will condemn him as inhumane, and she asks him squat over to her, after which she slaps him with her shoe. She says that his actions are unworthy of praise and just reacts with general disgust. She does reveal that it was actually payback for the Forbidden Library's destruction, but if Subaru forgives him, then she can too. She then says to him "welcome home", which he responds to in kind.

Back outside the tomb, Subaru becomes annoyed with how long they have been in there, with Emilia trying to calm him down. He wonders if things with work out between the two of them and Emilia notes that he has a lot of faith in her and she can see that they have forged a pact. He turns his attention to the blue crystal around her neck that Puck was now residing in. She explains that he used a lot of strength and therefore won't be coming out, and the stone isn't even enough to wake him up, but both hope he will return one day.

Subaru comments that Emilia has changed, and she says it is because of him and everyone else for helping her. Suddenly, her face becomes red which he notices, and she brings up how he told her that he loves her, which he confirms, and while it makes her extremely happy, she feels bad about not giving a proper answer. She does, however, say that they need to talk about the child she believe she is carrying. The words leave Subaru completely dumbstruck, and while she continues talking about raising it, Subaru tries to explain where babies don't come from, and Emilia says that she believes a baby is born when a man and woman kiss. The answer once again leaves Subaru dumbstruck and he curses Puck for not teaching her this life lesson.

Later, inside the cathedral, the Emilia Camp, having been informed of Roswaal's involvement with both the attack on the mansion and the Sanctuary, take the opportunity to attack Roswaal in retribution. Afterwards, Subaru tries to calm everyone down so they can discuss their future plans. He does note that Ram was comforting him on her lap after watching him get beaten, and she says that it was only natural, as is what she is doing right now. Garfiel asks Subaru if he is serious to keep working with Roswaal, as after everything he has done, he doesn't think he can trust him again. Subaru points out that they still need his support for Emilia, and surprisingly, Frederica announces that she forgives him.

Garfiel is left incredulous by his sister's statement, but she says that regardless, Roswaal still took care of her, and she in turn, believes she is using his power for her own goals, therefore both are using a state of lending and borrowing. Otto interrupts the conversation to bring his businesslike mind to the mix. He admits Garfiel's anger is justified but he wants to know to what extend Roswaal with accept these new terms of cooperation. Before that though, Roswaal says that no one needs to worry about him betraying everyone, as he stands up and takes off his bandages around his body revealing a glowing symbol. Beatrice explains to Subaru that it is a vow sealed with a curse. Roswaal explains that since he lost his bet with Subaru, he engraved it onto his body and says that if he breaks his vow, the curse will kill him. Therefore, it was the best way to make sure he would come on board with Subaru's terms. He does add though that if Subaru had lost, then he would have been engraved with the curse instead, which unnerves him.

Nevertheless, Subaru asks Garfiel if the cursed vow is enough to get him to work with him, but he still has his suspicions. Ryuzu tells Garfiel that Shima's choice was her own regardless of Roswaal's actions and not to feel bad about it. After that, Garfiel finally relents and demands that Roswaal swear he never do something like this ever again, threatening to end him himself, which he does swear. Petra finally speaks up and says that she can't bring herself to forgive him since she thought he was a trusted lord, but she doesn't want to make things hard with her own feelings, so she will let him help. After she has her say, Subaru asks if anyone else has something to say. Emilia does so and says that Roswaal hasn't done the utmost important thing yet: apologizing, which he does.

Subaru later returns to the tomb where Echinda's corpse lays, with Beatrice visiting him. She inquires what he is doing and he says he is only thinking of the future, but it leads to the two of them teasingly talking to one another. After he picks her up, he asks if the woman in the coffin is her mother, which she confirms but she says that the person is Echidna, and not the "Witch of Greed" he is familiar with. He does say it is sad that the others from her past couldn't be here too, but she says there is no helping that.

Beatrice decides to tell Subaru some things about being spirit mage, particularly regarding herself since she isn't a normal spirit. The first thing she tells Subaru is that she monopolizes her contractor, meaning he can not form contracts with any other spirits and lesser spirits. The second thing is that she is incapable of generating her own mana, needing to draw it out of the area. He questions her powers previously but she says that was mana stored up over a long period of time, as back in the mansion she sapped it from everyone living there. When he asks how much she has now, she says none, as using Al Shamak used up the last of her reserves. Subaru quickly realizes that the pact between them is ill-prepared since both of them can't use magic normally, leading to them quarreling with each other for a while.