1 The Hikikomori

Prologue: The Witch from 400 years ago

There was once a woman all by herself. Nothing in this world was unavailable from her view, this woman worried about everything. Every struggling person in this world was a child who needed her protection. The woman sought not to control this world, but to shelter it from harm. Thus, her story began...

—Failure, failure, failure, failure, and more failure.

The hard task of protecting, advising, and saving the entire world proved to be too heavy of a burden, for the woman's hands could not reach everyone.

Seeing the problem and solving one is different. A concept many people face in their lives and learn to let go, but not for her. She lacked a way to solve every problem and cursed her inadequacy.

She could reach for what was in front of her, but she couldn't cross the impossible. She could deal with pressing affairs, but time was unforgiving. There was so much beyond her reach, her arrogant wisdom lit no path to hope.

Submerged by an endless sea of regret, each sorrowful wail she could not prevent shattered her broken heart afresh. But finally, the woman understood.

It's impossible.

She realized her wish was impossible but even so, if her own hands weren't enough, she would find more. Simply by not being alone, by finding others who shared her wish, she could reach everyone.

[Greed]

She joins forces with the instigator, hands down the battlefield to the Heavenly Sword, makes a deal with the Holy Dragon, and pushed forward her greatest wish.

"Saved. They'll all be saved. The way to save them, I can see it. —The path to salvation."

Even if there was a price to pay in blood, she needed to prevail. Even if her instigator were to disappear, even if her Heavenly Sword's smiles were to vanish forever, even if her dragon were to leave to faraway skies, she could not surrender.

Even if her first allies left her side, she lost her way, for the once lonesome woman was no longer alone. She walks a road paved with corpses, designating countless lives as sacrifices, all for the sake of grasping her greatest aspiration. One day, with a sufficient amount of knowledge, her hands could reach each and every tear. For the first time, she truly believed that she could reach it.

So, consumed by that sacred wish, the woman struggled through excruciating despair.

The [Witch of Greed] bled avarice in the wake of her yearning.

—But fate had another thing in store for this woman.

※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※

Natsuki Subaru was born in Japan without any siblings. Maybe if he had one, he wouldn't be in his current state. His present situation could be described as "Shut-in NEET", who isn't even trying to finish high school. And no, he isn't like those CEO dropouts, who at least have some ambitions towards something more. He just doesn't feel like it.

The only thing he feels like doing is playing games, watching anime, and eating. Luckily for him, his parents take care of him so that he doesn't become one of those stereotypical "NEET's", who are 30-year-old and still live with their parents. At least he has his father to keep him fit and his mother to rely on.

"Honey, are you going out?"

Subaru didn't want to show his face towards his mother and decided to leave, without answering back. Something that would hunt him for a long time. Even though a lot of his mental problems come from his dad, it's his mother who believes he is disappointing.

Natsuki Kenichi

Kenichi is a good-looking, relatively tall, middle-aged man, with short, combed-back black hair like Subaru's. He has drooping black eyes with angled eyebrows. Most of the time, he's seen wearing average-looking, rectangular glasses that complement his usual laid-back smile and positive demeanour perfectly. Kenichi is sociable, usually talking with acquaintances while outside, and, coupled with his good looks, tends to get the email addresses of high school girls.

So similar, yet so different.

Walking towards the 7-Eleven took less than a couple of minutes, got to envy the Japanese for having such convenience. So many different products ranging from food to different types of manga, the dream of the "Western NEET's".

"That would be 363 Yen."

The man's voice woke Subaru up, who was feeling a bit disoriented. He found a grooved-edge ten, something that is quite a collectible for the right people.

"Ha, guess I'm lucky today," he mumbled towards himself.

Having paid for his items, Subaru exits the building and watches a car drive past him. Once again, he feels discomfort like something is happening to him. He looks around but nothing is out of order, while rubbing his eyes it happened.

He looked around slowly, not registering that he had been transported from his home, from his country, from his world. The place resembles a Western medieval market, its buildings were made from stone and wood, but the thing that stood out was the stank. Some might argue it smelled worse than King's Landing.

"What's going on? This stuff obviously isn't fake. Which means..."

"I have been summoned into a parallel world!" Subaru shouted not realising the people who were walking next to him giving weird looks. A shouting idiot with foreign clothes, not something that the people of Lugnica appreciated.

Reconfirming his surroundings yet again, he heaved his umpteenth sigh. He moved from the street he was on and was presently sitting in a somewhat dim alley. The ground was paved, a rough job compared to modern Japan, but it wasn't bad.

First, calmly analyse that time period's culture and its differences with Japan. Ascertain any differences in the laws of physics, and the possibility of contact with humanoid organisms. These were his priorities.

"Alright, let's do this. I'm not imagining you guys, and I'm fairly certain about the level of civilization. It seems like my money won't be of any use, but I took the opportunity to speak to a shopkeeper and we had no problem communicating."

The first thing Subaru did was an attempt to negotiate with a merchant to purchase the "apples?" with his Japanese Yen, he was denied. It seemed that this world used gold, silver, and copper coins as its currency. The inherent value of the currency in this world was easy to understand, certainly befitting a parallel world fantasy.

The lizards drawing the carriages appeared considerably larger than horses. Their body mass seemed constant relative to their proportions, but it was certainly worrying to see reptiles of that size.

"They're commonplace, huh… Both lizards and humanoids."

Then the final piece he had to confirm, the unique looks of this world's humans. They possessed very colourful hair, but one could easily obtain any hair colour with dye. For a parallel world fantasy, that was nothing extraordinary. Instead, Subaru focused on their "animal ears."

At a cursory glance, he spotted dog ears, cat ears, perhaps even bunny ears and he may have even caught sight of a lizardman-like being. There were also those who looked no different from Subaru which led him to conclude-

"The genre is parallel world fantasy. The culture is that of your typical medieval civilization. Demi-humans are common, so battle and adventure might be common as well. The animals show some minor changes, but they basically serve their functions. Is that how it is?"

Having spoken of the circumstances he'd ended up in, he knit his brows at this seemingly convenient development. If things proceeded according to his fantasies, he'd freely use his modern knowledge to obtain incredible power, however, this world was slightly different from what he'd planned for.

He checked his belongings. In a parallel world fantasy, starting gear was even more important than he had imagined. He'd need everything he had, however little.

First, his cell phone (with a dying battery), his wallet (containing many video rental membership cards), the ramen he bought at the convenience store (Shoyu Tonkotsu), some snacks (corn potage flavoured), his beloved grey jersey (unwashed), worn-out sneakers (of two years) and more.

"That's that, huh… Why didn't I at least carry a pistol? What do I do now?"

Subaru moved his fingers nervously as he contemplated his future in despair. However, his expression changed when he heard footsteps echoing through the alley. He looked up to see four men blocking the exit.

"Wait a minute is this a compulsory event?"

Seeing the grinning men, Subaru wiped his face and stood up in a panic. Something about those people screamed danger. It looked like those four haven't eaten in while, not surprising considering that the so-called "city" looks more like a big town.

Subaru wasn't going to take chances with these bandits and decided to run away, but while turning around he saw three more men coming towards him from behind. He was trapped.

But Subaru isn't one of those people that rationalize, like a normal person but decided to base this whole situation on concepts that come out of different types of Harem Novels. Where the main protagonist is all so powerful. Forgetting the part about the bandits looking very dangerous, he decided to follow his guts.

"Considering the typical pattern, I might be super strong here. Something like the gravity being a tenth of what it was or… Come to think of it, my body feels light! Maybe I can win!"

"Boss, the fucker is murmuring something. Should we kill him?" One of the bandits started waving a big knife in his hand.

"A knife? What? Kill me?" Subaru panicked while making sense of the situation, which he greatly underestimated.

Subaru didn't know how to get out of this situation, because these people would truly kill him. So, he did what any other seventeen-year-old high schooler would do. He begged.

"Wait! Please, don't kill me!" Subaru begged on his knees.

"Hhmm, maybe not so stupid after all," said one of the bandits.

"Give me everything you have!" The bandit boss said towards Subaru, who noticed someone coming from behind them.

"What is going on, I suppose?"

A small girl with long cream-coloured hair that she has tied in two twin drills along with blue eyes that have butterfly pattern at the centre stood fearlessly in front of the bandits. She wears a red frilled dress with pink ribbons, quite a cute combination.

"Haha! Little girl, you better leave," one of the bandits threatened her.

"I don't know what is going on, but mother would be displeased if she were to see this. So, stop this behaviour, I suppose."

"The fuck you say to me, you little shit! Boss, I will kill that girl!" The bandit, called Ninja, draws his knife, ready to hurt the innocent-looking kid.

"El Shamak!"

Subaru was perplexed, out of nowhere a little girl stood in front of bandits with so little fear. Feeling like he was the damsel in distress, made him uncomfortable. After the girl shouted, something unexplanatory happened. All the bandits stopped moving...

"What?" Subaru looked wide-eyed towards the not so innocent girl.

"Betty told them to stop but they didn't listen, I suppose," the girl huffed.

"Did you do this?" Subaru asked the girl who looked like she went on a walk, instead of disabling the bandit's movements.

"I did, I suppose. Now I'm leaving mother is waiting for Betty," the girl said while walking away.

"Wait!"

"Is there something?"

"Do you need help with going to your mother?"

Honestly, such a stupid question, a person who can take care of multiple bandits needs help with finding her mother. Truly, only someone like Subaru could say that without even realizing the idiocy of it.

Now it was the turn of the girl to be perplexed, "What?" She mumbled.

"Come to think of it, I don't even know your name. Then let's start with me." Subaru said with a bit too much "passion".

Subaru cleared his throat and then spun on the spot, striking a pose as he thrust his finger into the sky.

"My name is Natsuki Subaru! I'm utterly lost and completely broke! Nice to meet you!"

"Betty is mother's Betty but you can call me Beatrice, I suppose," she said looking unimpressed.

"Ah, Beako! Nice to meet you!"

Beatrice ignored him and started walking away. Subaru panicking decided to follow the girl, what else could he do?

"This place is really fantasy-like." Subaru mumbled, but Beatrice looked at him and spoke.

"I don't know what you are talking about, I suppose."

Feeling a bit more comfortable around Beatrice, Subaru started to ask something very important.

"Soo Beako! Where are we?" Subaru in all his "detective skills" couldn't even figure out the name of the place where he was transported.

"What are you talking about? This is the Capital City of Lugnica, one of the [Seven Great Nations]."

Only one thought went through Beatrice mind when she looked towards the unusual boy, "Is he stupid?"

"One of the [Seven Great Nations], Lugnica?" Subaru looked around him and couldn't understand the "great" part. The city was big, there were walls, on top of the hill there was something that resembled a royal palace, but his modern mindset wasn't really impressed.

"What did you do to those bandits?"

"Magic, I suppose."

Subaru was ecstatic, something that was deemed impossible was real. Who hasn't dreamt about using magic, becoming a knight or being someone that could save the day and fight villains! Magic was real and he was going to learn about it...

"You should stop dreaming, I suppose. Someone like you shouldn't even be capable of performing the Al-type of magic that Betty can use." Beatrice squashed his dreams before they could form.

They walked a bit further when they stood in front of a big building called [The Royal Library]. It was one of the better-looking buildings, which you can see resembles the Gothic style architecture that was particularly popular in Europe from the late 12th century to the 16th.

"Oi! Beako! Where are we going, weren't we going to meet your mother?"

"Beako? I haven't allowed you to call me that but to answer your question. We are indeed going to mother, I suppose."

"Oh, she is in this library? Can we even enter?" Subaru asked, feeling a bit out of place in such a "royal" building.

"Mother made them open for the public, I suppose." Beatrice said proudly thinking about her mother's deed.

Subaru thought about what Beatrice just said. Someone who has the power to do something like that isn't a normal person, once again forgetting that someone like Beatrice isn't normal as well.

Once inside the library was full of... eh books. A lot of them, Subaru remembered going to one of those Western medieval libraries with his parents. They paid to see the interior of the castle, only to realise that a lot of the things were fake. Seriously, the library didn't even have books, just cardboard plates that looked like a lot of real books.

"Mother!" Beatrice shouted while running towards a woman who was sitting reading a book.

"Welcome back Beatrice. Did you enjoy yourself?" The woman said towards the little cream-haired girl.

"Betty did, I suppose. But Betty is happier with you!" Like a little girl, she reacted towards her mother.

This exchange took a while and Subaru didn't know what to do. Someone socially ignorant as him still understood that coming between a mother and her daughter is not really appreciated so he stood silent.

The woman finally realised that there was someone else and she looked a bit shocked, like she didn't expect Subaru's presence. The gaze only took a moment, before her gaze returned to normal.

"Excuse me. I haven't given you a single introduction of who I am. Sorry for these piling discourtesies. I didn't realise there was another person with Beatrice."

"My name is Echidna and who might you be?"

The woman called, Echidna, could be described with two words —white and black, which compliment her extraordinarily stark beauty. She has long white hair that reaches all the way down her back, and barely exposed white, porcelain-like skin. Her eyes are deep black that shines with something Subaru couldn't fathom, intelligence, curiosity, despair.

This was the meeting between [Natsuki Subaru] and the [Witch].

"My name is Natsuki Subaru, nice to meet you."

A/N: First, let me clarify that the first part is from WitchCultTranslations, translated by Hedge & Nanashi. Furthermore, there was quite a bit of content from the novel (Arc: 1) that was translated by Snuser, so respect to them. This is my second time writing a story and things will go different this time. I would once again appreciate your input, that is honestly the only thing I look forward to by writing this and feedback makes it far more enjoyable for me.

About the story, as you might have realised this is approximately 400 years before his "original" transportation. That means that the Witch of Envy hasn't yet destroyed "half of the world", which is why there are currently Seven Great Nations (Kararagi City States aren't united yet).

In the current time around 400 BA (Before Arrival Natsuki Subaru), magicians are not well known, and a lot of things are different. Tappei stated that the Echidna from the Castle of Dreams and the Echidna from 400 years ago should be considered as two separate entities. This story follows that belief and continues with the concept that the Witch of Greed's original intention was to "save" everyone. This Echidna is in despair, even with the help of others she isn't capable of achieving her wish, now with the variable called Natsuki Subaru this may or may not change. You will have to continue reading to know the answer to that, will Echidnut... Echidna change for the better or will our hero fall into the depths of despair because of our favourite witch. Maybe our hero will get charmed by another witch, who knows?!

Once again thank you for reading and reviews are appreciated. I have paused my other novel because I felt like the concept failed behind the current fanfics, there really are a lot of good fanfics around currently. The first three chapters (Prologue) will be definitely uploaded in between 3-5 days of each other, to see the reaction of the community and see if this story is something to continue doing (around 12k). If not, I might try and continue other concepts till both the readers and I are satisfied with the outcome. Thank you for letting me waste your time, have a good one!