Standing side by side, their faces were two peas in a pod; the girls were obviously twins.
Both stood about a hundred and fifty centimeters tall. Their big eyes, pink lips, and the soft, youthful loveliness of their faces made them outright adorable. Both wore their hair in short bobs, with their hair parted to fall across one eye—the right eye on one and the left eye on the other.
The way their hair was parted and the fact that one had pink hair and the other blue were the only visual clues to tell them apart.
The twins watched Subaru carefully. His mind quivered, as though it were all scratched up, as he suddenly realized.
“No way… There are maid outfits in this world, too?!”
They wore black apron dresses with white accents and white lace headpieces on their heads. These outfits were specially modified to expose their narrow shoulders, which, combined with the short skirts, flaunted their body lines in scandalous ways. Subaru didn’t know a whole lot about maid outfits, but he was certain the level of skin exposure represented the designer’s personal taste…though the twins who wore them were beautiful regardless.
“I thought maids were supposed to dress modestly…but I think I’m a fan!”
“This is terrible, Sister. Right now, in Dear Guest’s head, you are the subject of obscene, degrading thoughts.”
“This is dreadful, Rem. Right now, Dear Guest’s head has become filled with completely disgusting thoughts about you.”
“Don’t take my mental capacity for granted, ladies. You’re both going to star in my fantasies!”
Subaru crossed his forearms and made suggestive motions with his fingers. The gesture made the two maids’ faces tremble; the girls wrapped around each other, releasing their hands and pointing at each other.
“Please forgive me, Dear Guest. Let me go and defile Sister instead.”
“Please stop this, Dear Guest. Let me go and humiliate Rem instead.”
“Where’s the sisterly love here?! I mean, selling each other out and making me some archvillain?!”
The two maids pushed the role of scapegoat onto the other, looking at Subaru as if wondering which one he’d sink his evil fangs into first. That was when he suddenly noticed…
Knock, knock. The girl stood inside the open door, tapping it softly while looking at the three of them.
“…Couldn’t you wake up with less drama?”
Today, she was letting her long silver hair hang naturally all the way to her hips. Her outfit was not the robe he’d seen at the capital but rather, an outfit that accentuated her light skin and slender physique with its design.
The skirt was unexpectedly short; Subaru, marveling at how it showed off her long legs, pumped a fist.
“I get it! Whoever chose this, I get what they were thinking!”
The silver-haired girl—Emilia—gawked at Subaru’s praise.
“…I’m not quite sure what you’re referring to, but I’m veeery disappointed that I know it’s something meaningless.”
In one move, Emilia’s sudden visit had greatly improved Subaru’s mental state.
In a place full of unknowns—his incident with the first little girl he had met was especially poignant—seeing Emilia, a friendly face he’d known since just after his summoning to another world, made it all the more special in his mind.
“To think I was worried a bit when I heard Beatrice was rough on you when you were low on blood… I really shouldn’t have bothered.”
“I’m in a super good mood from waking up to your face, though. And I’m a little afraid to ask this, but…”
With Emilia giving him a suspicious look, Subaru put both his hands together and timidly looked at her with upturned eyes.
“You, ah…remember all about me, right?”
“That gesture, for some reason I don’t like it. Also, that’s an odd question. I don’t think I’d forget someone who stands out as much as you do, Subaru.”
With Emilia smiling charmingly at him and calling his name, Subaru slumped his shoulders in relief. Then, realizing that for once a girl was calling him by name, he was rather flushed.
“Please listen, Lady Emilia. This person was terribly humiliating. For Sister, that is.”
“Hear this, Lady Emilia. This man has trapped and violated girls. Rem, that is.”
The twins left Subaru behind, who was now red to the tips of his ears, as they rushed to Emilia’s side to make their baseless charges. Emilia made a strained smile at their slander and glanced sideways at Subaru.
“I…don’t know Subaru enough to say I know he wouldn’t do that, but I trust that he probably did not. Don’t tease him too much, okay?”
“Yes, Lady Emilia. Ram shall reflect on this.”
“Yes, Lady Emilia. Rem will reflect on this.”
Despite their statements, the twins didn’t appear to mean it even a tiny bit. Emilia showed no signs of objecting to their attitude; perhaps she was simply used to it.
“Anyway, Subaru, are you doing all right? Nothing feels wrong anywhere?”
“Mm, oh, yeah, before I slept I felt like my whole body was on fire and I was going to die, but I don’t feel one bit of that now. I actually feel like I slept a bit too much.”
“If you’re no worse than that, good. Can you handle a little stroll?”
“Stroll?”
Emilia was making a small smile as Subaru tilted his head.
“Yes, a stroll. I try to go into the garden once a day, and this seems like a good time for it, no?”
“Once a day…doing what? Watering the flower bed?”
“Not exactly. One of the conditions of my pact with the various spirits is that I make contact and speak with them every morning.”
When Emilia said spirit, Subaru thought back to the cat spirit he’d seen with Emilia.
A stroll and a chat with the spirits. It was a nice idea that provided fodder for his curiosity—and his ulterior motives.
“Sounds like great rehab to me, Emilia-tan. How about I stroll around the garden and exercise while you’re talking to the spirits?”
“Well, if you don’t talk loudly or make a big fuss, sure… Eh? What did you say just now?”
“Okay, it’s a deal. Let’s go to the garden!”
“Hey, what did you say? What is tan? Where’d that come from?”
The pet name seemed to throw off Emilia. Subaru was hiding his blush at having her call his name so openly when he turned toward the faces of the two maids standing side by side. “Hey, maid sisters. Where are my old clothes? Feels like I got in a hospital gown while I was out. I figure the mansion here lent this to me, but…”
“Do you understand, Sister? Perhaps he means that drab gray rag?”
“I understand, Rem. He means that bloodstained mouse-colored piece of filth.”
“Some guts there, calling it filthy and looking like a dirty rat. If it’s in one piece, could you hand it over?”
Faced with Subaru’s request, the twins turned to Emilia. Their looks said they wanted permission. When Emilia responded with a nod, the twins politely bowed and left the room.
“You don’t need to hear this from me, but you mustn’t strain yourself. You were terribly injured.”
“You closed the wound perfectly, though. Oh yeah…”
As if remembering something, Subaru straightened his posture and slowly bowed his head to Emilia.
“Thank you for healing my wounds, Emilia-tan. You saved me. I really am scared of dying. I’d like to do it only once.”
“Normally once is all you get…? But, mm-hm, never mind that…”
After the spontaneous verbal jab, Emilia’s purple eyes wavered as she looked at Subaru.
“I should be the one thanking you. You risked your life for mine when you barely knew me. Healing your wounds was the least I could do.”
Subaru’s breath caught at her sincerely apologetic look.
He hated himself for being unable to give her the reply he wanted to.
; —Emilia had said never mind that at her saving him. Yet it had been Emilia who’d saved him first.
But the only record of that was inside Subaru’s memories.
Subaru smiled, holding in the gratitude he could never properly convey.
“—Well, since we saved each other, I think we’re all square here.”
“Square…?”
“It means that neither of us owes the other a thing, so let’s get along, brotha!”
If he were talking to a resident of the Poor District, this would be the time for him to kindly clap them on the shoulder. But at that moment, it was all Subaru could do to cover up his embarrassment and blushing face as best he could. Emilia made a small smile at Subaru.
“Do I really need a younger brother this weird?”
“That’s a pretty harsh comment?!”
He slumped his shoulders at the casual put-down.
Both laughed at the exchange as the door opened and the twin maids returned. Subaru straightened as he saw them carrying the top and bottom of his tracksuit, one part each.
“Guess it’s time to restart the day.”
His first day since surpassing Return by Death was truly beginning.
5
Subaru shook his head when the maids offered to dress him, changing clothes by his own power before heading to the manor’s garden with Emilia.
Subaru let out a sigh of admiration as he looked over the broad garden.
“This is really big, too. The mansion’s huge, but this is more a grassland than a garden.”
He’d seen gardens of the manors of the well-off in manga and anime from time to time. They were the sorts of places where you held dinner parties. There, in the middle of the huge garden, Subaru began stretching exercises to begin his rehabilitation posthaste.
Emilia looked on curiously as she watched Subaru’s movements.
“Those are odd moves. What are you doing?”
“Oh, don’t you do warm-ups here? You do them before starting strenuous exercise.”
“Hmm, I haven’t really seen much of that. But I do understand it’s dangerous to make sudden, hard movements.”
“So people don’t do stretching in this world? Oh well, it can’t be helped—how about I teach you? Genuine warm-up exercises from my homeland, passed down through the generations!”
Emilia seemed to yield in the face of Subaru’s confident proclamation. “R-right. Just a bit, then,” she said, copying Subaru. Subaru stood beside Emilia and gave out instructions.
“Morning Warm-Up Part Twooo! Reach high with your hands and stretch that back~~!”
“Eh, what, no way?!”
“Just do what I do. I’ll pound the essence of radio calisthenics into you yet!”
With Emilia lost, Subaru scolded her and followed the beat of a routine famous around the nation.
Emilia was still bewildered at first but proved a quick study. When both finished making their final deep breaths, Subaru spread both hands into the sky.
“And last, raise your hands. Victory!”
“V-victory!”
“Okay, there you go, Emilia-tan, you are now a Radio Calisthenics Novice!”
Having finished doing calisthenics with all her might, Emilia’s face showed the new title had made a deep impression. But she made a face like she’d just remembered her original purpose.
“Right. Things really got off the beaten path, but if I forget this, they’ll be upset.”
Emilia, making a thin, pleasant smile as she spoke, brought out a green crystal from her pocket and showed it to Subaru.
“Ah, that’s…”
“A crystal for spirits to inhabit. You know, like Puck.”
“The kitty cat that slept through all the big stuff? Bet he doesn’t know about my heroic scene, then?”
The crystal glowed as if to rebuke Subaru’s taking him lightly. The indifferent voice came from the crystal at first.
“Oh, not at all, Subaru, Lia told me all about it after things got wrapped up.”
Finally, light poured out of the crystal and condensed into an outline forming atop Emilia’s palm.
“Heya. Morning, Subaru. Nice weather.”
“It’s been an up-and-down night and morning for me, though. First the looping corridor, then that menacing little girl. Now I’m past that and working up a sweat with Emilia-tan…”
Emilia’s lips tapered into a pout.
“People will get the wrong impression if you say that.”
Emilia then looked at Puck, sitting atop her palm.
“Good morning, Puck. Sorry for pushing you so hard yesterday.”
“Good morning, Lia. I’m the one sorry for yesterday, though. I almost lost you. I can’t thank Subaru enough, really.”
Puck looked up at Subaru with his round black eyes as he stroked his pink nose with his paw.
“Well, I owe you something. I wonder if there’s anything you want? Something I can do, I mean.”
Subaru’s reply to Puck’s grandiose statement was immediate.
“All right, let me touch that fur of yours to my heart’s content.”
Puck’s and Emilia’s eyes went wide. Apparently, the speed of the reply had surprised them as much as the content.
“Sh-shouldn’t you take a little longer to decide? Puck might look small and unreliable, but his power level really is quite something.”
“Hey, to me, being able to feel fur like from the finest fabrics is a really huge thing. I wouldn’t take any amount of money over it. No, seriously.”
As Subaru spoke, he indulged his right and stuck his finger toward Puck: first belly, then chin, and the ears to finish him off.
“Oh, these ears are addictive! I’m totally into your fluffiness here!”
“I know from reading the surface of your thoughts, but to hear you actually say it, wow.”
Subaru liberally toyed around as Puck made pleasant noises from his throat.
Emilia let out a sigh of resignation as she watched Subaru and Puck play.
“Well, I’m going to talk to the lesser spirits, then… It’s fine if you two play, but don’t interfere, okay?”
“So, she dumped us.”
“Yep, she dumped us.”
As both slumped their shoulders, Emilia made a point of ignoring them as she softly went to a corner of the garden. She gave the ground a light brush before sitting down. Emilia closed her eyes as pale lights began to surround her.
—He’d seen that sight before.
“Lesser spirits, huh?”
“That’s right. Most are classified as lesser or greater spirits…though a lot are outside of those categories.”
“Not that it doesn’t help…but I don’t know how to classify them.”
Subaru knew that the lights frolicking around Emilia were lesser spirits because Emilia had said as much during the loop in the royal capital.
As Emilia sat, she spoke softly to the minor spirits, smiling from time to time; the minor spirits seemed to brighten or fade accordingly.
“You said ‘a pact with minor spirits,’ but, like, what is that?”
“A ceremonial pact with a spirit—forging a covenant.”
Subaru frowned at the term he hadn’t heard before.
“Err, you see, a Spirit Master can’t use spirit spells unless she makes a pact with spirits first. The details of the pacts differ according to the spirits. Still with me?”
“So it’s not like interest and collateral for a bank loan, then. Gotcha.”
“My name’s not Gotcha, but let’s move on. So individual spirits want different things…but minor spirits like that just want pacts with simple conditions like contact with the caster.”
“So it’s like easy stuff for beginners. I take it that doesn’t work for other spirits?”
“It helps that you’re quick on the uptake. This won’t get far if you keep going off on tangents, though?”
Oops, said Subaru with a blushy smile. For his part, Puck gave him a warm look
as he toyed with his own whiskers.
“Right, it’s a bit harder to satisfy a spirit with a mind of his own, like me. I’d like to give to the pact maker as good as I take…but my conditions with Lia are pretty strict.”
“It’s been on my mind since earlier, but Lia, that’s a cute nickname.”
“Your Emilia-tan’s even cuter, though. I should call her that, too.”
“—Don’t. Seriously. I’m begging you.”
With puffed-up cheeks, Emilia cut into their silly games.
As Emilia returned, the spirits around her winked out; apparently Spirit Talk Time had come to an end. Subaru stood up and brushed the grass off his rear.
“Quality time over? That felt easier than I expected.”
“I was mindful of you two, so I asked them to keep it short. We have things we need to discuss today.”
As Emilia spoke, she offered up her palm; Puck leapt from Subaru, landing upon it. Puck’s round eyes turned toward Emilia with what seemed like a small, satisfied smile.
“It’s all right. I got a good feel for him, and I can’t find one shred of malice, hostility, or intent to do harm. Subaru’s a good boy, though his personality is a bit weird.”
“Now wait a…”
Aghast at Puck appraising him to Emilia on various levels, Subaru could only gape.
“Why did you… Even if it’s true, isn’t saying it in front of him hurtful?”
“Oh, ah, that’s fine! I’m a complete stranger to you, so of course you’d check me out. You’re right to doubt. But that part at the end really hurt, Emilia-tan!”
Emilia quickly covered her mouth with a hand and made a pained smile at Subaru.
Subaru hadn’t touched Puck all over without a reason. He’d expected this to come up. Emilia and the others weren’t so careless as to accept Subaru without knowing a single firm thing about him. No doubt that partially explained Ram’s and Rem’s demeanor.
“That said, I don’t have any good way to explain.”
There was obviously no preexisting record of Subaru in this world. Explaining that he’d been summoned was a tough sell, with good odds he’d be treated as a lunatic.
That being the case, letting Puck get a good read on him was the best option. Words from Puck, trusted by Emilia and able to read conscious thoughts, were a lot more convincing than anything Subaru could come up with.
Re:ZERO -Starting Life in Another World-, Vol. 2 Page 2
