“Rem.”
“Yes?”
“Don’t kill them, okay?”
“You are as kind as ever, Subaru—I shall half-kill them, then.”
In a miraculous combination of equal parts violence and loveliness, Rem leaped into the mob.
Some lunged at her only to be thrashed. Others turned tail and ran. Others still squatted down and cowered, unable to grasp what was going on—Rem heaped punishment upon them all impartially.
Subaru gawked at the sight of people flying through the air like they weighed nothing.
“Whoa, that’s amazing.”
The impending end of the strife before his eyes filled Subaru’s head with tranquility, as if he were removed from the uproar. He never even noticed the violet eyes staring at him, nor the pleading murmur that accompanied them.
“—Subaru.”
9
“So that’s why we’re gonna rough you up a little. Just a little, wee bit,” said a thug to the girl.
The men blocking off the road and laughing lewdly included Dumber and Dumbest. Their group, separate from Dumb’s, had surrounded the girl and her companion. They didn’t need to put into words exactly what kind of payback they had in mind after capturing her. The vulgar lust in their eyes said it all.
But the girl paid the men around her no heed as she brought the slice of abble to her lips.
“…Mm, bittersweet. It is indeed an abble on the inside. I am forced to conclude that the clown from earlier did not simply dye them red as some kind of joke. So abbles are indeed this color? I am shocked.”
Al replied, “Hey, ah, Princess, you seeing what’s happening here?”
“Whatever you wish to say, speak it clearly. I dislike all this indirectness.”
“Fine, I’ll come right out and say it.—There’s two abbles, so ain’t one of ’em mine?”
“Ha! How absurd. Now hear this, I caught both abbles that the clown tossed. Consequently, both are mine.”
“It’s common sense that if you have two of something and two people, each of ’em takes one.”
The disregard of both master and servant drove the ruffians’ anger to its limit. With clear malice, each one drew his blade as they began to tighten the circle.
Al asked her, “So, Princess. What about what the world around you wants?”
“My choice is the world’s choice. You should bear that in mind, Al.”
“I try.”
The girl nodded with satisfaction at Al’s words and resumed nibbling on her abble. Her cheeks relaxed at the bittersweet taste, bringing an angelic smile over her beautiful face. And as if ripping off an insect’s wings with cherubic innocence, she stated matter-of-factly, “I am now in a very good mood.—Consequently, you may spare their lives.”
Hearing those words, Al put his hand on the handle of the large sword sheathed horizontally behind his hip. There was a slow shing—the sound of a blade being drawn from its sheath. With that as background music, he stated, “—Aye-aye, ma’am.”
The smile under the pitch-black helmet was vivid and fierce.
CHAPTER 3
ON THE VERY WORST OF TERMS
1
“—Ehh?! You’re leaving me behind?!”
Early in the morning at the inn, Subaru raised his voice in shock as he learned the day’s schedule.
Subaru was stunned while Emilia and Rem sat before his eyes at the table. Roswaal had left the inn earlier, stating that he had a prior engagement; the other three were just finishing the breakfast Rem had prepared.
Emilia answered him, “Of course I am. Subaru, the reasons you’re here in the royal capital were to see if your acquaintances are all right and to get you treated. That was the deal.”
“Er, but, since I’m feeling pretty well, you could loosen up the interpretation a little…”
“Absolutely not. Today really isn’t fun and games, and outsiders are forbidden to enter. I can’t even bring Rem with me.”
Emilia’s atypically strict instructions were hard for Subaru to argue with given how he’d wandered off just the day before. He looked to Rem for salvation, but the blue-haired maid shook her head.
“This time, Lady Emilia is absolutely correct. Please listen to her.”
“Crap, isn’t anyone on my side here?! And I can’t say anything because of what happened yesterday, either. Ugh!”
Even if Rem was fundamentally biased toward Subaru, priorities were priorities. As a result of his failing to uphold Emilia’s instructions and wandering off on his own the day before, he was totally grounded.
With Subaru directing his lament skyward, Emilia put her hands on her hips and exhaled.
“It won’t be that long… Or I’d like to say that, but I don’t really know when I’ll be back. So go ahead and eat supper together with Rem. Otherwise I think it might be a rather long wait.”
“Pfft. If you’re going to be that mean about it, I’ve got my own ideas, Emilia-tan. Hey, Rem. Let’s have a feast all by ourselves!”
“No, today’s menu is abble chips with abble salad, abble pie filled with abble jam, and I have freshly squeezed abble juice ready for dessert.”
“Abbles all the way down?! Damn you, Scarface!”
Apparently, since he’d returned with nine abbles in his bag, it meant the evening’s menu would be a veritable abble festival. Subaru laughed desperately as the image of the scar-faced shopkeeper smiling and giving him a thumbs-up came to mind.
“Well, that’s fine, abbles are my favorite fruit, anyway! Being surrounded by abbles is heaven itself! Okay, Rem!! Let’s eat the whole thing up between the two of us!!”
“Oh, I couldn’t. If you like it so much, I’ll let you have all of it.”
“You act like you’re cozying up to me, but sometimes you just chuck me over the cliff, you know?!”
Subaru was aghast at how Rem acted less out of concern for his position and more out of how to use his position to her advantage. Emilia slumped her shoulders at the interaction between the two before focusing on the maid.
“Anyway, I’m trusting you with this, Rem. I think Roswaal has told you this, too, but… Be strict… Really, be strict, okay?”
“The way you repeated yourself after that pause—Emilia-tan’s super trusting of me, huh?”
Subaru gave a thumbs-up at Emilia’s earnest reminder. Emilia, already accustomed to the sight, gently rested a hand on his fact.
Subaru’s breath caught at the sudden contact.
“Subaru, I’m not asking much of you…”
“R-right…?”
“Please, let me trust you, okay?”
For a moment, the sound of Emilia’s plea froze Subaru’s thoughts solid.
Then, he caught her meaning, chewed it over, and swallowed with a nod.
“Y-yeah! I’ll do just that! I practically live to meet Emilia-tan’s expectations!”
He still didn’t understand the cause of the lingering unease in her eyes when he reflexively agreed to all her conditions. He’d just accept them for now and take them into account when he shifted to action.
In contrast, Emilia’s violet eyes darkened. Then, she quietly added…
“Yes—I trust you.”
2
It was probably less than an hour after Emilia had left for the royal palace.
Subaru was spending his time studying the world’s writing system under Rem’s tutelage at the inn. He was mechanically copying characters, his thoughts consumed by just one thing.
—Namely, how he could be at Emilia’s side as she competed in the royal selection.
Emilia was right to worry about how he would take her entreaties for him to wait. Subaru hadn’t considered patiently waiting at the inn for her return in the slightest.
He felt a little guilty about disregarding his promise to her. Even so…
“There’s definitely people here in the royal capital who have it out for Emilia…”
The last time she had been to the royal capital was the first day Subaru had
met her.
Apparently she had snuck her way in to visit. In spite of this, enemies had targeted the emblem she carried, attempting to rob her of her qualification for the royal selection, and even her very life.
—Thinking back upon their fateful encounter, Subaru could not endure the burning in his chest.
Having been suddenly summoned into another world, he’d lived until that day without a single word from anyone. He still had no idea who had summoned him or why. He didn’t have any leads. That was why Subaru was thinking about how to blow the current situation wide open.
If no one was going to grant him a purpose, he’d decide his purpose for himself.
“—I’m gonna…help Emilia.”
Subaru had probably been summoned to that world for that very reason. And if not, he’d do it anyway.
That was the thought that animated Subaru Natsuki and gave him strength.
“And that’s why…”
“—?”
Rem just happened to catch a glimpse of Subaru’s eyes as he hardened his inner resolve. With a slight blush of her cheeks, the maid stood firmly in his way, forming an impassable barrier in front of the door.
He’d tried various methods to get her to leave her post already, but she’d even brought a chamber pot in with her.
“Stare…”
“What is it, Subaru? Those intense eyes are making this a little awkward…”
“Stare…”
“Y-you may not. Even if you look at me like an abandoned puppy, you may not.”
“Stare…”
“I-I promised Sister that I would fulfill my duties. So you may not.”
The power of Subaru’s silent stare was backing Rem into a corner. She seemed increasingly agitated as she endured Subaru’s gaze, glancing back at him with reproach.
“Are you…worried about Lady Emilia that much? The royal palace is filled with numerous privileged guests besides Lady Emilia, so I imagine security is very tight.”
“It’s not how good the security is… I hate being left behind when Emilia has something really important happening.”
“Subaru…”
What Rem was saying made complete sense. He was acutely aware of his own deficiencies. The power Subaru possessed was meager and useless, and could only lead to pain and sorrow.
But he didn’t care if he was useless.
“If something happens, then I probably won’t be any use. And if it isn’t likely to happen, it’s great if it doesn’t. I get that.”
“—”
“But if something does happen, maybe it won’t get resolved if I’m not there. I don’t know when that something might come, so I want to be there with Emilia when it counts.”
If some events could not be undone save through Return by Death, a tactic that only Subaru Natsuki could use, then that was a stage he ought to be fighting on.
—Subaru did not realize that his thought process, taking his own “death” into the calculation, was warped to begin with.
“…My goodness, Subaru, you really are incorrigible.”
Rem’s halting murmur sounded like surrender, making Subaru lift up his face in the hope that his wish had been granted.
“Then you’ll…”
“No, you may not. Even so, I cannot permit you to pass, Subaru.”
“Wait, what’s with the way you were talking just now?! It totally sounded like…”
As Subaru chewed her out, Rem dodged his question and raised a finger.
“However… I will be working on a new abble dish that I suddenly thought of. As this requires great concentration, I will be extremely busy in the kitchen. It is highly probable that someone could slip out of this room without me realizing.”
“…”
“But you must not do anything untoward. Please continue your studies until I return. When everything is settled…I will treat you to the finest abble cuisine anyone has ever made.”
Subaru was cowed into silence as Rem gave him a motherly smile before standing. Just as she’d announced, she tied on an apron and left the room. Subaru listened to her light footsteps go down the stairs before he slumped back heavily in his chair.
“Ahh, Rem’s so adorable… I’m the worst for taking advantage of her.”
Closing his eyes, he thanked Rem for her clumsy idea and rose from his chair. Before leaving the room, Subaru reconsidered for a moment, took a pen, and tore out a page from the workbook.
3
Rem returned to the empty room, touching the table as she murmured offhandedly, “…I am slightly disappointed that he did not say, ‘Come with me.’”
He’d left behind a note on the table with “Sorry, and thanks” written in crude I-script.
“Subaru, you truly are incorrigible…”
As Rem gazed at the note, her expression betrayed the true meaning of her words.
Rem picked up the note, pressing it against her chest and closing her eyes as she treated it as a precious gift from Subaru.
“—But I wonder what Master Roswaal is thinking?”
She inclined her head slightly as she voiced her doubts about the instructions her master had left that morning.
“He said, ‘Do not stand in Subaru’s way no matter what Lady Emilia may say to you.’”
It was as if he’d anticipated Subaru’s actions and had instructed her accordingly. She also wondered why he was valuing Subaru’s opinion above Emilia’s. But at any rate…
“—Please come back to me safely, Subaru.”
She did not think he had run off without any plan, but she knew he was a boy who would do such a thing for the sake of another, putting the safety of others before his own. All Rem could do was fulfill his request and pray he would be unharmed.
For a time, Rem closed her eyes, picturing Subaru in her mind as she offered up a prayer. She then finished the tidying up of the half-completed study materials Subaru had abandoned before she retreated to the kitchen.
And so, Subaru Natsuki was let loose in the capital a second time, perhaps dancing in the palm of someone’s hand—though none could tell.
4
Subaru, having skipped out of the inn thanks to Rem’s kindness, ran downtown in the royal capital, his feet taking him to the Cadmon fruit store so he could contact Old Man Rom.
“Sneaking into a castle…is not very realistic, is it? Well, nothing’s gonna happen unless I make it to the entrance of the royal palace…”
It might have been possible to gain entry by explaining that he was connected to Emilia and Roswaal. But Subaru had few cards to play to even get that far.
“Even if I got to the garrison and explained, Emilia would probably turn down a magic mirror message…”
If he could make it to the foot of the castle, he was confident he could verbally wear Emilia down. Emilia was weak under pressure. He didn’t think she’d chase Subaru off after he’d undergone a dangerous adventure to reach her.
Subaru went to Market Street in the hopes of improving his chances of success. He wanted to get in touch with Old Man Rom and relay his plan to infiltrate the Nobles’ District as soon as possible.
The day before, Emilia had attempted to contact the royal palace from the garrison, but her efforts had apparently failed. But as it was clear that Reinhard was assigned to the Knights of the Royal Guard, he would surely be attending the royal selection meeting that day.
Before Emilia had left the inn, she’d said that she would ask him about Felt afterward. Subaru wanted to tell Old Man Rom, a worrier in spite of his large frame, as soon as he could.
Weaving his way into the crowd with quick feet, Subaru found the shop sign that was still fresh in his memory. The eccentric colors of the Cadmon sign were easy to mentally associate with the unmistakable scarred face of the shopkeeper.
It’s a small world, thought Subaru as he leaped out in front of the shop, when…
“Hey, old guy. Long time no—”
As Subaru tried to call out to the storekeeper,
a congenial voice interrupted from right beside him.
“You’re late, bro! Just in the nick of time. Lucky you, I was gonna wait just a bit longer before heading off.”
A heavy metallic rattle accompanied a muffled laugh. Subaru shrugged off the arm openly wrapped around his shoulders, putting some distance between himself and the very close voice.
“Who are… Wait, you’re the guy from yesterday?”
“Yeah, I’m the guy from yesterday. I’m glad you showed up. Now I won’t get an earful over it.”
Not minding that his arm had been brushed off, the man in the black helmet—Al—patted his chest with his one arm. The appearance of the eccentric swordsman was just as unbalanced as it had been the day before.
Al chuckled again, seeing Subaru’s obvious shock at the unexpected reunion.
“Hey, don’t get bent out of shape. It’s your fault for talking about meeting up here right in front of Princess. She’s a sharp cookie to begin with.”
“Right in front of…she was eavesdropping! So why are you at the place I’m supposed to meet Old Man Rom, anyway? I get that the girl ordered you to, but not the reason why.”
“Hey, don’t ask me why. Princess does things on a whim so much, a lot of the time there’s no point asking why.—So let’s get goin’ then!”
“‘Goin’’?”
Apparently, both master and servant expected him to charge off into a new affair without his misgivings being answered. With Al ready to move out without a sufficient explanation, Subaru furrowed his brows and objected, “Hold on a minute. Go where? You haven’t explained one thing to me… I mean, I’ve got a place I have to get to!”
“Why’re you dragging your feet? Hey, it’s a big world out there and people get carried away by the currents, so just forget your doubts and go with the flow. It’s fun!”
Subaru pointed at Al’s helmet, unable to see the expression behind it as he soundly declared, “I don’t wanna hear philosophy from a grown-up slacker like you. I’ve got things to do. I don’t have time to mess with you or your princess!”
Subaru had no idea how Al had wound up associated with said princess, but that didn’t mean he had to shut up and play along. He continued, “You should really reconsider spoiling her before it gets both of you in really hot wa—”
Re:ZERO -Starting Life in Another World-, Vol. 4 Page 9
