“…That is correct, I suppose. But just because you know that…”
“Oh my, once you understand that, it’s quite simple. When facing magic that affects closed doors…as long as I go ahead and open every last door, I eliminate all your options, don’t I?”
“—?!”
Elsa indicated a very simple method indeed for breaking Beatrice’s Passage spell. Those words made Beatrice eyes go wide, unshakable proof that this was the correct answer.
Simultaneously, Subaru realized that this was the reason for the inexplicable sight he saw earlier in the loop—when he discovered all the doors in the mansion flung open.
That was not a ransacking—a violent means of searching every nook and cranny for people within the mansion—but the vestiges of a search completely and solely devoted to finding Beatrice.
“I told you, yes? It’s a very simple matter. It did take a little time, so I’m rather relieved to have finally found you. —I’m truly glad to have reached you before Meili returns from the village.”
“—Village? You said ‘village’ just now?”
As Elsa patted her chest in relief, words rolled out of her mouth that Subaru could not ignore.
She said “village” and a person’s name. Meili—Subaru remembered that name. He was sure it was the same name Elsa had mentioned when appearing at the mansion on a previous run.
Considering the situation, it was probably the Beast Master attacking the mansion with her at the time—
“What’s that Beast Master doing at the village…?!”
“Well, of course she went there; her targets fled into the village after all. When you’re hired to do something, it’s only right and proper that you do your utmost to achieve optimal results, yes? So we divided our labor.”
“Div…ided…?”
“You may have the advantage in quantity, but I have the advantage in quality. Most of all, I have been granted an opportunity to open a spirit’s belly. I’ve always wanted to try that.”
As she spoke, Elsa licked her lips. Taking in the meaning of her words, Subaru felt the fact that his judgment had been fundamentally mistaken plunging into him like a stake.
His plan to have Rem, Petra, and Frederica take shelter in the village had failed.
Now he knew that Elsa and her allies would continue chasing after their targets even if they were no longer at the mansion. No matter how soon Subaru acted, the scent of blood would be invariably reach the archive of forbidden books, just like this—
“—Shielding this child, are you?”
“Damn right.”
Changing where he stood, Subaru stood right in front of Elsa, as if to shield Beatrice behind his back. If Elsa’s target was Beatrice, there was no way he could allow that wicked blade to reach her.
Besides, he couldn’t leave the village as it was, either. The Beast Master was doing something at the village. If he raced there that very moment… No, idiot! The enemy’s standing right in front of you… But over there, death was closing in on the village, on Rem—
“…For you to do such a thing, preoccupied as you are with idle thoughts, is nothing but a nuisance. If you will not do it, does Betty really mind if it comes by her hand, I wonder?”
“Shut the hell up. I told you what my answer is. I’m dragging you out of here.”
“More importantly, how about the two of you spend your final moments together, exposing your bellies to me like good, obedient children?”
With despair written all over Beatrice’s downcast face, Subaru made an urgent plea to her. Elsa offered a totally unwelcome suggestion, but he had no time to deal with that.
He inched back, moving toward Beatrice. Simultaneously, Elsa advanced.
His brow steadily grew hotter, the heat increasing gradually like the quickening beats of his heart—
“You get along so well. I’m so jealous. —I’ll make sure to pose you side by side like little angels.”
Elsa stretched a thin smile over her lips, and the next instant, she lowered her stance and shot forward like an arrow. Using the momentum, she moved toward the pair in the archive of forbidden books with her first step; by the second step, she was already closing the gap in the blink of an eye; and by step three—
“—!”
His eyes could not keep up with her speed. Subaru’s thoughts coalesced into an instant decision even faster than that. He’d decided that if he met Elsa, he had to use it. Once again, he chose to use—
“Sha— “—Shamak!””
—With simultaneous chants, darkness suddenly sprung out of the thin air.
Ceaselessly pouring out, the shadowy murk swept across the archive, obscuring everything in a field of incomprehension. The bookshelves, the stool, and the onrushing butcher were no exception.
If exceptions had to be named, they would be—
“—! Come on, Beatrice!”
Instantly, Subaru, an exception to the magic’s effects, clenched his teeth as he grasped the arm of the girl who had been chanting—Beatrice—sweeping her light body into his arms as he ran straight ahead. There was darkness woven by magic before his eyes. However, he leaped into the gap on the left that he had intentionally created—slipping past the butcher.
He’d already confirmed that Shamak was effective on Elsa. With Elsa trapped for the moment in a sea of incomprehension, he left her behind as he fled out of the butcher’s range as fast as he could.
“…Let go of me.”
“Just be quiet! If you seriously wanted me to, you wouldn’t have done that!”
As he held Beatrice in his arms, he smothered her words of rejection from above.
Subaru had tried to abuse his incomplete Gate to chant a spell to drive Elsa off. It was Beatrice who had interrupted midway, activating her spell on a scale incomparable to what Subaru was capable of.
With the same tongue that had said, “I want to die; leave me be,” she had taken action so that someone might live. He wondered exactly who the chant was meant to keep alive—
“”
As Subaru ran with her in his arms, Beatrice’s hands firmly grasped Subaru’s clothing over his chest. Seeing this in the corners of his eyes, Subaru said nothing. He did not press the point.
For in that moment, he thought, it was enough.
“Beatrice! How long will Shamak hold her?!”
“Not for very long, I suppose. It was never particularly effective magic to begin with… What will you do?”
“What’ll I do? What’ll I do? It’s obvious what I’m gonna do!”
He practically tumbled as he raced out of the archive. The place he emerged into was a corridor on the first floor of the mansion’s main wing. Fortunately, the front entrance hall was close by. From there, he would head outside and rush toward Earlham Village—
“Is it all right to leave that woman in black, I wonder?”
“We don’t have time to mess around with her! It’ll take awhile for her to bust out of Shamak. Right now, we’ve gotta—”
Beatrice’s words went in one ear and out the other. Adjusting his grip on the girl he carried, Subaru sprinted with all his strength.
At any rate, that moment, he had to get to Earlham Village.
With unease still racing through him, Subaru’s breathed hard as he desperately, desperately ran.
—For he had seen the black plume of smoke hovering over the landscape on the other side of the windows.
6
Rushing past the front gate, Subaru continued to run down the street, riding his ragged breaths.
“Haaah, haah, haah!”
Beatrice did not feel heavy in his arms. This was neither because her body was small nor because she was a spirit. It was because he was single-mindedly running.
For the burning urge that drove his body into motion was so powerful that he paid no attention to himself.
Normally, the distance between the mansion and Earlham Village took fifteen minutes of walking to cross—far less if at a run,
let alone an all-out sprint.
And yet, it was slow, much too slow. It was as if his body simply could not keep up with the speed of his quickened thoughts. It was as if he was already too late. It was as if he had been too late before he’d even set off. And yet—
“…Even if you go now, it will achieve nothing.”
“Don’t say stupid things! It’s—it’s possible what she said was just a pack of lies…!”
“That is nothing as lofty as hope. Is it merely regret or avoidance of reality, I wonder?”
The heartless words Beatrice murmured from so close he could feel her breathe pierced his brain—no, the thrust had come from reality.
Forcing his eyes open, he gazed upon the rising black plume in the distance. Ironically, as he had gone back in time on multiple occasions, it was now a very familiar sight.
This was proof. That very moment, a tragedy that could not be undone was taking place beneath that plume of black smoke.
“And even if we could do something, Betty is already…”
Those words, foretelling the end, made Subaru’s head heavy with anger and sadness.
Was this anger directed at Beatrice for holding her life in such contempt? Was this sadness directed at himself, the fool who had failed despite so many opportunities? He no longer knew which.
What was right, what was wrong? Subaru knew where he had gone wrong. Therefore, what he craved was an answer as to how he might be right.
As for what he wanted to do by confirming what rested beneath that black plume of smoke, that was already—
“—Huhhh? What are the two of you doing in a place like this, Mister…?”
“”
With his face lowered in an attempt to hold back the stuff welling up behind his eyes as he ran, Subaru was slow to notice. When he looked toward the voice straight ahead, he saw that a petite figure was standing midway on the road that continued toward the village.
It was a young girl, hands crossed behind her back as she calmly walked along the path.
Her dark blue hair was tied in a triple braid, and the girl of the same age as Petra wore a black outfit over her entire body. Her eyes and nose seemed quite refined, and her yellow-green eyes gave her a mysterious air.
Someday, she would grow into a demon—that was the impression, the foreboding that Subaru felt when he saw the girl.
Of course, there was also the creeping realization that no innocent little girl would be standing there. However, that bad feeling was sparking an altogether different sensation—
“Oh, Elsa, so sloppy of you to let someone escape. Let me guess, she was all overconfident and careless again, like usual?”
“You’re… Wait, you’re that…”
“—? Ahhh, maybe you don’t recognize me. I had my hair dyed a different color before.”
Bewildered, Subaru came to a halt and all the exhaustion he had been ignoring came rushing back all at once. However, Subaru forced it down with long breaths, focusing his mind on the little girl before him.
The girl toyed with her triple braid, performing a pirouette that made her black mantle flutter as she said, “That day, it was a lot of fun when we played together. Let’s play some more today, shall we?”
“Th-the Beast Master…!!”
“Meili Portroute. There’s no need to call me an uncharming name like that.”
The girl—the Beast Master—introduced herself as Meili, drawing her lips in as she visibly pouted. It was precisely because the gesture was so childish and innocent that it was all the more frightening to behold.
Behind the girl’s adorable gesture loomed the plume of black smoke, proof that a tragedy had occurred. There was no mistaking that the little girl before his eyes was the very cause of that tragedy.
“You’re…a monster just like Elsa!! What did you do to the village…to Rem and the others?!”
“Errm, I don’t know which one was this Rem person, but I’m very passionate about my work, so I always make sure to complete the task I’ve been assigned. Namely the big maid and the little maid from the mansion—it’s too bad the little maid turned out to be Petra, though…”
“Too bad? What do you mean, too bad? Too bad, too bad… Wh-what have you done…?”
“It’s all right; she was a friend of mine you know. So I made sure it was settled with one bite so she wouldn’t feel the pain…”
Putting her hands together, Meili nodded, smiling as she spoke as if this was her idea of mercy.
“—Ah.”
Learning from this report that the girl he had exchanged the promise of a date with had already met her end drained the strength from his knees.
Before he realized it, Subaru had crumpled to the ground, sinking down to his knees in bewilderment.
“”
Deep down, he had already known.
The moment he looked out the window after eluding Elsa, Subaru realized his own mistake.
Beatrice had even pointed out he was avoiding reality, but even so, Subaru had stubbornly made his way toward the village, if only to scrounge one extra second before he was forced to gaze directly at cruel reality.
He’d pretended to see a glimmer of hope, but that was only his miserable self-defense instincts at work.
“…What a buffoon you are. If you were going to give up in the end, should you have resisted to begin with, I wonder?”
“”
“You said such grandiose things to Betty, yet this is the result. Would I not truly like to show you your miserable face in the mirror, I wonder?”
The abusive words came from right beside him as he rested on his knees. Before he realized it, his arms had been brushed aside, and the little girl who he had been carrying in his arms stood upon the ground. Her face showed nothing less than utter disappointment.
Everything she said was true. He’d arrogantly flapped his lips to say this and that, yet in the end, he hadn’t saved anyone—
“—I have changed my mind. Betty’s life is wasted on the likes of you, I suppose.”
“Eh…?”
There was a sound of footsteps. The figure standing beside him turned to look forward. Beatrice advanced a step, putting the kneeling Subaru at her back as she and Meili wound up glaring straight at each other.
That demeanor elicited an “oh my?” from Meili, her voice trickling out in surprise.
“You wanna fight? From what I heard, you shouldn’t be fighting this…”
“Perhaps that would be convenient for others, but it is a terrible misunderstanding. Betty is the guardian of the archive of forbidden books…and does not forgive those who would disturb the archive. That’s all there is to it, I suppose.”
“…Hmmm.”
With a hard voice, Beatrice invoked once more the position she had already tried to abandon. For her part, Meili gave an unenthused reply. However, somewhere in her narrowed eyes was a glint of annoyance.
“I really hate it when a plan goes sideways, you see. Thanks to Miss Big Maid bringing the others along, I’m well behind schedule as it is, and I don’t want to fall behind any further—”
“How terrible for you. Incidentally, regardless of how much time you save, the likes of you cannot…”
“—That’s why I’m going to stick with the division of labor and leave you to my partner…”
Tilting her little head, a cruel flicker remained in Meili’s eyes as she stated those words to Beatrice. There was a sound of a blowing wind as Beatrice slightly raised her eyebrows, wondering what those words might mean.
The sound of the wind—no, that was not wind. It was death approaching, heralding a slaughter.
“Beatri—”
When he noticed, Subaru tried to raise his voice to convey that as soon as he possibly could.
But it was too late. A figure in black seemed to glide as it thrust down the street in a straight line, slipping above Subaru’s head as he knelt still, seemingly dancing toward Beatrice’s turned back as she said, “I came all the way
here to visit you—isn’t it rude to run away?”
There was not even a moment of difference between when she announced her bloodlust and when she lashed out with her black blade. —Subaru thought for certain that her blade would impale the little girl’s chest as if sucked into it, with nothing she could do to stop it.
“!!”
Shaking off incomprehension, the pursuing butcher launched her surprise attack, landing a direct hit with her merciless blade only to be greeted by the echo of a tinny ring. The sound in no way resembled that of metal severing flesh and bone.
“—If you believed Dark magic cannot be used as a means of attack, you were far too naive.”
The arm swinging the blade bounced back, throwing Elsa heavily off balance as Beatrice stated those words. It was clear that this statement was no exaggeration when shots of lights surged toward Elsa one after another. Elsa evaded with backward leaps, avoiding them with acrobatic evasive maneuvers.
“How surprising. To think that you could do such a thing. How delightful.”
“Minya—mana arrows of stagnant time. You should have a good taste of them, I suppose.”
As both Elsa’s eyes glimmered with fury, Beatrice taunted her as she continued gathering magical energy.
Crystal arrows radiated purple as they hovered and rotated above the little girl’s head. They quickly became too many to count, and the missiles seemed to lock on to Elsa as if they had minds of their own.
“Outside the archive of forbidden books, this is the utmost I can muster…and yet, it is sufficient to hunt down the likes of you!”
The big guns had come out. A moment later, Beatrice launched the purple arrows in a single volley. With no need for a bow, the arrows of magical energy shot through the wind, bearing down upon the butcher, who had lowered her body in the manner of a spider.
“Certainly, it was a surprise seeing this the first time, but now that I have seen it once—”
Elsa intercepted the countless arrows bearing down upon her with swings of her black blade, filling the air with wildly dancing sounds of crystals shattering. The fragile arrows fleetingly shimmered as they scattered apart, unable to reach Elsa—
Re:ZERO -Starting Life in Another World-, Vol. 12 Page 14
