Re:ZERO -Starting Life in Another World-, Vol. 10

by Tappei Nagatsuki

  Just as Subaru had remembered, it was possible to undertake it any number of times. However, it could only be undertaken once per night. Emilia had made an attempt every night without rest—only to be met with failure each time.

  When night fell, Subaru watched Emilia confront her past at the tomb, and he saw the pain break her heart, causing her to return tearful and haggard.

  Repeated painful experiences had resulted in a rising pile of failures. Moreover, he couldn’t even begin to imagine how much her spirit had been worn down in the process.

  “Anyway, you can’t get impatient and force yourself. Since ancient times, no one has managed to accomplish anything good with those two things. I’ll get the villagers back home and come back here right away…but it still won’t be till tomorrow that I can make it. You can put off tonight’s challenge if you want, you know.”

  Subaru couldn’t remain in the Sanctuary to be at Emilia’s side that night. Because of that, Subaru had proposed several times already that she take a break from challenging the tomb. But Emilia firmly shook her head this time as well.

  “It’s all right. It’s true I’m…a little impatient…but I’m the one who said I’d do this. I don’t want to disappoint the villagers or the people of the Sanctuary.”

  “…Gotcha. All right, then. I won’t say any more.”

  “Thank you. Also…though you should also be mindful of the villagers, be mindful of Frederica.”

  Now that they’d checked off what each had to do, Emilia worriedly added that at the end.

  Her worry was rooted in their lack of knowledge about where Frederica stood. If Ram’s warning was anything to go by, Frederica was involved with those opposed to the liberation of the Sanctuary. Subaru hadn’t the faintest idea how she’d treat him and Otto upon their return to the mansion.

  “—If Frederica bears Lady Emilia ill will, the mansion should be an empty shell right about now.”

  “…Huh? Ram? What’d you come here for?”

  Ram, slipping through the line of dragon carriages, came over and promptly joined their conversation.

  Much like with Roswaal, Subaru wasn’t feeling particularly positive about her. Considering the issue of Rem and her behavior—namely her taking Roswaal’s side—Subaru was standoffish with her.

  Ram feigned ignorance of the discord with Subaru, narrowing her almond-shaped eyes as she spoke.

  “Greetings, Barusu. I have merely come out of my way to see you off in Master Roswaal’s stead. As a lord, it pains him greatly to not be present as his people begin to depart.”

  “You’ve got some nerve to be…”

  “In addition, he sends a message to Barusu for his return to the mansion. If Frederica concerns you, I believe it is all the more important you should hear it.”

  When Subaru clicked his tongue at the preamble, Ram dangled the existence of information he could not afford to dismiss in front of his nose. Truth be told, it was very difficult for Subaru to endure going along with it, but…

  “What should I do, then, if Frederica is a concern?”

  “Lady Emilia is so forthright. You should learn from her, Barusu.”

  Ram employed Emilia to sarcastically pester Subaru, clapping her hands with excessive glee. Then, as they caught their breath, Ram continued in a quiet tone of voice.

  “He said that if you are concerned about confronting Frederica, rely upon Lady Beatrice.”

  “Rely on Beatrice? Hey, listen closer when people explain stuff. That’s a majorly high-difficulty thing in itself. In this situation, just meeting her isn’t simple at…”

  “It is you who should listen, Barusu. Please be quiet until I am finished— Certainly, it is not easy to speak to Lady Beatrice. That is where Master Roswaal’s message should come into play.”

  The grave accents of her voice made Subaru swallow his words and indicate for her to continue. His gaze made Ram lick her lips before she spoke.

  “He instructed, upon returning to the mansion, to say this: ‘Roswaal said ask your questions.’”

  “Questions…?”

  “Ram does not know the details. However, Master Roswaal stated that once this reaches Lady Beatrice’s ears…the situation shall change. I came only to deliver this message to you.”

  Ram made that declaration with a composed look, showing that she was not of a mind to entertain any questions about the matter. Subaru mulled over her demeanor and the words she had spoken. In the end, he grimaced because he didn’t understand their meaning.

  “So if I tell Beatrice that, she’ll listen to what I have to say…is that it?”

  “Who knows? That surely depends on you, Barusu… See the villagers home safely, please.”

  Placing a very strong emphasis on that last part, Ram turned her back to him and left, her business concluded.

  Taken aback by her attitude, Subaru scratched his head.

  “Ram…no, Roswaal’s probably hiding something, damn it.”

  “…”

  “Emilia?”

  “Eh? Ah, yes, nothing. No worries.”

  In the blink of an eye, Emilia’s gloomy expression vanished as she straightened her back and turned to face Subaru. Then she smiled pleasantly at Subaru once more before she continued.

  “I don’t know how far we should trust the advice from Roswaal that Ram gave us, but…don’t be reckless— May the blessings of the spirits be with you.”

  To a spirit mage, this was an important phrase, special words to send others off. Subaru answered with a solemn nod.

  “Though that might not sound very convincing coming from me right at this moment.”

  “That’s not true— I’ll be back. You hang in there, too, Emilia.”

  Instead of telling her not to be impatient or reckless, he tried to say something else. Rather than reinforce her worries, he tried to convey his trust to bolster her spirit, even if it only helped a tiny bit.

  “…Mm-hmm. You, too, Subaru.”

  Emilia nodded, and it was right around then that the preparations to depart were complete.

  7

  With Emilia, and subsequently Ram, seeing them off, Subaru and the others set off from the Sanctuary in their dragon carriages.

  At a steady pace, it wouldn’t even take a half day to reach Earlham Village. The main concern on the road ahead was the barrier that blocked the passage of those who were mixed and led people astray, but—

  “If ya know the right path and yer a pureblood who doesn’t trigger th’ barrier, ain’t no problem. Ain’t like either o’ us wanna keep more people with grudges than we need.”

  “Beyond that, I’m grateful that you offered yourself as a guide to make sure we don’t get lost, but…”

  Garfiel was inside the dragon carriage, sitting in his seat at an angle and having a great time. Sitting opposite him, Subaru leaned on an elbow and sighed.

  “You’re not guiding us. Hell, you’re practically falling asleep. Did you ditch the job?”

  “Naw. It’s just, that black land dragon of yers is too damn good. She’s got a perfect grasp of the road from just runnin’ down it once, so there ain’t nothin’ for me to do.”

  “Aside from her taste in men, my Patlash really is perfect, isn’t she…?”

  Subaru was very fond of his favorite dragon whose specs were so high they had earned Garfiel’s seal of approval. But that she’d picked Subaru as her owner might have been indicative of a certain flaw in her character.

  Either way, her amazing performance was why Subaru had ended up one-on-one with Garfiel. Over at the driver’s seat, Otto made a point of having nothing to do with the conversation.

  And so their chatter naturally drifted to the topic that they had set aside until now.

  “So. Before ya head out, there’s somethin’ I wanted to talk to ya about. Unless yer real bad at guessing, I think ya can imagine what it is.”

  “…Sorry, setting aside opinions on whether I’m good or bad at guesswork, there’s a whole bunch of proble
ms I can think of. Unless you tell me the specifics, no way I’m gonna understand what you mean.”

  “Well, ain’t that rough. In that case, I’ll lend ya a hand in solvin’ yer problems.”

  Garfiel spread his thighs where he sat, turning a sharp gaze toward Subaru. Subaru’s breath caught as he recoiled from those eyes that were not so much piercing as they were cutting.

  “The way you say that doesn’t sound like a good omen to me… In other words…?”

  “Hey, third rate—you took the trial, didn’t you?”

  “”

  The question Garfiel posed in a low voice, like the guttural growl of a beast, ran right through Subaru.

  When Subaru narrowed his eyes at the question, Garfiel shook his head.

  “Don’t hide it. I ain’t picking on ya. I’m wonderin’, like, people not qualified take the punishment once, and then they’re free to enter the second time an’ after… That’s just a guess, not like anyone’s tried it.”

  “If you wanna tell Roswaal to try it, I’m not gonna stop you.”

  “Me, I’d love him to try, too, but Ram’d smack me to death, so I’ll pass.”

  With a pained look and a flippant tongue, Garfiel bared his fangs and laughed a little.

  As he’d pointed out, he’d come to the conclusion that Subaru had been able to enter the tomb because it was his second time. There was no way for Garfiel to be sure, but it seemed he intended to make something out of it.

  “Let’s say for the sake of argument that’s true… What do you plan to do about it?”

  “Now, hold on. I figured ya wouldn’t cop to it. That’s just a what-if, so I’ll talk about somethin’ easier for ya to agree to. This is ‘Gam and Gum Bridge Building’–level stuff.”

  Garfiel unleashed another one of his trademark mystery phrases, and while Subaru felt his mouth go dry from the incredibly not-casual level of pressure it suggested, he drew in his chin, indicating he would at least hear out the proposal. Accepting this, Garfiel continued.

  “It’s real simple. If yer qualified…then you take the trial in Lady Emilia’s place. Lift the barrier for me and my people.”

  “—!! Wait, I can’t do that! That assumes Emilia’s gonna fail!”

  Garfiel was proposing that Subaru challenge it in Emilia’s place.

  Certainly, the thought had grazed Subaru’s head several times over. As a matter of fact, Subaru had already passed one of the three parts of the trial, leaving two obstacles to go. If pressed, he would admit he held a strong desire to challenge it.

  But that was something he wanted to avoid. If he did that, all Emilia’s struggles to date would be for—

  “Don’t get me wrong. Me and the old hag wanna be freed from the Sanctuary. An’ we don’t much care who does it.”

  “That’s…”

  “You wantin’ Lady Emilia to do it so she can have the old hags and the hostages thankin’ her—that’s your problem. Includin’ wantin’ her to overcome a hateful past and take the sting off it, that’s all your problem—it ain’t got nothin’ to do with us.”

  Subaru couldn’t summon a rebuttal to Garfiel’s words.

  Looking at it from Garfiel’s point of view, of course that’s how he saw the Sanctuary situation. Just as he’d said, having Emilia undertake the trial, and hoping that she would overcome it, was essentially the solution to a personal problem.

  When Subaru hung his head at this sound argument, Garfiel sighed as he added more.

  “—Is the past really something ya gotta overcome in the first place…?”

  “Eh?”

  “For three days I’ve been watchin’ Lady Emilia challenge the trial, same as you. It’s breakin’ her. Seein’ her come out all messed up like that—I can’t stand to watch.”

  Crinkling the skin of his nose, Garfiel brought up the heartbreaking sight of Emilia right after emerging from the tomb.

  The number of times Emilia had failed to overcome the trial were adding up. But it wasn’t just that—it was the sight of her turning back: broken, panicked, calling for Puck, then finally sleeping as if her strength was exhausted.

  The ordeal was excruciating. But what lay beyond her after she overcame that was—

  “I believe Emilia will overcome it. That’s why I’ll…”

  “And yer free to hope she does. But can Lady Emilia really overcome her past? Could it be that crying and going all I’m scared I’m scared is what she really wants to do? Me, I can’t really tell.”

  “What Emilia…really wants…”

  The words Garfiel threw out struck Subaru like a shower of cold water.

  Subaru had meant to respect Emilia’s wishes and devotedly support her until the matter was resolved. However painful it was to climb that wall, as long as Emilia challenged it without fail, he would continue lending her a hand.

  —Emilia, challenging the tomb in spite of her trembling legs, heedless of the cry of her heart.

  “…”

  Right then, when Garfiel said it out loud, Subaru arrived at the possibility for the first time.

  —The possibility that she wanted to be rescued, that she was searching for salvation.

  —If, in her own heart, she truly wanted someone else to fight in her place…

  —Then who should be that someone, if not Subaru himself?

  “…That’s one more thing I’ve gotta really talk to her about when I get back.”

  “Huuuh?”

  “Nothing… Setting aside whether to accept your proposal or not, it sure does sound like it’d help solve my current problems. Gotta say, you really are a surprising guy.”

  “Ha! Don’t say stupid stuff. Me, I just wanna improve my odds even a lil’ bit.”

  Clenching his fangs in annoyance, Garfiel turned his face away from Subaru. Rather than this being a cute reaction in the vein of concealing a blush, he seemed genuinely irritated, which brought a pained smile to Subaru’s face.

  But when it came to his assertion about improving the odds, there was a lot there Subaru could agree with.

  “What do you wanna do when you get out of the Sanctuary?”

  “…Well, ain’t that outta the blue. What I wanna do once I’m out, huh?”

  “You’ve been twisting arms left and right to get the barrier lifted and escape, right? I was thinking you had to have something you wanted to do on the outside…”

  “…”

  He’d innocently raised the topic, but Garfiel looked completely taken aback. It was as if he found the question unexpected, or even as if it was something he’d never thought of before.

  “…That’s somethin’ only a person who can freely come ’n’ go would say. If ya can go wherever the hell ya want, ya can understand how me an’ the old hags feel, right?”

  Finally, Garfiel slowly spat those words out. Subaru felt like he’d been insulting, but Garfiel stood up, giving him no opportunity to apologize.

  “We’re close to the barrier. This is as far as I go with ya. Take care of the rest, ya hear?”

  “You bet… Er, I’ll be coming back real soon. Not like I have zero worries about stuff, though…”

  He was worried about returning to the mansion. On top of that, he felt a duty to make sure of certain things.

  Petra’s safety was obviously one concern, but even more than that, making sure whether a certain sleeping girl was safe—

  “…Well, crap. Can’t be helped.”

  “Garfiel?”

  Garfiel scruffed up his blond hair as he harshly clicked his tongue. Surprised by the gesture, Subaru turned toward him as he put a hand into his own waistcloth. Then—

  “—Take this with ya.”

  “This crystal…it’s the same as the one Frederica had.”

  The piece of jewelry Garfiel took out of his pocket and offered Subaru was a necklace of a blue crystal on a string. The gem looked identical to the one Frederica had possessed.

  The twin blue crystals were undeniable proof that Garfiel and Frederica sha
red some kind of bond.

  “I don’t intend to talk about our circumstances. Just…it’s trouble for us if ya don’t come back. So I’m givin’ this to ya. In a pinch, show it to Frederica.”

  “…Taking this before I head off makes me worry I’ll get teleported by the barrier all over again…”

  “If ya don’t need it, just give it back. But havin’ it might help ya in a pinch.”

  When Subaru turned the crystal over in his palm, Garfiel reached out like he wanted to take it back. With a grand gesture, Subaru escaped from his hand and stuffed the crystal he had received into his pocket.

  He didn’t know what lay between Garfiel and Frederica. They were likely blood relatives—the barrier that supposedly rejected the passage of anything considered mixed seemed like a literal impassable wall between the pair.

  If, perhaps, the barrier was the reason Frederica had been scheming—

  “I have to find out what Frederica meant to do. So, well, wait for good news, ’kay?”

  “Ha! What’s this good-news business? If it ain’t like ‘Balulumororoi makes the sun go down,’ then no way I’d ever tell the difference.”

  Subaru, in his attempt to bid Garfiel farewell on a positive note, drew the first smile from Garfiel he had seen that wasn’t related to his ferocity. However—

  “I still have no idea what makes the sun go down.”

  Subaru remained ignorant of just what the mystery phrase pressing against his back meant.

  8

  Eight hours after setting off from the Sanctuary—and six since parting ways with Garfiel—Subaru arrived back at Roswaal Manor, just before sunset.

  “Will you really be all right without me there with you?”

  Otto spoke with a concerned, subdued voice from the dragon carriage halted in Earlham Village.

  Now that the refugees had been safely transported back to the village, Otto and Subaru watched as moving reunions broke out between family members who had been temporarily separated.

  Otto was no doubt keeping his voice down because he didn’t want to interrupt the reunions.

  “Yeah. I’ll head back to the mansion by myself for now. If nothing happens, I’ll send my thoughts over to you straightaway, so hook up with me after getting that, ’kay?”