Re: Zero -Starting Life in Another World- Vol. 1

by Tappei Nagatsuki

  “Ha, I was waiting for you to ask that question. Given this trope, I’ll have to say I come from a small country to the east!”

  This is a pattern that has often come up in otherworldly fiction since times long past. A character will state that they come from a hidden country to the east, called something like “Zipang.” There tends to not be that much interaction between countries, so if you say you’ve traveled to where you are from that country, it will make sense to most people. It’s a magically convenient cliché.

  “If you look at a map of the continent, Lugunika is the country farthest to the east, so…there’s no country to the east of here.”

  “What, are you serious? We’re at the ends of the east?! So…does this make this country my long-yearned-for Zipang?!”

  “So you don’t know where you are, you don’t have any money, you can’t read, and you have no one you can count on. I’m starting to think you’re worse off than I am…”

  While Subaru was shocked at this new development, the girl was also starting to look anxious. With every action she took you could see the element of her personality that made her want to help others. She probably couldn’t help but be concerned about Subaru, who to her was looking more and more to be not only defenseless, but absolutely helpless.

  The girl looked at Subaru again carefully, from the top down.

  “Taking another look at you, you actually look like you’re in pretty good shape. Um… Uh… Subaru.”

  “Huh? Oh. Yep, Subaru. That’s my name.” Having his name called in such a hesitant way for some reason felt like a fresh new experience to Subaru, and he couldn’t help but stumble in his response. After clearing his throat to hide the fact that he was shaken up, he showed his biceps. “I do strength training every day. Since I’m almost always cooped up in my room, I’ve got to do at least that much to stay in shape.”

  “I don’t really get what you mean by ‘cooped up in your room,’ but you’re from a high-ranking family, aren’t you? Weren’t you taught some sort of martial art?”

  “I’m actually from an extremely ordinary middle-class family, but…what makes you think I’m from a high-class family? Do I exude some refined air of nobility?”

  “Well, you do have a bit of a curious air to you, at least.”

  Subaru jokingly raised his hands as if to acknowledge the flattery.

  But then the girl suddenly grabbed those hands, and Subaru, taken aback by the suddenness of her touch, had to hold back a squeak from rising out of his throat.

  “It’s also these fingers of yours, but your skin and hair are part of it as well. These aren’t the hands of a commoner, and your muscles don’t look like the product of hard labor.”

  Subaru blushed as the girl continued to poke at his hands, but understood. He was also impressed by her ability to see that he was not just simply a foreigner in a foreign land. As Subaru stood in wonderment, the girl continued.

  “Black hair and dark eyes. I hear that is a common trait of the refugees from the south, but the fact that you are here in Lugunika with those traits means that you are able to live a life of luxury. Also, the craftsmanship of these strange clothes of yours is magnificent… So, have I got it right?”

  As Subaru grew quiet, the girl put on a proud smile. Feeling admittedly drawn by the bewitching atmosphere she had made fitting of her beautiful smile, Subaru processed the contents of what she just said and made a reluctant face.

  “If you’re asking me whether you’re wrong or you are right…you’re absolutely wrong, but is there any way I can say it so you won’t get hurt?”

  “If I’m wrong, just tell me I’m wrong. If you don’t, it’s just going to be more embarrassing for me.” The girl blushed as her earlier confidence transformed into embarrassment. As Subaru watched her go silent, he thought about how he was going to explain where he came from.

  He could just say, “I’m a loser who was summoned from another world!” but given the precedent set by fantasy fiction about other worlds, that would open the gates for him to be labeled as someone who was wrong in the head. Looking back on the results of what he had said so far, he felt there was a significant risk in telling the truth.

  “You don’t have to think that hard about it, you know? If it’s something you can’t talk about, I won’t question you any further.”

  Seeing Subaru struggling with what to say, the girl came to her own conclusions and didn’t press him. Given that she had come to his rescue yet again in a way, Subaru grimaced, feeling all the more useless.

  “But…really, this isn’t looking very good,” the girl muttered, in a now-weaker tone, a clouded expression on her face.

  “…” Seeing that the girl could no longer hide how hopeless she felt, Subaru felt a faint flame light up inside himself. “What am I, an idiot? Well, yeah, I am an idiot. Just what have I been doing all this time…”

  Right in front of Subaru stood the girl who saved his life. Hadn’t he offered to help her out so that he could repay her? If that was the case, then how was he supposed to explain his total lack of support?

  “Subaru?”

  Seeing Subaru fall silent and looking troubled all of a sudden, the girl tilted her head and looked at him puzzled. Watching as with that motion her silver hair tumbled down off her shoulder, Subaru thought as hard as he could.

  Subaru tried to remember what had happened when the thief ran through that alley as those thugs were stomping on him. Focusing on that instant in time, he needed to find something, anything that he could use…

  “I have a few things that I want to check with you, is that okay?”

  “Um…okay, yeah. Go right ahead.”

  “Thanks. I’m pretty sure I heard you mention it a few times, but this is the capital of whatever country we’re in…right? So, basically it’s the town that has the king’s castle in it, and it’s a really big place, is that correct?” Subaru asked, remembering bits of the conversation that he had had with the girl before.

  While Subaru realized that his question must have sounded strange, the girl didn’t interrupt and simply nodded a yes.

  “So in this big city, there’s a girl who appears to be making her living stealing things. By the look of her clothes, she definitely doesn’t seem to be that well off… Now this may be obvious, but there’s got to be a place where people like that live.”

  “…”

  “Is there a place where crime is rampant, or something like a slum in the area…? I’m sure it’s hard to exchange stolen goods for money without some connections, so I think there’s a good chance she would have to go back to a place like that.”

  With the image of the thief burned in his memory, Subaru analyzed her from head to toe, and used all of the knowledge he had about fantasy settings to help form his hypothesis.

  “So, I think rather than searching around aimlessly, we have a better chance if we aim for that, but… What’s wrong?”

  “I was just surprised. You really do have a good head on your shoulders.”

  “Well, rather than a logical conclusion, it’s more that it’s a common theme in medieval fantasy, but…if this is all it takes for you to start thinking better of me I have a feeling that I’ve got a long way to go…”

  Despite Subaru’s response, he seemed to be taking the girl’s praise rather well.

  While Subaru scratched at the side of his head to try to keep from showing how embarrassed he was, the girl nodded several times. “We’ll go with your plan. Let’s go back out to the main road and ask some people if they know of a place that’s like what you described.”

  “We’re already really behind as it is, after all. Let’s hurry up and get going.”

  After Subaru and the girl looked at each other and nodded, they headed out of the alley and toward the main road. However, right before they could start their search for a spot where a lot of people who they could question were passing by, Subaru remembered something.

  “I was just thinking… I know your ca
t’s name now, but I don’t think you ever told me your name, ha-ha.”

  While Subaru thought that bringing this up now might have not been the best time, the girl’s eyes widened a bit in surprise. She then closed them, and after a few seconds of silence, said…

  “…Satella.”

  “Oh?”

  Subaru, who because of her silence had begun to think that he had made a mistake, was a bit late in reacting to her whispered reply.

  In response, the girl turned away from Subaru and continued.

  “I don’t have a last name, so you can just call me Satella.”

  Her voice had no emotion in it. Because of her attitude, it was as if, though she was giving her name, she was refusing to be called by it. Through her actions, this girl, who gave her name as “Satella,” was putting a distance between herself and Subaru more than she had ever done before.

  Subaru, who already thought that he would feel more comfortable having a surname to call her by rather than having to use her personal name, felt that he really couldn’t use that name at all. For the time being, looking for a way out, Subaru decided to avoid using her name entirely, and instead just use pronouns.

  As he observed Subaru and the girl’s exchange from the sidelines, Puck had one thing to say before slipping back under the girl’s silver hair.

  “…That’s in really bad taste, you know,” it muttered, though its voice did not even reach the girl’s ears, let alone Subaru’s.

  7

  Using the sounds of the bustling crowd as a guide, Subaru and Satella walked back through the alley they were in and reached the main road about ten minutes later.

  Shifting his gaze this way and that, Subaru looked for who they should question first, when Satella, who stood beside him, pulled on his sleeve.

  “Hey, Subaru…”

  When Subaru looked back at Satella he saw that she had her gaze fixed on something on the other side of the street. Subaru looked in the same direction and realized what Satella was looking at.

  I have a bad feeling about this, he thought.

  Adding further weight to his fears, Satella continued, with a serious look on her face.

  “…Do you think that kid is lost?”

  Out of all the possible things that could go wrong with this plan, the final one had reared its head.

  “…Well, uh…”

  One of the several things that Subaru had discovered throughout the day was that the silver-haired girl standing next to him was an incorrigibly kind person. But, whether it was due to a curse or some other reason, she would not ever admit it herself.

  Subaru sighed a deep sigh. “Let’s just calm down a minute.”

  “What are we going to do if she gets up and goes somewhere while we’re dillydallying?! We’ve got to go talk to her right away…”

  “You know, that kindness of yours is a great virtue, and given the fact that I myself was saved by that kindness I really don’t want to say this, but do you have any idea what situation you’re in right now?”

  Where Satella was looking, near the buildings across the street, there stood a young girl. She looked as though she was around ten years old, with shoulder-length brown hair that was very cute. If she smiled, the people around her probably would not be able to resist smiling back, but unfortunately, at the moment her eyes were filled with anxiety, and she looked moments away from tears.

  There was probably an 80 or 90 percent chance that Satella’s observation was correct. Subaru was sure it was, but…

  “There’s also that my screw-ups are partially at fault, but the thief who stole from you is just getting farther and farther away from us. If we waste any more time here, by the time we catch her, she might already have sold it and then we’ll have no way to get it back.”

  “You’re probably right…but…”

  “Then…”

  Certainly it would feel bad to just leave the girl like that, but with all of the other people around, the chance that someone else would help her was high. On the other hand, Subaru and Satella were pressed for time, and needed to gather information to continue their search.

  No matter how he thought about it, their current plan should have priority over helping that little girl, but…

  “But don’t you see, Subaru? Look at her, she’s crying.”

  “…”

  “If you don’t want to stick around with me, that’s just fine. Thanks for everything you’ve done, Subaru. I’ll figure this out on my own…after I help that little girl.” While Subaru stood at a loss for words, Satella looked like she had already made her decision. The way she said it, it wasn’t as though she was saying that Subaru just didn’t understand and she was tired of him, but that she felt guilty for forcing Subaru to play along with her unreasonableness.

  Her silver hair dancing behind her, Satella trotted off across the street to where the little girl was standing. The girl, who had been looking down with her teary eyes, noticed that someone had suddenly come to her side. There was a glimmer of hope in her eyes as she looked up, probably because she thought the person she was looking for had found her.

  “I’m sorry I’m not the one you’re looking for,” said Satella as she knelt down to talk to the girl, whose eyes opened wide in surprise.

  But in those eyes was not a feeling of relief, but a feeling of fear. You could tell, even from far away, that being spoken to by a stranger had caused her heart to shrink away, afraid.

  “I’m sorry if I’m bothering you, but where are your father and mother? Aren’t they with you?”

  It looked as though Satella had noticed the girl was afraid, and her voice was in a tone that was kinder than Subaru had ever heard it before. However, it wasn’t enough to convey her concern to the girl, who had lost sight of her parents and was now shivering because she did not know what to do.

  “Umm… Uh… Please don’t cry. I won’t do anything to hurt you, okay?”

  Satella tried to keep open the girl’s heart before it shut completely on her, but it didn’t seem to work, and the little girl only shook her head back and forth. The tears that had welled up in her eyes looked as though they were about to overflow, when…

  “Now feast your eyes on this magnificent notched ten-yen coin!”

  “Huh?” said Satella, surprised by the sudden voice that had leapt in, and when she looked up, there was Subaru in his gray tracksuit.

  Subaru first smiled weakly at Satella’s reaction, and then turned his smile from her to the little girl. The sudden intruder had also surprised her. Subaru then put out his right hand in front of her.

  “Now, can you see this coin here in my right hand? I bet you can! All right, now I’m going to squeeze it tight. Like this…squeeze squeeze squeeze…”

  “Wait, Subaru…what are you…?”

  “And would you look at that!”

  Ignoring Satella’s interruption, Subaru took his fist where he had been holding the notched ten-yen coin and opened it wide for the two to see. When he did, the coin that should have been in his hand was gone.

  “Wow! The coin I was squeezing is gone! Now where could it have run off to…?”

  The little girl blinked a few times and then stared hard at Subaru’s right hand, but whether she looked at the back of his hand or his palm, she couldn’t find it. Subaru, emboldened by the girl’s reaction, nodded, and then reached out with his left hand and gently brushed his fingers through her hair.

  “Would you look at that! So this is where the coin was hiding.”

  When the little girl saw the coin resting between the fingers of Subaru’s left hand, she was stunned.

  Satella, who couldn’t figure out the trick, was just as confused.

  Subaru took a magnificent bow before the two and then dropped the notched ten-yen coin in the little girl’s hand.

  “I’ll let you keep it as a present. It’s special, so take good care of it, okay?”

  Subaru looked on with a smile as the little girl held the coin close and nodded
vigorously.

  As he was doing so, Satella poked him in the side. “Hey, Subaru…”

  “Don’t look at me like that. I mean, I’ll admit what I said before was a bit harsh but…”

  “How did you do that?”

  “Oh, you mean that? You’re not questioning my motives, but how I did the trick?”

  Subaru promised to explain the trick later to Satella, who looked very interested, before turning back to the little girl, who was looking very curiously at the ten-yen coin. It seemed like Subaru’s amazing magic had helped calm down her anxiety. When Subaru knelt down and asked her a few questions, she answered them quickly and clearly.

  “I see. So you got separated from your mother, huh. Don’t worry, don’t worry. Just leave it to your big brother and sister. We’ll find her right away!”

  After giving the girl another pat on the head, Subaru held out his hand to her, and with a little hesitation, she grabbed it. Satella, who was watching, opened her eyes wide.

  “You really look like you’re used to this… Subaru, is your profession taming children?”

  “When you take it out of context like that, that sounds really, really bad! And no. I’m unemployed.”

  Technically, Subaru had the incredibly convenient status of being a student. However, given that he hadn’t been going to school lately, and particularly now that he had been summoned to a different world, he didn’t really feel that he was qualified to call himself that anymore.

  But, regardless…

  “So, big sister, how about you hold this lonely little girl’s hand? She looks like she could use another friend,” said Subaru with a wink. The little girl had reached her other hand, the one that was not holding on to Subaru’s, out to Satella.

  Satella looked surprised for a moment and held her breath, but then let it out and took the little girl’s hand in her own. “Right. Don’t you worry. Just let your big sister handle this. We’ll definitely find your mom, okay?” Satella said, smiling at the little girl as she nodded silently.