Re; A Hero’s New Life in a New World!
Chapter 2 — “Subaru Natsuki”
The two—Justice and Vanessa—made it to the Poor District before the sun had set. They spent most of their energy by running, so they decided to just walk to their destination.
“How close are we to the Loot House?”
“Only a few minutes away.”
Justice noticed some of the people that lived in the District staring at him and Vanessa. The people didn’t have eyes full of envy, but eyes full of sorrow. It was to be expected, however. Since the District they lived in was the worst, they had broken down houses, not much food, and people dying here and there.
Some of the adults wore clean clothing, whereas others had dirt everywhere. Some children had rips in their shirts and pants. Though, there were some children that didn’t even wear clothes.
No one would bat an eye to anyone who was naked in the District. Few of the citizens possessed money, and even then, it was a small amount. The people that did wear clothes only got them from people who donated to them or got it from a relative who didn’t need it anymore.
“Vanessa, do you also feel the intense pressure from the stares?” He whispered.
“Yeah, I do. There’s a lot of despair in the air, here.”
“You’re right.”
“—That’s supposed to be me? I look way prettier.”
“—If you look this good without makeup, you’re doing fine…”
Despite already being tired, Justice and Vanessa run to see where all the commotion was coming from. When they get there, they see a little girl—around the age of thirteen or fourteen—talking to a man older than her.
“Justice, do you think that’s hi—”
Before she could finish her sentence, Justice dashed towards them.
“Excuse me,” he screamed while running at them.
“Crap it’s a guard!” The little girl screamed quietly. “C’mon bro, let’s run while we have the chance to,” she told the man next to him.
“Just follow what I say.”
“Could I ask you a question?”
“Go ahead, Mister Guard.”
“I’m not a guard, but… is your name Subaru Natsuki?”
“Yes, it is.”
Subaru had short black hair and brown eyes. Neither Justice, nor Vanessa, nor the little girl knew what he was wearing, but judging by what a few people have said, it would seem that his attire was called a “tracksuit.” It appeared that he had an “evil gaze,” but that was only due to his sanpakugan.
“I’ve been assigned to protect you.”
“Protect me? Protect me from what?”
Instantly, Subaru remembered what he needed to be protected from. He needed to be protected from the evil huntress, Elsa Granhiert. Subaru had the ability to return to a specific point in time by dying, which he dubbed “Return by Death.”
The aforementioned woman named ‘Elsa’ was responsible for two out of three of Subaru’s deaths.
“—Actually, are you able to fight against a crazy lady that’s obsessed with looking at other peoples’ guts?”
“I guess…”
“Perfect, then you can be my guard…!”
“Subaru, could I speak to you in private over there? It’s really important.”
Justice and Subaru walked over to the area the former pointed at. Vanessa and the young girl waited for them in an area close to them. Justice put both of his hands onto Subaru’s shoulders.
“I know this is going to be hard to believe… But I’ve been summoned from another world to this one. And… I was told to protect you.”
“Someone else has also been transported to this world?!” Subaru thought to himself, happy that there was someone else from his world that ended up here. Though, he decided to not get his hopes up. After all, the man in front of him could’ve been lying.
“You’re right. It is hard to believe. Who even told you to protect me?”
“I don’t kno—” Suddenly, even though Justice never knew the name—or anything else—of the person that was telling him to protect Subaru, he ‘remembered’ the name.
“—Her name was Satella.”
Subaru’s eyes widened.
“Judging by your reaction, you must know who she is. Am I correct?”
“N–No, I don’t know her. But, remember when I said that you being from a different world was too hard to believe?”
Justice shook his head up and down.
“Well, it really isn’t. I’m also not from this world.”
A grin blossomed onto Justice’s face.
“It’s great to know that I’m not the only one that originated from a different world.”
“I agree. Also, there’s a woman named ‘Elsa’ that’s going to the Loot House, where we’re going. She might kill us all.”
“You said that awfully normally, but I’ll see what I can do about her. By the way, I’m telling everyone that I have amnesia. I don’t know much about this world, so that’s a perfect excuse for me. What will your excuse be?”
“Hah? I haven’t even thought of tha—”
“C’mon bro, I don’t have all day. I also have another client coming.”
“Yeah, I’m not helping you, just to be left for a while, Justice.”
“Ah, sorry Vanessa, and, uh…”
“Felt.”
Felt was a short girl, with medium length golden blonde hair, which she wore a black bow on. She had red eyes that shined like rubies, and one canine tooth sticking out. She wore a black top, red scarf, black pants that are incomplete on the left side, where she also wears a red ribbon.
She also had a vest, wore gloves and brown shoes, and had a belt with a sheath where she placed her knife.
After a bit of questioning went on—so Felt could know if Justice was really a Knight or not—they all finally headed for the Loot House. Along the way, Felt described what it was like to live in the slums. Apparently, everyone, at one point, had to resort to thievery so they could support themselves.
Eventually, they reached a broken down-looking building. Subaru immediately felt anxiety course through his body. Since the house was the area where he and his friends had been killed by Elsa. “Your guts have such a lovely color,” were the words that echoed in his minds.
Felt knocked on the door, and someone—with a deep voice—answered.
“For a rat—”
“—Poison.”
“For a white whale—”
“—A harpoon.”
“To the noble dragon lord, we are—”
“—Shitbags.”
A few seconds later, a large old-man opened the door. He was two-hundred-twenty centimeters tall. He had white strands of hair lining his eyebrows and was bald. He wore a sleeveless vest and possessed a crimson symbol across the side of his left head.
“I’m back Rom-ji! These three have business with me, apparently.”
Rom gave the three a sharp glance. He kept on staring at that, almost like he was examining them. He was relatively uninterested in Subaru—who appeared very “plain”—compared to the other two.
He put his hand on his chin and stared at Justice for a bit. His eyes immediately went to the sword on his hips. But decided to not say anything, as he couldn’t sense any hostility coming from him.
Finally, his eyes went to Vanessa. Well, less of Vanessa, and more of her breasts. She put her hands behind her back and smiled.
“Do you like what you see?”
He rubbed his chin, answered with a “hm,” and let them all in. They began to discuss the meteor, called a “phone,” that Subaru had. Rom stated that the meteor was “no less than twenty Sacred Coins.” Both Felt and Vanessa’s jaws dropped.
“What’s a meteor, though?” Justice asked.
“It’s a tool that allows people whose gate isn’t working properly to use magic,” Subaru responded, looking prideful.
They continued to negotiate for the insignia. Subaru was filled with anxiety, and was in a hurry to acquire the pendant, and get everyone out of the Loot House as fast as possible, as Elsa was going to arrive at the house in no time. Despite the number advantage, Subaru still feared that they wouldn’t stand a chance against her.
If she were to fight all of them in the Loot House, she’d have the advantage of the area. Everyone would also be held back by Subaru being there, seeing as how they have to protect him while fighting.
“Why do you even need the insignia?”
Felt looked him straight into the eyes.
“…I want to return it to the person you stole it from.”
A silence fell upon the room. Everyone stared at Subaru with a ‘weird’ expression on their faces. “What about you?” Felt pointed at Justice.
“I’m only here because I need to protect Subaru.”
“Bullshit. How much is he paying you?”
“Absolutely nothing.”
She let out a sigh of annoyance. Her eyes then moved onto Vanessa. “You?” she asked her.
“I’m only helping Justice to kill time.”
“Tch. A—”
“—Felt, I don’t think any of them are lying.”
The Giant, Rom, interrupted Felt.
“Rom-ji, don’t believe their facade. These guys are lying. Why would someone want to return a stolen item to its original owner? Why would someone try to protect someone else for no price? Why would anyone help another person, just for their entertainment or kill time? These guys are clearly guards!”
“We’re not guar—”
A knock on the door could be heard. Subaru jumped a little, and his skin went pale. He could see images of the previous time loops he was in, flash before his eyes. “Who’s that?” Rom asked.
“It’s probably my client. It may be a little too early, but now we can get these negotiations over with, finally.”
Before walking up to open the door, she calmed herself, so she didn’t accidentally yell at her innocent client. As she grabbed the knob of the door, Subaru let out a scream that could be heard from outside the house.
“No, please don’t open the door! We’ll all be killed!”
“…What do you mean?”
Vanessa questioned Subaru. He did not respond since he diverged deep into despair. Justice believed that the woman named ‘Elsa,’ whom Subaru mentioned earlier had finally arrived. He stood in front of Subaru, holding onto the sheath of his sword, fully prepared to protect him.
“I have to stop this somehow—”
Felt finally opened the door. At this point, Subaru wasn’t even paying attention to reality anymore.
“What do you mean by ‘be killed’? I’d never try to kill anyone for no reason!”
The one who spoke these words weren’t Elsa, but a beautiful young woman with long, silky, silver hair and purple-blue eyes. She wore a white and purple outfit along with a white flower in her hair. That wasn’t all she was wearing though.
She had a sour look on her face. As she walked through the doorway into the room, she made her intentions clear to everyone.
“I only have one demand. Return my insignia to me. It’s very important to me.”
Ice crystals started to form around everyone in the room. Felt slowly started to walk backward; the crystals followed her. Even someone as intimidating as Old Man Rom could see that all of them were in trouble.
“We don’t have a chance.”
“What? How could you say that, Rom-ji? She’s just another Magic user. Nothing new.”
“Most Magic users aren’t that tough to deal with. But… she’s different.”
Rom stared at the girl, like how he stared at Subaru, Justice, and Vanessa, earlier. He was examining her.
“Young lady, you’re an Elf, ain’t you?”
She closed her eyes and sighed.
“No, actually, I’m a half-elf.”
Felt slowly started to walk backward.
“A half-elf with silver hair…? Are you—”
“—No, I’m not her! This accidental resemblance causes me a lot of trouble.”
Felt looked at Subaru and the others.
“You guys set me up, didn’t you?”
“What? No, we didn’t!”
“I was already suspicious when these guys decided to help you for no reason, but after you said you’d going to return it to its original owner, I was even more suspicious! Cut the act! You’re all guards, and she probably came her as back-up for you guys!”
She pointed angrily at Justice.
“I mean, that guy is wearing an outfit a knight should wear!”
“No really, I’m not a knight…”
“Wait, what? You three aren’t working with her? I’m not understanding what’s going on here.”
“Me neither!”
Subaru gave a wry smile. But then, he saw it. There was a silhouette of a woman holding a large blade behind the silver-haired girl that had just arrived.
“Puck! Shield her!”
As Subaru screamed this, a shield presumably made out of ice protected the girl. The woman that just arrived jumped out of the shadows and lands near another corner of the house. Justice pulled out his sword from his scabbard and held onto it with both of his hands.
It was a long blade, almost as tall as Justice himself. The sheath of the sword was red. The blade of the sword had a short, thin, red streak in the middle.
A small gray cat appeared on the Half-elf girl’s shoulder.
“That was a bit closer than what I expected. You saved us!” The cat, named ‘Puck,’ gave Subaru a smile and a thumbs up.
“Thank goodness it was before five, while you’re still on duty. Thanks!” Subaru did the same.
“A Spirit… That’s a spirit, yes?”
The woman who attempted to attack the girl and Puck interjected their conversation. She stood up, and smiled seductively, as she lifted up her curved blade. She giggled, leaving everyone in the room to become immensely tense.
“How wonderful. I have never dissected a Spirit’s stomach before.”
[Previous Chapter] — [Next Chapter]
Author’s Comments
Hey guys. I’m here to say: from now on, I’m most likely going to add these small “Author’s Comment” sections to the end of every Chapter*. They’re going to be used for me commenting on a specific thing that was written in the Chapter it’s written in, or if I just wanted to make something clear.
But anyway, I want to come out and say that I’m sorry for this Chapter [Kinda]. Initially, this Chapter was supposed to be a little longer and filled with things that weren’t in the Re:Zero Light Novel, but due to College, Work, and just me procrastinating in general, I decided to just release what I had, because I wanted this to be a weekly released-thing and not a monthly released thing. @all of my other stories.
Again, I apologize for this underwhelming Chapter. I promise that these next one will be longer than this! Hopefully, you’ll continue reading these poorly made stories all the way to the end. I have a lot more than what’s currently happening planned! Just a little heads up: The story kind of diverges from the Re:Zero road, in Arc 2, and almost fully diverges away from it in Arc 3.
*I’ll only add them if I want to comment on something, or if I have enough time to actually do so.
— Mugen
Re;Hero 