Re; A Hero’s New Life in a New World!
Chapter 8 — “Pain”
Subaru realized that Return by Death activated. Frustrated, he dashed out of his room in a frenzy. He opened a door without looking, and sat down in the room he had just entered, covering his face. A familiar voice allowed him to realize that he was currently in the Forbidden Library.
He had a brief conversation with Beatrice. He learned that his first run-in with her happened a few hours ago. He soon left and met up with Emilia and Justice at the garden. Emilia scolded him for leaving the room and worrying the two maids. They go back inside the mansion and meet Gordon and Roswaal.
“You two may have any reward youuuuuuuuu request. Merely state your desireeeeeeeee.”
“I have one wish,” Subaru said, standing up. “Hire me to work in this mansion!” The room went silent. Emilia was disappointed with Subaru’s request, Justice was contemplating why he wanted to work here when he could’ve had anything he wanted. Ram and Rem were shocked. Gordon continued to mutter to himself, Roswaal had a soft smile on his face, Puck was lightly chuckling, and Beatrice was disgusted.
“Achoo.”
Subaru helped Rem and Ram with their duties for five days. He tried to do everything he did the last loop, however, somethings he did were different. Later in the day, Subaru decided to take a bath in a rather large bathtub. He blew bubbles in the water, contemplating why this loop was going differently than the last.
“Hi there! Maaaaaaay I join you?”
The sight of the bare-naked nobleman before him, hands on his hips, made Subaru deeply regret that he required air. Subaru immediately turned around and said, “No, you may not.”
“This facility is a part of myyyyyyy mansion, so it is my property… I shaaaaaaall do with it as I please.”
“Why bother asking, then?” Subaru asked, turning around once again. “If you want, take a bath.”
“My, how harsh! And you seem not to understand. Yes, this bath is my property… But, as a part of my staff,” Roswaal went down on one knee and gently lifted Subaru’s chin. “Are you not my prooooooooperty as well?” Subaru then immediately bit his hand. “No hesitation at all!”
Roswaal gracefully dived into the large steaming body of water, while Subaru swam away, to the other side. They conversed about Roswaal’s cosmetics for a bit. Being born with bad looks was a serious drawback when making first impressions. And if Subaru wanted to complain about the face he was born with, what could he say? He looked exactly like his mother.
Remembering his parents, Subaru had a conflicted look on his face as Roswaal changed the subject to Rem and Ram, whom Subaru had made his frustrations very clear about. Suddenly, they heard footsteps approaching them. “Ah,” someone said. “Looks like you two are already here.”
It was Justice. Instead of wearing all that armor, he only wore a small towel around his waist, allowing the two to see his well-built body. His pecks were big, he had a six-pack, as well as toned legs. Subaru felt a little jealous. He also felt a little angry at the fact that he was probably the least physically attractive male in the Mansion, Gordon probably had a better body than him, since he was a knight, after all.
Justice hopped into the warm water and conversated with them.
“What’s wrong, Subaru? You look a little… mad.”
“That’s because I am.”
“Why, exactly?”
“What if Emilia-tan likes good bodies?! You might actually have a chance to take her away from me— wait, Justice-san, train me! I want to get a body like that so I can win over Emilia easily!”
“Sure… but only when you’re finished your butler duties.”
“Speeeeeaking of that body, how were you able to achieve it, Justice-kun?” Roswaal asked. “For what purpose did you achieeeeeeeve that body, I mean.” Justice furrowed his eyebrows for a bit, as it was a weird question to ask. But nevertheless, he would answer Roswaal’s query.
“My older sister and I were left at an orphanage simply because our parents just couldn’t afford to live with us,” he said. “As the years passed, other kids would get adopted. Not us, though. Many people wanted to adopt us, but we would often decline their offers, as my sister and I didn’t want to leave each other.”
A thin smile formed on Justice’s face.
“Eventually, we became sort-of the role models for most of the kids at the orphanage. We taught them what parents would teach their children, and we would play around with them sometimes. One day, my sister applied to join the military, and when she left the orphanage to work, I wanted to be like her; I also wanted to protect everyone I cared for. In order to do that, I trained my body and magic capabilities.”
“…I see.” Roswaal said, narrowing his eyes at Justice with a mischevious smile.
“What type of Magic was she able to use,” Subaru eagerly asked. “Did she use Fire Magic, like you?”
“Her Magic is different than my own,” he answered, looking at his palm. “While I can use Fire Magic, she can use Plasma Magic.”
“Homph,” Subaru said, resting his index finger on his chin. “Normally, in these ‘Summoned to Another World’ tropes, usually there would be four types of Magic, Fire, Water, Air, and Earth. But, Plasma Magic? Never would’ve seen that coming… Then again, that creepy woman had Blood Magic, and Vanessa-nee-san had Thread Magic, so I should’ve expected this.”
“Whaaaaaaat are you talking about, dear Subaru-kun?”
“…On the topic of Magic… Oi, Ros-chi! Can you find out what type of Magic I can use?”
“Naaaturally, a magic user as accomplished as I can discover that through mere touch.”
“Seriously?! This is what I’ve been waiting for. Well, do it and tell me!”
Roswaal gave him a halfhearted look and pressed his palm to Subaru’s forehead. The eyes of both completely nude men twinkled at the scene. “Well,” Roswaal said. “If you shall excuse me, Myon myon myon myon…”
“Woah! A magical sound! Totally fantasy immersion!”
Justice seemed to be weirded-out by the noises Roswaal was making.
“…Yes, I see.”
“So, Ros-chi, what type of Magic can I use?! Can I use Fire Magic that burns like I do? Or water for when I’m calm and composed, the coolest guy in the room? Or maybe wind because of my refreshing nature, like the breeze blowing through the grass? No, no, it’s gotta be earth for my being such a laid-back, big-brother-type nice guy, definitely! Or perhaps…”
“—It’s Yin.”
“None of the above?!”
“Yin Magic?” Justice asked. He seemed to be just as confused as Subaru was, as there was no such thing as Yin Magic from the world he was from. “Is it like Dark Magic, or is it something else?”
“No, nooooooo. Dark Magic is manipulating darkness, whereas Light Magic is Manipulating light. Yin Magic allows the user to be able to induce hexes, obstruct an opponent’s vision, sever them from sound, slow their movements, and the like. Whereas Yang Magic is the opposite.”
“So I’m a debuffer?! Summoned from a world without weapons skill, intellect, or cheat codes…and a magical element for debuffs…”
“Incideeeeentally, you have no talent for magic. If my limit is a ten, yours is about three. It seems that Justice-kun is experienced in using Magic, so I’d say he’s about a seven or an eight.”
“I wanted to hear that even less! This place is forsaken by God and Buddha!”
Until a few moments before, it had been a theoretical hope, but expectations, once sprouted, were not so easy to brush aside.
“Well, using it at all is good, I think… Or maybe being a debuffer makes me kinda cool…?”
“Putting aside the level of coolness, there is nooo harm in learning. If you wish to use magic, by all means, learn. Fortunately for you, there is indeeeed a specialist in Yin spells here at this mansion.”
“Is it Emilia-tan?”
“No, it is Beatrice.”
“This sucks!”
After their conversation ended, Subaru left the tub, where he is met with Ram. She tells him that after he is done training with Justice, he should wait for her in his room, which he got very flustered about. Once he came back from shopping at the village, he would start training with Justice in the backyard.
“Subaru, catch!”
Justice threw a wooden sword at Subaru which he barely managed to catch.
“C’mon, let’s train now!”
The two fought each other with their wooden swords. Justice made Subaru fall many times, as the latter wasn’t as experienced in sword-fighting, as the former. Eventually, Subaru fell once more, and didn’t get up as he needed to catch his breath. Just then, he remembered his conversation with Roswaal.
He remembered that he would be able to use Yin Magic, so he should probably ask Justice about the necessary requirements of using Magic. …He also remembered talking about cosmetics and appearances. He remembered that everyone in his world always said that he looked exactly like his parents. Remembering them made Subaru feel bad, especially because he wasn’t able to tell them “goodbye.”
“Hey, Justice…”
“Hmm?”
“Do you miss anyone from your world?”
“Yeah… I miss everyone from the orphanage, but, the one person I miss the most is my older sister.”
“You were really close with her, weren’t you?”
“I really was,” he said, chuckling. “I remember being so heart-broken, the day she was leaving the orphanage to join the military.”
“Sounds nice. Having a close sibling, I mean. What was she like?”
“She was kind and caring, though she had a short temper. She knew how to motivate others, but at the same time, she couldn’t even motivate herself to get out of bed.”
Justice chuckled, reminiscing about his past.
“Sounds like a contradicting personality. Still, your sister seems like someone I’d really like to meet.”
“…You probably wouldn’t want to meet her. She gets real angry when she gets confused, and judging by the weird things you say sometimes, you might make her mad, a lot. And, trust me, she’s very scary when she’s angry.”
“Oh, alrig— Hey! Tch, I bet if I mastered my Debuff Magic, she wouldn’t be scary to me.”
“I kind of doubt that. When she’s angry, her power level comes close to Reinhard’s.”
“That’s actually kind of scary!”
After their training was over, Subaru went to his room to have study sessions with Ram, and even made a promise to Emilia to go on a date to the Village the following day, only when he’s done his butler work, though. He also asked Puck and Justice to better guard Emilia, because he knew someone would attack the Mansion on the night of the fifth day—which was the night of the current day.
Then, he went to his room. He sat on a chair next to his bed. He promised himself that he wouldn’t fall asleep. He kept on rubbing his eyelids so he wouldn’t fall asleep. He wouldn’t go to the washroom to wash his face to get rid of his sleep, mainly because he was too scared to leave his room.
…Then, it happened.
Subaru’s vision became distorted and he felt nauseous. Despite being scared, he ran—more accurately, speed-walked—out of his room. “Emilia,” he whispered while walking up the stairs. Every now and then, he would vomit on the floor. Suddenly, he felt a strong impact that sent him flying backward.
He had no balance. His right arm was working so hard; what was his left arm doing Where’d it run off to? Annoyed for no tangible reason, Subaru glared at his useless left arm. —That was when he realized that everything left of his shoulder had been torn off. He screamed as loud as possible.
The sounds of chains… they were the last thing Subaru heard before his skull was smashed.
“What just happened—?!”
Justice rushed to the scene. He was mortified when he saw Subaru’s destroyed body. Then, he saw someone holding a flail. They were standing behind the NEET’s corpse. Justice clenched his fist when he realized who it was. “Why did you do this,” he screamed, asking the person in front of him. They wore a maid costume, and had medium-sized blue hair. “Why did you do this, Rem?!”
She didn’t respond.
“What was that noise?”
Justice heard Emilia. When she arrived at the scene, Justice tried to block her view, so she wouldn’t have to see Subaru’s condition. Unfortunately, he was too late, as Emilia saw his corpse. She collapsed onto the ground. Tears streamed from her eyes. Looking at this scene, Justice pulled out his sword from his scabbard and dashed towards Rem.
She fired the spiked ball at him, making sure she wouldn’t hit Emilia, which he parried with his sword. Though, he was still pushed back, due to the impact between his sword and the spiked ball of her flail. Justice generated fire on his arms and said, “[Fire Magic]: Basuto!”
He launched a javelin made out of fire at Rem. She pointed her arm at the fire javelin and cast a spell of her own. “[Water Magic],” she said. “Brine!” A stream of water was shot from the palm of her hand. The fire javelin and stream of water clashed, creating steam, which would swiftly disappear.
“[Fire Magic]—”
“I need to hit him before he uses a spell—!” Rem thought to herself.
Just as she was about to fire her spiked ball, she realized she couldn’t move. She was struggling to even move a finger. “—Leo Ruzenas!” Justice generated a great amount of fire which took the shape of a lion. The lion then unleashed a huge amount of fire from its mouth at Rem. The flames engulfed her.
When Justice thought the battle was over, the flames disappear, revealing a Rem whose arm was burned, inside a barrier made out of water. The two grabbed their weapons and dashed towards one another. Just as they were about to clash, a wall of ice sprung up from the ground, blocking them from attacking each other.
“Please, you two,” Emilia said. “Stop.”
Later, Justice, Emilia, Rem, Ram, and Gordon—really, everyone that resided in the mansion, aside from Beatrice and Puck—had met up in Roswaal’s private study. They were all waiting for the latter man to show up. Rem was healing her burned arm, her face was full of frustration, while her sister seemed to be angry, judging only by the aura around her.
“Don’t think you’ll get away with hurting Rem. You’d be mistaken if you do.”
Ram stated. She stared at Justice, who wasn’t even harmed in his battle against Rem, with a hostile gaze, as if she would attack him any moment know. Justice didn’t respond, instead, he looked at Rem with an upset expression.
Finally, Roswaal entered the room. Unlike the past few days, he was not smiling, when he came into the room. He appeared to be serious. He walked over to an empty seat near the area Rem was sitting, and sat there. “Rem,” he said, looking at her in the corner of his eye. “Tell us what happened.”
“…Very well. Late last night in the East Wing… there was an intruder on Emilia-sama’s level. Alerted to this by the alarm gems, Rem immediately went to the scene, and that’s when I found Subaru-kun crawling on the floor.”
“Barusu was already under the curse’s effects by then.”
“Yes, it is as nee-sama said. Subaru-kun was weakened to the verge of death. The curse’s effects had sapped his life-force to its absolute limit, and I determined that saving him was impossible…”
“—You could’ve knocked him out, or took his life as fast as possible… but, what did you do? Remove his entire left shoulder from his body, made him lose an extreme amount of blood… and make him suffer even more than the curse did,” Justice said.
“The facts are facts. subaru’s body, his arm, and his head… If you wanted to put him out of his misery, there should have been a gentler way. Instead, why did you…”
At that point, Rem didn’t know what to say. Both Emilia and Justice made good points, which she could not counter.
“Tch, as Rem said, Barusu was already under the effects of the curse. There was no way to save him.”
“That doesn’t change the fact that she made him suffer even more than the curse.”
“—It was a slip of the hand… or because you hesitated… those were the answers Justice I wanted to hear…”
Emilia got up from her chair and walked towards the door, Justice not far behind. “Miss Emilia,” Roswaal said. “Where are you going?”
“I’m leaving. It has only been a short while, but thank you for your hospitality. Without your backing, I would not have been able to participate in the Royal Selection. But… I cannot trust you anymore.”
“Even if you don’t trust us, surely our relationship of mutual utilization would still be beneficial, don’t you think? Forfeiting your place for the sake of a tantrum couldn’t be called a wise decision”
“Tantrum…?”
Justice was angered. Before he could say anything, Emilia put her arm in front of him, practically telling him not to do anything. Instead, she walked away from the door, and walked up to Roswaal… and slapped him. No one could have stopped that crisp sound from ringing out.
Ram instantly stood up from her seat. She was fuming with rage. Justice looked at Ram and grabbed the sheath of his sword.
“Sit down, Ram. As Emilia’s bodyguard, I won’t allow you to hurt her.”
“Ram.”
“But Roswaal-sama…!”
“It’s fine. You can stay seated. Emilia-sama, my apologies for Ram”
Emilia bit her lip in rage. “You’re always like this with me…” she said, her voice gradually getting louder “But when it’s Subaru… you won’t even say a thing…” Afterward, a silence fell upon the room. Despite Emilia’s eyes continuing to brew with rage, Roswaal still seemed to be calm and composed.
“Once you leave the Mansion, and return to the forest— what will you have left?”
“I was wrong to have been taken along by your beguiling words. My atonement… my penance will come in many other forms. It was because of my mistake… that Subaru died. I will bring his soul with me, and lay him to rest in the forest. For Subaru, and the others, for as long it takes, I will devote my time to tend to their souls. That is all I will say. Goodbye.”
Right then, she walked out of the door. As Justice was about to leave through the door, he stopped and turned around to face Rem. “Rem,” he said. “During our fight, you had a chance to attack me when I was casting a spell. You didn’t attack me, why?”
“…My body wouldn’t move, it felt as if there was a large boulder on it.”
“…That was my doing…” Gordon answered. “…I couldn’t bear to watch Rem kill Justice… so I hexed her temporarily…”
“You seem like a good person, Gordon,” Justice responded. “Unfortunately, I can’t say the same for the others. Maybe we’ll all cross paths again, in the future. For now, this is goodbye.”
Like Emilia, Justice walked through the door.
Subaru rised from his bed, screaming while clenching his left arm. He realized that Return by Death activated once again. He also realized that the two maids were still in his room. He left the room and returned to the Forbidden Library, where he tried to decipher what had happened in the previous loop, much to the annoyance of Beatrice, who later kicks him out for annoying her more.
He was blown away by an invisible gust of Magic, causing him to fly out of the library, through the window, and land on a flower patch. Emilia and Justice walk up to him and greet him. After Puck washes the fertilizer off of Subaru, with Magic, they all head back inside, as Roswaal had apparently arrived.
“You two may have any reward youuuuuuuuu request. Merely state your desireeeeeeeee.”
“In that case,” Subaru said, standing up. “Let me live here as a house guest, and eat and sleep all I want!” The room went silent. Emilia was disappointed with Subaru’s request, Justice was surprised that Subaru actually had a smart desire. Ram and Rem were shocked. Gordon continued to mutter to himself, Roswaal had a soft smile on his face, Puck was lightly chuckling, and Beatrice was disgusted.
“Yawn,” everyone then stared at Ram.
[Previous Chapter] — [Next Chapter]
Author’s Comments
Hey, all! I’m back with another late Chapter! You can expect the release of Chapters to go back to normal starting this Friday and/or Saturday, if I’m busy on Friday. Here’s are small little facts that I made for no reason: Justice’s older sister is one year older than him. Her name is Elesis Hendricks, and, back in their world, she was known as the ‘Crimson Knight’.
Another fun fact: This Chapter was supposed to be longer than it currently is! Initially, I planned for this Chapter to cover more stuff, but judging by the time I have in this week, I decided to release this earlier, and not delay any more. If Chapter 9 seems a bit rushed, well, there’s your reason.
Anyway, Arc 2 will last for more Chapters than Arc 1. Don’t expect this Arc to keep on following the Light Novel. After a couple more Chapters are released, you can expect a massive “final” battle. I don’t want to spoil much, but, the combatants will be some members of the Emilia Camp vs. A character that was introduced in Arc 1. I won’t say who it is, though.
Until Next Time!
— Mugen
Re;Hero 