Re; A Hero’s New Life in a New World!
Chapter 16 — “Let Sleeping Dogs Lie”
Sister Lily and Justice looked at the peacefully sleeping children. Justice couldn’t help but remember his time living in an orphanage when he was young. “Wow, Justice-sama,” Sister Lily said. “You really are great with children.”
“Yeah, I grew up in a small orphanage with my sister, and both of us were sort of the parental-figures for the children. The nuns that worked there were starting to become a little old, and were less help for the kids, so we decided to step up.”
“That’s really nice to know. You really remind me of two children that used to live here… Yuno and Asta.”
“Where are they now?”
“Well, both of them were able to join the Magic Knights. Yuno possessed strong Wind Magic and was able to join the highest ranking Magic Knight Brigade, the Golden Dawns. While, Asta, he possessed no Mana, but was still able to use Anti-Magic. With that power, he was able to join the Black Bulls. But…”
Justice’s eyes widened when she mentioned Anti-Magic, something he thought that only Subaru was able to use. He also noticed that the Asta boy joined the Black Bulls brigade, a brigade which Vanessa might have been a part of, judging by the capelet she was wearing.
Back when they were fighting Elsa Granhiert, the Bowel Hunter, Vanessa mentioned that she knew “a thing or two about negating Magic.” Justice immediately realized that she was probably talking about the Asta kid, and his Anti-Magic, which was likely able to negate Magic.
“Something happened…” Lily continued. “Yuno died on a mission he was sent on… hearing about his death, Asta mentally collapsed. Weeks later, he left the Capital with Noelle Silva—a royal. Their current location is unknown, and we’re all very worried…”
“Don’t worry, I know you’ll be able to find him in the future. I… have experience with royalty, so I know that the person he’s with will try to convince him to go back to the capital.”
Aisha walked around the graveyard. She saw many small piles of black slime gathered around gravestones.
“Yuck! It’s been ages since I saw something like that!”
She looked around being wary of everything, until—
“—Where did you come from?”
A black slime-like creature, with a white mask-like face, snuck up behind Aisha.
“Oh no… this thing is… evil…”
“Where did you come from? Where are you going? Where to? Where from? Where? Where? Where?”
Aisha hastily covered her mouth. Despite appearing extremely hostile, the monster did not attack her, just yet. Its slime-like appendages began to get bigger, every second that passed.
“I researched on monsters that lived near villages before we came here…! This is a slime… I can’t answer its questions—! Say a single word… and it’ll take me!”
“To whom will you give your shirt without a seam?”
She swiftly turned around and began to run away. Since she was royalty—albeit, from a different world—she possessed immense Mana reserves, only rivaled by other royals. But, even then, she could not control her magic. Trying to fight back with her mediocre magic controlling skill would be a waste of time.
“Crap! It’s chasing me!”
It began to follow her, running with its multitude of limbs. Making a light skid sound while chasing the girl. It was catching up.
Just before the Slime grabbed Aisha with one of its hands, she saw a man. He had wavy black hair, red eyes, and light brown skin. He also wore a grey top with darker grey stripes, a black jacket, black trousers, and black shoes. He stared intently at Aisha and said: “Isabel…?”
The slime grabbed Aisha’s hair, its mouth, drooling with saliva. “Where are you going? To whom will you give your shirt without a seam?” it said. It opened its mouth, revealing sharp, yellow teeth. The man grabbed Aisha and held her head near his chest. He used his other hand to grapple the monster’s face.
“Get lost, Slime.”
He began to crush its face with his strength. Moments later, the slime’s face was fully crushed, killing it, in the process. It then turned into black fog, which eventually dissipated. “He didn’t use Magic to kill the slime,” Aisha thought to herself. “There’s no way he’s a human.”
“U-uh, thank y—”
The man suddenly grabbed his other and kneeled. He was in pain.
“Huh?”
“This is no place for a kid with high Magic power to hang around. The slimes are attracted to Magic power. Dangerous. Leave, hurry.”
She noticed that there was blood gushing from his arm, to his hands, to the grassy ground. She began to look around, to see if there was help available.
“The others… I need to get the others! I won’t be able to heal him on my own… wait! Why am I helping him?! Well, he did save me… Ugh, now’s not the time to act like this! I have some healing potions on me—”
The man touched Aisha’s cheek.
“You… look like my Isabel…”
“Isabel?”
“That’s right, Isabel,” he said, getting up. “She sleeps here… I… I must… protect her.” He placed both of his hands on the ground, he was going “quadrupedal.” His arms, legs, and everything else began to get hairy, Eventually, he was fully covered in hair—no, fur. He turned into a black hound, with red eyes, and a long tail.
“Isabel… Isabel…!”
The dog coughed out blood.
“Hold it! You may seem powerful, but you’re still hurt!”
He growled at her. She was intimidated at first, but saw through his facade and knew that he wouldn’t try to hurt her. She gently put her hand on him. “Listen,” she quietly said. “I know that you feel the need to complete something, but, if you don’t give it a rest for a bit, you won’t be able to complete anything.”
The growls from the dog began to grow faint. The dog closed its eyes and collapsed onto Aisha’s lap.
Subaru and Rem walked alongside each other on the dirt roads in the village. Subaru was excited about going on his first real date with a girl, which he was, unfortunately, unable to do with Emilia, partially saddening him. Rem, on the other hand, was full of happiness, being able to go on a date with Subaru.
Subaru told Rem many fairy tales his parents told him, when he was a kid. Rem happened to love the stories he told. Rem did the same and told him stories she heard as a kid. Subaru knew the tales she told, as he read them to improve his vocabulary, in the previous timelines. However, there was one story that held his interest. One he hadn’t heard of before.
“Long ago, there was a Priest. He had many connections to the angels above, due to that, many people bothered him, about talking to the angels, causing the man to become a hermit and cut society off. One day, four sisters came to visit him, who each, in their unique ways, was kind to him.”
“Ooh,” Subaru said, in excitement. “Go on!”
“The first, by encouraging him to meditate and reflect, the second, by bringing him fruit and flowers and revitalizing his garden, the third, convincing him to step outside and embrace the world, and the fourth, by encouraging him to be thankful for what he has.”
Rem raised four fingers.
“In return for their kindness, the priest gave them Angels, which, in turn, gave them extraordinary powers. The first sister got Gabriel, the Army-Breaking Songstress. The second sister got Haniel, the Witch of Forgery. The third one got Zafkiel, the Emperor of Time. Finally, the fourth sister got Eden, the Garden of Paradise. Together, they were known as the Four Priestesses, who went around, helping the people of Lugnica.”
“Eden isn’t an Angel, though,” Subaru thought to himself. “That’s a really cool story, Rem… With my experience through Fantasy RPG Games, I can say that Priestesses are cute. Which means… you’re one of the Priestesses, aren’t you, Rem?!”
She blushed at his statement.
“Huh? N-No! I can assure you that I am not one of the Four Priestesses. But, thank you for the indirect compliment, Subaru-kun.”
“No problem, Rem!”
“So, Rem,” Subaru said. “What does Ram think of me? She’s been really passive-aggressive towards me lately.”
“Subaru-kun, do you want to head to the Demon God’s Skeleton, now?”
“Of course! Last one that gets there is a rotten egg!”
Subaru ran towards the skeleton.
“You won’t beat me today, Subaru-kun!”
Rem exclaimed as she started to run. Subaru accidentally bumped into a woman and fell down. Rem ran up to him and helped him out. The woman possessed bright amber eyes and ashen-black hair. She wore a dark-red, off-the-shoulders, v-neck mini dress with yellow designs.
There was a blue feather-like accessory on her right hip, at the top of an open portion of her dress. The dress ended in an upside-down triangular tail in the back, ending just above the knees.
“Ah, sorry about that, Miss!”
“It’s fine. I’m Cinder Fall, nice to meet you. Do you two live in this village?”
“I’m Subaru Natsuki and this is Rem. No, we’re not from this place. How come?”
“Only Magic Knights attend to this village, and neither of you looked like Magic Knights, so I was confused. Is there any reason you’re here? I could help you with something you need.”
“We’re from the Emilia Camp, as our leader is here to make negotiations with the village’s mayor. Subaru-kun and I were just about to head to the Demon Lord’s skeleton, we are sorry if we bothered you.”
“Oh, not at all. You two can head to the skeleton if you wan—”
“—There you are, Cinder!”
Cinder turned around and saw two people running to her. A young woman with brown skin and dark-red eyes. Her hair was a light, mint-green with a straight fringe and bangs, as well as two long locks on each side, in the back. She wore two bronze-colored rings on her middle fingers as well as a pair of strappy high-heeled pumps.
And, a well-built young man with gray eyes and silver-colored hair, which was partially slicked back while unkempt at the front. He wore a slate gray and black two-tone partial-zip jacket, that covered his upper body. He also wore a single notched belt with a bandana draped over it. Protecting his arms were sets of rerebraces and vambraces.
“Oh,” Cinder said. “You two.”
“Care to introduce us to your new friends?” The man asked.
“These two are Subaru and Rem, they are visiting this village on special business,” Cinder pointed at the girl. “This is Emerald Sustrai, my… acquaintance, and,” she said, pointing at the man. “This is Mercury Black, also my acquaintance.”
“Nice to meet you,” Subaru said, while Rem politely bowed at them.
“You two can head on to the place you were going to.”
“Right,” Subaru said, running to the Demon God’s skeleton. Rem politely bowed again and proceeded to run as well.
“Seriously, Cinder?” Mercury asked. “Introducing us as your acquaintances? It’s just like we met for the first time again.”
“Well, I didn’t want to lie and introduce you as a friend of mine to them.”
Mercury frowned at Cinder’s witty response.
“Anyway,” Emerald said. “Aside from them being a part of the ‘Emilia Camp’ or whatever it is, why were you talking to them? You usually ignore people unless they have something interesting about them. They didn’t seem so interesting to me.”
“Well…” a mischievous smile formed on Cinder’s face. “Neither of them were human.”
Emerald and Mercury seemed to be shocked at Cinder’s statement. “The girl was an overworld demon, the ones that lived in villages,” she continued. “And… the boy was an underworld demon.”
“I thought they were all sealed in a different realm? How was he able to escape?” Mercury asked. “…Or is not one? Your predictions like these have a history of being wrong,” he added.
“No clue on how he escaped. He fills all of the required candidates of being an underworld demon. He possessed zero Mana, a very unique form of Magic… in this case, Anti-Magic, and, he has a ‘Devil-Mode.’ However, he has yet to activate that mode, it seems.”
“Oh, great,” Emerald said, turning to Rem and Subaru running. “Another person we need to protect. Great.”
“Don’t be too happy about this, Emerald. For all we know, we might be tasked to kill them, someday.” Cinder said. “Until then, let’s stay concealed.”
“Ulysse,” a girl said. She possessed purple hair and green eyes. “Ulysse!” She repeated. “Come.” She was sitting down, with a book in her arms. A black dog swiftly headed to her. Once he reached her, he licked her cheek.
“What’s wrong, Isabel?” He asked. “Have you been teased for your purple hair again? But it’s so beautiful, like the violet flowers. I love you no matter what color it is.” He said. “Isabel,” he said, one last time before he opened his eyes.
His head was on a purple-haired girl’s lap. Though, she was not the girl named Isabel, whom he had loved so much.
“You’re finally awake,” she—Aisha—said. “How do you feel? I used some Healing Potions on you.”
“…”
Aisha gave him an irritated face for not replying to her.
“So… who’s Isabel? You kept on muttering her name while you were sleeping. I have nothing else to do at the moment, so, if you’re looking for her, I can give you the honor of having my help—”
“No need. I know where she is. She sleeps beneath the earth.”
“She’s dead, then,” Aisha thought to herself.
“You look like my sister.”
“Your sister?”
“Isabel. Her hair was the color of violet flowers, and her eyes, the green of spring leaves. You are the same height as her, too.”
“Same height as me? That’s… a really large dog.”
“Dog?” he—Ulysse—asked. His body slowly dissipating. He turned into the human form that Aisha initially saw. “Isabel and I are both humans.”
“Both humans, huh?” She said. “I get it now,” she thought to herself. “He’s a monster, a grim, as they call it here. Beings that are overflowing with negative emotions that they turn into something they’re not. In this case, he can turn into a human—which means, his ‘sister,’ is his owner.”
“She must mean a lot to you, I’m assuming.”
“She does. I’ve watched over her since the day she was born. And… I… thought she’d always be with me, gently calling my name…”
Hearing that, Aisha remembered something from her past. A young Aisha was hugging a woman with long, black hair, and orange eyes. “Tch,” she said. “I know someone exactly like you.”
“Was that person able to stay beside the one they loved?”
“Unfortunately, no.”
“…”
“…Anyway, you’re hurt. What happened? Did something attack you?”
“I’m not sure. …It was something unnatural. It seemed like a creature, but, at the same time, it seemed like something that wasn’t physical.”
“That’s extremely vague.”
Emilia and Roswaal sat on a couch. On the opposite side of them, a man sat. The man was old, donning a large grey beard. All the while, Puck sat on a coffee table which was placed in between the gap from the couches.
“Ah! So that’s the Great Spirit of Ice! I truly am impressed, Emilia-sama!”
“I’m impressed with these biscuits,” Puck exclaimed with a mouth full of biscuits.
“Mr. Mayor, do you think we will be able to gain this village’s support for me running for the throne?”
“Of course! You won’t need to gain our support, you already have it.”
Emilia open-mouth smiled, hearing that. She turned to Roswaal in excitement, who still wore the same mischevious smile he always wore. Emilia’s smile went away moments later. She stood up from her seat with a serious face.
“What’s wrooooong, Ms. Emilia?”
“Something’s here… You two please stay here. Puck, come with me!”
“Riiight!” Puck said.
Emilia dashed out of the room, Puck not far behind. The mayor scratched his head in confusion, wondering why Emilia left.
“Do you know what happened, Roswaal-sama…?”
Roswaal’s smile disappeared soon. He narrowed his eyes at the door.
“Something… something dangerous definitely is here.”
Subaru and Rem finally arrived at their destination, the giant Demon God’s skeleton.
“No fair! You probably used Magic to get here first, Rem!”
“Nope, I arrived here before you, fair and square. Perhaps you are mad about being the ‘Rotten Egg’?”
“Grr!”
Rem began to laugh. “Ha—Subaru-kun! Watch out! [Water Magic]: Huma!” She created a shining water barrier. An unknown projectile was blocked by Rem’s defensive Magic spell. Subaru and Rem looked up and saw a man flying in the air. He was surrounded by particles of dust.
The man possessed spiky green hair and a lean build—he was Alecdora Sandora.
“Stand back, Subaru-kun,” Rem said, summoning her flail. “I’ll handle this.”
Subaru’s grimoire opened on its own and began to flip through the pages until it finally stopped. He pulled out a large black broadsword from it. “Thanks for saving my ass, Rem,” he said. “But, I’d like to use my new powers to fight more.”
Otto was laying on the driver’s side of the carriage he used to bring everyone to Hage Village. He and the Ground Dragon were near the forest. Though the Ground Dragon seemed like a carnivore, it was actually an omnivore. It was eating the grass, while Otto was trying to sleep.
A disruptive force of Mana woke Otto up. He was sweating. “Verhoe,” he said to the Dragon. “You stay here, I’m going to check out the village for a bit.” Saying that he ran out of the forest area and rushed towards the village. The closer he got, the mistier everything became.
Eventually, he was able to escape the mist, but the scene he saw wasn’t pleasing. Many of the villagers were sitting down, in a circle. Many of them, hugging their loved ones, while sitting. High in the air, were sharp icicles that were pointing at them. In front of all of them, a man was sitting on some bricks of a broken building. He held a stopwatch in his hand. Behind him, were people in white robes.
“3 seconds,” the man said, as he pressed the top button on the watch. Immediately, the icicles began to fall down, straight towards the defenseless villagers. Otto’s eyes widened, as he prepared to hear the screaming of the villagers.
Before any of those events happened, Father Orsi faced a man. The man appeared to be part beast. He had yellow fur, sharp teeth, and a well-built body, with muscles everywhere. That man was Vetto. Orange mana flowed like fire, behind him, as if they were wings.
“C-can I help you? You nor your friends look like Magic Knights… what brings you to Hage Village?”
“We’re here for a Magic Stone—two, in fact—and the Church Grim that resides here. I don’t expect you to hand them over, though. We’ll lay waste to everyone here, make you despair… and take them!”
Orsi, at that point, was extremely intimidated.
“Scatter! Go spread despair~!”
The robed men following him all spread out. Leaving Orsi alone with the beast-man himself, Vetto.
[Previous Chapter] — [Next Chapter]
Author’s Comments
Hello, everyone! Are you surprised with the consistent weekly-released Chapters? Same! Thanks to me finishing Chapter 13 early, I am now able to finish and start working on Chapters a week (or more rarely, 2 weeks), before the date they were planned to release! Now you don’t need to expect long-ass hiatus’ for no reason, that is until an Arc ends, as there will always be a week pause.
Anyway, the Hage Village Sub-Arc was inspired by Yuki Tabata’s Seabed Temple Arc, in his most famous series, Black Clover. If you have not read Black Clover yet, I suggest that you go read it, it’s really great! But, if you have not read it and are not planning to read it, then you’ll find out what the Seabed Temple Arc is sort of like.
Last Chapter (Chapter 15) was a case of my bad memory. I made the storyline for Re;Hero a long time ago, so everything that you read here, is something I decided to add to the story a while ago. Anyway, Cinder, Mercury, and Emerald, were supposed to appear last Chapter and meet the Emilia Camp members, but I forgot, and added them to this Chapter as I didn’t want to make Chapter 15 any longer.
Until Next Time!
— Mugen
Re;Hero 
Who’s the black haired girl in aisha’s memries? I dont remember a character like that in elsword
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