Re:ZERO -Starting Life in Another World-, Vol. 4 Read online

  Copyright

  RE:ZERO Vol. 4

  TAPPEI NAGATSUKI

  Translation by ZephyrRz

  Cover art by Shinichirou Otsuka

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.

  RE:ZERO KARA HAJIMERU ISEKAI SEIKATSU

  © TAPPEI NAGATSUKI / Shinichirou Otsuka 2014

  First published in Japan in 2014 by KADOKAWA CORPORATION, Tokyo.

  English translation rights reserved by YEN PRESS, LLC under the license from KADOKAWA CORPORATION, Tokyo, through Tuttle-Mori Agency, Inc., Tokyo.

  English translation © 2017 by Yen Press, LLC

  Yen Press, LLC supports the right to free expression and the value of copyright. The purpose of copyright is to encourage writers and artists to produce the creative works that enrich our culture.

  The scanning, uploading, and distribution of this book without permission is a theft of the author’s intellectual property. If you would like permission to use material from the book (other than for review purposes), please contact the publisher. Thank you for your support of the author’s rights.

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  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

  Names: Nagatsuki, Tappei, 1987– author. | Otsuka, Shinichirou, illustrator. | ZephyrRz, translator.

  Title: Re:ZERO -starting life in another world- / Tappei Nagatsuki ; illustration by Shinichirou Otsuka ; translation by ZephyrRz.

  Other titles: Re:ZERO kara hajimeru isekai seikatsu. English

  Description: First Yen On edition. | New York, NY : Yen On, 2016– | Audience: Ages 13 & up.

  Identifiers: LCCN 2016031562| ISBN 9780316315302 (v. 1 : pbk.) | ISBN 9780316398374 (v. 2 : pbk.) | ISBN 9780316398404 (v. 3 : pbk.) | ISBN 9780316398428 (v. 4 : pbk.)

  Subjects: | CYAC: Science fiction.

  Classification: LCC PZ7.1.N34 Re 2016 | DDC [Fic]—dc23

  LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016031562

  ISBNs: 978-0-316-39842-8 (paperback)

  978-0-316-39844-2 (ebook)

  E3-20170517-JV-PC

  PROLOGUE

  A FOOL AND HIS STUBBORNNESS

  —How many times had he been slammed to the ground?

  He felt the hard, flat earth beneath him. A mix of blood and gravel made a mess of his mouth. His entire body burned like it was on fire. After so many blows to the head, his thoughts felt foggy and out of focus. His left eye had swollen shut.

  He heard a voice from somewhere high and distant, from someone looking down at him.

  “—I believe it would be futile to continue further?”

  Subaru remained flat on the ground, limbs splayed, as he looked in the direction of the voice. He saw the violet-haired young man swaying the tip of the wooden sword in his hand.

  His mostly white ceremonial uniform did not have a single speck of dust on it, nor was he out of breath, nor even sweating. Only the bloodstained weapon he held detracted from his elegant mien.

  “If you take back what you said and bow your head before me, I will leave it at that. Do you accept?”

  It was the young man who had inflicted such pain on Subaru’s body, relentlessly striking until he mercilessly drove Subaru to the ground. Each time he did, he would deliver his order for surrender again, as if some kind of rule demanded it.

  But Subaru’s reply was set in stone.

  “…I’m not wrong… I’m not…bowing my head.”

  Even with blood trickling from his nostrils in an unsightly fashion, Subaru leaned on his wooden sword and rose again. He coughed violently to spit out the blood clogging his throat.

  The difference in strength was clear. Everyone knew who the winner and loser would be. It’d take a miracle for Subaru to get a single blow in, let alone win.

  But he thought, Yeah, like I care.

  “…You should take back what you…!”

  Subaru bit back the pain in his mouth and cut off his last biting words before charging forward too slowly, too late. He poured all his strength into one desperate blow.

  “You can put everything on the line and it will never be enough. That is the difference between us, unchanged from birth.”

  He smoothly parried the oncoming blow, and, after Subaru lost his balance, the young man slammed him hard in his chest. Subaru’s breath deserted him, and the next moment, when his vision flickered, a blow to his face sent him tumbling backward onto the ground.

  The pain was tremendous. Amid agony so strong he forgot to breathe, Subaru stared up toward the heavens through his right eye. He saw the azure sky, high and distant, but nothing beyond it.

  It was so blue it made him sick. Subaru forced himself back to his feet and peered ahead, enduring bloodcurdling pain with nothing more than his inexhaustible anger.

  But it was as if that anger was a diversion from whether he was in the right or the wrong in the first place.

  CHAPTER 1

  RETURN TO THE ROYAL CAPITAL

  1

  “And last, stretch your arms high in the sky for the big finish—Victory!—Victory!” He listened to the giddy voices as he wiped the sweat off his brow.

  Subaru raised both hands high as he spoke his trademark phrase.

  A chorus followed, ending another morning’s workout.

  The people who joined him in his exuberant radio calisthenics were residents of Earlham Village, the one closest to Roswaal Manor. Probably half the village was present.

  Subaru’s cheeks softened without him realizing it at the sight of the familiar buoyant faces. He wordlessly lowered his gaze a little, unable to watch them for a few moments.

  Subaru had suggested teaching Japanese radio calisthenics to help the village, where scars from the recent demon beast crisis were still fresh. This had improved his reputation among the otherworldly residents and exploded into a village-wide movement. At first, Subaru had been worried about the lack of participants. But seeing the children who had been victims of the demon beast attack enjoy themselves made him feel it was all worth it.

  The customs of his homeland were not to be underestimated. Radio calisthenics weren’t the only popular tradition…

  “Okay, you brats, line up! It’s stamp time!”

  Subaru raised his voice while taking out a raw potato with one end sliced flat. Subaru dipped the flat end into an ink container, then pressed it onto the sheets of paper that the queued-up children held out eagerly. The very in-demand “potato stamp” recorded that day’s fruits of labor.

  “So how about it? In another week we’ll start the long-awaited, much-requested event, Monday Puck. The highlight will be those floppy ears.”

  “The kitty’s so cute!” “He’s wonderful!” “He’s adorable!”

  He’d stolen the potato-stamp idea from radio calisthenics during summer break back home. A lot of kids had fun guessing what was going to be on that morning’s stamp. Subaru thus used his oddly dexterous fingers to engage their young minds.

>   After a time, his pleasant chat with the villagers came to a close. Subaru waved to them and went on his way. He approached a tree at the edge of the village square, wearily calling out to the girl leaning against the trunk in the shade.

  “Ahh, that wore me out. Anyway, sorry to keep you waiting, Emilia-tan.”

  “No, it’s all right. I see you worked hard, Subaru.” Emilia smoothed her silver hair with a charming smile, readjusting the hood she wore low over her face. “The villagers seem much happier these days, and it’s all thanks to you, Subaru.”

  “It’s no big deal. I just showed them how to do some healthy exercises that get the blood flowing. But I feel bad making you come with me every morning, day after day.”

  “That’s okay. You’re not in tip-top shape yet, and Ram and Rem can’t come because of their work at the mansion. Besides, I really don’t mind doing this.”

  “As in, you don’t mind spending your mornings with me?”

  “Pfft, not that. More like…I like being even a tiny bit involved with the villagers I never used to come in contact with. I think maybe…I drew a line between us until now.”

  He could make out a small blush on Emilia’s face under her hood. The lovely sight warmed Subaru’s cheeks before he even realized what was happening.

  Lately, Emilia had often gone with him to the village as soon as she finished her daily chitchats with the minor spirits, returning together after Subaru completed the morning workout routine. For about fifteen minutes, he and Emilia would walk side by side on the way from the village back to the mansion. Subaru treasured these rare moments more than anything.

  “I have to say, though, you really get along with the villagers, Subaru. You’re probably more famous than Ram and Rem by now.”

  “Well, I am kind of the hero who saved them. Plus, I’m the ultimate gentleman who never asks for thanks, never brags about my deeds… I’m sure you’ll fall in love with me all over again!”

  “I wasn’t in love to begin with, mind you… Also, I think your assessment is slightly off.” Emilia put a finger to her lips, tilting her head slightly with a conflicted look. For his part, Subaru was a little dejected at her brushing off his favor so easily. She continued, “I think that the villagers see you as oddly perceptive rather than a hero who saved everyone. I mean, you know some very mysterious things.”

  “So they’re treating me like a well-educated professor, huh… But, um, besides aerobics, I don’t know all that much…”

  “There’s the games you play with the children, potato stamping… Also, mayonnaise.”

  Emilia clapped her hands together as her eyes sparkled. She’d become a huge fan of the experimental mayonnaise Subaru had made at the mansion. Subaru, a natural-born mayo lover back on his world, had reproduced mayonnaise to put some zest in his meals; the sauce was apparently a smash hit with Emilia and the villagers.

  “I think they’re underselling my hard work a bit, if they think mayonnaise and rescuing children from demon beasts are on the same level. I mean, I put my body on the line and everything…”

  He’d gone into the forest to save the children, and got bitten all over. When Rem went out to save him from certain death, he protected her and got bitten, and he was about to be bitten some more when Roswaal showed up to save him…

  “Huh?! Come to think of it, I did, like, almost nothing!”

  Thinking back on his exploits, they amounted to considerably less than he’d originally thought. Perhaps it was better to say that he’d been involved in many exploits, but his individual efforts had accomplished close to nothing.

  “Sheesh. Don’t worry about silly little things like that.”

  “But, Emilia-tan…”

  “Everyone knows you worked very hard, Subaru. Roswaal, Ram, and especially Rem, right?”

  Subaru’s expression remained pathetic in spite of Emilia’s encouragement. She ran a few steps ahead of him and turned around. The sudden movement sent her hood falling back, letting her long, silver hair flow down her back, sparkling in the morning sun.

  “And me, too.”

  “—Huh?”

  “I know very well how hard you worked. That’s why we will have no moping. Understand?” Emilia tilted her head and asked, “Your answer?”

  The dumbfounded Subaru vigorously nodded his head. His reaction prompted a beaming smile from Emilia.

  “What was that? You were moving like a broken toy. You’re always like that.”

  “Er, this time it wasn’t on purpose… And besides, you’re a hundred times more unfair. No matter how much I struggle, I just keep falling back in love…”

  “Yes, yes. I think you have very bad habit of glossing things over, like just now.”

  Emilia wore a charming smile, oblivious to the sincerity of his words. Watching her put her hood back on and walk beside him once more, Subaru thought again that he’d never find a better girl than this.

  The gate of Roswaal Manor had come into view during the course of their conversation. A few meager minutes remained until they arrived—and the regretful end to his morning bliss.

  “There’s a…dragon carriage parked in front of the mansion.”

  When Emilia paused beside Subaru and murmured, he stopped, too, looking in the same direction. There was indeed something like a horse-drawn carriage parked at the gates. It was “something like” because the vehicle was clearly not horse-drawn.

  After all, the creature pulling the carriage was a lizard as large as a horse.

  Subaru was so surprised at its sheer size, compared to lizards back home, that he wound up clapping his hands together.

  “Oh, right, I saw those passing through the royal capital here and there. Dragon carriages, you say?”

  “…? Yes, the land dragon pulls the carriage that’s behind it, so it’s a dragon carriage. Wait, don’t tell me it has a common name I don’t know?”

  “No, no, I’m the one who knows nothing about it. I’m sure you’re right, Emilia-tan. Have confidence in yourself.”

  “Really? You’re not teasing me? You’re not going to embarrass me by letting me use the wrong words in the wrong place, are you? If you’re pulling my leg, I’ll clobber you!”

  “Nobody says clobber anymore…”

  When Emilia raised a hand in mock anger, Subaru clutched his head and pretended to recoil. Their antics continued as they made their way forward, arriving in front of the dragon carriage.

  “Whoa… Damn, this is impressive. It’s, like, so huge it’s unreal.”

  He’d seen these several times back during his time in the royal capital, but this was his first good look at one up close. The lizard that Emilia had dubbed a land dragon was indeed as large as a horse, but thinner and lighter. It looked like it’d beat a horse in a footrace.

  As the two approached, a man stood up from the dragon carriage’s box seat and announced, “My, my. Please look out below.”

  Before the startled pair’s eyes, the man agilely leaped from the top of the seat to stand on the ground below. Subaru’s breath caught a bit when he noticed he’d barely made a sound upon landing. The box seat was around Subaru’s eye level—not a height to casually leap from.

  The old man bowed and spoke with eloquence befitting an aged gentleman.

  “Welcome back. Please excuse me for currently occupying the front of your gate.”

  He politely stroked back his solid white hair before donning an immaculately tailored black suit. Though advanced in years, his body was obviously honed into fine condition, and his aura made Subaru subconsciously stand up straighter.

  If this man was indeed the driver, and therefore a servant, the master he accompanied had to be quite the person. Thinking this, Subaru shifted his gaze back to the dragon carriage.

  “The envoy is already inside the manor and possibly engaged with Marquis Mathers.”

  The aging gentleman seemed to read their minds and answered their question preemptively. Subaru was unexpectedly at a loss for words as Emili
a, standing beside him, stepped forward and faced the old man.

  “Envoy…? Could this be…?”

  “As you have no doubt surmised, Lady Emilia, this concerns the royal selection.”

  At the term royal selection, Subaru’s head snapped up. The way Emilia’s expression tensed had Subaru furrowing his eyebrows, suspicious about this turn of events. The man continued, “I believe the envoy has an official message for you. Please return to the mansion to receive it in person.”

  “…Am I being summoned?”

  “Please ask the messenger personally.”

  The old man’s discreet reply caused Emilia’s face to harden as she lowered her head. “—Let’s go.” She began walking without even looking back at Subaru.

  He broke into a short jog to catch up. At the last moment, he glanced back, and saw that the driver was still bowing low, silently watching them go.

  2

  “Welcome back, Lady Emilia.”

  After the driver saw them off, the two arrived at the mansion’s foyer and were greeted by a girl in a maid outfit—Rem.

  Strangely, emotions were absent from her high-pitched voice, replaced with calm formality. It was Guest-Greeting Mode, something Subaru hadn’t seen much in the mansion lately—she’d been showing her smile to Subaru especially.

  “Thank you. I’m sorry for leaving the mansion. It seems that we have a guest?”

  “An envoy from the royal capital is visiting. Master Roswaal is engaged with the guest. Do you wish to join them?”

  “Of course. It’s my problem, so we can’t have me out of the loop.”

  Rem nodded in response. Emilia began up the stairs. Subaru walked by her side, joining the conversation like it was a normal thing.

  “All right. Just because the pressure’s on doesn’t mean I can let it get to me. I better pull myself together and not do anything stupid.”

  He was pumping himself up. But seeing Subaru so enthused, Emilia halted.

  “Err, what is it, Emilia-tan? Suddenly all stressed out? Need a massage?”

  “Err… Sorry, Subaru, this is an important meeting, so…”

  “…I know that. That’s why I’m getting my head in the game and…”