Re:ZERO -Starting Life in Another World-, Vol. 10 Read online

  Copyright

  Re:ZERO Vol. 10

  TAPPEI NAGATSUKI

  Translation by Jeremiah Bourque

  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 Vol. 10

  © Tappei Nagatsuki 2016

  First published in Japan in 2016 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 © 2019 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.

  Yen On

  1290 Avenue of the Americas

  New York, NY 10104

  Visit us at yenpress.com

  facebook.com/yenpress

  twitter.com/yenpress

  yenpress.tumblr.com

  instagram.com/yenpress

  First Yen On Edition: June 2019

  Yen On is an imprint of Yen Press, LLC.

  The Yen On name and logo are trademarks of Yen Press, LLC.

  The publisher is not responsible for websites (or their content) that are not owned by the publisher.

  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

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

  Title: Re:ZERO starting life in another world / Tappei Nagatsuki ; illustration by Shinichirou Otsuka ; translation by ZephyrRz ; translation by Bourque, Jeremiah

  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.) | ISBN 9780316398459 (v. 5 : pbk.) | ISBN 9780316398473 (v. 6 : pbk.) | ISBN 9780316398497 (v. 7 : pbk.) | ISBN 9781975301934 (v. 8 : pbk.) | ISBN 9781975356293 (v. 9 : pbk.) | ISBN 9781975383169 (v. 10 : pbk.)

  Subjects: CYAC: Science fiction. | Time travel—Fiction.

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

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

  ISBNs: 978-1-9753-8316-9 (paperback)

  978-1-9753-8317-6 (ebook)

  E3-20190511-JV-NF-ORI

  PROLOGUE

  TOMB

  The cool, placid air in the ruins greeted Subaru with a strange tranquility.

  The clack of his shoes rang out with each and every step. The rather jarring echoes of his footsteps were causing Subaru’s unease, but they also helped him stay grounded.

  When he couldn’t even see anything right in front of him, those sounds were the only things that reminded him he truly existed.

  “…”

  The place was completely shrouded in darkness. Quite some time had passed since he’d lost track of the wall he’d found by touch earlier. He walked and walked along a path without end; for Subaru, it was almost as if he were actually standing still, as though his movements were mere hallucinations.

  Hearing his footfalls abated that concern. More importantly, Subaru’s reason for being here urged him onward.

  He continued to walk, relying on the echoes of his shoes. He couldn’t stop—he wouldn’t allow himself. No matter how deeply resignation had rooted itself in his heart, no matter how heavy his burden weighed on his shoulders, he had to grit his teeth and keep walking.

  If he didn’t, how could he ever face her—?

  “—I see. This is the desire that drives you. How curious, I must say.”

  Suddenly, a voice rang out.

  The moment he heard it, Subaru froze. The unending eternity he had felt suddenly fell away.

  In the blink of an eye, the darkness he’d thought would continue forever quickly faded while the world that had been drained of color now seemed painted in a dazzling array. There were tufts of green beneath his feet and a cloudless, blue sky stretching out far overhead. Subaru realized he was standing on a grassy plain that should not have been there.

  He felt a gentle breeze stroke his hair, and then his throat constricted in shock.

  “—Ngh.”

  “Would you please stop playing around and come here?”

  As Subaru stood there frozen, a voice called out to him from behind.

  When he turned around, his noticed a slightly raised knoll. At the top, a parasol had been set up to provide shade for a white table and chair underneath—and in that seat, he saw a girl.

  “…”

  Her figure filled his mind with thoughts of white—pure white, as if all color had been bleached from her existence.

  The long hair reaching all the way down her back and her barely exposed skin were like porcelain, more than enough to seize attention; a pitch-black dress veiled her slender limbs, like an outfit someone might wear to a funeral; her black eyes shone with an extraordinary intellect—these were the only things that seemed to prove the ephemeral girl was actually there.

  White and black: her extraordinarily stark beauty was expressed by those two hues alone.

  It would only take a glance for her captivating appearance to put anyone under her spell—but the sight of this girl injected overwhelming fear into Subaru’s soul, the likes of which he had never felt before.

  Even his first encounter with the White Whale had not struck him this way.

  “Oh my, have I surprised you?”

  “…”

  Subaru didn’t say a word to the girl who had come so close to him. When she saw his reaction, her eyes filled with amusement. The girl paused before nodding, seemingly taking stock of the situation.

  “Ahh, I see. I have yet to introduce myself. How embarrassing. It has been so long since I’ve spoken to anyone, my emotions seem to have gotten the better of me.”

  Unlike the tone of her voice, the girl’s expression barely changed at all as her tiny shoulders dipped slightly.

  She turned to Subaru, who was still silenced and frozen in utter terror, then touched a hand to her breast as she calmly introduced herself.

  “My name is Echidna…”

  The girl’s lips softened into a thin smile as she added:

  “Or perhaps it would be better to call myself the Witch of Greed?”

  CHAPTER 1

  AT THE PLACE OF RETURN

  1

  To Subaru, the cloudy sky above seemed to be an accurate reflection of his mind.

  “This place shall feel emptier without you.”

  As Subaru stood in front of the mansion’s gate, a woman in a dress spoke those lonely-sounding words.

  The woman was distinctive, with long, flowing green hair and amber, almond-shaped eyes.

  Subaru still couldn’t set aside his unease at the delicate way Crusch Karsten faintly lowered her eyes like a stereotypically proper young lady.

  All in spite of knowing full well why this was happening.<
br />
  “Crusch, I’m grateful to hear you say that, but…”

  Subaru scratched his head as he averted his gaze, looking straight ahead instead.

  Multiple dragon carriages lined the grounds of the Karsten estate; aboard were the villagers who had evacuated to the royal capital to escape from the cultists under Petelgeuse’s command. The Archbishop of Sloth had since then been defeated, meaning it was safe to return to the mansion and Earlham Village now. For that reason, they were scheduled to traverse the highway back to the village—with Subaru accompanying them back to Roswaal Manor.

  Put bluntly, a mountain of problems lay before them, even setting aside the Witch Cult. Crusch’s sudden change was one of them, but—

  “I hate leaving at a time like this, but nothing’s gonna get solved if I stay here. I don’t want to abuse your hospitality, either.”

  “If it is Master Subaru Natsuki and Lady Emilia, I hardly mind if you stay at my residence as long as you desire… But it seems that is not an option.”

  “I’ll accept your kind words and leave it at that. We both have a lot of issues to face right now, yeah? Especially you, since there’s that greedy merchant’s crew to deal with. If you don’t handle it well, they’ll steal all the credit for the White Whale and Sloth right out from under you.”

  Shaking his head at Crusch’s request, Subaru urged her to be wary of Anastasia’s followers.

  It would be most accurate to call the victory over the White Whale and the Archbishop of Sloth a joint operation by the forces of three royal candidates. However, at the moment, Anastasia was the only one to have emerged as a clear victor.

  The Crusch faction had established supremacy over enemies who had gone undefeated for over four centuries—but the price their leader Crusch had paid was not low. Subaru and the rest of Emilia’s supporters who had led the way to Sloth’s defeat had taken casualties as well. Subaru wouldn’t say that his loss was as critical as what Crusch and her people were enduring, but at the very least, Subaru had suffered a grievous wound that agonized him at that very moment.

  Meanwhile, Anastasia’s faction had both candidate and knight intact even after playing a large role in dispatching both foes, taking minimal damage while reaping great rewards.

  Accordingly, everyone would need to keep an eye on Anastasia’s movements from then on. That was simply one more reason to maintain the secrecy around the alliance between Emilia’s faction and Crusch’s faction.

  “We need to head back and get our ducks in a row before we discuss anything. We gotta have a little talk with Roswaal, Emilia’s sponsor, and I wanna bring the worried villagers back home, too.”

  “It must be a trying time for the families that have been separated. It would be best if you could help them.”

  Crusch showed him a slight, fleeting smile as she turned her gaze toward the villagers aboard the dragon carriages.

  Half of the village had been evacuated to the royal capital; the other half had been evacuated to another safe area by a separate route. Just as Crusch had mentioned, families had been separated in the commotion. Subaru wanted to reunite them as soon as possible.

  “I’ll come back to the capital once we have that settled. I guess this is goodbye for a little while, then.”

  “Yes, I shall be waiting. When that time comes, I will be pleased to finally repay the great favor I owe to you.”

  “Aw, you’re making a big fuss over nothin’. We’re helping each other out, that’s all. Plus, I already have my reward.”

  Subaru put on an awkward smile for Crusch as he pointed to the dragon carriage at the head of the column. This carriage seemed of a higher class than the rest, and a beautiful, jet-black land dragon was hitched to the front.

  The black land dragon was what Subaru had received as his reward for his part in the hunt.

  “You ask for too little. To think you would ask for a single land dragon as a reward for defeating one of the three great demon beasts.”

  “Hey, I owe this dragon my life. I haven’t been with her for long, but I’ve been on the brink between life and death with her more than anyone…and maybe the reason for that is ’cause I’m one hell of a nuisance to Patlash, but…”

  “An unnecessary concern, I believe.”

  As they spoke, Subaru and Crusch watched over the land dragon, Patlash. That was the moment the aged swordsman, Wilhelm, walked over and gently voiced his disagreement.

  Having finished checking on the state of the carriages, the Sword Devil bowed as he joined the conversation.

  “The Diana breed is said to be the most temperamental of all land dragons, and few grow this fond of someone in such a short time. It would seem Sir Subaru and this land dragon are most compatible.”

  “I suppose you’re right about that. When I was picking a mount before the fight with the White Whale, I only picked her on gut instinct, but…”

  The compatibility part was likely a fact. Subaru felt like it was a match made in heaven. He didn’t think he could have made it past both the White Whale and Sloth with any land dragon besides Patlash. Subaru had been saved by that wise dragon so many times he was convinced.

  “In other words, I won’t be satisfied with any land dragon other than you…!”

  When Patlash nestled close, Subaru stroked her neck with renewed gratitude. As he did so, she rubbed the side of her proud face against him, which unfortunately made her hard scales feel like a file sliding against Subaru’s hand.

  “Guaaah! Those scales hurt more than I figured! Now I know what radishes must feel when run against a grater!”

  “Hmm, land dragons find such playing to be quite pleasant. This is simply another way to deepen mutual trust.”

  “Are you serious?! Won’t that make the power in this relationship like when a cat keeps toying with a mouse?!”

  Perhaps, even with the land dragon shaving away his hand, this was mere child’s play to Wilhelm. The Sword Devil’s pleasant composure made Subaru scratch his head with a guilty expression.

  “Well, setting aside the issue of how Patlash and I should get along for now… Wilhelm, it’s sad, but I have to say goodbye to you for a while, too. Take good care of that wound, okay?”

  “Thank you for your concern—judging from how the bleeding has now largely ceased, it would seem that I am farther away now. It is difficult for me to speak about that as a fortunate thing, but…”

  They were discussing Wilhelm’s left shoulder—the spot where his wife, the previous Sword Saint, had wounded him.

  The fact that his old wound had opened up filled the Sword Devil’s eyes with a maelstrom of complex emotions. As to what it meant, there was no way to find out except through questioning the Archbishop of the Seven Deadly Sins who had attacked Crusch.

  The Archbishop of Gluttony—if something other than the White Whale had been responsible for the death of the Sword Devil’s wife, that archbishop was the prime suspect. And considering the doctrine of the Witch Cult, Subaru and his friends were sure to clash with them again someday. The cultists were the true enemy of their alliance.

  They had to defeat the Witch Cult and take back what had been lost: Crusch’s memories, and more—

  “Subawuuu, I’ve secured Rem to the bed. Come see for yourself.”

  His thoughts interrupted by the calling of his name, Subaru turned toward the speaker. It was Crusch’s knight, Ferris, his iconic flaxen-colored kitty ears visible as he leaned out of a dragon carriage.

  Obeying his beckoning hand, Subaru walked over and peered into the interior. Upon examination, he realized that seats had been removed from within the wide carriage and replaced by a simple bed.

  A lone girl slept in it. Seeing her made Subaru’s heart ache.

  Instead of her usual maid attire, the blue-haired girl’s body was wrapped in a thin, water-colored blanket. She had been left unconscious by a slumber from which she would never awaken, her very existence forgotten by the people around her—

  “Rem isn’t g
oing to fall out the back or anything while we’re moving on the road, right?”

  “I’m telling you that I made preventing that a priority already. Believe it or not, Ferri is a genuine healer, so I’m kind to all my patients… Though I’m not sure if calling Rem a patient is…accurate.”

  He gazed at the girl’s face as she seemingly slept in peace, and Ferris’s shoulders sank.

  Though his tone of voice was lighthearted, Ferris’s face bore deep, unconcealable grief and disappointment with himself. Subaru wasn’t the only one who resented being powerless. Here was another who felt great pain at not being able to do anything to help.

  Ferris still regretted his inability to protect his master when it mattered most.

  “You’re really returning to the mansion?”

  “Yeah. It’s not like Rem’s going to be cured by staying in a place like this… Uh, I didn’t mean that to sound rude.”

  “It’s okay, Subawu. I get it. You’re just that terrible of a person, meow.”

  Ferris forced a smile when Subaru tried to explain his poor choice of words. After that, his eyes immediately grew more serious as he thrust a finger at Subaru.

  “More importantly, it’s not just Rem who needs rest. You do, too, Subawu.”

  “I do?”

  “Yes. Did you forget why you came to the royal capital in the first place? This time, all the commotion with Sloth that made you abuse your gate… Does your body feel…sluggish at all?”

  “No, not especially, but…”

  When Ferris posed the question, Subaru stretched his neck and shoulders as he replied that there were no apparent problems. His external wounds had already been treated, meaning his body felt fine. As for Ferris’s concern about his gate…

  “In the first place, I didn’t rely on magic for day-to-day life, so I’m not really gonna miss it.”

  “Something only a non-magic user would say. Speaking for myself, I think using magic is a good thing, including for emergencies… Well, if you’re not concerned about it, that’s fine.”

  Ferris sighed with a look of resignation at Subaru’s indifference and his lack of a sense of danger.