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

  Marcus finished his explanation, apologizing to the girl who’d raised the initial objection to his carrying on.

  “That summarizes the present circumstances. Lady Anastasia, please forgive my great rudeness.”

  “Don’t, don’t. This mess isn’t my fault. Happy now, Princess?”

  “I wonder. Al, has your little head gained any new insights?”

  “Yeah, I’ve got it. Sorry for makin’ ya go through the trouble. Sorry to the lil’ lady from Kararagi, too.”

  As Al flippantly waved with his one arm, Priscilla replied, “There you have it.” The girl—Anastasia—rubbed her forehead at the irresponsible master and servant and looked back up to the Council of Elders.

  “Anyway, if there’s still more, can we get on with it? I don’t have forever, and I got a lot to do later. You old men with the purse strings get what I’m sayin’, right?”

  The rudeness of Anastasia’s statement stirred the room up, and Subaru stiffened. But Anastasia seemed to have a very good read on her position, and the Council of Elders showed no sign of irritation.

  Abruptly, Miklotov lowered his voice.

  “It pains me to take so much of your busy time, Lady Anastasia, but I must ask you to remain with the conference a little longer. After all…this day shall be marked in the history of the kingdom.”

  Though the room had gradually lost its original tension, the statement triggered an ambiance that compelled everyone to stand a little straighter.

  And moving the proceedings forward was Priscilla, pushing out her chest without a single ounce of shame.

  “So history shall move, you say, old fossils? In other words, you mean that, yes?”

  Miklotov replied to Priscilla’s quiet question with a small nod from his perch. Then, the eyes under his thick eyebrows sought Marcus. The look was some kind of signal, as Marcus saluted and suddenly bellowed across the chamber.

  “—Knight Reinhard Astrea! Come!”

  Subaru’s shoulders trembled out of the blue as Reinhard, seemingly having waited for the call, replied, “Yes, sir!”

  He advanced straight forward, saluting the four candidates before standing to attention before Marcus and the Council of Elders.

  “Very well, Reinhard. Report!”

  “Sir!”

  Marcus took a step back and yielded the center of the platform. With all eyes upon him, Reinhard stepped forward and faced the Council of Elders without a single trace of timidity.

  “Esteemed members of the Council of Elders, I am Reinhard van Astrea of the Knights of the Royal Guard, here to report that my mission is complete.”

  Miklotov instructed, “Mmmm. Say it so that all may hear.”

  Reinhard turned around, looking over everyone in the room.

  “—We have finally found the fifth candidate to become Dragon Maiden, and monarch.”

  The ranks of knights stirred and formed a space between them. The expressions of the candidates changed, registering strong emotions: determination, delight, tedium, and bewilderment.

  “Bring her in,” Reinhard curtly called.

  Receiving his command, two guards before the entrance saluted and slowly opened the doors. Beyond them a girl, accompanied by ladies-in-waiting, was led into the throne room.

  When Subaru laid eyes upon her, his jaw instinctively dropped in absolute shock.

  The hem of her light yellow dress fluttered as her high-heeled shoes stepped upon the carpet. Her scrupulously arranged blond hair practically sparkled. The girl was remarkable for the strong determination in her red eyes and the impish appearance of her snaggletooth smile.

  She looked so different that he almost doubted what he was seeing. He couldn’t help but be lost for words.

  With Subaru paralyzed by surprise, the announcement seemed to echo against his eardrums several times over.

  “This young lady who seeks the crown is called…Lady Felt.”

  —And so, the royal selection that would determine the fate of the Kingdom of Lugunica began.

  CHAPTER 4

  THE CANDIDATES FOR THE THRONE AND THEIR KNIGHTS

  1

  The wild-eyed girl with scruffy blond hair had worn, grimy old rags. She was a tempestuous girl of the slums, more grubby than hardy. That was the image of the girl named Felt in Subaru’s mind.

  As Reinhard made his declaration, the ladies-in-waiting quietly accompanied Felt as she walked into the throne room. Gracefully walking atop the red carpet, she looked like a nobleman’s daughter.

  Subaru had thought long before, She might sparkle if someone polished her up. But this unhewn stone, polished via the power of Reinhard’s family, was not only sparkling.—Indeed, the only term to do her justice was radiant.

  Felt slowly passed by Subaru’s dumbfounded gaze and stood before Reinhard. He nodded with a charming smile at her appearance and addressed her with the utmost respect.

  “Lady Felt, thank you for gracing us with your presence.”

  Felt raised her eyes and called out to him.

  “—Reinhard.”

  Reinhard responded to her clear-as-a-bell voice.

  “Yes?”

  Knight and lady, their eyes met. And then…

  “—Why you. What’s the big idea, dragging me in here with no explanation?!”

  …she raised the hem of her dress, her long, slender leg tracing an arc—an arc that was about to slam right into the tip of Reinhard’s chin when the knight raised a hand, stopping it short.

  “I am quite surprised. What brought this on so suddenly?”

  Remaining balanced on one leg, Felt violently slapped at her dress in anger.

  “Don’t block me and then play dumb! It’s this place! These clothes! Them! You! What the hell is going on here?! I can’t take any more of this!”

  It was an expensive dress, no doubt custom-ordered for her. Seeing it treated so roughly sent the ladies attending her wilting to the floor as if their eyes were spinning.

  “You did not like the dress? I believe it looks very good on you.”

  “This isn’t about the dress, and it’s not that it’s embarrassing! I’m saying that I hate it! And not just the dress! I hate you too! Don’t you think abducting and holding a girl against her will is embarrassing for a knight of honor?!”

  Reinhard declared without hesitation, “If it is for the prosperity of the kingdom, it must be done.”

  Felt put a hand to her forehead as if he was giving her a headache.

  Subaru remarked to himself, “I’m so glad. I thought she’d completely changed, but it’s only how she looks. I guess leopards really don’t change their spots, and it isn’t just me!”

  It would’ve made a sorry story for Old Man Rom if he’d had to report back that she’d become a whole different person.

  He was relieved at being able to confirm she was safe and sound in a place he never expected. On the other hand, he couldn’t help but think Felt being dragged into becoming a royal candidate was prearranged rather than mere coincidence. After all, Reinhard had met her in the first place because she’d been the one to steal Emilia’s badge…

  Emilia, realizing who Felt was, had apparently reached the same conclusion as Subaru.

  “That girl…from back then…?! That’s why Reinhard was so surprised…”

  From Emilia’s point of view, Felt had gone from the thief of her badge to her rival for the very throne.

  The other candidates, the knights, and the nobles all displayed appropriate reactions to the newcomer’s crude behavior, none friendly. Under the austere stares, Felt clicked her tongue rudely.

  In the short time Subaru had known her she’d never been this much of a brat. He guessed that it was a product of various things during the last month. Subaru had been through a lot, but her transformation from a street urchin to a royal candidate was a Cinderella story to rival his.

  Felt was scanning the chamber to size up her surroundings when she suddenly noticed Subaru among the knights in the front row and br
ightened.

  “Oh, hey! What are you doing here, mister?”

  Felt shoved Reinhard away with a hand on his chest and walked over without a care.

  Where did all that ladylike behavior go? Subaru wondered as he raised a hand, delighted to greet a friendly face.

  “Hi, it’s been a while. Looks like you’re in good health!” said Felt.

  The instant the sunny greeting escaped her lips, she kicked Subaru straight in the stomach, sending him crumbling to his knees.

  Violence out of the blue. Subaru groaned, forcing himself up with one leg as Felt crossed her arms and nodded, remarking, “Looks like your belly’s all healed up, but you’ve got a whole bunch of new scars in other places. You okay there?”

  “If you’re worried, take it easy on me, damn it…! What’s with the hard smack instead of a hi? Geez, what if you’d broken something… It’s not like it’s been that long, either.”

  Even though the wound was now fully closed, Subaru had a big, white horizontal scar right across his belly. He had scars from demon beast bites all over his body, too.

  He couldn’t talk about scars on the back being the shame of a knight any longer.

  Though calm and reserved on the surface, Marcus motioned toward the dais, wanting to continue the meeting’s proceedings.

  “Lady Felt, if you are finished greeting your old friend, could you please come this way?”

  Felt scowled at the solemn look on his face, glowering as she stepped forward.

  “So what do you want me to do here?”

  Reinhard replied, “‘Act more like a lady,’ I would like to say, but instead, I would have you hold this.”

  Felt scowled at Reinhard’s joke. Reinhard took a dragon emblem out of his pocket and deposited it in her palm. The gemstone immediately emitted a white light.

  “I thought this back when I stole one of these, too, but these are strange rocks. Why do they glow?”

  Felt had blithely said something very dangerous. Marcus seemed to notice her careless statement.

  “Stealing?”

  But Reinhard immediately followed up, “As you can see, the Dragon Jewel acknowledges Lady Felt as a maiden. Now that her participation has been confirmed, I believe that this royal selection now begins in a true sense.”

  Marcus put a hand to his chest and knelt down on one knee. Reinhard followed suit, then all the Knights of the Royal Guard.

  The knights reported their mission was a success. Thanks to their efforts, five Dragon Maidens had been found—in other words, the candidates for the next queen of Lugunica had been assembled.

  Priscilla remarked, “I see. Thus, this day will go down in history.”

  This was the very definition of a huge, must-see event. Surely, everyone present had to be deeply moved by the occasion, or so Subaru thought as he watched—and noticed that, for their part, the government officials appeared troubled, with bewilderment and astonishment plain in their expressions.

  And one man from among them stepped forward.

  “Pardon me, if I may?”

  He was a middle-aged man with a stoop and unhealthy-looking bags under his eyes. He stroked his thick beard as an apparent nervous tic.

  “I have no words sufficient to thank the knights of the kingdom, and the Knights of the Royal Guard in particular, for everything related to this royal selection ceremony. Without their assistance, it surely would not have been possible to arrange this in such a short time.”

  Marcus replied, “You are too kind.”

  “However, and it brings me no joy to say this, even though we are following the Dragon Tablet, are there not various…issues, with those selected?”

  “You are saying what, exactly?”

  “I am wondering if we have been too focused on those qualified to be Dragon Maidens, and not enough on those qualified to wear the very crown of the kingdom without becoming an object of ridicule?”

  The declaration of the hunchbacked man was clearly tinged with anger.

  “Hear, hear!” said a few other civil officials in a display of support.

  He continued, “The Covenant with the Dragon is the gravest matter. Lugunica has come this far as the Dragonfriend Kingdom and cannot survive as a nation without the Covenant. But valuing the Covenant so much more than the people will sow the seeds of future discord.”

  “In other words, the Dragon Maidens that we knights spilled our blood to search for would not make kings worthy of our fealty?”

  “Th-that is not how I would put it, but essentially, yes.”

  The man broke out in a cold sweat at Marcus’ frank summation, and after a moment he acknowledged the true meaning of his oblique comments. The knights had desperately toiled to solve a nearly unsolvable problem. This ridicule of their efforts did not exactly instill pleasant emotions in them.

  Subaru, standing with the knights, felt the hot anger all around him on his skin. He remarked, “Smells like something’s burning in here…”

  Hearing Subaru’s murmur, Al cheerfully spoke to two other people in the same row.

  “Well, it sure sounded like he was insulting the knights. I don’t mind, but what do you two think?”

  The two he’d addressed, Julius and Ferris, turned their heads toward Al and Subaru. Ferris spoke first.

  “Your dear Ferri doesn’t really mind, meow? I mean, whatever Beardy says, Ferri’s fealty is already to one person alone, you see.”

  Julius followed up. “I will not go quite as far as Ferris, but I feel the same. I have already pledged my blade. One day, they will offer their fealty to another. I do not intend to be so narrow-minded that my heart should be disturbed prior to that day.”

  Not one to be outdone, Al said, “Ha, that’s mighty fine of you. Of course, it’s the same with me where Princess is concerned.”

  The two others could only make wry smiles at that.

  Subaru wasn’t exactly enjoying being the odd man out.

  Ferris had Crusch. Al had Priscilla. That would have to make Julius a supporter of Anastasia. They were three knights, bearing the full trust of their masters. Comparing their position to his own sent a keen sense of inferiority through Subaru, even though he no doubt wanted to fulfill Emilia’s wishes at least as much as any of the rest…

  Subaru felt a strange feeling of unease as the back and forth in the throne room intensified. The earlier opinion was only the beginning as the civil officials aired their discontent one by one.

  “One must be both maiden and king. Perhaps they are not sufficiently aware that they must wear the crown?”

  “No matter how dressed up they are, their demeanor exposes their true natures.”

  “They are not refined enough. Their education is lacking. How can they be monarchs like this?”

  A familiar voice interrupted the civil officials.

  “Surely it is not a proooblem. I would think such a bounty of personaaality will make for a highly amuuusing royal selection.”

  “You be quiet!”

  Subaru looked at Emilia and the others. No doubt Felt’s crude, in-your-face attitude earlier was what had really set the civil officials off. But he couldn’t say the other candidates hadn’t sparked any unease themselves.

  In truth, Emilia’s expression, as if trying to endure the pain, hurt him acutely. He wanted from the bottom of his heart to rush over that moment and give her a shoulder to lean on.

  Miklotov’s single word quieted the throne room.

  “—Silence.”

  As the man of highest stature there, Miklotov narrowed his eyes as he regarded Felt. After keeping his silence for a time, the old man let out his breath.

  “Mmmm. That was somewhat irreverent behavior, so I do understand Mr. Rickert’s view. In that light, I believe everyone should hear a brief summation of the candidate’s personal history.”

  A bald, stern-faced old man seconded Miklotov’s opinion.

  “…Indeed. We can decide whether she is suitable or not from that.”

 
Seeing the rest of the Council of Elders nod, the civil official apparently named Rickert took a step back. Miklotov continued, “Sir Reinhard. We would first hear the highlights of what you know.”

  After he was called, Reinhard bent down on one knee in a show of the utmost respect. Subaru wasn’t even involved, but a cold sweat broke out over him nonetheless. After all, a blunt telling of the truth would naturally expose Felt’s life of crime and stir up more problems.

  “Until approximately one month ago, Lady Felt was living in a corner of the Lower Quarter of the royal capital—also known as ‘the slums.’ An occasion arose where she had an opportunity to touch a Dragon Jewel. Having judged that she was qualified to be a Dragon Maiden, I brought her with me as a matter of course.”

  Assuaging Subaru’s concerns, Reinhard made his report while deftly dancing around the problematic parts. The explanation had huge, glaring gaps, but the assembly did not focus on those, but rather, certain other things.

  “A waif from the slums… Sir Reinhard, are you insane?!” Rickert exploded. “You bring a vagrant from the streets to a ceremony to select the monarch who must shoulder the future of Lugunica?! Just what do you think the royal throne is?!”

  “…”

  Reinhard had done as asked, expressing utmost courtesy to those on the platform. His gallant profile did not reveal the slightest hint of negativity. Rickert directed his words at Miklotov next.

  “Someone should be selected who is suitable for the crown. We cannot simply lay our hands on whoever happens to walk be—”

  As Rickert eloquently attempted to sway Miklotov, a familiar voice dashed cold water over his efforts.

  “Mr. Rickert, you are sliiightly too heated over this matter, are you nooot?”

  “Nonsense, Roswaal. Nor do I approve of your conduct. Not only I, but all of the officials. Until now we have overlooked this because we are in a time of crisis, but I shall still my tongue no longer. Not about the House of Astrea hauling a waif into these halls, nor you, the fool nominating a half-demon to be monarch…!”

  “—Mr. Rickert. I would suggest you amend your comments.”