Re:ZERO -Starting Life in Another World- Vol. 15 Read online

  She swiveled her head about, as if meaning to address the room instead of Subaru.

  “Betty is in control of the Great Spirit’s archive of forbidden books, a place isolated from the fleeting outside world. No matter what menace lies beyond those doors, does it even matter, I wonder? Your concern is unnecessary.”

  “Nah, I can’t let this slide. Your archive of forbidden books is awesome, all right. No argument there. But it’s got a fatal flaw. More importantly, the other side knows exactly how to beat it.”

  This critique of her Passage ability, the foundation of her confidence, made Beatrice raise her eyebrows with displeasure.

  Certainly, when it came to staying hidden, the archive of forbidden books offered countless advantages. However, Subaru had seen for himself on previous runs that these advantages were not absolute.

  “Your Passage is only effective on closed doors. If someone opens all the doors in the mansion…”

  The last one would lead straight into the archive of forbidden books without fail. In a prior run, Elsa had used that method to trespass upon the archive, attacking Beatrice in an attempt to take her life.

  The archive wasn’t safe. He was doing his best to explain, but—

  “—Why does the enemy know of this weakness, I wonder?”

  Beatrice’s question made Subaru catch his breath.

  “Roswaal told them…that must be how they know.”

  She’d arrived at the conclusion so quickly that Subaru had no chance to offer up any excuse.

  He could only gaze in astonishment as Beatrice’s certainty deepened. The assailants had come to the mansion on Roswaal’s instructions, and it was necessary to defeat Beatrice’s Passage in order to achieve their goals. Roswaal must have had a reason for why that had to come to pass. In other words—

  “Is Betty’s death recorded in Roswaal’s book of knowledge, I wonder?”

  After voicing that musing, Beatrice briefly let out a breath.

  Phew. Like a spontaneous sigh of relief. The sight sent Subaru into a fit of rage.

  “You…! What was that sigh just now…? Why do you look like you’re okay with all this?!”

  “…If you have come this far, surely you understand. Roswaal is simply upholding what is written in the book of knowledge, I suppose. If this is the result, Betty’s fate is already sealed.”

  “What the hell are you…? Roswaal’s book is his, and your book is yours, right? Or are you telling me that book you’re hugging says at some point he’s going to have you killed?!”

  Subaru jabbed a finger toward the book of knowledge, which Beatrice clutched as if hoping to shatter her resignation.

  The truth was that he already knew Beatrice’s mystic tome was empty. Not once in four centuries’ time had any prophecies of the future appeared within its pages.

  When Subaru shouted at her, Beatrice cast her gaze downward and slowly opened the book in her arms. Then she turned its contents toward him, revealing there was indeed nothing written inside.

  “There isn’t anything in here, I suppose. Betty’s fate is a blank page.”

  “Then that means you don’t have any reason to let Roswaal have his way! You should decide what you wanna do for yourself the way you always have!”

  “…The way I always have?”

  Beatrice’s eyes went wide, blinking as she softly repeated those words.

  Her voice, sounding as if it was devoid of all emotion, left Subaru speechless.

  However, those blue eyes of hers glinted with something unmistakable—a cavernous sorrow.

  “Just what did Betty decide on for herself in all those days?”

  As she murmured, Beatrice meticulously turned the pages of the tome with her slender fingers, as if she thought those pristine pages represented the sum total of the long years she had spent blank and empty.

  “I have continued to protect this mansion, all alone, because Mother asked me to… When did I ever make a choice of my own? Who is this Beatrice you speak of, and what has she done for herself?”

  “…Beatrice…”

  “Is Betty’s life not as barren as this book, I wonder? Is it not as empty? I have decided nothing for myself. No accomplishments or achievements… I have nothing at all…”

  Softly, she closed the book of knowledge. Beatrice slowly stroked the front cover of the tome that bore no title. She caressed it gently, enviously. Then she quietly spoke again.

  “Truly…it would have been better if Betty were simply a book.”

  Unable to indulge in even fleeting fantasy, Beatrice confessed her sad, painful wish.

  If only she could be a doll without a heart, a storybook unshaken by the passage of time, then she wouldn’t have to suffer.

  But she couldn’t. And so she grieved.

  “Sadly, Betty does have a heart. After waiting for so long that all hope and faith faded away, certain thoughts came unbidden. Were these fears and worries, I wonder? Many a night have I gathered my memories and clung to them, anxious that I might one day forget my mother’s face or smile.”

  Digging her nails into the book she clutched to her chest, Beatrice bit her lip as she glared at Subaru.

  “There were times when I was afraid of being alone and desperately wanted to be with someone, anyone. But as the years went by, everyone eventually left Betty behind. They all said something incomprehensible about how it was for something so important… Mother left! And so did Roswaal! Even Ryuzu!”

  Beatrice shouted, on the verge of tears as her face contorted.

  The names she shouted struck Subaru as he recalled everything he had learned about Beatrice back in the Sanctuary.

  In the short time the two girls spent together, she had undoubtedly formed a bond with Ryuzu Meyer, the girl who had become a sacrifice to protect the Sanctuary—something that scarred Beatrice’s heart to this day.

  “Betty…the spirit Beatrice…has always been alone, destined to be left behind by everyone else… But now I can rest a tiny bit easier, I suppose.”

  “…Why? Why would you feel relieved that you might be killed by someone you know?”

  “The reason is obvious.”

  Beatrice responded to Subaru’s strained voice with a single nod.

  A fleeting smile came over her lips; it was one that showed a yearning for something that lay deep in the past.

  “Even if it’s only within Roswaal’s book of knowledge, the fact that Betty has been recorded… Does that mean Mother has not forgotten about her daughter, I wonder?”

  With a little smile, Beatrice spoke those words, as if they were some kind of salvation.

  The girl seemed happy, as if a death sentence written in the mystic tome left by her mother was exactly what she hoped for. As if she could find peace by dying at the hands of a man who belonged to the same household she had treated like family for centuries.

  After four hundred years of faithfully waiting and wishing, Beatrice was happy to finally fulfill her mother’s wishes, even if it meant death.

  It was precisely because she’d insisted on following her mother’s instructions with blind devotion that Beatrice couldn’t do anything but accept her fate. She believed in Echidna the Witch like a martyr ready to sacrifice herself for the faith.

  This much was plain to see in the pure liberation that suffused her smile—

  “Give it a rest already.”

  That unsettling, intolerable smile made the fire in Subaru’s chest burn all the hotter.

  The tragic happiness Beatrice felt after seemingly confirming her mother’s love was a twisted thing. It was utter garbage.

  As if condemning her daughter to death could ever be considered a form of motherly love.

  “…What do you…intend to do?”

  Subaru was so consumed by righteous indignation that he had stepped forward without even noticing. The disconcerting expression on his face made Beatrice stiffen warily.

  “Were you even listening, I wonder? What is it you plan to do? Does i
t need to be explained that whatever you intend, Betty shall show no mercy, I wonder? I have…already accepted my fate.”

  “What a load of bullcrap. You’re just like Roswaal. You haven’t changed a bit. Actually, you’re a lot worse. At least Roswaal knows what he’s doing. Why do you have to make everything more complicated, damn it?”

  Boundless anger began welling up within him. When he thought about it, ever since he had become involved in the events surrounding the Sanctuary, Subaru had been wrestling with his wrath over and over.

  He had been angry with himself during the Trials; angry at the Witches, who toyed with him; angry at Garfiel, the stubborn kid who looked down on him; angry at Roswaal, the man who was trying to prove the frailty of Subaru’s beliefs by doggedly adhering to what was preordained; and angry at Emilia, who refused to believe in not only Subaru’s love but also herself.

  And now he was angry at fate itself after seeing Beatrice abandon all hope.

  “Beatrice, you’re an idiot. Dumb as rocks, that’s for sure! It hurts just looking at you!!”

  “Wha…?!”

  Subaru’s sudden outburst of anger and the abrupt segue left Beatrice speechless.

  The irritation and confusion she felt prevented her from immediately raising her voice. Subaru took advantage of that bewilderment to pile on her even more.

  “You had four hundred years to figure this out! Why is the only thing you ever came up with so extreme…?! Why’d you think of only one plan?! There are so many other things you could’ve done, damn it!!”

  “O-of course I thought about it! Betty tried checking if there was anything on these blank pages again and again…but nothing ever changed!”

  “That’s why you’re an idiot! What about trying to heat them to see if anything was written in invisible ink?! These days, no one falls for that trick anymore, even when it’s a novelty New Year’s card! Consider some more possibilities, would you?!”

  The persistently blank pages of the tome had convinced Beatrice that her fate simply led to a dead end.

  But if that wasn’t necessarily true… If there was another possibility, then—

  “Like what if your mother messed up and gave you the wrong book by mistake?!”

  “Huh…?”

  The latest theory Subaru proposed was so haphazard that Beatrice didn’t even know how to respond. That surprise quickly gave way to anger as Beatrice’s ire only grew.

  “Do you intend to insult Mother, I wonder?! Mother would never make such a stupid mista—”

  “Can you say for sure it absolutely couldn’t happen? You don’t have even the slightest doubt? Are you so certain the only possible explanation is that your mother deliberately handed her own daughter a book with nothing but blank pages?”

  Subaru used fallacies and questionable logic to massage and obfuscate the truth.

  It was still a mystery to him what Echidna’s true intentions had been when she gave Beatrice the book of knowledge. He wouldn’t put it past the foul Witch to entrust someone with it just to mess with their head.

  But after hearing about the past of the Sanctuary from Ryuzu, he felt like the Echidna in that tale was different than the twisted person he met. The truth continued to elude him. That said, the truth wasn’t important here.

  What he needed to do now was knock down the walls surrounding Beatrice’s heart and say the magic words that would pull her toward him.

  “Why…would you put it that way…?” Overwhelmed by Subaru’s force of will, Beatrice’s voice wavered, her eyes losing focus.

  She firmly believed in her mother. The mother she loved and respected would never try to ensnare her on purpose. And yet, Beatrice stubbornly shook her head. When she weighed blind faith against love and respect, she chose blind faith.

  It was as if she wanted to continue clinging to her mother’s words, which she never once doubted over the course of four hundred years.

  “M-Mother surely would never make such a mistake. I-is that not obvious, I wonder? This is Mother we’re talking about! Would you doubt your own mother’s words?!”

  “Of course I would! The times I can trust her don’t come along all that often! My mom’s the same person who heard a report about a satellite falling into ‘the atmosphere’ and somehow thought it was ‘Aichi Prefecture.’ I stopped believing any news that came from her mouth after that! It’d be mega-embarrassing if I spread around something that stupid again!”

  It was impossible to forget how he’d been mocked by his classmates and neighbors for taking that story seriously and sharing it with everyone. To top it all off, the original culprit herself forgot she had started the whole thing and even asked him, Why on earth did you tell people that?

  Ever since that series of events in his third year of primary school, Subaru had staunchly refused to blindly believe what either of his parents had to say about anything. In fact, he’d learned to doubt his father’s words even earlier on in life.

  That was why Beatrice’s unshakable faith in her mother as an infallible existence irked Subaru to no end.

  “Even if I had twice as many fingers, I wouldn’t be able to count on my hands how many times an argument between my dad and me ended with a fistfight, and that’s in the span of less than twenty years. You’ve had twenty times that. You’re telling me you never had doubts like that even once?”

  “I simply do not understand… What is it you want Betty to say, I wonder?! I cannot understand at all! Your desire, your objective… They make no sense! None at all!”

  “Fine. I’ll say it straight so that even idiots like you and your mother can hear me loud and clear!”

  As Beatrice started clutching at her head, Subaru drew near and grasped both her hands.

  From above, he brought his face close to Beatrice’s, coming so close that he could feel the teary-eyed girl’s breaths.

  “Stop letting an empty book and a verbal promise you made four centuries ago control you. Beatrice, what you want to do is your choice.”

  “”

  “Four hundred years… Isn’t that more than enough time to justify at least one rebellious phase?”

  Because she loved her mother, Beatrice had stayed bound by loneliness and emptiness.

  Perhaps Echidna considered even her own daughter’s mental anguish to be an exquisite delicacy. But what was left of a person’s heart when they’d forgotten what it was like to want to cry, or even how? It made Subaru want to hurl from the bottom of his heart.

  With both her hands still in his grasp as she sat atop the stool, Beatrice averted her face from Subaru.

  Considering the height of the stool, her eyes were roughly at the same height as Subaru’s. Beatrice cast her gaze downward, her lips trembling as she looked at the book on her lap.

  “No matter what you say…a pact is a pact. And a pact is absolute… That’s why…”

  “Big talk from a girl looking for a loophole in that same pact, ready to go straight to her death so long as that pact isn’t broken in the process.”

  Beatrice shied away from his piercing stare until his comment made her eyes shoot wide. It seemed he had hit the mark.

  After having her inner thoughts laid out so plainly, a shudder ran through her as she began to tear up.

  That was only natural. Subaru had heard those exact laments straight from Beatrice’s own mouth once before.

  Now, across time and space, he’d make up for how helpless he felt and for everything he had been unable to convey.

  “What you’re saying is all messed up, Beatrice. Haven’t you noticed the inconsistencies? There’s no way you haven’t. You got a good head on your shoulders.”

  “Would you…just be silent, I wonder…?”

  “No, I won’t. You want to stop upholding the pact? That’d be fine by me. You’re the one who hates keeping your promise so much that you literally want to die. No one would blame you for wanting to break it.”

  “I would blame myself! Why can you not seem to understand this
?!”

  “You’re the one who doesn’t understand. If keeping that promise you made means dying, you should just break the promise and live. That’s what I’d do; is it so weird I’d make that choice?”

  Beatrice, who continued obsessing over the pact, looked at Subaru like he were some kind of monster beyond all comprehension.

  Subaru found it pretty baffling to be perceived that way.

  Of course he knew keeping your word was important.

  He’d been scolded by Emilia more than once for breaking his promises, and he’d learned that the hard way after enduring quite a few painful experiences. That’s why even someone like him had taken to heart how important it was to not go back on a promise.

  Despite that, Subaru didn’t feel any reluctance whatsoever in telling Beatrice to break hers.

  He’d already explained his reasoning. It didn’t even merit a second thought.

  “H-how can you be so impudent and devious, I wonder…?”

  “I know I’m the brazen sort, and I’ve reflected on how that’s gotten me into trouble before. Still, I’ll never budge on the important stuff.”

  Subaru’s answer would not change. From the beginning, the issue at hand was Beatrice’s heart.

  She could not conceal her shock and confusion as he told her to ignore her pact. That much was expected. In this world, pacts bore enormous weight to the beings known as spirits.

  He was in love with a spirit mage himself, so Subaru was well aware of the gravity of the situation.

  He understood completely. And even so, Subaru told Beatrice to prioritize herself over the pact.

  “I-if you were…the one I’ve been waiting for…then maybe…”

  As Subaru continued to stand close by, Beatrice gazed at him, slowly shaking her head side to side.

  A single duty had remained entwined around Beatrice’s heart, chaining her down for four hundred years even as the blank pages of her mother’s keepsake whittled her heart away. This mission of hers was the greatest reason she had not relinquished the pact despite all her suffering.

  If she only completed this duty, Beatrice could finally be free.

  Accordingly, Beatrice peered into Subaru’s black eyes, as if clinging to them, as if giving her heart to them.