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

  “Would you…?”

  As if out of breath, she exhaled slowly, seemingly trying to forgive herself…

  “Would you…become That Person for Betty?”

  This was tantamount to asking him to finally bring an end to Beatrice’s four centuries of emptiness.

  He recalled Echidna’s words. This was precisely the reply that the Witch of Greed desired.

  Given that there was no right answer as to who That Person was, would Beatrice eventually select one of her own accord?

  This was the question the Witch had entrusted to her daughter in order to satisfy her own curiosity, forcing Beatrice into four centuries of loneliness in the process.

  The question Beatrice just uttered was the fruit of all that time, the end result after four hundred excruciating years.

  “”

  Beatrice swallowed, awaiting his reply.

  Gazing straight back into the girl’s eyes, Subaru answered loud and clear.

  “You really are an idiot. There’s no way in hell that I’d be this stupid person or whatever you’ve been waiting for.”

  4

  Subaru slammed into the wall, swooning in agony as he crumpled from the impact.

  After he hit his side hard on a column in the hallway, he raised a soundless cry as he writhed around on the floor.

  “Gaaaghhh… I—I can’t believe it…! That idiot… We were still in the middle of talking…!!”

  Seeing the door slam shut right before his eyes, Subaru leaped toward it and tried to open it as fast as he could, but once he did, all he found on the other side was a simple guest room. Passage had already activated, and Subaru had been barred from the archive of forbidden books once more.

  The moment he forcefully announced his true feelings on the matter, Subaru had been locked out.

  “I had more stuff to say… Damn that short-tempered toddler…!”

  He’d chosen his words poorly. His chest ached as he recalled how the last expressions he’d seen Beatrice make were ones of sadness and anger.

  He hadn’t told Beatrice everything he wanted to say to her yet. If he didn’t find a way back into the archive of forbidden books right away—

  “—Mr. Natsuki?!”

  A voice held Subaru in place just as he was about to run off in search of the archive. When he turned to check behind him, his eyes met those of someone peeking in his direction from the next room over.

  It was none other than Otto, who had accompanied Subaru to the mansion and should have been operating independently. And just like Otto, Petra was also sticking her head out to see what was going on. Subaru widened his eyes in surprise as realization dawned upon him.

  “Damn it, you guys… Why are you still in the mansion?! You only needed to open the doors on the first floor, and the plan was to run as soon as that was taken care of, right?”

  “That is true, but unfortunately, a problem has arisen within the mansion…”

  Though initially surprised by the unexpected reunion, Subaru’s face went pale when Otto mentioned some trouble was afoot.

  Securing an escape route out of the mansion and using it to elude the enemy was the crux of their plan. Accordingly, Subaru had entrusted that duty to Otto. If he couldn’t do it, no one could. If even Otto had deemed it too difficult, then there was no choice but to accept it was an impossible task.

  “What happened? The short version, please.”

  “This is the work of the Beast Master you spoke of, I presume. The interior of the mansion is already filled with demon beasts.”

  “That must mean Meili’s here, huh…but she already should’ve been accounted for.”

  Otto’s hushed report left deep creases in Subaru’s brow.

  The two assailants—Elsa the Bowel Hunter and Meili the Beast Master—were basically sisters of slaughter.

  The danger Elsa posed was painfully obvious, but Meili’s command over demon beasts was something that could not be taken lightly if they wanted to make it out of this encounter in one piece. So of course, he’d readied a countermeasure—

  “—But there are demon beasts the repel stones don’t work on at all!!”

  Even in the darkness, he could tell Petra’s face was red as she shouted and beat Subaru’s question to the punch. The girl was gripping a glowing blue crystal—a phosphorescent stone for warding off demon beasts. This was what Subaru and the others had prepared to neutralize the Beast Master.

  “Wait, seriously?! I was sure that if we had these demon-beast repel stones, they’d keep them away like during the Urugarum incident… Why isn’t it working?!”

  “I don’t know! Perhaps the ones that appeared here are exceptions, but at any rate, assuming these demon beasts have appeared throughout the entire manor, even reaching the marquis’s room will be…”

  Extremely difficult. Otto left this part unspoken as he finished explaining how the odds had abruptly turned against them. Then—

  “—?!?”

  Subaru felt an impact come from below his soles, instantly drawing his attention. He quickly noticed there was an odd warping underneath the red carpet covering the corridor floor. It bulged further, and then—it burst.

  The tremors and deformation of the corridor had merely been a harbinger. The real show of destruction was occurring on the floor below, causing the entire west wing of the mansion to collapse, taking the corridor they were in along with it. The windows cracked, the wooden beams flew apart, and the whole mansion seemed to groan under the strain.

  As he lost his footing, Subaru found his body suddenly floating in midair. Reflexively, he reached out and yanked a tiny body toward him. As he fell toward the center of the hole, he tried to at least shield the small child pressed against his chest before they hit the ground.

  “—Make sure you don’t let go!!”

  When that thunderous voice rang in his eardrums amid all the destruction, Subaru did everything he could to obey. A moment later, he felt his body being pulled by the scruff of his neck. Then he was unceremoniously tossed to the ground, which made for an admittedly much softer landing.

  He felt his cheek brushing up against grass. When Subaru looked around, he saw he had rolled onto the green, open yard outside the mansion.

  “J-just now, that was…”

  “Miss Frederica!”

  When Subaru shook his head and looked up, Petra leaped out of his arms. Her gaze was focused on someone whose blond hair was beautifully flapping in the wind; it was none other than Frederica herself.

  Petra’s eyes glimmered as the older maid elegantly brushed the young girl’s hair back and gently wiped the grime off her cheek.

  “Even if this is an emergency, please forgive my impropriety. Frederica Baumann has returned.”

  “Frederica!!”

  Overcome with emotion, Petra threw herself toward Frederica, who smiled as she gently caught her adorable junior and held the girl close to her chest. Consequently, Otto, who Frederica had been supporting on her right side, was unceremoniously dumped onto the grass.

  “Ow!! Wait a minute! I’m grateful you saved my life, but what is this rough handling?!”

  “I—I am very sorry, Master Otto. She was simply higher on my list of priorities…”

  “Women and children, the elderly, men, and then Otto, huh?”

  “Have I been exiled from even the ranks of men?!”

  Setting Otto’s complaints aside, their group quickly confirmed they were all unharmed. Thanks to Frederica, everyone present had emerged from the manor safely. This was not limited to Subaru, Otto, and Petra, either.

  “Master Subaru—I have brought her here with me, as requested.”

  Still holding Petra, Frederica turned around to show Subaru what she meant. There, firmly secured to her back with bedsheets, was a sleeping girl—Rem. Instantly, Subaru’s breath caught in his throat.

  But that initial stiffness almost immediately gave way to relief.

  “You did… Thank you…for getting her out safe and
sound. I mean it.”

  “It was the natural thing to do. More importantly, we have a pressing problem to deal with…”

  Subaru brushed a finger against Rem’s cheek as she continued to sleep. While he did that, he looked intently at Frederica to convey his thanks. Then he followed her gaze to the west wing of the mansion, which was spectacularly wrecked.

  The sheer extent of the damage made it seem like a giant truck had crashed right into the building. To be fair, that metaphor wasn’t that much of an exaggeration. The only difference was that instead of a truck—

  “—What…is that?”

  Otto stood up and brushed off his knees as he posed the question. It was something everyone present wondered, with the exception of the sleeping Rem. If Subaru had to guess…

  “It looks like a really huge hippo to me.”

  The creature they were staring at was enormous. The color and texture of its hide resembled a boulder, and the four limbs it boasted seemed as thick and stout as millstones. It had a dreadful, vile face, red eyes that brimmed with hostility, and a broken horn perched on the tip of its nose. Moreover, this demon beast had a tiny figure riding on its back.

  “Huh. That’s amazing. I’m kinda shocked our attack just now didn’t take anybody out.”

  Straddling the back of the enormous demon beast, the little girl waved her legs all about as she addressed them with an amused voice. The cruel, innocent ring to her words was familiar to Subaru—and to Petra as well.

  She was clad in black clothing, while her deep-blue hair was tied up in a braid—

  “—Meili!”

  “Oh? None of you folks seems to be all that surprised. I’m just a little disappointed.”

  When Subaru shouted her name, Meili drew her lips back, unhappy that she’d failed to surprise them with what was supposed to be her big reveal. Unfortunately, Subaru and company had no reason to humor her.

  “You busting up the mansion like this is a way bigger deal! The hell you think you’re doing?!”

  “Well, I couldn’t find the maids who were our target. So I had Rock Piggie pitch in. And thanks to that, I ended up finding all of you, right?”

  Meili touched a finger to her cheek, showing not a single shred of guilt as she sized up her prey. While it certainly had been the fastest way to draw them out, they would have all been annihilated if Frederica had not been there.

  “But you really surprised me. I mean, this job should’ve been easy. Now everything’s behind schedule.”

  “That so? If you’re off schedule, you should report to your superior and await further instructions. If you use your own on-site judgment, there’s no telling what huge and terrible problems might happen.”

  “Tee-hee-hee. Nooope. You can’t trick me.”

  Despite the alien encounter and being cornered by demon beasts, Subaru carried on an exceedingly normal-sounding exchange with Meili.

  Compared with Elsa, Meili was an improvement—she didn’t take potshots at his innards midconversation. But unsurprisingly, she was similarly immune to his attempts at persuasion. Even as they shared what seemed like a friendly chat, he could sense demon beasts gradually closing in on the yard.

  The group had successfully gotten out of the building, but it’d be a mistake to call it an escape. It had not changed the fact that they were surrounded by demon beasts—if anything, their situation seemed far more precarious than before.

  “I feel sorry for Elsa, but I’m going to take all the maids for myself. Ah, no need to worry. I’ll be gentle to Petra. We are friends, after all.”

  “Y-yay, I’m so happy—If we’re friends, that means you’ll let us go, right—?”

  “Tee-hee-hee. Of course we’re friends. That’s why we’ll get along until the veeery end, right?”

  “Uh, Subaru, sorry, but I tried my best, and it still didn’t work…”

  Their ways of expressing friendship were simply too different. Petra bravely attempted to negotiate, but that ended in failure.

  Meili was still young, but she was already thoroughly versed in the ethos of a hired killer. Her moral values had already been deeply twisted. To her, evil and good were indistinguishable. They would not find any common ground.

  “Master Subaru…”

  “Frederica? What are…? Whoa!”

  Suddenly, before Subaru could come up with an escape plan, the older maid stood directly in front of him with Rem still on her back. Frederica did not respond to his call and instead undid the knots, freeing Rem.

  Subaru instantly moved to her to catch Rem’s sleeping body before it fell. And then—

  “—I shall provide that girl, no, that assassin with the proper hospitality. During that time, all of you…”

  “M-Miss Frederica! Y-you mustn’t!”

  Petra clung to Frederica, who had boldly declared she would act as a rear guard for the party. Subaru had simply gone silent. Frederica gently turned her gaze toward the young maid, who refused to let go of her waist.

  “Stop, Miss Frederica! This is exactly the same as before… We’ve only just met again, and…”

  “No, it’s different now… After all, last time, I was resigned to death.”

  “—!”

  “So much has changed. After ten years, I have reunited with Garf…with my younger brother. And I have you, my unspeakably adorable junior. I have never been happier. And that’s why I refuse to be defeated here.”

  Frederica spoke to Petra while gently stroking her head. Seeing the will residing in those jade eyes from up close, Petra said no more. But surely, she understood these were not empty words to make her feel better.

  The woman she looked up to refused to compromise on what she believed in, and she was ready to see it through with force. Frederica was truly Garfiel’s elder sister.

  “Frederica! We’ll head for Roswaal’s room!”

  “Please do. I shall join you once I have given this girl a proper spanking.”

  Subaru called out to her after securing Rem to his back. Offering a graceful reply in turn, Frederica readied herself for the imminent battle.

  Garfiel versus Elsa; Frederica versus Meili—having the beast person siblings handle the sisters of subterfuge was probably the best outcome they could have hoped for. Now they just had to survive the attack.

  “Otto! Take Petra!”

  “Loud and clear!”

  Grasping the barked instruction, Otto set off running with Petra in tow. With Rem on his back, Subaru raced ahead of them, guiding them to the entrance into the mansion from the yard.

  “Hey, hold on a…! Don’t decide stuff on your own like that! Petraaaaa!”

  “Thbpttt!”

  The sight of Subaru and company fleeing at full speed made Meili cry out from atop the demon beast. Though teary-eyed, Petra gave an immediate reply, sticking out her tongue tauntingly.

  With that, Subaru and the others fled into the mansion. Meili moved to pursue them, but—

  “—Dear guest, from here on, I will have to insist you remain with me and enjoy the Mathers family’s hospitality!”

  “Gaaah! I’ll make you regret this! Get her, Rock Piggie!!”

  “—!!!”

  Looking down at Frederica, who was blocking her path, Meili puffed up her cheeks as her temper flared. Heeding the command of its master, the enormous, boulder-like demon beast issued a roar that echoed across the entire grounds.

  With a flutter of her skirt, Frederica’s arms creaked as they transformed.

  “Now, come closer. I’ll be teaching you some harsh lessons today! Prepare yourself.”

  5

  Splitting up from Frederica, Subaru and company made a beeline for the mansion’s main wing, aiming for the topmost floor.

  “Otto! Anything to worry about from behind?!”

  “Miss Frederica is managing somehow! However, we still have no good way to deal with demon beasts!”

  As they raced down a corridor, Otto asserted the demon beasts were a pressing issue that remained
unresolved. Subaru didn’t have a new plan ready yet. What could they use against demon beasts that were immune to repel stones…?

  “How about we use your blessing of language and your pro bargaining skills to negotiate with the demon beasts and convince them to let us escape? You’d get all the glory!”

  “Most demon beasts only go, Me swallow you whole. That does not constitute a conversation…”

  “This isn’t the time for joking around!! If…if we don’t do something fast, Miss Frederica will—!”

  Petra’s desperate plea made Subaru and Otto cut the banter and focus their thoughts on coming up with a plan.

  At present, their goal was to reach Roswaal’s study—and the secret escape route leading outside, which was concealed behind a bookshelf in the room. That would allow them to circumvent the demon beasts surrounding the manor.

  However, it was inevitable that those monsters would impede them prior to their arrival—

  “Mr. Natsuki! There’s some black-winged mice in front!”

  “Whoa!”

  While Subaru was deep in thought, some black shadows had flown toward him in the moonlit corridor and were already right before his eyes.

  These were demon beasts with round bodies, about the size of puppies, that resembled flying mice with black, bat-like wings. Two of the creatures, worthy of the name black-winged mice, aimed their sharp fangs at Subaru.

  “Go away!!”

  Petra raised the repel stone aloft, instantly driving off the black-winged mice.

  “You saved my bacon, Petra! …But this means the stone isn’t completely ineffective, doesn’t it?”

  “Against normal demon beasts, it works just fine! For the moment, it is ineffective only against a single demon beast. So long as that beast is not…”

  “Meaning that one is—”

  Special, he was about to say, but two things happened before he could—the sound of an impact ringing out, followed by high-pitched death cries.

  From the back of the corridor, in the darkness where the moonlight did not reach, a monstrous claw flashed, drawing out screams and fresh blood simultaneously. The fearsome blow tore the wings off the black-winged mice, leaving them helplessly falling and rolling onto the carpet. Pitch-black blood coursed from their wounds as the two demon beasts convulsed. An enormous maw reached forward to snap up their bodies, chewing on them.