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

  There was a tangible sense of accomplishment, and judging from the look of the Witch as she departed, it was no mistake to think the second Trial had indeed ended. She had not so much overcome it as she had seen things through to the end.

  “”

  Even with the sight of her father and mother, an illusory emotional scene she’d supposedly put behind her, tugging at the back of her mind, Emilia turned her back to the room, heading outside the tomb to prepare to challenge the third Trial.

  Just as it had been for the second Trial, exiting and reentering the tomb was no doubt a condition for switching to the next Trial to come. Even were that not the case, she had to inform Ram, who was waiting outside for her success or failure in the Trial, and put her worries at ease.

  —Save him.

  That was the plea Ram had stated to Emilia, when the strong girl had shown her what lay deep within her heart.

  Emilia wanted to respond and act upon that from the bottom of her heart. And for that sake—

  “Sorry to keep you waiting, Ram… Er, huh?”

  Accompanied by that powerful resolve, Emilia tried to convey the results of the latest stage of the Trials, but she ended up cocking her head instead.

  Under a night sky with the silver moon high above, waiting for Emilia at the entrance to the tomb was not a lone maid but a great throng of people.

  “Ah, she’s come out!”

  Someone noticed the surprised Emilia and raised a cry. Instantly, the crowd shifted their gazes toward her as one, and the sheer force of it made Emilia wince. But she recognized them instantly.

  There stood the people of Earlham Village who had evacuated to the Sanctuary and taken shelter at the Cathedral.

  Their return to their homes had been delayed, now hinging on the lifting of the Sanctuary’s barrier. It was none other than Emilia who had promised she would definitely free them.

  Still unable to make good on her promise just yet, Emilia held her breath. She fully expected them to accuse her of being all talk and no substance. And yet—

  “It’s good you are safe and sound!” “Were you hurt at all?” “Simply going in there put our lord at death’s door!”

  “”

  The first words she heard were filled with nothing but reverence for Emilia, which made her brain seize up. However, Emilia immediately shook her head to clear it, and then from the stairs, she deeply bowed toward them.

  For an instant, the people murmured. But they immediately fell silent as they awaited Emilia’s words.

  “…Thank you for worrying about me. I am completely fine and not hurt whatsoever.”

  “Ohhh, I’m so glad.” “Good. That’s what’s important.” “Master Subaru got all worried for nothing, huh…?”

  “It’s just…I am very sorry. I still have not completed all the required Trials…but everyone here must have already heard from Subaru and the others, right?”

  Emilia kept harboring apologetic feelings toward the group of worried people as she continued:

  “There is no longer any reason for you to remain in the Sanctuary. I will definitely lift the barrier, but it would be best for all of you to return to your families…”

  “”

  As part of the negotiations, the villagers were originally supposed to remain in the Sanctuary until its barrier was lifted. But now that Garfiel had rescinded his previous demands, there was not a single reason for them to remain.

  The villagers already knew that. Emilia had heard from Ram that Subaru and company explained it to them prior to leaving for the mansion.

  Therefore, there was no reason for them to await Emilia’s success or failure in the Trials. However—

  “Master Subaru? Hey, what did he tell us anyway?”

  “Oh? I wonder. Lately, I have been quite forgetful. I simply can’t recall.”

  “Goodness, the way you said that seemed so real that it honestly scared me for a minute. Well, not that it isn’t true…”

  Looking at one another’s faces, the villagers began exchanging unbelievable words. It was not simply one or two people, either. Every last person had joined in on the act, pretending like they had no idea what Emilia was talking about.

  Naturally, Emilia was agape at such transparent behavior. They were all clearly playing dumb, acting as if this was the first they’d heard of it. As for the reason why, Emilia just couldn’t understa—

  “—And so, Lady Emilia, we will wait here as promised.”

  “—!”

  “We cannot return to the village until Lady Emilia has lifted the barrier. We’re not budging from that one bit.”

  The old woman with a stooped hip who served as head of Earlham Village spoke those words with a smiling face. Emilia drew in her breath. By this point, even someone as slow on the uptake as Emilia could understand what their intention was.

  All of them were waiting for her to fulfill her promise. No doubt they wanted to return to their families without a moment to spare, but they were suppressing that urge in order to honor their promise to her.

  That was because Emilia had sworn to do the same for these very people.

  “Besides, we are not the only ones expecting much from Lady Emilia’s efforts.”

  “Eh…?”

  As Emilia, deeply moved by the unexpected turn of events, felt her chest grow hot, the elderly woman made a mischievous smile as she nodded. When Emilia looked over, drawn by the gesture, the people of Earlham Village were all lined up—and behind them, with a swaying of the thickets, she saw even more people entering the clearing.

  Somehow, the group seemed to be walking hesitantly, and at their head stood a girl with long pink hair, a black robe draped over her, and a staff in hand.

  “Miss Ryuzu and…the people of the Sanctuary?”

  “—From the looks of things, it would seem that you have returned after completing the second Trial.”

  Lining up beside the head of Earlham Village, Ryuzu sighed as if to say, We made it in time. Everyone present gathered together into two groups, dividing the open ground up between them.

  Emilia, who had a view of the whole scene from her vantage point atop the stairs of the tomb, was deeply moved, letting out an “ah.”

  “There were this many people living in the Sanctuary?”

  She’d heard there were maybe fifty Earlham Village evacuees who had taken shelter here. The residents of the Sanctuary in the clearing numbered just as many, about as much as a very large family, bringing the total number of souls gathered in this place to about a hundred.

  Yet, despite that, in all the time Emilia had spent here, she had practically never come face-to-face with any Sanctuary residents beyond Ryuzu and Garfiel, let alone spoken to any of them.

  “Please know that is no fault of yours, Lady Emilia. It was the residents’ will… Really, it was my own stubbornness that prevented me from allowing you to meet the residents.”

  “Miss Ryuzu…”

  “Lady Emilia, you have done well to have overcome the Trial. We are grateful for this. And…”

  Bowing her head deeply, Ryuzu had said exactly what Emilia had guessed she would. Then Ryuzu glanced at the elderly woman standing beside her.

  “…After hearing from Young Gar and the villagers here…listening to both the residents of this place and outsiders alike, I, too, have finally been able to rouse these old bones. I suppose you might fault me as an opportunist.”

  “…I’m not one to talk about anyone having doubts and being stuck in place. I spent about a hundred years dozing off, after all.”

  “Still, our obstinacy has lasted generation after generation across four centuries, so I will call us even.”

  Unable to bear the sight of that downcast face, Emilia offered some joking words, which seemed to help Ryuzu relax. She was acting like Subaru. This was how he usually lightened the mood during weighty occasions.

  “I understand what Garfiel probably spoke about…but was everyone else able to hold discussions with th
e people of the Sanctuary as well?”

  “Nothing quite so grand. Just living in the same place naturally leads people to build relationships. We elderly often have spare time to exchange words while doing the cooking and the laundry.”

  “And so we elderly with too much time on our hands spoke about various things. I have long lived in the Sanctuary…yet, I have never had a chance to exchange words with an outsider quite like this.”

  Musing out loud, Ryuzu and the Earlham Village head turned to each other, wearing little smiles. Externally, they didn’t look even remotely the same age, but to Emilia’s eyes, it seemed like an exchange between old friends.

  And Emilia thought this was a powerful, deep, and most precious thing.

  “Lady Emilia… May we have a few words with you?”

  “Y-yes.”

  Then someone raised their hand and stepped forward. He was a resident from the Sanctuary, a man with a head full of bestial hair and ever-so-slightly-canine teeth—as someone who lived here, he was undoubtedly a half-blood himself.

  The man, whose age she would put at thirty thereabouts, bowed his head with a rather tense expression on his face.

  “To be honest, I… No, we…still haven’t decided in our hearts.”

  “”

  “We aren’t sure whether to trust you or not. We who know nothing about the outside world can’t help but be scared of leaving the Sanctuary. That goes for me, too. I was born and raised here.”

  Just as Garfiel had asserted, this was the Sanctuary in its present state.

  Many of the people dwelling here had undergone persecution for having blood that differed from both humans and demi-humans, causing them to seek this land as a place where they could find some peace. Others were born here, spent their entire lives in this place, and then returned to the soil.

  That was the way of life that had continued since the establishment of the Sanctuary four centuries prior.

  Lifting the barrier meant losing something that they had always taken for granted. How much did this mean to them? In terms of taking something for granted, Puck had been the closest comparison Emilia had.

  To Emilia, his sudden departure was the last thing she wanted. It was only natural that the residents of the Sanctuary were just as reluctant to have such a thing imposed on them by others.

  “If Master Roswaal is looking after us even on the outside, how would that be any different from us living here? I’d always thought maybe we don’t need to change.”

  “…Yeah.”

  “However.”

  Lowering her eyes, Emilia took in the man’s words. She awaited more with a gloomy heart.

  When she looked back, the man had stretched and straightened his back, his tense cheeks hardening as he continued.

  “However… All of us heard Garfiel’s—heard that little kid’s angry voice.”

  “”

  “We know exactly how that hardworking kid feels…and it makes me feel pathetic.”

  When his face grew tearful and his gaze turned rueful and reproachful of himself, Emilia’s chest tightened.

  “He’s still a child of fourteen. How many years has he spent stuck in his ways like that? He’s…a good kid. And you are, too, Lady Emilia.”

  “I’m not. Until tonight, I was a totally good-for-nothing girl…”

  It wasn’t like she’d accomplished anything. Not yet.

  Though Emilia denied she had anything to be proud of, the man said, “Even so,” shaking his head. “Master Roswaal told us it was futile, and everyone was afraid, cowering from the Trial…but even so, here you stand. You entered the tomb, and you came out. That’s why…”

  “—Yes?”

  “…whatever happens in the end, what you are trying to do is already incredible and worthy of praise. I won’t go so far as to say every last person here shares those feelings, and even I can’t say I’m completely on your side just yet. But please allow us to watch over you to the end.”

  Emilia was silent as she received the man’s—No, it was not the man alone, but the gazes from all the various people behind him were trained upon her. Receiving these, Emilia stood straight and strong.

  “—I understand. I’m certain I will see this through. When that time comes, we can speak properly.”

  “Yes, it’s a promise. Actually, for me and the rest to be shunning anyone based on their looks and position without even talking ain’t exactly the best—Wahyah!”

  As the man deeply bowed, something sent him leaping into the air. When Emilia looked harder, the cause was Ryuzu, who was standing beside him and had suddenly dug her nails into his side. The man gave an objecting look as Ryuzu laughed at the top of her lungs.

  “Too long, too serious, and midway through, you switched from us to me. Shame on you, shame.”

  “…I-I’m very sorry, Elder.”

  “Either way, our current point of view is as he said just now. This, too… Mm? What is the matter?”

  Ryuzu was in the midst of lightly teasing the man when the wide-eyed Emilia tilted her head.

  “Er… Miss Ryuzu, it’s a little surprising to hear someone call you Elder like that.”

  “Ahhh—”

  “And I was thinking, Wow, I really haven’t seen her speaking with anyone except Garfiel, have I…?”

  Think about that, went Emilia, sticking her tongue out. Ryuzu, taken aback, looked at the man’s face, and he, hers. From there, they let up voices of “Kwa-ha-ha-ha!” and laughed.

  The laugh was not merely between Ryuzu and the man; it spread to the various people of the Sanctuary and even the residents of Earlham Village. For a time, the entire clearing was filled with laughter.

  “Somehow, it doesn’t seem quite right to laugh…but, mm, Miss Ryuzu, thank you. Also, Miss Milde, it seems like you really put some work into this.”

  “—Lady Emilia, you remembered my name?”

  As Emilia spoke words of thanks, the elderly woman beside Ryuzu—Milde Earlham—made a surprised face. Seeing this, Emilia went “mm-hmm” and puffed out her chest. “I may not look like it, but I am in the middle of studying to become king. Remembering names is the least I can do.”

  “I do not believe a king needs to remember the name of each and every subject, but…”

  “You’ve probably been dealing with kings with poor memory. I’m very good at learning things.”

  Hearing Emilia’s reply, Milde slightly narrowed her eyes; then she offered a deep bow.

  Glancing sidelong at this, Ryuzu went, “Now then,” indicating the tomb with her chin. “Lady Emilia, I am pleased that we could be of service to you… Next is the final Trial, but…”

  “Yes, I intend to challenge it immediately. Well, I was intending to… Miss Ryuzu, do you know where Ram is?”

  The impact of being greeted by such a large throng the instant she exited the tomb temporarily forced it from her mind, but as far as her eyes could see, Ram was nowhere to be found.

  Emilia had wanted to inform the girl who’d motivated her to break through the Trial that she had finally found some success, but…

  “…Ram is attending to a duty she cannot afford to shirk. She left a message, praying for your good fortune. She said, Lady Emilia must do what only she can do, and Ram must do the same. Let us do our very best.”

  Ryuzu mimicked Ram’s way of speaking, drawing a strained smile onto Emilia’s face. It was just like her to say something like that.

  Ram’s duty was no doubt connected to the feelings that she had conveyed in her request to Emilia. And when she thought how Ram might fulfill that duty, there was a slight throbbing in her chest.

  Pushing that feeling down, Emilia chose to trust Ram, just as Ram had chosen to trust Emilia.

  “…I have to say, though, no one waited for me to come back at all. Not Subaru, not Ram…”

  “Oh-ho, I see how that would sour your mood. It is a pity those you care deeply for are not present. If this pitiful old face is good enough for you, I’ll wait ri
ght here until you return again.”

  “Okaaay—I guess it’s time.”

  Emilia had begun to pout, but after hearing Ryuzu’s response, she smiled and then turned.

  Right before her, the entrance to the tomb awaited. She entered without any hesitation.

  “Well, I’m off.”

  Various voices, from the residents of the Sanctuary and Earlham Village alike, called out after her.

  There were so many expectations pushing her forward—more than the first time and more than the second. Carrying these alongside the powerful resolve now residing within her, she walked toward the back of the tomb.

  And then—

  “—Face the calamity that shall come.”

  —the third Trial came.

  CHAPTER 3

  —GILTIRAU, BLACK KING OF THE FOREST, STRIKES!!

  1

  —With every clash of steel against steel, there was a string of high-pitched sounds that seemed to be a woman’s cries.

  “Gaaaaaa—!!!”

  “Ah-ha-ha-ha-ha! Marvelous! Marvelous! Marvelousmarvelousmarvelous!”

  Flipping her body around like she was dancing, she aimed a curved blade at his vitals with no fixed path, flashing from up, down, right, and left. It almost seemed like some sort of extreme training, but every blow landed without any warning, infused with enough power to instantly end his life.

  The tip of the bent blade rent the air, surpassing sound as it swung with godlike speed.

  The seemingly supernatural, murderous technique was being countered by Garfiel’s own superhuman skill.

  Using the silver-colored shields attached to both arms, he chose to deflect rather than block the incoming blade. He kept redirecting the force of the woman’s attacks skyward, creating openings for counterattacks so he stood a chance at reeling in victory by force.

  Even that very moment, he guided a powerful blow aimed at his neck off to the side before sending a kick straight into the woman’s torso. Had Garfiel’s kick connected cleanly, it would have undoubtedly ruptured all her internal organs. But—

  “I’ve already seen that one.”

  —the woman’s eyesight was truly frightening, surpassing all common sense.