Arc 6, Chapter 51 – “Tower of the Living PART 2”

※※　※　※　※　※　※　※　※　※　※　※　※

ALL RIGHTS BELONG TO TAPPEI NAGATSUKI, THE ORIGINAL AUTHOR OF RE:ZERO STARTING A LIFE IN A DIFFERENT WORLD FROM ZERO, THIS IS A TRANSLATION OF THE FREE JAPANESE WEB NOVEL INTO ENGLISH

JAPANESE WEB NOVEL SOURCE

※　※　※　※　※　※　※　※　※　※　※　※

Hearing the voice of the familiar man from behind him, Subaru trembled in fear, to the point that he forgot to breathe.

Subaru: [――――]

Right in that instant, he had even forgotten about the pain from his dislocated left shoulder.

His mind was dominated by a vast succession of negative emotions, such as fear and cowardice; a tempest of hopeless feelings clouded over his thoughts, a single word repeating inside his head: [Why?].

Why, his list of questions was inexhaustible.

Why was his left shoulder dislocated? Why was the phrase “Natsuki Subaru was here” carved all around this room to this extent? Why were Emilia and Ram’s figures, who had captured Subaru, nowhere to be seen? Why was Meili’s body, which he had hidden, nowhere to be seen? Why had Natsuki Subaru lost his memories? Why had Natsuki Subaru been summoned into a different world? Why, couldn’t he ever tell his mom and dad the truth about everything? Why――

Man: [What’re ya doin’ all huddled up. Don’t be so silent, ya gross bastard, ya prick.]

――Why was the man who was not supposed to be able to come down standing here?

Man: [――Kh.]

Suddenly, irritation rose in that man’s voice, causing Subaru to whirl around in a panic.

To look directly at the figure behind him was a frightening notion. In most cases, what would trigger this sense of trepidation was a fear of the unknown; however, the fear that this man inspired came from more than just the immediate risk of looking.

This was far deeper than just unease from being unable to see, for this specific opponent’s intent was not merely to inspire fear. Subaru could not help but think of it as something much closer to a straightforward urge to maim or even to kill.

Man: [Haa. What ya lookin’ at, ya prick. With that face. Are ya that scared, ya prick!? Ya look like ya’re about to cry, ya prick. Ya’re a disgusting bastard in this fucked up room, ya prick.]

Smiling sardonically at Subaru, who had made up his mind as such, the man dressed in a male kimono brazenly bared his white teeth.

Long, red hair, an eyepatch covering his right eye, his bare chest wrapped in a white sarashi, and a muscular, well-built body; he was looking down at the pitiful Subaru.

The guardian of the Second Floor of Pleiades Watchtower―― Reid was the man calling out to him.

Subaru: [――――]

Reid: […Does yer mouth not work, ya prick? Can’t’cha hear me speak? Or, are ya tryin’ to show that’cha got no plans of speakin’ with me? If that’s the way it is, I don’t really mind, but still, I guess it feels more dignifyin’ that way.]

Bluntly saying this out loud, with words that show utmost arrogance, Reid stared at Subaru with an angry expression on his face. Whilst being overwhelmed by the hostility coming from Reid, Subaru forced his lips into a mumble.

Subaru: [Ri, ght… eye…]

Reid: [Haaah?]

Subaru: [Wasn’t your eyepatch… on your left eye…? Why… is it on your right eye…?]

It was a question that he should not have uttered right now. As Subaru asked him, Reid’s eyes flickered slightly. And just after, the man clanged his teeth together,

Reid: [Whim, it’s a whim! Either eye’s fine for me, ya prick. That’s the way it is, I put it on just when I feel like messin’ about. If I don’t put it on, I’ll end up seein’ way too much crap. It’s just that kind of thing.]

As Reid said that, he turned over the eyepatch covering his right eye using his fingers. And there below his eyepatch, were no wounds; his eye was in good health, exactly as he had stated.

And of course, there were no signs of injuries to his uncovered left eye. In short, his words had been completely true, he understood that his eyepatch was really only an item for doing something because he wanted to.

Even so, for him, it was a pastime needed for bridging the power-gap between himself and others――

Reid: [――What, ya prick. Oy, ain’t yer shoulder dislocated, I did think it looked a lil’ weird.]

Subaru: [――Kuh!?]

Immediately after he had felt such profound emotion, a burning sensation scorches the lining of Subaru’s brain, with a sudden impact.

Subaru: [Gi, gah…!]

His throat was constricted by sharp pain, and his field of view around him flickered, pierced by great anguish.

Regarding it with no consideration or hesitation, Reid had grasped Subaru’s dislocated shoulder with his right hand. With a mere twist of the wrist, he had casually inserted the dislocated bone back into its socket among the shoulder.

The dislodged bone had been fixed, echoing a dull click across the room, and freedom of movement returned to his left shoulder.

However, the pain that for a moment had become negligible returned to him, tears pouring down Subaru’s cheeks as the pain made him feel like cursing the world around him.

Reid: [Don’t’cha be actin’ so over the top, ya prick. It looks like I’m pickin’ on ya when ya look like that, damn it. As a matter of fact, it’s not me who’s bullyin’ ya, ya prick. More so it’s that smokin’ hottie!]

Subaru: [Smokin’, hottie?]

Reid: [That smokin’ hottie with the silver hair, ya prick. The ice cage behind’cha, I can pretty much tell by lookin’ at that, plus yer dislocated shoulder. Did’cha fall out with yer friends, hah, how amusing!]

Reid snorted this back at Subaru, the latter holding his left shoulder and groaning in pain. Having heard those words, Subaru understood he had referred to Emilia when talking about a “smokin’ hottie”.

And, at the same time, regarding what had happened in the room between Subaru and everyone else―― Subaru feared that Reid’s observant eye must have grasped what happened.

Subaru: [How… do you know?]

Reid: [Stuck inside this depressin’ Tower, stuff between a man “n woman”ll either improve beyond imagination, or decline beyond imagination, those’re the only two options. When it comes to ya, yer the type to piss people off beyond belief. It’s not so hard to figure that one out.]

In all honestly, none of those conclusions were wrong. Therefore, Subaru had no way to refuse those words. Tearing his gaze away from Subaru, Reid turned to glance at Emilia’s ice cage.

Subaru: [――――]

Twisting his neck, he strode huffily away from Subaru’s side, eyeing the ice cage for a moment before he stomped on it, applying force but for a brief moment.

In that instant, the structure gave a sharp cracking sound; in the next, the destructive force spread to the entirety of the resilient prison, shattering the lattice entirely.

Needless to say, no matter how hard Subaru had tried, he had not been able to shift that ice cage even slightly; the cage’s integrity had refused to yield.

Whether in terms of magic or strength, the disparity between them had been immediately revealed with a simple glance, leaving Subaru dumbstruck. Putting Subaru’s reaction to the side, Reid stretched his hands and feet lightly.

Reid: [――Well, looks like ya can move it again all right. Excellent, excellent indeed.]

Muttering that, making sure he had some kind of feeling there, he slowly stepped out from the room.

He took absolutely no notice of Subaru, who stood stock still, perplexed out of his mind by that attitude. The confusion had still not settled down, he was not able to completely grasp what had happened, but he knew that, in this place, taking his eyes away from Reid would result in nothing good.

First off――

Subaru: [Wait up! Didn’t you… didn’t you say you couldn’t come down from the Floor above? Why are you walking around this floor like it’s normal!?]

As Reid walked along the corridor of the Fourth Floor with complete indifference, Subaru rushed out of the room.

Quite unpretentiously, staring at Reid’s back as he gaited across the floor with an air of majesty, Subaru threw out the one question which had been inside his head since the very beginning.

In response, Reid waved his hand without looking behind him,

Reid: [When did I say I couldnt’ walk outta the Second Floor? If that’s what ya’re sayin’… then ain’t that a lil’ bit unfair? Don’t’cha worry. Yer assumption that I can’t leave has a bit o’ truth to it. I only became able to leave just now.]

Subaru: [Just now… Wait, so may I ask why the premise collapsed?]

Reid: [I ain’t gonna give ya a full lecture here “n explain everythin”. I can walk about. Ya’re about to piss yerself. That’s that, the end—— Ah, wait, it’s not the end yet.]

Following Reid in his wake, Subaru caught up to him. Changing the tone of his voice, Reid narrowed his eyes at him. Subaru’s body shrunk in place, as Reid distorted his cheeks at him; it looked like he could kill him with merely his sharp eyes.

The red-haired swordsman, who did not carry weapons along, unarmed―― With merely the glint in his eyes, this man’s gaze would be enough to put someone to the sword. And so, Subaru took a deep breath.

Subaru: [W-what the…]

Reid: [Excellent, keep blusterin’ on like that, ya prick. If ya can’t even do that, ya got no right to call yerself a man. “N so, I got a question for ya, ya borderline failed man. I”mma “bout to bid this depressin” Tower farewell, but where the fuck did yer buddies ya fell out with run off to?]

Subaru: [Huh?]

As the hostility exuding from the man nearby squeezed his heart, this surprising remark fell upon Subaru’s ears, causing his eyes to widen. Seeing the disheveled Subaru’s reaction, Reid naturally continued with a “Ya prick”,

Reid: [I plan to get outta here, but I need food, water, and sake. Let’s not even talk about the women. Well, from yer friends, that smokin’ hottie and that sexy-lookin’ woman are certainly fine prospects. Though, since I’d feel guilty seducin’ the smokin’ hottie, the sexy woman’d gotta be the prime candidate for that.]

Subaru: [Leaving…? This Tower? But, what about… your Trial, no, what about everything else? What are you going to do about this situation, and everything that’s going on!?]

Reid: [Nothin’, everythin’ ya said ain’t got shit to do with me. Yer issues should be solved by yerself, I’ve got nothin’ to do with it. Ah, hol’ up. There’s one last disgustin’ task left.]

Subaru: [If it’s disgusting, leave it―― GAH!?]

As Subaru’s eyebrows had knitted into a grimace at those words, Reid’s facial expression suddenly changed, jabbing at Subaru’s forehead with his finger. Subaru’s back crashed against the wall of the corridor due to the sheer strength of the poke. Looking down at Subaru laying in a painful heap beneath him, Reid snorted out a “Hmph”.

Reid: [I already told’cha. Don’t’cha be thinkin’ you’ll be able t’ get an answer to everythin’, ya lil’ chicken. Are ya a small fry, or a lil’ chicken, tighten the grip under yer feet, ya prick.]

Subaru: [That’s a problem of your own definition…]

Reid: [Don’t use me, who so fortunately appeared before ya as a tool to dispel yer worries, questions, or regrets with. Yer issues’re for ya to solve. Don’t use me as a crutch.]

Subaru: [――――]

Calling those words akin to something like irritated was not quite right.

Feelings of irritation had some emotion to them, but Reid did not care at all about Subaru’s existence. A person would not get emotional over someone you they did not care about. Thus, his voice was devoid of any irritation.

However, just these over-the-shoulder words were enough for Subaru to feel as if a knife had been stuck into his heart.

Groaning from that pain, once again the questions left behind were filling Subaru’s lurching mind, as if they were going to bury up his heart. But, just before that happened.

Reid: [――Ahhh, it came.]

Swiveling his head to look towards the end of the aisleway, Reid grumbled as if something was up.

Lifting his head, Subaru’s eyes were also lured towards that direction, pointing them at the place Reid was looking towards, but he was unable to spot anything different there. However, he realized it belatedly.

Crouched down, his buttocks against the floor, he took notice it.

A faint tremor. The Tower was quaking. Faintly, not quite on the same scale as an earthquake, but he felt tremors nevertheless.

Reid: [KAH.]

Clacking his teeth together and laughing, his eyes shining, Reid stepped forward, sandals firmly treading against the floor. Seeing his unhesitating manner from the corner of his eyes, Subaru panickily followed in his trail.

Reid had state that he should not use him as a tool to dispel his own worries.

It was undeniable, there was no doubt in Subaru that Reid’s words had cut right into his frail heart. Subaru’s issues could not be solved by merely complaining about them to Reid.

However, apart from that, Subaru now had a responsibility to get to the bottom of the reason for Reid meandering about the Fourth Floor, and for what was happening in the Tower in general.

Subaru: [Reid!]

Reid: [――――]

Subaru: [Hey, wait up! Wait up! At the very least, tell me, what are you going to do…?]

With long strides, and a quick pace, Reid’s back was proudly advancing forward, and he did not deign to stop and answer Subaru’s question.

His shoulder was in pain, there was bewilderment and confusion in his heart, he possessed not any assertiveness. Subaru was being driven by his half-hearted obligation, he had no other choice but to chase with utmost effort after the back of the man treading forward.

And suddenly, the back of the man with the swaying long red-hair abruptly ground to a halt and stopped.

Reid: [――――]

Reid had stopped his feet as he reached the spiral staircase present in the atrium at the end of the corridor―― the place where the amnesiac Natsuki Subaru had twice been pushed to his death.

As Subaru had been busy frantically chasing after Reid, he only noticed where he stood at the last second. He held his breath, frozen in place.

However, his desire of wanting to break the deadlock surpassed the feeling of avoiding this place that brought about his Death, and lent Subaru the strength to move forward.

――It was not the place that had killed Subaru. It was evil that had killed Subaru. It was not the place that ought to cause him to harbor these feelings of avoidance, rather, the main cause of this should be attributed to the culprit.

Subaru: [――――]

The beating of his heart, and the sound of his blood flowing through his veins felt frightfully loud. Ignoring that, Subaru wiped off a bead of sweat and pushed on forwards towards where Reid had stopped.

Reid was standing at the edge of the drop, looking down below at the scene his eyes regarded. Wherever he might be, he was a man to whom the posture of looking down on things was quite suiting. Whilst thinking such a useless thought in the depths of his mind, Subaru followed his gaze.

Tracing his gaze, he finally noticed it.

Having been lost in his noisy heartbeat, a sound that he had not heard before, was now audible to him.

Subaru: [――――]

――Right beneath him, at the bottom of the large staircase, having appeared out of nowhere onto the Fifth Floor, a repulsive herd of Witchbeasts of flame were now filling up the hall, presenting him with a spectacle of absolute hell.

※　※　※　※　※　※　※　※　※　※　※　※

Witnessing this display from beyond even his wildest imaginations, Subaru’s senses went completely white.

Subaru: [――Huh?]

The cracking of the scorching crimson flame and the sound of countless wailing infants dwelt in the Tower.

Connecting those two factors led to one and only conclusion—― that was, this terrifying Witchbeast, which wore a mane of flame around its neck, was only one part of a violent chaos of a horde.

Four legs and a torso akin to that of horses, an upper body with arms comparable to a human’s, and a gaping maw complete with fangs spreading through the human half. The dreadful heat’s flames were about to scorch and devour the oxygen within the Tower.

There were about twenty witchbeasts at this place, or thereabouts; he could witness them rampaging about below him on the Fifth Floor.

The dreadful heat reached from below towards Subaru and Reid, dozens and dozens of meters up-high. Flinching back, he was taken by surprise by this heatwave, to the extent that he felt like his eyeballs dry up in an instant.

What is, really, what is going on?

Reid: [So there’s some creepy-ass Witchbeasts here, huh. Ya prick, do ya know what they are?]

Subaru: […I don’t know. It’s the first time seeing Witchbeasts for me too, other than that huge earthworm… Ah!?]

Next to Subaru, who could keep his eyes off the scene, stood Reid looking at the exact same spectacle, issuing that question to him. Subaru shook his head at that query, his voice unintentionally trembling at the change in his view.

The Witchbeasts were rampaging about inside the Tower, garbed in flame―― looking like both horse and man, a more convenient term to call them by would be Centaurs. The Centaurs let out a piercing yell.

Coming out from their warped maws was a violent yell, a shrill roar as if caused by sheer fury. And the reason for that was the lone Knight who was fighting back, swinging his slender sword, weaving his way through the herd of Witchbeasts.

Centaur: [――KSHEEEEEEGHHH!]

Holding his breath, an elegant sword slipped through a gap in the herd of the Witchbeasts who carried swords of flame.

Blood scattered, the arms and legs of a Witchbeast were severed, its delayed shriek reverberated around the surroundings. While listening to this, the Knight who risked being overwhelmed by the amount of Centaurs sprung forward and leapt towards the next beast, sword poised. That was――

Subaru: [――JULIUS!]

Reflexively, Subaru’s lips called out his name, deeply moved at having found a survivor.

He could not tell which emotion was stronger within himself, the one of joy or grief.

Nevertheless, immediately after his consciousness leapt he had done something unknown. There had been a situation like that once before, when he found himself with Meili’s corpse beside him.

He was incapable of saying for sure that the next time he met with someone, they would end up as a corpse or not. There was always such a fear in him. Therefore, it was good news that he had broken through this fear.

Subaru: [――――]

Putting aside the expression of surprise from above, beneath Subaru’s eyes, Julius swung his sword and continued his melee against the Witchbeasts.

Although he was at a disadvantage in terms of numbers, it was a situation where the strength of one probably was not equal to that of Julius. Although, if the Witchbeasts which freely emitted flame thought of swarming Julius, possessing only a sword to fend off against them, would mean his limits would be called upon.

――And if he burnt to death, then his Book of The Dead should appear in the Library.

Reid: [Where are all the others? ――Well, guess this is convenient.]

Subaru: [――Kh!]

In the moment a dark thought desiring for the death of his companion had floated across Subaru’s mind, Reid’s muttering, as he gazed at the scene below, jerked his thoughts back to reality.

But, Reid was unaware of Subaru’s internal conflict. Baring his fangs, he took a step forward. Already on the verge of falling to the depths below, he stepped forward again.

Subaru: [H-Hey, what are you going to do?]

Reid: [Ya prick, is your yer ability askin’ questions? Stop relyin’ on me “n try to pull some darin” moves every once in a while. Talkin’ to ya’s completely no fun. Ya’re not a sexy lady for me to feast my eyes on, nor are ya interestin’ to talk to. Ya prick, with what intents’re ya tryin’ to talk to me?]

Subaru: [――――]

Reid: [Lemme ask again, the hell’re ya goin’ to do? One of yer comrades’s just right there, trapped to face a bunch’ve disgustin’ Witchbeasts, “n ya”re still just standin’? To say that weak guys ain’t got options’s just a pitiful excuse.]

Just like a carnivore making sport of a herbivore, so did Reid’s philosophy echo the right of the strong.

This philosophy’s incompatibility with Subaru only served to reinforce its veracity; that was the sheer disparity between the strong and the weak.

Reid: [Haaaaah.]

Without neither a word nor glance to Subaru, Reid at last stepped into motion, leaning forward slightly.

There had been no chance to stop him. Like this, Reid fell to the fore, weightless, tracing the path that Subaru had followed to his death.

Straight, straight, straight down Reid fell. Back then, Natsuki Subaru’s consciousness had left him before he had crashed into the ground, and he had not been able to even see the moment which had actually brought upon his demise.

That red-haired swordsman, Reid, dropped down in the same way, falling, falling――

*THUMP THUMP*

Its back being struck by sandals falling from such great heights, a Centaur’s equine body was crushed. Its limbs, unable to bear that impact, shattered. It was unbelievable how the Witchbeast’s huge body had been smashed, blood the color of black ink spraying out, staining the floor of the Fifth Floor.

Completing this scene was, falling from a height that would have been fatal to Subaru, energetically stomping on the remains of the Witchbeast, the violence of Reid Astrea.

Subaru: [――――]

The Witchbeasts, which likely did not possess intelligence judging from their looks, ceased their movements. Noticing the chaotic appearance of this red-haired man, their baby-like wails stopped.

Looking closely revealed that these headless Witchbeasts were using their non-visual senses to gauge their opponent, was what Subaru surmised.

Reid’s abnormality was clear to them, using just their organs remaining that were devoid of sight.

That observation was equally apparent to the Knight, with all five senses intact, who had been engaged in a vigorous battle with these creatures.

Julius: [You, why… are you here…]

Reid: [Why, why, why. Is there anythin’ else y’all pricks can ask at all? What’s the secret to bein’ popular with women, what’s the best kinda alcohol, how’d’cha get to be so strong, for instance?]

Standing in front of Julius, whose eyes were wide open in sheer shock, Reid brushed away the pieces of meat on the soles of his sandals. He turned his hand to another Centaur standing beside him.

As if it were a joke, in his hand, he held a thin, wooden stick―― he could see that he was holding a chopstick.

Reid: [The secret to bein’ popular with women’s my face. The best kinda alcohol’s Granhiert brandy―― “N as for how I”m the strongest in the damn world? Simply “cause I”m me.]

Pausing for a moment after he finished speaking, Reid moved the chopsticks at his fingertips ever so lightly.

In the next moment, the frozen Centaur’s body exploded in a shower of blood. Slow to detect the collapse of its body, the Witchbeast finally released the cries of its throes of death. Those screams, reminiscent of the cries of a baby, clinging desperately to this world, were indeed the worst in taste.

However, a smile remained firmly on the face of the man who had caused all this. He raised his unbloodied weapons, his chopsticks, once more; this time not towards the Witchbeasts, but Julius.

Then, looking at the yellow irises of the faraway Julius, who seemed to dread those chopsticks far beyond what he appeared to, Reid bared his fangs.

Reid: [Right, let’s get the rest of the Trial goin’. Try “n wrench ”em away before I get bored with this, ya prick.]