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Translated By :
- Ice
Art Source :
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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
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――He had run up the long, long staircase to reach him, but by the time he did it was already too late.
???: [――――]
He had forced out a shout despite his heavy panting, overworking his already strained lungs.
But neither his voice nor his words held the power to change the situation. The lack of power words held here was growing into more of an issue, especially now that the two of them were pitting techniques of the sword against each other.
Though he did not even know if he could call it something like “pitting techniques of the sword against each other”.
Because it had all been so one-sided, and no matter how much he embellished it, the weapons that one of them wielded were naught but sticks.
――The white light spread out, dying the already white room in a more brilliant white.
What was causing it, was unclear. Regardless of whether it was something sired from the nature of this aberration of a swordsman or because it was a swing which he had boasted could even cut light, the blow came accompanied with a shockwave that swept across the room.
The individual caught in the attack’s line of fire was engulfed by the light as well and blown away without being able to do anything about it.
Then literally in the blink of an eye, the light vanished, and the tall figure of the one-sleeved red-haired man filled the room―― Along with the figure of the purple haired swordsman who had collapsed like a corpse.
???: [Hey, aren’t’cha that small fry, ya prick.]
The red-haired man called out casually to Subaru who was at a loss for words at what he had just witnessed. Without missing a beat, the man smiled at him like a shark, as if he had forgotten all about the duel he had just been having.
Then he pointed at the fallen Swordsman―― At Julius,
???: [Ya’re too late ya prick. I’ve already cleaned up here, “n I”m gettin’ the whiff that ya’re gonna be a pain in the ass, so hurry ‘n pick him up ‘n get yer ass outta here.]
Subaru: […Reid Astrea.]
Reid: [The fuck, ya prick. Don’t go stickin’ your nose into people’s names, ya prick. Don’t rain on my parade, it’s way cooler not givin’ out names, ya prick.]
The Stick Swinger―― or rather, Reid’s mood had taken a turn for the worse upon being called by his name.
Though Subaru felt annoyed at how completely beside the point his remarks were, he did not dare take any rash actions. He instead slowly moved his gaze away from Reid towards the still-collapsed Julius.
Reid: [I ain’t gonna grab ya and gobble ya up ya know, ya prick. Ya don’t have to keep starin’ at me.]
Subaru: [I’m sorry, but it’s common sense where I’m from to not look away when you’ve ran into a bear. As for Julius…]
With his gaze still set on Reid and his guard up, Subaru leaned down and made sure that Julius was still breathing. He had lost consciousness, but he could feel him breathing on his palm when he placed it just above his mouth.
It looked like he was still alive despite taking that sword slash full-on. Subaru was relieved by that.
Subaru: [Isn’t this pretty kind of you, considering you’d said that the next time you wouldn’t be going easy on us.]
Reid: [Not really. Bein’ defeated by chopsticks “n scurryin” back home’s lamer than being killed by “em, don”t’cha think, ya prick? That’s what I think. I’d rather die than show my miserable self to anyone. So I defeat ‘em with my chopsticks ‘n let ‘em scurry back home.]
Subaru: [Let me take back what I said about you being kind, fucking asshole.]
Reid: [Kah! Ya never make any sort of impression, no matter what it is ya say, small fry. “Sides, I got no intention to test y”all anymore today. Though, I’ll beat’cha up if ya wanna try me. Like that guy below ya.]
Reid scratched his abs with his right hand and pointed at Subaru and Julius respectively with the chopsticks in his left.
Regardless of how angry he was at Reid’s attitude right now, Subaru had no way of making him take back his rudeness.
Subaru: [Damnit.]
Reid: [Oh, ohh, go on. Don’t just stay silent while carrying your comrade, go ahead “n behave like a sore loser. That”s the smart “n easy thing to do, if it makes ya feel any better. As bad as it is tho”.]
Reid narrowed his cold blue eyes and spat that out as he sat himself down with a thunk. Meanwhile, Subaru somehow managed to hoist the collapsed Julius up whilst being subjected to the victor’s delight.
Subaru was forced to carry Julius on his back just like he’d had to an hour ago. His unconscious body was quite heavy, not to mention he was taller than him. It was a complete mess, but in times of difficulty one would have to make some sacrifices.
Because leaving Julius behind, here, by himself, was not an option.
Reid: [――Next time, bring one of those good lookin’ women along, ya prick. Like that smokin’ hottie even for example.]
Without mentioning any of their names even once, Reid waved them goodbye.
Faced with Reid’s flippant attitude, Subaru could literally do nothing more than just retreat from here wordlessly.
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Subaru: […Huu, huu.]
One foot after the other, step-by-step, Subaru went down the staircase whilst taking care of where he was placing his feet.
Though the staircase was fairly wide, he still felt quite claustrophobic with being surrounded by the stone walls. This was the second time he had gone up and down this particular staircase, but he still had no clues which would help him shed light on the lack of naturalness of the staircase’s structure when it came to the reason as to why it did not shoot out of the Tower despite being straight.
Subaru: [Why did you even consider doing such a stupid thing… I’m at my breaking point here…]
It went without saying just how tough it was to carry him on his back down the long staircase.
Especially since there were four-hundred-and-forty-four steps to this long staircase (as per Emilia’s count). It was not like Subaru held any animosity towards Emilia for telling him that, but in times like these where the actual number of stairs kept popping into his head, he did feel an urge of wanting to pinch her cheeks and tell her off.
Of course, Emilia would definitely look cute if he tried to pinch her cheeks――
Subaru: [Both Emilia and Beako are gonna be worried… if I don’t hurry up and get him back.]
They had noticed Julius’s absence in the Green Room, and they had all ended up going around the Watchtower to look for him. They had gone to the Third Floor as well as to the rooms on the Fourth Floor whilst they made Shaula go downstairs to check on Gian and the dragon carriage on the Ground Floor.
Everyone was worried about Julius. Worried about the feelings in his heart due to his defeat to Reid and having vanished leaving behind his broken Knight’s sword.
For sure, they were all the types to worry themselves sick with that anxiety weighing on them.
Subaru: [But, you know…]
――Nevertheless, only Subaru differed from them. Only Subaru was able to immediately understand what lay in his heart.
Where had Julius gone without his Knight’s sword, and for what purpose?
Only Subaru had known the answers to those questions for sure――
???: [――Everything is shaking about.]
Subaru: [――Tch! Did you just notice!?]
Subaru stopped mid-step upon hearing the voice coming from his back. Julius, who was being carried by him on his shoulders, stirred at his voice and said “Ahh.”
Julius: [Where are we…]
Subaru: [Vaguely speaking, we’re halfway down some stairs, a bit more precisely speaking, we’re halfway down a long staircase, and even more precisely, we’re halfway fleeing down the staircase between the Second and Fourth Floors.]
Julius: [You are being pretty vague about it, are you not… You are carrying me on your back?]
Subaru: [Yes, I am. And let me just say that this is the second time this has happened in this short period of time. I’m having to do this again thirty minutes after I’d thought I’d never like to do this again; do you get how I am feeling about this?]
Julius: [It is no wonder that the ride has been a bumpy one…]
Subaru: [Do you want me to throw you off?]
Subaru could sense Julius’s wheezed laughter coming from his back. He ignored the sarcasm in his words and untensed himself a little.
In all honesty, Subaru had not gandered any predictions at what Julius’s first words after waking up. He would not be exaggerating if he said that he had even been fearing what he would say, truthfully speaking.
That was why Subaru had been relieved that the sort of conversation he had gleaned from Julius’s first couple of words after waking up had not been the despair-filled sort.
Subaru: [Do you remember what happened?]
Julius: […Sad as it is, I do. I was easily defeated by our enemy, and in the end I was still shown sympathy, causing trouble for you, Anastasia-sama and everyone else.]
Subaru: […I’m not some kind of demon who’d blame you for losing against an opponent like that.]
Julius sounded awfully like himself, and for that Subaru let out a sigh and started going down the staircase once more.
Having regained his consciousness, Julius was much easier to carry than before. He had also cleared up some of his anxieties which had been ladening his step, so thanks to that he could tackle the remaining steps with renewed vigor.
Julius: […Anastasia-sama is out of harm’s way, right? I saw that she collapsed and now that she is being treated in that Spirit’s room.]
Subaru: [The present diagnosis on her is that her life isn’t in danger. You, on the other hand, were pretty close to dying. That guy… That eye-patched bastard, I’d be surprised if you knew who he is.]
Julius: [――Reid Astrea.]
Subaru: [――――]
His voice was brimming with confidence in his response. Subaru was so surprised for a second that both his feet and breath caught in their tracks. However, he quickly brought both his feet and breath back into motion so to not let him onto his surprise.
Subaru carefully chose his words so that Julius would not sense his flustered state.
Subaru: [So, so you knew all along? That thing. Shaula said she knows him. Makes sense that she does because she seems acquainted with him from four-hundred years ago… But, it looks like she was telling the truth when she alluded that he’s someone that’s hard to deal with. I say that since she fainted right after she saw his face.]
Julius: [Huh, there were a ton of things which tipped me off. He has flaming red hair and blue eyes. His technique with the sword really stood out… If you can even call it a technique with the sword. He did not even let himself swing his sword against me. I should just simply say that he is a powerful person. Even the term “Stick Swinger” is one that denotes him, from what I have seen in literature.]
Subaru: [So he’s been called a Stick Swinger since olden times because he fights with those chopsticks!?]
Julius: [Actually, the nuance of it is that he did not choose a weapon he specialized with. I had my thoughts about him when he introduced himself as a Stick Swinger… But, I was unsure. I apologize for not mentioning them to you.]
Subaru had no reply for Julius’s apologetic words. Though he had stated that there had been tons of things which had tipped him off, Subaru thought it too much of a stretch for him.
Reid Astrea, the man who was known as the First Sword Saint, should have died four-hundred years ago.
Just because some of his features matched did not mean that one could easily come to the conclusion of having encountered that hero of yore whose name had gone down in fairytale and legend.
If there had been a chance that he could have noticed that, then he, Subaru, should have been able to come to that conclusion.
After all, he and Emilia had both agreed that the Trials which had been put forward by this Watchtower were similar to the Trials they had taken at Echidna’s Tomb.
With that said, Subaru should have given more thought about the contents of the Trials set out by this Tower and raised as many possibilities as he could.
Neglecting that had led to their routing on the Second Floor Electra.
Julius: [Hmm. How in the world did we end up coming across this swordsman of legend brought back from the past…? Originally, I would have been delighted in having been granted this boon, but all things considered…]
Subaru: [I get how you feel. These heroes of legend are all good at being disappointing in reality. This Watchtower is full of let downs, like with Shaula who’d been judged as a Sage.]
Julius: […You get, how I feel…?]
His voice was cracked and it felt full of self-derision.
Subaru inconsiderately gritted his teeth upon hearing what Julius had moaned out from up-close. But he chose not to touch on that, opting instead to say, “Even so”.
Subaru: [If I’m recalling correctly, the First Sword Saint is engraved on gold coins, but there’s a pretty big difference between that and the actual guy. Shaula also differed in her gender, so even though we can’t do much about it, there’s a considerable gap between them two too. The guy on the gold coin looked more like a middle-aged dude…]
Julius: [Just a quick historical tidbit, it was when he was older that Reid accomplished his deeds that led him to be counted as one of the Three Great Heroes. The figure depicted on the gold coins is probably correct. The him up above is younger than the one from recorded history.]
Subaru: [Come to mention it, it didn’t seem that Reid recognized Shaula…]
He had planned to change the subject, but per chance they ended up touching on another issue.
Compared to what Julius had said, there had definitely been too much of a difference of hot and cold between the two of Reid and Shaula for there to have been some sort of friendship between them. If he assumed that “This guy was the Reid before he’d met Shaula”, then there would be some parts he could agree with regarding the two’s differences in recognizing each other.
But, when he took into consideration Shaula’s overreaction and the high likelihood that Reid had not remembered her name or face due to how he was, the basis of his hypothesis weakened.
Subaru: [If we take that as correct, doesn’t that mean that they would have fought against the Witch after their prime days? Meaning we’d have to beat Reid in his prime.]
Julius: [Feels to me like that is going to be either really tough, or nigh-impossible.]
Subaru: [Yeah, for sure it’s gonna be an exhausting mess. But I’m sure that there’ll be some way of getting around this if we come up with a plan. As things stand…]
Subaru hesitated as he looked for anything that could help them against Reid.
Right now, at this moment, he should have told Julius what was weighing on his mind, but he had not because his heart had stopped him in his tracks.
Yet he had been a little too slow.
Julius: [As things stand… What do you mean?]
Subaru: [Ah, it’s nothing…]
Julius: [Subaru.]
If he made any excuses saying that he had observed Reid and noticed a chink in his armor, they would be immediately spotted by him. In actual fact, right now, nothing that would let them get past Reid had been found, nor had anything that looked like a weak point; that was for sure.
Thus Subaru resigned himself upon having his name curtly called out.
Subaru: […Emilia passed the Trial after you and Anastasia lost consciousness.]
Julius: [――――]
Subaru: [That’s all. The reason why she beat the guy down wasn’t due to her being stronger than him. Let’s just say that lady luck was at her side… Because Emilia is well, unique like that.]
It was a bit difficult to call the end result a mere victory.
Emilia had just barely had her resolve and ability recognized by their Trial taker, Reid, in the Trial. However, the circumstances that had led to her achieving that were hard to explain to anyone who had not witnessed them.
Because, even if they tried to beat him in the same way, it would not be possible by anyone other than Emilia.
Subaru: [Anyways, as a result of having various complex stuff click into place for her, Emilia cleared the Trial. Despite that, the guy said that he’d only let those who cleared the Trial pass through, so all of us will have to beat him to go upstairs… Rather wicked of him.]
Julius: [――――]
Subaru: [So we’ll need to work out a battle plan. Regardless of fighting dignity, I can’t even talk unless I force him to recognize the fighting duo that is me and Beatrice. And as for Meili, she has no reason to take the Trial in the first place. I guess she’ll understand after we talk about it… Though I guess she’ll be bummed out.]
Julius: [――――]
Subaru: [That’s why, well, you too won’t be going in blind when we rematch him. I’m not stretching things here, I mean it. We won’t tackle him like we did this time around. We’ll work out a plan and mode of approach after we have a far clearer picture of him. This time one which is in my style…]
Julius: [――――]
Subaru: […Hey, are you listening? Hey, Julius?]
Subaru felt suspicious that Julius had yet to reply to any of his rapid-fire explanations. With Julius still being slung over his back, after he called out to him, Julius paused for a moment, and then said,
Julius: [Yeah, yeah, everything is fine. I am listening of course… I see, Emilia-sama managed it.]
Subaru: [Well I mentioned that slightly earlier… But yeah. That happening means clearing the Trial isn’t a futile hope. Aren’t you going too hard on yourself?]
Julius: [Too hard on myself? Huh, you really need not worry so much―― Everything is exactly as you say. If Emilia-sama has been able to pass the Trial then he is… Then the Sword Saint, Reid, is not an insurmountable obstacle. Us knowing that is incredibly beneficial.]
Subaru: [Y-yeah, right. That’s right… I’m glad we’re on the same page.]
Julius had unexpectedly accepted the fact that Emilia had passed the Trial rather flexibly. Subaru had nervously explained it to him, but he sensed that Julius was sidestepping his question from his reaction―― No, things were fine.
Julius had been informed that someone had cleared the obstacle he had slammed face-first into before him.
But it was pointless for Julius to worry himself sick over that. Subaru could say that he was taking a bit too much of a naive look at him. Or by his own measure, he guessed that he should not have leapt to conclusions about the Knight named Julius Juukulius.
As Subaru found himself embroiled by these profound feelings, Julius let out a long sigh and casually spoke out saying, “So then”,
Julius: [Is it not high time you put me down? I am going to get motion sickness if I keep staying on your back. It is not as if you possess the Divine Protection of Wind Evasion like ground dragons do, correct?]
Subaru: [Be patient with the breeze and all the swaying, and be grateful that I’m carrying you. It’s certainly tiring work, but I can’t be so coldhearted as to make you walk on your own when you’re injured. Emilia-tan would tell me off.]
Subaru shook his head at Julius’s proposal and jiggled his body, readjusting Julius on his back.
Julius was not in a good condition right now, at all. No matter how skilled the room’s Spirit was at its work and how much treatment Julius, whose whole body had been knocked about, had been able to receive, he had only spent a few dozen minutes in the Green Room.
That, and he had not been able to receive any treatment from his second defeat.
Were he suffering from injuries such as cuts or fractures, then Subaru could have put his skills into work with the first aid treatment techniques of the Clind variety; but, unfortunately, Julius held no such obvious wounds.
Reid’s blows had been the kind that had been devised to tear through Julius’s heart.
Of course, there did not seem to be any doubt that he had accumulated damage that was invisible on the surface, but that was no excuse to make him do anything that would exert him.
That’s why Subaru had resolved to go down the whole staircase with Julius on his back, with half of it remaining, probably about two-hundred more steps; yet despite that――
Julius: [――No, I cannot keep causing you trouble. It would be fine if I were still fainted, but luckily I have regained my senses. I am able to go down the rest of the stairs by myself.]
Subaru: [Don’t be so ridiculously stubborn. It’s too late for that, even if you insist. If you’re saying you’re embarrassed at being seen carried on my back, everyone who was with me already saw that… Only Shaula and Anastasia didn’t on account of having fainted.]
Julius: [Then that is the reason why. There is no way I can show myself like this to those two… Especially to Anastasia-sama. Put me down.]
Subaru: [Don’t say such forced things. To start with, you…]
Julius: [――I said put me down!]
――His outburst was quite abrupt.
Subaru: [Whoa!?]
Subaru’s shoulder struck against the staircase wall straight after Julius’s strained voice had thudded against his earlobe.
That was thanks to Julius twisting himself off his back by force. Subaru had immediately turned to face the wall so that he would keep himself safe, but it would not have been unlikely if he ended up nearly falling down the stairs.
However, he had avoided that fate thanks to his quick thinking――
Julius: [――Kh.]
Subaru: [You… fucking idiot! What the hell were you thinking!?]
He leaned against the wall and when he turned around, he found Julius lying down a few stairs below him, having slid down after falling from Subaru’s back.
Face down on the ground, supporting himself up on his elbows, wheezing in pain with a deep look of agony about him. Clearly not only from falling down the stairs.
Subaru: [I told you to quit it! HEY, stay right there, you dumbass. I’m coming over to you…]
Julius: [You do not need to!]
Subaru: [――――]
Julius: […I can stand by myself. I do not need you to aid me.]
He tried to run down to him as quickly as he could, but halted.
Julius had stretched out his hand in front of him, as he propped himself up against the floor and stopped him from running over. Panting heavily still, he scrunched his face and managed to raise his body up.
He leaned against the wall and slowly lifted his lower back, stretched his knees and stood up, though still using the wall to prop himself up.
Julius: [See, did I not tell you so? That it would be easy for me to stand by myself.]
Subaru was at a loss for words at what Julius had said, who in some respects sounded like he was casting everything aside.
Julius turned himself around and, with the right side of his body pressed up against the wall, began to slowly climb down the stairs at a speed similar to that of a baby crawling along the floor.
One step at a time, as if he was forcing himself――
Julius: [It looks like it shall take me a bit more time, but this way I will not cause you any trouble. More importantly, the girls downstairs should be worried. I am grateful that you seem to be looking past that which I have done, but it was not just you who went out looking for where I was, right?]
Slowly, step-by-step.
Julius: […If possible, would you be able to go downstairs before me and explain them what happened? Though I think it is probably best you leave the full story and the apologizing to me. You are only required to tell them that you found me, and try to make them feel less worried.]
Slowly, slowly, one step at a time.
Julius: […I admit that apologizing is going to be plenty depressing, but avoiding that is a road I cannot walk down. After you calm the waters down, even if only a little, I shall really owe you a huge debt of gratitude. You know, you may even want to think about adding that to the debt I owe you.]
Julius continued to speak without looking over at him as he tried to make his way down the stairs by himself. Indeed, a gap had started to form between him and the immobile Subaru despite how slow he was going about it.
He could close the distance between them immediately if he so desired. If he were to grant his wish, he still needed to walk past him once―― So Subaru set his feet into motion.
Subaru: [I guess I should speak to Emilia’s side first.]
Julius: […Yeah, oh, that is correct, if Anastasia-sama’s woken up… Ah wait, no, let’s not. Anyways, I would like to depend on you.]
Subaru hurried down the stairs and easily caught up to Julius. He let out a sigh that resembled one of relief as he heard Subaru’s footsteps echoing around the staircase and encouraged him to vamoose off ahead.
――No, not “vamoose off ahead”. More like he had encouraged him to “not wait up on me”.
Subaru: [――――]
Subaru could understand a little about what lay in Julius’s innermost thoughts, with what he had stated.
The justification to that capacity of his, was the same one as to why only he, and no one else, had immediately gotten the hunch that Julius had gone to challenge Reid――
There was unmistakably something in common between that which Subaru had felt back then, and this somewhat similar incident. That was why, back then, Subaru had――
Subaru: [――Tch! Goddamn this! Damnthisdamnthisdamnthis! Dumbass! We’re both huge dumbasses! For fuck’s sake!]
Subaru spat out his frustrations, kicked the staircase and then made his way towards Julius.
He was not going to walk past him, who was now flustered as he leaned against the wall; instead he grabbed his left arm and propped him up by unceremoniously draping his arm over his shoulder.
Julius: [Hey… Subaru, what are you…]
Subaru: [Shut up! What are you doing, standing up by yourself! It’s plain as day that you’re struggling to stand up straight! Like I’d ever be able to let myself prance off and leave a guy in your state here! I’d be first in line to say just how disgusted I am at myself before Emilia even has a chance to tell me off!]
Julius: [But I am…]
Subaru: [This is me we’re talking about, I wouldn’t lend you a hand if you didn’t really need one. Even under normal circumstances, my hands are always filled with this, that and the other. If you seriously don’t want to borrow my strength, then quit hobbling about so miserably, it’s really trying my patience!]
Julius: [――――]
Julius remained silent as Subaru shouted at him with spittle flying out from his mouth.
As soon as Subaru saw that Julius hesitated in going against him and that, for now, the latter had lost the strength to shake him off as he had been doing, he started to walk again, whilst still lending his shoulder to Julius. Whether he liked it or not.
Julius had no time to go against him, now that he had set the pace like that.
Subaru: [I’m not going to act like I know or understand what’s going through your heart.]
Julius: [――――]
Subaru: [But, right now, you needn’t walk down these stairs, these long-ass stairs alone, all by yourself. I will lend you my shoulder and I won’t think of it as a debt either.]
Talking about lending, borrowing and debts was ridiculous.
If he put it like that, then how much did he owe Julius?
Surely his first debt to him would have started in the Training Ground at the Royal Castle.
――He knew the reason why Julius had challenged Reid, even though he knew victory was not reachable.
He had… he had acted the same as Subaru back then.
Back then, Subaru had challenged Julius even though he was aware a win was unattainable. No matter how many times he had been knocked down, no matter how many times he had been struck, he had picked himself up without learning his lesson and kept challenging him.
Because, back then, he had no other way to hurl out the tempestuous emotions that had built up inside his heart than that.
And, back then, Subaru had ended up “alone”, at a place where everything had ended for him, at a place where he had argued with Emilia and where she had bid him her goodbyes. That had been agonizing. That had made him want to cry.
――So how could he leave Julius all alone on this staircase.
Subaru: [――――]
His heart must be set ablaze. Just like him back then.
But unlike him, he still did not know where he could hurl out his tempestuous emotions.
Julius: [――Subaru.]
Subaru: [What is it.]
Julius: […I am sorry.]
Subaru: [Shut up.]
He replied with that, hoping that he would not perceive it as a fit of anger.
And like that, the two of them slowly climbed down the stairs, and made it back to the Fourth Floor.
――Emilia found them a little over ten minutes later, clasping her chest in relief.
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