Re:Zero Kara Hajimeru Isekai Seikatsu (LN) - Volume 26 - Chapter 4.01

CHAPTER 4

THE IMPERIAL WAY

1

The pain ate away at his body, like his blood had become magma. It peeled layer after layer away from the being that was Subaru Natsuki, revealing his unvarnished self.

The agony persisted, like cold air blowing across an open wound after a scab had just been ripped off it. His soul was exposed to reality, with nothing to protect it.

Was it pain? Grief? Sadness? Or something else entirely? Subaru couldn’t even tell that much.

What he did know was that if any relief was possible, there was only one way he’d get it.

Before that hopeless feeling reached its logical conclusion, it suddenly cut out and he felt a sense of release—

“—Pipe down, asshole.”

“Mgh.”

Set free from his suffering, he opened wide the mouth that had been bubbling with blood.

His body desperately sought oxygen, as if his lungs had a leak, and just as he tried to indulge in that flavorless, unscented treat, something was shoved into his mouth.

Recoiling from the unexpected feeling, Subaru coughed as an angry voice rained down on him.

But he couldn’t tell what was happening. Or more precisely, he couldn’t see. Feeling pressure on his face, he could tell something was wrapped around it, blocking his vision.

—No, it’s not just my face. My arms and legs are tied, too.

Someone had shoved something into his mouth while he was tied up.

“Ugh! Blegh! Wh-why am I tied… Gh?!”

“Why are you resisting, asshole? Don’t you understand what position you’re in?”

“Ah, gah…”

Right after he’d spit out the foreign object in his mouth, someone kicked him in the stomach. Subaru sucked in air and slumped to the side as his attacker spit on him.

The humiliation of being spit on was nothing in the face of the splitting pain in his chest. But as his darkened vision flashed red with pain, Subaru slipped into confusion.

What had happened just a few minutes ago was still tearing through his mind.

“ ”

He had been woken up by Todd, then brought outside the tent to see the jungle in the grips of fiery hands. And then, right after having realized that this had happened because of a slip of his tongue, he’d been hit in the back with a poison arrow and had collapsed. After seeing the seemingly very young girl who had shot the arrow, he’d lost strength in his body and started spasming.

He’d suffered in agony while coughing up blood, listening as Rem frantically called out for help, had tried to hold on to his fading consciousness, and…

“I’m…here…”

“Huh? How much longer are you gonna—”

“C’mon, now, calm down! He clearly doesn’t know anything. Let’s at least undo the blindfold.”

Confusion swirled, consuming his mind, but the conversation going on overhead brought him back to reality.

He could hear two men. One had a rough, coarse voice, like a man who was the embodiment of vulgarity, and the other had a softer voice, one that seemed friendly enough.

In his mind’s eye, Subaru could just see the faces of those two voices’ owners.

“Tch.”

There were footsteps as the man who’d kicked Subaru backed off. And then came a mildly exasperated sigh.

“Sheesh, sorry about all that. I’m sure you can’t really tell what’s going on, but I’m going to take off the blindfold for now. Sorry, but I can’t untie your hands or feet.”

“ ”

The man walked over to Subaru and undid his blindfold.

There was a little bit of pain and a sense of release. Subaru took a deep breath before indulging in that, though. And then another, and another, before letting his breathing settle down.

Then, after patiently waiting for his vision to gradually come back, he opened his eyes.

And…

“…Just like I thought…”

As his fuzzy vision came into focus, he saw tents and campfires spread out before him, and imperial soldiers bustling all around. It was not exactly familiar, but he recognized the army camp—he had run all around it doing chores and getting by for a couple days.

“…I…died?”

And returned by death. That’s the most natural explanation.

And with bitter irony, he knew an easy way to make sure of that. He just needed to turn his head a little and see the green jungle on the other side of the camp.

As a result of what he’d said before, the imperial soldiers had gotten permission to burn down the jungle. But the jungle that was supposed to be scorched by hellfire was still there, and still green. It extended across the horizon and looked just fine.

Having confirmed that, Subaru now saw it clearly in his head. Rem crawling toward him after he’d collapsed from the arrow as blood bubbled from his mouth, desperately pleading with him not to die. Her voice, her presence, her plea.

But Subaru had betrayed all of this, dying tragically right in front of her.

How much fear, how much uncertainty had Rem felt, not remembering anything, in some unknown land, watching a man who knew her die, even if she did hate him? The thought of it made his heart ache.

And at the same time…

I’ll never let her experience that again.

“We found you when we went to fetch some water. Sorry, but you’re our prisoner.”

As Subaru’s heart filled with powerful emotions, a man crouched down in front of him.

He knew the man who was looking at him with a gentle smile and kind expression—Todd. In this camp filled with imperial soldiers, he was the one and only person who had been friendly to Subaru and Rem.

He had patiently dealt with Subaru, who knew far too little about the empire, and Subaru himself was grateful that Todd had been there when he’d woken up.

Todd, who’d supported the decision to burn the jungle on the basis of Subaru’s words.

“ ”

It did not feel like it had even been ten minutes, but a chill ran down his back when he recalled Todd’s carefree report that they were burning the jungle.

The Empire of Volakia respected the strong and tyrannized the weak. A powerful country whose national crest was a wolf with swords thrust into it, a symbol that taught only the swordwolf had the right to live. People with Todd’s mentality were probably not uncommon in the empire.

The empire had a way of life that let its people quickly accept and casually carry out a plan to burn down a jungle after hearing there were demon beasts in it.

Of course, Subaru did not see eye to eye with the people in Lugunica, either. The closest he came to that was maybe Roswaal, that pinnacle of rationalism.

Either way, Subaru was not going to let them turn the jungle into scorched earth this time.

“ ”

Gulping, Subaru grasped the mistake he had made last time.

Of course, he had been killed as a result, but even if the army had made the decision for the safety of their forces, burning down the jungle was way too drastic. If it had not been for Subaru’s comment, there was a chance Todd and the empire would have been able to negotiate in peace with the Shudrak people and resolve things without bloodshed.

He had robbed them of that possibility and exposed everyone in the jungle to danger— No, don’t try to shirk responsibility. There’s zero chance no one died in that firestorm.

Because of what he’d said, the people living in the jungle had died.

Even if he could no longer influence the events of that world after dying and returning, there was no escaping that fact. He would never forget it.

“ ”

And so he resolved not to make the same mistake.

Death was a heavy matter, whether it was his own or someone else’s, and not something he could let happen again. With that thought, getting at least the chance to redo his first encounter with Jamal and Todd was a faint silver lining.

I’ll build a good relationship with Todd, and Jamal, too, if possible, and push them toward negotiating with the Shudrak in a way that won’t fail.

And to do that…

“You listening? I get you’re confused at suddenly finding yourself a prisoner, but…”

Todd crouched down in front of Subaru, who had been keeping quiet, seemingly considering what Subaru must have been feeling.

“…Yeah… You’re right. I’m confused. I am. But, umm…”

Subaru thought hard about what to say next.

Last time, his relationship with Todd had been friendly. He felt he should try to maintain that, while keeping open the possibility of gaining accommodations for himself and Rem.

Also, I have to be careful with what I tell him, to avoid any extreme actions on his part.

“I’m surprised, but I get that I’m a prisoner. I remember jumping into the river. If you’re the ones who saved me from that, then I owe you—”

“Wait.”

“Huh?”

Subaru calmly tried to perform the role of someone who had been pulled out of the water and saved. But Todd interrupted him, putting his hand in front of Subaru’s face.

Subaru gulped as the open palm blocked his vision.

And then…

“Why did you look at me like that just now?”

Right after he heard Todd’s cold, stiff voice, something sharp slid into his right shoulder.

Unable to see, he was slow to react to what had happened. Then, feeling a strange sensation in his shoulder, he looked at it and realized what it was.

—The sharp blade of a knife was stabbing into his shoulder.