CHAPTER 1 - SOMETHING I WANT TO PROTECT
1
—Swaying, wobbling, spinning.
His consciousness rocked gently, like a ship adrift at sea. It was unsteady, heavy—enough to make his head spin even behind closed eyelids.
Something was missing. No, everything was missing. It felt like all the pieces had leaked out somewhere.
He had to gather them, put them back in place, and stand up again. There was somewhere he had to go. A thought pushed him forward—a reason to live, a wish so intense it compelled him to shout, I want to live!
Even if he lacked everything, even if he was incomplete, he had to keep going.
And for that, Subaru Natsuki…
Right after waking up, as if on cue…
“…This is a new ceiling,” Subaru murmured.
His body was drenched in night sweat. It felt like waking up after a nightmare—which wasn’t far from the truth. The bed beneath him wasn’t particularly comfortable, either.
The ceiling above was crude, and the hard bed was no better—both clearly made without regard for modern construction standards. A hut, put together by brute force and crude building techniques.
Subaru slowly pieced together his foggy memories to recall why he was sleeping there.
“I got summoned to another world on the way back from a convenience store, met Emilia-tan, et cetera, et cetera…”
Of course, that was going too far back, but the joke helped clear his head.
Subaru Natsuki had been summoned into a different world, met a silver-haired beauty, embarked on a series of incredible adventures, cleared a tower in the desert, and then got sent flying to a neighboring country.
Even in his own head, it sounded absurd. But thinking it over helped jog his memory.
“Rem…!”
The precious girl who had been sent to this strange land alongside Subaru. She was the one he needed to protect. Yet somehow, they’d been separated…
“What am I, stupid? No, I’m an idiot…! I have to save Rem—”
“Why are you thrashing around?”
Subaru, ready to jump out of bed, froze at the unexpected voice. He turned, and an “Ah” slipped out as his eyes went wide. A blue-eyed girl sat beside the uncomfortable bed, watching him.
“Rem…?”
“…Yes, though I am not particularly inclined to answer to that name. I still haven’t accepted that I’m the Rem you’re speaking of,” she replied flatly, her tone wooden.
Subaru swallowed hard. This wasn’t a dream. It wasn’t a hallucination. Rem was here, speaking to him. Her warmth was real—he could feel it in her hand beneath the ragged cloth covering him.
“Did you…hold my hand until I woke up?”
“Huh? Do your eyes work? You grabbed my hand and wouldn’t let go.”
“Ah, right…that makes sense. Okay, yeah! I’m the one who reached out, huh…?”
His hopes and reality blurred together, earning Rem’s clear annoyance. Of course she wouldn’t willingly hold his hand—not the way she was doing now. But the fact that she hadn’t pulled it away brought him some small relief.
“Why are you looking at me like that?”
“I-it’s nothing. Nothing at all.”
“Is that so? Then please let go. Your hand is sweaty and gross.”
“Oof, saying that’s, like, an automatic critical hit for boys…!”
That sort of remark could leave a lasting scar on someone. But emotional well-being ranked below physical safety, especially when it came to Rem’s safety.
At a glance, at least, she seemed okay.
“You’re not injured anywhere, are you? Tell me if anything feels off… Huh? Why are you looking at me like that?”
“…Are you really asking? You came this close to dying.”
Despite his concern, her reaction was even colder than before. And, seeing his bewilderment, Rem sighed disappointedly.
“It’s clear you don’t even understand that much. I really can’t trust you.”
“…”
Her blunt rejection broke Subaru’s heart.
Because she had lost her memories and because of the stench of the miasma clinging to him, Rem remained distant and cold. He hadn’t been able to bridge the gap this time, as he’d been too focused on saving her from the imperial camp.
“…Oh.”
Another memory clicked into place.
Rem had been imprisoned in the imperial camp. To rescue her, Subaru had gambled everything. In the process, he’d encountered the Shudrak people in the jungle and been captured. He’d participated in their rituals alongside another prisoner.
And…
“…My right arm isn’t black…”
He raised his arm, staring at the exposed limb where his sleeve had been torn. The hideous black pattern—the mark left by an Archbishop of the Witch Cult in Pristella—was gone. Not a trace remained.
The black mark had fused with his battered arm, healing its wounds, and now it was as if it had never existed. It hadn’t been just a nightmare, though it had certainly felt like one.
Subaru flexed his arm, which was no longer useless. Rem was here, safe. It meant he’d survived the Shudrak ritual and saved her, though at great cost.
“…You look awful. Go back to sleep,” Rem muttered, watching him sit there in silence.
Kindness? Or just a reflection of how lifeless Subaru appeared?
But I can’t. There’s too much I have to figure out.
“Thanks for the concern, but I can’t stay laid up in here…This is the Shudrak village, right? Where are Mizelda and the others?”
After hesitating, Rem finally answered, her gaze softening reluctantly.
“…Outside. They said to bring you if you woke up.”
That settled one question, but Subaru had one more.
“What about…Louis?”
“…What an unpleasant expression. Why do you push her away so?”
“It’s hard to explain. You probably wouldn’t believe me even if I did.”
Every conversation about Louis was guaranteed to incur Rem’s displeasure. Even though it pained him, Subaru did not think it was something he could get through in words.
“…Please turn around,” Rem replied, clearly exasperated.
Confused, Subaru looked back at the bed—
“Zzzz, zzzz…”
On the other side, Louis lay asleep, her head nestled near Subaru’s stomach. She was drooling profusely onto the blanket, adding to the already damp mess of night sweats.
“AAAHHH!!!”
Subaru’s scream shook the entire Shudrak village.
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