Re; A Hero’s New Life in a New World!

Chapter 15 — “The Next Place”

Next to a church, in the night, a dog was standing. It had black fur, red eyes, and a long tail. It stood there, staring at the star-filled night eyes, with its blood-colored eyes. It raised its head, and howled at the moon.

The next day, everyone woke up early, as planned. Though, everyone was still busy. The maids were cleaning the Mansion before they left, some of the others were choosing what they would wear, while some others were preparing other stuff. Subaru—now finished doing his part of the work—goes to the Forbidden Library, much to Beatrice’s dismay.

“Alright, Beako, I’ll try to get you a souvenir from there!”

“Betty has no need for useless stuff. So, don’t get me a souvenir, I suppose!”

“Y’know, I heard that there’s a grimoire tower near the village. I know that you love Magic, so I’ll get you one of those!”

“That’s not how grimoire towers work, I suppose. The person who wants a grimoire must be there, or else the grimoire won’t come.”

“No good, huh? Uh oh! Too much time wasted, I’ll just get you a wooden keychain or something! Cya Beako!”

“Why are you so intent on getting me something?!”

Subaru stopped running and turned around. “Because we’re friends!” Beatrice’s eyes were left widened by this. When Subaru left she clenched the book in her hands and held it on her chest. “Friends…?” She quietly asked herself.

“Betty doesn’t need friends… Mother, when will it all end…?”

Leaving the Mansion, Subaru saw everyone except Roswaal and Otto outside. They were all wearing their regular, everyday clothes, and appeared to have been sleepy, at the same time. Rem turned around and noticed that Subaru was there.

“There you are, Subaru-kun! I looked all over the Mansion for you!”

“Eh, sorry about that, Rem. So what’re we waiting for?”

Ram covered her mouth and yawned. A single tear formed from her eye as she yawned. “We’re waiting for Roswaal-sama, to finishing putting his make-up on, and Otto-sama to bring his Dragon Carriage.”

Aisha held her grimoire in one hand and her staff on another. She was mumbling some incantations to herself. Justice walked up to her.

“You know, you’re being too cautious. We’re just going to a village.”

“You’re not being cautious, enough. My first experience with a village was not a pleasant one,” she said. She pointed at Subaru. “That guy got cursed, for God’s sake! I’m not taking any risks, so I’m protecting myself from curses. Hmph!”

“Right…”

Emilia was talking to the lesser spirits, like she does every day, as it was a condition of her contract with Puck. Moments later, all the lesser spirits left.

“Emilia-tan, can I just say that you look beautiful when talking to the spirits?”

“Thank you, Subaru. When we’re at the village, don’t do anything bad, while I’m gone!”

“Gone? What do you mean by that, Emilia?” Justice asked.

“Oh, Roswaal and I will be talking to the Mayor, so, you all will be free to roam the village as you like!”

“Wait, so we can’t go on our date, Emilia-tan?!”

Emilia shook her head. “I’m sorry, Subaru,” she said. “But, I can’t.” Subaru’s expression turned into a sad one.

“S-Subaru-kun, if you want, Rem will go on a date with you! We can explore the village together!”

“Ah, that would be cool, Rem! We can go on our first real date now!”

Rem smiled, yet, she blushed at the same time and tried to hide her face. Suddenly, Subaru felt a crushing sensation on his shoulder. He turned his head, and saw Ram’s hand on his shoulder. “You better not do anything weird, Barusu.”

“Yes, yes, onee-sama!”

“Myyyyyyyyy, it seems that everyone is ready, no?”

“Roswaal-sama.”

“Good morning, everyone!”

Otto pulled up to everyone, driving a carriage. As expected, since Roswaal was a noble, the “carriage” part of the carriage appeared rich. The ground dragon that had been pulling the vehicle was green and was quadrupedal. The two maids sat beside Otto, making him flustered. The others would sit inside the carriage.

Roswaal sat next to Emilia, who sat next to Subaru. On the opposite side of them, Justice and Aisha sat next to each other. Albeit, there was a bit of a gap of space, in between them. From there, they left the Mansion to head to their destination.

During the two hour trip, everyone would talk to each other. During times when everyone would get silent and stop talking, Subaru would try to ‘liven’ things up once again, by starting small talk, or just making jokes. Only Rem would respond to him and laugh at his jokes, which the others considered ‘bad.’

Justice decided to step up and try to make things less boring, like what Subaru could’ve done, should his attempts not failed.

“So, Roswaal, if you don’t mind me asking, why do you wear that make-up?”

“Weeeeeeeell, it’s heavily agreed upon that I am the strongest Mage of this Kingdom. As a reward for posseeeessing such merits, the Royal Castle gave me one wish I would like. So, I asked to be able to wear make-up.” Roswaal covered his mouth and added a “teehee,” at the end.

“Does your make-up have any magical meaning, Roswaal?” Justice asked.

“No, not necessarily. The make-up is a sort of war paint for me, yooooooou see. I also wear it, due to another reason. As I have already stated, I am known as this Kingdom’s strongest mage. With that title comes much respect and even some fear. I initially wore this make-up sooooooo I would be able to interact with others spiritedly, and allow people to approach me easier.”

“Huh, never thought your make-up would have such a deep meaning behind it. Nevertheless, that’s really nice to know.”

“Wait, so, if you’re this country’s greatest mage, then, wouldn’t that mean you’re the Magic Emperor?” Subaru asked.

“Unfortunately, I am not the Magic Emperor. That title belongs to Julius Novachrono.”

“Wait, I thought the strongest mage in the Kingdom would be the Magic Emperor? Is he stronger than you? If he was, then, how? I thought you were the strongest mage.”

“It is widely debated upon about which one of us two is the stronger mage, hoooowever, most simply state I am the stronger one, as strength isn’t the only thing that allows someone to be the Magic Emperor.”

“Hmph, Roswaal-sama is obviously the stronger one,” Ram said, from the front of the carriage.

“Hey, wait,” Aisha interjected. “The guy who’s always awkwardly mumbling to himself isn’t here.”

A small little “Eh?” sound escaped everyone’s mouth, as they realized that they left Gordon behind at the Mansion.

“Uh, should we head back?” Otto asked.

“We probably shouldn’t,” Justice said. “We’re too far away from the Mansion now. If we head back, we’ll be late for the meeting, which wouldn’t be professional. And, Gordon doesn’t seem like a sociable person, so he’ll probably enjoy the lone time at the Mansion.”

Everyone seemed to agree with Justice’s statements, so there was no need to argue.

Back at the Mansion, Gordon stood near the Main Doors, facing the opposite direction from them. He wore a large backpack, full of stuff they would’ve needed if they would stay at the village, and he held a large back with magic enchanted necklaces, talismans, and other stuff that could ward off evil.

“…Huh? Guys? Are you still asleep…?”

No response. He looked around.

“…Isn’t it time to leave soon…?”

No response, once again.

“…Wait… Did they already leave…?”

A soft gasp from him could be heard. He then dropped the large bag.

About an hour later, the carriage began to drive through a dirt road. They finally entered the village. Justice, Aisha, Emilia, and Subaru all began to look through the windows of the carriage, to look at the village. The village was mostly undeveloped with several houses randomly located within a wide grassy plain. There were many patches of land, that the villagers cultivated for agricultural purposes.

Justice, Subaru, Emilia, Aisha, Rem, Ram, Otto, Roswaal, and even Puck—everyone’s eyes widened in astonishment once they saw the village’s most notable landmark. The huge skeleton of the Demon God who terrorized the Kingdom. “So it was real,” they could only think to themselves. On top of the skull was a statue of the First Magic Emperor that took down the Demon God.

They stopped near a church. Moments later, everyone stepped out of the carriage. A nun and a father stood in front of the church as if they were waiting for everyone to arrive.

“Welcome to this place! Please call me Father Orsi.”

Orsi was an old man who possessed short, gray hair. He wore the typical priest clothing, that was present in fantasy games, and he wore a necklace with a cross, around his neck.

“Welcome! Call me Sister Lily,” the nun said, as she greeted them.

Lily was a young woman with dark blue hair. Her bangs were parted to the sides. She had large, kind teal eyes, lined with long lashes. She possessed relatively pale skin and a black beauty mark under her left eye. Lily wore a nun’s habit and a gold cross on a gold bead necklace.

“Please, follow us,” Orsi said, opening the door of the Church. They all followed the Church Representatives inside the Church. They were led to a room, more specifically, a dining room. There was a large table with many dishes on it.

“The mayor of the town will be here in a bit. Until then, please eat some of the dishes we have made for you.”

As with their request, the Emilia Camp’s members sat at the dining table. Each of them mesmerized by the tasty-looking dishes.

“Enjoy the food,” Sister Lily said. “We have stewed tatoes, tato tempura, grilled tatoes, fried tatoes, stir-fried tatoes, steamed tatoes, Hage-styled boiled tatoes, tato juice, and even special tato pudding!”

They all dug into the food Sister Lily had made. They all enjoyed the exquisite taste that came from all the tato dishes. Aisha had mixed feelings. Though she agreed that the food was tasty, she didn’t like the fact that she, a royal from her own world, was eating “peasant food” from another world.

Soon, minutes of discussing and eating later, a villager arrived and alerted everyone.

“The mayor is back.”

“Ah,” Father Orsi said. “Those who want to talk to him, please follow me.”

“I hope all of you will behave,” Emilia said, as she got up from her seat. Roswaal, Emilia, and Puck followed Orsi out of the Church, and to the house where the mayor was waiting for them.

“Enjoy the rest of your time in the village! Or, if you want to, you are free to stay here,” Lily said. “I’ll be outside collecting the fresh crops, if you need me, please holler at me. …Though, the children might be keeping me busy, so that could be a problem…”

“I could play with the children and keep them busy,” Justice stated.

“Really? Wouldn’t that inconvenience you?”

“Of course, not. I’m great with kids and I love playing with them. It’s even better since I’m able to help you, at the same time.”

“Ah, thank you. Come with me, please.”

Justice stood up from his chair and followed Sister Lily. Aisha couldn’t help but bat an eye at their conversation. There wasn’t anything wrong going on with Justice, nor Lily, but, Aisha felt a weird sensation listening to their conversation.

“C’mon, Rem, let’s go on our date, now!”

“Alright, Subaru-kun!”

Those two got up from their chairs cheerily and left the church, in a haste. It was clear that they were both excited for their lone time together. Aisha got up from her chair and said nothing while leaving. At that point, Ram and Otto were the only ones who remained in that room.

“Do you want to hang out, together?”

“No.”

Swiftly shooting him down, Ram stood up and left. Leaving Otto feeling sad.

Many minutes after Aisha left the Church, she began to adventure around the village. She did not enjoy the smell of animal feces, the physical work everyone had to do, nor the low amount of Mana in the air. She eventually went back to the Church, before she entered, she heard cheers from young children.

“Huh?”

She walked around the Church and saw Justice playing with the children. They loved that Justice was able to carry all of them with one arm. Aisha didn’t know how to react to them. Due to her past, she really did not know how to react to them.

“Oh, hey, Aisha. Do you want to play with these guys too?”

“N…No thanks.”

Justice walked up to her. “It’s okay,” he said. “They’re just children, they won’t try to attack you, don’t worry.” He grabbed her hand and began to walk back to the children, bringing Aisha along with him. She didn’t know what was going on. Normally, if someone grabbed her hand, she would lash out at them. But, now, even she didn’t know why she wasn’t lashing out.

“W-Wait, I don’t know how to interact well with children…”

“So? I guess you’ll learn today.”

“Is she going to play with us?” One of the little girls asked.

“Yeah, she is.”

Justice explained the rules of the game they were playing, to Aisha. At first, she didn’t like the game, but, after many rounds, she was better than Justice at it. For the first time in many years, Aisha genuinely felt happy and had fun. Later, Sister Lily arrived.

“Children, it’s nap time!”

The children’s attention went from Justice and Aisha to Sister Lily, who was standing at the door, to the Church. “Oh my,” she said. “It’s the first time you guys aren’t covered in dirt and aren’t crying. Justice-sama, Aisha-sama, thank you for playing with them.”

“No problem.”

“I-It’s my way of thanking you for the delicious food.”

Lily smiled at Aisha’s compliment, while Justice’s eyes partially widened, at the fact that Aisha actually complimented something.

“Sister, I can help put the kids to sleep.”

“I’d really appreciate it. But, are you sure? It’s not all that common when someone wants to help us peasants…”

“Peasant, or not, if I can help someone, I’ll help them.”

Justice and Sister Lily took the children inside the Church and were beginning to put them to sleep. Aisha, now alone, again, began to look around. She felt even worse than before—she felt an eerie feeling. She walked to a graveyard that was nearby and looked around. She sighed.

“This place… there are bad things stirring here…”

Author’s Comments

Hello everyone, Mugen here! Finally finished this Chapter! Despite the deadline for this Chapter being more than a week away, I wanted to finish it fast, because the next few Chapters are going to be quite interesting to both write and read, I also knew that I would procrastinate on writing it, more.

Fun fact: I initially planned for Rachel Alucard (Blazblue) to be the second main heroine, next to Emilia. But, I scrapped her, because I liked Aisha’s tsundere personality, and I don’t want more parasol-wielding Magic users. (There may not be many of them right now, but there’ll be more in the future.)

Anyway, just about every character in the Emilia Camp, aside from Gordon and Beatrice, are going to face lots of development in the Hage Village Sub-Arc. Not only as a character, but their abilities and back-stories will be revealed (if they haven’t been revealed, already). Except for Roswaal, maybe. I plan on saving his past for later… 😉

Until Next Time!

— Mugen