Re; A Hero’s New Life in a New World!

Chapter 14 — “Truth”

It was a normal morning in the Roswaal Manor. A couple of days after the Demon Beasts were killed, everything returned back to the way it was. Everyone was in the dining room for breakfast. Roswaal sat at the head of the table, Emilia sat next to him, beside her, Subaru sat, and beside him, Justice sat. Next to him was an empty seat, but next to that empty seat was Aisha.

Ram and Rem stood behind Roswaal, waiting for the others to finish eating. On the other side of the table, Beatrice sat next to Roswaal and played with Puck. Gordon sat beside her. And, sitting beside him, was a new man, that no one had seen before. He had gray hair that reached up to a bit past his chin and grayish-purple eyes. He had a medium build wore a hat with a feather on it and also wore green clothing.

“Alright, I’m gonna address the elephant in the room,” Subaru said. He pointed at the new man. “Who is he?” No one responded to Subaru, but everyone, except for Rem, gave him a disappointed expression.

“I told you yesterday when you were doing housework!” the man interjected.

“I guess I wasn’t paying attention then,” Subaru retorted.

Justice face-palmed at this.

“Forgive Subaru, Otto. He’s not the sharpest tool in the shed.”

“What’s that suppose to mean?!”

“Ah, I see,” the man said. He closed his eyes and smiled. “I’m Otto Suwen! I’m a merchant and I’m living here from now on, as Mr. Mathers has invited me. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Subaru Natsuki.”

“Yeeeeeees. Otto-san is able to use two attributes of Magic without a Divine Protection and has enough Mana to rival a Noble, though suspiciooous, we still needed him in the Emilia Camp. He is this caaaaamp’s head of managing internal affairs and will be our transport, from time to time.”

“Psh, I thought even a commoner like you would remember,” Aisha interjected. Subaru pointed at her.

“What even is your position here?! You just started to live here with us, for no reason!”

“Quiet down, commoner. I’m living here because you all were indebted to me, for saving you. Hmph.”

“That’s true,” Emilia said. “But, if you join the Emilia Camp, we’ll be able to help each other with anything, without even needing to be in debt to one another. Everyone will benefit!”

“If you join, Rem will make any food you want,” Rem said.

“C’mon, join, we’ll all be happy,” Puck said, as well.

“Frankly, I don’t care if you join or not, but since Bubby wants you to, you better join, I suppose,” Beatrice stated.

“…We can be great friends if you do…” Gordon muttered.

“Well?” Justice asked.

Aisha’s jaw partially dropped. She wasn’t expecting all the positive reception everyone offered to her, for her to join the camp. Her cheeks partially blushed, out of embarrassment. She lowered her head a bit and closed her eyes.

“A-Alright! I’ll join your stupid little camp, so stop telling me to join!”

Following what she said, cheers of happiness were released. Roswaal couldn’t help but chuckle at how lively the day was. Even though the tone of the day was happy, Aisha couldn’t help but remember and feel depressed about the conversation she had with Roswaal the previous day.

The two sat in the guest room, on sofas opposite each other.

“Say, Roswaal, do you know of the existence of other worlds?”

Roswaal narrowed his eyes at her and smiled.

“…No, I cannot say that I do.”

“So, there hasn’t been instances of transporting to other worlds?”

“I’ve neeever heard of such a thing. There is nothing like that written in the Forbidden Library either. There haven’t been cases of fictional staaaaaring that topic. Buuuut, I’m sure if there was a situation like that, Truth would intervene.”

Aisha tilted her head in confusion. “Truth?”

“He—or, I should say, they are a force that puts order in the world. They are what the churches claim to be a monotheistic God. Should someone use forbidden arts, their soooouls will be taken by Truth.”

“I see…”

Subaru ate some bacon made from Wild Boars and some of the bacon greases began to mess his chin. Rem walked over to him with a napkin and wiped his face, while Subaru appeared to have been irritated because he did not like the fact that Rem acted like a mother. Justice was irritated due to the fact that Subaru didn’t realize that Rem fell in love with him.

Everyone continued to finish eating their breakfast. Gordon finished his food and left the room. Subaru went “Ah,” stood up from his chair, and ran out the door, as he needed to talk to Gordon. He finally caught up to him.

“Oh, Gordon-san, I forgot to thank you for curing the curse placed on me, the other day.”

“…It’s nothing Subaru… we’re friends right?”

“Yeah, I guess so. By the way…”

Subaru’s grimoire flew towards him and he caught it.

“Is this yours? When the mansion was being attacked by Raven and Revchi, I was sent flying to your room, then, suddenly, this book came to me. At first, I thought it had an affinity towards your room, or something, but I don’t really know, now.”

“…No, that’s not mine… That book must have special properties… Regular Grimoires and magical tools cannot enter my room without physical help, as my room has incantations that prevent Magic, other than my own, from getting in…”

“Oh, alright. Thanks for telling me. I’d better get to work, or I’m getting an earful from Ram.”

Like he told Gordon, Subaru went to do the work he needed to do. Once he was finished them, he went on his little break time. Justice and Subaru bathed with each other in Roswaal’s large pool-like bathtub. Justice decided to finish the bath first and left, though, he waited outside the bathing room, as Subaru told him to “stand guard” there, as he was afraid of the females “peeking” on him.

Many minutes later Subaru finally finished his bath, put some clothes on, and left the room. Making Justice disgruntled, due to the long wait time he faced.

“Finally finished, huh?”

“Yeah!”

“Right. By the way, Subaru, how does your Magic work?”

“Huh? You mean the swords and stuff? I don’t know, really. Why?”

“You don’t know how your own ability works?!” Justice questioned Subaru, in his mind. “Oh, it’s because of the sword was able to nullify that man’s chains and it was able to nullify mine in training, too. I was just wondering how it worked,” he said.

“Shouldn’t we at least give my Magic a name? Anti-Magic, I like the sound of that.”

“How did you even unlock it, your Anti-Magic, I mean.”

Subaru shrugged. “I don’t know. The grimoire just flew to me when that guy was beating me up.”

“Seems like your power has a mysterious background to it. Mysterious, but powerful.”

“I know! But, Justice, back then, when he was kicking me, you told him that we were rivals. What are we rivals for?”

“…Well, since I’m both yours and Emilia’s bodyguard, I’ll have to protect you two. And, you want to protect Emilia too, right?” Justice extended his fist towards Subaru, going for a fist-bump. “We’re rivals, in the sense that we both need to protect Emilia.” Subaru didn’t quite get it, but still smiled.

“Yeah.”

The two fist-bumped, a notion that would be considered “foreign” to the world they were currently in, but not to the worlds they both belonged to. Aisha walked past the two, but still turned around to face them. “You two, follow me,” Aisha motioned, beckoning with a hand. The two followed her because they knew she would get mad if they didn’t.

She led them to her room, which had three sofas in the center of the room. There was a coffee table in-between the spaces between the sofas. She sat down on one of them. Her right hand was on her knee, while her left hand was pointing towards the sofa that was on the opposite side of her. She was telling them to sit down there, which they did.

“What did you need us here for?”

“Hmph, it’s always questions with you, huh? …A-Anyway, so I’ve been doing some research, and there’s a folk tale about this man. His name is ‘Zombieman,’ and apparently, his name comes from his undying body.”

“So? Why did you need us here?” Subaru asked.

“Ugh. I want you two to go out tonight and hunt him down!”

“Uh… why, exactly?”

“Because the story’s been giving me creeps since yesterday! Hunt him down, bring him to me, and I’ll interrogate him.”

“Why should we do this for you, again? Don’t you hate all of us?” Subaru asked, again.

“W—! When a maiden calls out to you, like this, on such short notice, you’re supposed to help her!”

She closed her eyes and blushed.

“Also… don’t tell anybody, but… I can’t control my Magic…”

Justice’s and Subaru’s eyes widened.

“Then what about that spell you used—Failnaught? You seemed to have used it well,” Justice said.

“I’m surprised it even managed to go in that woman’s direction,” Aisha remarked. “She was probably only able to dodge the attack due to my limited control with my Magic. Or else she would’ve been doomed.”

“What about that spell that immobilized us all?” Subaru asked. “You seemed to use it correctly.”

“It wasn’t really a ‘spell.’ Since I’m a royal, I have more Mana reserves than most people, and if I were to let out some of the Mana I’m storing, I’d be able to create an intense pressure because most aren’t used to it.”

“Damn,” Subaru said. “Why are you telling us all this, though?”

“Mainly due to the fact that we’re all from a world different from this one. I figured it’d be best to make some allies. You better not tell anyone else about this! No matter who,” she exclaimed, standing up a bit and putting her hands on the coffee table. “Don’t tell them anything.”

“Alright…”

“Fine.”

Before the three knew it, they were suddenly transported somewhere else. The area they were in was completely white. No other colors could be seen, aside from on themselves. While Justice and Subaru were sitting on Aisha’s room’s sofas, as soon as they were transported there, they were standing. So was the violet-haired girl with them.

“Where are we…?”

They began to look around. They all turned around and saw a giant gate.

Yo!

As soon as they heard another person’s voice, they turned around. They saw a completely white, featureless, young boy sitting down.

Welcome to my domain, humans. You three are from different worlds, correct?

“…How do you know that?”

Simply because Satella sent you all here. She didn’t tell you three why, so I guess I’ll have to. I can answer any three questions you may have. Oh, and before you ask this is my domain, so once I’ve answered your questions, you all will be transported back to that mansion.

The three of them hesitated to ask a question. However, despite that, Justice walked forward.

“…Who are you?”

Why, thanks for asking! I’m an existence that you folks like to call “The world.” In other words, the Universe, in other words, God. In other words, All. In other words, One. In other words, Truth. And I’m…

Truth pointed at them. To Justice, it appeared that Truth pointed at him. To Subaru, it appeared that Truth pointed at him. To Aisha, it appeared that Truth pointed at her.

You.

To Justice, it appeared that Truth took his form. To Subaru, it appeared that Truth took his form. To Aisha, it appeared that Truth took her form. No matter what they thought, Truth was still a white feature-less version of them.

“W…Why were we transported to this world?” Aisha asked.

It wasn’t me who summoned you three, but rather Satella. Normally, I wouldn’t allow this to happen, but since one of my creations—the world you are currently in is in trouble, I let her get away with this. It wasn’t my choice for you three, but merely, hers.

“Why is the world in trouble?”

A being that cannot be killed by no means lives in that world. She is building up more strength and is creating an army of strong mages that obey her every command. Once the time is right, she will attack, and when she does, none shall survive. That being is the only remaining human from the last world. Her name… is Salem.

“How do we defeat her?!”

Uh-oh, your three free questions are over, which means you three aren’t allowed here anymore. See ya! Well, we probably won’t, unless you use prohibited arts, should you do, your meeting with me shall be your last meeting with anyone.

A snapping of Truth’s fingers could be heard. Immediately, the gate behind them opened. And, as soon as it did, they all returned to Aisha’s room.

“We all saw that, right?”

“Yeah, you’re not alone, Subaru.”

Aisha facepalmed. “Great… we had one way to learn about how to leave this world and we blew it!”

“I don’t know about you two, but I’d prefer to stay in this world. My life back home kinda sucked. I kinda do wish that I could talk to my parents one last time before I leave them.”

“What did you want to tell the—”

Suddenly, the room’s doors slammed open. Ram stood at the door with an enraged expression and pink aura surrounding her body. The three did not say anything, nor knew what to say. At the same time, they were being wary, as Ram could’ve overheard their conversation about them being from a different world.

“Barusu,” she said with a low voice. “Your break time is over. Get back to work.”

“R-Right!”

The next day, everyone in the Emilia Camp gathered at Roswaal’s private study.

“Why did you call us all here, Roswaal?” Emilia asked him.

“Weeeeeeell, I’ve got some great news. We’ve been invited to Hage Village. The village leader is interested in meeting Ms. Emilia and waaaants to negotiate.”

“Eh? Our previous negotiation didn’t go so well.”

“Thaaaat was merely due to those two being paid to attack you all. The leaaaaader of the village and the people have little prejudice.”

“Oh, that seems cool,” Justice said. “So, will everyone be going there?”

“Betty won’t be going, I suppose. The Forbidden Library shall be the only place I am heading to.”

“We’ll be heading there in the morning and we’ll return at dusk. Wiiiiill you be able to stay lonesome until then, Beatrice?”

“Of course, in fact, I prefer to be alone.”

“So where is this Hage Village?” Subaru asked.

“You’ve never heard of Hage Village, Subaru-kun?”

“I only know that there’s a large demon’s skull there.”

“Yes! The village is mainly known for the rumors of the Demon God’s giant skull being there. Legend says that the first Magic Emperor battled the Demon God there and won. Not many know if the rumors are true, because the village is located in the Forsaken Realm.”

“Isn’t the Forsaken Realm where the ancient demon tribes used to live?”

“Yeah, but nowadays, peasants are forced to live in that area. I’ve always wanted to visit the village with someone special… It seems romantic.”

“Definitely! Emilia-tan we should go on a date there!”

Emilia only shook her head at Subaru’s “joke.” Everyone was either okay with going to the village, or was excited to go there. Save for Aisha. She was kinda mad that she was being dragged along with them to a peasant-full village, but decided to say nothing because she’d rather not stay lonely in the mansion.

“It’ll take us at least 2 hours to get there,” Otto said. “So, we’ll all have to leave as early as possible if we want to get there before the day begins and everyone becomes busy!”

Author’s Comments

Hey everyone! Just a few more chapters, and I’ll finally start releasing Volumes! More information about them will be found on the “Volumes” Page, which I’ve removed for a bit. Don’t worry, though. The page will be brought back soon, once more of these Chapters are out, of course. Oh, and this is the second Chapter—not counting Chapter 1—where I’ve actually finished this before the deadline, which is more than a week away!

I wanted this Chapter to feature Aisha a bit more, specifically expanding on her not being able to control her Magic. I wanted her Magic to go berserk, more stuff would happen, and then finally the Emilia Camp would stop her Magic from going berserk, but if you’ve noticed, all the Chapters until now, feature at least 1 fight scene and magic, however, I wanted to take a break from that, so I made this Chapter have more dialogue than anything.

I can’t wait for this next Chapter, though! I’ve been waiting to write it for a while now. But, just a note to everyone: the next Chapter—Chapter 15—will be similar to this one. In that it won’t feature Magic that much and won’t have any fight scenes. I don’t want Re;Hero to be your typical Shōnen series, that only features fight scenes, so I’m trying to expand the series.

Until Next Time!

— Mugen