Re:ZERO -Starting Life in Another World- (Re:ゼロから始める異世界生活)

Subaru Natsuki Was Here

What... is your deal?

What the hell?! Come on!

These weren't here!

These cuts weren't here before!

I know they weren't!

Wait...

Did "Subaru Natsuki" return while I was blacked out?

"Subaru Natsuki" killed Meili...

and carved the proof of that into my arm?

This is screwed up! Nothing makes sense!

If you're Subaru Natsuki, then...

who am I?

And...

who are you?!

The next time we meet, you won't be a suspect,

Meili.

Though having the detective turn out to be the killer

is kinda overdone in mystery stories.

Anyway, I need to buy some time.

Oh, Subaru! So this is where you've been!

Sorry! Did I startle you?

W-Well, a little, but only because it was so sudden. It's all good.

So what brings you here?

I was walking around the tower, hoping it would give me some kind of idea.

Hey, Subaru...

Is this another bad joke of some kind?

Are you sure you're all right?

Maybe you aren't back to normal yet after all?

R-Really, I'm fine.

I was just kinda lost in thought.

Uh, you're looking at me a lot...

Lately, I often catch myself watching you without even realizing it.

Funny, isn't it?

Anyway, about Meili...

Maybe I'm getting a little ahead of myself,

but if we make it home after all this,

I think I want to treat Meili a little better.

Better?

Of course, what she did a year ago was terrible,

and I know I shouldn't trust her too easily...

but it was thanks to her that we got through the dunes, right?

You mean, like, a pardon?

Yes.

I'd like to at least let her out of the basement cell

so she can live a normal life with all of us.

So stupid...

Huh?

I said that's stupid!

Damn right you're getting ahead of yourself!

How can you be thinking about the future in the middle of all this?!

Subaru?

What's gotten into you?

Even if you're unhappy,

you shouldn't say things like that.

If you're hurting, don't just sulk. Talk to me.

If you're going through something,

I'll go through it with you.

But no carrying it all alone,

getting all irritated alone,

and trying to end everything alone!

Do you understand?

That's my heart.

It isn't angry at all.

I won't be disillusioned.

So talk to me.

Why...

Emilia, I...

Mm-hmm.

I—

Lady Emilia! Barusu!

What is it, Ram?

Come to the archive on the third floor.

You're here, I suppose.

Ram said you found something alarming?

Well, I certainly can't say it's good news.

It might be best considered an evil omen, I suppose.

Skip the preface. What happened?

Second shelf from the top.

The book on the far right end.

No...

Meili Portroute...

Beatrice, did you read this book?

I haven't confirmed it yet, I suppose.

But why not?

Books of the dead should be handled with care.

If it is, in fact, a book about the Meili that we know...

Meili is... in the tower...

Oh, no! We have to find her!

Hold it, I suppose.

If this truly is her book,

it's too late to rush off looking for her.

I got called up here in a hurry.

What happened?

Shaula! You're here!

Did you see Meili anywhere after we ate breakfast, I suppose?

Nope, I didn't.

Did something happen to the runt?

Well, the thing is... we found a book with her name on it.

Ah, I get it.

So No. 2 kicked the bucket, huh?

Well, can't help that.

Shaula! You didn't have to say it like that!

Aw, Master, don't get mad!

Anyway, wouldn't it be faster to just read No. 2's book?

Faster? Are you nuts?

If you read it, I bet you'll find out why she died.

Well, Shaula does have a point.

Subaru...

If this book of the dead is real,

it will give you a look into her life.

I appreciate you two worrying about me,

but someone has to do this.

Then I'll do it, not you!

Betty is against that, I suppose.

If someone must read it,

Subaru or Julius would be best.

I'll do it.

Hey, it could just be some mistake,

and after all this mental preparation, nothing happens, right?

If something does happen, I'll pull you free of the book.

I'll tug on your hair!

Please, keep it peaceful.

I think I'd prefer it if you'd just rub my shoulder to wake me up.

Here I go.

When she first became aware of her own existence,

she had nothing.

There was no one around her.

She was alone in a dark, deep, black forest.

She was simply alone.

Because she didn't know any language,

she didn't know how to grieve.

Because she didn't know how to walk,

she didn't know how to fight back.

Her life should have ended there,

under that beast's fangs, before she had a chance to acquire anything.

Having learned how to live,

she did not think of dying.

She learned the ways of the wild with her very life.

And in time...

she became the queen of the beasts.

I've been told to bring you back.

So you'll be coming with me.

No way to grieve,

to fight back, or even to live?

Really, now.

Such boring excuses won't work on me.

I really don't care.

Grieve... for me.

Fight back... for me.

And live... so that you can love me!

If you say you lost everything, forgot everything,

then why don't I teach you?

That's a mother's job, after all.

Don't do as she tells you.

No number of lives you may have would be enough, unless you were me.

Hate.

There ya go.

Thank you.

Hate.

Did she hate her?

What, exactly, is hatred?

Sad.

Sad.

Was she sad?

What, exactly, is sadness?

Having always gone with the flow and lived her life imitating others,

she didn't know what real emotions were.

Now that Elsa was gone, who should she imitate?

What example was she to follow in life?

If "Mother" had ordered her to die and called it teaching,

she would have...

I don't want that.

I at least want an answer.

Oh, you're here, too?

I was looking for a book myself.

Don't be up all night, Meili!

Her activities had been seen. Known. Noticed.

She didn't want to be seen.

She didn't want to be known.

You're so shallow.