A Random in Re:Zero

Loop 2 - Part 2

"Are you okay?" The answer became clear when the young man collapsed to the ground. At that moment, the moon illuminated the street, and Emilia could see that her mysterious benefactor was seriously injured.

***

I slowly opened my eyes. The agonizing pain that had overwhelmed my body was completely gone, which meant I was healed.

The softness on which I lay and the elegant decor of the room that surrounded me were proof enough that I was in Roswaal's mansion.

"Well, two birds with one stone." I muttered, getting out of bed.

In my opinion, I cleared the first arc with a pretty high score. I even went further than Subaru and solved some things ahead of time, even though it almost went wrong.

I straightened the robe they'd put on me and left the bedroom, stepping out into a long, spacious hallway. I walked for a while without getting anywhere.

"Ah, that's right. She must have cast the spell."

When Subaru arrived at the mansion, Betty trapped him in an endless corridor as a prank, but for some reason Subaru was immune to such tricks and reached the forbidden library on the first try.

I didn't want to anger her by foiling her prank so quickly, so I feigned confusion and started to get desperate, swearing and trying to jump out of windows without success.

To make it more believable, I also tried to exit the hallway by opening seemingly random doors, but that wasn't actually the case: somehow, my instinct told me which one was the right one.

After a few minutes of acting like an idiot, I walked over to one of the duplicate doors (this time it was the right one) and entered the room.

"Hmph, I guess you got lucky." A little girl's voice said as I walked in. Fortunately, she sounded more disappointed than angry.

"Lucky? It took me forever to get out of that clever trap. Were you the one who trapped me there?"

"I suppose so." She boasted with a proud smile. "That was just a display of my power, so you should show me respect and reverence if you know what's good for you."

"Understood." Smiling wryly, I bowed before her and intoned sarcastically. "It's an honor to meet you, Miss Librarian. I hope we can get along and hang out together in the near future."

"I refuse." Betty shook her head, looking away in disdain. "It's not worth wasting my precious time on a human."

"That hurts my feelings, but I'm not a man who gives up at the first 'no'."

I stared at her, almost challenging her.

"I need to make a good first impression and show her how determined I am, so I can convince her to join me when the time comes."

"If you don't understand the words, I suppose actions will have a more powerful effect."

Irritated by my attitude, Betty came over and placed her hands on my chest. I knew what was coming, but I still wasn't prepared. When she drained the mana from my body, I felt something squeeze me inside until I fainted.

For a few seconds, my consciousness returned, but there was no light or sensation. There was only me, empty inside in an abyss of darkness. Then, an existence manifested, filling my soul with an inexplicable feeling.

"It's you?"

Then I woke up. I was back in bed, and I had no memory at all of what had happened while I slept. The residual pain from being magically sucked out still bothered me.

I tried to get up but I had lost a lot of my physical strength.

"Shit, I'm all limp and soft. That damn girl..."

"Sister, the dear guest has already woken up."

"It seems so, Rem, and the dear guest seems to be suffering from some kind of impotence."

I gave a wry smile. Now I was in a truly dangerous arc. The main difference was that in the mansion, I couldn't let my guard down because they'd be watching me.

"What kind of conjecture is that?" I sat up in bed and turned my head toward the two maids. "My sword hasn't lost its sharpness. I'm always polishing it, but I've never stabbed anyone with it."

"Sister, the dear guest believes he has a sword between his legs."

"Rem, the dear guest has a great imagination, but it only embarrasses others."

"And when did you see what I have?! I'm team blood!"

Obviously, they didn't understand what I meant by that term. They continued their teasing for a while, and I defended myself as best I could until the door to the room opened.

"You've barely recovered and you already have enough energy to cause such a ruckus in the morning?" Emilia looked at me with a grimace of resignation.

For some reason, my heart started pounding at the sight. I'm not Subaru, I'm not someone who falls in love at first sight, no matter how beautiful the woman is or how lonely I feel. Yet somehow, I felt smitten by that silver-haired, purple-eyed half-elf.

"Hi, Emilia... I'm sorry for showing up like that and causing you trouble yesterday."

I stood up and bowed to her. Why was I suddenly so nervous? Emilia wasn't even in my top five favorite female characters in Re:Zero; in fact, Satella ranked higher than her.

"It's okay, you don't have to apologize!" She waved her hands, dismissing my guilt. "Actually, I want to thank you for bringing me my insignia. Did you get those injuries trying to get it back?"

"Ah... Not exactly. This was my fault for being careless."

"I see. I would hate for you to have risked your life for me." Emilia relaxed and nodded, as if telling herself that no one but Puck could do that for her.

She had such a twisted mental image of herself that she believed that no one but Puck could love her.

Or so I think. As I said, I haven't read the novels.

"I wouldn't mind doing it." I answered quickly.

I had to make a difference. I would make it clear that I was here to stay in her life. That's how it should be, right?

Right, Satella?

"Can I ask you something?" She asked.

"Sure, whatever you want."

"How do you know me? You know my name, you returned something stolen from me the same day, and most importantly, you did all of that without ever speaking to me."

"I..."

This again. Obviously, my attitude was very suspicious, and just like with Reinhard, I ended up having to explain myself. The good thing was that I could lie, but I was very nervous. Emilia made me nervous, and both Rem and Ram would be hanging on to everything I said.

"I need you to destroy the Witch Cult." I explained seriously.