A Random in Re:Zero

Loop 3 - Part 8

"How can you hit from this distance?" Lucas gasped.

I shrugged. I didn't really understand it either: I'd never had that level of aim.

Recently I began to feel that my senses had become more acute, and my manual skills saw a huge improvement: my knife handling was almost perfect.

To tell the truth, I already made a hypothesis.

Just as Subaru obtained the authorities of the archbishops when they died, I was able to assimilate the abilities of my Doppelganger when his life ended.

Yes, that's what I decided to call the cultist who had my face. After thinking about it for a while, I came to the conclusion that this guy was a replica, a copy, or an alternate version of myself.

But how was that possible?

Simple: Pandora.

Still, I don't understand how she has anything to do with me or why she would send copies of me to kill me, especially if she knows about Return by Death (I'm pretty sure she does).

A small hand tugged on my arm, interrupting my train of thought. I looked down and found Petra staring at me with a puppy expression that made me feel so tender.

"What's up?" I asked, smiling.

"Do you know when Meili will be back?" She missed her friend, who disappeared from the village after the incident with my Doppelganger.

"In the fourth arc, probably, I answered unconsciously."

"What?"

"What?"

We were both a little confused.

I didn't have time to clear up the misunderstanding, because at that moment a silver-haired half-elf arrived whose stellar presence immediately attracted attention.

"It's Miss Emilia!"

"Yeah! You came!"

The children flocked to her, wanting to grab her attention. I smiled proudly. Over the past few days, I'd done my best to connect Emilia with the people in town: from including her in the events I organized with the children, to using her ice magic to create ice cream and having everyone try it (in canon, Subaru did something similar with mayonnaise, but it had nothing to do with Emilia).

I wasn't so lucky with the adults and elders, as some were still a bit uncomfortable with her; however, the children quickly accepted her after getting to know her a little.

Her presence had already become common in the town, no longer an uncomfortable sight. I knew that with a little more time, the entire town would welcome her with open arms.

I'd done a great job with Emilia's social advancement. In that regard, I think I'd surpassed Subaru, at least at this point in the story.

As considerate as ever, Emilia took the time to greet each of the children, listening with genuine interest and acting like a true big sister.

Since we both had free time in the mornings, we used to stay here for a while. She always arrived a little after me, because the first thing she did was have her morning chats with the lesser spirits.

The only "problem" with this routine was that spending so much time with Emilia intensified my artificial crush. I've handled it well so far, but I'm not sure how long I can keep this up.

As I thought about that, I saw her look in my direction and smile, stirring my heart which was completely defenseless against a surprise attack like that.

A few minutes later we headed back to the mansion.

"Do you want to hear a joke?" Emilia asked suddenly.

"I'd love to." I nodded, curious about what kind of joke he would tell me.

"What do mabeasts and taxes have in common?"

"Don't know."

"That people hate them."

"Ha! Not bad."

"Now you tell one."

"Okay, here goes. Do you know what happens to someone who enters the White Whale's fog?"

"Nope."

"Ask Larry."

"Who is Larry?"

"Exact."

Emilia seemed confused by the punchline of my joke, but didn't ask any questions because we had reached the entrance of the mansion, where a dragon carriage was located.

"Oh, I know what's next."

I was not surprised to see the imposing and familiar figure of Wilhelm Van Astrea leaping out of the carriage to greet us with a bow.