Re:Zero Kara Hajimeru Isekai Seikatsu

(Thank you Kizarat, Rodolfo, Kam, Poppy, Aaron, White Rice for helping me with proofreading on the Live Draft! <>

Forcibly dragged all the way to the Tomb, he was dumped in front of the entrance.
Be it snow or frost, Subaru spat out the sherbet-like substance that had gathered in his mouth. With his exposed, insensate skin caught between pain and numbness, he turned back his head,

[Subaru: That"s some…… pretty rough treatment]

[Garfiel: My head ain"t smart enough to be so considerate. Be glad I"m just bein" rough with ya. "Less y"want me t"be rough with yer girl too?]

Puffing white breaths and looking down at Subaru on the ground, Garfiel gestured to Rem, who was still in his arms.
A hostage. Subaru wasn"t sure if that was what Garfiel intended, but it was certainly the perfect threat to coerce Subaru with.

[Subaru: Don"t you…… do anything weird to Rem]

[Garfiel: Long as ya do what I asked, I won"t]

Subaru uttered quietly as he pushed himself off the thinly snow-veiled ground. Standing at his side was the Lewes replicant who helped carry him here, staring blankly at him.
As usual, she was in her shabby robe, which seemed to be far too scant for the cold.

[Subaru: Can"t we give the girls some more clothes? …..She looks so cold, I can"t bear looking at her]

[Garfiel: Y"realize what they are, right? They can"t feel th"cold in th"first place. If yer tryin" to buy time, I ain"t got no reason t"play along]

[Subaru: Aw don"t keep pointing it out. Even I know buying time won"t improve the situation in any way]

His vision blinded by the snowstorm, Subaru followed Garfiel"s advice and turned towards the Tomb.
Amidst the world of white, he could faintly make out the ruin of stone. Even in this raging phenomenon of nature, Echidona"s tomb stood calmly, eerily waiting for its next challenger.
And Emilia would be inside.

[Subaru: How long has Emilia been in there?]

[Garfiel: She went in th"night before last, it"s been two days now. Honestly, I couldn"t care less as long as she ain"t dead]

[Subaru: From your position, I can see how that"s the case…… So you didn"t try to go in and bring her out yourself?]

[Garfiel: I can"t go in th"Tomb. It"s part of the contract]

That intriguing reply pretty much summed up the whole of Garfiel"s position.
Subaru wasn"t sure just to what extent the Sanctuary"s residents knew about this, but Garfiel had definitely been inside the Tomb. He met Echidona, and was granted the powers of an Apostle of Greed, as well as the qualification to hold command authority over the Lewes clones.
But why he would keep it a secret and postpone the liberation of the Sanctuary was beyond Subaru.

[Subaru: Once I go inside and ask Echidona herself…… guess I"ll find out]

[Garfiel: Quit mumblin". I told ya to get in there. Drag that Half-Witch out and get her to stop makin" all this snow. Otherwise I"ll be forced to do somethin" I don"t wanna do]

Garfiel slightly lifted Rem in his arms and let out a menacing smile. That smile didn"t suit him at all, but Subaru knew Garfiel as a person who carries out his threats. Regardless of what his true intentions were, as long as it serves to protect the Sanctuary, he would easily turn his claws on a girl with the same face as the one he loved.

[Subaru: Don"t do anything to Rem. ――That"s my condition]

[Garfiel: ……Just go]

Blown by the frigid wind, Subaru left these words with the coldest voice he could muster, and began walking towards the Tomb. Behind him, Garfiel watched him as he went.
His true motives were still unknown, but Subaru remembered that there was something he had forgotten to tell him.

He had forgotten to tell Garfiel about his sister Frederica"s death.
The only explanation he could think of was that the cold and rage had gotten to his head.

Right now, was he still sane? If he was sane, then how?
He let Petra die, he doubted Frederica"s innocence, and he returned to the Sanctuary to find this. His relations.h.i.+p with Garfiel was at its worst, and he had no idea whether the others in the Sanctuary were safe.

Continuing on in these atrocious circ.u.mstances, how could he be sane?
He mustn"t stop thinking. He mustn"t give in. He must look forward, look upward, grasp for a future worth grasping, and take on every burden he must bear.
Otherwise, what would Subaru――

[Subaru: ――――]

The claps of his faltering steps struck upon the Tomb"s dry floor.
Unlike the outside, in here, he could barely feel the reach of the raging cold. It was as though the cold had been barred from entering this place, but that would only be an illusion, and the reality was that it was merely diminished.
As Subaru stepped into the Tomb, the mechanism for welcoming those who were qualified activated, and the dim lamps of the dark corridor caught alight.

The murky lights lining the walls invited Subaru into the depths, and, with the sensation of all the blood in his body freezing, Subaru drove his limbs to venture inside.
And, at the end of what felt like a long, long pa.s.sage, he arrived at a room.

The room where the first Trial took place, where they faced their past.
Arriving here at last,

[Emilia: ――Subaru?]

Like the ring of a silver chime, Subaru was welcomed by that tender, long-awaited voice.

※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※

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I want to keep the rest of the chapter as a single part so I’ll cut Part 1/2 here.

I plan to finish Part 2 tonight! ❤

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Chapter 65 Live Draft: