Chapter 27 27: “Life in Another World Starting from Arrogance (2)”

Elsa's right-hand fingers tightened without thinking, and in the blink of an eye she had gouged a chunk of flesh from her own left arm.

But she seemed completely unaware of it. Her eyes were locked, unblinking, on Subaru inside the screen, while her fingers absently dug and scraped at the small, bleeding hollow she had made.

She was, at heart, a traditional woman — when the person she loved had something he wanted to do, she would throw everything she had into helping him.

Even if everything she had done in doing so had only ended up helping her own rival.

But that didn't mean she wouldn't feel envy. That didn't mean she felt no anger or resentment simmering inside.

She had been looking forward to watching the little half-elf make a fool of herself — and instead, it was the fact that Subaru's heart belonged to someone else that had her seething.

"Wait — at this point he still hadn't joined the Witch Cult? He wasn't an Archbishop of the Seven Deadly Sins yet?"

Reinhard's brow furrowed, something clearly gnawing at him. He sank deep into his own thoughts, lost in them.

[This time, Natsuki Subaru had chosen a very different approach to dealing with Elsa.

He absolutely had to kill her — or die by her hand — before Satella ever reached the Slums.

Because he couldn't bear to watch Satella die in front of him one more time.

Sheer numbers.

That was Subaru's new gambit. He had tipped off the Royal Capital's guards about the "Bowel Hunter" in advance, sending them to encircle and annihilate Elsa.

But——

Subaru stood on a rooftop, looking down over the Slums below.

By now, the guards lying dead on the ground were beyond counting.

Elsa was drenched head to toe in blood, her expression one of sheer, intoxicated ecstasy. The curved blade in her hand had split open one belly after another, turning the whole scene into something that felt, to her, like a magnificent feast — every fibre of her being humming with savage delight.

"…Hah."

Subaru let out a weary sigh, the sight before him twisting something painful inside him.

He had still held out some hope for these guards — the men who were supposed to protect the Royal Capital.

By rights, they were supposed to be warriors, stronger than ordinary people.

But even throwing numbers at the problem hadn't caused Elsa so much as a moment's trouble.

He felt sorry for their sacrifice — after all, if he hadn't been such a concerned citizen and passed along that tip, none of these men would have died here.

"But it doesn't really matter."

That was what Subaru told himself. Either way, Elsa's blade would finish him off soon enough, and in the next loop everyone would come back to life.

He got to his feet, preparing to head down and walk into his 89th death.

"That's enough!"

The instant Subaru turned to leave, a young man with hair blazing like crimson fire stepped forward and placed himself between Elsa and the carnage.

His features were sharp and self-assured, proclaiming justice with every line of his face. He stood with a quiet, unshakeable composure, the Dragon Sword at his hip ready to pass judgment on anything in this world.

"My apologies, everyone — I arrived too late… But from this moment on, not one more person will fall!"

Reinhard mourned the dead, cursing himself for not noticing sooner, for not getting here faster.

No wasted words. No speeches.

Carrying that remorse with him, Reinhard descended on Elsa like a hero falling from the sky — and in a single exchange, the sword he had casually snatched from the ground left Elsa with a grievous wound.

Subaru's eyes went wide. His mouth fell open. He stared at the scene before him with an expression caught somewhere between awe and despair.

The existence of this individual called the [Sword Saint] felt like something the world itself had arranged — a living demonstration of the chasm called power, set before Natsuki Subaru's eyes.

Because he possessed that power, Reinhard was, beyond all doubt, this world's true "hero."

But what about him?

Subaru crumpled to the ground, his expression blank, unmoored.

He had come to this world. He had tried. He had struggled.

But from beginning to end, the only thing he had ever been able to rely on was that power to loop back through death — [Return by Death].

In theory, he could gather information and make anything he wanted happen.

In practice?

Even saving a single person had been utterly, hopelessly out of reach.

And it all came down to that chasm in power.

Subaru clenched his jaw until his teeth ached, a silent, broken cry wrenching through him.

He found himself thinking back — to the seventeen years he had lived in Japan, where he had tried, just as hard, to earn other people's recognition.

And when he realized that no matter what he did, he could never make anyone see his worth, he had given up on school entirely.

When he had first crossed into this other world, he had been full of hope — convinced that here, finally, he would find the sense of belonging he had always craved. That here, someone would look up to him and call him a hero.

But across these eighty-eight loops, he had thrown away his dignity. He had done everything imaginable, by any means necessary, chasing a single goal——

To defeat — to kill — Elsa.

And in the end, it had all amounted to less than one stroke of someone else's sword.

Ha. Ha. Ha.

If that was the case — then what had all those disgusting things he'd done even been for?

Every price he had paid, every effort he had made, felt like nothing but the world silently laughing at him.

"'Only I can save Satella' — what arrogance."

"Hilarious, isn't it? All I had to do was ask Reinhard. That's all it would have taken."

"That's all it would have taken..."

Tears streamed endlessly down Subaru's cheeks. His knees wouldn't stop shaking. And he understood.

Even in another world — he was completely worthless. The only sliver of value he had ever believed he possessed had been born from nothing but his own arrogance.

"If I were like you, Reinhard."

Subaru murmured to himself. "If I had power like yours — the kind that could save everyone — how different things would be."

In that moment, an overwhelming surge of envy and inadequacy crashed through Subaru's chest.

And it was in that moment, too, that he finally understood: he needed power. Real power. To give his life any meaning at all.

Then, stumbling and staggering, he broke into a run — chasing after the direction Elsa had fled.]

"Subaru… I'm sorry. I'm truly sorry. I never once imagined that my very existence had weighed so heavily on you."

Reinhard's fists were clenched tight at his sides, his voice carrying a gravity it had never held before.

He fell silent for a few seconds after that. His deep blue eyes flickered in and out of shadow under the light of the grey screen.

No one could say what he was thinking in those few seconds — but when he surfaced from them, he seemed to have found his footing again.

He fixed his gaze on the grey screen — on that dark-haired boy stumbling forward with nothing left in his eyes but despair and madness.

And for the first time, he used a name that carried something warmer in it — something close.

"Subaru. My friend. I'm sorry I arrived too late — that failure is mine to carry, as your friend."

"And I'm even more sorry for this… that because of the future my Blessing showed me, I raised my sword against you. If not for Lady Emilia, I would have——"

Reinhard's voice dropped to a murmur, his eyes thick with guilt that refused to dissolve. He turned it over and over inside himself, examining every edge.

Could it really be that someone like him… a monster who bore the name of Sword Saint…

Was truly unworthy of having friends at all?

"No. That's not it."

Reinhard raised his head sharply, and the look he turned on Subaru's image in the screen was no longer one of cold scrutiny — it was something that was trying, genuinely, to understand.

"As his friend, I have a duty to guide Subaru toward the right path. To take responsibility for him."

"Now that I know Subaru wants to become a hero — I intend to make sure he walks the road he's always wanted to walk."

Reinhard's gaze fixed on the grey screen — on Subaru's silhouette, resolute and utterly alone, vanishing into the far end of the alley. His eyes grew impossibly focused, impossibly deep.

"This time, Subaru will walk a different path than any he has walked before — the path of a true hero."

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