Re:ZERO -Starting Life in Another World Co-op Route

"This is unfair..."

This was supposed to be our victory.

Pain burned through my left shoulder, the wound fresh and relentless. My head throbbed, the fog of unconsciousness only just beginning to clear. I could barely process what was happening, but one thing was certain—those bastards had broken their word.

But that didn't matter.

Behind me, dozens of wounded soldiers stood, barely clinging to life. Their fates hung in the balance, and I was the only thing standing between them and certain death.

But that didn't matter either.

My breath was ragged, each inhale scraping against my throat like sandpaper. My limbs were heavy, screaming for rest, but I forced my shaking hands to move. Despite the dizziness, despite the pain, I conjured an ice spike in my palm.

It didn't matter how many times I failed. It didn't matter how many times I died.

I would not let anyone here die.

That was my resolve.

Tears welled in my eyes, blurring my vision. My fingers trembled, but I clenched my fist around the frozen blade, its chill biting into my skin. My resolve had to be absolute—unyielding. I took a deep breath, tightening my grip, and without hesitation, I drove the ice spike toward my own throat.

The cold edge pierced my skin, sending a sharp, electric pain through my body. I felt the freezing bite tear through flesh, warmth spilling from the wound as blood gushed out. My breath hitched, my vision darkened at the edges, and the pain—god, the pain—was unbearable.

This was the price.

This was what it meant to protect them.

I braced myself for the darkness to claim me once more.

But it never did.

Something was wrong.

I opened my eyes.

The ice spike—gone. Not broken. Not melted. As if it had never existed. My hand was empty, my throat unscarred.

I was still standing. Still breathing.

I didn't go back in time. I didn't die.

A slow, deliberate sound cut through the suffocating silence.

Clap.

Clap.

Clap.

A shiver crawled up my spine.

"A truly magnificent soul."

The voice was light, almost playful, yet dripping with something far more sinister.

I turned toward the sound.

And I saw her.

She stepped forward, moving with an unnatural grace, a presence so overwhelming that even the air seemed to bow in reverence.

She was beautiful. So impossibly beautiful that it was terrifying.

Her long, platinum hair shimmered like woven sunlight, cascading over her delicate shoulders and trailing down her back. Each strand caught the light in a way that felt unreal. Her lashes framed eyes so deep a shade of blue that they seemed to devour the world itself.

Her porcelain skin, untouched by imperfection, was wrapped in nothing more than a single white cloth—a garment that the world itself seemed to permit, as if no other fabric was worthy of gracing her form.

She was fragile, almost unbearably so, yet every fiber of my being screamed that she was the most dangerous entity in existence.

Her voice was like a spell, binding everyone present. No one moved. No one spoke.

We were frozen.

Most of the men around me were enthralled, their reactions similar—captivated, overwhelmed.

But what I felt in that exact moment was something entirely different.

Fear.

True, soul-crushing, mind-numbing fear.

Not the kind that came with battle. Not the fear of death, or failure, or pain.

No, this was something deeper. Something primal.

More than any wound, more than any loss, more than any torment I had ever suffered in my life—nothing compared to the terror I felt standing before this girl.

She tilted her head slightly, amusement flickering across her flawless face.

"What a selfless yet prideful act," she whispered, her voice dripping with sweet malice. "That was truly worthy of praise."

She resumed her slow applause, her slender fingers meeting in quiet, deliberate claps.

Her cheeks were flushed.

Her breathing hitched, a little gasp escaping her lips.

She was excited.

The sight of my struggle—of my resolve—thrilled her.

I swallowed hard, my throat dry as I managed a whisper.

"...Who..."

My body was wrecked, my mind barely functioning. The word barely came out, more of a broken breath than speech.

The girl smiled. A slow, deliberate curve of her lips that sent an unbearable chill down my spine.

And then I forced my voice to work.

"Who the hell are you?"

Her expression didn't falter. If anything, she seemed delighted by my defiance.

"Ah, please forgive my rudeness," she said sweetly, almost mockingly.

Then, she tilted her head, placing a hand over her chest as she introduced herself.

"My name is Pandora," she said.

And with a smile as beautiful as it was horrifying, she added—

"The Witch of Vainglory."

***************************************************************************************

My father once told me. 

When you get over a difficult stage in your life, continue life as a survivor and not as a victim.

A month has already passed since the incident with the Ulgarms, my and Subaru's injuries are completely gone and now we are currently residing in the mansion as butlers. I took my gradually to heal physically and especially mentally. 

The heat of the forge mixed with the scent of metal and burning coal, wrapping around me as I stepped into the dimly lit shop.

"Hey, uncle, are the components I asked for ready?" I called out, wiping the sweat from my brow.

The blacksmith, a burly man with arms thick as tree trunks, turned to me with a questioning look.

"Hello there, Tanaka. Yeah, they're ready," he said, gesturing toward a pile of metal parts wrapped in cloth. "But I still don't get why you keep asking me to make such weird objects."

I grinned, picking up the package. The cool weight of the components in my hands gave me a sense of satisfaction.

___

____

_____

To Natsuki Subaru, "morning" was synonymous with "sleeping time." It was certainly not a time when he was active or full of energy.

Saying that morning sunlight would melt him was an exaggeration, but he did feel like his very DNA was dying off under its rays.

For someone like him, the idea of standing in front of a crowd, leading them in morning exercises under the bright sun, had been completely unimaginable—until about a month ago.

――Then again, getting summoned to another world in the first place had been pretty unexpected, too.

It was a change so drastic that he might as well have hit his head. Actually, considering some of the blows he had taken, it wasn't impossible that his brain had been a little scrambled.

Even so, he wasn't entirely unhappy with the way things had turned out.

"Alright! Now, reach for the sky and finish with—Victory!"

"Victory!!"

As Subaru raised his hands and called out the closing phrase, the crowd enthusiastically echoed his words, signaling the end of their morning exercise session.

Wiping the sweat from his forehead, Subaru looked ahead.

Surrounding him were the villagers from the settlement closest to Roswaal's mansion. Nearly half the village had gathered.

What had started as a simple, half-hearted suggestion on his part had somehow turned into a full-blown morning ritual. The villagers had taken to it far more enthusiastically than expected, leaving Subaru with no choice but to keep it up—despite his well-known tendency to abandon things after three days.

More than anything—

"Subaru! We're done with the exercises!"

"Stamp, stamp! Give us our stamps!"

"Potato! Potato!"

"Damn it, you guys are way too energetic for this early in the morning! But fine, fine, just line up already! The stamps aren't going anywhere!"

Surrounded by eager children demanding their rewards, Subaru let out a sigh, though there was a clear hint of amusement in his expression.

The kids quickly lined up in a neat row. Once satisfied, Subaru turned around and—

"Alright, Emilia-tan, if you would."

"Yes, yes, here you go."

Behind him, Emilia handed him a small bag, her lips curling into a mix of a smile and a sigh.

Inside the bag were small, peeled slices of raw potatoes, carved to roughly the size of a thin roll. The children cheered at the sight of them, and Subaru lifted one up dramatically.

"Alright, let's start stamping! Hand over your papers!"

Dipping the potato's flat side into an ink container, he pressed it onto the children's papers, leaving behind an imprint. Seeing the design appear, the children's faces lit up with excitement.

"So you made potato stamps, huh? Subaru, you really do come up with the weirdest ideas."

"If I shave off the inked surface, it doubles as an emergency food supply. Plus, the designs have a certain artistic charm. Today's stamp is a masterpiece—'Monday Puck'!"

The image appearing on the paper was a small, stylized cat with a strangely melancholic expression. The features were distinct enough that anyone familiar with the model would recognize it instantly. Not that it was much of a mystery, considering the name was right there in the title.

"…Wow. It really does look just like Puck. Subaru, you're actually pretty good at drawing."

"I had way too much free time and spent some of it practicing. Didn't stick with it long enough to get really good, though."

Like many otaku, Subaru had gone through a phase of trying to learn how to draw. Whether one developed a unique art style and became a recognized artist depended on their dedication. In Subaru's case, he had dropped it before reaching that point.

"All I can do now is carve potato stamps in a world where such a thing never existed before and let the kids shower me with admiration."

"That sounds weirdly sad when you put it that way… Also, doesn't this Puck look a little more tired than usual?"

"That's the whole point! It's 'Monday Puck'—it's meant to capture the weary despair of realizing another long week is about to start. See these droopy ears? That's the key detail."

As he passionately explained his artistic intent, Subaru continued stamping the papers of the eager children, marking their participation in the morning exercise.

It was a small gimmick, inspired by summer vacation stamp rallies, that he had come up with. Each night, he carved a new design, and the kids looked forward to seeing what the next stamp would be.

"You guys have really gotten used to the village, haven't you? Subaru and Tanaka might even be more famous than Ram and Rem now!"

"Well, in a way, you could say I'm like a hero who saved the kids! Maybe I'll be remembered as a kind of savior hero?"

Although he said it jokingly, Subaru had actually done enough to justify such recognition, making his words not entirely a joke.

However, Emilia pressed a finger to her lips, tilting her head slightly as she thought and said:

"A savior hero… Hmm, I don't think that's quite right."

"Ah, so people are talking about me, huh? …But if it's not about the forest incident, then what else could it be?"

Since his rescue operation had been anything but graceful, perhaps the praise wasn't all one-sided. However, Emilia's next words took Subaru by surprise.

With a small giggle, Emilia's rosy lips curved into a smile as she said:

"Right now, in the village, people do talk about you as the heroes who saved the children, but more than that, the stronger rumor is that you two a scholars."

"Scholar…? Wait, I can't even lead a band! I have zero musical sense."

Back in elementary school, he had volunteered to play the bass drum in the school's marching band—only to be told, "Just pretend to hit it." He still didn't understand why they never reassigned him to another instrument.

Emilia shook her head, correcting him:

"Not that kind of scholar. I mean in the sense of a knowledgeable person."

"Hmm... I don't know if I like it. It makes me feel like a nerd. Tanaka is a nerd but I'm not. Wait, did I even do anything intellectual?"

"Mayonnaise."

Emilia pointed her finger at him and uttered a single word.

Subaru immediately understood. Ever since the recent incident, Mayonnaise, Pizza and Ketchup found their way to the village. Due to Emilia's insistence that keeping it only at Roswaal's mansion would be a waste, they had shared recipe to nearby villagers.

Then familiar voice rang out from the distance.

"Oi Subaru! Emilia!"

Then they saw me, holding a big bicycle frame and a back full of part, waving at them from afar.

 Emilia greeted with a small wave.

She then looked at Subaru, "I'm glad Tanaka seems more happy these days."

On the day of the incident, he wore a gloomy and serious expression. But gradually, his gloomy face broke down and he started smiling more often, be it when he is with Beatrice or with her whenever they chatted with the spirits together, his cold demeanor slowly melted.

I approached the group, waving, a large metal frame strapped to my back and a bag full of parts in my hands.

The kids cheered as I arrived, some of them running up to me excitedly.

"You made it, Tanaka!"

"What's that thing you're carrying?"

"Are we getting new toys?!"

I chuckled. "Something even better."

As I set the frame down, Subaru crossed his arms. "By the way, did you hear, Tanaka? Apparently, we're known as scholars now."

I blinked. "Oh! Neat!"

Subaru scoffed. "See? That right there is nerd behavior."

I ignored him and started unloading the parts. "Anyway, I got what we needed. Now, bring the other frames, and let's put them together."

Subaru sighed. "You're still working on that thing?"

"You helped me with most of the parts," I reminded him. "All that's left is putting the crankset on, and it's done."

"It's a cool idea, I'll give you that," Subaru admitted, rubbing his chin. "But the last few times didn't exactly go… smoothly."

I waved him off. "Last time was just a miscalculation with the measurements."

Subaru shot me a deadpan look. "You're moving way too fast. The kids are happy enough with some cute stamps, you know."

"You're not looking at the big picture."

I draped an arm around Subaru's shoulders and leaned in conspiratorially.

"Think about it," I whispered. "Once this is finished, won't it be the perfect date idea for you and Emilia? She doesn't know how to ride a bike, right? She'll need someone to teach her…"

Subaru's eyes widened as the gears in his head started turning. Slowly, a dumb grin spread across his face.

"Ohhh… that's genius!" He turned to Emilia with newfound determination. "Tanaka, we must finish this. Let's show this world the greatness of our engineering!"

"There you go!" I grinned. "That's the right attitude!"

Of course, dragging him into this wasn't just about indulging his romantic fantasies. I liked building things, and seeing the reaction of people to the items that I made that were completely foreign to them satisfied me. 

The midday sun beamed down on us as we worked, the rhythmic clanking of metal and the occasional frustrated grunts filling the air. Scattered around us were six bike frames in various stages of completion. Among them, one stood out—larger, sturdier, and sleekly coated in black paint.

Subaru eyed it suspiciously, a knowing smirk creeping onto his face.

"Hey, by the way," he started, rubbing his chin. "That big, black, badass-looking bike over there… That's mine, right?"

I quickly turned away, pretending to focus on a loose chain. "Hey! Careful with the chains when you attach them to the crankset!" I said, deflecting with urgency.

"Uh-huh. Thought so," he muttered, narrowing his eyes before begrudgingly returning to his work.

The assembly process was chaotic but rewarding. We tightened bolts, secured chains, and double-checked the gears. Subaru, despite his usual complaints, was surprisingly good with his hands—at least when he wasn't getting distracted by fantasies of Emilia clinging onto him mid-ride.

After what felt like an eternity of tinkering, we took a step back, surveying our work.

Then, with a triumphant nod, Subaru and I turned to each other.

"Success?" I asked.

"Success!" he confirmed.

With matching grins, we smacked our hands together in a high-five that echoed across the yard.

"Dude, Mayonnaise, Pizzas, Ketchup… and now bikes," Subaru marveled, throwing an arm around my shoulders as he dramatically gestured toward our creations. "At this rate, we're gonna be like Nikola Tesla or Leonardo da Vinci of this world!"

At his comment, I couldn't help but chuckle. I didn't if I liked the sound of it, but I did, in fact, like making stuff. 

With that, I turned to face the kids, clapping my hands to get their attention.

"Alright, it's all set and done! These are your prizes for participating in the competition last time!"

A chorus of excited yet slightly confused murmurs rose from the children. They crowded around, examining the contraptions with curious eyes.

"Uhh… what is it?" one of them asked, tilting his head.

I pointed at one of the bikes. "This is where you sit. Then, you grab the handles here and put your feet on the pedals. Once you push—"

And then, it hit me.

I froze mid-explanation.

Oh crap.

"Shoot!" I blurted out. "I'm late! I have to get the groceries back to the mansion before Ram scolds me!"

Subaru, who was blissfully free from any such obligations thanks to his much-anticipated date with Emilia, barely paid attention. He was still admiring the bikes, a proud smile on his face.

Realizing I had no time to waste, I turned to Subaru. "Hey, Subaru! You teach them, alright? I gotta get back to the mansion before Ram turns me into mincemeat!"

Without waiting for his response, I grabbed my grocery bags, swung my leg over my own custom-made bike—built without supporting wheels, of course—and kicked off.

"Wait, what about my bike—?!"

Before Subaru could finish his sentence, I was already speeding away, the wind whipping past me.

"WOOHOOO!" I shouted as I took off, my voice echoing through the village.

The kids gasped in awe, watching me vanish down the path at a speed far beyond what they expected.

"Whoa…! He's so fast!"

"I want to try it as well!"

But their voices quickly faded into the distance as I picked up speed, the rhythmic clanking of the chain and the rush of air filling my ears.

____

_____

As I rode, the world around me blurred into streaks of green and brown. The wind carried the faint scent of damp earth and freshly baked bread from the village market, blending with the soft rustling of leaves overhead.

For the first time in a while, I felt a sense of peace—some clarity amid the chaos of my new life.

Has it really been a month since I arrived here?

Time had moved in a strange way, like sand slipping between my fingers. Some days felt like they dragged on forever, while others passed in the blink of an eye.

Regardless, I still had questions. Questions that no amount of time seemed to answer.

How do I get back home?

"Dad was stalking me, so they must have found out that I'm missing," I muttered under my breath.

Despite moving to another city, my father still had eyes on me thanks to his influence. But this? With me being in another world is an entirely different story.

The thought gnawed at me, but more than anything, I worried about my mother.

"I just hope Mom isn't too worried…"

A quiet sigh escaped my lips.

At the very least, I was trying. Studying in Beatrice's library had given me countless opportunities to learn about this world. I spent hours poring over books, searching for anything—anything—that could hint at a way back home. But so far, I had found nothing concrete.

It was frustrating.

No, it was expected.

"By the way guys? Any news about that big white ball friend of yours."

From an outsider's perspective, I must've looked insane—talking to myself in the middle of an empty road. But before anyone could confirm my insanity, tiny blue beams of light flickered into existence around me, dancing in the air like fireflies.

At this point, my interactions with the spirits felt as natural as breathing. Ever since Emilia started inviting me to join her spirit talks, I had grown used to their presence—though, admittedly, it had been awkward at first.

The lights pulsed in response, their flickering patterns forming an answer.

"…Nothing, huh?" I muttered, a tinge of disappointment in my voice.

That was the same response I had been getting for weeks.

Ever since the day I woke up from that vision—when I first encountered that strange white spirit—I hadn't seen it again. Not even once.

That thing… that entity… it could probably give me answers. But it can't be helped for now.

I exhaled and adjusted my grip on the handlebars.

As I rounded a bend in the road, the towering silhouette of Roswaal's mansion emerged in the distance. The grand estate stood tall against the horizon, its elegant structure bathed in the warm afternoon light.

Just a few more minutes and I'll be there.

But then—

"Huh?"

I narrowed my eyes, slowing my bike as I spotted something unusual near the entrance.

A single carriage was parked just outside the mansion's grand gates. But calling it a "carriage" didn't quite feel right.

The reason was simple.

Instead of being pulled by a horse, the vehicle was harnessed to a massive lizard.

The creature was nearly the size of a horse, its scaly hide glistening under the sun. Its powerful legs dug into the dirt, its long tail flicking lazily behind it. A faint puff of mist left its nostrils as it breathed, its reptilian eyes blinking slowly.

I had seen these creatures before—ground dragons.

But the real question was…

Who arrived at the mansion?