New World, New Rules
The Kingdom of Lugnica
'What,' thought Ulric as he was blinded temporarily by a bright light? After blinking a few times, he noticed that he was standing on solid ground, surrounded by several buildings with a large fountain behind him. The buildings reminded him a bit of his home back in Europe except a bit more colorful and a little nicer. It was then that Ulric also noticed the people in the surrounding area, not all of whom were human. 'What's going on, where am I?'
The sight that greeted him was not only of humans walking around, but lizards and dogs wearing clothes strolling about. There were also shorter people than he'd ever seen as well as people who appeared to have animal ears or tails. 'This is not the holy land,' he realized, 'but it is definitely not home either.' It was right about then that some of the people took notice of him, and started steering clear of him.
'Oh right,' Ulric thought as he noticed that his sword was still drawn, and strangely unstained by blood. The knight sheathed his weapon as he took stock of his condition. All of his armor and weapons were clean as the day before the battle, and none of his clothes wore torn or even dirtied. What was more, the injuries he'd sustained in the battle were all gone, in fact he hardly felt any pain at all. 'I don't know how or why I'm here, but I seem to be alright so I may as well look around.'
Ulric began walking the streets, taking in the sights all around him. He seemed to be in some kind of market, given how the streets were lined with stalls selling numerous goods, foods and even a few weapons. Ulric was doing his best to avoid the more animalistic citizens, keeping his hand on his weapon in case one of them turned on him. But the other humans hardly seemed to notice, in fact he saw many striking up conversations, some buying and selling to each other and if he wasn't mistaken he saw a couple walking by holding hands.
'This world seems like a fairy tale that my parents once told me,' thought Ulric, 'only far more descriptive and far stranger.' And just like the fairy tales that his parents told him, this world was not without its dangers. The knight quickly realized this when he heard a young girl in the middle of the street crying for help. The little one had fallen while crossing and was in danger of being crushed by a cart being pulled by a horse-sized, lizard-like being.
Ulric reacted on instinct and rushed out into the street, leaping with outstretched arms as he made it three-quarters of the way. The knight turned to the side, grabbing hold of the frightened girl as he used his momentum to roll the both of them out of the way. He felt the ground shake as the heavy cart rushed by, the driver apparently unable, or too uncaring, to slow down. After waiting for a moment, Ulric stood up and helped the frightened girl to her feet, quickly checking to make sure she wasn't injured.
"Are you alright young lady," asked Ulric as he escorted her the rest of the way off the street. The crowd let out a modest cheer and several applause at his actions.
"Yes, thank you sir knight," said the girl with a bow as she went along her way. Ulric nodded as he turned to head on his way, or at least that was the plan until he felt a tap on his shoulder. Turning around, he was greeted by the sight of another female, though this one possessed dog ears for whatever reason.
"I'm glad a knight has come this way," the woman said, "I'm afraid there's a slight problem in one of the alleyways." Ulric wasn't sure how much he could trust this dog-eared woman, but his oath as a knight dictated that he was a protector of the people. So he followed the instructions given to him by the woman and found a rather deserted part of the street where the entrance to the alleyway stood. Sure enough, as he walked down the alley he spotted three people. One was a surprisingly short individual, who couldn't have been more than four feet tall with a bowl haircut and a cloak concealing the rest of their body.
The second one was a much larger individual, reaching taller than Ulric with a broad body. He was adorned with a vest, a baggy shirt and pants with an orange belt and a turban-like bandana atop his head. The final individual, who Ulric guessed was the leader, wore a plain shirt and pants, similar to prison clothing in his opinion, with white hair and some kind of metal piercings in his tongue and, for whatever odd reason, shackles on his ankles, wrists and neck. They didn't look like much but the young knight had learned a long time ago not to take any enemy too lightly, which was why he exercised caution and approached while their backs were turned.
As he got close, he noticed what had drawn the three robber's attention. At the other end of the alley was a white-haired girl wearing a short, white dress with white fabric hanging off of her arms and two long, white boots which went up past her knees. Her outfit was also interlaced with lines of purple, all of which were likely expensive, and two pieces of cloth hanging off the sides of her hips with golden eagles decorating each. The three robbers were in the process of threatening the girl, demanding her money and possessions. The girl appeared unconcerned with the presence of the three, in fact she seemed to be in something of a hurry. 'I'd best step in,' thought Ulric as he approached, intentionally stepping more heavily than before.
The sound of his footsteps finally got the thieves attention as they spun around to face the newcomer. "I don't know much about the economy of this city," said Ulric, "But it seems like getting jobs shouldn't be so terribly difficult that one should resort to mugging."
"Oh good, we'll have plenty of money now," said the leader of the muggers as he drew a pair of daggers.
"If you leave now and try to turn your lives around, I swear on my honor as a knight that I will neither harm you nor turn you in." Declared Ulric, putting just the slightest bit of authority to his voice.
"Wait knight," said the shortest criminal as he finally spotted the sword on Ulric's hip. "Uh boss, maybe we should just-."
"I'm not scared of some guy in chainmail!" Yelled the leader as he charged at Ulric with his daggers bared. The knight's years of training kicked in as he quickly dodged to the left, noting his attacker's sloppy form. He then quickly cocked his fist back and slammed his armor covered fist into the criminal's face, knocking him into the alley wall where he slumped down into unconsciousness.
"I don't wear this chainmail and banner for show," said Ulric as he stepped forward, glaring at the two remaining criminals.
"Quick, grab the gi-AAAAAAH." The smaller criminal started to say before a block of ice knocked him in the head. The remaining thug and Ulric both looked on in shock as the girl produced another rectangular block of ice out of thin air and fired it. The criminal was too dumbfounded to react in time as the ice knocked him in the head and onto the ground, joining the rest of his compatriots in unconsciousness.
"That takes care of that little annoyance," said the girl as she stepped over the bodies of the downed criminals. "And while it was unneeded, I still thank you for your help sir knight." Ulric didn't know what to say for a moment as the girl began to pass by him.
"H-how did you do that?" Asked a very confused knight, "You created, ice, out of thin air."
"Simple water magic," said the girl as she stopped to answer, "It's a rather basic skill actually."
"Basic?" Questioned Ulric, still incredibly confused, "There's nothing basic about making ice shoot out of your hands. I've seen numerous tricks performed that were supposed to be 'magic' but never once have I seen someone manipulate an element like that."
"Gosh, I guess nothing really happens where you come from," said a voice from seemingly nowhere. In the next instant, a small cat came floating out from behind the girl's hair. Ulric leapt back and drew his sword on reflex.
"What are you demon?!" Questioned Ulric as he pointed his sword at the floating cat, "Are you the demon possessing this girl? Is it you whose given her the power of ice?!"
"Wo, wo slow down there," said the cat, "I'm a spirit, Puck's the name and I'm not possessing anyone. In fact, I'm contracted to Emilia here, so it's more like I work for her."
"Puck!" Exclaimed the girl, who Ulric now knew as Emilia, "Don't just go telling my name to strangers!"
"Oh right," Said Puck as he rubbed the back of his head while still floating in the air, "It just kind of slipped out."
"A spirit you say," said Ulric, still holding his sword up, "Are you some kind of gypsy, or perhaps a witch?"
"I AM NO WITCH!" Exclaimed the girl, practically screaming in Ulric's face, "And I'm not the other thing either! I'm a half elf whose been trained in the spirit arts and I draw my magic from mana like any other magic user. And shame on you for even suggesting that I'm anything like those black-hearted witches!"
"Alright, easy," Said Ulric, lowering his sword at Emilia's sudden outburst, "This place is strange to me is all. Where I come from, only self-proclaimed magicians and witches use magic and it's normally just some kind of trick."
"Gosh, you must come from a bleak place," Said Puck, "Anyone can learn to use magic here so long as they have a good gate."
"Gate?" Questioned Ulric, still very confused as he sheathed his sword.
"We don't have time for this Puck, remember," Said Emilia as she turned to leave, "We have to get my insignia back."
"Wait," Said Ulric as he made to follow after her, "There's a lot I don't know about this place, but I am still a knight. Perhaps I can be of assistance and you can teach me more about this place." This caused Emilia to stop and think for a moment.
"Ah what could it hurt Emilia," Said Puck as he flew out and circled Ulric's head, "He does have some skill, and an extra pair of eyes is never a bad thing." The white-haired girl sighed after a moment.
"Very well sir knight," She finally said, "This is an extraordinarily large city, so I suppose having someone else looking may prove helpful. And, in exchange, I will teach you about this place, but first tell me one thing, what should I call you?"
"You may call me Sir Ulric," Said the knight with a bow, "Or simply Ulric, and for this short time, my sword shall be yours to command." Emilia actually smiled a little at that as the two of them began their search.
Our young knight has found himself in an unfamiliar land, but with the help of this possible new ally he may yet have a chance. Hello everyone and here we are at the end of the second chapter of our new Re:Zero story. I hope you've all enjoyed it so far and please feel free to comment or review, especially if I start messing up the personalities of everyone's favorite characters. And do stop by for our next chapter as Ulric and Emilia run into a more deadly situation than expected in the slums. 'Til next time.