In the dining room of Subaru's mansion (formerly Roswaal's mansion)

It was around 6:30 PM now, and the meals were ready. Just as Subaru was going to start talking about his past, Rem and Ram came in with the food on the cart, like they usually do. The dinner was the same as any other meal that the Roswaal's domain had in the past. Tiffania, Luctiana, Theo, Emilia, Bidashal, and Subaru all grabbed their dinner. Both Rem and Rem walked behind Subaru and stood there, like they did for their master named Roswaal. All of the members were looking at Subaru, waiting for him to start to tell his story. That included Emilia. "Well? Are you going to get started, Subaru?" Luctiana asked. Subaru sighed. "Okay, okay." He took a deep breath, then looked at everyone. "Before I came…here, I was living my life in Japan, near the capital." Emilia was the first one to ask Subaru a question. "Capital? Of a place called 'Japan'?" Subaru nodded. "That's right, Emilia-tan. The name of the capital is Tokyo. There is so many people there that you can't even begin to fathom. As for me, I grew up in the 'suburbs' of Tokyo." Once again, Emilia was confused. These names are completely foreign to her, so she must ask Subaru what these words mean. "'Suburbs'? Subaru, what does that mean? I'm sorry, but I don't understand what you're talking about." Subaru tried to clarify what he meant by that word. "Emilia-tan, when I say 'suburbs', I mean a smaller city of sorts. Remember how Lugnica's capital has 5 districts with the smaller cities around? It's the same thing here in Tokyo. Smaller cities surround Tokyo. I came from Chiba, a city that is close to Tokyo. Before that, I moved from a region called Hokkaido, which is the northern part of Japan. Emilia, you may remember me saying that. That is because that is where I came from. Where I was born."

There are transport methods to get from my place to the capital, but I'll talk about that later. Regarding my life before I got here, I was born to Kenichi Natsuki, who is my father, and Naoko Natsuki, my mother. In my hometown, we would be considered middle to upper-middle class. To Lugnican citizens, they would see us as royalty. It was an easy life." Emilia didn't say anything. Bidashal was curious about something. "When you said it was easy, then why did you hate yourself?" Subaru shook his head. "Why? It has something to do with my father. You see, my father is very well known and liked in the town, and me, being the son of that father, naturally felt the pressure of trying to live up to my father." Emilia closed her eyes. She was mumbling something. "Subaru…" Subaru didn't notice and continued. "Seeing that my father acted in a goofy manner around me, I imitated his behavior, because that is what I believed made him liked around the town. Emilia-tan, Rem, Ram, what you should know is that kids do not start working immediately in my hometown." They were all perplexed. "What?" Subaru nodded. "It's true, kids are enrolled in an education system when they are young, and are released when they are 18. From there, they either go into the workforce, or go into secondary education to pursue their dreams. Our fate is to become a working member of society, a cog in the system." Emilia was interested to hear Subaru's backstory.

Subaru kept recalling his past. "I used to have a lot of friends when I just started my education. My dad was my idol. I wanted to be like him. So I acted like him. At first, I was ahead of everyone in my class. But….." Emilia looked at Subaru with her purple-blue eyes. "But?" Subaru looked at Emilia. "But that only made me look like a fool in class. As I got older, my personality started to drive away all of my friends. I was no longer first at everything. Eventually, I had no friends at all." Luctiana put her hand on her chin, and tapped the other hand on the table as she was eating the food. "Subaru, what happened to you after that? After you lost all of your friends for trying to be like your dad?" The half-elf sitting in Roswaal's spot let a frown form on his face. Subaru was ashamed for what he had done. "Well….after that, I kept myself throughout my middle school days. And then, it was time for high school. Trying to reinvent myself there, trying not to live under the pressure of my dad, I make a complete fool of myself there. I've always have that thought of people thinking of my as, 'he's that father's son, after all'. That has always been on the thought of my mind." Bidashal was confused. "Subaru, what did you even do to make a fool out of yourself?" Subaru let out a sigh. "Bidashal, what I did was cross-dress as a girl." Luctiana let out a laugh. "Cross dressed as a girl?! Subaru-san, what the hell were you thinking in the first place?" Subaru shrugged, as if he didn't really want to talk about it. "I honestly don't know why. All I know was that after I did that, everyone started to ignore me. As a result, I developed a severe anxiety in which I was afraid to go to school. I started to skip going to school once a day, then twice a day. Eventually, it snowballed into full-on hikikomori." Emilia was still eating as she heard Subaru talking about how he started to skip school. Once again, another new word that Emilia heard for the first time in her life.

"'Hikikomori'? Subaru, what does that mean? I'm not sure what a 'hikikomori' means." Subaru put his hand out in front, "Sorry about that Emilia-tan. Your father will explain what the word means." Theo turned to his daughter, who was looking at him with curiosity. "Emilia, what Subaru-san meant is that a person who is called a 'hikikomori' is a person who withdraws from social life, often spending their time in their house. In other words, they rarely come out of their house. Yeah, when I said he hated himself, this is why he hated himself. For failing to live up to be like his father." Emilia looked at Subaru. "Subaru, is this all really true? Did you really isolate yourself?" Subaru's face was full of sadness. He didn't want Emilia to see his weaker side, but he had to show it to her if he loved her, as she won't understand. Subaru nodded slowly. "Emilia-tan. Yeah. That is the truth. Didn't you said you can't understand if I don't tell you? Well, now you know why I was acting like that. I….I….feel ashamed of myself. I'm sorry." Emilia face was also filled with a slight sorrow as well.

"Oh Subaru. I have never seen this side of you before. I lashed out back at the capital without hearing your side." Subaru looked at Emilia. It seemed that she was thinking about something, so Subaru tried to ask her. "Uh…Um….Emilia-tan. What's wrong?" Emilia waved her hand as she heard Subaru. "Oh, it's nothing. Please don't worry about it, Subaru." Subaru kept staring at her. "If so, feel free to tell me, Emilia-tan. Besides, while I was at my home, I pretty much did absolutely nothing. Before you jump on me, playing video games, manga, and watching anime does not count as doing something productive!" Emilia was hit with a whole new wave of terms that Subaru used. Of course, she was going to be lost on what Subaru was trying to say. Tiffania saw that Emilia was confused, so she clarified what Subaru was trying to say. "Emilia-san, what Subaru-san meant by 'video games', 'manga', and 'anime' are forms of entertainment. You know how kids play together to have fun….right? Those three words are three different types of mediums that serve the purpose as entertainment." Emilia nodded, as she understood what Tiffania was saying. "Tiffania-sama, Bidashal-san, Luctiana-sama, your ears are really pointy. I haven't see any elves like you around Lugnica." Bidashal nodded. "That's right. In our place, we are a different type of elf, so we have different ears. However, we will most likely face discrimination due to the events that occurred here a while back."

Emilia nodded. She recalled her experiences going to the village, and they rebutted her as Emilia tried to get to come to the mansion, where they will be safe. Subaru was listening. When they were done, Subaru continued. "And that's what I continued to do, until I went to the convenience store one night. For the next several months, I did nothing. I wasted away my life like a piece of shit. My parents weren't around, so it was easy to live a life like that. Also, the anxiety of going to school played a role as well. I remember my mom telling me to clean the cup, but I left it uncleaned as I headed to the convenience store." Theo facepalmed. "Subaru, you used to be so lazy that you didn't even bother to clean one single cup?!" Once again, Subaru felt guilt in him. He gripped his blue crystal, in which Edan was still inside. "Yeah, Theo. I was that lazy. It wasn't a life that I should have lived in the first place. That one day was also a day where I played video games in my room all day. Not a productive thing to do. There, I bought some food, which were ramen and a bag of chips for 363 yen. After that, I walked out of the store. It was night at the time, around 8:00 PM. From that point, everything then was history following that. The place around me distorted, and I ended up in Lugnica, around noon, I think. Yeah, around noon. The sun was bright and high in the sky at that time. Placed down right in the middle of the capital of Lugnica. I know, I couldn't believe it at first."

Subaru kept looking down. Thinking about it, he didn't even had a chance to say goodbye to his parents. "The last thing, my mom said….before I left….the store, was that 'Have a nice day'. I didn't say anything at the time, I was not in the best mood. That…was….the biggest mistake that I have….ever made." Subaru struggled to keep it together, as he felt tears starting to form on his eyes. He stayed silent for a couple of minutes. "That….would be the last time that I saw both of my parents. I found myself in Lugnica, with no money, no place to go, and no friends or family. I was alone, in a place that was unfamiliar to me" Subaru let out a sad smile. "I was simply a homeless person, with no purpose in this world, until everything changed one day." Emilia put her hand on her cheek and looked up, then back at Subaru. "One day, Subaru?" Subaru nodded. "Yes. Emilia-tan, I used to have this ability I called the following: Return by Death." Emilia was confused. The term that she just heard from Subaru seemed like a scary one. "Return….Return by Death?! Subaru, what do you mean by that?" Subaru, looking at Emilia, closed his eyes. "Return by Death, is an ability that activates when you die. When you die, you are taken back by a certain amount of time, repeating the same events over and over again until you get past it. In other words, you are immortal." Emilia shook her head. "Subaru, is that why you couldn't tell me…back at the capital?" Subaru shook his head. "Yes, Emilia-tan. This power comes at a terrible price. The memories and conversations you had are gone in an instant. The only one who can remember is yourself. You can imagine how hard it was for someone like me, an ordinary person who was given with this cursed ability. I felt….I felt like I was going to lose hope….I saw horrific things, that no one should ever experience, things that are better to never be described in the first place. I suffered so much during that time. I was miserable."

The group kept eating. BIdashal, Theo, Luctiana, and Tiffania kept quiet because they already knew what horror Subaru went through. Emilia, Rem, and Ram don't know, however. Rem was the first one to comment. "Subaru-kun, what do you exactly mean?" Subaru turned to Rem, who was standing beside him. "Rem, I…..I have died….three times in the past week, on the 7th and 6th days." Emilia was wondering something. "Died….died three times? Subaru, does that mean you were going through the exact same events three times in a row?" Subaru looked up in the dining room, then looked back down. "It….it all began…back at the capital, back when Emilia-tan left me to be treated at Crusch's mansion with Ferris. For the first four days, everything was normal. I didn't do much for the first three days, mostly staying in the mansion. I went out on the 4th day. By that time, a billboard was posted about all the Royal Election candidates. On the firth day however, Crusch told me and Rem that there was troubling movement within the former Roswaal's domain. That movement turned out to be nothing but the sinister Witch Cult." Emilia looked at Subaru in a sad manner. "It looks like Subaru is telling the truth. There's no way he is lying. It's too detailed, too real." Subaru continued in a somber tone.

"Rem got the message from Ram that the mansion was in trouble. Naturally, I decided to head back there, even though it would break the contract that Emilia-tan had with Crusch." Ram shook her head. "Barusu, what happened afterwards? To the mansion? To the villagers." Subaru wasn't happy whatsoever. "The…..the route was going to be a half a day, but we had to take the longer route, which takes about two days. The White Whale was in our way. Rem…she put me to sleep, on the fifth day. By the time I returned to Roswaal's domain, it was too late." Emilia looked at Subaru. His hands were shaking, as if he was struggling to talk about this subject. "Too late?" Subaru was barely holding back his tears. "Emi…Emilia-tan. Once I got there, I was greeted by the Witch Cult, who they all bowed to me. I had no idea why at the time. I was running towards Arlam village, all night, into the 7th day. The…dawn of the 7th day. I found…out..the village…..was….was….mas..massacred! And t…then, I approach the manor, Rem….she…w..was gone. *sniff* *sniff*. And so was…I don't want to think about it." Subaru was trying his best to fight back the tears of recalling everything. "Everyone one was dead. Everyone. I want to show you this thing from my Metia, Emilia-tan. Rem, Ram." With that, Subaru got out his One Plus 6T and typed in the following in the Google search bar: 'Re: Zero episode 14 witch cult'. Subaru went to the image that showed the Witch Cult members surrounding Subaru, as he was making his way back to the mansion. He first showed it to both Ram and Rem. "Huh?!" They were both confused. Subaru pointed at his smartphone. Ram narrowed her eyes to look at the picture. "No doubt about it. This painting that Barusu has shown us is the Witch Cult."

Subaru's recall of the loops

Subaru then showed the picture to Emilia. She had no idea what Subaru had in his hand, but she looked at the 'painting' that Ram mentioned. Emilia asked Subaru about it. "Subaru, what's this?" Subaru started to explain. "This is what I came across. By the time I was there, they have already killed everyone off. As for the metia, I'll explain it to you later." Subaru then walked back to his seat. "I was taken aback…with grief and horror. I decided to check the mansion to see what was going on. The mansion…was dead silence. Furthermore, there was overturned furniture. And then, I found Rem and Petra….both of them…dead. Petra…no. I can't say the deals. It's too gruesome. I then…found Emilia-tan's….white flower on the ground…covered in blood. So I followed the blood trail, which led to the basement of the mansion. It was ice cold." Rem looked at Subaru. "What happened afterwards, Subaru-kun?" Subaru shook his head. "I touched the frozen door, and before I knew it, I was dead. The last thing that I head was that I was too late. Most likely, that was Puck. And then, Return by Death kicked in. It sent me back, about three days. So, in other words, I had only three days to…stop the Witch Cult, to stop the massacre. To stop this nonsense. Not only that, I felt powerless to stop it. I had no abilities to speak of at that time." Emilia shook her head. "Subaru. In other words, you were in…this 'loop' of sorts." Subaru clinched his fists. "Yeah, I was. My sanity was failing. I wanted to stop the Witch Cult. It was the right thing to do. If I knew that tragedy was impending, I would do something to stop it. But I was far too gone at that time. Rem took me back to see you. Once again, we went the same route, only to be attacked by the Witch Cult once again. This time, they took me to the cave, where I meet their leader, Sloth. He reveled himself to Petelgeuse, which I didn't know at the time. And Rem was, well…tortured to death. Once again, the Witch Cult has killed everyone in the village, and the mansion. And I died, to Puck, again. You have no idea how desperate I was becoming in the third loop."

Emilia and the others were listening to Subaru telling his story. Subaru shook his head. "All that I wanted…wanted…was to use my Return by Death….to save people's lives. That's all that I ever wanted. In Japan, and in our society, from my hometown, we help out others, regardless of the circumstances. We were taught to help others, because that was the right thing to do. You want to know what happened in the third loop?" Ram looked at Subaru. "Go on Barusu. Emilia-sama would like to hear it too." Subaru looked at Emilia, who pleaded at Subaru. "Please Subaru, let us hear it. Let Rem and Ram hear your story as well." Subaru nodded at all three of them. "As you wish. I tried to ask for help from the Royal Selection candidates, but they all turned me down. You know, my self-worth got even worse, as if my sense of worth was already low enough in the first place. Anastasia was the only one that could be considered helping, but she gave me the carriage. I had to get back to the mansion, to warn everyone about the impending Witch Cult attack. So this time, we took the shorter route, which was much more dangerous, since the White Whale was there at the time. As expected, Rem and I ran into the White Whale, and Rem put me to sleep, so that she could protect me. When I woke up, she was gone. Otto was in the carriage with me, and he forgot about Rem. By that time, Rem was erased from existence. Otto pushed me of his carriage, so that he could live. At that time, I….feared…dying…dying was always a painful experience. I didn't want that again. By the time the White Whale's fog cleared up, Otto was gone. I saw a Witch Cult dagger on the carriage. It must have been the case that Otto was ambushed. I was battened up, with injuries that were pretty bad. When it was daylight again, I was back in Roswaal's domain. The kids were the first one to greet me. Most of all, I was glad to make it their when I was still alive. Worn down from my injuries, I passed out right there. When I woke up, I was back at the mansion. Ram was right beside me. Emilia-tan, the one that healed me….was you in that loop."

A small smile came from Emilia. Subaru smiled as well. "So when I was there, I asked if Ram knew Rem. Since she got wiped by the Whale, her existence is wiped too. No one has any memory of her. I was…so desperate, to escape…to escape this…suffering…of death…of pain. So I went to Emilia-tan's room to try to get her to leave the mansion, because the Witch Cult was going to come. What that didn't work, I wanted to tell Emilia-tan about Return by Death. Of course, this is before I am free to tell you about this ability." Both of them also found a seat, as they were tired of sitting. "Subaru-kun, what happened after that?" Subaru's head went down. "D…Disaster struck. S…Satella…..killed…..E…E…Emi…" Subaru couldn't hold back anymore, as tears came rolling down his face. He didn't want to show this side to Emilia, but he did." Emilia came rushing over to comfort Subaru, as he had his head on the table, with his arm covered to hide his weakness. "Subaru…..I'm….I'm right here. You don't have to worry about it. I'm right here." Theo looked at Subaru. "This kid has been through quite a lot. I feel sorry for him." Subaru was shaking real bad. Even Tiffania, Luctiana, and Bidashal noticed. It took a good ten minutes for Subaru to calm down. By now, it was around 7:00 PM. Subaru tried to wash the dry tears from his face, and sighed.

"Well, after that, I was with Emilia-tan's..bo..body for a long time. Beatrice, sent me out of the mansion, along with Emilia's body. And then, Sloth and the Witch Cult members surrounded us. Due to my powers getting stronger, I could see his hands. It was a sight that no one should see. They were prepared to rip her body apart. Puck, came to save his daughter. So, he wiped out of the all of the members of the Witch Cult. Puck, he even killed Sloth. That cat transformed into his true form, and wiped them out. And then, he turned to me. Puck did." Emilia looked at Subaru. Puck at this moment was still sleeping. "Subaru, what did Puck say to you? During that 'loop' of sorts?" Subaru shook his head. He didn't want to talk about it, but had no choice. Subaru continued. "Puck in his true form told me that I had committed three sins. The first one was that I broke my promise to Emilia. He also told me I don't seem to understand how important a promise is to a spirits-art user. You want to know why I don't seem to understand?! BECAUSE I WASN'T TOLD ABOUT THAT! I came from a place that has NO MAGIC, NO SPIRIT-ARTS users. What?! That isn't even fair in the first place. Secondly, Puck said I returned to the mansion against her wishes. Are you SERIOUS? Everyone was going to die! So what am I going to do? GO with Emilia's wishes, and let everyone in the village and in the mansion die?! I CAN'T DO THAT! No one in their right mind would do that! Saving everyone in the mansion and the village takes priority! And then, to drop the kicker, Puck had the audacity to say I let Lia die. What….I'm a human, not someone who has resurrection abilities. I know damn well if I had those powers, I would have used them already! To say that I let Lia die is ridiculous! I'm just a former hikki-NEET from Japan. It's not my fault that happened! He said that I was slothful. I was just doing my best! Trying my best. What else could I have done! And then, I froze to death, by Puck. Again."

Most of all, his self-worth was dropping even further from Puck's statement. Emilia looked at Subaru. "And you returned, to that store, for the third time now? Subaru, what happened after that?" Subaru looked down at himself. What he was about to say next was going to be filled with shame. "I…I almost made the exact same mistake that I had made before. That is, running away. Running away from his problems, like a coward. It was something that I was good at, running away from my problems, despite having Return by Death. Just like I did in Japan, I was about to do the same thing here, when I was stuck in this loop. How can I even think of doing something like that in the first place?! But despite my plans, Rem said that I was her hero, even when I hated myself. I'm sorry….Emilia-tan. I was too hard on myself, saying that I was a useless piece of trash, but I'm not. It's me, having horrible self-esteem issues, letting myself be my worst enemy. I have always viewed myself as a small, pathetic, piece of trash who was worried out how he looked to others around him. I'm just a former human from Japan, living an easy life on the couch…playing games all day. "

Subaru let out a sad smile at Emilia. She was eating the last bits of the food. Emilia's face was sad as well, now realizing how hard Subaru was trying and how much he hated himself. Everyone followed suit, and Rem and Ram cleaned up the dining area after everyone was done. Subaru cleared his throat. "Well, after that, I regained by self-esteem, and grouped up everyone to fight against the Witch Cult and the White Whale. With the weapons that these elves have, we wiped them out with little trouble. They didn't stand a chance against us. Well, Crusch and Ferris and the others left to return to their specific factions. With Roswaal gone, I'll like to introduce you guys to several new things that we will be integrating into this place in the next couple of weeks." Subaru sat and began walking around. Luctiana encouraged Subaru to try something. "Tell everyone here what you are planning." Subaru nodded. "Emilia-tan, Ram, you may have been wondering what this metia I have is in the first place. Subaru then got out his One Plus 6T and held it up. Emilia looked at the metia. "It's that same metia that Subaru was holding. What is that thing?" Subaru cleared his throat. "This here is not a metia. It is what my place calls technology." Emilia was confused. "Technology? I want to understand Subaru, but I can't." Theo cleared his throat so that he could talk to his daughter. "Emilia, the word technology is the knowledge of techniques, processes, and the like of such things, or it can be integrated into the device without detailed knowledge of how it works. That right there is what Subaru's place called it, a 'smartphone'. You can say it is a highly advanced metia that makes the Communication Mirrors look bad." Emilia nodded and looked at Subaru. "Is it true? This…'smartphone'. It is from your place?"

The smartphone is introduced

Subaru nodded as he took a long look at his OnePlus 6T. "Yes, it is from my place…Emilia-tan. In fact, almost everyone has their own smartphone/phone device that allows for communication. Since it'll be hard explaining things to you, I think it is better that I show and tell." With that, Subaru moved his chair so that he will be right by Emilia. Her cheeks turned a little red due to how close Subaru was. Unconsciously, Subaru was also flushed as well. His heart was beating quite quickly as well, despite his best attempts to calm down. Subaru pulled out his One Plus 6T to show it to Emilia. "Emilia-tan, this is a smartphone called the One Plus 6T. The '6T' references the model number of the device. Watch me, it's going to be like magic." Emilia nodded and watch as Subaru turned on his screen. He then placed his right thumb onto the screen, activating the in-display fingerprint sensor and taking him to the main phone menu screen. Emilia was amazed. She hasn't seen anything like this before. "Subaru, that is magic for sure, right? Throughout my life, I have not even come across something like this before." Subaru nodded. "Yes, this is how you can unlock this 'smartphone' metia. There is also another way to do it, Emilia-tan." Subaru then locked the smartphone screen again, turning it black. Emilia noticed it. "Subaru, it turned black again." Subaru looked at Emilia. "It's designed to, upon pressing a button." Subaru looked at Emilia, turned the phone on, and turned his face to the screen. Due to the Face Screen Unlock feature, it took Subaru to the main page. Emilia shook her head. "Subaru…..did you….just turn on that metia by looking at that thing?" Subaru was happy to show this.

Theo was looking at Subaru introducing Emilia to the smartphone. He chuckled in silence. "So, my daughter is getting a taste at this new technology. Let's hope this helps her with the Royal Elections. She has no idea how potent this thing is. I know that Subaru will give her own personal phone to play with in the future. This is going to be a huge boon for her." At this point, Subaru began to show off to Emilia. She had a few questions of her own. "Subaru, how does this thing even work? You seem to have…hang of things." Subaru replied as he began to demonstrate by swapping the screen. "Watch, Emilia-tan. This metia operates by gestures and touch. In other words, using your hands to navigate around." Subaru swiped left and right, causing the screen to go to the next page that displayed the apps on the screen. Emilia was shocked that a device like this could have existed in Subaru's world. "Just…by touch? And Subaru, what are those…things? There's a lot of things I don't understand." Subaru looked at the screen and point to one of the many icon's on his One Plus 6T. "Emilia-tan, you mean the icons? They are called 'applications' or 'apps' for short. Think of it is this. The smartphone is one metia, but there are things called 'apps' that have their own function. In other words, a metia within a metia. I'll demonstrate one of the functions right now?" Subaru turned to Theo. "Theo, can I have a little help? I want to demonstrate to your daughter on how the smartphone works. Can I get your phone number?" Theo let out a smile on his face. "Sure, Subaru, I'll give you my phone number. It is: 456-8942." Emilia was confused at what her father was doing at the moment. "Phone number?" Theo looked at his daughter. "It's a special 7 digit number combination that allows for other people to talk with me. Subaru and I will show you how it works." Subaru went to the phone app, with Emilia watching. Ram was also interested in seeing what Subaru and Theo were about to do next.

In fact, she was watching over Emilia and Subaru the entire time. Emilia shook her head. She couldn't believe what she was seeing. "Subaru went into that thing, by touching it. Maybe…I…can give some to the villagers as well." Subaru began to dial Theo's phone number. He called Theo. The phone was ringing. Subaru put the phone on his right ear. In a few seconds, Theo got a ring on his Note 9 and picked it up. "Hello, Subaru-san. Testing, testing, can you hear me?" The voice coming through Subaru's phone was loud and clear. "Theo-san, I can hear you loud and clear. This test is a success?" From Emilia's point of view, she saw Subaru was able to communicate with Theo in a similar manner to the Communication Mirrors that she used in the capital. To Emilia though, this metia looks like it could have done a lot more than just communicate with other people. "I see. Subaru, so this is a different form of the Communication Mirror?" Subaru shrugged his shoulders to Emilia. "Not exactly, Emilia-tan. It can do more than just talk between two people. In fact, it can do way, way more. You can even install 'apps' into this as well. You aren't stuck with the default ones. You can install anything you want in this."

Subaru wanted to demonstrate to Emilia the phone capabilities. "When you get good enough, you can do this, getting from one metia to the next metia." Emilia watched as he was opening apps and closing the rapidly, looking at stuff, typing stuff fast, closing that app. It went on for about 15 seconds. When done, Subaru turned to Emilia. "What I did there was rapid multitasking. But most important of them all, this metia is information at your fingertips." Emilia's frowned. She was lost on what Subaru was trying to say. "Information? At your fingertips?" Subaru let out a smile. "That's right, this metia allows me to look up any information that I want right now. For example, I can go into this metia called, 'Chrome' to access what is known in my place as the 'World Wide Web', a massive database of information. Think of it as a library in Lugnica's capital, or Betty's library." Emilia nodded. Slowly, she began to understand. "Subaru, you were going so fast, it's like you have been living with this type of metia for quite a long time." Subaru's expression turned into excitement. "Emilia-tan! They have information about us! About Lugnica! I would like to show you!" Emilia was curious. "Subaru, please show me. I can't read the writing on that metia, so you can translate it for me, okay?" Subaru nodded. He turned to his One Plus 6T and pulled out Chrome. He closed the last tab and open a new one. Subaru went into the Re:Zero wiki. There, he went straight for the Emilia page. He then showed it to Emilia. She took a closer look at the thing. A gasp came from her. She pointed at the screen. "That's…..that's me. Why am I in there?" Subaru explained. "That there, is what the 'World Wide Web' has. It has information on everything, including you. Shall I read it to you, Emilia-tan?" Emilia nodded her head in approval. Subaru began to translate the article for Emilia. "This says that you are a half-elf, and a candidate to become the 42nd King of Lugnica. It also says that you are around 107 years old, with silver hair and purple blue eyes. You have a relative listed on there, but for some reason, Theo isn't included, it's only Fortuna, your aunt. Hmm, there is also a history part there as well. It said that you lived with Fortuna, in Elior Forest, on your father's side. Can you remember that?"

Emilia was silent for a couple of seconds. She was trying to remember. Emilia could remember some bits, but not all of them. "I think so, Subaru. But I don't remember the exact details behind it." Subaru kept going. "It said that one day, both Pandora and Regulus attacked the Elior Forest, Geruse (known as Sloth), and accidentally killed Fortuna by Pandora's illusion. As a result, it said that you froze the entire forest, along with yourself. It went on to say that several years before the start of the election, Puck found you, unfrozen you, and began to act as your surrogate father and mentor. Well, more like mentor now that your real father is here with us." Emilia nodded. "Whatever you said to me, all of that is true. Puck found me and I formed a contract with him." Subaru kept looking at the article for any useful information. "It also seems to me that you stayed together in Elior Forest for a couple of years due to hostility of nearby villages and towns. Then, Roswaal found you and offered you to become the 42th King of Lugunica to save the citizens of Eilor Forest with the blood of Volcanica." Theo stood up to stretch his legs, as he was sitting in one position for far too long now. Meanwhile, both Tiffania and Luctiana were on their Note 9, as their attention span isn't the best. They were looking up new ways to improve themselves in Fortnite. "Tiffania, there is a new mode going on. Shall we play it right now? Subaru is currently explaining things to Emilia-sama right now, things that we already know." The blonde half-elf nodded. "I feel bad for doing this, not paying attention to him, but let's get going and play some Duos." Both Luctiana and Tiffania began playing Fortnite. Emilia shook her head again. Everything that Subaru said was true. "I still don't have the understanding of what this 'World Wide Web' is, but it somehow has information about me. Subaru, this metia you call a 'smartphone' is definitely something." Theo was silent. "I knew it, Fortuna didn't make it. If I was there, maybe she…..no. I can't think about that. The past is in the past. My sister wants me to move ahead. I know that she wants me to move ahead in the first place. That's the kind of person she is."

Theo turned to Subaru. "Even then, there seems to be prejudice in every town, every village that my daughter came across. It must have been very hard for Emilia to go through all of this. Satella though is the cause of this. If she was a beast human, they would receive the brunt of the discrimination." There was sadness in Emilia's eyes. Theo caught to it, "Emilia, it's not your fault. It's Satella fault. Also, there is something I like to mention in regards to Subaru's 'special treatment' of you." Emilia's purple blue eyes looked at her father. "'Special treatment?'" Theo nodded. "You said it like it was a bad thing, my daughter. You see, 'special treatment' from Japan means a good thing, because they don't have this prejudice crap that Lugnica has at the moment. In Japan, 'special' treatment is a good thing. So please, go easy on Subaru. He has been through quite a lot over the past month or so." Subaru nodded. "Anything else you would like to know about this 'smartphone'?" Emilia spoke up. "Um, Subaru, what is this 'game' thing you are talking about in the first place?" Subaru looked at his phone. "I'll explain that to you later. Ram, and Emilia-tan, do you want to know more about where I came from?" Emilia nodded her head in a 'yes' way. Ram looked at Subaru, the new lord of the domain, "Barusu, tell me. Tell Emilia-sama about what is it like over there. In this so called placed named Japan, Barusu." A smile came from Subaru. "Allright, you asked for it. Well, the most important thing to know, is that my place, there is no magic. Magic exists only in fairy tales. There is no such thing as mana gates." This shocked both of them, as they lived in a world where there is magic. Emilia asked Subaru. "There…there's no magic in that place, Subaru? In Japan."

More about Japan

Subaru nodded as he field with his fingers. "Yes, there is no magic. There is no Spirit Arts users whatsoever. There isn't even demi humans on Earth. It's just humans. Nothing more, nothing less." Emilia was silent as Subaru continued. She wanted to ask something about Subaru's place, regarding the method of transportation. In this world, Emilia uses the dragon carriages to around from place to place. "Subaru, does your place have dragon carriages?" Subaru shook his head. "Emilia-tan, my place used to have carriages as a means for transportation. However, they were last seen in common use around 100 years ago. Today, they are rendered obsolete by what are known as 'automobiles' or 'cars'." Once again, yet another new term that Emilia has never heard of before. "'Car'? 'Automobile'?" Subaru clarified on this wording. "They are transportation carriages, which are operated by the driver. Automobiles are composed of metals, and they don't use land dragons to move it. Rather, they use what are called 'engines', which require fuel to operate. Cars drive much, much faster than a dragon carriage. Not only that, but they are much more agile than carriages of the past that we use. Cars are the primary means of transportation now, from where I am. If I had a car, I might be able to operate it without any problems. I was on the brink of getting a driver's license." Emilia nodded. She then turned to Theo, tilting her head in the process.

"Father, is what Subaru is saying is true?" Theo let out a small smile towards his daughter. "Emilia, Subaru is right. From where he is from, carriages have been deemed obsolete. There are so many forms of transportation that are so fast, that I bet they can take you from Lugnica to the other nations in around in just a manner of hours." Emilia was amazed at what Subaru was telling her. "To think that there were so many forms of getting around. Subaru, you are one weird person." Subaru scratched his head. "It's nothing much, Emilia-tan. Would you like to see what Tokyo looks like, my home country's capital?" Ram agreed. "Barusu, I would like to see this 'Tokyo' place of yours." Subaru went back to his One Plus 6T, searched up Tokyo on Google Images, and found a good picture. He then showed it to Emilia." What Emilia saw was a city of sorts that had so many buildings, that she lost count. She also noticed that they were densely packed as well. "That's Tokyo?! Look at the amount of buildings there, it's huge! It looks like so many people live in this 'Tokyo' place." Subaru formed a smile on his face. "That's Tokyo for you, Emilia-tan. It is the capital of Japan, home to 13 million people, and is the center of my home country. As you can see, we were able to develop into a well-established nation without any form of magic whatsoever, and use solely human knowledge to make my place what it is today." Luctiana joined in the conversation as well. "Emilia-sama, when you are free with your political activities, Subaru would like to introduce you to his metias from Japan. He thinks that those will make your life easier. And also, maybe having those 'games', 'manga', and 'anime' will make your life easier." Emilia nodded. "Subaru, what is this 'anime' and 'manga' thing you are talking about?"

Subaru stretched his legs for a moment. His neon blue shoes was glowing. "Emilia-tan, you know about how Lugnica has stories in those books, right? Anime is stories like that, but visualized. You can actually see the characters with your own eyes. Like stories, any anime can be different. They can have their own characters, their own setting, their own personalities, stuff like that. You can hear them talk and interact with others. It is due to the authors/directors of that medium that they made a story from a book come to life. Manga on the other hand, uses paintings, along with text in the book, to tell the story. I know this because I was an avid manga/anime fan back in Japan, and people around my age are usually into these kind of things. There is also what are known as 'Light Novels', Emilia-tan, which are the more traditional books like you see in Lugnica. Of course, we speak the same language, but the writing is different, so I'll have to translate the Japanese letter for you. On the other hand, Emilia-tan, watching anime won't be a problem for you. They speak in the same language as you, so you will have no problem understanding."

Emilia looked at Subaru. "So people around your age are into those things. I see. What about 'games'? What are they about?" Subaru stayed silent for a couple of moments. That is when Ram pushed Subaru. "Barusu, Emilia-sama wants to know about this 'game' of sorts." Subaru closed his eyes, once again. He then open them. With his blue eyes, he looked at Emilia. "A 'game' or more specifically, a 'video game', is a type of medium where you are in control of a character. That's right. The one controlling a character in the story is you. A medium that involves interaction with a user interface that you can see to generate visual feedback. You control the picture by pressing buttons. You have the freedom to do what you want. In some games, you even have the freedom to explore and create anything you want. In my world, kids around my age didn't have such a hard life in Lugnica. We can be able to afford to live this kind of life in Japan, because we had enough money to do so. Even on this metia, there are games that are there, mainly for some fun when I don't have anything else to do at the moment. Well, I guess that can wrap up this dinner section for now. Emilia, aren't you going to do your nightly talking with the lesser spirits?" Emilia slowly got up and walked to the door. By this time now, it was about 8:00 PM in the night. "I'll have to do my usual routine now, Subaru, so see you in a bit. As usual, I'll be outside." With that, Emilia opened the door and made her way outside the mansion to make contact with the lesser spirits. Rem and Ram began to clean up the dining table. "Barusu, Rem and I are going to start cleaning now." Subaru simply nodded. Tiffania gave out a warm smile as she finished the last game of Fortnite with Luctiana. Both of them tried to mask their frustration when playing. Surprisingly, both of them did a good job of covering up their anger from getting blasted by shotguns and explosives. Bidashal cleared his throat. "Are you guys done playing Fortnite now? That is rather inconsiderate of the both of you to start playing while Subaru was explaining his past in Japan." Tiffania shrieked. "Come on! Bidashal, what's wrong with that? The World Wide Web has already given us enough information regarding with Subaru's past. I'm just playing Fortnite because it's fun and it's a challenge to compete with other players." Luctiana agreed. "Yeah, come on! What else do we have to do here? The technology here is medieval at best. This is our only way to use our time when we don't have anything to do! Why can't we just use the materializer as we wish?" Subaru looked at Luctiana. He scolded her. "Luctiana! If we do that, we are simply going to draw unwanted attention into the domain."

The Plan

Subaru crossed his arms and pushed his pseudo glasses up. "This first week will be about introducing Emilia-tan, Rem, and Ram to manga, anime, and video gaming. By the end of this week, I want Ram and Emilia-tan to have the One Plus 6T as their main device. We are also going to have a session where all of us watch anime, when Emilia is done with her political studies for the day. This week is also going to be the week where we start integrating modern essentials from Earth. Tomorrow, we will be busy installing LED clocks over the mansion. They will be a lot more accurate than the lamps they use right now to measure time. Also, each bed room that is occupied will have its own alarm clock, as well as an LED clock that tells the time of the day." Tiffania raised her hand. "Subaru-san! What about Roswaal's room? Since that is no longer occupied, what are we going to do with that?" Subaru closed his eyes, as he was trying to come up with an idea for what to do. Eventually he came up with an idea. "Guys, I have a plan. We should turn that place into a room where we will watch anime, and show Emilia-tan and the other more about Japan? Sounds good?" At this time, Rem and Ram were in the kitchen, cleaning all of the dishes using the new technology that Theo materialized. Their work was cut down by quite a lot. All of the elves at the table nodded. They pulled out the Materializer and Elven storage. Bidashal was the first to talk about. "Well, Subaru, with the current stuff we have, converting that room should be quite easy. I say we do it. Luctiana, how to you feel about having an entertainment room?" Luctiana let out a big smirk. "What do ya think? Of course I would like to have one in this place! Give Emilia-sama something to do for crying out loud. Do you want to know what Emilia did before we got here? She only had her studies, talking with the spirits, and well, that's about it. By integrating Subaru's technology here, perhaps Emilia-sama will have a better time. Can you imagine, Emilia's One Plus 6T, or that Dell G7 she uses? The possibilities are endless. You can type much, much faster than writing stuff out, yeah? We can speed up her studying by allowing her to learn to use the new stuff."

Subaru looked at Luctiana. "You're are a quite the enthusiastic one there Luctiana. We should take our time with getting Emilia-tan and the other comfortable." Luctiana nodded, only for her to counter. "Says the former human who said: 'I guess you were the wonder drug that my heart needed.' And 'Honestly, Emilia-tan! Every time we meet, your stir my heart!'" That statement by Luctiana caused Subaru to turn tomato red. "Wha..the…HUH?! You! You shut up!" Luctiana was giggling so hard. "Honestly, Subaru, it's so easy to make you flustered. All I have to be talking about is you and Emilia are a couple, and you go completely blank! You see there, you know you want her to be your wife. I know you want that to happen. Tehehehe…." Subaru looked down at the table in embarrassment. No matter how hard he tried to cover up his feelings for Emilia, it seems that Luctiana was able to see right through that facade.

"Ah…this…here…damn it, it's rather embarrassing." Luctiana patted Subaru on the back. "Come on Subaru! Go out there and see her!" Subaru rolled his eyes while he looked at Luctiana. "Now that I think of it, she is kind of acting lot like my father right now. It does not help that both Luctiana and Edan love to poke fun of me." Bidashal also had his thoughts in mind. When he was in the other world in the past two years or so, he was constantly active within the elven community, trying to improve technologies within the two nations. In those very two years, both the human nation and the elven nation united with Saito's nation. Bidashal stood up and began to walk back towards his room. "I'll be heading back to my room now. If you guys need anything, hit me up on Discord!" In a few seconds, Bidashal was out of the dining room. Everything was cleaned up. Subaru sighed to himself. "When should we inform the villagers of the transfer of this domain to mine?" Theo closed his eyes to figure out what would be the best plan for Subaru. "Subaru-san, I would say we should inform the villagers about the ownership within the next week or two. If we don't say anything by then, suspicious assumptions are going to most likely arrive in the upcoming days. You should say something by then, I guess." Subaru cleared his throat. "How in the hell are we going to get Emilia-tan to use the One Plus 6T? She hasn't even used a smartphone before, let alone seen one in Lugnica. She only got exposed to it briefly." Luctiana facepalmed at Subaru's question. "Uh…..Subaru, if an old ass person can use a smartphone, I bet Emilia-sama would be able to get used to it in no time. You see Rem? She got used to it pretty quickly. Smartphones are designed in such a way that it allows for first-time users to have easy access to it." Subaru nodded at Luctiana's statement. "I guess…..maybe I should go check on Emilia-tan. You know, the way that Lugnica keeps time is confusing as hell." Tiffania looked at Subaru. "Confusing, Subaru-san?" Subaru nodded as he got up. "Yeah, it's confusing. They divide it into 12 bright hours, and 12 dark hours, which is utterly confusing. They have these sighted glass things which change color, depending on the time of the day. From noon to 6, it is bright green. From that point on, it is turns to red until midnight, changing to blue from midnight to six in the morning. Finally, it changes to yellow from six to noon, and repeats. The first thing that we are going to do as a team is to get rid of that dumb time keeping system. LED clocks are much more accurate than using that retarded lamp device. You all know what to do, right? We'll have to roll out new technology to the place at a snail's pace, so that they can keep up. Though by judging how fast Rem and Ram adjusted to the new kitchen, I don't think that is going to be much of an issue." All of the remaining elves (including the half-elf Tiffania), nodded.

Subaru and all of the remaining elves walked out of the dining room. Subaru closed the door behind him, and put both of his hands behind his back as he walked in the mansion with the elves. All of the lanterns have changed to the red color. "So inaccurate. Emilia-tan and the others will definitely appreciate this new time system that we are going to be installing tomorrow." Bidashal was walking behind Subaru. "Subaru, I have a concern regarding giving Emilia-sama a smartphone. It's the fact that she might get addicted to it, and neglect her political studies, due to it being new to her." Subaru shook his head. "You have a fair point there. But, I don't think Emilia-tan is the kind of person who would neglect her political studies. You've seen her in action, right? In that Re:Zero anime that you saw? She'll never do such a thing like that. Unlike me, who neglected his studies in order to live a life that was devoid of purpose whatsoever." Tiffania was silent this time. As they walked, they reached the spot where they can all see Emilia talking with the lesser spirits. Emilia was glowing, with orbs floating all around her, indicating that she was talking with the spirits at this moment. All of them stopped to look at Emilia, including Subaru, who was flushed red at seeing her. To Subaru, Emilia is one dynamite gal. Subaru turned to look at his own crystal, which had Edan in it. "Emilia-tan and the other will be introduced to Edan tomorrow. I wonder how Puck is going to react to him. They may get along quite well. The others and I will find out. This has shaped up to be an eventful first day, introducing Japan to Emilia-tan. Tell her about the way that I lived back then." Bidashal was standing right beside Tiffania, looking at Emilia talk with the lesser spirits. "Subaru, why don't you talk with the lesser spirits right now? You're a Spirit Arts user now, right?" Subaru shook his head. "It's better if I don't use it unless it's necessary. Using magic unnecessary is a foolish idea in the first place. Also, I have things such as the OnePlus 6T and the Dell G7. Theo also as the ability to materialize things such as soul killing guns. I would rather take advantage of the technology that you guys have provided to us than to use my magic." Luctiana stepped out right now. "So, Subaru, what are you going to do now?"The silver-harried half elf closed his eyes. "Well, I might read some manga. I haven't read any of them in the past two months or so, ever since I got summoned to this world. This laptop means that I can watch manga and anime without a problem." Tiffania fiddled with her fingers. "Subaru-san, what do you think we should do right now?" Subaru, as he was the type that was lazy in his real world, wanted his fellow friends to have as much free time as they want. He walked around and scratched his head for a few seconds.

"Ah, well, I would like it if you can do whatever you want. However, I don't want you guys to visit the village yet. Your elven ears might throw them off guard. Since everyone around here fears Satella, the Jealous Witch, let me handle the situation. The villagers know me for quite some time. Even if I am a half-elf by now, I'll be able to explain the circumstances behind it." He gave everyone a wink. Theo looked at Subaru. "Man, he doesn't ever change at all." Subaru began walking to his room. "Now, if you can excuse me, I'll have to get back to watching some anime that has been produced in Japan. Goodbye for now!" With that, the Zero no Tsukaima elves watched Subaru enter his room, followed by the door closing. Theo looked at the door, then looked back at Bidashal. "Looks like Subaru is enjoying his technology from Japan. Looks like he missed them quite a lot, you know?" Luctiana nodded in agreement. "Of course. Subaru-sama was a shut-in back in Japan who played video games and watched manga/anime. Do you really think his hobbies will die off simply because he was transported to another world?! Give him a break. You have seen him suffer in the anime, right? He deserves to have his some of his free time to his hobbies. Don't worry about him." Theo let out a small smile, while looking outside at the moonlight. A long time ago, this was the place where Subaru laid down next to Emilia as they both watched the moon. "That's true, Luctiana-sama. He needs that. However, I fear that he may regress back to being a NEET, like he was in Japan. Remember how he said he did nothing in Japan in Re:Zero, episode 18?" Bidashal stepped forward. "Yeah, while that might be case, I doubt that Subaru would want to go back to the NEET life. Didn't you see how much he hated himself for living such a worthless life like that? Do you really think he wants to go back to being that?! No, Subaru is not going to do that. I know he will not go back to being a recluse NEET. What I think that Subaru is going to do is retain his hobbies, while keeping busy as the lord of the domain. Plus, also with dealing with the possible discrimination that may occur." Meanwhile, Rem and Ram were cleaning up the kitchen. It was almost 9 now, and Emilia had just completed talking with the lesser spirits.

Winding down for the day

She made her way back to the mansion, and entered the lobby. She made her way up to the second floor, where she saw the elves from the Zero no Tsukaima universe, and her father Theo. She came towards them. Tiffania saw her. "Emilia-san! You're done with your thing? I can tell that you want to go see Subaru. He is in his room right now, busy with his hobbies. If you want to know where his room is now, it is right next to yours." Emilia nodded. "Thanks, I'll go see and check on what Subaru is doing at the moment." In Subaru's room, he began reading a new manga series, Nisekoi. Subaru was already hooked into it from the moment he read the synopsis. The concept of a false relationship so that a war doesn't break out between the two clans was interesting to him. "I haven't touched a manga book since my boring days back in Japan. The last one I read was Absolute Duo, but that one I haven't had the opportunity to watch the anime." Much like at the convenience store, Subaru was always interested in a romance typed manga series. Just as Subaru was reading the beginning of the series, he was interrupted by a knocking at the door.

"Come in." Subaru said. With that, Emilia entered the room. This room was exactly like hers a mirror image. There, she saw Subaru looking at an odd device with a 'Dell' logo on it, at his desk. It was a black device, with a blue imprint on it. Emilia opened and closed her eyes. This was another thing that Subaru was using that she had no idea what it was. Subaru looked up. "Emilia-tan! How has it been! This here is also from my place." Emilia looked at it, then looked back at Subaru. "Subaru? What in the world is that thing?" A smirk formed on Subaru's face. He then pointed his finger at his laptop. "That is what we call, a 'computer', Emilia-tan. More specifically, it's a type called a laptop. It can carry out anything you want by your inputs. It has gotten to the point where my place has it everywhere. I'll teach you the rope behind this, but for now, we'll take it nice and slow. I'm busy reading right now. I guess you have some things that you still need to do?" Emilia nodded. "That's right, Subaru. I should take my shower and change into my nighttime clothes." With that, Emilia went back to her room and Subaru was once again alone in his room. The Zero no Tsukaima elves also did the same thing, taking shower and getting into their sleep attire. Subaru also decided to get into his shower and get into his sleeping clothes around 30 minutes later. It was now about 9:30 PM. For the next half an hour, Subaru was reading Nisekoi. At 10:00 PM in the evening, Emilia came into Subaru's room to say good night. Subaru said good night to Emilia-tan as well.

By 11:00 PM, the only one that was awake now was Subaru. Everyone else in the mansion has turned themselves in for the night. Subaru was now surfing the web for the newest video games to spurge on. "Ah yes, I was a night owl back then in Japan. Looks like I am going to back to being one now. Time to download some games." With that, Subaru began to download a vast variety of games. They ranged from Terraria, to Overwatch, to Minecraft, to Fortnite, and even League of Legends. Subaru smirked as his Dell G7 downloaded them all in lightning speed. "This is much, much faster than my computer back in Japan. Technology is really a beautiful thing. Also a GeForce 1060 Max-Q, this here for sure means I'll play at the highest settings possible." Subaru decided that is first game that he was going to play is Overwatch. So Subaru began to play this game, knowing that he was good in single player games. "Knowing me, I know how much ass I suck at multiplayer games. I'll push myself to get better at it." As expected, Subaru had a difficult time playing Overwatch. His team was constantly getting punished, and it was extremely tight. Subaru won and lost some here and there. Numerous times, the Overtime kicked into effect, driving Subaru into being more aggressive and push the payload. He decided to go with Genji and Hanzo, since they were both from Japan. He kept playing until 3 AM, where he made it to level 15. "That's enough for today." Subaru turned off his Dell G7 and went to bed. He got a last look at his One Plus 6t before looking at the lantern, which was blue in color now. This wraps the first day of Subaru's new reign of the domain, and the emergence of modern technology. Tomorrow will begin the integration of Earth's tech.