Hey there! I've read some comments regarding the short prologue and thus, I've extended the prologue by a bit to make the camps interact with each other more and to include a few discussions.
The plan was to make everyone interact with each other after arc 1+ originally, but after I saw the comments of the short prologue, I changed my mind and added the conversations in the prologue itself.
I don't this usually but a prologue is literally the backbone of a fic, after all. Thanks for the support once again!
Since I'm going with arc 6+ of the story, I would add few characters which the anime-only or those who didn't catch up to the novel wouldn't know of. So avoiding spoilers as much as I can, I'll briefly introduce the ones going to appear here and a few monuments from arc 6+ without trying to spoil anything. Having read through arc 6+ middle portion is recommended.
Characters-
Shaula (Female): an apprentice of the sage named Flugel who played an important role in the sealing of Witch of Envy. Shaula's current master is Subaru, and she's in love with him.
Meili (Female): although introduced in arc 2+, she warms up with everyone by arc 6+ after the events of arc 4+ and is a member of the Emilia camp currently.
Monuments-
Pleiades watchtower- The name of the tower Subaru and co. are situated in currently. Witch of Envy is also sealed in here.
Green room- A room in Pleiades watchtower where a spirit bestows healing powers to everyone in it.
"Nononononononono... whyyy! Where did you all vanish off to?!" a panic-stricken Subaru cried, running in circles.
Subaru, an ex-hikikomori, had his life changed completely when he got summoned to this fantasy world and met an angel… err, a silver-haired half-elf named Emilia, whom he devoted his life to.
But currently, things were not so good for him. No, "not good" was an understatement.
As a matter of fact, things were fucked up for him completely!
A few moments ago, there was a mabeast attack on the tower, but Subaru had initiated a plan to retaliate against the witch beasts and the gluttonies.
Just as he was about to meet up with everyone and discuss his plans, a strange phenomenon happened…
For a second, he closed his eyes, letting out a quick yawn while running, as he hasn't had a proper sleep in the last two days. He had too many things to worry about and sleep wasn't on his list of the things to be fret upon.
And when he opened his eyes… surprise! He found no one by his side, not even Beatrice, whom he was holding hands with a few seconds ago. With a haunted look on his face, he began pondering what the fuck just happened.
Strangely, everyone in the tower disappeared. Even the mabeasts, as no sounds of the tower rumbling, could be heard anymore.
Before he knew it, he dashed out, hoping to search for everyone. He soon began shrieking out their names, whilst examining every room.
It didn't take long before exhaustion overtook his body, and not to mention his lack of sleep made things worse with each passing second.
"EMILIA! BEAKO! JULIUS! WHERE ARE YOU GUYS?" a fatigued Subaru yelled, hoping somebody hears his shrieks. Why do such stupid things happen to him in just a blink of an eye?
There was someone who heard his cries; he/she was near the green room, but it was not who Subaru was really searching for. It still relieved him for the best (dragon) girl was safe and sound.
"Graawl," Patrasche chirped, happy that her beloved master didn't disappear before her eyes, like the others.
"Thank goodness you're here at least! I was so worried that everyone, including you, disappeared on me!" Subaru said in relief.
A normal person would have gotten a panic attack by now, but for Subaru, situations like these were like everyday occurrences.
He has almost gotten used to his life by now but even if he was "almost" used to such shitty phenomenon occurring to him almost everyday, he can never stop worrying about the people he loves.
Sure enough, Julius can save himself and his lady Anastasia, but for Emilia, things are different.
Subaru can never stop worrying about Emilia, even though he knows she's much stronger than him. Though Puck's no longer around her anymore, which makes her weaker, or so he thought. And not to mention, her troublesome trait of being a half-elf with silver-coloured hairs draws her unwanted, malicious attention.
He would have been stuck in his thoughts if not for a certain (best girl) ground dragon licking him, getting him out of his thoughts. Her master worried her, as he looked rather troubled.
"Oh? Yeah... sorry about that Patrasche, I got stuck on my thoughts for a second."
"Rawr," Patrasche licked Subaru once again, letting him know that it's alright.
"You are saying something like it is okay, right, Patrasche? I wish Otto was here to translate you for me."
Patrasche nodded her head and continued licking her master, but suddenly she felt some tremors in her body. Her dragon instincts told her something wasn't right and they should get out of this tower as soon as possible.
She picked up Subaru by his collar and placed him on her saddle.
"Woah! Patrasche, what's wrong?" Subaru inquired while patting her scales. He didn't like this sudden change in his ground dragon.
Before he knew it, she bolted off at full speed.
Subaru knew something was wrong. He felt what Patrasche felt: fear.
Deciding to leave everything to his ground dragon, he started scanning the surroundings.
In a mere second, Patrasche stopped her rush and broke through the walls, landing on the sandy desert grounds and successfully getting out of the tower. Though the fall injured her and her legs were hurting a bit because of the height she jumped from, she won't let that stand in her way! She'll make sure her beloved master is safe and sound.
"Great, who knows how many rules we broke out of this fucking tower, I don't even want to memorize the rules now!" Subaru complained, getting agitated by each passing second, not at Patrasche but at the chain of events that were unfolding before them.
Subaru's irritated look quickly turned into that of fright as he finally understood what was going on.
Before him and Patrasche was the tower, but it was more like a miasma tower rather than The Pleiades Watchtower.
That's right. Subaru quickly figured out that the shit that happened had to be related to the Witch of Envy! He berated himself for not figuring about it earlier; it was literally the most obvious thing in this world!
The being responsible for bringing him to this world; the being responsible for all of his sufferings; the being who gave him this cursed ability named "Return by Death" (wait no, he's the one who named it lol); the being responsible for all the hardships Emilia had to face through because her traits are similar to that of this damned witch.
He wasn't cursing Satella; he knew she was a caring, sweet girl. He rather cursed Satella's split personality, a monstrous entity known as the Witch of Envy.
Because of this cursed witch's influence, half-elves are horribly regarded with discrimination.
The Witch of Envy was a separate entity formed within Satella around 400 years ago, which made her go berserk and resulted in her sucking half of the world dry, marking the start of the Great Calamity.
Honestly, Subaru refused to believe that a girl like Satella can cause such chaos. The reason he had such blind faith in her was that his heart accepted that she was innocent.
Though Echidna might be saying the truth as he had no evidence to prove it.
If the Witch of Greed were to read his thoughts, she'd most probably call him an idiot for choosing to trust in his heart and ruling out the obvious. But of course, he would never believe or trust in her anymore.
He previously speculated that it was the Witch of Envy who killed all the six other witches and Echidna herself said it so, but later down the line, it was proved wrong.
Satella wasn't really responsible for the deaths of the other six witches, like legends say so. Typhon drowned in a flood, Minerva died going insane in a trap and while he wasn't really sure about how the rest died, he was sure it was unrelated to Satella.
The result of her going berserk was most certainly because of the incompatible witch factor and he himself can understand and sympathize, as controlling the Invisible Providence was not a matter of joke.
Echidna was someone he'd rather not believe in. She was rather hostile and antagonistic towards Satella for god knows whatever reason. He'd not be surprised if Satella sucking half of the world dry turned out to be bullshit coming from the Witch of Greed once again, but he somewhat had to believe her as the other witches seemed to agree that Satella was the one who sucked half the world dry too.
Satella is surely innocent to some extent, but the other cursed personality is certainly not.
The Witch of Envy was a veritable monster in every sense. He hated her because she loved him; he hated her because she made a toy of his heart every time he wanted to pass on his little secret; he hated her because she made him feel the phantom pain after she was done with harassing him by toying with his heart; he hated her with all of his being!
Subaru had only one choice now, which was to commit suicide here right now and restart.
But every time he had such suicidal thoughts, the memories flow through him.
Satella's initial selfless request to love and value himself more…
Emilia, Wilhelm and Felix mourning over his suicide during the time he thought he lost Rem forever…
Oh, Emilia's cries of despair and agony of him committing suicide, the nightmares of it haunted him to this day.
It'd also be really unfair to Patrasche, who almost risked her life to make sure he was safe, only to find out he committed suicide.
Even if Return by Death might rewind time, he'd use Return by Death as a last resort, just like it has always been.
Though he felt something was strange… he had encountered a few loops similar to this. But the only difference was that the shadows covered the tower instead of the miasma and the witch merely destroyed the watchtower in a few mere seconds. Was it Satella's doing, but again… why would she do that?
If it were the Witch of Envy's doing, the shadows would have sucked him by now and he'd be a dead man. Though he didn't understand what Satella was up to, he'd rather not take any chances. He might be wrong and who knows, maybe it's the Witch of Envy again?
"Patrasche! We have to get away from this miasma as far as possible!" Subaru commanded.
She seemed to understand him and dashed off, away from the tower.
For a moment, Subaru thought he had escaped the clutches of Envy (or Satella if his feelings were true), and she couldn't make it to them if that's what her plan was. But oh boy, he was completely wrong…
He totally forgot about the mabeasts dwelling upon this desert and knowing his overpowered terrible luck, he was sure some insanely strong mabeast would appear out of nowhere and make him his/her dinner.
Patrasche sped up, completely frightened now.
The Divine Protection of Wind Evasion wore off soon and Subaru now had a hard time breathing. The speed Patrasche was travelling at was insane for a ground dragon. He was certainly proud of her.
But she eventually failed. Shadows covered the total area in a split second, and before they knew it, Patrasche's speed was going slower by each second. It was as if the shadows were acting as friction.
By now, Patrasche's speed was that of a snail and she suddenly jerked Subaru away from the saddle and held him by the collar once again and threw him off at full force as much as she could.
The last thing Subaru saw was Patrasche and the shadows surrounding her. She looked at her master, at what she thought to be one last time. Nobody could tell she was a ground dragon who could understand emotions. From what Subaru saw, she had a look of regret written on her face.
"RAWRRR," Patrasche roared pridefully at her master, which probably meant "RUN!" and the shadows enveloped her in a split second later…
As for Subaru, he felt like crying, but he had to stay strong. If he rewinds time once again, he'll let her know who's the best girl, but as of now, he has to run! Fast!
Sadly, the shadows were too fast for him and before he could run away; the shadow enveloped him as well.
Emilia had the strangest moment of her life.
A few moments ago, she remembered she was engaged in a ferocious fight with the Sin Archbishop of Gluttony, Lye Batenkaitos.
Suddenly, the world around her blurred and in the blink of an eye, she found herself in a strange room, consisting mainly of luxurious-looking chairs and a gigantic screen.
The most unusual thing about this room was that all the royal candidates were present as well, along with their knights, who all seemed to be equally disconcerted about what just happened in the blink of an eye.
No… now was not the time to be worried! She was fighting off against Lye Batenkaitos and without her; the people left at the tower would be in danger!
But she soon realized that everyone was present in this theatre, and there was nothing to worry about.
"I think everyone is here from the tower, even Shaula."
Emilia still felt uneasiness within her. She subconsciously knew someone was missing here, but who?
"Hey! What's going on?" Felt was the first one to raise her voice.
"Where are we?"
"Weren't we at Priestella a moment ago?"
"Wha' the fuck's goin' on?"
"Myyyyyyy! this is quite troooooublesome isn'tttt?"
Questions soon poured in from everyone's side. Everyone was confused, even Roswaal was no exception.
"This is indeed troublesomeeee~"
"Roswaal! Is this your idea of a joke I suppose?!" Beatrice snapped at the clown, looking furious.
Roswaal sneered, "My, my! Calm down Beatriceeee. I don't have the potential to telepoooort everyone as ooooof yet."
"Oi Roswaal! You'd better solve this shit if ya're the one who caused it ta happen," Garfield threatened, cracking his knuckles.
"Garf! Enough! If Roswaal-sama says he does not know, then he really does not know, stop threatening him!" Ram countered for Roswaal.
"Ram… ya put too much blind faith in tha' clown-"
Just as Garfiel was about to complete his sentence, someone interrupted him, halting the argument between Ram and Garfiel in the process.
"Greetings noobs, My name is Jack Winst- CUT! CUT! CUT! (This was just a joke lmao)
"Greetings, fellow mortals. My name is Ai- Suzuki Satoru. I am the one who has summoned you here today. In my world, I am commonly known as The King of Darkness, Strongest Magic Caster, Supreme One, Sorcerer King and many uncountable to be honest, I just remember these."
Many of the Re Zero cast had different reactions. His voice honestly frightened some. No mere human could have a voice like that- oh wait! A mere human wouldn't be able to accomplish a feat like summoning everyone in the blink of an eye to a secluded, unknown location anyway. And where was he? They could only hear his voice!
Roswaal found himself interested in the "Strongest Magic Caster" part.
Thoughts like, "What would a devil with such a scary voice do to them?" scared Emilia and Petra.
But those thoughts vanished in a second as the confusions grew once again.
"Why have we been teleported here, Satoru-san?" Otto raised his concern.
"Because of the sudden teleportation, the tower is in danger now, Suzuki-san!" Emilia exclaimed.
The rest were bewildered.
"Wait… you all made it to the tower safely and successfully?!" Otto asked.
The members of Anastasia and Emilia camp who stayed behind Priestella were happy to know of the success and so were the members of the Felt and Crusch camp.
The members of the four camps wanted to talk with each other, especially Felt and Crusch, the latter attaining her memories back. But they all needed to confirm what was going on first. The talking can wait for later.
"Um… Satoru-sama… w-why are we here?" a little maid, also known as Petra, asked.
"I understand the fear and confusion, but I mean none of you any harm. I am merely here with one purpose and one purpose only, which is to show you all the feats, achievements, adventures and the sufferings of a boy who hails from the same country and the previous race as me," Satoru reassured.
Roswaal was now interested. He made a guess with the word "sufferings" on whom it might be: the same boy who is the sole key to the revival of his beloved teacher.
Crusch made a guess on who it might be with the keywords "boy" and "feat" "achievements" but she wasn't completely sure.
Emilia made a guess on who it might be with the word "adventures". Her stupid dunderhead of a knight, who always risked his life while trying to save everyone, but she wasn't completely sure.
"Speaking of which... Where is Subaru?" Emilia thought, her eyes widened.
She ultimately realized that's the reason her heart was screaming at her. Her beloved black-haired knight and best friend was missing! Just as she was about to call out to him, someone interrupted.
"Subaru! Where are you hiding? Come out! Betty needs your company, in fact!" Beatrice interrupted and beat Emilia to it.
Emilia considers Beako as a little sister, but she can't help but remember Puck whenever she takes a glance at Beako. Regardless, now was no time for such thoughts!
If Subaru was the only one who wasn't summoned in this theatre, then where was he? He is in serious trouble if he's still at the tower!
Sure enough, he was amazing but not even a person as amazing as he could face off against the entire army of mabeasts and The Sin Archbishop of Gluttony, Lye Batenkaitos by himself. Her face turned pale just by thinking about it. She can't let him die! No! He was an important person to her!
"Master! Master! Where are you? You can't leave me alone again, yea! Not after I patiently waited 400 years for you!" a half-naked girl known as Shaula beat Emilia next, the latter absorbed in her thoughts.
Not being able to take it anymore, Emilia voiced her own concern. "Subaru, where are you?! Please respond!"
Everyone they knew was present.
Nobody was missing from any groups. In fact, all of them seemed to be here.
Petra, Beatrice, Otto, Garfiel, Shaula and Emilia were all now worried sick over Subaru's absence.
"Natsuki-san… where is he?" Otto inquired, not liking the sound of this.
Felt camp was about to greet the Emilia and Anastasia camp members, especially those who went to the tower seeking cures, but one glimpse at the distressed members of Emilia camp and they changed their minds.
"Big bro isn't here? Why?!" Felt asked.
"I'm having a bad feeling about this," Reinhard voiced his own concern.
Garfiel finally asked as the anxiety was killing everyone in his camp, "Oi, Satoru Suzuki! Where's mah cap'n?"
"Do not fret, your dear friend is safe in the custody of an elf girl currently," Satoru replied quickly. "He won't appear here yet. He's enjoying himself as we speak."
"As for the tower, I've handled everything. The mabeasts are all dead but the gluttonies escaped successfully."
"Subaru… please… please, wherever you are, be safe!" Emilia prayed for the well-being of her dear knight.
"I'll get out of here as soon as I can, I suppose! Betty won't leave you Subaru."
"ACHOO!" Subaru sneezed.
He was half-awake, feeling some kind of divine pillow below his head.
"Oh wait, could it be… Emilia-tan's giving me a lap pillow?" Subaru thought.
"Maybe I died and fainted after I went back in time."
He was 100% sure these divine thighs were of Emilia-tan. E. M. T!
... Well, he was half correct because-
"Subaru-kun, why is it you always think about that girl Emilia, even after receiving a lap pillow from me?" A voice identical to Emilia's shared her thoughts with an annoyed tone in her voice.
"Wait... Emilia-tan would never call me Subaru-kun... THAT MEANS THIS GIRL IS-"... "AAAAUGH, SATEL-!" It was an S. M. T moment (Satella-tan Maji Tenshii/Satella is seriously an angel!)
Meanwhile, people in the theatre were confused about who this blue-haired girl was. She looked identical to Ram. Ram appeared to know something as she instantly exclaimed, "REM!" upon seeing her. Maybe "Rem" was her name, but nobody was really certain, since they all felt that they've never met her before in their lives.
Everyone but Emilia camp had a slight idea of who she was and what her name was, thanks to the efforts of the black-haired knight.
Rem had her memories of everyone, including her cherished moments with her hero back. Sadly, the people surrounding her seem to have forgotten her except her big sister. Of course! Her sister is wonderful in every way, there's no way she'd forget her pathetic little sister. It seemed clear this problem arose from Gluttony defeating her in that fight.
But even though Crusch gained her memories back, she did not know who Rem was.
"I've got to thank Barusu," Ram muttered to herself, not wanting Rem to hear this.
"Satoru-sama, can you somehow give us the memories of Rem back?" Ram pleaded. She even addressed him the honorific "–sama"
Right on cue, Satoru spoke up. "I'm sorry, but it's impossible, not really impossible, but backbreaking work. Those gluttonies are expert at hiding themselves."
He thought to himself, "They might pop up behind your ass and you'd never know." (LoL)
Ram had a look of distress written on her face.
"So what do we do? I just want to get the memories of my sister back!"
"I'd suggest watching this viewing, there are some episodes which deal with your background and I can say for certain you'll gain around 70% of the memories you had with your little sister."
That was enough for Ram. She was more than convinced. She didn't care what this view showed, but if it meant getting a part of her memories with her sister back, it's worth it. She'll observe it diligently through the end.
"Alright, let's finish this so-called viewing fast and get our memories of Rem, and the sooner we leave from here, the better," Ram suggested to everyone.
All the members of the four camps nodded, except Priscilla, who didn't care about a gutter rat's words and just hoped this "viewing" would bring some kind of fun and amusement to her.
"Wait, I didn't expect all of you to agree so quickly. Kindly give me some time to set up the screen," Ainz said. "If anybody has questions, ask me now, as I might not have the time to do so later."
A few people had a few questions, but the first one to raise a hand was Meili.
"Hoarse-voiced onii-san, may I ask you a question?"
"All of you please call me by my nickname, Ainz, and yes, you may, child and no… no way! I refuse to be called by that name!"
The children present in the theatre giggled.
"Why do we have to view the life of a person we might not even know?" Meili continued.
"That's right!" Petra butted in.
"I won't mind if it's about my Subaru though," she muttered to herself, and hopefully Frederica didn't hear her.
"Yeah, why do we?" Mimi asked as well.
"I guess that is a sound question," he commented. "You needn't worry, child. I'm sure you all know of the person who'll be shown in the viewing."
"We do?" Ricardo asked.
Ainz replied, "Yes."
"I mean, even if we know th' person wha' does that hafta do with us?" Anastasia said.
"For once, I agree with a peasant. I don't want to waste my time on some boring rat," Priscilla added.
"Hey, I doubt this Ainz guy just summoned all of us into this shitty, luxurious place just for us to watch some random guy's personal life. I think he did it because he has a reason to and it won't hurt to know who the person is, right?" Felt said.
"I agree with Felt-sama, no sane person would teleport everyone, just for them to watch some random person's life. It has to be someone special," Crush added to her thoughts.
"As smart as always, Felt-sama!" Reinhard commented, beaming a smile towards Felt.
"Shut up, dumbass."
"That's true, princess and duchess. This person, the feats he achieved and the hardships and betrayal... well, I almost spoiled it, you'd have to watch for yourselves," He announced.
Curiosity paved its way through Priscilla and Anastasia. The nature of Anastasia wanted to know everything by now, right at this instant.
Priscilla just wanted the viewing to be interesting enough to take her out of boredom for a while.
"I have one last question," Al said as he raised his hand.
"Go ahead."
"Why do you insist on making us watch this person's life and why are you doing this, what benefit do you gain from it?" Al questioned Ainz.
"To know the answer to the first question, you'll know it eventually after you watch this show.
"As for the second question, I had made a deal with the Lucifer of your world, but I'll reveal the rest of the details later and right from day one, I wanted to show you the boy's sufferings, anyway. His life is hell," Ainz replied.
Al was satisfied with the answers he got. He nodded his head and sat back on his seat.
But the others were confused with what "Lucifer" meant (except for Al and Shaula) but there was no time to think about that. Most of them were just… horrified. This person… in the way Ainz described it… it sounded like this boy had the worst struggle one can have and the boy was living in hell everyday. Even Priscilla found herself pleased now.
Roswaal was now pondering.
"How much did he really suffer? Well… it doesn't matter as long as I successfully revive my teacher."
"I'll be back in a few minutes. I've got to power up the screen. Meanwhile, you can talk with your friends. I bet none of you have talked with any of them yet," Ainz said.
Everyone nodded and thus, the strange but heart-warming reunion of the Re Zero cast began.
Reinhard and Felt finally got the chance to greet the members of Emilia and Anastasia camp, who travelled to the tower just as they had planned before, but Reinhard stopped immediately as he got a glimpse of a familiar, yet unfamiliar violet-haired knight.
"Hello there, Eulius…"
"It's Julius… Julius Euclius, Reinhard," He corrected. "Pleased to meet you again."
Julius tried to sound cheerful, but truth be told, he was upset since the day Roy Alphard had eaten his name. None of his friends recognized him anymore except Subaru.
"Oh, s-sorry about that," Reinhard apologized.
The guilt of not being able to save Julius's name saddened Reinhard.
This was awkward as fuck for both of them. Reinhard knew Julius used to be a close friend to him, but, as always, he failed to protect his friends.
Deciding not to dishearten Julius any further, he excused himself.
"Hey big sis, I never thought we'd meet again like this after that Priestella incident, but anyway, how was your journey?"
"Yes, Emilia-sama. I'm sorry I could be of no help in aiding you guys to the tower," Reinhard apologized.
"Felt! Reinhard! I'm really happy to meet you both again! The journey to the tower was troublesome, I admit, but we reached the tower, eventually. And it's okay, Reinhard. You have a vital job to do as a knight!"
Reinhard bowed his head regarding Emilia's kindness and turned to Anastasia.
"Are you alright as well, Anastasia-sama?" Reinhard asked.
"I'm doin' alright, Reinhard."
"It's kind of nice to learn that both of you are doing great," a dark-green-haired duchess interrupted them.
Emilia suddenly felt guilt arising within her when she saw the green-haired duchess.
"Crusch-san! It's nice to meet you again, and are your injuries fine now? You had quite the misfortune during the battle of Priestella. I'm so sorry…"
"It's alright, Emilia-sama. I've been recovering well enough and not to mention I've got my memories back as well," Crusch reassured.
"Yeah, that's right! Crusch-sama got her lyost memories back!" Felix butted in.
Felix had been sad and worried most of these days, mainly because of Crusch-sama's deteriorating health and not to mention the incident of losing her memories. Hopefully, she was fine now and had her memories back.
And so Felix had nothing to worry about for now. He was thankful to Ainz for returning Crusch-sama's memories.
"By the way, I heard you all successfully made it to the tower?" Crusch inquired, raising her eyebrows.
"Yeah, thanks to Subaru's and Anastasia-san's efforts, we made it there successfully."
"I see… that is a significant accomplishment then, not even Reinhard could reach the tower."
"Mhm! It is indeed an impressive accomplishment! Though there were many dangerous mabeasts in the Augria sand dunes. Thanks to Meili's Divine protection of magic, most of the mabeasts were harmful!"
"I see."
The green-haired duchess remembered something important.
"So, did you find the cures you were seeking for? Though I doubt the sage is even alive."
"Um… about that… it's sophisticated to explain."
"Oh… I see then, you can take your time to explain, Emilia-sama."
It relieved Julius to see that Felix was finally cheerful; he hadn't seen him like this since the time Crusch-sama lost her memories. Even though Felix and Reinhard had forgotten about Julius, the greatest knight was glad, because all of them were doing well.
He sighed as he was so close to a rematch with Reid and something told him he could do it this time and win, but he found it nigh impossible. Reid's power level was abnormal and there's no way he could even fare off against it. If Reid were serious, he'd kill him in a mere second with ease.
Julius was subconsciously relieved that he didn't need to fight with Reid anymore. Reid was a monster, Julius was not. He was a human.
"Huh? Seems like Subaru was correct… I've really lost my knight's pride."
And with that, Julius once again felt distressed.
"Pssst… Emilia," Anastasia whispered. "Can ya do me a favour and not let anyone know tha' Eridna neva' possessed me? I've asked the others who travelled with us to the tower and I don't wanna let th' rest worry over me."
"Huh? That's strange… aren't you Eridna?" Emilia tried to keep her voice as low as possible.
"No, I don't know why but Eridna's no longer possessin' my body."
"Oh! Sooo… Anastasia-sama?"
"Yup, that's right."
"Ohh! I'm so glad you got your body back! And don't worry, I won't let anyone learn about this."
"Thanks, Emilia."
Crusch and Felt were too busy to notice both of them whispering to each other.
Rem honestly didn't know what to do. She was really worried and upset about the present situation.
She wanted to greet everyone and ask them how they were doing, especially the people from Emilia camp, and she had a thousand queries when she saw The Shield of the Sanctuary out here, but she knew that her reckless actions led to her name getting erased from everyone's memories.
"Rem… I don't have any memories of you at the moment, but I swear I'll get them back," Ram tried comforting Rem.
Rem replied with a warm smile on her face, "Rem is sure you will, Nee-sama! You're the most amazing person in the world after all!"
Truth be told, Rem remembered another amazing person. A person as amazing as her big sister and that person was none other than her hero Subaru-kun but sadly, he was missing in this theatre. Rem felt the urge the meet him as soon as she could now that she woke up but…
Realization dawned on her. "Did he forget me… as well?" Rem thought to herself, almost bursting into tears.
She thought she was selfish, and she deserved it. A person as amazing as her big sister and her hero shouldn't care about someone as worthless as her.
She thought she was nothing but a selfish girl… and yet… and yet even after she thought so low of herself and knew it was her fault, she couldn't stop shedding tears.
Ram noticed Rem was crying. Slowly and steadily, she hugged her little sister.
"Shhh… it's alright Rem," Ram reassured, trying to comfort her little sister.
"N… Nee-sama," Rem whispered as she stopped her tears and formed a smile on her face; a fake one.
"It's alright now, Nee-sama. Rem was just saddened for a moment that nobody remembered me."
"And that it was nobody's but my fault alone to think foolishly."
Rem thought the second part to herself as she returned the hug to her sister.
She knew she deserved this punishment. She knew she should have never thought of such an impulsive action. Now, because of her selfishness… her hero… her hero has forgotten about her!
She thanked the spirits that Subaru-kun wasn't here. If he was to be present, she wouldn't be able to hold her tears back.
She never once thought in her life that she'd be glad of her beloved hero's absence, and she berated herself for it.
Rem began struggling internally.
"I never deserved Subaru-kun, did I? I'm just a pathetic existence who only thinks about myself! I NEVER DESERVED SUBARU-KUN!"
The more Rem thought about it, the more it pained her. Her heart refused her and told her that Subaru-kun still remembers her, but her brain denied it.
Rem ignored her heart. As things were pretty much clear that since nobody could remember her, her amazing hero was no exception.
"I- he shouldn't fall in love with me, anyway. No wonder he likes Emilia-sama much more," Rem to herself.
And with that, Rem finally decided that Subaru-kun forgetting about her was for the best and a deserving punishment she could get for her sins.
Roswaal eyed the blue-haired maid in interest as she was lost deep in her thoughts.
Garfiel was never good at chatting with others much, and Otto was a shy one and so they both remained in their seats, not wanting to talk with anyone except themselves at the moment.
"Garf, are you alright?" Frederica asked, concerned.
Young, energetic Garfiel seemed rather out of character as he was sulking in his seat.
"Yeah, jus' not in the mood to talk with anyone."
"Did something happen, Garf?"
"Nah, just worried 'bout my cap'n. The fact tha' he's not present among us, I'm feelin' rather uneasy at that," Garfiel replied.
"And not only that, mine amazin' selfs never talked n' interacted much with anybody from da camp except for Cap'n an' Brotto, anyway."
It was true. Garfiel swore to protect and act as a shield for everyone from the camp, but he never talked with them much for more than a few mins. Roswaal was someone he wished he never talked with; Beatrice never talked much with him; the half-elf princess talked with him sometimes but she's captain's chick and he'd not want to get in a rivalry with his cool cap'n; Ram always made fun of him or insulted him whenever he tried to get close to her; Petra was a nice maid, but he never interacted much with her as well.
And thus, his only close and best friends were his brothers Otto and Subaru.
Frederica sighed. She knew it's true that Garf had never interacted much with the camp, except for Otto and Subaru.
Though it relieved her that Garfiel was facing no major problems and he was doing alright. She soon checked on Petra.
Otto was feeling the same as Garfiel. The trio was incomplete without Natsuki Subaru. They both sighed and wanted to get out of this place as soon as possible and reunite with their brother.
Wilhelm remained silent throughout the fiasco.
He overheard the conversation between Garfiel and Frederica.
"There's more there to that," Wilhelm thought.
Subaru's absence disturbed him. Not because he liked the child as his own grandson, which he already does. They were about to see the life of a boy who went through hell for them.
He remembered the eyes of the black-haired boy. His eyes interested Wilhelm a lot because his eyes represented the boy encountering death not once, but more than several times.
The old man soon shrugged it off after the fall of the Hakugei (White Whale).
He thought that old age was getting him good, but now… now that everyone knows that there's someone who suffered enough for them without them being aware of who is it, Wilhelm knew he was accurate at that time.
He concluded the person is none other than Subaru. His absence here and the tone of his eyes back then might prove it so.
"Subaru-dono…" Wilhelm mused.
It irritated Beatrice. Her contractor's absence was making her more and more anxious.
"Is he doing okay at the moment?" Beatrice thought.
She wanted to be with Subaru all the time because that's her job as his spirit. She did not know why this Ainz guy was so insistent on making them watch the life of a person who had suffered all this time.
Sure, Beatrice felt bad for the poor, unlucky guy, but Subaru was the most important one to her in this world. She didn't pay any attention to all the topics being discussed; she was lost in her thoughts of where Subaru was. Beatrice couldn't connect with him as well.
If she could, she'd make a portal and go back to the tower. But sadly, all her 400 years of mana reserves were depleted during the great rabbit fight.
Emilia was happy to reunite with everyone, but somewhere in her mind, she felt uneasy with Subaru being absent from this viewing.
Thankfully, she had the company of Anastasia, Felt and Crusch at the moment and that eased her nerves, so she tried her best to calm herself down and wanted this viewing to end quickly so that she can somehow reunite with her wonderful knight if she could.
Just like Beatrice, she felt bad for the poor boy who had to suffer so much but Subaru's safety came first but somewhere in her heart… it told her she knew this boy about to be shown in the viewings.
Was it about Puck? Otto? Garfiel? Roswaal? Reinhard? Felix? Wilhelm?
She didn't know.
Petra and Meili chatted about things to pass time. They had no other option but to do that.
"Petra-chan, I missed you! The journey to the tower was soo b~oring!"
"Oh, is it? Well… I'm sorry to hear that then."
"Mmm… I wonder why onii-s~an isn't here yet."
Meili suddenly stiffened. She didn't know why… maybe she was guilty of the fact that she attempted an attack on Subaru's life? Or maybe it was because she had grown attached to him in a friendly way or just because he seemed to be the only one who had understood her the most suddenly, out of nowhere. Too many possibilities and very few answers…
"Speaking of which, I wonder where Subaru is. I'm worried about his safety," Petra whispered, worried.
"Don't worry, onii-san isn't the type to give up easily," Meili sighed.
"Subaru puts himself in trouble often. He risks his life just to ensure everyone's safety, but I guess that's what I like about him," Petra beamed, remembering the fond memories of the time when her hero saved her back to back.
Meili stiffened once again at the part of "risking his life" but she decided not to let Petra get suspicious of her behaviour. Things were already bad between them after the mansion burning down incident and if Petra found out she attempted an attack on Subaru's life, their relationship would worsen and she'd not want that.
"That's true, o… onii-san is one h… hell of a reckless person," Meili stuttered.
Petra giggled as she had fun discussing the weird but cool knight of Emilia-sama, ignoring Meili stuttering. Meili joined in the giggling session too.
Ricardo just sat on his seat like an obedient pup, eyeing Garfiel carefully. He knew Mimi had a crush on the tiger boy; he trusted the tiger boy now, but something about the boy now interested him.
Maybe it was the similarities in them, or maybe it was this enthusiastic, youthful energy in him which rivalled his younger days.
As for Mimi, she just wanted to jump out of her seat and chat with Garfiel, but she couldn't when the captain was in the next seat to her.
Something told her he'd stop her.
Shaula was irritated, just like those close to Subaru. She only cared about her master and no one else.
She wished she was with her master at the moment, cuddling him, but no fate-sama had to be cruel to her.
She was stuck in a room with people she doesn't know nor care about, but one guy, in particular, struck fear in her heart.
A knight with flaming-red hair; it reminded her of a particular pervert.
Just thinking about that scum Reid bought her terrible nightmares.
"Excuse me, miss."
"Uwahhh," Shaula mumbled, startled by Reinhard.
"My name is Reinhard van Astrea. May I know yours? I don't feel I have seen you before."
Shaula would have replied politely and would go back to her business, but the word "Astrea" affected her. Not to mention, the flaming-red-coloured hair worsened things further.
"A-ASTREA… A-ASTREA… WAAAAAHHHH, REID ASTREA!" Shaula screamed at the top of her lungs.
That grabbed everyone's attention, and they suddenly turned towards the half-naked girl and Reinhard, confused.
Reinhard tried to calm the provoked girl, but he eventually failed.
"Calm down, miss, I'm not Reid. I'm his descendant, my name is Reinhard."
"De-descendant?" Shaula asked while stuttering.
Betty sighed and said. "Reid's children's children, and their children's children and so on, I suppose."
"Ugh! If he's just as bad as Reid is, then that's the same thing!" Shaula said.
"Calm down, Shaula. Reinhard is not like Reid, I promise," Emilia reassured. She herself knew how bad Reid could be.
The name "Shaula" bewildered everyone, even Priscilla. (excluding the members of Emilia and Anastasia camp who went to the tower.)
Reinhard had a look of surprise on his face. His eyes widened. He immediately bowed respectfully to the girl.
"My dearest apologies for talking so casually with you, the great sage."
Felix, Wilhelm, Crusch and the rest immediately bowed as well.
"It's an honour to meet you great sage."
"I thought th' sage woulda be an old geezer, not a young lookin' chick," Garfiel mumbled. (That's what usually comes to my mind whenever I think about the word "sage" as well lol)
The rest of the cast were perplexed as well, but they all respected the sage, regardless of the looks.
"Emilia-sama! It's an outstanding achievement to meet with the sage in person! I hope you got all the solutions you needed," Reinhard commented. His usually calm attitude slipped off because of standing in front of one of the three great heroes and getting a chance to meet her in person.
Petra felt happy that someone like her had gotten the chance to meet the great sage in person as well.
Felt and Mimi felt the same as well.
"Um… Everyone… Shaula is the appren…"
Emilia tried to speak, but Felix, who was super-duper (Yes! E. M. T style!) excited about meeting the great sage, cut her off.
"Great sage, do you hate The Sword Saint, Reid Astrea or something?"
"He was a SCUM of the Earth," she declared, still maintaining a safe distance from Reinhard.
"Uh, I got nyo idea what Earth means, but the first sword saint was that bad of a person to be cyonsidered a scum?"
Shaula nodded her head furiously.
Julius sighed and nodded. "He's a sex offender."
Reinhard, who was already aware of the behaviour of his ancestor, hung his head in shame, as the secret was finally out.
"Are ya kiddin-"
"No, I'm serious," Julius cut off Garfiel.
Garfiel was slack-jawed. All this time, he'd been following and looking up to a pervert?
No… he won't buy any of that crap from an unknown knight. He won't believe anyone, especially not from a person he doesn't even recognize… unless it's coming personally from his Cap'n or Brotto.
Others were in a similar state to Garfiel as well, especially Crusch and Felix. Had it been the violet-haired knight, they'd doubt it to some extent, but it was coming straight from the mouth of the great sage.
But still… one of the great heroes who helped in the sealing of the Witch of Envy was a pervert?
They didn't want to believe it…. but they had no choice other than to believe it since it's coming personally from the great sage Shaula.
Meanwhile, Beatrice finally pondered over how Shaula knew of planet Earth, the planet where Subaru hails from. Well, maybe Subaru had informed her.
Emilia finally got the chance to speak.
"E-everyone! Shaula is not the great sage but his apprentice!"
"Yup! That's right!"
Everyone was shocked once again.
"Princess, ya mean ta say tha' the stories which tell us about the great sage Shaula is actually da apprentice of some unknown sage who helped in the sealing of Witch of Envy?" Garfiel inquired, shocked.
Did this mean his life was a lie?! First, Reid Astra, the sword saint, was considered a pervert by the sage and then the sage Shaula was some random hottie who was an apprentice of some other unknown sage?!
Reinhard knew about his ancestor's behaviour, but the information that Shaula isn't the great sage like the history and legends predicted was a shock to him as well.
"Wait… so you mean to say the stories that tell us of the Great Sage Shaula were a bunch of baloney?" Crusch asked, trying to keep her calm at the shocking revelation.
"I dooon't know why everyone thinks I am the Great Sage Shaula. As far as I know, I'm the only one named Shaula and my master is the one to be on the great sage level," she replied.
Just how many surprises will they have in one day? Getting teleported to this theatre was a tremendous surprise anyway. (This is just the starting my dear Re Zero cast)
They had one more question in their mind. If not Shaula, then who is supposed to be the great sage who sealed the Witch of Envy 400 years ago?
But before they could ask what her master's name was, Ainz came back… what perfect timing!
"All right, everything is ready. Are you all mortals sure to witness the tragic but amazing life of a boy who went through hell just to save you all?" Ainz asked one last time.
Everyone nodded their heads as they all wanted to get out of this place as soon as possible as well no matter how luxurious it was.
"Yes! We are!" the little ones said.
"The sooner we get outta this place th' better," Garfiel added.
"I'm shocked to see that this place is still in one shape," Ainz thought.
Roswaal was more than ready to understand the workings of Subaru's power so that he could grasp things better and perhaps even take advantage of it.
"Alright, the screen's loading."
Everyone was ready. "Here we go."
The screen loaded...
Author's Notes
Finally, It's done! This update isn't a major one with almost no changes to the previous story. I've just added the interactions much needed before. The new update has something like extra 6k words. How slothful of me.
I've also made some things clear which might have been confusing later down in the line. For eg- when does the story take place? Why is Ainz doing this? Etc.
I hope you find this story interesting and before I continue, let me say you should definitely check out 1Story maker's ReZero (rewind and rewatch from zero), ReZero cast watching Natsuki Subaru's Adventure To Death by GoldenFang17 and Life of Natsuki Subaru by strangerwager. They are all good reaction fics which I've read and I can say with no doubt they are better than my story!
And, of course! Watching him die again and again by our Reactionist-san. One of the main reasons for me making this story is to give him a true feeling of competition. Of course, I know I'll never reach legendary heights like his works, nor will my work be any better than his, but even then, I'll try my best and try to satisfy you all.
Also, let me know what you think of this new prologue.
As I said, I planned to previously add these interactions at the end of Arc 1+ but I soon thought to make the characters interact in the prologue itself and go for a different interaction by the end of arc 1+.
Now coming back to characters. Patrasche best girl! And as expected, Shaula joining conversations with others who are strangers in her point of view would be uncommon. But I'm excited to make her react to her master's death again and again.
Those who commented on wanting an awakened Subaru, their wishes are going to be fulfilled somewhat by the end of arc 2, after Emilia and Subaru's fight. (guaranteed!)
And in the next chapter, I'll introduce a few witches of sins to the theatre and warning: Emilia, Beako (brother-sister love), Rem and some other girls are going to be attached emotionally to Subaru by the end of arc 3+ (you have been warned lol)
As for Rem, I honestly thought to give everyone's memories with Rem back to them as I did in the previous fic but I had a brilliant idea!
They'll regain her memories bit by bit by watching the show. That way it can remain emotional for both Ram and Rem. Also, Rem doesn't know that Subaru remembers her and the rest I'd leave to your imagination. ;)
And don't tell me I hate Rem lmao. I love her as much as I love Emilia. This is just part of the story where things will get interesting down the line.
Now coming to our supervisor, those who figured out Satoru Suzuki is Ainz Ooal gown, congo!
Patrasche will be added and introduced as a result of a cliffhanger in one of the chapters.
Also, note that Ainz here doesn't show up because the kiddos gonna laugh at his chibi form and why is that? Simple, because this Ainz belongs to Isekai Quartet anime and you'll know why in the distant future lol.
And just for the information, Ainz is and will be the only guy from another anime at the moment and no, he'd not react. I promise all the others characters will stay purely to the Re Zero theme.
Let me know if I'm missing something to improve in the future.
A big thank you to those who commented, both negative and positive ones. Once again, do follow and review if you liked this story/chapter.
Stay safe!
–LongTyler out.
