When someone speaks Japanese it is formatted with "italics". When someone says something in Lugnican, it is unformatted direct speech.
He closed his eyes in the dark of evening street, opening them to the daylight of old-fashioned square.
"What's going on?"
He looked around, squinting his eyes, pinching his cheeks, remembering about the plastic bag in his hand.
"This stuff obviously isn't fake, which means…"
He once again was full of energy. He was given second chance! The whole unexplored world of chances!
"I've been summoned into a parallel world!"
One step, then another, Subaru probed himself, trying to feel changes in his body or mind. He surely was given some kind of power, right? Or was that ominous prelude of his transportation for nothing? Well, maybe an opportunity to test his powers will present itself. If anything, it would be better to get to know this place first.
"I guess I can assume this is a fantasy world, with typical medieval-style culture. A place where demi-humans are commonplace, and probably stuff like wars and adventures as well."
Subaru stopped, once again observing the world around him. Yet he was too busy with himself to listen around, but the chatter surrounding him was foreign. Now, listening intently, he couldn't understand a single word. They... They weren't speaking Japanese!
"Huh. Well, it makes sense... No! That doesn't make any sense! Why would I be transported with no knowledge of local language? Usually, there is some spell to learn languages... I hope they do have magic here."
"Watch out!"
Somebody cried out, Subaru felt panic permeating the crowd. He saw people pointing out to the street, where the child laid down, right on the track of some carriage, the young boy stunned, unable to move away.
"This is it! It's my chance! This must be where I produce my first magic!"
He didn't even have time to grow disappointed in himself before an armored knight grabbed the kid away from danger with inhuman speed. It had Subaru wonder, if this was a result of magic or natural feature of people in this world. Distraught, Subaru wandered further along the street.
Subaru made his way to market stand selling fruits. He didn't need food yet, and still carried a plastic bag from convenient store anyway. At least apples looked the same, as well as most other fruits, barring few stalls. Quick glance at the signs confirmed that he couldn't read either.
"Hey, kid, are you scouting me to steal something? That won't do. Hey! Do you understand me?"
Subaru guessed he looked strange, standing there squinting his eyes at every fruit. It was no harm to try and talk to the guy, to see if a local would make something out of what Subaru says. He came closer, cleared his throat and adorned a friendly smile.
"Hello. I am from Japan. Can you understand what I am saying?"
The guy behind the stand looked at Subaru inquisitively, perhaps, thinking if the boy was messing with him. But, Subaru indeed looked very different from locals. The shopkeeper briefly looked around and sighed.
"Look, kid, I don't know what you are saying. If this is some kind of joke, it's not funny. If you want to buy something, you buy. Don't just stand here, you are scaring away the clients."
The shopkeeper waved him away, Subaru understanding he was unwanted here. But now he knew he couldn't be understood by common folk, although gestures seemed to be universal.
"Crap. At least now I don't have to watch my tongue. I can say whatever I want!"
Subaru started to walk away, thinking if there was a person waiting for him or some kind of note left near the place he was transported to. What he was supposed to do? He didn't know anything or anyone. Hell, he couldn't even buy food or rent a place for a night! Everything was surreal. It would be really helpful if he found someone who wouldn't brush him off and reciprocate his attempts at communication.
He decided to cut his way back to the fountain through some alley, but got lost in the maze of houses and alleyways, eventually bumping into 3 delinquent-looking guys. One glance at them made Subaru curse whatever training arc he was going through.
"You! Hey! Cough up everything in your pockets and that fancy bag! You hear me, mate?"
Subaru understood he was likely getting mugged, since 2 of the guys blocked his way out while the supposed leader menacingly approached him.
"Guys? You don't want to do this. I just got summoned and you might wake something in me before I am ready! You sure-"
"What the hell are you blabbering? Are you messing with us?!" The guy walked to Subaru and tried to lift him up by grabbing his shirt. No response came, Subaru smiling silently, thinking of his next step. Stupefied and looking back at two other delinquents, the leader didn't notice a yellow blur speeding at him.
"Move! Out of my way!"
"Yay, cavalry! You are coming for me, right? You must be the one who-"
Cute young girl with blonde hair and red eyes ran ahead, only passing a glance towards Subaru. But her unexpected entrance and maneuvers made the leader briefly let go of Subaru's shirt, setting him free.
"-summoned me. Why do I always get excited for nothing..."
"What the... Anyway. Pretending to not understand speech, huh? You know, only savages can't talk... And savages don't own stuff!"
The guy punched Subaru in the gut, poor boy recognizing the danger only at the last moment. He curled, almost falling backwards, forced to make few steps back to balance himself. The other two of trio, emboldened by his lack of fighting prowess, closed in to get their own share.
Despite the surprise Subaru wasn't overwhelmed, finding the pain manageable. These guys were just street hooligans, nothing but nuisance for a proper hero. A hero Subaru aspired to be. Maybe pulling through pain and standing up for himself is what is needed for his awakening?
Subaru dropped the bag slightly behind himself, looking right into the eyes of the guy who punched him. Hooligan's face showed a sign of doubt now, likely the result of Subaru's scary stare, making him step back closer to his bigger pal. A brief stalemate, as both parties didn't want to get hurt by being rash, ended when the leader turned his head slightly to say something to a big guy on his right.
Subaru was angry and pumped with adrenaline. Seeing how the delinquent who attacked him backed off, but was (seemingly) about to command his beating by two others, cornered boy decided to strike him off before this happens.
Catching his opponent off guard, Subaru delivered strong hook to the guy right in front of him, knocking him out on the ground. Keeping momentum, he strongly pushed the tall guy, making him tumble on uneven paving and eventually fall. Turning around, he rushed towards the small guy who was blocking his exit and delivered a powerful kick, sending the hooligan into the wall.
"Phew, guys, and I was worried. You are just lumps of XP! But, this is my first fight, so I'll take it."
Subaru shone with confidence, finally doing something "worthy" in this world. Though, his smile was gone when he saw taller guy helping his leader to get up, who already brandished some kind of knife in his hand. Subaru had to go now, before it got worse...
"Stop right there, thieves!"
Subaru turned towards the source of a silver bell voice, stopping in his track. Otherworldly beautiful elf (half-elf?) girl was calling out to... him? Was she the one? He wished she was. He never met someone as gorgeous as this girl... Or young woman? She looked as old as him, but there was something childly innocent in her expression. He unconsciously walked towards her, forgetting his surroundings. Unlike the hooligans, who haven't liked the interruption.
"Keep away, brat! He's mine!"
"Return what you stole and I will let you all go."
"Stole what? Are you with this dude?"
"No, I don't know him. The jewelry piece... If you give it back, I promise, I will let you go and forget this happened. Please."
"We didn't steal from you! We haven't even seen you before!"
"But I think I saw someone running in here..."
"That must have been the girl who sprinted past us a minute ago."
"Is it true, Puck?"
A small cat materialized on her shoulder, smiling at the scene.
"Nya! What do we have here? A bunch of hooligans! But, this one is telling the truth. Who is this guy, though?"
Hooligans backed off from the spirit, aware of how powerful those entities were. The only person standing calmly was enamored Japanese boy. The cat flew towards Subaru, lightly punching him while flying around.
"Tell me, did you steal from Lia? Did you steal from my lovely daughter?"
Subaru couldn't help but chuckle, everything getting more surreal with each minute. He carefully caught the cat in his palms, immediately starting to cuddle it. It lasted for few seconds, before Subaru got aware of how strange it seemed. He had to introduce himself to this angelic girl first! He let the giggling cat go, turned himself towards the elf and striking a "cool" pose.
"I am Natsuki Subaru. Not only am I clueless, I'm also broke beyond compare!"
Emilia looked at him dumbfounded. She didn't understand a word from him, but it looked like he was introducing himself. Both distracted and with Puck retreating back to her daughter, they didn't notice the tall guy sneaking behind Subaru until he put the lovestruck boy in headlock.
"What are you doing? He-"
"Mind your own business. Dude attacked us before you got here!"
Emilia crossed eyes with flailing Subaru, who shot her a pleading look in the middle of his attempts to free himself. Puck flew in-between Emilia and warring guys, attracting attention again.
"I don't like the way you are talking. And weren't you mugging him?"
The guy holding Subaru looked at the spirit with contempt, yet held himself back, somewhat afraid.
"This had nothing to do with you. Or do you know him?"
"No, not at all... But I can't let you beat him senseless either!"
"Dammit! Look at what he had done to poor little Kan!"
The second guy, now hiding his knives, pointed in the direction of Kan who clutched his head sitting on the floor, leaning against the wall. Emilia looked at him with pity, then back at Subaru, somewhat bewildered. He looked so innocent when playing with Puck...
"Oh. But... I can help? I think. I can heal him. I am not a professional, but it's better than anything you can do! Just let this poor boy go and help me find the thief."
"Nah. That's too much hassle. Heal Kan, and I give you the description of the thief."
"That's... Fair. But what about the boy? Wasn't he just defending himself?"
Rolling his eyes, the leader approached his bigger friend who was still holding Subaru, although both weren't fighting anymore. One relaxed his hold, listening to the conversation, another stopped flailing, believing that his freedom was one of the topics of the discussion. Subaru and delinquent stared at each other, then hooligan smiled, briefly looked back at Emilia and delivered a punch to Subaru's gut.
It hurt more than first time, since he was hit second time in the same place and was held steady. Emilia squeaked and reached towards the boy, a little shocked by the sudden turn of events. Subaru grunted, but couldn't even try to retaliate, overwhelmed by pain and held firmly.
"We're even now. Almost. Heal Kan, I'll draw how that girl looked like in the meantime. Also, she probably lived in slums, I know her kind, believe me. Let the savage go, Ton. Watch out if he hasn't learned his lesson."
Ton, the bigger guy, released Subaru, who fell on his knees, trying to repair his breath. Battered boy glanced up to see Emilia looking at him sympathetically, having walked closer. Hesitating a bit, she offered him a hand to help him get on his feet. Subaru chuckled, extended his right hand in "thumbs up" sign and steeled himself to stand up on his own. Even after that, half-elf looked worried.
"I am OK. I wanted to say I've been worse, but being beaten is a first for me."
"What is he saying?"
"No idea. He must be from some isolated tribe, to not know the common language."
Emilia made her way to Kan, followed by clueless Subaru. He grabbed his bag again, looking at delinquents warily. The ring leader sighed with irritation, but said nothing else. Small cat waving him from behind Subaru convinced him to drop the issue. Subaru didn't understand how it turned out this way. What has she said to them? Is he safe and free now, or there are some kind of conditions?
Delinquent started carving something on the wall using his knife, having the second guy guard him. Subaru immediately forgot about them when he saw what elf girl and her cat were doing to the small guy. It was his first time seeing magic, mere steps away. Subaru carefully moved closer, standing behind them, conscious not to disrupt whatever they were doing.
Finishing applying of what Subaru guessed was some kind of healing spell, half-elf stood up, as the little boy closed his eyes, resting. She looked at Subaru again, head to toes, who couldn't help but smile when looking at her serious, musing face. The girl smiled briefly in return, while whispering about something with her cat.
"But how did he get here then?" Emilia raised her voice, still inspecting Subaru.
"I told ya, I don't... Wait. Crap." The ring leader, making final adjustments to the picture, suddenly growled and rolled his eyes again, then turned and stared at Subaru. "That actually makes a lot of sense... I guess, he must had come from another country with escort, maybe even translator. But he got lost and wandered here. They must be looking for him..."
As the ring leader moved to the side, Subaru finally saw what the guy was drawing. It was relatively crude, but recognizable image of the girl who ran past them when he was mugged!
"Hey, I know her!" Subaru pointed finger at the drawing. Attracting weird looks, he shyly retracted his hand. "I mean, I saw her as well. I think she also had a bow-knot as her hairtie." He looked at the ruffian holding knife, who was relaxed until he saw Subaru's gaze on his "drawing instrument". Subaru carefully reached towards the guy...
"May I? Ah, forget it." Seeing as the guy immediately stepped back, looking at Subaru suspiciously, Japanese boy decided to do it differently. Images and gestures, that what he has to resort to until he somehow learns local language.
He hurriedly emptied his plastic bag, flattened and straightened it, then used it to tie the small hairbun on his head. Soon Subaru managed to properly fix it, using it as a big ugly ribbon, hoping they would understand what he means. He was met with wide-eyed stares, indicating that his pantomime was fruitless so far.
"Oh, come on, what else could I mean?" He gestured at the picture of a girl while imitating running, then pointed with both hands at his "bow-knot". Emilia burst laughing.
"Ah, I see. I forgot to draw her ribbon. She had a black ribbon on her blonde hair. I don't think I saw anything else of note." The ring leader finally responded musingly, coming to the wall to correct his carving.
Subaru never heard more beautiful laugh. He also smiled while untying the bag on his head, even more satisfied when he saw how the delinquent corrected his drawing.
"Ahh, haven't laughed that hard in a while... So, that's it? And you think she lives in slums, right?"
"Yes. And take this clown with you, I don't want to get in trouble with authorities for beating up some diplomat."
"Diplomat, huh? I mean, his clothes are high quality and he is well-nourished, but he-"
"Whatever. Thanks for helping Kan, we'll take our leave. And you, asshole? Next time we see you, we might not be as considerate."
The trio left, small guy Subaru kicked earlier, on his foot as well. He looked at half-elf, excitedly waiting for her to guide him in this world.
"Oh. I forgot to introduce myself. Emilia, nice to meet you." Remembering that the boy probably couldn't figure out what exactly she was saying, she decided to only talk in simple words supplemented by gestures. She places her palm on her chest, maintaining eye contact all the while. "Emilia. E-mi-li-a."
The boy smiled widely, pointed at himself and said "Subaru Natsuki", then back at her, "Emilia E'mee'lee'a".
"No, dunderhead!" She laughed again. The girl carefully grabbed his hand by sleeve of the shirt and aimed it at Subaru. "Subaru Natsuki", and then again, briefly touching the skin of his palm with her forearm, pointed at herself. "Emilia."
Subaru felt he almost fainted. "Emilia-tan!" As the small cat above Emilia's shoulder laughed at his redfaced interactions with Emilia, he hid his eyes and mannerly bowed. Reminded of her companion, Emilia pointed at her cat, revealing his name as "Puck". Emilia kept introducing new words to Subaru as they were making their way to other part of city of Lugnica.
"Arm." Emilia copied Subaru's gesture, who "highlighted" parts of his body that he wanted to know the name of. "Arm."
"Arm. Arm!" Subaru repeated after her, with strong accent. They already went over "Yes", "No" and every part of the face, now going down through body. It was surprisingly fun, Emilia having occasional laugh at Subaru's pronunciation or his pantomimes. Suddenly, she stopped and looked somewhere in the distance, at the crying kid. Subaru habitually filtered out most voices around him, only concentrating on trying to learn words from Emilia, so he didn't notice the little girl at first.
Emilia rushed to the child, asking her few questions, none of which Subaru could understand. He thought he heard few familiar words, but he couldn't make sense of the sentences overall, it was also possible some words just sounded alike, or were wholly different terms formed with nouns he already knew. Learning this language will be much harder than he initially thought...
"Look, Subaru, we need to help her... Hehe, I almost forgot you can't understand me properly. Well, you will one day. I hope."
The little girl kept crying and didn't respond, looking at Emilia's face with a hint of fear. Subaru immediately noticed this, but couldn't believe it at first. For him, Emilia looked like an angel. But, regardless, it was time to use his superpower "good-with-children-(especially-little-girls)"!
He reached into his pocket for a ten-yen coin. "Emilia-tan?" For some reason the boy insisted on calling her that. When she looked at him again, he pointed at the coin with his other hand, then, not sure if she understood him, made the same movement when he "highlighted" parts of this body.
"It's a coin. Coin. Coin."
Subaru bowed ceremoniously after hearing her response. "What I have here is one grooved-edge ten-yen coin." He switched to Lugnican mid-phrase, "Coin. Hand," and back, "I will now clutch it tightly in my hand. Tight, tight, tight… like that! And now imagine that!" He opened his palm to reveal it was empty when it should have had the coin in it. The girl looked amazed at Subaru, he smiled back reassuringly.
He moved his hand to her hair, "And this… is where the coin was hiding," and in Lugnican, "Head, hair, coin!" He gently showed the kid his coin. The girl smiled with awe and astonishment, unconsciously reaching for the coin. He rolled it between his fingers and gave to her. "I have no need for it here. Keep it."
He glanced at Emilia, who was also amazed with his trick. When she noticed his gaze, she huffed and turned away briefly, having a serene, if not a wise expression when she looked back. Subaru carefully, slowly took girl's hand into his own, gesturing Emilia to do the same. She lightly clasped kid's palm, murmuring "Thank you".
"Aren't we like a married couple with a child? Now we are on our usual evening stroll, then we have a romantic dinner at home..."
Emilia wasn't really paying attention to what he was saying, somewhat conscious of the fact that the little girl clutched closer to Subaru, almost letting go of half-elf's hand. Why? Why was Emilia cursed with her heritage? Why did she look like Witch? Did Subaru know about it? Was he from somewhere so distant they didn't care much for Great Calamity?
"Hey, now would be the time to reveal that you understood me all along and were just messing with me! Emilia-tan?" Subaru noticed her frown, going through ways to lighten her up in his head. Half-elf looked at him somewhat sadly, sighing. She wanted to say something, but got interrupted by a girl running to her mom, crying happily.
"Thank you! We were so worried!"
"We were glad to help!"
Now they were on their way to slums. Being fairly new to the Capital, Emilia often had to ask for directions, slowing them down somewhat. They continued their "word exchange" on their way, sometimes attracting weird looks from passerbies. Her mind kept going back to the scene, where mum thanked them for rescuing the child. It was such a good feeling...
"Thank you, Subaru." Emilia really wanted for him to know these words, but she didn't know how to give him the right context. She wasn't even sure Subaru actually remembered everything they already went through, Emilia would have to re-examine him. And she thought teaching was easier than learning!
Subaru stopped, not sure what she meant. She made a gesture of giving something to him, her hands going in fluent arc from her to him. Seeing his lost expression, she thought deeply. Puck was on her shoulder again, so she haven't thought of anything better... Emilia took Puck in her hands, and ceremoniously handed him to Subaru.
"Did my daughter just give me away to some kid from the street? Just for his 'thank you'?"
"Shh, Puck, it's important. We need to teach him more abstract things."
"Sure, Lia. But don't you think this is too complicated for now? And we're kind of on the clock..."
Emilia ignored him, instead looking at Subaru expectantly. She repeated "Thank you", now signaling him to copy.
"Emm, thank you? Thank you, Emilia-tan." She gestured him to give her Puck. Upon getting the spirit in her hands, she said "Thank you, Subaru."
The boy wasn't sure what she meant by that. Present? Being thankful? Cat? Carrying something? Getting an idea, Subaru reached inside his bag, grabbing a protein bar he bought back home. He handed it to Emilia, watching her attentively.
"Thank you, Subaru." She clutched the chocolate in one hand, giving Puck again to Subaru with other. He looked at her and, smiling at ridiculousness of this situation, replied, "Thank you, Emilia?"
Subaru lightly thrusted Puck up, letting him float. He looked at Emilia again. "Thank you, Emilia. Thank you, Emilia-tan!"
"Yes! We did it, Puck!" Emilia shone with excitement, as the spirit lightly jabbed Subaru up the chin. "Thank you, Puck," she said, looking at Subaru's reaction, giggling when Subaru also thanked the cat sincerely.
"Let's just hope he doesn't confuse it with 'I like you'!"
"What do you mean? Well, if so, then he likes both of us, isn't that good?"
"It is, Lia, it is... On the topic of good and bad, I think we are at the dead end, in the middle of slums. I'll soon be at my limit, so we have to hurry."
"I have magic! I can defend myself just fine."
"Well, that may be, but I would be much more comfortable if I could be with you. I know we can't wait until tomorrow, so I trust you to be careful on your own. And don't forget to use Subaru as meatshield!"
The spirit winked at the boy, yawned and retreated to crystal, leaving Subaru baffled. What made his jaw drop futher is seeing a myriad of orbs approaching Emilia from all sides. It was beautiful and mesmerizing, entrancing Subaru. He felt he almost heard a hum of thousands voices, directionless and indistinguishable.
"Lesser spirits." Emilia spoke to Subaru again, when orbs around her started to disperse. He repeated after her, waving in direction of orbs. She hoped he understood her correctly, there was almost no way to confirm. But she tried, on their way to where the girl of that description was last seen.
"Puck – greater spirit." She called out for a small orb still not far, who nudged on her palm. "Lesser spirit."
Subaru nodded, wanting to touch it and spirit not flying away from him. Puck told her, that the boy had high affinity with spirits, although he was totally untrained to handle them. He couldn't communicate the same way Emilia did, or at least it didn't look like he could. The spirit remained with Subaru until they arrived at the old shack, the place where the thief was last seen. When they were coming closer spirit was spooked by something and left.
After some deliberation, Emilia knocked. She heard some rustling before hearing "Closed!" from elderly low voice from inside. She sighed and opened the door herself.
Inside the room, there were a poorly clothed girl and older woman in dark dress sitting at the table, with the giant man standing slightly to the side. "I told you we are closed until tomorrow. We are in the middle of something important."
"I suspect this girl has stolen something from me. It is of utmost importance to return it to the rightful owner. I will drop any charges and forget that happened if you hand it over to me."
"Ah, yeah, that's her! I am sure."
Everyone, even the weird woman, looked at him at once. Subaru shrugged, looked at Emilia, pleading that she understood. Half-elf looked at the thief girl sternly, sure about her involvement regardless of Subaru's attempt to confirm it was her.
"Alright, missy, the deal is off then. Having your target find me wasn't part of it!"
"I was about to say the same thing..." The woman licked her lips and gracefully left the table. As the girl stood up and giant was coming closer, feeling the abrupt change of the atmosphere, the woman assassin suddenly leaped into the air. As Emilia and Subaru were closest to the exit, she targeted them first. The wide slash on unprepared Emilia pushed her back to Subaru, who unthinkingly caught her fall. Moment later she howled wildly, as a wide wound on her gut opened, letting the blood with intestines spill on her dress and Subaru's legs.
He was paralyzed. He was endlessly muttering, "Emilia-tan, Emilia-tan...", her crying was getting fainter each second. He didn't pay attention to his surroundings, losing his mind thinking of ways to save her or ease her pain. He didn't know nothing. He didn't understand this world. It was too cruel, too unjust, too scary...
A kick to his face uprighted him from clutching Emilia's dying body. That scary woman finished carving up old man and the girl. She came to finish off Subaru Natsuki. He didn't have willpower to do anything but stare at her hatefully.
"If you had run, you might have had a chance. Well, it would be boring just to open you up, but I don't have much time left..."
She grabbed him by his neck and pierced him with her machete, turning it slowly in the wound. Then, only when seeing dying agony in his eyes, she opened his gut wide open. Letting him fall on the floor near Emilia's body, she wordlessly left Subaru's vision, soon it being completely darkened...
And brought again alight, at the familiar scene at the fountain square. Clutching his shirt and crying quietly, Subaru fell on his knees, hyperventilating. Nightmare was over. Or so it should have been.
The idea of Subaru being isekaied with no knowledge of local language sat with me for a while. Even thinking about him going through hundreds of loops, seeking help and learning local tongue bit by bit, it gave me chills. This is not the way I plan this story to be – Subaru will break through this first death loop with no better Lugnican than toddler. I will try to conform to Re:Zero canon for the most part, with few my speculations about powers and authorities bordering field of "plausible", from what we learn from Web Novels so far.
For first few spoken lines of Subaru I relied on retelling from Reactionist fanfic, as I didn't have opportunity to rewatch the first episode properly. Practically, it's not plagiarism, but I feel like I had to disclose that anyway, to avoid misunderstandings.