Re:Zero - Starting from Zero (Natsuki Subaru)

The sky curtain.

Seeing her sister gently comforting her, Rem's last bit of resentment completely dissipated.

My sister is really amazing.

In the flower field, Rem followed behind Ram.

If her older sister is so powerful, and if Rem can't beat her no matter how hard she tries, then...

Well, that's fine too.

Rem no longer needed to do anything extra; she could simply follow quietly behind her sister.

Rem thought to herself.

As the days went by, Rem found things a little easier after she stopped competing with herself and her sister.

One night, Rem woke up because she was hot.

Rem instinctively reached out to find her sister, only to discover that her sister was not in the room.

Rem got out of bed, walked out of the room, and pushed open the front door of the house. Outside the door was a scene that looked like hell.

The fire was raging.

The fire continued to scorch the corpse.

All the tribesmen are dead, and countless corpses are being burned in the fire.

Rem thought he would probably never forget the hellish tragedy unfolding before his eyes.

My familiar family members, my parents, are all dead.

The same applies to the clan leader, whom they didn't particularly like, and the other clan members.

Rem's legs gave way and she collapsed to the ground.

Rem sat on the ground and saw her sister fighting some people dressed in black robes in the distance.

My sister is still as strong as ever. Even when she's all alone, she can fight those people to a standstill.

Soon, Rem was surrounded by the men in black. Just as the men in black raised their blades to kill Rem, countless wind blades tore them to pieces.

That day was the first time Rem met anyone related to the Witch Cult.

From that day on, Rem could never forget the lingering scent of the witch on them, and that pungent stench.

Ram arrived quickly and stood in front of Rem.

The wind blades nearly wiped out all the surrounding witch cultists.

Ram turned around and looked at Rem lying on the ground.

Rem is fine, but her legs are too weak to stand up because of fear.

Because of the battle just now, the demon horn on Ram's forehead had not yet retracted.

"Rem, I'm relieved to see you're alright."

Just as Ram was about to approach Rem and help her up, a witch cultist lying on the ground suddenly attacked Ram.

The sharp blade slashed mercilessly at the demon horn on Ram's forehead.

Ram's demon horns were cut off.

For the Oni race, the Oni horn is the most important thing.

The twin demons, missing one of their demon horns and with their fighting power halved, are destined to be executed.

This is enough to show how important the horn of a demon is to a demon.

Now, Ram's only demon horn has been cut off.

Ram's powerful demon horn, imbued with immense magical power, was severed—

Fresh blood gushed out.

Rem watched helplessly as Ram's demon horn was severed, and she was powerless to do anything about it.

Not only that...

Rem's eyes welled with tears, but the corners of her mouth turned up slightly.

"Finally, it's been severed..."

These words slipped out of my mouth without my noticing.

After that, the sisters Ram and Rem were brought to the mansion by Roswaal and became his maids.

From that moment on, Rem always saw herself as a sinner.

"Because of my mistake, my sister's horn was broken, and she lost her strength."

"From now on, Rem will do everything that my sister can do, and do it even better."

"Sister should do this; sister can do it even better."

"I just need to do what my sister can do."

"If you can't even do these things well, then you have no value whatsoever."

Since that night, Rem has been atoning for the terrible, pathetic, shameful, and abhorrent thought in her heart.

Everything, everything, is because of myself.

The reason I strive so hard and live this long is to atone for my sins.

At that time, Rem could see nothing but her sister Ram and atonement.

Rem believes that she has taken away her sister's future, which should have been full of infinite light and possibilities.

Rem was well aware of just how strong Ram's talent was, which was why she was so deeply mired in self-blame and guilt, even seeing herself as an unforgivable sinner.

……

Tower of the Sages.

Natsuki Subaru had a complicated expression.

Rem is so stupid, hopelessly stupid.

Is it possible to keep atoning for something just because of one of my own thoughts?

In that situation, any person with normal humanity would have that thought, right?

Living in the shadow of others all the time, I guess the only one who wouldn't envy you is God?

Why does Rem have such high expectations of herself? Why is she so foolish as to keep atoning for her sins over just one thought?

Rem, right...?

Natsuki Subaru's feelings were very complicated.

Natsuki Subaru seemed to see a reflection of himself in Rem.

In some ways, Rem and he really are alike.

They look so alike.

Beatrice sighed helplessly.

Beatrice still harbors resentment towards Rem for her previous brutal killing of Subaru Natsuki.

Beatrice believes that even if Subaru Natsuki is a suspect, he should not have been killed without asking any questions or investigating anything.

Even now, Beatrice still cannot forgive Rem for what she did.

However, Beatrice understood Rem to some extent.

Having endured that agonizing hell, she watched as her family and clansmen all died at the hands of the witch cult.

They all carried the lingering scent of a witch...

Even as a child, Rem had already come to regard this smell as a symbol of the enemy.

That's why she acted that way when she saw Subaru Natsuki before Rem and smelled the lingering witch scent on him.

That would be considered post-traumatic stress disorder.

Beatrice was truly helpless.

The fault definitely lies with Rem.

However, after witnessing everything Ram and Rem went through, Beatrice couldn't bring herself to blame them, nor could she place all the blame on Rem.

Beatrice even felt a pang of sympathy when she saw Rem's childhood, or rather, her life story.

However, understanding, sympathy, and reluctance to blame do not mean that Beatrice will forgive Rem's mistakes, nor does it mean that Beatrice agrees with Rem's previous behavior.

Regarding Subaru Natsuki...

Rem made a mistake.

but……

The continuous broadcast of Sky Screen made Beatrice realize that some things should not be concluded prematurely.

Beatrice stared intently at the light screen before her.

"Since you've always regarded Subaru as your hero, let Betty see your determination and actions."

Beatrice decided to see if Rem had been hurting Subaru all along.

Or perhaps... Rem also sacrificed a lot for Subaru.

Beatrice only hoped that Rem wouldn't disappoint her.