Re Zero DMMS 59 (Patreon)

Two hours later.

Kenma pulled the girl who was tightly wrapped around him, and handed the aggrieved Shaula over to Reinhard.

"Take Shaula back to the Astrea Mansion first, I'm heading out to take care of some business."

Upon receiving the order, Reinhard nodded and raised his hand to block Shaula, who wanted to lunge toward Kenma.

"Understood. I wish Subaru-sama a safe journey, and I will take care of everything."

"No way, Master! Why aren't you taking me with you? I just want to stick close to Master forever, and always be together!"

Shaula still wanted to lunge forward and tightly embrace Kenma, but she was stopped by Reinhard's motionless palm.

Seeing Shaula looking so reluctant to part, with tears even beginning to hang at the corners of her eyes, Kenma rubbed the space between his brows and could only wave his hand, saying, "Never mind, Reinhard, I'll take Shaula with me."

"Alright."

Reinhard let go of his hand.

Shaula's figure turned into a blur in mid-air, crashing straight into Kenma's arms, rubbing her head back and forth against his chest.

"As expected, Master is the best. Never leave Shaula behind, okay? I just want to be with Master every second, forever."

Kenma reached out to pet Shaula's head, looking at the girl's innocent smiling face stained with tears, his expression involuntarily freezing.

What the hell, why is her snot stuck to my clothes?

However, her spoiled behavior actually reminded him of some not-so-pleasant memories.

As fragments of memories flashed through his mind, Kenma couldn't help falling into a bit of silence.

Once upon a time, when he was still young, his hometown family raised a very enthusiastic and lively dog.

Every time Kenma returned to his rural hometown, that dog would excitedly jump up and down in front of him, constantly rubbing its head against his trouser legs.

But later on, from some point onwards, he never saw that dog again.

When he learned the truth of the matter, that dog had already disappeared for three whole years.

As it turned out, the dog fell off a cliff and met an unfortunate end.

Bringing his thoughts back to the present, Kenma fixed his gaze on Shaula, who was wrapped around his waist and refused to let go.

Although he knew Shaula's physical body was strong and she would basically be fine, he still earnestly instructed, "Shaula, hold onto me tightly when we fly up later. Otherwise if you fall down, you'll be smashed into a pancake."

"Waah! What Master says is so scary. Shaula will definitely hug Master with all her might, and absolutely, absolutely, absolutely will not let go."

Kenma maneuvered his body to soar into the air, flying at high speed toward the previously agreed-upon direction.

Before long, he arrived back at the alley where he had previously talked business with Roswaal.

Having wiped off his clown makeup and changed into a suit, Roswaal was already waiting here.

Upon seeing Shaula appear alongside him, his expression stiffened for a fraction of a second before quickly returning to normal.

"I didn't expect an extra guest, but if it's the Sage Shaula, then there's no problem. Nice to meet you, Sage Shaula, my name is Roswaal L. Mathers, and I am the Margrave of the Kingdom of Lugunica."

With that said, Roswaal extended his hand with a smiling face.

Shaula glanced at Roswaal, a hint of disgust in her tone, and then buried her head back into Kenma's embrace.

"Master, this guy stinks so much. There's a heavy, overlapping stench on his body. It feels like it's rotting."

Upon hearing such contemptuous words, Roswaal did not feel angry. Instead, he felt somewhat alarmed.

Is this what it means to be the Sage? She saw through my true nature so easily.

Roswaal had a secret that he had never told anyone to this day.

His current body was not his own, but rather came from his descendants. Otherwise, given a human's lifespan, it would be impossible to live for 400 years.

As an existence from 400 years ago, Roswaal had mastered a secret technique of reincarnation centered around bloodlines.

Ever since then, whenever an individual with strong magical talent appeared in the family, he would perform the secret technique, stuffing his soul into the descendant's body to seize control of it.

In this way, by changing bodies, Roswaal managed to survive until today, 400 years later.

He never expected that the legendary Sage Shaula would see through his essence at a single glance. She was truly terrifying.

Yet the truth wasn't actually what he thought. Shaula genuinely felt that Roswaal stank, with his soul exuding the rotten stench of passing years.

Kenma interrupted their conversation and chose to get straight to the point, "Enough talk, let's head straight to the Sanctuary. Roswaal, you lead the way."

"Understood, Subaru-sama."

Roswaal shook off the chaotic thoughts in his mind, his gaze gradually turning resolute.

The most pressing matter right now was to learn the method of reviving his teacher from Subaru. Everything else was just empty talk.

—

Under the rapid flight of Roswaal and Kenma, the two quickly arrived at a secluded path surrounded by a lush forest.

Clearly, this place had already left the suburban range and entered the wilderness area.

Suddenly, Roswaal stopped his flying motion. He hovered in mid-air and raised his hand to point at the forest below.

"This is the Sanctuary. Its surface has a barrier that disrupts line-of-sight, which is why it looks like an ordinary forest."

Kenma nodded, then pointed his finger downward. "Go ahead, Shaula."

Receiving the command, Shaula let go, plummeting straight down from mid-air and smashing into the forest area pointed out by Roswaal.

The next second, she vanished into thin air halfway through her fall, clearly having broken into the barrier.

Seeing this situation, Roswaal smiled and shrugged, "Subaru-sama, I had no intention of deceiving you. This place is truly the Sanctuary. Now, can you tell me how to revive my sen—"

Bang!

Roswaal crashed down from mid-air, smashing onto the ground. With swollen cheeks, he passed out.

Kenma, hovering in mid-air, shook his hands and flew into the Sanctuary barrier without even looking back.