The Guide

After driving off the one-horned demon beast, Rem turned to look at the human she had pulled from the oil pool.

He stood there in a daze, his whole face filled with reverent awe-the expression of someone who had witnessed a miracle.

He really was an outsider through and through. He had never even seen magic. Rem silently confirmed this to herself. There was one more thing she needed to check, though.

"Sniff, sniff."

"W-what is it? Aren't you being a little too forward...?"

Subaru's cheeks turned bright red. The blue-haired girl had suddenly leaned in like a puppy, the tip of her nose nearly touching his chest as she sniffed from his collar to his shoulder. She was too close. Close enough for him to make out every one of her eyelashes.

"So it really is coming from you." Rem stepped back half a pace. "Why is there such a strange smell on you?"

"A strange smell?"

Subaru froze for a moment, then hurriedly raised his arms and sniffed both sides before tugging up his collar and giving it a few vigorous sniffs. The horrific memory of falling into the oil pool still lingered in his mind. What if that stuff had left some disgusting smell on him? But no matter how much he sniffed, he couldn't detect anything unusual beyond a faint scent of earth and vegetation.

"Is there? I'm usually pretty clean... I don't smell anything."

"...Hmm, is that so? I suppose that makes sense." Rem nodded lightly. "You're an ordinary human, so it's natural that you can't smell it. Rem was born with a particularly keen sense of smell. It was because Rem smelled something strange earlier that she came to investigate."

"An ordinary human... That's the first time anyone's called me that. But you look human no matter how I look at you, don't you? I don't think I see any demi-human features on you."

"Rem refuses to answer that question."

"Huh? Why?"

"Because Rem doesn't trust people she's meeting for the first time."

"That reason really hurts..."

Subaru's shoulders slumped, but he soon straightened them again. In any case, she had saved his life, so he couldn't complain if she was a little cold. Besides, he couldn't help taking another look at Rem. The way this little girl spoke was so interesting.

"All right, then. But there's one more thing I'm really curious about. What exactly is going on with the smell on me? I can't really make sense of it myself, but to you people, I don't stink, do I?"

"How should Rem describe it...? It wouldn't be quite right to call it a stench. But smelling it makes Rem extremely irritated."

"...Irritated? What kind of way is that to judge a smell?"

Subaru sighed and silently labeled the little guide before him: cold, quiet, spoke nothing like a child, and apparently not very good at expressing herself gently. At least she meant no harm, though. He could tell that much.

"So it really is another world..."

The worlds of swords and magic depicted in those light novels and anime really did exist-and he was standing in one. He would have been lying if he said he didn't feel a spark of excitement deep down.

But after suffering two excruciating deaths in a row, the fear lingering in his memories quickly cooled some of that excitement.

And yet, precisely because of that...

Return by Death... Is this my 'cheat'?

I really am special.

The thought quietly kindled in his chest.

Subaru noticed Rem picking up a basket from the ground. It must have been something she had left in the grass earlier, and it was packed full of some kind of tuber crop.

"What is it? Have you never seen them before? These are white potatoes. They're delicious steamed. But Rem can't share any with you, because they're all for her sister."

"Of course I've seen white potatoes. Did you come into the forest just to dig these up? Isn't risking a demon beast attack a bit much?"

"Rem already told you, she can easily handle demon beasts of that level. This is only the edge of the village. It's not enough to put Rem in danger."

Even so, Subaru couldn't help taking another look at the basket. Coming alone into a forest like this to dig up white potatoes, the little loli before him was either incredibly brave or frighteningly obsessed with her sister.

Still, come to think of it, the little girl was out looking for food.

Subaru looked down at the plastic bag in his hand. Although it was still covered in residue from the oil pool, the bag itself somehow hadn't torn at all. Modern society's snack-packaging technology deserved his deepest respect at this moment.

"That's right! Please take this!"

"...What is this? What a strange bag. It's so light."

"There's something tasty inside. It's a delicacy from my hometown, though that might be a little underwhelming, considering it's just convenience store stuff."

Subaru scratched the back of his head, but the sincere smile on his face was anything but perfunctory. "Consider it part of my thanks for saving my life. I'll repay the rest little by little, but for now, please take this."

Rem stared blankly for a moment.

She looked first at the unfamiliar packet of snacks in Subaru's hand, then at the overly radiant smile on his face, before finally turning her gaze slightly to the side.

"...I see. It can't be helped. Rem will share a steamed white potato with you later. Just one, though. It's only because Rem happens to be making them anyway, so don't get the wrong idea."

She's a tsundere too.

Subaru couldn't help laughing to himself, but he said nothing more. He nodded obediently and carefully placed the snacks in Rem's basket.

"Let Rem make this clear first." Rem started walking again and added without looking back, "Rem doesn't know how the village will treat an outsider either, because the village chief makes decisions about such things."

Subaru's heart leaped into his throat, and he hurried after her.

"A secluded village... Is your village hostile to outsiders? You're not going to throw me straight back into the forest to fend for myself, are you? Just so we're clear, I have absolutely no way to protect myself. If you drive me out, there's a one-hundred-percent chance I'll be a demon beast's dinner before dark."

"There's no use pleading with Rem. Rem doesn't have much say in the village. However, while the village doesn't allow strangers to enter without permission, traveling merchants who have been granted permission can still come in. So it's not entirely without precedent."

Subaru nodded, feeling a little more reassured. Following Rem, he walked along a path carpeted with fallen leaves, heading deeper into the forest toward a more inhabited area.

The starting village. Right, I'll just think of it as the starting village in another world. Every adventure begins in a little village like this.

After they had walked for a while, Rem suddenly stopped.

"What's going on...? Demon beasts are gathering over here?"

"Demon beasts? Where?" Subaru stopped at once and scanned his surroundings warily.

"Over there. The smell of demon beasts is getting closer."

"But it'll be fine, right? Can't you just give them a good beating like before? Those demon beasts are no match for you, are they?"

"No." Rem lowered her voice. "There are too many. More than one. It's a pack of demon beasts. If there are too many, even Rem will be in danger. How strange. This sort of thing is very uncommon at the edge of the village."

Subaru swallowed. No way. Since arriving in this other world, his luck seemed to have been bad from start to finish.

He instinctively edged closer to Rem. He knew perfectly well that she only looked like a little girl, but in this forest, her small frame was all he had left to rely on.

"Hurry. Sister should be coming to look for Rem too. If it's Sister, she'll surely take care of everything."

As soon as Rem said that, she broke into a run, her small figure darting swiftly through the woods. Her voice had been full of unreserved, blind trust.

Subaru hurriedly ran after her, quietly imagining what Rem's sister might be like as he ran. From the way she talks about her, she's probably an especially dependable, mature and steady big sister, right?