Chapter Summaries

Natsuki Subaru suddenly found himself in a strange forest and searched for people, but a horned crocodile attacked him. After losing a leg, Subaru was bitten in the neck and died alone.

• Natsuki Subaru appeared in a dense forest with only his phone, cup noodles, and snacks, and set out along a faint path to find people.
• Subaru found a stream, drank some water, and continued along its bank while thinking about food and survival.
• A giant, horned crocodile emerged from the bushes and charged at Subaru.
• Subaru ran and called for help, but the crocodile caught him and tore off one of his legs.
• The crocodile approached the wounded Subaru and bit his neck, killing him as he called for his mother.

After dying in a horned crocodile attack, Subaru returned to an earlier moment in the forest and tried to avoid danger, but died again in a concealed oil swamp. He woke once more at the same starting point and suspected that time reset whenever he died.

• Subaru found himself back in the forest after the crocodile killed him, with his body restored and the white fruits missing from his bag.
• Subaru picked more white fruits and crossed the river where he had encountered the crocodile, noticing that his reflection looked younger.
• Subaru mistook a moss-covered oil swamp for a grassy clearing, became trapped, and died after inhaling the scalding oil.
• Subaru woke again holding his original bag, saw the beetles still fighting on the tree, and wondered if time had reset after his death.

After dying and returning to a forest save point, Subaru tried to avoid the oil bog but fled into another one while escaping the horned crocodile. Rem rescued him with magic and drove off the beast, leaving Subaru to realize he had been summoned to another world.

• Subaru returned to the forest, avoided the first oil bog, and was chased by the horned crocodile.
• Subaru ran into a second oil bog, where he began to drown as the crocodile abandoned him.
• Rem pulled Subaru from the bog and questioned why he was alone in the forest.
• Subaru learned that Rem had used magic to rescue him, then warned her that the crocodile was approaching again.
• Rem blasted the charging crocodile away, and Subaru concluded that he had been summoned to another world.

After Rem rescued Subaru from a demon beast, she investigated the strange scent on him and led him toward her village. When Rem sensed a pack of demon beasts approaching, she ran to find her sister, leaving Subaru to follow her.

• Rem questioned Subaru about the strange scent on him and explained that it irritated her.
• Subaru gave Rem his packaged snacks as thanks for saving him, and she agreed to share a steamed white potato with him later.
• Rem warned Subaru that the village chief would decide whether an outsider could enter the village.
• As Rem led Subaru through the forest, she sensed a pack of demon beasts approaching and said they could threaten even her.
• Rem ran to seek her sister, whom she trusted to deal with the danger, and Subaru hurried after her.

Ram revealed herself as Rem’s older sister and an oni, then wiped out a colony of horned crocodile mabeasts with a single wind attack. Subaru was left stunned by her power.

• Ram arrived and said she wanted Rem by her side for the rest of the day.
• Subaru argued when Ram called him a brat, but Rem and Ram dismissed his claim that he was seventeen.
• More than ten horned crocodile mabeasts emerged from the woods and surrounded the group.
• Ram grew a horn and revealed that she and Rem were oni.
• Ram unleashed a storm of wind blades that killed the mabeasts in an instant.

Subaru followed Rem and Ram to their secluded village, where villagers stared at his unfamiliar black hair and clothes. The sisters brought him to the village chief, but Ram refused to explain how they had found him, leaving the old man to ask Subaru for the story.

• Rem said her sister was known as the strongest person in the village, while Subaru noticed Rem's feelings of inferiority toward her.
• Ram and Rem decided to take Subaru to the village chief, then led him out of the forest and into the village.
• Subaru drew curious and wary looks from villagers, and Rem explained that his black hair was rare and associated with Gusteko.
• Ram and Rem stopped at the chief's house and left Subaru to speak with the old man.
• The chief asked how Subaru had come to the village, but Ram refused to explain and the chief urged her to give a rough account.

Subaru learned that he had been transported to Lugunica and transformed into a boy of about ten, and Setanta allowed him to stay in the village under observation. Rem escorted him to temporary lodgings and explained that the Oni village was built in a mana-rich forest because it suited them, while a barrier kept mabeasts out.

• Setanta questioned Subaru about his origins, and Subaru said he had come from a small country in the east without knowing how he reached the forest.
• Subaru spotted his reflection and discovered that he looked about ten years old, though his tracksuit had changed to fit him.
• Setanta allowed Subaru to remain in the village temporarily, and Rem was assigned to watch him.
• Subaru asked Rem why the Oni had settled in a forest full of mabeasts, and she explained that mabeasts increased the mana that Oni used to grow stronger.
• Rem told Subaru that a barrier protected the village from mabeasts and warned him not to go outside it.

Subaru settled into the oni village, found that he could not read its books, and persuaded Rem to explain the world to him. He learned that Lugunica still faced the White Whale after the Sword Saint Theresia van Astrea and her force were defeated five years earlier.

• Subaru cleaned the storage room assigned to him and planned to earn money and find a way to become stronger.
• An old woman gave hungry Subaru a loaf of bread, mistook him for a girl, and heard him explain that his voice had changed.
• Subaru found the village library but discovered he could not read its writing, so Rem brought him the promised steamed sweet potato.
• Subaru convinced Rem to answer his questions by telling her she was the only person who could help him in the unfamiliar country.
• Rem explained that the oni village lay near Lugunica’s border and that the kingdom was known as the Dragon Kingdom because of its ancient pact with the divine dragon.
• Rem told Subaru that the Sword Saint, Theresia van Astrea, and most of her force had been killed in a failed attempt to subjugate the White Whale five years earlier.

Subaru learned more about the Witch Cult and discovered that Rem was a talented cook before beginning work chopping firewood in the village. After earning his first silver coin, he asked Rem to let him treat her to a meal and teach him magic.

• Rem explained that the Witch Cult worshipped the Witch of Envy and spread fear and slaughter, though she had never seen its members herself.
• Subaru praised Rem's sweet potato cooking, and Rem said she would visit him again the next day while keeping an eye on him.
• Rem took Subaru to chop firewood for his keep, splitting logs with magic while Subaru struggled with an ax.
• Rem told Subaru that Ram had dug two of the village's three wells with magic.
• After inspecting Subaru's uneven pile of firewood, Rem gave him a silver coin as a week's advance pay and warned him not to slack off.
• Subaru thanked Rem and offered to treat her to a meal, then asked her to teach him magic.

Subaru ate lunch alone before Rem tried to teach him magic, but his lack of talent left him unable to cast a spell until a passing Oni man showed him an incantation. Subaru managed to form a purple crystal that quickly shattered, and Rem felt reassured when Subaru thanked her for helping him.

• Subaru ate an ordinary fried steak alone after Rem left to have lunch with her family, promising to teach him magic that afternoon.
• Rem had Subaru eat a Pock Fruit to stimulate his Mana, then urged him to control the energy burning through his body.
• Subaru tried several shouted spell names without success, until a passing Oni man explained that humans needed incantations to cast magic.
• The Oni man told Subaru to say “El Minya,” and Subaru formed a purple crystal that shattered almost immediately.
• The Oni man criticized Subaru’s talent for magic and advised him to learn a trade, leaving Rem upset about her failure to teach him.
• Subaru thanked Rem and credited her with helping him begin learning magic, and Rem quietly accepted that he needed her help.

Subaru struggled with magic and odd jobs in the Oni village, where even young children far surpassed him in strength. Rem admitted she was the weakest Oni and began looking after him, and a month passed as they settled into a quiet daily routine.

• Subaru failed to split firewood with magic and was mocked by Oni children, who demonstrated their strength by felling a large tree.
• An Oni man explained that even the village's young children could use powerful magic and that Subaru did not need to work so hard practicing.
• Rem brought Subaru dinner and told him she ranked below nearly everyone in the village at magic.
• Rem began supervising Subaru's daily work, paying him wages, watching his magic practice, and bringing him food each evening.
• Subaru continued his routine of odd jobs, magic practice, and meals from Rem until a month had passed in the other world.

Subaru commissioned Baren to forge a steel handgun based on his paper model, then found and treated an injured wild ground dragon near the village. After Rem identified it as a rare Diana Breed, Subaru asked whether he could keep it.

• Subaru showed Baren his paper handgun and asked him to forge a steel version, which Baren eagerly agreed to finish within three days.
• Subaru went to cut trees at the edge of the village and heard a faint cry from the woods.
• Subaru found an injured young black ground dragon, carried it to a secluded spot, and bought disinfectant and gauze to treat its wound.
• Rem found Subaru with the dragon and identified it as a rare young Diana Breed rather than a mabeast.
• The ground dragon nuzzled Subaru, and Subaru asked Rem whether he could keep it.

Subaru reluctantly accepted Rem’s reasons that he could not take responsibility for the young Ground Dragon, which stayed nearby rather than leaving. Rem showed him a group of Lesser Spirits and warned him to keep his distance, while Subaru noticed one red spirit being shunned by the others.

• Rem told Subaru that he lacked the space, money, and supplies to care for the young Ground Dragon, and Subaru admitted he could not afford to raise it.
• The young Ground Dragon walked deeper into the forest but repeatedly looked back, showing it intended to wait for Subaru.
• Subaru wondered how the Ground Dragon had injured its leg, and Rem said she smelled Lesser Spirits in that direction.
• Subaru found colorful Lesser Spirits floating in the forest and learned from Rem that they gathered Mana and might evolve into real spirits after a hundred years.
• Subaru noticed that a vivid red Lesser Spirit was kept apart from the others and watched it retreat when they warned it away.
• Rem warned Subaru that Lesser Spirits could attack strangers with Mana and said their attacks were probably what had injured the Ground Dragon.

Subaru befriended a red lesser spirit that the other spirits had shunned and let it feed on his mana. The spirit followed him home and emerged from his chest the next morning, leaving Subaru to wonder what had happened.

• Subaru visited the woods at night and found the red lesser spirit isolated from the others.
• The red lesser spirit approached Subaru and asked to absorb his mana, and he agreed.
• Subaru ate a white Pok fruit to release mana into the air, allowing the spirit to feed until it was content.
• Subaru returned to the village, then woke the next morning feeling unexpectedly full of mana.
• Subaru called out to the strange presence in his chest, and the red lesser spirit emerged from him.

Subaru learned that the red lesser spirit had entered his body, was drawn to him by his Spirit Affinity, and could absorb mana unusually freely. With its help, he cast fire and ice magic, becoming a spirit arts user.

• Subaru questioned the lesser spirit about entering his body and learned that it had accidentally injured an earth dragon out of instinct.
• The lesser spirit explained that it could absorb mana from unusual sources and had been shunned by other spirits because it carried strange-smelling mana.
• Subaru realized the lesser spirit was happy near him because he had Spirit Affinity, and Rem discovered it on his palm.
• Subaru used the lesser spirit’s help to split firewood, and Setanta assigned him work using his fire-attribute magic.
• Subaru accidentally set weeds alight with El Goa, then used El Shuma to extinguish the flames and discovered he could wield both fire and ice magic.

Subaru demonstrated how he could use a lesser spirit and ice magic to defeat the Oni children in practice bouts. After Hagen judged him about as capable as Oni children his age, the spirit asked to formalize their bond, and Subaru completed their contract by naming it Antares.

• Subaru used ice magic to stop an Oni child's wind spell and won several practice bouts against the children.
• Subaru gave Buren, Falin, Michel, and Laxing copper coins for candy after the bouts.
• Hagen told Subaru that, with the lesser spirit's help, he could keep up with Oni children around his age.
• The lesser spirit asked Subaru to make a formal contract, and he agreed.
• Subaru spoke an oath to seal the contract and named the red spirit Antares.

Subaru used Antares’s fire magic to help make medicine and care for patients, learning how useful his ordinary spirit’s abilities were in the village. He later asked Rem about fuel and oil, and she offered to render animal fat for him.

• Subaru worked with Antares to heat a pot of herbal healing medicine at the village infirmary.
• Subaru helped the physician care for patients by heating water and making ice packs, then earned three silver coins.
• The physician explained how difficult daily tasks became without fire magic, and Subaru realized how much the villagers could benefit from it.
• At dinner, Subaru asked Rem about alcohol and light naphtha, and she grew upset that he seemed not to care about her feelings.
• Subaru reassured Rem and praised her, easing the tension between them.
• Rem suggested animal fat as the oil Subaru needed and offered to render some for him.

Subaru built a Zippo-style lighter but discovered Rem’s animal fat solidified and could not fuel it, so he set out to find the oil swamp. With Antares’s help, he survived a cobra ambush and escaped the swamp, then prepared to collect its oil.

• Subaru assembled a Zippo-style lighter with parts made and bought around the village.
• Subaru learned from Baren that an oil swamp outside the village contained oil that did not solidify, and he shared some of Rem’s animal fat with Baren.
• Subaru entered the forest with Antares and used their contract’s emotional sensing to detect and kill a horned cobra that attacked him.
• Subaru fell into the oil swamp but used El Shuma to raise an ice pillar and pull himself to safety.
• Subaru approached the swamp and planned to take its oil to fuel his lighter.

Subaru celebrated the successful creation of his lighters, then introduced them to the Oni villagers as a convenient way to make fire without mana. He left the tavern with the first batch on sale, hoping to turn his investment into a profitable business.

• Subaru celebrated the lighter’s successful test with a feast and thanked Rem for the meals she brought him.
• Rem offered Subaru five silver coins, though she insisted she did not care whether he went hungry.
• Subaru demonstrated a lighter to the crowded village tavern and showed that it made a flame without using mana.
• Baren confirmed that the lighter worked, and the villagers crowded around to inspect it.
• Subaru announced that the first batch cost five silver coins each and included free fuel.

Subaru celebrated the success of his lighter business, then visited Baren and discovered that the blacksmith had made a mana-powered pistol and a heavy shortsword for him. He left with both weapons after paying Baren, though the sword’s weight made clear how much training he still needed.

• Subaru sold out his first batch of lighters and paid Baren for his work and appearance fee.
• Baren showed Subaru a pistol that had burst when he tested it with the bullets Subaru had designed.
• Baren demonstrated a Browning M1900 magic pistol, explaining that it fired mana projectiles endlessly and was a high-grade Meteor.
• Subaru bought the magic pistol from Baren, who then gave him a thirty-five-kilogram shortsword for training.
• Subaru struggled to lift the shortsword and complained that it was nearly as heavy as his ten-year-old body.