Re:Zero Flaw If

After riding back to Emilia's "house," both Subaru and Los were shocked that it was in fact a massive mansion. They would have been more enthusiastic about this if they were not so tired. Both of them said goodnight to each other and Emilia before heading off to their respective rooms.

Los passed out and began to dream. In the dream, he was ripping through hordes of soldiers. A large reptilian creature loomed before him. He jumped towards it and tore through it, then looked down below. He pointed his hand down—an explosion ripped through everything below, leveling the terrain to one flat plane as far as the eye could see.

He heard a voice behind him and turned to face it. He saw Subaru, Emilia, and Reinhard together, facing him with hatred in their eyes and blades in their hands. He awoke with a gasp, cold sweat running down his body. Groggy-eyed, he stepped out of bed. Looking down, he realized he was completely naked and seemed to have grown a foot taller overnight.

He then looked to his right and saw two maids—one with red hair, the other with blue. They stared for a moment before reddening, turning, and shouting, "YOUR CLOTHES ARE AT THE FOOT OF THE BED!" before running out of the room, slamming the door behind them.

Los put on his clothes. The wraps put themselves on—they had runes carved on them, and they floated and wrapped themselves over his entire body. He then turned, picked up the baggy pants, and slid them on overtop. Looking in the mirror, he rotated his shoulder to get some stiffness out before heading out to see what the day had in store for him.

Los opened his door and walked down the hallway. He turned a corner and bumped into Emilia, who said, "Oh, Los, I was just looking for you. Roswall, the owner of the mansion, wants to see you." The two of them walked to Roswall's office. Emilia opened the door and let Los in first.

Roswall smiled and said, "Ooooh myyyy, you have quite the presence, Los-kunnn."

Los felt immediate distrust from the clown and became on guard. Roswall gestured at a chair, telling Los to take a seat. However, Los didn't move. Roswall shrugged his shoulders and said, "Well, that's fine. Just a few questions and you're free to go."

Los nodded and relaxed slightly.

"Firstly," Roswall said while raising a gloved finger, "we know you lack memories, but you have strange abilities that you know how to use. How is this possible with no memory?"

Los nodded and replied, "If you lost knowledge of who you were, would you still need to learn to walk or breathe?"

Roswall seemed confused and said, "No, but magic requires spells and complex casting."

Los shook his head and replied, "These spells are a part of me. I am the spells, and they are me."

Roswall produced an orb and rolled it across the table to where Los sat. "Please hold this. It will check your attunement for magic. Subaru already did this and had an attunement for Yin magic."

Los grasped the orb and raised it to chest level. His dark red, black, and white aura crackled for a brief moment. The orb groaned and darkened in color, then it cracked across the middle. Roswall's eyes widened, and then the orb shattered, falling as dust to the ground.

Los scratched his head and looked at Roswall before saying, "Sorry."

Roswall waved his hand in dismissal. "It would not do that in any other case. You seem to have killed all mana inside of that orb."

Los shrugged, as he didn't know anything about this.

Roswall then said, "Although this doesn't tell me much about what abilities you possess, we will need a more hands-on example."

Emilia spoke up and asked him, "Is this a good idea? I mean, he doesn't know how he got here, and you're going to make him do that?"

Roswall paid the objection no mind and gestured to the door.

Los, who had no idea what they were talking about, shrugged and opened the door.

Roswall led them all to the front lawn of the mansion, where there was a dirt area. Los looked to Roswall for an explanation.

Roswall smiled and said, "Wee will be having a small exhibition, Losss-kun, if that's okay with you, that is." He said this as if it was a lighthearted offer, but it was clearly a challenge.

Los shrugged and replied, "I don't see why not."

"Peerrfect," Roswall replied. "The rules are simple. The bout will last 10 seconds. Emilia will supervise and will call it off. Use anything at your disposal."

They faced off, 20 feet away from each other, Roswall smiling. Los focused, already in a fighting stance.

Emilia raised a hand to the sky and counted down.

"3...2...1... START!"

With that, she slashed her hand down, and Los shot towards Roswall, deciding on a physical attack. Based on Roswall's physique and stance, he didn't seem like he was used to hand-to-hand combat.

Roswall grimaced, surprised but not overtaken by Los' speed. He blasted a combination of ice and wind that pushed Los back, and then several pillars of rock shot towards him. Los weaved in between them, reacting the moment he felt the earth shift beneath him to avoid the pillars.

Roswall bit his lip and closed his hands. Several pillars shot out at once. However, Los jumped to avoid them. This made Roswall smile.

Surprising Los, Roswall outstretched his hand, and four mana orbs appeared. He shot them at Los, making Emilia gasp. But before they reached him, Los crackled with black and white energy. He swiped his hand, and a slash of energy instantly traveled through both the orbs and the ground below with a jarring noise.

Roswall had instinctively shot backward before Los even swept his hand, but he did not see the attack travel. Nevertheless, his orbs had no effect. Roswall showed anger. Then, he outstretched both hands, clearly straining, and hundreds of massive earthen pillars shot out from the ground.

Los once again crackled with energy. This time, it was black and red. He cocked a fist back and swung it at the earthen mass headed towards him. On contact, it was turned to dust, alongside all the pillars around it. The air pressure from the punch blew Roswall's hair back, but he was not done yet.

Pointing a hand forward, he yelled in anger. A massive fireball formed in his hand, then condensed. The dust cleared, and just as Roswall was about to fire and Los was about to throw a punch, Emilia screamed—

"STOP!"

Time was up, it seemed.

Roswall's angry expression softened back into his usual joker mask. He raised his arm to the sky and let the fireball go. It flashed upward at an insane speed, parting a passing cloud before exploding harmlessly. However, everyone down below could still hear it nice and loud.

Los simply stood straight up and rotated his shoulder a couple of times.

"That was good, Loooos-Kun. I didn't expect that level of resistance."

Los shrugged and walked away.

At the door of the mansion appeared Subaru, who ran up to Los and said, "Dude, there is something I need to tell you about."

Los nodded in response, slightly tired of all these people wanting him to do things.

"I died again. Twice, actually."

Los, if he had been in a self-pity mode before this, was now snapped out of it.

"The first loop was longer. I came back from the village, I felt tired and weak, and I went to bed. I guess I had some kind of curse, and I died. Second loop, I heard a scraping noise outside my room. I peeked outside and found myself in my bed where I had been that morning. This loop, you need to come with me, and we can find out what was outside my room. Also, I can only tell you about this. I tried to tell Emilia, but I just got an icy chill, and she didn't hear me say anything."

Los nodded. They made their way inside to whatever threat would rear its head.

That night, nothing happened.

But the next day, Ram instructed them to help her sister, Rem, get the supplies from the village.

Upon arrival, Subaru and Los split off from Rem as she went shopping. Subaru went to play with the children, and Los stayed with him at all times, trying to spot anything strange. Rem was fine shopping alone, as nothing had happened to her in previous loops.

At the village, all the children were excited to see Subaru. He greeted them all and began doing stretches and calisthenics.

Los looked around. A young boy looked up at him in awe.

"Your muscles are big, mister."

Los nodded awkwardly in response. As he looked away, he suddenly felt a pinch on his arm. Looking down, he saw a girl with a small dog.

The girl looked down and apologized for her dog biting him, then sulked away.

However, Los detected something off about the bite. It was as if his breath was being leached. He focused on the sensation intensely. Energy crackled around him as he narrowed in.

Then, he saw it clearly—

A curse that drains mana over time.

He thought one clear thought: "NEGATE."

The sensation faded as if it had never existed. Just to be sure, he focused on the dog—the origin of the curse—and negated its ability to spread the curse to anybody else.

Subaru continued playing, unaware for a while, before Rem came back with bags of whatever she had bought.

"Rem-rin! Rem-rin, play with us!" the children called out.

"Are you behind that nickname?" Rem asked Subaru.

"Guilty!" Subaru replied, smiling.

Rem sighed. "If that's all, we had better head out."

Subaru looked at the kids.

"Well, sorry, kids! We gotta go now. I promise I'll be back for more radio calisthenics."

Los nodded goodbye and quickly caught up with Rem and Subaru.

Subaru took a bag, and Los thought he should as well.

Then, Rem asked Subaru very bluntly, "Why do you try so hard? Unlike Los, you are useless at almost everything you do. Why push yourself for something you'll most likely fail at?"

Subaru paused for a moment.

Los wouldn't have asked this question, but he also wanted to hear the answer.

"Because I am useless, I try so hard. One does not contradict the other. It is the reason I do it. I have to push myself to be able to help others. I guess you can say I'm fanatical—like a demon."

Rem froze. "...A demon...?"

"Yeah," Subaru laughed. "Gods just sit around. Demons get to work and take matters into their own hands. That's why I'd rather be a demon."

Los still looked confused.

But Rem was smiling.

Sometime later, they all arrived back at the mansion.

Waiting for them was Roswall, now dressed in formal attire. His piercing gaze swept over them before he nodded at Los. Then, turning to Rem, he said, "I'm going to have to leave on some business. Please take care of the mansion while I'm gone."

Without so much as a glance at Subaru, he lifted off into the air, disappearing into the sky.

"This hasn't happened before," Subaru murmured, his brows furrowing.

Los turned to him. "Something bothering you?"

Subaru shook his head as if dismissing a thought. Before he could say more, Los decided to share what he had uncovered earlier.

"That dog back in the village—it wasn't just a bite. It carried a curse," Los explained. "I managed to negate it before it could affect me… but that girl, the one with the dog, is still around the other children."

Subaru's face turned pale. "Of course! It bit me too on my first loop…" His eyes widened with sudden horror. "Even if you stopped the curse on yourself, that means the other kids could still be in danger!"

Los gave a sharp nod. "No problem. Meet me there."

In the next instant, he vanished, leaving only a swirling cloud of dust in his wake.

Los arrived at the village in mere seconds.

The scent of damp earth filled the air, but it was tainted with something else—something foul.

Just outside the village, shadows slinked between the trees. Mabeasts.

Dozens of them.

No—hundreds.

Los darted into the forest, taking out each creature he came across with lethal efficiency. Yet, as he advanced, he encountered something unnatural—a writhing, shifting mass of mabeasts, merging into an abomination that twisted and pulsed as if it were alive in ways beyond the physical.

"What the hell is this…?"

Los didn't hesitate.

He extended two fingers outward, energy crackling violently around him.

"Absolute Negation: Slash Form."

A barrage of black and white slashes tore through the mass, carving it apart in an instant. The mabeasts screeched as they were obliterated, their bodies severed so cleanly that not even blood had time to spill before they disintegrated.

But then—

The ground rumbled. A surge of blood-red mist coiled in the air as the remaining beasts began to reform, driven by some unseen force.

Los narrowed his eyes.

"Not happening."

This time, black and red lightning flickered along his frame, the air around him warping under the sheer force of energy he was exuding.

A triangular blast erupted from his body, sweeping outward in a devastating arc. The shockwave incinerated every last mabeast in a 400-meter radius, reducing the forest around him to nothing but smoldering ash.

Silence followed.

Los dusted off his hands. "That should do it."

He turned and made his way back to the village.

The purple-haired girl and her dog were gone. But, most importantly, the children were safe.

By the time Subaru arrived, he was out of breath. Seeing the unharmed villagers, he exhaled in relief.

"You really handled everything before I even got here, huh?" he muttered.

Los simply shrugged. "Figured I'd save you the trouble."

The next day, Roswall returned from his mysterious trip.

Once informed of the events, he immediately requested to see Los.

The clownish mage reclined in his chair, folding his fingers together as he studied Los. "I heaaar you stopped the mabeasts alllll by yooourrself."

Los nodded.

"Ooooh, that's just as I expected from yooou, Loooosss-kuuun."

Los shrugged, unbothered. "Well, if that's all, I'll be on my way. Or is there something else?"

Roswall's smirk deepened.

"Noooothing for now. You are free to go."

Los turned to leave. However, the moment he stepped past the doorway, he realized—

He wasn't in the hallway.

Instead, he stood within a dimly lit room lined with towering bookshelves. The air carried the scent of parchment and ancient ink.

"Teleportation?"

Before he could dwell on it, a small, unimpressed voice cut through the silence.

"What's this, I suppose?"

Los turned to find himself face-to-face with a petite girl, dressed in an elaborate pink dress, her curly twin-tails bouncing as she tilted her head at him.

This was his first encounter with Beatrice.

Subaru had mentioned her before—Roswall's reclusive librarian, a powerful spirit.

Her blue eyes narrowed. "Puck told me you are a blight upon spirits, I suppose."

Los didn't reply. He merely nodded.

Not because she had asked a question, but because he neither confirmed nor denied things that weren't worth explaining.

Beatrice huffed.

"I will not have you dirtying my library, I suppose."

With a flick of her wrist, a gust of wind exploded from her palm, sending Los hurtling backward.

He flipped midair, landing on his feet outside the now-sealed room.

Blinking, he muttered, "That was… abrupt."

A couple of days later, a carriage arrived at the mansion.

An old man, battle-worn and carrying a sword, stepped out.

He had come to meet Emilia.

Subaru, ever the opportunist, bribed the old man with an expensive brand of tea.

The swordsman took a slow sip, savoring the taste before finally speaking. "Reinhard."

That was all he said.

He gave them no further details about his visit.

Still, Los could tell—whatever was coming next, it was important.

Later that evening, everyone—except for Beatrice—gathered in the dining hall.

Roswall stood, his usual playful demeanor ever-present.

Clearing his throat, he finally announced, "As you all know, a very important visitor just arrived. For those who don't yet understand why, he was here to inform us that Lady Emilia has been summoned directly to the capital for the royal selection."

Subaru opened his mouth—

Roswall cut him off with a knowing smirk.

"Before you ask, nooo, you canoooot go with her, Subaru."