Re:Zero kara Hajimeru Isekai Seikatsu web novel

　- Immortality.

　It is an ideal that all living things can imagine, and it is presented in all kinds of stories, from all over the world and throughout history.

　To never age, never decay, never be involved in reincarnation, and continue to exist as "yourself" endlessly. Even though we know that this goes against the laws of life, it is the goal of the individual life that fascinates many people.

"Immortal... right?"

　Subaru muttered the words repeatedly, and found himself almost laughing at how unrealistic they seemed, but his cheeks were tensed and he couldn't form a proper smile.

　While I want to laugh it off as ridiculous, I can't help but shudder at the knowledge that the witches' experiments are in fact no fantasy.

"I guess witches have mundane goals too. I think of immortality as something more... something that only small people who cling to their own tiny lives would aim for."

"Whether or not you think sparing your life is petty is a matter of personal taste, but it seems that the Witch of Greed, at the very least, did not have a philosophical view of her own life. She naturally feared death, and took measures to overcome it.... In most cases, however, due to a lack of power and ability, it would end up being nothing more than a pipe dream."

"The trouble is, Echidna was quite capable. She could have thought of any number of methods to use. But this is what she came up with with her clever mind."

　Looking down at Pico sitting next to him, Subaru bit his lip, overcome with an indescribable emotion.

　Pico, looking down at him, showed no reaction to Subaru's gaze. She remained silent and continued to stand by, as if waiting for him to say something.

　Seeing that, Subaru let out a sigh, "Ah," and

"I see. So if there's no substance inside... then there's no personality, that's what it means."

"It was like being a marionette. It was exactly like a brand new vessel that had been prepared. All I had to do was put what I wanted on it and my wish would come true."

"But does it actually work that well? I don't know the theory behind it, but I can roughly imagine what they're trying to do."

　Download your own memories and knowledge into the empty vessel and overwrite it.

　If this was data or something, Subaru wouldn't be so averse to it.

　But right now, the topic being discussed was the personality of a person, someone Subaru knew well, both in appearance and personality.

"Extracting your memories from yourself and pouring them into an empty body. If this is successful, and you can repeat it every time your body is about to decay, then it would certainly be a form of immortality. However..."

　The possibility of inheriting personality and memories is certainly close to overcoming 『death』.

　If personality were stored like data, even if the vessel were accidentally destroyed, it could be revived by installing it in a new vessel.

　A replicable personality and a replicable body. - Echidna's immortality was theoretically possible.

　--But then...

"When people encounter their parallel world selves, they panic and are overcome by a sense of duty to eliminate them at all costs."

"..."

"That's how unbearable it must be to have the feeling that there is someone else out there. Just imagining it makes me sick. Right, Lewes?"

"What is it?"

"Like this, being able to create multiple... Lewes Meyer bodies means that I can put the same number of personalities into multiple bodies. In other words, not only can I perpetuate myself, but I can also create multiple versions of myself."

　According to the theory above, that should be possible.

　And if we think purely based on "theory," the more backups and reserves we have to continue to maintain "ourselves," the better.

　It's hard to imagine that the Witch couldn't have come up with something that Subaru had thought of.

"I wonder how it feels. To be in a state where you can prepare yourself for other things. To be in a state where even if you fail, there's a 'guarantee' that things will somehow work out. Do you understand, Lewes?"

"...That's something I'll probably never understand. The technology to extract a personality is beyond my knowledge. My individuality will disappear when this one body is lost. In that sense, both me and Su-bo are bodies that can be redone, so there's no difference."

"I see. That's right. ...Ah, I suppose so."

　Subaru couldn't help but let out a dry laugh at the words that Lewes had let slip. Lewes frowned at Subaru's reaction, but she would never know what he really meant.

"I see. Ah, I see. Now I kind of understand why you were being so familiar with me."

　Subaru was feeling this way as the white-haired witch appeared in his mind.

　The plan to create a duplicate of oneself, transfer one's personality into it, and live forever, with the aim of attaining immortality. Doing so is nothing less than providing a "guarantee" to one's life,

"Then how is that different from me now?"

　There's no way I could feel disgust.

　In fact, I felt a sense of closeness to him. That feeling was too dark to call closeness, but perhaps it was the dark joy of finding someone like him.

　Although in her own way, Echidna had reached a step towards immortality.

　Subaru is at the mercy of the witch and repeatedly ends up "dying" in order to achieve his goal.

　Both of them are in a position of rebellion against what should be the one and only life.

　If that's the case, Subaru thought.

　--If that's the case, then Echidna might be the only one who can understand me.

　At least, that is, if you can understand the mentality of it.

"Boss Su?"

"...I understand your position, Lewes-san. I also understand what Echidna was trying to do. With that in mind, I would like to ask... Was Echidna successful in her aim?"

"the aim..."

Subaru: "I can see with my own eyes that the preparations for the empty vessel are complete. All that remains is to overwrite it with my own personality. Was the overwrite successful? No, to put it more simply…"

　--Is Echidna still alive somewhere in this world?

　Subaru's question couldn't be put into words.

　Understanding its contents, Lewes closed her eyes and shook her head in response to Subaru's pleading gaze.

　Slowly tilt your head to the side.

"No, unfortunately... the witch's plan did not succeed. The body of Lewes Meyer, who inherited the witch's personality and continued her life, no longer exists."

"Wh-why? Did the personality download, sucking out the contents of your head, not succeed?"

"I don't know what a download is, but the technology to extract a personality should have been created. The reason it didn't work out must have been for some other reason."

"Another factor is..."

"It's a simple matter. If you pour too much water into a vessel, it won't be able to contain it and will overflow. If some of it overflows, it will no longer be able to be called the original being and will become something else."

　At the word vessel, Subaru looks at the crown, then at Pico.

　While looking at their small physiques,

"Capacity...But it's not a matter of body size, right?"

"Perhaps we should call it the size of the soul. Everyone needs a container that is appropriate for their soul. The vessel of the young girl called Lewes Meyer was not large enough to accept the soul of the witch called Echidna."

"How did you verify that?"

"When I tried to infuse my knowledge into the first clone, and failed, I was faced for the first time with the problem of the soul and the size of the vessel. However, at that point, Lewes Meyer's body was already inside the crystal, and the structure for creating clones one after another had already been put into place... so even though the original purpose could not be achieved, vessels continued to be born one after another."

　Subaru thought that there were times when he had acted without thinking of the consequences.

　For a person like Echidna, it was an incredibly unlikely oversight at the final stage. Then, when the crowns continued to increase, she didn't do anything about it, which made it even more unlike her.

"Um, what happened to the first duplicate? Even if it didn't fit all of it, some of it inherited the witch's memories, right? Even if it was only partially there, you could still call it a copy of the witch."

"When you pour water into a vessel until it overflows, who can choose what part of it overflows? If it's just trivial memories that don't interfere with your daily life that overflow, that's one thing, but if it's something that brings about serious problems, then that's no longer a personality."

　Subaru's roundabout words made him think of the first Lewes, Echidna, who had been a failure. In other words, something completely different from what the witch had envisioned had been born.

"I heard that the first clone that was born was a completely disordered person, and had only partially inherited the powers of the Witch of Greed, which made it quite a troublesome existence. Apparently it was quite difficult to dispose of it."

"Disposal...I see."

"Of course, the Witch was not so quick to give up, nor was she so irresponsible, that she would throw everything away after just one failure. I heard that after disposing of the first clone, she struggled to find a way to change the total amount of her soul in order to transfer her personality into the next clone."

"It's amazing how those ideas come from your soul."

　Echidna's idea is to compress the large size of data before transferring it to another medium, or to cut off unnecessary parts in advance to fit the available space on the receiving side.

　Subaru had some experience with computers and understood the concept of data, so it was likely that he would be able to come up with such an idea, but Echidna's thinking was incredible, as she had no idea how data was exchanged on a computer or anything like that, let alone speaking about something on the level of the "soul."

　When Subaru heard that the first replica had been lost, he had honestly been disheartened, but he soon found hope when he learned that Echidna was trying a different approach.

　However, Ryuzu prefaced Subaru with, "Well then,"

"Even if we were to explore new methods, the witch couldn't test them."

"Wh, why? I hate to say it, but the ground for testing was already prepared. In fact, there are many copies of Lewes Meyer..."

"Before we could continue our experiments in the Sanctuary, the Witch of Jealousy made her move."

"――――"

"The Witch of Jealousy devoured half the world, and in the process, devoured the other six witches. The Witch of Greed was no exception. Her plan to continue living by remaining immortal was cut short by none other than the hand of that witch."

　Subaru also knows the fate of the six witches, excluding "Jealousy."

　The witches that Echidna had spoken to, and even allowed her to meet in person, in that castle of dreams. All of them had been destroyed by the Witch of Jealousy, and were now nothing more than remnants of a dream that had vanished from this world.

　Or perhaps remaining in this world in spirit at least was Echidna's final show of determination, having failed to achieve immortality.

"...What happened to the Sanctuary after the witch was gone?"

"Originally, the management of this land itself was in the hands of the Mathers family of Little Roz. I don't know what kind of contract was made between the Mathers family and the witch, but that continued for a long time, and now Little Roz is the one who maintains and manages this ``Sanctuary.'' That said, all Little Roz does is distribute goods here so that it doesn't get destroyed, and occasionally bring in new children who are worthy of the ``Sanctuary'' as residents."

"So everything else about the inside is left to Lewes. Lewes said that the individuality he has acquired is his quirk..."

"If we're talking about the individual constraints of clones, I'm the third clone from the beginning. I was born with a certain personality implanted in me in order to take over the role of Lewes Meyer in the Sanctuary and manage the ever-increasing number of vessels. Even now, I am fulfilling that role."

"Imparting a personality... is that even possible?"

　It's like implanting a pseudo-personality into an empty vessel to fulfill a role.

　Giving a robot pseudo-AI and making it behave like a human was a far cry from practical application even in Subaru's world, and was merely a figment of the imagination.

　In response, Lewes nodded his head.

"Of course, it wasn't easy. It was only possible because it was an empty vessel without a soul. Even so, it seemed that during the experiment phase, it was only possible to do simple things."

　"It was difficult at first," Ryuzu said with a smile.

"It's a strange feeling to have no memories, yet still be given a role. Time passes slowly, yet with an incredible speed. It took me a long time to be able to find that strange."

"...What were the duplicates doing? Apart from Pico and Ryuzu-san, I have never seen any in this Sanctuary."

"Except for the four who act as crowns, the other crowns are scattered throughout the Sanctuary. They act as eyes for intruders and act as communicators. Interestingly, between the same clones, they can communicate with each other."

　Garfiel had previously spoken of the "eyes of the Sanctuary." If he was referring to the duplicates of Ryuzu that were scattered around the Sanctuary to keep watch, then it would make sense why Garfiel had been able to see through the mass exodus of the refugees from Arlam Village that day. Thinking about it that far,

"Wait, wait a second, there's something I can't ignore. What do you mean, the four who fulfill the role of Ryuzu?"

"Hmm, that's it. That's also simple. Even if it's a clone, it puts an enormous strain on the body to keep reproducing all of the structure of a human body with mana. If the mana runs out, the body will disappear. Unlike spirits, it can't be reconstructed once it has dispersed. Or there may be a way to do it, but at least I don't know of it."

　I remember the existence of spirits, who disappear and reconstruct, and retain their memories countless times. However, in their case, they have a vessel to which they can "return" after disappearing, so even though they have vanished, they haven't technically vanished. However, Ryuzu and the others don't have this. Therefore, death due to mana depletion means the death of that individual.

"The time that one person can move is not that long. Once the body is unable to move, it takes about three days to regain the lost mana. During that time, we must avoid any inconvenience caused by Lewes Meyer's absence from the Sanctuary."

"So, there are four Ryuuses?"

"We take turns being Lewes Meyer, and every four days I take on the role of Lewes Meyer. Outside of that, I'm no different to the other vessels. I'm just an empty vessel, carrying the name Lewes Meyer. I guess it's okay to say that."

　Subaru didn't know what to say to Lewes' sarcastic words.

　Whatever he said would sound empty, like he was just pretending to understand. Subaru knew that remaining silent here would only confirm Lewes' sarcasm, but he couldn't form any words on his lips.

"Don't be discouraged, Su-bo. I and the other clones have accepted this role with complete understanding. The same goes for the original Lewes Meyer."

"The first one... Yes, I wanted to hear that too."

"Yeah?"

"I understand why the Lewes, the clones of Lewes Meyer, follow the witch's words and try to protect the Sanctuary. But why did the girl Lewes Meyer cooperate with the witch?"

　A girl trapped inside a crystal, her eternity stolen from her.

　From what I've heard so far, there is no attempt to pour Lewes Meyer himself into the empty vessel, meaning that Lewes Meyer chose to offer his body for the experiment, and let his soul end up inside the crystal, with nowhere else to go.

　It is a decision tantamount to suicide, in which the outer self, the soul, comes to an end in exchange for continuing to produce the outer body forever.

　How could that young girl make such a decision?

　Or perhaps the witch randomly selected the girls for her experiments without their consent.

　Subaru asked, hoping it wouldn't be the latter, if possible.

"What was Lewes Meyer thinking when he participated in this experiment?"

"...I heard that Lewes Meyer offered the witch a trade-off, and that she agreed to it, which is why she participated in the experiment. Don't worry, she wasn't forced."

"The exchange conditions...um, may I hear about the details?"

"Even if I asked, I'm sure Su-bou wouldn't understand."

　Subaru silently looked at the pretentious Lewes. Lewes frowned at his stubborn, childlike gaze and let out a deep sigh.

"The condition that Lewes Meyer proposed to the witch was for the Sanctuary to continue."

"The Sanctuary's survival?"

"It was Lewes Meyer's wish to continue maintaining this environment, this 'Sanctuary', that the Witch had prepared as a test subject. Naturally, the Witch, who needed to preserve the 'Sanctuary' in order to continue her own experiments, readily agreed. And even now that the Witch is gone, the promise with Lewes Meyer remains, and our contract continues to be protected by our hands."

"No, but that's... the order is wrong."

　Echidna was the one Sanctuary needed for its experiments, and Lewes Meyer was the one who was gathered there for the experiments. The girl who was the test subject then begged the Witch to allow Sanctuary to continue. That doesn't seem to fit the order.

"Even if I was treated like a guinea pig... I felt much more comfortable in this sanctuary than in the land where I was persecuted. So, how about you think about it?"

"...That's just too hopeless."

"Salvation is here. That is why Lewes Meyer dedicated himself to this experiment. Whether or not it has paid off will be up to you to judge for yourself, by looking at me and my daughter."

　Subaru couldn't continue speaking as Ryuzu sipped her now cold tea.

　Beside him, Pico didn't show any action even after the conversation about his situation had finished. She just silently picked at Subaru's skirt.

"Why is this child so attached to me? He says he's empty inside, and in the first place, he treated me like I didn't exist."

"That's because Su Fang touched Lewes Meyer's crystal. The command authority was rewritten and Su Fang was overwritten."

"Command...?"

　Subaru frowned once again at the appearance of a new word.

　Lewes nodded at the suspicious Subaru, and held up a finger, "Here you go,"

"Just for fun, why don't you try giving her orders? Oh, don't be so shameless. She looks just like me, after all."

"Even if you don't tell me, I'm not going to get aroused by this loli body type, you know? I have a healthy crush on girls around my age. …Pico, give me a shoulder massage."

　After replying to Lewes with a sullen look on her face, Subaru ordered Pico beside him. Hearing his voice, the girl raised her head and slightly tilted her chin in acknowledgement of Subaru's command. She climbed onto the bed and got behind Subaru,

"Oh, oh oh, it feels good, it feels good... huh? Hey, Pico? You're strong, you know? Save, save... wait, this is bad, Pico, saveeeee!!"

"Even if they know the concept of massaging shoulders, the amount of force to use is an unknown quantity. If you don't teach them that, they're going to make mistakes like that."

"You knew it and you were just testing me, right?!"

　Shaking off Pico who continued to try to massage his shoulders, Subaru ordered her to return to her normal position and then gave her a large roll of her creaking shoulders. Trembling at Pico's grip, which felt as if it could even split the bone, Subaru tilted his head and said, "Even so,"

"Just touching it transfers command or whatever, so isn't the security a bit too lax? What would happen if a malicious lolicon got in there?"

"Stepping into that place cannot be a coincidence, and more than anything, handing over command is not an easy task. At the very least, you must be recognized as an apostle of 'Greed'."

"...Hmm?"

　As he tilted his teacup, Subaru noticed something in Ryuzu's words that he couldn't bear to hear, no matter how many times he'd heard it before. Subaru folded his arms and timidly said, "Umm..."

「Excuse me. I have no idea who you mean by the apostle of 『Greed』.」

"Being recognized by Echidna is what qualifies you to be an Apostle. Did you receive anything like that while you were in the tomb? Something you received, or was given, or had put into your body?"

"Inside the tomb..."

　He remembered the time he had met Echidna in the Castle of Dreams, and wondered if there had been any majestic exchange like the one Ryuzu had spoken of. But he couldn't think of anything.

　What Echidna gave Subaru in that place was some knowledge, some relief, and a rather frightening experience.

"...You're not talking about Donna tea, are you?"

"Hmm, Donna tea?"

"Echidna said it was her bodily fluids and cleverly brought me something disguised as tea, which I ended up drinking twice..."

"That's not a joke or anything, I bet."

"That bastard, what the hell did you make me drink!!"

　Subaru stood up in anger, but Ryuzu scolded him, saying, "Now, now." She looked frustrated and annoyed at Subaru,

"Even so, it's because of that that we're in this situation. It wasn't all bad, right?"

"The fact that you secretly prepared those things for me pisses me off! What are you doing to people's bodies? The apostles of "Greed" and the witches are already complicated enough, so don't add to that. Witches are all the same..."

　There was the Witch of Jealousy who had unknowingly made a contract with her for Return by Death, and the Witch of Greed who had arbitrarily added her to her apostles; witches were just like that.

"Anyway, with that, Su-bou has gained control over the replicas of Lewes Meyer that are in this Sanctuary. He can even get them to do what he wants, even to me."

"Does this even work on Ryuzu-san?"

"They are more resistant than those girls who have no will of their own, but ultimately they cannot resist. What do you think? Would a boy of marriageable age be happy?"

"So that means I'm not a lolicon..."

　Even when he looks at me with seductive eyes, I don't even react.

　Glancing at the cheerfully laughing Lewes, Subaru recalled the mysteries of the Sanctuary that had been revealed.

　A facility hidden away in the depths. Sealed within it was Lewes Meyer and a system that would create duplicates of him. The destruction that would occur within six days, and the problems that would come with it.

　And when talking about the facility's existence, something that is essential is--

"Ryuzu-san, I'm sorry for being so sudden, but...could you please help me out a bit?"

"What? If you want to do something nasty, you're going to do it to people more innocent than me."

"That's enough now."

　Subaru dismissed Lewes, who seemed determined to turn Subaru into a teenager, and stood up, straightening his back and looking up at the ceiling.

"Command authority, there must be at least one other person who has it besides me, right?"

"――――"

"There's one thing I want to talk to him about, but there's one other thing that's been bothering me."

　Two people come to mind.

　On the one hand, Garfiel Tinsel, the great tiger who protects the Sanctuary, was issuing orders to twenty copies of Lewes.

　And the other one was,

"Why did you send me through the door to that facility? It's about time I heard the answer..."

　Subaru had decided to seize the opportunity to question the girl with the cream-colored curly hair.