Re:Zero Kara Hajimeru Isekai Seikatsu

Beatrice and Rem’s Service is Tough(Part 2)

Translator: Remonwater

Silence and solemness reigned in the forbidden archives, and a touch of tenseness pervaded it.

[—-]

The person watching over the place was this girl sitting on the stepladder, quieting her breathing as she swallowed her saliva. She wore a magnificent dress, and she had a faint hint of tension on her face that was pretty like a doll’s. She spent a tremendous amount of time in making her faint colored hair into drills, and she played with them calmly with her hands.

The girl was Beatrice—-she was a guard of the forbidden archives, and she was the owner of the room as a librarian.

[—-]

The forbidden archives was more than just a place where Beatrice worked for most of the day.

This place was the best with a suitable temperature and the smell of old books in the atmosphere, even when she was sitting on a stepladder while immersing herself in books. This librarian girl who loved her books naturally felt at peace spending time in the forbidden archives, and she became satisfied with being able to spend everyday in ease.

That girl in the forbidden archives stiffened her face from the sense of tension, and it wasn’t all too early for her to cower with her small body.

The cause of her tension would be—-

[Rem: —-Beatrice-sama.]

Suddenly, there is a voice that interrupts her thoughts.

It was a voice that came from a room with a countless amount of bulky books in the forbidden archives with an infinite amount of bookshelves lined up. A single girl who called Beatrice’s name was standing there.

Beatrice having her name called causes her to look up. In response to Beatrice’s look, the girl gently slides her finger on the bookshelf and says

[Rem: What is this?]

[Beatrice: You make a big deal out of everything!]

She shows her the filth of the white dust on her finger, and Beatrice shouted at the girl who said those words. Beatrice’s face became red and she yelled. Once again, she was disqualified from that certificate to clean.

2

[Rem: Beatrice-sama, I have told you many times. It is standard to start cleaning from the top.]

[Beatrice: I did start from the top, I suppose! I dusted it! I did it just like you told me without complaining! It gets on the cleaning tools here and there so I couldn’t do anything about it!]

Beatrice gets frustrated and continues to raise her voice at the unfair evaluation of her work. Then, the girl in front of her accepts Beatrice’s insistence, and then she puts her hand on her face with a slightly surprised look.

[Beatrice: Why are you making that look?]

[Rem: Well, I was just thinking about how it’s somehow really cute when Beatrice-sama talks like that.]

[Beatrice: Whenever I hear you occasionally say those rash remarks, I feel like you’ve been influenced and it’s all his fault. I’m fed up with this!]

[Rem: My……to say that Subaru-kun and I go well together, you’re making me blush.]

[Beatrice: That’s a far-fetched interpretation, I suppose!]

Beatrice becomes exhausted from the girl who looks downward touching her blushed face.

It was the girl with eyes that had the same type of light blue color her short hair had. She had her eyes closed slightly and gently. She wore the Roswaal residence’s honorable business maid clothes that were highly exposing, and it fit the cute girl nicely.

She was a maid of the mansion, the younger sister of the twins, and she had a hypocritical type of courtesy—-it was Rem.

[Rem: Nevertheless, when it’s this spacious, there’s a lot of cleaning to do after all.]

Rem replaces her embarrassment from before, and a maid’s duty fills her eyes as she looks around the forbidden archives. Just like that girl said, cleaning the forbidden archives with an enormous amount of books was not a simple task.

Not to mention, that task was even more difficult when it was assigned to the short librarian.

[Rem: Beatrice-sama, maybe it is difficult for you to do it by yourself here after all……..]

[Beatrice: Young sister, I let you in occasionally like this only out of consideration for your usual work. It’s also just a duty of checking on the progress of the cleaning, I suppose.]

[Rem: Stubborn aren’t you.]

[Beatrice: You’re like your sister when you say that.]

She says that she’s similar to Ram, and Rem made a happy look after having a bit of a surprised face. That expression was different than what she was aiming for, so Beatrice gives a tired sigh again.

—-It was the cleaning of the forbidden archives, and Rem’s periodic supervising that came along with it.

It started as a result of the incident that happened a few days ago, and it was a trivial secret kept between the two of them. That being said, it wasn’t really a big deal, although Rem did point out about how the management of the archives was very unacceptable, as someone who was fussy with her excessive seriousness.

Anyhow, progress couldn’t be made with the cleaning of the archives because of the lag from Beatrice’s lack of motivation. Rem dropping her shoulders as she thought about the lack of effect her periodic supervising had was also a given.

[Rem: Beatrice-sama, there’s actually something serious I need to talk to you about.]

[Beatrice: Something you need to talk to me about?]

She failed her cleaning inspection, and Beatrice raises her eyebrows making a look that said “Tonight, I am done for”.

[Rem: Yes. I have a request unrelated to cleaning.]

[Beatrice: Huhh…….I’ll have you know that I have no intentions to become friends with you guys, I suppose. These last few days were out of sudden impulse, or something.]

[Rem: But, it’s a request that I can only ask of Beatrice. It’s very important.]

[Beatrice: ……Well, if it’s something only I can do, then you can say what you have to say, I suppose.]

The situation gets dealt with, and Beatrice’’s mood starts to somewhat recover. Rem nods at Beatrice, and then she pointed towards the mansion’s entrance. A door was there. At first glance, it was a door, but that was the “Door Crossing” intermediary object that allowed her to connect to the Roswaal residence forbidden archives as she liked.

And now, in front of that door there was a single cart—-it was something placed there that was often seen around the Roswaal residence, and it was used to carry food and tea.

[Beatrice: I’ve wondered about this since the beginning. Why did you bring a cart?]

[Rem: It’s because this cart is actually related to my request.]

Rem threw out her chest slightly with pride and stepped towards the cart’s side. After that, once she picked up the silver tray placed on the cart, she presented it to Beatrice, who sat on the stepladder with a look of suspicion on her face.

Then, she held all of it and told her this

[Rem: I’m requesting that you work with me to develop mayonnaise cuisine for Subaru-kun.]

When Rem opened the tray’s lid with a cheerful look, nasty, warm steam rose into the room. The thick smell of the mayonnaise forced back the smell of the books that she was used to.

[Beatrice: Yuck, I suppose.]

Beatrice says, and she frowned with a truly displeased face.

3

Mayonnaise was a special condiment that seemed to have been famous back at Subaru’s hometown. It was Subaru’s favorite, and ever since that flavor was reproduced in the mansion, they always paid careful attention for the stockpiles of it.

Of course, Rem used that mayonnaise and wanted to contribute to Subaru, but…

[Rem: That’s not all I have to ask.]

Rem wanting to devote herself to Subaru was already a normal thing, so there wasn’t really any deep reason behind her wanting to do something for him.

However, there was a chance for something to start with this type of motivation that even made her get Beatrice involved.

That was—-

[Rem: Nee-sama and Emilia-sama actually treated Subaru-kun to mayonnaise cuisine the other day. They put in their usual gratitude and……they kept it a secret from me.]

[Beatrice: —-]

[Rem: No well, I’m fine with it. I know that Subaru-kun is lovely, and it’s lovely seeing Nee-sama and Emilia-sama going as far as to cook to show their thanks. ……But, I am a little…just a little…just slightly disappointed that I wasn’t there.]

[Beatrice: —-]

[Rem: Because I’m thankful for Subaru-kun too. So, I realized that I have to try my best too so that I don’t lose to Nee-sama and Emilia-sama!]

[Beatrice: That doesn’t explain why you came to me!]

Beatrice shouts at Rem, the girl who intruded the forbidden archives and brought a cart.

Rem puzzles at that rage. She really was wondering if her explanation was insufficient, or if she caused a misunderstanding.

[Rem: Beatrice-sama, please calm down. My explanation wasn’t good enough. To put it in a way that doesn’t cause any misunderstandings…….I want to do Subaru-kun a service.]

[Beatrice: You said that nobody else could accept this request, and yet it’s become even more indecent, I suppose!]

Rem made a fist in front of her chest as she said “Let’s do this!”, being full of motivation. That attitude causes Beatrice to look up at the ceiling as if she was grieving. Rem pushed the cart even closer to her and says

[Rem: I already see the path to a new meal. Next I just have to allot the mayonnaise. If I can just arrange that perfectly, then I can show it to even Subaru-kun.]

[Beatrice: What are you telling me to do with you doing all that…..]

[Rem: Yes. Beatrice-sama will taste the…..see, don’t you and Subaru-kun like mayonnaise? It seems like your guys’ tastes are close too…….that’s unfair.]

[Beatrice: I don’t care, I suppose! That’s a false accusation! Don’t just get jealous at whatever you want, I suppose!]

Beatrice claims her innocence at Rem, who had a light in her eyes that looked just a little dangerous. Then, Rem returns to herself with a “I can’t do that”, and after clearing her throat with an “Ahem” she says

[Rem: Anyways, Subaru-kun and Beatrice-sama have similar tastes. Thus, if I make a dish that you like, then Subaru-kun will like it too.]

[Beatrice: I get what you’re trying to say. I guess it’s fine to ignore your rash remark of you saying that him and I like similar things. But, that’s as far as my kindness goes.]

[Rem: Beatrice-sama……]

Beatrice folds her short arms and turns her face away as if brushing off Rem’s proposal. She curves her lips, fully expressing her intent to refuse her proposal.

In response to Beatrice’s firm declaration of her intent, Rem dropped her shoulders, thinking “It can’t be helped”, and—-

[Rem: —-Yes, open wide.]

[Beatrice: *Gulp*, I suppose. ——Huhh! Damn it!]

She scoops up the cooking, holds out the spoon, and Beatrice becomes shocked, as she ate it involuntarily. However, her surprise lasted only for a moment. She immediately changes to an entranced expression and says

[Beatrice: Mmmm…….You put it in my mouth, I suppose. But, it doesn’t taste bad. Not bad.]

[Rem: That really makes me happy. It seems like Nee-sama and Emilia-sama invented a steamed “Baked Potato” by putting a cut in a yam potato and putting mayonnaise into it. So, I looked for some possibilities, and I worked on a mayonnaise cuisine that’s delicious even if it gets cold.]

Rem explains her new cuisine idea to Beatrice, whose mouth was dirty from the yam potato.

The source of the steam coming from the plate was the smashed vegetables dressed in mayonnaise inside the steamed potato. Furthermore, cutting up the fresh vegetables and putting them inside caused it to take in a new flavor.

[Rem: There are fitting and unfitting vegetables in there, but with this Beatrice-sama and Emilia-sama will eat it, even when you don’t like vegetables, and Subaru-kun should like it too!]

[Beatrice: I don’t like how it’s a byproduct of the objective to please that guy, but it didn’t taste bad, I suppose. I’ll praise you and say that it matched my tastes enough.]

[Rem: Thank you!]

Rem did a curtsey with a complete smile on her face while holding the tray in one hand in response to Beatrice’s praise.

She makes sure of her look of satisfaction, and Beatrice reached her hand out wanting another bite. However, she gets stopped quickly because of Rem’s hand.

[Beatrice: —-]

She quickly reaches out her hand. She quickly gets stopped. She reaches out. She gets stopped. She reaches out. She gets stopped.

[Beatrice: Why are you interrupting me! Stop giving yourself airs!]

[Rem: No, I’m not giving myself airs. It’s just that, it would be a problem for you to eat this dish’s mayonnaise cuisine.]

[Beatrice: I don’t understand, I suppose. Would it be wasteful or something because there isn’t enough……?]

[Rem: —-No, it’s the opposite.]

Rem steps to the back silently in front of Beatrice, who squinted with displeasure. Then, she points, and what awaited Beatrice was the countless number of dishes on top of the cart that had been remaining there.

If all of those were dishes waiting to be tasted by Beatrice, then—-

[Rem: I told you. I want to make the best dish that matches Subaru-kun’s tastes. Hence, I wanted Beatrice-sama to cooperate with me little by little.]

[Beatrice: Little by little! You said little by little! You really are perverse…..]

[Rem: Yes, open wide.]

[Beatrice: Aan, I suppose……mmm, it’s delicious. Don’t mess with me, I suppose!]

Rem changes the little amount of mayonnaise and tries to figure out the best taste. She wasn’t just paying attention to the mayonnaise, but the solt and vinagar that made up the mayonnaise too.

No matter how much time they had, it wasn’t enough. The path of cooking was a very deep one.

[Rem: There’s still another dish ready! There’s no time to rest! Let’s both do our best just like Nee-sama and Emilia-sama did!]

[Beatrice: Wa—wait…….in the end, this is just me doing my……]

[Rem: Don’t just try the hot ones, but the cold ones too please! Ahh, please taste it thoroughly!]

[Beatrice: *Gulp*, I suppose—-!]

Rem had a bad habit of starting to only see the things in front of her, while Beatrice had a personality of being helpful with this and that. Those things bit each other like devils, and a tragedy was born.

Then on another day, Beatrice’s troubles paid off, and the new cuisine was offered to Subaru.

[Subaru: Potato salad! This is potato salad! Rem, you came up with this, huh!]

[Rem: Yes, I put in my devoted spirit. I won’t mind it if you praise me.]

[Subaru: Ahh, thank you. I’m really happy. ……By the way, why is Beako’s whole face shiny, and why is her cheeks chubby? Did you get fat?]

[Beatrice: Whose fault do you think this is—-!!??]

Subaru didn’t care about the hardships, while Rem didn’t feel like talking about them. Then, the voice of Beatrice, the person who made put in the most effort and got the short end of the stick, resounded throughout the Roswaal residence’s dining hall.