Somehow, Living Life in Another World is Wrong, as I Expected Ch. 10.2

‘The hero arriving late’ is a trope as old as time. Often, this depicts the heroes as still having human flaws, in that the trials that they rushed through were just so great that even the hero struggled with it. Often, this ends up with the hero seeing what they wanted to save being burned to the ground.

That doesn’t make for good stories in the long run, however.

If you always put your hero through tragedy after tragedy without a source of catharsis, it would make even the staunchest of readers put down the story for being too much. Because, really, if you think about how the real world operates, it’s almost the same.

There is no disaster wherein a hero comes in to save the day just in the nick of time. When a disaster happens, it’s already too late, and the people who come and save the survivors are the late heroes, so to speak.

When a person reads a novel, a story, or any other piece of media, they are also subconsciously trying to avoid the reality of the world around them. Putting that reality front and center, therefore, is not ideal - unless your audience enjoys hyperrealism, in which case, go ahead.

In short, in real life, the heroes are always late.

That isn’t the same as in fiction though.

When the protagonist arrives late the first time around, they will resolve themselves to never arrive late ever again. A point of trauma that will eventually be revisited in the future. The first tragedy that the protagonist finds will be one that they try to prevent. How successful they are depends on the genre, of course. As will whether they prevent it beforehand or arrive just in time to stop the big bad.

The second time, to hammer in the promise that the protagonist made, will be successful as well. As will the third and maybe the fourth.

Eventually, this culminates in the protagonist gaining the confidence to say that they will keep to their promise to the very end.

Up until the inevitable failure. They will not arrive in time. Everything that they built up will come crashing down. The endless guilt will eat up at them until they realize that they’re still fallible. Essentially, all of the events leading up to this will be nothing more than a plot point for the protagonist to grow up.

Everything that wasn’t the protagonist and their closest companions were forfeit. As someone who was nothing more than a background supporting character for the protagonist that was Natsuki, that included me.

The problem was, I didn’t know where Natsuki was on this timeline.

…

“Do not call me by that name, mongrel.” Barielle glared with barely contained malice towards the panting Natsuki. If she continued like that, I’d have mistaken her for the genderbent version of a certain king. And if she were, she would have no hesitation in spearing through the clueless kid.

“No time,” Natsuki continued to heave in breaths as he grabbed my arm, “We need to go!” To his other side, I saw that he had done the same to a confused Karsten. In an impressive show of strength - or maybe because it happened with no warning - Natsuki was dragging us through the hallways of the mansion while looking around like he was searching for something. I’ll admit, even I was confused since I hadn’t seen him this frantic even when the Whale was right in front of us.

“Oi, what the hell are you doing, brat?” Even as I said that, I righted myself to begin running instead of just being dragged along. Beside me, I could spot Karsten had already done so, with Barielle following behind. The fact that the Sun Princess was doing so with only one complaint was telling enough.

“Garf’s already heading for Frederica and Petra, and Otto’s already getting Felt and the others, so we need to get to the Forbidden Library!”

That doesn’t answer anything!

“Subaru Natsuki, I’m afraid we’re going to need more information than that.” Karsten nodded to me when we locked eyes. She’s been using her Diving Protection and it looks like Natsuki’s telling the truth, at least.

“Uh, right, right, sorry, I keep forgetti-here!” He stopped so suddenly that me and Karsten had run past him by a couple meters. Without another explanation of anything, Natsuki opened the door, straight into the Library.

Alright, I’ll admit, that was still impressive. I don’t know how he does it, but Natsuki could apparently choose the correct door for the Library nine times out of ten, when I still needed to ask for Beatrice’s permission to even find it.

“You have returned, I see.” Romanée-Conti was as calm as ever. If he had them inside that cage of his, I could have pictured him sitting down in a chair while drinking tea like some two-bit villain, “And I see that-”

“Do you intend to hurt Emilia?!”

…Okay, what the fuck? I shared an alarmed look with Karsten, but didn’t do anything. It’s not like I had any idea of what Natsuki was doing.

Even Romanée-Conti and his followers seemed stunned at Natsuki’s question. The Archbishop in particular was staring at Natsuki in complete befuddlement, “What do you mean?”

“...Petelgeuse Romanée-Conti is a rotten bastard.” Natsuki breathed out with anger, “He’s a psychopathic lunatic hellbent on making sure that his precious Witch can come back. He would do anything to achieve that goal. Mass murder and torture? Those are just sidequests that he does when he isn’t following that damned Bible!”

Nastuki was more of the raving lunatic than Romanée-Conti was, right now, but he didn’t stop.

“If I were given a choice, I would have killed that bastard myself! I would have done everything in my power to make sure that he wouldn’t be able to hurt Emilia - no, anyone else ever again! Even if it hurt, even if dying was better than going through all that, I would have done it!

“And, and maybe I would have said that I would have done so because I wanted to help Emilia be safe, and that would be true!” Subaru roared, his voice raw and cracking with the force of his emotion. His fists were clenched so tightly his knuckles were white, trembling with barely contained violence. I had to step back a bit from how unnerved I was at this sudden shift in personality, "But that’s only part of it! Only the surface!"

Natsuki stomped up to the pink cage that was Romanée-Conti’s prison, smacking a fist on it with a meaty thud. I couldn’t see his face right now, but I guessed he was glaring straight at Romanée-Conti, “The real reason? The absolute reason I would tear Petelgeuse apart piece by piece, watch him scream, and revel in it? Because I despise Petelgeuse Romanée-Conti!"

At this point, the other Fingers were nervously glancing around. Karsten moved forward with a frown on her face. I grabbed her elbow just before she moved past me, shaking my head in negative when she looked at me.

“I hate everything that he stands for! I loathe the idea that he could keep on living without a shred of compassion! Hundreds, thousands of people have died because of his delusions that the Witch could ever love him! As if he was someone that deserves love from anyone!”

This…this was building up to something. Natsuki was building up to something, and we couldn’t miss this. There was a reason he had brought us here, and in Karsten’s case, it was likely for the use of her Divine Protection.

For me though? What was my role other than being a spectator?

“There is nothing in this world that would stop me from making sure that that Petelgeuse would never get his way!” Another punch onto the barrier, “...But I don’t have to, do I?” Natsuki backed up, before staring up at the ceiling.

“Because you…you’re not that Petelgeuse.”

Romanée-Conti tilted his head, genuine perplexity replacing his earlier calm befuddlement, “Not that Petelgeuse?” He echoed slowly, testing the words, “I assure you, young man, I am Petelgeuse Romanée-Conti, Archbishop of Sloth. There is no other.” His tone held only a strange, weary certainty.

Natsuki heaved in a breath, “But you’re not screaming. You’re not twisting your fingers off. You’re not ranting about your love for the Witch. All of that was the Petelgeuse I knew. The Petelgeuse I hated. The Petelgeuse that doesn’t exist anymore.”

That Karsten didn’t interrupt told me that everything so far was the truth. As insane as Natsuki was sounding, it wouldn’t take a genius to realize that he really did have some form of clairvoyance, if one that was incredibly fallible. Had he seen a future that could have been? Was that his true ability? To see alternate timelines and the futures they could be? It would make sense with how wrong he was with Romanée-Conti.

But, that didn’t matter for now.

What matters is that Natsuki was determined to follow through with whatever plan he was cooking up, and I have no say in it as just another supporting character.

“That’s why, I’ll ask again.” Natsuki drew himself up and squared his shoulders. With a glare, he spoke, “If you’re truly not the Petelgeuse I know, answer me with the truth: do you intend to hurt Emilia?”

The Archbishop stared at the brat with a blank look on his face. I couldn’t tell what he was thinking, not with how he looked more like a stone. Finally, after a tense moment, Romanée-Conti wryly smiled.

“I do not intend to hurt Lady Emilia. Nor do any of my Fingers. Our goal still remains as what we first told you: to prevent the resurrection of the Witch of Envy.”

“Then we have the same goal.” Natsuki nodded, before turning to me, “Hikigaya, can you do me a favor and take down the barriers? I have to go find Beatrice.”

And instantly, the respect I had started to feel for Natsuki burned up just as quickly as it formed.

“Okay, no, hold up.” I could feel a migraine already developing, “I can’t entirely say I understand everything that you just said here, but how the fuck does that equate to letting these bastards go? Need I remind you that these people are still Witch Cultists at the end of the day?”

“Hikigaya is right, Subaru Natsuki.” Why Karsten keeps calling Natsuki by his full name, I’ll never know, “Regardless of the truth of their intentions, that does not excuse them for the other crimes committed in pursuit of that goal.”

The ends do not justify the means, in short.

“Yeah, I know.” Natsuki turned around and walked further into the Library, “But right now, we don’t have a choice. We need their help if we don’t want both the Witch of Envy and the Beast of the End to go on a rampage.”

You know how people say they could feel their heart drop? Yes, even someone like me could feel it. Especially when every single person, minus Barielle, snapped their heads towards a shellshocked Karsten. A small, hesitant nod as we locked eyes.

Holy fuck.

“Please let them go, I’m off to find Beatrice.”

The damned brat disappeared into the maze that was the Forbidden Library, leaving us to flounder in silence. At least until Barielle folded her fan and opened the door out. Karsten was the one to ask, even before I had thought to, “Where are you going, Sun Princess?”

Barielle scoffed in response, “That mongrel had forgotten to mention it, but I suppose I could do him a favor for displaying such an entertaining scene. This mansion will soon be attacked, and I have no intention of letting go of such perfect prey.”

With that, the arrogant bitch left the room.

…Goddammit Natsuki, couldn’t you have said something before you left?!

…