Chapter 4: The sprout of victory
The sun has set over the mansion, inside was a group of four, they were having an important discussion, a discussion that will determine the life or death of others.
"Uhmm... If you wouldn't mind, could you please repeat that? I didn't quite catch it." Crusch said
"Very well, I want to form an alliance between our camps and the Anastasia camp as well"
"Ok... go on"
"The Emilia camp offers shared mining rights of the Magic gems in the Elior forest"
"And?"
"A close approximation of the time, and the exact location of the next appearance of the White whale, that is all we have to give"
After a whole afternoon of thinking, Subaru has devised a plan to save everyone.
"The White whale..." Wilhelm mutters, Subaru caught sight of his face, a dark aura emanated around him, he decided not to point that out just yet.
"That is quite an interesting offer Natsuki Subaru, and I see that you are not lying about the White whale"
From the past timelines Subaru has found out that Crusch has the divine protection of Wind Reading, it allows her to see a special kind of wind blow around someone that signifies a lie and dishonesty.
"Even though, that only proves you believe it as a fact, so the information might possibly be fraudulent.
The card Subaru played was a big one, and she was doubting its legitimacy, It seemed too good.
"I get it"
"So how did you come to find out information on the White whales appearance?"
She asks this question, Subaru has predicted this and was well prepared for it, but still...
"Well it's gonna be quite unbelievable but hear me out"
The fact that they are going to believe him is something entirely different.
He reaches into his pocket and pulls out his phone.
"This is a metia"
He flips the phone and it turns on, this caught everyone's attention, they suddenly were on guard.
"Don't worry, It is harmless. So, I can use this metia as a countdown to when the whale will appear"
That shocked everyone, never had they heard of a device that could do such things.
"And how does it do that"
"Well, believe it or not, I've encountered the while before, the metia was able to record the time, then it resets and stars counting down"
Everyone was astonished, they blinked several times as if they doubted he was there.
How could he have encountered the whale but still be here
That was what everyone else was thinking about.
"Then, please give us a description of the White whale if you would"
Crusch was the first one to snap out of the shock, she asks a question to confirm if he truly has seen the White whale.
"Hmmm let's see, It is enormous, about a fourth of the size of Flugel's tree, It has a horn, Bulging yellow eyes, It is able to produce a fog, and this fog can
eliminate the existence of people that get caught in it"
His description was pretty accurate, he couldn't get a good glimpse of the whole thing since it was shrouded in the fog though.
"I see, your description is true, but the about the fog, how can you be sure about its power to erase one's existence?"
His last statement was the one that caught everyone's attention, how did he know that the fog has existence erasing power?
"Let's see when I encountered it last time, one of my closest friends was caught in the fog, when I came back I told everyone about it but for some reason, no one seemed to remember her"
This person was Rem, In a past timeline of course, where they together with Otto Suwen a traveling merchant had passed Flugel's tree, The White whale appeared and attacked them, Rem sacrificed herself so Subaru could escape.
"May I ask about that person"
"I'd rather not answer that question, it would bring back painful memories so if you'd please don't"
His face slowly grew depressed.
"I understand... and about the location of the whale?"
This part was the harder part because he has no evidence about it besides the fact that he was there in another timeline, he couldn't bring this up, the hands would come for him, and It would make him look a lot more suspicious.
"I'm cursed, and that curse allows me to know some specific things in advance"
He came up with the vaguest idea he could think of, it was simple and it didn't reveal his return by death.
"You don't seem to be lying, how does this curse work?"
"I'd like to tell you, I've tried to tell others, but part of the curse refrains me from telling other people about the specifics"
"I see, could this be the reason..."
"Most likely, I'm not completely sure myself but it might as well be the reason why I smell like her..."
That's what he thought and it made sense, whenever he returned by death or tried to talk about it, the witches scent that Rem told him about would increase.
"Mhmm"
Crusch was in deep thought, she was deciding if she should trust him or not. It made everyone else feel awkward.
Subaru started feeling dizzy, he couldn't keep up his facade, not on his own.
"Wow, it's taking them quite a while..." He says this suddenly and stands up from his seat.
"Huh"
Crusch snaps out of thought and looks confused.
"Excuse me for a second"
He turns to the office door and reaches for the handle.
"How long are you going to keep us waiting"
He opens the doors wide so that everyone inside can see the people on the other side. There were two people seemingly waiting there, a woman with wavy purple hair and a tall man with a formal red suit. They were...
"Anastasia hoshin? Russell Fellow, he called you as well?"
"Aww we got caught, you called us in a little too early Natsuki-kun"
Anastasia looked displeased.
"Why hello Crusch Kartsen, I was quite interested when Natsuki-dono proposed the mining rights of the Elior forests Magic gems so I have joined in for this meeting"
It wasn't easy but Subaru was able to locate Russell Fellows whereabouts just before he decided to go to Crusch's mansion. They had discussed the meeting prior and he agreed to tag along.
"So whats with all this talk about White whales"
Anastasia said with her mouth returning to a smile.
"Oh, well Crusch-san here is about to start a subjugation so I decided, why not pitch in?"
"Ohhh, well then you can count me in, that things been a life or death situation for many traveling merchants, so my mercenary group can help yall"
She looked excited.
"Mercenary group... so that little one was part of it then?"
Subaru remembered Mimi, the little cat-eared girl that was with Anastasia during their conversation.
"Oh yes, she's second in command"
"Really!?" Subaru gave a surprised look
Maybe I shouldn't have messed with her Subaru thought
"Natsuki Subaru. May I ask what lead you to your conclusion?"
Crusch asked with a serious tone.
"Well it wasn't simple... took me all afternoon to figure it out." It did he thought about soo hard that he started getting headaches "So, firstly I've noticed a lot of traffic here, there seems to be something big coming up soon, you've also been stacking up on armory and weapons for some battle, at first I thought that it would be unlikely that you were hunting the White whale until I learned more about it, The White whale, a maebeast that has terrorized the world for four hundred years, the one that had taken down the previous sword saint, felling a beast as disastrous as that would give you a pretty big boost in the Royal selection don't you agree, I also happened to see Wilhelm-san's face when I first mentioned the White whale, it seems you have some history with it, huh Wilhelm-san?"
Wilhelm looked dumbstruck
"Although I can't completely prove it the evidence still stands"
"Hmm, well... It looks like you've seen straight through me"
Crusch gave in, she had an expression of defeat.
"Wow Subaru-kyun, you really are very observant"
"I must say Natsuki-kun that was some clever thinking"
"Thanks... so Crusch-san..."
"While I still hold many doubts, I will trust you for now"
"So does that mean?"
.
.
"Yes, I'll accept the alliance"
"Then the deal is made"
The deal was made, now all they had to do was go into action.
"Finally... I was starting to feel sick" Subaru eased up and slid down while he was on the chair, he looked exhausted, "I thought you were never going to come in"
He took a side glance to Anastasia
"I was gonna join in a second, but I guess you couldn wait and just hadda call me in now didya"
Anastasia said this with a rather annoyed tone.
"You've done well Natsuki-dono"
Russell praised Subaru's negotiation skills, for an amateur he did quite well.
"Ahh, thanks, Russell-san"
"So about our deal..."
"Of course once we're done with everything I'll lend you the metia"
In order to persuade Russell Fellow into joining the meeting, Subaru had offered him his phone after everything was settled.
"Well, since the deals done I guess I should be headin out, gotta inform the mercenaries about this."
With this Anastasia and Russell left.
"I still can't believe you were able to figure me out, it seems you have changed a lot"
Crusch said, still looking surprised.
"Well I did say I'll make Emilia the king, It would be a big problem if I let her die know wouldn't it?"
"Oh? Emilia is endangered?"
"I'm sure Rem has figured it out and told you about it. OH NO, Please tell me you still remember Rem!"
He completely forgot he had to make sure Rem was safe.
Everyone looked confused after his sudden statement, his expression turned grim.
.
.
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NO
.
.
.
This couldn't be happening
.
.
.
Can it?
.
.
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.
.
"Of course, but why would we not remember Rem?"
He face eased up as he heard her
"AAAHHH..."
"Well, the White whale... it was supposed to appear near Flugel's tree, in the next night..."
With this everyone got the picture.
"I see... if Rem was to leave any later then she might have been caught in the fog and have become forgotten..."
"Haah, I'm glad she's safe..."
"Subaru-kyun, you should be ashamed of yourself, you made Rem-san REALLY sad you know"
"I know" Indeed he did, he heard her sobs as she exited the stairs "When she saw I was acting strange she knew something was wrong, am I really that predictable, maybe she knows me too well, anyway, she wanted to stay and help but that would be risking too much so I told her to leave, I'll have to apologize later"
"It's been a while since Ferri-chan has seen anyone that sad, Subaru-kyun must do more than just apologize you know"
"Yeah yeah, I'll think of something"
"So then we should start the preparations immediately"
"Ok"
They all left the office, going different directions
Subaru was outside, the moon high in the night sky, everyone was preparing, he couldn't really do anything so he just stood there, leaning on a tree and watched.
Someone came up to him.
"Subaru-kyun you're not going to sleep?" It was Felix.
"Hmm, Oh Ferris, no, how can I sleep while knowing that everyone else is working"
"Well there isn't much for you to do now is there, Subaru-kyun"
"I guess not..."
He thoughts seem to be somewhere else.
"Something wrong, Subaru-kyun"
"Huh, no, well, I was just... thinking about Rem"
"It's okay, I'm sure she understands that you did it to protect everyone"
"Yeah but I think I was a bit too harsh when I told her to leave and I did kinda say I'm never gonna come back soo yeah, I feel horrible because of that"
"You probably shouldn't, Rem-san cares for you a WHOLE lot you now"
"Yeah..."
"Well then, good luck with that"
"Thanks, I guess?"
He couldn't sleep, so he went to a library to read some books, he saw one that said 'Shadow Magic' or something like that so he tried to read it.
"Subaru-dono..."
Someone had called out to him while he skimming through the book.
"Oh, Wilhelm-san what do you need"
"I have come to thank you"
Subaru was surprised by this, he wasn't expecting to be thanked, he expected some sort of 'because of you now I have to do this' kinda thing.
"T-Thank me! For what?"
"For allowing me to avenge someone dear to me."
"Oh, who did the whale take?"
"Allow me to introduce myself properly, My name is Wilhelm van Astrea"
He was stunned.
"Astrea?! that means!"
"Not quite, I had taken the previous sword saint as my wife"
"WHAT! Then that means..."
"14 years ago, my wife had gone to take part in the slaying of The White whale, but unfortunately, she was defeated"
"Oh... I'm sorry about that"
"It's ok you don't have to be"
The room fell silent for a bit.
"If you'll excuse me, there some things I need to prepare"
"Ok then see you later, Wilhelm-san"
"See you"
Wilhelm has left the scene.
Subaru just sat there reading the book, he could hardly manage reading it, he continued until he fell asleep there.
A/N
Ohoho, that was not easy, had to make drafts upon drafts of this, but it worked out at the end. Anyway, have you decided to remember me? of course not. Its hard to make descriptions when theres sooo much talking going on.
So yeah, these chapters have grown to be quite big, this one has reached 2200 words (0o0) thats double of what I intended, one more chapter till the first battle, not gonna enjoy making that one...
Anyhow, See ya next time I guess, upload speeds may vary...