Sorry, for taking so long, I just got into my new job, and I had to focus on that so it took a bit longer than I expected since I did not want to rush it, buuuut still I think it's quite an interesting chapter, enjoy.
I don't really have an update schedule, but I do believe it will be around a week for each chapter to be ready, writing is harder than I thought, LOL
In the great hall there stood beautiful decorations carefully arranged to create the perfect atmosphere for a high-class party, complete with lined up ice statues of a mean eyed knight portraying his mighty deeds, leading to a great banner that said: "welcome back Subaru and Rem." In the center of the hall, there was a table filled with delicious foods made by hired chefs and expensive beverages, sadly the atmosphere carefully crafted by the efforts of many did not stand a chance against the ability to screw things up of a single boy, therefore the mood in the room did not match its decorations in the slightest.
As the food grew cold and the beverages were mostly ignored the guests could only glance at the cowering boy sitting in the extreme opposite of the silver haired hostess that had the most honorable seat. The cold mood in the room was as volatile as Emilia's emotions making Otto's regret his suggestion of moving inside in the hopes of lightening said mood.
Unable to sustain the awkward situation anymore Otto spoke
"Natsuki-san, I guess you should just start already."
"Yes, the longer you take the worse it gets, I suppose" whispered Beatrice in his ears while holding his hand.
Subaru looked at Beatrice on his lap and then moved his eyes to his left past Priscilla who was sitting much closer to him than normal to glance at Rem on his right who had louis on her lap in a protective embrace. Seeing Rem's face steeled his resolve, he had been preparing for this moment and now was the time to act!
"Look, the truth is..."
"That even A mongrel with half a brain like my husband can realise that mine self is the superior candidate." Scoffs the princess behind her fan.
Glancing at her lady flabbergasted expression Ram quickly acted:
"Lady Priscilla I'm sure even a dog like Barusu is capable of ratling his excuse of a brain to avoid such scandal."
Ram was sure that her friend would never betray Emilia, but she also knew he was stupid enough to be used by Priscilla.
"Yeah, cap'n may be dumber than my amazin' self, but he ain't stupid."
"At least he surely is more loyal than ulgarms." said Meili while eating, not caring too much about the situation.
"Really? The only thing you guys can agree on is that I'm a stupid dog?."
"Don't listen to them Subaru, you're my knight, you're a good boy!"
"Emilia-tan, you're not helping!"
"Ehem… Now that our mood improved a little, I believe we should go back to the main topic." said Crusch with a stern expression.
As many in the room nodded, Subaru felt like he was swallowing sand in the desert, a feeling he got quite familiar with during his adventure at the Augria Sand Dunes.
"Fine, but I don't really know where to start"
"Then, may I suggest that you start with the blond girl that created such commotion moments ago?" intervened Reinhard.
Trying to hold her disgust and anger Ram finally had the opportunity she was waiting for, she would not let her reencounter with her sister be ruined any further.
"Yes, the sword saint is right, explain to us why my sister is holding a SIN ARCHBISHOP as if it was her daughter?"
Ram spoke, adding as much emphasis on Sin Archbishop as she could.
Petra quickly hid herself behind Frederica's protective form, in a way so she could still see what was going on.
Subaru felt as if a thousand daggers pierced through him when everyone gazes shifted back at his direction. But the worst part was Rem's confused expression as she eased slightly her grip on Louis, making the girl look around in fear.
Rem memories were returning slowly and they felt alien to her, unbeknownst to her the same was happening with Crusch. Therefore both of them were neither their old selves or their versions after losing precious memories, they were somewhere in between.
As he felt a heated gaze coming from Priscilla, Subaru gulped an entire desert and felt he had to start talking immediately, if it was a sudden surge of courage or fear for his life, he did not know.
"Yeah, I can do this, everyone listen to me! Let's start with Louis Arneb, the third and last Sin Archbishop of Gluttony."
Rem's eyes squinted as she locked her eyes with Louis. "Who are you, no what are you?" seeing no trace of evil in those pupils, she did not know exactly what a sin archbishop was, but due to her having some of her memories she felt very uncomfortable at those words.
'She has been completely harmless for around a year now, to tell the truth, she is nothing like the girl I met in Taygeta library. I don't know exactly what's going on but Rem memories seem to be somewhat linked with this girl"
"Why would you think that Subaru?" said Reinhard, looking at the girl hoping he would have A divine protection to help him understand what was going on inside her head."
How could Subaru explain that to them, how was he supposed to explain that he believed that Rem was going through the same he went through. That Louis was probably possessing Rem's body and her memories were stuck inside the little girl. Worse-case scenario was that Rem's recovery was a sign that Louis and Rem were becoming one.
"From the first time I've seen her after waking up in Vollachia there has been this eerie feeling about her, the way she behaves and looks at me makes me believe that Rem's memories are inside her."
"Incredible, only Barusu can build up such tension and say something we already know, the stolen memories are indeed with the bastards who stole them."
"Nice one papa, good job" said Meili while failing to hold her giggles.
"Interesting, so these are your beloved friends. Mine self approves the way they treat you." smirked the orange haired princess.
"Ugh... Beako save me!"
"hmm, Betty checked and it seems that the girl holds no malice, I suppose."
"See, thank you Beako, I can always count on you" said the boy while patting the loli's head.
"err… I believe you Subaru, but what does that mean?" asked the worried half-elf.
"It means Subaru-kyun is trying to add another little girl to his "short" collection. Even if she's an archbishop."
"Natsuki-san, this lolimancer thing is turning into an obsession."
"That title just got creepier! Anyway, what's important is that there is no need for us to do anything with Louis right now, just keep an eye on her. I don't want to risk messing with Rem's recovery."
"That won't solve anything!" added a furious results were unacceptable to the pink haired maid, who just wanted her sister back whole.
"I was thinking about dealing with Roy Alphard, he might be the answer for our problems. Once I talk to him I'm sure I will be able to do something for Rem!"
During the Pleiades watchtower battle, where Ley Batenkaitos met his end and Subaru once again felt a dark presence force itself inside his soul. Differently from the others, this one was much weaker as if it was incomplete, the only difference he felt when he awakened that authority was a slight connection with Louis. maybe if he got Roy's part he could somehow access the real louis in Od Laguna to finally defeat her for good.
"Subaru, the sin archbishop of gluttony has not spoken a single word all this time, I don't think we can get much from him."
"The half-..."
As Priscilla started her sentence Subaru gave her a cold glare with all the might of his mean eyes, insulting Emilia was the only thing Subaru would not allow. This led to a lot of arguing since neither would give in.
To protect his campaign to take back his throne Vincent himself had to intervene and find common ground between both of them. Subaru needed a few loops and multiple deeds in Vollachia until Priscilla respected him enough to reward him by no longer associating Emilia with the witch.
"The half-elf has a point, the worm we captured in Pristella also kept her silence."
At Priscilla's sudden change in tone, many in the room were very surprised but decided not to comment. No one was more surprised than the half-elf herself who opened a wide smile after receiving a wink from her knight.
"Rejoice elf, the way I address you now it's all thanks to my husband's efforts. It does not mean that mine self has evaluated you as worthy but simply decided to tolerate thy existence." said Priscilla with a smug smile grabbing Subaru's arm and inching even closer to him to assert her dominance.
"I- I can't take this anymore, Subaru has assured us that girl is not an immediate threat, we can leave the rest for later, now there is something much more important I reeeally want to talk about!"
The discussion about Louis was far from being done, but all understood it was better to move on for now in respect for Emilia.
Hearing Emilia, Subaru knew that his time was over, it was now time to deal with the elephant in the room. Deep inside he hoped he could go on through the day without getting into this subject.
"S-Subaru, you… I thought you said you lo…" unable to keep her sentence due to her embarrassment, the half-elf stuttered, but most people in the room had a good clue about what she was trying to say.
Quickly regaining her composure Emilia started again"Ehem… Subaru, I do know that your time in Vollachia was harsh and you did what was necessary to survive, but to ma- marry an opposing candidate… Do you no longer wish to be my knight? Have you abandoned our camp?" said emilia while doing her best to keep her neutral expression."
"WHAT? NO!"
While the mood of the room once again became tense and the Subaru was still collecting his thoughts to answer Emilia in the best possible way a certain cat knight whispered to his red-haired friend:
"hmmm sooo… should we really be here for this, nyah?" and Reinhard responded "I do believe it would be better for them to solve this between themselves."
Hearing their conversation the green haired duchess quietly spoke "Felix, Emilia-sama needs to address this matter in front of us since this party has been transformed into a petty woman's stage."
Ignoring the chatter Subaru knew he had to be careful with his words in order to appease the situation "Look things got really messed up in Vollachia when the conflict evolved into a civil war, somehow I ended up fighting on Vincent's side. I tried my best to avoid bloodshed but my identity became problematic since no one knew who I was or the position I held."
"Therefore you married that woman to strengthen your position in his camp." stated Petra excited that Subaru's marriage was just a political maneuver. Her happiness lasted only a few seconds because she felt the hands of her blond senpai tighten on her shoulder "irk, s-sorry for interrupting" she said while bowing.
Worried for his stupid friend the green merchant had to ask "But what would she gain from that?"
"Don't you dare try to understand me with your foolish commoner mind, mine reasoning is beyond your capabilities."
"Oh please, Priscilla-sama is not that kind of woman, she surely married Subaru-sama for love, isn't that right lady Priscilla Barielle Natsuki." Said Crusch with a fake smile and a poison filled tone.
"Hoo, mine unparalleled beauty is once again at fault here, Tis only natural that any man will fall for a goddess like mine self, but do not worry mister Crusch someday even you might find a partner…" giving a disgusted look at Felix she continued "...Even though your tastes are quite… Inverted."
Willhelm placed his hand on Felix's shoulder in order to help his companion to stay calm. He knew that the knight was not stupid enough to say anything but he also knew that Priscilla was a master at pissing people off.
Subaru knew he had to intervene before things got worse, therefore he decided to speak before the duchess could give her response.
"HEY… Everyone wants to know what happened right? So let me start from when I first met Priscilla in Vollachia. Oh yeah! IT'S FLASHBACK TIME!"
"Fu-rashi-beku?" asked a confused Emilia trying to repeat Subaru's strange words.
-ITS FLASHBACK TIME!-
It has been weeks since Subaru arrived in Vollachia and Vincent's supporters have increased since the siege of Guaral. Now with proper nobles and their soldiers they became what would be later called the BLOODWOOD COALITION, since their main base resided in the Shudraks territory and because of the gory aftermath their brutal ambushes left behind.
After taking over a fully defended city with no more than a bunch of half naked women,Vincent knew that his enemies would now take him more seriously, from now on his battles would increase significantly in difficulty. But his deeds also attracted the attention of those who had much to gain and little to lose, like nobles who fell to disgrace, small tribes that were oppressed by stronger ones and many more.
Sadly for Subaru, some of the surviving enemy soldiers appointed him as "Abel's right hand", Granting him the honor of having a bounty on his head.
"I thought I was done with this kind of shit" said the worried black haired boy who was serving as bait for the enemy officer, Subaru's group consisted of only a handful of elite highly armored soldiers that numbered around 15 warriors, they were supposed to be on a mission to recruit another important ally from a neighboring territory, but that was only a farce, their real mission was to use subaru as bait to lure the enemy officer into an ambush.
While Subaru and his guards moved through the road pretending to be just a merchant group the Shudraks moved hidden by the nearby vegetation with bows in hand just waiting for their moment to strike.
It did not take long for the enemy to take the bait. Out of a hill near the road the enemies, clad in light armor, revealed themselves running and screaming Subaru's name like a curse, the boy who could not do much for himself shivered in fear, he knew that if he was caught alive a fate worse than death was guaranteed.
The guards quickly changed their formation into a shield wall while keeping their mean eyed commander safe behind them. As the soldiers clashed like a thunderstorm of steel, the guards who were outnumbered by four to one started to lose ground.
Subaru had only two objectives, to survive and to spot the enemy official so he could mark him for the Shudraks to target first, but it did not matter how much he tried he could not see anything that signaled the presence of a higher ranking officer, the more he waited the worse the situation got, his soldiers were being brutally assaulted, yet they held the line.
Desperate to help his allies, he had to act fast, Subaru unraveled his whip and moved from side to side, signaling the change in strategy. To complement the thunder of battle, Subaru had called a rain of arrows.
As the men screamed in pain and terror of having their flanks exposed to a ranged enemy, Subaru felt sick and disgusted with himself, he just gave the order and now people were being killed, "those who say that it gets easier over time are already insane or they're lying to themselves."
The plan was successful, the opposing soldiers couldn't keep the pressure and defend themselves from the arrows at the same time, therefore it was just a matter of time until his enemies would break their line and victory was theirs, but could it really be called a victory? he and his men risked their lives and the reason for it was nowhere to be seen.
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM
Subaru was quickly forced out of his thoughts by a loud explosion that came from the exact place where the Shudraks were, now instead of the green forest there was a huge fire tornado engulfing the area. He could hear the screams of his comrades, but before he could take any action, their screams were overlapped by shrieks coming from multiple directions when he turned back he saw many more enemies leaving holes in the ground that were covered by moss and vines.
If before they were quite outnumbered now they were no more than ants trying to fight an elephant, they had no chance against the endless wave of steel, yet his men took the chance while their enemies regrouped to surround Subaru in a circle formation keeping him in the centre. From the initial fifteen only seven remained.
Their plan had been seen through from the start, the enemy was only waiting for the Shudraks to reveal themselves to start their counter offensive.
"Thou honor and dedication to your duty is commendable, but tis only a shame mine self is thy opponent" looking straight at his eyes the enemy commander finally revealed herself "It seems this mongrel has strayed quite far from home."
Looking at his mistress and at the enemy commander the man wearing ragged clothes akin to a random bandit and a dark helmet that covered his whole face spoke "well pal, shit just got complicated."
SUP, people
With this story I want to tackle a few things I haven't seen yet in the re:zero fanfic community.
THATS WAR IN THE RE:ZERO WORLD.
The concept is so cool and fun to write about that I had a blast with this chapter.
Obviously that won't be all this fic will be about, it will keep changing from past to present so don't worry I will keep writing the fun interactions between our beloved characters, so that's it you read it all congrats, hope you liked it.
See you soon.