Chapter 4: A Circus in Flanders

Heinkel was at the very least exhausted. Immediately after arriving at the garrison, he had to send the garrison cavalry to orders of defending his home from any future attacks and scouting the general vicinity to make sure kid wasn't been taken somewhere else. He also ordered the golden wing factions to aid him. Heinkel also started to get suspicious about them. Why were they even there? The only thing he heard from that was they were ordered. He also ordered the guards of the city to check every single merchant but right now there was nothing. At least Reinhard managed to arrive two hours earlier than expected. He was working on the ledger for some clue but there was nothing apart from some pages that was bugging him. Something was … wrong.

Whitedew 7 Bottles for Hardwin Hall

Whitedew 11 Bottles for Almeric Wendell

Whitedew 16 Bottles for Kurt Mayer

Whitedew 5 Bottles for Heine Richter

The order of Biehn Argyle will be on hold until further notice…

This part truly disturbed Heinkel. All the names here were from noble houses with a questionable history about demi-humans. Not to mention Whitedew was a cheap drink. Cheap… cheap to a point that putting them in bottles was unprofitable…

Reinhard was running around the town looking for Subaru but his intuition was telling him that he wasn't going to find Subaru like that. He had run around most of Flanders main streets already and there was nothing. He started to wonder if Subaru's positions were being changed repeatedly to throw them off until they make an offer for his release. Reinhard decided to return to the garrison to ask about this to father.

Roswaal had a callous smirk on his face when he got off his carriage. Right now there was no divergence from his gospel. Either the kid didn't use his powers or the gospel could not truly see what the kid changed. That was exhilarating, to say the least. He knew when or where he can be found but he still had to carry out his experiment. Roswaal also had to tie up loose ends after this was over. He knew the sword saint could be dangerous especially if he figures out Roswaal was behind the kidnapping and the mansion assault. He also specifically ordered the kid to be intimidated but not harmed. Roswaal was not sure if the kid developed his ability as of now or if he could use it with a broken mind. If the intimidation does not make the kid budge … this thought exhilarated him even further. Then the kid could truly be like him. Roswaal was waiting for a certain man to appear. It was around noon so he should've figured it out by now. The only thing left for him to give the order so Roswaal's plan can begin. Roswaal knew he can't fully rely on Flower Prison Garden so he decided to limit the time they will have with the kid. Well, not that he was needed. Roswaal's eyes finally saw what they wanted;

[Heinkel: Search every single barrel entering the city, prioritize every booze merchant before the others.]

[Guard: But Sir, we don't have enou…]

[Heinkel: Did you understand what I said or do I need to show your empty skull as an example of how to search a goddamn barrel.]

There it is. His play was about to start.

[Roswaal: Youuu seem to be in a precarious siiiituation. I can heeelp.]

Subaru was scared. He hated dark. He feared dark. There was nothing in darkness other than the noises he heard coming from outside He tried to move first. He was feeling dizzy first having trouble remembering what happened. There was … something then darkness. His mind was starting to get awake and panic has begun to set in.

[Subaru: … mPPhhhhhmmMm]

[?: Shut the FUCK up!]

He bit his tongue to silence himself. The voice outside was mean, scary. Subaru was feeling terrified. He tried to move but he couldn't. He wanted to shout but he feared. He wanted to see but he couldn't.

He could only silently cry wishing it to be over.

Reinhard was starting to feel a new feeling. He wasn't sure what it was. He was feeling stressed thinking about what his friend was living through. He was feeling frustrated from his inability to do something. He even occasionally started to grit his teeth. He was too anxious. He finally understood what it was … it was anger. Reinhard walked towards his father to ask what to do. Thankfully his father wasted no time;

[Heinkel: Reinhard search every warehouse in it. Prefer the ones that have alcohol, barrel, or anything related to alcohol merchants. Don't bother with formalities I will deal with it later. Crush in if necessary. If you manage to find the location before we do, get the kid and leave while leaving us a signal to come towards there. We will handle the rest.]

[Reinhard: Yes father.]

Reinhard turned around and was getting ready to go until his father said something else.

[Heinkel: Reinhard we will … find the kid. We also have reinforcements helping us.]

He was moved but he had no time to spare. He started to run towards the nearest alcohol smell. He also let his intuition guide him towards the preferable path. He also decided to follow his father's advice word in a word. He was going to crush in to search the places faster. He decided to enter from the open windows or destroy a path to get in. He didn't want to get innocent merchants robbed so he decided to enter from the upper parts, from points a robber would have trouble getting in. He also had to decide what to do after finding Subaru.

Roswaal was outside sitting on a bench observing the passersby. There was not much else to do until the right time comes. He already gave the Golden Wing Faction soldiers what they needed. A metia powered with yang and yin magic allowed them to somewhat know which direction to go if a signal was given. Roswaal ordered them in a position that would enable them to seemingly surround the kid's location without running into it too soon. He knew they would find the kid after some time and also would form a chain to stop anyone escaping. He already tied one of the loose ends with one of the abductors, making sure that they can't talk about this ever again. He just had the observe what the kid would do and make sure the kid stayed alive. He was close enough to be sure not to mention the gospel still showed the kid's future to him… a future that favored him.

Heinkel was anxiously waiting for a report for telling the kids location. There was nothing worth noting about the search other than the long lines that were created by it. But it also prevented from anyone getting out. Garrison Cavalry also reported back saying tracks were going towards the city because of that he was somewhat sure the kid was in the city. The question is … where? Roswaal L Mathers was kind enough to borrow the Golden Wind Faction soldiers to him so there was no shortage of men. He was still wondering why the margrave was here out of all places but he wasn't going to question someone's kindness. He could ask about this later. There was also a small army of merchants here to give complaints about someone crushing in their property. Judging by their numbers and the short amount of time it took them to be this many Heinkel guessed that it was Reinhard's doing. He was doing it quite fast so Heinkel was hopeful that at least Reinhard will run into them. He decided to get into something more suited to the battle and wait outside. He was going to give the guys who assaulted his house a piece of his mind.

What Reinhard was causing around the city could only be described as chaos. He first decided that running on the roofs would be much faster. He would enter/crush in from the roofs or windows, check the place and leave. He already did this over fifty-seven times but there was nothing so far. He also started to see soldiers with different insignia than the garrison soldiers. They seemed to be going towards somewhere. They were probably the reinforcements his father talked about. He jumped off to the roof near them to see what they managed to find out so far.

[Reinhard: Have you managed to find him.]

The faction soldiers were startled by Reinhard landing beside them. Making the ten-meter drop like it was nothing important. They first didn't recognize who was this kid until one of them realized he was talking with a blue-eyed redhead with the famous sword on his back.

[Faction Soldier: We are going towards the metia signal that has been given to us]

The soldier holds the metia towards Reinhard to show him what they were following.

[Faction Soldier: We can use your he…]

Reinhard didn't bother listening to the rest. It seems like someone managed to find Subaru's location first. He rushed towards the direction metia showed to rescue Subaru.

Heinkel was gathering soldiers as he moved along with the Golden Wing factions soldiers. One of the merchants that were being searched by the factions soldiers turned out to be one of the smugglers. There were five children alone in his wagon. Heinkel didn't even want to think about how many times they did this. Their location was almost in the middle of the market district. At this point, they were so comfortable with what they were doing they didn't even bother about hiding their place. Well, their location could be used as an excuse for the wagon traffic but still. The fact that it was a place Heinkel might as well walked in front of before disgusted him. When he reached the street the place was in he got greeted by one of the garrison soldiers.

[Soldier: Commander, We're surrounding the place as we speak while staying out of sight. What are your orders.]

[Heinkel: Attack the moment when we got the place surrounded. Kill them on sight if necessary.]

[Soldier: As you command sir.]

[Heinkel: Have you seen the sword saint?]

[Soldier: No si… He is standing right there sir.]

Heinkel turned towards where the soldier was pointing to see Reinhard looking at the building's third floor like he was trying to calculate something. Then he jumped, crushing in from a wall on the third floor.

Reinhard started to run into more and more soldiers while running towards the place. When he reached the place he saw his father talking with a soldier but he could ask about what to do later. He needed to rescue his friend first. He could feel his presence coming from the third floor but he wasn't sure where. He remembered the first time when his friend had trouble sleeping, he had to drain a bit of his mana so his friend could sleep properly. After this, he might need to do that more often. Reinhard cursed at his incompetence while deciding on a plan. He could rush in and open a path for the other soldiers but that would take too much time. He decided to crush in from the third floor's room full of armed men. This would also make the soldier's plan to occupy the building much easier. With his planning concluded Reinhard jumped towards the third floor's wall to crush in.

* PH...TCHHHHH *

Sound of bricks rumbling heard as Sword Saint crushed in through a wall. There were two dozen men all alarmed looking at him. Six of them were at the back sitting on a table. Four fully armed men seemed to be leaving the room before he came in. Eight of them were just laying around in their respective bunk beds. The remaining six were sitting in front of a weapon rack performing maintenance. Before they could recover from the initial shock Reinhard charged. He first charged for one of the men lying in the bunk bed. He quickly got a hold of his leg and threw him towards the wall, he then grabbed the bunker bed and threw it towards two other men lying in their bunk bed. Knocking three men out under three seconds. He charged towards other men who were about to get up. He kicked the man before could get up, sending him flying at the back of the room.

[?: KILL THAT BRAT!]

Soldiers started to recover from the shock and charged towards Reinhard's location, weapons at hand. This would make his job faster so he didn't mind all remaining men charging towards him. The first men managed to reach him tried to thrust the spear he had towards Reinhard's chest. He immediately dodged the spear, grabbed it from the guy's hand, and used its back to knock him out. The next two tried to attack Reinhard's swords at hand. They flanked him first then charged towards him. Reinhard quickly dodged the sword swing of the guy at his left side. Reinhard then kicked the behind the knee to force him down, then hit him using the guy's sword pommel. After getting the sword he immediately used to stab another guy's shoulder in a non-lethal place. Before the other one can recover from the wound he grabbed the guy's shirt and threw him towards another two attackers coming towards him. He then dashed towards the guys who managed to get up from their places and going towards the weapon rack. He kicked the table towards them with enough force to break their legs. Knocking five more of them out of the fight. The one managed to dodge the table Reinhard kicked towards him charged towards Reinhard with a mace. Reinhard caught the mace mid-swing. Before the now frightened men could react Reinhard kicked the guy's shin to break it then punched him hard enough to knock him out.

[?: How the hell you all can't getch a hold of that brat. Kill …]

Reinhard dashed towards the fully armed shouting guy. He first punched him in the chest enough to daze him from the pain, then grabbed his leg to use him as an improvised weapon. Before the others could react to the absurdity of the situation Reinhard swung his new "weapon" towards another two armed men coming towards him at a speed they couldn't hope to react. Reinhard made sure none of them died with his reckless move. Broken bones could be healed but the dead can't be brought back after all. The remaining six men looked at Reinhard like they have seen a monster among monsters. One of them trying to understand what happened to eighteen of them under twenty seconds finally recognized who Reinhard was;

[?: It's the Sword Saint. Run!]

Reinhard had to be sure none of them escaped to make sure they never hurt someone else and get captured by soldiers. He dashed towards the guy who was closest to the door. He immediately dodged now hopeless men's sword swing and kicked him towards another one of his friends. The remaining four tried to do a final assault towards Reinhard but to no avail. Reinhard dodged the two who managed to reach him first with an ax and sword in their hands. While dodging the third guy's sword thrust towards him, he grabbed to guy's hand holding the sword's hilt and forced it to thrust towards his ax-wielding ally's thigh. The fourth one among them tried to swing his sword towards Reinhard's back while he was occupied. Reinhard dodged the sword swing while letting the other guy's now broken hand gone. Before the first one to attack him react, he punched him in the liver just hard enough to knock him out. He then kicked the guy holding the ax in the abdomen with enough strength to make him drop his weapon while getting knocked out. Reinhard grabbed the ax to parry the second sword swing coming towards him by breaking the sword in two. Before the remaining guy could react to his broken sword, Reinhard used the ax's back to knock the last standing guy out. He took a glance towards the guy squirming in pain because of his broken hand. He decided that it was enough and dashed towards the corridor to start his search. When he saw the two more men coming towards the stairs because of the sounds coming from his fight in garrison, he kicked the one in the front to send both men flying down the stairs.

[?: mmmphmmm…]

While the sound itself was too faint for a human to hear. It was enough for Reinhard to recognize whose voice it was. He ran towards the location of the said voice and break open the room to finally reach it.

There were three people in the room. Subaru and two men. One of the said men immediately grabbed Subaru and hold his knife towards Subaru's throat. The other immediately opened a hatch and went and started his escape by going down there.

[?: Get close and the kid dies.]

The guy holding the knife was staring at Reinhard while also glancing at the now open hatch. Reinhard on the other hand was weighing down his options. He could dash towards the guy but he wasn't sure if he could be fast enough. He could also bluff and say to the guy that he would let him go but the guy would probably take Subaru with him to ensure his safety. Well, there was another option he didn't want to use. He promised his father eight years ago that he would never use it again. But seeing no other way and the situation calling for it Od Laguna gives its blessing to Reinhard once again. (A.N)

[Reinhard: Put down your weapon and let Subaru go. After that wait here until a soldier comes to the room and surrender to them.]

Reinhard knew he didn't need to speak to use this certain blessing but if his friend ever recalls this moment he wanted to have an excuse to not talk about this divine protection. Divine Protection of Mind-Control, the same protection he used on Marcus Gildark change his mind on accepting his father's offer. But after the events that happened the night of him using it. He immediately removed this blessing from himself and never used it again, until now. He immediately caught Subaru the guy left to go off. Subaru looked both relieved and terrified. Reinhard cursed himself because he failed his friend. He removed the ropes that were binding him. Subaru himself immediately removed the cloth that was binding his mouth.

[Subaru: I ...zm.. scawed… ]

Reinhard cursed himself even further seeing how terrified his friend was. He was barely talking between sobs. He patted Subaru's back in an attempt to calm him down. He decided to wait for his father to arrive so he could leave Subaru in his care. After that, he would chase after the last guy that escaped.

Roswaal was feeling a bit curious. Everything was in line with the future he read in his teacher's gift so he was wondering if the kid used his ability or not. Even if the kid did use his ability he managed to do it in a subtle way that wouldn't get anyone's attention. While Roswaal hoped that the kid would avoid capture thus proving to him that the kid was aware of his ability but he didn't avoid capture. Roswaal thought to himself maybe the kid let himself be captured to not garner any attention but how was the kid sure that he would be safe while being captured. He watched from the sidelines as the Sword Saint jumped towards the third floor beginning the kid's rescue operation. Roswaal was intrigued by the coincidence that the kid was found by the Astrea's out of all people the moment he arrived. He murmured to himself.

[Roswaal: Maybeee, he saw thiiis coming.]

Maybe this all happened and the kid managed to go back enough to meet with one of the Astrea's. After that, all he had to do was to be Sword Saint's friend thus ensuring he would be rescued. This was quite a long shot so Roswaal didn't bother with this idea any further. There was a high chance that the kid either didn't know about his ability or haven't developed it yet. Roswaal was quite curious about the kid's magical affinity as well. Maybe he could manage to figure the same ability out if it was a magical ability in the first place. He thought back to his old plan. He would use the "bait" in a way that his gospel told him to. With that, the kid would be serving under his manor as a butler. After that, he could cultivate the kid to be like him but after the kid's sudden arrival he had to adapt to these new circumstances. He had more time now but the kid was with the Astrea family so any wrong move would be troublesome. Not to mention if he somehow go too far before the kid acquires or discovers his ability he might end up wasting this opportunity. He did even go as far as to stay close to the kid's location to make sure he wasn't tortured or hurt. He knew he couldn't trust the Flower Prison Garden but he also knew he could rely on his teacher's gift. He shouldn't be too hurt according to his teacher's gospel but the kid's sudden arrival was more than enough to change his gospel so he decided to not risk it. In the end, Roswaal decided to make sure the kid was in good graces with him if not more. He had more than enough time to bait the kid towards his manor. If the future stays the same he could still end up cultivating the kid much better than he hoped for. He decided to tie the remaining loose ends now. These were the thoughts in Roswaal L Mathers mind as he watched the Sword Saint crush out of a wall on the third floor and giving chase towards the last remaining criminal.

Saying that Reinhard was angry would've been an understatement. His friend was still shaking and was crying on his chest. Reinhard could recognize the symptoms of the shock. Subaru's skin was pale, he was breathing very rapidly and his breaths were shallow. Reinhard could also feel that Subaru was barely holding himself back from vomiting. For a moment he even considered draining Subaru's mana to put him to sleep but decided not to. (A.N2) It might end up recoiling on Subaru since his mind was in total disarray as of right now. He was starting to hear the soldiers entering the third floor as the fight in the building started to calm down. Reinhard also recognized his father's foot steep and decided to call him;

[Reinhard: We're here father.]

Reinhard heard his father's frantic footsteps coming towards them. His father then entered the room.

He looked tired with some blood spilled on his arm. Reinhard guessed it wasn't his blood so he didn't feel worried. Before his father could catch his breath he decided to speak first.

[Reinhard: Father, please take care of Subaru. There is one more of them that managed to escape I'm going to go after him.]

His father looked at him with confused eyes. Reinhard thought his father would scold him for the way he spoke but he said something else;

[Heinkel: Is the kid hurt?]

[Reinhard: He is in shock but his body is fine.]

[Heinkel: Okay then, I will take care of the kid. You do … you, I guess.]

Reinhard first took a glance at the opened hatch. There was a ladder long enough to go down all three floors. It seemed to be ended in the stables where ground dragons resided. He took a glance from the windows to check his vicinity only to see someone with a red ground dragon in the main road trying to open himself a path. He then realized who was that someone was and decided immediately how to chase him down. He walked away from the window a bit then ran towards the wall fast enough to crash through and land on a shorter building. He then started running towards the guy's location using roofs as a pathway. He was crushing a lot of tiles while running fast but he didn't bother slowing down. But sadly he was making too much noise and the guy took notice of him and signaled his ground dragon to run. The ground dragon started running while pushing or running over the innocent pedestrians. Reinhard increased his speed to catch up to the last guy. When he decided he was close enough he jumped down right next to the ground dragon and the last men. He immediately grabbed the ground dragon's tail and forced it to stop by force. The guy riding the ground dragon barely managed to stay in his saddle. He then tried to reach for something in his saddlebag but Reinhard acted first. He grabbed the guy's leg to force him down then grabbed him by the chest midway to throw him towards a nearby wall, crushing a merchant's stall in the process. Reinhard first checked for the ground dragon to see if it was hurt by his "maneuver". The ground dragon seemed a bit pissed but other than that it seemed okay. The guy on the other hand has probably seen better days. Reinhard thought to himself if it was a bit too much. The guy was alive but both of his legs and one of his arms were broken. They could be healed but the pain itself was probably intense. Weirdly enough it was the first time he didn't felt anything like pity or mercy. He wasn't feeling anything too negative but what he did felt somewhat … right. He decided to correct his attitude later. The merchant on the other hand was angry with Reinhard because of the harm he caused to his stall. Before Reinhard could offer his pouch of money, which would be more than enough to compensate for the damaged goods, the merchant recognized him.

[Stall Merchant: Are you the sword saint?]

Reinhard was a bit taken aback by this question. He just destroyed the guy's stall and the merchant's first question was asking him if he was the sword saint. Reinhard decided the introduce himself with his name. He didn't want to use his title to get out of trouble. He didn't even felt like he deserved the title anyway.

[Reinhard: My name is Reinhard van Astrea. I would like to pay compensation for what I did.]

[Stall Merchant: No need sword sain…]

[Reinhard: Please just call me Reinhard. I must insist to pay compensation for what I did.]

The merchant seemed a bit surprised first from Reinhard's attitude but took the money afterward without any qualms. He then looked at the men Reinhard threw towards his stall.

[Stall Merchant: Is he a criminal?]

[Reinhard: Yes, I must admit I took it a bit too far.]

[Stall Merchant: It seems like nobody can escape from the swo…]

[Reinhard: Please just call me Reinhard.]

Stall merchant turned towards Reinhard with a smile on his face. The merchant seemed impressed by Reinhard's mature attitude and his insistence on being called by his name.

[Stall Merchant: It seems like no one can run from Reinhard.]

The other merchants who were looking at them started to cheer the sword saint for catching a criminal and paying for the caused damages unlike what other guards used to do. Well, there were quite a lot of roofs he ruined today but most of them seemed like they didn't mind it. Reinhard walked towards the man he just knocked out and grabbed him. He then put the guy's body on his soldier while holding him and started to carry him back towards where his father was. He was feeling rather tired. His body was fine but his mind was too tired. He decided to make sure Subaru and his father were safe. He could rest later.

Heinkel was holding Subaru in his arms. The kid was suffering from the shock. Heinkel immediately recognized it after the kid vomited for a full minute. Seeing a kid getting traumatized Heinkel took the kid to his arms and left the building with him. Open-air would help the kid. His trembles started to slow down after they left the building but the kid was barely holding himself together. Heinkel cursed himself for his irresponsibility. If he had hired a normal amount of guards for his mansion no one would've dared to attack it. Now thanks to his failure there were five dead people and a traumatized kid. While Heinkel was thinking to himself he noticed a man with a unique attire approach to him.

[Roswaal: Oh my, iiiis he okay. I hooope our soldiiieers helped enough.]

Heinkel was looking towards the margrave with a tired look. He decided that he should thank the guy for his help. In the end, it was his man who managed to find the kid.

[Heinkel: I must thank you for your help Margrave Roswaal. Is there anything I can do to pay you back.]

Margrave looked at him with an intrigued look. It seemed like the margrave was thinking for what to ask then spoke;

[Roswaal: I don't neeeed anythiiiing. Maybeee if I couuld taalk with thiiis little genteelman I would be delighted.]

[Heinkel: Sadly that would have to wait for now. Please feel free to visit my mansion two days later.]

[Roswaal; Suuure, I wouuld be deliiiighted.]

With that said the margrave started to float then immediately took off flying away really fast. It even managed to capture the kid's attention. Heinkel felt a bit relieved to see the kid recover a bit but the kid was still far from okay. This would probably take some months if not years to recover and even after then it would probably leave him with some habits. Heinkel cursed himself even further while thinking about this. While looking for a place to sit to wait Reinhard he noticed Reinhard coming with a guy on his shoulders.

[Heinkel: Was that the one you ran after?]

[Reinhard: Yes father.]

[Heinkel: Give him to the soldiers… Let's leave this place and return home.]

…

Both Heinkel and Reinhard were staring at know sleeping Subaru. His body was so tired from the constant state of shock it gave up because of lack of energy. Since Astrea family was not the most social people they decided to stay silent until they reach home.

Okay, that was by far the most tiring chapter I wrote. I managed to increase the length even further (5k+) but I still can't say I'm satisfied with my writing quality. There was a comment that suggested I use Grammarly and I must thank you whoever you are. Most of the grammar mistakes are fixed.

I would appreciate it if any of you guys/gals comment on the fighting scenes and PoV of the characters since it seems to be like I'm lacking in those areas.

I also want to know if I should name people who would appear for one or two scenes. It seemed to me like it just complicated things.

I must also add the fact that no character is omnipotent in the series. Even Reinhard can't know everything. When I'm writing from their PoV I try to write in a way that conveys their thoughts but sadly it seems like I did a poor job at that. Don't take anyone's words as facts that's all I have to say.

Also, I decided to not RbD Subaru since there is no way a ten-year-old recover from that. All of you have to make do with child abduction until he grows.

I will keep a private psychological file on smalbaru to make sure I convey his manners and actions correctly. Other characters also have their "files". Well, most of them only have five sentences at best for now.

A.N

protection of mind-control is actually a cannon blessing Reinhard used 15 years ago before the cannon Subaru's arrival. If you want to know what he did with it or what lead to him delete it. Check the side story of Once Upon a Time in Lugunica.

2. Cannon Reinhard can also drain mana like Puck or Beatrice. His body actually does it almost automatically. He can't even use metia's because of that. This was the trick he used to put Felt in sleep at the look house. (or forced adoption take your pick I guess.)

Anyway thanks for reading my fic. All comments and suggestions are appreciated. I will write one more chapter before we finish this arc. After that, I might end up writing 2 or 3 interludes before we move to my Arc 2.

Grammer was adequate enough for this chapter but the text arrangement look horrendous

It's somewhat fixed now

...

I will especially re-write this chapter.

I won't add anything new but I will get rid of that weird mix of Writer PoV and Character Pov

I will re-write it as Character PoV as my latest chapters are.