He did not know what to think, he should not still be alive, that madman should have killed them all, but here he was, sitting in the square with the rest of the people who had been trapped here by the witch cultist attack, as they were slowly being checked over and allowed to filter out, back into the scorched ruins that their city had become.
The only reason he was here was because of that boy, that boy who did what all the knights did not, the boy who protected them when those who should have could not. The boy who had been the butt of jokes after the news of his outburst in the castle spread, "the weakest knight wannabe in the capital" they had all called him, but if he was actually weak what did that make them?
He had watched in awe as that boy completely crushed his opponent, an opponent that defeated multiple knights simultaneously, like he was nothing more than an irritating pest.
"All fixed up, you're good to go!" said the energetic demi human knight.
"You have my thanks knight-sama" he said as he stood up and began to walk out of the square, back towards where he hoped his home still stood. As he left he looked down at his arm, it had been horrifically burned when he had been rushing through the streets by a piece of falling debris, but now you would never have known that anything had even happened to it, healing magic was really something else.
As he reached the exit of the square he took one last look back at the place where he thought he should have died, it was nearly empty now compared to before when it had been packed with panicked townsfolk like himself. All that remained were the knights who had arrived to retrieve the fallen bodies of their comrades, the group that had bar one all been killed trying to protect them, the sole survivor being a purple haired fellow, Julius Juuklius who was moderately renowned his virtues as an ideal knight. The other group consisted of Reinhard van Astrea, the Sword Saint himself who watched over the corpse as mages cast some magic that slowly encased it in a purplish black crystal. Finally there was the healer who had treated all the injured, a cat eared demi human who could wield astounding healing magic, not that any healing magic would fail to astound someone who had never seen its power before.
He had been the last one to be healed so he had gotten to witness as this healer slowly chatted away with his patients as he treated them one by one, whether it was to try and calm their nerves, or to try and piece together the story of what exactly happened was unknown to him. However he did remember that the healer visibly recoiled when the boy who had saved them all was described.
On the topic of saviors, why had they even been able to be attacked like this in the first place, this city was home to many of the kingdom's knights including the Sword Saint, as well a most of the Royal Selection Candidates. It should have been impossible for something like this to occur here, but as it did how could he trust any of them to lead the nation if they could not even keep their own home city safe.
The man mused thoughts like these as he walked through the debris choked streets towards his residence, sometimes he had to step over a body part belonging to a city resident or one of the hooded figures who had attacked. Sometimes he would turn a corner and choke on ash or smoke as he passed a building that still stood burning, but none of this phased him anymore, in the short few hours that had passed he had seen many people die resulting in him becoming jaded to it. Maybe tomorrow it would but as he was alive in the moment he could accept the fact that he would have to face those realizations, but he could also take joy in at least being alive to deal with processing today's events.
Then he came to it, a crowd of his neighbors gathered around where his building used to stand, where his home used to be was now nothing more than a pile of ash and rubble. Everything he had was there and so he just stood in silence staring at it as little bits of ash continued to slowly waft down from the sky creating a somber ambience for a somber moment.
Some of the people huddled around the remains of their burned home reacted the same way he did, others were a bit more vocal about the misfortune that had befallen them.
"So us common folk get slaughtered in the streets and have our homes burn down while the rich folk just mosey back to their pristine untouched mansions after making a show of trying to help, give me a fucking break?" uttered someone in anger.
"Yeah and what makes it even better was they barely managed to do anything to help, they were completely paralyzed by the attack to the point that they barely won even when outnumbering their enemy and being on home turf." Someone else said in a tone full of mockery.
"I was stuck at the square when the mad leader of the bunch came about, he completely trashed all those hoity toity knights who think so highly of themselves. But then this kid came by, and I don't have the slightest clue what he did, it was like magic, but he made beating the living shit out of that madman look like utter child's play." Said one person with a tone laced with astonishment.
"Oh so some rich kid came down and used some magic lessons that cost his father more then I'd make in a lifetime to be a hero for a day, I mean I'm not mad he did it, it's just that it's more of the same…."
"That's just it, he didn't look like some rich kid, he was dressed in the same worn clothes as you and I, just an everyday dude had the power to fight off a monster that these rich knights and nobles couldn't even scratch." Said the astonished person back.
"That kid? I heard he is the former servant of one of the selection candidates, the same one who made a big scene in the Royal Selection meeting a little while ago, what was his name? Nadserku, no… Natsuki Subaru! Yes that's it, Natsuki Subaru, he used to be a butler for that half-elf candidate backed by the Mathers family, the one we all assumed to be brainwashed!" Chimed in another voice.
"The half-elf candidate, you mean the witch looking one who was in the square looking like she was going to bawl her eyes out as we were all about to be killed? There ain't a hope in hell that she's going to win." Fired off another voice from within the crowd.
"I mean how much better are the others, nobody actually saw the likes of Priscilla swooping in to save us, Anastasia was probably more concerned with protecting her businesses, and Crusch already got most of her men killed hunting the White Whale for brownie points. And it's not like we can make that kid the king, unluckily for us regular people the Dragonstone didn't seem to want to choose someone who gave two shits about us." Snarled another voice from within the crowd.
By this point the man tuned out the voices around him as the gravity of the situation he had just gotten through began to fall on his shoulders. Yes he had survived a gruesome attack on the city he called home, but within the city itself he had lost his home and nearly everything he owned, and now he would somehow need to find a way to get by with nothing, he would have to start again from pretty much zero.
Not many dragon carriages departed the city that day, but of the few that did there was one that was driven by a pink haired Oni. While Ram was in the front of the carriage driving, Rem, Roswaal, and Emilia sat in the back in a somber mood. Emilia looked down at the floor blankly, her mind consumed by the idea that her presence alone had led to countless deaths, and that her uselessness had directly gotten people killed before her very eyes. Roswaal's face was stoic, with nothing adorning it but a grimace, grimacing at the fact that he had been checked by Hector after 400 years and was at risk of it falling further behind into a checkmate.
But it was Rem that decided to break the still silence that had engulfed the inside of the carriage since their departure, the recent events of the fight between Subaru and the Sin Archbishop of Sloth were still fresh in her mind.
"Roswaal-sama, please forgive Rem for speaking so forwardly, but is there any way for Rem to help Subaru-kun? It breaks Rem's heart to always see him so angry and bitter, Rem hates it that Subaru-kun would rather suffer on his own then accept help from anyone. Rem will fight the person manipulating Subaru-kun that's what it takes to free him!" Rem had a defiant look on her face, showing her resolve even after witnessing the fight between Subaru and Sloth but behind that look of defiance it was easy to see that she was hurting on the inside still, hurting badly.
Upon hearing these words Roswaal initially wanted to laugh, laugh at the idea of someone like Rem, even if she were an above average fighter, taking on the monster that was Melancholy, a task that even his Sensei could not surmount directly, a task that would be exceedingly difficult if not impossible for all but the strongest warriors or most cunning magicians.
But Roswaal did not laugh, it would achieve nothing to crush her hope as brutally as that, in fact it would likely do no more then to hinder his own goals if by some feet he managed to make Rem give up. He already had invested into someone who had become deadweight, and if anyone else became like her it could lead to a scenario where his goal became unattainable.
"His name is Hector, he's the one manipulating, or more correctly controlling with Subaru-kun at this point. Although I hate to say it, he is not someone with whom you could fight directly, someone once known as the Warlock of Melancholy cannot be taken lightly like that. Should you try and fight him head on you would likely end up no better than that Sin Archbishop, a twisted and broken corpse. All the while forcing Subaru-kun to watch as his body was used as the weapon that slayed you." There was not much Rem could say to Roswaal's words, but he was not done yet as he continued to speak after not but a short delay.
"The one that you can consider to be the founder of my house in its current form had a run in with him, 400 years ago. Although his ability to wield magic at the time had yet to reach the potential that mine does today, he stood head and shoulders above everyone but his Sensei in terms of magical ability. He battled Hector when that monster set is eyes on his Sensei and the results were…. unpleasant for him…." Roswaal paused as the memories of his humiliating defeat, a defeat which left him with physical wounds that his original body never recovered from, and mental ones that could be said to still be carried by him flowed back.
"To give you an accurate idea of Hectors strength in a fight, its less than likely that I would emerge victorious from one with him. Even the Sensei whose teaching have been passed down by my family for generations didn't think she had anymore then equal odds in a direct confrontation with him, even after she had already managed to best him several times. Short of Reinhard van Astrea drawing the Dragon Sword Reid, which would certainly kill Subaru-kun alongside Hector, it's doubtful whether there is someone who could fight him and have complete certainty of winning, anyone who could choose to fight him at least." Roswaal spoke these lines with a grave tone to his voice as they directly related to the impending conundrum that he was almost certain would arise soon, he was certain that he must face Hector once again in order to be reunited with his Sensei.
"Did Mathers-sama's Sensei leave any wisdom on how she beat Hector, anything that could be of use to Rem or Roswaal-sama." Rem asked this question as she looked for a shred of hope in this situation, picking up on the graveness of it.
"Sensei said that when things come down to it that Hector is easily consumed by his own Melancholy, falling into incomprehensible insanity. Because of this he is impossible to reason with for most people appearing as nothing more than a delusional lunatic, but it also means that all his cunning falls away in critical times when he relies on his authority, meaning he can be tricked. This was how Sensei beat him, someone who becomes little more than a hammer when the conditions are right could never hope to beat Sensei, one of the most intelligent people to ever live. So Rem, although you and I may have our work cut out for us, we do have a chance to get Subaru-kun back; we just need to draw Hector out and lure him into a trap." Rem had a big smile on her face when Roswaal finished talking, her hope and determination reaching new levels, she would save her hero just like he had saved her. It was at this point, with the sun beginning to dip below the horizon that the carriage began to slow as it pulled to the side of the road, the ground dragons exhausted panting audible even to those within.
A purple haired knight walked down the hallway with a bit of a wobble in his step, his face determined but quite pale, he had recently sustained grave injuries that resulted in both blood lose and head trauma, yet he was still determined to stand by his lady's side. He knocked on the wooden door of her office and quickly received a reply in the form of "come in" in the particular kararagian accent of his lady, the lady he had sworn to serve, sworn to see placed atop the throne of Lugunica.
"Julius, are you sure you should be up and about like this? Shouldn't you be in bed resting for at least another few days? Facing a Sin Archbishop and living to tell the tale is enough of an accomplishment itself, you can take it as a pass to cut yourself some slack and kick your feet up for a bit." Anastasia said while seated behind her desk, a look of worry adorning her face at the sight of her knight slowly walking into her office, looking like he could keel over any second.
"I'm still capable of serving you Anastasia-sama, and my performance against the Sin Archbishop of Sloth can be called anything but an accomplishment, I fear I have only brought shame to your name with my inability to perform during the crisis…" Julius spoke with a voice low and full of melancholy, haunted by just how powerless he was against the opponent he nearly lost his life to.
He was moving slowly towards his normal position just behind and offset from the chair his lady sat in, so that he would instantly be ready to assist her with whatever matter she required, but he was interrupted before he could reach such a position by Anastasia herself.
"I get the feeling that you're going to be really stubborn over this, a knights honor and chivalry and all that stuff, and I'd rather you don't fall over and pass out on the floor while we stand here debating whether you're okay to be up and about. So how about you take a seat in one of the nice chairs we got here and I'll let you help me with what I've been stewing over for the past little bit?" Initially Julius was going to argue that he was completely capable of standing while assisting her, but Anastasia gave him a glare that said "I'm giving an inch here that I normally wouldn't be giving, take it or leave it" and Julius chose to take it by sitting in one of the chairs.
"To catch you up with what I've been doing, hasn't really been much. I've gone over a damage report from a fire set by one of those loons to a storage building, its more than made up for by the increase in value by our other goods. In terms of what you can help me with, there isn't much until Mimi gets back with the documents, I asked her to look for." Just as Anastasia finished the last of her words the door to her office was abruptly and violently thrown open as a short orange haired and cat like demi human ran into the office waving a bunch of papers in the air.
"Mimi found them; Mimi found them!" Anastasia could do nothing but smile at the sheer excitable energy of Mimi as she accepted the small stack of papers from her. The pages detailed the order volume for one of their artisan workshops, a place that mainly produced goods for the Hoshin company but was known to handle small volumes of custom orders from outsiders. The pages were ledger like, detailing the object being made, its quantity, the date, and the name of who placed the order. Near the bottom of the list, among the more recent of the orders placed were two lines with mostly the same information, placed just a day apart, the customer's name circled, Natsuki Subaru.
"Shortly after you were brought back here, all banged up as you were, your friend Felix dropped by to give you another look over to make sure you were okay. He gave me the rundown on what happened to you in the square, based on what he heard from the people you were protecting. Apparently we have to thank that boy, Natsuki-kun for saving you from the Sin Archbishop; according to what Felix told me he got dragged into the fight and squashed the Archbishop like a bug." Mimi clapped her hands together using the same motion one would when swatting an irritating fly or mosquito, smiling as Anastasia continued. "So I had Mimi here take a look into if any of the associated businesses with the Hoshin company had any interactions with him, seeing as the past digging we've done since the Selection Meeting turned up literally nothing. Since then, we've only heard rumors that he quit the half-elf's camp and struck out on his own here and based on the quantity of these 'kotatsu' that he's been ordering, the rumors seem to be true. I'd like to try and get a piece of the action from the things he's building, it could put us in a position to capitalize on an emerging market, as well it would mean we'd have some connection to someone who is seemingly quite strong. We could try and use Natsuki-kun to show that we offer not only economic strength, but also martial strength, which should edge us ahead of Crusch. Julius, are you listening?" Mimi and Anastasia looked at Julius, who seemed to have zoned out, consumed in his own thoughts. In truth he had not been listening for a while, not since he heard that he had been saved by Natsuki Subaru, the same Natsuki Subaru that he had beaten to a pulp not more than a few days ago. Somehow the boy who had narrowly been saved from being killed by the knights of Lugunica for claiming to be one of them had managed to do what these very knights had failed at. The words of the mad Archbishop still rang through his mind, about how he and the other knights had prided themselves on their prowess and accomplishments, yet when it truly mattered they had been unable to achieve anything important, when it mattered they had been slothful. No matter how hard he tried to push these words out of his mind, telling himself that they were merely the ramblings of an insane lunatic, he could not for in his heart he knew that they had held a shard of truth. And now it was even worse, what were he and the knights to think of themselves, they held themselves high over this boy, claiming to be better than him, and yet he had been the only one to not practice sloth in that crucial moment.
Julius suddenly snapped back to reality and nearly jumped in his seat at the sight of his entire vision being filled by the sight of Mimi's face. "He's back! Mimi got Julius to pay attention again!"
"I don't think you're ready to be out and about like you are right now Julius, get yourself back to bed and then we'll talk when you're feeling better." Anastasia said with a stern expression on her face, Julius began to open his mouth in order to protest but was then swiftly shut down by Anastasia.
"I ain't arguing with you this time, if you're spacing out like that then ya obviously still aren't recovered, Felix said ya got hit on your head pretty hard, so this is for yer own good. Go back to your room, you ain't useful to anyone if you're barely able to stay awake like you are now." Hearing this Julius hung his head in shame as he left the room to rest once again.
After the door closed behind Julius, Anastasia turned her head to face towards Mimi, then she said "Mimi I've got another job for ya, but you gotta listen very closely."
Mimi leaned in as Anastasia waited for Julius' footsteps to slowly fade away as he moved further and further away from the office before she began to quietly relay her instructions to Mimi.
Crusch sat in a chair slumped over the desk in her private study, before her was a glass containing expensive alcohol, but it sat completely untouched for she could not bring herself to sink that low, no matter how greatly she desired to be unshackled from her woes, albeit temporarily. She was still clad in her scratched, dented, and dirtied armor, bearing the wear that served as proof of her efforts during both the failed whale expedition, as well as her part in the desperate defense of the city against the attack by the Witch Cult.
She had once again led her now exhausted army into battle as they attempted to carve a path to connect the inner portion of the city to the outer gates through a market square, but they had been headed off at every turn by cultists determined to stop them in their tracks. They had fought long and hard in an attempt to break through, filling the streets with both their own blood as well as that of their enemy. However it seemed that for every inch of ground they gained, that the tenacity of their enemy doubled, and soon they had found themselves surrounded. She had sent Felix off earlier with Wilhelm to the main gates to aid in the evacuation of the civilians, leaving her alone at the head of her cohort of soldiers, depriving her of her strongest allies in the name of what was best for the city. Things had reached a bleak state once again as it looked like her army would be wiped out by the seemingly unending influx of cultists, only to be saved by the arrival of Reinhard. He smashed the cultists to bits without breaking a sweat and then immediately rushed off somewhere with Felix in tow.
"Crusch-sama?" Felix gingerly opened the door to Crusch's study with a concerned look on his face, before his expression completely sunk at the sight of his lady's state.
"Crusch-sama…" Was all Felix said as he knelt beside her, one arm on her back to comfort her, the other gently pushing away the untouched glass.
Felix felt lost, he was thinking as hard as he could to try and find something to alleviate Crusch's depressed state, but she had always been his strength, been the one to inspire him to aim for the heavens.
"Nothing ever goes perfectly Crusch-sama, there's always ups and downs, the Crusch-sama Felix knows always got back up after she got knocked down." Felix tried to put on an inspiring voice, reminding himself of all the times that he had witnessed Crusch give an inspiring speech to lift someone's spirits, or when she had managed to push through a difficult task no matter how badly it had been going for her. He was trying to imitate her in order to help her.
Crusch did not stir in the slightest from the table as she mumbled a response with her face still buried in her arms, "I know that nothing ever goes perfectly Felix, you don't have to tell me that." Her voice was down, low in volume and full of melancholy, bearing not even the slightest resemblance to the iron-willed personality renowned for achieving great feats through both ability and force of will.
"The Crusch-sama Felix knows always has a plan, no matter how bad things got she always had another card up her sleeve to play, that was the Crusch Fourier knew too." Hearing this Crusch lifted her head from the table, besides a slight red mark where her forehead had been resting on the table her face was devoid of color. She looked utterly exhausted to Felix, but in her expression, he also saw conflict, immense conflict as if core pieces of herself were fighting with one another.
"I have a plan Felix, I heard you talking to Wilhelm about the defeat of Sloth, I have a vague idea of a longshot to dig us out of this hole I've dragged us in. We use that boy, do whatever we have to in order to get him to help us kill the whale, use the accomplishment to rebuild our reputation and get us back in the running for the selection. But to do that would be hypocritical, to rely on someone who behaves like he does, who I have proclaimed as being essentially irredeemable as a person, I would be abandoning every value I ever held dear. However if we don't do that, I don't see a way to redeem our reputation. We have very few soldiers left, and without some amazing feat I don't see us winning the election; either we lose with dignity or risk everything in order to not lose sight of the goals that put us on this path to begin with." Crusch then sighed and sunk her head back into her arms on the table, as she did this however another person entered her room, a refined older man dressed as a butler.
"Old Man Will, Crusch-sama could use some of your advice, she's conflicted on what to do…" Felix said while turning to face Wilhelm, Crusch did not move from her current position.
"I cannot promise that I have any advice to give, but it is truly an honor for my wisdom to be sought after." Wilhelm said as he took a stance of attendance, his back perfectly straight as he faced Crusch, who with how she was sitting had her back facing him.
"Crusch-sama believes that trying to use Subaru-kun is the only way to get us out of the hole we're in, yet she feels that doing something like that would mean giving up on her ideals, yet if she doesn't give up her ideals it would mean giving up on her goal." Wilhelm stroked his beard as he contemplated this, he knew that it could mean that he would get aa rematch with the white whale, yet he did not want his own personal desires to cloud the advice he gave to his master.
"Forgive me for how I'm about to put this, but I believe that you are looking at this the wrong way, this is not a matter of 'either ors'. Try to avoid seeing it as abandoning your own ideals in order to stoop down to the level of someone you may despise. Instead you can look at it as offering a hand, offering to help a young man change his behavior and view of the world in return for his help in achieving your own goals. Yes it would mean taking an action that goes against the beliefs you preached to the maid from the Mathers domain, however it could also mean that your accepting the humility of an incorrect prior judgement. A truly great leader does not find a hill to die on simply because they stood atop it at one point, they know when it is time to be flexible, to be humble, and when it is a time to be strong, stubborn, and iron willed. It is not my place to tell Crusch-sama what to do, for I can merely share the wisdom I have acquired due to the many failures of both my youth and my aged years. For a long time I looked at the world as if it were black and white, against or with me, and I still have trouble not looking at it that way, many of my past actions being driven entirely by such a view point. Perhaps this makes me a hypocrite, but as you still have your youth it would make this old man happy to see you do as he says instead of what he did." Wilhelm then watched with a tiny kindle of joy in his heart as the lady he had sworn to serve slowly stood up from the table, the look of confidence that he was used to seeing from her returning to her face.
"Wilhelm, Felix, I want you to get the earliest meeting possible with Natsuki Subaru, we will do whatever we need in order to get him to lend us his strength for the second subjugation of the White Whale. We may have few soldiers compared to what we had last time, but now we know all the tricks it has up its sleeve, and with the strength you claim he has then it shouldn't matter that we are few in number. Ideally we get him to join our camp, but as long as we can claim the credit for this then it shouldn't matter if he refuses to join us outright. I refuse to compromise my stance on what is right, if he joins us then he will need to learn how to properly behave like an adult. I trust you two to do what is necessary in order to get me this meeting." Crusch was at this point standing with her hands on her hips, a smirk on her face as she exuded immense confidence, she was once again working towards her goal, once again she felt that there was a hope of success in the path she chose to walk. The iron-willed Duchess that had been lost somewhere between the whales screams had returned, and she intended to impose her will no matter what it took.
Felix and Wilhelm both bowed before leaving the room, a smile graced Felix's face as the confident commands of his lady graced his ears. The Crusch he was used to, the confident duchess that he adored was back, and he would follow her wherever she went or whatever command she gave, simply being of use to her and getting to be her companion gave him all the happiness he needed in life.
However as they left a look of concern was evident on the face of Wilhelm, something about what they were doing was enough to make the sword demon just a tad uneasy.
"How'd you know Subaru-kun lived here Old Man Will?" Felix asked Wilhelm as the two of them walked up the stairs of a decrepit tenement house.
"When we were preparing to depart to face the whale, I saw him leaning out from his window and seemingly watching us, this is the building he was in and so I assume that we are likely to find him here." Wilhelm spoke in a voice that was matter of fact, yet with a slightly somber undertone.
"Shouldn't you be happy about this, you're going to get your chance to face the white whale again, complete your decades long mission of avenging your wife, yet something seems to be bothering you about this." Felix stopped at the top of the staircase, wanting to finish this line of conversation before they began their negotiations with Subaru.
"There's something wrong with the boy, something about him that does not make sense to me, resulting in things that don't make any sense. When we first met him at the Mathers mansion, he had the eyes of someone who has seen death many times, stared right into its eyes and lived to tell the tale, he had the eyes of someone who's grown use to death, similar to the grizzled veterans who survived the demi human war. Yet from what we've seen he still behaves very similar to that of a child, because of this I assumed that he may have been some form of child soldier, yet it is easily apparent that he has no idea how to fight, Julius Juuklius swatted him away like a fly. Then when I saw him in the window he had changed yet again, he had the expression and demeanor of someone who had given up on life itself, the joyous and almost childish energy he had before was completely absent. Now I'm hearing that he has slain a Sin Archbishop in single combat, a feat that I'm not certain I could achieve at this point. I'm concerned that the person we are going to see and try to work with is no longer who we think he is, we are walking into an unknown situation and so we must be cautious, not just for ourselves but for Crusch-sama as well." Wilhelm's voice was grim, his words dug into Felix like daggers, the implications that they were dealing with someone who both could wield immense power, and was seemingly handling some form of mental trauma.
"Still Crusch-sama has entrusted us with this job and we must see it through as far as we can." Felix stated, almost in disregard to what Wilhelm was saying.
"I don't disagree with either that statement or that this is likely the only route to save Crusch-sama's election campaign." Wilhelm then turned and continued to the door that seemed like it led to the room he had seen Subaru in earlier. Wilhelm's body was ready for whatever was behind the door, but he remained calm as his hands did not stray towards the sword that hung from his waste, as Felix knocked and called out.
"Helloooooo Subaru-kyun, its Ferri-chan and Old Man Will, we'd like to talk to you so can we come in?" At first there was no reply, but after a mere moment of silence they heard coughing, a groan and then a few words in a voice that held only the most basic resemblance to the one they remembered.
"There isn't a lock on the door, you can come in." The voice was completely monotone, conveying not the slightest bit of emotion whatsoever, completely unlike Subaru's manner of speaking which had involved changing his inflection by large amounts in order to overexaggerate his emotions.
Felix opened the door and was greeted by the site of a dark, dank, and rundown apartment. It lacked nearly any kind of furnishing whatsoever and if you looked closely, you could see that there were tiny critters and insects running in and out of small holes in the walls.
Felix looked around as he stepped into the apartment with Wilhelm following directly behind him, they walked into the middle of the small room to where Subaru was standing, if standing were used in the most general of terms. His complexion was poor, vastly paler than it should have been, there were dark rings around his eyes that gave them a sunken appearance. He stood slightly off kilter, one of his legs was slightly bent, similar to how one of his arms hung limply to the side of his body. His other arm was wrapped around his chest, holding one side of his rib cage as he breathed raggedly and tiredly, it was painfully obvious that his fight with the Sin Archbishop had not been as one sided as Felix had heard.
"No…..I'm not doing that…." Subaru mumbled under in a quiet and low voice while looking directly at the two who had just entered his apartment.
"Wait Subaru-kun why are you saying that so soon? We haven't even said what we wanted to say…." Felix was both surprised and a bit downtrodden, although he was not planning on giving up so easily it would obviously be significantly more difficult if he was being rejected right out of the gate.
"Huh, oh never mind… What're you here for." Subaru spoke as if he was surprised, yet he did not show a single expression on his face nor did his voice reflect his words.
"Huh? You're quite confusing Subaru-kun, anyways Crusch-sama would like to meet with you tomorrow to try and work out a deal to acquire your assistance with something." Felix cut right to the point, not dressing his words whatsoever.
"No, I'm not getting drawn back into the Royal Selection, no ….. matter what." Subaru winced while saying this and clutched his side harder.
"I don't care if he can heal me…..I'd just end up being indebted to them, anything that leads to me becoming part of the selection…..is something I despise." Subaru once again mumbled to himself.
"Who are you talking to? And that's right, I'll heal you in exchange for you coming tomorrow. There'll be no debt, just come tomorrow at the beginning of blue time and we'll be even, okay?" Felix walked forward and held out his hand.
Subaru did not move for a few moments, staring off into a corner of the room and mumbling in an inaudible tone, like he was talking to someone else in the room before his face was overcome with a defeated look. He then reached out for Felix's hand and shook it, agreeing to the exchange of healing for attendance.
A few moments later after the use of a generous amount of healing magic Felix and Wilhelm were leaving Subaru's home.
"See you tomorrow Subaru-kun, remember and don't be late!" Felix waved as he left feeling happy that he had succeeded in getting the meeting Crusch wanted. However Wilhelm held a concerned expression on his face as he left, turning to give a slight bow before he left behind Felix.
"Ah….Yes, I guess I don't have a choice now Hector" Subaru mumbled as the two left in a volume barely audible to the two.
Once Felix and Wilhelm were outside the tenement house they immediately started to head back towards Crusch's mansion.
"Something is definitely not right with him, if he didn't look like Subaru-kun it would be hard to believe that they were the same person." Felix said in a hushed tone as they briskly proceeded back to the mansion.
"It seemed like he was speaking to someone else who wasn't present in the room, 'Hector' was the name I heard. This leaves the question, is this Hector even real or is he merely an apparition of his mind?" Wilhelm said as they entered the wealthier area of the city where the mansion was.
"As long as Subaru-kun doesn't become a threat to Crusch-sama then I don't particularly care, I despised him before and if he can provide some worth then that's good enough. Just be on your guard tomorrow Old Man Will." Felix said as the rounded a corner.
"I'll be ready, but we should inform Crusch-sama of this, diffusing a situation before it happens is the best course because as I said before with how he dealt with the Sin Archbishop, I cannot guarantee that I would win." Wilhelm said in a serious voice.
"I guess so, still it seemed that Rem was fine after her encounter and Subaru got pretty worked up, and he hasn't gone to hunt down Julius or anything, so hopefully things won't spiral out of control." Felix spoke with a slightly hopeful voice as they entered the mansion grounds and went to inform Crusch of their success.
"Your body is repaired now Subaru-kuuuuuuuuun, does that make you happy" Hector's voice echoed through the inside of Subaru's head.
"It feels like I'm getting dragged back into this mess…. I hate it, its terrible…." Subaru lamented in return.
"Hey over here, Mimi heard him, he's in here!" Subaru heard a voice echo from outside his door, a voice he remembered from a failed loop. He then heard someone pounding on his door before they started calling to him from the other side.
"Hey, Hey, Subaru, its Mimi, please open the door Mimi wants to talk to you!" Mimi kept pounding on the door as fast as she could as she continued to call to him.
"So noisy…it's irritating…" Subaru said as he stood up and began to walk towards the door. When he opened the door he was met with the sight of two demi humans, the short orange haired Mimi whom he had met before, and a large wolf whom he didn't recognize, who was carrying a large machete on his back.
"If you're Subaru then you need to come with Mimi tomorrow to visit Mimi's lady, she wants to talk to you!" Mimi was incredibly energetic but also seemingly oblivious to the utter look of depression plastered across Subaru's face, his cheeks sunken looking, his posture poor, nor did she notice that his hand was starting to clench into a fist, she was going to keep going when the large wolf like demi human placed a hand on her shoulder.
"What my overeager second in command is trying to say is that the Hoshin company would like ta' offer you a business deal, there should be quite a lot of coin in it for ya' if it works out, so whaddaya say, will you come tomorrow to hear our lady out?" Ricardo stopped but kept his hands on Mimi in an attempt to control her energy.
"You should hear them out, this could proooove useful Subaru-kuuuuun." Hector said to Subaru, encouraging him to accept the offer.
"This is only going to get me more involved; I hate the idea of being dragged back in like this, it only makes the future seem even bleaker…" Subaru said back to Hector, showing his wish to reject the meeting due to its face value.
"It would certainly mean significantly less work on your part" Hector delivered the part of the argument needed to win Subaru over, he did not enjoy the process needed to earn money in order to live, making the meeting a choice of evils rather then an evil versus nothing.
"I guess you're right, for that reason alone I'll hear them out." Subaru responded back to Hector, accepting the argument he gave.
"You will! Mimi is excited that you'll meet her lady!" Mimi hopped in the air, her arms extending over her head in excitement.
"Huh…..ah, I guess I said that aloud….but yes I'll listen to what Anastasia has to say….." Subaru now intentionally spoke aloud.
"I trust that ya can find the place, the Hoshin headquarters here are hard ta' miss. Name's Ricardo by the way." After that the two left in what was seemingly a hurry, Ricardo more or less shepherding Mimi out of the apartment before she irritated Subaru further.
The next day Subaru walked up to the mansion that served as the Hoshin company's headquarters but before he opened the door he stopped and began to speak with the one who had driven him down this path.
"I don't like this, why must I be forced to meet with her, I'm going to get dragged into the Royal Selection somehow, drag me back down a path filled only with regret and melancholy…." Subaru lamented to Hector, both uncaring and unsure if the words were also being formed by his mouth or not.
"Don't fret Natsuki Subaru-kuuuuun, I'm absoluuuuutely certain that come time you will not regret this, and remember you only came to hear them out, nothing is set in stone yeeeeeeet." In contrast with how Hector had normally spoken since meeting Subaru, his voice sounded ever so slightly more joyous than it was when they met, a change that had slowly begun since he relinquished control over Subaru's body after their encounter with Sloth.
"Eh Boss, wer' ya intending to just spend the whole afternoon out here when yer' already late?" Ricardo said as he emerged from the front door.
Subaru looked up at the taller demi human so that his own tired, depressed and sunken eyes met with those of Ricardo, who was seemingly sizing him up with his own curious eyes. Subaru then said, "Does it even really matter at this point…."
Ricardo took this comment literally, whether it should have been or not however is unknown, but after stroking his chin for a moment he came to a conclusion that he voiced, "Well, I guess it doesn't, Ana-bo is still here and probably will still meet with ya, follow me." The two walked through the halls of the mansion not saying a single word to one another until they arrived in front of a large door when Ricardo raised his large hand to hammer on the door, the deep thunking sound that resounded from it proved that it was made of a heavy and expensive hardwood.
"Ana-bo, Natsuki Subaru is here for yer meeting." Ricardo called through the door after knocking.
Subaru heard a voice call back in what he would have called the kansai dialect from back in Japan, a voice he had heard a few times before, Anastasia Hoshin. "He actually came? Come in, come in, bring him in then!"
At the command of this voice that could be described as somewhere between being simply excited and almost frantic Ricardo opened the door. When the two entered they were greeted by the sight of the purple haired kararagian merchant hurriedly shuffling stacks of papers back into neat piles.
"Sit, please take a seat Natsuki-kun." Anastasia gestured to one of the chairs placed right in front of her desk, while this happened Ricardo lazily leaned his back against the wall by the door they entered, a dull thunk sound reverberated through the room when the large cleaver sheathed to his back made contact with the wood of the wall.
"So Natsuki-kun, I assume you can probably guess why I wanted to meet ya here, but to get straight to the point, these 'kotatsu' things you've been selling caught my eye, and I want in. I caught sight of the orders you've been placing at one of my workshops and so I had some of my people look into how they been received. What they brough back frankly blew me away, it's been the talk of the town and nearly everyone with the money to buy one has been after them, yet the supply has been so low that its caused a bit of frustration from potential buyers. Because of this the Hoshin Company would like to partner with ya, we'll handle the production and distribution, in exchange you'll agree to give us the sole right to produce these kotatsu, and for every unit sold you'll receive a royalty payment as their inventor. I understand that ya don't have a mercantile or business background Natsuki-kun, and even if it would be biased for me ta say this, it's in your best interest to sign a deal like this because there is a fairly sizeable chance that this could become an overnight fad which'll disappear faster than ya can blink, and your best bet to keep it going is to fuel it with enough product to keep their interest without oversaturating the market and smothering it. The Hoshin company can offer this, and there are few others in Lugunica with both the resources we have, and the talent and experience to manage it properly. So whaddaya say Natsuki-kun, are you willing to work with us?" Anastasia gazed at the unmoving Subaru with just the tinniest bit of apprehension seeping through her steeled poker face. She had spent a fair amount of time preparing her pitch, however she had expected to be dealing with the junior butler from the selection meeting, an inexperienced child who wore his thoughts and feelings on his sleeve. However this was not at all an accurate description of the persona that she was dealing with now, he had quietly sat and listened to her speech, neither moving nor showing even the slightest bit of interest. In fact from the demeanor, he held it seemed that he had very little interest in this ordeal to begin with, arriving late and appearing to barely care that he was even here to begin with. Ricardo had warned her that he was different from before, but no warning could have prepared her for this drastic of a change.
"You won't need anything else from me other than the design?" Subaru said as he cradled his head with a hand which in turn was propped up by the arm of the chair.
"Besides signing a contract, no not really. We will handle everything from that point onwards and give a nice bag of coin to ya at the end of each month." A tiny tinge of excitement slipped into Anastasia's voice at the slightest bit of interest being shown by Subaru. She stood to gain vastly more from this then he did, this was a hot and emerging market where every single unit stood to sell the second it left the workshop. If he either continued to handle the operation himself or took it to a smaller producer and rake them over the coals to get a deal more favorable to him then he stood to make more than if he took her deal. In fact if he tried to bargain for a greater share then she would probably have to agree, her only real bargaining chip was that her company would need zero involvement from him once it was signed, and to her that timesaving did not justify the cost, so quite frankly she would not take her own deal if she was in his position; the only reason she had even tried to swindle him like this was because she predicted that he was the same naive boy as before, which evidently had been a false assumption.
"Fine" Was the single word Subaru said, he sounded so tired when saying it that one would think he had been put through some arduous process and was happy to be done with it.
But this surprised Anastasia, from the behavior he had been showing she was ready to be rejected and had been working on how to present her counteroffer to try and keep the negotiations going. "Huh, wait, really? Just sign right here then!"
She hurriedly passed Subaru a paper and an inkwell with a feather sitting in it to write with, before he could change his mind about the deal.
Subaru gave an empty look at the piece of paper littered with I, Ro, and Ha glyphs as if he were unable to decipher their meaning, before his eyes came to rest on the area of the page that was obviously set out as if for a signature. He took the quill and with a series of slow and methodical strokes left what he knew as the kanji for his name.
Anastasia took the contract back from Subaru and then when looking it over to ensure that it had been properly signed her eyes landed on Subaru's signature and stood still while her face took on a puzzled expression.
"Natsuki-kun, is this your signature? I can't read it, I don't even recognize any of these symbols ya used here…." Anastasia's eyes did not leave the page for even a second as she just stared at the symbols Subaru used.
"That's my name" Subaru answered the question and nothing more, not even commenting on why the symbols used to write it were not the standard lugunican glyphs.
"This isn't lugunican is it? What's it written in, are ya by chance from some isolated vollachian tribe or something?" Something about the kanji had caught Anastasia's curiosity as she was now switching from staring at the kanji to Subaru, and back again.
"It's the writing from my homeland, an island far to the east of here, not south." Subaru spoke with complete disinterest to the questions he was beginning to be bombarded with.
"By chance Natsuki-kun would ya like to join us for dinner? There's a bit more I would like to discuss with ya." Anastasia placed the page down and keenly waited for answer, but Subaru responded immediately.
Before Subaru could respond Ricardo spoke up, "Ana-bo, you remember that yer supposed to be dining with Russel Fellows tonight?"
Anastasia quickly fired back however, "I think something that could potentially be much more interesting and important then listening to that dry washed up merchant has come up, reschedule him to whatever time is free, but don't ya dare tell him why!"
Subaru however finally decided to cut in, and "No" was all he said.
"Well then…." Anastasia was a bit blindsided and disappointed at his response, but the meeting had been successful as she had gotten the deal she desired, yet there were dots beginning to form in her head and she needed to know if they were meant to be connected. "Anyways, if you happen to have any more spur of the moment inventions the Hoshin company will gladly back them, I'm looking forward to working with ya in the future, Natsuki-kun."
"Ah" Subaru just uttered a sound in agreement as he stood up and walked to the door, leaving the mansion as he made his way to the next meeting he had been unwillingly wrangled into by Hector.
"See Natsuki Subaru-kuuuun that wasn't so bad. You're monetary woeeeeeeees seem to be at an end, and you weren't forced to join a camp to do soooooooo." Hector talked to Subaru as they made their way towards the next meeting they had today, this time with Crusch Karsten.
"It worries me that Anastasia wanted me to stay later, getting dragged into her camp, someone who's that greedy means I'd only be no more than a tool to facilitate her greed, the idea of a meaningless future such as that is nothing more than depressing, I don't know if I could take being trapped in such a life as that….." Subaru responded to Hector when he was pulled back to reality by a voice that he was beginning to become more familiar with then he would like.
"Anastasia…..hmmmmmm. So that's where you were before coming here Subaru-kyun…." Felix commented as he stood directly Infront of Subaru, seemingly appearing out of nowhere at the gates of the Karsten mansion.
"Huh, so you heard that…." Subaru mumbled these words, but they held the intention of being said outloud.
"Who were you talking to Subaru-kyun?" Felix looked at Subaru with a puzzled look on his face as he asked a question he had held since their last meeting the night before.
"Don't tell him about me." Hector commanded Subaru.
"Just thinking out loud" Subaru gave one of the least believable lies he had ever told, something so difficult to believe that it might have struggled to fool a toddler.
Felix eyed Subaru suspiciously, obviously not believing the lie for a single second, however in the end his job was to bring him to the meeting, and should he prove to be a threat the Sword Demon would be ready to deal with him.
Felix began to lead Subaru towards where the meeting would be held, and with an expression that showed that he just wanted to get it over with Subaru followed him. They crossed the courtyard, entered the mansion, and then walked through a long hallway until they entered a room with multiple couches and chairs arrayed around a large wooden table. Crusch was seated in one of the chairs, behind her stood Wilhelm who had a sword hanging from his belt.
As they entered Crusch stood up to greet them, Felix swiftly walking to the other side of the room to stand beside her.
"Thank you for coming today Natsuki Subaru, I frankly wasn't exactly expecting you to actually show" Crusch said as she returned to her seat, Felix joining her as Subaru took his own on the sofa across from them.
"If I didn't come it would likely only result in more trouble for me…" Subaru lamented in a quiet voice.
"Well you came, but before we begin I would like to clarify one thing. Are you or are you not still part of the Emilia camp, because if you are then I must make sure that you can still speak on your masters behalf." These words from Crusch that should have been fairly innocuous were like an incendiary to Subaru, cutting through the melancholy that clouded his mind like a hot knife through butter; they stirred the flames of bitterness and hatred, albeit temporarily that had been seemingly extinguished by the warlocks possession.
"I'M DONE WITH THEM, I HATE THEM! I NEVER WANT TO HAVE A SINGLE THING TO DO WITH THEM, I WISH I NEVER HAD TO SEE THEM AGAIN." Then like magic all the vitriol and vigor seemed to drain from Subaru's face, the hatred vanished as his mood plummeted back to one more fitting of the witch factor that resided within his body, "Every time I see them, it's like a little bit of the remaining joy in my life is stripped away…." Subaru's tone once again trailed off as he looked down at his hands, despair and hopelessness being the only expressions shown on his face.
Crusch unclenched her hands, Subaru's outburst at his former camp seemed just as childish and immature as she had remembered him being. She would only deal with a person like that if she had to, and so she had held her tongue, but the way he suddenly shifted, the only thing crossing her mind being the thought, "what could've happened to this childish and immature boy to make him seem so broken?" But that would be a question for a later date, if he could be of use to her in the subjugation of the whale then nothing else would matter for now. But it was clear to her now that she would have to avoid the topic of the Emilia camp with him if she wanted this meeting to make any ground whatsoever.
"Well then, if you're not part of any camp Natsuki Subaru what do you intend to do with this power of yours? And well we're on this topic where did it even come from, you're seemingly strong enough that you shouldn't have lost to Juuklius-san in your duel?" Crusch asked these questions for two reasons, one being to slowly shift the conversation from the topic that caused his slightly concerning outburst, the other reason because she was legitimately curious, just as everyone else who had heard of both these events, how does someone go from being so weak that they were crushed in a duel to being strong enough to win against a sin archbishop in single combat?
"I know that…..yes I'll think of something" Subaru mumbled under his breath.
"Who are you talking to?" Crusch asked, unsure whether she should feel concerned that he was communicating with someone not present in the room, or worried that she was a few feet from a lunatic capable of killing people with an unseen force.
"Was there even a point to brining me here, being grilled on the same stuff over and over again by everyone I meet is extremely irritating, it ruins my mood, I want nothing more than to leave….." Subaru just looked at Crusch with cold and empty eyes as he waited for her response, his face was so long that it might as well have been touching the floor.
"In the end I guess it is true that we have an objective to this meeting." Crusch leaned forward and placed both her hands on the table that separating them, showing how serious she was about the issue in question. "Natsuki Subaru, what would it take to have you lend us your strength with the white whale?"
"No" Was all Subaru responded with.
"Nothing? You could have more money than you ever dreamed of, a respectable position in government after I'm made queen, if none of that interests you then what could you possibly want, name it and I'll provide you what you want in return for your aide with the whale." If Crusch was not as strong willed as she was to control her own mental state she would probably be somewhere between panic and despair right now. She had been forced to go through substantial mental gymnastics to justify even having this meeting, and now the person in question was flat out rejecting the offer that seemed to be her only real hope for getting back into the running for queen.
"I refuse to be dragged back into this selection, it's terrible, it ruined everything for me, it took away the last of my happiness, forcing me down the path I'm currently on….." Subaru lamentations about the royal selection pulled Crusch back to the present situation when Felix leaned in close to her ear and whispered.
"Subaaru-kyun came here from Anastasia's mansion"
"So you refuse to join my camp because Anastasia has already lured you into her's, does she already have you wrapped around her little finger that far, is that why there's nothing I can offer you, because she's already offered everything I could?" Crusch spat this accusation at Subaru, knowing that it was not a good tactic for negotiation, but the negotiations were already seemingly over, and she had been under enough stress that she had to vent just a bit.
"You think I'm in her camp? I'm done with the selection…..donedonedonedonedonedonedonedonedonedonedonedonedonedonedonedonedonedonedonedonedonedonedonedone. I have nothing to do with the royal selection, absolutely nothing, I will not and will never have a part in it. If I've been dragged back in unknowingly….. I don't know how to handle that depressing future, I don't think I could take it, maybe everything will just have to end… It's not like this world is a place worth living in…" The room went completely silent as Subaru began to descend further and further into madness.
He grasped the sides of his head with both hands, tears were streaming from his eyes as he tried to comprehend the idea that he had joined another royal selection camp. He was slightly rocking back and forth, while Wilhelm tightened his grip on his sword, ready to attempt to cut down the boy should he confirm himself to be a threat in any way.
Subaru stopped rocking and looked up at the ceiling with wide eyes, his head turning rapidly as if searching for something in the room.
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN I'M NOT PART OF HER CAMP, ITS OBVIOUS, SHE'S USING UNDERHANDED METHODS TO TRAP ME, TO ROPE ME IN! SHE'S A TRICKSTER AND YOU HELPED HER HECTOR! YOU WERE NEVER ON MY SIDE, YOU WERE ONLY USING ME!" Subaru was screaming at the top of his lungs at nobody in particular, there was anger and hatred in his voice, but it gave the impression of a wounded animal more than anything else.
Felix leaned down to Crusch's ear and whispered "I think Hector's the voice in Subaru's head, he was talking to it a fair bit yesterday. And if you're willing to be a tiny bit manipulative you could probably get Subaru-kyun to do just about whatever you want while he's vulnerable like this."
And so Crusch was once again faced with a moral quandary, she did not consider herself to be a manipulative person, she hated the idea of becoming someone like that. But Felix was probably right on the idea that she could get anything she wanted from this boy if she had the right words, but it could also be said that if she did not manipulate him then she probably would not come to any deal, he had clearly become completely unreasonable at this point. But manipulation was a slippery slope, allowing herself to try it once could easily lead to it becoming a habit. There were already rumors lambasting her for her failures, calling her unfit to lead her house and the worst thing to happen to the Karsten family since its inception. In that vein it was her duty to correct her mistakes, both for her own goals and that of her family's wellbeing. Crusch came to the decision that she would have to try being someone she was not but she would not do anything to rob him blind without recompense, and after this deal was fulfilled she would never deal with Natsuki ever again.
From the half of the conversation that she could hear between Subaru and this voice in his head it seems that he thinks that he has been pulled back into the royal selection by whatever agreement he made with Anastasia, but he seemingly did not think this way about the agreement when he initially made it. Trying to change his view on this agreement so that he was not against it and then convincing him that her offer was effectively the same thing would be her only way forward, even if it would save Anastasia from facing the collapse of her own deal. She bit down on her lip hard, hard enough to cause a small trickle of crimson blood to make its way down the pale white skin of her chin. She felt Felix physical stiffen at the sight of this, the only reason that he probably did not act out was because he too knew how difficult it would be for Crusch to do what he suggested.
And so in the most caring voice she could manage she leaned forward and placed her hand on his knee to get his attention, putting on the warmest smile she could manage. "Natsuki Subaru, what did you agree to with Anastasia, if you tell me I might be able to discrene how trapped you really are, I might be able to guide you out of this agreement that Hector led you into against your own judgement." Crusch did not like at all what she was saying but the fact that Subaru had put his madness on pause to look directly at her means that it might at least work. But it was the look he was giving her that was now making her uneasy, it was one that was wide eyed and full of dependance, like what would be expected from a lost child.
"I let her sell something from my homeland in exchange for a royalty" Was all he said.
That was it, that was what caused him all this mental trauma, he was blowing it out of proportion, she felt slightly better about her bit of manipulation as it would at least lead to him understanding his own situation just a bit better, the end does not justify the means, but at least the end would be good for him.
"Natsuki Subaru, you haven't trapped yourself in with anything, she cannot make you do anything since she cannot hold that deal over your head for anything, withholding royalty payments would land the Hoshin company in trouble with the merchant guild. So in essence as long as you do not agree to any deals requiring more involvement then what you have already made, you should be completely fine." Subaru looked at her with blooming eyes like she had just saved him from something terrible, but now would come the part of this process that she would loathe the most.
But she had to do this, she had resolved to, and so she would do her best to see this resolve through. "Natsuki Subaru, I will give my offer again, however I will not ask you to join my camp. Instead I want to make an equivalent exchange, a favor for a favor; I want you to help as with the White Whale and in return I will do whatever you ask, assuming its on par with the aide you provide me. Think of it just like the deal you made with Anastasia, once we both uphold our part there will be nothing holding us together, no lingering attachments." She made the motion of cutting a string with her fingers to emphasize that part, but she was shocked as Subaru's expression suddenly changed again.
For the briefest of instant it seemed that he was in immense pain, but then he began to mumble words to 'Hector' like none of the prior events had even happened, the look of dependance on his face was replaced by the return of his previously depressed look. "Sure…Roswaal? Fine…." Was all that could be heard from Subaru's mumblings.
"Fine I'll help, but in return you must shelter me from Roswaal if I need it. I'll find the whale for you even though it irks me to do that, I'll only provide some assistance beyond that." Subaru then stopped and looked blankly at Crusch, waiting for her response with a seeming look of dread on his face.
"Yes that's fine, perfect actually, we'll lend you a ground dragon to help you with your work." Subaru then stood up without saying anything as he walked towards the door, Crusch gestured to Felix to follow behind him in order to get him the ground dragon from their stables.
The second the door closed behind the two Crusch exhaled and buried her held her head in her hands, mumbling in a muffled voice, "once this is over, we are not dealing with that boy again…."
The room then drifted into complete silence, only to be interrupted several moments later by the sound of the door opening as Felix stepped back into the room.
"Crusch-sama, Ferri-chan is so surprised, it looked like you had Subaru-kyun completely wrapped around your finger for a moment, Rem-chan would've been very envious if she saw that. And thank you for being here Old Man Will, I was quivering in my boots for a bit there, it looked like he was going to completely lose it!" Felix spoke in an upbeat and chipper voice, clearly very pleased with the results of the meeting, but the other two in the room were nowhere near as happy as he was.
"Something happened to that boy, something very severe happened to break him into the mess we just saw. I cannot take any pride in such underhanded tactics like manipulation, but to do something such as that to someone of such unsound mind…. It leaves more then just a bad taste in my mouth….." Crusch spoke in an incredibly regretful voice, clearly upset at herself over her own actions.
"The boys mind is seemingly gone, something I've only seen in rescued prisoners who'd been subjected to months of captivity and torture structured with the sole goal of targeting their mind, but the boy was seemingly fine mere days ago. At this point he is seemingly closer to the description we have of the sin archbishop who had attacked the castle then the junior butler that had accompanied Margrave Mathers on his trip to the capital." Wilhelm's voice was tinged with sadness as he compared the boy he just saw to the one who had brought him a cup of tea outside the mansion when they had first met.
She was useless, she could not do anything herself, she was so thoroughly and truly incapable of doing literally anything useful that she was nearly always a hinderance to those around her.
Emilia looked down at her hands and she saw blood, the blood of the knight that died because she was unable to fight herself, that died because she was unable to heal him using her spirit arts; the spiritual arts were supposed to be her one redeeming quality, but when it came down to it, she could not even use them either.
She hated everything about her life as it had been since she left the forest, she was surrounded by people but had never felt lonelier, she was supposedly living in higher society now but had never felt more miserable. She had gotten to meet so many people, even made a friend for the first time, but now she had lost her friend, her father had disappeared without a word, and everyone looked upon her with either scorn, fear, or disgust. At this point Emilia regretted every moment she had spent outside of the forest, she wished she never left but knew that things would never be the same even if she went back, she would be forced to live with these feelings for the rest of her life.
"Why the long face Emilia-sama, that isn't a look suitable for a candidate to the throne." Roswaal spoke in a calm tone but with how he placed the emphasis it could easily be taken as being slightly mocking. As he said this Ram opened the door of the ground dragon carriage to show that they were stopped off the side of the road under a bright, starry night sky.
"Sorry Roswaal…..also why have we stopped?" Emilia did not look up from the ground as she gave her apology for something that should not even be apologized for.
"You weren't listening? The ground dragon didn't get a proper rest from when it brought us earlier today so it must be given an hour or so break in order to bring us the rest of the way back to the mansion, if you'd like to join us for some tea as we wait then please come outside." Roswaal spoke as he stepped outside, leaving Emilia alone in the carriage.
"I guess I can't even be a doll, not that I really want to but it's kind of sad that I'm that incapable to fail even with that… right Puck?" Emilia spoke in a low and quiet voice, a tear or two falling from her eyes, her question being met only with silence, "right, I guess even you want nothing to do with me anymore… after Roswaal kicks me out when I lose the selection or even before that, then I guess I'll be completely alone…"
Emilia wiped her eyes and stood up, she intended to make the most of the time she had with others, even if they disliked her at least she felt like she somewhat belonged when she was with the residents of the Roswaal mansion. They had not made her feel welcome, nor did they show her any kindness beyond what was expected from their stations; but none of that could change the fact that they had lived under the same roof for so long, shared meals together. She would try to make the most out of every last interaction with them she could, so that when the day came when they sent her away to be alone once again, then she could at least have some bittersweet moments to treasure.
At one point she had some memories that she could even consider to be completely happy, like when they had a festival like event during Pucks magic release period. She got to have fun, laugh, and play alongside the residents of the mansion and Arlam villagers. But memories like those had been tainted by what happened afterwards, she could no longer think of them and smile, only regret that the good times had been tainted.
Emilia shook her head to bring herself back to the moment and stepped outside. Ram was crouched by a fire, tending to a kettle as she made some tea. Rem seemed to have just placed some extra firewood by the fire and was now sat by the fire, looking right at Emilia as she sent daggers right into her with the intensity of her glare. Although it hurt her to see such hatred in Rem's eyes, she forced herself to look past it and onto Roswaal, but his face was frozen in a grimace as he looked at a spot that did not contain any of the mansion's residents, and so Emilia followed his gaze.
He was staring at a girl with long platinum hair and crystal-like blue eyes, wearing what looked like a white sheet with a hole cut for her head.
"I would say that this is a pleasant first meeting Margrave Mathers, but we've met before have we not? So it must be more fitting to call this a wonderous reunion, wouldn't you say Margrave?" The girl spoke in a voice that was both soft and childlike resulting in it having a slightly eerie feeling. In terms of eerie feelings, whenever Emilia looked at this girl, she felt something odd within herself, she felt sheer hatred, like her soul itself despised this girl, hated her to the greatest extent possible.
"Why are you here Pandora, Witch of Vainglory…." Roswaal was nearly snarling at this girl, his whole-body tense and seemingly ready for a fight.
"Calm you anger Margrave Mathers, we need not resort to violence here, I simply wish to resolve the differences between you and I, so that our paths need not clash again." Pandora spoke in a serene and completely calmed voice that contrasted sharply with the vitriol that seemed to be building inside Roswaal.
"Sensei warned me that you cannot be trusted, cannot be reasoned with. Why would I entreat with a delusional sociopath obsessed with an unfounded theory regarding Flügel? You must be truly mad if you think I would disregard her warning like that." Roswaal then turned to Ram, his voice still as grave and tense as it was before, and he said "Ram, Rem, we're leaving now!"
Pandora did not move in the slightest to stop Rem or Ram as they stirred the ground dragon and essentially pulled Emilia into the carriage, Roswaal following close behind them. Pandora did not move but she did speak, "Margrave Mathers, nobody knew Flügel as well as I did, nobody could see behind his vain front, nobody knows that he truly hates the sacrifice he was forced to make, nobody knows that he wants to be released from the hell he's trapped himself in for so long. Although I see a wonderous sight in the love and worship you have for Echidna, I cannot allow you to manipulate and misdirect my cult, my tools to Flügel's salvation any longer. Vainglory shall always use its power to force adherence to the original loop in order to seek his salvation, just as the Seven Deadly Sins shall reject the truth, just as Melancholy shall live in its own world, in the end I will ensure that Flügel is freed from his self-imposed prison, that his soul is allowed to get the rest it deserves. He was a friend and mentor to me as well as your Echidna, Margrave Mathers, why can you not find it in your heart to help the quest that shall deliver him his deserved salvation." Pandora stopped talking for a second as she just looked at them as if waiting for a response.
As the carriage hurried off without its normal divine protection Roswaal screamed at the top of his lungs, "ITS UTTER MADNESS PANDORA, IT'S BEEN 400 YEARS, GIVE UP ON HIM, HE'S GONE AND NEVER COMING BACK. THERE IS NO ENDLESS LOOP, NO CYCLE, FLÜGEL IS DEAD, LEAVE YOUR OBSESSION OF HIM BEHIND, THERE IS NOTHING TO AND NOBODY TO SAVE ANYMORE."
It should have been impossible to hear what she was saying because of how quiet she spoke, yet her words reached their ears independent of both the distance and noise of the carriage. "I can forgive your actions and lack of faith Margrave Mathers, but I will take it upon myself to ensure that they don't continue into the future, nor interfere with Flügel's salvation. The White Whale was here just as it should have been."
With those words suddenly a massive white beast appeared in the sky, one of the three great mabeasts. Its horn was the size of a large tree, its eyes nearly the size of a person's upper body, and its roar drove nothing but fear into Emilia's heart.