Chapter 6: Chastity, Calmness, and Modesty
The Lugnican cathedral, much to Subaru's surprise, was indeed a cathedral. A massive underground complex hidden in a forest southwest of the Augria Sand Dunes, the cathedral reminded him of the famous Vatican from back home (except this one is underground, of course). Once inside of it, the place seemed never-ending, with hallways stretching out as far as the eye could see and robed cultists roaming around.
Despite their appearance, the cultists appeared friendly. Most bowed to Subaru as he passed by, and Lye received the same treatment. They did steer away from Roy, however, as – apparently – he was fond of snacking on them if he was hungry. Some of the cultists were dressed in standard clothes, however, and they seemed like completely normal people. Iseri must have been an outlier, what with that sense of fashion he had.
After having guided their new brother to the cathedral, the gluttonies showed him to the main meeting room, a large, oval-shaped room with an equally-shaped table in the center. The only light inside the cathedral came from some crystals and torches that the cultists had helpful hung on every wall. Taking into account the cathedral's size, counting all the torches would be a fool's errand.
And, yet, the torches were outnumbered by something else: paintings.
Paintings of all kinds adorned the cathedral. Whether made on glass or a canvas, they were hung on the walls of all the hallways. Wherever one looked, one could find a painting. Only the meeting room lacked any decoration. Strangely enough, all the paintings depicted the same thing: a silver-haired half-elf cloaked in shadows.
Subaru had done a double-take when he saw it. Did they worship Emilia in here? Talk about freaky! Fortunately, Lye took the time to explain to him that the woman being shown in the paintings was not his good friend who saved his life but, rather, the feared Witch of Envy, named Satella.
Lye also added that the chief cultist in this cathedral was one of the Archbishops, a man named "Petelgeuse," who apparently was obsessed with the Witch to a very, very creepy extent. There were also three more cathedrals, one in each nation of the world, and each was run by a different Archbishop, though the one in Vollachia was apparently left leaderless when the past Archbishop of Pride died nearly 40 years ago. The two others, one in "Gusteko" and another in Kararagi, were overseen by Lust and Gluttony respectively.
Needless to say, Subaru was beyond excited upon learning he was getting a gigantic church as part of the job, and he spent a good couple of minutes freaking out over it, wondering what it currently looked like. Maybe it was even better than the one he was in right now!
Remembering the brothers' sense of cleanliness, he doubted it.
For some hours, he just paced back and forth through the cathedral, managing to stumble onto a library, an armory, a cafeteria, a couple of storage rooms, and what seemed like a shrine with some green hair on the center, various candles around it, and endless scribbles on paper all around it. Funnily enough, this was the second place where the Witch's paintings could not be found.
Maybe someone was worshipping that green hair?
His wandering was cut short as a cultist with short red hair came to fetch him. She informed him that the meeting was to start soon, and – after identifying herself as a "finger" – guided him back to the meeting room.
The room was still empty when he walked in, save for Lye and Roy sitting on adjacent chairs and looking bored out of their minds. Some guards wandered about in the room, mostly conversing with one another or reading something other than their gospels. Most of the cultists, Subaru noticed, were human, but that did not mean that demi-humans did not join the cult. As Lye had pointed out before, one of the Archbishops was apparently a demi-human, and most non-human cultists answered to them.
Soon after he sat down next to his brothers, Subaru heard a strange sound, like that of someone running barefoot over a floor. Turning to the room's entrance to see who or what was causing such a peculiar noise, he saw the culprit enter the room as well.
It was a singular lizard.
For some seconds, both Subaru and the lizard stared at each other as if disbelieving the other's presence. Subaru felt he was justified in staring at it; after all, it's not everyday an iguana waltzes into a cult's meeting room as if it owned the place.
When the staring contest ended, the iguana continued running towards the table and climbed it. Once on top, it made its way in front of Subaru's chair and stared into his eyes once more, as if analyzing his soul.
Looking to his brothers for confirmation that there was, indeed, a lizard looking directly at him, he found them displaying more emotion than expected. Whereas Lye looked at the lizard in scorn and something too close to hatred, while Roy seemed ready to throw himself on the ground and bow in front of it.
Wanting to break the tension, Subaru gave a slightly nervous chuckle and reached out to pet the lizard. "C'mon guys, it's just a lizard. I bet someone's looking for their missing pet!"
As if this wasn't surreal enough, when he touched the lizard, it melted.
The entire animal became a puddle of dark, oily liquid that swirled as if alive. It grew in size (because melting a lizard was not terrifying enough) and began reforming into a more humanoid shape. While Subaru was still processing what happened, his brain kicked into "fight or flight" mode.
He picked flight.
When he tried to both kick away his chair and stand up at the same time, he fell with his seat. Recovering his strength, he prepared himself to put at least half of the room's size between him and the alien goo creature. His escape lasted one single step as an arm shot out and grabbed the back of his neck.
As the arm's owner dragged him back to the table, he could hear a cruel voice say, "A pet, huh? Well, since we're on the topic, why don't I show you who the real pet is between us?"
Feeling the hand that held him let go, Subaru turned to face whoever it was that spoke to him.
Sitting on the table, in front of where he had sat previously, was a blonde, red-eyed woman with short hair and a revealing outfit. She reminded him of that girl he'd met on his first day in Lugnica, Felt. Again, Subaru turned his view to his brothers and found Lye with a cold fury in his eyes and Roy kneeling.
Before he could say anything, Lye spoke, "Capella, do you really have nothing better to do than annoy our brother, tsu?"
The woman, Capella, regarded him with a haughty smile and laughed. "And what if this lovely lady does, you sack of flesh? Are you going to do anything about it?"
"Hey! I may have known this kid for a day, but if you think you can just ins-"
His sentence was cut short as the woman's arm, now dark and monstrous, grabbed him by the cheeks and pulled him close. "Oh? You have something to say to this lovely lady? Come on, don't waste this lovely lady's precious time!"
"Capella," Lye said again, almost in warning.
Capella seemed to consider it for a second, and decided to let Subaru go.
Only to change her mind and start strangling him.
As Subaru fought back to no avail, he could see Lye grab one of his daggers and prepare to fight. Strangely enough, Roy also took up arms, but he prepared to face his brother.
He could not question it any further, however, as another figure stepped in and spoke, "My my my, how did you all get here so quickly, so promptly, so swiftly? Your arrival puts me to shame! How slothful I was to arrive late to my own cathedral!"
Once again letting go of Subaru, Capella turned to the new arrival with a disgusted expression. Roy and Lye settled down as well, and paid no mind to the green-skinned, vaguely-humanlike creature that stepped into the room.
"How fortunate, how blessed, how fortuitous, how lucky I am to meet the Witch's diligent follower," the being spoke as it bowed to Subaru. "I have searched the ends of this world to find one such as yourself! And I missed you! How unforgivably lethargic, torpid, inattentive, careless, slothful I was to not find you, believer in love!"
With its arms stretched toward the ceiling, the creature said, "How could I be so careless as to forget my introduction!? I am a Sin Archbishop in the Witch Cult, entrusted with the sin…of sloth. My name is Petelgeuse Romanee-Conti, yes!"
Finding the green man to be far more approachable than the blonde sadist, Subaru returned the bow. "Archbishop, I take it you have heard of me, as my brothers already had. I am an Archbishop of Gluttony, and the name's Natsuki Subaru."
"Yes! How civil, how courteous, how reverent, how polite, how dutiful, how respectful as to introduce yourself! I am already acquainted with your brothers, but to see the Witch take a new devotee is refreshing!"
Then another voice joined in.
"A self-introduction you say? How relieving to hear that. It is truly good to see our new comrade understands basic concepts like politeness. The first thing one must do is introduce themselves to give the other party a feeling of being welcomed and accepted into the conversation. I have unfortunately been mocked for being one who cares about such things, but I believe it is only right, do you agree? If one does not introduce oneself, then the party they are conversing with will undoubtedly feel unease at not knowing who they are speaking with, and that is a situation I most detest. To keep someone in the dark as to your identity is one of the worst things you can do in any conversation, as that infringes on your partner's right to know your identity, does it not?"
When it became clear the white-haired man would not keep talking, and once he overcame his shock at the man's improvised monologue, Subaru stated, "I believe we haven't met, have we?"
The man looked him over from head to toe, nodded, and responded, "I believe we have not met either. This is what I was talking about: to not know who you are speaking with puts you at a disadvantage. To rectify this mistake, I will give you my name. I am the Sin Archbishop of the Witch Cult, representing greed, Regulus Corneas."
Turning his glance to Capella, who was laying down on the table and looking disinterested, Regulus spoke, "I am not one to assume negative things about others. Quite the opposite, in fact. I try to see the best qualities in individuals who may even severely lack them so as to not offend anyone. This is why I prefer to introduce myself, so I can gauge the other's reaction. Even having just arrived, I can tell that that woman has not given you her name, am I correct? Even between us Archbishops, there has to be a given measure of respect, do you agree? Despite the fact that you and I share a rank, it is only common sense to treat each other with at least the minimum respect one can give. It saddens me to say I am unsurprised by her behavior, given th-"
The monologue was cut short as a rock hit Regulus on the forehead.
Capella fiddled with another rock on her hand, a rock the size of her fingernail, and gave her white-haired comrade a sly grin, like a cat who just knocked off a very precious vase.
There was scorching fury in Regulus's eyes. He stretched out his right arm, opened his palm, pointed it at Capella, and slas-
And was promptly interrupted by a chain wrapping around his arm.
Like before, all present turned to the entrance, where a bandaged figure stood.
"I am deeply sorry for interrupting such a conversation," the figure said in a kind voice. "Believe me, I dislike to disturb people's lives. I really dislike it when others make me out to be evil simply because of my title. It is unfortunate I had to take the sin of wrath as my own, but it was the only way to be here, forgive me."
Lye crinkled his nose. "We thank you for stopping this, Sirius. We believe that if Regu had gone through with his threat…"
"It was nothing, excuse me, Archbishop Batenkaitos. Archbishop Corneas's attack would have injured everyone in the room, including my dear Petelgeuse, and I cannot allow that, I'm sorry."
When he registered the words, Subaru pointed at both Petelgeuse and the bandaged wrath. "You guys are related?"
In unison, they both confirmed and denied that claim.
Sirius retrieved her chain. "I see I finally meet you, new Archbishop of Gluttony. Excuse me for not having introduced myself earlier. I am Sirius Romanee-Conti, thank you, Archbishop of Wrath, and dear Petelgeuse's wife."
Subaru would have commented something on how they would have made a beautiful star-crossed couple, an inhuman monster and a bandaged figure, but Lye stopped him by clarifying that the "marriage" between the two was one-sided.
The voice of the figure in the void proclaiming its love for him resounded in his mind.
Turning back to Capella, who was sleeping on the table, Subaru guessed, "I take it you're lust, then."
"You're awfully bright," she replied. "Awfully bright for a bag of meat. You'd best learn from 'Dear Husband' over there and do the complete opposite. Last thing this lovely lady wants is another worthless meatbag who can't stop yapping."
Regulus, once more, didn't take kindly to this. Once more raising his arm, he slashed upward as the others, Subaru included, tried to stop him to no avail. There was a potent gust of wind along the path he had traced, and Subaru feared it would rip it apart. He braced himself for the void to take him.
Nothing happened.
It seemed as if everyone, except Capella, was used to such a thing happening. Capella groaned in dissatisfaction, as if she wanted whatever that wind attack was to hit her.
"I believe Bishop Corneas needs to learn to control his anger."
Seated on one of the oval table's ends was a young woman with long platinum hair and wearing only a simple cloth. She spoke again, "Now that everyone is seated, we can begin."
Before Subaru could even process what she said, he found himself sitting on his chair. The others, who had been spread out all over the room, were also sitting down. One chair, however, remained empty.
"I can tell what you're thinking, Bishop Natsuki. Since Bishop Vollachia's untimely death, the title of 'pride' has remained unused."
Although he did not say it out loud, that was what he was thinking. Creepy.
"As far as I am aware, everyone here has met Bishop Natsuki," the woman continued. "That is good. We can proceed with our meeting then."
"Bishop Natsuki, I welcome you into the Witch Cult."
With the sunrise announcing a new day, a lone woman wandered out to her tower's balcony. It was a gorgeous day, or as gorgeous as it got in the middle of the desert. There was nothing out there some mabeasts an- wait, that's a cultist, yep.
He's dead now.
The woman sat on the edge of the tower's balcony, making sure not to fall. She comes here often to ensure no one tries to get close to her master's tower. Lack of food and scorching heat notwithstanding, she was very proud of her job! Maybe when her master returned, he would congratulate her for it!
"Ah, that'd be the dream, yep," she said to herself. It got lonely being in a tower with no friends apart from those mean Horse Kings in the tunnels underneath. The woman did not really mind, however, as this was a job assigned by her wise master. And, besides, Reid Astrea was not here. That by itself was one of the best parts of the job.
"Maybe tomorrow, master will come back. I'm sure it'll be tomorrow."
She ignored the fact that she's been holding onto this hope for nearly four centuries.
But still! Four centuries was a long time, sure, but that just meant that her master was now closer to returning! Every day that went by was one less day she had to wait! Oh, how she would celebrate his return. Maybe he'd like a roasted courtesan bear? Or they could go out together to see that tree he planted! She'd heard that the tree wa- oh, another cultist.
He's dead now.
The woman looked at the sun on the horizon. It was still early morning. Why were there so many cultists around these parts nowadays? Far as she knew, the Witch was still in her seal, and there was no way the cultists were going to get there for as long as she guarded it.
As much as she loved this job, and as much as she loved her master, she was growing tired of waiting for him.
She hoped he would return soon
"This meeting is adjourned, bishops."
With those words, the woman, "Pandora" she had called herself, ended the Archbishops' meeting after hours of talk. More than once, someone had tried to resort to violence and, every time it occurred, it was Pandora's bone-chilling power that stopped it from occurring.
During the meeting, she explained to Lye and Roy that Subaru's Authority was indeed working, except that there was something preventing it from actually affecting the outside world. Pandora had said that this situation was rare to come across, since it required the affected person to have two Authorities.
As expected, this sent the Archbishops on a frenzy. Not only was their newest addition a clueless kid who did not even know Gusteko existed until hours ago, but he also possessed two Authorities, while everyone else possessed only one.
Lye and Roy seemed naturally proud of their new brother.
Since the meeting was over, everyone poured out of the meeting room at once. The only one that did not follow the Archbishops was Pandora, who opted to teleport the small distance between her seat and the entrance.
Outside, Subaru separated from Lye, who said he was going to find some food for everyone, and Roy, who decided to go with Capella for the time being. Subaru was sitting against a corner, trying to make himself comfortable, when he heard someone call out to him.
"You look concerned, Bishop Natsuki. Is something the problem?"
Finding the self-proclaimed Witch of Vanity, who clearly had the power to back up said name, sitting next to him, Subaru shook his head. "It's really nothing. Yesterday was a chaotic day, is all."
"Is that so? I heard of what occurred in the capital, Bishop Natsuki. The merchant Kyoden who guided you to us. He served us well, and it is a shame he had to pass away like that."
"You knew that guy?"
Pandora nodded with the smile of someone who is recalling fond memories. "Kyoden was not fit to be an Archbishop, sadly, so he devoted himself to serving us however he could. His…diligence…caught the eye of Bishop Romanee-Conti, who took him in as an agent."
"The green sloth guy was Iseri's boss?"
"Indeed. All Archbishops have the rank to command cultists, although Bishop Romanee-Conti is the only one to lead an organized force at the moment. Bishop Lugnica, Capella as you know her, also owns a group of assassins, though they are not formally associated with the Cult."
"Why tell me all this? Don't you think it'd be bad if I turned tail and ran to the nearest guard station?"
"While I agree that it would be bad for us if you turned, Bishop Natsuki, I trust you won't. I recognize your type."
"My 'type?'"
"You have nowhere to go. Whatever circumstances surround that event, I know that you lost your home and, quite possibly, your friends or loved ones. I can help you get them back, but only if you stay with us."
"So now you're bribing me."
"It would be a shame if you did all this just to betray us, Bishop Natsuki. Your brothers seem to like you."
Before Subaru could continue his questions, he heard the footsteps coming in his direction. Pandora seemed to hear them too, as she simply muttered something and disappeared into thin air.
Without facing whoever it was coming to see him, Subaru said, "If you don't mind, I kinda want a minute to myself."
"A shame, especially since I've been so eager to meet you again," came the response.
He recognized that voice. He hated that voice.
Turning to look at his first enemy in this world, Natsuki Subaru recognized the black-haired woman in revealing clothing that had taken his life various times.
Elsa Granhiert.
"My, my," she spoke. "I told you we'd meet again. It would've done you a lot of good to take my warning to heart. Seeing how your nice friend and her cat aren't here, I take it you got into a fight with them, hm?"
"I've nothing to say to you, killer."
"Please, look around you. Point out a single person here who hasn't killed someone."
"Myself."
"That'll change soon enough."
Irritated by her words, he stood up and looked her in the eyes. "I don't want to spend another second looking at you, alright? So leave."
She just stood there. "I don't remember you being this aggressive when we first met. Truth be told, I prefer this version of you."
He opted to stay silent.
"Do you know why I'm here?"
He chose not to respond.
"You see, a certain Margrave imprisoned my sister, yes? Now she's all alone in a cell, probably being tortured by the very people you called friends. Mother doesn't want her to stay there, so I am going to rescue her."
"And that involves me how?"
"Please, is it not obvious? You're the only one here who knows the mansion's insides. You help me get her out, and both Mother and Alphard will be grateful."
"Using my brother as a bargaining chip? Tsk, thought you were smarter."
"From what I heard, you seemed eager to defend the other one in there. Take it from me, Mother may forgive, but she never forgets."
"If she's that pissed about what happened in there, I want her to tell me, not some psychopathic envoy she sends."
Without warning, she grabbed him by the collar. Her usual grin did not falter, yet Subaru could feel the increased intensity of her anger. "Let me word this differently: Mother wants you to help, and if you decline, she might decide to make an example of your brother Alphard. I'm sure you have more important cult-related things to do, but I am going to get my sister, with or without your help. If it's the latter…"
Her smile said it all.
The Mathers manor was getting ready to start the day. After Roswaal returned from his "business trip," everyone began to prepare for yet another ordinary day.
Of course, Roswaal had other plans.
From the moment he arrived, he shut himself into the mansion's main study and stayed there all day, writing letters, reading the Tome, and otherwise finding ways to advance his plan. So far, the Tome had kept to its script, but it had apparently erred on the topic of the young captive he had imprisoned. Nonetheless, he tried to keep his usual smile as he read every report he could find on the Witch Cult.
He was almost startled by the sound of someone knocking on the door. "Roswaal? Are you there? I want to talk to you."
Great. Now he had to waste time dealing with her. Could she not have picked literally any other moment to ask for a conversation? "Ple~ase, miss Emilia, come in. What is it you wa~nt to talk about?"
She sat on one of the desk's chairs and fiddled with a strand of her silver hair. "Roswaal, is it true?"
"I am afra~id I do not understand, miss Emilia."
"Is it true Subaru was a cultist?"
"Unti~l we can know what happened that da~y, I cannot tell you wha~t I think, miss Emilia."
"It's just that…Subaru was kind to me back in the capital. He was…he doesn't seem like the type to do such a thing…"
"Miss Emilia, sure~ly you know people aren't alwa~ys what they seem."
"So…you think he was a…cultist too…?"
"I ca~nnot say for certain, as there is very little evidence at ha~nd. But I am su~re we'll know the truth soon enough."
At this, Emilia nodded and stood, her questioning seemingly concluded. Roswaal was about to return to the letter he was writing when she spoke again, "Roswaal, do you think we'll find him?"
"Why, I be~lieve that if we do not lo~ok for him, he'll come to u~s soon enough. It intrigues me as to why you wo~uld ask that, miss Emilia."
"I just…I think…there might be a way to help him come back…"
Natsuki Subaru was still sitting against the wall when Lye returned, holding two boxes.
"What're those for?"
He set them down and pointed to the one on his left. "This one's got some food I found, tsu. Don't tell Geuse, though."
"Got it. And the other?"
Lye's grin could not get any bigger. "The other's for you, brother. We thought you might need it, tsu!"
With visible excitement, Subaru opened the box Lye had said was for him.
Inside was a black cloak, similar to what Lye wore most of the time. Underneath it was a black and orange outfit not too different from what that Regulus guy had worn to the meeting. There were some long pants as well, and a couple of shoes that resembled those he had on at the moment.
Underneath it all were two cross-guarded daggers.
He held to outfit up to examine it. It was almost exactly his size, except that it was slightly larger. There was also some dirt and grime on it, but overall, the clothes were in perfect shape.
"So, tsu? Brother Roy got those clothes and brought them here yesterday while we were in the winery."
"How? How did you know?"
"There was a man in Arlam who saw you. He was sent to spy on the Margrave's mansion, tsu. And he described to us what you looked like."
Still in awe at his new garments and weapons, the only response Subaru could give was a small "thanks" and a pat on the head for his brother.
"That's not all, tsu."
Those words finally shook him out of his stupor. "What do you mean?"
"We have decided that it is finally time you met sister Louis, big brother Natsuki."
AN: Finally here, the chapter I've been most looking forward to. Hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.