So here we have another chapter. The interlude! We finally see what some of the people affected by Subaru's power are doing.
Questions that were asked multiple times:
1. What if he gets (insert franchise wiki page) Does he get the book/game/character/etc? Yes, he could get all of those depending on the role.
2. Can he summon anything? Yes. Yes if it is on the English Wikipedia.
Subaru woke up, blinking away the haziness from his eyes as he noticed the sun was still up. He slept poorly… which, wasn't a surprise at all, given what happened…
He made no attempt at getting up from the bed, choosing simply to stare at the roof. Thinking.
He was still processing that Emilia was a Royal Candidate to become King… like, what were the odd for the first girl he talked with, Gema not counting, to be royalty? Approximately zero!
He shook his head. While the revelation of Emilia being a King candidate was unexpected, it barely changed a thing for him, only that it put some pieces into place, creating a clearer image of the world…
And now, he might have butchered her chances with… uhh Santa Anna.
…Maybe… maybe it was for the better? He did not know Emilia for that long, or her policies for that matter, who was to say she was going to be a good King or not…
He shook his head again.
Gema said Emilia had anxiety issues, right? Now? It was probably worse if the discussion he had with her on the train was of any indication.
A man died because of his power. He felt miserable.
And he wasn't the only one, no, Emilia just expressed the same a few hours ago, for different reasons, though, but still, because of the same outcome. And that, that made him feel even worse… even if Emilia's arguments were logical and sound, he couldn't accept that it was not his fault.
Maybe it was the fault of both of them, that, he could accept. But, if he pushed for all the blame, Emilia would not accept.
He decided, he will have a discussion again with her today, with, hopefully, no distraction or interruption.
And there was the matter of his power… what should he do? It was obvious extremely unpredictable… but, it did help him when needed… But was it really random?
Should Subaru continue to use it? It was clearly powerful… but what if he summoned another Neil… or something dangerous?
He weighted his options and every pull so far. The benefits of each pull far outweighed the cons… or so he believed. That, though, brought a question.
Was his power not able to hurt him…? Sadly, he did not know…
Subaru glanced at his hand, slowly moving his eyes upwards to his arm, examining his chiseled muscles.
His body never had been in such a great shape, thinking back to the alley, he was sure now he could have taken the three goons all by himself if he wanted so…
Never mind. No point in thinking too much about that... Damn… he forgot about the photobooks… (-8 Photobooks)
He looked around the room and found a pair of clothes placed neatly on a chair, meant for him, he realized. He got up and walked towards them.
Just as he was about to reach them.
"~Hah~ Natsuki Subaru."
Subaru abruptly jerked towards the familiar voice, feeling dread as he saw her. Elsa, standing on the window's frame with a maniac glee in her eyes.
"I've come to talk-"
He did not hesitate.
*POP*
Roll: 2 - Allen, Texas
Allen is a city in Collin County, Texas, United States, a northern suburb of Dallas. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city had a total population of 84,246. In 2019, the population of Allen is estimated to be 105,623. Allen is located approximately twenty miles (32.2 km) north of downtown Dallas and is a part of the Dallas–Fort Worth metropolitan area.
Effect: Elsa is transported for 2 hours to Allen, Texas, in a random location.
He pulled and Elsa blinked out of existence. Subaru sighed, relief flooding him for a few moments before he walked out of the room. He had people to warn...
Ram, Rem, Rom, Puck, Emilia and Subaru were waiting, some more tense than others, waiting for the minutes to pass by. It was painfully to wait like this, knowing that in two hours Elsa would reappear, but not knowing when the two hours passed.
Either way, they waited, and waited-
*POP*
Elsa appeared exactly where she stood before, but she was not alone... she was... riding a motorcycle, dressed as a... cowboy.
For one second everyone just stared, Elsa included, she then blinked and the momentum of the motorcycle resumed.
Subaru jumped to the side, dodging the now speeding motorcycle by the teeth. He watched flabbergasted as Elsa started swearing while driving through the Mansion's hallways, getting farther away.
Everyone just… stood still… that was until a loud shattering sound was heard, compelling them to rush and see what happened and, more importantly, stop Elsa.
Subaru at the window could only watch as Elsa drove throughout the Mansion's Gardens… taking a right here and there, a left, and so on… until she got closer to the gate of the Mansion, seeing that it was closed, she, presumably decided, to use a moat of dirt as a ramp, jumping over the fence and disappearing on the horizon.
He closed his eyes and sighed, feeling that he was at fault for what happened.
"Don't listen to the She-Serpent. She always tells lies."
"And you don't?"
"I don't."
"…You truly believe that! Haha! You petty Gods are all the same."
"I am not petty. I am a fair God."
"Shut up…" he muttered.
"Sure~ A fair God he says, like when Niobe insulted you and your sister's appearance. And you responded in kind~ by killing all of her children."
"She showed hubris."
The feminine voice started cracking up, madly, which only helped in irritating him.
"Enough! Why are you laughing?!"
"HAHAHA! She was proud of her children-"
"Shut up!" he shouted and the voices fell silent.
Unfortunately, the silence hadn't lasted and the voices returned. But, they were not as loud as before, muttering between themselves, slowly fading at the back of his mind, small mercy as it was.
The worst part? If left unchecked they would kept going on and on and on like that.
Chin felt that if he had to listen continuously to their bickering he was going to become crazy… not like he did not already believe he was crazy, after all, hearing voices in one's head was already a good sign something was not right.
Yes, he felt that something was not right since yesterday, after he plundered that treasury of its wealth.
And now, he was looking at said wealth, shining golden coins, vases, rubies, silver cutlery, steel swords with beautiful patterns and so many more. Mocking him.
"Hey, Chin?" Tom asked, looking concerned.
"Hah?" Chin only gave him a glance before returning to the contents of the treasury. They had to move them soon… it was not safe to keep so much wealth in the Slums…
"You alright? You've been spacing out."
"What? Yeah, just a headache, don't worry."
"If you say so boss."
Chin just grunted in response. And he wasn't even lying, he had a headache since morning, which, refused to go away.
He left the safe house, being in the need of some fresh air, leaving Tom to guard their wealth. While leaving someone's wealth with a thief was beyond moronic, Chin begrudgingly trusted Tom and Kan, and they did the same.
Chin walked aimlessly through the Slums, occasionally glancing at the towering building in the distance… which appeared out of nowhere since yesterday…
He grunted. It was probably the same guy who created the treasury out of thin air…
Moving on, he caught the sight of a knight or two, going to and from the general direction of the new addition to the Slums. It was probably a first seeing so many of them here in the Slums… and all it took was a big ass building appearing out of nowhere. Heh.
After a few more minutes of walking and he arrived in the Commercial District.
Sitting on a door's steps in a somewhat recluse alley and trying to clear his head in the relative silence of said alley, Chin grabbed inside his newly acquired clothes and pulled something he found in the alley where the treasury appeared.
A photobook.
Not like he knew what exactly it was, but, he enjoyed gazing at those beautiful, realistic 'paintings'.
"Keep your maw shut, Delphyne. Or-"
"Or what? What could you possibly do? Un-kill me then kill me again? Please, we both know that, as of right now. We. Are. Equals."
And just like expected, his peace had to be broken by these two.
Rachins Hoffman was wealthy, absurdly so. He had more money than his father's coffers, of that, he was absolutely sure. It was just so much frustrating that it came with voices in his head, and he was the only one hearing them!
'Now what?'
At that moment, Chin made the mistake of thinking 'aloud' in his mind.
The voices paused and turned their attention to him.
"Now? Well it's obvious! You need to start my cult! And to do so we need followers!"
"Oh~ such a great idea! He should get a lyre, a bathing towel and start poetry at a street's corner~"
Chin tuned them out, still trying to process what he just heard. He wanted him to start a cult? He shook his head, it was absurd! Not even considering how popular the word 'cult' was in Lugnica…
"And please tell, how could I even attract followers to this… cult, plus, why should I help you? Or even bother?"
"Oh~ He asks the good questions~"
"Simple. The treasure, the wealth you took, it affected everyone. They are lambs waiting to be guided by you. They are not many, true, but, a group of followers is easier used to attract more."
"So what? Brainwashed them into worshipping you?"
"No. Merely a suggestion in their minds, to find a new patron deity, for the current one is lacking."
"Well, you are not wrong regarding that..." Chin muttered.
"You are forgetting one small detail."
"What?"
"It is not only you who they will accept as their patron~"
"…NO-"
He tuned them out. Thinking of what the 'God' just revealed… that changed things, a bit, but still. And he realized a way to keep them in check if he really was going to do it.
"If I am going to do this, and you still did not answer as to why I should, it won't be your cult, it would belong to the both of you."
"What! Preposterous! Me sharing the same place as this lowly serpent?!"
"You did not answer the question. Why. Should. I?" he grunted, already annoyed by the so called god's complains.
"Because you are my Oracle! My mouthpiece to the masses! My power flows through you!"
"And mine's too~"
"You realize how shady that sounds, don't you?"
"HAHAHAHA!"
"Silence!"
Opio Pallavicino was conflicted.
A day had passed since he found himself in this Brave New World and he still did not know what to do. Oh, he had ideas, so many in fact that he was still trying to sort them out…
And as a result, he was in deep thought, sitting in his 'Office' in the Dunne Catholic School, he learned the name from Robert, throwing occasional glances at Hieu who was fretting over history books, religious books, with numerous dictionaries near her. That woman was restless, not even those magnificent chairs they were sitting on were having any effect.
Truly everything he witnessed so far was magnificent. When the very same building he was currently inhabiting appeared out of thin air… he felt like he witnessed creation itself! And what wonders this building held!
When he and Hieu first saw the glass bulbs hanging from the ceiling they thought them nothing more than unusual decorative glassware.
But when Robert grabbed their attention by turning a switch on the wall the bulbs lit up! As if a miniature sun was held inside. So much powerful than an oil lamp…
Robert… Robert and Henry were good men, Christian men, even if they were not of the same Church. Not like he cared that much… he met many people in Nuncio and Cologne who were Lutheran and respectively, Calvinistic…
He rubbed the bridge of his nose, he was once again on religion… and that was one of the problems he found himself in…
Opio was old, way older than he looked, so was Hieu. Their souls too old for their new, young bodies.
And that meant, they had experience. Experience that he needed in order to solve his problems.
And one of that problem being the poor. He had seen what conditions these people live in, worse than in Tuscany, that, he was sure. Opio felt sadness, disappointment but oddly enough, he felt anger.
Anger which made him realize that the Lord couldn't have been clearer in His message… 'Help the poor', even remembering how Innocent XII once said that 'the poor were his nephews'.
That, made him reconsider his position on the Church... they lost their way, when, he was not sure. His only hope was that more people like Innocent XI and XII followed after his death, and praying, praying that the Church would avoid people like Innocent X, that political shark.
Ah, yes. Politics. The greatest sin... or so it was said. Opio grimaced. He would have to deal with the nobles of this new world and he surely wasn't looking forward… but had to acquire funds somehow… and that was another problem, wasn't it? Funds for food at the very least…
He shook his head, pushing that line of thinking to the back of his mind, at least for the moment. Hieu threw him a glance and after he nodded to reassure her he was alright, she continued her reading. Restless woman.
Another problem were those… demonic humans… Lord that was the hardest thing to wrap his head around. Those people were just as unfortunate as the humans and the Lord clearly does not discriminate… some look like hybrids of humans and animals, cat, fox, wolf, ears, tails, eyes, and so on like the dog people from legends… but some, some look like actual demons! Maybe he should just-
He shook his head.
No, he would bring the Lord to those demons and teach them the values of Christianity… the how was another matter…
And he was back to the funds problem… if only he could…
"Healing!" he shouted
"Woah! Your Excellency, are you-"
"I completely forgot about the healing!"
Hieu blinked a few times before going back to reading.
Pain. He felt pain from his side and from his hand as he was laying on the grass, his men fretting over his body, applying what little aid they knew. He heard the artillery, the ground shaking and the sound deafening.
He saw in the corner of his eyes how a shell impacted the earth, sending shrapnel and rocks flying through the air. It was getting closer. He had to get up, but he couldn't.
Thankfully his men noticed the artillery barrage was slowly approaching and moved him once again. He turned his head in the direction they were taking him, a barn, farther away.
They moved him slowly, avoiding jolting his body, but it was still painful, being carried on muskets.
He was feeling sleepy, and a bit cold, but the battle was not won yet, he still had to stay awake.
The doctor was restless as he examined him, feeling a jolt of pain every time he did so. But his expression was enough telling for him so he grabbed Wachholtz's arm closer.
"My dear Wachholtz, where is Olfermann?" his voice was hoarse and quiet.
Wachholtz said something but he couldn't understand. It felt muffled to his ears. He tried to ask again but he couldn't open his mouth, his body refusing to bulge and his strength leaving… with darkness claiming him.
He gasped as he stood up. The Duke of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, Frederick William returned from the dead.
Frederick was frantically patting himself as he looked around, confusion and worry evident in his eyes as he took in his surroundings. A plain field with a rising sun.
And next to his sitting position were tents, hundreds of tents, military tents and men just as confused as him… they were his men, he realized after he saw their black uniforms.
Then he saw his aide, Wachholtz, sitting on the grass next to Colonel von Herzberg… he searched for Olfermann and saw him farther away, trying to steady himself up.
The Duke rose up, back on his feet and once again, he felt no pain. He frowned, clearly he did not imagine it. His walking was a bit unsteady but he managed to reach Wachholtz and Herzberg who finally noticed him approach and went wide eyed.
"…W-Wilhelm?!" Wachholtz was looking like he had seen a ghost as how he paled.
"Wachholtz, Herzberg, I… what happened? Where is that damn Ney? Where are the French? Wait, no, where are we?"
"But-No, It shouldn't… Yo-You-" Wachholtz started to stutter and before Frederick could respond, Herzberg took the lead.
"Sir, I… You died Sir…"
"…What?" Frederick could only stare dumbly at his Colonel.
"You died at Quatre Bras… Sir." Wachholtz said.
"I… died. Ah. So I did not remember wrong." He paused, watching how the two men were fidgeting in front of him and clearly looked uncomfortable. "Tell me, did… did we beat him? What of Braunschweig?"
"Yes Sir, we won against Ney and against Napoleon."
The Duke turned towards the one who spoke. Olfermann. He… looked bitterer than he remembered him.
No matter, he would know what happened by the end of the day, that, he would make sure of.
Herzberg hesitated but nevertheless answered.
"Your eldest son… Charles, he, he was a bad ruler."
Frederick felt himself go still, paling slightly as he asked.
"How bad?"
"He fled the country, in 30 after a mob of angry people with his rule burned down the ducal palace."
The Duke paled then turned red.
"That ungrateful brat! How-How could he! What the French didn't manage to do he did!" his rant continued for a couple of minutes. Olfermann, Wachholtz and Herzberg being wise enough to remain silent.
After spending himself, the Duke turned towards the three of them. A bitter expression on his face as he said.
"We will continue this conversation later… When I am calmed. Olfermann, Herzberg, gather the men, I want to know what we have to work with. Wachholtz, you with me, there has to be a couple tents with supplies…"
Olfermann and Herzberg saluted and hastily left, now only Wachholtz remained as he walked side by side with the Duke.
"Sir?"
"I assume you don't know where we are?"
"No Sir."
"Then we are in unknown, possible hostile territory."
"We are on plains… we need to move soon, Sir."
"As you say Wachholtz, as you say."
I hope you enjoyed this chapter. The next one will be once again back to Subaru and, maybe, Elsa. Because we barely had a roll in this chapter, the next one will have more than usual...
And please tell if some characters feel too one dimensional. I literally had to search a lot about these guys and I am still having some trouble writing them.
Ah, is there more info on the three thugs than on the re zero wiki? Not what they do during Arc 5 or 6. But personal information.