The Melancholic Path

by Strandenstein

Subaru meets a particularly Melancholic Man during his last failed attempt to reach the mansion and decides to form a contract for their mutual benefit. However upon returning by death to the market with Rem, Subaru questions why he would even bother to save everyone after what they put him through.

11. The Bed is Made

He stood in the middle of a large hall that was illuminated by the suns golden rays streaming through the large skylights above, skylights that themselves were gilded in a mixture of gold and fine veneer, an expensive extravagance that only added to the overwhelming atmosphere of the room.

No matter where he looked, he could not find a part of the room that could be described as anything other then the most extreme example of luxury. From the couches occupying the halls corners made of opulent red leather to the black onyx pens used by the clerks as they worked away, there was not one thing that he could see that could be described as less then the best of the best.

On the topic of clerks, the room was packed with them; lining the benches and tables that filled the outer edges they seemingly worked tirelessly and without pause as they counted coin and balanced ledgers. This created a symphony of scratches made by their pens as they glided over the paper, alongside the clicks of coins hitting the table as they were counted and examined for authenticity.

Click click click.

Men and women wearing expensive clothing made of the finest furs and softest silks ran by all around him, likely going to and from deals that involved more coin than he had ever handled in his entire life.

Scratch Scratch Scratch

In front of him stood a man wearing clothing that was just as fine as all those rushing around them, in the form of a high-quality suit. He had longer then average golden hair alongside a matching golden beard that just barely extended from his chin.

His name was Russel Fellow, the Treasurer of the Merchants Guild of Lugunica, one could say that if any significant amount of money was moved anywhere in the kingdom then it almost certainly occurred within Fellow's purview, and more likely then not also involved his hand in one way or another.

CLICK CLICK CLICK

Otto did not want to come here, he did not exactly have to either, just if he had skipped town it is more likely then not that he would one day wake up to find his arms and legs bound with a bag over his head, his possessions and likely his life forfeit in order to show why one does not try to ditch a debt they owe to the guild.

He could feel his entire body grow warmer and warmer as he listened to Russel Fellow speak in front of him in a calm and collected manner with not the slightest hint of malice, speech that he could barely hear over the beat of his own heart thumping away in his ear.

"I'm afraid that due to the present value of your assets, that you won't be able to cover the principal of the debt nor the accrued interest, Suwen-san."

It was not supposed to have gone like this, it was supposed to be a sure thing, guaranteed profit, if such a thing could even have been said to exist in this world.

He had taken out a large loan to fill his cart nearly to the brim with high quality heating oil, he had painstakingly researched and plotted a route to and through the northern Holy Kingdom of Gusteko such that he could be sure to avoid any encounters with bandits.

But he had learned soon after arriving at the first city he had intended to trade with that all was for nought, the profits he had expected to be there had seemingly vanished into thin air. Maybe it had been a caravan carrying even cheaper vollachian oil, maybe it had been an uptick in magistone heaters replacing the older oil ones, maybe it had been neither, or maybe it had been a combination of the two.

The reasoning behind the sudden drop in price did not particularly matter to Otto, what mattered was that if he tried to sell the oil in Gusteko is that he would have had to take such a loss that he would not have been able to pay the loan back.

But seemingly out of nowhere it was like the world decided to offer him a second chance born out of the sheer misfortune of others, the news of the Witch's Cult's attack on the capital of Lugunica reached his ears.

Otto had rushed back as fast as his dragon could carry him, intending to sell the oil at an almost unethical markup to cover the loss of the highly flammable stockpiles that had almost certainly gone up in smoke thanks the liberal use of fire by the cult during their attack.

On the way back he had run into two rather odd individuals on the side of the highway, one of which seemed rather unwell.

Otto had taken the two aboard, maybe out of some desire for karmic balance to offset his intention to take advantage of those who had so recently lost their homes, maybe just because he did not like to sit idly by and watch others suffer.

But not too soon after learning their names, Flügel and Pandora, did things become freakishly abnormal; Pandora spoke of nothing but plans, both from the distant past and far-flung future to a Flügel who seemed to be barely clinging to life.

Then before he knew it, Pandora simply vanished into thin air; at first he had thought that she had jumped off the back of the cart, yet when he looked back he could not see her anywhere across the far flung plains that dominated the landscape near the capital.

She had left this unwell man, whom she referred to as her sensei alone with someone she had just met, she had not even left more then the vaguest statement regarding meeting this sick man after he had received treatment, the whole experience had felt incredibly surreal and unnerving to Otto.

Of course he then immediately sought out aid for Flügel, aid that had arrived in the shape of Reinhard van Astrea, the current Sword Saint and Master Swordsman of the kingdom, a knight that was so awe inspiring that Otto had almost been left starstruck.

Afterwards he had rushed through the city streets under the direction of Reinhard as they made their way with great haste towards a manor owned by the Astrea family in the city.

Upon arriving at the mansion the Sword Saint had jumped from the carriage with Flügel in his arms bridal style, and after quickly thanking Otto he rushed his way through the front doors of the manor before disappearing from view as they shut behind him.

At first Otto had almost forgotten why he had returned to the capital to begin with, after running into so many people that seemingly managed to so distinctively stick out in a world that was normally so bland and ordinary it was unsurprising that his mind had been distracted from the task at hand.

However it did not take Otto long to remember his plans of liquidating his oil stock, leading him to the largest wholesale trading depot in the city, located conveniently and also suspiciously across the street from the merchant guild headquarters.

Maybe it was because his karma had not been balanced by aiding Pandora and Flügel, maybe there was no such thing as karma, maybe the world just hated him.

Otto learned rather quickly when he tried to sell the oil that the prices had not skyrocketed like he thought they would. The reason for this was due to several Hoshin Trading Company warehouses surviving destructions thanks to being located in a corridor of the city that had survived the attack mostly unscathed, a corridor located around a marketplace where the Sin Archbishop leading the attack had been slain.

It was the oil in these warehouses that ended Otto's hope of escaping financial ruin, the Hoshin Company had likely reaped the massive profits he had sought before the demand returned to vaguely normal levels. Because of this drop in demand the price ended up settling at a level that was once again a bit below what Otto had previously paid.

"In order to pay down the remainder of the debt after liquidating your assets, as well as to continue to cover your interest payments would require about 30 years of miscellaneous work for the merchant guild; a figure inflated by the fact the room and board do rather significantly reduce the already meager pay associated with such a job, the remainder barely exceeding the interest payments.

Otto gulped hard as he realized the real meaning behind Russell's words, they meant indentured servitude. Otto tugged at his collar as a single bead of sweat found its way down his neck as he thought about the end of his merchant career and beginning of his life as something that was more or less a slave under a different name.

He wondered what his parents and family would think of him knowing that he had failed as a merchant, that his whole life had become a slow downward slide after he had been forced to leave his family home at an age younger then planned. He could only wish, could only hope that they never found out what would become of him, that they would believe that he managed to happily get through life as a moderately successful merchant, lest they place any blame upon themselves for how he turned out.

Otto may have been well and truly screwed, but he just could not bring himself to say the words that would condemn him to a terrible path of suffering and melancholy.

Click Click Click

Otto heard the coins clicking on the table's infront of the clerks, as Russell's eyes bore down on him an intense glare that he could not match.

Scratch Scratch Scratch

He heard the pens scratching away on the paper as the clerks continued to balance ledgers while otto adjusted his collar once again.

Otto's mouth began to open. As the words formed in his mouth, the words that would change the course of his fate forever. He could see the excitement rising within Russell's own eyes, he was clearly excited at the prospect of this business arrangement concluding in a way that was favourable to him.

"Russell-kun, and … Otto-kun! Just the person I was looking for!...Oh am I interrupting something?"

The cheerful Kararagian voice was a godsend to Otto, it stole those few cursed words from his mouth before they could condemn him, it had bought him just a few more moments of freedom at the very least.

Otto watched as Russell's face bore itself into a grimace at the sight of the source of this voice, his eyes narrowed at her appearance and so Otto's own gaze followed his stare.

Standing nought but more then a few paces from the entrance was a shorter purple haired woman flanked by a knight of a much larger stature with hair of a similar colour.

It did not take Otto even more then a second to recognize them, the two were incredibly famous, and it seemed the room was of a similar mind as even the clerks had stopped their drudgery of noise making to allow a veil of silence to envelop the room.

But Otto did not let the shock of meeting Anastasia Hoshin, one of the leading candidates in the Royal Selection, and Julius Juuklius, the finest of knights dumbfound him; Otto may have generally poor luck but he was still a merchant, and a fairly smart one at that.

"F-Fellow-sama and I were discussing how long I'd have to work to pay off my debt…."

The words may have gotten caught in his mouth due to the sheer amount of pressure and anxiety currently plaguing him, but he had a bet to make, a bet to save his future.

If Anastasia Hoshin came here looking for him and Russell Fellows was seemingly unhappy to see her then he could only hope for one thing…..

"Ohhhhhh now that could cause some problems for us, wouldn't ya say so Julius?"

Anastasia turned to face Julius as she posed this question, placing a finger on her chin and tilting her head as she asked it.

Julius in turn made sure to face Anastasia before he began to speak, but his voice was projected to be far louder then what was necessary for her to hear, he projected as if it were his goal to fill the entire hall with his words.

"Yes Anastasia-sama, it is unlikely that Otto would be able to be of any use to you should he be forced to toil his days away as an indentured servant, in fact his lack of assistance could pose to be quite the troubling matter for your selection campaign."

With Julius' calm words the room reached a new level of silence, like every single person collectively held their breath at exactly the same time, you could hear a pin drop at this point as the prospect of the person representing the forefront of Lugunican business interests losing the election due to the kingdoms own merchant guild was brought up.

The tension in the air was so thick that one could probably cut it with a knife if they tried, and when the tension peaked is exactly when Anastasia decided to make her move by applying pressure to the very knife she had just prepared against Russell Fellow's throat.

"Russell-kun what do you say to the Hoshin company purchasing Otto-kun's debt, you get your money and we get the assistance we require from him? That should be the perfect offer for you, unless Russell-kun has another reason for wanting slaves?"

Anastasia's voice on the outside appeared to have a completely innocent demeanor but if one were to see behind the façade, they would see her for the vixen she really was; she was clearly enjoying the disruption of whatever plan Russel Fellow had for Otto.

"I guess there really is no bargaining with Anastasia-sama, especially if we want to enjoy our operations after her coronation…Deal accepted…"

Russell Fellow grimaced as he said these words aloud, in complete contrast to how Anastasia beamed him with a smile before turning to Otto.

"Well Otto-kun, it appears you work for me now, and right now I would say that your help would be more then just a little important. So lets say depending on how things go will be what decides the length of your contract to pay off this debt that you now owe to us, at worst you'll get whatever Russel-kun demanded but at best it may only be for the duration of this job. So let's put our best foot forward and get to work!"

Anastasia then turned to leave the hall without even waiting for Otto's response.

"Y-Y-Yes!"

Was all Otto could sputter out as the relief of escaping a lifetime of certain indentured servitude overwhelmed him, only to be pushed away by the uneasiness and anxiety of a future that would be decided solely by the whims of someone he had never met before sank in. He had managed to better his situation as he could be free potentially as soon as this job that he was needed for was complete, but there was also the possibility of him being forced to work for the remainder of his healthy years.

However at this point there was nothing he could do anymore other then follow the two who had seemingly so easily changed his fate for him.

He scurried after them as they boarded an ornate ground dragon carriage, a carriage which set off at a brisk pace the second he was aboard.

"T-T-T-THANK YOU ANASTASIA-SAMA!" Otto found himself profusely bowing from where he stood in the centre of the carriage, a gesture that Anastasia only smirked at.

"As I said Otto-kun, the length of your term with us will depend on how helpful you prove, so how'bout we start with how you brought Natsuki-kun into the city."

Anastasia's eyes remained fixated on Otto as she waited him to begin, placing him in a spotlight that only made him more and more nervous.

However before he got the chance to respond Julius took the chance to cut in.

"You might want to sit down Otto; we are likely to begin accelerating soon in order to make the hearing on time."

Julius could not have been a second too late with his warning as the second the last of the words left his mouth as the carriage suddenly jerked as it accelerated to a rather high speed, one that was well above what was considered normal for travel within the city.

It was this jerk that caused Otto to lose his balance and fall forwards towards the two who sat nearly side by side on the opposing bench.

But luckily for Otto, and for Anastasia who was the one most liable to bear the brunt of the impact from him falling, two strong hands found their way onto Otto's shoulders to steady him.

"THANK YOU JULIUS-SAMA!"

Otto may have outwardly appeared to be ecstatically happy, but as he found himself being guided to his seat he could not help internally curse himself for his clumsiness there, he was already starting off poorly with the people who could literally bind him to chains for the next several decades if they felt so inclined.

"You're welcome, now that your seated could you begin to share the information requested by Anastasia-sama?"

Julius spoke in a calm and collected voice as Otto took the few seconds he needed to gather his thoughts, they were only asking for fragments of a story that he had already replayed in his head only mere moments ago, this meant that it did not take him long piece the words he needed togeather.

"I don't know anyone named Natsuki-kun… Unless you are talking about Flügel-san, that's at least what Pandora-san called him."

Otto then began to gesture to his own body as he started his physical description of who he knew as Flügel-san.

"Black spikey hair that comes down in front of his forehead, mean looking eyes, wears dark and worn clothing, accompanied by a blue eyed and platinum haired woman named Pandora-san….."

Otto then stopped as he watched the two processed the description he gave, he clasped his hands in front of himself in anticipation as the two looked to each other before turning back to face him.

Anastasia then spoke up in a voice that seemed slightly restrained, like she was still focused on processing some piece of information.

"Your description of Flügel seems to match who we know as Natsuki-kun, just we've never heard about this Pandora before, who is she? And what about Natsuki-kun, we know the Sword Saint has him but was he injured?"

There was a slight delay between Otto hearing the question and answering it, not because he needed the time to think of the answer but instead because he wanted to be as composed as possible, something that was hard to do given the circumstances that he had so rapidly found himself thrust into.

"He didn't have any physical injuries, it was like he was so exhausted and weak from something that he could barely stay conscious, like how someone is after being without food or water for a few days. Also it looked like he was covered in some kind of blood, but it did not look to be his own."

Otto then paused for a moment as he thought hard on how he might even attempt to describe someone as incomprehensible as Pandora.

"Pandora-san is difficult to describe if you haven't met her, she has this really calm demeanor about her, but her eyes, those eyes…"

Otto stopped once more as he wrapped his arms around himself and shivered a bit, the memory of looking into Pandora's eyes was still fresh and still sent chills through him.

"It's like she doesn't look at you like you are a real person, the stare from those calm and crystal blue eyes of hers make it seem like she see's you as something that isn't even alive, like you are just one large straw toy in the shape of a person….. But when she looks at Flügel-san errrrrr Natsuki-san it was completely different, only then were her eyes full of emotion."

Otto then stopped speaking as he watched Anastasia as she seemingly tossed the mental image of this person around in her head before she decided that she was ready for more.

"I guess we will just have to try to wring something out of Crusch at the hearing then….What happened to this 'Pandora', she didn't stick with you by the looks of it? Did she go with Natsuki-kun to the Astrea manor as well?"

Otto got a little bit more animated in the face of this question as it touched on the part of Pandora that confuddled his mind the most.

"THAT'S THE THING! SHE JUST VANISHED INTO THIN AIR A BIT OUTSIDE THE CITY! POOF. She said something about helping or saving Natsuki-san before she left, then just abandoned him to be saved by a stranger who had just picked them up on the side of the road."

Otto then made a gesture of a large bubble breaking apart as he watched and waited for the duo to take in this set of information that even he did not understand.

Hearing this a concerned look overcame Julius as his whole body tensed up while a more skeptical look overcame Anastasia's face as she sat there studying Otto intently before turning to look out the window.

"There has to be more to this then just disappearing Otto-kun, but it seems like we've arrived at the castle so I guess we will continue this discussion later."

The second the carriage came to a stop Julius disembarked almost instantly before turning to help Anastasia down, before they both turned to look at Otto with expecting eyes.

"H-Huh, you want me to come into the castle with you?!" Otto shouted out in an almost exasperated voice as he looked at the two unflinching faces of those standing before him, giving the only answer he needed to his question without even having to say a single word.

---

Everything hurt, she did not know if she could keep going, she wanted to give into the pain and just fall to the ground where hopefully she would be granted some respite.

But she could not due that, now of all times was the worst for Crusch Karsten to show even the tiniest hint of weakness.

The wound that had nearly severed her in half may have been mended by the greatest healer in the kingdom, but its severity ensured that not all of its effects had been dispelled so easily as the tear in her body had been; trauma that severe tends to be much more long lasting in ways that not even healing magic could fix.

An electrifying pain shot out from her core to all her extremities as she stood before the empty throne of the castle in a defiant pose, both her hands on the pommel of her sheathed sword, tip against the hard stone floor.

The pose produced quite the imposing image; however she wasn't doing this for the sake of intimidation, it was to keep her steady so that she did not just suddenly fall over when a wave of either pain or weakness slammed into her.

Her face felt hot, it radiated with warmth yet was so incredibly pale that it mimicked that of someone who suffered from poor nutrition, the occasional bead of sweat formed on her forehead and ran down the side of her face as she gritted her teeth in order to try and bare through it.

She felt a weakness in her knees as they began to slightly buckle, wavering under the weight of the task of allowing her to remain standing, but it was in this moment that she felt the warm breath of someone caress her ear as she heard the quietest of whispers.

"Crusch-sama, if you need a chair Ferri-chan can get one for you."

She wanted to accept his offer, she almost did accept, but she could not bring herself to sink that far, to admit defeat and surrender what little pride she had left.

To sit down in a chair and admit that she could no longer stand in front of the other candidates and the Council of Wise Men would be tantamount to admitting defeat and giving up the royal selection, she would show that she was no longer strong enough to do something as mundane as standing. Crusch Karsten may no longer be likely to win, but for the sake of those who died to get her where she currently stood, she would keep battling for victory all the way up to the very end.

It was because of this that Crusch did not give an audible response to Felix, she did not even turn to face him nor shake her head, all she did was draw her lips back to show him her bared teeth, an indication of her intention to continue the fight.

"Apologies for being late, I know that time is money and all that, but we truly got hung up on important business on the way here!"

Anastasia and Julius burst through the door with a grey-haired merchant following close behind while looking absolutely panic stricken. While Anastasia proceeded straight forward to take her place in the line of candidates that stood in a line before the empty throne, Julius stopped to bow gracefully as he entered the room with the merchant looked around rather frantically before doing so as well, just with his bow being vastly more rushed and less gracious in execution.

They then continued to walk before standing a bit behind Anastasia, completing the list of expected attendees at this hearing; the list consisting of Crusch Karsten and her knight Felix Argyll, Priscilla Barielle accompanied by Al, Felt and her knight Reinhard van Astrea, and finally Anastasia and her knight Julius.

This meant that they had one extra person in attendance and were missing a candidate, although said candidate was expected to be missing, however both of these things had to be addressed before the main topic at hand could be confronted.

The aged Lord Bordeaux stood up, his dominant eyebrows and bald head giving him a menacing appearance that was only amplified by the expensive regalia that adorned the ceremonial robes of the Council of Wise Men that he was garbed in.

"Before we begin this hearing, Anastasia-sama who is this person you have brought with you, it was explicitly stated that none other then the candidates and their respective knights were to attend, please justify his presence or we will have him thrown down the front steps this instant!"

Lord Bordeaux's voice was projected with an air of annoyance at the blatant disobedience of his instructions, the merchant visibly shrunk in stature and audibly gulped as he heard this, but Anastasia seemed completely unphased.

She stepped forward and gestured to the merchant who was shaking in his boots with one arm while facing Lord Bordeaux as she began to speak in a voice that showed that she was completely unaffected by Lord Bordeaux's attempted intimidation.

"This is Otto-kun, the newest employee of the Hoshin Trading Company, he's the one who brought Natsuki-kun back to the capital after the events detailed in Crusch's report. Since he seems to have some information regarding what happened I thought it might be beneficial to bring him with us."

Anastasia then turned her head to look at Otto as Julius gently prodded him in the side with his elbow, in that instant Otto dropped to the floor with his forehead pressed to the ground in a prostrate position.

"M-My deepest apologies for intruding Bordeaux-sama, my name is Otto Suwen and I hope that I can be of use!"

Otto's voice quivered with every word he quickly spoke under the immense pressure of being put on the spot in front of what could be considered some of the most important people in the entire kingdom.

"Anastasia-sama, this is still completely unacceptable! You cannot just bring outsiders into closed meetings, Commander Marcos!"

Lord Bordeaux completely ignored Otto as he spoke directly to Anastasia before summoning the massive green haired man clad in a full suit of steel armour that commanded every royal knight and guard across the entire kingdom.

But before Commander Marcos could even take a single step towards Otto he stopped upon noticing an elderly hand on the shoulder of Lord Bordeaux.

"Bordeaux-dono, I don't think we can possibly throw out this young man after he has shown such excellent manners."

Lord Miklotov spoke in a voice that cracked with age yet was tinted with a gentle kindness as he looked not at Lord Bordeaux but instead at Otto.

"If that is your wish, Miklotov-sama."

Lord Bordeaux then looked towards Marcos as he relaxed his body and removed his hand from his sheathed sword. While this happened, Otto stood up and gave one final bow towards Lord Miklotov, who smiled in return, before he returned to his place beside Julius.

"Let us move onto the next topic then, I'm sure you've all noticed that the fifth candidate, Emilia-sama is missing from among your ranks. I am also certain that you have all read the report detailing the successful subjugation of the White Whale at the hands of a force led by Crusch-sama. Within this report it details the actions of an individual who called himself Hector, an individual who carried a title similar to that of the Witch of Envy, being referred to as the Warlock of Melancholy by none other then Margrave Roswaal L Mathers himself."

Lord Bordeaux then paused for a moment as the whole room grew tense with the mention of the Jealous Witch, but he did not stop for long before continuing.

"It is this individual that the hearing will focus on, he currently stands convicted of slaying the Margrave, a man important to this nation and member of this royal court as the head of the court magicians, a horrid crime that carries with it the punishment of death should he be deemed guilty. Alongside this it is assumed that he is the reason that Emilia-sama, the fifth candidate that has not been heard from since she departed the capital with her sponsor the margrave. After murdering the Margrave, Hector was reportedly seen moving towards that village that the margrave was seemingly protecting, a place that Emilia was likely residing in as her sponsor engaged in battle. Although we can only hope for her continued good health, we cannot help but assume the worst, that she too met her end at the hands of the menace that slayed the great magician that was Roswaal L Mathers."

Lord Bordeaux then paused to allow everyone to take this in before he continued once again, a few gasps could be heard around the room at the mention of the death of Roswaal. It is unlikely that many would have particularly cared about Emilia being killed however due to the view the court held regarding silver haired half elves, if anything it mattered more to them that a selection candidate in general was believed to have been killed rather then the fact that the candidate was Emilia herself.

"Therefore we have decided to hold this hearing for a dual purpose, we wish for Crusch-sama to shed further light on the events detailed by her report, as well as to decide the fate of this man who calls himself the Warlock of Melancholy. We wholeheartedly believe that he may have the potential to become a much greater threat to this kingdom then the whale ever was. So if you please Crusch-sama, you may begin."

Lord Bordeaux nodded slightly towards Crusch as he said this before taking a half step back so he stood shoulder to shoulder with Lord Miklotov, yielding the focus of the room to Crusch, an act of kindess that meant that she did not have to step forward to achieve the same effect.

"I'd like to paint Hector as some kind of incomprehensible monster, and well that could be true, its also true that Felix and I wouldn't be standing here if it weren't for his intervention. We departed the city on our hunt for the whale with Natsuki Subaru but by the time we had met Margrave Mathers it was Hector who was with as seemingly through Natsuki Subaru's body. Margrave Mathers recognized him instantly, but the rest of us did not clue into it until he coined the term that you heard before, Warlock of Melancholy. The two managed to find a time to converse in the middle of the battlefield that resulted in us all being caught of guard by how upset and angry Margrave Mathers seemed to be at the sight of him, and how nonchalant Hector was about the whole situation, he did not have the slightest bit of fear regarding Mathers anger. In fact it seemed like the two had a history, Mathers claimed that he had met Hector 400 years ago….."

Crusch's voice began to trail off as she realized that her story had reached the point where it had begun to seem ridiculous, something that was not unfounded based on the muttering that instantly broke out around the room.

"Crusch-sama, forgive me for saying this but are you sure your memories were not affected by a head injury? It's common knowledge that Roswaal L Mathers was nearing his 30th birthday, to claim that has been alive for 400 years is simply preposterous!"

Lord Bordeaux called out in a voice that was slightly angry to give the impression that he was chastising Crusch for saying something so ridiculous, however Felix did not take these accusations towards his master so well.

"Why would you say such a thing like that about Crusch-sama! Ferri-chan heard exactly the same thing, it was certainly a surprise to find out that Hector was not just something made up by Subaru-kyun's delusions but an actual person…."

Even though Felix was defending her it still bothered Crusch that he was willing to speak to one of the wise men in such a tone, prompting her to intervene against the one who had initially intervened on her behalf.

"Felix! Such a tone is not appropriate here!""

Crusch then turned to face the enraged lord and tried to bow her head in apology, however as she tried to bend in order to give a more formal bow an even greater surge of pain coursed through her causing her to audibly gasp.

"Hrrrrrrh"

Which in turn resulted in Felix returning all of his attention to her as he was forced to watch her struggle with the pain the still crippled her, pain from the remaining damage that he was not capable of healing.

"Can though cease to waste mine valuable time? Mine venerable self came here on a whim in an effort to add some entertainment to the day. Although I must say that watching the crippled and disgraced noble who so desperately tries to maintain a shred of dignity nearly fall over, a result of the failures of this healer who claims greatness so far above his abilities when he can't even provide his master a shred of relief is at least good enough to pass the time. However it's just a trivial sideshow that has become boring whilst distracting from the main event, now either move on or mine self will leave in search of a better distraction from boredom."

Priscilla spoke in her normal condescending voice while fanning herself in such a way as to cover the lower half of her face, her words may have been inflammatory but in the end not a single person in the room was at all surprised with what she said.

The results of this however was that both Felix and Crusch were glaring at her with such intensity as if they were trying to fire a laser from their eyes and burn holes through her fan and face behind it.

Felix had at this point moved beside Crusch and used his body to help her right herself, a position he remained in, in order to help her stand; something she reluctantly gave into and allowed by wrapping one of her arms around his shoulders.

"Priscilla Barielle, Ferris has done his best and far exceeded what could be expected from any healer in this kingdom. He has reduced mortal wounds that should have killed me mere moments after I sustained them to ones that will heal given enough time, I am completely and thoroughly satisfied with the treatment I have received from him up to and including this point. What you have said is nothing short of demining and ignorant of the feats he has achieved."

Crusch spoke in the most confident and defiant voice she could manage in the defence of Felix, something that she could immediately tell he appreciated when he heard him quietly mumble her name with a volume so low that nobody could hear it besides her.

"Ohh so you're alright with mediocrity, have you sunk down to the ranks of the commoners and taken the idea of being content with half measures, do you no longer wish to see others strive for even higher stations like mine self does?"

Priscilla fired another jest towards Crusch but it seemed Lord Bordeaux had slowly been growing more and more irate at the sight of what was going on in front of him and decided to put an end to it, even if his interruption had been the spark that had set everything off to begin with.

"Priscilla-sama, these comments are uncalled for so I must ask you to stop or otherwise leave the premise if you intend to disrupt the meeting further."

Lord Bordeaux spoke in a voice that was rough and firm, yet Priscilla did nothing more than raise a single eye at this.

"Ohhhh, so now you wish to pretend to be something more then common dirt and dare to stand before mine perfect self. Tell me what exactly I am interrupting? Do thou simply wish to walk through some false process in order to label the commoner who once served as my appa handler as a traitor and have the red haired brute over there hack his head off? Is mine presence a possible affront to such a scheme as vile and ill thought such as that, could it be that someone full of such false pretenses as thine self fears mine own nobility, fears mine ability to see though such thinly veiled lies that obscure your true desires? It should not really be hard for even the commoners in this room to realize that thou intends for no more investigation other then the meager amount to justify a guilty verdict."

For the first time in the meeting Priscilla lowered her fan and just stared at Lord Bordeaux, the fiery princess met his glare and overwhelmed him with the sheer pressure her aura was exerting to the point that he found himself speechless and forced to take a step back.

It took everyone else in the room a split second to realize that her knight had taken a step away from her as well, and it took them a second beyond that to realize that she was not smiling nor acting as if the whole ordeal was some source of entertainment. In that moment the Sun Princess showed a side of herself that perfectly fit the lineage she hailed from, that of the emperors of Vollachia.

The other two candidates in the room who had previously stayed silent up until now took this dominating silence created by Priscilla as an opportunity to make their own opinions heard.

"So this whole thing is just an opportunity for you to find a reason to kill Big Bro, after all he's done for you when he saved the city from those nasty cultists? If that creepy clown dude had been the one to kill him then we wouldn't have been going through all of this, its not the governments place to go into a private dispute like this."

Felt shouted up at Bordeaux and Miklotov with this statement before she turned to her knight Reinhard as he stood behind her, wincing slightly at her lack of decorum.

"Reinhard, I'm ordering you not to raise a hand to Big Bro if these two old geezers tell you to just because they don't like them, understood?"

This put Reinhard in a bit of a tough position where his priorities and obligations became muddled, as the Sword Saint it was his duty to obey the commands of the rulers of the kingdom in the name of its protection, which at the moment was the Council of Wise Men. However as the knight of Felt it was also his duty to obey her every command up until the conclusion of the selection.

The result of this conundrum is that Reinhard was left speechless, unsure of what to do until such a situation actually occurred where he could only hope that the correct choice presented itself.

"It really would be a shame if the public were to find out that their hero had been executed by their own rulers, wouldn't it Bordeaux? Everyone in this city knows that Natsuki-kun had saved them from the cultists, and it won't take long for word to spread that someone who is seemingly the same person as Natsuki-kun saved Crusch by slaying the whale. I couldn't possibly imagine what they might due if word were to slip out of exactly who it was that decided to kill such a hero of the common people."

The voice of Anastasia Hoshin then rang across the room as she delivered what essentially amounted to a threat directed at Lord Bordeaux himself, when she finished she let a smile sit on her face that ended up giving an impression that was far to menacing for what someone would imagine if they were to look at solely her physical appearence.

Seeing that he had somehow managed to unite three people who had previously been known to despise one another against himself, Lord Bordeaux could do nothing more then grimace as he stepped back, symbolizing his surrender in the battle that had been waged verbally between them all.

"If its seemingly so wrong to execute him then what do you believe I should do, Priscilla-sama?"

Although it was phrased as a question, Lord Bordeaux spat these words towards Priscilla in a way that made them more closely resemble a challenge then anything else.

Hearing this seemed to improve her mood at least slightly as she began to fan herself once again, dropping her imposing aura just ever so slightly.

"It's only natural that those who lack the ability to properly think would seek enlightenment from someone as learned as mine self, and mine self has decided purely for entertainments sake to grant thy the tiniest bit of guidance, thou need not even praise me for it."

Priscilla then turned and gestured to the duo of Crusch and Felix with her hand before doing the same to Otto, who seemed to visibly stiffen in the face of the gesture.

"This disgrace of a noble and her loyal yet incompetent servant have both witnessed the very event that thou is so interested in, the commoner then interacted with him for a time between then and now, is it really necessary for mine self to point out that thou should wring ever drop of information from them first before bringing the one in question up here and doing the same to him, afterwards thou shall be fit to deem if his head is still worth more upon his shoulders or beside them."

After so graciously bestowing this information upon the supposedly wise man of the council bearing the same name, Priscilla shifter her weight as she leaned back whilst crossing her arms, showing to the rest of those in the chamber that she was satisfied with simply watching from now on.

Lord Bordeaux did not look pleased to have been seemingly educated by someone less then a third his age, but he had been forced into a position where the only real option present to him was to accept the advice given, lest the situation devolve into one that could pose a more permanent threat to his power.

"Crusch-sama, please continue." Were the only words to escape his mouth as he looked down with closed eyes, accepting that he was no longer in sole control of the flow of events in this hearing any longer.

"To continue to drive home just how out of place Hector seemed to be in the modern day and age, he viewed an attack from the White Whale as nothing more then an annoyance, the White Whale itself as nothing more then a speed bump in his way before dealing with whatever business he had with Roswaal. The next main encounter of note with him was just after I had found myself in the whale's mouth, right after Wilhelm had fallen…"

It was at this point that Crusch found her voice falling as she looked towards Reinhard, the grandson of Wilhelm. What she saw was both surprising to her and not surprising at the same time, never before had she seen the indomitable Sword Saint look more beaten in his life.

Reinhard van Astrea's eyes had fallen down to stare only at the stone floor below his boots, the muscles in his face were tense, but this tension was unlikely to be anywhere near representing the turmoil that must be rising up within him.

Many of those in the room choose to ignore what they saw, for some it may have been out of politeness, others because they refused to see such weakness from the strongest man in the kingdom, finally some probably refused to look because they simply did not care in the slightest.

From what Crusch could see, Julius, Felix, and Felt looked at Reinhard with pain in their eyes, however of those three it was evident that only Felt did not know the true extent of why Reinhard's pain surpassed that of what could be considered normal for someone losing a family member.

She had only met Reinhard rather recently and so it was unlikely that she would have known the true extent of the unresolved tension between the Sword Saint and Demon, in fact it was entirely possible that she did not know about the gulf between them at all.

Crusch knew the true extent of the guilt and regret Wilhelm held for his behaviour regarding his grandson, how much pain he would feel in his heart from a mere glimpse of his grandson. Crusch knew how Wilhelm felt that he was completely undeserving of any form of reconciliation with his grandson that he had spurned and blamed so long ago.

But Crusch also knew that he had wished to try, that he would only attempt to do so after the White Whale had finally been slain, it would have been both a reward for himself and a final hurdle he would have to overcome at the end of his long and somewhat tragic life.

And now all who knew that also knew that it was a goal that would never be achieved, Wilhelm had fallen to the same beast that had claimed his wife's life, the same beast that had been the spark for the divide between him and his grandson. They all knew that Reinhard and Wilhelm had never gotten a chance to make up and that Reinhard's last major memory of his grandfather would be of when he had blamed him for what happened and declared him a murderer, the wounds made that day had not healed and now in all likelyhood never would.

Crusch cleared her voice before continuing in an effort to offer the Sword Saint the tiniest of distractions from his own emotional pain.

"Within the mouth of the White Whale Hector stood up unharmed, seemingly only annoyed at the fact he had to be inside such a thing, before he placed his hand against the Great Mabeast and killed it in a single hit, reducing its entire body to nothing more then chunks and shreds of flesh."

And it was then that you could hear a collective gasp echo across the room before a silence fell that was pure enough to allow one to hear the subtle clinking sound of a pin falling. It was a truly outrageous claim to make, for someone to slay the White Whale in a single strike like it was an afterthought was no trifling matter. It was a beast that had plagued the land since the time of the Great Calamity and claimed the lives of many great warriors including that of the previous Sword Saint before Reinhard.

"Afterwards I can only provide the words of my retainers and Felix as I had become incapacitated from the injuries I had sustained from both the Whale's initial attack and the subsequent fall after I was released from its maw. However I wholeheartedly believe that their word should be taken with as much seriousness and thought as my own."

Crusch then paused as she waited for Priscilla to butt in and make a comment about her overvaluing her own word or the like, but surprisingly enough nothing came from the princess as she simply stood back and continued to listen.

"Hector was seen falling from a great height only to land without showing signs pf sustaining even the slightest of injuries, before approaching Roswaal. The conversation between the two is something that has completely escaped both my own and the comprehension of even the most well read and learned in my house, only the smallest fragments of it line up with the records available to us. Before combat began between the two they both conversed about what sounded like the same person, a woman with the title Witch of Greed, Echidna; even more so both the Margrave and Hector spoke about wishing for her return to this world as it seemed that she had perished long ago. Roswaal declared himself to be a student of hers, calling himself by the name of his long dead ancestor, 'Roswaal A Mathers' before they initiated combat. Finally within this long winded introduction there was a reference to one more with the title of a sin, they spoke of someone who went by the name of 'Vainglory' but their mention was brief and devoid of further detail."

Crusch then stopped to let this information sink in a bit, she looked around the room only to see that the colour had drained from the faces of most of those in attendance, guards and members of the various selection camps alike, all but a few showed the true fear that was brought up by the mention of another with the title of 'Witch'.

"However just as with the White Whale, Hector did not seem to view the Margrave as much of a threat and from what it appeared like he was no match for this Warlock of Melancholy. The Margrave threw magical attacks that had never been seen by the likes of anyone present, producing devastation of an intensity that was neigh unimaginable to us, yet he could not do so much as scratch Hector. Hector ended the fight with a barrage of blows that shattered and eviscerated the already injured body of the Margrave until he lay on the ground on the verge of death. However after the fight and before the Margrave passed Hector was seen to kneel by his body and give what were believed to be parting words before he made his way to the ruins of the nearby village where we lost track of him."

Crusch had finished telling her tale and stopped inorder to surrender the floor to the next speaker, she watched as Lord Bordeaux opened his mouth as if to take the attention of the room only to be taken aback as Anastasia more or less rushed forward while nearly dragging Otto with her to take the rooms attention instead.

"I think this is where our Otto-kun can shed some light on the situation as well, now Otto-kun tell everyone here just what ya told Julius and I earlier, the more detail the better."

Anastasia then took a step or two back to leave Otto alone before the throne with all the candidates at his back, and with how he looked back you could very clearly tell that being put on the spot like this was not something he enjoyed.

"I-I was making my way back to the capital in an effort to sell some oil that I had left in my cart when I was flagged down by a woman and man standing on the side of the road, while the woman was standing at least, the man was flat out on his back unconscious. From what I understand the man is who you all know as Natsuki-san but the woman referred to him as 'Sensei Flügel', she asked for my help in order to bringing him to the capital and as I had room in the carriage I let them aboard. There really wasn't too much to say about the majority of the journey, just the woman talking to Natsuki-san while he was unconscious, she seemed concerned about his well being and that seemed fitting for the situation he was in so I didn't give it too much notice. However when we got closer to the city Natsuki-san started to drift in and out of consciousness and that's when things got weird, she started to mention things to him about plans already being in motion and how she would do her best to aide him but then she just vanished, like she was never there at all. I looked behind the cart to see if she had fallen off, but she was nowhere to be seen on the entire plain, but she also wasn't in the cart; she had just left this person she seemed to care a fair bit about with someone she had just met after telling him that she would save him, I don't really know how to describe it…."

Otto looked towards the ground as his face wrinkled up as he thought about what he should say next, something that was given to him when Lord Miklotov decided to speak up after being silent since the beginning of the hearing.

"I see it was a wise decision to let you stay, now how about you describe this woman a bit more, like her name, what she looked like, and if she left any impression on you."

Miklotov spoke in a voice that was just as kind as before, but it could be seen by how he looked at Otto with an intense gaze that the situation had changed as such to warrant every bit of attention he could muster, he was now giving off an air of cunning alongside that of the wisdom that was exuded by his age.

"Well to be quite frank she felt almost terrifying to be around, the way she looked at me with those ever calm, crystal blue eyes, it made me feel like she looked at me like I was nothing more then a straw toy that she could manipulate in any which way possible."

Crusch then briefly shifted her attention from Otto to Priscilla as she once again expected her to remark on how this woman had obviously manipulated him, but once again she was surprised to see Priscilla taking in every last detail that she could with a stone faced expression, totally captivated in the events being described before her.

"She called herself Pandora, and besides her eyes she had fair skin, wore what looked like a white cloth with a hole cut in it for a head, and hand long platinum coloured hair…."

"What!"

Everyone in the room then turned to face Crusch as she had unwittingly stammered out in surprise at the description Otto had given, everything from the voice to the clothing to the physical characteristics matched perfectly with the person she had encountered during the first subjugation attempt of the white whale.

"Do you know her by chance Crusch-sama?" Lord Miklotov now shifted his attention from Otto to her, his gaze bearing down intently.

"She matches the description of someone we encountered during our first subjugation attempt against the White Whale, what we experienced then matches the words of Otto Suwen. She arrived seemingly out of nowhere and then said something about needing the White Whale, disallowing us from slaying it, before she and the entire whale disappeared without a single trace."

The room then went quiet for a few moments as Otto made a hasty retreat from the centre of the room now that the spotlight was off him. Every single person was now carefully considering the information that they had been given, realizing that they may be involved in something far beyond just bad blood between two participants in the royal selection.

"So do we know if the Big Bro we have in the infirmary is actually Big Bro and not this Hector, if they even are different people?"

Felt posed this question to the room at large but none seemed to have an answer for her which resulted in the room falling into silence until Commander Marcos spoke up for the first time since anyone had entered the hall.

"Reinhard-sama, was he restrained to the bed in the infirmary after you brought him here?

There was the slightest hint of concern in Marcos' voice as he said this, likely brought on by all the talk of witches and warlocks, along with the mention that this individual could potentially be the one who killed the most powerful magic user in the kingdom like it was a mere afterthought.

"I did not Commander Marcos, I felt no malicious intent coming from him so I concluded that he could not possibly be the Hector mentioned in the report. As well the doctors at the Astrea manor concluded that even if he did wake up that he would still be fairly weak and out of it until he had at least a few days of bed rest so I thought such measures could only aggravate the situa….."

Reinhard's voice was cut off as a door to the chamber was suddenly flung open as a pair of guards were backstepping into the room with quivering spears pointed towards a man who just kept walking towards them, uncaring of the fact that he had sharpened weapons pointing right in his face.

When he entered it was like the very atmosphere of the room darkened due solely to the aura that surrounded him, he radiated nothing but sadness, depression, and an incomprehensibly deep melancholy.

The face of the man who entered was incredibly pale, to the extent that it made him look sickly, his eyes were surrounded by dark rings that gave off the impression that he was eternally exhausted and deprived of sleep. He walked towards them with his arms in the pockets of his dark coloured and well-worn jacket. The colour of his eyes no longer matched as they had when he had first come to the castle so long ago, one of them had been turned a putrid black colour that appeared unnatural compared to his other brown eye. His pointed hair that had once been a prominent feature had seemingly lost the will to continue to resist gravity and now hung down and covered part of his forward.

Natsuki Subaru had left the infirmary to join the candidates in the main hall.

"I have memories of this damn place, and they aren't in anyway happy, part of me had hoped that the cultists had levelled this horrid building to the ground so that I would never be forced to relive the pain of what happened here….."

Subaru said this as he stood still in the hall, turning to look at the architecture around him while ignoring both the candidates, and the guards who had rushed to surround him.

"Protect Lord Miklotov!" Shouted Lord Bordeaux as he pulled his compatriarte back and away from the intruder, at the very instant of his command being uttered Marcos had drawn his sword and entered the circle formed by the guards.

"Reinhard! This man is a threat to both the candidates and the Council of Wise Men, slay him where he stands!"

Marcos roared this command as he looked upon the intruder with pure determination in his eyes, but to his surprise Subaru was not annihilated instantly, because Reinhard did not attempt to draw the dragon sword.

"Glad to see your feeling better Subaru, I'm sorry that everyone is a bit on edge, but to say they are afraid of you would be an understatement right now."

Reinhard spoke in a kind and friendly voice as he entered the circle to walk towards Subaru with a nonchalant and open demeanor, like he was welcoming him into his home instead of the current situation.

"To say being in this situation makes me feel anything other then depressed at the idea that I am now seen as nothing but a monster due to the actions of others is truly upsetting, Reinhard….."

Subaru turned his whole body so that he directly faced Reinhard as they had a conversation amidst the circle of soldiers, all of whom looked at their Sword Saint in complete disbelief as he both defied orders from the knight commander and conversed with someone who had been made out as a complete monster.

"I don't like to see my friend be treated like this either, maybe if you'd be willing to sit down and talk things over with everyone it would put their minds at ease, a trade of sorts to make everyone feel just a bit better of the situation they've found themselves in."

Whether it was due to cunning, luck, or some form of divine protection that had been granted to him Reinhard van Astrea ended up saying the key set of words for negotiating with Natsuki Subaru, the mention of an equal trade were nobody stood to benefit anymore then another.

Subaru stood still as he seemingly contemplated the offer he had been given before coming to a conclusion.

"Sure, although it pains me to have to defend myself without having committed a crime, I still remember being helped by you at the loot house, although the sense of inferiority I felt at the sight of your power remains a depressing thought….."

Subaru hung his head as he recalled one of the earliest memories that he had of this world, one that reminded him of how truly insignificant he was in the face of the insurmountable strength of the Sword Saint, Reinhard van Astrea.

"I'm not so strong that you should feel insignificant beside me, and I am still immensely grateful for that moment as I would not have found Felt-sama had it not happened, I believe it would be fair to say that we are more or less even on that front Subaru."

Reinhard then turned towards the guard nearest to him and gently pushed his spear downwards with one hand before projecting his voice to all the guardsmen that could hear him.

"I think that we would be more productive if we had just a bit more space, don't you agree Commander Marcos?"

Marcos did not respond with anything more then a grunt as he kept his eyes fixed on Subaru, however he did lower his blade and take a few steps back, a gesture that the rest of the guards mimicked.

"Let's just get this annoying farce over with then…" Subaru muttered as he crossed his arms and stood there waiting for someone else to take the initiative in the conversation.

"What happened to you big bro…" Felt muttered in a volume that was probably not meant to be heard yet Subaru managed to hear it nonetheless.

"I am the victim of others manipulations, forced onto a path I neither wished for nor wanted, used as a tool then discarded when others decided I was no longer needed. It's annoying, its irritating, its depressing to have no agency over my own future, I hate it, I despise it, it depresses me so much….."

Subaru looked at Felt with eyes that were devoid of joy and spoke in a tone fitting his gaze, leading to Felt looking towards the ground while saying 'Ah" as she knew all too well what he was going through.

Subaru at this point almost perfectly fit a stereotype of the slumdwellers to the tee, someone downcast on life after it had chewed them up and spit them out, someone who no longer believe that things could get any better for them, someone who had given up.

It was a painful sight to see when she compared it to the Subaru she had last known, the one who she had met in the slums and had fought the bowel hunter simply because it was the only option for his survival, even if his chances of winning were poor. He had once perfectly fit the motto of "live strong", he once had but now no longer.

"Are you actually Natsuki Subaru or are you Hector simply masquerading as him?"

Crusch called out to Suabru as she stood beside Felix, relying more and more on him to simply continue to stand as time went on, something that was evident in the sharp pain tainting her voice.

"Hector, Hector, HectorHectorHectorHectorHectorHectorHectorHectorHectorHectorHectorHectorHectorHectorHectorHectorHectorHectorHectorHectorHectorHectorHectorHectorHectorHectorHectorHectorHectorHectorHector, I hate that name, I so thoroughly wish I would never have to hear it again. He used me and cast me out once he got what he wanted, once he was reunited with that wretched witch of his. There's so much melancholy in it all, melancholy in being used by someone that claimed they would help me, the only redeeming factor in it all is that he finally got what was coming for him, but knowing that I will never be able to get payback against him….."

Subaru seemingly grew absolutely incensed at the mere mention of Hector's name, although his voice remined low and devoid of anything other then melancholy one could tell that it truly bothered him by the amount of lunacy it seemingly drew out of him.

"Who killed him then if he is dead like you say he is?"

Crusch however seemed unphased by this as she decided to press the issue further and ask a second question on the same topic as the first.

"The fact that you don't trust my word is irritating, to be forced to go through the effort of explaining things that are unnecessary is in itself depressing. In the effort of getting this over with all I will say is that I saw his lifeless body hit the ground and when I woke up I was alone without any trace of him with the sole exception of the reward I was promised for aiding him."

The irritation in Subaru's voice was beginning to grow after having to have even the smallest of back and forths over one of these questions leading Crusch decided to cut it short even if there were so many loose ends out of fear that he might straight up explode into a torrent of violence that she had witnessed firsthand.

"What do thy intend to do now that thou are no longer mere common rabble, what is it that thy intend to achieve with the power that they now so obviously hold?"

Priscilla spoke up while walking into the circle of guard to join Subaru and Reinhard, staring intently at Subaru as he turned to face her and look her right in the eye.

"Die, this world is just too sad and depressing to keep enduring but my homeland is just as bad, I just wish that I could die die die diediediediediediediediediediediediediediediediediediediediediediediediediediediediediediediediediedie but its just so fucking sad that the goddamn witch just brings me ba…"

Subaru then collapsed to the ground clutching his chest as his face began to contort in what seemed like an unimaginable amount of pain. Seeing this Priscilla just continued to watch him without showing the tiniest hint of concern nor care, however she did seem to be at least entertained and even going as far as to have taken an interest in the events going on before her.

"Subaru, are you okay?"

While everyone excluding Priscilla was seemingly held back by the sudden shock of what was going on Reinhard knelt down beside Subaru who was now near crumpled into the fetal position on the ground still clutching his chest. However it was not until then that Reinhard could hear the crying, Subaru was laying on the ground crying while muttering some lamentation between the bouts of tears.

"I just hate this so much, why'd it have to happen to me…what did I do to deserve being tortured like this…I was so excited at first but now I know that nothing will ever truly get better until I die for good….."

Its unknown how long it took the others to recover from the shock of what he had said and what they had seen, but there was one of the candidates who still had an agenda that they wished to further during this meeting.

"So I think we can all agree that Natsuki-kun doesn't really seem to be a threat to the kingdom while he's in a state like this, so maybe we should discuss what's going to happen to him next, I doubt it's the best even for him ta keep living alone in that rundown apartment of his."

Anastasia then looked to the faces of each of the major players standing in the room, Crusch had a look of shell shock on her face that bordered on terror, maybe it was the way he spoke, maybe it was the mental instability he radiated, maybe it was the few memories she had of the monster he seemed so similar to, but what was certain is that she clearly did not want to be anywhere near him

Anastasia then turned to face Priscilla who seemed to notice that she was being stared at and turned to lock eyes with the kararagian merchant.

"Mine self was gracious enough to lend an ear to him, I have decided that giving further charity to someone so clearly uncaring about what goes on around them is pointless."

Priscilla then crossed her arms underneath her chest and walked out of the hall with Al following close behind, his own emotions completely veiled by the steel helmet covering his face with the sole exception of how his vision seemingly stuck to the boy he barely knew for just a second longer then expected.

Anastasia's gaze then found itself on Felt who had continued to stand just outside the circle of guardsmen surrounding Reinhard and Subaru. She appeared incredibly torn as if she was seemingly being led in two different directions by two different options in a difficult decision. She kept up a silent front, not even managing to return Anastasia's gaze, a silence that continued until Reinhard once again spoke up.

"Felt-sama, could we possibly take Subaru in, in a more permanent manner, it hurts to imagine what he could end up doing if he was left completely alone and to his own devices for too long right now….."

Reinhard looked up at Felt as he still remained kneeling on the ground by his friend's side, it was obvious that he wanted to help him, but Felt's torn and undecided demeanor had not changed in the slightest in the face of this appeal.

"I want to help him Rein, I really do… It's just that I can't help but shake this really bad feeling when I look at him, its like something really bad is going to happen if we get too involved with him….. I-I'm sorry Rein but I guess I just can't agree to taking him in even if I do want to help him…."

Felt's voice sounded sad and upset as she lowered her gaze from Reinhard and Subaru towards the floor, a motion that was mimicked by Reinhard after a short "I see" escaped his mouth.

"So then if nobody wants to look after Natsuki-kun for a bit then nobody would object if my camp took care of him until he gets his feet back under him. There's still some stuff I wanted to discuss with him anyways, so it isn't like he'd be racking up some imaginary debt while he recovered."

Anastasia then turned to face Lord Bordeaux and Lord Milotov who were standing about as far away as they could from Subaru and the Sword Saint, their faces both at least a few shades paler then what they were when the meeting started.

"Just keep him outside the city for a bit while you do." Was all Lord Bordeaux mumbled to her before he and Lord Miklotov departed the throne room.

Anastasia then turned behind her to flash her two subordinates with an almost excited smile as she called out to them.

"Do ya hear that Julius and Otto-kun, its time for all of us to go on a little work trip once Natsuki-kun is ready to head out."

Hearing this Julius' entire body tensed up as the anxiety of having to somehow find a way to protect his lady from a berserk Subaru who may or may not still be capable of killing things as powerful as the White Whale.

In comparison to Julius, Otto's reaction was vastly tamer as he just stood there with a dazed look on his face, questioning his life decisions that had led him to being placed in a situation like this.

Needless to say it was solely Anastasia who seemed at all excited about this, even Subaru was still crying on the floor while lamenting over how he was still alive in a world that he despised.

---

She felt herself falling from where she had been before, descending from a place that felt high in the sky as one piece of herself, moving towards what felt like another portion of her own being. They had been separated for so long, a separation brought about by the desire of part of her to feel useful and prove that she was more then a mere doll, and a separation ended by her failure to overcome the obstacles that entrenched her in that very mindset.

It did not take long for the feelings of breezes, grass, cloth and skin to be replaced by something that was cold and hard. It did not yield nor feel like it was melting like the ice she had known in the forest, nor did it feel like the frigid snow that had been whirled around in the blizzard she had just escaped from mere moments ago.

Whatever it was, it was cold enough to take what little heat remained in her body away from her, hard enough that the intricate carvings etched into it were digging into and imprinting upon the soft skin of her hands, face, and legs.

It was a situation that was by no means comfortable, so uncomfortable in fact that it made her want to stand up if only to find a place more suited to giving up and surrendering to the sense of overwhelming despair that had descended with her back to her body.

Her eyes slowly cracked there way open to gaze upon the inside of the tomb, the place she had gone to attempt her first trial in order to liberate the sanctuary, but she had not liberated them. They had gone out on a limb to place their faith in her even though she had only shown them how useless and incompetent she was. It had been an opportunity to redeem herself, an opportunity that she had squandered.

Emilia knew that she had failed the trial, she knew that she would now have to go outside and walk past Garfiel and anyone else who had bothered to wait for her to finish, anyone who had enough faith in her to wait for the faint hope of hearing that she had passed and that they were now free.

She would have to tell them all that she failed and see that faint glimmer of hope fall away as they saw her for what she truly was, a useless doll who had condemned them all to die yet was too incompetent to save them no matter how much she might want to.

She knew that she had to face them eventually, that the trial had ended and that they would be expecting her to leave the tomb soon, but she was not ready, not anywhere near prepared to face them.

Images of all the people she had seen flashed through her mind, the woman she felt hatred for, the man who felt familiar dying on the floor, the woman who looked so heart broken when she could not recall her name.

She saw them all, she saw them all either kill or be killed, she had met them all before yet for the life of her she could not remember where or when.

She pulled her legs close to her body as her mind raced back, going through every little detail of the trial, doing its best to try and make sense of the incomprehensible mess that she had forced herself to endure, but nothing helped her even in the slightest.

She could not even remember things that should have been major events of her life, she strained herself so hard to find what these things meant that she soon found the trial fall out of her mind entirely as something rose up within her and flung it into the abyss of the depression that dominated her heart.

It spoke to her in a voice that matched her own perfectly.

"Your useless" it cried.

"The greatest gift you could have given this world would have been to never be born!" it shouted.

"Even the simplest things are completely beyond you…" it lamented.

Emilia felt her eyes grow moist as tiny tears began to form where they ran down her face before falling to the stone floor, she gripped her legs tighter and tighter as she tried to make herself as small as she could, maybe if she could become tiny enough the world would forget about her stop forcing her to suffer.

"That's not an expression that suits your pretty face Emilia-tan."

But she was suddenly pulled back to the world when he heard a voice call out from behind her, a voice that she remembered well, a voice that she had not heard speaking in a happy tone for what seemed like a very long time. The voice sounded kind yet at the same time it sounded upset, upset at how it had to see her in such a state.

The owner of the voice was Natsuki Subaru.

"Why are you here Subaru…you hate me for abandoning you, remember." Emilia spoke to Subaru without turning to face him , her voice muffled and tainted by the depression that was threatening to consume her.

"Me hate Emilia-tan, impossible; if I ever felt like I hated you then I deserve to be beaten senseless with a stick, Emilia-tan is too lovely to ever hate!"

Emilia could tell that Subaru was probably doing some kind of exaggerated hand gestures as he spoke by the way the source and pitch of his voice were changing, she wanted to turn around to see it, to be reminded of all the happy and fun times before everything had turned bad, the times when she had gotten to laugh and giggle at the sight of gestures like that.

Part of her urged her not to, telling her that it would only make her feel worse to see him, she would only be reminded of all the pain she had caused everyone, but in the end, she had to. Even if it made no sense for him to be here whatsoever she wanted to see him happy, to see him happy to be around her, he was one of the few who ever had been and she missed it now that it was gone.

She slowly pushed herself up from the ground so that she was standing on her own two feet, running her hands up the sides of her face so that they were at her eyes, she could feel the marks in her skin left by the engravings on the brick, they were probably angry and red, making her look even more horrid then she already did.

Emilia wiped the tears away from her face before turning to face the source of the voice.

"EMILIA-TAN IS GRACING ME WITH A SIGHT OF HER FACE, MY HEART CAN'T TAKE IT, TRULY EMT!" Subaru swooned over her as he clasped his chest with both hands, right where his heart would be.

He looked so happy with the big smile on his face, he was even dressed in his characteristic track suit that he had been wearing ever since she had first met him in the capital. In fact everything about him looked just like she had remembered, the front of his spikey black hair was still pulled up and off his forehead. Both of his mean looking eyes were still their natural brown colour, both still appeared to be full of the joys of life, both still radiated happiness as they looked right at her.

The Subaru standing right in front of her was a complete spitting image of the one that had arrived at the mansion so long ago, right down to the tiniest detail he perfectly resembled how she preferred to remember him, and that's why Emilia had to say what she said next.

"You're not real are you Subaru, you hate me and wouldn't possible say all those nice things to me anymore…."

The sadness that had been ever so slightly abated by being able to see him once more began to slowly creep up on her, but Subaru was not yet finished with whatever antics he was up to.

"Huh, Not real? It would really suck to find out I wasn't real all of a sudden..."

Subaru then raised one of his hands to his cheek and pinched himself.

"Ouuch! That hurt Emilia-tan, but it shows that I'm real! In all the movies and TV shows If someone isn't real they don't feel pain when they pinch themselves, but it hurt, it really hurt!"

Subaru then proceeded to really exaggerate the pain he was in from this tiny pinch he had given himself, but the effect of this is exactly the opposite of what he had wished for.

"You just came back and I'm already putting you through so much pain again….. I'm sorry Subaru…."

Emilia's head began to tilt downward as her eyes looked towards her feet.

"Noooooo, No, No, No, No, it was a joke Emilia-tan, a joke, don't be sad…. There is still someone who gets really upset when they see you suffer like this….."

Initially Subaru seemed like he was going to reach for Emilia's shoulder but then it was like he decided against it as he rescinded his hand and stepped back to recreate distance between them, his voice then following a similar arc as Emilia's with its descent into sadness.

"I know you're not real Subaru, I'm either imagining you or your someone pretending to be him, either way lying won't make me feel any better….."

With these words that Emilia delivered to Subaru he furrowed his brow as he looked off to the side, seemingly considering whether he should do something or not.

"E-Echidna-chan is already going to be r-really mad at me for doing t-this, I just hope she doesn't hurt me. I-I didn't mean to t-trick you Emilia-chan, y-you seeing me as s-someone e-else is y-your own d-doing t-though."

The voice that spoke to Emilia was nothing like Subaru's, it was feminine and both sounded fairly meek and timid, the complete anthesis of what Emilia remembered. It was this sudden change in the voice speaking to her that made Emilia look up from the ground to see who was now standing in front of her.

She looked like a young woman with light pink hair and blood red eyes that reminded Emilia of those of another candidate, Priscilla Barielle. However unlike her fellow royal selection candidate, this woman wore baggy clothing that completely shrouded and obscured her figure, leaving no skin exposed but her hands and her face.

"I don't know why I would see Subaru of all people here after he told me how much he hated me, how he didn't care if I died, why would I see him when you were trying to help me…"

Emilia's gaze seemed to settle on the pink haired woman standing before her, the stare produced by her empty eyes that had long lost the glint of life's joys seemed to make the woman uncomfortable, it made her fidget and shift in place as her own eyes darted around the room.

"P-People tend to see me as s-someone that they cared about or as someone w-who was i-important to them. I-It's why I w-was asked t-to come and h-help you, s-she t-thought I c-could get you to stand u-up and k-keep going; I-I only agreed b-because I-I couldn't stand to s-see her s-suffer because o-of the l-love she h-had for y-you, i-it really hurts her to s-see you so d-depressed."

Emilia really did not know what to make of the words the woman said to her, she did not want to believe that there was still someone out there who loved her, who cared enough about her to feel hurt at the sight of her suffering, but in the end it seemed this person had gotten what she wanted as Emilia was now on her feet once again.

"I don't know what to say to that, I don't think I can believe that there is someone who actually loves me like that anymore….But I guess I should say thank you to them, and thank you to you as well, I guess in the end I am standing again…"

Emilia then paused for a second as she thought about what to say next, perhaps sensing this the woman took the time to look back towards Emilia while she was looking away from her.

"Could you tell me your name, and could you tell me more about her, I realllly want to know about this person, I'm starting to feel this warm feeling in my chest when you mention them."

And it was true, the second this pink haired woman had mentioned that there was someone out there who loved her Emilia felt something grip her heart, a warm and fuzzy feeling rising to combat the cold sadness that had previously engulfed it. But perhaps this was not the best thing to say to this pink haired woman as she seemed to become rather frantic when Emilia said this, she began to slowly shuffle her way towards the open stone door, the door that had most certainly been closed when Emilia had initially arrived in this room before the trial, the door that this woman had most certainly originated from behind.

"I-If you're starting to feel that way then it m-means I-I've been h-here too long, s-she'll be very u-upset with m-me if I-I reveal anything a-about her, j-just know that she loves you and if y-you ever f-feel alone, k-know that s-she's up there c-cheering you on."

Before Emilia could say anything the woman had scurried behind the stone door and seemed prepared to close it behind her when she stuck her head back out.

"T-This'll p-probably make E-Echidna-chan e-even more c-cross with me, b-but my name is Carmilla, the W-Witch of L-Lust."

And with that Carmilla closed the stone door behind her and completely disappeared from view, leaving Emilia alone in the tomb.

"Thank you Carmilla… and I guess thank you as well to whoever's looking down on me from up there…" Emilia said as she simply stood there looking at the sealed stone door that the Witch of Lust had disappeared behind before turning to look up towards the ceiling.

"I hope Echidna isn't too upset with Carmilla, I don't want more people to have to suffer because of me…."

Emilia then turned to face the exit to the tomb and began to slowly walk out, she may still have completely despised herself but knowing that there was someone out there that cared about her made her heart feel just the slightest bit lighter. It was now light enough to keep moving forward, even if it was only for the sake of easing the suffering she had placed upon this unknown person who dwelt far above.