Chapter 5: Straight Bet

It was almost noon at the Karsten estate, and inside her office, all the green-haired Royal Candidate could think of was how she and her Camp royally fucked up.

According to the Dragon Tablet, the person who was beaten by one of their own Royal Guards, the person she let down so horribly and insulted, was none other than the Great Sage.

Now, there was only one question for Crusch Karsten: Why?

Why would he go to such great lengths to hide his identity? Why would he make a fool of himself and let himself get beaten to a pulp? Why would he act like a madman when he begged her to eliminate the Witch Cult when he could have done it so easily?

Then, an answer dawned on her.

This was a test.

The Great Sage was known to be someone of great intellect and status. And from what Felix reported, he was someone who wielded powers beyond anyone's wildest imaginations. Everyone would try to earn his favor, even the most undeserving.

So, of course he would disguise himself. He even decided to work for the Royal Candidate with the biggest disadvantage, to see how people would treat him.

He even gave each Royal Candidate a chance to boost their standing in the Royal Selection, in the form of killing a Sin Archbishop, and each one of them turned him down horribly, something that would cause any normal person to be infuriated.

Crusch started to wonder if the White Whale's death was merely him giving off a warning shot.

At this point, she didn't even care about the insults he threw at her Camp, or the fact that he stole one of their ground dragons, hell, he could keep it for all she cared. If it meant not having to go up against a monster like Subaru Natsuki, then so be it.

The cabin door swung open, and out came Subaru, with a smile plastered on his face.

"Did it work?" asked Otto.

"Like a charm."

The 'charm' Subaru was referring to was the bet he just made with Roswaal, betting both of their dreams on the line. The conditions were as follows: If Subaru was able to save both the Sanctuary and the mansion in this loop, then Roswaal would throw away his book, and devote himself to making Emilia queen, just like Subaru.

Of course, Roswaal wouldn't just sit back and let everything happen. He would also participate, fulfilling the instructions left to him by his teacher. After all, he was still quite upset with the stunt Subaru pulled, using that "Dominate" spell.

"Ar' right, what's the next part?" asked Garfiel.

"Roswaal is going to play all of his cards, so we need to get rid of as many of them as possible. We need to convince Ram to help us."

"That sounds like a plan," nodded Ryuzu.

"Great. Otto, you're with me. Garfiel, find Ram, and when you do, meet us by the village. Ryuzu-san, could you please check up on Emilia-tan for me?" asked Subaru.

"Anything for the savior of the Sanctuary."

"I'm not the savior of this place yet, so I'm just asking as a friend."

"That works too," Ryuzu said, before heading off.

Inside Anastasia Hoshin's mind, the gears were turning.

She had wondered what the Great Sage was thinking, getting beaten and tricked like that. But the more she thought of it, the more she realized that it was a trap.

It was a trap to see what kind of people were in her Camp.

It was her knight that beat the ever-living hell out of Subaru Natsuki. And it was the merchant princess herself that tricked him and made fun of him. They were the architects of their own demise, this reveal that he was the Great Sage was just the catalyst.

She could imagine it now: The citizens would know that it was her who tricked one of the three Heroes, and the Hoshin Trading Company would go out of business because of it, while the Juukulius household would be offered up on a silver platter in an attempt of forgiveness.

Why? Why did she trick him? Because he seemed like an easy target?

As the gears in her mind kept turning, another gulp of alcohol went down her throat.

Once more, Emilia woke up inside the bed in her cabin, looking around Subaru was nowhere to be seen.

Subaru, you liar.

"Hey, now, he may be a liar, but he does care about your well-being at heart."

Looking up, Emilia could see her contracted Spirit. "Oh, good morning Puck."

"For now, at least," Puck whispered to himself.

"Huh?"

"Listen," he continued, scratching his head. "There's something important I need to do, and I'll be gone for a while. Maybe even for the rest of your life."

"What are you saying, Puck?" asked the half-elf, her voice laced with worry.

"Sigh… I'm breaking my contract with you, Lia. It needs to be done, so the seal on your memories can be lifted. What you'll see will be confusing, and terrifying, but it needs to be done. Just know that I did it for you."

Emilia's eyes widened at what she was hearing. The crystal hanging around her neck started to crack, sending her into a further panic.

"Puck, wait-!" she tried to grab him, but he was already fading away into mana.

"Lia, I love you."

BWANG!

And just like that, the Great Spirit dissipated into hundreds of tiny green lights of mana.

Suddenly, Emilia's head started flooding with memories long forgotten.

"Geuse… Mother Fortuna… Arch… Puck… Subaru…"

Thinking she had been lied to and betrayed, Emilia now felt truly alone.

The emotion Priscilla Barielle was feeling at the moment was fear.

Pure, genuine, untapped, and sheer fear.

Out of all the Royal Candidates, she was the one that turned down Subaru Natsuki the worst. She literally kicked him in the face, then declared war against the Emilia Camp.

She wondered if the deaths of the White Whale and Sloth were simply him throwing some sort of temper-tantrum, a demonstration of the power she would go up against when declaring war, or maybe a warning to leave his Camp the hell alone.

She decided that it would be best if she didn't do anything, and prayed that the Great Sage forgot her threat, or at the very least, cared enough for Al that he would leave them alone.

For now, all she could do was send scouts to his last known location.

"Ya done in there?"

Walking out of the Witch's Tomb, Subaru approached Garfiel with a smile on his face. "Yeah, it's done." Dropping a piece of a sharp rock, Subaru signaled to Garfiel that it was time to go.

Walking alongside him, the boy punched his arms together. "All right, let's go find Ram and Brotto."

Hearing that, Subaru looked at Garfiel with a perplexed expression. "Did you just use the word "brother" and the name "Otto" together, as some sort of pun?"

"Welp, this is th' sorta thin' that prolly brings dudes like us closer together, and afta the shit we'll be thru, I guess we can say that we'll be brothers-in-arms, or somethin'."

"Huh, I never saw it that way." Subaru kept thinking of that as they continued walking.

Patting Subaru's arm, Garfiel got his attention. "Yo, heads up, we're here."

Looking up towards the village, Subaru could see Ram and Otto, just as planned.

Using his "Status Magic", Subaru eyed everyone's level who was currently with him. Otto was at Level 39, Garfiel was at Level 65, and Ram was at…

She was at Level 91.

The first time Subaru saw it, back at the Mathers domain, he must have thought it was a glitch, but when he checked again at the Sanctuary, sure enough, her level was still the same.

Was Ram secretly some sort of god? Subaru couldn't figure it out.

Regardless, these were the facts: She was more powerful than Puck and Roswaal, so it would stand to reason that she and the Great Spirit would be able to take down the Margrave.

He needed her on his side.

"What is it you wish to speak of, Barusu? Ram's time is precious."

Wasting no time, Subaru jumped right in. "We need your help, Ram."

Ram snorted, but Subaru continued. "If I know you as well as I do, then you should know the type of shady character Roswaal is."

The pink maid raised an eyebrow in curiosity. "What are you saying?"

"Roswaal's "Tome of Wisdom" has ordered him to lure the Great Rabbit here, while also sending assassins back at the mansion to kill everyone, Rem included."

Ram's eyes widened in shock. She was aware that her master would do anything if it meant getting closer to his goal, but sacrificing her little sister is where she drew the line.

"Very well, but if I'm going to help you, I want something in return."

"Name it."

"Once this is over, I beg of you, please, spare my foolish lord."

"What?! Are you crazy?! He's the one causing all of this!"

"No, he's not! It's that damn book the Witch gave his ancestor! It's the root of all evil! With it gone, he'll come back to me."

All Subaru could come up with was a mild "Huh?"

"The truth is… even though I hated him once, my intention now is to save him from the delusions of this Witch because… I love him."

With that confession, both Subaru and Otto were stunned into silence.

Garfiel, not so much.

"HUUUH?!"

"It's true! I care about him, and wish to save him!"

Shaking his head out of his stupor, Otto decided to speak. "Uh, Ram-san? Are you crazy? You are aware of what he's doing, right?!"

"First off, it's Ram-sama to you, merchant boy. And second, I still wish to save him. So please…" turning towards Subaru, Ram gave a bow. "Please, have mercy! I know of what you're capable of, I've seen the power you possess myself, so please spare the man I love!"

Ram wasn't stupid. Despite pretending not to be impressed, she was terrified by what Subaru was capable of. If he could create massive explosions that shook the earth, as well as bring corpses to life, she knew she had no chance to save her master in a one-on-one fight.

All she could do was hope to appeal to Subaru's better nature.

For a full minute, Subaru was silent. But after that minute, he made his decision.

"Fine."

Ram looked up to him with hope in her eyes.

"Don't get me wrong, I still hate that clown, and I'll probably never forgive him for what he's done, but if he's worth that much to you… you got yourself a deal."

"Thank you, Barusu. No. Thank you, Subaru."

"You're welcome."

"Well, that went better than expected," chimed Otto, clapping his hands.

"Hey, look, Granny's back."

Upon hearing Garfiel's words, Subaru and Otto turned to see the pink-haired half-elf, running towards them. But something was off.

"Oh, hey, Ryuzu-san? What's up? You look a bit pale," asked Subaru.

"Young Su, I'm afraid that young Emilia has gone missing."

Outside the office of their mistress, Wilhelm and Felix both felt like crap.

Wilhelm had lost his chance to avenge his wife. Did Subaru Natsuki take his chance away as punishment? Maybe if he decided to help the boy, he would have run into the monster, and finally be able to avenge his beloved.

But "if" was a dangerous word. It bogged a man down into nothingness, and there was no greater example at the moment than one very depressed Wilhelm van Astrea.

Felix Argyle, on the other hand, felt anger. Anger pointed toward a certain boy.

He believed that his lady deserved the throne. He believed that the death of the White Whale would cement his liege's victory. Then, out of nowhere, some random foreigner defeats the beast on his own, and steals the well-deserved credit from Crusch.

Was this petty revenge, or something greater? Neither Wilhelm nor Felix knew.

And that's what scared them the most.

Inside the cold walls of the Witch's Tomb, Emilia was crying her eyes out.

They left me… they hate me… they're liars all of them…

Left alone with her thoughts, all Emilia could do was wallow in her misery. Puck left her behind.

Her family in Elior Forest left her behind.

Subaru left her behind.

She had no one. They all hated her. She was a burden to all. No one wanted to be around her-

"I thought I might find you here."

Opening her drenched eyes, the silver-haired girl wiped her tears away, and looked up to see a smiling boy in an orange-and-black outfit.

"What are you doing here?" she asked bitterly.

"Well, this place is dark, and people rarely come here," Subaru explained, sitting down next to her. "I'd say that's a good place to find someone who's trying to hide."

The half-elf refused to speak to the Japanese boy. A deep silence enveloped them for a few moments, before Subaru decided to break it.

"Puck left you, didn't he?"

"Everyone leaves me behind."

"Not everyone. I'm still here."

"Why?"

There was silence once more, before Subaru found the right words to say.

"Do you remember what I told you on our way here?"

The amethyst-eyed girl didn't respond.

"I told you that we could be friends. I also told you that I would wait until you gave me a response of validation. I'm still here. And I won't be leaving anytime soon."

"Liar."

"Huh?"

"Subaru, you liar!" Emilia yelled at him. "You promised me that you would stay with me until I woke up! But when I did… you weren't there!"

"Wait, is this what's all about?"

"Let me finish! You broke my promise to stay with me! You left me behind! You hate me!"

"What? Emilia, no I don't hate you. I… I love you."

"LIAR!"

"Liar?! Let me ask you this, Emilia! What kind of person would slay the White frickin' Whale just to get to you! What kind of person would go up against an army's worth of Witch Cultists, and take down the freakin' Sin Archbishop of Sloth, just to save a girl?!"

"Wha…?"

"What kind of person would go up against the world's most powerful magician, take on dozens of Mabeasts, and fight some of the scariest assassins out there, for your sake!"

"For… me?"

"Yes! It was for you, Emilia-tan, it was always for you! No sane man does all that crap for their own personal glory! They do that to save someone they love!"

"You're a liar!"

"Yes, I am a liar. I'm a dirty, lying, promise-breaker. But there is one truth in this universe: I love you, Emilia. I loved you ever since you gave me your lap to cry on and to tell me that everything would be all right. I love your voice, your pale skin. I love that beautiful silver hair of yours. I love those purple jewels you have for your eyes. Just being around you makes my heart race."

Hearing all the amazing things Subaru listed off, the half-elf began to cry.

"Emilia, I love you."

"I… I don't believe you."

"Then I'll make you believe me." Grabbing her shoulders, Subaru had made his decision. Emilia's eyes made contact with him. "If you don't want this… then dodge."

And before she could protest, thier lips touched.

Even with their eyes closed, they imagined that the whole world was now one big mesh of bright, radiant colors. Their bodies felt the gentle warmth of one another. The kiss itself lasted for only a few seconds, but to them, that felt like an eternity.

After they parted, Emilia's eyes opened up to see a smiling Subaru. "You can do this. Your reason to keep walking, to keep on living, is there. I will always be on your side, Emilia-tan. Even if it takes all your life to decide, I'll never stop loving you."

With tears of joy threatening to escape her, Emilia closed her eyes, and smiled. "Yeah."

And with that, the silver-haired half-elf found her reason to keep on living.

Inside the Juukulius household, a certain purple-haired knight was drinking his misery away.

In the span of a single week, his life was practically over. It started with beating a boy. A boy who otherwise would have been murdered by his fellow knights. So, he played the villain. A little too well. He was punished and placed under house arrest. He could live with that.

Then, seemingly out of nowhere, all the available Royal Candidates in the Capital, their knights, including himself, and their most trusted confidants were called to the Royal Castle by the Council of Elders, and learned the horrible, horrible truth.

The man Julius beat was none other than the Great Sage, one of his childhood heroes.

And, if the Dragon Tablet was to be believed, he had slain the White Whale and Sloth.

Julius couldn't believe it. He refused to. It only got worse for him when he learned that his mistress had tricked and belittled the Great Sage, after learning that he was asking for help in defeating Sloth. Then the more Julius thought, the worse it got.

What would happen if he were to return? Would he destroy the Capital in revenge? Would he want Julius and his family dead? Would he go on to destroy every monster and villain until there was nothing left? Would he be so bitter as to destroy the world itself?

All of this thinking made Julius' head hurt.

He decided that he would drink 'till he passed out tonight. Again.

The sun was beginning to set, and the group of Otto, Garfiel, and Ram, alongside Ryuzu Arma and Ryuzu Shima, were waiting outside of the Tomb.

Pointing towards the movement he noticed, Otto exclaimed, "Look! They're coming out!"

Outside of the Tomb, Emilia and Subaru walked out to notice the welcoming committee.

"Uh, Subaru? Are they with you?"

"Correction, Emilia-tan: They're with you. These are just some of the people willing to believe in and help you. All I did was round them up."

"Nice goin', Cap'n," Garfiel chuckled. "Now if you'll excuse me…"

"Hey, were you going?"

"Imma 'bout ta leave th' Sanctuary fer the first time 'n my life, and reunite with my sis, who I haven't seen 'n years. Meanwhile, ya took down the White Whale. Ya gotta have some kinda super-mentality to do something, like that. So, I wanna be at least half the man y'are for this occasion."

With their conversation over, Garfiel climbed up the stairs, and entered the glowing ruin to start the Trial of the Past.

Within the confines of his cabin, Roswaal L. Mathers had taken off his bandages, and finally put back on his iconic jester-like outfit.

Applying the last of his make-up, he thought to himself.

I will win this bet, Subaru Natsuki. And when I do, you will help me revive Teacher. This I swear.

Getting up from his seat, Roswaal opened the door to his cabin as quietly as he could, and started to make his way towards the building, where he would be able to complete his weather-altering spell.

Now if I remember correctly, the crystal housing Ryuzu should be that way…

"So, you already knew about the existence of the four Ryuzu clones in the Sanctuary with their own unique personalities?" asked Ryuzu Shima.

"Yeah, Echidna told me about your clone army yesterday when I stumbled into the Tomb," Subaru explained. "She even told how the original Ryuzu Meyer sacrificed herself to stop that Warlock of Melancholy guy, Hector, was it? She also told me about Sphinx-"

"Hey, guys, look, he's coming out!" announced Otto.

The blue lights of the Tomb died down, and Garfiel walked out with the biggest smile on his face. He had succeeded in facing the past he ran from.

"Hey, where's Ram?" asked the young demi-human.

"I gave her the blue crystal housing our secret weapon, and she went off to face Roswaal."

"Arright, then. Imma gonna go grab ma Twin Shields. I'll meet ya back here once I'm done."

With that, Subaru gave him a nod, and proceeded to look towards Emilia.

"I'll be going now," she said, turning towards Subaru.

"Sure, watch out for cars and boys!" he joked.

Humming in agreement, Emilia smiled, and walked into the Trial.

"Ryuzu-sans, could you please look after her?"

"Of course, young Su," both Ryuzus responded.

"Yo, I'm back."

Looking towards Garfiel, now armed with his Twin Shields, Subaru smiled as he grabbed his emerald staff from Otto. "Okay, guys, listen up. We will be facing off against an army of Mabeasts, along with two of the most deadly assassins in the world. Think you're up for it?"

"With the slayer of the White Whale and the Sin Archbishop of Sloth on our side, they should be afraid of us!" joked Otto.

"All right, let's do this," turning towards the empty field, Subaru lifted his staff and chanted, "Gate."

In an instant, a red and black portal opened up, ready to receive its passengers. "Ladies first," Subaru joked, mockingly bowing.

"Speaking of ladies, Cap'n..." said Garfiel, as he approached the portal. "I saw what ya did in th' Tomb… y'know, when ya got… desperate?"

Subaru took a moment to understand what his golden-haired friend meant. Suddenly, Subaru's face became bright pink when he finally connected the dots. "Oh, crap! You weren't supposed to see that!"

Garfiel burst out laughing, while Otto was confused. "Shut up! Just get in there!" Subaru yelled, as he pushed the two boys into the portal, following soon after.

Looking around the walls, Emilia read the words of encouragement Subaru wrote. She read them all with a smile. "Subaru, you dummy."

Looking over everything he wrote, she quickly figured out that was the reason he wasn't there when she woke up. "I swear, I'm never ever going to forgive you until you apologize."

Immediately, the half-elf's surroundings became warped and started to change. The walls turned into trees, and the ceiling became a sky-blue.

"Hi there. I certainly have had a lot of visitors lately."

Turning around, Emilia saw the source of the voice speaking to her. It was a woman of white, wearing a dress of black. The Witch of Greed, Echidna. And she was not happy.

"Awfully bold of you to stroll in here after that disgraceful display before. Even I'm surprised."

Echidna kept going with her onslaught of insults. "You loose woman, who kisses up to the first man to comfort you when you're sobbing in despair… You shameless fool, who keeps soiling the world that is mine, alone… You utterly selfish hedonist, who loves the you he's forgiven… Well why don't you say something… witch's daughter?"

With Echidna done talking, Emilia pointed to the sky, mimicking one boy who proclaimed his love for her, and announced, "My name is simply Emilia! I am the Frozen Witch, born in Elior Forest!"

Pointing towards Echidna, she smiled. "I won't give in to the malice of a fellow witch. I'm quite an insufferable woman, after all!"

Author's Note: Y'all know my name, and y'all know my game: Reading your comments!

Nova Sudana: Here's the next chapter.

stingrasher: While threatening Puck is fun, most of what goes down will be very similar. On a more important note, enjoy your break, before you come back with Crusch!

Fred Ray: I am following the anime, which would explain the lack of depth, but I am still inexperienced. I will transition to the light novels once that part is finished, though.

ChrisRedfield: Emilia, Rem, and Satella are enough. No more women.

Guest #1: Subaru will use "Greater Teleportation", but he'll still need to take down the bad guys first. He'll be using "Gate" to save the Sanctuary, however.

R-king 93: Thank you for the awesome compliment!

OreosAreYummy: Here's your update, it updates every week.

worreirfierce: The thing is that, despite the fact that Subaru is powerful now, his self-esteem is still low, so of course he would still be scared. But I get it.

A. J Savage: Lovely comment.

Maximum Rhapsody: Rem's speech will be similar, because let's face it, you can't improve perfection, and there will be no more girls for Subaru. But, there will be other couples, like the RoyalCandidates and their knights, and especially Otto and Frederica.

QuotezFun4Me: I actually seriously considered implementing your idea of Wilhelm knowing about the Legendary Shield, but the more I thought of it, the less sense it made, like story-wise, and with just plain logic. Sorry, man, they can't all be winners.

Elsa best girl: The reason I rushed the Echidna tea party was because I wanted to play the build-up to meeting the Witches as a joke. Sadly, it bombed. And Ram, the reason she didn't seem to react to anything crazy Subaru did is because she never reacts to anything, unless her sister or Roswaal is involved. And as for the length of the story, while it is fast for the reader, for me, as a writer, it takes literal hours just to write this.

BasicDemolition: Thanks for the understanding, and yes, I really like how Subaru just casually threatened Puck. I'll keep up the good work!

Childline: I actually never considered having Subaru tell Roswaal to call off Elsa and Meili, I probably should have done that. Oh well, too late now. Also, no, Subaru can't make himself immortal, nor can he make Beatrice mortal. The reason Subaru isn't thinking clearly at the moment is because of his low self-esteem. He literally just learned that Roswaal has been trying to abuse Subaru's trump card, the one thing he believes gives him any worth. I know that Arc 4 is relatively the same, but trust me, once we're done with that, everything will go off the rails.

WarlockofVainglory: Every Subaru needs an Otto to beat some sense into them.

Im The Person: Yeah, Roswaal is a dead man. Hey, thanks for adding me into your multiverse. I also read "Under the Stars" that genuinely made me cry. Nice.

Fanficcrazin543: Subaru will use teleportation spells like Ainz, but not for combat.

Infinite the Celestian: I haven't written about Subaru's meeting with Satella, so I have no idea how that's gonna play out. Oh, I'm also a huge fan of your work. I've read "The Warlock's Punishment", "Re:Starting life 400 years ago from Zero", "The Journey of Pride", and "The End". Please make more of the first and second one, I'm begging you!

Wilber Beato Quispe: "Autor-sama", ¿eh? Eso es un gran elogio. Y no te preocupes, aunque parezca una eternidad, todavía te veré la semana que viene.

ExoticIdiot: We're gonna see high-tier spells for worthy opponents. Also, the reason Subaru wasn't scared of Puck was because he was cocky and power-tripping.

KazeelBaYz: I have no idea what "space up" means.

Supbruh!: "Ernalore-sama"? That's some pretty high praise! Also, I'm super embarrassed that I made that typo, so I already fixed it. Please don't tell anyone. And don't worry about being a Spanish-speaker, everyone is welcome here.

Idiotwriter: Yes, Subaru will make a contract with Beatrice.

BumpDrafting: I have no idea how to work Discord, so even if I did want you to beta-read, I don't know how to send it to you. On another note, would your other username happen to be "BigSmokeYeet"? You know, the guy who wrote "Return by Death Revealed" "RE:Thoughts" "It was all an ACT" "Subaru's Goodbye" and "RE:Scout"?

Mahdi: While it would make sense to leave the original question in my work, some of them are so long that they would be longer than the story itself. Sorry. But now that you mentioned Reinhard's mother, I'll definitely have Subaru save her.

Monty: Glad that you love it and that you're giving me kudos on my work.

There were no new powers used today, so that's it! Until next time!

- Ernalore