The Vollachian Noble and Stargazer
AN: A visit to the village this chapter. Let's see how things go from Emilia's perspective as she from her perspective has never visited the Village with Subaru before. oh anonymous guest: RE:Zero is an early modern setting transitioning to magictech, not Middle Ages, which had bras by the way and bras existed as back in Ancient Greece as well. Also we see the maids washing bras in the laundry during Arc 2. That said this is a shorter chapter, but I need to clear a few things out before we get to the capital.
Chapter 3
"Betty is older than you two in fact," Beatrice grumbled as she walked in between Subaru and Emilia with each holding one of her hands on the way to Arlam.
"Ah Betty, but it's so cute to see you like this, and remember, we need to protect Lia's innocence from shady boys who do weird dances in the morning to seduce innocent maidens." Puck teased his little sister as he floated alongside them.
"Puck," Emilia chided him before looking down at Beatrice, "Now Beako it is important to make new friends. And this village is a good opportunity to connect with new people."
"Take it from a former NEET like me, going out and meeting people is more fun than holing up with video games." Prince Subaru added.
Beatrice and Emilia glanced at him, "What?"
"Heehee, I guess my hometown's terminology doesn't translate here well. Let's just say one should meet new people and do activities together with them than just alone. And once you meet them, Petra, Lucas, Dine, Cain, Meina, and Mild are good kids and easy to get along with."
"So you met the villagers beforehand." Emilia noted.
"In a way I have." Subaru evasively answered.
"You had a vision, is that why the escorts went first with Roswaal on a different path?" Emilia deduced.
"Yes, there is a girl named Meili, I don't know who put her up to the heinous mission I foresaw, but it is my hope we can head her off before she does anything. We pull that off, we can save her from the dark path she is on and find out more who is targeting you and your camp." Prince Subaru admitted.
"Subaru already outlined the plan earlier to me and Puck." Reinhard started explaining, "We will greet the children. Then Subaru, I, You, and Puck will approach Meili and apprehend her. We will question her in the village hall to find out how she entered the village and who her potential accomplices are. We will let you do the questioning so she is at ease and more likely to talk while I stand by you with an imposing look and Puck pretends to relax on her lap so he can read her surface thoughts. Beatrice-sama will be next to you and just be her charming self."
"The ideal being, if she feels you're trying to help her, Meili will tell you who sent her or failing that we will gain a clue as to who she fears more." Subaru added.
"I see we gain more out of her by showing kindness in order to get her to open up." Emilia nodded.
"You're getting it now. But the other thing we must do is keep her from committing suicide," Subaru spoke with pain in his voice.
Emilia looked at him in horror, "Why would she do such a terrible thing? Who would cause her to?"
"That is what we will find out Emilia-tan, and hopefully we can end whatever sick organization that uses kids to commit evil," Subaru spoke with conviction.
"Right," Emilia agreed as the village came in sight and two boys could be seen finishing up tossing chicken feed.
"Oh hi there Lucas and Dine, good morning," Subaru greeted them.
Both boys were confused for a moment, before Lucas answered for them, "Um hi, have we met before?"
"In a way we have," Subaru answered with a smile, "I am Subaru Natsuki, this is Beatrice, Emilia, and Reinhard here needs no introduction."
The two boys finally noticed Reinhard and stars lit in their eyes. "The Sword Saint is here! The Sword Saint is here!"
An elderly lady leaned her head out of an open window, and took one look, "Murosa, the Sword Saint is here!"
"Good morning Milde Arlam," Subaru greeted the old lady.
"Have we met before young lad?" The lady asked in confusion.
…
Emilia watched as Subaru greeted the gathered villagers by name, all of whom shared the same confusion as to when they ever met him, but warmed up to him quickly. Such was the charisma of Subaru and the awe of Reinhard that no one commented on her presence.
Crouching down to a girl named Petra, Subaru addressed her, "So Petra-chan, I see everyone here except your friend Meili. Do you know where she is or is she playing with her puppy again?"
Petra was again surprised, "You know Meili-chan too and that she is caring for a stray puppy?"
"Wait Petra, what stray puppy? There shouldn't be any stray animals in the village." Murosa spoke up with concern.
"Oh it's a cute girl with a bald spot on its head that comes from the forest."
"What!" Several adults cut off Petra.
"Wait you said the puppy comes from the forest? Where, the barrier has to be down, I need to repair it." Emilia finally spoke up as she mimicked Subaru's approach to speak to Petra pulling Beatrice along by inertia and causing Petra to clam up a bit at the suddenness.
"Traces of a curse I suppose," Beatrice spoke up as she reached out her hand. "Bubby, I need your aid to remove any curses these children may have been exposed to."
"Right Betty," Puck announced as he came out of Emilia's hair. "Children if you touched that Mabeast, please gather near me so I and Beatrice can remove the curse."
There was shocked muttering amongst the villagers.
"Citizens, remain calm, Princess Emilia's Great Spirits will remove the curse from your children. Petra-chan, could you answer Princess Emilia's question so we can help Meili, her life is in danger." Reinhard spoke calmly in a carrying voice due to one of his Divine Protections.
"On the west side by the tatoes shack." Petra spoke up as Beatrice removed the curse from her.
"Let's go Prince Subaru and Reinhard." Emilia took charge as she headed that way.
Within a minute they spotted Meili and Puck caught up to them, "Looks like Petra was the only one cursed so far."
"Good Puck. Now there is definitely a break in the barrier, and she is holding a Mabeast." Emilia spoke.
"Let's bring her in, gently with the minimum amount of force necessary." Subaru stated as he moved up to Meili who turned towards them.
"Uh hi, I'm…"
"Hello Meili-chan," Subaru cut her off as he knelt down to her level with Emilia and gave a charming smile while Puck floated at her left side and Reinhard placed himself on the right side.
"Have we met before Onii-san, Onee-san?" Meili asked in confusion.
Subaru and Emilia smiled jointly, before Emilia spoke. "Meili-chan, you know good girls don't lie riiiight."
Meili started to squirm and looked at Puck and Reinhard before looking downcast and setting the puppy down which ran away promptly, "You know who I am don't you?"
Emilia placed her hand on Meili's right shoulder, "Meili-chan, who put you up this bad thing? I thought Petra-chan and the other were your good friends, riiight."
"Kill me. I am already dead."
Emilia gently lifted Meili's chin, "Please don't say such a scary thing. We want to help you."
Meili opened her mouth wide, but Subaru expecting it due to his visions no doubt, placed his hand in her mouth to keep her from biting her tongue.
"Reinhard, gently, we don't want to hurt her." Prince Subaru ordered with some pain.
"Yes my prince," Reinhard complied as he drained a portion of Meili's mana, causing her to lose consciousness and picking her up as Carol approached with two of the Astrea Maids.
"Subaru, give me your hand," Emilia instructed Subaru as she called on her lesser spirits to help heal Subaru's hand.
"Thanks Emilia-tan, oh Carol-san please inspect Meili for any hidden weapons and make sure her mouth has no false teeth. I want her on suicide watch with 2 maids with her at all times."
"It will be done Prince Subaru, Reinhard-sama I will take the child for now." Carol acknowledged the order.
"I will need to repair the barrier stones and make sure there are no more breaks in the defenses." Emilia informed them.
"Alright, Reinhard accompany Emilia-tan as she does so, I am going to question the village head on when Meili arrived and no doubt rescue Beako from the other children."
…..
"Betty is too old to be playing like a child." Beatrice fumed from her seat as Emilia and Reinhard returned to the village hall with a just arrived Roswaal.
"Ah Beako you were having so much fun," Subaru teased her as he poured her tea.
"Seems, I missed something remarkable," Emilia announced her presence.
"Indeeeed, Beatrice-sama plaaaaying with kids her own age. I thought I never see the daaay." Roswaal agreed.
"Augh, don't encourage the rude boy. Betty is a noble spirit older than all of you, hmmph."
Turning serious Subaru addressed them, "Carol-san found a knife and a false tooth on Meili. Milde says Meili showed up 3 days ago with a dark haired woman in revealing clothing and was given money to house Meili for a time. From the description it was Elsa. Milde thought Elsa was Meili's big sister and keeping her away from her call girl life, a reasonable assumption if you don't pay careful attention to small details."
"What small details would give away Elsa as an assassin till she attacks?" Emilia questioned.
"Ok, first thing first, this is not to sound perverted. But Elsa has perfect breath and posture control as she moves and fights, her breasts don't bounce and get in the way of fighting."
"Prince Subaru! Don't say such dirty things." Emilia scolded him with a wagging finger while Reinhard who noted the same thing as Subaru did but lacked the courage to state it, just looked to the side.
"Emilia-tan, this is serious, a big reason Elsa was able to beat you was because you don't have the high degree…" Subaru clamped his mouth as Emilia's glare increased in intensity.
"What Subaru-sama speaks is the truth no matter how crude it may seem Emilia-sama. Normal women simply can't exercise the same amount of fluidity in combat, all else being equal, as a man due to our chests getting in the way. Elsa weaponized this fact to throw off her opponents and gain an advantage." Carol-san came to Subaru's aide.
"Hmmph, I will let it slide, but clear your head of such dirty thoughts Subaru." Emilia let the conversation drop.
"Any event, my sweep of the perimeter showed minor concentrations of Mabeasts. I took care of them and Sir Chalmer is leading his men back to the mansion." Roswaal made his own report without accent as he approached the table serving as a makeshift bed for Meili.
Subaru had surrendered his coat to serve as a pillow for her comfort while they waited for her to regain consciousness. Looking over her, Emilia felt sadness and anger that someone would twist such a sweet girl into doing an evil act of cursing her playmates.
"So how should we proceed here Prince Subaru, Lord Roswaal?" Emilia asked as she gently brushed a lock of Meili's hair out of her eyes.
"I should seal her ability to control Mabeasts and lock her gate for now. She is coated in miasma that acts as a tracker of sorts as well. I will hold her at the manor in a specialized cell designed to conceal witch cultists from other members trying to find them, and recall some staff to ensure her safety." Roswaal spoke as he placed his hand on the child assassin's head.
"I disagree. Reinhard, we will take Meili to the capital. That will draw any watchers our way and hopefully we can solve who is trying to foully murder Emilia and twist children into being killers." Prince Subaru spoke with anger in his voice.
"It will be done." Reinhard agreed.
"She is starting to wake up in fact," Beatrice announced.
Emilia picked Meili up off the table and sat in a chair with her as she began to groggily rub her eyes awake. Puck lay across Meili's lap to read her surface thoughts.
"Hello Meili-chan, it is good to see you again. Could we please talk?" Emilia asked the young assassin gently as Subaru knelt down to aid in the interrogation by gently cupping her cheek and placing his thumb in a position that he could easily prevent a repeat of Meili attempting to bite her tongue.
"Why are you trying to save me? If Mother knows I am still alive, I will die in more pain than if you kill me yourselves."
"Meili-chan, no true mother would kill her sweet daughter or have her kill her friends now. Please let us help you." Emilia gently spoke to Meili.
Meili started to tear up, "Just kill me. You don't know mother. She will likely send big sis Elsa to kill me just to have her prove her loyal…" Meili stopped and froze up.
"She is going to attempt it Subaru!" Puck warned.
Subaru wedged his thumb onto Meili's teeth while Emilia and Puck secured an arm each. Carol came with a strip of cloth to prevent any further attempts. There was an acidic smell as Meili's fright caused her bladder control to fail.
"Ok, we aren't going to get anything further today till she calms down." Subaru sighed. "Reinhard, Lord Roswaal, we'll step out so the maids can clean up Meili and Emilia before we depart."
"Right, we'll be out as soon as we clean up." Emilia agreed as she kept a hold on Meili.
"Bothersome I suppose," Beatrice grumbled as she took over from Puck so he could fill a large tub with water to clean up Meili and Emilia.
….
"Meili-chan is sleeping, Beatrice has agreed to stay close with her alongside Carol-san." Emilia announced as she joined Prince Subaru, Lord Roswaal, and Reinhard in the green sitting room.
Subaru sighed and pounded his fist on the table. "We got a title of the woman pulling Meili-chan's and Elsa's strings. This mother person. From the sounds of it, she has assassins prove their loyalty by offing fellow assassins they are close to. And from the sounds of it Elsa may not kill Meili and let herself be killed to avoid killing Meili."
"How do you conclude that Prince Subaru?" Emilia asked.
"Meili-chan doesn't want Elsa sent to kill her, so she will keep attempting suicide so Elsa doesn't get sent and allows herself to die so Meili-chan can live. I will use that to get Elsa to surrender and become an informant on this mother." Subaru explained.
"A splendid ideal," Roswaal agreed.
"Can we trust Elsa to flip as you say it?" Emilia asked.
"It's our best opportunity. And I want this mother's attention on me and Reinhard. So tomorrow we will depart back to the capital and hopefully end this plot on your life."