Hey there!

Sorry for the little delay, here is the REAL chapter 8. Just like some of yous pointed it out, the precedent one was supposed to be 7.5 but I don't get why the "." didn't appear.

Anyway, I apologize for this, I know some of you really waits eagerly for this and I'm glad about it, but as I decided to improve myself I tried to focus more on quality and provide better and longer stuff to read which means more time. I'm also currently working on other fics that you may like too, a bit original and with shorter chapters but, you'll see once it's out.

So, for this chapter, as a lot of you seemed to dislike it, I decided to use a different writing style for the dialogues, please tell me if you like this one better or the older version. I'll do the one you like most or found more comfortable.

(Edit: I decided to cancel a bit Rom's accent since it's a pain to write, don't judge me)

That being said, I hope you enjoy your read!


Some hours after the events that occurred in the slums, as the sun was now setting down, the national guard had invested the place to seek evidence of what the old Rom was advancing, with the help of Reinhard, determined to find a person responsible for these crimes since the barman was held up claiming his innocence, saying there were no concrete proofs.

The place was almost completely charred, but thanks to the intervention of the Duchess and the few people who agreed to lend a hand to the victims, the entire rear part was spared. At least, enough so that the trap and the path to the cellar were still present.

Reinhard himself came down to inspect the place and, most likely thanks to one of his many blessings, quickly found traces of blood and torture corresponding to what the old Rom had explained to him.

Once done, Reinhard climbed up the stairs to meet again with the guards and order them to close this site. The sword saint took a last overall look to the burned down building with his shiny blue eyes turning into a stern shade of blue, as he remembered he might have lost Subaru in that place.


"She really fell asleep…" Said the old man with a smile.

He stood up to bring a blanket and cover the back of the little blonde who didn't let go of Subaru's hand for all this time. She sat right here, waiting for him to wake up, so she could yell at him, hit him for putting himself in danger and then thank him with all her heart.

Reinhard carefully looked at them from his place. He too, didn't move from this room since he wanted to be here for his master's awakening, along with Rom and Felt. But his mind was elsewhere, something that didn't go unnoticed.

"You seem to be troubled, Astea."

The sword saint raised his eyes to the stern voice calling him, trying to smile a bit.

"I am. I fell worry about this situation. We didn't find the arsonist after all…Either from th-"

"No, you're not." Interrupted the giant, taking the young knight aback when he heard his powerful voice.

"You feel troubled because you're blaming yourself for what happened to the boy."

Reinhard's breath hitched as he heard what he was trying to hide, confirming the thoughts of the giant right away.

It was the truth after all. The complete truth. He knew it was but he didn't want to show it. How could he? He was a knight among the knights, showing his weakness wasn't a thing allowed for him.

"Don't think I'm some kind of wise old man though, I just lived a life long enough to recognize the look of regret on people's faces." Mused the old man, laughing to his own self.

Reinhard simply looked away.

"I'm not going to make you a moral talk, Astrea. I'll just give you my opinion, you can take it or ignore it, I don't care much."

Reinhard turned his clearly attristed eyes towards the old man seated next to him, wondering what he was about to say. He couldn't show his fake smile anymore, not now that he had been discovered, it was useless. Reinhard had the habit to smile, he was good at it. But he didn't feel like acting anymore.

"I think, blaming yourself for what happened is useless. It won't lead anywhere." Rom, who until now was staring at Subaru, turned his eyes towards the young redhead.

"You weren't there, you couldn't have known."

"But I should have!" answered Reinhard in weak tone.

"And you weren't. Now it's over. He is right here and he is alive, what more do you need?"

"That's not it…! I'm his knight…But I couldn't even protect him…" Retorqued Reinhard, his voice frail and broken.

"You're still human, you can't be everywhere at the same time."

"But-"

"But what? What would blaming yourself from something you didn't even know was happening, is going to bring you? Do you have a blessing to go back in time if you cry enough tears, thinking about the past?" Inquired Rom with a fake, heated expression.

Reinhard suddenly couldn't say anything, he simply looked down as he didn't know what else he could do. Rom sighed as he couldn't believe himself about what he was about to do.

He clicked his tongue in annoyance…Or maybe shame, as he slowly raised his hand and placed it on his head, making the surprised redhaired knight open his eyes wide to him as he tried to process this affectionate gesture from the giant.

"Rehash the past won't give you anything. But you can learn from it." He said, with a strong and confident gaze on the sword saint.

Reinhard opened his mouth as he wanted to say something but stopped halfway since he didn't have the words for it yet. Rom slightly stroke his hair as he stared deep into his blurry, sky blue eyes. Reinhard might be a grown man, in the eyes of someone like Rom, anyone could be a newborn child.

"You can keep the past in mind. Not ignore it, not working yourself over it. But leaving it be, taking this memory and use it as a reminder. To be sure next time a situation like this one occurs, next time the one you care so much for is in danger, you can be with him. Not to protect him, not to run away with him, but to face it. Together."

Reinhard's eyes widened as the old man's words piercing through him, that's what he wanted, that was his dearest wish, to be Subaru's support…But he couldn't. Because…

'Because I'm a fail-'

"It's funny you said you were his knight though…" Continued Rom.

Reinhard suddenly looked confused at this, why would h-

"Because I never heard him refer to you as his knight. He always called you…A friend, right?"

'A friend…'

This word echoed in Reinhard's mind. He thought about it over and over as he remembered each interactions he had with his master, from their meeting to when they separated earlier today. He remembered each words Subaru would say to him, each time he would call him and refer to him. After his candidacy was known and his status defined, never once Natsuki Subaru called him anything else…Than Reinhard.

The sword saint couldn't. He couldn't hold back the tears from slowly streaming out of his eyes. He tried with all his might to restrain himself but it was futile. Effortless.

How come? He never cried before. He never gave into this kind of shameful behavior…Why? Why couldn't he stop this display of shame? Though, he wiped his eyes under the comprehensive gaze of the old man, realizing his words managed to touch him.

"If you think you failed as a knight. It's okay. It's only secondary, it can be fixed. As long as you don't abandon him as a friend, as long as you keep that place by his side and helps him with his future trials, you will never need to think about failing him. And it starts now, Astrea. What do you think a friend should do?"

Reinhard slowly wiped the remaining of his tears and looked up to see the old man's soft gaze. He took a deep breath and brought back his confident smile, the blue light of his eyes finally back where they should, as he was ready to take his role once again.

"Standing by his friend's side, naturally!"

The old man smiled warmly as he tapped the sword saint's shoulder with a fondness.

"There we go."

Both chuckled a bit, remembering the kind of private moment both wouldn't want to speak about until Reinhard closed his eyes and bowed a bit in front of Rom to his surprise. And with solemn respect, he spoke.

"Thank you, Rom-sama. I feel like I wouldn't be able to meet Subaru-sama again as well as I think I will now, without your help…"

Rom had to restrain himself from laughing out loud before this humble display, he never thought a knight would ever show him such respect, the sword saint even less. He didn't know how to react so he simply stayed himself and laughed.

"Forget the "sama" bullshit would you Astrea? I don't want to be rude but I think we can say we aren't complete strangers to each other by now, don't you think?" Mused the old man.

Reinhard chuckled a bit too, nodding his head to the clear bond that was forming between him and the old Rom, really his life was way more…Lively since a little while. He wiped his face a bit more before excusing himself to the bathroom, as he needed to wash his face a bit. Rom stayed in the room, gazing to Subaru and Felt both asleep.

"Never thought I would ever earn the respect of an Astrea…Well, it's not that bad…" He thought to himself, shaking his head a bit with a smile about the situation he found himself in.

He brought both his hands to his mouth as he was thinking deeply about all of the recent events, focusing his eyes on Subaru.

"You really are something, boy." He whispered with a fond smile.

"You really are something…"

With a refreshed face and mind, Reinhard entered the room again, glancing at his master before taking a seat near the giant once again.

"Rom, if I may ask, you said the Duchess Karsten assisted you?" Asked Reinhard, remembering the story.

"That's right. She told me she met the boy before this whole situation happened too. They had a brief discussion before he ran to save my ass and then she asked her cat servant to heal us."

Reinhard's eyes widened in surprise as he didn't get to hear this part of the story.

"Felix was there too?! It does explain how your injuries were quickly healed."

"What do you mean?" Asked Rom with a raised eyebrow.

"Felix Argyle is the best healer of the kingdom, his skills in water magic earned him the title of "blue" after all." He explained.

Rom was actually surprised to know that. It is true that running in the kingdom's best healer was something, but what caused him to be astonished like this was more to know that it was a demi human who held that position.

"Wait, his?" Asked Rom

Reinhard simply gave a little smirk.

"This boy is quite lucky isn't he?" snorted the old man.

Reinhard smiled to him and thought for a moment before sharing an idea with the giant.

"You know she actually asked me to wait for her and come to her manor after the boy fell unconscious. That lady looks fierce but she might be more kindhearted than she looks." Said the giant with a fond smile, as he remembered her to be really concerned for the people injured and the boy.

Reinhard chuckled a bit as he remembered the bravery of the Duchess that he saw with his own eyes, back when the prince Fourier was still alive.

"Shall we prepare something to thank the Duchess for her help? I believe this is only natural after what she done for us."

Rom stared at Subaru with a focused yet thoughtful gaze, as he recalled some events that led to the precise moment there were right now.

"Astrea. That Duchess, ain't she a candidate for the throne too?" Asked the giant, still staring the boy.

"She…She is." Answered Reinhard, curious about this behavior.

Rom sighed heavily as his eyes left the boy to gaze towards the ceiling this time, finally concluding his thoughts.

"Then, it's better if we don't do anything."

"What?" Asked Reinhard in surprise.

"If we do that, they'll know about him being a candidate as well wouldn't they?" Continued Rom.

Reinhard only looked at him with a straight face, showing his incomprehension to the giant's words while being patient and waiting for his reasoning to unfold.

"They can't, Astrea. The boy can't be known as a candidate yet." He concluded.

"Why?" Asked Reinhard, in a calm yet worried tone.

"He is not ready. He doesn't have what it takes yet to run a kingdom."

Reinhard grimaced a bit about what he just heard, he widened his eyes in absolute confusion towards the old man. Reinhard knew Subaru, he dared to proclaim he knew him more than anyone else in this world, he saw him and his actions, his ideas and his plans up until now and there was no way this man wasn't fitted for the role he has been chosen to be.

"I-I don't understand…" Stuttered Reinhard.

"You saw his actions and behavior from your eyes too didn't you? You saw his resolve! How could a man like him not fitted to be our ruler?"

Rom clicked his tongue making a sign to the sword saint to lower his voice, pointing to a little princess moving around a bit, clearly disturbed by the sudden raise of voice in the room.

Reinhard quietly cleared his throat a little ashamed and resumed his conversation with the old man.

"That's exactly because I saw his actions by my own eyes that I'm saying this, Astrea." Said Rom.

Reinhard wasn't following the giant yet, and Rom knew it. He closed his eyes for a moment, looking for the right words and opened them towards the sleeping boy once again.

"He is a fool, sword saint. He jumped into a sea of flames to save me, he went in there again to save a man who sure a hell didn't deserve it and you and I perfectly know that he would have gone in there again if ever another soul was trapped inside. He is brave, he has guts, he has plans, he is smart and he has a good heart, hell, he might have the goodest heart of this entire world." Softly spoke the giant.

Reinhard carefully listened to him, occasionally glancing towards his master as he could do nothing but acknowledge the words of the old man.

"But he is a fool. He acts recklessly, he is naïve about this world, about our ways, about how things goes. He doesn't think before acting, he puts his life on the line just like that for things that isn't supposed to matter…"

Rom turned to Reinhard, who looked towards him as well, eyes showing his worry.

"That Is not the behavior of a ruler, Astrea. He is not ready. Not now at least. He needs to learn first, you need to help him about his flaws and prepare him accordingly."

Reinhard could only close his eyes as he knew each words spoken by Rom were true and his thoughts justified. Subaru had been far to reckless in his ways, even him noticed it. Truth be told, he never hid that part of this personality of his.

"As long as the council of elders is not notified about the fifth candidate, the election will stand on hold. I suppose we have all the time to help Subaru-sama with this." Said the sword saint with a small smile.

"That seems like a good plan." Smiled back the giant.

Suddenly, the door of the room opened, letting appear a man slightly similar to the sword saint, with red hair and blue eyes.

The man scowled a bit when he saw the demi human still here, near the one he was supposed to call his son. Rom simply looked away to no meet his gaze while Reinhard hardened himself as he stood up to meet his father.

"The investigation on the tavern is starting, since you vouched yourself for the old man you're asked to give a hand to prove his words against that barman. So go there and be useful for once." Spat out Heinkel.

Reinhard winced a bit by the thought of leaving his master's side and the tone his father took to speak with him, but he had no say in this. Heinkel Astrea was the deputy commander of the royal guards and his father, Reinhard was bound to obey him without asking questions. He simply bowed and wordlessly left the room, not wanting to go further in this discussion.

Rom scowled a bit as even he believed this was no way to treat a child.

"You got something to say, half shit?" Growled Heinkel.

"Only that I hope it is not the way you treat everyone, or I doubt you'd keep your place for long." Retorqued the giant.

"Say that again?!" Shouted the redhead, waking up Felt in the process.

"Wha..What is happening…?!" Said the little blonde, still trying to process her awakening.

She turned around, letting the blanket fall on the ground to face Heinkel as he entered the room with a menacing glare towards her old man.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?!" She growled.

Both men glanced towards the little princess as she stood before her big bro's bed, showing her gritted teeth to the intruder who's been doing nothing but speaking heartlessly since he was there.

"You little whore, stay out of this!"

The floor trembled at this, as the old man was now standing right in front of the redhead with a look so terrifying, Heinkel could barely keep his calm.

He put a hand on the handle of his sword in fear, as he clenched his fists with his head facing up to the threatening giant.

Honestly, Heinkel Astrea had all of his chances towards the demi human. But the nature of a man is hard to change. As such, the cowardice of the deputy commander, was something he could never get rid of.

"Spitting on me is something. Insulting me is something, backstabbing me is something. For all I care you can keep going on if it amuses you but insulting my granddaughter, that is something else…" Growled out the old man between his gritted teeth.

"…Tch" Heinkel turned around and left the room with a scowl as he couldn't stand the idea of that demi human looking down on him.

Yet, as he walked in the hallway of his manor, his grimace contorted into an evil smile of malice, as his eyes narrowed remembrance.

"A good plan eh…"


Meanwhile, the heroic tale of "the black swordsman and the Duchess", where an unknown hero and the Duchess Crusch Karsten saved the lives of commoners from a raging fire, was now spread through the entire capital and soon, the kingdom. Though no one knew one of these two was the reason a fire started in the first place.

This tale quickly got to the ears of many people in the noble district, all curious to know who that black swordsman might be, Including some sections of the royal guard themselves and leading to a storm of letters sent to the karsten household, requesting politely to know about her intriguing acquaintance.

The situation led Crusch herself to be so exasperated by it, that she ended up asking to her subordinates to immediately throw away any letter that would mention this situation. First because she was tired of always answering the same thing to everyone and second, because she decided that his identity wouldn't be revealed to no one before she could meet him again personally.

Indeed, Crusch has been herself quite intrigued by the identity of this man who showed up from nowhere to start such an insane wager to save his friend.

Unfortunately, no matter how hard she tried and used of her resources in terms of network to look for him, she couldn't put ahold of any noble house bearing the name of "Natsuki" in the capital.

A lie wasn't a possibility since her divine blessing of the wind proved the giant's words to be true and his clothes and weapon was definitely not something a slums dweller could ever procure himself.

This entire situation was an enigma, this man "way too goodhearted for that kingdom of ours" was there somewhere, perhaps even under her nose and she couldn't see it, just the mere thought of it exasperated her quite greatly. If anything, this man promised her he would explain all of the situation in which he was to her, after all she only got to hear the giant's version since he had to leave to put the unconscious boy in safety. The Duchess attended to the injured with the help of the national guard and her loyal knight during this time, making sure everything was alright and the fire put down, that was a duty for her, as a candidate attending to her people. But this man still left leaving this entire situation into her hands, yet another reason to meet him, he had some apologizes to make!

"Crusch-sama, I brought us some tea nya!" Cheerfully said a catgirl as she entered the room of her master.

Inside of the karsten household, the Duchess was seated in front of her desk, finishing a pile of paperwork with a dull and slightly tired expression. Thankfully, the arrival of her cheerful servant rubbed off on her and made a smile appear on her face.

"Thank you, Felix. I do feel like I needed a break from all this." Said the woman in with tired wince.

Making room for the tea plate, Crusch wrapped her paperwork on the side, leaving enough place for her dear friend to install herself comfortably in front of her.

"How has the work been so far Crusch-sama?" Asked the demi human with a cute voice.

"Nothing much out of the usual, except of course…" Crusch glanced towards a small pile of letters situated to the right corner of her desk, sighing in exasperation.

Felix leaned forward to see these letters clearly, his eyes widened in surprise when he saw the different seals of multiple noble families on them.

"My, my! Looks like the entire capital is looking for that fool Crusch-sama! Even Russel Fellow wants to know more about this!" Said the catgirl, reading the paper.

"Fellow is merely interested in making himself a new useful contact." Said the Duchess in a unhappy tone, before taking a sip of her tea.

"I wouldn't give Natsuki Subaru's location even if I knew it to him." She growled.

Felix twitched her ears while tilting her head a bit to the side, acting as cutely as possible towards her mistress.

"But Crusch-sama, wouldn't it be an advantage for our hunt to have Sir Fellow's support Nya?"

Crusch opened her eyes a bit, observing the amber color of her tea while thinking about the words of her knight.

"It is true, indeed. But nevertheless, I have no reason to act so rudely towards someone I don't even know, as to give his whereabouts to someone he doesn't know himself."

"That is true as well" hummed the catgirl, balancing her legs a bit.

"But surely, he won't be able to stay hidden for long! The tale of the black swordsman and the Duchess are now spreading everywhere around the kingdom at great speed! Surely, it will give you an incredible boost to your goal nya!"

Crusch closed her eyes again, thinking about a day deeply engraved in her heart.

Where she was seated behind the royal palace in the garden, speaking without knowing it for the last time, to one of the dearest person she could have ever had. It was this day, she swore to accept the role of a candidate in order to change Lugunica forever. The day she took an oath to her kingdom and her friend.

'I swear to you, Fourier…I will make Lugunica a better place!'

She leaned her back on her chair, heaving a faint sigh her eyes still close. Her goal was the most important thing in her eyes for now, she was ready to do everything in her powers to reach it. She had to.

"The black swordsman and the Duchess…" whispered Crusch, deep in her thoughts.

Felix kept staring at her beautiful lady from his place, not even taking a sip from her tea as she was mesmerized by the beauty of the head of the Karsten's domain.

"Felix?" She said in curiosity, noticing her servant's stare.

"I-It's nothing Crusch-sama! Ferri was just hypnotized by the magnificent beauty of Ferri's mistress Nya!"

Crusch smirked to her servant in fondness and gratitude. As used she was to hear these words from Felix, it was always a pleasure to get complimented. The last time someone commented on her beauty…was…

'I love you, Crusch…I wanted to marry you…'

Her smile slowly faded away as those memories came back again to her, as if something triggered them to resurface agai-

'Thank you lady! I love you!'

"Uh…?" The Duchess opened her eyes in surprise, as another memory superposed the previous one she was playing in her head.

"Crusch-sama?"

"N-no…It's nothing. I just remembered…The black swordsman and the Duchess…" said Crusch in a stern and thoughtful tone.

She started to take a serious and focused expression as she posed a hand on her chin, as if something suddenly came to her mind, like a revelation.

"Say, Felix…"

"Unya?"

"Wouldn't it be better if it would be…The Duchess and the black swordman?" She said with a confident smile.


After completing his inspection, Reinhard returned as quickly as he could to the Astrea residence. On reaching the bedroom, he was disappointed to see that Subaru still hadn't woken up, but also reassured to know that he hadn't missed his friend's awakening.

Felt, however, was wide awake and smirked at the sword saint when their eyes met. She had not moved from her place at the bedside of the young prince.

"Anything, Astrea?" Asked Rom

Reinhard took a serious face as went near his master and Felt. He sighed as he looked to Subaru's wounds with pity, the feeling of knowing who harmed his master made him want to take matters onto his own hands.

"I searched the place myself with the help of my divine blessing of inspection."

(Author note: Don't know if that's canon but I'm sure there's a bullshit like that Tappei can pull out of his ass if you ask)

He raised his head to meet Rom and nodded his head.

"I could further confirm what you said was true with the help of evidence that I've seen with my own eyes. We now must question the owner to complete the procedure and sentence him." He said with a strong tone.

"I hope he gains a run for his money, fucking bastard." Spat out the little blond with an angry scowl.

Reinhard and Rom winced a bit earing the language of the little blonde, it wasn't really lady like.

"Ugh…"

All eyes in the room turned to the source of this sound. This was the man they were all waiting to awake, for a pretty long time now.

His vision was still blurry and the awakening didn't help to gain his senses back right away. Would that be the case, he would've heard the gasping and faint sobbing of a little girl to his side.

"I know that ceiling…" He said in a tired voice, before turning his head to the side.

There, he saw a little blond right in front of him, looking down and hiccupping while trembling, a redhaired knight with a guilty smile and an Old man with a warm and reassured expression.

His eyes directly turned to the little princess who didn't seem to be in a good condition at all.

"…F-felt?" he said as he tried to sit up on his bed, reaching the girl with his hands.

She immediately looked up to punch him in the gut right away, making him cough as he held his stomach in pain. Rom snorted to this while Reinhard winced a bit, but he didn't move. He knew what was happening.

When he raised his head to meet his little bully, the girl jumped from her chair to hug him, nestling her head in his chest while crying her heart out.

"You freaking…Stupid! Idiot! Fool! What the hell is wrong with you?! Why would you do that?!"

She cried over and over, wetting his bandages again and tearing them up as she was pulling them with her little hands, like she had to do it for him to stay, because even if he was alive and by her side, she couldn't think about the idea of losing him.

Subaru raised his hands to her and took her into an embrace. She didn't prey him off and neither she reacted to it, she just continued to cry while accepting this act of sheer affection. Deep down, she knew she needed this.

"I'm sorry, Felt." He said with a tender smile as he stroke her hair.

"But I couldn't just let the old man die you know?"

"I know…" She weakly said while sobbing in his arms.

"Thank you…Thank you so much…"

She ended up lightening her grip to put her arms around his torso. She stopped crying and knew there were people watching but she didn't care. Right now, she wasn't feeling like letting go of him.

"I see Reinhard did really well with "that thing", those new clothes fit you marvelously, you're really cute!"

Said Subaru, as he noticed the girl wearing a proper outfit rather than the tore pieces of clothes she had previously.

"Shaddap…" she sniffled.

Subaru raised his head towards his two other friends looking at him in sympathy with tired faces. He quickly took notice of it and winced a bit as he felt a bit guilty.

"I'm sorry, looks like I worried you guys a lot." He said with a small smile.

"More than a lot, damned brat." Spat the old man while getting closer to him.

"I…Really wish we could speak about your ways more, Subaru. But I think it can wait for now, as you still need to recover…"

Subaru's face turned to a scowl as he perfectly remembered the reason why he ran towards the slums in hurry after taking the sword in the armory. In a way, he was lucky to fall on this nasty man. Would that never happened, Rom would be dead as they speak.

"Yeah…About that, did you guys arrest the culprit?" Asked Subaru.

"We did." Answered Reinhard.

"He was arrested right after Rom gave the accusation, he's now waiting for his sentence, still claiming his innocence as he's sure that nothing proves Rom's version."

Subaru raised an eyebrow to his friend.

"You said 'he's sure' in a weird tone right now didn't you, Rein?" he said with a smile.

The sword saint immediately smiled back in confidence as he understood his friend knew exactly what he was about to say. Lord, he loved that feeling.

"I already collected all the evidence myself; he's done for." He chuckled.

Subaru gave a smile of satisfaction as he could be sure the man he hated so much was about to pay for his crimes. Better yet, he was waiting for his sentence, which means he could see it happen.

"Say, is there any way for me to see him before this?" Asked Subaru, taking his serious expression back.

Calmed down, Felt readjusted herself to sit on Subaru's lap while rubbing her eyes to dry the remains of tears she had. Subaru kept stroking her hair as he spoke with Reinhard all this time, making a certain giant a bit jealous.

"Of course. You are a royal candidate after all, there is little that would be refused to you." Said Reinhard.

"These guys interrogating Rom didn't seem to care much about this though!" Exclaimed Felt.

"It's 'cause the didn't know." Answered Rom.

"I think the royal guards themselves would've shown up if ever the boy being a candidate was known."

"Correct." Nodded Reinhard.

"Why isn't it known?" Asked Felt a bit confused.

"I thought the selection of the new king was the most important matter of the kingdom for now."

Reinhard sounded a bit taken aback as he looked on the side and coughed in his fist to hide it, a bit too late since everyone noticed how uncomfortable he was.

"Me and Astrea talked about it and we think we should wait before telling the wide world about your candidacy, boy." Spoke out Rom.

Subaru raised an eyebrow in curiosity as he wondered why they would think such a thing. He looked down to meet the same confused eyes of a little princess before both turned their eyes to the Giant, waiting his answer.

"You're not ready yet. You don't know anything about this kingdom compared to the other candidates, if you show up now you won't last long." Gently said the giant, with a father-like tone.

"…"

Subaru wanted to argue back but got stopped himself as he thought about the situation a little more. It was true, Lugunica was still a foreign place for him and his loops within the tavern showed a side of it. If he truly wanted to change this kingdom, he needed to know about the ups and down, the arguments of the opposite side to those idea of his and how to counter them.

"You're right…" he said slowly.

"I won't get anywhere if I just blurt out my ideas without knowing more about this kingdom."

Subaru looked at Felt with a soft glare, as to let her know he wanted to get up. She smiled and hoped down his lap to make way, to immediately put her hands ups to catch Subaru back as he seemed to have trouble walking. Making Reinhard and Rom both take a step closer just in case.

"Big bro?!"

"It's okay…" weakly said Subaru.

"I'm just a bit numb since I didn't walk for a long time…"

Reinhard approached and carried him with Felt back to his bed as he inspected him with his eyes in worry.

"That's not true…" Said Reinhard with shake of his head to his friend stubbornness.

"You didn't fully recover yet."

Subaru sheepishly rubbed the back of his head before the eyes of a very angry Felt and an annoyed Rom. Without further discussion, the little princess went to find the healer right away.

The man entered the room and started his analysis of the boy's condition.

"His condition is stable. His body should rest a bit more, but as long as there isn't anything drastic happening, he should recover just fine." Spoke the healer.

"Thank you." Said Reinhard, slightly bowing down.

"It's nothing. But I insist on "anything drastic", sword saint-sama" answered the healer, before taking his leave.

Reinhard sighed as his eyes, along with Rom's and Felt's, directed to a certain boy whistling while looking away and sweating a bit.

"W-what? Come on now, any of you would've done the same as me!" Shouted the boy.

All three sighed in sync as they knew it was useless to argue. Subaru needed to be done to obtain the best case scenario where everyone was alive, they all knew it, but not scolding him for risking his life not once, but twice, was really frustrating. At least, they all understood why Rom was important and why he would risk himself to save the old man, but the barman was a mystery as even Reinhard, couldn't understand what drove his master to put his life on the line for him. Subaru Natsuki wasn't a knight, nor he was a hero or trying to gain popularity since he didn't told anyone about his candidacy.

"Well…I think it's better to talk about this after dinner." Spoke the sword saint with a smile.

"True, I'm starving." Whined Felt as she held her stomach.

Rom only nodded his head as he didn't want to be rude or childish enough to actually point this fact.

"Shall we go?" asked Reinhard as he went towards the door.

"You guys go ahead, I'll just put proper clothes back on before joining you." Smiled Subaru, pointing his nightrobe.

Reinhard nodded and the three of them started to make their way to the dinning room.

Subaru got up and walked towards his wardrobe to catch his old tracksuit he didn't wear for a time now. He looked for a moment to it's front, the place where Elsa cut him in half previously and was supposed to be his very first and only death, if ever he hadn't that power.

He sighed heavily and started to put on his clothes, ending with his vest.

Suddenly, he stopped as he felt something warm on his hand…And looked to it, to see it appear covered in blood.

"Subaru?" Said a voice coming from the door.

Subaru turned his head to his side to see Reinhard, looking at him with curious eyes, as he saw his friend staring at his hand just now.

"Ah…No it's nothing, I just had the feeling I saw something strange right now." He said while clenching his fist a bit, to see his palm completely clean.

He then put his vest on and joined his friend.

Arriving in the dining room, Subaru sat to his usual place and everyone did the same, except Felt who sat near him this time instead of Rom. No one really decided to point that, as they all understood the reason behind it, except Subaru who had a vague idea.

"So, did you catch the barman only? Do you know anything about any accomplices of his?" Asked Subaru, making Felt raise her head as well with interest.

"We…Don't know anything about accomplices." Answered Reinhard with a frown.

"There was. Another guy with a beard for sure and perhaps others too, from what I know there were a group torturing him."

Upon hearing this, Felt was outright shaking in rage. She looked down to her feet as she clenched her fists, wanting nothing more than to kill those people with her own hands.

"Rom, if you see them, could you recognize those who attacked you?" Asked Subaru with a serious tone.

"I could. I might be old but I never forget a face." Said Rom as he ate his dish.

"Perfect. Tomorrow we're going right to that guy Rein. We're going to make sure no one have those kinds of ideas anymore."

Reinhard sternly nodded his head to his master as he acknowledged this plan. However, he winced a bit at the sight of the little blond, something Subaru noticed too. He turned his eyes to Rom and Reinhard, both nodded their head to him, Subaru understood what he had to do.

The dinner over, Subaru was surprised to see Felt joining him in his room, with a kind of guilty expression.

"Felt?" He gently inquired.

"…Can I talk to you?" She said with a unreadable expression.

Subaru opened the door to let her enter, Felt went to sit down on the bed while Subaru took off his jacket and sat down to a chair he turned in front of his desk, to face her. Now, waiting her to speak.

"You are going to meet the one who tortured Old Rom tomorrow, right?" she asked.

Subaru simply nodded while narrowing his eyes at her.

"Then I want to come wit-"

"That's out of the question." He sternly answered

Felt gritted her teeth and got up suddenly, facing Subaru with an angry glare.

"Why?!"

"Because you'll lose your cool and try do to something to him." He answered.

"I won't!" She exclaimed.

"Then why do you want to come? Don't tell me it's just because you want to see his face? You know he'll probably be lock up, right?" Questioned the candidate.

Felt looked to the side while clenching her fists as hard as she could, boiling anger filling her entire body and further giving confirmation of what her real intentions were to Subaru.

He simply stood up and made his way to the bed, to sit near her as he joined his hands together and looked at her with thoughtful expression.

"Tell me what's your real intention first. Without lying would be best." Said the boy.

Felt sat down again and looked to the floor as she winced a bit, taking a breath to calm her nerves down a bit.

"I want to know who did this and the possible accomplices…To catch them too." She said.

"Catch?" Repeated Subaru.

Felt did nothing but clenching her fists again.

"Felt… We need answers. If we act impulsively and with violence, they're going to remember us for this and use it against us." Continued Subaru.

"They want to make Rom look bad, therefore make us look bad. And if this ends up with more blood, they'll have all reasons to…" he explained.

Felt could only close her eyes in shame, acknowledging the words of her bro knowing they were true. She tiredly leaned her head against his shoulder, turning her face to hide it in his chest as she was starting to tear up a bit.

"…I could have lost you. They could have taken both of you away from me…" She whimpered.

Maybe Felt was tougher than most of the girls of her age, she was still a kid. And these few days passed in company of Subaru, Reinhard and Rom were honestly the first time in her life she felt so whole. She was finally free, she was finally happy. She had friends she could trust and the man who raised her along with her to live this new life and someone just tried to snatch this away from her. The mere thought of it was devastating and unbearable, so unbearable she couldn't help but yearn for revenge.

Subaru let a grimace form on his face as she wasn't looking at him and wrapped his arm around her, gently hugging her and stroking her hair. Yet, his eyes, his sharp and terrific eyes, were glowing in anger.

'Now you've done it. You made her cry.' He thought.

After some time, Felt finally fell asleep in his room, tired and exhausted by this entire situation. Subaru looked at her cute sleeping face and smiled a bit, before picking her up in a bridal style and bringing her to her room.

There, he laid her down on her bed and unfolded her black hair ribbon, took off her shoes and finally covered her with a blanket.

When he got out, Subaru yawned deeply as he stretched his arms and went towards his study. As he opened the door, Reinhard was there and waiting for him.

"Did it go well?" Asked the knight, his tone that of a whisper as he gazed at Subaru with worry.

"Yeah, better than expected." Answered Subaru while sitting down infront of him. The black-haired boy could notice hints of agitation in his friend's mood. Reinhard's hands were scratching nervously and aimlessly while his eyes seemed to be lost somewhere far away. Something that was making the knight look disheartened a bit.

Thinking it was for the sweet blonde's safety that Reinhard has this sudden worry, Subaru decided to break the plan to him. A plan to surely help the girl's maturity.

"I think I'll allow her to come with us tomorrow…I want to see if she thought about what I told her and if she will act accordingly."

"You're testing her trust?" Commented Reinhard with a tone that hinted at something bothersome for the knight to see.

Subaru winced a bit as he noticed the change of Reinhard's tone. He could also see the sudden darkness that snuffed the once shimmering blue pupils of the Sword Saint.

As if talking about this was truly placing Reinhard in a dark place he wished to never enter.

"It's more like, seeing if she can control herself after knowing the plan. Though, I trust her. She's a tough girl, she can do it." Subaru tried to salvage his friend's mood and assured him of his trust in the little blonde. He even flashed one of his best smiles.

The Sword Saint's expression was that of a slight wince. His heartbeat grew faster once he saw Subaru's concerned look.

The boy and the knight sat before one another with varying degrees of emotion flashing over their faces.

One was concerned for his friend. Noticing the slight shake in his hands. As if he was working up his nerves to speak.

"Rein…" Subaru called out gently as he placed his sight into his friend's eyes. Putting both of their souls before one another and demanding nothing but the truth.

"Talk to me… What's been bothering you?"

Reinhard's soft eyes swiftly closed up as he clenched his fists. His heart bounding. His nerves shaking. All he could think about was how his master's actions spelled his incompetence for him in bold letters. The knight couldn't help but wonder how flawed his being was to have failed at such a simple mission so drastically.

Subaru looked on as the shifting knight before him struggled to speak. It only worried him more and even placed a bang of guilt into his heart.

" Reinhard…" Subaru called out with as much passion and concern for his friend he could muster. Wanting to know what was happening with his strong and able knight. Wanting to see what was bothering his friend so much.

And the knight obliged.

"Subaru…Do you…Do you trust me?" Reinhard managed to whisper out as he kept his eyes closed. Feeling nothing but suspenseful weight gripping his heart tightly as the imagery of his master denying him played in the darkness his eyelids provided.

Even witnessing this imaginary memory was easier to him than having the real one play before him.

So Reinhard kept his eyes closed.

Subaru widened his eyes as he got really surprised by this question. He redressed himself a bit and frowned as he stared at Reinhard with confusion clear in his eyes.

"What's with that? You shouldn't have to ask such stupid questions like that Rein, of course I trust you!" The candidate replied in a confident tone as he flashed his friend a smile as wide as his eyes for reassurance.

Reinhard's breathing hitched a bit as he appeared really happy by that statement. All of his doubts just vanished in a blink of an eye by his friends approval, which might be stupid, but this was something he needed to hear. Yet, the sword saint wasn't done with his discussion. His smile faded a little bit as he took a serious expression once again.

"Then why didn't you call me to help Rom?" He asked.

Subaru's eyes widened in shock as he finally understood what his knight was thinking. The guilt filling him, Subaru quickly spoke to help Reinhard find some light to the darkness in his eyes.

"Rein…!"

"You're the first one that came to my mind the moment I knew I needed to save Rom, but time was running low! Coming to you first meant not reaching Rom…I managed to save him just In time, he was bleeding a lot when I arrived…" Subaru explained desperately to his knight with a small itch of pain glazing his heart in. The horrible memories of death and tragedy played in his head once again, making him want to cry then and there.

But Subaru stood strong to explain to his friend why he couldn't ask for him.

Reinhard's eyes widened as a part of him felt reassured that Subaru thought of him first, while another felt stupid to not have thought about the obvious possibility that he simply couldn't have the time for it. As he remembered the old man's words saying he couldn't be everywhere Reinhard finally understood that the situation was out of his reach. In the end, it was really nothing more than his fault for not being near his ma-

"Really, it's just plain bad luck. I feel so stupid for asking you to do this while I went alone to the slums." Subaru chuckled heavily as if the mere act was tough for him. His memories still playing before him making him see every time he failed and lost because of his uselessness. He kept his act together before the knight but his breathing grew heavy.

'What…?' thought Reinhard, noticing how Subaru's eyes were suddenly watery for no reason. Feeling as if his master recalled something painful, Reinhard quickly opened his lips to intervene but Subaru's was much quicker.

"I mean, I wouldn't have been stubborn enough to ask you to not accompany me, this would have been solved easily. Sorry Rein, I didn't want to hurt or make you worry. The situation I was in just didn't give me much of a choice." Subaru concluded with a small, sad smile. Trying his best to reassure Reinhard of blame. And making sure to never forget every mistake his selfish self made in each of his last lives.

Reinhard's eyes widened in shock. As if seeing his master take the blame was outrageous to him.

"N-no…! It's me! I should've been there, I should-"

"Why are you trying to put the blame on you?" Subaru cut him off with a frown itched on his face. His eyes looking deeply into those of Rein's.

Reinhard simply looked to his master with an expression mixing trouble and confusion, he didn't really know what to answer to this.

Subaru could tell this. He could tell that his friend didn't have a decent answer for this question. 'Why is he so adamant on taking blame? Is it some old knightly pride shit?' Subaru's thoughts filled up his guilt as he counted this another failure from his idiotic self.

He made Reinhard so worried that the knight blamed himself for Subaru's mistakes.

His mistakes.

"The fault is clearly mine, I'm the one who lead you away while going to an unsafe place alone…" Subaru softly amended with a firm glance at his friend. Not understanding why Reinhard wanted to place guilt for something he didn't even do but understanding that it had to be dealt with and assured to his friend that none of this was his fault.

The fault should be placed only upon Subaru. Only him. No one else.

Seeing Reinhard was at loss of words, Subaru simply sighed while smiling tiredly at him, looking right into his eyes.

"I'm sorry Reinhard, I hope you can forgive me." The candidate flashed a small smile with a slight wince in his expression.

The sword saint couldn't find the right words anymore, he was confused and so taken aback he couldn't even speak. He never had this kind of situation in his life, he never lived to see someone apologizing to him, this wasn't something he was used to. Yet, seeing the insistence of his friends and the words he just told him, he knew of an answer that could work. A basic one, but maybe the most appropriate.

"I…I forgive you." Reinhard spoke with difficulty.

Subaru kept staring to his friend for a little while, rethinking about how this little discussion went until now. How Reinhard was doing everything…To be guilty of something he didn't do. But…Why?

"Rein. If there is anything wrong, I want you to tell me." Ordered Subaru.

"I suppose…It is the duty of a knight to be by his master's side. The fact that I wasn't here to help you while you were in danger makes me feel shameful about my position..."

"So you feel uncomfortable when I'm saying that you shouldn't worry about It?"

Reinhard winced as he looked down in shame. He understood how useless he was as a knight to his friend. He knew that he was selfish to ask this of Subaru in the first place.

He didn't even deserve any validation for his thoughts since he was nothing but a monster.

Yet, he couldn't help but feel the need to speak his troubles out. Something he couldn't avoid was how warm it made him feel…. To have Subaru as his friend and not just some master… something he wouldn't ever speak of incase the gods were hearing and they decide to take Subaru away for punishment.

But something that he wanted to say more than anything… Was how much he was scared of losing his friend.

So the knight simply held his head down and answered Subaru with his silence.

The black-haired boy could see that his conversation with Reinhard was going nowhere since this has all been fresh in everyone's minds so the pain or worry was clouding and confusing their thoughts.

"Then we're good! Now onto the real topic. I need to ask something of you, Reinhard." Said Subaru as he looked at his friend with battle ready eyes, hoping that this request might draw his friend out of this self inflicted misery that Subaru should really find the cause of.

The knight softly looked up, his attention snapped out of his thoughts. His confusing, dangerous thoughts. Thoughts he couldn't have even dreamt of having.

Thoughts of worry over a friend.

"Yes?" Reinhard asked attentively. His eyes dull as ever.

Subaru shook his head as if frowning on the heavy tension in the room and smiled his best smile.

Confident as ever, the boy stood up and held his hand towards the now bewildered knight.

"Help me get stronger." The candidate declared of his friend while smiling down at him with fiery eyes.

The feeling of dread and confusion floated out of existence as a confident grin broke through Reinhard's self hate. As if the mere smile his mast- his friend gave him lifted all the heavy thoughts away from inside him.

As if excited to have fun, The Saint took his friend's hand and stood up to help him.


"Now isn't that an intereeeeesting tale, my dear Ram?"

Up in the north of the capital, in the mathers domain, a certain magician wearing clown makeup was sitting behind his desk, inside his study room shrouded in darkness as the only light noticeable was the moon shining by the window.

He seated there as he was infusing mana into a visible scar on the head of a pink haired maid, doing her best to muffle her voice at sheer pleasure she was feeling from the man's glowing fingertip.

"I…Assure you Roswaal-sama…It can *ah* only be him…" Said Ram with little difficulty.

"It is strange indeed." The magi said as looked through his window.

'Why isn't it working as planned…?'

The magi glanced to the maid in his arms as she was breathing heavily from the pleasure running through her entire body. His eyes then narrowed to follow a book placed on his desk.

"Shaaaall we tell this story to Emilia-sama, I wonder?" He asked with a smile.

"She would just…Needlessly worry…That fool isn't worth it…" she answered.

'Needlessly…' Thought the lord.

The maid sighed as her treatment was finally done and wiped her forehead a bit, before sitting on her lord's lap properly, leaning her head against him.

"She's attached to him in some way or another. Though I do not believe she possesses feelings for him, she might be hurt to know he's acquainted with one of her rival." Said the Ram.

Roswaal tapped his chin in thought about his maid's words.

"The Duchess Crusch karsten…." He said in a low voice.

"Tch. I knew just by looking at his ugly figure, this man was the adulterous type." Spat the maid.

"Now, now my dear Ram, I'm sure he didn't plan for things to go this way…" smiled Roswaal as he stroke the hair of his maid.

"But…She might indeed become a problem."

Roswaal narrowed his eyes towards the moon shining upon him, as he held his staff with both his arms with an expression akin to anger showing in his pupils. Slowly, a smile of malice found it's way on his face.


"…"

Plunged in an ocean of darkness, a young man was standing there, in the middle of a place where it was impossible to see a beginning, nor an end.

There was no light, there was no smell or anything to hear either. At least, not something coming from anyone in here, as there was only but one soul standing here.

'Where am I…?' he thought.

Finally, he opened his eyes. A questionable worth since nothing was present to welcome his gaze. He could only stare to the sight of an infinite darkness, questioning the meaning of this.

"What the…"

He looked around him frantically, desperately seeking for anything to see, wanting to reach a light or someone.

"I hope you're proud of yourself."

In this vast and endless darkness, a voice echoed through the mind of the young man. His eyes widened as his entire self, became rigid upon hearing this tone of voice he feared to recognize.

He started shaking, as his mind made a quick turn to bring back the memories he feared to remember so much. He closed his eyes in absolute terror to see a sight he didn't want to see, he couldn't bear to see. He couldn't.

Yet…

"You killed innocent people kid."

"NO!"

Panting and breathing heavily, Subaru woke up drenched in sweat, holding a hand to his beating heart in pain as the memories of his last loops were coming back to haunt him.

"So it was just a nightmare uh…" He said as he was having trouble gulping his saliva.

After taking a short while to calm down, Subaru got out of bed or at least, he tried as the pain in his forearms made him grunt in pain and stopped him from doing any movements.

"Even if this was a light training…Maybe that wasn't the best of ideas…" He whispered to himself.

After he took a short break to make sure his pain calmed down, Subaru finally found the strength to get up from bed and painfully put his formal attire on and go outside.

There, he met with someone who made him frown immediately in anger, someone who was the very root of the pain he had to go through.

"Well…Isn't it rude to give such a face this early in the morning, prince Subaru?" Asked sternly Heinkel.

"I think it's appropriate to be honest." Growled Subaru.

Both of them looked into each other's eyes with a challenging aura as both knew exactly what was thinking the other. Them and them only knew the truth.

"You shouldn't say things like that, you could give the wrong idea and have some serious consequences." Growled back Heinkel with an evil smile.

"…"

Subaru simply narrowed his eyes dangerously to the old redhaired man and smiled to himself confidently, taking the latter off guard a bit.

"Let me tell you this, Heinkel-san. You may try every little tricks or cowardly moves you want, just remember that every time, I'll be there. I'll be there and I won't stop until I'll put an end to it. I'll persevere again and again because I'm one hell of a tough bastard but the most important thing is…"

He let go of his smile and made the most threatening expression he could, using his sharp eyes to their maximum potential.

"The more you'll struggle the more mistakes you'll do. And that's all I'm waiting for, all I'm waiting to put my hand on. I wonder how the kingdom will react, knowing that the deputy commander tried and nearly killed a royal candidate multiple times?" He said while maliciously copying the man's previous smile.

Heinkel let go of his smile, a smile blown away by the young man's words sending shivers down his spine. He started sweating a bit while gritting his teeth in anger, showing his discomfort in all it's glory to Subaru.

"We'll see about that." He growled, before passing the boy and walking away.

With Heinkel finally out of sight, Subaru let out a heavy sigh of frustration as he just played with his role to threaten someone. Having this right or not didn't matter, he genuinely despised doing something like this as he couldn't think of a more cowardly, pitiful way of gaining the upper hand. But regarding the threat that was Heinkel Astrea, he simply resolved himself thinking he didn't have much of a choice. Sometimes, you just have to fight the fire by fire.

After his encounter, Subaru continued walking towards the main room to meet Reinhard waiting for him. Subaru smiled to him and looked around, concluding that Felt and Rom were probably still asleep.

"Did you sleep well?" Asked Reinhard with a smile.

"Well, most of my night was peaceful I guess" He said with an uneasy chuckle.

Reinhard frowned a bit to this as he understood his friend might had trouble sleeping because of the exhaustion of the little training session they did yesterday.

"Perhaps we should really wait until your wounds are gone…" Inquired Reinhard while rubbing the back of his head.

Subaru sat down to the table, rubbing his forearms a bit in remembrance of the training he decided to follow more seriously in order to get stronger. He needed this strength, he needed to be better. For the sake of the people, If ever a threat like this one would occur again, he should be able to counter it.

"Yeah…But then, I'll need to find something to heal faster. It's a magic world, we must have something like this right?" Said Subaru with a small smile.

Reinhard appeared a bit surprised at first but ultimately smiled in return as he was silently praising his master's will to be stronger. Surely, Natsuki Subaru could have made a wonderful knight if ever he didn't have a greater duty on his hands.

"Then I should be able to find us something like this in the guard's barracks." Answered Reinhard.

The door opened suddenly to the two other members of the camp joining them in the living room. Both smiled to them, save for Felt who became bright red upon seeing Subaru, concluding how she ended up in her bed yesterday.

"You guys are ready?" Asked Subaru with a confident smile.

Rom nodded sternly while Felt surprisingly lifted her head to Subaru with wide eyes, just to see him smile at her and wink, meaning he meant what he just said.

"Let's eat first, we'll go when everyone's ready" He said while turning around.

At this, Felt simply smiled happily and hardened her eyes. The little blonde was determined to not disappoint her big bro, not after the trust he was significantly putting in her.


"So that's where he is?" Asked Subaru in a curious tone.

"Yes, it is the nearest guard post of the slums, he was imprisoned here until any proof was collected." Explained the sword saint.

Subaru and his camp were situated in front of the nearest guard station of the slums, situated near the shopping district. The guard post was right in front of a huge market place with several merchants.

Subaru turned around to his group with a battle ready expression, nodding his head to everyone before entering the place.

"He's in there. Please tell us if you need anything" said a guard, bowing.

Subaru made a sign to his group before entering the room alone with the guard first, face to face with a man he once killed.

"Who the hell are you?!" growled the man seeing him enter.

The guard frowned a bit, clearly troubled by the man's attitude towards the boy. Especially as he knew who he was, to an extent.

"This is the one saved you from a certain death in the flames, show some respect." Inquired the man in armor.

The barman widened his eyes in surprise as he stared to the young man before him.

"O-oh! It's you! Man, I'm sorry! I didn't know about it!" He said with an uneasy smile.

Subaru didn't even bother looking at him as he simply took a seat, ignoring the man's words for now. He seated down and faced him with a cold expression and narrowed eyes, making the man uncomfortable as those fierce eyes pierced through him.

"H-hum…"

"I'm not going to beat around the bush buddy, just tell me who were with you and who spread the rumors of Rom selling you out. You do that and we'll try to stop everything here." Sternly commanded the candidate.

Both the barman and the guard were taken aback by the sudden order given by the young man. One was impressed by such insurance while the other was shocked and ready to shout in anger. But he wasn't stupid, he understood in what position he was and the role he played.

"Who?" Asked the barman in a fake tone.

"Old man Rom. The owner of the loot house, the one that was locked up in your basement." Responded Subaru, still with his cold tone.

"What are you talking about?! Who is that Old Rom?! I never heard of him, what was he doing in my basement?"

Subaru sighed in exasperation before the pitiful act that was played in front of him. The young man knew it wouldn't be easy, but he was at least excepting his opponent to know he was cornered.

"You're telling me, that a man was being tortured in the basement of your own tavern and you had no idea about it?" Asked Subaru in a clear exasperated voice.

"You understand how stupid that sounds like right?"

"I-I don't know what you're talking about! I have nothing to do with the Old Rom guy, I don't even know that giant!" He yelled, trying to defend himself.

"Really? I never mentioned he was a giant, did I?" Questioned Subaru as he narrowed his eyes.

The barman's breathing hitched as he understood what kind of opening he just made. He started sweating a bit but managed to keep his calm, answering quickly to not look suspect.

"Well I didn't know him but I've hear of him! Yeah, the owner of the loot house, I mean who doesn't know him?" He said in an uneasy tone.

"All right." Sighed Subaru as he looked to his side.

"Let them in, please." He said to the guard.

The armored man obliged and opened the door of the room, letting a redhaired knight enter with a hint of anger tainting his sky-blue eyes. The barman widened his eyes and shivered as he immediately recognized him as the sword saint Reinhard Van Astrea.

But what truly made the man tremble in fear, was to see the gigantic form of the man he thought dead and swore to not know.

The little blonde showing after them wasn't unknown to him as well but wasn't so relevant for him at the moment, only his life was right now.

The group glared at the man with disdain clear in their eyes as they were now standing right in front of him as judge, jury…And executioner.

"Rom?" Asked Subaru, without taking his eyes off of the barman.

"It's him." Confirmed Rom.

The barman tried to defend himself but was immediately cut by the sword saint coming near the table.

"I inspected the crime scene myself and witnessed the evidence of Rom's torture by my own eyes. You cannot deny he was trapped under your feet. Also, I can tell if you speak lies or the truth. I strongly advise you to cooperate." Inquired the sword Saint with a bitter tone, something uncharacteristic of him.

Reinhard was not really himself right now. Even after knowing the blame was not on him thanks to the discussion he had with his friend, he couldn't deny that the true culprit of this entire situation, the one who truly put Subaru in danger and threatened his life, was here before his eyes.

Felt narrowed her eyes at him, the barman looked down to the table with terrified eyes, his entire body shivering to the mere thought of how in trouble he was. He couldn't run, he couldn't do anything now, he was truly cornered.

"Speak!" Shouted Felt as she slammed the table, pressuring him.

Subaru glanced at her to see if she wouldn't go as far as this. He trusted the little blonde but sometimes emotions can drive you to do things you can't control.

Subaru knew this only too well now.

"Fine…." Whispered the barman, finally surrendering.

After that, the barman passed half a hour giving out the names of all the people Rom saw this day, informing the guards right away to go and find them, explaining that old man Rom was alive.

The only hole in this entire situation was how the information was given, as the barman simply implied that it was an anonymous letter that gave him the hint about Rom selling out the slums people. Of course Subaru had an idea about who was behind that letter but knowing the man he wouldn't be stupid enough to go there and place it himself, there had to be an intermediary and if ever Subaru finds him, it would be more than enough.

"Well, we had what we wanted." Said Subaru as he got up from his chair.

The barman looked at him with distress and scared eyes as he tried to get up too, to gain his attention.

"A-about me…" He stuttered.

"You'll do something for me, right? I-I gave you everything I knew about this situation! You'll help me right?!" He pleaded.

Subaru looked to the side as he thought a bit and turned his eyes to the barman still with a fake, thoughtful expression.

"I guess…I could do something about getting you out if you truly seek redemption for you acts…" He said, earnings surprised looks from his camp and a stupid smile from the barman.

"Yes! Yes! I-I truly am sorry! I won't ever, eve-"

"But that means you'll have to go back after selling out your people, right?" Asked Subaru.

The face of the barman contorted in a fear to these words, as Reinhard and Felt looked at him with confusion. Rom however, scoffed in surprise as he perfectly understood where the boy was going.

"W-what…?"

"Well you know, selling out names of your pers and all…Isn't this the…"Worst crime" that you could do in the slums?" Continued Subaru, looking at him with an expression faking curiosity.

"I mean, would you manage to survive with that information around? And this time it's confirmed, you really told us everything we wanted to know! It's not like Rom who was framed, you, you really did it!" He explained.

Felt started to laugh as silently as she could, as she finally understood too, what her big bro was doing. She couldn't be more delighted.

"Y-Y-YOU!" Shouted the barman as he tried to jump on the candidate, only to be stopped by the chackles on his wrists, providing him to go any further than the table.

"Well! Think about it and take your decision okay?" cheerfully concluded Subaru as he waved his hand to the fuming man.

As they were going out, Rom couldn't help but laugh loud at the scene the boy put in place, while Felt was cheerfully humming as she was incredibly satisfied at the treatment the barman was receiving. From all of them, Reinhard seemed the only one who felt a bit bad for this as his smile wasn't as wide than the others. A bit. A tiny little bit.

"That. Was. So. PERFECT!" exclaimed the little princess.

"They won't forget about this!"

Subaru smiled at the sight of Felt seeming more alive than the one he saw yesterday. He was also glad she took upon herself and didn't act rashly during this. It was truly a good idea to bring her along.

"What shall we do now that the situation is solved?" Asked Reinhard.

"Go back to our daily routine of training and preparations for the election, I guess…I think we can let the guard handle this for now." Answered Subaru with a sigh.

"I'm surprised it went so well…" Thought the giant.

"Well it was mostly because Reinhard was here, I guess having the sword saint against you must be a lot of pressure." Said Felt.

Everyone nodded as they looked to Reinhard, who was rubbing the back of his head while blushing a bit, even though he didn't really like to be compared to a way of pressuring people.

As they were walking towards the carriage, a small unit of guard corps approached them, lead by a tall and strong built man, with a military style haircut for his green hair.

'There's a lot of green haired people in this capital…" Thought Subaru.

Reinhard immediately presented himself to him as his friends were looking at the man and his unit right behind him. The leader glanced towards them and passed Reinhard to present himself.

"Greetings. Leader of the imperial guards of Lugunica, Marcos. I'm sorry to bother you but I'll have to borrow knight Reinhard for a while" He said while bowing, curiously, he was more directed to Felt than anyone.

Felt looked up to Subaru, asking for help with her confused eyes as she didn't understand what was happening. Subaru glanced to Reinhard on the back who honestly shrugged with a confused expression as well. But as their friendship allowed them to, Subaru managed to signal to Reinhard what he was supposed to answer, for Reinhard to say it was fine.

Of course, under the troubled and confused looks of the knight unit and Rom wondering what these two might be doing with their facial expressions.

Subaru ended up looking down to Felt and nodding to her.

"Well…H-hum…Okay then…" She answered uneasily.

Marcos redressed himself and nodded to the two other men before taking his leave with Reinhard. Subaru narrowed his eyes a bit as they were going back into the guard station they just entered.

"What was that?" Scoffed the giant.

"No idea." Said Subaru, still staring at the door of the station.

"No, I'm talking about your trick with Astrea, what the hell was that?" Corrected Rom.

Subaru scoffed and turning to him with a smug.

"That's a little something that only pros can handle." He said while yawning.

Although Rom didn't understand anything more, he simply clicked his tongue in boredom at the youth's explanation.

"What do we do now?" Asked Felt as she was balancing her legs, seated on top of the carriage.

"Mh…"

Subaru turned to the both of them with a smile.

"You guys go ahead and return to the manor. I'll stay here and wait for Reinhard, don't worry we'll go back on foot just fine." He said.

Felt and Rom looked at each other before shrugging their shoulders and entering the carriage.

"Don't go and do anything stupid you hear?" Said Rom in a stern tone.

"I just got healed, I wouldn't be foolish enough to try anything" Said Subaru, confident with his lie-

"Yeah, I doubt that a bit." Scoffed the old man before taking his leave with the carriage.

As they were leaving, Subaru carefully seated down in front of the guard station, looking a bit at the clouds passing through the blue sky over his head.

Subaru sighed a bit as he closed his eyes, feeling the warmth of the sun on his face. But he opened them back right away, as every time he closed his eyes, the memories he tried to forget were coming back at sight.

He immediately flinched in pain as he held his hand before his eyes, breathing heavily.

"Goddamn it…" He tiredly whispered.

"AH! Got you, you little thief!"

The sudden scream made Subaru turn his eyes towards the scene happening before a merchant stall selling groceries.

The merchant was pulling on the wrist of a little boy he caught stealing from his stall, probably about to beat him or something.

"I'll make sure you won't use this hand again on my shop!" He yelled as he took a small hammer in his hand.

The boy was screaming in pain and fear, crying while apologizing so much his voice was becoming hoarse. No one around paid attention, they would all pass the scene and do nothing about it except wince for the boy's hand.

So the man forced the boy to lay his hand on the table and raised his hammer high, ready to crush the bones of the little one's hand.

Until a hand stopped the arm of the merchant.

"I've seen some cruel people around here, but you guys really won't make any exception uh?" Growled the young man.

The merchant gritted his teeth to him while trying to break free from his grasp, but the boy had a really strong grip on his wrist right now, so strong he started to hurt the man.

"Damn it, let go! Let go, you're hurting me!" He yelled.

Subaru narrowed his eyes dangerously, making an expression that sent shivers down the spine of the merchant…These eyes really were unmatched in sharpness.

Keeping his grip on the man's wrist, Subaru dragged him away from a few meters before pushing him towards the inside of his stall, making him let go of the boy's hand.

"Don't go anywhere." Said Subaru while pointing at the child with his finger.

The boy worriedly nodded his head to the candidate, who turned back to the merchant glaring at him. The man was examining Subaru with his nasty eyes, concluding he had to be a noble like anyone else would regarding his clothes.

"Why the hell would you protect that scum?!" Yelled the merchant.

"Look at his head! He's just putting his ears down!"

Subaru turned his narrowed eyes towards the little boy, looking down in shame as his entire body was shaking, when he noticed animal ears of the same color that it's hair, down on his head.

'So that's why people weren't doing anything' thought the boy.

The boy started whimpering in place, hearing the tone of voice of the merchant accusing him regarding his race.

Subaru had mixed feelings of anger and pity to the sight of the boy. This sight angered him deeply, he didn't like it and couldn't bear to see it any longer as well.

"You see now?! That's half scum is nothing but a whorth-"

Suddenly, the merchant got cut by Subaru suddenly grabbed his collar and slammed him against the wall of the stall. His eyes were reflecting such a murderous intent the merchant couldn't even breathe, as he stared deep into his eyes glowing in red anger, before the looks of the shocked crowd and the scared boy cowering in fear.

As he was holding him, Subaru started to blink multiples times, breathing in and out slowly until releasing him while looking to the side, visibly troubled by his own actions.

The merchant recoiled in fear immediately after being released, rubbing his throat still itching from the pain of having his collar teared up with such force.

Subaru looked back to see the shocked little boy staring at him, nearly paralyzed by fear while the merchant was arguably in the same state, both standing to some space away from him.

"What did he try to steal…" slowly spoke Subaru.

"W-what…?" Stuttered the merchant.

"What did he try to take from you?" He said again, more clearly this time.

The merchant gulped down his saliva and, still holding his throat, pointed towards some fruits in front of him.

"An…Apple. He tried to steal an apple." He said.

Subaru turned back to the whimpering boy with soft eyes, as the little one was wondering what would happen with him. He turned back to the merchant and cleared his throat, before taking a kind of little wooden basket to the side.

Then he started to take as much apples as he could, in front of the eyes of the merchant, bewildered, until filling up the basket, and giving two holy coins to the merchant out of his pocket.

"H-hum…That's…That's way more than needed, l-let me…"

"Take them." Cut Subaru, in a apologetic voice.

"Just…Just don't try to smash anyone's hand with a hammer anymore, got it?" He continued, with a monotonous voice, something uncharacteristic of him.

The merchant leaned forward to take the coins and bowed slowly to thank his customer, still feeling a bit troubled by what he just lived.

"Yes…U-understood."

Both Subaru and the merchant had gloomy expressions, as the experience they just lived impacted both of them. One didn't know why he was treated such a way while the other didn't know why he acted like this.

Subaru put a knee down before the boy and gave him an apple, which the little one took with a quite surprised expression, raising his ears in curiosity.

"Where do you live? Let me take you back home." He said with a small smile.

The boy looked up to Subaru with a wide smile, understanding the basket of apples was for him. He had sparks in his eyes as he nodded cheerfully and started to lead the way. Subaru followed him, glancing to the bewildered merchant one last time, not caring how he could look at him. The merchant, or the people who assisted to the scene with looks of disbelief.

Subaru was now walking in the slums holding a basket, side by side with the little demi human that was humming and eating his apple. He seemed to have already forgotten the little burst of anger Subaru displayed not so long ago.

'Seriously…What the hell was wrong with me…?' He thought to himself.

"Say, mister, you're not from here aren't you?" Cheerfully asked the child.

"You're right, I'm not really from here…Though I'm surprised, how did you know?" questioned Subaru.

"It's simple! You were nice towards me!" He added.

Subaru frowned slightly as he didn't understand what that would rather, he did. But he didn't want to see it.

"Do you mean people are usually mean towards you…? He inquired with a pity filling his voice.

"Yup! People are always mean towards us…It became usual, really." Said the boy with a small smile.

"Usual?"

"Yeah. We can't help it, we're born like this and we can't go anywhere, so we need to stay here because it's our only chance of survival. And as long as we exist…People seem to just…Resent us." Explained the boy, losing all cheer in his voice.

"But you were different! I mean, the way you just came out of nowhere and stopped the evil man from hurting me was so cool! Somehow, I knew you were a good person!" He concluded, twitching his ears in happiness.

"I see" Said Subaru with a fond smile at the child's innocence.

"It's quite disappointing people would just resent you without a proper reason though…"

Subaru looked up around him to see multiple peoples of the slums around, trying to live and survive with what they could.

"I wonder if people can change…" He said, more to himself than the little boy.

"They can!" Happily exclaimed the little one.

Subaru looked down to meet his passionate gaze, staring at him with hope.

"People can always change! You gain nothing by being mean all your life, when you understand this, everything goes better! But you just need a push to realize it, a push to become better! And then you change, and the world changes around you, too!" He continued while making a clenching his hand into a fist.

"That's some really optimistic point of view you have." Laughed Subaru.

But he knew the boy was right. Honestly Subaru felt impressed this boy had such a will in life, he seemed the kind of boy who would always see the bright side of every situation. He didn't dislike that at all.

"It is important to be optimistic after all!"

Subaru breathing hitched as he stopped suddenly upon hearing this voice. His eyes widened in terror as he slowly turned around, his entire body trembling in fear as he put his hand on his belly.

"Elsa…" He growled.

Subaru's eyes were staring to a woman behind him, seated on a windowsill.

The boy turned around too, to see why Subaru had stopped and approached a bit, only to be stopped by a hand providing him to walk any further, forcing him to stay behind.

"Is it really your way of greeting a lady?" Said the woman with a malicious smile.

"I would call you anything but a lady, Elsa. I don't even know if "human" is a term proper enough for you." He said with an uneasy smile.

"My, that's quite harsh. I'm still a young maiden you know." She cheerfully added, before jumping down of her position, making Subaru harden his to protect the child.

"You should relax, I'm not here to do anything to you." She said with a sly smile.

"I have little reasons of believing you, I remember you clearly saying you would come back for my guts." Said Subaru while narrowing his eyes.

"Yes, it is true." Said the woman as she was approaching them nonchalantly.

Suddenly, Subaru blinked his eyes, only to see the woman right before him, her nose nearly touching his resulting him to take a step back in reflex. She amusingly poked his pec with her finger and slowly went up to his lips with a gentle trail.

The boy beside them quickly covered his eyes with his hands with a red shade all over his face.

"But right now, as much as I would want to see the beautiful color of your entrails, I have been tasked to do another mission. I just happened to see you on my way and decided to say hello, as common curtesy between acquaintances commands it." She added with a sly smile.

"I was also veeeery curious to meet the "black swordsman" myself, such a heroic tale...I'm a huge fan you know?"

"Is that so…I didn't know about me becoming a local celebrity, but I can't say I dislike the idea…" He answered with a smile, too.

Elsa laughed very calmy to the situation, as she seemed to love teasing him like this, even if in his mind, it was more like an playing with his prey…And that thought active something in him.

Once shivering, Subaru suddenly appeared to calm himself down, something that didn't go unnoticed for the bowel hunter as she narrowed her eyes a bit, sensing the boy's fear slowly fading. Subaru redressed his back and took Elsa's hand to drive it away from him with an empowered look in his eyes. He looked down at the assassin as he was slightly taller than her when both stood in front of the other.

"Can I ask you why you're doing this?" Asked Subaru. Strangely, his tone seemed to have a glint of concern in it.

"Hm…" Elsa just narrowed her eyes a bit more.

"Don't tell me you're just doing this for money or because you enjoy this…" He inquired.

Elsa stepped back, she was in a mood akin to teasing but for a reason or another, she suddenly decided to speak the truth. Still with a smirk and a faked thoughtful expression as she put a finger on her chin, she looked up.

"I like it, of course! But I can't say that I'm doing this because I want it. Let us just say that's the way it is, that's the way it went, and I'm good with it." She cheerfully answered.

However, Elsa's eyes took a glint of curiosity as she noticed that Subaru was looking at her with no regards of fear or anger…Which shouldn't be the case.

"That's quite a vague answer." He retorqued, with a serious expression.

"Sadly, this is the only one you'll receive. But tell me…Are you not scared? Don't tell me you have been charmed by my beauty." She amusingly inquired.

"This big sister IS really beautiful! Just like a flower!" Added the little boy, who was actually looking between his fingers.

Elsa smirked at him.

"But flowers can have poisonous thorns, so be careful." Answered Subaru with a smile to the boy.

"It isn't nice to say such things when the flower in question is just in front of you, you know. But I wonder why you don't seem to be scared by her anymore?" She questioned.

"Because she told me she wasn't here for me and as strange as it is, I think I can trust her on this." He responded.

A wide smile found it's way on Elsa's face as she was somehow delighted by this situation, or was she fascinated? Either it was one of these two, or these two at the same time.


"Ghk…" he suddenly widened his eyes, looking troubled for a moment.

"What is it, Reinhard?" Asked Marcos, as he was seated around a table with the sword saint, discussing something important.

"N-no It's nothing…Hum…"


"My, don't you have your ways into a lady's heart?" She laughed.

Subaru simply cleared his throat to the lady, who approached him once more, this time, she was near him enough to put a hand on his shoulder and whisper to his ear.

"But I wonder, why would you ask something like this to me? What were you planning to do if ever I told you I didn't want to do this anymore?" She softly asked.

Subaru recoiled a again, yet this time, he had a slight shade of red on his face. He regained his composure and cleared his throat; before staring a few seconds into Elsa's eyes.

"I guess...I would've tried to find a way." He admitted.

Elsa widened her eyes, for a moment she had no smile on her face anymore as she seemed more…Serious. Subaru started to fear he just said something wrong and was prepared to shield the boy, until the bowel hunter started to laugh slowly and suddenly started to hold her stomach as she couldn't stop.

"My, oh my, I can't stop…" She said while drying a tear on her eye.

"I knew you were quite an unusual fellow, but to think you would actually say something like this" She said as she was calming down.

"Aaah…"

Elsa sighed in delight before looking to Subaru again.

"Unfortunately, I have no intention to change how I lead my life now, unless something forces me to. But to be honest, I'm quite a tough girl, you would have it hard." She said with a wink, as she was now walking away waving her hand.

Subaru looked at her taking her leave. His face showed no apparent emotions, he was just looking at her as she was slowly disappearing, narrowing his eyes to her.

"She was really beautiful!" Exclaimed the boy with sparks in his eyes.

"Don't get any ideas!" Shouted back Subaru.

"It's okay! I won't steal big brother's woman!" He said with a thumbs up.

"What?! She isn't my woman!"

"Really?! So I can have her?!" He said while jumping in place.

"Why are you talking about it so casually?!"

The boy started laughing loud, something that somehow rubbed off on Subaru to some point.

They continued their walk, Subaru still looking around him to be sure Elsa wouldn't follow, until getting near to a small cabin made of wood, there were some people watching outside, Subaru assumed it might have been the boy's family.

"I live here big brother! You can give me the basket! Thank you again for your kindness, I won't forget it!" He said with a smile.

Subaru smiled back as he gave him the basket of apples and looked at him running towards the cabin, showing the basket the people in front of the house. Before this, Subaru thought the happiness of a child might really not have any price.

"Right…Better get back to Reinhard before he starts worrying again." He sighed.

'Maybe I should warn him about Elsa too...She surely is up to no good'

Subaru quickly went back on his tracks to find merchant stall once again, who nodded his head upon seeing him, seemingly trying to show some respect.

He nodded back and turned towards the guard station, to coincidentally see Reinhard going out just at this time. He came to join him immediately with a smile, waving his hand to make him notice, but slowly got confused as he recognized Reinhard's uneasy expression taking place on his face.

"Rein…" He said, a bit concerned.

"This…This is bad…" He whispered to him.


OOOOOOOFFFF welp, cliffhanger it is.

All right so guys, some quick infos.

I know I said I'll be more free after my exams but looks like my uni decided to be a bitch with some stuff so I might not be able to procure chapters quickly, especially now that I decided to do at LEAST 10K chapters.

But don't worry! I certainly won't take more than a week and half to drop one.

I think.

Probably.

I'll find a way to tell you if shit hits the fan, don't worry.

One last thing, please tell me what you thought about this chapter in particular, don't be shy. What you liked, what you disliked, the new style, the scenes Etc...I'm really trying to improve and your help is the better way for me to.

I want to thank a certain someone for his help on this chapter, he basically made upload it today thanks to his ideas, he will recognize himself.

That being said, I hope you enjoyed your read.

I'll see you back at chapter 9!

Q: Who'll be in the harem?

A: You'll see.

Q:Will we see an interaction between Whilelm and Reinhard?

A:Yes.

Q:Will you do the OVA memory of snow

A: I can try...That would be quite different but I can try.

Q:Subaru is quite tall?

A:Check the chart of Re:zero height character's, Subaru is quite high in it, as Chris pointed out he's a head shorter than Reid, you don't call that small.

Q:What aout the indina whip?

A:Sadly, I don't plan for this.

Q:About Felt and the harem...

A:Nope. Felt is a wonderful character with her brother/sister relationship with Subaru, I don't want to break that. They don't have the same chemistry as Subaru and the other girls.

Q: You really see Crusch with Subaru?

A: Because you'd rather have her with Felix?

Q:Will he inherit 2 witch factors and evolve different than in canon?

A:Mh...Not sure...

Q:Will we see RoswaalAssDestroyer3000 making an entrance?

A: Ahaha, probably.

Q:Are you going to make the candidates meets him like Crusch before the election?

A:Perhaps.

Q:Are you uploading this on Wattpad?

A:Why? Is Wattpad more interesting?

Q:What about Patrasche?

A:Dude how am I doing a fic without the true best girl?

Q: What was the music you were listenning when writing the bar fight scene?

A:Rise Up Dead Man instrumental.

Q:Will Subaru contract Beako?

A:I thought about this, I think I will.

Q:Honestly, how many chapter do you think you'll do?

A: Truly honest, will the shit I want to pull out, I might go over than 100.