See how rumors just spiral out of control via conveniently omitted pieces of information as one poor guy witnesses it all. Inspired by a fanfic idea someone mentioned they wanted to see, but this isn't quite it. Regardless, I hope yall like it
Managing to snatch a spot in one of the busiest streets of Lugnica's capitol was no small feat, especially if you're a mere no-name merchant like Milleford Gates.
Hailing from a family with no history in the trade, he let his intuition (and frankly insane luck) carry him on until he had a fairly sizeable fortune, then quickly nabbed the first well-placed store on sale that he could find at age 36. He was 52 going on 53 now, and even if his store were to tank, living comfortably for the rest of his life would be easy provided that inflation doesn't skyrocket.
He didn't even fully remember why he wanted to become one all those years ago, but it was quite the struggle until he hit a patch of fortune so he didn't blame his late mother for worrying. Travelling a lot was risky without proper protection even now.
Today was an unusually slow day, and his reminiscing about the past was only shaken when the last of his few customers left, chiming the bell on the door.
As such, Milleford chose to close shop for lunch and went out, walking by a few food stands for a bite to eat.
It was there that he noticed new information on the news board. Detailed drawings of the Royal Candidates were pasted onto it. The deceivingly pretty dame Priscilla Barielle, the noble soldier Crusch Karsten, the sharp-witted merchant Anastasia Hoshin, the upstart anarchist Felt, and, of course-
...Emilia, the half elf. Honestly, he had no idea why she would run for king even if she wanted to; there wasn't a chance in hell that she'd win with all that bad press before the election proper had even begun.
His money was on Crusch, or perhaps Anastasia if he was lucky. You don't find a merchant with the balls to take the surname of Hoshin of the Wastes just any decade, and he respected that sort of pluck. Especially if she had the skill to back it up.
His spouse was having a bit of a health craze, so he asked a maid if he could buy a few appas on the way back to the shop. It was a simple matter of muscle memory to flip the sign to 'open' and let customers begin to trickle in.
However, soon arrived the first sign of what was to come.
"Marion, I'm telling you, that's just what I heard," muttered a woman with a prim haircut. "My brother's a knight, and he isn't much of a liar either."
This pricked Milleford's ear. He directed just a bit more attention to that side of the room from his desk.
Marion scratched at his head and replied, "Well then, that's one hell of a fool. No wonder you sound so annoyed."
"Yes. It's not often that someone irritates me this much. But hear this, Anastasia Hoshin's knight, Sir Euclius, challenged the kid to a duel over it. Do you think he accepted?"
"Since you're asking, I'm assuming the answer is yes? This is getting worse by the second."
"You wouldn't be wrong. Beat the kid black and blue, that's what happened. It wasn't an equal fight by any stretch of the imagination, but still, I have to feel a bit sorry for him."
"Yeah, I'd say. At least your brother calmed down afterwards, right?"
She nodded. "He said he felt practically homicidal before that occurred, and while I know he partially said that in jest, it was only partially."
"Homicidal, huh? Seems like this Natsuki kid got lucky, then."
The duo continued their conversation, but drifted far enough away that their words became too muffled to understand. Eventually, they simply left after browsing through the leather bags on the shelf.
At the time, he didn't think much of it. Mutterings of an event or person only once rarely considered the merit of rumination due to their sheer number. The information didn't come from a particularly credible source either, but simply through eavesdropping on a conversation in public where gossip and personal gripes reigned supreme.
Had the next piece of information come even a month later, all traces of that exchange would have been forgotten.
A few days passed. An old friend threw the door open with a bang, startling him and everyone else in the store.
"Millford! Bless the dragon, I know you haven't closed up shop yet but have you heard the news?"
"Oh hell, would it have killed you to have entered less loudly?" he groaned.
Curtis flippantly waved a hand. "Oh nevermind that, I'm guessing you haven't if that's your biggest concern at the moment. We used to be traveling merchant buddies, right?"
"...Just get to it."
"How cold of you to brush our friendship off like that. Anyways, what was our biggest fear back then besides running into a massive horde of bandits or sinking into permanently inescapable debt?"
"Being attacked by the Demon Beast of the Mist? Was it sighted within our borders? That isn't amazingly unusual, unfortunately."
"No! That's not it! it's been killed! It's gone for good!"
Unable to completely process what he just heard, Milleford dropped the pen he was fiddling with.
"It's gone? Th...the-" he sputtered.
"-White whale."
"Is…?"
"Dead. Killed."
Milleford lept from his seat and shook Curtis's shoulders in a vice grip. "You better not be joking or I'll rig every dice you own like I said I would years ago."
"Ha, now you get it! I knew your reaction would be great!"
It was at this point that he finally noticed everyone within earshot stood slack-jawed at the revelation. The ones in groups were abuzz, chattering in disbelief among themselves while a few still goggled openly. Nobody was making an effort to hide their shock.
The next questions came quickly. "Who and how?"
"Apparently, the Crusch, Anastasia, and Emilia factions made a joint effort to take it down, but you know what's really interesting? Crusch gathered most of the material and knights. Anastasia sent in her mercenary group. That half-elf only sent one person to help."
Ever the showman, Curtis paused to take questions, but nobody took the offer. He sighed and continued. "Crusch credits him as the main reason the hunt succeeded, so the guy must be insanely powerful, above the strength of the previous Sword Saint! Maybe not quite Reinhard level, though, but you get what I mean."
"That sounds highly implausible, but then again, so is the defeat of one of the three great mabeasts so I might have to be more open-minded. Who did it?"
"A guy called Natsuki Subaru."
"Natsuki Subaru?"
"Yep."
"Hmm. Natsuki, huh? I think I've heard that name somewhere."
Curtis shrugged. "Never heard of him till now, but it wouldn't be surprising if you have, considering this feat. The thing's head got chopped off!"
The gossip he'd heard earlier was resurfacing. Less excited and more contemplating now, Milleford rubbed at his chin and struggled to reconcile the two clashing images in his head. It was possible that they could've been two separate people, but he'd neither heard nor met a single person named "Natsuki" before. Still, bigger coincidences have happened.
"Did that thing actually get beheaded? Isn't it enormous?" he asked.
"Yeah, almost didn't see it because there was an altercation on their way back. I managed to catch a glimpse of the head before it got sent off to be preserved and nearly wet myself. It's bigger than all the buildings on my block combined."
Despite the way his friend seemed to flaunt the news, Milleford knew he wasn't to type to exaggerate much, especially in a situation like this.
"Good God. Why couldn't this have happened back in our day? All those horror stories would've become null and void," he half-joked.
Grinning, Curtis grabbed his arm and said "Aw, that doesn't matter anymore, let's go grab a drink. The slaying of the White Whale calls for it."
"Curtis, it's still daylight and we won't close till-"
The rest of the day was an alcohol-induced blur. It was surprisingly fun, though, and quite a few people at the bar clinked their cups together for the same reason as them.
What wasn't fun was the worst hangover he had that year. Somehow, he managed to drag himself home before the sun rose, which he found out when he almost suffocated himself on his pillow. Lowell's side of the bed was empty, so he had probably slept in a fair amount. Thankfully, his store wasn't open today anyway.
He hauled himself up, got dressed, and walked into the kitchen to toast some bread. On the table was a newspaper. He picked it up and looked at the first page. Not surprisingly at all, the hunt was at the top. Idly, he browsed through it, and right below, there was another article that caught his eye.
Sin Archbishop of Sloth Killed. That was quite the piece of news, especially right after the White Whale. Wasn't the Witch Cult notoriously difficult to track, let alone fight? Propping the page up better, he began reading to see how they'd done it.
Natsuki Subaru, a member of the Emilia Camp, allegedly struck down Petelguese Romanee-Conti on Mathers territory with the aid of the Anastasia and Crusch Camps.
He read the first line and beyond, but the instant he processed all the names, he did a double take.
⁂
Ever since that wild night, people would talk of that mysterious man who had achieved within a few days what nobody had in centuries. Nobody was dull enough to miss how his name had cropped up in both and people itched for more information. All everyone knew about him was that he worked for the silver haired half-elf.
As such, when word spread that his hair color was black, Milleford caught wind that the few black haired folk there were in Lugnica started getting swarmed occasionally by curious bypassers. Or so it went. If it were true, that sort of behavior would thankfully die down within a week or two.
On the more negative side, opinions on his allegiance were quite poor or divisive. Many decried his choice to side with someone so similar to the Witch of Envy, which was completely not unexpected.
"Such a wretched state of affairs for a fine young man to serve a half-elf. What is this world coming down to?" he heard an old lady bemoan, hunched over and staring apprehensively at her newspaper.
Perhaps more interesting were those who believed him to be manipulated by her. Surprisingly, this seemed to dominate public perception of the man. Some rumors claimed that the half-elf, lured by his strength, bewitched the man into falling in love with her through some arcane means. More frightening were the rumors where she actively blackmailed him into doing her bidding, either by impending curses or some other threat. Of course, this wasn't the only thing people talked about when Natsuki Subaru was involved.
The most well known thing about Natsuki Subaru was his role in the Sloth and White Whale's defeat. Second was who he served. The third was how to correctly order his given name and surname and it showed.
"Man, I thought his first name was Natsuki this whole time," he'd heard probably ten times already. "Must be a foreigner, or maybe his parents were. Maybe he's from Kararagi or Gusteko or something."
A few weeks later, those trying to dig for information were pleased to find that the Emilia Camp filed a claim about defeating the Great Rabbit. When the claim hit public attention, people went even crazier. Another Great Mabeast? This might have been too good to be true, and some actively doubted the possibility. Still, considering the presence of Natsuki Subaru, there was a good number of people who believed it or thought it to be likely.
Milleford spun his pen while waiting for potential customers to finish their business.
He was a bit of a people watcher. He had to be or else he'd be bored out of his mind sitting at the payment counter. Therefore, when someone unusual walks in, his attention immediately snaps to them even if his eyes don't.
"Argh, it's a bit of a shame that Reinhard couldn't come. Nyow you're the only one I can drag around today," complained a cat-eared demihuman. She swished her tail in annoyance.
Her companion raised an appeasing hand. "He can be quite busy sometimes, so while it is unfortunate, it isn't too surprising."
"I knyow, but you two don't go out casually nearly enough. I'll grab any chance I can get."
Both were dressed in relatively informal clothing, but carried themselves in a certain manner that signaled there was more to them than there might seem
They shuffled through a stack of floppy hats, and the demihuman dropped an especially large one on the purple haired man. He stood calmly as it covered half his head and blocked out his vision. Keeping up this sort of behavior for the next few minutes, they chatted familiarly in the way only longtime friends could.
Milleford began turning his focus to a slightly depleted shelf of jackets. As his eyes roved over to the next shelf, he once again heard that name.
"So Ferris, have you gotten word of Subaru's knighting?"
Besides the new tidbit of information, the method of address was probably the most unusual. Most would either use his whole name or even just say Natsuki, so if the implication was true, then these two seemed to know the elusive man personally. Inwardly, his interest magnified tenfold.
"Yep! Crusch told me about that only a little ago! Seems like the two made up pretty well if he got knighted so quickly."
Crusch? As in one of the Royal Candidate for Lugnica's throne? What sort of luck did he have to eavesdrop on people in contact with a Royal Candidate?
The same peppy voice continued on. "Still, Julius, if you told me all this stuff before the White Whale battle, I never would've believed it. Now you two are practically buddies!"
With an amused sigh, Julius said, "You're exaggerating. I would consider him a good friend, but his stubborn demeanor suggests that he's not quite willing to say the same. At least, not yet."
Milleford had struck info gold. These two, or at least Julius, appeared to be friends with Natsuki Subaru and a Royal Candidate.
Wait, Julius. Julius Euclius. Sir Euclius?
Reaching into his memory, he could vaguely recall that he had beaten a kid named Natsuki senseless. The connection here, even if possibly circumstantial, was too great to be ignored. But, that didn't make any sense. Why would Euclius want to be friends with someone he disliked enough to challenge in a duel? Additionally, that would mean that Euclius was stronger than Natsuki, who had defeated the White Whale, Sloth, and potentially the Great Rabbit. And wait, wasn't he also the knight of Anastasia Hoshin?
"Aw, come on, you're both spirit knights nyow too! You have your quasi spirits, he has his great spirit!"
"He's drawn yet another girl into his ring of close companions. Anastasia was doing some research on him and called him the lolimancer at one point. I might use the term to bug Subaru the next time we meet, as since it seems like something that would irk him. Do you think she would like this hair clip? She never seems to change her normal one."
"Eh, I'd go with the blue crescent-shaped one. Nyever thought I'd hear you use the word 'bug' as a verb, but you do seem to have a soft spot for messing with Subaru."
She picked up a pale blue coat and pressed it to Euclius's chest. "Wanna try this? We'll match!"
There were so many things to unpack from this entire conversation already and all of this was suddenly dumped on him. More and more questions spun around his head as he tried to make sense of the situation, and he hardly noticed as the two walked up to the counter until they dropped some clothing onto it.
"That will be three gold and six silver. Thank you, and have a good day."
⁂
Back when Milleford was a child, time seemed to pass incredibly slowly. Nowadays, a month during peaceful times flew by like nothing.
Currently, a sudden rain cloud had decided to empty itself right above the city. It wasn't quite storming, but the downpour was significant enough that pedestrians were rushing to take cover in the nearest shops where irritated fruit stall keepers couldn't nag them.
He had his own cluster of soaked shoppers wandering about. Most were probably waiting for the rain to lighten.
"Hey, excuse me, but do you have any umbrellas? I'm in a hurry."
Turning to face the owner of the voice, he saw an unusually dressed boy about a head shorter than him. The kid looked quite ordinary aside from his genetically unpleasant stare and strange clothing, all things considered.
"We have a few in the corner," Milleford replied, pointing at a tall container to his left. The kid thanked him, zipped toward it and came back with one in his hand. Reaching into his pocket, his face fell.
"Shoot! I forgot it was Beako's turn with our paycheck, and of course it's right when we got split."
He looked back and forth between it and the door, likely contemplating whether he should just run through the downpour. Seems like he forgot his wallet. That somewhat reminded him of his own scruffy granddaughter, who was the type to constantly displace her belongings despite all her mother's chiding.
The kid crossed his arms and tapped his foot in thought. "I don't have any cash on me, so could I borrow this real quick? I'll bring it back, I swear."
"If you pay for it afterwards," he replied. Milleford felt like going easy on him.
"Thanks! You're a real lifesaver!"
He made a dash for the door and was gone just like that. In all honesty, Milleford only half expected the boy to return. Seemed like the forgetful sort, but he might as well give him a chance.
Soon, the sky cleared up enough for a few scant rays of evening sunlight to break through, and he still hadn't come back. A few hours had passed already. It was almost time for him to go home. Just as he was beginning to think this waiting game was going to turn out mildly disappointing, he finally heard the door open. Now flanked by his own small entourage, the boy waved with a sheepish smile on his face.
"Guess it's been a while, so I probably made it seem like I made off with your stuff. I got really sidetracked."
The blond slumped. "Sorry cap'n."
He looked like a rough and tumble sort of kid with a scarier face than the boy he answered to, so it was a bit amusing to see him unabashedly apologetic.
"Garfiel, you already apologized, it's okay now," cut in silver haired girl. "You've liked Reid Astrea ever since you were a kid, right? Just don't run off the next time you hear about a statue of him."
They all had a laugh except for Garfiel, but he did seem to feel a bit better at the lightened situation.
The black haired boy stepped forward with a handful of little coins, then dropped the umbrella on the counter and raised his arm into a familiar gesture. He reciprocated and they shook hands. They were oddly soft despite a rough spot or two.
As the boy stepped back, he said, "The umbrella was a real help, I owe you one. You can take it back with the money since there's already a lot of them at the mansion, and it'd just sit in the closet collecting dust. Plus, this one isn't foldable."
"You live in a mansion?" It was hard to hide his shock and everyone seemed to notice. Thankfully, the kid didn't take offense.
"Yeah! I can't believe how lucky I am, right?"
A little girl in a big dress jumped in the conversation. "Umbrellas aren't foldable, I suppose."
Pressing a thumb to his chest, the black haired boy replied, "Back at my old home, we had umbrellas that were."
Garfiel exclaimed, "Really? That's amazin'!" What a capricious youth. Seemed like he was already restored to a good mood.
"Hmph. I won't be tricked so easily this time, in fact." grumbled the little girl.
"Aw, don't be like that, Beako. Your distrust! I've been wounded!" he gasped, clutching at his chest.
Beako blinked and surprisingly, reacted with concern. "Eh, did you get hurt somewhere? I'll heal you, I suppose!"
Silver hair merely giggled to herself as the boy tried to explain that he was fine and everything was just a joke while fending off "Beako's healy grabby hands". Evidently, this sort of occurrence happened on a fairly regular basis.
Rubbing the back of his neck, Milleford decided to talk before another interruption derailed the conversation.
"Alright, kid. Sure you don't want to keep the umbrella? You did pay for it after all."
The boy nodded. "It's all good. I don't need it anymore but I did use it for a while." At this point, he was holding the little girl with one arm in an effort to prove his good shape. She seemed to be appeased now.
"Natsuki! Are you done yet?" Our carriage is going to leave soon!"
Everyone's focus switched to the green-clad standing right outside the door, but he had a far bigger object of interest at the moment than the appearance of a stranger.
Wait, him? He was nearby? This was probably the most surprised he's been in months!
"I'm finished here! We'll be right out!" the black haired boy called back.
Milleford froze.
"...Hey. Kid. What's your name?"
With a grin, the boy proclaimed, "I'm Natsuki Subaru, the one and only!"
And with that, they filed noisily out of his store, unknowing of the bombshell they'd just dropped on a hapless civilian.
Mutely, Milleford walked up to the door, flipped the sign to 'closed,' and took off his reading glasses. He needed time to think before heading back home. No answers were given and a hundred more surfaced.
But, after all this time, he finally figured out what Natsuki Subaru was.
An enigma.