Chapter 32: Election Night

When Subaru opened his eyes, he noticed that he was in his bed, back at the Roswaal Mansion. He panicked for a second, thinking that he died, and moved, only to see that his body was covered in bandages, and that Beatrice, Emilia, Rem, and Satella were sleeping next to him. "Uh… does anyone care to tell me what happened?"

Immediately, the four of them woke up after hearing the sound of his voice.

""""SUBARU!""""

"Ow, ow, ow! Careful, I'm still bandaged!" the nasty-eyed boy yelped, as he was hugged tightly.

"You idiot!" Emilia yelled. "You can't just do stuff like that!"

"Uh… do stuff like what exactly?"

"Subaru-kun… you don't remember?"

"Well, Rem, the last thing I remember was using an attack that killed both that Demon Lord guy and drained me of most of my blood, and then I passed out. Oh, and Emilia-tan's voice!"

"You were asleep for three days!" Satella shouted. "And during those three days, Felix and Minerva were doing everything they could to make sure you wouldn't die! Again!"

"Wow, really? Note to self: Never use that attack again. Or, unless absolutely necessary."

"It's not funny, I suppose! The cat said you won't be fully healed for another month!"

"Oh… I'm sorry, Beako. And I'm sorry to the rest of you, for worrying you like that," Subaru said, sobering up. "So… what about my parents? Are they okay?"

"They've been staying here along with the rest of the expedition teams and the otherworlders that stayed behind," the blue oni said. "They're really worried about you."

"Oh… well then… I should probably get up and say hi to them…"

The living room of the Roswaal Mansion was quiet, despite the fact that the majority of the residents were there, waiting quietly.

Kenichi and Naoko didn't know what to expect when they arrived in another world. It certainly wasn't watching their son cast a spell that cost him his own blood, and nearly his own life, to defeat some otherworldly Demon Lord.

At least the company was nice.

In the three days they waited for their son to recover, they were guests of Roswaal L. Mathers, an old friend of Subaru's despite the two having more of a "tsundere" relationship, if what Naoko was getting from the mage's retellings of various stories was accurate.

Still, the others were nice.

Emilia, Rem, and Satella were all lovely young women. It was clear that they were all enamored with Kenichi's son in various different ways, but the main one was that he saved all of them, and showed them that they were worth more than they thought. It was nice.

The various maids were interesting to talk to. Ram treated her future brother-in-law anywhere between an equal to a bug, but she obviously meant no harm. Petra's crush on Subaru was adorable, while Frederica was kind and professional. Sylphy was forever grateful to Subaru for saving her, while Colette and Palmyra were anywhere between treating him like a god, or so confused by his shenanigans that they became numb to them.

Garfiel and Otto seemed like they got along swimmingly. Naoko was happy to see that Subaru had friends his age, and she was grateful to them for forcing her son to take a break from this hero business every now and then to avoid becoming a workaholic.

Geuse and Fortuna were also lovely to talk to. They were the parents of Emilia, so it wouldn't be surprising that they would talk to Kenichi and Naoko. It was a sort of "meet the in-laws" sort of situation, except that in this case, it would be the parents of the couple meeting each other. It was quite obvious that Fortuna wore the pants in their relationship.

The former Witches were all… unique. Naoko didn't want to call them insane, that was rude. But after seeing their antics, it was no wonder how well Subaru got along with them. Typhon and Daphne were kids that needed more positive role models in their lives, obviously. Minerva was Satella's best friend who, while didn't approve of the half-elf's relationship, still supported her. They didn't talk much with Sekhmet and Carmilla, due to their personality quirks, but they seemed alright. Echidna, however, was someone Naoko would deem a "clingy ex", given her sheer hatred of the half-elves and her creepy infatuation with Subaru. Kenichi was secretly glad that Subaru adopted Beatrice from her, especially if Puck was anything to go off from.

Ryuzu, Annerose and Clind were interesting. It was nice to see that Beatrice had a best friend, or several, given how clones work. And Clind was also quirky, given his bizarre speech pattern, and the fact that he was four hundred years old. It was also interesting to talk to a girl like Annerose, who seemed to take the Emilia Camp's usual insanity with stride. Naoko figured that being smarter than her same-aged peers gave the blue-haired girl some advantages.

Outside of the Emilia Camp, the talks with Reinhard, Julius and Felix were interesting. Reinhard seemed to have earned Subaru's trust from the beginning, while Julius and Felix had to earn it. But still, they were all now on neutral terms. The redhead especially loved talking about his lady, who referred to Subaru as "Big Bro", while Julius spoke highly of his mistress.

The other Royal Candidates in the living room were Crusch and Priscilla. The first thing they did when talking to Subaru's parents was apologize for their behavior towards him during their first week together. But since then, they have learned to respect him.

The rest of the Astrea family was interesting to talk to. While it was distasteful how Wilhelm treated his grandson after Theresia's "death", he was indeed making progress on bettering himself, which was nice. Meanwhile, Theresia thanked Naoko and Kenichi for raising such a nice boy, who befriended her grandson when no one else would.

Reid and Elsa were both insane perverts who somehow Subaru managed to tolerate, most likely due to fear of the potential havoc they would cause if not kept in check. Subaru's parents merely smiled and nodded when they talked to them, while secretly praying to leave them alone.

Volcanica, Puck, and Patrasche were also an interesting group. Apparently, the big blue dragon was an old friend of their son, and decided to move into the Roswaal Mansion after the Pleiades Watchtower fell. Puck was basically Emilia's pet cat, who only tolerated Subaru for the sake of his half-elf. Patrasche meanwhile, Subaru apparently stole from Crusch, but the ground dragon bonded with him, and is now basically his dog. At the moment, Patrasche was in the stables, being comforted by Frufoo, while waiting for her master to get better.

And finally, Shaula, Louis and Meili. While the Natuskis found Shaulau to be interesting, given the fact that she was basically Subaru's teenage daughter, Louis and Meili were absolutely precious. Naoko especially loved feeding Louis with Rem, and was proud of her son for defending Meili from a shape-shifting monster. Both Naoko and Kenichi spent a lot of time with their grandchildren, especially comforting them after learning of their father's fate.

In fact, everyone was being comforted by someone else, as everyone was waiting for Subaru to get better, or at the very least, wake up. The damage done to his body wasn't pretty, and both Felix and Minerva said that he would be out for at least three days. At the moment, everyone was just sitting in the living room, waiting for him to wake up.

And then, they heard the door creak open.

CREAK…

Looking up from the floor they were staring at, everyone saw the Great Spirit and the oni maid came in, and then… they saw Subaru, being supported by the two half-elves.

"Hey, guys," he smiled weakly. "Sorry I gave you such a big scare –"

"""SUBARUUUU!"""

"Ow, ow! Yes, yes, I'm fine! I'm fine!" Subaru said, as he sat down on the couch. "Look, the last battle just took a lot out of me, that's all. But now I'm fine, and I'm ready to get back to… well not physical work, but you get the idea. Now, are there any questions that need to be addressed?"

Immediately, a bunch of hands shot up.

"Yes, Mom?"

"What the heck was that attack you used on that monster?!" Naoko asked, her voice full of worry. "Are the rest of your powers as self-destructive as that one?!"

"No, Mom, not all of my powers eat away at me like that one. That was a one-time thing I was testing out of desperation, but I won't use it again unless it's an absolute emergency, I can promise you that," the black-haired boy told his mother.

"Says the guy who jumped off a cliff to save a dead girl," Minerva muttered under her breath.

"Moving on… are there any other questions?"

"Yes, I have one," Crusch said. "After you passed out, we discovered that all the portals disappeared. Would you happen to know why, by any chance?"

"Ah," Subaru cringed at that question. "Well… crazy thing, actually… but the cause of the portals was, well… actually… me? Hehehe… please don't kill me."

"What?" Reinhard said, stupefied.

"Yeah, turns out, while I was removing the Witch of Envy from Satella, my body was under attack, and like a defense mechanism, my body sort of activated that power. And since I was unaware of it, I kinda ended up leaving portals to unknown worlds open… hence, how the monsters came through. I only figured out my blunder while fighting the big guy."

"..."

"..."

"""WHAT?!"""

"I know, I know, I fucked up!" Subaru exclaimed. "But please, don't take it out on Satella, she wasn't in control of her body! If you wanna blame anyone, blame me!"

"It's all right, we are blaming you," Priscilla said. "How do you plan to make amends?"

"I'll address the public and tell them the truth," Subaru said. "The reason this world was such a mess when I arrived was because of lies, cover-ups, revisionist history. I'm not gonna let that happen again just because I'm too prideful to admit that I made a mistake."

"Well, that's good to hear," Emilia said. "We should probably move on from that…"

"Yes, let's…"

"Ahh…" Subaru let out a sigh as he sat down in one of the living room couches. Talking with everyone and reassuring them that he was fine took a lot out of him.

It had been a long half hour that he had spoken with his family and friends, catching up with current events and apologizing for his insane stunt and vowing to never do such a thing ever again, unless absolutely necessary. But now he had a new topic to discuss, and it involved the three otherworlders that were seated on the opposite side of the room from him.

"Okay, so, let's start with Glass-san…" Subaru said, looking at the woman with black hair. "From what I gathered from Garfiel, Julius and Felix, you requested to come along with them in hopes of asking me to… help save your world? Did I get that right?"

"That is right, Great Sage," the Fan Hero replied. "In my world, there is an old prophecy, which speaks of a series of incursions and destructive forces, which have come to be known as the Waves of Calamity. If the calamities brought by the Waves are not stopped, my world will meet its end. And that's where the Legendary Heroes come in."

"Legendary Heroes?"

"Yes," Glass nodded. "Heroes who are summoned from other worlds, armed with the Legendary Weapons of old, ready to fight the Waves and save my world."

"So I assume that those fans of yours aren't a Legendary Weapon?"

"Correct. What I am carrying is known as a "Vassal Weapon", and their job is to assist their Legendary Hero," Glass said, her expression changing. "However… I unfortunately failed."

"Oh… what happened?"

"Sigh… It all began when I was born. I come from a race known as Spirit People, and because of that, I was denied the chance to participate in the ceremony to decide who would wield the Vassal Fan. However, the weapon turned down all over the other participants and chose me. The others became bitter with me and told me to never come back."

"I'm sorry that happened to you," the Japanese teenager apologized.

"I don't need your pity," she growled. "Sorry, old habit. Regardless, I was banished to the outskirts of the world, where they hoped that I would die to the Waves, thus having the Vassal Fan transfer to one of them. That was, until I met… her."

"Her?"

"The wielder of the Legendary Hunting Tool, Kizuna Kazayama, the Hunting Hero."

Weird name for a weapon but okay – Hold up, isn't that a Japanese name?! Holy shit, another person who got isekai'd with me and Al! No, focus on Glass' story! Think about this later!

"The two of us met when we crossed paths, both of us on our way to slay a monster called the Demon Dragon Emperor," Glass said, reminiscing. "She was the first person who was ever nice to me. We defeated the monster, made allies and life-long friends, and she gave me more warmth and love than I felt in my entire life. She made me feel like I was wanted, needed."

Subaru was afraid to ask, but he had to. "What happened?"

The Spirit Person's face immediately shifted into a scowl. "On one of our adventures, she was captured and thrown into the Infinite Labyrinth, where she still is to this day. It happened a week ago, but I couldn't even grieve about it because of the damn upcoming Wave! And without her, I honestly didn't think the other Legendary Heroes stood a chance against the Waves…"

Subaru, along with Wiz and Zesshi, felt a pang of sadness for the Fan Hero.

"But then… a miracle happened," Glass said, as she looked right at Subaru. "While I was fighting the latest Wave, alone, three remarkable individuals from another world arrived to my aid, and they told me of a Hero of their own, one who could make the impossible a reality!"

"The three of them were referring to me."

"Yes! You, the Great Sage, Subaru Natsuki!" Glass exclaimed, as she got down to the floor, and bowed. "I have seen your power firsthand! You are a god among men! I'll give you anything you desire, so, just please, I beg of you… Save Kizuna! Save my world! Save everyone!"

Subaru was silent for a moment, as he thought through the logistics. This is a completely different world we're talking about, with rules that differentiate it from Lugnica. Not only that, but I can't just ask my friends to jump in and save another world just because. Do we even have the right firepower to deal with something like this? We could possibly need a whole… army…

Looking up from the bowing Glass, Subaru saw both Wiz and Zesshi waiting for his response, silently. Looking at the lich, Subaru asked, "Hey, Wiz-san, back in your world, they had an Adventurer Guild, or a place where warriors of different varieties could meet up?"

The magic user nodded, "Mm-hm, there are Adventurer Guilds all over the world. I'm fairly certain that these days, all the various independent ones merged into an international organization, but it's been a few decades since I've visited one, so who's to say?"

"Mm-hm," the Great Sage nodded. "And what about your monster crisis?"

"Well, the Devil King was defeated a few decades ago by Kazuma Satou and his party, and since then, monster populations have been in decline," the brown-haired woman answered.

KAZUMA?! Subaru's voice screamed within his mind, before he shook it. No, it could just be a coincidence, there are more pressing matters right now.

"I see," he said, before turning to the heterochromatic half-elf. "And Zesshi-san, what about your world? How is the monster situation and the overall general politics?"

"I don't really care for any of that," Zesshi bluntly answered. "But put bluntly, my world is bad, but nothing compared to the lady there. Monster infestations, governments at each other's throats, non-human discrimination. It wouldn't be a surprise if there was a mass non-human exodus from my world to yours if you gave them the chance."

That made Subaru's thoughts go into overdrive. With these testimonies, it stood to reason that other worlds from across the multiverse also had problems to deal with, from social upheaval, to world-ending catastrophes. I wouldn't be right to just sit back and watch them turn into post-apocalyptic wastelands. But he really didn't have the firepower or jurisdiction to interfere with another universe. Unless… Subaru suddenly had an idea.

Reinhard said that Zesshi was strong enough for him to pull out Reid. Wiz knows what the concept of an Adventurer Guild is. And Glass has personally requested that I save her world. We have manpower, the means, and the authority right here…

"I have an idea…" he announced to the three otherworlders. "How would you like it… if my world's "Adventures Alliance", let's say… branched out?"

The following months that led up to the election were… interesting, to say the least.

After a few days of recovery, Subaru was able to use his powers again without the severe risk of dying, and he was able to use "Reality Hopper" to send his parents back home, but not before showing them all of the great tourist spots Lugnica had to offer, including souvenirs.

Afterwards, and once the public was completely aware of the false charges that were haunting Satella for the last four hundred years, Subaru came forward with a public apology and explained that the various monsters that appeared around two months ago were his fault.

Naturally, the public was upset. In fact, the most vocal were those against the idea of Satella having a shot at rehabilitation. While the half-elf herself didn't have any charges pressed against her, the negative reception ended up causing the Emilia Camp to sink a bit in popularity, but not as badly as when the Crusch, Anastasia, and Priscilla Camps all wronged the Great Sage.

That, plus the fact that Echidna "accidentally" blabbed that Felt was actually the missing princess of the Lugnican Royal Family, much to her dismay, along with the fact that the three other Camps had been slowly rebuilding their reputation after the initial Great Sage debacle, ended up having all of the Camps relatively equal in popularity.

At this point, the Royal Selection could be anyone's game.

On more positive events, Geuse and Fortuna finally got married, and both Emilia and Fortuna ended up adopting his surname, Romanee-Conti. Though, everyone kinda knew that it would eventually become Natsuki for the half-elf. Petra made an excellent flower girl.

Otto finally mustered up the courage to pop the question to Frederica, who responded with "yes", tears of joy, and a ring on her finger. The following month, the Suwen family sent a letter of congratulations, along with a flower basket, for the happy couple.

After Subaru completely recovered, he got back to work right away. While he had to admit that it was nice to spend some quality time with his kids, every parent had their limit. And besides, with all of the new tech he got from his visit to Japan, he was especially giddy to bring yet another age of enlightenment, along with Lugnica's first Industrial Revolution. Especially with the help of the O'Connell siblings and Shion spreading this stuff to all corners of the world.

Not only that, but with Volcanina's help, Subaru was able to melt away the ice that plagued Elior Forest. However, Subaru had to tell the blue dragon to not directly hit the forest, and rather, to aim his breath at the sky, as actually get rid of the cause of the freezing forest, and to not accidentally fry the frozen elves like microwaveable frozen-foods.

Still, the results did bare fruit, and all forty-nine surviving elves, along with how many ever Witch Cultists got caught in the cross-fire, were safely melted and reanimated. While a bit confused and disoriented at first, Emilia, Geuse, and Fortuna were able to explain everything and tell them everything that they missed for the last one hundred years.

Needless to say, they immediately all pledged their fealty to the Great Sage, afterwards.

However everything had to come to an end, eventually. And it was now the dreaded "Election Day", where all of the citizens of Lugnica would have to cast their ballots and vote on which Candidate they wanted to lead the country into a new era.

All of the most prominent figures of each Camp had arrived at the Royal Castle, and were now all waiting in their own separate rooms with most of the Camp members that came with them, waiting to be called to the Throne Room and for the results to come in.

Inside their waiting room, Priscilla and Al were waiting quietly, until…

"Aldebaran, we might not win this."

This caught the helmeted knight completely off-guard. "Hold up, Princess, are you actually doubting yourself –"

"Don't be such a fool!" she snapped. "Mineself just saying that there's a good chance we might not win this, that's all. I'm being realistic, not doubting mine divine luck."

"Well, if you're not doubting your luck, then… why?"

"I don't know," she sighed. "Mayhaps it was never the world's intention to have mineself be a King, but if not that, then… what am I supposed to do now?"

"Didn't we… have this conversation already?" Al asked. "Back in Priestella?"

"Yes, we did," Priscilla answered. "And you told me that there were still the lands I owned that needed governing, along with the possible option that traveling around the world was viable, and that… you would always be… by my side…"

The Vollachian Matriarch stood up from the couch she was sitting on, and looked directly at her companion. "Al, remove your helmet."

"Uh… okay?" the two-armed knight said, questioning this bizarre sudden request, but still complying, as he placed both his hands on his helmet, and took it off.

Priscilla's eyes widened. "You look… different."

"Yeah… remembered the Zarestia incident? When bro gave me back my arm?" Al awkwardly asked, rubbing the top of his hair. "Well, it turns out that his ability was able to "make me the best me I can be", or something like that. But basically, along with my regrowing arm, all of my scars disappeared, and I'm pretty sure he might have made me look a bit younger, too."

"That would explain why you look so much like… him," Priscilla surmised. "Are you…?"

"Yeah, we are," Al nodded. "I just kept the name "Al" and kept the helmet on so as to not confuse and or cause a general panic among the populace. But other than me arriving eighteen years earlier and basically having a different life, were the same."

"Infinite worlds, infinite possibilities, I suppose… But I still managed to snag the original."

"Actually, the original was snagged by the silver-haired lady over four hundred years ago –"

"Oh, shut up, you know what I mean!" Priscilla huffed. "But anyways, I think I know what I'm going to do now. And I know that you'll be right there with me."

"Princess?"

"You'll follow me to the ends of this world, won't you, my knight?"

Al was quiet for a moment, before smiling. "Without a doubt, Pris."

Within another waiting room, Anastasia and Julius were silently waiting, until…

"Anastasia-sama, may I ask you a question?"

"Shoot."

"Why did you ask me out to dinner?"

That question threw Anastasia for a loop. She didn't know what to say in this scenario, so she decided to do something completely unexpected: Polite honesty.

"I realized tha' money'll never fill th' hole in ma heart."

"..."

"Th' Royal Selection thin' wuz really an excuse to enrich myself more, no surprise there," she chuckled to herself. "But I kinda realized tha' all this money… it doesn't buy actual happiness. And then… it kinda hit me… aside from Ricardo and th' triplets, I kinda never had any actual relationships. So… I kinda decided ta try an' start a relationship with ya."

Julius was quiet for a second, before saying, "So… you were trying to court me?"

"Yes…?" she answered. "Is it working?"

Julius was silent for a moment, before saying, "We shall see… There is still the matter of the Royal Selection ahead of us, but after that, I wouldn't mind a second date?"

"Really?!" Anastasia exclaimed, her eyes wide with hope.

"For you? Anything, my lady."

Inside Crusch and Felix's waiting room, all was quiet, until…

"Phew… Old Man Wil is syure taking his time…"

"Felix," Crusch said, curt. "Drop the act. We need to talk."

The knight's ears dropped at the sound of that. He knew the two of them ended up not having that talk after the Satella incident since the green-haired woman was constantly swamped with paperwork, and this was pretty much the only time she was free.

Of course she would find now as the opportune time to talk to him.

"Of course, Crusch-sama."

"Good," she nodded. "Let's being with the recounting of the events that happened almost a year ago: You, for some inexplicable reason, tried to confess your feelings to me in the middle of a battlefield, despite the fact we could have died. Am I wrong?"

"No, Crusch-sama."

"Good. Now my next question: Why?"

"Well, I figured it was a gyood time, considering we might nyot have made it out alive –"

"No, not that," Crusch interrupted. "I mean… why me?"

Felix looked at his mistress with wide eyes. "Crusch, it's always been you. Ever since you saved me from my horrible father, I've always loved you," he said, without his usual mannerisms.

"But you knew that I –"

"Loved Fourier? I know," he answered. "Which is why I never said anything. I even tried my best to get the two of you together. Because I knew that your happiness would always be the most important thing to me, even if it meant that I wasn't in the picture."

"..."

"But even after all of that, I still loved you," the cat boy said, with a sigh and a smile. "So, when I saw that there was a good chance the two of us were gonna die, I was… selfish. I wanted you to at least know, and I wanted to say it, so that I would have lived a life without regrets. Because… if I died, and never told you… or if you ended up with someone else because I never told you… I would hate myself for the rest of my life."

Crusch was quiet for a moment, thinking of every moment she had spent with Felix. Their first meeting, the beginning of the Royal Selection, all of it. Now that she thought about it, the signs were kinda there, she was just so enamored with work she never noticed.

"Felix…" the Duchess said, looking at her knight. "While I don't have an answer for you right now… I'll think about what you have said here. Is that… alright with you?"

"Of course," he smiled. "Take as much time as you need, nyah."

Felt and Reinhard waited in their room, where it was silent, until…

"Hmm… it appears Grandmother is taking her time with Grandfather."

"Yeah… it would appear so…" Felt agreed.

The Felt Camp had arrived with the three of them, but after a bit of time in the waiting room, Theresia excused herself to go talk to Wilhelm, leaving the two of them alone.

"Hey… Rein?"

"Yes?"

"Do you think I would make a good King?"

"Of course!" Reinhard exclaimed. "I think you would make a great –"

"Even after all of the things I said?" she asked, teary-eyed.

"Felt… what's bothering you?"

The blonde sighed, and began to speak. "It's just… ever since Echidna blabbed about me being royalty… I just… I don't know if I can live up to that expectation… I mean, eleven months ago, Big Sis practically had this Royal Selection in the bag… but now… there's a good chance I might actually win this. And, I don't know if I can be a good King all on my own –"

"Stop that."

"Huh?"

"You seem to have made a crucial mistake," Reinhard said. "Being a King, or any kind of leader for that matter, isn't about the ability to do everything on your own. It's about knowing your ally's strengths and weaknesses, listening to their input, and being her person who can bring all of them together. I mean, look at Subaru: Sure, he has his flaws, but he is a leader. He brought so many people of different backgrounds together, had them go on various missions where their strengths would be their strongest, and he listened to us when he had something to say."

"So… you're saying I can do it…?"

"Yes, Felt, without a doubt in my mind, you can do it."

The red-eyed girl hugged her blue-eyed knight, whispering, "Thank you."

"Of course, it's my job," the redheaded knight smiled at his blonde mistress, letting her go. "And besides, you don't necessarily have to be a King."

"Huh?"

"Well, if you do win, our word would become law," the Sword Saint said, his voice sing-song. "And besides, this Royal Selection has shown to be a successful pilot…"

"What are you getting at, Rein?"

"It's actually an idea Subaru introduced me to… How would you like a democracy?"

In the final room, Emilia, Rem, and Satella were by themselves, waiting. Roswaal and Ram had come along, but they were in another room, talking to Subaru, at the moment.

It was quiet, until Satella decided to break the ice. "Emilia…" she said, looking at her mirror-perfect counterpart. "For what it's worth, I'm sorry."

Emilia looked confused. "What do you mean?"

"You having to suffer the insults and all that hatred… just because you look like me…" Satella said. "I truly wish that you didn't look like me, at least you wouldn't have been hurt."

"Stop that," the half-elf said to the other half-elf. "Yes, it's true that I didn't like my appearance for the longest time, Satella. But… Subaru told me that he loved me, how he loved my hair and my eyes, and since then… I'm glad I have them. Because they made someone happy."

"Oh, I see…" Satella whispered, as she looked downcast.

"You know, Subaru-kun loves you, too."

"Huh?" Satella asked, looking at Rem.

"He told us of how the two of you met, centuries ago," the blue-haired maid said. "He told us of how he gave you everything to make you happy, and he begged us to help him save you. If that isn't love, Rem doesn't know what is. He loves you, the same as us."

"I know," Satella sighs. "I just feel like he's just stringing me along because of his past life. Like that it's an obligation, or just guilt of causing the Great Calamity!"

"Yeah, well I sometimes thought that he loved me solely because I looked like you!" Emilia exclaimed. "But both of us know that's wrong, and so is what you're saying! He loves each of us the same, because we comforted him when he was down, because we supported him when no one else did. And because of that, he will always love us!"

The former Witch of Envy looked at the Royal Candidate and the blue oni for a bit, before surrendering with a sigh and a weak smile. "I suppose you're right. He does indeed love us."

CREAK…

The three of them looked up, and saw Subaru walking in.

"Hey, girls," he said, sounding serious. "It'll be time for the announcement to come in, so I'm going to get this over with right now: I love all three of you equally."

"Subaru…" Emilia said. "We know."

"I know it's wrong, and it's a scummy thing to do, but I just can't pick one of you! You're all the most beautiful, kind, amazing women I have ever met!"

"Subaru-kun," Rem said, trying to get him to knock it off

"And I know it would be wrong of me to just string anyone of you along, so I've been working so hard because, well, I'm so afraid of hurting you by giving you an answer. But the truth is, I can't pick one of you, so I'm going to –"

"Subaru!" Satella shouted, snapping him back to attention.

"Hm?"

"It's fine," Emilia said, reassuringly. "You don't have to pick any one of us. We aren't trying to compete with you. We're all more than happy to share."

"Wait, what?"

"All three of your daughters view each of us as a mother, even," Satella explained. "Shaula has me, Louis has Rem, and Meili has Emilia. I thought it was kinda obvious."

"Oh, well, I uh…"

"Excuse me, everyone," a young butler said. "But the ballots have been counted, and the Council of Elders requests everyone's presence in the Throne Room.

"Subaru-kun, it's obvious that the end of the Royal Selection has you stressed out," Rem said, holding his hand, and smiling. "But don't can talk about this later, if you want."

"Oh… uh… Yeah, let's…" Subaru said, as the four of them walked to the Throne Room.

Soon enough, everyone, from the Camp members, to the nobles, to even Wilhelm, Theresia, Roswaal and Ram, had arrived at the Throne Room for the big moment.

The doors opened, and the ten members of the Council of Elders walked in, and sat in their places. "Thank you all for coming," Miklotov said. "After three long years, the Royal Selection has finally concluded! We have ourselves a new King by vote of the general populace!"

There was cheering and clapping from everyone, which soon enough died down, as everyone waited patiently for Miklotov to announce the winner.

Subaru was silent, but internally, he was nervous as hell, and shaking beyond belief.

That was, until something grabbed his hand.

Looking down he saw that Emilia was holding his hand, and giving him a reassuring smile. One that translates to: Everything will be alright.

He saw that both Rem and Satella were giving him the same, reassuring smile.

Looking around the Throne Room once more, and seeing all of the friends he made along the way, Subaru smiled, knowing that his girls were right, that everything would be alright.

And for once, he was looking forward to an unknown future.

Starting right here… from square zero.

"And now… the 42nd King of the Dragon Kingdom of Lugnica is –"

Author's Notes: On a more serious note, Billy Kametz (Naofumi, young Wilhelm, White Blood Cell, and Kyouya's English voice actor) died a few days ago, and I want to dedicate this chapter to an amazing talent. You will be missed, Billy. And now, for the comments.

Intrigued Shikikan: This is one of the most interesting reviews I ever got. It's so passive-aggressive, it's kinda impressive. And I mean, Subaru is technically there.

Monty: No, this is the penultimate chapter. The story ends with the next chapter. But still, thanks for reading, I'll keep up the good work until this is finally over.

Jpx0999: Oh, there will be something about his staff in the end. And most of the abilities he lost from it are ones that required materials, like a sword, or a shield, or some rope.

Deathenglegamers1144: Thanks for reading, glad you liked the joke.

Modno: Yeah, the reason the meeting between the girls and Subaru's parents didn't happen was because there wasn't any time, and I physically can't write stuff like that. So, that's how the cliffhanger ended. Hope to see you at the finale!

GammaOmegaDelta: The joke actually came from Mirrond's "Cure to Evil", check it out.

CrysisWar1234: I mean, watching Subaru beat up a Demon Lord did kinda give me that idea, too. But yeah, the problems in the last chapter did kinda get out of control for him. Let's hope the next chapter also meets your standards.

hlglh: Thank you for the hearts!

Tomodachi: Por las cuatro cosas que comentaste: 1. Podría haber exagerado a Anson Sue porque pensé que era fuerte si era lo suficientemente fuerte como para hacer que Tanya sintiera miedo. 2. Tienes razón, Subaru es mejor que eso, pero yo, como escritor, quería crossovers interdimensionales, y así es como pensé que podría conseguirlos. 3. El monólogo interior de Naoko es lo más parecido a conocer a los suegros que estás recibiendo. 4. Supuse que la reacción de los ciudadanos a Satella ya había sucedido, Subaru solo necesita disculparse públicamente.

VinHD15: Yeah, if anything, the Demon Lord made Subaru super angry, and not scared. Don't worry, the only otherworlders who are currently alive are allies of the Adventurers Alliance. And sorry to disappoint, but this is all you're getting in terms of interactions between the Subaru Protection Squad ™ and Subaru's parents.

MemorySoul: Yeah, the gods are totally thankful for the Demon Lord's death. Hey, now that I think about it, that might be a future plot device…

ThatRabidPotato: If by "what I'll do next" you mean "future projects", I'll discuss those in the final chapter. Now that you mention it, basing a react fic around a story the characters already know might not be the best idea. The Natsukis' reactions to Subaru's love life has pretty much been covered with that one paragraph during the beginning of this chapter. And I'm glad that I helped you get familiarized with "Overlord" through Zesshi! I hope you do the same thing with the other fandoms I used!

There aren't any new powers, and I doubt there will be any anymore.

And that's it! Thanks so much for reading! If you want to join my Discord Server, the link is /PHN9dfTt. You can post memes and fan art there, along with chatting with other members, myself included. If you want to be my friend, my Discord username is Ernalore#8663. That's all for now, I'll see you next time!

- Ernalore