Disclaimer: I do not own Re:Zero or Oregairu

If he was expecting wisdom from the people called the sage council, he was dreadfully disappointed. They were gossiping like middle aged wives, worse than the civilians of the city that were watching.

Succession ... dignity ... bla bla ...

... half-devil ... bla bla ...

They had already decided that Emilia was unworthy of the crown. He agreed but not for the reasons they said. His first impulse had been to defend her but he stopped himself. He was no hero and he definitely didn't want to be her hero. He remembered how his smart plans had worked during the student council elections or Rumi but backfired when it came to the original purpose. She needed to go through this on her own.

Of course then the real purpose and culprits for the trial were revealed by the coldly smirking duchess. The sage 'peanut gallery' council still did not stop gossiping.

gutter rat ... stinks ... bla bla ...

They however froze upon seeing him making him sweat.

'What happened? Don't tell me they recognized that I am not from this world? Is this my proper Isekai debut?'

One of them stood up and pointed at him with trembling hands.

"A fish-eyed demi-human! To think they actually existed."

"..."

Hachiman really felt like slapping the guy repeatedly.

"This is the first time I have seen one. But he has no other fish features so his bloodline must be very thin. He is mostly human."

"His clothes are also weird. Do they work in water?"

He should have been more angry but the fact that the green haired woman was more irritated than him was really satisfying.

"QUIET. Lets focus on the matter at hand, shall we?"

Hachiman was standing there with Felt, trying to discern everyone's objectives. How much of the hate and disgust directed towards Emilia was genuine? Genuine huh. He smiled upon remembering what he wanted even if it wasn't pretty.

From what he understood, hatred and fear were emotions that weren't maintained through centuries, they either increased or decreased. No matter what the witch did, it was only a scary story for the current generation. The fact that silver hair itself was not a taboo was proof of that. Most likely the sage council was playing it up for their own benefit.

A seemingly great idea came to his mind to accurately gauge their intentions and how far they were willing to go for it. What if he were to pretend to be Emilia's enemy and attack her to find everyone's reaction to it? Of course he would not succeed even if he wanted to and would get killed by someone, most likely Puck. That should be a great and informative sacrifice on his part.

He abandoned the idea at the next instant though. Komachi, Yukino, Yui and others would be disappointed in him. More importantly it was not full-proof as there had to be people who could cripple or capture him instead of killing him if he tried a stunt like that.

That just left the original plan.

He took out the Insignia that he had borrowed from Emilia last night and placed it on Felt's hands for everyone to see. The shock of the shining jewel was enough to shut everyone up and the stage was his.

It was easy to see from Felt's expression that she was in turmoil. He could have warned her beforehand but he considered that having authentic reaction on her cute face would have more impact on the public. He mentally apologized for using her like that. He did not dare to look at Emilia, sure that she would have a similar reaction.

"The person you have been calling a gutter-rat until now is one of the candidates to be the ruler of this country, same goes for the one you called half-devil. Insulting them is insulting the dragon and his judgement. So should I assume that the sage's council has already cut ties with the dragon?"

Timing of this was very important as playing your card second was advantageous in this matter. It had to be after all the insults had been spouted as the shock factor would give them the upper hand. If this had been revealed before, peoples emotions would have already settled down by this time giving the council more free reign.

The focus was now flipped onto the sages council. The Dragon had a huge role and its covenant was a moral support even in its absence. The council would lose support if they openly continued to insult the candidates after this.

Having said that, they weren't completely cornered. Once they got over their shock, there were many ways to counter it.

"We do not doubt the greatness or intentions of dragon-sama but what if the gem did not distinguish between good and evil, only power? What reason could there be to risk repeating the tragedy of the past by accepting a half-devil?"

"Then let me ask you, is the witch dead? If she comes back, who will stop her? The dragon and the sword saint are there but where is the sage? I have been sent to guide her so that she can be replacement for the sage in defense of this nation. A diamond to cut diamond if you will."

"What? Who are you?"

It was time to take advantage of their own baseless speculations.

"I am a part-koi-fish demi-human from the great waterfall."

Whether this would help ally him with demi-humans or would they be wary of a type they had never seen before, he didn't know. Regardless it would definitely cause some alienation from humans.

The reason why he was confident of there being no purely aquatic demi-humans was that it was physically impossible. He had seen a lot of reptilian and mammalian demi-humans and there might even be amphibian types but having gills and such would make survival on land impossible. That made him wonder if there were mermaids and sirens in this world

"Koi-fish? What is that?"

"Its a school of fish that swims against the flow and jumps up the waterfall. Legend has it that by completing their trials, they can evolve into dragons. I am apostle of the dragon."

This was a really risky maneuver for him. Crush would have likely become his enemy if she couldn't tell with her ability that he was lying. Thankfully she could and became curious about him instead. While she did not like being made to look like a fool, she could appreciate the selection process finally starting for real.

Also before anything could occur, something happened beyond even Hachiman's predictions.

"I Reinhard Van Astrea pledge myself to be the knight of the youngest royal candidate, Felt-sama."

Now with the handsome redhead on one of his knees before her, the helpless little girl had suddenly become the greatest challenger, at least when it came to the firepower alone. A simple trial had transformed into official beginning of the royal selection process that would go on for over three years.

Reinhard's action came as a shock to all including Hachiman, but on second thought he really shouldn't have. The boy had been disillusioned by his family and the noble society in general so something outside of it would be very attractive to him.

While it was beneficial to him at the moment for completely countering the council and keeping Felt safe, that may not be the case in the future. He had just given a volatile little girl who had been suppressed by society for all her life with absolute power. It might end badly. Hopefully he would have left the world by then.

The redhead came over to thank him.

"I am in your debt for finding and protecting milady until now which I want to repay."

"No need to be so formal. And don't worry about the debt. I am not someone who works for free. I will definitely make you repay it someday."

"Naturally my friend. Its a shame that you cannot join our camp. Felt-sama would have been happier."

"I have my own objective. Its not impossible that I may join you in the future."

Behind Reinhard, the little loli candidate looked like she wanted to say something, whether it was to thank him for saving her or scold him for surprising her. Regardless he preempted her.

"You came back to save me too so we are even. We will meet again."

She nodded and thankfully refrained from hugging him as neither were used to such and that was the end of the incident.

A.N - Apologies for the delay or if the chapter feels a bit rushed. The reduction in covid waves meant that the world opened up again. I have been travelling recently with no chance to write. Hopefully updates will be more regular from now on even if not as frequently as before.