A Good Joke

by Siegward Verathil

Branded and villainized as the Archbishop of Pride. Betrayed, abandoned and tortured until the point of breaking. Subaru has developed a keen sense of comedy amongst other things. Re:forgotten with humor.

9. The Village Clown's Gambit

-Riel Village-

Subaru and Patrasche were watching the chaos unfolding from the distance.

Merchants were being threatened and beaten. Shops or houses being looted. Villagers were begging for their lives and livelihood. Children crying and women were being taken, alongside smoke coming from several houses that were being put to the torch. The stables were also ruined. Although some villagers seemed to be putting on a fight by grabbing their pitchforks or other instruments. A failed effort from the looks of it.

'I can't see their total number from here and there are way too many houses, shops as well as other sections of the village. One would think they would round up all the villagers for an easier time, but not this bunch.'

He also noted that for bandits, they were rather well-equipped. They were likely backed by a noble or some other shady organization, not that it mattered to him.

'With Cor Leonis, Invisible Providence and Hopeless. I can potentially just charge in and head straight for the inn. But I don't want to attract attention to myself and I don't want to take unnecessary risks since I'm only here to save a few people, not the entire village.'

He led Patrasche towards the surrounding trees and bushes nearby. That way they were hidden while still able to see the village in the distance. His eyes soon picked up on a lone bandit that was in the woods, relieving himself.

He was too far for Hopeless and Invisible Providence to reach, so instead Subaru picked up some stones and pebbles from the ground, remembering that Regulus's authority and offensive capabilities allowed him to affect anything he touched. For example, people like Reinhard by sending him flying towards the moon, or the waters from Priestella or even simple objects like stones with stillness of time before launching them with destructive power. Subaru himself had been the one to name it Stillness of an Object's Time.

With that in mind, Subaru activated Cor Leonis and threw the stones and pebbles in the direction of the lone bandit. 2 seconds go by without anything happening, then the bandit exploded in a shower of gore till there is nothing left of him but blood and some organs on the ground and the surrounding shrubbery. He also noted several trees started falling down.

'Too destructive like I thought. That's one down so far though.'

Wow, Outer me. I know we can sew and knit, but you just added fireworks into the mix! And what a lovely firework it was hahaha, I want to try it!

"No. You'd probably destroy the whole village with this." Subaru admonished Pride, before giving Patrasche a head pat. Knowing he has to go on ahead alone from this point on.

"Patrasche, can you wait for me here?"

She whimpered and brought her face closer to his, her orange eyes telling him that if he goes she goes.

"I want to bring you with me, but I don't want you to get hurt." Subaru tried reasoning as his hands stroked under the side of her neck. She lifted her leg and hit it on the ground as a sign of stubbornness before her nose poked his face.

I don't know about you but I would take Patrasche. C'mon, be honest, what can bandits do to us?

Subaru shook his head at that as it was a fool's gambit.

"I could rush in without a plan, but I have no guarantee that either I or Patrasche won't get hurt. So I'm not going to attack them like that. Also, you might be willing to risk Patrasche but I'm not." Subaru spoke with finality. He looked deeply into his companion's eyes. "Sorry, Patrasche. I promise when I'm back we can ride away together for as long as you want. I'll even get you a better saddle. So just wait here for me and keep out of sight, please."

She seemed to understand what he was saying. She closed her eyes before gently pushing him. A sign of her trusting him and telling him to go onwards.

"Stay safe for me." He spoke softly to her before turning around and heading out towards the village.

...

He walked slowly while taking more looks at his surroundings. A lot of trees, houses, shops, and stone markers. Corners that he could be useful.

'From here on out, I'll need to get a vantage point to map out the way and avoid running into too many of them. If only I could use Murak.' He thought if he had Murak he can just easily use it on himself to fly upwards, towards a house's roof. But he couldn't use any magic thanks to his gate nor did he have a contract with a spirit of Yin.

But what he did have was Cor Leonis. Remembering again that Regulus used it to bend the physical laws of the world in his favor.

'Since Cor Leonis seems to work like Regulus' version. Does that mean that when I jump I just continuously follow an upwards trajectory until I deactivate it? It could work, but I'll need something to pull me upwards just in case. Invisible Providence should do the trick.'

He got closer towards a nearby house. Intending on testing that out before he heard screaming coming from within it. He decided to check it out, finding four bandits were harassing a family. Two were beating a man to death in front of his crying children, while two were going around picking up whatever valuables they could find.

He slowly opened the door to get a view of the bandits. Using Invisible Providence, he summoned 2 of them to reach towards two of the bandits' throats, the ones that were attacking the villager, grabbing them and instantly making the grip close crushing their windpipes. Making the duo simultaneously choke to death.

Then, also with Invisible Providence, he grabbed their weapons and used them to kill the last two who were too confused to react to the floating weapons or their dying comrades.

He could hear the ones in the house were in disbelief at what just happened.

'Five.' He counted in his mind all the bandits he has killed so far, and despite Pride taunting in his mind he wasn't going to bother with the theatrics that Pride would go for since he wanted to get this over with fast.

He stepped back to take a better look at the Chimney before summoning a shadow hand and activating Cor Leonis. Watching as the hand continuously moved until it grabbed the house's chimney all in the span of a second.

Subaru then jumped with Cor Leonis active and used the shadow hand to quickly pull him towards the house's roof. Using the parkour skills he had learned from Clind's training eons ago to stabilize himself once he landed on top.

Pride was joyously complimenting his new trick but he ignored him as he looked at the horizon. He saw the heavy smoke in the background was stemming from the direction of the inn, realizing it was also put to the torch. His thoughts again wandered towards the girl and her mother.

'I'll have to hurry up.'

...

While making his way, he heard noises coming from nearby. Three loud bandits were coming out of a house with a wailing girl on one's shoulders. Subaru sighed and used Invisible Providence to grab their legs, pulling them upwards and making the girl fall. Then he slammed them hard on the ground, before pulling them up again and repeating the process two more times till their bodies were squashed.

Meanwhile, the girl was genuinely confused at what just happened before she began praying since she thought a divine intervention just occurred in her eyes.

'Eight.'

He counted and continued his way further without running into more trouble. Although, soon enough, he started seeing some of the villagers being speared on the walls of houses or trees by their own pitchforks. A few of them also seemed to be target practice for arrows or throwing knives.

He recognized one of them. The stable master who seemed to be still alive but just barely, with seven bandits seemingly laughing in amusement as they stood nearby, discussing with one another.

Subaru decided to approach them.

"That's a hefty pouch you got there, friend. Why don't we all share its contents?" One of them spoke out after noticing a white-haired man approaching.

"Did you do this?" He asked coldly with his eyes staring at the speared villagers.

"They resisted and didn't pay up so they got what they rightly deserved." The speaker of the seven had a grin on his face. He noticed the boy aiming his hand at him and whispering something. The bandit didn't think anything bad would happen since they were seven and he was one. They were clearly armed and he had no weaponry. It was a clear fool's gambit if he attacked them.

"But you seem like a smart boy. So if you pay us, we'll think about letting y—GURH!" Before the bandit finished speaking, he was sent flying with his breastplate caving into his ribcage and his organs shattered.

The remaining six were stunned into silence by the shock of their comrade flying off and dying like that. They looked back at the white-haired individual only to find the villagers' own pitchforks and a carpenter's axe were floating and heading their way. The closest three of them felt something grab their legs and pulling, knocking them to the ground before the pitchforks were impeded through their skulls.

Another managed to roll away and block the carpenter's axe with his sword before he was sent flying with his body crushed. Meanwhile, the last two had looks of genuine fear plastered on their faces.

One of them threw his weapon towards Subaru in an attempt to distract him as he fled. However, he soon found his right half falling one side while his left half falling another.

The last one tried to run too but he tripped and fell to the ground from the horror at what transpired. He looked at Subaru with a pleading face.

"S-Spare, m-me p-plea-" Before he could finish begging for his life, his face and the back of his head swapped positions.

'Fifteen.' Subaru counted and approached the dying stable master. He tried to speak but it only came out as a gurgle, he then gave Subaru a look that seemed to be telling him to end his suffering. Subaru nodded, understanding what he was trying to convey, and used Invisible Providence to mercifully deliver the coup de grace.

He paced his steps even further, following that, trying to hurry towards the burning inn in order to make sure the matron and her daughters are alive, hoping they weren't speared to the walls or worse.

Until suddenly his steps became slower than before. His left leg was limping for some reason and there was something wet going down his leg.

Looking downwards, he realized that an arrow was lodged in his upper thigh. A second later and one passed by him, while another arrow grazed the side of his head.

He looked around and noticed more bandits in the distance were aiming at him with bows or crossbows. They assumed he was the culprit that was killing their comrades.

'Great. Just great.' Subaru frowned at his new injury as he used Invisible Providence to catch an arrow that aimed for his chest.

Before he could do anything else, twenty or more shadow hands came out of his body and picked up dirt, stones, rubble as well as corpses of nearby villagers to use as shield from the arrows and crossbow bolts. Then Cor Leonis was subconsciously activated and the shadow hands simultaneously threw what they carried in the bandits' direction to devastating effect.

Any bandit, villager, or wildlife that stood in that direction was gone without a trace. Trees, surrounding shrubbery, as well as the walls of the houses or shops that were in the way were either destroyed or heavily damaged.

They surprised us and now we surprised them hahaha. So many fireworks all at once!

Subaru let out a loud sigh as he foresaw this was going to happen sooner or later.

"Like I said earlier, we're not here to destroy the village. You're lucky it was just a small section of the whole area." He chided with a heavily irritated tone then limped in a rush towards the inn afterwards, with the arrow still stuck in his thigh as there were more pressing matters to get to.

...

Upon reaching the entrance. He used the scarf that Sisti gave him as a ward against the smoke, with his own hands tightly holding it to cover his nose and mouth as he got inside. Using shadow hands to clear out anything that blocked his way while he searched for any survivors inside.

The heat made him sweat, but he didn't feel its effects. His eyes were watering but it didn't affect his vision. The flames might've singed any exposed skin or burnt parts of his clothes but no pain registered in his mind.

'Why am I going so far for people I barely even know? I'm not attached nor do I feel anything to them either, so why?'

He had many thoughts in his mind, this was the main one. He didn't think about that when he was killing bandits and saving villagers on the way. He didn't think about that when he was rushing here or when he was hit with an arrow.

Only now did it cross his mind as he was in the middle of a burning building, with that arrow still stuck in his thigh, desperately searching for a woman and her daughters whom, outside of one daughter, he only really interacted with for a few minutes at most.

Before he could think of an answer to his self-imposed question, debris almost fell on top of him and he had to act fast. It was everywhere and continued to fall off, impeding his movement. He, however, started to find several corpses, some of which were charred. And from their size, he guessed it was the bodies of the travelers or other merchants that were staying in the inn.

Until he finally found the Matron. She looked to have died before the fire started with her throat slashed.

'Dammit, where are her daughters?'

I have a prediction for us since the place is burning down and all.

Pride suddenly sounded in his mind as his eyes continued to search his surroundings.

I bet we'll run into a door knob in the basement that leads to a separate room within the inn, and there we will find a little girl with blonde hair and a tsundere of an attitude to take our hand hahaha.

He couldn't retort since his mouth was covered by the scarf. But his other self made him remember that the storage area, so Sisti and her sisters could be there. Using Cor Leonis to skip past a line of fire that blocked the way, he rushed towards the basement.

He tried to push the door open before realizing it was useless and resorted to using Hopeless. He went downstairs after shattering the door, searching for any signs of life until his eyes caught a sad scene. Two bodies with pinkish-red hair next to one another. One of a child, the other a young adult. The smallest of the two rested her head on the older one.

He didn't need to approach them to know they weren't making it out.

'I was too late to save them. The old man. stable owner, Matron, and her... Daughters.' He felt emptiness as he stared at their dead bodies until he realized a person was missing. 'Wait, Sisti isn't here. Did she make it out? Or did she never reach the inn?'

---

*Cough* *Cough*

Subaru was resting outside of the inn and letting out hacking coughs after another from all the smoke. Noting that it's probably not a good sign from his lungs that he did that. It would've been ironic if he were to die in the same way as the last time, he thought. Considering the last time he died was also in a fire albeit one that his other self started.

He was also lucky no bandit was looking this way as he was ripe for the picking right now. He used this short time of rest to remove the arrow and any shards that remained from his leg with Invisible Providence. Tearing off a part of his shirt and using it as a bandage before forcing himself to stand up with difficulty.

His body was telling him to stop and rest more from all the activity he did, but he didn't listen to it. He had to continue the search for the only, and the most, meaningful person he had left in the village.

'Have to find her.' Were his thoughts as he pressed onwards. Heading towards another section of the village, while countless theories ran in his mind about where she could be. What if she hid in another house? What if she managed to escape and was already away from the village? What if the bandits kidnapped her? Or what if she died in the inn and he didn't find her corpse? His logical mind knew that it was like searching for a needle in a haystack, but it didn't stop his search.

His ears picked up noises nearby.

"Gah, my ears are still ringing from that bitch. She was louder. I blame you, Berc." He heard a voice complaining, then a much deeper voice answered.

"Shut it, prick. Ain't my fault that I thought the lass broke so easily before she went and screamed for help like that. Bah, like mother like daughter they say ain't it."

Those words immediately caught Subaru's attention.

'Like her mother? Do they mean...' He thought to himself as he marched in their direction with purpose.

Soon enough he came across two bandits. One of them looked rather large, likely a giant or a half-giant, and was carrying an axe that was almost the same size as Subaru, while the other was a normal human.

The large bandit also spotted him and touched the shoulder of his human friend. "Look at what we got he-"

He stopped speaking once he saw the intense piercing stare that came from the cold lifeless-seeming eyes of the boy in front of him. "The girl you were speaking about just now. Did she have pinkish-red hair?"

The large man curled his lips in a mocking sneer. "What's it to you? You fuck her too or something, Laddie?" He seemed to size him up before letting out a hearty laugh.

"Nah, you didn't fuck her 'cause she was pure, well let me tell you, she was a screamer that one." The half-giant gloated and drew his large axe. Making his friend take out his weapons too and approach him with a big smirk on his face. Until suddenly—

"Hahahahahahahahahahaha!"

Both bandits were highly confused and even more highly alerted. Usually, when people are threatened when meeting bandits they always panic and cry and beg for mercy, unless they are either knights or stupid folks trying to act brave. And yet the person in front of them was laughing wholeheartedly in genuine amusement, almost as if he had heard a really funny joke.

"The fuck are you laughing at?" the smaller of the duo asked.

"Lad's broken before we even get to him. Bah, his appearance is even more broken." The large man spat on the ground as he got closer to Subaru in an attempt to rob him before finishing him off.

Just before he could touch him, Subaru stopped laughing and smiled ecstatically at the bigger bandit, eyes full of crazed mischief. His smile startled the large man and made him take a step back almost as if on instinct.

"Ahhh I'm starting to appreciate bandits and their humor. They're such a fun bunch that like to taunt and tease and say incredible stuff!" He finally spoke in an elated tone.

He sized them up and down, specifically the big bandit. "Ara~ this handsome guy~ knows outstanding meat when I see it. So large and muscular~ with a physique built for… " He paused to think hard before the answer struck him like a giant's fist. "Painting!" He exclaimed cheerfully to the confusion of the two.

"But I'm being a bit rude, aren't I? Excuse me, gentlemen. You seem like you have an appreciation for the arts among other fine tastes, could I interest you in it? I've always wondered if I have that skill, you know? And what better way to demonstrate than with two new friends to judge my drawing!"

The larger of the two asked. "What the fuck are you on about? Not that it matters." He struck Subaru with the hilt of his axe, but Subaru remained unfazed.

"Hmmm~ that was a good solid hit. I admit if it wasn't for Cor Leonis, courtesy of Regulus Corneas, I'd probably have a severe concussion now, or maybe even a broken skull. The honorable, gallant knights could learn a thing or two from you hahaha."

The bandit growled and tried to slash him and cut him into two with his axe, but to no effect, not even his clothes were affected.

"HOW AR-" Before he could finish, they were both lifted into the air. "Wha?!" They exclaimed in unison at what was happening. Their eyes searched everywhere for what grabbed them but found nothing. Eventually, their eyes focused on the white-haired boy that was giving them a jovial smile. Filled with friendliness and cheerfulness.

"So let's skip introductions and move on to art. I was thinking of good old expressionism with a specific type of watercolor, if you catch my drift. Good choice of painting style, right? I promise you this will be the crème de la crème of artistry! It'll make your brains tremble!" He explained to his two newest artists, before remembering something important.

"Oh wait, I'm getting ahead of myself hahaha. I'm gonna ask a question for Inner me's sake before we paint. There's this girl you see, a helpful girl. She gave me this scarf." His hands began playfully waving one end of the scarf in a flirty way.

"Ara~ isn't it a beautiful scarf~?" He cooed.

"Not only beautiful but also adorable and cu~te. Sensually hugging the neck of this handsome guy~ that you see in front of you and enhancing my own magnif~icence doesn't it? In short, it's the ultimate adornment for the ultimate embodiment of all kinds of virtue~ and beauty~ in the world. It truly improves my ow~n cha~rm." He stopped playing with the scarf as he glanced at the simple meat sacks with a disgusted face.

"And reduces the charm of such filth-ridden, worthless and virgin waste of flesh that surrounds me~!"

They seemed to be giving him a look of mixed anger and confusion at his words. Muffled noises came out of them.

"Ara Ara~ don't undress this handsome guy with such shameless, perverted looks. As is expected from putrid meat aberrations. All you need to do is ask in order to bask in my august lo~ve. I'm such a dutiful and doting man aren't I?" He asked with a loving tone before switching to a bored one. "Awww~ don't get your water-logged brains and your small, unused, and unclean appendages too excited as unfortunately, you are undeserving of my love~" The grip he held on them increased its tightening grasp, making them wheeze.

"Your garbage, masochistic, pathetic, and un-fuckable selves would simply soil~ and drip~ with your own disgusting piss and shit at this handsome guy's~ mere touch~. Kyahahahaha!" He chirped and giggled to their choking noises.

He then slowly loosened the hold on them to make them speak before asking. "Anyway, so for Inner me and our new friendship's sake, where is she at?"

"Listen to me now you crazy fuckin' prick." The giant spoke in a threatening tone. "Release me or you'll pray your mind is the only thing you los—H...H-Huh?" His arms were spread out then a second later both of his arms were removed. He looked on in shock before the pain registered in his mind.

"GARRRAAGHHHHH!"

The separated arms began floating and smearing the blood that sprouted from them on the walls. Akin to a painting brush with only one color.

"Such a relaxing tune to paint to." Pride closed his eyes as if he was taking inspiration from the song for the masterpiece he was doing. He drew three figures. A cat, a figure with six globes around him, and the face of a man with X on his mouth, before knocking the singer out a few seconds later using both large painting brushes.

"And voila! Beautiful painting, isn't it? Truly TRUUUUUULY~ the work of art! I like to dedicate this to my three best friends hahaha." Pride spoke in admiration of his art before looking at the other bandit, expecting him to compliment his masterpiece but instead, he saw him turning very pale and looked to be heaving on the verge of throwing up.

"Sheesh, tough judge?" Pride spoke with a pout. He thought he had painted wonderfully until he saw this painter's expression. Before sighing and deflating his pout. "Fine, no biggie. Can't satisfy 'em all. Say, isn't it your turn to paint now? Go ahead, I'll be fair." Pride offered with a genuine smile.

His words immediately prompted the bandit to start begging him. "W-Wa-wait! I-I can give you a-anything you want! I-I promise!"

"Anything I want, you say?" He mused. "Well, painting aside. I want you to tell me where that helpful girl is. Won't you do that for the sake of our newfound appreciation of art?"

The bandit looked extremely nervous. "S-S-she's r-right… T–t-there!" He pointed with his eyes towards a random direction. Hoping that the lunatic would leave him alone, or that he runs into more of his comrades.

"N-now l-let me go. I t-told y-you what you want! Y-you c-can keep Berc with y-y-you as i-insurance."

Pride shrugged him off with a counteroffer. "I think it'd be enjoyable if we all went, don't you? I mean what if you lied to me and you gave up your big friend so you can escape the painting session? That'd be pretty disrespectful." His words made the already pale bandit pale even more. "Anyway, let's go check it out!"

Blood trail from the half-giant's stumps followed along as they were walking, creating two separate lines of red that Pride couldn't help but admire the art. "Very professional artist, isn't he? Able to paint while unconscious and without even using his arms or any painting brushes. Literally in all three cases!"

The smaller bandit meanwhile had finally succumbed to his guts' churning and threw up.

"Hmmm~ what an interesting use of colors and an even more interesting way of drawing. It's almost as if you ate your inspiration and used your stomach as a color palette to craft that work of art." Pride nodded in admiration and commented on it.

The smaller bandit then tried hard to escape whatever was gripping him but to no avail, he tried shouting for his comrades for help but the thing that was grabbing him tightened to the point where he could feel his ribs were cracking under pressure. Before the grip loosened, making him gasp loudly for air.

A minute later it looked as if they were heading towards an empty space that showed off the forest nearby.

"I'm guessing she's playing hide and seek? Marco!" Pride yelled out but no response.

A few seconds later Pride turned towards the bandit that led him here with a big pout. "It saddens me to be ignored! Here I am kindly calling out for her and yet, and yet, and yet, and yet, yet, yet, yet, yet!" He exclaimed in frustration before deflating his pout and speaking more calmly. "No response. How lazy."

He then shrugged his shoulders. "Usually people respond to that. Well, I give, so where is she hiding?"

"I-I... C-Could be in the f-forest." The fear was evident in his voice.

"Could be, should be, would be. Unless...?" His eyes had a look of revelation before he burst out laughing. "Oh wait, I get it! Hahahaha that's a good prank! I admit it, you got me good!" While he was laughing, shadow hands reached the bandit's legs and started twisting slowly.

"W-Wait plea-ARGH! STOP STOP! I'M SORRY! I'LL TELL YOU! PLEASE STOP!"

"But yours was such a good tease!" Pride spoke with a mischievous tone. "I just can't help but think I should tease you back so we can be even! It's like that old saying, 'An eye for an eye'. But in my case, it's more 'A leg for a prank.', hahaha. Besides, don't you wanna match your friend? Don't you also want to lend me a painting brush or two like he did?"

"N-NO! MERCY PLEASE!" Just before he could start begging anymore, his legs were let go. Both of his legs were throbbing with pain, making him grit his teeth to stifle the sounds that wanted to escape his throat.

"Pffft hahahaHAHAHAHA! You fell straight for it!" He wiped off a tear afterwards. "Such a classic joke."

Pride then approached the frightened bandit and gave him a friendly tap on the damaged right leg, making the bandit groan loudly.

"So, since we're both equals in the holy name of laughter, where's she at? Or do you want to skip straight to painting? It's my turn now I think since you were the last to draw. Would you like to contribute to my next masterpiece?" Hearing that immediately made the bandit heavily shake his head and tell the crazy person that was holding him and his friend hostage towards the girl they ran into or suffer more pain.

After a few more minutes of walking, or limping in Subaru's case, back towards a new direction. Subaru finally found a body on the ground. Dumped into a nearby corner was the person he was searching for.

Her hands were tied, her dress was heavily torn and her hair was a mess. Fresh blood seeped from her torn throat as lifeless eyes were staring into nothingness, with dried tear marks on her cheeks and several bruises all around her body.

"H...ha"

"H...ha"

Sounds of small maniacal cackles escaped the lips of a white-haired man. Who looked at the highly frightened bandit with a grin that grew bigger in size with each passing second.

His cackles then stopped as he descended into full-blown laughter. "HAHAHAHAHA! How incredible this is! How diligent you are! You took the helpful girl's life before we could even act! My, my, my! Isn't that just fantastic?!"

The bandit started to feel intense pressure directed at him, making him sweat with trepidation.

Pride turned his gaze towards the girl and let out a sigh that seemed to be of disappointment. "Poor girl. I bet she yelled 'Help me! Help me! Subaru-kun!' like a certain slothful wiseman once did while mocking me for Rem-rin's death." He smiled at the memory, before clicking his tongue and making a tsking sound. "To come all this way and do all of that only to find this is a good joke."

A second later and his mouth became expressionless. His eyes glared icily at both of them. He woke the, now armless, large bandit up. Making him let out noises of pain and panic before tightening the hold on him to shut him up.

"How old are you two?" Subaru spoke in a tone that matched his stare, which now drifted towards the girl. He knelt down with slight difficulty and closed her eyes, before taking off his cloak and covering her almost naked body.

Hearing no answer. He asked again. "I said. How old?"

"T-T-Twenty and s-six! B-Berc is t-twenty and e-e-eight."

He clenched his fist and spoke bitterly. "She was 15 or 16. I don't know because I didn't ask."

"I don't even know her name and I didn't tell her mine either."

The bandits were confused as to why he was sharing this.

"I met her only yesterday and I don't know much about her. Not her likes and dislikes, not her most or least favorite food. The one thing I knew about her, other than her appearance and the scarf she made for me, was that she wanted to explore and visit places like Kararagi someday."

'Does it never end? Is there no end to them?' Subaru thought to himself after he said that.

"You took that away from her." He stood up and looked at them again. His eyes tearing a hole through them. "Just like you took away her mother, her sisters, and her home. And that's just the tip of the iceberg. How many villages did you do this to? How many girls with dreams like hers ended up like this because of you?"

'From thieves to assassins, to maids, to magicians, to spirits, to witch cultists, to archbishops, to knights, to bandits. This shitty world has monsters that wear human skin in infinite amounts.' His gaze darkened.

The human bandit started crying as he could feel without a doubt that he was going to die. The larger one accepted his death after the loss of his arms.

"P-Please mercy! I s-swear I-I'll reform! I-I'll be an h-h-h-honest person! I-I-It wasn't even my fault! All of it was on L-L-Lord G-G-Gust-" He sniffled and begged loudly. Trying any way to reason with the person that was holding him hostage. Hoping that by telling him their boss' name, he'd be spared, but to his misfortune, before he could finish speaking the grip tightened and completely shut him up.

"Mercy, reforming and honesty... You ask that... In front of her dead body… That you raped and killed!" Subaru was seething with every word. He used Hopeless and Invisible Providence to crush their bodies, before launching dirt at them with Cor Leonis active. Turning them into nothing more than a bloody mist that dispersed in the air.

---

Subaru was laying on the ground afterwards. Exhausted physically and mentally, from both lack of sleep and the exertion he forced himself to go through. He was breathing heavily. Sweat and blood intermingled across his body. He had attempted to get up but his body refused to obey him as he rested beside her.

He moved his eyes to stare at her face. Noting how peaceful it looked despite the dried tear marks and what she likely went through before dying. It looked almost as if she found peace in death. He didn't know what to feel about it.

'If I acted like it was my business from the start, would you be alive at the moment?'

"And would I feel anything if you were, or… Just the same?" He spoke to particularly no one, in a tired and somber tone.

Penny for your jokes?

"It's…" Subaru started laughing. A dry laugh that was devoid of any humor.

"...It's always… The same thing isn't it?... Anywhere we go something HAS to happen that puts us in a position exactly like this one."

His eyes turned away from her and instead focused upwards towards the sky. It was dark, despite it being the early hours of the morning. It was also cloudy, likely from all the smoke, and looked as if it was going to rain soon.

'I don't care if I die, and I haven't for a very long time thanks to them, but I'm tired of dying to fix the mistakes that keep getting flung in my face from every corner. Why should I suffer more after all I've suffered through? And yet even if I reason it, I got the urge that I should just endure it and return by death. Am I hypocritical for getting that urge?'

Wait, are you blaming her for dying hahaha. Is th-

"No." Subaru instantly interrupted his other self. "No, I don't blame her. I blame her killers, this shitty world, and myself obviously. But I'm... Not planning on resetting this." He sighed as his eyes drifted towards her for a split second. Before going towards his wounded leg. "We'll need to find a healer for another reason now too."

Hmmm~ fair enough but do you really want this to be the way she dies? *Fake hurt* How cruel of you, Outer me. And to think you called me a monster because I did an all-night prank hahaha.

'No, I don't want this to be the way she dies but I'm sick and tired of everything. I'd rather leave all of this behind me, go meet with the 'Shaula-chan' Satella spoke about, and keep my promise.' He convinced himself as he tuned out Pride.

Subaru sensed that he rested long enough and so he slowly got up to walk back to Patrasche. He tucked on the dark red scarf that she gave him and he felt something, likely guilt, reach him. He took out two gold coins and placed them on her eyes. He knew it wouldn't do anything, but it was the only thing he could think of doing at the moment.

'If I wasn't so useless maybe you'd still be alive. One day I might regret not doing everything to save you... But at least you look like you're in a better place than this one.' He thought before letting out a small whisper. "..I never got to know your name.. but I won't forget you."

And with that, he started to move away from her. He thought he would probably regret not resetting here as he walked away, especially since he reset for the sake of Frederica, Petra and Annerose before, to save the lives of those who were undeserving of his sacrifice.

It finally started to rain as he slowly limped toward where he left Patrasche. It was eerily quiet, with the only noises his ears picked up on were the sounds of rain hitting the ground, as well as the loud cackling of the fires from the burnt houses that were dying out now.

His eyes caught no sight of any villager or any remaining bandit. He surmised that the villagers were likely hiding in their homes in fright and the bandits that remained alive likely retreated after witnessing their massacred comrades, and the destroyed section of the village that Pride caused earlier.

When suddenly he felt as if a grip was clutching his heart, pausing his walk.

"What are you doing?" He asked.

No response came.

"Pri-…"

He fell to the ground, lying on his back. His breathing became slower and slower. The rain completely soaked his face until he stopped feeling the raindrops hitting him. His eyes stopped seeing, his ears stopped hearing and everything else stopped alongside it.

---

Subaru's body was floating adrift in an endless void. One of the only places where he felt peaceful. He had no mouth, no ears, no eyes, no hands, nothing. But he could still feel with all his senses.

'Why? Why did you do that?/I'm doing you a favor hahaha.' Two sides spoke without a voice from the same floating body.

Before their argument could continue. He felt his face being caressed while a lovely voice spoke out to him, making him focus intently on the voice he missed hearing for the past several days.

"I love you. I love you. I love you. I know what you're thinking and let me assure you that their deaths aren't your fault, beloved. You did what you could so please don't doubt yourself or your capabilities."

'I am! Although Inner me is being extra pessimistic and boring.' One half replied to Satella, while the other was heavily annoyed over them dying, but made no comment. He thought he had made it clear that he didn't want to reset.

"Subaaaaru! You should be kinder to yourself, Don't be a dunderhead." Satella chided with a heavy pout while embracing him.

"Rest assured, my lo-I missed you more than she did. I love you more than she does. Subaru~" Envy assumed control. The gentle embrace that Satella gave Subaru turned into a bone-crushing hug.

'Now, now, to quote the most wonderful person. 'Be kinder to yourself, Satella.', hahaha. Besides, I am your one and only champion after all, aren't I?' Pride replied without a voice, making her hum in happiness for the next couple of minutes. Until she felt him beginning to vanish.

She moved in to kiss him before Satella took control.

"Enough of you. This is for beloved's sake, not yours." Satella admonished the person she hated while cupping the face of the person she loved with both hands and spoke softly to him.

"I'm sorry, Subaru. I wanted to make you feel at ease and bring you comfort before you go back." She had a small sad smile as she said that.

'Satella, it's ok, really. You don't have to worry about me.' The logical half tried to reassure her.

She refused his answer. "I will always worry about you... I wish we had more time to talk." She gave him a kiss on his forehead before saying last words. "Also, you reaaally~ should sleep, I'm not fond of how restless you seem as of late. Don't laugh at the irony but... Stay safe, please. I lo-I love you more. You're mine. Mine. Mine!"

Just before Subaru fully returned, one half decided to ask the other.

'Inner me, why are you being so quiet? That's pretty rude/Why do you think?'

'I told you, I'm doing you a favor.'

---

"Where are you off to, kid?"

His eyes gained focus on his surroundings. He was atop of Patrasche and in front of the village guard who had a big grin on his face and was cleaning his sword from all the blood. Next to his feet lay the old man.

"What favor? I told you I wasn't planning on res-.. I wanted to move on and forget about it." Subaru spoke in annoyance at his other self, ignoring his surroundings and his whereabouts. He had been wanting to ask this ever since he was in the Shadow Garden.

Pride took control. "Calm down, Inner me. C'mon, isn't it fun to fix stuff that never happened? Or didn't happen yet, hahaha."

The guard meanwhile was extremely confused. "What the fuck are you talking about, kid? Not that it matters. Get off your dragon if you value your life." The guard threatened the brat that messed with him earlier, but the boy didn't even acknowledge his existence.

Subaru again took control. "Do you want me to say it's my fault for not acting earlier? That I was late to save them? That I don't deserve to wear this scarf?" He removed the scarf from his neck with bitter anger. "Is that what you're after? Is that what's gonna make you laugh this time?"

"Huh? Grrrr…are you ignoring me, you little shit?" The guard spoke in utter annoyance and pointed his sword at Subaru, making Patrasche growl, but both sides of Subaru completely ignored him.

"Hmmm~ no, where is the fun in that. Besides, admit it, you wanted to r-... there didn't you? And here I am providing you with a grand opportunity! No need to be so SOOOO~ cynical hahaha." Pride answered with a teasing smile as he re-adjusted the scarf on their neck.

"I'll show you cynical, you rascal! I'll teach you what it means to mess with me!" The guard shouted. His face went red with rage as he was being ignored the entire time. He approached Subaru and was going to make the boy pay for disrespecting him like that. He'll make him beg for merc—

"?!" In an instant, he felt unable to walk and instead fell to the ground. He lifted his head to see what happened before he realized his legs were gone. He started screaming from the pain before something grabbed him and shut him up.

Pride gave him a cold stare that fully silenced any grunts he made. "Now listen here, who taught you that it was an appropriate behavior to interrupt someone's conversations? Who taught you that it was an acceptable demeanor to be loud, disrespectful and disruptive towards mineself's satisfied and divine existence? Your incessant rudeness and your constant whimpering like a child who lost his favorite toy, make me feel slighted. You have proudly said you were a knight, correct? And yet you have violated my right to speak to the point where I would humbly ask for the whereabouts of your code of chivalry, or if it even exists. Regardless, I am in a generous mood and as such I will forgive your dishonorable, diminutive, and deplorable self."

Pride's stare softened and he ecstatically took out a gold coin. "And the way for forgiveness is if we play heads and tails hahaha. What do you call?" He asked but he received only a pained grunt in response.

"Good call! I say heads." He excitedly tossed the coin and caught it a second later.

He opened his palm to see the result and smiled with satisfaction. Pride lifted the guard closer to Patrasche. "Hey, Patrasche. It seems Big Bro~ got tails. Do you wanna show how good of an Earth Dragon you are?"

She growled in agreement as if echoing her master's demand. A second later and her tail smacked into the panicking guard's chest with a loud thud, sending him flying away with blood and spittle coming out of his mouth. Likely dying from the internal haemorrhage from the force of Patrasche's attack.

"That beautiful hit definitely deserves six gold coins hahaha" He proudly spoke to his beloved companion, who seemed to enjoy his words. Pride then turned them around towards the village.

Noticing the three bandits that were following him earlier were getting close to him in the distance.

"Take us back, Patrasche." He spoke to her and she instantly headed off in the direction of the village. The three bandits' heads seemed to fly off from their bodies as Patrasche passed them by.

"Hey, Inner me. This is your part. You still want to do this, right?" Pride spoke and allowed his other self to take control.

Subaru genuinely wanted to turn Patrasche around but decided to ask instead. "Since when did you, the one who laughs at everything and thinks everything is a joke, started caring about others?"

Who knows? I mean it's all an imagination for me but maybe it's to cheer you up. See? Told ya I'm doing ya a favor, even if you don't wanna admit it. Such a good joke from you!

Subaru was surprised by that answer but he let out a loud sigh. "It's not that I wanted to reset or didn't want to reset, I just didn't know the answer to that myself. Doesn't matter either way since we're back here thanks to you." He shook his head. "I'll go along because you might be right and I don't want to admit it, but I'm not in the mood for a third try if this is another failed loop."

Two shadow hands came out of Subaru. One gently patted Patrasche, the other gently patted himself.

*Fake kind tone* There, there. It'll be fine if you stop overthinking so much. Patrasche is here, you know? Your big logical brain forgot to count her speed. Besides, I'll help us out. Ahh, it's so thrilling to retell jokes and see fresh expressions for a second time. Hey wait, wouldn't that make us the village clowns? Hahaha.

Subaru thought about it as he spotted the village was getting closer and closer to him. He was too late last time, so he needed speed which Patrasche provided. She had also seen her share of fighting, but he'll still need to make sure she isn't hurt while attacking the bandits.

"Fine, but no using Cor Leonis to destroy the village." He replied to Pride before gently speaking to his beloved Earth Dragon.

"Patrasche, I'll count on you."

She roared as if telling him that he can trust her.

---

"Huff...Huff..."

Exhausted breathing came from Sisti after she ran from the stables, right after helping the white-haired boy she befriended alongside his Earth Dragon, towards the direction of her mother's inn in a hurry. Trying to evade any bandit along the way.

'Why are they back?! I thought we got rid of them!' She thought as she paused to catch her breath while hiding behind a wall of one of the houses that belonged to a villager she knew.

Her dark blue eyes were scouring the horizon. Watching how familiar faces she's known all her life were panicking, and their children were crying. It reminded her of herself when she was younger whenever the bandits came by on a weekly or monthly basis. Her mother would usually hide her and her sisters in the storage area, where they'd hear noises of her mother and the bandits likely negotiating.

She prepared to move out and hide behind another house before she heard bandits harassing the owner of the house.

"Please! I-I gave you everything I have! And the season's not been go-Ack!" A loud noise was heard of an object hitting flesh.

"Shut your tongue or I'll cut it out. We backed away and gave you, despicable lot, time to prepare and what have you done with it?" One of the bandits spoke with a harsh tone, while his friends were looking around.

"Wanna bet that he thought we were gone and he just lazed about? Gahahaha."

"L-Like I s-said, I-"

"Didn't I tell you to shut your tongue? Hold him."

"W-Wait... I-I-I'm sor-Gah! HAYT! MFFFGHH—"

"AMMMMM!"

*Ee-* She had to cover her mouth before a loud squeal could escape it. Her eyes widened with panic as her ears continued to hear the muffled noises and sounds of pain.

*Thump* *Thump* She could feel her heart beating very fast and it wasn't from exhaustion. 'N-n-need to get to m-mother and fast.'

She moved out. Making sure to navigate her way safely towards her mother's inn. Using the terrain she grew up in, to her advantage all the while her ears picked off more and more chaos around her as well as loud noises all over. Pleading from merchants, begging from villagers, screaming from women and children, some of whom were familiar to her, and mocking laughter and threats from bandits.

Eventually, the smell of smoke reached her nose as she got closer towards the inn and her eyes picked up what her nose smelled.

'No...'

Her house as well as ones nearby were burning. And there was no one coming in or out. She hurried towards her home, with the hot air making her eyes wet, while smoke and the smell of burnt flesh reached her making her start to cough.

"Celica?! Alise?! Are you there?! Make sounds if you are please!" She shouted from outside in the hopes one of her family could respond to her.

'What do I do? What do I do?!' She thought in panic, before remembering her mother would often put her and her sisters in the basement whenever bandits dropped by.

She made up a plan in her mind of how she can rescue them. By simply charging in and hoping the fires doesn't hurt her too much. 'Alright, I can do this. I just need to rush in quickly. Please, please be safe until I reach you.' She started a prayer in her mind for her mother and sisters as she gathered her courage to enter her house before she felt something grab her from behind

"Where do you think you're goin' off in such a hurry, Lass? You got a death wish or somethin'?" A rough and gruff voice spoke out.

'No, not now! Not now! I'm so close to saving them!' "LET ME GO! They're still inside!" She exclaimed in urgency as she fought against the grip, but nothing worked. She instead was lifted into the air.

"Get away from me! Alise! Celica! Mother!" She screamed towards the inn while kicking off her legs to escape the grip.

"Haah, what a troublesome one." Another voice spoke out from behind and a second later she felt her vision darkening and her legs being dragged away further and further from the inn.

…

'Ugh...my head... Where am I...?' Sisti groggily opened her eyes and found herself tied in a corner. The smell of smoke permeated the air all around her. She looked around and noticed two bandits, one of which appeared to be a half-giant that wielded a large axe. His size was twice the size of the one next to him, that seemed to be eyeing her.

"Looks like she's finally awake, Berc." The smaller one tapped his much larger friend.

"Well, well, well. Thought we lost you there, Lassie." The one named Berc approached with a big smirk.

She gave them a stern stare and exclaimed. "Back off! My family are-"

Berc slapped her to make her stop speaking. "Shush. I ain't care about all that."

The large hand's slap left a mark, although it didn't seem to affect her. She took a moment to recover before speaking. "My mother and my sisters are inside the inn. Please, just let me make sure they're fine. That's all I ask, and then we can pay you as much as you—Ah!"

He punched her in the stomach with low strength, taking the wind out of her, before he laughed boisterously. "Gahahaha you're her daughter, eh? Well, we came there and the lady made a bunch o' excuses. And well, shame about all that ain't it."

"True shame. We gave months and she gave nothing, other than her life that is." His friend responded after letting out a chuckle.

She regained her breathing after that hit. Her eyes nearly welled but she held out. She looked at both with utter disgust and hate as she struggled against the rope that tied her hands and legs. "...You're lying. I don't believe you."

The large bandit took out a knife that had blood on it, he licked it before speaking. "Whose blood do you think this is, Lassie?"

'Does he mean that t-they... A-Are they...? N-no. They ca-can't be.' Her eyes went downwards with a look of both shock and confusion as memories surged into her mind before she felt the same knife sliding across her cheek.

"The look in your eyes says it all. Well, let's get to it. Don't wanna keep us waiting, eh? Just fair warning, Lassie. You scream and I'll use this to cut your throat, you hear me?"

She gave no reply but her skin shivered and her eyes opened wide at his threat.

'W-what is happening...Wh-why am I not fighting back? I-I need to go save them…'

"Oi, do hurry up. I'm impatient too." His friend called out.

He clicked his tongue in annoyance at him, before his free large hand started to go down her skin, neck first. He used his knife to cut off her dress bit by bit. Revealing the skin underneath.

Hot tears finally ran from her cheeks. 'N-n-no...S-s-stop it...'

His knife finally removed the wrappers she had on her chest. Nearly revealing her chastity. Her body subconsciously was trembling. She couldn't help but shudder and started pleading in a shaky voice. "P-Please... d-don't... I beg you, I-I-I'll do a-a-anything.."

"Hahahaha. You broke already? Bah, where is all that spirit you showed seconds ago? Usually, girls with spirit last till after they're undressed. Well not that it matters." He smiled cruelly as he said that. His other hand was going up her leg and into the most sacred zone. Almost within touching distance.

'No... Why can't I do anything..

Stop it...

Stop it!

Stop it!

STOP IT!

H-help... Someone..anyone...help...help!'

"PLEASE! HELP ME!"

She yelled at the top of her voice before her mouth was covered with a large fist, to the point where she felt she couldn't breathe.

"Shut it you bitch!" The large bandit roared and seemed to rub his ears on his shoulders from the loud noise she made.

"Gods, my ears are ringing from that. I thought you said she broke." His friend responded in annoyance.

Berc then raised his knife. Ready to sink it into her flesh. "What did I say about screaming, eh? I think I need to make good on my threat. Otherwise people'll forget. But don't worry, your body will keep"

She stopped listening as her life flashed before her eyes in a split second.

Seeing the faces of her mother, her sisters, her dead father, villagers, and merchants she knew her whole life. All the moments she laughed and cried, and eventually the expressionless boy she recently befriended.

She called out for them as she closed her tearful eyes, readying for the pain to come and for death to claim her. Hoping that she can see her family and everyone else afterward.

'No, I-I can't die here.' A part of her fought on. 'I don't want to die. I don't want to die. I don't want to die. I haven't lived my drea-'

"Kh…"

A gurgle sounded and she felt the weight that was holding her body down disappear. Almost as if she was freed. Something warm splashed her face and a metallic smell entered her nose.

'Huh? That's not my voice.' She thought to herself.

She slowly opened her eyes to find that the large bandit was floating in the air, without an arm and making choking noises, his throat looked as if something had gripped it tightly. His face was going every shade of blue and purple by the second, meanwhile, his remaining limbs were being twisted until any noises he made died out. The other bandit was floating next to his friend with his back and upper half bent to the point of touching his feet.

She yelped in alarm and turned her eyes away from them in another direction. Their bodies were then tossed away and a voice spoke out in utter joy. "They bent to our diligence, hahaha. Oooh~ that one learned a masterful yoga pose though. So flexible!"

Turning towards the direction of the voice, she spotted a figure standing a small distance away staring intensely at her. He slowly walked towards her.

"Ahh!" She screamed and crawled backwards in fright. "S..s-stay away from me!" But the figure didn't stop his approach.

She continued backing away until her back hit a wall. She closed her eyes in fear, as the person's steps got closer. Then she heard the sounds of something being taken off and a split-second later she felt something covering her, then the binds that tied her hands and legs were removed.

"G-Get back…" She attempted to plead again before the person calmly spoke.

"I won't hurt you. You're safe."

Those words seemed to assure her. She looked and saw the appearance of the most unexpected person. She almost couldn't believe it, or she had to be either dead or dreaming.

"O-Onii-chan...? I-I-I..." She bit her lip as tears of relief forced their way out of her body. He began looking her over, in case of any serious injuries. However, she quickly got up and spoke with urgency.

"Have to hurry! My mother and sisters are still in-"

"Your sisters are alive." He interrupted her.

"Huh? R-really…?!" She asked in almost disbelief. "Oh, thank g-goodness." She let out a loud sigh of relief, before realizing he only mentioned her sisters.

"A-And my mother?" She asked but he gave no reply.

She couldn't tell anything from his expressionless face either, although the message was conveyed to her. "N-no! I refuse to believe it!" She yelled desperately and in a shaky voice as she was going towards her burning home regardless to check.

His hand held her back. "Let go!" She tried to wriggle out of his grip but it didn't work. She tried hitting him but it didn't work.

"Selin, please!" She pleaded by using his 'real' name but he wouldn't budge nor say anything.

"P-Please…" She begged weakly, with desperation etched on her face, for him to let her go as her hits were getting weaker and weaker until her legs lost strength and she almost fell but he held her up.

Soon enough she began crying into his chest at everything that has happened, with Subaru simply running his hand across her back and hair in a comforting way until she fell asleep.

---

Subaru carried her afterwards towards where her sisters and Patrasche were at.

He noticed the village was more lively this time around. His eyes caught the villagers that seemed to be roaming around. Trying to salvage what remained of their homes, and beginning the restoration process. His ears picked the sounds of those who were mourning their deceased family members or their own misfortune.

Then there were those who were thankful and relieved to be alive and those who were fearful after witnessing the massacre that had happened. Where the bandits seemingly died in horrific ways whenever a black Earth Dragon passed by. Some of the bandits had their limbs contorted in an unholy fashion, right before their eyes. Others were split apart, or had their weapons slit their throats, or simply fell dying with their faces and their necks switching sides.

The relieved villagers believed it was an act of divinity that sent a black Earth Dragon that punished the bandits and saved their lives and the lives of their children this day. And so they started saying their thanks towards the Divine Dragon, the Spirits, the Sword Saint, and Od Laguna.

Subaru scowled, particularly when he heard them praising the Sword Saint, but decided to ignore those that did so as he passed by. He thought that if there was anyone they should be thanking it was the girl he was carrying in his arms. If it weren't for her, as well as her dead mother, the dead old man, and the stables master then he would've left the village to burn without looking back. He was already willing to leave them to their fate in the last reset had it not been for his other self's intervention.

After a few more minutes of slow walking, brought on by the severe exhaustion, he finally reunited with Patrasche alongside Sisti's sisters. A bittersweet reunion for them after they lost their mother and their home.

"Thank you, Garysin-san. Truly, thank you. I was beginning to fear the worst." The older one tearfully spoke after embracing her sister. The younger one was too busy crying to say anything.

Subaru wordlessly nodded towards her as he leaned on Patrasche for support. He couldn't feel pain but he knew if he did, his entire body would be hurting right now from all the activity he had done. His stamina was beyond depleted and any adrenaline he might've had was long gone.

Four out of six isn't bad, no? All thanks to Patrasche. And I don't want to brag, but I did contribute heavily there hahaha. You're welcome, Outer me! *yawn* Gotta say, re-drawing my masterpiece is hard, you know? But thankfully the inspiration is in endless supply.

Subaru didn't respond. He barely had enough strength to stay awake. He climbed aboard Patrasche and readied to head out, thinking he could easily just rest on the way, before finding it harder to remain steady. His body refused to obey him and his eyes were losing focus of his surroundings, even as he shook his head.

"Let's go Patra…" He couldn't finish speaking as he lost consciousness atop Patrasche.

=Sometime later=

Subaru felt uncomfortable as he slowly opened his eyes. "I don't recognize this ceiling." He spoke once his surroundings became clearer to his sight.

He found himself on a bed, with bandages covering him, which confused him as he knew he had no immediate injury to speak of after the fight against the bandits. Aside from minor cuts and bruises from when he had to deactivate Cor Leonis. Some minor burns likely here and there from the inn as well.

"How are you feeling?"

A voice called out to him. He looked towards it and found the girl there, she seemed to be holding his right hand and looking concerned at him with her eyes seemed to be red, he surmised from crying.

'You lost your mother and your home. Nearly lost your sisters and your life and you ask me that?' "How long was I out?" He asked and ignored her question.

"Hmm, about..." She paused hard to think before continuing with a deadpan expression. "Three months, more or less."

'I find that hard to believe. I was exhausted but I couldn't have had coma. I've suffered worse traumas under the knights... And I'm pretty sure there were no injuries to my head during the skirmish with the b-' He stopped his thinking as he heard her giggling.

"Ahaha...Y-You should see your face... I'm sorry ahaha, it was just hard to not tease you like that." She giggled before pausing and took on a sad look afterwards.

"You were asleep for two days. You had me worried after I... You know..." She looked downwards. "And, well. I-.. I mean my sisters couldn't just leave you there with Patrasche, a-after you helped them."

"I see." He looked at his hand that held hers. "Why are you holding my hand, then?"

She gasped and immediately let go. "Hold on a minute! It's...not like that, I guess?" She quickly shook off her head with her cheeks flushing at the way she poorly explained it. "No, no! It's not like that! Y-You were having bad dreams, t-that's all." She fidgeted afterwards.

He sighed as he remembered Rem saying something similar. His eyes looked around before deciding to ask and change the topic. "Where are we anyway?"

She handed him a glass of water before answering. "Oh, uhh... Well, my nee-san's betrothed's house. His family was kind enough to take us in...after..." Her eyes seemed to glisten but she held strong.

"I'm sorry about your mother." He spoke emotionlessly in a way that came out more sarcastic than intended, but she knew he didn't mean it that way.

"M-me too." She wiped her face and replied quietly before adding. "But the important thing is that my sisters and I are alright, my mother would've been happy to know that at least.. And it's thanks to you. So thank you, Onii-chan. I'm really, really grateful For saving my sisters' lives as well as mine." She spoke with genuine gratitude.

"The village is also safe too, they said something about Divine Dragon's intervention saving it." She had a small knowing smile appear on her face. "Hmm but so much work needs to be done. Also! Did you know that people are starting to"

She continued speaking but her words stopped reaching his ears as he thought about her fate from the last reset. 'Would you still thank me if you knew that I would've fully left you and your sisters dead in the previous loop? Probably not. Instead of handing me a glass of water, you'd throw it in my face.' Subaru thought to himself as silence then dominated the room.

"Hey, um...?" Her soft whisper reached him.

"Hm?"

"My name.. I told you the next time we see each other I'll tell you it, yes?" She asked to make sure, and he nodded. "W-well... It's Sistine. So make sure you remember it, Onii-chan!" She exclaimed before speaking in an unsure manner. "Or do I call you... Selin, now?"

Subaru had a look of annoyance for a split second before it passed. "Sistine, I'll remember it. And, like I said when we first met, call me what you want."

"Good!" She chimed happily as she got up to leave. "Well, I'll leave you to rest."

He immediately got up. "I've rested long enough. Where are my clothes?"

"Oh, so they were dirtied and burnt in some parts, so I..." Sistine turned her back from him as she remembered seeing all the nasty scars on his torso, his black arm, and his scarred left one. His scars genuinely frightened her to the point where she had to check his heart pulse in order to make sure he was really alive. "I-I'll go get them."

It didn't take long for her to bring him his clothes, which looked still in good condition with some stitching being obvious to cover up the burnt marks. She tried apologizing for their state, but he assured her it was fine. He had extra change of clothes in a bag around Patrasche's saddle anyway.

Afterwards, he went down to head out and check on Patrasche, but he was greeted by the host's family alongside the older sister and her fiancé who issued more words of gratitude towards him.

"On behalf of Celica and her sisters, I thank you, sir. They told us of how you heroically saved them while putting yourself at risk. The damnable bastards took many things from us all, including our families, but I don't know what I would've done if I lost her." He tightly held her hand with his left while his right hand extended towards Subaru.

"Thank your lucky stars, not me." Subaru replied and refused the handshake which seemed to make them awed and amazed at how humble he is.

"Your metal is of good quality, young man. Not only are you brave but you have humility to go along as well." The fiancé's father spoke in admiration. While the others nodded or shared their own praises.

"Whatever you say." He murmured uncaringly.

He forgot to add that we're also diligent, generous and handsome, but I'll take it! Ahh, finally some acknowledgement to us.

Pride sounded in his head, but he ignored him. He readied to check on Patrasche before they called out to him. Insisting that he eats with them in a show of gratitude. Sistine had also assured him that Patrasche was fine and that her younger sister was spending time with her. With that he decided to accept, it's not like he was losing anything.

"Before we begin. We should say our thanks to the Divine Dragon for sending us his harbinger." The host's father spoke, towards the nodding of the others.

'Harbinger?' Subaru thought in confusion. Sistine leaned to him, noticing the confused look in his eyes, and whispered.

"Jeez, Onii-chan. I told you before that people are starting to believe that a 'mysterious' black Earth Dragon was sent by the Divine Dragon to save the village."

Subaru rolled his eyes at hearing that but stayed quiet. He thought they would probably make the rumor that Patrasche has glowing eyes and claws the size of swords with their superstitions.

The host's family, alongside the older sister, began discussing their village's state and the fact that they needed to elect a new elder of the village, get a new healer as well as rebuild the Inn, which the older sister wanted to build in honor of her mother.

Meanwhile, Subaru simply ate in silence as he didn't really care about what they were talking about. They had attempted to converse with him, however, he spoke few words and gave non-answers which they didn't seem to mind and attributed it to him being exhausted. Although, Sistine seemed to eye him with curiosity but stayed quiet like him.

"Make sure you check the backgrounds of the guards you hire." Subaru spoke all of a sudden once he finished eating and got up to check on Patrasche. He noticed their confused looks before he explained. "The one named Olnis sold out the entire village by reporting for the bandits. He's the one who told the bandits to come here. I also saw him standing over the corpse of the old healer."

As he walked away he heard their outrage.

"That rotten bastard!"

"Mother died because of him?!"

"I knew he was no good!"

"He was always too greedy."

"He betrayed us all and for what? He's no more than a legless and shattered corpse in the woods now."

"How I wish he was alive so I could kill him myself. I hope his death was as painful as his treachery." The fiancé growled angrily while the others murmured their agreements. Then the discussion shifted towards other things such as crops and whatnot, which Subaru had zero interest in listening to.

...

Subaru exited the house to meet his only trusted companion who seemed to be entertaining a girl no older than 7 or 8 with pinkish-red hair. The younger sister.

"I see you're having fun." He spoke out to alert Patrasche that he was here. She immediately went towards him and started licking his face.

"Hello, mister. Patra is a really good dragon!" The child spoke in admiration as she was rubbing Patrasche's stomach.

"Patrasche, and yes she is." He agreed as his hand rubbed the underside of Patrasche's neck before speaking to her. "I hope I didn't worry you too much." She growled as her nose poked his face as if to say 'Don't do that again.'.

The message seemed to be clear to him. "No promises, but I'll try." Her tail waved happily afterwards, making the child giggle.

"Patra, Patra, can you give me a ride again?" The younger sister asked to which Patrasche let out a noise akin to agreement and looked at Subaru to help her get on.

He sighed and relented. "Fine, but don't go too far and don't take too long. You might need to stay out of sight in case people associate you with..." He shut himself up as he didn't want to continue on that train of thought. To think Patrasche is being known as a harbinger. If he had his emotions he would cringe.

"Nevermind that. We're going away after you come back." He spoke to Patrasche before lifting the child, with the use of Shadow hands, towards Patrasche's back. Watching as she slowly trotted to the child's cheerful giggles.

"I truly am grateful for you, Garysin-san." The older sister suddenly spoke from behind him as she watched the whole thing. "Alise suffered from mother's loss the most after Sisti. At first, she wouldn't speak and barely reacted to anything... If it wasn't for your Earth Dragon."

Subaru seemed to nod and took out 10 gold coins to give to her. "Huh? I do not want your pity." She reprimanded with a stern tone.

"You said you wanted to rebuild your mother's inn. Consider this an investment. Besides, maybe you can get your sister her own Earth Dragon after I'm gone." He spoke without taking his sight off of Patrasche. He heard sniffling from the older sister.

"You've done so much for my family and you continue to do so. I will never forget this debt for as long as I live, Garysi- no, Selin-kun." She spoke with genuine gratitude.

'Soon enough I will get to stop hearing this stupid name.' He thought annoyedly, before receiving a kiss on the cheek from her. Surprising him as he didn't expect that.

Pride meanwhile was laughing in his head about how the Kuudere imagination became more expressive once a good joke happened to her.

---

An hour or two later, Patrasche and the younger sister stopped playing. The child went inside after tearfully hugging Patrasche goodbye for several minutes as she knew she was going away soon.

Subaru by then was making sure to check everything was in place and nothing was out of the ordinary. The host's family as well as the older sister had tried to convince him to stay a while longer and recover himself more, but Subaru insisted he was fine.

While he was making sure everything is in place, Sistine approached him nervously. "Hey, can I ask you something?"

"Sure." He spoke without looking at her.

"Can I come with-"

"No." He instantly shot her down.

"Bu-"

"No."

"Honestly..." She pouted before trying again. "I promise I won't be a burden. I-I just..."

He stopped what he was doing and stared coldly at her, almost making her avert her gaze.

"Look." He spoke with seriousness to gain her full attention.

"I'm not sure what you're expecting, but I'm not going to sightsee around this shi-...Lugunica." He restrained himself from saying 'Shitty kingdom', as he didn't want to answer unnecessary questions.

"Wherever I go and whatever I do, trouble always follows behind me. You can call it a curse or a disease or whatever you want." He ranted before pausing to word it better.

"What I mean to say is that there's a very high chance that I would run into increasingly more and more dangerous things wherever I travel. You'll only be putting yourself at risk if you come with me." He spoke very sternly, his cold tone adding an extra layer. Making sure she understands what would happen if she comes with him.

More dangerous things? Count me in! I'm always seeking entertainment hahaha. I wonder what fun things are out there? So far it's only been good, honest knights and teasing bandits. Good singers and painters all around.

"Alright..." She nodded and looked downwards before shrugging. "So, um. Does that still mean I can join?"

"It means you ignored 90% of what I just said." Subaru had a displeased frown towards her.

She shook her head. "No, I really get you. But still... B-before you saved me, I-I accepted that I would die. The knife was about to h-hit me a-and m-my body would be..." She couldn't finish as she shuddered at the thought of what almost happened to her.

"And you didn-"

"No, just listen!" She raised her voice in frustration before her expression softened. "When I closed my eyes and accepted that I was going to die, another part of me urged me to keep going. Reminded me that I needed to live to fulfill my dream and... At that exact moment, you came." She seemed to want to cry at that memory of when she almost died, but she held on.

"I kn-know it sounds childish and silly and I know I can just easily go with anyone or even alone... B-but.. I feel like I have to go with you. Something tells me to go with you." She looked at him with determination. "I'll do anything to prove my worth to you."

"Alright, so... I can't fight, or c-cook," She said with an embarrassed face. "But I can always learn. I know how to treat wounds and my mother also taught me the best ways to trade even if she wasn't a merchant." Her voice nearly broke after mentioning her mother before shaking it off, she then pointed at her unmuscular biceps. "And I'm stronger than I look. Patrasche also doesn't mind, right Patrasche?" She gently rubbed Patrasche, who started to lick her face making her let out a short giggle.

Sistine then looked at him weirdly before mouthing something under her breath about how she's a lot more sociable and easy to approach than he is.

Subaru stared at her without any reaction before speaking. "You could get seriously hurt or even die. That's what will happen if you come with me."

She nodded in understanding. "I understand the risks and I'm alright with that, Onii-chan."

"Are your sisters alright with that?" He countered.

She seemed taken aback by this but still tried to reason. "N-no, but I can-"

"But nothing. Your life wasn't saved just so you can risk your neck at the next chance you get." He reprimanded harshly.

She flinched and bit her lips before trying to answer. "I-I know that... But still.."

'You'll hate me for this, but it's for your sake.' He thought before asking coldly. "What would your mother say if she was here?"

She was stunned after hearing him say that.

"Would she be alright with you risking your life like this? No, she would probably roll in her grave. And if she wasn't, do you think she would let one of her daughters go alone with a stranger she only met days ago?"

Her gaze darkened and her fists clenched.

"Better yet, do you want your sisters to suffer another loss so soon? Especially since it's only been a couple of days after your mot-*Smack*"

A loud slap was heard.

Subaru didn't flinch or take his gaze off of hers from the hit. She was staring fiercely at him for a second then her eyes opened wide with tears forming out of them before she ran off.

He stayed still. Staring at her leaving form and knowing he went too far but he didn't care. It was for her sake. 'It's better to live with hurt emotions than dead.' was his reasoning. He got atop Patrasche, who seemed to be shaking her head with disapproval at him.

"Let's go, Patrasche. We've been here for a while and I don't want to stay longer than necessary." She craned her head to look at him in a way that said. 'You were rude.' before slowly walking ahead.

I don't know about you, but I would've loved another companion. Just imagine all the road songs we could sing or all the good jokes we could tell. Fun, right?

"You'd only traumatize her even more than she probably is." Subaru responded as he then tuned Pride out. Keeping his eyes focused on the road.

His hand went to the scarf that she gifted him, he felt as if he shouldn't wear it after all of that. He foresaw her probably crying and being in a bad mood for at least a week or two before she begins to move on and he'll be nothing more than a bad memory to her.

He shook off his head and tried to think of more important things. He had been out for two days, meaning if Emilia and the rest were to search for him, they would probably get even closer now. Ram could probably navigate the wildlife to find him. And with Beatrice, Rem or Garfiel around, they would definitely be able to smell him from miles away, narrowing their search exponentially.

That's assuming they are searching for him of course, as the message Pride left them was... Threatening to say the least. Although he knew a message wouldn't stop them from coming after him, the hypocrites.

They'll probably think he's going after the capital or to exact revenge against knights and will want to stop him, not that it would work. He wouldn't care what they have to say or do about it.

What the knights did to him... What they took from him was beyond unforgivable, it wasn't just his sanity they shattered or his spirit they broke. His entire view on this world was gone because of them.

He shook his head again. He knew that he loathed knights to the point where he would kill any knight he comes across, but he wasn't going out of his way to hunt them. The more likely thing would be they were hunting him.

That's not to say if there were any knights out and about looking for him. He assumed by now, the roads towards the Capital would probably close and have checkpoints after his other self left that one knight to specifically attack Marcos.

'I'm not helping any other village from now on. If they're burning, let them burn. If they're attacked by bandits, let them be attacked. I gain no benefits, only delays and exhaustion.' He noted to himself. Before emptying his mind of all thoughts.

---

Sistine was sitting on a tree stump, hugging her knees and letting out tears of anger and sadness.

"Honestly... He's so! Ugh!" She yelled in frustration after the harsh way he spoke to her. And the harsher way of reminding her of her mother's death.

"Why... Why did he say that!" She asked herself as she tried to think why he was acting like that. It was fine that he didn't want her to come, but why go the extra mile and just hurt her like that?

"He could've just said that he didn't want me to come! Seriously!" She sighed and looked at her hand that slapped him. It was an involuntary reaction from her, and she felt even sadder about it.

She tried to let go of her anger and think why he specifically said that when he could've said anything else. Was it just to make her sad? No, he wouldn't do that after.. doing all of that to save her and her sisters' lives. Then the answer hit her that must've intentionally provoked her for her sake.

She wiped her face and got up. 'Have to make this right, I don't want this to be the way we say goodbye... If he leaves I probably won't see him again and he'll think I hate him.'

With that thought in mind, she quickly hurried towards where she left him, only to find that he wasn't there.

"Was I too late?" She sadly asked herself, before making up her mind that he must be still within the village borders, she could easily catch up to him if she ran. And run she did.

*Huff...Huff...*

Labored breaths came from her as she sprinted with all the power her legs could carry her, not bothering to stop to rest as she had only one chance at fixing this. Taking all the shortcuts she knew of to reach the border.

Soon enough the border was within sight, but he wasn't. She stopped near the old guard house to catch her breath and to look out to the horizon to see if she can spot him.

'Where is he?!' She thought in panic before her face contorted in genuine sadness and disappointment. "W-was I...Was I too l-late?"

Before she could do anything, she heard the noise of Patrasche coming from behind her. She immediately looked back and found both white-haired boy and his black Earth Dragon. He was staring at her with curiosity but said nothing.

She averted her gaze and quietly muttered. "...I-I'm..sorry...I didn't mean to..y-you know."

"Don't be. I deserved it." His emotionless tone sounded without a hint of regret.

She looked towards him again. "Look, Selin, I-"

"Don't call me that." He interrupted with a face that looked annoyed before passing away.

She stopped speaking as she thought he hated her for slapping him.

After a few seconds of awkward silence in her case. His voice sounded out again.

"Subaru." He spoke an unfamiliar word.

"Huh?"

"My name is Subaru. Natsuki Subaru."

'Subaru Natsuki? Not Selin Garysin?' She thought to herself before dismissing it as she realized a lot of people travel around with fake names. Although this new name sounded familiar for some reason. As if she recognized it from somewhere.

"So feel free to call me that, or whatever else you want to call me. But not... 'Cell in Garrison'.."

"Subaru then. Although I will still call you Onii-chan." She gave him a small smile. "A-anyway, you said that all for my sake, right?" She asked, and received her answer when he didn't speak.

"Well, it was hurtful." Her voice was serious and she looked like she was upset, before her demeanor changed. "But I'll forgive you... If you let me join." She said in a teasing manner, her mouth nearly forming a smug smirk.

He seemed to sigh before answering. "This again? If you know I said that all for your sake, then why are you still persisting?"

She was about to laugh and say she was joking before thinking about it again. "You said all of that but you never said if you didn't want me to join. Do you not want me to join?" She asked genuinely this time.

"I don-Hmmm~. I think this calls for a vote." His voice seemed to change, as well as his eyes.

"Onii-chan? Did something happen?" She asked in concern after noticing that sudden change.

"What do you think, Patrasche? Do you want the helpful gi-.. Sisti, to join us?" He answered in a way that seemed to try and imitate the way he spoke seconds ago.

Patrasche craned her neck to look back at him before letting out a noise that said she wanted her to join.

"It's settled then! Looks like it's thr-.. two votes against one." He spoke while seemingly trying to stifle a laugh. Meanwhile, his right hand was clutching tightly.

"H-huh? W-w-wait, you mean I can come?!" She was in disbelief at what he's saying. Her face took on a hopeful expression.

A second later and his mouth became expressionless, with his lips twitching in genuine annoyance, as if he was hearing the taunting of someone in his mind. His eyes stared more intensely than usual and his face looked as if he resisted hard the urge to scowl.

"Fine." He responded in a way that made Sistine shiver before he adjusted his tone. "If you want to join then fine. But I won't be responsible for whatever happens to you, understood?"

She didn't respond as she was still confused over that response from him.

"Do I need to repeat myself?"

She shook her head in an instant. "No, no! I fully understand and accept!" The moment she said that, he released a heavy sigh before rubbing the head of Patrasche in an effort to calm himself.

A second later and she felt something grabbing her and pulling her up. She nearly screamed from the sudden action, but just as quick as it happened it ended.

She found herself sitting on Patrasche's back and in front of him. "W-What was that?!" She asked, but he didn't respond.

"There will be more stipulations down the road. But first, you will explain to both of your sisters what you'll be doing and don't expect me to help out. Hopefully, they knock some sense into your head." She gulped at hearing that.

"Patrasche, take us back for hopefully.. the last time."

They were quiet on the way back, although for Sistine a genuine smile began appearing on her face. She couldn't help but be excited at the prospect of travelling even if she knew she would deeply miss her sisters and even if she still felt distraught at her mother's sudden death. It was a dream coming true for her.

After two or three hours, where her sisters and even the host family tried hard to talk into her, to the point where her younger sister had to resort to using puppy eyes (Which didn't work.). They finally relented once they saw how she had made up her mind on this. They had even asked Subaru to talk her down, but he emotionlessly said he already did and it was no help.

After she gathered whatever things she had that didn't burn in the inn, a very long hug and a tearful goodbye from all 3 sisters happened. With the promise of sending letters every two weeks. They also asked Subaru, and Patra in terms of the younger sister, to look out for her, to which he merely nodded in a nonchalant way.

Finally, they were on the road.

"This is it." Sistine suddenly spoke with a mixture of a sad and happy tone after about an hour or two on the road. "This is the furthest away from home I've ever been."

"That so?" He replied in an uncaring way.

"Is so!" She retorted before speaking in a heavy tone. "I wonder what would mother think now. Would she berate me for leaving my sisters like that, just days after.. O-or would she be proud of me for doing what I wanted?"

Subaru had no answer to that and she knew it. She shook her head and decided to lighten the mood. "Hey so, Onii-chan, and Patrasche of course, have you ever been to any good places that you can tell me about?"

"Not particularly." Was his only response. While Patrasche only roared a noise, that she didn't understand.

"Hmm alright keep your secrets, you two. I'll just let you tell me them another time." She teased while patting Patrasche before letting out a contented sigh.

"I know you said we're not sightseeing, but I hope we get to see many good places. Hey Subaru, let's make good memories together, ok?" She looked back at him with a big warm smile before looking onward.

And tell many good jokes together too! Hahahaha. Ahh such good company we have! Oh, but you have to hog most of the spotlight *bored sigh*. Pride added.

'I just have to bear with this until I meet with 'Shaula-chan' while avoiding any monster that comes our way. At this point, I wouldn't be surprised if a hole sprung up and swallowed us just before we reach the tower.' Subaru shook his head afterwards to focus on the road.

...

In another part of the world. A scorpion sneezed as she was feasting on the disgusting meat of Mabeasts.

"Mmm~ Master must be reading my Wikipedia, yep!" She chirped in excitement before the excitement died down and she looked upwards.

Her eyes had a look of longing and she spoke in a tone filled with even more longing. "Master…"

---

Author's note.

I know I said the next chapter would take a while but well. Here we are with another chapter done lmao. Also released on my birthday, woo! (Not to aging though, screw getting older.)

Anyways! I hope you guys liked the chapter, as well as the multitudes of wholesome interactions with Patrasche. And of course, can't forget the art gallery that Pride opened up.

I'm sorry if the chapter dragged on a little bit there in the ending. It was just for Subaru to get a new companion, in preparation for the other companion he will get. Which I think is obvious.

To reply to some reviews:

To Realbarto: I hope the chaos that Pride brought on this chapter was satisfactory!

To Pryd: They're just old farts who think solving an issue like that is so easy. Save some of the popcorn for me (No future spoilers).

To Flappylyst (Also Mi Guesta, I lol'd at that name.): Thanks guys! I don't mind negative reviews and definitely not constructive criticism, but negativity for the sake of negativity slowly sucks the joy. Especially when it's not even 10 mins whenever I release a chapter. But anyway, trolls will be trolls so fuck it.

To 5questo: Fun fact (And for anyone else who's still wondering about it), I had written and was going to include Reinhard's pov at one point here, but after debating with myself a little I decided against it. I felt it would take away from Subaru's struggle of this chapter, especially in terms of what I wrote for Reinhard. That and I've just been lazily delaying it because I find writing Subaru/Pride more fun. Hopefully the next chapter will include Reinhard and the Felt's camp too probably. Fingers crossed.

That said, see you all on the next chapter! And if it comes out later than intended then Merry Christmas and happy new year!

~ Siegward.