Chapter 9 - Building My Dream

The rest of the night was uneventful, as Subaru finally got some proper sleep. He woke up confused because of the messy state of the room. Pillows were all over the floor, clothing scattered everywhere, and he had multiple blankets on him.

"What happened last night," Subaru thought. He placed his arm on his forehead, trying to recall the events of the night before. He then noticed the lack of someone's presence within the room.

"Felt? Are you there?" Subaru called out. No answer was received, confirming that Felt wasn't in the room.

Subaru held one of the blankets that were on him."Oh yeah, Felt gave these to me after that nightmare." Subaru tried to remember what the nightmare was about, but no matter what he tried to do, not a single memory was there to explain what happened.

He couldn't do anything about it, so he eventually accepted the loss of his memories; and started cleaning up the room. While cleaning, he noticed there were girl clothes all over the room. What would girl clothes be doing in here…?

"Pure thoughts, Pure thoughts, Pure thoughts," Subaru repeated to himself while putting away the clothes. It took a while, but he finally finished his battle with the messy monster and prepared for the day.

"I'm in a fantasy world now. Guess I need some new clothes. It would be bad for Crusch if I embarrassed her because of my clothing." Subaru thought to himself. He blew all of his cash on the dress and makeup. He wanted to burn the damn thing, but it cost too much, so he'll just give it to Crusch later.

With Subaru changed, all he needed to do was find the bathroom. Where the hell would he find one, anyway? He should've asked Felix about some of the basic rooms yesterday. Guess it's time to look around the manor.

After a quick check in the mirror, he made his way off to the halls of the manor. That's what he would've said if he didn't immediately bump into a short-tempered little girl.

"What the hell!? Shouldn't you watch where you're going?" Felt yelled at Subaru since she fell.

Subaru didn't catch what she said. Instead, he focused on her new outfit. When Felt said she would earn her lifestyle, he wasn't expecting her to do this.

"Maid outfit? They couldn't give you anything better? You look good in it, though." Subaru commented. He placed his hand on his chin and started analyzing her appearance. Seeing a real-life maid was one of his goals, but he wasn't expecting Felt to be his first.

"W-What? Why are you staring at me, perv." Felt started blushing as Subaru commented on her appearance. "I'm doing this because I owe Crusch Onee-San, that's all." Felt tried to hide her embarrassment behind her arm.

"Tsundere, Loli, and a maid. Truly a gre-" Subaru was interrupted by a piece of bread getting slammed into his mouth.

"You need a class on talking to girls. 0/10." Felt turned her embarrassment into a rage and used it all up. She got up from the floor, staring at a now pitiful Subaru rolling on the ground. "How do you like the treat, Nii-san," Felt said. With a smug smile, she started walking away.

Subaru finally coughed the loaf of bread out of his mouth. She was a ticking time bomb… or maybe it was Subaru's fault. A little bit of both?

"How late did I wake up anyway?" Subaru thought to himself. He realized that everyone else must have woken up earlier than him, since preparing Felt for maid work must have taken a decent amount of time.

He also just realized he forgot to ask where the bathroom was. His day wasn't starting great. His day was about to get more complicated with the arrival of a new person.

"Morin Subaru-Kyuh. It feels like you've been sleeping forever. I was starting to think you got injured." Felix greeted Subaru. The knight seemed to be beaming with happiness.

"Felix." Subaru moaned out. Opposite to Felix's mood. "You gave me a painful roommate. " Subaru finally got up and commented on Felt's behavior.

"You mean blondie? She's been doing maid work ever since Crusch assigned her to be one. Currently, Wilhelm is showing her the ropes." Felix looked down at the half-choked piece of bread.

"Well, at least she gave you something." Felix cringed a bit at the sight of Subaru's breakfast.

"For such a fancy place, I expected a better meal." Subaru took a bite out of the bread. "Wow, this tastes way better than I thought it would." Subaru got sidetracked on the question he wanted to ask Felix.

"Well, enough of the chit-chat. Crusch-Sama called you over, so it would make my job easier if you could eat it on the way there." Felix asked.

"Mind doing that after I use the restroom?"

"Do you really nyoed to go?"

Subaru responded to his question with a stare. Felix understood what it meant and started their journey through the Karsten manor. Subaru was still shocked at all the expensive things scattered about the manor.

After Subaru finished using the bathroom and ate his bread; they made it to Crusch's main room.

"Using a toilet in a fantasy world sucks ass." Subaru thought right before heading into Crusch's room.

"Crusch-Samaaa, Subaru-kyuh is here." Felix said in a sing-song tone.

Crusch was sitting at her desk. Corner to corner, it was filled with paperwork. Crusch's posture screamed tired, but she was still going through with it. Subaru noticed she wore light green glasses. They contrasted well with her hair.

"Ah, Subaru-Dono, you're here. Welcome in, and take a seat over there. Wilhelm prepared some lavish tea before he left." Crusch said without even taking a glance at them. She kept plowing through paperwork, one step at a time.

"Whoever picked those glasses gets it. You should wear them more often." Subaru said. He sent Crusch a thumbs up from across the room. She still didn't look up from her work, but she had a small smile.

"You seem to have slept well," Crusch responded. Subaru's ego was taken down a level with how easily Crusch brushed off his compliment. Maybe he should be more careful when giving women compliments in this world. With that thought out of his head, Felix and Subaru headed over to their seats and began drinking the tea.

"Let me know when I can be of service. I don't like seeing you working so hard," Felix said in a distraught tone. His cat ears and tail slumped down.

Finally, Crusch looked up from her work and took off her glasses. "Worry not. How am I going to win the throne if I can't do some paperwork?" Crusch said. Her body was held up straight, and all of her body movements were done swiftly and elegantly. She was confident with every decision she made.

"Throne?" Subaru said with a look of confusion.

"That's what we're here to discuss today. You have officially become a member of the Karsten Faction. As such, I can tell you this without repercussions." Crusch stopped for a second and pulled out an insignia. "I'm running to become the queen of this kingdom."

There was a brief silence before the storm, but the storm turned out to be nothing more than a water droplet.

"Expected." Those were the only words that came from Subaru's mouth.

Now it was Felix's turn to be shocked. "You've come from a different world, and find out someone you know might become queen, and your only response is to say expected." Felix sighed. "You knyow, Blondie might have been up to something when she called you weird."

"Felix, you're a knight of the Karsten manor. I expect you to call Felt-Chan by her name." Crush reprehended.

"S-Sorry Crusch-Sama. It won't happen again." Felix said in a panicked manner. Subaru was conflicted toward's Felix's loyalty. He worries it might affect him, but for now, at least he seemed happy.

"Felt would've loved to see that."

"Well, I don't have much else to say. Crusch-tan is confident, smart, hard-working, and has the vibe of a queen, you know?" Subaru said. She had all the right traits to be a leader, especially compared to the leaders of his world. It wasn't even surprising.

"I don't know what vi-be means, but you don't have to flatter me so much," Crusch said with amusement.

"You also look beautiful, and are the best at everything!" Felix added on.

"Come on, that just looks desperate." Even Subaru cringed a bit at how Felix acted in front of Crusch. He had to knock himself down a peg once he realized he had a pretty high chance of ending up like him if things didn't play out the way they did.

"Thank you for your compliment, Felix. Now let's get back on topic. A sudden disease spread throughout the royal family recently…" Crusch stood up, placed her arms on a window behind her, and stared outside. "It killed every single member of the royal family. Currently, the elders are taking control of the kingdom's daily affairs, but that won't hold for long. The country is currently in the process of finding 5 new candidates. Currently, only 4 have been found. I'm one of them." Crusch said, each word seeming to get weaker than the last as if her speech has been poisoned and is slowly withering away.

"Crusch-Sama…" Felix muttered.

"I have plenty of plans for my candidacy, but I'll wait until you are more established to share them with you. For now, please find Wilhelm. He should have prepared all the leftover weapons in the manor. You can pick anything, and he'll teach you the basics. I won't allow our battle coordinator to be weak." Crusch clenched her hands.

Crusch wasn't able to see, but Felix bit into his lips and gripped onto his legs. His eyes targeted the ground, and nothing else.

"I'm not the strongest person out there, but I hope you'll accept me," Subaru said. His voice didn't harbor any confidence, but he had to go through with it. His dad would've done it without a second thought.

"Strength comes in different forms. You should accept your strength before asking others to accept you." Crusch tried to impart a lesson to Subaru. "Though I believe you can do it. You don't want to keep Wilhelm waiting now. I suggest you hurry along now."

"We'll go right away, Crusch-Sama. Don't hesitate to call me." Felix didn't even wait for Subaru and headed out of the room. His voice clarified that he wasn't in a good mood.

"Ah, wait up!" Subaru got up and started going after Felix. "See ya later Crusch-Tan." Subaru headed out the door with Felix.

All that was left in the room was Crusch. She sat on her chair as her persona crumbled away. Teardrops slowly fell onto the desk. She quickly picked herself back up and wiped them away.

"Fourier… I think I hurt Felix again. I couldn't be there for both of you…" With those closing lines, the leader of the Karsten manor finally showed weakness.

"Felix! Wait up." Subaru ran towards Felix. He finally got Felix to stop. "What was that for?" Subaru grabbed Felix's shoulder.

"Ah… Sorry about that Subaru-Kyuh. I was just being selfish. Crusch-Sama is only trying to help you. Now we shouldn't keep Old Man Will waiting." Felix flashed Subaru a smile, hiding his emotions behind a veil.

"I'm pretty oblivious to this type of thing, but you can talk to me about it." Subaru's face turned into a frown. He couldn't tell what caused Felix to act up, but he would still like to help him.

"I'm fine. Healers are stronger than most." Felix started walking again. "Please forget about it."

"If you say so…"

The rest of the walk was in silence as they didn't have a way to start a conversation that wasn't awkward. When they arrived at where Wilhelm was located, Subaru saw a room full of weaponry. Blood-stained swords, morning stars that have spider webs on them, bows that seem to be in mint condition. It was like you could find any weapon in any condition within the large room.

What they didn't expect was a shouting fight.

"There's no way in hell I'm going to let Felt work under an Astrea. Especially not you!" Rom said with his club in hand. His face was of pure anger. At any moment it felt like he would snap and attack Wilhelm.

"I may harbor resentment against you, Cromwell, but these were orders by Crusch-Sama, and I will have them fulfilled. I don't want to dirty my hands with your alliance again." Wilhelm stated calmly, that he was completely relaxed, showing no signs of rage.

"Don't mock me, Astrea. I won't be afraid to finish what we started all those years ago." Rom started preparing to attack Wilhelm, as he gripped his club tight enough to start breaking it.

"Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait!" Subaru ran in between the two men. "I don't know what this is all about, but put down your weapons and talk it out."

"Black hair, scary eyes. You're the kid Felt has been tellin' me about. I appreciate your help, but I'd recommend moving away." Rom's giant figure made Subaru look tiny by comparison.

"No can do. You're a guest of this manor, and you're already causing problems. As the official knight of Crusch-sama, I would recommend you stop your child's play." Felix walked over to help Subaru calm down this fight. "This is for you, not me. Old Man Will would dispatch you without blinking."

"I apologize for the trouble. I just have a… troubled past with this fellow. He doesn't approve of Felt-san's current working status." Wilhelm said as he bowed to show his regret for this situation.

"Current working status my ass. She ain't working here, and that's final! We don't need your handouts." Rom said with anger. It was apparent that without a supervisor, Rom would have no problem starting a fight with Wilhelm.

"When did you have the nerve to make my decisions for me?" Felt walked through the door. Based on her response, she seemed to have been there for a while.

"Felt!?" Rom was bewildered by her appearance.

"Look, Old Man. I did something dumb. My dreams of getting out of the slums should have been crushed when I took the job to steal half-elf onee-san's insignia, but… Crusch-Onee-San gave me a chance. The last time may not have been it, but this is our chance of getting out fair and square. So, please, don't mess it up." Felt finished giving her speech.

"Felt…" Rom took a couple of seconds to get his thoughts together. "One. You guys have one chance. If even a scratch gets on her, we're going to have problems." Rom stared at Wilhelm. "Especially if the Astrea does it." With the words spoken, Rom dropped his club and exited the room.

"Why did my life have to get so complicated?" Felt groaned.

While this scene was unfolding, Subaru thought process was completely different.

"Insignia? I swore I remember something about an insignia... but it hurts trying to think about it." Signs of a headache started to form. "Who is Felt's Onee-san anyway? I'm going to ask her later."

"So, Wilhelm-san, you have a history with him?" Subaru placed his hand on his hip. Wilhelm seemed like the type of person to make a few enemies in his life. As the saying goes, the nicest elders have the worst past.

"We've fought against each other in the Demi-Human war. Please don't worry about it."

"Just because I told my old man to let it go doesn't mean I like you. Just remember that." Felt pointed at Wilhelm as she made her statement. "So, do you need anything else from me today?"

"The day has just started, but for now, you may be on standby," Wilhelm said as he picked up the club with ease and put it away.

"I'll ask if Crusch Onee-san needed anything." Felt made her exit.

"That was an interesting entrance for us, Subaru-Kyuh," Felix commented on the interesting predicament.

"Interesting?! I could've gotten hit by a club."

"You wouldn't have had to worry. Your spirit should've protected you in case anything happened." Wilhelm said.

"Oh yeah… where is Scarlet?" Subaru just realized he hadn't seen Scarlet all day.

"Geez, for our battle coordinator, you need to be more responsible. You haven't seen your spirit all day and you only just noticed." Felix put his hand on his face, showing his disappointment. "Scarlet is resting. It used most of its mana yesterday, so it needs some time before it recovers enough mana to reform."

"So she's ok? That's a relief."

"With everything taken care of, we should come back to the main reason you're present. Crusch-Sama has ordered me to train you in a weapon of your choosing. You may pick any weapon in this room. I would like to note that I'm best with long swords."

Swords, Knives, Bows, Morning Stars, Spears…

"With all of these weapons… which would be the best for me?" Subaru thought before heading towards the wall of weapons to make his choice.

Authors Note - 7/29/2022

I wonder what weapon Subaru will choose? Oh, wait… I already know.

The beginning chapters of an arc usually aren't the most exciting to write, but I hope that doesn't translate over to the reader's side of things, since a lot of stuff has been established in this chapter.

Anyhow, a 3k word chapter. All the dialogue was quite a challenge. I rewrote the Crusch scene twice to try and get it down, but I still think I can improve it.

Shoutouts to Imperius on Ao3 for this chapter. One of his/her previous comments gave me an idea for this story that I want to add later in the future. Also, I love all the reviews.

For FFN, another shoutout to alankordel958 for reviewing so thoroughly, and helping fix up the story by telling me anything wrong in his/her reviews

Thanks to bluewavegunner8#4069 for beta reading this chapter.

-TonkaDev