"Here, take this. It should help with inebriation. Well, probably not all of it, as ya drank a lot. Free of charge."

"You 'now when a peddler like you gives away somethin' away for free, it feels like you just wanna poison me." "Not that it would work on me specifically, but still."

"Hey, ya are important business partner, first and for most."

"Lady Anastasia, do you have more sobriety potions? Everyone staying here should take them. Before Subaru's Authority's effects fade due to proximity."

Reinhard did not mention that he nearly stumbled due to the tipsiness returning, when he was measuring distance of Subaru's strange ability.

"Thank the Od Laguna for Divine Protection of Perfect Posture."

"Oh, yeah. Got a few."

Once Anastasia got swindled of around half of her yearly business profits due to being under the influence. Ever since then she carried a few of those at all times.

"Would be bad if everyone 'ere got back to what they were doin'..."

Most people in the room shuddered at the thought. Especially Felt and Priscilla.

"These things are called cogs. Essentially, wheels with tines or prongs, whatever. Because those slot in into one another, one rotation of the big one is multiple of the small ones. You can use a metal spring to conserve energy and gradually turn those cogs over time. Using dial hands you can measure time more precisely than in just hours. This is very basic mechanics, should be doable en masse even on our level of production..."

"Now, combustion engines looks kinda like that. Right here, in the cylinder, liquid fuel is injected. It is ignited, then as it burns it emits gas. Said gas forces piston up. Through these leavers the motion transmitted on the wheel. This wheel can be connected to anything: a mill, a carriage, anything really. Alternatively, you can instead use water instead of fuel, that's called a steam engine instead. You can also replace those leathers with the turbine instead. It's like the water wheel, but for steam..."

"If I remember correctly the correct formula for gunpowder is three fourths saltpeter, one tenth sulfur, one seventh charcoal. You ground it up, carefully mix, ignite and then boom! Over all, cost should be cheaper than those metias or mana stones. We found two primary military uses for it: first is just clump bunch up for a one boom, or to use tiny portions to throw small projectiles at the enemy. You put some powder in this metal pipe, slot a bullet (that's how we call these metal balls) ignite the powder and then boom. You can make a big one too, it would work similar to your magic cannons. You know, the one you, Crusch, brought on the Whale hunt..."

"Simple things like mass literacy, good medicine, tolerant laws, et cetera, help society a lot. The more people you have well-fed, literate, healthy and happy, the more hands you have for business. Among them, you gonna have more qualified specialists, artists, scientists, bureaucrats. You know the type of people that push society forward. Essentially, by shoving people on the fields or into slums you waste a ton of potential..."

"Animals are often vectors for a disease just as much as people themselves. Rats, insects, birds. Even livestock. One particular advice is to avoid malaise is to keep yourself and your environment clean, boil water, cook food thoroughly. Hygiene is incredibly important, especially if you are trying to treat someone, so clean your hands before you stitch someone. Alcohol can be used to disinfect wounds, so can particular species of fungi found in mold…"

Anastasia was writing things down with a mad vigor. This was just the surface level, according to the boy, yet all these ideas could flip the world upside down. She, Julius and Joshua were so concentrated on the lecture, that they forgot to blink. Giving him a sobriety potion, when he began spouting the things he wanted to change, was one of the greatest ideas in her life. He still wasn't exactly sober (as it turns out they all drank quite a lot of booze today), which was evident on the shakiness in his illustrations, but it was good enough in merchant's mind.

Others had quite a lot of things to extract from the Sage's tales as well. Felt, Reinhard, Crusch, Felix all got something to learn. Even if some did not write everything Subaru said they were still listening attentively, even Priscilla was memorizing the Sage's words.

"That's homework. The crew and I are going back to my old home, while you are figuring out these things. Oh, wait a second, there's one more thing I wanted to do."

She sat on an old chair bound with the heavy chains. The room she was placed in was an old dingy cellar, far from the Capital's dungeons where she would be moved to in a few days. Air was so full of dust it irritated the lungs, but that did not bother her at all. As for reason why, that was because:

"Petelgeuse, my beloved."

"You know, I am gettin' really tired of this shit. Really tired of aaall of you cultists."

The irritation was quite noticeable in Subaru's drunken voice.

"I'm sorry I'm being bothersome. And thank you for visiting me, dear."

"See that's what I am fuckin' talkin' about."

With a sudden movement the black-eyed knight closed the distance, forced opened her mouth and then jammed the bottle of Pleiades Premium into it.

"There, this should render you harmless. Cheeers!"

"Mrgh! Gulp, gulp, gulp."

"You know, we 'ave no reason to keep you alive."

"..."

"The Gluttony issue kinda resolved itself, mooostly. And I know it's useless to ask you about Capella's victims. I 'ave better chances whackin' her with Reid… Or maybe Yang Sword is better..."

"…"

"So only thin' I still need from you is your Witch Factor. Your Wrath."

"M-m-m… gulp..."

"That means, just killin' you cleanly without collateral damage. That's where Pleeeiades Premium comes into play."

"..."

"This shit is so strong, it's 'nough to pacify the Witch of Envy, apparently. Even Volc and Rein felt under the influence. So me forcin' you to drink this, is just a way to numb you to the point 'till you can't even think."

"..."

"A bit of the insane plan, I do agree, but I'm the only one who has sooome tolerance to it. So yeah, even your Authority would not do much."

"Urgh…"

"Oh, you're done. Unfooortunately, that was the last bottle, but we're going to the tower for a couple more crates. This is just a preview."

The knights eyes held a malevolent expression.

"Wait, dear… Please… come back… I know you are still in there, Petel-"

Slap!

"I'm repeatin' again, I am not him! This whole drama has so much unrequited love it makes me fuckin' sick. I murdered your dear hubby a year ago and took his shit, that fuckin' Sloth! That bastard was tryin' to please my girl by killin' the other girl I like, not even knowin' she would never even look in his direction. You are the exact same, just some dumb bitch, that keeps ruining my happy ending! All of you bastards are like that!"

"…"

The Wrath looked longingly at him urging him to stay, just as he was turning away from her.

"I might've taken a small piece of him along the way, but there's no waaay to brin' him back anymore. Not that I'll ever do that, even if I could. Emilia says he was nice at some point, but she doesn't understand what I went through because of him…"

The last sentence was barely audible, addressed mostly to himself. And so, with that, he left the cellar.

"Urgh. Fuckin' hate this shit…"

"Subaru?"

"Oh, I'm done, Emilia-tan. We can go to the tower soon."

The half-elf Royal Candidate met her knight right as he was leaving Wrath's temporary containment cell.

"You look reeealy upset."

"Ah, sry. Just all this shit so far was very frustratin'. Makes me jittery. And I'm also out of whiskey."

"Hehe, I think you drank about three quarters of the crate all on your own back there. No to mention your Authority… I'm certain that laying off for a while would be good for you."

"No way! The seeecond we in there, I'm breakin' into Asterope for more stuff."

"Oh, Subaru, you're insufferable sometimes…"

Emilia's words did not match her affectionate expression. Something had occurred within her mind when Satella and others arrived at the party.

"I'll definitely tell him. Just not right now, after, when he's in a sound mind…"

"Adorable… E.M.T."

The two lovebirds soon returned to the city hall. The preparations for the departure of Subaru and his companions was nearly complete. The party, however, was still in full swing, although it was more akin to the business meeting at this point, courtesy of Sage's knowledge.

"Natsuki-kun, I already sent a missive to my contacts. Ya can expect prototypes for the fine-tunin' in a month."

"That's quick, huh."

"Time is money, as Hoshin said."

"Pretty sure that came from me. My home that is."

"Oh, right. The Hoshin's legacy is yo legacy. Explains ya likin' Kararagi culture so much."

"Hey, I'm not claimin' it back. The only bit of history I want to rewrite is a conundrum with Tella."

"Nii-chan, we can all push for some legislative changes to be implemented. Let's have a trial run in our domains and when they are successful, we can make those pansy nobles change some laws."

"Mhm, good idea, Felt."

"So, Flugel. Who do ya wanna take?"

"Well, everyone from the old crew: you Reid, Tella, Volc, Shaula; then add to that Beako, Rem and Emilia-tan, and that shooould be enough."

"Captain, what about everyone else?"

"Nah, you all take care of the mess the Cult left Priesteeella first, then we can work on the next step of the whole 'Unfuck the World' thin'. I kinda thought Meili could be useful for witchbeast control, but with our line-up we can prooobably just brute force through any conflict. Also makes no sense leavin' Priestella undefended."

"You do not want to go full force, Nii-chan? I can even lend Rein if you really want."

The Sword Saint nodded. In truth, Reinhard did want to join the expedition, but he put safety of his mistress first. He will stay, unless she commands him to join Sage's efforts. In any case, he did lend Subaru the Dragon Sword.

"I mean, it's just a short trip to the old home and back, what's the worst that can happen?"

"That's a flag, in fact."

"Yep, Master, you just set off a flag."

"Ah, fuck… you're right."

In another reality Natsuki Subaru was surprised by his sudden sneezing fit. It was strange. Was it something 'Natsuki Subaru' had? Maybe he was just cold. After roughing up his white hair he drew a bit closer to the campfire that Shaula made.

"Natsuki-kun, can Julius and I tag along?"

"Mmm? I'm not gonna let you ransack my crib."

"You should not worry, Subaru, we merely interested in exploration of the tower. It would also be nice to document the journey."

Julius, being the history nerd, was of course interested to join.

"Eh, sure… Why not. But if I see you nabbin' my stuff… well, we gonna have some issues. 'lright, I have a dibs on the front seat. Always wanted to pilot a Dragon."

"Natsuki-san, drunk driving is a criminal offense in Lugunica."

"Does that mean you are wanted man then?"

"Eeeh, well…"

Otto decided to shut up. In truth, he was indeed wanted back in his hometown. If you add up the rumors about him burning old Mathers manor to get paid, it did paint him as a rather ruthless criminal.

"Don't worry guys, all he needs to do is to occasionally point Volc in da correct direction and wake him up when he falls asleep."

"I promise thee that I will remain awaketh for our journey back."

"'lright, Beako, you sit in front of me."

Beatrice nodded with a smug expression. As it was expected from Betty's contractor, she was given the best possible place to sit – right in her contractor's arms.

"Everyone else, pick whatever order you like."

"Alright, I am going to be behind my knight."

"No, I will be behind my love!"

"No, I will be behind Subaru-kun!"

"No, I will be behind Master!"

The argument continued for quite a while. All the four women refused to yield. Eventually, the Sage intervened.

"Since no one can come to an agreement, my buddy Reid will sit behind me."

The four felt a bit upset by that choice, but at least there were no favoritism.

"Yeah, Captain! Bros before hoes!"

"Garf!"

"Disgusting."

"That was mean, Garf."

Frederica, Ram and Mimi all scolded Garfiel in unison.

"Dug yourself into that one."

"Hey! I was backing you up, Captain!"

The journey took less than an hour and was rather uneventful. Outside of the surprised expressions of citizens when they flew past the Capital and Volcanica falling asleep and almost colliding into the Royal Palace, nothing too crazy had happened along the way. (In Subaru's opinion, Anastasia and Julius thought differently). He did a tiny mishap of turning Volc into a wrong direction for a bit, but it did not cause too much delay. The barrier blocking entry was rather quickly bypassed with a simple E.M.T./S.M.T. and the witchbeasts surrounding the place were simply avoided by flying over them.

"We are arriving at 2 a.m. Standard Lugunica time at Pleiades Airport. Thank you for choosing Sage Airlines. That was your flight attendant Shaula, signing off."

Eventually, after a brief journey, the ones assembled were right in front of the door to the Sage's old home.

"This door is rather huge. Divine Dragon, could ya please lend as a hand?"

"There is no need to involve Volcanica. I can open that door too."

"So am I. Master, can I do the honors?"

"No, just let my love do it."

While Emilia and Shaula volunteered for the grunt work, Satella actually knew the secret behind the massive door.

"It looks quite heavy, I believe Subaru's strength would not be enough."

"Nah he'll be fine, it's his door. Flugel just loves to show off. He even rigged the door to recognize him."

Reid knew about the secret too.

"'lright. Let me tryyy."

It was surprisingly lighter than it looked, at least for the Sage. He was done rather quickly.

"I do not fiteth inside, friend. Shouldst thee wisheth to join myself in conversation, thee must meet me atop of the tower."

"'ey, Volc, slow down, take me with ya."

"Reid?"

"Wanna have a nap. This hot body is made of mana. Can't stay too long away from da tower. I'll be at Electra as usual."

"Oh, it's just like Ryuzus, I guess. 'lright, see you two soon."

As the remaining eight entered the ground floor the black-haired scorpio made a theatrical bow and said:

"Welcome to the Great Library Pleiades, or your home, Master! This is Celaeno."

The people attending the Sage (with the exception of Satella and Shaula, who knew the place) all were gawking at the impressive structure of the place. The Sage, however, looked at the never-ending stairs with frustration and exclaimed:

"Ah, for fuuuck's sake, where is the elevator!"