Replies to my Reviews
Hestia is Bestia: Probably not just those two.
arthurrosa071206: Unless you mean the time skip between Arc 2 and Arc 3...
This was a time of night when most people would be comfortably settling into their homes as darkness took over the world. But, within the capital city of Lugnica, there were some people who did not have the luxury of going home so easily, enjoying a fulfilling meal, then getting into bed to rest off the day's worries.
And the royal guards were such people.
Notice had gone out for an immediate, mandatory gathering, and many of the knights who were otherwise off duty found themselves filing into the royal castle, their white uniforms standing out amidst the night. Some of them met along the way, walking with heads held high, despite there being very few citizens out and about.
One of these men was was the Sword Saint, Reinhard van Astrea.
Reinhard had no idea why the captain of the royal guards had ordered for them all to assemble within the throne room, but he could only assume that it was a matter of great importance.
The throne room was just as magnificent as always. As Reinhard entered, he noticed many familiar knightly faces and silently greeted them with acknowleging nods. And although he had done nothing to deserve it, there were many who were nervous to return his greetings.
Still, Reinhard understood. He was the Sword Saint, along with being the strongest swordsman alive.
Reinhard van Astrea was truly a monster appearing in the form of a human.
The crimson carpet upon the floor led up to a dais where the leader of their nation would have taken their place upon that exalted throne. But, the throne was empty. This was no surprise. After all, everybody present knew that they were currently in the process of the Royal Selection which would decide the new ruler of their nation from Volcanica-sama's four chosen candidates that had been found.
Soon to be five, if Felt-sama would hopefully accept.
Looking around, Reinhard found himself wondering why two people, in particular, had not yet made their appearances. After all, even among the royal knights, the two in which he had expected to see were integral members of the order, along with being the closest someone like him could call his friends.
Julius Euclius the Spirit Knight and Felix 'Ferris' Argyle the Blue.
Just as he would have begun to worry, one of the pair finally arrived.
A man with fine purple hair and confident golden eyes made his appearance. And even though there was no person directly in his path, many of the other knights still made room to allow him easier access forward. Though he wore the same uniform as the rest of them, everyone knew that he was superior to most of them.
As the two knights caught their eyes, they approached to greet one another.
"Reinhard, I thought you would not make it." Julius extended a handshake that was promptly accepted.
"I simply happened to be held up a bit by something that has recently happened at home." Reinhard answered as honestly as he could. "But I seem to have gotten here on time."
Indeed, there were still plenty of other members of the royal knights who were filing into the room. After all, somebody had to be first, and somebody had to be the last after the emergency summons had been sent out. It just so happened that Reinhard was somewhere in the middle.
After taking a short look around, Julius turned his attention back to his friend. "Do you have any idea what this emergency meeting is about? It came as quite a surprise. Even members of the royal knights who were off duty were ordered to assemble as soon as possible."
Shaking his head, Reinhard was displeased to admit he knew nothing more than anyone else. "I do not. But I can only assume it is truly urgent."
However, while the Sword Saint did not know what sort of information they were set to receive, he had his suspicions. 'First, my encounter with Felt-sama, Emilia-sama and Subaru just some days ago. Then, we are called in for an impromptu meeting? Is there a connection...?'
"Very well. On another hand, do you have any idea where Ferris might be? Surely he should not be this late?" Julius admitted that it may have been completely possible that the Blue Knight was simply behind all of the foot traffic.
"Right here, nya~!" Ferris heralded his arrival by hugging Reinhard from behind, being one of the very few people in the world who didn't shy from overt physical affection with him, which he greatly appreciated.
"Good. It seems that a majority of you have all arrived."
These words were spoken by the commander of the royal guard, Marcos Gildark.
If one was to describe their captain, it would be accurate to say that he was a boulder in the form of a human man. Unlike the other members of the knights, Marcos wore a suit of plate armor at all times. He was a true veteran who maintained a look of fixed discipline and rock-hard determination at all times.
One at a time, the faces of elderly men filed in the room from behind the throne. They were the members of the Sage Council, the experienced and irreplaceable men who kept the nation stable even in their lacking of a single ruler.
Taking his place at the head of the line, Marcos stood by.
"Knights and mages of the royal guard, first, I must thank you all for gathering to this place with such haste." The man who spoke was Miklotov McMahon, the representative for the other nine sages. "And also, I feel I must apologize for us having dragged you with such urgency. But this is a situation that cannot be ignored and the royal knights must be made aware of."
Reinhard frowned at the grave tone the sage had now taken, his intuition pinging.
"Just yesterday night, in this very throne room, the Dragon Tablet illuminated, providing those of us present with a new and most shocking revelation. Allow me to repeat what is now clearly etched into the stone."
The tension in the room increased tenfold. Everyone now immediately understood why they had been called here. Every bit of information from the Dragon Tablet was vital to the continuation of their country.
After having given everyone a few moments to understand the situation, Miklotov continued on. "Sage Candidate, Natsuki 'Flugel' Subaru, has defeated the Witch Cult's Sin Archbishop of LUST, Capella Emerada Lugnica."
Gasps, yelps of surprise, and murmurs born of shock filled the room. The knights and mages all exchanged looks with one another as confusion took hold.
Meanwhile, Reinhard struggled to comprehend what he had just heard. Sage Candidate? The 'F' in Subaru's name? Capella Emerada Lugnica?! Why did a Sin Archbishop have the same name of the royal family?!
It was at this point that Reinhard also understood why all of the royal knights had been called to this place. This truly was shocking news that was worthy of the Dragon Tablet's notice, as it involved Lugnica in it's entirety. Maybe even the world as the Witch Cult certainly never discriminated in their crimes.
"Just... how...?" A shocked gulp found itself stuck in his throat. 'He does have his dragon abilities... But a Sage Candidate? Is there a relation to the Great Sage Shaula? Subaru... just who in the world are you?'
From the moment that the two of them met with one another, Reinhard had a feeling that there was something different about Subaru. He certainly did not seem to be a native of their country, and though he did not go into detail as to where he was from, Reinhard did not pick up any sort of untrustworthy vibe from him.
And he generally trusted his instincts. Which were now proving to be right as Subaru was certainly not as average as he presented himself.
Or no, perhaps there was something special that even Subaru himself didn't know himself? Remembering back to when he questioned where Subaru came from, Reinhard suddenly realized that Subaru had never answered him.
But, even with these things in mind, Reinhard had absolutely no intention of speaking these thoughts. It would be a violation of Subaru's privacy to do so.
"Indeed, Subaru." Reinhard turned back reassuringly. "I see that you found the lady you were searching for. By the way, that dragon from before...?"
"Ah, that was me." Subaru sheepishly replied. "Sorry for the commotion I might have caused."
This judgment was made on the grounds that Reinhard considered Subaru to be a friend, along with his demeanor being one of a person who didn't seem used to being praised. Even though the two of them had not known one another for very long, he believed that a certain bond of trust was oftentimes forged between people who went into battle together.
And they'd hopefully done so against Elsa Granhiert.
'Subaru, I can only hope that you are safe, especially if you're still in Emilia-sama's company.'
Stepping forth, Marcos retook their attention towards the front and spoke. "As I am certain everyone here is aware, this event is a historic victory that will not be forgotten. The Witch Cultists are enemies to all of society, and by some means, Natsuki 'Flugel' Subaru has freed the world of one of their leading officers. But there are many things we do not yet understand. We do not truly know who this person is, where they come from, and where their allegiances lay. Along with the Sin Archbishop bearing a name that belongs to a member of the royal family who fell to a mysterious illness and supposedly died fifty years ago at a very young age, we simply know too little."
"Supposedly?" Ferris muttered with narrowed eyes and a frown.
"Which is why in their wisdom, the Council has decreed that Natsuki 'Flugel' Subaru must be located as soon as possible and brought before the Sage Council."
Upon hearing this, Reinhard immediately tensed. This was the last information he wanted to hear. He didn't want to have his duty clash against his friendships. But to his fortune, it seemed he had come to the worst conclusion too quickly.
"And I want this made as clear as possible. Natsuki 'Flugel' Subaru is not under arrest and they are to be treated fairly." Marcos stressed. "In spite of our lack of knowledge involving them, they have still done us all a great service. All royal knights will go about this mission as quietly as possible, as this information will not yet be released to the public. Sir Ferris. Sir Julius."
The two mentioned knights stood at attention when called.
"You two have been permitted to inform your lieges of this event. I'm sure neither of them would appreciate learning of this from anywhere else than their sworn knights."
""Yes, sir!""
And with that, the meeting had come to a close. The royal knights were dismissed. But even as they saluted their captain, none of them could muster that same pride and energy that usually filled their bodies and spirits when being assigned a new task.
Excepting Reinhard, all of the royal guard of Lugnica were completely bamboozled on this night.
"So this is it..."
Natsuki Subaru stood at the front door of the mansion, with all of the Mathers household standing before him.
"Are you sure about this?" Emilia fretted with a worried look. "We could call a dragon-drawn carriage to take you to Mirula..."
"I'll be fine, Emilia-tan." Subaru assured her. "I want to get used to flying as much as I can. Besides, the whole point of this trip is training and seeing the world. I can't do that if I'm getting this pampered."
"Well, then, Subaru-kun, be well." Roswaal L. Mathers exchanged a handshake with his ex-butler. "And doooon't lose the gift I gave you. I added a little soooomething equivalent to our four days' woooorth of memories together."
Subaru gave his bag a little shake, feeling the jingle of coins once more. "Well, thanks for the allowance, Ros-chi."
Subaru looked from the master to the two maids that served with him. "You two helped me out a ton. Especially you, Rem-rin. Thanks for all the great food and training."
"It was my pleasure, Subaru-kun."
"As for Ram-chi, thanks for teaching me how to read, but I guess I'm a little glad to be getting away from your bossing around."
"You should be sure to get around to fixing that fatal lack of skill in flattery."
"Hahahahaha!" Subaru skipped back, mist surging off his form as he transformed and rocketed upwards into the air. "Well then, Sayonara!"
"Sayonara." Puck waved from an open window with Beatrice at his side, watching the massive serpentine dragon fly away through the air. 'And now, he's gone. With him leaving in such a flashy manner, he'll certainly be taking most of the Witch Cult's attention with him. If he succeeds in killing a few more Sin Archbishops, that just means less enemies for Lia to bother with. If he fails and falls to them...'
If he were being honest, Puck really wished for Subaru's success, because the boy was unique as Emilia's friend in the fact that he was neither introduced to her via Roswaal(therefore holding no true loyalty to him compared to the maids), nor did he have the slightest of stigma against half-elves or demihumans in general.
If anything happened to him on his training trip...
The Great Spirit of Fire turned about and let himself fall into Beatrice's pampering embrace. 'Well, a good friend and potential knight of Lia's shouldn't protest to being a reliable meat shield, right?'
Subaru chuckled at the sight of the village children yelling below as they tried to run after his now distant form before continuing on his flight.
He didn't know how far he'd flown, but he was pretty sure he'd been pumping out {Moon Step} nonstop for about an hour before he now decided to land and walk for a bit.
Transforming smoothly as he descended, Subaru took a brief look at the nearby lake in sight before checking the map Roswaal had gotten him.
From what it looked like according to the chart, Subaru had already done a quarter of his overall journey to the Pleiades Watchtower at the Augria Sand Dunes.
"Flight sure is convenient." Subaru muttered as he recalled what Roswaal had told him about the Watchtower with a name like his.
The Pleiades Watchtower was a tower built by the Great Sage Shaula(Once again, Subaru was noticing the strong 'star' theme regarding important figures), also known to be a great library filled with otherworldly knowledge. However, it was located in a desert-like area which possessed ridiculously high amounts of Witch miasma, which in turn meant that the mabeasts inhabiting the area were far more aggressive and powerful compared to anywhere else.
"Well, if there was ever a place to start...!" After he'd rested enough, Subaru got up and stretched a bit before wandering whether to fly or walk. It wasn't like he was in any hurry.
"I guess I'll walk a bit." Subaru decided before continuing on on his eastward journey.
After about an hour's worth of walking, Subaru found himself fortunate to come upon what looked like a passing caravan, except with ground dragons instead of horses like he'd expected. Were horses really not a thing in this world? "Hey, there!"
One of the few guards gave him a wary look as Subaru approached. "Huh? What are you doing here in this forest? Who the hell are you?"
"Hey, now. Easy, buddy." Subaru waved his empty hands wide before making his signature pose. "My name's Natsuki F. Subaru, a traveler heading east like you guys. Would let me ride along with you guys for a while?"
"Hah?" The guard shooed him off. "You better move on ahead, kid. You've got no chance considering who we're escorting right now."
"Eeeh?" Subaru sighed in disappointment before folding his arms. "Fine, then. Can I at least walk along? I'm gonna go insane without frequent company."
"If you're fine with just walking along, you can do that." The guard replied before hurrying ahead to rejoin his comrades' spot with the caravan.
Walking along with the others turned out to be pretty informative on it's own for Subaru as he walked along the few guards and merchants of the caravan.
"Spirit User?" Subaru raised a brow after being asked by his current companion if he was one. "Not really. My friend is one, though."
"Huh." Otto Suwen replied. "I totally pegged you for one. You've probably got high affinity compared to me, Natsuki-san."
"Really?!" Subaru gleefully replied. 'To think I could share a trait with Emilia-tan!' "How do I check?"
"Call for them." The merchant shrugged as his brows narrowed in thought. "If I'm recalling it right, you can call for them just about anywhere if you concentrate hard enough."
'Seriously? Then again, Emilia did the same thing regularly herself.' Subaru closed his eyes and held his breath, concentrating hard. 'Spirits, I wanna see you guys. Anybody interested, please make an appearance!'
"What in the...?!" Otto's voice trailed off in shock.
When Subaru opened his eyes, he didn't blame him. Dozens of bright and different colored lights were now surrounding Subaru, way more than he usually saw with Emilia. "Holy shit."
[What did you need, stranger?]
[Hmph. Can he even hear us?]
[His clothes look weird.]
"My clothes are fine, thank you very much." Subaru replied, much to both Otto and the spirits' surprise with even a few more of the other caravan members staring.
"Natsuki-san, you can hear them?" Otto gawked.
"Should I not be able to?" Subaru asked back. "So what now?"
"I don't know." Otto swallowed and shrugged tentatively. "Make a contract, I guess?"
'Hmm... How do I do that, though?' Subaru hummed. 'Do I really need a Spirit? Then again, I can get them to cover the magical elemental affinities I'm missing!' "So how do I make a contract with you guys?"
[Wait, he can hear us?]
[Oh, pick me!]
[No, he saw me first, you fool!]
The display of bright colors wildly whizzing about made Subaru feel dizzy he longer he stared. 'Okay, I'm going to need to put a stop to this.' "I'll just be needing spirits of fire, earth and yang, please."
Most of the orbs seemed to sink in disappointment before fading away, leaving a much smaller gathering of orbs to keep at it until Subaru had enough. "Okay, now. You. You and You."
As three differently colored orbs were chosen, the others faded away with complaints.
"So tell me more about these guys, Otto." Subaru turned to the stunned merchant beside him. "Just assume that I literally know next to nothing about spirits, so I appreciate the input."
"Seriously?! W-Well, then." Otto cleared his throat after his ground dragon shook him from his shock. "First, you know that there are different classes and types of spirits. While types refer to their elemental affinities, classes refer to their current state of self. Understand? You at least know of the six attributes, right?"
Subaru nodded in acknowledgement.
"Well, the starting class of spirits are the lesser ones." Otto started to explain. "These ones are basically like babies and toddlers, who still haven't gathered sufficient experience and essence, and don't even have a element yet."
"That any of you guys?" Subaru asked of the spirits floating in his palm, but received varying replies in the negative. "Guessed so."
"Then you ones you have are next class, Quasi Spirits." Otto continued on. "These ones already have their magical affinities. Compared to the lesser spirits who can only pass on emotions, these ones are fully capable of thought."
[Yeah! We're awesome!]
[Not yet, you fool. For my standards, I prefer to at least reach the third class.]
[I'm just satisfied to have a potential master who can hear us so clearly.]
"Next up is the third class, Spirits." Otto cut Subaru off before the Zoan could speak. "Yes, just imagine the capital letter in there. The spirits of this class are basically the grownups, compared to Quasi Spirits being teenagers. They've grown out of their inadequacy and are fully in tune with their capabilities, some not often needing a contractor any longer. Along with that, they also become capable of utilizing magic beyond their natural attributes, along with a special few gaining unique abilities."
"Woah." Subaru's jaw dropped. "I wanna say you guys are like Eevee, but they can't get that awesome... I think."
[Yes, I am awesome. Praise me more.]
[No, you're not.]
[What's an Eevee?]
"Finally, well the fourth class is more of a ranked title rather than a class, but when a Spirit gets really powerful, it can claim the title of 'Great', setting itself above every other spirit of it's attribute."
Subaru instantly thought back to Beatrice. "So how does that happen?"
"Well, I think one calls themselves 'Great', it's like a challenging signal of every other Spirit of the same attribute to try and prove them wrong." Otto explained. "If they beat all of their challengers, that means the title's been earned."
[All of the Attributed Greats have been occupied except for Yang.]
[For earth spirits like us, our Great is Muspel.]
[And for fire spirits, our Great is Puck.]
"Huh?!" Subaru gawked as he remembered the usual floating feline. "That tiny guy was a Great Spirit like Beako?! ...damn. How the hell did Emilia then contract someone like that, to the point that they've got a parent-child relationship?"
"Eh? Natsuki-san, you know a Great Spirit?" Otto exclaimed. "That's amazing. Most people live their lives without even meeting a spirit at all, and you're acquainted with a Great Spirit at that."
'Two, actually.' "So how do I make a contract with you guys?"
[Just say the word!]
[You did see us fighting over you, right?]
[Oh, we'd like to be named as well.]
"Names?" Subaru grinned wide. "Yeah, I can do that. Let's see... I almost wanna continue the star motif I've been noticing in this world, but since you guys are elemental spirits... Nah. Let's not break the theme."
Subaru gently pressed his finger against the white Quasi Spirit. "Arietis Aries. Ari for short."
Subaru gently pressed his finger against the brownish gold Quasi Spirit. "Sigma Libra."
Subaru gently pressed his finger against the red Quasi Spirit. "Spica Virgo."
[We got named! I'm now the one with the name 'Arietis Aries'!]
['Sigma Libra'...]
[Thank you for the name 'Spica Virgo'.]
Subaru chuckled before facing Otto. "So what next?"
Otto stared at Subaru like he was some sort of alien, before looking away with some envy. "Next up, you should purchase some spirit lagmites, so that you can house them within. You'll probably find some when we reach Mirula."
"A bit of a heads up, though. You better hope you're loaded at that place." A nearby guard chuckled. "Those guys love to fleece visitors dry of their coin."
Judging by Otto's cringing face, Subaru decided that the guard's warning was very legitimate. "I don't even know the price, but spirit lagmites are probably expensive without even taking cheating prices into account?"
"Definitely." The guard replied. "Spirit Users are damn rare, and everybody knows it. You'll have no luck trying to haggle down the price if you do manage to get some-"
A sharp, brutal intent. A speeding stone moving too fast to be thrown. A head pulverized from the impac-
Otto shrieked when Subaru suddenly backhanded a stone almost too fast to be seen, pieces of rubble raining down to the floor before the suddenly alert caravan group.
Subaru's Kenbunshoku was really fleshing itself out during high-tension moments like these rather than his infrequent passive checks, being like instinct on overdrive while switching wildly between muddy flashes and vivid impressions and sharp images. "Who the hell's there?"
"Who? Why, we're just honest bandits robbing around." Many figures advanced out of the surrounding woods, cruel smirks and dirty vagabonds surrounding them with raised weapons. "We're not gonna tell you to keep quiet. No matter how loud our prey screams, we'll still be killing you all and taking the loot afterwards."
At that declaration, jeers and snickers rang out from them.
"Bandits?! I didn't know that this route was compromised!" Otto panicked even further when Subaru stepped forward while cracking his knuckles. "Wait, Natsuki-san! What are you doing?!"
"Taking them down, of course." Subaru easily answered as he approached the closest bandit, water surging to life around him. Taking advantage of his shocked look, Subaru charged forward and landed an ice-coated haymaker into his face.
Spinning to the right, Subaru immediate dodged the dagger that would've stabbed into his shoulder before smashing an uppercut into the offending arm hard enough to break it and caving in the bandit's nose with another punch.
Skipping back, Subaru gave the battlefield a onceover and was pleasantly surprised to see that the guards around him were just about finished with their own opponents. However...
Subaru winced when a bandit fell nearby, choking out blood from his severed throat. Approaching him was the guard he'd been speaking with just seconds ago, his sword dripping with blood. "Many thanks to you, Subaru-san. Without your quick action, we wouldn't have gained such a complete victory against these scumbags."
"Oh, you're welcome." Subaru replied, his eyes still fixed on the now still corpse.
"...is this your first time seeing a man die? You do look rather young." Subaru didn't resist as the guard pulled him away until he was placed next to a trembling Otto atop a wagon's luggage rack. "Just take a rest here, kid. We'll soon be moving away."
As they soon began to move again, Subaru berated himself for his behavior. He couldn't believe that he'd frozen up like that, especially after he'd already taken a life before. It wasn't like the bandits were innocent in the slightest.
So what was it? What had made Natsuki Subaru shake?
"It was the blood, wasn't it?" Otto suddenly spoke up. Noticing Subaru's confused stare, he clarified. "I doubt that you're weak like me or anything, but you're clearly an experienced Water Magic User. You've probably never seen an enemy die up-close without magic disguising... the brutality."
Subaru blinked as Otto's words made sense. When he'd killed Capella, he'd done so in a blatantly magical manner, along with the situation being high-strung enough that he'd basically classified her as a boss-level character and had left her defeat(death) at that.
Defeat.
[Don't feel bad, Subaru.] Spica assured Subaru with a small burst of red light. [He was an enemy who was going to kill you with no regrets. People who do that should always expect to die the same way.]
[Indeed.] Sigma agreed. [Your regrets are wasted upon people like them.]
[If you feel uncomfortable taking lives, then just leave to us.] Arietis pulsed brightly. [Sigma can bury them alive, Spica will leave them all in cinders and ashes and I can blast through them hot enough that they won't even be capable of bleeding.]
[...my gosh, you guys are just as inhuman as Beako, aren't you? Your reactions to me freaking out at blood is to provide ways to kill without making them bleed.] Subaru sighed. [Still, thanks a lot, guys.] "Thank you too, Otto."
Otto blinked in surprise, as if he was rarely thanked for anything before he then beamed. "It's no problem at all, Natsuki-san."
Despite his better mood, sleep didn't come quite as easily that night or the next few nights, albeit for a different reason. After three whole days of travelling with the caravan, they'd apparently picked up a few more people in the group.
The problem? Subaru could often feel their frequent stares at him, with his spirits confirming so. The only reason that he hadn't freaked out yet was that the spirits had also confirmed that nobody had any malicious intent towards him or the caravan.
By the time he finally made it to Mirula, the staring offenders had tripled in number. Was it his clothes? Sure, his tracksuit was weird compared to the medieval era clothing, but it hadn't attracted much reaction in the capital of all places.
So why here?!
Also, Otto and that guard's warning seemed to have been warranted... "This is bullshit!"
Subaru raged as he held up the spirit lagmites he'd finally found. "900 golden coins?! Who the fuck would be carrying that much around?! Do I look like a noble with an entourage to you?! This can't be legal!"
"If you don't want to buy, that doesn't bother me." The scruffy vendor relaxed into his chair with a total air of nonchalance. "I only picked those up on a whim despite business on them being scarce in these parts, so good luck getting them anywhere else in here."
Subaru growled before huffing as he fished out nine sacred gold coins and slammed them down. "You suck!"
"And you've made my afternoon." The vendor chuckled as he took the coins and properly inserted the crystals into a bracelet that Subaru put on. "Come again if you get some more spirits!"
"Hell, no! I'd rather fly straight for the capital!" Subaru shouted back before walking away, watching as his spirits each chose a crystal to enter. "So, how is it?"
[It's cozy!]
[Adequate.]
[It is nice.]
Subaru chuckled in relief as he eyed the darkening sky. "That's great. I want to be a good contractor for you guys just like Emilia-tan is."
Entering the nearby inn, he was greeted by a handful of travelers (some of them he'd even come here with) and locals that were eating and talking with one another, with 3 or 4 waitresses of various ages going around bringing food or whatnot.
A dusty looking man who appeared to be in his fifties gestured for Subaru to approach him. "Welcome to my establishment, dear traveler. Are you looking for a meal, or a room to rent?"
"Just for the night and tomorrow." Subaru answered. "I'll be heading for the Pleiades Watchtower after breakfast."
The man stilled along with a hush overcoming the crowd behind Subaru. Then it started up again.
"Another one?"
"I swear, them young 'ins like to look at danger like it's the prettiest whore they ever saw."
"How long do you think he'll last?"
"Assuming he survives the mabeasts? A day, tops."
"No weapons on him, so I'm guessing magic user. Make it two days for me."
"I can hear you all, y'know!" Subaru shouted, which only caused to make them laugh at him.
"Sir, with food services included, that'll be 40 silver coins." The innkeeper took back Subaru's attention. "Also, can I register your name if you would? If it's not too much. It's just for the ledger, you see."
"Sure. My name is Natsuki F. Subaru." Subaru answered.
"Middle initial? Better shorten my bet to half a day if he's a noble."
"I dunno. A noble out here completely on his own without looking like shit? Must be one of the few capable ones."
The innkeeper paused to memorize the name before writing it down. "Natsuki F. Subaru? You must be from around Kararagi. Well, give me a moment to grab the keys to your room, Natsuki-san."
After a moment of disappearing into the room behind him, the innkeeper returned and gestured for Subaru to follow him, leading him upstairs to a third door to the left. "Here you go, Natsuki-san. The second room to your right has a bath if you wish to use that. As for food, we usually serve it downstairs if that's alright with you? Of course, if you wish for it to be delivered up here-"
"I'm not picky about where I eat." Subaru cut him off. "I do wanna rest here a bit, though."
"Of course, sir." The innkeeper nodded. "Dinner won't be for a while, but I'll send one of my girls to call out when food is ready. Hope you enjoy your stay."
Taking a bath immediately, Subaru sighed after jumping into the bed. He hadn't really been able to sleep that well outdoors as well as he usually did back home, due to frequent mabeast attacks as they approached Mirula, along with the increasing number of stalkers after him.
[Subaru, there is somebody at the door.]
Two seconds after Spica's warning, a knock came upon the door and Subaru opened it to see a girl with long green hair with a ponytail on her right side, orange eyes with blue pupils and a pair of ears too pointy to be human but too short to be elvish. She was dressed in a brown knee length dress with a white apron and black leggings.
'A half-elf?!' Subaru screamed inwardly.
In the Castle of Shadows, both Satella and ENVY tilted their heads at the sight of the halfling before their Subaru.
"Excuse me, sir." The girl greeted. "I'm here to let you know that dinner will be ready soon."
"Thanks, also, may I know the name of such a pretty girl?" Subaru blatantly asked.
"Pr-Pretty?! Me? Oh, um, I am Shion." Blushing heavily, the half-elf waitress bowed a little. "It's a pleasure to meet you as well, PRIDE-sama."
"...eh?" Subaru's mind crashed. 'Wh-What did she just call me?'
"Oh?" The half-elf seemed to panic at the sight of his stillness. "Or is it that you prefer to be addressed by your name? I apolog-"
"Who are you?" Subaru growled out, his spirits responding to his mood and appearing as menacing balls of light above him.
To her credit, Shion looked like she'd expected this much as she showed little fear as she stepped forward into his room and went down on one knee after locking the door behind her. "I am Shion, a member of the assassination guild led by Mama."
"Mama? Wait..." Subaru halted when he remembered the last person he knew had been regarded as Mama, along with being called PRIDE. "You're Capella's underling?!"
"Former underling thanks to you, Subaru-sama." Shion corrected. "Thanks to you slaying Mama, we've been freed from our slavery. Well, technically service, but not a single one of us is foolish enough to see it as anything but the former."
Subaru's jaw dropped as he tried and failed to comprehend what he was hearing. Was this like a yakuza or mob? 'Kill the boss, take his minions!' "Aren't you members of the Witch Cult?"
"What? No!" Shion's face at least showed a brief instance of genuine disgust before it faded away into a stoic expression. "We worked directly for Mama as opposed to the Witch Cult, taking assassination requests and the like. In her words directly, 'This lovely lady's performers are of higher class than those wretches.'. After Mama's death, some of the people she'd... punished suddenly returned to their original forms. So now, we are no longer bound to her."
Subaru dropped back onto his bed and grabbed his head in furious thought as he considered his choices. Then two rather important things occurred to him. "I have two more questions. Firstly, why do you all want me as your leader? How come one of you isn't taking charge yourselves, or ditching it immediately as Capella isn't alive to stop you?"
"To be fair, two thirds of our group have already defected without issue." Shion conceded. "The remaining of us neither remember how to live independently nor wish to live a life without grateful service to you. I was volunteered to meet up with you and... persuade you to accept the offer to become our new master. The Bowel Hunter and the Mabeast Tamer did already tell us, but..."
Shion's cheeks and ears turned red again as she smiled. "As proven by your reaction to me, as well as your closeness to Ruler Candidate Emilia, you do find half-elves attractive compared to everybody else seeing us as horrifying... Admittedly, my case isn't bad as Emilia-sama's..."
"...okay, then. Second question." Subaru crossed his arms. "Why do you all trust me to be a good leader to you all?"
"Because in your battle against Mama, the Mabeast Tamer reported that you'd saved her from being killed." Shion replied. "We do not know who now possesses Mama's Authority, but as PRIDE, you've proven immun-"
"Actually, I do have it." Subaru replied with a confident smile. "I haven't figured out the details of how it works yet, but I did take in Capella's Factor after she died."
Shion's eyes widened. "So you're both PRIDE and LUST, now?"
"Yup!" Subaru grinned. "As for your offer to become your new master, you do realize I will be tearing it down to build you guys up to whatever I need, right?"
"Mama created us for the sole purpose of having a group to kill whoever she wanted without having to expend the effort herself." Shion replied. "As long as we're useful to a lord who cares for us, we do not care about the new vocations you will put us to."
Subaru nodded in relief and glee. Having a personal army would probably be good for Emilia's campaign and other stuff, especially as she was less likely to succeed in gathering those for herself with her current reputation.
Plus, maybe he could send some to help out in Roswaal's mansion because seriously, that place was too big for just the Oni twin maids to maintain(especially as Rem did the most of... everything).
Subaru frowned as something else occurred to him. "Wait, you mentioned that I saved a 'Mabeast Tamer'? Who is that? What's their name?"
"I've never met her for myself, but when she spoke over the metia, she sounded rather young." Shion reported.
Subaru thought furiously. 'A metia? They've got something similar enough to phones that they can transmit voices? That means that the assassin group barely even see each other enough to memorize faces. 'She' and 'young' imply that the Mabeast Tamer is a young girl close to the Bowel Hunter, which thanks to Rein, I know is Elsa. But would be-'
Meili had been out in the mabeast infested forest, supposed alone.
Subaru's breath hitched as the thought took hold and refreshed old memories while planting fresh ideas.
"However, two girls went missing during the chaos. We'd found them wandering the forest before, and I think they actually used to live in it..."
Subaru frowned as he ran a quick deduction. 'Meili wasn't an original resident of Irlam, and was found in the forest with a sister. Assuming that she really is one of Capella's subordinates and has some ability to control mabeasts like her title suggests, that's probably why she survived just fine before Petra and her dad found her. No, even before that, just because one can control mabeasts doesn't mean that they can suddenly survive living in a forest as a little girl... unless she'd recently been dropped in nearby, but for what reason?'
"Gah! Forget it!" Subaru snapped, surprising Shion. "The important thing is Capella's dead and Meili's free! The end! Now, let's go for dinner like you earlier called me for."
"Ah! R-Right." Shion got and led the way, allowing Subaru to follow her.
The next morning, Subaru finished breakfast and prepared to leave for the Watchtower almost immediately after.
"Subaru-sama!" Shion called out to him as she ran towards him in different clothes. Now dressed more like a mercenary with even weapons hanging off her hips, the girl eagerly came to a stop at his side. "I'm sorry for impeding your challenge towards the Watchtower, but please allow me to join you!"
"No." He instantly shot her down.
"Bu-"
"No. Look, I'm not saying no just because." Subaru spoke with seriousness. "I actually spent the night thinking it over, but while I'm at the Watchtower, I'll actually be needing you to do something for me."
Shion stood at attention. "What do you need?"
"I want you to spread the word to your comrades that if I do accept them, I'll be changing everything about how they usually work." Subaru replied. "It's one thing for you of all people to say that "As long as we're useful to a lord who cares for us, we do not care about the new vocations you will put us to.", it's another for the rest of you to agree. So go spread the word. If you're all into having me as a boss when I get back, then we'll see how we go from there."
Shion blinked before her eyes narrowed in resolve. "I understand. I shall spread the word to the others."
"Good." Facing the Sand Dunes, Subaru leapt into the air. And kept ascending as the Leviathan, his massive and serpentine body rising up into the sky, its body coiling over and around itself while seemingly stretching for miles as he smoothly utilized copious amounts of {Moon Step}.
Below, Shion wasn't the only one to gawk up at him as many residents of Mirula stared and shrieked up at his form.
"See you in a while!" Subaru roared out before flying off towards the Watchtower. It was probably a good thing that he was flying, now that a sandstorm of all things had started up.
'Uh! This is annoying! It's not actually strong enough to drag me out of the sky, but I can barely see anything- Wait.' [Sigma, help me with this!]
[I'm sorry, Subaru-sama. While I am an Earth Spirit, I cannot actually affect sand at all, not to mention something of this magnitude.]
[What? I already know you can't alter the weather yet. Just cast a protective spell against this sand over my head. I just need to be able to see.]
[I'm not sure if it'll work, but I'll try.]
[There's no reason why it shouldn't work. Sandbending's a derivative of Earthbending, after all.]
[W-Well, if you believe in me that much... Sand... O-Od Laguna Call, I-Invoke Anti-Psammogenic Aspect of the Geogenic Element, Repel: Al Dona!]
'Woah!' Subaru gasped as a sort of translucent aura covered him and started to repel the sand from touching his body. [That way of spellcasting was pretty computer-ish, but well done, Sigma.]
[Thank you... I feel a little tired, though.]
Subaru let Sigma get his rest, especially as he could now see the Watchtower better as he flew closer. Upon further inspection, Subaru could now see some of the finer details of the Watchtower with his enhanced eyesight.
It was all-white, and had two massive pillars on either side. The tower itself seemed to get smaller as it got higher and higher, but was still able to hold multiple columns and chambers. As for the height, it was enough to breach the cloudy heavens above.
Subaru was so amazed by the architecture, that he almost didn't notice the little yellow dot that suddenly appeared. 'Wait, is that... a star...? Or a...?'
A gleaming, whimsical intent. A fired needle approaching lightspeed-
*PWOOM!*
Subaru's head, protected by immensely durable scales, suddenly got a hole blown through it.
-:|:-
Player has died.
Authority of PRIDE: Return by Death activated.
Synthesis at 41.4%
-:|:-
ℕ𝕒𝕥𝕤𝕦𝕜𝕚 𝕊𝕦𝕓𝕒𝕣𝕦
