"What are you doing here so late?"
Subaru was so surprised to see Kadomon that it slipped his mind to ask how the guy found out where he was staying. The shop owner seemed to have a serious expression on his face. The longer Subaru looked at him, the more aware Subaru became of the ridiculousness of the situation.
"Oi, kid! I have a few questions I need to ask you. Please let me in and. . ."
"Hey, wait a second! Listen, I'm glad to know that you consider us friends and all, but you should know that this isn't my house, I can't just. . ."
Subaru didn't have a clue why Kadomon was being so persistent. This scenario was odd enough at face value. The only interaction he'd had with Kadomon in the successful loop was when he'd gifted Kadomon all those Holy Coins.
'Speaking of which, I still owe Reinhard big-time!'
"I don't think there's time to goof around kid! I'm not such an idiot that I wouldn't recognize the owners of this house! This probably seems weird, but I need to speak with you right now."
Kadomon simply walked into the Astrea Manor before Subaru could say anything to stop him. It looked like whatever he had to tell them was urgent.
"Hey Big Bro! What is going on? Is Halibel back already?"
Felt called out from their meeting room. It appeared she was still too tired to get up and check what was going on at the front door. Subaru wasn't sure whether he wanted to tell Felt or not.
"Uhh, no, but I'll call you over if it's something important!"
Subaru turned back to Kadomon and took a deep breath. No matter how he looked at it, showing up at someone's home in the middle of the night wasn't something that a normal person would do, especially after just one interaction. This guy's relationship with the 'previous' Subaru must've been more than he initially accounted for. He was beginning to sense that they might be in danger. Subaru began to mentally prepare himself for bad news.
"Kid. . . At first, I just thought that the news of your survival hadn't spread yet."
Subaru gulped. This wasn't good. Did this guy realize what was going on? Initially, Subaru thought the guy would be harmless. He seemed to buy his act in all the other loops. What changed?!
"What do you mean by that?"
Maybe there was still a chance he could talk his way out of this. . .
"I wanna know why you're hiding kid!"
Nope.
'I messed up. I can't believe I made such a big mistake! I never even told anyone about him because I thought it wouldn't be enough to reveal me. What should I do? Come clean? Tell him to leave? Bribe him? Wake up Reinhard? Arghh! Damn it! Can't I get a break? It's only been two weeks!'
"Wait here. I need to go wake up someone."
At the same time of Kadomon's arrival, a dark shroud descended onto the city of Lugunica. Dozens of Black Winged Rats spread out and began to canvas every section of the city. While normally, this would be the cause of mass panic and riots, tonight the people on the streets remained blissfully unaware. The Mabeasts flew high above the ground and only landed in secluded parts of the city, preventing people from noticing the horns on each of their heads. Slum dwellers and street wanderers had become situated with rats and bats getting into their homes. To them, this was just another wave of vermin.
The few who could detect what was happening didn't bring themselves to interfere. It was clear that the Mabeasts weren't acting with the intent to hunt. They seemed to be scavenging the city and searching for something.
Luckily for them, the Mabeasts only had one target: people and locations with strong scents of miasma. It wasn't long until they detected something.
The beasts began homing in on their first target of miasma. As per Meili's secret instructions, they were to kill anyone and anything that smelled like a Witch.
The Rats quickly found themselves inside of a large tower. It was insulated from the rest of the city and only accessible through small gaps in the bricks and bars.
This was the place where the kingdom kept its most dangerous criminals. Assassins, monsters, usurpers, and. . .witch cultists.
It was an unfortunate day to be on guard duty. They had no way to see these invaders until they'd already gotten inside the tower.
Before they knew it, the place was becoming infested with Mabeasts! The guards began preparing for attack, but they noticed that the Rats focused in on three adjacent cells. The cells that imprisoned two Sin Archbishops and. . .formerly held Natsuki Subaru.
The guard staff had been paid to keep quiet about what happened to Subaru after the Battle of Priestella. Even if they couldn't say it out loud, nobody could bear to look at that area of the prison once they realized the truth. Once they learned the wails of pain and despair that they heard every day belonged to an innocent man, it had scarred every person in the prison. Everyone except the two bastards locked up next to him.
As the Black Winged Rats entered into the cells, loud screeching began echoing throughout the thin halls in the tower. The sound of chains rattling had been present ever since the rats entered the building. Now it sounded like the chains were smashing into something soft, like flesh. The grotesque mushy sounds stopped at the same time as the screeches. Whatever entered in there, had died.
The guards haphazardly disposed the rest of the Mabeasts and nervously checked on the condition of the two Archbishops. There was always the chance that these crafty monsters had found a way to escape. It simply wouldn't be safe to leave them unattended.
Someone mustered up their courage and slid the shutter on one of the prison doors.
"Roll call! If you're in there, answer me now!"
The call was answered by a deafening silence.
"A-Answer me!"
"How wonderful! How very wonder-ful! My love has not gone unanswered after all! Don't you realize it? My beloved Petelgeuse has returned! My utmost diligence, my yearning, being rewarded! That's love, is it not? So then, such diligence shall soon free me to rejoin my love, wouldn't you agree?"
The guards exhaled a sigh of relief. She was still in her bindings. For the time being, they had nothing to worry about. The other Archbishop was sealed in some type of yin magic seal, so this meant that they could rest easy.
"I pray this crazy bitch never escapes that cell."
Everyone nodded in agreement, ignoring the incessant ramblings coming from the cell behind them.
Reinhard and Felt sat wide-eyed at Subaru and Kadomon. It never occurred to Reinhard that someone might have recognized Subaru on his first day back in Lugunica. There were only a few people who knew about Subaru's 'revival', and one of them had hired an assassin to try and kill him! As far as he was concerned, the leak had to be from this guy. Other than an unlikely betrayal by servants of the Kingdom or Felt Camp, Kadomon was the only possible explanation. But that didn't explain what was happening now.
"Kid, I didn't know that you were hiding. Several of your former associates began questioning me to trying and track you down. I only realized later what was actually going on."
If this man had been leaking information this whole time, then it might be impossible to narrow down a list of people for the assassination attempt. But even worse. . .
"When did this conversation happen?"
Reinhard was quick to pick up on the uncomfortable feelings coming from Kadomon. His divine protections indicated that the man was steeped in fear from something, but he wasn't sure what.
"Earlier today. There were only two times that I ever spoke about Subaru. Both of them were to the same group of people."
Reinhard's eyes widened. If this conversation happened today, that meant that whoever was trying to track down Subaru was probably searching right now. Additionally, it meant that there was a chance for the assassin's employer to learn what happened in the attempt. Another assassin could end be sent after Subaru. It could also mean jeopardizing Halibel's safety too.
"By any chance, did you get their names? If you know where they might be, I'll send Reinhard after them. It may seem extreme, but. . ."
Subaru wanted to know if he could potentially launch a preemptive strike on the people hunting him. In this situation, it was fair to assume that they had something to do with the assassination attempt and the convenient timing of Reinhard's absence. Whenever the next moment of weakness presented itself, Subaru could end up in another hellish loop. He was already beginning to have trouble keeping up his upbeat personality around everyone. If he had to suffer that fate again, he wasn't sure if there would be anything left of the old him.
"Well, uhh, to be honest kid. I doubt these folks wanna hurt you or anything. I mean, they're your friends aren't they?"
Subaru was hit by a wave of confusion. He quickly realized that Kadomon had never been told about his 'memory loss', so he was speaking to him about people that Subaru knew before he'd died. It was a bit weird, but Subaru didn't want to drop that bombshell while this guy was still giving them information.
Reinhard and Felt seemed pensive and slightly ashamed. It looked like those two already had a suspicion about who Kadomon was referencing. Reinhard's demeanor changed from one of alertness to a cold, calm overseer. He would still fulfill his obligations to Subaru and the Sage Council, but he would need to harden his heart to do it. Felt was snapped out of her sleepy stupor and put into an empty stare. She didn't like hiding Subaru from her Big Sis, but she knew that this was something Subaru wanted.
"Well that certainly narrows down the list! I've got a lot of friends, don't I? Can you be a little more specific?"
Subaru was the only one out of the loop. Why was everyone dropping their guard? Hadn't he been murdered by these 'friends' once before? He still didn't know the specifics of that situation, but after going through death himself, he wasn't eager to find out.
"It was that girl Emilia and her camp along with the candidate Crusch. I wanted to respect your privacy, so I came here to warn you before it was too late. But I can't stop wondering. . .tell me kid, why are you hiding from them?"
Subaru reacted to the name Emilia. He'd heard it many times by this point. Apparently he was her knight and protector. And, very openly, he had been in love with her too. Man, that sounded like the setup to a real Isekai fantasy! What had gone so wrong in his past life? It seemed quite fishy to him that Emilia's camp organized a meeting at the same time of the assassination attempt. His former achievements had allowed Subaru to live a somewhat leisurely life, but now, it was beginning to bite him in the ass.
Reinhard realized Crusch had probably been brought along due to her divine protection. He cursed the fact that they were all made enemies due to one slight mistake. (Revealing Subaru was alive, not his betrayal. That mistake wasn't slight at all!)
"I apologize, but none of us are able to answer that right now."
Reinhard quickly spoke before Subaru answered. It was better if he took charge for now as he was the person with authority in this situation.
"Sir Kadomon, how did you figure out where Subaru was staying?"
Kadomon looked up and pulled out a bag with the Astrea crest proudly displayed on it.
"The kid gave me this a couple weeks back. I didn't remember it until a couple hours ago."
Reinhard and Felt were concerned at this revelation. If the Emilia camp had learned Subaru's location, there's no doubt they'd be on their way right now. The situation really was urgent.
"Did you tell them about that?"
Felt was shaken up. She really cared for her Big Sis, but she wouldn't be able to hand Subaru over to her right now. Felt didn't want to destroy the great relationship they had fostered together though.
"No, I didn't know at the time and even if I did, I would've consulted you first. But that isn't the issue. . ."
Everyone braced themselves for even more bad news.
"I believe they might have some way to track ya kid. I'm not sure how, but they seemed pretty confident that they could find you after they left my stand. I understand this is my fault, so I at least wanted to warn you before they show up out of nowhere. I'm sure you aren't hiding without a good reason."
Reinhard began thinking of ways to track Subaru. He eventually remembered how Subaru had initially been accused of being a member of the witch cult. Subaru had a strong coat of witch miasma coming off of him at all times. If they were trying to track down Subaru, this is how they'd do it.
"Thank you for telling us. Should they come back, it'll be impossible to deny that you've had this conversation with us. Can I ask you to avoid Emilia and Crusch until they leave the Capital?"
Reinhard gave an unreasonable request. It saddened him that he'd caused such a considerate person all this trouble, but there was no way around it. There were simply too many mysteries around Subaru and they couldn't allow his survival to become public information.
"That was my plan. I doubt that I'd keep my composure if they were to interrogate me again."
Kadomon looked away awkwardly.
"I'll give you anything you need. I really apologize that I am inconveniencing you like this."
Kadomon looked surprised.
"Hey, wait a minute! You've given me enough already! Because of you and the kid, I have a thriving business, a new home, and strong connections. I accidentally sell you out and the first thing you do is apologize to me? Goddamnit! You are just like that kid next to you, hopeless!"
Reinhard widened his eyes at this comment. Subaru had apparently done a lot for this man and was plagued by similar feelings of guilt. Did Kadomon really see through him that easily?
"Sir, I insist. Subaru is the one who-. ."
"Hey! Reinhard, please don't give me credit for all of that!"
'Seriously, it was your money! Seeing you like this is going to crush me with guilt!'
Subaru had once again derailed the conversation. It appeared that he had forgotten the urgency of the message that the appa salesman was trying to relay.
"Big Bro, as much as I like watching you and Rein bumble around like embarrassed children, have you forgotten the reason this guy came here in the first place?!"
Felt put an end to the endless cycle fueled by humility. Those two were both amazing people as far as she was concerned. But this wasn't the time to boost each other's morale. There was likely a search party on its way to the manor right now!
"Oh, right! Reinhard, what should I do?"
Reinhard paused in thought for a moment. No matter where Subaru went, they would still be able to track him. The priority was figuring out how the search was being conducted. If they were lucky, Subaru could avoid detection and the pursuers would give up.
"We are rather short on options, but there is somewhere I can send you to hide out for the time being."
Subaru became dejected. He was honestly hoping that Reinhard had some miraculous divine protection to get him out of this situation. It was looking like he'd have to face his past sooner rather than later.
"Fine, I guess that works."
Felt was the most depressed at this news. Subaru had made the Manor a lot more fun since he'd arrived. The dynamics had shifted and life had returned to all the current residents.
"So where are you going to send me?"
"A place in the slums. You'll be staying with someone closely affiliated with our camp, so there is no reason to worry about intelligence leaks."
Subaru looked surprised. He thought Reinhard had already told him about everyone involved in Felt's camp. Were there more people than those who lived in the Astrea Manor?
"Wait a minute! How many people are in Felt's camp that you haven't told me about?!"
Reinhard kept a sheepish smile on his face.
"Well. . .there usually are six more people living here."
Typical. Leaving out crucial information until the end. When all this was over with, Subaru was going to have a long discussion with him.
"Reinhard. . . . .when I get back I'm teasing you to the max!"
As Subaru left the Manor, he was accompanied by Kadomon and Felt. Whoever they were meeting, Felt was very familiar with.
"Big Bro, I know this might not be the best time to say this, but I'm honestly glad that you are going to meet with Old Man Rom."
Subaru was still upset. He was going from a life of leisure to one in the slums. How could he not be saddened?
"I'm glad you can find a silver-lining, but I'm still sad to be leaving the Manor."
Felt could empathize with Subaru here. She had been yanked out of her home without a warning when Reinhard first picked her up. It wasn't something she was able to accept very easily. With the added context of losing his memories and assassination attempts, losing his one source of safety would be a devastating blow.
"Hey Big Bro, it's not like you won't be coming back! I'll bring you back home the moment they are gone, ok?"
Subaru looked slightly cheered up by Felt's upbeat sentiment, but he still couldn't shake the feeling something bad was going to happen.
"You're right. I can't be spending all my time moping after all!"
Kadomon looked over to the two of them with a smile on his face.
"I'm glad to see you're feeling better kid. Seriously, I really am sorry for-. ."
"There's no way you could've known. I deliberately hid the truth from you too. This was unavoidable. Don't worry about it, ok?"
"Oh-kay?"
Subaru had gotten so used to speaking in his old language that some of the terminology began to spill over.
"That's just one of Big Bro's 'Subarisms'. You'll get used to them pretty quickly."
Subaru nodded at Felt's comment.
"Huh? Wait a minute, didn't you just say 'ok' too? Why is it weird when I say it!?"
Kadomon laughed for a moment.
"Kid, you've always been weird!"
Felt started nodding with Kadomon, making Subaru shake his fist in the air.
"Where I come from, all of you would be the weird ones!"
"Sorry Big Bro, I'm pretty sure that is the excuse employed by most weird people."
Subaru's arms dropped and he couldn't think of a crafty reply to Felt's objectively true assessment.
"Fine then! I'll accept that judgement. But doesn't that mean I've converted you into a weirdo?"
Felt couldn't deny Subaru's scary admission. The longer she was around Subaru, the more of his odd mannerisms she'd pick up. She'd boxed herself into a corner. It looks like Subaru would get to leave the Manor with a total victory against her.
"Gah! You. . ."
"He's right, kiddo."
Kadomon couldn't help but pile on to Subaru's joking taunt.
"Who are you calling 'kiddo'!?"
Subaru and Kadomon broke out into a hearty laugh as they made their way in the direction of the slums. Each of them unaware of the approaching swarm of Mabeasts homing in on their location.
"They'll be here soon."
Reinhard spoke aloud. He was nervous. Subaru's latent miasma would certainly be detected by Emilia's camp. Once they arrived, depending on their questions, it would be unavoidable to give away information about Subaru.
Reinhard didn't have time to find someone to interrogate in his stead. All of the maids and Felt would be ill-suited to this task. As it stood, the only person with a chance of fooling them was Reinhard. He also had the Divine Protection of Wind Reading, so he knew what would and would not activate its effects. He had been practicing his answers in front of a mirror for the last two hours. Ever since Subaru left.
He needed answers for where Felt was, the miasma emanating from the manor, and most importantly, if he had seen Subaru. Each of these questions were tricky, but he could play around with the answers as long as he was partially telling the truth. The only thing he worried about was a direct question itself.
'Have you seen Subaru?'
'Do you know where Subaru is?'
'Have you heard any news about Subaru?'
He would need to find a way to prevent these questions from being asked. Or at least have a believable reason not to answer. The best he had right now was grief. Perhaps if he showed how uncomfortable the topic made him, they would hesitate to press him on the specifics. Maybe he could start them down a non-sequitur by revealing that there was an attack on the Manor. The problem was, all of these methods would fail under scrutiny. Reinhard didn't have a way to defend against Crusch's Divine Protection. It was the first time he'd felt truly helpless.
"Master Reinhard?"
Lilia interrupted his deep thought process.
"Ah, Lilia-san. I apologize for being so inattentive. Do you need something?"
She stared at him for a moment before she felt a frown come across her face.
"Sir, it's late and I haven't seen Subaru or Master Felt anywhere. Is everything alright?"
Reinhard turned around and donned a believable smile. The last thing he wanted was to drag his staff into the mess. After all, his mistakes had already destroyed his relationships with the other candidates and their knights.
"No need to worry. Everything is fine."
Lilia could tell Reinhard was feeling uneasy, but she couldn't find the right words to try and reassure him.
"I see."
A long silence overtook them until the sound of another maid scuffling caught their attention.
"Master Reinhard! We have several visitors. It is quite late at night, should I turn them away?"
Reinhard dismissed the thought in his head.
'They are persistent. Obstructing them in any way will only make us more suspicious. I apologize in advance, Emilia-sama. It looks like I'm going to have to behave in an unsightly manner.'
"Please, let them in. Tell them I'll be out to see them in a moment."
'This is a gamble. I can't let Subaru be found out. His life, Halibel's, and the members of Felt's camp could all be in the balance. I can't mess up. A promise to a friend is something sacred after all.'
"W-Wait! This can't be! The source of miasma. . ."
Everyone froze. Nobody could believe what was in front of them. How could this be possible?
"Oi! Th' hell are you tryna' pull?!"
Garfiel angrily turned towards Meili. She must have some ulterior motive. Was she going to go back on their deal?
Wilhelm stood still in shock. Out of everyone, he was the most surprised at where they'd ended up. Why here of all places? Could the young girl be mistaken?
"It's coming from the Astea Manor?!"
Author's Note
Hooh boy! Not much went down this chapter, but look forward to a change of scenery! Once again, any comments or criticisms are requested. I have been slow in updating this fic because I just started another one a couple days ago. I'm sure you all understand why this one was a bit shorter than normal.
I really like the premise and I've spent the last few days hammering out the overall story so that I can consistently release chapters for that fic as well. A couple things: For that new fic, since it takes place during arc 5, a lot of the next few chapters are going to be similar to the source material except for a little bit of added mystery and fluff. As it stands, Im honestly afraid people may end up dropping it because it follows the canon so closely, but I digress. (Later in the arc, stuff will change substantially) I have this idea for a scene that I just want to see happen so bad, but I'm not sure how to realistically pull it off. If anyone is curious about that, comment and I'll dm u the scene I'm thinking of and you can give me your thoughts on it.
I hope everyone seemed in character in this chapter and I am really excited for the next bit of action coming up! It's going to be crazy, that's for sure!