Chapter summary:

Subaru is back to drinking.

Shaula scores a 20-killstreak.

Reid get's a call from his buddy.

Volcanica commits vehicular manslaughter.

"Sage? Given the time it took place in, do you mean Sage Flugel?"

"Julius-san, you should not rule out Shaula."

"Why?"

"Natsuki-san has a unique skill when it comes to crossdressing."

"Nah, it's probably Flugel. He's good, like really good, but I can't see the Captain go that far. Besides, it would've been Sage Natsumi or s'mthing in that case."

Subaru did not know what to think.

"Flugel, huh…"

"Tella, do you know how and why I made the tree so huge?"

"You asked me and Echidna to accelerate its growth. You never explained why."

"Ah, I see..."

Now two permeating theories were circling in his mind:

First, was that it was merely coincidence and Fate-sama was pulling yet another prank on him.

The Second one was far more drastic – past him predicted what future him would do. Or worse yet, that all the trouble he experienced in this world was all a set-up. Now he did not know how: Precognition? Big overarching time loop he tinkered with? Or did he reshape this reality from ground up?

It felt very overwhelming. So, for the sake of his sanity, he settled on the first theory, for now.

"Urgh, Sage… What the dumb title… It's like polar opposite of who I actually am… Someone get me a drink."

"Murak. Shadow brand arts."

Two shadowy appendages sprouted from Satella's back and quickly passed a bottle and a glass to her beloved. People around her were rather perturbed by such a casual display of power, but, predictably, no one voiced any complaints.

"Oh, hey, shadow arms. Nice to see they can be used for convenience. Hm, I never tried to use Providence for something simple like that. Wonder if there would be any feedback…"

He took a shot, and then another for the good measure.

Emilia wanted to complain about Satella stealing her spell name, but after thinking about it, she realized it was probably Subaru who came up with it as well.

"Em, Satella-sama, can you explain how he received that title?"

Reinhard received no answer. He thought to let it go, but Subaru repeated his question.

"Yeah, Tella, you probably know, right?"

Now the only thing Flugel was known for was the tree, which did not make sense, given the title.

"Is it same thing as with Tella? Historic revisionism? Or is it by design?"

"Well, you did not like it back then either, but that was due to the knowledge you brought here. After all, the reason Farsale and Alec made it in life was thanks to the inventions you came up with. You let Alec claim most of their legal ownership."

"Alec, as in Alec Hoshin?"

"Farsale Lugunica?"

This was asked simultaneously by Garfiel and Julius respectably.

"Wait you mean that all the Hoshin inventions were brought by Subaru… I mean by Flugel?"

If Anastasia was in control of her body, she would probably jump on Subaru (maybe even literally), demanding to share some things with her. Like maybe explaining intricate nature of Hoshin's secret script or maybe contents of some untranslated texts or… Echidna was a lot more tame in that regard. Only Subaru and certain redheaded princess figured out that something was wrong with her. Neither commented about it.

"I mean, Subaru did bring some of his town's festivals. Oh, and the mayonnaise, so this does check out."

"Urgh, another bloody misconception, huh? Speaking off, why was mayo not popularized? No way past me forgot about this."

"You spent months with Daphne perfecting the recipe. Sadly, it, alongside any mention of it, were lost to time… Shame, I really liked it."

"Given it's Daphne we're talking about, it probably was perfect. Damn it, something that Rem and I did in our spare time is probably child's play comparing to it."

"So, that dish, that grew popular in Costuul recently, is coming from Subaru?"

Previously, when he and Al were talking about food preferences, Echidna wandered what exactly the world "mayo" meant. Turns out it's a short for mayonnaise – a dish rather popular in the Matter's Domain.

"Sorry, Anastasia, but it's patented. You gonna need to pay royalties from distribution. Can still make it for personal use tho."

Subaru did, in fact, go through the paperwork of registering it behind his name before the mayo's sudden spike in popularity. One of his brightest ideas really, since royalties brought him almost us much as his knight's stipend by now (although he can always just ask Roswaal to pay him more, if he needs more money).

"So I think that is it..."

"One more question. How exactly does she help you?"

"VETO!"

"Subaru?"

"I SAID VETO, EMILIA!"

Emilia was taken aback by his sudden forcefulness. Subaru, in the meantime, was in panic. He expected that would be the end of it, since he told pretty much everything he could. And, of course, when he thought he'll avoid it he was hit by it. Worst of all, it was done by her of all people.

"So, anything involving our… partnership is off-limit. Jealous Witch is indeed jealous, I don't really want Satella to make a switch to her nastier alter-ego. One thing I think I can say, is that it's very important, and that's we made it thus far because of it."

At the same time the black-eyed knight took one more shot and tightly wrapped his arm around Satella's shoulders in hopes that his closeness would calm down both himself and the Witch. People around him were still silently questioning him about what he just said, but seeing that they can't pry an answer from him, let it go.

Thankfully, something else interrupted uneasy silence:

"Argh!"

"Crusch-sama! What's wrong, nyah?"

"Felix, I remember!"

"Remember?"

"I remember everything! Fourier, you, the Whale, everything!"

At the same time in the other part of the room:

"Julius!"

"We remember you and Joshua!"

People of Anastasia Camp were also experiencing sudden revelation.

"Subaru! I remember Rem. Prior to you telling me about her that is."

"I do as well, in fact."

"So am I, Captain."

"Rem is back!"

There were tears in Subaru's eyes, happy tears. Part of him still did not believe what he was hearing. His greatest failure was no more, one of the most important people in his life was back at her rightful place beside him. He wanted to leave the party right now, to run on foot all the way back to the Manor, to hug her really tight, to ask her if she remembers everything he said to her during the past year, and if not, repeat it all again. At this moment he felt "fanatical like an Oni" again. The only question remained:

"So why did Gluttonies' victims came back?"

Eventually his excitement faded, and he felt something completely different – a familiar sensation, the same that he experienced after death of Sloth and Greed. New Witch Factor entered his body, but it felt fragile, incomplete.

"Given sudden memory return, I assume someone killed Gluttonies sometime ago. Two out of three, one's still alive."

"Does this mean you have claimed their Witch Factor as well?"

"Yes, Rein. But it's still incomplete. That probably means Roy and Lye are dead, given those that returned. Hm, I wonder who killed them?"

"Given that the Sword was drawn by you, probably your friends."

"Friends? What friends, Tella?"

"You shall see. They should come in soon enough."

Satella playfully winked at her beloved. She missed all of them too, truth be told, almost as much as him.

"Almost."

And then, as on cue:

Bang! A part of the wall of the building broke apart, revealing a majestic face of the giant azure dragon:

"I, am Volcanica. In accordance with the ancient covenant, the will of thee who hath reached the top shall be questioned."

Sometime prior in Pleadies Watchtower.

The Great Divine Dragon Volcanica was, as always, pensive. Some that might look at him and think that he was merely asleep or gone senile, but that was not in fact the case. It was just that the most of his mind was not really present here, as the majority of his self was withdrawn in deep contemplation. Occasionally he would become awake and share with smaller races his wisdom, leaving the prophecies to people of Lugunica via the Dragon Tablet. Well, it was not actually his wisdom. Like for many whose names were remembered in history, Volcanica's knowledge came from a rather humble source – his late friend Flugel. He was rather interesting, remarkable human in Dragon's opinion. A monumental person, the one who reshaped the world by his actions, yet the one who chose to erase himself from people's memories, to vanish in annals of history. Part of him could not blame him, after all, he's journey ended in such a tragedy. His obligation to him chained Volcanica to this place, that obligation, as well as his own desire to keep watch on the one sealed in here. The Holy Dragon cared a lot for said person, as much as for his dearest friend.

"Is Mezoreia alright? She did say she wanted to pass her duties to her morrow child, back at which hour we last met. I suppose we won't ha s't our talks anymore..."

The Desert was quiet as usual. Every day Shaula kept watch here on the balcony of the Watchtower, waiting for a sign of her Master. Not many people made it past sandstorms and those that did usually ended up either being eaten by witchbeasts or Hell-Sniped by yours truly. To pass time she practiced: normal shots, blind shots, super-long-ranged shots, curved shots, barrage shots, 180-shots, 360-shots, 720-shots and even 1080-shots. Usually, she just picked one of the roaming witchbeasts as a target dummy. Regardless how hard she tried, she could not accurately nail a 1440 yet – her head would always begin to spin, ruining her accuracy. Her Master told her it was all about style, thus making as many spins as possible was a sign of superior aim – something that black-haired scorpio truly prided herself on. She wanted to try to nail a shot mid free-fall too, but the Tower's enormous height prevented that – after all she could not fly. She could land one mid-jump tho.

"First blood!"

"Double kill!"

"Multi kill!"

"Mega kill!"

"ULTRA KILL!"

"M-M-M-MONSTER KILL!"

"LUDICROUS KILL!"

"HOLY SHIT-IT!"

As usual, she made a voice-over for each landed shot. After 27th she was satisfied with her performance.

Over all, it was a rather typical day for her, as typical as every other day 400 years prior. But then something atypical happened.

Reid was weirded out. He manifested back at the tower, which meant someone started the second trial, but no one was here. At first, he thought it was someone invisible, but after sniffing the room, walking around and throwing his sticks in the random directions, he figured the room was indeed empty. His second thought was that trial simply malfunctioned – Flugel was a one crafty bastard, but no magic can work properly forever. That, however, was likely wrong too: the room was still covered in white, and he was summoned properly, with all bits intact, so he'd figured everything was working. Then it came to him.

"That bloody bastard! He's alive!"

He felt it through his blade, well not actually his blade, as he was, as his title suggested, a Stick Swinger. Rather it was the blade that he, Flugel and Echidna made as a prank for his unlucky descendants. A fragment of his soul recognized his old drinking buddy, and through it, he knew that he was alive and kicking. Reid realized he needs to regather the crew: he thought about bringing Tella first, but that chick would be first to know he's here anyway, she was always all over him. Farsale and Hoshin were six feet under, so were the other Witches (he was dead too, but that was besides the point). That left only Volc and that scorpio chick, Shaula. He hesitated leaving for a bit, as he thought it would be a dick move to move out on a whim, but then he said "Fuck it" and rushed to the top of the Tower, or to Maia, as Flugel liked to call that floor.

Few minutes latter:

"Thou, who hath reached the top of the tower. Step forth onto the first floor, almighty petitioner."

"Ayo, Volc, ya're there? Ah, for fuck's sake!"

Whack! A strike to the Dragon's reverse scale seem to brought him to the lucid state.

"Dear Reid. What is thy seeks?"

"Flugel, that bastard made it back!"

"Friend Flugel?! He's alive?"

"Alive, and kickin'! Drunk as shit as usual, no doubt. The stupid sword told me so."

"Ah, the Dragon Sword? We might not but maketh haste then. Where is our friend?"

"Somewhere in good ol' Priestella, looks like."

"Priestella? Ah, yond brings back pleasant memories…"

The Dragon once again withdrew into his mind in contemplation.

"'ey, Volc, it's no time to nap. Me and Shaula gonna need a ride."

"Ah, aye, we all must meet our old friend again. But what about Satella?"

"She's sealed, forgot? I mean if he's there, she would be first anyway. Not like that shit will stop her from swoonin' for her man."

"'Tis indeed true, those two art connected by chains of fate... Has't thee called Shaula yet?"

"No, gimme a minute. By da way, do ya know where that bastard put all the booze?"

"Shaula shouldst know. Doth thou want to take a bottle with us? A memory for a time long past?"

"Yeah, but not just bottle, whole crate, ya know how Flugel likes his booze. Gotta take some with us. Stay here Volc, gotta go."

Now aside from grabbing a crate of mead (for himself) he also wanted to grab a couple of whiskey bottles for his old buddy. Now Reid did not actually like whiskey, it was too strong in his opinion. He did not know how Flugel could even drink it. The Stick Swinger rather preferred something simple, like mead, beer or wine. The things that his buddy used to drink hit so hard, that even Volc could be floored by them. Given the drinks were stashed for four centuries he'd probably gonna enjoy them a lot. So he sprinted down to Alcyone in hopes that Flugel's busty apprentice was in there somewhere.

It took him sometime as she was, apparently, at the balcony.

"Ayo, scorpio chick! Are ya there?"

Eventually he found her shacking, huddled in a fetal position.

"Shaula, dammit, wake da fuck up! Flugel's back!"

"Wha-… Master?"

That seemed to snap her out of it.

"Where? No one breached the dunes today."

"Not here, dumbass. He's chillin' at Priestella. Pack your things, Volc gonna hitch us a ride. Oh, and where is his alcohol stash?"

"Ehm, Master explicitly forbid anyone to touch his drinks." "Even me…"

"Ah, just ignore his orders, this is an exceptional case anyway. Besides, Flugel would probably like ya having a rebel phase. And if he drinks enough..."

"… he would not be so prickly about my affection!"

In about 15 minutes flat they descended to Asterope that apparently also had a hidden booze cellar (it made sense, you should keep your drinks cold). To the Reid's dismay, it was all whiskey. After finding the crate with a gold mark on it (that meant the best quality drink, in his buddy's opinion), Reid effortlessly grabbed it and went back to Maia alongside the clearly exited Shaula.

Above the sands of Augria Sand Dunes, the two sin archbishops of Gluttony, Roy Alphard and Lye Batenkaitos were riding on a Vollachian flying dragon trying to find a way to cross the dunes. Frustrated with the lack of progress, Lye closed the gospel, that he was reading.

"Have you hit a dead end again, tsu?"

"We wish the Gospel could have been a bit more specific about a way to get there, tsu!"

"We wonder if we will find a big enough feast there."

"Tsk! You should stop eating everything you find no matter how nasty it is, brother. You know why we need to get there, tsu."

"Yes, we know you are excited to meet our sister. So are we, tsu."

Suddenly:

"What's that, tsu?"

Lye turns to look at what his brother is talking about and notices it too. He never saw anything like it, not even in memories he ate, but he got a feeling he would find out soon enough as it appeared to be getting closer.

"Huh, it almost looks like…"

Before he could finish, Lye widened his eyes in terror as he realized it was a huge blue dragon that was flying towards them at ludicrous speed. Unfortunately for them, before either could say anything or react in any way, he, his brother and the dragon they were riding were nothing more than a splatter of blood on Volcanica's scales.

"What was that?"

"Probably noth'ng."

"Thou ranneth over some homeless looking kids, flying a lesser dragon."

"Oh no! Fuck! Not again! We have to hide da bodies!"

"There is not much left to conceal, dear friend. They art but a fine mist."

"Well, looks like we won't need to dig shallow graves this time. Hopefully, Master won't be mad."

"In earnest, this has't hath happened if thou alloweth me to fly myself, Reid. I am m're than capable of soaring, considering, thee know… that I am the Divine Dragon!"

"Oi, I'm not some chick ya need to give a ride to! Besides, I need to make sure ya won't fall asleep and fly us beyond da Great Waterfall again."

"Sigh, myself is perfectly awaketh. Oi, friends, we art almost there."