Summary: Subaru experiences way too much love, just as he deserves in canon (no seriously, Tappei, give him some more love).

"That's uncanny, in fact!"

Obviously Beatrice was weirded out by her newfound "twin". It was like looking into a broken mirror.

Others from the Sage's crew had different reactions: some were mildly amused (like Volcanica and most of the Witches); some found Bettybaru rather cute (like Rem and Satella) and looked at him/her with puppy eyes; some of them could barely keep their composure (like Julius, Geuse and Anastasia); while some laughed quite openly (like the Reid and Shaula); finally there was Emilia, who stared at her knight in confusion.

"Subaru?"

"Whaaat is it, girl- I mean, Emilia-tan. Daaamn, those mannerisms, in fact. I can't get them out of my mooouth! Looks like they are preprogrammed, I suppose."

"This is reeealy weird."

"They are innate, if that's what you mean."

Echidna was once again enraptured by the Sage. Yet another rather curious manifestation of Authority. To her, Subaru's potential seemed endless.

"Reeeally? That's very annoyin', in fact. It's like a compulsion, I suppose."

"Now you know about Betty's daily struggles, in fact."

"I thought it would be an interesting quirk. Curious to see that you copied even that."

"Cool, sooo, I'm like a great spirit now, I suppose! That's so aaawesome! Behooold Beakobaru's unlimited powah! Al Shamak!"

The people around the Sage thought that "Great Spirit"was just messing around. They were wrong. In an instant the space in front of him/her shattered, creating pathway to another dimension. It was real full-power Al Shamak, just like the one that was used to banish the Great Rabbit.

"Siiick!"

"Subaru! What's going on? Your gate is working normally, in fact!"

"Beakobaru, call this fooorm Beakobaru!"

"Hm, even properties of Betty's gate were copied. Fascinating…"

"But where from did Subaru found the mana?"

The answer to Julius's question came from Satella.

"Me."

"Yup, Cor Leonis is aaawesome, in fact. Although, delegatin' Tella as a mana battery seems kiiinda derogatory, I suppose. Come to think of it, I was a slaaave driver to you today, Tella-tan."

She smiled as she made sheep's eyes at the little girl. Satella was just happy to be at his/her side.

"I don't mind. I'm happy to help."

"Now Betty is replaced by her own contractor, I suppose. Outrageous. Hmph!"

"Heeey, I'm just experimentin', Beako! I don't plan to stay like that aaall the time, in fact. Just the height difference alone is disorientin', truth be told."

"Natsuki-kun. I don't question yo wisdom, but…"

Anastasia barely held down a laugh.

"… how would turnin' yoself into a little girl help ya transport us to Priestella?"

"Slow down, 'nastasia. I'll explaaain. Let me just figure out some stuff 'bout my superpower, in fact. Tella-tan, can you take my haaand?"

While half-elf understood his next intention immediately, she had other ideas. She not just took the hand of the little Sage. Instead, she scooped Bettybaru up in her arms and:

"You are so cuuute!"

Unfortunately for Subaru, this transformation flipped the wrong switch in the mind of Sage's patron. In truth, she loved him/her regardless of what form Sage would take. And, just like the black-eyed knight, she liked Betty – the little girl was absolutely adorable. For her, this was the best of both worlds – her love took what made the Great Spirit of Yin cute and then added his/her own personal touches.

So, before long, Subaru found himself pressed against her cleavage. It would've been comfortable if not for the lack of air.

"Ah! -elp! I'm be-… *inhale* ...being smuuushed, I suppose!"

This was the last straw for those who trying to prevent themselves from laughing. Anastasia was first one to laugh among the three. Just a couple of hours ago her spirit tried to fish some information about the past of Emilia's knight. Now she looked at him/her being bear-hugged by the living calamity. This whole thing was certainly... an experience. Others soon joined her.

"Hah! I can't! Natsuki-kun! Ahahaha!"

"This is certainly a predicament befitting the Sage… hahahaha… Ahem, my apologies, Anastasia-sama."

"Don't be, Purplehead! Master is hilarious!"

"Let him go! Subaru is my knight! Only I can… I mean, let him go, Satella!"

Emilia did her best trying to wrestle Bettybaru out of her hands, adding even more chaos to the whole situation. Louis tried her best too, but tugging at the Satella's dress and mumbling wasn't exactly doing anything.

"So that's what it is like being Lolimanced, huh?"

In panic Subaru flipped through various solutions to this… predicament. Tella wasn't listening to reason, Emilia-tan was pulling him/her in a rather painful fashion, and everyone else was too busy laughing their asses off to notice. Using magic also did not work – as it turns out it was utterly impossible to concentrate on spell matrix while being pressed against someone's tits. He/she only had two choices: risk by invoking the taboo ("if Envy wakes up this will be even messier") or try to use the authority again like he/she intended to originally.

The form of the Sage began to glow again, briefly interrupting the two half-elves. As the light around him faded yet again, a new face of the Sage was revealed. The result was rather predictable: long pointy ears, silver hair with two black streaks and an outfit that was a weird fusion of both Royal candidate and the one called Witch of Envy – it was mirror of Emilia's, but in black color, with familiar roses scattered across it. He/she even had hair attachments of both girls – eight-edged star on one side and black rose on the other.

Predictably, the laughter stopped, and Subaru finally had a moment to breathe.

"*inhales* Pheeew, that reeealy worked. So how are we gonna call this form, Haaalfelfbaru?"

It was Emilia's turn to be weirded out.

"Woah… I can understand Beako now… This is uncanny. More uncanny than Satella herself..."

"I said don't call Betty like that! Only Subaru can call Betty in that way, in fact!"

"Sorry!"

Meanwhile, Satella just discovered a new thing about herself. Something she wasn't aware of right until now:

"Damn, he/she's hot… Wait, that's supposed to be me… I mean… Could this be considered to be self-love in a way..? Alright, Satella, let's stop that line of thought."

"Okaaay, that works the way I thought it would work. Wonder what will happen if I'll copy Reeein..."

Echidna was quick to stop Subaru's enthusiasm:

"Nothing much, Reinhard is favored by Od Lagna. It's the primary source of his strength. At best, you'd be above average."

"Y-yes, our Authorities are h-highly antagonistic to the w-world anyway."

"Wait, reeeally? So, none of you Witches had any Divine Protections?"

"No… haa…"

"No."

"N-no."

"Nope, Subarun."

"No, dear."

"You don't need them to judge the bad guys."

"Of course not, you baka!"

All seven confirmed it. Sage was rather disappointed.

"Daaamn, that sucks. Oh hey, I can turn into Reid insteeead!"

"I mean, sure. I'm not gonna be creeped out by this like da others. But like, it's not just a pure talent, ya know. Still, that could work if ya need to kick someone's ass and ya have none of us around."

Straight away, Sage and Stick Swinger high-fived, and Halfelfbaru became Reidbaru.

"Damn, I look kiiinda sick."

"No, shit ya're me. Da hottest dude in existence."

More than a few begged to differ.

Reidbaru, however, did not last too long, as after a few minutes of striking fighting poses with his chopsticks he approached Volcanica instead.

"Now… Let's try thiiis form out!"

"Oh, I seeth thy reason, dear friend."

As he touched Volcanica, the form of the Sage began to glow yet again. This time, the glow began to expand and expand and expand even more. Others had to pull back to not be caught in a radius. Soon the glow faded, revealing a new form – Dragonbaru or Subarulcanica (he wasn't sure which one he liked the most) – a giant black dragon.

"Holy shit! That's sooo sick! I'm a fuckin' dragon!"

A deafening roar enveloped Augria, as the Dragonbaru celebrated his coolest trick so far. It wasn't as batshit insane like Return by Death, but it was certainly the flashiest supermove he acquired. Before long, he began doing what everyone else be doing in this situation – flying around on his new wings and using his dragon breath. It took him about ten minutes before the excitement of spewing raw mana all other the place and doing tricks midair, like he's some renowned gymnast, finally faded. To end this demonstration, he dived-bombed back towards the ground, raising tons of sand into the air in the process. Once the sand settled, the Sage was already back in his usual form, still coughing out the consequences of his final trick.

"'lright... *cough*... no more... *cough*… dive-bombin'. Noted."

"You looked really excited there, Natsuki-kun."

"What are you're talkin' abooout? Of course, I was! I mean I was a fuckin' draaagon!"

As he looked at others, he became more and more outraged: most people were confused, some were neutral, some irritated, while others were mildly amused. He couldn't understand, aren't people worshiping Volc? How could no one relate to him?

"The fuck? It's a fuckin' draaagon! That's like the coolest thin' you can be! You're huuuge, strooong, can fly, roooar and breathe fiiire! That's cool, people!"

Not even Shaula understood the hype behind this.

"What the heeell! Is it another cultural difference again!? Urgh!"

His complaints were ignored, as Echidna took the reins of the conversation:

"Well, this certainly solves our issue. I assume, we can retire for the night now. Tomorrow after the breakfast we can fly to Priestella."

"Sorry, Dna Dna. There is no more breeeakfast."

"Ah, I see, Daphne. You finished our supplies already."

Needless to say, Echidna was once again mildly irritated.

"We didn't bring much. We didn't think we gonna have all of you here. Subaru-kun will have to fly on an empty stomach."

Back then, Rem thought about grabbing some extra food before departing the party, but was convinced by Emilia to travel light.

"I mean, there were still witchbeasts around the place…"

"Nope, bimbo. Don't even think 'bout it. They taste like shit."

"I mean, I was feeding on them for four centuries…"

"Yeah, and it ruined yo taste buds, Shaula."

Subaru quickly forgot his previous outrage when he heard their intentions to retire for the night. In truth, his recent air acrobatics almost drained him of the remaining energy.

"Okaaay then, time to sleep."

Suddenly, a heavy wave of fatigue hit Emilia, Beatrice, Anastasia, Julius, Shaula and Echidna simultaneously. Everyone else felt mildly wearier too.

"I feel reeealy sleepy..."

"Damn, me too...what's happenin'..?"

"I have disabled Cor Leonis."

"Hold on, you were taking all the burden again, you baka!?"

"Yup."

"Wait, Subaru-kun, you were taking our fatigue? But you felt very normal… very aware."

"It's alcohol, no doubt, maid. The whiskey seems to give Betty's Subaru more energy, I suppose."

"Subaru, that's reeealy irresponsible!"

"Emilia, don't be mad at him. Flugel-sama knows best. Besides, nothing you do will change his generosity. He's way too kind."

"But he always gets hurt, Geuse! It makes me really worried."

"Don't wooorry, Emilia-tan, I'm fiiine. I mean, I have great experience in all-nighters, bein' neet and all. Although, I guess I'm losin' my touch."

A long yawn that followed, was the conformation of Subaru's words.

"'liright, nap time, people. Heeey, little guy, can you make me like a plant chair or somethin'?"

This was addressed to the spirit he found in the green room, that was still following the Sage.

Thus, the crew finally went back to the Pleiades Watchtower.

A little while later...

Emilia was uneasy. Usually she had zero issues falling asleep and resting soundly until the late morning (in fact, some people in the manor were telling her she was always oversleeping), but today it felt different. She felt tired, but couldn't actually sleep. Maybe it has to do with the sheer amount of things that occurred during the past week. Journey to Priestella ended in disaster; then she was captured by Sin Archbishop; then she was rescued by Subaru and Reinhard; then there was a close fight they had against Regulus; then aftermath, reconstruction and all associated worries with that; then there was the party and all the things that happened there: swords, Satella, Volcanica, Reid and Shaula; then another journey this time to the Pleiades Tower; then its exploration and fight with Capella; finally it took some time to find all the Books of the Dead that Subaru used. It was a lot of events, in short.

The crew was split in three groups: first had women, and there were a lot of them, second had men and the last group included just Subaru and Beatrice. Divine Dragon separated from all three, sleeping alone atop of Maya. Women (which included Emilia herself, Rem, Anastasia and her spirit, Shaula, Louis and Witches) settled in one of the larger rooms of Alcyone, using whatever they happen to find as a bedding. Men (which included Geuse, Reid and Julius) were asleep in the dining room, they were relegated to sleeping on the chairs. Subaru and his favorite spirit had the premium accommodation – a little green spirit, that was following him around, managed to create a chair-like vines inside the Green Room, they were used as a support.

Coincidentally, Green Room was where Emilia walked to right now. She could not explain why she was going there. Maybe Subaru's presence just had a calming effect on her. Ever since the day he cried his eyes out on her lap, Emilia began commonly seeking him out when things were getting stressful for her. That is to say, she did so at times when Subaru did not seek her out himself instead.

"Oh."

"Quiet, Subaru is still asleep. It is the calmest he had ever been, in fact."

Aside from Beatrice, who was scolding her, there was another person beside the Sage – her terrifying counterpart. That was the reason for the surprise of the Royal Candidate. Satella was currently quietly caressing him like a mother would her little child (that he no longer was).

Lowering her voice to not wake up her knight, Emilia asked:

"What's going on?"

"Ever since the last nightmare an hour ago she arrived here and kept him sleeping soundly. Betty... can not deny the effectiveness of this. Even if it makes her envious, I suppose."

"Subaru… was having nightmares?"

"Sigh, of course you wouldn't know, I suppose. Given how you barely pay attention to Subaru's hardships."

Subaru never talked to her about this. But given what he had already said to her during the party, it wasn't too surprising. Emilia promised herself to look into this. Seems like she was already late. Suddenly, Emilia really wanted to be in Satella's place right now, helping her knight with his burdens. But at the same time, she hesitated to approach the three.

"Oh, Emilia-sama?"

"Rem? You are here too?"

The one addressed arrived in the room just after the half-elf.

"My apologies, Rem couldn't sleep. When you left, she decided to follow. Oh my, Subaru-kun is so cute! Rem have missed this."

The maid had a habit of arriving to his room early in the morning to watch him sleep for a bit. She developed it after the Wolgarm incident and witnessing him rest on Emilia-sama's legs. Before Emilia could object, Rem went behind the vine chair and began gently patting his head.

"Sigh, it can't be helped, I suppose. Spirit, could you provide bedding for the maid and the half-elf?"

Following the little girl's orders, the green spirit extended the vine chair to fit another person and created another one behind the first for the oni maid.

"Me?"

"Stop pretending you don't want to join, Emilia. It's not convincing. The spirit can give your place to rest beside your knight, I suppose. I'm sure Betty's Subaru will enjoy it."

With some hesitation, the half-elf Royal Candidate joined in. As she did, she grabbed Subaru's hand.

"Mmm, it's very warm…"

It was very comforting. Her knight's presence made Emilia feel incredibly relaxed. She made a pacing glance at his face. Rem was right: up close, Subaru's resting face was very cute. She wanted to get closer to him, but unfortunately Beatrice was in the way, so she had to compromise.

Ten minutes later, Shaula joined in – apparently, she had missed her Master. And so, the five people surrounding the Sage fell asleep as well.

Thus, the first day of the Sage's grand adventure finally truly ended (although all these events lasted until the early morning).