Chapter 53: Subaru Natsuki, Public Enemy #1
It's been a few days since Subaru's excursion to Lugunica with what he dubbed "the Boys." Now, all the Royal Candidates have been found, and the Royal Selection is about to begin.
As the group heading for the Capital stepped out to the front garden of the mansion, Emilia looked at her nasty-eyed companion. "Subaru… did you have a part in this?"
Subaru gave an unconvincing expression. "Perhaps."
"But you'll never know!" Patches laughed.
Emilia simply sighed. "I'll take that as a "yes"..."
In all honesty, it was the most obvious thing in the world. The Royal Selection couldn't begin until all five of the Candidates were found. Of course Subaru would speed things up.
Yesterday, Anastasia Hoshin's knight, Julius Juukulius, had visited the Roswaal Mansion to inform the mage that the Royal Selection was about to begin, and to come to the Capital with his Candidate posthaste.
Now, they were about to head out. Only the most important people for the meeting were going. That being Emilia, Subaru, Roswaal, Rem, and Ram. Everyone else was staying behind at the mansion with Frederica in charge.
Ram had her arms crossed as she was making sure the blonde brawler didn't try anything. "And Garf, remember… no parties."
"Alright…"
"Don't worry, we can play cards," Otto said, patting his friend's back.
Emilia was currently looking over the purple-and-white clothes she had to wear now while looking conflicted. "I don't know how to feel about these fancy clothes…"
"Is it because the Mathers Domain logo is plastered all over it, or because it makes you look like Satella Diet?" the nasty-eyed man asked, still wearing his four-centuries-old tracksuit.
Emilia deadpanned at that. "Do you have to say it like that?"
"Okay, how about Satella Light?"
Emilia was unamused, and decided to try and tease Subaru back. "... Well, if you keep saying stuff like that, you may only make her... jealous."
"Don't worry, of all the flavors in the world, Satella's still the sweetest to me."
Emilia's face remained flat. "Uh-huh. Let's go."
"Smooth, Natsuki," Roswaal chuckled. "Smooth."
"Alright, let's get going!" the black-haired man said, unleashing a mass of shadows that engulfed the party. Normally, it would be a couple-day trip, but with Al Shamak…
In the Capital of Lugnica, Kadomon Risch was calmly sitting over his appa stall, when suddenly, a mass of shadows appeared in front of his business stall.
While the green-haired merchant was having a minor heart attack, the representatives of the Emilia Camp calmly exited from the shadows and prepared to make their way to the castle.
"Have I ever said how convenient that spell is?" Emilia smiled.
"WHAT THE HELL?!"
Subaru turned around, and put two and two together, as he realized they were all now in the middle of the market street. "Oh, sorry for the inconvenience. I prefer a quick route."
"GET OUT OF HERE!" Kadomon shouted.
Subaru gave a thumbs up. "Doing that now."
Everyone quickly power-walked their way through the city, as Emilia admired the views, and eventually, theft made it towards the Royal Castle, and specifically, the knights garrison.
Emilia was confused at the path they were going. "Why are we taking this way?"
"I prefer to keep a low profile," Subaru said, as Roswaal smiled.
"Subaru has made quite a few... "enemies" of the high class in recent years."
Emilia raised an eyebrow at what the mage said. "Enemies?"
"People who hate my guts and would like to introduce them to the outside world."
Emilia started to look suspicious. "What did you do?"
"Remember how I said I was in the Demi-Human War?" the Japanese man said.
"Yes…?"
Subaru chuckled, "Weeeeell... let's just say I wasn't fighting for Lugunica."
Emilia felt like her eyes were about to pop out of her skull. "You what?"
"What?" Subaru shrugged. "They were being assholes."
"That's an interesting way of putting it."
The members of the Emilia Camp all froze. That wasn't a member of their group.
"...Ah, crap," Subaru whispered, as he saw a young man with purple hair and a white uniform had arrived at the garrison with them. A Royal Knight, just perfect.
"Busted." That was all Roswaal could say.
Thankfully, it seemed that the knight hadn't heard the entire conversation, as he seemed fairly composed. "Ah, Roswaal-sama. And you must be Emilia-sama. A pleasure to meet you once again. You may not remember me, but I am Julius Juukulius, the knight who…"
"...who informed us of this meeting, yes, we remember you," Ram flatly said.
"Oh, uhm... a pleasure to meet you as well, again…" Emilia said, smiling awkwardly.
The knight, Julius, then turned to the other three. "I'm assuming these are your servants? The lovely maids and… a butler?"
"Rem and Ram are maids under my employment and guardianship, and Subaru will be acting as a knight for Emilia-sama," the Court Mage answered.
"A knight?" Julius raised his eyebrow. "Is he registered?"
"I'm just a stand-in for now," Subaru said. Sure, he had technically been registered as a Mathers Domain knight for centuries now, but it wasn't that big of a deal for him. "Got a problem with it?"
Julius merely narrowed his eyes at that. "As long as you know your place, no."
Subaru just smirked. "Oh, trust me. I'm well aware of my place."
Julius nodded, as he walked away, while Subaru flipped him off from behind.
"Don't antagonize him, Subaru!" Emilia scolded him. "He seems like a nice guy."
Subaru snorted. "He seems like he has a stick up his ass."
Roswaal laughed at that, before he became serious. "He's known as the Knight of Knights. In terms of overall combat skill and talent, he's second only to Reinhard."
Subaru was somewhat impressed. "Yeah… I could take him."
"I don't doubt that, but he certainly would give you a good fight."
The five of them entered the castle, as Emilia and the maids admired the architecture, while Subaru and Roswaal simply remembered the happier times they had within these walls, with… Farsale, and his descendants. Aaaand, Subaru was depressed again. Great.
Don't worry, Farsale… I'll make sure your bloodline lives on. Subaru vowed to his long deceased friend.
They made their way to the Throne Room, which, in all honesty, hadn't changed much in four hundred years, in Subaru's opinion. The only change there was now was the fact that the throne itself was empty, and there were two long desks next to it, with five chairs each.
The room itself was also packed with knights and nobles, along with the Royal Candidates and their Camp members. He'd talk with them right now, but as he looked around the room…
Ah, there he is.
Subaru spotted an old friend… or rather, another surrogate family member.
"Yo, Rein." Subaru spoke up and caught the attention of the Sword Saint, waving at him..
"Hm?" The redhead turned around, and immediately smiled. "Oh! Grandfather!"
Subaru cringed a bit at that. Being called "grandfather" reminded him of how much of an old fossil he actually was. "Rein, I've told you not to call me that. At least call me "Uncle"."
Ram nodded. "Get with the program, red boy."
Rem nodded as well. "Indeed. Uncle hates being called a grandfather."
Emilia sweated. "Um, Subaru? Is he like… your son?"
Subaru nearly had a coughing fit at that. "Oh, Od no. He's more like my nephew. This is Reinhard van Astrea. He's Reid's descendant and the current Sword Saint."
As Emilia nodded in understanding, Reinhard quickly grabbed Subaru and lifted him into a bear hug, squeezing him. "Well, you've certainly gotten bigger…" he gasped out.
How the hell was one person so strong…? Oh right, he had a thousand Divine Protections. I'm starting to think Reinhard was also blessed by the Divines along with the Od Laguna… Gwyn's posies sure as hell wouldn't have done that…
"SUBARU NATSUKI!"
Subaru cringed as he heard that old, bitter voice. "And the surprises just keep on coming…"
Reinhard put Subaru down, as an old man in a butler outfit walked towards the black-haired man, slapping him, causing everyone to turn their heads in that direction.
CRACK!
That was the sound everyone heard. All eyes were on the two old enemies, as Emilia had no idea what was going on. Was she even supposed to step in?
Subaru cracked his neck as he faced the old man again, and spoke with a certain amount of venom. "Well, long time no see, Willy."
"Do not call me that," the Sword Demon, Wilhelm van Astrea, hissed. "What are you even doing here? You have a lot of nerve showing your face within these halls."
Subaru glared back at the old man. "And you've got a lot of nerve to be within ten feet of your grandson…"
Reinhard raised his hands, trying to de-escalate the situation. "Subaru, it's fine…"
"No, it's not," the Japanese man said, still glaring at Wilhelm.
"Wilhelm? Who are you with?"
A green-haired woman in a military outfit walked up to them with a cat boy in a knight uniform behind her. The viridian woman looked at Subaru, and immediately recognized him.
Crusch's eyes narrowed as her tone went cold. "Well, well. Subaru Natsuki…"
Subaru didn't hold the same venom it did with Wilhelm, but his tone still wasn't that warm. "Hello, Crusch. Been seeing a lot of familiar faces lately."
"Crusch-sama?" the catboy spoke up. "You know this guy?"
"Unfortunately," the Karsten woman answered honestly. "Come, Wilhelm, Felix."
That was all Crusch said before she and her Camp walked away, with the old man still glaring back at them. Emilia, meanwhile, asked her knight, "Subaru, how do you know her…?"
"It's a long story." Subaru could only look at the green haired woman in pity.
"Oho! Do mine eyes deceive me?"
Shit, I know this voice. "Oh, no, not again..."
The next person who showed up was an orange-haired woman followed by an helmeted man, who immediately grabbed Subaru and smothered him in her chest.
Subaru immediately escaped his "prison". Unfortunately, the damage was already done, as everyone's jaw was on the floor. "Seriously?! Why do you keep doing that?!"
"I don't know," Priscilla Barielle, the Sun Princess, Bloody Bride, and Candidate of the Royal Selection, answered smiling. "Why did you bother saving the life of a little jungle girl?"
Subaru could only sigh and facepalm at that. "I told you already, I'm married."
"And I told you, I don't care," Priscilla said.
If she were here, you definitely would. That was all Subaru could think on the matter, not wanting to imagine what Satella, or Od forbid, Envy, would do.
"Oh, great," Emilia said, the life gone from her voice. "Another one."
"Oh, and who might this be?" Priscilla asked. "A mistress, perhaps?"
"Why does everyone assume she's my replacement goldfish?" Subaru groaned, before shouting, "No! Priscilla, this is Emilia, the Candidate I'm sponsoring."
Priscilla's grin grew even more at that, "Is that so? Quite interesting…"
"Hey there, Bro." the helmeted knight said, waving at Subaru.
Subaru breathed a sigh of relief as he saw his fellow otherworlder. "Hey, Al. How's it going?"
"Can't really complain."
"You mean in front of…" Subaru subtly nodded in Priscilla's direction.
"I still get regularly decapitated," Al said. Emilia and the others, meanwhile, noticed a familiar-looking Dark Sign on Al's chest, realizing he was also an Undead.
"Yeah, that adds up."
"Huh? Is that Natsuki-kun?!" Subaru turned around and actually smiled as a purple-haired woman (accompanied by Julius) ran in to hug him, a gesture he gladly returned.
"Oh. Hey, Ana. Good to see you." Subaru said, glad to see another friendly/familial face.
"Hey!" the Hoshin girl said, smiling. "How've you been?!"
"Still not Hollow, so that's good. How's Ricardo and the triplets?"
"Better, thanks to ya." While Anastasia was talking to Subaru, Julius couldn't help but be surprised at this development. His lady knew Emilia's stand-in Knight?
"Glad to hear that," Subnaru said, bumping fists with his faux daughter.
"Quite popular, aren't you?" Emilia chuckled.
"Kinda comes with the territory of being me."
The knights around the area suddenly quieted down, as the Council of Elders walked in, heading towards their seats. Subaru recognized two of them, given that he had met them (and antagonized them) for about half a century now, but the others… They were just extras.
Miklotov is the real power in this country, Subaru thought to himself. He was the most reasonable one, after all.
While everyone sat down, the present Royal Candidates stood in the center of the room. Subaru got in line between Roswaal and the Royal Knights, front and center. Unfortunately, being essentially right behind the Royal Candidates meant he was in the line of sight of… Bordeaux.
"Hm?" The bald old man looked beyond the four women, and locked eyes with the Chosen Undead, his face going from looking annoyed, to downright furious. "You…!"
Subaru realized he had been seen, and just gave a wave and shit-eating grin. "'Sup."
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?!" Bordeaux shouted.
"Helping to sponsor one of the candidates."
"YOU CAN'T BE SERIOUS!"
"Why not?" Subaru asked, shrugging.
"Bordeaux, calm down!" Miklotov begged his colleague, looking back and forth between the two. "I know that he's… well… a menace, but we have to remain dignified! Please, remain calm!"
The old council member gritted his teeth in anger, but relented.
"Hey, Miklotov," Subaru said, waving at the bearded man. "Good to see you, too."
As much as he would love to rub it in Bordeaux's face that while he grew old and rotted away, Subaru would remain young forever, doing that in front of Miklotov would be a tad bit too mean. So, he'd settle for having his presence be enough to annoy the old Mad Dog, for now.
Miklotov sighed, as the council began the meeting.
Author's Note: Over a year ago, Infinite and I began working on this crossover story (not having published it yet) he came up with, and my only condition to agree to it was to have Subaru do the "Hey, you're finally awake," meme. Here's to another year's worth of weekly chapters! (Happy almost 1 Year Anniversary for Elder Souls!)
It's pretty much an open secret that half of the country hates Subaru, and the only reason no one has tried arresting him for being an enemy of the state is because, one, he's execution-proof, two, with the Demi-Human War no longer being a thing, he isn't an active threat, just… a nuisance, and three, he can just escape from any jail cell, either via magic or bribery. (At least he's strong enough to get away with it.) Now, for the last comments of the year! (HERE COMES 2025, BABY!)
5queso: Subaru was fully-aware of where someone that Volcanica would look upon favorably was hiding, so he basically went and threw them into the Royal Selection. (Yeah, but it was necessary if the Royal Selection was gonna kick off.)
Kifhjoofff: You're correct! This version of Wilhelm hates Subaru with a passion! The only people he hates more are Stride and the White Whale, the latter which will be talked about more in the next chapter. (Yep. Everything will be revealed next week!)
Gwynx: Yeah, that was pretty much a speedrun of Arc 1. And since Rem and Meili aren't threats, the Royal Selection meeting is underway and Petelguese has been dealt with, Arc 2 and half of Arc 3 are done, too. (Still need to deal with the White Whale…)
StraightForwardIdiot (Guest): I… I don't know what to say to this… Infinite? (I got nothing.) I have some ideas, but… I'm too afraid to have them confirmed…
Anyways, back to the regular old shilling…
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Thanks for reading, and once again, see you next time! HAPPY NEW YEAR!
- Ernalore & Infinite the Celestian