The Emerald Dragon - Subaru in the Crusch Camp!

Chapter 7 - Orphe

"Sorry about that, something got stuck in my eye." Subaru brushed off what just happened to them. It was such an obvious lie that it could be considered a joke, but the face that Subaru was making had a different story. He couldn't see himself, but if he could, a face of a beggar would be his description.

"Please don't question it, please don't question it, please don't question it." Subaru thought to himself. Subaru knew she wasn't going to let it go that easily, but he could still have hope.

"Must'a been painful, did you know what got into it?" Felt had an unimpressed look.

"It was a huge fl-" A sudden spike of pain surged through him as Felt punched him in the guts leaving Subaru on the floor.

"Big Sis taught you this a million times. Lying ain't worth it!" As Subaru writhed on the floor, Felt decided to help him back up. "Look, you could've just said you didn't want to talk about it. Trust me, I'm the last person to start getting picky with someone's reasoning." Her tone gave a false sense of not caring but was immediately destroyed by her next few words.

"BUT, if you want to use me as a glorified pillow, then you gotta tell me next time, or else you gonna get an even bigger punch! Deal?" Even when Felt tried to threaten him, it was still clear that she cared for him.

"Thanks, Felt. You can count on it." A small smile appeared on Subaru's face. He would've liked to enjoy this moment a little longer, but a harsh grip was felt on his arm. He looked down to see what caused the pressure, and noticed that his wristband was no longer green, but now a deep shade of Red that glowed.

The muttering of the crowd increased as he noticed his red glow, as even more people fled the area. Subaru glanced around and started to get worried about the reasoning behind the commotion. This didn't happen in the last loop, so why now?

"Why did my wristband turn red? Did we violate any rules?"Subaru asked. He shifted his gaze from his band to Felt. She walked towards him and inspected the change.

"I don't know what it means, but only bad news could come outta this. Let's get outta here for now." It was clear she didn't want to stay and find out what it meant. Her eyes started to shift around the room rapidly, and she started to move more purposefully.

They started to escape the casino. As they walked through the hallway, more and more people became frightened at the red light on Subaru's wristband. Some screamed, some ran, and others walked away as if it was just another occurrence. Whatever their reaction was, Subaru knew this wasn't good.

"I have to get Felt out of here quickly. Bringing Wilhelm here to deal with Orphe would be for the best..." Subaru clenched his fist, as a memory of his past life managed to resurface. "The six tongues control about 60% of the kingdom's knights. How do I know Wilhelm isn't with them? He's loyal to the kingdom, so it's not out of the question." Even if it wasn't intended, Orphe's words managed to seep their way into Subaru's head. He even started to doubt those close to him.

He had to ask, were they really close to him? In these few weeks, did he even begin to understand them? He had no way to answer these questions. The answers are only in the minds of the people themselves.

"Get your head out the gutter, Subaru! They are your friends, you need to think of someone that'd actually be connected to them." Subaru thought to himself. He slightly shook his head and regained the trust he had for his friends. Once you start questioning your allies, then everyone becomes an enemy. That was a lesson Subaru learned many times from his world.

Just as Subaru focused back on the real world, he felt a heavy tug of his arm. The force was strong enough to yank him to the ground. His eyes widen as he became more alert. In an instant, the mental fog cleared within him.