Subaru and Rem are now at Crusch's residence. Subaru is laying in his bed, waiting for Felix to come to heal his gate. He was holding (Y/N)'s note, making a mental checklist of what he needs to be doing.
Okay, so let's see... when Reinhard comes, I need to try and get him to stay... and I need to figure out when Rem feels something from Ram, which means the Witch Cult is attacking Roswaal's domain. Huh, I guess I'll have to die once that's figured out.
He scratched his head. I guess that I'll also figure out the timing that the White Whale comes. I'll just use my second loop to go out a few days before the Witch Cult attacks and go to the Flugel Tree, where it's supposed to show up.
I also need to find proof that Crusch is getting ready to fight the whale. Once I do that, I need to get her to help me, and then somehow get Anastasia to help me. And then once we kill the whale, the village needs to be evacuated, but not to the Sanctuary...
I have no idea what that means, but I'll probably figure it out soon enough. I also need to make a plan to kill this Betelgeuse guy.
Subaru sighed. "I have so much that I need to do! Why couldn't (Y/N) just stay and help with this?"
While Subaru was pitying himself, Rem and Felix came into his room.
"Are you ready for nyour treatment, Subaru-kyun?" purred Felix. He noticed the letter, and took interest in it. "Ooh, what does that say?"
Subaru folded it up. "Don't worry about i-"
The letter was snatched away from him by the cat boy. "What? What is this gibberish?" Felix asked.
Subaru sighed again. (Y/N) had written the letter in Japanese so that nobody but Subaru would be able to read it.
"It's a letter from (Y/N). It has some personal stuff in it, so he wrote it in our natural language." Subaru told Felix.
Rem took the letter away from him. "Felix-san, it is rude to snatch things from others." She handed the letter back to Subaru. "Here."
Subaru nodded his head. "Thanks."
Rem nodded her head in return. Subaru proceeded to fold the letter up and put it on the desk beside his bed.
"Nyow, are you ready for your treatment?" asked Felix.
"I guess," responded a dull Subaru.
Felix grinned. "Rem-chyan, can you get on the bed besides Subaru-kyun?"
"O-ok," stuttered Rem. She shuffled onto the bed, a light blush forming on her cheeks.
Once Rem was beside Subaru, Felix also came on the bed. He put his hands on Subaru's shoulders and activated his magic.
"NYAAAAAN!"
Time Skip
Subaru's treatment was over for the day, but he shuddered when he thought about it. Felix went just a little overboard, making the treatment almost as traumatic as the reason for his injury.
Almost.
Now, Subaru is walking around the capital, hoping to gain some information about Crusch's activities.
"Hey Rem, I'm going to check out what that crowd's looking at, so stay here." Rem nodded, and Subaru walked into the throng of people.
After a few minutes of weaving through the crowd, he found that the focus of attention turned out to be a bulletin board with descriptions of the five candidates.
"Huh. A half-elf? Who would vote for her?"
Subaru turns to his right and sees a familiar face. It was the appa guy.
"Wait a second... if you're here, who's attending your shop?" Subaru asked him.
He just pointed to his stand, where Rem was helping some customers. "Really?" is all Subaru says.
Ignoring him, the appa guy continued. "Emilia, huh? Well, that witch doesn't have a chance."
"Hey! Don't you say that! Do you think that, just because the Jealous Witch was a half elf, that all half-elfs are bad?!" Subaru ranted, drawing attention to him.
"Woah there, calm down! I was just stating facts."
Subaru got even angrier. "But what if she actually cares about this kingdom and its people? Are you saying that, just because of her race, she doesn't have a chance at becoming the ruler?"
"Exactly," appa guy replied. "That's how it works around here." He moved closer to Subaru. "By the way, people are afraid of the Witch. I would try not to say her name in public."
He then exited the mass, and Subaru was left fuming.
After he escaped the throng of people, Subaru reunited with Rem, not showing her his anger. "Hey Rem, all of this has got me hungry. Do you know anywhere good to eat?"
Rem nodded her head. "Of course. I took (Y/N) there last night, and he seemed to enjoy it, so you should find it pleasurable."
After a few minutes of walking, they arrived at their destination.
When Subaru saw the sign, he burst out into laughter. "No way! It's the Krusty Krab! I never thought that I'd actually go to it!"
Rem tugged on his shirt. "I am aware of you history about this establishment and your relationship with its owner. (Y/N) told me. Unfortunately, that man died. I am very sorry for your loss."
Subaru looked confused, but played along. "Oh, did he? Well thanks, I guess."
They proceeded to enter, and Subaru was shocked to see a certain someone sitting in the middle of the restaurant.
It was Anastasia Hoshin, and there was an adorable fluff ball and a huge wolf-looking guy sitting at her table.
Noticing them, Anastasia invited both Subaru and Rem to sit with her. Ricardo, the wolf-dude, raised his hand as a greeting, and then moved tables so that they could sit with Anastasia.
"My my, what are you doing here, mister 'I love Emilia'?" teased Anastasia.
"Hey!" Subaru pouted, still upset about the events that transpired the day before. "Well, I'm not really doing anything. I just decided to walk around town and see if I can get some information."
Anastasia leaned in closer, catching a glare from Rem. "Information?" She grinned. "What kind of information are ya looking for?"
Subaru wondered if it was okay to be sharing this information with Anastasia, but he just shrugged. If he was supposed to get Anastasia's help, then he might as well share this with her. "I'm aware that Crusch is gathering supplies for something, but I'm not sure what exactly the supplies are."
Anastasia looked amused. "Reall-"
"Can Mimi get some more food?" Looking down, they saw the adorable Mimi jumping up and down at Anastasia's side.
"Of course. Get whatever ya want." Mimi looked like she could almost burst with happiness, and went to the counter to order some more food.
"Now, let me continue," said Anastasia. "Would ya like to know what exactly she's gathering?"
Subaru almost responded, but Rem stopped him. Cupping her mouth to his ear, Rem whispered, "Do you think that it is wise to be exchanging information with one of the royal candidates? Will this not upset Crusch-san?"
Subaru waved her off. "No, it'll be fine. Trust me." When he said that, Rem leaned back in her chair, actually trusting Subaru.
"So, tell me now. What is Crusch gathering?"
Anastasia shook her head. "Let me tell ya something. Ya won't make anyone happy if ya put your own goals first. Of course, I'll tell ya what Crusch is gathering, but in turn, you'll have to tell me why she's doing it."
"Well, at least you're being transparent about this..." mumbled Subaru. "Well, I guess that I'll start. Crusch is planning on fighting the White Whale."
"Is that so..." Anastasia seemed to be thinking about something, but she didn't voice those thoughts. "Well, since ya told me that, I'll give you what you wanted to know. She's buying a lot of dragon-drawn carriages and a lot of iron and weapons."
"That makes sense." Subaru commented. Remembering what (Y/N) wrote in the letter, Subaru asked, "Anastasia, would you mind coming to the Crusch residence in... three days?" He had no idea how long it would be until they fought the White Whale, but this seemed like a good guess based on the few days' break in between him arriving at the Crusch household and the first battle.
"I will have a great proposal for you-"
"No. I'm not interested in getting married. I've gotten enough proposals already in the past day." Anastasia teasingly said.
"No! That's- wait, what?! You're getting tons of proposals? Like, marriage proposals?" Subaru's mouth hung open.
"Subaru-kun. I would assume that her being a candidate for the next ruler would attract many offers for marriage," injected Rem.
"Ohhhh, that makes sense." Subaru nodded his head. "Where was I... oh yeah. Please come to the Crusch household in three days." He really hoped that this guess was accurate. "I will have a great deal for you then, if you will help us fight the White Whale."
Anastasia thought about it. "Hmmm... I suppose that, if you're deal is good enough, I might help. You better not disappoint!" She stood up and clapped her hands.
All of the customers stood up. As it turns out, every single one of them were Anastasia's followers. They flooded out of the restaurant, but a few stayed behind.
"Hey, I just wanted to let ya know that your buddy seems to be doing great at our place." Ricardo said to Subaru and Rem.
"That's great! Tell him I said hi." Subaru wanted to feel happy for (Y/N), but he had a lingering thought. It would be a lot easier if he was here, actually doing some work to help out.
"I will," responded Ricardo.
"Me too!" said Mimi, as she bounced around.
With this, all of the Hoshin camp left the Krusty Krab, the employees wondering what just happened.
Time Skip
It is now the third day that Subaru has been at Crusch's residence. The day before yielded no more useful information, so Subaru began training with Wilhelm.
Well, it would be more accurate so say that he was being destroyed by Wilhelm. Every time that Subaru would charge, thoughts of his argument with Emilia would fill his head, filling him with rage. And every time, he would fail to land a strike on Wilhelm and just end up on the ground again after a single strike from the Sword Demon.
'I did all of it for you!' *Thunk*
'Things only turned out fine because of me!' *Thud*
'No! You don't understand!' *Splat*
His thoughts and his 'training' was interrupted by somebody arriving at the gates.
Subaru didn't notice him, but Rem did. "Subaru-kun. I believe that somebody is here to see you." She offered him a hand, but Subaru declined. He got up on his own, and saw Reinhard at the gate, waiting.
"You should go. I shall stay here, unless he specifically asks for me," says Wilhelm, something heavy in his voice.
Not taking notice of Wilhelm's change because of his built-up frustration, Subaru stomped his way over to Reinhard.
He opened the gate, and asked, "Why are you here Reinhard?"
The knight in question bowed, and said, "Forgive me."
This threw Subaru off guard. He waved his hands around, and replied, "What do you have to apologize for?"
"I didn't stop that meaningless duel from happening. I failed both you and Julius as a friend." Reinhard remained in his bowing position not giving up on his apology.
"What do you mean, that duel was meaningless?" questioned Subaru. He was pretty sure that the duel was supposed to 'help' him, so wasn't it supposed to have a purpose?
Reinhard stood up straight. "That's right. What good came out of the two of you fighting? You were hurt, and Julius just tarnished his career. Why don't you try having a calm, open discussion with him? I'm sure that this will clear up the misunderstanding."
Subaru sure didn't want to have that conversation since Julius humiliated him and beat him to a pulp in front of everybody, and had caused Emilia to get even angrier at him. With this said, he remembered what (Y/N) said. Julius wanted to help him, and he would need Julius's strength soon, so he might have to consider talking with him. That, and this might add an opportunity to swap idea with (Y/N).
"I'll let you know that I really don't want to talk with Julius-" He put his hand up because Reinhard was about to interject. "But I guess that I will. No good will come out of the two of us being at odds with each other, so I guess that we should try to make up."
Reinhard grinned at this, and Rem gave a pleasantly surprised smile. "In that case, would you like for me to give you a ride to his residence? He's actually on house arrest, so-"
"House arrest?!" exclaimed Subaru.
Reinhard nodded his head. "After the duel, the knights declared him to be on house arrest until further notice."
This made Subaru finally realize that Julius actually suffered from that fight too. "Oh." He looked at Rem. "Do you want to come with me?"
Rem quickly nodded her head. "Of course. You didn't even need to ask."
"Hey Wilhelm, we're going to be gone for a little while!" Subaru yelled.
The Sword Demon bowed, acknowledging Subaru's statement.
Reinhard gestures to his carriage, and even opens the door for the pair. Without even looking at Wilhelm, who is still standing in the yard, he closed the door, and then took the reins of the ground dragon.
Time Skip
After about 45 minutes, they arrived at the Hoshin residence.
Subaru, just like (Y/N), was amazed at the design of the impressive building, but his gaze was soon directed to something else.
It was the huge pool. It was probably filled via magic, so the water didn't need a natural source to fill it up. It was packed full with people, and Subaru wished that he could join them.
"Lucky (Y/N). It looks like he's been having fun these past few days." Subaru mumbled under his breath. He's had fun while Subaru's been agonizing over trying to create a plan to defeat the White Whale and then formulating a plan for the Witch Cultists.
Because of his broken abilities, Reinhard heard this. "Don't worry, Subaru. Knowing Julius, (Y/N)'s probably had a tough time here. Don't go envying him yet."
The carriage came to a halt, and Rem let herself and Subaru out. Somebody had noticed their arrival, and was coming from the pool to greet them.
Coincidently, this person was Julius himself, although he was wearing unconventional clothing. The only garment that he had on was a pair of white swimming trunks. "Reinhard!" He looked at Subaru with confusion. "Hello Subaru," he nodded to Rem. "And what may your name be?"
Rem curtsied. "My name is Rem. I am a servant of Roswaal L. Mathers, and here to accompany Subaru-kun."
Julius could tell just from Rem just said that Rem liked Subaru, but he said nothing about it. Instead, he asked, "And what brought you here, Subaru?"
Subaru shuffled his feet around before answering. "Actually, Reinhard came to me and told me that I should make up with you. And now I'm here..."
Julius made an 'oh' with his mouth, now understanding the situation. "Well, as you can see, many of us in the Hoshin camp are participating in water recreation. Would you like to join us? I can think of very few things to improve one's mood than having fun in -"
Subaru was nodding his head furiously, and Julius stopped his explanation, as there was no need for it.
"What about you Reinhard, Rem-san?" He turned to the other two people.
Reinhard put his hand up to decline. "I would very much like to accept your offer, but I believe that it would be wrong for me to indulge in this fun without Felt-sama."
Julius accepted Reinhard's declination, and waited for Rem's response.
To be honest, she wanted to be able to swim with Subaru, and maybe show him some of her skin... But that wouldn't do. As a maid, she had to act professional, and that meant that she shouldn't be swimming at another candidate's residence that she showed up to uninvited.
"I am sorry, but I must also decline. I will simply observe, and I will offer my assistance to those who may need it." Her professionalism was the priority here, but just barely.
Julius shrugged. "If that is what you want, then I will not stop you. Now," he addressed Subaru. "I believe that you need swimming gear. Please accompany me as I inform Anastasia of your arrival."
Subaru looked at Rem and Reinhard. The latter gestured for him to go with Julius, so he went.
Time Skip
After a short amount of time, Subaru now had swimming trunks that were identical to Julius's, and he was now in the pool.
"What are you doing here Subaru?" asked a surprised (Y/N).
"I'm just- What are you wearing?!" (Y/N) was decked out in a set of chain mail armor, and was struggling to stay afloat.
"I'm wearing this armor while I swim to improve my strength and endurance." (Y/N) brought his legs up to show that his whole body was clad in the armor. "Now, what are you doing here? I thought that you were making preparations for that."
Subaru sneered. "Yeah, and thanks for leaving me alone. It's going to be rough figuring all that stuff out. I haven't had to redo it yet, but I know that I'll probably end up doing it a few times. And to answer your question, I'm actually here to make up with Julius."
(Y/N) stopped where he was, his face now serious. "Subaru, once you finish up with Julius, lets talk. I'll see if I can be of any use to yo-" All of a sudden, he dipped underwater.
Bubbles came from where he sank. Subaru started to worry when (Y/N) resurfaced about six feet away. "Don't worry, somebody was just messing with me and decided to pull me down. I've gotten used to it." (Y/N) said.
Subaru felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned around in the water, and Julius was there. "Now, I believe that I should begin this conversation." The bottom of the pool was way below their feet, so the bobbing that their bodies were doing made this a little awkward. "I still feel like my actions were needed, but I do regret the pain and indignity that you suffered due to me."
Subaru's eye twitched. Julius made it sound like he didn't suffer too much, but that was downright wrong. He had a heated argument with Emilia, resulting in her turning away from him. He still wasn't over the duel, but the worst part wasn't the beating. It was the words that Julius whispered at the very end.
'You are weak. You are powerless. You are not worthy of standing by her side.'
It was going to be difficult to make amends with Julius, but Subaru realized that the fault also lied with himself. "Well, I guess that I might have gone a little overboard when I was insulting the knights." He hesitated, not wanting to say these next words. "Please for.. forgive me for my rudeness."
These words were bitter, but they were essential. "You've come a long way in just a few days. This person who I am conversing with is definitely not the same Natsuki Subaru that was arguing with me. Now," Julius finally let his lips form a grin. "Why don't we have some fun?"
He splashed Subaru, who went on a frenzy in return.
Watching them from afar was (Y/N), who was now out of the pool and talking to Reinhard. "Reinhard, Subaru has made me aware of something. He is seeking to unite the Crusch and Hoshin households in order to defeat the White Whale and a part of the Witch Cult."
At the mentioning of these two evils, Reinhard's eyes widened. It was the White Whale that killed his grandmother, and the Witch Cult was responsible for many horrid acts, meaning that they needed to be eradicated. "If this is true, how does he plan on doing this?"
(Y/N) said his next words carefully. "I believe that he is still formulating a plan, but he should be able to present it in the next day or two." Seeing that Subaru dies in the anime shortly after he meets Reinhard, it would make sense for the White Whale to show up soon.
"He may not be aware of this, but there is currently a fog over the Lifaus Highway. This means that the White Whale is currently somewhere along that long stretch of road. Is there any means of figuring out its exact location?" Reinhard had a complex expression on his face. It was clouded with anger, but there seemed to be hope in his eyes.
Making up all of these lies is pretty hard.
"Well, just trust him. If I am correct, he will be able to figure out the White Whale's exact location and the time that it will be there."
Reinhard was about to say something when he was interrupted by a shrill scream. Said scream came from none other than Subaru, drawing everybody's attention to him.
"Mimi, give him those pants back." Julius's blunt voice could be heard only because of the almost dead silence.
Time Skip
After spending half an hour in the pool, Subaru finally got out. He actually had fun, as long as nobody mentioned the part where his swimming trunks were stolen by a mischievous somebody.
As soon as he got out of the pool, Rem came to him with a towel. Subaru took it, and started to dry himself.
"Hey Subaru, let's have a little talk!" (Y/N) seemed to come out of nowhere, the chain mail still on his body.
(Y/N) waved to Rem, who raised her hand in response.
"Do you mind if we have another private discussion?" (Y/N) asked.
Rem shook her head, and walked off, presumably towards Reinhard.
"Now, tell me how far you are with preparations." (Y/N) wasted no time and got straight to the point.
Subaru stopped drying himself and flung the towel around his shoulder. "Well, I've got Anastasia coming to Crusch's place tomorrow to hear me out. I also have the proof that Crusch is gathering carriages and buying weapons and iron. Other than that, I still have no information on the White Whale and the Witch Cult. I also have no idea what I'm going to tell these people when they come to hear my deals. You have any ideas?"
(Y/N) smirked. "Actually, I think that I have quite a good idea. You know how both of us come from another world, right? Since our worlds are more technologically advanced, maybe we can tell them that we have knowledge of advanced items that we learned of in our homeland. Of course, Crusch can tell if we are lying, so we have to be careful about how we word things."
Subaru rubbed his chin. "Well, first off, I didn't know about Crusch being a lie detector, and second, how would we actually make this stuff? I don't know about you, but I have no idea how to make anything other than some food."
(Y/N)'s smirk only widened. "Actually, I learned that there is a specific spell that can allow people to create accurate replicas of objects from images in their mind. It's actually really advanced so we can't cast it yet but with time, we should be able to do it. What do ya think about that?"
Subaru nodded his head. "Very good. I like it. The only issue is getting them to actually trust us to be able to make this deal worth their time. Anastasia also told me that I need to make sure that I don't put my own goals first, so we have to make our end of the deal seem really promising."
(Y/N) chuckled. "Trust me. No one can resist the allure of advanced technology. Now, is there anything else that I can help you with before you go?"
"Well, let me see." Subaru had been complaining about (Y/N)'s lack of help, but his mind almost drew a blank when it came time to ask him for help. "Well, what about Reinhard? I haven't gotten him to help yet."
(Y/N) gave Subaru a thumbs up. "I already got that. While you were bonding with Julius, I told Reinhard about what you were doing, and he agreed to come back to Crusch's mansion tomorrow so that he could help you. As it turns out, he was planning on going on a courtesy call, but once he heard about the whale and the Witch Cult, he dropped it and decided to help you."
Well, (Y/N) seemed to have everything done that he could do. "Well, that helps. I don't think that you can help much more unless you happen to have information on the timing of the attacks."
"Well, that's the one thing that I don't know. I do know that soon, Rem will feel something from her sister, and that will be the day that the Witch Cult attacks the village and the mansion. You'll want to head out and battle the whale two days before that happens. Like I said, the White Whale will be at the Flugel Tree."
Subaru nodded. "Well, that should be all. Can you come with Anastasia tomorrow to Crusch's place? I would feel a lot better with you there."
(Y/N) nodded his head. "Sure thing. But if I'm not there for some reason, I really am sorry." You reach out for a handshake, which Subaru accepts. "Well, if things go well, I'll see you tomorrow. Make sure that you have a good bluff that isn't exactly a lie when you tell them about the whale. If not, I'll try to come and save you."
Subaru nods his head, and walks away towards Reinhard and Rem.
(Y/N) watched him walk away, and sighed. No matter how optimistic they may be, tomorrow will be a disaster, and hopefully Subaru will respawn to a point before the big discussion.
I feel sorry for forcing him to use Return By Death, but we have no other choice. You assure yourself.
Breaking you from your thoughts was Julius. "I did not tell you what your friend was planning, but it seems that you are aware now. What will you do? Will you stay here and train some more, or will you end it early and go help him?"
The answer was obvious, and Julius expected just as much. "I'm going to help him. What kind of guy leaves his friends out to dry?"
I can't believe that season 2 is over! I can't wait for a season 3!
Well, this chapter wasn't as action packed as I originally planned, but don't worry! Subaru's suffering time will begin soon.
On that note, see you guys next time!