Subaru looked at his older self, noticing how at peace he is now that Petelguese is dead.
This made him smile as he understands that feeling all too well, having thought back to the moment after he had saved Emilia from the bomb that was on her carriage during his version of events against Sloth.
He turned towards the knight nearby, just realizing that this was how Julius looks in twenty years.
'...damn bastard, you still look somewhat young even after twenty years have passed.'
As he was thinking this, Julius turned towards his direction, a bit taken aback by the fact that there's another Natsuki Subaru.
At first, he assumed that this could possibly be Older Subaru's son but upon a closer inspection, he can see that he looks exactly like Older Subaru when he last saw him.
"I take it you are related to Subaru in some way."
"Let's just go with that, it's much easier to comprehend than the actual story."
Julius tilted his head at this, puzzled by the response. Before being able to press more information, he spotted Reinhard. He was surprised to see the Sword Saint here, especially after he had isolated himself for many years.
"Reinhard."
The Sword Saint noticed the finest knight saying his name, prompting him to turn towards him, noticing how he hadn't grown much.
"Julius. It's good to see you."
"It's been quite a while."
"It sure has."
The two knights were happy to speak with each other with Subaru deciding to leave them be as two friends reuniting after so long.. He turned towards Beatrice, holding her hand as he would with his world's Beatrice.
"Are you okay?"
"...I'm fine, I suppose."
"You sure?"
"..."
Beatrice continued to have a blank expression though Subaru could see through this, knowing that she's a bit concerned about what comes next.
"After this, you'll have the job to take care of the other me."
"...that responsibility is not mine, in fact."
"That may be true, but you do still care for that moron."
"..." Beatrice now wanted to let go of Subaru's hand, starting to get mad at him. The boy noticed this as he continued to speak.
"He definitely cares for you, Beako. After all, I know deep down he just wants you happy...and I guess he was planning on giving you this at some point."
Subaru pulled out a plushie of Puck, having only held on to it after Older Subaru had gone off to speak with Al the night the plan was being set.
As he handed this over, he also added:
"As for 'that person' your mother had tasked you with to find. He may not be that either but he's for sure a much better choice than some stranger you don't know."
"..."
Beatrice let go of Subaru's hand as she held onto the plushie of Puck, hiding the fact that this made her feel happy as she desperately missed him.
Subaru could see through this and just smiled on before turning his attention to Felt, seeing that she was approaching his older counterpart.
He was interested to see how this would go, prompting him to pay close attention.
All the while Felt approached Older Subaru, who remained looking at the sky, having now noticed how beautiful it looks before hearing the illusion of Rem speak:
"Subaru-kun, Felt-sama is approaching."
"Hm?"
Older Subaru turned towards his left side to see the approaching Felt, looking with a blank expression.
"Felt..."
Older Subaru, now with the hatred for the Sin Archbishop of Sloth having gone away after his death, feels a bit of guilt as he did ignore her for a decade despite her insistence in wanting to help him.
"Felt, I'm sorry I—"
Before he could even apologize for having ignored and avoided her for the long decade of his vengeance quest, he received such a kick to the face from her that he ended up with a broken nose.
'Well, that was to be expected.' Subaru thought to himself, finding this a bit too predictable but still amusing.
Older Subaru was shocked at first before it hit him that this was probably the most likely outcome, especially with someone like Felt.
"I...probably deserved that."
"You deserve more, you piece of shit!"
As she shouted this to him, she grabbed him by the neck.
"Do you know just how much it sucks to be ignored by the person you want to help?! Did you just not give a damn about me, after everything we've been through?!"
"..."
"..."
Older Subaru remained silent while he listened to Felt complain about him.
Although his silence was out of respect for her, this only made her angry.
"Say something!"
She punched him in the face before grabbing his neck with both her hands again, tears finally streaming down her eyes.
Older Subaru, Subaru, and Reinhard were the first three to notice before Ferris, Beatrice, Julius, Al, and Old Man Rom.
"Say...something...!" The girl's voice broke, having exhausted all her anger she had growing for many years towards someone she genuinely cares for. There was a brief pause before she continued: "I know you lost them, big sis, her cat spirit, everybody. I know it must've been lonely for you...but I just wish...that you had asked for help. I would've been there for you. I would've helped you in killing that fucker. I just...I..."
Felt was losing words as she could no longer think.
Older Subaru took this opportunity to truly reflect as he thought back about everything he had done up until his counterpart had arrived.
He had abandoned Reinhard and Felt when he saw them as unhelpful, he basically abandoned Beatrice as he never checked if anybody survived the mansion slaughter, he worked with the woman that had killed him, Emilia, Felt, and Old Man Rom in a couple of loops, abused Old Man Rom's assistance and he never told Felix the truth about Crusch when he was in need of help.
He just continued to look at Felt for a few seconds before finally making some kind of response, that being he just hugged her.
"I'm sorry, Felt. I probably should've asked for help..."
"...idiot..."
Felt hugged Older Subaru back, just relieved that he managed to survive a two decade revenge quest. Subaru and the others watched before Al approached him:
"So...now what bro? Do we go back to our world from here?"
Subaru paused for a second before looking up at the sky, having a feeling that there are some things that need to be taken care of before they leave.
"For now, let's just make sure everything goes smoothly before we can head to our world."
"Whatever you say, bro."
He patted the boy on the back with his only hand before approaching the Older Subaru, a bit curious on what exactly happened to this world's version of Priscilla and him.
As he did that, Felix approached him.
"You okay?"
"Hm? Yeah, I'm okay..."
Although Ferris said this, Subaru could see through the lie as the cat boy seemed to be conflicted about something.
"You can talk to me if something's wrong, you know." The boy said as a suggestion, not wanting to force him to speak if he wishes to remain silent about what's bothering him.
As he was preparing to walk away, Felix had broken his silence with a simple question:
"Will you stay with us?"
"Hm?" Subaru turned towards the catboy, a bit caught off guard by this question.
"I just...feel like you should stay here, with us."
"Afraid that something might go wrong?" The boy asked, figuring that this could be the reason why Ferris was asking such a thing from him. Felix did not respond as he just looked up at the sky, noticing a few leaves being carried by the gentle wind passing by the two. Subaru looked back up at the sky with a calm feeling. "Trust that you, Beako, Reinhard, Felt, and even Julius can keep him from falling on the wrong path."
"What about that Bowel Hunter? What are we going to do about her?"
"Oh. Are you planning on betraying me?"
Ferris froze as he and Subaru heard the assassin speak, being right behind the pair. Subaru turned towards the bowel hunter for a moment, seeing that she's preparing to attack the pair.
"It would be unwise to attack us."
"And why is that?" Elsa asked as she lifted her blade right next to her face, licking off the blood from it. Ferris gave a death stare towards the bowel hunter, never having trusted the assassin all the while Subaru gave a look of determination. This caught Elsa's attention once again, prompting her to ask:
"What will you do? Will you run to your allies or will you die trying to fight me?"
"...you should know the answer to that."
As Subaru said this, Julius and Reinhard turned towards him as they were curious what he and Ferris were up to only to notice the Bowel Hunter right in front of the pair.
"Bowel Hunter!"
Elsa said this but before she could even go for the kill on her two prey right in front of her, she felt something grab her neck with a tight firm grip.
"?!"
"Not so easy now, is it?" Subaru said in a confident tone, having already expected the bowel hunter to attack them at some point. Before she could break free, Ferris shouted:
"Reinhard-kyun! Stop her!"
The Sword Saint didn't hesitate to pin down the bowel hunter, preventing her from escaping him this time.
"I caught you."
Elsa attempted to escape but Reinhard's hold on her was beyond her strength or capabilities, prompting her to just smile as she looked up at the sky.
"Perhaps I'm to blame for this. I trusted the wrong people."
"Since when do you trust the right people?" Subaru questioned, thinking back on how Elsa had worked with Roswaal in his world events, and with the Sin Archbishop of Pride in the first world he had traveled to.
She was momentarily taken aback from this before chuckling to herself, finding it an amusing question.
"Ara Ara, that is indeed a good question."
"As the Sword Saint and a Royal Knight of Lugnica, you are under arrest, Elsa Granhiert."
"Good luck keeping me caged."
Elsa said as she prepared to come up with a plan for escaping the Sword Saint.
Julius gave a cold stare at the Bowel Hunter as he and Reinhard prepared to take Elsa away only for Older Subaru to speak on her behalf.
"Wait you two, you can't take her in."
"Huh?"
"What?!"
"Are you stupid?!"
"Are you serious, I suppose?!"
Everyone but Subaru spoke out on what Older Subaru had said, with even Elsa a bit surprised. Older Subaru looked at the assassin for a moment before turning towards Reinhard's direction:
"Just for today, let her go."
"But why, Subaru?"
"Yes, what is the reason for this?" Julius questioned; a bit curious on what Natsuki Subaru will say in response.
Older Subaru looked at the finest knight with annoyance before turning towards Elsa.
"Because I asked her to help. I promised to pay her well if she helped me with this vengeance quest."
This obviously did not sit well with anybody, especially Felt.
She pulled out her knife and stabbed him in the leg as hard as she could in order to make sure Older Subaru feels pain.
"So you chose to ask the psychopathic killer than me?! How fucking dare you, you piece of shit!"
"Natsuki Subaru, you are aware that hiring this assassin makes you her accomplice regardless of who the target is." Julius said which annoyed the Natsuki Subaru from another world.
"That's such bullshit." He said, having been on the sidelines for too long. Al tapped him in the shoulder, suggesting that they shouldn't get involved yet Subaru did not listen. "I know siding with that crazy woman is well insane but he helped take down a Sin Archbishop, Sloth to be more specific. Not to mention that...she helped in taking out Greed as well."
"How?" Reinhard asked, recalling that the bowel hunter was never in the fight. Subaru stood silent for a few seconds before responding with:
"Well...Greed is an annoying bastard with his ability to move his soul around to spam one of his abilities to avoid dying. Elsa helped in taking this ability away."
"Even so, she must pay for her crimes." Julius said as he prepared to tell Reinhard to ignore the young Subaru.
Subaru knew that he can't screw an ally over...even if it's one like Elsa considering that she only got involved because of him, or well a version of him but still him.
So he thought about how he could get Elsa out of this situation until something clicked for him.
"She can be useful."
"Hmph. How?" The finest knight asked, annoying Subaru.
"Because she knows how to get to the Sin Archbishop of Lust."
"The fuck, there's another one?!" Older Subaru shouted with annoyance, having already been worn out from dealing with the previous two.
Subaru turned towards his older self to respond.
"Yeah...plus we just killed Petelguese so I'm pretty sure that Sirius, the Sin Archbishop of Wrath, will want her revenge."
Older Subaru just...collapsed to the ground.
"...fuck."
The three knights all looked at one another when hearing this information, seeing that this Natsuki Subaru knows a lot.
Unlike Reinhard and Ferris, Julius was already untrusting of Subaru since he has no idea that this is the same as Older Subaru, prompting him to prepare to arrest him.
"How would you know this information, 'Natsuki Subaru'?"
Subaru was at a pause, knowing that the knight was preparing to attack him.
This made him question why Julius was acting like this.
'That's not right, I know he isn't this much of an ass...oh wait.'
It clicked to him, nobody has explained about the whole other worlds to Julius, making him almost wish that his Julius was with him to make the explanation part a tad bit easier.
Right when a fight might break out, Reinhard turned towards his purple haired friend to tell him:
"It's okay, Julius-san. There's no need to be hostile."
"Are you sure about that?" The finest knight questioned his friend, worried that he might not be thinking straight due to the isolation he had been in for over a decade.
The Sword Saint detected this but before he can answer the question, Felt stood up for Natsuki Subaru by approaching the finest knight while saying:
"Do you know who I am?"
"??" Julius was taken aback by this, not expecting her to ask such a question. "Yes?"
"Then as the last royal candidate, and at this point the King of Lugnica, you shall obey me when I say that you'll trust this moron right here."
The finest knight was at a pause for words, a bit caught off guard by this sudden demand by Felt.
Reinhard took note of this and just smiled at his friend, understanding that feeling since Felt can come off very brash even after having had time to grow up.
"I hear what your saying, Felt-sama but—"
"No buts! You'll do as I say, as the most likely to be next King of Lugnica, you shall stand down."
"..."
The finest knight just nodded reluctantly at Felt before standing down, looking at Subaru with a sharp look.
"What?"
"..."
Julius just remained silent as the conversation returned to Reinhard and Subaru.
"Subaru, may I ask why do you believe that the bowel hunter knows a Sin Archbishop."
"Yes, why do you?" Elsa added, curious to know this information. Subaru looked at the Bowel Hunter before muttering to her just one simple word.
"Mother."
Elsa's smile remained but her face turned pale, alerting the boy that he managed to get her attention.
This silence was something the Sword Saint had also taken notice, prompting him to turn to his prisoner to ask:
"Is it true that you know a Sin Archbishop, Bowel Hunter?"
Elsa did not respond as she was more focused on Subaru, wanting to know how he even knew this information.
Subaru on the other hand had to thank Meili for this.
Thanks to some events in the Pleiades Watchtower from his world, he was able to see certain things that gave him this information.
'Thank you, Meili.'
"How do you know that?" She asked sharply.
"A little girl's memories helped." Subaru responded which caused everyone to just tilt their heads in confusion. Elsa had an idea of what the boy was talking about, recalling how he had previously asked for Meili.
Older Subaru approached Reinhard, Elsa, and Subaru's positions after having had time to process all the new information given to them by his counterpart.
"Reinhard, as friends, all I ask is for you to trust me on this that we will need Elsa's help in facing the remaining members of this damn cult."
Reinhard was still uncertain of this, considering all of the many horrendous things the Bowel Hunter had done. Despite this, he knows that his friend wouldn't ask such a thing if it wasn't important.
He looked at Elsa before letting her go. This actually surprised the Bowel Hunter as she didn't expect him to listen to Older Subaru, she just remained silent.
"I hope you know what you are doing, Subaru." Reinhard said, worried about the type of people he has associated since they last worked together.
He also blames himself for not having truly been there for him, understanding that perhaps this was a reason Older Subaru chose to work with the Bowel Hunter.
Older Subaru and Elsa looked at each other for a moment before he turned towards his counterpart.
"You and I are going to have a little chat once we get back to Lugnica."
"I figured as much, but you also owe Old Man Rom and Elsa their payment." Subaru smugly said, catching the attention of his counterpart and of the two people he had mentioned.
"Yeah, where's my money?"
Old Man Rom spoke out as he approached Older Subaru in a slightly menacing manner.
This caused tension to go back up once again with everyone mainly looking at this world's Natsuki Subaru with some form of anger.
Subaru turned towards Old Man Rom to responded to the question directed to Older Subaru:
"We can discuss more about this when we leave this area...let's just return to the capital now."
As much as Old Man Rom wanted to get his money now, he trusted the younger version of Natsuki Subaru to keep his word over his older counterpart, prompting a nod from him. Subaru turned towards Elsa to see if she would cause any trouble for them.
Elsa Granhiert looked at Natsuki Subaru for a moment before turning around and following Reinhard and Julius per the Sword Saint's request since he wants to keep an eye on her while on their way back.
------------------------------------------------------
Once arriving at the capital, Reinhard immediately took Elsa Grainhart on a different path compared to the others to avoid having the Bowel Hunter be spotted by other knights or by ordinary civilians.
Felt joined her knight as she wanted to make sure the woman she most hated but most feared didn't try anything on the Sword Saint.
As they were heading off onto a different direction, Julius turned towards the two Natsuki Subarus to inform the pair:
"I'll be informing the knights that two Sin Archbishops have been taken care of. Try not to associate with any more criminals. Otherwise, I'll have to arrest you regardless of what Felt-sama says."
With this being said, he turned around and left the group.
As he did this, Old Man Rom looked at the two Subarus with his first attention being the one from his world.
"You owe me money and I will collect."
"Yeah Yeah, I get it."
"Do you really get it though?" The giant said as he gave an intimidating aura that even put Older Subaru into feeling uneasy.
"I'll get it to you!"
"You have until the end of the day."
As Old Man Rom said this, he turned around and started to leave the kingdom, wanting to return back to the slums. Before leaving, he said to the younger Natsuki Subaru:
"Thank you for allowing me to see Felt again. She's always busy but I'm glad I got to see just how grown up she's become. A real beauty too, but with all the fire that I helped raise."
Once this was said, Old Man Rom had left the kingdom to return back to the loot house.
Older Subaru was very put off by the conversation though he could understand why he was annoyed with him at this point.
After all, he had asked more than the giant could chew at times, yet even so Subaru just couldn't help but smile at the giant, having been a while since he had worked with him or even spoken with.
"How will you pay him back?" Subaru asked his counterpart, curious what he was thinking. The older Natsuki Subaru looked at him for a few seconds before turning towards Ferris, noticing that he was heading off.
"Felix. Can we speak for a moment?"
Ferris turned towards Older Subaru, having noticed what he was asking. He paused for a few seconds before slowly turning towards him.
"What is it?"
As he said this, the atmosphere was a bit tense, with Ferris still not having fully forgiven him for having lied for a whole decade about knowing the person he had forgotten.
Older Subaru knew this, he knew that he won't be forgiven so easily but he had just two important words to say:
"Thank you." As he said this, he slightly bowed to the healer, catching him off guard as well as Subaru, Al, and Ferris himself. Beatrice didn't really care for this but was a bit intrigued on what he was going to say. He continued: "I know you'll hate me forever for not telling you about Crusch-sama...but I will always be grateful for having healed me all these long years."
Ferris didn't have words for what was said to him, leaving him to turn away from him for a minute.
"...just stay alive. For her sake."
With that, Ferris walked away as he needed to go back and heal those that are in need of healing.
Older Subaru wasn't sure what the catboy was thinking but he hopes that he can start to repair a relationship he should've been improving.
"It'll all be okay, Subaru-kun."
Older Subaru turned towards the illusion of Rem, seeing that she's still with him. This got him to smile as he looked up at the sky, thinking back of not only her but of everyone in the Roswaal mansion.
Ram, Beatrice, Roswaal to a very small degree, those from the village as he did enjoy being with each villager, Puck to a degree, and most importantly Emilia, the one that started his journey.
'I'm sorry I couldn't stop him when you all were alive...but I will honor all of you by honoring her last words.'
("Live...Love...you...")
Older Subaru smiled as he held his head high up, knowing that he would honor Rem's words. He turned towards Beatrice and just noticed her holding a Puck plushie.
"Wait isn't that...where did you get that?" He asked the little girl. She gave him a stare before turning away.
"Betty doesn't have to answer that, I suppose."
He didn't need the answer as he figured his younger self was the one to do this since he was the only other person that knew about the plushie.
"Can I speak with you in private for a moment?"
"Um...sure."
The two Subarus walked on their own with Subaru asking Al to keep an eye on Beatrice for him.
Al just nodded before turning towards Beatrice, seeing that she's hugging the Puck plushie tightly.
While this was going on, the two Subarus found a place they could speak in private.
"So, what did you want to talk about?"
Older Subaru didn't respond immediately as he was still thinking about Rem, how he wished she was alive to see him having beaten Sloth.
Though after a couple of seconds, he turned towards his young counterpart to respond.
"I'll have to thank you specifically."
"For what exactly?" Subaru asked, curious what his older self wants to thank him for. Older Subaru gave him a slight stare before reverting back to a more calmer face.
"Look, without you, perhaps there wouldn't have been a best case scenario in beating Sloth, the bastard. From what I can see, I probably would've broken my promise to her, to you all."
"But you didn't, and that's what matters." Subaru said, knowing how easily it would be to use oneself as a tool to succeed in a loop. "You survived Petelguese, hell an added bonus was also taking out Regulus."
"Yeah but as you inform me now, there's another Sin Archbishop to deal with, two as a matter of fact."
"Well...there's also Gluttony—"
"Are you fucking serious? What else is there?!"
"Okay Okay, no need to get frustrated. From what I know, the three of Gluttony are at the Pleiades Watchtower...just ask Reinhard for help with that. For Sirius, she'll just come to you but be careful with her ability, it's not so fun to get caught in it."
"Okay, then what about the other one? Lust, was it?"
"That one...work with Elsa, she'll get you to the Sin Archbishop of Lust, Capella."
Older Subaru crossed his arms, seeing that he's got a lot more work now that he's aware of the other Sin Archbishops.
"Well then, I'll just have to deal with them as well."
"...yes but don't forget that you should ask for help. If Petelguese was already hard enough, the others will be much tougher to kill."
"..."
Older Subaru hated hearing this since he doesn't know if he can actually beat the others without the use of Return By Death.
This doubtful look was caught not only by Subaru but by the illusion of Rem as well.
"Hm. If you weren't worried about dealing with Petelguese, the others shouldn't be much of a concern." Subaru said, knowing that he's somewhat lying but being hopeful that his older self can beat the rest without dying. Older Subaru looked at his younger self before turning towards Rem, feeling less anxious when seeing her smile.
"...Okay, if you think that I can handle them, I'll take your word on it."
Subaru nodded at his older self before preparing to leave, thinking that this was the end of the conversation only for his counterpart to say:
"Hold on, we aren't done yet."
"...? Okay, what else is on your mind?"
Older Subaru crossed his arms as he began to give off a serious aura.
"You said that Rem is alive in your world, correct?"
"In a way, yes."
"Right, she's in a coma like sleep." Older Subaru looked down when saying this, remembering that Rem in his younger self's world is in a bad spot. "Well, seeing you in action here makes me confident that you'll save her from whatever curse she's on. I have faith in you, Natsuki Subaru."
With that being said, he patted his counterpart in the arm before returning to where they left Beatrice and Al, having one more important person to speak with.
Subaru followed, feeling a bit encouraged thanks to his talk with...well, himself.
As he followed his older self, Older Subaru looked at Al and Beatrice, seeing that they two stayed exactly where they had left them.
He approached Al first to tell him:
"Thanks. Not just for watching over Beatrice here but for helping me out. Both you and the other you from this world."
"No problem bro."
Al said with a happy gesture before seeing Older Subaru turning his attention towards the little loli spirit.
"Beatrice, you are probably the most important person I should thank...as well as apologize."
"...Betty is listening." Beatrice kept looking at the Puck Plushie but her voice was curious to know what her world's Natsuki Subaru had to say.
"You were the reason I was able to survive as well as a core reason we had a win against that bastard Petelguese as well as that other annoying Sin Archbishop. So, I must really say, thank you Beatrice."
"Then what's the apology for, I suppose?" She looked at him with her usual blank expression. Older Subaru paused himself as a hint of regret and guilt can start to show.
"I should've come back sooner. If I had known you were still alive...I would've come back and gotten you out of that damn library."
"..."
"I know that words can't really prove shit...but I truly mean it when I say that I'll be by your side this time around, Beatrice. I won't let you be by yourself again."
"Is even a promise you can keep, in fact?" The spirit of the forbidden library questioned with a more strict tone, questioning if her world's Natsuki Subaru can even be as caring for her like the other Beatrice's Subaru.
Older Subaru took note that she was examining every second of this portion of the conversation, prompting him to say:
"I can't guarantee that it'll be all happy. I mean I'm kinda old now compared to twenty years ago...but for the rest of my life, I'll dedicate myself to make sure you aren't alone."
"...but you will die. Human lifespans pass like a blink of the eye to Betty..."
"That is true, you'll outlive me but as I said, I'll dedicate myself to make sure that you won't ever be alone. All I ask is for you to trust me on this."
Beatrice wasn't convinced in the slightest...though for once she is choosing to make a stupid choice. This choice was to trust someone like Natsuki Subaru.
"You are stupid...so you better keep this promise or Betty will make sure that'll be the last promise you make."
With this being said, she looked at the young Natsuki Subaru, starting to feel that his influence is rubbing onto her.
Just as she was about to say something to the young Natsuki Subaru, a sudden bright light began to shine all around them.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Once the light had dimmed out, Subaru noticed that he was no longer in the world where his older counterpart resigned in but in fact the void where the watcher was residing.
'I guess...I'm done there...'
Subaru felt that getting out of the world was a bit abrupt, almost as if he was cut off from having some final words with everyone on purpose.
As he was about to call the watcher to ask some questions, he felt a presence which prompted him to turn around.
As he did this, he noticed someone. At first he wasn't sure who this person was but upon a closer inspection, he knew who it was.
"Rigel? What are you doing here...? Unless..." Subaru was uncertain if this was the watcher trying to mess with him. "Real funny, looking like an older version of Rigel, stupid watcher."
"..."
"What? Cat got your tongue?"
"..."
Rigel looked at Subaru with a blank expression before approaching him, prompting Subaru to be on guard.
Once he was near him, Rigel didn't hesitate to slap him in the face.
"Moron."
Subaru was stunned for a few seconds before starting to believe that the slightly older Rigel in front of him was indeed, well, Rigel.
"Okay...what are you even doing here?"
"I've been asking that question to that stupid watcher but he's always vague when answering."
"Sounds like him." Subaru said while rubbing his cheek, surprised by how strong the slap was from an older version of his son from a different timeline.
"..."
"..."
Both of them were uncertain of what to say since one didn't think he would be seeing another version of his son while the other wasn't sure how to speak to another version of his father.
"You are grown up, I assume it's a few years after I had left, right?"
"...technically yes but that's a different version of me. I have no memories of meeting you."
"Perhaps it's because you were young?"
"No, I have a good memory, old man."
"..." Subaru was taken aback by that. "Okay, well then I can say you've grown to be a strong man. The older me from your world must be really proud."
"...yeah." Rigel turned around when that was said, not really wanting to go into that conversation. Just as he turned around and looked away from Natsuki Subaru, he noticed that he was glowing.
"Hm? Seems like it's time for me to go." He turned back towards Subaru to tell him, "I've always assumed you were pretty lame but watching you take care of not one but two Sin Archbishops was...kinda cool. Though you are still pathetic looking."
"Hehe, okay. I'll just take that as a compliment."
"Hmph." Rigel slightly smirked before disappearing in a bright light, causing the area to brighten up into a light void.
'Okay, I'm back here.'
"Subaru?"
"...!"
Subaru was silent for a moment as he heard a voice, one that he's been wanting to hear in the previous world he was in.
He turned around and saw Emilia as well as Beatrice, both seemingly waking up from what seemed to be a long nap.
"Emilia-tan..."
Subaru smiled as he approached the two, with Beatrice quickly hugging him and holding his hand, wanting to not be separated from her contractor again.
Emilia looked at Subaru for a moment before realizing that they were in some odd looking place.
"Subaru, where are we?"
"...right, this place—"
"It's a place beyond space and time." The watcher spoke as he joined the conversation, wearing his coat to hide his identity.
Emilia and Beatrice both viewed the watcher as a threat, prompting the two to get in front of Subaru as they prepared to fight against him.
"Hold on you tw—"
"Who are you? What do you want with us?"
"Yes! What have you been doing to my contractor?"
As Beatrice said this, she was preparing to use shamak while Emilia prepared for an attack only for the watcher to just give the two a look before turning around.
"I'm not here for a fight, in fact I woke you two up because Subaru's going to need help with the next world."
"Next world?" Emilia questioned for a moment before remembering the world where Subaru had chosen to run away with Rem instead of saving her. As she recalled this, the watcher continued to speak:
"Even if we were to fight, there's a factor that'll give me the advantage. Assuming we can use abilities, otherwise you'll beat me by pure strength."
As he said this, he pointed towards the next door, having the symbol of Greed.
"In this new world, you three along with an extra ally will need to be on your feet because this one will be one of the hardest to handle."
"Will we be dealing with another evil me...or a broken me that needs help?" Subaru asked as he was curious, not sure if he would be dealing with another evil counterpart or one that just needs help to eliminate an obstacle.
"Evil you...?" Emilia tilted her head in confusion, still trying to wrap her head around all of this. Beatrice on the other hand understood what Subaru was meaning, worried that she would have to see another corrupted version of her contractor.
"I'll explain it later." Subaru told Emilia, seeing that he needs to catch Emilia up on what he has dealt with so far.
The watcher just looked at the door, knowing what lies beyond the door.
"I'll just say, he's not evil but misguided."
"...Man, you really like to be vague as hell." Subaru agreed with his son, seeing how the watcher doesn't give a straight answer and just adds more to the mystery when it's really not needed. He turned towards the two girls in front of him. "Let's go, you two since we have a Natsuki Subaru to save."
"...okay?"
Emilia was just confused but trusted her knight while the loli spirit just held her contractor's hand tightly, wanting to be by his side.
As the three were about to enter the door, something came into Subaru's mind.
"Hey, watcher. Why did you have Rigel here?"
"..."
"He could've helped me in the last world."
"...he's going through a journey of his own. Let's just say he needed a bit of motivation before dealing with the hell he's going up against."
"...I mean, couldn't we help him out?" Subaru questioned, having now wished he had asked what was troubling Rigel. The watcher quickly responded:
"No, that world already has a Natsuki Subaru that can help him."
"Oh come on, another me won't kill that world."
"...you are right, but not every world needs fixing. Some worlds need to run the course of events. Others need help because the stuff that happen there are just...unjust."
"Unjust?" Subaru questioned. "Had you told me what had happened to those other me, I could've done more for them. The first me had nobody to rely on, the second became a paranoid wreck! At least the other two had someone to somewhat help them out but for the first two, I could've done more, dammit!"
"Subaru—"
"—Please calm down."
Both Beatrice and Emilia spoke, not liking this side of him.
Subaru looked at the pair and saw that they were concerned for him.
This helped calm his anger down.
"Sorry. I shouldn't lose my cool." He said this in a guilt like tone before turning towards the door of Greed. Just as he was about to walk into it with Emilia and Beatrice by his side, he had one last thing to say to the watcher. "Next time I see you, I'm kicking your ass."
"Hmph."
The Watcher expected something like this from Natsuki Subaru, having figured him as someone that makes choices based on emotion.
Subaru, Emilia, and Beatrice all three entered into the door of Greed before it shut right behind them.
As this happened, the watcher remained looking at the door before looking up at the endless white void above him.
"Natsuki Subaru, you are indeed the most interesting person I've had the chance to interact with. I hope this next challenge might benefit you for the hell that awaits at the end of this journey...that and if your allies can handle what happened to them in this world's version of events." He paused for a moment as he closed his eyes, thinking about a woman in black robes, white skin, and long straight white hair. "Isn't that right, Echidna?"
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Author's Note:
So now we are moving on to Greed if...finally. I can't tell you how much I've been waiting to start on Greed if world cause well it might be the longest arc to work on due to all of the stuff that's going to happen but here's were I'll have to say, I'm going on break. I want to finish the Greed if arc first before starting to post it so I don't fall into a situation where I'm behind cause I wanted to finish this earlier but life happened. So my goal is to be done by March 31st to post the first chapter on April 1st (Natsuki Subaru's birthday). So hopefully I can get that done by then but I'm also working on two Re:Zero videos for my YouTube Channel (GreenWarrior291). The Season 2 review and a fun but long video in relation to Arc 1 Light Novel, Web Novel, and Anime versions. I'll make sure to aim my goal in getting you all an amazing story for the Greed if arc. Otherwise, thank you for reading this chapter, hopefully you all enjoyed the Aganau if arc.