Uploading date: 11/17/2018 [M/D/Y]

Re: Life in a fantasy world ~ Arc 4: Beginning of the End

Prologue: Race to the End starts

"Legs, arms, head, not even my butt can move… am I paralyzed or something?"

My voice echoed in the shadowy wasteland, the dripping of water, I can hear it loud and clear, wait, why can I hear water here. "Ugh…" I try to force my body to move, but that only resulted into a whole lot of pain, it's clear now, my body, wherever it is, is in pain, but it's not dead, if it was, I would be completely fine right now.

"Hello…"

Oh, there's her voice, shadowy and quiet as ever, "Yo…" Since my eyes are the only thing I can move, I do so, and I see her, covered in shadows, "Do you happen to know why I can't move…? Ah nevermind, it's probably because of the poison on that blade…" She nods, I swear, why am I so prone to poison and curses? I feel like this is going to be the end for me.

"It wasn't poison… it was another curse sadly…"

Another curse? Are you serious, they really are going to be the death of me! On another note, "It seems you managed two whole sentences this time..." Is it going to be something like last time? It is, isn't it? "Mhmm, it's just… I feel a little closer to you all of a sudden"

Oh, it isn't, also, "Don't turn this conversation into some twisted rom-com novel, please! It's rather disturbing thinking about it…"

"Hehe, just kidding… well not really, but I didn't mean it in a romantic way, so it's okay" She sounded rather… Alive today, what could be the reason? I'll have no idea unless I ask. Do I feel like asking? Not at all. "You know… I've always wondered what it'd feel like to love someone… I'm always rather lonely…"

"Well don't expect anything romantic from me…"

"Of course, I've already asked too much from you…"

"So anyway… what's the next piece of the puzzle going to be, since you're able to talk now, things should go a little more smooth now, right?" I ask her, still unable to move. I hear another drop of water, seriously, what is that? I'm not supposed to hear droplets of water in this place.

"Geez… you're always rushing things. You're gate's practically unusable for the next month or so you know...? Show a little concern for yourself…"

"Well… that explains why my body won't move"

With my gate unusable, I can't cast any spells or absorb mana from the atmosphere, quite troublesome, but even more troublesome is the fact that I can't release any mana. Mana poisoning, a problem that arises when mana from the body isn't expelled into the atmosphere. Keeping to much mana locked in your body poisons it, which is deadly, luckily for me…

"This is why you had me contracted with Beatrice right?"

"Yup…"

Figures, well, good thing I'm not dying anytime soon, that wouldn't be a nice thing. The dripping water stopped, and I feel myself fading, "Huh?" I can suddenly move my body again, though weakly. "So guess it's time? Hey, what do I do this time!?" I ask her before going out, she giggles and waves.

"You know what's happening next… and I expect something special when you come back here… bye now…"

"Darn you and your vagueness!"

"Haaaah…"

I take a deep breath as my eyes open, I still feel weak, my gates still a damaged it seems, could've been really dangerous if Menkalin used it right off the bat, so he was going to use this to stop Roswaal? Or maybe Puck, Puck is dangerous as well, "It seems you are awake, Subaru-sama…" To my left, it was Rem, sipping tea as she watched me on the bed, a little rude isn't she.

"Yo… how long have I been down? A day or two?"

"No, it's been a whole week since you were last up..."

"A week?!"

I've been unconscious for that long? Okay, that might be something to worry about, "Did anything big happen while I was down?" I ask her while trying to get up, it hurts quite a bit, "Nothing much, you were the only one injured. After that we all returned back, Emilia-sama and Roswaal-sama had gone to the capital to bring over the greatest healer in Lugnica to treat your wound, and after a few days, we're here now…"

"Greatest Healer… so that's the one with the title 'Blue' right? I think that's how it works in Lugnica..."

"Correct, Subaru-sama…"

So a really skilled mage is here, interesting to say the least. "Okay then, time to get moving…" Getting off the bed, I stretch out my arms, the lack of mana in my body made me really weak, no stamina at all, but I can manage, "Alright, guess I'll get changed" "Then Rem's job here is done, please report to the conference hall, Emilia-sama and Roswaal-sama are both there"

"Got it"

She leaves the room, and shuts the door closed, "My usual clothes are probably ripped up so I won't be able to use them, doubt Rem fixed them, she's got other things to do… Well then, I'll just have to settle for something else…" I step over to the closet and slid open the door, some coats, shirts and pants, and all of different colors, I grab the closest one and force them on myself, a perfect fit, what the hell?!

"Well, no use fussing over it, but man, these clothes are really easy to move in, as expected of a noble's clothes, or is it royalty? Eh, doesn't really matter now does it, they're the same thing…"

I walk out of the room and make my way through the hallway, "Conference room… that's all the way in the other side, and I can't be bothered to go all the way there… Door crossing" I open the door to my left and bam, I'm in a spacious room filled with a few people, Beatrice was there too, "Yo, so you guys started moving things already?"

They were the people from Irlham village, with their help, we're making the Forbidden Archive into a sort of multipurpose room, or a sort of mini-house? I don't know what to call it but basically, moving around is bothersome so I'll just slam everything into one room, "Subaru-sama, we're glad you're doing alright!"

One of the men said, "Yeah, sorry about having you guys do all this" "Not at all, we're indebted to you after saving the village, this is nothing compared to the lives you've saved" Heh, it's nice being a hero sometimes, though that puts a burden of expectation and reliance on you, so I don't fancy it in the long run, "You guys better get up and train you hear? Saviors don't appear out of nowhere all the time you know?

"O-Of course!"

After waving over to Beatrice, I leave the room once more, this time, going into a room filled with chairs and tables. Four people in the room, Emilia, Roswaal, and two I'm unsure of, "Hey, I'm back" The four took notice of me and looked on with surprise, "Subaru! Welcome back, we were all really worried about you"

"Well, Rem and Beatrice didn't really show much concern…"

"Nyaa~ you're impressive Subaru-kyun, I expected you to open your eyes in about a week or so, but to see you already up and about, some strength you have there hmm?" The cat person said as it walked over to me, it was looking at my arms, this feels rather uncomfortable, "And you are?"

"This is Felix, Felix Argyle of the royal knights, he's the one that's been healing you for the past few days"

"That's right nyaa~ Through the power of love and hard work, Ferri-chan has brought you back"

"Please stop saying it like that, it's disgusting seeing that you're a guy" A shocked Felix turned over my way, "Nyou can tell?!" A cat person wearing a blue dress with ribbons on his head, seriously, what's this guy thinking? "You have the stench of a man, don't think frilly dresses and make-up will conceal the fact that you're a man…"

"N-Nyou… Subaru-kyun is quite cunning, this will be quite troublesome to deal with, Nya~"

"Okay then… that old Jii-san there, isn't that the sword demon? What's a monstrous fighter doing here?"

With the old man being mentioned, all eyes turned to him. He walks over and bows down, "I am Wilhelm, pleased to meet you Subaru-dono… I have come as an escort for Ferris" An escort, makes sense, that means they're connected somehow. "Surely you haven't come just for a stranger like me right?"

"Of course, we are an envoy sent by Crusch-sama, to inform the Margrave that the fifth royal candidate has been found…"

"Hmm, really now? Do you know who the fifth one is?"

"No, information about the candidate hasn't been given to the Sage council, that is why a meeting will be held in the royal palace a week from now, we were told to invite the Mathers, Emilia-sama and her subordinates to the capital…"

"We have some business with Crusch-san, so we'll be staying in her place for the week. Ferris also has to supervise your health, we can't have you going sick now" Hey, hey, why am I being treated like a kid all of a sudden, you do realize this is the guy who saved your butts from an assassin right? Treat me more carefully, please!

"That's right, nyou can bet that Ferri-chan will treat you with the utmost care"

"Sorry but I'd rather you not come close to me you man-cat"

"My heart! Nyou have broken it…"

Setting aside his weird cosplay, he doesn't seem to be any younger than me, he's also rather slim, if I hadn't a keen sense I would definitely have mistaken him for a girl, a weird guy he is, but he managed to heal me up so I guess I'll be grateful for that, "Hey you two, tell me, did you know Emilia-san was a candidate?"

"Nyaa? Nyot until just now, why do you ask?"

"I was just wondering, Roswaal, how many people know of Emilia-san's participation"

"I've~ been rather secretive of that, especially from the sage council. So if there were no~ spies anywhere, only the people currently in the mansion, the people of Irlham village, and Crusch Karsten should know about Emilia-sama, why~ does it worry you, Subaru-kun?"

"You see, there are people who plan during the battle, there are people who fight during the battle, there are people who plan before the battle, but the worst of them all, are the people fighting before the battle… this is some big shot competition, one sure one of them is already making a move, looking for the weakest candidate and gaining information on them"

"True, such a thing is possible, I see Subaru-dono is the cautious type…"

"Yes, that's what I like about him…" Light shone in Emilia's shoulder and a gray cat appeared, licking his paw, "But we have no need to worry, I have made sure that no one has noticed my daughters presence or her identity anywhere we go, well, except for that one night… I owe you one, Subaru"

"No problem, it's all good, but you see Puck. People finding out about Emilia-san's identity isn't the problem here..." I say, everyone has their attention on me, I noticed we were I standing up so I had us all sit down, "Whether or not people now about Emilia-san, doesn't matter at all, she's going to be revealed to the public anyway, it's only postponing the inevitable, what I'm more concerned about… are the recent developments we were met with…"

"The assassinations, and the attack in the village… are you saying that those attacks are planned by an opposing party, Subaru?"

"No, if we tortured them and got an answer, that'd instantly put them out of the game, not a good move. Rather, they're taking advantage of the situation, like how a journalist would wait for the right moment for an inconvenience to happen just to make their claim more believable… they're not watching us, they're watching what's happening to us and are planning to use it to kick us out of the "

"Hmm~ So this is why you had me keep both the assassination attempt and the mabeast incident a secret, quite~ a talented person you are Subaru-kun…" Roswaal says with a smile, the did think about it and gave me faces of awe, "Subaru is really smart isn't he?"

"Nyaa~ I think we've seen enough of your internal plannings, we should get going nyow…"

Ferris says while edging towards the door, it seems he doesn't want to overhear something important and get in trouble later on, well, good on him, he knows his boundaries at least. "Alright then, I guess I'll show you guys out…"

.

I bid the two goodbye as their carriage left the mansion grounds, now, it's time to get a headstart on this royal election. I already have knowledge about two of our four opponents, though I haven't told Roswaal or Emilia that yet. I'm sure Ferris Crusch Karsten's knight, and Reinhard is another one as well.

"Once we enter royal palace… the race is going to start… I'll be sure to rid the whole area of pests before we return. But still, I wonder how we're going to get Emilia-san ready, haah, well, guess we'll work something out..."

A/N

Arc 4 begins, it's going to be a fun ride with Betelgeuse, get ready for it! Also, Warlock is BAAACK, get ready for some brand new chapters next week! Since I've been proofreading arc 6 chapters with WCT, I have a better grasp of Arc 6, so let's hope I don't mess up!

Also, if you check on my illustrations webpage, I have a new Warlock illustration, it's a one-year anniversary thing so nothing special, just Subaru, Betty and Ella in different clothes, also, it's in chibi cause that's my style nowadays.

I'm gonna draw Re: fantasy Subaru in new clothes as well so keep your eyes peeled.

Mike202303

Interesting I look forward to the Next chapter

(This and the countless other reviews you've made)

Thanks! Reviews are very motivating you know?

Sasukesdoom

Potential for rem's horn to be healed?

Hmm, Rem's horn isn't broken though. If you're talking about Ram, then I'm not sure, and if you're talking about Rem getting her second horn, then that's a big no.

Basscuss

WOAH~ great chapter as usual! Are assassins really that slippery that they can escape everything single time?!

But will Rem fall for Subaru though? Anyways until the next chapter!

They are, well at least Elsa and Menkalin are, they are high ranking assassins after all! There's also a reason he cut his arm off, he's not a vampire so he can't just reattach it. Food for thought you can say. And sadly for Rem, she won't play a big role this arc.