Uploading date: 12/29/2018 [M/D/Y]

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

Chapter 3: Familiar Faces

"It's morning time… and Beatrice is already nowhere to be seen?"

Looking around the rather confusing mansion, I search and search but to no avail, she was not present, "Nee-san, have you seen Beatrice by chance?" She turned around with an impeding arrogant look, "Heh, did Barusu let Beatrice-sama slip past his sight? Huh, that's weird isn't it, aren't you the master at babysitting? How could you have let this happen, my, if Barusu is asking for help from the great Ram, then bow down and plead for forgiveness for the shame you've brought upon her!"

"Man, if your chest was as big as your ego, you'd have easily beaten Rem in something"

"Go die in hell you shameless bastard"

Okay, provoking Ram in the morning isn't the best course of action, "I'll take that as a no, guess I'll be on my way, see you later Ram" Dashing away before her raging hands could reach any closer, I escaped impending doom by a strand of hair. Today, I'm supposed to accompany Emilia to the royal palace, since Roswaal had some business to take care of, he couldn't come with.

"Everyone's going all over the place, just hope Beatrice doesn't cause trouble in the streets…"

I head over to the entrance gate, where Emilia-san was waiting for me, "Ready to go Subaru?" I nod with a smile, I've prepared everything I need, not that there was much to prepare anyway, just brought my weapons and some cash to spare in case I decide to go shopping, the magic woven sac from Farielle was a really handy tool to have.

We got on our ready-made carriage, it had the Karsten's family emblem on it, a nice touch I must say, must be for letting us into the royal palace, "It's gonna be one hell of a palace, isn't it Emilia-san…" she nods as the driver whipped the reins, we were off, "The marketplace is as busy as ever, this was where we met right"

"Indeed it is, I remember you coming in to help me when I didn't need help at all though…"

"I don't think that sounded like a thank you, but you're welcome…"

"Merciless woman you are, no consideration for my pride as a warrior…"

That being said, I did save her when Elsa decided to show up, so I was able to make up for that, good, good, "Oh, I can see the palace from here" she chimed at me, I look out the window, and I could see it too, it was as large as one would expect a palace to be in, to think that we'd one day rule the country from up there.

"Speaking of which, there's supposed to be five candidates right?"

"Yes, it's me, Crusch-san, and three others"

We pass through several buildings, all of different shapes and sizes, from shops to households, all the way till the palace. A large structure it was, the gate itself was larger than I'd expected, the carriage slipped inside, the guards immediately moving to the side when they caught sight of the emblem on the carriage.

"That emblem is a really handy tool, isn't it?"

We were lead deeper into the palace grounds, the hedges were trimmed to utter perfection, their designs were flawless, it's like having several Rems working overtime. "Ah, there he is" Standing in front of a rather large entrance door, we saw what could only be a knight, their imperial uniform was striking, no one could mistake it.

We got off the carriage and approached the knight who stood alone. When he caught sight of us, he smiled and bowed down, we did the same as greeting, "Emilia-same, I'm happy to see that you've made it here safely…" "Hmm, it's nice to see you again, Julius" Ah, they're already acquainted? Emilia sure does have some connections doesn't she?

"That striking purple hair, heh, it'd be impossible to mistake you for another person, your Julius Jukuulius of the royal guards, given the alias as on the greatest knights among all knights, that is you right?"

"Ah, I'm humbled you know of me, may I have your name, good sir?"

"I'm Natsuki Subaru, I've come as part of the Emilia camp representative, not something as fancy as you… to think we'd get a tour of the palace from someone as important as you, hmm, I feel honored, this isn't a chance you're presented with everyday…"

"Ah, Subaru, I just realized, is Beatrice not with us today?"

"No? I left her behind, why?"

"I was sure you'd bring her along…"

Well, I did have thoughts of bringing her along, but that'd just be tedious, it's better to not complicate things, though, I do think that letting her go out there alone might have been irresponsible of me, "Then, without further delay, let's commence this tour…" He leads the way, opening up the gigantic door that stood in front of us, I get having a big gate, but a front door of this size is a little much isn't it? I mean, it's not like anyone's ever gonna grow that big.

.

He showed us to many places, all of which just seemed to be oversized halls with a bunch of things stuff in just so they could call it something other than a hall, these royals are living the time of their lives aren't they? Isn't this a bit overwhelming? No, it definitely is for me, I'm the one being overwhelmed here!

"The meeting will be held in the throne room, which is inside here…"

Opening up another oversized door, he brought us into a hall like area with an arrangement of seats on top of a bunch of steps, I don't exactly see a throne, so that must be where the sage council sits, "The meeting will be held in this room, later today, we have a few hours until then, I have patrolling duty to attend to so I'll be taking my leave here…"

"Ah, actually, I wanna go look for someone, so mind if I trouble you by tagging along?"

"Not at all"

"Right then, sorry for leaving you all alone Emilia-san, but I'm a little worried about what she's up to"

"Ah it's okay, I'll stay here, Roswaal should be here in a moment, I'll wait a little longer for him, do remember to come by at noon, I'll be anxious if you suddenly don't show up you know?" Well, I did tell her that if she was ever in a pinch during the meeting, I'd come and talk some sense them all, but now that I'm here, I feel like it's going to be a lot harder than I originally thought.

"Don't worry, I'll rush right over when it's time, and they don't let me in, I'll find my way around the guards and probably sneak in through the roof or something, maybe enter through a window, I'm sure they won't mind…"

"I'm afraid they would, Subaru, it's okay, if anything inconvenient like that happens, I can come and help out"

"Haah, really now? You're a life-saver, I'd rather my head not get chopped off for infiltrating the royal palace"

"We don't take such drastic measures against that, Subaru…"

We wave off to Emilia-san as we take our different routes, while she stayed in the palace, we went out to the city to venture around, "Going for your patrol, Julius?" A man called out to him, he was by the gate, he didn't look familiar, not someone I know, "Yes, I'm about to leave right now"

"And this here is?"

"Natsuki Subaru, representative of one of the camps that's participating in the royal election, he'd like to tag along with me while I do my patrol"

"I see, I'm Marcos Gildark, Leader of the royal guards, a pleasure to meet you"

"Heeh? I feel like I'm meeting a lot of important people in such a short amount of time, the pleasure is mine, sir…"

To think that'd I'd be introduced to both, the greatest knight, and the captain of the royal guards, what a day today is, perhaps this spells good omens for the future? "Like hell that'd happen, my lifes always full of misery, a little coincidence like this is just to trick me, isn't it fate…" "Your rather pessimistic aren't you, Subaru?"

"I'd rather you use the word cautious, pessimism is something I try to stray away from, it makes me hesitant, lose confidence, among other things, though being too optimistic isn't the way to go either…"

"Hmm, that sounds like life advice does it not?"

"I've traveled across borders, you can say it's the tales of a wandering traveler. Well, since I decided to sit down for a few years, guess I won't be wandering as far as I'd like to…"

"Are you perhaps a foreigner Subaru?"

"I'm from Kararagi, yeah, why ask?"

"It's rare seeing someone with hair as dark as your's around here"

"No kidding, you guys have enough variation in your hair that you could probably make a rainbow if you all lined up, I was surprised you know? It wasn't every day that you got to see people with such bright colored hair back where I lived my younger days…"

We went around the city, helping out people, and on the look out, there was nothing that happened which could be marked as trouble, the only thing that could be remotely close to trouble would be the bickering of street kids, if something were to happen, I'm sure Beatrice would show up to the scene, not as an onlooker but maybe as the assailant.

"The city is as lively as ever it seems…"

"I think cities are meant to be lively, Julius, it's like their reason for existing…"

We continued our idle chit-chat until I felt something, "Oh, that's gotta be her, she's somewhere near here…" I can feel her presence nearby, she's looking around this area it seems, oh no, no way, it has to be fate right, for her to be in this area while roaming around?

"Nhh…"

"Look kid… their all the same…"

"Silence, I suppose…"

I can't believe it even though I'm seeing it, Julius is probably looking at me weirdly right now, to think that those two would meet up before me, this is some kind of black magic happening around here, I don't mind it at all! "..." "..." I crouch down behind her as she scanned the not so varied appas on the crate, "Then, I'll be taking this one…"

"Only one? I'll feel a little lonely if you're not going to get me one you know…"

"Kyaaa! W-What are you doing here, I sup-ppoise!"

"Ah, you flubbed your catchphrase there"

"Don't change the subject, I suppose!"

Patting the head of the flustered Beatrice, I grab the appa in her hand and toss it over to Kadomon, "Yo, it's been a while hasn't it?" he grabs it as it approaches him and sighs, "It has been, she someone you know?" He asks while pointing over to Beatrice who was trying to get herself together, the scare really did a number on her.

"Yeah, she's with me, let me introduce her, Beatrice, this is appa man, Kadomon, this is drill loli"

"I'd rather you not give me such a heinous nickname, I suppose!"

"And I sell more than just appas you know?"

With the quick introductions, we had a little bit of idle talk until Beatrice became the topic, "So what is she, a friend? Are you like her nana or something" Eh, wasn't that a little too harsh Kadomon, not even I'd go that far, "Well we've decided to settle with the relationship of siblings you see"

"What do you mean by, 'settle', seems like it's implying something…"

"Nothing at all, you see, our contract comes with a few complications"

"Contract? What, did you get into a planned marriage with a nobles girl or something?"

"N-No, the last thing I'd like to do is marry a four-hundred-year-old granny in the body of a child"

"Betty shall take that as an insult, I suppose, calling me a granny is also crossing the line, you know, prepare to die..."

"Okay, guess I'll just leave you guys at that then… so, you need anything? Or just came by to make fun of business again? I don't really have that much time in my hands so if you're gonna buy things then buy them, or else, make way for others" How cruel, and I even went out of my way to find you, by chance that is.

"I'll take the usual dozen"

"Huh? You don't usually take a dozen but okay…"

Putting some appas into a plastic bag, I gave him his pay and we made our way back to Julius, "I've been wondering who's the sparkling man standing by the sidelines, I suppose…" Sparkling man? Guess he's just that handsome, a bait for envy is what he is alright, "That sparkling man right there is Julius, a knight I met back in the palace. Beatrice-san, could it be, you've found your first love!"

"Don't go acting crazy now, I suppose, it'll take more than sparkles to enrapture Betty's heart, and what are they anyway, these sparkles are really annoying, in fact!"

"Ah, sorry, then there's no mistaking it then, you are a spirit, yes?"

Her eyes sparkled once he mentioned that, "Perhaps I have found my first love then, I suppose…" Augh my heart, "Beatrice-san, if you leave me now, I'll probably die of loneliness you know…" Sulking in the corner, while she dazzles on such a handsome guy, I feel rather hurt, "If you're really going to be lonely, then you would have died long ago, I suppose"

"Ouch, my heart, that was too mean, Beatrice!"

"Perhaps?"

"Don't perhaps me, that's as mean as you can get!"

"Indeed, that was mean, I'm sorry, I suppose, Betty will stay with you as long as you need"

I feel a little conflicted about having a little girl pat me on my head, isn't our roles supposed to be switched here? The little ones are the ones getting petted, aren't they? "Hmm, it seems you have been affected by my blessing, the Divine protection of spirit gathering…then, let me introduce myself properly, Julius Jukuulius, an imperial knight, it's an honor to meet you," He says with a polite bow, why aren't the women in the streets going crazy for him yet?

"I'm Beatrice, just Beatrice, I suppose"

"Oh, but I recall you were talking abo-"

"Don't listen to something he says so easily I suppose. Since you've found out that I'm a spirit, then simply refer to me as Subaru's contracted spirit, I suppose" he nods, going along with her wishes, "As you wish… but then wouldn't it have been better were you to tell that man back then about it?"

"That wouldn't be possible because of our contract, I suppose"

"I see..."

With the addition of Beatrice into the party, we venture onwards through the marketplace, still nothing out of the ordinary happening.

"Is it usually this peaceful over here?"

"Hmm, it is rather uneventful, at least when it's my turn to patrol"

"I see…"

Well, it wasn't the most peaceful place last time, though, I guess we can just call that one a coincidental encounter, though those don't happen too often, "Hand over your money lady!" "Excuse me?" Two voices rung through my ears, familiar voices, it seems the other two have heard it as well and are about to rush over to see the commotion, I grab them before they could lift their feets off the ground.

"S-Subaru?"

"What are you doing, I suppose?"

"Calm down guys… let me handle this one" I walk over and turn the corner, the voices get more clearer, I remember this voice very clearly, this must be my lucky day, "Well, look who we have here!" I stomp my foot on the ground forcefully to get all of their attention, the woman in red, no, forget about the woman, I'm not interested in her whatsoever, my target is, "We meet again…"

The three thugs from back then who tried to rob me of my money, oh, fate has been a very kind woman today, I can't thank her enough, "Hey, it's the brat…" Yes, it's the brat, keep calling me that and I won't leave any of you alive, "Might as well just take his money to-" I slam my fist straight into the guys face, "Guoh-" His body flailed back and slammed into the other two, though, that wasn't enough to stop his momentum, they kept on flying back till they slammed against the wall, I think I heard a snap there, did one of their bones break? Ah, I wanted to break a few more if possible.

"Hey, come on now, I'm not satisfied yet, let me punch you some more!"

I step front, the whole area flooded with my bloodlust, I too am capable of eliciting such an emotion, "R-Run for it!" The big made a break for it, grabbing the other two with him deeper into the alleyway, and out of my sight, "Tch... I let them escape" Curling my fist back into my pocket, I sighed out loud, and turned around.

"Hey, you al- Ah, I was wondering where I heard that voice from"

"Don't think of this as you saving me, I could've handled that situation without effort"

"No don't worry, I didn't do that for you, I met those guys a while back, just wanted to repay them a favor…"

I walk over to the ungrateful woman, well, it's less of her being ungrateful and more of her just admitting defeat, "Priscilla Barielle, it's been a while hasn't it?" I pulled my hand out for a handshake, though she doesn't seem willing to, "I would have spared some of my energy for a greeting, but seeing that you've got a stain there, i'll have to reconsider…"

Ah, there's a spot of blood there, it's not even mine, "You're using different clothes, they look much more refined, have you perhaps evolved from being a mere commoner, perhaps?" Wiping of the blood in my hand, I walk past her, nodding, "You can say i've leveled up in terms of occupation…"

"So, how's Schult? Oh, and is Aldebaran here by chance?"

"The little boy is fine, he's in my care wouldn't that be obvious? And the other one you speak of is currently staying back in my place, I can't have him not be absent when I need him" The other one huh? I kinda feel bad for Al, maybe she really is just ungrateful, well, there's no changing a person once they're like that.

"Subaru… who's that woman…"

Beatrice asks, entering the conversation with a rather coy attitude, "What's with the timidness? Perhaps your not good with strangers- ouch!" Stepping on foot in annoyance, she sulks in the other direction, "My, who is this cute child here…" It seems Beatrice managed to drag her attention, well, that's no surprise, this woman has a soft spot for children after all.

"Her names Beatrice, she's with me"

"Hmm, how old is she?"

"Which age do you want to know?"

"What do you mean which?"

"Mentally, physically, and actual, you get to choose from those three" I gave her a condescending look while giving the options, though she narrows her eyes on me, "If you're giving me choices like that, I'm afraid of finding out…" She gave me a disgusted look, wait, I was actually serious about that.

"Well, a child is a child, she acts like one so I'll leave it at that…"

"That sounded like an insult, but why does it feel so wholesome, I suppose?!"

"You're asking me? Ask all the children she's enchanted with her insanely powerful motherhood, ah, speaking of which, you haven't gone and killed another husband have you?" Hearing me say that, Beatrice who was at that moment standing beside her rushed over to my side, shivering, "Wait, killed?! What is this woman, I suppose!?"

"Now see what you have done, don't make it seem like I deliberately killed them off you know, it was just a coincidence, each of them… no, Leip might not have been a coincidence, but even still, it wasn't I who took away that damn scheming bastard's life"

"Hey, pushing the blame on someone else doesn't really change much, she's still gonna be scared of you"

"Betty is not scared, I suppose, I'm merely wary of her, stay away from Subaru in fact!"

"She seems quite attached to you, I'm a little envious..."

Oh, that was an ominous feeling just now, it seems she doesn't like it when kids treat other people better than her, it seems deep down she's just the same ungrateful person she's always been, "Well, nothing to be done about that, what are you doing here anyway? Normally you'd usually be in your mansion over near the border right? Rare seeing you out of your usual place"

"I may be one that stands high, but I'm still a human deep down, my wanderlust simply got the better of me and this is where it lead me to"

Heh, not even Ram can beat that head of yours, "Well then, I'm pretty much the same, difference being that I got an important job to do here, so I guess I'll be seeing you…" I wave off and turn around, bringing Beatrice with me, she waves back, but only to Beatrice, but before we were gone, she replied, "Oh, we'll be seeing each other soon enough…"

I knew little about what that meant, so I didn't pay attention at all, "It seems Julius has left without us…" he could have at least told me, "He had someone calling him so he's left, I suppose… so where to now?" A good question indeed, since our escort is gone, we're left to roam around aimlessly until the time for the meeting.

"Well, let's look around now shall we…"

"Psst-"

"Huh?"

We had just turned a corner and there's already someone calling me back, I'm meeting a lot of people today aren't I? "Hey, kid…" Oho, another familiar face, "It's Rom from the (destroyed) bar! It's been a while, how's your shoulder doing?" From what I can see, it seems to have fully healed, good for him.

"It's alright, all thanks to you, now, could ya tell me where Felt is?"

Felt, the brat from that night, the one who stepped on me, the little bastard, "Yeah, I know where she is, but it's basically impossible for you to get over there right now, they'll only let special people in" He gave a look of disparity, well, one would be like that after all the happenings, I guess we can label Reinhard as a kidnapper now.

"Don't worry, I'm pretty sure she's safe, say, I got an idea to get you two back together"

"What do you have in mind?"

"I'm gonna need you to follow my orders okay?"

"I'm in for it"

Okay, so let's just speed this part up, basically what happened was, I bought some chains and had him lightly tie his in a comfortable position. Then I had him stay in the old ruined bar house for the time being, and I told him, "This is the story, two knights decided to capture you for reasons you have no idea, they were going to execute you but then I came in and managed to delay it for a bit, and then you've been waiting ever since"

He was skeptical at first, but if it was for Felt, he'd damn sit there and do it even if it was for years, "Familial love, how heartwarming isn't it Beatrice?" "It may be a little too heartwarming if you ask me…" After all that had been dealt with, it was finally time for us to head back to the palace, I dragged Beatrice along with me this time, she's coming whether she liked it or not.

But alas, another problem surfaced the moment we made it to the palace gates, "Halt, no entry!" Huh? There were two guards, full body armor, with spears crossed together to block our path, "Wait… what?! I need to be in there, the meeting's about to start" They didn't budge whatsoever, only repeating, "No entry!" to my face.

"Damn that Julius, leaving me like this!"

A/N

Woohoo, early chapters, getting back into the flow, yay me! My schedule is still messed up, with me staying up at night and napping the day away, this is no good isn't it?

Well, since I've expanded the story much more than the original first three arcs, [Currently got the next 3 arcs covered + the ending] I changed up a bunch of things, the Priscilla camp, had many changes, and there will be an arc covering that later on after the Sanctuary one,I won't make characters act totally different, Priscilla only acted the way she acts because of things that happened in the past, in reality, with anyone else, she'll still act like the arrogant little shit she is...

If there are things that get out of character, it would only be to the result of interacting with this new Subaru, who's vastly different from the original.

Spookysharma

I really enjoyed this chapter and I was waiting so long for this. It was so good to see that my wait was not in vain, well, they are never in vain when I read your stories. Although I just wanted to know if you are trying for a Ram X Subaru shipping here. If this was truly the case, it would be so awesome. Ram is my most favorite character after Echidona and Pandora so, I really wish to see a Ram X Subaru shipping.

Ram is indeed an amazing character, but sadly this won't turn out to be a Ram x Subaru, well, it's not really going to be a Subaru shipping, no romance here… though if a Ram X Subaru is what you want… then mayhaps, it shall be granted in the near future…

It's hard to make such a pairing (for me at least) due to Roswaal's hindrance on the subject...

Honghai Blizzard

Luz so Subaru and Ferris bonding over literature taste... I can see lots of face-palming in the futures.

Hummu, there sure will be!

Back with the Character sheets! (only relevant characters show up)

1.)Julius Jukuulius

Age:- 22

Likes:- Knight's honor

Dislikes:- Disgrace, Shame, Humiliation

Magic:- All

Weapon of choice:- Spirit arts, longsword

2.)Priscilla Barielle

Age:-21

Likes:- Children, praise

Dislikes:- Anything that displeases her

Magic:- Yang

Weapon of choice:- N/A as of now