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A.N: Yoooo finally season 3!!!!
This is an upload of my first fanfic and one-shot on Fanfic.net, so it's not my best work in both writing and style, but I wanted to upload it anyway.
This one's a Re:forgotten spinoff, but I decided to try something different: s ince most of Re: forgotten projects are incomplete, I've written it as a journal, so that I could tell the whole story without writing 100k+ words and actually finish the fic.
Enjoy your tears!
Disclaimer: all the characters belong to Tappei Nagatsuki
Newspaper Article by Thomas Erkeul, from the National Newspaper of Priestella
The Natsuki Case: The Fall of the Hero of Priestella
Phase 1: The Appearance of an Unknown Man
It's May 13, two months before the Royal Selection.
At that time, four of the five royal candidates foreseen by the Dragon's Tablet had been found through the Dragon's Jewels.
These candidates were: the Duchess Crush Karsten, the immensely wealthy merchant Anastasia Hoshin, the noble Priscilla Barielle, and the half-elf Emilia, who shares resemblances with the Witch of Envy. On that day, one of them, Emilia, had her Jewel, which proved her legitimacy as a candidate, stolen. This fact was omitted when it happened, as it could have generated a scandal capable of sinking her camp, but it was later revealed during the investigation by Margrave Roswaal L. Mathers, her political investor.
The thief was a girl from the slums, Felt, the future fifth candidate, whose physiological traits were familiar to those of the royal bloodline of Lugunica. She had been tasked with stealing the jewel by another person, Elsa Granhiert, the Bowel Hunter, who was hired by another client, whose identity is still unknown.
They were supposed to meet at the Loothouse, the home of Felt and her grandfather Rom, a veteran of the Demi-human War. And this is where the protagonist of the story I am narrating comes into play: Natsuki Subaru, the future Hero of Priestella, slayer of the Archbishops of the Sin of Sloth and Greed, the White Whale, and, unofficially, the Great Rabbit.
He was a simple boy wearing strange clothes who did not appear to have any documents of any kind.
The reason he was at the Loothouse was to negotiate with Felt for the Jewel, with the intention of returning it to Emilia, even though she had never met him before. There, a clash took place between Elsa and Emilia, which ended with the latter's victory after Sir Reinhard, the Sword Saint, intervened in the battle during his day off, and defeated Elsa.
Following the clash, Reinhard took Felt to the Astrea estate after discovering that she was the last candidate, and Emilia decided to take Subaru in as a guest at the Mathers' mansion as a reward for his heroic actions.
Here, Natsuki Subaru decided to take up a position as a butler, and after a few days, he successfully bonded with the members of the camp, particularly with Rem, one of the maids, who would become his loyal follower.
Time passes, and everything goes smoothly until the day of the start of the Royal Selection. Natsuki Subaru disobeys the orders of his lady Emilia, who wanted him to stay out of the way, and shows up at the opening ceremony of the Selection.
He draws attention to himself, disrespects the Sages and Knights because they verbally attacked Emilia, and is punished by the now ex-knight Julius Juukulius after losing a duel to him. As a result, his relations with his Camp freeze, and he is sent to the Karsten estate along with Rem to heal his Gate, which was damaged during his time as a butler. Here, he will plan the first of his legendary feats: the defeat of the White Whale and the Archbishop of the Sin of Sloth. By involving and uniting the forces of Crush's and Anastasia's Camps with his own, demonstrating great diplomatic talent, he successfully subdues the White Whale.
After that, the victorious army splits into two parts.
The first part, led by Natsuki Subaru, proceeds into the Mathers territory to defeat the Sin Archbishop of Sloth, who intended to attack Emilia.
The second, led by Crusch, returns to the Capital to bring back the White Whale's carcass.
Unfortunately, Crusch's faction gets ambush by the Witch Cult, led by the Sin Archbishops of Greed, Regulus Corneas, and Gluttony, Ley Batenkaitos.
Around 450 men lose their lives, names, or memories, including Crusch herself, who loses her memories, and Rem, who is forgotten by the rest of the world and falls into a coma, known as the Sleeping Beauty Syndrome. This fact is crucial to keep in mind as it serves as an alibi for the only innocent person affiliated with Emilia's Camp in the Natsuki case.
Additionally, this event will create the motive for one of the tormentors of the Hero of Priestella, Felix Argyle, at the time a knight of Crusch Karsten and holder of the Blue position, who was devastated by the loss of his lady's memories.
After the Archbishop's attack, Natsuki Subaru returns to the Mathers' domain and heads to the Sanctuary, a location kept secret by the Margrave, as it contains the remains of the Witch of Greed. During these four days of stay, Natsuki Subaru defeats Elsa Granhiert, who was hired by Roswaal L. Mathers, and the Great Rabbit.
Furthermore, he forms a contract with the great Yin Spirit Beatrice, and recruits Garfiel Tinzel, who will later become known as the Shield of the Camp, and Otto, the Minister of Internal Affairs of the Camp.
A week later, he is knighted by Emilia at Miload Mansion, the new residence of Roswaal L. Mathers.
Phase 2: The Fall
A year passes.
Anastasia Hoshin decides to invite all factions except Priscilla's to Priestella for negotiations.
During their stay in Priestella, the city is attacked by the Witch Cult, led by the Archbishops of Greed, Wrath, Lust, and two Archbishops of Gluttony, Ley Batenkaitos and Roy Alphard.
Natsuki Subaru manages to kill the Archbishop representing Greed, while Priscilla, also in Priestella, succeeds in imprisoning the Archbishop of the Sin of Wrath, Sirius Romanee-Conti.
However, many people lost their lives or were transformed into flies, deformed pieces of flesh, or lost their names. One of these people was Julius Juukulius, who lost his name.
Following the failed attack, the two Archbishops of the Sin of Gluttony and the one of Lust flee, and Natsuki Subaru is hailed as the Hero of Priestella.
Ironically, this would be the last moment of greatness he would experience.
A few days later, during the assessment of the damage inflicted on the citizens and infrastructure, a contingent of the Witch's Cult, commanded solely by Roy Alphard, decides to take revenge on Natsuki Subaru by stealing his name.
Phase 3: The Trial
Shortly after this event, his friends arrest him on charges of being the Sin Archbishop of Pride due to the Witch's scent emanating from his body. This accusation is brought by Beatrice, Natsuki Subaru's former Great Spirit, who stated that the scent he emitted was on par with that of an Archbishop, despite him not possessing a Gospel like all the Cultists.
The Hero of Priestella continued to proclaim his innocence, asserting that he was Emilia's knight, but lacking overwhelming evidence to clear his name, he was placed in custody in Priestella's Maximum Security Prison, alongside the other Archbishops.
A trial was convened before the Council of Sages, where all the Camps and the entire Royal Knight Army were present, but Natsuki Subaru had to defend himself alone, as no lawyer was willing to defend a presumed Archbishop of Sin.
In the aftermath of the Gluttony attack, many of the events now known once again were altered in people's consciousness, with no clear vision of who was responsible for those legendary feats.
Natsuki Subaru was able to defend himself against the charges brought against him, with the testimony of Crusch Karsten and Reinhard van Astrea, both holders of the Divine Protection of Wind.
However, there was one accusation that Natsuki Subaru could not defend against: he knew how to read the Gospel, something impossible for anyone not part of the Cult.
To prove his innocence once and for all, he is asked to read a copy of a Gospel, and unaware of what it was, he reads it.
This was the evidence the Wise Men needed to imprison him on charges of being an Archbishop, and Natsuki Subaru is declared guilty.
Out of the 10 Sages, only 2 opposed the verdict.
It would later be discovered that this verdict was issued to increase the prestige of the Wise Men.
At that point, Natsuki Subaru is placed back in a maximum-security prison, but this time in the Capital, so he could be interrogated and monitored. Here, he is tortured for three consecutive months by Felix Argyle and Julius Juukulius, both eager to extract information from him on how to reverse the effects of the Archbishop of the Sin of Gluttony.
Of course, Natsuki Subaru never revealed any information, as he had none, but he was never believed.
Witnesses to the torture reported that Felix alternated between boiling his nerves and blood, then healing him, and starting over again, while Julius beat him, in addition to depriving him of food and sleep.
Three months later, Natsuki Subaru died.
His last, inexplicable words were: "Satella, please, free me from this hell and let me die."
Phase 4: The Aftermath
Two years pass.
The Selection ended a few months ago, and Felt, against all odds in the initial polls, won the Elections and is crowned Queen of Lugunica.
Immediately after the coronation, Felt appoints Emilia as the Kingdom's Prime Minister, a move that still raises many doubts. This decision is motivated by the fact that a year earlier, the entire Emilia Camp had been absorbed by Felt's, as Roswaal L. Mathers decided to no longer sponsor his own Camp, leaving it without a financier.
Soon after, Queen Felt decides to organize an expedition to the Pleiades Watchtower for two main reasons.
The first was the hope that the Sage could provide a spell capable of reversing the effects of Lust and Gluttony.
The second was to obtain explanations for the phenomenon that had plagued the Tower for two years, following Natsuki Subaru's death, which included earthquakes, abnormal Yin energy emissions, the gathering of Mabeasts, and diseases that had afflicted the inhabitants closest to the Tower, who lived tens of kilometers away from it. The suspicion is that the seal trapping the Witch of Envy has weakened.
This expedition consisted of her most trusted knight, Reinhard van Astrea, and members of the former Emilia Camp.
The journey was supposed to last two months, but an unforeseen event occurred during the first month of travel.The carriage destined for the expedition intercepted a battalion of Cultists, who had always sought access to the Watchtower to free the Witch. This battalion was composed of both Archbishops of Gluttony, the same ones who had stolen the name of the Hero of Priestella, and a woman.
Garfiel's testimonies tell us that this woman was petite, beautiful, with platinum-colored hair, and was dressed in only a cloth. In the State Archives, we were unable to find any information on a person with these characteristics.
Reinhard easily kills them, but he fails to arrest the woman, who dissolves into nothing after announcing that the effects of Gluttony would disappear after a day.
The next day, total panic ensues.
Everyone remembers the fallen, the sacrifices, and the victims. Finally, the gaps in their consciences are filled, but at what cost?
For the first 2 hours, everyone is happy, because each has been returned what was rightfully theirs, but then comes the realization that there are unsettled debts to pay along with the recoveries.
Among them was that of Natsuki Subaru.
The first person to realize her mistake is Prime Minister Emilia, who immediately decides to go to the maximum-security prison with Queen Felt. But they arrived too late: none of the staff could provide clear explanations regarding the Archbishop's detention.
At that point, they search the Archives and the result shocks them: Natsuki Subaru had been dead for 2 years. His body, torn beyond any possibility of healing, had been incinerated and his ashes scattered to the wind.
Meanwhile, at House Miload, things heat up: Rem wakes up from her coma, greeted by her sister Ram with tears in her eyes, and by the rest of the staff.
But when she asks about her hero, the atmosphere changes from warm to one of icy terror.
Also the Margrave, previously in a state of decline due to the loss of memories, intends to verify the condition of the deceased knight and sets off with the staff towards the prison.
At the Karsten estate, tragedy strikes almost immediately.
As soon as Crusch Karsten returns to being the person she once was, she realizes that a key comrade-in-arms for the Whale hunt is missing and orders her butler, Wilhelm van Astrea, Reinhard's grandfather, to go check on the condition of the Hero of Priestella.
The only group of people to deal later with the consequences of their judgment was that of the expedition to the Watchtower, which failed its mission since the miasma surrounding the Tower was too harmful for them and they risked killing each other if there wasn't the Sword Saint.
After three months of travel, they were greeted by the army, which declared all participants except the Sword Saint under arrest for false testimony against Natsuki Subaru.
No one took the news of the Hero of Priestella's death well.
Prime Minister Emilia decides to resign immediately from her position and returns to the Elior Forest. From that moment on, nothing more is known about her, and the weather conditions in the forest have worsened to the point that the place has become almost uninhabitable.
At the Mathers estate, two weeks after Gluttony's defeat, Rem's body is found hanging in her room with her own weapon, a spiked ball attached to a chain.
The Margrave also meets a similar end and commits suicide, though the cause of the act is still would have killed herself the following day, lacking emotional ties. Instead, Ram's body was decapitated, and the coroner determined that she used wind magic on herself. This series of events is now known as the Mather's Chains of Suicide.
The condition of the Great Spirit Beatrice is unknown, but considering she fainted during her preventive arrest, at best, she has fallen into a manic-depressive state, worsened by the fact that she is a Spirit who betrayed her Contractor.
To this day, Julius Juukulius and Felix Argyle remain in prison and have to serve a 43-year sentence for the torture of an innocent man, along with their jailers.
Of course, they have been stripped of all knighthood honors and possessions, despite the protests of the Juukulius family.
Garfiel Tinzel also went to prison, but for a different reason: he believed his punishment, a fine of 300 gold coins, was not enough, so he killed a man to end up behind bars.
Reinhard van Astrea and Crusch Karsten also suffered severe dishonor for their failure to protect a friend from the slander of others.
The former decided to resign from the position of Sword Saint, intending to pass his role on to someone else, while the latter found herself cut off from much of the political and diplomatic ties.
Anastasia Hoshin lost her best knight, but her business continues at the same pace as before, despite the scandal.
Queen Felt, after learning that the outcome of Natsuki Subaru's trial was motivated by image profit rather than genuine belief in guilt, sentenced all the Wise Men to death, except for the two who stood against the conviction.
She is now having trouble maintaining her reign, as various demonstrations and popular uprisings are igniting the Kingdom of Lugunica after informations about Natsuki Subaru began to leak from the Royal Palace.
The only people who are not in prison and can be found are Otto Suwen, fallen in disgrace, Petra, a former young maid of Roswaal, and Frederica Baumann, another former Roswall's maid, whose testimonials were used to write this article.
I don't think there is much more to say than anyone did before, but let me share one last thought on this cruel, horrible story.
Maybe we should focus on the human part of the Cultists, as crazy it may sound.
Maybe if we weren't so incompetent and actually be a bit wise, a lot of people wouldn't be cultists, criminals, or anything else.
This story showed us the lack of responsibility of the Reign towards its own citizens.
We should be more careful with our enemies, because maybe they once were a Natsuki Subaru too, before becoming Cultists.
Thomas Erkeul