Chapter Text
My take on a dragons candidate because the author hasn’t updated in god knows how long. Subaru will be able to fight a bit better in this one and be a fair bit smarter
CUZ MY MC GOTTA BE A LIL COMPY
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Subaru stared at Emilia with a wide smile, hand over his stomach where he had previously been cut as he received the insignia from a severely embarrassed Felt. Putting on a bright smile, Subaru moved to hand it to her as he made his declaration.
“Tell me your name!”
His bold declaration was matched by an even brighter smile than usual as Emilia could only stare at him with an expression that was mixed between honest exasperation at his bold and endearing request and suspicion that he would ask such a thing of a silver haired half elf.
Despite this, upon witnessing his enthusiasm first hand, she found herself incapable of honestly refusing his statement as she burst into a laugh, covering her mouth slightly as she held her stomach. The sound of her laugh was like silver bells to his ears, his smile and slightly blush only growing further as she gave her answer.
“Emilia, no last name, just Emilia.”
Was her response, barely managing to spit out the words through her laughter.
In the next moment, the absurd happened. Looking downward, Subaru noted that his shirt and the club he used for protection were cleanly cut into two pieces by the excellent knife work of Elsa. “Uh-oh” was all he managed to breathe out as his stomach burst open in a shower of blood.
It took nearly twenty minutes for the girl to properly stabilise him, although she could heal, wounds of this severity were not something she had much experience with. Meanwhile, Reinhard who had been staying silent in a desperate attempt not to ruin the moment had already rushed to Subaru’s side, fussing over him silently to not interrupt Emilia’s focus.
Finally, the wound in his stomach had been properly sealed, leaving the unconscious boy on the floor with his face slightly pale. Emilia stared at him for a moment, worry laced firmly within her tone as she took a glance at Reinhard.
“I should take him to my Manor. He seemed like he really wanted to see me.”
She did her best to hide her excitement that she would be able to receive a friend from Reinhard, and yet he found himself easily seeing through her using his Divine Protection of Empathy. Despite this, his heroic nature would not allow him to leave Emilia extremely downtrodden by what he said next.
“I’m sorry Lady Emilia, urgent business involving this man has come up, so I’ll need to borrow him for a while. Rest assured though, I’m sure he will be visiting you as soon as possible if his attitude earlier today was any indication.”
Cocking her head to the side, Emilia stared at Reinhard with a confused expression.
“What was his attitude like?”
In response, the sword saint only let out a light laugh, glancing down at the man who had treated him so casually since their initial meeting with a fond expression. It was the first time someone had treated him like a person, like any average friend would without paying mind to titles or formalities.
It was a nice feeling, something different compared to Julius’ friendly formality and Felix’s slightly teasing nature. The feeling put him at ease. And for this very reason he was able to smile sincerely, not the forced smiles he used to reassure others when they were in danger and make his statement.
“He called you beautiful.”
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Slowly, Subaru found his eyes fluttering open slightly as he gazed upward at the unfamiliar patterns that were traced across his ceiling. Despite his lethargy, he was able to recognise a vague figure of a red-haired warrior fighting against a dark figure.
Despite his curiosity, his opening statement whenever greeted with an unfamiliar environment remained the same.
“I don’t know this ceiling.”
Lifting himself up from the bed slowly, Subaru was greeted by the smiling form of Reinhard, who seemed to just be entering the room as he was greeted by a shout of alarm from the raven-haired teen.
“Woah! Hey, Reinhard, don’t you know it’s customary that whenever a warrior wakes up from a battle, they are greeted by a beautiful girl asking, ‘Are you ok?’ and giving you a kiss on the cheek for their efforts! What’s going on man!?”
Reinhard stared at his guest blankly for a few moments, unable to process the words that had came out of his mouth before blinking slightly. Being able to respond to statements like those wasn’t something he had been trained to do, after all he was a mo—
“Reinhard, I’m messing with you. We’re friends, right?” Subaru commented, having already gotten up and made his way towards the red-haired sword saint and tapping him lightly on the chest with his fist while flashing him a bright smile.
Unable to figure out a formal response, Reinhard simply went with instinct, flashing Subaru a smile that came as naturally as breathing.
“Yeah, we are Subaru-sama.”
Upon hearing this, Subaru visibly recoiled, staring at Reinhard with an expression that was mixed with horror and shock as he looked him up and down with a frantic expression.
“What’s with the “sama” you’re already way cooler than me why are you speaking like I’m upper class! And you own this huge manor too!” He exclaimed, staring at Reinhard with a puzzled expression as Reinhard simply scratched the back of his head sheepishly before locking eyes with Subaru.
“Ah, I haven’t explained it yet. You have been recognised by the insignia to become a candidate for the new ruler of Lugunica, you along with four other candidates will now be competing for the throne.”
Upon hearing this information, Subaru became stiff as a board. There were multiple pieces of information that he needed to take in all at once and his mind was running at an extremely fast level to compensate for the information.
‘So, the insignia is something that determines if you’re a candidate, which explains why Emilia was so feverish in her search for it. And I’ll be competing with five other people when I don’t even know how to read, a terrible start. But most importantly...’
“I hate monarchies.” Subaru stated his voice calm as he stared directly into Reinhard’s eyes with a tired expression. In the next moment, he sat back down onto the foot of the bed as he rolled his shoulders in anticipation for the future.
“Will you be dropping out, Subaru-sama?” Reinhard asked, his voice laced with a bit of untraceable disappointment, which was quickly wiped away by Subaru shaking his head. “Firstly, if we’re alone then you aren’t the...what’s it called. Sword Saint?”
His response was given through a nodded head which Subaru took as an opportunity to keep speaking. “You can be completely casual around me; that’s what friends are for. Sharing embarrassing moments and all too, although I doubt there will be many on your end. But secondly and more importantly, I don’t dislike the challenge, it just means lots of work. But immediately I become the king or whatever of this kingdom, I’ll be making changes that people might not like. If you want, would you be willing to help?”
Subaru’s statement was vague, and it had been done so intentionally. It was his method of testing how deeply Reinhard trusted him; any answer he gave would have been satisfactory. But with a man who’s mere presence just portrayed the idea of ‘I’m the strongest’ to every person within the planet, life would be much easier.
“I’d help you to the best of my abilities Subaru-sa—Subaru.” At this, he received a bright smile as Subaru shot from his bed with renewed energy. “Alright! First order of business it to get breakfast, nothing can be done on an empty stomach, right? And then we can talk business.”
And so they went, Subaru became quickly acquainted with the maids and butler’s of the immense manor. Two identical twins, who he had constantly mistaken for each other greeted him as he entered the dining room, both bowing in unison as they addressed their guest.
“Good morning, Subaru-dono.” The two said in unison, eliciting a similar shock to what he had felt when Reinhard had addressed him so formally, before he could voice his worries, a calm yet deeply powerful voice resounded in his head, cutting off his complaints.
The two have been trained to be formal to all guests, asking them to be informal might confuse their parents. Reinhard’s calm voice bounced across his consciousness, eliciting a shocked expression from Subaru which he trained completely as he moved to greet his still bowed new set of butlers.
“Ah, good morning. Your names are...” He trailed off, glancing at Reinhard for help as he shrugged slightly. Thankfully, Subaru didn’t have to wait long for his response as the two responded one after another like a set of evenly spread domino’s.
“Flam.” “Grassis.” They both stated, despite this, Subaru was almost entirely sure that he would end up mistaking one for another at several points in time, so he didn’t entirely stress the issue. In the next moment, they guided Subaru towards his food as he eagerly took a seat, wasting no time in digging in.
“This...this is REALLY GOOD!” He exclaimed between bites, glancing at Reinhard who had inexplicably managed to devour his food in between the brief intervals he took between bites as he slowed to a stop. “How in the world did you do that?” he asked, a look of exasperation on his face as he stared at Reinhard wiping his face with a nearby cloth.
“I’m unsure what you’re talking about.” He commented, his voice remaining neutral despite his complete knowledge on exactly what he was referencing. Subaru’s exasperated expression only increased further as he rested his head on the table in mock disappointment as he stared at his remaining pieces of food.
“You know, I pride myself on my ability to devour large amounts of food really quickly. Seeing you make all that disappear in moments is hurting my warriors pride.” He joked, before quickly bursting into another spree of feverish bites as he stared at Reinhard, who refused to meet his eye, staring at the ceiling innocently.
“I won’t lose to you!”
Once he concluded with his meal, Reinhard sighed for a moment, preparing himself for the deciding conversation which would determine if he would truly become knighted to the raven-haired boy in front of him. Regardless of the outcome though, he was extremely fond of Subaru.
He felt like a nineteen-year-old teen for the first time. Not an Astrea nor the strongest.
Just Reinhard.
“So, you have questions about Lugunica I take it?” Reinhard asked calmly, staring at Subaru who’s expression quickly became serious as he let out a long sigh, staring out the window for a moment before he began speaking.
“I mean, well, firstly I’d like to know what sort of reason there is exactly for so many people in the slums. From the looks of it, they weren’t guarded, well fed nor provided for in the slightest! Aren’t the guards supposed to be the police force of here or something?”
A mild look of shame arrived on Reinhard’s face, a small frown gracing his features.
“The guards typically cater to people of middle to upper class. People in the slums aren’t usually considered because they mostly consist of demi-humans and people who the nobles haven’t deemed as necessary for protection.”
At this, Subaru released another long sigh. ‘No matter where I go, racism is always a thing.’ He thought with disappointment.
“Ah, so I take it that there is some form of racism between demi-humans and regular ones. Which also explains why Sate—Emilia was so surprised when I asked her for her name. Well, there’s no need to get into the backstory of it, if I’m running for king the slums and the racism is going to end. People’s fates don’t need to be influenced by where they’re born or what they are.”
Upon hearing his, Reinhard almost smiled, steeling his features barely as he nodded.
“There was a war between demi-humans and humans. I wasn’t there for it, but from the sounds of it, the cause was just a vague idea of human supremacy. It was a completely unjust waste of lives for such arbitrary purposes.” He finished his statement with a grimace, trying his hardest not to frown.
Looking at Subaru, he didn’t quite know what he expected, but a deep frown wasn’t one of them. It appeared like he was deep in thought, so he didn’t speak further until the young man let out another sigh.
“How tepid. I expected more.” Subaru commented, his eyes flashing with anger as he continued his questioning. “Also, who exactly decides who the candidates should be, and why did it pick me?”
“The divine dragon Volcanica is the one who decides the candidates, upon there being crowned a king or queen, then the covenant we formed to with the dragon ensuring protection from all external threats will be reforged. As to why you were chosen, nobody but the dragon knows.”
An audible slap rang out through the room as Subaru dragged his hand across his face, looking quite tired of Lugunica already on his second day here. “So, I have a few questions. And I’d like if I got completely honest answers, is that fair?” Reinhard nodded earnestly, not wanting to deceive his friend as Subaru leaned forward.
“How confident are you in being able to kill the divine dragon?” Subaru asked, his tone completely impassive as Reinhard’s eyes widened. Activating his divine protection of empathy, he searched Subaru for any malicious intent, upon finding none, he sighed and resolved himself to answer. “Quite confident, although it’s supremely strong, I’m certain with the Dragon sword at my side it wouldn’t take much effort.”
Upon hearing this, Subaru slapped his face again. “So, you’re telling me that Lugunica is putting their faith on a covenant with the Dragon which is rendered entirely useless if you ever decided you wanted to destroy Lugunica? Isn’t the dragon completely useless then? What has it actually done for the kingdom?”
Shrugging his shoulders, Reinhard gave the simplest response he could think of. “Volcanica along with my ancestor Reid and the Sage Shaula managed to work together in sealing the witch of envy, and upon doing so the first king of Lugunica forged the covenant with him.”
Usually, such a feat would be something which left the average person in awe, and yet despite this Subaru looked like he was growing more and more disappointed with every passing moment.
“So, it can’t even defeat what I’m assuming is the big-bad of this world alone and needs help from people who are probably dead. In other words, the only thing it’s done was a team effort, so without the team, why is it even useful? Ah, I’m bashing the dragon too much aren’t I?”
A low laugh escaped the red-haired sword saint’s lips as he gave Subaru a warm smile. “I’m sure you and Crusch Karsten would have a wonderful conversation, she seems to share a lot of your views.” He replied, Subaru responded with a laugh towards his statement before shifting the conversation to the second topic.
“More importantly, how do we even know if any of the five candidates are good rulers? Is there a time period where we’re able to determine that? Or does that only start after some time?”
“Well, we’re technically still in the trial period. Seeing as I haven’t announced to the kingdom that you are the fifth candidate. So, I guess this time period is being used so people can prove their worth.”
Once more, Subaru found himself disappointed at the ideas of the kingdom. There was certainly much to change, but firstly before he started anything off, he needed to read and understand the new environment he was about to throw himself into.
And that’s exactly what he did, postponing the idea of meeting with Emilia for a week, he dedicated himself to intense study, attempting to understand the ins and outs of the entire planet. Frankly, his biggest hurdle was understanding the language, but even that came with enough effort.
Soon enough, he found that a week had flown by quickly.
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As light pierced through Subaru’s room, he found himself awake bright and early, continuing his study of Lugunica with a frown on his face.
‘I’m in a new world, with horridly backwards rules and only armed with a power that is activated through my death. Is that even ethical? Does that mean my life has less value? What’s the point in living life if it never ends. Am I meant to be some sacrificial lamb?’
Shaking his head, Subaru barely restrained his mind from falling into the gutter as he picked up a wooden sword, quickly making his way down the stairs for what could only be described as another round of relentless torture.
Fighting Reinhard was like trying to breathe air in space, a completely fruitless affair. Each parry, block and dodge the red-haired teenager did was a further reminder of the monumental gap that stood between the two. And yet, Subaru found himself quite elated at this usage of his time.
He felt himself getting faster, his mind sharper. Since he had asked Reinhard to help him, he could feel everything moving towards the better. And competitively, at the very least he was sure he wouldn’t need to call for his help if he met the same three thugs once more.
“Can’t you just...let me hit you!” His heart pounded against his chest as he growled at the man standing across him. Not even a speck of dirt was laced on his clothes, it was almost infuriating how good he was at fighting. Frankly, he would have been angry if it wasn’t so fun.
Reinhard’s blade moved so casually it was almost insulting, parrying Subaru’s attack with ease. Before Subaru could react, a gentle force pushed against his weapon, forcing him to stagger back. Not willing to waste a second, Subaru twisted his wrist and pivoted on his heel, using the momentum to launch another strike.
Feinting a slash, Subaru dropped his sword entirely and swung a kick at Reinhard’s head, only for the man to lean backwards slightly to evade it. But that was also part of the plan. As his body twisted, he planted his foot on the ground, pushing himself off the floor with force he didn’t know he had.
Every ounce of his body was screaming for him to stop, and yet he spun in the air like a top, his brain screaming in hope that he would hit his opponent even once. And yet, as his knee flew at Reinhard’s head it was only met with a wall like force as he casually caught his knee in his hand.
Casually lowering him to the floor, Reinhard shook his head with a proud smile on his face as he watched Subaru try catch his breathe. “I think this is enough training for today. Speaking of which, where did you get the inspiration for the last move from?” He asked, his expression curious as Subaru wiped sweat off his brow.
“I saw it in a webtoon, some guy called Daniel Park uses it to trick someone overwhelmingly stronger than him and land a single hit. It didn’t work though.” As he finished his statement, he burst into laughter, leaving Reinhard continuously curious as to what exactly a ‘webtoon’ was.
Despite his intense training, the day was especially important for a variety of reasons. As he donned the attire that Reinhard had so graciously offered him, he stared at himself in the mirror with an embarrassed expression as he looked himself over.
‘Ugh, this is so embarrassing. Formal clothes do not suit me.’
As he walked out of his room, he found Reinhard waiting for him, before the young man quickly dropped to a knee with one hand on his heart and the other firmly placed on the floor. “Hold on, Rein...what are you doi—“ He was cut off as Reinhard began his bold declaration.
“I, Reinhard Van Astrea, would be blessed to declare myself the sworn knight of the candidate for the throne Subaru Natsuki. It would be an immense honour if you took me into your camp!” As he finished, Subaru stared at him with an exasperated expression for a few moments before bursting into laughter.
“Sorry—Sorry. I thought we already were in the same camp! After all, who else would I have if not my best friend?” He asked between laughs, at this, Reinhard felt a warm feeling spread through his chest as he rose to his feet. “It’s only formalities, you don’t have to do those around me.” Subaru commented with a wave before rolling his shoulders.
“Are you nervous to meet Lady Emilia?” Reinhard asked, his voice calm yet somehow teasing as Subaru’s head spun in a wide arc to face the man once more, his face as red as the other man’s hair. “Of course I am! Don’t you know it’s customary to be nervous around every beautiful girl you meet!? Wait...don’t tell me...you’ve never—“
Before he could finish, Reinhard walked past him without turning back for even a moment, not showing his face to Subaru as he made his way outside. “I deny all allegations levied towards me!” He commented, his voice a little louder than he had intended revealing his embarrassment.
Subaru’s face cracked open into a wide smile as he chased after the red-haired knight.
“Don’t worry! Being eternally single happens to the best of us! Wait, you are the best of us, hah!”
And so, candidate and knight made their way towards Miload manor. Even with all Reinhard’s divine protections and Subaru’s intelligence. Neither could predict that Subaru’s fourth death would occur within that very building.