Chapter Text
The throne room, once a place of grandiose, now filled with despair, rage, sorrow and dread. This day is not unlike the others, for it holds a trial that could doomed Lugunica if not proceed with utmost certainty.
The trial of Julius Juukulius and Felix Argyle.
For what crime you may ask?
The death of Natsuki Subaru.
The boy, once a Half-elf knight, mistakenly labelled as Sin archbishop of Pride by his own formerly contracted Great Spirit of Yin. He has torture for information that he didn’t have and killed by the very kingdom he served.
They thought that they finally achieved a victory against the Witch cult, yet they are nothing more than an actor that plays their part. When Reinhard slayed one of the Gluttony, it released a name that was devoured, ‘Natsuki Subaru’, and now they have to suffer from the consequences.
The room consists of the audience, many of whom have a connection with the boy. Whether to be the half-elf camps, which the half-elf is currently sobbing, the thief whose face was red with anger, the foreign princess who watched with both amusement and disdain toward the situation. But nothing compared to the feeling of the merchant and the duchess camp.
Crusch Karsten, once a respectable figure in the kingdom, can only lower her head down due to the guilt and stare of others. Her own knight killed a heroic boy, the same boy who helped kill the white whale, the great rabbit, and slayers of Sloth and Greed. At the time, she was an amnesiac who desperately wanted to reclaim her memory back. But in the process, letting Felix do whatever it takes to get it. And now, her candidacy…no, her life is ruined by her own knight. She got her memory back, but now it didn’t matter to her anymore.
Anastasia Hoshin was uncharacteristically nervous. She knew that no amount of materialistic value can regain what the kingdom has lost. She knew the boy holds valuable information ever since their first meeting. But to choose between him and Julius, she has to choose Julius, for he has been her knight for a long time. She doesn’t care about her candidacy anymore. As long as Julius is not sent to prison or executed, she will do anything to ensure that reality didn’t happen.
The Wise men continued to read their crime to everyone in this room, how Felix slowly torture the boy to the brink of insanity or Julius’s involvement in it. No one dared to object, even Crusch and Anastasia. The former knows there is nothing that she can do but tries to plead for a lighter sentence when the verdict is reached, while the latter is deep in thought, trying her best to find a way to secure Julius’s freedom.
But alas, the verdict is clear, they are guilty.
But before Miklotov passed the verdict, someone shouted “Look! The dragon tablet!”
Everyone looked at it and indeed, it show a new message as followed:
“I, Divine dragon Volcanica, hereby postponed the trial of Julius Juukulius and Felix Argyle. For I have selected a special 'judge' who will decide the fate of those who betrayed their vow and this very kingdom. They shall be here in 20 minutes.”
Everyone was surprised by this turn of event. The Divine Dragon itself interrupted the trial and proceeded to bring a guest to be a 'judge'. The council can do nothing but obey the instruction and order a 20-minute break. Everyone slowly poured out of the room, leaving only Julius, Felix and the knights behind.
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“Who do you think will be the ‘judge’ for those assholes?” Felt asks Reinhard.
“I’m afraid I don’t know whose Volcanica-sama refers to, Felt-sama.” Reinhard answered, still thinking about the decree back in the hall.
Volcanica had a pact with the Lugucian royal in the past to not interfere with the kingdom, only protect them from external threat. So when it directly interfered, he cannot imagine what would happen after.
“It doesn't concern my divine self who's going to judge those dogs, for I knew they would be executed for their foolishness.” Priscilla huffed then walked away with Al in tow.
“Fuck you!” Felt shouted behind, then she asked Emilia “Who do you think, big sis?”
“…” Emilia can only offer silence for the answer, for she herself still wallows in her grief of losing her knight.
“I take that as a no, then.” Felt sighed, she can only assume based on the current situation.
The reason Felt wanted to know who this special guest is not because she wanted them to defend those bastards. If anything, she wanted to tell them to give them either life imprisonment or execution. She believed that this trial was a waste of time.
Emilia, while she was not as vocal about it, agreed with her. She may not like senseless violence, but this…taking away a person who unconditionally loves her since Puck was unacceptable. She doesn't know why she felt hollowed inside, but it must be because of Subaru’s untimely death.
The Emilia camp, however, did not hide their disdain toward the guilty.
“Oi! What's the big deal ‘ere! They’re clearly guilty! Why does that big lizard think otherwise!?” Garfiel can only rage at this moment while Otto tries to rein him in.
“Garf! just calm down!” Otto tried his best to calm the shield of sanctuary to no avail.
“Can you just shut your mouth, Garfiel? The Divine Dragon has its own reason. Or you believe your word has more weight than Volcanica-sama?” Ram cut Garfiel off.
“But-!”
“Just shut up or I'll do it myself.” Ram hissed.
“Fine…” Garfiel grumbled.
Beatrice didn’t say anything, not even to the half-elf ‘contractor’. The only thing in her mind was to see her true contractor’s killer brought to justice.
Rem also stays silent, for the same reason as Beatrice. Even if those knights are free, she will make sure they will pay with their blood for murder her hero.
The camp was practically unstable ever since his name returned. There was not a single day of peace in the mansion. Ram has to take care of Roswaal who went quiet and Rem, who was finally awake, to not go murder those knights. While Otto and Garfiel argue that they should leave the camp as the reason to stay is gone. Beatrice stayed in her library ever since, only present here to see her true contractor’s torturer to be sentenced.
Overall, the hall is filled with confusion by the Divine Dragon‘s decree but accepts it as the dragon never being wrong. Except for one.
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“C’mon, Crusch. Why wouldn't you help me?” Anastasia tried to plead with Crusch.
“Why should I? Both of them committed such an unspeakable act. The only thing I can do is plead for a lighter sentence. What you are suggesting right now will make this situation infinitely worse for them.” Crusch replied.
She could only resign to this fate. This was the only thing she could do for Felix, even though he was half of the reason why this was happening right now.
Anastasia can only grit her teeth. She knew well that Crusch was stubborn, but this? This is nothing short of insanity! Her knight’s life is on the line! She has no time to waste!
She needed to know who this ‘guest’ was so she could persuade them to give her knight a not-guilty verdict. Money, fame, territories, anything she can give to save Julius. But as long as the identity of the supposed ‘guest’ is unknown, she is basically done for.
“Excuse me.” A gruff voice said.
Both of them look at the source of the voice and see a man in...peculiar clothing. He wore a black shirt, grey long pants, his hair is grey and kept in a hairstyle that resembled someone putting a bowl on one’s head and some kind of object of black-coloured glass covering his eye. Yet his voice sounds…weirdly familiar to both of them.
“Can you two tell me how to get to the throne room?” He asked.
“Ehh…go straight and turn right, sir.” Crusch, who recovered from shock first, answered.
“Thank you. I will be on my way then.” He then politely bowed and went on his way.
“That was weird.” Anastasia remarked.
“I agree.” Crusch agreed with her.
Both of them went silent for a moment until Crusch noticed something.
“Wait a minute, does that man remind you of someone?” Crucsh ask Anastasia.
“His clothing did remind me of Subaru-san. Is he-” Anastasia suddenly stops. Remember the question he asked them, she could only curse “Damn it!” She ran off.
“Wait, Anastasia! Where are you going?” Crusch asked.
“To find that man. I believed that he was the ‘guest’ Volcanica was talking about!” She said before going after the man.
“What!?” She cannot believe it. She has no choice but to follow her.
When they reach the waiting room. Felt spotted them and shouted “Where were you two!? The trial is about to resume now that the guest has arrived!” Both of them can only register with shock until they are forced to move in by the royal guard. The trial was about to continue.
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The throne room now is full of whispers about the guest. The man became a hot topic to talk about in the current moment. Questions like: What is he wearing? Is he related to Natsuki Subaru? That includes the camps as well.
“So that the ‘judge’ the Divine Dragon has chosen?” Felt spoke
“It would seem so, Felt-sama.” Reinhard replied. He doesn't know why, but his DP suddenly screams at him whenever he looks at the guest.
“Hmph, let’s see what this ‘judge’ would do in this excuse of a trial. Al, what do you think of this?” Priscilla asks her jester.
“I think that it would be interesting for you, princess. Besides, his attire reminds me of bro a lot.” He answered in a sigh, his bro has been killed by the very kingdom he served. ‘That’s why I don’t play the hero in this world.’ He thought to himself.
“Hey! Old m-!” Garfiel shouted at the guest to try to get his attention but Ram put her hand onto his mouth and asked, “What the hell do you think you are doing?” She asks quietly in a harsh tone.
He pushed her hand away, “To tell him that he should just declare them guilty! They already confessed to the crime!” He whispered back harshly.
“Even so, we should let the guest judge them as Volcanica-sama declares, remember?” Otto tried to reason with his brother. “Besides, if Volcanica-sama trusts this guest’s ability, it should lead to good outcomes for all of us.”
“...Fine.” Garfiel finally relent and quietly sit in his seat.
Emillia can’t help but be wary of this guest. She never thought to meet another soul who, in her mind, comes from the same place as her deceased knight. She noticed that the guest looked at the gallery, survey the people that would be the audience of this trial. She also noticed he looked at the camp’s way longer than normal, but he turned his sight to the council as quickly as she tried to look back. ‘Does this man have some history with us?’ She thought.
“Silence!” Miklotov shouted, “The trial of Julius Juukulius and Felix Argyle shall recommence!” He then looks at the guest, "Honorable guest, may I ask for your name?” He asked.
“Suzuki, Taichi Suzuki.” The man, Suzuki, answered.
Crusch’s DP suddenly activated in her mind. ‘His own name was fake? Why?” But before she could raise any concern, Miklotov continued. “Suzuki-san, I believe Volcanica-sama has told you about the details of this case?”
“Yes, he did.” He curtly replied.
“Very well, would you please give the verdict: Guilty, or not guilty?”
The moment has arrived, everyone holds their breath. For this man would deliver a verdict that affects the entire nation and future. Most hoped for the guilty verdict for the former knight for what they have done to their hero.
“Before I will give the verdict, can I ask something?” Suzuki asked.
“What is it?” Miklotov obliged.
“About the ‘interrogation.’ Did none of the knights bother to check the supposed ‘Pride’ in his cell?” He asked.
“N-No.” Miklotov hastily replied. He didn’t expect this question at all.
“What is the meaning of this!?” Bordeaux shouted, “You were supposed to only give the verdict! Why are you wasting our time!?”
“To make sure the verdict will be just. Besides, If the kingdom is innocent, you wouldn’t have any problem answering this simple question, would you?” He sharply asked Bordeaux.
“Grkkk..!” Bordeaux sputtered.
Suzuki then turned his attention to Felix, “Felix Argyle, Why did you continue to ‘interrogate’ when ‘Pride’ told you that he doesn’t know the cure for your lady’s affliction?”
“B-Because I thought he was l-lying.” He answered “I-I just thought that, with enough time, he will spill the answer I s-seek.”
“But from what I knew, that curse was from the dragon’s blood, and the only Archbishop that can transform into one was Lust. Why do you think other archbishops will know this?” He pressed on.
“BECAUSE I NEED TO SAVE CRUSCH-SAMA!” Felix shouted, startled the whole room “It needs to be done. But I didn’t think…”
“I see.” Suzuki cut in. He may not show any emotion in his face, but those with demi-human features, they knew from the tone that he was not impressed by the answer.
“And what about you, Julius Juukulius? From what I read, your name was eaten just like Natsuki Subaru, yet you show no mercy. Why is that?” He continued with Julius.
“Because…because I thought that he was the cult’s spy. The reason I lost my name…” Julius trailed off, still suffered from guilt.
*Sigh* “I understand.” Suzuki didn’t bother to press further as they were just going to blame someone else.
“Oi! Old man!” A voice came from the gallery. It was Garfiel, who was currently looking irritated by the situation. “They are already guilty by the look of it, so why don’t you just declare them guilty, huh!?”
The gallery slowly became louder, mostly from the peasants side who demanded justice for their hero. While the knight and nobles started to sweat a little. Crusch just sighed while Anastasia biting her nail, clearly worried about her knight.
“Oh? You think that they are the only ones causing this tragedy?” He challenged Garfiel.
“Yeah! They killed my captain, so that makes them the culprit, is that hard to understand!?” Garfiel shouted back.
“So when you, and by extension, the Emilia’s camp, chase Natsuki Subaru with intent to kill. Had you guys not chased him, he may have had a chance to escape. Doesn’t that make you all guilty as well?” He asked back
“W-Wha-!?” Garfiel stumbled. The entire room is now silent once more. Said camps are now the subject of glaring from the entire room.
Emilia tried to defuse the situation “Wait! Suzuki-san! I can explain this!”
“Oh? Then please, humor me then.” Suzuki, for the first time, sarcastically answered.
“After Beatrice told us-” She tried to explain before Suzuki quickly interjected, “Hold it! Let me guess. ‘The Great Spirit of Yin tells you that Natsuki Subaru is reeking of the miasma so therefore, he must be a cultist’, is that correct?"
“H-How did you know?” She paled, her face drained of color. The camp fared no better, Garfiel, Rem, and Otto are completely caught off guard while Ram may not show it, her body stiffening shows that she too didn’t expect this development. Even Beatrice, who was silent at the time, silently gasped at Suzuki's answer.
“Well, Emilia-sama? Is that correct?” He repeats his question.
“Y-Yes…” She can only lower her head.
She felt alone once more. She’s completely useless, isn’t she? Just like the very first time she was here in this very room where insults were hurled on to her. The difference this time is that there is no Subaru to defend her honor.
“You see now, Council? There are more than just two culprits here.” He tell them.
“If that’s the case, Knights! Arrest the half-elf camp!!” Bordeaux shouted the order to the knight, he was surprisingly eager to shout that order as if they waited for this moment.
The camp itself was shocked by this turn of event. Did Suzuki-san just label them guilty as well!? They tried to object sans Beatrice who was already accept any punishment for her mistake
But before the knight even registered the order, Suzuki quickly interjected “I didn’t say ‘arrest them’, did I?”
“But didn’t you say that they are guilty as well!? Then they must be arrested as well!!” Bordeaux once again shouted angrily.
“And that's the problem.” He replied, “All of you are very keen to find a scapegoat for your wrongdoing so that you will feel morally superior to them.” He revealed the truth to the whole room, “And not to mention, in one conversation, I managed to recreate the start of tragedy in this very room. Didn't any of you see the problem?”
Everyone was shocked as realization started to settle in. He was proving to everyone that the tragedy started from a mere accusation. The half-elf camp also realizes that they just experience what Subaru felt when Beatrice accused him of being a witch cultist.
“Damn…” Felt doesn’t have anything to say but respect the man for standing up and show what those old fart really is.
“Suzuki-san…What are you planning right now?” Anastasia-san can only mumble the name. She feels like this is not the end.
‘Interesting. It seems this won’t be a waste of time after all.’ Priscilla smirked. This ‘Suzuki’ seems to earn her interest, something that Al noticed as well.
‘...Just who are you, ‘Taichi Suzuki’?’ Crusch still fixated on his name, or rather, alias. Why is this man hiding his name, even his eyes? 'Is there something that can reveal his true identity and if so, when?’
She doesn’t need to wait for that opportunity, for Suzuki now asks her a question “Karsten-sama, do you realize that your own knight committed an act befitting a torturer behind your back?”
“No.” She answered truthfully, “I believed that he was finding a cure to my affliction and nothing else.”
“Crusch-sama!” Felix shouted, trying to move but restrained by another knight. “Let me go!”
“Even so, your knight has committed these acts under your name, will you accept any responsibilities that come after this trial?” He continued.
“...Yes. For his crime against Natsuki Subaru, I will take responsibility for it.” She accepts whatever judgment that comes from it.
“NOOOOOOOOO!!!” Felix shouted, his anger reached his limit. He turned to Suzuki “You bastard! I will end yo-!”
“BE SILENCE!! FELIX ARGYLE THE BLUE!” Crusch finally had enough of her knight's stubbornness, tears started to pour from her eyes. “You…did you know what you have done!?”
“W-wha-?” Felix was completely caught off guard by his lady.
But she didn’t stop “You and Julius and killed the greatest knight that ever existed. He managed to slay two great Mabeasts, Killed two sin archbishop! He managed to do something that not even Reinhard can do! Are you saying that we should let him die in vain!?”
“B-But he's just a man! Reinhard can-” “No, Felix. I can’t” Before Felix can say anything, Reinhard interjected “He has an uncanny ability to be at the right place, at the right time. Something I don’t have even with my DP.” This shut down Felix’s argument instantly.
“Ah, this makes me remember another thing I wanted to say.” Suzuki decided to insert himself in their conversation “The matter of pride.”
“How does a sin archbishop matter in this case?” Miklotov asked.
“Not a sin archbishop, a feeling of pride.” He clarified, “I noticed that being a big name has a significant standing in this world, for they are the one who will bring greatness.” He narrated “However, what if someone whom the world perceives as weak and insignificant does an impossible task that they can’t handle?” He asked the whole room.
“They will get jealous.” Felt instantly replied, “And will do anything to take what they think was rightfully theirs.” She grumbled, clearly referring to her experience with nobility.
“Correct.” He agreed with Felt’s statement, “Be honest, the first time you see Natsuki Subaru, what do you think of him?” He asked the gallery once more.
“He was an idiot.” Ram said, clearly knowing that no one had the courage to say those things straight up “A buffoon who does nothing right at all.” The civilian glared at her, “What?”
“Even then, he was a kind man. He was the first person beside Puck who saw me as Emilia and not…” Emilia trails off, clearly missing him by her side.
“Then after those heroic acts, his reputation skyrocketed. But deep down, I know that some of you already feel jealousy. ‘It should have been me!’ ‘He is not worthy of those achievements.’ Tell me, Felix Argyle, did you get angry at Natsuki Subaru when your lady credited the slaying of the white whale to him?”
“I…” Now he suddenly doesn't know how to answer this question, yet his clenched fist was enough for an answer for Suzuki.
“See? You did harbor some resentment toward him. And when Gluttony ate his name, those feeling, combine with the accusation, turn you into a madman who torture for the information he didn’t have. All I’m saying is that you guys believed a certain person should achieve greatness and tried to justify their reasons.” He continued “It’s funny. A boy whose sins was envy was accused of being Pride, a sin that he has little to none in his body.” Suzuki ends his ‘rant’ here.
The entire room processes the information with various reactions. While outside they looked like they understood his reasoning. The higher classes, mostly nobles and knights, are in denial judging from their facial expression while the lower class mostly accept what they were hearing.
“Suzuki-san, Can I ask you something?” Crusch, seeing her opportunity to reveal her finding, asks Suzuki.
“Sure.” He complied.
“When you first introduced yourself as ‘Taichi Suzuki.’ My DP detected a lie. So, please, tell us your true name.” Crusch finally asks the question she has had since the beginning of the trial. The room now in uproar and disbelief.
Felt quickly ask Reinhard, “Is it true, Rein!?”
“Yes…” He admitted, “I sensed a lie in his introduction, but since the Divine Dragon chose him, I decided to not interfere.”
“Also, please remove the object on your face. You have no reason to hide your eyes if you didn’t try to hide something, would you?” Crusch continued the accusation.
For the first time, he was quiet, tense even. But then he sighed as if they just opened a Pandora’s box, “So be it.” He obliged her request.
Everyone was surprised. They didn’t expect him to give in to Crusch’s demand easily. But they looked at him, wanting to see what he was hiding beneath the object on his face.
He slowly removed the black object, his eyes closed. They now see his face fully, it looks scary, even familiar to those closest to the deceased half-elf knight.
And then he opened his eyes.
Everybody gasped, but for Emilia, time was frozen.
The man before them…possessed the very same pair of eyes of Natsuki Subaru.
Then, all hell breaks loose.
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*This can be considered as non-canon to the main story