On the way back, we obtained the White Whale's head and took it back to the capital. Luckily, we didn't run into Regulus Corneas. I don't know what I would have done if that had been the case.
I didn't know if using techniques like Shamak and its variants would affect him, but it was a relief to not have had to try it with him. Even with the unleashed power of the Sloth Authority, I probably wouldn't do anything to his invulnerable body.
I could still feel the strange energy emanating from my body, invisible to most living beings. Playing around with my authority, I discovered it was quite versatile, able to change shape and size, be tangible or intangible... There was a sea of possibilities I was just beginning to explore.
Petelgeuse's voice didn't return, even when I called out to him. In the end, it was for the best, because I didn't need to add schizophrenia to my other problems. Still, his last words left me deeply unsettled.
"You are Petelgeuse."
It couldn't have been a literal meaning, could it? My appearance hadn't changed, my mind wasn't as disturbed, and that suspicious voice had vanished. If something happened to me, it was something I didn't realize, at least until that moment.
Then I remembered what happened in the fifth arc. It was implied that Subaru had Petelgeuse's soul or essence within him, something Sirius mentioned and Emilia visualized later. I settled on that theory as a last resort. I had too little information to investigate the matter.
"Let 's see, what do I remember about the next arc?"
Roswaal wanted to force Subaru to abandon his humanity. He put him at a crossroads by presenting him with a scenario in which he had to choose between saving the people at the shrine or those at the mansion, which meant sacrificing one of the two groups.
The correct answer was to let those in the mansion die and protect the group Emilia was in. After all, it was crucial that she be the ruler of Lugunica for Roswaal's plan to be carried out successfully.
Being pressured like this would make Subaru mentally break. That's where Echidna came in with her contract proposal, showering the boy with sweet words and promises of an ideal future.
"I remember reading about an IF that tells the story of the Subaru who accepted the contract. I think Roswaal was the only happy character in that alternate universe. I hope I'm not confusing things."
My plan to get through this arc was simple: screw Roswaal's plans and make it clear to him that I'm not a puppet, as I have my own plans. However, I still wanted to make a deal with him. This would certainly change things, but hopefully there wouldn't be any negative consequences.
Comparing how much it cost me to overcome each arc, I would say that the fourth is going to be among the easiest... I would say that if I were still so naive as to believe that an unexpected obstacle won't appear like in all the previous ones: Subaru's absence in the first, Doppelganger's attack in the second and Gilbert's interference in the third.
Obviously, the script was going to include some kind of nonsense that would greatly increase the difficulty of completing this arc. I'm so sure of that, I'll bet my ass it will be that way.
"We're almost there." Reported Rem, who was sitting next to me.
"Good." I nodded, still thinking about how I was going to handle the upcoming events.
"Is something wrong? You've been moving strangely."
She noticed my seemingly erratic behavior. I stopped my musings and looked at her with a proud smile as I gestured for her to come closer.
"Try to touch me."
"You're a scoundrel, Leandro." Her expression turned contemptuous in an instant.
"And you're a dirty-minded person." I sighed. "I didn't mean to say it that way."
I placed my outstretched hands in front of her. Rem hesitated a little at first, but finally agreed and tried to touch them with hers.
"Huh?"
She was surprised to find an invisible barrier stopping her. Frowning, she tried again, harder, but the result didn't change.
"Try again." I encouraged her. "Don't give up so soon."
"Hmm!"
She did it again, but this time she met no opposition and all the force she had put into pushing made her body continue forward, knocking mine down.
We both fell to the floor of the carriage in an awkward position, with her head resting on my chest and her fingers intertwined with mine.
"What the...?"
"Oops, I think you broke my defense." I played dumb while secretly enjoying the moment. "I'm still not used to this new ability."
"You..."
Rem stood up and prepared to hit me with excessive force, more than enough to crush my skull and destroy the damn carriage.
"Oh no!" I blocked her punch with my authority. She summoned an icicle and threw it at my head, but the sharp piece of ice exploded into pieces when it collided with the invisible energy surrounding me.
"I knew it. You're a pervert and a bad liar."
She seemed completely calm as she stood up and sat at the far end of the carriage. I realized I had fallen into her trap as I skillfully defended myself from her attacks.
The rest of the trip was an awkward, silent moment. Rem didn't look at me or speak to me again during that entire time, so I felt a little sad.
"Maybe I went a little too far with the joke."
I concentrated on continuing to learn to control my new authority, feeling that time was moving too slowly. Finally, the carriage stopped, and Otto leaned into the cabin.
"We have arrived..."
His uncomfortable expression as she looked at us was like an open book. Rem got off first, and I approached Otto, smiling bitterly.
"You heard everything, right?"
"That's right! I even took a look when it got better! I'm so sorry! I won't tell anyone!"
"It's okay." I gave him a reassuring gesture. "Hey, I want your opinion."
I pointed at myself and posed like a magazine heartthrob.
"Do you think I have a chance with her? Be honest."
"No, not at all." Otto immediately denied.
I let out a genuine laugh. That response made me feel like old times, joking with my friends about my lack of chances of getting laid.
"You could have hesitated a little longer, asshole..."
I slumped my shoulders, resigned. Otto placed his hands on my shoulders and spoke in the most serious tone I'd ever heard him use.
"If you need comfort, we can go for a drink afterward. It'll make you feel better."
"Wanna get drunk? I'm in." We shook hands to seal the deal.
I jumped out of the vehicle and found myself at Karsten's mansion. I spotted a large number of carriages parked in rows. The townspeople were wandering around, all of whom came up to greet me upon seeing me. I received all sorts of praise, as the villagers were aware of my actions to protect them.
I accepted the displays of affection without hesitation, despite my introverted nature. I didn't feel uncomfortable with these people, who were being honest and grateful.
"Listen, I know the whole cult thing might give you the wrong idea about Emilia, but I want to ask you to be reasonable, because she..."
"We know, young man." Elder Milde interrupted my conversation. "It's not that girl's fault she was born with... an unfortunate appearance. At first, I had my reservations, like everyone else; but thanks to you, many of us have come to know her better, and that's changed our way of seeing her."
My worries were largely dispelled by Grandma's statement. I bowed my head in respect and gratitude. It seemed these new interactions had helped after all.
"Leandro, you're here!" The children came running to greet me. Although it used to bother me having to entertain them and pretend to like them like Subaru did, over time it became second nature.
"It's been a while, you rowdy brats." I ruffled their hair. "Did you cause a lot of trouble while I was gone?"
"Of course!" Exclaimed Lucas, who had been hanging around my neck.
"And you blamed the mabeasts?"
"Of course!" Dyne and Cain answered in unison.
"I see my teachings were helpful." I nodded with satisfaction and looked at Mild, the chubby, almost bald boy (what's your problem, Tappei?). "Did you make a nice flower crown for your mother?"
"Yeah, she liked it a lot!
"That's great; it seems you have a great talent for decorations." I praised sincerely, recalling my walk with Emilia in the flower field; I had so much fun that day.
Suddenly I was overcome with longing, a desire to see her silver hair and amethyst eyes, her soft but powerful voice that I could hear from a distance as if she were right next to me.
When I was with her, emotions like fear and sadness ceased to exist for a while. That damn artificial love was affecting me too much.
Just then, I noticed a presence in the distance. There was Emilia, chatting animatedly with Crusch. Behind them were Felix and Rem, also talking about something.
The group left the mansion and approached us. The children became a little agitated and began asking inappropriate questions.
"Leandro, did you betray Emilia to go with that green-haired lady?"
"Where did you get that idea?"
"You took so long to come back, and you were with her when you did!"
"Well, that's true, but you guys have a lot of imagination. I didn't change sides or anything like that."
"However, you can't deny that it's a tempting option, nya!" Felix stepped forward and joined the conversation. "Lady Crusch is the favorite to rule, and she wouldn't mind giving you a place in her faction."
"Hey! You can't steal it, cat girl!" Lucas stepped between Felix and me, pointing an accusing finger at him.
"What did you say-nya!? I'm not a girl, I'm a man!"
"What do you mean?! You dress and look like a girl!" Lucas hid behind me, suddenly frightened. "Do you have some strange illness or something?!"
A smile of evil delight formed on my lips. The kids matured so quickly that they were already insulting minorities. I'm so proud of them...
"Children and drunks always tell the truth, Felix. You can't deny reality."
"Shut up-nya!"
Felix turned red with embarrassment and indignation, and then I stopped. Even though I enjoyed teasing him, I didn't want to go too far and hurt his feelings. I didn't investigate his past, so I didn't know what kind of traumas he had or why he behaved the way he did, but I didn't really mean to judge his personality: after all, what he did or didn't do was none of my business.
"Sorry, I'm just bothering you. Kids, remember it's wrong to discriminate against people based on their appearance."
I said that, but I felt like an idiot for giving a lecture about tolerance, something I don't normally do because it's assumed the nonsense I say is just gallows humor. However, reasonable adults are one thing, and children who can't distinguish sarcasm are another.
Felix snorted, though he relaxed noticeably.
"For a moment there I thought you were a real jerk." He said, arms crossed.
"I am, but I try to hide it." I answered quickly.
Crusch, who had been listening to everything, snorted at my response.
"I wonder if you're always this honest, or just because you know I can detect your lies when I'm here."
"Ah, it's fifty-fifty."
I gestured with my hand, but my attention was already on the half-elf woman who was looking at me expectantly. Apparently, she wasn't sure how to greet me; therefore, I did what every man is supposed to do (according to established social norms).
Take the initiative!
I moved forward until I was face to face with Emilia. She tensed when she saw my arms reaching out for her, wrapping her body in a spontaneous hug. It was something Emilia wasn't used to, and it took her by surprise.
Whether it was because of the warmth that formed between us or because she understood the meaning of the gesture, she relaxed and put her arms around my torso, reciprocating the hug.
"I'm glad to see you're safe, Emilia." I said with a big smile.
"That's what I say." She replied in a complaining tone. "You were very reckless fighting against the whale and the witch's sect..."
"Well, someone had to do it, right?" I shrugged. "Besides, everything turned out okay."
"I guess so... But I don't like that you take so many risks; it's like you don't care about your own life."
"I can't help it. Until recently, I just let life pass me by, doing nothing, uninterested in moving forward." It was true: I wasn't proud of my past. "But now I've found a purpose, a motivation to do my best."
Emilia stepped back and looked at me silently; her eyes were trembling and her cheeks turned red. I wondered if I'd said something strange, but a comment from Felix made me instantly understand everything.
"Wow, that's a bold statement-nya. Are your feelings for Lady Emilia so strong that you called her 'your motivation'?"
"Ah..."
Well, given that my last sentence had sounded quite passionate, and given that I was staring at Emilia as I spoke each word, it could be interpreted as me referring to her with that statement. I wouldn't deny it if it would score me points with her.
"Umm. I'm happy to hear I'm so important to you, but I still think you should be more careful, no matter how motivated you are... Life is important, you only have one and you should cherish it!"
"That 's the right line for the wrong person." I smiled and nodded, thinking how paradoxical that way of thinking was in my case.
Felix pinched my arm and whispered playfully in my ear.
"You're quite the womanizer. Don't you have enough with Rem? Are you planning to seduce all the women around you?"
I looked at him as if he had made a bad joke.
"Felix, the last time I touched a boob was when I groped my best friend's boobs (because he's fat). I'm the living antonym of a womanizer."
However, the femboy refused to believe me and pointed an accusatory finger at me.
"That's what you want everyone to believe, wolf in sheep's clothing!"
"Don't make me remember songs from 2014! How can I be a womanizer when I'm a virgin?"
Okay, I admit I lost my temper when I had to remember my lack of experience in that field. I hadn't had a single woman in my life for so long that this fact had become a sensitive topic for me, although it only affected me when there were women around to hear it.
It was terrifying to be watched and judged by the number of women I had. I was screwed if my reputation had to depend on that. Of course, it was very immature of me to care so much about something like that, but that's how ego works.
"Virgin? Are you a virgin?" Felix put on a poker face.
"Um." Crusch coughed uncomfortably, also poker-faced. "He's telling the truth, Felix."
"FUCK IT, I'M GOING TO KILL MYSELF!"
I wanted to escape this by shooting myself, but I was afraid that would take me back to before my fight with the archbishops, and it would be a pain in the ass to have to fight Gluttony again.
A short time later, we returned to Roswaal's lands. As I expected, Crusch let me keep Patrasche, and we put her to pull Otto's carriage along with his dragon.
By the way, I also activated the self-destruct spell on the firearms created for the battles against Petelgeuse and the White Whale. In theory, there shouldn't be any problems with that anymore.
Now the villagers had to be returned to their homes and normality returned... Of course, that wasn't what was going to happen.
The relationship with Crusch's camp was equal to or better than in canon, a pretty positive point in my opinion, although it remained to be seen how much of an impact the fact that Crusch and Rem's memories had been kept intact would have. The death of Lye Batenkaitos was also a big change that could shake up the story in the near future. Despite that, I wasn't the least bit sorry.
When we arrived at the village, I wasn't surprised to find it empty. Everyone was confused, so I was forced to go along with it and scratch my head, feigning bewilderment.
"Ram and the others haven't returned from the Sanctuary?" Emilia deduced with concern.
"Maybe something happened and they're having trouble getting here." I'm pretty sure my acting skills are bad, but Emilia shouldn't notice. "Should we go check it out?"
"Possibly." Said Rem, who was with us. "However, I suggest checking the mansion first."
"Good idea." I turned my head and shouted to our driver. "Otto, we're going to the mansion!"
"To the mansion!?"
"You're not deaf; get going." Instead of returning to the booth, I sat next to him and whispered conspiratorially. "I'm going to introduce you to someone very special."
"You mean the Margrave?" He stammered, visibly nervous.
"Nah, there's nothing special about Roswaal, beyond his strange fetishes. I'm talking about a woman, my dear Otto. If Tappei won't give you your romance with Frederica, I will."
Ignoring his puzzled look, I patted him on the back several times, chuckling.