After the talk had concluded, Reinhard had left for his duty.
Now Merlin was once again walking down the hallway but instead of the little girl with peach hair, this time he was with Adelheid.
Both of them were walking in silence, while Adelheid remained peacefully quiet, Merlin was the exact opposite of it. He was racking his brain to think of a topic for a conversation. The silence had started to become suffocating for him.
"Hey Adelheid." He called out to her, moving his gaze from the ends of the hallway towards her.
Hearing herself being mentioned made Adelheid turn her head towards him. "Yes?" Her voice carried a hint of eagerness which felt totally out of place on her stoic face.
"I was wondering..." His lips stopped for a fraction of a second.
"Well, you know about...Priscilla and all."
"Ahhh," A faint shadow crossed her face. "What about her?"
"...nevermind that actually." Merlin brushed off the topic with an easy laugh. It was much more difficult to put that topic into words than he had expected. Without words to be uttered, he simply looked to his side where the windows gave a view of a huge garden.
Adelheid kept looking at him with a neutral gaze.
"...So you want help to patch things up with her?" She said.
"Hk!-" Merlin's shoulders twitched. His silence giving her the answer she wanted to know.
"Hah! So I was right."
"Even so, can't you just be a little more considerate." He looked back at her with a small pout.
"Why should I? You must have definitely made a mistake to make her angry with you, and mistakes shouldn't be treated with compassion." Her dull eyes looked forward. Though her eyes were at the end of the hallway, her attention was anywhere but there, lost in some distant memories.
Adelheid's words dug deeper than expected.
Merlin's breath hitched. For some reason his gaze felt too heavy to keep lifted up so he kept it lowered on the floor.
Hmm~? Mistakes shouldn't be treated with compassion, quite fitting words for you, don't you think so? Hey, don't you?....Tch! Fucker's ignoring me.
Merlin paid no heed to the words of that annoying and persistent voice in his head. He kept ignoring it just like always. The more he paid attention to it, the more it would vex him. It's like having a yandere girlfriend living inside his head but it's a man and it DESPISES him.
Adelheid, sensing that she might've made the mood uncomfortable, opened her mouth to speak, if only she had done it a bit before.
"You're finally—AWAKE!!!"
"GAH!"
A heavy strike hit Merlin's back with tremendous speed, causing Merlin's body to be blown away a few feet away from where he stood.
The strike was a violent yet controlled kick of someone who had thrown their whole body along with that kick of two legs.
"And here I was thinking that you were gone for a visit to Od, dumbass!"
"Ow ow owww....Who the fu-wait a minute. FELT?!" Merlin's back throbbed with pain as he tried to forcefully push himself back up.
It definitely isn't pleasurable to have his ass take damage twice in a day, but the anger which had been bubbling inside of him dissipated into surprise as soon as he saw the figure of a little girl with golden hair and red eyes standing with her hands on her hips smiling toothedly, clearly proud of her work.
"Yo! How's your condition big bro?"
"You're really asking me that after dropkicking me before even a greeting?!"
"Oh, then should I have done it after greeting ya'?"
"Hell no!"
Felt laughed loudly, even her victim Merlin couldn't help but smile along with her, despite wanting to bonk that brat's head.
Adelheid, who was feeling left out, felt the need to interrupt. "Lady Felt. It is improper to kick a guest like that."
Felt turned her head to look at the red-haired girl who spoke with unnerving calmness. Her lips turned into a knowing and mischievous smirk. "Don't speak like you didn't see me coming from yards away, red girl."
"..." Adelheid remained quiet.
Merlin's eyes drifted from Felt to Adelheid comically. "Silence equals guilty, you know?"
Adelheid smirked before she lifted both her hands in surrender. "As guilty as charged."
"WHAT?! You let her hit me on purpose?!"
"I'd not say on purpose, I just thought that she'd hug you like a little sister worrying for her 'big bro's."
"I don't even need that divine protection/power of yours to tell you're lying." Both Felt and Merlin spoke in perfect harmony with each other.
"Uwehh, you're really copying me? Gross."
"Uggh, you're really copying me? Soooo unoriginal."
Again the both of them spoke along with each other once again.
Adelheid, through her divine protection of Comedic Effects Seeing, could see sparks of competition colliding between the two of them.
Growllllll.....
Silence fell between them.
Felt and Adelheid stared blankly at the blushing Merlin on the floor, holding his stomach.
"It must be about time for breakfast, please follow me into the dining room."
"Big bro, how long are you planning to stay on the floor like that?" Both of the girls turned around and started walking away.
Merlin got up quickly and dusted away the dust on his robe.
"Ah, now that I recall, Adelheid just addressed you as 'lady' didn't she? What's up with that?" Merlin questioned as he caught up to Felt and Adelheid.
Felt, who had begun walking ahead of Merlin with her arms crossed behind her head, turned her head slightly, just enough to see him from the corners of her eyes.
Her expression suddenly soured and with a 'hmph!' of annoyance and anger, she turned her face away.
"They kidnapped me and now are keeping me here all of a sudden. I didn't even get no explanation or nothing'!"
"For real? Not cool Adelheid."
The person mentioned did not even spare a glance to the childish banter of Felt and Merlin.
"You're telling that to the wrong person. It was my brother who, quote-on-quote, 'kidnapped' you."
"QUOTE ON QUOTE MY ASS!"
"Wait, Reinhard did? I don't believe it!"
"But you didn't even hesitate before accusing me."
"Yeah bro, she's tellin' the truth. That son of a bitch just sucked my mana and made me unconscious!"
"Damn! I guess there was way more paint on the painting than I had realized. What a lolicon."
"Though I strongly suspect that you just made that word up, my intuition says that it may seriously damage his reputation so please refrain yourself from using it."
"Really?! It would?! SPREAD THOSE WORDS LIKE A BITCH IN HEAT BIG BRO!!!"
"MANNERS!" Both Merlin and Adelheid screamed simultaneously.
"Meeehh…you all are such spoilsports. Change a bit!"
"It's you instead of us who should change and hold that tongue of yours in line!" Merlin spoke in an irritated tone, looking down on the short girl.
"I agree, Lady Felt, words like those aren't fit for a Lady."
"Tch! To hell with y'all and your 'manners'."
Merlin in response just massaged the bridge of his nose, but he couldn't really blame her for having that kind of tongue when she probably has spent her entire life growing up in the slums.
He also had that kind of language because his family home was not located in the best of localities, but did manage to change his tongue before 10th.
Without a doubt he would also try to bring that change in her too, not by forcing her but making her understand where and what one should say.
The group talked a bit more before arriving at the dining hall.
The room was so beautifully decorated that Merlin found himself lost in the detailed and intricate designs on the walls of the hall.
In the centre of the room was a long rectangular table, multiple chairs aligned in a parallel manner, facing each other.
On the end of the long table was an empty chair, probably for the head of the house. Now that I think about it, they called the family 'Astrea' right?
The mansion…no, it's definitely a manor. Did Reinhard say anything about that? Not that I can remember. If I don't then I don't need to remember it, right?
His eyes shifted to Felt who rushed past him and sat on the one that was one chair away from the head seat, to its right. Merlin followed in suit as he took the seat right beside her.
Adelheid, on the other hand, occupied the seat on the left side, facing the seat exactly opposite to that of Merlin's.
The room looked just like your everyday typical big isekai fantasy dining hall. Even though he was admiring the walls and even the beautifully sculpted wooden table, his eyes caught sight of two little girls who stood on either side of the head seat but slightly behind it. They looked exactly like each other, from the hair down to their clothing style. The only real difference Merlin could really find between them was their fringe.
"Whoa! You're the girl that came for me right? I couldn't get your name last time."
Hearing him both the girls opened their eyes but the one who replied was the one with the lateral fringe.
"I'm Flam, dear guest."
Merlin then looked at the girl standing a few feet away from her. "And you are…?"
"I'm Grassis, dear guest."
"Calling me 'dear guest' and all feels weird. I'm Merlin, it's a pleasure to make your acquaintance." Merlin stood up from his chair and extended his hand towards them, expecting even just one of them to shake it.
A second passes.
Another second passes.
Another.
"Now that's just horrible!"
Even though none of the sisters took his hand a faint smile was visible on the face of Flam and Grassis.
"We didn't mean to offend you but—" Flam spoke with a sweet voice.
"—Me and Flam were just thinking how can someone have the charm on par with a sledgehammer." And Grassis ended her sister's attack with a critical hit.
"W-Wha-?!" Merlin's voice stuttered in disbelief at the sheer audacity of the seemingly innocent looking little girls.
"Pft-! BAHAHAHA!!!"
"Cough cough-"
The insult was so insane that Felt started laughing loudly and even the usually stoic Adelheid coughed in her hands to prevent herself from acting in the same manner as Felt.
"Keh! I'm just trying to be social, you know!"
"Don't get them wrong, Merlin."
Hearing the gentle voice, Merlin turned towards Adelheid who was giving her best to stop her lips from curling upwards.
"It isn't common for a guest of a noble house to act so familiarly to a servant, it's often considered dishonorable."
"—? Don't tell me I did something rude." His hand went up to his mouth in worry of having made a horrible first impression.
Before Adelheid could quell his worries, another childlike voice spoke up.
"You needn't worry, dear gues—Merlin-sama. Both me and my sister are not at all offended." The one to interrupt the conversation was the girl with a straight fringe. "If we were offended then Merlin-sama would've been writhing on the floor."
"Uwahhh, scary-ass kids."
The comment only made the smiles of the twins wider like they had just been complimented.
Felt's laughter finally died out but her stomach was now killing her, not that it wasn't worth it.
"Still, she got ya' damn good big bro." She wiped the single bead of tear stuck in the corner of her eye.
"Yeah yeah, you loli."
"Huh? 'Lo-lee'?"
"Oh don't think. It's just something that describes you perfectly, although I wonder if there are more candidates for this title in this world."
Felt looked at Adelheid and pointed her thumb towards Merlin. "The hell's this dork blabbering 'bout?"
Adelheid simply shrugged as she waited patiently for the food to arrive.
Right at that moment, the doors to the dining room were pushed open gently.
Both Flam and Grassis noticed the person who had stepped into the room and bowed with grace.
"Welcome home, young master." Both of them spoke.
The one who had entered was the red-headed knight, the Sword Saint of the Dragon Kingdom. Reinhard Van Astrea, who was now in full uniform.
"Hm." After giving the two little maids a gentle smile, he walked towards the seat right beside Adelheid but chose to sit on the one beside it, under pressure of her perforating glare.
Felt merely sneered at the look on his face and "Ugh"ed her face away.
"Aren't you back too early? Is a knight's shift really that small?" The question came from Merlin. Reinhard had said that he would be going on his duty but isn't this too soon for a reunion?
If a knight's duty really is this small and so well damn paid that they can pay taxes for such a huge place, then should he also try to become one?....Nah, that shit probably comes with paperwork. I've already studied too much and I'll for sure have to learn this world's language too. Argh!
Adelheid gave Merlin a weird look for his so drastically changing emotions.
"I have already completed my previous work. Though my workload wasn't given a chance to lessen itself as I am already on my new mission."
"Hoooo??? And what's that?"
"Before that, Merlin, considering that you'll be living with us. How much exactly do you know about this world?"
"What's this? Some kinda stupid noble-class philosophy shit? If yeah then I'm outta here."
"You're just looking for an excuse to run away, aren't you, Lady Felt?" Felt, who had already started to slip away from her chair, sat back on it with a grunt to avoid being chased by Adelheid throughout the manor like a mouse and a cat again.
Merlin silently pointed towards himself and then felt his mind become blank. But! That didn't mean that he would remain silent, without answers. So he thought and thought and thought and—
"Oh! I know that we're in the capital of this country and this country's shit!"
Everyone went silent. At a time like this Felt would've been laughing her lungs out and agreeing but she was now wondering just one thing. Was that really all he knew after thinking so hard or was he just making a fool out of himself? His clothes do look like ones an entertainer would wear.
Felt's thoughts were also shared by the twin maids who were currently in the middle of using their divine protection of Mindspeak to shit talk Merlin without him ever figuring it out.
Opposite to all the reactions of the ones in the room, the twin knights just took it at face value.
But even between them, the reactions varied slightly. Reinhard's eyes widened a little at the sudden disrespect but could only smile helplessly as Merlin called the kingdom he serves shit, not that he'd deny it but he most definitely wouldn't phrase it like that. While Adelheid just nodded with a smile of a proud mother, glad to have shaped his views.
"While I wouldn't state it as crudely as that, I think you have a very basic understanding."
"Yeah." Merlin smiled with a bit of embarrassment, rubbing the back of his head awkwardly.
"Damn big bro, you really don't know anythin'? Even I as a 'slum rat' know much more than ya."
"Don't copy what Rom said!"
"Rom-ji said that too? Aha! That just confirms that you're even more illiterate than us!"
"OH YEAH?! WELL I'M SORRY TO HAVE BEEN DROPPED INTO THIS WORLD WITHOUT ANY PRIOR KNOWLEDGE OR ANY GUIDE!!!"
Felt was about to make another snark remark but stopped from doing so because—"The heck do ya' mean by dropped into this world? You were born just yesterday or some shit?"
"First of all. No! I was NOT born yesterday, I'm already 19 years old. And second of all, I meant what I said very literally."
"...so what you're sayin' is..."
"Yes, Lady Felt. Merlin hails from beyond the Great Waterfalls."
Felt became silent. Her mouth was agape in disbelief and doubt.
She slowly turned her head towards the long-haired boy who was smiling with a victorious smile.
"Big bro... you're an illegal?!"
"Yeah that's exactly right—! Wait what?"
"I see, then as a knight I'll have to arrest you under the law." Adelheid spoke with seriousness.
"Wait no! I just started a new life and I'm already a criminal?! What's gonna be next? That I'm some sorta leader of a cult?"
***
Somewhere in another universe.
"ACHOOOO!"
A person clad in a dark purple robe sneezed at the top of his lungs.
"Ugh... who's remembering me at a time like this?"
"Are you okay, Syubaru-sama?" A very feminine voice approached him, worry evident in his eyes.
"Yeah, I'm okay Ferris." The person, who was called Subaru by the feline boy, put up his hand in front of Ferris in order to maintain some distance.
"Oni-saaaaan, you're being super slow you know~. Should we leave you here~?" A girl who was sitting on a big wolf-lion-like Mabeast spoke in a dramatic and stretched-out tone.
"Meili..." He addressed the girl with blue braided hair and green eyes. "Has Elsa already left?"
"Yeeeeeess, she left just now and said that she'll meet us there~."
"I see, let's move quickly. And also make sure that the merchant does not escape."
"Roger~!" Meili saluted Subaru before the Mabeast began moving further.
Subaru watched the back of the retreating girl.
Thoughts spiralling violently in his mind.
His hand drifted up to his cheeks to check for the stability of his mind.
He was tired, very tired, he wanted to die.
But that alone would and SHOULD not be his salvation!
He's decided his path and he would never stop walking on it. No matter how much blood stains his feet.
He'll become the greatest villain and die to make her the greatest hero! He'll make her the queen even if he could never be her king, he was too far gone for that...to be able to start...restart from zero.
So he'll have to make sure, that the path he has treaded from zero may never return back to it.
A smile began to form on his face, on the face of the debauched version of the kindest boy. This was what remained of him. The wicked and almost maniacal smile was a reminder of the world's failure.
But he doesn't care anymore. Even if the world has failed him, he'll never fail.
He'll make her the queen. He'll make her dreams come true.
And then he'll die at the hands of his star. The sole brightness of his life.
Because that is the only way he can repay her kindness.
And he was confident, maybe even overconfident that he'll be able to do it. But that's his nature isn't it? Because—he's Natsuki Subaru.
The Sin Archbishop representing the Sin of Pride.
***
AUTHORS NOTES:
Yea yea ik. I just wanted an excuse to write the pride of part. I enjoy writing something that dives deep into monologues and psychology.
Not that I think I'm good at it, but atleast I like doing it.
That's why I want to skim through arc 1 and 2.
Cause 3 contains some deep shit and 4 is the entire reason I'm writing it.
Yea so that's about it
Sorry for not being consistent though, I'm only a student after all.