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{3rd Pov}
A middle-aged man entered. He had dusty blond hair combed back, a well-kept brown mustache, and wore the formal attire of an administrator.
"I greet you, esteed ladies," he said with a courteous bow. "My na is Chilard, and I currently serve as the acting governor of this city on behalf of the noble houses."
"My na is Emilia, and I am one of the Dragon Candidates," Emilia introduced herself with a brief nod.
Reina followed suit, speaking with clarity and composure. "I am the current Sword Saint. I represent Marquis Zero, and I am here on his behalf to consolidate his rule over this city."
There was a noticeable glint in the man's eyes upon hearing those words. He nodded slowly, his expression difficult to read, before speaking. "I've received word that Lord Zero has officially assud control over this domain. The power has been formally transferred to him." He paused, his voice tinged with disappointnt. "But to think he wouldn't visit in person…"
He let out a sigh.
Reina's gaze instantly turned cold and sharp, her tone devoid of any warmth as she responded, "My Lord is currently engaged with matters of great importance, far more significant than dealing with minor squabbles. I stand here as his sword and his will. Sir Chilard, I would advise you not to overstep your boundaries. I have been granted the authority to execute those who challenge or undermine Lord Zero's rule."
Chilard flinched. Emilia, who was standing beside Reina, was montarily taken aback by the sudden escalation and Reina's direct threat. Still, she quickly composed herself, recognizing the situation for what it was.
If it had been the Reina of the past—before she t Subaru—perhaps she would have tolerated the subtle insults, ignored the provocations hidden behind polite words, and walked away from power plays. She might have even overlooked personal offenses for the sake of diplomacy.
But the Reina standing here now was no longer that person. She had beco Subaru's sword, a protector of his ideals and ambitions, and she had run out of patience for petty political gas. There was no room left for playing along with people who sought to challenge her Lord's legitimacy or insult him through backhanded remarks.
She had never used her authority for personal gain before. Her power had always been a responsibility, not a weapon. But now?
Now she wielded it for Lord Zero's sake, she would make it clear to everyone what it ant to be the Sword Saint. If people wanted to call her tyrannical for doing so, then so be it. Her reputation among the nobility was already damaged—most of them feared or disliked her anyway. What difference would it make?
Chilard stood silent for a mont, unsure of how to continue. His plan had been to test their limits, slowly chip away at their authority through subtle manipulation and undermining tactics. But Reina had shut him down before he could even begin. She wasn't here to negotiate or play gas. She had made it unmistakably clear that she was not soone to be trifled with.
Compared to her, Chilard was a minor noble with no real standing. He governed a small region, and his authority barely extended beyond local matters. Reina, in contrast, was next in line for a Duchy. She was the Sword Saint—a title feared and respected across the kingdom. On top of that, she represented Subaru, who had just taken control of the entire domain. Emilia stood beside her, not just as a Dragon Candidate, but also as soone backed by the powerful Margrave Roswaal.
By every political asure in this monarchy, Reina and Emilia stood miles above Chilard. He was outclassed in rank, power, and influence.
"I apologize for overstepping my boundaries," Chilard said quickly, bowing low. His forehead began to sweat visibly. He now understood clearly that Reina could kill him on the spot if she chose to—and there would be no consequences.
Greed truly had no limits. Humans would risk everything—their lives, reputations, and even their common sense—for the faintest chance of gaining power.
Chilard had thought he could bluff and manipulate his way into a more favorable position. But in the face of absolute authority, his sches crumbled instantly.
anwhile…
"Let Betty have a taste of the food too, I suppose," Beatrice said as she sat comfortably on Subaru's lap.
Subaru chuckled lightly and looked down at her. He had just sent all his spirits out on reconnaissance missions, keeping only Beatrice with him. She was different from the others. As an artificial spirit, she couldn't shift into her spirit form, so she remained by his side.
"Are you sure, Betty? The food here isn't as good as what we usually eat back ho," Subaru replied, though he didn't object seriously.
He had decided to spend so ti with her before setting off to investigate potential illegal activities in the city. There was always work to do, and his responsibilities kept piling up as Lord Zero. However, no matter how busy his schedule beca, Subaru always made ti for the ones he cherished.
People like Beatrice. People like Reina.
They weren't just his companions—they were his family. And that ant sothing to him. Even in the middle of an increasingly complex political landscape, Subaru never lost sight of the people who mattered most.
That was exactly why Subaru didn't want to leave Beatrice hanging around doing nothing.
In fact, he had already planned several dates with Reina once the foundational work of setting up his company was completed and when Emilia could handle the public speeches and social appearances on her own—she was perfectly capable of drawing crowds and support without needing him to stand beside her every ti.
He fully intended to enjoy his life with Reina. Why else do you think he had hired Otto?
That man was there to handle the bulk of his responsibilities.
Subaru had always planned to shift most of the logistical work onto him.
It wasn't laziness—it was delegation.
That's how a proper leader operated, after all.
"Betty wants to taste what her contractor has eaten, I suppose," Beatrice said, pouting slightly, her tiny arms crossed and her expression filled with exaggerated expectation.
Subaru couldn't resist the cuteness. He sighed in defeat, gave her a light pat on the head, and got up to fetch so food without even arguing.
He soon returned carrying a wooden tray, which held several modest but warm dishes. There was a bowl of vegetable soup, so soft bread, boiled potatoes, and a couple of hard-boiled eggs with a light sprinkle of salt. It wasn't extravagant, but it was still a few notches above the basic lunch he had at that dingy tavern earlier.
Without waiting for Beatrice to ask again, Subaru sat down and started feeding her directly.
"Betty has never tasted such plain food before!" she said giving her evaluation, causing Subaru to wonder whether to laugh or cry at her brutally honest evaluation.
Just as he finished feeding her and setting the tray aside, a sudden burst of telepathic ssages flooded his mind. His elental spirits had returned with their reconnaissance findings.
'Umu! Father, I have found a location where demi-humans are locked inside cages,' reported Agni, her tone sharp and serious.
'Eh? I didn't find anything useful! I followed these sketchy guys, and all I saw was them sneaking into a bedroom with a woman while her husband was passed out drunk on the first floor! Hehe… it seems they were doing it right in front of him without waking him up,' said Aqua with a mischievous tone that made Subaru groan.
"Fuck! I took ntal damage just by hearing that!" Subaru complained holding his head, did Aqua was going to follow Dao of uselessness?
'I found holess people... starving,' Sylphy reported quietly, her voice calm and emotionless as always.
'I—I found a building full of… um… naked n and won wrestling in bed,' Gaea added, clearly flustered. Subaru's eye twitched.
"What the hell is wrong with my spirits today…?"
'Fufu! This concubine has located a group of nobles plotting sothing suspicious,' Gloria reported proudly, her tone composed and elegant, like a true noble spirit.
"At least three of you brought back sothing useful," Subaru muttered as he gave the order for the spirits to return to his body. They each re-entered his soul one by one, curling up into dormancy to recover their strength and grow stronger for future use.
"Fufu, praise , Father," Gloria said, standing in front of him in her human form with a smug expression on her face.
Before Subaru could respond, Beatrice gave her a sharp glare, before returning to Subaru's soul.
"You did a fantastic job, Gloria," he said softly, causing a faint blush to spread across her face.
With the information secured, Subaru stood up. "Alright, let's move quickly. I want to see what these nobles are up to before I finalize tomorrow's plans."
Following Gloria's lead, Subaru teleported to the location she had identified. It was an old, partially abandoned castle on the outskirts of the city. They moved silently through the corridors and made their way down into the basent level, where a small gathering was taking place in a secluded chamber.
Several nobles were already seated. More arrived over the next half hour, until the group was complete. Eventually, a gray-haired man with freckles and brown eyes stood up and addressed the group.
"Now that everyone has arrived," he began, "we can start our discussion regarding the sudden presence of the Sword Saint and the Dragon Candidate Emilia in this city."
He looked around before continuing, "I've received the most recent updates. Apparently, they're planning to implent major reforms. Chilard contacted via tia—he claims he was directly threatened by the Sword Saint not to overstep his boundaries."
The room grew tense.
"Presumptuous! What right does that girl have to threaten us?!" one of the n said angrily, slamming his fist on the table.
"We've ruled over this land for generations," another noble grumbled. "Now we're supposed to bow down to a nobody who got promoted and a silver-haired half-elf?! What kind of kingdom is this turning into?"
"Calm down, all of you," said the freckled man. "Regardless of how we feel, the fact remains—those two currently outrank us in every way that matters. In power, in influence, and in direct authority from the crown. Disobeying them outright would be suicide."
Everyone fell silent at those words. After a short pause, the discussion resud.
Eventually, they reached a temporary conclusion: they would halt all their illegal activities and move all the slaves to locations outside the city. On the surface, they would obey the new regi. But once Emilia and Reina left, or let their guard down, they would resu their old operations—this ti with more caution and secrecy.
Hidden in the shadows, Subaru observed everything with narrowed eyes and a smirk forming on his face. These nobles seriously thought they could fool him. They believed that waiting a few weeks and laying low would be enough to escape judgnt.
Let them dream.
He knew taking them all down at once would be troubleso. They weren't just greedy nobles—they were the current administrative machinery. Whether he liked it or not, many of them still handled critical affairs. Removing them all without a proper replacent would create chaos.
'Whatever,' Subaru thought, 'I'll deal with that later. Right now, I'm going to rescue the slaves and provide relief to the poor. Once Emilia begins her speech tomorrow, I'll make my move.'
Gloria huffed inside his mind, clearly irritated by the nobles' arrogance.
're mongrels… They dare think they can manipulate my father and get away with it. Soon, they'll learn the true aning of regret when they stand against us.'
To be continued...
(A/N: Because you bastard didn't want to read chap 10.5 I had to extend chap 10, and now I will have to write chap 11 so the story continues.
Seriously, I am showing what had happened and I thought it was interesting, atleast I wasn't showing the sa events with just different perspective.
I read a Re Zero fic, the last few five or six chaps were just the earlier chaps with different POV, it made nearly snap.
We were also getting at good point and now I will have to wait weeks for the story to continue!
Do you even realize how better condition you guys are getting? You are getting sothing new, 3k words per chap at that! But well I guess we return 2k words with story continuation.
Hehe.
Aghhh, I am seeing many new Re Zero fics, they are system related however their system is more unique than the generic one, makes want write new fanfics.
There is also that Enkidu one, but both it's plot and writing style are lackluster.
It was just OG plot with Enkidu. Enkidu was also nerfed heavily, and he got useless gifts while acquiring Enkidu's abilities when he had superior form of those abilities being Enkidu.
The fic Fate/Cannon also had an interesting beginning until it went down the drain.
Re Zero Echoes of Fate was good, but I lost interest, maybe it was too slow pace, or the story sounded too poetic, you can try that one. It is definetly a well written fic.
I am noticing more Re Zero fics are being uploaded now... I guess getting this fic at 1st rank did inspire a lot of people.
Well there are so good fics like Re: Vainglory, Natsuki Subaru with functioning phone, Re: Multiversal cafe, Hold let cook(Celestial grimoire), Re: Sage starting life for a second ti, Inherit by Death, Retribution: Aganau, Vagrant Royalty, Natsuki Subaru's journey to strategically capture female reinhardt, The second coming of little king, The Day I beca the Witch of Envy, The Legendary Sword Saint is not dead.
All of them are cream of the crop, so if you want Re Zero fics try them, all of them are updating fic by the way.
There was also that Sword Saintness' love which was inspired from a fanfic that is dropped, which was further inspired from my fanfic, the author did state that in his story and gave the ssage.
Truly funny.
I guess finally we are getting so good fics.
Still no mature Subaru...*LMAO*)
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