Chapter 13: Ha, I'm a Dragon Maiden Too? No Way! (Patreon)

Seeing the Sword Saint appear so suddenly, Emilia tensed for a moment, ready to step forward and explain the situation — but the instant she saw how familiar Reinhard seemed with Natsuki Subaru, she finally relaxed.

"So, Lord Subaru, what exactly happened here?"

Reinhard's gaze turned serious as he surveyed the surroundings.

"I've heard how dangerous the Bowel Hunter is supposed to be, but she shouldn't have been capable of causing destruction on this scale."

"Correct! Bonus point!"

Subaru snapped his fingers, forcing a faint smile at the corners of his mouth, and confessed with studied nonchalance:

"Basically, I got slashed and lost my temper for a second. Couldn't hold back in time, and ended up turning this whole place upside down. Guess I went a bit overboard with the force."

"Are you all right?" Hearing this, Reinhard noticed the wound at Subaru's waist. "I know an excellent healer, if you'd like—"

"I'm fine, just a scratch," Subaru said, waving him off.

"But your side's been cut open. You're still bleeding."

"I know."

Subaru glanced down at it and added earnestly:

"This is about as bad as a mouth ulcer. Stings a bit, but it won't kill me anytime soon."

Reinhard's expression turned subtly complicated.

"A... mouth ulcer?"

"Yeah. And honestly, I'm more concerned about this trench coat than the wound."

Subaru clutched his chest, his face full of anguish.

"This was a gift from a friend of mine. My body's only taken a little damage, but what happened to this coat — that's a serious trauma to my soul."

"My lord... is the coat really more important than your wound?"

"Of course it is."

Subaru answered gravely.

"Wounds heal on their own. Torn clothes don't stitch themselves back together. And judging by the state of this thing, even if I sewed it up, it'd look terrible. Might as well just get someone to pay for a new one!"

Reinhard fell silent for a moment before speaking.

"Don't worry, Lord Subaru. I'll find a way to compensate you for your clothing."

"You mean that?" Subaru's head shot up. "Sword Saint, old buddy, I'm holding you to that!"

"Of course."

"Just don't try to fob me off with some white outfit like yours. Your knightly getup's not bad, but white's not my color — midnight black, that's more my style."

Reinhard looked at him as if about to say something, but in the end just nodded.

"...All right."

Nearby, Felt turned to look at what had once been her "home," now reduced to a heap of rubble, and let out a bitter laugh. She pulled out the insignia that had caused her so much trouble — at this point, she never wanted to lay eyes on the thing again.

If she hadn't let greed get the better of her back then, she thought, none of this disaster would've happened. Still, at least she'd kept her life.

"Okay, here — take this back." Felt walked up to Emilia and held out the insignia. "You should keep important stuff like this somewhere safe from now on. Don't let anyone steal it again, all right?"

"It feels a little strange, getting advice on thief-proofing from you," Emilia said, unable to hold back a laugh.

"Heh heh, just think of it as getting a head start on your anti-theft experience~"

As soon as she said it, Felt realized how that sounded and quickly added:

"And besides, I'll try to steal less from now on!"

"Try to?"

Subaru raised an eyebrow and glanced over at her.

"Sounds like your moral standards are improving fast — going from 'I'm gonna steal' to 'I'll try not to steal.' At this rate, you'll leave the thieving life behind and walk the righteous path in no time! Cause for celebration, truly."

"Oh, shut up! Why do you talk so much?"

Sharp-eyed even from a distance, Reinhard noticed something — the insignia resting in Felt's palm had begun glowing with a red light, the very light that only ever appeared upon contact with a royal candidate acknowledged by the Divine Dragon.

His pupils contracted sharply.

Golden hair, red eyes! He was furious with himself for only now noticing features unique to the Lugnica royal bloodline on this girl — and combined with the fact that she could resonate with a insignia set with a Dragon Jewel, this could be no coincidence.

"...This can't be."

Reinhard strode forward and seized Felt's wrist, wanting a closer look. The none-too-gentle grip clearly hurt her, and she protested at once.

"Ow! What are you doing? Let go of me!"

"My apologies." Reinhard eased his grip slightly. "Little girl, what's your name? Your surname, and your age?"

"I'm Felt. I don't have anything fancy like a surname! I said let go of me already!"

Hearing this, Reinhard's expression turned grave — his suspicions were now eighty percent confirmed. He took a deep breath and declared solemnly to Felt:

"Felt, in the name of the Royal Guard, I must ask you to come with me at once to the main house of the Astrea family. Your identity may bear on the future of the entire Lugnica!"

"Whoa." Subaru stepped forward too, sounding impressed. "Not bad, kid. Forget quitting the thieving life — why not just go straight to being king?"

As he spoke, Subaru pressed a hand down on Reinhard's wrist, signaling him to let go, and stepped between him and Felt to separate them.

"Let's not rush things, though. Sword Saint, old buddy, at least ask the person involved what she thinks, yeah? You're a knight, after all — mind your manners a little."

"My apologies, Lord Subaru. I got ahead of myself."

At this, Reinhard seemed to realize his lapse. He turned to Felt with a serious look and spoke in a respectful tone.

"Lady Felt, I have no wish to force you, but given how much is at stake here, I must..."

Reinhard was about to explain further, but as Subaru drew closer, the insignia in Felt's hand began humming violently again, just as it had earlier that day. The gem at its center flared with a red light more brilliant than ever — more than ten times brighter than when it had merely rested in Felt's palm.

"Whoa! Not this again!" Startled, Felt flung the insignia away outright.

The insignia flew several meters through the air before hitting the ground, and only then did the turmoil slowly settle.

Everyone was stunned by the sudden turn of events, none more so than Reinhard.

"A national treasure of Lugnica — a insignia that's only ever supposed to resonate with the 'Dragon's Maiden' — reacting this violently to a man?!"

He stared blankly at the wildly flickering insignia, then glanced at Subaru frowning beside him, his mind going momentarily blank.

The Dragon Badge was a Lugnica national treasure set with a Dragon Jewel. By rights, it should have reacted only to the five royal candidates chosen by the Divine Dragon.

Subaru was clearly not a royal candidate — and certainly not a woman.

What's more, this was unprecedented. No one had ever heard of a Dragon's Maiden capable of provoking such a violent response from the insignia.

"But... how is that even possible?"

"Guess your country's Divine Dragon isn't all that reliable. How's a grown man like me end up getting mistaken for some 'Dragon's Maiden' by this junky thing?"

Subaru tossed off the remark, picked up a stick off the ground, and used it to poke the insignia further away.

"Okay, everyone hold still! Let me take a look at what's really going on with this thing."

"Lord Subaru... what are you—?"

"The way it was acting just now, I'm worried it might explode." Subaru prodded at the insignia on the ground with the stick. "In my experience, shiny glowing things like this usually aren't all that safe. Gotta be careful."

Reinhard: "..."

Once again, the Sword Saint found himself at a loss for words — though this time, he genuinely couldn't argue with the point.