Chapter 57: Sword Saint Brother Lets Out a Sharp Burst (Patreon)

Night had fallen deep.

In the domain of Baron Barielle, even the most diligent farmers had long since drifted into sleep. The moon hid behind thick clouds, unable to spill down even a sliver of light, and only the occasional rustle of leaves stirred by the night wind broke the stillness.

But a streak of crimson afterimage, moving at tremendous speed, shattered the night's silence.

Reinhard moved swiftly and silently, each footfall landing without the faintest sound, his very breath blending seamlessly into the night breeze. When it came to stealth, he had clearly reached a realm of true mastery.

Had Subaru been there to see it, he'd probably have grumbled that this was just plain unfair — here he was, a Dark Templar, and this amateur was making him look like the amateur instead.

Such was the strength of being a favored child of the world. Reinhard was born with blessings that amounted to little short of invincibility, and beyond that, he could commune with Od Laguna, the world's source, at any time to draw whatever blessing he needed.

Take tonight, for instance. For this mission to deliver a warning, he'd drawn the Divine Protection of Gale from Od Laguna — coming without trace, leaving without a shadow, passing through like nothing more than a gust of wind. Next to him, even Felt, the nimble-footed thief of the slums, would look downright clumsy.

As for why our Sword Saint friend was rushing so urgently to the Barielle Domain, the story went back to what he'd reported to the Council of Wise Men.

He'd thought the Council would, at most, question Subaru's status as a throne candidate outside the five prophesied Dragon's Maidens. He never imagined the old men's reaction would be so extreme — not only did they refuse to recognize him, they slapped a red arrest warrant on him.

Even Miklotov, who always projected an image of gentle caution, had taken an unusually aggressive stance on the matter, insisting that Subaru's very existence posed a threat to the kingdom and that he had to be captured immediately.

In fact, Reinhard had no doubt whatsoever that if things escalated further, the Council would simply order him, as the Sword Saint, to execute the "traitor to the kingdom" outright and restore peace to Lugnica.

He was the Sword Saint, a hero of the kingdom. He was supposed to obey the Council's will, protect Lugnica, and sweep away every enemy that threatened it. But the question was — was Subaru really an enemy?

Reinhard was certain he was not.

Having witnessed firsthand the battle against Deathwing, he understood with absolute clarity the destructive power Subaru carried within him.

With power like that, Subaru could easily have unleashed a catastrophe far beyond anything any Sin Archbishop of the Witch Cult in history had ever achieved. He could have sown hatred and despair into every corner of the kingdom.

And yet, he hadn't.

He'd chosen restraint. He'd even entrusted Reinhard with a burden of trust so heavy it could crush a soul.

Reinhard asked himself: could a man who so calmly placed his own life and death into another's hands, a soul who carried hell within him yet still yearned for the light, possibly be called an "enemy"?

He had to tell him everything, before it was too late.

Making this decision was, in truth, a severe trial of his knightly spirit. But he simply couldn't stand by and watch a friend who'd entrusted his very life to him fall victim to such scheming.

How he wished this were all just a misunderstanding — that if the Council only investigated carefully, they'd surely discover that this mysterious black-haired young man was a hero, just like himself.

But faced with the Council's absolute order, Reinhard had ultimately stopped arguing. Instead, he'd buried the connection between Subaru and the black dragon deep within himself, keeping it a secret between just the two of them.

Now, he found it hard to place much trust in a Council he'd once believed capable of handling everything properly.

He arrived at the Barielle manor without a sound, a single toe-touch launching him up onto one of its balconies, and used the Divine Protection of Telepathy to project his thoughts.

"Lord Subaru, this is Reinhard. I have urgent news to share!"

Almost the instant the thought reached him, Reinhard noticed the shadow beneath his own feet ripple, and Subaru came tumbling out of it with a somersault.

"You know, the frequency of these night ambushes has been getting a little excessive lately, don't you think?"

Subaru raised an eyebrow and tipped his hat in greeting to Reinhard, his tone carrying just a hint of disappointment.

"Evening, buddy. I was hoping it'd be some pretty girl showing up at my door again, but nope, it's the Sword Saint himself. That's not really your style, is it?"

"The situation is urgent, my friend. This is no time to worry about such details."

"The Council of Wise Men has decided to put out a warrant for your arrest!"

Reinhard drew a deep breath and relayed, in full and in earnest, the contents of the warrant and the Council's attitude toward him.

Honestly, this was a risky move. From what Reinhard understood of Subaru, the man was genuinely decent and easy to get along with, but he always had no shortage of dangerous ideas. Heaven only knew what terrifying scheme he might cook up once he heard this news.

But Reinhard had already prepared himself for anything on the way here. If Subaru truly reacted with excess, he'd throw everything he had into stopping him — not for the Council's sake, but for the sake of all Lugnica.

But after hearing his grave, solemn account, Subaru showed no trace of anger at all. His shoulders trembled slightly — was he about to lose it? Or was he barely holding it together?

"Pfft—!"

That was when Reinhard understood.

He'd been holding back laughter.

"Hahaha... ahahahaha! So... they just went and issued a warrant for my arrest? No way. Is it really that funny?"

Subaru doubled over with laughter, clearly finding the whole thing genuinely hilarious, and it made Reinhard feel like all his earlier caution had been a joke in itself.

"I can't— I can't take it... just let me laugh for a second... hahahaha... those idiots. No wonder Roswaal looks down on them. They're even dumber than I imagined! Hahahaha!"

Reinhard just stood there, watching Subaru laugh himself sick while hurling insults at the Council, genuinely unsure what expression to make.

Part of him wanted to correct Subaru's attitude toward the Council, but honestly, those old men really had done something foolish this time. Following that line of thought felt disrespectful, though — no, that wouldn't do at all. Best to just stay silent.

"All right..." Subaru stepped forward, still not quite done laughing, and clapped Reinhard on the shoulder, the grin still on his face. "Don't worry, buddy. Those fools couldn't find me in their next life. When it comes to stealth, I'll call myself second best in this world, and no one would dare claim first."

"Still, that reminds me — seems like there's some faction in the royal capital that's pretty wary of me. I'm getting more and more curious what exactly they are."

"My friend, if I may speak plainly... the situation right now is murky and uncertain. For you to walk into it in person would perhaps not be especially..."

"Relax. Just watch."

Subaru cut him off, crooking a finger to beckon Reinhard closer, his smile turning positively wicked.

"After I finished off that Sin Archbishop of Lust, I picked up a few new tricks. Couldn't be more perfect for a situation like this."

Under Reinhard's curious gaze, Subaru's body suddenly began to twist and warp. His golden eyes shifted first, bleeding into a vivid violet-red, and his bones let out a teeth-grinding series of cracks, as though some invisible hand had crushed and reassembled him piece by piece.

In moments, his frame shrank down, its outline growing slender and sinuous. His short black hair lengthened slightly and shifted to the golden hue distinctive of the Lugnican royal bloodline.

The figure that emerged was, without question, the Sin Archbishop of Lust herself — Capella Emerada Lugnica!

Of course, it was only Subaru's shoddy knockoff imitation — but it looked more real than the genuine article.

After all, Subaru and Deathwing were, at their core, two souls sharing a single body — and the Old God authority Deathwing had gained by devouring the Lust Witch Factor was something Subaru could wield just the same.

There was some risk of losing control when drawing on the corrupting force of that Old God authority — the mad dragon might seize the chance to take over again — but using just a sliver of that power to reshape his own flesh was perfectly safe.

"Hee hee hee, doesn't this lady look gorgeous?"

Accompanied by that signature smug little laugh, "Capella" spoke, her voice sweet to the point of nausea, deliberately mimicking the real woman's coquettish airs as she swayed her slender waist over to Reinhard and looped both hands around his arm.

"Do you like it? If you want, I can turn into anyone you fancy, you know? Ugh, gross, I can't even!"

He didn't even make it through the sentence before his own sultry, bitchy tone and mannerisms grossed him out too much to continue, and he decisively spared his good friend from experiencing any more of the Sin Archbishop of Lust's "charms."

"I honestly don't know how that woman ever got used to talking like that. Didn't it bother her? And besides... if I actually looked like this, the whole royal capital would probably be thrown into chaos within minutes."

Reinhard nodded silently, deeply in agreement.

Subaru's form twisted once more, his build swelling rapidly back to a man's frame. Within seconds, a man who was Reinhard's spitting image stood before him.

Height, build, features — every detail copied without the slightest flaw. Even the pure white knight's uniform matched down to the last stitch, as if Reinhard were staring at his own reflection in a mirror.

"My friend, this would be a wise choice," Subaru said, mimicking Reinhard's manner of speech with a perfectly straight face. "I could tell everyone I'm your long-lost twin brother. As for a name... let's go with Heinrich van Astrea."

"That..." Reinhard kept his expression composed on the surface, but inwardly, he was already starting to panic. Unless something changed, Subaru was about to propose an idea that would leave him utterly stunned.

Sure enough, the "Reinhard" standing across from him stepped forward and slung an arm around his shoulder, all buddy-buddy, in a scene as bizarre as anything could be.

"See, this way I'd be a lord of the Old Royal Capital's Plain Red Banner — I'd have proper standing! Then I could waltz right into the royal capital in broad daylight, do a few good deeds here and there, and let it all get credited to the Sword Saint."

"Like, oh, accidentally offing a Sin Archbishop, or cleaning up some leftover mess from the Demi-Human War, or maybe taking down one of the Three Great Mabeasts — call it doing a service for the people. I do the work, you take the glory. Isn't that just perfect?"

Subaru's version of "Reinhard" grew more excited as he talked, spreading his arms wide at the height of his enthusiasm, as if the grand blueprint of the future were already fully drawn out in his mind.

"By then, buddy, your reputation would hit an all-time high! The people would adore you, the nobles would fear you, even the dragon would give you a wide berth. And that bunch of old geezers on the Council? They wouldn't be worth a damn!"

"You and me, brothers side by side — one call to arms, and we storm the throne, seize that damned crown, and put an end to Lugnica's illegitimate rule! Wouldn't the people welcome our righteous army with baskets of food and jugs of wine? Look upon the state of things today — in the end, this world shall belong to House Astrea!"

Though Reinhard didn't understand most of the classical allusions packed into that speech, he understood perfectly well that Subaru was, once again, egging him on toward rebellion. As a loyal subject of Lugnica, there was simply no way he could turn a blind eye to this.

Not to mention that this treasonous rant was coming out of what looked like "his own" mouth. No matter how steady Reinhard's nerves usually were, his lips twitched uncontrollably and cold sweat poured down his back.

"There's no need — really, there's no need for this, Lord Subaru!"

Reinhard finally couldn't hold back any longer. He waved his hands frantically in refusal, his words almost pleading.

"My friend, whatever it is you're planning, please, spare me. I have absolutely no interest in the throne, and no ability whatsoever to govern a nation."

"But I think you do. You're just way too hard on yourself, always treating yourself like some kind of tool."

"Please, I beg you, don't do this."

"Fine. I respect your choice."

Subaru pursed his lips, dropped the transformation, and reverted to his own form. Watching Reinhard's expression — a mix of relief and lingering shock — he rolled his eyes, and a new idea struck him.

"All right, let's try something gentler then. Forget being your brother — how about I be your little sister instead?"

Before Reinhard could respond, Subaru began transforming again, this time much more slowly.

He seemed to think it over for a moment, then, drawing on his own impression of Reinhard, began shaping an imagined image of "what he'd look like as a girl."

Soon, an entirely new figure stood before Reinhard.

Long red hair, like burning flame, fell smoothly over her shoulders. Her facial features had softened, but a trace of the sharp, noble bearing of House Astrea still lingered between her brows.

Her figure was tall and well-proportioned, carrying both a girl's slenderness and a knight's crisp bearing. Her eyes, the same clear blue as Reinhard's own, held a faint, lingering trace of melancholy beneath their clarity — beautiful enough to break one's heart.

But the moment this image finally settled into place, Reinhard's calm expression finally shattered completely.

It was well past a mere tremor in his eyes — his pupils looked ready to pop right out of his skull, as though he were staring at something that should never, could never, exist in this world.

Because the girl standing before him — the one Subaru had transformed into, with her delicate yet spirited face and that faintly melancholic gaze — bore an uncanny, almost frightening resemblance to his grandmother, the previous generation's Sword Saint, Theresia van Astrea.

"Big brother?"

At those two words, Reinhard staggered back a full step, his back slamming hard into the balcony railing with a dull, heavy thud.

The elegance and composure he took such pride in, the poise that never wavered no matter how powerful the enemy before him, vanished completely in that instant.

Though his face still tried to hold onto that same calm mask, Reinhard's mind was already a tangled mess, like a drowning man gasping for air, and his eyes betrayed a fear and regret unlike anything he'd shown before.