Th-this is bad…
Emilia swallowed hard, her hands anxiously clutching the emerald pendant at her chest.
“I lost it, b-but I just got it back.”
“The insignia?
What’s the big deal?” Subaru noticed how intensely the two were reacting.
Emilia was even breaking out in a cold sweat.
“Also, Reinhard is the [Sword Saint], right?
That sounds like a huge deal, so why are you adding ‘Lady’ when addressing Emilia-tan?”
“Lady Emilia hasn’t told you…”
Reinhard let out a long sigh.
“Addressing Lady Emilia with ‘Lady’ is only natural, given her status is far higher than my own.”
“The current King of the Kingdom of Lugunica and his entire royal line have all passed away.
At present, the nation is being run by the Council of Wise Men, who are making preparations to select a new monarch.”
Subaru’s eyes went wide.
“So that means Emilia-tan is…”
“Mhm.
Right now, my title is one of the candidates for the 42nd King of Lugunica,” Emilia said, looking a bit embarrassed.
“I’m sorry, Subaru.
I really didn’t mean to hide it from you for so long.
I was planning to tell you as soon as we got the insignia back.”
“Emilia-tan, wait a second…”
Mention of the insignia, coupled with how unusually Emilia and Reinhard were reacting to its theft, made the gears in his head turn.
“Could your stolen insignia be…”
“It is the qualification to participate in the Royal Selection,” Reinhard said, looking somewhat exasperated.
“A touchstone used to determine if the bearer is fit for the throne of Lugunica.”
“Which means—Emilia-tan lost her Royal Selection qualification insignia?!”
“Saying I ‘lost’ it makes it sound so awful!” Emilia hurriedly protested, shooting a stealthy glare at Felt, who had pricked up her ears to eavesdrop nearby.
“It was stolen by a bad kid with sticky fingers!”
“That’s exactly the same thing!”
Subaru was practically moved to tears by Emilia’s terrifyingly huge nerve.
She had lost something this important, yet she still had the mood to let him tag along on a slow stroll, and even stopped to help a lost little girl along the way…
“Say, what happens if it’s really lost?
Can the government issue a replacement?”
“If it truly were lost, the matter certainly wouldn’t end there…
sigh…” Reinhard rubbed his forehead, his expression growing even more helpless.
“While I personally do not think this way, the public would assume, ‘How can someone who cannot even protect a small insignia be expected to become King and protect an entire kingdom?’ She would be immediately disqualified.”
“Are you kidding me, Emilia-tan…” Subaru’s face was a picture of utter disbelief.
She looked away from Subaru, staring fixedly at the ground as if there was something incredibly fascinating down there.
“Fortunately, it was recovered in the end.
I shall simply pretend I never saw Lady Emilia lose her insignia.
However,” Reinhard looked down at the completely incapacitated Elsa at his feet, “I must trouble Subaru and Lady Emilia to tell me the full details of this incident, specifically why you were attacked by the Bowel Hunter.”
And so, Subaru and Emilia called Felt and Old Man Rom over.
Between the four of them, they managed to piece together the rough truth of the situation.
“So, the Bowel Hunter approached you out of nowhere and commissioned you to steal the insignia?” Reinhard looked thoughtful.
“Yeah!
She said the employer behind her was willing to pay 20 holy gold coins for it!” At the mention of her potential payout, a look of longing flashed through Felt’s eyes.
“Though the deal is completely busted now.
I don’t know what you guys were talking about earlier, but I get the feeling that insignia is worth way more than 20 holy gold coins.”
“Whenever I grabbed it, the jewel in the center would glow—that’s no ordinary accessory, that’s a [Metia]!”
Felt grew more and more enchanted as she spoke.
“It glowed?”
Waves rippled through Reinhard’s usually calm, lake-like pupils.
He scrutinized Felt closely, murmuring to himself, “No…
it couldn’t be such a coincidence…”
“Miss, could you elaborate on that?”
“…Just that the insignia seems to have some kind of magic hidden in it.
Every time I grabbed it, the jewel in the center would flash with a red light,” Felt recalled, her red eyes looking up at the ceiling as she tugged at her messy blonde hair.
“I just didn’t know how to activate the magic inside.”
Reinhard fell silent for a moment.
“Lady Emilia, could you please hand your insignia to this young lady for a moment?”
Emilia and Subaru had been standing to the side, listening with keen interest.
Suddenly called upon, Emilia hastily pulled the recovered insignia from her robes.
“Right here.
Here you go.”
Felt reached out and took the insignia.
In an instant, a red flash reflected in Reinhard’s pupils.
In a flash, Reinhard reached out and seized Felt’s hand as it held the insignia.
“To think such a thing is actually possible…” The ripples in Reinhard’s eyes turned into crashing waves.
Everyone present stared at Reinhard in shock, but faced with his grave expression, no one could find their words.
“Hey!
Th-that hurts…
let go of me…”
Felt cried out in pain, struggling weakly to resist, but the force of Reinhard’s grip didn’t loosen in the slightest. Find the original chapter at g.com.
“Lord [Sword Saint]…
please…” Old Man Rom pleaded softly, raising a trembling hand only to let it fall back down.
“—Isn’t that enough?”
Subaru finally couldn’t watch anymore.
Hearing Felt cry out for help, Subaru reached out with both hands and directly pried Reinhard’s grip open.
“Can’t you see you’re hurting her?”
Astonishment flashed through Reinhard’s eyes.
His other hand unconsciously adjusted the hilt of his sword.
Felt hastily scrambled back to hide behind Rom.
Emilia also stepped forward.
“Wait, Reinhard!
I know it’s difficult to understand the situation without pressing her, but this child didn’t know the value of the insignia.
Besides, it being stolen is partly my fault as well, so please don’t treat her like this, okay?”
“My apologies.
That is not the issue here.
But I have a reason why I absolutely must take her with me.” Realizing his agitation had made him lose his manners, Reinhard closed his eyes and composed himself slightly.
“…What is your name?”
Reinhard stared intently at the girl whose eyes shared the exact same color as his hair.
Felt shifted uneasily, hiding further behind Rom.
“M-my name is Felt.”
“Your family name?
How old are you?”
“I-I’m an orphan!
I don’t have something as fancy as a family name!
My age…
maybe fifteen?
I don’t even know my own birthday!
What exactly do you want?!”
Perhaps because the safety of hiding behind her elder gave her reassurance, Felt’s momentum recovered slightly, her tone turning rough once more.
“Wait, no way?!”
Having realized something, Subaru suddenly interjected.
“How could this kind of cliché plot actually happen?
The guy who wrote this script must be a third-rate hack!”
Reinhard nodded in agreement.
“Indeed, Subaru-kun.
It is exactly as you’re thinking.
And that is precisely why I must take Felt with me.”