The last viewing didn't leave much of a choice in terms of mood for the people of theater, Priscilla aside.
It all seemed like Subaru had already revealed his fate to them, with cold, unwanted words for those that stood by his side.
Some still tried to know if this was worth believing or nothing short of a lie. Others felt their heart fill with pain, sorrow, or wrath. Verily, anger was rising within a lot of people. The Duchess Karsten, Felt, Julius, Aldebaran, Garfiel, even Reinhard…But why?
Against whom? For what?
What would such feelings bring? What would it change?
For some the answers were as obvious as the color of the sky. Others were still pondering on the reason why they felt this way.
They didn't want to lose Subaru, this was for sure. But shouldn't tears, grimaces, cries and sadness be enough?
Wasn't the fear, pushing the maids around the black haired boy to hold on him as if it was the last time they would ever be able to lay their eyes on him, enough?
"Why would things even go this way…?" A pink-haired oni whispered as she held her face close to the boy's hair, "Why would you leave us?"
She didn't raise her head, nor did she want to. Not because she was afraid of anyone around her to see the tears at the edge of her eyes, at this precise moment when only the sobs of those who couldn't hold back could be heard in the theater, she couldn't care less.
In this endless sorrow, Ram's only comfort was simply to stay in her current position. As close as she could, whispering to his ear every word she wished for him to hear.
"Do not leave us…Do not leave me…" She kept whispering, squeezing his shoulder as if to urge him to listen.
Ram had much like everyone else, one lingering thought at the back of her mind growing bigger and bigger as every second passed.
Roswaal had already let this thought install itself in his mind, and became quite apathetic to it. If this is how things were supposed to end, then…
"Is this it?" Otto sighed painfully, closing his eyes while leaning on his chair, "How long has it been…? A year?"
"Don' say anythin'..." Garfiel cut him, both hands covering his ears, "Otto…Shut up…"
Otto barely moved when his friend called him, his only reaction being to slightly glance to the side where Garfiel was, and fell back into grievance.
"To hell with these words anyways," he gritted his teeth, his entire face trembling in sadness, "to hell with all…"
"I don't want this to be true as well, but…" Petra cried in silence, hiding her face against Subaru's arm, "making myself illusions…Is pointless, isn't it?"
Frederica, surprised upon hearing her apprentice say such words, turned towards her with strange surprise.
"Petra-chan…" She uttered while holding a hand to her mouth.
Frederica couldn't believe that Petra, out of all the people in the theater, was psychologically readying herself for the worse.
Petra, out of all people, was doing her best to keep her tears for herself and appreciate her time near the one she loved.
"If only I had such strength…" Frederica smiled while sobbing, "if only…"
Who would blame her? Or rather, who would blame all of them, for letting their emotions get the better of themselves? There was no reason to be ashamed, Frederica knew it.
But still…For a child to be seeing a reality when she still grasped over the possibility of this all being a deceit.
"But I do not," she uttered to herself, wiping her tears away, "You…Would not leave us, Subaru-sama. Not after everything you did…"
At the other side, the blue-haired maid was perhaps the only one bearing great sadness, and remaining completely quiet.
Rem was silent. Rem was unmoving. With nothing but a tear-filled face, the blue oni of the Mathers domain didn't have the strength to move. Didn't have the strength to speak. Didn't have the strength to even think.
All she wanted, and all she needed at the moment, was to stay right here. To stay next to Subaru, to touch him, to feel him.
On his lap, Beatrice was turned around, her face buried on his chest and clenching on his cloth. Subaru was the one who delivered her from her prison of loneliness, he was the one who broke the chain of the book she was a slave to, and broke the never ending circle she was subject to live for four hundred years.
He was the one who promised to give her joy, to give her unforgettable memories, to never leave her and to hold her hand.
"You promised…" She sobbed, shaking her head against his vest, "you promised, in fact!"
"But he is bad at holding onto his promises…" Emilia replied as she kept her eyes towards the screen, unable to look anywhere else, "this is just how you are…"
Although she was smiling, it was a clear smile of defeat. A smile one would bear knowing there is nothing left to do, because this is what Emilia believed.
There was nothing else to do.
There was nothing else she could do.
"Because I failed," she said with a broken voice, still smiling, "because I lost."
This would remain in her mind, in repetition.
"I lost. I lost. I lost. I lost."
"When this all ends, you will be taken away, Subaru…" She whispered, "you will be taken away from me…My knight…"
Next to her, hearing every word she was uttering, the Duchess of the Karsten house kept her eyes closed.
To her thoughts added what Emilia had just said, understanding very well what the elven princess' words translated into. And what she wished to do, if it was not for her iron will, was to shout at the top of her lungs towards the silver-haired half-elf, so she could shut her mouth.
Emilia was lamenting on how she was about to lose the one she didn't even know how to feel about.
But Crusch Karsten, was about to lose the one she realized she loved. Her rage was getting the better of herself, at how this woman dared to complain about what she could lose when she had all the time fate could provide with him. A time Crusch didn't have, that no one else had but Roswaal's camp.
She didn't spend a year with him, she didn't share much with him, she didn't have a bond as strong as those of the Mathers camp would have with the boy…Yet she couldn't help but think that she deserved it.
That she deserved it more than them. More than all of them. More than her.
She wanted to curse them. She wanted to let out all the thoughts that were running in her mind right now, of how they murdered him, tortured him, made him suffer to no end, and yet had the gal to feel sorry for losing him.
As if she had a right to. As if she could.
As if this lie she told herself was true.
"For I am no better…" she said in a voice so faint none could hear.
So yes, Crusch decided to remain silent. But not out of willpower.
Out of shame. Out of disgust.
Like everyone else in the Emilia camp. Like all those who felt the anger rising in their chests.
Their wrath was for none but themselves.
For their faults, and their failures.
Felix was one of the few who stayed silent without any apparent emotion on his face. The fate of Subaru Natsuki was of little importance to him, and if he had to choose, he would rather him go back to his world.
For both their sakes, it was for the better.
"Would you really come to aid me when I need you most, only to leave without letting me pay you back, my boy?" Wilhelm whispered, clenching his hands in anger, "even a little…"
Rare were those Wilhelm was attached enough to express any kind of feelings. Even his closest friends from years ago were barely in his mind.
But Subaru, as new as their relationship was, had already taken a significant place in the old sword demon's heart…Which was to no surprise only for himself. Others would simply wonder if he was really the Wilhem Van Astrea they heard about or knew.
"Had it not been for you, where would I be now?" thought one of who bore the same name, seated not far away from his grandfather.
"Where would I be…" Felt repeated, sobbing silently, "big bro…"
Ricardo and the triplets remained silent, grieving in their own way, so was Julius and Anastasia.
Even if silence, in some way, was more telling than a thousand words. Most understood what was the meaning behind their muteness.
Even though Anastasia was quiet for other reasons than sorrow for the boy. She was quiet because she didn't want to voice her thoughts louder than she already did, but to her it simply seemed too vague to be the conclusion.
It didn't make sense to the merchant princess.
"How pathetic," Priscilla clicked her tongue, not wanting to look down and dirty her eyes with such a disgusting sight.
"..." Al didn't dare to say anything, her thoughts were already made clear to him.
But even then, there was one question which remained in the helmeted knight's mind…
For the string of fate that tied him to Subaru, if what was written was for him to be taken back…
"Then what about me?" He thought to himself, in a tone of wonder.
"CIA…"
"It…It's starting again?" Emilia spoke in a hushed tone, seeing the screen lit up.
Every single soul in the theater turned their gazes towards the screen once more, their hearts either heavy, confused, or expecting.
"Really now…" Otto sighed with a tired expression.
"What's the damn point…" Garfiel growled with a tear in his eye, breathing heavily.
"This is not the end…" Anastasia squinted her eyes, caressing her scarf in a delicate way.
"Why would it show us more? Didn't it…Didn't it show enough as of now?" Petra whimpered in her seat, "I don't…I don't want to…"
The screen lit up to show Subaru sleeping on the couch from above, as a hand was coming closer to his shoulder. As he opened his eyes, Subaru's hand went straight to his holster. It only took a fraction of a second, but it was enough for Subaru to have his finger on the trigger, while Hadir put his hands up with an expression of shock at the speed.
People were quite divided by what they had just witnessed. A part was of course impressed by the speed with which Subaru had reacted, while others…
"So this is his way of waking up now…" Rem grimaced, pulling herself closer from Subaru, "I much preferred when you slowly woke up, with such an innocent face…"
When she was conscious and working at the manor alongside her sister and the newly arrived butler, Rem had countless occasions to watch over the black-haired boy. The way he had to slowly open his eyes, the gentle, and warm smile he would give after yawning and getting up from bed.
"All that to be changed by such…" Rem did her best to not whimper, holding the arm of her love as tight as she could.
Now, the way he opened his eyes after sleeping seemed so…Brutal.
It was ruthless, desensitized.
"He is far from being as peaceful as he looks here," Frederica sighed with a shake of her head, glancing towards the sleeping boy near her colleagues.
"This is what war does to a person," Wilhelm grunted between his teeth, "for one who spent a great time fighting in sweat and blood, taking the lives of many…Peace of mind becomes a luxury."
"In a way, I feel like his reaction speed should be praised," Reinhard spoke with a small smile, while his eyes translated his pity, "but…Considering the reason why he gained such skills…"
"He stands somewhere he may die any second," Ricardo continued for the sword saint, "so yeah, kinda worth being praised if you want my guess."
"…Ah, sorry," He made sure to not point his gun at Hadir, putting it back in the holster as he got up from the couch.
"That is some incredible reflexes," Hadir laughed, impressed by Subaru's speed, "if I was Russian, I would've been done for."
"...This man really seems to despise Russians…" Reinhard hummed from his seat in a rather disheartened way.
"Didn't they destroy and occupy his home?" Felt replied to him, "I mean, it's kinda fair to hate the invaders if you ask me."
"Perhaps, my lady. But showing such constant disdain is a behavior that I would call rather unhealthy." Reinhard concluded his thoughts.
"It is true that he brings it up every time he can, he nearly seems…Obsessed," Crusch followed Reinhard's comment.
"He hates them," Wilhelm spoke with narrowed eyes, "he hates them with passion. A fire raging in his heart every time he is reminded of them."
Crusch, Felix, Ricardo and Julius turned towards the old sword demon, whose voice began to turn grimmer.
"Whatever they did, it left a scar in this man's mind. A wound so deep that it will only be healed with spilled blood," he closed his eyes briefly before reopening them with a more hardened look, "a desire of vengeance."
"I guess if someone knows about that, it gotta be you." Felix said in a hushed tone.
Subaru didn't respond with nothing but a tired nod of his head, stretching his arms and legs, "we're set?"
"Yes. My sister is supervising the last preparations, we will be attacking at any moment," Hadir looked at the other room, where his soldiers prepared themselves, "I hope you took enough rest, CIA. Because there's no breaks until we have taken that airbase."
"أنا كويس"(I'm fine) Subaru replied, tapping the shoulder of Hadir as he went forward.
"This is really…A strange language." Emilia commented in wonder as she heard her knight speak.
"Somehow, it always has an angry tone behind it," Petra nodded her head to the elven princess' words, "it even sounds a bit threatening…"
"Eh…That's a bit impolite to say." Aldebaran scoffed from his seat for only his mistress to hear.
"I feel the opposite," Crusch mused aloud, "it sounds rather peaceful."
"I guess…It is a question of earring?" Emilia smiled at the Duchess, "though, when Subaru speaks it, it's true that he seems a bit calmer."
"It's certainly because the language is not his usual one, so he's kinda more careful when speakin' it." Anastasia deduced, nodding to her own explanation.
"Your Arabic is not bad at all," Hadir chuckled with an expression showing how impressed he was,, "I'm surprised. I suppose it is normal for CIA agents to learn more languages, but a tongue like ours is quite difficult to master."
Subaru remained quiet, his mind wandering away to memories he didn't know if he wished to remember.
"Let's just say I had a…Good teacher." A hint of distaste could still be perceived in his voice as he walked to a greater room with Hadir, a place filled with guns, explosives and military equipment.
"There is something going on…" Otto grunted to show his worry, "a good teacher?"
"It doesn't seem like the roots of this language's apprenticeship is giving him fond memories." After a long while remained quiet, Julius finally spoke his thoughts, surprising most of his own camp in the process.
"I thought he'd stay quiet longer." Mimi murmured to her brother.
"He seemed very upset…I hope he managed to calm down," Tivey sighed while looking at his sister, "well I can't really blame him…"
"I know…" Mimi exhaled with her ears down, "I know."
"You're in my house here, CIA. I set up shop on the edge of Barkov's base... Keep those fucking dogs in check," he scoffed with a malicious intent, picking up a bottle with a tissue inside from a box, "Friends close, enemies closer..."
"This is…A very dangerous, yet useful advice…" Crusch spoke out, her eyes wide in surprise.
"How ironic…" Roswaal smiled slowly from his corner, having lost his accent, "I never understood which one you were to me…Or which one I was to you."
"I…Don't think I get it," Emilia looked at Crusch expectantly, "why would you keep your enemies close to yourself…?"
"It is metaphorical, Emilia-sama," Crusch replied to her, "it means that you should always watch your enemies, so that they may never attack you when you least expect."
"Really? I rather understood it by sayin' ya could hide a knife under a coat of friendship," Anastasia put a hand under her chin in thoughts, "but I guess ya're kinda right too."
"Of course, the first thing you think about is how to slyly make use of one's trust." Crusch scoffed towards Anastasia's words.
"Sorry for making my way to the top with any means I can~" The purple-haired merchant answered with a smirk.
Hadir then handed the bottle to Subaru with a smile, "I told you we had our ways. No grenades, those are a luxury we can't afford…So we improvise."
The screen focused on Subaru's face, coming closer to his eyes before a quick blink occurred, to switch towards his point of view as they saw through his eyes.
Subaru grabbed the bottle to examine it, rubbing the sticker to reveal the brand of the liquor.
"Vodka?" He questioned, as Hadir smiled widely.
"Even on our lands these fuckers crave for this poison, so we will do them a favor by raining these down on their faces so they get a good taste."
"So this is a weapon!" Otto exclaimed with wide eyes, "I wonder how it work-"
The merchant stopped in his tracks as he swiftly remembered the way his friend got rid of the archbishop of sloth back then, during their chase.
"Are they gonna throw the bottle on 'em?" Garfiel raised an eyebrow in confusion.
"Will they attempt to…Drunk the enemy with them?" Frederica tried to figure out the use of alcohol.
"Wouldn't that be pretty dangerous?" Emilia answered, glancing towards Crusch who simply shrugged in response.
"...I really hope it's not that…" Otto thought to himself, realizing he might be one of the only ones who figured out how to use these bottles.
"Mh…It is ingenious." Priscilla smirked from above, waiting for this viewing to unfold in the more interesting parts.
Subaru seemed impressed, as he stored the bottle and saw resistance fighters carrying a large, bomb shell. "أخذ هذه إلى مدفع الهليكوبتر يا الملازم." (Taking these to the canon, Lieutenant)
Hadir nodded his hand as he gestured with his hand, "بسرعة يا ابن عم!" (Quickly, cousin!)
"Ah, there," Anastasia pointed out, "now I get what ya meant by'always angry' lil' maid."
"They seem to be in a rush, maybe the tone is appropriate." Crusch intervened.
"This tone and this language really doesn't go well together though, I agree nya," Felix commented as he caressed his ear, "it always makes me shiver when I hear it…"
"Mh…I wonder how such a language came to be…" Julius thought aloud, more to himself than anyone, "for a tongue to sound so immensely different from ours…"
"It's…True. We never really heard different languages in our world, did we?" Felt wondered as she looked up to her knight.
"I am afraid we do not have enough luck to hold such diversity in our world, Felt-sama," Reinhard smiled, although a bit disappointed, "the only thing that differs in terms of language might be the dialect, or accents."
"Yeah, like the western gal," Felt sighed, disappointed as well, "man that's a shame. It would really be awesome to have several languages."
"While I agree it would be quite a rich heritage for different territories of our world, our situation is also quite favorable in a way, considering there is no issue with communicating with every inhabitant of our world." the Duchess pointed out, earning many acknowledgements towards her words.
"We are quite lucky to not have any language barrier indeed," Julius mused, "I would certainly not be able to work for Anastasia-sama would that had been the case."
"I was so sure he was about to say something like that." Otto said in a deadpan voice.
"Can't do nothing but simpin' when ya're a knight." Garfiel shook his head.
Hadir looked to the side and picked up a rifle, which was a wooden stocked AK-47 that he handed to Subaru, "I hope you can take strong recoil, this one is old. Left by the soviets who invaded our brothers in the east, when they were invaded themselves by the Russian scum."
"So these Russians invaded more places…" Wilhelm thought to himself, "they most definitely are a force to be reckoned with."
"Perhaps a powerful empire?" Reinhard narrowed his eyes, "they could be the equivalent of Vollachia to us."
"Regarding what we know…" Felix narrowed his eyes, remembering his past adventures in the southern empire, "they might be even more powerful than Vollachia nya…"
Such a simple thought managed to send shivers down the spines of a few people in the theater, including Reinhard. Vollachia was already quite the ruthless and powerful place, to think of anything more threatening than that was simply insane.
"The east…The Afghans?" Subaru thought aloud as he picked up the Ak, checking the bullets in the magazine, and the ejection port, "mh…Seems a bit rusty, but it should do. Kalashnikovs are known to be reliable in the long run, after all…"
"We already saw this weapon," Frederica recalled, "during the attack on the city…"
"Yes, the terrorists handled them." Reinhard nodded his head, "so it is an effective type of weaponry?"
"How come such dangerous people wield such dangerous weapons?" Julius couldn't help but grumble, following the thoughts of Reinhard.
"Why wouldn't they? Maybe they are the origin of these weapons?" Mimi thought aloud.
"Subaru's world so far sounds way more regulations and rules than ours, even when it comes to international laws as we saw," Julius pondered as he remembered the bits of the viewings he saw, "I expected powerful weaponry to be regulated as well…"
"I don't think it is as strict, Julius-dono." Wilhelm intervened, pointing out, "even in our world, anyone can get his hands on a sword. I do not see how it could be any different in Subaru-dono's world.
"Mh…I guess I simply had too many expectations." Julius sighed while crossing his arms, keeping the rest of this thoughts to himself.
"Are you surprised?" Hadir picked up his binoculars as he walked up the stairs, "When the soviets left Afghanistan, they couldn't retrieve all their equipment. Artillery, weapons, ammunition…They left a lot for the Afghans to suit themselves," He explained while Subaru followed him up the stairs, "and when they learned about our struggle…They didn't hesitate to share some with us."
"They left while leaving their weaponry?!" Felix exclaimed in disbelief, "how incompetent is this nya?!"
"I have to admit that I expected more from such an advanced military…" Rem didn't know if she had to smile or not, though she found the situation to be quite laughable, "though, I wonder why you don't sound surprised at all?"
She said as she looked up to him, but as her eyes watered every time she looked at his face, she had to quickly cease this and look back to the screen.
"This is cruel on its own, isn't it…" She murmured, burying her face closer to his arm, "Subaru…"
"But wait, are the soviets…Russians?" Felt raised an eyebrow, "what is this? Some sort of nickname?"
"I suppose it is?" Otto replied, looking back towards the helmeted man who began to scratch the edge of his helmet.
"It's like their old name. Before being called Russia, the place was the soviet union," He explained them, trying his best to remember correctly, "it was some sort of a modern empire. It was bigger, held more territories…But was also pretty much extremely weak on the long run."
"And then?" Priscilla urged her servant to continue.
"Well, what had to happen happened," he said as he fell back in his seat, "It countries within it got free and declared independence."
"It really isn't surprising, considering the sheer incompetence they display by leaving their weapons to their enemies," Crusch scoffed, "how can they be a dangerous empire?"
"It isn't an empire anymore though, at least not officially," Al replied to the Duchess, "on paper it's gone. But when it comes to their actions, they definitely didn't let go of their habits."
"And the rest of the nations just…Let it happen?" Emilia wondered, a bit surprised herself by what she was asking.
"Eh, they aren't hiding themselves from having the same goals," Al laughed, "Russia just like the United States, Great Britain, and all the countries who can…They have their pseudo empire still going on."
"How can a world sound so fascinating, and yet horrible at the same time?" Anastasia couldn't help but speak with gritted teeth, "so much potential…"
Subaru looked down to see the pieces of Soviet artillery getting loaded with shells, and mortar pieces.
"Here, take some of these as well. It might come in handy during the assault." Hadir handed over a box of smoke grenades for Subaru to pick up.
"Soviet smokes…" Subaru chuckled, "those are from your eastern friends as well?"
"Indeed, they are." Hadir smiled.
"It's still a bit surprising. I didn't expect the Talibans to give you a hand. Last I heard the middle east was still quite divided."
"Oh, we have our differences…But when it comes to the freedom of our lands…We are united in struggle," Hadir laughed rather warmly as he looked in his binoculars, "have you ever been to Afghanistan, CIA?"
"So they are united when it comes to war? It is quite noble in its own way." Ricardo whistled, "though, can't tell if it's really useful if they hate each other the rest of the years."
"For now we don't know enough knowledge to talk about that," Crusch replied.
"I guess…"
"Only once. For a recon mission." He looked down at his right arm, "it was quite the trip. Learned a lot."
"Like what?" Hadir asked, genuinely curious.
Subaru sighed as he rubbed a scar on his arm,"that you don't fuck with the Mujahideens."
"هذا لا تفعل!" (That you don't!) Hadir laughed loudly, as he got back to his observation.
'Why would you use such crude language…!" Emilia sighed in frustration.
"The Muja…Hidin?" Felt tried to repeat, "What the hell?"
"A class of warriors, perhaps? Subaru seems to respect them." Crusch narrowed her eyes, "they also seemingly wounded him."
"He seems rather proud of the scar, doesn't he?" Ricardo smirked, "Ah! you ain't a real soldier before cherishing your battle scars!"
"I would rather him have none at all!" Emilia shot back with an unpleasant expression, "he can be proud of something else! Anything else!"
"I agree, I suppose!" Beatrice joined the half-elf, "he has enough scars as it is, in fact!"
"Hey hey chill!" Ricardo put his hands up front, "I was just explainin' his reacton!"
"Keep them for yourself, in fact!" Beatrice replied again.
"They seem to be very on edge…" Al cleared his throat, "the entire situation is getting to their heads."
"You were no different a second ago." Priscilla didn't even look towards him.
"Yeah but not anymore, so I'm definitely better. Right?"
Priscilla only replied by slapping her knight's face, wishing for him to shut his mouth. Which he did, after grunting in pain from the power of the hit.
Subaru looked a bit around him. A bit far, as the screen zoomed to them, he saw snipers taking position over the edges around the bases, while others were preparing machine guns, RPGs and what looked like tiny planes…
"Mh…" Subaru hummed, looking at the devices.
"Russians only understand violence, CIA…So I show them violence," noticing the interested look on Subaru's face, Hadir picked up a plane on his own from behind, "Barkov may have an air force, but I have one too."
"This really sounds…Barbaric." Anastasia muse, a bit grossed out.
"While I would agree, it seems to be all fair," Crusch crossed her arms, "an eye for an eye."
"Ok, he really, really hates them," Felt seemed impressed by the man's hatred every time Russians would come to the discussion, "nearly as much as I despise nobility."
"Felt-sama, you are far away from that old version of you I believe!" Reinhard smiled on the side of his mistress.
"No."
"Felt-sama!"
"…Those are teleguided planes," Subaru realized, his voice showing his surprise, "drones."
"RC planes," Hadir nodded his head proudly as he turned the drone around, "loaded with C4."
"That's…EID, not C4," Subaru scoffed, noticing the poorly shaped explosive.
"I will call it whatever I want, do not judge," Hadir laughed back, "Like I said, luxuries we cannot afford."
"C4? EID?" Petra repeated, "woah…Why does it sounds like something incredibly amazing, yet so dangerous at the same time?"
"Considering they are going to use them as weapons, I believe because it IS dangerous!" Otto replied, "and it's certainly nothing pleasant to see…"
"Nothing in this world is pleasant to see, when it comes to war…" Frederica held a hand to her heart, "and we are probably at the beginning yet…"
Hadir put the plane into position and picked up the remote. It was a smartphone plugged to a joystick's device with antennas.
"It's still impressive that you managed to work something like that out," Subaru praised them, looking back under to see the rebels testing out the planes.
One of the rebels looked up to Hadir, "تم تعلية أول موجة. احنا جاهزين سيدي."(First wave up. We're hot, Sir.)
"جيد. نطلق الثانية بعد أن نخرق".(Good. Launch the second one after we breach.) Hadir replied, taking a deep breath.
"They are preparing themselves…" Wilhelm narrowed his eyes, "the assault is about to happen."
"So we are going to see a battle in Subaru's world uh?" Ricardo grunted, "Wait, do I want to know or not?"
"It's a little bit too late to be sayin' that, don't ya think?" Anastasia glanced at her mercenary, who grimaced while scratching the back of his head.
"Maybe…But I fear for the lil' ones boss." He mumbled while patting their heads.
"We can take it…" Tivey replied, still with a saddened face.
"Y-Yeah…" Mimi tried to utter, her voice breaking a bit.
"Goodness," Anastasia sighed glancing towards the twins, "ya don't need to bear this face just yet, we don't if what we saw is missleadin' or not."
"Do you mean…" Mimi widened your eyes.
"It needs more info, but I'm pretty sure Natsuki-kun isn't leavin' us any time soon." She winked at them, making them smile and raise their ears in excitement.
"So the screen thingy might be lying?!" Tivey said in a bright voice.
"I'll kill him!" Mimi hissed, both happy and angry towards the warden keeping them in here.
"My lady…" Julius thought aloud with perplexed eyes, "what urges you to make such a claim?"
"Like I said," Anastasia turned back to the screen, "it's difficult to say without further insight. But I have that gut feelin'."
"...Then, I hope…"
"Have my intuition ever failed, Julius?" Anastasia turned towards him with a smirk.
"Never, my lady." Julius was swift to answer, without wasting a second.
"Then, just trust me." She smiled.
As he heard footsteps from behind, Subaru turned around to see Farah join them, greeting Subaru and looking back at her brother.
"Are we ready?" She asked him with a determined voice, as Hadir nodded his head with a look of eagerness and rage.
"We are commander," he nodded his head, handing the remote to Subaru, "let's show them hell, CIA. Like never before."
"They seem to be underestimating their enemies…This doesn't smell good," Otto voiced his concern, unable to stop his leg from moving, "bad surprises usually happen because of this."
"Hey! Don't jinx it!" Garfiel slapped Otto's shoulder, "You'll put Capn' in the shit!"
"How am I supposed to change the course of an already pre-set thing?!" Otto reprimanded, not liking to be taken as the cause of something he didn't do yet.
"This man harbor such a level of hatred, he never misses a chance to express it," Petra looked up to Frederica, "It's like he means every word when he says he will give them hell."
"Because he certainly does, Petra-chan." Frederica sighed with a tired smile.
"They are in a war," Priscilla spoke from above, commenting on what she had heard, "there will be no good in harboring anything but ill thoughts against their enemies."
"Because you get something out of dehumanizing them?" Otto replied to the crimson princess.
"Yes. A lack of regret in the actions you take against them," she replied without sparing a glance towards the merchant, "therefore shielding yourself from a weakness of mind."
"No one should ever go into battle without some form of respect towards its enemies, Barielle." Crusch shot back, outraged by the words of the baroness as a warrior herself.
"Spare me your worthless sermon, Karsten," the princess rolled her eyes in annoyance, "your words have as much merit as the number of wars you have been in."
"Because ya did?!" Garfiel exclaimed in defense of the Duchess.
"Yes." Priscilla stared down at him, "I did."
Everyone in the theater fell silent for a brief instant, glancing at each other. Some were perplexed by what she had just said, while others like Crusch or Reinhard, were shocked to know she was telling the truth.
"What…" Crusch uttered to herself, "how?"
"I would have never guessed myself," Wilhelm frowned, knowing by the expression of his master that Priscilla was speaking the truth, "how uncommon…"
"You?! Out of everyone in here?!" Felt couldn't help but raise her voice, "YOU have been in a war?!"
"Perhaps the mud which replaces your brain spread through your eardrums, gutter rat," Priscilla replied, getting upset at how her viewing was delayed, "I have been in wars. Not just one."
"I guess this explains why you're such a bitch," Felt didn't even show a sign of anger towards the baroness' insults, "man, it had to be tough for you to win anything. Still bitter over the loss taken, eh?"
"Felt-sama…!" Reinhard exclaimed in distress, not liking the look in the eyes of the baroness one bit.
But Felt simply ignored it, sitting down in her seat again while facing the screen, failing to notice everyone's slack jawed expressions glancing back and forth between her and Priscilla.
"Tha' was a good burn, brotto." Garfiel whispered to his friend's ear.
"It was…But I don't think Felt-sama noticed it…" He whispered back, slowly turning to the screen again.
"Asma, put yourself in position with your team," Farah told a woman behind her holding a wooden bolt action rifle.
"That's…German? A pretty old model as well." Subaru commented, recognizing her sniper rifle.
"I am a rather old school woman, ya know?" Asma replied while proudly showing off her rifle.
"Her weapon seems to be made mostly of wood," Julius thought with a hand on his chin, "I remember Subaru's previous weapons to be mainly made of metal."
"So, the wooden ones would mean an old kind of weapon?" Crusch thought aloud, perking up with what Julius was thinking.
"I believe so, Crusch-sama. Even Subaru's actual weapon seems to be a mix of metal and wood, perhaps to symbolize an in-between with two generations of weaponry?" Julius continued to muse aloud, a thought over which most of the theater agreed on.
"I mean…Yes and no?" Al replied from up above, "Bro's weapon is a Kalash. It does mark a sort of new era because this gun was said to be more reliable and solid than anything else thanks to a brand new system, so much so they became the most popular rifle worldwide. But guns were made of full metal long before it."
"I see…So this 'Kalash' is a symbol of innovation in this world of elaborate and brutal warfare…" Crusch looked back at the screen in wonder.
"Asma is the leader of my marksman team, CIA," Farah pointed with her hand, "from Damascus to Baghdad, you will find no better eye than her."
"Is that so," Subaru acknowledged with a nod, "how good are you Asma?"
"I once shot a hummingbird from 50 yards away." Asma raised an eyebrow with a smile.
"She did WHAT?!" Al exclaimed from his seat, earning a slap on the helmet by his princess.
"Do not bark so loudly in my presence fool."
"Y-yeah…My bad…" He grumbled as he got back up.
"Pff, Rein can do it." Felt waved off, while Reinhard smiled uneasily from her side.
"I mean there's little he can't do, that's a bit like cheating." Emilia replied with a small smile to Felt, "this is still an impressive feat from this woman."
Subaru only stared at her for a second, blinking several times trying to process the information, "well that's-"
"Naked eye." She cut him.
"…Yeah ok that's pretty impressi-"
"And iron sights only." She concluded.
"Damn it, calm down! I get it!"
"Even Subaru seems to be impressed," Otto laughed at his expression along with Garfiel.
"If capn' can't believe it, that really got to be amazin!"
"He looks soooo silly like that," the half-elf smiled when she saw her knight's expression on screen.
Even with such an appearance…He managed to be cute.
Asma began to laugh as she cocked a bullet in her rifle.
"فرح قالتلي عن مهاراتك. بس هلق خليك عارف انو في غيرك بصيد يا حلو~"
(Farah told me about you. Now you know you're not the only one with a good shot, cutie~)
"..."
"..."
"..."
"I take back what I said." Emilia said as her face darkened, "he is not cute. Not at all."
"Someone just stop him…" Ricardo laughed out loud, "this guy ain't taking a break is he?!"
"This shit is surreal…" Al shook his head in despair.
Crusch only smiled meekly, both tired and used to it at this point.
Priscilla rolled her eyes, tapping her heel on the ground to show her dissatisfaction.
She winked at him as she walked away towards her team," يالاه يا ولاد العم, صفوا على المواقع!" (Come on cousins, in position!)
"Did she just…" Subaru hesitantly faced Hadir, who simply laughed it off.
"Looks like you have some fans, brother!" Hadir laughed as he handed the controller to him.
"Tch."
Subaru chose to ignore his comment as he took the controller and looked at the screen.
The scene changed to show the point of view of the drone's camera, as it flew over the walls of the base.
"I'm in." Subaru told Hadir.
"So we are seeing…Through this little bird shaped 'plane' ?" Otto squinted his eyes.
"This is fascinating…" Anastasia couldn't help but muse to herself, "such a technology would be so useful here…"
"I am afraid it would be unwise, however. We do not know in which hands these could fall, Anastasia-sama," Ram spoke without averting her gaze from the screen.
"Will they use these to make reconnaissance?" Tivey jumped from his seat in excitement, "this looks amazing…"
"Yeah, they're not even moving from where they were and they can see everything up ahead! This is like pink-maid's magic!" His sister replied, sharing his excitement.
Ricardo perked up on what they had just said and remembered how Ram had indeed a similar power, seeing through the eyes of bugs. However, Ram didn't really find it useful to react to such a comment.
"Might be why she found it familiar…" The dogman uttered under his breath.
"Good, stay low…" Hadir looked over his shoulder to see the camera, "their anti-air systems cannot detect something as little as that so long as you don't go too high."
The camera showed several helicopters in station mode over the base, as Subaru made his drone come closer to one of them.
"Several choppers on the tarmac…Everyone takes a heli!" Hadir said loudly as he got right back next to Subaru, "you'll get one shot at this brother…"
"One shot at this? What will he do?!" Emilia suddenly gasped in fear, having a bad feeling about what would come next.
"I think it's obvious by now…" Crusch wiped a bit of sweat off her forehead.
"It's a weapon, so…We have to expect death." Felix sighed, he too felt uneasy about what was to come.
As he had the helicopter right in sight, Subaru flew the drone right in the cockpit of it. The camera froze, the point of view switched back to Subaru as he saw all the helicopters, including the one he aimed, explode in air and spin out of control to the ground of the base.
"Impact confirmed! Targets hit!" Hadir howled as the rebels yelled in glee for this victory.
Everyone in the theater was taken aback by the explosion, watching slack-jawed at the iron-made flying machines being brought down by such tiny weapons.
"S-Subaru…" Emilia whispered with a hand on her mouth.
"Such a destructive power…" Frederica was doing much the same, both in awe and fear.
"These were explosives?!" Otto widened his eyes, T-they can have controlled flying explosives?!"
"Ok, that's scary." Anastasia felt chills down her spine.
"To be able to blow up a position, without even moving from where you are, while guiding your own messenger of death…" Wilhelm weakly nodded his head, "this world has truly mastered the ways of war."
"That was good flying brothers…But the best is yet to come!" Farah voiced loudly as she came down the stairs to join the other rebels ready for assault.
Subaru and Hadir followed her, as Hadir pointed towards the artillery pieces, "it's our time to shine, our group will cover us with the cannons while we breach! The airbase is dead ahead, we will make a run for the walls."
"They took down these flying machines so they could storm the walls," Julius mused while poking the armrests of his seat, "but what about men-reinforcements?"
"I think they'll take that into account too." Ricardo replied to him while leaning forward a bit "just watch."
"You seem to be very confident, eh?" Al called out.
"At this point, I think it's fair to be!" The dogman laughed out loud.
"We are finally entering the interesting part." Priscilla smiled, bringing her full attention to the screen.
"You were eager to see the battle start, princess?"
"Of course. I believe the purpose of this specific viewing is to show us this very moment." She seemed to be in a good mood, eager to see what would come next.
Subaru stopped to look around him for a moment, and quickly processed the support they would receive.
"This should be enough to pierce the first line of defense and raid the interior of the base…But as we breach in, the call for reinforcements will ring right ahead…" Subaru thought aloud, more to himself than for Hadir to hear, "we might need an extra here."
"Sadly, this is all we have…" Hadir replied as he shook his head, "this is all or nothing, CIA. We take the base, or we die here!"
"Please speak for yourself and die, without my contractor included I suppose!" Beatrice couldn't help but snarl at Hadir, disliking how he included Subaru in his will to die.
"You think Subaru would run away if things were to go bad, Beatrice-sama?" Ram replied to her with a cold tone, "are you not supposed to be the one knowing him best?"
The whole Emilia camp had to stop and look back at her for a second, trying to process this moment where Ram, for the first time, used Subaru's name properly.
"A-Are you okay…?'" Emilia hesitated to talk, reaching towards the maid.
"I am fine, Emilia-sama," Ram replied, her hands not going away from Subaru's shoulders, "do not worry about me."
"This' weird." Garfiel widened his eyes, looking back at Otto.
"I think she's having her own troubles right now." The green merchant exhaled, leaning back in his seat.
"Sister…"
For Rem it was different. Thanks to the blood she shared with Ram, she knew something wrong was happening with her sister…But sadly, it didn't seem like there was anything she could possibly do.
The theater was filled with people dealing with several pains at the same time. The viewings, themselves…And the consequences of it all.
"أو نغش" (Or we cheat) Subaru scoffed, as he turned his radio on.
"Watcher, this is 3-1. Currently moving in Barkov's base with the local forces. Requesting air support."
The radio buzzed for a second, as if someone tried to reply but changed his mind at the last minute.
"And maybe some tea service as well, Subaru?" Laswell sarcastically replied.
"I'd love that, but maybe another time Kate. If you want me to win this one, that is?" He laughed in response, hearing a sigh at the other end of the line.
"Pffft, alright, come on" Felt giggled after hearing his rebuttal, "this was fun."
"He's really…Close with that woman isn't he…" clearly uneasy, Emilia held a fist to her heart.
"There is no need to feel jealousy over it, Emilia-sama." Next to her, while bringing a comforting hand to the half-elf's shoulder, the Duchess answered her thoughts.
"Crusch-sama…"
"Natsuki Subaru, even in this world…Did not forget about us," she reminded her with a small smile, "furthermore, when he is so out of our reach…"
"I know," Emilia replied, "we have no say on his choices…But even then…"
"..."
"Even then, now that I come so close to the reality of what I feel…It only hurts, Crusch-sama…" Emilia uttered with tears at the edge of her eyes.
"I…I know…" Crusch replied, holding Emilia's hand in hers as an act of compassion, "I know it only too well…"