"Subaru, Subaru. Did you hear? Mr Luke has become a- what was it? Yes! an honorary Royal Knight~!" Emilia said excitedly, happy for the person who had saved her that fateful night.
By all rights, a standard Royal Knight was appointed either through nobility and family legacy or, in rare cases, through merit.
As state-sanctioned and professional members of the Royal Army of the Kingdom of Lugunica, all of them are given dragon mounts of their own and hold considerable political influence. Much more than normal knights.
Luke Arkwright was given the title of Honorary Royal Knight after nearly a month of discussion, because of his unknown past and the danger he posed. An unknown entity with unknown goals could not be given too much power.
It was only due to the recommendation of the Sword Saint, combined with the support of the people, that he had even managed to be given this position.
"Yeah, good for him. Must be nice to have been transmigrated with actual benefits." Subaru said lightheartedly, but there was definitely jealousy present in his voice.
Emilia perked up at his interesting usage of words again and tilted her head, her face full of indulgence for his antics.
"Subaru, you really do say the strangest things sometimes. I wish I could understand what you're always saying." Emilia smiled sheepishly but happily.
"Miss Emilia, I beg to differ. Subaru is special in a way that he can convey the most profound messages using only slightly unintelligible vocabulary." Rem, who was standing nearby, cut in to speak.
(A/N: Making Rem say only "Subaru" instead of the iconic "Subaru-kun" is lowk cursed. Felix is gonna suffer from this too)
Unlike the usual stone-cold expression she used to have, a majority of her life, she now had a small smile on her face. Her eyes shone as she looked at and praised Subaru.
"Ahhh, sweet Rem-rin~ You're always so good at raising my poor spirits up!" Subaru said excitedly, walking over to pat Rem on the head.
It had been a month now since he had transmigrated in this world. A month since he met Emilia, his heroine. A month since he was saved by Luke in the slum house and brought to the mansion. A month since he had met Rem.
And a month since he had died 6 times in a row.
After Higuruma had left the mansion, Subaru continued working as a butler for 5 days, where life was typically quite normal. He learned to read and write the horrendously confusing language under the great tutelage of Master Ram.
Sure, he might not have had any powers or anything really. But staying in a mansion with three really cute girls, including his favourite elven heroine!? He could live with that all day.
On the 6th day, he went to Arlam Village with Rem to buy some supplies. During that visit, he met the new shy girl, Meili. Long story short, he got bitten by her dog, and when he went to sleep at night, he must have died, since he realised that he was back on the first day.
For the second run, he largely thought that everything had just been a dream or maybe even a precognition ability he had, which would have been pretty cool. He did everything the same, even impressing the haughty pinkhead this time.
Although he did notice that Rem was looking at him even more aggressively during this run. He brushed it off until on the 6th day, when he didn't try to pet the dog this time, but it STILL ran up and bit him on the leg as they were about to leave.
At night, he stayed awake to see what had caused him to loop. Then suddenly, a harsh feeling of weakness fell over his entire body. As he tried to get to someone for help, he was attacked by a mace-wielding maniac.
(A/N: Besides the first 2 extra deaths caused by his confusion of RBD, everything else goes roughly the same as canon.)
'As fanatical as a demon, eh? Still unnerving that this girl killed me so many times...' Subaru thought as he smiled at the shorter Rem.
"Refrain from molesting Ram's cute sister, Barusu." Ram came into the room and immediately chided upon seeing that scene.
Emilia held back a chuckle at her sudden insult, prompting Subaru to straighten up and blush. He fixed his bowtie before reacting dramatically.
"Why do you always wound my heart, big sister...!" He wiggled around in place, somehow, obviously not hurt and being used to their typical interactions with each other.
"Always a fool, I see. More importantly, Miss Emilia, an emissary from the capital has arrived. I figure it has to do with the Royal Selection."
Hearing her words, Emilia and Rem both looked up seriously. The most important political event of the kingdom was about to begin.
Subaru, too, looked excited. He was finally going to have a chance to showcase his brilliance to the world and firmly assert his place by Emilia's side.
"Alright! Since this is an important matter. I'll try to be as professional as I can." Subaru said, already pumping himself up to meet the messenger.
"Umm, I'm sorry, Subaru, but this is a really important matter." Emilia said apologetically.
Emilia and Ram left to go and meet the messenger. As one of the only two maids in the mansion, Rem had to go as well. She squeezed Subaru's arm gently and gave him a reassuring smile before following them.
Subaru sighed and looked outside, seeing an old man standing beside a carriage. Most likely a part of the emissary who had arrived. And interestingly, near the gate, he saw another carriage with an ordinary driver and a black-haired boy stepping off, hands in his pockets. Probably another official.
Subaru grinned, coming up with a plan to get some information in advance from those people. Emilia would be impressed by how good he is at info-gathering, for sure.
On the ground, as the old man was cleaning the carriage, he heard the footsteps of the newly arrived boy.
"Nice to meet you, young man. Forgive me for asking, but may I know who you are?" He said towards the spiky-haired, handsome boy dressed in black.
"Megumi Fushiguro." He responded, his face looking blank and uninterested.
"I am Wilhelm van Astrea, an emissary from the Karsten camp. Under what banner might you be?" Wilhelm continued asking questions. He didn't feel any hostility from Megumi, but his experience as a knight told him that the boy was not ordinary.
"The Sword Saint's estate. I'm aligned with Luke Arkwright." Megumi responded simply.
In his mind, he was amused. He didn't expect to see the grandfather of Reinhard today, not that it particularly mattered to him.
It had been some weeks since he was summoned. The last thing he remembered was walking away after beating Reggie Star, then being face to face with an unknown person in an unfamiliar environment, with MAHITO standing nearby, grinning at him once they locked eyes.
What happened next can be explained another day. Right now, he had an errand to run. Luke told him yesterday to go to the Mather's mansion and "Make friends." Whatever the hell that was supposed to mean.
Thankfully, it wasn't a massive waste of his time coming here. He got a good understanding of the geography of the area and a personal scouting opportunity for potential threats.
"Yes, there are very few in the capital who have not heard of Sir Arkwright's growing fame. You must be quite talented to join them at such a young age." Wilhelm said calmly, sending out genuine good vibes.
"Thanks. What are you waiting for down here?" Megumi asked. He didn't think for a second that the old man was just a normal butler or driver. Perhaps the meeting had already started inside?
"As fellow emissaries, I can say that Miss Emilia is being informed that the Royal Selection is nearing its start, along with a request that she made to Miss Karsten. Felix Argyle is currently inside, meeting with her." Wilhelm answered.
Then the front door burst open, followed by an energetic young man in a servant outfit, walking out with a tray of tea and cups. He was grinning like an excited puppy, an unfit look for most butlers.
"Hello! Shouldn't you two be already bored waiting out here? Let me give you some tea~" Subaru offered, generously brewing some tea for them.
He noted the extreme age differences between the two likely emissaries. One looked like a literal grandpa while the other looked even younger than him, and he was only 17.
After drinking, both men let out a sound of satisfaction. It was a much better tea than they had expected to be given by a simple-looking servant.
"It tastes lovely. It feels as though I'm experiencing a great luxury." Wilhelm complimented.
"Same here. This is pretty good."
"It's seriously the most expensive tea in the mansion. If a certain maid finds out I used it, she'll flip out." Subaru said shamelessly, with no regrets at all.
"And what is it that you hope to gain from us, using such a valuable bait?" Wilhelm asked suspiciously, with Megumi sharing his concern.
"I just want to know what the purpose of this visit is. Even a vague explanation would suffice~" Subaru pranced closer towards them, revealing his intentions.
Of course, neither gave him an answer or any clues, because either they weren't allowed to or just didn't have a reason to share information with a complete stranger who did not hold a considerable position to warrant such knowledge.
After some more talks, which randomly switched to the topic of his relationship with Emilia, then to Wilhelm admitting that Subaru was correct. His wife definitely was the most beautiful lady in the world in his eyes. Any man would view their woman in such a way.
'Tsumiki's future boyfriend better think of her that way regardless...' Megumi thought about his sister's future love life, and he swore if the guy wasn't less than perfect... he wouldn't mind dying first again.
He'll continue living to see her again. He wouldn't mind if she was summoned either. This place seemed safer than Japan.
"I'm back, old man Wil! Sorry to keep you waiting outside, nya~" A demi-human resembling a cat, wearing feminine clothes, came up to them.[1]
"It's no trouble, Felix. These two gentlemen were keeping me company." Wilhelm gestured towards the two teenagers.
She looked curiously towards them, her ears twitching cutely. She invaded Subaru's personal space to start examining him directly, much to the strange looks given by Megumi.
She was going to attempt the same on Megumi, but was stopped with a gesture that clearly expressed "Don't".
"You're no fun~ Is someone in a bad mood today, maybe~?" Felix teased, then her ears flopped in disappointment when she didn't get the reaction she hoped for.
"Anyways~ nyow I see that, you were the boy that Miss Emilia mentioned." Felix pointed towards Subaru, who looked surprised that Emilia would actually do that.
They were exchanging casual words with each other, and Wilhelm told Felix who Megumi was, but Megumi was less focused on the conversation right now.
During this, Megumi was remembering a conversation he had with Luke prior to coming here.
Flashback:
"You want me to reveal my technique?" Megumi was sitting on a chair, listening to Luke's suggestions upon entering the Mather's domain.
"Calm your horses, it's not a big deal. I just want you to soften them up by showing off your little rabbits~" Luke replied, currently munching on a snack while petting a white rabbit.
"How the hell will that soften them up?"
"Always remember, cuteness has a special trait of being able to ignore defences. Trust me~ Besides, you'll only be showing Rabbit Escape. Nobody will figure out that your technique has to do with shadows." Luke smiled, holding up the docile animal like it was supposed to prove something.
"..." Megumi looked deadpan, unsure if he was even going to do it.
"Listen, the quickest way to get respect around here is to show that you're special. Boasting is another thing, but you want them to take you seriously." Luke said.
The visible plan was just to make acquaintances and establish a friendly rapport with the Emilia camp. The hidden part of it, that Megumi wasn't aware of, was to check how Subaru was doing. Luke needed to know if there weren't some butterfly-effect shenanigans going on.
Seeing that even notable members of the Karsten camp were here, Luke's words might have some merit.
"By the way, what's special about you, nya? Ferris heard that Luke's subordinates have unique abilities." Felix pried, using her cuteness as a buffer.
Wilhelm remained silent but nodded, showing that he had also heard about this.
"Yep! I remember that night vividly! Higuruma really deployed a reality marble on Elsa! It looked so cool." Subaru said with starry eyes. It was literally his first day in this world, and he witnessed that; of course, he would remember it.
'Reality marble? Sounds familiar. But... Guess I have no choice.' Megumi sighed, then made a hand sign for Rabbit Escape.
A single small rabbit emerged from his shadow and looked around curiously, probably wondering why it got summoned.
Felix fell silent, and Subaru stared blankly at the sight. Wilhelm looked stumped for a second before his eyes narrowed cautiously.
"..."
"..."
And after a few seconds...
"MEGUMI, YOU CAN SUMMON RABBITS?!" Subaru exclaimed dramatically. He already looked like he wanted to squish the tiny animal up.
"They're shikigami." Megumi explained their nature. It was not a volatile detail to share.
"THEY'RE FLUFFY!" Subaru countered as if that changed anything.
"That doesn't change what they are." Megumi responded, starting to get irritated by his expressive personality, but he tolerated it because it reminded him of a dear friend.
Felix crouched to get a closer look, his heart also pierced. Though, in reality, he was genuinely curious about what they were and how they were summoned like that. "Can I hold one?"
Before Megumi could respond, Wilhelm's expression changed into a hardened one. "Young man. Where did you acquire those creatures?"
Megumi looked at him. "I summoned them."
"Summoned them?" Wilhelm's gaze shifted to the white rabbit, its appearance eerily similar to the rumours and unverified information he had heard throughout his life./
"I would advise you to dismiss them until we are certain of what they are." He didn't mean anything bad by it.
Felix's cheerful expression faded slightly. She knew Wilhelm wasn't someone who raised an alarm without reason.
That didn't faze Subaru, though, as he looked down at the rabbit who took the initiative to walk towards him.
It sat down on its hind legs and looked up as Subaru crouched down and reached his finger towards its head.
...
Subaru's cheerful expression didn't change as the rabbit accepted his petting. It didn't look like it was reacting much, which was a shame.
Seeing that it was harmless, the other two realised that it was fine. Felix also joined in.
"Is syummoning rabbits all you can do? Or are there others, nya?" Felix asked attentively.
Though she was disappointed when Megumi just glanced at her face before looking away again, not answering.
After some time, the Karsten group said their goodbyes and went on their way.
"Megumi, you also have such a cool power. Luke really is shaping up to be some sort of powerful leader, huh? It reminds me of those kingdom-building genres." Subaru told Megumi as he walked him back towards his carriage.
"Thanks. The reason I came here was that Luke wanted to build friendly ties with Emilia's camp. That's it. Goodbye." Megumi climbed on and told the driver to start going immediately.
"I'll tell her that; don't worry about it!" Subaru shouted out towards the leaving carriage.
He felt like the king of the world right now. Everything was mostly going his way. And now, he even managed to make friends with a powerful figure. Surely, he wouldn't need to use his Return By Death ability again for the foreseeable future.
[1] I know y'all wanna crack Felix, but lets keep it on the down low fr