Waking up, the warmth of the rays of a setting sun shun across the raven-haired boy's body.
Waking up to a comfortable bed, Subaru slowly opened his eyes to look at the ceiling before him,
"I don't know this ceiling. . ." The boy stated distantly
"And, I don't know this bed?" Subaru began to raise himself, only to be stopped by the rush of pain and seizing of his muscles.
"Hmph" The nasty-eyed boy struggled a bit more only to turn to his left to see-
"I know that face" He grew a wry smile
The girl in front of him, long purple hair, beautiful turquoise eyes, and a hunter's pride, looked right back at him, she smiled for a second before shaking her head and regaining a solid composure
"What? Did I do something wrong?" Subaru asked in curiosity as the girl was attempting to give him a cold shoulder
"Well," The amethyst girl paused for a second, "Its not that ya did somethin' wrong… As much as ya did somethin' right"
Subaru staired blankly, "huh?"
"I'm not even sure if everythin' ya've done so far has been good or bad, but…" The girl paused once more, "I know ya did a good thing at the end, so yer in the right for now" Ana noted raising her finger
"Huh?" Once more Subaru was attempting to take in the girls wording
The violet themed girl sighed, growing a smile as she looked downward for a second, "yer a real hero ya know that?" She looked up to him
Subaru begin to smile back, "am I?"
"Course' ya are, I knew ya for a total of thirty minutes and ya risked yer life, not hesitatin' till the very end" Ana noted with admiration
Subaru chuckled a bit before falling back to his bed and raising one fist, "that guy was evil right?" he closed his eyes
"The worst of the worst" She replied
Growing small smile aided by a resurfacing confidence, "I said I was going to be a hero and that's what I did!"
"I guess ya proved them all right then?" Ana taking in Subaru's confidence begin to lean in towards Subaru
"Proved them?" The brown nasty eyed boy looked slightly confused at the adventurer girl's use of wording, as far as Subaru was concerned, he hadn't even mentioned to Ana that he was ever going to be a hero
Ana grew a large smile, her green eyes warming up, "That's right, didn'tcha tell Mimi you were a hero?"
"Mimi.." Subaru paused at the name before quickly- "THE SMALL CAT GIRL!"
"Thatssss right" Ana raised a finger and winked
"Wait you know her?!" The raven-haired youth replied, now with a rejuvenated boost of energy
"Know her? I'm practically her mother!" The violet-haired girl put her thumb to her heart, slightly mocking one of Subaru's past stances
"M-mother?!" The boy began to trail off, "WHICH MEANS?!"
"NO, not in that way ya idiot!" Ana retorted quickly, dismissing Subaru's thoughts any further
The two about to continue their antics were interrupted as a hardy laugh that came from the door of the room, and through it a large beast man.
A muscular beast-men, sporting two large tucks, and deep green eyes, he had brown fur, seemed well off but rough as he wore what Subaru would describe to be level thirty adventurer's gear, nothing fancy but enough to get the job done. He gave a hearty smile as he walked in.
"Ricardo Welkin, head of the Iron Fang under the Boss Lady here, nice ta meet cha!" The beastmen introduced himself, a slightly intimidating smile
"N-Nice to meet you too, name's Natuski Subaru" Subaru slightly pressed his thumb to his chest
"Heard that was some hell'a spectacle ya pulled off kid, too be I wasn't there to see ya in combat" Ricardo noted Subaru's accomplishment in both a tone full of admiration and awe
"W-was it?" Subaru chuckled bringing his right hand to rub the back of his head, he wasn't exactly used to praise, especially like from someone who Subaru guessed to be an experienced warrior
"Sure An-bo here's filled me in for most of it, I still wanna hear yer side of things, not everyday ya meet someone whose met those insane bastards and lived ta tell the tale, yet let alone kill er frekin archbishop"
"Was it- was it really that big of an accomplishment?!" Subaru now raised himself to an upright posture, excited to hear of his accomplishment, completely for getting any previous pain
"Sure was kid, th'entire frekin towns talking bout ya, ya did the world a huge favor. Those bastards are near unkillable" Ricardo walked from the edge of Subaru's bed to go and sit on the chair to the right of Ana, to Subaru's surprise said chair was able to support the massive beast-man's weight
"Unkillable?" Subaru asked
"Yeah, no ones been able to kill one of em in fifty years or somethin" Ricardo scratched the top of his head, looking for his knowledge on the subject
Subaru looked down to himself, "Damn it Reid! If we were in my gate, I'd probably kiss you!" The raven-haired boy was frantic but-
At the mention of Reid, Both Ana and Ricardo looked back to Subaru, starring at him warily, the boy with nasty eyes had stated some astounding wording
"Subaru" Ana looked to the raven-themed boy, her eye's quickly meeting hers
"Y-yeah Ana-Tan?" Subaru was taken back by the amethyst girl's sudden forwardness
"Just what do you know about Reid Astrea?"
"HOW SLOTHFULL, FOR ME TO MEET AN END THER, to die as that boy slothfully gloats"
"Unactable!"
"Unactable!"
"Unactable!"
Sloth hit his head against the wall repeatedly of a narrow tunnel, now in the body of one of his fingers, Betelgeuse Romanee-Conti raged
"That boy, that apprentice to Reid"
"How his Sloth shows, how he displays himself, how he a takes upon action!"
"HOW, HOW, HOW!" The hysteric archbishop ripped out the brown hair of his new vessel
"IS HE PRIDE? NO NO NO, he refused such PRECIOUS love!" The man kept his wide crazed eyes
"OH HOW MY BRAIN TREMBEEEEELS"
"I must find that boy! AND IN THE NAME OF HER LOVE I'll RIP HIM TO SHREDS"
"Yes that's it! For love! For my love to her love, I will kill The Sword God's apprentice, DES!"
"This is where it happened…" The skinny man dressed in red, Tara, noted as he looked to the fading Yin crystals
"And Iron Fang beat us here?" Halibel looked to the assistant of the Duke
The boy nodded as his rough brown hair shook, "Well, we don't know exactly what happened, witness's say there was an attempted attack by the Witch Cult"
"Witch Cult.." Halibel's eyes widened
"It was said that it was an Archbishop nonetheless" The assistant kept relaying in a studious term
"You said attempted earlier, what happened?" Halibel asked cuffing his chin
The boy in red paused before answering, "Apparently it was a boy with raven-hair and nasty eyes that defeated him, using-" Tara paused for a second, "Using a sword covered in black, he struck at the Archbishop efficiently and easily"
Halibel's eyes widened once more "Raven hair, nasty eyes…" Halibel looked away from the scene and to the boy in red
"Tell me Tara, what happened to the boy in black, where did he go?"
Tara paused once more, "well, various sources contradict each other, the most common tale is that the boy passed out he was then seen with a violet hared women before what seemed to be the iron Fang picked him up"
"Violet hair with the Iron Fang?" Halibel remembered the figures associated with the iron fang before shifting his head to the left, "Undoubtedly Anastasia Hoshin"
"That seems like a plausible answer, shall I inform the good Duke?" Tara asked genuinely
"No" Halibel replied stonily, "I believe it'd be best if I were to investigate this situation by myself, please hold back any report to Lucius-Sama, until I can confirm for myself of course"
Tara nodded, "Understood Halibel-Sensei!"
Halibel nodded in reply as he departed, incredibly the beastmen faded away as he was absorbed by his own shadow
"To be fair, you haven't exactly been honest with me?" The raven-haired youth struggled as he attempted to get out of bed
"Honest? I don't believe it's about honesty at this point?" The amethyst girl replied quickly getting off her chair
"I mean it kinda is… Just saying" Subaru stated as he raised his left leg out of the sheet, still struggling
"How so, neither of us lied at any point?" Ana replied hastily, now walking over to the side of the bed Subaru was trying to get out of, Ricardo just watched
"I mean, Ana-Tan, are you really an adventurer?" The nasty eyed boy asked as his gaze shifted to her eyes, pausing one foot out of the bed
The violet girl paused for a second, "Well, technically, if yer going to go that way"
"I mean look around, Iron Fang, sounds like mercenary organization? And this room, no way you could afford this on an adventures budget" The raven youth crossed his arms
Once more Ana paused, looking down then looking up, she grew a smile, "Fine ya caught me"
Subaru smiled, "Always knew there was some altered motive! Just who is Ana-Tan Really?"
Ana smiled in return as the mood wasn't full of hostility, "Me, well this lady's none other then the head of the Hoshin company, Anastasia Hoshin erself, nice ta meet cha!" Anastasia smiled as she spread out her arms
"Ah an alias, makes sense, makes sense" Subaru paused before looking to himself again and then back to Anastasia, "Well if were giving out full names, I guess I should introduce myself fully!"
Struggling to get up from the bed for a moment, the amethyst merchant considered aiding the boy but backed up as he could handle himself. Standing in front of her, the raven-haired youth pointed to the sky, his legs apart, his other arm set to the side, "My name is Natsuki Subaru, and not only am I the hero who was able to take the sword of Okusnai and contract Reid Astrea, but I'm also hopelessly broke and always at a loss!" Subaru announced proudly
Ricardo snicked from the corner, "You sure found a real gem this time didn't ya An-bo"
Anastasia hesitantly smiled looking towards Ricardo. "I sure did I guess"
"I like em, can we keep him?" Ricardo voiced a new question full of humor
"If you plan on feedin' him and take him out everyday I sure we could arrange somethin'" The fox merchant replied happily
"Hey hold on!" Subaru but in, "I'm not some stray-less dog to be adopted!" The boy cried out
Both Ricardo and Anastasia laughed at the boys please, "Don't worry Subaru-Kun, I'm sure ya have places to be?" The Merchant queen looked to Subaru
The boy in turn blushed at her sudden stare but was able to recuperate, "I do actually, I'm sure right now Otto's pissed-Wait" The raven-haired boy paused
Anastasia tilted her head, "What's wrong Subaru?"
"WAIT A MINUTE, if it's sunset right now, and I've been out and about for the past two days or so!" Subaru put his hands to his head as he grew a shocked expression
"What's wrong kid?" Ricardo called out
"HALIBEL'S GOING TO KILL ME!" Subaru cried out as he rushed to the door
"Halibel, who-" Anastasia was cut off as the boy ran directly passed her, "wait- Subaru?!" Anastasia cried out in confusion
"This guy!" Ricardo once more grew a large smile
Now out of the hallway, the hero who defeated the Witch's Cult's Sin Archbishop of Sloth, and the apprentice to the Sword God Reid was running for time
Anastasia, who was left in confusion as she stood in the spot looking to the door, "Does he- Does he even know where he's going?!" Anastasia began to pick up her pace as she ran out the door as well
Ricardo sat back still on the chair as he watched the events unfold, "I'll never think I'll be able to get enough of that kid" He smiled as he stared distantly