She didn't know where she was, exactly. She was — indoors? There were walls encircling her, and a roof over her head — and rows and rows of cushioned seats, curving in a crescent shape around what looked like…a giant, black, flat oblong shape. She stared at it in confusion before snapping out of it enough to continue being confused about everything else.
Where had she—? Right, she had been in the dragon carriage, on the way to Priestella. She had been in that carriage with Subaru and Beatrice, Subaru having been banned from the driver's seat after he almost launched them all off a cliff. Otto had been leading Patrasche in his stead, and Garfiel had been running alongside them as a guard. Then she had — all she had done was blink, she was pretty sure, so —
"Emilia!"
Emilia turned around to see Otto rushing towards her, skipping slightly down the incline before stumbling to a stop. "Whe— Where are we?" he spluttered. "Weren't we just—"
"The dragon carriage, right!" Emilia turned to see Garfiel bounding towards them, only managing to skid to a stop at the last second. "I swear, my amazing self just blinked, and—"
"Where's Betty's contractor, I suppose?!" Beatrice's voice cried. Emilia turned to see her frantically searching around the aisles. "Subaru? Subaru?!"
"Beatrice, we're over here!" Emilia called out. Beatrice spun around. "Subaru— I think Subaru's still in the dragon carriage." If he wasn't here, then he had to be there, right? She hoped he was there. As much as she would have found his presence comforting, Emilia didn't want him trapped in here with them if it was an option. "Do you know where we are?"
"Not a clue, in fact! And I don't like— Where is Subaru? I want to get back to Subaru right now, in fact!"
"Emilia-sama?"
Emilia stopped. What— but that couldn't be! She had been miles away, how could they suddenly be in the same—
"Ram?" It was Otto who turned around first, eyes wide. "Aren't you supposed to be back at the manor?" he said.
"Aren't you lot supposed to be several miles away from me by now?" she retorted, hands on hips. "I don't see how this is anywhere near Priestella."
"Indeed," Frederica said, looking much more outwardly worried than her coworker. Her arms were folded across her chest. "Lady Emilia, do you know…?"
Emilia reluctantly shook her head. "No," she admitted. "I'm afraid I really don't."
"Well this is certainly exciiting…"
Otto scowled. "Oh, not YOU."
"What a cruel way to speak to the sponsor of your Caamp," Roswaal said in his sing-song voice. He didn't look particularly concerned by their predicament. Emilia wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not. "This is quite the demonstration of yin magic, to transport all of us here at ooonce…"
"Have you seen this before, then, Roswaal-sama?"
"W-Wilhelm-san?" Emilia exclaimed, turning on her heel. Was it not even restricted to — what was going on here?
"Emilia-sama." Sure enough, that was the Sword Demon himself stalking towards them, wariness emanating from every inch of his form. He had stopped shortly to bow to her as he approached, tense as a tripwire, before turning his attention back to the Margrave and clearing the rest of the distance. "Have you seen this before, then?" he asked. He looked much calmer than Emilia felt.
"Not exaaactly…" Roswaal denied, eyes glinting. "But I assume it's not all that different than Betty's old library, iiiiis it?"
Beatrice wasn't paying attention enough to confirm or deny this, still searching frantically for her dear contractor. Just in case he wasn't back in the carriage like Emilia had assumed. Like she hoped.
"Cruschie!"
That exclamation, full of elation and deep-seated relief, drew everyone's attention to a scene nearby, where none other than Ferris had joyfully leapt to embrace his Lady tight. "Nyer here!" he cried. "Nyer here, I thought I was all alone!"
"F-Ferris?" Crusch stammered, both surprised and a little scared at the sheer intensity of emotion with which she was faced. She shook her head. "Ferris, it's alright, it's alright. We'll figure out a way out of here—"
"Crusch, you're here too?" Emilia called. Crusch looked up, relief dawning across her face as she saw the group scrambling down to greet her, Wilhelm at the front. "Where are we?" she asked. "Do you know what this place is? Why are we here all of a sudden?"
"I don't— I was hoping you would be able to tell ME that, actually…"
"Big Sis!"
"Emilia-sama!"
"Felt? Reinhard?!" Them too?! What on Earth could be going on?
Wilhelm shifted awkwardly at the sight of his estranged grandson, backing away as he approached, movements jerky and static. Reinhard looked slightly hurt, but unsurprised. "You got sent here, too?" Felt asked. "What's going on? Where are we?"
"Trying to figure that out ourselves," Crusch sighed.
"Felt!" Emilia turned to see a boy she had never met before in her life, watching as a look of relief dawned across his face. This — "guest list," she supposed, as Subaru would put it — was getting bigger and bigger, wasn't it? "Felt," he cried. "Is that you??"
"Rachins!" Felt called back. "Rachins, get over here! We've got to stick together! Where are Gaston and Camberley?"
"I can't find them— What IS this—"
"Felt!" a thunderous voice interrupted. "Felt, what is— are you alright?"
"Old Man Rom?" Emilia called out, her eyes wide. "Is that you? It's been so long! How are— Oh, but now can't be the right time for that sort of thing…"
"I'm afraid not," Old Man Rom grunted, thought the sight of his beloved granddaughter appeared to have calmed him significantly. "But it is nice to see you again, too, little lady…"
(Wilhelm frowned. That man looked somewhat familiar, come to think of it…
But Lady Emilia had been more than correct: now was simply not the time.)
"Oi! What's going on?!" Emilia stopped, feeling slightly overwhelmed. Him, too— was it all the factions of the Royal Candidates, maybe? Was this some sort of plot involving the Royal Selection? "Crusch-sama, Emilia-sama, is that you?!"
"Ricardo?!" Ferris responded, bewildered. "What is this?!"
"Hey, the other Camps are here, too! —Garf, is that you?!"
"Mimi?!"
"All of you are here too, then?" Anastasia clarified, looking utterly bewildered as she approached them alongside her daughter figure. She looked unusually frazzled — understandable, given the circumstances. Emilia supposed it only made sense for her to be here alongside her attendants — even if her attendants being here made no sense, in the first place.
"We didn't exactly expect to see you before we got to Priestella," she tried to laugh, like she knew Subaru would in such a tense situation. She missed Subaru. She hoped he was safe. "Was it getting too boring to wait for us there? I'm really sorry we were taking so long, if that's the case—"
Felt's head snapped up. "Wait — Big Sis, you were—?"
"Priestella?" Crusch echoed. "You were going there, too, Emilia-sama?"
Felt whipped back around. " You—?? "
"Yes, yes," Anastasia waved off the coming bout of exclamations impatiently. "This was gonna be a surprise, but all three of yer camps were invited to Priestella at the same time. Thought it could make for a fun check-in to see how everyone's doing, a year into the selection. …Was gonna invite Priscilla too, but that girl's a loose canon…couldn't for the life of me figure out what she might like as a gift…"
Emilia looked past her shoulder to the front of the room. "Julius?" she called.
"What an odd metia," Julius was muttering, entirely distracted. "It looks a bit like our communication mirrors, but it's so big…"
"How did we even get here?" Felt demanded. "I could've sworn we were just—"
"We didn't do anything!" Crusch agreed. "I really don't see how—"
"Mimi was just— er, Mimi definitely wasn't sneaking some biscuits—"
"Onee-chan, please, those were for—"
"Emilia-sama!" Julius called, having finally turned around to see the other camps. "Ferris, Reinhard— Did all of you get sent here, too? What is this place?"
"That's what we're trying to figure out!" Ferris snapped, understandably but unfairly.
And then—
"…Who are you people?"
Everyone stopped, silence filling the room. As one, all present turned around in tandem at the unfamiliar voice, one that not a single person there recognized.
Before them stood what looked like a near carbon-copy of Roswaal's senior maid: equal in height, in shape, even in the style of her hair. The only difference was that her bangs were swept the opposite way, her hair and eyes were shades of blue instead of shades of red, and instead of a maid uniform she was clad only in a soft nightgown, as if she had just woken up from a long slumber.
Emilia's mind froze. It couldn't be—
"Holy shit," Garfiel managed.
"R…" Frederica whispered, eyes wide with wonder so immense she completely forgot to scold her little brother. "R… Rem?!"
Everyone burst into chatter, voices both intense and hushed in equal measure as they stared at the awakened Sleeping Beauty. Not a single person there understood who she was as an individual, but everyone understood what her being there might mean for — the victims of Gluttony, the workings of the Witch Cult, the nature of this strange environment — and most of all, what she meant for —
"Od Laguna, is that—"
"That's the sleeping girl Mister's been so worked up about, isn't it?!"
"How on Earth did she—"
"Subaru's gonna— Where is he, he's gotta see—!"
"Rem?" the blue-haired girl echoed, taking a step back. "Who is that? Where am I? What's going on?"
"Rem, that's— that's you!" Emilia was the one to step forward first. "You're awake!" she exclaimed. "You're—"
"You're finally awake!" Ram cried out with uncharacteristic joy and amazement, just barely stopped from rushing over by the wary look on her little sister's face. "You're finally— but how?"
"Yeah, how?!" Ferris snapped, looking surprisingly angry at this development. "How did you recover before, before—"
"Felix," Wilhelm warned gently, setting a hand on his shoulder. The healer shut his mouth, letting himself be pulled aside.
"Who are you people?" Rem demanded, a little more agitated than before. "Answer me!"
[WITH ALL PRESENT, THE DEMONSTRATION SHALL NOW COMMENCE.]
Everyone jumped. Garfiel swore loudly. "The Hell was that?!"
"Please try not to use language like that in front of our political opponents!" Otto cried.
[THE FOCUS OF THIS DEMONSTRATION: NATSUKI SUBARU.]
A harsh spotlight came on with a sound like a thunderclap, making everyone jump. It was focused a little to the left of the audience. The sheer brightness drew everyone's eyes just as much as it forced them shut, adjusting agonizingly slowly as they attempted to make out what it was exactly that was being illuminated.
A glass jar — oversized. A cork in the top, sealing it shut. A dark figure huddled inside, covering its face from the onslaught of light that was no doubt much, much worse for the target than the onlookers nearby.
And as their eyes adjusted, it became clear that the figure isolated within that glass jar was—
"Subaru!" Beatrice cried, rushing forwards.
"Beako!" Subaru caught sight of her through the clear walls of his cage, rushing towards her and pushing against the glass in a desperate to reach her. "W-Wha—?"
"Subaru, Subaru!" Beatrice banged her fists against the clear surface. It didn't budge. "Why is Subaru in there, I suppose? Let him out!"
"Be— Beako, it's okay, it's okay! It's gonna be alright! Do you know where we are?"
"I don't— None of us do! Subaru!"
"None of— Emilia!" Subaru suddenly saw the other figures, rushing towards the trap behind Beatrice. "Emilia, where are we? What's going on?"
"Don't worry, Subaru, it's alright!" Emilia babbled. "We'll get you out, we'll get you out of there soon—"
"Ow!" Garfiel's fist bounced right off the glass. He hissed, cradling it to his chest. The wall remained clear and spotless. "What is this thing—?!"
"I can't summon my spirits!" Julius realized, alarmed. "Subaru, are you—"
"I'm fine, you annoying prick! Nice to see you here, too!"
"Why isn't any of my magic working?!" Emilia cried, trying and failing to freeze the glass.
"Where's my sword?!" Ricardo shouted. "Did it really not—?!"
"Something tells me it wouldn't be of much use anyway—"
"Subaru-dono, just hang in there—"
"Who the hell is that?!"
"R— Rem?!" Subaru had finally caught sight of the awoken sleeping beauty. His eyes filled with wonder and delight. "Rem! Rem—"
"Who the hell are you?!" Rem snapped again, backing away. "Why do you smell like that?!"
Subaru jerked away from the glass as though it had burned him.
"Don't talk to him like that!" Beatrice shouted, enraged. "Subaru's tried so hard to wake you up, I suppose — don't talk to him like he's some — filth!"
"Who— I didn't ask him to do anything!" Rem retorted. "Whoever he is, that boy is dangerous! I don't know who all of you think that is, but—"
"Ah," Subaru exhaled quietly, looking like he was trying really hard not to seem as devastated as he was. "So that's how it is."
[NATSUKI SUBARU: UNSUNG HERO OF LUGUNICA. UNRECOGNIZED. INJUSTICE. MUST BE CORRECTED.]
"H-Huh?!" Subaru squawked, looking like a deer in the headlights.
Ram coughed. "Unsung hero??" she repeated.
"Have you nyot been paying attention to — to ANYTHING over the past year???" Ferris spluttered. "Subaru-kyun's gotten so much praise we're all practically sick of it!"
"That's a little mean," Crusch warned Ferris. Ferris pouted. "…But I do agree with the spirit of what my knight is saying. There are many words that could be used to describe Subaru's exploits, many of them positive, but I don't think 'unsung' is one of them."
"I can attest," Julius said. "Subaru's likeness has had a number of appearances in the fiction section of the Lugunican papers. He's become a very beloved public figure, over a very short span of time."
Subaru squawked. "WHAT?!"
"Subaru-dono certainly deserves all of the praise that he has been given!" Wilhelm announced, glancing sternly in Ferris' direction. "But…I don't believe that it has been quite so little as to warrant being described as an injustice."
Old Man Rom folded his arms, and Felt snorted. "Big Bro, if this was your attempt to get some attention—"
"It's not, it's not!" Subaru flailed his arms frantically, his face bright red. "I don't know what's going on! I'm perfectly satisfied with — with everything I've been given over the past year! More than satisfied, even! I don't—"
Everyone could tell that he was telling the truth just from that reaction, but when Crusch did not speak up to refute his claim, the matter was as good as settled.
"It's true that Subaru has accomplished some astounding feats over the past year," Reinhard said, trying to pacify their captor. "If you believe that he has not received enough, perhaps we can reach an arrangement—"
[INJUSTICE,] the voice repeated. [MUST BE CORRECTED. THIS DEMONSTRATION SHALL CORRECT THIS INJUSTICE, ONCE AND FOR ALL.]
"This is such a load of nonsense!"
Everyone turned to see Rem, bristling as she glared at the "unsung hero" with open hostility.
"All of this has to be just — absolute crap!" she spat, practically shaking as she cried out her warning. "That— that THING is not a hero! That's a monster! That's DANGEROUS! You don't— You don't know what that is!"
"Dangerous— Subaru?" Julius frowned, remembering a stupid young man who threw a tantrum in the throne room because people were being mean to his crush, accepted a challenge from one of the most powerful knights in the kingdom, and sulked around the Karsten Manor for three days after he lost like a scolded puppy. It had been a pathetic display, but— "Rem-san, I can assure you: although Subaru is…unusual, he's nowhere near dangerous. On my honor as a knight of Lugunica, I can assure you of that much."
It didn't matter much that Subaru had gone on to help against the White Whale, the Witch Cult, and even perhaps the Great Rabbit. As far as his demeanor was concerned, Subaru was — at his absolute worst — a naive, annoying brat in need of some discipline. To suggest that someone like that would ever willingly do something as awful as Rem appeared to fear so badly—
"Subaru is a little odd, but he's a good boy," Emilia agreed earnestly, a sentiment that was being echoed by the entirety of her Camp.
"Subaru might be — a little strange," Reinhard admitted. "But he's a very good person! And he's been trying to save you for a year now, too…"
"Big Bro's a freak, but he's not a war criminal!" Felt agreed.
"Certainly not," Old Man Rom grunted. "He's just a boy, nothing more…"
"Rem, my dear sister —" Ram's eyes softened slightly as she faced her sister. "It is true that Barusu is ridiculously suspicious, but I can assure you that he is not dangerous in the slightest. He's far too stupid and soft to do anything like what you are thinking he might do: useless and pathetic, not a demented sociopath. However badly he may stink."
"Thanks, nee-sama…"
Rem looked unconvinced, but her attention had been redirected elsewhere. "Sister…?" she echoed.
[THE DEMONSTRATION SHALL BEGIN ONCE ALL ARE SEATED ,] the voice declared. [THE DEMONSTRATION SHALL CORRECT THE INJUSTICE. WITH THE INJUSTICE CORRECTED, ALL SHALL BE RIGHTED ONCE AGAIN.]
"I really don't want anything like this!" Subaru squeaked out, face bright red. "Can't you just send us back?! I feel plenty recognized, thanks!"
"So— that means we can leave after this is over?" Anastasia tried to clarify. "You'll let us leave after this — this 'injustice' has been corrected?"
[THE DEMONSTRATION: NATSUKI SUBARU'S MEMORIES.]
Protests from all directions erupted at this declaration.
"Wait, WHAT?!" Subaru squawked.
"That sounds incredibly violating!" Crusch agreed, eyes wide. "What gives you the right to — to publicly undress him like that? I refuse to have any part in this!"
"We have better things to do with our time than delve into some kid's memories — or to play around in this theater at all!" Anastasia agreed disapprovingly. "As much as I may respect Natsuki-kun, I'm a busy gal. Even if he wanted this — which he clearly doesn't — I can't spare the time or attention for this sort of affair!"
"We absolutely do NOT want the memories of a member of our Camp blown up in front of two rival factions!" Otto squawked, gripping his hair. "What sort of outside interference IS this—?!"
"Betty's Subaru deserves better treatment than his most private memories being used as entertainment, in fact!"
[THE DOORS WILL REMAIN LOCKED FOR THE DURATION OF THE DEMONSTRATION.] The voice continued, ignoring all of their protests. [ONCE THE DEMNSTRATION HAS CONCLUDED, ALL WILL BE RETURNED TO CONTINUE THEIR LIVES, THE INJUSTICE CORRECTED.]
"LISTEN to us, for OD'S SAKE—" Garfiel was roaring.
[THE DEMONSTRATION WILL BEGIN IN EARNEST ONCE EVERYONE IS SEATED.]
No matter how much they protested, the voice showed no signs of so much as hearing them cry out. After a few minutes of desperate calling, it quickly became clear that—
[THE DEMONSTRATION WILL BEGIN IN EARNEST ONCE EVERYONE IS SEATED,] the voice repeated once, and then it said not one word more.
"We don't have a choice," Crusch realized. "It's either to watch — this, or…" Remain in this room forever.
"…Well then I guess that's that, yeah?" Garfiel said uncomfortably.
"What?!" Otto squawked. "We can't just let this— We don't even know what this thing wants to show! What if it includes Camp secrets?! It could end up endangering our entire campaign!"
"Doesn't mean a damn thing if we can't ever get out of this damn place!" Garfiel retorted. "We can roll with whatever happens, but we have to be able to get out of here first!"
"That doesn't mean we should just lie down and let something like THIS happen! Isn't there any other way to get out of here?!"
"Do you see any other ways? I hate this just as much as you do, but would you really rather be stuck in here? We can't win the Royal Selection if we stay stuck in this room for the next three years!"
"Sure but— I— AUGH! I really don't like this! Isn't there another way out?!"
"It's such a mean thing to do!" Emilia added, protesting for an entirely different reason. "I— Even if you're trying to help him, this is just— it's not right! Subaru doesn't want this! Why should we force him to share something he doesn't want to share?"
"It really does sound indecent," Frederica said with a frown. "I don't think I want to spy on the private moments of a teenage boy, if I can avoid it. For a number of reasons."
"Because the only other option is to never leave this room, apparently," Garfiel replied, agitated. "I don't like this either, but — I don't wanna stay here with him trapped in a cage just cause — cause I don't wanna look, right?! …And what if there IS something we still need to thank him for? We already know Cap's great and everything, but — if there's something we haven't acknowledged properly, then—"
"Wait, wait!" Subaru banged his fist on the glass, looking panicked. "Wait, don't I get a say in this?! I don't want you looking through my memories! Those are private — you can't look at them!"
"You think I want to do this, Barusu?" Ram shot back, arms crossed. "Watching your memories of bumbling around as an embarrassment sounds miserable. You may just end up being the most comfortable person in this room."
Ferris blinked. Then he grinned, his tail curling mischievously by his side. "Well…"
"Ferris," Julius warned.
"I mean, watching little Unsung Hero-kyun humiliate himself is a LITTLE fun—"
"I wouldn't say—" Ricardo protested.
"Oh come on." Ferris leaned backwards, catching Ricardo's eye with a teasy look on his face. "Nyew've mentioned a nyumber of times nyow that nya wish nyew'd seen what Subaru-kyun was like when he spoke up as Emilia's unsung hero during the Royal Selection Ceremony. Aren't nya looking forward to a chance at that just a little bit?"
"What?? " Subaru squeaked out, face scarlet.
"I mean…" Ricardo shifted, but the slight smile on his face did very little to deny it. "I'm sure it was annoyin' at the time, but some dumb kid jumpin' up to defend his crush from half the kingdom and causin' a mess sounds really adorable in retrospect." Subaru made an indiscernible, high-pitched noise. "Wouldn't say no ta seein' it for myself, if that's gonna be included in this mess…"
Julius coughed into his fist. "That aside," he said, hiding a smile. "We don't know if that memory in particular is what this — place — wants to show us, and even if we did, we don't have an infinite amount of time. Subaru's memories are not our business, and as much as I may — respect him as a colleague, they are not our priority, either."
"Don't think time will matter all that much if what that — voice — said is true," Tivey said hesitantly. "If we're going to just end up back when and where we were when this started, we could probably spend as much time in here as necessary."
"Mimi doesn't like it here," Mimi declared, sitting down in Anastasia's lap. "Let's just get this over with so we can all go back to the inn."
Anastasia sighed, but relented with a nod of her head.
"I'm really not sure—" Reinhard protested. "If Subaru has memories he doesn't want us to see—"
"I doubt that moron has done anything worse than throw tantrums when he didn't get his way," Felt said, rolling her eyes. "I'm with them: let's just get this over with so we can all go back."
Old Man Rom sighed, and took his seat beside his granddaughter. "Lets just get this over with," he agreed, muttering under his breath.
Emilia was one of the last to be convinced.
"It's not fair!" she protested desperately. "Subaru didn't do anything! He doesn't deserve to be violated like this! Why should he— Isn't there something else we can do?!"
"Emilia-sama," Crusch said. "I know that this is a ridiculously unfair situation, but…" she pressed her lips together. "This seems to be the only way out."
"But—"
"I promise you that I will not take advantage of this event," she added. "You have my word that your knight will remain free of judgement from my camp, and that nothing we see here will be used by us to cause him — or you — any harm."
"Mine too," Felt confirmed. "Big Bro probably did some embarrassing stuff and all, but that's nothing unusual. I just want to get out of here."
"Why do we even have to see it, then?" Emilia begged. "We already know that Subaru's a good boy! Can't we just let him be?"
"I'd love to," Anastasia muttered. "But unless ya want yer little unsung hero stuck in a glass jar forever, this seems like the only way out."
Emilia turned to face Subaru, pitiful and panicked in his glass cell. After a long moment, she wordlessly took her seat.
Subaru was the only one left to be convinced.
"W-Wait!" he cried. "Wait, Emi— everyone, is this really necessary?! Isn't this a breach of privacy?! What do you mean you'll be watching— I don't want this!"
"I— I'm sure it'll be fine," Emilia tried to say. "It'll be over before you know it, alright?"
"I don't want to do this!" Subaru protested. "I don't want this at all! My — my memories are private, I don't want you looking at them like there some sort of anime!"
"Ani—? I don't know what that is, but we can't just—"
"There has to be another way out, right?! Can't we do something else?! There's got to be a way out of here that doesn't involve—"
"I really don't think there is," Reinhard admitted guiltily, fretfully.
"Maybe you just haven't looked hard enough! Maybe those doors can open— if you push them hard enough—"
"Actually, Reinhard already tried—" Felt started. "Wait, Subaru, that would mean—"
"We can't leave you in there, I suppose!"
"No, go ahead, leave me in here! I don't want you rooting around in my head, what sort of sick joke is that?! I've done so much embarrassing stuff, and I don't know wha they're gonna— whatever it is they wanna show, I don't want you—!"
"Subaru-dono."
Wilhelm's voice was calm and reasonable. Subaru's eyes darted up at him.
"Every young man has things in their past that they'd rather forget," the old man said gently. "Especially involving shameful moments, or past embarrassments, or blunders with women. None of those are things that any of us would have room to judge you on."
"But—" Subaru was still obviously panicked, for understandable reasons.
"Even if you did do something genuinely terrible, at some point in your past —"Wilhelm shook his head. "Subaru-dono, I am a soldier. I can guarantee that I have done far worse in my sixty years of life than you ever could in a mere eighteen. And even if I am somehow proven wrong — we already know the you that exists today. Whatever it is that we see on that metia, I promise you that we will not think less of you."
"It's not like we don't already know that your ability to conduct yourself properly is flawed," Julius added, a teasing smile on his face. "I mean, our first impression of you made that clear from the start."
"It is insanely violating and I hate everything about this situation," Crusch sighed. "But if this is the only way out, then it is the only way out. —And that includes getting YOU out of that jar."
"I really don't think anything in yer memories is gonna be all that interesting, Natsuki-kun," Anastasia drawled, looking bored and inconvenienced. "We're a bunch o' soldiers and politicians. Even if ya somehow DID do something genuinely terrible at some point, I can pretty much guarantee that all of us have seen worse. And this thing seems to think yer some sort of amazing, so they'll probably only show the stuff that makes you look good, anyway. This'll be anywhere from horribly boring to unpleasantly humiliating, but then it'll be over and we can all go home. —Or to the inn, at any rate."
"There is no way that there's anything in that head of yours that I haven't seen before, and to much worse degrees," Rom agreed. "Everything always seems like the end of the world to a young man, but I can assure you that I have seen everything at this point."
"I'm sure it'll be plenty entertaining, Unsung Hero-kyun!" Ferris cackled. "…But I doubt nyew have anything in there that'll actually freak us out anyway, so. Get ready for me to tease nya till the end of time, but that's about it."
Subaru still looked freaked out. "But—"
"We PROMISE," Wilhelm assured him. "Whatever it is we see on that metia, we will give you grace."
"B…But…"
"Subaru."
It was Emilia who spoke up last. Subaru's eyes darted towards her.
"I know this is a really uncomfortable situation," she said. "But I think bearing with it will be best, oh-kay? Let's get this over with, and then we can go — have fun in Priestella, and forget all about it. Don't you want to see the canals Otto told us about? And I heard that they had this amazing singer we can go listen to— and some really tasty authentic Kararagian cuisine— and the sooner we get this done, the sooner we can get you out of that jar, all of us out of this place, and enjoy the rest of our day!""
Subaru swallowed.
Emilia pressed: "None of us want to hurt you. If anyone tries to use this to do something bad to you, I'll protect you, oh-kay? I promise I will."
"As will Betty, in fact," said Beatrice, who really just wanted Subaru out of his cage as soon as possible.
"You don't have to worry about anything like that, alright?" Emilia insisted. "We'll be right with you. We promise, oh-kay?"
After a long moment, Subaru took a deep breath, and exhaled slowly. "Okay then," he relented, falling back to sit on his knees. "Let's…get this over with."