Hero of Proditiophobia

It has been a week since Subaru saved that couple.

The concept of being a hero again started to once again appeal to Subaru.

He found pleasure in helping people who couldn't help themselves, Subaru wanted to be a small light in the innocent's eyes. He wanted to be the light he was never given by Emilia or Beatrice that day.

But for the sake of not being a show pony or just making sure not to draw too much 'unwanted' attention towards himself.

Subaru made sure to only handle small situations, with the work he handled most would refer to him as just some boy scout who wanted to help others without gaining any fame or rewards.

However, there was another factor that made Subaru start doing these good deeds, the time he spent out there was extra training he and his spirits could do.

But Subaru didn't do it for strength

He did it for the experience and to grow closer to his spirits

And it was working

Subaru had grown battle wise while he and his spirits began to understand each other better

And to make sure his efforts carried over outside the battlefield Subaru made sure to always talk and interact with his spirits

He had begun to love them like a family and didn't want them to leave him like Beatrice.

So, he always goes out of his way to make them happy.

And even if it was unnecessary the spirits were happy and appreciated the effort Subaru put into their relation

And as for Halibel

Halibel had learned of some new boy scout doing all these good deeds and not taking any credit for them

However, this new boy scout always gave one detail away

His name was Neo

But as it turned out Neo was a spirit arts user who could use each type of spirit and even had a quasi-spirit

Halibel laughed when he heard this as he had just received the easiest puzzle in his life

Now who did he know who used spirit arts, was new around town and both used each type of spirit while having a single quasi spirit

Of course, Halibel figured out who Neo was in less than a minute

And when he confronted Subaru on the persona, Subaru simply told him that he wanted his real name to remain secret for as long as possible, Halibel agreed to keep it a secret understanding that for him to use a code name he probably had his reasons.

But Halibel told Subaru that if he wanted to continue helping people, he still needed to get stronger. His magic while strong compared to the average person, with his small amount of experience, weakened body and lack of technique he would lose to a skilled fighter

Subaru would have to train much harder

Agree to go on a diet Halibel set up for him to help with his almost skeletal appearance

And continue to visit a local healer

Subaru had a small smile as he looked to Halibel, nodding his head ready for whatever he had in store for him.

...

It was a peaceful day outside; some say that if you stopped telling you could hear bird's singing while the rivers flowed... and the explosions coming from Halibel's training ground

"Subaru, at least try to hit me." Mocked Halibel who was having no problems dodging Subaru's attacks

"Toph tries to restrain his movement, Shami, use Shamak. "Subaru communicated telepathically through his contract.

Sometimes the contract between Subaru and his spirits was op, being able to cast spells without the opponent knowing most of the time would automatically give him the winning advantage. But Halibel wasn't just any ordinary opponent

Halibel found himself in the middle of the Shamak, but it was nothing to him as he jumped high in the air to avoid any possible attacks Subaru had planned than with single mana infused Kuni blew away all the Shamak.

"Subaru, I said hit me not waste mana."

Halibel said trying to get a stir out of Subaru his youngest yet most promising student

Subaru took a deep breath to calm his nerves, one important lesson Halibel taught him was to never lose focus in a fight.

Subaru locked eyes with Halibel not breaking his connection

And...

Aqua began to glow

"Huh?"

Subaru said out loud looking away from Halibel

And this resulted in a blunted Kuni being thrown into his stomach

"GAH! *cough* *cough* n-not fair," Subaru spoke mildly angered

"Remember what I said?" Halibel replied Calmly

"don't get distracted." Subaru rolled his eyes as he turned back to Aqua

"Subaru it appears I've evolved into a quasi spirit." Said Aqua said in a thrilled voice through their contact

"So, what does that mean?" Asked Subaru through the contact

"Well, I should be able to produce much stronger healing magic now, I can now heal your throat a lot better."

"Oh that's nice, I take it as you evolve further you're healing should get better."

"Yes isn't this great news. I soon may have the power to properly protect my contractor."

"Subaru," Halibel said

Subaru was suddenly hit with another Kuni, while this one hurt a lot less it still stung

"owwwww..."

"What? Isn't your break over now?" Halibel smirked

"Halibel, you better prepare to tase the wrath of two quasi spirits!" Subaru struck a pose as his Yin spirit and Water spirit summoned their attacks

"Wait Shami, Aqua."

Shami and Aqua halted from throwing the crystals

"Hay Blaise lend some support with Minya crystals, please. And Aeolus try using your wind to increase the speed of the crystals." Subaru said through his mind

"I would prefer to use fireballs, but sure thing Subaru." Blaine powered up

"Hmph fine I'll help you I suppose, but only if you offer praise after." Said Aeolus

"Fine, fine just work your magic."

Subaru keeping his eyes on Halibel the whole time lifted his hand

Halibel watched with curiosity

Then Subaru snapped

The three spirits launched their attacks

Even Halibel was a little surprised to see the teamwork being pulled off by such an amateur

Halibel noted to not underestimate the power of being able to talk while others can't hear you

Halibel still dodged the crystals

And when they passed Halibel they tore through a few trees before coming to a halt and turning back into mana

"Ok girls let's do some hand-to-hand combat."

The spirits agreed and powered Subaru up with their Mana reserves

With so many physical and mental enchantments applied at once and the spirits still using ranged attacks, Subaru knew he would hit Halibel

Subaru charged at Halibel moving around a bit slower than Felt using her divine protection

Subaru sent a punch at Halibel's gut

Halibel proceeded to grab his arm and throw him over his shoulder

Subaru landed on his back losing the focus to maintain his mana boosters

"wow... how did you... get so strong?" Subaru was blown away at Halibel's skill and strength

"I trained," Halibel said

"And you're not even using mana boosters. *sigh*" Subaru felt crushed as his master plan of running in and punching the skilled ninja wolf failed

"Subaru, you know what you're missing?"

"What, more power?" Subaru retorted

"Nope, a basic hands-on weapon."

Subaru thought about it but declined

"Maybe it would help but I want to get strong with magic and magic alone."

"Oh interesting, well if you think I'm talking about swords I'm not, a simple long dagger or two would help heaps when it comes to blocking magic attacks and other sword-like weapons. Plus, I heard you can infuse bladed and are owed weapons with magic."

This sounded appealing to Subaru as he recalls his fights with Elsa.

Elsa was able to block ice crystals and Minya crystals effortlessly with her blades

So with enough practise maybe Subaru could do the same?

Subaru made his mind up

"Alright Sensi, you've convinced me, I'll get two daggers for close-range combat."

Halibel smiled

"You may do that when training finishes for the day Subaru."

...

Subaru left training worn out

Needing to have Aqua healing him while using several mana boosters just to walk normally

"Ok, girls it's time to buy a pair of daggers then bounty time."

Subaru walked into the weapons shop.

In there he could see a variety of weapons most were daggers or knives with a few expensive swords.

Subaru had an idea to grow closer to his spirits

"Ok girls"

He thought to them

"I want you six to vote on my first dagger. Whatever you choose I'll buy it and cherish it."

The spirits were taken aback by this

"Are you sure? This is a big quite the responsibility you're trusting us with." Said Shami

"Don't worry, whatever you choose I know it's going to be perfect," Subaru said with complete sincerity in his mind voice.

So, his six spirits set off, like a kid in a candy store they all examined different daggers.

Blaise focused mainly on red daggers or ones with flame patterns engraved

Aqua found a par of daggers with engravings of the sea

Toph and Shami seemed to be captivated by a dagger with dragons on it

Aeolus picked daggers that were silver except for the black outside edge

And Eon was interested in simple daggers, to her, the simple things were the best.

After about 10 minutes of the spirits discussing which one, they should pick, Toph and Shami won by a majority vote of two while everyone else voted on their own choice.

Subaru smiled as he picked up the dragon daggers

The beautiful craftsmanship of the dragons engraved into them was truly a sight to behold

Subaru walked to the front counter and paid the pair.

Subaru left the shop feeling a lot more confident

"Welp it's time to pick a new quest girl."

The spirits were all excited to help even if one was a little difficult

"If you want my help, then you better tell me more story's then we get home I suppose." Said Aeolus

Subaru had been telling his spirits stories of his homeland to form a stronger relationship

And besides that, one spirit who probably left him for a larger mana pool, these were the only individuals who Subaru told this stuff.

"Yeah, I want another story too!" Said, Blaise

Quickly all the reaming spirits began to ask Subaru for more story's

"Ok, ok girls I'll tell you a new story tonight sound good?"

"It's acceptable I suppose"

Subaru put the cloak he stole from the merchant over his head walked into the Guild and walked over to the bounty hunters and quest board

And on his way over he noticed something odd

At the bounty and quest board was what seemed to be two short orange cat Demi-humans and a few large wolf Demi-humans putting up a poster...

"It can't be..." Subaru thought to himself, as he began to feel an emotion he tried to let go of a while ago. FEAR

Subaru's spirits could feel the distressed emotions radiating off Subaru, they could tell Subaru wasn't standing still to get a good look at these newcomers

He was petrified, but it seemed he wasn't scared of them, but what do they bring?

"Subaru what's wrong?" Asked Eon

Subaru snapping out of his trance moved to a table to communicate with his spirit

"Girls those demi-humans are bad news."

"Why, who are they... should I incinerate them?" Blaise asked

"They are bad news... and attacking them might result in a terrible outcome. They must be hunting me down as we speak."

As Subaru's fear began to manifest further and further his face started to turn red and his breathing became harsher

Subaru looked backwards making sure his cloak covered his head

He saw Anastasia's conversing next to the task board they hadn't noticed him

Subaru decided to boost his ears with mana in an attempt to eavesdrop in on their conversation

And as his earing senses grew stronger he could begin to make out the words the soldiers spoke

"It's a shame that Julius-sama insisted that he searches the main city. We're stuck with these smaller ones. He's probably not even here." Said, Mimi

Subaru hearing the name Julius didn't know how to feel. Julius still out classes him in almost every category and Subaru wanted nothing more than to tear him apart.

But Subaru could only feel fear, he was still weak haven only improved a bit since a month ago. An encounter with Julius would result in the usage of return by death.

Subaru would be hyperventilating if his spirits weren't helping him keep his emotions in check

But nothing could scare Subaru more than hearing the name of either of his tortures

What Subaru had overheard might as well have been fate giving him another bitch slap. Or was this a blessing that Subaru had a chance to take advantage of?

Subaru sat in his seat trying to keep his hands from shacking

Subaru closed his eyes remembering the lessons Halibel gave him and took a deep breath

Subaru calmed down and decided to wait for those Demi-humans to leave

...

Subaru sat patiently concealing any hostility or fear he had

Listening closely but never making it obvious

Subaru continued to listen trying to gather any vital information

But they only spoke of useless things

Subaru didn't care about their lunch plans

Subaru decided to just wait until they left

And when they moved away to talk to the front receptionist to probably get information Subaru made his move. He slowly walked toward the Bounty and quest board to see what they put up.

Was it a bounty for him?

How much were they willing to pay just to kill one man?

Subaru saw the poster that had a picture of his face

Subaru gulped as he edged closer towards the poster

And he saw...

A missing poster???

It was a missing poster for him?!

"Missing person? Subaru Natsuki? Emilia's knight."

Subaru almost in a whisper read out the poster dumbfounded

Subaru was confused

"How do they know my last name... I never told them that... and Emilia's knight... can it be?"

Subaru's mind was trying to make sense of this

Had his name truly been restored?

...Did that even matter now?

"Wait who else is looking for me?"

Subaru began to ponder if someone like Felt with her op knight Reinhard were also trying to find him

Subaru look down

He tried to imagine him and Emilia reuniting...

But it brought nothing to his heart

After everything he had been through, he didn't want to be found, he hated the idea of going back

At least the fear of torture was lifted slightly

Subaru had made his mind up

He would not return

He would not repeat his actions by blindly following those who had hurt him

He had already died enough for those useless people

Subaru making his mind realised why he was at an advantage

"This is fine, it's only a few Demi-humans, it's my fortune that Someone who can recognise my smell, or I don't know fricken Reinhard isn't here."

"What's the wrong Subaru? You've been having constant emotional changes in the past minute." Asked Aqua who was worried because of Subaru's sudden clogged mind

Subaru walked over to the task board and selected a ma beast kill quest, something simple and well paying.

"We are leaving now."

Subaru began to leave when he heard the person at the fount desk mention something that scared Subaru

"Oh, the hero who managed to take down the White Whale and Sloth is missing. I'm very sorry to hear that but I haven't received any reports of Subaru Natsuki being here in Banan. Maybe you could ask a few bounty hunters and mercenaries, they usually have that kind of knowledge. Oh, see that man in the black cloak. Yeah, that's the mysterious man who appeared out of nowhere and has been doing some boy scouting in his spare time. I believe his name is Neo. Ask him."

Subaru choked on his saliva, did the world want to mess with him this much?!

"Conceal your emotions." Subaru thought to himself

"Aqua, I need your mental boosters please."

"Yes Subaru" Aqua hastily replied

"Heya Neo was it?" Ricardo yelled

Subaru turned around face still covered with his black cloak

Neo spoke in a calm voice with a slightly raspy voice.

"What do you want?"

"Hay Umm Boy Scout, could you remove your cloak. It seems like nobody's seen your face and you might be the person we're looking for."

Subaru/Neo had prepared a false back story in case this ever happened

"I cannot and will not, I have sworn to my master that I shall not remove this mask in public for it represents both the countless hours I've spent with my master and my past." Subaru/Neo said Softly

Ricardo looked at Neo closely

"Mmm very well, but if you see that scary eyed looking fellow on that missing poster over there? Well, if you see the guy on it, please report it, there's a cash payout."

"Ahh such a generous offer. Well, if I see this Subaru Natsuki, I shall report him for the lovely compensation."

Subaru turned around and walked outside

Once he made it out and wasn't near the Guilds windows he ran

Towards the rental Halibel allowed him to stay in

Subaru got inside shut the door and laid down emotionless

He was conflicted on this development

Fate had given him a chance to return things to the way they once were

He would once again have what he lost

...

And that's why Subaru didn't want to do it

If he returned, what would he have learned

That its ok to be tortured as long as wrongdoers are sorry?!

NO

Subaru would grab fate by its face and shove it into the ground as he stood over it

" Subaru are you ok?"

"What's the wrong Subaru?"

"Hay... what's wrong?"

"Please tell Aeolus what's wrong."

"Subaru you can trust us with your feelings"

"Subaru, we care about you"

Subaru heading these words calmed down a little

He certainly had a story to tell tonight

A story of betrayal and heartbreak

A story of useless half-elves. Hardship. And a great spirit who was a complete disgrace.

Subaru fell asleep to nightmares

Sure, he had them ever since he escaped

But this one was different

He saw Halibel his beloved teacher standing next to Julius

Subaru then saw himself being dragged away as Halibel received money

Subaru then saw a dark outline of Beatrice and Emilia standing next to each other no he saw everyone he knew in a crowd, a stadium cheering

Everyone yelling

Shouting

Clapping

Taunting

Cheering for his execution

And when the sword swung down...

"NOOOOOO!"

Subaru awoke covered in sweat

"no"

His breathing was erratic

"no"

And he began to sob again

"no"

He didn't want to believe that the only person who helped him out would sell him off for money. And he didn't want to believe that the royal camps were just trying to lure him out by using his full name and past job

But maybe they could learn of his full name

And he had told them of his past relaxations with Emilia several times

Subaru curled up in a fettle position as he tried to ignore the growing pain in his head, as his very brain began to tremble

"No, no, no, no, no, no."

His thoughts were completely clouded, and he couldn't think straight

He could hardly breath

...

Then he felt some comfort

"Huh?"

Subaru watched as all his spirits manifested

Giving warmth and comfort to the boy

And Subaru could feel that they felt nothing but care and affection for him

"Everyone... thank you."

"Shhhhh," Aqua said

Subaru closed his eyes allowing his contracted spirits... no true friends to bring him such necessary comfort.

Subaru cried knowing that he truly had someone who he could trust 101%

Subaru fell asleep but for the first time in months

He was able to sleep without nightmares

It was truly a peaceful feeling

Subaru woke up early

Early enough to where the sun hadn't risen yet

Even with mana boosters, he felt stiff while his face still felt a little hot

Subaru had a feeling that if he looked in a mirror, he would have a tinge of red on his cheeks

Subaru then began to think

Subaru still thought about yesterday

He thought about his nightmare

But Subaru decided to at least give Halibel a chance

After all, he wanted to consider Halibel as his friend and Sensi

Is it not right to give him a chance? After all, if he acted without the proper information he would be no better the Julius or Felix or Beatrice

Subaru put on his cloak and stepped outside with an Appa in hand

He wouldn't stop getting stronger and he would follow Echidna's plan.

He knew he had to forget about his past relationships and focuses on himself for once

It's as Satella once said

"Love yourself."

And Subaru would

But only when the time was right

For now, Subaru had to train

...

Subaru arrived at Halibel's training ground

He swallowed his saliva hard

He wanted to run away that's what he did in the capital

But he wanted Halibel more than anyone else to be someone he could trust

Subaru entered the grounds

He saw the usual Halibel was smoking a mysterious plant-based roll.

Subaru walked over to Halibel

"What is wrong Subaru?" Halibel could see something major was bothering Subaru

"Halibel... have you seen it?"

"The naughty stash under your bed or the missing poster?"

Subaru's expression turned serious

"Firstly, there's no secret stash under my bed... I'm not dumb enough to buy that stuff in a medieval-styled world... but more importantly, since you've seen the poster what now?"

Halibel looked at Subaru a little betrayed

"Subaru, I may be an assassin, but I don't assassinate friendships I've made plus why would I waste the training we've done together over a few coins?"

"Ohhh thank you guess I was just overreacting haha." Subaru was relieved

"Subaru, I don't understand why you're so scared of being found but you can trust this old dog."

Tears began to build in Subaru's eyes

He liked being able to trust someone

"Now then"

Subaru caught a Kuni heading towards his stomach

"How about we begin training?"

Subaru smiled with a beaming smile

"Let's give it our all."

Emilia, Beatrice, Rem and Ram were searching around the capital

They wanted to find Subaru more than anything

Emilia checked in daily with the other camps in hope of any information, and it hurt her every time she got nothing in response. Her sins were starting to become almost unbearable as she could hardly sleep without her mind wandering to the hero she abandoned. Emilia tried to blame anyone or anything just to feel better resulting in her becoming more aggressive and unpredictable. The only thing holding her together was the hope that Subaru was alive and would return

Rem was only fairing a little better, while see had absolutely nothing to do with Subaru's imprisonment and torture, it broke her heart. Subaru was her hero, not everyone's hero. He was a man who did anything to help others and always tried his best even if he was at core a normal kid. Rem could only imagine how Subaru felt, being betrayed, and so hurt. Rem swore through and through that, she would help Subaru at any cost. And she went through the effort to find him. Every day she would search the capital in hopes of finding him, she had searched everywhere, including the slums and the areas homeless people resided. But she found nothing.

Ram wanted her sister to stop crying and get Subaru back...

And Beatrice, Beatrice was doing the worst by far. She had fallen into a Great Depression after realising that all of this was her fault. She couldn't even blame the Archbishop since Subaru tried everything; he could reason with her. But she only pushed him away and got him hurt, no she didn't hurt him she might as well put 10 Minya crystals in his back and laugh at him. Her contractor betrayed by his great spirit?! Beatrice's honour as a great spirit was gone and she accepted it. Beatrice wished for nothing more than to pull Subaru towards herself and hug him. She wanted him to say he forgave her. Beatrice would recall memories of Subaru in her dreams when they first met, then she slapped him of his mana when she acted like he didn't matter for most of their interactions. And yet he saved her, promised her a bright happy future, and yet... she failed to do anything remotely similar for him.

After another day it was another fail

They had searched everywhere

Rem even searched a slum section of the capital where homeless individuals reside, Rem searched everywhere. She never took breaks and hardly slept as she would spend most nights searching for her hero.

But nothing

Rem and Beatrice missed even the smell of Subaru, his smell while it had the witch's miasma, also had some of Subaru mixed in making it distinguishable

To them, the witch smell on Subaru wasn't that of the witch that consumed half the world, but his unique smell

They could recognise it from miles yet.

He wasn't close enough to find

Emilia called the group in for today to discuss their options

"Hello everyone," Emilia said with a depressed tone

"Hello, Emilia-sama what should we do to find Subaru now." Rem said Eagerly

"Well since we haven't found anything ourselves, I say we ask Anastasia if we may use her massive line of information. Maybe they have found something new in the last 10 hours."

"It's worth a shot I suppose," Beatrice Said in ruins

...

SLAM

Rem furiously slammed her hand into the table

"What do you mean a man who is a spirit arts expert, that just suddenly popped up in Banan right after Subaru escaped prison ?!" Rem yelled furiously

"W-Well you see Mr Neo isn't Subaru, he was even interrogated by some of Anastasia's best soldiers." Said the worker

Emilia had a cold icy glare

"Describe his appearance now," Emilia demanded

"W-well he's male that's for certain and he's covered in a black cloak, so nobody's seen his face or his identity. But it's not Subaru, you see when interviewed he said he had been training for years with his master and swore not to remove it ever..."

The girls starred at the man blankly

"Now, now it's not Subaru, Neo even said he would help find Subaru for the reward."

"... ARE YOU STUPID I SUPPOSE?!" Beatrice became enraged

"THAT IS OBVIOUSLY SUBARU HIDING UNDER A STUPID ALLIES AND A SINGLE LAYER OF CLOTH PRETENDING TO HELP FIND HIMSELF TO THROW YOU OFF I SUPPOSE!"

"Ok, ok jeez, tell you what since Julius is in the area, I'll request through Métia that he checks out Bannan new hero called Neo. He will certainly give accurate data."

The Emilia group walked out not believing the events that just unfolded in front of them

They swore to find Subaru and this Neo was probably their best bet so far

"Poor Subaru... he must be so scarred in and pain over at Bannan." Emilia tried to imagine how Subaru even got over there.

"Betty's Subaru needs help now I suppose! We cannot just wait around for Julius to find him!" Beatrice had tears in her eyes

Ram sighed "Beatrice-sama, it would take too long for us to get there, not on,y would Julius have arrived and secured Subaru by the time we get there, we mustn't forget the possibility that Neo isn't Subaru

Rem just wanted to see her hero again.

"Sister... do you think Subaru hates us?"

Ram didn't want to hurt her sister's feelings

"Of course, Subaru doesn't hate us, and if he does, I will beg for him to forgive us no matter what ok."

Ram hugged her sister to ease her in any way possible.

...

Emilia brought this information back to the Roswaal manor

"Howww interesting, a newww hero by the name of Neo has shown up in Bannan only days after Subaru escaped prison. This truly is interesting." Roswaal spoke the last part with a smile, not the usual smile but one of relief, there was no way Neo wasn't Subaru. Roswaal just hopped he could persuade Subaru to rejoin them.

"Yes, that's correct Roswaal. And with all that evidence together I think it's safe to assume that we should move out now to find Subaru just in case Julius failed to find him or even Neo."

Otto raised a hand

"Yes, Otto?" Emilia said

"Ummm look as much as I want to go find Subaru the man who literally saved my life, I think we should trust that our allies from the Anastasia camp, I mean they're sending their best knight to go look for Subaru. It would be an insult to go now."

Beatrice slouched in her chair

"He's right..."

"Beatrice-sama?" Emilia spoke shocked

"If our allies are willing to go through so much trouble to find Subaru then we should at least give them a chance. And if Julius finds Subaru and brings him back before we even arrive at Bannan, we wouldn't be here to greet Subaru."

Garfeil spoke up

"Oh yeah? And wat, if it turns out Neo, is Ma Awesome cap'n, but Julius fails to bring him back."

Federica turned a little disappointed in her young brother

"Garfeil, while Subaru is a capable fighter, if Julius tries to capture or detain him, there's no way for him to even outrun Julius... I know it's hard to hear but it's the truth." Federica spoke a little nervously seeing Garfeil's rage rise

"Shut ye trap, Ma Cap'n can beat the crap out of any knight any day of the bloody week. Don't ya dare speak negatively about him ever again" Garfeil spoke in an agitated tone

Emilia was in thought about what Garfeil said

"What Garfeil said has merit. We need a plan if Neo is Subaru, but Neo can't bring him back..." Emilia said

"Welllll I say if that event occurs we send in all our available allies to revive Subaru. After all, there's no price too high for one of the greatest HEROS of ourrr time." Roswaal spoke normally

Beatrice huffed

"I suppose it's a good plan... after all Betty Subaru obviously would be hard to find and bring back."