This is about Isekai MCs

27 August 423

A couple of months had gone by ever since what happened in Lupgana, and many things had happened after that event.

Starting from the fact that candidates to the Royal Elections started to appear surprisingly one close to the others in terms of chronological sequence. With Crusch being the first one to join the competition, soon it was the turn for Priscilla, Anastasia, and finally Emilia. Just like in Canon, none could find the last candidate since they were searching in the group made only by noblemen and ladies that were tied to the Royal Family.

The search was intense, but I had little interest over it as I decided to not involve myself too much in that maddening process. I already knew who to find and speak to, and I did so in the most careful way as to not garner the attention of any political rival I might have gained during my tenure as the Vice Prime Minister.

There was a noticeable group of people that wanted to sit in my comfy chair, most of them being morons at best, with the rest having little interest in Lugnica as a whole. It was flattering, but incredibly frustrating when I was invited to balls, and 'urged' to not mistreat any of the fools that were so keen to belittle any single issues regarding my clothing, my recent policies, and my family.

Sadly for the hopeful guys that expected me to be a docile individual, the knuckle-filled hamburger that I would rarely dispense to those that managed to press my berserk button seemed to dissuade most of them from being so direct or so fierce about certain topics.

With that in mind, I opted to try and find Felt through the simplest but also the riskiest method I could find after days of serious pondering. After changing my outfit to something more fitting to a merchant, while also adding a half-mask to hide my identity away from any wrongdoers, I began wandering alone through the slums. I didn't expect any easy success, and I decided to bring Majima for a 'little stroll around town'. The bored familiar seemed to pick up that I was planning something interesting for the day, and she seemed to accept growling and biting around the few poor souls that thought I was an easy target to gang up and mug with a happy smile.

It was impressive how the irritating mutt had grown accustomed to the life of a castle. 'Wild Lone Wolf' my butt, Majima was just happier to enjoy being spoiled by a couple of servants by pulling some convincing puppy-eyes. I wasn't even surprised when she started to whine about feeling 'fatter' than usual, and with this also came the pestering to be sent in some dangerous place to hunt around.

I had her take trips by the forests nearby the capital, but the familiar was quick to also grow bored of these hunting grounds. 'Little threats', or 'too easy' became answers I heard a lot from her whenever I offered her to go out the castle and get herself back to hunting demibeasts. So not only was she a sassy annoyance that was easy to control through some ear-scratching and good food, but I had to also find a way to appease her from going mad of being kept in the castle with no 'funny enemies to kill'.

I was confused when she said that, but I ruled it out as her trying to display how much murderous she was getting. So when I announced taking her for a walk, she almost started to pace like a giddy kid that was going to Disneyland.

Ignoring this very annoying addition to the stroll, I eventually caught on something really interesting. I panicked for a moment when I felt the small sack of money that I had brought for the occasion going missing from my satchel, turning left and right by the street to try and spot the one that had sneakily taken it. I looked up as I saw a golden and red blur, it was moving swiftly by the rooftops of the buildings up above.

I smiled, realizing that I had the opportunity to finally check Rom's bar. The walk was uneventful, and I arrived at my destination before Felt was done with her thieving session. The place was as rotting as the anime portrayed it, yet it was a far cry from the silent and dark place where Subaru faced death for the first time.

The brutish giant that was Rom greeted me with a grunt as I inquired about a glass of cold beer. I was given the beverage shortly after, and I started to slowly sip it after paying the full price for the bottle. The man didn't mind the silence, and he seemed fine when Majima took a seat by one of the many available stools in the room.

It wouldn't take long for Felt to finally arrive and bring the boon of her little criminal activity back to the hideout. She seemed to recognize me as I turned to grace her while the blonde made her way to the counter after greeting the old man. Pausing at my presence there, I could easily spot uneasiness at being caught like that.

Convincing her that I wasn't going to try to turn her up proved to be easier than I thought, mostly on the grounds that I promised that I was actually interested in her talent and knowledge of the slums for some merchant-related business. Confusion exploded at that offer, but the mention of the bag of money being her pay if she took me around and told me some more of the place that had been her home since she could remember.

But while that mirthful idea could have seemed as something done out of a whim, the truth was a little more complicated than that. Despite how long I had been working at the Royal Castle, one idea that I ended up delaying for a reason or another was the 'Capital Revival Project'. Taking note from modern efforts to modernize cities back from the world I had left, my plan was to try and bring up the heart of this kingdom to a decent level of modernization and hygiene. The slums had to go, but not without being replaced by something appealing and fair for those that lived in these harsh conditions.

Fixing some old buildings and turning them in popular houses, with newer and more efficient services was a priority. Then it was the turn of creating jobs for those that had gone for criminal ways to survive each day. It was tougher than it seemed, but the manpower and the funds to do so were already available to me.

I didn't even need to ask anything to either Miklotov or Fourier, mostly because I really had enough to go through the project. The real issue was actually… studying the entire situation on cases. There were numerous streets that were abandoned to a state of decadence that was infuriating. Beggars, people that slept on the sidewalk, homeless people trying to steal from unlucky civilians passing by. This city really needed this, but I had to get someone to guide me around and show me the truth about the untold people here in the capital before going through any serious planning.

Which is why, when I asked Felt to guide me around and tell me about the places we were checking, I took note of some of her comments. While a couple were exaggerated, some were actually legitimate concerns like the polluted water, the lack of proper sewers in this section of the capital, and the unstable ground some of the houses were built on.

I was careful enough to not show that my interest was beyond mere settling here in the city, and I was sure I did so as I returned her back to Rom without her suspecting a single thing of what I had planned to do.

Three weeks later, the first few steps of the project were laid down. Soldiers were dispatched to protect workers as entire houses were restructured with new foundations, mages were called to purify some sections of the lake that encompassed the rightmost section of the capital while also setting up charms meant to keep the water pure even with any new polluting elements entering it, and finally the creation of multiple modest-sized sewer systems meant to work together with the main one in the upper sections of the city.

While Felt was surprised but still unsuspecting of my connection to this unexpected development, I was keen to predict her guardian to pick things up. Rom stared at me intensely when I visited for the second time. I looked back at him, while Felt quietly checked over some of the stuff she had managed to get in her latest theft.

"Who are you?" The bartender asked, making me sigh and drawing the blonde's attention back to us.

The resulting conversation could have been planned better, now that I think about it. Way better. At least I would have avoided getting shouted at by a pissed young girl that seemed to turn me in the pure embodiment of what she hated the most. The government responsible for so much of the shit the teen had to live through during her childhood.

I allowed her to be angry at me for a while. Just enough to dignify the fact I had lied about my identity and because I kind of used her guide tour to learn about the pressing problems I could fix early on. I needed her to let out enough steam so I could jump in with a simple question.

"What if you are wrong about me? What if I'm not the monster you believe me being?"

Floored, confused, slightly betrayed, but totally annoyed, Felt took a moment to digest the words I had spilled, but before she could make a response I was already speaking again. I explained that I didn't plan to follow the status quo, that I mean it when I said that I was trying to bring happiness to everyone, no matter their social classes or upbringings.

While the speech was spot on, I knew that the audience was a tough one. So I wasn't that mad when I was forcefully ejected onto the street in front of the bar. Rom didn't say anything, merely giving me an annoyed look before going back to the counter. Felt's red-eyed stare lingered a little longer, but I could tell my words were doing their fine job in sowing the seed of doubt in her mind. Because, while words were nice, mine were backed by the fact I had done first, and spoke up about it next. This tended to mean something to someone that believed in acts more than promises.

Two days after getting kicked out of that bar, I was finally allowed back in and… I swiftly started to crack at the girl's tough irritation towards me. Insult was met with moderate appeasement. Taking note from the origin of Majima's name, I decided to take note into becoming the most resilient man when it came about discussions. I needed to pull a chill attitude that was still cordial, kind, and understanding.

Another week passed, and I managed to get Felt to speak to me on a modest pattern. She still insulted me a fair lot, but it wasn't as intense as it was a while ago. In fact, I could tell some of her insults had lost potency and meaning when it came to me. 'Bastard' outright vanished from her vocabulary when it came to speak to me, but she still maintained 'jerk', 'prick', and 'dumbass' as the only ways to address me in any conversation. It wasn't much, but I still got some serious progress down to make things important later on.

Convincing Rom was actually easier than how it was for his ward. The man wasn't one that got that much pissed at that kind of stuff. I could tell it had to do with the fact that Rom was just a nickname since he couldn't use his real name anymore. Valga Cromwell 'died' a long time ago, the powerful man now replaced by an impassive bartender that cared for Felt the most compared to any clients and his own bar.

With Felt's loyalty mostly secured, my next worries were keeping on preparing Fourier for the big day when the girl was going to be revealed, and the chances of him doing something sudden and stupid at the news that she could be a member of the Royal Family. It was never mentioned a clear parentage, but I could remember Ford Lugnica being mentioned as her possible father.

This should have been just enough to get the prince to act foolishly and assume that the girl would accept any interest of his to reunite their family with open arms. She would probably kick him between his legs and steal anything expensive he might have on himself at that time. The scene was partly hilarious, with my uneasiness overwhelming the mental picture since I imagined the pain Fourier would have been put into if this ever happened, and the unpleasant phantom pain I would feel in seeing the damage being dealt to him.

Things were going smoothly for us all when I eventually found myself… nervous. With August coming to an end, I expected things to get unnerving about the Witch Cult. The group had been getting quite active in the last two months, and I was confused by such an intensification of activities that were found and dealt with thanks to the quick intervention of the Royal Knights.

One thing remained through these victories, and it was a sensation that Pandora had created a new plan to try and handle me. She had plenty of time to come up with something, and I prepared for the worst, building contingencies over contingencies.

But there was still one thing I hadn't predicted as I finished changing myself to my sleepwear. As I made my way to bed, I felt my entire body tense up as a sharp pain exploded through my chest. With my eyes going wide, my hands reached for my upper torso as I tried to breathe, only for me to throw up blood and collapse in the puddle of red I had created.

I was shaking, my mind growing numb as I felt everything grow dark and cold.

I closed my eyes, shaken by the horrible death, and then… I woke up. At first I thought it a nightmare, that it was just a cruel ploy of my mind to surprise me and… it wasn't. I had to double check a strange detail about the morning, noticing that it wasn't August 28th.

The day… somehow it was resetted to the early morning.

After dressing up and delaying most of my schedule to tomorrow so I could have a full morning to use for the occasion, I swiftly took out the only way I got to contact the one I knew was behind this little predicament I learned the worst way possible.

"So, I thought we had both agreed that trying to summon anyone similar to Flugel was quite silly, didn't we, Satella?"

The young woman huffed through the mirror. "We did, but… it wasn't me."

"I know. You already said it was the other part of your personality, but I strictly remember you mentioning a long time ago how these powerful spells couldn't happen if you weren't somehow still interested in that idea."

"A-and?"

"And I want to know why you just decided to keep that to yourself," I flatly answered. "I understand that you are really fixed about Flugel and anything about him, but I expected a good enough warning before my heart exploded and got taken back to earlier today."

…

"W-What?"

"I said-"

"No, I… I understood what you said. You… you died. That's how you learned that he was back and… I think I will go," The witch said, her face growing redder in frustration as she took a moment to glare on the side. The communication was suddenly cut short as I felt that things weren't going to be that calm on that front for a while.

I was so close to facepalm at that conclusion, but I decided to instead put the mirror back in my satchel and go through the plans I had over this situation. Subaru was here, the guy has already died once and… I was somehow tied to Return by Death.

This last detail was pretty much bad news. He died, and I died too so I would end up dealing with his annoying loops myself. From Satella's reaction, I was quite sure she hadn't planned for me to be tied this closely to the deadly Authority, but the more I thought about it, the more I realized that if it wasn't her doing, then it was the Witch of Envy's hand. But why would the shadow-like figure think of this as a good idea?

I was incredibly annoyed by how pointless this entire situation was. I couldn't just grasp at the fact Subaru had still been summoned despite my best efforts to prevent that from happening. The moment he was around, he became an element that could either go dark, or go insane. Or both.

The chances of my actions having left the stage for Barusu to become the villain of these stories were pretty high as they were in that moment, which is why I bolted out of the castle with only Majima in tow, and started to make plans to prevent the cause of the young Japanese man's death. I needed to find Rom and Felt, and then hope that I can stage something with their help.

Much to my relief, I managed to arrive at the warehouse just in time to at least alert Rom. The bartender was confused by my words, but he picked up quickly that something bad was coming in our general directions. He listened, nodding at least twice as I presented him to the plan and what he needed to do if my plans failed.

I was dealing with Elsa, and while the woman could be a good conversationalist, she was still an Assassin tied to an Archbishop. I needed to get the proper ultimatum out of myself, adding all elements I knew about her and highlighting the ones she couldn't exactly say no to, no matter how important 'Mama' said this mission was to be completed.

I waited and waited… eventually Subaru arrived and I had to take a moment to fully look at him. The guy had a haunted look as he entered the place, and I knew that it was the panic coming from his traumatic first death. Looking around, eventually he moved closer to the counter and started to talk with Rom. The giant hummed quietly and offered curt responses as we all waited for Felt to make it back to the warehouse.

"Old man, I'm back!" The girl greeted loudly, catching our attention to her. Her red eyes calmly turned in my direction, just now noticing that I was there too. "Oh. Hi John."

I nodded. "Felt. I believe there is someone here that wishes to buy something

"I-I'm actually trying to get it back, not buy it!" Subaru foolishly put a foot in his mouth by saying that, and the blonde's eyes narrowed at the NEET for saying that.

"I didn't take anything. I just found it and that became mine."

"Y-You stole it from-"

"Nobody. And I'm entitled to take something that is on the ground and consider it mine. Beggars ain't choosers."

Subaru's eyes narrowed his eyes to the young girl, and I could tell things could go one or two ways. I knew he was eventually going to come up with the idea I had slammed on his face already, but I decided to make things even easier for him and help him up with this matter.

"Why not consider an exchange?"

The NEET looked my way once more. "What?"

"You have objects, and… I can tell from your clothes that you are not from around. Since you are so reluctant in trying to buy it through money, how about offering enough to outbid the one behind this theft?"

…

"W-What?"

"This object was sought by a client," Rom explained quietly. "She offered a Holy Coin as payment for the commission."

"A-And that is?" The Japanese young man asked, clueless about the currency.

"A lot," I bluntly answered. "Which is why I believe you should start by checking how much your most expensive thing is worth."

"W-Why are you-"

"Helping you?" Felt interrupted, snorting at his reaction. "You are mumbling like an idiot. it's annoying and I want to know if you really want this or not."

"O-Of course," He muttered in half-agreement. "I guess I can give it a shot."

Just like in canon, he pulled out the stuff in his bags, getting low estimations out of those, before he finally took out his phone and got a good enough offer from Rom as the man was impressed by the way the device seemed to work.

The negotiations seemed to come to an end… until the door opened again, revealing that Elsa had decided to come by. The assassin spared brief glances at the occupants of the room, only for her eyes to stop right at me. Her smile, previously fake, seemed to gain some fascination over my presence here.

"To think I would find you here of all places, Lord Bukharin."

"I'm a weird individual. Still, it's been a long time, Elsa,"

As Elsa sat down, I moved out of my chair and picked Majima off her stool. The familiar was already awake, and the moment I decided to take a seat right in front of the assassin, the pup started to waggle her tail in eagerness.

"Majima is happy to see you too," I pointed out happily. "You see, she has been feeling bored and she tends to get excited when a possible strong opponent enters her line of sight."

Elsa stared at the pup, the pup was smiling eye-to-eye as the standoff didn't last beyond two minutes and the assassin sighed dryly at my intimidating efforts.

"I guess I'm not really welcomed here," The young woman lamented and I scoffed.

"Nonsense, Elsa. I'm sorry that I seem so… protective all so suddenly, but, you see, I don't like it when you might have a contract about something unfolding in this place I'm so fond of," I pointed out. "But there is no need for you to leave."

"'Mama' was rather insistent that I got that insignia."

"A tragedy then. I can't do otherwise considering the law of the land, Elsa," I rebuked. "But I don't understand why she would want one. She isn't up to the criteria requested by this election."

"The reasons are unknown to me. I'm not someone that can exactly ask her the truth without expecting death," The woman explained.

"Hmm~ then I guess you can offer her this letter as compensation."

"A letter?"

"She might be an ambitious thing, but I know for the fact that 'Mama' isn't someone that would shy away from humble gifts that have genuineness from the sender themselves," I explained calmly. "She will accept it."

"And how do I know I will not lose my head by trusting you?"

"Well, I could send another letter. This one to someone that could actually make some trouble to your organization,"

"He has been… punished. He still rules, but the Spirit is rather cross when it comes to what happened a few months ago."

I nodded, glad that the reason why Ivan had gone quiet wasn't because he was plotting something bigger than last time. I was certain Elsa was telling the truth, and yet I still was uncertain of how long it will take for the guy to make a return.

"I guess we are done here, it's been… interesting to find you again."

"Likewise, Lord Bukharin. I look forward to an… extended reunion in the near future."

The conversation ended there, with the assassin leaving to go back to Gusteko and give the letter to her leader. With the woman leaving, I decided to stick around for some more, now my focus being Subaru. So when I saw the NEET walk outside and was planning to leave, I pulled the guy to the side so we could share a private conversation. One that he really needed if he wanted to skip a couple of avoidable deaths along the run.

"W-What?"

"This world is crazy, Natsuki Subaru. You might think this is like Harry Potter, or Lord of the Rings, but this is more Berserk than any of that positive fantasy."

He flinched as I made that correlation, then he realized that I was throwing out plenty of hints that I was actually-

"Y-You are from my world? Like you actually are-"

"Two years. I learned that there is a third guy that came here decades ago," I interrupted, pressing on the fact that we had a limited amount of time to get things running smoothly. He still had to return the insignia to the fair maiden that was stolen from. "You better keep your head down. People might sound friendly, but there are a couple of spymasters that would exploit your presence here in this world."

…

"Y-You mean you are not going to help me now?!"

"Not directly," I answered. "As much as that feels like the best option, we both know that would only give you an unwanted popularity. People already want me dead, and I believe you're not up to handling that kind of threat." Yet.

"So you don't want me to be put in harm's way by… asking you to help?" He inquired again, and I found myself sighing at his out-of-the-loop personality in that precise moment.

He wanted to ask more, but I had him leave at once to avoid hurting the 'poor heart of the lovely maiden' he was helping. With him gone, I prepared a new mind list about him, preparing for the unpleasant amount of loops I was going to perceive as I handled these matters from the distance.

The indirect way was the best to avoid getting entangled in the whole Petelguese's situation without having a counter prepared to murder him. Maybe Satella could help on that, but I really hope she was going to be ready to help me with how things had gone earlier that morning.

With Subaru rushing to try and find where Emilia was, I returned back to the warehouse and spent some hours explaining how I met someone like Elsa when I was just a 'puny politician' to Felt. It was fun doing that without bringing up the one cause that led me to meet her and vice versa.

Truly an interesting day to begin doubting some relationships I thought were really stable until that point…

AN

Barusu strikes! Still, for some reason the Witch of Envy decided to change some bits of the situation and make sure that RbD is tied to John too. But why?! And how will things go now that 'canon' has begun?

Next episode!

…

And now a mini Omake!

Omake 15: The Letter to Capella

In the deepest corner of Gusteko, a certain Assassin boss was trying to silently read and study the content of the letter John Bukharin had Elsa give her once she was back home.

Part of the Archbishop wanted to punish severely the foolish minion failing to get through

She stared at the first image and… her jaws dropped.

It was a man with blond hair, his torso revealed to her as he was taking a pose that highlighted the curious star-shaped element between his left shoulder and neck.

Another image. This one was of three men that were wearing clothes as skimpy as hers. They looked so ripped, so precisely made through flesh and bone. Her face turned red, while blood started to trail down her left nostril.

Why are they so hot?!

Despite her reluctance before this topic, the woman couldn't help but read even more. It was the first time in centuries that Capella failed to look away from such a bountiful sight. It almost was inhuman because of how unholy it all felt to study. The paper complimented the pictures with brief descriptions of these curious characters and… she was digging more and more.

W-Wait, this picture is actually moving?

It was showing a short girl with silver hair and some blue elements on her locks. She was wearing a shark-themed outfit and it looked incredibly… lovely. The girl then gave a look around and then… opened her mouth widely. Capella expected a lengthy and passionate speech out of this, and yet she was regaled with just a noise.

"A."

A single vocal. It was enough for the woman to feel her brain burn before the actually called for a defeat. Never in her entire life, she had faced such a powerful predator.

Meanwhile, Meili stared at the scene in a mix of confusion, shock, and awe, unsure how to react at the slow defeat her boss was going through.