11 Emilia

"Okay. Now get up, you're embarrassing me," Mordred said.

Reinhard gently smiled and got up from the ground.

The two of them then resumed walking, yet this time in silence, each having their own thoughts.

Mordred silently thought, 'No matter the reason, I have Return by Death, not Subaru. Today, in this 'loop', Old Man Rom died, which makes Felt hate Elsa. Subaru died, which would make Emilia hate Elsa and perhaps dislike Felt. In the future I would like to recruit Elsa along with Meili as my subordinates, otherwise Meili would hate me if I kill Elsa, and I would also try to recruit Felt before she forms her own faction, as this girl should have no desire or backing to compete. This would create a lot of problems, but the current development is already great.'

Knowing that Subaru doesn't have Return By Death, Mordred could now loop in order to meet with Emilia instead of Subaru, and prevent Old Man Rom's death, but he decided against it - this way he would likely never make such great and genuine relations with Reinhard. Everything that's most important basically went well; Reinhard swore to support him, Emilia survived and her insignia was also gotten, so that was all good.

Most importantly - this time Subaru died for good, so Mordred really wanted to go past this save point and not entertain the low chance that after killing himself he might suddenly lose Return by Death to Subaru.

At one moment Mordred noticed that Emilia's eyelashes were trembling as she seemed to be waking up.

With a soft groan, Emilia opened her eyes, saying in a panic, "Subaru?"

Emilia's expression turned dumbfounded as she noticed the face of a young man with blonde hair very close to hers, looking down at her curiously with his light-green eyes. She then suddenly realized that she was being held in that person's arms, blinking her large lavender eyes a few times.

"Who are you?" Emilia asked puzzledly with an innocent expression.

Mordred faintly smiled, silently bent down and carefully put down Emilia on the ground.

"Thank you," Emilia softly said as she gradually regained her footing with Mordred's assistance.

"You asked who I am. My name is Mordred. It's nice to meet you, Emilia," Mordred said, looking at Emilia.

Emilia couldn't help but be taken aback, looking at Mordred in surprise. She was surprised seeing Mordred's gentle look and hearing him, a stranger, call her 'Emilia' so closely with no malice or prejudice.

"Mordred? Are you the Mordred that Subaru mentioned?" Emilia asked, looking straight into Mordred's eyes.

"Subaru mentioned me?" Mordred asked, raising his eyebrows. "Then it must have been me."

Emilia then looked at her stomach, only to see a gush in her clothes and exposed midsection, but the flesh underneath had no wound at all. She seemed perfectly fine as if she never got injured; in fact, she felt full of energy.

"Reinhard-san," Emilia said when she noticed Reinhard holding Felt. "It must be the girl that stole my insignia! What happened? Where is Subaru?"

Reinhard said, "Emilia-sama, you and that person Subaru were attacked by the Bowel Hunter Elsa Granhiert."

"The Bowel Hunter," Emilia softly parroted as she recalled the rumors about the infamous murderer and assassin Bowel Hunter.

"Yes. If not for Mordred-sama's timely appearance, I'm afraid you would have already bled out to death, Emilia-sama," Reinhard said honestly.

"What about Subaru?" Emilia asked instead, full of worry.

Thinking back to what had just happened, Emilia couldn't help but think in panic and worry about Subaru - the first and only person ever that truly didn't care at all about her being a half-elf or being related to Satella. This strange boy was her first friend that treated her like a normal person. However, he had no strength to protect himself.

"First of all we should be grateful that you made it out alive, Emilia-sama. Bowel Hunter rarely leaves survivors. As for Subaru... he was already dead when we got there," Reinhard answered with a heavy tone.

A person dying in this world isn't anything strange. Reinhard was accustomed to death and had also killed people, so a complete stranger dying didn't affect him much, him - someone raised as a human weapon; however, it would still be a sensitive topic to Emilia who seemed to be close to this person Subaru, but it was something that needed to be mentioned anyway. He decided to take this burden.

"Subaru is dead?" Emilia murmured in disbelief as her eyes opened wide. Her expression then darkened, filled with regret and shame, and her eyes filled with tears. She murmured, "It's because of me, Subaru died because of me. I shouldn't have let him come with me."

"How is it because of you?" Mordred asked, feeling somewhat indignant. He opened his mouth and was about to speak up and continue, but he shut up, realizing that he shouldn't know anything about what happened between Subaru and Emilia today.

"Emilia-sama, I don't know what relation you have with Subaru, but it's already a miracle that you're alive. You shouldn't blame yourself for his death. I believe that you did everything in your power to prevent it," Reinhard consoled.

Emilia, however, didn't seem comforted at all; she only continued staring at the ground with a downcast expression and tears in her eyes. No matter what Reinhard said, she knew well from the beginning that Subaru had no strength, yet she still allowed him to accompany him purely because she wanted company. And even though Subaru only held her back, she still decided to put trust in him in the end. In her mind, it was all her fault.

After a long moment of silence, Mordred said, "Emilia, knowing Subaru he probably followed you around by his own decision and stuck to you like glue. He had no strength at all, but he still blindly rushed into the unknown. He walked into his own death. It was a tragedy, but it isn't your fault."

Emilia looked absentmindedly at Mordred with her large tear-filled eyes.

Mordred gently smiled and said, "You shouldn't blame yourself for it, Emilia. It just happened."

Although crushed by guilt, Emilia was taken aback again by Mordred's unguarded sincerity. Recalling, she sniffed and asked, "Mordred-san, you are the one who saved me?"

"That's how it went," Mordred nodded. "I was supposed to meet with Subaru at night and I eventually ended up in this place."

Seeing that Mordred didn't continue, Reinhard said, "Mordred-sama chased away the Bowel Hunter and then healed your wounds, Emilia-sama. You seemed to have some kind of life-preserving treasure, but without Mordred's special method you would have still died from blood loss."

Mordred gently smiled. It would be way too embarrassing to brag about all this himself, so he felt glad that Reinhard was there. It isn't that he wasn't able to act shamelessly, but it would just be in bad taste; recalling the anime, only Subaru could do it and be proud of it.

"Thank you, Mordred-sama. Thank you for saving my life," Emilia solemnly said with a grateful expression, her large lavender eyes full of sincerity as she bowed down her head in front of Morder. Because Mordred was her benefactor, Emilia instinctively called him- sama just like Reinhard.

"You're welcome," Mordred said, smiling gently. "And no need to call me -sama, just Mordred is fine, Emilia."

Emilia appeared a little absentminded again by being called Emilia so casually and warmly.

"Anyway, I think this is yours," Mordred said as he pulled out an item from his pocket and presented it to Emilia on his palm.

"My insignia." Emilia's eyes flashed - without this insignia her dreams would be over, yet it was also the cause of everything that happened. Her expression was complicated, but then she opened her eyes wide in surprise when she noticed that the insignia was actually glowing on top of Mordred's palm.

Emilia looked at Mordred in surprise.

"That's right, Emilia-sama," Reinhard said with a light smile. "Mordred-sama is one of the candidates for the Royal Selection. He was discovered just today."

After she received the insignia from Mordred, Emilia brushed off her tears, put on a serious look and, bowing her head, said, "Thank you for reclaiming my Insignia, Mordred-san."

"Sure, no problem. And we are both royal candidates now, so no need for honorifics, Emilia," Mordred said.

"Mm." Emilia nodded. "Thank you, Mordred, I owe you so much and you're also being very polite. I will surely repay your kindness."

No matter what her situation was, Emilia felt that she had to repay her debts; and especially one as heavy as saving her life. Thinking about it, she then asked, "Is there maybe something you wish for?"

Mordred looked at Emilia for a while, before saying, "Well, I just got to Lugnica today with teleportation magic, so I don't really have a place to stay…"

Reinhard stared at Mordred speechlessly.

"So you are like Subaru?" Emilia asken and her eyes then dimming as she recalled Subaru again. She then said, "Alright then, you can stay at my place for now."

"Mordred-sama, I'm afraid that we must complete your official registration in the capital first," Reinhard interjected, sending Mordred a stern look.

"Haha. Yeah, I thought so," Mordred laughed awkwardly. He then looked at Emilia, saying, "Anyway, I'm just glad you're safe, Emilia. I hope we'll meet later."

Emillia looked at Mordred for a while with her large eyes, before she gently nodded her head courteously. "Thank you, Mordred. I will repay you for your help."

"I believe you," Mordred said, smiling lightly. He then asked, "Can you walk by yourself now?"

"Yes, I feel fine," Emilia answered, nodding. After glancing at her stomach, she asked Mordred curiously, "Morded, are you proficient in healing arts?"

Mordred shook his head. "No. It's just that I have a faint dragon bloodline, so my blood has healing properties. I used my blood to help you replenish yours and also to heal your wound."

Emilia's innocent face appeared astonished again; she was surprised for a few reasons. She bowed again, saying solemnly, "Thank you, Mordred."

Mordred smiled. "No problem!"

As silence descended, Emilia's expression darkened again and her eyes drooped. She began walking absentmindedly along with the others and didn't speak anymore.

After some time, Mordred suddenly placed a hand on Emilia's shoulder as he stopped walking. When Emilia looked at him innocently, he said, "Emilia, people cannot come back to life after dying. It is normal to grieve the loss of a friend, but excessive grieving won't achieve anything and will only make you feel terrible. At the very least, please don't blame yourself for Subaru's death. It was simply bad luck that he died."

After a while, Mordred sighed and continued, "For the sake of the deceased and those who are still alive, and for your own sake, you have to live even better from now on and cherish life. You can treat this terrible experience as a lesson."

Mordred clearly saw that Subaru's death greatly affected Emilia. Secretly he hoped that perhaps this experience will cause her to be more mature than she was in the anime; it would make his life easier.

Emilia stared into Mordred's light green eyes for a long time, standing insensitively close to him. Emilia's visage was innocently sad and absentminded, while Mordred appeared concerned and somewhat embarrassed.

Meanwhile Reinhard also paused his steps and stood at the side silently with a solemn expression.

Seeing Emilia right now, Mordred couldn't help but want to take care of her and console her. He rubbed his nose, thinking, 'Am I actually falling for Emilia? Is this an Emillia curse or something?'

After a moment, Mordred's gaze firmed and he said, "Anyway, I don't want you to blame yourself for what happened, Emilia."

If anyone was to be blamed then it should be Roswaal for plotting against them and sending the assassin, or Mordred for not saving Subaru.

Turning to the front and resuming to walk, Mordred shrugged his shoulders and continued, "Blaming yourself for causing Subaru's death is silly. I guess you can only blame yourself for being too weak to prevent it, but then just blaming yourself or grieving won't solve the issue or achieve anything, right?"

Mordred didn't speak anymore as he continued walking.

After Emilia finally caught up to Mordred, she had a strong feeling slowly arising in her heart: she really didn't want to lose anyone close to her ever again, be it Puck or anyone.

Reinhard faintly smiled at the side, thinking to himself, 'Mordred-sama is so kind-hearted and considerate, yet he's still strong-minded. He shows such concern for two people that he just met, but at the same time he had already accepted the reality of Subaru's death. He would be a great king!'

Meanwhile Mordred thought, 'After Emilia experienced such an event, she might be less annoying to deal with, so that's good. Now I hope that I can quickly deal with the stuff in the capital and visit Roswaal's mansion soon to hook up with Rem…'

Just as Mordred was thinking about Rem, he felt a signal of protest coming from his stomach. He then quickened up his footsteps, calling out, "Well, let's pick up the pace! I'm so hungry right now that I feel like I could eat half a cow!"

Mordred already felt hungry after sparring with Reinhard earlier in the day, but he simply had no time to eat. And now after more time passed, he fought Elsa and even lost so much blood? The hunger was now occupying the forefront of his mind.