Mark woke up as the morning sunlight streamed through the broken window on the side of his bedroom. He quickly realized he wasn't the only one lying there. He saw many injured people in hospital beds. As he woke up more, he felt someone watching him, though he didn't feel any shivers of danger or need to worry.
Subaru sat down next to him, along with Beatrice, who was sitting on his lap. They both looked at the young Viltrumite seriously. At that moment, Mark didn't look like someone who had defeated Reinhard van Astrea, who was supposedly the strongest knight in the kingdom. Beatrice looked at him carefully, unsure how someone she hadn't sensed any divine protection from until now had defeated the Sword Saint.
"Is everything okay, Mark?" The black-haired man asked, watching carefully as Mark got out of bed.
"I've been through worse." He replied looking around at all the wounded in the beds. Some were just bruised, but some were missing arms and legs. "How long was I unconscious?" He asked turning to Subaru.
"Six days. Meanwhile, everyone who wasn't injured was busy cleaning up after the-" At that moment, Subaru stopped, looking worriedly at Mark.
"They're cleaning up after my fight with Reinhard, right?"
"Yes."
"How many?"
"The casualties are still being counted." Beatrice replied quickly before Subaru could. "As for the city, to put it briefly... it's in ruins."
"And you are...?"
"My name is Beatrice, I am a great yin spirit, and you are the man who defeated the Sword Saint."
"By the way, what happened to Reinhard?" he asked, remembering that he had beaten him up pretty badly.
"He's already recovered," Subaru said with a sigh. "Emilia and Beako healed his weakest wounds, but thanks to their divine protections he was able to get out of bed the next day without a problem, and his arms grew back. I swear he's a monster, not a human."
Mark breathed a sigh of relief. He was glad he hadn't led Reinhard to his death.
He saw that he was covered in bandages. He ripped them off immediately. He was still injured, but they were quite shallow. He noticed that there were clothes next to his bed. He quickly put on a white shirt and black pants.
They went outside. Beatrice wasn't lying. The city was in total disarray. Not that Mark hadn't known that before. He remembered the fight with Reinhard very well.
Along the way they saw knights helping civilians clear the rubble of houses, finding dead bodies of people who hadn't taken shelter here and there. Mark was hurt by the thought of how many people he had killed during the fight. He was overcome with guilt and a look of pain on his face, which Subaru and Beatrice noticed.
"Don't blame yourself, you did everything you could."
"I know. It's not my fault this happened, but it still hurts like hell."
Subaru knew how Mark felt. He himself had briefly considered using death return after Mark and Reinhard's fight, but had given up on the idea. He doubted he could find a better way to avoid this fight, and besides, he would probably reset himself shortly after the fight and just die in vain.
"Mark, listen, you don't even know how much I understand you now. But if it weren't for you, I doubt anyone else would have been able to stop that squid that took control of Reinhard. You may feel sorry for the losses we've suffered, and that's perfectly reasonable. I feel the same way. But you can ignore the fact that by winning, you've saved many people... I have to admit, I had my doubts about you when I met you, but you've completely dispelled those doubts. You could have died in that fight, but you didn't run away. That really makes you..."
INVINCIBLE
"...Thanks Subaru. I appreciate that. After my recent experiences, I think this is exactly what I needed to hear."
"Sure. No problem."
"Hey! Hey!" A young girl's voice caught Mark's attention, pulling him away from his conversation with Subaru. "You're the guy who defeated Rein, right?!" A girl with short blonde hair and red eyes shouted as she ran up to Mark, Subaru, and Beatrice.
"Rein? You mean Reinhard?"
"Who could I be thinking of?!"
"Mark, let me introduce you to Felt. Reinhard is her knight in the royal election."
"So here's the problem... Listen, I'm sorry about..."
"Don't even joke! That was amazing!"
"What?" Mark raised his eyebrows in confusion.
"This is the first time I've seen Rein like this. I never thought I'd see him so battered."
Mark was speechless. Was this Felt woman happy that he beat her knight? He didn't expect that.
"Rein?"
"Who is Rein?"
"Does she mean the Sword Saint?"
"Really?! This young man defeated him?!"
"She has black hair, maybe he's from Volachi."
The knights, civilians began to stare at Mark, muttering among themselves. Mark felt uncomfortable with the attention he was attracting.
"Felt, why are you here? I thought you, Emilia, and the other candidates were talking to Markus about what happened." Subaru said, trying to ignore the people whispering about Markus.
"Since all the knights and servants are busy cleaning up this mess, I volunteered to bring you here, big bro."
"Me? What do you need me for?"
"You were the one who spoke to the people during that shitty witch cult crisis, so the candidates wanted to discuss the situation with you..." At that moment she glanced at Mark. "They want to discuss the situation with Invincible. But since he's already awake, you can go together."
...
Meanwhile at the town hall, or more specifically in the conference room.
"THIS IS ABSURD, REINHARD!!!" shouted Bordeaux Zellgef angrily, one of the elders who ruled Lugnica after the death of the royal family. He was the one with the big eyebrows. "You mean that some squid took control of you and did all this destruction with your body?!"
In response, the Sword Saint bowed his head even lower as he kneeled.
"Ha! Great job, Sword Saint. One could have guessed that you came to Prestella just to ruin people's lives." Heinkel Astrea spoke with satisfaction, looking at his depressed son, who couldn't deny his words. "You might as well use your dragon sword and let everyone see what a monster you are."
"...Sorry." Reinhard apologized with frustration in his voice.
"Deputy Commander, I would appreciate it if you would refrain from such childish behavior." Anastasia said, looking at Heinkel without any emotion. "I understand that in light of what the sword saint did six days ago, it may be enough of an excuse to treat him like this now, but I would prefer that we move this aside... After all, this is not what we wanted to talk about today, is it."
"You mean that puppy that defeated my useless son in a fight. In my opinion we should deal with him as well since he survived a direct fight with that monster he might as well be a threat too." Heinkel banged his fist on the table not impressing anyone.
"The fact is that this Mark Grayson defeated the Holy Sword with pure force, leading to the deaths of many citizens. He should answer to our council of sages along with Reinhard. Then we will decide the punishment for both of them." Bordeaux said, annoyed that he had to come so far away from the royal capital.
"Mr. Bordeaux, you must be joking, right?" Emilia spoke up, feeling the great injustice that the elder was giving to Marek and Reinhard. "Reinhard didn't deserve such treatment, it was that squid that forced him to do all those bad things, and what do you want to punish Marek for anyway? He saved us."
"And what of the half-devil?" asked the irritated elder, looking at Emilie with contempt.
"That's because the Invincible is the hero of this city." Emilia replied, not letting herself be frightened by Bordeaux's evil gaze. "He saved my knight, fought the Archbishop of Lust, killed the Archbishop of Gluttony by accident, and of course saved the Sword Saint. All of this in one night deserves more of a reward than a punishment."
"I have to agree with the half-elf." Priscilla said amusedly, fanning herself with her fan.
"Barielle's candidate?" Bordeaux looked confused at Priscilla's sudden siding with Emilia.
"The Invincible is someone who defeated the holy sword and saved us. Do you really think you can catch him and punish him without bloodshed?"
The elder gritted his teeth, which brought an even bigger mocking smile to Priscilla's lips.
"Please don't get upset, senior." The young man sitting next to Anastasia tried to ease the atmosphere.
"Shut up Kiritaka! If you don't have something important to say then shut up!"
Kiritaka Muse, the last living councilor in Pristella sighed, missing his Liliana. He didn't want to be here to listen to the complaints of an old man who was acting smart even though he didn't see what had happened here, he only saw the consequences.
The conversation continued for another ten minutes without making even an inch of progress. Bordeaux wanted to lock Mark up in a dungeon without any reason, and the three current candidates for queen argued with him.
Until such time as...
"SERIOUSLY?! So it's true what they said, you really can fly!"
Bordeaux nervously went to the window to find out who was making such a noise when a very important meeting was taking place here. He threw the window open with force to yell at the brat who was disturbing him. He saw outside a half-elf knight, his contracted spirit, the candidate for queen Felt and... a young, levitating man with black hair lifting a large piece of rubble to help the family that lived there to take their valuables. The older man's jaw dropped. Mark lifted a horror that was as big as a large shed as if it weighed nothing.
Mark threw the debris aside and landed.
"Thank you, young man." said the middle-aged man as he and his son bowed gracefully.
"No problem." Mark said as he walked toward city hall with the others.
As they entered the conference room, Mark felt the suspicious gaze of an old man with large eyebrows.
"Good morning..." Mark greeted uncertainly.
The elder frowned, looking at the hero from head to toe, unable to believe that he was the one who defeated Reinhard. However, he quickly regained control, wanting to get things done here as quickly as possible, so that he could take care of the kingdom's other problems as quickly as possible.
"Mark Grayson. I, Bordeaux Zellgef, who represent the council of sages by virtue of the authority I possess, declare to you that in a month there will be a trial in your case in the capital of Lugunica."
"Process?"
"That's right. The council and the candidates for king will then determine whether you deserve mercy or become an enemy of the kingdom. That's all, goodbye." The elder said, getting up from the table and leaving the room with Marcos.
"That was fast," Mark thought.
"Useless mutt." Priscilla snorted in displeasure.
"Wait, what trial was that old man talking about?" Subaru asked. "Mark didn't do anything."
"Everyone here knows that." Anastasia said. "But at this point, Mr. Grayson has no choice. He must report to the castle in a month."
"If I may." Emilia spoke up. "Since Mr. Grayson most likely has nowhere else to go, I propose that I provide him with lodging at our estate until the trial."
"What business is it of yours, half-elf?" Priscilla asked, raising her eyebrows in defiance.
"Because he did the most for my camp."
"How so?" Now Subaru made a surprised expression on his face.
"Thanks to him killing the Archbishop of Gluttony, we regained Rem's memories." Emilia explained, smiling at Subaru.
"Does this mean... that Rem has finally woken up?"
"Yeah. Ram's probably been following her around like a baby these past few days." She giggled.
Subaru quickly wiped away a tear of happiness and then quickly looked at Mark with a smile.
"Well, it's decided, man, you're coming with us. And as soon as possible! I have a sleeping beauty to visit!" He patted him on the shoulder.
Mark didn't mind going with Subaru, although he would have preferred to go home anyway, he couldn't complain. After all, he found himself in another dimension.
...
After a meeting that was exhausting for Bordeaux, he left Prestella with Marcos in a dragon carriage.
"You seem very nervous," the captain of the royal knights commented as he led the carriage.
"How do I look nervous?" the older man asked as he looked through some papers.
"This is about the young man who defeated the Sword Saint, right?"
"Of course I do. I'm in serious trouble. How fast do you think rumors spread, Marcos? I'm sure they do. Maybe now or sooner it's reached the other nations that some black-haired youth defeated Reinhard van Astrea. That will definitely interest Emperor Vollachia. He'll probably think that since this Mark Grayson has black hair, he'll probably assume it's someone from his empire and want to recruit him."
"You're right," Marcos agreed, imagining such a scenario.