Lost Then Found

Little Secrets

The danger that Sin Archbishops possess was known well by all who resided in this world. That being said, most people never witnessed one and were never, as far as they knew, affected by them. That is the only luxury that the regular people of Lagunica possess, for the witch- cult usually attacked the people of prominence in order to cause as much fear as possible. Killing nobodies, while it did happen from time to time, was ultimately unproductive to the cult's dark goals, whatever those goals might be.

While the Archbishops were, as a rule, the most disgusting beings alive, even amongst them existed a hierarchy of a sort regarding this state. On top of that hierarchy stood, without any meaningful competition, the Sin Archbishops of Gluttony. Archbishops indeed, for as it turned out there were three of this menace running around this world causing havoc. They owed this high place due to the nature of their power, the power that made people lose their memories or be forgotten by all. In addition to this two, they could also put a person in a state similar to a coma. Such people didn't require food or any other nourishment, and they were also forgotten by the world and its inhabitants. If the victim wasn't attacked in a populated place, or their bodies were not found by accident, the victim could remain asleep indefinitely without a single mark showing how long they had spent in this state. Due to this, such a state is usually referred to as a "sleeping beauty sickness".

One would think, that due to all the reasons mentioned the death of the gluttony trio would be celebrated by all. They would be indeed correct, those vile creatures' demise was well celebrated, but the little devils, even in death, don't stop causing trouble for the country and the world. No one man or a group felt this truth harder than the Sage Council of Lagunica, although there is a close second. The council's current position could be described as uneasy, while their rule over the land is not in danger, there is still a great deal of possibility for their rule to be challenged if the full image of their failure is to be presented to the public. The two greatest, and at the same time most troublesome mistakes, were the loss of lady Anastasia Hoshin, a dragon maiden and the candidate for the throne, and the false imprisonment of Natsuki Subaru, a former knight to the candidate Emilia and, most importantly, the hero who slew the white whale, Sloth, and as it turned out Greed as well.

The situation with the boy was the most troublesome, that came from the fact that he was, until recently, quite proactive. While he was imprisoned under justified suspicion that he was the missing Sin Archbishop of Pride, he was somehow able to escape while killing all the guards that were imprisoning him. After that, for a few months, he would attack Lagunican fortifications and even claim the lives of several royal knights. His activities ended after the failed assault on the Royal capital, motivated by the desire to kill the candidate Emilia who was in the capital at the time. While his attack caused much damage and took many low-ranking guards' lives, ultimately Marcus Gildark, the captain of the royal guard, was able to stop him. Their fight was hard, but in the end, Marcus, owing to the experience and caution he demonstrated that day, won. Subaru bit more than he could chew and was forced to retreat, since then nobody had heard anything about him, or more accurately Pride since that was the title attributed to him at the time.

His disappearance became worrisome when his name returned. People of Lagunica, naturally, wanted to know what had happened to their hero, and the council couldn't give them the truth. So, in order to please the masses while keeping their honor, they told the world that Subaru Natsuki had fallen in battle. More accurately they informed the nation that their hero had died moments after slaying the Archbishop of Pride. As far as the people understand, Subaru even after having his name eaten, continued his fight against the cult, culminating in his final triumph in the Royal capital. The reason for this information being released now was due to Gluttony's power affecting the memories of everyone, making it so that Subarus' role in Prides' death was unclear until recently. The truth was quite different, but the people don't know that, and If the sages get their way, that ignorance will remain. "What they don't know can't hurt them", reasoned the sages to themselves, but that reasoning wasn't fully without merit. Truth is that no news regarding Subaru had reached them in seven months, something very strange considering his active nature. So they summarized that he is either planning a new attack, something that is becoming less likely with every passing day, or he simply gave up and wants to be left alone. Of course, It is also possible that he had gotten himself killed, but considering his newfound power, this possibility is highly improbable. Whatever the case, he is not a direct threat to them, so If he wants to be left alone, the sages are more than glad to oblige. Provided that he doesn't blow their cover, but that need not be directly mentioned.