Re:Zero Ex Light Novel Volume 4/Synopsis

Chapter One: Diplomacy of Bloodshed
The novel starts off with three Royal Guards standing in front of the Captain of the Royal Guard Marcos Gildark. He steadily speaks to each and every one of the knights; Ferris, Julius Juukulius and Reinhard van Astrea. Following a short banter, Captain Marcos gives the three Knights their orders; they're to escort two members of the Sage Council on their diplomatic mission to the Sacred Empire of Vollachia. Furthermore, by the request of His Majesty the 77th Emperor of the Sacred Vollachian Empire, Vincent Vollachia, the Sword Saint was to be given exception to the so-called "Reinhard law" which prevented him from crossing the national borders, and was to make an audience with the Emperor himself, as he wished to personally meet the famed hero of the Kingdom.

''This section of the synopsis is currently still under expansion. As of now, only the 1st section out of 21 sections featured in Chapter One: Diplomacy of Bloodshed has been summarised.''

Chapter Two: The Silver Flower Dance of the Sword Saint and the Lightning
The story starts with a short overview of the Dragon Sword Reid and the lore and legends surrounding the famed weapon which was originally wielded by Reid Astrea. The mentioned lore can be found here.

Roughly six months before before the start of the Royal Selections, at the Dragon Kingdom of Lugnica and the Sacred Empire of Vollachia's border, a member of the Kingdom's guards was tasked with noting reports of people crossing the border. Suddenly, the guard noticed something moving towards the border's checkpoint with speeds surpassing that of an Earth Dragon. Before he knew, the "thing" crossed the border and carried on into the depths of Lugnica. Another guard rushed to see what's the commotion about, and asked what happened, but the guard–after a bit of thinking–responded that nothing happened, as he didn't want to be punished for slacking off on duty.

Some time later, Ferris and Julius Juukulius were walking down the Royal Capital's streets, diligently carrying out their duties as members of the Royal Guard and bantering in the meantime. The two continued to light-heartedly argue back and forth about their duties as Royal Guards being rather boring, until Julius suddenly notices a familiar face loudly and merrily talking with the shop keeper–a face he hasn't seen since he had left the Capital of the Empire, roughly a month prior. The First ranking Divine General of the Sacred Empire of Vollachia–Cecilus Segmunt–stood just across the street from him, nonchalantly conversing with a shop keeper, deep inside the Kingdom's territory, unannounced and unsupervised. When Cecilus left the restaurant–after gifting the restaurant owner with a generous tip–the two Knights immediately walked up to him, inquiring about his way of entry into the Kingdom and his business, however, Cecilus simply claimed that he had ran past the guards without filling out any of the paperwork. This, in turn, made both Julius and Ferris very suspicious and nervous, as Cecilus posed a major threat to the Kingdom, and his arrival to the Capital should be treated as a major problem, considering his status as the First ranking Divine General and Vollachia's strongest.

In order to avoid as many prying eyes as possible, Julius, Ferris and Cecilus sat down inside of a tea-house, away from the main street, and started conversing about numerous things mostly connected about Cecilus' visit to the Capital. Cecilus revealed that he had visited the Kingdom in order to meet with Reinhard and have a proxy match with, as he felt like he owes the Sword Saint a proper duel. However, due to Cecilus illegally trespassing the borders and concealing his presence in the Kingdom, Julius was obliged to promptly report him to his higher-ups. As that would end up with Cecilus cutting both of them down and darting off after the Sword Saint all alone, Julius suggested a different approach: He'd help the Divine General arrange a proxy match between him and Reinhard, if he'd follow three conditions–he is to not harm a single Lugnican citizen save for Reinhard, he is to peacefully surrender to the guards and be transported back home if he is to be discovered, and he is not allowed to die, as his death would surely spark a war between the two nations. Cecilus immediately agreed to the conditions and started thanking Julius, however, the Spirit Knight then informed him of the Sword Saint's absence, as he was accompanying an expedition to the northern part of the Kingdom–an assignment that would take over a week to complete.

As part of their deal, Cecilus then proceeded to obey Julius' orders and followed the Finest of Knights back to his family mansion, located in the Noble Quarters–the Capital's quarters reserved for different kinds of nobles. The two swordsmen and Ferris arrived to Julius' mansion, where they were almost immediately greeted by Julius' younger brother–Joshua Juukulius. Joshua immediately inquires about Cecilus, and the two engage in a short banter which soon takes a turn for the better, as Cecilus expresses his respects for Julius' kindness, stating he's quite jealous of Joshua for having such a fine older brother. Naturally, this sat very will with Joshua, and he immediately accepted Cecilus as an honoured guest, inquiring about the nature of his attire. The overly-excited Joshua was quickly calmed down by Julius, prompting his little brother to apologise and merrily walk off into the his room. Upon observing him walk off, Cecilus noted about Joshua's way of walking and carrying himself, correctly guessing about Joshua's various illnesses and his physical weakness. Julius confirmed Cecilus' observations and asked him if he'd be willing to share some stories about the Empire of Vollachia with him, as Joshua rarely leaves the house and is largely unfamiliar with the outer world–Cecilus gladly accepts the request and the two enter the house, and Julius took him to his room.

Several days after Cecilus' arrival to the Kingdom, both Ferris and Julius were summoned to Captain Marcos' quarters, as the Captain wanted to speak with them. Upon reporting in, Marcos passed a task onto them; to assist the two Imperial ambassadors–who had just entered the Kingdom–with as little complications as possible. Seconds after, a new voice filled the room–the Fourth ranking Divine General Chisha Gold. The Divine General introduced himself and swiftly explained the reason he came to the Kingdom–to retrieve or dispose of a person who illegally trespassed from the Empire to the Kingdom.

At the same time as Chisha announced his presence to the two Royal Guards, Cecilus stood outside of the Juukulius mansion–this time, without the knowledge of any of the house's residents. Armed with two of the most deadly swords of this world, the First ranking Divine General slowly but surely lost himself amidst the crowd of the Royal Capital of the Dragon Kingdom of Lugnica, as he had a job to do, before he could cross swords with the famed Sword Saint once more.

In order to ease Chisha's search, Julius decided to indirectly reveal the location of the man Chisha was looking for, and invited the second Divine General to his house, implying the man he's after is residing at his residence. Chisha of course agreed, and the three started walking towards Julius' mansion. However, just before entering the mansion, Joshua–in shock and despair–burst through the door, apologising to his brother, and explaining that he left the mansion the moment Joshua averted his eyes away from him. Chisha quickly caught on what's happening, and Julius explained the situation–though, he refrained from revealing the man's name. And so, the trio once again turned around and marched into the Capital in search of the escapee.

Somewhere along the main street, the kimono-wearing swordsman grandiosely walked amidst the crowd, causing many pairs of eyes to turn around and inspect him. Turning into a dark alley, Cecilus was greeted by fourteen thugs. After making light of the situation, he asked them if they were acting on their own accord, or if they've been told not to touch him; to which, they replied they've been told to keep their hands off him and simply tail, however, they found no fun in simply tailing a man. As the thugs lunged at him, Cecilus smiled and sprung forth like a lightning bolt.

During their search throughout the Capital, Julius, Ferris and Chisha heard of the incident that took place in a dark alleyway, and immediately set foot to the nearest guard post. There, the guard stationed in that area pointed them towards three of the thugs they found. Though none of the thugs have been killed, they were all shocked and beyond scared straight. After a bit of bantering and dealing, Julius managed to struck a deal with the three thugs–Ton, Chin and Kan: in return for information, they'd be released from custody and be allowed to leave. And so, the Vollachian ambassador and the two Royal Guards were given further information which would aid them in their search: The coins given to the thugs were Imperial currency, and were therefore used by a Vollachian citizen. With this new realisation, Julius quickly caught up on the full picture. Namely, that Chisha wasn't tasked with retrieving Cecilus, but rather, someone else. Furthermore, Cecilus was the second Imperial envoy sent to Lugnica in order to bring back the fugitive.

Not long after the incident in the alleyway, Cecilus successfully located his target–Gramdart Holstoy, the national traitor who wanted to take the Imperial Throne for himself, about a month prior to the incident. Easily cutting down the two guards and painting the floor red, Cecilus entered the Viscount's hiding room. After kicking him to the ground, the Divine General informed him of his crimes, and raised his sword, ready to cut his head clean off. Just as the Enchanted Blade descened upon the traitor and sever the ringleader's thread of life, Chisha and the two knights entered the room, stopping the slash mid-way. Uncharacteristically for him, Cecilus listened to his fellow envoy, and the two Divine General restrained the now-unconscious Viscount, and prepared him for the travel back to the Empire, where he was to receive his trial for treason against Vincent Vollachia and the Holy Empire of Vollachia itself.

The group–now armed with the "most awful killer in the world" and the fugitive traitor–returned to Captain Marcos Gildark's quarters to carry out the necessary paperwork for returning back home and a necessary interview detailing the two Generals' business in the Kingdom's Capital. After the formalities were dealt with, Cecilus addressed Marcos, acknowledging him with respect and indirectly asking for an opportunity to duel one of the Kingdom's finest soldiers. Marcos politely turned down the offer, however, informed the disappointed Cecilus about a different opportunity–Lugnica's Sword Saint had made his return, and was open to the idea of a duel.

Entering the training ground adjacent to the Royal Castle–which was filled to the brim with knights and officials–Cecilus was awaited by Reinhard, who had just returned from the long expedition along Lugnica's border with Gusteko. After greeting each other and exchanging formalities, Cecilus took off his zori and unsheathed his two Enchanted Blades–his first sword Murasame, and his second sword Masayume. Adopting a serious fighting stance, Cecilus readied himself for the fight. Julius, noticing Reinhard was unarmed, set off to get the Finest of Knights a proper sword, however, he was swiftly brought to a stop by the Sword Saint's gentle yet serious words. In his hand, the Dragon Sword Reid, sparked in all its legendary glory, sending shivers down everyone's spines. Cecilus, deeply moved by being one of the few to have ever been chosen by the Dragon Sword, expressed his gratitude for being given the opportunity to test the blade's near-mythical sharpness, to which, Reinhard replied he's only the third person who forced him to draw the blade. Both the Sword Saint and the Blue Lightning then announced their names and titles, and the very next instant, the two strongest swordsmen in the world clashed their legendary blades.

Although the outcome of the battle remained unclear, Cecilus left the Dragon Kingdom of Lugnica shortly after, covered in various minor injuries such as cuts, all over his face. Both warriors felt a sense of fulfilment after their duel, as they had discovered that they did not stand alone at the pinnacle of power. The story concludes with Reinhard joining Julius and Ferris for drinks in Juukulius' home, where the trio of dear friends talk and laugh until the early hours of the morning.