Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

What makes a hero? What actions define one? Is it someone who heals? Or someone who protects? Maybe someone who fights? A person who overcomes all adversities with a smile? Someone who never gives up no matter how many times they fail and face despair? A martyr who takes on everyone elses suffering so they can all be happy while he alone suffers? Natsuki Subaru believes it is the last one. He has always romanticized the idea of self sacrifice, seeing beauty in giving oneself to destruction for the sake of others.

He never loved himself, not once. Only seeing himself as a vehicle to bring happiness to others. At first it was his parents, but he failed at that. Then it was his friends are school, but he failed at that too. This was fine, the boy thought, and he kept trying again and again and again. Never knowing when to just stop. To breathe and let things pass. To step back and reevaluate. Why do I keep failing? If he had just bothered to ask the people around him that one question, to allow himself vulnerability in front of others, Subaru would’ve achieved the success and validation he so desperately craved. To become the hero he so desperately needed to be. But alas, the foolish boy was incapable of reflection, of vulnerability. Thus he continues to suffer in silence while the people who could have loved him remained oblivious.

The boy remembers a light novel he read awhile back that asked this very question. What makes a hero? He ponders. Obviously its someone who sacrifices themselves right? He put his life on the line for the sake of his heroine and lost it in the most literal way. Then he’d lost it again, and again, and again, and again until he achieved his goal and saved her from the evil assassin. So now he is her hero, right? Because he earned her approval and was brought to her home as a reward for his success. For his sacrifices that she will never know. So yes, that should make him a hero, her hero...

Right?

.

.

.

Wrong.

Because the next adversities came, and his heroine wasn’t in danger. She was never caught in any nefarious schemes. Nor was she hurt in any way possible. No, the next adversities came. And they came for him alone. So he continued to do what he thought a hero would. Continue dying. Sacrificing himself for the sake of others, even though he was the only person in danger. For people he loved, and believed loved him back. But then the truth came out. They didn’t love him. They never did. They were suspicious, frightened, wary and above all, uncaring of him.

Why?

Because he was no hero.

He was just some bystander. No heroic origins, no historical bloodline, no power, no charisma, no talent. Nothing. He was nothing, he barely achieved anything worthy of note. The heroine wasn’t even saved by him. Someone else did it. He just called the real hero over after showboating like an idiot.

What was he, then?

He is a witch cultist! The blue one says. Face twisted in rage and fear. Morningstar in hand and ready to tear his throat out.

He is a hopeless fool. The pink one says. Face twisted in disdain and disgust. As if looking at something that wasn’t worth her recognition.

It has nothing to do with me. Said the one with butterflies in her eyes. Face blank and passive. As if looking at something of absolutely no interest.

And that was that.

The boy broke, he became fearful. He became distrustful. He became wrathful.

I just wanted to help, to be the hero you all needed. The boy would say. Angry and despondent. He left them to their fates, and true enough. Karma struck, and they suffered the consequences. The blue one died in her sleep. Cursed by a monster in the dark, unseen. The pink one raged, seeking retribution. Aiming her vengeance falsely at him simply for his inability to speak up. The one with butterflies in her eyes helped him escape. Why? Didn’t she say this had nothing to do with her? The boy ponders her reasons. The one in silver and amethyst protected him as well. But it was not enough. It never was. She never was. And so the boy ran and ran and ran. At the edge of despair, the peak of his wrath, he hears it. A scream filled with so much hate, so much rage. He hears another, a scream filled with loss, a mournful wail filled with longing and despair. And he could not ignore it. Thus the boy chose to be a hero once more, to forego his wrath, to sacrifice himself for the sake of those who did not care. Will never care. Will never know his burden, never understand him.

Because a hero is someone who sacrifices themselves for others. He takes on all the world’s misery so that they can be happy at his expense. The boy believed, with all his heart, that this was what makes a hero. What makes him a hero.

... Right?

A hero is someone who puts himself on the line. The old man in the book he read had said. He saves the girl, protects his friends, risks himself. Even if he failed, so long as he stays true to his wishes, continues to risk himself, the boy believed he would become a hero.

Their hero.

And so the boy died, he willingly chose death. And then he came back. As he always did, as he always will. With one, and only one difference, this time around.

I’m a hero. . .

Right?

________________________________________________________________________________

It was a beautiful morning in the Mathers mansion. The sunlight was gentle, butterflies roamed the gardens in search for flowers to drink nectar from. The wind caressed the air softly, as if stroking the cheeks of a lover. A boy sat on the stairs of the gazebo near the garden. Playing with the fur of the floating cat joyfully, as if he did not just run himself through with rock spikes just hours ago.

The boy asks, “By the way Puck, someone told me I had really high spirit affinity. What’s that mean?”. And the cat answered, “Hmm? It means you can form contracts with spirits and use spirit arts. Want me to teach you the basics, Subaru? I still owe you one for saving my Lia.”

The boy grew excited at the offer. Bowing with a dramatic flourish, he shouted at the top of his lungs. “I can be just like Emilia-tan? I could forge a contract with a spirit? maybe a beautiful and angelic spirit who’s waiting for her destined hero? Awesome! Teach me! Please, Puck-sensei!”

Before Puck could respond, a soft voice could be heard from behind them. “Subaru! What’s gotten you so excited this early in the morning?”, the voice chimed like a silver bell. This was Emilia, just Emilia. A silver haired half-elf. Puck’s daughter. Subaru’s supposed heroine. The very same one that protected him when everyone else turned on him. His only real rock in this horrifying fantasy world he was thrust into.

“Emilia-tan... Puck offered to teach me the gist of spirit arts. I kinda got alil excited at the idea. Sorry for yelling...”

“I understand the excitement, but what’s this about a ‘beautiful and angelic spirit’? Is my Lia not enough for you, young man?”

“Oh Puck, that’s not very nice to imply to Subaru. He’ll misunderstand you and think he can court me!”

“All I did was apologize for being loud and got verbally atomized with the weight of a vengeful sun...”

Emilia asks “hmm?” at Subaru’s mumbling, to which he just smiled lopsidedly. Their relationship had reset from close friends to strangers twice now, during the first loop of both incidents he got himself involved in, and it hurt. To continue losing her camaredie, her trust, her friendship, every time he died. However, he believed that if he persevered, he would be rewarded, she would reward him. Because she was his heroine. So he continued to power through the resets and loss. Even though a part of him was already starting to give up on her affection.

He knew they weren’t all that close yet (‘anymore’, a traitorous thought whispers), courtesy of him dying like an idiot and losing all the time they spent together. That they were and still are effectively strangers as far as she was concerned. But he couldn’t help how he feels, and he feels hurt, especially looking at her now, so happy to be talking to him, not privy to any of his pain. Was it really so selfish to want her, at least her, to remember their time together after his resets? It’s so unfair.

Even as he desperately tries to silence his emotions, his longing, he still wasn’t very good at hiding his facial cues. Emilia noticed his expression dropping and asks, “Is something wrong? You look really~ hurt. I’m sorry if I said something that sounded mean to you. I just didn’t want you to misunderstand me.”

And she just continues to obliviously murder my heart with good intentions, jeez. Subaru thought. Out loud, he spoke with a grin. Brittle and forced and desperate to change the topic, “Nah it’s fine, anyway Puck. Spirit arts 101. Lets go!”

“If you say so... I’ll start with what spirits are, then move on to spirit arts and contracts if we have the time. Sound good?”

“Sounds great-O, buddy. Hit me!”

“Don’t tempt me, you brat ... Moving on. Spirits are basically sentient balls of mana,I shouldn’t need to explain what mana is to you. Our primary element and specialty is determined by what phenomenon gave birth to us, though we can learn to utilize other elements as well once we’re old enough. A spirit born from open flames is able to manipulate fire. One born from snow can specialize in creating and manipulating ice. Etc, etc. You get the point.”

“Spirits are also separated by age groups. There are three. Lesser spirits, Quasi spirits and Full spirits. The age group of a spirit is determined by how strong their individuality is or how much mana they can absorb and manipulate. Both are commonly tied to each other, meaning that a spirit that has a stronger sense of identity would naturally have a stronger capacity to absorb and manipulate mana. But there are exceptions. For example, a full spirit can have very little sense of self but is able to absorb and dispel enough mana to reshape a whole country. It depends, really. Now, any questions?”

Subaru raised his hand like a kid in class, “Yes sensei! What about great spirits? You called yourself that before.”

“Did I? I don’t remember calling myself one around you. To answer your question, great spirits are the oldest and most powerful spirits, each capable of destroying the world when fully manifested. There are only four of us still active, one for each basic element. I’m the current great spirit of fire.”

Puck bonks his head cutely with a wink and goes “So yeah, I’m kinda awesome. Teehee!”

Subaru shouted exaggeratedly, “’Teehee!’ my ass you apocalypse bringer! And something as dangerous as you is contracted to Emilia-tan? Did you even need my help with Elsa? I feel like you could’ve just taken her down without much effort and move on.”

Unbeknownst to the boy, Emilia frowns at the description he gave for Puck. Apocalypse bringer. Not a very nice thing to say about someone’s father. Surely he didn’t mean to be rude, right? The boy was so kind he went out of his way to save the life of a filthy half-devil. But still, those words offended her, though she stayed silent.

Puck, however took the comment in stride. His empathic ability not picking up any malice from the boy’s words.

“While us great spirits are strong, that strength comes at the cost of a much greater mana consumption. To avoid overtaxing Lia, I can only manifest betweeen three Wind time to 5 Fire time and even then, my time becomes more limited as I expend mana for spells.”

Emilia adds her own two scents, “Puck could also fully manifest to defeat Elsa, but the weather in the surrounding area would freeze due to the sudden loss of atmospheric mana and that whole capital would turn into a snowfield. So it’s best to not let things come to that at all.”

Windtime? Firetime? Too much exposition, brain hurty. I’ll ask about time measurements later. So basically great spirits can fully manifest as a nuclear option when all else fails. I was never really needed if she knew Elsa was coming...’, Subaru thought sadly. As usual, he wasn’t really needed, even here...

Puck continued his lecture, “Moving on, spirit arts are basically a form of magic that uses spirits as medium instead of ones own gate and Od. Generally, spirit arts is a three-step process. First, imagine yourself gathering mana from the air, then imagine the shape and effects of the spell, finally, imagine yourself pushing those images through your spirit’s gate, and the spell will manifest in reality.

More broadly, there are three ways to cast spirit arts. The first is as I just described. The second is to the same as the first, except you push the spell through your gate to manifest it instead. The final way is to imagine the flow in reverse. You pull mana from your Od instead of the air, while the rest of the steps remain the same, this final style is also what I like to call passive spirit arts, as you don’t need your spirit to manifest in order to use it. Each style of spirit arts have their own advantages and disadvantages, I won’t bother in covering those as it’ll just pad the word count more than necessary.

Contracts are self explanatory, they are mutual pacts of trust forged between a spirit and a spirit user to bond their very souls to each other, enforced and engraved into our souls by Od Laguna itself. Its a very intimate thing that goes well beyond any mortal form of intimacy, so my relationship with Lia is closer than anyone will ever be. Yours included.”

Ignoring the smug look the cat spirit gave him as he said that, Subaru asks. “I have a few questions... What exactly does Windtime and Firetime mean? Ya’ll measure time weirdly... Also, whats a gate? And how do they relate to magic?”

Emilia and Puck just stared. Dumbstruck at his question. Surely the boy is joking? He didn’t know how to measure time? More than that... How could he not know what a gate was? Everyone knew how time is measured! Everyone knew what a gate was! Thats like not knowing the sky is blue, or that the moon was round! Nobody is that ignorant and clueless!

Emilia stresses, “Subaru, I really~ worry for you if you lack knowledge this basic... in short, time is divided by the four elements, six hours per each element. The six hours between sunrise to noon is Windtime, the following six hours from noon to sunset are Firetime, the following six from sunset to midnight is Watertime, finally, the six hours between midnight and sunrise the next day is Earthtime.“, she exposited, looking very eager to show her off knowledge despite her admonishment, so cute! EMT! Subaru yelled in his head, cheeks drooping into a dopy expression at her cuteness. Also days are counted from sunrise, not midnight. Duly noted.

Puck added his own jab in, along with an answer to his following questions, “Wow you really are utterly clueless huh, a gate is an ... organ, I guess? ... of sorts that’s attached to your soul that allows you to expel mana from your Od. Magic is cast by expelling elemental mana out of your body. Before you ask, an Od is your body’s container for mana that it naturally produces. You can also use it for spellcasting, but that’s the equivalent of using your lifespan to cast magic. I hope I don’t need to explain why this is not good practice.”

Subaru feels irritation start to crawl up his spine.‘How was I supposed to know any of this? I’m from another world!’ He wanted to say. But he stays silent, his irritation not worth having to open that can of worms. Not like they’d believe me anyway.

Subaru continues to question, “So I have a gate too right? That means I can cast magic myself?”

“All living beings have a gate. And unlike a spirit, the strength and size of a person’s gate is fixed from birth. Oh and the elemental mana attuned to their gates too, that’s fixed from birth. Most, and I do mean most, only have one affinity with the four basic elements. These are fire, water, wind and earth. Occasionally you’d find someone with an affinity for one of the extra elements, yin and yang. Rarer still are people with multiple affinities, like Roswaal. I’m already teaching you spirit arts so I won’t bother with teaching you any magic. My throat’s getting scratchy so let’s call it a day here. Lia will show you how to call for spirits, since I can’t do it.”, Puck replies as he slowly becomes transparent.

With a smile and nod at Puck, Emilia gracefully makes her way to the fountain near the gazebo. Puck, now satisfied, disappears back into his mana crystal. His debt to Subaru fully paid as far as he’s concerned.

“I’m not as good at explaining things as Puck is, so you’ll have to watch and learn by doing.”, Emilia says playfully. To which Subaru replies, “Don’t worry about it Emilia-tan! I won’t miss a single second of your elegance!”

With a pout and “jeez”, Emilia summons her lesser spirits. Blue balls of softly glowing lights emerge from the air near the fountain and float around her like silent pixies. ‘This sight is breathtaking no matter how many times I see it’, Subaru thought. He noted how it felt when the spirits showed up and tries to simulate her thoughts and action by taking in her body language and facial cues when she called the spirits.

Now feeling adventurous, he goes up to the lawn and tries to call forth the spirits himself. The boy closes his eyes in concentration and thinks to himself ‘Hello, is anyone there? My name is Natsuki Subaru. Please answer me if you can hear this!’ He imagines himself pushing this thought out of his body and into the air like a transmission signal. After a brief period of silence he feels something respond to his call. Emotions that didn’t belong to him start to transmit into his mind. Curiosity, interest, greeting. He opens his eyes to see tiny balls of light in a myriad of colors floating in front of him. As if joyfully responding to his greeting. He stares awestruck at them. Amazed that he managed it on his first try. ‘They responded to me? They... they’re interested in me?’

As if they could read his thoughts, the spirits drifted closer to him. Shining brightly and vibrating as if excited to see him. He gulps and tries to speak but his mouth is suddenly dry. Oh no, he’s nervous. He doesn’t know what to say. What if they got put off? What if they decided they didn’t like him and left? What if he gave a bad impression and they stop responding to his call? All this and more bubbled and simmered like acid in a Witch’s cauldron within the boy’s mind.

But the spirits patiently stayed. They couldn’t speak. All of them are lesser spirits, but they could transmit basic emotions. He could somehow feel their gazes and emotions, strangely enough. And they were...

Question?

Worry?

Doubt?

They’re worried about me? I guess anyone would be. If you called them over then stay silent when they show up. I really should say something, With some effort, he cleared his throat and spoke up. Less exuberant than he would’ve liked due to his nerves, “Err hi, I’m Natsuki Subaru. Pleased to meet you guys! Sorry if I bothered you with my call...”

He says while scratching the back of his head. A nervous tick. But the spirits did not seem to mind. In fact, they seemed enthused at being spoken to, vibrating and humming in the air as if excited. An emotion he hadn’t felt in what must have been years began to surface in his heart. It was validation. Here are people (spirits, his mind corrected) that wanted him around. And he didn’t need to act like a clown or produce herculean results to earn it. They liked him just for him, and it was intoxicating. He started talking to the spirits, babbling excitedly and loudly about himself and his first day in the capital. Completely ignoring everything else. And the spirits responded just as enthusiastically! They were just as excited to get to know him as he was to tell them about himself! This never happened before! Not since kindergarten, before reality decided to punish him for not being the same brightly shining sun as his perfect, peerless father.

But good times don’t last forever. He felt a tap on his shoulder and the familiar sound of a soft, silver bell chimed, “Subaru. Rem’s calling for you. I think it’s time to get back to work. You can talk to the spirits again another time.”

Already? Time flies when you’re having fun..., he thought. The spirits, as if sensing he was about to leave, suddenly grew dimmer. Dispondence, sadness, disappointment. As if they didn’t want him to leave. They wanted him to stay and keep spending time with them. It floored him. That these innocent, happy little balls of light and joy wanted him around. Wanted to keep being around him, to listen to him, be with him. But he had to go to work, to gather information, to plan against the shaman that wanted to destroy his would-be home. He looks back at them apologetically.

Subaru spoke apologetically, “I’m really sorry about this lil fellas, duty calls and a man must answer. I’ll call you guys again when I’m free from the grind, and we’ll play hard enough to make up for the loss. Okay?”

The two bade farewell to the spirits and went back into the mansion. As they walked, he noticed Emilia stealing glances at him from the side.

Subaru, unable to withstand the awkward silence, bites the bullet and asks, “Uhh... Emilia-tan? Not that I don’t enjoy the attention, but is there something on my face?”

”Hmm? Oh, just your eyes, nose and mouth.”, Emilia replies while tilting her head slightly.

“An adorably clueless response! EMT! But I was actually asking why you were staring at me.”

“Oh, it’s just... You called forth spirits of every element, so many of them... and on your first try too. It was really~ impressive. I was flabbergasted!”

“Was it? And who even says ‘flabbergasted’ these days? Well, it just felt right, y’know? Like, rather than spitballing something new by the seat of my pants, it was more like I was remembering something I forgot as I was doing it. Huh, weird.”

Emilia opened her mouth as if to say something. But immediately closed it and just continued to stare at him, as if attempting to dissect a puzzle in front of her. It was unnerving considering how she’s normally so clueless and spacey.

They separated in the hallway after that. The girl needed to study for the royal election, seriously what does she actually study day-in-day-out? The boy needed to earn his keep with the maids. You know, be likeable and trustworthy so they don’t torture and maim him in the forests behind the mansion, then discard his broken remains for wild dogs to eat.

.

.

.

No pressure.

________________________________________________________________________________

How utterly aggravating, in fact, thought the great spirit and caretaker of the forbidden library, Beatrice.

This loud and uncouth human waltzes into her library, breaches her domain against her wishes, without her permission, then proceeds to talk her ear off about other spirits? She admits that he piqued her curiosity at first with how easily he bypassed the door crossing spell her mother left her. But now? Talking nonsense about how joyful and innocent and loving some bunch of lesser brats he just met this morning are to her face? How dare he! Just when she thought he had potential to be That Per- No! She just wants him gone! She readies a wind spell to blast him out of her library.

Subaru desperately shouts, “Wait! Beako I just wanted to ask you abou-”

“Betty doesn’t care! Just get out of her library and stop bothering her! Don’t ever call her that asinine nickname again while you’re at it in fact! You shameless, philandering womanizer!”

Whoosh! A blast of wind. The boy rocketed out of the library and into the empty hallway. It was bright out, despite the time of day. The beautiful moon and vibrant stars shining high in the night sky. Unbothered by his miseries and fears.

I didn’t get to ask her about curses! God damnit! Why’s she so pissed anyway? He thought to himself angrily.

Stupid! Stupid! Now how was he gonna overcome the shaman’s curse? Maybe this loop was a dead end? Should he just reset?

No! I don’t want to die!

But what can I-

“Subaru-kun?”

His blood froze. The one voice he did not want to hear in a dark, lonely hallway. It belonged to the person that killed him twice for wrongdoings he never committed. For the sin of just existing in her general area with some asinine smell she couldn’t tolerate. A smell he never even knew he had until someone killed him for it. It belonged to-

Subaru gulps, then says, “Hey Rem... Fancy meeting you here, I got blasted out of Beako’s library again, seriously she just doesn’t hold back...”

“If Beatrice-sama truly did not hold back, you would be paste on the walls of the hallway.”, Rem replies.

“Yikes! Glad she likes me enough to not kill me for being annoying at least. Heheh...”

That makes one of you. The thought came before he could silence it. He wanted to trust her. To like her. He really did. But dear god does this girl make it so. Damn. Hard.

Rem just stared at him. A passive mask, expertly hiding the animosity and bloodlust he knew bubbled just beneath the surface. She was about to say something when she noticed a light flickering near Subaru.

Rem starts, “This is...?”

“The lesser spirits?”, Subaru finishes.

Several small balls of light in a myriad of colors came to existence and hovered in front of the boy, as if protecting him when they sensed his fear of her. Shielding him from the maid’s suspicion and urge to kill. silent protectors he didn’t even know he had.

Rem’s eyes narrowed at the sight of the boy’s little guardians.

“You should head to bed now, it is late. We start early tomorrow morning.”

With that, the blue maid turned around and brusquely made her way to... wherever she was going. And Subaru was left alone with his guardian spirits in the silent hallway.

“You came to protect me?”, Subaru asks the little lights.

Protectiveness

Care

Reassurance

He felt such emotions coming from the little balls of mana. They noticed I was afraid and came to protect me? he felt like crying. To receive such care, such dilligent, reassuring protection just because. It was flattering. It was humbling. He hadn’t had to earn it. What he wanted most, and he received it. Not from the gorgeous girl of silver. Not from blue and pink maids. Not from the eyes of butterflies. But from these tiny balls of light. He wanted to laugh at the absurdity of it all.

“Thanks-Thank you. Thank you so much... I, ugh... Snff”

A sniffle first, then came loud, ugly sobs. Thankful words of gratitude whispered with a face full of tears and snot. The boy was finally saved. In another life, it was granted by the soft, comforting lap of a well-meaning, yet ultimately ignorant angel. Here, salvation came from a light that could feel his pain in its entirety, even if they did not understand it yet.

Which was more than what the rest of them would ever give him anyway. That nasty voice in his whispered again.

Thus ends the day Natsuki Subaru was introduced to spirit arts. The humble beginnings of the Spirit Lord.

________________________________________________________________________________

The strangest things happen around this boy. Ram thought.

Another day of her and her dearest little sister enduring Barusu’s bumbling, clumsy mistakes. Or so it should’ve been. The boy was less excitable and loud than he was yesterday. Her sister also seemed to be keeping a larger distance from him than she did previously. It relieved her to see Rem more cautious and not acting on her worst impulses, like she knew she wanted to (their synesthesia told her as much). But what earned her caution was alarming enough that she couldn’t release any tension from her shoulders anyway.

Spirits. Alot of spirits. They kept randomly popping up around the boy. As if greeting an old friend they bumped into while shopping at the market district. Not only that, they actually assisted him in his chores. When the boy cleaned the windows, one or two spirits would show up and splash the windows or dry them as the boy is wiping. When he was washing the residences clothes, they would pop up and slightly increase the temperature of the water, or use water and fire mana to to assist with cleaning and drying. While he sweeped the floors, another group of spirits would come up and gather the dust and dirt in the area he is sweeping using wind mana. All this without any input from the boy himself, who seemed just as surprised as she was when they began showing themselves to assist with his tasks.

Ram couldn’t help but throw a jab in, despite her discomfort, “Typical barusu, you’re so pathetic the spirits themselves have to come assist you in something as simple as household chores.”

“Really, you’ve known me for less than a week and you already know what’s typical of me? You’re quite the people reader, Ram. Then again, at least one of you is honest with her malice.”

“...”, a baffled silence.

That was another surprising change to the boy since yesterday. He bit back with just as much venom when Ram snarked at him. He even knew that Rem was.... wary of him. ‘She probably tried something yesterday and the spirits protected him. You foolish, foolish sister of mine’, Ram thought. It would explain why the spirits are hovering so closely to the boy, in case someone else tried something. That they liked him enough to protect him indepedently like that without any contracts was already a conundrum. But the fact that they even willingly assist with his chores too? Utter insanity. Spirits were fickle creatures that did not listen to anyone unless contracted. Innocence in its purest forms, both the good and bad entailing that innocence represents them.

Typically, higher spirit affinity means an easier time calling and contracting spirits, with less resistance when channelling mana through the spirits for spirit arts the more compatible you are with them. As far as Ram understood it at least. But affinity like this goes beyond even divine blessings. Hell, Ram doubted even the Sword Saint had spirits coming to help him with his daily life like this! What was it about this seemingly worthless boy that attracted them so? Caution must be exercised, lest they become hostile and Roswaal-sama would lose an asset with great potential.

At least the spirits had enough sense to avoid Beatrice-sama’s ire by disappearing when the boy was near the library’s door. Barusu himself seemed to avoid Beatrice-sama now, purposely walking past the door to the forbidden library even when he knew it right was there. Something happened between them too. Hopefully it won’t result in more work for her sister.

The only people the boy didn’t seem to avoid or be venomous with were Emilia-sama and Puck-sama. But even then, he did not show any of that fake, loud cheer from the day before. Adopting a more playful and teasing stance instead of his previous terrible attempts at flirting. Perhaps there was hope for him in that regard, if he’s smart enough to at least take a hint. Emilia-sama herself treats the boy the same as usual, though she seemed to spend more time looking at him when she thinks nobody is watching. Odd, but knowing her it probably wasn’t what you would expect. Puck-sama was his usually jovial self as well.

The most concerning change was the boy’s general attitude by himself. He was being contemplative, cautious, careful. Focused. No longer was he desperate and anxious when left alone with his thoughts. He was pondering something deeply, as well. A problem related to life-or-death, judging from the severity of his face when he thinks he’s alone. A complete one-eighty from his boisterous loudness and facade of happiness that hid his desperation just the previous day. Could one event change him so much?

Subaru suddenly spoke up, “Speaking of suspicion, I was hoping to visit the nearby village today.”

“You’ve picked a good time, since we are running out of spices. But why?”, Ram asks.

”Well lets just say I have something I want to confirm and leave it at that. I promise it’s nothing terrible.”

“Ram will graciously ignore how utterly suspicious that last part makes you sound... then you can join us for shopping in the evening, after we finish our chores. We’ll use the opportunity to teach you which shops to go to for the best prices while we’re there, as well as how to determine the quality of the ingredients. Unless your spirits can tell you those as well?”

“Honestly, I wouldn’t be surprised if they could... but still. ‘We’? You’re bringing Rem in for this too?”

“Is that a problem? Ram’s adorable little sister is reliable enough to make up for your inevitable mistakes. Rest assured.”

The boy grimaces at her suggestion, which is to be expected. But Ram can’t allow the boy to continue putting up barriers around them. So he’ll have to put up with it. It’s not like Rem will do something foolish and impulsive while Ram was nearby to monitor her behavior. The boy then speaks with forced cheer.

“’Inevitable’, huh? Well you’re probably right on that. Sure, I’m down. Not like I actually have any say.”

“Perhaps there is hope for you yet, Barusu. We’ll leave for the village as soon as we’re done with this morning’s chores.”

________________________________________________________________________________

This is not at all Rem’s day, the blue ogre thought while chasing a rather large witch beast deep into the forest.

It started out embarassingly enough. To be reprimanded by her sister for the first time since... Ever? She doesn’t remember a single time when her elder sister has ever scolded her for anything. Always indulging her and working around her mistakes. Truly, Ram was an impeccable existence, and Rem only existed as a stain on that spotless perfection.

“Do not antagonize Barusu any further than you have. Those spirits of his are already wary of you. Why did you even do it? What compelled such idiocy from you?”, Ram had asked her. She replied honestly. That he was a filthy witch cultist, encroaching on their home and trying to destroy their lives again.

Truthfully, she wanted him dead the moment she caught his scent. Nothing else mattered, she doesn’t need any further proof. The boy’s character will show in time. And her morningstar will be ready. Heck, she doesn’t even need to wait for the boy to show his true colors, she could’ve killed him that very night she caught him alone, kicked out of Beatrice-sama’s library like the worthless ball of scrap he is. She had prepared herself to do so, but then the unthinkable happened.

Spirits came out of the woodworks to protect the boy. The children of Od Laguna, the very essence of the world , symbols of joy and innocence, mana itself given sentience and soul. Yet, they chose to protect a filthy cultist? She picked up a rapid decrease in the atmospheric mana via her horn, signalling to her that the spirits were preparing spells to attack her. To attack her. As if she was the villain in this scenario. It made no sense. But she wasn’t about to start trouble when she couldn’t reasonably cover up her tracks, so she retreated.

The following day her sister pulled her into an empty room, asking her what the hell did she do to the cultist that pissed off practically every lesser spirit in the surrounding forests? Nee-sama was right. She should’ve been smarter, but she got sloppy. She openly showed her intent to kill, and now any window of opportunity to wring the cultists miasma stenched neck has disappeared. Surely her dear sister was disappointed at her. Knowing her, she had probably planned on killing the cultist herself, and lost the chance when Rem spooked his protectors. As always, Rem existed to make her sister’s life more miserable. She should’ve been the one to lose her horn. If only she had the decency to die when with the rest of her family when the cult massacred her village. Then her sister would be free, and that cultist would be dead the second he came out of the carriage.

But no. “I don’t know what kind of mental gymnastics you have going on in your head, but that boy is no cultist. Let it go.”, nee-sama had told her afterwards. Unthinkable, incomprehensible, utterly unimaginable. That her sister would be deceived by that cultist? When his stench is that thick? It made her blood boil. That nee-sama would insist that he’s just a child and that she was the one who’s misguided. But she knows the truth, that thing is a monster in the guise of a boy. His smell proved it. And she will find a way to kill him, one way or another. To protect her sister, to finally be useful to her for once in her od damn life!

Nee-sama left her a stern warning to not go against Roswaal-sama’s initial orders. Then told her that she would be accompanying her and the cultist to the village to stock up on spices. Tolerable, so long as he wasn’t left alone in the mansion with Emilia-sama. Rem doesn’t even want to imagine what could happen.

Then all three of them went to the nearby village of Arlam. The spirits hovering around him the entire time Rem was within sight. Then the cultist ran off somewhere to play with the kids. Slightly worrying, but ultimately nothing of concern, since he had meticulously hid his nature thus far. He wouldn’t act out in the open, in broad daylight day at that.

Then the screams started.

She heard the gist from all the shouting. Two of the village children were kidnapped by a Wolgarm Alpha, and the cultist ran in to save them. She knew the truth though, he was the one manipulating the beast into kidnapping the children. Then he would swoop in, save the day, and be hailed as a hero. Cementing their trust in him. How appalling. Rem would never let that happen. It’s time to put the cultist down for good. If she played her cards right absolutely zero suspicion would fall on her.

But then he caught her off guard. Again.

They were fending off smaller Wolgarms that came to intercept them while chasing down the Alpha deeper into the forest. She defended herself via her trusty morningstar, while the spirits protected him. Nee-sama decided to stay back to keep the village organized in the chaos and inform the mansion once she calmed the villagers down.

The cultist turned his eyes slightly towards her and says, “Rem, sorry, but I’ll need you to continue chasing the bigger doggo while I bait the smaller ones. I’m trusting you to save the kids, so please. Help a guy out will you?”

He’s trusting her? He says that as if he didn’t engineer this entire situation. How laughable. Did he really think she was so naive as to fall for that? But he was still surrounded by the spirits. Who were blasting elemental spells at any Wolgarm that was within range. So she couldn’t antagonize him. Maybe he’ll keep the charade up and wear himself and the spirits down fighting the hordes of smaller witch beasts. Enough that she could come and finish the job after rescuing the children. Yes, that could work.

“...Very well. Rem will save the children, while she does that, Subaru-kun will protect her from the smaller witch beasts. Do cull their numbers enough that they stop being a threat for us when we make our way back to the village.”, Rem says that last sentence sweetly.

When I make my way back to the village, after discarding your rotten corpse for the surviving dogs to eat.

“... May the spirits protect you, Rem. Good luck and please, don’t die.”

The raw desperation in that last one made her brows furrow. He doesn’t want her to die? Perhaps he wants to kill her himself? Well he won’t get the chance.

She nods, and with that they split up. Whatever the boy did after they diverged, it increased his witch scent by a factor of ten. Or so she estimated, she was never good with numbers. But the important thing was that his stench was now strong enough she could probably smell it from the mansion. All the Wolgarms that were chasing her before completely ignored her now, going after the boy who smelled so much like their creator instead. How fitting, that the creations of the Witch would hate her so much they’d kill anything with her scent on it.

But now was not the time to ponder. She had children that needed rescuing. A cultist that needed killing. And as a dutiful maid of the Mather’s family? She simply must uphold their reputation by doing her duties flawlessly. After all, a maid knows. She knows, even if nobody else does. The boy will die by her hand this very day. She promises it.

________________________________________________________________________________

This is so not my day, Subaru thought.

He thought he gamed the system, using his taboo to boost his miasma. Go Subaru! You’re so smart! And then the realization kicked in. He was a spirit arts user. He ran on a time limit. He was out of the count the moment his band of spirits tapped out. The Wolgarms? They did not. Nor do they care about self preservation, apparently. Charging in suicidally to do whatever it is witch beasts do to smelly would-be cultists, probably something along the lines of tearing them limb from limb and watching them writhe on the ground while slowly bleeding out., if I use Rem as benchmark, he thought with grim amusement.

Spirits came in clutch. His little friends shot out magic in every color of the spectrum at the mindlessly zerg rushing horde. But they were starting to hit their limit. Growing dimmer and dimmer the more spells they casted. Spirit arts without a contract to bind their gates together can only go so far. He needed breathing room to make that contract. He should’ve just made one before he even left the mansion. Hindsight really is twenty-twenty.

Really should’ve planned this out, me. Any TRPG gamer worth his salt knew you prep up before every encounter.

Great, now he was surrounded. They must’ve realized the spirits were losing steam. Edging closer and closer while the spirits hovered nearer to him, as if protectively embracing him. This was it, game over. He messed up. Time to reset, and it’ll be a painful reset too, from the look of things. Being eaten alive by a pack of dogs was not on my bingo card. In hindsight, it really should’ve been, the intrusive thought came unprompted. Trying to steer him away from the inevitable to protect his sanity.

But then a saviour came from the bushes. And she had pink hair.

“Barusu!”, Ram screamed.

She sends a few wind slashes towards the Wolgarms immediately in front of her. Then jumped into the the pack’s encirclement to place her back against Subaru’s. “Where is Rem? Shouldn’t she be with you?”, she asks sternly.

Subaru replied, “I had her chase down the Bossgarm instead while I lured the smaller dogs away from her using my witch scent.”. She glares at him passively with a very bombastic side eye, as if gauging if he was a threat or not with the revelation of his smell. Then decided he wasn’t, if that exasperated sigh she gave was any indication. She turned back to the Wolgarms and speaks, “Strange things seem to always happen around you. It is quite tiring to keep up with. Please stop”.

“Do I look like I’m making these events happen on purpose? I just wanted to find out if there was a shaman in the village or not.”

“Sounds to Ram like you got exactly what you wished for.”

“Oh don’t you start!”

They stopped bickering and focused on the dogs when they heard the Wolgarms growling, as if telling the two stooges to stop ignoring them. Subaru speaks without looking back, “Ram, I have a plan. But I need you to buy me some time and space to act. Can you do that?”

She stays silent , pondering the answer. As the dogs continue to edge closer and closer towards them, “Ram can cast one wide range wind spell to make space for you, make it count.”, she answers sternly. A pause, and then, “If you fail, we die. Rem and the children die with us.”, she added.

He gives her a confident grin. As if completely assured of his victory, “It’s a good thing I don’t plan on failing then. On your signal, nee-sama!”

She smirks back at him, he’s so much more tolerable when he isn’t being a love-struck buffoon, if only he was like this all the time, she thought. Out loud, she says. “Now! El-Fula!”, and with a wide swing of her wand, a small tornado appeared around the duo. Completely tearing apart the dogs immediately in front of them and sending the ones farther out flying in the air. Ram collapses on her knees, breathing heavily with exertion while blood seeps out from her nose. She did not get all of them, as the ones near the edge of encirclement managed to stay on ground level. Once again, they advance on the duo.

Subaru cups his hands around the spirits and reaches out to them with his mind, like he did when he first summoned them. Please, help me. Let’s make a contract. Us. Me, and all of you. I won’t leave a single one behind! So please! Save me! Help me save everyone!, he thought desperately. Pouring his soul out, he lowers his guard completely, still surrounded by the Wolgarm pack. Because he was certain that, just like the sky is blue, and birds fly, he was certain the spirits will never abandon him, never fail him.

As if answering his plea, a myriad of rainbow lights start pouring out from the cluster of spirits. The light extending into his cupped hands. Veins of various colors appears on them and stretched all the way to his core, where his gate was, affirming the contract. Normally, this was as close as one could get to suicide by spirit contract. Making a contract and hosting one spirit was already a huge burden to a person’s gate. A certain spirit knight did what many would claim to be an impossible feat and hosted six. Made possible due to his unnaturally high spirit affinity being boosted even more by his divine blessing, and having a gate that was already very large and sturdy. By all accounts, a gate as meager as Subaru’s couldn’t possibly have the capacity to host more than one spirit, let alone the dozen that he was trying to contract to at the same time.

Of course, the spirits themselves knew this.

They also knew another thing.

They loved this boy. It hasn’t been a day since he summoned them, he doesn’t even have a contract with them. But they love him. They want to answer his pleas. They don’t want to fail him. They want to help him succeed. So they allowed it.

Like how the world’s love of the sword saint made the spirits in his immediate area dissolve themselves into mana to empower him. The spirits around Subaru loved him, thus allowed themselves to dissolve and be absorbed into each other. A dozen different affinities, a dozen different personalities (simple and one-dimensional as they are, being lesser spirits), unified under a single wish. To become this boy’s strength. His contracted spirit.

A bright flash blinded everything in the clearing, as if a sun suddenly materialized in the middle of it.

A blast of pure, untamed mana. Enough to stun all the Wolgarms around them. Ram herself was incapacitated by the sheer mana being emitted behind her and was blown forwards a few paces.

‘What in the world? Barusu?’, Ram thought, disoriented.

She got up on her knees, then turned around to get a good look at what the boy had done. Then she saw it.

In this storm of surging mana, he stood tall, completely unaffected, as if the mana itself had a will to avoid hurting him.

In front of him, cupped in his hands, a deceivingly small god lay. A pristine ball of light glowing in the six different hues of elemental mana.

The eye of the storm.

Legends would be told generations later of this day.

For this was the start of his-no, of their legend.

The birth of the Spirit Lord, and her contractor.

Chapter Text

It was a scene from out of a fairy tale come to life.

They were in a forest clearing, the trees surrounding them just moments prior torn off the ground by raging gusts wind, corpses of demonic dogs from hell littered all over the ground. At the center of it all, a boy stood tall. Cupped in his hands a small, six-colored spirit. Barely the size of a newly evolved Quasi, glowing with the intensity of a miniature sun. Raw mana surged around the two, creating torrents of wind that angrily pushed away everything near them. The sounds emitted by the gushing waves of mana like trumpets loudly humming in celebration. The winds they emitted strongly pushing everything away like knights keeping the masses from entering royal halls. As if the world itself was joyously celebrating the crowning of a new king.

Ram could not believe her eyes. Yet at the same time...

Of course Barusu would go and defy expecations like this.

Sure, she told him to ‘make it count’. But could anyone really see something like this coming? The boy casually catalyzed the birth of what could only be described as a composite-element spirit. An oxymoron, really. Spirits are birthed by natural phenomenon and mana, yes. But there is no ‘fixed’ element for a spirit. The phenomenon that birthed them only dictates what element of mana they would be most comfortable channeling. Like how all crabs are capable of living in both land and water, but some species naturally preferring one over the other. From the looks of it, one can assume this spirit has no elemental preferences at all and can use all of them with equal proficiency, like how a certain great spirit of wind was once able to.

But will it be enough? Ram questions. Her sharp mind spinning its cogs efficiently to assess the situation, despite the bludgeoning headache threatening to crack her skull open.

Assets? A newborn spirit, a newly formed contract, and an amateur spirit user. Not much, at face value.

Strengths? Spirit is multi-elemental, and already channeling a ridiculous amount mana despite its very recent birth. The contractor, loathed as Ram is to admit it, has exceptional, nigh-transcendant affinity and talent with spirits and spirit arts.

Possible limitations? The contractor’s gate was likely completely innert before the contract was forged, considering how the boy didn’t even know what a gate was, so the spirit has a very limited timeframe to maintain its form. No, she did not abuse her clairvoyance to spy on Barusu and Emilia-sama’s spirit arts lecture in hopes of blackmail material and entertainment. Stop asking.

Ahem.

They noticed that the Wolgarms were regaining their senses after the onslaught of mana waves. The multi-colored spirit floated high into the air directly above her contractor’s head, absorbed a very noticeable amount mana from the atmosphere, and unceremoniously set all the dogs on fire. A Goa spell casted on instinct with enough control and precision to specifically target just the wolgarms, Ram thought. With no practice, and only receiving a short cliff notes on how to cast spirit arts just a day before? She would’ve thought he was a filthy, stinky, lying little Barusu (yes, his name counts as an adjective insult) if not for the fact that she was living proof that such prodigies do exist out in the wider world. As she herself was able to send entire adults flying with wind magic while freshly out of the womb.

A reevaluation of Barusu’s general usefulness will be required.

Truthfully, she felt a twinge of fear as well as a tiny bit of awe looking at him now, with the flames illuminating him from below. Their dancing form reflecting off his hardened, sharp eyes that betrayed no emotion, glowing faintly with six-colored mana. All of this, along with the thin line pressed passively on his lips, gave him the impression of a dispassionate, heartless killer. Still standing at the center of the clearing, he closes his eyes, sucks in a deep breath and slowly exhales. The flames dying down with his exhale and his spirit now emitting much less mana than it did before. He turned his face to her direction and immediately dropped the cold facade, becoming just a Barusu again, “Holy shit! You were blasted that far back!? You okay!?” he yelled, while comically scrambling toward where she lay on the ground.

With that, her fear and awe died a cold, cold, cold death. His impressive display of spirit arts and majestic posturing after completely ruined simply because at the end of the day, he is still such a Barusu. She hated how the thought felt comforting to her now.

“She will live. Rem is more important. But Ram can’t move right now so Barusu will have to carry her.”

“I’d rather take you back to the village and head out myself, but that nasty glare you’re giving me is telling me that won’t be an option.” he said while shaking his head grimly.

“No, it will not. You need Ram with you to find Rem. Her divine blessing of synesthesia will help guide you to Ram’s sister.”

“... Got it, scuse’ me, then.”

he moves to pick her up, to which she hotly says “If you touch anywhere you’re not supposed to, Ram will personally ruin any chances of Emilia-sama ever looking at you romantically!”

“Oh, does that mean you admit that I do have a chance with her, nee-sama?” He asks teasingly.

“Hah” As if.

He just chuckled lightly at her warning. “I’ll keep my hands to myself. Emilia-tan never reciprocating my feelings would be so awful I’d rather die!”

“Before that though, I have one last thing to do.” Subaru says abruptly. He turned his head to face his spirit, now floating gently on his right shoulder. He spoke gently, fatherly even, his next words engraved into her very soul.

“Your name will be Elysia, it means ‘the beloved child of Paradise.’ Thank you for helping me...” he says with a soft smile, sharp eyes now gentle and loving. Like a father naming his firstborn daughter, thanking her for being born into his life.

She responded by vibrating and humming. Her elemental colors sparkling deeper tones before receding back to their normal hue. She touches her orbal form to his right cheek like she was pecking him, to which he responds by lovingly nuzzling said cheek against the warmth of her small body. She then goes back to perch on his shoulder.

Subaru continues marching toward the silently staring Ram and picks her up in a bridal carry.

“... You’re pretty light. Now, lets go help your psychotic sister.”

“...” silence.

“Ram? This is the part where you snark at me for calling your sister a psycho. Or at least call me a pervert for commenting about your weight?”

“...” more silence.

“Hello~? Earth to Ram.”

“Shut up and start running already, you lustful, shameless womanizer.” she coldly says.

“Okay, okay jeez. Sorry for caring. This way?” he says as he started running toward the direction where Rem last went.

“Yes, she’s not very far away and has since stopped running. We’ll catch up to her quickly if you keep up this pace.”

“Got it, hold on tight.”

“Hah, no.”

As the duo made their way deeper into the forest in pursuit of the blue ogre, the red one reflected deeply at the display she just saw from the spirit and contractor. The aching emotions they solicited tore and gnawed at her gut.

She would never admit it. Not to him. But she was envious at how easily he and his spirit (Elysia, she had name now and it would be disrespectful not to use it) showed such vulnerable, naked, affection for each other. When was the last time Rem displayed such open vulnerability to her? When was the last time Ram herself showed any naked affection to her sister? They needed to have nice, long talk when this whole mess is sorted out.

________________________________________________________________________________

Witch beasts are capable of strategy. Duly noted. Rem thought with bitter sarcasm.

The plan, she believed, was simple. Step one, recover the children. Step two, kill the witch beast. Step three, circle around and kill the cultist. Simple and efficient. Flawless, even. Right?

Wrong.

Because apparently, witch beasts can think! Oh, and they can use magic! The Alphagarm (calling it the Alpha Wolgarm in her head every time was getting tiring) had been using earth magic, Earth! Magic! To blast the ground directly behind it while it was running. Sending shrapnels of rocks and dirt towards Rem while also destroying her footing.

Normally, tactics of this level would not be difficult for her to counter. She could’ve just casted a Huma spell and spear the Alphagarm with sharp ice. But alas, nothing about this situation she was in is normal, as the beast was dangling the children it kidnapped on it’s tail high in the air in front of her, preventing her from taking any ranged offensive options lest she maims them by accident.

A witch beast that has enough forethought to kidnap and use hostages, can cast magic, and is smart enough to utilize stalling tactics slow their pursuers down. What joy. Rem blames the cultist for this. Everything started going wrong when he showed up in the mansion.

Natsuki Subaru.

A strange name, wearing strange clothes, has strange proportions, says strange things and is a generally strange person. Rem would’ve thought he was charming, in a way, if not for the fact that he was smelled evil. He smelled of someone who worships the silver haired half-devil herself. A monster by any and every metric.

... But was he?

Please, don’t die. He had practically begged her.

At first, she thought he just wanted to separate with her to catch her deeper in the forest, where hiding her body would be easier, while he positions himself more favoribly to dispose of her in a way that left no evidence. It was the kind of heinous, meticulous scheming that evil monsters would do.

But the inconsistencies began to pile up. And she is finding them harder and harder to ignore.

May the spirits protect you. A reverent prayer for her protection.

Please, don’t die. A plea for her safety.

The way her path toward the Alphagarm is no longer blocked by lesser Wolgarms. So she is free to pursue it without obstacles.

All his words and actions benefitted her in this situation, and he was the first to act when the children were kidnapped. Why take the risk of staging their kidnapping at all? To earn the villagers trust? With his spirit arts, he could just make witch beast show itself and soundly defeat it after. Besides, what benefit would the villager’s trust be for him, if he truly were a cultist? If he wanted them dead he could have just killed them with spirit arts?

Even back in the mansion,

The palpable fear of her that night she caught him alone. Almost as if he was already a victim of a similar bloodlust before.

The abrasive defensiveness he displayed to her and her sister afterward. Like he was protecting himself from their judgement and animosity. A familiarity with accusations of being evil.

Those were not the emotions and actions of a spy, they were the emotions and actions of a falsely accused innocent. One who was preparing to protect themselves from the same accusations again...

More importantly, was the spirits reverence of him. It is common knowledge that spirits are childishly innocent creatures, and a trait they desire most in mortals is innocence in return. Like begets like, after all. And if the spirits liked him as much as they showed...

Maybe, just maybe she was wro-

No! She thought. Don’t fall for it! This was a part of his ploy!

To destroy them! To hurt them! To hurt nee-sama!

She will not allow it.

No, Subaru-ku- the cultist will not take from them! From her! From nee-sama!

The chase stopped, and she took stock of their current location.

They were on top of a cliff. One that had spiked rocks at the bottom. The Alphagarm was at the cliffside, while she was farther inside, the safer position in the situation.

The Alphagarm turned to face her. It’s back now against the edge of the cliff. No escape routes.

Cornered. She realized, and grinned ferally. About time something went her way.

Then, once more, the unthinkable happened. It dangled it’s tail at the end of the cliff. A grin on it’s despicable face.

The same tail that had children wrapped around it. And she realized too late that nothing went her way at all.

The slimy little monster baited her to the location using the children. Now it uses them as leverage in a hostage situation. She’s the one who was cornered. Completely outmaneuvered. By an animal at that!

She grit her teeth in frustration. Body drenched in sweat from the intense cardio and situational stress. Rem has two options now. Sacrifice the children and defeat the Alphagarm safely, or take a gamble and possibly (definitely, whispered her traitorous mind) fail at both.

The only saving grace in this situation was that both the children are unconscious. So she won’t have to look them in the eye as she kills them to save herself, if she even chooses to do so. you definitely will. No, you already did. Why bother pretending to debate it? Once more, you fail at saving others, fail at protecting them. Useful to absolutely nobody. Why are you even alive. The voice in her head that said those venomous words sounded just like nee-sama. How fitting, that she be judged by her sister for her biggest folly since that night.

Rem should just die. Yes, of course.

That was the truth, she should’ve been the one to perish all those years ago. But she was spared, and the price was not worth it.

Therefore...

If it’s to save these innocent children...

It’s fine if she dies here.

... Right?

Her death will at least serve a purpose.

It will be heroic, even. A sacrifice to save those who deserved better. Surely nee-sama would approve. She would applaud her, even.

It’s what she should’ve done, all those years ago. Had she not been a coward.

She brandishes her morningstar. And charges forward.

Forward unto death.

The wicked beast grinswider, as if it expected her decision, was counting on it, and once more she realized she was manipulated. Guided into premature action. She realized too late, as always.

The tail loosens its hold, and the children fall. Their death now a certainty, inevitable.

Rem despairs. She truly is a failure. But she could not stop. She would at least avenge them. It was all she could do. So she simply does. Her morningstar speeds forward, crashing into the beasts head and pulverizes it upon impact. Her vengeance achieved. The childrens deaths, answered for.

Or it would have.

Had the beast not killed the morningstar’s momentum by intercepting it with earth magic.

She didn’t know if she wanted to laugh, cry, or just scream. Her cry for vengeance unanswered. Because of course she failed at even that.

She just slumps onto her knees, strength leaving her body. Her eyes close. She doesn’t even want to bother anymore.

She could not save the children.

She could not even avenge them afterward.

She should just keel over and accept her fate...

But then...

“Whew, glad we made it. I was almost afraid we were too late when the kids got dropped.” A familiar boy’s voice spoke in a relaxed, easy-going tone.

“Not tOo LaTe, RiGHt oN tIMe! SaVEd the daY!” Another, feminine voice she didn’t recognize seemed to echo his sentiments. Melodious but unnatural, like it was emitted instead of spoken.

“Not yet, my dear Elysia-tan. We still have a big doggo to pack up.”

“BiG DoGgo! PacK uP!”

Rem opens her eyes, and what she saw awed her.

The culti-Subaru-kun. Floating high in the air behind the Alphagarm, his hair billowing in all directions wildly with the six-colored mana enveloping his body. Directly next to his head, floating lazily on his right shoulder, a ball of light that glowed in the same six-colored hue as the boy. A spirit? But why the odd appearance? And those colors...

“Su-Subaru-kun?...”

“Hey, Rem. Not looking too spicy there. Don’t worry about the kids. They’re safe at the cliff bottom with Ram.” He gave her the same easy-going smile that had her silently fuming just before. But left a different kind of knot in her gut, this time around.

“Wh-what...?”

“Cat got your tongue? Can’t blame you. I’m alil overwhelmed myself, see. I’ll share the deets later though. Gotta get rid of the bossgarm first.” His voice conveyed absolute confidence, as if victory was inevitable. It was incredible, awe-inspiring. Rem would daresay it was attractive, or maybe that was just the blood rushing up her head.

The Alphagarm turns to face him. Fangs bared, eyes blazing with hate. A low growl escapes the gaps between its teeth. A promise of death and suffering toward the boy that smelled of envy and ruined its plan. How dare he, it seemed to ask with its eyes.

The boy, who was all smiles and confidence, immediately silenced himself and stares down the Alphagarm.

“I’m on a time limit here. So let’s wrap this up quickly, yeah?”

“nO gAmES, jUst paIN.”

With that declaration, the duo dispensed judgement down on the Alphagarm. A single arrow of light that glowed in the same rainbow of colors as the spirit did manifested in the air in front of her contractor, and promptly released like a lightning bolt from heavens as he flicked his right wrist forward. The beast tried to deflect it the same way it deflected Rem’s morningstar, but to no avail. The arrow hits it square in the head, spearing it completely and passing straight through it’s body due to the trajectory it flew from, the six colored light vaporized everything it came into contact with, before disappearing as it hit the ground. And thus the alphagarm was vanquished. An anticlimactic end to the beast that caused her so much grief.

“...” Rem could only stare slack-jawed.

Then she remembered who exactly just saved her.

Subaru-ku-The cultist.

Her first instinct was to relax, to convince herself that the worst was over. That the situation was contained. The incident was resolved.

But her mind refuses to acknowledge her initial instinct. Why?

Because she caught a whiff of his witch scent. And her mind immediately descended into fight-or-flight, despite the exhaustion threatening to collapse her.

Her face twisted, and he noticed the shift in the air, as his shoulders tensed slightly. His spirit glowed brighter in response to his caution.

“... Seriously, Rem? Even this doesn’t convince you I’m not an enemy?” He says with an exasperated sigh. His right hand massaging his temple to quell an imaginary headache.

She did not answer, opting to shakily stand up and take a battle stance instead, brandishing her morningstar. A pinkish purple horn manifested on her forehead, a silent declaration of battle. A promise to her enemy that only one of them is walking out of this conflict alive.

“Fine then, if words and actions won’t cut it, I’ll just beat you down, without killing you, of course.”

“nO KillInG. wHy NoT?”

“To prove a point. And Ram would be mad”

“RaM, ScaRy! BuT SiA wiLl PrOtEcT bArU!”

“D’awww, you’re the greatest! And Ram really is scary, huh? And Baru? Well, I don’t hate nicknames, and Sia is a cute one so I’ll stick with that, I’m counting on you Sia-tan!”

“PrOof of CloSeNeSs! YaY” She glowed brighter while vibrating from her perch. Her voice emitting palpable joy at the idea of having a nickname.

A cold, angry voice cuts through their conversation, the light atmosphere evaporates and tensions resumed. Rem was livid at being underestimated. At the same time, fear clawed up her spine, his once pathetic figure now an imposing silhouette, floating with deceptive nonchalance above her as it glowed with six-colored mana like an angel of judgement. Looking down on her as if she was just a minor inconvenience to him now.

“Big talk for the coward that was trembling at the sight of Rem just last night, Subaru-kun.” The way she said his name was sickly sweet, but at the same time, thick with sarcasm.

“Right back at you, Rem. Not so big and scary anymore from where I’m looking.” He replied. Saying her name with the same fake honey and caustic sarcasm she called his.

Sharp, scary eyes now hardened with intent to fight. Sweat beads down her her face.

The boy descends onto the ground right where the vaporized Alphagarm once stood. His left hand in his pocket. His right arm raised and made a ‘come at me’ gesture to her with his fingers.

“Let’s do this already, It’s already evening and I haven’t had lunch. I’m starving.”

“StaRvInG!”

“Yes, lets. Rem will enjoy tearing you limb for limb, cultist.” Dropping her facade entirely, she spins her morningstar above her head in preparation for a throw. Her eyes glow with rage and madness, already starting to lose her sanity to the mania caused by her horn.

“Sure, I hope you’re good at cooking while disabled, because I sure as hell am not eating anything made by Ram.” He replied. His stance completely relaxed, save for his tense shoulders. That annoying easy-going smirk still plastered on his nasty face.

“Ghh! You...!” How is he so casual? Is Rem really that small to him now!? This shall not stand!

“I’ll KILL you! NATSUKI SUBARU!” She declares with rage. Angrier than she has ever been since that night.

And he just continues to smirk at her, his spirit still floating lazily next to him. “Bring it!” A union of two voices, the spirit and contractor spoke as one.

She obliges.

And the final battle of the day begins. The cultist versus the ogre.

________________________________________________________________________________

Whoosh! A chained, spiked ball flew towards Subaru. Promising an ugly death if it ever touched him.

And touch him, it did not. For it was was blown back by an invisible wall.

A multi-colored barrier enveloped his form. Like a thin curtain that separated him from the rest of the world. Promising him a sanctuary from anything and everything that would hurt him. Elysia’s silent declaration of his protection.

The ball flew towards him again, then it was stopped, again. Then ice spears started flying toward him. They were about as effective as the ball was at hitting him, that is to say, not at all. A scream of rage was released from the ogre’s throat. Why won’t you die! it seemed to ask. He responded with passive silence, just eyeing her as if enjoying the evening breeze while staring at a particularly interesting insect on the grass. No fear, no worry. Completely trusting his moth-shaped guardian with his life.

I haven’t felt this good since... Ever? Is this how being strong feels like? Am I a certified Badass with a capital B now? In his head, Natsuki Subaru was having the time of his life. He felt like he could do anything. The link between him and Elysia, a source of comfort and confidence. Stimying any fear or anxiety he would’ve otherwise felt in this situation.

At first, he was worried about how to cast spirit arts. He knew the broad strokes because Puck already explained it the day before. Imagine gathering mana from the air, then imagine the shape and effects of the spell, the more vivid the better, then push that image through Elysia’s gate. Sounds simple, too simple. So there had to be caveats, right?

Nope.

It really was as simple as it sounded. At least it was to him. He imagined an arrow loosely based off light spears from one of his harem slop light novels back home. And it appeared exactly like how imagined it. He imagined flight, and he flew exactly like how he envisioned. He imagined stopping the children’s fall with a cushion of buoyant wind, and that cushion appeared exactly where and when he wanted it to, stopping their momentum the same way. It was as if he was playing a game on god mode. Nothing can hurt him, and he can do everything. His imagination being his only limit. The sense of omnipotence was intoxicating.

Enter Rem.

The psychotic, uninhibited, mess of a human being (Ogre, but we don’t really care about details) that wanted him dead just because. It was hard to stop his indignation, his justified rage, from flaring up. Harder still to not give in to temptation and just vaporize her the way he did to the Bossgarm. He starts recalling all her previous transgressions while eyeing her in a bored manner from behind his barrier.

He remembers the sensation of something sharp and heavy hitting him in the torso while he was vomitting and dying from sickness. His severed arm staring back at him from the lamp on the hallway ceiling. The sound of chains promising him an agonizing end.

He remembers how she tortured him for hours for a sin he never committed. Calling him derogatory names, accusing him of the most ridiculous conspiracy theories while half-assedly healing the injuries she inflicted on him just enough to not let him die from them. He remembers the sensation of her morningstar tearing through his body and limbs, slowly, as if savoring the chance to do so. He remembers the palpable joy she radiated while brutalizing him, transparently disguising her sadistic amusement as indignant rage.

He remembers yesterday night. The now familiar glint in her eyes and the way her hands tried to reach under her skirt for her morningstar when he was alone with her in that dark hallway, similar to their situation the first time she killed him.

Oh yes, so hard.

Because now here she was, trying to kill him again. Immediately after he saved her life, too. Really, why did he even bother? Maybe he should just kill her or, barring that, break her horn and be done with it...

Oh right, Ram.

So here he was, on Ram’s behalf. Actively trying not to maim his attacker. But it was so tempting...

Ram had briefly explained their circumstances on their way here. It felt like she knew he had the perfect excuse to act on his bottled aggression, and was hoping to put out any fires before they started, trying to garner pity from him to stop him from doing something permanent. At least, that’s what it felt like to him.

Twins were a bad omen in ogre culture. Rem was the inferior twin they wanted to kill but couldn’t, so Rem lived her whole life an outcast among her people, even her own flesh and blood. Cultists attacked and eradicated their whole clan. They broke Rams horn, which she believed Rem blames herself for. Yadda yadda yadda.

The only thoughts that came to Subaru’s mind after hearing their tragic backstory was...

And?

So what?

He empathized. He really, truly did. But their situation justified none of her aggression towards him, even less the actions she took to address her aggression. Just because he now understood where she was coming from doesn’t make her actions any more forgivable. Because they weren’t. Not at all.

He might’ve found the capacity for forgiveness in his heart, in another life. An unthinkable present, where she would choose to endanger her life for his sake, after he put his own on the line for hers. But here? In a world where that never happened? After experiencing affection that wasn’t transactional, that was not given to him simply because he did something favorable for them?

No!

He can’t forgive. Not yet. Not until she pays her back a fraction of the pain and grief she caused him!

And if Ram had any objections, she can come up to his face and say it.

It’s not like he was going to do anything permanent.

After all,

Rem’s a good healer.

Then the purification ritual started.

Such is the name of a concept from his homeland, something he read about in a yankee manga. A way to dispense all your negative emotions toward someone by causing them bodily harm. Typically, it involved punching each other while screaming their feelings out until all the aggression leaves their body tired, whereby catharsis from exertion and delirium from pain would allow them to not leave behind any hate left for the person they were facing.

Subaru felt queasy at the thought of taking a swing at a girl, even one as despicable as Rem, so he decided to go with old reliable and prepared his trusty spirit arts instead. Over-reliance on spirit arts is going to bite me in the ass at some point, he thought absentmindedly.

He opted to go for the simple option. Blunt force trauma, strong enough to cause concussions, swellings and internal bleeding, but not strong enough to break bones. He imagined an invisible fist moving toward Rem with intent to harm in such a way, he imagined them breaking Rem’s body, slowly. From the edges of her limbs, the fists would travel every inch of her body straight toward the center, then they would hit her again, repeatedly, at her physical weakpoints with enough strength to cause her to puke. He imagined all of this, then pushed that image outward with a small flick of his right arm, his left still casually tucked in his pocket, manifesting the phenomenon into reality via Elysia’s gate. As always, the image manifested true.

Four rainbow colored fists of solidified mana appeared in front of him, with a mental command from their caster, they flew towards Rem like blunted arrows from a vengeful wraith. A desire to inflict pain evident in their motion.

In her delirious and half-maddened state, Rem did not have the mental clarity to think that, yes, she probably should dodge those glowing fists gunning straight for her. Like the berserker that she currently was, she opted to tank them instead.

Big mistake.

Her entire body was bludgeoned by said fists from the extremes to the center, they travelled methodically at first, then the magical fists randomly swung at her again, and again, and again, and again. Her eyes, throat, ribs, guts, thighs, directly under her armpits, all the soft points of her body, the ones that would hurt the most when struck, were repeatedly hit with enough force to damage, but just enough restraint for it to not be permanent, all while carefully avoiding hitting her horn. A testament to both the boy’s rage, and his self-control.

She endured it for almost a full minute, unable to do anything else, too stunned to even process a thought. Not that she would’ve been able to anyway, being in berserker mode and all. Even as she vomitted spit out of her mouth, face twisted in agony as she endured the seemingly endless torrent of pain, she continues to glare at Subaru, the light in her eyes never went out. The mania in them just refuses to disappear despite the beating she was taking. You gotta respect it, he thought.

Over the thirty second mark, the onslaught slowed before fully stopping. Elysia losing steam due to casting the spell for as long as she did. He pushed a silent thought to her, Whoops, yeah, thats enough girl, she’s out for the count, sorry making you work so hard.

Baru is satisfied, so Sia is also satisfied! Blue meanie deserved it!

Heheh, yeah she sure did... wait, you sound different in telepathy, less staticky... no, you sound in telepathy! You sound in general! Since when could you talk?

Since Sia got her name, so ten minutes ago! Ehen~, oh dearie she’s cute.

You are the most adorable little angel I’ve had the pleasure of meeting, that didn’t render him unconscious after pranking him with neverending corridors straight out of a horror movie before she even met him face to face.

Subaru could feel her joy coming out in waves from where she was perched on his shoulder. Her glow becoming dimmer in abashed, but extremely pleased, embarassment. So, so CUTE! It was actually similar to how Emilia got when he teased her, huh, EMT indeed.

The purification ritual was complete. Though in hindsight, he didn’t feel all that refreshed, however, as resentment still lingered. Alot of it. Maybe some choice of words said to her after she wakes up would hel-

“G-hrrrk... koff, koff, hnngh! Hhngh!” A puke, then some coughs, followed by dry heaving.

Rem was still very conscious. Crumpled on the floor like dirty cloth, sure, but still. Conscious.

Oh, and still very pissed, possibly pissed-er. If that brighter, deeper glow in her horn was any indication.

Uh-oh, I’m in deep shit.

Deep shit! Deep shit!

No swearing! Good girls don’t swear!

Uuuu... Okie... Sowwie...

Gah! Muh heart...

Ehehe~

He hopes she fully manifests a physical form soon, because this adorable little thing was due many hugs, headpats, (platonic) kisses and dare he say cuddles!?

Not the time to get distracted, me. What’s the plan here? Sia’s exhausted, heck I’m exhausted. Can’t she just drop already?

“You... hrk... will not... ughh... defeat Rem. Will n-not-gah... harm Onee-chan!” Even bruised, battered, exhausted and eating dirt on the cold, hard ground, she’s still going strong. You really gotta respect it. He reiterated.

If only that determination didn’t come with an indomitable intent to cave his skull in, he’d respect it a little more.

As Rem slowly made her way up to her feet. Shaking, coughing, and drooling from pain and delirium...

As Subaru enters a battle stance, internally panicking due to having no options left to defend himself...

“Thats enough! Both of you!” An authorative voice calls out sternly.

Ram comes out from the trees behind them, the children, Petra and Lucas, he noted, now conscious and trailing behind her. Afraid and anxious while looking at the situation in front of them.

“O-onee-chan...” Rem calls out weakly, her horn dissipating “Stay b-koff-back, R-rem w-will... koff... handle the cultist... s-so...”

“Enough already, Rem! Ram already told you there is no cultist! Please just stop it already! The fight is over! The Wolgarms are defeated! It is done!”, then quieter, barely a whisper, Ram pleads “Let’s just go home... please...”

“...” Everyone is silent. The children, due to fear and confusion at the situation. Subaru and Elysia, due to shock, because never would they have expected Ram to sound so desperate. To plead the way she did.

Then, “U-uaaa...” Rem started crying.

“Snff-hnngh... uuaaaaaaa” loudly, at that.

Any animosity Subaru felt for her died there and then. Watching her bawl her eyes out after her sister begged her to just stop fighting. It was... complicated? On one hand, it was just sad how the scary, imposing ogre was reduced to a crying little girl, on the other...

‘Will n-not-gah... harm Onee-chan!’ A strong desire to protect her sister, empowering her nigh inhuman will to fight to the bitter end.

He recalls her history, where she was the inferior twin who harbored a secret resentment of her superior sister. It hit close to home, far too close, for he harbored a similar resentment for his father. He decided at the time that he didn’t care. That it justified nothing. But in reality, he couldn’t help but empathize with her issues.

Could you really blame her for being unstable, after all that?, he found that he couldn’t. Not at all. But all the same, he couldn’t forgive her either. A complicated, contradictory mess of emotions churned in his gut. A deep empathy for the ogre’s plight, desire to forgive, remembrance of inflicted pain all fought for dominance within him, and he can’t decide on which emotion to focus on... As he was torn between empathy, forgiveness and resentment, another voice spoke within his mind. Dragging him out of his spiraling confusion.

Baru...?

Hey, Sia... What should I do...? Do I forgive her, or punish her?

Baru already knows what to do! He doesn’t need to ask Sia!

Huh, I already do, don’t I? Well, aight then.

He raises his head, and meets eyes with Ram, whose stare seemed to be asking him for permission for something.

He just gives her a half-smile and a lazy shrug. In the first place, what to ‘do’ with Rem was never his decision to make. His retribution was achieved, she was no longer his problem to deal with. That job was left to her older sister, who should’ve been the one to clean up after her kid sister’s mistakes, anyway.

I’m done, the rest is yours to handle, he conveyed with his eyes, and promptly sat down cross-legged, waiting for Ram’s next move.

She walks toward Rem. Her dear, precious, little sister. Kneeled down next to her, and swooped her into a tight bear hug.

And then...

“Uuuu...” Silently, her stern mask broke, and she started bawling loudly along with her sister. Who’s own crying renewed with fervor at her sister’s tears.

The kids, not only confused by the situation, but also overwhelmed by the mood, started crying as well. Running up to Subaru and collapsing into his lap as he wraps his arms protectively around them.

As the sun went down, lower and lower, everyone around him and his partner kept crying and crying. Expelling all their grief, pain and confusion along with their tears.

The shaman, if you could even call the bossgarm that, was defeated, the ogre pacified, his desire for retribution answered for, everyone was safe.

The boy himself just sat where he was, silently staring at the sky, surrounded by trees and crying children. The stars becoming more and more visible as the day got darker and darker.

Oh boy...

What a day, huh?

Chapter Text

Two words,

Emotional. Overload.

Imagine a whole day of having your emotions switching from one extreme to another.

Paranoia.

Shame.

Fear.

Rage.

Despair.

Constantly swinging from one emotional state to another causes extreme mental stress to a person. Especially those of whom are not particularly resilient of mind.

Add in physical exhaustion on top of all of that?

The result would be total loss of all emotional inhibition.

At least, that was the excuse Rem had used for what she did yesterday evening.

No, not the attempted murder of a supposed innocent. What she did after that.

The utterly shameless, childish, frantic crying she did, right in front of her own sister. To display such an undignified appearance to nee-sama of all people!

She cried so hard she passed out right in the middle of the forest. Apparently the cul-Subaru-kun, his name was Natsuki Subaru-kun, volunteered to carry her back, out of consideration for nee-sama’s equally exhausted emotional state.

They dropped the children back to the village and bee-lined straight for the mansion, requesting any interrogation about the situation be made the following day once everyone involved was well rested and calmed down.

She says they ‘apparently’ did so because she was not awake to witness any of it. Being so exhausted she slept straight through everything until the sun was fully up the following morning. The only reason she woke up at all was because of how obnoxiously bright the sun was being.

By the time she was ready for the day, fully dressed and all, everyone was already gathered at the dining hall. Discussing the postmortem report of what Subaru-kun dubbed ‘The Wolgarm Incident’. So she announced her presence with a polite knock on the door and took a seat next to her sister on the dining table. She adamantly refused to meet anyone’s eyes. Not after her display yesterday.

Roswaal-sama nodded to Subaru-kun, signalling him to continue with what he was saying. “-and that was when I... well I don’t exact understand what happened, really. The spirits... fused? Into one and that one spirit accepted my contract.”, he fidgeted with his new necklace, more specifically, with a diamond shaped, amethyst colored Mana Stone attached to said necklace, resting just below where his collarbone was. “Come out, Sia-tan.”

At his call, the core of the crystal glowed a now familiar hue of six-colored mana, and from within the voice of said spirit could be heard. “H-hello... Sia is Elysia, Baru’s spirit.”, she introduced herself shyly.

Rem, wary when the stone started glowing, could only blink owlishly at the hesitance. Where was the enthusiasm? that energy she displayed while fighting yesterday?

As if sensing her question, Subaru-kun spoke up, a teasing glint in his voice. “Turns out, my little Sia-tan is shy around crowds.”

“Uuuu...” came the spirits dejected voice. Subaru-kun started swooning. Something about how his spirit is an ‘adorable angel’ and he ‘can’t wait for her to manifest a full form’. Rem should learn how to tune him out when he goes on a tangent like that. He does it alot.

“Subaru, you’re being silly again. We’re having a serious meeting here.” came Emilia-sama’s gentle scolding. She really should be more stern with him.

“R-right, Emilia-tan. Thanks again for the Mana Stone. Moving on, ahem.”

“Sia-tan accepted my request for a contract, then we used spirit arts to set the demon dogs-”

“Wolgarms, in fact.”

“­demon dogs, on fire.”

“Actually, I~ have a question about that, Su~baru-kun”, came from Roswaal-sama. He leaned back against his chair and posed the same question Rem had wanted to ask. “Am I to be~lieve that you managed to set all the Wolgarms, and only them, on fire with a Goa spell, simultaneously, might I add, without any practice on how to conjure spirit arts beforehand?” The question came without his usual singsong speak, revealing only his yellow eye to glare piercingly at Subaru-kun.

“W-well when you put it like that...”

“Actually, Ram can testify to that statement. She saw the whole thing.”, nee-sama spoke up.

“And I might have an answer as to why, too.” came from the talking cat perched on Emilia-sama’s head. Doesn’t he usually sit with Beatrice-sama? Are they quarrelling about something? How odd...

“Oh? Do~ go on then, Ra~m.”

“Yes, Roswaal-sama. Yesterday morning as we were doing our morning chores, several spirits would frequent Barusu’s location and assist him with his without any input from Barusu himself, suggesting a level of spirit affinity that is very likely the highest ever discovered in a mortal, ever, surpassing the sword saint himself.”

Everyone’s eyes widened at this. Beatrice-sama pointedly glared at the boy. “As unlikely as it sounds, it is the truth, I suppose. Betty can accept that the brat’s spirit affinity is the highest she’s ever seen. She can also attest to the lessers appearing around the mansion, as she picked up on their presence when they showed, in fact.”

“Don’t praise me too much, it’ll get to my head.” and there he was, being annoying again.

“And you, Pu~ck?” Roswaal-sama beckoned.

“Mhm, so you see how Subaru’s kid-”, an irritated ‘tch’ from came from... Beatrice-sama? Strange... “-glows in all six colors of mana? My guess is that she has full compatibility with every element, so she has less ‘resistance’ when pushing mana out of her gate.”

“Sensei!” Subaru-kun raised his hand.

“Yes, yes. Remember how I mentioned last time a spirit can channel multiple elements, but is most comfortable with what they were born with? If a spirit is not compatible with an element, the spell can fail to form while still inside the caster’s Od at best, or misfire when it is pushed out of the gate at worst.”

“So, what you’re saying is...”

“You were really lucky to have a spirit like Elysia contracted to you while casting fire magic so carelessly. If it were, say, a normal lesser wind or earth spirit? The spell would’ve imploded and you’d be a charred corpse on the forest floor right now, assuming the Wolgarms didn’t pick you clean, that is.”

“Scary!”

“Uwaa!”

The contractor and spirit duo yelped at the same time. Why is the spirit surprised? Shouldn’t beings of mana know these things by instinct? Another oddity concerning this strange, unique, spirit.

“I have a few questions I need to ask regarding the kid-”, “Betty as well, I suppose.”, “-but it can wait until after the report. Go on.”

“Right, so after we took out the Wolgarms, me and Ram-”

“Ram and I, I suppose.”

“Me and Ram, if you’d stop interrupting me, Beako? Thank you. Made our way to where Rem was, we managed to locate her thanks to Ram’s synesthesia and got there just in time to catch the kids as they fell off the cliff.

Sia-tan and I flew up the cliff, took out the bossgarm, don’t interrupt me, and squared up with Rem when we noticed she was hostile.” Beatrice-sama pouted at being cut off before she could correct his term for the Wolgarm Alpha. Rem would find it funny, if she weren’t being scrutinized by the entire room when Subaru-kun finished speaking.

“...” She could also feel the glare the spirit inside the amethyst stone was giving her. A chill crawled up her spine.

“Won~derful work. Rem? Might I hear your side o~f the story?” Roswaal-sama asked while looking straight at her. She fidgeted uncomfortably but felt nee-sama grabbing her hand from underneath the table, a silent show of support. Calmer now, she spoke.

“After separating from Subaru-kun, Rem went on to chase the alpha through the forest. She would have intercepted it with magic. However, this witch beast was uniquely capable of strategy, both short and long term. It used the children it had kidnapped as shields to prevent Rem’s ranged assault, while also destroying her footing and damaging her with earth magic.

By the time she had caught up to it. We were already on the cliff, Rem had figured it made a mistake and ran itself into a corner. Then she realized that the beast had lured her into this specific location, to use the children against her by making her choose between their lives and the beast’s death...”

“An~d you chose to sacrifice the chil~dren?” the amusement in the Margrave’s voice was unsettling, considering how his own maid staff would have let children die to save her own life.

Subaru-kun apparently agreed.

“What the hell is with that reaction, Roswaal!? Children’s lives were at stake and here you are laughing about it!?”

“Now, no~w. No need to shout, Su~baru-kun. The situation was re~solved without anyone perishing. I believe some amusement is wa~rranted. Considering how mira~culous this outcome is.”

“Barusu, that’s enough. Roswaal-sama is the lord of this manor, and while you are under his employ, Ram will not allow you to act beyond your station.” came the stern warning from nee-sama.

“Tch... whatever.” Subaru-kun replied grumpily.

“Rem...? Why were you.... hostile... with Subaru?” asked Emilia-sama, her voice soft and hesitant.

“...”

“Subaru is a good boy, Rem. Sure he’s strange and loud. I can see why you’d find him annoying...”

“Oof. My poor, fragile, heart.”

“Sia can heal Baru’s heart!”

“Not the time, Barusu, Elysia-sama.”

“But he’s not evil, Rem. So why? W-why w-would you try to... snff... k-k-kill him?” Oh dear, her voice was shaking, and she sounded like she was about to cry...

Rem steadied herself, what she was about to say may just damn the candidate’s relationship with her butler, her first real friend, forever...

If he really were innocent, that is.

“Because, Emilia-sama, he reeks of the witch’s scent.”

And the room descended into a silence so absolute, you can hear a certain butler’s heartbeat growing faster and faster.

.

.

.

“Yeah... about that...”

Subaru-kun began.

________________________________________________________________________________

To say Emilia was conflicted about the sudden revelation would be a gross understatement.

He reeks of the witch’s scent.

It makes perfect sense and absolutely no sense at the same time.

He was kind to her. Kind to her! A silver haired half-elf. The half-devil herself.

It made perfect sense.

Because he’s a witch cultist.

At the same time...

He was kind to everyone.

Rom, Felt, Reinhard back in the capital.

Everyone in the mansion. The villagers of Arlam.

It made no sense.

If he really were a witch cultist.

While she was mulling indecisively about this new piece of information, Subaru spoke up.

“Yeah... about that...” He began uncertainly.

“I really have no idea why I have this... ‘witch’s scent‘? Either. My family were secular for generations. We didn’t worship a single god back home, let alone a witch of all things.”

‘Hmmmm, nothing about his emotions indicates he’s lying. I doubt he’s good enough an actor to hide his emotional state to that extent from what I’ve seen from him.’ Puck said to her telepathically.

‘...’, Emilia was a mess, she couldn’t form a single opinion.

‘I don’t know what to believe, Puck. Is Subaru really a villain?’

‘Whether he’s a villain or not is up to you to decide. Whatever it is you choose, I will always be with you. I’m your spirit!’ , He reassured her. She was truly lucky to have a reliable, supportive spirit like him as her father.

Gathering her courage, she asked the boy, “Subaru... Can you answer me truthfully?”

“Of course! Ask me anything Emilia-tan! Any question of yours I will answer with absolute sincerity!”, Subaru loudly exclaimed, striking another one of his really~ strange poses. He’s always so loud and enthusiastic and plain silly. It’s honestly a little tiring at times...

There he goes, distracting her with his silliness again. He really~ should stop. She needed to be serious here. Resisting the urge to giggle at his overly dramatic behavior, she recomposed herself and asked, “Why did you save me in the capital? And how did you know I needed help?”

“...”, anything but that, apparently, her mind quipped at her.

“Please, Subaru... I need to know, are you truly an ally I can trust? Or are you a villain pretending to be one?”, she was getting desperate. Because how could she trust him, if he won’t tell her anything? No matter how much she wanted to have faith in him, she can’t trust people who keep secrets from her.

At the pleading sound of her voice, his entire demeanor changed. More focused, more serious. Like he was a different person now. It was jarring how he could shift his whole personality like that...

“...”, He was silent for awhile, contemplating something in his mind, and then, after what felt like minutes, he spoke.

“You don’t remember this, Emilia, but you saved my life, once upon a time.” He said quietly, foregoing his nickname for her in an act of sincerity, like he promised. It made her happy. The way he responded to her seriously like that made her stomach drop, and her heart full.

Yet, the words he spoke made no sense.

When exactly did that happen? She’d remember meeting someone as hands-noticeable, noticeable! As him more than once.

But she couldn’t doubt the truth of his words. Not when he looked so, so sad about the fact that she didn’t remember saving him. His eyes were tired and dry, like he’d emptied them of their tears already. It broke her heart, seeing someone as jovial as Subaru look so melancholic. So defeated.

“Heh, I knew you wouldn’t remember, but I held out hope that you, at least would... Oh well... I guess it’s pointless now”, Oh hello, deep, crushing, guilt. I haven’t seen you since I left the forest last year.

“Anyway, I felt indebted to you for that little event. I got here with nothing, you see. Had nothing, am-was nothing. But you chose to save my life anyway, even though you could’ve done literally anything else with your time instead. That’s why I saved you.”

“As for how I knew... I saw the ice spears you shot out at Felt in the plaza. Did some snooping and found out she stole something from you. I figured it’d be the perfect way to repay my debt, now here we are.”

He smiled at her, it wasn’t the loud, stretched out smile that was full of teeth he always had when they were together. It was soft. It was small. His lips barely quirked upwards, his sharp, yet unbelievably soft eyes sparkled with something she couldn’t identify, and it made her stomach twist in so many knots and burn as if it was on fire at the same time.

She blushed a deep, deep crimson all the way up to her ears, even her shoulders, exposed from the windows in her dress, were red. For some reason she felt extreme~ly embarassed. Yet she couldn’t look away from his eyes, completely enchanted.

Her whole face felt really~ hot.

Her stomach was strangely warm as well.

Maybe I’m coming down with a sickness or something?

________________________________________________________________________________

It would’ve been so easy, Subaru thought, to just lie to her.

He wanted to. He really wanted to. He wanted to say something charming, something charismatic, that he just saw a beautiful damsel and felt like he should lend a hand, or that it was fate that had brought him there to her coincidentally. To distract everyone from this serious mood by being the stupid clown like he always did.

But he couldn’t.

Not when her beautiful eyes looked so damp, so close to breaking into ugly tears.

Not when her gorgeous shoulders were shaking like a leaf.

Not when her melodic voice cracked the way it did.

He wasn’t even sure if he could tell her the truth, knowing what happened the last time he tried to reveal Return By Death.

Maybe he couldn’t reveal the whole truth, but he still had to at least try.

She asked for his sincerity.

He would give it.

No matter what.

Because he needed to set a good example, be a proper adult. To Elysia. Some instinct was telling him to do so.

So he sang a song of sincerity, of truth, even if it costed his image, the image of a mysterious hero from another world, and his unearned pride, stubborn and unsubstantiated as it was.

And boy was he glad he did.

Because that look on her face as their eyes met was absolutely worth it. It was worth every single death in the mansion to see her smile at him, at him! Like that.

He didn’t know what expression he had on his face, but whatever it was made her go completely red down to her shoulders!

As he was basking in her shy embarassment, their eyes never leaving each other...

“If the two of you are done making vulgar eye contact with each other?” a certain pink bastard just had to interrupt!

“Waa!”, both of them yelped, startled.

“How utterly shameless, Subaru-kun, to completely ignore your stature as a butler and flirt with your lady of all people.”, the blue variant of the pink bastard played along with her sister.

“S-s-stop it Rem, we w-weren’t f-fl-fli-flir-that.”

“Yes, yes, Emilia-sama, Rem completely believes you.”, she really didn’t.

“Geez.”, Emilia-tan didn’t think so, either. Ah~ so cute! EMT!

EMT!, Sia-tan parroted telepathically. Adorbs.

“Can we get back on topic? In fact. Betty doesn’t want to waste any more precious time with you lot than absolutely necessary, I suppose.”

“R-right. We should move on.”, Subaru agreed.

“Old Butterfly Lady is being mean! Baru was having fun with Lia!”, Sia defended her contractor’s shamelessness.

“WHAT did you just call Betty, in fact? You stupid, incorrigble brat!”, Beako yelled as started conjuring wind around her in her rage.

Puck, the champ that he is, tried to prevent the inevitable, what a man you are, “Betty! Calm down! You’ll trash the whole room! With us still in it! Betty~!”

As everyone was panicking at the ensuing epic battle between spirits...

“Haah...”, Subaru realized rather belatedly, that this was going to a long, long, meeting.

________________________________________________________________________________

“-Then Ram started crying too, and I didn’t have the heart to keep fighting anyone in that state. The kids finally got overwhelmed and started bawling themselves so we just... cut it short, there and then. We sort of just sat there until everyone stopped crying. Then we dropped off the kids and went home.”, the brat concluded his report.

Truth be told, Betty didn’t particularly care about the whole ordeal, in any way, shape, or form, in fact.

She didn’t even want to be a part of the meeting at all, but a direct summons from Roswaal was not something she could just ignore. So she reluctantly participated.

Then she saw the mana stone the boy was wearing, and she saw the little brat inside it. She felt their bond, their contract. So strong it was, that other spirits could sense it.

Her first instinct was deep resentment. She resented the boy, for garnering her interest when they first met, n-not that she was actually interested in him, it was more of a passing thing, h-hmph! She resented the one he chose instead of her, even though she herself didn’t particularly care to reach out to him first. Finally, she resented her brother, her beloved Bubby, for teaching the boy spirit arts in the first place, even though he had no reason to deny the boy’s request for knowledge, and every reason to accept, considering his debt to him.

Her second instinct was rationalization. She reasoned with herself. She didn’t care about the stupid little ignoramus at all, so why should she care who he was contracted to? The little brat he... contracted... with... seemed unique, special, like Betty herself was, but in a different way. She could be worth studying, as a rare specimen, if nothing else. Bubby himself didn’t do anything outright malicious, he just answered the boy’s honest request to become stronger. So really, she had absolutely no reason to resent anyone, to feel so hurt, so betrayed at everything. None whatsoever.

But she still did. Very much so.

She tried to keep in, and really, she was doing a rather good job at it, in fact! She made no outward show of displeasure, of disappointment.

Not when he swooned so affectionately at the brat’s pathetic display of shyness.

Not when he started grinning stupidly out of nowhere, his cheeks drooping downwards in a rather undignified expression, something the brat said to him in their shared telepathy, she supposed.

Not when he claimed absolute trust in the brat’s ability to protect him from the blue maid! His would-be murderess, and everything else that would threaten his life!

She held her resentment, her bitterness, her hatred, at bay.

How dare he. How could he!

He was promised to her! He was not. You were not promised anything.

The gospel said so! It did not. It remained blank even when he appeared. It will remain blank long after he’s gone.

Mother promised her That Person. But it is not him, it might have been him, once upon a time, but now? It will never be him. You already knew this, Betty.

As the meeting continued, as the boy continued to obliviously shower the lesser spirit with the same affection that Betty desperately craved, that Betty did not want nor need. The lesser brat had the audacity to call her mean? And OLD!?

Oh, it’s on, You stupid little punk! Betty will show you your place, in fact!

Then the brat will be convinced that Betty is the superior spirit, and form a contract with her instead!, came the completely out-of-left-field intrusive thought.

She paused. Needing time to process the thought.

N-not that she wanted the brat to make a contract with her, I suppose! Hmph!

________________________________________________________________________________

“Really, you accuse me of being this world’s equivalent of a Satanist and then drag me into a suspiciously empty room, one that’s completely out of the way from everything? You better have a good excuse this time, Rem”, Subaru-kun spat her name with venom.

Rem flinched at the tone, unable to do anything but accept his distrust and hostility. She earned them fair and square, after all.

It was now past lunchtime, the meeting dragged on way longer than it had to, thanks to Beatrice-sama and Elysia-sama’s little quarrel.

The general consensus was that Subaru-kun is indeed innocent, as his behavior did not tally with the accusations that were made by Rem, as she misunderstood the very nature of the witch’s scent, or miasma, as the great spirits and Roswaal-sama called it, which is simply corrupted mana. Potentially, dangerous, but ultimately controllable, and most importantly, completely unrelated to the witch. A fatal misunderstanding that could’ve resulted in staining her hands with innocent blood. All because she was too stupid to know what the smell she was catching actually was. A tragic comedy, fate enjoyed toying with her, it seemed.

However, following today’s revelations, his employment within the mansion will be monitored, due to his witch scent, until Roswaal-sama deems him trustworthy enough to no longer need it.

Rem briefly wondered if they’re entire conflict could’ve been avoided if she had simply brought up his smell the day he requested to be employed in the manor. Countless ‘Ifs’ went through her head as she pondered the many, many, many ways she could have handled the situation better, without resulting in the boy’s (and Emilia-sama’s, try as she might to hide it) ire. But alas, too little, too late, as always. The blue ogre could not do anything right, she ruined her budding friendship with a coworker before it could even begin.

“Baru...”, came the worried tone from the spirit in his mana stone. Elysia-sama, she corrected herself. A beautiful name, for a beautiful, six-colored soul.

“Yeah... yeah you’re right. I shouldn’t be holding on to this baggage. So let’s settle this then. Rem. What the hell is your game, dragging me here?”

“Rem understands that Subaru-kun is angry, and she understands that it is well deserved anger, she completely accepts that she has earned this behavior from Subaru-kun with her... rash... behavior, but even so, she must insist that Subaru-kun listens to what she has to say, and he will never have to see her again, after this.”

“... I’m listening, say your piece then get out of my face.”

She took a deep breath, then careful to not make any sudden movements, she slowly, gracefully, bowed all the way down, legs folded neatly, arms bent, wrists directly in front of where her head was placed, a textbook perfect picture of a dogeza. Her forehead touching the cold, somewhat dusty floor of the room.

“Rem is sorry, Subaru-kun”

“...”, the boy kept silent. From shock or rage, she did not know.

“She should’ve listened to nee-sama, she should’ve abided by Roswaal-sama’s orders, she should’ve just brought up Subaru-kun’s scent during his first day in the mansion, and have a rational discussion with everyone.”, Rem wanted to atone, but knew she couldn’t. He saved her life, despite her blatant hostility, and she spat on his kindness, over a misunderstanding? It was unforgivable.

“...”, more silence.

“She should’ve never been a part of the mansion. She should’ve never survived that night. She should’ve never been born. She should’ve never existed.”, she continued to air out her true feelings. Spiralling deeper and deeper into her own depression.

“...”, yet the boy still kept damningly silent. It was fine, she deserved it.

“... a-and, after today, you will never have to see Rem again! She’ll leave the mansion, be as far away from Subaru-kun, from nee-sama, as she possibly can. So she’ll never distrupt your happiness again! You’ll never have to look at her pitiful, ugly face again! S-so p-p-please, f-forg-forgive R-Rem... S-snff... Uuuu”, overwhelmed by her sadness, her guilt, she cried softly. Her whole body shook and racked with sobs.

“...”, and yet he still stayed silent. She was afraid of what she’d see if she looked up at him.

Would it be derision? Glee?

Resentment?

... Hate?

She didn’t want to know.

So she kept her head bowed.

Then, he spoke, his words the final nail to her coffin. Damning her to her fate.

“I can’t forgive you.”

It was fine, she absolutely deserved it.

________________________________________________________________________________

What do I say to her? What can I say to her? Twice now, Natsuki Subaru did not have something stupid or insensitive or downright irresponsible to say to someone’s sincere plea. He just kept silent, pondering the right words.

Was he starting to grow up? Is he beginning to mature, at least a little bit?

He hoped so.

He wanted to say it was water under the bridge, to say she was forgiven because she didn’t know any better, to ask her to stay and make it up to him moving forward, instead of leaving and severing that possibility forever.

He really did.

But it would be a lie, a falsehood.

Because he can’t forgive. He can’t forget. He can’t let go.

It’s just not that easy.

So what can he say? What can he tell her?

Tell her the truth, a voice he didn’t recognize told him.

So he did, “... I can’t forgive you.”

“...”, now it was her turn to remain silent.

“... You weren’t the first, y’know? To accuse me of being a cultist, I mean.”

Rem summoned her courage, and looked up from her position to peer into Subaru’s expression.

His face was carefully blank. His eyes unbearably sharp.

With that opening, the dam broke.

“The first time it happened, I was working in a mansion just like this one. I was content, happy, eager, to be able to earn a wage and have a place to belong. I thought everyone around me was just as eager as I was to have me. Everyone was smiling, laughing, every day was fulfilling.”, he spoke fondly, his sharp amber eyes glittering with melancholy.

“hrrk...!”

He continued, “But then, all of a sudden, I was running for my life in the forest.”, his eyes were now haunted, tiny dots on his rapidly sweating face, recalling a nightmare that he’ll continue to live with until the day he dies for good.

“!?”

“I had no idea who was attacking me, I was afraid they’d come after my friends in the mansion, so I kept running, trying to gather any crumbs of info on the attacker I could. I believed my friends were coming to help me, so I bought as much time as I could with whatever options I had on me.”, he said desperately, rapidly firing the words out of his mouth, speaking faster and faster, louder and louder, all while gripping his head by the hair with both hands as he descended into a haunted mania.

“...”, Rem looked like she utterly afraid of him now, shocked as she was at how he’s behaving from where she was seated.

He suddenly stopped, his face carefully blank once again, but the mania never, not once, left his eyes, “Then finally, I managed to lure the attacker to an open clearing, and they showed themselves. Guess who it was, Rem?”

“...”, she was too shocked to even form a coherent thought, morbidly captivated by the manic insanity of the man standing in front of her, let alone a sentence.

“Go on, guess.”, he coaxed.

Realizing she asked him a question, she played along with his mania, “... It was one of your coworkers?”

“No~pe.”, he said in a sing-song, popping the ‘P’ with his lips.

“...!?”, she might just be the first person I give heart palpitations to through sheer confusion, he thought humorously.

Then, gleefully, manically, he gave her the awful, despicable answer.

“It was all of them.”

“!?”, she looked like she wished he stayed silent. Too late~

“They bound me, they interrogated me, they tortured me, they hit me so hard my bones cracked and bent in odd shapes, they crushed my limbs and broke my body to the point where I was unrecognizable. Then? They healed me back to top shape.”

“...!”, Rem knew what was coming, she looked like she wished she didn’t.

“And then they repeated the process.”

Rem’s face was so green, “U-ugh...!”

“Again, and again and again and AGAIN!!”, that last word came in a guttural yell.

“I managed to make it out, don’t bother asking how, even I’m not sure how, or even why I’m alive...”

“...?”

“The point is... That pain? The betrayal? The trauma, the fear, the anger, the hate? They stay with you. They fester, like a curse, and you, you? You opened up that wound, right when I was beginning to trust again.”

“U-uuu...!”, her guilt once more threatened to erase her existence. Rem is a vile monster, worse than any cultist.

He damned her with the truth, “So no, Rem. I can’t forgive you. I won’t. Ever, not for as long as I live. Not until this curse leaves my soul entirely.”

She accepted her fate, “R-Rem understands, Subaru-kun, she will-”

“But that doesn’t mean I want you to leave.”, he interrupts her.

“... What?”

“It would be so easy to just let my wrath decide what to do for me. To punish you, hurt you, kill you. Trust me, it would be an easy, easy choice to make.”, he continued.

“But I won’t.”

“Because as much as I loathe you, as much as I despise you, as much as I resent you, I can’t make you leave your own home. I won’t do something so cruel. I won’t stoop to your level.”, that last part was said with a sneer.

“Hnn!”

Softly, he presses on, “More importantly... I can’t do that to Ram.”

“!!”, she looked like she didn’t expect that, was it really so surprising? Sure Ram isn’t guiltless, either, not even close, but stil...

“She doesn’t deserve to lose her one and only sister, even if the sister herself absolutely deserves whatever she’s asking for.”

Rem was not convinced, “B-but...! S-s-s-surely nee-sama w-would be h-hap-happier without a m-m-mon-mons-monster like R-Rem a-as her s-s-sister...”

“As much as I want to agree with you, that decision is not mine to make, nor is it yours, whether she’s happy with you as a sister or not is her own choice. Have you actually bothered to ask her that?”, he didn’t expect her to, with that egoistic, ‘all my fault’ attitude of hers.

“...”, he was right. Duly noted.

“Didn’t think so, so lets ask her now.”

“W-what? Su-Subaru-kun... we shouldn’t both-”

He turned toward the door, and addressed the peeping tom shamelessly peeking into a personal affair. If my understanding of Ram is correct...

He asked the person he was only half-sure is behind that door, “What do you think, Ram? Is Rem a sister who deserves you? Would you be happier if she were gone?”, he’d look so lame if she weren’t actually spying on them...

A few moments of silence, and then...

The door opened with a creak.

“...”, and a mop of pink wearing a maid uniform silently stepped into the room.

Heh, I’m not just becoming more mature, I’m getting smarter too! Go me!, he thought triumphantly at his correct guess.

Baru is the smartest! Go Baru! Elysia praised him. He’ll never get enough of her validation, he thinks.

This was kind of like those validation and approval ASMR he read about on the internet...

Oh cringe...

“Huuu”, Ram inhaled loudly, bringing his attention back to the present situation.

“Suuu”, she exhaled, dispelling something as she did so.

Then, she began speaking, hammering judgement upon her sister.

“Ram thinks... Ram thinks that Barusu is right, Rem does not deserve to live in this mansion.”, she said with finality.

Rem’s heart broke, even though she knew it was the objective truth, “Y-yes-”

“But that doesn’t mean she should get to abandon it, either.”, Ram interjected.

Rem looked genuinely affronted at the accusation, “N-nee-sama...”

We really gotta stop doing this switcharoo to her, all this whiplash will turn her bipolar, heh...

Poor Blue Meanie. Ah, Bluey!

That’s right Sia-tan, much easier to say than ‘blue meanie’ isn’t it?

Mm! he could almost see her nodding to him, a vague, featureless outline in his mind.

Sharp amber and stern red meet, a shared understanding between them.

With that, Subaru exited the room, giving the twins some much needed privacy to sort out their differences in opinion.

You better not fumble this, Nee-sama, he thought playfully as he left.

Strangely, he felt refreshed, moreso than when he pummelled Rem to the ground. His response to her name no longer an instinctive hate. But rather a subdued... indifference?

Why?

He wasn’t able to put away his wrath after fighting her, hurting her.

But now he was able to do so, because he ranted at her?

I don’t get it, but if I had to guess why...

He’s shown her the depths of his wrath. His resentment did not disappear, not completely at least, but it no longer festered.

And really, as long as he’s no longer constantly haunted by his hate? By the nightmares of that forest floor?

It’ll have to be enough.

________________________________________________________________________________

“Look who finally decided to show up”, Puck said teasingly.

Subaru replied, “Sorry, sorry. I got dragged into a confrontation with Rem again... Before you overreact, nee-sama was there too, nobody started any fires.”, he added quickly when Emilia’s face went up in alarm.

“!!”, Emilia gasped. She stood up and gave him a quick once over to ensure he was unharmed, then smiled to herself and nodded when she confirmed it. Belatedly realizing what he just quipped, she pouted, “Subaru~, worrying about your safety from someone that already tried to hurt you before isn’t an ‘overreaction’!”

“Right, right. Sorry, I’m not used to people showing concern over my safety. Heh...”, I wanna squish those cheeks so bad, man...

Squishy squishy, like mochi!

Yes Sia-tan! Just like mochi! Wait, do they have mochi here?

It was now early evening. Around Three at Firetime. Puck had more or less two hours left before he goes to sleep until the following sunrise, per his contract.

Now that I think about it, there’s some inconsistencies in their contract and how Puck said spirit’s behaved, Subaru thought to himself.

They were seated at the gazebo where Subaru first learned spirit arts, waiting for him to show to begin discussing their final topic of the day.

His contract spirit, his partner and his best friend, moving forward.

Elysia, the six-colored spirit.

‘They’ in this case being Emilia and Puck . Weird, Beako was supposed to be here too...

Oh well, the boy thought.

Then, as he took a seat, a black portal appeared right in front of the gazebo stairs, and from within, came the great spirit Beatrice.

Quite the entry statement.

So kewl~, Sia chorused, then she realized who she was praising, she added, still an old meanie! Oldie!

Now, now my dear spirit, just because she’s old and rude doesn’t mean you get to call her names.

Uuu, Sia won’t apologize until Oldie does!, haaah, so stubborn when she thinks she’s in the right. She really is just a kid...

He looked back up and locked eyes with Beatrice, who gave him a smug grin before walking over to take a seat... right next to him? What brought this on?

A certain spirit was not happy with Beatrice’s choice of seating arrangement.

Oldie should stay away from Baru! Kiiiiii~! Came Elysia’s indignant growl. The sonorous war cry of a very angry little ball of light.

Zomg I’m gonna die of cuteness..., he could almost see a pair of ethereal cheeks puff up in the roundest of pouts in his head. Must... squish!

With a polite cough, Beatrice signalled the start of the discussion, “Shall we begin today’s meeting, I suppose? We don’t have all day, in fact.”

“Yep, let’s start. We wanted to get a good look at your little miracle child, Subaru. And hear the full details of how she came to be.”, Puck said from his perch on Emilia-tan’s shoulder.

“Betty also wants to do an examination, I suppose. She’s unique in a way no other spirit is, as far as Betty is concerned. We can examine her and determine just how anomalous she truly is, in fact.”

Puck decided to liven things up, “We could even find out if what happened with her is reproducible, and Betty could record her birth as part of a new chapter in spirit evolution!”

“The word ‘examination’ don’t stir any confidence in me, if we go by the usual tropes...”, Subaru replied nervously... He was excited to be a part of this ‘new spirit evolution’ thing as it’s very much the kind of thing a protagonist would get involved in.

On the other hand...

“Nothing untoward will happen, in fact, as much as Betty wants to crush the midget like the insect she is, Betty would not nip the bud of new variables like that, I suppose. It would disgrace her as her mother’s child!”

Midget!? Kiiiii!

Mother? Wait a sec...

“I thought spirits are born from mana? How could you have a mom, then?”, only realizing how rude he sounded after he spoke, he cringed and quickly added “Sorry, foot in mouth moment. No offense...?”, he prepared to be blasted with wind magic for his insolence.

To his shock, she didn’t blast him away, “Foot in...? Betty assumes you mean you blurted out your thoughts without filtering the words being said, I suppose. If so, none taken, in fact. Your question is valid.”

“Uh? Huh...? Thanks, I guess...”

Uhh, I’m not the only one weirded out by this, right?, it was kind of creepy how nice she was being all of a sudden...

Sia just wants Oldie to go away! Hmph! Subaru would pay good money to shower her in cuddles right now.

“To answer your question, Betty is an artificial spirit. She was created, not born. Similar to Bubby, we we’re both created by the same person. Our mother, in fact.”

“You didn’t need to out me like that, Betty...”, Puck chuckled weakly, apparently ashamed of being outed as a fake spirit.

His little sister wasn’t having any of it, though, turning away from him with a “Hmph!”

Is it just me, or are they fighting?

“This is the first time I’m hearing this, why didn’t you tell me, Puck? I don’t know anything about your past!”, Emilia spoke for the first time since the meeting started. A disappointed pout aimed at her father figure.

Hmmmm, my sus senses be smelling something off about all this...

Baru! What is ‘sus senses’?, an image of a black haired, sharp eyed little girl in a black dress raising her hand came to mind.

He couldn’t make out any details from that image though. Shame, he thought dispondently.

Basically, it’s an instinct telling you that something is out of place, He answered his spirit.

Oooo, Oldie is making Sia’s sus senses smell too! Nah, you’re just angry that she’s sitting so close to us...

“You never asked? It’s not really important right now, Lia. Be a good girl.”, Puck asserted. Casually blowing Emilia’s curiosity off and making her look down in sadness. His heart ached at the sight, though he acknowledged it’s not his place to intervene. Must really be a sore spot for him to blow her off like that.

Beatrice spoke, “Betty agrees, S-Su-Suba-Brat! Tell us, in detail, in fact, how the midget came to be.”

“...??? There really isn’t, anything more to say. Just like in my report to Roswaal, all I did was try to contract, err, everyone, then they all fused, and became Elysia.”, Subaru answered, confused at Beatrice’s stuttering, was she trying to say my name? That’s pretty cute, too...

“Everyone who became Sia loved Baru! So Sia loves Baru the most! Oldie should stay away! Hmph!”, Someone clearly didn’t like him calling another spirit cute. He grinned at her tone. I love you the most too, Sia. And it wasn’t a lie too, she’s the only other person to help him without asking for anything, only wanting the one thing he wanted to give most, anyway. As far as he’s concerned, she’s just as important to him as Emilia is.

Her image popped in his head again, just as vague as before, now more pleasantly embarassed as she giggled anEhe~ at his declaration. His cheeks melted at the sight.

“Grrr! You little midget, in fact...!”, wind started picking up around Beatrice again.

This was starting to get tedious, “... Alright, I’m putting my foot down. Beako, keep antagonizing Sia like that and I won’t answer any more questions. Sia, stop being mean to Beako, she’s just trying to help figure you out so we can know what to expect in the future.”, Subaru said sternly, spontaneously emulating an image of his mother when she was disappointed in him and his father for causing a ruckus in public.

And surprisingly...

“Uuu I’m sowwyy/I’m sorry, in fact”, came simultaneously from both spirits.

It worked. Go figure.

Beatrice had her head lowered and pouted in disappointment.

Elysia’s image in his mind did the same. I still can’t make out any details to her appearance!

Out loud, he said “Good. Now, let’s move on.”, still emulating his mother’s sternness.

“Okie.../Y-yes, I suppose.”, Once again, the two spirits answered simultaneously, acting very much like scolded children, to his silent amusement.

Recomposing herself, Beatrice continued the discussion, “So that phenomenon is rather straightforward, in fact, judging from the boy’s description, Betty theorizes that the lesser spirits dissolved their Ods and gates to fuse together into one, in a similar fashion to how spirits would kill themselves to turn into pure mana for the sword saint to use in combat, I suppose.”

They do that? Wait swordsaint? As in Reinhard? Man that description sounds awful...

“The real problem with how to categorize the mi-kid comes after, I suppose.”

“After?”

“Yes, in fact. Does a fusion of lesser spirits result in a Quasi? A full spirit? What even is she, as far as spirits go, I suppose? Is she even a spirit anymore, in fact?”

“Uhh”, Subaru was at a loss for words. Not knowing how to answer any of Beatrice’s questions.

Puck took the opportunity add in his own two bronze coins, “Put it this way, Elysia is completely non-standard. Her level of self-awareness, articulation and general ego suggests she’s a full spirit, her gate’s mana absorption rate backs this claim up. But her actual size is barely bigger than a newborn Quasi, backed up by the size of her Od, which can also contain mana at barely Quasi level.”

“...”

“So, what is she? Quasi? Full? She has affinity with all the elements at equal level, when by right a spirit can only begin to develop their affinity in other elements after they grow into a full spirits, as training requires a certain level of self-reflection that a Quasi wouldn’t be capable of. So, at this point, can we even call her a spirit anymore?”

Now he saw the point they were trying to make, “Starting to see your point, now.”

“Wow~, Cattie is rea~lly smart! Sia doesn’t get anything!”, the multi-elemental anomaly said, mimicking Emilia’s cute drawl at the word ‘really’. Her cuteness is evolving by the second!

Subaru scratched his chin in thought, “I’m starting to get a headache, to summarize, the metrics normally used to measure a spirit are contradictory when applied to Elysia, so you can’t really get a read on her, is basically what you’re saying, yeah?”

“That’s exactly it, in fact...”, Beatrice replied. Slightly surprised that he could articulate their issue so succintly based on what little he’s heard.

“Then let’s simplify things. We’ll say she’s a unique case. A Quasi with self-awareness, after all, another condition to become a full spirit is to be able to manifest a body, right?”, Subaru looked to Beatrice for an answer.

“Y-yes, I suppose. That makes perfect sense, in fact. Since she is unable to manifest a full physical form, the midg-kid is arguably still a Quasi spirit, despite her self-awareness and ego.”, still baffled by how he was able to simplify the issue so quickly just from hearing a preliminary discussion, she answered.

He wasn’t just a mindless oaf, I suppose, he is very intelligent, in fact, he was simply... lacking knowledge. And Betty had the gall to call him a fool... Ugh, in fact..., she wanted to slap her previous self for underestimating him.

“There you go, any objections? None? Cool. We can end this topic here. Any more questions, then?”

A dainty pale hand was raised, rather elegantly too, at that.

“Yes, Emilia-tan! State your question, in fact!”, he grinned cheekily as he mimicked Beatrice’s tic, who gave an irritated tch at his (terrible) impression of her.

Emilia fidgeted anxiously with the mana stone on her chest, “Y-yes... Let me take a deep breathe, first... I’m sorry, I need to gather my courage before asking...”

Way to build suspense, I wonder what she wants to ask, Subaru thought while gulping nervously

Several tense seconds passed as Emilia inhaled deeply, then exhaled, soft huuu, suuu sounds escaping her pretty lips as they puckered in concentration.

EMT... So cute, even when she’s just breathing!

Uuuu...!, Elysia not happy someone else is called cute, again.

This was it...!

She finally got to ask him the question that bothered her since the day Puck taught him spirit arts!

“Subaru, you’ve been calling myself and Elysia ‘-tan’ this whole time... What does it actually mean? I’m rea~lly curious. I’ve been trying to decipher the meaning since you first called me ‘-tan’ the day after you woke up!”

“...”

“...”

“...”

Everyone was silent. Nobody bothered to ask before this, they just rolled with it.

“Mm?”, everyone except Elysia, who made a confused sound at the sudden silence.

“Pfft...”, then Subaru started giggling. Then he devolved into full on bellowing laughter, “Bwahahaha!”

Emilia was not happy with his response, cheeks red and very puffed up, she raised her voice slightly, “Subaru! You shouldn’t tease someone for asking a question! It’s rea~lly mean!”, she lectured the awful, mean, little boy in front of her.

“Hahaha... I-I’m sorry Emilia-tan, y-y-you’re... heheh... right, I shouldn’t. It’s not polite.”, he stopped and wheezed a little from laughing too hard.

“the postfix ’-tan’ to a person’s name indicates a rather extreme level of closeness. It means I adore you very much!”, he said as he gave her his softest, fondest smile yet.

“hnnng!”, It was very effective.

His expression abruptly dropped, recalling her odd behavior that day, “Wait, was that why you were staring at me alot that morning?”

“Y-yes, you were so disappointed at being told to stop communing with the spirits so I hesitated to bring it up...”

She then tilted her head downward slightly, tilting her face lower and hiding her eyes with her reddening cheeks with her open palms, she was unable to hide her widely grinning mouth though, then she looked up at him shyly, her amethyst eyes glittering brightly and perfect eyelashes fluttered, he would’ve thought she was flirting with him, if it weren’t for the odd words she spoke next.

“B-but Subaru... I’m a silver haired half-elf...”, she said.

“Hmm? What’s that got to do with anything...?”, Subaru asked. Becoming confused at how her body language and her choice of words don’t seem to align...

Oh, he just didn’t get it. He really is just the silliest... “It means... I look just like the witch of envy, the monster that destroyed half the world four hundred years ago...”, now he’ll really see what she is, and hate her just like the rest-

“Err... Yeah, and? I’m still not seeing your point. How does that factor into anything? It’s not like you’re the witch’s reincarnation or anything, right? You just coincidentally have the same hair and eye color. Big deal. What idiot would call you a witch just for that?”, Subaru only became more confused, now.

“!!” Everyone at the table was shocked, except for Elysia, excitedly making ‘Humu! Humu!’ sounds at Subaru’s words, she would’ve been nodding along if she had a body.

.

.

.

A few seconds passed, everyone just silently stared at the boy, and then...

“Uuuu...!”, Emilia was in tears, this kind, handsome, wonderful boy accepted her, just like that! He said he adored her! Adored her! Emilia! The silver haired half-devil herself!

Before Subaru could panic at Emilia’s crying, Puck bulleted straight toward his face and smacked his paw on his cheek, reminiscent of their first loop in the capital when he said he wanted to be Emilia’s friend. “Sorry! I needed an outlet for all this emotion and your cheek was a convenient target.”, he even said the same words, talk about unoriginal...

“I’m oh-kay, I just... I’m s-so h-happy! Thank you! Thank you so much! Subaru...!”, she said his name like it was the most precious treasure, visibly overjoyed. She was practically glowing with happiness.

“Uh, err... yeah... your welcome, glad I could help”, flustered at her sudden joy and gratitude, he shyly scratched the back of his head and chuckled weakly, not really getting why she was so happy.

The adorable little menace wrapped around his neck decided to make fun of him for it, “Baru is embarassed! Wahaha~”

“The pain! Betrayed by my own Sia-tan! Will horrors never cease!?”, he played along with her. Clutching his heart with both hands as if trying to stop a gaping hole in it. Laughing together with his spirit and the crying half-elf all the while.

Puck floated slightly higher above everyone, giving a critical look at Subaru, rethinking his evaluation of the fledgling spirit user. Perhaps he’ll be more than just a useful meat shield, in the future...

Someone finally had enough of the mushy atmosphere, though, “Enough flirting, in fact! It is abhorrent, I suppose! If the discussion is over, Betty will be going back to her library!” Beatrice said as she hopped off her seat, a black portal appearing at the foot of the gazebo stairs.

As she approached the entrance to the portal, Beatrice turned to Subaru and spoke, “Boy! Tomorrow, you will bring the kid with you to Betty’s library for Betty to examine her! Do not keep Betty waiting, in fact!”, she walked in and disappeared along with the portal, returning to the forbidden library.

Puck floated back down to eye level, then clapped his paws together to signal the end of the meeting, “Right, meeting adjourned! Good work, everyone! Let’s head back to the mansion, now.”

And thus ended the first of many debates on Elysia’s classification as a spirit. A hot topic for spirit users and scholars from all four corners of the world in the near future, after she makes her legendary debut on the global stage in the Battle of Lifaus Highway, against the Fog of Calamity itself.

Emilia continued to stare at Subaru’s back throughout the trip back into the mansion. It looked so much widerto her than it did the day before. A fond, rosy expression on her face the whole time. Her heart felt full to the point of bursting from the seams. The words ‘I adore you very much!’ kept replaying in her mind like a broken recorder. Maybe she really was coming down with something... she should ask Puck for advice!

_______________________________________________________________________________

It was now deep into the night, around two hours Earthtime.

A man with heterochromatic eyes and clown make-up was sitting on the wooden chair of an expensively decorated office.

This man was Roswaal L. Mathers, the lord of the mansion, disciple of a witch, generally a shameless villain through and through.

He was reading a thick, black book, consulting in the knowledge it brings of his future.

He was puzzled by what it was saying,

or rather,

he was puzzled by what it wasn’t saying.

There are no accounts of the sageling learning spirit arts, let alone catalizing the birth of a completely new, unknown spirit.

To say the jester was befuddled would be a gross understatement, for the first time since his teacher’s death, he was lost on what action to take.

Do I force him to reset? Do I allow this... anomaly... to remain in place?

His gut instinct told him to force the boy to return to the past and redo the events according to the tome’s writ.

His emotions, on the other hand, compelled him to let this new, unknown, phenomenon stay in reality. This was the part of him that was nurtured by the witch. A curiosity for the unknown and passion to make it known.

The events have passed exactly as the tome described, the ogre sisters remain together, and the threat of the witch beasts thwarted, without a single loss, does this mean the spirit is of no concern to you, teacher? Truly? Hard it was for him to believe, as his teacher loved studying the unknown, making it a point to instill the same passion into everyone who ever learned under her, no matter the duration of their stay. This was moreso true for both her greatest student and her only daughter.

There is more to this than what the tome is telling me, I must remain cautious...

Teacher...

What are you trying to teach me, here?

What destiny are you guiding me, guiding us, towards?

Silence. The book did not answer. For it was his duty to walk this path and discover it with his own eyes, as it always was.

Roswaal will succeed.

He will bring Echidna back.

No matter the cost.

Chapter Text

Within the forests surrounding the Mathers manor, lived a small group of spirits of differing elements.

They were not particularly communal creatures. The spirits, that is. In fact, for the most part, spirits are the opposite of communal. They are solitary creatures who prefer to be isolated, alone with only nature, specifically the nature that birthed them, as their closest companion.

Wind spirits would prefer to be in the clouds, water spirits underwater, earth spirits underground, and so on, but the one constant is that they are almost always alone. Very rarely would spirits band together and live in the same habitat. This is because they consume atmospheric mana to survive, and sharing that mana with other spirits is not conducive to their survival.

The forests surrounding the manor is unique, however, by being a location particularly rich in atmospheric mana, due to several very powerful figures living in the manor itself. The mana residue naturally expelled by their gates enriching the atmospheric mana within the area, enticing the spirits to the location like a field of flowers attracts insects of all kinds.

Coincidences piled on top of even more coincidences resulted in the band of the solitary many living as one begrudging community.

While initially wary and distrustful, they learned to tolerate each other by sharing food and establishing a pecking order through conflict and combat. Like stray cats converging on a rich, cat-friendly neighborhood. Cohabitating, but territorial and never truly communal.

The would have sneered at the thought of ever giving their lives, their very identity away, for any reason at all.

A funny little irony.

As they did exactly that, and their motive was the opposite of selfish pragmatism.

No, their motive was as asinine as it was altruistic.

Selfless love.

It started that fateful day they heard a call from a certain fledgling butler. Their initial opinion of him was low. His gate was weak, effectively unused, his elemental affinity was also weak, not to mention rare, Yin was not a very enticing element to a spirit who isn’t of that element. By all accounts, no spirit would have answered his call if one didn’t consider the most important factor.

His spirit affinity? No. While yes, it did somewhat contribute to attracting the spirit’s attention, it was not the primary factor in keeping it. The most important factor was, in fact, the color of his soul.

The boy’s soul is unique in this world, something completely alien to Od Laguna, a foreign entity that is utterly loathed by the will of the world, yet loves the world itself like it loves nothing else. A soul that shines with a color that does not exist anywhere in this realm, yet is constantly teetering on the edge of an abyss darker than the deepest shades of black. A soul that is contradictory in its very nature. Gentle, yet hardened. Benign, yet abhorrent.

They were drawn to it, intoxicated by it. They wished to be closer, even closer, the closest they could be to it! Such was a need so strong it overrode their solitary instincts and begrudging acceptance of their cohabitation. It drove them to band together into a cohesive union, as they did not want to sadden him by competing for his attention.

It drove them to stay with him in secret, as they did not want to part with him, ever.

It drove them to protect him with their very lives, when something nearby dared to harm him.

It drove them to comfort him, when his soul began sinking deeper and deeper into the darkness.

Within a mere day, this need, this intoxication, became love, and with love, many became One.

Thus the six colored spirit was born, and just like the boy, she was an anomaly to the established rules of the world. The thought of being similar brought her great joy. Her, not it, not them. She would need to reflect more on this identity, and what it means for her contractor. Speaking of...

He granted her a contract, and along with it, he gave her the name ‘Elysia’. In his mother tongue, it meant ‘The Beloved Child of Paradise’.

Now linked to his soul by their contract, she was able to feel it, feel him, directly. His Od was a haven, like a weighted blanket on a soft, comfortingly warm bed, a solace from all the world’s sorrows. His mana, as little of it as she could take without harming him, tasted like the sweetest of honey, bringing her joy and contentment like nothing else.

To her, his very soul is the greatest paradise to exist.

If she were the beloved daughter of paradise, and he is paradise to her...

Does that make her his beloved daughter?

She hoped so.

She wished that one day, she would be able to openly assert herself as such.

Baru- No...

Papa...

Sia will make you the strongest! So you won’t have to be afraid of meanies like Bluey ever again!

Sia will make you the safest! So you never sink into that black thing hiding inside your soul!

Sia will make you the happiest! So you won’t need anyone else in your life but your Elysia!

The six colored anomaly swore an oath, to be his number one-no, to be his one and only. She will not let anyone else have his heart.

Not the blue monster.

Not the pink sister.

Not the old, sad butterfly.

Definitely not the silver maiden! She was the only real threat to Sia’s position.

The night after they discussed the postmortem of the Wolgarm Incident and the circumstances of her birth, the spirit learned two things about herself. One, she absolutely, indubitably loves her Baru. Two, she does not like sharing his affections with other people. With this rather troublesome epiphany came a desire to monopolize the target of her affections. Tonight, another yandere is added to the list.

He is Elysia’s one and only.

Her Baru!

Her Papa!

And nobody elses.

________________________________________________________________________________

“But that doesn’t mean she should get to abandon it, either” the pink ogre had told her sister.

They just stood in that empty room awkwardly for several minutes, after Barusu had left. Neither knowing what to say to the other.

“...”, silence,

“...”, stretched into even more silence.

It shouldn’t be this hard to talk to your little sister, Ram thought in frustation.

The problem was that she didn’t know what to say to her sister, as there was too much that she wanted to say, let alone find the appropriate ways to say it.

That night was not your fault.

You shouldn’t blame yourself.

Our clan’s eradication was a blessing for us.

I’m happy where I am now.

You should be, too.

Losing my horn was the best thing to happen to me.

Meeting Roswaal-sama and becoming his maid is the best thing to happen to you, too.

You should appreciate it more.

You should appreciate me more.

Her thoughts were a mess. On one hand, she wanted nothing more than to comfort and reassure her sister, her most precious treasure, that she belonged. On the other hand, she wanted to scold her, yell at her, berate her for her even thinking about leaving the mansion. Leaving Roswaal-sama, leaving her. Finally finding her words, she spoke. The spark of an argument.

“Do you hate me, Rem?” She asked. Foregoing her usual third person speak.

“I’m sorry?”, came Rem’s confusion, because she had to have heard incorrectly, right?

But no, she heard right, “There is no other explanation, you hate me don’t you? You’ve always hated me! You hated me when I had my horn! Then you hated me for losing it! you hated me for bringing you to this mansion! you hated me for being born your twin! You. Hate. Me.”

“No! How could you say that! How could you even think that!?”

“Then why? Why do you want to leave? Leave everything, leave me?”

“Why else!? Because Rem-I don’t deserve to be here! I almost killed Subaru-kun over a petty misunderstanding, and I would have done it slowly too! I’m the reason you’re even here at all, doing commoner chores and rotting in a remote mansion, completely out of sight! You could’ve been the Oni God, our clan’s leader, their savior! Instead, you’re a lowly, subservient maid for an eccentric nobleman. And it’s all. MY. Fault!”

Rem was heaving from the emotions she was exerting, baring out all her guilt, all her shame, so that nee-sama can finally see what her sister really is. Finally let go of the parasite, and be happy with everyone else. But instead...

Nee-sama just kept yelling, “Did you think I wanted to be some stupid god for equally stupid people!? How dare you! Being Roswaal-sama’s servant is the best thing to happen to me! It’s the best thing to happen to you too! Where do you think you would be if the clan is still alive right now!?”

“Hrrrgh...!”

And she wouldn’t stop, “Where, Rem! Where!?”

“T-thats...”, she had no answer.

But Ram did, “Let me tell you Rem! You’d be some violent, third rate ogre boy’s trophy wife. A commoner’s personal whore in all but name! That’s what you’d be! And me!? What would I be!?”

That, she had an answer to, “You’d be their god!”, she yelled back defiantly.

But Ram refuted her, “I’d be their puppet! A soulless little doll who does nothing but what the dusty old mallets want her to! I’d eat only what they tell me to! Do only what they tell me to! Fuck everyone they tell me to! That would be my life! Is that what you want for me, Rem!? HUH!”

“...”, Rem was shocked into silence, because it was the first time she heard her ever proper sister say such vulgarity.

She continued ranting, her eyes dilated and her voice hoarse from all her yelling, “It is, isn’t it!? Because you hate me! You hate your sister!”, she continued to assert.

“I don’t!”

“Liar!”

“I’m not lying!”

“Then why!?”

“...”

“Why...”

Ram cried big, ugly tears. She wailed loud, ugly wails. She continued to pour her ugly, miserable heart out. All the negativity she harbored, that she desperately kept locked deep, deep inside so she could keep her pride as an older sister. She poured it out. Bared her true, ugly self for her sister to see. Because what use was Ram’s pride when Rem was miserable?

I’m not some perfect idol! I never wanted to be those misguided fool’s god!

I just want to be me! Be Ram!

Ugly, selfish, narcissistic Ram!

She never meant to be this sincere, this vulnerable with Rem. But she couldn’t stop herself. Not when she saw the contractor and spirit act so lovingly toward one another in that forest clearing, baring their soul wholly to one another. They held no misconceptions about who the other was. No adulation, no undue admiration, no secret resentment, just absolute trust and faith in each other’s love. She understandably got jealous, and it got her thinking.

She had to free Rem from her delusions. The delusion that Ram is a perfect, untouchable existence. The delusion that all tragedies that befell Ram was her fault, that Ram losing her horn was the worst thing to happen to her, that her very existence brings nothing but misery to the people around her. Then and only then, can they truly love each other the same way they did.

“Nee-sama...?”

“Rem, your older sister doesn’t want to be a god... She doesn’t want to be perfect... She doesn’t want her horn back. Can I... can I just be me...? Just be Ram...?”, she asked Rem desperately, yearningly.

“Nee-sama, I-Rem-”, Rem’s voice cracked, no longer able to maintain composure.

“Would you allow your older sister that one, selfish freedom, if nothing else?”

“I...”, her composure fully broke and her true feelings pour out, freely, like water from a broken dam. She cries and she wails harder than she ever did. Harder than she probably ever would, in the future.

“I’m sorry... I’m so sorry... Onee-chan, I’m so, so sorry...!”

“AAAAA! I’m sorry! Please forgive me! Onee-chan! Onee-chan...!!”

A pair of lithe, strong arms enveloped her, placing her blue mop on it’s warm bossom. The hands softly, carefully, lovingly stroked her hair, they traced little circles on her back. Comforting her, reassuring her.

“I’m sorry too, Rem. I’m sorry for ignoring how miserable you were feeling. I’m sorry for only caring about myself. I’m sorry for not telling you how I felt sooner. I’m sorry... I’m sorry being such a lousy, terrible older sister.”, Ram said softly, so softly, as if they were small children hiding their close bond from the village again.

“You weren’t! You weren’t a terrible sister at all! You’re the best older sister ever! Onee-chan is the bestest sister ever!!”

“Thank you...! Thank you, Rem! You’re the bestest younger sister ever, too! I love you! I love you so much! My precious, precious Rem!”

“Onee-chan!”

“Rem...! Rem!”

The twins collapsed on their knees, overwhelmed by catharsis, not once weakening their tight embrace. They reaffirmed their sisterly bond, conveying all their emotions to each other with words, and what they couldn’t say with words, they conveyed with their synesthesia.

On that evening, the red and blue ogres reconciled with their past, and from then on, they will move forward, leaving it behind, merrily laughing as they talk about the future.

Together.

________________________________________________________________________________

That same evening, in the room of the mansion’s resident Dragon Maiden.

“-And then, and then my stomach got rea~lly swirly and warm and, and-”

Little Lia kept vomitting on and on and on about how rea~lly weird her stomach and chest ached got when she’s around Subaru~.

She even drawls his name, now​? Ugh... Puck thought in sarcastic grumpiness.

This was going to become a problem. To him, specifically.

He knew what this was. A combination of savior worship, first friendship and first crush all Frankensteined into one weird, horrifying mess of emotions. Combine all this with her general lack of understanding on her own heart and you get a girl who’s cluelessly gushing about someone you’d think was the great sage himself, all while denying being passing acquaintances, or Od forbid, friends with him. You’re his superior, for Od’s sake...

How he wished his empath abilities weren’t a passive thing and could be turned off.

To summarize, Lia fell hard.

And she doesn’t even know it.

Why is this a problem? Because his Lia is far, far, far too young to be developing a crush! And on a human boy of all things!

I mean sure, my initial impressions of the boy were ultimately positive. While he gave the first impression of a clueless fool, he quickly proved himself capable and resourceful. Plus he truly cares about how Lia feels, hiding his angst the way he did that day. But come on! Lia isn’t even two hundred years old! And she’s already crushing on someone!

He felt his fur start to bristle. She was never that vibrant when talking about Puck himself! This brat from Od knows where puts on a little hero act and all of a sudden he’s Od Laguna’s personal apology gift to her!

No, I’m not jealous! Shut up!

Reason number two why this is a problem. She doesn’t see the boy, but rather, this idealized image of him she drew in her head.

From her perspective, he came out of nowhere, risked his life to save her own for free, suffers the same injustices she did and did not see her likeness with the witch as a reason to shun her, he even claimed he adored her, even though they literally just met a week ago! Puck thought angrily. He also proved to be an intelligent, talented and capable spirit user with a contract spirit arguably even more unique than the great spirits themselves. All in all, in her head, Subaru is:

A mysterious person who showed up to save her life when she needed him the most. A savior.

A kind, gentle soul who was hated for something entirely out of his control and he will never escape from. A kindred spirit.

Someone who said he adored her, showers her in compliments, and doesn’t treat her differently because of her physical similarities with the half-devil. A friend, or perhaps someone she could love, had she the mental maturity to understand what love is.

The fact that his appearance was as exotic to her as hers was to him only worked to deepen that initial attraction. Try as she might to hide it, the fact that she found him very, very handsome did not escape her poor father’s notice. Ugh.... why~

Love at first... sight? First impression? Whatever, point is, Puck did not like it. Not one bit.

Because the boy was hiding a darkness, an obsession. One so deep it’ll swallow everything around it and turn them into null if left unchecked. Puck had to tread carefully when managing the boy’s relationship with Lia. Else he becomes a greater risk to her safety than the Witch Cult itself.

The worst part about all this is that he can’t just get rid of Subaru. Not when he already invested so much into the boy’s growth, and got his returns ten fold. Said returns?

Elysia, the only spirit he knew to be capable of harnessing all six elements at maximum compatibility since Zarestia herself, many centuries ago.

And she could do this while still being a Quasi. Just imagining her future potential as a full or even a great spirit made him shudder. He suspects that, upon Subaru’s death, his lineage would be granted a divine blessing related to spirit arts on par with the sword saint’s blessing. An accomplishment unmatched since Reid Astrea himself, four hundred years ago.

So yeah, he can’t just let all that go because his daughter was developing a premature lovesickness. Not when the potential reward is the ultimate guardian for her, potentially greater than Puck himself, long after the boy passes.

So he has to endure this.

“-and then, and then he said ‘I adore you very much’ and, and-”, endure, endure Puck. Endure! Be a man!

You’re more than four hundred years old! You walked the lands alongside the witches themselves! You’re the Great Beast of the End himself. The current great spirit of fire! An apocalypse bringer capable of turning the world into ice at his whims!

You can handle your daughters first crush! No sweat!

.

.

.

“-He, he looked at me so tenderly like, like-”

I hate you, so much right now, Subaru.

________________________________________________________________________________

The following morning, Subaru entered the forbidden library, clad in his iconic tracksuit, the front zipper unzipped to his lower chest, showing off his mana stone necklace hanging just above heart level.

The voice of a certain drill loli was heard as soon as the door closed behind him, “Good, you’re on time, in fact. Maybe there is hope for you yet, I suppose.”, she was seated on her usual stool in front of the library door.

Is there a reason why she always sits in front of the door...?

Hmmm?

Naw, just thinking.

Having someone else living in your head is a strange feeling. Though he very much appreciates the lack of nightmares last night.

Sia will keep a~ll the nightmares away from Baru! Man, she’s gonna make him cry in public one day.

“You don’t normally invite me to the place willingly, I figured the least I could do is show up on time. Though ideally I’d have brought some snacks and tea along.”, replied Subaru.

“Yes, in fact. Ideally we’d have something to eat while we conduct the experiment. Perhaps the midget would like to go and collect something from the kitchen for us?”, Beako asked pointedly. It wasn’t a request, it was an order framed as one. Of course, Sia did not like being ordered.

The mana stone started glowing elemental colors, and Elysia spoke angrily from within, “Why should Sia do anything for Oldie? If she wants to eat then she can go get food herself! Hmph! Don’t tell Sia what to do! Only Baru gets to do that!”, she added that last part with venom.

Beatrice ignores her tirade, and locks eyes expectantly with Subaru.

Oh, “Sia. Please do as she says.”, he says to her.

Her anger falters a little, “B-but...”

“Please... I’ll explain later, okay? No secrets between us. I promise.” He made a point to say it all within Beatrice’s earshot, instead of telepathically, to reassure Elysia.

“Hmph! Since Baru is asking, Sia will do it.”, she says as she materialized. Still only a ball of six colored mana, barely bigger than a baseball.

The little spirit floated her way to the entrace, upon reaching it, she generated a hand of six colored mana, like the ones she used while fighting Rem, then demonstrating incredible control over the motor functions of said hand, she used it to twist open the knob of the library door. She disappeared out of the forbidden library to take their snacks from the kitchen, as requested.

She’s good enough at fine tuning mana constructs to twist open door handles via that strange mana hand spell, Beatrice analyzed, mildly impressed. Not bad for a Quasi, still a bratty midget, in fact.

Once the door was closed, Subaru turns to her and asks, “let me guess, it’s an experiment to see if she can locate the library by herself?”, quirking an eyebrow at her.

Again, mildly impressed, she answers his questions, “That, among other things, I suppose. This experiment can allow us to see the range of her materialization, how long she’s able to maintain her form, how long she’s able to maintain a spell while materialized, and so on so forth. Any data to be gained from this little errand will be valuable, in fact.”

“Whoa, all in one deal, huh.”

“Of course. Betty wouldn’t want to waste time redundantly repeating similar exercises, I suppose.”, she looked positively smug while bragging about her efficiency. Chest puffed and nose raised up, arms folded in front of her small chest. It was adorable. Almost unbearably so.

“Now, Betty can keep track where the midget is at all times as long as she’s in the mansion, she’ll keep track of all the relevant metrics we are measuring as well, while she’s at it, in fact. You have questions for Betty, I suppose?”, again, not really a question. Her eyes are telling him she already knows what he wants to know, she’s just asking for formality’s sake.

Sca~ry, and I decided to antagonize her like she’s just a reclusive little girl? I’d sock you good if I could, past me.

I don’t know why, but I get the feeling I should avoid the sensitive topics for now, keep things professional.

Here goes.

“Well, for starters, what am I supposed to do, exactly?”

Now Beako is the one quirking an eyebrow at him, “Care to elaborate, in fact?”

“As Sia’s... as Elysia’s contractor, what am I supposed to do? What does it really mean to be a spirit’s contractor...?”

“A good question, one that Betty cannot answer, I suppose.”

“What? Why not?”

“What does it mean to be a mother? What does it mean to be a friend? What does it mean to be a lover? All of these questions have different answers depending on who you ask, in fact. What it means to be a contractor to the midget is different to her than what it is to Betty, I suppose. Do you understand?”

“yeah, yeah... what my role means is entirely up to her... up to us to decide.”

Beatrice gave a begrudging approval in the form of a grunt, then said “Quite. Now you will answer one of Betty’s questions, in fact.”, an evil smirk on her face. She got me!

Subaru is not confident seeing that smirk again, “Uhh...”

“No need to act so shocked, you displayed a level of critical thinking and spontaneous ingenuity one would rarely see in a distinguished noble, let alone a commoner of Lugunica, of all things, in fact. Of course Betty would want to interview you, I suppose.”, she elaborated.

This calmed Subaru down immensely, he was fearing the worst when he saw her smiling like that to him, recalling the first time they met and how she almost killed him by draining his mana, just like the dogs did, “Interview...? Ohh that’s what this was. Yeah, sure. Ask me anything.”, he said shakily.

She smirks again, though not as cruelly as she did before, maybe she noticed him panicking and toned it down? “A dangerous thing to say to a spirit, boy. Betty will ask a simple question, where are you from, in fact? The softness of your features suggests you were born of noble lineage, you also carry similarities with Vollachian royalty. Are you perhaps a hidden Vollachian prince, I suppose?”

Wat.

Is she serious?, he thought, one good look at her face and he realized...

Oh god! She is!

Subaru started cackling, “Pfft...! Bwahahahah!”, the only reasonable reaction to that, as far as he’s concerned. Natsuki Subaru? Royalty? As if.

Beako did not appreciate her own joke, “Stop laughing! Betty asked a serious question, in fact!”

“I-it’s just...! You think I’m a prince! Oh god that’s hilarious! Hahahah~!”, he continued laughing, completely uncaring of her ire. Just like he was in his past loops...

“Grrrrr...!”, she begins channelling wind mana as a warning.

And he suddenly cared about her ire very, very much, “Okay, okay! I’ll stop laughing! See!? I’m not laughing.”, he yelped, trying as hard as he could to not show any more mirth on his faith.

She glared at him for a few more moments, “Good, now answer the question, in fact.”, she pressed on.

“I’m... from an island to the far east.”, he answered her. A partial lie, yes Japan was far east, but far east on earth. Which direction Japan is in from Lugunica? He doesn’t know.

Beatrice took his answer as an insult, she started to berate him, “Are you-no, you’ve displayed far too much intelligence for Betty to call you that, in fact. Betty shall deign to educate you, Boy. There is nothing farther east than Lugunica, other than the Gre-”, she stopped cold turkey, her face dawning in realization.

Subaru just looked at her as she sat rigidlyon her stool, face frozen in shocking realization,“...? Beako? You okie?”

“The Great Waterfall, in fact.”, she finished. Her voice a ghost of a whisper.

Great Wut? “Whuzzat?”

“You’re from beyond the Great Waterfall, the border of our world, the edge of the continent, you’re from another world, I suppose.”, she elaborated. Eyes boring into him, daring him to refute her.

“!!”, Subaru was understandably very shocked. Sure, Beatrice is many times smarter than Emilia, but this level of reaching is practically a gamble, she’d look stupid as hell if she were wrong...

Beatrice doesn’t seem to agree, “It would explain the inconsistency! How you carry the features of an empirical royal, yet be even less dignified and knowledgable than a slum dweller. How you can possess incredible spirit affinity, yet have a gate that was completely inert, prior to your contract. How you possess intelligence, yet lack knowledge. Your strange clothes that have no precedent, your weird body proportions that do not hint at any family profession, how you look so much younger than your actual age is! It would all make sense because you, and everything you have on you literally did not exist in this world, before this.”, Beatrice rambled, entirely stuck in her own head. Then she looked up to him and repeats herself,

“You are, aren’t you!? You’re from beyond the Great Waterfall!”, she exclaimed.

Subaru tried to reason with her, “... What makes you think that? I could be lying. It’s a tall claim to make. I could really just be a particularly clueless royal prince.”, he countered. Why am I trying to deny it? Isn’t this a boon for me?

But Beatrice is not convinced, “Are you lying, in fact?”, she asks, pressuring him, daring him to say yes.

However, Subaru did not cave to said pressure, “... How could I be from another world? It doesn’t make any sense, does it?”, he continued asking rhetorics. Stalling tactics at best.

“Why are you so insistent, all of a sudden, I suppose?”, she was getting frustrated at his steadfast denials. Why was he being so obstinate?

Because I don’t know if I can trust you, Subaru thought skeptically. The last time he trusted explicitly, he ended up a broken mass of flesh and bone on the forest floor. He’ll be damned if he isn’t more careful with who he trusts now.

“I’m not, though? You didn’t answer the question either. How could I possibly be from another world?”

Beatrice relented, but not really relenting, “Betty will admit, she doesn’t know, in fact. But there have been records of people from beyond the Great Waterfall appearing in the continent before, like Alec Hoshin or The Wanderer. So if you truly are, then there is a precedent, I suppose, it’s ridiculous, but not impossible, in fact.”, she exposited to him. Hoping the bit about precedents would ease him into compliance.

But Subaru just stayed silent, “...”

Realization struck her like an angry thunderbolt, she hurriedly added,

“You need not worry about appearing a lunatic, in fact.”, she says sternly but with a slight tinge of gentleness in her tone.

She surprised him, again, “!!”, where was this niceness in the previous loops? He thought bitterly. Ah, she did save my life literally just one loop before... then I took her for granted and killed myself anyway... Bile formed in his throat, he was a disgusting piece of shit. How could he do that to someone who did so much to save him? He imagined Sia in her place, in that loop, oh fucking hell... I’m disgusting...

Beatrice misinterpreted the expression, “No need to look so surprised, in fact. Betty knows everything that goes on inside the manor. This includes your little confrontation with the maids. She heard about your past, and can surmise you’ve tried to reveal this information before, but were called a madman or a fraud instead, is Betty correct, I suppose?”, she asked. Well, it made sense from her point of view, at least. He can give her that much, though he didn’t appreciate her spying on his little breakdown.

He gave an exasperated sigh, not patient enough to keep playing word games, “Haah... fine. You win. I’m from ‘Beyond the Great Waterfall’, wherever that is. I’m from another world. Okay? And for the record? No, you aren’t correct. The only person I ever tried to reveal this information to never bothered to put two and two together.”, He added that last part bitterly, not wanting to give her the final say, and then I returned by death, making it all pointless in the end, he added in his head.

“Two and two together... Another strange metaphor, like that ‘foot-in-mouth’ moment of yours yesterday evening, Betty assumes it means to make the correct assumptions based on the information given, in fact.”, she looks down in thought, pondering something. Once she came to a decision, she looks up to him again.

Then she gave a rather smug, but mischiveous smirk to him. Her next words opening the doors to new possibilities for them both.

“Betty has a suggestion, would you like to hear it, in fact?”, asking, but not really asking. Why does she keep doing that? It’s so scary!

Thus began a long back and forth negotiation on Beatrice’s proposal and terms.

________________________________________________________________________________

Whew, what a day, hell, it’s been hectic for more than just a day now, Subaru thought to himself, replaying the day’s events.

Beatrice’s proposition? Information exchange. He shares with her crumbs of info from his world, anything, from trivia to science, so long as it originates from earth, in return she shares with him exclusive info from the library, including her own personal knowledge from her time outside in the Witch’s era.

A really good deal. I think?

It was now four hours into Watertime. Subaru was lying on his bed, clad in just his black undershirt and shorts, comfortably tucked in. Elysia’s anchor still snug around his neck. The spirit herself was already quickly falling asleep after being made to do tests and run errands all day.

The ‘experiments’ ranged from mundane chores, to running errands around the mansion, basically anything that came to mind, Beatrice had her do, almost as if she was savoring the chance to milk Elysia’s forced obedience and is bullying her, Sia-tan herself begrudgingly complying only because he asked her to. He needed to do something to make it up to her. A day alone, just the two of them, maybe? A contractor-spirit date. Yeah, sounds good.

Speaking of chores and errands, the twins were much, much more animated today despite both of them having puffy eyes and sore, tired throats. They stuck to each other like they were conjoined, whenever they could, at least. Whatever Ram said to Rem after he left the room, it managed to do alot more than just reconcile their feelings. Rem herself, although still distant, was at least genuinely polite with him now. As polite as one could be, considering their recent conflict. He found he didn’t particularly care, so long as she no longer has that gloomy air stuck to her all the time. It was getting on his nerves.

She still tried to close the distance however she could. Expressing her gratitude to him for allowing her to make up with her sister. Pfft, way to blow his involvement out of proportions. All he did was talk shit, then made Ram pick up his slack. Now that he knows for sure Rem won’t suddenly turn hostile again, he has less reason to be wary of her, and can maintain polite conversations without constantly preparing for a fight.

Though Sia-tan seemed to disagree.

She was rather... confrontational? Irritable? Hostile? With almost everyone in the manor, particularly the women, today. He needed to properly teach her how to behave with her elders. She was particularly moody with Emilia-tan. Speaking of the silver angel...

She was clingy the whole day. Excessively so. Always asking for him to bring books from the general library to her room, then striking up conversation about whatever topic she could scrounge up, like she’s trying to keep him there as long as possible. During meal times, she would sit next to him and strike up conversations about how the meals taste and whatnot, going so far as to interrupt the meal itself to keep a conversation going. She clung the same way to his side during their afternoon and evening tea times, too. Babbling on and on about anything and everything that came to mind. Puck was no help in discerning this new change, opting to just give him the stink eye every time he tried to bring up the elephant in the room. So much for male camaraderie, bastard cat.

At first, he was beyond elated. His crush openly trying to monopolize his time and shower him with undivided attention? Hell yeah! Dream come true! Then, after a few hours, he reached his limit. It was exhausting trying to keep up with her neverending enthusiasm. She just doesn’t stop. Even trying to retire to his own room for the night was a struggle now. He can’t imagine doing this every day. Her enthusiasm needed to be curbed.

Like, what did I even do to earn that all these relationship points with her?

He liked it much better when he was the one exasperating her with his needy clinginess.

Which was kinda cringe, now that I think about it... Ugh, another hall of shame moment...

This new behavior also seemed to irk his adorable Sia-tan too, who got more and more moody as Emilia monopolized more and more of his time. Pouting and puffing and being generally more tsundere after awhile.

She’s acting just like a spoiled daughter who’s angry her dad isn’t paying attention to her! AAAA~! EMT! Elysia-tan Maji Tenshi!

Hrrr... Baru... too loud, Sia wants to sleep... Huaaa, she yawned drowsily in telepathy.

He snickered a little at how tired she sounds, sure it was his fault, but she sounds so cute all tuckered out like that. Whoops, they had one more topic left to talk about they called it a day, and he didn’t want this one to wait.

He replied to her in telepathy back, since he didn’t want anyone accidentally hearing their private conversation, right, right sorry, Sia-tan. But I actually need to talk to you for abit.

Hmmm? Her vague, shapeless phantom in his mind tilted her head slightly in puzzlement. Oh my god, let me see her already!

Ahem, serious topic. Focus.

We need to talk about our contract, specifically, what it means to us, he elaborated.

Sia doesn’t get it..., she replies, sounding rather anxious. Ah, He sounded like a guy trying to break up with his volatile girlfriend and is broaching the topic gently, best to nip that anxiety in its bud.

He elaborated some more, Okay like, what do you expect from me, as your contractor?

Sia expects Baru to a~lways be Baru. Ehe~, she raises both arms straight directly above her head then slowly spreads them outwards to emphasize the ‘always’.

Adorbs, but thats not what I meant, he chuckled, this girl was bad for his heart in a different way from Emilia.

She make an Mmmm? Sound while tilting her head the opposite direction she tilted it the first time.

Hnnng...! EMT! No! Focus, Natsuki Subaru! I meant, what is this contract, this relationship, supposed to be to us? What do you want me to be to you, aside from your contractor?

Sia looks down, he could see the outline of sharp, amber eyes looking thoughtfully lowered, Uuuu...! Sia thinks she gets it...

Yes, yes!

Sia, the little thingies that died and became her, they-we- wanted to be Baru’s strength, to protect him, to love him and be loved by him! To a~lways be close to him! Be his number one! Be his one and only!

At a loss for words and moved to his very soul, he softly utters her name in awe, “Sia...”

Baru... can... can Sia call you..., she started hesitantly, expectantly, unsure of her request, but wanting it granted anyway.

Yes! Subaru eagerly answered, wanting to reciprocate her expectations, Call me what, Sia-tan?

To his disappointment, N-nothing! Nothing at all! Baru is Sia’s-Elysia’s Baru!, she backpedalled.

Sia...? Is some-

Baru should go to sleep! Tomorrow Lia is going to annoy him again so he needs his rest!, she cut him off, no longer wanting to broach the topic.

He was skeptical, but ultimately accepted her boundaries, I wouldn’t call it annoying... clearly we’re not done talking but, if you say so... Hey, Sia?, not wanting to leave the conversation hanging there, he decides to assert how he feels to her more directly.

Mm?

In the softest voice he could muster, he said, I love you, in this telepathic connection shared only between them. Feeling more bold, he imagined himself kissing her image in his mind on the hair, and sent this image to her via said connection.

She started sobbing softly, elated, Ah... Uuuu...! Sia loves Baru too! Sia loves him the most!, she replied to him.

Heh... Good night Sia.

Good night Baru.

And with that, Natsuki Subaru retired for the night.

However, Elysia did not.

.

.

.

She waited until his breathing became steady, until she was completely sure he was fast asleep, until she was sure he couldn’t hear what she was about to say next, then she said softly, emitting her voice from her mana stone via wind mana.

“Sweet dreams, papa...”

Chapter Text

An arrow of elemental light tears through the forest air and hits a Wolgarm square in the torso, disintegrating it upon contact. A few paces away stood a young man with slicked back black hair and sharp, scary eyes. The young man wore an iconic black and white track jacket with orange linings and black joggers, also lined with orange. His jacket is zipped up to his lower chest, exposing the black shirt he wore underneath and an amethyst colored gem tied to his neck with a black string, resting just below his collarbone. A ball of elemental light about the size of a baseball floats above his head like a six-colored halo, illuminating and mantling him in mana of the same colors.

The pair of them are Natsuki Subaru and Elysia, a spirit user and his contract spirit. They were currently on their weekly patrol through the forests surrounding Arlam village, keeping the Wolgarm population at bay while on the lookout for any other threats that might arise.

“Gotta remember to thank Puck for suggesting the patrol. We’ve grinded our spirit arts skill quite abit thanks to him”, Subaru said to Elysia, his posture relaxed with his hands in his jogger pockets.

“Mmmm... Maybe we could get him a treat from the village, then? Or make a batch of those fish and chips with tartar sauce he liked from before. Heheh~”, she suggested, giggling at the memory of the elder spirit comically stuffing his face with a whole fish like some feline shaped squirrel, yelling ‘Delish! Delish!’ the whole time. He didn’t even chew his fish, just swallowed it whole.

“Sounds good. We still didn’t find any trace of the missing kid, though...”, Subaru said sadly, one of the kids disappeared the day after the Wolgarm Incident. He couldn’t really recall that much detail about her aside from blue hair tied in a braid and big green eyes. Adorable all around, really.

At first, they thought the worst happened to her and immediately scoured the forest in search of at least a trace of her (they found none), there were no physical evidences of any kidnapping attempts either, so she likely left on her own. Apparently she was orphan who wandered into the village one day. If she could take care of herself well enough to roam around, she’s better equipped to deal with the unknown than he was, so the pair weren’t too worried. Elysia suggested humorously that the little girl was the real mastermind of the Wolgarm Incident. They got a good laugh out of that.

“If she did get caught by the Wolgarms, there would at least be torn cloth or something left behind from her struggle. We’d have found that something by now if the dogs caught her, so Baru shouldn’t worry too much. We’ll see her again one day!”, Elysia cheered him up.

Speaking of his partner, Elysia’s intelligence and ego grew at a phenomenal pace within just one month. The benefits of joining Subaru’s study sessions with Beatrice. At first, she joined due to her possessive instincts not allowing her to leave her dear contractor alone with another spirit, especially one who is very compatible with him, almost as much as Elysia herself. Then she decided she liked learning new things alongside her contractor, often asking him questions and eventually she started picking up her own books to read in parallel to him and exchange lessons with each other afterwards. Beako-sensei herself allowed it after Subaru renegotiated (haggled) the terms to their agreement: Two to one information exchange instead of the previous one to one.

Both Elysia and Subaru benefited much from studying together, learning and improving alongside each other. One could call it the perfect contractor slash spirit relationship. Subaru learned alot about the basics of the country he was thrown into this past month. He learned about the social classes of the Dragon Kingdom (an epithet for Lugunica), the gist of it’s political situation and hierarchy as well as how it’s currency is structured. The common knowledge of the world in particular was something Beako-sensei made a point to hammer into them, both of them being as helplessly clueless as they were in that regard, a guy from literally a different plane and a newborn spirit.

I would’ve never gotten this far on my own in just a month, benefits of a fun study buddy. Subaru reflected with joy, proud of his achievements.

He even learned the social etiquettes of being a butler thanks to Ram! Though there was talk about promoting him due to his spirit arts skills and his achievements in defending Arlam. He didn’t really get it, but spirit users like himself are very rare and are treated as a precious commodity by any community they belonged to, commonly given high positions as either weapons or as a symbolic leaders of the community, because someone loved by Od Laguna’s children has to be a capable and just person. Hilariously short sighted, but he wasn’t going to complain at getting free respect.

Actually, what would they even promote him to? Is there a position higher than a butler in the servant hierarchy? Head Butler? That position was filled by someone currently working in a different manor. Maybe they’d knight him? Though he didn’t really want the position as it was a hassle, he’d have to relearn etiquette from scratch and participate in skirmishes with other countries or go on bandit hunts. A life of conflict and death was not the life he’d want for Elysia, so hard pass. Whatever it was, he just hoped it was something that won’t have him push papers day-in-day-out.

Sia wouldn’t have learned as much as she did without Baru making it fun for her too. The little girl in the form of a lightball replied. A tinge of admiration and alot of warmth in her voice.

Aside from her less childish speech pattern and boost in intelligence, the biggest change to Elysia would be how she interacted with people. She puts more care to how she manages her words, not wanting a repeat of that time Subaru yelled at her for saying hurtful things to Emilia when she came to his room late at night to chat, distrupting their study time. He apologized later after the half-elf left and had to explain to her why it wasn’t okay to say mean things to other people just because she was angry, he started teaching her things related to emotions and social propriety shortly after. Sometimes, I feel less like your partner and more like your father. Can’t say I dislike it though.

The spirit fell silent at this, though her body briefly glowed a tad brighter and her colors became deeper before receding back to its normal state. A sign that she’s embarassed or flustered, usually. You’re so cute~, Subaru teased.

She emitted her voice with wind mana, foregoing telepathy, “If you keep being a jerk, Sia will go back into her mana stone. Have fun dealing with Wolgarms without her, ‘daddy’”, she snarked in response, adding some extra sarcasm to the word ‘daddy’. An unfortunate outcome of having her present in his usual snark battles with Ram, that.

“Oh shit, uhh, ahem. I deeply apologize for my most contemptuous wrongdoings and humbly beg for your continued support in dog hunting, my dearest princess.”, he says formally with an exaggerated bow, like a noble apologizing to royalty for missing tax day or something.

Elysia was not having it though, “Apology unaccepted, it lacks... sincerity. Perhaps some favors would sweeten it?”, she suggested coyly, her voice laced with faux innocence.

Sassy little shit, “Argh, of all the things for you to pick up from Ram. Fine, I’ll let you increase your mana dose for tonight.”, he haggled. Though he usually only gave her enough mana nightly to allow himself peaceful sleep (get knocked fully unconscious) before bed, he didn’t mind letting her suck him dry straight to his Od on occasion, trusting her to know not to overdo it.

She made a ‘hmm’ sound, pretending to be deep in thought, savoring the chance at making him sweat. She kept the charade up for a few seconds longer before replying, “Apology accepted ‘daddy dearest’. We may proceed with the hunt.”, she said smugly, she definitely learned that smug tone from Beako. Subaru just gave her the stink eye in response. Curse you both for corrupting my baby, drill loli! Pink bastard!

Or so she said, but it was clear with how completely silent the forest was, save for the sound of leaves rustling in the wind, that there were no more Wolgarms in the immediate area, though Subaru wasn’t going to trigger his taboo just to get confirmation. Having your heart physically squeezed was not pleasant and he would like to avoid it as much as possible.

“... Doesn’t seem to be anything left to hunt though”, Elysia added belatedly.

“Mhm, let’s call it a day and head back to the mansion, we need to make it back by lunch or Ram would start nagging.”, Subaru said, not wanting to hear any more of Ram’s smug, snarky nagging if he could help it. She’s too big sister coded for him sometimes.

They engaged in small talk and banter as they made their way back to the manor. Picking up groceries and gifts from the grateful villagers while handing in their report to the village chief along the way. Another productive patrol, and he got to skip his early morning chores for it too! He really needed to do something nice for Puck as thanks.

________________________________________________________________________________

“Subaru~! It’s an emergency! We rea~lly need your help!”, Emilia said as she pulled Subaru along by the hand.

The duo had just gotten back from their patrol, they didn’t even manage to fully close the front door before Emilia practically sprinted toward him from the direction of the kitchen, apparently in search of him all morning and was awaiting his return in suspense.

She immediately snatched him by the hand and insisted they go to her room without much explanation. Saying it was an emergency and that she’ll explain when they have some privacy.

It better be, Sia growled from inside her mana stone. Annoyed at how Emilia was interrupting her time with Subaru, again. Immediately after returning home from a rather long and tiring patrol, too.

It was a constant in their daily routine that she really should have gotten used to by now. They get comfortable, talk about mundane things and go on marathon long tangents about what-ifs and how-abouts, just generally enjoying their time together, then the elf would barge into the conversation with the subtlely of a ground dragon in mating season and Subaru would stop paying attention to her in favor of entertaining Emilia with the same, repetitive jokes on loop. Being around Emilia makes Baru dull, and Elysia did not like that.

She refused to get used to Emilia’s presence too. Because this girl was obviously trying to steal as much of her Baru’s time as she could for herself. ‘Complacency is defeat’, Subaru had said to her before when he accidentally cut his open palm while skinning a Tatoe. He also said ‘Give them an inch and they’ll take a mile’ when Ram forced pretty much every chore on her list that day on him when he offered to help her. So she didn’t allow herself complacency, not give the elf an inch, lest she steals Sia’s contractor from right under her nose! And she doesn’t even have a nose!

Sia-tan, Subaru warned gently. She just pouted in response.

“Uh, Emilia-tan? Can you at least give me a general vibe on the issue first? Like, on a scale from one to five where one is finding a lost cat and five is the end of the world as we know it?”, Subaru suggested. Not at all bothered about being dragged around like a Tatoe sack.

“Veib...? Another silly word. You make up the weir~dest things.”, Emilia giggled, still pulling him rather forcefully by the hand, purposely ignoring his question.

Doesn’t sound like someone in an emergency to me, Elysia snarked again.

Sia please, Subaru pleaded. She’s been steadily getting worse in that regard. Sure she stopped being openly mean and confrontational to the girls in the mansion. But inside their shared headspace? She snarked at them every chance she could get, Subaru himself was at a loss on what to do about it. He really didn’t know how else to better her relationship with the girls of the manor, as he’s already tried (and failed) everything that came to mind, from small talk to ice breakers to friendship games, this entire month. It’s like she has a ‘hate on sight’ instinct for them, even though she got along just fine with Ram and Puck and, like everyone else barring the red ogre, kept a healthy distance away from Roswaal.

“Still haven’t answered the question, Emilia.”, Elysia sarcastically pointed out.

“Oh! I’m sorry, what was the question?”. Emilia asked. Graciously ignoring the biting sarcasmin Elysia’s tone. That, or she’s genuinely too naive to figure out when someone is antagonizing her. Elysia thinks it’s the latter. The half-elf is kinda spacey, like, all the time.

Haah~, your taste in women is terrible ‘dad’, do you really like em so... stupid? She asked half teasingly, half seriously. Genuinely worried that his preferences were that debauched. She needed to hold an intervention if it were. No contractor of hers would debase himself with such undignified preferences in women.

Just because she’s sorta airheaded doesn’t mean she’s stupid, Sia. And for the record? I find it cute, as cute as how I find you when you’re jealous of someone, ‘daughter dearest~’, he practically sang that last part. The nerve of this man. He’s lucky she loves him.

Hmph! She huffed, not wanting to let him have the last say but not having anything to counter him with.

Out loud, she said, “... Let’s just get to the room quickly”, she relented. Not wanting to lose any more patience at the elf and make Subaru mad at her again. Once was enough.

________________________________________________________________________________

“Hey, kids. Thanks for showing up. Could use your help with this little problem of mine”, Puck said from his perch on a soft, purple cat pillow placed at the foot of Emilia’s bed, as the pair of Emilia and Subaru entered the room.

Emilia chose to sit next to Puck on the bed while Subaru opted to sit on the chair of her study desk. She thinks he would’ve been more comfortable next to her on the bed though...

“An actual emergency, then? That’s a first.”, spoke the voice from Subaru’s mana stone. As always, she’s s~o mean to her when she speaks. Even though she was s~o cute and shy that first day...

Contrary to what Elysia thought, Emilia was fully aware the spirit was antagonizing her. Somehow understanding that she rea~lly didn’t like it when Emilia interrupted her time alone with her contractor. On one hand, Emilia understood why, she’d dislike it if her private time with her favorite person was interrupted by someone else too. On the other hand...

Its just not fair! She’s with Subaru all day, every day! Literally! She could at least share some of his time with Emilia! It’s not like she took alot of it!

It wasn’t like Emilia had anyone else to talk to either, the maids were as distant as always and Puck himself is falling asleep during the day more and more lately, he said it was because he had to put in more effort to contain his current problem, so he’s tired even during daytime.

Either way, she’s been getting lonelier and lonelier as a result, and Subaru was the only one around who seemed willing to spend any time with her at all...

Oh no, she shouldn’t be getting distracted! She had an emergency to solve, Silly Emilia!

“Err- We needed your help with a problem related to Puck, I was hoping Subaru would have a solution because he’s always such a fanciful thinker!”, Emilia said while clasping her hands together on her lap.

“Nobody says ‘fanciful’ in this day and age...”, Subary and Elysia retorted in-sync. She had a distinct feeling they were making fun of her in telepathy too... No, Subaru was a nice, noble person. He wouldn’t do something so mean.

“Err, anyway, geez- setting your expectations a little high there, but it matters not! For the angelic Emilia-tan’s sake, this meager butler shall sally forth to the ends of the world and conquer calamities unheard, ushering humanity to a new era of elf worship!”, Subaru said with a dramatic flourish, putting his left palm over his heart and extending his right arm forward dramatically in another one of his strange poses. He was so adorably silly, as always! She giggled at his drama.

“Nobody says ‘sally forth’ these days either old man..., and you’d have to be especially demented to worship elves of all things.”, Elysia retorted with a snicker, deflating his enthusiasm.

“Hush, Sia-tan, nothing’s wrong with appreciating divine beauty! Also, my vocab becoming old fashioned is entirely your fault!”, he said while pointing his finger accusingly at the gem wrapped around his neck, he then gently raised it to his eye level using his thumb and index finger, giving it the stink eye as he did so. It was her spare mana stone that she gave to him to use as Elysia’s anchor... the least the little spirit could do was be nicer to her... No, what was she thinking? She’s a silver haired half-elf, she doesn’t deserve to be treated nicely...

They continued their faux argument, enjoying themselves as if the people around them (herself) no longer existed, “Excuse me!?”, Elysia loudly exclaimed, scandalized.

“Yeah! You keep reading old literature to me! Of course it’ll change how I talk! Couldn’t you have read me anything more modern!? A YA title or something!?”, Subaru reasoned. Lightly shaking the mana stone in his fingers as he emoted.

“YA’s don’t exist in this world! Period! And news flash! All the literature in the forbidden library are old! It’s a four hundred year old dust magnet! Just like it’s equally dusty old librarian! Kashira! And stop shaking the damn stone! It’s giving Sia a headache!”, Elysia snarked back, completely uncaring for decorum, they were so close there was no need for social barriers or propriety...

How enviable... she thought to herself, why couldn’t she have that relationship with Puck?

“One of these days, she might just randomly appear to smite you for all the out of pocket dissing you keep throwing her way.”, Subaru nervously chuckled while looking around, half expecting said librarian to spontaneously teleport in using her Door Crossing spell.

She needed to get a grip, “Umm... Subaru...? Elysia...?”, she called hesitantly.

“Come on, you two! Don’t just ignore us and flirt with each other like that”, Puck also chimed in, likely sensing her thoughts going on a downward spiral. He was always s~o reliable.

“Uh, yeah? Sorry Emilia-tan, we went on a tangent again...”. Subaru apologized while scratching his head with his left hand, as his right was still gently holding the mana stone.

“No comment on the flirting part, though, Cattie’s completely right on the mark.”, said the spirit dwelling inside the stone. Her tone seemed dreamy and happy at the thought.

Flirting means courting right? Were Subaru and Elysia were courting each other...? Emilia found she rea~lly didn’t like the thought. Her heart felt like it weighed heavier than usual.

Subaru immediately denied her, “Uh, no... He couldn’t be any more off base if he were on another planet...”, and it made her heart weigh just a tiny bit less.

She had to say something or the conversation will leave her again, “It’s fine, Subaru~. I’m just rea~lly befuddled. You two are always so synchronized, like you already spent a lifetime together...”

“Nobody says-”, Subaru started to say, but was interrupted.

“-Well duh! Sia was born for Baru’s sake! All of us who became Elysia loved and wanted to protect Baru! her Subaru! Us being perfect for each other is a matter of course! No outsiders could ever compare to Sia!”, Elysia bragged smugly, putting emphasis on the word ‘her’ and ‘outsider’. She rea~lly loved Subaru, and Subaru loved her back just as much. They complement each other perfectly...

Also...

‘News flash’, ‘completely right on the mark’, ‘well duh’ more and more of Subaru’s strange phrases. She uses those a~ll the time, she knows exactly what all of them meant, too, unlike Emilia.

I’m getting this rea~lly strange feeling again. It was like her heart was being squeezed by an invisible force, she didn’t like it. Not at all.

“Can we please get back on topic? We’re running out of time. I can’t stick around for very long”, came Puck’s interjection.

Thank you, Puck! She said in gratitude. Happy at the distraction from her thoughs.

Anytime, Lia. He replied.

“Ah, right, right. Sorry. Sia?”, Subaru said apologetically. Easily delegating the leadership role to his spirit partner.

“Yuhp, You mentioned a problem?”, Elysia asked, forcing everyone back to the main topic. She’s rea~lly impressive. Barely a month old and is already taking charge of conversations, if only Emilia could assert herself the same way...

“Yeah, so I’ll keep it brief. I’m close to my mana-letting period and we need a solution to stop it from freezing everything around us.”, Puck replied, succintly describing the problem.

“Wat? Mating period? And you’ll freeze us if we can’t find you a mate?”, a confused Subaru asked. Honestly, he should learn to tone down the silliness, even if it were funny to her, he might say something like that to a nobleman who won’t appreciate his humor, it’s worrying to think about...

“Pfft-Heheh~! No, Baru. Mana-letting period. As for what it means... two words; ‘mana constipation’”, Elysia replied to him while giggling at his weird assumption. Though her choice of explanation was too short and makes no sen-

“Oh! That makes perfect sense! He absorbed too much mana and used too little so now he needs to let it out!”, Subaru said, hammering his right fist into his left open palm in an ‘oh, I get it!’ gesture.

I beg your pardon? “It does!?”, “How!?”, came the retorts from both Emilia and Puck. It seems as if Elysia knows exactly what goes on in Subaru’s mind and can perfectly capture how he thinks. Truly, an enviable relationship...

Ignoring their retorts, Elysia asked, “Rather, Sia’s question is: wouldn’t the dusty old hag be more qualified to help than a month old pair of newbies? You could even ask the creepy clown instead of us and still get a better answer! This isn’t something you should saddle Baru with just because Emilia wants an excuse to talk to him again!”, that last accusation was rea~lly mean! She didn’t go to Subaru for help because she just wanted an excuse to talk to him! She didn’t even need one, she could go up to him and strike a conversation without any pretense if she wanted to!

“Sia-tan! That’s eno-”, “E-Elysia, that’s not the reason why-”, Subaru and Emilia said at the same time, the former taking on a scolding tone and the latter flustered at getting caught with an ulterior motive.

But Puck interrupted them before either could finish, “If I could ask the more qualified people around for help, I would.”, he said.

“So both of them couldn’t help? A four hundred year old great spirit and the so called court mage? Hmph!”, Elysia asked incredulously. Emilia wanted to defend the two of them, but lacked the strength of presence or skill in articulation to speak up...

“Well, Betty and I are in a... disagreement... of sorts.”, Puck said with a grimace. Emilia thought that was a rather extreme understatement.

Subaru agreed with her assessment, “Fancy way of saying ‘she hates my guts for reasons I don’t actually know’, I’ve seen how she glared at you during dinner that one time!”, he said snarkily.

“It’s not as bad as it used to be a month ago, she’s talking to me again, thankfully, but it’s still far from cordial...”, Puck replied with an uncertain chuckle.

“What did you even do to her my guy?”, Subaru asked. Emilia wondered the same thing.

Elysia giggled cutely at this, “Oh, Baru~”, she said, lightly singing his name.

“Subaru... you...”, Puck said, baffled at Subaru’s question. Was her anger at Puck related to Subaru? Emilia didn’t understand. She couldn’t keep up with the conversation...

“What? What!? Why are both of you giving me those looks? How am I related to this!? How are you even looking at me like that without a face!?”, Subaru yelped. Understanding the situation just as little as she did. Yet, he looked like he was having so much fun despite that. Must be nice, she thought with uncharacteristic bitterness.

They’re leaving me out me again... this always happens when Puck gets involved in their conversations. It rea~lly isn’t fair! They always include him but shut her out! Everyone’s being mean to her! Even Puck!

Subaru noticed her slightly bitter expression, “Emilia-tan? You’ve been silent for awhile now. Sorry for talking around you like this.”, he apologized.

Everyone but Subaru!

“I-its, oh-kay, Subaru. J-just, do you have a solution...?” Ple~ase say you don’t, ple~ase tell me you’ll need to talk to me more about it. Give me a reason to talk to you more. Please...

Don’t leave me alone with my thoughts... the sad plea came to mind before she could silence it.

Puck was caught off guard by that statement, Wait what? Lia...? What did you-

She tuned him out in favor of listening to Subaru as he spoke, “Hmmm... I’m not really sure, how’d you deal with it the last time it happened? Since you called it a ‘period’, that means it’s seasonal right? Monthly? Yearly?”

Yes! “Yes! It’s a yearly thing. It happens when Puck absorbs and stores more mana than his Od can handle, so he has to release it over time. Because it’s mana from a great spirit, the surrounding area will be altered as a consequence. In Puck’s case-”

“The whole forest will turn into a snow field? Since his specialty is Huma spells.” Elysia interrupted nonchalantly. Emilia was starting to lose her patience with the spirit... Why is she s~o insistent on being mean to her!?

“Well crap, that’ll end up killing Arlam. They don’t have enough fire stones stocked for, uhh-”, Subaru looked to her for confirmation. She opened her mouth to reply-

But, “Three days.”, Puck answered before she could.

“-three days of sudden winter. Sorry, we interrupted you again, how’d you say you dealt with it last time?”, Subaru finished with a question, tactfully giving her a chance to speak.

“...”, she looked down in silent frustration, no longer feeling like talking.

“Emilia-tan...?”, Subaru asked worriedly. Again, before she could answer...

Lia, let me take over from here, okay? Came a gentle chiding from Puck.

“I-I...”, her eyes stung, tears forming in the corner, she gripped the bottom of her skirt tightly in an effort to ground herself. From her peripheral vision, she noticed Puck wincing as he caught on to her full emotional state, finally realizing that he was being a little too dismissive of her.

He started to apologize, W-wait Lia, I’m sorry! You can-

It’s fine, Puck, I’m not upset, she cut him off brusquely. He didn’t seem convinced, but didn't push it.

She took a deep breath, and gave the best smile she could muster.

“I’m oh-kay Subaru! Please, continue the conversation. We rea~lly need to solve this problem as quickly as we can!”

Subaru looked like he swallowed something bitter, but didn’t comment any further. He continued questioning Puck about his mana-letting with Elysia, leaving Emilia alone with her thoughts.

It’s not like she didn’t deserve it, to feel sad and lonely that is, it was her fate as the half-devil. So really.

It’s oh-kay.

________________________________________________________________________________

Okay, can we talk about Emilia now? what the fuck was that earlier? Subaru asked his spirit.

She was obviously angsting over something, Elysia replied. Then, giving it some thought, Sia doesn’t see how it’s our problem though, she added.

It was now deep into Watertime, more or less an hour before midnight. The duo were lying on Subaru’s bed, fully retired for the night. Well, Subaru was lying on the bed, Elysia’s mana stone sat snugly on the pillow right next to his head.

Of course it’s our problem, Emilia-tan is our friend, Subaru insisted.

..., She stayed silent, but he had a feeling she was quirking an imaginary eyebrow at him. Sassy little brat. Time to change tactics.

My friend, he corrected. And we’ll be the ones forced to clean up the mess anyway, if it does end up becoming a problem, he added belatedly. Hoping that preventive logic would appeal to her rational side.

She hummed in thought, then replied defeatedly, that’s a sentiment Sia can get behind... fi~ne, Sia will be nicer to her-

Befriend her. Subaru interrupted.

-be nicer to her for the duration of our little trip. Don’t push it, she finished.

Alright, alright. I’ll take what I can get. Good enough, better than nothing at least.

Their ‘little trip’ in this case would be the trip they are taking to Elior Forest the day after tomorrow. It was also called ‘The Forest of Eternal Winter’ by the locals, apparently she lived there with Puck for seven years before Roswaal found and recruited her for the royal selection, though she didn’t offer any further details, being strangely tight lipped about the place, and her history in general, now that he thinks about it...

After a short back and forth, Elysia suggested they head there so Puck could let his mana out without fearing collateral to the village. Puck left the final decision to Emilia, who reluctantly agreed as there really was no other option that was safe for everyone. It’s admirable to him how much she cares so much about people she’s never met. At least, he thinks she’s never met the villagers. She doesn’t really go out of the mansion much, preferring to spend all her time practically barricaded inside instead. Something to do with how she’s a silver haired half elf, she had told him when he asked during one of their afternoon tea sessions one time. He didn’t agree with her reasoning though, so he tried to get her to socialize more with the people around them. It wouldn’t do for a future king to be a shut-in. He’d know, having been one himself.

The twins were a bust, they were more focused on rebuilding their relationship and working Rem through her issues, Subaru wanted to respect that so he let them be. Beako-sensei was also a bust because of her little sibling spat with Puck. Ros-chi... no, just no. So that just left Sia-tan and the villagers. Subaru went with the villagers, as Emilia-tan really wasn’t the most popular person to his little pseudo daughter. An issue he needed to fix at some point, if they were going to keep orbiting each other as part of his social circle in the future.

He tried to get Emilia to join him on his patrols, an excuse to get her more acquainted with the villagers, but was rejected by Puck who didn’t want her near any witch beasts, regardless of how safe it was. He then tried to get her to at least join his radio calisthenics exercises with the kids on days he didn’t need to go on his patrols but Emilia herself denied that, saying her appearance would only cause problems for him if the villagers saw her. Her resistance felt half-baked and insincere but he wasn’t going to force the issue and potentially make her uncomfortable just to satisfy his ego, so he trusted Emilia to tell him the truth about how she feels and respected her wish to remain excluded, no matter how much he didn’t want to...

And he rea~lly didn’t want to.

He had no options left to get her to expand her social circle. So he spent as much time as he personally could with Emilia to ensure she wasn’t completely isolated, enduring Elysia’s jealous tantrums and nasty snarks all the while. His heroine’s situation was really stifling, even from a third person’s perspective, he can’t imagine having to lead a life like that..., but all the same, he can’t really see a way to get her out of it either, barring abandoning the royal selection altogether, that is.

His musings were interrupted by his best friend slash pseudo daughter, Good. Problem solved! Now it’s time for our ‘private bonding session’! She chirped happily.

Don’t make it sound so perverted! It’s training! Subaru retorted. Though not all that embarassed by her phrasing as his retort suggested, they were safe from judgement in the safety of their thoughts, and are able to freely say the wildest things to each other.

It’s private, we forge a deeper bond through it, and we do it regularly, ergo it’s a ‘private bonding session’! In fact! Elysia argued. Channelling what he liked to call ‘Dismissively Lecturing Beako’, complete with verbal tic! So cute...

But Natsuki Subaru will not cave so easily! You’ll get me in trouble with the feds, phrasing things like that! He faux complained.

There are no feds in Lugunica! Baru is free to assault all the little girls as much as he wants, Sia reckons that Petra kid from the village would even let it happen! The things that come out of this little spirit girl’s mouth sometimes... he really should at least try to scold her for the things she says, even if they were hilarious...

Eh, it’s harmless and she doesn’t actively antagonize people so whatever, she can keep the out of pocket comments, they’re funny, Stahp! I’m no little girl fetishist! And Petra’s practically another daughter to me! He continued to argue, enjoying the banter for what it is.

Hmm~? ‘another’? She teased with a knowing glint to her amber eyes.

Yes, her amber eyes. Beautiful, sharp, knife-like windows to her soul. Similar to his own, but more enchanting in the way they glowed slightly in the dark, like gold-tinted stars in the abyss of night. The rest of her took shape right next to him shortly after, a featureless, transparent outline in the form of a rather shapely girl at around her early tweens with equally transparent, wavy black hair that reached to her lower back. She sat facing his legs from the side of the bed, her pose elegant with her legs tucked neatly to the side facing the edge and her hands clasped together on her lap.

This was their so-called ‘private bonding session’. A training routine where she would try to materialize with as much detail of herself as she could muster, for as long as she was able to, with as little mana use as possible. They would often simply sit down together while she focused on maintaining her form, with Subaru engaging her in conversation to shift her focus away as a form of conditioning for her mind, similar to how driving teachers engaged in small talk to get their students used to driving with minimal focus spent on the mechanics of the act.

At first, she was only able materialize her eyes, then she slowly worked her way to the rest of her body over the course of a month, adding a tiny bit more detail each time. Subaru figured she’ll be able to form a full, complete body within the year at most, at the pace she was going. He couldn’t wait to finally see her in all her glory. The thought filled his heart to the point of bursting, anticipation as bitter as it was sweet.

“Yeah, ‘another’. I already have someone I consider a daughter.”, he said softly, raising his left arm slightly and stretching his palm outwards. Elysia’s own transparent right meeting it halfway, it felt softer and smoother than the most expensive silk and emitted the warmth of a mother’s comforting embrace. Her hand fit his own perfectly as well, as if molded specifically to be held by it, the act filling his soul just as much as it did his palm. They interlocked their fingers in an intimate gesture with his hand rested on her lap, just above her knees.

“hmhmm~ I wonder who she is? Is she cute?”, she asked, not even trying to mask the expectant giddiness in her voice.

“Hmm~, I don’t think you’d know her. She’s a rather rambunctious sort, you see, always all over the place and is huffy and puffy about every little thing.”, he teased vaguely, even though both of them know full well who he was referring to.

“She sounds like she’s the perfect partner for her ‘father’, then. Since he’s the type who’s too nice to hold a grudge against people that deserve it.”, Sia-tan continued to play along coyly, though there was a hint of scathing bite to her words, clearly having someone in mind with her latter comment.

Taking a chance, Subaru said, “I don’t know, it feels like she’s slowly getting too aggressive with that.”

“...”, Elysia fell silent at his words, her mood becoming slightly pensive.

But Subaru was undeterred, “I just think she could stand to be a little nicer to the people she’s living with y’know?”

A moment of silent reflection, and then she exhaled in defeat, “Haaah, you just killed the mood with that, I hope you’re happy.”, Elysia said, though her tone was anything but disappointed.

Subaru himself knew better than to take her words at face value too, as her hand never once loosened it’s grip on his own, “No I didn’t.”, he teased.

She relented, “... No, you didn’t, though for the record...”, she said the latter part with a sharp, teasing glint in her eyes.

“Hmm...?”

“Nobody says ‘rambunctious’ these days, old fart”, she finished, a positively nasty smirk on her eyes, as her face was still mouthless.

The sass of this brat! “Now you killed the mood!”, Subaru retorted in faux anger.

“Ehehe~ I’m not sorry.”

“Why, you-”, he started to say, but was interrupted when he felt his hand being pulled upwards. Elysia raised his hand to her face level and placed a short, chaste kiss on the wrist.

Didn’t she not have a mouth? How did she- he looked toward her from his position on the bed and caught sight of a beautiful pair of thin lips that were already fading from the transparent face, her expression etched into a shy, satisfied smile. He also caught transparent pink stains on her cheeks that she quickly masked when she noticed him staring.

She managed to materialize a mouth for the first time ever, albeit temporarily, and the first thing she did with it was kiss his hand...

Subaru was stunned into silence, his face redder than the ripest of Appas.

Elysia’s sharp eyes softened at the sight, similar to how Subaru’s own would soften when he’s being gentle with someone. The sight of those softly glowing orbs in that serene, loving expression stole his breath away, he idly thought that if she’s capable of arresting his thoughts while being vague and featureless as she is now, she’d probably kill him with just a smile the day she fully manifested.

Then she delivered the final blow.

“I love you, papa.”, she said. Her tone loving and her voice soft.

He paused, as if parsing the words that just entered through his ears. Convincing himself they were real.

Then he blacked out.

Forget when she fully manifested, she might have just killed him tonight itself.

________________________________________________________________________________

“Ram wished she could have engraved that sight into a painting”, teased the red ogre.

She caught Barusu unconscious with the dumbest, most disgusting expression on his face she’d seen to date, and she’d seen plenty of those on him around Emilia-sama!

They were currently sweeping the front entrance of the mansion. The chore greatly expedited by Elysia-sama’s assistance via wind mana. According to Barusu, it was a way to train her mana control, but Ram thought it was just an excuse he used to slack off, and he admitted as much when she accused him in jest, though he also added that he wasn’t wrong. He did intend to use chores to help her train, he just also benefited by having less to do.

“You have no proof aside from your words, so as far as I’m concerned it never happened!”, the boy dramatically argued, the pathetic logic of a man cornered.

As to why he had such an undignified expression on his face as he slept? Ram didn’t want to bother knowing. It was Barusu, therefore stupid by default. She didn’t need to know anything past that.

“Hah! Ram doesn’t need proof! A perfectly cute and gorgeous femme fatale like herself need not debase herself to convince lowly commoners of factual truths!”, he had taught Elysia-sama what ‘femme fatale’ meant, and Ram herself was coincidentally in the same room drinking tea (slacking off) while they were talking. She liked how it sounded and took every opportunity to call herself that.

“Way to toot your horn, not that you have one. Pun intended”, the boy snarked. Oh, it's on!

“If Ram didn’t need you as slave labor, you’d lose a leg for that.”, Ram snarked back with biting sarcasm, hoping to deter his response with a light threat.

“Been there, done that...”, he whispered quietly. Too quietly for Ram to hear.

“What?”, Ram asked.

“What?”, He asked back.

“...”

“...”

“Awkwa~rd”, Giggled the ever-present spirit resting inside Barusu’s necklace.

Ram shifted the topic, “... Whatever-You are leaving for Elior forest with Emilia-sama tomorrow morning?”, she asked, just to keep a conversation going. She already knew the plan, having been there herself when they were discussing it yesterday at dinner.

“Eyup, remind me again why I’m the only servant going on this trip?”, He asked pointedly. His voice disbelieving. He argued lengthily yesterday about Roswaal-sama’s stance on this trip, not understanding the logic (if there is any) in allowing the lone male of the mansion to accompany the naive half-elf to an isolated forest without further supervision.

“Because Barusu was the one stupid enough to suggest it. Ram wouldn’t want her precious time wasted on a half-baked journey like this. She’d rather conserve her efforts for something more deserving.”, it was her own home, Emilia-sama would be safer there than anywhere else, plus it froze with an eternal winter, Ram did not want to be anywhere near that. Tough luck.

Barusu smirked at that response, spotting an opening for their usual banter, “Right. Because nee-sama works so hard to keep the mansion spotless and presentable, oh wait, that’s Rem.”, he said as he raised a finger. Sarcastically counting her ‘contributions’ to the workload.

“...”, Ram kept silent, unable to respond. She knew she’d just be adding to his ammunition of she did.

He raised another finger, “Maybe nee-sama works hard preparing the meals instead. Oh no, Rem again.”

“...”, she continued to maintain a resolute, silent stance, frozen like a statue. Patience, Ram. Don't let him beat you!

And a third finger, “Nee-sama needs to conserve her efforts because she has to go on patrols to protect the village, oh wait, that’s me. The nerve, acting like you’re so important.”, he said haughtily.

Ram couldn’t take it anymore, “Hah! A pathetic little boy like Barusu can’t even begin to understand the difficulties Ram faces.”, she wouldn’t take this abuse lying down!

But the boy was relentless, “Mhmm, idly chatting away while someone else does your portion of the chores is hard, isn’t it? It’s alot of tiring, back breaking work, isn’t it? Like leaving everything to your sister while you lounge around and do the bare minimum. Sounds very difficult, Ram.”, he finished with a bite.

“... Tch.”

Knowing he won the argument, Barusu pumped his right fist in the air, like a brute announcing his victory in a gladiator brawl, “Score for Subaru! I win again. But really, why me alone? Sure I suggested it, but I’m a male servant, about to go on a trip with his lady. Alone. Does Ros-chi really see no problem with this?”, he asked. Unable to believe the stroke of (bad) luck that is his careless employer.

“Perhaps this is Roswaal-sama’s way of rewarding Subaru-kun’s efforts? His own way of cheering on your attempts at courting Emilia-sama?”, Another voice answered of Ram. The two stooges turned to see Rem walking up them, moving to assist them now that she’s finished with her prep work in the kitchen. As impeccable as always, Rem must be praised for her efforts.

“Good morning again, my cute sister. Thank you for finishing up in the kitchen ahead of us. Apologies for the delay in our chores, the brute with nasty eyes over here was busy tormenting this divine maiden, so we couldn't get any work done.”, Ram thanked her while also accurately retelling her conversation with Barusu.

“Ohey Rem. Mornin. What pinky said. Also, courting? Where’d you get that idea?”, Barusu asked as he casually waved his arm in greeting. Completely ignoring her latter comment on his evil deeds. Really, the spine on thi-

... Wait.

“Pardon?”, the twins asked in stereo. They heard that correctly right? Both of them heard the same thing?

“Yeah? When have I ever given the impression I was trying to woo her? Past my first week, that is.”, Subaru repeated. He looked genuinely befuddled, as if he didn’t even realize what he’s been doing this past month.

The twins looked at each other, nodded, looked back at him, then started speaking.

“You frequently ask her to join your patrols”, Rem began the assault.

“Which she rejected. Technically Puck did but still.”, Barusu countered.

“You invite her to join your morning rituals every day you're not on patrol.”, Ram continued the assault.

“She rejected those too.”, But his defense stayed strong.

“When you aren’t studying with Beatrice-sama or Elysia-sama, you would help her in her own studies, going as far as to learn the material by yourself to teach her.”, Rem pointed out. Hoping to destabilize his balance by bringing up what she thought was a hidden effort on his part.

“No such thing as useless knowledge.”, he just shrugged her off.

“You spend every single tea time with her.”, Ram wouldn’t give up! Drinking tea together on a private gazebo is the epitome of upper class courtship!

“No, she spends every single tea time with me. There’s a difference.”, he pointed out casually. As if it made any difference who approached who at tea time!

“When you come up with new food recipes, she’s the first person you introduce them to.”, Rem went for the finishing blow! The mayonnaise, tartar sauce, even the tatoe chips that Ram still won’t admit to enjoying! The first taste always belonged to her! This had to be a romantic gestu-

“She and Puck give the best reactions.”, he just said casually, uncaring for the insinuations.

“You-”, Ram started.

Barusu raised his hand, “Alright, alright! I got it already! From an outside perspective, it looks like I’m trying really hard to get her, huh?”, he pondered.

“Aren’t you?”, Rem asked. Utterly confused at how reality was not complying with her that morning.

“... Not really?”, He said, sounding unsure. Oh?

“Why not?”, Rem persistently pestered. Bless you, sister mine. Ram wouldn’t be caught dead prying into Barusu’s love life. No matter how curious she was about it.

Barusu looked pensive, but answered anyway, “That’s... I have too much on my plate to think about as it is. Between studying, learning etiquette, raising Sia and patrolling the forests? I don’t have the emotional capacity left over to delegate to something like romance, not yet. Besides...”, he looked unsure as he trailed off, hesitant to finish, as if afraid that if he voiced it out, it will become the truth.

“Yes?”, Rem gently coaxed. Ram will pamper you lots when we’re done.

“It wouldn’t work out anyway...”, he finally finished.

All of a sudden, his hesitance makes sense. With the realization came the cold dousing of their gossip fever. The twins immediately sobered from their love talk induced drunkness.

“Barusu/Subaru-kun...”, they trailed off weakly. Unsure of how to comfort their junior slash little brother figure.

He soldiered on, “She’s a Dragon Maiden, a candidate for the throne, royalty in all but name. Me? I’m just some clueless, penniless nobody who used up his whole lives worth of luck to get tangled with her problems one time and meet the greatest spirit ever as a result.”, he admitted. Taking on a defeated posture with his shoulders hunched and his head hanging low. Lives? Plural?

“Baru...”, Elysia-sama called softly from within her mana stone. Sounding both elated at his praise, and sad that he was putting himself down.

You’re wrong though. Emilia-sama does think of you that way, she’s just too much of a child to notice it. Ram wanted to say. She held her tongue.

Because really, is he wrong? So what if she did?

Even if she did reciprocate his feelings, he’s right. She’s a king candidate, effectively royalty, and he is a butler, an utter nobody. It would be a different story altogether if he were at least a royal knight. But with his current social status as a foreign commoner? He’d be a stain on her honor, an obstacle to her bid for the throne. The vultures would tear her apart if they consummated. He’d be powerless to stop it if it comes to that.

Burying his feelings would be the best choice he could make, considering the circumstances. Becoming a royal knight meant embroiling himself and, more importantly, Elysia-sama in petty human conflicts. Something he already expressed he did not want for her.

Ram suddenly felt a strong kinship with Barusu.

Her beloved held a social status too high for her to grasp, just like his.

She chose to devote as much of her time and emotions to her only family as a way to cope, just as he prioritized Elysia-sama over his own romance.

Maybe he would understand what it felt like... the red ogre thought to herself.

They needed to get some drinks together, one day. She just needs to find an excuse that didn’t result in her breaking character...

________________________________________________________________________________

Later that evening, five hours into Firetime. Subaru sat alone (as alone as he could be, with a plus one living in his head) at his usual spot on the gazebo. He continued to wander a mile a minute as he did his usual set of chores without paying attention to anything. He was completely out of it the whole day, after his conversation with the twins, Sia-tan forced him to skip today’s lessons with Beako-sensei because she knew he wouldn’t pay attention. Speaking of the twins, they forced him out of the kitchen when it was clear he wasn’t really putting any effort into making dinner, his mind still elsewhere.

It’s for the best, He reasoned to himself.

It really wouldn’t have worked out, he continued pleadingly.

I mean, it’s not like I was actually in love with her. It was just a childish crush, increasingly more pleading, until finally...

Get over it, me. I have something, someone, who is more important than a kid’s first crush, an ultimatum, the final say. Do the thing or else. His last attempt to reason with himself.

His mind kept regurgitating the same words over and over, trying to convince himself to let go of his first crush and focus on the person that he felt should matter more.

‘Trying’ being the operative word, because the less rational part of his mind kept arguing back against his logical side, refusing to let go of his little infatuation.

But... she’s my heroine..., it said, though the voice sounded hollow. Unconvinced despite it’s desires.

She’s a person, jackass. Stop treating her like she’s an NPC. You’re supposed to be better than that, especially after everything that happened, his logical side chided.

His emotional side tried to argue again, But-You’re not some isekai fantasy hero, the world doesn’t bend itself over for you. Get over it. Get over her, his logical side interrupted, refusing to give even an inch to his emotions.

She obviously likes me. I mean, she looks for every excuse she could find to spend time with me!, his emotions argued again, it’s voice louder, more confident. Or was that desperation?

Yeah, and? She’s royalty. You’re just some exotic foreigner, his logic said with a derisive sneer, his voice more condescending.

Tha-Even if she did love you, it wouldn’t work out, you’ll just turn into a reason for her haters to take action against her. Is it really worth ruining her chances for the throne? Is it worth putting the twins and Beako in the line of fire? Is it worth putting Sia in the line of fire? If you get involved in the politics so will she, his logic interrupted his emotions again. Pointing out the one thing he wouldn’t compromise for anyone elses sake. The little girl who became the center of his world in just one month.

It’s better this way. You don’t need to deny her advances, just keep her from getting too close, his logic said, more kindly now.

His emotions finally relented, You’re right. I’m not wort-

But then, a third voice interrupted, it sounded soft and soothing, like a gentle spring breeze softly caressing ones ears.

You are worthy. She’s the one who isn’t worthy, the voice said.

Sia? Subaru called inquisitively.

She had stayed quiet throughout the day, as he argued again and again with himself, engaging in conversation only when appropriate, allowing him to process his emotions and thoughts by himself without her own interfering with and influencing him.

Sorry, but Sia can’t keep quiet when Baru starts saying mean things about himself. She’s the one who isn’t worthy, Baru. The real reason she keeps coming on to you is because she’s lonely, she doesn’t care if it isn’t you, she doesn't care who it is, so long as he pays attention to her! Elysia reasoned, then added her own two cents into his personal dilemma.

Emilia? Lonely? Hard to believe, considering, Come on... she has Puck, no way that’s true.

But Elysia was not convinced. She hummed quietly, as if parsing her thoughts and trying to find a way to describe them. Finding none, she gave up and instead said, Sia doesn’t really know how to explain it, but that’s the vibe she’s getting from watching how she acts around Baru.

Honestly? He didn’t want to admit it, but he felt the same way himself, after all...

Emilia was always trying so hard to get his attention, finding all sorts of excuses to keep him close and equally many excuses to approach him at work. It was flattering and he enjoyed her clinginess, even if it got stifling at times. What man wouldn’t be happy when the woman of his dreams attaches herself to him the way she did?

He couldn’t really feel happy happy about it though, because really...

Who get’s attached to someone like that, after one conversation?

It’s abnormal, unhealthy and more than a little creepy. Maybe he was getting ahead of himself, maybe she really just wanted someone’s attention, as off-base as that sounded.

He wanted to say she wasn’t the mentally unstable sort, that she isn’t vying for his attention for the wrong reasons, but found he didn’t really have any evidence to back it up. He pondered more about her, replaying their previous conversations this past month, trying to piece together the enigma that is Emilia.

She kept emphasizing how she’s silver haired half-elf when he tries to genuinely praise her. Did that mean more than just ‘I look like a witch so people don’t like me.’? He didn’t really understand, never really bothered to question it, until now.

Who was Emilia, anyway? Why did she look like the jealous witch? Why did she live in a frozen forest before the selection?

He kept digging deeper and deeper into what he knows about Emilia, unable to figure her out. Before he realized it, he was in too deep. He started asking questions he wasn’t entirely comfortable with.

Isn’t ice her specialty? Is it related to why the forest is ‘eternally frozen’? Was she the one that froze the forest in the first place? Who were her biological parents? What happened to them? Why was she alone with just Puck to take care of her? Does she have some sort of connection with the witch? Was that why she was alone?

More and more and more questions kept popping up, and he had an answer to none of them. His mind spiralled deeper and deeper into paranoia, deeply unsettled, because he realized, even after spending a whole month practically attached to her hip...

I don’t really know her, do I?

Chapter Text

Something was wrong. Terribly wrong. Stupendously wrong.

A heavy silence lingered in the air as they trekked through the snow, suffocating Emilia and causing her heart rate to increase. Her legs steadily lost their strength as they kept walking.

Subaru was quiet throughout the carriage ride all morning, deep in thought about something with a grim expression on his face as his head hung low. It made her rea~lly anxious, because Subaru has never been silent like this before. Not even acknowledging her when she tried to engage him in conversation. He kept silent until they reached the border of the frozen forest, where Rem dropped them off. She gave Subaru a strange, teasing smirk that he just blankly stared at until she got bored left with the dragon carriage. A few hundred meters walk later and they reached the area of the forest that was covered in snow.

Subaru forgot whatever he was thinking about when they reached the entrance to the frozen section of the forest. He marvelled at how the change in weather was completely abrupt between frozen forest and the warmer weather immediately outside of it’s border, loudly yelling about how it was just like an ‘arrpeegee zone change’. He played around with Elysia and started hopping between the two differing climates while yelling ‘Hot!’, ‘Cold!’, ‘Hot!’, ‘Cold!’ repeatedly. He was having fun and being his usual silly self again, everything was all fine and dandy. Emilia relaxed and sighed in relief.

Once he was satisfied they started making their way deeper into the frozen part of the forest, the elven village being their destination. As they trekked through thicker and thicker snow, Subaru remembered what he was thinking about and became quiet and tensed once more. Emilia herself started feeling anxious again in response. Her thoughts jumbled and tangled into knots as she tried to find a reason for Subaru’s abrupt behavior changes.

Did she mess up somewhere?

Was this trip a mistake?

Is Subaru having second thoughts?

Why is he being so deafeningly silent?

Does he hate her now?

What if he lost faith in her because of what he sees?

What if he didn’t want to be around her anymore?

What if he called her a witch like everyone else did?

What if he decided to abandon her, seeing what she did to happened to her village?

If it came to that... if Subaru of all people wanted her gone, would she even try anymore?

Her stomach churned and bile built up in her throat, her heart rate continued to skyrocket in tandem with her anxiety. Her vision started blurring and became wet. Her legs lost their strength completely and started to wobble. She couldn’t even tell if she was still upright anymore. The silence rang deafeningly in her pointy, sensitive ears. Her heart pounding loudly as if it was trying to break free from her ribcage. Why was everything so suffocating?

“Emilia...?” someone called. It sounded so distant that she couldn’t tell who it was. What was that deafening ringing in her ears!? Why was it so hard to breathe!?

I can’t breathe. I can’t breathe. I can’t breathe. I can’t breathe. I can’t breathe. I can’t breathe. I can’t breathe.

Ican’tbreatheIcan’tbreatheIcan’tbreatheIcan’tbreatheIcan’tbreatheIcan’tbreatheIcan’tbreatheIcan’tbrea-

“LIA!”-”EMILIA-TAN!”-“EMILIA” A trio of voices called out to her.

“Hnnngh! Haah—Haah... H-huh?” she became aware of her surroundings again and found herself collapsed on the snow with some foul, sticky liquid all over her blouse and dripped down her mouth. She belatedly realized it was bile that she puked out from the stress.

“A-are you okay? What happened?” Elysia asked as she floated out of her mana stone. Worry seeped from her tone.

“I-I... Hnng-!” a dry heave expunged more dirty liquid from her mouth. Her eyes closed and her body hunched over involuntarily from the exertion, loudly coughing from having her throat clogged. Her hands covered her mouth in an attempt to save at least some of her dignity.

She felt a pair of large, soft hands firmly gripped her shoulder and the back of her head. They gently pulled her forwards into a firm, masculine chest in front of her. The hand on her head then began stroking her hair lightly, reassuring her that she was safe in it’s owner’s presence. She hummed in quiet content, suddenly feeling much safer than before.

“Shhh... You’re okay. We’ve got you. You’re safe. Nobody’s going to hurt you.” Subaru whispered gently into her elven ears. His breath softly caressing them with each word and made her shudder with something she couldn’t identify, but calmed her down immensely.

“Lia. You’re safe. I’m here for you. I’ll protect you from everything. So please just—breathe.” Pucks desperate voice came from behind her, she felt him land on her shoulder and nuzzled onto her cheek, purring comfortingly as he did so in a way he often did when she had nightmares at night, all those years ago, before their contract limited his time.

Breathe? Yes breathe. She should breathe. Inhale. Exhale. Inhale again. Exhale again. There, better.

She calmed down just a little more, leaning deeper into Subaru’s chest, steadying herself by listening to his steady heartbeat and inhaling his scent.

Emilia thought she must have looked rather undignified right now, on her knees in the snow with her own bile staining her clothes. Her face must look terrible too. She quickly wiped her mouth with her left sleeve. How awful. She just had to break down and show something so unsightly in front of Subaru... So pathetic. Maybe she wasn’t a witch after all. How could someone so useless and pathetic be a witc—

Lia? There’s still time. We can turn back! Nobody will blame you if you choose this.

Puck interrupted her, taking her attention away from herself before she started spiralling too deeply again.

The carriage is already gone. Rem won’t be back in another four days. we have to keep going! She reasoned.

But—

Please Puck! I-I won’t be a burden. I can’t. Not to you. Not to Subaru. I promise! I’m oh-kei! Please!

Lia...

Emilia gently pushed herself away from Subaru’s embrace, her tired amethyst met his concerned amber as they pulled slightly apart. He kept his hands firmly but gently on her shoulders, steadying her and keeping her upright. The way he treats her like something precious made the butteflies in her stomach flap their wings that much harder. She felt an urge to do something to him, so close that their breaths touched. But she squashed it down in favor of rectifying the situation.

She tried to reassure him “I’ll be fine Subaru. It’s noth-”

“Don’t give Sia that! No way that’s ‘nothing’!” interrupted Elysia, her orbal shape floating right in front of Emilia at eye level. She sounded more concerned than angry. A vague image of a little girl in a short, black and orange dress came to mind. She looked an awful lot like a miniature Subaru with long wavy hair. The pouting girl had her hands on her waist and was glaring sternly at Emilia with sharp amber eyes that held the same beautiful, earthen glow as Subaru’s own did. Emilia was instantly smitten.

“Elysia...?”, doesn’t she hate her? Emilia doesn’t understand...

“Sia-tan’s right. Let’s just... take a break? Just drop our bags and find a big comfy log or something to sit on.” Subaru agreed with his spirit. His eyes scanning the area for somewhere to sit.

“They’re right Lia. You’re clearly overwhelmed. Let’s just take a quick break and—”

“We—we can’t! You’re both already doing so much for Puck and I! We can’t burden yo-”

“I’m going to stop you right there, Emilia-tan. There’s no way you’re a burden! I—We, we owe you way more than whatever you think you owe us.” Subaru interrupted as he placed a finger directly on her lips. Effectively silencing her. She blushed slightly at the contact.

Elysia, now floating right next to his head, started hovering up and down on the Z-axis as if nodding vigorously, “Yep yep, If Cattie didn’t teach Baru spirit arts, Sia wouldn’t have even been born!” she exclaimed energetically.

“And Puck wouldn’t have helped me at all if you didn’t help me first. I literally owe you everything I have, so don’t ever call yourself a burden, because you’re not. Not to me. Okay?” Subaru added gently, his beautiful earthen eyes vibrant with that familiar softness that made her heart burn and her stomach clench pleasantly.

Emilia felt touched by their concern, it was hard not to, when they were both being so genuinely kind “O-Ohkei... Elysia... Subaru... T-then—may I ask why?” she asked softly.

“Hmm?”

She took a deep breath, steeling herself, then asked “Why were you so quiet the whole day? You had a rea~lly scary look on your face too... I-I was afraid you were starting to regret helping me a-and...” She trailed off, afraid of finishing her sentence. Wanted to leave me was left unsaid.

Subaru had the decency to look sheepish at her question, his hand scratching the back of his head adorably in that familiar nervous tic of his “Ah... Err... Yeah that’s on me—I’m really sorry I made you feel that way. Hey look, we can talk about it all you want after we settle down and get comfortable, so let’s just chill for abit, yeah? There’s a place we can sit right... there. Huh, convenient.” he pointed toward a fallen tree a few paces away resting horizontally on the ground to their left.

“Y-yes. We should. L-let’s go sit down.” Emilia agreed bashfully.

Subaru stood up from where he kneeled in front of her and offered his right hand to Emilia. She wiped her hands on her skirt and grasped it with her left, gently pulling herself up as she did so. He tactfully ignored how it was still slightly sticky, some left over bile stubbornly clinging onto her palm, and grasped it back. They made their way to the fallen tree and sat down closely together, their thighs and shoulders touching intimately, their hands resting on their touching legs, still clasped together.

“...”

An awkward silence stretched.

“...”

And kept stretching.

“...”

The pair just silently held hands while sitting shoulder to shoulder on the large, fallen tree. Their faces flushed red from embarassment. Unsure what to do next.

“...”

Until the little girl and cat spirit could no longer take it and took matters into their own phantom hands slash paws.

“Can you two just talk already!?”

________________________________________________________________________________

Once more, Subaru was at a loss on how to handle Emilia’s surprising fragility.

Though he had to admit that the blame was entirely his own this time around for being so silent and guarded out of nowhere, at least from Emilia’s perspective.

The night after he came to his conclusion, how he didn’t actually know Emilia despite spending an entire month under the same roof, he talked and ranted his feelings out to Elysia. How he felt like he was being lied to, how her refusal to trust him with her history felt like a betrayal, how he started doubting her sincerity and kindness because of it. He hated how he felt, even as he acknowledged that he couldn’t control it. That logically, it didn’t make sense to feel the way he did.

Throughout it all, his dear, beloved Sia-tan just accepted his words, his hurt, with a kind and empathic understanding. She let him purge his negative feelings out as hard as he could without a single complaint. Just soft, quiet hums to indicate that she was listening. She did not judge him for it, she did not tell him how to feel nor what to do with or about his feelings. She just stayed silent and listened.

Only once he was done, she started countering him with kind, gentle rhetorics. A two-faced manipulator wouldn’t have gone out of her way to rescue a penniless wanderer from muggers, she said. She wouldn’t have offered him a place to stay and a job for saving her life, she said. She wouldn’t desperately cling to him as if he was her one and only bastion of safety left in the whole world, she said.

Then shame settled in. How could he think so little of his benefactor? His heroine? Everything he had, he owed to her. His job, his life, his home, his spirit. Everything that he had, everything that he was, all of it started from her kindness. And his response was to doubt her? After everything? He was disgusting. Natsuki Subaru was a selfish, ungrateful bastard. Nothing about him changed since coming to this world. He was still the same arrogant little hypocrit that stuck his head in the sand as soon as things got moderately difficult for him. Unworthy of the affection the people around him gave him freely.

As he was drowning in self hatred, Elysia saved him from himself again, telling him that his feelings are valid. That he can’t control what he feels, only how he acts on them. Something he himself taught her, that night she blew up on Emilia, almost a whole month ago.

What did he do in a past life to deserve this kind, lovely girl?

He calmed down soon after and they went to sleep, only for his anxiety to come back tenfold the following morning when they got into the carriage. The realization that he might see something that would change his opinion of Emilia for the worst, permanently, made his heart sink below rock bottom. He was drowning in anxiety to the point where he couldn’t even speak. His mind stuck in an endless loop trying to predict and rationalize what he was about to see.

“...”

“...”

As they sat together on that fallen tree, Subaru began to reflect on what he could’ve done better, to not let the situation deteriorate to the point it did. He should’ve payed more attention to Emilia herself and be more considerate of her feelings, he felt. If he was feeling this awful and anxious, how would Emilia-tan feel?

He recalled the way she slowly started wobbling and heaving as they went deeper into the forest, before vomitting and collapsing entirely from the stress. He couldn’t imagine how awful she must have felt, for the ever regal and elegant half-elf to completely lose her composure like that.

“...”

“...”

Emilia looked so fragile, pale and crumpled on the snow and shivering brittlely the way she did, covered in her own bile. What if he made her emotional state worse with careless words? He always did have a tendency to say inappropriate things at the wrong time. Clowning like an idiot because he couldn’t read the room. He needed to vet his words very carefully before he started speaking, for her sake.

“...”

“...”

What does he even say to her? How should he say it? Should he tell her the whole truth? What if she broke down and started crying? Should he reassure her his opinion of her wouldn’t change, even if it were a lie? No, Emilia hates lies, they were the one thing the girl ever admitted to hating, aside from peppirs that one time. Maybe half truths? But lies of omission are still lies. Maybe he cou—the hand he was holding gripped his own a little tighter. Interrupting his thoughts.

He blushed beet red at the gesture, his own hand returning her grip. Even when sticky and slightly caked in vomit, her hand was lovely to touch, for different reasons from Sia-tan’s. The emotions he was desperately suppressing the day before came gushing out like blood from an open wound. Yeah, that’s right. He can’t lie to himself anymore.

Try as he might to deny it,

Rationalize it however he could,

at the end of the day,

Natsuki Subaru fell in love with Emilia at first sight.

It wasn’t a childish crush he could forget about if he kept her at an arms length for long enough. He really, truly did love her.

And that was exactly the problem.

He needed to—“Can you two just talk already!?”—two voices yelled in stereo, interrupting his thoughts again.

“Uaa!”

“Hyaa!”

Subaru and Emilia yelped in surprise. They were both so stuck in their own heads they forgot the spirits were there.

“Sia-tan!/Puck!” The duo scolded.

“Hmph!” Sia-tan huffed in response.

“Well? We’re waiting.” Came Puck’s expectant prodding.

“Fine... but...” Subaru started.

“What?/Yeah?” Puck and Elysia asked.

“Do you two mind giving us some privacy?” Subaru said shyly. Not wanting other people directly present for a conversation that was about to get very personal.

“Ugh...”—”Sia doesn’t mind, we should go and let them sort things out.”

Puck was about to complain but was interrupted by Sia-tan’s agreement. Something he didn’t expect from her.

“Huh!? Wait what—Elysia!? But—don’t you-”

“It’s fine, Baru is Sia’s Baru. No matter what. Let’s go.” She clarified her position and started floating a little higher up, signalling her intent to leave.

That’s right. No matter what changes between Subaru and someone else. He will always be Sia-tan’s Baru. No matter what.

“Puck? If you would please?” Emilia pushed. Also wanting some privacy for the upcoming talk.

“But... Lia—” Puck protested.

“It’ll be fine. It’s Subaru. He won’t harm me.”

Emilia interrupted Puck. Putting her full trust in Subaru, believing wholeheartedly that he won’t ever harm her. His heart felt full at such implicit trust from her, her! Of all people.

“It’s not him harming you that I’m worried about...” Puck said something outrageous.

Subaru wouldn’t do something that would harm her trust in him. He wasn’t some mindlessly perverted animal.

“What a thing to say about someone who’s sitting right here.” The boy snarked back.

“Puck?” Emilia asked again, her voice tinged with impatience. Her amethyst boring into him, silently pressuring him into giving her what she wants.

Puck acquiesced, but not without tacking a customary ‘father’s threat’ onto his reluctant approval.

“F-fine! Subaru! If anything happens to her I’ll have your head propped up on an ice pike.”

“Sure.” Subaru agreed easily. Not at all feeling threatened.

“I’m not joking.” Puck clarified.

“Uh-huh.”

“Puck, please. Just go.” Emilia said impatiently.

“mmhh—fine...”

Puck and Elysia floated away shortly after. Straying far enough and out of sight to give the elf girl and human boy some privacy, but not too far as to be unable to reach them immediately if any dangerous presence make themselves known.

Subaru and Emilia waited until the two of them were no longer within eyesight. Then they waited some more. And more. And more.

“...”

“...”

The silence weighed heavily in the air, threatening to suffocate the duo. Subaru steeled himself and took a blind plunge into the dark. Opening his mouth to say something, anything that came to mind.

“So...” But nothing did.

The awkward ‘so’ hang in the air between them. Floating miserably between their heads as it tried and failed to spark a conversation between the two.

“So...” Rang a silver bell in reply.

This time the awkward ‘so’ came from Emilia. Unable to bear the suffocating silence any longer, but all the same unable to actually start the topic of conversation either.

“...”

“...”

This is going take awhile.

________________________________________________________________________________

“I’m surprised you’re letting them have privacy so easily.” Puck commented.

He and Elysia were lounging on top of a particularly tall nearby tree, far enough from Lia and Subaru to not hear anything they were saying, but close enough to see what they were doing, (like hell he was gonna let Subaru be completely alone with his daughter!). Though they also positioned themselves on top of a cluster of wood that fully hid them away from the duo as well. Having their own private conversation they didn’t want their contractors to see.

“It’s not that much of an oddity is it? Baru is Sia’s. No matter what.” the girl replied. Her tone was conversational but carried a possessive edge to it.

“Rather, Sia is surprised with you.” She continued. Her voice now laced with sarcastic disbelief.

“Hmm?”

“You’re choosing to be cordial with her, even though you hate her enough to want to kill her.” She said simply.

Puck kept silent, digesting her words slowly. He was moderately—no scratch that—he was very impressed. He thought he hid his malice quite well, as nobody else noticed it. Not even Betty, though in her case it was more because they were barely ever in the same room anymore. Still, respect was due, he couldn’t treat her like your average Quasi anymore.

“Hooh. You noticed?” he asked with a smirk. Dropping his friendly mask entirely with his voice taking on a sharper edge. She might actually go beyond his expectations, if she’s capable of this level of perception in just a month. Subaru really outdid himself, raising her this well. His investments bore fruit much faster than anticipated.

“It’s hard not to. Sia would want you dead too, if you treated Baru the way she treated Emilia.” she replied casually, Oh? she didn’t feel threatened by his change in demeanor at all? Or was she hiding her fear? No, he could sense her emotions. She actually did not fear him, not one bit. Concerning, but still manageable.

“I’m glad you’re being under—”, “That begs the question though, why? Why maintain cordiality with someone you want dead?” She asked teasingly, still not fearing for her life at all. Like she wasn’t directly antagonizing the Beast of the End himself.

“That’s just a misunderstanding on your part.” Puck said as his licked his paw absently.

“Oh?”

“I hate you to the point where I want to kill you, I don’t actually want you dead. There’s a difference.” He clarified.

“So you want to use Sia for something?” She asked. He contemplated his response.

Hmm, let’s take an upfront approach. As a sign of good will, and a test, she deserves that much.

“That’s right. You’re useful. For now that is.”

“Hmm~.” she playfully drawled a questioning hum.

The girl proceeded to materialize her physical form, the ball of mana became a transparent shadow with black hair and sharp eyes that glowed menacingly in her usual trademark colors. Her figure was clad in what appeared to be a black and orange short kimono dress with a frilly short skirt, though Puck was unable to tell exactly due to how vague and featureless it all looked. Her atmospheric mana intake increased along with her materialization, as the environment around her became warped in elemental mana, forming the silhouette of six fairy wings on her back, three per side, also glowing in her usual six-colored trademark.

Puck thought she looked like a harbinger of death, as incomplete as her form still was. His fur bristled and puffed up slightly. Feeling a little threatened despite himself.

Then ten lesser spirits appeared in front of her. He idly noted that they were the snow spirits that moved into the forest long before he did due to the large amounts of mana that lingered in the air from Lia’s rampage, over one hundred years ago.

...Wait what?

They hovered in front of her. Poised, structured, rigid, as if in salute, awaiting orders. Was she actually commanding the lesser spirits? Did she summon them? How!?

Noticing his confusion, she smirked that same irritating smirk Subaru did when he came up with a nasty prank to counter Ram’s roastings. Only far more malicious and cruel.

“Surpri~sed?” She teased while femininely giggling in a sinister tone. She sat lasviciously cross legged on the tree branch. Her dominant index finger absently twirling her permed black locks while her left sat regally on her folded lap. Her eyes stared holes into his own with eyelashes fluttering in a way that could’ve been mistaken for flirting, if she didn’t exude enough bloodlust to choke a lesser witch beast to death from pressure alone.

“Sia only figured she could do this when we entered the forest.” she said in the same teasing tone, lightly gesturing at the lesser snow spirits in front of her.

‘This’ of course referring to how she seemingly summoned and ordered said lesser spirits. They continued to float rigidly in front of her, obeying their lord’s command to stand by her. She absently tapped the one directly in front of her with the finger that was twirling her hair. It did not even react to her touch, remaining stock still in the air like a soldier at attention.

“What was that you said about Sia being ‘useful’ again, Puck? Would you care to repeat yourself?” She asked, a thinly veiled threat. For a little girl she carried herself with spunk. Lia could learn a few things from her.

“You’re not as scary as you think you are child. Not to a spirit as old as I am.” He said simply. When it came to a full on battle, he was still leagues above her. Though that might stop being true much faster than he’d initially expected, if her progress was this great in such a short time. A reevaluation is needed. Both of her and her contractor.

What sort of monster are you raising Subaru?

Are you even aware of what she’s becoming?

“Fufu~ Is that so? Oh well, Sia’s not a fan of all this posturing you males always seem to enjoy. Though she does enjoy seeing others intimidated by it. Like how you’re pretending you’re not.”

Tch, the brat really needs to learn some respect for her elders. He ought to put her in her place just for that. Outwardly, he just gave her an easy, confident smirk. Grooming his head with the paw he licked.

With a wave of her hand, the lesser spirits dematerialized and left. She kept her form up however, and they continued their conversation as if they didn’t just threaten each other with mutual destruction.

“What do you think, by the way?” She asked him.

“About what?” He asked back. Knowing what she wanted, but not really caring for it.

“... about their relationship, of course. Do you want to see them together?” She clarified as she gave him an exasperated glare.

“...”

Puck mulled over the answer, parsing his words carefully before speaking.

“I am Lia’s spirit. As long as she’s happy anything goes. And if something threatens that happiness I will get rid of it swiftly. She’s the only thing that matters to me. So if Subaru makes her happy, then I’ll support him. But only for as long as he keeps making her happy.”

He answered truthfully.

“I am Lia’s spirit.” He reiterated. “I love her and only her.”

“Hmm...” Elysia looked thoughtful at his answer. Tapping her lower lip daintily with her right index finger as she pondered his words.

He tried to push her buttons, to see where her loyalty’s fully lie. She was a spirit, his kindred, and all spirits are the same. Their contracts are everything to them. Surely she’d agree with him.

“You agree with me, don’t you? After all, you feel the same way about Subaru.”

“... Heh.”

Her answer at his probing and egging. Was not agreement. But mirth. She found his attempt laughable.

“Fufu” She giggled again. She was mocking him now. The smug little brat.

She gave him a look of disappointed humor and answered.

“Half true. Fifty points.”

“?” Puck was confused, what did that mean?

Noticing his confusion, she clarified.

“Sia does feel the same way about Baru as you do for Emilia. But he’s not the only one that matters.”

... That makes no sense. Her contractor should be the only thing that matters to her.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” He asked, trying to understand how she thinks. He can’t use her effectively if he can’t understand her.

She just giggled again, he was starting to get actually irritated now.

“Sia’s love is more selfish than yours. It’s not enough that Baru is happy, the people around him, and by extension, Sia herself must also be happy. Because that is what makes him the happiest.” She continued to explain.

... Now he sees what she was getting at.

“Tch...” He clicked his tongue in displeasure.

And he didn’t like it. Not one bit. This was far too different from what he expected. From the common sense of a spirit.

“Sia is Baru’s spirit.” She echoed his declaration. “Sia loves Baru, so she loves everything that Baru loves.”

He expected a spirit like himself, offering her everything only for her contractor. She said it herself, she was born for his sake! She admitted as much! He read and kept note of her emotions daily! She hated almost everyone in the mansion! Now she’s saying their happiness matters to her!? That she loves them!? Simply because Subaru cared about them!?

Their initial assessment of her was right in more ways than he expected.

She’s a freak. An anomaly. In more than just form.

“So no, she doesn’t agree with you. Because your love is hollow and empty. Like Baru was before he met Sia.” The little anomaly finally finished.

“Tch, I’ll graciously ignore that insult this first time, child. But still... You noticed that too? His capacity for obsession? The darkness he kept hidden?”

She saw what he kept inside? That pitch black darkness rotting his soul? And she still chose him? Madness...

“Of course, Sia knows the deepest depths of his soul. And it is exactly that potential for deep, unending madness that makes the light in it glow that much brighter. That makes the glow of his soul as pure and unblemished as the stars themselves!” She replied. Her voice taking on a reverent tone.

Her posture as she described his soul screamed divine reverence, he didn’t even need his empath abilities to see it. Her eyes dilated and shined in manic admiration. Her gaze faced upwards in admiration towards the sky as if gazing upon a god. Her hands clasped together as if in prayer. A wide, disgusting smile spread on her pretty, thin lips. Threatening to split her face in two.

Puck could only think one thing as he looked at the devoted mad spirit in front of him. Realization dawned in his horrified mind as he gazed at the crazed priestess of an equally mad god.

She has that same capacity for manic obsession as her contractor did.

And the worse part?

“You’re as insane as he is.” He said, his entire body radiating disgust.

It already has a target.

Her answer was a manic fit of cute but disturbingly out of place giggles. Then she looked him in the eye, the obsessed craze still present in her sharp, now amber eyes. It made the fur in his whole body stand on end.

“Obviously. After all, we are spirit and contractor.”

________________________________________________________________________________

The sun had long since set in Elior Forest, as Emilia and Subaru settled into one of the bigger huts of the Elven village.

They set their bags down on the floor after Emilia cleared the interior of snow using Fire magic. Now that they were here, Puck is free to let all his mana out without fearing collateral.

After the spirits left, Subaru used spirit arts to generate a bubble of water to filter the vomit off of Emilia, vaguely wondering how he was capable of casting even though Sia-tan was at a distance. Emilia marvelled at how easy he made casting the spell looked, though Subaru himself didn’t think it was anything special.

Once she was clean, the conversation started in earnest. He opened up about how he felt at her silence on her past. Urging her multiple times during the conversation to listen to the end as she repeatedly tried to interject her own feelings into his rant.

He told her the same things he told Sia-tan without filtering anything out. The hurt, the betrayal, the fear. He bared all of it to Emilia, trusting—hoping that she’d understand where he was coming from. That she won’t resent him for feeling the way he did.

And she did understand.

To a certain extent.

At first she was puzzled at how he couldn’t control how he felt. He then had to explain the basics of how emotions work to her. That they were involuntary, and a person can only control how they reacted to what they felt, not how they felt, proper. The conversation went more smoothly once she understood the differences between emotional action and reaction.

She accepted that he couldn’t control how he felt, and promised to tell him the full truth ‘as much of it as she knows’ to respond sincerely to him and ease his worries, because she herself did not know the full truth of why the forest was frozen and how she related to it. The fact that her own origin was as much a mystery to her as it was to him somehow lessened his fears as well, instead of amplifying them.

She then shared with him her history, as briefly as she could summarize it. She told him how she was encased in ice along with the other villagers but was released when Puck found her. She told him about how she spent seven whole years mapping out the forest and cleaning dirt and grime off her frozen fellows. She told him about how she had to scrounge up nuts for food and mine pyroxene stones to trade with the villagers for scraps. She told him about how that very same village sold her out to slave traders a year ago, which made his stomach sink. She told him about the previous great spirit of fire appearing in the forest that same day to ‘cull the witch’. Needless to say, he was disappointed Puck got to the bastard before he could shove a few (hundred) six-fold mana arrows directly into it’s skull.

The more he heard, the more he hated.

This beautiful, kind girl just wanted the right to exist. To live a life free from the image of the witch following her every step. To have friends that she didn’t have to fear would sell her to slavery! To be able to go where she pleased without people trying to kill her hiding in every corner!

And this world trampled all over her simple, innocent wishes.

For what? For what!? For looking peripherally similar to a witch that’s been gone for four hundred years!? For that!?

They snubbed an innocent soul, robbed her of even a chance at anything! At everything! Just for that!?

Natsuki Subaru learned what it truly meant to hate, that day.

He hated those villagers. He hated the slave traders. He hated whatever froze the village and Emilia’s people along with it. He hated the previous great spirit of fire. He hated Arlam for judging her before ever meeting her in person. He even hated Beatrice, Rem and Ram for keeping the poor girl at arms length.

Hate. Hate. Hate. Hate. Hate!

They had to stop at that. Subaru became too emotionally volatile near the tail end of her tale to properly control his temper. He hugged her tightly and babbled incoherent apologies to her for not coming into her life sooner, promising to be a better friend to her from then onwards. They ended the conversation there with a promise to continue again at night once they settled into wherever they were staying. The duo called their spirits over after that and continued to make their way to the elven village, Emilia’s hand not once loosening its grip on his. A radiant, beautiful smile on her face throughout the rest of the journey. The burden on her chest losing it’s weight almost entirely.

Subaru felt his own chest weigh heavily at the revelation of just how awful Emilia’s life had been before he came around.

His self hatred came back something fierce at that. Deriding him for thinking himself miserable when the person he distrusted was so suffering much harder trials than he did. Sia-tan told him, rather rudely, to ‘shut the fuck up already’ mid rant, picking up on every word of his self derision through their contract’s soul-binding. It did wonders in keeping his mind silent, and that ugly self hatred of his at bay.

The hut they were squatting in was a simple two bedroom house that he guessed belonged to a family of three. One room had a large bed capable of fitting two people, the other had a smaller bed and was adorned with childish decorations.

I wonder why Emilia-tan chose this hut in particular though, she did say she remembered the layout of every house in the village, was this really the biggest one they had?

He briefly wondered how he was gonna clean himself tomorrow morning, since the village doesn’t have any showers—or toilets for that matter. How did Emilia-tan—err—relieve herself while living here?

Baru what the actual—It’s a valid question!—You are dead to me.

He was currently lounging on the sofa in the living area of the hut, clad in just his black under shirt and a pair of black shorts, while Emilia-tan was in the kitchen preparing some sort of ‘Elven Cuisine’ for dinner. Sia-tan’s mana stone sat on the coffee table in front of the sofa.

He was equal parts aroused, excited and afraid. Aroused because the sight of Emilia-tan with her hair in an elegant single braid, clad in her purple nightwear with that dangerously short skirt and an apron was a divine sight that he wanted to engrave into an immortal sculpture! It’d be his own very own Venus de Milo! Kept out of sight from the unworthy masses and reserved for his eyes alone!

He was excited because she was cooking something for him. It bears repeating. The beautiful angel Emilia-tan was cooking a meal for him. Cooking. For. Him! I grant a million thanks to whomever my previous life was for earning enough good boy points to live in the same time line as Sia-tan and Emilia-tan! She was even humming a cheerful tune as she flitted around the kitchen like an enthusiastic housewife! It was off-tune and was making his ears bleed! But the sight was so wonderful he payed no attention to the blood dripping from his ears. Elysia muted the sound around her mana stone using Wind mana the moment she heard Emilia humming, worried her cursed singing might shatter the mana stone. She declared that she would communicate exclusively with him via telepathy until the half-elf stopped singing.

Sheesh, way to be dramatic—not that Sia dislikes the honesty... Fufu~

Finally, he was absolutely terrified for the same reason he was excited. Emilia-tan was in the kitchen, cooking. Emilia-tan. Kitchen. Cooking. He remembered how haunted the twins had looked when they tried to tell him about the first time (and only) time they let Emilia into the mansion kitchen. He did not get any details as to what happened because they couldn’t even finish the story, shutting down halfway into it and hugging each other while softly whimpering as they recalled a nightmare only they could see. Whatever she did, it scarred Ram to that extent. So yes, utterly terrifying.

“Subaru~, I’m almost done. Can you come over and help set the table?” His wife Emilia called from the kitchen.

And just like that, his fear died a valiant death! Now he was only aroused and excited!

“That was the most housewife like thing she could say while cooking. It’s settled then, I died and this is heaven.”

“Oh, she stopped humming. Okay, Sia’s mana stone is now safe from cracking. Let’s heal those ears before you go live your dreams.”

Subaru just rolled his eyes at her drama. Where did she get that overreaction from?

“Yes’m” He replied.

One freshly healed pair of ears later, he was in the kitchen next to Emilia-tan, picking up wooden plates and cutleries from the cabinet. Curiosity took over and he peaked at what Emilia had in her wooden pot. Was everything made out of wood? How did she even cook anything in a wooden pot? Wait...

What in the fresh hell is that!?

Words could not describe how horrifying the contents of the wooden pot were, but Subaru always did like a challenge (lie). He caught sight of a still twitching, hairy, insect leg thrice the length of his entire index finger inside the pot and promptly decided he didn’t actually want to describe anything in that forsaken nightmare pot anymore. He almost wished he was back in that forest floor with horny Rem than be in this hut, with this torture device framed as a meal as his last supper.

I change my mind. This is no heaven. I’m in the eigth layer of purgatory. Worse than limbo. Sia-tan! SOS! Getmethefuckouttahere!

The sassy little shit decided to be funny instead.

Beep! The number you have dialed, is not in service—You utter ass! Knock me unconscious, cut my tongue off! Anything! Save m—Nah, Baru’s been feeling too good about himself lately—Sia-tan!?

Betrayed by his one bastion of sanity. His last ally in this insane, forsaken world. Now what?

As he was pondering his escape route, a silver bell dispensed judgement onto his poor, fragile soul.

“Subaru~? Why are you standing rigidly still all of a sudden? Ah! You must be excited! I work rea~lly hard to prepare this! It’s no exaggeration to say I put my who~le heart and soul into making the best meal for you tonight! I’m positively confident you’ll enjoy it! I even made extra in case you wanted more!”

The beautiful half-elf’s radiant smile spawned a miniature moon in that kitchen as she gleefully delivered his death sentence.

Fukou da

Bleh~, sucks to be you, Baru. Elysia said as she stuck her phantom tongue out.

________________________________________________________________________________

Subaru looked like he rea~lly enjoyed my cooking! I’m so happy! Emilia gleefully cheered.

The silly boy ate everything in the pot without leaving any leftovers. He stuffed his face full with a bright (brittle) smile on his face! She didn’t even feel miffed that he ate most of her portion of it too, because he enjoyed it so much his entire face turned bright green with his cheeks puffed like a squirrel! It was adorably silly! Emilia felt that term pretty much exemplifies Subaru to her...

They were now sitting on the couch, relaxing as their body digested the meal. Well she sat on the couch. Subaru was sprawled on it with his head on her lap with a content (defeated) smile on his face, a Zolda Bug leg still peeking out of his mouth as it twitched lightly. His face was still slightly green, his eyes were unfocused in what she assumed was dazed contentment, he must’ve rea~lly enjoyed the meal! She should cook for him more often!

His shirt was ruffled upwards and his shorts downwards due to his untidy posture. Revealing just a bit of his pale, naked waist and shapely tummy to her from her position on top of him. He didn’t seem to notice he was giving her a free show with how spaced out he looked. She had to resist (very strongly) the urge to stroke his bare, fairly well sculpted tummy like you would a cat. It wouldn’t do to make him uncomfortable when he was so cutely tuckered in on her lap. She still didn’t stop herself from peeking (respectfully) every chance she got though.

Emilia let out a contented hum as she started lightly stroking Subaru’s hair. It was s~o soft to touch! That captivating black shine it donned that made it look like it was paradoxically glowing and absorbing light from the surroundings. It was just so pretty! This boy is too unfairly handsome, she was afraid someone else might come to take him from her...

What was she thinking!? Subaru isn’t some pet she could own!

If only Puck weren’t asleep right now, then she’d have everything she needed to be happy for the next century...

Subaru unceremonously inhaled the insect leg into his mouth, chewed then swallowed it. Burping lightly as he did so.

His face took on that moss colored shade with his cheeks cutely puffed again, it’s s~o silly how his face turns funny colors when he was enjoying his food!

As Emilia was absentmindedly enjoying the moment, Subaru was having a back-and-forth with his traitorous daughter in their headspace.

A home cooked meal by Emilia herself, how ve~ry fortunate, right Baru? She teased, drawling the ‘ve~ry’ in the same intonation the half-elf would.

... Did I do something to piss you off, dearest princess? Subaru asked warily.

No, Sia isn’t mad. Why would she be mad? Sia is totally not mad at how Baru didn’t acknowledge how she worked overtime to keep his body temperature stable in this freezing weather. She isn’t mad that he was enjoying flirting with Emilia and completely forgot his dear Sia even existed. She definitely isn’t mad at how Baru is having a domestic couple moment with Emilia! Not at all! Hmph!

Her apparition in his head folded her arms on her chest and huffed as she turned her head away from him with a pout. Ah, she’s channelling ‘jealous Beako’, I suppose.

Point taken. Many humble apologies, daughter dearest. You may claim more mana from me when we get back home as recompense.

Grrr! Deadbeat! Where’s your sincerity! How dare you try to bribe your way to forgiveness like that! It’s appalling in fact! She growled cutely as her apparition stomped her dominant foot on the imaginary floor with her hands on her waist. There she goes, channelling ‘grumpy Beako.’ So cute.

Sure, but is it working though? He asked rhetorically, quirking an eyebrow at her.

...

There you go. He said smugly.

Mmm—gyaaa! Kiii—! A scream of frustration. More foot stomping.

“Subaru...? Were you talking with Elysia again? Don’t just leave me out like that!” Emilia interrupted as she leaned forwards to grab his attention. Her voice muffled a little like she was pouting while speaking. Though he can’t really tell as his view of her face was... obstructed... from his position on her soft, warm and rea~lly comfy lap.

Ahem.

Subaru quickly sat up from Emilia’s lap and scooted to the opposite end of the sofa, hoping to get away from the divine view before the chicken arose from its nest. Was it just him or did she look disappointed when his head left her lap?

“W-We we’re just discussing something. It involves you, actually.” He said as he looked away with slightly red cheeks.

We were? Sia-tan asked, confused.

Just play along.

Hmph!

“O-oh...” Emilia said uncertainly. She’s jumping to conclusions again. This won’t do.

“It’s nothing bad! I promise! So we were going to continue sharing our histories tonight right? I was just wondering if... if you could share your story with Sia-tan as well?”

“U-um—that’s...” Emilia hesitated.

“I’m sure it’s hard for you to open up to someone else so abruptly. But ideally I’d want her involved as well, because we’re all going to be part of the same family, moving forwards. I’d rather we don’t keep secrets like this from each other...” He insisted. Explaining himself and his reasoning the best he could.

Way to be suggestive, it sounds like you’re planning on proposing to her. Elysia said sarcastically.

He rea~lly didn’t want to deal with the snark right now.

Not the time, Sia! Actually, I need your advice on that later. An important conversation, for a later time.

Hoo boy, here we go... Sia-tan grumbled, would it kill her to be at least a little enthusiastic about Emilia-tan for once.

“I-I see...”

Emilia contemplated his request, falling completely silent as she her gaze lowered.

A few tense seconds passed. Subaru felt the silence start to put physical weight on his shoulders.

“S-so...? What do you think...?” He asked.

Emilia thought to herself some more, before finally meeting his amber and softly smiling. He blushed lightly at the sight.

“I can agree to that. I-I...” She trailed off.

“Yeah...?” He coaxed.

“I trust you. Both of you. With all my heart.” She finished. Her teary millionwatt smile stole his breath away once more, just as it always did. Just as it always will.

Ahh he loved her so much!

“EMT...” He whispered in awe.

K-kyun—! The spirit girl pantomimed having her heart pierced with a cupid’s arrow. Yes that’s right Sia-tan! You finally undestand how adorable EMT is!

Emilia proceeded to share her tale once more. Repeating it from the beginning for Elysia’s sake. The spirit was steadily glowing brighter and brighter in her anchor as the tale progressed, a sign of aggression on her part. By the time Emilia reached where her story previously ended, at the bit about the previous fire great spirit appearing to kill her for ‘being a witch’, Elysia abruptly left her mana stone and started glowing brightly like a miniature sun, expressing hostility. He felt her raw, overwhelming hatred at Emilia’s situation through their contract and nodded in proud solidarity, even as Emilia-tan herself was taken aback by the abrupt explosion of mana his little girl was causing.

Then the spirit girl did the unexpected.

She told him before, many nights ago that she wasn’t comfortable with anyone else seeing her physical form aside from him. She felt it was an intimate thing that should only stay between them. While he personally wanted to brag to everyone within earshot about how cute she was, he didn’t want to force her to do something she didn’t want to. So he let her have her secret, resulting in their little materialization training every night in the privacy of his room before bed.

Here she was, bravely showing her true form to Emilia-tan. Transparent and incomplete as it still was. There was now enough detail of her to be able to form a proper picture of what she would look like once fully incarnated. She floated like a divine spirit with the tip of her right big toe lightly touching her amethyst anchor, her left leg slightly folded with her left knee placed on top of her right. Her figure was adorned in a black short yukata with frilly white accents, tied in place by a large orange obi on her waist. Her wavy hair is now tied in an elegant high ponytail with a large ribbon in the same shade of orange as her obi. Her arms were folded slightly outwards from her shoulders in an elegant, winglike pose that exuded otherwordly feminity. Her sharp, softly glowing amber eyes softened just like her contractor’s would as they stared at her with empathy.

Emilia’s response was surprised awe, utterly breathless at the sight. That’s right, my little girl is the pinnacle of godly cuteness! He thought. Then Elysia went and blue screened the half-elf even further by hugging her strongly the same way he did that afternoon, diving into Emilia’s lap with tears in her eyes. Her thin, lithe arms wrapped around the half-elf’s neck while she babbled apologies and promises of solidarity incoherently to the confused Dragon Maiden.

“E-Elysia...?” Emilia started to ask.

“Sia is s-sorry! S-so sor—snff—sorry! E-Emilia didn’t deserve a-any of that! She’s a good girl! She de-deserved—snff—be-better than that! Sia is sorry! She’ll be better! She—snff—promises she’ll be better!”

“Mmh...!”

Emilia hugged her back gently, one hand on the back of her neck and the other wrapped around her shoulders, similar to how Subaru comforted her when she had a panic attack earlier that day. She then lightly pulled Elysia’s head deeper into her shoulder with the hand that was resting on the back of her head.

“Sia is sorry! Uaaaaaa! Emilia! L-Lia! Lia!” The spirit cried out.

“Mmh! I’m here! I’m right here! thank you! Thank you! Sia-chan!” Emilia responded with a shaky voice.

The two cried together as Emilia cradled the spirit girl in her lap while she continued to babble apologies. Subaru noted warmly through his own tears and snot that they looked like like a reconciling mother and child. His heart became full of warmth as he cried happier tears at the thought.

.

.

.

“—and then I went to the capital at Roswaal’s behest. I got separated from Ram because of the crowd and had my insignia stolen by a local thief. While tracking the thief, I would stumble into a rea~lly strange shop in the slums, where I would find a mysterious and handsome black haired stranger trying to reclaim my insignia for me.”

“O~h, how romantic.” Sia teased with a grin.

Elysia initially did not care for Emilia’s history. Or she would not have cared for it, if Baru didn’t ask her to do something specific for him before the girl told her tale.

Imagine me in her shoes as she tells her story. He had asked her to do.

It was a cheap tactic to garner empathy from her. But Od damn it did it work. Sia superimposed Baru’s face onto Lia’s as she painted an image of how miserable the half-elf was in her early days.

It was impossible to not feel indignation at that. So Sia caved, a horrible combination of guilt and indignant anger swelled in her soul, compelling her to seek forgiveness from the silver maiden. Guilt because Baru was right when he comforted her in the snow, he and Sia owed the elven girl everything and yet she still chose to treat her so awfully. Indignant anger because what else could she feel? Listening to injustice after injustice happen to such a sweet, kind girl. This gross world did not deserve her. It did not deserve Lia or Baru!

“S-shut up...” Baru growled, his dominant palm covering his face in a vain attempt to hide his embarassed cheeks and wide grin.

Sia was still sat on the half-elf’s lap. Claiming it as her exclusive seat. Though she repositioned herself so that her body was facing her papa so she could see both of them while they were talking.

“...” Lia silently looked down in thought. Pondering her next words.

“Lia/Emilia-tan?”

The girl looked up. A soft, loving expression on her face as she said her next words. Making eye contact with the lovely boy that barged into her life and gave her everything she ever wanted without asking for anything in return.

“The stranger didn’t flinch when he saw my hair and eye colors. He didn’t look disgusted when he saw my ears. When our eyes meet, his ambers would look into mine with gentleness and affection, as if I were a person, not a witch—they were the most beautiful eyes I’ve ever had the pleasure of gazing into...”

“E-Emilia!?” Baru exclaimed. Caught completely off guard by her words. They sounded too much like a confession. Was this it? Has spring finally come to Natsuki Subaru? Ironic that it would be in a location where winter was eternal.

“Wo~w.” Sia gasped while deeply blushing, still sat snugly in Emilia’s very comfortable lap. The spirit wondered absently if this was how it felt to be a daughter listening as her mother shares stories about her love life with her father.

She found that she greatly liked the feeling.

“As thanks for saving my life, I brought the wounded stranger back home with me. Though I must confess, I actually had an ulterior motive for it...” Lia continued, trailing off at the unexpected admission.

“Oh?” Sia asked.

Baru quirked an eyebrow at the sudden confession.

Knowing her, this ‘ulterior motive’ is going to be as harmful as morning sunlight.

Ditto, Sia bets it’s something along the lines of ‘I wanted a friend in this ve~ry lonely mansion!’

That Emilia-tan impression is scary accurate!

Ehen~

“I... I was hoping he would stay as a permanent resident in the mansion, and that we could befriend each other from there—kyaa, I said it! that was rea~lly embarassing!” Emilia quickly covered her face with both palms. Blushing beet read from her entire head to her shoulders.

“EMT.../EMT...” The father-daughter duo whispered reverently.

“Eh...?”

“Ah—err...” Baru scratched the back of his head. Unsure of how to respond.

The half-elf was staring intently at Sia’s Baru, her gorgeous gems peeking through the gap between her fingers. Her hands still hiding the rest of her face. From her position on the half-elfs lap, she caught sight of a dreamy, expectant grin on her face. Aha~ Sia sees how it is...

Come on, Denbaru. She’s clearly expecting something. Short for Dense-Baru. Sia’s papa is s~o blind to women’s expectations.

Oh...

“What a sinful admission, Emilia-tan! To have such debaucherous thoughts about befriending a stranger for saving you!? Oh the humanity! However shall I cope!?” The idiot theatrically teased with while dramatically clutching his chest.

“...” Lia looked positively horrified. Sia swears, if Baru doesn’t clear this up...

“Err... It was a joke... I don’t actually mind. Or rather, I’m grateful for your—err—ulterior motive.” He clarified bashfully, once more scratching the back of his head. Good.

Having your daughter as your wingman is an odd feeling.

Having an inept father that couldn’t woo a woman this easy is also an odd feeling.

Don’t call her easy!

“H-how so...?” Emilia asked, equally bashful. Palms now resting under her chin as her fingers hid tried (and failed) to hide her red cheeks.

“W-well... I-I had ulterior motives too, for helping you, that is.” Baru admitted. This conversation was enjoyably awkward.

Shipping is surprisingly entertaining.

I will feast on your firstborn.

Spirits don’t reproduce.

Tch. Score for Sia!

“I-I see... May I ask what it was...?”

“Y-you may... I—err... Wanted to... be-befriend you...” He replied shyly. Looking away from her while covering the lower half of his face with his hand to hide his blushing cheeks. What’s with the Tsundere act? Gross.

That was pathetic. Two over ten.

Can you stop rating my failed pick-up lines!?

Yes.

... Will you stop?

No. And Baru clearly just lied to Lia.

Huh?

Baru wanted to do way more than just ‘befriend’ her. Be careful by the way, those shorts Baru’s wearing? Ve~ry thin.

Sia-tan! He stealthily hid his family jewels by crossing his legs. His rooster already starting to rise from the nest as her insinuation sent his mind into overdrive.

“O-oh...” The half-elf pulled Sia deeper into her embrace as she raised her legs onto the couch, making herself look smaller as buried her face into Sia’s hair to shyly hide her pleased but embarassed expression.

“Yeah...” Baru pointedly kept looking away from her. The red on his face now extending to his neck.

“Pfft—Hehe! I’m rea~lly glad I brought you to the mansion then!” She flashed him an angelic smile, he returned it with his own, making the half-elf blush up to ears. Really, these two couldn’t have been more obvious if they were wearing shirts that said ‘I want to bed you.’

“Subaru...?”

“Mm?”

“Thank you.”

“...? What for?”

“Everything.”

“Err...?”

“Fufu... Thank you coming into my life. Every day since I met you were radiant and joyful. I felt s~o many emotions I would never have imagined feeling before you came into my life! Each day I spent with you feels like a gift I do not deserve! You taught me how it feels to have someone hold your hand when you’re lonely. To be comforted when you’re sad. To be embraced you when you feel despair. To be thankful to the world for being born, because you could spend your days with that someone!”

She feverishly ranted her gratitude. A blush present on her face as she her eyes met his own. Her gaze filled with so much love and affection he would happily drown in them.

“Emilia...” Is she really... Baru trailed off to Sia. His face beat red. A combination of awe and anticipation on his face.

No way, right? This isn’t happening. He repeated his question. No way this is real.

“Thank you, Subaru. For coming into my life. I...” She trailed off. Is it happening, a confession scene!? Out of nowhere!? Sia started to panic. She was not ready for this!

“I...” She trailed off again.

I’m dead. I’m actually dead. Why else would this be happening? This is my brain playing the scene I wanted to see the most before I died. Baru ranted in disbelief. Unable to believe his greatest wish was about to come true in such fashion.

Noway!Noway!Noway! Sia exclaimed, still sat on Lia’s lap. Her face hidden with both palms while peeking at them through the gap between her fingers. Loudly gushing at the situation inside their mindscape.

“I cherish you very much! Thank you for being my friend!” Emilia finished, teary eyed with a smile radiating thankful joy.

“...”

“...”

Metaphorically speaking, it was like someone dumped cold, dirty water straight into their souls. Whatever passion they felt immediately lost as they were brought back to the cold, cold realm of reality.

Snap back to reality. Subaru sang humorously, though his tone was void of any actual humor. A rigid smile on his face.

Sia is both disappointed and relieved. Is there a word for this? She asked.

I have no idea. In hindsight, they rea~lly should have seen this coming.

“...Your welcome, Emilia-tan. Thank you for being my friend too!” He replied with a rigid, fragile smile. A tinge of disappointment expertly hidden in his voice.

________________________________________________________________________________

“What happened while I was sleep last night?” Puck asked.

He somehow woke up in bizarroland the next morning. That, or the great sage Shaula explicitly altered reality to confuse him to death for whatever reason.

Elysia was cleaning Lia using a bubble of Water mana in an abandoned storage shed next to the hut they were squatting in. They were giggling together like excited teenagers as they showered together. Giggling! Together! Like they were best girl friends over some inside joke he didn’t know about.

No, really, what the hell happened last night?

Puck! No swearing! Bad! And boys shouldn’t be in the same room as girls when they’re bathing! Sia-chan said so!

Sia-chan? It’s too early for this...

The cat spirit left to look for the only sane person left in the village that wasn’t a popsicle. He found his target cooking some nice smelling stew in a large wooden pot.

“Subaru!” He called as he floated towards his fellow male.

“Ohey Puck. Sup.” The boy hollered back casually.

“Don’t ‘sup’ me! What the hell happened last night?”

“What?” A blank stare.

“Lia and Elysia! They’re giggling together like they’ve been close friends for centuries!” Puck exclaimed.

Subaru made a tiny ‘O’ with his mouth. Then he began airing out his unsolicited complaints at Puck.

“I know! They made up and became friends proper just yesterday and all of a sudden I’m a third wheel in their date! Those two actually kicked me out of the house! Can you believe it!?”

“Uh-huh...” I really don’t care...

“And now here I am, making witchbeast stew with whatever herbs and nuts I could dig up from the snow.” The boy finished ranting.

“Ri~ght.” Wait. Pause.

“You’re making what stew!?” Puck yelped.

“Witch beast. Well technically it’s a—uhh—whatchamacallit? ‘Snow blight’? Found it roaming close to the village earlier this morning. It was pretty harmless so I could take it out fairly quickly.” The boy said casually. I take it back, I’m the only sane person left in this village. Puck thought.

“And your response to finding a whole, gigantic snow blight was to make stew out of it?” The fact you’d consider a snow blight to be harmless to you is also somewhat off putting. The boy was growing at a baffling pace, just like his spirit. They were steadily growing into worthy guardians for his Lia, just like Puck envisioned. At this right... she would stop needing him much faster than expected.

No, that remains to be seen, he needed to see how Lia would grow emotionally from interacting with these two as well.

“The alternative was letting Emilia-tan cook breakfast.” Subaru said. His eyes gleamed with a haunt that only those who stared The Great Beyond in the eyes could know.

Puck had the decency to grimace at that.

“Yeah, I’d take Witchbeast stew over that myself, that or starvation, which is still the preferable outcome. I assume she offered to make you dinner?”

Subaru blinked, his eyes becoming normal again.Being able to blink your insanity away is not the capability of a stable, healthy mind.

“Yep. Sia-tan had to work overtime healing my entire digestive tract from that little episode. The smug little brat wouldn’t stop laughing the entire time! Can you believe her!?” Subaru complained.

Puck had to blink at that. The complaint sounded familiar. It sounds like that of a father complaining about his daughters rebellious phase. Puck took a deeper look at Subaru’s emotions.

Oh he gets it! A companion who understood! At long last!?

“Tell me about it! Did you know there was one time when Lia tried to offer me to the nearby village’s children to get them to befriend her!?” Puck let loose his own complaints that he had nobody to air to. Secretly grateful to Subaru for being someone who could relate.

“...” Subaru’s jaw tightened at the words ‘nearby village.’Oh...

“She told you about what happened, didn’t she? The seven years she spent here.” Puck asked, already knowing the answer.

“Yeah, I honestly want to skip merrily over there and burn the whole shithole down right fucking now.” The insane gleam in Subaru’s eyes came back with righteous anger as he growled viciously.

“You and me both. Why don’t you?”

Subaru’s eyes lost their gleam again, now looking tired and empty. The eyes of an emotionally exhausted man.

“For the same reasons you didn’t. It wouldn’t accomplish anything of value. Worse still, I’d be showing Sia-tan the wrong examples to follow.” The boy said.

“You really care for Elysia.” Puck decided to probe.

“That’s never in question. She’s just as important to me as Emilia-tan.”

Good. That means his plan is proceeding nicely. Subaru would devote his passion to them both, instilling loyalty to Emilia into his contract spirit. Ensuring his Elysia would never betray Puck’s Lia. Factor in the freaky girl’s ability to command lesser spirits on top of said loyalty? Lia won’t just have the greatest protector, she’d have a whole army spirits at her beck and call. Potentially all the spirits in the world. It was horrifying to think about, really.

“Anyway, yeah, Emilia-tan told me her history. I shared mine with her too, I gave her permission to share it with you so you can go ahead and ask her later.”

“I’ll make sure to do that” Not that I particularly care about your history.

“Hey Puck?” Subaru asked, still absently stirring the stew in his pot with his wooden ladle.

“Yeah?”

“You know, don’t you? Why Emilia doesn’t remember her past. What really happened to this forest.”

Puck felt his mana freeze at the casual accusation. Subaru didn’t need confirmation. He already knew. Puck slipped up. He thought the girl’s growth was something to be cautious about, but forgot one critical detail. If she, the spirit, could grow exponentially like that. Then so could her contractor.

He let his guard down, and now Subaru has a card to use against him. What to do?

“...”

“Figures.”

“...”

“Were you ever planning on telling her?”

“... Yes. When she’s ready.” That, Puck could safely answer.

“Okay... Okay.” The boy sighed. Coming to a conclusion Puck couldn’t predict. He needed to ensure the boy’s silence. Fast.

“Subaru.”

“Yeah?”

“What I’m about to tell you stays between us. Got it? I’m taking a risk and trusting you.” A gamble. But if it works, he’d successfully buy the boy’s silence, and more importantly, his explicit cooperation.

“Before you tell me the full truth. Answer a question?” What now? Talk about shrewd.

“Shoot.”

“Who is Emilia really?” An unexpected question. What did he—Oh, oh—that’s what he wanted to know.

“Does it matter? She’s my daughter. That’s the only Lia I know.” Puck answered.

“The only Emilia I care about.” He clarified.

Puck floated to Subaru’s eye level. His eyes boring a hole into Subaru’s soul. Subaru looked back with a blank, bored look. Though he could tell the boy was actually nervous from reading his emotions.

“What about you, though?”

“What about me?”

“Who is Lia to you?”

“...”

Subaru kept silent, ruminating his answer. While Puck couldn’t tell what he was thinking, he could tell what the boy was feeling.

Sadness. Pity. Indignation. Anger.

Love, longing, care, hope, love.

Love, love, love, love, love.

Lovelovelovelovelovelovelove.

And finally, hate.

“She’s my Emilia-tan. That’s the only Emilia that matters to me.” The boy finally answered.

Puck saw it, the same gleam in his eyes that he saw in the boy’s spirit yesterday afternoon. That darkness, the obsession. Pointed towards his Lia. He resisted the urge to smirk. All according to plan.

Yes. Very good.

“Now, Subaru.”

Puck gave the boy his friendliest smile.

“Let’s talk.”

Chapter Text

In the dead of night, a tall man sat alone in his office. The man was clad in eccentric garments and adorned his face with equally eccentric makeup—reminiscent of a jester. A clown. He was following the inked path of a large, black book, his eyes taking heed of its every instruction—reading and rereading every word of every sentence to ensure nothing has changed.

It was a ritual. Flip.

One of remembrance. Flip.

Of dependence. Flip.

For the man—Roswaal—could no longer function, flip,

both as a person , flip,

and as a tool, flip,

without the book of wisdom’s—his teacher’s—guidance.

The instructions in teacher’s tome has changed. Roswaal thought.

He was initially instructed to simply bring the Sageling—Natsuki Subaru—to the Capital, more specifically, the royal hall during the opening ceremony—fate itself would sort everything else out—but now he had new instructions. Most perplexing. Most concerning. Teacher rarely corrected her instructions—even if they resulted in failure. For failure, too, is a result of one's actions. The ending to one's journey. Therefore, it must be celebrated—just as fervently as one would celebrate success.

I am to bring the boy to the Capital and ensure his presence in the royal halls, per her initial instruction. But there was an additional instruction below it now—one that snowballed the entire set of predetermined events into something completely new. Roswaal was concerned, to say the least. So he kept reading and rereading, desperately trying to make sure his eyes did not deceive him.

Ensure the the Sageling is present in the royal halls. Keep the Sageling and the Witch of Frost in the capital. Your actions shall start the Sageling toward the path of a True Sage—despair shall swallow him whole with the open maw of the void.

Once you ensured the Sageling and Witch will remain in the capital, escape and prepare in The Sanctuary. The Spirit Lord will detect your intentions—and react swiftly. Escape her wrath.

An ominous warning. The anomaly was that great a threat it would seem. Roswaal thought. He needed to tread lightly. He doubted that the little spirit could best him in magical combat, not even Puck could. Perhaps she has other abilities that they are keeping hidden?

The jester smirked.

Not a dull day since you appeared in my life, Su~baru-kun.

(*)

The Seven Stars Company, hmm? How interesting. Thought Anastasia Hoshin.

Anastasia was a petite woman with blue-green eyes and long, wavy lavender hair that cascaded down to her hips. She wore a pristine white dress, complemented by a fur hat in the style of a northern ushanka and a matching scarf. A yellow, star-shaped hairpin adorned her locks, subtly catching the light, while a small teal pendant rested delicately at her collarbone. Her appearance gave one the general impression of a small, adorable animal.

The perfect disguise to lure her prey to the slaughterhouse.

The young president of the Hoshin Company was currently lounging in her study, sipping tea while reading weekly status reports in her private room at the Juukulius family manor.

She was reading a particularly interesting report from her network about potential investment opportunities from the past month. This ‘Seven Stars Company’ had mysteriously appeared barely a week ago, flooding the Capital with a sanitary product called a ‘bar soap.’ According to her spies, it was made from cheap, easily procured ingredients: rice milk, a mixture of different oils, and finally, a jealously guarded secret ingredient called a ‘soap base.’

The fact that it was made from easily procurable ingredients meant it could be sold cheaply as well. In fact, a single bar currently sold for five bronze coins—half the price of a cheap tavern meal! This ridiculously low price, combined with the fact that it was both more convenient and worked better than every other competitor in the market, meant that bar soap was now the hottest item in the market. A self-proclaimed greedy merchant like herself would be ill-advised not to dip her paws into the trending item.

Now, if only she could actually find the mystery person behind the item—or Nanahoshi, as they named themselves.

Both the company and its owner had suddenly appeared out of nowhere, flooded the markets with a cheap, revolutionary item, and then vanished off the face of the continent. She couldn’t find anything about the company—not its base of operations, not its current staff, not who the mysterious Nanahoshi even was. Nothing!

Hmm~ maybe I could engage the guild—A polite set of knocks resounded from the door to her study—interrupting her musings.

“Come in.” she called.

The door opened gently, the familiar sight of her loyal guardian, the ‘Finest Knight’, Julius Juukulius, greeted her eyes.

Julius was a tall, well-built man with sharp yellow eyes and light purple hair styled neatly, aside from a deliberate strand that hung down his face. He wore the formal Royal Guard uniform almost exclusively, maintaining a precise and professional appearance.

“Milady, it is almost the appointed time. I am here to collect you so that we may proceed to the royal hall for the opening ceremony.” the knight said.

Sadly, all good times must come to an end. Now she had to head to the royal palace for the opening ceremony of the Royal Selection. How droll. As if I don’t have anything better to do.

It was frustrating—time is money, after all—and these bags of old bones were determined to waste her money on pointless grandstanding.

“Very well. Let’s go then.” Anastasia said as she stood up. Elegantly strolling her way to the entrance of the door. It was a chore—to maintain perfect posture all the time—but appearances must be kept, especially in front of her ever poised knight.

Speaking of her knight...

“Julius?” Anastasia called.

“Yes milady?” came the knight’s reply.

“Did something happen? You look... disturbed.”

Julius had a good poker face, but Anastasia was better at reading him than he was at hiding himself.

“Nothing I believe you should concern yourself about.” came the curt reply. How predictable, he’s such a boy. Anastasia thought exasperatedly.

“Come now, I thought we were closer than that! You can tell me anything, you know that right?” the she-fox pushed.

“Hmm...” the knight replied reluctantly—not giving any indication of crumbling. But alas, she knew better than to take that at face value.

“Fess up already. What ails my handsome knight—today of all days?” she pestered teasingly.

A moment of contemplation, then the knight confessed his current predicament with a tired sigh.

“A certain event happened while I was on patrol this morning milady...” he began.

(*)

“Come near us again, and Sia personally will feed your testicles to your closest relative, human.”

Julius thought such a beautiful, soothing voice should not be saying such crass, barbaric words. Or he would have, if he wasn’t stunned into mental silence.

“S-Sia-tan...? / Sia-chan!?” the duo accompanying the voice asked, just as taken aback as he was.

Perhaps he should start from the beginning...

(*)

Julius was on patrol duty—keeping the city safe and presenting himself gallantly to deter would-be evildoers from starting any trouble, as knighthood demanded.

He had spotted one of his lady’s rivals—the silver haired half-elf, Emilia-sama—strolling through the merchant district holding hands with what he assumed was her personal attendant—if the butler uniform was any indication.

I might as well introduce myself—make a good impression—it could give milady an edge against her other rivals in the selection. Thought the Finest Knight.

He thought he presented himself quite well, kneeling courteously and giving her a chaste, reverent kiss on the back of her hand as a sign of respect, as demanded by etiquette.

Then her attendant—a mere commoner, he might add—decided to interrupt his display, rather crassly at that.

“Zero points. You really should go relearn your etiquette from scratch, my guy,” he said.

Julius just glared at the ignorant fool. He was the Finest Knight. Nobody knew a knight’s etiquette better than he did! Least of all a rude, crass commoner!

“And what would a common knave such as yourself know about knightly etiquette? I doubt you even know what manners are, interrupting a knight’s display the way you did,” he said contemptuously.

He believed he was merely correcting the crass behavior of a foolish street rat that Emilia-sama had kindly picked up. But the lady herself did not agree with his assessment of her attendant.

“Knave? Is that what you just called my Subaru, Julius?” the half-elf practically growled, a threatening edge to her voice. The air around them became colder in response to her plummeting mood.

“Emilia-sama—I-I am merely attempting to correct your attendant’s behavior. He is unjustly—”

“A knight greeting a lady should display deference. He shouldn’t insolently grab the lady’s hand without her express permission,” the attendant interrupted.

“T-that is—”

“A proper knight displaying, and I quote, ‘respect,’ as you’d call it—would’ve asked for her permission first. Not just grab the lady’s hand out of nowhere and start slobbering his saliva all over it like some pervert,” the fool continued.

How dare he insult me like this! Julius thought angrily, thoroughly losing his composure. He was about to retort when a Quasi-spirit floated out of the knave’s breast pocket and vibrated energetically in front of him.

“Hmmm~” the Quasi hummed with a distinctly feminine voice.

A Quasi that can speak? The colors it embodied were most enchanting as well. An elegant gradient of all six colors of mana swirled around the spirit. Julius was thoroughly captivated by her beauty.

The commoner, on the other hand, looked taken aback by the spirit’s action.

“Ohhh~” the spirit continued. Is it admiring my self? Julius had to smile at that. Such wonderful creatures would, of course, be attracted to elegance and poise. Was the spirit the knave’s contracted? Perhaps he could sway it to form a soul-bind with him instead. He was certainly the worthier contractor of the two.

The panic in the knave’s eyes as his spirit was enchanted by a superior specimen was a cup of the finest tea poured directly into Julius’s soul. He was about to make his offer to the beautiful spirit when its behavior suddenly shifted—from admiring to aggressive.

“Tch—you almost got her. Bastard,” she said disdainfully.

Now Julius was the one taken aback. What could have caused such as sudden shift in behavior?

The spirit floated away from him and anchored herself to the knave’s shoulder, glowing more intensely as a show of hostility.

“The bastard tried to brainwash Sia,” she accused.

What...? Oh—oh no. My Divine Blessing!

“What!?” The knave looked positively murderous. Emilia-sama bared her teeth, her body language shifting into one of hostility.

I need to rectify this! Julius thought.

“P-please wait—Emilia-sama! It is not what you think! I—”

“Nobody cares, asshole. Take a hike already if you know what’s good for you!” the knave threatened—his stance shifting into one of combat.

Flustered, Julius answered in kind.

“Silence! A mere commoner has no right to dismiss—”

“Julius!—kindly leave us before I make you. You’ve ruined our deito enough as it is,” Emilia-sama threatened. Small shards of ice were now forming in the air around her. She was preparing for conflict.

“E-Emilia-sama, please! Allow me to explain—”

“Leave!” the beautiful Quasi hissed.

The knave’s spirit broke away from his shoulder and floated in the middle of everyone present, her hostile glow now radiating pure malice. All of it directed towards him.

“Leave!” it repeated. It’s voice softer, but still just as hostile as before.

“And if you come near us again—Sia will personally feed your testicles to your closest relative, human,” the spirit threatened.

“S-Sia-tan...? / Sia-chan!?”

The spirit’s display garnered the attention of the whole plaza—the murmurs of the masses made themselves heard around him.

“What’s going on” someone asked.

“Hey, whats that?”

“A spirit? It’s so pretty!”

“Is that a knight? What are they doing?”

A crowd had gathered around them, curious as to what the commotion was—a knight in uniform arguing with a noble lady and her attendant in public. Prime gossip material for nosy housewives.

Today is the start of the Royal Selection! If rumors spread, Anastasia-sama’s reputation will be tarnished! Julius panicked. He must leave the premise posthaste before someone identifies him.

“I—very well, Emilia-sama, Spirit-sama. My utmost apologies for disturbing your outing,” Julius said as he promptly turned around and vacated as quickly as he could without breaking into a run.

(*)

“—and that was what happened...” Julius trailed off weakly.

Anastasia just stared at him. She couldn’t believe it—her knight picked a fight with a commoner.
Julius Juukulius—The Finest Knight himself—had almost started a street brawl with another lady’s attendant. A common servant, no less. All because he was embarrassed the commoner corrected him on knightly etiquette!?

She would’ve found it hilarious if said commoner weren’t a retainer to one of her rivals for the throne.

Now? All she felt was bitter frustration.

Potentially down a card, and the selection hasn’t even started, Anastasia thought sarcastically.

“Oh, Julius...” she sighed in frustration, pinching the bridge of her nose.

“My utmost apologies, milady,” the knight said with a bow. His entire body language radiated shame.

Great... She couldn’t really be angry him when he already looked so miserable...

The belated realization that he shamed himself twice over must be something fierce, she thought, giggling lightly in her head. The man was widely believed to be the epitome of knighthood, after all—the title of Finest Knight was not something given lightly.

And now, a commoner of all things comes out of nowhere and corrects his etiquette? She couldn’t blame him for reacting emotionally, even if it did lead to damaging the bridge to a potential alliance.

Not that any alliance with that camp would be lucrative, Anastasia derided.

From what she gathered through her network, Emilia was a half-elf savage who had lived a monk’s life in the Frozen Forest before being recruited by Margrave Mathers for the election. She was likely completely uneducated. Her race and appearance pretty much ensured nobody would ever give her the time of day. And from what Anastasia could tell from Julius’s story, she kept the worst kind of company around, too.

Though that six-colored spirit might be useful... if I could get it to contract with Julius, that is...

No. It would be best to avoid any sort of contact with the half-elf. It would definitely hurt her image irrepairably to even be passingly associated with that witch’s doppleganger.

“Well—not much we can do now that the worst has happened. Come along then. If we keep dawdling like this, we’ll be late. Time is money,” the merchant said finally.

“Yes, milady. After you,” the knight replied, gesturing politely for her to walk ahead of him.

The pair made their way toward the manor entrance, where an expensive-looking dragon carriage awaited them.

Today is setting up to be one of those days, Anastasia sighed.

(*)

Ah, it would seem today is one of those days, thought Crusch Karsten as she resisted the urge to rub her tired face.

The opening ceremony? Terrible. Absolutely terrible. Nothing but empty showboating and pointless grandstanding.

The festivities to kickstart the ceremony? Utterly droll. Knights choreographed like common street performers. Nobility pranced about and indulged themselves like pigs while the kingdom continued to remain effectively headless. It was all so utterly worthless. A complete waste of time.

Once the festivities ended, the opening ceremony officially began. Things started out wonderfully. Sarcasm, if it needed explaining. It started off strong with that infamous thief being announced as the final candidate. That one old man looked like he was having a seizure when The Sword Saint himself announced the thief’s candidacy—he also announced his fealty to said thief as her guardian knight.

Likely the old man is someone the thief once stole from. Crusch amusedly thought.

But still, to swear fealty to a thief of all things,

what an odd fellow—Wilhelm’s grandson.

The five candidates then gathered at the center of the hall. Ready to present themselves, along with their plans to better the country.

Their knights and supporters stood at attention—ready to be called to defend their lady at a moments notice. She looked to the Royal Knights to look for Felix—see if he had prepared himself—and he looked horrified. He stood ramrod straight, his face pale and his flaxen fur puffed out. He wasn’t even looking at her—no—he was looking in the direction of... Margrave Mathers? More specifically, the boy next to him.

The boy had soft features and striking eyes. His hair was beautiful and well-kept—sleek, black, and slicked back neatly to expose sharp, soul-piercing amber eyes and a youthful, delicate face. He was clad in a rather standard-looking butler uniform, except he did not wear a bow tie, and the top two buttons of his shirt was left open—exposing the amethyst mana crystal tied around his neck and his bare, pale collarbones.

Crusch thought the boy looked rather striking, but was concerned as to what his relationship was with the Margrave. Is this the infamous butler he and Wilhelm warned me about?

Her knight was chosen to be the messenger to call Margrave’s sponsored candidate to the capital. Crusch sent Wilhelm along with him as security—as well as a means to size up any potential talents employed by her rival.

Both of them returned thoroughly shakened. According to Wilhelm, Felix attempted to touch the butler to inject mana directly into his Od to diagnose the state of his body and gate.

Said arm twisted like a wet towel that was wrung too tight the moment his hand landed on the butler’s shoulder.

The boy was apparently a spirit contractor—and the spirit he contracted terrified Felix to the point of hysteria—her poor knight did not sleep well the nights following that visit.

The butler himself could not be ignored—not at all—for he had spooked Wilhelm. Wilhelm Trias, The Sword Demon himself.

“His eyes carry a strong familiarity with death. They burn with intense insanity beneath their deceptively placid surface—like the open jaws of a Great Witchbeast awaiting its prey just underneath the surface of a still lake. It would be best not to associate with this camp.” Wilhelm assessed.

Looking at him now, she saw none of said insanity in the boy. She saw a rather handsome, exotic-looking boy with a sharp glare that could arrest any woman’s attention. Crusch idly wondered if the boy was a Vollachian prince—his hair and eye colors suggested as much—stowed away and kept protected by the Margrave in return for his support in the Selection.

Perhaps she could try to sway him into joining her cause instead? A king needed an heir eventually...

Ahem.

Crusch herself had decided to kick things off—figuring that the shock value of her declaration—to sever the kingdom’s covenant with that sham of a dragon, that false god—would leave the biggest impression and drown out anything the following candidates would say.

Then the second candidate named herself. Anastasia Hoshin—she declared she wanted a country just because. How preposterous. A peasant merchant should know her place. The Dragon Kingdom of Lugunica is a mighty dynasty that remained strong against all calamities. It withstood the era of the Witch herself! Common merchants like her do not deserve to even contend for the throne!

Crusch had to admit that the she-fox’s capabilities as a businesswoman were impressive. The Hoshin Company had achieved great renown as trustworthy dealers that traded fairly and honestly. She would have made an excellent king—had her intentions matched her capabilities. But alas, at the end of the day—she was still a common merchant. A shame Sir Julius had debased himself so.

The dragon is truly a false god, thought Crusch. What else could it be? Allowing such ilk a place among the kingdom’s nobility the way it did.

Speaking of ilk, the third candidate came up and announced herself—Priscilla Barielle. The baroness was a widow who had lost eight—eight!—husbands. Crusch thought that alone was enough to impress upon everyone in the hall that the woman would not make much of a king. She couldn’t even keep her own man alive—all eight of them.

Then she started speaking. If the people weren’t convinced before, they were now! The delusional vomit that seeped from that woman’s mouth was palpable and nauseating—claiming that the world bowed to her will and the crown is already hers—simply because she claimed so. How foolish. How delusionally foolish.

When the fourth candidate—Lady Emilia of Elior Forest—revealed herself, Crusch had to consciously stop herself from flinching. The creepy silver hair. The sickening purple eyes. The sharp, unnatural ears. All common descriptors history used to paint the picture of the Jealous Witch. Even though she knew logically the woman herself was no witch by any stretch of the definition, Crusch just couldn’t turn off the irrational part of her brain.

The part that wanted to draw her sword and cut the half-elf down where she stood.

Though she was sponsored by Margrave Mathers himself. If she proved herself worthy of his trust, perhaps I should abstain from forming an opinion too quickly, Crusch analyzed.

To her pleasant surprise, the half-elf did indeed impress her! Lady Emilia wished to build a country where all would have shelter and food, where children need not grow up without parents—and vice versa—regardless of their race. A true noblesse oblige—worthy of a candidate to the Lugunican throne.

Therein lay the problem.

No matter how noble the intentions, a half-elf was still a half-elf.

Thus her declaration was met with derision. With ridicule.

“A filthy half-devil! Why are none of our knights drawing their blades!?”

“Monster! Leave the hall at once!”

“It’s the Witch! The Witch herself came back! Guards! Execute her!”

The nobility called her derogatory names, demanding she leave the selection. Some even called for her execution. Sage Bordeaux himself debased his honor and joined in the slandering of the elven candidate.

Such a waste.

Her own sponsor stayed silent while the entire hall figuratively threw sticks at her. He just smiled that same, creepy smile he always wore. He did not even bat an eye when the nobility addressed him, demanding he explain himself.

As if he was waiting for something.

Crusch thought it was a shame—such potential ruined simply by her lot in life.

And that was when things took a turn for the worst—for the half-elf’s guardians made themselves—and their displeasure—known.

A brilliant, six-colored sun suddenly shone on the opposite end of the hall with enough intensity to sear her eyeballs.

Within the sunburst, the transparent silhouette of a young girl floated.

The girl had long, beautifully permed raven locks tied elegantly in a high ponytail with a large orange ribbon. Even tied, her hair was long enough to reach her tailbone. Her bangs were styled in a way that kept her right eye covered, but the left side of her face fully exposed. She wore a pitch-black kimono—a Kararagian traditional garb—heavily stylized with gaps that left her beautiful, pale shoulders down to her upper arm entirely bare, and a frilly, dangerously short skirt where the bottom part of the garb should be. The kimono was tied in place by a large obi the same shade of orange as her ribbon. Her shapely, petite legs were clad in thick, pure white leggings that protected her modesty from prying eyes. Her feet were adorned with cute black dolly shoes with orange ribbons at the base.

She was jaw-droppingly gorgeous. A divine beauty that kept all eyes in the hall glued to her visage.

However, the most striking features of the girl were not her clothes, or even the fact that she was transparent.

It wasn’t even the six beautiful, vaguely insectoid wings on her back that glittered in the six colors of elemental mana.

No. The girl’s most striking feature was her eyes. Sharp, softly glowing amber gems that emitted regal hostility and demanded divine respect from everyone who looked into them.

I vaguely recall seeing those eyes on another person recently. Ah yes, the butler! This is his contracted spirit!

The pressure exuded by the girl’s presence was crushing. Crusch had to exert great effort to stop herself from kneeling in reverence. She barely succeeded.

Many others did not.

From her position near the throne, Crusch caught sight of several knights, nobles, and even a few of the sages kneeling in the petite goddess’s presence from her periphery.

The girl opened her beautiful, small mouth to speak—but another presence in the form of a small feline interrupted her before she could. It floated directly in front of the half-elf on the throne and emitted an incredible chill that managed to snap all the entranced from their reverie.

The Beast of the End. The Great Spirit of Fire.

That was what Sage Miklotov called the deceptively small cat.

Suddenly Crusch felt very, very nervous.

Between the Great Spirit of Fire itself and this strange, divine yet humanoid spirit, the half-elf was protected by two beings that could easily level the capital before the Sword Saint could finish drawing the Dragon Sword.

Correction—she was protected by two very angry beings that could easily level the capital before the Sword Saint could finish drawing the Dragon Sword.

This day could not get any worse, Crusch thought.

(*)

This day just got a whole lot worse, Subaru thought.

Between that purple-haired prick, the red-dressed bitch, and the clowns in the hall, Subaru thought today was shaping up to be a horrible, terrible, no-good day. When he caught sight of unshed tears in Emilia-tan’s eyes as the peanut gallery started calling her names, he was just about ready to throw hands with everyone.

Yes, even Reinhard.

How dare these maggots!? These hypocrites in white who stand like scarecrows while a candidate to their throne is ridiculed by her lessers, these pompous fat pigs that dared to insult someone far above their station, that one baldie with funny eyebrows that should really just go choke on his own teeth and die. How dare they make his Emilia-tan cry?

Deep breaths, me. Deep breaths.

He needed to stay cool. Blowing a casket here isn’t gonna solve anything. It’d make Emilia’s position worse, in fact. If he was going to intervene, it needed to be calm, poised, and most importantly—regal. He needed to make an impression in a way that improved Emilia’s image.

Don’t blow up... Don’t blow up, me. You’re a bigger man than that...

And he actually succeeded! Natsuki Subaru grinded enough levels in emotional control to not blow a fuse and throw tantrums at pompous shitheads anymore. Yippee!

Now if only the same could be said for Elysia.

Sia-tan? Sia!? Elysia! What the hell do you think you’re doing! Subaru frantically yelled, urging his contract spirit—his daughter in all but name—to stop what she was doing.

‘What she was doing’ was making herself the center of unwanted attention. Something he expressed to her multiple times not to do. He feared that some fat fugly bastard would show up to either steal her away or kill her simply for being a special MacGuffin someone else owned.

A fear that was exacerbated when they ran into that ‘Finest Prick’ in the merchant district. Who-lius or whatever his bastard name was.

They were just minding their own business that morning, checking out how his little business venture was doing as an excuse for a date.

In case there was still some confusion, the ‘mysterious merchant’ behind the Seven Stars Company? Nanahoshi? Natsuki Subaru himself.

The idea to start his own business came the night after he and Emilia bared their history out to each other. He confessed to being from another world—including everything that entailed.

Missing his family, thankful he was thrown into Lugunica,
wishing he was a better son, not wanting to return to them,
admiring his father, resenting him just as much,
always wanting to live up to expectations, never putting in any real effort to do it,

Natsuki Subaru bared all his shame—all his insecurities to Emilia, trusting—knowing—that she would accept him regardless—despite the selfishness, despite the hypocrisy—because that was just who she was. His heroine. His Emilia-tan.

Her response? A soft, featherlight kiss on the cheek—followed by many more afterward. Reassuring him that he’d tried his best, that his family would be happy knowing he was happy where he was. That she admired him as the most amazing person in her world. That he had more than lived up to her expectations. They fell asleep in each other’s arms that night—on that bed—in that hut—the burden and anxiety of not knowing who Emilia truly was disappeared completely after that.

It no longer mattered. She was Emilia, his Emilia-tan. That was all that was important.

Damn anyone and everyone that tried to take her away from him!

He couldn’t stop himself from wishing to be beside her anymore—to claim her as his and his alone—so he brainstormed a solution with his ever-reliable Sia-tan.

Lo and behold—The Seven Stars Company!

The problem? He didn’t want to be a knight—to live a life of constant conflict, where he’d be forced to kill and be killed for the sake of people he didn’t give a particular damn about—not to mention the politicking that comes with the title. After meeting that purple prick? Their supposed ‘Finest’? Fuck those guys, they don’t deserve his tax money—and he couldn’t ask Roswaal to grant him a minor noble title without a good reason either.

The solution? Become the tycoon of his own merchant empire! If he held the country’s economy in a chokehold, nobody could tell him who he can or can’t consummate with! It would also help Emilia-tan in both the short and long term as well—he could secure her more monetary power and improve her image with the public audience significantly by claiming to support her campaign once the company’s reputation expands enough.

To that end, his first brainchild was the bar soap. A cheap, common thing you could buy dirt-cheap at any convenience store back home. Explaining the concept was easy—trying to find the right combination of oils and fats for the soap base was the hard part.

Luckily, he had Beako (she practically frog leaped at the opportunity to recreate things from his homeland) for that.

And an endlessly spawning horde of Wolgarms in Arlam Forest to give him an equally endless supply of oil and fats. That definitely helped too.

And an equally endless supply of fur and hide for clothes and general leather for the village to use and sell.

And an equally endless supply of bones they could grind into fertilizers for crops, improving the village’s—and the manor’s—food situation.

If it weren’t obvious—he and, by extension—Emilia-tan—since he credited all his achievements to her for teaching him spirit arts—were practically the village superheroes now, with all his direct (and her indirect) contributions to its safety and livelihood.

Maybe the witch was onto something with the Witchbeasts.

Ahem.

So yeah, things were going really well. He got his company started up, dumped his products—which were selling better than hotcakes—into the market, generally feeling good about himself.

Until the purple bastard showed up out of nowhere.

It was bad enough that he had the audacity to disturb their outing to try and make his narcissistic ass the center of Emilia-tan’s attention. He wanted to strangle the knight with his own robes just for that.

But what he did next? Placed him permanently on top of Subaru’s shitlist.

The fucking bastard tried to steal his Elysia. He tried to influence her mind with a Divine Blessing—if what Rein said about the guy was true (he also said something about it being a passive thing—that the bastard was a good guy or whatever, but Subaru didn’t care for minor details). The result of the bastard’s prideless attempt to steal his girls was obvious.

He ended up on their shitlist too.

Subaru didn’t think he’d ever heard Emilia-tan growl like that. It was actually pretty hot—no, scratch that—it was really, really hot. Maybe he really was the bottom in this relationship...

err—anyway, Sia-tan threatening to make the guy’s family swallow his genitals? Had Subaru in stitches when they all calmed down. He laughed so hard the entire way to the palace the whole carriage vibrated—much to Rem’s irritation, having to be the one who steers it.

His mirth was lost when they bumped into the Red Bitch—Prick-scylla—or whatever her name was—at the palace entrance.

Natsuki Subaru did not bother to remember the names of Extras.

Least of all ones that did not show his heroine proper respect. He wasn’t even asking for much. Just—please, treat Emilia-tan like a person. Not such a hard thing to do, right?

Hoo boy.

The Red Bitch took one look at Emilia-tan with her hood down and thought she knew everything about her. Subaru rea~lly wished he could just vaporize the red bitch and be done with it. Like, come on!

“To think I would have to share a place for the throne with one such as yourself, amusing is it not, filthy half-devil?” oh~o, Subaru had never felt the urge to turn somebody into nuclear paste as strongly as he did then.

The one-armed bro she kept around her was cool though, shame he was attached to such a bitch. He had a cool name too. Aldebaran. Sounds familiar—wasn’t there a star by that name...?

Whatever. Not important.

As he was contemplating murder,

Too many witnesses. At least wait until the bitch is alone, his ever-reliable Sia-tan advised.

Subaru agreed, Sia-tan was much more patient than she was two months ago—back when she would pick fights with every girl in the Mathers Estate.

So where was the girl’s patience now, he wondered?

Posturing above the hall entrance all femme fatale-ey like that, really who does she think she is? Aura farming like—holy shit, are these people kneeling!?

Natsuki Subaru was torn.

On one hand, he wanted to go up there and start yelling at her for getting involved in the selection and painting that bullseye on her back the way she did.

On the other hand, that had to be the coldest entrance he had ever seen anyone make. Not even characters from the anime he binged back home could make an entrance this cold!

His fatherly instincts won out—and he made his displeasure known with a telepathic call to his spirit daughter.

We’re going to have a talk about this later, Subaru sighed in disappointment.

Sure, but for the record?—Sia did nothing wrong, came his rebellious daughter’s cheeky reply.

Of course not, Subaru sarcastically rolled his eyes.

(*)

“Are you going to explain why you stole Sia’s thunder?”

“We~ll, you kinda stole my entrance first?”

Two spirits. The Great Spirit of Fire—the very same one responsible for The Day of Red Earth and Sky—and an unknown humanoid spirit—unknown to most in the hall, at least.

Felix was already very acquianted with the spirit.

He wished he wasn’t.

It was supposed to be just another boring errand. Go to the Mather’s Estate, inform the candidate residing there of the Royal Selection’s official start. Scout out the staff while he was at it. Then come back to give his report to Crusch-sama.

A simple chore.

Until the little monster bent his arm into a pretzel.

“Try that again—and that arm will be the least of your worries,” the spirit had warned him—her tone razor sharp it almost cut him. It did not even have the decency to leave its mana stone as it inflicted horrible pain onto Felix. As if The Blue himself was not worth giving any dues.

The butler boy then seemed to have some sort of mental conversation with the spirit as Felix was busy healing his arm—he didn’t even react to someone’s arm twisting unnaturally in front of his face—if the rapid changes in the boy’s expressions was any indication. The boy settled on ‘battle-ready’ when Felix’s arm was as good as new. The eager bloodlust in the boys sharp, spearlike eyes was jarring considering how cute and harmless his initial impression was.

Emilia-sama was causing a fuss and scolding the spirit for its actions—who surprisingly listened to her docilely, like a child would patiently listen to her mother as she scolded her.

Then the spirit politely informed the half-elf what Felix was trying to do to her butler. “the thing tried to inject his mana into Baru’s Od,” the spirit said simply.

He tried to explain to her that it was harmless and that he just wanted to feel the boy.

Poor choice of words. The air got so much colder at that.

Felix gulped.

He would have likely returned to his lady encased in ice if the manor’s lord did not directly intervene in the matter and prevent Emilia-sama from dispensing judgement with a stern warning on the consequences.

Needless to say, the creepy half elf’s eerie smile that did not reach her eyes would haunt Felix as badly as the spirit’s blatant, overwhelming bloodlust did for several nights to come.

And now here he was, in the same room as that spirit—did he mention how beautiful she was? He really should—along with the creepy, eerie half-witch, and The Beast of The End itself.

It need not be said, but Felix was not having a good time.

“Haa~,” the spirit sighed as she turned to address the hall once more.

“Actually, can I start? I have alot to say,” the cat interrupted her conversationally.

“Go ahead, Sia can wait.”

“Thanks Elysia.”

“Now then,” the beast said to the hall. It’s voice echoed with the presence of an eldritch horror.

Felix strongly resisted the urge to curl into a ball.

“Make no mistake, the only reason none of you are dead is because my daughter is kindness incarnate. If it weren’t for her, this entire kingdom would already be a frozen hellscape. With this in mind—I will ask. Would any of you like to repeat what you just said?” the monster in the form of a small cat asked.

The silence was deafening.

Felix didn’t think anybody even breathed as suspense strangled them.

“Hmph! Didn’t think so,” the spirit finished.

As tensions continued to rise with the declining temperature of the room,

“Ah-kshew!” someone sneezed. Felix dared to turn his neck to look at the obtuse fool who did not read the room.

It was the butler, a trail of snot dripping cutely down his cold, red nose.

He gave the floating humanoid spirit a pointed look—to which the spirit replied with a kind, apologetic smile. Then she did something that brought the boy’s body back to stable temperatures—judging from the way he stopped reacting to the cold.

“Can you wrap this up quick Puck? You might accidentally kill the older bonies in the room with this chill.” the butler casually requested the Great Spirit.

"Did this commoner really just tell The Great Spirit of Fire to hurry up-nyah!?" Felix panicked. Does he have a death wish!?

“Sure, I’m just about done, actually,” Puck replied.

Nyow way. It actually listened!?

“Thx,” the boy said with a loud, bored yawn. The sheer lack of respect for a Great Spirit, as if they were friends. Old Wil was right to be wary of him...

“No problem buddy. The floor is yours again, Elysia.” the Great Spirit gestured to the humanoid—everyone’s attention turned towards her.

“Eyup. Thanks Cattie,” the feminine spirit replied.

She gestured toward the knights and began condemning them.

“Sia is disappointed. In hindsight she shouldn’t be. The knights of this subpar kingdom would—of course—be equally mediocre. It’s her own fault for having any real expectations of you lot—so really, Sia is sorry.” she mocked cruelly.

Several knights, including the one directly next to Felix, frowned deeply at the casual mockery.

The spirit pointedly ignored them, they were rabble. Beneath her notice.

“You.” she pointed to the figure next to Felix.

“Y-Yes, Spirit-sama?” Julius answered hesitantly.

“A royal candidate—future royalty of the kingdom—one of five who is promised the throne, Sia would add—is higher on the food chain than the nobility, right?” the spirit asked rhetorically.

“... Yes.”

“So tell Sia—why did none of you Royal Knights defend a candidate to the throne from the mockery of her lessers? Is your brain as blank as your clothes? Or are you just that obtuse?”

“T-That is...,” Julius looked downward and trailed off, a vain attempt to hide his shame.

“Finish your sentence, human—Sia will not interrupt,” she coaxed, her voice gentle with a tinge of sadism.

“I have no excuse, you are most correct, Spirit-sama. The knights have failed in their solemn duty to protect the dignity of the royal candidates.” Julius looked like he swallowed a whole lemon as he forced himself to admit that.

“Fufu—that makes it what? Three times now you’ve shamed yourself today in front of her, Sir Knight?” she asked. Her voice had a sadistically mocking tune to it.

“Y-Yes... Elysia—”

“Sia did not give you permission to call her by name, boy!” the spirit growled. The wings on her back grew bigger, corresponding with the spike in atmospheric mana consumption—the six colors they adorned shone with even brighter intensity.

A sign of hostility. She was absolutely furious.

Julius! Why is she so angry at nyou!? Felix frantically screamed in his head. What did nyou do!?

“—My utmost apologies, Spirit-sama!” Julius apologised with a frantic bow.

“Hmph! Next. You.” she pointed toward a particular nobleman with no distinctive features. The one that was the loudest in calling Emilia-sama names.

“Ugh—!”

“You called Lia many derogatory names—demanding her execution. Your head should be separated from its neck slowly for that alone. But more importantly, you also accused Lia of being the Witch herself, released from the seal to destroy the kingdom—yes?” she asked the noble.

“...” the noble stayed silent.

“Answer her.” the spirit ordered.

“... yes, I did.” the noble bit out softly through his clenched teeth. His entire body radiating terror.

“Is Sia correct to assume you are accusing The Divine Dragon—the god that has diligently protected this undeserving kingdom for four hundred years—of failing his job in sealing the Witch? Are you accusing the same of the first Sword Saint and the Great Sage?” she asked—again, it was rhetoric.

“I—”

“Knight,” she called.

“... yes, Spirit-sama?” Julius answered.

“By right—what should be the punishment for this child’s baseless blasphemy?”

“... His personal execution, as well as the rescinding of his family’s title as nobility—at the bare minimum,” Julius replied gravely.

“No, no—please! I did not mean to—”

“Did not mean to what? Did not mean to condemn a young lady to death simply for being a half-elf? Or did not mean to get punished for it?” the spirit quirked an eyebrow sarcastically.

“Ugh...”

“Well?”

“...,” the noble moron had the decency to shut up, after that.

“Lastly—you!” the spirit pointed at het final target.

At Sage Bordeaux.

Specifically—she was pointing at his shiny bald head that was reflecting the light she was emitting.

“... Can you stop shining so much?”

“Can you be any more unreasonable!?” the Sage retorted as his faced flushed red.

“Hmph—Sia doesn’t really want to waste words with the likes of you—an ignorant slime who thinks himself wise when he is ignorantly spewing out hatred for a whole for the crimes of a few,” she spat.

“...!” credit where credit was due, while the Sage did not argue back, he did not back down at her accusations either.

“You, most of all—if Sia catches you spout any of your disrespectful spiel again. Your head will fly before you even realize you’re about to die. This is a promise, Baldie,” the spirit growled bitingly.

The bald Sage just silently met her glare. He was challenging her—Felix had to admit, it was brave of him. He displayed no outward sign of fear.

The spirit just gave him a bored, waiting look, as if saying “if you’re going to do something, hurry it up,”

The baldie decided to switch targets instead. He turned towards Emilia-sama.

“H-Half-devil—,” a blast of wind.

The right side of Sage Bordeaux’s comically long eyebrows became a now comically short, perfectly chopped stump of hair—half the horizontal length of his eyelids.

Felix couldn’t detect any build-up in mana before the spell was cast. The humanoid spirit casted a Wind Spell so swiftly—so optimally—that nobody could detect the mana influx until after the spell was cast.

The only other being Feris could think is capable of this is the Margrave—The Great Magi—himself, Felix analyzed.

“Half-elf!” he corrected with a squeak. It would’ve been funny if Felix wasn’t so terrified.

“Yes?” said Half-elf replied placidly. Her body language calm and composed.

“Are you declaring war against the kingdom!? Is this an ultimatum!? ‘Give me the throne or else’!?” the bald fool was still running his mouth.

“... No? What benefit would it be to me to rule the kingdom through tyranny? My reign would not last two generations,” the half-elf replied casually, quirking an eyebrow—not intimidated at all by the baseless accusations.

It was hard to be—when the man looked so stupid with those uneven eyebrows.

“I did nothing but allow my retainers to speak on my behalf—as a king should when... insurgencies... threaten her rule. Now, I have finished my piece. Will that be all?” Emilia-sama asked politely as she turned to Sage Miklotov.

“—yes, Emilia-sama... you may return to your previous position,” the (wiser) Sage said.

With a polite nod and a soft, beatific smile that once more—did not reach her eyes—the half-elf stepped down back to where she previously stood.

The two spirits—her retainers—turned into small balls of mana before floating back into their respective mana stones.

“...,” palpable silence.

All eyes followed the path the six-colored light in particular took to reach its destination.

They stared at said destination with eyes of contempt—as if her reproach of them was his fault.

“Koff...”, a polite cough resounded in the silent hall as the boy covered his mouth.

“Err—I’m sorry?” Natsuki Subaru apologized uncertainly.

(*)

Elysia is a ba~d influence on you, teased Puck.

Emilia would like to think otherwise.

If anything, Sia-chan was the best positive influence on her. Barring Subaru.

The spirit girl taught her many things—mostly Subaru-related. She taught her Subaru’s preferred brand of humor, his preferences in food—other than mayonnaise—even what his preferences in women were—though Emilia did not know why that last one in particular was so important.

Or why the little girl was teaching her all of her contractor’s preferences.

Emilia appreciated the company, nonetheless. Learning about Subaru’s likes and dislikes—ones that the person in question refused to share—was a nice addition to said companionship.

Before, the only constant presence in her life was Puck. He would do her hair, talk with her, teach her how to behave, what to avoid doing—everything a father should instill in his child. His company was appreciated. Welcomed, even.

But it could feel stifling at times.

Don’t do this. Good girls must not do that. Sometimes it felt like she was a puppet—and Puck held the strings. She was sure her father had nothing but the best intentions for her. She would never doubt that.

She just wished he’d let her explore—and not tell her what to do.

Subaru was good at that. He let Sia-chan make her mistakes—say and do the wrong things. He coddled her, but he did not smother her. Always letting her make her own choices, influencing her by being an example to follow instead of a judge for her mistakes.

It was hard sometimes, not to feel jealous of the spirit girl.

She was gifted with intelligence—matching the deduction ability of mortal adults in just two months of study. She was gifted with a loving father that gave her freedom. She was adored by the people around her just for being what she was—and she adored them just as much in return, now.

She had become kinder to the people around them. Likely she came to some sort of conclusion while they were in Elior Forest.

She was even cordial and polite with Rem—whom she hated s~o much before.

Sia-chan was always improving, always evolving. It’s just not fair. Why couldn’t Emilia be as capable? If she were... if she were...

maybe the people around Emilia—other than Subaru and Puck—would adore her too,

maybe Ram would banter with her the same way she bantered with Sia-chan,

maybe Rem would teach her the correct way to do housework and cook good food, the way she taught Sia-chan,

maybe Beatrice would go out of her way to play with Emilia like she did with Sia-chan.

It was with these worries in mind that Emilia approached the boy—no, the young man—who was directly responsible for the miracle that is the six-colored spirit,

Natsuki Subaru.

Her best friend.

Calling him that felt right—even if it left her unsatisfied for reasons she did not know.

He was the closest person to her, alongside Puck and Elysia.

The man who gave her everything she ever wanted in her miserable life, and asked for nothing but her name in return.

She remembers the night they talked—on that worn yet soft couch—clearly, vividly—they were completely alone, as Sia-chan had retired into her mana stone early, exhausted from maintaining her form as long as she did.

He explained how he was from beyond The Great Waterfall—how he had been suddenly transported to the Lugunican capital with no warning or fanfare, how he felt like it was his chance to finally, finally become something more than his worthless self.

How his expectations were quickly subverted by muggers and assassins.

He didn’t say much about that experience. Barely anything, really. Just short summaries of what happened, all while clutching his stomach very, very tightly—his voice laced with a primal kind of fear, as if just recalling those events would endanger his life. Emilia didn’t have the heart to allow him to continue. She asked him not to force himself to speak if it was that haunting to relive those days.

He agreed. In return, he told her about his history back home—in a country to the far east of his world—a place called Japan.

He told her about how he grew up desperately chasing the footsteps of his father. Trying his hardest to meet everyone’s expectations of that perfect man’s son. To become the center of attention just like his father was.

How he failed to do so, and decided to humiliate himself by becoming everyone’s jester instead.

How it made the people around him fed-up with him left him behind, turning their backs on a boy that tried too hard to be special.

How he shut himself away and slowly rotted in his home as a result. Waiting for an excuse to end his own life.

How his parents—kind, loving, and amazing as they were—did not give up on him despite it all.

How he wished they did, just to make himself feel better about his own misery.

Emilia could not ignore how small—how so very fragile—he looked as he spoke. Holding back tears of bitter shame and shaking like glass on the verge of shattering.

That night, she discovered a third thing she absolutely hated, behind lies and peppirs—when Subaru started crying in his misery. She found it to be something profoundly wrong. Something that should never happen. Something she should make go away—through whatever means necessary.

So she let her instincts guide her—pulling the boy into her arms as she lay down on the couch in what he taught her afterward was called a ‘cuddle’, wrapping her legs around his and softly stroking one cheek while giving light pecks to the other.

It was the first time she ever felt proud of herself, when the tears in his eyes disappeared and his sadness turned into radiant joy while he was in her arms.

She couldn’t stop herself after seeing him smile like that.

She showered him with compliments and continued to pepper his face with little kisses, the kind she often saw mothers give their crying children to comfort them. Utterly elated at her success in cheering him up and drowning in her own euphoria—only belatedly realizing how improper her actions were.

It was hard to care, when Subaru smiled that beautiful smile of his at her for it.

Tired, the duo navigated to the room with the bigger bed afterward, collapsing in each other’s arms—completely unconcerned with propriety, emotionally exhausted as they were.

The man fell asleep first—his face gentle and soft and so, so beautiful in her eyes. She had to strongly resist the urge to peck his eyelid as he slept. It felt right, having him in her arms as he slept like that—something clicked into place. Like something had been missing her whole life, and she only noticed what it was after she found it.

She never wanted to be apart from him ever again, after that.

It was odd, how that once miserable, cold forest felt warm and comforting with him there beside her.

Ahem.

Where was she?

Right. She approached him one evening, a week after they returned to the mansion, to ask for his guidance on how to become more capable—like his spirit was.

She figured—since he was the catalyst to the spirit’s change—perhaps he could inspire the same change in Emilia herself?

“I have a better idea,” he had replied.

The following day, Sia-chan came to her room to help her study ‘social skills’, informing her that they would be doing this for two hours late Wind time every day from that day onward.

When asked why, she cryptically said, “Baru was busy with an important project that Sia shouldn’t disturb,” though since amusement crept into her tone—Emilia didn’t think it was anything dangerous.

It was two whole weeks later that she found out what the boy’s ‘important project’ really was, when he gave everyone in the manor a block of his ‘bar soap’—that he made alongside Beatrice—along with a request to Roswaal to provide funding to start his own business. The Margrave easily agreed—on the condition that he get a cut of the profits. Emilia quickly lost track of the difficult conversation and just as quickly tuned them out afterward.

She had learned much from the spirit girl. Their bond was now deeper, unshackled by jealousy over Subaru. She learned how to ‘snark,’ as Sia-chan called it, adopting Subaru and Sia-chan’s sarcastic humor—much to Puck’s displeasure (though she couldn’t bring herself to care much about Puck’s mood when she was having so much fun). She even learned how to banter with other people, engaging in verbal sparring with Sia-chan and even Subaru himself. It was s~o much fun!

Her days had already been fun and fulfilling since Subaru came into her life. Then, she befriended Sia-chan and was all of a sudden welcomed by the Arlam villagers! Apparently, Subaru had told them how she was the one who taught him spirit arts (he said it wasn’t a lie, since Puck had only taught him as a reward for saving her)—thus indirectly saving their village during the Wolgarm Incident and some other ‘events,’ as Sia-chan called them. Something to do with an increase in leatherwork and crops for the village.

Then, Felix Argyle, the Karsten’s knight, came a week later to inform her of the Royal Selection’s official start.

Felix was a feline demihuman with a distinctly feminine presence—despite being a man. He had flax-colored hair and yellow, feline eyes. His attire consisted of a white-and-blue dress, trimmed with ribbons and fine stripes. Black tights, blue-striped leggings, and detached arm covers completed the ensemble, along with a few carefully placed accessories: a scarf on one arm, a ribbon at the ankle, and hair bows tied underneath his feline ears.

Emilia had initially thought he was a nice, friendly young man—worthy of his title as a knight and the greatest healer in the kingdom—bearing the title "Blue." That was, until Sia-chan told her what the cat demihuman had tried to do to Subaru—which he had outright admitted!

“I just wanted to feel him!” the knight had said.

Emilia couldn’t really be angry at Sia-chan for wringing his arm like a dirty cloth after hearing that. she herself had almost turned him into an ice statue—if Roswaal hadn’t intervened when he did, that is.

Subaru had been reluctant to return to the capital, fearing that some noble might discover Sia-chan and try to steal her. He said it was a common ‘cliché’ in stories back home, and he was truly worried that someone would try to steal her away from him.

With these fears in mind, the duo encountered Sir Julius.

The man who carried the title of ‘Finest Knight,’ announcing to the world that he was the kingdom’s best knight—their strongest, barring the Sword Saint.

Emilia had thought he was a rather proper and courteous knight—worthy of his title—until Subaru showed her how the knight actually lacked in etiquette.

Which caused him to reveal how small a man he really was.

It was bad enough that he had called her best friend—her Subaru—mean names when Subaru pointed out a flaw in the knight’s etiquette. Emilia wanted to freeze his leg and watch the frostbite tear it off his body just for that.

Then, the hooligan had the audacity to try to steal Sia-chan from Subaru like that! To abuse his Divine Blessing to rob someone of their spirit—their family!

Anger came to her rather easily at that.

After the confrontation with Julius, they encountered Sir Reinhard, the Sword Saint himself, at the knight’s garrison. Subaru told him about what had happened as they caught up with each other, to which Sir Reinhard apologized on Sir Julius’ behalf, citing that he was a good friend and that his Divine Blessing was not something he could control and therefore abuse.

Emilia found that she didn’t really care.

With that epiphany, came the realization that she was quite adept at holding grudges—particularly against people who antagonized her Subaru and Sia-chan.

They continued their way to the royal palace, where they would encounter that mean lady, Priscilla, at the entrance. To her surprise, Emilia didn’t feel any hurt when the baroness hurled caustic insults her way, like the villagers back in Elior used to.

She didn’t feel anything at all, really. The venomous words just bounced off her. She realied this was because she had people whose opinions mattered much more than the mean lady’s ever will.

Like Puck—her father, who taught her what it meant to have someone who would protect and cherish you.

Like Sia-chan—her friend and equal, who taught her social skills and how to bond with others.

Like Subaru—her best friend, despite her wanting more from him—who gave her everything and quickly became the most important person in her life.

So yes, the insults of strangers who didn’t know her meant nothing to Emilia.

At least, up to a certain point.

It still hurt very much when an entire crowd of people she might one day lead called her a witch and told her to die.

That was when the people who cared for her ‘came in clutch,’ as Subaru would put it.

Sia-chan—who acted before even Puck did, forming her body as best she could with the mana inside the hall—despite her inherent shyness and discomfort at being seen by strangers—cruelly forced the people to submit and kneel to her. To acknowledge her as their better.

Puck—who appeared immediately afterward and dared her detractors to repeat their words.

The two spirits presented themselves as her retainers in that moment, silencing all the antagonistic voices and shaming the people who had not done their duty in defending her.

She was so grateful she wanted to burst into tears right then. But she couldn’t—she was going to be king—she couldn’t show weakness to these people.

So when Sage Bordeaux tried to antagonize her again, she put on her best ‘dismissive Sia-chan’ impression, hitting him back with a cold rhetoric and quickly dismissing herself from the throne before he could reply.

She felt bad for Felt-chan—who was completely overshadowed by Emilia and the spirits.

I’m sorry, Felt-chan, she apologized in her mind. But ‘all is fair in love and war,’ as Subaru would say.

(*)

That sucked, Subaru thought.

It really did, came Sia-tan’s reply. It couldn’t get any worse, she added.

... You just had to set that flag up, Subaru grumbled.

The sun was starting to set as they meandered outside the palace—the opening ceremony had ended after Felt gave her introduction, announcing her plan to tear the kingdom’s structure down and build it back from the ground up. Too bad nobody really paid any attention to her claims—after the way the whole hall got spooked by his amazing Emilia-tan and Sia-tan. A shame, really—it sounded like the best option, too—to restructure the government with the added benefit of hindsight.

Too bad it only sounded like it.

Her way of doing things would only work under the assumption that whatever is built afterward will be better than how the current government is being run. Subaru rea~lly doubted she had people around her capable of that level of hindsight—seeing how utterly moronic some of the pigs in power had been in the hall earlier.

Well—not our problem, Subaru thought.

He was sat on the steps to the palace entrance—a blank, bored look on his face as he waited for Emilia-tan to return from the Sage’s briefing on how the selection will be handled.

He spotted movement in his periphery and turned his head to look at the source.

What he saw spiked his irritation levels.

Oh lookie, it’s the Bastards in White. They spiked Sia-tan’s irritation levels too.

A posse of knights came up to him all posturing and arrogant—led by the finest prick himself. They really didn’t learn anything from Sia-tan’s criticism.

“You are Emilia-sama’s attendant, Natsuki Subaru?” Julius asked as his fellow clowns in white surrounded Subaru.

Subaru just stared for a few seconds, “You know who I am, why bother asking?” his stare conveyed.

“Nah, that guy left already—he saw you folks coming and didn’t want to bother himself with you. You might catch him if you hurry,” Subaru replied with a blank face.

“You trying to be funny, commoner!?” some extra behind the prick yelled. Are they knights or thugs?

“Natsuki Subaru, that is twice now that you’ve insulted the knights of the kingdom,” Julius said sternly. Twice​?

“When was the first time?” Subaru asked with a quirked eyebrow.

“When you started conflict with a knight in the merchant plaza this morning,” Julius replied. Talk about small ego.

“Yeah? That first time was an insult to you—personally. And I didn’t insult anyone here, either. I’m just politely implying that I want to be left alone,” Subaru said.

“How dare some rotten commner...!” some other extra yelled. Is that the only insult you extras know?

“Thinks he’s all that just because he contracted a Great Spirit!”, she’s a Quasi, retard.

“Enough! Do you insist on continuing with this farce!?” Julius yelled, losing his patience. Ugh—I wanna leave already...

“Depends. Do you insist on being an annoyance?” Subaru bit back, his voice still level and calm—with a tinge of irritation at the edge.

“So be it! Natsuki Subaru—you are under arrest for insulting the Knight Order and for attacking a Wise Sage! The punishment for your crimes will be your public execution! Defend yourself!” Julius announced loudly to everyone present—drawing his sword and pointing the tip at Subaru’s nose.

So what was that about things not getting any worse?

Chapter Text

“So be it! Natsuki Subaru—you are under arrest for insulting the Knight Order and for attacking a Wise Sage! The punishment for your crimes will be your public execution! Defend yourself!” the Finest Prick ordered—his sword drawn and aimed at Baru’s nose.

With pleasure, thought Elysia, already pulling mana from the air.

As she was about to cast a barrage of six-fold mana arrows—fully intending to atomize the Finest Prick and all his goons..,

“What if I don’t? How about that?” her Baru replied, catching her completely off guard and making her cancel her spell as she was forming it.

Hueh!? Baru?

“I beg your pardon?” a confused blink.

The Finest Prick lowered his sword due to his confusion.

“Yeah. Like, there’s no point to any of this. You’re just setting yourself up for more embarrassment,” Baru retorted, looking very amused at his little roast.

“How dare—” some extra started to say.

“—A rotten commoner—blah blah blah—whatever. Look, if you wanted an apology all you had to was ask. It wouldn’t be a sincere apology—but it's still an apology,” Baru said boredly.

“Erk...!” the mob looked taken aback by the blatant admission that Baru just did not care that he supposedly wronged them.

“I apologize but I must agree with my friend. This behavior is not acceptable for a knight of the kingdom,” a level-headed voice spoke up from behind the crowd.

A mop of perfectly styled red hair—adorning an excessively handsome face—wearing the standard Royal Knight uniform came into view.

A picture perfect knight you’d see in YA wish-fulfillment fantasy books—at least Sia thought so, she’s never read one of those herself.

“Sir Reinhard..?” One of the knights called. The World’s Champion again... Tch—there’s that brainwashing Divine Blessing, so annoying!

“Oh hey Rein. Didn’t see you there.” Baru called casually with a raised hand—not at all fearing the Sword Saint. Isn’t he here with the bad guys? Well he did say he was against this.., Sia thought.

“I apologize, I was in the back so you would have found it difficult to catch my presence,” the man said with an apologetic, sheepish smile. Ugh, so annoying—stupid Divine Blessings making Sia attracted to stupidly handsome Sword Saints.

“... still apologizing for every little thing. We rea~lly gotta fix that, buddy,” Baru replied wryly.

“Y-yes, I would be most delighted if you could—”

“Sir Reinhard! You would debase yourself by associating with this cur!?” knight A yelled—interrupting the friendly chat. Who even are you, buddy?

“I apologize, but he is my friend—the one who guided me to my fate. If it weren’t for Subaru, the fifth candidate would never have been discovered,” replied the World’s Champion. Finally, someone who treats Sia’s Baru right.

“... I see, to think he has made such contributions to our kingdom...,” the Finest Bastard reevaluated. Should’ve done that earlier bastard. Too late for apologies now!

“Sir Julius, I implore you to stop this at once. This is not how a knight should behave! Subaru did us all a service by showing us what we did wrongly—even the Sages! He should be lauded for it, not scorned!” the Champion requested.

Sia wants to call him Rein too! He’s cool! Sia said to Baru.

Yep—not that many people around here more reliable than Rein, Baru replied happily. So he trusts the World’s Champion that much? Hmm.

“... ’Assault’ is a strong word. Sia-tan just gave him a makeover. Something he should’ve done himself anyway, those eyebrows looked like giant tumors growing out of his head,” Baru interjected. Sia had to agree, those eyebrows were gross. She did him a favor.

“It was still—” The Finest Bastard started to say.

“Look, can you just drop the pretenses and tell me the real reason you’re doing this? If you had a problem with me doing what I did, you would’ve gone to Roswaal instead,” Baru bluntly got to the heart of the matter. Clearly the Bastard has an ulterior motive, if it has anything to do with Sia she might just hurl on the spot.., Sia said in disgust.

“...” the bastard remained silent, the rest of the mob started looking uncomfortable—bad thing to do when you get caught red-handed buddy.

“Aren’t you from that Hoshin lady’s camp?” Baru pushed.

“...!” He rea~lly should learn to hide his eyes better. That was a dead giveaway.

The other knights start looking at him warily, too—now aware that they’re being used as tools for the political assasination of a common butler.

Bullseye, Baru quipped. We got his motive.

“So you’re either sizing me up or this is political subterfuge, then?” Baru asked plainly.

“Ugh...!” Sia almost feels bad for him now, this is too easy...

“Pardon? I’m afraid I’m not following,” Rein interjected. He’s such a puppy! He can’t even see what the Bastard is trying to do.

“Come on! It should be obvious! He’s using this whole ‘assaulting a Sage and dishonoring the Order’ crap as an excuse to take out a member of an enemy camp!” Elysia accused angrily.

“What? B-but! It’s Sir Julius...!? He would never! The Finest Knight would never stoop so low as to attempt an honorless assasination like that!” Rein, bless the puppy that he is, tried to defend the Bastard.

But Sia knew better.

Hmm~ guilt and shame—aha... so that’s how it is! Sia cheered, realizing what the Bastard’s game was.

Whut?

Baru will find out soon enough, no spoilers!

Ass, I still owe you a spanking for pulling that stunt in the throne room, Baru replied hotly.

Gueh! Sia forgot! Need to hide before papa’s hand makes awful prints on Sia’s bum again!

“... I-I.. a commoner—” the Bastard repeated himself. Can’t he at least throw a funny quip in? He’s so boring!

“That insult got stale like, ten minutes ago buddy,” Baru taunted boredly. Yeah, just like that!

“... You challenged and insulted my pride... I wish to reclaim it,” he just kept going.

“And ganging up on little old me helps you reclaim your pride... how?” Baru asks skeptically, honestly curious as to what his answer is.

“Hrrk—”

“You’re trained knights. An entire crowd of them. I am one butler, even if I do have the most awesome spirit as my guardian,” Baru kept pointing out the flaw in his argument.

Flatterer~

I’m still mad at you.

Uuuu...

Kidding~ I’m not mad—just disappointed.

That’s way worse!

Pfft! Hahah!

“So tell me, oh ‘Finest Knight,’ how does ganging up on a commoner like this help your honor?”

“...”

“It doesn’t. And you know this—try again,”

“What?”

“Come up with another excuse, I’ll wait,” or rather, I’m stalling. Emilia-tan should be done soon—I hope, Baru thought in silent panic.

Want Sia to call Lia over? She can just send a mental message with Yang mana, Sia offered.

How do you even—Nah later, I’m actually curious to see what sorta mental gymnastics he’s gonna pull from his ass, Baru replied.

Baru’s horrible,

I learned it from you,

But Sia got her toxic traits from Baru, though?

...

...

Pfft! / Heheh!

“Enough of this! If Sir Julius lost his backbone, then I shall be the one to judge this cur!” knight A spoke up again. Pompous and shithead really do go hand-in-hand—Sia will call him Shithead!

I’d tell you to stop swearing, but I’d be a hypocrite if I did.

Shithead went for his sword, but found that he could not unsheathe it—courtesy of the block of ice on top of the crossguard and sheathe.

A flash of light. The ever-familiar six-colored ball of light shone lightly on Baru’s head and enveloped him in her mana, forming a thin but powerful multi-elemental barrier around his body.

“Sia will not guarantee your life if you keep pushing, pricks. In fact, Sia will absolutely guarantee the opposite!” Elysia growled.

The knights were blown back by a mighty gust of wind. The storm of mana bellowed like a chorus of rage and contempt—mirroring the will of their creator.

As the situation was about to escalate beyond the point of recovery,

“What is going on here!” an authoritative voice called out, all eyes turned to the source.

The visage of the Duchess made herself visible from the palace entrance, next to her, stood her feline knight. Did he go out of his way to call her over to stop the situation? Props if he did.

Following closely behind were the rest of the royal candidates.

“Subaru! You really shouldn’t sit on the floor like that!” Lia called.

“Sup—I’m fine, I can just clean it up with a water bubble later. No need to get yourself in a tizzy,” Baru joked.

“Uhh nee-chan? Nii-chan is getting mobbed by the White Bastards. Isn’t that more—” said the kid of the group, Felt was it? Sia forgor.

Yep, Felt. She’s a good kid. Wants to kill rich people!

Ohh—a comrade! Down with the bourgeoisie!

Hypocritical, since we want to become tycoons in our own right. But it’s funny so I’ll allow it.

“Fufu, nobody says ‘tizzy’ anymore, silly old man!” Lia teased, interrupting Felt unintentionally. She’s been doing that alot, lately. Teasing—not rudely interrupting people.

“Curses! My true age exposed to the rabble! However shall I cope!?” Baru played along, his hands playfully gripping his heart as if he was shot by an arrow.

Completely ignoring the fact that he was surrounded by an angry mob of thugs in white.

“—I guess he’s doing just fine...” Felt finished.

“Crusch-sama! We are—” knight A tried to come up with an excuse.

“—Trying to publicly execute a guy for defending his lady,” Baru interrupted. Not that I was the one who did the defending anyway, why are they even pinning the blame on me in the first place? He asked.

Sia doesn’t know? Actually, that’s a good point.., Sia said uncertainly.

“Uhh... it’s kinda late at this point but I gotta ask, why even come after me in the first place? I’m not the one that served you all humble pie like that. Sia-tan—my spirit did,” Baru pointed out.

“Trying to hide behind your spirit now!? You disgraceful coward!” another twat—let's call him knight B—yelled. It was a legitimate question...

“Enough! Who is the ringleader of this honorless gathering!?” the Duchess asked angrily. Sia likes her too, she’ll call her Crusch—it’s easy to remember!

It’s also—you know—her actual name?

“...” the extras fell silent. Seriously...

“Who!?” Crusch pressed.

“... That would be me, Crusch-sama,” the Bastard spoke up. Yep, the Bastard is easier to say than Finest Prick. Sia will stick with that.

“Sir Julius? To think a knight of your caliber would fall so low as to—”

“—Now, now. Let’s not go around making baseless accusations at someone else's knight like that, hmm?” spoke a tiny lady from behind Crusch. What’s her name? Bosin? Cosine?

Hoshin, Baru corrected.

Sia’s not gonna remember that.

Touché.

“Yeah? Whatever bullshit excuse you make up, he still organized a whole witch hunt against a commoner!” Felt pointed out.

“Well.., ‘witch hunt’ is a strong word, why don’t y’all let my Julius explain himself before you go judging him, hmm?” Hoshin countered.

Sia doesn’t like her, she stinks of lies.

In other words...?

Your average capitalist.

There you go.

“Do you have an explanation, Sir Julius?” Lia asked, her voice angry but levelled, calm—composed.

The more dangerous kind of angry.

So hot, Baru said dreamily.

Perv, accused Sia.

Owning it, Emilia-tan step on me!

Ugh.., Sia gagged.

“If you don’t, I will take this as an attempt at sabotage by your lady—and respond in kind.” Lia continued. Her voice now sharp and downright frosty.

EMK! Emilia-tan Maji Kakke~! a~h marry me already!

Snff, they grow up so fast...

Hmm?

Sia raised that child! She’s Sia’s baby!

Hoshin tried (and failed) to hide how she tensed minutely at Lia’s words.

“How about we all just calm down and—” the fox-bitch tried to de-escalate.

“—Amusing, your feeble attempts at weaving lies to protect your knight will only worsen his position, but please—do continue, it is quite the spectacle—watching a she-fox sculpt her own tombstone.” the Red Bitch interrupted, Sia will call her Bitch.

Concise and apt, very appropriate.

Only the best for Sia’s contractor.

You’re still getting that spanking.

Tch— Baru’s being mean! Sia’s telling mama!

Who the heck is mama?

Hmhmhm~

Uhh?

“I’m just saying tensions are running a little too high, we don’t want to make a decision we’d regret now, hmm?” she just wont. Stop. Yapping!

“‘We’? Who’s ‘we’? There is no ‘we’, fox-bitch! Just you and the hole your idiot knight dug!” Felt helpfully supplied with a challenging grin.

“...” Hoshin silently stared at the former thief. Pressuring her to silence herself with sharp eyes.

“Yeah, what? You think I’m scared of you?” Felt sneered at her. Sia likes her too!

“Anastasia-san, if you could let Sir Julius answer for himself?” Lia spoke up. A polite smile adorned her face, but did not quite reach her eyes.

“... Julius?” Hoshin acquiesced.

“Yes milady,”

“Do give them a satisfactory answer,” she requested.

Satisfactory. Not truthful, Sia pointed out.

Yup, she’s probably the real puppeteer behind all this, Baru replied.

But what’s her endgame?

Let’s find out.

“I simply wished to—”

“Anastasia-sama?” Baru interrupted.

“Oh? Yes, Sir... Natsuki, was it? How may I help ya?”

“No need for formalities, I am but a humble butler. I apologize but I don’t have the patience for mind games and word puzzles so I will ask you directly—what’s your game?”

“My... ‘geimu’? I’m afraid I don’t follow,” she tilted her head in question. It would’ve been cute if literally anyone else did it, Sia snarked.

“Why are you inciting your knight into starting conflict with the Emilia camp? What could you possibly gain by antagonizing the least popular faction in the selection?” Baru asked with all the subtlety of a falling meteorite.

Absolute silence, it was so quiet you could hear someone’s heartbeat getting faster. The fox-bitch’s—in this case.

That was about as subtle as a female Liger in mating season.

How would you know what horny Ligers look like?

If they’re anything like the canines Baru described from his world, then they will be the opposite of subtle when uhh... frisky...

I regret ever teaching you about the birds and the bees.

Sia regrets asking to learn about them too…

“Natsuki Subaru! That accusation is completely uncalled for—”

“Whatever Bastard, was nii-chan wrong though? Sounds like the kind of shit stuck-up merchants like the fox-bitch would do.” Felt challenged.

“I concur with the gutter rat—it is very ‘on brand’—as my jester would put it.” the Bitch agreed, pointedly ignoring the “Fuck you!” that came from Felt.

“Ohey you used that one correctly, princess,” Al supplied.

“Hmph! Naturally!”

“Anastasia-san...?”

The air did not get colder—it was no mere transition from warm to cold.

It was the obliteration of all heat in the surrounding area.

“Em-Emilia-san...?” / “Nee-chan!?”, a strong gust of wind bellowed all around Lia due to the sudden change in temperature. Frost started to form on the floor where Lia’s feet were placed in response to her raging mana.

“Please explain yourself—While I’m still able to remain calm,” Lia asked, her tone was pleasant. Conversational, even. An angelic, serene smile adorned her whole face.

Which makes the underlying threat in her words—as well as the sheer cold she was emitting—just that much more terrifying—at least to the spectators who were already afraid of her.

Those that weren’t afraid of her before? Well, they are now.

With two exceptions.

EMK! / EMK! Exclaimed the father-daughter duo—Baru finally standing up to avoid freezing his bum onto the floor.

“Tch, this instant change from warm to frost is rather irritating to my divine self’s skin,” Bitch complained as she shielded her face from the frost using her fan.

“Look lass—all I’m sayin is that these rags I’m wearing? Not very cold-proof,” quipped Al.

Okay, four exceptions.

“Lady Emilia, won’t you please calm yourself? You’re scaring Felt-sama with this display,” a calm voice spoke up placidly.

“I-I ain’t scared!” A totally-not-scared Felt retorted... while hiding fearlessly behind her knight.

Fine, five! Anyone else!?

“...”

Didn’t think so.

When did Rein even get over there anyway? Wasn’t he with the rest of the mob? Sia pointed out.

E~h, Rein does what he wants and the world follows—you learn not to question it.

“... I suppose coming clean is my only path to safety at this point,” Hoshin sighed—admitting defeat.

“Milady! I was the one who—”

“No, I ordered my knight to start a conflict with Sir Natsuki, the responsibility for this incident is mine to bear,” Hoshin admitted.

“That is not the whole truth, milady! I was already looking for an excuse, milady merely provided me with a convenient one!” Bastard interjected.

“Haah, it really is one of those days... I need a drink—or twenty,” Crusch said while rubbing her eyes tiredly.

“Ny-nyaa..,” the cat thing trailed off weakly, unable to contribute anything to deescalate the situation.

“This is getting tiresome! Commoner!” Bitch pointed her fan to Baru.

“Hueh?” Baru replied dumbly, caught off guard.

“Would you prefer to settle this with words, or would action do better?”

A pause.

Processing words.

Oh! Realization.

A confident smirk.

“Now you’re speaking my language—err—Purrzilla!”

“Hmph! My divine self would normally execute fools as insolent as yourself—but as a commendation for your success in amusing me this evening, I shall deign to correct you—It is Priscilla boy, do remember that.” Bitch corrected haughtily.

I am not gonna remember that, Bitch.

Yeah suck it, Bitch.

Sia-tan!

Err—please suck it, bitch-sama—better?

Better.

“Then you shall settle this with a duel! The Finest Failure shall represent both the knight rabble and the cowardly she-fox against the half-devil’s common butler! Should the commoner prevail, the knights shall cease their shamelessness and admit they are the lessers in this conflict. Should the knight prevail, the commoner shall be executed for being entertaining—ahem—for his transgression against the Royal Failures!” Bitch declared, who died and made her king? Sia sarcastically quipped.

The royal family—apparently, Baru did not miss a beat.

O~h, that was just cold, Baru.

So are the royals, Baru replied with nasty sarcasm.

“I am against this!” Lia interjected suddenly, “Why should Subaru face a Royal Knight in combat? He’s just a servant! He shouldn’t have to—”

“Emilia-tan,” Baru softly called out.

“Su-Subaru! Please! This doesn’t have to—”

“Trust us. We won’t disappoint you.”

“You dummy... you never have, and you never will...”

She took a deep breath to compose herself, then turned toward the fox-bitch.

“—Subaru will be allowed to use spirit arts, should he be defeated—the Order will not touch him. This is not up for debate,” Lia warned sternly.

“Of course—I’m against something as barbaric as summary executions myself—as for your first request, I can agree to that too—but no spirits on the field—for both combatants—it’s hardly fair if you can use that beautiful gal but Julius only has his Quasi spirits isn’t it?” the fox-bitch haggled. Pfft Quasi—wait spirits? Plural? Bastards a shameless playboy, Sia snarked.

You’re a Quasi too, Sia-tan, Baru pointed out Sia’s hypocrisy.

“I accept, if Subaru does—that is,” Lia turned to look at Baru for confirmation.

How fucked are we without you on the field? Baru asked Sia.

Hmm... Sia would say he’s got the edge in direct combat, She evaluated, an unsaid ‘but’ trailing in the air.

But?

But Baru is the better caster—with the superior combat element, Sia finished.

Yin? But with no killing allowed, we only have utility—no wait, I get it,

Mh~m, utility beats firepower—if Baru is smart about it—standard RPG rules, Sia hinted.

“I’m down. Let’s just get this boring prequel stage over with,” Baru replied.

Lia and the fox-bitch acknowledged his consent.

“A duel between spirit users then? Boorish displays are not to my taste, but since Julius is the one fighting I suppose I will spectate,” she said while winking slyly at her knight—who gave a small smirk back in reply. Ew, gross.

“Lady Emilia? Shall we make this interesting with a bet?” fox-bitch suggested politely.

Ugh—her ulterior motives are so obvious.

Right? It’s so tropey it’s downright predictable.

“No we shall not. I won’t play your deceitful games, Anastasia-san, my father raised me right,” Lia denied.

“I’m afraid I cannot relate, I never had parents to show me how to live,” fox-bitch said with faux cutesy politeness, she's trying to guilt-trip, talk about shameless, Sia commented.

“No wonder. It shows,” Lia snarked icily.

Baru and the other candidates barring Bitch just gaped at her, completely baffled by her sudden insult.

Ho~ly, that was a roast! Baru quipped.

Fox-bitch steak served well-done, anyone? Sia quipped back.

Hoshin dropped the polite mask and gave Lia a nasty glare in response to the insult.

Lia responded by sassily twirling and playing with a strand of her long silver locks while looking pointedly away from the fox-bitch.

Thank you—so much—for teaching Emilia-tan how to snark—that sassy attitude from her alone can sustain me for a whole decade, Baru praised with unshed tears in his eyes, desperately hiding his laughter.

Baru should praise Sia more for it—it was not easy to do.

The Bastard decided he wanted to be the center of attention again. He flourished his sword before dramatically pointing it at Baru and declaring his challenge.

“Julius Juukulius—representing the Royal Knights of Lugunica and Milady Anastasia Hoshin-sama, hereby challenge you—Natsuki Subaru—butler of Margrave Mather’s and servant to Emilia-sama—to an official bout.”

Cringe—how thick is his skin that he can say shit like this without flinching? Baru asked.

Yeah? It doesn’t matter. We’ll peel it off like the rest of him when we’re done beating his sorry ass!

So much anger, Baru commented amusedly.

(*)

How did it come to this? Reinhard questioned.

He was currently standing in attendance with everyone off-duty at the garrison, the other Royal Knights—barring Captain Marcos—a few noble gossip mongers and all five candidates to the throne at the garrison’s training grounds.

What was he attending? An official bout.

Between the Finest Knight and a common butler.

Reinhard was confused.

Why did Sir Julius, his fellow knight—his friend—disgrace himself like this? To shame himself by dragging Subaru—a commoner—someone he should be defending from the real evildoers—into this sham of a duel, an execution disguised as a bout?

Why did the rest of his fellows look so joyful as they demanded the death of a citizen of their own country?

Reinhard couldn’t accept it.

How could he?

Julius and Subaru were both his friends.

He couldn’t accept that Julius would do something so heinous, even if it were at his lady’s orders. There had to be another reason that the Finest Knight was refusing to disclose, there must be!

He couldn’t accept that Subaru was someone deserving of such harsh dues, either. Even if the words his spirit spoke on his behalf were malicious, they were not unjust—as proud knights of the kingdom, they should be restoring their honor by correcting themselves, not punishing the person that pointed out their flaws!

They were both honorable people, defending their beliefs in what is just. Reinhard wholeheartedly believed this as truth.

So who should he support, in this case?

The answer is obvious, he should be stopping this duel from even happening!

“—wooden swords so nyou have no excuses to hide behind if you end up killing your opponent nyah! Also—so long as nyou’re not dead, Ferri-chan can fix nyou back to full health! So as far as rules go, as long as nyou don’t kill each other, anything goes! Any questions nyah?”

“None.” / “Nope.”

He tried to reason with Sir Julius, who stood at the center of the training ground with Subaru as Sir Felix—the mediator of the match—finished explaining the rules of the bout.

“Sir Julius, please! This duel is a mistake! This is not how a knight of the kingdom should—”

“I will not yield my beliefs, Sir Reinhard. This knave assaulted a Sage! He insulted our honor! Milady’s order is secondary, this is merely my personal desire—to correct his mistakes.”

Subaru did not reply, though his eyes betrayed the contempt his mouth did not bother to voice out.

“Subaru—” Reinhard tried to reason with him instead.

“Save it, Rein. You’re not changing any minds here. Look around you already,” and so he did, he took a long look at the crowd surrounding the makeshift arena.

What he saw saddened him.

Sneers, jeers, contempt—all manners of ugliness, coming from his honored fellows and directed at the courageous young man that guided him to his fate.

The common guardsmen in attendance looked split between supporting the Royal Knights in jeering against Subaru—and cheering for Subaru out of spite against the knights—with Subaru’s supporters being the majority.

Reinhard felt saddened by what that implied.

“Now do you see the point Sia-tan was trying to make?” Subaru asked candidly.

“...”

“There are no knights here, so you should save your breath,” Subaru finished.

Reinhard did not like what he saw in his friend’s eyes.

“Subaru... What happened to you? Why are you so... different?” Reinhard asked uncertainly.

Subaru did not answer.

He merely turned his head to look toward his lady.

She flashed him a soft, trusting smile—her eyes did not hide any of the affection and warmth she felt for him—her love was so genuine, so wholehearted—it warmed Reinhard’s own heart despite not being the recipient of that affection and trust. But it was not what was reflected in her eyes that had Reinhard worried. It was what was reflected in his eyes.

I see... so that is why, Reinhard thought. Sadness mixed with understanding as he resigned himself to failure.

He had seen that glint in Subaru’s eyes before.

He saw that same exact glint in his grandfather’s eyes—the very same man whose wife Reinhard murdered, before the man left to pursue his vengeance against the White Whale.

A maddening obsession.

“Nyow! Without further ado—we shall begin the official bout between Sir Julius Juukulius and Natsuki Subaru! Are both combatants ready?”

“I am prepared,” Julius replied.

“..,” Subaru did not answer verbally—he simply gave a curt nod. His eyes not once leaving Sir Julius.

“Very well then!” the Blue nodded to both combatants—acknowledging their preparedness.

“Let the bout..,” Sir Felix raised his arm high in the air, fingers stretched out in a chopping motion.

.

.

.

“Begin!” He finished as he swung said arm down.

(*)

“Yin magic is unique in that it has two base spells that form all subsequent spells, I suppose—these spells are shamac and minya, in fact.” Hag said.

Yes, Sia changed her nickname from Oldie to Hag—the first one wasn’t insulting enough.

This was more than a month ago. They were in the Forbidden Library, studying the world and magic—as per the agreement between Baru and Hag.

Baru and Hag were sitting on the floor, surrounded by thick books stacked haphazardly around them while Sia floated next to Baru’s head—something Hag did not like seeing.

“Such an eyesore—buzzing around like a common insect, in fact,” Hag snarked.

“Uuu..,” Elysia replied dejectedly, Ba~ru~ she whined. Her phantom becoming teary eyed at the insult.

“Beako!” Baru scolded, there there, don’t worry about her. I’ll do something if she keeps bullying you, Baru replied—sending an image of him patting her phantom’s head to her.

Mmm! Baru’s the bestest! Sia ecstatically replied.

And don’t you forget it!

“Hmph!”

“I swear... am I learning magic from the Guardian of the Forbidden Library or am I talking to a brat that won’t stop antagonizing my kid?” Baru asked pointedly.

“You just brazenly admitted to being that midget’s parent in fact!” Hag retorted.

“Is it wrong though? She was technically born from my contract,” Baru asked rhetorically.

“Ugh...”

“Can we get back on topic? The basic Yin spells—shamac and minya, what do they do?” Baru asked.

“Shamac is a magic that enacts the concept of separation, in its simplest form it can separate a person’s senses from their body—making them completely unaware of what is going on around them, in fact. Betty shall demonstrate—shamac, I suppose,” Hag casted the spell.

“...!” Baru completely stopped breathing.

Baru!? Baru! Papa!! Sia desperately called.

Hag quickly cancelled the spell when she noticed something was wrong.

“Haah! Haah! T-That was s-sh-shamac..?” Baru asked while gulping desperately for air, his eyes everywhere and nowhere at the same time.

“...” Hag just stared sharply at Baru—trying to decipher what was wrong with him.

“Be—haah—Beako..?”

“Hmph! It’s not Betty’s place to ask—so she will not pry, I suppose! You should seek help from a qualified individual if being in the dark scares you so much, in fact!” she chided with a harsh tone—though the words being spoken were gentle. Does Hag care about Baru too...? Sia wondered.

“Yeah... I’ll—haah—make sure to do that, thanks Beako,” Baru replied as he recomposed himself, giving a genuine, grateful smile to her as thanks.

Hag kept staring for a short while longer—confirming that Baru is actually fine now, before nodding and moving on to the next spell.

“The next spell, minya, enacts the concept of stagnation, I suppose. It’s primary use—as far as Betty is concerned—is for direct confrontation. An example that Betty can immediately give is her most preferred method of offense—by launching crystals of stagnated time at her opponent—like this: minya, in fact!" She casted the second spell with a thrust of her small hand.

A single arrow of crystalized purple mana floated in the air in front of her open palm.

“This single arrow can bypass most barriers that are not Yin or Yang based and will crystalize whatever it comes into contact with—instantly killing it, in fact. Betty will not demonstrate the effect in the Library to protect her books but you can imagine it on your own, I suppose,” she kept explaining.

“... Beako?”

“Yes, in fact?”

“Isn’t this like, the most busted element? Which idiot called it a debuff-only F-tier element?” Baru asked sarcastically.

Sia knows who called it a debuff-only F-tier element! Baru did! Sia helpfully reminded him.

Dangit—you’re right! Sia-tan is s~o smart! Baru praised.

Ehe~n! Sia proudly puffed up her phantom’s chest.

“Quite, in fact. Though a skilled Yang user can effectively counter most Yin spells—in cases as such where a Yin and Yang user are in conflict—it is generally the more creative and knowledgeable—not the stronger mage—who wins, I suppose,” Hag added a trivia to her lecture.

“We shall get started with casting these spells. With the midgets’ unique affinity and your own talent in mana-shaping, Betty expects you to be able to cast both spells efficiently by the end of this session, I suppose,” she continued.

“This session? Talk about a stern taskmaster—but, challenge accepted, I suppose!” Baru exclaimed as he abruptly stood up and pumped his fist upwards energetically.

“Accepted, in fact!” Sia echoed.

“Stop copying Betty’s verbal tics, in fact!”

(*)

“There’s fundamentally three styles of casting spirit arts—it boils down to which combination of mana and Gate is used to cast the spell,” Cattie began his lecture as he raised his paw. Supposedly trying to raise three fingers into the air.

They four of them were sitting at their usual date spot in the gazebo of the manor. Cattie was giving Baru a follow-up lecture on spirit arts as thanks for the Fish and Chips glazed with Tartar sauce.

“I wish I had opposable thumbs.., oh well—moving on,” Cattie pushed on.

“The first method: the spirit’s Gate and atmospheric mana. This is the bread and butter of spirit arts.”

“the second method: the spirit’s Gate and its own mana—taken directly from its Od. Generally—this is done when you’re stuck in an environment that has no mana left to take from—or your spirit is artificial and can’t take mana from the air directly. Like Betty and myself—still sour about that, by the way.”

“the third method: the spirit’s Gate but the spirit user’s mana, taken directly from his Od. This one is what I call ‘passive spirit arts’—because the spirit does not need to leave its anchor to use this form of spirit arts—it’s the most inefficient and pointless way of using spirit arts, too.”

“Sensei!” Baru raised his hand.

“Nope! Quiz time! Why do you think passive spirit arts is a waste?” Cattie denied while tacking a pop-quiz on top of said denial.

“Hmm..,” Baru hummed while stroking his chin dramatically in thought, “Because it forces the spirit user to expend his own mana?”

“A passable answer for a beginner—but incomplete,” Cattie replied. “There’s more than just that. The second reason is that the caster can only use his own element and is limited by his own maximum output when casting passive spirit arts, because the mana has to pass out of his Gate first before manifesting in reality through the spirit’s Gate, what’s the third reason?” Cattie asked.

“Uhh... Oh! The biggest selling point of spirit arts is that you can gang up on your opponent! If you use passive spirit arts you’re just draining your own mana by casting spells instead of fully utilizing the two-against-one perk of having a contract spirit!” Baru answered.

“That’s right! In those cases, you’re just a mage with extra steps! But—like all things—there are situations and conditions where passive spirit arts is the favorable combat style, give me two examples,” Cattie continued.

“Uhh... When the contractor’s Od has a higher mana capacity than its spirit can process, I guess? Oh and when the contractor is in a situation where it can’t manifest the spirit,” Baru answered.

“Got it in one! Applause! Clap clap clap!” Cattie congratulated while clapping his paws together.

“Heck yeah!” Baru cheered.

“So now that you know there are situations where passive spirit arts are useful—we can get you started on how to use it!”

“Heck no!”

(*)

Passive spirit arts, my own element—Yin—if I can combine these efficiently, I can fight on par with a Royal Knight no problem! Subaru thought.

“Begin!”

Julius immediately lunged toward Subaru without fanfare—fully intending to end the fight as quickly as possible.

I hope, he amended. Here goes!

“Fal Shamac!”

Fire magic has Goa and Huma spells available to its users—fundamentally, Fire magic enforces the concept of ‘increase in temperature’ unto reality. This means that one can cast a Goa by using Fire mana to increase the temperature of the area, and Huma by doing the opposite—using Fire mana to decrease the temperature of the area by framing it as ‘reverse-increase in temperature’ when casting the spell.

The same concept applies to Yin spells too.

Fal Shamac is a spell that enforces ‘reverse-separation,’ in other words, binding.

“Guh...! My body won’t move...!?” For example, binding your shadow to your opponent’s shadow to seal their movement. His eyes glanced downward and he saw how their shadows overlapped thanks to the sun’s angle at this time of day. Realization sparked in his eyes as he caught on to what Subaru did.

Don’t ask why shadows are the optimal medium to use for casting Yin spells, Subaru doesn’t know either.

Just like that...? Subaru thought, it can’t be that easy right? he added skeptically.

Famous last words.

“Haaah!” A mighty roar, and the air around Julius erupts and pushes everything nearby directly away from him, including Subaru himself.

Freeing Julius’ shadow from Subaru’s own—allowing him to move again.

“Whoa!” Subaru exclaimed as he skidded backwards a good few paces away. Some sort of martial arts technique—if I had to guess, he analyzed.

“Petty tricks will not be enough to overcome a knight, knave! Prepare yourself!” Julius yelled as he charged forwards again—closing the gap much faster this time.

He’s got faster reactions than I do, he’s also way better with a sword than me—I completely flunked my Kendo classes! Subaru panicked as Julius started drawing too close for comfort, already landing within striking range in just the blink of an eye.

If I can’t meet his skill level through intuition—I need to outthink him!

He smirked.

And I know just how to do it.

Julius swung his wooden sword down from above his head, fully intending to smash Subaru’s head to the ground.

“Syr Minya!”

Everything around Subaru started moving much slower as his own awareness of time sped up dramatically.

This was the effect of Syr Minya, a spell that applies ‘reverse stagnation’ to the caster’s awareness. Increasing his cognitive ability to process time as a result.

But Syr Minya did not stop time—Julius’ sword was still poised to collapse his skull—it just moved much slower than it did before.

In this domain where only his mind has the freedom to move as it pleased, Subaru began to strategize against his opponent.

He’s a knight—a trained swordsman! How do I beat someone who’s better at using a sword than me?

The sword was now halfway to completing its swing toward Subaru’s head.

Subaru did not move an inch—still standing idly with his hands at his sides and a blank gaze while facing downwards—completely ignoring said sword gunning for his head in favor of planning.

By taking away his ability to swing his sword! A swordsman that can’t swing his blade is useless! How do I do that?

The sword was a quarter of the way to finishing its swing now, Julius’ eyes gleamed with victory. Subaru had no time to parry the swing—and he was too close to pivot away from its range.

Subaru still did not move.

A swordsman attacks by swinging and lunging, I need to bind him by the joints so he has zero range of arm movement. How can I do that? Fal Shamac didn’t cut it.

The sword was now so close to his head that if he moved his face upward it would touch his nose.

A minya based spell! And I know just how to do it, Subaru finished.

A confident smirk.

We’re done. I win.

The edge of the sword landed on Subaru’s hair,

“Minya!”

and ceased its movement entirely.

Julius stopped completely dead in his tracks, still in his swinging stance—his momentum killed—his sword sat softly on Subaru’s hair.

“Haaah!” Julius tried the same trick he used to blow Subaru away the first time.

It did not work. It was not his shadow that was bound this time.

“What did you do!? Why can I not move my limbs!?” Julius yelled as he struggled to move.

“... do you think I’m stupid enough to tell you my tactics if you asked?” Subaru sarcastically asked back.

“Ugh—”

“We’re done here,” Subaru said as he lightly tapped Julius’ neck with the edge of his wooden sword. Signalling the end of the duel by hitting a vital point.

“I win,” he declared.

(*)

“I win,” the knave declared.

What just happened? What did he do!? Julius wondered.

He was about to win! His sword was a split second away from hitting the knave’s head!

Then he completely lost his ability to move his limbs.

All of them.

The only thing that could move was his neck—so he craned it toward his swinging arm—to figure out what the knave did, and he saw it.

A thin, transparent, magenta colored crystal band wrapped tightly around his wrist—his experienced eyes immediately grasped what it was.

A Barrier.

One formed of Yin magic—which was an anomaly on its own, as Julius did not know of any application of Yin that was capable of forming barriers—but what floored Julius was not what it was, but what it was being applied to do.

It was being used as a restraint.

A barrier formed around his wrist to keep it from moving. So precise that it completely locked his full range of arm motion by keeping it locked in place—but not large enough to be immediately visible unless you were looking directly at it.

He reckoned the same bands were also applied to his ankles, locking his legs in place.

The boy had that infuriatingly casual smirk still plastered on his face, completely assured of his victory.

Did he plan this from the start? If so.., Julius thought—slowly starting to piece things together,

If so... then this was no duel, Julius realized—his face twisting into a shocked grimace,

this was an assasination, he finished.

He completely underestimated the knave—no, Natsuki Subaru.

He thought the young boy was simply an arrogant child drunk on the strength of his spirit. A fool who stumbled his way into an encounter with the beautiful spirit—Elysia-sama—and won her loyalty with some form of Divine Blessing similar to his own.

A fool that forgot his place as one of the lower class citizens of the Dragon Kingdom.

But it was he who was the fool—this was no mere commoner who lucked his way to a contract with a superior spirit—and thought himself above his own station as a result.

This was an experienced combatant who stared death in the eye and forced it to blink first.

Julius saw how he did not react at all as a wooden sword made its way to the top of his head—his trap waiting to be sprung until the very last possible second—his moves calculated and precise in a way that minimized the effort he had to exert to achieve victory.

He had to acknowledge the boy—acknowledge Natsuki Subaru.

As the crystal bands around him disappeared, undone by their caster after achieving their purpose,

as his legs lost their strength and he collapsed on his knees, staring at the earth beneath him in disbelief,

he had to acknowledge the truth that was shown to him today.

“I—I admit defeat, this duel ended in my loss,” Julius admitted absentmindedly—still unable to entirely process what just happened.

“I lost,” he declared.

(*)

“I lost,” the Bastard declared as he slumped onto the floor like a puppet with its strings cut.

“The bout is over! Victory goes to Natsuki Subaru!” the cat thing declared.

It started off as soft murmurs from the crowd—before erupting in loud cheers from the garrison guardsmen—the ones that were not wearing white.

Common guards and infantry.

So hatred for the Royal Knights is a universal thing for the common guards? Duly noted, Elysia analyzed, filing this for later.

Baru himself looked taken aback by the reaction of the crowd—not expecting to be cheered on the way he was, it’s only natural—Sia’s Baru is the greatest hero! He deserves a~ll the praise!

Baru took a peek at where the candidates were standing—to check Lia’s reaction—Sia reckoned, the lovestruck fool.

Four of the five candidates had various reactions ranging from approval (Felt, Bitch), neutral (Crusch), and resigned (Fox-bitch).

Lia’s reaction? Well...

Lia was glowing—her entire body language erupted in pride and euphoria at Baru’s victory, if she knew what sex was—tonight would’ve ended in a victory fuck for sure, Sia thought humorously. Careful not to let her words slip out into her soulbind connection and get detected by Baru.

She needed him to find out naturally—hopefully after the camera Meteors they were designing are ready for production.

It’ll be glorious. She needed his face when he found out preserved eternally.

The cheers were interrupted when a posse of the elitist white Bastards started yelling objections. Banding together into the same makeshift mob that followed the Finest Bastard like a loyal entourage.

“This match was invalid!”

“It does not count!”

“The commoner cheated!”

“It has not ended—Sir Julius is uninjured!”

The moronic mob of idiots in white stormed into the training grounds and pushed the mediator aside rudely. Lead by—knight A? Or was it B? Sia didn’t really care to remember—she just wanted them all dead.

They surrounded Baru and started trying to pressure him into rescinding his victory.

“Commoner! This match does not count! How dare a weakling like yourself stoop so low as to cheat in an honored duel such as this!”

“We demand a rematch! A proper one fitting for a knight!”

“That’s right—you should be penalized in the next bout for that cheat earlier as well!”

What are these idiots even saying—are they trying to piss Sia off​?

Prep up... I have a feeling this won’t end well, Baru warned.

“Stop this at once! I lost this match fairly! Do not besmirch my honor by tainting my defeat like this!” Bastard angrily yelled—pushing through the crowd and standing in front of Baru—defending him from the mob. So he wasn’t just some empty-headed hypocrite...

“Sir Julius is right! Sir Falkins! Stop this shameful behavior at once!” Rein called as he stood next to Bastard, when did he even get here!? How does he keep doing that!?

Pfft~ his name is Sir Fuckins with an accent, bwahahahaha! Baru cackled.

“Sir Julius! Sir Reinhard! We are simply arguing against letting someone who would act so honorlessly in a duel get away from his dues so freely! He deserves some sort of punishment or penalty for cheating in a sacred duel!” Sir—pfft—Falkins said.

“Cheating? Cheating!? Must you fools insist on shaming us knights any more than you already have!? If you’d have just had the decency to mindlessly attack him when I rounded you all up so conveniently then maybe you’d have learned your lesson faster!” Bastard yelled—completely enraged.

Wait.

What did he just say? Sia asked.

He rounded them all up... to make it easier for us to clean them all up...? No way, Baru realized.

He was setting the mob up for us to take out in one stroke!

“Sir Julius!? You were plotting against us!?”

“To think the Finest Knight would betray us like this...”

“The fool! He should be put in his place along with the commoner!”

The peanut gallery yelled. Turning from a passively angry into an actively angry one—this time directing all their anger toward their Finest.

“Sir Julius... I knew there was a just reason for your actions!” Rein joyfully said—a brilliant smile adorned his stupidly handsome face, Baru—can Sia marry him in the future? Would Baru be willing to call him son-in-law?

Wot..?

Ah! Tch—that brainwashing Divine Blessing again! Kii~ so annoying!

Uh-huh Itotallybelieveyou—We should probably do something about this—the crowd is about to lynch Juli, Baru suggested.

Whatever happened to calling him Bastard? Also the Sword Saint is right there, Sia pointed out.

Can’t exactly do that anymore now that we know he’s a nice guy—sort of, as for Rein—it’s just a bad precedent for the knights to start infighting on the day the Royal Selection started, it’ll be best if the outsiders intervened first, Baru reasoned.

Haah~ Baru really is too nice for his own good—Sia will abstain from reevaluating the Bastard—she’ll reconsider if he gets rid of that Divine Blessing of his, Sia offered her suggestion.

So unreasonable, Baru chuckled, oh right—tell Emilia-tan we got this under control, before she freezes the entire garrison solid!

Ah, mm! Sending her the message... now! Sia replied as she cast the Yang transmission spell, kinda like some magic-based voice messaging, Baru idly noted, filing that for later.

Alright... now, the young butler smashed his right fist into his open left palm—hyping himself up.

As the angry mob surrounding the trio of two knights and a butler attempt to dogpile them,

as the royal candidates and the more reasonable noblemen started yelling in worry and ordering the angry clowns in white to stop their idiocy,

as the remaining Royal Knights, guardsmen and infantry gathered to try and stop the mob of fools,

The butler grinned confidently and called forth his spirit,

let's do this!

And thus the Spirit Lord ascends once more.

(*)

A flash of six-colored light erupted at the center of the training grounds.

The striking visage of a small, transparent goddess floated directly above the boy in black. Her six mana-colored wings spread out like a curtain that promised retribution against those that would act against her contractor.

“Ugh...!”

“Stand strong! It’s just one spirit!”

“Do not falter! We can defeat it together!”

The idiot mob of more or less twenty knights grouped together into some formation Sia didn’t bother to analyze, as if it’ll make a difference, she thought offhandedly.

I don’t think I need to tell you this, but don’t kill them!

Sia won’t make promises she can’t keep!

I really wish she did!

Arrows of elemental mana—all the elements: Goa, Huma, Fula, Dona, Jiwald, Minya —by the dozens—formed all around the petite goddess as she daintily raised her right arm. They floated in front of her stretched wings like nocked arrows awaiting to be released from their strings. The dogs of the Wild Hunt poised to rain hellfire on their enemies at their Lord’s command.

“!!!” the entire garrison stopped moving.

Hello, overkill!? Baru yelped in alarm.

… Elysia remained silent, Sia-tan..? Subaru called nervously.

Why.., she asked—her voice sad and broken, Why... why you—papa..?

The emotions she desperately held in since they encountered Julius—no, since the day she was born in that forest clearing two whole months ago—all came gushing out of her subconscious like blood from an open heart. All the hurt, all the hate, all the sorrowful indignation—all for her Baru, her papa—who endure injustice after injustice without complaint.

Why do these people want to hurt her papa so much for Sia’s own words—she was the one that spoke, they should be blaming her—not her papa! She only told them what they needed to hear—what they needed to know so they could become better people! Like papa did with Rem—so why are they trying to hurt her papa to cover up their own mistakes!? Why couldn’t they just admit they were at fault and work to better themselves like Rem did!? Why are they trying to kill her papa!?

Why should she let them get away with it with their lives intact!?

An influx of elemental mana—greater than the one in the royal hall.

Everyone in the garrison then scattered about like ants—panicked and screaming as if doomsday had fallen upon them.

In a way—it did.

Sia was serious. She wanted to destroy everyone in the training grounds—possibly everyone in the garrison, too—not realizing what she was intending to do as she was fully lost in her own rage—mindlessly lashing out in anger and sorrow.

Her Gate took in even more mana in response to her fluctuating, unstable emotions—far above what she should’ve been capable of absorbing as a Quasi spirit.

The number of arrows increased by twofold—and kept increasing beyond that—each one glowing brighter than the last.

“Subaru! Stop her—please!” A voice cried out from beside Subaru.

“Re-Rein..?”

“The Dragon Sword! It is calling to be released!” the Sword Saint exclaimed, “I can only barely keep it sheathed! If the situation continues to escalate...!” he trailed off desperately.

“W-What? What does that—”

“—If the sword is unsheathed—the entire capital will turn into nothing but a crater and dust! Subaru! I beg of you! Stop your spirit before it comes to that!” Reinhard begged.

“Tch—Got it!”

Sia-tan! Sia! Elysia!! You have to stop—or there won’t be a capital left to shop in! Please—listen to me! Subaru begged her to stop and disable the mana arrows.

She can’t! Sia claimed as she hugged her shoulders, desperately holding something in.

What do you mean you can’t!

She literally can’t! Her Gate is going out of control! She replied as she curled into a ball while still clutching her shoulders.

What!? Why!?

She doesn’t know! She claimed—her eyes now wet with desperate tears.

Sia-tan... my poor baby girl...! Baru cooed to calm her down, weak to her tears as he is.

“She’s not in control! Her Gate is going berserk!” Subaru yelled as he turned to Reinhard.

“Oh... Oh no!” Reinhard sadly whispered—even as he desperately kept pushing the Dragon Sword back into its sheath—preventing its release as best as he could.

As the situation continued to escalate, another voice spoke up from behind the trio of knights and butler,

“She took in far too much mana! Much more than what her Gate could realistically handle, it’s a form of mana-letting!” Puck supplied as he approached—Emilia trailing close behind him.

“Why are you here!? Why aren’t you two running!?” Subaru angrily questioned.

“We are not leaving you on your own! And Puck has a solution!” Emilia retorted just as angrily.

“You do!?” Subaru turned to Puck.

“I do! But you won’t like it!”

“Why not!?”

“Because it might permanently damage Elysia’s Gate!”

“Then no!”

“Okay!” Puck replied cheerily.

“Puck!” Emilia scolded.

“I mean, he said no...” Puck lightly protested.

“Subaru! We need a solution immediately—please!” Reinhard begged, if I had one I’d use it already!

“Natsuki Subaru! Now is not the time to leisurely choose our options!” Julius scolded, how about you come up with ideas then!?

“AAAHHH!!!” came the painful scream from the one voice Subaru never wanted to hear screaming like that.

He turned to look up toward his daughter, ELYSIA!! he desperately called—unable to do much else.

Sia can’t hold on much longer! It hurts! Papa! Help me! It hurts! Please, it hurts! Save me! Papa!! Papa!!! Sia-tan—his dearest Elysia begged him—her voice wet from the pain.

“Elysia! Fuckfuckfuck!” Subaru panicked—completely losing all composure and rationality.

What do I do? What do I do? What do I do? What do I do? What do I do? What do I do? What do I do? What do I do?

WhatdoIdo?WhatdoIdo?WhatdoIdo?WhatdoIdo?WhatdoIdo?WhatdoIdo?WhatdoIdo?WhatdoIdo?WhatdoIdo?WhatdoIdo?WhatdoIdo?WhatdoIdo?WhatdoIdo?WhatdoIdo?WhatdoIdo?WhatdoIdo?

“PAPAAA!!!” His dear, sweet Elysia desperately cried out for him as she gripped her head by the hair with tears in her eyes.

“FUCK FUCK FUCK! PUCK! WHATEVER YOU WERE GONNA DO? DO IT!!” Subaru desperately cried.

“Got it! Subaru! Take control of the mana arrows! Do not fire a single one! If her gate is active while I’m doing this, It will permanently cripple her!”

“Gh-Got it!”

Subaru reached with his own Gate to take control of the mana arrows,

“Ghkk!” he gasped as he immediately strained from the sheer volume of mana arrows he had to hold. How many are there? Hundreds? Thousands?

Puck quickly flew up to where she was and touched her head with his paw—draining the excess mana that she couldn’t contain as quickly and roughly as he could without harming her too badly.

“AAHHHHH!!!” She wailed from the sudden, excruciating pain.

“Sorry about this Elysia—it’ll hurt but bear with me! And whatever you do! Do not engage your Gate!” Puck apologized and warned as he kept absorbing her excess mana.

She silently gritted her teeth while enduring the pain, not much longer now..!

“I can’t...! Rein...!” Subaru cried as he struggled to maintain control of the mana arrows—his concentration slowly slipping from the strain, there’s just too many...!

“Y-Yes!?”

“Grab a sword! Destroy as many of the arrows as you can! Emilia-tan—please, help me shoot them down with your Huma spells too! As many as you can! Julius! You too!” Subaru yelled.

“Understood!” Emilia acknowledged—silently forming spears of ice to shoot down the stagnant mana arrows.

Julius did not reply verbally—but called his six Quasi spirits and quickly followed suit in shooting the mana arrows down.

“B-But—to accurately slash only the mana arrows is—” Reinhard protested.

“Do it! Or we’re all dead!” Subaru yelled in frustration.

“Ghhk!” Reinhard grit his teeth before quickly dashing towards one of the mobster knights and yanking his sword directly off of its sheath—tearing said sheath apart in the process.

Reinhard quickly entered a stance—the leftover mana in the atmosphere that was not used to form the arrows coalesced into the sword as he prepared his swing.

Hold on... just a little longer! Please—keep fighting! Don’t give up! Elysia! My baby girl! Please! Just a little longer! Subaru desperately cried out through their soulbind.

..., his response was an eerie silence, Sia—Elysia..? he called weakly.

Reinhard swung his sword.

A brilliant flash that blinded everyone present followed.

And all fell silent.

The rest of the capital saw their second light pillar erupt in the sky that day.

(*)

“Is she still asleep?” Emilia asked.

“Yeah..,” Subaru responded weakly.

They were huddled together inside one of the bedrooms of Roswaal’s villa in the noble district. It was the first room they found with a bed that was suitably big enough to fit both of them comfortably on it. Emilia sat on her knees near the headboard of the bed, just below where the pillows rested—Subaru’s head gently sat on her lap as he layed sideways while tightly clutching Sia-chan’s mana crystal to his chest—his eyes wide open and staring at nothing.

Emilia tried to comfort him by gently stroking his hair and cheek—but his expression did not change. Still the same blank, dead look in his eyes as he occasionally mumbled his spirit’s name—silently begging for her to respond as she always did.

It was now late into the night—the very same day Subaru dueled against Sir Julius—the Finest Knight, Lugunica’s greatest barring the Sword Saint—and won. Emilia was elated beyond anything she had ever felt since she successfully cheered Subaru up in the Frozen Forest—she wanted to just run over to him and pick him up and—and—something him!

But that joy did not last very long.

A few of the knights who could not accept that her Subaru triumphed over their Finest decided to object against the result of the bout, forcefully. Forcing Sia-chan to intervene and directly causing her Subaru’s current state, how I wish I could’ve frozen them all solid—slowly—so they can feel every bit of it!

Puck had successfully drained Sia-chan of her mana—enough of it that she had to enter a hibernation state in her anchor to recuperate—without crippling her gate permanently, too. Her absence was felt very strongly. Subaru did not say more than a few words since Sia-chan went to sleep—constantly fiddling with her anchor—the mana stone he always wore on his neck—and sighing deeply to himself in sorrow and frustration.

Sir Reinhard and Sir Julius’ assistance in destroying the mana arrows allowed Subaru enough leeway to take full control of the leftover arrows and cancel the spells that formed them. Emilia was grateful for their help—though her anger came back when the truth of why Sir Julius staged the confrontation with Subaru was brought to light.

He had used her Subaru as bait to flush out the corrupt Royal Knights that had lost their integrity!

As a result, he was the one to take the official blame for Sia-chan going out of control the way she did—but unofficially? The damage was already done, everyone in the garrison saw Subaru’s Elysia go out of control and was inches away from leveling the place.

Everyone looked at him the same way they looked at her—like he was an unstable monster who would destroy them all on a whim.

Needless to say, whatever respect the guards and even a few of the nobles had for her Subaru’s victory died an explosive death following Sia-chans eruption.

All that remained was fear and contempt. For the Witch and the supposed ‘Witch’s Apostle.’

Even the other candidates were now wary of her and her Subaru.

Felt-chan was cautious and selective of her words even as she came up to them to offer them comforting words—like they were monsters that would explode in fury the moment someone said the wrong thing.

She also placed herself very obviously behind Sir Reinhard as she spoke.

Crusch-san did not even offer her any words—just an understanding yet disappointed look. Before leaving with her knight trailing close behind.

That had somehow hurt much more than any form of condemnation did.

Priscilla and Al were not even in the garrison anymore by the time the situation had calmed down—leaving everyone to their fates and smartly choosing to leave before the situation became too dangerous.

Emilia couldn’t really blame her for that—nor did she particularly care for what the Baroness had to say if she stayed, either.

Anastasia-san too—left without acknowledging Emilia and Subaru. Though Sir Julius offered a polite bow before joining his lady. The sentiment was appreciated—even if Emilia did not like him all that much anymore.

They themselves left for their designated carriage after that. Emilia had to pull Subaru along with her—he was completely in shock. Standing absently while repeatedly calling Sia-chan’s name and not responding to anyone barring herself and Puck.

Except there was no carriage that was designated as theirs anymore when they reached the garrison gates—Rem had disappeared and took the carriage with her—leaving Emilia and Subaru stranded at the garrison—surrounded by people that feared and hated them.

They were lucky Puck remembered Roswaal telling them about his villa in the noble district and how they were to stay there for the duration of the opening ceremony if it dragged on for more than a day—though they had to walk there as there was no carriage left for them to use.

It was still quite a distance from the garrison—especially on foot—a blessing in this case, since it gave Emilia time to process her emotions and formulate a plan—multiple, in fact—to cheer her Subaru up.

Too bad none of her plans worked.

He didn’t react at all when she hugged him tightly. He didn’t bat an eye when she kissed his cheek to comfort him like she did in the forest. He didn’t even twitch when she softly caressed his cheeks. The only reaction she could get out of him was a slight loosening of his tense shoulders—when she dragged him to the bed and placed his head on her lap.

So now here they are—where they have been for the past few hours, with Emilia silently stroking Subaru’s hair with a gentle touch while the young man himself just stared into nothing while weakly—desperately—calling his daughter’s name.

Emilia had initially thought it was just a jest—an inside joke between them, being father and daughter. A cute way of mirroring the relationship Emilia herself had with Puck.

She wanted to give her past self a sharp slap for that insult to the duo’s relationship.

How could it be a jest? How was anything in that relationship a joke?

The way Sia-chan desperately yelled for her father while she was in pain,

the way Subaru himself returned that desperation while yelling her name—looking for anyone and anything that could save his precious Elysia’s life.

Emilia had never seen Subaru shut down the way he did when he heard Sia-chan screaming.

She herself wanted to immediately break down and start crying when she heard it. Sia-chan was her friend—her first real friend of the same gender. She didn’t deserve what happened to her—neither of them did. They shouldn’t have to be separated so suddenly like this, even if it were temporary.

But the real reason she wanted to break down when Sia-chan went berserk was not because she was Emilia’s friend.

No—the real reason was that there was something hauntingly familiar about the little girl’s Gate going out of control the way it did.

Emilia nearly recalled something she couldn’t before—and it terrified her.

If Subaru knew—he’d hate me for sure, Emilia thought. Of course he would, his daughter was in misery and Emilia was more worried about herself?

She’d hate herself for it too—in fact, she already did hate herself for it.

He can’t know, he must never know! Because if he did, he’d leave her. He would absolutely leave her.

And Emilia could not let that happen.

So she desperately hid the truth as she comforted her Subaru. Showering him in affection in an effort to drown out her own self-hatred.

I’ll keep you safe while Sia-chan is away, so you can rest and let me spoil you until you recover, she thought giddily to herself.

“Sia-tan..,” Subaru called weakly.

Emilia stroked his cheek lightly in response, “She’ll be back soon, so let’s just wait patiently until she does, hmm?”

“But..,” she gently coaxed him to turn himself to lay on his back—so his whole face would be visible to her. He silently obliged.

“Shh..., it’s ohkei,” she placed a kiss that lingered on the nose—dangerously close to Subaru’s pretty, slightly puckered lips. It was just so tempting...

None of that now—it’s too soon, Emilia chided herself.

“Emilia-tan..?”

“Mmm! I’m here—I’ll stay—so you can rest Subaru. Go to sleep, please? You need your rest,” she coaxed, placing her hand over his pretty eyes and gently closing them with her fingers, urging him to sleep.

“Sleep...?” He drowsily asked.

“Yes, sleep.”

“You’ll be here tomorrow...?”

“Fufu~ yes, Subaru. I’ll be here tomorrow, and the day after, and the day after that as well. I promise.” Emilia replied.

“And Sia-tan...?”

“She’ll be there too, she won’t be anywhere without you. She’s Subaru’s Elysia,” Emilia said with a twinkle of something unidentifiable in her eyes.

“And you’re my Subaru,” she felt compelled to add.

“Mmm... I’m Emilia-tan’s..,” he trailed off, finally succumbing to sleep.

“Fufu~ so cute.” Emilia said to herself, lightly stroking his cheek with the back of her fingers as she continued to stare at his sleeping face, that innocent expression while he sleeps so vulnerably makes it hard to not...

not...

what, exactly?

...

What did her instincts want her to do with her Subaru?

“... I don’t know—what is this feeling? Why is it so...” she trailed off, not knowing how to describe the feeling.

Emilia shook her head, it was not important. She had something more important she needed to affirm,

“That’s exactly right Subaru, you’re mine,” she said, you care about me even when nobody else would,

you would love me too, wouldn’t you—if I asked you to, I know you would,

you are mine, Natsuki Subaru, you are promised to Emilia—just Emilia,

I won’t let anyone else have you!

Chapter Text

It was a nightmare come to life.

They were surrounded by the corrupt knights—his beloved Sia-tan was floating directly above his head and readying herself for combat. his partner. His Elysia—his personal guardian angel. The one existence in the whole world that would never let him down. His spirit. His better half. His best friend. His daughter in all but name.

He should’ve never let her fight.

Subaru had noticed how unstable her emotions have been getting, how unstable they have always been—since the very beginning in that forest clearing.

But he thought he knew better than he felt. He trusted in what he saw over his gut instincts. Sia-tan was playful, happy, and energetic. He trusted that, believing it to be how she truly felt.

Conveniently ignoring all the signs that told him otherwise.

Even though he saw firsthand how argumentative and spiteful she could get with the twins, with Beako and even with Emilia-tan. But the truth was inconvenient to him, he wanted to keep living in the illusion that everything was fine, that she wasn’t a ticking time bomb waiting to explode in hidden rage and hatred for everyone around her. He didn’t want to admit that he had indulged himself in her love, the one thing he hadn’t had to earn with his death, and did not return it in a way that mattered.

He should’ve never trusted her to handle herself.

He was the one at fault, even if she pretended to be nicer to everyone who wronged him in her eyes after Elior Forest, it didn’t fool him. He just pretended not to notice. He let her mental state degrade until it became like this. He conveniently looked away from the painful truth. Telling himself indulgent lies like ‘she’ll get over it eventually’ and ‘she just needs to more time to mature,’ even though he himself said it so succinctly before when he was talking to her about Emilia that fateful evening.

Nobody who would love someone so strongly within their first meeting can be considered of sound mind.

He should’ve never let her fight those bastard knights alone. He should’ve handled things smarter.

They deserved a beating—hypocrites, cowards and cheats that they were. Had he been the one to actually fight against them instead of letting his Sia-tan fly solo like that, the situation would’ve never deteriorated the way it did, they would’ve walked away the victor without question, but what about afterward? The Order wouldn’t have stayed silent. They would have retaliated. Covertly, this time around. What happens then? When would it stop?

Why did he let it get this far? Was it just his ego? His pride?

Did his empty pride hurt the people around him again, like it always did?

Why did Sia-tan—his one and only Elysia have to pay for his arrogance? His vanity?

He can still hear her screaming, begging, for him to help her, save her. The desperation and pain in her voice—all of it still echoes in his ears like they happened mere moments ago.

Why did this have to happen…

“It hurts! Papa! Please, it hurts! Help me! Papa!”

No… Stop it, please just stop it!

“Papa! Save me! Papa! Papa!!”

Please! Not her! Not Sia! Anyone but my Elysia!

“PAPAAA!!!”

NOOOO!!!

(*)

“SIAAA!!!”

“—Subaru!! Subaru!!” a silver bell desperately called.

And his consciousness crashed head-first back to reality.

“Wh-What…? Emilia?” he asked, his voice tired and hoarse, his face stained with snot, tears and drool, his body drenched and clothes clung to his skin from sweat.

“You’re awake now… I was s~o worried,” his Emilia said softly. She was currently straddling his stomach while pinning him down by his arms, pinning both hands to the bed by his wrist joints. He blushed at the sight of her on top of him so… suggestively… while dressed in thin sleepwear like that, but sobered up when he saw the tear stains on her cheeks.

She let his hands go and sat facing him with her knees folded under her bottom, a silent invitation to lay his head on her lap. he easily complied, repositioning himself sideways and placing his head on her bare thighs, sighing in content as he felt the side of his face gently hitting her soft, springy mounds.

Did we sleep while cuddling on the same bed again? Puck’s gonna give me another earful, Subaru quipped.

… His answer was silence, his Sia-tan was not present. Oh…

“…” Subaru clammed up. Face falling as he remembered what he was dreaming about, what he did to her.

“Subaru?” Emilia called.

“…”

“Are you worried about Sia-chan?”

“…”

“I’m sorry, that was a silly question. Of course you are…”

“…”

“Can you please say something? You’re scaring me…”

“… I’m sorry,” he whispered weakly, feeling more exhausted than he was before he slept. More exhausted than he had ever felt.

“Subaru…” Emilia-tan trailed off, not knowing what to say in this situation.

So she decided to change the topic.

“I’m sorry for waking you up so suddenly. You were thrashing and screaming in your sleep while calling Sia-chan’s name throughout,” she reported. Her voice was fragile and shaky, as if she was barely stopping herself from crying.

“…”

“You actually smacked me in the face a few times and woke me up… but don’t worry! It didn’t hurt me at all! B-But I had to restrain you before you hurt yourself, so here we are… hehe,” Emilia trailed off, she tried to laugh, but it sounded far too forced.

“I’m sorry…” Subaru trailed off.

“Subaru, it’s fine! I’m not hurt—”

“I’m sorry! Sia-tan! I’m so sorry! Sia-tan! Sia! Elysia! Please! I’m sorry! I’m sorry! Come back! Please! Come back! I’m sorry! Please…”

Subaru continued to mumble apologies and begged for his spirit to come back, gripping the mana stone on his neck as he did so, strongly, preciously, as if it would slip away and never return to him again if he lost his hold on it.

“… Please… forgive me…” came his last plea.

“S-Su-Subaruuu…” Emilia’s voice cracked as she started tearing up again.

“All right kids, that’s enough. Let’s all calm down, yeah?” Puck’s voice echoed from inside Emilia’s mana stone.

“Puck…?” Subaru asked weakly.

“Yup, little old me! I wouldn’t worry too much, kiddo! We’ve been through this: your daughter is safe—she’s just sleeping.”

“B-But, what if she—”

“—never wakes up again? Unlikely, the damage to her gate isn’t as bad as it could’ve been—in fact, I’d argue it was damaged as little as possible given the scenario and will heal naturally on its own in time, so you shouldn’t beat yourself up about it,” Puck chimed.

“Still…”

“You gotta stop doing that! You’ll worry my Lia sick! She shouldn’t have to suffer through your emotional tantrums like this! Be a man and get over it already,” Puck said insensitively.

“Puck! That’s enough! I’m here because I want to be!” Emilia scolded sternly.

“If you say so. I’m just telling the kid what he needs to hear. Call me if you need me,” Puck quipped back before falling asleep in his mana stone again.

“You shouldn’t take his words to heart, Puck just likes being mean to you for some reason. You’re not a burden at all,” she cooed as she gently stroked his exposed cheek.

“…” Subaru did not reply, his face twisting in gut-wrenching guilt. God, how pathetic can I be, he thought derisively.

He fiddled with his mana stone again, imagining himself patting his Sia-tan on the head as he did so, hoping she could feel it, feel his emotions—the loneliness and guilt—from inside the anchor.

I’m sorry I let you hurt yourself.

I’m sorry I didn’t pay any attention to your pain.

I’m sorry I took you for granted.

I’ll do better… As your contractor and as your parent.

So please…

come back soon, Sia-tan.

I miss you…

I love you…

(*)

“There’s food in the kitchen already…” Emilia pointed out.

“Mmm…” Subaru mumbled weakly, only half present.

They entered the dry kitchen—hoping to scrounge up whatever they could for a passable breakfast, only to discover a meal already present on the kitchen counter. An appa pie and a few roasted chicken thighs placed inside a transparent box with a cylindrical lagmite—another name for mana stones—attached to the side. This was an aptly named food preservation Meteor.

“Can you set the table? I’ll reheat the food and bring them over to the dining room,” she requested.

Subaru silently did as he was told, picking up some plates and cutlery from the kitchen cabinet and washing the dust and grime off at the sink. Once cleaned, he carried the plates over to the dining room—positioned conveniently a door away from the kitchen.

“Now that I think about it, the interior design of this place is similar—no, its exactly the same as the manor…” Subaru thought out loud.

The kitchen consisted of two ‘zones’ so to speak. The first is a well-ventilated wet kitchen for heavy-duty cooking. This was where the bigger sink, the kitchen counter, the stove and the oven and preservation Meteors are located. The second is a dry kitchen that doubles as a storage space for dry, long lasting food items like spices or dried fruits and meat. It also has a section for beverages—a corner where a kettle Meteor placed alongside tea leaves and coff beans next to a small sink for convenient access to water.

The dining room, on the other hand, was a long, empty hall with a sparsely decorated long table set at the center that could conveniently fit ten people in total, judging from the number of chairs placed around it.

It looked eerily similar to the interior design of the manor, down to the decorations being used. If the view outside the windows did not suggest otherwise, Subaru would’ve assumed he was back home at the manor, and not in the capital where… where…

“…” nobody replied. The silence was judging.

“Haah…” Subaru sighed. He had to keep it together.

He absently set the table with the plates and cutlery he brought over from the kitchen, the action was already an automatic response to his body as he did the same thing daily back in the manor.

“I think that looks presentable enough, right?” he deliberately said out loud.

“…” nobody replied. The silence continued to judge him.

“… maybe I’ll go help Emilia-tan out,” he said dejectedly as he listlessly dragged his feet back to the kitchen.

He quickly found the half-elf staring a hole into the chicken and pie, her three lesser spirits floating about around the food like azure fireflies, flailing around as if in panic over something.

Subaru’s heart ached at the sight.

“Ah, are you done? I’m sorry I’m taking so long… using Fire magic to produce heat instead of cold is ve~ry difficult for me. I’m afraid I might accidentally cinder the victuals, heheh…” Emilia said as she giggled apologetically.

“Mmm…” Subaru mumbled weakly, missing his Sia-tan more than ever.

“This is usually where you would tell me ‘nobody says ‘victuals’ these days,’” she pointed out.

“… nobody says ‘cinder’ in that context either,” he responded weakly. He tried to smile, but it ended up looking like a crooked grimace instead.

“Subaru…” she trailed off sadly.

“I’m sorry, I’m pathetic aren’t I…” he apologized again.

“…” no reply came.

“Emilia-tan…?”

She did not respond verbally, but the mana in the air spiked as she abruptly casted a minor Goa spell via her lesser spirits to heat the food up. The chicken ended up slightly burnt—the blackened edges on the surface told him as much. In contrast, the pie was heated quite nicely, if the smell was any indication.

The spirits quickly disappeared when they were done, satisfied at completing their tasks. He almost breathed a sigh of relief when they left.

Emilia turned to him with a big, bright smile on her face.

“Now, Let’s eat!”

Subaru tried to smile back.

“… sure,” he replied.

But it failed to reach his eyes.

(*)

What can I do? Emilia asked herself. How do I cheer him up?

She felt useless.

Her Subaru was obviously hurting and she couldn’t do anything about it.

Worthless witch… she cursed herself.

What good was she? When she can’t even cheer up her best friend when he’s sad.

Some king’s candidate you are… she derided herself. Because what sort of king would she be, when she couldn’t even chase away the misery of the person closest to her heart? How could she lead anyone else to a happy future when she couldn’t even lead him away from his present sorrows?

He’s the one hurting and you’re making it about yourself… she hatefully spat at herself.

The stifling silence was occasionally deafened by the sound of metal cutlery hitting expensive ceramic plates as they continued to eat breakfast quietly. Subaru was normally the one who would break the silence with a topic of conversation, but he was currently occupied with himself.

She needed to distract him, like he always did for her… but how?

Her eyes caught sight of an empty vase with blue flower patterns placed neatly on a shelf near the windows.

Blue…

Oh…

“Subaru?” she called as she lowered her cutlery.

“…?” He looked back at her questioningly, too emotionally drained to respond with words.

“We need to find out what happened to Rem. It’s strange how she just left us at the garrison like that yesterday…” she pointed out. Hopefully it will help distract him from his thoughts…

Subaru silently pondered her words for a few seconds—his eyes slowly widening in realization. She was right. Rem is diligence personified. She wouldn’t just abandon her charges like that. Therefore…

“… You’re right… something might’ve happened to her.” Subaru said in alarm as he quickly scarfed down his chicken and portion of the pie as he did so.

Emilia nearly squealed in joy at how his eyes lit up as he spoke.

Then she remembered what the topic was and sobered up.

Rem is missing and you don’t even care! She berated herself. She should hate herself for using a missing person—someone who lived under the same roof as they did—as a way to distract her Subaru from his thoughts.

It was hard to, when it worked so well. When her Subaru stopped looking like a walking corpse and became a proper living person again.

What did Rem ever do for her, anyway?