Chapter 3
Hello again, welcome back to my story, I hope you are all feeling well or at least better than me, before we start I will reply to your reviews.
- Maximum Rhapsody
Will we see more Akame Ga Kill characters in the world of Re Zero? Will we also see them use magic or will they only use their natural abilities and teigus? Tatsumi will have a harem? If so, my votes would be for Emilia, Rem, Akame, Crush, Leone, etc.
1)Yes
2) As you saw in the previous chapter, some of them only had their teigu while others had their teigus and a spirit, not only that but Tatsumi also showed to possess magic attributes. The short answer is yes they can use magic but not all of them
3) Kinda, if a harem pops up it will be secondary, this story is more story-driven
-Guest
The plot is random that it's scary
Not sure if you are referring to the plot of the story or the plot against Emilia. If you are referring to the latter then I will have you know that I'm following the light novel/web novel so there might be things that you haven't seen yet in the anime. If you are referring to the plot of the story in general then I can't help you much since I'm basically following the events of Re:Zero, things are destined to be different a bit since Tatsumi is not Subaru and if you are referring to the appearance of the other AGK characters well I can only tell you that there is an explanation for them within the story besides the fact that I don't really like just taking a character alone to put in another story.
-Buggy
You kinda fucked it up already in the first chapter. Reinhard wouldn't be running with his tail behind his back. He's literally a cheat character. His feats are greater than Tatsumi's.
I'm going to guess that you are referring to these lines
"A chill ran down Reinhard's spine as he turned to face Tatsumi."
" otherwise I will let you take my life"
One of Reinhard's powers is to literally alarm him of someone dangerous is nearby and that is what happened there.
We, as spectators, know both feats of Tatsumi and Reinhard but neither of them knows each other's, and Reinhard is someone who underestimates his opponent nor one who starts fight out of nowhere and who really longs for justice.
He was more startled by the fact that Tatsumi accused him of kidnapping someone since that's a crime and to prove his good intentions he swore on his life that it wasn't like that.
Tatsumi threatened him but Reinhard didn't run off because of that, he had to take care of Felt...just like in the anime/light novel/web novel/manga, he had more important matters in his mind.
-Captain Imaginat
While I do appreciate your enthusiasm for the story and I am grateful for it, this story follows the plan I have in mind along with the various subplots and so on, what will happen in this story is dictated by me not the review section so asking me to do the things you want to see in your way will have no effect on my story, some things you listed will happen although in my way, and especially at the right time. Most of your reviews speak of things that are way ahead compared with the story. One last thing, can you avoid posting 16+ reviews? I am saying that I'm angry or anything I'm saying that I think it doesn't allow others to leave their opinions and criticism for the story and it's hard for me to spot their reviews among your walls of text.
Also please refrain from replying to reviews in my place even if you're defending the story or something else.
- Just passing bye
I appreciate your concern for my story but I do know how to continue it, the only problem I have currently is my life in this year and previous one, lots of things happened most of them bad for me both physically and mentally and waking up and find the will to get up has become significantly harder for me hence why writing for me also became harder.
On the subject of Tatsumi having or not having the Return by Death my reply is: He does, it works differently from Subaru's though how that is will be shown in future chapters. RBD is a core aspect of Re:Zero and taking it away, in my opinion, is bad writing, I rather find a way to make it balanced with Tatsumi's current abilities which include adapting and evolving to certain situations.
Tatsumi is not Subaru, he is an experienced fighter who learned the hard way to be wary of the world around himself, he has power and abilities that make him not so easy to kill hence why we haven't seen the RBD in action, Elsa and the Big Wolgram had no chance of killing him due to lack of knowledge or simply raw power.
anyway, I don't know when the new chapter will drop, I am not in the position to write a lot, things are not very good for me.
Enjoy
Tatsumi made his way back to Emilia and Beatrice after his small talk with Rem, the half-elf was a bit puzzled maybe because of the sudden shouting while the blonde loli was still showing her usual seemingly emotionless expression.
"Is everything alright?" Emilia asked worried "We kinda heard the shouts..."
"Oh yeah sometimes it's just better to let it all out" Tatsumi replied with a yawn "I already feel the benefits"
Emilia smiled and nodded "that's good to know...Rem is safe right?"
Tatsumi nodded "Yes, Ancalagon assured me that all the curses have been lifted and the monsters are no more"
"And you came back without a scratch, I suppose" Beatrice added staring at the young man's armor
"I'm used to much worse" Tatsumi replied shrugging "Also, my armor is no joke"
"Yeah! The best armor around! Nothing can make it through!" Ancalagon chimed in excited
Emilia chuckled a bit "That's good to know"
"Ooooh? What happened heeeere?" Suddenly Roswaal said as he elegantly landed in front of the three
Tatsumi walked in front of him, he was angry but he wasn't going to show it "Someone tried to attack us, they failed, I captured her, Rem got hurt" he listed coldly "If it wasn't for m-"
"iiiif it wasn't for you many would have died toniiiiight! But fortunately, I came across yoooou" Roswaal cut him off
"But what if I wasn't here? Why the only thing protecting the village is a barrier? There is no one aside from me, Rem and Ram, to know how to fight? No one that could teach them?" Tatsumi inquired
"Tatsumi" The lord said calmly "We are not waaaaaar veterans like yoooou, I only know magic which isn't for everyone" he stated shrugging "There is not much I can do"
Tatsumi felt a headache forming inside his head, the man in front of him owned this land and yet had no combat personnel side from Tatsumi himself, he was wondering how no one has raided this place yet...this couldn't be ignored, soon Emilia will be presented publicly and there is no doubt that many will try to take her life because of her appearance.
The former assassin sighed and started walking towards, he placed himself in front of the crowd that had formed since his arrival and cleared his throat catching everyone's attention
"Everyone, listen up" Tatsumi said determined "I discovered the fact none of you had any formal trained for combat, is that right?" he asked getting several nods from the crowd "I'm sorry to tell you this but one day you will all die if this keeps up" he stated with a severe expression "One day, I, or the others, will not be here to save you. One day someone might attack the village and none of you will be able to do anything" the people started to look upset and some of them angered "This is why from now on, I will train you all to be able to hold your own against any somewhat skilled attacker"
"Really!?" someone shouted from the crowd
"From now, I will train any capable man from dawn for three hours until you'll be able to defend yourself" Tatsumi announced "Starting tomorrow"
"Oh myyyy, it would seem like I will need to raise your saaalary" Roswaal said
"Damn right" Ancalagon shouted back to him as he flew towards his partner 'Are you sure about this?'
'Yes, it's essential for their survival' Tatsumi replied sighing "I'll go check on our guest"
With those words, Tatsumi left heading towards the mansion.
Somewhere in Lugnica
The last demon beast fell to the ground lifeless as a roar could be heard from afar soon followed by laughter
"Amazing! Amazing! You guys should totally join us! We'll be unbeatable!" Ricardo said with another booming laugh as he looked at the two people traveling with them
The first one was a young, curvaceous woman. She had long blonde hair with lion ears, golden eyes, and blonde tail. She was wearing a revealing outfit with a black tube top, detachable sleeves, pants, boots, and a scarf around her neck. On her shoulder rested a small lion-like spirit...Her name was Leone.
The second one was a fairly muscular young man of above-average height with short dark blue hair and eye. He was wearing a blue leather jacket and a red scarf with an anchor on it. He was also wearing a pair of grey jeans with a belt and dark blue boots. Until a few seconds ago, the man was wearing a full-body blue armor which had disappeared and been replaced by a seemingly emotionless mini blue-haired woman with fish-like ears who was silently sitting on the man's shoulder. His name was Wave.
"Nah sorry" Leone replied with a cheeky smile "We have places to go and people to find"
"Nyoooo don't go big sis Leoneeeee" Mimi said as she hugged the girl's leg "Mimi wants more massages"
Leone smiled and picked up the small orange cat loli and gave her a hug "There there, I'll give you a very nice massage next time we see each other, okay?" getting a nod from the now teary-eyed Mimi
"I'm already regretting telling you about Tatsumi, I have now a heart-broken vice-captain and lost two possible employees" Anastasia Hoshin said as she approached the group
"But at least you were honest with us" Wave replied with a smirk "And we'll be forever grateful"
"How about I use that gratitude to make you work for me?" Anastasia replied with a sweet smile
Wave scratched the back of his "That would be troublesome, we really have to go" he said with a nervous laugh
Anastasia stared at him before sighing "Well, guess you'll owe me a favor then" she said shaking her head
Leone looked at the royal candidate with a smile but her true feelings for her were quite different, she didn't like her much, the mercenaries were a happy bunch but Anastasia reminded her too much of the Nobles back at the imperial capital, she tried to look for something fishy about her but didn't have any luck and without any proof, she couldn't kill her.
The lights of the capital could be seen from afar and Leone looked at Wave and gave him a nod before turning towards the mercenaries "Well, it has been a pleasure but our roads part ways here" Wave said crossing his arms
"You don't want to get into the city with us?" Anastasia asked blinking surprised a few times
Leone shook her head "Nope, we'll be headed towards the slums immediately"
"Tatsumi is not there" Anastasia deadpanned causing the tension between the three to rise up immediately
'Here we go again' Leone thought while sighing "Is there something you want to tell us Miss Hoshin?" she asked
"Tatsumi, according to my sources, was hired by another royal candidate and he is not at the capital right now" Anastasia admitted calmly ignoring the tension
"May I ask you why you kept this important detail a secret from us?" Wave asked crossing his arms
"I wasn't planning to, my sources didn't confirm the information, I wanted to get in the capital and confirm them myself" Anastasia replied sighing "But if that's true, I can arrange a meeting without you wandering around trying to find him...and I can start to ask around for that Kurome you told me about"
Leone and Wave looked at each other, the assassin wanted to hit hard Wave for telling them about Kurome and she will not excuse him for having said that while being drunk with their travel companions, despite how much she liked booze, she kept herself sober around these people, she did not want to disclose any personal info.
Leone sighed and nodded "Very well then, we'll stay with you for the time being" she said shrugging
Anastasia smiled sweetly, which didn't please Leone much who considered again the idea of killing her but she came to the same conclusion she always got, She knew that Anastasia was a royal candidate and killing her now will make things incredibly difficult, in the worst-case scenario they would have to leave the kingdom and that would ruin every plan to return to Tatsumi...
Reinhard's home
Akame was sitting on her with several books in front of her, she had a notepad in her hands where she was practicing writing the alphabet of this new land when suddenly the door flung open and Felt rushed behind her and hid
"Akame help me!" Felt causing Akame to grab her katana thinking that the knight finally showed his true nature.
What the assassin wasn't expecting was to see the knight carrying a yellow fancy dress "Lady Felt I beg of you, we need to see if this fits you" he said calmly before blinking a few times seeing Akame in her defensive stance, he looked around confused trying to find anyone who could have caused Akame to be like that. "Is everything okay?"
Akame sighed and relaxed a bit "Yeah" she said calmly "Why are you forcing her to wear that?"
"She is a Royal Candidate, she needs to look presentable for the selection" The knight replied
"I don't care of any of that!" Felt said pouting "I want to go back to the old man!"
"She is not interested, why don't you let her go?" Akame said narrowing her eyes "It feels like you kidnapped her"
Reinhard chuckled "Tatsumi said the same thing" he said calmly "Even if she doesn't want to, she has to give up her election publicly, at that point she can do whatever she wants with her life although if she wished to, I would gladly welcome her in my house"
Akame slowly nodded and looked at Felt "You heard him, be done with it" she said as Felt sighed
"Fine but I will not be happy about it!" Felt finally said giving in and walking towards the knight going back to her room with him.
Thorondor looked at his owner "He doesn't seem to be like the Nobles of the Capital nor I have noticed anything that suggests the opposite"
"Perhaps...but we'll keep our guard up until we meet up with Tatsumi" The girl replied calmly before looking again to her notes and books
"Is something wrong?" the eagle asked tilting its head as it looked at her
"I just feel lost" she replied bringing her legs to her chest "One moment we were in the capital...the other we're here...I am confused and my head hurts" she said calmly "It's like...I have lived two lives...similar to each other but different...in one Tatsumi's died trying to protect the people...in the other I kill him...or at least I thought I killed him..." she admitted "Every time I close my eyes...or I sleep...those memories return to my mind and I am no longer sure what's the correct ones...Did I kill my sister? Did I really give up the idea of saving her? Or Wave took her away for a better life?" she muttered
The eagle landed on her shoulder and rested its head on top of Akame's "The important thing is that you are still you, focus on the present...if the answer to your questions around good, if it doesn't you can still live your life"
Akame slowly nodded "I...only need to get used to it" she said sighing "I wonder how Tatsumi is..."
Mather's Mansion
Tatsumi let out a sneeze as he rose up from his bed "Did I...catch a cold?" he asked himself
"Doubt it unless the cold is stronger than Esdeath's Mahapadma" Ancalogon remarked looking around "Although...I Have to admit that it is kinda chilly today" he said growing fur
"Yes indeed, it's a bit cold today" Rem said sitting next to Tatsumi's bed
The former assassin blinked a few times looking at the blue-haired maid, his expression was one of shock "Rem, why are you here?" he asked before eyeing Ancalagon 'Why didn't you wake me up when she entered?'
'Meh, she had no killing intent on her and wanted to thank you so I just said to sit and wait' Ancalagon replied yawning 'I kept you from waking up although she is surprisingly sneaky'
'Don't keep me asleep when there's someone in my room ever again' Tatsumi replied shaking his head
Rem seemed to be embarrassed a bit and fidgeting with her index fingers "I wanted to thank you for what you did the other day..." she sheepishly said avoiding eye contact
Tatsumi remembered his fight with those beasts and the whole ordeal and sighed "There is no need to thank me, I was hired for stuff like that"
"That wasn't just that..." Rem said dropping her embarrassment "You didn't have to help me with my sister...nor help me...release all those emotions..."
The young man sighed and scratched the back of his head "Well, I can't help it okay? We're probably going to stay under the same roof for a long time and I wanted to do you a favor knowing how you felt about me"
She grabbed his hands, her eyes sparkling "You didn't just do a favor! You...You literally restarted my life" she said energetically "I was stuck and you lend me your hand to get on my feet"
'Seems like Blue-Haired Chicks are weak to you, partner' Ancalagon said his tone clearly amused by the display
'Did you just compare Rem to Esdeath?' Tatsumi asked sighing mentally
'Mayhaps' Anacalgon replied chuckling
Tatsumi looked at the maid, he knew what he did was something very important to her, but he didn't expect her to change her consideration of him that much, since that day, she had been hanging out around him which didn't really bother him since it was pretty harmless and having a friend is better than having someone who wants to kill you, although waking up and seeing her watching him sleep wasn't exactly something he appreciated.
"Well I am really happy that my aid helped you that much but Rem..." Tatsumi said calmly
"What is it Tatsumi?" She said her eyes still sparkling
He got up and lifted her before placing her outside his room "I still want my privacy" he said closing the door before she could say anything
"Well that was just rude" Ancalagon said laughing his ass off
Tatsumi got up and took off the pajamas he was wearing and put on his uniform, Ancalagon jumped on his shoulder and the two left the bedroom...Rem was still there waiting for them of course
"So Tatsumi" Rem said happy "What's the plan for today?"
"I'll check on our guest, do some patrols then go to the village for the usual training" Tatsumi said calmly as they walked towards the kitchen for breakfast "I think I will practice some magic myself in the afternoon and then return to my normal patrols, do you need my help for anything?"
Rem shook her head "No No, even without my sister I can do everything just fine"
"Wait what? Why is Ram not working?" Tatsumi asked raising an eyebrow
"She took a free day due to the cold temperature" Rem explained smiling
Tatsumi looked at her and her outfit "No way in hell she is staying in her room today" he said calmly "Also, aren't you cold?"
"No for now I am fine and this outfit still keeps me warm but I also have a winter uniform" The maid replied sweetly
"Then why don't you wear that? Do you need permission from Roswaal or something?" he asked getting a headshake from Rem "Well as long as you're fine with it..." he said sighing before stopping in front of Ram's room
"Wait Tatsumi you were serious about getting Ram out of her room?" Rem said panicking a bit as Tatsumi knocked on the door
"RAAAAAM!" He shouted "GET YOUR ASS OUT OR I'LL KICK THIS DOOR DOWN AND FORCE YOU MYSELF TO WORK!"
Sounds of movements could be heard on the other side of the door, someone was rushing to do something, Tatsumi guessed that Ram was putting the uniform on. It didn't take long for a rather angry Ram to open the door "Tatsumi you are the shame to all knights! Saying such foul words to a lady like me"
"Nee-Sama calm down" Rem tried to defuse the situation
"Oh? That's rich coming from the shame of all maids! Not working just because it's a bit cold and leaving everything to Rem!" Tatsumi shot back grinning
"I know Rem enough to know that she can do fine for one without my precious help" Ram replied
"I say that's an excuse to not work, and in any case exploiting Rem's hard work is wrong!" Tatsumi stated crossing his arms
"Oh? And why should I care of your word?" Ram said smirking
Tatsumi mockingly placed his hand on his chin "Uhm perhaps because I am Emilia's knight and the person that Roswaal himself tasked me with watching over the place...or maybe you wish to go against his words?"
Ram bit her lip angrily "Fine! Let's go Rem!" she said running off
"Wait T-Tatsumi is-" Rem tried to say
"I'll go visit our guest and then catch up with you for Breakfast" The former assassin said calmly walking the opposite direction of the maids.
He looked at the doors around him for a while before opening one and being greeted by the giant secret library where in the middle of it, Betty was reading some books
"Good Morning Betty" Tatsumi said in a friendly tone as he walked in front of her "How are you today?"
"I was better when you didn't barge in, I suppose" Betty replied her usual annoyed tone
Tatsumi chuckled "It's good to see you too" he said sarcastically "Can you take me to her?"
Betty sighed and the room glowed for a second "Go" she said pointing at the door
"Thank you" Tatsumi said heading towards the door before stopping and smirking "Oh Betty! Play with Ancalagon a bit, would you do that for me?" he asked as the spirit dragon literally dive-bombed the loli "Thanks again!"
"I didn't agree to this I suppossseeeeeeeee!" Betty shouted struggling to find the spirit that was running inside her hair
Tatsumi left the room and slowly made his way where his prisoner was kept, the place was obscure and full of spells put in place to prevent her to call for the help of the beasts outside, he walked in front of a cell and looked at the little girl hugging her own legs in the corner of the cell, she didn't move but her eyes, full of anger, were glued on him.
He looked at the small plate on the ground and saw that she at least ate her breakfast, he picked it up and placed it on a nearby table "So, how are you today?" he asked calmly getting no reply "Was the food of your liking?" no reply again.
The girl had not spoken a single word since she was captured, Tatsumi wasn't going to torture her but he has other ways to make her talk...
"You are hoping that your big sister Elsa will come and save you?" He asked causing her to turn her head towards him "Because, she will walk to her head if she does" he said calmly "Last time, I was alone and I put a hole in her chest without being harmed once, now there's me, my spirit, the court magician of this country, a girl with a major spirit bound to her and two combat maids" he listed calmly "And this time, she will not survive...unless you help her"
The girl remained silent
He sighed and turned around "Too bad" he said shaking his head "I wasn't going to ask you much yet, just your name" he said sighing and returning to the library where he saw a book fort built around Betty, which confused him quite a lot. "Betty?"
"Don't call me that, I suppose!" Betty shouted without turning to face him, her eyes were glued on a corner of the room.
"What the hell is happening here?" Tatsumi asked again trying to figure out why she was acting like that
The loli puffed her checks "'What happened here?' he asks when he was the one to release the great calamity in here, I suppose!"
"The great calamity? Ooooooh, you mean Ancalagon" Tatsumi chuckling as he understood "It can't be that bad"
"You have no idea" Betty replied "It slithers in the shadows, its shadow induces fear in heart of its targets, it can hide in broad daylight and remain unseen, no magic can feel it hence why I must keep my guard up at all times, I suppose"
"Betty" Tatsumi said pointing at her shoulder
The girl paled, her pupils trembled as she slowly turned to look at her shoulder, horror-filled her heart when she saw the small dragon munching one of her drill-shaped bangs with a delighted expression on its face. "'Sup?" it said with a muffled voice
"Get off me and let go my haiiiiiiir!" Betty shouted shaking her head trying to get the spirit off.
"Ancalagon we have to go" Tatsumi said calmly as the lizards simply let go of Betty's hair and flew to his shoulders
"Thanks to the meal!" The spirit shouted as the librarian's face turned crimson out of anger
"I will make you pay for this, I suppose!" she shouted back as the two left the library
Tatsumi headed to the kitchen, his rank in this mansion allowed him to wait to be served in the dining room but rather help Rem. The blue-haired maid was already cooking when he arrived but didn't miss the chance to turn around to smile at him "Good Morning again Tatsumi"
He smiled back "Good morning to you" he said looking around "There is something I can help you with?"
"Uhm...I have a few potatoes to peel" Rem replied gesturing with her head a bowl of potatoes next to an empty bowl
"Leave it to me" He replied as he got the kitchen knife and started peeling the potatoes, he didn't need to look at them as he did it, he was used to it thanks to his days in the night raid. Rem started humming as they worked, Tatsumi genuinely enjoyed this moment, it was a simple nice break and now that he could trust Rem enough, he felt at ease.
When he was done with peeling the potatoes, he looked at the maid "Need anything else?" he asked
"No, I am also done with breakfast" she replied placing two plates on the kitchen table
The two sat down and enjoyed their meal before Tatsumi noticed something "Where's Ram? Did she go back to her room?"
Rem shook her head "No, she went to Lord Roswaal's study"
"Oh I see" He replied returning to eating
"Say Tatsumi..." Rem muttered catching the young man's attention "You decided to accept Roswaal's offer to become Emilia's knight...? You used it against my sister back when you woke her up..."
Tatsumi became silent and then slowly nodded "What happened the other day was aimed at Emilia, probably to put her under a bad light...someone doesn't want her to be queen and it's not because she looks like the witch" he said calmly "Probably the nobles are not happy with her ideas and so are planning to destroy her already low reputation..." he theorized calmy "Maybe one day they'll decide that destroying her reputation is not enough and decide to kill her, so I will be there waiting for them"
Rem smiled "Like a hero"
"I'm no hero" Tatsumi said calmly shaking his head "I am a killer, I just kill other killers in order to keep from killing those who are not killers"
Rem shook her head "I'm not saying that you're a hero because you kill, I am saying that you are a killer because you take the burden of doing the unimaginable for protecting those around you and helping them in their lives without asking for a reward"
"Well, I am a paid worker here y'know?" He replied chuckling
"You are paid to protect this mansion, not to hunt down magic beasts to save children". Rem said sipping a bit of milk
"That's just common sense" He retorted
"Is it? Not many would have done what you did, that's common sense for Heroes that have the power to do something about it" She replied giggling
"You are going to debunk every reply I give you?" He replied smirking
"You can bet on it, I will not let you not take credit for the things you do" Rem replied finishing her meal
Tatsumi sighed and nodded "Thanks for the meal Rem, it was delicious" he said getting up
"I'm glad" she replied nodding "See you later, I'll be waiting for you at the entrance to go to the village"
The young man sighed and nodded before leaving the kitchen and starting his morning patrol, which as usual went smoothly.
'Hey Partner' Ancalagon said emerging from his hair 'Did you notice that Emilia isn't anywhere to be seen?'
Now that he mentioned it, he didn't see Emilia the whole day which was kind of strange
'Perhaps she is too busy with her studies?' Tatsumi replied
'Or maybe she choked on an apple and is currently choking on the floor of her room!' The dragon replied
'What? Why? Also Puck is there with her' He replied shaking his head 'How did you even come up with this idea?'
'My bored mind conceived it!' it replied sighing
Tatsumi just sighed and kept patrolling before stopping in front of Emilia's room, he didn't have any intention of disturbing her but Ancalagon unhealthy thoughts had rubbed of on him and so he knocked "Emilia, are you okay?" he asked before noticing that door was strangely cold
"E-Eh? T-Tatsumi?" Emilia replied sounding a bit surprised "W-What are you doing here?"
Tatsumi raised an eyebrow "I didn't see you anywhere so I thought of checking on you"
"I-I see! I...have a cold! Yes!" she said before faking some coughs "I'm sorry but can you stay outside? I don't want to infect you...ehm...I'm also naked!"
The young man would have blushed but the two things she just said didn't stack up "Emilia..."
"Y-yes" She replied
"I think your cold will not get any better without your clothes on" He said calmly
"O-Oh but of course! That must be it! Thanks for the advice!" she blurted out "Now I'll go dress thanks and goodbye"
'Uhm suspicious' Ancalagon said
Tatsumi shook her head "Nah, she was probably doing something pretty personal'
'Well what if is something evil?' Ancalagon said
'It isn't' Tatsumi was quite sure that Emilia wasn't capable of doing the things the nobles did back in the empire
'Oooooh I get it she was touching her-' Ancalagon was cut off from a karate chop courtesy of Tatsumi
'bad horny dragon' He said sighing and walking away to return to his patrols
When he was done with the patrols, Tatsumi walked to the exit of the mansion, he wasn't surprised to see Rem already waiting for him there, and at this point, he didn't mind her acting this way, he was used to far worse and she had no malign intention so there was no reason to not let her tag along.
He walked past her and she immediately followed suit "done with your chores?" he asked
The maid nodded "Yes, I made sure that everything was taken care of and the kitchen always needs new supplies"
"You know I think the kitchen is already full of supplies" Tatsumi smirking "If you want to come you don't need those excuses with me, I just didn't want you to get in trouble with Roswaal because of me"
Rem blushed and nodded "Don't worry I already completed my duties..."
"Alright then" Tatsumi said nodding "So? Something interesting happened?"
"We have found Lord Roswaal's Grandmother supply of Alchohol while we were cleaning" Rem said
"Oh really? Interesting" He said calmly nodding
The young man kept listening of today's events that Rem came across until they reached the village where all the healthy and capable adults were waiting for him for the training, Rem simply walked to a nearby bench and observed them.
Tatsumi has been giving basic training to everyone capable of fighting although he had wished that this land had rifles since those kinds of weapons could be used by pretty much everyone and allowed a farmer to kill a knight without too much trouble...too bad he didn't know how to build one...
'if only Mine was here' he thought calmly as he showed the villagers how to properly swing a sword
'Yeah, that girl had an attitude but she knew a lot of rifles' Ancalagon agreed 'Then again, it depends if smiths of this place would be able to produce those things...and if this world has the right materials. You don't know anything about those?'
'I trained to use them, clean them and so on when I didn't have you but I didn't look much into them since I always preferred swords or lances' Tatsumi explained 'Mine's pumpkin was her treasure and before having that she used normal guns and she told me that sometimes necessity forced the revolutionary army to build weapons out scraps'
The training session finished and the adults while being quite tired thanked Tatsumi for his efforts, of course he was also swarmed by the kids
"Tatsumi! Tatsumi! Can you teach me how to fly like you?" one of them asked, his name was Lucas
Tatsumi didn't want to ruin the boy's dream so he simply said "We'll see when you get older"
"Tatsumi where do you keep you armor?!" another one named Mild said inspecting his body
"A magician never reveals his tricks" Tatsumi replied thinking that his body was the armor was kind of a creepy thing to say and he couldn't just say that his body is a draconic one after having studied that dragons are quite important in Lugnica.
"Tatsumi! How the girl without parents?" Petra asked with a slightly worried expression "Is she okay?"
Tatsumi blinked a few times and crouched in front of the little girl and stroke the top of her head "Yes, she doesn't talk much but she is well-fed and healthy" he replied
"That's good to know!" Petra replied smiling
"Well guys" Tatsumi said calmly "see you next time" he said waving his hand before leaving the village followed by Rem
"The villagers have a lot of respect for you" Rem remarked smiling
"I think it's normal when you save their kids" Tatsumi replied
"What are you going to do next now?" Rem asked smiling
"Well, Emilia said she would help me with practicing magic in the afternoon...but she said she caught a cold so I don't think there will be any lesson" He replied shrugging "I'll do some patrols, study a bit, perhaps bother Betty"
"I see, want me to help you with your studies?" The maid asked smiling
"Sure, you're way better than Ram anyway...can't focus if we fight all the time" He replied calmly
The two returned to the mansion and just like Tatsumi predicted Emilia wasn't available for her lesson so he simply did his job, allowed Ancalagon to bother Betty and went to sleep after dinner.
He closed his eyes and relaxed as he started dreaming...his dreams brought him back to his days in the Empire although...they were all confused, the memories sometimes contradicted each other...it was so weird for him and it all started when he first arrived here, at first it was all blurry so he didn't think much about it but since he defeated those demon beasts it was starting to get clearer.
He slowly opened his eyes and looked around himself, he looked at the windows seeing the light of the day but he also noticed that the glass was partially frozen which caused him to raise an eyebrow, he didn't feel the cold, not in the slightest. He got up and another thing caused him to raise an eyebrow, he had stepped on Ancalagon...who was the size of Great Dane.
"Oi Partner what are you doing?" the dragon asked annoyed
"Why are you this big?" Tatsumi asked slightly worried by this sudden change
"Oh this" Ancalagon said snickering "Puck yesterday became bigger to fight me and it turns out that Spirits can change their sizes since they are not corporeal"
"So you can just return to be a dragon" Tatsumi remarked
"Well no, I would still be a spirit and look this adorable with none of my abilities aside for a few flames" he replied yawning and shrinking back to his small form "I guess I can wack people but that would be it"
He sighed in relief before noticing the absence of a certain maid "Rem didn't come?"
"She did but since you got pissy with me for letting people inside I told her to go away" The dragon replied calmly
"Oh I see" Tatsumi said getting dressed and leaving the room.
He raised an eyebrow when he saw Betty standing in front of the windows with her hand stretched towards them
"Betty?" He called causing her to look at him with a surprised expression "what are you doing?"
"N-Nothing, not anything you would be interested in!" She replied "Don't you have some patrolling to do, I suppose?!"
He crossed his arms "Ancalagon" he called causing her to widen her eyes as the small dragon grew in size "Make her talk"
Betty immediately ran inside her library chased by Ancalagon
"Well, that's a weird start" Tatsumi stated before turning around and seeing Emilia "Oh Hello Emilia, I'm glad to see you're better"
"Oh Tatsumi! Good morning! Y-Yeah I'm doing better!" she said smiling nervously which set off a few red flags in Tatsumi's head
"I see, so can you help today with magic?" Tatsumi asked causing her widen her eyes
"WellactuallyIstillfeelkindofbadsoIthinkthattodayweshouldskipanywayIshouldgostudyingyouknowtheelectionisnearsomaybeaskdumbledoreorsomeoneelsethnakyousorryIhavetogo!" she said before running off
"What in the actual fuck?" Tatsumi whispered walking away, of course, he was starting to get agitated, perhaps today is the day he finds out that the people here were actually like the nobles of the capital which would be really sad if that was the case, he didn't trust Roswaal but he considered the others good people, shockingly enough, even Ram despite being Roswaal's number 1 fan.
He walked to the kitchen where Rem was cooking...alone...although her uniform had changed, he had guessed that one was her winter uniform. He also noticed the lack of Ram which probably remained in her room, he was not going to go grab her though, he was worried for himself after all.
"Good Morning Tatsumi!" Rem said with a smile as she placed a nice plate full of steamy food before sitting across from him
"Morning" he replied calmly eating the food "Today I don't have any lesson so maybe I could help you with your chores"
Rem smiled brightly "I see!"
"So what do we need to do?" He asked finishing the meal
"Not much really, although the floor of the entrance needs some cleaning" she said digging down her meal immediately "Let's go!"
He blinked a few times, her eagerness never stopped to surprise him, he slowly nodded and got up before starting to follow Rem. The two went to the entrance of the mansion and started cleaning up although both he and Rem remained silent although the maid seemed to be throwing worried glances at him.
"Is something on your mind?" She finally said looking at him
Tatsumi stopped mopping the ground and looked at her "I was thinking...about when you said you wanted to kill me"
Rem's expression turned into a mortified one "I'm sorry..." she muttered
"It's okay, I know that you no longer have that intention" He replied calmly "But were you the only one thinking about that?"
Rem blinked a few times, her expression confused "Why would anyone else try to kill you here?"
"I don't know but lately, things have been...odd" He replied shrugging "And in my book that's never a good thing"
"Yeah lately things have been strange but I don't think there is an actual threat...and I don't think that if there is a threat you wouldn't be able to come out on top" she said smiling "And of course, I will be at your side if you need me!"
Tatsumi wanted to believe her and perhaps she was right, but he couldn't exclude the possibility that she was simply unaware of what was really going on, although he did find her apparent loyalty somewhat refreshing...he placed the mop inside the bucket and a thud echoed across the room
"That's not the sound if water" he muttered looking down at the bucket only to see that the water froze "Is it really that cold?"
Rem slowly nodded "Well, it is since water doesn't simply freeze over in a few seconds if it wasn't"
"Well, we should light up the fireplace then" Tatsumi proposed calmly
Rem nodded in agreement "I'll gather the wood, you have to go to the village for the training" she reminded him
"Yeah you are right" he said looking outside "Well, I'll be off then, see you later"
Rem waved her hand as he left the mansion and surprisingly, the outside was quite...normal. He knew it wasn't snowing which was strange since the water of the bucket he was using previously froze over in a few seconds, he also expected the trees of being stripped of their leaves and the flowers to die, but none of that happened. When he reached the village, everyone was wearing short-sleeved clothing which was strange. He started to think that he had lost sensibility to temperature sensibility...perhaps it happened when he evolved himself to the point of being able to move in Esdeath's Mahapadma which supposedly was so cold to freeze time in place.
He simply made a few seemingly innocent questions about the weather and he confirmed that it wasn't actually that cold since it was spring and the climate of the region was quite warm. At this point, Tatsumi concluded that it was a phenomenon relegated only to the mansion meaning that something fishy caused by magic, he will have to keep his guard up.
After the training, he returned to the mansion, as expected everything was even colder since the windows had ice on them. Dinner was served and Emilia wasn't there...nor Roswaal, Betty and Ram which meant that he once again was eating only with Rem in a cold dining room since it was so cold that Rem couldn't light up a fire...
When the dinner was over they both got up and went to their room, Tatsumi wondered where Ancalagon was, he could feel he was safe, maybe he was still working on Betty, after all, he couldn't make her talk with using torture. He went back to his room and laid down on his bed closing his eyes and falling asleep...
He didn't know how much time has passed but his eyes shot open as his ears picked up the sound of his door being opened, he heard a pair of footsteps walked in and placed themselves next to him, he was about to spring into action when suddenly two bodies pressed themselves against him, at this point, he stopped faking to be asleep and looked at what was happening. A shaking Rem and Ram where gluing themselves to him.
"What the hell are you two doing?!" Tatsumi asked
"y-y-you really are u-u-u-unaware of the t-e-e-temperature B-B-B-Batsumi?!" Ram replied shaking "And the h-h-heat you are emanating?!"
"What?" He looked around and saw that his room was as if it was sweating, he got up and looked outside only to see the corridors of the mansion completely frozen and covered by several layers of ice, the only exception was the area in front of his room which was wet probably caused by the melted ice "Holy shit" he said before returning outside and sighing at the sight of the two shivering maids...well, he was sure that one of them was shivering for real, that being Ram...Rem seemed to be pretending although he wasn't going to question her. "I guess I see your point...Rem can stay"
The blue-haired maid jumped in the air out of happiness...Tatsumi had no doubts left, she was pretending...
Ram looked shocked "W-W-What? A-A-Are you sending away this b-b-beautiful girl?" she asked getting a shrug
"This beautiful girl could simply go to the owner of the mansion and being heated up with magic" He said calmly
"A-A-As if I had the gall to bother Lord R-R-Roswaal" Ram replied shaking her head
"Then you will have to ask for political asylum kindly" He replied with a smirk on his face "And don't forget to smile"
Ram bit her lip and made the most forced smile ever witnessed by Tatsumi "C-C-Can I please stay here?" she said with an overly sweet tone that was out of place
Tatsumi was having way too much fun with this "Uhm, who are you talking to?"
Ram glared at him but bit down on her pride as she spoke again "Can I p-p-please stay here, Sir Tatsumi?"
"Since you asked so kindly, sure" he said nodding "I'll sleep on the floor, I'll go get some spare blankets outside"
Suddenly he was tackled by the two and pinned to the bed "No! If you leave we'll freeze! You stay here and be our heater!" Ram declared as Rem nodded energetically
Tatsumi on the other hand was having a Dejavù...or PTSD of Esdeath, he remained rigid in the bed as the two clung on him.
'Mine will kill me' he thought for a second as the image of a very angry Mine flashed before his eyes...he felt his heart sunk as he realized that he was probably never going to see her again.
Then another thought crossed his mind, Lubbock would kill him if he found out that he was being sad while two girls were clinging on him, the thought brought back a smile on Tatsumi's face as he closed his eyes once again although, his guard was still up...
When he opened his eyes once again, Anacalagon was staring at him 'Lucky bastard' it said
'I couldn't move an inch, I barely slept' Tatsumi replied rising up 'So, did you discover anything?'
'I know what is happening' Ancalagon said shrugging 'I think it's easier to show it though'
Tatsumi raised an eyebrow and then himself, causing the two girls to wake up 'Do you know why I don't feel this freezing cold?'
'Bruh, you managed to move while Esdeath had frozen time, of course, you can't feel this one!' The spirit replied chuckling 'And your body naturally produces heat since we're a dragon'
"Batsumi who allowed you to get up?!" Ram angrily mumbled as she opened her eyes interrupting the mental talk
Rem also woke up "Good Morning Tatsumi" she said with a beaming smile
"Mornin'" he replied leaving the bed "I had enough of this temperature, this ends today" he said calmly
Rem nodded and surprisingly Ram did the same "I have to agree with you, this is getting out of hand" The Pink haired maid said
With this said, Tatsumi left the room to allow the two maid to change in their uniforms, when they were done he did the same, and then together followed Ancalagon to Emilia's room where Roswaal was waiting
"Taaaaatsumiiiii" The magician said with a smile "it would seem liiiiike we both had the saaaaame idea"
Tatsumi frowned "How can Emilia be behind this freezing cold?"
"Weeeell not exactly Emilia's faaaaault" Roswaal said gesturing the door
Tatsumi sighed and knocked on it "Emilia"
"EH? T-Tatsumi?!" Emilia squeaked "W-What brings you here?"
"Do you have something to tell us?" Tatsumi said crossing his arms
"Us?" Emilia asked
"We are all here, even Roswaal" Tatsumi replied
"Uhm...I...Good Morning!" Emilia said clearly in a panicked voice
The knight sighed "I'm coming in, if you are naked I am sorry"
"EH?! NO WAIT TATSU-"
He opened the door and a literal blizzard hit the group, he walked through it and saw Emilia standing in front of her bed with her arms spread as if trying to hide something
"You're so rude! I told you to not come inside!" Emilia said
"What the hell are you doing here?! Everyone is freezing because of this!" Tatsumi shot back
"What am I doing here? Nothing! Absolutely nothing!" Emilia replied shaking her head
"It's fine Lia, we can't no longer hide it" Puck said
Emilia sighed and pouted "Puck you dummy! A few seconds and I would have convinced him!"
"Nope, not even a blind deaf-mute baby would have believed you" Tatsumi said shaking his head causing her to look at him in disbelief "I think you two owe us some explanations...
THe group went to the dining room where Emilia and Puck explained how Puck had accumulated too much mana and so he needed to vent it out, this seemed to be a normal cycle for major spirits according to Betty, who caught a cold, which worried Tatsumi a bit since he wondered how Ancalagon will vent in the future...
He stroke the back of his head "So we need to keep living with it for two more days?" he asked getting a nod from Puck "Can't you just let it go off all at once?"
"So can I destroy the world?" Puck said with an evil smirk
"Don't" Tatsumi quickly said
"Let's fight then!" Ancalagon said smirking "Once I am done with you, you will not need to this nonsense for a couple of millennia"
"Oh? You dare? Our battle will be legendary!" The cat spirit said
"Legends need to be told and I have the feeling that once you two are done, no one will be left to tell the tale" Tatsumi replied "Uhm is there any other way that doesn't involve the end of the world and the use of my body as an heater?"
"What?" Emilia asked tilting her head
"Apparently I emanate heat from my body" Tatsumi said shrugging
"Well of course, just like Emilia is immune to cold temperatures thanks to our contract, you generate heat because your contract with Ancalagon" Puck replied nodding "And for your question, I don't know, perhaps if I could let it out in a larger area I could probably be done with it in a day instead of two"
Tatsumi looked outside noticing it was raining "Uhm I guess a bit of snow wouldn't hurt or at least hurt less than dying of hypothermia, what do you think about it Roswaal? You are the owner"
"I wouuuuldn't miiiiind it" Roswaal said shrugging
"We could have some fun in the snow like back in my village" Tatsumi said shrugging
"It snowed a lot in your land?" Emilia asked
"Yep, the kids there loved playing in the snow and so despite being quite poor we had a few snow festivals although without no real prize since we couldn't afford one" Tatsumi explained with a bittersweet smile
"Oh sorry to hear that...but what is a snow festival?" Emilia asked
The knight frowned "You don't know what that is?" he asked getting a nod, he was about to ask the others but their puzzled expression already gave him a reply "Welp, guess we know what we'll do tomorrow, I'll invite the people of the village since festivals are better with lots of people...of course, if it isn't a bother"
"I faaaaail to see how the people of my land would be boooother" Roswaal said "
"Oh sounds fun!" Rem said smiling
"Well, I have a lot to organize then, I'll do my usual patrols and then make a list of snow games...and then I'll go tell the villagers" Tatsumi said getting up
Everyone seemed to be pretty pumped up...everyone but Emilia which of course caught Tatsumi's attention
"I know you feel...a big uncomfortable, if you don't want this we can just do nothing" he reassured her
The Half-Elf looked surprised and shook her head "No! I am excited for this festival I am just worried that Lady Barielle might arrive during the festival...the fog isn't in the way so she could be here soon..."
"So what?" Tatsumi asked crossing his arms "This is your house, it doesn't matter what she wants, she has to follow your rules and if she doesn't you snap your fingers and I kick her ass back to the capital"
Emilia made a panicked expression "W-Wait Tatsumi you can't just kick a royal candidate like that! Also I don't own this place"
"I approve! Feel free to do that!" Puck added
"Taaaatsumi has a point" Roswaal said snickering "If you can't be confident in your own hooooome you will not stand a chance in the capitaaaaal"
Emilia looked down at the table and nodded
Tatsumi felt a bit bad for her and placed his hand on her shoulder "Hey, there is a lot to organize, how about you help me?"
"But I have to study..." Emilia muttered
"A queen must organize lots of festivals! You can use this event as a practice lesson!" he replied smiling
"Oh...You're right! Thanks for the opportunity!" Emilia said now with a determined look on her face "Let's go then!" she said getting up and marching out of the room
Puck smiled and gave the former assassins a thumb up, Tatsumi nodded and followed the future queen.
Karsten Mansion
"Unforgivable!" Ferris shouted as he helped the weak body of Kurome with his magic under the watchful eye of Wilhelm "For someone to stuff all those...things inside a young girl's body! I am so angry! How can someone be so cruel?"
Kurome was confused, she was sure she was in a noble house and yet the people around her seemed to be frowning upon the stuff that was ordinary in the Empire. Her stay in the Karsten Mansion was...problematic, the withdrawal symptoms weren't being kind with her, although the...man named Ferris used apparently magic to deal with them although she was still feeling somewhat sick.
"I see you're feeling better" Crush said entering the room "I have some news"
Kurome looked at the woman waiting for her to speak
"I have asked around, I found this Tatsumi you speak of, apparently, he was hired by a girl named Emilia, a rival of mine in the Royal Selection" Crush said calmly
Kurome frowned, her body visibly tensed up "So you're going to use me to blackmail them?"
"Young lady, I don't know if that is normal in your country but Lady Crush would never do such a disgraceful thing" Wilhelm said severely
Crush remained calm "We know when the royal selection will happen, Ferris and Wilhelm will go where Tatsumi currently is and will inform him about you" she said before crossing her arms "Now, I want you to answer some questions"
Kurome slowly nodded
"Why were you in those conditions?" Crush asked
Kurome's eyes narrowed "Because I was weak so they made me strong"
"Strong for what?" Crush asked as Wilhelm tensed up
"To kill the enemies of the empire" Kurome stated
Crush remained calm although there was tension in the air "And this Akame is also like you?"
"No" Kurome replied calmly "She was strong, she never needed the drugs...but she defected the Empire"
"Why?" Crush said
Kurome remained silent for a few seconds, eyeing her surroundings and analyzing the situation, Yatsufusa was not out of her reach but her body was still weak, in the worst-case scenario she will probably be able to strike down Crush, judging from her looks, the woman seemed to be a veteran or at least a competent fighter, Kurome could use her teigu to make her fight the others. Felix didn't worry her much but she could tell that Wilhelm will be a pain to deal with.
Crush on the other hand, while still calm, knew that if nothing is done to ease the tension this conversion could turn into a violent confrontation. Felix reported that Kurome's body while being weak at the current state was heavily enhanced in all regards so she still posed a threat to all of them. She left Kurome's sword nearby to try to make her feel safe but she didn't expect that Kurome was a trained assassin of another nation.
Felix could feel a chill crawling down his back, he felt the tension that had built up, and although he was ready to take action he knew that Kurome must not be taken lightly...and that is without considering her sword, he couldn't put a finger on it but there was something wrong about it, it felt...different from a normal sword.
Wilhelm shared the same concerns for the weapon, he was strongly against the idea of letting such sword near Kurome but Lady Crush insisted and he would never defy her.
Crush let out a soft sigh "Nothing you will say will change the current state of your staying, as long as you are my guest no one will harm you" she said before closing her eyes hating what she was about to say "I swear it on the dragon"
Kurome vaguely knew what that meant, she mostly spent her time studying the alphabet with Felix, he read her the story about the dragon and the witch as he healed her. She did relax a bit but her guard was still up
"We were only used to kill the enemies of the corrupted government we worked for which were actually good people trying to improve the Empire" Kurome summarized coldly
"And you stayed?" Crush asked
"Yes...I even tried to kill her for betraying us" Kurome replied
"So you still work for the Empire?" Crush asked
Kurome shook her head "I also defected...I couldn't leave because of the drugs inside of my body, the Empire was the only one providing them and the withdrawal symptoms were too painful...but...Wave saved me"
Crush slowly nodded "The person you said you loved right?" she asked getting a nod "And you don't know where he is? Nor know how you got here?"
"That would be correct" She replied nodding
"I see, I tried asking his name around but so far I found little to nothing" Crush said nodding "Now, I will ask you one last question" she said as Kurome stared at her "Is this Empire interested in our Kingdom?"
"No" Kurome said shaking her head "The Empire I worked for is no more anyway, my sister and Tatsumi were members of the Revolutionary army, they sieged the capital and overthrown the government."
Crush sighed in relief, her divine protection confirmed that Kurome wasn't lying although there was something that still bothered her "You still have no clue on how you got here?"
Kurome shook her head again "The last thing I remember..." the image of being inpaled by her sister flashed before her eyes but then it was followed by the image of being with Wave and her sister helping her sleep after the war was over "Is being at home...with my sister and Wave"
Crush slowly nodded, this was troublesome, Kurome really seemed to have arrived here against her will, she didn't knew how to read, nor about the kingdom and was surprised by magic...but Crush doubted that the girl was here with an ill intent "Alright" she said calmly "Felix, do you think she'll be able to move?"
Felix's ears perked up "Yep, she has been recovering quite good so it shouldn't be a problem"
"Then you will bring her with you when you'll communicate the date of the Royal Selection to Lady Emilia, there is no point in keeping her away from her friends" Crush stated
"Uhm well, It's not like I'm against it but maybe I should still keep a eye on her body..." Felix muttered
"It's okay, I will manage without you, you already helped me a lot...back in my land, they told me that even if I recovered my life span would have been incredibly shortened" Kurome said smiling before Felix hugged her
"Nyoooo I still have to watch over heeeeeeer" he cried
Crush sighed again and massaged her temples "If she needs you, she can still come here" Crush said heading towards the door "It was a nice talk but I have several duties to attend to"
"I have a question for you" Kurome said smiling
Crush raised an eyebrow "What is it?"
"Are you planning a coup d'etat?" Kurome said casually "You gathered a lot of soldiers, weapons, transports"
Crush was a bit taken aback from Kurome's question and so were Felix and Wilhelm, when she calmed herself she shook her head "No, I will be queen without using violence"
"Then why are you gathering an army?" Kurome asked tilting her head
"To fight the Hakugei" Crush replied crossing her arms "The beast of the mist"
Kurome looked a bit puzzled "Is it that strong?"
"It is" Wilhelm said calmly "A flying whale that attacks whoever is unfortunate enough to cross its path, many have fallen trying to slay it"
Kurome seemed to be thinking "It doesn't sound that strong" she said calmly "Sounds like a typical danger beast of my land"
"Danger Beast?" Crush asked
"Men eating mosters, there lots of them, small ones, big ones, giant ones, walking ones, swimming ones, flying ones, underground ones" Kurome explained "We used to kill many of them while traveling across the Empire"
Wilhelm, for some reason unknown to Kurome, was glaring at her.
Crush seemed to be interested in the topic "So aside from being an assassin, you're also a monster slayer?" she asked getting a nod "Then would you like to help us on our quest?"
Wilhelm looked at Crush in shock and so did Felix
Kurome remained silent for a few seconds before slowly nodding "You saved my life and helped me get in contact with my friends, I will repay your kindness with my abilities, when will the quest take place?"
Crush looked satisfied and nodded "Unfortunately, we don't know when the whale will show up there is no set date so in the meantime rest and meet up with your friend" she said nodding before returning to leave the room "Goodnight" she said leaving the room soon followed by Wilhelm and Felix.
Roswaal's mansion
The whole courtyard was covered in soft delicate snow, the inhabitants of the village were gathered in front of the mansion, Tatsumi was standing in front of them behind him a giant version of the Ancalagon was there although it was just a bigger version of his chibi form. On Tatsui's side there were Emilia and the others even Betty was there, she was forced to come from the spirit dragon.
"Hello everyone!" Tatsumi shouted with his arms crossed "Welcome to the first Snow Festival of the Roswaal Mansion, today we'll built ice sculptures, the only limit is your imagination! The person who makes the best statue gets a free flight with Ancalagon" he said patting the dragon "Attacking your rivals with snowballs is also encouraged" he added with a smirk "Me and Roswaal along with a spy will be the judges, so do your best!"
With that said, the villagers cheered and started working on their sculptures and the kids started a snowball fight. Tatsumi walked among them, eventually dodging any attempt at hitting him with a snowball, he saw Beatrice and Emilia working next to each other, same thing goes for Ram and Rem who were keeping their sculpture hidden which caught his attention.
"What are you up to?" Tatsumi asked
"Tatsumi! We made the best sculpture so far! Look at this!" Rem said excitedly unveiling the sculpture...which was a statue of...Tatsumi mixed with Roswaal "Ram wanted to make a statue of Roswaal but I wanted to make a statue of you so we decided to combine you two so that we were both happy! What do you think of it?"
"Whaaaat are you three doing heeeere...oh what is that?" Roswaal said approaching them before frowning as his eye laid upon the statue
"Lord Roswaal, I am embarrassed to show you this but look at it" Ram said smiling
Tatsumi and Roswaal looked at each other before the former assassin sighed "I give it a three but if you let me burn it I give you five"
"Do you want a kick?" Ram said as she did the finger guns with a cheery expression before looking at Roswaal with an hopeful one
The Court Magician raised both hands giving Ram and Rem some hope...before giving them a four causing Ram to fall on her knees
"I think be both know why we gave those scores..." Tatsumi said
"It is well made but it is...upsetting" Roswaal concluded
"Tatsumi!" Eilia called tugging on Tatsumi's sleeve "My sculpture is almost done and so is Beatrice's, maybe you want to take a look at it?" she said before one of the kids of the village literally started dragging Tatsumi
"Tatsumi! Someone made an awesome sculpture of you fighting a giant monster!" The kid said excitedly
Tatsumi raised an eyebrow at that curious of what sculpture was but he widened his eyes when he saw a giant ice statue of him fighting Shikoutazer "Who made this?" he whispered
Emilia, who had followed him, frowned seeing Tatsumi's sudden change of behavior
"I did it" Suddenly, an all to familiar voice said causing Tatsumi to slowly turn towards her and tense up
Esdeath was in front of him, smiling as she walked right up to him before kissing him with all of her love and affection.
Of course, Tatsumi was frozen in place, the shock was too much even for him.
Emilia blushed deeply and turned her gaze away covering her eyes with her hands "W-W-W-What's going on?!"
After a few seconds, Esdeath broke the kiss allowing Tatsumi to pull away "How...?" he muttered
"Lady Priscilla brought me here" Esdeath said calmly causing Emilia to tense up "And before you ask, she already left, she had no interest in meeting you" she said calmly "I'm Tatsumi's woman" she stated keeping him close to herself
"T-Tatsumi's woman?" Emilia said shocked getting a nod from her "I...uhm...I"
"Can you please leave us alone?" Esdeath asked "We need to have a talk"
Emilia looked at Tatumi, his previous shocked expression was replaced by a determined one as he nodded. Emilia nodded and left.
"Not here" Tatsumi said leading Esdeath away from the festival...