Too Much Confidence : Part 1

Ram continued wrapping Subaru's head with one of the bandages the village chief had handed them in the bag of supplies, coating the cloth in a minuscule amount of a fine, white powder as she worked. They were trapped in a partially collapsed underground tunnel, lit only by faint light streaming in through the similarly collapsed hole they had fallen through. If not for that small mercy, they would have been completely blind in the total darkness.

"Shit! We were so close, and- those damn dogs! I can't believe they got through the barrier, that should have been impossible! We made sure there weren't any gaps!" Subaru hit a nearby wall with his fist, venting part of his poorly restrained frustration.

"You are right, we missed our chance… But mourning the past won't lead us anywhere. We need to focus on the current situation."

"Yeah, you are right… So where do you think we are? I didn't know you people had a creepy, secret underground- oi oi oi! Hey! Gentle with that!" Subaru flinched and protested Ram's rough treatment of him as she tightened his bandage in a twisted form of admonishment.

"That should do it, and it's Ram-sama for you. I know you have been avoiding saying my name for the last few hours," Ram scoffed before answering with a severe expression. "We are most likely in one of the old mines built by the Mather's family. This region used to contain several highly productive iron and pyroxine mines with extensive tunnel systems like this one, but they were closed roughly three generations ago. I am not privy to the details." As she dusted off old memories, her head tilted back and met the stone behind her with a dull thud, and she let herself slide down into a sitting position against the tunnel wall.

"I see, a mine, huh? So, what do you want to do for now?" asked Subaru, awaiting Ram's instruction.

He looked over at her after she took longer than normal to respond. She wore a thoughtful expression and appeared calm at a glance, but he could tell something was off. She seemed unfocused and distant. He wasn't talking to the usual Ram.

'It's probably the fall. She must still be recovering.'

It wasn't like Subaru himself was feeling all that great, either. The ground giving way beneath him, the vertigo inducing feeling of free-fall, the rumble of crumbling rock: their plummet into the caverns below had been one of the most terrifying things he had experienced in his life. Lives. He really was not cut out for dealing with psychotic assassins, monstrous, curse wielding beasts, or falls from far-too-tall cliffs. He was a shut-in. A NEET. An unworthy, pathetic excuse of a man. As much as he wanted to believe in Ram's promise to help him become stronger, the fact remained that he was little more than a hollow shell, unable to even pretend to maintain the appearances and expectations that came along with being Natsuki Kenichi's son.

Ram's voice broke him out of his thoughts.

"I am going to explore a little. Stay here, and don't do anything reckless. Actually, just don't move at all. Your head is still hurt, and you need to rest," Ram said, in what would pass as her usual tone if he wasn't used to her abusive language and couldn't see the stress etched into her features.

"…."

'What? No insults?'

Subaru gazed at her, surprised, and then smiled. This, of course, brought on the abuse he had come to know.

"What's with that stupid look?"

"You care for me more than you let on, Ram-sama."

Ram stared back at him, and her eyes opened the slightest bit wider. Any darker, and he wouldn't have been able to notice such a slight change in facial expression. A second passed, and she directed her eyes to the floor with a quiet, pained chuckle.

"Hah, don't get full of yourself. You are less important than a cockroach to me."

Ram turned away a hair too quickly, probably to conceal just how little she actually meant what she had said, and began walking purposefully further into the tunnel.

'Wait, how is she going to see anything? Does she have night vision magic or something?'

"Ram!" Subaru called after her- even if he was useless, maybe something he brought wouldn't be.

She turned her head.

"It's dangerous to go alone. Take this," Subaru said, casually sending an object on a lazy arc towards her with a practiced underhand toss. Ram caught it without issue.

'See? If she caught it that easily, even with how dark it is, she must be alright. I was worried over nothing.'

"What is this?" asked Ram, studying the object with faux-disgust in a poor attempt to hide her curiosity.

"It's a, uh, 'metia'. Open it, and it will light the way for you."

Ram flipped open the cell phone and recoiled slightly while sluggishly moving to shield her eyes, startled by the sudden brightness.

"I see… This will do."

Ram then confidently proceeded into the now dimly lit tunnel ahead of her.

Just after she wasn't visible anymore, Subaru lowered himself to the ground into a relaxed cross-legged position, his back protesting the roughly hewn stone he leaned against.

"I wonder what I would do without her."

Ram walked with impeccable posture, befitting of a Mather's maid, through the galleries ahead of her- only the dim light of Subaru's strange metia illuminating her path. Her expression was neutral and collected, nothing unusual, but inside her head, she was anything but.

'-hold it, hold it, hold it, hold it, hold it, hold it, hold it, hold it, hold it, hold it, hold it, hold it, hold it, hold it, hold it, hold it, hold it, hold it, hold it, hold it, hold it, hold it, hold it, hold it, hold it, hold it, hold it… ah-'

She suddenly dropped the phone, guttural noises escaping from her throat.

"Blughhhhhhhhh-"

Ram stumbled to the side, slamming her shoulder into the side of the tunnel to keep herself mostly upright, and began throwing up bright red blood and dark, crimson bile. Her body was barely holding itself together. If being depleted of nearly all her mana from the previous fight was not enough of a strain, the injuries she had sustained, internal and external, would ultimately result in her death if she went untreated much longer. She didn't know how she was going to make it through the next several hours, let alone potentially several days of wandering the darkness looking for signs of an exit they would inevitably have to excavate on their own.

She was exhausted. Her legs shook, and a coughing fit wracked her body. She was grateful for the wall beside her, as its support allowed her the small dignity of not collapsing into the growing pile of her own viscera.

'I can't show him that, especially after what I told him. I have to be strong. I have to save Rem.'

"I-I have to, I have to-" Ram mumbled to herself as she clumsily fumbled around in her pockets searching for a small, purple fruit, which she hurriedly shoved into her mouth.

"Hakkk- gah!"

After another furious coughing fit, a warm feeling spread through her as the boku fruit activated a small amount of latent mana in her body. While unsustainable, it was that or a pathetic death, suffocating in a heap of her own bodily fluids. It was times like these where she almost missed her horn. Almost.

"That… should do it for now."

Ram's expression softened as she regained some of her composure. She picked up the metia and continued exploring.

Subaru had been sitting against the wall for some time now. How long had it been? One hour? Two?

The only thing he knew was that it was close to dusk. The dim light streaming from the hole they fell through was fading into the burnt orange hues of the setting sun.

Subaru brought his hand to his forehead while he studied the color of the far too distant sky.

'Seems like I'm not bleeding anymore. Hope it doesn't get infected, that'd suck. Would they have antibiotics in a fantasy world? Does magic work on disease? Ram said she used a powder or something, maybe that was a kind of disinfectant. I'll have to ask- wait. More importantly, it's been a pretty long time… I hope nothing happened to Ram. She seemed a bit off- nah, what am I saying, Ram is super strong. If it wasn't for those extra dogs ambushing us, she would have taken out the bossgarm no problem. Her wind magic was so cool… She can definitely handle herself. She's probably just still exploring. Or-'

He looked down, expression darkened, as he recalled things he'd rather have forgotten.

"Did she leave me, too?"

Something obstructed the continually fading, now red, glow coming from above. He looked up to see Ram, arms crossed, standing over him.

"I don't know about anyone else, but I won't leave you here. You still have a lot of work to do, and I need to get my investment's worth. Stop with this pathetic attitude."

Subaru blinked up at her in genuine surprise, then shook his head to clear it.

"Right. Thank you."

"No need for your pointless thanks. Stand up: we have a problem."

Subaru struggled up from the ground. Beyond mere fatigue, he realized that his legs had gone partially numb after sitting cross-legged on the frigid stone floor. Steadying himself as quickly as possible, so as to not waste any of Ram's time, he gestured he was alright to walk and the two proceeded down the path, Subaru following close behind Ram's almost too precise footsteps. She began to fill him in what she had discovered.

"This mine is much larger and more complex than I expected. Even after exploring for the last few hours, I have yet to find the end of any given tunnel. It seems each path I pursue leads to at least two more. Ram has not returned empty-handed, however. I, of course, found an interesting place that will serve us well."

"The first part of that sounded kinda bad, but if you found a way forward, that's great! What do you mean by interesting place?" Subaru didn't wait to receive an answer to his question, his attention quickly diverted as he looked at the wall to his right. "And these…" he could see an arrow marked onto the wall pointing ahead, emanating a faint, white glow. He took on an overly exaggerated thinking pose and rapidly answered his own implied question.

"Are so that we don't get lost."

Ram looked back at him for several seconds, before turning forward with a slight huff- unamused with his posturing. Another failed attempt at levity. He had almost felt his artificial enthusiasm deflate under her gaze. Maybe he should save his energy.

"… Yes. The arrows point away from our starting point, and will always be on the 'right' side of the tunnel."

"I see, that's pretty clever…"

They walked in silence for a few minutes, before Subaru couldn't restrain himself any longer. If she was going to destroy his faked morale, maybe she would replace it with something real.

"Hey, Ram, can I ask you something?"

She glanced back at him with a glare.

"Sorry. Ram-sama, may I ask you something?"

"… Go ahead."

"Do you think we can still make it? We are honestly in a pretty tight spot here. The shaman escaped, witch beasts can follow us in here since the barrier broke, nobody knows where we are, and nothing guarantees that Emilia and Beatrice can hold out the whole week."

Ram stopped, and fully turned about- her expression severe and serious.

"I already told you to not ask stupid questions, Subaru."

"But…"

"I am going to save Rem no matter what. That's my duty as her big sister, and nothing, and I mean nothing, will stop me from fulfilling it. Stop asking stupid questions and focus on helping me find an exit."

Subaru's dim eyes lit up in an instant.

"Yeah… yeah! You're right! I'll put my belief in you- a little bit of darkness isn't gonna stop us! Lets gooo!"

Ram gave her best attempt at a smile in response to his legitimate, if exaggerated enthusiasm, spun about and continued walking. Subaru followed close behind. He pushed aside the part of him that noticed how fragile that smile had been, and how it had instantly evaporated off her face before she had fully turned around.

Subaru and Ram stood at the entrance of a cramped room. A handful of abnormally large tools such as pickaxes and shovels were scattered around haphazardly- many of their wooden handles rotted beyond repair. All of their metal components were either almost completely rusted through, heavily warped, or missing altogether. A similarly large mine cart was stowed in a corner of the room, full of what appeared to be shiny, if somewhat translucent and foggy, crystalline chunks. As Ram slowly panned the light around the room to show it to him, he was struck by how, unlike every other metallic object in sight, there was no obvious problem with the cart's wheels or structure, other than it looking worn down by time.

'Leaving all this behind… whoever was working here last was in a hurry to get out.'

He bent down to pick up the most intact tool he could see, a surprisingly long, sturdy looking shovel with one side of its large, broad blade mangled and bent inwards towards the shaft. While the damage rendered it useless for its original purpose, and, as a tool, it looked more like it was designed for someone more like Old Man Rom's giant stature anyway, it seemed intact enough for other, less constructive, tasks. He gave it a few experimental swings and thrusts, testing its balance and weight in his hands.

'It'd suck to be that tall down here in these tunnels. Who thought it would be a good idea to employ giants in this kind of job? Rom would have to practically walk around on his knees to fit in here. I could have sworn the fantasy underground miner trope typically involved dwarves.'

He turned his attention back to his prospective sword replacement, which, stood on its end, was several inches taller than him. He was no expert in medieval weaponry, but if he sharpened and flattened out the undamaged side of the shovel head, and maybe bashed the mangled side into a less inconvenient shape, it could almost pass for a crude, single edged spear. Or some kind of bladed staff. Or perhaps a somewhat short, shapeless poleaxe- it didn't matter. Whatever category the shovel would fall under, with his only other means of self-defense shattered and left behind on the surface, he might as well keep it around. Just in case. He would othewise be pretty useless in a fight with just his fists and maybe a single cast of Shamak. Even if it was a bit long for use in an enclosed space, it'd be better than nothing. He could either try and break part of the shaft off to shorten it or, more practically, he could just drop it if it ended up getting in the way.

"Subaru, quit swinging that around. This is probably what used to be a supply room- it would stand to reason that spaces like this would be built close to an exit, or at least along a main tunnel."

"And I guess we are camping in here?"

He eyed the mine cart distrustfully, fully anticipating its cargo to be some volatile material prone to exploding. Crystals in fantasy worlds were often used as power sources, and this rule seemed to hold true in this world as well. A massive pile of what were probably magically supercharged rocks in a corner was just asking for trouble.

"Yes, it is getting late. You need to make a fire, and I need to change your bandage, so go gather any pieces we can burn from these tools. We will need to use whatever we can for fuel. Also, grab one of those raw mana crystals- you can use one like a lagmite igniter. Make sure you don't drop or man-handle any with your clumsy sausage-fingers."

"I see, great idea," Subaru responded, unable to keep sarcasm entirely out of his tone. He actually took a bit of pride in how dexterous and steady his hands were. He had no idea if she wasn't talking out of her ass regarding the crystals, and the whole thing sounded unnecessarily dangerous, but he would have faith in Ram- she hadn't let him down yet. There was another question on his mind, however, "What about you? Changing my bandage will take, what, like thirty seconds?"

"I will be supervising you."

"What's that supposed to mean!?"

"You are dangerously close to breaking rule number one."

'Damn, I shouldn't have agreed to those rules so easily. It might be like those slave contracts from that isekai I read.'

He chuckled nervously, and got to work. Apparently Ram changing his bandage would be something of a reward for starting the fire.

"Hey, also, uh-"

"You can keep the shovel."

"Nice!"

After a short time spent rummaging around the room with the phone light, Subaru had gathered enough wood from the almost comically oversized tools. After placing them in a pile in the center of the room, he moved over to the mine cart and cautiously plucked a small, dull, reddish looking crystal shard from the top of the pile.

'Red for fire, right?'

He carefully turned about, and approached what would soon hopefully be a small campfire- palming a flat, conveniently shaped stone he had found on the ground in his other hand.

"So, I guess I just use this like a flint and steel- wait! Why are you so far away!?"

Ram had surreptitiously moved over to the far end of the room- the point furthest away from both the mine cart and Subaru.

"Ram found your stench momentarily overwhelming. Changing your bandage may prove problematic."

"Oi oi oi, hold on now, I'm not gonna blow my hand off or anything, right?"

"Just get on with it, we don't have another way to start a fire."

"There's really nothing in that entire bag!? Can't I, like, toss this at the wood instead?"

"If you want to blow the whole room to pieces."

"What do you mean, 'the whole room'!?"

"A slight tap should just make a few sparks."

"How slight is slight!?"

"I would do it myself, but Ram must keep her fingers in pristine condition for potato peeling and adjusting Rem's hair piece."

"I'm gonna die, aren't I."

"Subaru. Rule One. And Rule Two. While you are at it, Rule Three, also."

"Alright, alright. Can I borrow the light?"

She slid it on the ground towards him, unwilling to get any closer than necessary to what Subaru was quickly realizing was, in fact, little more than a chunk of powerful, unrefined, impact-sensitive explosive.

'They use this shit in home appliances!?'

"Don't blow it up. I still need to see."

"Yeah, yeah."

Subaru set the stone down, replacing it in his hand with his phone. He nervously aimed the screen's light at the crystal, and spent a few moments studying it. The shard was dull- he had seen what he guessed were 'pure' fire mana crystals in the mansion when operating the stove, and this didn't hold a candle to them. Dark impurities laced through an uneven, fractured structure, and the phone's already diffuse glow refracted chaotically through the glassy, warm-to-the-touch material, casting dim, reddish shafts of light throughout the room. He took note of a precarious looking formation along one of the edges of the crystal, and glanced up at Ram, who continued to provide no instruction.

Rule Three indeed.

He set the phone by his side, aiming the light such that he had a clear view of the edge he was aiming for, and picked up the rock.

"Well, here goes."

After taking a deep breath, he softly tapped the rock into the edge of the crystal, which instantly hissed with heat, becoming almost too hot to hold. He struggled to keep himself from reflexively tossing it away as it glimmered and simmered alarmingly with latent power for a tense few seconds before slowly cooling off. As he watched it fall fully inert once more, and let out a sigh of relief, though this was short-lived. While the shard hadn't exploded, the entire display also hadn't produced a single spark- another attempt was necessary. He adjusted his grip, and tried more of a gentle sliding motion, aiming to skip the stone off the crystal more than strike it directly.

As soon as the stone made contact, a jet of brilliant, blinding light and intense, focused flame shot off the edge of the crystal, before it faded just as quickly as it had appeared. The wood in front of him was now consumed in happy, dancing flames, and his nose was overwhelmed with the smell of ozone. He breathed out, shakily.

'Consumer safety standards be damned, I'm never disrespecting the stove again.'

"H-ha, ha, y-yeah. N-no problem w-whatsoever."

"Indeed. Acceptable work."

He gingerly moved back over to the mine cart, and ever so carefully placed the crystal back amongst its brethren. Scooting quickly back towards the fire, he sat down to admire his handy-work. He hadn't noticed how cold he had felt until the heat of the flames began warming his body.

"Wow, it feels so warm now. That's way nicer than I expected it to be."

"Good. Now, if you are done inflating your own ego, come here. I am changing that bandage before your repulsive odor gets any worse."

She couldn't quite get the last half of her sentence out seriously. Earlier, she had addressed his concerns about infection by enumerating the various medicinal and hygienic properties of the 'medical grade karnago mixture' she had used alongside the bandage. One property she had made special note of was the elimination of all sorts of foul smells for over a day after application.

Subaru moved over to sit in front of Ram, and she moved in close to his face as she worked using the unsteady fire light and comparatively dim phone screen. Close enough, in fact, to cause him to blush. With her expression of obvious disgust clear for him to see, she nonetheless refrained from commenting. He couldn't tell, then, if the disgust was from his face or having to interact with the bloodied bandage she was slowly peeling away from his head. He could tell she was occupied, however, so he didn't ask any questions or make any jokes while he stayed as still as possible- he had rarely seen her this focused. However, he couldn't help but notice the slightest tremor in her hands as she worked.

She finished taking off his dirty bandage, tossing it into the fire for extra fuel, and began using the second and, more importantly, last bandage they had to cover his wound. The supplies in the small medical kit the villagers had scraped together for them were dwindling at an alarming rate.

"Seems like the wound is closing. You will be fine, as expected as a patient of myself. It will leave a scar, however. Ram is not a miracle worker in these conditions."

"It's fine, I'm just glad to not be bleeding out. Thanks, Ram-sama. I don't really mind scars anyway, I've always thought of them as a mark of a true warrior."

"Thinking that scars make you a true warrior is an insult to true warriors," Ram deadpanned at him while massaging the bridge of her nose. "Strength will come with diligent effort and practice, Subaru. Diligence you sorely lack."

"Should have expected that. Anyway, pass me the food. I'll try to cook it since, uh, these aren't potatoes. Or tatos. Whatever." Subaru shot a glance towards her and countered Ram's insult with a veiled one of his own, unable to fully repress his growing annoyance at both the food name changes and the consistent unironic slights that weren't actually justified. He had begun to develop a resistance to Ram's barbed tongue, at least when she wasn't actively aiming to maim him, however, when her insults weren't in jest or at least partially true, it bothered him more than he cared to admit. Of all the things to accuse him of lacking, diligence wasn't one of them.

Subaru began to cook the small amount of perishable, salted meat that the villagers had mixed in with their food supplies but, for all his internal bluster, he managed to burn the majority of it. Ram made him eat anything he burnt, though he couldn't help but notice her overly broad definition of 'burnt', and felt uncomfortable with how little she ate herself. Once finished, they sat facing each other across the fire, as Ram had moved over to the other side to eat her food. They were both staring at each other, and the ambiance was getting uncomfortable.

"….."

"….."

"Stop looking at me with those pig eyes. You are going to make me puke."

"What!? You're staring right back, don't blame me! And stop lying, no way just my face would make someone puke. Run away, sure but- hey!"

Ram had put her fingers in her mouth, miming an attempt to trigger a gag reflex, though he wasn't sure if she was actually faking it or not.

"Hey, stop that! You can't force yourself to vomit and then blame it all on my face! We also don't have any more food rationed for tonight…"

"Hah," dismissed Ram, gesturing him to calm down with a lazy hand movement. She didn't show it, but she barely managed to stifle down the churning bile in her stomach.

"So, do you want to talk about anything?"

"Yes. Entertain me, assistant."

"I don't like the way you phrased that, but okay- do you have any particular subject in mind?"

"Yes, tell me about your future sight."

"….."

"You are the one who told me you would explain. We have all evening."

'She thinks I'm a fortune-teller or something? In retrospect, I should have expected that- it's totally what it would look like from her perspective. Doesn't change the fact that it is completely useless at the moment, unless she is okay with murdering me and deleting herself from existence. How would she handle the fact that that's happened once already? She really doesn't need to deal with something that messed up right now.'

"Speak. Don't make me wait," Ram said, glowering at him and showing her impatience.

Subaru began scratching the back of his head.

"I didn't mean whenever you wanted to bring it up, I was more thinking of telling you after we finish our mission…?"

He trailed off, questioningly, hoping she would let it go.

"Don't joke around. We have time now, spit it out. Surely it would be useful for you to explain."

He chuckled nervously.

"Uh, what about my home country, Ram-sama? You've seen our writing before, right?"

"Home country…" Ram's scowl turned to an expression of surprise and curiosity, though she quickly covered it with one of apathy. "Hah. What a pathetic way to divert the subject. But, as you have referred to me the right way, I will let you go this time, so be grateful."

Subaru let out a sigh of relief.

"Oh, don't sigh already, I am merely giving you more time. When we save Rem, you are going to tell me every detail of your ability, and, additionally, you will do my work for the next week. You know what punishment is waiting for you if you don't," said Ram, miming a pair of scissors with two of her fingers while making a snipping motion.

He gulped.

"Uh, I…" He paused, considering if he should temper her expectations, or note that he did her work anyway, before deciding against either course of action and continuing, "-understood, Ram-sama."

What followed was a few hours of Subaru telling stories about the cultures and technologies of his world, while Ram listen with increasing skepticism. She obviously didn't believe anything he was saying, but seemed content to idly question his truthfulness while watching him try to manipulate his shovel into something vaguely resembling a weapon.

Another hour passed. The campfire was now little more than a pile of smoldering ash, and both Subaru and Ram had fallen into a light, fitful sleep.

Subaru rolled over on the ground, the stone sucking away warmth faster than he could reclaim it from the remains of the fire. This, he realized, was probably one of the main reasons his family, at specifically his mother's insistence, had used insulated pads under their sleeping bags when, years ago, they had gone on the occasional camping trip. He had always thought they were a waste of space, but, clearly, his mom had been on to something.

He felt something move near him, and he opened his eyes to a small, shiny light flying around him.

Come with me.*

'What. What's with that? Looks kinda like one of the spirits Emilia talks to, but…'

"What are you, and what do you want?" Subaru apprehensively questioned the interloper as quietly as he could manage, earnestly trying to avoid waking Ram. They needed what little sleep they could get, and waking her up over what seemed to be a glowing, sentient bubble was probably unnecessary.

Subaru tracked the presumed spirit with his eyes as it circled around him.

Follow me, and I can give you strength.*

"I've read enough manga to know that, with an intro like that, you're totally gonna to try to screw me out of my soul or something. Buzz off."

Subaru's nervousness was immediately replaced with annoyance. He rolled over, put his hand below his head, closed his eyes, and tried to ignore the rapidly swaying light inches away from his face.

Hey, hey- just who do you think I am!?*

The little light projected its tiny, insulted voice directly into Subaru's left ear, despite the fact that it was clearly still floating right in front of him.

Subaru, frustrated, resorted to flailing his arm around in an unfocused attempt to wave it off. The light easily dodged.

"Let me sleep. I'm not falling for your bullshit," he muttered, squinting his already naturally narrow eyes to try to intimidate the light into leaving.

The light, realizing the boy wasn't going to listen no matter what it said, slowly retreated from the room.

Guess I will try tomorrow…*