"PROTECT HIM!" Yelled the mechanical spirit reflexively, commanding the surrounding spirits into a defensive action.
Not that it was needed when they already snapped into action, a gust of wind combined with a wall of earth deflected the morning star aside, spraying dirt and wood splinters through the entire room. Simultaneously a small fireball and an ice spear forced the enraged horned-girl to retreat into the corridor, dragging her spiked ball with her, tearing out the floor, splattering splinters through the entire room.
"SIR MOVE NOW!" Vega howled in Subaru's ear while the spirits defended him, snapping him out of his shock.
"Shit, shit what did I do?" He mentally wailed while searching desperately for a plan of action before the girl turned back around again, not seeing another choice, he sprinted as fast as he could to the window, the sound of chains intensifying from his back, he swiftly unholstered his handgun and fired at the window, creating cracks and tears on it.
"DIE CULTIST SCUM!" An unholy shriek came behind him, immediately after her scream, pain erupted from his back, and he was thrown faster into the aperture, making him crash into it sooner than expected. The moment he began his fall he remembered one singular detail that might have been important to remember before attempting to escape out the window. That he was on the second floor.
Just moments before he would have started screaming, he noticed that he was falling slower than he should have and he was feeling something from his insides fading away. Snapping his vision to the corner seeing movement, he saw how his mana indicator was falling rapidly.
"Would prefer if you fell on your feet, Sir!" Vega's voice was heavy with exertion, cluing him that he had something to do with it.
Quickly shifting his center of gravity, Subaru managed to land feet first at the last moment, still carrying some decent speed he transitioned into a roll before he stopped to a standstill.
"Energy reserves below 50%! Get some distance!" The spirit added unnecessarily considering the blinking lights on his helmet, though he still appreciated it.
An explosion of debris from his room spurred him on to go as fast as he could following the wall of the mansion, hoping to lose her in the forest. In the middle of his sprint, his water, fire and wind spirits reunited near him but he didn't have the time to try and comprehend what they were saying.
Just as he reached the corner of the mansion a warning came from all the spirits present, "INCOMING!"
The young man didn't even bother to look behind and just threw himself to the side into the mansion's corner narrowly avoiding an ice spear, the impact with the ground flaring up his freshly gained injury, "Oh crap!" Subaru exclaimed while back-crawling for a moment before he turned around and jumped into a standing position while resuming his dead-man sprint into the dense vegetation.
Hearing the rattle of the chains intensifying, he assumed without looking that she had already crossed the corner and was getting ready for another attack. Quickly getting his repeater out, he blind fired a few bursts behind him, hoping to stall her, which was accompanied by his spirits firing back in sintony. That was his plan but the `Click´ sound that came after the second pull told him enough.
"I warned tha-it was a frail fix! The connection between crystals has been severed!" Yelled Vega, overworking all his senses trying to form the optimal course of action in this desperate situation.
"I didn't believe it was that fragile!" He fired back mentally, while throwing the now useless weapon aside.
He felt that an impact occurred near him but not ON him, so he assumed the suppression worked, not like he could check while he was diving head first into the dense forest.
Sounds of spells and metal against ground filled the otherwise utterly silent forest, spurring him on to run non-stop, until his lungs begged for a stop and he couldn't hear them anymore, short on breath, he hid behind a thick tree, sliding to a sitting position. He took some moments to stabilize his breathing and calm down, meanwhile he tried to reflect on what happened, "The...the kids died? Petra? Meili? Lucas? Everyone? How is it my fault? I-I..." He muttered to himself, finally piecing together what Rem screamed at him before attacking.
"Focus, it's definitely not your fault, we haven't moved from the mansion since the afternoon. We just need to survive, we should be able to prove our innocence" His constant companion comforted him saving him from a nervous breakdown.
Subaru took a deep, heavy breath to calm himself down, and nodded in response, he didn't have any other plan and he was on the verge of panicking, "What did I do Rem?" He murmured under his breath, speaking of her, he now remembered one detail about the exchange.
"Vega? What was that on her head?" Subaru asked, wanting to confirm he didn't imagine things.
The spirit wasn't sure either, "It looked...like a horn? I felt that it was made out of pure mana"
"A magic horn? Is that a mage thing?" He wondered aloud, "She looked almost demo..."
A sound came from above him interrupting their train of thought, making him turn his head in that direction hoping to see all his spirits back but he only saw his Wind spirit remaining by his side.
He blinked a few times before asking, "Wher-where are the rest? they are still coming right!?"
The wind spirit dropped slightly in what he felt was sadness, giving him the dreaded answer, Vega expanded on it, his voice heavy, "They stood behind giving us time...I don't feel their contracts anymore"
Guilt wracked his mind, "Why? they could have retreated, they didn't have to risk so much for me"
"Sir, if we don't leave now the maid could catch up with us, don't let them die for nothing" Vega interrupted his mental self-loathing, while he was worried about his mental health, they really had to get out of there.
His words pierced his rambling down spiral, "You are right, Okay, we need to contact Emilia-tan and explain to Rem when she cal-" A shockwave shook the area interrupting him.
A few moments of utter silence passed before an inhuman laugh reverberated through the woods, "You can't hide from me cultist, both of your smells gives you away"
The confusion was palpable on Subaru, "Our...smell?" He wondered if he heard her right.
Vega was not so far behind in his puzzlement "Are her senses so heightened she can smell the metal?"
"THERE YOU ARE!" Came her sudden yell, followed by the chains rapidly approaching his position.
Going by instinct, Subaru ducked into another tree, chunks of wood slamming on his protected back, he quickly glanced back seeing the spiked ball strike right where his head was a moment ago.
"We need to fight back for your sake" The artificial spirit decided that was the only way out.
But his contractor hesitated, "But..I only have lethal weapons, I don't want to kill her"
She continued on with her maniacal laugh, "You cultist already stole the horn from my sister!, you will not be taking any more from me!" Followed by more swings that struck the little cover he managed to get.
In a hurried tone, Vega tried to instigate Subaru, "Not like she is giving us much of a choice! We can't keep dodging forever"
"No!" Subaru mentally yelled more to himself, jumping out of cover, his handgun remaining in its holster, "I-I don't want to fight you Rem, please just explain to me what happened so we can talk this out-"
If he had eyes, they would have bulged out of his skull in shock, "What the hell are you doing! ARE YOU INSANE!? She is clearly hostile!"
"Your lies won't work on Rem anymore! Rem decided to trust Lady Emilia's excuse of nightly training, and those innocent children paid the price for Rem's failure to take action sooner!". She proceeded to wind up for another attack but the wind spirit appeared behind Subaru and casted a wind blade, damaging the chain enough for it to snap and fall apart with the force Rem exerted, the spiked ball flying behind her crashing harmlessly on a tree.
Looking at the broken chain, she threw it aside, and snarled at Subaru, "You will pay for that! EL HUMA!" She yelled, extending her palm in Subaru's direction.
His world slowed down for a moment and he witnessed a considerable amount of floating ice spears materialize in front of her, all pointed directly at him, he muttered in response a soft expletive and decided that moment that maybe, just maybe, his choice was a bit too hasty and dived back into the treeline in a side roll, not without being pierced on the leg by one of the spears in exchange for his trouble.
"GAH! It burns!" He stared at the ice spear which was quickly dissolving, leaving a flow of blood in its wake.
"Pierced quadriceps, applying pressure into the bleeding" He felt a great pressure on his leg, caused by Vega flexing his leg plates together, cutting off the blood flow in the process, working as a makeshift tourniquet.
Hearing a burst of movement from his side, he painfully threw himself to the side, unholstering his handgun, he aimed at Rem's head, who had just punched off the tree he was hiding behind.
He noticed the disappearance of his last spirit, but he didn't have time to wonder what happened, "Rem! L-let me explain! I thought an assassin was going to attack! That's why I was outside the mansion, I was watching it from a distance"
She stopped for a moment, and growled at him, "...So there is another one of you cultists!? Speak, and Rem will grant you a quick end! Much more mercy than what scum like you deserves"
"No! Well yes! But I don't have anything to do with her!" He noticed a bit too late his unconcious slip up, which the horned girl took notice of, and misinterpreted.
She took a leap-ready stance, her horn brightness intensifying with every passing moment, "Lady Beatrice would have warned us and you know it! Your lies won't work"
"She wouldn't, because..."
Knowing what he was about to say, Vega reacted without knowing why, he just had a vague feeling something terrible was going to happen if he were to finish that phrase, "DO NOT!"
But it was already too late, and Subaru finished his sentence, "...last time she didn't and you di-Hrgk!"
Cold, all he could feel was immense cold, he was completely paralyzed, but he noticed it wasn't only him. The entire world was at a standstill, the corner view of his eyes were darkening fast, out of one of the darkest spots, a shadow like hand emerged and phased through his chest, he felt how it grabbed his heart and then harshly squeezed it.
And then, just as suddenly as the world froze, he returned to the present. The grave pain of his heart made him reflexively close his hands, accidentally pulling the trigger.
A bolt of light flew out of the barrel, straight into the glowing forehead of the enraged and confused Rem.
Subaru gasped in pain, after realizing he came back, he blinked several times trying to snap out of his shock. When he faintly opened his eyes, he snapped awake when he observed what had transpired meanwhile.
"No, no, NO!" Realizing what he had done, Subaru raised himself up and limped to the oni's downed figure, ignoring the pain in his leg, kneeling besides her, he forced the helmet to retract to see her clearly. What he saw was a complete mess, her magical horn was all the way severed, lost in the underbrush, blood was flowing from her forehead drenching his hands on it.
"Vega? Did I just kill Rem?" Subaru's voice was completely dead, his eyes staring blankly at her limp body, slowly oozing crimson liquid from where her horn once stood.
"...It was an accident, we were defending ourselves, she attacked first. I'm sure if we explain, things will go fine."
But his words fell on deaf ears, Subaru could only keep staring at her corpse, a soft whistle on his ears was getting louder and louder with every passing second, images from this and last loop were replaying on his mind, Emilia's wonder expression, Beatrice's annoyed face, Ram's worried look, Rem's happy smile. All of these small moments would be forever gone with his failure, failure, failure, failure, failure.
The whistling reached its peak, and suddenly ceased when his eyes changed to another point of attention next to her, "I can fix this"
"What? She is dead Sir, we can't fix de-" He stopped himself when he saw the object of his attention.
Subaru softly let her motionless body rest on the ground, and while closing the eyelids of her accusing eyes, he leaned in closer to her face devoid of life and mumbled almost too soft to be audible, "Forgive me"
Picking up the metallic object of his attention, he inspected it over, in some way he wanted to blame it for these events, but he couldn't do that, it wouldn't be fair to her. This was his mistake to fix.
Vega felt a rising panic the more he thought of what he assumed he was going to do, "What are you trying to do? Please don't let it be what I am thinking! She just tried to murder you!"
The moment he raised his handgun Vega forced the helmet to extend, and his limbs to lock up, "I forbid you from this madness! We can just run away, PLEASE!" His voice turned more desperate by the second.
Unfortunately for Vega's plans, Subaru remembered the manual deactivation combination, the moment his limbs were free, he quickly unlatched the security seals, and harshly threw the helmet to the ground.
"I really am sorry! But this is something I can do, I just need one more try" He apologized aloud while slowly raising the barrel to his temple with a shaky hand.
And then, he hesitated, lowering his weapon, "I don't want to start again, I don't want to feel the cold again" He went to drop it, but his eye caught sight of the now laid to rest Rem. And he remembered Ram's face on seeing her sister dead last time, "I...I can't, I can't do this to her again" He took a deep breath.
After a few moments of utter silence. A singular gunshot reverberated across the silent forest.
###
###
Subaru jolted awake back into the land of the living, throwing off the sheets of the bed away in the process, his breath ragged as he absorbed the shock of coming back again, he had no phantom pains, but the psychological weight of his last act weighed heavily on his soul.
"Sister Sister, our Dear Guest is finally awake"
"Rem Rem, it looks like our Dear Guest at long last has awoken"
Subaru knew he had to do it sooner rather than later, but he delayed raising his vision as long as he could, he wasn't ready right now.
""Dear Guest?"" Both of their voices sounded in unison with worry.
He braced himself mentally and opened his eyes, finding both of their faces too close for comfort, he couldn't help but stare at the, now alive, blue eyes. Gulping down the instinctive fear and guilt, he teared his eyes off her, not without being noticed.
"Rem Rem, our Dear Guest is staring at you lustfully" The pink-haired maid commented with her usual bite.
Subaru let out a grimace at her words, seeing them staring at him in surprise he quickly shifted to a smile and a thumbs up to keep with the appearances and deflect their attention from his slip up, "Whoever chose those outfits really knew his stuff"
Both maids recoiled at his comment, holding their hands, again from his point of view, they spoke in unison.
"Sister Sister, our Dear Guest is a pervert"
"Rem Rem, our Dear Guest is a barbarian"
Smiling sadly to himself, he extended his arms and said loudly, "Let's get along" Seeing their confused stares, he continued, "Could you leave me alone for a bit? Need to recollect my thoughts"
Both maids looked at each other for a moment, and turned back to him and bowed in sync, but a sudden freeze from Rem caught Subaru's attention, he saw her again sniffing the air, at this point he had assumed it was a tick she had, but the way her look turned from confused to hostile sung alarm bells in his mind.
She murmured to her side in an almost inaudible tone had he not been paying attention, "...Sister" Which was answered by a subtle shake of her head. After that exchange the twins turned around and left the room.
"What was that? Did...Did they mistrust me from the beginning?" Rem's words in the last loop played on repeat in his mind.
A familiar presence on his mind stopped his train of thought, "Vega? You th-" An intense oppressive feeling filled his being. Grief. Anger. Sorrow. And then went away as fast as it came out.
A low growl broke the silence, "You!...You bastard!"
The sheer vitriol on his voice shocked Subaru, then before he could reply, Vega continued.
"Why!? Why would you even do that? SHE TRIED TO KILL YOU!" No matter how much he tried to imagine his partner's thought process, the spirit couldn't comprehend his actions, his hysteria making him lash out.
Astonished as he was, Subaru could barely get a word out, "I had to-"
The spirit didn't even bother to let him mount a defense, not even bothering to hear him, he continued his rant, "Do you feel that you are invincible!? We are not even sure if you have a limited amount of retries!"
Instinctively Subaru gulped at the thought, he had in private entertained the thought but assumed he would have a way to keep track of them if he truly had a limited amount.
"There you go again, I heard that thought! Again taking this all like a game, one big adventure fantasy! You have no quest, you have no obligations with them! We could get a sum of money, and get a comfortable life, there is no need to keep risking yourself!" A soft whimper continued, "...There is no need for you to keep dying for them. You have been through more than enough on our first week"
Nearly an entire minute of silence passed by, Subaru in deep thought replaying the last hour in his mind, after the silence became uncomfortable he finally broke it, "...I've been a crap friend to you haven't I?" Sensing the confusion from his spirit he continued, "I was so focused on myself that I completely forgot you were apart of the deal, for that I am sorry"
"Does that mean you will-" His voice was filled with hope.
"No" Subaru instantly answered, bringing his hopes down, "I couldn't live with myself knowing I could have stopped a tragedy"
He couldn't comprehend his reasoning for going that far, "Why? You have barely known them for a week! And now you may as well have never even met them!"
"Petra wishes to become a renowned seamstress/tailor in the capital when she grows up" He started, "Luca wants to succeed his father as the village woodcarver. Mildo wanted to visit the flowerbeds near the village to make a crown of flowers for her mother's birthday"
"Meyna was joyful because she was gonna become a big sister next week. And the brothers Dyne and Cain were both trying so hard to impress Petra, I am mostly sure they have a small childish crush on her" He stopped himself with a sad smile, "All of those dreams and hopes will die, never to be fulfilled if we don't do anything"
"And the maids!? One killed you and the other desperately tried to!" The spirit tried to search for any reason for him to run away.
Subaru grimaced at the memory, "You heard them, both said that they trusted me before they.. Erm" he cuts himself off seeing where the conversation was going, "The point is, there is something we are missing here, you saw it yourself, they warm up to me through the week, we just need to learn what it is, and we can make them trust us"
"So let's try again...For the very first time" A flash of an image of him reaching for an approaching dim light in a void appeared in his mind, but it disappeared before he could comprehend it.
For yet another minute absolute silence filled the guest room, which was this time broken with Vega barely whispering, "One" he paused briefly before finishing his sentence, "one more time I'll let you play hero. But no more, please"
Subaru smiled and gave a thumbs up to the empty room, answering with utter confidence "We don't need more!" He hesitantly lowered his thumbs up a moment after, realizing that if anyone had seen this, he would have looked like a loonie.
###
###
Luckily for him, the maids had placed his clothes outside the room, so he didn't need to go to the garden in a robe or with Vega out, that would have caught too much attention far too early.
Like last time he arrived just as Emilia had finished her daily spirit commune, which he thought was for the best, the less things changed, the more he could predict the outcome.
He went to salute her but hesitated, he had forgotten what he had promised to do last time, the weight of regret crushing once more, "Good morning Emilia-tan" He said to her, shaking off his thoughts, calling out her attention.
Turning around to see him, her eyes sparkled with recognition, smiling back she answered him, "Morning Sir- Subaru" "I am happy to see you up so soon, I worried when the maids told me you wanted to be alone, something wrong with...?" She left the question open, her finger pointing at his chest
Like last time, he waved off her concerns, "Just needed a moment with my spirit, we were a bit nervous after...last night" he finished with an awkward grimace, changing topics he did a small bow with a smirk, "Thanks for taking us in and healing us Emilia-tan, you really are the best"
She flustered instantly, "Is not really that much, you saved my life it was the least I could do"
Just as Subaru was going to comment on her flustered looks, Puck came out of her hair, flying straight at him, with his fist ready to punch him. His eyes widened minutely and he felt the usual sensation of his armor equipping, but it would be too slow to block the impact, it had only reached the neck when Puck's fist impacted against his cheek with all his might.
*PAW*
"...Ouch?" He answered after some beats, unsure of how to react after such a puny attack.
"What was that for!?" The Artificial spirit demanded, his voice short-breathed and startled, he really was not prepared for such scares so early.
The flying cat recoiled his paw and flew backwards to Emilia, "Something you just said angered me. But I forgive you, had it not been for you two, I could have lost Lia yesterday" Crossing his arms, he continued with an offer Subaru already expected, "To repay you, you can wish for anything, and if i can do it, I will help"
Instantly beating down his, let me pet you instincts, he went with the answer Vega and he had already pre-planned, "I have some experience with spirit...arts was it?" Sensing an affirmation from the artificial spirit he went on, "But I kinda want to learn normal magic too. So I would like to learn the basics"
Puck stood confused for a split second, he sensed that he was going to ask for something else, but changed at last moment, still the request baffled him, "Basic magic? Why hasn't your spirit taught you it? He should know"
Vega freezed at the question, quietly asking to himself unheard by all, "I...I was supposed to know this?"
"Still, Puck may not look like much, but he is a Great Spirit, he can do a lot more than teaching the basics" Emilia added.
Subaru only did his characteristic smile with a wink, "You may be right, but right now we only want to learn what we can do"
Both half-elf and the cat spirit stared at each other for a moment, and then shrugged, "You are not very greedy, aren't you?"
"Well, if that's what you want, and Lia's is okay with it, then I will concede your wish. I need to learn your affinity first" The cat slowly hovered in his direction, but he already cut him off.
"I am Yin, and Vega is Yang-" He cut himself off mid sentence now realizing the coincidental resemblance.
Puck was still undeterred and placed his paw on his forehead "I still need to check your gate, to know what we have to work with. Myon myon myon" Subaru passed the time wondering if saying "Myon'' was necessary.
"I see, as you said your affinity is pure Yin, very rare...How weird?, your gate is malformed?" The cat-spirit closed his eyes for a moment and then opened them in realization, "No, is packed to the brim, but not in a dangerous way"
Vega decided to rejoin the conversation, realizing he spent too much time berating himself, that should be left for later, "That would be my work, I have...some requirements"
Puck narrowed his eyes in suspicion, but decided to leave it alone for now, "Your gate is still too small, there are barely any openings. At best with a few decades of daily training you could scrape being a decent second-rate mage by yourself"
Subaru already knew this, doesn't mean it hurt any less being indirectly called incompetent in the face.
Emilia decided to chim in seeing the dejected look on Subaru, "Puck that was too mean, you saw him yesterday at work, I have hopes he will reach higher"
Subaru mood did a one-eighty instantly, "Ohh, your praise fills my heart with joy Emilia-tan"
The silver-haired girl blushed and looked away, and then looked at him strangely, "Tan? You said it last time too"
Subaru's heart squeezed painfully, "Just one more time, no more" He thought to steady himself and answered aloud, "Is just an endearment term from my home"
An awkward silence was about to happen, but Puck decided to carry on, "Sadly, Lia can't teach you any Yin magic, but I can do the basics, so what about teaching you a spell called Shamak, it's one of the simplest forms of yin"
Emilia's eyes brightened in recognition, "The magic disorienting smoke? I read it in a book once"
"I suppose smoke bombs at will would be kinda nice, teach me sensei" The nasty eyed man implored holding his palms together and lowering his head, earning a small giggle from the nearby elf from his antics.
"I think explaining it would be better with a demonstration first. Shamak!" Puck suddenly casted the spell without giving the pair time to properly react.
Barely a heartbeat after the last syllable left the spirit mouth, his vision got shrouded in darkness. By reflex he yelled aloud, but no sound reached his ears. His mind compared this event kinda similar to what happened, remembering him of the events of the last loop that he tried desperately to ignore. A shiver went up his spine at being severed from the outside world.
"Vega… Vega, are you there? Please answer me" Subaru desperately tried to reach for his last hope of any kind of outside contact.
He reached out towards his partner but even the sound of his voice didn't reach his head.
"I'm-"
"And that's it" He heard right after the spell dissipated and he was mentally thrown back to the open field.
"...Subaru? Are you okay?" Emilia asked in worry, looking at his state.
Blinking a few times he realized he was both shaking and in his suited form, through his mental-link he felt that his companion was slightly terrified as well, and had reacted in a panic.
"...Yes, yes, I am fine" He tried to play it off as a normal scare, his helmet came off, but not the rest of the armor, he let Vega that small comfort, "Is not nice to surprise people like that, give me a warning next time" He let out a small uncomfortable laugh.
"Now to teach you it, I will help you both with it as it is your first time" Turning around he stared at the girl, "Lia, move back a little, if his mana unravels, it might blow up. It would be a shame if it were to stain your clothes."
The other spirit present took a double-take at his words, "I beg your pardon? You had me lost at possible self-detonation?"
Not being capable of hearing him, Emilia spoke on top of Vega drowning his concerns, "It's not like it's gonna happen, right!? It basically never happens!" She still obeyed his words, and slowly backed away...a bit too much.
"Hold up, can we talk about this for a quick minute? There is a fine print here that wasn't mentioned and it might be a reason why living yin mages are so rare to begin with" Their words sparked second thoughts on Subaru, but it was too late to stop the spirit.
Puck ignored him and sat on his hair, "Not as comfortable as Lia, too prickly" He complained and then proceeded to get as cozy as he could, "Anyways, Vega if you allow me, I will aid in controlling the flow of mana so you both can do it later"
"...Fine, but if we explode you are paying for this" Sadly for him, the advantages of learning to cast magic outweighed his concern for the theoretically small chance of exploding.
Puck stopped for a moment, but shrugged off the threat, as far as he knew, the spirit couldn't do anything by itself. Placing his paws on his forehead he started his work.
His body felt slightly hot instantly, like a warmth that flowed parallel through his veins. He absent-mindedly noticed that the feeling was more wild than when Vega had the reins on it.
"Try to imagine it, Subaru. Move your mana out of your body and through your gate. Try to picture it as a black cloud going out of a door" Puck helpfully guided him through the entire process.
"Just imagine it? Easy, daydreaming is my specialty" He shamelessly commented aloud.
Without thinking about it, he went for the familiar feeling he had when he summoned spirits, but the moment he tried to push it, a slight pain coupled with a few shouts stopped him in his tracks.
""STOP"" Both the cat and the artificial spirit yelled simultaneously.
"Okay? I am going to assume it wasn't supposed to hurt?" He still wondered why they jumped so quickly.
At his wide-eyed stare, Puck explained, "You were pulling from your Od, you could kill yourself like that"
A nervous sweat fell from his temple realizing what a mistake he nearly made, yeah burning out his soul wasn't on his plans anytime soon.
"Let's try again"
They both spent a few minutes focusing, when he found what the gate feeling was, he imagined like he was opening a door to let the energy flow out.
He focused it all, and expelled it outside...and then the door slammed shut just before it could escape. Instantly he fell to the ground with what he associated with the magical equivalent of trying to hold in a huge sneeze.
"Subaru!" Emilia yelled in worry, getting closer at a brief pace.
Lifting his head up to stare at Puck he gasped out, "W-what was that!?"
The spirit shrugged, "It wasn't me, ask your spirit"
The spirit in question did a mental equivalent of a bow, "Apologies Sir, but I sensed that you were probably going to damage your gate carrying on like this. Next time try not to force it all out at once"
Hearing his comment and with his experience, Puck arrived at a conclusion, "I seem to have miscalculated, even Shamak is too much for your skill and gate. There is not much I can do to assist on my end."
"Puck, there must be something we can do, we still haven't completed our part of the deal" Emilia chastised her adoptive father, after giving up on helping the boy.
The spirit stared at her for a long while, and dropped his shoulders in surrender, "Only because Lia is asking, Betty is an expert on Yin magic, I could organize so she at least gives you a basic hands down"
Subaru did a face, last time he didn't have the best impression of the loli, but in retrospect, he wasn't exactly nice to her either.
Before they could continue the exchange, the twin maids arrived telling them that Roswaal had arrived, almost exactly the same as last time.
The only difference was that this time Rem outright looked at him with hostility for a split-second after smelling the air, a fact that didn't go unnoticed by both Subaru and Vega.
###
###
"Did you really need to do the same request for a third time in a row? We could have thought of something better" It wasn't high on their list of priorities, but it was still a lost opportunity.
"We could have, but I am content with the initial terms, more so after we saw the prices on the village, Ros-chi is really generous with his pay" If the village prices were similar around the country, Subaru calculated that he may be in the upper-middle class.
"Don't speak of Lord Roswaal in such casual terms, Barusu" A pink-haired maid materialized next to him, giving him a fright.
"Gah!" He jumped to the side almost breaking a few vases in the process, holding his chest he replied, "If this becomes routine, I am gonna have a heart attack before twenty"
"Such an incompetent worker. It makes one wonder how you got this far in life" narrowing her eyes in suspicion, she inquired him "Why are you in this part of the mansion, Barusu? First day and already getting lost? If so, please go get yourself lost in the forest"
"Geez, I was just searching for Beako, why would I find her in the forest? Does she have a secret library treehouse?" Subaru jokes, just wanting a rise from the maid.
"Beako?" She wondered for a split second, but a look of realization appeared on her features, answering her own question, "You mean Lady Beatrice. You act awfully familiar with everyone here. How lecherous. Ram can't fathom what false familiarities you will act upon next week if this is your first day"
Realizing that he looked like a weirdo right now he fired the first excuse he could think at the moment, "Well, it looks like I am going to be working here with you all for a little while at the very least. The least I can do is try to fit in the dynamic and know everyone to get along."
The maid looked like she wanted to make a snarky comment, but stopped herself, "Anyways, you are not going to locate Lady Beatrice like that, in all our years as maids Rem and I only have encountered ..." Subaru cut her off, when he suddenly dashed in front of her and slammed a door open.
"THERE!" He yelled, his voice echoing inside a large space, far too vast to be a mere normal room.
On the other side of the door, the forbidden library manifested, in it an annoyed drill-haired loli sat on her stool looking at him with a sneer, "You truly are an annoyance, in fact"
Turning around to the wide-eyed maid, he did a quick goodbye and closed the door, leaving her alone in the hallway.
This action only managed to annoy the spirit further, "Betty may have agreed to hear you, out of consideration for Bubby, but that's it, I suppose" She said with a scowl
Dramatically posing he grabbed with his hand a fistful of his shirt, on top of his heart, "You hurt me Beako. And here I thought we had made amends on lunch"
"Sir...not the time" His spirit chastised him, they needed to prepare for the fourth night, and the less time they had, the more danger they would be in.
"Is easy to see who is the brains of the duo, in fact. Now if you would stop acting so familiar with...what did you just call me?" She stopped her train of thought, finally comprehending what that man had called her.
Seeing Subaru discreetly whistling, busying himself staring at some book cover of the library, the girl just sighed in frustration and muttered aloud, "...Get closer, my patience to deal with your antics is quite limited, in fact"
Getting near her, she extended her arm at his forehead direction, lowering himself he let her touch the top of his head, "It would be appreciated if you were to refrain from repeating the events of this morning"
"Hmph, Betty has no need to repeat it...As Betty expected, your gate is just too small for casting Shamak safely" She already knew from Puck, but it was always good to confirm the exact limitations.
"So, there is no saving it?" Subaru asked dejectedly.
"Betty has said no such thing, in fact" She sharply replied, "Your gate is almost completely unused, like a newborn, with time and use it will slightly widen, then you will be capable of using it"
Her words turned his mood around, "That's a relief Beako! Still would have been nice to learn a spell sooner rather than later, thank you for your time" He turned around to leave, but mid-turn was stopped by the librarian who had grabbed his sleeve.
"Betty has not allowed you to leave just yet, in fact. Bubby's promise was to teach you a Yin spell, Betty won't let Bubby have an unpaid debt if she can help it"
"Do you mean...?"
"Yin is the magic of space and time, the fact that you believe it can only do a glorified smoke cloud is insulting, in fact" Her face scrunched in disgust, "Your problem with Shamak is that your gate is too weak to resist the sudden rush of mana, if the spell were to be more of a constant trickle, even your pitiful gate should hold"
"Worst case, I stop you like last time" Added Vega, confirming they didn't lose anything with trying.
"What does it do?" He asked with palpable enthusiasm, "Space-time magic, THAT is a lot better than what that clown said, maybe I learn to teleport? or maybe pocket-dimensions or maybe-"
While he was daydreaming, she got closer and gently held his arm, "Murak, I suppose!" The butterfly-eyed spirit exclaimed, snapping him out of his thoughts.
Confused, he looked around him, trying to see what she had done, "Huh? What was supposed to ha..." He stopped talking suddenly, when he realized he was surrounded by an aura of faint light purple waves and was no longer touching the floor.
She explained when Subaru looked at her eyes in shock, "That is Murak, it lowers the effect of gravity on the object it is cast upon touching, or one's-self. One can be made lighter, or outright negate gravity itself, letting you float like a leaf on the wind, in fact"
"...Surprisingly useful, this would aid us a lot in mobility" The spirit added, impressed with the possibilities raised by just a simple use of the spell.
Subaru nodded in affirmation while still floating, he proceeded to laugh and hype himself up while trying to shift around floating, "Finally, I knew it couldn't be that bad, just you wait Natsuki Subaru will..."
With her explanation done and bored with his ramblings, Betty released him and ceased its effect without warning.
Not expecting this, he was startled when he began his fall, flailing around for a fraction of a second, and falling to the wooden floor face-first, where he stood still for several moments, looking up to her with a scowl he spat out, "You did that on purpose, you loli"
"Betty doesn't know what you are spouting, in fact" She answered with only one eye open, and what Subaru was mostly sure of, a miniscule smile, "Now, hurry up on your feet. The sooner you learn it, the earlier Betty will have her peace restaurated"
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Author Notes: Hehe, Sorry for taking so long for this one, I struggled in some parts to go through, hopefully future chapters won't have the same problem. Many thanks to MagiCati for helping me with plot points and planification, and Crimson for betaing this chapter and cleaning some rough bits out. And to the Reactionist server too for answering some lore bits I didn't quite pin down.
See ya I suppose, any comment and criticism is welcomed.