Chapter 3: The girl who lives in the forest

The spirit Puck, known to be one of the 4 most powerful spirits today and the one who defeated Melakuera, survived the catastrophe of 400 years ago and traveled the world for several centuries to fulfill a contract and protect the thing he considered the most wonderful and precious of all. However, for the first time in centuries, he felt the world was falling apart.

The Great Spirit was completely lost... his daughter was the most important thing to him, his little Lia, his reason to exist, the person for whom he would give his life over and over again, the innocent girl who believed that babies came from kisses... She was sharing his bed with another man who was not him. The mere thought of seeing that was such that she left the princess room as fast as she could, as if refusing to accept being in this cruel reality.

"This can't be, this can't be, this can't be, this can't be" spinning in circles, Puck's head was going back and forth as he kept repeating the same thing in an attempt to erase the image... Was this some kind of mental manipulation, a bad joke played on his senses, perhaps the faulty contract was finally affecting his psyche? He quickly returned to the room, only to confirm his worst fears... it was nothing of the sort.

It was a black-haired brat, resting unabashedly on Lia's lap with a relieved expression as she stroked his hair.

Staring at the duo, he noticed that the boy was asleep and that Lia was imitating a bird being strangled... antics aside, he noticed that the boy had a wound on his shoulder.

"That will leave a mark," he said in a casual tone as he walked over to examine it. No major organs were damaged, but flesh was torn off, even Beatrice wouldn't be able to regenerate lost parts so there definitely wouldn't be a nice mark left on that shoulder, he pitied the woman who would be his mistress.

"Lia who is it?", Puck asked as he circled the boy without taking his eyes off the state of his shoulder... The torso part was exposed, probably to apply constant treatment, he noticed that, although the wound was treated with basic magic, there were no signs of complications. Puck was surprised that there wasn't even a trace of blood... "Lia must have cleaned it while she was treating him," he concluded.

"Hi Puck, this is Subaru, you see I found him badly injured after facing a Guiltilaw, so I brought him here for treatment," Emilia replied as she continued to play with the boy's hair.

"I see, I see... oh, so he's a spirit arts user too eh" Puck went down near the boy and started to inspect the necklace the young man had with him, he could feel the presence of some minor spirits inside, most likely they were refraining from coming out so as not to deplete his contractor's reserves.

"Yes... although it's the first time I've seen magic like that, it completely crystallized the Guiltilaw with almost the entire square" Emilia said this as she put her hand on her chin and recalled the scenario.

Emilia did not quite understand that she had witnessed the lost magic of the school of shadows, a school that did not belong to the 4 commonly known elements and that curiously was used by a figure with whom she shared many similarities.

Leaving the duo aside, Puck began to examine the boy's belongings. His winter tracksuit was partially damaged, but serviceable, he had some mana crystals in the pockets of his pants, but they were intact, his underwear didn't seem to suffer any damage either...

"He's crying because he's completely naked!? " Puck felt the world crumble and his father's heart break. The feeling of his heart freezing, his mind starting to create images of his own daughter defiled by a bastard in his own home and he really began to entertain the idea of getting rid of him by some methods Emilia should not see.

"hmnn... you see, he was full of blood and since I was going to treat him anyway, I cleaned him up and left his clothes there to wash him... Why do you look so worried? Don't worry, I made sure to clean him thoroughly," I assure him, not quite understanding Puck's blank look.

"you... thoroughly... Lia... bastard" dropping to the floor, Puck began to put the pieces together... Emilia bathed the boy while he was asleep.

"YOU CAN'T DO THAT!"

─ and that was the beginning of the fateful day of the Great Spirit.

※ ※ ※ ※ ※

"I told you, Puck. Subaru didn't do anything wrong to me, he could barely move, what's bothering you? You're acting so weird... you know I hate it when you hide things from me, heavens!", with a pout due to the cat's insistence, Emilia questions his behavior Why was he being so paranoid about an injured boy?

"Lia, a man and a woman can absolutely under no circumstances look at each other's body without their permission... what you did is not right, I already told you several times that it is bad manners not to have clothes on in front of someone," said the spirit while sighing resignedly.

"I told you he was covered in Blood, I had to do that to see if there were any other injuries to treat...plus I made sure I properly warmed his body and washed his clothes. I was not rude in the least" she was obviously polite, treated him as best she could and would not allow him to get sick or dirty while he was recovering.

"..."

"..."

"..."

"... "

"Y-you warmed her body huh..." Puck rose into the air as he looked at Emilia with wide eyes. "You know Lia, I think I'm a little more tired than usual... see you tomorrow Lia, please just summon me in case it's an emergency... also absolutely do it if that boy wakes up" the spirit went inside Emilia's jewel, taking with it various emotions that only a father would understand, most likely Emilia used magic to regulate the temperature in Subaru's body, but Puck wasn't mentally prepared yet to know.

※ ※ ※ ※ ※

Subaru awoke again after many hours, slowly opened his eyes and was pleased to discover that his world was not tilted on its axis.

"...ugh, I know this roof."

He took several breaths trying to ignore the stabbing pain he felt as he sat up, examining the place with his eyes. He turned his head and found the silver haired beauty on a chair next to the bed, holding his tracksuit as she looked at him.

Subaru's first thought was that he was contemplating the face of an angel. Unlike before, he was now wearing a hood that covered his ears.

A few strands of silver hair protruded from the hood, framing a complexion that looked like porcelain. The blood did not match at all with the image that young woman projected. Subaru looked down at her miserable attire and noticed that she wasn't even wearing any damn shoes. It wasn't as freezing cold inside as it was outside, of course, but it was too cold to walk around in those rags and bare feet.

"...hmnn your name is Emilia right...wait I..." He started to remember his first encounter with the girl next to him and suddenly Subaru's face turned red, with a blush covering even his ears. His heart rate started to increase, he began to stutter and felt the urge to commit suicide. Never before had he wished to simply disappear from the face of the earth without a trace as he had today.

He noticed that this time he was already wearing pants and only his torso was naked... he didn't know if he should be relieved or horrified that a woman had dressed him, since he would naturally see him again.

"You don't have to be scared-"Emilia tried to clarify the situation, but...

"Don't worry Subaru, it wasn't Lia who re-dressed you. " Emilia was interrupted by an androgynous voice that flaunted its presence.

Subaru looked around the room from side to side, but did not find the source of the voice.

"That was me, I'm Spirit Puck, delighted" a cat materialized in front of him and proceeded to introduce himself.

"Wow, that's the first time I've seen a spirit in form... I wonder if Lena will be like that too. " Letting out his thoughts and going on a tangent to regain his composure, Subaru assesses the appearance of the spirit Puck.

"Well, that depends on the form she wants to take, not all of us spirits have the same tastes and she could just stay as a little ball... hmnn Subaru wanted to apologize on Lia's behalf about the clothes. I made sure to scold her, but that girl doesn't have such developed common sense." Puck apologized to Subaru, though he really didn't care how he felt, it was kind of his duty as a father to do so.

"I wanted to apologize for that too, I feel really bad since I didn't know it was such a rude thing to do," Emilia said bowing her head.

"I see, well, it's not like it matters, having a cute girl check out my body is... it's a reward if you look at it from certain perspectives, so I wouldn't mind if you did it again," he said this while waving his hands in an embarrassed manner, he decided to think positive, after all she saved his life, using those thoughts Subaru wiped away some of the shame that was eating away at him, but he didn't realize at the time what he was saying and the expression of the cat in front of him.

"If you do anything to my daughter I will disappear you. " The tone of voice the cat adopted was the same, for some reason it was solemn. Only Subaru's mind could hear it, he wondered how a little thing could do that, was it telepathy ... wait His daughter!?

Subaru quickly glanced at the two of them, intercalating his gaze before focusing on the absurdly powerful cat. Even Subaru was able to feel the mana swirling around him, he realized that it was a death sentence from the cat spirit.

"Listen, I don't know what you're looking for here, but my daughter saved your life, so you'd better not try anything... besides, we had warned the townspeople to stay away. what do you want?" The cat began to question the boy, this time not using his mind for it.

"Puck! Why are you threatening him?! Subaru didn't do anything wrong to be treated like this. " Emilia scolded her annoyed father, who was exaggeratedly paranoid.

Subaru took the moment to answer: "I was on my way to the mining town of Ganacks, but since I was short of provisions, I was looking for the forest Elf village to resupply and I met that monster... I have no bad intentions towards you, I swear it does nothing to bother you", he decided to clear up the cat's doubts honestly.

Subaru did not notice that Emilia was petrified at his response, Puck, aware of the reason, continued the conversation to give his daughter space to recover.

"You're not lying... I'm sorry, but the Elf village no longer exists, you may have seen those statues... they were all frozen 100 years ago. If you want to resupply you could try the surrounding villages, there's a village half a day from here." Puck explained this to the boy as he floated closer to the Emilia.

"I see... I've never heard of such a thing, their remains remain intact after so much eh..." not decomposing due to being frozen, Subaru thought it would be appropriate to give them a burial to rest in peace... Wasn't it disturbing that their corpses are, just like that?

"They're not dead," Emilia replied, ignoring Subaru's thoughts. "They're just frozen, but they're still staying alive... they're just waiting for the right time to wake up."

Subaru understood with regret that this was not a topic Emilia wanted to address, so she changed the subject.

"... I see, Well that's great... I think I'll get going, I have some money with me that will cover the inconvenience" Subaru said as he prepared to stand up.

"I don't think it's right to use the stones that belong to the forest to pay off your debt," Puck spat.

"Oh, that, sorry, I didn't think I'd bother someone taking them... but don't worry, this way I have some money in my purse... Emilia and my purse?" Subaru had started to examine the room with his eyes, but he couldn't manage to find one of his belongings...

"Bag? I'm sorry Subaru, but you didn't have any bag when I found you" putting her hand on her chin, Emilia started to remember the place where she found him, there was nothing but the pulverized fragments of some parts of the place... Will it have been left under the snow? It was unlikely since it didn't take her long to turn to the boy.

"Huh... didn't I have an ultra-large backpack with me... don't tell me I destroyed it by mistake!" Subaru most likely dropped it when he was attacked by that thing... and he had thrown THE MINYA in all directions, it wasn't hard to come to a conclusion.

"I've lost everything because of my own stupidity!" All his money and plans were lost out of the blue.

"I'm a big, stupid fool through and through."

"You shouldn't talk about yourself like that, you are lucky very lucky to have survived, besides I didn't ask you for any compensation," Emilia scolded.

"I'm truly sorry Emilia, I'll find a way to make it up to you for all the trouble" he bowed his head to the girl next to him.

"You know Subaru, I think it's better to hear a 'thank you' than 1000 'I'm sorry', besides I did what anyone would do, you don't have to worry about that" shaking her head, Emilia rejected Subaru's words gently.

'How sweet...' he thought to himself. It wasn't something just anyone would do, he knew better than anyone else.

Did Subaru help anyone since he was summoned?

Did he witness something similar at Gusteko?

She was an Angel from start to finish.

"Thank you Emilia, thank you for saving me..." he said as he gave her a smile, he just couldn't help but grin like a jerk.

The cat spirit stood on the sidelines, as it superficially analyzed the boy's mind.

※ ※ ※ ※ ※

"And with this we are done," said the black-haired boy, as he placed a piece of cloth in a bucket.

It had been almost a couple of weeks since he confronted the lion-shaped beast, while his body was recovering, he had agreed to help Emilia take care of the statues in the forest, at first she refused, but the insistent Subaru managed to convince her.

"Yes, thank you very much for the help Subaru" said the silver haired beauty... Subaru could only let out an 'awww' every time he heard his name being uttered by that Emilia, even though he had already spent more than 2 weeks doing it.

"Subaru, I know I may seem very pushy, but are you really okay? You don't have to exert yourself too much. " Emilia asked this question while giving him an inquisitive look, as if carefully examining his condition, that expression was also super charming.

"I'm super fine Emilia-tan, although it hurts a little when I move, I'm absolutely fine if I'm with you. " Putting his healthy arm over her head, Subaru said this while avoiding direct contact, obviously embarrassed.

"That's not what 'be well' means... So? You've been using it for a while now What does tan mean?" innocently cocking her head to the side and ignoring the import of his statement I ask that.

"I-it's a nickname from my homeland, it means I liked you and I want to be your friend. " Subaru got a little nervous, smiling foolishly and throwing a thumbs up.

"oh- ... jeez, you're such a dummy! Sometimes I just can't with you, you're such a knucklehead! Let's go find something for you to cook. " Emilia exploded in a blush and dismissed him as she headed to the princess's room to drop off her tools. She wasn't used to interacting with other people, so her reactions were sometimes peculiar, but cute.

"who says knucklehead that in this day and age? ", he asked.

Emilia pouted as she walked away at a faster speed. Subaru was getting used to Emilia's strange idioms by now, but he couldn't help but tease her.

They both had something of a routine, in the mornings Subaru would wake up early to do his radio-calisthenics while Puck would tend to his contractor's Hair, Subaru would eventually be interrupted by an annoying Emilia, then they would both clean the statues, commune with the spirits, Emilia would hunt something for Subaru to cook and in the evenings Subaru would give Emilia singing lessons with 'Mr. Bucket'. Everything would be relatively perfect if it weren't for a certain cat that intimidated his spirits and wanted him dead.

What was the reason for this? Simple, both Emilia and Subaru slept in the same bed.

Subaru had made a makeshift bed, Emilia didn't seem to understand that a man and a woman can't share a bed... and though Subaru's stubbornness came out 'Victorious'. Every morning he would wake up being used as a Teddy Bear while Puck glared daggers at him...

"haaa... I guess I should go tend to Lena," sighing as he remembered the annoying cat, Subaru also headed to the princess's room.

'I told you Leah, Subaru...no, not just Subaru, all men are wolves that a girl can't trust...if you ever get him with the look of a beast you absolutely have to call me.'

'But you said he had no bad intentions... besides he looks like a nice boy to me and I like his look,' he defended as he stroked the cat's mane. In Subaru's eyes he looked absolutely adorable, he didn't know what they were talking about, but he could tell it wasn't anything good at least.

Subaru was absorbed in watching as Emilia was lost in the moment, her beautiful flowing silver hair, her skin white and pure as snow, her beautiful amethyst orbs, her long slender limbs, her nimble fingers caressing meticulously...

"*Smile*"

He looked away from that obnoxious cat, he knew how to drive him out of his mind, he could read his mind, feeling his emotions without even touching him and Subaru was not amused. Subaru didn't want anyone to see through him, knowing his true nature, his insecurities, and the cat seemed to be damn aware of even what was eating him up inside this last month.

Subaru was nothing more than a smelly, no-nothing killer taking advantage of an innocent girl...that's what he honestly thought deep in his heart and it was something no one else needed to know.

Hell, what would Emilia think if she really knew him?

The answer was obvious to Subaru...

"Subaru?..." I look back at Emilia to find her looking at him with a worried expression.

"Are you okay, you were making a very painful expression just now."

"Huh?" he was confused.

"If you're not feeling well, you can rest, I won't bother in the least. " Emilia's first thoughts upon seeing his face, were concern for his well-being... 'How sweet' was what Subaru was thinking at the moment.

"It's nothing Emilia-tan, I was just thinking of something unimportant. " Having said that, he noticed Puck's gaze... who was staring at him.

Was he reading her mind again?

-The level of humiliation he felt was even greater than when Emilia saw him naked, he hated the cat and himself for it...

※ ※ ※ ※ ※

"Huma. " It was a small whisper with I summoned an icicle of ice the size of his arm that quickly headed for its target piercing cleanly through his heart.

It was a jet black deer with dark green tones, the death was quick and painless. The perpetrator of such a crime was none other than the horrible witch that inhabited the forest.

"I made it!" Victoreo to herself, she felt bad for the poor animal, but she had already long ago had to decide to do this in order to survive.

The one in charge of getting the food was none other than Emilia, while Subaru was in charge of the kitchen with the culinary skills he acquired during his half-year in this world.

Although the roles were reversed, it was by far the most optimal option, Emilia was much better at this than Subaru, being faster and stronger, she could easily locate, hunt and transport such animals... above all.

"Subaru's food is delicious," that being said, Subaru's cooking skills were... mediocre at best, he was a city boy and the most he knew how to cook was instant food, he couldn't compare to people versed in this, but it was enough to overwhelm the null skills Emilia had in the kitchen.

"I wonder what that fool is doing" Emilia began to think about the black-haired boy who had lately been living with her.

She had found him on the verge of death a few minutes from home... Being so injured, she decided that he should stay until he recovered.

Puck said he had no bad intentions, he didn't even seem to be afraid of her appearance, Emilia was happy about this and when he said they were friends... her heart started to race and she felt she would almost cry on the spot.

The boy was a Spiritualist, like her. Puck seemed to like him, but she felt there was some tension between the two of them...they were both jerks.

Although Emilia enjoyed his company, he was also a constant source of worry and even stress.

He was a great fool who teased her every chance he got, woke up early to do a strange dance even though he could barely move, repeatedly made jokes about her being 'Linda' and that she was deaf-mute He said she couldn't sing! He would also sometimes stare at her with a crimson red face and say she was nothing and at night she caused a lot of trouble falling asleep. Emilia noticed that he used to have nightmares when he slept alone, so she always carried him in her bed so he could rest well.

"Jeez that knucklehead" she said this as she picked up her pace, whether it was to take out her stress or because she wanted to see him already, even she didn't know.

※ ※ ※ ※ ※

"Goa," he whispered faintly lighting the fire, Subaru began to boil the water while mixing some ingredients.

It was not unlike Gusteko's environment, so at least he knew which spices were useful and which were not.

"I'm so not 'cool'..."

While Emilia was in charge of the hunt, the least Subaru could do was this. While he was better at cooking, he would have preferred to eat Emilia's food... well, probably the arrangement would be the same. But the feeling of importance wouldn't go away and it was further proof of his uselessness to fend for himself.

Subaru should do everything for his angel. She had saved his life. And, even if it had not been so, after seeing that woman so small, so fragile, sad and lonely, nothing was going to stop him from moving heaven and earth until he was sure that she was protected at all times. That was already a personal matter.

Rage consumed her again. Was that the price she had to pay for her appearance? Did everyone have to treat her so badly because of her resemblance to the Witch?

Emilia's situation was pitiful, she was not able to farm, or cook, or go to town to get food. She had casually told him that sometimes children threw stones at her... As if it was normal!

She was an angel, she was kind, optimistic, beautiful and would not intentionally hurt anyone... But that angel had nothing. No one. Until that moment.

What the hell is Puck helping him with?

The hated spirit did not even properly fulfill its role as guardian spirit, he did not spend most of his time with her, barely being able to materialize for a few hours and sleeping even during his working hours.

No one would ever hurt that girl again, she would never face the world alone again. He swore to himself.

"I must hurry before Emilia-tan returns. "

Emilia was the silver-haired angel who had saved his life and allowed him to stay for a while. She was his angel.

Subaru ignored the anger simmering in his veins, determined to concentrate on making sure that angel enjoyed that dinner as much as possible. He would make sure you never have to eat anything you don't like again, he pledged solemnly.

That said, his skill was mediocre and he still couldn't 100% replicate the mayonnaise, he hoped Emilia would like it, but here he didn't have the ingredients... Because of course he would get it out of here!

Subaru had plans to go Ganacks, it was one of the cult's main headquarters, hopefully he would find more information about Satella and how to get back to his world, but...

"I had to mess it all up as usual. " The faulty gospel he had been given was meant to be his personal notepad, an act of blasphemy to those sick people, but he didn't care about that right now. Subaru had written down all the contents and information collected for 6 months, including the exact position of the various cathedrals in the country. Aside from almost dying, he had lost all his money and the only pass he had to make contact with the only group that might know the way back.

At that time Subaru couldn't like anything about that world, the cultural difference, its values, its people, its food, nothing was as good as what he had in his old world. Even if he could use magic, it wasn't something that could compare to what he lost in his world. His spirits were his ultimate comfort, but they could barely say a word to each other... Subaru knew they loved him and he loved them all the same... but that alone was not enough for the Subaru who desperately wanted to be loved, they served as a bridge for Subaru to move on, but each time he felt like he was going nowhere, half a year since he was summoned, he had changed so much and he was terrified of what he was becoming, this whole thing was rotten, they are rotting him, everyone was so selfish, even himself and when he returned he was sure no one else would want him.

But now that he met Emilia everything changed, she was sweet, kind, beautiful, he was very hurt by her situation and wanted to keep her as soon as possible. Although a part of him wanted to take her with him, he still didn't have the courage to tell her, he didn't have the courage to break his dreams, but he didn't have the heart to leave her there forever.

Emilia did not belong in a doomed Forest, she deserved better.

But was Subaru the one? How would she take the truth that her people are doomed to die with or without the ice?

To hell with that, she needed to know the truth... Maybe she didn't know it yet, but of course she belonged to someone: she belonged to him.

And Subaru would save it.

NOTES: Thank you very much for following this Fic, I will always be reading your comments, opinions and critiques about this work. I will also answer doubts if something is not clear.