Note: Special thanks to my Beta Reader

CHAPTER 4: Those who are beyond salvation.

"Good morning, Subaru! Although technically that would not be correct to say since it just got dark."

The voice that woke him up was penetrating directly into his head rather than through vibrations in the air; it was a strange sensation. When the understanding reached him, he could not avoid noticing that it was similar but different from the connection he had with Lena.

"So, it's you. What do you want, Puck? Aren't you working overtime from your contract?" Despite being a mental conversation, Subaru recognized the lazy and androgynous voice. Even if not, he knew only one person who was capable of doing this. Subaru couldn't help but show some resentment.

"I don't understand why you always have to be so angry with me. If it's because of Lía, I can assure you that I didn't say anything bad about you. " Not only was that a lie, but he knew perfectly well that he didn't like having his privacy invaded. To begin with, the voice didn't even have the decency to introduce himself and speak to her face.

"As if that. What do you want? Do you need to be around to keep reading my mind and discover all my secrets?" t he boy spat. Puck knew things about Subaru that he hadn't told anyone and particularly liked to comment on his regrets. Although there was no malice in his tone, they were things that Subaru did not want to discuss with anyone.

"I cannot do something as convenient as what you say, but I am aware that you have not harbored intentions for a long time. I also know that you care about Lía, and that is what I want to talk about. " Puck began to emit a certain aura of seriousness that Subaru did not overlook. He had never seen Puck serious. This was different even when he threatened him in the morning.

"You have been here for almost two months, and I am sure you are thinking of taking Emilia out of the forest, right?" Puck hit the nail on the head. Subaru did want to take Emilia with him because he didn't think that life here could give a naive girl like Emilia happiness.

"It's not like I denied it, Puck. This can't be called life, and those elves are lost" Emilia shouldn't stay here forever. She can't grow anything, she doesn't have adequate clothes, and the nearby towns want her dead. Besides,

"I know. I suppose you already know that the Black Serpent's poison is spread throughout the forest. Most likely, this ice is due to a method they used to stop it, so even if they woke up, there is a high chance that the poison in their bodies will too." Puck confirmed Subaru's suspicions. Since he had first arrived, he could see traces of how the curse affected the forest. In fact, even Emilia has told him how she had witnessed that part of the poison that had life inside the ice once escaped and created many problems for her. Everything he pointed out was related to the forest being frozen.

"So, if you already knew, are you coming to tell me not to get close to Emilia and just mind my own business?"

It was no secret that there was a certain rivalry between them when it came to Emilia. Puck was inordinately overprotective and leaving the forest was something he would deny Emilia if he could. Well, at least that's how it was from Subaru's perspective.

"As much as I don't like having flies hovering over my daughter, I know that you are thinking about her well-being, and although this gives me complex feelings, it makes me happy that you think that way about her, and that is why I want you to help me convince her to leave the forest as soon as possible. "

Puck said this while demonstrating in front of Subaru.

Hey?

"I want you to listen to me carefully, wake up Lía and take her out. I don't have much time left to communicate in this way so pay attention."

─An armed group.

According to Puck, the spirits of the area detected an entire military camp within the forest a few hours ago.

"Are you sure it's not about people trying to transport something? You know the forest is used for that, right?"

The Forest is known to be a large, uninhabitable, and dangerous place. Consequently, many bandits, smugglers, slavers, or people who tried to cross the borders used it for these purposes. Passing in groups was normal if you wanted to face the various beasts that occupied the north of the place.

"Yes, if it were a small group, I wouldn't even be able to feel them, but such quantity… such quantity gives me a bad feeling. I could confirm that they are moving with hostile intentions at the moment." Puck informed me.

"Do you know where they are going?"

"Their targets are probably villages near the forest. This fighting force is not something that can be repelled by anyone around; even I would refuse."

"In any case, we should go inform them. We can't just look aside when we can do something! Even if they had no fighting force to repel the invaders, they could still evacuate civilians in nearby cities."

"I knew you would say that. Subaru, there is nothing to do. I'm talking about this because I know you have more common sense than Lía, and you don't need to punish yourself so much for that matter, just like now. I guess there was nothing you could do."

"W-I'm not punishing myself, and STOP READING MY MIND! Who do you think you are to go looking in the thoughts of others!" It was as if something had exploded inside him.

"Calm down Subaru, this is not the time for this, but I want you to know that I didn't read your mind. It's that you mutter it while you sleep."

"YOU BASTARD! Do you think I'm dumb or something!".

"NATSUKI SUBARU!" A voice that he had never heard hit him. It was so imposing that Subaru's anger went to nothing in its presence.

"Have you calmed down?"

"Yes. Is that your real voice? I thought it would be indifferent to the situation, soft and fluffy."

"I don't usually raise my voice very often, but if it's for Lía, or to put a disobedient child in his place, I can make an exception."

"Disobedient child, thank you."

Subaru gave a little sigh before Puck's word. He couldn't deny them, and he realized that his ugly attitude was being problematic and it was not the time for it. Even if there were things that bothered him, it was pathetic that he couldn't contain himself despite the situation.

"So, what am I supposed to do? They are seeking to take over the forest. The number of resources that can be extracted is no small thing"

"Take Lía out immediately to some safe village or city and take care of her. There are some pyroxene crystals that Lía collected under her bed." saying this, Puck cut off his connection with Subaru most likely because he has reached his limit.

Looking at the silver-haired girl, Subaru swore to himself that he would protect her.

The lights of the night sky were hidden, shrouded in thick smoke and soot and fading in their presence. The darkness of the night engulfed everything.

Subaru was arriving at the village, and despite the cold night, the closer he got, the closer he could feel the heat of the flames and could see the ashes permeating as little specks of light in the darkness.

" I'm a jerk. I'm definitely a jerk. " He cursed himself between gasps.

Subaru ran and ran through the snow, panting heavily from the cold night air and the smoke rushing through his lungs. His mind was plagued with remorse for not seeing this coming.

Lena, the little quasi-spirit, was prepared for any scenario acknowledging her contractor's anxiety.

That woman just had to ignore his worries and leave him behind.

"I should have seen it coming, damn it," he chided himself. It was obvious that Emilia would act like this.

He could remember that as they emerged from the forest, far into the distance, they had seen smoke cover the horizon.

"Sons of bitches." He knew it would happen, but he couldn't help but be outraged by the situation. By the time he realized it, his partner had already jumped on the edge of danger, leaving him behind without saying a word.

The closer he got, the more he could hear the cries of supplication and pain. A ball of fear swirled in his chest, and he found himself unable to swallow. His instinct screamed at him to turn and run, but he had a duty to Puck to protect her. No, it wasn't just his duty to that spirit. It was a need much deeper, ingrained in his being like an innate instinct. It was in the heat of that moment where he made up his mind that he would not abandon her. He would not give her up. Emilia was his and only his.

"Emilia please don't do anything stupid." She was physically stronger than him, and even though he ran with all his might, he still couldn't match her superhuman speed. Even though he knew her strength, there were so many things that scared him that he simply couldn't be calm if she wasn't by his side.

Could he blame her for running to help? No, Subaru himself understood perfectly what Emilia's heart must have felt. He himself would have wanted to jump to do something for those people, even if he was too much of a coward to actually do it. If it wasn't for Emilia, he would certainly have run away as always.

Subaru stepped into the middle of the sea of flames. Screams of fury echoed while the town was bathed in the scent of blood and fire, a much more atrocious sight than he had imagined. Countless charred bodies and precious lives were lost, and for the Dragon, Subaru hoped that Emilia was not among them.

"Please, please, please." His heart thumped in his chest, his hands were frozen, and his soul was about to collapse. There was no sign of the silver-haired girl. In every part of the village he saw carnage like he had never seen before. His chest felt nauseous, but he couldn't sag now.

Subaru kept running, desperately searching for his beloved. He got to a point where he could see the naked and partially charred bodies of several women along the way. It was an act of barbarism that almost made him vomit. The women had been stripped of their dignity before being murdered. What kind of sick man would be capable of such a thing?

Subaru felt a hole in his chest just thinking about what kind of fate could await Emilia. He didn't even know if he wanted to find her if he had to see this. There were so many emotions swirling intensely in his head that he felt like he would go crazy. Worry, fear, anger, rage, fear ...

Suddenly he could see a group of more or less 6 soldiers approaching a specific area. When he recognized their armor, deep anger arose within him and he continued to release it without contemplation.

"EL MINYA."

In an instant, Subaru unleashed his anger against the enemy, and before they could even realize that they were being attacked, the soldier's bodies had been brutally impaled and broken into unrecognizable fragments.

It was a quick and merciless death. Subaru didn't feel any remorse for what he did. Were these people worthy of compassion or mercy? He quickly went to where the soldiers were pointing.

"UL HUMA!"

Subaru immediately recognized the beautiful voice that made the chant. He felt unspeakable relief to discover that she was still alive.

"Emilia!" he coughed. The smoke interfered with his field of vision, but even so, he ran towards the origin of the voice. Subaru found multiple soldiers impaled on ice pillars on the way; obviously, the work of a certain half-elf he knew.

Subaru looked at Emilia, who was biting her lip, noticing that her gaze had an intensity that he had never seen in her. She emitted an aura of such hostility that he did not believe it was the same Emilia he spent 2 months living by.

Meanwhile, the recipient of her glare was a horseman who carried a large spear ... no, it was a Nigatana; a type of halberd of Japanese origin. Subaru might have been taken by surprise by its resemblance to a weapon from his world if not for the thing impaled on the thing's glaive. It was the remains of a small child, burnt and evenly roasted, everything indicated that the horseman had been playing with it.

On the colossal horse-shaped black beast was a soldier. Scarred and clad in worn-out armor, it was obvious that he had been trained for combat; an imposing figure that gave a certain sense of danger. Seeing this, Subaru immediately recognized the rider's armor. It was the leader of the attack.

"My, my. Look what we have here, the half-bitch-witch of the forest!" the man spat with disdain. He had taken a fighting stance while making gestures of false courtesy. "Come with me, precious. I will treat you well. "

"Emilia!" Before Subarucould intervene, the rider charged the young half-elf with tremendous speed. Even with all her agility, Emilia would have no chance to evade him.

Emilia, being a magician, had the advantage in ranged combat. The best she could do to face the rider was to keep a stand-off distance. It was the fastest way to ensure victory. The rider, aware of this, attacked as fast as possible.

"UL HUMA"

Again summoned ice pillars emerged from the ground, and the beast, betrayed by its speed and strength, fell right into the makeshift trap. The ice pillar had pierced him from the shoulder to the rump. It was a reckless move on the rider's part, even if they were a highly experienced horseman; one cannot stop speed abruptly once it had reached its zenith.

It could be said that it was a miscalculation on the part of the rider for not seeing it coming. Had he thought it a bit more though, Subaru doubted that Emilia would have succeeded. It was a kind of trap typical of fire mages.

The rider fell violently to the ground. Although he lost his trusty steed, he quickly recovered and started to cut the distance considerably. The rider emitted an aura that only the most experienced warriors could achieve. Even from the armor, Subaru already knew that this was not just any average soldier.

Emilia, who only had low-level spirits, was far from her prime; An alarming situation for a certain black-haired man.

"MINYA."

Taking advantage of the fact that the smoke hid his presence, Subaru got into the fight mercilessly attacking the man without warning.

"El FULA"

Using his weapon imbued with the power of the wind the rider received Subaru's attack with his own, creating an air blast to try to repel the shards.

Subaru didn't consider himself a high-level fighter, and in fact, he wasn't even someone who liked to get into fights, to begin with. But a part of him was impressed that his opponent was able to react to his surprise attack sent from a blind spot by an unknown enemy.

Both powers met, but the Minya shards could not be completely repelled. Fragments of the dark crystals embedded themselves in the Rider's arm and face while on Subaru's side, the damage was minimal given the distance, most of the damage being superficial cuts.

"Ahhh."

Partially consumed, the fragments of the Minya spell left a grotesque image of the rider as it crystallized and disintegrated the affected parts. The talented warrior was now on the ground, writhing in pain and the blood of his faithful steed. No doubt it was such a disgusting sight that it would make anyone look away.

Subaru doubted the rider would survive the battle in this state even if the fire did not catch up with him. Their cries of pain were almost inaudible now compared to the many similar cries in the surroundings.

"E-Emilia," he coughed. The smoke was beginning to seep into his body, it was getting heavier to breathe, and his senses eventually became clumsier.

Emilia just looked at Subaru in disbelief as if she couldn't believe he was there Dizzy from the smoke and trembling in fear, Emilia was so confused that even she didn't know what she was feeling.

"I'm sorry, Emilia, but we have to get out of here, I won't take buts," Subaru said dryly as he wrapped Emilia in his tracksuit and took her hand.

Emilia obeyed, following him without hesitation.

They both continued without saying a word down the way, passing countless corpses, most of them charred and unrecognizable, there was no conciliation for the young couple as they fled as fast as they could from that hell; both were aware that it was almost impossible for there to be any survivors. The faint hope that they could save someone discarded as they ran through the village until they were lost in the darkness of the night.

Originally the destination of Subaru when starting his trip, the Mining city of Ganacks, was a relatively quiet city.

At the entrance of the city was a tense-looking Emilia, being watched carefully by the guards. Subaru was currently at the checkpoint, being surrounded by officers while reporting what happened.

"The Kingdom of Gusteko had taken bases in the Elior Forest and started attacking the surrounding villages."

"Damn treacherous sons of bitches," the guard spat as he learned of the situation. Even in the city, small lights can be seen in the distance. It was the hell that they brought upon those villages but there was no confirmation of what happened.

"You can take refuge in this city, we are grateful for your information. By the way, you'd better buy appropriate clothes for the lady. Not that many here accept their kind," advised the guard.

Subaru could hardly contain his anger. If not for Lena using her connection to calm him down, most likely he would have punched the guard in the face and been kicked out of the town as a result. Regardless, that comment was not said maliciously, even if Subaru was in no condition to deal with the guard's comment.

When they both entered, they couldn't help but be shocked. It was like something you would see in a fantasy novel about dwarves. The city itself spread out and was built deep in the mountains, within the nooks and crannies with the houses carved deep almost in tandem and growing out of the mountain like flowers. Even though it was night, merchants lined the lower levels of the village, selling their wares to customers both human and demi-human, and glowing like the streetlamps only found in Subaru's original world, the streets were illuminated by crystals and magical minerals extracted from the mines. Unlike other cities that Subaru had been to, it was the first time he had seen something like this. It was probably the first time that Emilia had visited a city. In other circumstances, they would both be lost like children in a park.

After going through some stores, Subaru was able to get some money thanks to the pyroxene crystals that he collected from the forest. He bought a change of clothes more appropriate to the more pleasant climate of the city in order to adapt. Emilia, who needed new clothes the most, took the opportunity to buy a pair of hoods, and immediately covered herself understanding the meaning of decency without saying a word

Emilia hasn't said a single word since they left town, Subaru thought worriedly.

Subaru was scared to death; this behavior was not natural for Emilia and he had no idea what to do about it. Trying to do the best he could, Subaru felt like it wasn't enough. What the hell did he have to do? It was obvious that she didn't want to see him. Her gaze on the town said it all.

In the end, they realized that they were both too exhausted. They had run all night, experiencing various emotions and situations that they wanted to forget as soon as possible.

"I think this would be a good place to stay," Subaru commented. It was a tavern that housed visitors, it had been recommended by one of the guards, so it must have been quite a popular place.

Opening the door, they found humans, demi-humans, merchants, guards, and homeless people, all sharing the place and enjoying mesmerizing music. This tavern even had a band playing some happy songs on their lyre. It was a sight to behold.

"I want two rooms for the night," said the black-haired boy. Most likely Emilia wanted to be alone, and in any case, it would be inappropriate to share a room, even if they had already done it out of necessity.

"The night is over, friend," replied the innkeeper.

"Then I want to rent them for the whole day,"

"That's 12 silver coins, in advance."

Paying that amount, Subaru waited anxiously as he thought about his situation. It had been a wild night and Subaru was lost on what to do now.

Next to him, Subaru did not notice the slight tremor that Emilia had when he placed the order.

"It's the last two rooms," he said as he handed two keys to the couple.

They both went to their corresponding rooms exhausted and in desperate need of sleep. Neither had anything to say to the other. It was not a topic they wanted to discuss now, leaving Emilia, who did not say a word, to her room. Subaru turned to his own until he heard something. A gasp.

Subaru had stayed outside Emilia's room for a few moments, wondering what that sound was. He wanted to give her privacy, but the moment he heard her crying, he couldn't contain himself and entered to hug her firmly.

When Emilia began to break in his arms, intense repressed feelings began to erupt. Subaru accompanied Emilia's sobs with his own. He couldn't stand it; he was afraid and he didn't want to lose her.

"Subaru," Emilia whispered as she gently caressed his face, "Please… don't cry." Tears flowed freely through his sharp eyes. When her sweet touch reached him, all Subaru could do was melt at her touch. Something inside him broke, and with total resignation, he had collapsed on her all the emotions that he had been bottling up. He had gone to comfort her and it was he who was crying like a small child.

Emilia, desperate to calm him, deepened her embrace, leaning him against her breasts, and whispering sweet words in his ear as she caressed him carefully, drawing circles on his back.

Her hug and kindness were effective enough to destroy any barriers he might put up between them. Subaru felt as if his entire body was swallowed up by an indescribable emotion; an emotion that invaded and comforted his entire soul. He could feel that deep within him, these feelings of acceptance welled up and gave him more life than ever.

Subaru released his pent-up agony against her weak being while whispering all his regrets and fears. Emilia blinked, letting out a lonely tear. It was a tear of pain and relief accompanied by a complex feeling that only she had been holding and that understood.

For several minutes Emilia continued to comfort him like a small child. She assured him that everything was fine and that she would not leave him alone. Out of nowhere, Subaru's seizures stopped. Looking up as if he had realized something and slowly moving away, Subaru looked at the woman who was smiling tenderly at him as he stared at her as if examining her.

The beautiful amethyst orbs began to look at him with concern and innocence. There were traces of small drops of water. Emilia must have been obediently holding back her tears while Subaru was crying solemnly. He dedicated a few words of comfort to her as he got closer.

His hand cupped her warm cheeks and a moment later his lips covered hers.

It was an innocent and pure kiss. It was Subaru's first kiss and surely also Emilia's too. Emilia, who was clearly surprised, closed her eyes while her breathing slowed down noticeably, and her body stopped moving as if surprised by what Subaru had done. She did not know how to respond to the gesture, but it wasn't long until she started to feel more comfortable and embraced the feeling.

Sucking in large amounts of air to catch his breath, Subaru didn't know how much time they had spent kissing. Hours? Minutes? Seconds? Days? He didn't really care. He wanted more. He deepened the hug and returned his lips to hers. His mouth slowly traveled over her face as he washed away her tears with kisses.

When he pulled away and looked at Emilia, he noticed she was blushing with her hands resting on her beautiful lips. Moments later he noticed how the tears she had been holding in at last fell. Only then did Subaru realize what he was doing.

A part of him couldn't hate himself enough for taking advantage of her weakness, but if asked if he was sorry for what he did, the answer would have been probably no. He had conveyed his most sincere feelings with that gesture, and he just hoped she could reciprocate the gesture.

Emilia suddenly wrapped him in another hug. Both of them were lost in the heat of another moment until the effects of that turbulent night finally manifested. They were completely exhausted. Memories were blurring and it was not long before they fell into unconsciousness.

Lost in a delicate embrace, they fell fast asleep in each other's arms.