Chapter 4
New Tricks
Once we arrived at the village, Ram and Rem went to get the supplies that we needed. I, on the other hand, was teaching the children in the village how to do push-ups. It might sound strange, but I was bored and had nothing better to do.
The adults in the village appreciated the fact that I was playing with the kids. One man gave me a high five. Another patted me on the shoulder. An elderly woman, for some reason, shook my hand. I was surprised by how strong she was.
'Even elderly people are strong? What kind of a backwards world is this!?' I thought while shaking my head.
I decided to let this fact go, and not to question it.
'Anyway, these villagers must really appreciate what I'm doing for these kids!' I thought contently.
Ram then asked what I was doing, and I explained the many benefits of strength training to her. She thought it was pointless, but the village kids disagreed with her.
One of the village kids tugged on my coat because they wanted to show me something. I asked Ram and Rem if they would be fine with me hanging out with the kids a little bit longer. They were fine with it.
What they wanted to show me was the dog that bit me last time. I tried to pet it again, but it still didn't like me and bit me again.
"Seriously? Does this dog hate me or something?" I asked the kids.
"That's what you get for touching her so much. She is a girl after all!" one of them answered.
"I don't think that's the problem." I told the kids.
For some reason, I got a strange feeling from the bite wound.
'This doesn't feel right. I should probably ask Beatrice to look at this later.' I thought to myself.
I said my goodbyes to the kids, and left the village alongside Ram and Rem. We were about to began the journey back to the mansion when something caught my eye.
In a forest clearing next to the village, there was a sword planted in the ground.
"Hold on a second. I want to go look at that sword over there." I said to Ram and Rem.
"We'll go with you, Subaru." Rem said.
"I'll come along, but we really must get going afterwards." Ram stated.
"Thanks, guys! I'll make this quick." I replied.
We walked over to where the sword was. As we did, an old man stopped us.
"Please. Don't get any closer to that sword." he told us.
"Huh? Is there something wrong with it?" I asked him.
"Yes. That sword is cursed. It slowly drains the mana of any creature that gets close to it. Because of that, it's been left there to ward off any evil monsters that might try to attack this village." he explained.
"Oh. I get it. That makes sense." I said.
From where I was standing, I couldn't see it very clearly. All I could see was that it was black, and rusted.
"Man. That thing must have been there for a long time to look like that." I said.
"Barasu. It's time we set off." Ram told me.
"What Sister said, Subaru." Rem said.
"Alright. Let's go." I replied.
We then headed back to the mansion.
...
I was exhausted. Ram and Rem made me carry all the supplies from the village back to the front door of the mansion. The worst part was that they didn't carry a single thing!
"Why did I have to carry all the supplies?" I asked them.
"So that you can become strong enough to properly wield that ridiculous sword of yours." Ram answered.
"Ridiculous? What's so ridiculous about it?" I asked Ram.
"Its size. It's far too big to even be called a sword. Massive, thick, heavy, and extremely rough. If you ask me, it's more like a heap of raw iron." Ram explained.
'Wow. That's pretty close to the description of the Dragonslayer from Berserk.' I thought.
"I have to agree with Sister. It's size is ridiculous." Rem said.
"Oh yeah? Well, your weapons are just as ridiculous!" I said to them without thinking.
Ram pulled out her magic wand, and Rem pulled out her flail.
"You may not know this, but this flail is effective against shields and armored opponents." Rem said.
"What's so ridiculous about a wand used for casting magic spells?" Ram asked.
"I stand corrected." I replied.
I was a little unnerved seeing the flail again, but I knew that Rem wasn't going to use it on me again.
Suddenly, the door to the mansion opened. Roswaal appeared in front of us. He told us that he would be leaving and he wouldn't be back for a while. Ram and Rem were in charge until he returned.
"I have great expectations for you, Subaru. I want you to keep an eye on Miss Emilia and take good care of her." Roswaal said.
"Sure! You can definitely count on me for that." I replied.
"Look after things while I'm away, everyone!" he said to the three of us.
Roswaal stepped past us and flew into the air.
"Woah! Roswaal can fly! Magic is incredible." I said in amazement.
After seeing Roswaal defy gravity, I turned to look at the mansion.
'I'm sure nothing will go wrong while Roswaal is away! I can handle whatever may or may not happen!' I thought confidently.
...
After night had fallen, I decided to go see Beatrice. I was probably imagining things, but my bite wound felt different from any other injury I had ever experienced.
"You really have been cursed, I suppose." she spoke.
"What!?" I asked her in shock.
"So it turns out there's a curse magic user in the village. Think you'll be able to figure out what kind of curse it is?" I replied.
"That wouldn't be possible just by looking at it. But, as I told you earlier today, once it's been activated, chances are you'll die, I suppose." She answered.
I gulped.
'I really don't want to die from some random curse.' I thought in fear.
"How strange. Even after I said that, you don't seem very afraid of dying, I suppose." Beatrice commented.
"Are you crazy? I'm insanely scared of dying. There's nothing else in the world that freaks me out more than thinking about it! That's why I'm determined to find a way out of this mess!" I said to Beatrice.
To be fair, I didn't fear death as much as most others. Considering I had Return By Death. However, that was a last resort I never wanted to rely on.
I asked Beatrice to look at the curse. She held out her hand, and a dark, magic circle appeared over my left hand. Close to where that puppy had bitten me.
"I see. How ironic, I suppose." Beatrice stated.
"Did you figure out what the curse was?" I asked her.
"Yes. It's a mana draining curse. It transfers the mana of the victim back to the curse magic user." Beatrice explained.
'Phew! Good thing I have no mana!' I thought.
"Think you can remove the curse for me, then?" I asked Beatrice.
"Why do you need me? You have something that can do it for you?" she told me.
"I do?" I asked in confusion.
"Yes." she answered.
I thought about it for a moment before realizing what she meant.
"Oh. You mean the Demon-Slayer!" I said out loud.
"Is that the name of that ridiculous sword you wield, I suppose?" Beatrice asked me.
"Yes it is. Also, for your information, it is not ridiculous." I answered.
I then pulled it out of the grimore with my right hand. I didn't know what to expect. Nothing happened at first.
"You might need to touch the wound with the sword, I suppose." Beatrice told me.
"Let's try that, then." I said.
I tapped the wound with the Demon-Slayer. Suddenly, black mist started coming from exactly where I was bit by the puppy.
"Is this spot where the curse magic user touched me?" I asked Beatrice.
She nodded yes. I was shocked after learning this. My left hand was where that puppy had bitten me.
'Could that puppy be the curse magic user?' I thought.
"I have to get to the village! That puppy is going to pay for this!" I yelled while leaving the Forbidden Archives.
I soon found Ram and Rem and explained the situation. I intended to go with or without them. Rem objected since she wanted to obey Roswaal's orders. However, Ram agreed with my decision, and decided that Rem should come with me.
Emilia came down. She was concerned that I was going to do something reckless. I told her why I was leaving, and that I needed to do this. She told me to be careful, and wished me luck.
...
When Rem and I got to the village, it was almost empty. One of the villagers told us that the entire village had gone looking for some missing children.
'Was I too late?' I thought.
I then remembered the spot where I had seen them last. I ran there. Rem and the villager followed me. Once we got there, Rem pointed out that the barrier had been broken.
"What happens when something like that happens?" I asked her.
"Mabeasts can cross the boundary and enter the village." She replied.
"Mabeasts?" I asked her.
"They're known as unholy creatures of the witch's creation. Enemies of humanity that have magic powers. Within the forest, they live wild and in great numbers."
'Magic powers? That would explain the curse magic.' I thought to myself.
"Hold on. Are you saying that more dogs like that are out there?" I asked Rem.
I noticed some small footprints that led away from the fence in front of us. They looked like they belonged to children.
"Get some help! Tell everyone you can!" I told the villager that was with us.
"Right!" he said while running away.
I started to climb the fence. Rem said that this could be a diversion by the enemy to take our attention away from the mansion. I told her that we couldn't ignore the kids that were out there.
"Why go so far? What is it about this village that matters so much to you?" she asked me.
I told her about each of the kids, and the dreams that they had. Because I knew them pretty well, I couldn't just abandon them. Unexpectedly, Rem decided to help me. According to her, she had to keep an eye on me.
As we climbed over the fence to get into the forest, Rem pulled out her flail. I was still scared of it, but then I remembered that I had my grimore with me. I pulled out the Demon-Slayer and held it in front of me as we were walking into the forest.
...
After some time, Rem picked up a scent and started running after it. I ran after her. We eventually found a clearing in the forest. We saw the kids laying in the middle of the clearing.
Once we got to them, we found that they were still alive but unconscious. According to Rem, their mana level was weak.
"No way. Is it the curse?" I asked her.
Looking at the kids, I got my answer. They all had bite marks on them. They also looked like they were in pain.
'They are cursed. Damn!' I thought.
I was about to give up before I suddenly remembered what I did earlier today.
"Yes! There is hope!" I loudly announced.
I used Demon-slayer and touched each of the bite marks on the kids. Nothing happened at first, but eventually black mist appeared from the bite marks. After that, they seemed to no longer be in pain.
"That sword can remove curses?" Rem asked in astonishment.
"I'm not sure about removing curses, but I had the same curse that these kids had and this removed it just fine. It is an Anti-Magicsword after all." I told Rem.
She then got to work using healing magic on them. Now that I knew they were no longer cursed, I wasn't worried about them.
"Subaru." Petra said to me weakly.
"Petra! You're a tough girl. I need you to save your strength, though. I'll take you back home to rest up." I said to her.
"One is… still missing." she told me.
I then looked around. I didn't see the girl with braid.
'Darn. She must still be in the forest.' I realized.
I stood up to go after her. Rem pleaded with me not to go. Even though she was right that it would be dangerous to go into the forest, I still wanted to go after the little girl. I told Rem to stay here and keep healing the kids until the villagers arrived, and to come after me once they did arrive.
Rem warned me that I might get lost, and that she would never be able to find me. I told she'll be able to pick up the Witch's scent. She reluctantly nodded in agreement.
"Please be careful out there. I'll join you once the villagers get here." she told me.
"Don't worry about me. Tonight, I'm feeling devilishly inspired." I replied.
"Devilishly inspired?" Rem asked me.
"Devil version of divine inspiration. For some reason, it's a new phrase I thought of." I answered.
...
I was wandering around the forest looking for the girl with the braid.
'As long as the one that cursed those kids is the puppy from earlier today, there's no way I can lose this fight.' I thought.
I kept walking until I picked up strange scent. I followed it to a small clearing. Laying on the ground was the girl I was looking for. Laying next to her was a big log.
'Is this a trap? Even if it is, I shouldn't hesitate to save her!' I thought.
I stepped into the small clearing and approached the girl. I looked at her closely and saw that she was still breathing.
'Good. She's still alive.' I thought.
Suddenly, I heard rustling in the bushes nearby. At the same time, the grimoire started glowing. This time, it was a faint glow that was almost imperceptible.
A dog stepped out. However, it was no ordinary dog. It had large fangs for teeth, a large horn on it's nose, and it's eyes were glowing red. From the way it was growling and looking at me, I could tell that it wanted to rip me to shreds.
"That is not the little puppy from before! Did it transform into this monster? Did it also wait around for me to come out and rescue this girl?" I said.
I looked around, but I saw no obvious paths of escape. I pulled out the Demon-slayer and readied myself for a fight.
"Let's go! If you want a fight, bring it on!" I yelled at the evil dog.
It looked at me for a moment before it disappeared into the shadows. I couldn't tell where it was until it jumped out from my left. I managed to block it's bite with the sword. I then took a step back and swung at it's head. The blow connected, and it was thrown against the log. From what I could tell, it was stunned from the blow to the head. Using this opportunity, I aimed another strike at it's head.
I heard a crunching sound from the sword hitting the dog in the head. It went limp and fell to the ground.
'That was easier than I thought it would be.' I thought.
I felt a breeze from behind me. I turned and saw many glowing red eyes from the darkness of the forest.
"Come on. You have got to be kidding." I said to myself.
I didn't know what I could do. Going against one dog was easy. But going against a small army would not be easy.
'What choices do I have? There's no way to escape. If I pick a random direction to run away, I could fall down a hole, run into more dogs, or even run into different Mabeasts. Only thing left to do is to stand and fight!' I thought.
"If you want a fight, bring it on!" I yelled to the other dogs.
They ran towards me. I was prepared to swing at the closest one to me. Just before it was in range, it was struck by something. I couldn't tell what had hit it, but it was laying dead several feet away from me.
Standing in front of me was Rem. She told me that the children had safely returned. She also thanked me for saving them from the curse, and for buying her time. Suddenly, two dogs jumped at her. I tried to warn her, but I was too slow.
Faster than I could speak, she whacked one with her flail and hit the other with her bare fist. Both were dead in an instant.
"Woah! You're amazing!" I said.
"Thanks for the compliment." She said while striking more dogs with her flail.
With the Demon-slayer in one hand, I picked up the girl with the braid with my other hand, and ran towards Rem.
Suddenly, we were surrounded by evil dogs.
'I really hate dogs.' I thought.
"We're completely outnumbered. With this many, I don't think it's possible for me to take them all on at once. Even if you were able to help fight, we would still lose." she explained to me.
'She's right. In order to carry this girl, I need at least one hand. I can't put the girl down or else she'll get eaten by the dogs. I know for a fact I'm not strong enough to swing the Demon-Slayer with one hand!' I thought to myself.
"In that case, right there!" I said to Rem.
She took her flail and smashed it into the ground ahead of us. It created a big dust cloud. Using this momentary distraction, I ran through the dust cloud into the forest. Some of the dogs tried to follow me, but Rem destroyed them with her flail. She then followed after me.
Along the way, she told me to run towards the village. Once we were across the barrier, we would be safe. I changed direction and kept running. Eventually, I saw the lights of the village in the distance. I turned to tell Rem the good news, but I noticed how beaten and bruised she was. She had cuts and bruises all over her body. She didn't look like she could keep fighting for much longer.
Suddenly, a small landslide appeared behind us. I had no idea where it came from.
In the blink of an eye, Rem grabbed the Demon-Slayer from my hand and slammed it down on the landslide. It was split in half before it vanished into thin air.
"Woah. How did you know it was a spell?" I asked her.
"I'm a magic user, remember? I sensed that it was magical. I knew I could use your sword to negate the spell." Rem answered.
"Well, you were right." I responded.
She handed the Demon-Slayer back to me. I heard growling nearby and looked to see that the dogs had caught up to up. In the middle of the pack was the puppy from before.
'It's that puppy! Looks like it's the leader of the evil dogs.' I thought.
"Subaru! Let's run!" Rem said to me.
"Right!" I replied to her.
We ran as fast as we could. The dogs were on our tail, but we somehow managed to outrun them. Eventually, we made it back to the village, safely inside the barrier. Once we were inside, the dogs backed off and ran back into the forest.
"We made it, Subaru." Rem said.
"Yeah. Somehow." I replied while panting.
I was relieved that we were back in the village. I decided to put away Demon-Slayer since we were in a safe area. I was about to ask Rem what we should do next, but I started to feel lightheaded. Rem was saying something to me, but I couldn't make it out. Eventually, everything went black.
...
I woke up in my room back at the mansion. As I opened my eyes, I saw Beatrice, Ram, Rem, Emilia, and Puck around my bed. They looked relieved I was okay.
"Subaru! You're finally awake!" Emilia said.
"Took you long enough, I suppose." Beatrice stated.
"I'm surprised. I didn't know someone like you was capable of waking up from mere exhaustion." Ram said.
"Oh, I'm capable of so much more." I said ominously.
"Ignore Ram. She just won't admit how much she's relieved to know you're okay." Emilia explained.
"Anyway, as for last night, you have my sincerest gratitude, Barasu. Very nice work." Ram said.
"Nice work? Always with the condescending tone. Was it something deserving of your thanks?" I replied.
"When a domain's people suffer a loss, it's lord is held liable. I hate to think what would happen if the pack of Ulgarm had further endangered those children. You were right to do what you did." Ram explained.
"Ulgarm? Is that those Mabeasts we fought last night?" I asked.
"Yes." Ram and Rem both said.
"Oh. By the way, the village wanted you to have this." Emilia said while reaching behind her.
She pulled out a black, rusted sword. It was similar to the Demon-Slayer except it was much smaller. It was the Demon-Dweller.
"For some reason, this sword drains mana. Because of that, the villagers were afraid to get near it. But, since you have no magic, it's perfect for you!" Emilia said.
I then remembered something important.
"Wait. Was this the sword that was planted in the ground to ward off Mabeasts?" I asked Emilia.
"It was. But, they decided to part with it since it was more of a burden than a help to them." she answered.
"Also, if it drains mana, how can you hold it?" I asked her.
"Simple. I possess a lot of mana." Emilia answered with a grin.
'That makes sense.' I thought while taking the sword from her.
As I grabbed it, the grimoire started floating. It opened up, and the pages flipped until they reached a blank section. The sword floated out of my hand, and into the grimoire. Once it was inside, writing appeared on the blank pages. It then closed up, and gently floated down into my hands.
"Ooh. That was pretty cool, Subaru!" Puck said.
"Perhaps, I suppose." Beatrice replied.
"It was totally cool!" Emilia said.
"I thought it was cool as well!" Rem said.
"I've seen more interesting things." Ram said.
'Not sure why everybody's commenting on it. Whatever.' I thought to myself.
...
Later that day, I was informed that Emilia and Roswaal would be going to the capital for the Royal Selection. Emilia thought I wouldn't be able to handle it. Which is why she insisted I stay behind.
I refused. Even though I knew she could keep herself safe, I wanted to go along to support her, like any good friend would do! After considering it, she agreed, but only if I could beat her in a fight.
"It's a deal!" I told her while shaking her hand.
...
After informing everyone else of my departure, I left the mansion grounds and went into the surrounding forest to try something important. Pulling out the grimoire, I retrieved the Demon-Dweller sword. I held in front of me with both hands.
'Can I feel the Anti-Magic? Actually, before I do that, I need to learn how to sense the life energy around me.' I thought.
According to my Black Clover knowledge, the main character relied on sensing Ki to perform his many Anti-Magic abilities and transformations. Ki is another word for the energy that flows through all living things. Though, if you ask me, it's real name is The Force.
'I need to use all five senses. Taste, touch, sight, smell, and hearing. I taste the salad I had for lunch, I feel the sword, I smell the forest around me, I hear birds chirping and the wind blowing, and I see the sword itself.' I thought.
Nothing happened. As I stood there, the sword felt the exact same as it always did. However, I was now slightly more aware of my surroundings.
'I thought this might happen. I may be aware of the full capabilities of Anti-Magic, but I'll need to get more familiar with it before I can use any special techniques.' I thought.
I then had an idea. Holding the Demon-Dweller in both hands, I ran towards the nearest tree. I stabbed it with the sword.
"Now, to wait and see what happens." I said.
After several minutes, the sword began glowing. A few leaves started falling off the tree.
"Hell yeah! It worked!" I yelled in excitement.
Yanking it out of the tree, I swung it as hard as I could in front of me. A big slash of magical energy came from the sword. It managed to topple over several trees before it dissipated into the atmosphere.
'Even though this sword is corrupted by Anti-Magic, it still has it's magical abilities. One of which is to release stored magic energy in a slash attack!' I thought.
I put away the Demon-Dweller, and pulled out the Demon-Slayer.
'Unlike the Demon-Dweller, this sword can reflect almost any magic spell with the flat of the blade. It can also become larger at will, but that usually requires the mana of it's user. Since I don't have any mana, I can't do that.' I thought.
I held it with both hands in front of me. Like the Demon-Dweller, it felt the same way it always does. I couldn't feel anything different about it.
I then decided to focus on my own body, and see if it felt any different. It didn't.
"Darn! Well, I guess that's all I can do for today!" I said.
'Now, it's just a matter of winning that fight against Emilia!' I thought.
...
Evening came. Since I didn't want my butler uniform to get ruined, I had changed back into my trusty, reliable outfit. Despite being clearance clothing, my outfit was tough enough to survive almost anything.
As I stood in anticipation of our duel, I thought about how it might go. I had no idea what Emilia would try to do.
'Even with these new tricks I've learned, there's no guarantee I'll win. I just hope all the practice and training with Emilia I've done pays off!' I thought.
I eventually saw Emilia walking towards me. Alongside her were Ram and Rem.
"Are you prepared to lose, Subaru?" Emilia asked me.
"No. I came prepared to win!" I replied.
"We'll see about that!" Emilia said seriously.
As we stood several yards apart, I pulled out the Demon-Slayer, and took a fighting stance. Ram stood between us. Rem was off to the side.
"Ready? Begin!" Ram told us before stepping back.
Emilia sprinted towards me. What she did next caught me completely off guard.
Emilia yelled out, "Ice Brand Arts: Ice Spear!"
A spear of ice appeared in her hand. She did a thrust, and I blocked with the Demon-Slayer. However, her spear didn't disappear.
'Huh?' I thought.
"I used the mana in the atmosphere to create a spear made of real ice. Your Anti-Magic won't work against this!" Emilia explained while attacking.
'Damn! She figured out one of the many weaknesses of Anti-Magic! Oh, well. I still have some tricks up my sleeve!' I thought while defending myself.
"Excellent work, Miss Emilia!" Ram said.
"Don't give up, Subaru!" Rem cheered.
"Thanks, Rem!" I said to her.
Emilia then jumped backwards, and took a defensive stance. She seemed to be waiting for my next move. Not wanting to waste a single second, I dashed straight towards her. However, she had another surprise.
Emilia yelled out, "Ice Brand Arts: Frozen Ground!"
The ground underneath me turned to ice. Without any grip, I quickly lost my footing, and fell on my back.
'Even though it works against me, it also works against her!' I thought confidently.
While I was still laying prone on the ground, Emilia jumped up into the air and pointed her spear towards me as she fell down. I barely managed to avoid her spear as it stuck into the icy ground.
"That could've killed me!" I said to Emilia.
"I wasn't using the pointy end!" Emilia responded.
"It still would've hurt!" I said back.
I stumbled my way off the icy patch of ground. Once on solid ground, I decided to stop holding back. Holding the Demon-Slayer sword in both hands, I used one of my newfound techniques.
I said, "Reckless Attack!"
Abandoning any regard for defense, I swung the Demon-Slayer over and over at Emilia in rapid succession. She blocked all my strikes, but I could tell she was nervous about something.
"What's the matter? Are you scared of my new technique?" I asked her.
She disengaged, and jumped backwards.
Emilia yelled out, "Ice Brand Arts: Ice Sword!"
The spear she was holding disappeared. A sword made of ice replaced it. It appeared to be a standard longsword. Emilia then went on the offensive, and delivered several strong blows of her own. Almost all of them pushed me backwards.
Seeing a chance to strike, I braced my legs for my next technique.
I said, "Crater Maker!"
I did a front somersault with the Demon-Slayer. Emilia dodged to the left to avoid this attack. The sword slammed into the ground, and made a tiny crater where Emilia once stood.
"That technique really does live up to it's name!" Emilia said in surprise.
"I know it does." I said while standing up.
I then switched out the Demon-Slayer for the Demon-Dweller. Since it was a little lighter, that would make this next attack a surprise! I ran towards Emilia.
I said, "Reckless Attack!"
"Subaru. You already used that one! I know how it works." Emilia said while bracing herself.
Unlike last time, my strikes were much faster! Emilia had a hard time blocking each and every one.
'This is it! The finisher!' I thought.
Emilia blocked my next strike. But, this time, her weapon snapped in half.
"But how? This was made of real ice! Plus, I infused a ton of mana into it!" Emilia said.
"Thanks to your training, I've gotten stronger!" I answered.
Right at that moment, I had a bad feeling. Emilia then did something unexpected. She grabbed my right wrist with her left hand, and tore the Demon-Dweller from my grasp with her other hand.
"Hey! You can't do that!" I said to her.
"Yes I can. There's no rule against it." Emilia replied.
'Actually, she's right.' I thought.
I quickly grabbed the Demon-Slayer from the grimoire. Despite being lighter, with Emilia's strength, the Demon-Dweller was batting around my sword with every swing of hers.
After about a minute of me playing defense, the Demon-Dweller started glowing.
'Oh no! Not now!' I thought desperately.
Emilia took notice of this. She jumped backwards, and did what I least expected.
She said before swinging the Demon-Dweller, "Take this, Subaru!"
A magical slash of ice magic flew towards me at high speed. I barely had time to react to it.
I replied to Emilia, "You can have it back!"
Swinging the Demon-Slayer, I reflected it back at her with the flat of the blade. Emilia did not expect this, and couldn't avoid it. She got hit by her own improvised attack. It knocked her off her feet, and she fell to the ground.
As I approached her, she waved around a white flag.
'Where did she get that from?' I thought.
"Alright. I surrender. You win, Subaru." Emilia told me.
"Wait, what? I didn't do much of anything other then survive during that fight." I said.
"You've proven you're a strong fighter. I say you're ready for the capital!" Emilia explained while standing up.
"I agree with Miss Emilia, Barasu. You are just barely strong enough to not die by stepping foot in the capital." Ram added.
"Ignore what my sister said! That was amazing, Subaru!" Rem said.
"Thanks for the encouragement, you two." I said to them.
"I have to ask, Subaru. What was that last attack I did?" Emilia asked me.
"It's one of the abilities of that sword. It can release stored magic at will. I think that as soon as you took it from me, it started draining your magic." I explained.
"It can do that? Subaru, why do you always end up with the cool weapons?" Emilia replied with a pout.
"Probably because I can't use magic." I answered.
"Actually, that is true." Emilia replied.
"Though, how did you know it could release stored magic?" I asked her suspiciously.
"Lucky guess." Emilia said while shrugging her shoulders.
She handed the Demon-Dweller back to me. I put it and the Demon-Slayer back into the grimoire. I then stretched my arms, and yawned.
"That was fun. I guess we're going to the capital tomorrow, then?" I asked Emilia.
"Yes, we are. I'll be expecting your presence tomorrow, Subaru." Emilia told me.
"You can count on it, Emilia." I told her.
...
The next day came. We left the mansion, and went to the capital. I was a little concerned that the only person protecting the mansion, and the village was Beatrice. But, Roswaal told us not to worry about that. We would return in several days. On the way there, I was informed I would be meeting with the best healer in the capital to see if anything could be done about my missing gate.
'The best healer in the capital? They must be a serious, no nonsense person if everyone considers them the best!' I thought to myself.
Of course, I wouldn't meet them until the Royal Selection, which was the day after tomorrow.
After an uneventful journey to the capital, we secured three rooms at an inn. One for Emilia, Ram, and Rem, another for myself, and the last for Roswaal.
"This is boring." I said to the others.
"Then go out, and explore the capital." Ram stated.
"We could go together!" Rem quickly added.
"Are you okay with that, Emilia?" I asked her.
"Hm. I do need to go to the Royal Castle on official business. Could you guys escort me there, please?" Emilia said to us.
"Sure thing!" I said while putting my arms around Ram and Rem.
Rem didn't seem to mind this, but Ram pushed me to the floor as soon as I put my arm on her.
"Ow!" I said.
"Sister!" Rem said.
"What was that for, Ram?" Emilia asked.
"Barasu was being a pervert. Also, I never agreed to go out with you and Rem, or Miss Emilia."
"Sister, will you please come with us to go explore the capital?" Rem asked.
"I shall, Rem. But, only if Barasu keeps his hands to himself." Ram said.
It wasn't often, but Ram did accuse me of being a pervert on multiple occasions. I didn't care because it wasn't true, but she took it too far this time.
'That's it! No more mister nice guy! If Ram insists on me being a pervert, I'll just have to prove her wrong!' I thought.
I stood up, and approached Ram.
"What is it now, Barasu? Are you no longer able to control your perverted desires?" Ram asked me.
"Yes." I said seriously.
This shocked Rem and Emilia. But not Ram.
"Subaru! Whatever you're thinking of, don't do it!" Emilia told me.
"Subaru! Please! Don't hurt sister!" Rem pleaded.
I stared at Ram for several seconds. Ram stared back before breaking the silence.
"Miss Emilia. Rem. Don't worry. Barasu is bluffing. He doesn't intend to do anything bad." Ram said.
"Huh?" Emilia asked.
"Is that true?" Rem asked.
'No. That's impossible! There's no way she knows what my true intentions towards her are!' I thought.
"Ram's lying. From the moment I laid my eyes on her, I wanted to do things to her. Unspeakable things. Things that should never be witnessed in broad daylight." I stated.
"Go ahead." Ram told me.
"In front of Rem and Emilia?" I asked her seriously.
"Do it." Ram said.
Rem and Emilia seemed to be very confused by what was happening. I didn't let that stop me. I raised my right hand, and slowly moved it towards Ram. I couldn't help but grin at what was happening.
"I've always wanted to do this! Especially to a cute girl like you, Ram!" I said evilly.
Ram's expression wavered slightly, but she quickly recovered her stoic attitude. My hand was only several inches away from touching Ram. I closed my hand into a fist, pointed my index finger at her, and poked her left shoulder. Since her shoulder was bare, I felt how soft it was.
"Wow! You have really soft skin, Ram." I said to her.
Again, Ram's expression wavered. Before I could get a better look at her face, she turned around immediately. I turned to look at the others. Emilia and Rem both had confused expressions on their faces.
After an awkward silence, Ram said something.
"Are you satisfied, Barasu?" Ram asked while facing away from me.
"Yes I am!" I answered.
"Sister, what do you mean? How is Subaru satisfied by poking your shoulder?" Rem innocently asked.
"I'm with Rem. What do you mean, Ram?" Emilia also innocently asked.
"Barasu tricked you two into thinking he had twisted, perverted desires when in reality, he had lame and mediocre intentions." Ram answered while turning to face them.
"Huh?" Rem and Emilia both asked.
"This was all one elaborate prank! My desire was not to violate Ram! No, it was to make you all believe I wanted to violate Ram! I did it so that I could get Ram to stop calling me a pervert." I explained.
"Oh. I see. Well, you certainly succeeded, Subaru." Rem said in relief.
"Honestly, Subaru. You do the most unbelievable things." Emilia said with a sigh.
"I can't believe you went along with that, Ram. I thought for sure you would've stopped me." I said to her.
"I know what kind of person you are, Barasu. You're too good of a person to stoop to any level of depravity." Ram explained.
'I should've seen that coming! After all, Ram's only ever seen me do good things. She wouldn't have a reason to think I'm a villain.' I thought carefully.
"That makes sense." I said in response.
"Anyway, I believe we were going to go explore the capital." Ram stated.
"Oh, yeah! Right! Let's go, everybody!" I told them.
We left the inn, and set off to the Royal Castle.
Author Note: This chapter was a fun one to write! There was more than enough action, and Subaru got to showoff the results of his training with Emilia! Subaru also learned that he couldn't use any special Anti-Magic abilities. At least, not yet.
Also, I decided that this would a good time to introduce the Demon-Dweller. Even though it's a strong weapon, it's not strong enough to drastically change the story. Though, I will say it'll come in handy against the White Whale. ;)
Don't expect to see the Demon-Destroyer anytime soon! The only thing I'll say is Subaru will find it when he least expects it!
Finally, the next chapter is going to be rough for Subaru. Don't miss it!
As always, let me know your thoughts on this chapter. :)