A/N: I don't normally have notes at the start, but this is an important plot point that I don't think I ever made clear: Reinhard hasn't found out that Felt is the last candidate. Because he was off dealing with the mabeasts, he didn't see that the insignia reacted to Felt. The only ones that saw it would have been Rom, Subaru and Felt herself, none of which know the significance of the insignia.

Travel is something that I never expected to do much, even back in my home world. I expected that I'd be able to buy, or at least rent, a decently close home to my future job. Or maybe that I didn't have to leave my home at all to work. Maybe even become an author, or a househusband, or maybe a programmer that submits everything online.

That would've been the life.

Now though, in Lugunica, I've had to travel from town to town several times already. Once, during my apprenticeship, I had to supervise a shipment of wares that were going to some remote outpost. It was the first time I rode a ground dragon.

It was also the first time I found that I hated riding those damn things.

Seriously, you'd think that some sort of cushioning would be on those saddles, but no. That shit hurt for a good month or so.

At any rate, I'd also traveled further than that, mostly to secure some cheaper raw materials than what was available in the capital proper. Say what you will, but a discount is a discount.

All that is to say, riding in a carriage is unsurprisingly more comfortable than riding a ground dragon. Especially a carriage that's been layered in more defensive spells than I bothered to count.

It had been around a week since I had made a deal to meet with Mathers. A week of paranoia inside the capital, as people looked around trying to find any mabeasts that could have escaped. It was strangely relaxing now that I was out of that cesspit, even for just a bit.

Of course, I could very much do without the chattering of the other two in said carriage, as well as the occasional smug looks thrown at me by one of them. Kid should really know by now that I don't really care about his love life.

What's that? I should just tell him? Fuck no. Natsuki doesn't even realize that the elf doesn't see him in that way, not yet at least. He's looking at Emilia as if she's some goddess reborn, when in reality, she'd probably just friend zone the poor bastard.

Let him be jealous of something that isn't even there. Let life hit him with a cold dose of reality. That they hadn't even known each other for more than a couple of weeks, which was still too little time to form a romantic bond as he was obviously trying.

And yes, I'm speaking from experience.

"Lady Emilia, we're approaching the manor." Ram opened the small hatch to the driver's seat, "We'll be arriving in around fifteen minutes."

"Thank you, Ram!" A beaming smile from the white-haired elf.

"Alright, thanks, Ram-tan!" A mirrored smile from the fish-eyed boy.

"You call me that one more time and you'll be lucky to have both your eyes intact." A glare from the pink-haired maid.

"You better listen to her, Subaru! Ram can be vicious when she wants to!" A laugh from a floating, talking cat.

And a nod from myself.

Right, still getting used to that. Puck, as he was apparently called, was a Spirit contracted to Emilia. He had apparently been resting when their little group entered my shop. Apparently, fighting off the mabeasts during the night tired him out too much to introduce himself.

Apparently.

I say this, because I fully don't trust anything he said. The moment he had come out, around an hour into our journey, he had thrown me a glare so full of vitriol that I swear, he would have killed me if I was alone. There was no way that that thing was just a normal Spirit, or even just a Great Spirit.

It didn't help that I could see through that thin veneer that he portrayed.

I wasn't an expert on the facial expressions of cats, but even I could tell that Puck was dangerous. Every hair on my body stood up when he glared at me. I shouldn't have, the glare wasn't anything noteworthy - some would say that it was even cute - but I did.

I hadn't been scared as much as I did there before. Not even when my life was in danger did I feel as much fear.

It was because there was a promise there. That if I did something - anything - to Emilia, I would die a most horrible death. It was a warning to not even get close to her, as if I was a bug that someone was waiting to get close enough to slap down.

It went beyond the familial protectiveness you would expect from a Spirit that called their contractor their daughter. And it was as unnerving as you would expect.

Just the memory of it sent shivers down my spine.

I would oblige for now, if only to live longer.

My musings were interrupted when Natsuki started coughing wildly in the middle of their conversation. Even Emilia and Puck were caught off guard by the suddenness of it.

"Subaru," Emilia started patting his back in worry, "Are you okay?"

"Y-Yeah, sorry." Natsuki stuttered as he settled down and gave a smile, "Spit went down the wrong hole there."

"That is sooo gross!" Emilia laughed, Puck laughing with her.

"Lia, I think you should find a better friend than someone who chokes on nothing!" Puck continued to tease the younger male.

"What was that?!" Natsuki reached up and started tickling the Spirit, "C'mere!"

But, even as they laughed, even as they spoke easily enough to one another, I could see something that didn't make any sense.

It was subtle, almost invisible, but Natsuki was trembling.

What the hell happened there?

The Mathers' domain was a lot more rural than any other domain in the kingdom. It was unexpected, since being the border between Gusteko and Lugunica, you would think that both sides would have invested more resources to boost the trade between the two kingdoms.

Until you realize that you had to get through Elior Forest first.

Elior Forest was akin to a ghost story for a lot of the residents of Lugunica. The Black Serpent had ravaged through the forest almost a hundred years ago, and rumor has it that it might still be in the forest itself.

Not only that, but the forest housed some of the most dangerous mabeasts you could find in the kingdom. You would need a decently sized contingent of knights just to travel through unharmed.

It was inconceivable to try and clear every single danger in the forest, and the looming threat that a swarm of mabeasts might just kill you was enough to drive anyone away.

As such, the entire domain remained as a single, isolated village.

None of that was obvious when you saw the luxurious mansion that Mathers stayed in. Perfectly trimmed lawns and hedges. Sparkling windows, the cleanest paths I've seen, even compared to the capital's streets. Just a quick glance up at the mansion proper showed windows on windows of rooms, at least sixty windows all in all.

It was a jarring sight compared to the humble abodes I saw when we passed by Arlam Village.

It was also almost entirely empty.

There were no staff tending to the lawn. No staff sweeping the roads. No staff to even greet them at the front gate. It was eerie, and I felt I was walking right into a deathtrap. Emilia must have seen the look on my face as she looked at me quizzically.

"Hikigaya-san? Is there something wrong?"

I pointedly ignored the stare of the floating cat as I replied, "Where is everyone?" It was a valid question, even without all the observances I made. Any cart coming into a margrave's residence should at least be inspected by whatever staff was on hand, if only to make sure we weren't assassins or something.

"Hmph." Apparently, Ram had been listening in, as she opened the carriage window to reply to my question, "Your eyes are at least good for something other than staring perversely, blacksmith." I let the insult slide. Insulting my eyes was just going for low hanging fruit. At least come up with something original!

"Roswaal-sama sent out most of the staff, foreseeing some trouble in the capital in the coming months."

Ah. Right. The Royal Selection. It makes sense that the Court Mage would know about it. And to send his staff away to prevent them from being swallowed up in politics? Maybe he wouldn't be as bad as any other politician out there.

It takes a certain amount of compassion to not let everyone get dragged down with you, especially when it comes to politics, after all.

As we stopped and exited the carriage, Natsuki doing a show of looking around in interest, we were finally greeted with someone other than Ram.

A maid that looked exactly like Ram, the only difference being her hair being blue. Twin maids. Great. Now I know that whoever wrote this damn setting knew what they were doing. There was no way that a pair of maids with these exact color palettes would exist anywhere else than a light novel.

"Rem." For the first time since I'd met her, Ram looked towards her twin with a smile, "Your dearest sister has returned home."

"Indeed." A small smile was present on Rem's face, "It is great to see you again, sister, Lady Emilia." Her eyes wandered to me, before gliding towards Natsuki. There was a glint in her eye that was familiar, but I couldn't place.

"Might I ask who these people are?" Her voice was clipped as she continued to stare at Natsuki, who I could now see was trembling even more.

"Oh, these two have some business with Roswaal!" Emilia talked as if she didn't see the cold look that Rem was giving. Maybe she really didn't. It would certainly make sense, since even Ram was looking at her sister oddly.

"These are Subaru Natsuki, and Hachiman Hikigaya. They helped us a bit when we were in the capital, so I wanted to pay it back!"

"...Very well." Rem schooled her features, "Roswaal-sama is currently out on some errands, but he will be back by dinner. Please, let me show you to the guest rooms while you wait."

I nodded easily enough. It would be nice to stretch my legs for a bit after the four hour ride. Man, I missed the conveniences of a modern car. Maybe that'll be something I could make. I certainly had the tools to make a rudimentary one, and it would save me a lot of pain-in-the-literal-ass in the long run.

And maybe I'll pull Natsuki into it someday, if only to stop the kid from fidgeting around while looking at the blue-haired maid every other second.

Seriously, I don't know if the kid was terrified, or immediately fell in love with the maid with how much he was shooting her nervous glances. I'd bet on the latter, seeing as he certainly didn't act like this with Ram.

Actually, scratch that. Ram was attractive, yes, but holy shit her personality was bad. I could see why even a NEET like Natsuki wouldn't be into her. As entertaining as it might seem to have a tsundere insult you, it really isn't healthy when you're actually in the position of being insulted.

We, and by that I mean Natsuki, waved at Emilia and Ram as we ventured through the maze of corridors that was the Mathers mansion. I lost count of how many doors there were as we saw more and more of them.

"Here is your room, Subaru Natsuki." The maid stopped us as she opened a door. It was to a room that wasn't of particular note. A bit dusty, but nothing that was too bad. Natsuki made his way and took a glance around.

"Yeah, this looks great! I guess I'll see you later, Hikigaya-san, Rem-san."

There was definitely something wrong with him. This was the first time he'd ever called me by my actual name. And to call Rem as -san, when he'd immediately taken to calling Ram with -tan?

There was something going on, but I just couldn't think of what. I was missing a valuable piece of information.

"Very well. I shall fetch you when dinner is ready." Rem acquiesced easily enough, then she turned to me, "Hikigaya-san, shall we?" I nodded in response.

We made our way through the mansion in relative silence. Without Natsuki, it was almost peaceful. Not only that, but I could spot a marked difference in how the maid carried herself without him.

"So," I started. I wasn't big on small talk, but this was something that needed to be nipped in the bud lest I get dragged into it unprepared, "What's your problem with Natsuki?"

My question startled the maid, as she whipped her head towards me. Her eyes were narrowed in suspicion, before turning away, "I do not trust him." It was such a simple answer. An answer that made sense.

Natsuki was wearing odd clothing for this world, came after 'helping' Emilia with something undisclosed, was constantly on edge the moment we got here, and overall looked way too suspicious.

"Bullshit."

Half of those things applied to myself. If the maid really thought of those things, then she'd be as suspicious of me as Natsuki, but no. She was downright relaxed when it was just us. No, it was something specific with the isekai protagonist that I wasn't seeing.

"I assure you, I-"

"Fine, don't tell me." I knew it was a long shot that she'd tell me, but at least I could tell myself that I tried, "Just keep me out of it, alright?"

Rem was silent for a few moments as we walked. Eventually, we arrived at a similar room as Natsuki's, though on the other side of the mansion. As I inspected the room, Rem finally spoke up.

"I do not trust Subaru Natsuki. There is something about him that I cannot accept." It was a sudden declaration that caught me flatfooted. I furrowed my eyebrows in absolute confusion. I hadn't noticed anything amiss about the kid, nor had he even left our sights the entire time.

"I would suggest that you refrain from associating with him any more than you already have, Hikigaya-san."

"I'll take that into consideration." I snorted to myself. With my luck, I'll be dragged into whatever was going on. But if I had anything to say about it, I'll at least be prepared.

Even if it meant finding out what the fuck was up with Natsuki and this strange animosity that Rem had for him.

A/N: If you like what I do and want to support me, check out my P-atreon at P-atreon•com(slash)Almistyor.

And a special thanks to: Oliver vazquez, brutalcrab and Tassimo. Cake, anyone?