Subaru had been cooped up indoors for a few weeks since his little confrontation with Capella. Ever since then, everything just went back to normal like nothing happened. Capella didn't even seem to remember Subaru standing up for Melty, either that or she just simply didn't care.
However, that kind of 'normalcy' could only last so long. It would only be a matter of time before that she-devil flipped Subaru's way of life on its head once again.
That fear would quickly be proven true. During a normal day of Subaru sulking and plotting to himself, trying to think of ways to put an end to Capella's tyranny, he felt his surroundings shake ever so slightly. It wasn't constant or anything, they were just a bunch of random instances of thuds.
Subaru was of course wary of this, thinking it could be indications of a battle in a different room, no doubt being a Capella level tantrum. But before he could determine if that theory was true, Capella bursted into his quarters unannounced as per usual.
Without missing a beat, the deranged girl latched onto Subaru's left arm, completely disregarding his personal space, and making sure to press her breasts against his bicep. "Good evening, Poochie~ I know how much you missed this lovely lady so I decided to surprise you with my divine presence."
Subaru wore a fake smile, doing what he can to not piss the girl off. This was less of a surprise at this point since her visits were a daily occurrence. "That's very considerate of you, Capella."
Capella giggled to herself before finally getting off of Subaru. "Of course, my Subaru. You truly are blessed to be in my care. Who knows what other whore would do to you if they laid their disgusting hands all over you."
"Yep, I really am lucky." Subaru unenthusiastically replied.
Not acknowledging Subaru's lack of energy in his words, Capella continued, "Aww~ I bet you're just yearning to indulge yourself in this lovely lady's embrace, don't you?~"
As she said that, the girl extended her arms out, practically inviting Subaru in her hold. Normally, Subaru would be cautious over such a gesture but by now, he was used to it. Lately, Capella had been clinging onto him excessively and his old fears of Capella changing his body in some way was nearly gone, especially considering that she hadn't done anything to him.
Well, not yet anyways.
…
Or not that he's aware of…
Before Subaru had a chance to respond to Capella's teasing, the girl's brow twitched while she grit her teeth in annoyance. Subaru wanted to internally sigh at this. This sudden attitude was probably because he didn't respond to her within half a second.
"I'm sorry Capella, I just get nervous when-"
"SHUT UP!!!" Capella snapped.
Subaru immediately obliged and tensed up instinctively.
Capella collected herself after a moment and quickly took Subaru's hand, giving him a surprisingly apologetic look. "I'm sorry, Poochie. Mama just has a lot on her mind, and I didn't mean to let it out on you."
"A-Ah… U-Um…" Subaru was speechless. He was already expecting some nonsensical rant or teasing but this girl managed to surprise him with something else as per usual. In all honesty, he had no idea what to do about this.
Letting go of his hand, Capella cleared her throat, and crossed her arms. "Anywho, I wanted to tell you that I have some business I have to attend to in Vollachia."
"Wait, Vollachia?" Subaru asked. He remembered Capella teaching him about this world's geography a good while back and he knew Vollachia was an entirely different country.
Capella nodded in response. "That's right, as much as I would love to stay and spoil you, this is something urgent. But luckily for you, I thought long and hard and decided to leave you in the care of one of my children while I'm out."
"Wait, hold up. You're leaving? How long are you going to be out for?" Subaru had no idea where this came up from but a surge of hope sparked in the boy. After all, this was the best chance he has to not only escape but to finally have some distance from this lunatic. Considering how his last pair up was the ever so sweet Melty, he could care less about who Capella was going to make watch over him.
Capella irked, seemingly being upset of being reminded that she's leaving but she managed to keep herself composed somehow. "I'm hoping this trip of mine will get itself finished by the end of this month." The archbishop grimaced. Not wanting to talk about that anymore, the girl clapped her hands together and smiled brightly. "But, this will be a perfect opportunity for you! While I'm away, you can go back to honing your skills with the child I assigned to you. I'm aware it won't be enough to fill your loneliness but it should keep yourself occupied until my inevitable return."
Not exactly the answer he was looking for but he'll take it. Now he had to prepare to get along with his new group. "How very… considerate of you. Well, who will you pair me up with?"
A wide malicious grin formed on the girl's lips. "You'll be paired up with one of my favorites. This child is nothing like those whores you were with last time. So, my dear sweet Poochie, you'll be assigned with Elsa."
Subaru remembered hearing that name from Sakura but only briefly. The only thing he knew about her was that she was an efficient killer. But despite the act of information he had on her, he still felt a cold chill run down his spine. Not over the fact that he was going to work with a killer, but the ominous feeling that he's about to walk into a new type of hell.
--
Subaru's introduction to Elsa wasn't anything grand at all. Or, at the very least Subaru assumed it was Elsa. Capella simply dropped him off to the assassin, and before leaving, that she-devil gave Elsa a cold, territorial look without uttering a word.
Elsa was a tall woman with short black hair, and purple eyes. She wore all black, definitely giving off the impression that she was mysterious and dangerous. In response to Capella's cold stare, Elsa nodded politely.
Capella grit her teeth in annoyance before finally storming out of the room. She didn't even say one last goodbye to Subaru like she normally would.
Subaru was perplexed, to say the least. Sure, he's seen Capella pissed off like this before but she usually vented out her frustrations by completely obliterating the closest living organism.
Cutting the silence, Elsa turned to Subaru, giving him an oddly ominous smile. "You must have gotten on Mother's bad side, haven't you?"
The boy sighed and looked down. "I have no idea…"
Elsa didn't press any further and responded calmly. "Mother has already informed me of your situation, and I can assure you that you're in good hands."
Subaru sighed, trying to get his worries of Capella wash out of his system. Afterwards, he lightened up his mood, and faced Elsa with a lot more enthusiasm. "That's good to hear. The name's Subaru, and I'm looking forward to working with you." After his introduction, he reached his hand out for a handshake.
Elsa looked at the boy's hand, then glanced at the door that Capella left from. The girl seemed to contemplate something in silence before returning her gaze back to Subaru. "I appreciate the gesture but Mother made it abundantly clear that no one should lay their hands on you. I'm not exempt from that order."
Subaru pulled his hand back nervously. His first thought led to Melty, thinking that Capella didn't want a repeat of that situation. "Ah, well, I'll be in your care then. Elsa, was it?"
Elsa silently nodded and glanced at the door again for a brief second. "I am indeed Elsa. Let's get started then, Subaru."
Subaru nodded and took a deep breath. He wasn't sure what he'll be going through this time but whatever it is, he'll have to be vigilant.
Elsa slowly approached the door and waited a few more moments before leaving through it. She didn't wait on Subaru, the girl just proceeded without even making sure the boy was following behind.
Subaru rushed behind her, not wanting to risk anything by straying too far. "Wait up, Elsa. Mind telling me where we're going-"
Elsa placed a finger over her lips. "Shhhh. Don't say a word. Just follow me."
Being used to taking orders at this point, Subaru obliged instantly. He wasn't sure if Elsa found him annoying or if it was something else. While he followed her, the sounds of thuds and crashing noises returned. Occasionally, he could hear the echoes of screaming. This time, it was a lot easier to determine the culprit causing those thuds. It was in fact Capella.
Subaru didn't question it though, he just continued to follow Elsa's instruction and stayed quiet behind her. Whatever Capella was going through right now, he knew better than to get involved.
Eventually, Subaru was led out of the lair and finally returned to the outdoors. It seemed to be midnight right now, and waiting outside was a young girl with lavender hair. She was surrounded by what Subaru could only guess was this world's animals.
All of the animals surrounding the girl had glowing red eyes and each of them looked like they were ready to tear into the first living thing they saw. Now thinking about it, these reminded him of those creatures called maebeasts. He never saw any while he was out on his first mission so he couldn't say for sure.
"There you are, Elsa! I was starting to worry that you ran off without me." The young girl called out, giving Elsa a cheerful smile. She stopped once she saw Subaru and stared at him in surprise before pointing her finger at him. "Wait, who's that guy?"
Subaru was still perplexed by his surroundings to answer himself but Elsa was the one to speak on his behalf. "Mother assigned me to watch over her pet for the time being."
"Wait, really?" The girl cried out in shock. "That can't be right. Is mama trying to-"
Elsa immediately dashed in front of the girl and placed a dagger just over her lips. Her movements were so fast that it looked like she moved there in a blink of an eye. Elsa didn't say anything, she just stared at her with a surprisingly calm look on her.
The young girl didn't even flinch. It was as if she just interpreted Elsa's threatening action like it was some kind of secret code. Continuing on, the girl said, "Right! I never introduced myself."
The girl casually walked past Elsa without a care in the world and waved at Subaru. "Nice to meet you, big brother. You can call me Meili."
Subaru was a bit dumbfounded at the moment. He wasn't sure if this was some kind of trick considering these are Capella's underlings. In response, the boy answered cautiously. "Nice to meet you, Meili. I'm Natsuki Subaru. I guess I'll be in your care for… a while, I think?"
Meili giggled innocently. "Jeez, big brother. You don't even know how long you're staying with us?"
The carefree attitude caused Subaru to irk a tad bit but continued to keep calm. "I was pushed into this on short notice so even I don't really know what's going on."
That declaration caused Elsa to perk her brow. "Oh really? You seemed to already know your predicament when we first met, Subaru."
Subaru sighed. "The only thing I know is that I'm going to be working with you guys until Capella gets back from her trip."
Upon mentioning Capella's name aloud, both Meili and Elsa tensed up. Elsa had a very scary look about her and Meili nervously turned to Elsa.
"Elsa?" Meili asked. She tried to sound cheerful and innocent but it was near impossible to hide just how nervous she was. "Is it normal for Mama's pets to be so… intimate?"
Subaru immediately understood his mistake and quickly tried to salvage the situation. "Sorry, slip of the tongue. I rarely go out like this so I'm still trying to get used to your guys' code."
Elsa still had her scary look on her. She raised her dagger up her lips while keeping her eyes locked on the boy. "I would recommend you keep that tongue of yours in check then." The girl licked up her dagger and then her lips. "It would be a shame if I had to cut it off if it keeps slipping out like that."
Subaru gulped and nodded immediately. "O-Of course! It won't happen again! Lips are sealed!"
Elsa nodded and lowered her blade, her expression shifting back to her calm one. "Of course, it was just a little mistake after all. But continuing where we last left off, mother assigned me to watch over you. In short, she just wants us to babysit you and make sure you don't run off too far."
Subaru blinked a few times. "Wait, really? Was that it?" He expected to be working with Elsa in her jobs. Capella made it sound like he was going to directly work with them in… whatever it was they did.
"There were a few more conditions, but it wasn't anything too noteworthy." For a brief moment, Elsa snuck a glance to the entrance of the lair. "If you don't mind, I believe we all should get going. I don't think staying here any longer will do us any good."
Meili nodded and two large wolf-like creatures approached the young girl. She immediately hopped on one of them and Elsa mounted the other.
"You wouldn't happen to have a third one, would you?" Subaru piped up, realizing there wasn't a third wolf for him.
"Sorry, big brother. If I'd known you were joining us, I would've brought another one."
"What am I supposed to do then?!"
Meili smiled very sweetly. "Well, if you're not good at running, I could get a rope to tie you up."
"Hey! You can't be serious, you little brat!"
The young girl giggled away at Subaru's expression while Elsa silently watched. Eventually, Elsa decided to put an end to this after she snuck another glance at the entrance of Capella's den. "As much as I find your conversation adorable, I think you should stop teasing him for now, Meili."
Meili puffed her cheeks out. "Aww, that was so lame of you, Elsa."
After Meili's stamp of disapproval, another one of those wolves came from the forest and knelt down, looking at Subaru with its devilish eyes. "Wait, so you did have more!"
"Nah, I just remembered that I had another puppy for you."
Subaru just sighed and mounted the last wolf beast. As much as he wanted to argue more about this, his desire to get as far away from here was a higher priority to him. "I'll buy it this time, but this isn't over yet!"
A part of him wondered what Meili's skills were to be able to tame so many wolves but then again, this was pretty tame compared to all the other crap he's seen thus far.
However, the chance to ask about this wouldn't happen anytime soon as the three already started to move. Subaru never rode an animal like this before so he eagerly clenched onto the beast in order not to fall off. Compared to his time with Sakura and Melty, this method of transportation was already proving to be a lot faster.
"W-Wait!" Subaru managed to cry out. "You never told me where we're going!"
"Jeez, you're a lot more hopeless than I thought." Meili complained. "If you look really closely, we're going north."
"Not the direction, I mean where! Where are you taking me?!"
To that, Meili shrugged. "I dunno. Ask Elsa."
Subaru turned to Elsa expectantly. The girl in question was sitting on her beast with her legs crossed. She was fiddling around with her dagger as she seemed to mindlessly stare off in the distance.
"Um, Elsa? Do you mind filling me in on where we're going?"
Elsa glanced at Subaru for a short moment before staring back into space. "Meili is the one controlling the demon beasts. She should have a better answer for you."
"You both are hopeless!!!" Subaru screeched, resulting in a giggle from Meili.
Subaru ended up assuming this was their way of saying not to leak information or something like that. Regardless, the boy decided it would be best just to wait and see where they end up. In the grand scheme of things, if this direction led to civilization, it would be great to consider this path if he ever decided to escape on his own.
Well, that was his initial train of thought. They ended up going in this direction for a solid three hours before finally making a pit stop. This only told him that Capella's den was probably several miles away from civilization.
But the time for thinking about that will come later. Subaru noticed that they stopped by a broken down house in the middle of the forest. The place looked long since abandoned as the surrounding plant growth seemed to already be taking over.
"Here's our stop!" Meili happily announced. "We're going to reconcile here."
Subaru took a good look at his surroundings. They have been riding along in the middle of the forest for hours and even this place showed no signs of being anywhere near civilization. "Is there a city or village nearby? I don't know how we're supposed to last without any supplies."
At this time, Meili hopped off of her beast. "Well, we are about a mile away from the capital city, but we can get supplies tomorrow. Right Elsa?"
Elsa was still sitting atop her beast mount. She seemed too focused on surveying the perimeter, almost like how Subaru was. After being called on by Meili, she briefly broke out of her focus. "Yes, we can collect supplies tomorrow. I believe it would be best to have Subaru find a place to settle down."
Meili looked on in shock. "Really? Just like that, Elsa?"
Elsa lifted a single brow curiously. "Oh? Will that be an issue?"
The young girl sighed and shook her head. "No, that won't be a problem. But he needs to make a barricade! There's no way I'm letting a boy sleep with us!"
"Oi!" Subaru butted in. "I wasn't planning on sleeping with you guys to begin with!"
"Good!" Meili responded. "There's a lot of rubble all over the place in there, feel free to use that."
Subaru squinted his eyes. "I've never been here before. The least you could do is help me with this. Maybe show me where you'll be sleeping and where I'll be."
"Really, big brother? Don't be lazy."
"Hey! I'm not trying to be lazy! I'm trying to respect your privacy here!"
"Hmm, maybe I could spare a bat or two-"
"You should help him, Meili." Elsa interrupted.
"W-What?!" Meili practically fell from the shock. "This isn't fair, Elsa! Why don't you do it?"
Subaru didn't say anything. He was starting to think that having Elsa do it instead would probably be better at this point.
Elsa finally got off her beast mount. "I have to make my own preparations. Surely you're not scared of that boy, are you?"
"Of course not! There's no way he'd ever scare me!"
"Well, there shouldn't be a problem then."
Meili took the hint and let it go. Not saying another word to Elsa, she turned to Subaru with a friendly smile. "Guess I'll be free to help you after all, big brother. I'm really excited to show you around!~"
Subaru squinted at this. "Don't give me that! I was right here, you know!"
Thus the two started their afternoon getting Subaru settled into the broken down house. There really wasn't anything in there to begin with, hell, there wasn't even a single bed inside. It made Subaru wonder why Meili was making such a big deal out of this.
Elsa, on the other hand, just sat on the roof. Almost as if she was keeping watch.
--
Subaru eventually found a spot in this broken down house to rest. Thanks to the help of Meili and her resourcefulness, they were able to make a makeshift hammock for him to sleep on. In fact, Meili loved the design of the hammock so much that she ended up making two more for Elsa and herself.
The boy had a difficult time falling to sleep at first. He was still paranoid that Capella was still around the corner somewhere, just watching him. But exhaustion eventually took over Subaru and he drifted off to sleep.
While Subaru was suffering in his own little corner, Elsa and Meili were dealing with their own things. Meili was rocking back and forth on the hammock as if it were a swing. "This is so fun, Elsa! I never would've thought that cry baby could come up with something like this."
"…" Elsa didn't respond. She was silently staring outside of the shack, gazing in the direction that they initially came from.
Meili easily took notice and wore a much more serious expression. "I know that look. Well, Elsa? How many are there?"
Elsa lifted her index finger. "Just one."
"Really? That's it? That poor fool. Want me to send the demon beasts at them?"
The black haired girl shook her head. "It would be best if you didn't."
This time, Meili gave a suspicious look at her. "What are you waiting for then? It isn't like you to let a spy get all comfy. Not for this long anyways."
Elsa finally looked away and brought her gaze to Meili, smiling once she did so. "If you're that curious, then letting you know shouldn't hurt. Ever since we left, Mother has been tailing us."
Meili's face paled in an instant. Whatever confidence the young girl had vanished. "M-Mama…?"
Elsa simply nodded. "That's right. But it should be fine now. She seemed to go her separate way not too long ago."
Meili let out a loud 'Whew' before wiping the sweat away from her forehead. "Jeez, Elsa. Don't scare me like that!"
"Oh? Was there a different way you wanted to be scared?"
"No! You could've just started the conversation by saying she already left."
Elsa giggled silently. "You should probably get some rest now. There's no telling what Mother will attract so we'll be needing all the energy we need."
Meili gulped just at the thought. "S-Say, Elsa. Do you have any idea why Mama was following us? I don't remember doing anything that would get her on her bad side."
"My guess would have to be Subaru. I heard that he was her pet for about two months so my guess is it has something to do with that."
"W-Wait, two months?! There's no way he of all people could last that long with Mama!"
To that, Elsa shrugged. "I can't say for sure. It may have been exaggerated."
Meili felt disgusted talking about Capella. Not wanting to have that sick feeling anymore, the girl changed the topic of the conversation. "A-Anyway, are we still doing that job? The one from the creepy guy?"
"Yes, we'll still be doing that. I'm still unsure of Subaru's skills so I plan to have him stick with you for this one."
"Yeah, that shouldn't be too hard. My demon beasts can help me babysit him. But, what are we doing for that creepy guy? I know he'll be supplying us for the job but I don't remember him ever saying who we are meant to kill."
"Our client wanted us to steal something called a dragon jewel from a silver haired half elf."
Meili perked her brow curiously. "A silver haired half elf? I get why our client would want a half elf dead, but just to steal from them? Something doesn't add up here."
"Oh, our client knows exactly what he's doing. Our job is to acquire that dragon jewel and we're free to use any method we wish."
Meili's eyes widened in realization, easily understanding where Elsa was going with this. "Ohhhh. That makes so much more sense now."