Inside a quiet bedroom nestled deep within the mansion, the soft hum of night filled the air. The magical lanterns gave off a low, comforting glow, casting slow-moving shadows that danced along the velvet curtains. The windows were open, letting in a cool breeze and the distant sound of nocturnal insects.
Two figures sat by the open window, bathed in moonlight. One was a woman draped in an elegant purple dress, her long, painted nails gently combing through the pink hair of the maid in her lap. The noble's golden eyes sparkled mischievously as she gazed at the stars, a thick book resting open in her other hand.
"Sooooo~ seems like we have quite the interesting new butler, don't you think, Ram?" Roswaal purred, her tone playful as her finger traced a line down the page without truly reading it.
The pink-haired maid, resting against her master's chest, gave the faintest huff. Her voice was flat, unimpressed, even as she allowed herself to melt further into the embrace.
"He's more trouble than he's worth," Ram replied. "He's terrible at most chores, complains constantly about how 'backwater' our technology is, and even has the gall to mock our magic."
Her eyes narrowed just slightly, the memory clearly annoying her.
"Honestly, the audacity is the only thing remarkable about him."
Roswaal chuckled, her arms tightening slightly around her maid's waist, the book now momentarily forgotten in her lap.
The writing inside the book was not in any known language. But it was simple. Small. Straightforward Commands.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
4:30 A.M.
"Yo. Who's up?"
A boy lying on his bed sent a message to the group chat.
Yama:
"Fck you mean 'who's up'? It's 4 P.M."
Teru:
"And there he is! Man, you skipped school twice and didn't even tell us? Some friend you are."
Subaru chuckled to himself as he typed back:
"Bro, I got isekai'd. How the hell am I supposed to invite you?"
Teru:
"For real?"
Subaru:
"For real."
Kame:
"In what way? Did you get hit by a truck or?"
Subaru:
"No, I blinked."
Kame, Teru, Yama:
"""Aaaaaah," that so?" It's the usual then?"
Takeshi:
"Stop yapping. Are we gonna push some ranks or nah?"
Subaru:
"What ranks?"
Takeshi:
"I dunno. Fortnite? PUBG? Valo? Anything really, I am just bored."
Subaru:
"I can't do PC right now. They didn't get Isekai'd with me."
Kame:
"But you have your phone?"
Subaru:
"Yup."
Teru:
"And you can still chat with us?"
Subaru:
"Uh-huh."
Yama:
"I call bullshit."
Teru, Kame, Takeshi:
"""Ditto."""
Subaru:
"Fuck you guys"
Teru:
"Oh! Almost forgot—The teacher said someone should check on you and give you the notes from the classes you missed."
Subaru:
"Still doesn't change the fact that I'm in another world, but sure. My parents should be home, I think?"
Yama:
"Your dad's not working?"
Subaru:
"He took time off to report me missing to the police. Probably. I'm gonna testify later that I'm actually in another world—maybe even to the Prime minister."
Yama:
"The Prime minister? That's kind of excessive, no?"
Subaru:
"Not really??? I'm literally living proof of multiversal travel—and don't forget the whole magical abnormality thing. My phone still connects to Earth's internet. This is a leap in science that won't happen for at least a thousand years!"
Takeshi:
"Chill out, man. It's not that deep."
Subaru:
"The hell do you mean not that deep? This is the deepest thing that can ever be. I'm a multiversal being now!"
Subaru:
"You monoversal creature should bow to me!"
Takeshi:
"Alright bro, you are doing too much."
Yama:
"All hail King Subaru"🙇♂️
Teru:
🙇♂️
Takeshi:
🖕
Kame:
"So this is... for real real? I honestly thought you were just messing with us."
Subaru:
"Dude. Even I'm not that committed to a joke."
Yama:
"So who's coming to his house to bring him the note?"
Teru:
"Class rep probably."
Subaru:
"Suzu-san?"
Teru:
"You know the class rep's name?"
Subaru:
"You don't???"
Just then, Subaru's phone buzzed with an incoming call. The name on the screen read: Akagi Suzu.
He raised an eyebrow at the timing before picking up and putting the phone to his ear.
"Hello?"
#Oy Natsuki, I'm at your house right now. The teacher told me to give you some notes for your missing classes.#
"Then you're gonna have to come there every day, because I'm not sure I can make it to school anymore," Subaru replied, his tone relaxed like it was no big deal.
#Why? You're not becoming a NEET, are you? Because that is super pathetic.#
"Nope. I got Isekai'd. Plain and simple."
#You and Teru really need to stop your jokes. If you're sick, just say it.#
"I'm serious. Did you not see my tweet?"
#Why would I see your tweet? I didn't even know you had one.#
Subaru let out a loud, fake gasp. He wasn't really surprised though. While he got along well with most of the boys in class—and even some outside his class—his connection with the girls was... kind of lacking.
#Oh, never mind, your mom is here.#
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Kenichi! What are you still doing on the TV? We gotta get to the station!" A middle aged woman shouted from the hallway.
"Subaru said 6 P.M., it's barely 5! He's probably not even awake yet!" Kenichi called back, lounging on the couch with the remote in hand.
"It takes 30 minutes to get to the station, and we'll have to wait another 30 minutes once we're there—if we're lucky! Come on!"
"What kind of dystopian bureaucracy are we living in where it takes half an hour just to report a missing person!?"
The Natsuki household quickly descended into a shouting match. Subaru's mom tried to drag her husband out the door while Kenichi just wanted a few more minutes of peace before dealing with paperwork and questioning at the station.
Finally, Naoko managed to drag her husband off the couch and over to the front door. She swung it open—only to find a girl, around Subaru's age, standing right outside.
"Never mind, your mom is here," the girl said into her phone before ending the call.
She looked up at them with a polite smile and gave a small bow.
"Good afternoon, Mrs. Natsuki."
(Yes, I know, it was 5 p.m., but this is Japan. People say konnichiwa no matter the time. Weird, I know.)
"Good afternoon, dear. Sorry, but we were just about to head out. Is there something you need?" Naoko asked.
The girl shook her head and started rummaging through her bag.
"Nothing, ma'am. I just came to drop off Subaru's class notes since he's been absent for two days."
She paused for a moment, then looked up.
"What happened to him anyway? I called him just now, and he kept messing around like it was some kind of a joke."
Naoko and Kenichi exchanged glances, trying to decide how much to say.
"You called him... and he answered?" Kenichi asked the girl, trying to confirm his suspicion.
"Yeah," the girl replied.
"So he is awake." Naoko gave Kenichi a light slap on the shoulder. His excuse for not rushing to the station—because their son might still be asleep—was completely shattered with that simple confirmation.
The girl, meanwhile, had no idea what just happened. She simply stood there, waiting for one of them to take the notes so she could leave.
"Oh, sorry dear, let me just take that note from you," Naoko said, finally noticing the girl's confused stare and reaching for the book. "But um... I don't think Subaru can go to school anymore. We'll talk to the teacher about it later, but we're kind of in a hurry right now. Sorry for making you come all the way here, we really appreciate it."
Suzu just nodded, said nothing, and left the Natsuki household with more questions than she was willing to ask.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The forbidden library is as quiet as ever. Beatrice sits in the middle of it, reading a random book she pulled from one of the shelves.
This is how she's spent her time for the past four hundred years. Every so often, she picks up a book she's already read and starts it again—just to keep the contents fresh in her memory.
There are thousands of books in this library. Reading them all would take a few years if done non-stop, or a few decades at a more relaxed pace.
But what is time to an immortal spirit like Beatrice? There's no need to rush. So instead, she just reads at a normal pace—whenever boredom kicks in.
But someone wasn't going to let that peaceful routine continue any longer.
"Beako!"
The door to the forbidden library burst open, and in strode a very rude boy who looked like he had just kicked it down—while pointing some glowing rectangular device at her.
"Quick! I need you to prove magic is real or my parents might get arrested!" he blurted, panic all over his face.
The little blonde girl just stared at him, one eyebrow slowly rising, silently wondering where this boy found the audacity to walk in and start making demands.
"That sounds like your problem in fact, not Betty's. Why should Betty bother, I suppose?"
"Because you'll be the best girl if you do?"
"Betty has no idea what that means, but Betty is already the best, in fact," she said plainly, as if declaring the color of the sky.
"Alright, screw it, I'll just do this!" the boy said, slamming the library door shut behind him.
A few minutes of silence passed. Then, the door burst open again.
"And now she is here!" the boy announced triumphantly to the glowing device in his hands, turning it so it faced the shelves and walls of her library like he was showing off an exhibit.
"How do you keep finding Betty's library like that? It's supposed to be random every time!" Betty asked, still baffled at how this boy was bypassing what should have been a perfect hiding spot.
"Because we are connected," Subaru said jokingly to the little librarian lady before turning his attention back to the glowing device. "Anyway! How is that? Magic, right?"
#While that is a nice trick, it's still not outside the realm of possibility. We need more proof for your claim.#
"What more proof do you need?!" Subaru's voice rose in frustration as he glared at the phone. "I just showed you a teleporting room!"
#I've seen Zach King do that#
"Damn you, Zach King!"
Subaru grit his teeth, racking his brain for another way to prove his Isekai situation to the police.
"Alright, alright—what about healing magic? Seeing actual open wounds close in real time should be enough proof, right?" he suggested.
#Absolutely not! You are not cutting yourself open just to prove a point!# The voice was sharper and noticeably higher-pitched this time.
"It's fine, Mom! It's not like I'll be in pain for long," he tried to reason, though she clearly wasn't convinced. Not that she could physically stop him from here.
"So! Betty, can you help me show the incredible use of magic to my world so I can prove I got Isekai'd?" Subaru turned to the little librarian again, layering his voice with forced charm.
"No." The answer came swift, flat, and utterly dismissive.
Subaru slumped in defeat. "That so, huh? My bad, I guess. I shouldn't have asked you to do something so complicated," he said in a mocking voice, though Betty could hear the insult buried under the faux apology.
"But I guess that's why Tappei created Rem! Thanks for nothing, little lady!" he called, slipping out and slamming the door before Betty could physically eject him for that last remark.
Subaru now stood in front of a closed door in a random hallway of Roswaal's mansion.
"Now then," he muttered to himself, "where is that blue oni?"
"Rem is here."
"Waah!"
Without warning, the blue-haired maid appeared from behind him, making Subaru jump and nearly drop his phone.
"When did you get here?!" he yelped.
"Since you started running around the mansion while everyone else was sleeping," Rem answered flatly. Her face was calm—cold, even—but there was a faint thread of curiosity in her tone.
"When you say it like that..." Subaru suddenly realized how suspicious he must look.
He also noticed the signature ball and chains on her hand.
"Rem Rem?"
"Yes, Subaru?"
"Why do you have that?" He pointed at the spiked ball.
"Self-defense," she replied without a flicker of hesitation.
"..." Subaru's eyes narrowed. He wasn't buying it.
"It's for self-defense," she repeated, just as straight-faced as before.
"...Alright, cool." Subaru decided to ignore the implications entirely. "Anyway, can you help me prove magic is real? My world's a little skeptical about this whole thing."
Since Betty had been a total dead end, he figured the blue-haired maid might be more cooperative.
Rem said nothing at first—just stared at him for what felt like an eternity—before finally answering.
"Sure," she said. "How may Rem help?"
Subaru jumped at the opportunity. "You know healing magic, right?"
"Rem does," she nodded. "But she is not proficient in it."
"That's fine! As long as you can heal a small wound, that should be plenty."
Without warning, Subaru threw his arms up and yelled like he was the only one in the mansion. "To the kitchen!"
Rem blinked. "Why are we going to the kitchen?"
"For a knife!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The proving of magic ended exactly as expected—Subaru showed off his wound closing in seconds, leaving them with little choice but to admit it was real.
…Or deny it and claim it was all just CGI.
Of course, it wasn't that easy. The police decided to dig deeper, tracing his IP address. They found it—only for it to show Subaru sitting inside his own house.
Naturally, they planned to investigate in person to confirm the reading. For now, though, they just told Subaru to keep them posted at all times and let him go.
"Victory!" Subaru cheered, which is why he was now outside in the mansion's garden, doing his usual morning radio calisthenics.
"V-victory!" Emilia joined in, trying to copy his strange arm swings.
"Victory! Victory!" And Puck, floating nearby, happily mimicked them both.
The three of them had just finished Subaru's weird exercise routine—something they decided to join in on after spotting him doing strange movements alone in the garden.
Today, for some reason, was everyone's break day. Emilia was taking a rest from her studies, the maids were taking it easy, and Subaru… well, he simply had no chores lined up for the morning.
It was his magic lesson day, so Roswaal had decided to let him have the morning off. Even when he only officially started working yesterday.
"Already lazing around on your second day. As expected of Barusu," came Ram's voice, sharp and amused, as she strolled over.
"You call morning exercise lazing around? Then you must be the most diligent person in the world, in your book," Subaru shot back with a mocking clap, refusing to let her jab go unanswered.
"Stop it, you two," Emilia scolded, though her voice lacked any real authority—more playful than strict. "Why can't you just get along?"
"Don't worry, Emilia-tan, this is just how we show our affection," Subaru explained, grinning. While it might look like they were constantly at each other's throats, their exchanges were more playful teasing than genuine insults. "Isn't that right, Nee-sama?!"
"Ram would rather gut herself than feel affection for you, Barusu," she replied without missing a beat.
"Hmm. Mm. Very tsundere. As expected of Ram," Subaru muttered with a knowing nod. Which was met with an annoyed 'Tch' by Ram but he ignored her.
"Anyway—magic!" Subaru shouted, practically vibrating with excitement. "Can't believe I'm actually learning magic! This is some rule-breaking stuff! My entire understanding of how the world works is about to shatter in the next few hours, and I can't wait to watch it happen!" He pumped a fist in the air, even adding a little hop to emphasize just how hyped he was.
#Don't forget—be careful. We don't want you breaking your gate like in the story.#
The sudden mechanical voice caught Subaru off guard. He turned to his side to see the blue-haired maid standing there. For some reason, literally the entire population of the mansion had shown up to witness this historic moment—everyone except Roswaal and Beako, of course. The latter still hated him. Tsunderely.
Rem was holding Subaru's phone, its camera pointed at him. On the screen, his parents' faces stared back from their home, both watching him intently.
"I know! Damn, how many times do I have to tell you guys—I know what I'm doing here!" Subaru said with mock annoyance.
#You say that, but the story says otherwise,# his mom clapped back without missing a beat.
"That's just because Puck is a bad teacher."
"Excuse me?!"
Puck, hearing the sudden accusation, puffed up in visible offense.
"Yeaaah, that's right! You heard me, you cat-mousy hybrid!" Subaru jabbed a finger at him. "In the story, you're the one responsible for teaching me magic firsthand, and I end up blowing my own gate just for casting a single Shamak!"
He wasn't backing down, staring the little mouse-cat spirit dead in the eyes.
"Isn't that just because you are a bad student? I taught Emilia how to use magic all by myself, and she never blew her gate. Blaming your teacher for your own incompetence is bad behavior, y'know?" Puck shot back, tail twitching smugly.
"You taught Emilia Spirit Arts, not spellcasting. Two totally different things!" Subaru countered immediately. "One uses your own gate to channel magic, the other uses mana from the atmosphere."
He leaned forward with a mock-serious expression. "In fact, we should all be glad you didn't teach her how to use her own gate. Because guess what player? She's got a bigger gate than all of us combined—maybe even more than Roswaal! Imagine what a blown-up gate like that would look like!"
Emilia blinked in surprise. "I do?"
"Oh, right—you wouldn't know that until Arc 4," Subaru said casually, as if dropping spoilers in everyday conversation was perfectly normal. "Anyway, yes. You do. But don't take any lessons on this from your stepdad—his track record is awful."
He turned to point accusingly at Puck, finger steady, voice brimming with mock outrage.
"Acha!"
An ice cube smacked him square in the forehead before he could say more, courtesy of the offended flying cat spirit.
The two of them took their scuffle to the garden, rolling around in the grass as Puck assumed a much larger form so they could properly wrestle.
#I don't know where he got that attitude from, but he's gotten ruder ever since he was brought to your world,# Subaru's mother complained through the phone. Only the girls heard her—the boys were far too busy trying to pin each other down.
"Barusu not being rude? Ram can hardly believe that," Ram remarked dryly, glancing at the screen.
#Oh yes, he used to be so sweet when he was a kid. There was this one time he came home with dirt all over him because he'd spent the entire afternoon looking for four-leaf clovers to give to me—just because someone told him they bring good luck,# his mother recalled fondly.
The girls listened, but Rem in particular hung on every word.
The more she learned about Subaru, the less likely it seemed he could be a Witch Cultist.
I mean… what kind of Witch Cultist still called his mother like this?
Unless his mother was also a Witch Cultist. But even that seemed far less likely than Subaru himself being one.
"He sounds like a good kid," Emilia commented warmly at Naoko's story.
#He is the best. We honestly can't ask for a better son. And when your world's story came on TV, we were shocked at first… but after seeing what that Subaru went through, we decided to make sure our Subaru would never have to experience the same thing.#
The girls listened closely. Once again, they were reminded that their own world had already been told somewhere else—played out as a story for another world to watch.
But something in Naoko's words caught Emilia's attention. Her eyes softened, and she tilted her head slightly.
"The story Subaru… what was he like?" she asked gently.
#Mmm, that's an interesting question. Let's see… He is impulsive, he thinks himself worse than everybody else, and in turn he tries too hard to prove his worth.
And also, he loves you so much it's honestly kind of weird,# Naoko explained to Emilia, who blinked in surprise at that last part.
"Me?" she repeated, as if the very idea was absurd.
#Oh yes. It was partly because you're kind and nice… and also because of how you look. He loves silver-haired girls, you see.#
If Subaru had been there to hear it, he would have cut the call immediately in a fit of embarrassed protest. But alas, he was not—so Naoko could say whatever she pleased.
"My hair?" Emilia said again, almost in denial.
#Yes. I know people in your world see you as some kind of monster because of the Witch of Envy's appearance. But to us, you look like an ordinary cute girl. We don't have that same animosity towards the Witch.#
"She destroyed half the world," Rem interjected matter-of-factly, as if that should settle things.
#Your world, not ours. And again, to us your world is just a story—so she's more like your typical villain or demon lord. But that doesn't change the fact that both Emilia and her would be considered pretty cute by our standards.#
Emilia didn't quite know what to say to that—caught somewhere between flattered, bewildered, and slightly uncomfortable.
"She is the leader of a genocidal organisation," Rem insisted again, trying to hammer home that no matter how pretty she looked, the Witch of Envy was still evil.
#Allegedly,# Naoko replied with a light shrug in her tone, clearly not buying into the same intensity. #But anyway, Subaru told me not to spoil you girls too much—something about a butterfly effect—so why don't we talk about something lighter?#
The shift in topic was seamless enough, and soon the atmosphere relaxed again. The girls drifted into casual conversation—chatting about how food was made in another world, the kinds of ingredients they had, the strange and unfamiliar dishes from Naoko's home. From there, it flowed naturally into talk of farming methods, tools, and even how seasons worked where she lived.
Y'know—normal, harmless stuff.
Time passed, and finally another figure stepped into the garden.
"I'm so sorry for being late, the paperwork today was a lot," the newcomer said. It was none other than the lady of the house herself—Roswaal L. Mathers.
Subaru and Puck immediately paused their wrestling match, both turning to look at her.
"Roswaal?" Subaru called out. "What are you doing here?"
"Oh my~ am I not allowed to be in my own garden~?" she replied with a sly smile, her singsong voice carrying that usual teasing lilt.
The moment her golden eyes landed on Subaru, she began her habitual barrage of playful jabs—but Subaru, already seasoned against her antics, simply rolled his shoulders and let it slide.
"Well, you can do what you want, I guess," Subaru said with a shrug. "But anyway, Beako sure is late. I thought I was supposed to have my magic lessons today, not next week." He tossed the comment out like a playful jab toward the absent spirit—thankfully, one she wasn't around to hear.
"Oh~? And why would she be the one giving you lessons?" Roswaal tilted her head, curiosity dripping from her tone and a teasing smile playing at her lips.
"Because I have yin affinity? And she's the Great Spirit of Yin? Kind of obvious when you think about it," Subaru replied as if it were the most self-evident fact in the world.
Roswaal, on the other hand, smirked at him. "Well, that might be true, but as you said, she is a Great Spirit. Her way of casting magic is different from that of a human. As such, it makes much more sense for your teacher to be a human like yourself."
Subaru's eyes widened as the implication sank in. There was only one other human in this mansion besides him and… oh no.
"That's right, Subaru-kun~" Roswaal's grin stretched wider, her voice dipping into an exaggerated sing-song. "Your soon-to-be beloved sensei… is meeeeee~"
If it had been yesterday, Subaru might have panicked, thrown up his hands, and loudly declared his protest.
Today, though? He only cringed, shoulders slumping in quiet resignation, and muttered something under his breath about "fate being a cruel mistress."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The washroom—normally filled only with the steady slosh of water and the occasional sigh—was unusually lively today. Humming, whistles, and the rhythmic splashing of soapy water gave the place an almost festival-like air.
The source of this sudden cheer was none other than Natsuki Subaru. Compared to yesterday's sluggish pace, he was a whirlwind now, moving with practiced precision and an almost suspicious amount of energy.
"You seem happy, Barusu," Ram observed dryly, folding her own neatly washed towels. Her pile was far smaller than the mountain Subaru was working through, but he made it look effortless.
"Happy? More like supercharged!" Subaru declared, practically beaming. "This flow method is amazing! I feel like I just drank ten cups of coffee—without the side effects!"
To prove his point, he doubled his efforts, scrubbing and rinsing the sheets so quickly it almost looked like a competition no one else had agreed to join.
"Don't move too rough, the sheets are delicate. They might tear if you do," Rem warned, glancing over at him with a hint of concern.
"Aye aye, Captain!" Subaru shot back, still riding that wave of boundless energy as he returned to scrubbing with gusto.
The flow method—a technique used by this world's soldiers—was designed to grant an almost absurd boost in physical performance by circulating mana from one's gate through the entire body.
In the original story, Subaru never really mastered it for two simple reasons: first, his gate was damaged. Second, even if it wasn't, his gate was so small the boost would have been barely noticeable.
But what Subaru learned in this morning's magic lesson with Roswaal was… shocking.
His gate wasn't small at all.
It was average.
Yes—perfectly, wonderfully average. Which, compared to his canon self, was a massive improvement.
That little revelation had his mind spinning. What else could he do now? With a gate this size—and one that wasn't broken—more advanced magic suddenly felt like it might be within reach. Maybe even without relying on anyone else.
Roswaal had taught him the flow method for a reason: to strengthen his gate. Average or not, it had been lying dormant for the first seventeen years of his life, so instead of throwing him straight into spellcasting, she told him to focus on circulating mana through his body and see how it went from there.
"Hmm... but if I still can't use my own gate to cast magic, maybe I should learn some spirit arts like Emilia."
In this world, spirit arts offered an alternative to conventional magic—and came with two main approaches.
The first was to draw on the mana in the atmosphere, sometimes with the help of nearby lesser spirits. This way, there was no strain on the caster's own gate at all.
The second was to form a contract with a spirit. The spirit could then use the mana from your gate to cast spells, or filter that mana for you so you could cast it yourself.
For someone like Subaru, whose gate was still rusty from years of disuse, spirit arts were a far safer option than the usual method of pouring raw mana directly into a spell.
But that was a problem for future Subaru to figure out. Present Subaru had chores to finish—and way too much energy to burn while doing them.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"We're making what now?" Subaru asked, tilting his head in confusion.
"Puddings," Rem replied matter-of-factly as she arranged the ingredients on the counter. "Your mother gave us the recipe, and since we already have everything we need, Roswaal-sama thought it would be nice to try a delicacy from another world."
Subaru joined her at the counter, following her instructions without protest. Rem still kept that measured distance, her tone polite but cool, yet she didn't push him away. It wasn't much, but it was a start.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"And then–stab! I saved the day by killing the bossgram with the broken sword from the villager," Subaru told the story of arc 2 to the mansion's residents, and Roswaal even clapped for him. Of course, he left out certain parts—like anything about RBD.
They were having lunch now, and unlike yesterday, even the staff was enjoying the meal alongside Emilia and Roswaal. Beako was there too, eating despite not needing to.
"Betty can hardly believe you would have the guts to break your own gate and do all that, I suppose," said the little spirit loli.
"You can believe what you want, but the script said what it said. I am a goddamn hero," the boy smugly replied, earning a scoff from her.
"Or at least until Roswaal came back and burned the remaining Wolgram to the ground, making the curse in my body practically useless since there was no one left to activate it." The noble lady beamed at that.
"So you can say I saved your life then~? My~ I wonder what kind of reward I should ask for doing that~?" she teased.
"Yeah, no. You're not getting anything from it. This is your territory—it's your duty to keep it safe." Subaru shut her down before the conversation could go too far off the rails.
"Fair enough" Roswaal accepted that logic.
"And this will all happen on your fourth day, so… two days from now?" Emilia chimed in, asking the important question.
"Yup! Day after tomorrow. Rem and I should go to the village to check for that little assassin girl and her bossgram in disguise, and we should keep her alive if possible," Subaru answered.
"PervBaru."
The insult came fast, followed by several pairs of stinky eyes aimed at him.
"What? Why am I a pervert?" he asked, turning to the pink-haired maid.
"You want to keep a little girl in our basement. What more does Ram have to say?" she elaborated, making him blink in shock.
"Wow, wow, wow—who said anything about the basement?"
"Ah, so you want to keep her in your room. You're an even bigger beast than Ram thought."
"That is so not what I meant!" Subaru groaned, throwing his hands up in exasperation. Across the table, Roswaal was already chuckling into her meal, Emilia looked more confused than anything, and Ram was being as smug as ever.
The rest of lunch carried on with that same mix of teasing and suspicion hanging over him like an unwelcome cloud. Though it seems like almost everyone already let go of those suspicion.
Except for one person.
End of chapter