Seeing the beautiful and pristine woman sleeping in the bed, Mahito was intrigued for other reasons. She was clearly asleep but couldn't wake up. Usually, comatose individuals would show signs of muscle and tissue deterioration due to lack of movement, but she looked like she was frozen in time.
"Now what happened to you, little missy~" He observed her form with a face of glee, clearly enjoying this display of soul manipulation.
The ability to make her immune to biological needs and changes in this state was truly impressive. Even though he had only been here for a minute, he could tell all of this.
"What if I just..." As he was about to touch her soul, the door suddenly opened, and in came an elderly looking woman. She looked like a caretaker, carrying a vase of flowers and a broom.
She entered the room and started cleaning the floors and walls diligently, replacing the slightly withered flowers with new ones.
After that, she sat down next to the sleeping beauty and started talking to her, her voice nostalgic and gentle, all while Mahito stood in the corner, slightly recognising that this old woman was not as simple as a normal maid.
"The flowers outside are blooming beautifully today, my dear Louanne. I brought a few inside for you... So it doesn't feel so lonely in here." She cradled her face, grooming her blonde hair so it could look perfectly serene again.
"Heinkel is still drunk, as always, but he's still finding any lead he can to find a way to wake you up. He misses you deeply... But the one most hurt right now is your son Reinhard..."
"After you fell into this coma, all three of them were deeply hurt, but Reinhard was just 5 years old and had to witness his father's deteriorating self constantly..."
"Then, when The Great Expedition was announced, Miss Theresia had to take his place. When she died as well, the Astrea family was fully broken. Reinhard was completely shunned by both his father and grandfather. Combined with how everyone feared him too, I still can't comprehend how he still remains so virtuous and kind." She smiled, a painful but patient one.
'Cute story, but when are you gonna get to the juicy part~' Mahito listened earnestly, squatting down in the corner, not because he felt bad for them or something, but in case he could receive some blackmail or general info he could make use of.
"However, recently, I noticed that he started smiling a lot more. Remember how I told you he made a new foreign friend a few weeks ago? Well, he just brought him in, as well as the alleged 5th Candidate. I can't even tell if he's so happy because he fulfilled his mission or that this Luke Arkwright is now joining us."
"Dear Louanne, please wake up soon; you're the only one who can fix this family now. Grimm and I try to keep things together, but it's just not eno- huh?" She was going to say her usual finishing wishes before her aged instincts kicked in.
She looked at the corner of the room, feeling as though she was being watched. Her hand sneakily went to the dagger hidden on her, before feeling the sense of danger disappear.
'That's strange. I swore I could feel a presence in here. I'll have to report this to Sir Reinhard later.' She gave a last goodbye to Louanne before checking the magical barriers in the room and then leaving.
Hiding in the hallway was Mahito, who sighed in resignation as he watched the woman leave.
'Even this woman has freakish perception... But that's what makes it fun! I wonder how things are going with that Natsuki Subaru~ I really hope he's getting a reality check~'
Meanwhile... Back on the road leading to the Roswaal estate.
A fierce ice spell cut multiple trees in half as the target dodged just in time.
"At this point, you should be painfully aware of the difference in our combat power." Higuruma spoke calmly to the angry Rem, who was looking at him like he had hurt her sister.
"SHUT UP, FILTHY CULTIST!" She swung her giant morning star towards him, cleanly destroying the rocks and foliage in between.
Increasing the size of his gavel severalfold, he blocked the approaching spiked iron mace with the now-giant mallet. Even with coating it and himself in Cursed Energy, the force of it was nothing to scoff at. He was even pushed back a little.
'Far worse overall combatant than Elsa, but with her, she was unarmed and inefficient with her strike points. But Rem here can use magic and is going for the kill with every attack. Combined with your natural strength and affinity, are both of you even human?'
Taking advantage of his momentary loss of footing, she pulled back her mace and openly charged an El Huma in her hand.
She observed how he changed the size of his gavel again to prepare for a block. She had already seen it happen many times during this exchange.
A glaring weakness she found was that despite his skill in manipulating the gavel, it was only ever one gavel he could summon. This meant that all she had to do was bide for an opportunity where she could hit him from multiple angles at once.
As the barrage of ice shards came towards him, he skillfully intercepted and blocked each one with a combination of throwing his gavels and dodging. Even while doing this, his eyes caught how she was able to do this while operating her giant mace with her other hand.
'As I expected, she's employing a simple tactic of distracting me so she can take me by surprise. I could have used my Domain, but with the commotion here, it might invite some unwanted people, and I can't risk being blind to the outside.'
While firing her spell, she moved closer and closed the distance rapidly. Her hand whipped the mace back towards him, which caused him to brace for impact again.
However, his eyes widened as the mace instead went behind and around him. Obviously an entrapment method. He couldn't reposition without giving her an opportunity to ensnare him with the chains.
So, elongating his gavel, he stabbed it deep into the ground beside him and rushed towards her position, temporarily safe from the mace whipping back towards him.
With the length of the chain fully extended, he figured she couldn't engage in hand-to-hand combat unless she dropped it. And she definitely didn't have the time to pull the mace back to reattack.
Once in extreme close range, he can simply re-summon his gavel and take control again.
"!" Rem quickly understands his move but surprisingly doesn't drop her chain. Instead, her hand moves along the chain and lengthens it!
"Your weapon can do that too?" His hand was outstretched, but he attempted to stop his momentum. A chain isn't that dangerous, but he was wary of a potential choke attempt.
"Huma" A small ice shard shot at his feet, not enough to hurt but enough to move it. Then she quickly wrapped the chain around his outstretched hand before delivering a clean blow to his stomach.
'As I figured, her physical strength is slightly superior...' Shortly gasping in pain, he regained his composure and kicked her away; her hold on the chain was tight, which slightly pulled him along with her, but he stood his ground firmly.
As he attempted to move, he realised he couldn't walk forward. Looking back, he saw the mace tightly held back by the rooted gavel. As long as the gavel held the mace back or she didn't elongate the chain, he couldn't advance.
The kick to the head had made her start bleeding, but she slowly healed it using water magic.
"Have you started fearing for your life, Witch Cultist!?" She shouted towards him, her grip tightening on the chain.
The only reason she hadn't started attacking again was that that kick had rocked her brain harder than she liked, and because she couldn't get careless; he could summon the gavel back in his hand at any time, but that also meant that her mace would get free as well.
"Why do you believe that I am a Witch Cultist? I possess none of the attributes or temperament of those followers." Higuruma had no desire to kill or mortally wound her for no reason, but this was getting out of hand.
'The only explanation is that Cursed Energy and the Witch Cultists share something in common. But no one else has sensed this before, so how can she?'
"Don't play games with Rem. The Witch's scent coming off you is sickening, and you were using that poor boy to blend yourself in while you analysed the mansion for a raid, didn't you!"
'Her delusion is off the charts. Both Beatrice and Puck, clearing me as a non-enemy, should have confirmed my innocence.'
"You seem like you hold the Great Spirits to a high standard, so question yourself; why would Puck allow me to come here if I was a Cultist, especially with Miss Emilia's reputation?" He told her bluntly.
"..." For the first time, she was silenced and quietly thought about what he said.
Her trauma and guilt of being the reason why her village was destroyed and why her sister lost her horn made her develop an inferiority complex. She felt like her only reason for existing was to protect her sister and serve her master.
So now, with these two suspicious strangers randomly entering the estate with the very similar miasma radiating off this particular man, her protectiveness surged.
"...Then explain why you're filled with that miasma." She asked icily. She was willing to talk, only if he could give irrefutable evidence of his innocence.
"I was a part of a meeting as a child; my parents were discussing the fate of an alleged criminal when the cult suddenly attacked and killed all of them. I only survived because I played dead. The exposure might have contributed to it" Higuruma lied as naturally as he breathed, his poker face perfect.
The argument itself was not that reliable, but it hit especially hard for Rem since it was so similar to her own past.
She figured that as long as he left and Natsuki Subaru was still back in the mansion, she could observe and interrogate him instead. Surely, Emilia too would have some information on how they met.
Her pretty face lost its anger but remained wary. She loosened the knot on his hand, allowing him to get out. "Go back to the carriage. If Rem is wrong about this decision, you won't be so lucky the next time."
Higuruma simply nodded his head and de-summoned his gavel, untrapping the mace, which was immediately pulled back towards Rem.
Not sheathing the weapon, she signalled him to go back, clearly not trusting him enough yet to turn her back to him.
After a short, awkward walk where he could feel her gaze burning into his back, they reached the unharmed carriage. Both of them went in, and she started driving it again as if nothing had happened. The only difference was that her morning star was now on the seat beside her.
'That went well... But sorry, Natsuki Subaru, you are going to be in a world of maidenly hurt.[1]' Higuruma sighed in his mind, massaging his aching stomach where he had been punched.
Let's hope that lie does not come back to bite him in the future.
Meanwhile, back in Reinhard's estate again, Luke had woken up, and Reinhard was introducing him to the residents.
"These two are Carol and Grimm Fauzen, currently normal servants, but they are also honourable veterans of the Demi-Human War, who fought alongside my grandfather." He gestured towards the elderly duo, both sporting white hair and that look of experience.
Grimm was dressed as a butler, but he had a sharp jawline and features despite his age. The most visible aspect of his appearance was the prominent scar on his throat, which was the injury that had taken away his voice. Now he was like a gentle giant who communicated using sign language.
Carol was similarly aged but, funnily, looked like she had aged worse than Grimm. But unlike him, her eyes still remained alert and looked mobile.
"In fact, they are married together. Flam and Grassis are their two children, both as talented as their parents." Reinhard continued, his voice audibly more energetic, making Carol flash a small invisible smile.
"Hello, please take care of me." Luke bowed politely in greeting. The two also greeted him back before returning to their duties.
"By the way, where's Felt? Is she still unconscious from your mana drain?" He asked Reinhard as they walked the halls, making him get familiar with the place.
"I caught that hidden jab at me, Luke, but you are correct. However, it's also a combination of how exhausted, mentally and physically, she had been during those days. She will wake up soon; don't worry."
After reaching the garden to receive the sun for a bit, a concerned look appeared on his face as he seemed to want to ask something.
"Luke, I have to ask. When you woke up, had Mahito already left the room? Carol reported that she had felt someone's presence in the... guest room."
Luke obviously woke up later than Mahito since he had observed way before that Cursed Spirits seemingly don't need sleep. He also caught the slight hesitation in the way Reinhard said guest room, but he wouldn't pry.
"Well, when I woke up, he was there with me, but he probably had already left the room before then. His behaviour is literally akin to a troublemaking child, I swear..."
And before Reinhard could ask where he was now, they were interrupted by a very familiar voice and the sight of a carriage entering the gates.
'Is that Rem? Why is she here and WHY is he standing at the top like that!?' Luke jogged closed to meet them, expecting Higuruma to be inside the passenger seat.
"Uhh..."
As Rem and Higuruma dismounted, Luke and Reinhard were able to have a closer look at them.
Reinhard, using his Divine Protection of Deduction, could tell that they had recently had a fight with each other. He trusted Higuruma, so he wouldn't pry into the reason.
On the other hand, Mahito and Luke had a much wilder interpretation.
Rem's hair was messy, and her maid outfit was torn and damaged in places. And Higuruma was also in the same situation.
"Luke~ I know what you're thinking~" Mahito grinned from above, poking the annoyed Higuruma with his now suddenly 10-inch-long finger playfully.
For a second, only for a second, this thought entered Luke's mind.
'Did Subaru's 2nd wife just get stolen!?'
(A/N: So my friend has offered to draw a new cover art for this fic so stay tuned for that. thank you lil bro)
[1] Maidenly because she's a maid... Get it? :(