Uploading date: 8/16/2018 [M/D/Y]

Re: Life in a fantasy world ~ Arc 2: An Everlasting Week

Chapter 6: A Poisonous Curse

Closing the door behind me, I left the library with a sigh, "Reality distorting magic really is weird, felt like I've only been there for a few minutes but it's already a little over an hour..." I remarked while looking over at a nearby clock, it really has been over an hour, that means Roswaal should have returned, and I think Rem's going to wake up Ram.

"It's not five yet, so Puck is not awake, and Emilia-san is probably still asleep too... Looks like I'm on my own till six..." I really shouldn't have woken up so early, and I can't go back to the library after what just happened, that'd be awkward, should've snatched a book while I had the chance, damn it all.

I walk down the hallway, hands in my pockets, looking out at the window, the sun had already dawned but there was nothing to do, "At this rate, I might as well just nap for another hour..." And so the morning went on, with nothing actually happening.

I did bump into Rem, and we greeted each other, and to my relief, she didn't openly express her hostility, heck, she was even kind enough to ask how well I slept, but I knew she was wary. I have a knack for telling people's emotions through their eyes, a thing I got from my everyday life back in Kararagi, and Rem's eyes tells me that she isn't trusting me any time soon.

After a bit longer, Emilia woke up, guess Puck wakes her up in the morning after all. We met up and talked a bit, just idle chit chat, nothing really major happened, we didn't make mayonnaise, I wouldn't want to try her's anytime soon. I followed the usual course of action and soon, it was time to start working, and that was when things started to change. For starters, no one remarked about my hair being messy, and so we never planned on going to the village.

The next big change was that Roswaal never went to the village in the morning, for whatever reason, I have no idea. He holed up in his office doing paperwork or so I've been told. I'm not sure what could have changed his mind, but I think it has something to do with the fact that Rem and I never had our little 'conversation'.

Also, I regrettably didn't get to sway Emilia into having everyone eat on the table together, all that quality food, down the drain and into Puck's belly, I'll find another way to get it done, for sure.

And so the day went on, I got more chances to work with Rem, though neither of us really talked much, it was really hard working like that, doesn't she know that? Other than that, instead of spending time in the library for my breaks, like I usually do, I talked a bit more with Ram and Roswaal, though I did want to invite Rem over for some tea to ease over our relationship, I never got the chance.

After lunch, I assisted Rem in making the 'five hundred' batch of mayonnaise that she did make last time, I was useless, all I did was drag her down! She really is a demon, isn't she!

Beatrice just holed up in the library, probably contemplating on what I said in the morning. Man, I really should be careful with what I do from now on, the more things piled up on my back, the harder life is going to get, being a butler is already hard enough!

"Oh, the sun's setting... guess we should call it a day, huh, Rem-Nee?" I turn over to Rem, who was watching over my hedge cutting. Ram said I had to increase my 'utility' in order to be more useful so she had me do the thing I'm worst at, hedge trimming.

"You're right... it's time to prepare dinner, Subaru-kun, can you set up the table?"

"Yeah, sure..."

I dropped off the trimmers in my hand and went back in with Rem, this is much better, all that glaring nonsense and ignoring me, all unneeded. Man, I shouldn't have played with her paranoia to begin with, guess that was my bad. Anyway, we both went in and met up with Ram, and we split up to get the job done.

I opened the door to the dining room, and entered in with all the plates and drinking glasses, one wrong step and there's going to be a big mess around here. I place down two plates, since only two people will be using the dining table for dinner, that is counting both Beatrice and Puck out, I gotta get back in the group if i'm going to live my dream life!

Once I was done, I grabbed a broom and cleaned the room up a bit, it seems Ram forgot to do it earlier after lunch. To my surprise, while I was busy doing the cleaning, Beatrice managed to sneak in the room, she didn't say anything upon entering, and she stayed silent, until I finally noticed her, "B-Beatrice!? When did you get here..." I say obviously a little surprised.

"Around two minutes ago, I suppose..."

The thought of someone staring at me for two whole minutes while I go on doing my duties are a little nerve racking, and right after a tense conversation in the morning, just makes me feel a whole lot more uncomfortable. "So... you going to stay for dinner? We have mayonnaise by the way..."

She rested her chin on the table and, while twirling her long golden hair in her fingers, she replies "Then I'll stay a while, I suppose..." Woah, for some reason, I feel like her attitude had completely changed from what it was supposed to be. Okay, maybe not completely, but it was somewhat more, how do you put it? Considerate, or at least less rude.

"Is this how you usually act or am I getting special treatment..."

Risky move but I'm the daring type so why not? "Special treatment... is a big word, if Betty is expecting you to be my savior, I should at least be a little bit polite to you, am I wrong, I suppose?" She says it all without looking at me, cause it'd make me feel weird, but I reply with a calm, "I guess..."

But calling me her 'savior' makes it a little overwhelming, but it's understandable, I guess. Five hundred, or was it four hundred years? Whichever it was, she's been cramped in there for a little over 'too much time', and only just realized that there was another way to fulfill her job.

I put down another plate for her, since she's staying and all, and she replies with a, "Thanks..." how reassuring. All of a sudden, taking ownership of the library doesn't seem so bad now that I think about it. I proceed to put out the drinking glasses and a jug filled with water on to the table.

Continuing with my brooming, I left Beatrice to whatever she was doing, it was nice and peaceful I thought. "So what exactly happens in the next few days, I suppose?" The little spirit asked out of nowhere, and it made me flinch for a second or two.

"Why would you ask that, I wonder..."

"Is it not alright to worry, I suppose?!"

Her suddenly loud voice caught me off guard, but it lightened the mood a bit you can say, "Geez, you're so fussy about things... tomorrow, no... the next night, someone might die..." I blatantly put out, no sugar-coating whatsoever. I glimpsed at her and could see she was ever so slightly shocked, who wouldn't be.

"What exactly do you mean by might? I suppose..."

"Well... what do you think I mean?"

We managed to catch each other's eyes and stared for a bit, she was catching on. I'm sure my eyes screamed at her, 'I'm trying to stop them, obviously!' if she didn't get that, then she's better of torturing it out of me. "Then, do you need help?" she asked, raising her head from the table, but shaking it right after.

"No, that might have sounded greedy coming from someone like me..."

"Hehe, you don't say...? Well, I think it'd be best if I did this alone though..."

I started to walk to the door, in quick steps of course, "If the person is who I think it is... then all that's needed to resolve this is just me and them..." I open the door and step out staying there for a few seconds, thinking of something to say, and the only thing that popped up in my mind was, "Dinner coming soon so don't you go run off now ya hear?"

She gave me the 'Where did that come from?' kind of look, and replied, "Didn't I already say that I would stay for a while, I suppose? Spirits never go back on their words, you know" She said while giving me an annoyed look, what happened to the politeness she was talking about earlier? And you didn't exactly promise you'd stay, you know?

"Right then, guess I'll call over Emilia-san and Rossy"

And off I went, closing the door behind me. I first went to Emilia's room, politely knocking on her door and referring to her with -sama like any good servant should. She greeted me and she left shortly after. I then went over to bring over Roswaal, which was hard, he wasn't in his office, in the bathing room, he wasn't resting in his own room either. I went to ask Ram where in the world he could be and she told me that she'll go and fetch him instead, bet she won't though.

So I was once again left with Rem, more bonding time for the two of us, was what I thought, but she's already prepared the food so we had to go and serve already. The contents of today's dinner was unknown to me, I didn't really help them make it, after all.

We made it over to the dining room, and I opened the door, to my astonishment, Roswaal was already there, Ram too. It took us two minutes to get here from the kitchen, that's all it took for her to find 'and' bring him over, wait, don't tell me I'm expected to be able to find anyone in a matter of seconds, maybe this is what she meant when she said she was the mansion's eyes, scary...

"Ah, dinner smells~ great tonight..."

We walked in and I closed the door, another surprise, Beatrice wasn't rolling all around with a gray cut on her embrace for once, she sat silently on her chair, was this what she meant when she said she was going to be polite? I glance over to Puck who was seated on Emilia's shoulder, he gave me this, sad look, no, it was more like a pitiful look for some reason. Wait, was he pitying me?!

Rem proceeded to do the servings and dinner went on without a hitch. It was actually quiet for once, was this how it usually is around here, because this peculiar silence is actually quite unnerving to say the least. Well, the next king to the kingdom is in the room so I guess these things should be normal.

Once everyone was finished with their own shares, Puck gulped down all the leftovers, damn cat. Me and the twins take over, cleaning the table and washing the dishes, once that was all done with, it was our turn for dinner and just as I was about to leave the kitchen, Rem called me, "Subaru-kun, what would you like for dinner?"

She asked me what I'd like for dinner. Wait, did she really say that! "Uh... well..." She's always cooked for herself and Ram after we clean up, why is she suddenly wanting to add me to the list? Either way, this is a one in a lifetime chance, most likely "Anything that'll go well with mayonnaise I guess?" Oh no, she's already planning on poisoning me, isn't she?

I acted to fast, now I'm gonna die again, aren't I? "..." I watched as she went on with her work, could it really be or am I just being paranoid like her? Ram was busy putting down bowls for the three of us, was she on it too? I feel really stressed out now, I can't just tell them I'd rather not eat, not after basically telling them I'll join.

I watched as Rem chopped up a bunch of vegetables, throwing it in a pot with boiling water, she then reached over for the top cupboard grabbing out a jar, I'm sure it's filled with some sort of spice or something. "Oh… Nee-sama it seems we have run out…" she said rather disappointedly, and Ram replied with an even more disappointed sigh, "And I was really looking forward to it too…"

"Eh?"

Rem took hold of the pot, bringing it over to the sink, then flipping it upside down, throwing out all its contents, down in the drain. Wait, wait that's just wasting food, "Oi, don't just throw food like that, there are people out there who don't get to eat you know..." I said, rather aggravated.

"Hmm, I guess Barusu would think like that, he was just a wandering nobody before Roswaal took him in after all…" She shot me a face that could only be interpreted as mockery, I didn't want to say this Ram Nee-san, but you leave me no choice. "Well this 'wandering nobody' had to jump in to save a future candidate to the throne because 'someone' couldn't keep their eyes on her for a minute"

Her face was mortified as she stuttered out an excuse, "Kuh… y-you take that back Barusu, it's not easy looking after Emilia-sama while doing the shopping!" saying it in such a tone could only limit your credibility, Nee-san. "I bet I could go to the village with Emilia-san and restock with no problem at all" the way I said it, was almost mocking her.

"A village isn't nearly as large as a whole city, Subaru-kun…"

"Ah come on, can't I have a handicap, senpai?"

We continued on with our playful banter, until Rem properly disposed of all that soupy goodness, well it was just vegetables in boiling water so there wasn't much goodness in them anyway. Ram decides to speak up, "Since you were spouting out about all that nonsense, what do you suppose we do now Barusu?" well, looks like my fellow colleagues have run out of ideas, guess it's time for me to be the reliable one for once.

"Well I could make some quick dishes back from my hometown, but of course, Rem-Nee will have to help me"

"Using my little sister as a tool, I'll have to teach you a proper lesson Barusu…"

"We both know the skill gap between me and Rem, and I know you want to eat Rem's cooking too Nee-san!"

"Tch…"

And so with my masterful negotiations skills, I've acquired Rem as a pawn, in the kitchen at least, now I'm gonna amaze them with a wondrous buffet filled with Kararagian cuisines, "Is what I'd like to say… but we are low on stuff…" The two twins tilt their heads while I mutter out to myself. I'm not even sure if they have the necessary ingredients, but from what I know, we can make teriyaki sauce, and that's all we need.

"Get the stove ready you two, we're making fried salmon!"

It was a stomach filled dinner, and an amazing one to add. Who knew Rem's cooking could even excel mom's, though admittedly, it was a close battle. "Looks like I was paranoid after all…" I mutter while struggling to get up, we made lots, and we ate lots, the things she makes are just too good.

"It's decided, we'll be adding teriyaki sauce to the normal menu"

"Ahh, an indirect praise from Ram Nee-san feels good once in a while…"

"Did you say something, Barusu?"

Ram shot a very sharp glare my way, as if saying 'Don't think this is happening again', "I'll contribute some more tomorrow morning, so make sure you work up an appetite" Though I say that, I'm still gonna ask Rem to do the cooking, she's just too godly when it comes to that. "With that being said, guess it's time to get back to work then…"

Shortly after the kitchen clean up, we all went our separate ways, Ram seems to be headed to Roswaal's office, Rem went over to the other wing, and that leaves me. I was told to rake out the back lawn, there weren't many leaves to begin with, and moreover, I was told that I take the night off after, looks like they're being a little bit more friendly, thank goodness.

I take out a rake from the storage closet, and made my way outside, the cool breeze was refreshing, it wasn't a bad idea to spend the rest of the night gazing at the stars, speaking of which, my name was actually a star constellation. My parents were really into those things, but something tells me, it's not just a family preference. The more I think about it, the more universal it seems, and by that, I mean things relating to our so-called 'Witch community'.

It seems people with star names, or the more diverse term, astral names, have some sort of significance in them. My parent's name, they weren't related to stars in any way, neither were my grandparents, nor were my great-grandparents, and so on. For me to get a star name, it's pretty weird I thought, I do remember though, it was my grandfather that suggested that I be given a star name, whatever he meant by it, I'll probably never know.

But recently, I've been understanding it, bit by bit. "Regulus, Betelgeuse…" Those were names of Sin Archbishops, the known owns anyway, and what do know, their star names. I have the loose connection, that having a star name, means you have a better chance at hosting one or more of the nine witch genes, in my case, it was Pride, though you never know, I might be able to host more?

"Haaah…" I sigh as I spotted out my outpost for tonight, just in front of the gazebo scattered around, were leaves, time to rake them. I don't really know what significance that makes? Being a host of a witch gene, that is. If anything, it seems like it's a sort of curse, sent down from generation to generation, and doesn't seem like it would stop, it made me feel empty inside, that was, until I met 'her'.

She appeared in my dreams once, and talked to me, even if it was just a few words. Through consecutive dreaming, I've been able to carve out what she's been telling me. "The witch genes, are indeed a curse… they are sins, carried on from the last bearer to the next, in order to stop this never-ending loop, you have to stop the root of the problem… me…" It almost took a year for me to make up that sentence, her voice was weak, it was withered, and she could only say a handful of words in one session, so it was bound to be difficult.

But it bothered me, the part where I had to stop the root of the problem, I had no idea how to do such a thing. All I knew was that I had to end her, a simple slice to the throat, stab to the chest, anything like that would have been enough to kill a woman of her stature, but the problem is, I have to find her. I had no problem with killing her, I was given her consent after all, but that doesn't change the situation, I still didn't know how to get to her. And so I set of to search, I searched and searched, I didn't find any leads, but I realized something, something I felt really stupid to not have realised any sooner, 'she' was the Witch of envy, and right after that, I changed my objective.

"Man these leaves just keep falling now don't they…"

The moment I found out she was the witch, I understood everything, why I was named after a star, why I was given the genes, I understood it all. What my grandfather told me that day "A future i'll have to fight", I understood, why the witch cult attacked and destroyed all the remaining villages, I understood it all, every little bit of it.

"Even if did understand it, heh, it's not gonna make this my job any less hard… why can't fate go my way for once…"

"What are you mumbling about, Subaru?"

I heard a voice behind me, and I turned back, Emilia greeting me with a smile on her face, such naivety, I was like that too once I guess. "Yo, Emilia-san, it's nothing… Just, you know, raking up these annoying leaves…" She nods her head as she watches me work on, like an onlooker would to a tense moment during a match, what's with all the nervousness, "You don't mind if I stay a while don't you, Subaru?"

"Not at all, though it wouldn't matter since you're my superior and all, hehe…" And so she sat down, crossed legged, closing her eyes, not exactly sure what's she's gonna do, but I have a hunch. Bright lights suddenly started appearing near Emilia, floating around her in a very, harmonious sway, she was talking to her spirits again.

Spirits are an existence that has a huge impact in some people's lives. For people that are unable to use magic, either the inability to formulate because of mana shortage, or the destruction of their gate, using spirits is a way to compensate. Spirit arts is the art of using spirits to manifest magic, instead of using your own gate, you use the spirit as a gate, and instead of using your own mana, you use atmospheric mana, or mana stored in said spirits. Stronger spirits also have consciousness so if your looking for a lifelong friend, you've got one.

In order to make a spirit yours, you must first befriend them, after that, you both have to make an agreement to form a contract, the strength of the contract depends on the consequences and conditions agreed to by the spirit and the contractor, and so, there are different types of contracts.

A basic contract would be just a simple mana connection, with no conditions whatsoever. These are used by people who simply want to own spirits, the connection is not strong enough to be a reliable for use of people use these kinds of contract when they want to find a store for their excess mana or when they want to borrow mana.

A boundless contract would have a few conditions but said conditions won't have any consequences, this is the standard contract made when someone wants to use spirit arts as a mean of using magic. Conditions won't interfere with other contracts the contractor or spirit may have and usually are usually light conditions, such as giving the spirit a fixed amount of mana at a specific interval or to give them attention a few times a week.

Finally, a bounded contract. These are contracts that include both conditions and consequences. The conditions are usually heavy and the consequences will interfere with the contractor's ability to form other contracts. These contracts can get in the way with boundless contracts so spiritualists don't favor these sort of contracts, to add, only higher ranking spirits can form these contracts, such as great spirits, artificial spirits, and mana spirits.

[Just a note (Minor spirits Quasi spirits Pseudo spirits Mana spirits Artificial spirits Great spirits) More info in A/N]

Emilia seems to have a bounded contract with Puck, and several boundless contracts with her minor spirits, she's a perfect example for a spirits art user. A perk spiritualists have is that they can cast magic without chanting, which is difficult if your a magic user, chants are used to make sure your mind is concentrated on a single spell, if your able to use chantless magic, then you must have some mental strength, in all my travels, I've only met a handful of people, myself included, but even though I could use chantless magic, it's only on simple spells.

"Those lights look pretty… maybe I should get myself a spirit…"

As I contemplate on that, my thoughts wander off, even then, I still raked the leaves, even though it was inefficient. Once Emilia was done with her spirit conversation, she pulled me back to reality and I realized that I had finished raking all the leaves as I was dazed.

I lay on the grass beside where Emilia sat, staring off into the sky, the dark yet star-filled sky. "It's a beautiful sight isn't it?" Emilia asks while gazing as well, I nodded to her and replied, "Being in the big bustling city, I doubt you'd be able to see this, not with all the bright lights, huh Emilia-san?" she nods back to me. This was a peaceful moment, I thought, if only this could go on for a little while longer.

"Emilia-san, i'm going to restock on ingredients later tomorrow, mind coming along? I could use an extra hand…"

"Hmm, i'll see if I can make time, being cramped with studies does get kind of stressful at times…"

And with that, we've promised to meet up later in the next day. We split up, both going back to our respective rooms, tomorrow's the day of reckoning, I just hope I can keep up my friendliness with Rem until then, please put up with it, I really don't like dying. And then I went to bed.

.

Next morning, "Today's the day…" I get off the bed, and do my normal routine, stretches, bath, butler uniform. It seems i've woken up at a good time, Rem shouldn't feel suspicious, and it leaves me a good amount of time to improve my relationship with her, not that I had many chances to do so.

We passed the day rather quickly, breakfast went by, and with the addition of teriyaki sauce to the menu, Emilia's been eager to ask me for more of Kararagian food, which I happily replied with an "Of course" but then again, I still needed the ingredients, good thing I'm buying them later this afternoon.

"Okay, Ram, I'll go restock things in the village, mind making a list on what we need?"

"I guess, give me a minute and I'll have it ready…"

I waited by the mansion entrance for Ram, that's when Emilia popped up, happy and excited, looks like she found time, "I'll be coming along, Subaru" she was wearing a different dress and her hair looked different too, "I didn't know Emilia-san was the fashion type" "Ah, no, I'm not really good with my looks so Puck has to do it for me…"

"Well, I have to say… good job Puck"

I shoot a thumbs up to the crystal in Emilia's and it glowed, as if shooting me back a thumbs up, Emilia didn't really understand it much. Ram then showed up with the list, she took a glance at Emilia, then gave me an annoyed look, a really annoyed look, "Ah, is something wrong Ram?" "Oh, don't worry Emilia-san, it's nothing at all… just a little competition…" I say with a rather smug face, Ram huffed away, even more irritated.

"Right then it's time to get going…"

I pushed open the mansion's gigantic doors and let Emilia out first, with me following closely behind. The afternoon gale wasn't bad at all, though the falling leaves kinda irritate me, it's only because i'll have to rake them up later tonight, but looking at them mid-air, it was a bewitching sight. We pass through the parade of falling leaves and make to the dirt path, the orange sunset making it seem more red than normal, but only added to the mood.

"Hmm… now that I think about it, this almost seems like a date, doesn't it, Emilia-san… even though we're just running errands"

"Eh, I've never heard of that, what's a date Subaru?"

Are you serious, I thought you knew, "Puck, I know you're in there, please explain…" I bent over to the green crystal latched onto her chest, it flashed and a voice popped into my head, "She asked the question to you, so you answer it… Subaru..." Guess that's my fault.

"You see Emilia-san, a date is a sort of courtship, actually no, it's more of a test to see if courtship is possible you see?"

"Ahh, I see, so it's like making sure if someone will accept a proposal or not"

"Yes! That's it, you learn quickly Emilia-san, now, please forget what I said two minutes ago"

I say while speeding up front, "H-Hey! Subaru!" The jokes no longer funny if you don't get it, it's just gonna be awkward now, besides, I don't really want her misunderstanding anything, "Let's race to see who gets to the village first!" Gotta make her forget at all costs, not going to let Nee-san tease me to death.

"Subaru you cheater!"

.

Even with the head start, Emilia still made it to the village first, what the hell is with her legs! Weren't they cut just a few days ago? "It seems… I have lost, as a prize, I'll buy Emilia-san one thing she wants from the village store" I say while taking in the buttery afternoon air, probably should have warmed up before dashing off at full speed.

"Eh? But…"

"No buts, you won the race, and you need a prize"

I say while dragging her over. We make it over to the store and first things first, we do the shopping. After reading through the list, we split up, grabbing all we need, and putting it all in a barrel, I do remember last time, the twins went to get firewood, but we weren't told to get any so I ignored that.

After dumping all we need in the barrel we made it up to the counter, it took a while, but once everything was checked on, we paid what we had and went were on our way. I carried the barrel single-handedly, and made it to the sweet store I went to the other day, Lisa was the owner of that store, if I recall correctly, of course, I haven't met her in this loop.

"Hello! You've got customers!"

I say while opening the door, the woman on the other side greeted us happily. Sadly, since I've spent quite a lot of money on restocking, I don't really have much left to spend on Emilia's prize, but a man never goes back on their words. Fortunately, she bought the cheapest one, but that in itself was still barely affordable, with the amount of money I had on me, anyway.

And with that, we waved goodbye to Lisa and left, it wasn't much of a prize, since it was the cheapest one, but Emilia seemed happy about it. "Now, time to get back and prepare dinner…" I say while grabbing the barrel filled with all the shopping. Casting a spell on it, I'm able to carry it with ease, and so we walk over to the gate, but before we take our leave, we heard chattering.

"Almost forgot about that…" I whisper while grabbing Emilia by the arm. "Can you come with me for a second, Emilia-san…" she just nods and follows behind. The chattering gets louder and it was obvious that they were the voices of worried children, I remember now. Heading over to the fenced area, I peeked my head around the corner.

"Hey, kids, something the matter?"

The both of us approached the group of kids with the middle one bringing out the most attention. "Is something the matter? Emilia asked them as she bends down to meet their eye level, "Seems like the dogs hurt, Emilia-san…" I answer, already knowing the outcome of this scene. The kids nodded to my reply and that prompted Emilia to close in on the puppy, "Ah, that's a really big cut on your paw…"

Emilia grabbed it's paw lightly, the puppy squirming lightly. "It's okay, I can heal it…" Good thing I brought her over. She silently chanted something and the puppy's paw starts glowing, it's squirming died down. Once the wound was fully healed, the light dimmed out, and Emilia released the puppy's paw, the kids were relieved and thanked Emilia.

While the kids and Emilia conversed, I looked over at the puppy, it was staring at Emilia, its eyes looked like one staring at prey, it's going to bite her, isn't it? I was about to step forward when it leaped at Emilia "H-Hey!?" Me, along with all the kids flinched, but hearing playful growling and giggling from Emilia made us act otherwise.

"Hahaha, you're a cute little one…"

Looks like the puppy just wanted some head rubs, oh well, looks like I overreacted there for a second. "Look at you two, you're basically best friends already… I'm kinda jealous you know…" I say while keeping my distance, Emilia glanced over to me and asked, "Why don't you pet it too, Subaru?" Even if I wanted to, which I do, it's just going to bite me.

"No thanks, animals really hate me…"

"Grrrr…"

And to support that claim, the puppy growls at me, Emilia seemed quite downed by this and places the puppy back down, it ran back to the kids. We waved goodbye to them and made our way back to the mansion, now all I need to do is wait till night time.

.

By the time we made it back, the sun had already set. We were told by Ram that Roswaal had gone to do some business, that guy's always busy now isn't he, I wanted to ask him more things, but well, it seems we're going to start dinner without him.

The twins and I prepare dinner and I had the golden chance to make some sushi, though I'm not a big fan of sushi myself, I'm sure these guys will love it, you can say this is my countermeasure. We prepared it the usual way, with Rem doing most of the preparing and me just instructing her here and there. Once it was finished, we served it to Emilia, Beatrice seemed to be busy in her library doing something.

As expected, Emilia loved it, she dragged us into dinner as well so the twins had a bite as well, they were surprised. I wouldn't blame them, raw fish normally doesn't taste very good, but when prepared in just the right way, you get something that could compete against one of the more better-tasting dishes.

After dinner, we all split up to do our own things, I had to rake the leaves outside once again, I could see Ram doing the laundry somewhere in the distance and Rem was sweeping inside, a few more hours left, if I can overcome that, the rest should be smooth sailing.

"Haah, i'm pooped… Nee-san, anything else we need to work on?"

Ram passed by me, holding on several straw baskets, "We're done for the day, Barusu. You have the rest of the night to yourself…" She waved off and went back inside, since I get the rest of tonight off, I might as well take some more precautions, time to go visit Beatrice finally. I made sure to put the rake back in the storage hut outside and then I rushed over to the mansion door, but when I opened it, I wasn't shown the usual sight, it was the library, how fortunate.

"You called, I suppose?"

Beatrice was sitting on her usual stool, but it wasn't right in front of the door like it's usually supposed to be, it was near one of the bookshelves, she was leaning on it while tilting her head my direction, "Well, I didn't really call you out loud though…" How she knew I wanted to visit the library, I'll probably never know.

"Just a gut feeling, I suppose"

"Hmm, well your guts pretty good then…"

"Please refrain from using such crude words, I suppose"

"Heh, how ironic…" Her usual attitude is starting to surface up, but it isn't bad, it's kinda like when you wanna joke around with a friend, "Mind if I stay a while, at least until tomorrow morning?" I asked her while scanning through the library, it seems cleaner than I last remember, I wonder why. "What could you possibly want with the library that would make you stay till morning, I suppose?!"

"Aw, come on, can't you let a friend sleepover for once?"

"S-Sleepover…? Well, there's no problem… it's just…"

"Ah, it's okay, I can sleep on the floor, you don't have to lend me your bed"

"What!? You, Betty isn't as cruel as to let a guest do that, you know!" She said, rather seriously, "Even if you do say that, I wouldn't want to sleep in a woman's bed, it just doesn't feel right… besides, we haven't even reached that level in our relationship" "The library is still Betty's, I suppose. So you should listen to what I say while you're in here! And are you implying that we are in a relationship!?"

"Ah, sorry, I guess there's a lot of room for misunderstandings there… I'll change it to… we aren't that intimate enough for that step"

"That even worse, I suppose! Ugh, why did I even let you in, I wonder!"

.

The more we talked, the less it felt like a sleepover and the more it felt like a slumber party, though having only two people in one isn't very fun. We kept up at our banter for quite a while, long enough that we got tired of it, "Haah, well that was fun, a bit loud and redundant… but still fun nonetheless" I lay down on the ground, gazing up at the wooden ceiling, it was very high up there.

"Hmph, it truly was a mistake for me to let you in, I suppose…"

"Really now? Wouldn't you be lonely if I weren't in here, I mean, Puck is asleep and all"

"H-Hah?! Me, the great spirit, lonely? Pfft, Betty has never heard of such… nonsense..."

"Saying that while making such an obvious face, your too easy to read Beatrice…"

"S-Shut up!"

Teasing her is pretty fun, not like Emilia, who doesn't understand a single bit, or like Ram who shoots me back harder than I do her, or Rem who turns droopy all of a sudden, Beatrice feels like someone I can connect with in a different level compared to the others, well that may just be because I've spent the most 'quality' time with her these past loops, and I did share the fact that someone's in trouble, ah, can't say I wanna take that back.

"Ah, Beatrice, I've been meaning to ask, can you detect poison with your Yin magic…" I get up, cross-legged and faced her, she put down her book and glanced over to me, "Detecting poison isn't something Yin magic can do, if you're looking for something like that, you'd have to go down the Yang magic line, I suppose…" Huh, so there are things Yin magic can't detect, I thought Yin magic could do a lot of area controlling things, but I guess Yang magic is more for precise things.

"Also, your pretty good at Yin aren't you…"

"I've already mastered it, I suppose"

"You've mastered it!? Your that good, huh…"

I knew she was good at Yin magic, I didn't know she was 'that' good at it, surprising, well I'm sure she's gotta be rusty or something, I mean, four hundred years of not practicing magic, it's gotta wear your skills down, unlike I who practice time by time. "So what exactly can Yin magic detect?" I ask her, she put her book down completely, even going as far as to close it, then she turned her body to face me. She took out her hand and spread out her fingers, she was going to count using them

"Larger objects, mana oddities, other forms of magic, time and space distortions, and curses, I suppose…"

"Curses huh… they're like, the magical equivalent to poison right?"

"You can put it that way, there are several types of curses, but the most common is the one that sucks out all your mana endlessly, the only way to stop that is by undoing the curse, or killing the caster, I suppose… Betty isn't too well informed on the other types, so don't expect me to know everything"

Curse, I don't know why that's ringing in my ears, something special about it. Well I was poisoned, and since their similar, I guess one would feel a little nervous. That reminds me, I should probably ask Beatrice about the poison, Satella said it starts with a 'Cu', maybe Beatrice would know…

"..."

Cu…?

Cu…..

Cu….

Cu….

CURSE!

She wasn't telling me what kind of poison it is, it wasn't even poisoned to begin with! She was trying to tell me I was cursed, it all makes sense now! I shot out and in a panic, I shouted "Beatrice!" She jerked her head towards me "W-What?! I suppose!" I startled her, but I disregarded that. I squirmed over to her, holding her hand, she was now getting flustered, but I don't care. "Please, can you check if I am cursed?"

"..."

She stares at me silently, then pushes me back lightly, then turns around at an incredibly fast pace, "D-Don't scare me like that, I suppose!" She scolds me in an equally loud voice. "Why was I even worried about what you were going say, I suppose…" She had this disappointed look on her face, her hands were pressed onto her forehead.

"Heh? What did you think I was going to say?"

She looks at me and was about to answer, but then her face turned pink and she looked away, "T-That's none of your business, I suppose!" She turns around again, this time grabbing her head and drooping down, trying to hide her embarrassment. I stare at her, rather insulted, her reaction and her answer could only point to the obvious.

"Beatrice-san… don't tell me you expected me to voice out some sort of indecent request?"

"Shut up! It's not like I was envisioning anything like that, I suppose!"

"You don't sound very convincing like that"

"Your one to talk!"

.

We took some time to cool off due to the awkward atmosphere, I was thinking on why in the world would she have a thought like that, I mean, i know I came in suddenly and all but you don't think that out of the blue, maybe I just have the air of a pervert like every other male out there, or maybe, she was actually wishing that I asked that… No, no, no Subaru, don't want you to turning into a lolicon, it's the first reason, not the second! The first reason you hear!

"So… can you check if i'm cursed or not?"

Taking the lead, I ask the question again. Beatrice, who was muttering out things like "Why did I do that" and "I'm going insane", slowly turns her head, her head still a little hot. "N-No… your not curse… why, I suppose?" I can't really tell her that I was cursed and died, but then again, she does know a bit about what was to happen, "I was just a little paranoid is all… but better safe than sorry"

"O-Okay then…"

She turned her head back and faced the ground, still embarrassed, it's kinda hard to look at, I would have gladly taken it as a joke. If it was Nee-san she'd probably say something like "Yeah I was definitely thinking something like that" in an extremely sarcastic voice while glaring my way, seems that Beatrice isn't enough tsun and more on the dere.

Well, the atmosphere was slowly getting awkward again so I lay back on the ground again, keeping my eyes away from Beatrice. "If your going to lay down… at least take a pillow, I suppose…" she suddenly said, I was going to get up but there was a pillow floating beside me, "Thanks, I guess…" It fell down and I grabbed it, putting it under my head, "Won't it get dirty if I use on the floor though?"

"You're already using it on the floor, I suppose… and it's not like a spirit needs to sleep, you know…"

Seems like she's recovered already, that was quick. I felt like I could actually just sleep like that, the pillow was extremely comfortable, and I don't really mind the light, but the moment I thought about that, an ominous wave of hatred flew by, I instantly shot off the ground, looking around in a panic. I then faced Beatrice, her face curled in uncertainty, she looked my way, and said, "It's bubby… I suppose…"

He pushed open the door, with a little bit too much force, it was midnight, and Puck was angry, it was similar to the first loop, just that was on a whole other level, fortunately. "It's coming from the girl's room, I suppose…" I grabbed Beatrice and rushed over, she was short so I doubt she'd get anywhere fast. Grabbing her all of a sudden would startle her, but her worried face told me she couldn't care any less right now.

"Ram, Rem! Something's happened!" I say as I knocked on their door, Rem got up instantly but Ram seemed to be drowsy. They didn't question me at all, they could feel it, after all, Puck's enormous pressure. It was omnipresent, and it was nerve-racking, one thing could be said for something, "Something happened to Emilia-sama…"

The two of us nod at Rem's statement and we all rushed over to her room. It was on the other side of the mansion so it took a bit of time, but we ran for it, so we should have made it in time. I tried opening her door but it was locked, and we could hear Emilia from behind the door, it seems she was coughing badly, "Half-elf, move away, I suppose" Beatrice put her palm on the door and set loose and immense amount of force onto it. Surprisingly, the door didn't blast its way into the room, instead, it seems she's just broken the hinges, the door just slowly came off from the frame.

We rushed inside and saw Emilia by her bedside, struggling to get up, Rem rushed over to her side and laid her down by her lap, "Emilia-sama! What happened!" Ram quickly went to light up the lamp by the mirror, me and Beatrice also went to her. It seems Rem and Beatrice were trying to heal her up, but I stepped in. "If it's a fatal injury that happened not too long ago, I should be able to fix it, Emilia-san, where does it hurt?" I ask her, but it doesn't seem like she can talk anytime soon, so I just activated timelapse.

"Huh?"

It didn't work, or rather, it worked, but it had no effect, that means, "You were like this for fifteen minutes!?" This is bad, if this goes on, it doesn't seem like she would be able to hold out for very long. She shot up and pushed me and Beatrice away, then she started to vomit on to the floor, "Wait a minute..."

Beatrice placed her palm on Emilia's side and nodded, "It's no injuring, Emilia has been cursed, I suppose!" Cures!? But I was supposed to be the that was cursed why was- "Beatrice, how long can you keep Emilia alive!" I was so stupid, not only did I mistake the cause of my death, I also mistook the killer. It wasn't Rem, it was someone from the village.

"At most, about an hour or so, what are you going to do, I suppose?"

"If Emilia is cursed, it should have been someone from the village, if I can find them and kill them, she should be alright, right?"

"I suppose… but, how are you going to find them?"

"I've got a hunch, Ram, Rem, stay by incase they come to finish the job!"

The twins nodded and I left, not through the door, but the window, I don't have time do deal with pesky stairs. "Murak!" I leaped out of the window and quickly made my way down to the lawn, falling down with a roll. It's a good thing I brought my belt with me to the library, I'd have to rush to my room if I hadn't.

"If it's a curse, then it should have been someone both me and Emilia have touched…"

Baldrick, Lisa, the people in the store, the kids, and the village elder, those were the only people I remember that either me or Emilia had contact with, it has to be one of them. I don't think the kids have any magic potential, it didn't seem like it, so it should have been someone else. It was definitely not Baldrick, I hadn't talked with him yet, and neither has Emilia, I don't want to think the kind-hearted Lisa would do it, but she's still a suspect, and the village elder, I don't think it's them either but you never know.

"It's either those two… or someone who touched me without me knowing…"

I ran down the dirt path, and hour isn't much time when I'm trying to find out a mystery murderer, but i'll just have to clutch this situation. As I ran down the path, I felt eyes staring at me. I didn't pay attention to them, they were probably just some nocturnal animals looking out, but that premonition was a dreadful mistake.

"Gh-"

Just to be clear, if I die, I won't be able to use timelapse on myself to revive, so I'm easily prone to instant killing moves, moreover, my reaction time is delayed to an extent when i'm panicking, I think that's the same for everyone, it's where the saying 'Stay calm under tense situations', so if I were to be hit in a vital spot, I wouldn't be able to react quick enough to heal the wound before I die, and that's exactly what happened, my head was cut off at a speed I couldn't comprehend. Were I standing still and concentrating, I might have been able to dodge that, or maybe even parry it, but while I'm running, with things clouding my mind, it would be impossible.

"AGH!"

I fell to the ground, my consciousness was still holding onto a few strings, but either than that, I'm already pretty much dead, even if I tried, I wouldn't be able to activate timelapse, my soul has already been disconnected from my body. All I knew was that the killer giggled in delight, did I hear that somewhere before? Was my last thought.

A/N

9.3k words? Boi, I'm breaking the limits up! Sooo close to 10k too...

Okay so, Minor spirits are just clumps of mana with consciousness, Quasi-spirits are a bit more conscious and can use magic on their own, Pseudo spirits are Quasi-spirits that can form an appearance (besides balls of light), Mana spirits are spirits that can communicate without telepathy, they also have a physical appearance, Artificial spirits are man-made spirits, they're power and abilities range between Mana spirit levels to Great spirit levels, Great spirits are spirits that have tremendous amount of power, enough that they are nationally recognised.

Minor spirit = Emilia's spirits

Quasi-spirit = Julius's spirits

Pseudo spirit = Find out in Arc 3

Mana spirit = Find out later

Artificial spirit = Beatrice (She's a self-proclaimed great spirit since almost no one knows her)

Great spirit = Puck

Being cursed attacks your gate, being poisoned attacks your body, Subaru's timelapse is able to affect anything that is physical, magic is also physical, but mana isn't, that's why timelapse won't work.

I got sick two weeks ago, and it hit me with the worst stomach ache, and the worst headache I've ever experienced, as a result, it destroyed my writing drive. As a result, I couldn't really write much. Trying to fix this I read up Mushoku Tensei, a light novel, and it seemed to have helped me relieve a bit of the writer's block, but I'm still gonna need some time to come back to top speed.

Also, Warlock is getting a whole rewrite, Arc 3 needs some characters that Red had to put in and I need to explain how they got there.

Stranger

Please continue as soon as possible!

Well, I did continue it but not as soon as possible, sorry… I'll try harder next time...