Chapter 9: Help...

"That's about it, after that she never returned..."

"I see..."

After hearing the basics of Frederica's and Garfiel's backstory, the atmosphere turned somewhat gloomy. Their mother, Reisha Tinsel [Revealed in Arc5], was sold as a slave to various merchant's and thieve groups, in the end, Roswaal had saved her, and young Frederica, by sending them to Sanctuary, where Lewes became their guardian.

"A-Anyway... that answer's most of my questions already but there is only one last question..."

"If it is within my abilities, I will answer the most I can..."

"The passage in Roswaal's office... who knows of it?"

She was surprised that he knows of it, she guessed that Beatrice had told him about it, since she could connect any door to the Forbidden Archive.

"The only ones that know about its existence are servants that have been in service for more than a year and Master Roswaal himself... may I ask why you wish to know this?"

"Haah, no particular reason, just that if an attack would happen, it'd be the obvious way out, if the enemy knows about it in advance that's game over for us..."

"I see..."

The explanation Subaru gave was very reasonable, it wasn't wrong to believe that he was the one to lead the subjugation of the Hakugei and the Witch Cult's Sloth.

"Oh, Frederica, I want you to stay on guard, I have a bad feeling something might happen... tell Ram as well, me and Beako's gonna check around for a while..."

"I will..."

They bowed to each other as they went their separate paths.

"Who's the assassin, I suppose?"

"Elsa Greinhart, the gut hunter... I've run into her while I was in the capital, she sliced up my stomach pretty bad back there but thanks to a certain someone, it's all better" He said while patting Beatrice.

"Bubby told me to do it, I suppose..."

"Yeah, yeah, but if you were given the chance, you'd probably do it anyway"

She wasn't sure to either disagree or stay silent, she wanted to divert the conversation away from that topic, so "Betty is tired, I suppose..."

"Haah, that's Beako for you... right, let me carry you..."

"W-What, I didn't ask to be carried, I suppose!"

"But I want to carry you, so there" She grumbled in defeat as he carried her over his shoulders, they went over to the kitchen to help prepare dinner, despite Frederica insisting that they rather not, they still did.

They both went to eat, the two maids refused to eat as it was a policy that they eat after all guests have finished with their meals.

They continued patrolling the halls until Subaru said, "If we keep this up... I think I'll be too sleepy to even see her..." He yawned and rested him chin on Beatrice's head.

"Then shall we take custody in the Forbidden Archive, I suppose?"

"Depends... *yawn* can Beako detect anyone while inside?"

"Betty is a Great Spirit, such a simple task is nothing, I suppose"

"Right then... here..."

He picked her up and opened the door right next to him, surprisingly it was the library, Beatrice was still shocked to how he was able to break through her door crossing.

He went over to her bed and slept on it, Beatrice, on the other hand, sat on her stool, she wanted to sleep with Subaru but that might be a tad bit risky as no one else would be able to stay alert.

After a while she got tired of her position so instead she shifted over to the bed and just stared at Subaru's sleeping face, poking it and moving his mouth, he didn't wake up easily so she was absorbed in it until she felt a presence coming close to the door, it made her jump back.

The door opened and on the other side, Ram can be seen, she was surprised that she had found the door to the Forbidden Archive but brushed it off.

"Pink one... what do you need, I suppose..."

"I was merely making my way to the storage room but it seems I've gone elsewhere... I was also finding where that idiotic Barusu is, do you know where he is, Beatrice-sama" she said in a polite manner.

"Subaru is currently in a deep slumber, I suppose" she pointed over to her bed.

Ram walked over to her bed and her face twisted in disappointment, "Seriously, what do you see in this man, Beatrice-sama... Rem as well..."

"At first, Betty saw him as a nuisance" she hopped back into the bed and sat beside Subaru's head, "Someone who thinks he's the best, someone who wants attention, nosing around other peoples business... I suppose"

Ram snickered and gave an agreeing nod.

"But now... he proved to be someone who would risk his life just so he could see other people happy, I suppose" She gave him a smile, "Betty doesn't know how he changed that fast, only about a week in the capital and he's a different person... the younger sister must have done something during their stay, though what, Betty doesn't know..."

"Of course, I too am curious in what my little sister could have done to make this bag of filth change into a lesser bag of filth..."

After looking down at him, she turned her attention towards Beatrice, who was fiddling with his hair, "Beatrice-sama, Frederica-sama has informed me to stay alert on your request, may I know what the reason may be?"

"Subaru had suspected that someone he and the silly girl encountered in the capital may return to finish her job, I suppose..."

"Really? The chances for that to happen would be quite low, what makes you think it may happen...?"

"Subaru is strange, he's someone who has no talent, combat prowess, or great magic ability, I suppose, him making such claims would be easily swatted off as paranoia... but he was able to save that girl from the assassin, he was able to tell he got cursed, and he was able to supply infromation about the Hakugei and Witch cult... after all that, him saying something like this would be more than believable, but he is also Betty's contracter so Betty has complete faith in him anyways, you know..."

"..." Ram couldn't help but think the same way, "Although I hate to admit it, he sure does have the tendency to be in the right place at the right time, it's almost as if he knows it was going to happen beforehand..."

Hearing her comment, Beatrice twitched a bit but it wasn't noticeable enough. After that Ram bowed and left the two alone in the library, it would be about eleven at night right now, Beatrice couldn't keep up her guard so she drifted to sleep beside Subaru.

Subaru woke up, after scratching his sleepy eyes he suddenly jolted up, frantically looking around, he smelt books and books.

"So I didn't die yet..." He said inaudibly.

He tried to get up but it seems Beatrice has once again clung to his arm in her sleep, seeing her like that he couldn't help but wonder what she was dreaming about.

"Kill..." she murmured in her sleep, it sent a chill through Subaru's spine.

He decided to just carry her out of the library as to not waste time and so that he doesn't wake up that cute sleeping face.

He went over to the door and opened it, on the other side, Frederica and Ram were there preparing what he thought was breakfast. They both took a quick look at him, it seemed he just woke up.

"You finally decided to wake up Barusu," Ram said in a cold tone.

"Shhh, Beako's still asleep..." He put a finger on his mouth to single them to be quiet, "Anyway what time is it?"

"Second Fire time, 3rd hour, you overslept the whole day, Barusu..." She said disappointedly.

He slept at around nine last night and had awoken at three in the afternoon, calling it oversleeping would be an understatement, it must have been Beatrice's bed. Though it wasn't completely bad since now he can patrol at night for much longer.

He went over to his room and put Beatrice down on his bed and he immediately went to take a bath. As he went over to the changing room and took off his clothes something fell down, he didn't notice as he was still a little bit groggy from oversleeping.

After about fifteen minutes he got out of the bath and dried himself, he put on his Butler clothes and was about to leave but then his foot hit something, he looked down to see that it was Betelgeuse's gospel, with all the looping and tea parties and all, he had completely forgotten that it was in his pocket the whole time.

He picked it up and left, approaching over to his room, he opened a few of the pages from the back, it was all blank until he saw the last written page, and to his surprise, he could read it.

"..."

He stopped in his tracks, he shouldn't be able to read it, unless...

"Have I been... accepted...?"

Most of its text was written horribly but he could still slightly make it out, it read...

"Put half-elf to trial... Talk about vague..." He said as he leaned onto the wall.

This brought him a memory, one where Betelgeuse told him that they were to put Emilia into a trial, the madman described it as checking if she were a worthy vessel for the Witch to latch on to, he wasn't sure how they were going to do it but the end product would be that Emilia dies.

But then a thought suddenly struck him, what if... "The trial the gospel talked about... what if it was a different one..."

"Like mother's trial, I suppose?"

The sudden voice startled him but as he looked over to his side, he saw Beatrice, fully awake, she went up to him and asked, "You can read it know, I suppose?"

"Yeah... not sure how though... does it mean I'm the new owner or something?!"

"Not necessarily... if the owner of a gospel ends, so does their gospel's contents... unless the person was Juice, I suppose... the freak was able to jump into bodies and take control, unless that happens, the gospel is completely gone..."

"But I'm able to read it... does that mean... Betelgeuse is..."

"No, I suppose, that would be impossible, Betty's contract wouldn't allow any other spirit to take Subaru... though, could this be the result of the Witch genes, I wonder..."

She looks over to him, he hasn't really grasped the contents of the word 'Witch gene' very clearly yet, so he asked, "Care to explain these Witch genes a little bit more in-depth cause I'm still kinda lost here..."

Beatrice gave a disappointed sigh and grabbed onto him, she went over to a door and opened it, it was the forbidden library, they went in and closed the door, then she opened the door again and it was now the front door. They could see Frederica trimming the bushes in the distance and in from behind them appeared Ram.

"I cannot allow you to slack off, Barusu, you shall accompany me to purchase supplies"

"Oh, I was going to talk with Beatrice about some things but alright then..."

"Beako?"

"I shall stay and destroy any intruders, I suppose, come find me when you're done then I'll explain it"

Her reason seemed pretty solid but that was just a facade, she knew Subaru would try to get her to go with the other kids, she was okay with Petra but not the rest, not yet anyway. Beatrice received a head pat from Subaru and the other two left for the village.

As they were on their way Ram stopped, Subaru who was behind her also stopped, without turning back she said, "Is it a divine protection?"

"Huh...?" He was surprised by her sudden question.

"That... insane intuition of yours..." she turns around to face him and gave him a doubt filled look, "Is it a divine protection?"

"Um... by intuition... you mean how I think someone might attack...?"

"No... it's everything, how you knew where most of everything was when you came to the mansion, how you guessed that you got cursed that day, about how you knew information about the Hakugei and the Witch-cult... With someone as dumb as you, those would be impossible to tell... there must be a trick..." She said as she stared deep into his eyes.

She was entering somewhere extremely deep, something he has tried his best to keep hidden after that one time he killed Emilia, "I'm not sure actually... I heard that if you have one, you would automatically know, so... I don't"

"Is that a lie?" She said.

"W-What! No, why would I lie about something like that?! If I did have such things I'd point it out so you'd trust me more!"

"Haah... it seems your not as dumb as I thought you were..." she turned around and continued moving, Subaru following not far behind, "Then, can you explain about how you knew about all of it?"

"Well, the mansion rooms... it was like how I found the Forbidden Archive I think... just kinda lucky... the curse, I asked about them from Beako that morning and I was just curious so I wanted to check... the Hakugei and Sloth... I had a run in with them before and with the help of my old Metia, I was able to get information about them..."

"Where is that Metia now?"

"Why are you asking these question, Ram? Anyway, I had to trade it in with the Capital's royal treasurer so I could get his help, so I don't have it now"

The tone of his voice didn't sound like it held lies, she wasn't facing him so she couldn't be sure but there was one thing that could bring it out though, "Do you know about Master's book..."

"A book? No, don't know any particular book that Roswaal may have... why do you ask? Actually, can you tell me about this book? It sounds interesting..."

"I have made a grave mistake, it seems you are as dumb as I originally thought..."

"What!? How the heck was I supposed to know about that? Come on, tell me about this 'book' Roswaal has"

"If you want to know, go find out yourself, anyway we're here..." Before they knew it they were already in the village gates, "I shall commence with the shopping, you would probably be tackled by the village children the moment we enter so your just going to help me carry them back"

She was right, the moment he entered, all the village kids rushed over to him, well, all but Petra, she walked over slowly with a smile on her face.

"You will be an excellent servant in the future," Ram said suddenly.

"H-Huh?!" everyone gasped and looked confused and surprised at Ram. "What do you mean, Ram Nee-sama..."

"Despite being out of work, you still maintain great posture, that is one of the best forms of determination, you may very well pass Barusu in a matter of hours if you keep that up"

"Hey, if you want to insult me just say it!"

"Barusu's fragile heart would not be able to handle such remarks"

"Again with the indirect insults!"

All the children laughed with their mouths opened wide, Petra on the other hand, just did a little giggle, she turns over to Ram and asks, "Ram Nee-sama, do you need help with the shopping?"

She saw that Ram was holding a piece of paper with the help of her maid training and her time at the mansion, she deduced that Ram and Subaru had come to restock their supplies.

"I can clearly see that you are worried about not coming back to the mansion but rest assured, the moment we know it's safe, Barusu will come over to pick you up"

Her eyes gleamed with glee, she was barely able to hold back her joy, "A servant must know when to take a break, so do just that right now" Ram points over to Subaru and urges Petra to go ahead which she does.

.

"Subaru-sama, is the mansion safe yet? Oh, and where is Beatrice-chan?"

Subaru and the kids were sitting in the shade waiting for Ram to finish with the shopping, "Well... the mansions not safe yet, Beako is guarding the mansion in case someone tries something"

"What? Subaru, you shouldn't let a little girl stay there alone!"

"Heh, I know she seems little, really I thought that too, but under that cute face is a raging monster that would lash when provoked" she hasn't really shown that side too much, but he had a feeling that she would. "Beside's, she helped beat the Witch Cult"

"Really, Beatrice-chan?!"

"Yep, she along with me and Mr. Greatest Knight, took down Betelgeuse, the Witch cult's sin archbishop of Sloth!"

Excited to hear the story that he hasn't yet told them, they all sat down quietly as he told them about the battle. Soon after they finished Ram had finally done the shopping, Subaru went over to her, it was quite the load today.

"This thing's twice as heavy as last time!" He said as he struggled trying to carry the barrel

"Is it too much for a weakling like you? Must Ram aid you in this? You truly are useless, Barusu..."

"Just keep talking, you'll see..."

"Fine, I sh-"

"Murak..."

Not letting her finish her sentence, he chanted his newly learned spell form the Hakugei Subjugation, Murak, a spell that reduces the effects of gravity. The Barrel slowly lifted up from the ground, Ram was dumbfounded.

"It seems a dog like you has the ability to learn new tricks..."

"Hah, 'Look before you Leap' Ram, if you say something before-"

"If you have the time to talk, you have the time to walk, Barusu" Ram had already reached the village gates, leaving without him.

"Hey, I may be able to pick it up but this thing's still a bit heavy to push... hey wait for me, Ram!"

.

After seeing him struggle so hard, she decides to slow down a bit so he could catch up, soon they had reached the mansion and Frederica had taken the barrel that Subaru was pushing.

Beatrice was nowhere to be found so he decided to look for a little while. He ultimately ended up in the stables where Beatrice was with Patarasche, Otto was also there.

"Otto?! Man, I forgot you were still here, thought you left already..."

"Is my presence really that small for you!? Anyway, I won't leave yet, you still haven't done your end of the deal, are we going to go back to Sanctuary?"

"Nope, not quite yet, still have some business to handle here, we'll leave after that's done, if I were you, I'd go stay in the village if I were you"

"Huuh... I'm staying here, I've heard from Frederica-san that someone might attack, if you were to die now I wouldn't be able to meet the Margrave now wouldn't I" Otto said as he opened the stable doors, "Besides, you are weak Natsuki-san..."

"Hey, wha-!"

Not letting him say anything, Otto continued, "Putting up a strong front for the people that have an interest in you, or people you have vowed to protect, is more or less a natural thing to do, but.." He turns back and stares at him, "You shouldn't keep it up like that towards your friend..."

He couldn't quite grasp what Otto was, and he was slightly confused by the last word, 'Friend', who was Otto talking about, he thought about it for a while, he did kinda see Otto as a 'Friend', though he would have trouble saying so.

"You've been very secretive about this 'business' you have but I'm sure it's not something easy to handle, especially on your own... so ask for help, directly I mean..." That was the last thing he said before closing the stable doors, leaving Beatrice and Subaru to ponder what had just happened.

"Freind huh... haha..."

"Subaru?"

"You're seriously gonna get yourself killed..."

"Let's go, Elsa might be attacking right this moment for all we know..."

With that they left the stables and headed for the mansion's front yard, for they still had some things to discuss, unknown to them, the mansion had already been surrounded with an inescapable horde, ready to attack a a moments notice...

A/N

Decided to put the Otto scene early on so we get more action from him, I have a feeling that the amount of total chapters might be slightly lower than I originally thought, but you never know.

I'm utterly terrible at making Titles for these chapters, so if you have any ideas please tell me!

Leave a review about ideas, mistakes, opinions, or just to say hi! Update speeds vary ever so slightly, five to two weeks, see ya then.