ARC Two: The Roswaal Mansion

Chapter Eleven: Curses, Tears and Courage

It was the second morning at the Roswaal mansion. Batman had gone to visit Subaru in his given room.

When he entered, Subaru could be seen hiding something behind his back. His face looked as if he was in utter pain.

"Subaru what are you hiding?"

"...nothing at all."

"Don't lie to me."

Batman quickly walked over to him and grabbed his right hand.

He saw it was covered in stab wounds and cuts.

They were obviously self inflicted.

"Subaru talk to me. Tell me what's wrong. Did those two girls do something to you?"

"No. I already told Emilia nothing happened between us."

"Then what happened? You can tell me."

Subaru looked up at Batman with a face filled with an aura of defeat.

"Tell you? You think, I didn't think of that?!"

"..."

"Well I can't! I can't say anything to anyone! I'm alone in this! I can't do anything anymore! I...I give up."

Batman let go of his hand finally and Subaru pointed at it with tears falling from his eyes.

"I did this to myself so I don't fall asleep. That's how fucking scared I am."

Subaru clutched his right hand, looking away from him.

"Now please, leave me alone."

Batman closed his eyes at this, he quickly walked out of the room and closed the door behind him.

Subaru felt like absolute scum.

Talking harshly to Emilia.

Chasing away Batman.

He felt pathetic. He placed his face into his hands and wept loudly.

Later, Beatrice showed up at his room at the request of Emilia. And the scolding of Batman. They believed that out of anyone, she would be the cause of his plight.

However during the entire ordeal, he asked her to protect him until the fifth morning.

That day was when he always died.

Surprisingly, Beatrice agreed to it. Promising him through a contract that she would protect him as long as he was in the mansion.

Subaru spent his days inside his room, hardly ever coming out of pure fear of what would happen to him. His sleep was uneasy, he would almost always have nightmares about Rem killing him with a face full of disgust. He would see Emilia cry her eyes out, and Batman attacking Rem, his face becoming almost demonic with rage. He would try to stop it, but he was always powerless.

Then…

"Subaru may I come in?"

"...Batman-san."

"Can I sit here?"

"Yeah."

Batman pulled up a chair and sat next to his bed.

Subaru looked at him with a sad expression, especially how I talked to him two days ago.

"Batman-san. Listen, about last time…"

"It's alright. You've been under a lot of stress as I can tell."

"I guess."

"I saw that you patched things up with Emilia."

"Oh yeah."

Subaru recalled the magical moment Emilia came in the morning to see him. She took a request from him to spoon feed him his meal. He felt a gentle warmness from the event, it shook his heart greatly. He felt more smitten towards the silver haired half-elf girl.

"She's too good for me."

"...I wouldn't know about that. But Subaru, is there anything you'd like to talk about now?"

"I-I..I guess there is something."

"Well?"

"Batman-san can you guard me till' tomorrow?"

"...What are you-?"

"It'll keep me at peace of mind. If nothing happens then, I think...maybe I'll be back to normal."

"...If you snap back out of this. Then I'll do my best."

"R-Really?"

"But you owe me for this. Just remember that."

"For sure."

Batman got up and patted him on the back. He smirked at him and left the room.

"So he said yes. I guess, I might just be okay."

That night, Subaru had another nightmare. The same as usual, he wanted to scream as he tossed and turned in his bed.

But then he relaxed as something warm and soft grasped his hands.

He then woke up with a savage kick to the face.

He was now inside the Forbidden Archive, with Beatrice and Batman.

"How long do you intend to sleep on my floor and dirty it, I suppose?"

"Subaru you made it."

Subaru was surprised to see them. But he figured Beatrice and Batman were keeping their promise with him. He would be better protected if he was there with two of the toughest people he knows.

They all decided to pass the time by reading books. Subaru was reading a book on the Dragon who was named, Volcanica. Batman was reading a book on the different spells used in Yang magic.

Hours passed as the three finished off their books.

"I'm being summoned."

Batman and Subaru heard Beatrice speak up as she began exiting the room.

Subaru slightly panicked at the sight of her leaving, but Batman placed a hand on his shoulder.

He also headed to the exit, opening it, to reveal the morning sun.

Subaru had survived.

He stepped out to the hallway, staring out the window.

"Hehe-hehe-No way. This is just…"

Subaru squatted down, hugged his knees and laughed like a madman.

Subaru had made it.

In the corner of his eyes he saw Emilia walking towards him.

She took his hand and lead him down the hall. Batman noticed this and quickly caught up to them. They continued down the hall as Subaru tried to get her attention. Batman could sense the direness of the situation and tried to stop Subaru.

"UWAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!"

They heard a yell coming from a room nearby. The three headed over there as quickly as possible. They saw Roswaal and Beatrice there.

Beatrice was leaning on the wall with her eyes closed.

Roswaal looked depressed as he stared at the floor.

Batman and Subaru were lead by Emilia into the room.

It was a simple room with a few decorations that a girl would typically have. It was there they saw Ram hunched over the bed weeping loudly.

It was Rem's room. She was dead.

Subaru couldn't understand what was happening. He assumed that Rem was the one who cursed him. He just couldn't grasp it.

When Subaru reached out to her, his hand was slapped away by Ram.

"-Don't touch her!"

Subaru looked down to see Ram with a face filled with rage.

"Don't...touch my little sister!"

Subaru could only walk away in utter pain. He wanted to know why Rem was cursed instead of him. Did him not coming out of his room spare him and target her? He could not tell. Batman was also looking at the two sisters with a conflicted feeling in his heart.

Unlike Subaru, who was cooped up in his room for the majority of his stay, Batman got to know the sisters well.

He appreciated Rem and all her hard work. He could tell she was curious about Subaru, but was scared to go see him.

"Maybe we offended him."

"No Rem, he's just been under a lot of stress lately. You'll see, he'll come around."

"If Batman-sama says so."

"Don't take my word for it. But he's a good kid. Just like you."

"...Rem does not deserve such kind words."

"Think of it as a gift of sorts."

"Well...thank you very much. Rem appreciates it. Though...Nee-sama will still alway be ahead of Rem."

"Oh boy. Have a little more self-confidence Rem."

His conversations with Ram were nice and smart. In some ways, Ram was the type of girl Bruce Wayne would actually be somewhat attracted to.

"Well, Batman-sama have you heard anything from that guest of ours?"

"No, I just know that he's in pretty bad shape right now."

"I...do wonder if he got more hurt because of us."

"Nah, he's always getting hurt. But he can heal just like any person."

"Maybe you think too highly of him?"

"Hmmmm...maybe. But someone has to be on his side. Just like how Rem will alway be by your side."

"...Yes. She is my second half."

"That's a lovely way of putting it. You do have your way with words."

Batman then noticed Ram's cheeks had a slight red tinge to them.

"...I'm sorry Batman-sama, but Ram will not fall for your flirting."

"...Huh?"

But now, Rem was dead and Ram was falling apart.

He saw Roswaal speaking with Subaru, he could tell something wasn't right with the conversation.

Then...he heard something from behind him. It was Ram.

"YOU KNOW SOMETHING DON'T YOU?"

He then felt a strong sharp wind blow past him and headed for Subaru.

He saw it cut a lamp above him, as well as his cheek.

Batman rushed over to him.

He then saw another gust of wind spiraling towards Subaru, he was prepared to push him out of the way.

Beatrice stepped in front of them and blocked it with an invisible force.

The both of them were surprised by this.

"Betty has made a promise and I shall protect him as long as he is here, I suppose."

"Beatrice-sama!"

Beatrice tried to explain to Roswaal where Subaru was the night of the occurrence. But for some reason, he wouldn't have any of it. He prepared several spheres of light around him, each representing the six magic attributes he possessed. Beatrice released an imposing field around her as she stared back at Roswaal, ready to fight.

Ram was about to scream at them...but..

"Have you all lost your minds?!"

Everyone glanced at Batman who could no longer keep quiet.

"Rem is dead! And now we're going to fight each other?! I've learned over the years, that fighting amongst allies will only allow those who actually need to be battled against, a chance to succeed! We need to learn more and-!"

Ram furrowed her eyes at him.

"LIAR! You're just trying to defend him! He knows something and he won't tell us! Batman, step aside from him. I'm going to avenge her! My little sister...help her. Help me avenge her…."

Batman gritted his teeth and shut his eyes. He felt a swirling mass of pain in his heart hearing those words. He wanted to help her. But he couldn't hand Subaru over to her, who knows what she would do to him in her current state?

He knew Subaru was innocent, he was cooped up in his room for most of the week.

And last night, he was with them in the Forbidden Archives.

But everyone was letting their emotions get the better of them and had begun acting irrationally.

When Emilia stepped forward to defend him as well, Batman noticed the look in his eyes.

He was about to make a run for it.

That was their only chance.

When Subaru turned his body and had begun to move, Batman quickly rolled away from the room. He grabbed Subaru and they made a beeline for the window. They crashed through it.

Batman pulled out his grappling gun, he fired it to the roof and it pulled them up to the roof.

He then heard loud explosions down below them.

The two were now on the roof of the mansion. Batman pressed several buttons on his gauntlet.

Below them, the Batwing activated and began preparing to take off.

Just then, a huge explosion occurred a few feet away from them. It created a large hole on the roof and out leapt Ram.

"I WON'T LET YOU GET AWAY!"

"Ram please! This won't help anyone! He doesn't know anything!"

"LIES! Roswaal-sama saw it! He saw that he knew something!"

"Damn it Ram! You both aren't thinking clearly! I know this is horrible, but we can-!"

"SHUT UP! Rem was the last family I had! I'm now all alone in this world! You don't what it's like to no longer have any family!"

"...I do.."

"..."

"Ram, please! Think this through! I-I don't want to fight you!"

"Then let me through…"

Batman and Ram furrowed their eyes at each other.

"Ram, you know I can't."

"Then die along with him."

She flung a slicing air attack at him and he quickly dodged.

Roswaal then leapt out of the very same hole, Emilia and Beatrice also not far behind.

It was a literal civil war amongst the residents of the mansion.

Batman, Emilia, Puck and Beatrice vs. Roswaal and Ram.

Subaru fell to his knees. He was horrified, the people he grew to love, care for and respect. Now because of his uselessness, they were trying to kill each other.

Beatrice walked over to him and grabbed his hand.

He noticed it then, her hand felt wrong. It wasn't what he held onto in the night.

Rem.

Ram.

They held his hands to comfort him.

Subaru looked down at Beatrice and patted her on the head.

He smiled tenderly at her as he knew what to do.

He looked over at Ram and smiled at her.

He then said to her,

"I'm sorry. This time...I'll save you all!"

Subaru pushed Beatrice forward, away from him, as he jumped back off the edge of the roof.

Everyone there could only stare wide eyed at this.

Batman tried to jump to him but was attacked by Ram's wind magic. He had to move out of the in order to avoid injury.

Emilia and Puck fired ice spears at them, only for them to be blasted away by Roswaal's fire blasts.

The Batwing had arrived over the roof and began firing upon Roswaal and Ram.

The bullets tore through the mansion, as Roswaal grabbed Ram while he flew through the air.

Using this as an opportunity, Batman leapt to try and reach Subaru. He then noticed a stone flying at him at high speed. He used a batarang to knock it away. But the impact spun his body, losing some momentum.

He pulled himself together and jumped off the roof.

He saw Subaru putting on a huge smile, giving him a thumbs up.

His body hit the ground. Killing him.

Batman and everyone else stood next to his corpse. Blood was leaking from his body under his feet.

Emilia was looking away her hands on face as Puck tried his best to comfort her.

Beatrice was on her knees on the ground. She was shockingly crying for him.

Roswaal had a look akin to disappointment.

Ram only stared at Subaru's body while standing next to her master.

Batman moved forward and gently picked up his body. He closed his eyes as he began to walk away towards the Batwing.

Ram called out to him,

"Thanks to you, we'll never find out what he knew."

Batman stopped dead in his tracks.

"Is that right? And how do we know he knew anything?"

"..."

"He was terrified. He had been scared of something, so maybe he knew something was coming here to get all of us. But now…"

His hands tightening as they held Subaru.

"...We'll never know."

Batman walked away, Beatrice, Emilia and Puck not far behind.

Subaru once again awoke to the first morning at the mansion. He remembered his promise to everyone as he leapt off the mansion.

"I'm back!"

He saw Rem and Ram standing there next to his bed. He moved to them and held their palms.

"I knew it. I wasn't mistaken."

The girls quickly freed themselves and slid away from him.

"No, Dear Guest. I think you are mistaken. About everything."

"No, Dear Guest. I think you're very birth was a mistake."

Subaru stood up after hearing them ridicule him some more and held out a hand to them.

"I trust you both. Let's get along."

The twin maids looked at each other not comprehending what exactly was going on.

At that moment, Emilia and Batman walked into the room to check on Subaru. He was glad to see them in their usual mood.

He was glad to see everyone normal. Not like they were in the last loop.

"Alright, let's start again shall we."

The four others, not understanding what he meant, tilted their heads slightly.

The days continued onward as they did like usual. Subaru was hired as a manservant, Batman was hired as a bodyguard for his two new allies.

Roswaal and Ram were in his private study as they conversed about Subaru and Batman.

Ram believed that while the chances of Subaru being a spy was unlikely, she had mixed feelings about both of them.

"Barusu is quite useless in his cleaning endeavors, but he is optimistic and seems to be genuine about his desires."

She then closed her eyes.

"And Batman. While Batman could easily be a spy, I don't think he is. He seems to be very protective towards Emilia-sama and Barusu. I...I think he's noticed Rem, and how she's been viewing Barusu. He sometimes gives her a stare back...as if warning her."

"Ahhhh, as a bodyguard he seems to be doing his jooooob well. But, we should make sure not tooooo let Rem get ahead of herself. If she does, we'll incur his wrath."

"Yes. Emilia-sama told me that, next to Reinhard Van Astrea, Batman was the most skilled fighter she had seen that night."

"Then, it's beeeeest we keep our eyes open."

Batman listened in on the conversation as he sat on the roof, stared out at the familiar looking moon.

Subaru continued to his duties per usual. But Puck had noticed that Subaru's mind and heart were a jumbled mess. He warned Emilia and Batman that if something wasn't done…

"It won't be long before he reaches the end of his ropes."

When Batman was walking down the hall, he saw Subaru dusting off a lamp with tired eyes. When those very same eyes saw him, they lit up again.

"Ah! Batman-san! Batman-san! And how are we today?! Feel like teaming up again to fight some bad guys? Monsters? Ancient Gods? Hahaha right, right! We should take it easy and relax!"

Batman could only stare at him. Puck was right. Something was off about Subaru.

"Is everything alright?"

"...Yeah of course. A little tired from all this work though. Ah! Speaking of which…"

Subaru looked at his wrist for a nonexistent watch.

"...I gotta help Rem-rin clean up upstairs. Gotta run now! Catch you later!"

He ran off leaving Batman behind with only his thoughts of concern.

Batman wanted it to be nothing, but when he saw Emilia later, he was confirmed it wasn't.

"Batman-san, we can't let this continue."

"Yes, I feel like he's wasting away. Whatever is bothering him, he's bottling it up. And if it explodes, he won't make it out in one piece."

"I…"

Emilia had a worried expression that soon was broken away by one of determination.

"I can't let that happen. Not after everything he's done for me. I'll do something about this!"

"I trust that you will, Emilia."

Subaru felt nauseous. He felt fearful. He felt bad.

Natsuki Subaru was doing his best to appear hard working and friendly towards everyone.

He did everything Ram asked him with a smile. He felt awful.

He messed around with Rem in a joking manner. He felt awful.

He would become enchanted by Emilia with a joyful display. He felt awful.

He constantly posed around with Batman and joked around with him. He felt awful.

Everything was exaggerated and his aura spoke of oblivious tomfoolery.

But it was anything but. He was terrified, scared that this loop would like all the others, in his unfortunate end, or someone else along with him. He had to, he couldn't mess up this time he had to…

"Wh...o...a.."

Subaru skipped away from his work and walked to the nearest guest room as not to cause suspicion.

He went over to the lavatory and threw up everything he had in his stomach.

The stress was eating away at him.

"Haah haah…"

He wiped away the saliva around his mouth and washed his face.

He stared at himself in the mirror.

"If you have time to do this...you time to do other everything else right…"

He wiped away the water and looked away.

"I'm being pathetic…"

Then as he exited the room, he encountered Emilia.

Batman was wandering the halls of the mansion at the late evening hours. He was contemplating his own problems. He had been unable to speak with Roswaal about his circumstances being there. He even wondered if he even could get back home. It was something that circled his mind.

He thought of his home. He thought of Gotham City and it's people.

He knew that in the case something happened to him, Dick Grayson, the first Robin, would take his mantle as the Batman.

But he was worried still.

Who would help him?

Alfred was dead.

Tim was dead.

Jason was missing.

Barbara was taking her father's role.

Jim was sick.

And Damian….he was…

Batman was snapped out of his thoughts as he saw Rem walk out of a room.

He took a quick peek inside and saw Emilia. On her lap was Subaru' head.

He was asleep with eyes indicative of a good cry.

"Sleeping is he?"

"Yeah, this guy is a real troublemaker. Heh heh."

"Well, he can be a handful."

Emilia smiled, along with a small grin by Batman. They both looked at the sleeping Subaru and could only hope that this would finally help him, in some way.

That night, Subaru visited Beatrice in his library. He asked her on the specifics of curses.

She explained that for a curse to work, physical contact must be made in order for it to work. Subaru realized that at some point when he was at Irlham Village, the shaman placed the curse on him in the first two loops.

Rem had died in the previous loop, due to her going to the village alone without Subaru.

She was cursed instead of him.

"Yes! It all makes sense now!"

"What is that attitude in front of someone you asked for aid from, I suppose. Betty thinks she deserves a few words of gratitude."

"Yeah, you're right! I can see the light thanks to you! I LOVE YOU BEAKO!"

Subaru rushed over to Beatrice and picked her up, twirling her around in a joyous manner.

"Let me g-Put me down this instant, I suppose!"

"Ha ha ha, I could just fly away! Or rather, shall we fly together Beako!?"

"Fly all by your lonesome self!"

"Dogeza?!"

Subaru flew away as he landed hard on the ground. Batman knocked on the door and entered.

"Hey Beatrice, I came to bring back this book…"

He then saw Beatrice with her hands on her hips looking down at the young man laying on the floor.

They both looked up at him.

"...I can come back another time."

"Are you two in a conspiracy to piss me off, I suppose?!"

Later the subject about the Witch's Scent came up.

"You have the witch's scent Subaru?"

"Yeah...I guess only a few people in the world can smell it or something."

"But I'm curious, who is this witch?"

"...You know what, I'd like to know too."

Beatrice seemed confused at this.

"Why would you two ask such questions? In this world, aren't the names you'd know best we're you own parents, other family members and the witch, I suppose?"

The two continued to listen to Beatrice's explanation of the Witch.

"The Witch of Envy, 'Satella'. She consumed the Six Witches, each corresponding with the most wicked of other sins. She swallowed up half the world, in an event known as 'The Worst Calamity'."

Batman and Subaru continued listening.

Subaru was quiet, wide eyed at the description.

Batman furrowed his eyes, examining carefully about this great threat.

"It is said she was starved for love. It is said that she does not comprehend human speech. It is said she envies everything in this world. It is said that no one has ever seen her face and lived. It is said that her body is untouched by the ravages of time, unable to grow old or die. That the Dragon, the Master Swordsman and the Great Sage combined could only seal her, unable to destroy her."

Beatrice then looked up at them and sharpened her eyes.

"It is said...she is a half-elf with silver hair."

Batman and Subaru could only be stunned into utter silence.

The next day, Subaru and Batman were relaxing in the garden with Emilia and Puck.

Both men agreed that Emilia, a kind hearted but bumbling girl, was in no way affiliated with the feared Satella.

Subaru himself wanted to do everything he could to help her image. Batman also ageed on this heavily, using the example of his friend Superman as an example.

Though he is an all powerful Kryptonian, he does not fear him for his powers, instead he respects his character more.

At some point Puck offered to train Subaru and Batman in the art of magic.

"Let's see what element you are Subaru! Myon myon myon.."

"That's the same thing the weirdo noble did, is this really necessary?!"

"Oh wow! It's Yin and also you have very little talent for it."

"Farewell my magic-user life-!"

Batman snickered at this and so it was his turn.

"Let's see myon myon myon…"

"...I really dislike that sound."

"Okay! Another rare one! It's Yang, and unlike Subaru you're gate is normal sized."

Subaru was pretty jealous of Batman at this point.

So, Puck demonstrated a Yin spell known as Shamak to the two of them.

The spell sent their mind to a realm of complete darkness.

Subaru slowly began to panic, while Batman remained calm and actually broke out of it.

"Oh wow! Batman must be very well trained to easily break out of Shamak on his first go."

"It's a spell that attacks the mind right? So if I focus hard enough and visualize, I can break out of it."

Subaru was eventually freed from it, and though he was scared by it, he was also impressed.

Subaru decided to try once with to cast Shamac. And it was a total failure.

A black cloud of smoke enveloped him in a massive eruption.

Puck explained that his gate was too lax and that he shouldn't try to use magic too often.

He was then given a fruit to recharge the mana in his body. Called the Bokko fruit. Though not good for you, it can help in a dire situation.

Batman had his turn with Puck.

"Alright Batman, aim your finger at that flower pot."

"Okay."

"Now focus on it. Visualize the waves inside of you flowing through your gate and then expel it."

"Alright. Visualize."

Batman learned of a few spells from several books from Beatrice. There was one he asked to try. Jiwald, a spell that fires a beam of light from one's fingertips.

So he attempted it.

"JIWALD!"

A bright light soon fired from his index finger and blasted apart a flower pot that was a few feet away from him. Puck was more than impressed.

"Wow! You did it! And on your first try."

"Ahhh. I did."

That's when everyone noticed steam coming from the hand he fired from.

Everyone rushed over.

"Batman-san!"

He took off his gauntlet to check the damage. His index finger, the one he used for the spell, was badly bruised and burnt.

"How horrible! Here, let me take care of that."

Emilia began work on healing the finger. While that happened, Batman checked on his gauntlet to make sure it wasn't damaged.

Eventually, Puck explained that Batman would need more training with his gate. Apparently the gate would funnel too much mana at the end of a spell, which would hurt him.

"As long as you keep practicing we should have no problem later!"

The group headed inside the mansion as their training came to an end.

The next day, Subaru, Rem, Ram and Batman headed down to Irlham Village. For Subaru it was his third visit, but for Batman it was his first.

They encountered a lot of people there, an old man who was the acting headman, Muraosa. An old woman who wanted to be young again...by groping Subaru and Batman's behind.

"...Subaru never speak of this again…"

And the young group leader with a short cut...as well as someone who looked oddly similar who led the "Ram-Rem Defense Group".

"...Subaru let's just forget any of this happened…"

There were also seven young children who seemed to have grown attached to Subaru. In the case of Batman, they were all slightly scared of him. But of course, he was still wearing his costume, one that was very intimidating to look at.

Slowly though, the children warmed up to him. His feats of strength, such as carrying all of them with one arm and his leaping capabilities, impressed them.

The day continued as Subaru taught the village radio calisthenics for fun. Batman taught some of the children how to do somersaults.

Then Ram appeared.

"You two, what on in the world are doing?"

"Well I decided to teach them all the secret of living a longer life, radio calisthenics. And Batman-san decided to teach them somersaults and if we have time maybe even front-flips. These things make life more fun!"

"Whatever floats your boat."

Three children appeared next to Subaru.

"Ram-chii that's cold!"

"Ram-chii that's mean!"

"Ram-chii that's scary!"

Ram merely sighed at this, while glancing at Subaru.

"...You taught those kids to call me that?"

"More like it's their way of trying to get closer to you."

"...I don't mind but Rem might not care for it."

The three children turned to each other with smiles.

"Rem-rin?"

"Rem-rin."

"Rem-rin-rin!"

Subaru could only smile at that.

"We sort of crossed that bridge already."

Eventually, Subaru once again followed the kids near a fence while Batman followed Ram to a meeting point. While there a young blue haired braided girl introduced him to a small dog with a bald spot on it's head. Subaru reached out to pet and got bit hard.

He said goodbye to the children as he was escorted by Ram, to where Batman and Rem were waiting. Rem had a slight frown on her face noticing Ram was holding onto Subaru's wirst.

"Nee-sama and Subaru-kun seem to be getting along well…"

"Um, yeah...hehe…"

The group had made it to the mansion. Batman made Subaru carry a large barrel as a form of training. When they go there, they saw Roswaal in unusually normal clothes, claiming he was going to check on someone or something called "Garfiel". He entrusted specific commands to Rem and Ram, before giving a command to Subaru.

"Please taaaake care of Emilia-sama, all right?"

"Yeah, you can count on me doing that seriously."

Roswaal gave him a smile and turned to look at Batman.

"Annnnd I hope you'll take care of everyone whiiiile I'm gone."

"...Of course."

Roswaal flew up into the air and dashed away to a shocked Subaru and unimpressed Batman.

"He can fly? Magic sure is something…"

"Meh. I've seen it too many times to even be mildly impressed."

The night had fast approached as Batman was surveying the halls while practicing with his mana flow. He found a bit uncomfortable outside of his usual training as it affected more than his muscles. In his old world, he had used magic items before, but never used magic like this. It was perplexing to him.

He looked out the window to the dark night sky and wondered if maybe someone like Constantine or Dr Fate could use their magic to help him out.

Or even to help Subaru and the others out.

"Ram! Rem! I have to talk to you!"

Batman heard Subaru yell and ran to the main entrance where he heard it from. He jumped from the upper stairs to the main hall where Subaru was.

Ram and Rem soon showed up.

"Barusu, it is unbecoming to be that worked up at this hour."

"I'm sorry. But I don't have time to explain. I have to go back to the village after this. I can't answer all your questions. Let me get straight to the point! There's an evil magic user in the village, I've identified who it is and I need to go stop him!"

He walked to get closer to everyone.

"You can confirm the facts with Bea-ko as well, also-!"

"Nee-sama, Nee-sama. Subaru-kun is saying a very unfunny joke."

"Rem, Rem. I think Barusu has top class talent as a clown."

Then the three of them heard Suabru's voice again. His face becoming eerily serous.

"Rem, Ram. Even though I usually mess around, there are times I speak seriously."

The three were surprised by Subaru.

They soon split into two teams.

Subaru would go with Rem to investigate the village, while Ram and Batman would stay behind and protect the mansion from any trouble.

Emilia caught wind of what was going. She tried to stop him, but she relented and saw him off.

"May the blessing of the spirits be upon you."

"Huh?"

"It's what we say when sending people off...It means...come back safe and sound."

"Of course Emilia-tan! And when I come back, please hold me gently close to your chest like a little bird!"

"Yeah, yeah."

Batman nodded to him as he handed him a comm link.

"Know how to use it?"

"Used one once...a long time ago. But it's like riding a bike right?"

"..Subaru. Be careful."

"No worries. With Emilia-tan's blessing I feel invincible. He He!"

"Good luck."

"Yeah."

Subaru marched forward out of the mansion along with Rem. Their backs were viewed by the remaining inhabitants.

Subaru and Rem eventually learned that three children, in particular Petra, Luka and Mild were missing. He led Rem to the forest, she saw that the barrier protecting the village had been broken.

Thus, this allowed Ma-Beasts known as Wolgarm to possibly break through. She claimed that they lived all over the forest and were very dangerous.

Subaru made a decision to enter the forest and save the kids.

Rem questioned this, but he stated he needed to help them, theorizing that the small dog that bit him earlier in the day, was in fact a wolgarm in disguise.

Subaru was sure he was in over his head. But he cared too much about those kids to let them die.

He would save them…

"Damn, who knew courage was such a frightening thing."

Rem relented and decided to aid him.

Rem had her Morningstar in her hands, and Subaru with a head full of fear and a heart burning with courage, marched into the forest.

And so Subaru and Rem ran straight into battle, an odd pair, finally being born.