fics I read

"You're back early Rem." A maid who looks exactly like the maid I know bows. Actually there a few differences... First it's the fact that she has pink hair instead of blue hair. Second it's the fact that while Rem is quite... big in the chest department, this other girl isn't.

Rem bows back. "I know Elder Sister, but it couldn't be helped... We actually rushed back here." No kidding. Reinhard is seriously insane, I thought that maybe us coming alone would be sort of a bother all things considered, but...

He just said he had some Divine Protections that made him the best rider of all time, put us all in a dragon carriage and we got here before it was morning. I would like to say we saw a few cool landmarks, but... everything was pretty much a blur.

Rem's supposed sister raises an eyebrow. "I'm assuming it concerns that Sword Saint you brought over here." Reinhard casually waves at her with a smile. "Well, we could use the help, there's a bandit group who has been making moves recently..." A bandit group!? That sounds way better than a group of cultists.

She continues. "Apparently it's some... Bandit king or whatever nonsense. They keep bothering animals around the manor." She then sighs. "We tried to bring the villagers into the mansion for protection, but... Lord Roswaal wasn't here, so Lady Emilia had to try to convince them. It didn't go well."

Subaru interjects. "What do you mean it didn't go well? Is... did Emilia-Tan get hurt or something!?" So Subaru has finally been confronted by something she doesn't know. She clearly has some sort of ability... or insider information. I wonder what are the limits of it?

Ram sighs. "Lady Emilia... and don't forget the Lady part Barusu, did not get hurt. They threw some stones at her, but elves are strong, nothing came of it." Subaru clenches her fists, and glares at the ground. That said, there is one emotion even more clear on her face than anger.

It's disbelief, and so she begins muttering. "No way...! There's no way they would do that...!" I'm guessing Subaru is familiar with the villagers, and it's now surprised by their behavior. I'm not though, I know people can have very ugly sides to them, in some ways I'm the same.

I cross my arms. "So I'm guessing it didn't go well because of Emilia's appearance? Wouldn't it be better if you went there by yourself then?" Does she just not hold enough authority to do something like that? I'm admittedly unfamiliar with how maids and stuff work here.

She nods. "Indeed... They accused Lady Emilia of bringing disaster in the first place, and forced her to leave... she's quite sad right now." She then sighs. "And they would not answer to a simple maid like me either." I see, so you don't have that sort of authority.

She crosses her arms. "Don't worry however, it's just some bandits... It would be better if the villagers listened, but we should be able to rout the bandits once we find them." Don't say rout like it's a Fire Emblem map, also there's some information you are missing...

She squints her eyes while looking at me. "Who are you anyways? It's clear you serve the Astrea's, but I doubt a common servant would be brought here... Unless Lord Reinhard wishes to stay for a couple of days of course." Thankfully I'm no butler. Actually screw that, butlers look cool.

I smile. "Don't worry about my name, just call me Musashi from now on." I extend a open hand towards her. "Nice to meet you Rem's big sis!" The thought of twin maid harem does pass through my mind for a second, but then I remember that I'm already shooting for the stars, aiming even higher is just impossible.

She does not shake my hand. "Musashi huh... What would be a good demeaning nickname for that...?" Don't just go pondering about how to humiliate me! Specially when I'm right here, and now I'm going through the sad experience of pulling back my hand...!

She continues. "Anyways, my name is Ram. It is... okay to meet you... Even if you too need to remember the Lady part in Lady Emilia." She then looks towards the Sword Saint. "Lord Reinhard, I do not know why you came here, but we would greatly appreciate your help in such times." Right, we still haven't explained anything at all.

Reinhard nods. "I actually came here specifically to help. I have... good reason to believe the Witch's Cult will attack soon. They might even be this so called bandit king." For a few seconds, I wonder wh Reinhard isn't saying Subaru is his source of information.

Then I realize he's just trying to be nice. First of all there's the fact that Subaru's info would probably cast him into a suspicious light. Second of all, if our information turns out wrong, then it's Reinhard who's getting embarrassed, not the black haired girl.

As Ram's eyes open wide, Rem nods. "That's why I'm glad you went to meet us before we arrive Elder Sister, if we are to kill those bastards, we need a good plan." I feel like with Reinhard here, our victory is all but guaranteed... It's more like we are aiming for a S-Rank.

Find a way to stop every single cultist, maybe capture a few, and we also can't let them hurt any innocent civilians. They are apparently a slippery bunch, so we have to be careful with whatever guerrilla tactics they use.

Subaru raises her index finger. "And I'm the girl with a good... a decent plan! An okayish plan..." She nods to herself. "Okay, first of all we need to get the villagers into the mansion, how many people can we carry with the carriage we brought along?"

Ram shakes her head. "Well, I won't doubt Reinhard Van Astrea of all people... The manor should be enough to temporarily, and I mean temporarily shelter everyone." She sighs "It will take hours to do it though, even with the carriages we have back at the mansion. There's just too many people." How big is this village anyways?

Subaru smiles. "Don't worry... I thought a lot on the way here, because I don't want to waste everyone's efforts!" Thinking from you is scary. "First we should have enough time to evacuate everyone, since we got here so early... Hopefully." She sighs. "The cult might notice and try to attack us though, that's why you and Rem need to safeguard the carriages through their journeys. It's gonna be a bunch of backtracking over and over again, but it's our only option."

She continues. "We can't show Reinhard though, because if he appears, then the Witch Cult might try to run for the hills." She punches her fists together. "That isn't good enough, I want to kill-, we have to stop the cult. So for now Reinhard keeps himself hidden."

The girl points at the Sword Saint. "Once everyone is at the mansion, it should be easy enough to protect them, specially with Beako around... Most importantly it means you will come down sweeping from the skies! Since you're so fast, I know where their main base of operations is at least." Oh boy.

Ram raises an eyebrow. "How...?" She's looking at Subaru like she's the most suspicious woman in the whole world, probably because she is. Even I am curious on how the girl has this much information at this point. The spy theory grows stronger.

Thankfully Reinhard saves her bacon. "Don't worry Miss Ram, I told Subaru the information that was shared to me." He must have a strong bond with her... Either that or he's lonely and grows to trust people really quickly. Maybe both.

Ram nods. "I see. Though there are a few details we must iron out on your godawful plan Subaru. First of all, we willl need to take a very, very specific path to leave the mansion, if we take one without the crystals, then the demon beasts will maul everyone." The what beasts!? I'm guessing generic enemies!?

The maid continues. "Second of all, it will be difficult to convince the villagers now... maybe Lord Reinhard could do it, but you wish to keep him a trump card... And finally, the villagers won't stay in a mansion where Lady Emilia is." I'm sure Subaru has thought about all that!

Subaru grits her teeth, but nods nonetheless. "Yeah, you're right, but... We're just gonna need to stick with the path thing, and about Emilia... Let's do a switcheroo. The villagers go to the mansion, and she goes to the village, until the village is empty she can stay guarded by Reinhard."

She continues. "If we split up our map into three pieces, the mansion is A, the village is B, the Witch's Cult hideout is C... Then the reason the village is getting destroyed in the first place is..." She struggles to say her next words. "Emilia. The reason is Emilia, there's no lying about it, even if I hate it. So if we put Emilia in spot B, there's no reason the cult will attack spot A. So our security there can be kind of lax..."

She takes a deep breath. "Reinhard will attack point C, and this should all be done before Puck goes to sleep... I doubt many guys will be able to escape Reinhard, but if they do, Emilia and Puck can handle them."

I raise a hand. "Oh, I also exist, so you guys decide if you want to put me in Point A, B, or C." I don't mind either way, though to be honest I would prefer C. I haven't gotten into a magic battle yet.

Reinhard sighs. "Definitely A!" That's what I would expect for my overwhelmingly worried friend. "No... maybe B...? Lady Emilia is an elf, but it would be nice of her to have a physical fighter around, just in case." He makes a thinking pose. "I suppose in the end it will just be up to me not letting anyone too strong get through." I will be surprised if even one does.

Ram pouts. "Are we really going with Barusu's plan? Can't you think of something else Lord Reinhard?" I thought it was a decent plan... "I mean, this worthless girl hasn't even said if she can convince the villagers or not." We could always move Emilia ahead of the village... Or would that bait be a bit too dangerous? Probably.

The Sword Saint now looks embarrassed. "Sorry, I'm not used to organizing operations such as these... Normally I only follow orders, and I tend to work alone too..." He then mutters. "They're going to have my head for this." Eh, we did leave them a letter. And I doubt they will say much when we kill the terrorist.

Subaru looks equally embarrassed. "It's true that I don't know how to convince everyone back at the village... Sorry, maybe we should reveal Reinhard early after all." I guess it couldn't be helped. Welp, even if the cult runs, that's still a win.

Rem suddenly interjects. "Wait a minute Subaru. I think... I think you can do it!" Cosplay as Reinhard?

The girl raises an eyebrow. "Cosplay as Reinhard?" It will be a shame to say goodbye to your glorious long hair. I don't want to shit talk the nice maids around us, but long hair is better.

Rem shakes her head. "Not that, Rem's Subaru isn't manly enough to pull it off... Also, the outcome of Witch Cultists running away would be the same even if you could." She sends the non-Reinhard cosplayer a smile. "What I'm saying is that you can convince everyone back in the village to go into the mansion for shelter!"

Subaru sighs. "Sorry, but there's no way... I'm not good with talking with people, that's something that has been repeatedly thrown into my face these past few days..." She then mutters. "Something like this is more for someone like Musashi." You blackmail one legendary swordsman, and suddenly they think you're charismatic.

Rem shakes her head. "That's isn't true at all Subaru...! You reached my heart after all!" The black haired girl blushes bright red. "Sure, maybe you have no idea how to talk with a noble, but these aren't nobles... These are people you know, people you saved! You're their hero you know! And you're my hero too! The savior of Arlam Village!" Wow, so much stuff I wasn't there for. It sure would be convenient if I could know what transpired there in a easy way, like watching a show or reading a book.

The maid keeps up her speech, while the blushing Subaru takes it all. "Didn't they give you the village's finest sword? And what about all the people who gave their sons hand to you! Or daughters in some cases... Anyways, they will definitely listen to you, just like I do!" Subaru is a popular girl, I see.

She stutters out a response. "G-got it Rem, I will try m-my best!" She looks to the side. "I wish they would stop trying to set me up with people though, I don't wanna marry a bunch of kids damn it!" I suppose for a villager, a runaway, pretty noble like Subaru must be a dream come true.

I smile. "So it's pretty much all set now!" Then I send a thumbs up towards the main girl behind all of this. "Good job Subaru! Now show me how cool everything is gonna be back at the village."

Ram snarks. "Oh please, this is Barusu. The only thing she has is intuition... Nothing is gonna go smoothly."

"So please everyone...! Trust me!" The adults nod to Subaru's plea. Everything is going absurdly smoothly! I imagine the pink haired maid is getting angrier at the second, back in the manor.

Right now she's with Reinhard, they headed there first to explain all the information to Emilia and Puck... and whoever this Beako girl is. So she should be coming back with a carriage anytime soon now. With both her and Rem, we can carry a decent amount of villagers with each run... Sadly only they know how to actually drive a carriage.

While this is happening, Reinhard is guarding Emilia in a secure spot. Probably. Wherever he is becomes secure, after a few minutes he's gonna head here with her and dump her into our lap. Apparently she has a cape that makes people not recognize her unless they're trying to or whatever? Anyways, since the mansion is so crammed, she would still be in danger there, but she should be fine here.

So our little switcheroo is going well, that is until... "That one is a spy. He has a magic mirror that he uses to contact his allies, like all Witch Cultists of a high enough position, leave him be and you will be swarming in enemies soon. Careful though, he has access to many fire crystals, he might try suicide bombing if you take too long." The supposed Great Sage Echidna appears just to point at a random man.

I give her a look of disbelief. "What...?" And then she's gone from my vision, I barely get a glimpse of her blue eyes. How does she even know that? Does it just come with the sage thing...? Can't she solve this by herself?

I shake my head, this isn't time for that. Instead I make sure to slowly walk over towards Rem, while not paying the man any attention. My heart is beating out of my chest of course, but my experience with the Yakuza has... sort of prepared me for this.

I poke her shoulder and whisper. "Yo, Rem we have a impostor among us." To my surprise her face only shows shock for less than a second, then she's back to a normal expression. That's a combat maid for you... It's kind of crazy that her and Ram can apparently fight.

She whispers back. "How and who?" Oh boy, now there it is something complicated to explain. "Is it related to your status as the Child of Prophecy?" Oh, now it's my face that morphs into surprise, and I'm pretty sure it lasts for way longer than her face did.

It's because of this, that a small gasp leaves my mouth. "Since when did you know...?"

She rolls her eyes. "You aren't exactly good at hiding, the only reason Subaru hasn't realized is because she is in denial. And I knew the Child of Prophecy would have received the protection of someone important too. It was always going to be either Lord Reinhard, Lord Roswaal, or Knight Commander Marcus... Anyways, explain the spy allegations." I wish I knew... Someone just kind of revealed to me.

I nod. "I know because the Great Sage Echidna just appeared and told me. Don't ask me how she knows, don't ask me why she isn't doing anything. I don't know the guys name, but I can find him in the crowd easily, he has green hair and is hella old." He's like Council of Wise Men age...

Her eyes widen. "The great sage? Are you sure this isn't a trick? Have you seen her before?" I nod. "Anything else I should know before I act?" There's actually a decent bit.

I begin explaining. "The man has a method of communication that uses a magic mirror. I don't know if he has a timetable to contact his comrades or whatever... He also apparently has a bunch of fire crystals."

"Got it, make sure to remind Reinhard that he should stay after the trip. Just in case they try to rush into the village. If the man is supposed to contact them every few seconds, they will realize something is wrong." And like that, I point at the man and Rem goes to work.

Should I thank Echidna next time we meet or something? Still I begin walking away from the crowd and going to a specific point in the town where Reinhard will drop Emilia. I don't have time to waste wondering if Rem is gonna get the job done, I gotta guarantee things keep going smoothly.

While I walk to the drop off point, a shudder runs through me. "Holy shit...!" I can't help, but let that escape from my lips. The village had a fucking spy! Everyone could have gone down to shit in seconds! Specially since that guy apparently has a magical cultist cellphone...!

I swallow vomit as I reach my assigned location. In the end it the guy doesn't matter, we caught him, and now he's gonna. Actually now that we have confirmation that they has a way of obtaining our information, and we got rid of it... That means we can freely reveal Reinhard to the village without them running away.

As I wait sitting atop of a rock, eventually I hear a voice. "Sorry I'm late, I had to hold back my speed to not hurt Lady Emilia." He's holding a stranger on his arms... No, not a stranger, it's the half-elf in question, it's just that her magic coat is messing with my mind.

Reinhard releases Emilia, who waves. "Um... Hi, sorry to bother everyone with this bandit mess..." Didn't they tell her? For real? That can't be right, of course Reinhard and Ram would explain to her that there's a cult after her of all things.

I send him a look filled with disbelief, but in return he simply sends me an awkward smile. I feel like I don't really understand the situation going on right now, but okay...? No, this is definitely not okay.

Emilia pulls off her hood, revealing her face and breaking the magic effect temporarily. "Thanks for coming to rescue me Iori... and for coming to fix my mistakes...! It means a lot!" Her mistakes, is she referring to the village?

Suddenly her crystal shines, Puck now appears. "Yep, thanks for bringing Mister Sword Saint here!" Suddenly he glares at me. "Now we gotta deal with this bandit menace, with my daughter in the frontlines..." Ah, it is true that we removed a shield from Emilia, but that's because that shield is made of humans...

No, that isn't the case at all. The real problem here is that Emilia would not be safe on her own house even while wearing a magic cloak simply because of her appearance. I can't blame her for that...

I awkwardly scratch my head. "Sorry about that..." What an awful impression to make on my maybe future wife. That her life is worth less than the people who mistreat her, the people who threw rocks at her... But at the same time, cruel as it is to say, she is bringing the Witch's Cult here.

Puck sighs. "It's fine. Apparently this plan came from Subaru right? What's up with that stupid girl anyways? Did she forget she's supposed to be protecting my daughter...?" I think she's just a little overwhelmed, considering the situation.

A smile appears on her face. "Right Subaru is also here! I'm glad you two became friends..." And then that smile dies out. "I'm worried though, she was supposed to stay with the Karsten's for healing." I instinctively flinch with that, because apparently Subaru has burned that bridge.

I wave her off. "I'm sure everything will be fine... don't worry." After this whole thing, I may try talking with Crusch to see if I can smooth things over. Though then again, my presence just might make things even worse.

Emilia nods. "I su~re hope so. Subaru can be such a troublemaker girl, but she means well..." If you told her, she might cry. "She's my... best fri- I grateful for what she's been doing for me." She will definitely cry.

I look at Reinhard. "By the way, I have sort of bad news... The Great Sage contacted me again, she revealed a spy, Rem is handling her." I don't try to mince my words, it will definitely be a shock to Reinhard's system, but it is what it is.

Reinhard simply nods. "I see, it seems we are blessed today. To think the sage herself would lend us guidance... I'll go ask Subaru for more instructions, pleae stay hidden Lady Emilia." He goes to leave.

Before that though, I tap his shoulder. "Wait a second... I need to tell you something Reinhard, before I forget it." Things have been pretty action heavy recently, but even so I can't forget to at least do this.

He nods. "Yes Lord Iori?"

And I immediately bow. "Sorry for being a bother, both with me running out with Felt and now this... And thanks for the help. Subaru said before that you can't be anything, but a hero... But right now you're my friend." Ah, now the embarrassing bit is done...!

He blushes. "I... we're friends...?" I nod, this guy is way too lonely. "R-rea-, thank you for that my friend, you made my heart dance in joy." Ah! Now he's talking like a old timer poet! Please come back to reality, Reinhard who wishes for a hundred friends!

I end my bow and smile. "Dude, don't say thanks! I mean, I'm the one who's apologizing here!" And it might not be my final apology either. I will need to apologize to a lot of people for suddenly coming here.

He awkwardly smiles. "I know, but.." And suddenly his attention is not on me anymore, it's on the half-elf. "Lady Emilia? Is everything alright...?" I shift my attention onto her as well, immediately worried.

Her face is pale... "I just don't get it..." What bromance? "Why would someone betray everyone back in the village for some... bandits of all people...!" Ah, that again? Now a tense silence has settled in.

Reinhard and Puck are looking everywhere, but at Emilia. So I guess it fall onto me to correct this. "Emilia, didn't they tell you...? This is not some bandit king like you guys thought..." The air is getting colder, I barely hear the sound of metal being drawn, I can smell the sound of metal being drawn. "It's actually the Witch's Cult." The legendary sword Reid is free'd to the world, a magic icicle is pointed at me.

Reinhard glares at the Great Spirit, while the Great Spirit glares at me. As for the girl? She just confusedly tilts her head. "Um...? What's that?" No way. There's absolutely no way...!"

Her smile is the awkwardest I have ever seen. "Hey Emilia-Tan... Are you sure you don't want to let Puck out?" She should have went back to the mansion, but she stayed purely to cheer up the half-elf. It goes without saying that she's failing miserably.

Emilia's eyes are the reddest I have ever seen. "I don't want to talk with him right now, he can get out if... if they appear." Her shock is understandable. Seriously who hides from their own daughter that a cult exists to worship the evil witch who happens to look exactly the same as you?

I sit besides Emilia and Subaru. "Well, wanna talk with us then?" It's fine that we are just talking in the open. The village is empty at thjs point, and Reinhard has already marched to point C after receiving directions from Subaru. So right now it's just us three.

Emilia hesitantly nods. "Yeah..." She then looks at Subaru. "So what happened back with Lady Crusch? Did they heal you Subaru?" Oh boy, she's trying to escape from a complicated topic by jumping into a slightly less, but still incredibly complicated topic.

Subaru looks away. "Sorry, I screwed up our alliance with them, so they didn't heal me." Emilia's eyes are open wide from shock. "I asked them for help, but they refused... So I called Crusch a... a... a bitch who spreads her legs for the first bland guy she sees." Why do I feel like someone just fired a gun at me?

Emilia tilts her head. "What does that even mean...?" Perhaps you are too pure for this world. "Nevermind that, how did you even know about this Witch Cult thing anyways Subaru?" Is she finally gonna tell us her big secret? Her crush is asking...

Subaru looks down. "Ah, sorry Emilia-Tan, but I can't tell you..." The half-elf looks down as well, it seems nothing changed with their little conversation at all. I feel like we definitely aren't in a good mood for a big fight either.

Eventually the half-elf sighs. "You two should leave." Is this a 'I want to stay alone' moment? Because if so... maybe after we dealt with the cult. "You two are going to get hurt because of me." Ah, so she's blaming herself for the cult.

Subaru shakes her head. "Nope! Don't worry Emilia-Tan, I'll go running to hide the moment a Witch Cultist shows up!" She nods to herself. "Besides, Reinhard won't let anything escape, we are just being super cautious." Well, human lives are at stake here...

The half-elf just recoils into herself even more. "Subaru, am I dragging you back?" She sighs. "I mean, first you saved me back in the shack, then you saved the village that is under my watch, and now you're gonna do the same thing again... And I never contributed anything at all. No, I did, I brought misery, since Elsa was after me." A name I don't recognize.

Subaru clenches her fists. "Emilia-Tan... I... Nothing you said is right at all, you aren't dragging me back." She then sighs too. "Trust me, I have been discovering that I'm not all that great, I'm just good at asking for help... but that's a skill too, so don't lower it's value."

Emilia shakes her head. "Don't try to make excuses for me... How did I go my whole life without knowing about the Witch's Cult?" She pauses for a moment. "You know, when I was young someone tried to sell me onto slavery... Back then I thought they were bad people, but maybe their only problem is that they didn't go far enough and kill me." That's...!

I don't know what to say, so I just let whatever escape from my mouth while Subaru is shocked into silence. "Emilia, don't try to justify some guy who tried to enslave you." I have no idea how she reached that conclusion in the first place.

Subaru quickly nods, my words snapped her out of her silence. "Yeah Emilia-Tan, listen to Musashi... You... You... You didn't do anything at all! Just because you look like some handsy hag from years ago doesn't make you a bad person." Where did the handsy part come from.

Emilia trembles. "Hag...? I look like a hag?" And Subaru's face is immediately filled with despair. Nonetheless Emilia continues rambling. "And Musashi huh? Why did you guys even come up with silly nicknames in the first place?" They aren't silly! Both Natsumi and Musashi sound real!

I smile. "We were just strangers trying to have a serious, forgettable conversation." I shake my head. "But that isn't what I'm trying to do right now. You already know my name, so could you please tell me how you feel?" I then blush. "I mean, we barely know each other, so feel free to ignore me...!"

Emilia smiles. "It's fine I- Musashi. I just feel... sad, you know? I don't really know what I should do either. Should I just... drop from the selection? If my existence being public like that is causing trouble, then I don't mind going back to Elior Forest..." I don't know what that is, but it clearly means saying goodbye to Emilia.

I make a thinking pose. "Well, it certainly is an option, but... You will make me feel sad if you do so. So in the end you can't win no matter what, sorry." I can't stop her from hiding, even if I hope she doesn't.

She raises an eyebrow. "I'm going to make you sad...? Why...?" That's easy enough.

I scratch my nose. "Because you're cute and nice, the type of girl a guy could fall for. It would be a waste if you just dissa-" She cuts me off with a icy glare.

"Don't you get it Musashi? I'm hurting people. They get hurt by looking at me when they get afraid, they get hurt when near me because I bring misery..." She looks at her crystal. "And Puck is a liar, probably because..." Her lips start to tremble, it sorta reminds me of a kid who's holding back tears. "Because he doesn't like me...!" She really, really does look like a child right now, it's almost uncanny right now.

I pat her shoulder. "Well... I like looking at you." I don't really know how to answer her, so that stupid thing came out of my mouth, still I'm gonna run with it. "You aren't an unpleasant person to be around, seriously. I can't offer you much more than that Emilia, but I think you're a nice gal." She still hasn't started crying, I'm hoping I can keep it that way.

And so I continue talking. "Besides, stop talking about some cult you have nothing to do with. Think about the people who you already helped, and the people who you are going to help." I nod to myself, desperately trying to convince her she's a good person, even though I barely know her. "You saved me back at the pala-" She cuts me off again

"Reinhard did that, Lady Barielle did that... And you barely know me." She calls me out easily. "I used to think I helped people in the past, but maybe I was wrong. Does it really count if all I did was save one or two people from a few demon beasts?"

I nod. "It absolutely does. Don't think about lives as numbers, don't think about repaying people for lives...!" I say that, even though I almost fell into the same rabbit hole just now. "Stop being a stupid idiot girl, and just accept that you didn't do anything wrong!" I get up to shout at her, for some reason she really pissed me off just now. "Is it really that hard to accept that people care about you!?" Puck has to care, he has too.

She gets up too, and now points at me. "Like I said before, you barely know me! And I... I ruined everything before you could even get the opportunity! Who would like someone like me!? Not even a prophecy could do it!"

I snort. "I can see why, depressing people like you can be such a pain!" She recoils as if struck. "Damn it, I didn't mean that the way that it came out...!" This really isn't like the time I comforted Subaru, I'm losing my cool for some reason.

Emilia is back to almost crying, her anger was short lived. "Sorry to disappoint you..." My anger however is growing larger by the minute, even though I barely know this girl she has made me angrier than I have ever been.

I glare at her. "Emilia, the truth is that... I am interested in getting to know you, please stop rebuffing my attempts by calling yourself worthless, it's making me feel worthless for caring. You're not worthless, you're not."

She looks down. "I... are you really interested in me?" The answer is obviously.

I nod. "Yeah, you're my typ-"

"Wait! Wait! Stop treating me like I'm not even here! Seriously I appreciate the effort Musashi, but you're turning into a major devil right now!" Suddenly something screams in my ear, suddenly something pulls Emilia and I apart.

We both look at her weirdly. "Um... Sorry Subaru, we got really into the argument." It's clear to see what happened, we got lost in our own little world... This can't be normal, has it something to do with the prophecy? I genuinely forgot Subaru was there at all.

All that mattered was Emilia. A girl I met a few days ago, a girl who I barely talked with. And the weird part about it is... I don't even feel that freaked out about it, of course I stopped paying attention to Subaru, Emilia was sad. This prophecy thing... might be a bit too much, even for a protagonist like me.

Puck who's apparently outside of the crystal now is giving Emilia a worried look. "Lia is everything really okay? Are you ignoring me...? I..." He shakes his head. "Wait, that doesn't matter, back to if you're okay or not. Are you feeling dizzy? Your face is not pale..." Seeing a worried cat dad is weird.

Emilia slowly shakes her head. "I... I'm fine. Thanks for asking..." She sighs. "And sorry for making you stay inside of the crystal Puck, I shouldn't let our fight mess things up..." It seems Emilia has now calmed down after we screamed at each other. Well, a person tends to calm down after screaming their hearts out.

Puck denies her. "No, I'm the one who messed up! I didn't mean to make you feel like this Lia! I just thought... I just didn't want you to go through what you just went through, I...!" An overprotective parent...?

Emilia sighs. "Puck, I don't want to talk about this right now." And the cat is now silent, while I did pull Emilia out of her funk... She still isn't completely over it. And to what she says, Puck can only hesitantly nod.

Suddenly Subaru glares at me. "That aside... weren't you saying some strange stuff to Emilia-Tan just now Musashi? Please remember that whatever big shot you are... It isn't enough!" Ah, right I said some... things I shouldn't have while near Subaru.

Emilia tilts her head. "What do you mean Subaru?" The half-elf has gone back to confusing. For a second I think it really is better to have her being clueless over her being sad... And then I feel bad.

Subaru blushes while sending Emilia a smile. "It's just... it's just... Don't worry Emilia-Tan!" She sighs and looks back at me. "Thanks for helping Emilia-Tan, sorry that I probably misunderstood something..." Nope, you understand everything perfectly.

Before I can say anything, I hear a voice. "The village's well has a gift, you should use it... You will need it." It's the same beautiful voice I have heard a few times before. The Great Sage Echidna has seen fit to help me again...

Like always, she's gone right after dropping her wisdom. Is this Navi rushing things for some reason? Anyways, it doesn't matter, I have no reason why I shouldn't believe her. She did help us with the spy after all.

I look at Subaru and Emilia. "Guys, did you hear that too?" I just want to check if this is something exclusive to me or not. Back in the village, nobody reacted to a girl who was basically only wearing a blanket after all.

Subaru tilts her head. "You mean my apology which you just sort of ignored?" No, it's something actually important. So I choose to keep ignoring it.

Emilia too tilts her head, there's something special about seeing her copying Subaru. "I didn't hear anything Musashi, are you okay?" Probably. Unless I turn out to be schizophrenic and the sage is just me freaking out and hearing things that aren't there.

I make a serious expression. "It's just that the sag-..." I look at Subaru. "The thing that let me caught the spy back on your little speech gave me new information." I continue. "It's actually the Great Sage Echidna... I was wondering why you guys couldn't hear her." I'm guessing it has something to do with my status as the Child of Prophecy.

Subaru sighs. "I definitely didn't hear anything Musashi... Who's Echidna anyways? For some reason, just hearing that name gives me the chills." And yet again the black haired girl proves to be even more clueless than me. I mean how the hell does she not recognize one of the three great heroes!?

Puck frowns. "Trouble. Echidna is trouble. Seriously what the hell is she doing now of all times...?" Does he know her? I guess a Great Spirit would be old enough to be active four hundred years ago.

Emilia interjects. "All that matters right now is what she said. I mean she has been helping you, hasn't she Musashi? What did she say this time?" It's more like she helped me once, unless you count bringing me here as helping.

I make a thinking pose. "She said there was something at the village's well, a gift. She then said I should use it, because I'm gonna need it." I didn't know legendary heroes went around messing with the water supply of villages, but okay.

Subaru blinks in confusion. "You guys still aren't telling me who this Echidna or whatever is... Also, there definitely isn't anything on the well, except for water." She then makes a thinking pose. "Unless we are going to be needing that..." I do need to drink water to live, so maybe Echidna is trolling me by technically saying the truth.

Puck's face is blank. "Echidna is one of the three great heroes who help seal the Witch of Envy. Pretty sure you heard about them before... Now let's go check on the well, she isn't the type of woman who wastes time..." He pauses for a moment. "Actually she absolutely is, but we ourselves don't have that luxury."

Subaru's eyes widen. "Wait for real!? Beako told me about them, but I didn't think they were still alive and active...!" She then begins muttering. "Why can Musashi even hear one of them in the first place...? ! A big shot indeed...!" She's definitely in denial, just like Rem said. This will hurt eventually, so sorry in advance Subaru.

Emilia gives Subaru an awkward look. "You don't need to worry Subaru, just please take us to the village well... I don't really know where that is." After a few moment of contemplation Subaru nods and begins guiding us.

We don't exactly run to the well, but our steps are quicker than usual. Echidna didn't tell me exactly what was up with the gift, so I don't know if it's an urgent matter, or just something for the future either... Honestly, it would be really nice if she appeared again and just explained everything.

That said as time goes on, I'm becoming less surprised by her appearance. Of course the sage is going to guide the hero, that's usually what sages do in stories such as these. Even if normally those sages are wearling cloaks, and not... A very lewd blanket. I wish she would stop disappearing like that, because I'm sure that with enough time, I can catch a glimpse of something important.

Eventually Subaru stops walking, she proudly...? Points at the village well. "Here it is! The place where you find water! And maybe a dead body if it's a horror story."

Emilia takes a step back in shock. "I don't want to find a body!"

Subaru chuckles. "It's a good thing this isn't a horror story then." She then sighs. "Wait a minute, it might just be one actually..." And now Emilia looks scared, thanks Subaru. Honestly why do I feel the half-elf is the type who is afraid of ghosts?

I ignore their chatter and move close to the well, hoping to take a look at it. Because unless a vampire is about to attack us, I doubt Echidna meant for use the water here... Besides, Puck can use ice attacks, so surely he can use water too?

Looking inside the well I immediately find my answer. "Just water? This thing has not water at all." Instead at the bottom of it, I can see a sword. It's handle looks weird too, it's not a normal weapon for sure.

Emilia hears my comment and comes to my side. "Are you seeing something special Musashi?" Now that she's close she looks into the well too. "I can't see anything, it's way too dark inside of there... It looks pretty empty though." Which is bad for the village.

Still... "What do you mean dark? I can see it clearly. There's a sword at the bottom..." Do elves have worse vision than humans or something? I guess the well is fairly deep, but...

Emilia pouts and looks away, apparently offended by my comment. Soon Subaru and Puck are looking down at the well too. And Subaru is the first to open his mouth. "Seems like a normal well to me..." Shut up, you guys need glasses.

Puck sighs. "Give me a sec..." And then extends his palm and lights up a fire, presumably with magic. "I'm going down there... I better not get wet, for your own safety Musashi!" And then he descends down the well.

We wait for his imput in silence, and eventually we hear his echoey voice. "Oh! Musashi is right, there's a sword down here!" Glad to see I'm not the crazy one, it's just that the two girls around me might as well be legally blind.

Subaru's eyes widen. "Why the hell is there a sword down there!?" She makes a thinking pose. "The village had like... one sword and they gave it to me... And then it broke super easily too..." Wow, talk about skilled blacksmiths!

Eventually Puck comes up, holding the sword. "This is... Subaru is right, there's no way something like this would be at the bottom of some well, unless some crazy knight passed through here." He then shakes his head and throws the sword at me, I barely catch it without cutting myself. Immediately I realize it's actually fairly weighty, Puck must be surprisingly strong. "The sage warned you, so you keep it." That's...

I try my best to analyze the sword, and fail, since I know nothing about sword. "I'm not a swordsman though, I typically punch things." Is the world punishing me for not pursuing the classic hero weapon? If I had trained with Reinhard using swords instead... After all, with his Divine Protections, even a single day of training might as well be a month.

Puck shrugs. "Well, it's not like I am a swordsman either... for obvious reasons."

Emilia shrugs too. "I never trained with a sword as well, I mostly focus on defensive magic, so I can compliment Puck's fighting style..." Right, spirit arts users normally fight like that.

Subaru imitates the two. "The last time I used a sword it broke because I tried to stab it into a mountain so I wouldn't fall to my death." And suddenly I don't think the village's blacksmith is bad anymore.

I sigh. "Fine, I'll carry this thing around until Reinhard comes back. Then he can like... double wield or something." Besides, his sword is annoyingly conditional, so maybe he can use whatever the sage kept around for some reason.

Puck crosses his arms. "You shouldn't just call a thing. It's the Life Sword, the spirit killer." He shudders. "Honestly, just the fact that I touched already makes me feel kind of scared." With a title like that I can see why.

Subaru's eye twitches. "Hey, why the hell is the sage leading Musashi to get legendary swords? Doesn't she have something better to do with her life?" Are you mad at the sage for trying to help us?

Puck sighs. "Considering who that woman is? You might be right Subaru, a rare occasion to be sure." He then looks at the sword. "The important thing about that weapon though, it's that it outright destroys souls... It's super effective against spirits too." Pokémon!?

I nod. "Got it, and considering the sage very specifically gave this to us... That said, it's hard to imagine a enemy getting through Reinhard of all people." Then again, I never saw one of this cultist guys, maybe they are simply built different.

Subaru nods back. "Yeah, the guy is pretty much invincible." She touches her stomach. "He can be pretty clueless though, so it's not impossible for it to happen." Someone giving him the slip would be dangerous...

Emilia smiles. "Well either way, it's a go~od thing we found... we were guided to the Life Sword, I'm sure Lugunica will love to have another one of the ten swords." The she blushes. "Actually they might make fun of Lord Roswaal for overlooking it when it was in his own village..." That is pretty embarrassing.

I smile back. "Yeah, but considering he is frolicking around somewhere when we are in this mess... Maybe he deserves a bit of embarrassment." That said, I doubt the sword was always there, I would bet someone recently threw it inside the well.

Emilia giggles. "Oh Musashi, you are such a farceur." What did she mean by this? No, seriously what does that word even mean? "I do ho~pe Lord Roswaal is okay though, he did a ton for me..." I suppose I get that, he is supporting your campaign after all.

Hopefully he's okay. "I'm sure he's fine Emilia. He is the court mage after all, even if he dresses more like the court jester." I chuckle. "Seriously, how doesn't he get embarrassed about wearing clown make-up in important meeting." I guess in a way he's asserting his dominance.

Emilia pouts. "Geez Musashi, you shouldn't make fun of him in that way! It's good to make jokes, but don't become a bully... Don't hector him, okay?" And yet again I must ask, what did she mean by this?

Someone pokes one of my shoulders. "Stop ignoring me. For real." Ah, it's a pouting Subaru. A very cute specimen, and one who broke through another one of my... episodes...? I don't really know what to call them.

I make an apologetic face. "My bad, I didn't mean to ignore you Subaru." I still did it though. Honestly this... thing is getting annoying, what if Emilia and I get distracted in the middle of a battle for example?

The half-elf covers her mouth in shock. "Yes Subaru, I'm rea~lly sorry." She nods to herself. "It's just that I got lost on Musashi's eyes." Please don't casually drop that bomb! I felt my heart jumping out of my chest just now.

Subaru's gives the skies a look of pain. "I guess this is only natural, when two angels meet of course they're gonna get along." She nods to herself. "I have to separate them before it's too late." It already is.

Puck just keeps glaring at me without saying anything. In a way it is way scary then whatever a cultist might try to pull... I already definitely lost a bunch of points with him earlier as well, so I'm most certainly on his shit list.

Suddenly we are interrupted by the sounds of quick steps, immediately we all look at it. It's a man wearing a hoodie, and he's running at us, one can tell immediately by his attire that he is a cultist, and so I prepare for a fight.

It's kind of awkward though, since I'm holding this sword which I have no idea how to use. I almost drop it to the ground just to assume my usual stance. In the end though I just end up looking like a idiot who can't use his weapon.

Puck however, reacts quickly. "Ah, so one did get through." He points his hand at the cultist, immediately the air gets colder, and less than a second after there's a massive icicle above his small body, just the contrast in sizes already makes my head spin.

He waves towards the cultist. "Bye." It's all done very casually, and suddenly the guy has a massive ice attack flying at his direction. I would say it's impressive, but I'm new here, so I have no idea what's a common feat and what isn't.

Contrary to my expectations of seeing a dead body though, the icicle stops midair, as if something was holding onto it... and then shatters onto a thousand little pieces. Now I really can't say whether Puck is impressive or not...!

The cultist chuckles. "Rude! So rude! So unbelievably rude! Just as I was about to say hello to her...!" He then points at Emilia. "Hello! Is your day going okay? Did you eat enough today!? It's important to have energy young lady." Every single one of us, except for Subaru, just... awkwardly stare at him.

The black haired girl however is glaring at him with intent to kill. "Petelgueuse...!" I've never seen Subaru do a face like that, one of pure hatred and contempt. It's enough to even shake me for a bit.

The hooded man suddenly loses his hood, it's as if an invisible force ripped it out, he's smiling ear to ear. And he also doesn't look anything like the Petelgueuse we heard about. Supposedly he has green hair and looks like an ugly pale ghost.

This guy... just looks normal. Nonetheless he bows. "Yes, I'm glad you already know my name. Of course you already know my name. Indeed you would be prideful enough to state my name before I revealed my name." He slowly gets up again. "You... are pride are you not?" Isn't pride dead...?

I send Subaru a confused look. Supposedly Pride and his evil dragon or whatever got killed by Volcanica years ago... But then again Subaru does know a suspicious amount about the Witch's Cult, so it would explain a lot.

She basically snarls her answer. "I have nothing to do with you or that witch. Don't even look at me, bastard." As she says that, she slowly back over to behind Emilia. It's good to see that she's keeping her promise of hiding.

Petelgueuse...? Pouts. "But... Her love! You are drenched in her love! You who saw her lovingly body, and smelled her lovingly smell and, and...! Some people have all the luck." His gaze shifts towards Emilia. "All the luck! All the luck! All the luck!" He then moves his hand up to his mouth, and starts biting it. "I can't blame it on luck, that's slothful, I'm being slothful...!" He's drawing blood.

I tilt my head in confusion. "Aren't you supposed to be slothful though?" If he is Petelgueuse Romanée-Conti, then he quite literally is the Archbishop of Sloth. He is like... the only guy in the world who's job is being lazy.

He looks at me like I'm an idiot. "Of course not... who likes lazy people!?" He quickly and excitedly nods to himself. "Though I suppose someone such as you just doesn't understand yet. There's not even a little tiny bit of her smell on you...! Please pray and work hard everyday!"

He suddenly bows again, this time his head hits the floor. "But enough about that, a spirit, a clueless fool, a greater fool, a blessing. I must introduce myself!" Yet again he slowly gets up. "I am Petelgueuse Romanée-Conti, Archbishop of the Witch's Cult representing Sloth." He extends his hand towards the half-elf. "Now come! Try to not fail in the first step of many, many, many, many, many, many...! It's gonna be a long journey."

I raise an eyebrow. "Man... I don't want to hear the words come from your mouth. Also I'm surprised you even escaped Reinhard in the first place." The truth is that I'm trying to buy time. If this guy somehow beat the Sword Saint of all people... then he is definitely way more than I can handle.

Petelgueuse suddenly looks immensely sad. "I have to apologize. Sorry. I apologized." He sighs. "The truth is that I left him being entertained by a boring, worthless, craven! Scummy! Pathetic! Rotten! Shitty! White haired gentleman." Please choose whether you're mad or not already.

Still this is great, this guy didn't beat Reinhard. It's just that Reinhard is fighting another dude right now, probably another Archbishop too. In a situation like this, I'm guessing this weirdo managed to slip away.

Petelgueuse continues. "Who are you anyways boy? You don't belong here... It's obvious this isn't in your stage, please walk back to behind the curtains! Everyone has their own part, so we must all avoid the path of slot-" He gets cut off.

Probably because another massive icicle flew into him, courtesy of Puck of course. "Enough about your delusions... I know you can babble forever if someone lets you, that has not changed at all." Sadly his attack was stopped again.

Petelgueuse chuckles, his voice sounds different. "True, let me have something though. I've been working hard, so, so hard." He then suddenly shouts. "Proof of love!" Even though he extends his hands towards Emilia I can't see anything special.

Puck doesn't respond to him, he does talk with Emilia however. "Make an ice shield, leave the offense to me." The girl nods and does so. After crossing her arms, is like there's a massive ice barrier in front of her.

Subaru and I simply watch in silence as Puck fights. I would like to say it's some cool fight straight out of an epic, but it mostly consists of the Great Spirit making ice constructs and then throwing them at Petelgueuse. Sadly, it's like none of them lend at all, still... It's kinda clear Puck is going to win.

Suddenly Subaru sends me a panicked look. "Are you blind!? Move!"

I raise an eyebrow. "Huh?" And then something grabs one of my arms and pulls me. A sensation of pain immediately runs through me, for a second the thought 'oh, my arm is broken' runs through me.

I don't think too hard about that though, because now I'm on the air flying, I can't see it, but something is definitely dragging me by the arm. It's trying to crush it, but thankfully my body is surprisingly though.

I haven't lost the grip on my sword yet, so I move it to cut whatever is grabbing my now broken arm. This is not exactly a good idea, because while it free's me... It also means I'm now free falling from the air.

No one catchs me, I fall onto the ground hitting my back. If I didn't have this supernaturally strong body, my spine would have broken. "Tsk..." And now one of my arms is useless, great.

Emilia sends me a worried look. "Are you okay!? Let me he-" She gets cut off by Puck, who sends an ice crystal to the front of me, acting as a shield. Still, I don't lower my guard at all.

He sighs. "Stay where you are Lia, you can't heal him right now." I agree, even as I send an annoyed look at Petelgueuse. At least I have confirmed it's not telekinesis, since I can cut his attacks, they're just something that can't be seen.

Subaru shouts. "What are you guys doing!? Can't you see his stupid hands!?" His hands...? Now that I think about it, Subaru did call me blind before... She might be seeing something we aren't.

I nod. "Yeah, I can't see any hands." But... I have an idea. I make my gate rush mana through me, specially to my legs, and then I stomp on the ground. Concrete... or whatever the village uses goes flying out as pain rushed through my leg, my body not being used to augmenting itself. It might be fractured too.

But that doesn't matter, what matters is that I kicked up dirth, and so I send it flying to the middle of the battlefield. Immediately it's clear to see Petelgueuse's invinsible hands through it.

And because of that Puck immediately gets the upper hand. "Of all the sins, Sloth truly is the greatest or the weakest. No middle ground at all..." Now Petelgueuse can't even try a sneak attack like before, the Great Spirit's eyed, which are used to battle, immediately catch on his tricks.

It's not long before the Archbishop starts freaking out. "She can see!? Why can she see!? It's my love, my!" And that's an opportunity too good for me to pass out, his focus is all over the place.

I take careful aim with my remaining arm, gripping my sword by the hand like it's a javelin. I don't pump mana through my arm this time though, I'm gonna need the extra accuracy that not having a damaged arm will bring.

And so I silently throw the Life Sword at him, my aim true, the blade enters into his skull. It surprises even me, maybe I should have tried to be an archer or something, because that was a way better hit than I expected.

His dead body falls silently onto the floor, I stretch my hurt body. "Ah, finally..." I was expecting to fight small fry, not the big boss. Even if I didn't contribute much in the end... Well, I'm still happy I landed the final blow.

I sit down on the ground, glad that I can finally rest my leg. "Healing please!" For some reason Emilia is still staring at the dead body. Thankfully Subaru and Puck have already come to my side, and Puck has even done me the courtesy of taking the sword out of Petelgueuse's head and bringing it to me.

The black haired girl looks worried, but happy. "Musashi, are you okay!? Did he break anything!? I definitely heard a bad cracking noise once he grabbed your arm...!" Yeah, I heard it though, since it was being done to me!

I nod. "I'm mostly fire, I screwed up my leg back there with shitty mana reinforcement, and my arm got broken... But overall this went well. I managed to hit the guy with the Life Sword too, so he's a hundred percent dead."

Subaru's eyes widen in shock. "How is a damaged leg and a broken arm fine!? Seriously, are you made of adrenaline or something!?" Actually most of that has already faded away.

I shrug. "It's fine, no one would stop just because of a little pain." At that Subaru's expression morphs into... something. I can't quite tell what she's feeling, but I suppose I should be glad a cute girl is worrying over me. "It would be nice to get some healing though, you know anything about that Puck?" Hopefully my Puck score hasn't fallen so badly that he refuses that.

He sighs. "I don't know how to heal." He motions to the still shocked Emilia. "Hey Lia, please come over here already!" That finally snaps her out of her shock, I'm guessing she never saw a dead body before...? That can't be it right?

The half-elf rushes to my side. "S-sorry!" She then kneel over to my side and starts examining my body, sadly no healing is given. "Um... I can't heal you..." She is definitely not the cleric of our little party at least. "Normally I would use the spirits and mana in the air, but..." Emilia looks over to the horizon. "Lord Reinhard is draining it all." Way too scary!

I sigh. "It's fine, I guess we gotta wait for Reinhard then." I'm confident he will win, hopefully that confidence will be rewarded. It's kind of annoying though, that I can't contribute anymore if any other cultists show up.

Subaru suddenly sends me a smile. "By the way... We beat Petelgueuse right? Even though something weird was going on with him, I still beat him right?" I nod, and her smile becomes even brighter. "My name is Subaru Natsuki, nice to meet you." Ah, I see what's happening.

I smile back, hopefully she won't get mad. "My name is Iori Ishida, it's nice to meet you too, hero of Arlam Village." She would make for a cool party member, sadly she lacks the swag of a chosen one.

For some reason a tense silence enters the conversation, and Emilia breaks through it immediately. "Right, I'm ha~ppy you two silly gooses finally became official friends." She giggles. "Iori is the man who I will marry one day after all." Glad to see that's still on the card.

I receive an immediate glare from Subaru, I might have surpassed Petelgueuse in the hate scale. "The devil really comes disguised, Iori is a major devil. IMA, Iori Maji Akuma." Oi!

Puck rolls his eyes. "Ugh, you two... at least we stopped that cultist before I had to heard any babbling about Satella. Specially around my daughter of all things." He finally hands me my Life Sword, but he has raised a question...

I raise an eyebrow. "Who's Satella?" And then blink. "Huh?" And suddenly Puck is not in front of me anymore, and neither is Subaru. Only a very confused Emilia... And a sleeping Anastasia, and a Felt who's dressed like a slum rat, and a normal looking Priscilla... And a Crusch who's wearing armor and bleeding on the floor.

All around me there is nothing, but darkness, it's like I'm in a tunnel... "Where the hell am I?" For some reason I hear another voice, it's nothing that's familiar to me, it's definitely not the sage at least.

"Step forth, challenger."