Subaru stood in the white storage space, finally snapping out of his memory lane. His jaw was clenched, and his eyes were filled with regret and loathing.
'After waking up, I found that the Ashen Mountain's Oni tribe had been wiped out even after Daniel explained the promise we made. I should have realized then what Gabriel's true nature was.'
Taking a deep breath and slowly calming his emotions, he looked at the daggers again. Grabbing hold of them, he willed his energy to slowly flow out of his hands and into the weapons.
Just like before, it failed to penetrate the layer of dense emerald aura surrounding the daggers, causing his energy to disperse almost immediately.
'It's not allowing my energy to enter, which means there is a will residing inside. So, if I can't force my energy in, then...'
The emerald aura that seemed solid like ice began to turn wispy and climbed his arms. Soon it enveloped his entire body and hardened into a shell around him.
Subaru opened his eyes, the world around him completely different. It wasn't the blank storage space, nor was it his room in the mansion.
Clear blue sky everywhere he looked. Looking down, he saw tall peaks rising out of the clouds, so dense that it wasn't possible to see what lay beneath.
He too stood on one of the thin peaks, its stone surface covered in moss and small plants. There wasn't much space on it, only capable of holding around two or three people.
It was truly a beautiful place, the sight alone making Subaru's worries lessen. But then...
[So you are the one wishing to form a bond with me.]
A voice rang in his head, a mix of both male and female. He looked behind him, seeing a massive pillar taller and thicker than any other, breaking out of the clouds.
Coiled around that massive pillar was an equally massive serpentine body, the rest of the body disappearing below the clouds; the emerald green scales glimmered like gems under the light.
Around the top, two massively scaled leathery wings were wrapped around it, the claws digging into the rock for stability as a massive draconic head looked down at Subaru from the top of the pillar.
Subaru gazed at the majestic creature's five golden eyes, and the dragon did the same before it finally spoke.
"A dragon? I did not expect that when I read the description of the weapon, though. I'm Natsuki Subaru; may I have the honor of knowing your name?"
[Hmmmm... I am Vaelker the Sky King. But you have yet to give a response to my question, child.]
Hearing the dragon's voice broke Subaru out of his curious musings, and he involuntarily let out a chuckle. This caused the dragon to squint its eyes in annoyance.
[What is it that you find so humorous, child?]
"Ah... my apologies. It has been a while since anyone called me a child, and since I'm older than most, it just caught me off guard."
Subaru answered, raising his hands in a way to show he meant no harm. Though, his reply seemed to have satiated the dragon's curiosity.
[Hmmm... you are an interesting one. But I still want your answer. Why do you seek to form a bond with my fragment?]
Subaru stared at him for a second, then shrugged his shoulders and smirked.
"Why not?"
The blunt reply caught the beast off guard before its slitted eyes narrowed again, a low growl reverberating from its throat.
[What? You wish to tell me that is your reason? That you don't have any?]
"Pretty much. I mean, I'll get a strong partner by my side to help, and since you're an ego weapon, you'll grow with merits too."
Subaru answered the enraged dragon, who grew even angrier at his comments. A dense green aura with red lightning surrounded the dragon before an unfathomable pressure descended onto the realm, shaking the entire world under its fury.
'...knew I should've done it since the start. A dragon willing to form a bond with humans? Even if I gave the most heartfelt speech, the result still would've been the same.'
Subaru sighed. It wasn't his first time bonding with a weapon's will, especially not with a dragon. He had already made a spiritual bond with a dragon, and the bastard asked the same question.
He answered with all his heart, his desire to protect humanity. And then the fucker demanded to see if he was worthy. Ancient lizards with pride higher than the skies above.
Subaru wasn't phased by the overwhelming pressure that crushed his body, the pillars of stone shattering under its might. The reason it didn't affect him was simple.
This was a mental realm; his mind held the true power. And unfortunately for the dragon... Natsuki Subaru's mental manifestation... was something that cannot be described by mortals.
The sky turned inky black, surprising the jaded lizard, who looked up, confused—not noticing the thin slit that appeared in the middle of Subaru's face, from forehead to chin, nor the blood that flowed out of it.
The dragon finally looked at the human and noticed the line separating his face. Then, horrifyingly, the skin began to peel back as the slit widened and opened like an eyelid.
The dragon's five eyes widened in shock at the sight of not bone beneath the skin, but a golden eye with multiple black rings and pupils staring directly at it, looking into its soul.
The presence radiating from him was not of a mortal... it was alien, unknown, unfathomable... Divine.
Then the presence increased, crushing it under its mere gaze; the emerald scales cracked and fell off, the five beautiful eyes cried tears of purple blood, and the entire existence of its being was being uncoiled.
And that's when it finally noticed the true cause...
[The sky... it... it's not dark... i-it was just... the pupil!]
As the dragon finally understood, a bird's-eye view was shown: the endless black sky was simply the black pupil of a gargantuan golden eye with black rings and many smaller eyes inside it, staring down from the heavens above.
In comparison, the dragon wasn't even an atom; it was utterly insignificant. In that moment, the mental realm collapsed, and Subaru was back in the storage space.
_____
He let a small chuckle escape his throat and left the daggers in the storage before finally opening his eyes in the room right as the door opened and Ram walked in.
"Shouldn't you, y'know, knock first before entering someone's room?"
Subaru asked the pink-haired maid, who didn't say anything and walked over to his table carrying books and ink, the tattered diary and travel logs resting on its wooden surface.
Subaru watched as she pushed them to one side and picked up a notepad and quill.
"Barusu, come over here so I can teach you how to read and write."
Subaru blinked, but obliged nonetheless. Taking his seat, Ram placed a book in front of him. Many strange letters were written on it that soon became deciphered.
Subaru quickly dispersed the floating text, wishing to learn on his own like usual. But he did have a question that he vocalized.
"What's this all about? I never said anything about not knowing how to read or write."
"I can tell by watching that you can't read or write. If you can't read or write, I can't send you shopping, and you can't write down orders."
Ram replied in her usual blunt tone while holding a book. It seemed like a children's storybook, though Subaru thought it would have been better to just give him a basic language book.
"We'll start with this collection of children's fairy tales. Starting tonight, I will be teaching you every evening."
Subaru studied the cover of the book; it was a relatively plain bluish color with a golden dragon in the middle. He popped his neck, grabbed the pen with a feather attached to it that he had mistaken for a quill, and asked:
"It won't take me that long to learn it, just a couple of days are enough. But the question is, why?"
He already had a vague idea, but he wanted to hear it from her own mouth.
"Why else? It's so I..."
She paused for a second as if to correct herself before continuing.
"No, it's so I can get off easy."
"I had guessed that would have been your answer. Though, what was the point of trying to correct yourself? You're really never out of character, huh."
Subaru mused, a playful smile resting on his tired face. He had deduced the characters of everyone in the mansion, and it was quite a weird bunch of people.
Ram's poker face suddenly looked a little menacing under the lamp's light as she spoke in her monotonous tone.
"Well, isn't it obvious? The more you can do, the less I have to do, and when I have less to do, so does Rem. It's a win-win."
Subaru looked at her with an exasperated look before sighing and pinching the bridge of his nose.
"Well, your perfect idea seems to have a crucial mistake, Miss Win-Win. The contract that I signed to work here states that my pay will depend on the amount of work I do here."
Ram blinked, her poker face breaking for the first time to reveal a hint of surprise, to which he smiled smugly, finally getting a proper reaction out of the monotonous maid before continuing.
"What? You thought I worked here in exchange for living in the mansion? Well, normally yes. But that's the privilege of having the owner owe you a favor."
She masked her surprise under her poker face, which turned into a look of pure disgust.
"I should have guessed with how shameless you are. You already started swindling Roswaal-sama."
Putting an offended expression on his face, Subaru indignantly put his right hand on his chest and spoke.
"Swindle?! I have done no such thing! I only asked for my rightful payment!"
"I would be paid 5 gold coins on the daily, from which the price of my accommodations, food, and facilities will be deducted. In the end of the day, I would earn 10 silver coins."
Subaru explained matter-of-factly, pushing his glasses with his middle finger that appeared out of nowhere, confusing the girl.
'Where did those spectacles come from?'
"Well, since the chit-chat is out of the way, let's get to work, shall we?"
Subaru said, getting back on the topic of studying. Ram was reluctant, wishing to know the full details of the contract, but was brushed off by him saying Roswaal was the one who agreed to his terms after reading them.
Soon she began to explain glyphs to him and all the other basic things. Ram hadn't shown it, but she was surprised at the speed he was learning.
He had already mastered the i-glyphs and ro-glyphs.
She wondered if he had already known it and was deceiving her, but seeing him genuinely putting effort into learning and seeing the minor mistakes he had made dispelled her doubts, leaving behind a thought that she begrudgingly accepted:
'He's a genius in almost every aspect.'
On the other hand, Subaru was feeling great, as it was the first time someone was actually teaching him anything that wasn't related to fighting or demons.
'It feels good to finally have someone to teach me like a normal person and not like the hope of the future. And Ram, it seems she has a talent for teaching—surprising.'
______
Time passed as he continued to study. Ram had left some time ago, letting him focus. He had already begun to understand basic words and form simple sentences.
"Y'know, Ram, I want to apologize for earlier today at the bath. I was stressed and ended up venting on you."
Subaru said while still focusing on the book, his left hand holding the pen gliding on the smooth paper, writing simple words and forming basic sentences. He continued amidst the silence from the girl.
"Even though you're doing this to make your life easier, it still makes me happy. My teachers never really taught me anything that they deemed not worth the time."
As he spoke, his face continuously became more and more solemn, the smile on his face became more and more bitter, but it soon turned genuine.
"I know you don't like me much and I'm bound to be a headache going forward. But I'll give my best to not cause too much trouble for everyone—"
He stopped and turned back to look at her, but paused mid-sentence.
Ram was there. On his bed. Sleeping...
Subaru felt his eye twitch violently. Here he was, letting his heart open for the first time in forever, only to be met with soft snoring. His head fell before he started chuckling softly. Looking up, his face had a resigned expression on it.
Getting up from the chair, he removed Ram's shoes and draped a blanket over her before returning to his studies.
After another hour, he was now able to directly read the book, but something caught his attention—something sticking out from between the pages.
Taking it out revealed what it was: another paper, but this one was special, catching Subaru's attention immediately.
"Basic... magic theory and mana manipulation..."
____
End of chapter.