บท 26: A Contract
Kingdom of Lugnica,
Samuel POV,
At the moment, a total of three people (More like two and a half) could be seen traversing a dirt path on horseback, tall trees stood on either side some having branches extending into the path itself which made for a very strange and somewhat ominous look over all.
"Beatrice-sama, may I ask what you are doing...there?" Ram asked looking towards Samuel and Beatrice, the spirit had taken to sitting in front of him as they travelled, initially she sat behind him but moved herself to the front after a few moments, a hand firmly clenching the shirt of the awkwardly smiling teenager.
".....Hmph. Betty doesn't have to explain herself to you." Beatrice looked away with a slightly annoyed expression on her face, for now, she didn't want anyone to bother her. 'That Person' had finally arrived and she was easily irritable considering the time spent talking would be time spent ignoring him.
"I don't suppose you have an explanation for this." Ram looked at Samuel deadpanning, for some reason she had to lead a stranger to the Sanctuary.... A place which hid a small population of Demi-Humans from the outside world. Samuel simply shook his head, he knew exactly what caused this but he was already fairly irritated too.
"....Samuel, what do you need Betty to do?" Beatrice stared up at him in slight curiosity, what could 'That Person' ever want from her, a question that had been lingering in her mind for quite some time. "Eh, nothin' at all. I just thought it'd be nice for you to come along as I go around." He ruffled her hair with a small smile, missions and other purposes aside, who wouldn't want to keep such a cute creature with them?
"I...I...see." Beatrice said, taken aback, really? No ulterior motive or personal desire at all? Just wanting her to come along with him?.... She kind of wanted to cry again....., which was made evident by the tears which formed in her eyes again making Samuel panic slightly, "I.., really that's it."
Beatrice showed some hesitation for a few moments but then wrapped her tiny arms around the teenager, "Betty understands."
"Huh." Ram looked to the side, the situation was somewhat awkward for her..... on another note, she never expected Beatrice could make those kinds of expressions..... Just who was this person?
Seemingly contemplating something, Beatrice nodded before grabbing Samuel's hand, "What's up?", he asked slightly smiling, it kind of felt bad in a sense that he did kind of use her weakness and what she desired but...no harm no foul?
A few moments of silently staring at his face later, Beatrice spoke, "I, Beatrice, on my honour, am henceforth bound by this contract. You are my new master..... Good to be working with you... I suppose." At the end her cheeks somewhat turned red as she averted her gaze, somewhat afraid to make eye contact. After her mother, the one other person in this world she actually related to 'Puck' had become attentive to a half elf child, only focused on keeping an eye on and taking care of the Half Elf, he..... much to Beatrice's dismay, had changed... well she changed too!
Much to her surprise though, Samuel started laughing as he ruffled her hair, "Ah man, this is going too well." Meta Knowledge was way more of a cheat than it was made out to be, Beatrice, even if artificially created was a Great Spirit, A Great Spirit of Yin, as if to announce the occasion a small ding rang out.
Ram stared at the two with wide eyes, an occasion that she thought would never actually happen. Beatrice became someone's contracted spirit? That was..... unbelievable, her connection to the Great Library had probably been severed and on top of that, how would this affect the mansion as a whole?
-x-X-x-
Kingdom of Lugnica,
Irlam Village,
No One POV,
Irlam village was a small village made up of a number of small houses and a large house with a red flag in the centre. It was surrounded by forests and meadows and was situated in Margrave Roswaal's territory, the village itself was a usually calm and serene place with it's inhabitants going about their normal days.
Not today though,
"Ul Goa!"
"Al Goa!"
"Ul Goa! Al Goa!.....!"
Following the voice, a series of gigantic fiery explosions rocked the surrounding forests. Puffs of smoke rose to the sky, still holding some flames with them as if to show the might of the explosions that had taken place. The very ground shook, disorienting the gathering of people followed by birds fleeing the area enmasse.
"What are you doing Roswaal?!" A boy of average stature in a black and white tracksuit shouted at the Margrave who was facing the forest, firing off one explosion after the other. "Doing my duuuuuty~" The reply came instantly, indeed originally the book had told him to let the Mabeasts in the forest be; however, with the arrival of the guest, it had changed to keeping the residents of the mansion and village safe at all costs.
"It's alright, Subaru. Roswaal should have some reason for this." A pale girl with elf ears reassured him, holding her hands close to her chest, her beauty was a thing that would move the sternest of hearts. "Y-Yeah, you're right Emilia-tan." 'Subaru Natsuki' scratched the back of his head, a light blush forming on his face as he noticed that the distance between him and Emilia was less than it should be.
"What are you up to, Roswaal?" A small catlike creature asked, folding it's arms as it floated around the rapidly casting sorcerer. Roswaal simply smiled at him in response, choosing to stay silent.
-x-X-x-
A Few Hours Later,
Kingdom of Lugnica,
The Sanctuary,
Samuel POV,
Samuel, who had gotten off his horse a few moments ago, looked around in admiration. This was somewhat impressive..... after a certain point the fog had stopped looking more like a barrier rather than an actual natural phenomenon.
"Ram.....?" He turned around to ask the maid that had brought him here only to learn that she was nowhere in sight. Yes, he recognised that fog and the dingy place very well, a few houses and people with both human and animal features walking around... "The Sanctuary", a place humans couldn't normally enter courtesy of a spell from Echidna.
Why was he here though?
"The girl already left." Beatrice told him looking around with her arms folded, what purpose could the clown have sending Samuel to this place?
"....." Samuel facepalmed, sighing deeply..... so, he got brought into a place he couldn't exit without getting lost and then abandoned there?.... That was some next level bullshit right there.
Someone was perpetrating this all, that much even he understood. The question was, how? Any signs though pointed at the Witch of Greed, Echidna. Aside from being, well a sanctuary for demi-humans, 'The Sanctuary' was actually her grave as well as the place from which the space her soul resided in could be accessed.
Echidna was helping him? Why?
"What is that Roswaal up to?" Beatrice muttered out clicking her tongue, that annoying guy knew just about everything and planned in the dark, making everything go his way.... The part that annoyed her though, was that he was obsessed with her mother.
"Wha....?!" Beatrice was brought out of her thoughts by Samuel picking her up and placing her on his shoulders with a cheeky smile. "Put Betty down!" She lightly hit his head making Samuel chuckle, "Sorry, couldn't help it." She was just way too cute. Yes his world had a load of people equally cute but that didn't exactly mean he could go around picking them up.
Looking at his smile, Beatrice folded her arms averting her gaze, "I-I don't mind, I suppose." The embarrassment was evident on her face though.
"Hmmm, welcome to the sanctuary." A voice came from behind him making Samuel turn around,... why did people keep appearing behind him? It was a petite girl with long, fluffy pale red hair that curved outward at the ends. She wore a large black robe that was too big for her hands to show completely through the sleeves and was actually touching the ground.
Beatrice, looked at her for a few moments before her gaze turned to one of disdain and she looked away making it obvious that she didn't wish to talk at all.
"Yo." Samuel smiled, doing a small salute making the girl tilt her head, "Yo? to you too. I... am the elder of this place, Ryuzu Meyer."
"I'm Samuel Hayes, I took a walk through the forest."
".....Follow me." Ryuzu turned to leave, expecting him to follow behind. This new person was a strange one... She saw the red haired oni girl leave him here...
==========
Anyone got a hunch on why Echidna seems to be helpin' him out? Or rather, anyone wanna take a gander at why she seems to want to interact with him directly?
Those books Beatrice and Roswaal have, aren't actually working on some mechanism that reads the future, it's all Echidna's predictions and she's got a direct link to em too so she knows what goes on around them. Now the question is, how can someone be sure that what she predicts is right? Well, she predicted the existence of Return by Death.
Powerstones......extra chapters........*averts gaze*
Oh right, check chapter comments, someone on the discord server found something.......interesting.
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