With Rem’s smooth skin and small body pressed against me, I couldn’t help but smile in contentment.
“Rem is enjoying this a lot, too much, probably. But that’s why I have to insist we leave soon. There is too much in Sanctuary that needs your attention.”
“Not ‘our’ attention?”
“Rem is just following along in the steps of her hero, after all.”
Her words filled me with warmth, a completely different type than from the warm water. “Alright, we can get out soon, but let me ask you something that’s been on my mind first.”
“Okay.”
“Do I still smell bad to you?”
“Yes, you stink for sure,” she said without remorse.
“I see. You know, it doesn’t make me happy to be told that, even if it’s from my lovely number one.” I stared dramatically up at the ceiling, though Rem probably couldn’t really see the motion.
Ignoring my first statement, Rem replied, “It makes Rem happy to hear she is your number one.”
“You know,” I began to say, but Rem interrupted me.
“You don’t need to say it. I still stand by my words from before. Subaru-kun wouldn’t be Rem’s hero if we had eloped together— just the two of us. I don’t regret my decision, and I’m plenty happy myself, too, you know?” She shook her head, “I already have so much happiness that I’m afraid it will overflow and disappear. I don’t know why I deserve to have so much happiness.”
I squeezed her tighter into my chest. “I know why you deserve it: It’s your selflessness, your loyalty. The way you fight for those you love, even without regard to your own safety – that’s something you and I need to talk about, by the way, I can’t have my lovely wife endangering herself for other’s sake anymore – regardless, I love the way that you love with your whole heart— without holding anything back. That’s what makes my Rem so special. Also, your cute sexiness is hard to dismiss.” I moved a single hand up to grope her, causing her ears to blush again.
“Oh dear, it sure is warm in here!” Rem said with fake cheer, “I have to get out, now.”
I just chuckled, “You’re just worried that I’ll attack you again if we don’t get out soon.”
“Rem isn’t worried about that,” she shook her head, “But she does know for a fact that Subaru-kun is a beast and that right now, you need to go back to Sanctuary.” Rem moved to sit up away from the tub.
“Alright, but just one second, I was going somewhere with this,”
At my words, she paused to turn halfway sideways and look at my face.
“When you say, ‘stink,’ you mean that I smell like the witch cult, right?”
“Yes,” Rem said earnestly.
“Alright. Someday, I’ll tell you the reason why.” I paused for a moment, making sure Satella wouldn’t try to kill me. Luckily, those words didn’t seem to trigger any response from her.
Rem nodded her head, “I know,” she said with a gentle smile, her utmost trust in me on display.
I continued, “But, not just the Witch’s smell, can you smell anything else?”
She shook her head to indicate, ‘No.’ I guess she couldn’t smell my dragon-ness, then. I was slightly worried about that— if Rem had been able to detect that I was a dragon, it would have made me worried that others could, too. While her negative response didn’t mean I was completely undetectable, it did mean it probably wasn’t easily detected, I hoped. Also, if I still smelled like Satella, that information was valuable, too. Her authority was still bound to me, that much I knew. But, it also likely meant her presence was still attracted to me, as well. Whether that would remain true if I died was yet to be seen; however, I hoped I’d never find out.
Rem sat forward, making me let go of her body in response. She stepped out of the water, and I watched as it flowed down in thin, rivulating streams across her body, glistening and accentuating her beautiful curves.
She hurried out of the tub after that, quickly walking over to the towel rack. “If Rem didn’t get out fast, then I think Subaru-kun would waste a lot of time staring at simple me.”
“There’s nothing even remotely simple about staring at your body.”
“Geez, save words like that for later!” Rem pouted, already wrapping a towel around her torso.
I dramatically covered my face with my hand, “Ah!” I lamented, “It is such a shame, that I can no longer see, your naked body!”
“Rem really will die of embarrassment if you turn perverted words into haikus!” She said from across the bathroom.
Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.
“Alright,” I pushed myself out of the huge tub. “I’ll make sure to come up with more later.”
Drying off and getting changed was a simple affair, if taking slightly longer than needed due to me staring as Rem put on her maid uniform. She caught me staring multiple times, but she just sent me such a sweet and gentle look each time that I felt bad about going against my word. It made me wonder, did she weaponize her own sweet looks against me?!
“I didn’t weaponize anything.” Rem said, “It’s obviously your own conscience telling you it would be wrong to break your promise.”
“Oh, I said my thoughts out loud, didn’t I?”
Rem smiled wryly, but I didn’t miss the moment her gaze wandered down my muscles. I also didn’t miss the moment Rem turned away from me and whispered, “Tonight.” To herself.
“Somehow, I feel like I’ve won something,” I said aloud.
“Don’t be silly, Subaru-kun. Get dressed!” She threw a clean set of Subaru-TrackSuitTM at me, courtesy of the Sweet Home.
“Ah! To think my lover could be so cold to me!” I faked a sad tone.
Rem rolled her eyes at me but decided to play along slightly, “Rem would never be cold to Subaru-kun, but maybe I’ll tell on you to Ram.”
“I can’t have that!” I hurriedly put my pants on.
Rem opened the bedroom door ahead of me, only to come face to face with a surprised Emilia— who already had her fist poised to knock on the door. Ram stood behind her, already ready for the day, dressed in her maid uniform. I didn’t see Beako, though.
“Ah! Subaru. Why did you and Rem come out from the same room, and how come both of your hair is wet?” Emilia shook her head, “No, that doesn’t matter. We need to get back to Sanctuary fast and talk to the villagers like you promised! It’s already so late...” Emilia pouted. “No one woke me up this morning.”
Ah, of course, the pampered princess must have always relied on someone else to act as her alarm clock. That actually made sense. Her silver hair was slightly messy, too, as if she’d done a rough, rushed job to comb it.
“Yes, Scumbaru, we need to hurry to the villagers. And, though Emilia might have dismissed it, I’d like an explanation for the wet hair, too.” Ram glared me down and practically cursed under her breath, “among other things.”
I likely only caught it because of my superior dragon hearing.
“Why do I get the feeling Ram-chi is angry at me?” I winced.
“Ram is not angry. Actually, it would be impossible for Ram to become furious.” She nodded her head, “Yes, Ram is far too much of a maiden to become pissed off. It would be strange for me to be wrathful. Certainly, I’m not angry.”
“Rem-rin?” I looked toward my salvation.
“Subaru-kun will have to be on his own for this one since he promised, after all.” Rem smiled pleasantly, but she also walked over to stand next to her sister— metaphorically declaring whose side she was on.
Ram and Rem took up their classic pose: the one where they held their hands together while kicking up one leg each into the air behind them, leaning into one another with their cheeks touching.
“To make a maiden wait all alone in your bedroom, only to elope off with her treasured twin sister. Truly, the limits of Scumbaru know no bounds.”
“Onee-sama, onee-sama, Subaru-kun is certainly a beast,” Rem added.
“Subaru? Beast?” Emilia questioned, “What’re they talking about? No,” she shook her head again and turned to face Ram. Emilia pushed both of her palms together and bowed slightly. “Whatever Subaru did, can you let it wait until after today? I’m really~ worried about Sanctuary.”
“Ah. EMT.” The words slipped out of my mouth, my hand grasping for the air in front of my face. The words were influenced by Subaru-phantasm but still surely under my control.
“Subaru, be a good boy and properly make up with Ram later, okay? But now, let’s quickly hurry to Sanctuary!” Emilia requested earnestly.
“Alright, let me pick up a certain drill-loli before we go.”
“You mean Beatrice, right? Okay, let’s go!” Emilia declared brightly.
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“Betty will go with Subaru, I suppose.” She slammed the book in her lap shut.
“Great! Then,” Emilia turned to me, “How do we get out of here?”
“For that, it is required that you hold my hand. We must passionately hold hands, or else you’ll be trapped here.”
Ram basically jumped in between us, “Don’t be stupid, Pervbaru.” She glared at me. Then, in a much more polite tone, “Emilia-sama, if you will take my hand, please.”
“Alright,” Emilia agreed.
Great Spirit Beatrice glanced next to Ram, the portal summoning itself seemingly in accordance with her will.
“Great, Scott!” I shouted in English, no one even slightly understanding me, but instead staring at me in baffled bewilderment, “Beako, how’d you do that?”
“Figuring out how that ‘SmartPhone’ functioned was a simple affair, in fact. Summoning a portal like that will require no more than a small effort of will on Betty’s part, I suppose. No Company device needed.”
I wondered for a moment how she’d already learned so many of those terms but brushed it off quickly. She’d had multiple days to examine the phone, after all.
Instead of questioning her, I walked forward, trying to stand tall and stomp toward her intimidatingly.
Beako shied away from me, taking one hesitant step back, “Should Betty not have done that?” Her forced smile cracked, “I wonder?” She finished her question in a puny whisper.
With intent, I put both hands underneath Beako’s arms, picking her up into the air. I let her hang in the air like that for one long moment, still staring purposefully at her.
Then, I put on a giant bright smile and started spinning her around in a circle as fast as I could. “Beako is the best!” I shouted into the new and improved Forbidden Library.
“Wawawa!!! STOP THAT, I SUPPOSE!” She ineffectually whacked at my arms with her tiny fists.
I stopped spinning abruptly, causing her twin drills to fly out for a moment from the loss of momentum. I gently placed her back on the floor and patted her head. “Beako, that’s amazing, in fact,” I lightly teased her way of speaking. Then, more seriously, “But does doing that drain your mana? I’m worried about that.”
Beako looked like she wanted to pout or shout for a second, but she relented after hearing my earnest question. “Subaru need not worry, in fact. This ‘Sweet Home’ as you call it,” she repeated back in English, “takes care of the cost, in fact.
“In fact, I wanted to tell you about that. This Sweet Home acts as some kind of super-conduit in place of Subaru’s gate, I suppose. As long as I’m in the Sweet Home, I appear to have infinite mana. But, I must say that when we leave this pocket dimension, I have no such infinite mana, in fact. At that time, I will surely rely on your abysmal gate’s normal output, I suppose.”
“There’s no need to add ‘abysmal’ to that, is there?” I smiled hesitatingly.
“Geez! Don’t mess around, Subaru! It’s time to help the villagers. I wish you’d be more serious about this.” Emilia scolded me with puffed-up cheeks.
“Alright! Since Emilia is so fired up, it’s time to get serious. Don’t worry, Emilia-tan, I have a plan!”