2 The Witch's Partner

"Nice to meet you too Subaru, but who are you?" Echidna's words might seem normal, who doesn't want to continue the conversation by exchanging small parts of information with each other. The peculiar thing is that it is Echidna, the [Witch of Greed], that is saying these words. The woman whose supposedly whole existence is about knowledge didn't know about the being called Natsuki Subaru.

Subaru with his great social skills knew exactly what to say in this situation. Or that is what we would like to believe because the only thing on his mind was to woman in front of him. He was in such a trance that he didn't even know he was mumbling words.

"Beautiful."

Subaru realising what he said was blushing madly and hitting himself for having such a reaction towards someone he only knew for less than five minutes. Towards a "mother" nonetheless.

"Ho, that is quite a reaction you have there Natsuki-san." Echidna said with a small smirk on her face.

"What do you think you are doing! Be more respectful towards mother, I suppose!" Beatrice feeling like Subaru was being disrespectful immediately went into action to fix the situation.

"Gomen! Gomen!" Subaru apologized profusely and was starting to sweat because of his nerves.

"Calm down Beatrice, a fair maiden like myself has gotten many types of compliments, but even I must say that I never heard of this... special variant," Echidna said while looking at Subaru with curiosity.

She continued, "Now, getting a chance to talk with me isn't something anyone could get so easily. So, go on ask your question."

Subaru hadn't forgotten that someone who could make this library for public use, would never be a nobody. But he totally didn't know how to react to this, so once again he went with his precious gut feeling, "How are you?"

[How are you?]

Echidna didn't have a lot of moments in her life where she didn't know how to react but things happen. How many people have not gone towards her to seek knowledge from the Witch, but never had someone asked something so simple, something so personal, something so stupidly dumb.

Subaru who noticed the silence was once again sweating, he was thinking about his words and what cultural difference might have made this beautiful woman in front of him upset.

"Hahaha!" The woman was laughing so hard that there were tears coming from her eyes and it wouldn't be wrong for Subaru to think that she looked and sounded like an angel.

"Being invited to ask a question is something to feel jealous about, so many would line up in front of me to desire their questions answered but not you. You truly are an enigma Natsuki Subaru."

"So how did you and Beatrice meet?" Her laughter stopped and her curious side took over once again.

Beatrice who also became silent was able to snap out of it answered her mother, "Betty met him when he was being robbed by a couple of bandits. After Betty saved him, he had the audacity to proudly proclaim his name and the fact that he was lost and broke."

Her tone changed when she said, "And he also thought Betty needed help finding mother, so he followed me. As if Betty couldn't do it alone, in fact." She huffed and put her chest forward trying to show her mother how mature she was.

"Is that the case, I guess I have to thank you Natsuki-san for bringing my daughter back safely."

"No worries! It was my pleasure spending my time with someone as cute as Beako! Also, you can call me Subaru, calling me by my family name makes me sound like my father." Subaru said without realising that this was the moment he took the first steps towards becoming his own person.

"It makes me happy to hear that both you and my daughter had a good time together."

A "good time" that involved getting threatened to be killed, then again nobody in the room can be considered —normal.

"So Subaru-san is it true that you are lost and penniless?" She said looking at his clothes.

"I suppose..." Subaru said sheepishly.

"Then I suppose... you can stay with us for a bit, to familiarize yourself with the surrounding. I do believe that you don't have anywhere else to stay, right?"

"I wouldn't want to impose!" Subaru said thinking about not wanting to bother this woman, who took his interest.

"Don't worry, I insist. Beatrice and I are currently staying in an inn that is a bit away from the main market. We have room to spare, so you wouldn't bother anyone." Echidna explained but her gaze kept showing her curiosity towards the entity called Natsuki Subaru.

Subaru looked towards Beatrice to see her reaction and see what she thoughts about this. His mind is in distress, he is attracted to this girl's mother... If Beatrice doesn't like it then there would be nothing he could do. Finding another place to stay and learn about this world would be his priority. Luckily, or maybe unluckily, Beatrice didn't mind.

"If mother says you can stay then Betty also allows it, I suppose."

"Beako!" Subaru shouted as he hugged the not-legal loli.

※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※

The party went to the inn called [Maiden's Love] close by the main market of the Capital City. The place was as expected nothing special, but nice enough to enjoy your stay. The hosts were kind enough to explain the different types of food towards Subaru. Subaru who didn't even know what an "appa" was, was being taught like a little child.

"You really are lost aren't you, I suppose?" Beatrice said after it came to light that Subaru wasn't even capable of reading the signs.

"Beatrice, how about you teach Subaru how to write? You already learned everything and this would also be good for your development," said Echidna.

Live went by faster than Subaru could've predicted. His time with Beatrice, were a bit demanding at times, but in general, were quite fun. Having someone as cute as she teach you about this world, while it sometimes displeased him that someone little as Beatrice was teaching him the "adult" as a child. He couldn't stop remembering the times they walked and played together. Who would have expected someone like Subaru to know how to interact with a little sister figure. His life with both Beatrice and Echidna felt peaceful, happy even.

"Subaru! Come play with Betty!" The spirit said enthusiastically towards her new friend. For someone like her who never had anyone else except her mother, having someone like Subaru in her life made it brighter. It was the small things, how he always tried to create fun with her.

"Sorry, Beako but I can't. Echidna-tan asked me to write some things down." Subaru said while remembering the conversation they had a couple of days before.

Flashback

It was at the end of the second day, just two days ago Subaru was still in his room watching anime and playing games but right now was alone with a beauty far above his league. It wouldn't be exaggerated to say that this was the peak of his life.

"So Subaru where are you from? You know almost nothing about Lugnica, you know nothing about magic and demi-humans. Subaru, the enigma, why don't you satisfy this maiden's curiosity." She said while staring with her beautiful deep black eyes at Subaru. Her eyes contained many different types of emotions.

Curiosity, Greed, Desire... hope.

Subaru explained everything and the Witch listened carefully towards what he had to say. Concepts that were far beyond this world were being shared with her. It was in her nature, as a Witch, to absorb every type of knowledge, even those that look unimportant, she continued asking about many things: politics, sciences, inventions, economics, and much more.

Subaru who speaking about everything about what he remembers was enjoying himself. Who wouldn't when a gorgeous woman was paying attention to someone like him? No, it was clear that in Echidna's eyes that Subaru wasn't a nobody. His whole existence was of interest to the Witch. Both of them continued talking, about small things, big things, important things, stupid things, believe it or not, they enjoyed each other's company.

In one of their conversations, it came to Echidna's attention that Subaru never realised what Beatrice really was —a spirit.

"Beako is a spirit?" Subaru asked shocked, remembering the mention of the so-called "spirits" but never did he expect that one of them had been by his side all this time. Subaru didn't know what to say and it took quite a while before someone spoke up.

"Subaru is fine with Betty being a spirit, right?" Asked Beatrice with a trembling voice something that didn't go unnoticed by Subaru. He looked at Beatrice and was shocked at what he saw, the little girl who had saved his life and taught him a lot of things, was wiping away incoming tears from her eyes. She didn't want to lose one of her only friends, somebody she cared deeply about.

"Beako! I don't care if you are a human or a spirit! Beako is Beako and Beako is the greatest. I love spending time with you and that will never change, because my Beako is the cutest Beako in all the worlds!" Subaru shouted showing his true feelings towards the girl he considers as his little sister.

Beatrice jumped towards his chest and continued crying.

"Sniff, sniff. Yes, it's very normal for my Subaru to think of Betty as the cutest."

Subaru was comforting the little girl in his embrace, "Of course, Beako is as cute as a fairy!"

"Subaru is still a baka, I suppose."

Echidna who was watching this scene from right beside them felt something she never did before, warmth.

End Flashback

"Subaru! You can do mother's request later, you promised we were going for ice cream." Beatrice pleaded and who was Subaru to deny the lady her ice cream.

"You know what Beako, let's go!" Subaru shouted wanting to spend more time with the butterfly-eyed girl.

"Are you guys going somewhere?" Sounded a womanly voice from behind the pair.

"Ah, mother!"

"Yea, Echidna-tan we are going for some ice cream. Do you want to join us?" Subaru asked but he didn't expect her to come with them. Most of the time when Subaru was spending time with Beatrice and asked if she wanted to spend time with them, she declined and said she had other important things to attend to. At least that is what she always said.

So it was quite a shocker when she agreed to come along with the pair, "Sure, I have a bit of time to spend. I also can try to find some information about the current situation of the recently named "City States" led by the man called Hoshin of the Wilderness."

"Mother! Betty wants vanilla and chocolate ice cream!" Beatrice like a child, as she is, asked for attention from her mother, and Echidna, who was in a good mood complied.

"Sure, sure, we will get you your ice cream."

The day continued with doing different activities, Subaru was spending a lot of time walking with Beatrice who was intrigued by the new types of food that Lugnica had to offer, she and her mother liked to stay more in remote area's but currently were spending a lot of time in the city. She was not willing to waste that time by reading books, she could do that any other time.

"What are those things over there, Beako?" Subaru pointed towards a couple of statues that were being sold in the market plane.

"Those are statues that the Elf's make to bless the possessor with luck. If you were to ask Betty if it was true then I wouldn't know, I suppose."

The statue looked very pretty and was made out of wood. You can easily notice the dedication and craftsmanship that was used to build this piece. Subaru thinking that having a bit more luck could never be wrong, bought the statue. The merchant said that the statue was called —a maiden's jealousy. Even with the help of Beatrice and Echidna explaining the real situation he was in, Subaru never really got out of his head that maybe one day he could be someone strong like a real hero.

Hearing stories about the Heavenly Sword, Reid Astrea and the Dragon was enough to pump everyone's expectations of training and obtaining that type of power. But Subaru was already told of his talents for Yin magic, the debuff type magic that was used by support players in those MMORPG's he played in his world. Even though Beatrice stated that it was possible to attack with Yin-type magic, doing it was something else entirely. Why couldn't he do 100 push-ups, 100 sit-ups, 100 squats and run for 10 kilometers, like a certain OP character? If only Subaru was built differently...

In another timeline

"Achoo!"

"Are you alright, Reinhard?"

"Don't worry about me my lady, just someone talking about me."

—No one can run from Reinhard, as they say, ~Some bratty cat.

Current timeline

Magic is the ability to alter mana that is passing through a person's gate into a form that can affect reality. There are six elements: Fire, Wind, Earth, Yin and Yang. The strength of a magic spell is dependent on the incantation, but some strong people, like Echidna, can do magic without incantations. Then there are also those that can use Spirits, they can cast magic by using mana from their surroundings with the help of their contracted spirit. Spirits can act as gates for their contracts.

Subaru had talent with spirits but that something that would take more time to be useful, the only thing he could train was trying different types of Yin magic with Beatrice. There was something poetic about Subaru getting trashed by a little girl.

"Subaru what are your intentions when we are going away from Lugnica?" Echidna finally asked the question that was haunting Subaru's mind from the beginning that he met them. What am I going to do without them? It might seem pathetic that someone who is seventeen not even able to live alone, but in this world where his only connection were these two people, it wasn't something he wished to leave behind.

"Echidna, I..." It took a moment for Subaru's words to come out of his mouth, "want to stay with you and help you if I can."

"Oh?" Echidna seemed intrigued and continued, "You wish to stay together with a maiden like myself and my cute Beatrice?" Echidna was teasing the virgin Subaru.

The tone Echidna used was something Subaru couldn't handle and he started blushing furiously. But before he could say anything Echidna was already talking again.

"Wishing to follow me, like a butler perhaps? Or maybe as a pet, who is in need of help?"

Subaru was getting even more embarrassed with Echidna's words... a pet?!

"Mother! Subaru would be an excellent pet, in fact!" Beatrice said not willing to lose one of her only friends... who now was now becoming a pet?!

I don't want to be a pet! But...

"If even my daughter is so in favour of letting you join us, then I wouldn't be able to say no. Would I?" Echidna was compilating her decision when she on accident tripped over some materials that were lying on the street. Subaru the hero, knew how to react and caught his... mistress?!

"Oh my, seems like Subaru is really capable. I guess I could consider you my partner, your knowledge is something that would be very useful. Furthermore, Beatrice wouldn't like losing her only friend." Echidna said with an intense gaze, trying to make her look more presentable. Echidna was someone hard to understand, she was curious, greedy and sometimes borderline mean. Even Subaru was capable of seeing that side of Echidna, but she also had another side of her. One that was clumsy, forgettable and caring. She almost set the [Maiden's Love] on fire, as she was trying to warm herself.

She forgets daily tasks, like eating, drinking, even sleep is something forgettable for her. But in the end, it was her caring side that was the hardest to understand. She was a Witch, something that she proudly explained to Subaru. Subaru noticed the extreme side of the very neutral Echidna, something that honestly scared the young man. Even though she was very indifferent towards most things, but it couldn't hide that she really cared about Beatrice. Like a mother.

"So Subaru will you take this lady's offer to become her partner in crime." Echidna said with her usual smirk, which showed her character and beauty to anyone lucky enough that was allowed to see it.

"I wouldn't want anything else." Subaru said with a big smile, happy that he could continue his life with these people he considered family.

"Mother! Subaru! Let's play!" Beatrice was the cutest when she acted her age.

Subaru started spending even more time with Echidna. As her partner, he was supposed to help her with multiple tasks that differed quite a lot. Echidna talked with Subaru about her [Great Wish] to "save" everyone, something that, even to him, sounded ridiculous. He tried to bring his point across about how saving everyone was a "bit extreme", but Echidna was fast to change the topic to something less emotional.

She stated her desire to go to the Mathers Domain where there was someone interesting. Subaru not willing to create an even worse atmosphere decided not to argue with the Witch. He would have to find another time to try to understand this woman in front of him and maybe even change her destructive behaviour that both didn't really understand at the moment.

But things wouldn't be fun without a change in plans, would they? Because on their last day in the Capital City there was another key moment of fate. The question will be if this girl with pointed ears and silver hair will bring a better future or maybe a future where, hypothetically speaking, half of the world would be destroyed.

This was the meeting between [Natsuki Subaru] and the [Witch].

"Ahh sooorrrryy! I didn't mean to crash into you!" The girl shouted.

"Don't worry, you can even say it's my pleasure to meet someone as pretty as you." Subaru the social inept that we all knew him to be, was for the first time in his life... smooth.

A/N: So this is the second chapter of the Prologue. The initial relationship between Echidna/Beatrice and Subaru is roughly completed and now with Satella herself in the story, things will be different. Fate has changed once again and nobody, not even myself, will know where the story is going (not entirely true, but as a figure of speech).

The next chapter will be the end of the Prologue, which means that the "real" plot will start then. It will be the longest chapter and you might say the most important one because I realised this would be the "make it, or break it" part of this story. Currently, I'm discussing how the plot will change, but input is always appreciated: How would you like the story to continue? Once again, I will guarantee for there to be one more chapter, but after that one, I would have to decide to pause the story or continue it (there will be no guarantee). So see you next time and as always thank you for letting me waste your time!

Upcoming: Prologue End | Chapter 3 - Peaceful