The Power of Reading

Subaru through the usage of the Sloth Sin Factor had managed to achieve something that most would consider impossible without the assistance of the sword saint, Subaru had slipped past Volcanic's defence, and sneakily make his way inside the sage's tower.

And Subaru was ecstatic to finally be inside the sage's tower and even more ecstatic to not be engulfed in a light maliciously designed to reduce anything it touches to dust

Upon entering the tower Subaru slammed the huge doors shut sealing himself off from the outside world

...

Then Subaru fell onto his back as he deactivated the Authority of Sloth

Upon becoming visible a few things were very clear

The envy authority was still working hard to protect his body against the heat that remained on him from that Dragons purification breath

From head to toe, he was covered in envy that was still fighting off the afterheat from The Divine Dragons Purification Breath.

"Ahhh ahhh"

Subaru did his best to not react to the burning sensation that was able to seep through his envy and cause him great discomfort

"*TCH* A-at least I'm here."

Subaru then held his head with his hands trying to soothe the massive headache Sloth gave him

"Well... despite everything, I'm where I need to be and now have this new power, new sloth. The ability to completely hide away from anyone or anything at the cost of my brain and mind feeling like their being cut with a knife."

Subaru gripped his head tightly

"*Tch* Since it fooled the divine dragon, I would not be surprised if even Reinhard was incapable of finding me."

Subaru pondered hopefully

Subaru figured that since even the weakest authority was more powerful than even the strongest divine protection, Reinhard would be incapable of detecting Subaru even with his danger sense. But would that really matter when up against Reinhard?

As Subaru's headache started to calm down Subaru looked closer at his body and he noticed that his entire body seemed to have black smoke constantly emitting from it.

"Great..."

Subaru wondered if his spirit body would heal the purification breath or if would he need to find an alternative healing method. Or if the worst-case scenario happened and healing would not be an option and he would be stuck as an envy-covered smoke machine for the rest of his very long life.

Subaru got to his feet

"This... *ah* is nothing... I have felt worse... somehow."

Subaru recalled his time in prison and the great rabbit

Subaru then looked down at his body realising that...

"oh...no, no, no!"

Courtesy of the divine dragon, Subaru had all his clothes burnt up... they were reduced to nothing. At least he could confirm that the envy authority could easily protect his entire body if needed.

"*grr* Well. . . there goes my favourite jacket. . . stupid dragon... I literally cannot replace that jacket."

Subaru felt his wrath building up within himself. Subaru did not appreciate his only remaining item that came from his 'home' being burnt up into ash like it meant nothing.

Subaru quickly started to shake his head trying to think of something else trying to get pointless wrath out of his head. After all, attacking the divine dragon now would be a fruitless task.

"... oh yeah."

Subaru looked at the ground

"Better not forget you."

Subaru picked up Ram's wand, the only item he was able to save from the dragons death breath

"... I know I ... probably won't need to use you... but better to preserve such a... rare and unique item. After all, I would hate to be the one to lose a god's horn. Wait that would make Ram a god... that would explain why she always slacked off doing work."

Subaru firmly gripped the wand feeling a sense of pride that the dragon was unable to burn it because of his quick thinking

"Ok... since the dragon is not attacking me, it's probably safe to assume I and anyone else who enters is allowed to take the trail. Shame I won't get to face Reid."

Subaru chuckled wondering if he could defeat the first sword saint as he is

Subaru began to walk, climbing the towers stair

"Ok if memory serves right the first floor should be the Alcyone floor, Shaula's living quarters, dining hall... and spirit room."

Subaru realised something

"Spirit room... green room... healing room!"

Subaru sped up making his way to the green room

As he ran, his body left a trail of smoke behind him

...

"Ahhhh thank the spirits."

Subaru said while laying down on the ground

Subaru was happily being healed by the tower's spirits

These few moments were blissful for Subaru who relished the rejuvenating feeling that his body was experiencing instead of constant pain

"Fugel knew what he was doing when he builds this room."

Subaru raised his arm noticing that his fingers had started to return to normal

"Yep, this room is my favourite one in this whole place. I wonder if Aqua would be jealous of seeing another spirit healing me."

Subaru chuckled to himself as he imagined his blue-haired spirit pouting and stomping her feet on the ground upon seeing him being healed by another spirit.

...

Thirteen Hours later

Subaru left the green room looking much more like his normal self

With the combination of the spirit's constant healing magic combined with his naturally increased healing from being part spirit, he recovered extremely quickly.

"Ok... that's much better"

Subaru was very happy to see that his skin was once again healthy and soft... instead of smocking emitting smoke and threatening to burn up into nothing if he dared let the envy stop covering his body. That is if he could stop it, Subaru couldn't explain it but the envy seemed to have a mind of its own. This means that if he tried to die stupidly by not using envy, it would activate by itself regardless of Subaru's wishes.

"All right, that's problem one solved, next thing on the to-do list."

Subaru pointed to the sky/roof with one finger

"Find clothing!"

Subaru despite being all alone, did not want to just walk around without clothes.

...

"Where are they? There must be some clothing here of all places."

Subaru was searching Shaula's quarters for clothing

While, if need be, Subaru was willing to wear Shaula's clothing, he would prefer if he stumbled upon some warmer clothes.

"Ok... the last closet... please have something."

Subaru grabbed the handles of the closet and closed his colour-changing eyes

"Ok... 1...2...3!"

Subaru opened the doors dramatically and then opened his eyes to see what was in the closet

"...oh"

Subaru said with disappointment in his voice

"I guess it's something."

Subaru had found Shaula's clothing... or at least different clothes she had not worn around him

However, they all shared a similar theme that gave off a similar, I want to impress my master vibe.

Subaru shivered wondering if she had ever worn these clothes

Subaru was about to pick a random piece of clothing when he saw a small wooden box at the bottom hidden under the 'clothes'

"Oh, now what do we have here?"

Subaru asked himself curiously

Subaru took the box out of the closet and observed it closely

Upon closer examination, it had a few words engraved into it

It read, 'Masters favourite'

The box was not ladled by the original owner, but Subaru had a feeling that it was Shaula's master who owned it

"...Well this is either his clothing or some super weapon."

Subaru tried to open the box but found that it was locked

"..."

Subaru used his spirit-enhanced strength to force the box open breaking the metal lock in the process

Subaru then looked into the box

"Oh yeah! Now that's some top-tier treasure."

Subaru triumphantly lifted what seemed to be a classic adventures outfit in the air

Subaru looked closely at its many different pockets and orange with black colouring

Subaru then pulled out a baggy pair of pants and... a pair of Zori.

"That's... from home. Just who are you Fugel... are you like Al and I?"

As Subaru put his new clothes on, he couldn't help but feel waves of nostalgia

"Huh that's weird, these clothes fit me perfectly. No, they feel like they were made for me that's how comfortable they feel."

Subaru having put everything on walked toward a mirror

"And on top of that, they're not half bad, Fugel had style it seems."

Subaru put Ram's wand in one of his pockets for safe keeping

"Well now that all the basics have been soughed out, it's time for the Natsuki Subaru to once again defeat the trail on the Teygeta floor. Unless the dragon changed it, all I have to do is touch Rigel again."

Subaru smirked at how easy the trails would be a second time around

"And the best part, I can break all the rules since Shaula is not here."

Subaru just to prove a point to himself damaged the tower by kicking the ground causing it to slightly chip

...

Meili was casually playing with Shaula when suddenly Shaula began to shake aggressively

"What's wrong Shaula? Are you hungry?"

Instead of answering the tiny scorpion Shaula just silently seethed with rage caused by an unknown source

...

Subaru had made it to the all-white room with a single monolith in it

"Ok... so all I need to do is touch this and..."

As Subaru touched the monolith the trial began

As expected, the room entered examination mode and many monoliths began to light up

"So, the brightest star destroyed by Shaula... Rigel is right over... there."

Subaru casually walked up to Rigel putting his hand on it

And as Subaru anticipated, the room began to transform into... the Taygeta Library.

Subaru was in the room he desired to be in

"Well, no need to finish the rest of the trails, this is the real treasure of the tower."

Subaru said ignoring the Divine Dragons' Blood

"Let's see... books of the dead... no don't want those... ah here we go, a normal section containing knowledge of the world."

Subaru walked looking at all the spines of each book

"History... forbidden knowledge... spells... and general information on spirits. Ok, that's a... lot of reading..."

Subaru moved to grab two books

One about the basic theory of magic, and one that seemed to cover Witches and their Witch factors

"Well better start now then ok put it off... maybe if I think of it as the schoolwork I never finished, that will make this easier."

Subaru opened a book and started reading it

...

Emilia and her camp were currently residing in a fancy hotel

After the failure that was their encounter with Subaru, everyone felt exhausted

Roswaal being the super caring and generous individual he is (the great spirit of wind complained about being uncomfortable) decided to pay for the most exquisite hotel in the area to have a single day to rest before returning to his manor.

Everyone had the room that they had to themselves

The only people who shared a room were the Oni sisters who did not wish to be separated

And Roswaal who was tasked with ensuring Zarestia behaved

However, there was a person who wished to not be alone yet found herself with nobody to comfort her

This person was Emilia, Emilia hated this new feeling of being abandoned and all alone while being powerless to change it.

She wished to be next to Subaru

However, the events that transpired over the past few months began to make her think.

And through this period of self-reflection Emilia was able to look past her yandere mindset and realise something that she had been denying ever since the final sibling of gluttony fell.

She had allowed all the important people in her life to meet terrible fates. Guess someone whom she considered a father, became the archbishop of sloth trying to save her, Mother Fortuna became the Archbishop of Wrath while trying to protect her, Puck was trapped forever in his crystal and lastly, Subaru Natsuki, the only man to love her for who she was, became the archbishop of... envy trying to help her ascend to the throne.

Because of her ignorance, sloth and uselessness to act without help, everyone she considered family had met horrible fates.

Upon realising this Emilia let more and more tears fall as her room became deathly cold

The room soon became encased in a thin layer of ice harder than steel

Emilia while in her sorry state gripped Puck's crystal which hang over her neck and looked deeply into it hoping for her Farther to come out and comfort her.

"P-Puck... I wish you were here... I need your guidance. I n-need you."

Emilia said while still staring at the crystal which continued to idle with no indication of a change

"Please."

Emilia said softly hoping her words would reach Puck... and in a way Subaru.

". . ."

Emilia brought the crystal closer to her chest hugging it tight

"I must fix this. . . I promise I will save both of you... Farther Puck... and S-Subaru. But first. . . there is something I must do. . . guess this was inevitable anyways."

Emilia closed her eyes trying to envision how she would deliver this news to her friends

Then suddenly she noticed a massive blinding light appear in the distance

"W-what is that?"

Emilia looked closer

"It is coming from the direction of Lugunica? Or maybe even beyond it. . . what does it mean?"

Emilia taped her head with a slight pout

"Mmm if only Farther or Subaru were here... they would know what that was."

Emilia racked her brain trying to figure out what could have caused such a powerful light

"... Maybe it's Subaru again? He did seem to fire all that yang magic in the air not too long ago. . . but that was a simple Jiwald beam. . . this is. . . different."

Emilia couldn't quite put her finger on it, but this light left divine

However as quickly as it came, it went away

Leaving Emilia by herself to ponder on what could have possibly created such a bright light

For a second Emilia's mind shifted towards the divine dragon, as she had personally confronted it all that time ago

But quickly waved off the thought since that would imply the dragon would go against her wishes for it to not harm anyone

After all this thinking Emilia decided to lay in her bed and continue staring at Puck's crystal in hopes he remerges to help her.

...

Back in the tower:

"Well, this book was a waste of my time."

Subaru said chucking the book on the witches and their witch factors behind him

"I already know a large majority of the contents in that book, not to mention how small it is compared to other books."

Subaru picked up a that covered spells and began reading it

...

"Oh. . . interesting. . . now that's useful to know."

Subaru said while reading a book that explained how to create spells

"Huh, this is surprisingly simple, all I need to do is use my imagination."

Subaru put the book to the side as he went to pick another book

"Let's see... history of Oni's. . . a book on historical events related to ancient great spirits. . . oh what's this?"

Subaru picked up a book on mana management

"...Maybe this can help me bring the girls back."

Subaru said with a soft smile

Subaru opened the book and started reading its contents

...

"Well, this suck, have I seriously been doing this wrong the whole time?! Why must my attacks be wasting mana... and even if it is not in the book, the spell multiplier I have been using probably is wasting so much unnecessary mana."

Subaru upon reading through a couple of dozen pages learnt that just like how energy can be wasted in the form of heat energy, mana can be wasted but instead of heat energy, it is absorbed into the surrounding atmosphere.

Subaru also noticed that on the last page, someone had written in Japanese' Magic Force= Mass X Acceleration X Mana' or MF= M * A * M!

Whoever wrote it made sure to clarify that the formula was simply a working theory and that many other variables such as divine protections could make this equation void.

Regardless of the disclaimer, Subaru thought about this formula deeply

"That would explain why so many people have impossible strength... but then you have people like my spirit girls. . . well being made of pure mana guess it would make sense for them to have an extremely small mass."

Subaru looked at his arms

"However, since I am part human, with all my blood, organs and mass, it seems I can take full advantage of my mana to increase my force tremendously."

Subaru felt smart reading all this

If only his other school was this exciting

On second thought Subaru would much rather be in his world and in a normal school than in this world.

But returning was impossible, and besides Subaru would never abandon his Tella-tan

"So basically, I need to. . . make sure that no mana is wasted while casting spells."

Subaru put away his current book and reached for another one

". . . I...is this an anime drawing guide?!"

Subaru said shocked

Subaru flipped through the pages

"It is not the highest quality one, but the fact it exists here is awesome!"

Subaru placed this book in an area where he wouldn't forget about it

"I'll look at you later."

Subaru turned back to find another book

"I wonder if there's a book that explains the origins of demi-humans?"

...

Subaru could be seen placing a book back into its shelf with a dead empty expression

". . .Wow, and I thought it was impossible for me to feel more disgusted towards Felix. . . but oh, my lord, I pray that the origins of demi-humans stay unknown by the rest of the world. I would burn the book. . . but that's childish."

Subaru pulled out another book at random

"I'll just. . . forget I ever read that."

Subaru looked at the front cover of his new book

"How to cast high-level earth spells? The wait is there a book for each affinity?"

Subaru walked around for a few minutes collecting five other books

"Well, huh, I wonder how much of this knowledge was in Beatrice's library."

Subaru shrugged the thought away and started reading the book on earth spells

...

Roswaal Pov:

If Roswaal had to explain his current predicament, he would call it absurd but nessacary

Ever since gluttony ate Subaru's name his entire world seemed to be falling apart

His plans seemed more and more impossible as time passed

His only purpose for living was starting to fade away

And he was now forced to babysit the great spirit whom he thought might be useful in retrieving Subaru in a second round

But Zarestia was not easy to look after

She demanded constant room service and always ordered something small

Fancy, expensive, small bits of food

And constantly ordering cups of water refusing to use a tap calling it

"Dirty Water"

And Roswaal being the one who wanted her to come was forced to stay awake constantly to ensure that she didn't attack anybody.

And if Roswaal complained to the great spirit about her spending habits, she would throw a mini temper tantrum forcing Roswaal to try to contain her wind blades

So eventually he resided himself to just watching the great spirit do whatever she wanted with a smile that conveyed no real emotions

Then suddenly a blinding light erupted from afar causing Roswaal to look at it with great interest

"...Nowww this i~s . . . wait for a second"

Roswaal stopped using his accent as he realised what had caused that blinding light

"T-this... presence, I must be the. . . dragon."

Roswaal looked at the great spirit of wind and noticed how she was making herself seem small

Roswaal looked back with his jaw wide

Roswaal dare not to speak any ill of the dragon if it was active

...

Reinhard Pov

Reinhard was carrying the Oni on his back and an oddball towards his manor

Even as civilians gave him side glances Reinhard continued to move forwards.

"I hope lady Felt allows another guest to live with us."

Reinhard murmured to himself

While he would never doubt his lady's kindness, Reinhard worried that he was starting to bring too many people into his manor.

Also, this Oni might have torn apart Lugunica if he hadn't stopped her.

But Reinhard was sure that those details could be ignored If he promised to supervise the Oni during her stay.

...

Upon arriving at his Manor Reinhard took a deep breath before entering the gates

And he was welcomed back by his maids

They all bowed in sync before speaking

"Welcome back Reinhard-sama."

"Have you brought another guest to the manor?"

"I take it your mission was successful?"

Reinhard in response just smiled softly

"Indeed my mission was a success, please inform Felt-sama of our new guest."

The maids bowed before walking away

Reinhard now alone started walking towards a guest bedroom to put the Oni down

And upon doing so Reinhard heard his mistress call his name in what seemed to be a rage

"Rein! Did you kidnap another person!"

Despite being on the other side of the manor, Reinhard could hear his lady perfectly

"uh oh."

Reinhard could tell that his lady was not pleased with him bringing another person home

Later

"So, what your saying is, this girl was the great spirit you were called out to neutralise, was this girl but powered up by that weird ball thingy."

"That's a very accurate summary, my lady."

Felt rubbed her head

"So now what? You going to force her to stay here prisoner like me?"

Reinhard ignored his lady's snarky comment

"My lady, I plan on personally interrogating her as to learn of what she intended to do with this power."

"Fine, but if she proves innocent allow her to leave."

"Of course, my lady. . . also the wise council wishes to trail her by the court."

"Oh, that group of old losers, *sigh* to my knowledge they sure do like taking their sweet time for innocent people."

"My lady, it called careful and extensive inspection. They must take their time when trailing a person who claims innocence because letting a guilty person leave would tarnish our kingdoms pride."

". . . Subaru never got a trail, did he?"

"N-no my lady."

". . . Reinhard. . . should- wait what is that?!"

Felt pointed outside the window as Lugunica seemed to be engulfed in a bright light

"My lady, are you ok!?"

Reinhard asked worried for his Lady

"Ahhh so bright"

Felt tried covering her eyes from this light

"What the hell is this?"

Reinhard was about to answer but stopped when he realised, he could hear everyone in Lugunica yelling and screaming at the same time

Whatever this powerful light was it covered the entirety of Lugunica

Then it stopped

". . . Reinhard."

"Yes, my lady?"

"WHAT THE----."

...

Subaru was surrounded by books six books

So far he had only half finished one of them

". . . Who knew earth magic would have so much complex information... to think it started with stuff like, allow your body to be connected with the ground and be hard and solid when using this magic."

Subaru yawned

"N-now it wants me to learn how to distinguish every single type of ore?!"

Subaru closed his book

"Being an earth magic user must be... hard."

Subaru chuckled to himself and stopped awkwardly after realising nobody heard his joke.

"Hmmm well it's starting to get late. . . or maybe not I can't tell, I'm just tired."

Subaru stood up and stretched

"*yawn* Well if my body wants to sleep, then fighting it would be pointless."

Subaru thought of a reason to justify his sloth

"A studying student who burns out will forget all their information... yeah."

Subaru took the six books on advanced magic out of the library

"But might as well take these with me, reading in bed would probably be more comfortable than sitting on a floor."

Subaru books in hand walked to Shaula's living space

"I wonder if Shaula would be ok with me using her bed... probably."

Subaru laid down on the bed noticing that as soon as he fell on the bed's sheets dust lifted off into the air

"*sigh* Maybe ill give this room a once over. . . better not let my butler skills go to waste."

Ten Days Later:

Subaru had been slowly reading and cleaning the sage tower

He wanted his study area to be presentable

After all, a clean environment allows for a more constructive workplace

Or that's what Subaru told himself

Subaru now was in the process of cleaning the bookshelves in the library using a damp rag

"Ugh, so much dust. Did Shaula ever clean this place? It could not have gotten this bad in only a few months... now where did I put that damp cloth?"

Subaru looked around to find his cleaning equipment which he had gathered

"Where is it?"

Subaru asked himself in an irritated tone

"Here it is."

A voice that came from behind Subaru spoke out while placing the cloth on Subaru's shoulder

"Ahh thank you. . ."

Subarus eyes widened

"Wha!"

Subaru quickly turned his head around to be met with a small loli with Black hair

"Sh-Sha..."

The Loli giggled and hugged Subaru

"Did you miss me?"

Subaru with a tear hugged the little girl back

"Shami. . . you're here. . . you're here!"

Shami gave Subaru a reassuring pat on the back

"Yes, I am sorry for being away for so long."

Subaru almost chuckled at her apologies

"Why are you apologising? You did nothing wrong, I should be the one to say sorry, after all, it was because of me that you were forced to go away."

Shami broke the hug and placed a hand on Subaru's chest

"I... we never left you we are all still here, and we don't blame you for not knowing that the spell would do this to us."

Subaru hearing this smiled meekly

"... Well, if that's the case, then we need to catch up. So much has happened... and... I am reading books now."

Shami smiled back

"Sounds great, hope my contractor didn't do anything irresponsible while myself and the others were out of commission."

Subaru gave a thumbs up as to imply that he didn't do anything irresponsible

Shami gave one back

Subaru could hardly wait for the other five spirits to re-materialise

But for now, Subaru had one small study buddy.

"So... wanna help me clean before we-."

"Nooooooo."

Shami ran to a chair and sat down

"Shami?"

"I am a great spirit, cleaning is something that I should never have to do."

"Please."

Subaru held up a damp rag towards Shami

"...F-fine."

And so Subaru and Shami cleaned together

One had a large goofy smile on his face

And the other pretended to not enjoy the time spent with her contractor