Chapter 15: Study Session

Chapter 15: Study Session

~Third POV~

Walking down the halls to the room where Mash resided Rem had many things in her head about the stranger living with them.

During breakfast, it was very faint, but she smelled the stranger hiding her pure terror and horror when he first came to the manor. The witch's scent.

Though small and covered, the faint stink was still there… now hidden, lurking and latched onto him. Terror and fear are the only things she felt the moment she realized just how dangerous Mash is.

It took every ounce of control she had to not show any signs of fear, of weakness being around him. She intended to visit him when his alone all on his lonesome with her weapon Morningstar at the ready.

What made it better for her was that he insisted on picking her, and he had good reasons as well… but when he started to compare her sister to her…

Rem in a sense was at a loss for words at that time. She didn't know what to say seeing this was the first time someone picked her over her sister without knowing anything about them.

Despite having her weapon ready there was a strange sensation in her stomach, she found it not unpleasant, but she quickly dismissed those feelings thinking to herself trying to assure herself in self-delusion, 'That was a trick… he can't be trusted… while the witch scent around him was small barely noticeable, it's still there.'

Rem was ordered by Roswaal to not act rashly since the man was dangerous being able to defend himself and cornering him could lead to unexpected results. Coming from the clown it meant something to the maids to be cautious of and that was made apparent by noticing his training.

But the archmage did not have any choice since he was indeed indebted to him for helping Emilia Rem looked down thinking of the outcome in a defeated tone, 'If the news come out that she had her insignia stolen… well it would be very bad for the house… what should I do now?'

Standing in the front door Rem sighed knocking on the door hiding her weapon and revealing it to be Mash as she greeted him in a respectful tone, "Good evening, Bastion-sama. Nee-sama also told Rem to say 'Bastion-sama I pity you but you dare assault Rem lest you pay the price for being an illiterate man.' End quote."

Mash felt his right eye twitch at the jab before sighing out loud beginning their study session, "Sigh… well then, shall we begin?"

Rem nodded as she entered the room, pushing the board in front of the sitting Mash suggesting a starting point, "Anyway, let's begin with the currency of this Kingdom. I know there is copper, silver, and gold. But what about the Holy Coin? How much is their worth? And how much is the other currency valued?"

When he asked Rem answered instantly about the currency system making him raise an eyebrow at her response, "Well… Rem usually bought one appa for 2 copper in the city. 9 copper is worth 1 silver coin, and 15 silver will be worth 1 gold. 1 holy coin meanwhile is 2 worth of gold. Bastion-sama can buy food for about roughly one hundred people with one holy coin."

Mash's mind immediately began calculating the value till his brain couldn't compute it anymore moving on to the next subject, "Alright I think I got the gest of currency here. Then what about – "

As the duo spent their time together, Mash realized something during the entire conversation with Rem. Despite not knowing the language of the world of Re: Zero he quickly realized he could understand the language.

Not in the sense he always known them but can decipher them with ease thinking to himself pondering a question, 'I know for a fact I wasn't this smart or this progressive… unless…'

Realizing that it was thanks to his [Gamer's Path] skill he realized he could understand the text easily because of it. At least in theory since game characters at times can naturally understand difficult messages with ease but here is different.

When he gained his gamer-like abilities also came with understanding foreign language with ease. Not natural mind you but like instinctively grasping it once he knows the alphabet easily enough.

Still, it was a bit of work on his end to understand and grasp the letters. But regardless understood the situation occurring in Lugnica as they concluded their tutoring session in a slightly hesitant tone, "That's… correct. Bastion-sama is smart. Are you positive you aren't some noble because you learned our language very well?"

Mash for himself shrugged replying to Rem's unreadable face as his eyes roamed over her figure, "Not really… Although I guess I'm a fast learner."

Mash didn't know what to do exactly to make Rem trust him or at least be less wary till he sighed being direct with her mumbling out loud placing the bait, "Things are complicated here. Then again, compared to my issue finding my home will be even bigger."

Placing the bait Rem took it asking as she tilted her head a bit in a slightly curious tone, "The Kingdom has been without a king for a while so it just makes sense. But how could that be bigger than your issue finding a home? Is Bastion-sama's home like Lugnica?"

Mash smiled seeing Rem take the bait as he took his home explaining to her wanting to vent to someone listening to his story in a tired tone, "Of course you wouldn't, I would be surprised if you did. My home let's say is very far from here. To you people it won't exist because it's beyond what you call the Great Waterfall. Let me show you a bit."

Hearing this Rem watched seemed to further tense her eyes glued to him, never to leave as if the man was going to pull out a weapon and attack her at a moment's notice.

Mash oblivious to this picked out his cell phone, and turned it on, as the light emitted from the device perked Rem's interest, as she warily watched on, "What is that Bastion-sama?"

Taking this time to explain to Rem as he adjusted his phone ready for them to take a picture with him and her together, "Thus? In your land, its called a Meteor. This is an example of what my cellphone can do. Smile Rem!"

That made her utter, "Eh?"

*Click*

*Flash*

Mash opened the phone clicked on his picture app and chuckled seeing the results Rem looked childlike and lost as he showed it to her eyes widened seeing it, "Bastion-sama, what is this? How can there be another Rem and Mash-sama in here?"

He smiled explaining to Rem the best he could prompting Rem to be impressed as he slid the photos to his family smiling fondly, "It can do more things, but I will show you later. Here, this is what I wanted you to see. Here."

Rem still looked uncertain; however, she took it nonetheless and her eyes viewed a family on the London Eiffel Tower surprised as he explained, "This here is one of my photos that my parents took me and lil sis to London Eiffel Tower wanting to visit there. Looks pretty cool right?"

Rem commented agreeing with a light nod amazed at the unique structure, "It's… marvelous."

In her awe, her eyes roamed over to the screen. Her fingers brushed the picture, accidentally sweeping it, changing the picture as she let out a small gasp before and blinked when she saw the picture.

Next showed a picture of him and his little sister a sense of nostalgia hit him as Rem blinked turning to him curiously, "Mash-sama's little sister?"

Mash nodded replying to Rem in a soft vulnerable tone, "Yes… she's the best lil sis I could have. She'll be very beautiful when she grows up."

The way he spoke and the way he smiled… somehow made Rem's heart filled with skepticism and suspicion soften as Mash sighed in a defeated tone, "And I can't be with her nor my family because I'm lost… I'm sorry I need a minute."

Wiping off the tears threatening to leave his face Rem took this cue to leave seeing she brought up an uncomfortable topic for him, "No it's fine Bastion-sama. I think Rem shall take her leave. Perhaps it will be better if Mash-sama rests now, it's already late."

Mash sighed agreeing with her as he replied causing the maid's breath to freeze for a moment being blunt with her confessing honestly, "Yes, rest would be good. I'm sorry for ruining the moment Rem, I was thinking that maybe showing you where I come from would make you feel less uncomfortable around me. I'm not stupid to notice how uncomfortable you are with my presence, Rem. I don't know why, but please believe me that I have no ill intentions towards anyone in this mansion. I'm homeless, it would be stupid of me to try anything in here, this is where I live now after all. I don't want there to be a bad relationship between us because of that. It will only be awkward for the both of us, right?"

Mash knew he shouldn't have said those words to her. He knew it was stupid to openly admit he knew she was not comfortable with him and trying to get close to her.

But the sudden nostalgia recalling his home made his mind a mess and just wanted to end the conversation as fast as possible. He hadn't had the time to confront the terms ever since he got into the Multiverse by complete mistake. He just needed time to come to terms with his situation.

The blue-haired oni stayed silent at the confession. Reluctantly she gave him a slow nod and a few short words, "Then, Rem will excuse herself."

*Thud*

Rem soon left Mash to his thoughts in his head…

/////

Walking down the narrow halls of the Roswaal mansion Rem had a repeating question in her mind as she made her way back to her room, 'Was I wrong?'

She was nervous about the supposed study session but to her surprise, he not only took their lessons to heart but was also very perceptive and insightful when it came to any questions he had.

He deliberately tried to manipulate her, she does not know why but she is sure of it. For all his smiles, curiosity, and easy-going attitude, someone who carried the witch's stink cannot be trusted and yet an image showing weakness made her doubt herself, 'Was I wrong about him?'

She was quite surprised to see the Meteor he had it was unique in Rem's eyes. To remember anything it sees and recalls it for others to see is undeniably useful but the most surprising thing was when he talked about his family.

One emotion she recognized immediately… Love.

There was no better word for what Rem felt of him when he talked about his family. He loved them not in a twisted or deranged way, it was pure genuine love that reminded her how she felt for her big sister.

When she recalled that scene Rem thought to herself in a conflicted tone about the situation, 'Such love… is impossible to feel for someone following the Witch Cult. It was no secret they were unhinged. They are all insane to some point. But that man… it could all be a trick… but such levels of sincerity. Even his confession, that he tried to get close to me for personal reasons, wasn't bad that I thought about it. He only wanted to make sure we didn't end up hating each other…'

Rem finally reaches her room and opens the door with her thoughts on Mash in a conflicted tone touching the doorknob, 'Such things… should be enough to make Rem more wary of him… but she is not because it shows that Mash Bastion is still human.'

*Thud*

Closing the door readying her sleep for the night she had one final thought and opinion about Mash before sleeping for the night closing her eyes, 'He stills a man… Make no mistake I don't trust him but at least I could tolerate his presence. He was still a man… one chance… Rem will give him one chance.'