Aerial surprise (part 3)

(Subaru's POV)

I didn't know when it exactly happened but suddenly the skies went dark and then the next thing I knew was that people were panicking and running for their lives.

The shopkeeper who was haggling with us for his appas suddenly closed the shutter of his store from the inside.

It was very rude of him and I was about to mark him on my list of 

'Rudest people since coming here'. 

But I changed my mind the next moment because the customer standing next to us- a young man in his 20s disappeared in front of my eyes.

No, he didn't disappear. I saw him being scooped like a snake being picked up by an eagle.

It happened in the blink of an eye and I wasn't able to react or let out a scream. Let alone help him.

I would have been dead for sure if Ram hadn't pulled me out of that place and dragged me to a nearby shop whose owner seemed to have gone missing.

Entering the shop, the first thing we did was close all the doors and windows. No, we were not putting out the light for doing some stupid stuff, but rather keeping those 'Eagles' out of here.

And at the present moment:

"What the heck was that?!

What the hell is happening!!

What the heck was that?!" I am freaking out big time right now. Even facing Elsa wasn't this scary.

I didn't take a look at anything else. I just ran and ran. The only thing that I saw was Ram's back as she pulled me along.

Damn! I wish I had taken a better look at the surroundings!

"Hey Ram, can I open the window for a bit?" I ask her. She has been standing with her hand on her chin for quite a while now.

"..."

She turns her gaze towards me and stares at me without saying anything. Just that blank empty stare.

"What?

Don't stare at me like I am beyond help!

You know, you don't even need to say something to curse me now!" It was annoying- her condensing blank stare as if she were looking at a lost cause.

"Oh.

It seems your head is okay since you get what I am trying to say by my gaze alone.

I thought the fear had turned you into a chicken." Is what she has to say. Seriously?

"Listen, I don't have time to listen to all of that. I just want to take a look outside and see what's the situation."

"Why do you want to see the people being scooped up outside?" She stops me.

I wasn't a sadist! Why does she always get the wrong impression of me? I think she always…. I don't want to think about what she thinks. 

"So that I can see what's picking them up. How else do you plan to get out of this situation?"

"Hah…

Barusu will be Barusu I guess." She gives  a disapproving nod,

"Monsters.

Mabeasts were attacking the villagers. They were bird-like with humanoid…no...

They had wings but no hands and claws for theirbut no feet. And all of them looked female. They had the body of a human female."

"You saw all that while we were running?

Nee-san, you are amazing!" I can't help but clap. And she gives with a 'Hah!' striking a proud pose, holding her waist which. It looked like- "What else did you expect of me, Barusu? I knew you were an idiot."

Uh… I guess that lightens up the mood. Maybe I should look around the shop. I might find something useful.

Looking around the shop, I find an anvil and some hammers.

Is this a smithy?

I look around a bit more and search the walls too- they were full of axes and stuff. But not a single damn sword!

Huh…

I look at some other stacks and find what I was looking for a sword. I finally have a decent weapon!

And now we cook up a plan…

"Ram … I have a plan. It should work somehow."

She looks at me with her brows raised. But I continue anyway.

"I call it the carrot and the stick!"

Hearing the name of the plan, Ram holds her forehead and gives me a condensing nod.

_______________________________________________________________

(3rd person POV)

"Argh!!" Fred groaned in pain as he came back to his senses slowly.

"Fred-kun!"  and just like that he was grabbed so hard that he knew that it would be the last thing he would feel.

Gaah!

"Oh! I am sorry!

I was just so relieved that you woke up.

I was very scared when you fainted like that…" the maid uttered a quick apology.

"W…where am I?" Fred said weakly.

"You are in one of the houses. I carried you here after you fainted. Are you feeling…"

"What a…bout the children?" he didn't let her finish her words.

[Even when he's in this condition, he still cares about others more than himself…] Rem reflected on her former opinions of Fred which she had. To her, Fred was an arrogant commoner who didn't know his place. He acted as if her Lord and Emilia-sama were his equal. It was not that he was an idiot like Subaru and he chose his words carefully, but he still gave a bad impression to everyone. It was as if…

[Was he acting like a bad person deliberately?] The possibility of this made her feel even more guilty. But given the present situation, she couldn't even ask him if that were the truth. 

"Rem, what *cough!cough!* happened to the children?" he asked, wheezing as he tried to sit up, only to fall on the bed again. The safety of the children was the only thing that he could think of now. And the fact that he was more or less crippled, didn't help him at all. He was cursing his weakness.

[Damn! I am so weak! I can't even move…

The children…What happened to them…

Petra…and the rest. I didn't even get to ask their names…]

"Fred-kun!

Don't try to get up!" Rem held Fred down to the bed with a firm but gentle hold so that he wouldn't try to get up. She looked at his face- His eye sockets were sunken and his face had lost its glow. 

[The attack from earlier must have taken a toll on his body…

If only I could have helped him, he wouldn't have ended up in this condition.]

Both of them were cursing themselves down to their core, despite knowing that was the best they could've done given the circumstances. But they despised themselves, as they didn't have what they needed- The power to protect what they wanted to protect. However, none of them could tell each other how they felt, even though they were like parts of the same equation- alike in almost every aspect, and brought together by fate and circumstances, they would never be able to tell what they felt.

"Rem…please tell me!!" he pleaded, his eyes on the verge of watering.

"You saved them."

"Huh?"

"They are safe. They are all safe. Look around." She helped Fred sit up from his sickbed. And then he saw- Petra, Meili, the little boy with a snaggle tooth and every other face which he saw earlier. All of them, standing there huddled in a corner. They were looking at him, crying silently. And then one of them spoke with muffles in between,

"Fred-nii!! *sniff.sniff*

We were so worried!!

We thought you were…you were…

Waaaaah!!!"

They were trying to hold in their tears, but now since he woke up and looked at them, their dam broke and all of them started crying like little lambs who had reunited with their shepherd.

"I am glad… you all are *cough!cough!*" he coughed. His throat was parched dry.

"Are you alright?

Do you feel unwell? Please lie down. You need to rest, Fred-kun." Rem said worried.

"Water. Just give me water." 

"I'll go fetch it. Please wait here and don't get up." She left in a hurry. And as she entered the kitchen she broke down crying unseen to anyone else.

"I am so glad!

I am so glad…

Fred-kun is alright…

I am so glad…" She kept on repeating it like a never-ending refrain.

_____________________________________________

[My entire body is screaming in pain.

Jenna, why didn't you tell me about it before?] He just wanted to sleep now, but the pain kept him awake making his every moment feel like living hell.

[...THE HOST WAS WARNED ABOUT THE AFTEREFFECTS]

[Ah, you are right about that…

I guess, it's my responsibility] Fred looked around himself. The children were surrounding him now. They had stopped crying, but being surrounded by so many kids at once made him feel like a Grandfather on his deathbed.

There was only one bed in the house, and he couldn't even offer them chairs for all of them. He was the sole occupant of the only bed. And seeing his situation, none of them would even think of touching him now except Rem.

[After all, I have burns all over my body…

I must be looking very scary right now.

I was lucky that the heat didn't damage my face. I will need a mask if I use the sword from the next time onwards.

I will also need some fire-resistant armour.] he made a mental note regarding his battle tactics.

It wasn't that he didn't have armours of the required specs, but they were too high level for him to wear. The sword was also high level, and the only drawback was that he'd take 'Reverse damage' whenever he used it. But if he wore the armours that he had, he wouldn't even be able to walk due to the weight. He had already tried his equipment set once in the capital before engaging with Elsa. So, the only option he had was to go with just his casual attire.

Just as he was thinking about all this stuff, Rem came back with water in a glass and some soup in a bowl from the way it seemed.

"I knew you were a top-class cook but I *cough!* didn't know that you were this good."

"Please don't talk now. Have some water. The house didn't have much but so I made some gruel with whatever I could find."

Fred tried to sit up, but he couldn't move a muscle.

"Ah, I forgot that I am crippled."

"Don't say that. Please.

I am sure Roswaal sama will find a way to cure you." 

Fred would've made a joke to lighten the mood, but on seeing Rem's face he decided against it. She had this bitter expression on her face and he could tell from a glance that she was feeling miserably responsible for the condition he was in. But he didn't console her. He knew from personal experience that it wouldn't work. So he didn't try.

Rem helped him to sit up, while the children surrounding Fred gave her space to tend to him. Carefully, she held the glass of water to his mouth.

He hadn't even taken his first sip when the door banged open with a loud

BAAM!

The glass fell from her hand. Rem immediately took a defensive stance with her morning glory drawn to protect the children and the person behind her. But…

"Nee-sama?" 

It was her older sister, Ram who came inside the house. She was bleeding profusely from her head and mouth besides having claw marks all over her body. However she stood upstraight and pointed outwards before falling. 

The gazes of all the people in the room naturally followed the direction that Ram had pointed. But Fred was the first one to react.

"T-That's Subaru!!

He's gonna die at this rate!

Rem!*cough!cough!*

Rem! Please help him!"

But she stood there still. She couldn't decide what to do. Harpies were swarming outside the house now. And Subaru was still outside, trying to fend off the ones which were hot on his tail.

"REM! PLEASE!! HELP HIM!" Fred pleaded.

But she didn't move. She couldn't. She had more important things to protect.

"Please don't forgive me Fred-kun…" were the only words she said. And Fred grew silent on hearing them.

She didn't expect to be forgiven or understood. 

A Harpy caught hold of Subaru's head and held him there. In retaliation, Subaru tried to fling his sword in all directions as he had lost his vision. Another Monster joined the game and grabbed him by the waist. 

Then together, the two harpies lifted him somewhat high, only to use him as the 'rope' in their tug of war and ripped him into two parts just like that.