Trouble begins (part 2)

(Fred POV)

Darkness spread all around me. I couldn't see anything. What was I doing here? 

And what was I even doing before ending up here? 

I tried hard to remember, but I couldn't. Frowning, I tried to hold my forehead with my hand and massage it, but I realised that I didn't have hands or even a head or anything like that.

Hmmm….I thought hard, what was my name again?

I couldn't remember.

And I couldn't care less to be honest.

But what should I do?

I suppose I should just lie about it lazily. Well, I didn't want to work anymore.

[What a pathetic pig you are!!] a sarcastic voice echoed in the void. It seemed to be that of a young man, probably in his 30s or 40s.

"Who the f*ck was that!" Who dared to call me that! Me, of all the people! 

"Do you even know who I am!!" I shouted back at him.

[Hm? Who are you? Come on, tell me.]

"I AM… well, I am…" I didn't know my name.

[A man who ends up forgetting his wishes out of exhaustion is just an animal. You eat, you fuck, you breed, and then you die…

What else are you if not a pig?]

I didn't reply back to him. I didn't know who he was. And I didn't know who I was. The only thing on my mind were just questions that kept on repeating in an endless loop.

Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? 

I remembered that there was something important which I had to do. There were people I needed to help. And there was this person whom I wanted to be with. But, what was this pain in my chest? Ah, I didn't have a chest. But I felt so choked. I was choking on my tears. I couldn't breathe. Was this sadness? Why was I so sad?

[You're just a pathetic vermin. You can cry and wallow in despair, but you never take another step. And you expect to live? It's your luck due to which you are alive now. You should've popped like a balloon a long while ago.]

His words didn't help me. My tears didn't stop, and I had no idea what was going on. But I know one thing for sure I didn't want this. I didn't want to rot in this shitty dark hole. There was so much that I had to do. There were people whom I needed to help. 

My wish…

That's right, my wish. What was it? Remember! Remember! I curse myself. Nothing came to my mind. I felt like punching myself. But I didn't have a hand to begin with. I was getting used to this helplessness. I didn't want to be a pathetic loser.

[What do you want?] the voice asked again.

"I…I want…"

[No, let me ask a better question.

What do you wish for?] This time, however, his voice seemed gentle, devoid of sarcasm.

"I don't want to be pathetic. I want to be the best of myself." That's the only thing that I wanted. That's the ultimate truth and my desire.

"I DON'T WANT TO BE A LOSER!!

YOU HEAR ME?

I WANT TO BE THE BEST!!" I shouted into the void, however, my voice didn't echo back like I had expected it to.

[That is sufficient.

You pass.]

That was the last thing I heard before my consciousness faded away. All of it transpired in the darkness.

—-----------------------------------------------------------------------

"Wut….t. Eck u mean?"

"Frederick-sama!

Frederick-sama!" shrill cries ran down close to my ears. 

"Goddamn! Don't shout near my ear!

Are you dumb?" I opened my eyes in anger to look at the moron who was screaming right next to my ears. But all I saw were plump mountains, Ah what the hell?

And why was I on the ground? 

I looked around a bit left and right to see that I was in the Forbidden Library. Beatrice was standing next to me where I was lying. She was crying of course. Silently and miserably.

And what's with that other-worldly softness beneath my head? It took me a while to comprehend my situation. But it struck me like thunder.

Ah! So that's what it was. 

I sat up with a jolt and stood up immediately after, though a bit wobbly on my legs. 

"You!

What were you planning on doing to me?" I shouted at the maid who was giving me a lap pillow all this while.

"I'm sorry." she says, her head hung low.

"NO! Why are you even apologising?

Why did you give me a lap pillow?

Do you want to make me fall for you??

Are you that depraved? I can't take care of your cravings now. Deal with them yourselves!!" I went ballistic on her.

This incident left me bewildered. And as for what happened later was something to be kept between the three of us. 

And I promised Rem to give her another torture session if word got out about what happened there.

 ____________________________________________

"So you're saying that you had a burnout and fainted?

And that you heard a strange voice in your dreams which asked you about your wish?" Roswaal asked.

I was currently in his office. Yeah, and no one was around cause we didn't want our privy talk to be interrupted.

"Yes, that's what happened.

And why are you asking me that for the fourth time again?

I told you all that happened."

But instead of saying anything, he stares at me in the face. Given his make-up and creepy stare, I feel obliged to spill all the beans. 

"Haaaaaah….

Don't think anything weird okay?

When I fainted, Rem took care of me and even gave me a lap pillow.

I was so surprised that I can't even look at her in the face again."

But he is still silent. Is he that suspicious of me? Or is it just that it's all written on my face?

"OK! OK!

I gave her a torture session yesterday night, after dinner. 

I had caught her red-handed trying to harm Subaru and I decided that she should be punished. 

You see, I didn't pollute her!

I swear I didn't! 

I swear in the name of my Lily!!" I was like a criminal now, pleading in front of the judge that I was not as bad as they thought. To be honest it was pathetic of me. But I think I turned out to be a worse person than Roswaal because he might've killed people and all.

Whatever…

But he didn't give torture sessions to the people.

Ah…I suppose I had crossed the line. And I am seriously and genuinely regretting it now.

"I see… that's what happened." he says as he finally closes his eyes to think for a while.

"Though that wasn't what I wanted to know, I suppose that was the reason Rem was behaving rather oddly today." 

This fucker!! He never even wanted to know about all this! I just went ahead and blasted off my secrets in front of his face just like that!! This is really…haaah 

Let's just leave it… 

"I think that the voice in your dream has something to do with the stabilisation of your Od (mana core)." He says in a low voice, resting his chin on his hands.

"What do you mean?" What was this joker up to now?

"I mean that. 

The condition of your mana core was worsening so quickly that you should've died by today."

"?!" This news made me skip a beat, out of fear.

"Wasn't it supposed to heal on its own?

Wasn't that the reason you told me to rest for a month?"

"That was the ideal case. 

A person's mana core heals on its own, and Saviour-san's core is already in a very bad case.

I needed to make some assumptions and observations to understand what was going on.

But when I met you at dinner last night, I already knew that today would be the last day for all of us." He says calmly, betraying the severity of the thing which he was speaking about.

"Then why are you guys here right now?

Shouldn't you vacate the mansion?

Or better throw me out?" 

"I couldn't possibly do that to saviour-san.

If you die, then I should die as well. After all, I don't have any other means to fulfil my wish, do I?"

Ah, this guy… right, he was never a normal person. Just because we had made a contract didn't mean I was safe. All he cares about is his goal after all.

"But, couldn't you have healed me with your healing magic?

You can use it too, right?" 

"That's correct. But I am not so confident in my abilities. Especially when dealing with an unstable mana core.

It'd be best left to an expert after all right?

But you can rest at ease now, your core is considerably more stable than before." The creepy smile on his face is back, and I honestly don't like it when he puts it that way.

Judging by what he said, maybe Felix will be coming here earlier than I expected. And I also wanted to ask what a 'considerably stable core' meant, but I had something to discuss with him urgently.

"Leave all that stuff for now. 

Did you do what I asked you to do?" It was time that things were to be set in motion. And given that the time was less, we had to make a rush for it.

"Yes, I managed to contact the mabeast tamer in the nick of time. 

And just like you had asked, the Gut hunter won't be involved this time. You can rest easy."

"I see…" It was good. The Arc 2 finale should begin without any problems.

"And besides, why did you want to know about the voice in my dream?"

"Hm?

I was curious. The way you mentioned it. It seemed to be the voice of a God."