Trouble begins (Part 3)

(Fred POV)

"Huh? 

Pardon me? What did you say? 

'God'? Are you serious?" I never heard of any God in the ReZero world other than the Sword God. And that too was mentioned vaguely in Arc 6. So the concept of Gods was not very clearly mentioned in the novel.

And it bothered me the most since-

I HATED GODS

To the point where I dubbed myself as 'God Slayer' in some online forums. Ahem…that was some embarrassing part of my past.

"Gods exist in some form or the other. Do you perhaps detest them, Saviour-san?" 

"I do.

Very much at that." 

"Regardless of your dislike towards Gods, you can't deny the fact that this particular god helped you by stabilising your mana core. So…"

"I get what you are trying to get at. God or whatever, I pay back my favours. But before that, what more can you tell me about these gods?

Are there any sort of blessings given by them?"

"I am very sorry, but I do not happen to know very much about the 'Gods'.

Perhaps my teacher could've told you about them. 

If she were alive, that is." his voice does not fluctuate, but I Could tell that the look on his face grew heavier as he mentioned his teacher- Echidna.

Well, if he couldn't tell me about the 'Gods', then it's safe to assume that no one could. After all, the clown sitting in front of me is a 400 year old junkie. And a very old one at that.

"I suppose that concludes our talk here." I said as I rose up from my seat. I had more study to do.

"Thank you for sparing your time for me, saviour-san." he bowed as I exited the room.

And so the third day went on without any troubles. Just me and my study sessions, Idid run some laps around the mansion since I Was feeling better. And well, it was awkward during dinnertime and lunch. Rem and me- we were acting awkwardly and everyone seemed to notice it but say nothing, except Emilia since she couldn't comprehend what was going on due to her low EQ level.

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(3rd person POV)

The morning of the fourth day was somewhat surprising for both Frederick and Subaru. Because the mansion had run out of food and the servants had to buy materials from the nearby Arlam village. 

So, Frederick decided to tag along on the excuse of getting some fresh air. 

And Subaru asked Emilia what she'd like from the village…and to his dismay, she said nothing in particular. It was the same as- 

' I don't want anything from you.' 

And since Subaru didn't know that Emilia was quite the autistic person, he took emotional damage from his own stunt.

And presently, they were walking towards Arlam village. Rem and Fred stuck close for some reason which left Ram and Subaru on their own by default. 

"Hey," Fred whispered into Rem's ears, 

"I …you see…"

"Yes? I couldn't hear what you said." Rem brought her ear closer, pretending to not have heard him.

"Argh! I said that I am sorry for lashing out at you yesterday. You didn't have any bad intentions after all…ahem!" he coughed awkwardly in between.

"I see. I am glad I was able to help you." she replied with a smile so cute that it made his heart skip a beat.

"And uh…..

I wanted to say thank you for the l-lap pillow.

Y-y-ou see, it was my first time. And s-so well…" he stuttered.

"I see. Then we both took each other's first times!" she crossed her fingers and gave him another angel-like smile.

"Haaaa…

Sometimes, I think you are really after my heart. You are a little devil you know?"

"I suppose I learnt a trick or two from Frederick-sama."

"You damn little!!

Do you want another session?"

"I don't mind it, but please go a little easy on me next time,

F.r.e.d-s.a.m.a.~" She called his name with a seductive look on her face which made Fred avert his eyes from her. He just wanted to initiate a normal conversation with her, but Rem seemed to be getting back at him by using his cards against him.

And this pair was seemingly unaware of the eyes watching them.

"Ram-chi, don't you think Fred is getting too close to Rem?" 

"I can see that Barusu, my eyes are still not rotten like yours."

"I mean shouldn't you properly check out the guy who's dating your sister? That's your responsibility as the older sister!!" he almost shrieked out of frustration at the fact that Ram was unfazed even when the situation was this dire.

"I suppose your eyes are more rotten than I thought. Take a better look at them."

"Hmm…." Subaru squinted his eyes and took a quick sneak peek at them.

"It's nothing special…

Rem is teasing him and Fred is blushing.

He is trying to get back at her, but is defeated…

Huh…..

That's how you treat me all the time, nee-san." Subaru yawns at her.

"Do they seem annoyed with each other?"

"No."

"Do they seem to be arguing with each other?"

"No, they are playfully poking each other."

"And are they smiling?"

"Yes, more or less."

"Then it's all good. Frederick-sama will take good care of my sister."

"Heeeeeeeeeeh!!

Did you even hear what I said?

I said that you should at least check out what sort of person he is…"

"I suppose you wouldn't know since you are just a green-pea now, but Roswaal-sama trusts him fully.

So I trust him."

"...

Honestly, I have nothing to say if you have no problem with it.

I don't know what you people even see in Frederick…

Sheesh."

"I have answered your question already. If you bother them anymore, I guess I'll turn your eyes into candy."

"Eek!

You almost sound like an 'Oni'!" he takes a few steps back hysterically.

(The Japanese word 'oni' means demon. It has nothing to do with the 'oni' demi-humans of Lugunica. But Subaru doesn't know that these twins are oni.)

Ram remained silent without responding to his complaints. It was already tiring walking to the village, and she had to deal with this monkey too. 

[Well, I can do that much for my cute sister.] To be honest, it might not be that bad of a walk to the village. But she wouldn't let it show on her face, for a reason that no one could know.

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"We've reached Arlam village," Ram said as they entered the outskirts of the village. Some of the houses were in sight now and the market should be a bit up ahead.

"Barusu, you come with me. This is the list of all which you need to purchase.

As for Frederick-sama…" She pa a bit, looking at Fred and then at her sister who was standing beside him.

"You can stay with Rem since you don't know the village yet, or you can stay near the town square while we make our purchase.

Then, please excuse us."

However, Fred decided to stay behind at the village square. 

[I need some time alone for myself. Being with Rem for so long is going to drive me nuts. I am not mentally prepared for all that stuff.]

It was true that Fred acted like a rude scumbag towards almost everyone. But he wouldn't do that without reason, and not in a place or situation or place where acting rude leads to disaster, unlike a certain somebody.

And he was still a virgin with no dating experience, so staying with Rem was frying his moral circuits.

"WOOF! WOOF!" The sound of a little puppy broke Fred's chain of thoughts.

Some children were playing with the puppy. He approached the children silently and stood a little away from them.

The girl who was holding the pup had her braid traipsed over her left shoulder so that it rested over her chest. She wore a short blue long-sleeved one-piece dress with a flap collar similar to a sailor's. On her feet, she wore a pair of brown sandals, and apart from these and the dress, she wore no further clothing as a villager.

[Meili Portroute, we finally meet.] this meeting excited Fred down to his core.

He drew close to her and crouched down to meet her eye level. The other children stopped playing on seeing Fred and they stood a little far away from him.

"Little girl, what's your name?" He asked Meili.

"?!

I-i-my name is…" Meili looks hither and thither, apparently flustered by the sudden question. Moreover, Fred's poker face was really scary. His blood-red eyes, contrasting with his blue hair gave them the impression of a phantom. And just like any other normal kid, Meili couldn't say anything because Fred seemed to be the ideal 'Baddy stranger' whom their elders always advised them to avoid.

[Except for the fact that things are not so simple as that. Meili was raised up by Elsa, so she's a pro-assassin. She's acting and the only thing which can happen given the scenario is that…] Fred's inner monologue ran as he assessed the situation.

"Mister!" a shrill voice rang from behind him. It appeared to be a girl's. 

Fred looked back by turning his neck sideways, from his crouched position. It made him look even more terrifying and the girl jumped back a little.

Fred knew who the girl was just from a glance. She wore commoner's clothes that consisted of a pair of brown shoes, green leggings with horizontal stripes that were shorn just above the ankles, a white long-sleeved shirt, an open short-sleeved cream-coloured cardigan with red outlining, and a red ribbon fastened to her collar. She had medium-length reddish brown hair that extended to her shoulders along with cyan eyes. 

[Petra Leyte…

One of the key characters of ReZero who was deemed to have zero value in the beginning, but due to the author's personal feelings, she grew up to be quite an important cast.] Fred took a silent long look at her from top to bottom, scanning her every part.

Petra held her hands clasped to her chest and with a frown on her face, tension palpable. Regardless, she mustered up the courage to clear up her throat and say loudly, in her cute voice,

"Mister!

Please don't bully her!!

I will scream for help if you hurt her!"

"Ah...

I just wanted to play with you guys." Fred facepalmed. It really sucked to get threatened by a little girl.