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3rd Pov
"You didn't need to come with me Reina" he said sighing while looking at the Sword Saint.
"Zero, you will be my future Lord and as your friend how can I let you fall in danger?" she said, however to be true, she felt jealous the moment she realized he was going out with Beatrice.
'Why didn't he call me? I am stronger than this kid!' she thought with jealousy as she glanced at Beatrice.
She was his hero, if he was to stay betray the Kingdom for him, she will do it in a heartbeat.
That's how deep she had fallen in love.
And it wasn't pure love either, it was mixture of true love and obsession.
If not for the fact she truly loved him, she would have tried to claim him no matter the consequences.
(A/N: Nonsense on top of Nonsense, whom are you trying to fool Reina?)
"Hmph! Do not try to disturb Betty's tutoring then, I suppose" Beatrice said making Reina's eyebrows twitched.
"Very well, we are quite deep now. Encountering Mabeasts is not out of the question" said Reina as she looked around.
"Very well, let me try- Murak!" he instantly felt himself to be lighter, it was a spell opposite of Vita, a special spell with no prefixal hierarchy.
He jumped, and he underestimated his strength. He soared up to 100 metres high in a blink of eyes.
"Arghhh!!!" he shouted shocked by the sudden height, a sonic boom sounded as the ground below Reina cracked and she grabbed him Mid-air, and gracefully landed in front of Beatrice.
"Stupid Zero! Do you not understand your own strength, in fact?!" Beatrice fumed in anger.
"I-I apologize, I shouldn't have done that. Thanks Reina, you saved me" he said looking at Reina who grinned "Do not worry Zero-sama! Your knight will cover up your mistakes!" she winked at him.
He blushed, the thought of having someone as beautiful and cute as Reina as his personal Knight
Suddenly a growl sounded and they got on alert, from the bushes emerged a Wolgram.
"Let me handle this! Minya!" Subaru shot a spear of crystallized man, burning with light purple flames, it tore through Wolgram's defences, and obliterated its head.
Suddenly another growl sounded, and several Wolgrams came out of the bushes staring at them.
Reina grabbed her sheath, ready to kill them when Subaru grabbed her shoulder.
"Reina, let me do it" he said softly and she nodded, Subaru didn't know that she was a 'Yes girl' for him.
He unsheathed the sword he had brought from Roswaal, and his body became a blur.
"El Huma!" he used magic decimating one Wolgram and swiftly cut another's neck, he jumped and a Wolgram opened his jaw jumping towards him.
"El Goa!" he unleashed fire magic melting it's head, then moved swiftly and dispatched another Wolgram.
*Slash* *Stab* *Slash*
He used spells, and swords soon having finished a group of twenty-nine wolgrams by himself, however in the end he was tired and his fire, wind and Yang Spirits were exhausted.
"It was so impressive! You killed a group of Wolgram that needs an entire platoon of Knights or a squad of elite knights!" she said her eyes shining, she seemed to have totally forgotten that she was the world's strongest knight.
'Damn it, she is stroking my ego too much' he thought, however seeing her smiling face he couldn't say anything.
In the original timeline, Rem's praises made Subaru on cloud nine and he ended up doing that mistake in Capital.
'Well, I can't blame him, insulting their love in front of them could make anyone angry' he thought.
Not to mention Subaru personally thought that Council of Wise men were too arrogant.
If not for Reinhardt- in his case Reina, what were they? What was the Kingdom without Sword Saint?
If Subaru didn't saved Emilia, half of the Capital would have been destroyed by puck.
Crusch Krasten that bitch would have died in the battle against White Whale.
Priscilla would have gone missing and Antastia would have died as well.
There would have been no 'Felt' for the Sword saint to swear his loyalty to.
The Kingdom of Lugunica would have been probably destroyed by the neighbouring countries as well.
The Kingdom is already in a financially tight spot, tens of thousands of people live in slums, even having food two times is a luxury for the most.
'I hope they aren't the same in this reality' he thought, though he knew the chance was a slim, a man could wish right?
He rubbed his nose and said "Thank you Reina, if not for your training it would have not been possible"
She grinned and asked "You will need to reward me then, right?"
"If it is within my power, I will definitely reward you" he said seriously.
Her eyes shined and she stared at his palm and then said "Pet me"
"…"
"…"
Beatrice and Subaru looked at her speechlessly and she blushed realizing what she had spoken.
"I mean pat me! I-I like when you do" she lowered her head, he chuckled and moved forward patting her.
She melted as he rubbed her hair, feeling his warmth, she grabbed his palm and guided it to her cheek.
'Yeah, there is definitely something wrong here' he smiled wryly, how can he not see the hints?
'Then again, she might be just love deprived and considers me her elder brother' he thought, deciding to observe more before coming to a conclusion.
(A/N: Idhar India meh, larki larko ko bhaiya banati hey, hamara hero larki ko deedhi banata hai, truly mindset of a single people XD)
Betty seeing this… Felt jealous.
"Betty accompanied Zero as well, so Betty should be praised as well, I suppose!" she said and he looked at her in surprise.
"W-well there you go" he said as he started patting her with his other hand and she involuntarily squealed in happiness.
Reina's presence had made Betty jealous, and hastened his development with her.
…
The day passed with training, his exhausted Spirits found solace in their master's body, to be honest he didn't know where they exactly stayed inside him neither could he ask.
They were Lesser Spirits after all, unable to talk and only convey their emotions.
Once they returned, they were greeted by the sight of sumptuous dishes lying on Subaru and Emilia's side.
However, on Roswaal's side lied only boiled tatoes with salt. The contrast between their food, questioned who was the mansion's real master.
"Betty… To think youuu will comeeee" Roswaal said with narrowed eyes as she looked at the Great Spirit of Yin.
"Rem, I have invited Reina to eat as well. There should be no problems, right?" he asked the blue-haired Oni who nodded.
"I have made enough food for three of you" she said casting a glance at her sister was drooling seeing their food.
However, unfortunately for them Subaru had strictly forbidden her from making food for them.
It hurt her to see her big-sister in such a state, alas she needed to bear the punishment.
Roswaal eyes shifted on Subaru's lavishing dishes then his boiled tatoes, he lost appetite.
"Master, it isn't too late. Do you want me to make some soup for you?" Ram asked him concerned and he shook his head.
"Noooooooooo Ram, I think boiled tatoes are juuuust fine" he said grunting, obviously displeased.
Emilia meanwhile looked at Roswaal somewhat guilty and tugged Subaru's clothes.
"Zero, I feel bad that we are eating such good food and Roswaal and Ram are eating boiled tatoes" she said.
'Feeling bad for the guy who is trying to make you, her puppet?' he rolled his eyes at her.
"Emilia, don't you remember Lord Roswaal is sick, and Ram loves boiled potatoes" he said.
Their eyebrows twitched and Ram said "No need to be concerned Lady Emilia, me and Lord Roswaal are completely fine!"
"Is that so? Then I am relieved" she said and then ignoring them started eating her food.
"…"
"…"
Emilia was really naïve.
…
A month passed by peacefully, Subaru's prowess growing day by day.
Never did a day passed that Reina didn't come to teach him and spend time with him.
She seemed to have completely forgotten her Knightly duties.
According to Reina, Subaru's current Sword Skills were only surpassed by the likes of Julius.
Subaru also learned to physically reinforce himself using mana, now he could increase his already monstrous strength by several times.
According to Reina, Subaru's strength without reinforcement was nearly half of Julius, however his speed surpassed him by a small margin.
After reinforcement the gap between them became narrow, as Subaru had a talent to boost his strength immensely for a short duration of time.
Today a carriage was parked outside of the Mather's mansion, an old man and a young Knight who was none other than Felix and a Demi-human femboy, Felix had come on behalf of the Duchess Crusch to escort Emilia to Capital.
"Sorry for parking the carriage in front of the mansion" said the old man, Wilhelm as he looked at Emilia and Subaru and Betty who was standing beside him.
"Hmph! To disturb Betty when she is about to do a scientific experiment!" Betty snorted, as she tugged Subaru's sleeves.
They have gotten closer to each other in the past month, with Subaru teaching Betty something new everyday and they were just about to go outside to do a scientific experiment.
Wilhelm looked at the loli 'I have heard about her, she must be the Great Spirit of Yin' he thought, his eyes couldn't be mistaken.
'She seemed rather close to that boy' he thought looking at Subaru.
"You can call me Zero, on the request of Lord Roswaal I am currently acting as Emilia's bodyguard" he said recalling how Roswaal- asked him to be Emilia's bodyguard.
He decided to agree to his demands, firstly he wants to visit capital as well and secondly, he wants to meet with other people.
To see how much this reality is different from the original and what other people's personality are, he cannot judge everything from Anime.
'He probably thinks, I am in love with Emilia' he sighed at Roswaal's stupidity.
"On request of Lord Roswaal?" he quickly caught up the words.
"To be honest I am the honoured guest of Lord Roswaal and friend of Emilia, however since she had no suitable knight or bodyguard, he asked me to her bodyguard for the time being" he said.
Wilhelm nodded and Felix came out "~Nyah~I greet you Lady Emilia and also Mister Zero"
They nodded and soon they were escorted to the mansion.
"Sir Zerooo, this matter conceeerns the Royaaaal Selection, you should wait outside" Roswaal said with a strange glint in his eyes.
Emilia looked between them with hesitation, Subaru shrugged and said "Fine"
Unlike original Subaru he was Emilia's bodyguard, so he had more reason to listen to their discussion.
But obviously Roswaal was cooking, and whatever he was cooking was bound to be disastrous.
'Still I expected her to stand up to me- Well, she is naïve so I guess I can let it go' he thought.
He came outside to meet up with Wilhelm.
"Sir Wilhelm, if I am not wrong you are the famed Sword Demon right?" he asked and Wilhelm nodded.
'Lord Roswaal didn't let him enter the discussion? I guess his standing is lower than he makes out to be' he thought, considering Subaru as an hired bodyguard.
"Indeed, though it's in the past. I was once called such" he said recalling some bitter and happy memories.
"Sir Wilhelm! I have a request! Can I spar with you?" Subaru's eyes shined as he asked.
Wilhelm became surprised and thought for a moment before replying "Hmm, if it's a spar then I guess we shall pass time with it"
"Rem, heard that? Quickly get us some wooden swords" he said to the Rem standing quietly beside him.
"As you command Master Zero" she said and dutifully brought two wooden Swords.
"We shall spar in the garden"
They moved to the garden and finally took a battle stance.
'He seems experienced' Wilhelm noted.
Subaru charged at him, with one step he reached near to him and unleashed sword slashes.
*Stab* *Slash* *Slash*
Their swords danced with each other, clashing at a speed invisible to naked eyes.
"A fine skill of pure swordmanship" Wilhelm praised as they exchanged blows.
"Sir Wilhelm, I want to take it to next level" he said and Wilhelm smirked.
"Very well, young man" and his figure vanished.
This time Wilhelm began an offensive and Subaru could only block and parry.
Wilhelm was half-serious now, while Subaru was sweating, his senses strained to follow Wilhelm's each movement.
Wilhelm's each attack made his hands tremble, suddenly with a clash of their swords, Subaru's sword broke and Wilhelm's sword stopped at his neck-
When Subaru vanished, for the first time Wilhelm was surprised and felt a broken sword touching his neck.
"I lost" he admitted while Subaru sighed and looked at himself.
"Nope, I lost- I used magic" he said lying to his teeth.
"Really?" Wilhelm's eyes narrowed, while he wasn't a magician he knew how to enhance himself using mana.
His mana control and senses rivalled an experience mage, making him easily counter magicians.
However he felt no distortion or use of mana when Subaru vanished.
"Very well- Let's consider a draw" Wilhelm propose however Subaru refused "Nope, I lost- I used something, I shouldn't have"
"Hmm" Wilhelm nodded unwilling to say anything further about this.
"Though I must admit, your skills are polished and you don't seem to lack experience. If we both used mana to enhance ourselves, I doubt I could win easily" he praised Subaru.
"You shouldn't praise me, You should praise my teacher who taught me, she is really the best of the best" he said praising Reina.
"If I am not being too presumptuous, may I ask who your teacher might be?" Wilhelm asked, obviously curious.
"She is someone you know very well" Subaru smirked and Wilhelm's eyes narrowed.
'It can't be? Is it her?' he thought but then shook his head, he doubted that Monster would teach anyone.
"Her name is Reina Van Astrea" Natsuki declared proudly, and Wilhelm was stunned.
"R-Reina?" he whispered in disbelief, he remained silent.
Soon Felix returned and looked surprised seeing Wilhelm in deep thought while Subaru standing quietly near him.
"~Nyah~ What happened?" Felix asked and Wilhelm broke out of his stupor.
"Nothing my friend, just a small spar between a junior and senior" he said before nodding to Subaru.
"Sir Zero, I hope you can become a Royal Knight soon" he said before getting in the carriage.
Soon they left.
…
Meanwhile Subaru tried to repeat what he had involuntarily done, and successfully teleported.
'Amazing! It seems I have unlocked a new psychic ability!' he thought overjoyed, his control over psychic energy have seemed to met the criteria to unlock teleportation.
He tried to teleport again, this time in the village.
He successfully appeared in village and grabbed his head in pain.
'I guess, I cannot teleport too far- It drains to much of my psychic energy' he thought.
However looking back to his past month and his spar with Wilhelm, gave him much needed confidence.
Finally, he wasn't so weak.
To be continued...
(A/N: I was wondering if I should divide this chapter further, but anyway you guys deserve a long chapter.
Anyway, I won't be uploading any other fic this week, so yeah give me all of your powerstones in this fic, I want to be in top 50 atleast so it can get more exposure to other readers.
Don't donate powerstones in my other fics, you won't get any new chaps.
Just so you know, this fic has comfortably 50 chaps, out of which 22 have been released.
Some are super-short, some are medium and a few are long like this one.)