Well, the first order of business is to find something to cover your... privates.
You look around, but can't find anything in the immediate area. You see that there are some plants with large leaves on the edge of the clearing.
You look over to where Rem is now fighting the mabeasts.
Well, it's not like I can help, so I might as well cover myself up.
Although your hands were still shaking from the trauma you just went through you pushed through the fear and made a dash for the plants, and you hoped that nobody saw you. That would only serve to add insult to injury.
You found a big leaf, and wrap it around your waist. It barely stays on, but it will do. You take a peek into the clearing, and the situation seems to have gotten worse.
All of a sudden, a large monster seemed to grow from nowhere, and Subaru and the maids seemed to be in trouble.
I know! I'll just have to make up a spell and go with the flow!
Holding your leaf pants up, you sprint to your companions. You take a deep breath, and imagine a spear of light piercing the overgrown mutt.
The area around you started to glow, and sure enough, you could see a spear of light begin to materialize.
"Now, go forth and vanquish my target! Spear of Judgement!" You hold your hand out, urging the makeshift spell to kill the monster.
The spear blew up in a magnificent explosion, burning some parts of your body, and disintegrating your leaf.
You faceplant, and are unable to move after failing the spell. Your body felt numb from using too much mana, and it took all of your might just to be able to lift your head.
So this is how Megumin feels...
You strain your eyes up just in time to see Roswaal absolutely destroy the huge mabeast with a fire attack.
Well dang... You relax your body and lay still. You weren't going anywhere anytime soon.
Time skip
You're laying in your bed, still exhausted from the events that transpired earlier.
Your regenerating ability didn't seem to take away significant mana, but your failed spell is why you're so exhausted.
After the strenuous fight, nobody seemed to notice you, especially since you were flat on the ground, and still pretty far away.
The person that did find you was Roswaal, who noticed you while he went around killing the rest of the mabeasts.
The memory sent a shiver down your spine. This is something that you'll never tell anyone about.
Nobody was by your bedside when you woke up. This wasn't necessarily a bad thing, but you are a little jealous of the attention that Subaru was getting.
Sure, he has to be healed, but you got mauled way worse than him. In fact, it would probably be just as bad as the time that Subaru gets eaten alive by the bunnies.
Yeah, it sucked, but nobody is staying with you and making sure that you're okay. That's because they know you'll be just fine.
(Y/N), the guy that can't die from physical wounds!
Well, my life was in danger too! Who knows if I'll actually die from mana depletion? I haven't tested it out, so who knows? Can't they at least show a little bit of sympathy?
You turn in your bed, and notice a neatly folded note. You pick it up, and read it:
(Y/N), I hape that yu are feleng bedder. If you wace up abone, I am sorri, but Balusu neeped mole attenton, and e still habe jogs, bud somene shulb ceck om you soon.
You put the letter down. It was hard to read because you were still learning the language, but you got the gist of it.
It wasn't signed, but you were pretty sure that a certain pink haired maid wrote it.
Who else calls Subaru 'Barusu'?
Now, about Ram...
Hasn't she been oddly nice to me? I might be overthinking this, but she's done some stuff that suggests something.
For example, she held my hand when she helped me write a letter, and she seemed genuinely worried when I was suffering from weakness.
She also didn't want me to rush to the forest right after I almost died, but she didn't seem to care too much about Subaru...
Maybe I'm overthinking it, but what if I'm right? Does Ram like me?
Nonsense. Doesn't she love Roswaal or something? From what I saw in the anime, she would do anything for him, and she said something like her body was his. Yeah, I find it hard to believe that she likes me.
Is it some sort of scheme of Roswaal's, or am I in denial because I've never had a girl like me before?
Whichever it is, I think that I'm starting to have feelings for her. I know that there are better choices, but I'm the closest to Ram, and her actions make it hard for me not to feel something for her.
This might be a bad decision, but I'm just going to see where this goes. Is she just messing with me, or is something actually happening between us?
You're not used to having to think this hard, so you take a little break from it.
On a different note, it's probably time that I get a little more involved. I've let things run like they did in the anime, but I think that it's about time that I make a few changes.
I don't feel like being used as bait or a distraction from now on, so I'm going to learn some magic and actually contribute.
You groan as you get out of bed. You shiver as your feet hit the cold, hard floor.
You stretch your sore body, and release a heavy sigh. It's time to talk to Roswaal.
Time skip
You arrive at Roswaal's chamber, half hoping that he would be there and half hoping he wasn't.
You knock on the heavy wooden door, and you get a very creepy, "Yeeeesss?" as a response.
You take a very deep breath. "It's (Y/N). I was wondering if you could teach me some Yang magic."
You didn't know this, but Roswaal had a very large smile when you said this. "Come in theeenn."
You open the door, and try not to stare at the various objects that are scattered everywhere. "Puck said that you had an affinity for Yang magic. Since I also happen to have an affinity for it, I was wondering if you could teach me any spells."
This conversation was making you feel like a nervous child asking their parent for something that they really wanted. It made you very uncomfortable.
"You seeee," said Roswaal, "my answer will depend on yours."
You tilt your head and scrunch your eyebrows.
What the crap does that mean?
"(Y/N)-kun, what do yoooou think about Subaru's obsessioooon with Emilia?"
What's he trying to get me to say?
"I think that it is a good motivating factor for Subaru, although it might cause some problems in the future."
Roswaal grinned, finding your answer amusing. "Is that soooo? You don't think that it is a weakness?"
You shook your head. "Nope. I haven't seen anything so far that might make it seem like a weakness." You scratched your chin. "Well, it might be... but-"
"Well, then," Roswaal questioned, "Do you suppose that it might make others angry at him if they find themselves feeling affeeeeection towards him?"
Still on guard, you answered, "Well, it really depends on the person."
Roswaal nodded. "Then, let me ask this: can people fall in love with a person who is already clearly in love with another?"
All of this talk about love was weird, especially when the one asking questions was a clown man who happened to be extremely powerful, but you kept on going, not sensing any traps but still being weary. "Like I said earlier, it really depends on the person."
"Then what if this person waaaaas... Rem-chan? Would someone like her fall in love with Subaru-kun?"
You knew the answer to this, but you made it look like you were thinking about it so that you weren't suspicious. "Well, I don't know that much about Rem, but if Subaru helped her overcome some sort of trauma or emotional pain, I think that maybe even she could fall for him, even if he loves Emilia."
Roswaal's smile crept up, and you had no idea why.
"Interesting..." He said this slowly. "It seems like my book agrees with you." To your shock, Roswaal pulled a large black book from under some papers. "Your expression tells me that you know what this is, correct?"
He had a devilish grin on his face, and sweat began to drip down your forehead. "N-no. I have no idea what that is. I just find it hard to believe that I actually got something right for once." That was an obvious lie, and it had no chance of fooling Roswaal.
"Is that true? I think that the future that is written here is so close to what you claim because you know what will happen."
"I have no idea what you're talking about! The future?! I just told you a guess. I have no idea why you think that the book tells you the future, but I uh..." You fidgeted around, trying to come up with a convenient lie.
Roswaal shook his head. "Don't lie to me, (Y/N)-kun. People get punished whenever they are nauuuuughty."
You gulped. "W-what do you want?"
This made Roswaal laugh. "What do I want? If you're asking this question, then you surely don't know of my true goal." His expression turned grim. "What I want from you is an exchange. I will teach you Yang magic, and you will provide me favors equal to the knowledge you gain."
This made you think.
What do I do? This doesn't seem like a bad deal, but what exactly would he make me do? Should I refuse? Should I lie and agree?
"In case you are wondering what would happen to you if you rejected me..." He moved closer to you, his voice now down to a whisper. "I'll leave that to your imagination" His grin returned. "But we can find out if you want to."
Okay, I think that getting on Roswaal's bad side is a no go.
"And, just so you understand, lying is not an option. Trust me when I say that I will know as soon as you betray me."
This made your decision a whole lot easier, but there was one last thing that you wanted to know. "What exactly do you mean by favors, and how many will I need to give you?"
Roswaal already had a reply for that. With a sly grin, he shrugged his shoulders. "Who knows? Only time will tell."
"So... if I accept, I won't know the exact terms?"
"Yes, exactly! Now, what is your answer?" He stared at you intently, adding even more pressure to your decision.
You sigh. "I'll do it. I don't see anything positive coming from getting on your bad side, and I want to be useful to everybody, so I don't really see any other choice."
Roswaal adopted a smug expression. "Do you swear on your soul that you will uphold this vow?"
This seemed a bit odd, but you went ahead and said, "Yes. I swear that I will complete a favor for you as long as whatever it is you teach me is worth it."
"Of course my lessons will be worth it," he replied, although his voice was slightly quieter when he said this.
He then returned to his less serious self.
"Now that I have my answer, I will teach you Yang magic!"
Hey guys, I hope that you enjoyed this chapter!
I would like to thank BizzareWires for helping me with this story. They are a huge help, and I really appreciate it!
I am now trying to write on a schedule. I plan to update once every weekend, but who knows? I might post an extra chapter every now and then.
With that said, see you next time!