Rem: "Tanaka was slow to begin with, and now he is uncapable of doing any task."
Ram: "Tanuki contribution was small to begin with, now it became negative, you are basically a burden."
Tanaka: "I know, I know. Sorry, but I didn't find the shitty lenses so I can't see proper.... Fuck!" Tanaka cursed as he cut his finger while peeling a potato.
Subaru: "I didn't know you were wearing ones in the first place, now I recall that in your photos, you were wearing glass.. Ouch!" Subaru yelled as he also hurt himself using a knife.
Rem: "Oh look sister, how delightful. Our heroes, bravely fighting against the potato and the knife."
Ram, with her customary cold demeanor, added, "Indeed Rem. Quite the epic tale of culinary conquest."
Tanaka rolled his eyes, rubbing his slightly injured finger. "If you two are done with your stand-up comedy, I will go fetch some bandages."
It's now the third day since Subaru have arrived at the mansion, and it's also the third day since Tanaka lost his contact lenses, and since then his work efficiency dropped a lot, and with that, the twins criticism has also risen up.
Tanaka muttered to himself, a hint of resignation in his voice, "This is going to be a rough day."
*********************************************************************************************************
Tanaka: " You people seriously cut the grass with only scissors? When the garden is this big?"
Tanaka's skepticism was palpable as he looked at the vast expanse of the garden before him. The idea of trimming all that grass with just a pair of scissors seemed ludicrous to him. The sweat trickling down his brow was a testament to the scorching heat that only added to his irritation.
Ram: "Considering the position of Emilia-Sama and the current situation of the country, Roswaal-Sama might have important guest coming. Therefor, it's to be expected that the appearance of the mansion must be in it's best shape."
Subaru chimed in, "Maybe he should invest in a lawnmower instead. Doing this..."
Ram's rebuttal was swift, her words stern, "Don't even think of half-assing this task, Barusu. The height of the grass must be maintained at five Verids. We're just going to take care of the front yard today; the rest of the garden will take up to one week to finish its maintenance." She pointed at an area where the grass had been meticulously cut, indicating the measurement she mentioned.
Tanaka's skepticism was palpable as he looked at the vast expanse of the garden before him. The idea of trimming all that grass with just a pair of scissors seemed ludicrous to him. The sweat trickling down his brow was a testament to the scorching heat that only added to his irritation.
Having the urge to finish the task quickly, Tanaka held the pile of grass and used the scissors with strength and....
"FUCK!" The expletive burst out of him involuntarily, a mixture of pain and frustration. The sting of the cut on his hand only fueled his irritation.
As if responding to his outburst, Emilia's attention was momentarily diverted from her conversation with the spirits. Her eyes flicked towards the source of the commotion, and she began to approach.
Emilia: "What's the matter?"
From a distance, Ram's voice carried a touch of coldness as she addressed Emilia's unspoken question. "It's just Tanuki being clumsy."
Emilia's attention, however, didn't waver. She caught sight of Tanaka clutching his hand, the red droplets of blood stark against his skin. A sigh escaped her lips, a mixture of exasperation and concern. "You did mention that you're not used to this kind of work, Tanaka. Pushing yourself won't help."
Tanaka, feeling a mixture of embarrassment and discomfort, lowered his gaze under her scrutiny.
Emilia's sigh seemed to carry a hint of resignation as she stepped closer. "Here, show me your hand so I can heal..." Her sentence trailed off as a cluster of ethereal lights materialized, swirling around Tanaka's wounded hand.
Tanaka's eyes widened in surprise and a hint of alarm. "What the heck are those things? Get them away from me!"
Subaru: "Aren't those the lesser spirits you were talking about, Emilia-Tan?"
The entire scene seemed to render everyone, except Tanaka and Subaru, momentarily speechless. Rem was the first to recover her voice, her astonishment evident. "Are you the one who called them, Emilia-Sama!?"
Emilia seemed equally puzzled, shaking her head. "I... I wasn't the one who called them."
As the spirits congregated around Tanaka, a particular group settled around his injured hand. Their glow intensified, illuminating the surroundings with an otherworldly radiance. In the midst of this mystifying display, the pain in Tanaka's hand began to ebb away, replaced by a peculiar tingling sensation.
Tanaka's incredulity reached a crescendo as the spirits worked their magic. "The wound... it's gone!"
Puck's voice, with a playful lilt, interjected, "Ehem, as I thought, Tanaka has an aptitude for spiritualism.."
Just as the moment seemed to be settling into a blend of astonishment and bewilderment, the atmosphere shifted once more. The small, luminous figure suddenly popped out from Emilia's hair.
Hearing Puck's answer. Tanaka's retort was swift, "No I refuse."
Emilia: "Puck, you knew about this?"
Puck: "I would say I knew, but I felt something odd when I met him and so did Betty but now I'm able to clarify it."
Subaru: "What is spiritualism?"
Tanaka: "Oy, don't ignore me."
Puck: "Beings known as minor spirits. Extant ubiquitously throughout the world, Open your heart to them to converse and form a contract. Those who are favored by spirits, and borrow their strength to achieve the extraordinary, are referred to as spiritualists, like Lia for example."
At Puck cheesy lines, Tanaka couldn't help but visibly cringe. As Puck spoke, an odd scene unfolded in the air around them. The spirits, which had been dancing in their usual ethereal manner, seemed to move with a sense of excitement, almost as if they were intrigued by Tanaka's presence.
Emilia's excitement was palpable as she continued, "As Puck said, forming contracts with minor spirits grants you access to their strength and magic. If you're interested, I can teach you how..."
Tanaka then quickly interjects, "Thanks for the offer but I already said that I'm won't be doing anything related to magic until I find a way to go back home, also I'm don't want to commit to a contract."
Emilia's disappointment was evident in her expression and tone. "Is that so?"
The spirits, which had been floating around with an air of excitement, suddenly stilled their movements, their collective enthusiasm had been dampened by Tanaka's words.
This change in their behavior caught Tanaka off guard. He blinked at the stationary spirits, then turned to Emilia with a flustered expression.
Tanaka: "Wait, why do they suddenly seem sad?"
Emilia sighed, her gaze on the spirits, "It's because of what you said."
Subaru: "Huh? They are sad. Can you speak to them?"
Tanaka's brows furrowed in a mix of confusion and realization, "Huh? You can't tell?" He added with a self-deprecating chuckle, "Hm, I wouldn't exactly say 'talk,' but it's like I get a sense of what they're conveying... Hold on, did I inadvertently become a weirdo without even realizing it?"
Emilia's eyes sparkled with excitement, "That's amazing! Not everyone possesses the ability to understand the language of the spirits."
Subaru: "Dammit, you lucky bastard. You already have a cool power that is similar to Emilia-Tan, I'm so jealous!!"
Tanaka: "What the hell are jealous for, I became an autistic person who can talk to beams of light."
Emilia then voiced her displeasure: "That's rude, and they are called minor-spirits, not beams of lights. In any case, do something about this."
Tanaka: "Wait, am I supposed to lift the spirits of spirits? What do I say to them?"
Emilia's advice was simple, "I usually talk to them about how my day went."
Tanaka once again faced the beams of lights, "You really want to hear about that?"
The spirits that once stopped moving started shaking again in the air all excited.
Tanaka: "Alright then, here goes. My day? It was a disaster! I wake up and promptly fall off the bed. Why? Because I got up extra early to hunt for my lenses, which, surprise, I didn't find. Later, I manage to hurt myself with a knife while attempting kitchen heroics, and just now, I cut my finger using scissors making me seem like a completely useless and incompetent person. And now, even my eyes hurt from all the fuzziness."
Emilia: "Fuzziness?"
Tanaka: "I am short-sighted, in other words I can't see things that are far away from me and in my case it's especially worse, even through the distance between us is small, your faces are all blurry to me and I can't even tell the difference between Rem and Ram from this distance."
Ram: "Isn't that just the 'Nearsighted' illness?"
Tanaka: "The 'Nearsighted' illness?"
Emilia provided clarification, "It's a common condition among children. Usually, they get treated with magic when they are young."
Subaru: "Magic seems to fix everything, doesn't it?"
Tanaka: "Well I don't like it! It feels like it's looking down on modern medicine. What the hell do doctors have to study ten years in our world before they can even think of treating someone and here if you are unwell... No problem, you will get better with magic! It sounds like bullshit."
As if in response to his heated argument, two spirits drifted closer to Tanaka's face, causing him to instinctively take a step back.
Tanaka's voice carried a mix of confusion and concern, "Hold on, why are they getting so close to my face?"
Emilia: "I think they want to heal your eyesight."
Tanaka: "Oh no, thanks for healing my hand earlier, but my eyes are off-limits. I'm not even sure if my case is what you're calling the 'Nearsighted' illness or whatever."
Puck interjected reassuringly, "You're worrying too much, Tanaka. The minor spirits seem to like you very much, and there's no real risk involved. The worst-case scenario would be that you simply remain untreated."
Tanaka's resolve remained firm, "No, seriously, I'm good. I don't want to take the risk of something going wrong due to differences in multi-dimensional properties and ending up blind or handicapped."
Despite his refusal, the spirits swirled in the air around him, their movements reminiscent of flies, before playfully poking at his head.
Tanaka's immediate reaction was a mixture of surprise and slight pain, "Ouch, what was that for?"
Subaru: "I don't get their words, but I think they're capable of detecting your bullshit. they already saw how they can heal your hand and even when I came here I literally had my belly cut open and I'm all fine thanks to Emilia-Tan."
Tanaka's response was fueled by his determination to explain, "Well, treating someone's eyesight and a wounded hand are completely different things due to the complexity of the eyes. See, the eyes consist of multiple intricate parts and the potential risks..."
Subaru quickly interjected, a bit overwhelmed, "Okay, okay, shut up. I get it."
Tanaka sighed, his point made, "In any case, I just want to refrain from dealing with things I have zero understanding of. Unless it's something that can get us home or an absolute emergency, I'd rather not interact with any supernatural phenomena."
Subaru: "You are talking which is awesome and all, but... Is there even a way to go back home?"
Tanaka's answer was assertive, "There has to be a way. Just like we got here, there should be a way to return. That's why I need to learn how to read and write as soon as possible, to communicate properly. If I don't find an answer here, I'll look elsewhere."
Tanaka's demeanor shifted as he explained further, "There are couple of reasons as to why I'm in a hurry to go back home, but the main reason I don't want my family to get to hear that I'm missing. I live in my own appartement in Shizuka but my family live in Tokyo. It has been three days since we came here, and considering the fact that I left the door of my appartement open, the owner of my building should have noticed and might have already declared that I'm missing, it's going to be a headache when my family finds out and it's going to be an even bigger pain in the ass if I stay here for too long and be presumed dead . In your case, I'm gonna assume that the police started searching for you the moment you arrived?"
Subaru's silence spoke volumes, his distress evident as he imagined his parents talking to a police officer, worried sick about him not coming home after his late-night convenience store trip. He finally replied, "Yeah... you're right. We should definitely try to find a way."
As they contemplated their situation, the twins Rem and Ram remained silent, their expressions thoughtful as they absorbed the weight of Tanaka's words. It was then that Emilia's soft voice broke the silence, injecting a glimmer of hope, "I'm sure we will find a way."
Subaru, trying to lighten the atmosphere, scratched his head in an attempt to hide his worry, "Don't worry Emilia-Tan, I'm fine."
With a renewed sense of determination, the group returned to their tasks, their minds slightly less burdened by the uncertainties that had been plaguing them.
Time flowed by as they tirelessly worked on maintaining the mansion's exterior. Sweating under the sweltering sun, they labored through the day.
Tanaka wiped his brow and exhaled deeply, "Phew, it's finally over."
The front yard's grass had been meticulously taken care of, all achieved with just a pair of scissors. The effort had consumed nearly four grueling hours, it was equivalent to a torture session.
Rem chimed in, her voice indifferent, "What are you planning to do now, Tanuki?"
Tanaka then began organizing his priorities, "Well, I will go search again for my lenses and then I'm going to take a small nap before our night course. Wake me up when...."
He was cut off by a peculiar sight behind him. The same group of spirits that had tried to heal his eyesight earlier were now following him.
Tanaka's eyebrows twitched in confusion, his voice tinged with a mix of surprise and irritation, "Why are they following me?"