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*****
"Beatrice is right, if there is someone who you can trust it is Alex." Emilia agreed with a smile, trying to reassure her "I may have only known him for a short time, but Alex is a very responsible person. He is someone who acts based on logic, he is quick thinking and his heart is in the right place, despite his strange view of the World."
"That shouldn't be a surprise in the first place, I suppose." Beatrice grumbled under her breath "His whole existence itself is strange." Seriously, that boy doesn't know it, but to anyone who is sensitive to mana, he radiates magical energy like sunlight. If that is not abnormal enough, then there is that unknown scent lingering around him. That scent by itself is more than enough to intimidate those who can smell it.
"What did you say Beatrice?"
"Nothing, I suppose." Beatrice replied nonchalantly "Like Betty said, there is nothing to worry about." She said as she stared at Rem "That boy may not be as skilled as master, but handling some beast should not be a problem. He is strong. Betty thinks you should rather worry about the life of any mabeast who dares to cross his path."
Except for the three Great Demon Beasts, Beatrice doubted there was any other beast capable of bringing the knight down. He would need to get swarmed by huge numbers to get overwhelmed and judging by how he carries himself he must still have an ace up his sleeve. The boy was not a fool after all.
... Well, at least not a complete fool...
"Yes, I think I can agree with that." Emilia said with a slightly uneasy voice as she remembered how destructive Alex could be. That warehouse got nearly destroyed just by one of his swings and he did not seem bothered by the amount of energy he expended.
"That boy is strong, I suppose." Beatrice remarked with a shrug "As long as your sister stays with him, Betty is sure everything will be fine."
"And even if they get separated I'm sure Alex will find Ram." Emilia added, her face harboring a small smile "You can trust Alex, he is not going to let harm come to Ram as long she is in his sight."
'This faith and admiration in that boy... I wonder where they come from.' Beatrice thought as she watched Emilia. Seriously that girl had only known him for four days but it is as if she had known him for years. Sure he is charming, Beatrice had to admit that, however she won't be putting her faith into him so easily 'Bubby will need a hand to handle things if that boy ever betrays Emilia, Betty is sure of that.' She thought with a sigh "Enough blabbering! Where's Betty's dinner?!"
She has been here for a while damn it! She came here to eat! Not to comfort people!
"Ah, in a moment Beatrice-sama."
***
Ram felt something warm and wet drip onto her face. She felt her hand twitch, and to her surprise it did not hurt. Is dying really this painless?
She slowly opened her eyes, pink orbs widening when she saw what stood above her.
Holding the massive beast's paw, still poised to crush her, was none other than the man she distrusted so much.
Using his invisible sword, he blocked the paw while having his back turned to the beast. His green eyes peered down at her, face marred by injury and blood, his lips curled to a grin of joy and relief.
"You alright there pinky?" Alex stated while letting out a chuckle.
"A...alex-sama..." Ram breathed out his name with a shocked face.
With a grunt, Alex easily pushed the massive paw aside, like it was a sack of potatoes rather than the muscle bound limb of a nine foot tall wolf-abomination.
The massive Wolgarm was forced to stumble back a few steps to not fall. As it regained its footing, it glared at Alex who now turned to him fully with a small smirk.
"Targeting children and women. Why don't you pick on someone of your size?" Alex asked, his green eyes glinting with power "Can you stand Ram?"
Ram tried to do so, only to wince in pain "Ram doesn't think so..."
"I see, then just sit down. I will handle this."
Ram glanced at her savior who was smiling despite his back turned to her, one hand holding his invisible sword while the other was clenched into a fist. He looked just like a gallant knight out of a fairy tale for children.
"Alex-sama is wounded." She said as she took note of his bloodied face.
"Ah? This?" He gestured to the injury that was healing unseen by naked eyes. "Don't worry, it's just some scratches, and they are already healing." He said in a reassuring tone "I'm still very-very far from dying."
Truthfully he should have cut that limb off rather than blocking it. However, his sword skills were still lacking. Too bad to be called 'Good', merely 'Decent'. It was not easy to time his strike to sever the Limb and make sure Ram was not hurt in the process, so he settled for blocking.
"Now then." Alex raises his invisible sword pointing it at Wolgarm eyeing him warily "I'll admit it was smart of you to try to overwhelm me with numbers while at same time targeting the others. However, it seems like Ram here proved to be more of a problem than you originally thought, right?" He gave a feral grin to the demon beast "Too bad, that was a decent plan, adequate. But this is a checkmate for you." He took a stance, gripping his weapon with both hands "I'm sure you can hear me, beast tamer, you must be connected to your familiar right now. Know that this is nothing personal, attack us and we retaliate."
The Wolgarm flared its nostrils and as if to understand what the man was saying, it let out another fierce roar shaking the leaves of trees around it, declaring its challenge to the opposing knight.
The pseudo Saber did not speak any response to the roar, Mana burst from his body, the turquoise aura almost like a bonfire, illuminating everything around them, leaving cracks in the ground around Alex.
The Wolgarm charged him, maw wide open, fangs bared. It closed the distance in barely a second and lunged at him.
At the same time, Alex also moved.
Rage alone does not dissuade the sharpened blade. Crimson liquid spurted through the air as the beast's right front and back leg was parted from its body by Excalibur swiftly and almost without resistance, like a hot knife slicing butter.
The massive beast let out a howl of pain as its body crashed to the ground, its momentum sending it skidding along the ground, leaving a trail of blood. Its mind screamed at it to stand up, but it only managed to whimper on the ground, its remaining limbs flailing about.
The knight leapt, covering the distance between them in an instant. He landed on the beast's neck, reducing its whimpering to a choked gargle. The pseudo Saber held the bloodied invisible Excalibur to the Wolgarm exposed throat.
"Ram, you said you wanted to see this thing die in front of you." Alex said, his gaze never straying from the beast, one of his legs pressed to its long neck, preventing it from moving. It had something comical and ridiculous given their difference in size "Do you want to cut it down by yourself?"
Ram stared at the beast flailing about, its remaining limb uselessly trying to reach Alex who kneeled on the opposite side breaking it.
"This Ram wants to finish it by herself." Ram said "But she already can't use anymore spells and is barely able to stand. So the honor goes to Alex-sama."
"I see... then..." Alex's green eyes peered down to the beast that was still glaring at him with its red eyes, a small whimper coming from it "Don't look at me, look into her eyes." He tilted his head to gesturing Ram's direction "She is your judge and jury, I am simply the executioner." He raised Excalibur to the air, like an executioner preparing his axe "Know that you were not beaten by me. You fell by underestimating her feelings, for you provoked her wrath by trying to take her little sister from her."
The holy sword came down, rendering muscles, bones, tendons and flesh to nothing, beheading the abomination in a single stroke.
Alex stared at the Wolgarms head impassively as it rolled on the ground, before exhaling through his nose "It's over..."
"Yes..." Ram commented absentmindedly, eyes staring at the corpse of the beast.
Alex walked away from the dead body, approaching Ram, he kneeled in front of her to reach her level "Are you okay?"
"Ram is fine... a good rest will heal her." Ram answered nonchalantly "Alex-sama is looking worse than Ram."
"You underestimate me too much, most of it is not my blood." Alex chuckled brushing through his hair "and wounds I got already healed." He said as he revealed a drying wound, thanks to lesser spirits in her eyes. "You, in the meantime, really need to be treated now." He said as he brushed her hair aside, revealing the scar underneath it.
"Alex-sama, please don't touch Ram." Ram instantly spoke sharply when she felt his hand brush the scar.
"... Are you really that prideful? To refuse help when you clearly need it." Alex asked after moment of silence,
"Ram doesn't mind helping but this is personal. Please kindly remove your hand from Ram." She allowed only two persons to touch that scar of hers, and Alex Pendragon was clearly not on that list.
"No." Alex refused blankly.
"Excuse me?!" Rams pink eyes glared at him, for once there was real hostile intent in there "Alex-sama if you do not remove your hand right this instant then-"
"Is your pride so important that you will allow Rem to hate herself more?!"
Ram felt like she was slapped in the face, eyes wide open as she flinched under the gaze of the man in front of her.
"W-What does Alex-sama mean?"
"You came here to fight and kill that beast." Alex gestured to the carcass behind him "While in reality we both know that you were probably going to die if you faced it alone. We both came here knowing that risk. Me on my own is fine, I don't think a pack of mutts can even put too many injuries on me but you?" He shook his head "As a hornless oni you should know better."
"Since when did you…?"
"Yesterday I caught a glimpse of it when I helped you clean up the shattered teacup." Alex did not lie, he did indeed manage to get a look at the scar "That explains why you two are so wary of me. No doubt because of the witch smell that lingers around me." He said with a sigh "And don't you dare to change the topic, you know damn well what I'm trying to say here Ram, you're not stupid."
Ram found herself unable to refute the man's accusations, not because she's too tired or doesn't want to think about it, but because he is right.
Ram was neither blind nor stupid, she sees how her sister loathes herself, how she blames herself for what happened in that fiery night. How Rem pushes herself to work so hard every day, ever since they arrived at the manor. How she always tries to look calm and collected, burying all the pain inside her.
She admits it was not her smartest move to accompany the man in front of her. She did this because she was angry, angry that Rem was only one step away from death, only one step away from disappearing, from leaving her. To make it even more humiliating she was not even aware of it, she did not even realize that her sister was almost gone.
It was also because she wanted to show Rem that she truly cared for her.
'But it all backfired, didn't it?' She thought dryly.
If Rem saw her in her current condition, it would only make the girl blame herself further. Rem's mental condition, while far from unstable, cannot be considered healthy. What happened to them left a deep scar in the girl's heart and soul. A wound still festering after all these years.
This is only going to hurt her already damaged mind even further... Ram would never wish for that.
"Alex-sama knows about Rem..." She murmured after a moment of silence.
"... If you mean that she has some problem with her head, then yes. But if you mean I know what happened to her, then no." Alex answered with a shrug.
"That's why Rem was asking that question, about the genius and the hard worker."
"You caught what I'm trying to do, as expected of you." Alex chuckled, "I tried to make Rem see herself in a better light, yes."
Ram was silent, head tilted down, eyes shadowed by her hair. An unpleasant sensation was gnawing in her stomach like bugs crawling under her skin
"Why?"
"Hm?"
"Why do you care so much?" Ram asked in a low voice "We've only known each other for four days. But..." You're already meddling so much was left unsaid as she stared at the ground with clenched fists. In only four days he was already doing such things, trying to help them like this.
Alex started. He stared. He stared and stared.
Ram meanwhile was beginning to feel uncomfortable at the silence and so she lifted her head up. Only to see Alex looking at her with a face that practically screamed "What in name of every god are you talking about?"
POW!
"Ouch!" Ram yelped as a knuckle buried itself in the top of her head, making her see stars.
"You and your sister really are the same, idiot! And here I was thinking you are the smart one instead." Alex murmured with a mixture of astonishment and bewilderment.
"What is Alex-sama talking about?!" Ram practically groaned as she tried to focus her dizzy vision "Ram is going to report this abusive behavior to Roswaal-sama!"
The response she got came in the form of a hand that snaked to her cheek, pinching it, making her yelp and try to pry the hand away. Useless as it was, Alex's grip was like steel.
"I don't know how in the name of Akasha, Root, Kratos, Zeus, Shiv, and even Ddraig you still don't know about it. Perhaps it is because you Oni have a different perspective of things or what, I don't know." Alex releases the poor girl's cheek, its color now matching her hair. He made a mental note that her cheek was even softer than Emilia's surprisingly, though not as good as Rem's "In the last four days we spent time together, laughing together, smiling together, joking together and even making a promise to you yesterday. To the emotional creatures, from our perspective, mine specifically, that is already more than enough to consider you two as my friends."
While that was not the complete explanation -there was no way he could explain that he came from a different world and can see the future or things like that- but Alex truly was being honest. In the modern era, what they went through until now was more than enough to consider them to be a friend, and Alex himself thought of both maids as friends rather than pawns.
He may not be a saint. He may have been manipulative, but his moral sense was in the right place, and Alex would make sure it stayed that way, no matter what.
Meanwhile Ram was speechless, for once her mind had become blank after processing what the man said. Friends? That's it? That is the reason why he was doing this?! What an illogical and-
"If you are still sceptical then let me put it in this way, I do this so I can live in that place comfortably, happy, not needing to worry about someone going to stab me in the back." Alex added dryly when noticed Ram looking at him like he had grown three extra heads "If I help Rem then it means I also help you, it's like killing two birds with one stone, which means more benefits to me. Besides, I don't want to live with mentally ill people." He explained in a snide voice.
...
...
...
...
...
...
The pseudo Saber watched as the maid's head slowly tilted down, then her shoulder began to twitch, then they began to shake. And finally, Ram threw her head back and let out a laugh.
"Hahahaha! Hahahaha!"
It wasn't a snigger, it wasn't a giggle, it was a full blown belly laugh. Something so downright ridiculous and so out of character from someone like Ram, it left Alex dumbfounded for a moment. As far as he recalled, the girl rarely laughed, maybe not even once in the whole series. Smirk, grin, smile, chuckle? Yes!
But laughing like this? Hell no!
Her face was not showing any of the sharpness and pride that usually always adorns it. She was truly laughing in joy, in pure happiness, and Alex found himself stare at her expression with a mixture of astonishment and shock.
Even if they were twins, in Alex's opinion, they were nothing alike. Ram's face usually had a sharp frame and expression, there seems something that made her so unapproachable. Opposite of Rem -even when trying to copy her the blue haired maids face was still more mellow and soft, even if she forced it to look like Ram but it still looked very different in Alex's opinion.
But now?
...
'I admit though... She has a nice smile.'
That was to be expected from the pretty girl actually.
"Alex-sama... Ram should expect no less from you." Ram said after calming herself "Alex-sama truly is a knight with two faces."
There is no bite or heat in her words, they're more like statements and dare Alex said, a compliment.
"Being chivalrous and a gentleman is fine for me, but one should never lose their common sense because of it." Alex replied in an amused voice "So I guess the knight with two faces is indeed a suitable nickname for me."
"Hmph, this Ram approves of that title, it really suits Alex-sama." Ram agreed with a small smile "Then, Ram takes it Alex-sama knows what he should do?"
She won't ask, Alex can tell Ram is that kind of person.
"Of course." He raises his palm, calling forth the energy that dwells inside him again, letting it flow to his hand "Let see... Oni absorb mana through their horns, right? Since you're hornless then..."
"Please don't transfer a large amount of it in an instant, Ram's horn needs delicate, careful, and tender treatment." Ram deadpanned "As a knight in training, Alex-sama needs to learn how to treat a young lady, especially one as beautiful as Ram."
Alex shuddered hearing that, the way Ram chose her words... yeah, that clearly is not the best choice of words "I will try." He replied to her, glad he managed to keep his voice calm 'Let see... I have to let it out piece by piece. Haaah, what a troublesome thing to do.'
He put his palm a few centimeters away from Ram's scar. Then he let out his mana carefully and slowly, trying to not make it burst. The knowledge on how to expel mana from his body is already known by him, he learned it the first day after using it against Elsa.
He forced the energy flow to be as moderate as he could. It was hard to do actually, the sensation was almost like preventing a regulation of the flow of water by pinching the hose closed.
***
"!?"
A gasp came out of Ram's mouth when the mana was absorbed by her horn. She felt her body become weak for a moment as she slumped. Seeing this Alex immediately steadied her, face turning concerned.
"Ram? Oi Ram! Are you fine?! I didn't put too-"
"R-Ram is fine!" Ram cut him off in an uncharacteristic airy tone, her hand immediately latched to Alex's other arm, using it as support "I-It just! A-Alex-sama's mana is too rich." She said that while gasping and clutching his arm shakily.
Even Roswaal mana was nothing compared to this man. Perhaps it is because of Alex's true nature, whatever that may be. With his mana being more potent than even that of Lugnica's most powerful mage spoke of quite something in Ram's opinion.
"S-Should I continue?" Alex found himself feeling very uncomfortable due to the sudden closeness. He would be lying if he said he didn't enjoy having a pretty girl in his arms, but Ram was acting so out of character! She's really like Rem right now, so shy and cute! And Ram never, ever did cute in Alex's opinion! Not even in canon! Except when she tried to annoy Subaru.
So yes, he enjoyed it, but it was kind of disturbing in a way...
"Y-Yes! Please."
"Uhh o-okay."
It was an awkward and uncomfortable five minutes for the pseudo Saber. The whole time Ram's grip on his sleeve never weakened, the girl breathing quite ragged. She was practically squirming under his arm. He even can smell her due to the closeness, it was a miracle that he managed to stay focused and keep the mana-flow stable.
Though there a few times he lost focus, which resulted in a gasp and a very... sensual voice from Ram.
"I-Is it enough?" Alex asked with slight stutter
"..."
Ram didn't answer and only removed her grip from Alex's sleeve, indicating it was enough, her head was tilted down, obscuring her face as she got back to her feet.
Alex let out a breath of relief and he turned away from the pink haired oni. God, that was awkward, like reeeeaaaallly awkward. What the hell is going on here?! When he went out to kill the Shaman tonight he never thought he would trigger such a flag!
"From now on..." Ram broke the silence between them, face still shadowed by her hair, her voice blank and hollow "From now on Alex-sama is forbidden from transferring his mana to Ram."
Alex spared a small glance to her, even if she hides it he can tell her face was burning, well it just makes sense to be embarrassed after going through something like that. He was also blushing a little right now.
"If you say so." He answered with a nod, face turned away. That was a good idea, he didn't think he could hold himself back forever seeing Ram like that, gods it felt so weird and...
He shuddered visibly, maybe he should stop transferring mana to everyone. Granted he did that only to Beatrice this far but... the librarian's reaction was very tame compared to Ram... Perhaps it is because she is a spirit while Ram is a living being.
Alex tried to find something to distract his mind and possibly break the awkward tension between them. He found it in the form of a big dead body lying in front of him.
He stepped forward to it, raising his hand and he touched the carcass with a contemplating look.
If he recalled correctly... demon beasts are actually created by Daphne -the Witch of Glutton- in the first place to become food. People just never try to eat them because of their menacing appearance and the fact they usually get eaten first.
***
"Let's bring this thing back home." He said aloud.
*****
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