I fell backwards on my bed, signs of exhaustion visible on my face as I stared at the ceiling.
"Haah!... that was tiring."
Suddenly I heard a knock before the person outside revealed who it was.
"This is rem. Do you have a moment, subaru-kun?"
I sat up and popped my shoulders to get rid of the stiffness before addressing her.
"Yeah, you can come in. I too just completed my first day of job."
"Pardon me, then"
The door opened and in walked the blue haired maid that always seem to have a thin layer of suppressed bloodlust around her whenever she's around me.
I looked in her arms and was surprised to see her carrying the jacket from the morning.
"You're finished with it already? I'm impressed."
I complemented her, genuinely impressed by her skills.
"When it is roswaal-sama's sama's clothing, my priority is to be careful."
"But since this is yours..."
"Did you just imply that you just added more fabric to make it larger?"
I asked her In a deadpan tone which she completely ignored. Taking the offered jacket and slipped it on.
"Hmmm, it's perfect. Surprisingly if I take your previous statement into consideration."
"So, does it suit me?"
I looked up tat her, my arms extended to the sides a little to give ger a better look.
"Combined with the rarity of gray clothes, no one in any kind of strange garment could rival you."
Her words were harsh but it was more confusing to understand if it was genuine or not due to her monotonous tone.
"Okay, that was mean. But I suppose it wasn't as painful as ram's insults."
"What should we do with that one?"
She asked, pointing at the pants rested on the table.
"Hmm? Oh that one's easy, do you have a needle and thread?"
I asked, picking it up and and taking a seat on the chair next to the table.
"I brought them, shall I repair it now?"
"Hmm, oh no, I can do it."
With that said, I began to do my work as rem watched from the side, her gaze calculative.
"I'm surprised. I must give you full marks for your sewing."
She said, not looking surprised at all. I simply shook my head and smiled fondly at the needle.
"Heh, I learned to maintain the house around ten since I was the second oldest, so I'm pretty good at housework."
"As for sewing? I picked it up to make toys for the orphans taken in by the church."
A memory of a ten year old subaru and a very tall and bulky chocolate skinned boy of same age sitting, sewing clothes while talking.
[Realmhart has recorded your proficiency.]
[Sewing LV: 1 has been registered into your skills]
[Name: sewing
Level: 1
Cost: 0 DP/CP
Description: The art of joining fabrics together using needle and thread. Thisskill allows you to create, repair, and modify clothing, accessories, and other textile items.
Effects:
-None.
-Able to perform simple stitches and repairs with slight modification.
Quality: low
The quality of your sewed items depends on your skill level, with higher levels resulting in more durable and visually appealing creations.]
'Seems like it's working as it should. I was concerned since I hadn't received anything from earlier'
I thought, looking at the prompt with relief.
Realmhart was a runic system made by connecting it the world's archive.
Unlike the systems from stories, Realmhart works on merit and records.
The experience points are provided upon fighting a foe that can actually provide the opportunity to grow and if one is able to kill their opponent, their merits and records will be transferred in the form of experience points.
******
Next day, inside the kitchen
"Not just with sewing but you're also surprisingly good with a knife, barusu."
For the first time since I woke up, ram complimented me and for some reason, it felt... fulfilling?
'The only praise I ever received from my instructors were always about my growth as a weapon. I guess being complemented for a simple task such as peeling vegetables felt better than being praised for creating a skill equivalent to a nuke.'
"As always, you make such a lovely image when peeling vegetables, sister."
Rem said and to my surprise, smiled with administration towards her sister. I smiled at the sisterly love shown by rem before asking her with curiosity.
"What about me?"
Her face returned to its neutral expression as she inspected the expertly peeled tatoes tho with minor cuts on them.
"You are able to peel them without wasting anything. That is impressive."
"Thank you for the kind words."
"You talk too much while working barusu. Your technique is perfect but your control isn't. That's why you pause from time to time."
Ram chided before picking up a tato and expertly began peeling it with her knife without any pause.
"You need to hold the knife still while turning the vegetable like this."
"Frankly speaking, my best dish is steamed tatoes."
She said with pride, raising the the perfectly peeled vegetable in her hand.
'Is it really something to be so proud of?'
I thought, a small smile of amusement flickering on my lips before I picked up another tato and, imitating ram, began to peel it as a ethereal projection of ram only visible to me, appeared beside me, our motions the exact same.
"Oh...so, like this? You're right! It's much easier like this."
I said, showing her the perfectly peeled vegetable. For a second, she seemed surprised but returned to usual expression.
After cooking came a series of tasks. Cleaning the rooms, washing dishes, cleaning the large bath, washing clothes, trimming the trees around the mansion and helping rem prepare the dinner while giving her advice on changing and altering the amount of seasoning while adding a few more vegetables to enhance the flavor.
I did everything diligently while getting small tips and insults from ram. Doing so, I gained myriads of different house care related skills.
And just like that, the day's work was over.
******
It was night time, I sat in my room, my upper body bare, the uniform neatly folded to the side.
"Well then, I suppose that's enough rest. Time to start training."
With that, I bit the finger of my right hand and let the blood flow out before infusing it with Devine power.
I raised the finger covered in glowing red life fluid and began making symbols on my left shoulder which soon turned golden.
[Realmhart has recorded your proficiency]
[Rune arts LV: 1 has been registered into your skills]
[Name: Rune arts
Level: 1
Cost: 10 DP/CP
Description: A ancient discipline that allows user to craft and wield mystical arts of grafting runes imbued with various super natural effects.
Recorded runes:
None. ]
[Successfully created rune of Resistance: first stage]
As soon as I finished, my body immediately felt the effects. My body became sluggish as if submerged underwater, decreasing my movement speed and reaction capabilities.
[Successfully created rune of Gravitational force: first stage]
[Impact of Gravity increased by 1.5 times]
I changed the position of my finger to my left forearm, The effects were different from before as the force of gravity increased, almost causing me to fall over but I persisted, my finger made another rune.
[Successfully created rune of dulled sensation]
I made the rune at the base of my neck, The sensations dulled around me, my sense of hearing, sight, smell, touch, taste became weakened by a slight margin. A dulled feeling of nausea began to rise as my hand shook from the strain. But I continued.
[Successfully created rune of restricted energy flow]
I lowered my shaking hand to my chest And as soon as the final rune was made I felt the flow of energies in my body become disturbed, making it harder to control.
'S-shit! Did I push it too far!?'
I fell face first on the bed, my breathing labored and frantic as sweat flowed down my body, I tried to move but to no avail.
As the darkness began to claim my vision, a muffled knocking on my door was heard as a sweet, calming, familiar voice registered in my head.
"Subaru? Are you still up?"
'Emilia! Why Is she here at this hour?'
I thought, a new found strength flooding my body as I raised my body from the bed and covered my torso back with the black, leathery combat gear.
"Y-yeah! You can C-come in."
[Name: Balanced healing
Level: 1
Type: active
Cost: 10 DP/CP per second
Description: a skill that uses Devine power to heal while using currupted Holy to destroy any excess growth, maximizing its effects.
Effect:
+1 HP per second
+Cure weak poisons
+Removes minor debuffs]
She walked in as soon as I activated my healing on myself, easing the pressure from the toll of the runes.
"What brought you here at this hour, Emilia-tan? I thought you'd be either sleeping or studying."
I asked which caused her to have a slight dusting of pink on her fair face as she shyly said while glancing to the side.
"W-well, subaru. D-do you remember when we first met? Y-you said you'll tell me about your travels and the places you visited."
I blinked at the shy half elf for a second before a soft amused chuckle escaped my lips.
"Is that it? Then why are you so worked up? Come on, sit. I'll tell you about my journey."
Her face lit up as she bounced over to me in excitement. I took my bag and took out a heavy looking journal named *Simon's travelog*.
'Well. I suppose a hour or so won't be that bad.'
And so, I began telling her about the places I had visited with photos as reference. Emilia's excitement didn't diminished as she continued to listen.
And before I knew it, several hours had passed.