"I didn't expect it either. Subaru's Gate is... odd."
"He can't regulate his Mana output at all."
"Once it opens, it's like a dam bursting. No shutting it off."
Puck spread his tiny paws in a helpless shrug, then turned to Gojo with an apologetic look.
"So what you're saying is Subaru has no talent for magic. That about right?"
Gojo waved it off. Nobody was to blame. Puck had meant well from the start.
"Until he can fully control his Gate, yeah, that's about the size of it."
"Right now, Subaru's like a disposable handkerchief. One use and you toss it. The second he casts a spell, he ends up like this."
"And if he tried to force it, he'd burn through his life force, and then..." Puck tilted his head sideways, shut his eyes, and floated limp in midair, playing dead.
Gojo looked down at Subaru sprawled across the grass like a wrung-out corpse and scratched the back of his head.
Chuunibyou. Lovesick. Zero magical talent.
Can a protagonist like that really save the world?
Or maybe he'd been wrong from the start. Maybe this wasn't that kind of story at all. No world-saving arc, no need for a hero with overwhelming power.
But from everything he'd seen so far, this world had no shortage of strong people.
So what could a protagonist with nothing to his name actually do?
The question led nowhere. Gojo dropped it and stepped forward, crouching beside the unconscious Subaru. He laid a hand on him and focused, probing carefully.
No damage. Everything intact.
Pure Mana exhaustion, nothing more.
Still, as he finished his cursory examination, he noticed something. Just as he'd suspected, Subaru did have a certain aptitude for Jujutsu.
"Sorry for the trouble. Doesn't look like he'll be waking up anytime soon, so I'll carry him back to rest."
"No, no, we're the ones who should apologize." Emilia pulled Puck close, the two of them bowing together. "You've been helping us this whole time, and then this happened..."
Guilt was written all over her face. Gojo remembered something Subaru had said, and a smile crossed his lips.
"Well, in that case, mind if I ask a small favor?"
Emilia glanced at Puck, then nodded. "Of course. What is it?"
"Subaru mentioned he ran into a little spirit girl guarding a library this morning. Think you could take me to meet her?"
"And if I could get a look at the books inside, even better."
If it was a Forbidden Library, it had to contain texts on magic, hidden knowledge, things that could deepen his understanding of this world.
Puck was supposed to be her brother. Surely that counted for something.
"Hmm, Betty?" Puck scratched his cheek. "I can put in a word, but I can't promise she'll agree."
"That's enough."
Roswaal's mansion wasn't just a paycheck to Gojo. It was a stepping stone toward understanding this world on a deeper level.
An opportunity like this wasn't something he'd let pass.
He scooped Subaru up, gave Emilia and Puck a nod, and headed for the mansion.
When he wakes up and finds out he can't use magic, he's going to be crushed.
The thought lingered as he walked.
He carried Subaru all the way to his room and stopped at the door.
"If you don't mind, Miss Ram, could you lend me a hand? You've been watching for quite a while now."
A shock of pink hair peeked around the corner of the corridor.
"Please don't misunderstand. Ram was only making sure Lord Roswaal wouldn't accidentally witness anything... strange."
Gojo looked down at Subaru cradled in his arms, princess-carry style, and considered the optics for a moment. Then he walked over to Ram and deposited Subaru directly into her arms.
She stared at him, blank-faced.
"There. No more misunderstandings."
Ram staggered, nearly losing her footing under the sudden weight.
Her expression didn't change.
"The guest certainly knows how to put people to work."
"Oh, come on. A girl as cute as you wouldn't mind something this small, right?"
"Ram is already well aware of how cute she is. The guest's confirmation is unnecessary."
She shuffled through the door with Subaru in her arms, wobbling slightly, and disappeared into the room.
Emilia and Puck arrived shortly after, watching as Ram settled Subaru onto the bed. Worry still lingered in Emilia's eyes.
"Looks like he won't be coming around for a while," Puck said, studying Subaru from above.
"Puck, why don't you take Satoru to see Betty first? I'll stay here and look after Subaru."
Emilia's voice was firm, decided.
"Then we're off! We'll come find you later, Lia."
Puck drifted lazily onto Gojo's shoulder. "Let's go."
Out in the hallway, he began to explain. "Because she guards the Forbidden Library, Betty linked its door to every door in the mansion. It shifts constantly."
"If you can't find the right one, your only option is to open every door in the building."
"Sounds like a hassle."
"Well, sure, for other people. But Puck happens to be Betty's absolute favorite big brother!"
Confidence radiated off every whisker. He planted himself in the middle of the corridor and called out at the top of his tiny lungs.
"Betty!"
A moment later, Gojo sensed it. A strange ripple of energy blooming across the door behind them.
Yin Attribute Mana, if this world's classification held.
The ripple gathered, intensified, and then the door that should have led to Subaru's room swung open from the inside.
Out stepped a small girl in an elaborate dress, golden hair twisted into twin drill curls. She couldn't have been more than four feet tall, and everything about her was delicate, almost doll-like.
But what struck him most were her eyes. Blue, patterned with butterfly markings, vivid and otherworldly.
"Were you looking for Betty, Brother?"
She crossed the distance in a few quick steps, bounced up to snatch Puck off Gojo's shoulder, and turned on her heel without so much as a glance in his direction. She was already heading back through the door, hugging the spirit to her chest.
From start to finish, she hadn't acknowledged his existence. To her, he might as well have been a piece of furniture.
"Betty, actually, the thing is..."
Puck squirmed in her grip as she nuzzled her smooth little cheek against him, and he couldn't help but laugh.
...
Get early access to 40 chapters ahead on my Patreon!
patreon.com/fawkess