Master of illusions - Natsuki Subaru

Subaru's stomach gave a loud growl, echoing embarrassingly through the quiet room. He hunched over slightly, clutching his midsection as if that would somehow muffle the sound. His cheeks flushed crimson.

Emilia turned toward him with a soft smile. "You're hungry, aren't you?" she said kindly. "I can cook something for you."

Before he could protest or make a joke to save face, she was already busying herself with ingredients from the cupboard. He watched as she tossed a few odds and ends into a pot of boiling water without much ceremony. The contents bubbled uncertainly, but she stirred with confidence, wielding a delicate, hand-carved wooden spoon.

Subaru couldn't take his eyes off her.

She had long since stopped wearing her cloak around him—no more hood hiding her features—and now that her silver hair was fully visible, cascading freely over her shoulders, it was... honestly distracting. Her violet eyes glowed softly in the firelight, and every little movement she made was elegant, effortless. It was insane.

Is this real life? he wondered. I'm sitting here in some fantasy world—me, a total shut-in loser who got hit by a truck or something stupid like that—and I'm watching a literal elf princess make soup for me. And not just that… we went on a date!

He almost wanted to pinch himself.

She continued stirring quietly, but Subaru's lingering gaze didn't go unnoticed. Her hand slowed. Her cheeks colored slightly as she glanced at him from the corner of her eye.

"I-It's rude to stare, you know," she said, voice a touch flustered. "Is there something… on my face?"

She tried to hide her blush behind a lock of hair, tucking it behind her ear in a motion that only made her look more endearing.

Subaru grinned like a dope and gave her an enthusiastic thumbs-up. "Only your beautiful eyes, ears, mouth—oh, and eyes again, Mili!"

The blush deepened. She turned back to the pot quickly, doing her best to pretend the fire in her face was just from the stove.

Puck, who had been floating lazily nearby, narrowed his eyes at Subaru. He didn't say anything—yet—but the look was clear: Don't push your luck.

The spirit's judgmental stare didn't faze Subaru. In fact, he was riding a high. Even Puck's silently withering look couldn't break his mood.

"So, you said Puck is your contracted spirit, right?" Subaru asked, shifting on the bed and sitting cross-legged. "Could someone like me do that too?"

Emilia opened her mouth to answer, but Puck floated over, cutting her off before she could get a word out.

"I'll take that one, Lia," Puck said smoothly.

Emilia huffed and pouted a little at the interruption, but didn't object further.

"It depends on your spirit affinity," Puck explained, now hovering in front of Subaru. "And lucky for you… yours is surprisingly high."

Subaru's eyes lit up like a child on Christmas morning. "Hell yeah!" he shouted, pumping a fist into the air.

"But don't get too excited," Puck warned, his tone dropping slightly. "Spirits need mana to function. Without enough of it…"

"Way to kill the mood," Subaru mumbled, flopping backward onto the bed dramatically. "So it's like getting a god-tier item in a game, but you're too low-level to equip it?"

Puck blinked slowly. "You use a lot of weird terms, but… yes, that's not far off."

Subaru sat up again, pointing at the spirit. "Hey, don't look at me like I'm crazy!"

"You make it hard not to," Puck deadpanned, but offered a small thumbs-up nonetheless.

"Well, can you find out how much mana I've got?" Subaru asked, his curiosity fully piqued.

"Sure thing," Puck said cheerfully. "I'll also check your magic attribute while I'm at it."

The cat-like spirit floated closer, stopping just in front of Subaru's face. Then, with a soft flick of his tail, he tapped Subaru's forehead.

"The four primary types of magic are Water, Wind, Earth, and Fire," Puck said, closing his eyes as his tail began to glow faintly. He started to chant, "Meow… meow… meow… meow…"

Subaru blinked. "Whoa! Those are totally mystical sound effects!"

After a moment, Puck pulled back his tail and opened his eyes. "Okay. I've got it."

Subaru clasped his hands together eagerly, eyes wide. "Oh, I can't wait! Is it fiery passion? Cool and calm water? The serene gentleness of wind? The unshakable strength of earth?!"

He could already see it—himself casting elemental spells like some overpowered protagonist.

"It's Yin," Puck said with a satisfied smile.

"…Yin?" Subaru blinked, his smile faltering. "Wait, isn't that… not one of the four?"

"In addition to the main four, there's also Yin and Yang magic," Puck explained casually. "Some people call yin shadow magic."

Subaru blinked a few more times. "So I'm a glitch in the system?"

"It's very rare," Emilia chimed in, turning briefly from her cooking to smile at him. "Not many people have a Yin attribute."

Subaru lit up. "So it's like a legendary power that only appears once every thousand years?!"

His excitement was short-lived.

"With the Yin attribute," Emilia said thoughtfully, placing a finger to her cheek, "you can obstruct sight, sound, movement… things like that."

His face froze. "So it's a… debuff class?" he asked, voice flat, jaw slack.

The dreams of casting fireballs or summoning dragons vanished like mist in the wind. Still, he glanced over at Emilia. Well… I got the cute elf girl companion. That's gotta count for something. Still wish I had something cool though, he added silently

Puck flipped upside down mid-air and smiled. "A simple Yin spell would be Shamak, but since Yin isn't really my specialty, that's about as much as I know."

"Shamak… that's the blinding one, right?" Emilia asked, recalling something she'd read. Most of her magical knowledge came from Puck, but she tried to keep up.

"That's right, Lia! 100 points!" Puck beamed. "Would you like to see it in action?"

"I don't think that's a good idea, Puck—"

"Yeah! Please show me!" Subaru interrupted, completely ignoring Emilia's concern.

"And—Shamak!" Puck exclaimed, swiping his paw with a flourish.

Darkness swallowed Subaru completely.

It was like falling into a void. No sound. No light. No sense of touch. He tried to speak—"Hello?"—but nothing came out. He waved his hands, but couldn't see or feel them.

Okay… this is pretty cool, he admitted. After thirty seconds of total sensory deprivation, that "cool" started to wear off fast. Finally, the darkness vanished, and Subaru found himself blinking as light returned to the world. He gasped, shoulders sagging in relief.

"How was that?" Puck asked, spinning in place playfully.

Emilia sighed, exasperated. "You two are so immature…"

She returned her attention to her bubbling concoction while Subaru grinned, unfazed.

"Well, even if it's not as flashy as the other four, I'll take it!" he declared, a spark of determination in his eyes. "Magic is magic!"

Then his expression soured. "Speaking of which… weren't you gonna tell me how much mana I've got?"

"Oh, right. I forgot. Teehee~" Puck said, placing a paw behind his head and sticking out his tongue in mock innocence.

"Don't teehee me! You totally weren't going to say anything!"

Puck smirked. "Alright, alright. If you really want to know… your gate—the thing that regulates mana flow—is about as developed as a baby's. And your overall capacity? Not great."

"…Gate?" Subaru echoed, looking lost.

"It's how you channel and control your mana," Puck explained. "Without a strong gate, even high affinity doesn't help much."

Subaru slumped again. "So my magic and my chances of getting cool spirit summons are trash?"

"Basically," Puck said with a shrug.

Subaru let out a long, dramatic sigh. "Why is reality always such a harsh critic?"

"Well, there is a way you could expand your mana," Puck said, tone deliberately casual. "But, uh… it'd be suicide to try."

Subaru squinted. "Figures."

The spirit floated closer, already anticipating Subaru's next question. "And yes, I know you're going to ask how. So I'll explain it in a way even you can understand—"

"Are you calling me dumb?!" Subaru barked, offended, as he jabbed an accusatory finger at the floating feline.

Puck chuckled. "Didn't say it. You just confirmed it."

"Ugh, I walked right into that one," Subaru muttered, defeated.

"Anyway," Puck continued, now enjoying himself far too much, "think of your mana like water in a pool. The amount you can draw is fixed, and you pull it up through a drain at the bottom. Use up the pool, and the strain wears down the drain. Keep doing it too often… and the drain breaks. No mana for you."

Subaru frowned. "That… sounds really bad."

"It is bad!" Emilia chimed in sharply, spinning around with a spoon in hand like a stern teacher catching a student cheating. "If you can't use your mana properly, it can build up inside you and—"

"Boom. Mana poisoning," Puck finished, mockingly choking as he mimed drowning in invisible water. "And trust me, it's not a pleasant way to go."

Subaru raised an eyebrow, intrigued despite the warnings. "You said there's a way to expand the pool, though… right? Maybe there's hope for me and my dream of becoming the Great Magic King!"

Puck floated backward slightly, tail flicking as if he were debating whether to indulge him. "Well, sure. It's a theory written in a few dusty tomes, but it's also incredibly reckless."

Subaru slapped his hands on his thighs, full of misplaced determination. "Lay it on me!"

"Alright," Puck said, grinning brightly, as if he wasn't about to casually drop a magical horror story. "You'd need to destroy the pool entirely. Just shatter it. Then, before it collapses on itself and you die, you expand the shattered bits a bit further and somehow patch them back together."

He beamed at Subaru like a parent describing how to defuse a bomb using only a fork and positive thinking.

"So… if the pool collapses, I die in agony?" Subaru said, deadpan.

"Yup!" Puck replied cheerfully. "In excruciating agony. Best case? Your mana capacity increases by about… oh, half a base spell's worth."

Subaru just stared. "Half…?"

"Half," Puck confirmed, beaming wider. It was amazing how he managed to look so pleased while crushing someone's dreams.

"Yeah… I think I'll pass," Subaru muttered, shivering at the mental image of his own soul being shattered like a glass teacup for minimal gains.

Before the gloom could settle, Emilia turned from the pot with a gentle smile. "Speaking of what's not terrifying, the food's ready, Subaru!"

She set a steaming bowl of stew on the small coffee table made of glimmering ice. She wasn't used to having guests, so she always ate perched on the edge of her bed... but now, she had a friend over. No… her best friend. And she didn't need to hide behind her cloak anymore.

"A home-cooked meal from Mili!" Subaru cheered, his spirits instantly revived. "I can't wai—"

He stopped.

The bowl of stew steamed quietly before him, but its scent stirred an unexpected wave of nostalgia. Not for the warm, delicious meals his mom used to make, but for the barely-edible gruel Ludwig had cooked him back when he first arrived in this world.

His stomach twisted.

"Is something wrong, Subaru?" Emilia tilted her head, eyes wide with worry and expectation.

He shook his head. "Nothing's wrong."

It was a lie- but a lie he was willing to tell.

He picked up the spoon with exaggerated ceremony, scooping up a chunk of root vegetable that looked… only slightly burnt. With a deep breath, he raised it to his mouth.

"Down the hatch!" he cried, shoving the spoon in and swallowing as quickly as humanly possible—hoping it bypassed his taste buds on the way down.

The flavor, or lack thereof, was nearly indistinguishable from Ludwig's "cuisine." How could she overcook the vegetables and still serve it lukewarm?

He peeked at Emilia. She was staring at him, full of hope, her hands nervously fidgeting behind her back.

"Do you like it?" she asked softly.

Subaru's smile came easily. "I'd love anything you make, Mili!"

Puck, observing from above, narrowed his eyes at the obvious falsehood. But he didn't call it out. Not this time.

He too had once refused Emilia's cooking, using the convenient "Spirits don't need food" excuse after… an incident he preferred not to remember. It wasn't that he enjoyed lying, but he respected that Subaru would do it to make her happy.

"Really? I'm so glad!" Emilia clasped a hand over her heart, beaming at him with the kind of smile that could melt glaciers.

Subaru's heart skipped a beat. If he had to rank every smile she'd ever given him, he'd say this one was the best- but realistically, all of them were tied for first. He just couldn't help himself.

Without a word, Puck floated over and offered Subaru a tiny high five.

Subaru returned it solemnly.

They chatted as they ate, Subaru keeping the energy high with constant jokes and light teasing. Emilia responded with sweet exasperation, occasionally sticking out her tongue or flicking her spoon at him. The atmosphere was warm-comfortable. You'd never guess they'd only met three months ago.

Subaru had turned seventeen the day before, though he hadn't told anyone. No real reason to. He'd been unconscious by sundown anyway.

Eventually, Emilia set her empty bowl down and let out a quiet sigh. "I think it's time I start my daily chores."

"I finally get to see what the Ice Princess does all day!" Subaru announced, grinning like a fool. "Not exactly how I pictured spending a full day with you, but hey! It works out!"

Emilia giggled, then stuck her tongue out at him. "Dummy."

Subaru smiled right back, heart swelling with warmth.

Then she had a sudden thought. Subaru was safe. The day had passed without incident. Maybe… maybe today she could wear the green dress he gave her. The beautiful one that didn't need a hood.

With quiet resolve, she rose from the bed and walked over to the wardrobe. She opened it, pulled the dress from the hanger… and began to undress.

Subaru turned his head so fast it might've snapped something in his neck. "W-Wha—?! M-Mili! W-Why are you changing in front of me?!"

Puck shoved Subaru's eyelids shut with his tiny paws in a panic.

"Lia, maybe wait until after Subaru leaves the room!" the spirit groaned, looking more exhausted than angry. He knew it was partly his fault. He'd done his best to keep her innocent, but it had backfired. She didn't understand modesty at all.

Emilia blinked, confused. "Why? I'm just changing. Is it… bad? Like when you told me I had to wear clothes in the first place?"

"YES!!" Subaru and Puck shouted in unison.

"Father, show me out before my heart explodes," Subaru muttered, still covering his eyes.

Puck sighed dramatically. "Yes, son-in-law."

With a little tug, he led Subaru toward the door, grabbing the boy's coat along the way. Before leaving, he called back over his shoulder, "Come out when you're dressed, Lia."

The door slammed.

Inside, Emilia stood in her underclothes, tilting her head thoughtfully at the strange reaction. "Weird," she muttered, but shrugged and resumed dressing, blissfully unbothered by the confusion she'd caused.

"You can open your eyes now," Puck said as he floated beside Subaru and handed him his coat.

"Thanks," Subaru muttered, his voice low, his cheeks still glowing from what he almost saw. He took the coat without meeting Puck's eyes. "Didn't you teach her anything about common decency?!" he burst out, his voice breaking with indignation.

Puck sighed, rubbing the bridge of his tiny feline nose. "I thought I had a few more decades before I had to worry about boys trying to steal my daughter away." Puck's expression shifted, softening—serious now, his playful aura dropping like a curtain. Subaru paled wondering if today might be his last.

"Thank you."

"Huh?" Subaru blinked.

"For saving Lia when I couldn't," Puck said, bowing his small head with quiet sincerity. "And for not trying to take advantage of her. She's… too kind. Too trusting to think people have ulterior motives."

"Oh, uh—no problem," Subaru replied, rubbing the back of his head with a sheepish grin. "I just… wanted to protect her, y'know? And yeah, I totally agree! She's wayyyy too kind for her own good."

He chuckled, gesturing dramatically. "That's one of the things I-" His voice caught for a second, then dipped softer. "-that I love about her." He looked away as he said it, a faint, genuine smile curling his lips. It was a small confession, almost vulnerable.

Puck didn't say anything at first.

He's going to kill me, Subaru thought grimly, bracing himself.

Instead, the spirit just hovered in silence, eyes narrowed in quiet appraisal.

"You like my daughter, don't you?" he asked at last, crossing his little arms with a judging look.

Subaru met his gaze head-on. "Yeah… Yeah, I do," he answered, voice steady now, no hesitation.

Puck's eyes narrowed further. "Would you die for her?"

Before Subaru could respond, he felt something cold—unnervingly cold—materialize at his throat. A whisper of sharp ice, barely there but very, very real.

But his answer didn't change.

"Yes. Of course I would," he said firmly, eyes unwavering.

There was silence. Then the chill faded. Puck relaxed and let the spell dissolve.

"You're not lying," the spirit said, floating a little higher.

"How do you know?" Subaru asked, releasing a breath he hadn't realized he was holding.

"I can skim your surface thoughts," Puck said with a faint shrug. "If you were lying, I'd know. And I'd never accept you. Actually, I'd probably murder you on the spot. Nothing personal."

He smiled sweetly.

Personal or not, I'd die either way, Subaru thought, a bead of sweat sliding down his neck.

"But," Puck added, his tone lighter now, "you've done a lot for Lia. I owe you a few favors for all of it. So I'll grant you three. Anything within my power."

Subaru blinked, surprised. "Wait, seriously? I get three wishes?"

"Three," Puck confirmed with a nod.

"Huh. I thought you'd only give me two. What's the third one for?" Subaru tilted his head.

"You lied," Puck said, tail flicking. "To a spirit user. Very bad. But… it made Lia happy." He looked away, just a little. "So I'll let it slide... just this once."

It took Subaru a second to figure it out. Then he chuckled. "Ohhh… the stew." He glanced at the door. "She might be amazing in a dozen ways, but her cooking… might still be level one." Who knew the Ice Princess's kryptonite was cooking?

Puck raised an eyebrow. "So. What do you want?" He was ready to swat Subaru out the door if he even hinted at asking for Emilia's hand in marriage one sidedly.

"First…" Subaru clasped his hands dramatically and pressed them to the side of his face. "I want to be allowed to pet your fur. Whenever. I. Want."

Puck raised an eyebrow. "That's really your first request?"

"Of course!" Subaru declared as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "Never underestimate the power of a fur lover!"

"…Fine," Puck sighed, flying toward him with a flick of his tail. 

The moment Puck floated within reach, Subaru's hands dove into the fur like a man reunited with a long-lost treasure.

"Oooohhh, it's even better than I imagined!" Subaru gushed, gently rubbing his hands over Puck's silky coat. "Look at those ears- at the glorious fluff! So soft… so warm… is this magic fur conditioner?!"

Puck purred.

Actually purred.

"Mmm… that's the spot," the spirit sighed contentedly as Subaru scratched behind his ears. His tail curled lazily, and his eyes fluttered shut in bliss. "You're surprisingly good at this."

"Am I being praised by a spirit for petting technique?" Subaru asked with mock pride. "Achievement unlocked!"

The two of them were practically cheek to cheek now, and Subaru was rubbing Puck's belly like it was sacred treasure. "This is paradise."

If a certain purple haired knight saw the disrespect this boy unknowingly subjected 'The beast of the end' to. He might die on the spot from heart failure.

Eventually, Puck opened one eye and reluctantly pulled back, floating a few inches away.

"Alright, enough. You're going to spoil me." He licked a paw with mock dignity, but the relaxed, sleepy look on his face betrayed just how much he enjoyed it.

Subaru grinned. "Worth it."

"What's next?" he asked, clearly in a better mood now.

Subaru's eyes sparkled. "I want you to teach me magic and help me form a contract with a spirit!"

Puck considered. "That's technically two favors, but… I'm still riding the high of that belly rub. Fine. Done."

He snapped his paw like a tiny wish-granting genie.

"Lastly…" Subaru hesitated, then spoke carefully, his tone sincere. "If Mili ever accepts me as her partner... I want your blessing."

That was the one thing he wouldn't joke about.

Puck floated still in the air. The playful glint faded.

"If- and I do mean if- Lia ever returns your feelings, then fine. I'll give you my blessing." His eyes narrowed. "But I won't help her realize those feelings. And neither will you."

Subaru looked startled. "Huh?"

"She doesn't understand what love is," Puck said, his voice level. "Not fully. Not yet. She's innocent… untouched by that kind of affection. I won't have anyone, even you, putting ideas in her head."

Subaru nodded solemnly. "Got it. I won't say a word."

"She'll only accept you if she truly feels it," Puck finished. "And if that day comes... then you have my word."

"But you can't interfere either" Subaru felt like it was only fair if he included a condition of his own.

"Fine"

It was the only favor with strings attached, but compared to death-by-dad, it was an easy deal to accept.

Subaru held out his hand. "Shake on it?"

Puck gave a mischievous grin as he took the offered hand.

"Deal."

And just like that, Subaru had unknowingly made an oath with a fearsome spirit.

With his soul on the line.