"We wa curseded by unknown force... Experienced insvainvasions by a herd of ulgram..."
"Uhh, What are you saying?"
"Engaged in mortal combat with Boss garm, While our close friend left us to die!"
That makes me sound like a coward who left mid battle.
Since Subaru was speaking in English, Kaeya couldn't act like he understood the language.
"Then, when the well deserved halcyon days had come, the threat of the Ulgarm Mabeast was gone, and the village was saved for good... But, We're yet on a mission... A secret mission that We have to egsecute without being noticed by anyone..."
It's execute.
Subaru looked at the village with a serious and determined glare.
"The preliminary inspection of my date course with Emilia," Subaru said, finally in Japanese this time.
Why did I agree to this again?
Like Subaru said, They were here to look for spots which Subaru and Emilia could visit on their date, And since he didn't feel like going alone, Subaru convinced Kaeya to come with him, Kaeya didn't have anything better to do so he agreed.
Subaru glanced at Kaeya's attire and frowned, It wasn't that he looked bad, But it was his common attire. And it didn't exactly match the "secret inspection" vibe.
"By the way, Kaeya, your outfit would easily be noticed. Why didn't you dress up for the secret inspection!? Covering only your head won't cut it!" He said.
"This is my first time coming to the village, so no one will recognize me anyway."
"Makes sense, I guess," Subaru said after a pause. "Hm... Then why would you need that hood?"
"That's to hide my ears. Half-elf, remember? I don't think the villagers would take kindly to it."
"Hmm, now that I think about it, Emilia-tan has the same problem, doesn't she? Well, I guess it's for all the elves. Because of the Witch of Envy being a half-elf, right?" Subaru said, Recalling what he had read in a children's story book.
"You shouldn't mention her so freely. People don't take kindly to that. And yes—though it's tougher for her since, according to books, even her features match the witch's."
"Damn, that's rough. Everyone's blinded by their own ideas, so much so that they don't see how much of an angel Emilia-tan is! Which is fine—more of her for me! Hehe."
That earned him a sidelong glance from Kaeya.
You'd have to be closer to someone than he is to me to speak so freely about lustful thoughts like that, Kaeya thought.
Realizing his mistake, Subaru quickly tried to brush it off.
"Uhm, anyway! No time for moping around—I need to scout good spots for my date with Emilia-tan! Let's go!"
.
.
Subaru and Kaeya entered the village. Subaru thought his disguise was slick, but as soon as they stepped through the entrance, the kids he had met earlier spotted him immediately.
"Subaru!" Petra called out, waving enthusiastically.
Kaeya, sensing the shift in attention, instinctively distanced himself from Subaru, trying to remain unnoticed by the children. To his relief, they seemed to pay him no mind, focusing entirely on Subaru.
He wasn't particularly fond of children. Their energy, their constant enthusiasm—it wasn't something he was particularly suited to.... And they were kinda dumb too...
She must be a powerful detective, Subaru thought.
Subaru walked past the kids and hoped that Petra wouldn't out him by her amazing detec-
"Subaru, what are you doing?"
Damn, Another kid also had amazing deductive skills. He needed to walk faster.
"What's with this outfit?"
Subaru walked faster. They were just too smart. His outfit was amazing. He was smartly disguised.
He should just except his fate at this point. Kaeya thought while looking at Subaru's childish antics.
Sadly, Subaru's journey was intercepted by the kids jumping him and pulling on his shitty disguise.
"Top secrecy my ass! Can't even call it a disguise if you saw through it in less than 5 seconds!" Subaru shouted in despair as the kids began tattering the disguise.
Strangely or Fortunately enough, It seemed that the kids hadn't even noticed Kaeya who was standing just a few meters away.
"What mission are you talking about?" one of the kids asked, tugging on Subaru's cloak.
"What top secrecy are you talking about?" another one said, still poking around at Subaru's outfit.
"Caught ya!" one of the boys shouted in triumph, pulling at Subaru's sleeve.
"Can't you see We're busy now? Go somewhere else! Also, you'd better not interrupt me on the day of my date!"
The kids didn't seem to understand, or maybe they didn't care. They continued pulling at him, asking questions and trying to figure out what he was doing.
"What do you mean, 'we'? Are you hallucinating?" one boy asked, tugging at Subaru's cloak.
Subaru, desperate, pointed at Kaeya with a smirk. "Can't you see that tough-looking guy over there?" he said, exaggerating his tone. "That's my personal bodyguard! You better behave before he kicks your ass!"
Fuck you! Kaeya resisted the urge to scowl. Subaru was making his presence known whether he liked it or not.
The kids looked in the direction Subaru was pointing, but they only saw Kaeya standing there, his face obscured by his hood.
"Whoa, didn't even notice him!" one of the boys exclaimed.
"Are you a secret assassin or something?" another asked, looking up at Kaeya in awe.
"Can you show us some cool magic?"
The boys stood in arc around Kaeya, However they kept their distance this time.
Kaeya was a little surprised by their reaction but quickly shut it down. "No, I'm not an assassin, and I'm not showing you any magic,"
"Pleaseeeeeeeeeee!!" The kids complained.
Subaru saw an opportunity and made a quick decision. "Heh, this is my chance!" he muttered under his breath before running off.
"Hey, he's running away!" one of the kids yelled, immediately giving chase.
"Catch him!" another shouted, and just like that, every kid in the group went after Subaru.
.
.
As the kids swarmed around Subaru, Kaeya watched quietly from the back. He couldn't help but wonder about what had just happened.
The kids hadn't noticed him at all. Even after Subaru had pointed him out, the kids hadn't seemed to acknowledge his presence right away.
Maybe it was the magic infused in his clock, or maybe it was just the cloak's effect. It wasn't the first time he had noticed that people tended to overlook him when he wore it. It had happened in the capital as well.
Perhaps the cloak had some sort of subtle enchantment that kept him hidden from the notice of others, or at least from those he didn't want to notice him. It made sense—after all, the children hadn't even seen him until Subaru had pointed him out.
Kaeya sighed inwardly. It was a minor curiosity, but one he didn't care to dwell on too much.
.
.
"Fuck, it's gotten cold all of a sudden," Kaeya muttered, sitting on the edge of his bed.
The night before had felt normal, but by morning the temperature had dropped sharply—enough that he didn't feel like getting up at all.
As expected, it was Rem who came to wake him. She left soon after to continue with her duties.
And since this wasn't his own home, he had no choice but to keep up appearances.
Now, the next thing to deal with was the cold weather—and the most direct solution was fire magic.
Kaeya stood up from his bed, shivering as his feet touched the cold floor. With a quiet breath, he began channeling mana, carefully warming the air around him. The temperature rose gradually, just enough to take the edge off.
Much better, he thought. Well, time to get some sunlight, I guess.
Kaeya turned the doorknob and stepped out of his room. The temperature in the hallway was a few degrees cooler, but thanks to the lingering warmth of his fire magic, he barely noticed it.
.
.
After leaving his room, Kaeya made his way toward one of the side washrooms in the hallway. He didn't bother with a full bath—he usually reserved that for nighttime. Instead, he splashed cold water on his face, fixed his hair with a few practiced strokes, and adjusted his cloak in the mirror until it sat properly around his shoulders.
Good enough.
He didn't care about appearances, but he knew when to avoid looking like a mess. This was a nobel's mansion after all.
Once satisfied, he made his way to the dining hall.
Emilia sat near the head of the long table with Puck laying on the table near her. Roswaal, like always dressed like a clown, sat at her left, humming to himself between sips of something steaming. Rem and Ram stood behind him. Subaru, was seated beside Emilia, chatting animatedly.
Kaeya paused just briefly before stepping further inside. This was going to be exhausting and he was never getting used to it, At Least that's how it seemed to him right now.
He didn't like entering rooms that were already full. All the eyes turning to him, even if only for a moment, that made his shoulders tense instinctively.
He gave a slight nod toward the room—an automatic gesture. And then moved to an empty seat across from Emilia, To the right of Roswall.
"Ahh, Kaeeeya-kun, goooood morrrrning to youuu," Roswaal sang, drawing out the words with a theatrical flourish of his fingers. "The ssssun's well into its climb, you knooow~"
Kaeya offered a practiced smile. "Guess I missed the early crowd,"
His expression twitched just slightly when Roswaal continued smiling at him.
What the hell do you even say to someone like him first thing in the morning? His internal voice was more lively than his outer one. Ughh, I hate this part of the day!
He resisted the urge to fidget.
Instead, he simply reached for a plate and served himself without saying anything else. The food was simple, warm. Grilled potatoes, eggs, bread. Smelled good enough to eat in silence.
Subaru finally noticing his presence now, or maybe ignoring it for a while on purpose, started yapping, To which he couldn't do anything but converse with him. The others joined in where they wanted to as well.
.
.
Around midday, Kaeya headed outside to train. His days had settled into a predictable rhythm: wake up late, freshen up, eat breakfast, read, train, have lunch, read some more, train again, and finally sleep. At least on days when there was nothing urgent to do. Most of the reading and training was actually handled by his clones—he often just lounged around or read stories while they worked.
His social life, on the other hand, was minimal. The person he spoke to most was Subaru, and even then, only two or three times a day. Still, that was likely why he had started to open up to him a bit more lately. After Subaru came Puck and Emilia—Unlike Subaru he didn't sought them out himself, but because he made a point to have a decent conversation whenever they crossed paths, usually in the garden. Rem, Ram, and Roswaal came next, though interactions with them were usually brief and related to chores or responsibilities—like being woken up in the mornings by either Rem or Ram.
As for Beatrice… well, he hadn't spoken a single word to her.
Putting that aside,
Today, he had a new spell to learn.
Kaeya created sixty clones, assigning ten of them to start working on Vita—A spell that increased the weight of an object or person, It was useful for enhancing physical training.
The remaining fifty clones were sent to continue practice with Al Zoltraak.
He decided to let his clones learn Vita now and then he could try it on himself for physical training after lunch.