Wish Upon a Sin

Arc 2 - Chapter 1

Arc 2 - A Den of Villains and Rogues

Subaru lay back on the bed, staring lifelessly at the ceiling. It was a decent inn, the floors and walls were clean, and the bed was comfortable. Though, right now he could have laid on rocks and still not minded.

His plastic bag of groceries lay on the bedside table, and beside it was a small sack, containing all of the money Subaru had.

Rom had estimated that his phone was worth twenty holy gold, but Subaru had only managed to sell it for the equivalent of fifteen in regular gold coins. He hadn't felt up to haggling the price higher.

Fifteen holy gold was nothing to scoff at though. Subaru had only roughly calculated based on the inn's prices for meals, but it looked like he'd be able to survive a couple of months easily.

The fading evening light poured in through the window, tainted red by the approaching sunset.

Reinhard should save Emilia soon.

He got to his feet, and walked to the window, looking out in the direction of the city wall. The emotions that had been propelling him forward had faded, leaving only a listless apathy.

What do I do? I don't have a goal, a guiding light, or even much of a clue about this world.

Everything he had done since he had been saved in the alley had been centred around Emilia. Now he was cut off from her, and cast adrift in a wide world.

I could try and use my knowledge to create some items from my world, but I'm not sure what would be valuable. They have a lot of things you wouldn't expect in a medieval fantasy. I guess if you have magic and creativity, you can just skip down the tech tree.

The sun had finally set, and dusk was falling rapidly. Subaru was about to go back to bed, when the sky lit up.

An aurora burst into the sky, shimmering with power, casting its glow across the capital.

"Reinhard," Subaru whispered. This was the first time he had seen the strike from a distance. It was truly a beautiful sight, but Subaru felt only a pit in his stomach, reminded of all that had been taken from him.

"Why couldn't I have gotten a power like that?" He flopped back on the bed. "Not this damn thing, that only works if I lose everything!"

A feeling of eyes, curiously peeking from the shadows.

He turned his head, and saw a point of darkness, that seemed to brighten the area, just a little.

"A spirit? I'm sorry, did I accidentally call you over?"

He sat up on the bed, and the spirit cautiously approached.

"Are you a yin spirit then?" Subaru asked. "You look a lot like Julius's one, but much smaller. So I guess you're a minor spirit."

It circled around in the air, and started examining his plastic bag.

Subaru chose to interpret that as a yes.

"I didn't mean to disturb you. I was just complaining a bit. Got kicked out of my old place, you know?"

It bobbed understandingly.

Subaru went on, a bit more confidently. "I thought I had a place I belonged. Really belonged, like I never did back home. Or maybe I used to, and I stopped without noticing. But, it turns out, they didn't like me either. Emilia did, but she has a lot of troubles. She shouldn't have to put up with me as well."

The spirit rushed forward to bop him on the nose.

"Ah! What was that for? Well, it didn't really hurt any more than Puck's furry punches. You feel strange. Like jelly or something."