COTE X Re: Zero: A Demon's Isekai

Return to the Capital.

Ayanokouji POV: 

"You're awake." I stated, as Subaru walked out of the room after his little moment with Rem had come to pass. He looked at me, and rushed in to give me a big hug. 

"You're back!" Subaru yelled, hugging me tightly. I got out of the hug. "Dude, if it wasn't for the guy you sent, I would have been cooked. Speaking of, where is he?" 

"He just went out to catch some fresh air." I explained. "According to him, this whole place is a-"

"-Rich asshole's paradise and it ain't my kinda style." Ryueen finished my sentence, walking in our direction. "Hey kid, whatever your name is."

"It's Subaru." Subaru told him. "How did you forget already?"

"Yeah whatever." Ryuuen waved him off, turning to me. "How long are we going to be stuck in this mansion?"

"Should be a few days, not more than that." I told him. Subaru looked at me, confused. 

"We're going somewhere?" He asked. I sighed. 

"You'll know soon enough." I said, and entered the different room. Taking my cue, Ryuuen followed me inside, closing the door behind me. He looked around, and carefully dragged a shelf to block the door. 

"So, are we going to talk about it now?" He asked me. In response, I dug into my pouch, and threw the revolver, along with an ammo pouch at him. "The fuck? Ain't no way they make those here...you son of a bitch."

"Always better to be prepared." I said. "I have a few more, those will come in handy later. Let's talk about what we're actually here for."

"The map." Ryuuen said. He leaned down, looking at the map that I had laid down on the bed. The map glowed with a faint golden light, tracing multiple paths across the world. "The relics, we have all their locations. This seems too easy." 

"It is." I nodded in agreement. I turned the map in his direction. "What do you see?"

"The starting point was the temple that we found this map in." Ryuuen pointed out. "From there, it leads to 10 different locations, and the pathways are all glowing faintly, except for this one." Ryuuen placed his finger down on one path, which was glowing brighter than the rest. 

"Based off the map, seems like this is the closest path to us, right now." Ryuuen deduced. He tilted his head, scanning the rest of the map. "This doesn't make sense though. From what you said, and I highly doubt you would get this wrong, there are 5 relics, correct?"

"Correct." 

"Then why are there 10 locations?" Ryuuen asked, pointing to the map. "Traps? Fakes?"

"No, it's something else." I said. Ryuuen looked at me, his eyes widening. 

"Nah, you clearly said there were 5, and it said as much in the book." Ryuuen said. "They have to be fakes, naturally. Or the map is busted after all this time, which makes it useless." 

"No, that's not it." I said, looking over the map. "I heard Rem mention that Subaru had the smell of the Witch of Envy, Satella." Even as I said that, a cold atmosphere was set in the room. The shadows got a little darker, and even the sky outside turned a tad bit cloudier. Ryuuen looked around, confused. 

"The fuck? This witch must have been crazy powerful if it took all 5 relics to defeat her." He said. Even now, what had fallen over us was merely the effect of uttering her name, not even her actual presence. 

"Then think. If the ones who stopped her made 5 relics, she must have had some sort of magic to counteract this." I said, as Ryuuen looked down at the map in realization.