That protagonist is trash; I could do better!

"?"

"The snacks we had this morning, especially that soft, icy, sweet thing called pudding, and we also prepared potato chips and fries. My brother seemed to really like them."

"that's it?"

"That's all. Now get out of here and don't bother Betty until you've prepared those things!"

······

Nighttime, in the guest room where Shinji Matou is.

Rem stared in surprise at the table full of food, then looked at Shinji Matou and asked in confusion, "Shinji-sama, what are these?"

Shinji Matou smiled and gestured: "This is a top-quality meal prepared especially for you. Even Emilia and Roswaal are not qualified to enjoy this kind of food."

Rem tilted her cute little face, her confusion only growing: "Food prepared for me? Why?"

Shinji Matou said frankly, "As you can see, I'm trying to please you. As the saying goes, you can only be in a good mood when you're well-fed and watered. Also, because I forced you too hard last night, you didn't get to eat the breakfast I prepared for everyone this morning, so this is my compensation to you."

"Rem isn't worth all this trouble." Rem shook her head.

"The expectations others have of you are also part of your value. I think it's meaningful to do this. Please enjoy it to the fullest," Shinji Matou instructed in an unquestionable tone.

Rem hesitated for a moment, then bowed to Shinji Matou: "Yes, since you say so, Shinji-sama, Rem has no room for rebuttal."

“Rem, starting tomorrow you don’t need to take special care of me. Go and help your sister manage this mansion as before.”

"Lord Rozdal has ordered me to be your personal maid."

"Without you, Ram has been running around like crazy in this mansion. She even asked me to help make breakfast every morning. I don't want to go through this every day. Since you are my personal maid, it is your duty to solve your master's troubles. So try your best to help your sister Ram manage this mansion."

Rem smiled faintly: "Yes, thank you very much."

"Lord Shinji, this dish..."

"It was just ordinary meat stew with potatoes. I don't know what kind of meat it was, but the sauce was made with spices."

"This is an incredible flavor. No wonder my sister specifically mentioned it to me this afternoon. Rem has lost in the realm of cooking. Shinji-sama, what is this dish?"

"That's a dessert, made primarily with eggs and egg yolks, and served with fruit. However, because some ingredients are missing, it can't be made using ordinary methods. It's very popular with Emilia and Betty."

"Eggs can actually be paired with fruit, and the texture and taste are both excellent. How is it cooked?" Rem exclaimed in surprise as she finished all the food.

"Rem, are you satisfied with tonight's dinner?"

"Yes, it's delicious."

"Let's continue with the magic we didn't finish last night."

"I'm ready. I'm so sorry to have wasted your time."

"hand."

Shinji Matou touched Rem's hands and activated the Mind-Body Connection Magic again. This time, the hostility Shinji felt from Rem's consciousness had largely disappeared, and he could at least barely communicate with her consciousness.

At least we didn't waste any time.

Shinji Matou felt a surge of relief. He handed Rem the books about magic that he had taken from the library and instructed her, "Then please finish reading these books tonight. You don't need to understand them, just read them. You should be able to finish them before 10 o'clock, and then it's your rest time."

Rem took the book, opened it, and stroked the pages, her voice tinged with nostalgia: "Shinji-sama, is this a book that records magic?"

"Have you seen it?"

Rem nodded and smiled slightly, "Yes, I studied with Lord Roswaal when I was young. I am good at wind magic, and I have a little knowledge of other elemental magic."

"That would be best, so you won't have any parts you don't understand."

Shinji Matou had previously read this book, which recorded basic magical knowledge. He could understand most of it, but he couldn't understand a few of the technical terms.

Rem cast a questioning look at Shinji Matou and asked, "But isn't Shinji-sama a powerful mage? Why would he need to read such introductory magic books?"

“The magical field I am proficient in is not the same as the magic you use. In your magical field, I might not even be as good as a magic apprentice.”

"I see, that's why they want to gain knowledge about magic." Rem nodded, not finding it strange at all. The Witch of Jealousy had devoured half of the world, resulting in the loss of a great deal of magical knowledge. As a result, the current magicians were much weaker than before.

Shinji Matou sat at his desk, drew a transmutation circle, and placed a stack of white paper and a bottle of ink inside the circle to perform a simple transmutation.

The process involves writing with ink in the world's script on white paper. Although simple, its unique nature requires Shinji Matou to concentrate intensely.

The writing is about the political subject that Shinji Matou prepared for Emilia, namely "Five Years of Royal Selection and Three Years of Simulation," which is the common sense of modern politics on Earth.

"Multitasking is no problem. The mind-splitting magic trick I learned from Dad is probably the most practical magic trick."

Shinji Matou sighed inwardly.

Chapter 119 Ram Under Attack

A few days later, Emilia's private study was empty except for the two of them.

Shinji Matou sat down in front of Emilia and solemnly asked, "What is capitalism?"

Emilia sat awkwardly, and after thinking for a long time, she hesitated before answering, "Um... um, capitalism is based on private ownership... private ownership... I'm sorry, Shinji-sensei, I still don't quite understand some of the terms in this book."

Shinji Matou's face instantly turned cold, and he pulled out another piece of paper: "This is the most basic of the basics. If you can't even grasp this level of political knowledge, how can you talk about becoming the ruler of a country? This is today's test paper. Hand it in to me before tomorrow afternoon. If there's anything you don't understand, feel free to ask me anytime."

Shinji Matou was secretly pleased, having had his fill of being a teacher and being able to openly criticize Emilia's naive political ideas.

So cool!

"Yes!" Emilia answered cautiously.

boom!

The study door was suddenly kicked open. The intruder did not control their strength, and the entire wooden door slammed into the walls on both sides with a startling sound. Dust began to fall from the ceiling.

Even standing a dozen meters away from the wooden door, Shinji Matou could faintly feel the vibrations coming from the ground.

The newcomer was Rem, her expression agitated and panicked, tears welling in her eyes. She cried out anxiously, "Shinji-sama! Emilia-sama! Please come with me immediately!"

"Rem, you seem so anxious again. What happened? Tell me slowly," Emilia said with concern.

Rem choked back tears as she cried out, "Sister... Sister! She was attacked by monsters on her way back from the village!"

"Warcraft?" Emilia and Shinji Matou exchanged a glance and nodded.

The two followed Rem to a room, where they saw Ram lying motionless on the bed, with some blood-stained gauze beside her.

Emilia immediately ordered, "Lord Shinji, you seem to know how to find the Gate of Opportunity. Could you please go and fetch Betty?"

I originally thought I could finally enjoy a period of peace and comfort.

Shinji Matou was quite speechless, but he knew that this matter couldn't be delayed, so he nodded and replied, "Okay."

Go out into the corridor, release a magical wave to locate the Opportunity Gate, and head straight there.

"boom!"

He roughly pushed open the door to the chance encounter, and sure enough, Betty was reading a book. Faced with Matou Shinji's rough way of opening the door, her face darkened, and she was about to scold him when Matou Shinji scooped her up by the arm.

"What do you think you're doing! Let me go! Let me go right now!" Betty kicked angrily.

Shinji Matou lowered his voice and answered seriously, "The situation is urgent. Ram has been attacked by a monster, and Emilia sent me to find you."

"A magical beast?" Betty, who was being held around the waist by Shinji Matou, frowned, stopped struggling, and let Shinji Matou take her to the room where Ram was.

Emilia stood by the bed, reached out to Ram, closed her eyes, and a faint light emanated from her palm, releasing magic that merged into Ram's body.

Ram kept her eyes closed and did not react.

"What happened?" Betty asked, frowning.

Emilia opened her eyes, her forehead covered in sweat, her face extremely solemn: "Ram's injuries have been healed, but her life force is constantly draining away. If this continues, Ram will die from weakness in less than half a day."

"I can feel the aura of the spell even from this far away."

"Spells?"

"Put me down! How long are you going to keep holding me like this!" Betty turned and shouted at Shinji Matou, then walked to Ram's side and lifted her sleeve, revealing a large number of newly healed wounds.

Betty displayed a composure and calmness that was completely different from her appearance as she analyzed, "The bite wound, followed by a curse that plunders the target's life force, suggests that the monster that attacked Ram was probably Urgarum. It cast a spell on the target by biting, and then used the spell to drain the target's life force."

Rem stood to one side, her face tense, wiping away tears as she pleaded, "Lady Betty! Please save my sister!"

“I would like to do that if I could, but it’s not that simple, Rem. You’d better be prepared. The chances of Ram being rescued are quite low.”

"Why my sister! Why my sister! I've already lost my sister once! I don't want to experience that feeling again! Rem is incomplete without my sister! Please, you must save my sister, Shinji-sama! You are a mage, can you save my sister?"

Shinji Matou frowned and asked, "Where's Roswaal?"

Rem shook her head helplessly: "Lord Roswaal went out to meet guests in the evening and instructed that he would not be back tonight."

Such a coincidence?

Shinji Matou was speechless. "In the realm of magic, I might not be as good as Betty, and I know absolutely nothing about curses right now. Betty, if you say the chances are slim, then you mean there's still a chance, right? How can we remove the curse from Ram's body?"

“If it were just one or two curses that Betty could easily remove, Ram has too many injuries. It’s not just one or two wounds, but a dozen or twenty curses intertwined together, like threads tangled together. Removing the spell rashly might cause a chain reaction. As far as I know, the only quick and effective way to remove this curse is to eliminate the caster.”

Rem suddenly stood up, her little face contorted with rage: "I'm going right now! I'll wipe out every single one of those damned monsters, those animals created by the witch!"

Betty shook her head and poured cold water on Rem's hopes: "It's no use. Betty said the chances are slim. If you go alone, before you can find all the magical beasts that bit Ram, Ram will have all her life force devoured by the curse. Besides, judging from Ram's injuries, there are probably quite a few of them, at least not at a level Ram can handle. Ordinary magical beasts would have killed Ram long ago. That should be clear enough, right? Ram is very likely bait. While Roswaal is away, I suggest you try not to act rashly."

Rem screamed in despair, "You mean you want me to abandon my sister?! Please, help my sister! I'll do anything to save her!"

Feeling the despair in Rem's voice, everyone in the room looked grim.

Betty's face darkened: "This is the most rational advice I can give. Nobody knows what the enemy has prepared in the forest. Taking rash action will only put more people in danger."

"Even so, I'm going! Alone or alone! I'm going to save my sister!" Rem murmured as she stood up and staggered toward the door.

Betty watched her retreating figure, knowing that Rem was courting death on this trip. She turned her gaze to Shinji Matou: "Hey~ I know why Betty has to play this role. Rem, let me tell you a possible way to save Ram. Monsters are creatures created by witches, and they are attracted by the witch's aura."

In an instant, all eyes were on Shinji Matou. Betty asked softly, "The question is, are you willing to take the risk to save this child's sister? This is my suggestion. If you are willing to help, Betty will owe you a favor."

The meaning is already clear: only if Shinji Matou acts as bait can Rem be saved, but this could very well be an ambush by the enemy, and besides, we don't even know who the enemy is right now.

Rem stared at Shinji Matou, her eyes brimming with tears and pleading: "Shinji-sama, please save my sister Ram."

Emilia said with concern, "Mr. Shinji, this is a very dangerous matter. Although I hope you can help Rem from my perspective, we can completely understand if you refuse."

Refusing would basically make it impossible to stay in this mansion, and besides, this might be part of a story mission.

Shinji Matou felt reassured and reached out to stroke Rem's blue hair to soothe her emotions, smiling calmly: "Let's set off now, after all, I've received a lot of help from Ram."

Everyone present breathed a sigh of relief. Rem bowed deeply and said gratefully, "I am so sorry to have put you in danger. I will definitely protect you and I will never forget your kindness!"