Natsuki Subaru's Journey to Strategically Capture Reinhild

15.Subaru's Several Days

Subaru let out a sigh.

Even though he had resolved at the beginning to follow the route from his first loop, he had somehow gone off track before realizing it.

If you asked Subaru when things started to go awry, he would probably say it was when he, now a servant, couldn't resist asking the butler about Reinhild's parents during the mansion tour.

The first afternoon was still dedicated to work, but since he had felt extremely guilty in the previous loop, Subaru decided to work as hard as he could.

Though in the end, his full effort still resulted in him being a hindrance.

Moreover, due to this effort, the only thing he received from Winston the butler that night was a children's fairy tale book akin to a school reading assignment and verbal encouragement.

That's right—Subaru lost the new recruit training manual he had considered a treasure in the first loop.

Luckily, the next day he was still able to obtain the supervisor's instructional manual.

On the second day, the visit from proceeded as before.

However, having already come to terms with the idea that "small things can change, but the larger tide is hard to reverse," Subaru didn't choose to completely imitate the first loop.

After all, he didn't want to sit through another long lecture on the fundamentals of magic.

Instead, since he also wanted some magical power for self-defense, he cleverly used his words to exchange Roswaal's reward for lessons from the dark magician Bernie.

Although Roswaal agreed to pay Subaru's tuition as compensation, he still mentioned the Great Spirit of Yin before departing.

Subaru appreciated the sentiment, but the crisis was going to happen in six days—he didn't have years to earn a Great Spirit's recognition.

So, he ultimately declined Roswaal's offer.

As usual, Roswaal told him, "Come find me if you regret it."

Incidentally, in this loop Reinhild boarded the carriage later than before.

Before getting on, she even warned Subaru to be careful of that overly nice Roswaal.

That made Subaru suspicious—though only for a short while.

Because shortly after they left, he experienced magic firsthand for the first time.

Under Berni's guidance, Subaru successfully cast his first spell: "Shamak".

After using it, he collapsed on the ground and was carried by the passing Winston to his room, where he rested for the entire afternoon.

Through this, Subaru also learned the aftereffects of casting magic: though not life-threatening, it left the entire body feeling sluggish—like having a high fever—creating a sense of total fatigue, even paralysis.

Still, the experience was worthwhile. Subaru encountered a fruit called Boko, which, though harmful to the body, could temporarily restore MP. However, his taste test was interrupted by Winston, who coincidentally passed by. Despite Winston's many explanations, Subaru concluded it boiled down to one thing: the mansion didn't need combat power as low as his.

Because of his exhaustion, Subaru eventually fell asleep, missing his first meeting with Leander and Eileen.

When he woke up around 5 PM, he suddenly remembered how Winston had accidentally injured Old Man Rom in the previous loop.

Deeply regretting that incident—especially since Winston had always felt guilty about it—Subaru rushed off to the guest building, hoping to prevent the misunderstanding.

"Old Man Rom!! You bastard!!!"

Due to his lack of detailed knowledge from the previous loop—since he never thought he'd die—Subaru had been wandering near the crime scene aimlessly. He only managed to get there after hearing Felt's angry roar. By then, the scene consisted of a heavily injured Rom, an unconscious Felt, and a deeply remorseful Winston.

By the fourth day, Subaru's path had completely diverged from his previous loop.

He still hadn't built the kind of friendship he had with Eileen and Leander, but maybe because Bernie felt guilty about making Subaru lie in bed for an afternoon, he became Subaru's real teacher.

Each afternoon turned into a hellish magic training session.

Unlike Eileen, who started by explaining magic development, Berni went straight into professions.

Spirit Users, Curse Casters, Beast Tamers, Mages, Healers—Subaru gradually learned each profession's specialties.

He also discovered Bernie was an absolute Reinhild supremacist.

No matter how glorious the achievements of any profession, Berni's ultimate answer was always, "If they fought Reinhild, they'd be sliced down in one blow."

This drove Subaru, the curious learner, crazy. If Reinhild really couldn't be defeated by anyone, then how did Subaru die? His death implied that the mansion was attacked. That would mean the enemy had a way to deal with Reinhild, right?

The turning point came on the fourth day.

"Eh! Bro, you really are a servant here! You totally screwed me over!"

A familiar dining knife was pressed against Subaru's neck while he was deep in thought.

The same event had repeated again, but this time, inspiration suddenly struck him.

Thanks to being around Reinhild's rabid fanboy Bernie, Subaru now understood what kind of existence Reinhild was.

Frankly, Felt had almost jumped straight to the finish line.

He recalled the reason she ran away in the previous loop, as well as Reinhild's trip to the royal capital.

One clue after another began to link together.

"Wait a minute. If their target from the beginning was the strongest newcomer—Felt—then sending a death soldier in a suicide attack to eliminate her, who now had Reinhild's support... It all makes sense now."

"Be serious! You're a hostage! Now hurry up and take me to Rom!"

Felt kicked the mumbling Subaru away and shouted angrily.

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"What took you so long just to bring some snacks?!"

When they opened the door, they saw Rom drinking happily with Leander.

Rom glared at them, seemingly annoyed, but then gradually widened his eyes in surprise.

"Rom, you're actually here drinking?!"

"We'll wait outside then."

The royal guard members who had escorted Subaru and Felt said that with a nod.

As it turns out, Subaru had been lucky last time due to his strong relationships.

This time, however, after moving only a short distance with Felt, they had already been caught by the guards.

Still, they kindly led them to Rom, resulting in the scene before them.

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"So even if Sir Reinhild isn't here, it's still perfectly safe."

"Then what if it's a large-scale magic attack that covers the entire mansion?"

Everyone in the room turned toward Subaru.

Felt burst into laughter.

"That kind of thing can't be defended against.

But the number of people who can use such magic is extremely limited.

It's not like we'll be attacked by a title-holder mage, a Great Spirit, one of the Three Great Beasts, or a Sin Archbishop, right?

Besides, if someone like that did target us, Sir Reinhild—who has a Blessing of Hostility Detection—would notice immediately."

Although Subaru's guess was heartlessly rejected by Otto, though thanks to the conversation, Subaru was once again allowed to become Felt's steward.