Natsuki Subaru's Journey to Strategically Capture Reinhild

The Two Whose Attitudes Changed

The next morning, Subaru, with dark circles under his eyes, sleepily walked to the front gate.

"Subaru? Do you want to stay at the mansion and rest?" Winston asked, already seated in the driver's seat.

"No, no, I don't want to cause you trouble because of me. I'll just take a quick nap on the way," Subaru replied.

"Then lie down in the carriage first. I'll call you when we arrive," Winston said, pointing to the rear compartment. Subaru nodded, lay down on the blanket (because magic crystals are fragile), and quickly fell asleep.

.

.

.

"Look, even the old butler has started working, but there's a big brother here being lazy!"

"Really? Really?"

"I know, Mom says this kind is called 'parasites living off their parents'!"

"That's too much! Even though in my past life I stayed home all day, now I actually have a proper job."

Subaru sat up.

Outside the carriage, a familiar group of kids had gathered.

When he stepped out, Winston was talking with merchants and had just returned a little puppy to a girl named Meili.

Subaru stretched and jumped down from the carriage.

"You're being pampered, huh? Hmm, don't you feel it? Looks like you still haven't awakened. Well, whatever. Oh, I'm this child's mother, thank you for taking care of her,"

Suddenly, an unknown village woman's face appeared in front of Subaru, startling him so much he sat down hard on the ground.

"You jerk, why is your kid trembling all the time? Are you abusing her?"

"No abuse, I love her~ just like she loves~ me. Everything I do is because of love."

"I'll verify whether your so-called love is real."

"Of course it's real. If possible, I'd love for you to experience being loved. You're really lucky. Well then, let's go, Meili."

Subaru blankly watched them leave but his legs wouldn't move.

When that woman touched his face, Subaru felt an icy chill deep in his heart — a feeling like he had narrowly escaped something worse than death.

Familiar waits for the Earth Dragon to recover, familiar restless rabbits, familiar lavish spending by the butler — Subaru concluded the strange behavior of the village woman this time was a butterfly effect caused by his sleeping in the dragon carriage.

"…The statue in the city center, right?"

After the old butler's familiar conversation, Subaru gained precious free time.

First, he went to a familiar shop to buy Otto's birthday present chosen in the previous playthrough, then found an inn to tidy up his appearance.

Finally, Subaru confidently arrived at the destination over ten minutes earlier than last time.

Subaru walked to the only vacant seat. A girl named Ram looked at him with her crimson eyes.

"May I sit here?"

"Though Ram doesn't want to sit next to a slightly smelly servant, this is public property, so it's fine as long as you don't get close to Ram."

"Why? I sprayed perfume! Why does your impression of me seem worse than last time?"

"Is your target Ram? Ram understands her own cuteness. Sorry, Ram already has someone she likes."

"Could it be that getting rejected by you is also a fixed event!?"

"Good person? Your eyes look more like a villain."

"Don't insult my appearance! Forget it. Are you thinking of giving up because you're inferior to your sister in every way?"

Subaru finally revealed his purpose.

As a kind and upright young man, even if he felt over 90% sure he couldn't clear this playthrough, he couldn't ignore Ram.

But Ram's expression darkened at Subaru's question.

"Why do you know Ram has a sister? What is your real purpose?"

Ram asked coldly.

"I happened to see a girl who looks exactly like you except for hair color. Mentally, you seem more like the older sister, so based on appearance, you're the younger… Ow, stop hitting me suddenly!"

"Sorry, a black bug just flew in front of me and I instinctively swatted at it."

"Back to the topic. Ram won't give up just because Rem is better than her. If anything, Ram would be happy. Looks like you should leave now. Goodbye."

Following Ram's pointed direction, Subaru saw the old butler had arrived earlier than expected.

Waving goodbye to the maid who was parting, Subaru and the old butler boarded the dragon carriage back to the mansion.

.

.

.

The last day, even though an attack was expected, the mansion's guards had been drinking since morning.

Of course, according to them, they had already drunk less than usual in preparation for tomorrow's birthday party.

Subaru also subtly mentioned the possibility of an attack.

"Brother, Lady Reinhild will be at the mansion today. Even madmen wouldn't dare attack at this time. Have a drink and relax. If you have time, get a few more bottles."

Forced to drink a cup, Subaru, half dazed, went to the wine cellar.

Just then, he saw Heinkel running out carrying a box of wine.

Heinkel deliberately bumped into Subaru as he left.

Subaru's expression darkened.

He sighed and entered the cellar to take a few bottles of wine before returning to the guards.

Then Heinkel left, and the busy afternoon preparations began, the same as the previous playthrough.

By the way, Subaru made up for many mistakes and received praise from everyone for the first time.

That night, Subaru sat on a chair, vigilantly observing his surroundings.

He patiently waited for the anomaly to happen.

Time passed by the seconds.

Subaru felt increasingly sleepy, rubbing his eyelids to fend off the sudden drowsiness.

But the sleepiness brought coldness with it.

Subaru shivered and bitterly smiled, hugging his shoulders and rubbing his body to warm up, but no matter what he did, he couldn't dispel the chill.

Moreover, the drowsiness grew heavier.

—Optimistically grasping the situation, Subaru noticed something had changed.

The otherworld's current climate was close to late spring in his original world, sometimes requiring rolling up sleeves for the heat.

But now, why were his teeth chattering uncontrollably?

"Damn, could this be… ugh!"

But the trembling spread throughout his body.

Subaru hurriedly braced himself on the ground, but his arms couldn't support his weight.

"Someone, s-someone…"

Subaru opened his mouth to call for help but spat out black blood.

His internal organs seemed to be slowly melting. He realized he was in mortal danger.

Using his last strength, Subaru opened his room's door and crawled out.

The next second, a shockwave slammed him away.

His whole body shook violently.

What was originally lying on the ground was blown away, bouncing multiple times.

After sliding his face on the ground, Subaru realized he had suffered an enormous impact.

"What… what happened?"

—His left half, from shoulder down, had been blown off.

"—Ah?"

Upon noticing the wound, pain shot through his body like lightning.

Subaru flopped around like a fish on land.

His throat was blocked by a feeling beyond pain and burning; he couldn't even scream.

All he could do was struggle and writhe.

His vision flickered, and familiar ringing filled his ears.

"The nuisance has come, farewell."

Subaru heard the final words, and with his last strength, opened his eyes.

The mansion's clothes, brown leather shoes — the next moment Subaru's head exploded in pain.