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Chapter Text

"My name is Natsuki Subaru."

"Does this sound like a typical shounen protagonist's monologue? Probably yes. Well, I would say that I have absolutely nothing for a protagonist. I'm a simple guy, without any abilities or distinguishing features, I live in a full-fledged family, I have good parents and I feel sorry for them for having such a recluse son. Oh yeah, I don't have any friends or a girlfriend, by the way, did I mention that I hardly leave the house and don't study? That's also worth taking note of. Basically, I'm the most ignorant and lame guy without a penny in my pocket!

Wait... am I talking to myself in my head again?"

In complete silence, broken only by the occasional passing car, a young man walks down the alley, a guy with a slightly uneven posture and his hands in his pockets. His strangely slicked back jet black hair flutters slightly as he walks, looking down, only occasionally looking up to realize there's no magical truck coming at him ready to send him to isekai. He pulls out a flip phone from the pocket of his sweatshirt and turns it on, checking the time.

- 21:49... I think the store is still open.

The people passing by pay him absolutely no attention, only occasionally casting sideways glances in his direction as he heads towards the store he goes to when his supplies at home run low. If he could, he would order home delivery, but does he have any desire to spend extra money on delivery? Absolutely not. And he just sighs dejectedly, counting the coins in his hands.

- If I counted everything correctly... then this time I will have enough yen for ramune too, or maybe save them for another time.. hmm.

The guy enters the store and stops at the counter, there, the cashier, who is already familiar to him, looks up tiredly, then silently gets up and walks to the shelves with goods, taking out a couple of things from there and returning back, placing them on the table in front of the young man.

- As usual, right? You owe me 500 yen, boy.

- Actually... I wanted... uh... okay, never mind, that's it.

Subaru hesitates a bit before handing over a couple of coins and placing them in the cashier's hand, after which the man in front of him gathers up the groceries in a small bag and hands it to the boy.

- Here, boy, and don't come so late, your parents might be worried about you.

The boy in the sports uniform remains silent, not answering, after which he meekly nods and walks towards the exit, stopping at the manga stand, closely examining the bright and colorful covers.
"Reincarnation in another world... it would be great to be reborn and become a cool protagonist, right? Especially if I were summoned by some beautiful girl with silver hair... well... or any, as long as she's beautiful and kind.. I guess."

He sighs again and looks out the panoramic window at his reflection. Unlike all these fictional stories that people make up out of boredom, the real world is rather modest, and also dull. Magic...rebirth...people of other races and all that - it's just a joke, nothing more. And people die here not because of monsters, but because of diseases and...even ridiculous overwork. Humans are really that weak, unlike how heroes are portrayed in some fantasy light novels.
"I wonder...will I stick around in my room my whole life and never go out, ruining my parents' lives?"

- Boy, are you just going to stand here and stare into space? You can do it at home.

A strange voice brings him out of his thoughts and he jumps slightly in place, then bows guiltily and goes outside. Fresh air hits his nose, but at the same time filled with gasoline and some heaviness. Subaru looks up at the sky, at the moon, feeling overly dreamy today for some reason, well, in any case, is there any point in rushing home? It's unlikely that anyone is waiting for him there anyway. Or somewhere else.

[ I love...]

When he gets home, he'll probably start another marathon of watching a new anime that he found on the Internet, it's a bit boring at first glance, but there was a beautiful silver-haired girl on the promo art for the first season, so it's not that bad?

[ You...]

Perhaps the next day he'll have to take out the trash, after all, the full basket seems to be begging him to do it.

[ I love....you...]

Huh? What? Is he imagining things or...

[ I.... love.... you... ]

- What... again...?

°•°•°

- Uh?

Subaru blinks a couple of times, blinded by the bright light that suddenly hit his eyes, did he accidentally walk onto the road and get blinded by the headlights of some car? Why is it suddenly so bright?

He imagined a bright blue sky and he frantically rubs his eyes, trying to wash away this simultaneously beautiful and incomprehensible landscape. When he realizes that the landscape has not gone anywhere, the guy lowers his gaze lower, people dressed in medieval clothes walk around him, carts are driving... and... wait, what!? What is this, some kind of festival?! Why are there people here who look like half-beasts and dinosaurs, pulling carts behind them! It can't be... it's not... not...

- I can't believe it... seriously...

He glances around again, the buildings that are completely different from the architecture of Japan make him wary... it's like he's in medieval Europe or something. And all this brings only one thought, Subaru takes a deep breath before shouting out energetically with a mixture of shock and some joy.

- I WAS SENT INTO ISEKAI WORLD?!!

He covers his mouth with his hand when he sees passersby looking at him sideways... and a bashful expression appears on his face, apparently something in both worlds will remain unchanged, right?
Subaru coughs into his fist, clearing his thoughts, and can't help but wonder who sent him here and how? Because no matter how much he circled around, he couldn't find the beautiful girl who summoned her hero to a parallel world, and this obviously disappointed him.
"I... probably won't be able to go back, right?"

He shook the thought away, deciding to focus on his first question. Perhaps the beauty who sent him here is already waiting for him in some guild or maybe.. at some point of the new quest? Oh yeah, a guild.. I wonder.. does it even exist here?
The guy turns around and uncertainly stomps through the crowd, as if floating with the flow, the looks that are thrown at him make him very nervous, but he tries as best as possible to ignore the fear rising along his chest, he squeezes the handle of the bag before stopping at the counters, remembering something.

- My phone...

Subaru takes his gadget out of his pocket and turns it on, time definitely passes here.. but not like in his world... and there is obviously no connection. Quite depressing.

- Are you just going to stand there or are you going to buy something?

He turns around at the unfamiliar, slightly rough voice and sees the seller, a man of strong build, holding an apple in his hand.

- Ah, you sell apples?

- What, what... apples? These are fresh appa, I have no idea what kind of "apples" you're talking about.

Subaru awkwardly scratches the back of his head and looks at the signs around him, noticing only now that they are written in a language he's never seen in his life, well... this will be a clear problem in the future. The last thing he needs is communication problems here.

- So are you going to buy or not?

- I'm sorry! But no, as much as I would want to, I'm a completely poor and ignorant guy who's here for the first time, Natsuki Subaru!

- Then what are you still doing here? Get lost, since you're not going to buy anything!

Subaru raises his hands in front of him in a defensive manner, trying to calm the other's ardor.

- Uh, wait, I just wanted to ask you about something! Do you know where the guild is..?

The seller raises an eyebrow, huffing in irritation, and waves his hand in response.

- Now, stop telling me about your guilds and apples, I have no idea what they are, so get out of here already, you impudent fellow!

- S-seriously? You don't know what a guild is? Do you at least have points to increase your stats or classes... like archers, mages...

- I'm going to throw your "apple" at you, now, get out of here already!

Subaru is visibly scared and runs away before the apple hits him, why are people here sometimes as rude as in real life? He just asked!

Now he's wandering the streets of the town again, knowing absolutely nothing about it, which worries him much less, because there's not even a guild here! How is he supposed to find the girl who summoned him here if he has no idea how to look for her? Couldn't he have started with an easier quest? He groans in irritation and puts his hands at his sides, thinking about his next move.
"Okay...if there's no guild here, then we can ask around, maybe they saw some beauty nearby who was looking for her hero..or something like that, although it would be nice if I ran into her myself.."

- Please stop her! She stole my valuable thing!

A ringing voice like a bell brings Subaru out of his thoughts, he thinks for a few seconds about how beautiful the voice he heard was before he perks up and looks at the scene in front of him.

A little further down the road, amidst the crowd stood a beautiful girl like the first spring flower with silver hair, in a white outfit with lilac highlights, elven ears were visible from under her hair and on her head was a white flower that Subaru did not recognize. The girl looked worried and following her gaze, he noticed that she was nervously watching how a young girl with blond hair and red eyes like rubies quickly runs into the crowd, holding something in her hand. Probably what she stole from such a beautiful lady! And as her hero, he should help her, so...

- Wait! Let me help you...

He doesn't have time to finish speaking, because the girl he was addressing rushes off and starts chasing another girl, completely ignoring his words.

- Hey, wait! Where are you going..!

Subaru immediately starts running after her, trying to squeeze through the crowd, oh my god, is today a sales day or something? He confidently follows the shock of silver hair, feeling panic as soon as she starts moving further and further away. Doesn't he have any increased running stats or something? Why does he feel exactly the same as in his world?! Just as weak and...

- Ah! No, wait, wait... I'm..! I'm your hero, so..!

He says this but he no longer sees the girl in his field of vision, he doesn't even see the girl who stole her precious thing... why did he just appear and he's already so unlucky?

Subaru managed to squeeze through the crowd, and although he could no longer see the girl he was chasing, he continued to run, hoping that she was able to stop the thief and he would be able to catch up with them, even taking into account the fact that it seemed to him that he would soon fall from such a sudden physical exertion, despite the fact that sometimes he used to maintain his figure with the help of sports.
"Please... stop somewhere.. I want to talk to you... you called me here! Why are you doing this to me?!"

- A-ah!

Subaru feels himself crashing into something soft and loses his balance, mentally preparing himself for the subsequent pain of the merciless asphalt, did he... crash into a random citizen while running? Come on, he is not even surprised by his failure. However, despite this, he still doesn't feel the unpleasant hard asphalt, but instead, he feels a firm and strong hand holding his shoulder, as if telling him that everything will be alright, and he looks up, his eyes widening slightly.

- Excuse me, are you alright? Does anything hurt?

In front of him stands a boy... or a man? More like a gentleman, slightly taller than him, with red fiery hair and ocean-blue eyes, wearing a white double-breasted coat with purple accents and a black shirt underneath, as well as white pants and a huge, fearsome sword on his belt behind him.
His impeccable and straight posture makes Subaru doubt himself and feel small in comparison. The red-haired man smiles guiltily, and to be honest, Subaru absolutely cannot deny that he is envious of how his facial expression seems beautiful with any emotion he shows.

- No.. I'm fine...

He squeezes out and stands up straight before coming to his senses and asking excitedly.

- L-Listen! Have you seen a girl with long silver hair running around here, wearing a white outfit? She's really pretty!

The red-haired man blinks a couple of times before thinking about the question and shaking his head.

- No, I'm sorry, I haven't seen any girls with that description around here, may I know her name?

Subaru awkwardly looks away and laughs dryly, it's pretty stupid, but he was really chasing a girl right now, even though he doesn't know her name.

- Um.. no, I don't know her name... I just think she lost something precious to her and I wanted to help her get it back... and so.. I ran after her and.. you..

- My name is Reinhard Van Astrea, sorry I didn't introduce myself right away.

- Yeah, nothing..and so I ran into you, Reinhard-san.

Reinhard puts his hand on his chin, obviously processing what Subaru said, then removes it and puts it on the hilt of his sword, smiling.

- You can just call me Reinhard, and I understand you, your desire to help an unknown girl is quite commendable, I'm sorry that I don't have information on this matter. In that case, may I know your name?

- My name is Natsuki Subaru, and I am an absolutely poor and ignorant guy beyond the possible, nice to meet you!

Subaru says this with incredible enthusiasm, stupidly raising his hand up and slightly standing in a pose that he himself came up with, as if this was already a taboo for him and Reinhard couldn't help but chuckle at it, this guy in front of him... Natsuki Subaru... was clearly something else, and his straightforwardness was a rather respectable aspect of his personality.

- Nice to meet you too, Subaru, as I understand it, you're not from here? I don't mean to sound rude, but your appearance is very different from the people of Lugunica.

- Lugunica..? Ah, no, I'm not from here... I'm... from a very distant place... somewhere around the edge of the east!

Reinhard raises a puzzled eyebrow at his statement.

- The edge of the east? But there's nothing at the edge of the east, Subaru... did you come here from..

The Great Waterfall? No... that would be strange.

- I don't really understand the geography and the position of your continents and all that...so I might have messed up...I'm that careless..haha.

- Okay...let's put this question aside for later, do you need help with anything? If so, you can always ask the guards, by the way, I'm also one of them, although you wouldn't know it from my uniform, I have a day off today.

Subaru looks at the other with a bit of skepticism while he smiles awkwardly, if he were to guess, he would say that Reinhard's current uniform looks quite formal and could be similar to a guard or a knight, if it comes down to it, it seems like the standards in this world will be very difficult to accept... yeah. He looks around before realizing that the more he stands still, the less time he will spend searching for that beautiful girl and this makes him move.

- Thanks, but I think I'll refuse! Good luck, Reinhard, thanks for helping, I have to go, maybe we can talk later, I'm in a hurry, see you later!

Reinhard looks on in a bit of surprise as Subaru runs off in the other direction, waving at him as he goes, and can't help but notice how much he stands out from the others...not just in his appearance and manner of speech, but also in his simplicity as he decided to simply not accept his help and left after briefly thanking him...even though anyone else would have been willing to do so if they had the chance to receive help from Reinhard.
The knight felt a weight lift off his shoulders as he watched the figure walk away, and he raised his hand, waving back, a gentle smile appearing on his lips that he himself didn't know the reason for.

- See you later, take care of yourself, Subaru.

°•°•°

Subaru runs on before stopping in front of a huge gate, looking at it in amazement, if he thinks about it, could the thief try to run out of Lugunica to escape? He answers himself that yes, it is quite possible. Outside the city, where there are no guards, it is much easier to hide from justice, in his opinion. He watches the carts leave one after another and a brilliant and incredibly stupid plan is born in his head at the same time. Obviously, they won't let him through just like that, however... if the guards don't know that a modest guy will be riding in one of the carts, then he will get away with it, right?

- All that remains is to find the right moment and a good accomplice...

Subaru stands by the side of the road for a few minutes before his eyes catch a glimpse of a carriage and he runs up to it, jumping into it as nimbly and silently as possible, pretending that it was just a random hole in the road and not a new guest inside. He ends up on the floor inside and looks up, noticing that the one pulling the carriage didn't even pay any attention, a satisfied smile appears on his lips and he silently praises himself for his courage. Subaru shifts slightly, positioning himself so that he can look out the window and jump out of the carriage at any moment. As soon as they leave the city, without receiving any unnecessary attention, Subaru crouches down and places his hands on the edges of the carriage, preparing to jump out when they are far enough away from the entrance.

- W-Who are you?! What are you even doing here?!

Subaru raises his head, reproaching himself somewhere inside for praising him too soon, and turns around, looking awkwardly at the guy with short gray hair, dark blue eyes, and a green outfit with a slightly ridiculous hat of almost the same color.

- Aa, dude, sorry for not warning, but you helped me a lot, so thanks! Maybe we'll meet again later and I'll pay you back, bye!

- What? What do you mean!? And w-where are you going?!

Subaru decides not to answer any of the questions asked and, after a short wave, deftly jumps out of the carriage, landing on his feet, however, having miscalculated the force, he still felt pain from such a sharp landing and knelt down, hissing in pain with a suffering expression on his face.

- It hurts so much, just like in the real world... damn...

"Wait..."
He quickly came to his senses and disappeared into the bushes with an aching leg, but not seen or hit by another cart driving after another, after which he stood up and limped a little, looking around, unsure of where to go next, the depths of the forest seemed like a dangerous place to him, if you think about it.

- Ah... if only there were some traces or signs that she left behind her...

"Okay, if I just stand there, I won't find anything."
With that, Subaru moved deeper, making his way through the branches, bushes, and trees scattered chaotically everywhere, as if trying to confuse him even more, while he slowly but surely begins to forget where he came from and what paths he's taking. As he walks, the world around him darkens, the foliage begins to obscure the sunlight, making the surroundings scary, making Subaru wince and think that maybe he's starting to regret starting all this when he didn't even know where exactly the girls ran off to. Previously, he could hear the chirping of birds, but as he walked further and further, he could only hear his own uneven breathing and the branches breaking under the weight of his walking.
"Maybe I should go back before it's too late.."

- Aaaah...! Please, d-don't kill me, I beg you!

Subaru froze in place when he heard desperate cries, this voice... did not belong to someone he had met before.. However, if he understood correctly, it was a little girl, and this gave him a reason to move on, he quickened his pace, going towards the cries, trying to answer them loudly enough along the way.

- Can you hear me? Don't panic, I'm already on my way! If you can, stay where you are!

With each step, his heartbeat quickens and his breathing becomes unsteady, he is not the type of person who usually gets into dangerous situations right away, but the life of an innocent child could be at stake, so what else could he do? Even if he was not called here to be a hero, he would still do it!

- W-wait please, don't! Don't come here, it's dangerous here, please!

- Don't talk nonsense! If it's dangerous there, it means you need help!

What a brave child, asking him to leave! Oh no, Natsuki Subaru is not like that....maybe he is a loser, maybe...nobody is waiting for him and few expect anything from him, but he is not such a coward...to leave someone to suffer! Only a real idiot would do that!

He moves on, seeming to see something further, large figures, a small red glow and...

- Kh... Kha! What is this...

Subaru quickly covers his nose, getting even closer, smelling a terrible smell...hoping that it is not what he thought, he moves on and makes his way through the last branches of the bushes before coming out into a small clearing, frozen.

- No.....no....are you serious...it's just...it's...

Fear climbs higher and higher up his spine, he feels his grip on the bag's handle tighten so tightly that his knuckles turn white, and his face takes on a sick..pale color. The sight before him cannot be simply described in words. A meadow of flowers, completely now painted in various shades of red and Subaru feels that when he took his first step here, he stepped in this...this blood...not his blood...and he looks further, looks at how in the center lies a girl, or...what is left of her...namely, her lifeless corpse, while around her stand creatures similar to wild dogs, twice their height, with terribly long fangs and bright scarlet pupils, ready to tear and throw anyone.

He notices that his arms and legs are starting to shake and his whole body is screaming "run!" but he can't move, the horror written on his face only makes his situation worse, but something else is surfacing, something else like... anger..?
Subaru understands that it's his fault, girl died because he was too slow, he could have saved her, maybe if he hadn't injured his leg then and if he had run right away, and he begins to feel anger towards these inhuman creatures and towards himself too. What are they? Why did they attack her and kill her? Who sent them? Why are they still alive? He clenches his fists even more, digging his nails into his skin and sees how these creatures seem to sniff, after which they all turn their heads in his direction at once and begin to growl bloodthirstily, moving away from the girl's body and starting to head towards him.
"They smelled me...?"

Subaru doesn't have time to think and the "dogs" rush at him one after another, he manages to react somehow and stands behind a tree, dodging the first attack, hearing the claws digging into the tree bark, a shiver runs down his spine and he stands up straight, deciding that it's now or never. Time to find out his true potential, so he stretches his hand out towards them and shouts.

- Fire Ball!

"Huh....? What...why didn't I.."

He stares at his hand, realizing that no miracle happened, and begins to visibly panic, it can't be that he has... absolutely... no magic..?
The creature pulls its claws out of the tree and makes a dash towards Subaru and he closes his eyes, concentrating.

- M-Water magic..!

Subaru feels his hand go numb...maybe this is a sign that it worked? He opens his eyes hoping to see the result, however his eyes widen in horror when he realizes... that his arm is gone.. and all of his life-sustaining blood is slowly pouring out of him.

- Aaa....aaAAAAGH!

He screams in incredible pain and fear as he feels claws digging into his skin, tearing through his clothes and flesh with great ease, Subaru begins to cough up blood, fully feeling how his lungs are starting to fill with it too and it is becoming harder and harder for him to breathe. He hits his head on the ground when his legs can no longer support him, his eyes roll back and all that comes out of his mouth are pathetic sobs and sighs of pain. The beasts rush at him and sink their fangs into his barely living body, he feels as if under a curse, his life force slipping away, and the corners of his eyes darken until the darkness completely obscures his vision.

"I'm dying..."

[ I love you.. ]

"Am I really dead...?"

[ I love you.. ]

"I...just wanted to save her.."

[ I love you.. ]

- . . .

- Are you going to just stand there or are you going to buy something already?

Chapter Text

It's cold, very cold. He feels arms wrapping around him, but there's no warmth coming from them, every phantom touch only makes his heart ache. There's a noise in his ears, and then...silence....silence...

- Hey, are you going to stand there with that face and scare my potential customers, or are you going to buy something?

Subaru opens his eyes abruptly and clutches his chest with his hand, breathing heavily and intermittently, his gaze quickly darting around the area, and then turning it to himself, emphasizing that his arms and legs are in place and there are no bleeding wounds anywhere. Beads of sweat roll down his pale face, despite the fact that he's unharmed, he still feels a distant pain and remembers the feeling of fangs and claws digging into his skin.

- Boy, are you okay? You look like you saw a ghost.

- I-I...

The words don't come out of his mouth, he swallows and holds back from screaming right here and now. After which he glances at the seller a little puzzled, didn't they talk not long ago? Why is he here again, and why is the seller acting like he... no.. okay.. this is stupid.
"But still... what if.."

- Um... can I ask you, how many times have you seen me..?

- What kind of strange question is that? This is my first time seeing you, are you going to buy something or did you come here to ask me questions?

Subaru stands for a few seconds, while the gears are spinning in his head. Maybe it was just a nightmare? He probably just accidentally fell asleep on the way and had a very strange and scary dream... yeah. Still, if it wasn't a dream, he wouldn't be standing here, but would be lying in that clearing, losing his blood and slowly dying. He laughed nervously and the shop assistant stared at him as if he were a weirdo.

- No, sorry, I'm a completely poor and ignorant guy beyond the bounds of possibility, so I can't buy anything from you! But I'm glad you answered my question, thank you, kind shop assistant!

- Firstly, my name is Kadomon, and secondly, why are you standing here if you're not going to buy anything? Get out!

Subaru just winked at the furious merchant and gave him a thumbs up before walking past the stall further down the road. Of course... it was just a dream, but many dreams can come true, so if he remembered correctly, he would meet the silver-haired girl somewhere... here?
His eyes sparkle when he sees her, almost exactly where he met her in his dream, and he runs up, moving more confidently through the crowd, and then grabs her sleeve, causing her to gasp in surprise and turn around to look at him with some surprise and suspicion in her eyes.
"She's even more beautiful up close..."

- Sorry to interrupt you from your walk, but I don't think it's safe to walk in a crowd, a beautiful girl like you might get something stolen!

- Oh... what are you saying, we've met...?

- Not yet, but we can fix that when we leave here for some other place, and...wait, weren't you the one who called me here...

He doesn't have time to ask when he sees a flash of blonde hair out of the corner of his eye, and a hand reaching for the pocket of a beautiful silver-haired girl, instead Subaru abruptly pulls her aside, causing the thief to miss her attempt to steal something, and the girl with ruby eyes turns around, looking back at him slightly irritated.

- Oh, come on, brother, is it really that hard to let me do my job?

- Job? You just steal other people's things, what kind of job is that?! Find a normal one!

The blonde snorts in response, and the girl with silver hair looks at the two of them in surprise, not really understanding what just happened, after which she stands up straight and looks seriously at the alleged thief.

- You were going to steal my insignia? This is a very serious matter, and despite the fact that you could have been entrusted with this, I hope you understand what consequences you can expect even for trying.

The girl with blonde hair stuck her tongue out at the other's statement, and Subaru involuntarily frowned, insignia? What is this... and why is it so important to this girl and this thief? More and more questions popped up in his head with each passing minute.

- Well, I don't care if the big shots are going to threaten me here anyway, so just stand still and let me finish what I started!

Subaru didn't have time to blink before the girl jumped up and tried to steal the silver-haired girl's "insignia" again, fortunately this time the amethyst-eyed girl herself jumped to the other side before summoning a couple of ice crystals and throwing them towards the other girl, which she dodged with a few jumps. At this point, Subaru could only watch this in some kind of shock, simultaneously admiring and wondering why he didn't have anything like that in his arsenal.

- Please give up, I don't want to hurt you!

- Oh, I don't care about your magic, don't talk to me like I'm a piece of glass that can be easily broken!

The girl with elf ears puts her hands forward and creates a barrier, but the blonde only smirks and jumps over it with deft jumps on the awnings of the counters, and then makes one quick dash, as if under some kind of acceleration magic? Subaru didn't even have time to blink as the thief was already on the other side of the crowd and was waving her hand at them, in which she was holding some kind of detail in the shape of a triangle with a stone in the middle, as he could understand, apparently "insignia".

The silver-haired girl slapped her hand on her pocket in fear, realizing that there was nothing there now and ran towards the blonde, intending to catch up with her.

- No, stay where you are!

- Try to catch up with me!

Subaru clenched his fists as he watched them walk away, realizing that he couldn't catch up with them, and lowered his head.
"It's almost the same as in the dream, but I don't want to go after them again and possibly screw up again and get torn apart by strange dogs.. I need to go another way."

He turns around, looking towards the market, and then stops at the first step.
"Wait...if almost everything here is like the dream..does that mean that girl in the forest.."

No, he shakes his head, it was just a nightmare, and everything that's happening now doesn't exactly match his dream... unless of course every action he takes changes the outcome, but that would just be stupid, right? He puts his hand on his forehead and walks, holding the bag in his hand, now he needs something else, he needs as much information as possible instead of going blindly himself.

He stops again, listening, and hears quiet and lonely sobs among the loud noise of the crowd, Subaru turns around and follows the sound, well.. not that it's his business, but if someone needs help and he can be of use then why not..?
Subaru slows down when he sees a girl with short green hair in front of him, quietly sobbing into her small hands, all alone, without her parents nearby, and he approaches, trying not to scare her.

- Hey... don't cry.. t-

- Are you okay? Where are your parents? Don't worry, I'll try to help as much as I can.

Subaru's head snaps to the familiar voice and his eyes widen slightly when he sees a red-haired man kneeling in front of the girl, holding out his hand to her in a gentle gesture, trying to calm her down and reassure her that she's safe.
"Reinhard...? What is he doing here..."

- I-I..hic...m-my mom...hic..

- It's okay, please calm down and breathe evenly, I'm listening to you.

The girl continues to sob and her hands begin to shake, which makes Reinhard feel like he's made things worse and he guiltily moves back. An idea comes to Subaru's mind and he bows slightly in front of the girl, then takes out a coin from his pocket, holding it in front of her.

- Look! I have one yen in my hand now, see?

The girl looks up slightly and removes her hands from her face, and Reinhard looks at Subaru with interest and a little surprise.

Subaru moves his hand in the air, making sure the girl has fully attached her attention to the coin in his hand.

- And now... it will disappear!

He makes a deft movement of his hand before the coin that was there before disappears right before her eyes and the girl looks at him in surprise, with that her sobs stop and she looks Subaru up and down, trying to figure out where he hid the coin, but he just smiles at her, assuring her that he no longer has it.

- Do you know where the coin is now? Let me show you.

The girl watches intently as Subaru reaches his hand to her head, and stops at her ear, she feels his fingers tickle her strands of hair before he takes the coin out from there and she watches in shock and delight as he twirls the coin between his fingers, then takes her hand and puts his coin in there.

- Here, this is my humble gift, don't lose it, it brings good luck.

- T-thank you...

The girl looks at the coin in her hands with admiration, while Reinhard, who was watching all this, looked at Subaru with a mixture of surprise and partly admiration for his kindness and ability to defuse the situation like that. Subaru stood up and Reinhard stood up after him, the guy in the sports uniform turned his head towards the other and jumped in surprise when the knight bowed in front of him.

- Thank you for helping this girl, and I apologize for not being able to do it myself.

- Hey, what's wrong?! No need to bow, it wasn't hard, not hard at all!

Reinhard raised an eyebrow and stood up straight, he was definitely seeing this man for the first time, and he stood out a lot among the people of Lugunica, not only in appearance but also in charisma, and to put it briefly... he seemed like a very interesting individual. He smiled gently, his most welcoming smile.

- Sorry if I made you feel uncomfortable, may I ask your name?

Subaru sighed, a little disappointed.
"I guess since it was a dream, no one remembers me and I'll have to introduce myself again..well.."

- I'm Natsuki Subaru, the most ignorant and broke guy beyond belief, nice to meet you Reinhard!

Subaru extended his hand, hoping that shaking hands here didn't mean something like a declaration of war or worse. But Reinhard simply tilted his head slightly and extended his hand, shaking Subaru's hand, making his worries fade into the background.

- As I understand it, there's no need for me to introduce myself, so nice to meet you too, Subaru.

They both turned towards the girl and Subaru extended his hand to her, which she looked at shyly before putting the coin in her pocket and taking his hand.

- What's your name?

- Plum...

- Okay, Plum, let's take you to your parents, what are their names?

- Mom's name is Raksha... and dad's is Kadomon..

Subaru's eyes widened as realization hit him, he looked at the girl in surprise and remembered the image of a very muscular, slightly rude man, a fruit seller, the girl only looked at him puzzled, as did Reinhard.

- Wait.... HE IS YOUR FATHER????

°•°•°

Subaru walked towards the direction he had already memorized, a bashful expression on his face as he held Plum's hand while Reinhardt held her other hand, making them look like a very strange young couple, to which Subaru just grimaced, thinking that it would have been much better if that silver-haired girl had been in Reinhardt's place!

Well...it wasn't that he was disgusted by Reinhardt..it was just that his gut was telling him somewhere deep down that it looked and sounded wrong. However, if he looked at Reinhardt, it seemed like he was completely unfazed and satisfied with everything, to which Subaru narrowed his gaze.
"How can you be so calm!?"

Subaru stops when Plum pulls him by the hand, and notices that they stopped at the same counter where Kadomon was already fiddling around, putting out new boxes, apparently fresh Appa. The merchant turns around and looks at the scene in front of him, looking askance at Subaru for some reason... although it's not his fault! Absolutely! He shamefully lets go of Plum's hand and pats her lightly on the back, after which she lets go of her and Reinhard's hands and goes to her father, taking out a coin and showing it.

- Dad, look, this boy showed me a very interesting trick when I was sad and gave me this coin, taking me to you so that I wouldn't get lost anymore! Someday I will also learn magic and tricks, right?

Kadomon softens and strokes the girl's head, and then turns his gaze to the two men in front of him.

- Of course you will. Thank you for helping my daughter, I suppose I am now in your debt.

Reinhard shakes his head, and like a diligent knight, wants to refuse the reward, but Subaru steps in front of him and holds out one finger, although he has something to ask.

- Do you happen to know who this girl with blonde hair and red eyes is running around here and stealing other people's things? Where does she live?

- Oh, has she already managed to steal something from you? Her name is Felt and she lives in the slums, it's not safe there so I don't recommend you go there, boy.

- Got it, thanks, I'm going!

The three of them look at Subaru with puzzlement as he leaves, then watch him awkwardly return and scratch his head.

- And the slums... where is that...?

°•°•°

Subaru trudges forward through the empty streets while Reinhard follows, not paying much attention to his worried expression and watches as people around him quickly close their windows and hide in their houses, looking at the two of them with disapproving eyes.

- You don't have to follow me Reinhard, I'll just return one thing from her and that's it!

- But, Subaru... the slums are really not a safe place, especially if you go there alone, even if you think you can handle it yourself, I'm afraid I can't trust you completely, the people here are quite hostile to strangers.

Subaru just snorts in annoyance at this statement, he's not going to get into any kind of squabble, he'll just return one thing to one girl and leave here in peace, is his mere presence here enough for them to decide to attack him?
"Moreover... I feel like I already know what it's like to receive terrible wounds and die."

- Subaru?

- Huh? It's fine, I just find it weird that you're spending your day off helping some stranger.

Reinhard frowns a little and shakes his head.

- It's my duty to help people, so there's nothing wrong with accepting my help Subaru, and I don't need to be familiar enough to help you.

- You'll make me blush so quickly, Reinhard, you're too upright and honest!

Subaru puts his hands behind his head and yawns slightly, while Reinhard looks at him a little puzzled.

- Is that bad...?

- No, be yourself, if you want to be kind, be like that, if you want to help, help, I won't force you to do the opposite or become someone else.

Subaru says it like it's the most simple and obvious thing on the planet, but Reinhard looks up at him with a surprised look, caught off guard by his honesty at the moment, something warm spreading in his chest, and he can't figure out what it is, instead falling silent and following Subaru, looking at his back.

Subaru notices this, and looks up at him with a questioning look, slowing his pace slightly.

- Did I say something wrong?

- Ah, no, it's fine, I'm sorry, I was just thinking for a moment, I think we've arrived.

Subaru looks ahead, and sure enough, they were already standing at the entrance of a fairly tall building... like an abandoned tavern or something? He still hasn't gotten used to the architecture here, but he doesn't pay attention to it.

- Then let's do it as we agreed, you hide somewhere nearby, and I'll call you if I need help, okey?

- O-okey?

- That means "fine" in other language, so, okey?

- Got it... okey... be careful, Subaru.

Subaru smiles convincingly and gives the other guy a thumbs up, who at first looks at him with a question, but then just sighs, shakes his head and walks out of Subaru's sight.

The guy in the sports uniform turns around and looks at the door, deciding to just knock on it at first for the sake of decency, but he doesn't hear an answer until after a while he hears heavy footsteps and a man's voice through the door.

- Password.

- Uh...? Password..? 1 2 3 4...?

- Don't be stupid, if you don't know the password, then leave.

- Wait! I want to talk to Felt about the thing she stole!

He hears the man on the other side of the door move away from her and knock harder, not going to give in so easily.

- Come on, I... I want to buy that thing from her!

The footsteps stop and Subaru moves away from the door a little when it opens, he looks at the huge man with a little fear... about 200 centimeters..? He looks scary and threatening, but his expression doesn't show that he's angry at him and it calms him down a little, just a little more and he would have already asked Reinhard for help. The man looks at Subaru suspiciously, looking at the bag in his hands and sighs.

- Buy it..? Okay, come in, she's already inside.

Subaru nods and goes inside, looking around the room... well.. it wasn't exactly unusual, a counter, chairs.. a lot of hanging trinkets, apparently the ones Felt had already stolen, and speaking of her, the girl herself was sitting at the table, and opposite her... a woman was sitting, and Subaru couldn't help but feel uncomfortable, a shiver, the reason for which he didn't know, ran down his spine, foreshadowing something bad when that woman exchanged glances with him, the corners of her lips turned up, and the woman with dark hair, gathered in a not quite even ponytail on the left side, in a black dress and tights looked at Subaru, with a clear dangerous glint in her eyes.

- Oh, and who is this new guest of ours here?

Felt looked up and twitched slightly when she saw Subaru standing at the threshold.

- Ah... you again, brother, what are you doing here? Old Man Rom, why did you let him in?

- I came to buy the insignia from you.

Felt looked at him a little surprised, and then pointed her hand at the woman opposite.

- Well, great, if you can offer more than my client, then please take this trinket, I don't care.

Subaru silently takes his phone out of his pocket and suddenly a flash lights up the room, Felt squints and looks at it with displeasure before looking closely at the object in his hand and tilts his head in confusion, Subaru just grins.

- This... is a rather unusual thing from my homeland, with its help I can capture any moment and it will be stored here... look.

Subaru presses a couple of buttons and then turns the phone around for others to see, a picture of Felt is visible on the screen, with slightly squinted eyes looking at the camera. Rom raises an eyebrow, looking at the item in Subaru's hand with interest, and then looks at Felt.

- It's probably some kind of metiya, I'd say it's worth at least 20 silver coins, Felt.

- 20 silver coins?! That's more than enough for me!

The woman across from Felt bowed her head slightly, looking at Subaru, sighing dejectedly, but still smiling.

- Too bad, it looks like if it's worth more than 20 coins, then I won't be able to offer more, I guess I'll have to tell the customer that the deal fell through.

She gets up from the table, and Subaru watches her with his eyes as she heads for the exit. Something's wrong. He can't understand it. It can't be that simple. Why does he feel so tense right now, like...like she's going to...
"Move, idiot!"

Subaru suddenly jumps up and pushes Felt aside, his hair standing on end as he realizes a blade flew past his head by a few millimeters, the sound of it crashing into a wooden wall instead made his heart beat faster. He looks up and his eyes widen, the next second he sees Rom swinging a huge club at the woman in a frenzy, to which she only smiles sadistically and easily dodges the blow. Felt gets to his feet and looks at the two of them worriedly, taking out her blade.

- Old man Rom, be careful!

The blonde barely parries the blow of the black-haired woman, aimed at Rom, and stands next to him in a ready pose to attack. The woman turns her gaze to Subaru and plays with the blade in her hands, licking her lips.

- How wonderful, I hope your intestines will remain warm and beautiful when I rip open each of your stomachs!

Subaru holds back the urge to vomit at the mention of intestines and rises to his feet, throwing the bag aside, clenching his hands into fists, he doubts that he can help them in any way physically, but he can at least come up with a plan for their escape and call Reinhard here to sort this out.

- You... a psycho... do you like ripping people open? Who the hell are you!?

- My name is Elsa Granhirt... I hope you remember this name and scream it in agony while I rip your stomach open..

Elsa smiles wider and looks at Rom and Felt, then she suddenly pushes off the floor, heading towards them at high speed. Subaru notices the movement of her hands and shouts a warning.

- She's aiming for your stomachs, be careful!

Felt and Rom tense up as Elsa flies towards them, Felt holds out her blade, ready to block the attack, however her eyes widen in horror as she sees how easily Rom's club shatters into pieces with one swing of her blade, and before she can react, Felt hears the distinct sound of skin tearing.

- Rom-chi!

Rom covers Felt with his body, taking a heavy blow right to the chest, causing blood to spill onto the floor and tables around, Felt calls out to him in a panic, urging him to stop, however he ignores her and tries to grab Elsa's head with his bare hands.

- I thought you'd amuse me longer, too bad.

Subaru watches in horror as Elsa rips off Rom's arm with one deft move, sending it flying off onto the floor with a horrific clang of her blade.

- No! You...!

Rom's body falls backwards, collapsing onto the counter behind him, the floor and all of his clothes begin to turn a dark, red color. Subaru notices how Elsa begins to approach Felt, twirling her blade in her hand, and he stands there, his hands shaking, he wants to cover her with himself, to try to protect her somehow, but at the same time he doesn't want to rush to certain death damn it! He imagines how painful it will be, and terrible, and long... and he's just afraid of losing his life.

Felt frantically looks back at Rom's body and clutches the blade in her hands, clearly beginning to tremble with each new step Elsa takes.

- You... bitch... how dare you...

- You see... from the moment I realized that I won't get the insignia from you, I no longer needed you or him... so amuse me and show me your guts, okay?

- Shut up, you sadist!

Elsa turns around at the desperate cry, a hint of surprise appearing on her face as she sees the shards flying towards her, of course she easily manages to dodge, however Subaru runs up and tugs Felt's arm, pulling her along with him, before smoke rises from the floor, slightly blurring Elsa's vision, Subaru pulls the girl along with him, grateful that his little trick worked, he takes a deep breath.

"It was incredibly difficult to place the gunpowder I found in one of the barrels here under the boards and lightly ignite it, but I'm glad it worked, sorry guys, you might lose your floor today!"

- Reinhard! Your turn!

As soon as he said that, a loud crash came from above and the ceiling collapsed under a powerful blow, smoke and dust filled the building, and the boards began to burn with flames, and among all of this, Reinhard's tall figure stood tall, he grabbed the hilt of the sword on his belt, but realizing that this was not the case, he picked up the sword hanging on the wall, and pointed it towards Elsa. His tone was incredibly stern and strong, compared to the tone he had used earlier.

- Elsa Granhirt, the wanted giblet hunter, I urge you to surrender here and now, otherwise I will have to take action.

- Oh...how wonderful, could you really be the Sword Saint, Reinhard Van Astrea..? What an honor to fight such a strong opponent.

- No need for such praise.

Elsa smiles and runs her finger along her blade, leaving a cut on it, after which it heals rather quickly, which makes Subaru catch his breath... she can regenerate?
The woman sighs dreamily and gets into a pose, ready to attack at any moment.

- Then amuse me, since the time for talking is over!

Elsa rushes forward, but Reinhard easily blocks the blow and she flies away, after which she lands and rushes again and again, from different angles, bouncing off the walls, so fast that Subaru thinks he will get dizzy if he tries to follow her every move. He comes to his senses when he feels his sleeve being pulled and looks at Felt.

- Felt, let's get out of here, Reinhard will figure it out, I promise!

- But Old Man Rom...!

- Old Man Rom is stronger and tougher than he looks, I'm sure! So don't worry about him, come on, I'll think of something when we get out of here!

Felt is torn between listening to him and just running to Old Man Rom, but looking at the battle in front of them again and feeling the fresh air in her lungs getting smaller she nods, holding onto Subaru and running outside.
They cough and catch their breath once they're outside, Subaru turns around and watches the fire slowly start to flare up and his heart sinks at the thought that Rom might not be breathing right now. He looks at Felt before taking a deep breath and walking back to the entrance, it was his fault for starting the fire here and he's the one who's going to have to take the rap now.

- I'll be right back and bring Rom here, stay here Felt!

- Are you out of your mind?! There's a fire burning there!

Subaru ignores Felt's screams and rushes back into the burning building, he walks with difficulty, making his way through the smoke and avoiding the debris falling from above, each time silently praying to every god he knows that he won't accidentally be crushed by something. He glances at Reinhardt and calms down, seeing that Elsa hasn't left him with even a scratch the entire time. As he approaches Rom, he lets out a sigh, glad that the fire hasn't touched him yet, what luck...
Subaru grabbed him from behind and dragged him towards the exit, cursing himself for being weak in this world, and for the fact that the world decided that it was time for him to drag 2 meter tall men during a fire! He turns his head towards the voices and sees Reinhard apparently filling his sword with...uh...mana? As he points it towards Elsa, who is now holding onto both of her blades.

"I hope he doesn't do some kind of attack that will make this building fly up."

- Ah, damn it.

Subaru says this when he notices a flash of light, and is literally blown off his feet by an incredibly strong shockwave. He doesn't even have time to scream or make any sound at all when his ears suddenly ring and he and Rom are thrown out of the building, being thrown up by a huge explosion, the last thing he sees is Reinhard's terrified expression when he realizes Subaru was in the building with him, and his vision is again obscured by a black veil when the characteristic sound of a body hitting the ground is heard.

- Subaru!

°•°•°

"Did I die?"

Subaru opens his eyes, his vision is a little blurry, but he can clearly recognize the shock of red and silver hair hanging over him, he rubs his eyes, the image in front of him becomes clear again and he stands up abruptly, already sitting on the ground and turning his head around.

- Subaru! Are you okay? I'm so sorry, I didn't see you in the building and thought I could let it go.

- R-Reinhard...

Subaru looks at Reinhard as he guiltily lowers his head, kneeling next to him on the ground, his face clearly showing worry and shame. Subaru simply waves it off, partly it's his own fault for running there without any plan.

- So it was you... who decided to return the insignia to me..?

Subaru noticeably perks up when he hears that voice and turns his head to look at the silver haired girl with elf ears in front of him, she looks confused and a little worried as she must have just walked up to him without even knowing that he had arrived earlier. The guy in the gym uniform smiles at her and pulls out a badge from his jacket pocket, handing it to her.

- Oh, this is probably yours, right? Here you go!

The girl looks at him in surprise before smiling meekly and taking the badge from his hands, bowing slightly.

- Thank you, if there's anything... I could do to thank you, I'd like to do it.

Subaru blinks a couple of times before he says the first thing that comes to his mind without thinking.

- Tell me your name!

The girl stares at him for a few seconds before laughing sweetly and extending her hand to him, helping him up.

- Emilia... just Emilia.

Subaru repeats the name in his head a few times before he's convinced that it really suits her, then takes the offered hand and stands up, awkwardly laughing with her. A small blush appears on his cheeks.
Reinhard stands up after Subaru and can't help but notice how the seemingly strangers look so good together, and for a second... just for a split second, he feels a sharp sensation in his chest, watching as a barely noticeable blush appears on Subaru's face when he holds Emilia's hand longer than he should, but he brushes it off, content that Subaru is at least okay, although he should probably... consult a healer to be completely sure of that.
Subaru reluctantly lets go of Emilia's hand and looks around for Rom and Felt, but doesn't see them anywhere.

- Where are Felt and Rom?

- You mean that blonde girl and the man she was looking after? I decided to help them out a bit and helped them get to some healers I know in the capital, I think they'll be fine.

Reinhard shook his head, remembering how long that girl had yelled at him, and how long she'd resisted accepting his help, calling him names and trying to hit him, he was glad he was finally able to convince her. Subaru sighed contentedly.

- Great...well..I'm glad it worked out..wait..what happened to Elsa?

- She ran away, I apologize, I was distracted by making sure you were okay and lost sight of her.

Subaru opened his mouth, wanting to tell Reinhard he shouldn't have paid attention to him, but in the end he just put his hand on his forehead and rubbed his temples. This guy really is too nice, isn't he? He's willing to let a serial killer go just to find out if he is okay.

- Okay, I don't blame you, actually, I'd like to say thank you, if it weren't for you, I would have been lying there dead already... really, it means a lot to me, thank you Reinhard, I'm sorry for relying on you, I wanted to help somehow but ended up making things worse.

Reinhard shakes his head and a gentle smile appears on his face again, these are the most common words of gratitude, but for some reason hearing it from Subaru makes him feel better. Something about these words grabs him, leaving a pleasant aftertaste.

- You tried to save others in the ways you could, so don't blame yourself Subaru, the fact that you're okay is enough for me.

Subaru doesn't quite believe his words, but he keeps quiet about it, instead turning around and looking at the destroyed building, it wasn't burning anymore, but it was obvious that it definitely wouldn't be usable until it was fixed... although do they even fix anything in the slums? He has no idea, so he looks back at Emilia and Reinhard, who are also looking at him, which makes him feel a little awkward.

- Uh... I was thinking... I don't really have a place to stay or even spend the night.

- I can take you to my place!

Emilia and Reinhard looked at each other, realizing that they said the same thing at the same time, causing Subaru to laugh, covering his mouth with his hand.

- I guess we can decide this later... ah.. by the way, I just noticed but even though I seem to be fine, I feel like something is stabbing my side... it's weird.. I must have accidentally scratched it with a splinter..

Subaru lifts the hem of his jacket and T-shirt, intending to take a look at what's bothering him so much, and the other two watch his movements, a little worried.

As soon as he lifts it enough to see, Subaru suddenly freezes.
"Oh, come on..."

Reinhard and Emilia also freeze, horror appearing on their faces. Reinhard instinctively reaches out his hand. Subaru stands still, afraid to move.
"No way... it was going so well after all"

- Subaru...

Subaru looks down, he wants to think that he's just imagining things, he blinks but nothing happens, the huge wound on his side is slowly opening up and won't go away, apparently left as a gift by Elsa when he tried to pull out Old Man Rom.

- Sorry guys..

Blood gushed out from his opened wound and Reinhard caught Subaru in a flash, pressing him to his chest and crouching down before he could fall to the ground again, Emilia came up in a panic and started trying to use healing magic on him, but the wound was so deep that the blood just wouldn't stop, both of their faces turned pale as they tried to somehow help, Emilia muttered in a pleading tone.

- Subaru! Please hold on, don't close your eyes, you were going to find yourself a place to stay for the night right?

Subaru didn't answer, he tried to fulfill Emilia's request by keeping his eyes open, but with each passing second his eyelids became heavier and his pulse slowed down, and Reinhard, who was holding him in his arms, clearly heard it. He wouldn't forgive himself if Subaru died in his arms now.

- Subaru, just try to breathe evenly, try to help Emilia-san stop your bleeding... can you hear me? Subaru?

"It's useless.."

- Subaru!

"I can't... sorry Reinhard.."

- Subaru! Don't close your eyes..!

"It's too hard to hold back, im so sorry, Emilia.."

His vision blurs, he hears their panicked voices, but he can't make out what they are trying to tell him, he feels moisture accumulating at the corners of his eyes, and he can't understand why he is starting to cry.
"I don't want to die."

Oh, right.
"I want to live."

- Please...

He can't tell if it's him or someone else saying it, but it doesn't matter, he can't see anything anymore, there's only darkness around him, he's caught up in the familiar feeling of phantom hands on his body, and he can't help but wonder whose they are.
"A beautiful... fantasy world.."

[ I love you ]

- Have I heard that before...?

[ I love you ]

- Stop it...

[ I love you ]

- I said shut up!

°•°•°

- What are you shouting about, kid? Are you going to buy something or not?

Kadomon looks at the guy in the gym uniform in front of him, puzzled, and then sees a storm of different emotions written on his face, from despair to a blank expression.

- How many times have you seen me here?

The merchant raises an eyebrow at his question, he was shouting earlier and now he just asks the question in the calmest tone?

- I don't know what's on your mind... but this is the first time I've seen you here.

The guy in the gym uniform just stands there and looks at him with an indifferent expression, then his legs seem to lose their footing and he falls to the ground, causing Kadomon to look at him in shock, did he pass out or something?

- Hey, kid? What's wrong? Kid! Hello?!

Chapter Text

Subaru doesn't understand. He doesn't understand what's happening to him, the darkness flows around him and he drifts through it with his eyes closed, trying to collect the pieces of memories together. He feels that it's cold around him, but his skin doesn't react in any way. He doesn't shiver from the cold. However, he can't move a single muscle in his body, as if it's not his body at all. He scrolls through the events in his head, not knowing what else to do.

A market with stalls.

A male merchant with an apple in his hand.

A girl with silver hair in the crowd, as he later realized - Emilia.

A blonde named Felt.

A forest. A dark forest.

Death.

Slums.

A woman in a black dress with curved blades.

Fire. A bright flash.

Death.

"Is something repeating here...?"

He asks the question into the void, but no one obviously answers, leaving him alone with his thoughts. Subaru feels control slowly returning to his body and he slowly opens his eyes, a bright light hits him and he squints, trying to get used to it after hanging around in complete darkness for a while. He listens and notes that he can pick up other people's voices coming from nearby. One of them is strict, but also incredibly gentle, sounding with a share of anxiety, which spoils it a little, and the other, more ringing and quite relaxed, with a note of playfulness in it.

- How is he? I hope you didn't find anything serious while examining him.

- Don't worry, I examined him and quickly healed the small bruise on his head, other than that I didn't find anything, so he'll come to his senses soon, I think, nya.

"Are they talking about me..?"
Subaru feels the darkness and cold around him slowly recede and sighs in relief. Now he tries to focus on the feeling of something soft and comfortable enough under his body. Subconsciously, he's still afraid to move, especially when there are a few more people next to him, if not more, but curiosity still takes over and his eyes open slightly, giving him a wider view. Above him is a ceiling with luxurious patterns and an expensive, massive, mesmerizing chandelier fixed on top, if you think about it, it probably looks much more beautiful at night while it's on.
"I don't recognize this ceiling."

He says this to himself, thinking about something substantial for the first time, like where he is now. If he were given the chance to try to guess, he would guess that he is now in a huge, expensive mansion and he was captured by some rich nobles to torture some information out of him or to make them a slave... ah.. no wait, this is going too far.

- Oh, look who's awake, good morning, sleepyhead!

- Huh...?

Subaru's eyes widen as he realizes that above him, a few millimeters away from his face, is...uh...a girl with a short haircut and cat ears, looking at him with curiosity and mischief in her amber eyes, and he can't help but blush a little, after which he moves back, accidentally hitting the back of his head on the side of the bed, and...yeah...he just realized that he was lying in the softest and most luxurious bed imaginable, with several pillows underneath him. The "cat girl" just quietly laughs in her own amusement at his shy expression and places her hand on his shoulder. After which Subaru feels a tingling sensation, and how the fleeting pain in the back of his head quickly disappears.

- Don't be so scared, I won't bite you, my name is Felix Argyle, but it would be better if you just call me Ferris, and what's your name, nya?

- Subaru.... Natsuki Subaru...

- Nice to meet you Subaru-kyun, don't faint out of the blue anymore okay? Otherwise Ferris will have to treat you again, and if you abuse it, you won't like what I do~

Subaru swallows and nods, watching Ferris stand by the bed and look at him contentedly, he just woke up and they're already scaring him? Well, good morning of course... it's not like he wanted to abuse someone's help here, more false conclusions and nothing more.

- Ferris, don't be hard on him, he most likely fainted for a reason, there are good reasons behind it that we should respect, I think.

- Reinhard-kyun, can't I joke around a little bit anymore? It's just that Subaru-kyun has been giving funny reactions and Ferris finds it amusing.

- Sorry, I didn't quite realize that it was supposed to be a joke.

Ferris shakes her head and Subaru finally looks at the owner of the other voice in the room, and he immediately recognizes the man with fiery red hair, as well as impeccable posture and eyes that are the color of the sky or the deep ocean, depending on how you see him. His heart squeezes when he sees him, and moisture accumulates in the corners of his eyes, he clutches the incredibly soft sheets with his hands, and both others in the room notice his behavior, Reinhard is the first to approach the bed, standing next to Subaru and bending down slightly, examining his face for signs of discomfort or pain.

- Are you okay? If something hurts or bothers you, then please tell me, right now the best healer I know is standing next to me and he can help you if anything happens.

- You... you don't remember...?

Reinhard looks at Subaru, confused and embarrassed, not understanding the meaning of his question, were they acquainted before and he forgot? But he clearly remembers that he had never seen this person before... so...

- I don't remember what? I apologize if I forgot something important, please clarify if I can ask you about it.

Ferris looks questioningly at Reinhard and Subaru, feeling a bit out of place, he clearly doesn't understand what's going on between these two and it bothers him a bit because then he can just stand back and watch. He doesn't want to leave Crusch for long, but just leaving the two of them would be unbecoming of any knight.

Subaru grips the sheets tighter, he tried to hold it in earlier, but every painfully long minute of being here with this man makes his emotions boil and his fingertips tremble.
He ignored it after the first time, without thinking about it or just trying not to, but now that he's died for the second time, he understands, because he was never blind or stupid enough to continue to think that this is just a nightmare. He turns the thought over in his head, not letting go of how insane it sounds compared to everything that's happened here, but it explains it all perfectly.

Natsuki Subaru isn't just a loser with no powers, summoned to another world by an unknown person and an unknown reason, he was summoned here with a terrible ability that he would never ask for. With the ability to revive after death at a certain point of return, with the ability to roll the world back in time every time his lifeline is cut off, in addition, erasing any actions, events and memories of other people, roughly returning them to the state they were in at the time of his revival point, if he understood correctly.
In short, he would call it "Return by Death."
And it is not a power, but rather a curse, but Subaru would think before confidently saying that he would prefer to die that time when he came across monsters in the forest.

- Subaru?

He snaps out of his stupor when he hears his name from the other's lips and looks up at him, Reinhardt looks tense, despite the lack of recognition in his eyes he is still worried about the person in front of him and Subaru envies him somewhere deep down, wanting to be the same role model, and then buries his face in his hands, sighing convulsively. What will happen if he tries to tell them now? Will they think he is crazy and throw him out of here as far as possible? He doesn't dare do it yet and removes his hands from his face, patting his cheeks a couple of times, coming to his senses, and then turns his head to the man and half-human in front of him. Fatigue is easily read on his face.

- Forget it, it doesn't matter, I just lost my temper for a few seconds, thank you for helping me, I'll try to repay you with something later.

Reinhard and Ferris exchange an uncertain glance before looking back at Subaru, it seems he's not telling something... but trying to find out anything from him now would be rather unethical, given his condition, so they postpone it for next time for now. Reinhard turns to Ferris completely and bows, expressing his gratitude.

- In that case, thank you for your help Ferris, I dare not detain you here any longer, I'll handle the rest myself.

- You're welcome Reinhard-kyun, keep a good eye on Subaru-kyun so I don't have to come here too often, okay?

Reinhard smiled confidently and nodded, placing his hand on his chest, he doesn't know this man, but it is his job to ensure the safety and health of the people of Lugunica, so he silently promises himself to make sure his guest is happy and safe.

- Of course, I will do my best, goodbye Ferris, thank you again for coming.

- See you later Reinhard-kyun, oh, and goodbye to you too Subaru-kyun!

Ferris waves at them before heading out the door and Subaru follows suit, waving a weak goodbye. Reinhard returns his gaze to Subaru, maintaining his smile, but Subaru can tell there is something heavier behind it.

- You don't have to worry about your health, Ferris is a good knight and the best healer I've ever met.

- Ferris is a knight..? Of course, I wonder how such a girl with cat ears was accepted as a knight... or wait...

Reinhardt smiles awkwardly and tilts his head slightly, partly he feels sorry for Subaru for falling for one of Ferris' tricks, which he likes to use for his own amusement.

- You didn't know Subaru..? Ferris is actually a guy...

Subaru just blinks for a couple of seconds and looks at Reinhard with big open eyes, as if he just said the most ridiculous joke in the world, he... what... seriously... that girl with cat ears is... Ferris.. it's not...

- FERRIS... IS A GUY????!!

Felix Argyle was walking somewhere in the hallway, giggling at Subaru's screams coming from the room, clearly pleased with them and himself.

- What a funny case you are, Subaru-kyun~

°•°•°

Subaru couldn't believe it, he blushed because some guy who decided to dress like a cat-girl was millimeters away from his face! And this Ferris knew exactly what he was doing, and it embarrassed him even more!

Subaru let out a long sigh, he looked around the room again, everything in it seemed expensive, a huge closet, a bedside table, an armchair and a small table on the other side, he was sure that all of this cost much more than he even imagined, he leaned back on the pillows, drowning in their comfort and softness, and then looked at himself, his sports jacket was not on him now, but when he looked around, Subaru noticed that the folded and clean jacket was already lying on the table, and next to it was his bag and his phone ... it turns out that his pockets were rummaged through? Great. He reluctantly tore his head away from the pillows and sat down, now he should start thinking about something else, more important, and not about how he wanted to stay forever and lie in these soft sheets and pillows, he put his hand on his chin.
"If all the events after my death are rolled back to the moment of my meeting with Kadomon, then with each restart they all start over, the meeting with the dogs and the meeting with Elsa began after the meeting with Emilia, if you skip the time spent helping Plum and escaping through the carriage."

- So... in order to save them all... I need to somehow monitor the situation there and there at almost the same time? Is that even possible...?

- Who are you talking to, Subaru?

Subaru jumps up and grabs the edges of the blanket when he hears the door open abruptly and sees Reinhard entering through it with a curious expression while holding his hands behind his back.

- Ah... not with anyone, just to myself... it happens, it's a habit...

- How are you feeling? Is something bothering you?

Subaru looks up at Reinhard with a slightly skeptical look, just a little more and it will seem to him that he is a child under the supervision of a parent who is trying to take care of him too much, but he simply nods in response, which makes Reinhard visibly happy, Subaru sits on the edge of the bed and props his chin up with his hand, looking at Reinhard, a question popped up in his head.

- Listen, do you know who Emilia is?

- Lady Emilia? If you don't know, she is one of the candidates for the royal throne under the leadership of Mr. Roswaal L. Mathers.

- W-what? A candidate for the throne?!

- That's right, at the moment there is no single ruler in Lugnica and the Council of Sages will announce an election only when they find the last, fifth candidate, according to the prophecy, Lady Emilia is also one of them.

Subaru looks at the other in surprise, of course he had no doubt that the girl he fell in love with was not a simple citizen, but for her to be a candidate for the post of queen?? It seems he begins to admire her even more with each new piece of information about her.

- And... this insignia, is it also somehow connected with the prophecy?

Reinhardt nods confidently and to Subaru's surprise takes out the same badge with a stone in the middle that he saw on Emilia.

- Yes, you're right, the insignia with the dragon stone inside is very important for each candidate for the throne, if the dragon recognizes the candidate and the stone begins to glow, then this means that she will be one of the priestesses, and the loss of the insignia will be an exclusion from the candidates.

Subaru frowns after hearing the last words. So if Emilia does not return the stolen insignia, will she be excluded from the elections? Now it is clear why it was so important to her. And why can't Felt be allowed to sell it to Elsa. And about this...

- Thank you for the information, Reinhard, and for sheltering me for a while, I think I can leave now, but if anything, I am in your debt!

Reinhardt tilts his head silently and uncertainly, still holding his hands behind his back, he hesitates before speaking.

- Sorry Subaru, but even if you say you're okay and can leave, I can't let you go until I'm sure that what happened before won't happen again.

Subaru frowns slightly. Staying here for a long time was not in his plans. Even though the bed was comfortable.

- I'm sure that it won't happen again... how much time do you need to be sure of that?

- At least a day.

- N-at least a day?! That's...

But in that time, both Elsa and those dogs will cut everyone down! He can't just sit here and rest while others are dying and he will know about it, that's just nonsense! Subaru jumps up from the bed and looks at Reinhardt pleadingly, putting his hands on his shoulders and shaking them a little, but the other's face and figure did not even tremble.

- A whole day is too much Reinhard! Even a couple of hours, you will not keep me here against my will?!

- Subaru....

- I have so much to do and if I sit here idly, many people will suffer, do you hear?! This is not a threat, I am telling it like it is! Believe me, I know!

- Subaru!

Reinhardt abruptly takes Subaru's hands, a warning grip on them, and Subaru clenches his teeth, falling silent. The knight looks at him, nervousness is visible in his eyes, but at the same time determination and Subaru already guesses what he will answer him, and he is not at all happy about it.

- I understand your desire not to sit and wait, but after your words I began to worry even more about your condition, I don’t know what kind of person you are Subaru, and I have no idea what happened to you, causing you to faint at that moment, but it is my duty to make sure that you are okay and I will fulfill it, I will keep my promise and release you in a day.

- B-but Reinhard! You really don’t understand!

- I don’t want to seem rude Subaru, but after examining and analyzing you, I concluded that you do not know how to use magic and do not have the skills sufficient to defend yourself, I do not want to insult you, honestly, but are you sure that you can do what you have in mind? Please think rationally and think about your well-being first.

Subaru feels a stab of pain and humiliation from his words, he didn't expect to hear it from the person he thought was the kindest here... and he can't help but be angry at the fact that he's going to be held here against his will, he feels Reinhard loosen his grip on his hands and immediately pulls them away, receiving a guilty look in return, but this time he completely ignores it, squeezing out the next words in a venomous voice he didn't even know he had.

- Look, why do you even care, huh? Do you think I don't know that I'm weak and if you tell me that, I'll just listen to you and stay here?

- Subaru... I... didn't mean that.. you're not weak.

- Don't make fun of me! Ferris said I'm fine and I'm telling you I'm fine, so what's your damn problem?! Go help someone who really needs your help!

Reinhard looked down, slightly bowing his head, as if he had done something wrong, he had tried to do the best he could... but in the end he had messed it up, and now the person who had thanked him earlier was yelling at him in anger, and he didn't know why, but it left a terribly unpleasant aftertaste, as if Subaru's screams were the last thing he wanted to hear from him.

- I'm sorry for my words. I can take them back if they made you uncomfortable, but I can't let you go Subaru. Forgive me, but I'm afraid you won't be leaving this mansion today.

- Why.... why are you so hung up on this...

Reinhard looked away, not looking at Subaru anymore at all.

- I can't tell you. That was one person's request.

- What...?

Someone asked Reinhard to make Subaru stay in the mansion for a day? Who could that even be? ...He...he...had only met Kadomon at this point in time...would Reinhard have fulfilled the request of an ordinary merchant with such zeal..? Subaru couldn't understand. If someone was intentionally trying to leave him behind so that he couldn't reach either that forest or Rom's warehouse..then that person certainly didn't bode well!

- And you just...decided to fulfill that person's request...Reinhard...you..

- There were reasons for that, again, I feel sorry for Subaru, as much as I don't want to get in your way, I'll have to if you want to leave.

Subaru didn't want to continue this conversation any further and turned his head to the other side, his mood noticeably worsened while he was thinking about what to do now, because as he saw in the previous loop, Reinhard himself is very strong, he is literally capable of destroying an entire building with a swing of his sword without getting hurt, and he can probably do much more than that, so escaping in front of his eyes was out of the question, and given what he remembers, today is his day off, so he has no particular reason to leave the estate. Subaru doesn't know what kind of mysterious person made Reinhard watch him, but he can't help but notice how thoughtful he is, probably having planned for Reinhard to find him on the street and decide to take him in! Whose attention did Subaru manage to attract like that?

- Subaru, if you don't mind, there is one thing I want to ask.

Subaru doesn't turn his head towards Reinhard, feeling a little bad deep down inside for treating him like that, but he can't help how irritated and disappointed he feels at the same time, being literally locked in here.

- Leave me alone...

- Subaru...

- The conversation is over, thank you for coming to see me, you can leave.

Reinhard sighs in frustration, unable to argue any further, feeling that he had already upset Subaru so much, he looked past him through the window, noting that while they were talking, the morning had already passed and the day had arrived, Subaru sits back down on the bed and then leans back against the pillows, to which Reinhard silently watches with a bit of sadness and sympathy, he wanted to tell Subaru the whole truth, but he couldn't for a reason and now he feels like a terrible person because of it, he could also tell that the request wasn't his only support for keeping Subaru here, there were also some of his personal desires that were prompted by what he had learned. He turned around, taking one last look at Subaru before turning the door handle and leaving the room.

- If you need anything, come to me or the servants working here... I promise we'll do our best, Subaru.

Subaru doesn't answer and rolls over onto his stomach, burying his face in the pillows, he hears the door slam shut and leans on his hands, looking around. Now might be the perfect time to go and look around the mansion, in that case it will be easier for him to come up with an escape plan, because he definitely didn't plan on staying here. If he guessed correctly, then around this time Felt will run into Emilia and steal her insignia, so he still has time to try to escape and get to them, and even better if he runs faster than Elsa and tells Rom and Felt to get away from there as far as possible, as well as Emilia if he meets her. As for the girl in the forest, it's a little more complicated, for now he will just hope that he quickly deals with one and run straight to her, coming up with a new plan.
"Okay, go ahead, don't waste time, idiot."

Not forgetting to put on his jacket and take his phone, Subaru makes his way out of the room, looking at such a luxurious and long corridor with several doors and also with vases with flowers inside, arranged for decoration, noticing that it is empty, he begins to walk on the clean floor, seeing even his reflection in it, surprised at how Reinhard keeps this huge place clean.. although he has a feeling that there is no one to moralize it, as if no one lives here in principle. He goes further already going down the stairs, his task was to find the first floor and the exit, obviously, so he walks along a huge empty corridor, making as little noise as possible, constantly looking to the sides, just so that he is not noticed and sees further ahead, apparently a door to the backyard? It doesn't look like a formal one so he makes that conclusion and quickens his pace, heading towards it, and then suddenly feels himself crashing into something or someone and falls to the floor with a loud thud, screaming in surprise.

- Huh?! W-what the...

He scratches the back of his head and looks up, after which his eyes widen when he sees in front of him two little girls, almost identical in appearance, except for their bangs, each of them has short pink hair, ribbons on their hair and white shirts with pink long aprons, if he were to guess, he would say that they are somewhere no more than 12 years old. Subaru notices that they were both carrying baskets, apparently with laundry, however, because he bumped into them, the baskets were now on the floor along with the clothes in them, he and the two girls stared at each other in silence until Subaru quickly stood up, after which he quickly helped them pack the things back into the baskets and handed them over to them. They glanced at each other and then bowed in unison. The girl on the right spoke first.

- It seems you are the guest Mr. Reinhard mentioned, my name is Flam, I am at your service, sir.

The girl on the left spoke before Subaru could respond.

- My name is Grasis, I am also a servant in this manor, and while you are a guest, I am also at your service, sir.

Subaru's irritation and sadness fades into the background a bit as he looks at the two girls bowing in front of him, he bows back sharply, almost bending over, to which the twins look at him questioningly.

- My name is Natsuki Subaru, I'm so sorry for accidentally bumping into you Flam and Grasis, you must be having a hard time here as it is!

Grasis whispers something in Flam's ear and Subaru looks at it with a bit of nervousness, does he really look incredibly stupid right now? Flam simply sighs and sorts through the clothes in the basket before looking at Subaru.

- Sir, we work hard and have gotten used to it, even though we are 12 years old, we are very capable, please don't underestimate us.

Grasis nods, quietly agreeing with Flam and Subaru looks at them a little embarrassed. The way they address him somehow sounds... too formal and it is difficult for him to accept.

- Er... you can treat me as something other than a guest and not call me sir, I don't mind, really, be more open.

Flam and Grasis glance at each other again, which makes Subaru wonder if they have some kind of power to read each other's minds or something. In the end, the girls just nod. Grasis speaks first.

- Okay, Subaru, then I want to say on behalf of myself and my sister that we are disappointed in how you don't watch your step and now we have to redistribute the things in the baskets.

A pained expression appears on Subaru's face and he feels a sting from the honesty and at the same time cruelty of the girl's words, he puts his hand on his chest, in a slightly dramatic gesture.

- When I said openly, I didn't mean for you to say everything you think about me so abruptly... a direct blow to my heart, Grasis!

Flam and Grasis simultaneously put on small smiles on their faces, not looking like they care about the hurt expression on Subaru's face. Flam continues to speak for his sister.

- Then you should have clarified this when you asked us to be open, you can only blame yourself, guest Subaru, although we are sorry if we hurt you.

- Don't say you're sorry with such a smile on your face, s-seriously!

- Okay, we're not sorry.

- Ahh! You're breaking my heart!

°•°•°

Subaru yawns and leans on the tall fence at the back of the manor, watching Flam and Grasis watering and trimming the flower beds in the backyard, he's been watching for quite some time, and besides how well they're doing, he's noticed that they don't seem to be paying any attention to him, being distracted by the work in front of them. The yard is truly beautiful, the stone paths and the smooth green bushes are pleasing to the eye, however, they're not what Subaru's attention is focused on, instead he looks at the dense forest beyond the fence, as he thinks...probably within Astraea's territory, the forest won't have the same monsters, but he can't help but shudder as he recalls the claws tearing at his skin and flesh, and his face pales a little at the memory, while his hands clench in his pockets.
"If I hesitate about this, I'll never get out of here."

Subaru turns his gaze to the twins before running along the fence behind the huge building, moving away from their sight, then he stops and remembers all his parkour training, climbs the fence, one leg already hanging on the other side.
"This will be easier than I thought."

- So, where are you going young man?

- Huh!?

Subaru suddenly feels two arms wrap around his leg and then he is pulled down with great force, from which he loses his balance and falls into the grass under the fence, crying out in pain and surprise. He groans in irritation, sitting down on the grass and runs his hand through his hair, removing the blades of grass that got into his hair, and then looks up to see the same twins towering over him and an unfamiliar old lady, she had a stern expression on her face and Subaru knew that he was in trouble.

- This is the first time I've seen a guest try to escape, what's gotten into you young man? I suppose I'll have to tell Mr. Reinhard about his guest's manners here.

Subaru raises his hands in a panic and waves them, looking at the old lady pleadingly. A bead of sweat runs down his face. The last thing he needs is for Reinhard to find out about his escape attempt! Then he'll definitely be stuck here until tomorrow or even longer.

- No, no, no, don't tell Reinhard, please ma'am! I promise it won't happen again!

The maid-clad old lady looks at him before sighing tiredly and rubbing her temples.

- Okay, I won't tell him about this little misunderstanding, and you can call me Carol, not ma'am, I'm the grandmother of these two capable girls and a servant in this mansion.

Grandmother? So they live here as a family and serve this estate... ok, Subaru dusts off his uniform and stands up, bowing slightly in apology, then looks up at the sky for a moment. The sun is somewhere... somewhere in the middle... is it already noon? Damn, he's starting to run out of time. Carol notices his gaze and remains silent, then decides to ask a question.

- Are you going to attend dinner? We had fresh food delivered to us by cart this morning, and if you have any requests, I'm listening.

Subaru shakes his head, he has to leave before dinner, otherwise it will be pointless.

- No... I'm not hungry, and I don't think I'll get hungry, so you don't have to prepare a portion for me! Or keep it for yourself as an extra? I don't know, but anyway, I'm going to my room! Good luck!

The maids watch silently as Subaru returns to the mansion, slightly jumping with each step, and can't help but notice his suspicious behavior, hoping that he won't decide to do something stupid and cause more trouble. Carol lightly ruffles the girls' hair and they follow her to start preparing for dinner.

Subaru runs to his room at this time and locks himself inside, his carefree expression is replaced by anxiety, he goes down the door with a long drawn-out sigh and sits on the floor, propping up his knees.
"I don't have much time left, I'd like to try to escape when they have dinner, but by that time it will be very late... ah.. what should I do..."

Subaru remembers how Carol mentioned that a certain cart with groceries came to them in the morning and he puts his hand on his chest, slightly squeezing the fabric underneath. If he tried to escape with the cart in the morning, he would have a chance.... but what should he do now?
"Think Natsuki Subaru, think!"

For a split second, a thought appears in his head and he involuntarily flinches at how reckless she is.

- I... I can go back..

That's right, he can come back by dying. If he dies now...then he'll have a new chance and he can try until he succeeds. Until he achieves the desired result. All he needs is to die. Preferably painlessly. Maybe this way he can avoid how he got here.
"Wait..."

What is he even thinking?! Thinking about death simply as a tool to achieve a goal is somehow too much, he hasn't yet gone crazy enough to throw his life out the window and throw himself under cars! It's painful, scary, excruciating, long and...

(The fact that you're okay is enough for me)

Would the current Reinhard say that? Subaru isn't sure, after all, they ended the conversation terribly and parted without clarifying anything. Reinhard probably treats him worse now. Well, that's expected. He wouldn't be surprised if Reinhard doesn't want to talk to him now. Everyone has their limits.

- Emilia...

Subaru hopes that she is okay, he didn't see her die in the previous loops, but for some reason he is sure that if she comes to that building, Elsa will harm her... or maybe even kill her. Subaru winces at this thought. Seeing her corpse will be the most painful and terrible event for him, he doesn't know her well, but deep down, as soon as he saw her, he realized that she is incredibly kind and this has touched him.

- Felt, Old Man Rom...

For some reason he is sure that if they meet Elsa again, none of them will survive and at this thought his heart squeezes painfully. What kind of sadist makes him sit here and think about how these people would die? This is simply beyond the limits of cruelty. Subaru notices the small scissors lying on his nightstand. They are engraved with a pattern of roses and he wonders if one of the maids left them while he was not here.

Suddenly there is a knock at the door.

- Subaru, I was told you were in your room, can I come in?

Subaru jumps up and quickly throws himself into the bed, burying himself under the blanket so that only the top of his head is visible. If Reinhard thinks he's asleep, he'll probably tell the servants and they won't keep an eye on him anymore, that's genius!

- I'm coming in.

The door opens and Reinhard looks around the room, everything is absolutely the same, except for the fact that Subaru is buried under the blanket and doesn't answer, is he really asleep...? Strange. Reinhard comes right up to the bed and hangs over the "sleeping" guy. His expression softens and he reaches out, slightly moving the blanket down, obviously he won't buy it, his Divine Protection helps him with this perfectly.

- Subaru, I know you're not asleep, please don't pretend.

Subaru doesn't listen or react, he plans to hold on until the end even if it makes him look stupid. Reinhard frowns a little and pulls the blanket further down. Subaru tries to breathe evenly, like a normal sleeping person, but the way the other one is standing over him clearly prevents him from concentrating on it. His breathing gets ragged when he feels his zipper being unzipped and he suddenly sits up, his face turning red as he looks at the other one in shock and irritation.

- What are you doing??! Are you out of your mind?!

- Sorry, I thought you were actually asleep and it seemed to me that you would be clearly uncomfortable in all these clothes.

Reinhard smiles sweetly at him, but Subaru can easily tell that Reinhard knew perfectly well that he wasn't asleep and did it on purpose, guessing what kind of reaction he would get from it.

- Reinhard...

- Why were you trying to escape, Subaru?

- Huh?

Subaru looks at the other in confusion, not hiding his surprise at how quickly the atmosphere in the room changed, Reinhard's face became more serious, and his smile disappeared, transforming into a thin line.

- Carol told me that you recently tried to escape through the fence, and then refused dinner, going to your room.

- It... I... well..

Carol told him? She said she wouldn't! He had never felt so betrayed... although he should have guessed that the maids were on Reinhard's side, they definitely reported everything to him. Is there anyone on his side at all?

- What does this mean, Subaru?

- I need to go, Reinhard.

- Why? I don't understand... I already told you.. I can't let you go until tomorrow...

- I know! But...just...just...I..

Subaru takes a deep breath, he, like once before, takes Reinhard by the shoulders, looking him seriously in the eyes, if he wants to know so much, then okay, what difference does it make who he considers him to be after this? If he tells, in any case, it will be easier for him to explain later how he knows about Elsa's attack and the beasts in the forest!

- Reinhard... I can come back through dea-

Then, world around stops.

[I love you..]

"What the..?"

Subaru feels like phantom, dark hands, already familiar to him, are reaching out to him, touching his body, leaving an unpleasant cold shiver after each touch, he cannot move, but he can lower his gaze and notice that one of the hands goes into his chest, spinning near his heart, and then...

A sharp pain recognizes him and the world returns to normal, but Subaru removes his hands from Reinhard's shoulders, instead placing them on his chest, breathing heavily and coughing, his face turns slightly blue and distorted from pain, he can definitely say that he was now on the verge of death. It was impossible to describe it in any other way. He cannot fully understand what it was, but this thing clearly does not want him to share its ability with anyone and this is the only thing he is aware of. He can't talk about her.

- Subaru, are you okay!? What's wrong?

Subaru doesn't answer, still coughing. Reinhard restrains himself from picking him up and running to Ferris now, his face contorted with shock and worry, despite how he tries not to show it. Then, while he's examining the other, he thinks for a second that he's caught the witch's miasma, and he wonders if he's been so overexcited that he's started imagining things? Subaru... he doesn't look like he's related to the witch even with his unusual appearance. Reinhard gently and carefully takes Subaru's forearms, pushing him slightly, hinting at him to lie down, but Subaru doesn't listen and shakes his head, his cough gone, his face looking healthier.
"So I can't tell anyone about this...? Great! Great...just great...then I'll just have to hope he believes me.."

Subaru straightened up and looked at Reinhardt seriously.

- Reinhard, if you trust me even a little, then I hope that you will listen to me and take my words into account.

Reinhard looks at Subaru in surprise at first, he knows him only a little... however, this man looks like he has known Reinhard for much longer, and this makes him wary, but he nods and puts his hand on the hilt of his sword, his face takes on a more serious and stoic expression. Subaru continues, noticing that the other does not mind listening.

- Very soon, according to my calculations, a warehouse in the slums will be attacked by a wanted gut hunter, and in the forest near the entrance to the capital there are monsters... who may have already attacked some people, and are threatening the life of at least one girl for sure, I need you to help me.

- Subaru? How do you... know..

- I can't say how I know, but Reinhard, the people there are in danger and they need help, so forget about that person's request! He probably just wanted to keep us both here so we wouldn't get in the way and get away with it!

Reinhard looks at Subaru a little distrustfully, and decides to test him by using his Divine Protection of the Wind, after which he realizes that he's not lying and Reinhard begins to hesitate, Subaru doesn't know the details of that person's "request", but the fact that at that time people in another part of the kingdom will need help makes him think hard, and he quickly makes a decision, weighing the pros and cons.

- I see that you're telling the truth with my Divine Protection, Subaru. I'm willing to lend you a helping hand if it means we can save as many people as possible. But, I have one last question.

Subaru raises an eyebrow and tilts his head, Divine Protection? Is this...some kind of blessing here..? He pauses, hinting for the other to continue, and Reinhard takes a few seconds before formulating this question.

- Are you somehow related to the witch, Subaru?

- The witch..? Who...are you talking about..?

Reinhard is satisfied with this answer and shakes his head, drawing his conclusions, a faint smile appearing on his face.

- Never mind, I get it, if you're interested, I'll tell you about it later, now we need to go.

- Ah... yeah, let's not waste another minute!

They both stand up and quickly leave the room after exchanging glances, heading for the exit, Subaru adjusts his jacket, and notices the tense silence between them, for obvious reasons. He starts to speak first as he slows down and puts his hand on the railing of the stairs.

- Listen... about what I said that morning...

- Don't worry about it, your words were a fair reaction to my actions, I understand that it was my fault.

- It seems to me that you respect everyone except yourself, Reinhard.

- Huh...?

Reinhard stops, caught off guard by his words, what is Subaru talking about...? Subaru ignores his surprise and gives him a serious, yet scolding look and twirls his finger next to his head.

- You always think about the well-being of others and just accept all the insults and claims against you as if the people who say it are absolutely right in this.

- I...

- I know that you are a valiant knight and all, so you are just trying to hold on to your role, but seriously, just sometimes say "shut up" to someone if they insult you!

Reinhardt forces an awkward smile.

- Subaru, that sounds kind of rude..

- Argh, that's not what I meant! I'm trying to tell you to respect yourself more, and if you can't do it right away, then as they say in my homeland - ashita wa ashita no kaze ga fuku.

- Ashita....wa...what?

Subaru smirks confidently and tilts his head to the side a little, from which Reinhard can't help but notice how his hair flutters from this movement, and how well the light falls on him, making the usually dark pupils of his eyes seem brighter. Subaru simply winks and gives a thumbs up.

- Tomorrow will blow tomorrow's wind.

Reinhard feels his own heart beating in his chest and his eyes widen slightly from this gesture. Tomorrow will blow...tomorrow's wind..? He has never heard such a phrase anywhere, but he feels and understands that this "proverb" has a deep meaning. Tomorrow will blow tomorrow's wind? He repeats to himself while looking at the other with respect and tenderness. Subaru... is truly a very interesting person. A peaceful smile appears on his lips, it seemed like he would remember this moment for a long time.

- You... are a very wise person, Subaru.

- Wise? Uh... I just said what came to my mind first..?? Why are you smiling like that...

Reinhard doesn't answer and lets out a light laugh into his fist, apparently Subaru doesn't understand what kind of imprint he leaves on people's souls with his honest words. Subaru just looks at him a little puzzled, blinking, and then waves his hand and moves on, Reinhard follows him.

Now the silence seemed cozy, but when they approach the door, Reinhard interrupts it.

- Actually, I thought Carol had already finished preparing dinner, she said she would come and call me.

- Huh? I don't know, maybe she went to help Flam and Grasis with something, I think they can handle it while we're gone.

Reinhard frowns a little, thinking, but then nods. Subaru puts his hand on the handle of the huge door and winces a little as he opens it, a small cold gust of wind rushes in from outside.

- When I was here in the back garden earlier, I thought it was really warm outside... does it always get this cold here?

Reinhard becomes wary after hearing Subaru's words. Cold? He hopes that it's not what he thinks and to Subaru's surprise, Reinhard kicks the door open with one movement of his hand against the powerful gust of wind from outside, walking forward quickly. He stops abruptly. Subaru doesn't even move from his spot, his eyes widen in horror at the sight in front of him.
"What...what.....is this..."

It's cold, terribly cold, a blizzard is raging outside through which it's almost impossible to see anything, every snowflake that hits Subaru's face feels like a poisonous sting and he involuntarily shudders, recently there were flower beds and bright green grass, so much suited to this peaceful place, but now only thick white snowdrifts lie here limply, filling anyone watching with emptiness, snow-covered trees around sway from side to side, some of them are already completely frozen and others limply follow the beat of strong gusts of scorching cold wind, Subaru exhales and tries to inhale, but he can't, the air is so cold and merciless that his lungs are simply starting to burst from the inside. He looks around, no longer able to walk as his feet are frozen to the ground beneath him, and tears form in his eyes that immediately freeze, turning into small pieces of ice. In the distance near the former club, he notices two small figures...no...more like frozen statues, hugging each other as if trying to save themselves from the inevitable cold. Subaru wheezes, his voice breaking.

- F-flam... Gracis.....

He feels his limbs slowly swaying, and the only thing he can move is his pupils, so he does it. Near the gate, he sees a hunched figure, already framed in ice, several bags and boxes scattered around it, covered in snow, a pair of long aprons peeking out of one, and Subaru can only assume that this person was trying his best to gather the twins' things so that they could leave on the carriage... covered in snow, parked outside the gate. A whisper comes out of his mouth, it hurts for him to speak.

- Carol...

Eventually, he returns his gaze to the figure in front of him, Reinhard is standing with his back to him, his hand on the hilt of his sword, ready to draw it. His coat flutters with each new gust of wind, making his unwavering figure look even more powerful. He looks up to where Reinhardt is looking. There he sees a huge... frightening silhouette hanging over the capital, if he could describe it, he would say that it is a beast, with thick fluttering fur, the yellow, bright pupils of the beast pierce his soul, although Subaru understands that his attention is not attached to it at all. Then a rumble is heard, and then a voice, as cold as everything around.

- You... left Lia alone...

"Lia...?"

Lia..?.. is he talking about... about Emilia..?

"She... is dead...?"

- Now there is no longer a reason for me to exist.

"So I didn't have time... and now all the others... they... they too..."

- Therefore... go to sleep with my daughter.

Reinhard takes out his sword, feeling the beast of the end approaching and raises it up, accumulating an incredible amount of power inside, causing the blade to glow brightly, blinding everything around him, he prepares a single crushing blow, hoping to leave at least something of this kingdom, to save at least someone. It is his duty...at least something...at least someone...

"Tomorrow, tomorrow's wind will blow."

Reinhardt slowly turns his head, looking back, silently praying.

"ashita wa ashita no kaze ga fuku."

But this time, neither the world nor Od Laguna heard his pleas.

Natsuki Subaru froze in place with a face full of horror and sorrow, each of his limbs turned into ice, and not a single sign that he could still be alive was visible on him.

He froze to death, joining the ice statues in the Astrea estate that day. The wind whips Reinhard's hair wildly, and his face reflects sorrow... sadness... helplessness.

- No....

Tomorrow's wind never blew.

Chapter Text

Cold.

That was the only thing going through his empty head right now. So cold that it seemed like even the brightest, most blazing fire couldn't stop it. So cold that it was hard to talk, to even think about anything other than the terrible cold that penetrated his entire body to his fingertips. He could have sworn he could hear his own skin cracking...or a thin layer of ice that seemed to cover it, like frost covering a young tree branch.

Numbness.

It felt like the body didn't belong to its owner at all, like all the limbs had been torn off along with the nerves circulating throughout the body. No pain - and that was what scared him the most. Usually, when an arm or leg goes numb, anyone would immediately wince from the imperceptible, but still pain and the body would twitch, trying to regain control over its own limb. But he doesn't feel it, feeling only a slight itch and tingling, as if he is being pierced by numerous small needles, immobilizing the body completely.

Empty.

Everything that was before has been erased again. And so it will be the next time, and the next, and the next. It is difficult to contradict the fate of the world, because the further you go, the more tests it decides to throw at you along the way, checking how far you are ready to go before breaking, checking whether you are worthy of trying to change something.

Not enough air.....

.....Not enough air?

He can't breathe. He can't breathe. He can't breathe. He can't breathe. He can't breathe. He can't breathe. He can't-

- Haaah! Cough...aaa...cough...uhh....

A guy in a sports uniform crouched on the ground, in the middle of bright and colorful awnings, in the middle of various goods on the counters and customers surrounding them in an effort to buy something, his hunched and pathetic dark figure squatted down while he made muffled attempts to breathe air into his now whole lungs again, placing his hand on his chest and squeezing the fabric of his sports jacket underneath. His face looked as if he had held his breath underwater much longer than any normal human could and was now suffering from the consequences of this, terribly pale skin, trembling hands and narrowed pupils, full of horror, only added to his image of unparalleled accuracy in what he now unusually terribly feels and senses under the fingers of his hands.

The large man behind the counter, surprisingly for himself, silently watched the young man next to him, involuntarily frowning, but not saying a word. It wasn't like he needed the problems of strangers going crazy in front of him, but something deep inside him didn't want to yell at the boy in front of him who looked so vulnerable and scared right now. Maybe some part of the image in front of him simply reminded him of his daughter, the way she looked when she was scared of thunderstorms or nightmares, except that the boy in front of him clearly wasn't scared of something so trivial. Something deeper that he could only guess about for hours, maybe even days.

The boy with the charcoal-colored hair...no, Subaru kept looking at the ground, not looking up at anything in front of him or near him, occasionally feeling how sometimes passing citizens brushed against him, as if by accident or on purpose, rustling him with their clothes, bags, or maybe even long hair, fluffy tails. But he didn't care. Absolutely not. Not now.

Now he was worried about a whole huge list of problems and new fears that had fallen on his, as much as he didn't want to admit, not the strongest and most robust shoulders. He didn't even want to list them, and this was only his first day here, damn it! How do people even live here with such carefree faces, when in one day you can meet a murderer, dog monsters and huge beasts that reach the sky? Or was it just all his damn luck that was to blame? Subaru himself didn't know anymore.

He covered his face with his hands, in silent despair and an unsuccessful attempt to think of at least some way to somehow prevent all the following events, to somehow avoid them, at least for himself so that he could know what to do next. So as not to see all the subsequent deaths and victims, the thought of which slowly tore him apart from the inside for reasons he could not name. All these people... he had only seen them a couple of times, but he had already become so attached to them, as if he had known them all his life. Maybe he just wanted to cling to anyone in this new world... maybe he just wanted someone to accept him, without knowing him as a person, maybe he just wanted to be recognized. He could not say exactly what was the correct reason from all these options, he could not say exactly what was the source of such impulses to save the lives of these people in his head. But self-reasoning was an unpleasant part for him, so he always did everything that was embedded in his instincts. And now he was trying to dig up a clue in his not very brilliant head on what he needed to do. However, despite all of this, it was just empty. There was just damn emptiness and he despised it with every fiber of his soul and body!

- I hate...

Subaru was a nobody in this world, for him his entire life literally started from scratch. But at the same time, he could not add anything to this emptiness on the sheet. He remained the same. Even with every larger piece of information, it was not enough. All the people... he met. They still died. He let them down again and again... and then in the end, he died too, after or even before them. Each time was more terrible than he imagined was possible. Even when he tried to avoid death, even when he ran away, it still reached him like karma, as if this entire burden should be on him alone. And that was what he hated the most. He hated how this world mocked him over and over again, showing him that he couldn't start a new life here, showing him how useless he was, that he couldn't even live another damn day!

- Why...

Why did it have to be him? Why was he chosen? Why did they settle on such a terrible choice? Why was he forced to start over and over again? Why was he given a chance to fix everything? Why was he just thrown into a strange world all alone? Why was he left as weak as he was before? Why couldn't he fix himself?

Why...why...why...!

This isn't fair!

- Hey, kid, catch.

Huh..?

Subaru barely managed to react, stretching out his hands and catching the object thrown to him, he looked at the man with a slightly surprised look, noticing that now in his hands was an apple... or the local appa, the bright and juicy scarlet fruit easily fit in his hands, while he looked at the merchant in confusion, almost forgetting for a moment what he was just thinking about now and how much he reproached himself. Kadomon only shrugged, his actions partly did not make sense and for himself too, it was just that somewhere in his chest there was a weak and alien need to lift the boy in front of him from his feet, or at least distract him from what he could imagine there. His tone sounded harsh, but there was also a certain note of compassion and softness in it, which contrasted greatly while he addressed the boy in front of him.

- You look like you've seen some terrible things, take it and eat it, free this time, then I'll charge you double, got it?

The guy with black messily combed back hair blinked for a few seconds, looking from Kadomon to the fruit in his hands and then back again. His heart was simultaneously unsure and grateful for the unexpected act of kindness, as well as conflicted about whether the other saw him as just pathetic or decided to show a little and sincere sympathy, even though he was seeing Subaru for the first time...for the first time again.

After all, sometimes there are just kind people at heart, right? After all, the merchant in front of him had a loving and dear family to him as far as he knew, of course, he hadn't seen their mother, but for some reason he was sure that she was a loving and devoted wife, something just told him so, his gut, to put it simply. It would be bad to simply accuse him of thinking Subaru pathetic without any good reason, but Subaru couldn't help himself. He simply couldn't believe that there were people without a mean and dirty crust inside, without their selfish sides.

Especially when he himself was one, although he probably should have felt guilty for this. But what can you do if he's just a person with his sins and vices?

The corners of the black-haired boy's lips slightly rose in a weak smile and he slowly stood up from his squatting position, holding the red fruit in his hand as if it was about to be taken away at any moment.

- Thank you... in that case, I won't scare your customers anymore.

He says it hesitantly, as if he doesn't believe himself. Subaru doesn't know how many more times he'll see this man, how many times he'll show up here again because of his stupid mistakes.

In any case.

- I'll be going! Take care of your daughter, she's a good girl, but she can get lost easily. Give her my regards.

Kadomon's features soften before he raises an eyebrow as he realizes one thing.

- How do you know my...

Oops.

He let it slip, didn't he? Subaru will never get used to it.

- Eh... never mind... just take good care of her!

Subaru raises his hand, waving goodbye to the merchant before he leaves hurriedly, his gait looking a little awkward and out of place, as if he definitely doesn't even know where he's going now, just following his intuition. Kadomon tapped his fingers on the table of his counter, watching the boy's figure leave, while he found him strange, he couldn't help but notice that he didn't look like he was going to do anything bad... but as for something irrational? The merchant doubted it. This guy really was strange after all, as well as unusual, standing out among the people of Lugunica. He could just hope that if he really knew his daughter, he didn't say something to his daughter that would result in a second apple being thrown at him.

- Good luck, kid..

°•°•°

The guy in the sports uniform walked, not paying much attention to where he was turning or heading in general. He couldn't lie about the kindness the salesman showed lifting his devastated state a little, at least giving him the strength to get up off the floor. But nothing more. The fleeting pleasant moment couldn't block the flow of the guy's dejected and gloomy thoughts. The flow of that helplessness he was feeling now was covering him more and more with each passing minute. Someday he would definitely burst like a bubble and fall to the floor, deciding to spend his last moments breathing in the smell of asphalt, just giving up. What could he do in such a situation anyway, being a simple guy with a terrible ability to come back from the dead and roll everything back? What did he even have besides this? Who did he have besides himself? He couldn't just constantly hope for help from others around him without risking their lives. He needed something else. Even if it put him in danger.

As soon as he took a step further, Subaru realized that he was enveloped in a shadow from the towering stone walls near him. It seemed that he had entered a less-than-lit alley that he had not seen before. He sighed tiredly and walked a little further, after which he sat down on the steps, placing a bag next to him, which now contained fresh appa, which Subaru for some reason did not feel an appetite for, no matter how hard he tried to follow the merchant's advice, which made him feel lousy, he could not even fulfill a simple request, huh? The guy sat with both hands under his chin, continuing to drown in his thoughts, after which he heard footsteps approaching him and raised his head, as if by a click, riveting his attention to someone or something that stopped him from immersing himself in his thoughts, after which he was clearly disappointed with the sight in front of him, his face drooped slightly.

- Why are you sitting here?

As if they cared...

-Give us everything you have or we'll deal with you ourselves!

Three figures towered over Subaru, who was sitting on the steps of the alley. One of them was a large, muscular guy, another was skinny and had bangs covering one eye, and the last one was the smallest of them with short hair and round eyes. They didn't seem particularly threatening on their own, but their numbers were the reason they had the upper hand at the moment, an upper hand that Subaru didn't have now, being alone. So he took hold of the handle of his bag a little tensely and stood up, trying not to show his nervousness and slight fear. He'd seen worse things, so a pack of bandits didn't bother him as much as it might have. But if everything was taken from him, it could hinder him in the future, and he didn't really want to just accept what might happen next. He tried to sound more confident as he stood facing the bandits, his tone of voice challenging and brazen, although deep down he was screaming at himself to shut up and get out of here without any more trouble.

- .... Jeez, don't you guys have anything better to do? I'm not going to give you anything! Let's leave without this, you won't need these things anyway.

He pointed his finger at his bag, as if convincing the others that there were no valuables in it. That was partly true.

The group of bandits looked at each other, a certain decision was visible in their eyes, and Subaru's brazen behavior certainly did not help them to give it up. A loud metallic sound was heard, echoing in Subaru's ears. The eyes of the guy with the bag widened, and his heart began to beat slightly faster at an uneven pace, clearly hitting his chest when he saw the thinner of the bandits take out a blade, not very large in size, but still dangerous for sure. He swallowed nervously, reluctantly imagining how this blade pierced his skin. It would not be the most pleasant experience.

The bandit pointed his blade at Subaru.

- And you have a big mouth, but never mind, man, now I'll show you what it means to cross the wrong people.

That was a bad decision for sure.

- Wait...!

Subaru didn't even have time to answer, didn't have time to move away or turn away, in a rather narrow alley now it seemed to him that there was no place to escape when he felt the fist of one of the bandits, the largest of them, pass over his face, leaving a burning sensation of pain, from which he instinctively put one of his hands on his cheek, reddened from the blow, and sighed in pain, wincing. There will definitely be a mark left after that.

- Damn... damn you... just attacking someone who hasn't done anything to you!

Maybe if he had been asked, he would have given up his things! Well... not a fact, but that doesn't mean that he should be beaten for it, of course, this is not the modern age, but you can't solve everything this way...

- You asked for it!

Subaru barely dodged the follow-up blow, then swung his leg and made the larger thug scream in pain, kicking him in the stomach as hard as he could, aiming for the solar plexus. After all, sports and small training had come in handy...how wonderful. For that brief moment when he was able to fight back, a small victorious expression appeared on Subaru's face, which was immediately erased and replaced by a grimace of pain and shock when the other, skinnier thug turned his blade and hit Subaru in the chest with the hilt, from which he momentarily thought that something crunched from his bones, knocking the air out of his lungs, causing him to stagger instantly and fall to his knees, clutching the place where he had been hit. He coughed, the sound of his own ragged breath clearly pounding his ears, a sharp pain went through his entire body in waves, causing him to lose his guard and hunch over.

- Cough... cough... cough..!

Something definitely broke...

- You thought you were brave enough, huh?

The caustic words of the bandit, now towering over the guy with black hair again, were followed by another blow to Subaru's already hunched body, the others decided to join the cruel scene, approaching, after which one kick after another rained down, each one was more painful than the previous one, in each one there was a mockery and a desire to cause pain that reached the very tips of the fingers, even the smallest one joined in, realizing that the guy in sportswear was unlikely to do anything to them. Subaru grunted in pain, his head down, taking the blows out of desperation, his body swayed as the blows made him lose his balance every now and then, soon one of his legs pinned him to the asphalt, causing his cheek to rub painfully against it, he closed his eyes, he didn't even want to know how terribly pathetic he looked now, definitely worse than ever, the feeling reminded him of a typical skirmish with bullies behind the school and it didn't make the situation any better. His vision was a little blurry and he couldn't squeeze out a sound anymore, a dull pain and the heavy smell of asphalt were the only things he could feel now.

So weak...

He could hear the caustic words and insults from the bandits' mouths with each blow, but each of them didn't stick in his memory at all, like white noise, he couldn't even concentrate to understand what exactly they were saying and meaning. Somewhere deep in his thoughts, he silently agreed with each of them, each time he caught the cruel words correctly, but he was never going to admit it out loud.

His nails scraped the floor beneath him, a desperate attempt to stay conscious.

Stomping. Heavy footsteps.

It's worse than being torn apart by a dog...being beaten by some pathetic criminals...

- That's enough.

Although he looked much worse than them now. More pitiful. He couldn't deny it.

- Ah! That's...!

Subaru slowly looked up as the thugs beating him up stopped their brutal attacks after hearing a loud voice coming from the alley. While Subaru was trying to unsee the figures advancing forward, the thugs next to him suddenly became taken aback and moved away from him in an instant, darting out of the alley like a bullet, and then disappearing as if they had vanished, causing Subaru to gasp and try to push himself up in vain, before hunching over again from his injuries. A figure... no, two figures and another small figure next to him dropped down in front of him, a pair of strong hands grabbing his shoulders, lightly pulling him to settle down, leaning against the wall behind him, before letting go, lingering for a moment, which might have seemed strange at first, but Subaru didn't even pay attention to it. That wasn't his immediate problem at the moment.

- Wow, they beat you up pretty good, even broke a couple of ribs... you're lucky Lia's here!

He hadn't heard that voice before.

- Aa...?

- Don't move please.

Another voice, a voice like ringing bells... that's...

Subaru wheezed, slightly opening his eyes and mouth, trying to somehow answer his saviors, but in the end he remained silent, listening to the voices opposite him and putting his hand on his stomach, feeling a red mark, or maybe a bruise, clearly blooming under his T-shirt, he couldn't tell where it hurt more, his body ached literally everywhere. A noticeable soft glow blocked his vision, the feeling of pain began to slowly fade into the background, and warm energy seeped through his body, tightening his internal and external wounds, at least he could only describe it as healing magic at the moment, which was obvious, although he had never felt it on himself before, he just guessed that the sensations would be similar. After long and painful minutes, Subaru winced slightly when he felt a touch, more like just a cotton swab poking his nose, he squinted his eyes and the picture in front of him became a little clearer, until the moment he could see a gray small spot in front of him, or... not quite a spot.

Uh.. is this...? ... A kitten? ... Flying?

- What are you staring at? Never seen a cute spirit?

The voice representative twirled slightly in the air, wagging his small tail. It was definitely adorable.

- Puck, don't bother him too much, he doesn't seem to have quite recovered yet..

Puck, or the small gray spirit in the shape of a kitten, flew away from Subaru slightly, looking pleased and sat down on the palm of a familiar half-elf girl with silver hair and catchy amethyst eyes, after which she gently scratched his small head behind the ear. If Subaru could think clearly, he wouldn't even be able to say who he envied more in this case. The small spirit who was given the opportunity to receive affection from such a beautiful girl, or the girl who can pet and look at such a cute creature every day. He probably had smooth fur and it seemed it was very pleasant to touch…

He was slightly distracted from his thoughts when he felt a light touch on his shoulder from the other side, and then he was efficiently and easily lifted off the cold floor in one gentle motion, like a cat, by the back of his sweatshirt collar. He turned his head in slight surprise, and then noticed the familiar figure of a tall young man with bright red hair and incredibly deep blue eyes, looking at him with a silent worry on his face and a soft, polite smile.

- I apologize for being late and not taking care of the bandits earlier. Emilia-sama did a good job on your wounds, but if you have trouble standing or walking, then tell me.

Subaru silently shifted his gaze back and forth, a slightly dull and awkward expression on his face.

- Um...do you have to hold me like this?

Something changed in Reinhard's face, and Subaru didn't like it very much. What is he...

- My sincere apologies, I believe you would be more comfortable in a different position...?

- Eh?

With one careful movement, the red-haired young man extended one hand and placed it under Subaru's leg, intending to lift him up, which made the boy in the gym uniform take aback, a faint blush appeared on his cheeks, and he waved his hands in protest, he was obviously ashamed as a guy with dignity and pride, nothing else!

- Put me down, just put me down, I can stand on my own!

The red-haired man's face brightened, although Subaru was puzzled, catching a faint note of sadness in it too. Perhaps he should have refused more politely?

- I see...

Reinhard silently let go of the other, allowing him to stand up freely and shake himself off, a slightly embarrassed expression on his face, as if he didn't understand what he had done wrong, Subaru only sighed and ran his hand through his hair, collecting his thoughts.

- Uhh...

He silently looked from one person in front of him to the other, seeing such familiar faces, suppressing the sharp urge to rush forward and hug them, to let out all his emotions, to say how happy he was to see them again and at the same time scared by this, realizing that he or they could get hurt again soon, that he could simply lose them again and the world would not even remember it. But when he looked up, peering into the faces of the half-elf and the knight, it was as if he had been doused with cold water from a bucket and his heart sank, falling out at his feet. In addition to the worried and warm-hearted looks, a sharp hint of misrecognition from the others was imprinted in his mind. Well..of course. It was always like that. What did he even expect? No matter how many times he had met them before, no one would recognize him with the new reboot, to them he would still be a strange stranger who knew much more than he should, he wouldn't be surprised that if he continued to not watch his language like this, he would be considered especially suspicious or even dangerous to society in the future. A dull, almost bitter and self-destructive laugh came from his mouth, which earned him slightly strange and still worried looks, but Subaru didn't pay attention to it. It wasn't their fault that he died every time. Definitely. If only he had been stronger...more dignified...and…

Never mind..you can think about humiliating yourself later.

- I'm fine, thanks to you of course, I'm in debt now, I suppose, aha..

Subaru throws one hand behind his head, awkwardly scratching the back of his head, then gives a thumbs up, sounding not very convincing to the other two, but not realizing it himself.

Reinhard puts his hand on his side, shaking his head, his face still has a calm, in some way attractive smile.

- There is no need for that. The main thing is that you are fine now.

As always, this knight is too selfless in offering his help.

- Actually...I would like to ask something..since you are offering.

Emilia said this a little hesitantly, attracting the attention of the other two in front of her, her small spirit the only one who continued to hover next to her, as if already knowing what she was thinking. The smaller boy in the sports uniform could only assume that they were closely related, and then raised a questioning gaze, inviting the girl to continue her thought.

Emilia sighed and continued.

- Have you seen a girl with short blond hair... and a red scarf nearby? She stole my....

Ah, so that's why they're here?

- ...Insignia? Hmm... I guess Felt never changes.

Emilia tilted her head questioningly, blinking cutely a couple of times, in Subaru's expert opinion of course.

- Uh...huh?

The silver-haired girl and knight looked at Subaru in a slightly surprised manner, which made him awkwardly look away, realizing that he had given away something that he shouldn't have, but it was unlikely that these curious glances would simply forget about it now. He raised his hand up, scratching his cheek, now trying to justify his unexpected knowledge.

- Umm...yeah...I saw that girl, she was running past here..but I don't know where she ran off to, I swear!

Uhh...he should practice making himself sound better and more attractive when he lies. Maybe then they wouldn't pay so much attention to it.

- Are you sure...? Any information you might have would be useful to us.

Subaru could feel the others' inquisitive glances on him, and a bead of sweat rolled down his forehead. He certainly knew that the people in front of him wouldn't pry information out of him against his will, but he wasn't in a hurry to tell them either, part of him felt bad about setting Felt up like this just because he knew more than he should have. It wasn't entirely fair to her, even if she was a thief. He gritted his teeth and pursed his lips, trying to make a more convincing face, feeling a little guilty for his own words.

- No, I'm sorry, I really don't know anything, but I can help you find her!

Help? Emilia raised one eyebrow, a little skeptical.

- Um...why do you want to...

Before Emilia could ask, Puck flew up to her face and poked her cheek lightly, drawing her attention to himself.

- Lia, I don't see any bad intentions in his actions, in any case, it would be nice if more people helped us, no?

Reinhard nodded, briefly agreeing with the small spirit's words and placed his hand on his chest in a delicate knightly gesture.

- I agree with the great spirit, Emilia-sama. This young man doesn't look dangerous and I find his willingness to help quite a kind gesture.

Emilia sighed at the others' words, then twirled her finger around the spirit, causing it to fly away slightly so she could look at Subaru again, her expression still showing uncertainty, but her kind heart clearly outweighed her desire to try and give him a chance and trust. Subaru could swear that he would melt at her good intentions here and now.

- Okay... we're going to go to the guard post now and pass on the information, if you want to help, you can come with us, maybe you'll remember something...

Subaru nodded his head vigorously. He didn't know exactly why, but his mood had slightly improved. It must be the influence of the people around him, huh?

- Of course! I'm with you, count on me.

Subaru smiled, apparently hiding his nervousness behind his carefree expression, he looked at his companions, silently enjoying even the smallest moment while he was with them. So far, so good. So far, so good. So far, he could afford it. There was nothing so selfish as to spend a little time with the people who saved his life, right? He could indulge himself in this. So far, he hadn't prepared himself enough for the worst to deal with it without relying on others alone.

But even so. Despite his thoughts, he still felt a sharp pang of guilt.

Ah, here comes his conscience. Always comes when it's not needed.

°•°•°

Subaru stands behind the other two, stamping the ground beneath him with his arms crossed over his chest, a group of guards standing nearby, discussing something, along the huge and majestic stone wall that covers the borders of the kingdom. The bustling sounds of the capital's daytime life can be heard around them, carriages are passing by, merchants are calling from afar, and the pleasant smell of baked goods from a nearby bakery is in the air. After a few seconds, Subaru can hear the approaching footsteps and stands next to Reinhard, peering at the approaching figure.

- Emilia-sama, Reinhard, I am glad to see you here.

The guy in the gym uniform nearly jumped out of his skin when a taller man with short purple hair, a well-ironed white dress uniform, amber eyes and a pretty face in his opinion dropped to one knee in front of the silver-haired girl and took her hand, placing a light kiss on the back of her hand. Apparently not taking into account that it was a simple polite gesture, Subaru takes a step forward and glances at the other, slightly clenching his hands into fists, causing the man to stand up, taking note and looking back at Subaru with a reserved face, slightly raising an eyebrow at his proud demeanor.

- Who is that young man with you? He doesn't exactly look well-mannered at first glance.

That statement clearly struck a chord.

- You...!

Before Subaru could snap back, he felt a hand on his shoulder and looked up. Reinhard looked at him calmly, obviously hinting not to lose his temper ahead of time and Subaru snorted in response, gently brushing the other's hand away, standing more confidently in front of the purple-haired man.

- My name is Natsuki Subaru, and you better remember it well!

The man with purple hair and amber eyes smiled slightly, his face did not twitch at all, which made Subaru slightly grimace, as if he had just been laughed at, he didn't know why, but just standing next to this guy was already irritating him.

- My name is Julius Euclius, I am a knight of the Royal Guard like Reinhard, I hope you will remember me too, despite your excessive pride, Natsuki Subaru.

God... this guy..

- As if!

Emilia frowned slightly.

- Subaru.

The guy in question gritted his teeth and sighed in disappointment, hearing the half-elf's slightly demanding voice.

- I'll remember, but don't think that I'm pleased to meet you…

He took a step back, looking away and crossing his arms over his chest, not wanting to look at the purple-haired knight in front of him anymore, lest he inadvertently anger himself by just seeing that smug face. Julius placed his hand on the hilt of his sword, then turned his gaze back to the two of his acquaintances, as if forgetting about Subaru.

- So what's the reason for your visit today? I thought you had a day off today, Reinhard.

The red-haired knight shook his head, he extended his hand to the side, pointing at the silver-haired half-elf next to him.

- Emilia-sama lost an important thing for herself, so I volunteered to help, we're gathering information about the blonde girl who supposedly robbed her.

Julius smiled slightly and let out a light laugh, causing Subaru to frown instinctively. Reinhard never changes.

- Is that so? You're the same as usual, I suppose.

Subaru couldn't understand how Reinhard could communicate with him. He was even a little jealous... wait, no, nothing like that!

- Well, you can follow me to discuss a few things, I'll pass this on later, in case people are needed for the search.

Emilia smiled gratefully.

- Thank you, Julius.

- I'm just doing my best, Emilia-sama.

Emilia bows slightly, after which the purple-haired knight gestures for them to follow, ignoring the clearly deprived Subaru waiting next to him, Subaru of course tries to follow them as soon as they move from their place, already bored from their little conversation, which of course he was not privy to, but Julius stops him, holding his hand in front of Subaru's chest, now with a stern expression, stopping his attempts to go further.

- I'm afraid the common citizens will have to wait outside.

What kind of new rules are these...

- Oh, come on! I just want to help them with some information, what's the point of not letting me in?

Julius bowed his head slightly, his face taking on a thoughtful expression for a second before he glanced at Subaru, while his irritation growing in an unusual manner. Seriously, who does this guy think he is?

- This is my first time seeing you, and stealing a royal candidate's belongings isn't something that can be discussed openly, can't you see the logic in my actions?

Subaru felt a strong argument hit him in the face. Yeah... maybe the knight was right in some parts.. but...

- Ugh... that's true but... listen up, you!

Before he could continue, Subaru felt his mouth covered by two small paws belonging to the gray spirit cat, looking at him mischievously, although some warning was also written on his small face. He wanted to pinch his small cheek... oh... no... wait.

- Quiet, quiet, Subaru, let's not cause trouble for Lia and wait for the two of them outside.

- But... but... Puck..!

Julius decided to butt in, of course, not taking Subaru's side.

- If you don't want to listen to me, then at least listen to the great spirit, Natsuki Subaru, don't make a fool of yourself in front of the knights.

Subaru gave Julius a sideways glance when he said those words, then turned around, sighing in annoyance, almost like an ashamed child. Puck flew over his shoulder, crossing his small paws on his chest, pleased that he was listened to, and the aforementioned purple-haired knight silently looked at Subaru's back, slightly amused by his behavior and partly surprised by how proudly he behaved, despite the statuses of the people around him, although some part of him disrespected the young man for this, considering his excessive insolence a factor of weakness.

- Thank you for your cooperation. I'll go. Have a nice walk.

Not hearing an answer from Subaru for obvious reasons of his high ego, he sighed, put his hand on his side and also turned away, hurrying with an even gait to the silver-haired girl and red-haired knight who were already waiting for him nearby.

As he walked, he placed his hand in a white glove on his chin, returning his thoughts to the person he had just met.

A quiet muttering that only he could hear came from his lips.

- How unusual... Natsuki Subaru...was it? What's on his mind...

°•°•°

- Hmm, what are you doing, Subaru?

Puck peered over the shoulder of the guy in the gym uniform, looking down at Subaru scribbling something on a small piece of paper while he sat on a bench not far from where they were earlier. He had a concentrated look on his face, and the little spirit could only guess what he was thinking about. The aforementioned guy raised his head slightly, scratching behind his ear thoughtfully as he looked at what he was doing so far.

- Trying to write a letter...

Puck lifted his small tail and curled it into a question mark.

- A letter? For whom?

Subaru shook his head. His tone was not very convincing.

- Um... for the royal guard, I just want to pass on a few details about it. I don't want Felt to be unfairly punished.

The little spirit crossed his paws over his chest and tilted his head slightly. His actions showed interest, but his tone of voice suddenly took on a rather gloomy look.

- Oh? So you've seen her more than once? Lying is very bad, Subaru.

Subaru trembled slightly, for a moment it seemed to him that the spirit's tone was very, very similar to the voice of that huge creature.. that froze him last time, but he brushed that thought away, could such a charming spirit be somehow connected to such a monster? Haha... no... no... hardly. However, he couldn't deny that Puck had caught him on his own words. Now he had to get out of it...

- Well.... she's an old acquaintance of mine... and.. I just didn't tell her right away because I could have been taken into custody as an accomplice... yes, that's right!

Puck giggled, clearly amused by the other's nervous tone, and his own tone took on its usual playful tone.

- Oh... come on, I can tell you're lying even if you try using some magic, you're too obvious Subaru!

A look of shame flashed across Subaru's face. He remembered the last time he tried using some magic, and to be honest, he didn't really want to try it anymore.

- Uh... I don't really know how to use magic, Puck...

The little spirit's face showed surprise for a moment, then it turned into interest and understanding. Puck flew right up to the boy's nose to get his attention.

- Hmm, that won't do, do you want me to teach you the basics?

Subaru raised his head, a look of hope flashing across his face.

- Really? You can do it?

- Of course, I'm a master at it!

The black haired boy suddenly reached out and ran his fingers through Puck's fur, tickling him, after which a satisfied and contented smile spread across his face. Much softer than he thought! Subaru seemed mesmerized, pressing the small spirit kitten to his cheek, enjoying the soft fur tickling his skin. Puck snorted and giggled a little, not really minding getting some affection, but after a few moments, he slapped his paw on the bridge of the other's nose, causing him to make an offended face and move away.

- Ouch, Puck, why...?

Puck crossed his paws over his chest, a mischievous smile on his face, though he looked more serious now.

- I agreed to train you instead of petting me Subaru, I like the attention, but don't get too carried away.

Subaru brushed away a tear from his eye, upset that his pleasant moment was interrupted so quickly, to which the spirit simply snorted. This guy has no sense of conscience, huh?

- Okay, sensei, where should I start?

The youth clapped his hands, returning his attention to starting the training, a determined expression on his face. Puck thought for a moment, then raised one paw in the air.

- First, we need to determine your magic type, sit still for a few seconds.

Magic type? Interesting.

- Eh? Okay..

Subaru put the paper down, sitting up straight and straightening his shoulders, a slightly nervous expression on his face. Well, after all, they're going to tell him his magic type now, it's probably important!

The little spirit put his paws in front of the guy in the sports uniform's forehead, after which a faint glow appeared around him. Subaru watched this silently in a stupor. He wasn't quite used to magic and everything in this world yet, he'll just hope that he has some simple type... for example, fire or water?

- Hm, hm, interesting...

- Huh? .. Huh? Well, what is it?

Puck flew back slightly, stretching his paws, and then looked Subaru over from head to toe.

- It seems that you belong to Yin magic, you rarely meet their users, I'm surprised, to be honest!

Subaru bowed his head, Yin? Dark magic then? This isn't quite what he expected.

- Yin? That's something cool... huh?

- Well, you can't say that you can use it to specifically attack or defend yourself. In addition to the magic of Earth, Water, Fire and Wind, there are also Yin and Yang - opposites of each other, Yin is a magic that mainly includes debuff spells, while Yang is a buff spell.

The guy scratched his chin in thought, listening to the new information for him. Debuffs...? Well... it could be better...

- So, how can I try to use this magic?

Puck shook his tail in the air, then demonstratively twisted it into a circle, demonstratively blowing through it, while explaining.

- To use the spell, you need to redirect your mana in your body and release it through the gate, like you're taking a deep breath and sighing, phew! Like that!

Subaru put his hand on his chin, looking at the spirit uncertainly, he was already starting to get a little confused about how it worked...

- Gate... mana... ah... yeah..?

The little spirit put his paws on his sides and looked at the boy in front of him with confidence.

- Well, go ahead, try it! It's not that hard... hmm... you can start with Shamak, that's a basic spell that'll work for you, just take a deep breath and imagine that the mana is circulating throughout your entire body.

The black-haired boy looked at the little cat uncertainly, then sighed and stood up from the bench, spreading his arms out to the sides. It wouldn't hurt to try. Maybe he'll succeed?

"Take a deep breath."

Subaru took in as much air as he could, the more the better, right?

"Imagine mana circulating throughout your entire body."

He closed his eyes, it was quite difficult, but after a few minutes, an image began to appear in his mind, a clear image of a slightly unfamiliar force coursing through every organ and nerve. Through every inch of his body. An unusual feeling if he were to speak honestly.

This is it, Natsuki Subaru is about to learn magic!

- Subaru?

A voice like bells rang out nearby, but it seemed it was too late. Subaru was only too happy to show off his new magic to the beautiful Emilia! He gathered his courage, and proclaimed as loudly as he could.

- Shamak!

- Subaru, wait!

...

Was it always this dark around here, or did he just forget to open his eyes?

°•°•°

- Reinhard... before I die... please tell my parents that I'm sorry for not eating peas... wait no... you can't...

- Subaru! Don't talk like you're going to die...

Emilia stood in front of the bench with a frowning expression, looking at Subaru who was lying on it with an expression like he was forced to stay awake for days and eat lemons, his hands resting on his chest in a gesture as if he was already dead, and to be honest, he felt like that in part. His legs were hanging loosely off the end of the bench, and at the other end sat Reinhard, with the same familiar and calm expression, although a hint of worry was evident in it. He slightly bowed his head, peering into the face of the smaller man beneath him.

- Subaru, you really shouldn't have used magic that created a huge fog in the middle of a busy street.

A tired sigh came from Subaru's mouth and he pointed an accusing finger at the small spirit sitting on Emilia's shoulder. He spoke with a slightly hoarse voice, he really felt lousy. It was as if all the life force had been sucked out of him.

- Puck told me to try this spell... he didn't say anything about such consequences!

- Oh, it's my fault now Subaru? You're just a little inexperienced, that's all!

The small kitten, Emilia's spirit, spoke in a mischievous tone, but was quickly interrupted by Emilia herself, pinching his small cheek, causing his face to twist.

- Puck, you shouldn't have gone so far with your jokes, and Subaru, be careful next time!

Subaru sighed again. He opened his eyes and looked at the girl with a puppy dog look, causing the red-haired knight next to him to let out a small laugh. The guy in the sports uniform spoke in the most honest tone he could muster.

- But, I'm always extremely careful, I swear!

- If it weren't for Reinhard, you would have been hit by a carriage that was thrown off course by your spell!

Emilia gave Subaru a stern look after saying this, causing the guy to painfully grab the cloth right above his heart with the most hurt expression on his face. A direct hit! Her stern but beautiful face would soon finish him off, he could swear, seriously...

- Uhh... sharp words... I thought that since I almost got hit, I should have been at least pitied a little... and not scolded...

The half-elf's face softened, but there was still some sternness in her tone.

- I'm glad you weren't hit, but really Subaru, you were too careless, this is the second time today that you've gotten into trouble like this.

Reinhard nods, his usually calm expression filled with compassion and concern for the black-haired boy.

- Emilia-sama says it right... if we hadn't come in time, both in that alley and here, you would have gotten into trouble, Subaru.

Subaru frowned slightly and looked away. Of course. He knows that he's like a magnet for trouble... too good a magnet, in fact. And he doesn't particularly like how much he has to rely on others to get out of his troubles. It's disappointing, if nothing else. But admitting it openly? That's different... that's not exactly what he wants.

- I know, I know...

He raised himself from the bench, assuming a sitting position, then put his hand behind his head, scratching the back of his head in an awkward gesture.

- I don't even know what to say to that.... I guess I'm just unlucky?

Emilia tilted her head, a puzzled expression on her face.

- Just... unlucky...?

Subaru spread his arms out to the sides, shrugging his shoulders. He himself couldn't explain the reason why this world did NOT like him so much. He could only get used to it.

And at that moment, there was an awkward silence. No one present knew how to respond. Well, no one except Subaru.

- In any case, it doesn't matter anymore. Actually, I wanted to ask you for a favor.

Both Reinhard and Emilia turned their heads towards Subaru, interested in his request. Reinhard raised an eyebrow slightly.

- If it's within my power, then I'll try to fulfill it. What is your request?

- Oh, I'm glad you don't mind, so here it is!

The guy in the sports uniform put his hand in his pocket, then took out a neatly folded piece of paper and held it out.

- I want you to deliver this letter to the guards and read it, since they obviously won't let me in.

The red-haired knight carefully took the folded piece of paper, looking through it in his hands, a little surprised by the other's request. Subaru continued, holding up one finger.

- Oh, and don't read it beforehand, it's sooo important!

Emilia and Reinhard both gave Subaru a puzzled look, but eventually nodded briefly. They had no reason to distrust him and do as they saw fit. For now, they could comply with his request.

The knight stood up from the bench, holding the folded paper in his hand, and then turned around, looking at the black-haired boy with a look that seemed unsure of whether he wanted to leave him now.

- Are you sure you'll be okay...? I don't think you've fully recovered from your mana loss, we can stay with you for a little while longer.

Emilia nodded briefly, agreeing with Reinhard, but Subaru waved off their offer, his usual smile appearing on his face.

- I'll be okay, I promise, I'm not going anywhere, am I? Go and read the letter, it's a matter of five seconds, I'll wait here!

The half-elf and the knight exchanged silent glances, and then decided to agree. Emilia spoke first.

- Okay, but don't get into trouble again, we'll be there soon!

- It's a deal, I'll look in all four directions, as well as up and down, so as not to get into any trouble!

Subaru put his hand on his chest, as if he was saluting, although it looked stupid from the outside. Emilia just sighed at this gesture and shook her head, and then followed Reinhard, who was already heading towards the guard post.

Subaru knew that they wouldn't turn around, but he still waved his hand at them. He hoped that they would finish soon. After all, no one wants to just sit and wait in one place. Right?

°•°•°

Emilia and Reinhard stood facing the group of guards, who were standing quietly in place, even too quietly, as if they were afraid to make an unnecessary move. Of course, after all, they were facing a candidate for the throne and the strongest knight in the kingdom. Anyone in their place would have been at least a little worried. The red-haired knight could not deny that he was used to such an attitude... as was the half-elf girl next to him. Despite their different statuses, on some level they were similar to each other, although they themselves did not notice it. Sometimes, a simple attitude like to all ordinary people was what they desired most. However, their situation greatly tied their hands when they had such thoughts together. It was disappointing, if not more. Falling under the expectations of others every day, unable to stop it.

But something else is more important now.

- Sir Reinhard, are you going to read the message?

The aforementioned knight straightened up, not noticing how he had fallen into a kind of thoughtfulness, which was not typical for him. Emilia and the guards looked at him expectantly while he collected his thoughts. For some reason, this time he could not restrain himself. It was a little strange, there was a slight hitch in his impeccable composure and he could not help but wonder if it was because of a strange, not entirely pleasant feeling, lodged deep in his chest. As if something was wrong. Out of place...

He kept his usual calm face and perfect smile. No. There is no need to think about such things now.

- Ahem, my apologies for the wait, now.

Reinhard nodded, aware of himself and unfolded the paper, after which Emilia decided to look at it, slightly leaning towards the knight, curiosity getting the better of her.

- ...?

They both froze, looking at the seemingly simple piece of paper.

What they saw there was not a summary of information for catching a thief. It was not even what they could have expected at all. Both raised their puzzled gazes and looked at each other. Reinhard spoke first, his tone sounding uncertain for the first time.

- Emilia-sama...

The half-elf nodded very quickly and sharply, after which she tore herself away from her place and hurried out into the street with quick steps, turning slightly at the end. Her face had the same uncertain expression, mirroring the one on the knight's face in front of her.

- I... I'll go check, right now! Please explain everything to the guards!

The red-haired knight could only nod in response, the guards stood silently the entire time and looked at the two with puzzled eyes. Apparently, they had no idea what the other two had just seen.

Emilia ran out excitedly, her heels making a loud noise on the stone tiles, her face growing panicked with every second and every rustle of her clothes. This...isn't what they thought is it? This must be some kind of joke... some very cruel reason to play a joke on them...

Her steps slowed, and her brows furrowed in even greater worry. She looked around. She was looking for something...no...someone...someone who promised to wait...but...

- Subaru....

A quiet whisper came from her lips. But it was directed at no one.

The bench where the boy with black hair the color of a raven sat happily was now empty. It was as if he had disappeared.

It was as if he had never been here.

He hadn't told them anything.

He had left practically nothing behind.

- Subaru...why....?

He won't answer that question now.

°•°•°

On the road, near many modest and, on the contrary, vast, filled stalls, as always there was a lively noise of a crowd of people, and not quite people, including.

At one of them there was a cart filled with various goods and bags. And next to it stood an unremarkable merchant in a green cloak, settling accounts with another trading partner. Having received a bag of coins for his good work, the merchant smiled and bowed slightly, saying goodbye, after which he went to his cart and moved a couple of bags in it.

Another ordinary day.

A merchant with gray hair just above his shoulders laughed slightly to himself and muttered.

- Today's revenue was also not bad... I tried hard... well done Otto!

Suddenly, a finger tapped the merchant's shoulder a couple of times, attracting his attention. Thinking that it was a customer who forgot to ask something... or maybe even decided to add a tip, Otto turned around.

- ...Yeah? You're….mphff!!

He didn't have time to finish speaking when a hand covered his mouth, the hand of a man he had never seen before, and he definitely seemed strange and not like an ordinary customer. Otto's eyes widened, and before he could even process it, his sleeve was tugged, and he was thrown with a slight movement into a small alley nearby. After that, the hand no longer held his mouth shut, and he screamed as loudly as he could, the panic clearly visible on his face.

- You're a... bandit?! A criminal!? I don't have anything valuable... don't touch me!

The stranger pressed his finger to his mouth, a nervous expression appearing on his face as he tried to shut the other up with a silent gesture.

- Shh! Fool, don't yell! I'm not going to rob you, oh my god, do I really look like a bandit?

Otto only raised his voice even more in response.

- Yes, you are!

This guy-

- No, I'm not!

The black-haired guy rubbed his temples, letting out a long sigh, and then extended his hand forward. Otto looked at the outstretched hand, puzzled, and then at the man who extended it, as if he were looking at a madman. The stranger bowed his head slightly, a confident expression on his face, although he was a little unnerved by the other's behavior. Although, he couldn't blame him, right? It's not every day that someone who previously covered his mouth with it and dragged him into an alley extends his hand to you.

- I admit, I started off a little off-key, but I didn't intend to steal anything, I swear. What's your name?

The merchant glanced sideways at the other man. It was easy to read suspicion and doubt in his gaze, but he continued.

- Otto... I'm Otto Suven..

The stranger suddenly took Otto's hand on his own, shaking it in a friendly manner, which made Suven flinch slightly. The guy with black hair smiled, having received his answer, and let go of the other's hand. One step passed.

- Nice to know you, Otto, I'm Natsuki Subaru, and I really, really need your help now! Refusal is not accepted by the way!

The merchant bowed his head in a stupor, after which he jumped in place. What do you mean... not accepted..?

- Eh? What? Why should I help you, what the-...

Otto did not finish his sentence, instantly falling silent when Subaru pulled out a bag of coins in front of his face, deliberately shaking it. It was better for no one to know that he begged and did various tricks on the streets while getting here in order to collect such an amount that could interest any merchant. No one. It was all for a good cause anyway!

Suven stared silently for a few seconds, then his face took on an uncharacteristically serious expression and he nodded quickly.

- So....what do you need help with?

And good merchants are pretty easy to bribe...

- I knew you wouldn't refuse! So...

Subaru raised his hair with one hand, then a more confident and satisfied smile appeared on his face.

- I need you to take me somewhere, right now.

°•°•°

- Hey, Otto, what's this?

Subaru sat down on the floor of the moving carriage, crossing his legs, looking curiously at the various bags of things that he could barely recognize as familiar, but were probably some important goods to sell and transport here? He wondered as he opened one bag and looked at the pile of red balls with a slightly odd shape, while the air around them became slightly dusty from the sand that rose with each distinct turn of the carriage's wheel.

Otto, sitting in the front of the carriage and holding the rope attached to the ground dragon, turned his head towards the voice that came, trying to see what exactly caught Subaru's gaze and attention.

- Oh, this? These are explosive fruits, be careful with them Natsuki-san... better not touch them unnecessarily.

Subaru snorted in response. He's not such a klutz as to accidentally blow up strange fruits in his hands, right?

- You don't have to mention it like I can't hold anything properly in my hands! Anyway, how powerful are those, um, explosions, so to speak?

- If it blows up in your hands...then I suppose you'll need a healer right away...or else it'll be really bad. Why are you asking? You're not...going to use them...?

Subaru gave Otto the most honest smile he could, so honest that Suven thought he was just trying to lie really well. The raven-haired boy gave a thumbs up.

- Of course not! Stealing goods from such kindhearted merchants isn't my style!

Otto narrowed his eyes at the other's words. His face was clearly skeptical, even despite the "compliment" from Subaru, but he eventually sighed and focused on the road again, turning away from the other guy.

- Okay, but just in case I warned you... By the way, I think we'll get to the place you pointed out soon, Natsuki-san.

- That...that...is great news!

Subaru said this with some guilt under the layer of his words. Why guilt? Well...at the moment, contradicting his own words, Subaru stuffed a couple of red explosive fruits into his pockets while the merchant's gaze didn't reached him. It was quite ironic, really. But what could he do? Right now, he needed all sorts of resources to accomplish what he wanted, so Otto wouldn't go broke if he had a few less of those dangerous balls in his bag!

But even so...

Subaru swallowed hard as the carriage slowed down, starting to stop at the specific spot Subaru had chosen. He looked out of the carriage, noticing the dense and not very welcoming forest. The sight of it brought back unpleasant memories in the form of goosebumps. Maybe some people were fascinated by this kind of natural scenery... but for the black-haired boy, it was associated only with the most terrible experience in his humble life. And here he was again.

Subaru silently got off the carriage, leaving his bag with things that would hardly help him now, and stood next to it in front of the forest. His expression became unreadable for a moment, as if he was deep in thought, where no one could interrupt him. His strange silence also tensed the merchant, who had already managed to approach him and stand next to him. Otto slightly tilted his head, peering into the face of his fellow traveler.

- Natsuki-san? Are you okay?

The said Natsuki shook himself and straightened up, instantly snapping out of his pensive state and turning his head towards Otto after hearing his question.

- Eh? Yes! I'm fine, don't worry, Otto.

Subaru sighed and stretched, loosening his stiff limbs. He was definitely going to need it.

- Thanks for doing my favor, now your job is to follow the plan and wait for me here, okay?

Otto hesitated slightly and shifted in his seat. He remembered that strange remark Subaru had managed to blurt out. It sounded simple enough, Subaru would go into the forest "for reasons Otto shouldn't worry about", and then he would return and they would go back to the capital. It sounded trivial, almost like a simple walk through the forest that Subaru needed for some reason. But Otto felt that there was clearly more to it, something that the black-haired boy clearly didn't want to mention, and it was too much of a pain not to ask.

- Look... Natsuki-san... I know you said I don't need to worry... but I want to know. Why do you want to go into this forest, all by yourself? It sounds really weird.

Subaru shrugged.

- It's nothing really, I'll go alone... because... I already asked you for a favor, I don't think I have enough coins for a second one, hehe...

The merchant looked at Subaru questioningly, obviously not satisfied with the other's answer.

- You say it's nothing... but at the same time, you urgently needed to get here by the fastest route and without prying eyes. A merchant isn't that easy to fool, Natsuki-san... what's the real reason for your visit here?

The black-haired boy looked away, looking visibly nervous. He didn't realize how suspicious his actions were from the outside.

- Why do you want to know? It's not part of our deal...so I don't think you should care about that part.

- Why don't you want me to know? What's wrong with that?

Subaru pouted slightly at the question thrown his way.

- Hey...a question isn't an answer!

- But I want to know!

God, why is he so difficult? Subaru wanted to punch himself in the face.

- Look, Otto, I appreciate your concern and all, but it wouldn't be safe to involve you in what I'm about to do!

- It's…not safe?

Oops...here we go again...he blurted out too much and received an even more concerned look. Subaru sighed. Well, maybe if he explained, the other would silently give up on his attempts to question him further.

- It's not safe in this forest, it's teeming with some kind of monsters and I'm sure someone there will need help soon...as strange as that may sound. But, I need you to stay here, Otto, in case I need backup or some sort of escape plan, so just stand here and wait. Okay?

- But...

- No buts! It's better this way, I don't want to add to my plans the possibility of someone else getting hurt.

Otto clutched the hem of his coat, unsure of what to say... he knew he could only get in the way with his presence, and the fact that Subaru had entrusted him with part of his plan... but it felt so wrong... to just sit there and wait while someone else's life was in danger. However... his salesman's instincts told him not to make unnecessary trouble for himself, and he silently agreed. He didn't want to put himself in danger either, he could agree with Subaru on that, as selfish as it sounded.

- In that case... at least take him with you. In case you need to quickly and urgently signal me.

Subaru looked at Otto with a puzzled expression as he extended his hand, but there was nothing in it, but after a few seconds, a miniature bird flew into his palm and sat down... a sparrow, perhaps? He didn't really know the types of birds, but this one was small and round, cute, he would say. The sparrow chirped happily, after which Otto easily lifted it with his hand and the bird, as if understanding him with one gesture, flew to Subaru's shoulder, settling there, as if in its own nest. Otto continued to speak.

- This is the least I can do to make your task easier for you, as soon as you need help, hint this sparrow to fly back to me.

Subaru, slightly surprised, moved his gaze from the bird on his shoulder to Otto with a rather serious expression. He really... wanted to help him, huh?

- Uh, thanks for the cute companion in this gloomy forest, I suppose! I'll try not to make him strain his little wings and fly back.

Subaru nodded to himself, trying to relax and poked the little beak of the bird on his shoulder, amused by its reaction. He had already turned his back to the merchant, wanting to go deeper into the forest, but stopped without turning. The question was buzzing in his head and his tone was quieter than usual.

- Hey... Otto. Why did you want to help me?

Otto was slightly surprised by the sudden question, after which an awkward pause passed between them. Silence. Suven didn't know how he wanted to answer this question, to tell Subaru the truth and convey his thoughts to him. There was meaning in his question. They had only recently gotten to know each other, had spoken very little, and Subaru hadn't managed to help him in any way during this time so that he would feel indebted or something like that. He simply had no reason to worry about the strange stranger so much, much less help him. Surely, Subaru thought the same. But something told Otto that this conclusion was not entirely honest, and so he decided to speak up, to express everything in one assumption.

- When I see a person who selflessly tries to help others, then I want to help him, despite my weakness as a simple merchant and the desire to run away...

Another silence hung. Otto couldn't see it because the other had his back to him, but for a split second he thought Subaru smiled when he heard that answer... though he couldn't tell what kind of smile it was. Or what was behind it, to be precise.

Subaru laughed lightly, then waved his hand as a "temporary farewell" and walked away from the carriage, stepping onto the grass. His steps were more confident than before. The only phrase he could squeeze out in his troubled mind came from his mouth. The one he wanted to cling to, but knew it wasn't the best option. And that was because...

He didn't want to rely on others...

He didn't want to rely on Otto either... but...

- Then I'm counting on you, Otto!

But Subaru sometimes doesn't think before he speaks.

°•°•°

- Uh... phew... I hope I haven't forgotten where it is...

A boy with black hair and a strange, distinctive sports uniform ran through the dark forest, each of his quick steps leaving behind the sounds of rustling leaves and grass. Everything around him seemed terribly familiar and at the same time completely different... considering the knowledge he now carries with him. Although to be honest, Subaru couldn't deny that he would prefer not to have any experience with what awaits there, even despite how it increases his chances of not falling into the same trap again. Pain is pain, only a madman will want to suffer again and again just for the best result. This is simple and understandable logic.

As the young man ran, a small bird kept up with him, flying after him and occasionally chirping under his ear, to which Subaru only waved his hand near his ear, not understanding what it was trying to say at all. He didn't know exactly how Otto communicated with animals, and he could only envy him now.

- Hah... I really wish I could understand you now... hmm... maybe I should give you a name?

Subaru turned around another tree, casting small glances at his miniature companion, who easily kept up with him in flight. An idea flashed through his mind.

- How about... Chuntaro?

As soon as he said this, the sparrow instantly flew up to his cheek and poked him with its beak, causing Subaru to cry out in offense. Well, it seems the bird was not happy with this choice, too bad.

- Hey! You don't have to peck me because of a small reference! .... Ugh... why am I surprised that even animals are not used to this here... okay... let's think of something else.

The guy looked at his feet, taking into account that the grass he trampled left behind traces. Maybe it would come in handy if he wanted to run away and retrace his steps to cry in front of Otto for being too confident....so....stop....what was he thinking earlier...

- Uh....Cha......Ibi....hm...Chubby...? Hey, what about Chubby, do you like it?

Subaru looked expectantly at the little bird, which seemed to him to pout and seem to...snort? Maybe she liked this option better...but her reaction was something else. He looked at her skeptically, slowing his pace slightly.

- Seriously? That's all the reaction? Although I don't know what I expected from a bird...that I can't even understand...I guess I'm going crazy already.

"Chubby" flew dangerously closer to Subaru's already exhausted cheek, apparently clearly displeased with his comment, intending to peck his cheek more, which made Subaru flinch and suddenly run faster. Because they didn't have much time, and not because he was afraid of some small bird, definitely! But his tone and words clearly betrayed him on that thought.

- I-I was joking, it was a joke! Put your merciless beak away!

Suddenly, while he was running, Subaru tripped over a branch that he hadn't noticed and stopped abruptly, trying not to accidentally fall forward. And he stopped for a reason, in front of him was that same small clearing again, but now it looked much nicer to look at. Especially without that scarlet bloody color, which he had already managed to add to the list of his least favorite during his entire time here. Various flowers: daisies, bells, forget-me-nots and others now decorated it under the sunset of the evening sky, and if it weren't for the dangerous animals wandering around, Subaru would have considered this place ideal for inviting someone on a picnic here... or maybe even on a romantic date, who knows! Such a sight is quite worthy of being seen by everyone... and this makes him think about how much he would not want it to get dirty with someone's blood. However, the perfect view of the clearing was also what confused Subaru as much as it captivated him. There was no one here, no sounds, no people, no monstrous beasts. Only Subaru himself and his new companion in the form of an arrogant sparrow. It almost seemed like a paradise, if he didn't know what was about to happen soon.

- So I arrived much earlier? Or everything happened too quickly then... I don't quite understand.

He caught a rustling sound in the tall grass and cautiously took a couple of steps forward, peering into the suspiciously quiet area. Chubby was excitedly hovering next to him in the air, it seemed that the sparrow didn't particularly like the situation and Subaru could understand him. In this they were similar.

- Eh... what is this?

Subaru looked down where the rustling was coming from and saw a small dark brown puppy there, who was looking around confusedly, as if he was lost. Not suspecting anything strange, Subaru noticeably relaxed, and unlike the sparrow, who was still keeping his distance, the young man knelt down on one knee, picking up the puppy in a friendly manner, feeling affection with every glance at its small button eyes.

- Aww... look... what are you doing here, buddy? Lost, huh? Poor... ow!

The black-haired boy grimaced in pain when the puppy growled sharply and bit his hand, leaving a small wound from which a small stream of fresh blood flowed. He shook it off and let it go, holding his hand and looking at the puppy with an offended expression on his face. Seriously, what did he do to deserve such treatment?

- Ugh... oh.. oh... and your bite hurts... I was just trying to be friendly, you know!

As soon as he said this, Subaru felt himself being pulled by the collar and looked back, looking at the sparrow, who was diligently trying to shove Subaru away with its beak, which made the young man cast a questioning glance at his little fellow traveler.

- Hm? Is something wrong, Chubby?

Subaru froze after saying those words, catching the quick steps behind him, he almost managed to turn around, but another person was faster, hitting him on the head with something heavy in an unexpected manner.

- Don't touch him, mister!

A ringing voice rang out from above, and Subaru fell on his back from the unpredictable blow, plopping down into the flowers, which at least provided him with a soft landing, he rubbed the place of the blow on the back of his head in irritation and was finally able to look at the one who hit him, his eyes noticeably widened in surprise.

- You...

In front of him stood a girl of small stature, still a child, she was wearing a yellow blouse and green pants with a red bow on her head. Above her head with short ginger hair, the girl held a stone in her hands, which Subaru assumes she hit him with a little earlier. There's no doubt about it... this is the same girl who was torn apart before his eyes on his first try. And she's alive... right now in front of him. Not a single scratch or horrible open wound on her body. Subaru sighed in relief, despite the not-so-pleasant reception from her.

- I'm so glad you're okay...

The girl looked at the boy in front of her in confusion, lowering the stone in her hands.

- What... what do you mean...? You weren't pestering that puppy?

Subaru shook his head, laughing lightly. So that's it. The girl was just protecting her puppy from him?

- No way, I just thought he was lost.

He sat up and crouched, putting his hands at his sides.

- So of course I'd like to hear an apology for such a sudden attack, but for being so bold, I'll let it slide. Next time, don't hit me in the head from behind, okay?

The girl still tilted her head in confusion, but eventually dropped the rock guiltily, realizing that Subaru really didn't mean to hurt the puppy or her.

- Um...okay, but...who are you, sir?

Subaru chuckled and extended his hand to the ginger-haired girl.

- That's what I wanted to ask you! My name is Natsuki Subaru, and you're...?

The girl hesitantly extended her hand, after which Subaru carefully took it and shook it lightly in a friendly manner.

- I'm Petra Leite...I live nearby in the village.

Subaru stood up and dusted himself off, smiling when he heard the slightly timid answer of the girl in front of him.

- Nice to meet you Petra, hmm...may I ask why you're here? I think it's quite far from the village and there's a deep forest, you can get lost, you know!

Petra pouted slightly when she heard this and picked up the puppy from the grass, petting it in a soothing manner.

- I won't get lost here so easily... and I was just asked to look after this puppy, so I wandered here, it's quite active actually.

- Is that so? Well... I noticed... it's quite playful and even cheeky when it wants to be.

Subaru scratched the back of his head, the pain from the bite was still felt, and he still didn't feel super pleased about it. Then he quickly glanced at the sparrow, and remembered something, already looking at Petra with a more serious look.

- You certainly say that you won't get lost and that's commendable, but... I still would like you to return to your village as soon as possible, it's not entirely safe here, didn't your parents tell you about that, Petra?

- I know... many people in the village say that it is better not to go into the forest alone, but this puppy does not think so either.

Petra turned her gaze to the puppy in her arms, gently patting his small head with a sweet smile.

- I think I'll go back now, thanks for your concern... um... Subaru!

- That's what I wanted to hear! In that case, maybe I should take you there? After all, there might be some dange-…

Subaru froze in place, not finishing his sentence, looking at one point behind the girl in front of him. His whole body and face noticeably tensed up and the smile disappeared from his expression in a second. In the distance, behind the dark crown of the bushes, small red dots were clearly visible... no... eyes... full of predatory and dangerous intentions, those that he had managed to imprint very well in his mind. Petra was surprised by the sudden change in Subaru's mood and was about to ask what was wrong, but the young man quickly grabbed her by the shoulder and put her behind his back, blocking her with his body, despite how he himself began to visibly tremble. An unpleasant lump of fear and nervousness formed in his throat, which he could not swallow. It seemed... he had been diligently preparing for this moment all this time, but when it came, Subaru couldn't help but notice that the fear in his subconscious hadn't gone away, no matter how much he tried to suppress it with various encouraging mantras earlier in his head. He spoke, his tone sounding quieter and more nervous than before.

- Stay behind me, Petra... I.... I...

Will think of something? Have some kind of plan in mind? He wanted to say it, but he couldn't. He didn't know enough about these animals or the forest around him to use it to his advantage. That was his mistake. But even so... he wanted to cling to this small chance that he could resist them this time.

Subaru glanced at Chubby, throwing a silent command to the bird, and then turned his gaze to Petra. The best thing he could do in this situation was...

- Petra, when I give the signal, run back to the village, okay? I'll distract them.

Petra stared at Subaru in surprise, as if she didn't quite believe his words. For a guy she managed to hit with a rock a few minutes ago, he seemed so confident right now, it almost seemed... stupid.

- This... this is very, very dangerous, Subaru! Are you... are you really sure..?

Subaru nodded, forcing out a reassuring smile, trying to seem less scared than he actually was, and then winked.

- Don't worry, leave it to me! When you come back, make sure to tell everyone that I saved you. And if I don't come to you later, then please build me a monument in honor of my valiant sacrifice!

- Don't joke like that...!

The ginger-haired girl sighed at the boy's manner of speech, after which her face became more confident and she hugged the puppy to her chest in a protective gesture.

- Okay... I'll try to get there as quickly as possible, but please come back there alive and safe, the other guys and I will be waiting! You will have to play with us later!

Subaru took a short breath and turned around, assessing the situation, which only made him dislike it more and more. But Petra's words cheered him up, and he answered without looking back. The other guys... huh?

- Of course. I can't wait to play with you. Good luck, Petra... and....

A confident grin crossed Subaru's face, and he clenched his fists as he looked towards the animals slowly approaching them, grinding their sharp and long fangs. This time he would not make a mistake, this time it would be different. He will repeat this to himself over and over again, even if he can't stand on his own two feet anymore.

This time, Natsuki Subaru will face the next day without losing anyone.

This is a promise he can only make to himself...but...even so...

This is...

- Come on! Bite me if you can!

Subaru shouted this an octave higher than his usual voice, after which both Petra and Chubby rushed in different directions from him on command, leaving him alone with the bloodthirsty beasts.

One of the monstrous dogs rushed after a small bird that needed to fly past them, but before a single fang could even touch a feather, a red fruit flew into the dog's face, instantly exploding upon impact and tearing through its flesh, effectively immobilizing it and causing it to fall to the ground.

- Right on target! Don't think i haven't played rpg!

Subaru tossed the fruit in his hand and carefully caught it, turning all the attention of the growling beasts to himself. These things... really are something... it was not for nothing that he filled his pockets with them.

- You caused me a lot of trouble in the past, you know. So don't think that I will let you slip away this time! Follow me!

The beasts, provoked, rushed towards Subaru, which made him flinch at first, amazed at their speed, but he quickly came to his senses and led them, running in the opposite direction, constantly looking back to make sure they were still in sight.

- This will be difficult.... I need to think of something... what is there that can stop them?

He thought nervously in a hurry, he didn't have enough exploding fruits for everyone, and they had to be carefully stored, so this was not his priority option, the only thing he could think of was the opportunity to take advantage of everything that was around him.

Take advantage of... what... is next to you.

Subaru jumped over the fallen tree and turned around another one nearby, briefly confusing the animals that were chasing him, after which he took advantage of this and threw another explosive fruit at the tree towering above them, from the explosion of which the thick trunk of the tree broke and fell, crushing a couple of dogs under it, while the others managed to jump over it and at the same pace chased Subaru.

- Three more...

The guy quickly muttered this under his breath and ran on, thinking, thinking and thinking again. With each meter that the dogs got closer, his thoughts became more scattered and scattered, and he began to be driven more by adrenaline, just to stay away from danger. But he also needed to keep them in sight, and this damn near interfered with his self-preservation instincts, which were screaming at him to run as far as possible.

Before he could even think about it, Subaru was already close to a small cliff above a small river in the middle of the forest, he frantically turned around, looking behind him. From the bushes, one after another, the dogs rushed forward towards him, leaving him with no escape options, leaving him with only one choice at the moment. It was the easiest and first thing that came to his mind anyway. He could only use it once, so Subaru took a deep breath as the dogs got dangerously close and put his hands in front of him.

- Shamak!

A thick dark fog quickly filled the area, blocking the view of the ferocious beasts, and the dogs, one after another, rushed past Subaru, falling straight into the river, which distracted him for a second, not noticing how one of the dogs, having lost its sight, rushed at him, knocking the guy off his feet and causing him to fall straight into the river with the other dogs, and damn, how unlucky he was that this river has an almost imperceptible current, it is so slow that it will not wash away anyone!

- Gah!

Subaru hit his back on the bottom under the weight of the dog and was taken aback almost immediately in some panic, which began to boil more and more inside when he realized what a terrible open position he was in now, literally in front of bloodthirsty monsters. The water slowly touched his hair and the back of his head as he tried to lift himself up and push the beast off of him, but the beast didn't budge, instead digging its claws into Subaru's collarbone, opening its toothy mouth and preparing to take a very large bite by Subaru's standards.

- Damn! Not today!

The black-haired boy barely managed to react and picked up a stone from the bottom of the river, threw it at the dog's face, causing it to hesitate and pull away for a moment, but not completely, so it rushed forward again and in a desperate attempt, Subaru jerked the explosive fruit right into its mouth before it could close.

Another explosion sounded and the boy screamed in pain when this explosion left him also affected, leaving a large burn on his hand, since he did not have time to move away or remove it faster than it happened. The dog was already finished, the explosion easily dealt with it and its body fell into the river. Subaru climbed out of the river on one hand onto the shore, completely soaked. Looking much worse than how he usually looked earlier in the morning. There were small scratches and bruises here and there on his body from the unfortunate fall, there were red and bleeding marks from claws on his collarbone, and he himself was already exhausted, having used up all the mana in his body again. He would definitely be scolded by Emilia for this later... or maybe Reinhard would try to convince him not to use this power for good.

Oh, right.

I wonder how the others are doing?

Subaru leaned on his elbows, inhaling and exhaling, the blood from his body dripping down, slightly coloring the stones in the scarlet color that he already hated so much, mixing with the water that was also dripping from his wet hair and clothes. At the same time, he felt guilty... he left without saying anything directly about what he was going to do. But at the same time... he felt... relief? Contentment? All this... from the simple fact that he did not have to see anyone injured except himself this time. So... maybe they would understand him. He hoped he wouldn't have to listen to an hour-long lecture on his "protagonist" behavior. He'd rather sleep after this... maybe even ask for a lap pillow... ah.... wait-

- Hah..?

He quickly interrupted his thoughts when he heard splashing water behind him. Subaru slowly turned his head towards the sound with a frightened expression, then opened his mouth in silent shock. How could he forget? Damn... how...

The other two monster dogs that had also fallen into the river earlier emerged from the water, and as if mocking Subaru, slowly approached him with leisurely steps, reminding him that he had completely forgotten about them. Subaru turned around and crouched down, moving his legs away, praying to all the gods that he wouldn't be torn to pieces right here for his fleeting inaccuracy, for his mistake and inattention for a short moment. He reached into his pocket with his healthy hand, only to discover that there was now a hole there and all the remaining fruits had probably fallen into the river while he was still in it, and Subaru cursed under his breath, to be honest, he already wanted to start cursing every god he knew. The dogs did not sympathize with his loss at all, coming closer and closer, trampling his hopes to smithereens. The guy with black hair frowned and already shouted in frustration at the top of his voice, clenching his hands into fists, despite how one of his hands protested, still aching from the burn it had received.

- Grgh! Why am I so unlucky!?

Suddenly, for a second, Subaru heard a quick clang that reached his ears like lightning. And his eyes widened in shock when the dogs' heads were torn off their shoulders at one moment, and at another moment they were already lying on the ground along with their decapitated bodies.

- Eh?

He blinked a couple of times in a stupor, not understanding what had just happened and looking at the not-so-pleasant picture in front of him in bewilderment. What.... no wait... who...?

After he looked around, making sure that another pack of monsters wouldn't attack him, Subaru tried to do at least something, with difficulty and pain on his face, trying to get up, leaning on his aching arms, so that eventually his legs failed him and he fell back onto the cold stones under his feet with a disappointed sigh. He really should replace Shamak with something else soon, it was too energy-consuming a spell.

Maybe he could try to blind the enemies with the flash of his folding phone?

No... that sounds stupid.

- Subaru.

The boy in question nearly choked on air when he was suddenly lifted off the ground by eerily familiar gloved hands and found himself in the grip of a "princess" in the arms of another person, instinctively placing his hand on the shoulder of the red-haired knight, on whose face he saw that familiar worry again, only doubled to an even greater extent. He was about to say something, but was interrupted by other worried voices of people approaching, people he already knew well.

- What even happened here?

- Natsuki-san, are you okay!?

- You look terrible, brother.

Three more people approached them, one of them was a half-elf with silver hair, Emilia. Another was a merchant with gray hair, Otto. And the third, to Subaru's slight surprise, was a girl with short blond hair, Felt. Everyone looked a little confused and worried, and they all definitely demanded an explanation from Subaru himself, who had just cast a slightly bashful glance towards Reinhard, still not forgetting what position he was in right now.

- Okay... okay. I'll tell you... just this... Reinhard, thanks for your help of course, but I already told you not to hold me like that, I'll die of shame!

Reinhard bowed his head in almost innocent bewilderment, as if he saw no reason why he should let Subaru go, but in the end, under the pressure of Subaru's gaze and the others, he listened and complied, carefully putting Subaru on his feet, instead letting him lean on his shoulder for support.

- I apologize for the inconvenience, I guess I was just giving in to my anxiety. But... we really are all waiting for an explanation, Subaru.

Felt also decided to intercede, to be honest, she felt the most out of all of them.

- Yes! I also want to hear, since I was brought here, they told me that you know me, but at the same time I am seeing you for the first time, what does this mean?

Emilia nodded quietly, after which she also decided to speak.

- You didn't mention it in your letter... Subaru... what was all this for?

Subaru looked at the half-elf with a slightly surprised expression, scratching his cheek a little sheepishly.

- So you were able to understand the meaning of my drawings after all?? It's not that I didn't have hopes for you... but I'm really surprised that my scribbles were understandable.

Felt and Otto immediately cast puzzled glances at the other three, they were obviously not quite drawn into the topic of the letter. Otto raised his hand slightly, wondering.

- A letter?

Reinhard pulled a bundle of paper out of his pocket and handed it to Otto, who unfolded it and began to examine it together with Felt, while the red-haired knight began to explain, throwing the same worried, but now with a share of respect and admiration, look towards Subaru.

- Yes.. Subaru's "letter" was a set of drawings that surprised both Emilia-sama and me at first, but then we realized that it was some kind of message that eventually led us after a confrontation with a wanted criminal in the slums to Otto, who was waiting outside the forest, just as Subaru had drawn. The events unfolded surprisingly accurately according to his description. I must say, I am surprised by your insight and resourcefulness.

Subaru blushed slightly from the praise, after which he waved his hand like a girl, who received a valentine letter, brushing off Reinhard's comment, while at the same time finding it strange that he was able to embarrass him so easily. Maybe it was just the warm weather today and his cheeks turned red on their own. Most likely.

- No, no, it wasn't resourcefulness... I just don't... um... I just don't know your local language that you write in, to be honest... so I had to wriggle out of it.

He admitted bashfully, for some reason now feeling every surprised glance thrown at him. Felt giggled, noticing his reaction.

- Seriously? You can't write? Pfft...!

Subaru frowned slightly, he could have sworn that his face only got redder from the mockery of the girl with blond hair.

- It doesn't matter..! I'm not from around here... and.. and I'm well erudite in things that you definitely don't know!

Felt snorted, smugly crossing her arms over her chest.

- Yeah, yeah, keep convincing yourself of that.

Subaru sighed, unable to argue with her, and then raised a questioning gaze.

- Wait..why are you even here?

The short-haired girl became more sullen as soon as she heard this question, and then threw an angry look at Reinhard, pointing a finger at him.

- That weirdo said some nonsense about me being some kind of candidate for the throne and now he's dragging me along against my will, ask him!

For the second time in this short period of time, Subaru almost choked on air after hearing her explanation. Candidate?? Her??? He looked at Felt in surprise, and then turned his gaze to the knight helping him still stand.

- Felt? A candidate for the throne? Are you serious???

Reinhard didn't bowed his head again, standing still and blinking almost innocently at Subaru's question, before his face took on a more serious expression and he nodded.

- Yes, that's right. When Emilia-sama asked Felt-sama to hand her the insignia back, I noticed that it was glowing in her hand, a sign that the dragon had deemed her a worthy candidate for the throne, so it was my duty to ensure that she was accepted into the election.

Felt stamped her foot on the ground in annoyance, clenching her hands into fists, dissatisfied with the whole situation that had fallen on her shoulders when she didn't want to have any connection with the high nobility and all that nonsense.

- Don't call me 'Sama'! And I already said that I won't participate in your stupid election, I don't care about this kingdom of idiots and upstarts!

Subaru shook his head slightly, recovering from the shock, and a smile touched his lips, Felt's reaction was so obvious that it even seemed funny and he couldn't help but play along.

- Well... well, there's no need to be so angry, you know! You have so many opportunities now, for example, you won't be living in the slums anymore, you'll have luxurious dinners instead of crumbs and wear expensive rags while being protected like a spoiled child, and then you can make your own laws, since you don't like the ones here so much. Is that really so bad? Think about it!

Reinhard looked at Subaru with a little surprise, taking into account his attempts to convince Felt that her situation was not so unpleasant to refuse, and something like hope flashed across his face to hear her agreement, but Felt apparently thought about Subaru's words for only a second, after which she threw him a poisonous look, raising her fist in the air.

- Oh, look at this, someone is trying to bribe me despite the fact that it's against my will! If you keep trying, I'll beat you up worse than those Ma-beasts, brother. I'm not going to agree!

Subaru raised his hands in front of him in mental surrender, a little disappointed that Felt, instead of listening to him, decided to end this conversation with threats. Despite her height and appearance, he couldn't say that he wasn't afraid of her evil promises to harm him.

- Okay, okay, I get it! It's not very fair to hit those who are already badly injured, you're just taking advantage of my weaknesses.

The blonde smirked and stretched out her arms, pretending to "get ready" to hit Subaru. Or just to intimidate him.

- That's the point! Now you don't so boldly want me to become a candidate for the throne?

Feeling the tension growing, Reinhard pulled Subaru slightly closer to him, and Emilia stood between them, putting her hands on her hips, frowning slightly, looking at Felt, not approving of her attempts at threats, and not quite taking into account the possibility that she was joking.

- Please stop, Felt. Subaru is seriously injured, and we are now in his debt, so I will not ignore an attempt to harm or hurt him, I promise.

Subaru looked at the half-elf's back with awe and admiration, still slightly leaning his back on Reinhard, whose warmth he had already more or less gotten used to. Her words were true, despite his ability to speak and think, he was doing so with some difficulty due to the pain in almost his entire body, and in fact, he had spent the entire conversation trying to dull the unpleasant and stabbing feeling, which did not help much with his wounds, some of which were still bleeding. Felt snorted and rolled her eyes at Emilia's comment, then gave in, casually kicking a small stone under her foot, like an offended child who had just been scolded.

- No need to react so defensively, I get it, okay? I was just kidding, pfft. And I know that this fool needs medical attention as soon as possible, don't treat me like a child.

Emilia frowned a little at Felt's slightly rude response, but decided not to discuss it further and turned to the injured boy, who was being helped up by the knight. The sky above them was already dark, with only the occasional beautiful stars lining up from under the clouds, making the night sky more mysterious and alluring. In this darkness, Subaru's condition was harder to see, so the half-elf summoned a small spirit in the form of a glowing small and blue clot of energy to light up the area around them slightly. A soft blue glow filled the small space around them, and Subaru squinted slightly, looking at the small glowing ball near Emilia's hand, which made the wounds on his body here and there less noticeable to others, tightening them with Emilia's own healing magic. Despite this, more worried looks appeared on the faces of the people around him when they got a better look at Subaru, to which he could only smile guiltily, trying to lighten the atmosphere.

- Well... it's not that bad, right?

Otto shook his head sharply, and pointed his finger at the numerous wounds here and there, not understanding how Subaru had managed to collect so many of them in all this time, as if he were some kind of magnet for bad luck.

- Not so bad? Look at you Natsuki-san! You have a scratch, a full-blown bruise, or a wound on almost every part of your skin. I thought I should have come with you!

- Don't... don't talk like I can't handle anything alone! I'm alive and that's the main thing! A couple of wounds... that's not the most important part.

- Actually…!

Otto was about to continue arguing, but stopped before he could continue speaking, without saying a word, when a drop of cold water hit his nose, and then another, forcing him to lift his head and look up at the sky above them, in which, to their surprise, dark clouds had gathered, replacing the previous peaceful clouds and completely blocking the starry sky.

Felt and Emilia each closed themselves off from the coming rain, the half-elf using her magic was able to create a small barrier above her head, as Felt in turn simply walked up to Otto and used his cloak to block the rain without warning, causing the merchant to stare at the girl in bewilderment and indignation, but said nothing to this gesture, remembering how easily she could say that she would easily hit Subaru if she wanted.

- Rain..? I didn't think it would start at all... it's a problem when we're far from the capital.

Subaru froze slightly, feeling the moisture running down his hair, when he was already wet from the river he had safely fallen into. But he froze not only because of this, but also because of one small conclusion, one thought that instantly flew through his head, making him forget about the fact that he was getting wetter and wetter.

Rain. Roughly speaking, there was a change in the weather... at a certain time of day. And he didn't remember any rain in his previous reboots, not even in the longest one. It would seem like nothing special, but it meant something very big for the guy with black hair. He just wanted to raise his head and ask the question spinning in his head, but he only let out a surprised hum when he felt a rather soft cloth thrown over him, blocking him from access to the cold rain. Subaru managed to slightly raise his head to notice that he was now standing almost too close to Reinhard, while the latter had already managed to unbutton his white coat, take one hand out of the sleeve and with it, putting it under the coat, covering Subaru with part of his outerwear, while droplets of water were still rolling down his hair, but surprisingly, his hair remained perfectly dry, as well as his clothes, with the help of his Divine Protections, making him look almost inhuman in a good way. Subaru would even say that he looks too unfairly beautiful, being like this, like some kind of deity unattainable even by natural phenomena, but it is a little strange to admit it, so he will not. He caught that the knight said something from the movement of his lips, but somehow ignored it, instead standing up quite straight, digging his feet into the ground, finding this closeness strange. Very strange. The strangest thing is that he did not consider it strange in a bad way, although he was sure that his heart beat faster due to Emilia's presence nearby, not because he was standing awfully close to Reinhard, noticing it only now.

- Ahem. I said, if anything, it would be better to think about moving to another place, otherwise you'll get wet more and get sick. Right, Subaru?

It seemed Subaru snapped out of his momentary trance and nodded too quickly when Reinhard repeated his words, not even really bothering to fully understand and process them in his head. Damn. Why was he in such a stupor in the first place? Earlier in his school life, he was quite happy to take cover under someone else's bag or his classmate's coat when they lent it to him, not that anything had changed much in this situation? He must have imagined it, never mind.

- Oh, yeah, yeah! Exactly. Absolutely. I confirm.

The others around him reluctantly agreed as well, once Subaru confirmed Reinhard's words, and after that, Subaru thought again, once again recalling the question that had been swirling around in his mind, noting that he felt a little sleepy, which only fueled his suspicions further.

- By the way... by chance, while we were talking here... has a new day come? I'm not sure if you have hours for days here... but I was just wondering...

Emilia was a little surprised when she heard Subaru's question, and then thought about it, looking up at the sky, and finding a small outline of the moon behind the clouds, she put her hand on her chin, nodding slightly uncertainly.

- Eh? Ah... you're right. It's already the next day. Why are you asking, Subaru?

A wave of relief washed over Subaru when he heard Emilia's answer and he visibly relaxed, keeping silent, earning questioning glances, but he ignored them as well. He turned his head slightly and looked up, looking at the clouds and finding a strange comfort in them, the same as in the company of the people around him. For them, they had only met "today", for him, this day was repeated several times, introducing them again and again from new sides. But he didn't want to complain about it now, not when he finally had everything he wanted at the moment. A simple feeling of relief. A simple, but so important realization that the people around him were safe and sound. That he was able to do something for them, and finally did it right, moving himself forward into a new day.

A faint chuckle rang out from the depths of this forest, followed by another, and another, growing into a soft laugh. He sounded tired, exhausted, but at the same time sincere and light. And Subaru couldn't believe that he was the one making that light sound. So carefree, despite the fact that deep down Subaru was fully aware that this was only his first day, and now he didn't know what would happen next. But this ignorance was his salvation to some extent. The starting point from that despair of a repeating day, which he now knew inside and out, which eventually became an uncomfortable lump in his throat. Because he didn't want to know. He didn't want to know what terrible things could await him and others. However, he had to in order to help everyone and himself. And this is a paradox that he will now have to live with.

Natsuki Subaru hated paradoxes and was terribly grateful for them at the same time. It sounded almost funny.

- Hey, guys.

His quiet voice broke the silence that had formed due to his strange impulse and desire to laugh right then and there. The others were still silent, even Felt was in no hurry to speak, feeling strangely drawn into this quiet atmosphere, which infuriated and reassured her at the same time. Emilia looked at Subaru with curiosity and worry, and Otto had a puzzled expression. Only Reinhard among them kept his usual stoic face, not at all embarrassed by Subaru's slightly unusual behavior. It seemed to only intrigue him, if one could say so about such a reserved person. And with that attention, Subaru decided to continue his thought. Or finish it. The words came out quite easily from his tongue as his eyelids drooped slightly lower and lower, strangely relaxing from all this silence and peace.

For the first time in this world, he felt safe enough to want to sleep.

He probably should think about where he would like to sleep and hide from the rain... but...

After all this long and long day, he really deserves a little rest, right?

Just a little...

A little bit...

- This wind is really weird. But I'm glad it blew.

The black-haired boy muttered so quietly that it seemed as if he wasn't addressing the others around him, but was speaking to himself. His head fell limply onto Reinhard's shoulder as he closed his eyes. There was a few seconds of silence as everyone tried to understand the meaning of his words, but no one was able to come up with a clear result. The rain was still pouring down on their heads, and they had to think of something to do with it. But each of them remembered the inexplicable words of the rather strange boy they had just met today, clearly knowing that there was something more hidden behind them that they couldn't guess at the moment.

Something that only Subaru himself knew about.

...

Thus, Natsuki Subaru fell into the long-awaited sleep and was able to break the first loop, facing a new day together with those who had become his reason to continue trying to survive in this world.

°•°•°

Early morning.

The first rays of the sun were creeping through the curtains of the large window, illuminating a small but rather richly decorated room, the only sound in it was the quiet snoring of a person walled up under the soft and cozy warmth of a blanket, while his head rested on a lush pillow, perfectly complementing the bed.

In front of the same bed stood two silhouettes, almost identical to each other in both pose and appearance, their hands resting on the front of their lush skirts, while they silently waited and watched.

Noticing a slight sway under the blanket, standing out from the already familiar inactivity and peace, the two almost identical persons turned to each other, speaking in a soft whisper almost simultaneously, as if one knew the other's movement in advance.

- It looks like our guest is waking up, Sister.

- Yes, it looks like he will wake up now, Rem.