43. The Night Before the Vanguard Battle
"Subaru, if you regret your decision today, then come find me. What I just told you will remain valid."
"I won't regret it."
"Is that so?"
Roswaal showed a meaningful expression and was the last to leave the room.
Looking at the room with only himself left, Natsuki Subaru let out a long sigh of relief.
Although there were some twists and turns in the process, Subaru recalled the servants who were peeking in to listen and Bernie who stayed in the room until the conversation ended.
A sincere smile appeared on Subaru's face—he knew his goal had been achieved.
But soon, Subaru realized the servants might have followed Reinhild here.
His face gradually turned red.
Even though no one had actually seen the details of him being carried princess-style, the thought of being princess-carried by a girl in front of so many people made the pure-hearted youth want to, or rather, had already hidden under the covers.
"Let's go to the big bath."
After some unknown amount of time calming down, Subaru spoke up.
Whether it was to wash away the sweat covering him, to calm his restless heart, or even to prepare for the upcoming plan, Subaru understood that now was the time to go to the large bathhouse.
He stood up, grabbed a set of servant clothes issued by the mansion, and headed towards the multifunctional bathhouse.
"Reinhild isn't here."
Subaru struggled to climb out of the pool and lay down on the floor.
Even though he was nearly dazed from the bath, the strong-bodied captain of the royal guard still hadn't appeared.
But Subaru wasn't anxious—in fact, he felt a little happy because he understood that Otto might have discovered the fox's tail.
"Only one day has passed, there's no way he stumbled upon the transaction site, right? That guy Otto is so unlucky!"
Subaru muttered as he put on his clothes.
"But I still want to check Reinhild's situation later—maybe she just didn't come."
Yes, later he would confirm.
Because Subaru had already noticed a key part of his plan: Eileen was standing outside the door.
.
.
.
...My serious older brother is, besides Lady Reinhild, the strongest existence. Oh, by the way, here's this for you."
Subaru instinctively took the book handed to him by Eileen.
Even without seeing the title, Subaru recognized it as the "Magic Basics" book he used when he became Bernie's student.
Looking at this book, Subaru realized Bernie's goodwill towards him was probably pretty high—likely out of guilt for leaving him unable to move.
At that moment, Subaru noticed Eileen walking away.
"Speaking of which, Lady Reinhild of the royal capital is amazing."
Startled, Subaru quickly spoke up, and sure enough, Eileen stopped walking.
Seeing this, Subaru breathed a sigh of relief.
He didn't want to meet Eileen again only during tonight's lesson because by then, everything would be too late.
"You know, that day Lady Reinhild…"
Subaru spoke while walking, and the enthusiastic Reinhild fan Eileen followed him.
Subaru suppressed his excitement and checked the time, adjusting his pace as he headed toward the place where Winston and Lord Rom were having a conflict.
"Did you know Lady Reinhild defeated three Divine Generals alone when she went to the empire?"
"I know, they are respectively…"
Subaru relayed the intelligence he obtained from Eileen during the third loop.
Looking at Eileen's sparkling eyes, Subaru felt that if there were a favorability system, Eileen's affection must be rapidly rising.
After all, much of what he said was Eileen's exclusive information, or rather, achievements known only to those who truly follow Lady Reinhild.
Plus, Subaru tried to adopt the girl's perspective.
"That's right, that's right, and at that time…"
"Wait, Eileen, isn't that Winston?"
"Hey, what's Uncle doing, Lady Felt!"
At that moment, the power of the top magician was displayed.
Seeing Lord Rom almost unscathed with Eileen's help, Subaru silently gave a thumbs-up in his heart, then smiled as he walked over.
He knew this was the perfect chance to raise favorability.
"Are you okay, Rom? That was dangerous just now…"
"You brat, didn't expect you here too…"
Subaru recited the dialogue he had memorized.
Indeed, his target was not Felt from the start, but Winston's favor and becoming familiar with Rom.
As for Felt, she might grow into a decent person in the future, but right now she was just a reckless brat who didn't know her limits and was greedy.
Although she seemed high-ranking, no one in the mansion really acknowledged her.
As for her ability, except for running fast, she had no advantages.
But even that one strength could be surpassed by several others in the mansion.
Subaru, who had gone through five loops, was very clear about this because except for the early-death fifth loop, he had personally witnessed Felt's countless failed escapes or how he had to help her hide from pursuers.
On the night of the third day, Subaru left his desk and looked out the window at the moon.
After three days, he was sure he had done all he could.
His reputation in the mansion had already surpassed that of the first loop, and his relationships with Rom, Winston, Eileen, and Bernie were all good.
Otto and Reinhild were probably already confronting the "fox," but considering the nearly half of the guards still left in the mansion and the recently returned goods, Subaru estimated Otto's side was probably winning.
So far, although many upheavals had occurred, the final results were hardly different from his original plan or even a little better than Subaru had expected.
But he understood that this was only up to today.
The plan was going well now—that was the result Subaru had obtained in the fifth and fourth loops.
Tomorrow, he would face those enemies directly.
Right.
Thanks to his good relationships with the servants, and a little luck, Subaru had successfully made a blabbermouth servant reveal Otto's birthday plan.
With the first step completed, the rest was simple.
Since day one, Subaru had been constantly planting psychological suggestions to Winston, who taught him to write, saying he wanted to go to the mercenary city—Setia, wanted to check out the mercenary guild, and wanted to see what a swift rabbit was like.
Then, using the right to choose work he obtained on the first day, Subaru chose to go out to buy goods tomorrow.
After three days of psychological suggestion, plus the two favors Winston owed him, Subaru finally got Winston's promise at the end of the lesson today: tomorrow, he would take Subaru to the Setia Mercenary Guild.
—Ram, Rem, Meili, Lust.
Subaru clenched his fist while looking at the moon.
"Just watch. I will definitely win the vanguard battle tomorrow with style."