The ground dragon sped across the plains.
Holding the reins, Lillian was extremely satisfied with its steady pace. Ground dragons were lizard-like creatures roughly the size of horses—slender in build, yet astonishingly fast. They were born with the Divine Protection of [Wind Resistance], allowing them to run at full speed without being affected by wind.
Traveling at top speed, it took less than a day to reach the border of Roswaal, the Margrave's territory.
It was the early hours of the "fourth day."
Lillian stopped at the edge of the border and climbed a high slope. From there, he could already see Roswaal's mansion in the distance.
Going directly was out of the question. Showing up in the middle of the night without explanation would only get him labeled an intruder—and likely attacked on sight.
So instead, his gaze shifted northward.
Faintly, he could make out the outline of a village.
If nothing had changed, that village was where Subaru would go during the day. It was undeniably crucial—the starting point of the entire "curse incident."
But now, Lillian didn't know exactly where Subaru was stuck. Logically, it shouldn't have taken this many loops.
"Let's check the village first."
Having made his decision, Lillian guided the ground dragon toward it. By the time he reached the village entrance, dawn was breaking. Several diligent villagers were already awake, preparing for the day's work.
He didn't sneak around. Leading the ground dragon openly, he entered the village. The villagers cast curious looks at the stranger, and one of them stepped forward to ask:
"Hey there, young man. Where're you from?"
"I'm from the capital," Lillian replied. "I'm passing through and was hoping to stay a couple of nights. Does anyone here rent rooms?"
"No need to be shy—come stay at my place!"
A tall, broad-shouldered man clapped his hands heartily. "I've got an empty room anyway. No need to talk about rent—we're all descendants of the Divine Dragon, so what's there to fuss over?"
Lillian accepted the man's kindness with a nod and a smile.
"Then I'll gladly accept. Thank you."
Speaking of which, this truly lived up to the name "The Dragon Kingdom of Lugunica."
The people's faith in the Divine Dragon was indeed strong.
Lillian himself was quite curious about the power of the Divine Dragon. If given the chance in the future, he would definitely want to investigate it personally. But thinking about that now was pointless—what mattered was dealing with the problem at hand.
Following the man back to his home, Lillian left the ground dragon in the yard. Before he even stepped inside, a little girl with orange hair ran out.
"Dad, why are you back so—"
She stopped mid-sentence upon noticing Lillian, immediately growing shy and retreating behind the man.
"Haha, don't be scared," the man laughed, gently pulling her forward. "This young man's from the capital!"
Then he turned to Lillian. "This is my daughter, Petra. She's always wanted to go to the big city. If you've got time, you can tell her about life in the capital."
"Ah… sure."
Looking at the timid but adorable girl, Lillian recalled that she was one of the children who later became close to Subaru in the story, and eventually went to Roswaal's mansion to work as a hired maid.
That said, the name Petra always threw him off a bit—it reminded him of a certain elite female soldier from the Survey Corps who ground her teeth every time she saw him and was hopelessly devoted to Levi.
"Really…? Big brother, are you really from the capital?"
As the man had said, Petra clearly yearned for big cities. That was only natural for children—after all, so many fairy tales were set in grand cities. Everyone liked stories about princes and princesses; who wanted to read about village boys and girls?
"Yes." Lillian nodded, then turned to the man. "Sir, I'd like to take a walk around the village."
No matter how easygoing he was, the man wasn't about to leave a stranger alone at home with his daughter. He agreed immediately.
After saying goodbye to Petra and telling her he'd be back in the evening, Lillian left and began strolling through the village.
---
It was still early morning. The people already awake were mostly young adults preparing for work. Most children were still asleep—not like Petra. The village was quiet and peaceful, filled with birdsong that calmed the mind.
As he walked, Lillian eventually reached the edge of the forest behind the village.
He stared into the deep, shadowy woods. It felt as though something within that darkness was staring back at him.
Suddenly, a hand reached out from behind.
Without turning his head, Lillian grabbed it in one smooth motion and spun around—only to see a small girl with long blue hair staring at him nervously.
"Big brother…"
He released her hand. "What is it?"
"I… I just wanted to remind you not to go into the forest," she said timidly. "There are lots of magical beasts in there…"
"I see." Lillian smiled. "Thank you for the warning."
"Mhm!"
She nodded, smiled, and ran off.
Lillian watched her retreating figure, his expression gradually turning cold.
---
In the afternoon, after waiting for quite some time, Subaru finally arrived.
One in the open, one in the shadows—Lillian made sure Subaru never noticed him. But from Subaru's expression and the bloodshot veins in his eyes, it was clear that the repeated deaths and returns had begun to weigh heavily on him.
"Hey, sir, good afternoon!"
"Miss, your clothes look great!"
"Wow, your hands have so many calluses!"
Lillian watched as Subaru struck up conversations with nearly every villager under various excuses. It was obvious—Subaru had already discovered the existence of the curse and was now trying to trace its source.
Before long, Subaru had interacted with almost everyone in the village.
Rem, who stood beside him, looked at him with some confusion. She could sense that his behavior was deliberate. What caught Lillian's attention, however, was Subaru's gaze toward Rem—it carried a strange unease, something akin to psychological trauma… a faint fear.
"Subaru, we should head back."
"Oh—yeah…"
Seeing Subaru's reaction, Lillian suddenly realized something.
The divergence in events hadn't begun at Roswaal's mansion.
It had started much earlier—back at the Bowel Hunter incident.
Originally, Subaru had died three times during that event. Because of Lillian's interference, Subaru only died once before it was resolved. As a result, Subaru's understanding of his own ability wasn't as deeply ingrained as it had been in the original storyline.
That meant that when he later died again at the mansion, he might not have been able to accept it as readily—or respond as decisively—as he originally had.
That could very well explain the excessive number of deaths.
And if he was stuck on the fifth day…
Then the problem truly lay with the curse.
---
As Subaru and Rem finished their shopping and prepared to leave, a group of children surrounded them excitedly, chatting animatedly.
Lillian noticed the blue-haired girl he had spoken to earlier, holding a small dog. It looked gentle and well-behaved—until it suddenly bit Subaru hard on the hand when he tried to pet it.
After Subaru and Rem left, the children continued playing together.
Before long, the blue-haired girl casually suggested:
"Hey… how about we play an adventure game and explore the forest?"
"The forest? That's dangerous…"
"My parents won't let me go."
"I heard there are magical beasts inside!"
"That's just rumors—we've never seen any ourselves," the blue-haired girl blinked. "What, are you all too scared to go?"
"Hah? Who are you calling scared?! I'll go!"
"Yeah! Don't say nonsense, Meili—I'm the bravest one! How about this: after dinner tonight, we'll go together. Whoever doesn't come is a puppy!"
"Who's afraid of you?!"
With that decided, the children dispersed and went home.
Watching the entire scene from the shadows, Lillian sighed.
Great. More work.
---
That night, beneath the pitch-black sky, the blue-haired girl—Meili—quietly removed a barrier crystal from a tree at the edge where the village met the forest.
She waited calmly.
Soon, footsteps approached.
Her face lit up—only for the smile to freeze when she saw who it was.
"Hello there."
Lillian greeted her casually. "You warned me earlier not to wander near the forest during the day… so what are you doing here so late at night, little girl?"
"I—I…"
Meili panicked, glancing around. If the others arrived now—
"No need to wait," Lillian said. "The kids you invited to 'explore' the forest were all scolded by their parents and locked inside."
He smiled lightly. "I was the one who reported it."