Chapter 1: Murderers Clash

Natsuki Subaru could not help but wonder what had gone wrong.

His first loop in the mansion had ended abruptly as he died in his sleep to some unnatural and, as of yet, unknown curse. The second time he lived through those five days, Subaru was brutally slain by an unseen assailant wielding only a flail. Said attacker was also probably the person responsible for his previous death.

Having gathered all this information, Subaru had prepared himself to locate the attacker and, difficult as it may be, dispose of them. On a lookout post with view of the mansion and armed with his trusty phone (with a whopping 83% battery left) and a kitchen knife (he really hoped he wouldn't get blood on it; he'd never hear the end of it from Ram), Subaru had prepared himself and awaited the murderer's arrival.

Subaru's stay at the lookout was cut short after he was ambushed by the same flail from his previous loop. There was no doubt about it: the killer had come for him first, and Subaru would stop them no matter the cost or method. If he needed to run back to the maids while screaming his head off, so be it.

Of course, the "fight" (if it could even be called that) between him and the enigmatic flail-wielding psychopath he had come to detest was cut short when the attacker's identity came to light.

Although he had perished in various ways during the past week, Subaru was unsure if he could inflict the same pain to another living being. The best-case scenario he had hoped for was to capture the attacker or wound them in such a way that would make dragging them back to the mansion possible. Much as he might hate the person that snuffed out his life twice, Subaru was still apprehensive about killing another living being.

Now, however, his doubts had disappeared. In their place, a pool of dark emotions had been born: rage, despair, and disregard.

"Rem..?"

As he stared at his would-be killer, Subaru could only look at her in shock.

The maid swung the flail back towards her and readied a second attack. With the cold eyes of a killing machine, she looked at her victim and spoke, "If you know what is good for you, witch cultist, drop your weapon and surrender. I will grant you a painless death afterwards."

"Rem? Rem, why ar- "

"Enough, cultist. I will not repeat myself."

Rage. Subaru felt rage towards the maid. Had she been planning to hurt him from the start? Did she hate him so? He had been nothing but kind to her!

"It seems you will not surrender. Very well, you will answer my questions one way or another."

Despair. He felt despair tug at his heart. Was he truly fated to die like this? To be killed by the one he thought a friend? No, he would not follow Fate's fickle wishes anymore!

As Rem swung her flail once more, Subaru dodged it and charged at her with his phone in hand. Using the camera, he activated consecutive flashes from the device that left the blue-haired maid stunned.

Once the mai-, no, the killer, lowered her guard at the unexpected "attack," Subaru lifted the kitchen knife.

Disregard. He felt a disregard for her life as he brought the knife down on her chest and sliced downward in a diagonal line. How would he explain what happened here? More importantly, would Rem die from this wound? It didn't matter anymore to the young man as he removed the knife from her body and struck again.

A second slash, aimed at her arm.

A third slash, cutting the front of her knee.

A fourth slash, opening a wound almost perpendicular to the first.

A fifth, which he aimed at her uncovered left eye.

Without a sixth slash, Natsuki Subaru took off sprinting as far and as fast as he could. He could never return to this house now, right? No! He needed to. Once this all blew over, once – like the criminals on those TV shows said – the heat died down, he would explain things to someone. Maybe his dear Mili would understand, or perhaps that redhead (was it Rainhast? Reinyard?) would help him somehow. He was a knight, maybe he could investigate this and absolve him of all guilt!

But, as he left behind the manor and ran southward, towards Arlam, he knew. Subaru knew that, in the end, he would never be absolved of the guilt.

He would never be free of the guilt of killing another person, one who once might have been a friend.

The mansion's residents were starting to grow restless in their search for the missing maid. Almost two hours had passed since Rem simply vanished and every inhabitant of the manor, minus the spirits, had torn the massive house apart in search of her, and there was not a single trace to be found of either her or the mysterious yet kindhearted boy who had stayed as a guest for the past couple days.

The three individuals had split up to search the various areas of the mansion simultaneously, and all of them were growing more restless as time progressed and there was no sign of the missing girl they so desperately wanted to find.

Emilia, who was currently searching around the garden, could not be more worried. She might not have been close with Rem, but she would not give up looking for her. The younger maid might not consider herself Emilia's friend, but she hoped they could grow closer over time.

Inside the mansion, Roswaal was opening door after door, checking storage closets and even the attic in search of his missing employee. Since Natsuki Subaru asked to leave the mansion, Roswaal had been checking his Tome and awaiting instructions. All the book had said was to let the boy go. Clearly, something was amiss; the key to his plan was that missing boy, and every second he spent looking for Rem was a second he lost. This was a plan 400 years in the making; if that damned maid had somehow ruined it now, Roswaal would have to try VERY hard to keep up that smile of his, and even harder to not just disintegrate whoever gave him the news.

In the area between the mansion and Arlam, Ram sought her missing sister. Ever since that burst of emotion from her Synesthesia, Ram had spent a long time looking for her sister, and something told her that her dear Roswaal would not be very happy if Rem had done something rash. She cursed herself; she knew her sister did things out of passion rather than logic, but it was her own fault that this occurred. She should've been more observant, paid more attention to her twin's behavior. If she had done so, then maybe…

"Si…sister..?"

Ram turned to the voice. It was one she recognized from birth, one she could never forget, and the one she wanted to hear the most right now.

But when she turned to the voice, that relief she felt was completely overshadowed by a whirlpool of feelings she could never hope to describe.

For there stood Rem, more dead than alive, with the glowing blue light of healing water magic illuminating her once-blue hair, which was now matted with spots of crimson. The once white-and-black uniform that had become like a second skin to them was torn and dirtied in such a way that it painted the attacker as a psychopath who had made it their life mission to kill all maids they crossed.

In seconds, Ram was by her side and helping the injured girl walk towards the mansion. The two walked in silence for some time; Rem unable to speak from exhaustion and Ram from worry. Finally, the pink-haired maid asked, "What happened, Rem? Where were you? Who did this?"

Rem sighed and spoke in an almost inaudible whisper, "Wit…witch…culti…st."

With the sun almost gone from the sky, Subaru was starting to get tired from all the running he had done. He was still a long way from Arlem, and unless he found some shelter soon, he'd be a sitting duck for any crazy bandits or terrifying monsters that prowled in this area.

Then, almost like a biblical miracle, he heard a soft and distant sound. It sounded strange, like if a horse was running at full speed on a stone road, but then it stopped, and he could now hear a man yelling something in the same direction.

"Crap, if that's a merchant being stopped by bandits I'm done for."

That was when the idea finally struck him.

"Wait, maybe he's not being robbed. What if something happened? Maybe I can hitch a ride on his carriage or whatever they have here and get away from this place…"

Subaru stood and approached the man as inconspicuously as he could. Of course, it took him some time to realize he was still clutching a bloodied knife and had scarlet splotches all over his clothes and body. His mind stopped to think of a convincing cover story he could tell the merchant or whatever the man was (Subaru doubted the man would carpool with an apparent serial killer) but his legs didn't, and Subaru soon found himself in front of the traveler looking like he just slaughtered an entire village of innocents.

The traveler, a short and muscular man, looked at him with a small, apologetic smile before noticing the wandering boy's appearance. Various emotions passed through his eyes until he finally settled on one and asked, "What happened to you!? Are you alright!? You look like you were caught by the Bowel Hunter!"

"Heh, if only you knew..."

"What?"

Subaru dropped the knife and grabbed his head. "Listen, I had to run from some bandits. They grabbed me and tried to make off with my stuff! One of them almost killed me…but I fended him off. I need a ride somewhere, anywhere, that's not here…can I pay you in some way to get me to the nearest guard station or something?"

The traveler looked at him as if Subaru was a rainbow-colored baboon and seemed to consider his words with some skepticism. "I'll make you a deal: I need to get to the capital. I will take you in the back of the carriage, with all my goods."

"Thank you! Mister, you're a lifesaver! I ow-"

"BUT, you will give me that strange thing you're holding," the apparent merchant stated while pointing at the phone. "I will keep it on me until we get to the capital. If I find you broke any of my goods, it stays with me. If you behave, you can get it back."

Subaru considered his options. Well, rather, his option. Either he agreed to this deal or he would be in more danger than he could imagine. With that in mind, he replied, "Deal."

The merchant laughed. "Well, then give it here! Don't worry, I'm a man of my word, just ask Russel Fellow!"

"Alright," was all Subaru could say as he climbed into the back of the carriage and handed the man his phone.

Inside the carriage, Subaru stepped over what looked like various jars of some liquid, a couple of shiny stones and gems, and a locked crate that he picked as a seat. The merchant said something about having to wait for the "ground dragon" (whatever that may be) to reset its "divine protection" (another new term, great) and then they would be on their way.

Subaru simply nodded and placed his head in his hands. Even the merchant outside the carriage could hear his sobs.

AN: Edited this chapter to fix a mistake: Subaru had announced his departure, he hadn't gone missing.