As the morning light shone in Subaru's room, he woke up from his peaceful slumber to prepare for the new day. After performing his morning necessaries, Subaru made his way to the kitchen to aid Rem and Ram for breakfast and saw the two already starting.

"Morning, Rem and Ram. What do I need to do?"

The twins momently stopped their current work to greet Subaru. Recently, Rem would be the first one to respond to Subaru.

"Morning, Subaru! Subaru can start helping sister in peeling the vegetables."

"Morning, Barusu. I expect decent quality from you now."

Positioning himself next to the countertop, Subaru started peeling the vegetables.

"No worries, Ram. It's been a long time since I injured my fingers."

"Injuries and the quality of peeling are two separate matters, Barusu. Who knows when you might defile a good potato?"

The trio resumed their work until Subaru finished his duty, prompting Ram to inspect the peeled vegetables' quality.

"Rough around the edges and a few uneven sides, but it is passable, Barusu. Definitely an improvement from a few weeks ago."

"I'm not hopeless anymore. Right, Ram?"

"I dislike being wrong, Barusu, but you still have room for improvement. Peeling is not the only thing to do in the kitchen, so let's finish making breakfast. Sister will need your help now."

Subaru nodded his head in agreement and continued his duties with Rem.

After breakfast, Subaru attended his duties: cleaning the mansion, tending the garden, lugging objects to different locations, and sorting materials. However, there is no need to visit the village to purchase supplies today.

Once it was time for lunch, Subaru joined the twins to prepare lunch. Due to Roswaal's absence again, they ate their lunch together and quickly returned to their duties.

As the day progressed, Subaru decided to check up on Beatrice during his break, who quickly kicked him out again after small talk. Afterward, Subaru went around to find Rem to hang out.

Upon seeing Rem sitting on a bench by the garden, Subaru announced his arrival.

"Hey, Rem!"

"Welcome, Subaru."

"Am I interfering with your break?"

"No. Rem is relaxing. Come sit with Rem."

Rem tapped the space on the bench next to her.

Subaru accepted the invitation and sat down. He noticed how pristine the garden had developed for the past few weeks.

"Beautiful work, Rem. Sorry for making somewhat of a mess when I was learning new skills in the garden."

Rem softly smiled from hearing the compliment.

"It's nothing much, Subaru. Anyways, does Subaru want to continue unarmed combat practice?"

"Sure. I have enough energy for it."

The two stood up and faced each other, entering combat stances.

"Subaru, let's focus on offense. Rem will only dodge. Subaru must land one hit on Rem. Ready, Subaru?"

"I'm ready, Rem."

"Go!"

Subaru took a deep breath to recall the lessons and swung a few wild punches at Rem.

If you don't know the opponent in a fight, bait them with a few attacks.

Rem dodged the swings by moving side to side with relative ease.

If there's a pattern, try to exploit it.

Subaru went right-handed swing but quickly switched to punching his left side instead of the right. However, Rem noticed it and moved backward.

If you face unexpected styles, make slight changes to find a better counter.

Once again, Subaru came forward for another feint, but this time, he tried to perform a low kicking sweep, causing him to lose balance and trip. A thud and loud grunt shortly followed afterward.

Rem quickly ran towards Subaru and offered her hand to help Subaru help.

"Is Subaru alright?"

Grabbing onto Rem's arm, Subaru stood up and patted the dust off his clothes.

"I'm fine, Rem. Just a trip."

"No bruises?"

"Nothing of that sort."

"Let's continue training. Come at Rem again, Subaru."

"This time, I will land a hit!"

After ten minutes of practice, Subaru failed to land a hit, causing him to take a break.

"It's a lot harder than I thought."

"Subaru is doing well. Although Subaru has not managed to land a hit, Rem noticed that Subaru's movements had improved. Rem might be faster than Subaru, but Subaru has the potential to grow with Subaru's current skills."

"Doubt that I will be as fast as you, Rem."

"Don't worry, Subaru. Compared to non-combatants, Subaru is very athletic, so training would be easier to do.

"That's true. I wouldn't be able to pull off that crazy stuff a while ago if I was not so active."

"Let's end the practice for today. Subaru better is cleaned up before meeting with Rem again."

"I will definitely do that. See you later, Rem."

As his exhausting day came to a close, Subaru waited his turn to take a relaxing bath and wind down for the evening. Once he finished, Subaru walked to his room to continue his self-studies until Rem stopped Subaru.

"Subaru."

"What's the matter, Rem?"

"Roswaal had summoned everyone."

"What's going on?"

Rem shook her head sideways, signaling the lack of additional information.

"Rem is not sure. Roswaal is often out recently and busy in his work."

"Now you mention it. I haven't seen the clown around often. Let's go."

The two entered the main living room, witnessing Ram pouring tea for Roswaal, prompting them to stand in front of Roswaal.

Roswaal took a sip of tea before tilting his head to discuss the reason for the summons.

"I see~ that the mansion serves well during my absences~. However, business in the capital has been cumbersome~ lately, so we would temporarily reside in the capital~ until my increased workload has lessened."

Roswaal slowly took another sip of tea.

"I believe Subaru~ has a weakened gate. Is that right, Subaru~?"

"That is correct, Roswaal."

"As a butler~, you should be able to defend yourself and your master, so I found a suitable healer~. However, we will have to depart in our separate~~ ways. Rem will be responsible for you~."

Roswaal finished his cup of tea and placed it on the tray.

"We will leave early tomorrow~. That is all."

Roswaal left the room as Ram collected the tea tray and nastily glared at Subaru before leaving. Both Subaru and Rem remain in the room.

Rem clapped her hands in excitement as she brightly smiled.

"Subaru can practice magic soon!"

Subaru fist-bumped the air, suddenly full of energy with a big grin.

"I can't wait to start practicing soon! Wait, how much do I need to pack for tomorrow?"

"Hmm, Rem will have to oversee Subaru's belongings. We should start now."

Later that evening, Subaru decided to visit Beatrice before heading off to bed. Among the meeting's participants, Beatrice never showed up, so he decided to check up on her.

As Subaru opened a random door he believed would lead him to Beatrice, he found her sitting on a stool and reading a book. Subaru immediately started to wave to Beatrice.

"Beako!"

"You're back again. What do you want this time, I wonder?"

Beatrice shut her book close and placed it on a table next to her.

"If this is about the capital, Beatrice is staying here, in fact."

"Read my mind, Beako. How come you're not coming with us? It will be lonely here."

"Beatrice has no obligation to tell. Staying here is a more appealing option to have, I suppose."

Subaru sighed, knowing that Beatrice was too stubborn for her own good.

"Can't change your mind at this point."

Subaru turned around and opened the door. He gave one last look at Beatrice.

"Hold the fort while we're gone!"

As the door closed, Beatrice picked up another book to place on her lap.

"Come and go as you wish with all these silly questions and interactions."

By early morning, the four departed via carriage towards the capital. After a few days, they arrived at a manor in the afternoon.

Roswaal opened the carriage's door and flaunted his arm towards the manor.

"This is your stop, Rem and Subaru~. Let Rem handle the negotiations~ regarding the contract."

The duo grabbed their luggage, but before they went to the manor's main entrance, Ram stopped them and placed her hand on Rem's shoulder.

"Despite being under the care of another household, be careful of Barusu. If sister needs help, contact me immediately, and I will personally deal with him."

"Rem doubts Subaru would try anything wrong."

"There's no telling what Barusu will do with his lecherous eyes."

Ram removed her hand off Rem's shoulder and glared at Subaru.

"Don't dare try anything on sister when I'm gone, Barusu."

"I promise that I won't do anything strange when I'm alone with Rem."

"Empty promises, Barusu."

Ram tightly hugged Rem and returned to the carriage. The carriage rode away from the manor, leaving Subaru and Rem to trek forward to the front door.

Once they reached the manor's entrance, the door was wide open, revealing an old but muscular, tall man donned in a butler uniform. He had short, white hair, a white beard, and warm, blue eyes.

"I welcome you both to the manor of Crusch Karsten."

The old man bowed before continuing.

"My name is Wilhelm, a personal butler of Crusch. May I receive the names of our dear guests?"

"My name is Rem, maid of Roswaal."

"I'm Subaru. I'm a butler for Roswaal as well. Nice to meet you!"

Subaru quickly placed his hand out for a handshake which Wilhelm shook.

"Those are the names that I received, so both of you have permission to enter."

Wilhelm stood off to the side and motioned the two to enter the manor.

"Come inside. I will guide you two to your rooms. Please stay in the bedrooms until I come to take you to meet Crusch."

The two entered the manor, and Wilhelm led them to their rooms. The duo had their rooms assigned separately but nearby.

In his room alone, Subaru started unpacking but stopped to laze and stretch on the bed. His mind wandered to the butler he met recently.

Wilhelm looks so strong despite his old age! His mannerisms are of higher quality as well. I never expected to find a capable butler here. He fits the archetype so well. Wonder if I will become someone like him in the future while working for Roswaal?

Knocks interrupted Subaru's train of thought, prompting him to get off the bed to check the door.

Wilhelm stood behind the door with Rem peering from behind.

"The time to meet Crusch has arrived."

Subaru exited his room and followed Wilhelm with Rem. Subaru glanced all around the manor, gawking at the expensive decorations. The manor gave off a refined and pleasant atmosphere.

Finally, they arrived in a room with a closed door. Wilhelm opened the door to reveal a lounge.

Inside the room, two women chatted while seated. One of them had long, green hair who wore what Subaru assumed was a military-style uniform with a long coat and a cap. She looked quite beautiful with her almond-shaped, amber eyes that enhanced her charm and might be slightly older than Subaru by a few years due to her appearances.

The other woman surprised Subaru by her unusual features. She had cat ears and a tail that matched the color of her light brown hair. She wore a white and blue dress that complements the ribbons in her hair. Her eyes were yellow, striking a resemblance to a feline.

Wow. Cat-girls are a thing in this world.

The woman in green hair gestured for Subaru and Rem to sit down.

Subaru and Rem sat across from the unknown pair while Wilhelm sat on one of the side chairs.

"Welcome, I am Crusch Karsten, the Matriarch of House Karsten and the owner of this manor."

"I am Rem, maid of Roswaal."

"Hello, my name is Subaru, Roswaal's butler. Nice to meet you."

"So, you're the one that Roswaal mentioned."

"Yep! Damaged mana gate and everything."

"You two will be under our protection as guests until Subaru's gate has healed. Afterward, you two are free to depart back to Roswaal."

Crusch gestured to the cat-girl.

"This is Felix. He will be the one responsible for healing your gate.

After hearing the word, "he" to describe the cat girl, Subaru's eyes widened as he could not help but blurt out in surprise.

"He's a guy?"

"Yes, Felix is a male."

Subaru rubbed his eyes in disbelief.

"You're kidding, right?"

Rem lightly tapped Subaru's shoulder.

"Subaru shouldn't be rude to our benefactors."

Felix waved at the two guests.

"Nyah, welcome! Ferris will be attending your mana gate every day. If you want, we can try on cute outfits after our sessions.

Crusch forced a cough to regain the attention of the conversation.

"Anyways, do you two have any questions?"

"Rem has one."

"What is it?"

"Is there a time limit for Subaru and Rem residing here?"

"No. We haven't arranged a time limit. It shouldn't take too long since Felix is a top-quality healer."

Subaru raised his hand for his question.

"What kind of procedure Felix will do to heal my mana gate? I'm not all too familiar with the healing process."

"Felix will fill you in with the details soon enough. Anything else?"

The two stayed silent, allowing Crusch to end the meeting.

"If you have any further questions, please refer to Wilhelm. Enjoy your stay."

Crusch and Wilhelm left the room, leaving Felix to start Subaru's treatment.

"Let's head to your room, so we can properly start."

In Subaru's room, Subaru sat on his bed with Felix standing in front of him and Rem idle by the wall.

Felix went on the bed behind Subaru and cast magic.

"Be sure to stay still, nyah!"

"Wait, you haven't told me what you will be doing!"

"Ferris is only casting a form of healing magic on you. Haven't seen it before?"

"Spent too long unconscious to see that used on me."

"No wonder you're clueless!"

Felix started to apply his healing magic on Subaru's back. The sensation from the magic felt warm and fuzzy as if he was on a massage chair.

Subaru felt at ease, causing him to doze off, but he shook his head to stay awake and engage in small talk with Rem.

"What about you, Rem? Have you seen this before?"

"Rem can perform a lower grade variant, but it's not strong enough to start the healing process."

"Ferris is the best one around! Subaru will heal in no time. Right, Subaru?"

Felix blew on Subaru's ear, flustering him.

"Don't do that! That caught me off-guard. Anyways, if you can heal my gate, I'll trust you with that."

"Great, Subaru agreed! Now keep still. Nyah."

Rem edged closer to watch Felix more clearly and occasionally nod her head.

After some time, Felix stopped his healing session and stretched his arms.

"Nyah, arms are stiff. That's enough for today. We will resume tomorrow. See you two later!"

Abruptly, Felix left the room in a hurry, allowing Rem to replace his spot on the bed. She leaned closer to Subaru's back and activated her lesser healing magic.

"Rem?"

"Rem is making sure Subaru's gate is healing correctly."

"But Felix is the one who is supposed to fix my gate."

"And Rem is cleaning up after Felix. Rem's magic is worse at healing but can still do its job. Stay still for a bit, Subaru."

As long as it helps his gate heal faster, Subaru agreed to the additional sessions after Felix's treatments.

A few days later, in the backyard of the manor, Subaru held a wooden sword while standing in front of Wilhelm.

"Thank you for using your time to train me!"

"From another butler to another, it's our number one priority to protect our master. I haven't personally trained someone in a while. Therefore, I won't be holding back."

"Understood, sir!"

"Our first lesson is the assessment of your skills. Subaru, attack me and try to land a hit. Are you ready?"

Subaru readied his sword in front of him.

"Ready!"

"Go!"

Applying Rem's unarmed training, Subaru used similar steps in attacking with a sword. First, he swung to the right, but Wilhelm quickly blocked it. Subaru tried for an overhand swing, but he changed directions at the last second for a right-side swing. However, Wilhelm effortlessly reacted with a parry. Subaru kept on trying multiple kinds of feints and directional attacks, but Wilhelm kept blocking them.

Eventually, Wilhelm parried hard enough that it knocked Subaru to the ground.

"Stop!"

Subaru picked himself up and grabbed his wooden sword.

"Wow, you're good!"

"Subaru, you may know how to swing a sword, but you lack form, technique, and most importantly, experience. There's an intention to your swing, but you're too easy to read and understand. Patterns in fighting will lead your enemies to figure out what you will do next, but it can be a platform to enact other moves. This time, focus on a right swing, overhand feint into a left swing, and then a thrust. After mastering a combo, you will be faster in performing an attack set while seeing how your opponent performs. Come forth with this combo and repeat after each set!"

Subaru charged forward once again by utilizing Wilhelm's simple combination. Despite Wilhelm blocking each attack, Subaru kept repeating the pattern.

Around the 20th set, Wilhelm parried harder to test Subaru's strength.

"You're getting used to the combo, but you can be faster. Try applying more strength behind your swings!"

Off to the sideline, Rem and Felix spectated the training. They witnessed Subaru's struggles to bypass Wilhelm's defense.

"Hey, Rem. Does Subaru have any prior combat experience?"

"Rem has yet to witness Subaru enter real combat, but he did take down mabeasts without a weapon."

"Nyanly magic? No wonder his gate is very weak, but a gate in its infant stage of mana control is far too low to solo a mabeast."

"Rem does not know how, but Subaru managed to defeat multiple on his own while Rem couldn't do anything to help."

"Apparently, there's more to Subaru than I expected, but his spar against Wilhelm isn't looking so good."

A loud thud hits the ground as Subaru falls backward from the strength of Wilhelm's parry.

Felix shook his head in disbelief after witnessing that fall.

"I don't know the details, but Subaru has some serious luck if he managed to deal with mabeasts without wielding a weapon and lacking magic power."

"Luck or not, Subaru's bravery triumphs it."

After slightly applying more strength after each set of swings, Subaru felt his swings to be faster and harder hitting. However, fatigue caught up to Subaru, forcing his attacks to be worse.

Instead of partying, Wilhelm knocked Subaru's sword out of his hand.

"That's enough for today. Exhaustion won't help you exceed your limits in practice as your will to fight is not strong compared to a battlefield. We will convene again at a later day, so rest well."

Subaru bowed deeply towards Wilhelm.

"Thank you for your time and teaching!"

Falling on his bed, Subaru spread his limbs outwards to loosen up. Besides helping around the manor and his healing sessions, his training became more brutal as Wilhelm lessened his restraints after multiple days of sparring.

Through Wilhelm, Subaru gained a basic understanding of using a sword, but he felt that he had a long path to take if he wanted to fight a mabeast or even the first thing that killed him.

While resting his body, Subaru yawned and felt the need to rest for the night instead of studying. Before he had the chance to sleep, he heard a knocking from his door. Subaru stood up from his bed and opened the door.

The door revealed Rem in her light blue nightgown.

"Hello, Subaru."

"What's the matter, Rem?"

"Rem decided to help a little more with your mana gate."

"But haven't you already done that today after Felix's session?"

"Rem would like to talk. Aiding in healing Subaru is a productive activity to do during the conversation."

"Sure thing, Rem. Come right in."

Subaru closed the door after Rem entered, and they both sat on the bed. Subaru shifted to the side of the bed, allowing Rem to get behind him to start the healing process. Rem placed her hand on Subaru's back and applied the healing magic.

"Rem."

"Yes, Subaru?"

"So, what's the reason for today's visit?"

Rem took a deep breath before speaking.

"Rem wants to invite Subaru to explore the capital tomorrow. Crusch granted permission to explore the capital due to a lenient healing schedule."

"That sounds great, Rem! Of course, I'll come! I don't know the capital well, so can you guide me?"

Rem nodded her head with a grin.

"Rem will happily do it!"

"Awesome! I need a break from sword training anyways."

"Also, Rem has one more thing to say."

"What is it?"

"Roswaal sent a message earlier today. If the Royal Selection starts, he wants us to bring Felix to him."

"Why's that?"

"Although Emilia looks dead, Roswaal claims that she is still alive and can bring her back to life, so he wants Felix to help."

"Why couldn't he do that sooner? He already made arrangements to have Felix fix my gate, so why did he waste all of that time to wait until the Royal Selection?"

"Apparently, it's a secret, so Roswaal said that none of this information would reach Crusch, so only the healer will know of it."

"How are we expected to do that then? My healing sessions are bound to an agreement. I doubt Felix would willingly come to leave Crusch's side for a while."

"Rem is not sure how to approach it. However, the Royal Selection will take a while to start, so there is no need to worry about it at the moment."

"But how long?"

"According to Roswaal, only four of the five candidates are found. The last one is needed to start the selection. It can take weeks to years to find the right candidate."

"Guess all we need to do is wait then."

Rem removed her hand from Subaru's back.

"Good night, Subaru. Sleep well for tomorrow morning."

"Good night, Rem."

Rem went off the bed and left the room, gently closing the door behind her.

Subaru nestled within his bed, but he felt restless.

Tomorrow will be my first time exploring the capital as a regular person of this world. I couldn't read the signs back then, but now, I can tell what buildings to enter. I won't humiliate myself again. Just Rem and I, visiting the surrounding city.

Subaru closed his eyes in an attempt to sleep.

I haven't felt this restless in a long time. Now I think about this, didn't Rem invite me on a date?

Subaru started blushing madly but shook his head to rid himself of those thoughts.

No. No. No. Like the village trips with Rem, we hang out with the children while buying stuff. Nothing special. Ram will kill me if this outing is like a date.

Subaru buried himself under his covers, but the exhaustion finally kicked in, lulling him to sleep.

A/N: Sorry for the long, sudden disappearance, but many factors for the past few months hampered my motivation to write. Doesn't help that this chapter specially was rewritten a few times before I was satisfied since it felt too summary and not enough story. Anyways, thank you for reading and waiting for longer than I planned for the real reason I had this theme of respawning soon.