Subaru Natsuki, who returned from the new Three Kingdoms

"guest."

Rem's voice turned cold.

"What exactly did you do?"

"What did I do?" Faced with this unexpected question, Natsuki Subaru turned his head in confusion.

Before answering your question, I have something I'd like to ask you.

"Your Excellency, have you misjudged me, Natsuki Subaru, once again?"

"Don't try to play dumb and stall for time!"

The chain slipped from Rem's hand, and the heavy hammer fell to the ground, creating a shallow crater.

"The stench on you is much stronger than before you left the manor. The village's barrier has been tampered with, and these monsters have been lurking inside for a long time."

"You came here to do this when you left the mansion late at night a few days ago, didn't you?"

"You brought these monsters here, didn't you!"

What exactly is your connection with the Witch Cult?

"What are you plotting?!"

"Smell?"

Subaru Natsuki subconsciously sniffed his sleeve.

Apart from a slight smell of flour left over from breakfast, he couldn't smell anything else.

Krem's expression was anything but joking.

Could it be that some action he took that night when he left the mansion left a special scent on him?

And Rem happens to be able to smell this scent?

But I didn't do anything that night, did I? Subaru Natsuki frowned in thought.

That night, he simply went to the capital to find Reinhard under the cover of darkness, went through a death rebirth, and then hurried back under the cover of darkness.

and many more!

Natsuki Subaru felt like he had discovered a blind spot!

It's a starry night!

It must be because of the starry night!

Subaru Natsuki instinctively ignored the possibility of returning to life through death.

After all, if returning from death really could leave behind some strange aftertaste, why did he die so many times during the Three Kingdoms period?

It should have turned into rotten stinky tofu long ago; Boss Cao would never treat it like a treasure.

Therefore, considering all factors, it is definitely more reasonable to use the phrase "traveling under the stars and leaving behind the flavor" to describe the experience.

After all, he was able to travel back and forth between the capital day and night thanks to divine intervention.

It is inevitable that one will bear the marks of fate on their body.

Back in the Three Kingdoms period, who didn't bear some trace of destiny?

So nobody cares.

Now that I've arrived in this strange world, it's normal for me to stand out from the crowd.

But after so long, no one has said anything.

Natsuki Subaru thought that no one in the world could discover his uniqueness.

I never expected Rem could smell it?

Truly befitting a servant of noble status!

How could it possess a nose capable of smelling the will of Heaven?

This nose is absolutely a treasure!

"So that's how it is. You actually found out."

After figuring out the whole story, Subaru Natsuki looked at Rem with a newfound sense of admiration.

Rem, however, took this praise as an admission that her scheme had been exposed.

"It really is related to you."

Rem no longer suppressed her anger and flicked her wrist, sending her flail sweeping across the ground.

Natsuki Subaru didn't rush to dodge.

He was waiting for another breath.

Now that Rem is acting like she's lost her mind and is full of mistakes, that person definitely won't miss her!

Just as Natsuki Subaru had predicted.

The moment Rem made her move, the sound of grass rubbing against each other came from behind her.

coming!

A dark figure rushed out from behind the bushes, two curved blades drawing dazzling arcs in the morning light.

Elsa leaped over the low wall, and one of the knives aimed straight for Rem's unsuspecting abdomen.

The other one is for predicting and blocking Rem's movements.

With this move alone, Rem is doomed.

"Elsa!"

Natsuki Subaru wasn't worried about the dangerous situation at all; instead, his eyes lit up.

"We've been waiting for you so long, it's been driving us crazy!"

Rem's flail was already upon them.

Natsuki Subaru neither dodged nor evaded, but directly raised his left arm to protect his shoulder and neck, and the heavy hammer head slammed solidly into his shoulder.

A dull thud came from the bones.

The excruciating pain spread across half of my body.

Subaru Natsuki remained expressionless.

Using the momentum, he lunged forward, quickly closing in while pressing Rem's shoulder with his right hand and forcefully throwing her away from the spot.

"What--"

Rem staggered, forced to turn around, and instinctively fought back, leaving a shocking bloody gash on Subaru's chest with the spikes of her flail handle.

But then she regretted it.

Because when she turned around, she saw Elsa suddenly appear from behind her.

If Natsuki Subaru, who was attacked by her, really wanted to hurt her, he only needed to stand still, and the curved blade would have pierced through her abdomen.

Subaru, however, withstood the direct hit from the meteor hammer and still managed to push her away.

It wasn't until Subaru pushed her away that Rem belatedly realized that from the moment Elsa appeared until the scimitar approached her body, she hadn't even been able to make the most basic reaction.

If it weren't for Subaru, she would probably have been disemboweled by those two curved blades by now.

Despite having the opportunity to escape alone, Subaru rushed over to save her, even taking the brunt of her meteor hammer head-on.

In Rem's mind, the seemingly rigorous deduction she had just made instantly shattered.

She wasn't given a chance to apologize.

Elsa's blade was already at Subaru's feet.

Natsuki Subaru remembered that it was similar in the previous cycle, and he had to sacrifice his left arm to block this attack.

Now that he knew Elsa's hiding place in advance, he was naturally prepared.

Now, if he just takes another half step to the side, he can save Rem without getting hurt!

Let's have a dashing hero save the damsel in distress!

But Subaru Natsuki disagrees!

His body had been craving it for ages!

Ever since learning the "Stagnation Technique" a couple of days ago, Subaru Natsuki has been trying to find a real person who is on the verge of death to experiment on.

Betty refused to help.

She was afraid of harming herself and affecting the course of this cycle of reincarnation.

Now, we finally have a female hero with superb swordsmanship and decisive action.

How could we miss such a golden opportunity?

So Natsuki Subaru turned around at the last moment.

Not only did he move aside his left arm, which could have been used to sever it and save his life, but he also pushed his left chest forward by half an inch.

puff.

A sharp scimitar pierced Subaru's left ribs, penetrating his heart, the blood-stained tip protruding from his back.

"Ah!" The children screamed, and many people were so frightened by the scene that they shed tears.

But Natsuki Subaru, the person involved, showed no sign of pain; instead, he was unusually calm... even excited?

A mere fatal wound!

He's not even worthy of making General Natsuki Subaru wail!

"Subaru?"

Rem called out that name in disbelief.

This was the first time she had called out this name in this reincarnation.

The word "guest," which she had previously used to maintain distance, had now been completely forgotten.

She stared blankly at the scene before her, her mind a complete blank.

Just a second ago, she was swinging her meteor hammer, ready to kill this man with her own hands.

The next second, he took the fatal blow for her.

The assassin's blade pierced Subaru's chest.

Because her heart pressure was disrupted, blood kept gushing out from the blade, even splashing onto Rem's face.

Subaru Natsuki's life force was also weakening at a frightening rate.

The chain slipped from Rem's hand.

"Why……"

Rem's voice was already trembling with tears.

"Why did you save Rem? Subaru, why...?"

Blood trickled from the corner of Natsuki Subaru's mouth, yet he showed no sign of pain; instead, a smile of accomplishment appeared on his face.

"Don't blame yourself, it was all my own choice. I'm just glad you're okay."

Subaru Natsuki speaks the absolute truth from the moment he opens his mouth.

But these words and expressions took on a completely different meaning in Rem's eyes...

Subaru, even in this predicament, still tells Rem not to blame herself...

Is Subaru making protecting Rem his wish?

The moment this thought arose

Rem immediately recalled the scene from that morning when Subaru Natsuki mysteriously returned to the mansion.

Just as she was turning to walk upstairs, Natsuki Subaru suddenly called out to her from behind, saying:

You are very important to me.

[Very important.]