Natsuki Subaru's Journey to Strategically Capture Reinhild

A Little Progress

On the third day, under Eileen's lead, Subaru once again entered the royal capital and arrived at the famed Astrea Trading Company.

Once Eileen revealed her identity, the manager brought the two of them into a room stacked with leather materials.

"All of the leather currently in the capital is here — 426 kinds in total.

Please don't misunderstand, Lady Eileen.

The Gokou Company recently happened to deliver a batch of leather made from western magical beasts.

Also, this is something Lady Reinhild asked me to give to you. If you need anything, just speak to the attendant outside."

The two exchanged glances.

Eileen opened up her Complete Compendium of Poisons, while Subaru briefly organized the pile of leather in front of him.

Then, he picked up the topmost sheet, rubbed it against his face a few times, and began working through the pile.

Time passed slowly. Occasionally, Eileen would jot things down in her notebook, while Subaru would stop his actions now and then.

His face cycled through expressions of contemplation, fear, hesitation, and disappointment, each time putting the leather aside and picking up a new one.

Eventually, his hands reached for nothing.

Subaru stopped moving — it was already dusk outside.

Subaru, who had been working nonstop aside from eating, had finally finished his task.

Yet there was no joy on his face — only a deep, endless disappointment.

"It was all for nothing. Even among these few, there are still significant differences. How's your side?"

Subaru, looking utterly exhausted, slumped in his chair and asked Eileen, who had read through more than half the book.

"At this point, the most likely candidate is poison processed from the venom of one of the three great magical beasts — the Black Serpent.

Unfortunately, if that's true, there is no antidote.

Subaru, where exactly did you feel the difference in these leather types?"

Eileen pointed at the pieces of leather Subaru had set aside. Subaru tested them again before replying:

"I see. It's tougher than rock boar leather, but it still has the elasticity unique to soft leather. Also, it retains body heat when touched. Honestly, I don't believe such leather even exists."

Eileen summarized Subaru's thoughts and then fell into contemplation.

"Though not confirmed, if there really is leather like the one you described, it must come from a high-grade magical beast.

Such material would be too expensive even for the royal guard.

So that narrows it down to just the inner circle.

Besides my brother and me, there are 18 others left to investigate... what is it? Is there something wrong with my analysis?"

Subaru stared at Eileen in surprise.

She looked back at him in confusion.

"You still believe me? With all the circumstances, shouldn't you think I'm lying? Even I've started to doubt my own memory."

"You undervalue yourself. At least to me, someone who has helped Lady Reinhild is more important than those who have merely received her help. Besides, I have the Divine Protection of the Mystic Eye of Emotion, so I can generally tell if someone is lying."

"I see. You're using Reinhild's attitude as your benchmark. In that case, we should be able to eliminate Otto, Winston, and Laender."

"Actually, Otto doesn't know about the birthday plan involving the western forest's magical beasts, so he's out. I have my own reasons for the others too. That leaves 15 people to check."

Subaru explained his reasoning from the Swift Rabbit incident and also eliminated Laender, who had gone on a campaign with Reinhild, and Winston, who was always wearing black shoes and whom Subaru knew well.

"Understood. We'll test the remaining 15 first.

If that doesn't work, we can look into the others.

Also, about what you said regarding the forest — let's check that out now.

If we can poke a hole in the enemy's plan, we can buy more time.

That way, inspecting the entire mansion won't be a problem."

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It was the morning of the fourth day. Outside the town of Setia, Eileen and Subaru were preparing to enter.

They had spent a lot of time the previous day and finally confirmed the first step of their plan.

Now, they were heading to the mercenary guild to gather more intel.

As the entry queue moved slowly, Subaru suddenly spotted a familiar mother and daughter.

A simple village woman and Meili were passing nearby, standing out among the group of mercenaries heading northwest to hunt.

"Um, that area leads to the magical beast forest. It's dangerous."

Seeing their direction, Subaru couldn't help but step down and warn them.

The village woman looked at him in surprise.

"You? Are you Pride?"

"Pride? What are you talking about?"

Subaru asked back, confused.

"I see… so you haven't awakened yet. Never mind. Let's go."

The woman reached out her hand to Subaru, just like last time, but pulled it back again just the same.

Then she took the girl's hand and left.

Subaru stood frozen in place, just as before — until...

"Subaru, are you okay? You're sweating a lot."

Eileen asked, having finished the entry procedures and arrived at his side.

"Huff… huff… I'm fine. Hey, Eileen, do you know them?"

Subaru took a deep breath and pointed toward the end of the street where the mother and daughter had gone.

"No, they're not from this territory."

"You sure?"

"I'm sure. I remember everyone's face from the territory. Why do you ask?"

Subaru hesitated for a moment but eventually shook his head.

"It's nothing. Let's go to the guild."

That's right — compared to the Astrea family's problems, the strange mother and daughter seemed insignificant.

Subaru got back on the dragon carriage and entered the city with Eileen.

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"Understood. If there's any issue with the Swift Rabbit hunt, we'll notify you immediately."

The chubby merchant said seriously.

Whether it was luck or not, the hunt was still proceeding normally.

Over 260 had already been captured.

When Subaru had arrived two days later in the previous loop, the total was around 300.

"That should make things foolproof. Are we heading back to the mansion now?"

"I plan to buy a birthday present for Otto. Can we meet up afterward?"

"Got it. I'll wait for you at the inn near the city gate."

Eileen handed Subaru a pouch of money and left.

Subaru smoothly bought the gift and then, on a whim, headed to the central plaza.

"Geez, there are so many empty seats. Why'd you sit right next to me?"

"It's public property, right? Besides, do I really smell that bad? Your disgust is written all over your face."

"If you're that self-aware, then please stay far away from Ram. Otherwise, it might get dangerous."

The pink-haired maid said as she stood up and bowed.

Only then did Subaru notice that Rem was staring at him with serious eyes — eyes that gleamed with a familiar, dangerous light.

"Feels like they're treating me worse and worse… was I being too forward or something?"

Muttering while holding his head in confusion, Subaru walked toward their agreed meeting spot.