Arata walked slowly toward the mansion's changing room, closely followed by the Tsumurugi twins.
"If I redo every step exactly the same way, I might be able to reach the same result as in the first loop..." Arata planned mentally, focused on keeping the timeline intact.
However, reality soon proved to be different.
"None of the outfits stored here have the correct measurements for your size, Atara-kun," Sumire announced, crossing her arms as she examined the wardrobes.
"Oh, then you can take my measurements now! Then I..."
"We'll leave that for later," Sumire cut him off coldly. "Now, come help me with the rest of my duties."
"Ah... Already?"
"Come on, Atara-kun."
"Okay, okay!" Arata gave in, following her through the corridors with a defeated sigh.
Later, as evening fell...
The icy breeze of early night began blowing outside the mansion. In the laundry basket inside the changing room of the large bathing hall lay the clothes Arata had brought from his homeland.
Inside the enormous marble bathtub, the boy was submerged up to his chest in hot water. Dense steam continuously rose from the surface, leaving the room completely foggy and humid.
Arata let out a long sigh, relaxing his shoulders as he stared at the ceiling.
"Even though I tried my best, I couldn't recreate the first day perfectly..." he muttered to himself. "What a pain. The butterfly effect is real."
Suddenly, the door to the bathing room opened. Through the veil of steam emerged the imposing figure of Master Joseph. The nobleman with long cyan hair calmly walked toward the water, displaying a completely relaxed demeanor.
Arata glanced back and immediately covered his eyes, sinking even deeper into the bathtub.
"Hey! Get in the water already and stop walking around like that! Nobody is obligated to see that!"
"I'm flattered by your astonishment, Arata," Joseph commented, letting out a melodious and theatrical laugh. "But don't speak that way. I am the rightful owner of this mansion, which means this bathtub belongs to me as well.
"And since you are now one of my employees, technically, you are also my property, sweetheart..."
With a quick and sinuous movement, Joseph approached and lightly held Arata's chin with his fingertips.
"Hey, hey, hey!" Arata jerked his face away, completely alarmed. "Don't make that kind of suspicious physical contact with me! I'm not into that kind of fruit, got it?!"
"Oh, heavens. I believe you completely misunderstood my words," Joseph said casually, shrugging with an enigmatic smile.
The nobleman finally sank into the hot water, letting out an audible sigh of relief as the warmth relaxed his muscles.
"Warm water is simply perfect for facing the cold night that's approaching, don't you think?" Joseph commented, resting his arms against the marble edge.
"Yeah... I can't disagree with that," Arata murmured, keeping a safe distance from his master.
You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.
"Tell me, are you getting along with Loiry and Sumire?"
"Not as well as I'd like..." Arata confessed thoughtfully.
"But I feel like I'm a little closer to Sumire. I still haven't managed to form any kind of bond with Loiry.
"But there's something I don't understand... Why does Sumire work as an ordinary maid if she's technically the 'weaker' version of her sister? The potential those two have scares me a little."
Joseph shifted his gaze toward the steam rising from the water, his eyes narrowing slightly.
"Speaking of potential, what you say is the absolute truth..." the nobleman commented enigmatically. "And your own potential also seems quite promising, Arata Ryusei."
After spending a few more minutes in silence, Arata decided it was time to leave. He stood up, crossed the bathing area, and pushed open the exit door.
However, when he opened the changing-room door, he came face-to-face with Sumire. The black-haired twin was holding a stack of perfectly folded towels, and resting right on top of them was a rather flashy yellow pair of briefs.
Arata's face instantly grew hot, turning such an intense shade of red that it reached the tips of his ears.
"Huh?! What are you doing standing here, you spawn of the unholy crossbreed?!" he exclaimed, hurriedly covering himself.
"I came to help Master Joseph get dressed after his bath," Sumire replied with complete naturalness, showing not the slightest reaction. "And you... Could you please cover that ugly thing?"
Arata pressed his hands in front of his body indignantly.
"Your master is already a grown adult! Let the guy dress himself, for crying out loud!"
"I will not tolerate you showing disrespect toward Master Joseph," Sumire hissed, her gaze turning icy. "If you do that again, I will resolve the situation using brute force."
"Okay, sorry!" Arata quickly gave in, swallowing nervously.
"I'll come to your room later, so wait for me there," she warned, turning her back to organize Joseph's clothes.
"Okay..." Arata replied, confused.
He entered the changing room to dry himself, his mind buzzing with absurd theories.
"What the hell does she want in my room at this hour?! Don't tell me... No, no! Emma-Pan is the only owner of my heart right now! I can't mess this up!"
Arata put on his simple clothes, fished his cellphone out of his pants pocket, and walked briskly toward his bedroom.
Upon entering, he locked the door and threw himself backward onto the bed, staring at the ceiling with his stomach twisting from pure nervousness.
"What does she want?! Could it be... No, there's absolutely no way it's what I'm thinking... I have to stay faithful to Emma-Pan..."
A short while later, soft knocks echoed against the wooden door, and Sumire entered the room carrying some papers and an inkwell.
"Let's begin," she announced, pulling up a chair.
"Begin what?!" Arata asked, his cheeks flushed.
"I'm going to teach you how to read and write in our language," Sumire explained matter-of-factly, arranging the materials on the table. "I've noticed that you're completely illiterate in our language, so I will teach you."
Arata blinked, his nervousness disappearing and being replaced by surprise.
"And why are you suddenly being so kind to me?"
"Because you need to learn this if you want to be of any use with the mansion's household chores," she replied pragmatically.
"Besides, if you become better at the chores, the workload will decrease for both my sister and me. I'll be killing two birds with one stone."
"But wait, isn't that basically exploiting labor?!" Arata said indignantly.
"Enough talking. Let's begin," Sumire ignored the joke, opening an old volume.
"I'll read one of the chronicle books about Altair Tanaka to you, translating the symbols and helping you memorize the writing system."
"Fine... But don't pretend you didn't hear me!"
For the following hour, Arata focused on copying each of the letters of Lugiri's runic alphabet into a small notebook, furrowing his brow from the effort.
"This is pretty boring, you know?" he complained, massaging his fingers.
"It may be boring, but it will be essential for your survival here," Sumire retorted without taking her eyes off the pages.
Arata put down the pen for a moment, taking advantage of the opportunity to gather valuable information about the history of that world.
"Hey, Sumire... Could you tell me more about the Demons? I was told that they helped Altair Tanaka in the war against One thousands of years ago, along with Marina and the other three Witches. But I know almost nothing about them... Where are the Demons now?"
Sumire stopped turning the pages, her expression darkening slightly.
"The Demons no longer exist," she replied quietly.
"Unfortunately, the ancient records don't reveal to the people what actually happened to their race. All we know is that they were completely defeated at the end of the war and ceased to exist in Lugiri."
"I see..." Arata absorbed the information. "In the previous events, I fought a vampire... Is it true that vampires are a subspecies of Demons?"
"Exactly. They are a subspecies that originated directly from the Demons. There are only two living vampires at the moment. The famous Ripper Assassin, Yumi, and her younger sister, who is said to be named Yuki."
"I know that one very well..." Arata muttered. "But leaving that aside... I know that this Altair Tanaka guy is the great legendary hero of Lugiri who saved the kingdom and sealed One, but nobody ever properly explained his abilities to me. What was this guy's true power? Besides, I don't even know what the hell this so-called One actually was, or who this Zenji guy is."
Sumire raised her eyes toward the boy, genuinely surprised.
"You really don't know? His power was known as the Golden Power."
"The Golden Power...?"
"A unique ability that breaks the world's own natural laws, possessing the power of creation, purification, and quite a lot of destruction as well," she explained with a reverent tone.
"It was an Authority, but something completely different from the Authorities used by the Bishops of the Cult of One nowadays.
"The Golden Power is the only Natural Authority ever granted by the world itself to an individual, many thousands of years ago.
"It is a divine force passed down from generation to generation. No user has ever been or is capable of fully mastering the Golden Power because it is an extremely powerful and unique force capable of standing against One."
"Natural?" Arata asked. "Does that mean it follows the laws of the world, by any chance...?"
"Of course not. It is called a Natural Authority because its origin came from the world itself, not because it follows natural laws. On the contrary, it is an exception created by reality itself. Besides, the Golden Power is the only Authority created by the world."
"Then what was it created for?"
"This power manifested for the specific purpose of fighting One, who at the time was ravaging the continent with an era of pure terror, destruction, and fear. Altair used this gift to overcome him and seal him once and for all."
Arata leaned forward, processing the magnitude of that history.
"So Altair was the first person to use this power?"
"Of course not," Sumire shook her head. "There were other users before him throughout history. Someone simply inherited it and passed it on to Altair at the right time, and he was the first one capable of successfully carrying out the sealing."
"As for the rest, One is an incomprehensible being to everyone. He appeared at the beginning of time, and nobody truly knows what he was... Zenji is one of his devoted followers, and we know nothing about who Zenji really is or how he came into existence."
End of Chapter 26...
To be continued in Chapter 27...