Cooking up the plan (Part 3)

(Subaru POV)

"Hey Subaru, got a minute now?" urgh…what does he want this time…

"Not right now. I have to do the laundry. I'll come after that." I don't stop to look at him. I was busy washing the laundry and I didn't have time to laze about now. Or I will get another earful from Ram.

"Should I do the laundry for you?"

"No thanks, please mind your business." just buzz off! What the heck was his problem?

"But what about the plan?" ah…about that.

"I am thinking about it. Now stop disturbing me."

"Hm… I will be just waiting here." He says.

Seriously, just go. Please…

"*sigh*

Do whatever you like." Ever since last night, Fred has been cosy with me. I don't know what he wants. And I don't want attention from him. Not at all. Not even one bit. I am straight.

If only Emilia-tan gave me half the attention that he is giving me right now…*sigh*

"Don't sigh like that Subaru, I am sure Emilia will understand your feelings.

Maybe someday…"

"Why did you say the last part like you were doubtful about it?

You are seriously pissing me off! Let me just do my job!

Wait in a corner and let me GET DONE!!" I shout at him. I couldn't handle my temper. Oops! The maids might be watching me right now. I should just go back to my work.

"I didn't mean it that way, Fred…

You see, I was just a bit upset when you said it like that. I will be coming after getting done with the chores." I give a slight bow to him. He's a guest now, I am a butler now. He's a guest now, I am a butler now…

"Ok, you didn't need to ask me that nicely. I will do some workouts in the meantime." saying this, he just took off his shirt and started doing push-ups, squats, crunches…and well. I didn't care anymore. He's just a buggy person I guess. I go back to doing the laundry before Ram comes again.

__________________________________________

(Quite a few moments later, in the Forbidden Library ):

"So the outbreak happens on the fourth day when we go to buy food. Suddenly and without any warning." I am sitting across a table, opposite to Fred while explaining the events from the last loop while he takes the notes on a copy. Beatrice is sitting a little far away on her high stool, staring at the two of us silently…is she glaring at me?

"The fourth day? And not the fifth? Hm…

That changes nothing though. It's ok, not too much change in the plot. It shouldn't cause too many problems." he said with a matter-of-fact voice.

"Yes, but the monsters are not those dogs that you said about, they are harpies."

"That's a big deal. The aerial advantage they have is even worse for us.

Did you say that there was an Elementalist harpy too?" He makes a doodle of a Harpy on the copy.

"Yes, Ram fought with one and managed to kill it after much struggle.

I wouldn't have known that she was so strong if she didn't fight." To be honest, Ram had terrifying combat prowess. After witnessing it first-hand I don't have the course to talk back to her insults anymore. She could turn me into mincemeat at any moment after all.

"That's ok and all. But do you know something?" he asks suddenly.

"What?"

"The harpy which you guys faced back then was not the strongest." he throws a bombshell again.

"What the!

Are you saying that we are going to die?" If that was true then we didn't have any possibility of winning. It was all a lost cause. At best, we could try to abandon the village or…

"Well, technically speaking we all died.

But thanks to you, we get another chance to live or change our future. Either way, it's because of you that we have another chance."

"..." I don't reply.

"What?" he asks me back as I stare back at him silently.

"When you put it that way, I think that you are not as bad as I thought." I could say nothing because he was making me uneasy by throwing a compliment out of the blue!

"What did you take me for? What was I like in the first loop?" hah, that was the best question he could've asked me.

"You were more of a jerk who won the favour of all the people living here, but for some reason, you were always pissed off at me." Yes, Fred, you are a jerk. Thanks for asking me.

"...Is that so?

Well, it's not that hard to understand why I might have done that.

You don't get serious unless a loop starts. So you must have been fooling around big time didn't ya?" To my surprise, he is not offended.

"Uh…..

Now that you say it, I suppose I did." Instead, I realised that he was preparing when I was dilly-dallying. He didn't have the time or patience to act nice.

"Well, it's ok for you to lurk about carelessly without training and all since you are a butler now and it's normal to get exhausted after a whole day's work.

But this isn't the first time that you faced a life-death situation after coming to this world, right?

Do you think it's gonna be the last time?"

"..." I don't know. He wasn't wrong. But will I have to keep on risking my life every time like this? I wish he'd tell me what I was like in the story. But knowing him, he wouldn't.

"Though you shouldn't overwork yourself, but always stay on your guard, or you might get strangled by a cute maid while getting tutored."

"That's oddly specific." who was he talking about, in fact?

"I will spare you the details." ya that's better. I don't want any brain damage from your revelations.

"OK so, moving on to the outbreak-

For dealing with the harpy queen, we will need an OP person by our side. Who do you think fits the bill?" he stops writing his notes and leans back in his chair, pointing his own at me.

"Ros-chi? He's a royal mage from what I heard. So he must be at least stronger than Ram."

"Well, you are right. But he won't be there to help us." another bombshell.

"WHAT?!"

"Didn't that happen last time too?'' Why the hell is he so calm about all this!

"It did, but that's not the problem. Wouldn't he help if we told him about it??"

"You can try asking him….

But it's either that he won't believe you. Or he won't help.

You can still try yourself though."

"How are you so sure about that? Did that also happen as a canon event in the novel?"

"Well, even though the butterfly effect changes a lot of things, some things never change. Like, you and your simping for Emilia." what he said was true, but couldn't he just not drag me into his degraded examples?

"You can find out more details once the time comes.

I am just a backup. Don't try to butter me up or make me slip up details or it's just gonna come back to bite you in the ass later." I don't get him, but it's ok to have him together in this shitty situation rather than going alone.

"Okok. But, if we don't have Roswaal, we are gonna die for sure!"

"You are missing a very important person." he says with a 'uh-huh'

"?" Who was he talking about?

"She!" Fred says, indicating towards Beatrice who is still looking at us.

"Took you long enough to remember Betty, I suppose." she said with a pout.

"How can I ever forget my favourite librarian! It was just that we are in a very tough position right now.

We need some help. Can you probably help us?" he says in a pleading tone. Yes, he's acting and it's gross.

"Alright, I suppose. Betty will help you. A flock of birds is nothing for me!"

"That's right! We are gonna wipe 'em off the face of the earth!!" he moved from his seat and lifted her, spinning her around in his arms.

"Huh…..you are really a headache. She's just a child. How can she help us?" He was a lolicon. I knew it. I have seen enough of it. But why does he like bragging about it?

"She isn't a child.

She is a spirit. And a 400-year-old one at that. She's the second most powerful magic user after Roswaal if I am not wrong." yet another bombshell.

"I will be damned!" Those were the only words that escaped my mouth.