Chapter 2 - Time Loop

Standing in stunned silence, Orion slowly looked around, making sure that what he was currently seeing and experiencing wasn't a trick of the mind or an illusion, but that he was actually back to the same street once again.

'No… this isn't the same street. That fountain… this was a few minutes before I met Reinhard, wasn't it?' 

Slowly coming to terms with his surroundings, and the fact that he had somehow gone back in time, Orion then pondered the question as to why.

'Was that all… a vision?'

He then rubbed his arms and knees, which had been scraped after his long sparring session with Reinhard with a grimace.

'No… that pain felt too real to be a simple vision. While Reinhard's a good guy, and one I'm happy to call a friend, his strikes were strong enough to numb my arms even when I blocked them.'

Orion then stopped, his eyes turning down in sadness.

'Friend… I suppose that's one-sided at this point, isn't it?'

While he was still shocked, and very confused at how he had been sent back in time, Orion wasn't under any illusion that he had simply woken up with Reinhard and come to the same place, all while conveniently forgetting everything that happened in between.

After all, if it was possible to get transported out of nowhere to another world, then it went without saying that time travel was not outside the realm of possibility.

"I guess I should retrace my steps then? Though I hope I haven't stalled too long-"

Orion's words caught in his throat as he felt an instinctive pull. One that begged him to turn the other way.

'Well… assuming Reinhard is heading back to the barracks later, I'm sure I can explain everything then.'

Orion didn't know why he felt so compelled to head where his instincts were leading him, but he couldn't stop himself. 

It was akin to a gut feeling, but enhanced to the maximum. Following it simply felt right, as if his purpose for being in this new world was just within reach as long as he followed this inexplicable feeling.

And so, he followed, walking through vaguely familiar streets with confidence before the feeling eventually disappeared, leaving Orion standing still, reeling in confusion.

'Well, shit… what the hell do I do now?'

Just as he was about to head back to the knight's barracks, or perhaps try to chase down Reinhard, he heard a shout from a nearby alleyway.

"I'm in a hurry! Don't get in my way again!"

Turning towards the noise, he then saw a young man walk out of the alley at a brisk pace.

With the young man having short black hair and intimidating dark brown eyes, Orion found himself entranced. Not by his physical appearance, but rather by the athletic tracksuit and sneakers he was wearing, as well as the plastic bag held in his hand.

'No way… is he… like me?'

Not wanting to lose this chance, Orion quickly walked up to the young man. "Hey, you!"

Annoyed, the young man turned his head back to look at Orion. 

"I told you I'm in a hurry! Do you want to end up like them…"

His aggressive tone petered out as the young man noticed who had called out to him. 

With dark gray sweatpants, a loose-fitting blue t-shirt, and a red zip-up sweater, the man looked extremely out of place in this medieval land. 

Out of place just like he was.

"You're… not from here, are you?" Orion asked cautiously.

"No," the young man shook his head. "I'm from Japan. Are you… from there too?"

"No, not Japan, but I guess from your answer I can assume you're from Earth too," Orion said with a smile. "Well, it's nice to have a fellow foreigner around. My name's Orion."

Subaru's eyes widened before he spread his legs and shot an arm into the air in a practiced pose. "And my name is Natsuki Subaru! A clueless, hopeless, broke nobody who wants to help a pretty girl!"

"..."

Orion did not have a response to that introduction. He was very confused, if not a bit embarrassed, as his eyes darted around to ensure no one was staring at the two of them.

"Come on! Say something!" Subaru complained.

"Umm… nice to meet you, Subaru," Orion eventually voiced out. "Ahem! Anyway, you said you're from Japan, but I'm surprised your English is so good. That's… impressive."

Instead of taking the compliment happily, Subaru only looked at Orion with a perplexed expression. "Huh? What do you mean? My English has always been bad. Isn't it your Japanese that's pretty good?"

This time it was Orion's turn to be confused. "What do you mean? I'm speaking…"

It was then that he noticed it. 

He wasn't speaking English, but rather, something else entirely. While he could listen and speak it as if he was still in his homeland, he could feel that each word he was speaking was a little off once he focused on them.

'Am I instinctively translating everything? I've heard that once someone is fluent in a language, they can speak it without even thinking about translating. That would explain why I thought I was speaking English and Subaru thought he was speaking Japanese…' Orion thought.

"No, I… don't think either of us is speaking what we think we are," Orion eventually said.

"That's… right…" Subaru said slowly, sounding out his words as he noticed how different they felt compared to what he was used to. "Gah! That feels so weird!"

"Mmm," Orion nodded. "Well, let's not think too much about it. It seems like whoever or whatever summoned us gave us a gift. Speaking of… how long have you been here? In this world, that is."

"A few hours," Subaru shrugged. "I was getting something from the convenience store, and next thing I knew, I was in the middle of the street."

"Same here," Orion said.

"How odd, usually there's a princess or someone that summons you, like 'Please save our country from the demons!' or 'The prophecy has stated that you shall bring our nation to prosperity!', or something like that," Subaru said with exaggerated voices imitating a princess and an old man. "Do you have any idea who summoned us?"

Briefly thinking about the voice he heard before being summoned, Orion shook his head, "No. And until I get my bearings, I don't really care."

"I see, I see," Subaru nodded.

Clenching his fists, Orion decided to take this chance to see how connected he and his fellow otherworlder were.

'I hope I don't sound like a crazy person here.'

"Hey, Subaru," he said, causing the young man to look at him expectedly. "You haven't happened to… travel back in time recently, have you?"

Orion winced at his own question.

'I definitely sound crazy.'

"No way! You too?" Subaru yelled. "But… wasn't that just a vision? It had to be…" Subaru muttered, patting his stomach.

"So I'm not going insane. Thank god," Orion voiced his relief. "Anyway, I don't know whether that was a vision, or if we're stuck in some sort of time loop, but either way, it seems like we're connected in more ways than one."

"Yeah," Subaru said with a forced smile.

'Right. A vision. That's all that was,' Subaru thought to himself.

"Anyway," Orion continued, "you mentioned in the alley that you were in a hurry. What's that about?"

"Oh yeah!" Subaru exclaimed, snapping his fingers. "We gotta go to the loot house! Something bad will happen if we don't!"

"Wait, what do you mean 'something bad might happen'? And what's a 'loot house'-? Hey! Don't start walking away!" Orion said, catching up to Subaru.

"Er, well, basically, a nice girl got something stolen from her, so we're going to go get it back!" Subaru explained. "She has silver hair, a cute face, and is extremely beautiful! You haven't seen her, have you?"

"That doesn't really explain much. And no, I haven't. Is this 'nice girl' the one you mentioned in your introduction?" Orion asked.

"Yep! She's got beautiful long silver hair and a super pretty face! And she's cute! Very cute! Totally my type!" Subaru said with a smile and a slight blush.

"I… see…" Orion said slowly.

'I see he's quick to catch feelings.'

"And? Is that all you know about her?" Orion asked.

"Of course not! I know her name is Satella, she has a cute cat spirit, and likes to say outdated words!" Subaru said pridefully, nodding to himself.

'That's not a lot though… well, whatever.'

"Okay, so this 'Satella' got her jewelry stolen and we're going to get it back. Why exactly are you in such a hurry? And how will something bad happen if we don't get to this loot house?" Orion asked.

Subaru stood still at this, his fists clenching as he recalled his memories, "Well… when I got there last time… this old guy was already… dead."

Orion's eyes widened in surprise.

'Dead? Assuming what we experienced in our last loop is the same, or at least some sort of future sight, this is some serious shit. Should I get Reinhard?'

"Anyway! Let's get going!" Subaru said, walking forward once again. "I'll get Satella's insignia back, give it to her, and then we can leave all that stuff behind us and enjoy this fantasy world!"

'Well… I'll stick with Subaru for now. I just hope his confidence isn't something unfounded,' Orion thought. 'Plus, if I spend too long looking for Reinhard… Yeah, that wouldn't be cool.'

As they kept walking toward the slums, with Orion following Subaru's lead, he decided to get to know the young man a bit more, and quickly he learned that the young man was two years his junior.

"Wait, you're already in your third year of university?" Subaru said, shocked.

"Well, yeah. My birthday landed right within the cut-off date, so I've always been the youngest in my grade, plus Japan does university a year older than us," Orion explained. "What about you? You must be finishing your last year of high school, right?"

Subaru sheepishly rubbed the back of his head while awkwardly looking away. "Something like that… anyway, let's pick up the pace, Senpai!"

"'Senpai'?"

"Well, you're two years older than me, so just accept your new title, Senpai!" Subaru said with a smile.

'What an odd kid,' Orion thought to himself. 'But stopping a murder… Well, if we can't solve it diplomatically, we should at least be able to run away.'

—

"So this is the place?" Orion asked skeptically.

They had found themselves near the edge of the city's walls, where a large dilapidated house stood, the roof covered in moss and the plaster peeling away to reveal brick walls.

'Damn… it looks like it used to be beautiful. Why would they let it get to this state?' Orion thought. 'Maybe just to fit into the surroundings? But still…'

"Yep! Now… let's go say hello," Subaru said, hesitantly walking up to the front door.

Looking at the sun that was beginning to set, Subaru grimaced slightly before muttering. "I hope we're not too late…"

Clenching his hands as sweat began to drip down his face, Subaru muttered to himself before slowly knocking on the door. "Anyone there?"

Not receiving an answer, Subaru began frantically banging on the door.

"Oi! Answer me! Please! Is anyone-"

"Shut up! The hell's your problem!?"

Opening the door, a young girl with shoulder-length blonde hair and an annoyed scowl on her face.

'Wasn't this supposed to be the place of an old man? Or is that the thief Subaru mentioned?'

"Felt…" Subaru said with relief. "We're not too late, thankfully."

"Huh? How do you know my name?" Felt asked.

"You don't remember me?" Subaru said before looking at Orion. "Right… that…"

"What are you mumbling about? I'm a busy woman, so don't waste my time. Are you the client?" she then asked.

"Client? Ah, no, but I do want to negotiate for something you have," Subaru said, shaking his head to focus.

Felt tilted her head. "Something I have?"

"Yeah! An insignia. Should be blue with a red gem, according to what she said."

Taking a moment to look at both of them, Felt then gestured toward Orion, "Is he with you?"

Subaru nodded, "Yep! Now… Can we head inside?"

"Sure. But a word of advice: don't try anything. Old Man Rom is really strong, and there's no knights to save you down here," she said, opening the door to lead them inside.

The room was dark and musky, with the wooden walls peeling at the side as various items lined the walls and shelves.

'To think all this is stolen, and it's shown so brazenly… I guess Felt did say that the knights didn't come down here,' Orion thought, eyeing the few weapons he spotted behind the counter before quickly shaking his head. 'Jeez. One spar and I'm already infatuated. What am I, a teenager?'

Looking over the room, he then noticed that the three of them weren't alone.

'He's huge!'

"Hey. Is that…?" Orion asked, nodding to the giant dark-skinned man behind the bar.

"Y-Yeah…" Subaru said. "Hey, Old Man!"

"Eh? What is it?" Rom responded.

Subaru then walked up to the bar and sat down before voicing his question. "I know this is going to sound weird, but… have you died recently?" 

Orion facepalmed.

The giant man stared at him for a moment before breaking into laughter. "Hahaha! Well, I may be old, but I'm not dead yet! Anyway, I heard you've come to negotiate with Felt?"

'So as I expected, we're the only ones who went back. Or saw the future… Whatever that was,' Orion thought.

Taking a seat next to Subaru, he watched as Felt sat down on the opposite side of him, resting her head on her hands as she nodded to the young man.

"So? What's yer offer? Just so you know, my client has at least ten holy coins, so you'll have to bid higher than that," Felt said.

"Ah, well, the thing is…" Subaru said, tapping his fingers together. "I'm kind of broke?"

'Idiot.' Orion facepalmed once again.

"Then what the hell are ya doing here!?" Felt exclaimed.

"Ah but wait! I do have something to trade!" Subaru said, wagging his finger. "Such is the art of the deal, no? Behold! The culmination of modern technology! A cell phone!"

Subaru then pulled out a flip phone with a confident smirk.

"'Modern'?" Orion huffed. "What's that, fifteen years outdated?"

"Huh? What do you mean?" Subaru asked. "This model came out two years ago."

'What? Are the Japanese that far behind?' Orion wondered. 'No… rather.'

"What year is it?" he whispered.

"What? It's instinctive 2010, now stop asking stupid questions! I'm trying to make a trade happen here!" Subaru whispered back aggressively.

'So we're from different times… what the hell?' Orion thought in shock. 'But he's right, I can shelve this for later.'

"The hell is that?" Rom asked, looking over at the item with interest. "Does it do anything other than light up?"

"Fufufu! Behold! The power to instantly create portraits at the click of a button! Continuous Shot!"

Subaru then took a few pictures of the confused duo, making them wince at the flash.

"Agh! Too bright! The hell!?" Felt exclaimed, rubbing her red eyes at the sudden light.

"Are ye trying to kill this old man? I'll make ya regret it, you hear!?" Rom growled.

"Now, now, don't get too hasty," Subaru placated them before turning the device to show them the captured images. "See? Don't these two look familiar?"

Staring at the device, both Felt and Rom's faces lit up in amazement. "That's us! How the hell did you do that?"

"I told you! It can instantly paint a portrait, freezing a moment in time!" Subaru explained.

"How amazing!" Felt exclaimed. "But… is that enough? Old Man Rom?"

The old man narrowed his eyes at the device as he cupped his chin, pondering.

"Hmm… I've heard about such things lately. Metias, I think they're called."

'There's that word again,' Orion thought.

"It's my first time seeing it, but I'd say you could fetch no less than twenty holy coins for that. Maybe more if you found the right buyer," Rom finished.

"Yahoo! That's what I thought!" Subaru pumped his fist. "Now, you do have the insignia, right?"

"Of course I do!" Felt said, pulling out the piece of jewelry.

As Subaru had said, it was a fancy triangular badge, with a red gem in the center that shined despite the dark interior.

"Awesome! Now we can exchange my 'metia' for the insignia and go on our way! Negotiations complete!" Subaru said, reaching for the insignia in Felt's hand before it was slapped away.

"Not so fast! I had a client, remember?" Felt said.

"But you said they only had ten holy coins! Twenty is more than ten, by the way!" Subaru exclaimed.

"I know that! I'm not an idiot!" Felt stuck out her tongue. "But they commissioned me, and I bet they'll have some more coins on em'. Just pray you have more and you'll be fine."

Orion, who had been passively listening to the conversation as he eyed the items around the place, turned at this with a worried expression.

'From what Subaru said, Satella seemed to be from a fairly high place in society. Considering these two were killed, it must have been to silence them…'

"I think you should take the offer, Felt," he said passively.

"Of course you would! You're with him!" she pouted at him.

"Not because of that," Orion shook his head. "This person who commissioned you seems a bit shady, and considering that this insignia came from someone in a high place, and the lack of knights around here, who's to say they don't kill to silence you?"

Felt puffed her chest, "Hah! That's easy! Old Man Rom would just take care of them!"

Remembering how Rom was killed in Subaru's story, Orion felt his stomach churn in worry.

"T-That… but what if he isn't strong enough?" Orion asked.

Felt clicked her tongue, about to shout at Orion before a voice entered the fray.

"Oh? How smart."

Feeling chills on the back of his neck, Orion leaped to the ground just in time to hear the wind squeal as a blade crossed over where he had just been sitting.

'Fuck! That was no joke!'

Scampering back to the wall, he watched as Felt jumped over to kneel beside him, pulling Subaru along as the attacker looked at him with interest.

"You dodged my strike? Ah, well, I suppose I did give myself away~"

Subaru was looking at the extended blade in her hand with a terrified expression as Rom grabbed a giant club and leaped over the bar counter.

"You bitch!"

The woman dodging the strike, Rom smashed his club into the table before quickly shifting to a horizontal swing that the woman deftly leaped out of range of.

With the two combatants separated, a lull in the battle appeared.

"This is my first time fighting with a giant," the woman said, licking her lips. "How lovely~!"

'This bitch is crazy!' Orion thought in shock.

The bitch in question had purple eyes and long wavy hair that matched perfectly with her seductive face and form, with a black cloak that exposed her front, including an impressive chest that was barely covered by a black undersuit.

Despite the beauty in front of him, Orion couldn't think of her beauty as anything but sickening.

"Hey!" Felt said, tapping his shoulder. "Don't worry about him, Old Man Rom is the strongest around!"

At the smiling girl's words, Orion crossed eyes with Subaru, both conveying their identical thoughts.

'He isn't strong enough.'

Orion slowly got to his feet before grabbing a sabre-like sword that was hung on the wall.

'At least… not on his own.'

Normally, Orion would confidently hide behind Rom's monstrous strength with a smile, just as Felt was doing. But unfortunately, he knew that that would only lead to disaster.

He had to take a stand, and no matter how frightening, he had to fight.

'She can't be worse than the Sword Saint, right?' he thought to himself, trying to get rid of the worry and fear that was causing his hands to tremble. 'But either way…'

He then looked over at Felt, who was looking at him in confusion.

'...I can't just do nothing.'

Orion's hands stopped shaking as he looked over at the battle that had picked up once again, only to widen his eyes in shock as the woman dodged one of Rom's strikes, using his open form to slice her blade across his neck.

"Ah~ A shame this dance must be cut short, but I do have a job to complete~," the woman said sweetly, watching as Rom desperately clutched at his torn open throat.

"Old Man Rom!" Felt shouted from Orion's side.

"Now… I do have a name to live up to~," the woman continued, unperturbed.

With another slice, the air screeched as Rom's body was sent into the bar, his entrails spilling out of his cut-open belly as his form slumped to the floor.

"Y-You…"

The voice pulled him out of his shock as Orion looked over at Felt. Her expression was one of fierce anger as she pulled out a dagger.

"You damn bitch!"

Taking a step, the wind wrapped around her body as she shot forward, her form blurring as she ran around the woman.

"How lovely," the woman said as her eyes darted to follow Felt's form. "It seems you are loved by this world."

'She's… following her… No!'

Just as the woman was about to strike down on the approaching Felt, Orion leaped forward, extending his left arm as he felt the somewhat familiar heat pool into his legs, allowing him to reach just in time to push Felt out of the way.

"Argh!" Orion groaned as he and Felt crashed into the ground. "F-Fuck!"

Unfortunately, while he had reached there in time to save the young girl from certain death, he had not come out of the exchange unscathed.

"My fucking arm!"

Dropping the sword on the ground, Orion screamed as he clutched the stump of his left arm that was left after being cut off at the elbow, tears beginning to pool in his eyes at the pain.

"B-Bro…" Felt said, seemingly shocked out of her anger at the state the young man was in after saving her. "J-Just bear with it!"

Unwrapping the black bow on her head, she then took the cloth and wrapped it tightly around Orion's stump in an attempt to cut off the blood flow.

"S-Shit! I'm sorry, Big Bro!" Felt said through gritted teeth.

Seeing spots in his vision as sweat began to pour down his face, Orion shook his head before standing up, his stance unstable as he slowly got to his feet, picking up the sabre on the way.

"I-It's fine, just… let's deal with her f-first," Orion spat out, his voice strained as he felt bile begin to rise into his mouth.

"Oh? Standing tall still? You've impressed me once more, young man," the woman said with the same creepy smile. "Now… are you two quite done?"

Casting a glance at the fallen Rom, Orion turned to the woman with a hardened glare. No words were exchanged as he ran forward, with the sabre held in one hand.

Time seemed to slow down as Orion focused on the woman in front of him, the surroundings blurring as his vision tunnelled on the enemy.

'Pain is said to make time last longer... I guess I can thank her for that,' Orion thought bitterly.

The pain that had overtaken his brain had calmed into a dull thrum as his breathing remained even. 

He was confused at how calm he felt. It was certainly unnatural, but Orion wasn't in the mind to care at the moment. He had more pressing matters to deal with, after all.

Swinging down with all the might one arm could muster, the woman easily deflected the blade, opting to kick Orion in the side rather than take him out as she had done with Rom.

'She's taking me lightly... I have to exploit that,' he thought.

Feeling her leg impact his left side, he squeezed his stump around it, trapping her leg as an eruption of pain from the pressure assaulted him, accompanied by a flash of white that flickered across his vision.

Swallowing a groan, Orion moved his blade to point upward as he twisted his hips just as Reinhard had told him to, causing the air to whistle as he slashed upward.

Quickly leaping away, the woman came to a stop as she looked at Orion with a mixture of surprise and awe.

Bringing a finger to her cheek, she traced a line as blood began to seep out of the cut Orion had made.

"Hee~?" she hummed, licking the blood off her finger as her eyes flashed in excitement. "You're an interesting one."

Orion's eyes widened as she closed in, her lips spread into a wide smile as she brought down her blade.

'Fast!'

Barely able to react, Orion raised his sword, messily parrying her strike to the side before he quickly blocked the second one.

"Good!" she shouted, twisting her body for another slash.

His muscles straining, Orion brought his blade to meet hers, only for her to flick it to the side before slicing his right arm off at the shoulder and kicking Orion to the wall.

Frozen in pain and fear, Orion stumbled back and watched as the woman threw two needles, puncturing his chest and nailing him to the wall.

His breathing now raspy and ragged, Orion stood there with a dull expression as blood began to leak from his mouth, along with his now missing arms.

"Bro!" Felt cried, watching on in dismay.

"Ah, alas, while you surprised me, you are quite weak. Though your determination is quite honourable," the woman said, ignoring Felt's exclamation as she walked over, her blade dancing around her hand.

"Do you feel your breath running out? Perhaps you can feel the blood coming up with every rasp~?" She licked her lips before slowly carving a line across his stomach. "Ah~! How lovely!"

Feeling his legs start to convulse, Orion began to choke as blood started to clog his throat, desperately struggling to stop the burning sensation as her blade dug into his stomach.

He could feel his muscles spasm, from his calves to his neck, trying to escape. But even if he wasn't currently pinned to the wall, Orion no longer had the strength to move. Whether it was due to the blood loss, the shock reaching a critical point, or perhaps a mix of both, Orion was no longer in any state to resist.

"Yes! Struggle all you can! Do you feel it? Your pulse slowly calming? A chill spreading across your skin?" the woman continued. "Slowly feeling the life drain out of your-"

"Get off him you bitch!" Felt screamed, throwing her dagger at the woman before pulling out another.

The woman easily caught the blade, turning to look at Felt as she slashed the rest of the way through Orion's torso.

"Right. There was another one," she muttered before turning to look at the cut she had just made. "Ah~ but that's such a pleasant sight~"

She then turned to face Felt, leaving Orion struggling to breathe as the pain overwhelmed his very being, seeping into his skin as he felt his pulse pound inside his head.

'No! Nonono! I don't want to die! Help! Please! It hurts!' he voiced inwardly.

But soon enough, just as the woman had said, the pain stopped, and his fear-laden thoughts came to a crawl as a pleasantly cool sensation spread throughout his body.

His head dipping down, he felt his vision darken, but not quick enough to miss the woman cut Felt down, her blade slicing through the young girl's neck, causing her to instantly crumple to the ground.

'Dammit,' he lamented. 'It wasn't enough. I should have told Felt to run.'

He felt his eyes involuntarily close as everything became still, a heavy weight bearing down on him as he felt himself slowly succumb to his injuries.

'So… I wasn't even able to save a little girl with my life. I always knew my life was useless,' he thought, a small tear trailing down his cheek. 'Even in another world, it seems that nothing has changed.'

And with that, Orion allowed the darkness to overtake him.

…

Until he suddenly found himself back in a familiar street, with the sun shining overhead and the soft hum of busy chatter entering his ears.

"H-Haugh!" Orion groaned as he kneeled on the ground, his hands rubbing across his arms and his stomach.

Arms that were still attached. A stomach that was whole. And a mouth that was free of blood.

"W-What…" he took a shaky breath as he felt his brain calm down, recognizing that he was no longer in danger.

'I… guess that we hit the reset point. So it's at night then.'

He once again felt that mental pull, egging him on to where he found Subaru, but Orion just couldn't bring himself to head over there.

'No… I… don't want to die again. That… was horrible.'

Slowly getting to his feet, Orion ignored the concerned stares he was receiving from the passing civilians as he walked over to lean against the wall.

'But… I can't just leave things like that. The insignia doesn't matter, no matter how idiotic Subaru is, he should know that, but…'

His mind then went to the image of Felt getting cut down, her body crumpled to the floor with a small tear trailing down her cheek. A tear that she had shed when looking at him.

'...Yeah. I… won't just abandon her. Rom too.'

Taking a few deep breaths, Orion closed his eyes to clear his mind before slapping his cheek to loosen up.

'Right! I might be weak as shit, and Rom, while strong, isn't strong enough, but I know someone who is!' 

Orion then began running forward, keeping his eyes open for a familiar set of red hair.

'There he is!'

It didn't take too long to find the knight as he casually strolled through the street, his face set in a relaxed smile as the sun glinted off the sword held at his hip.

"Reinhard!" Orion called, his voice raspy as he had run out of breath.

"Hm?" The young man turned towards him. "Is there perhaps something wrong?"

Reinhard looked at the person in front of him and noticed how he was dressed in odd clothing, but what was most distressing was the waves of fear he felt radiating off of him, as well as the hint of relief once he had stopped to talk.

In short, Reinhard was worried, as the young man in front of him was quite obviously in distress. Even if he was technically off duty, it was the job of the Royal Guard, especially him, to alleviate such problems of civilians.

"Y-Yeah… in the slums to the south… Haa! Something bad is going to happen, and a girl might-"

Orion felt time stop once again as his surroundings changed into the same street he had now found himself standing in for the third time.

"...Huh?"

Orion was thoroughly confused.