Uploading date: 6/3/2018 [M/D/Y]

Re: Life in a fantasy world ~ Arc 2: An Everlasting Week

Chapter 2: Start of the butler days

The day started off with an early refresher of the schedule in the employees break room. It was around twice the size of a regular bedroom and had a lot of chairs, coffee tables and sofas despite there only being three of us, as of now that is. I leaned against the wall with my Butler uniform while Ram got a long list of chores ready.

"First off, what are you able to do, Barusu?"

"Well, the basic things, cooking, cleaning, running errands, sewing, except for hedges, can't do those…"

"Okay then, Rem, you handle the hedges and the lawn, Barusu will assist me with my chores, then we'll meet in an hour to make breakfast, after that, we have an hour of free time, then we report back here for the afternoon chores"

Both me and Rem nodded to her and we went off our different ways, I'm guessing I'm helping Ram with her work since she's the head maid and all, she should have all the hard jobs, it makes sense.

"First we're going to clean up the bathing room"

And so we began. She went and brought two mops for us and we mopped away. It wasn't a hard job, the place wasn't dirty in the first place, there's only like four of them here anyway, five with the addition of me, so getting things messy in this big hall of a bathing room should be pretty difficult.

Still, it was a big room so cleaning it till the last bit of dust was gonna take some time, so I decided to break some small talk with Ram, "Hey, Ram how long have you and your sister been working here?"

"Nee-sama"

"What?"

"During work, that's how we should address co-workers"

"Even though you call me Barusu?" She gave a cold stare, so cold that I felt shivers through my back, I relented, "Fine then, Ram Nee-san… how long have you and Rem been working as maids for Roswaal?" She stopped doing her worked and leaned on the wall, putting her hand on her chin in a thinking position.

"About ten years now I think, Roswaal-sama took us in and we've been working ever since"

"Ten years huh…" That's when the witch cult had gone rampant, there might be a connection here, gotta be cautious, just in case, "So it's when you were little huh?" "When we were about eleven or so…"

"I see…" Working at that age was definitely not normal, they're definitely victims of it as well, the witch cult, just how much has their hands reached? "I actually had to leave home pretty early too, I think I was on my own for like… eight years now?"

"Hmm, really? Why so?"

"Unforeseen circumstances, one could say"

"That's really unfortunate…"

"Very…"

And in no time, we were done, Ram wiped the sweat off her forehead, wait, was it really that hard? I could've sworn we were only at it for a like ten minutes, yet she's already sweating, maybe it was just my imagination. "What is it, Barusu?"

"Oh, nothing…"

Next, we went over to wipe the windows, all of them, and that's when Ram and I split up. She took the left wing, while I took the right wing, the mansion is huge so we're probably gonna finish after we cook stuff up in the kitchen. The windows were pretty damn tall, but thanks to magic, I'm able to reach the top.

"To think that it's just those two taking care of this giant… oh, and there's Emilia-san, and Rem too…" I looked over the window and waved over to them, unsurprisingly, Emilia was the only one who waved back, Rem gave me a meaningful stare, and Puck just napping on her head.

"I wonder what they're talking about…?"

.

[POV switch]

Emilia waved back to Subaru while grinning immensely, "Subaru seems to be having fun…" she then looked over to Rem, who was staring at Subaru, in a serious way too. "Something wrong Rem?" Emilia asks her.

"Emilia-sama…" She looks away while going on with her sweeping, "You shouldn't be too trusting of him… you just met him three days ago afterall…" Rem replied with a hidden frown on her face. "I suppose… but I'm sure Subaru's not a bad person… I can somehow tell, right Puck?"

"Hmm, though I do agree with the maid, and Subaru does seem mysterious when we first met him, I don't really sense any maliciousness coming out from him, though, he is scary with that ability of his…"

"Oh yeah, what was that? You could tell Puck?"

"Well, I was absorbed in the battle with the knife lady with a creepy smile, but I was monitoring him as well incase he doesn't do anything weird. I don't know, it's like he somehow has the ability to reverse time or something… One second he's bloody on the floor, next he's where he was two seconds ago"

"Ah yeah, he was good at Yin magic right?"

"Good, but a person of his skill wouldn't be able to even slow down time… Even Betty, at best, all she could do is stop time-flow, reversing time would take someone of more skill, maybe tenfold… he really is mysterious…"

"But it's okay, I'll prove to you all that he's a good person," Emilia said with a proud stance. Rem sighed and replied to her "Rem hopes Emilia-sama is correct…"

.

[POV switch]

I uncasted Murak as I finished wiping up the thirteenth window, I fell to the ground with a thump, "Almost an hour, I should head to the kitchen soon.." I put the cleaning cloth back in the bucket and walked down the hallway to the kitchen.

I was walking through the hallway when suddenly, I felt an omnipresent watch on me. I stopped moving and looked around, there doesn't seem to be anyone here and I don't sense the use of any cloaking magic. I walked to the lavatory, to place down my cleaning supplies but to my astonishment, the door lead to a library.

The girl inside stared at me as I stared back at her, we went on for a good few seconds until she spoke, "You again, I suppose…" she gave me a 'You know the drill' kind of look, and I was about to follow, but after glimpsing at the library so many times, I can't help but feel curious about it.

"Actually, could I stay here for a while… if you don't mind of course…"

She gave me a meaningful stare and sighed, "Do what you want, I suppose…" And just like that, I was granted access to the Forbidden Archives.

I walked in and the smell of books was obvious. The library spanned a good few meters, the bookshelves were made from some sort of magically reinforced bark, the books themselves seem to be just mana, no matter how big the book, they're all lightweight.

There were many books scattered on the floor, a total mess is what it was, so I decided I'd help by cleaning up a bit. I picked up a bunch and put them where they seem the tidiest, I continued to do so until the one whole aisle was clear.

I was spending too much time here, Ram would be mad if I came by late. "Guess I'll be taking my leave now Beatrice… breakfast is going to be ready soon so do come out…" She replied with a 'Hmph' as I closed the door.

After closing the door, I rushed over downstairs to the kitchen, fortunately for me, the gate crossing brought me to a room that was closer to the kitchen, must be the little spirit's way of saying thanks.

After reaching the kitchen door, I opened it up and the two maid sisters greeted me with annoyed looks, Ram at least.

"Your ten minutes late Barusu…" she said while tapping her foot impatiently on the ground, "Yeah sorry about that, was at Beatrice's library so it took a while…"

"Beatrice-sama let you in?" Rem asked with a surprised look, Ram looking quite astonished as well, "Yeah, she sorta just let me in… I tried cleaning up the library, but man that place sure is big, I also notified her of breakfast"

"Did she reject you?" Ram asked me. "Well I'm not sure, she said 'Hmph' not sure if translates to yes or no… but I think it's a yes…"

"Did you mention Emilia-sama's great spirit by chance?" She asked, "You mean Puck? Wait he's a great spirit!? Damn this house is getting more quirky by the minute… and no, I didn't mention him, why ask?"

The two maid sisters looked at each other, then back at me, "Beatrice-sama is usually quite reserved, under normal circumstances, no one but Puck-sama is given entry to the library, there have been other guests who had attempted to enter, but were either punished by a forceful push out the door or a mana drain treatment… and, she won't leave the library unless it's something urgent or if Puck-sama asks her…"

She's a complete shut-in now isn't she, well not that it concerns me in any way. But her allowing me in the library, coupled with her stares, she's definitely wary of me, or maybe she's curious? "Okay then, so what are we making today?" I asked the sisters.

"I was thinking some chicken salad with a side of mashed potatoes? Any thoughts, Barusu?

"Well… I think it'll go good with mayonnaise, I can also prepare a cheesecake for dessert, how does that sound?"

"Cheesecake doesn't sound bad, but I've never heard of mayonnaise… just what may that be?" Ram asked me while getting a chopping board ready, "Well… the simplest definition would be that it's a dipping sauce, but you can use it in many other ways too, you'll understand when you taste it yourself"

From the cupboard, I grabbed out a medium-sized bowl, a whisk, some eggs, a bottle of vinegar and other ingredients. Ram came to check on what I was doing so I said the steps aloud, "Put in three egg yolks, some vinegar, and a tablespoon of salt… then you lightly mix" I grabbed the whisk and started to whisk slowly. In the meantime, Rem was busy washing the vegetables and the kitchenware, "Add a bit of mustard and some lemon for a bit of sourness…" I cut a lemon and juiced out its contents into a bowl, continuing to mix until it turns into a yellow color.

"Once the yellow color is apparent, slowly add a bit of olive oil as you continue to mix it, keep on adding until the mixture turns pale, at which you stop adding… once the pale color is reached, continue to mix until it becomes thick, then… your… done!" I put down the bottle of olive oil as I stopped stirring the mixture. Using my finger, I taste tested it and the results were splendid.

I then let Ram try a bit, her replying, "I understand now, this can definitely be used in many dishes, steamed yams would go great with this…" I dumped the contents of the mixture into a plastic bottle and sealed in the fridge, "It'll taste better when it's all chilly, right… now for that cheesecake…"

After being satisfied with observing my cooking skills, Ram went on with her own dish, the mashed potatoes. Rem had given her a bunch of washed potatoes and she started to peel them, with magic, surprisingly. She used sharp blades of wind to slice off the skin of the potatoes, leaving the insides intact.

"That's pretty good…" I mutter while getting a bigger bowl out of the cupboard. Rem is supposedly busy with the salad, she cut up all the vegetables skillfully, in equal portions, all the while sorting out each into a bowl, she's definitely a great cook.

I turned on the oven and grabbed some flour and some coconut powder off the shelves and mixed them into the large bowl. I then melted some butter on a pan and mixed it in with the flour. I cleaned up the bowl I used to make the mayonnaise and added a few tablespoons of vanilla in, along with a block of cream cheese, some sour cream, and some stevia.

Back to the bigger bowl, I added an egg and mixed it until it was evenly spread, I then put another and repeated the process once more, and then again with a third egg. After that was done I put in the contents of the other bowl in and mixed them well, once that was done with, I spread it evenly all over a baking tray, after taste testing it to make sure everything was in the right proportions, I put the tray into the oven, letting it bake for about an hour.

While the cheesecake was baking, I took out some strawberries from the fridge and washed them, from the bunch, I picked out the larger ones and of the larger ones, I took out the dull colored ones. I then cut each into three equal pieces, totaling to twenty-four cut pieces.

I placed them down on a plate while I waited for the cheesecake to bake but then Ram called me, seems like it was time to start serving, time flies when you're cooking, doesn't it. "Let's go then…" I took out the mayonnaise from the fridge and placed it into the serving tray, I then followed Rem and Ram out the door and into the dining hall.

The seating plan was the usual, Roswaal was at the far end, Beatrice and Emilia were one seat away from him, and Puck sitting on the table. "So what are we having today?" Emilia asks eagerly.

We opened up the tray and revealed to her today's menu, even I was surprised at how good the salad looks, like something fit for the great dragon himself. We served out the plates and everyone started to eat up, though Emilia was looking at the bottle of mayonnaise I placed down in front of them, "Subaru… what's inside that?" She asks me curiously. "Mayonnaise, Emilia-sama… something that's served quite literally every time in Kararigi… or at least in my household"

She decides to put some in her plate and try it out with the salad, lo and behold she burst out squealing in delight,"Jis is sho good!" She put more on her plate and gobbled up her food, her smile was like a child who got reunited with their lost mother.

"My~, Emilia-sama's reaction has got me~ all enticed in this mayonnaise…" Next was Roswaal, and soon later, Beatrice joined in, "It wouldn't hurt to try, I suppose…" The next moment, they were all shedding tears of bliss as they chewed their food. Rem gave me a skeptical look, "Subaru-kun, what exactly did you put inside?" " Just normal stuff, eggs, lemon, mustard, Ram Nee-san saw it all, why they're overreacting is beyond me…"

I could see Beatrice struggled to hold in her joy, her arms seem to fidget while her eyes stare at the bottle. "Here, let me help you with that…" I walked over and put some on her plate, her eyes were sparkling but she gave me an annoyed look for some reason.

"Rem Nee, the cheesecake is still in the kitchen so I'll be going to prepare it.."

"Understood, Subaru-kun…"

I hurried back into the kitchen, the cheesecake seemed to have been cooked the moment I entered. I took it out of the oven and let it cool down for a minute, I then put it on the freezer on full blast to give it a little frost, I then topped it off with the twenty-four strawberry pieces I cut from before. I then sliced the cake into eight equal pieces, got it ready on a tray, and brought it over to the dining room, the whole time, I felt like someone was watching me, which was really irritating.

By the time I reached there, everyone was finished with the main dish and was getting ready for they're dessert, my homemade cheesecake. "Today's dessert is Keto cheesecake topped off with strawberries, made by yours truly…" I said in the most professional voice I can muster.

They all looked at it with promising eyes, even the maids. Roswaal said, "This looks~ sweet indeed…" while Emilia remarked, "You made this Subaru? I hope it was as delicious as the mayonnaise!" All the while, Beatrice looked at it with a face of hunger. I myself felt a little tense, though the cake may look good, taste is a whole different thing, I felt extremely nervous, probably because this is going to be the first time I've served something to someone other than myself or my parents, I had the urge to say, 'Just eat it already!'.

Puck took a glimpse at me and called me over, "Subaru, could you try a bit of this cake…?" "Sure, why not?" He had a bit of cake on his hand and he shoved it into my mouth, tastes so good damn good.

"Shit…" I mutter out, which lead to Puck raising an eyebrow and his mouth to break into a mischievous grin, "What am I doing! Eating in front of my superiors, this is a test isn't it!" I screamed out while gulping down the cake.

Puck broke out laughing, with Roswaal chuckling a bit, Emilia looked a the two a little bit confused, "I should've known better…" "Hahaha… sorry, sorry… it's okay Lia, you can eat the cake now…"

"Wait, you didn't think I poisoned the cake did you?!"

"You were feeling a little bit nervous so I was a little suspicious, turns out I was wrong, but I got a good reaction out of you, haha!"

"Seriously… if I was going to poison you, I'd do it with the salad or the potatoes, it'd be obvious with the cake, I'm not that short-sighted you know?"

Once everyone was finished with dessert, we cleared up the table and went back to the kitchen, now it was our turn to eat, "Hey guys, there's still some leftover cheesecake if you'd like some" "I think I'll pass, Barusu"

"Rem shall pass to, sorry, Subaru-kun…"

Seems like they're not a big fan of dessert, or maybe they're just jealous of how good my cooking skills are, either way, looks like I'm going to have to find someone else to eat this with me.

Our one hour of free time starts now, so I'd better make use of it. Putting the remaining cheesecakes in a plate I hurried over out the door, "Roswaal is busy so I can't really ask him, Emilia-san was definitely stuffed so I doubt she'll want anymore, I don't think Puck's the sweet type… then that leaves Beatrice, I think she'll do fine"

I walked around the mansion for a while, thinking on which door to choose, the odds should be pretty low of myself finding it, looking from the sheer size of the mansion, but what do you know, "What do you want, I suppose?" The door beside me opened and the little spirit was shown in all her glory, looks like she came out to look for me, how fortunate.

"There's some cheesecake left over, I was wondering if you'd like to have some with me?" She stared at me for a few seconds before turning her head and walking back in, leaving the door open, seems like she agreed, at least I hope she did.

I followed her in and placed the plate on her table, she sat down on her stool and I grabbed a nearby chair to sit opposite of her. We each took one cheesecake and stuffed it into our mouths, it tastes so good… There was one more, and it seems Beatrice has already gobbled up her first piece.

"You gonna eat that?"

"Hmph, you barely ate anything haven't you, I suppose?"

How considerate of her, but I'll push on to see how far that consideration goes, "I'm not a heavy eater so you can go ahead…" Without even a thought, she snatched away the last piece, guess that's as far as her kindness goes, and I really wanted to eat that as well.

Just when I was finished with half of my first piece, she had already finished with her second, she used a handkerchief to wipe off the crumbs from her mouth, she then went back to reading her book, but not before saying in a low voice, "Thanks for the meal…"

I don't think she said that during breakfast, so it seems I'm getting on good terms with her, I saw a teapot on the table and two cups as well, seemed like it was filled so I decided to pour some in for us. She gave me an astonished look and asked, "Isn't it your free time? Shouldn't you be spending it elsewhere?"

"I guess there are other places that could be a better place to spend my free time, but it'd be a waste not to take a look around this library…"

She sighed and turned her stool around, grabbing a book from one of the nearby shelves and keeping to herself, making sure to take a sip of her tea. I wasn't the type to read books, unless it benefits me of course.

I searched through an aisle but none of the books seemed to catch my eye, so I decided to just clean up the books from the floor. Of the books I picked, many were story books, the historical kinds, others were about constructing magic algorithms which I know a little bit of. I decided to keep it in a place where I can find it the next time I visited the library.

I was so engrossed in cleaning that I lost track of time, "Well, gotta run… sorry for taking your time, Beatrice" I waved off as I ran out the door, she seemed to wave back while her eyes were still glued to the book.

I hurried off to continue with wiping the remaining windows, once that's done, Ram had me sweep the main lounge, we then replaced all the vases, proceeded on with making lunch for everyone, Beatrice seemed extremely upset, possibly because I hadn't made any extra mayonnaise. After lunch was another hour of free time, which I spent talking with Puck and Emilia outside in the gazebo.

Dinner was quite uneventful, Roswaal had gone to a night meeting and Beatrice had kidnapped Puck, so we accompanied Emilia during dinner. The rest of the night was spent with me practicing my sewing skills. I've attempted at making a Puck doll, and it seems to have been a perfect replica.

"You weren't lying when you said you could sew, Barusu…" Ram said, she was at my door holding what seems to be a basket. "I'm off to an evacuation shack near the mountains to do a little bit of cleaning. If you're feeling it, I could show you the way so when the time comes, you can help handle things"

"Evacuation shack… well maybe later, I'll ask Rem Nee about, been wanting to talk to her for a while…"

"I see… that's not a bad idea, then, I'll be going, please do try to control your manly urges while I'm gone, Barusu…"

"You and Roswaal are really getting on me with that stuff you know… don't worry I'll look after while you're gone…"

"Hmm, I'm off then…"

Ram closed the door and her footsteps faded off into the distance, I laid down on my bed and stared at the ceiling. I just can't shake the feeling that this won't last long, "Well better just enjoy it while I can…" I put down the Puck plush on my table, I'll give it to Beatrice as thanks for letting me crash in her library. The table wasn't nearly as fancy as the last one, since my room has been switched to the servants quarters.

Roswaal's gone to a meeting, Emilia is probably studying in her room, Puck is already asleep, Beatrice should be in the library, reading whatever book she can reach, and Rem's washing up all the laundry, a really peaceful place I scored myself.

And the night went on...

A/N

2 weeks exact, I'm not late this time!

Alright, this is pretty good chapter if I do say so myself, I literally have no idea on what people eat and when they eat it so I just guessed shit, hope it's even a little bit close to reality. I mean all I eat is rice and eggs, every single day, with the occasional fried fish. I'm gonna do another Warlock chapter as promised and there might be a chance for another 4k Re fantasy chapter in the next five days if my brain feels like it...

Whoag

I wonder if we'll get to see Subaru's identity being revealed to the rest of the mansion, and he has to try and explain himself.

So in the case that he does reveal his identity to Emilia and the others, he, firstly, wouldn't be alone in the explanation as Roswaal is there to help him out, that is, if we're talking about the first loop. Even so, Emilia wouldn't mind or anything, since he's already revealed to her, his Witch miasma connection.

Ram and Rem probably would be understanding if they heard the whole story, and trust him, according to Roswaal's wishes. Puck would be reluctant and I feel Beatrice would be like, how the hell you know this shit!?

If I Could Be

Okay, Roswaal seems to take his true identity very well… I wonder how will the maiden twins handle it?

It doesn't matter how they'll handle it, they'll act according to how Roswaal wants them to act, and the story is in first person, so to 'Subaru', it looked like Roswaal took it well, you never know what that clown's actually thinking, just keep that in mind...

Christian Red

Nice chapter, looking forward to more. Will there be OC's from the other Sin clan's that survived?

I'm currently doing this until Arc 3 so in the near future most likely a no, but maybe later on (a few months or so after I finish Arc 3) there would be one? Arc 4 would reveal which clan Emilia was in and Arc 6 would explain the backstories of all the clans and their leaders, aka. The witches of sin.

Tales from Puck

What's this? Rem doesn't like mayo, aw hell no! I'm glad to see that he's capable of speaking about Pride, it shows that it's not apart of his 'contract' with Satella.

To be clear, he has no 'contract' with Satella, as his Return by Death is due to, not her, but the Witch genes of Pride. As to why Satella can enter his realm, there's a completely different reason, which I'll reveal later, or you can just ask... This means he's also able to explain his abilities without getting any lash backs or heart grabbing of sorts. Though having him tell everyone that would just make the plot bland…

That isn't to say he has no restrictions. He has limitations he set on himself and that he promised with Satella, who can barely manage a sentence in his realm.

1. Never, under any circumstances abuse Return by Death for informational or personal gain. (Like trying to relive a weekend)

2. Only end a life when the outcome was both undesirable, and irreparable. (The first loop when he killed Lia, their trust is broken)

3. Talking about your 'realm' with others and the one who resides in it is off limits. (Though anyone who enters it is okay)

4. Return by Death is never to be revealed to anyone. (Though, if they know of it prior, it's okay)