Kazuki Tanaka looped again, and as always, he could never get used to the sudden shift in position.
Despite remembering that he had slept, his body state returned to its original state when he had just finished his part-time job. Everything reset to this point in time, including the memories of those around him.
'Which means it's only me who leaps back,' Tanaka thought, holding his hand to his chin. What exactly did he need to do to break out of this time loop?
Roswaal: "―What's the matter, Tanaka-kun? Why did you suddenly space out?"
Hearing Roswaal's voice, Tanaka snapped out of his stupor. After a brief moment of silence, he smiled and spoke up, "Ah, sorry, it's nothing. Then I will be in your care."
Tanaka made his decision. Resting wouldn't change anything if he would wake up in the same fucked up state. So this time, he would proceed just like the first day, but he would make sure to observe every detail that might lead him to a clue.
Roswaal returned the smile, then turned to Ram. "Then, Ram, please fetch him an appropriate outfit to work after you show him the mansion."
Another thing to keep in mind was his actions and words. To him, this might be the third time he met these people, but to them, it hadn't been more than a few minutes since their last interaction. It was better if he didn't come off as creepy and just act like it was his first time being here.
Ram: "Understood, Roswaal-sama."
After acknowledging her master's instructions, Ram signaled for Tanaka to follow her. As she led him around the mansion, she occasionally glanced at him. Tanaka, now paying attention to every detail, noticed her glances and smiled back at her.
Ram: "Stop smiling at Ram like a pervert."
Ram's remark hit Tanaka like a blow, causing his smile to falter. He felt a surge of frustration rising within him. He had been making an effort to be pleasant.
Tanaka: "Huh? Why are you being rude? I'm just trying to be friendly."
He tried to keep his tone calm, but his irritation was evident.
Ram: "It's disgusting," she responded with an indifferent tone.
Tanaka clenched his fists briefly, suppressing his irritation. Instead, he continued to focus on observing his surroundings, revisiting all the rooms.
There were no abnormalities until they reached the storage room. He recalled the sudden transition that happened there in the second loop. The sensation of that void-like space was unbearable.
As Ram was about to open the door, Tanaka's heart began to beat faster and faster. The thought of returning to that place made him scared to the point where he closed his eyes.
Ram: "And this is the storage room. It's where we store some old furniture. There are a lot of things that need to be cleared out. What are you doing?"
Tanaka: "Hah," he heard her call and opened his eyes.
Seeing that the transition hadn't occurred this time, he let out a sigh of relief. However, that small action didn't escape Ram's notice.
Ram: "What was that sigh for?"
Tanaka's mind raced, searching for a suitable response. "To breathe? It's called exhaling."
Ram was speechless for a second, then responded, "Breathe quietly, then."
Tanaka: "Wait, I have a few questions."
Ram: "What is it?"
Tanaka:" This place is big, I was wondering how many servants are there beside you?"
He already knew the answer but never the less he still asked, since it's only natural to wonder about it.
Ram: "Ram is the only servant here."
'Bullshit!' Is what he thought but he didn't let it out, Tanaka then glanced at the insides of the storage room and then pointed at an item, " Those copper sheets, can I take some of them?"
Despite his first try ending up as a failure, he didn't completely discard the idea. He decided to try again and recharge his phone, but this time he will be far more careful.
However, his plans were met with a response he didn't expect.
Ram: "No."
Tanaka "Huh?", he was taking aback by her response, "Why? didn't you say that you were getting rid of stuff? Then just give me some?" The last time he asked her for them, she said she was planning to dispose of them.
Ram: "It's true that Ram was going to throw them away, but Ram doesn't see why she should give them to you."
His eyebrows furrowed as he processed Ram's response. He took a moment to collect himself, trying to find another approach which he quickly found.
"Fine, how about this?" Tanaka said while fetching inside his plastic bag, " I will trade some drinks for a few sheets." He added after showing her a can in his hand.
As soon as he pulled out the can, he sensed a change in her expression, she then spoke up," One sheet for all of them."
Tanaka was left speechless at her shameless offer, " Oi, who do you think you are trying to scam?" He then added" Okay here is the final deal, one can for each sheet and I only need five."
At his words, Ram frowned deeply but he didn't care. It was fine for him to trade a few cans but he won't negotiate any further especially when she gave it to him for free last time.
Plus he knew very well that she liked sodas from his previous loops, and in order to push her buttons, he pulled a bottle and opened in front of her, he then proceeded to drink.
Tanaka: "Hah, Yam Yam Yam, It's so refreshing. It's such shame that I will have to drink it all by myself and not share it with anyone."
Ram:" Tch." She clicked her tongue, the sound of it was audible.
It was such a pity move he did there, provoking a girl who was younger than him with sugary water. But again, it's her fault for not giving the copper for free.
His actions irritated her beyond measure, and with that, the deal was sealed.
*********************************************************************************************************
The rest of the day passed without any abnormalities, This time, he tried to mimic all the interaction from his first loop because he didn't want to cause any major changes.
He got his outfit, he met with Rem, he did the chores and then headed with Ram to the village to replenish their supplies. During their visit to the village, Tanaka also traded the rocks with the kids which also spiked a reaction from Ram.
At last, he got back to the mansion, to be more precise he got back to his room, he sat down on the desk and lit up a cigarette.
Tanaka: "Nothing happened today."
At first, the transition point where he leaped back in time wasn't the same. The first and third loop happened when he fell asleep, but the second loop triggered when he was in front the storage room, the space changed and it became like void.
Tanaka "Did I step inside a wormhole there?"
No, today when he visited the storage room, nothing happened.
Tanaka: "Augh, nothing connects at all." He expressed his frustration, scratching his head with his hand.
Suddenly, Tanaka heard the sound of the door creaking and he instinctively reached for the plastic bag on the ground, he then turned around.
Ram was there, her hand was partially out, leaning down.
Tanaka: "What are you doing?" He asked with his eye brow shooting up, confused by her sudden actions.
Getting caught off guard, Ram flinched, she then spoke up," Roswaal-Sama requested that Ram teaches Tanuki how to read and write," she added pointing at the two cans that are left," And also Ram was going to take her compensation."
Tanaka: "Ah." He recalled this offer which he turned down on the at first, but the last part was what caught his attention, "Compensation? Wait, didn't I give you five cans earlier today?"
Ram: "Ram drank them all." She said with a proud smirk on her face.
Her behavior left him at a loss of words.
"Hah." Letting out a heavy sigh, he threw her a bottle. It's possible to make more with few trials and errors since he knows the contents of the product.
Tanaka: " Fine, Just give me a brief introduction course after I finish. I have something to do which won't take long."
This time, he knew what to do so he replicated his steps faster, while also skipping some steps such as making the circuit design since he already remembers it.
This time, in order to avoid any risks. He started making the copper coils with only few turns, the issue last time was the voltage regulation. The first try, his phone didn't recharge as expected. However he kept adding more coil turns and continued testing.
After couple of attempts, his phone finally started charging. But he didn't let his guard down, he kept closely observing the system while it's in operation. Looking for any visible signs of overheating, smoke, or sparks.
After lightly touching the spot between the charger and the input of the phone, he didn't detect any signs of heating.
Tanaka: "Good, it's working." After inspecting for a moment, he leaned back on his chair feeling a surge of relief.
As he glanced back at his bed, he noticed Ram and Rem sitting side by side, observing him intently. Tanaka quickly informed them, "Ah, what's up? I'm done."
Ram, unimpressed, remarked, "What's that garbage?"
Annoyed by her dismissive comment, Tanaka retorted, "Don't call it garbage. It's a power source to recharge my device." He demonstrated the functionality by flashing his phone in front of her.
Curious about the device, Rem asked: " What does it do?"
The obvious answer would be contacting other people, that's the primal function of a phone. However, since there was no signal in his location, it's safe to say it's useless.
'Wait, did I do this all for nothing?'
Aware that the phone was practically useless without a signal in his current location, Tanaka swiftly improvised to save himself from embarrassment, "Ah, yeah, it's an alarm. For example, I can set it to wake me up after eight hours, making some noise to ensure I get up."
Satisfied with his response, Rem nodded in understanding. Tanaka, eager to gather as much information as possible, stated, "In any case, Ram, give me a brief introduction to the characters so I can go to sleep."
His primary goal was to break free from the loop, even though he hadn't yet found any clues. Though he was fatigued, having been awake for more than 24 hours and working all day, Tanaka was determined to absorb as much information as he could.
Rem rose from the bed and made her way towards the door. She turned back and said, "Then, I will go to sleep. Good night, and please refrain from doing anything inappropriate to sister."
Tanaka replied with a hint of annoyance, "Good night, even though that last comment was entirely unnecessary."
With that Rem exited the room, leaving both Ram and Tanaka alone. During his last loops, Tanaka got used to their playful exchanges, it's even safe to say that he grew fond of them.
After that, Ram offered him a quill, white page and a book. He respectfully declined the first two items because he had a pen and his notebook at his disposal.
The easiest method to learn any language is to first the hang of all alphabets then try and read a book.
Ram: "Tanuki, in your case, your conversational grammar is fine, so it shouldn't be too difficult. The language skills you were born with shouldn't be blamed."
Tanaka: " I know, that's what confuses me."
He held his pen and wrote down his name, (Kazuki Tanaka),"This is how my name is written in my country,"
Ram looked at it for a second then spoke up, "Isn't it just a fancy scribbles."
Tanaka: " Dammit!" His attempt to prove that he wasn't illiterate was met with a failure which was to be expected.
Ram: "Anyway quit drawing and focus. You need to wake up early tomorrow, so time is limited."
Ram: "First, we'll start with the basic letters, which are E letters. You can move on to Ro letters and Ha letters after you master E letters."
According to Ram, Drakorian has three letter sections. E, Ro and Ha, and each of these sections contain 10 characters which means 30 characters in total.
The Drakorian script looks like hieroglyphs, if he was about to learn the language from scratch, it's difficulty would be on par with Arabic or Russian. But luckily, they were literally uttering the same words as him which means the difficulty went down by a lot.
At this rate, it might take him just between 12 and 15 weeks to get the hang of it completely.
'That's in case he doesn't loop again.'
"Oi, are you paying attention?" Ram's sharp voice interrupted his thoughts, bringing him back to the present.
"Ah, sorry. Let's stop here for today. I'm at my limit, and I don't think my brain can absorb any more," Tanaka admitted, feeling a mix of exhaustion and guilt. He didn't want to waste Ram's time if he wasn't making significant progress.
Despite his declaration, Ram continued to stare, her gaze fixed on the side of his desk. Following her line of sight, Tanaka realized her intention and thought to himself, 'Wow, she is hopeless.' Relenting, he grabbed a soda can and tossed it to her. "This is the last one, and just so you know, drinking too much of it will give you sleep problems."
Ram confidently replied, "Don't worry, Ram will be fine. Then, good night."
'Wow, she is only nice when it's convenient'
As soon as Ram left the room, Tanaka's gaze fell upon the pack of cigarettes within his reach. He noticed that only one cigarette remained from the first pack, he didn't care and just lit it up. At this point, he completely disregarded the idea of saving them up.
A mischievous grin spread across his face as he recalled Ram's newfound addiction to sodas.
Tanaka muttered to himself, "Well, as long as she doesn't touch my cigarettes."
There was a line he drew when it came to sharing, adding the fact that she was at a highschooler age. He didn't want to part with his limited supply.
Frustration washed over Tanaka as he pondered the ongoing time loop. Despite his best efforts, he hadn't been able to uncover its cause.
Lost in his thoughts, exhaustion finally caught up to him, and his body surrendered to sleep.
*********************************************************************************************************
Roswaal: "Keep a close eye on him, we cannot withdraw the possibility of him being a spy from another camp,"
Ram: " Yes, Roswaal-Sama." Hearing her master's orders, Ram nodded in obedience.
As Ram was walking through the mansion's halls heading towards Kazuki Tanaka's room, Roswaal's words echoed in Ram's mind, reminding her of the suspicions they held regarding Kazuki Tanaka.
Their suspicions were justifiable, a young man who appeared in front of the mansion out of nowhere. His name was foreign, his appearance distinct with his jet-black hair and uncommon features. Furthermore, his inability to read or write, coupled with his strange behavior of collecting odd items and trading them for seemingly worthless objects, only added to the enigma.
Ram couldn't find a definitive answer on what to make out of him, so all she can do was just keep observing him for the time being.
Ram cautiously pushed open the door and was greeted by an utterly absurd sight.
"ZZZZZ"
There, sprawled across the bed in a most peculiar position, was Kazuki Tanaka, with half of his body on the bed and the other half dangling off the edge and resting on the ground.
'Is a spy supposed to be so carefree like this' Ram couldn't help but think, her suspicions starting to fade.
Ram called out to him, her voice tinged with a mix of annoyance and amusement. "Wake up!" she exclaimed.
However, Tanaka, lost in the depths of dreamland, emitted a groan in response. "Mom, 10 more minutes," he mumbled, his words a jumble of sleep-induced confusion.
Finding his reluctance to awaken exasperating, Ram decided to take matters into her own hands. She exited the room momentarily, returning with a bucket of water in hand. Without a moment's hesitation, she unleashed the splashing deluge upon the unsuspecting sleeper.
The sudden drenching jolted Tanaka out of his dreams, his eyes wide with panic. "Huh? What? Where am I?" he blurted out, his voice laced with bewilderment.
Maintaining her composure, Ram spoke in her usual direct manner, her expression stern. "Wake up, you lazy pig! Emilia-Sama has returned, and she brought a guest with her. Tanuki, you have a lot of work to do."