The Villainous Noble Who Kept Rewinding After Death: The Story Somehow Changed When I Committed Suicide

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The Villainous Noble Who Kept Rewinding After Death: The Story Somehow Changed When I Committed Suicide

Chapter 22: Escort

A little while after Miria left the room, I was informed that dinner was ready, so I was about to head to the dining hall, but before that, I decided to stop by Fiera.

(I don’t even know where Fiera’s dining hall is.)

I figured that even if I didn’t go, other maids would probably guide her, but since I had told her to stay, I felt it would be rude to leave it all to them.

When I arrived in front of the room where Fiera was staying, I knocked to check if she was there.

To my surprise, a maid came out instead of Fiera.

“Lord Lewis?”

“Is Fiera here? I was thinking of going together.”

“Ah, yes. I’ve just finished preparations, so please come in.”

I felt a bit suspicious at the mention of preparations, but I stepped inside, where I found Fiera sitting in a chair, changed into a dress.

“Ah, El.”

As soon as Fiera noticed I entered, she stood up from the chair and approached me.

Usually, she leaves her hair down, but now it was beautifully braided, and her face was lightly made up.

And more than anything, her blue dress, which exposed her shoulders, was incredibly charming, matching her fair skin and hair color perfectly.

“It looks great on you.”

“Thank you.”

It seemed that Fiera was happy to be complimented, as her tail, visible behind her, swayed back and forth.

(How does that tail even appear? And how does she have a dress that fits her perfectly…?)

Though many things piqued my curiosity, I figured that it was probably prepared by my mother, so I stopped thinking about it any further.

“Well then, shall we go?”

I said this as I extended my arm towards Fiera.

“What’s this?”

“I’m escorting you. You look so beautiful, I can’t just let you go alone.”

“…Mmm. I’m happy.”

Fiera shyly linked her arm with mine for a change. Once I confirmed she was holding on tightly, I began to walk slowly alongside her.

“Are your shoes okay?”

“Mmm. They’re unfamiliar, but it’s fine since you’re adjusting your pace to mine.”

“I see.”

Normally, it would take a short time to reach the dining hall, but today, since Fiera was wearing unfamiliar heels, we took our time walking.

When we arrived at the dining hall, my father and mother were already seated, waiting for us to join them.

“I’m sorry for the wait.”

“It’s alright. Now, both of you, take your seats.”

“Fiera-chan, come sit next to me.”

“Understood.”

After leading Fiera to my mother’s side and making her sit down, I took my own seat.

“Alright, let’s start the meal.”

With my father’s declaration, the waiting staff began to serve the food on the table.

As we started to eat the dishes laid out before us as usual, I glanced at Fiera, noticing that she wasn’t eating much.

(Ah, right…)

Understanding why she wasn’t eating, I called out to her.

“Fiera, don’t worry about the manners. Just eat as you usually do.”

Since she was from the beastfolk, she didn’t know the intricacies of human dining etiquette. It seemed she didn’t know how to eat in this unfamiliar setting.

“Oh dear. I didn’t realize! Please feel free to eat without worrying about us.”

“Yeah. You’re a guest to us, and more importantly, you’ll be traveling with my important son in the future. So don’t stress, just relax.”

“Thank you very much.”

When Fiera was encouraged by both my father and mother to eat without worry, she finally settled down to start enjoying the meal.

After we finished eating, we chatted over dessert. Although mostly, it was my mother and Fiera who were talking.

“So, did Fiera-chan invite Lewis to the party?”

“Mmm. El is strong. I wanted to be with someone strong, so I spoke up.”

“Oh my, Fiera-chan is quite bold, isn’t she?”

There were some words that could lead to misunderstandings, but Fiera continued to speak without seeming concerned at all.

I couldn’t tell if my mother was enjoying talking with Fiera or just listening to stories about me from outside, but she kept smiling while listening.

“Father, Mother, I think I’ll head back to my room now.”

After finishing my dessert, I stood up and spoke to them.

“I see. I’ll stay here a bit longer.”

“I’ll stay here too. Now, Lewis, you make sure to escort Fiera to the end.”

“Understood.”

Being told that by my mother, I approached Fiera’s seat and extended my palm toward her.

“Come on, lend me your hand.”

“Mmm. El is cool.”

Fiera grabbed my hand with a hint of playfulness, then stood to bid farewell to my father and mother.

“Thank you for today.”

“Haha, don’t mention it. Now go and rest well in your room.”

“Yes, if anything happens, please tell the maids.”

“Yes.”

“Then, excuse us.”

After saying goodbye to them, I led Fiera out of the dining hall.

After walking for a bit and arriving in front of her room, I parted ways with Fiera.

“Be sure to say goodbye to Miria before you leave tomorrow. I’ll see you off to the gate. Oh, you know who Miria is, right?”

“Mmm. I’m fine.”

“Got it. Well then, see you tomorrow.”

“See you!”

After returning to my room, I took a bath to relax my body, then immediately lay down on my bed and fell asleep.

The next morning, I woke up when one of the maids called out to me.

“Who are you? Where is Miria?”

“Well, I sent her to the town for shopping this morning, but she hasn’t come back yet.”

“Huh.”

There might be something going on, but since I wasn’t directly affected and didn’t understand the situation yet, I decided to let it go for now.

After getting out of bed and letting the maid help me change, I headed towards the gate to see Fiera off.

“Well then, Fiera, see you tomorrow.”

“Mmm. I’ll do my best tomorrow too.”

After a brief exchange of greetings, Fiera passed through the gate and headed back to the inn.

(Now then. What should I do?)

Originally, I was supposed to head to the dungeon today, but I suddenly took a day off, leaving me with nothing to do.

“Maybe I’ll go check the Adventurers’ Guild for some interesting requests.”

Thinking that if I was going to the town, I could have gone with Fiera, but I felt that if I went with her to the guild, we would end up taking on a quest, so I figured it was a good decision to go alone.

Dressed in my usual disguise, I arrived at the Adventurers’ Guild and began to glance at the request board for the first time in a while.

“Goblin extermination, White Bear fur collection… and a firewood collection request as well?”

Due to the heavy snow in the Duke’s territory during winter, there weren’t many monsters around.

If there were any, it’d only be hibernating animal-type monsters that couldn’t find food or goblins that were active all year round.

Because of that, most requests were typically about exterminating those monsters or various chores.

“Huh? A request for searching for missing persons? And there are quite a few?”

Every year at this time, there were a few people who went missing after entering the forest looking for firewood or food.

However, I found it suspicious that almost 15 people had gone missing this time, so I casually took that request paper with me to the reception.

“Ah, Eir-san. Are you alone today?”

“Hello, Sheila-san. I’m on a day off today, so Fiera isn’t with me.”

“I see. Then why are you here?”

“I just felt like it. And I found a request that caught my interest.”

I said this and placed the request paper I had just taken on the table.

“Oh, this request, huh? Indeed, many people have gone missing, so the guild has been eager to resolve this issue.”

“And there’s a possibility of kidnapping, right?”

“Yes. It’s true that there have been people going missing in the winter woods, but when it’s this many in just a few days…”

“What does the guild know so far?”

“Honestly, nothing at all. We had adventurers help search, but we didn’t get any clues.”

So, this meant that the possibility of kidnapping was indeed increasing, and it felt strange because I had never experienced such a thing in my previous life.

(In this life, all kinds of things are happening that never happened before. Why is that?)

I thought for a while about the reasons, but the only thing that came to my mind was my previous life’s suicide.

(Did my suicide cause something to change?)

If that were the case, the knowledge I had experienced until now might not be helpful, but what I was more curious about was what would happen if I died now.

(If something has changed, could it be that if I die now, I could escape this loop?)

I thought that perhaps my repeatedly lived life might come to an end, but my intuition told me that was impossible.

(For now, let’s observe the situation. More importantly…)

“I’d like to take this request.”

“Is that alright? You were on a day off, weren’t you?”

“It’s fine.”

“Understood. I’ll process it now. Please wait a moment.”

Even though I wasn’t interested in helping others, I felt a strange urge to not let this request slip through my fingers, so I handed the request paper to Sheila.

She took the request paper from me and headed to the back to complete the formalities, returning shortly after to finish.

“Now, the paperwork is done. Please take care of yourself.”

“Thank you.”

Bidding farewell to Sheila, I exited the Adventurers’ Guild, pulled my hood low, and couldn’t help but smile.

(Ah, this is going to be fun. A brand new event that I’ve never encountered before. Will it be demons or snakes? Whatever it is, I just want to be entertained.)

The missing persons incident, which had never happened in my past life. Contrary to the worries of those around me, I was bursting with excitement at the thought of encountering the unknown.