Just last night, he had been thinking of ways to maximize the beatings he received from Serika. At one point, he had even considered assassinating Carmillia with his own hands. But now, a solution had been served to him on a platter. Whatever killed Carmillia, he could simply let it trigger his regression until he was satisfied with his skills.
'This is good. I didn't want to do it myself, Carmillia…' he thought, staring at the ceiling after laughing his heart out.
'Don't worry. I will save you… just not right now.'
Of course, he intended to prevent her death eventually, he didn't want to repeat the same week again and again.
What he needed most right now was to learn how to fight in a short period of time. If he couldn't grow the way the protagonist did, distributing stats and skills through the system, then he would have to rely on regression and the time he spent training with Serika. Fortunately for him, regression allowed him to repeat the process again and again.
He could only hope his sanity would hold, else, he'll be damned in the upcoming arcs.
On the way to the training grounds, Xian had much to think about.
The most important realization was that his point of regression had changed. Instead of returning to the moment he first met Carmillia, he now restarted on the morning Serika became his training partner.
Thus far, two major events had occurred. The lethal threat of the coachman had been dealt with, and the villainess's probing questions about his methods, which could have easily led to a torturous investigation, had been averted.
That meant a condition had been fulfilled. An event significant enough to permanently advance his checkpoint beyond his control.
If he had to choose between them, the coachman's death was the more likely trigger.
That man would remain dead in every timeline now. There would be no chance for Xian to encounter him again.
Unfortunately, that also meant he had lost the opportunity to investigate his own background before arriving at the estate.
'Tsk. Whatever. This isn't the true starting point anyway. Everything begins at the academy.'
In truth, his situation wasn't that different from the protagonist's.
He felt a little regret about losing the coachman incident as a potential training opportunity, but the man had been far too strong for him to learn from anyway, and he was an enemy of the household. Furthermore, the number of regressions required would probably drive him insane long before it paid off. Xian knew from various stories that regression could be a mentally taxing power.
Compared to that, enduring Serika's beatings was the far more reasonable option.
When he entered the training grounds, the familiar scene greeted him as if it had been perfectly recreated.
Moris stood nearby as usual. Carmillia sat watching from her seat, and beside her was the girl whose name he had only recently learned.
Lucinelle.
Needless to say, Serika and Lucinelle had only been labeled as 'Swordmaidens' in the game, so he was pleased to finally know their names.
Then there was Serika. She still had that impatient expression, her brows furrowed as she scrutinized him from head to toe. Her toned body was wet with sweat, and it almost looked as if heat itself was rising from her skin.
Her short light brown hair clung to her forehead, giving her a wild and intimidating look.
'A shame she's small.' Had she been any taller, her disposition would have perfectly matched that wild-lady appearance.
Serika was actually the shortest among the three of them, with Lucinelle being the tallest.
"What are you grinning at?"
Xian hadn't realized his mouth had moved.
"Nothing. Bring it on."
He walked toward the weapon racks to find a longsword first. Since time was on his side, he was going to learn as much as he could from this opportunity.
"Hoh? You're quick on the uptake." Grinning, Serika took a stance he was familiar with. A stance he would have nightmares about.
But soon, even those nightmares would feel like a walk in the park.
In exactly five days, he would regress when the villainess died.
Xian recalled something as his eyes wandered around the training grounds. On an unassuming side of the field stood a maid holding a box of healing potions.
She was the same maid who took care of him every night, as if she had developed some strange obsession with him. Calling it an obsession felt fitting. After all, who would reach such a high affection level within the span of a single week?
'So did it increase each day I got beat up?'
Xian wanted to find out what had caused the maid's affection level to rise so much within a single week. The Pink level, despite its pleasant color, was actually a very dangerous state. At that level, the jealousy counter of the heroines and the possibility of the ultimate Ruin End would begin to appear, something he wanted to avoid at all costs.
The Ruin Ends were already messed up as they were, ranging from horrible deaths to outright psychological torture. Or worse… the heroine leaving the protagonist for a rival.
Yes, rivals existed in this dating sim game, solely for the purpose of creating consequences and obstacles for the player. Players hated the mechanic as a whole because it bruised their ego whenever they lost.
'If I meet any of those bastards, I'm killing them immediately.'
He hated those guys too. Who would want their favorite girl taken away in a dating sim anyway? The developers were even criticized for it, but their complaints fell on deaf ears.
Although, he could technically be considered one such rival now, since in the future he would definitely stand against the protagonist. But that was not a topic worth thinking about for the time being.
Serika made the first move as usual, a move Xian had experienced countless times.
She aimed for his openings every single time, to the point that he had developed a sense for it. Serika, noticing his readiness, swerved the direction of her weapon, but it was met by Xian's longsword.
Both of them had formidable strength for their level, but Serika had the upper hand. Xian felt a surge of force travel through the longsword he held. Knowing it was unwise to match Serika in brute strength, he let the blade push through as he leaned back, evading her strike.
'At least thirty percent.' That was how much power Serika was exerting. If she went all out, he wouldn't even see her attack coming.
He remembered the first battle with Serika when he was still a player. At the time, he had been a newbie who didn't know any better. He involved himself with Carmillia at every opportunity, thinking she might be a possible heroine, only to be antagonized instead.
In the middle part of the game, she had a falling out with the protagonist, and the choices forced him to act like a goody-two-shoes, resulting in a fight against her swordmaidens.
They hadn't even been named back then. His character had been level 33, which was considered low at the time. The levels displayed for the two swordmaidens were 39 and 42 respectively. Needless to say, his party had lost with flying colors.
Later on, he learned that level gaps were usually bridged near the end of the mid-story arc in the game, when students left the academy for specialized assignments.
Of course, right now their levels were probably lower.
'Still, I'm only level 14. What's letting me withstand her?'
His character sheet didn't show any stat increases. That left only one possibility: traits. And likely a very powerful one.
'I'm looking forward to when it finally unseals.'
This time, he kept clashing, evading, and occasionally even countering Serika's attacks. He could feel his control improving and his familiarity with his body increasing.
"So you've got some brains for battle? Then let's step things up." Serika said as she doubled the speed of her strikes, causing several hits to land on Xian.
He took it without batting an eye, already used to the beatings he had received from Serika in the previous run. Of course, occasional grunts still escaped his mouth, but unlike before, he was no longer writhing in pain.
After the spar, he was left kneeling on the floor.
As usual, Carmillia questioned his skills. But this time, Serika didn't mock him.
Moris also noted that he had performed better compared to their previous training session, while Lucinelle occasionally glanced at him. Perhaps he had finally caught her interest? Only Carmillia's stance had not changed.
And then there was the maid who had very easily taken a liking to him.
"Um, hello again. I was the assigned maid today too… hehe." She laughed sweetly while carrying the usual basket of supplies needed for healing and wiping the blood from his wounds.
'Is it her?' Xian remembered what she had said back then.
'Don't worry, Sir Xian… Starting tomorrow, you won't need to do all of this.'
He remembered those exact words. Did that mean she had killed Carmillia? Along with her guards?
'But she looks weak. Did she use poison?'
It wouldn't be far-fetched if that were the case. The problem was that he knew how thoroughly the servants in the household operated. Just how much stealth would be required to pull something like that off?
They were almost spotless and perfect. Right… almost.
As a Carmillia fan, he knew a great deal about her habits and routines. Of course, most of that knowledge came from other players who had painstakingly investigated it. Even he didn't have the patience to gather information to that extent. It was the collective knowledge of addicts.
It wasn't a coincidence that Carmillia had invited him for tea in her garden. That was a habit she practiced every other day. Players had concluded that she did it to help herself sleep.
And the staff responsible for preparing it were, of course, the maids.
"What a coincidence, don't you think?" He looked at her with his usual practiced smile. She nodded, smiling shyly with her eyes lowered.
"Let's get this over with. Could you help me wipe the blood?" This time, he proactively showed interest in her.
"O-okay!"
Her affection level flickered from 30 to 68 instantly. She was on the verge of reaching the infamous number.
'She… seems to like me enough already.'
Maybe this body's appearance was simply her type. When he inspected himself in the mirror, he found his face handsome but far too intimidating. A face that looked naturally defiant and ill-tempered, matched with his blood red hair color.
He had a toned and tall body, standing nearly six feet tall. In his previous life before transmigrating into the game, he had always been the one looking up when meeting people that tall.
While the maid wiped his wounds, he recalled a piece of information he had overlooked.
"Right, can you tell me your name?" he asked, glancing back as the maid cleaned a wound on his back.
Her hands paused for a moment as she stared at Xian with a slight blush. "Um… you can call me Miri."
That did it. Her affection meter rose again.
[Blue Heart: 1]
Xian almost frowned in disbelief due to the affection level rising. "Miri… That's a nickname isn't it? Sound's cute." He stood up and took the longsword once again, leaving Miri puzzled and embarrassed.
"I'll call you Miri from now on. You can drop the 'sir' when talking to me." He walked towards the middle of the training grounds once again, as if to wait.
"H-How could I! Sir Xian is the y-young miss's butler…"
"That so? Suit yourself I guess." He walked toward the middle of the training grounds as if waiting for something.
'She's taking her sweet time before entering.'
The closed doors, swung open, revealing Serika just the way Xian remembered. The frown she had this time was much lighter, but her eyes bore quite the darkness in them.
Miri froze where she stood, the cloth still in her hands. Her eyes moved between the two of them nervously, as if unsure whether she should intervene or pretend nothing was happening.
"Haah, since when were maids allowed to flirt during work?" She briefly glared towards Miri behind Xian, to which he blocked with his body. That earned him an equally sharp stare.
[Green Heart: 16]
Her affection was level higher than he remembers. Probably because he put up a fight.
Some heroines, had activities or actions they like. If you spend time doing it with them and leave a good impression, the affection level can be significantly raised. In Serika's case, Xian figured that she liked both a good spar and fight.
"Were you eavesdropping on us?" Serika choked when she heard that.
"What!? Why would I eavesdrop about useless things? The nerve!" Stomping her foot with a snarl, she made her way towards Xian.
"You're pissing me off. I came back to give you more beating." This time, she took a different stance, as if about to unsheathe her blade. Xian recognized the stance immediately. In his previous runs, that posture always meant the spar would end with him half-dead.
That made Xian's heart grow a little tense.
But he refused to fight without provoking her. Somewhere along the way, he had grown used to pissing off Serika again and again as the only way to get back at her.
"This guy…!"
Serika didn't finish her sentence before Xian lunged at her first.
Meanwhile, Miri watched the one-sided beating unfold with bated breath alongside two other maids who had arrived with the healing supplies.
Her hands tightened around the cloth she was holding as she stared at Xian, worry filling her eyes.