The man seemed to consider. He closed his eyes for the first time and for that fraction of a second before he opened them, the hall grew significantly lighter and even the faces of the men sitting around the table became clear. He put his hands on Gaus's shoulder. "I don't sense any ill intention in you. I want you to know that your death is necessary. You'll die so others might survive."

"Wait, we can work something out..."

The world blurred and went blank.

Magiwatch has saved 10 seconds.

The world returned to the previous ten seconds. The black-eyed man was about to put his hands on his shoulders and give him the stupid speech about justice.

Oddly enough, he didn't do that. He just looked confused about something. He pressed a few buttons on his watch then he turned to the woman and nodded.

That was the last thing Gaus remembered. He even tried to pump mana into the explosive cubes in his pocket but he was too slow. He needed to make them automatic.

***

"Vuiblooour."

He was back again. The class was boring. He'd already lived through this week for the sixth time now. In the last restart, he didn't attend his classes and as much as he would like to in this restart, he'd more important things to do. First, he was going to find out the identity of that man with black eyes and the woman with one ear. They killed him. But that didn't matter now. What mattered was the few golden seconds just before they killed him.

There was a Rewind for ten seconds. The world had then turned back to the previous ten seconds. Everyone was supposed to repeat their actions except the Rewind holder. But for some odd reason, the black-eyed man didn't repeat his actions. He didn't put his hands on Gaus's shoulder and he didn't repeat that crappy speech about justice. Did he retain his memories from the previous timeline? Also a couple of minutes before the Rewind, the black-eyed man told the woman he wanted to copy his classification. That sounded like something the save library would do. Did that man have a Rewind of his own?

Thankfully, this was a new restart. A fresh start. Neither of his killers would remember what happened even if they'd Rewind.

And his death wasn't wasted either. It showed him his next course of action. But first, there was something he wanted to check with Linc so he went to the teacher's office after class.

"Sir, I have been coming across this name," he gave the teacher a piece of paper with a name written on it, "I don't know if it's something I should pay any attention to."

Linc frowned as he saw the name. "What are you doing with dead women, class rep?"

Gaus frowned.

"Javier Minorita Helsinbird Salesal," the teacher said as if tasting the name. "She was a looper. Been dead for some loop years now. I don't think you need to pay any attention to her."

"But even if someone died in the loop, their bodies would be reborn only that they wouldn't have memories of the previous loop. Right?" Gaus asked.

"It depends on the kind of death," Linc said. "I don't know the specifics but everyone says her head was put on a pike at the gate of the academy for several days. That wouldn't have been possible if she was reborn like everyone else."

Gaus was confused. There was so much he didn't know about the loop and he intended to remedy that, but first, there was the matter of the soul bond. "Please, teacher, can you tell me a little about it? I know it's not part of the curriculum but I like the tale."

Linc glanced at his watch before he shrugged. "Okay. You know about eras X and M, right?"

Gaus nodded.

"Well, there are people from this period besides The Master. More specifically, there's one person from X and eight people from M, including The Master. Javier Minorita Helsinbird Salesal was the only person confirmed to have come from X. After she was captured and killed, The Master extended every contract by 100 days. He's a benevolent man, you know. There's no one better than him. That's why we are fighting for him.

"By the way, I won't speak that name to anyone outside the academy. Some loopers believe she still has followers. Hell, not too long ago we captured a few demons trying to impersonate her by using her name."

Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.

So either Minorita was reborn or she was an impersonator of a sort. Either way, she could be helpful in his situation.

***

"And what do you want, scholar?" The receptionist asked with the same repulsive tone. He was back in the library looking for a job. The events of the previous loops and the name Minorita Salesal had gotten his undivided attention. It could just be the help he was desperately looking for.

"Are you hiring staff?"

"No."

"I will work for free."

"It's still no."

That had been the response even from that loop he'd tried to get access to the second floor of the library. At three o'clock in the afternoon, officers would come to take the woman and she would be accused of destroying the police headquarters. But then she would somehow escape and run to the old dungeon where she would kill hundreds of marines just to get access, unknowingly helping Gaus to get access as well. If she knew what would happen from a previous loop then she wouldn't be there waiting for them to get to her. It was safe to assume she wasn't in the loop but Gaus still needed to confirm.

So he took note of her sentences, wording, gestures, and even the number of times she blinked in a minute. Then he came back the day after, and the day after that. The woman repeated her actions every day. She couldn't fake it. If she missed even a single blinking of an eye then Gaus would have seen it through it using the save library.

A day after confirming it, Gaus drew the pictures of the black-eyed man and the woman that killed him on a piece of paper. Then he attached the pictures to a letter he wrote earlier and he put everything in an envelope.

He went to the city library and paid a random passerby to deliver the envelope to the library receptionist. And he waited outside the library to see how she would react.

As soon as she read the letter, she left her post and fled. In a few minutes, she was out of sight. Gaus used longevity sense to follow her.

She ran out of the city to a small forest just beyond the city walls. The place was marked as a 'danger zone' and was deserted due to rumors of ghosts lurking in the forest. The forest itself wasn't continuous with the northern wilderness that housed the infinite beasts terrorizing the north. But many believed the forest to be housing some of these beasts. Nothing was officially confirmed.

Minorita ran into the forest. Huge mangroves lined up the entrance creating a shadow over the land. Their massive branches and leaves prevented the sun from touching the ground. He ran after her.

She was still within his range. He could feel her. She was slowing down. He looked around to see if there was any threat. Everything looked normal. After a short debate, he followed her behind.

Inside the forest, the temperature was markedly lower. The trees kept getting closer and bigger as he went further. At some point, Minorita just disappeared from his senses. Mana sense and even longevity sense with its absurd range couldn't pick her.

Then it came.

"Stay where you are!" It was an order from the men that just appeared on the trees around him. How come he didn't sense them despite having all his skills up and running?

"In the name of William Wilberforce, we order you to state your purpose and drop your weapons," the men said in unison, glaring and pointing wooden arrows at him.

William Wilberforce? That name sounded familiar.

"Everyone calm down. I was just following a friend of mine by the name of Minorita Salesal," Gaus said, confident. He'd a plan but would they listen to him? What if they decided he was a threat to be eliminated? Well, in that case, he would have to change strategy in the next loop.

At this point, the receptionist came forward. She was flanked by men and women. Most of them were half-naked and the few that were dressed used leaves and tattered clothes. She stared at him curiously before she raised her right hand. "I'll ask you a question. If I'm not satisfied with your answer, I'll drop my hand and they will shoot you. Nod if you understand me."

Gaus nodded.

"Good. Did you send the letter earlier?"

"I did."

She narrowed her eyes.

"How did you know about me and how did you know they will come?"

He could just tell her he was from the future but she wouldn't believe him. At least, not until he could prove himself to her.

"The man and the woman in the picture, did you recognize them?" He asked.

She frowned. "Your drawing was rough but the man looks like admiral Red Rider and the one-eared woman is advisor Porasak of the Old World. Why?"

Admiral Red Rider? Advisor Porasak of the Old World? So that's who they are.

"Answer me! How did you know they will come for me?" She snapped.

"Do you know about the sentinels in the city?" Gaus asked.

"What about them?"

"I've reason to believe that two of them have already picked up your location. They will have found you in the library in the next..." He looked at his watch. "One hour at most."

"I've been dodging the sentinels for two years now. There's no way they'll just find me." She harrumphed. "Even if they did find me, you won't be in a position to know about it. Don't take me for a fool, I know the sentinels answer only to the admirals. How did you know about me?"

"I'm here to help you."

Minorita narrowed her eyes in thought. It was obvious she didn't believe or trust him.

"Last chance. Tell me exactly how you know I was in that library and how you were able to identify me. If you lie I'll know."

Shit. What was he supposed to tell her? Maybe he should just go with the truth and see how that goes.

Gaus spread his hands like a preacher. "It may sound ridiculous but I come from the future."

That was the most ridiculous excuse ever. "Shoot him."

Several arrows flew toward him all at once. The archers fired a second set before the first even hit the target. But then something the archers didn't intend happened - the arrows changed direction midair and missed the target. It was sudden and dramatic but at the same time clear as the day.

"My lady, he's protected. He's manifesting the will of immortality just like you," one of the archers said.

"That's how he passed through our defenses," another archer said.

She stared at Gaus with narrowed eyes.

Gaus shrugged. "I just want to talk. Give me five minutes without pointing arrows at my head and then you can decide if you still want to kill me."