(Rem x Reader) Re:Reader - Starting YOUR New Life in Another World

Chapter 14: Stakeout

Waking up to the feeling of sun on his eyes, YN finally arose. It was the dawn of the second day.

YN headed down stairs to have breakfast, and made conversation with some of the mansions fellow residents.

YN had asked Beatrice how her library was organized to no avail, complemented Rem's cooking, asked Ram why she was considered the older sister despite being twins, and as he was finishing up, had been asked again by Emilia how his gate was and if still hadn't noticed anything odd.

Returning to his room, YN self studied to minimal advancement.

Ya know, Subaru himself said I could ask for help if I needed, and cannot remember how to write these glyphs when used in this context.

Getting up, YN went to Subaru's room and knocked before walking in.

Subaru: YN, need something?

YN: Yeah, can you show me how you write the gliyphs for...

***

After being shown, YN had noticed that all the books Subaru had grabbed last night had already been read through.

YN: You sure got through those books pretty quick.

Subaru: You know why?

YN & Subaru: Because there's nothing else to do.

Subaru: Exactly. I'm getting burnt out on this already. It's like I'm hitting a wall in terms of improvement.

YN: That means you should probably take a break. Speaking of, wasn't the goal of this perma-guest siesta supposed to be dedicated to looking for clues and investigating?

Subaru: It was, at least in theory, but I've searched the entire mansion and found nothing. I'm at a dead end in studying, and our fourth-day-problem.

YN: Maybe you really should take a break and regroup your thoughts. Wanna go for a walk around the gardens?

Subaru: If you think it'll help, I'll give it a go.

***

After walking down the stairs and down the back steps of the mansion, and before walking out into the back gardens of the mansion, the two stopped to see Rem beginning to trim the lawn.

The thing that had caught YNs eye was the level she had set blades for the height of the trimmed grass.

Normally YN had to take two passes over an area, taking about half the height he wished to take from the grass each time. Setting it that low would have been a monster for YN to push, requiring lots of strength, so surely for Rem it would be—

YN: How is she doing that?!

Subaru: What? What do you mean?

Not responding to Subaru, YN waited as Rem brought the lawn cutter back their direction and waved to get her attention.

As she made her way over, YN called out to her.

YN: 'Afternoon Rem. How's the lawn coming?

Slightly perplexed by the address, Rem stopped to see what YN had to say.

Rem: Good afternoon. The work is going steadily but we have a lot to do today. Are you two out for a stroll in the nice weather?

YN: Yeah actually, can't stay cooped up inside all day. But uhh, Rem?

Tilting her head in question, YN continued.

YN: I really don't mean to tell you how to do your job but... aren't you kinda doing that the hard way? You've got it set pretty low for your first pass.

Rem: — — ? Rem has always cut the grass this way. It's the height Roswaal-sama requires the grass to be for optimal scenery.

YN: Right, but... isn't that hard to push?

Bringing a hand to her chest and shaking her head, Rem replied.

Rem: No, not particularly.

Almost as if stepping aside to let YN try, he gave the trimmer a push.

It was definitely more then he'd be willing to push but how was Rem managing this?

How can she push it so easily? Is it angle she uses or something?

YN: *exhausted sigh* Well, kudos to you for willing to do it in one pass. Normally I'd take something this high in at least two more shallow passes.

Subaru: But wouldn't that be twice the work for Rem?

YN: Not if I'm right about something here... Rem do you normally rake the lawn after you're done cutting it?

Rem: Yes, Rem must collect the lawns trimmings and dispose of them or the work will look sloppy.

YN: Right. Because with it set this low, the trimmings are so long they sit on top of the grass.

Bending down and rubbing his hand on the grass, YN continued.

YN: But if you do two more shallow passes, the trimmings aren't nearly as long, and will fall below the top of the cut grass, meaning—

Rem: Rem would not need to rake the lawn clippings after trimming.

Giving her a finger gun after standing back up, YN praised Rem.

YN: Bingo. It's quicker to trim twice then once and then have to rake. Plus, you're letting the trimmings go back into the soil to help replenish it. You'll get a lawn with a much more even color and growth.

Rem held her hand to her chin in thought before smiling.

Rem: Rem sees. That would save considerable time and give a more pleasant lawn.

YN: Well there ya go then. You learn something new everyday.

Bowing, Rem thanked YN and following his advice, continued to trimming while YN and Subaru continued to walk.

Subaru: What are you? Some middle aged old man trying to have the best lawn in the neighborhood? How'd you know all that?

Scratching the back of his head, somewhat embarrassed about the equation Subaru made of his niche knowledge on such a seemingly random topic, YN explained.

YN: Well, on our first time here Ram asked me if I'd ever trimmed a lawn before, and like an idiot I said 'Yep. Sure have.' and she just showed me where that old trimmer was and told me to cut the lawn.

Subaru: And?

YN: Remember that educational app on my phone that I showed you? The reason I was traveling before coming here? I used it's encyclopedia function to look up old yard trimmers and it briefly explained how to use them. I got the 'shorter passes' trick from finding a tidbit on lawn care on this section on biology.

Subaru: That's... resourceful.

YN: *sigh* That's probably the only time it's really going to come in handy I feel like. So much here is just 'Boom! Magic!' that it makes any knowledge here worthless because it's just not applicable.

With that out of the way, the conversation dwindled into lesser, small talk.