Subaru opened his eyes to see a familiar ceiling of his room. I'm back again. He sat up from his bed to see Rem on the left side of his room.
"Morning, Subaru," spoke Rem. "Rem was about to wake Subaru to inform that sister is disappointed in Subaru's oversleeping. Subaru should quickly head to the kitchen at once."
"Morning, Rem." Subaru went off from his bed and stretched his arms. "Tell Ram that I'll be there shortly. Can you try to convince Ram for a lesser punishment?" Subaru smiled and gave a thumbs up.
Rem gave a small giggle. "Rem doubt that there is a way to soften sister's wrath. Rem will see you in a bit," said Rem as she left Subaru's room.
As Subaru started his morning routine, he recalled some of the information he received from the last loop. Kanishi hunted Subaru based on the stench while proclaiming Subaru was a witch cultist, and this incident was similar to Rem in the third loop of his first week in the mansion. If Subaru was able to gain Rem's trust despite his strong scent, he could gain the trust of Kanishi, but unlike Rem, Kanishi already has his sights on Subaru. However, Subaru did notice a few details that could help him, which was Kanishi arrives at a specific time and dislike fighting non-witch cultists.
"Barusu," snarked Ram as Subaru entered the kitchen. "What's the excuse for oversleeping?"
"I have no excuses today, Ram. I guess that I need to move those dishes?" Subaru pointed towards the kitchen table.
Ram crossed her arms. "At least you have some common sense today, but steamed potatoes for breakfast as punishment. I also need you to go with sister today to buy ingredients at the village." Ram walked from Subaru.
"Sure, I'll head there with Rem." Subaru went up to Rem, who was putting the last touches on a dish. "Hey, Rem."
"Yes, Subaru?" asked Rem, who looked up from her activity.
"I want us to go to the village early today. Sometime before lunch."
"What's the occasion?" asked Rem with a slightly confused look.
"I wanted to talk with you alone as soon as possible," responded Subaru with a stern look.
Rem was taken aback by the response. "Sure, how about after breakfast? I'll let sister know."
"That can do," said Subaru. "I'll see you later." Subaru grabbed the dishes and left the kitchen.
After breakfast, Subaru and Rem met in front of the mansion and started their walk to the village.
"So, Subaru, what do you want to talk about?" asked Rem.
"Rem, I know that you are aware of the weird stench I have, so does it stink badly?" Subaru sniffed his shoulder. "I can't even smell anything."
"Rem hates to admit that Subaru smells bad, especially this morning, but Rem is used to the smell of Subaru now." Rem gave a small smile. "It is not a smell of a witch cultist, but a smell of someone cursed by the witch.
"Why do you stick around me when the smell is so revolting?"
"Rem completely trusts Subaru. When Subaru first came here, Rem couldn't trust Subaru due to smelling like the people who destroyed Rem's village. However, Rem's suspicion of Subaru lessens after seeing Subaru work too hard and had a nice rest on Emilia's lap." Rem begins to smile more.
Subaru begins to blush a little.
"When Subaru knocked Rem back to normal to save Rem from being blindsided, Rem lost every suspicion after seeing Subaru getting chewed up to save Rem. Rem had to pay Subaru back for his sacrifice, but Subaru saved Rem instead, making Rem feel indebted to Subaru. However, after our talk together after Subaru recovered, Rem felt very happy and fully trust Subaru." Rem gave a wide grin after saying her story.
Subaru lacked any words to say. He knew they grew closer as friends but didn't know how much Rem has progressed from wanting to kill him to becoming close allies with him.
"Rem...," said Subaru as he does not know what else to say.
"No need to say anything, Subaru," reassured Rem. "After everything Subaru has done, Rem wished that she never mentally accused Subaru of being a witch cultist."
Subaru took a deep breath. "About that subject, does anyone else know about my smell? Is it rare for people to smell this witch's scent?"
"Rem hasn't told anyone about Subaru's scent, and sister lost her ability to smell it." Rem paused for a minute to think. "Emilia did not act suspicious of Subaru, so Rem assumes Emilia has no idea, including Puck. Beatrice is a strange case as she mainly resides in the library, so Rem rarely sees how Beatrice acts around Subaru. Rem has concerns about Roswaal because Rem never received any orders concerning Subaru's scent, so Rem does not know what Roswaal is thinking. The ability to smell the witch's scent is rare, so Subaru should be fine. However, the smell this strong would track attention, but Rem will make sure that no one will accuse Subaru of being a witch cultist."
"You have my gratitude, Rem," thanked Subaru from Rem's reassurance. "What if someone did have the ability to smell my scent and try to kill me? Any ideas?"
"Rem would absolutely beat down anyone who tries to touch Subaru!" exclaimed Rem.
"I like the excitement, but what if someone stronger was after me?" Subaru gave a worrying face. "I don't want Rem to get hurt because of me."
"If that scenario happened, Roswaal would back the idea that Subaru is not a witch cultist. Roswaal does have great influence for being a lord."
Hearing Roswaal's name triggered a detail Subaru forgot in his previous loops. Roswaal left to attend some business after breakfast and would not be back until dinner. The attack happened before dinner, so Subaru had to either beat Kanishi, convince Kanishi, or delay long enough for Roswaal to return.
"However, by staying in the mansion, Subaru would be safe," said Rem. "Everyone in the mansion is well trained to deal with intruders. Only crazy people like witch cultists and assassins would dare attack a lord's mansion."
"Thank you, Rem, for the reassurance," said Subaru. "I need to work harder, so I can defend myself instead of relying on everyone in the mansion."
"Let's work on the butler skills before combat first," giggled Rem.
"I'll make sure to become a better butler soon enough," laughed Subaru.
The two reached the village, greeted the villagers, and met with the village merchant who handled the goods and crops. While Rem picked out the supplies, Subaru came up to the merchant.
"Have you ever heard of the name, Kanishi?" asked Subaru.
The merchant rubbed his chin. "I heard a few rumors of him while I was in the bars of the capital."
"Can you tell me what you heard about him?" Subaru further questioned the merchant.
"Well, all of the rumors concerning Kanishi all pointed to him being a foreign drunk that frequently heads towards the knight's office in the middle of the night demanding information about any witch cultists to hunt. There are a few drunkards like him who are similar, but he's the most extreme one of them all. I guess that he has a huge grudge against them. That's everything I heard about him."
"Thank you for the information." Subaru thanked the merchant with a handshake.
"If you need rumors, ask me again next time you two come over to buy goods," said the merchant. "A key to being a merchant is great customer relationships."
Subaru and Rem finished their business and went back to the mansion. Along the way, Rem asked Subaru about his date that would lead to Subaru agreeing to bring Rem along and possibly Ram if she is willing to come along to have a picnic to relax at the secret flower field.
Once the two reached the mansion, they distributed the goods into the kitchen and the storage room. Eventually, they would split off to continue their work in the mansion. However, during Subaru's break, instead of visiting Emilia to have a casual talk, he visited Beatrice to find out if there was a way to mask the witch's scent.
"Beako!" Subaru greeted Beatrice as he opened the door to the library.
"What do you want?" questioned Beatrice with an annoyed tone. "Hanging around again just to get blasted out?"
"Actually, I came here to seek some advice," said Subaru.
"Betty could help, I suppose," replied Beatrice. "What do you want?
"You can smell the witch's scent on me, correct?" asked Subaru.
"Betty never told you about this," said Beatrice with a neutral tone. "How did you know?"
Subaru forgot that Beatrice only told him about his scent once in a failed loop. It was the loop when he stayed inside the library.
"Well," Subaru trailed off for a short moment as he rubbed the back of his head in shame for being a fool. "Since Betty helped me so much with the curses, I figure you can help with this curse of the witch's scent."
"What do you want me to do?" asked Beatrice.
"Isn't there a way to mask or hide the witch's scent?" Subaru pleaded to Beatrice. "I'm afraid I would bring trouble."
Beatrice shook her head sideways. "There's no method to do that, I suppose."
"Nothing from the books as well?"
Betty is in the library, so of course, I know everything in this library. An idiot like you wouldn't understand roles, I suppose," insulted Beatrice.
"I also have another question," asked Subaru.
"Yes." Beatrice's interest peaked slightly.
"Can you stop anyone from attacking me," said Subaru in a blunt matter.
"Betty is disappointed with how that request taken form." Beatrice shot Subaru out from the library.
Subaru stood up after being thrown out. Didn't gain much from that. Subaru decided it was best to continue his work and process his new information.
While Subaru was working, he considered his options. Both the twins are not enough to deal with Kanishi. Beatrice is unwilling to help. Subaru did not want Emilia to get involved because it was his problem which can take away Emilia's precious time. Roswaal was unavailable to help. The only thing he can hope for is that Kanishi is not crazy enough to invade the mansion to kill Subaru.
However, Subaru theorized for the worst. Unless Beatrice was involved, there was no way to subdue Kanishi. At best, Subaru will have to escape through the secret tunnel in Roswaal's office.
Many hours passed as Subaru worked in the mansion. When the hour of his death came, he kept a tense watch over the mansion's entrance. The minutes that passed felt like hours to Subaru as he was uncertain if Kanishi would come to the front door. Surely, Kanishi shouldn't know if Roswaal is here or not.
There was a loud knock on the door, which prompted Ram, who was nearby, to greet the visitor.
Subaru quickly hid nearby to spy on the visitor.
Ram opened the door. "Welcome to the Mathers' mansion. Would you state your name and purpose here?"
"Sorry for the intrusion and unofficial business. My name is simply Kanishi, and I have a problem with one of your employees," said Kanishi as he stood there with his weapon sheathed on his hip.
A/N: Chapter three was originally planned to be longer, but I decided to split it in half. Need to keep that suspense up for the climax. Story-wise, it was getting harder to make sure everything does not seem out of place that could classified itself as an event that the residents of the mansion could easily put behind them.