-White Whale Battlefield-

As memories flash by at an exceedingly quick pace, Subaru has but one thought in his mind.

Why does this keep happening to me?

Suddenly opening his eyes, he finds that he is back at the White Whale battlefield. Specifically, he finds that he is surrounded by all the mercenaries who are going to assist him with defeating the Witch's Cult.

That…was terrifying. I never want to have my body be taken over ever again. He muses as he doesn't move an inch. The memories of him fighting for control of his body are still very fresh in his mind.

"S-Subaru-kun? Are you alright?" Rem looks at him with deep concern.

This finally knocks him out of his trance-like state and for the first time takes a real good look around him. My save point has been updated it looks like.

He gives a brave smile to Rem, "Um…yeah. I'm fine. Totally fine." I finally know what I need to know about the Witch's Cult. We can beat them this time, I'm sure of it.

Unfortunately for him, Rem is not convinced by what he just said. Something just occurred with him that is making her really, really suspicious and concerned about his well-being.

The scent of the witch…it suddenly just got so much stronger out of nowhere!

Taking a deep look at her hero's facial expression, she can tell after having spent so much time with him that he is simply putting on a facade. There is a clear expression of fear and anxiety written on his face, even if it is very subtle. The heaviness of his eyelids has increased by a bit, like he is carrying some sort of terrible burden.

This isn't the first time he's looked like this either. She realizes. Back at the mansion, when he woke up one of those days, the scent of the witch was emanating from him much more strongly than usual. He also seemed familiar with me and Nee-sama and even held our hands. He was really relieved when he did so. She blushes at the memory. I was so suspicious of him then, I really thought he was a member of the Witch's Cult. I'm so sorry for doubting you.

Then she recalls the second time he had a sudden unexpected increase of miasma.

That day…that day he wanted to run away with me. The scent became so strong that day, I didn't know what was going on. Unlike the first time or even now, he looked so pained. So heartbroken. So…scared. Terrified. He told me he hated himself so much. He told me he couldn't do anything and that he was giving up. I told him to not give up and to keep going. He had already done so much. I wanted to start up his time for him again as he did for me. To start from zero. I think I succeeded but…I feel like there is something really, really terrible that is happening with Subaru-kun that I don't know about. Why won't he tell me? He should know he can tell me absolutely anything. Anything at all. I want to be his pillar of support.

"Are you ok Rem? You're crying for some reason." Subaru asks with concern. She's forgotten that I told her I loved her, didn't she? I'll have to tell her again sometime soon. It was so sudden that she asked that, but I realize now that I love both her and Emilia-tan equally. There's no doubt in my mind.

"H-Huh?" She didn't even noticed that a single tear was falling down her cheek. She quickly wipes it away with her sleeve. "Y-Yes, I'm fine. I should be asking if you're alright! You know, you can tell me absolutely anything. If you're struggling with something, I want to help you. It doesn't matter what it is. I want to be of assistance to you Subaru-kun."

"Rem, I…" He wanted to. He wanted to tell her so badly. He has wanted for ages to tell someone about Return By Death. He didn't want to, no matter how selfish it was, to live with this burden alone. He has certainly tried a handful of times to tell Emilia or someone else about his cursed ability. Sadly, the end result was always either him getting his heart squeezed tightly, causing him to be unable to say anything. Or the person he would try to tell would die before his very eyes. He's very sure either of these would happen again if he tried to tell her now. "I promise, everything is fine. Sorry if I was out of it for a moment there. Anyway! Everyone, I've learned a few more things about the Witch's Cult."

Subaru proceeds to tell everyone his new knowledge about the Witch Cultists, primarily about the Sin Archbishops.

Rem isn't pleased with his answer. He's lying. I can tell. He's clearly not fine. I can see it in his eyes. Why won't he tell me? Does he not trust me? Or is there another reason…

She begins to piece together the knowledge she knows. Suddenly, without any prior warning, Subaru-kun's witch's miasma stench increases tenfold. It decreases after a while, but the fact it comes without him triggering it is suspicious. This has happened three times now. Each time it happens, Subaru-kun suddenly stops responding to everything around him for a few moments. More importantly, each time it happens he is clearly very distressed, like something horrible happened just mere moments before, even though nothing happened aside from his stench becoming stronger.

She begins to think of what could be causing his sudden miasma increase and distress levels. Does he have a curse placed on him? Like the time with the Mabeasts?! But if that's the case, wouldn't it have been removed back when I killed them all? Beatrice-sama said he had no curses on him whatsoever after all was said and done. And his first miasma increase happened before I killed the Mabeasts. Ugh, this just isn't adding up! She grabs her head and shakes it a little, clearly a little distressed at failing to come to a conclusion.

Wait! An idea flows into her head, Curses aren't the only things people can have placed upon them. What if…what if Subaru-kun made a contract with someone and the contract is doing this to him?! It's not likely and Subaru-kun has never mentioned making a contract with anyone. But…I can't deny the possibility. I have to ask Beatrice-sama if she knows anything more about curses and contracts! Perhaps she knows of other things that I have no clue about as well.

With her plan to visit Beatrice once they return to the mansion firmly in place, she returns her attention to her surroundings.

"Guys, I need to say one more thing." Subaru says to the group as he raises a hand. "Sorry, but I don't think it's only the fingers. I think he may be able to possess me, too. What should I do about that?"

"Huh?!" Is the response of everyone.

"What are you talking about? Someone can possess you?!" Rem asks both fearfully and angrily.

"Weren't you listening? Julius asks her. "From what Subaru-san has been telling us, it appears the Sin Archbishops have the ability to possess other bodies. However, there are a few conditions that need to be fulfilled to do that. And the Archbishop's fingers are the only ones the Archbishop is capable of taking over. And…if what Subaru-san is saying is true…himself as well."

Subaru's eyes widen, "Wait…I think I have an idea on how to deal with the Archbishop possessing me."

"What is it?" Felix quickly asks.

"I can't really explain it, but I'll just say he won't like being in my body for very long. However, for this to work, I need you all to do me a big favor."

"I'll help you however I can Subaru-dono. You allowed me to avenge my wife after all." Wilhelm gives a short polite bow to him.

"Me too! I'll do whatever you ask Subaru-kun." Rem says vigorously.

The rest of the mercenaries all ring out their cheers of support.

Subaru smiles with confidence and stands up, "Alright! The plan is to take out the Archbishop's fingers before we deal with the main body! That way, he won't be able to hop to his fingers."

"What about the villagers?" The same soldier from the previous loop asks.

"I would like for me and a handful of others to head to Arlam village immediately. While the rest of you take out the fingers, we will assist Emilia-tan, Ram, and Beako-chan with evacuating the villagers."

"Sounds like a great plan to me!" Ricardo grins from ear to ear.

"Felix-san." Subaru addresses him.

"Hm?" His cat ears perk up.

"There is a good chance that we have a traitor among the mercenaries working with us. Can you confirm whether that's the case or not?"

"You seem to be quite cautious about all this nya." He teases, "But alrighty. I'll put your worries at ease!

"Thank you."

-Arlam Village-

Subaru, Felix, Ricardo, and a handful of other mercenaries travel as quickly as they can to Arlam village in order to warn the villagers about the Witch Cult and request them to evacuate. Compared to the last loop they are able to arrive about an hour earlier due to Subaru having the ground dragons go at top speed nearly the entire time. The ground dragons are pretty exhausted by the time they arrive, so they are taken to a nearby pond to drink up and rest.

Subaru's conversation with Emilia goes pretty much the same as last time. Though unlike last time, he's able to get in a quick hello to Beatrice. Like before, Emilia and the others have trouble convincing the villagers to leave, though Subaru basically repeats the speech from before and with Ram's assistance he's able to convince them to leave. He's even able to convince Petra once again to trust Emilia about having her travel with her and her friends.

"Where are you planning on evacuating them?" He asks Ram right after they successfully persuade the villagers.

"Half will go with Emilia-sama to the capital. The other half will be going with me to the Sanctuary."

"The Sanctuary?" He questions. He's never heard of the Sanctuary before.

"Typical of you Barusu, you really have no clue about the landscape around here, do you?" She frowns.

He frowns, "Hey! I can't help not knowing what I don't know."

She sighs, "Well, since I'm so kind, I'll tell you. It is a poor village located within Roswaal-sama's territory. Demi-humans currently live there. Roswaal-sama told me he was planning on staying there for a little while. He also told me that should anything come up at the village, we were free to bring some of them to the Sanctuary."

"Huh, really? Man, what a coincidence for Roschi to say something like that when we need to evacuate them."

"But of course. Roswaal-sama is blessed with high intellect and he always knows the right things to say at the right time." Ram puffs her chest and smiles proudly.

"Subaru! Ram!" Emilia runs as she approaches the two of them, "Thank you both so much for convincing the villagers to evacuate. My half-elf lineage and resemblance to the witch certainly made things much harder for everyone, didn't it?" She frowns.

"It is not a problem, Emilia-sama. I'm happy to be of help." Ram politely bows a little before her.

"It's wrong of them to judge you based solely on your resemblance to that witch. They need to see Emilia-tan for who she really is, a perfect angel!" Subaru states proudly.

Emilia blushes slightly in embarrassment, "C-Come on Subaru, I'm not that perfect…" Shaking her head a little, she puts on a brave smile, "I need to go help out with the evacuation procedure, so I'll see you two later!"

"Bye-bye!" He gives her a large wave. Ram doesn't say anything to her. Instead, she turns to Subaru and gives him a harsh glare, which startles him.

"W-What is it Ram? Do I have something on my face?"

"How is my dear little sister Rem? I placed my trust in you to look after her at the capital. So she better be doing well right now, otherwise…" Her eyes narrow as she places her hands on her hips.

"She's great! She's excellent!" Subaru quickly explains in a panic. He certainly did not need his head to be lopped off by an angry pink-haired oni maid. He already dealt with her fury once before due to Rem dying, and it was not pretty. "I currently have her out doing a couple…erm, errands for me. She'll be reconvening with us soon." He had actually sent her out with Julius, Wilhelm, and many others to deal with the fingers of the Witch's Cult all throughout the forest. He wasn't sure how Ram would react if she heard this, so he kept her tasks as vague as possible. Regardless, he is extremely confident she will be just fine, especially considering she is with other mercenaries.

Her harsh glare continues, "You better not have her be doing anything too dangerous out there. If she gets hurt because of you, you'll be having a very, very long chat with me, you hear?"

"Loud and clear Ram-sama!" He performs a solute.

Her glower look finally goes away and it is replaced with a teeny, tiny smile. "Good. Looks like I'll have to leave the Emilia-sama's and those villagers' evacuation to you Barusu."

"It's time to go Subaru-kyun! I don't think it'll be long before that traitor makes his move." Felix shouts as he arrives.

"Oh right! Ram, can you do me a quick favor?"

"What is it?"

Subaru pulls out a piece of paper from a pocket in his tracksuit and unfolds it before her. It's the same person who Felix identified to be a traitor among the merchants from the last loop. "Can you use your clairvoyance to find this person? He's pretty dangerous and plans to sabotage our efforts to save the villagers."

"I suppose. Roswaal-sama did say that I'm to assist you if needed. Though I must say, your artistic skills are quite lacking. As expected of you Barusu."

"Yeah…that's a pretty bare bones drawing Subaru-kyun." Felix adds on, further damaging Subaru's pride.

For the first time in a while, Ram correctly evaluated Subaru's skill at something. His drawing of the traitor is only slightly more detailed than a drawing of a stick figure. He managed to get the general shape of his head correct, as well as his eyes, ears, and mouth to some extent. Sadly, there is no shading whatsoever, so there is no convincing depth to the image. His body is not very proportional to his head, causing his head to appear smaller than it should be. He couldn't quite remember the clothes he was wearing either, so he had to guess the style of clothing he wore. Finally, the entire picture was made using black ink. So there is no opportunity to liven it up with color.

"I can't help it! I only managed to get a C+ in art class!" He pleads his case.

"C+?" Felix questions.

"Nevermind about that, I want to see you two draw better than me!"

Ram and Felix exchange a nervous glance towards one another. Subaru instantly catches on their expressions.

"That's what I thought. Now, there's no more time to waste."

"Hmph. I can draw better than Barusu at least." Ram huffs as she activates her clairvoyance. Despite Subaru's poor drawing attempt of the traitor, it is detailed enough that she is able to find and identify the individual after about 30 seconds.

"Up there." She points to a giant ledge overlooking the whole village. "That's where he's hiding."

"Thanks Ram! I owe you one!" Subaru dashes off in that direction, with Felix following close behind. He also finds Wilhelm along the way and asks him to come with him.

-Deep Forest-

The sound of splattering gore and guts rings out throughout the deep forest. Many mercenary members are spread out throughout the forest, taking out the members of the Witch's Cult. Among the members sent out the deal with the cult members, Rem is perhaps the one most excited out of everyone to finally kill the members of the cult that destroyed her and Ram's village, as well as destroyed Ram's horn.

Currently having her own horn activated, Rem sends her Morningstar into one of the fingers she has been dealing with for a little while now. She finally manages to whittle down his limbs to where he can't really move around anymore without the assistance of the unseen hands. As Rem cannot see the unseen hands, it simply looks like he's floating. Thankfully, Subaru warned her about the hands beforehand and figures there are some in the open area between him and the ground.

"Aya! Stop! If we just talked this out you could learn about love! Love! Love! Love! Love! Oh, the joys of love!" The finger pleads while biting his fingers until they bleed.

Rem aims her Morningstar and swings it through the area between him and the ground, successfully striking many unseen hands. He plummets to the ground and panics. "Please! We can learn about love together! I have a gospel that talks about it all! Love! Love! Love! Doesn't it sound wonderful?!"

She roughly stomps a foot on top of his stomach, preventing him from moving any further. Giving him a condescending glare, she responds, "Hah. Learn about love? I don't want to learn anything from you monsters. Besides, I already know what love is very well. I love my Nee-sama very much. I wish for her safety and for her to do the things she wishes to do, despite what you cultists did to her. Then there is Subaru-kun, my hero. I love him so much that whatever your twisted love is cannot even begin to compare. My love for him is and will always be stronger than the love you cultists hold for that witch you worship with all of your beings. Now, die!"

"Love!" Is the last thing the witch cultist exclaims before being pulverized by Rem's Morningstar.

"Phew." She wipes her forehead that has become covered with a bit of sweat. "That's one of the fingers down. I wonder how everyone else is holding up."

"Finished Rem-san?" She turns around to find Julius approaching her, stepping over a few bushes to do so.

"Yes. How about you?"

"The finger I dealt with is dead as well. Let's go back to the village and meet up with Subaru-san and the others."

Rem nods in response and they begin to travel back to Arlam village.

-Arlam Village-

Everyone except for one group that were sent out to deal with the fingers return to Arlam village with their numbers completely intact. This gives Subaru a huge wave of relief. While everyone had been dealing with the fingers of Petelguese, Subaru, Felix, and Wilhelm managed to capture the traitor among the merchants working with the cult. They also managed to take his metia, which the shape highly resembles an old pocket watch from Subaru's old world. Actually, he was in possession of two of them. They learn that this device, called a Conversing Mirror, allows for two mirrors to connect to one another much like a cell phone. Opening it up, you can see through the other mirror, essentially functioning the same as a video calling app back in Subaru's world.

"Nee-sama!" Rem runs up and gives Ram a giant hug. "I've missed you! How've you been?"

She gives a warm smile and returns the hug, but with less force than her sister. "I've been good. I've missed you a lot as well. Even if you haven't been at the mansion, it's still in tip-top shape thanks to my wonderful housework skills."

Rem gulps and sweats a little, Oh no. Me nor Subaru-kun have been at the mansion in a few weeks at least! Looks like we have a lot of work ahead of us.

"R-Right."

"Anyway, how have you been, Rem? Barusu hasn't been giving you any trouble has he?"

"I'm right here you know!" Subaru frowns.

"I've been great! Subaru-kun hasn't been giving me any trouble at all. He's been such a big help in dealing with the White Whale and the Witch's Cult." She turns to him and smiles, "He has my utmost gratitude."

Subaru turns his head in embarrassment, "I've just done a bit of the planning. It's not like I've fought anything like you have." He then changes the topic, "Anyway, where's Beako-chan? I saw her earlier and now she isn't here anymore."

Ram replies, "She's just begun to make her way back to the mansion a few minutes ago. She said her Forbidden Library would protect her."

"I see, alright."

"Subaru-kun, how long do we have until we leave?" Rem asks.

"Emilia-tan's half of the evacuees should be about ready to leave now. Ram's half should already be on the way to the Sanctuary. Now that I think about it, why are you still here Ram? Shouldn't you be on the road by now?"

"I simply couldn't leave without seeing my adorable little sister." She puts a hand on her shoulder. "Now I feel happy knowing she is safe. Rem, do you want to travel with me to the Sanctuary?"

She thinks about it for a moment before shaking her head, "I appreciate the offer and while I would love to travel with you Nee-sama, I want to help Subaru-kun with the evacuation. I'll meet up with you when we return to the mansion. I'm sure we'll have lots to talk about!"

Ram frowns for a moment before returning to her neutral expression, "Alright, that'll be good. Barusu, don't cause too much trouble for her. I'll be off now."

"I won't!"

"He won't cause any problems, don't worry." I wish she'd trust him a bit more at least.

With a satisfied nod, she gets onto one of the carriages containing a handful of villagers and drives off.

Rem turns to Subaru, "Subaru-kun, I'd like to run a quick errand. Can you give me about 10 to 15 minutes?"

He nods, "Sure, I'm going to meet up with Emilia-tan and see if she's doing alright. Don't take too long though. We'll be leaving soon. Hopefully the last set of mercenaries shows up here soon. They've been gone for a while."

"Yes." She runs off to find Beatrice, who has been on her mind nearly as much as Subaru all day.

Finding a small dirt road that leads up towards the mansion, Rem follows the path. She's not sure whether Beatrice can actually give her any positive answers to Subaru's dilemma. While she trusts him wholeheartedly now, she does find it strange that he has the witch's stench yet he isn't in the Witch's Cult. Even more weirdly is the once in a while happening where the stench grows much stronger for a period of time without warning, as she observed earlier that morning. Along with that his state of mind rapidly deteriorates for a while, which compared to the increase in miasma is way more disturbing for her.

Could he be involved with a witch somehow? No, that can't be. No one has ever even seen these witches anyway. Are there even multiple witches? The only one I'm aware of is the Witch of Envy, Satella.

Deep in thought, she doesn't even realize how far she's traveled until she bumps into Beatrice.

"Eep! What was that, I wonder?" Jumping on reflex and turning around, she sees the culprit of her mini heart attack.

"Oh! I'm sorry Beatrice-sama, I wasn't looking where I was going." Rem makes a small bow to her.

"Be more careful then!" She puffs out her cheeks, straightens out her large dress, and turns back around to head on her way.

"Wait!" She extends an arm out in front of her, "I have something I want to ask you."

"After rudely bumping into Betty? You're dauntless, I suppose."

"I'm really sorry about that, but this is very important." Her voice suddenly turns serious.

This surprises Beatrice a little. She and Rem, despite living in the same mansion together, have very rarely ever interacted with one another. They've just never had a reason to talk to one another. It wasn't like Beatrice was interested in chatting with anyone, except for Puck. As for Rem, she was distant with everyone aside from Ram until Subaru melted her frozen heart. Thus, she's way more upbeat now. Still, Rem didn't have much of a reason to talk to her, until now.

"What is it, I wonder? Make it quick."

"It's about Subaru-kun."

"Does it look like Betty cares about that boy? Stop wasting my time, in fact. Betty needs to return to the Forbidden Library."

She attempts to leave again before Rem stops her with another question, "Is he cursed?"

"Huh?"

"Please, I'll do whatever you want. I just want to know why the potency of the witch's scent increased on him today."

"Isn't he using his magic against the Witch Cultists?" Beatrice asks.

She shakes her head. "No. The increase in miasma happened while we were discussing strategies on how to defeat the Witch's Cult. It was completely sudden and unexpected. He also looked really distressed at that moment too, though he wouldn't tell anyone what was wrong with him."

Her pink butterfly-shaped pupils shrink ever so slightly in curiosity, wonder, and fear. "Is that so? Let's sit over there and talk, I suppose." She points to a nearby bench. "Tell Betty everything you know."

-Author's Corner-

A/N: Not much to say this time. I hope the pacing is reasonable and not too long. There aren't nearly as many canon events in this chapter either.

Thanks for all the favorites, follows, and reviews so far! I really appreciate each and every one of them.

Jason 4Rever: Thanks! Glad you enjoyed the last chapter.

Maximum Rhapsody: I think Rem would definitely be friends with amnesic Crusch. Though I don't think they can spend much time together. I plan to evolve Rem's character as the story goes on as she learns and explores new things with time. As for Crusch joining Subaru's "harem" so to speak, it's likely not going to happen. Even though she's amnesic, she still has a lot of work to do as a candidate for the throne. They'd have to spend a lot of time together for her to realistically fall for him, and him for her.