Relaxation. I thought I knew what relaxation felt like. It's the thing you do when you're sitting on bed, not having to worry about anything at all. Having your meals prepared and cooked, only needing for you to go and open your mouth to consume said food.

No, no matter what you say, that's not laziness.

Laziness is not even bothering to get up from your bed to eat said food.

Relaxation is a state of mind. When your worries are all pushed out, for the sole purpose of letting the future you handle them. The you of now doesn't need to worry, while the future you will curse the day that the past you decided to relax.

You get it? Good. Why? Simple.

I'm of the opinion that to understand something, you must understand the opposite of it. Like how atheists usually learn more of whatever religion they do not ascribe to, to verify and confirm just how much they don't believe in it.

Not that I am an atheist. In the past, maybe I still held onto the belief of Shinto, maybe not. Who knows. I practiced the whole going to temple things, but did I really believe in the gods?

I can't say that now, of course.

My presence here was more than enough to justify the existence of the divine. How so?

Well, there's no way that some divine entity isn't laughing their ass off watching me fumble around this world.

Where was I? Right, knowing things requires one to know of the opposite.

And I knew relaxation to a tee. I felt relaxed when I didn't have any customers for the day. When everything in my shop is organized, when my orders are complete, and when I have the luxury of only having to decide what I am going to have for dinner.

I understand relaxation.

That's why I understood why this wasn't relaxing whatsoever.

"Felix, you'll need to take your group and take out three of these guys, alright? These three specifically, they'll be around the left side of the forest, trust me when I say they're pretty obvious about it. Meanwhile, we can lead a few of them off the path…here, here and here. They're going to be grouped into twos, for a total of six plus three of them dead." Natsuki gestured to various points on the map which Ram had provided.

His face was a myriad of emotions, chief of which was intense panic. Even a blind man could tell just how panicked he was with how frantic his speech was becoming.

I sighed as I rubbed my eyes. I was tired, all of us were, but I also couldn't afford to rest now. Not when, not if, Natsuki was right.

How the hell did we even get here?

…

It was just seconds after Karsten's triumphant shout. I allowed myself to relax, sitting down onto the ground as the early morning sun rose in the sky. The cheers and yells from the assembled soldiers would have been annoying had I not felt the same.

We had done it. Maybe not in the most flattering way, and at the cost of an entire national landmark, but we'd done it. Everyone should be celebrating, and most of us were.

I was not one of them.

Don't get me wrong. I was satisfied that we had done it. The issue was, was the cost worth it? The fact was, we don't know what the actual cost was. The very existence of those that fell in battle were lost to whatever happened to the victims of the Whale's fog.

Gone.

Forgotten.

As easily as anyone, I could've been one of those forgotten.

In fact, what's to say I haven't already? Who's to say that, all my memories of arriving here alone weren't true? If someone I had known were deleted from my memory without me even knowing?

It was…a horrifying realization. That the one of the few things I prided myself on - my memory - could be as fallible as an old tape recorder. That something could just come in and snip off certain pieces of it, stitch it back together without anyone the wiser.

Keeping my mouth shut, I watched as the rest of the people here celebrated. Despite the bile that threatened to rise to my throat, I stared on impassively, or as impassively as I could.

…I stayed, despite my hesitations, didn't I?

Was that really because of my own actions, or of those of a person I could no longer remember?

I shook my head.

No, I refuse to think like that. As much as outside influences may change me, I am still the same Hachiman that always has existed. I'm sure in myself that I am the only influence I need to power through those little moments of hesitation.

As I breathed in one final time, I noticed, just over there, the architect of the entire blowing-up-the-tree plan with his camp. Judging from the way he was gesticulating, Natsuki was not at all happy. And the moment I saw Rem grab her weapon, I knew that things were going to get ugly if it wasn't stopped.

Shit.

I couldn't do anything. My fingers were numb, and I couldn't force more mana to do anything anymore. Too much, the fight with the Whale took too much out of me.

Jerking my head to the side, I shouted to the one person I knew would be fast enough to get to Natsuki in time, "Astrea!"

The old man, who had been speaking quietly with Karsten and Argyle, was startled and snapped his head in my direction. With as fast a motion as I could I pointed towards the Emilia camp.

I didn't need to. He already saw Rem raising her weapon towards Natsuki, and the growing fury on her face.

The resulting shockwave from Wilhelm Astrea bolting from his position to intercepting the blow would have knocked me off my feet had I not already been sitting down.

"Rem-dono!" The butler ground out as he fought against the smaller girl's morningstar, "What is the meaning of this?!"

"Rem, stop!" Emilia came up to try and calm her down, though I could tell she didn't want to approach the confrontation. Too dangerous.

"Sister, I know Barusu's personality is sordid, but that is not an excuse to attack him!" Ram had no such qualms, grabbing her sister's arm to try and stop her from doing anything more.

In an instant, the soldiers' celebrations had cut short. They drew their weapons once more, wary of the blue-haired maid's actions.

The fury on Rem's features had not diminished, even as Natsuki stumbled back with wide eyes, "This was your plan, wasn't it, Witch Cultist?! I knew you couldn't be trusted!"

"I-I'm not a Cultist!" Natsuki was helped up by Emilia, who'd hurriedly gotten to his side and was now checking for any injuries. If I knew him, at any other point, he would be fawning over that. Now was not the time, "I already told you that before! Hell, Crusch-san, you know I'm telling the truth, right?!"

"As I confirmed before," Karsten came walking in, head held high and eyes narrowed. I didn't miss the fact that her hand was on her sheathed sword, "Subaru Natsuki is telling the truth when he says he's not part of the Witch Cult. What is the meaning of this, maid of Mathers?"

"He just told us that Alram was going to be attacked by an Archbishop!" The moment she said that, I could spot the telltale signs of a horn growing on her head. I wasn't the only one. Ram swiftly smacked the back of her sister's head.

It was almost comical how the blue-haired maid looked back to the other maid in shock.

"Stop imitating Barusu with your assumptions and start listening." As always, Ram needed to insult Natsuki for every single thing, but it did its job. Rem slowly let her power fade, putting her weapon down. Wilhelm did the same.

"Natsuki-dono, is what she said true?" With the tension finally dropping, everyone turned towards the now-sighing NEET. Natsuki jumped, apparently remembering where he was.

"Yeah, it's-it's true." Shaking his head, Natsuki turned towards me, "That's why we need to get back as fast as possible. Hikigaya, are you good to make a portal back to Ros-chi's mansion?"

"Can't." I replied with a grunt, already expecting the question the moment he looked my way, "Tapped out. I'm going to need some rest before I can do anything."

And damn, did that sting to admit.

I knew I needed to help. The entire point of my helping here was to get to Mathers' library. If Arlam were to be attacked, then that would likely push back whatever I could get from the margrave.

Ha.

I don't know if I should be proud or annoyed that the kid didn't immediately tell me. He likely knew that I had no choice but to help, so informing me was secondary to informing those that lived there.

Or maybe I was just reading too much into things. I've been known to do that, after all.

"Natsuki-dono. Emilia-dono. Hikigaya-dono." Each name spoken, each person nodded to. Bowing at the waist, Wilhelm addressed us, "Without your help, none of this would be possible. I am in your debt. You have my blade in the coming fight."

"You're wrong about one thing, Wilhelm." With a smile, Karsten placed a hand on her butler's shoulder, "They have our blades in their arsenal. Without you, and seeing the power of the Whale, I have no doubts we would have fallen and our existences scattered without your help."

"I…" Oh great, the kid looks like he's about to cry.

"Hikigaya. How large a portal can you make?" Karsten deliberately looked away as Natsuki composed himself.

"...Haven't tried it yet. Why?"

"Do you think that you could make one as big as the Whale?"

"I probably could. Like I said though, it's going to take a while." I shrugged.

Karsten nodded, "That's fine. I'll have a skeleton unit cast some preservation spells on the corpse. We'll come back for it later, after which you can create a portal for it." She laughed at my scowl. Laughed! "You'll be paid for it, I assure you. This, after all, wasn't part of the deal."

"Better be damn well worth it."

"It will, it will." Her mirth fading, Karsten took on a more serious tone, "For now, however, Subaru, tell us of what you know of the attack on Arlam."

…

They didn't question Natsuki on how he knew, though they did question why he only told them now. The answer of he 'only could tell them now' was satisfactory enough though, and I was certain that Karsten had come to roughly the same conclusion I did.

Unsolicited clairvoyance was a bitch through and through.

However it worked, it was clear enough that Natsuki had a more thorough plan than I thought possible, even more so against the Whale. And as we rode on towards Arlam with haste, I felt more confident that we wouldn't have anywhere near the trouble we had against the mabeast.

That wasn't to say that I was in top condition to do anything though. I was still tired. While by the time we reach the village, I would have been rested enough that I could probably cast a few portals, it wouldn't be enough to really matter.

It would still be something though.

The Archbishop's Fingers, which the Archbishop could apparently possess when the main body died, were the main issues. They needed to be taken out first.

After that though, it should be a straight shot to killing the Cultists.

I was fairly confident that we would do this easily enough.

And if it wasn't as easy as that?

I'll make sure they understand that nothing will get in the way of getting what I want.

…

A/N: If you like what I do and want to support me, check out my P-atreon at P-atreon•com(slash)Almistyor.

And a special thanks to: FireRogueWolf25, brutalcrab and Tassimo.