-Trial Ruins-
Once again, he has returned back here. Subaru Natsuki has just Returned by Death and is lying on the floor next to a sleeping Emilia.
Slowly sitting up, Subaru puts a hand to his chest where he was pierced by the ice spear Rem created. A small smile creeps onto his face. He whispers to himself, "Thank you Rem. It was painful for a second, but it was over in an instant."
However, his face quickly turns to a frown. Did you think I would not notice? Why did you kill yourself alongside me? That was just unnecessary suffering! There was no point to it! Only I had to die!
Frustrated with Rem's decision, Subaru is unsure whether he can even ask her why she did that without triggering the taboo. Either way, it wasn't time to focus on that. There is a sleeping girl right next to him, slowly stirring.
"Hmm…mm…mrgh…"
"Emilia-tan…" Subaru mutters her name. Not long ago, he saw what was admittedly a really disturbing side of her. She acted weirdly clingy to him and constantly spoke of how alone and scared she was. He had never seen such behavior in her before. But from the words she spoke, the trial clearly burdened her way more than he ever expected. It was likely she had no one to support her the entire time. That, topped with her saying she attempted the trial over and over and failing every time, must've broken her.
"Subaru? …Subaru!" Emilia latches onto the side of his leg and tries to bury her face within it. "It wasn't me! It wasn't me!"
"It's ok Emilia-tan! I'm here. I'm here…" Subaru spends a few moments hugging the shrieking girl, hoping to calm her down. He rubs her back too. Soon, the loud cries lower in volume until they become only whimpers.
"Let's get you out of here." Picking her up on his back, Subaru hastily exits the ruins.
"You're back Natsuki-san! We couldn't really see what was going on in there. Did Emilia-sama pass the trials?"
"I…I'm sorry…" Emilia whispers out just loud enough so everyone could hear.
"It's not your fault." Subaru responds.
"So she didn't pass the trial…" Garfiel furrows his brows and crosses his arms.
"Emilia-sama, how are you feeling?" Ram asks, trying to grasp her condition from her facial expression.
"Tired." Emilia replies in a matching tone.
"That outcome isn't all too unexpected. Barusu, bring her back to the house she and the others are staying at."
"As much as I'd love to, I have something urgent I need to do. Can you take her in my stead?"
"And what is this urgent business you speak of? I'll be the judge as to whether it's really urgent."
"It is urgent! I have to go get your sister before something awful happens to her!"
"W-What do you mean Natsuki-san?!" Otto asks, alarmed at both Subaru's words and that he is now suddenly shouting.
"How would ya know if somethin' was happenin' to her?" Garfiel demands to know.
"Yes, explain exactly what you mean by that." Ram narrows her eyes, her voice lowering.
"I'm sorry, but I'll explain later! Patrasche, let's go!" Handing Emilia off to Ram and saying a quick goodbye to them, trusting Ram with the half-elf, he disconnects Patrasche from the carriage she's attached to and heads off. Ram can only stare at his back in bewilderment.
"You look pretty worried Ram-san, how about I take Emilia-sama and you go after them?" Otto offers. Thanks to his ability to read the expression of others reasonably well, he can tell Ram would rather take off after him than remain here with Emilia and the others.
Ram considers the offer for a moment before nodding and handing Emilia over to him. "Don't drop her." are her words of advice before running off.
"Hey, don't leave my amazin' self behind in all this! I'm comin' with ya!" Garfiel shouts right before he chases after Ram.
"What…what is going on?" Emilia, drowsy and exhausted from the trial, was only able to pick up pieces of the conversation that occurred.
"Natsuki-san is finding Rem-san with Ram-san and Garfiel-san going with him. As for us, I'm finding a bed to put you in."
"Oh…sorry. Thanks." Emilia frowns, feeling as guilty as her conscious mind will allow her to for troubling Otto.
Otto smiles, "No problem Emilia-sama."
-Small Field-
"You're here, just as Onee-sama said." The line from that child murderer rings once more into Rem's eardrums.
"Damn it…" Rem grits her teeth upon hearing that ear-grating high pitched voice. "Damn it!" In a fit of rage, she picks up a handful of dirt and throws it at Meili's face. The action is so quick Meili doesn't have time to dodge. Her face becomes partially covered with dirt. But more importantly than that, some dirt particles get lodged into her eyes, causing her to immediately shut them and tears quickly trickle out.
"Ow!" With a yelp, Meili aggressively rubs her eyes. She hopes the dirt would immediately come out, but unfortunately for her that does not happen. Taking multiple steps back, she gains some distance between herself and her opponent. Removing her hands from her eyes and replacing them with her left elbow, she points her right index finger at Rem. "What the heck was that?! Do you attack random strangers who approach you without reason? How rude! Whatever, it doesn't matter. It ultimately saves me time from pretending to be nice to you. Mabeasts, get her!"
"You really think you're going to surprise me with a sudden mabeast attack? Too bad for you! I've already anticipated this! El Huma!" Igniting her horn, Rem wastes no time in making efficient use of her magic to instantly take out some Wolgarms she knows are only a handful of feet away from her.
"Al Huma! Al Huma! Al Huma!" With three consecutive chants, Rem summons three gigantic ice spears. Two are aimed for Wagpigs she knows are hiding a little further into the forest, but are just now beginning to come into view. Instantly slaughtered, she has the third one aimed for Meili herself.
"Yikes!" Diving forwards, Meili barely dodges the huge lump of ice. Her planned sneak attack has already almost collapsed entirely. And this girl is a bit stronger than she anticipated!
Meili had originally been assigned the task of killing Rem by Elsa, believing that a decently strong but not overpowered opponent would be great practice for Meili as a mabeast tamer. It would allow her to further gain battle experience as well as better understand how to organize and utilize her mabeast army. It further helped that Meili was already familiar with Rem's existence since she often came by the village she hid out in for a while to buy groceries and other necessities for the mansion.
Meili never personally cared much about the maid, finding her nothing more than a typical house worker. However, she did take note of whatever magic she used whenever the kids asked her to perform a display for them. She also noticed that she became a lot more lively and happy not long after the black-haired boy started to visit the village. Whether the two events were correlated with one another, she did not know, or care. Though the two seemed to talk often. Meili was even told to deal with the black-haired boy should he come by after she killed Rem.
While this may be another run-of-the-mill assassin task for Meili, she did wonder a little why she was told to kill Rem after all this time. Someone targeting her master or the half-devil he's sponsoring wouldn't be all that weird. But to directly target his staff, and a specific one at that, puzzled her. She asked Elsa why Rem, but all she was told was to do her job and then meet her near Roswaal's mansion. So with a shrug, she came all the way out here with her mabeast army simply to do her job. A job that, while it would likely put her mabeast tamer skills to the test, wouldn't be extremely difficult either. Now here she is, nearly at the point of being forced to run for her life with her imaginary tail between her legs.
As for Rem, she's done messing around. Besides being completely sick of seeing this girl who has caused her, Subaru, and the other mansion residents so many problems, she's still reeling from what just happened moments before dying and coming back here.
Roswaal, the man whom Rem had served for a little over six years now, turned out to be nothing like the man she had envisioned him being. That envision was fueled largely by his outer persona, which he excelled at putting on. He seemed to be a powerful, kind, and sometimes weird mage who would help out those in need. After all, he took her and Ram in when they had nothing left after their village burned down and Ram lost her horn. Some of the other housestaff that Roswaal has hired in the past for the mansion were also in horrible situations. A couple lost their entire families like Rem and Ram have. Others were disgraced by their families for one reason or another and were living out on the streets, forced to do whatever they could to live. Once Roswaal hired them, their lives greatly improved. After working at the mansion for a while, they have since either moved to other parts of Roswaal's estate or found other jobs.
He even took in Emilia, the utterly despised half-elf. Not only that, he even promised to both publicly and financially back her participation in the Royal Selection. Only a few months later, Emilia brought back a black-haired nasty-eyed boy after he helped save her life. Roswaal had no issues bringing this boy, Subaru Natsuki, into the mansion either. At first Rem had no idea what Roswaal, Emilia, or any of them were thinking about harboring such a suspicious man who had no idea about any of the surrounding locations or the customs of Lugunica. Not to mention he reeked of the witch's miasma. However, she'd completely change her tune later that week. And her bond with the boy would only grow stronger over the next few months.
Roswaal paid his staff fairly. They were given ample living conditions. He never abused or mistreated them. Or at least, that's what she thought. The first two points may be true, but the third.
That clown, he views us as tools. Just tools for his grand scheme. He cares nothing about any of us. Nee-sama, Frederica-san, Emilia-sama, Subaru-kun, me. He doesn't care a bit about any of us. He has some grand goal he wants to achieve, and we're just the pieces to make that goal reality. How…how have we been blind to this all this time? He…he killed Nee-sama right in front of me. Frederica-san and Garfiel-san too. What a monster! And then…and then I had to kill Subaru-kun so he wouldn't get eaten by those hopping horrors!
The images of their bloody corpses filling her mind. The most prevalent being Ram's, she loses focus of the battle going on in front of her for a moment. One of the mabeasts that looks like a bat comes up and attempts to bite on her shoulder. Thankfully she notices at the last second and brings in an icicle to slay it. Her own projectile missed her arm by only a few inches. That's how close the mabeast was. It's at this moment Rem hears a glorious sound.
"Rem!"
Her lover, her hero, and in a way, her master now, is risking his life to grab her and return to the village.
"Subaru-kun!" Running to the middle of the small field, Subaru comes into view a moment later.
"Rem-rin! Come on!" Pulling up beside her, Subaru extends a hand towards her. She instantly takes it.
"Tsk. Fine, I'll let you have the win this time. But remember, we pay back what we're given!" Meili sticks her tongue out towards the two from behind a bush before hopping onto a Wolgarm and escaping deep into the forest.
"Rem-rin."
"Subaru-kun."
"We need to talk…about a lot."
She nods, "Yes. Yes we do."
Subaru prepares to have Patrasche turn and leave the area, only for the sound of rustling bushes to hit their ears.
"Rem!"
"Rem!"
A womanly and a gnarly voice call out Rem's name at the same time, revealing themselves to the person in question.
"Nee-sama? Garfiel-san? …Wait! Why are you carrying my sister?" Rem's eyes narrow on Garfiel. For some reason, the tiger boy is holding Ram in a princess-like carry.
Ram hastily gets down from his arms, which Garfiel responds with a subtle pout no one notices. Straightening her maid outfit and giving a light cough, the older twin sister says, "It is good to see you're fine Rem. Barusu was yelling stuff about how you were potentially in danger before just running off without explaining anything. Did anything happen? Or were Barusu's worries completely unfounded?"
Rem shakes her head, "No, they were fully founded. I'm very happy he came to get me. I was attacked by some mabeasts."
"Hah? Mabeasts? That's strange…mabeasts shouldn't be able to get past the barrier." Garfiel gives a confused stare into the forest behind Rem and Subaru. "Or at least anywhere near it. I dunno how it works."
"They were led by a young girl named Meili, but it seems she's run off with them now." Subaru says.
"So…that girl was targeting my precious younger sister? How dare she." Ram grits her molars and speaks in a low tone. Her reaction pretty similar to the previous loops whenever she figured out who the attacker was. "I must speak to Roswaal-sama about this immediately. Let's head back."
Ram turns to face the direction she and Garfiel just came from when she hears a shout from Rem, "Nee-sama! Wait!" She turns back to face her.
"Don't tell him about this."
"What? Why? He might know something about this girl, along with a way to deal with her should she ever come after you again."
"I'm…not comfortable with him knowing right now. Actually, Nee-sama, I want to talk to you about Roswaal…s-sama. Alone. So, can you please wait until then?"
Noticing how difficult it was for Rem to enunciate the honorific for their master, Ram could tell there was something serious she wanted to discuss about him. As for what it is, she has not a clue.
"If that's what you want, then I have no objections. Let's return now."
"Aww, my amazin' self doesn't get to throw about some words regardin' that clown?"
Ram sighs, "Whatever trivial feelings you have about Roswaal-sama, keep them to yourself. I do not wish to hear them."
"Damn! Tough an' harsh as always! But that's what I like about ya Ram. So, when do ya think I can spend some quality time with ya? Ya haven't come by here in so long."
"In your dreams you may." She initially responds before shaking her head a moment later, "Actually, do not do that. The risk of you doing something unbecoming to me is far too high."
"What do ya mean unbecoming?!"
"Forget it."
As Garfiel and Ram walk and bicker, Subaru feels a tug on his waist. Looking behind and seeing Rem, she whispers, "We need to talk. About our plans."
He nods and whispers back, "We do. Let's wait until we get back first. And what about Ram?"
"Nee-sama can wait. This is more important."
-Subaru's House-
At the house where Subaru, Emilia, Rem, and Otto are currently residing, all of them aside from Emilia standin the living room. Upon returning to the village Subaru decided to do a quick check-in on Emilia to make sure nothing happened to her. To his relief, she was merely asleep. However, she seemed to still be stirring a little here and there. So Subaru asked Ram to go pick up a few supplies to make herbal tea from Roswaal's house since they had none here. Initially she retorted saying he should get it himself, but a quick, stern word from Rem quickly convinced her otherwise.
"Thanks for what you two did for Emilia-tan." Subaru voices his heartfelt appreciation to Otto and Ram.
"Don't worry about it. I admit I was pretty confused and worried when you said Rem-san was potentially in danger, but hearing what happened from the girl herself, that must've been a really terrifying situation! I'm really glad she's ok now."
"Thank you Otto-san." Rem smiles at him.
"The situation was rather chaotic, but I must admit Barusu made the right choice in pursuing Rem and leaving Emilia-sama to the merchant boy." Ram says.
"Hey! Why am I just a merchant boy?! I have a name you know! It's Otto Suwen!" Crossing his arms and frowning deeply, the merchant refuses to look at Ram.
"Yes yes. Anyway, Rem, you had something you'd like to discuss with me? About Roswaal-sama?"
"Oh…yes. However, I have an errand I must run first. I'm sorry Nee-sama, can you wait just a little longer?"
"An errand? It's awfully late to be running one of those. In addition, with potential mabeasts prowling about that have a leader ordering them around, it's risky."
"Would you feel more comfortable if I took someone with me?" Rem asks, feeling rather hopeful about achieving her real goal of talking to Subaru privately.
She nods, "Yes, but who would take you? Emilia-sama is asleep, Roswaal-sama is stuck in bed, Garf is out who knows where."
"Subaru-kun can come with me."
"I had a feeling you'd say that. However, you do know that Barusu is not very capable of-"
"Fighting? Yes, I know. Regardless, he's the one I want to have come with me. I promise we won't be too long. Subaru-kun, let's go."
Boldly grabbing his hand, Rem leads him and herself out the door and shuts it, preventing Ram from letting out any more protests.
Otto is a little surprised by how the whole scene played out. But in a way, he also expected it too. "Natsuki-san and Rem-san…they really do look good together."
"That's because you haven't seen them enough. Rem is obsessed with Barusu, she finds very few faults in him, and spoils him too much."
"Perhaps that is true. But can't you see the level of trust these two have with one another? I know I haven't known or seen them together nearly as long as you have. But…from what I've seen of them, they are a splendid team. They have full faith in one another, complement each other's weaknesses, and act way too flirty! You don't know what I had to go through." Putting a hand to his forehead and sighing, Otto continues, "If it wasn't for their teamwork, there is no way we would've killed that Archbishop of Sloth."
"Oh, that's right. I remember Rem mentioning that foul creature."
Otto shudders at the memories of driving that carriage as fast he could while Subaru and Rem fought against him with everything they had. Thankfully he heeded Subaru's advice of not looking at him at all during the entire fight. If he had, it would've been all the more traumatic. "Yeah! That thing was super scary and we barely got away with our lives! …Wait, we're getting off-topic! This is about Natsuki-san and Rem-san and their chemistry together!"
Ram is silent as she really thinks about their relationship for a moment. Putting aside Subaru's perverted nature and how strangely obsessed Rem is with him, the two really do share a sort of special bond. She hasn't seen Rem act so kind or vulnerable with anyone aside from her since their parents had died. Ram on the other hand had both her sister and Roswaal to place her trust into. There were certain things she kept hidden from both of them, but she did trust them with a lot more of herself compared to anyone else in this world.
I suppose in some ways, her relationship with Barusu is like mine with Roswaal-sama.
So she comes to this conclusion. She had toyed with the idea before in the past, but this is the first time she's put forth a considerable effort to try to see the relationship from their perspective. In a sort of subconscious way, she already knew the two were perfect for one another. However, with her mixed feelings on Subaru as a whole, along with Subaru's infatuation for Emilia, she's been quite hesitant to support their relationship. Maybe she should reconsider her stance on the matter. But for now:
"Barusu needs to get his feelings for Emilia-sama straightened out before he remotely considers laying a finger on my precious younger sister. And even then, I'll still consider chastening him."
"What a scary response! Are you always like this…?" Otto gulps as he experiences the subtle wrath of the older oni twin for the first time.
"I'm always lovely and pretty, yes. Any further questions?" She gives a slightly mischievous grin at seeing Otto's nervous expression.
"Nope! No more questions! But uh…since you're here, do you want some tea?" He asks, hoping to improve his standing with her with his good tea-making skills.
Ram makes herself at home by casually sitting in one of the chairs, "Yes. Now remember, use the dark green tea leaves, not the mint green ones. I like my tea on the slightly bitter side."
"Right away!" Otto heads off for the kitchen to prepare the tea.
-Log Cabin-
After leaving that house, Rem guides Subaru towards the ruins where the trials originate from. Initially he thought she was leading him to the ruins themselves and was going to question her about it. However, before he could she made a turn to the right. As soon as she did, he knew exactly where they were going. It was the abandoned log cabin that Subaru had told everyone to gather into in the previous loop but refused to do so.
"I don't think anyone will come looking for us here. At least, not for a while." Rem says upon arriving.
"Yeah, and you're sure no one followed us?" Subaru asks.
"Positive. I kept a strict eye out for anyone who would've likely trailed us. Garfiel-san in particular, but Meili-san could make a surprise attack too."
"Gotcha. Alright, let's head in then." Subaru opens the door for Rem, who graciously thanks him.
Once inside there really isn't much for the eye to see. The cabin as a whole is only slightly bigger than a guest bedroom in the mansion. Thankfully for them, that's all the space they need. In the back of the room is a small bed made out of the same logs the cabin is built with. Atop it lays a clearly cheap but usable mattress, small pillow, and a somewhat thin blanket. Ingrained into the east wall is a stone fireplace. A few logs already lay within, ready to be used.
Subaru walks to the fireplace and inspects it, "Hmm, looks usable. Hey Rem-rin, do you know of any easy way to light this?"
"I only know one person here who has the ability to engulf things with flames, but I, and I'm certain you would agree with me, would prefer to not have him here."
Immediately presuming she's talking about Roswaal, he nods and says, "Yeah, true. Guess I'm gonna have to put those school field trips to good use."
Having gone on a few field trips back in middle school, as well as one in high school before isolating himself in his home, Subaru managed to pick up a few wilderness survival tips. Among those tips is the ability to create fires from using only a handful of basic materials.
Heading out for a moment, Subaru returns with some very dry leaves and a handful of rocks that look promising to create sparks and ignite the leaves, and ultimately the wood.
"What are you doing Subaru-kun?" Having never seen a fire started like this before, Rem leans down next to him to watch, her eyes beaming with curiosity.
"Oh, have you not seen this done before?" Subaru asks as he begins to strike the rocks, a little surprised. For this medieval-like world, he would've assumed Rem would have seen something like this at least a few times in her life.
She shakes her head, "I haven't. The amount of time I spent outside the mansion aside from official business was quite little. There was always so much to do that spending time outside in the forest like this was rarely ever an option."
Repeatedly bashing the rocks, Subaru replies, "I see. What about when you were given breaks by Roswaal?"
Rem bites her lip at the mention of that name. She's quite surprised he's able to say it calmly, "I…usually had tea with Nee-sama or secretly did other chores that weren't taken care of often. I always busied myself with something."
"Oh…" This isn't the first time he's heard about Rem's insane work ethic. In fact, there was a period of time a little over a month ago where Rem worked so hard compared to everyone else that he demanded she take a break. Even with official permission from Roswaal, she was still extremely hesitant to stop working. It took the combined efforts of Subaru, Emilia, and Ram to finally begrudgingly convince her to take a break for a single day.
"We should go camping sometime then!" As Subaru says this with a level of excitement, a spark finally manages to create an ember, landing on the leaves. With careful and precise blowing, he manages to get the leaves to catch fire. Moments later, the fire spreads to the pile of logs, making the fireplace active for the first time in who knows how long.
"Camping?" Unfamiliar with the term, Rem turns to Subaru with a confused expression, now illuminated.
"Yeah! Camping involves packing up some food, lights, sleeping bags, and some other things so you can sleep outside somewhere all night. Usually you do things like look at the stars, roast marshmallows, or tell scary ghost stories."
"Oh!" Rem smiles, "I don't quite understand half the things you said there, but that sounds fun! We should totally do that sometime! After you teach me what all those words mean, and well…"
The happy, cheerful mood brought about by the lit fire quickly dies out as Rem unintentionally steers the topic towards the whole reason they even came out to this log cabin in the first place.
"Right…guess we shouldn't delay it. Come on, let's sit there and discuss what our future plans are. Along with…other things." Subaru points to the bed and stands up. Sitting down on it, Rem follows suit. Initially the two remained awkwardly silent, only watching and listening to the fireplace, which had begun to crackle. Neither appeared to have any idea how to start this despite talking normally just a moment ago. Soon, after figuring out what he wants to say, Subaru opens his mouth first:
"I'm going to word this very vaguely as I don't want to trigger anything, but why…did you do that?"
"Can you…be any more specific?" Rem, not quite understanding, frowns in slight frustration at not immediately getting what he means.
"This." Leaning over to her slightly, he puts out a hand above and at a diagonal to her body. Then, extending his index finger, he moves his hand rapidly straight into her chest. "Do you get it now?"
She stifles a breath, fully comprehending what he means now. She had hoped he wouldn't see what she did to herself, so as to avoid this exact questioning. That must've been too much to wish for.
"Subaru-kun…I…"
His eyes remain firmly on hers as she attempts to formulate an explanation that will both not activate the taboo and satisfy him.
"We've started going on this journey together, right? I want to experience the same joy you're feeling, the same excitement you're feeling, and…well…the same pain you're feeling. I've spent so long not understanding a single thing." She grabs the sheet on the bed with her trembling hands, "I was so naive. I thought I understood so much more when I knew nothing. I…I couldn't let that happen to you while nothing happened to me."
"Are you an idiot?!" Subaru shouts angrily, "I was the only one who had to go through that! There was absolutely no need to include yourself in that!"
"You were the one who made such an absurd and unreasonable request! Do you seriously think that was something I could trivially do on a whim?! I almost didn't do it at all! It was only when I considered the alternative that I felt I had no choice! Even after I did it, I still felt so guilty! So, for your extremely selfish request, let me do something extremely selfish in return! It's only fair!" Rem, in a mixture of righteous fury and frustration, replies in an equally loud voice. Tears begin to fall from her face
Hearing her point of view, Subaru only now realizes just how difficult of a request he made of her. At the time he made it he knew that Rem would oppose it. But the severity of the situation prevented him from fully realizing just how difficult it was for her to fulfill his request.
"I'm sorry Rem-rin. I don't think I fully realized just how hard it was for you…" He holds his head down in shame.
Wrapping an arm around his back, she replies in a much quieter and softer voice, "No…it was just as hard for you. We were both in a situation neither of us wanted to be in."
"Yeah." Wrapping his own arm around her back, the two enjoy the mutual feeling of closeness to one another's bodies.
"A situation caused by him." Rem mumbles that last part with much hostility.
Though she did not utter his name, Subaru knew exactly who she was talking about. "I can't believe he was the one who attracted those killer rabbits. How long has he been trying to manipulate getting me and Emilia-tan together? Not to mention…killing…and knowing I loop…"
Once more grabbing the sheet lying atop the bed with her left hand, Rem grits her teeth as she tears it with her oni strength alone, "That bastard…that clown…I won't forgive him! To think I spent all these years serving such a monster! What was I thinking?"
"You can't blame yourself for that! None of us had no idea of his true nature, or that he has some ultimate goal he really wants to fulfill. But if he's our enemy, that makes our already dire situation even more dire!"
"Oh don't worry Subaru-kun, I already have an idea of what to do with him."
"You do? As much as I'd like to settle a score with him myself and I know what he did to the others, I still think killing is going too far. Besides, he's still the guy who's funding Emilia-tan's participation in the Royal Selection. And I don't know any rich nobles that would be willing to take his place."
"I'm aware of that. Also, he is regrettably much stronger than me. I could never kill him in a fight, even if I went berserk with my horn. That's why, this will have to be approached from another angle. What do you think of this?" Rem proceeds to whisper something in his ear even though they're alone together.
"That's…brilliant! But that's so risky too. Do you think he'll even accept this?"
"I'm fairly confident. I've noticed the clown tends to accept various silly bets whenever we traveled to official parties. Notably those he's especially confident in winning. From how he's behaved before, I can tell he's extremely confident that his plan will work one way or another."
"Gotcha. Still, if this works, it's going to change the whole dynamic at the mansion forever. There would be no going back."
"I…I know. It would bring major changes for sure. I don't know how I'll tackle them all yet. But I'll figure it out as I go. And if I have the support of you and everyone else, it'll be even easier."
"You have my support Rem-rin!" He pats her back a few times while grinning.
"Thank you! I'll do my best."
"Though I don't know how everyone else will feel. Especially Ram."
"That's what my talk with her will be about. I'm going to try to convince her to switch her allegiance from that clown to Emilia-sama. I can't…" She shakes her fists with anger, "I can't stand the fact that she's getting used by him! She doesn't even realize it! He would even…he would even…" Rem breaks out in tears when she remembers how Roswaal casually killed her sister with no remorse, even stating her duty as a servant was commendable.
"Rem-rin…" Subaru envelopes her in a tight hug. "It'll be alright. She's alive now. We'll make sure she never has that happen to her ever again."
She sobs for a little longer before softly returning the hug, "Y-Yes. That will never happen to her again. Or to anyone else either. But how…how can we prevent that snow, and those…monstrosities?"
Separating from the hug, Subaru puts a hand to his chin and frowns, "I don't think we can. Not with how Roswaal is currently behaving. We're going to have to find a way to deal with those rabbits."
"But how?! There are literally thousands upon thousands of them! I can't kill them all fast enough, nor do I even have enough mana."
"I…don't know yet. But I have a feeling Beako might know."
"Uh…Subaru-kun? Are you planning to do what you did last time with her?" She asks this with a hint of disapproval in her tone.
He aggressively shakes his head, "No! No! She acted way…way too doll-like! Besides, Roswaal said that I should have asked her the question. He probably knew that was going to happen. That's the last time I take advice from him blindly like that."
"Good. I was also quite disturbed by her behavior. But that behavior really confused me too. She said she had a contract, and that by being "That Person" for her she broke free from that contract. But what does "That Person" mean? And what was the contract?"
"Your guess is as good as mine. All we know…is that contract kept her bound to that library for a long time now, and asking and answering the question in that way will break her free of it…but it transforms her desires into only pleasing 'That Person' and protecting them with no regard for her own life."
Rem is silent as he explains what she already knows. After a few moments of hard thinking as to why she'd change the way she did, an idea comes into her mind. That idea comes with an audible gasp.
"What? Did you think of something?" Subaru probes.
"Beatrice-sama's Tome of Wisdom. She said it's been empty for over 400 years, right? From what we know of it, the Tome will show someone to their desired future. We know that from what that Witch of Greed said, as well as the clown's actions. Tsk." She clicks her tongue. "Anyway, with her book being empty, that should mean she has no desires or goals she wishes to fulfill. Nothing to fill the pages with."
"But that can't be true. She wanted to find 'That Person'" Subaru counters.
"Right. She wanted to find 'That Person'. We both know that. So why was the book empty? I might be jumping to conclusions slightly, but what if she had that same desire, that same goal, over 400 years ago?"
Subaru's eyes widen in shock, "Wait, so what you're saying is that she's had this desire to find and meet 'That Person' for over 400 years?!"
"Correct. I imagine what happened is the Tome told her to go to the Forbidden Library and wait. Then, with no more instructions, the Tome became blank."
"She said that she's been waiting for 'That Person' to free her from the library and from that contract. So that means she's been stuck in that Forbidden Library for all that time! But…who gave her that horrible contract that made her stuck there?!" Subaru shouts with anger for the poor Great Spirit. "Who would be so cruel to make Beatrice stay in that library all these years?! Alone at that!"
"Do you…remember who gave Beatrice-sama her copy of the Tome of Wisdom?"
Subaru takes a moment to think, before gasping, "No…no way! Echidna?! Echidna, her own creator, is the one responsible for her suffering?!"
Rem solemnly nods, "I can't directly confirm it, but it's very likely. I don't see who else would've given her the contract to find 'That Person'. It fits right along with her terrible personality."
"Echidna might have wondered who Beako would pick. She never gave Beako anything to look out for when finding 'That Person'." Subaru muses aloud.
"Yes! Exactly! That further proves why the Tome was blank! She was supposed to determine who 'That Person' was even when the Tome never told her about such a thing!"
"But then why did Beako so easily pick me to be 'That Person' when it could've been anyone?"
"Either she desperately wanted to leave, no matter who it was with. Or maybe…she in a way had already decided on you."
"Alright, that's it." Subaru stands up and clenches a fist with a ton of confidence, "I've decided. I'm going to have Beatrice choose me."
"Huh? Subaru-kun, didn't you already say you're not going to be 'That Person' to her?"
"That's right, and I'm sticking right by what I said.
"Then…how?"
"I'm not going to have her listen to some stupid book. She's going to break free of that contract. And the way it's going to happen, is that for the first time in probably over 400 years, she's going to choose her way of life. She's going to choose her own destiny. Her own path. Neither Echidna, nor that Tome of Wisdom, nor 'That Person' will make decisions for her anymore. She'll decide what to do with her own life from now on. The first step to doing so, will be choosing to come with me with her own free will. I won't force her, but I will try to persuade her. I'm hoping that by choosing me in that way, the contract between her and Echidna will be broken. After that, she'll be free to make her own choices, independent of everyone else."
Rem is awestruck by Subaru's plan. This might work. This might actually work. "Subaru-kun…what an amazing idea! Is there anything I can do to help make this plan become reality?"
He nods, "Yes. Actually, I'm going to need help from a lot of you. The main ones I'll be needing assistance from are you, Otto, and Garfiel."
She almost can't believe that Garfiel's name is among that list, "Garfiel-san, but he's been antagonizing you this whole time! How are you going to convince him to help you?"
He smiles and winks at her, "When there's a will, there's a way. Right Rem-rin? I think you understand that better than anyone."
Rem's confused for a brief moment, but then she realizes what he means and smiles a sad smile. "Ah, of course. How foolish of me. You convinced me, one who did that to you. You'll definitely find a way to convince him too. I believe in you."
He rubs the back of his head in slight embarrassment, "Well…I'm still not fully confident yet. But I've got an idea of how to tackle it. But before that, we need to lay out exactly what we're going to do once we all arrive at the mansion."
"You're going to bring all three of us with you?"
He nods, "Yep. I've seen Elsa and Meili enough times to have a general grasp on their abilities. And with your battle experience with them up to this point, we have some good ideas on how they fight. So listen up, and tell me what you think of this plan and how it can be improved."
With that, Subaru and Rem spend a decent amount of time coming up with their attack strategy, a few backup strategies should some parts of the plan fail, how to recruit Garfiel and Otto into their party, and then various other miscellaneous plans and topics. By the time they have everything figured out, what remains of the fire is only a number of embers.
They walk out together, hands held firmly together at the waist. Subaru gazes upwards towards the bright moon overhead in the night sky. Rem does the same.
"It really is a beautiful night. Especially when there isn't anything nearby that wants to eat us."
She chuckles a little and replies, "Hehe, it truly is beautiful tonight. I hope that once this is all over, we can do that camping thing you mentioned and gaze up at the sky like we're doing now. I could do this for hours…"
"...Say. Rem-rin?"
"Hm?" She turns to look at him with a smile.
"When you told Roswaal that you were going to be my personal maid…were you serious?"
"Of course I was! I'm not working for that clown anymore, and maid work is the one thing I can confidently say I'm good at. So I need a new master."
"But…why me? Why not Emilia-tan?"
She gives him a deadpan expression, "Subaru-kun. Seriously?"
"Yes! First of all, I'm not of noble status, unlike her. Second, I can't pay you nearly as much as Roswaal can, and Emilia-tan can pretty much use Roswaal's money however she likes as long as it helps her towards winning the Royal Selection. So she could give you as large of a paycheck as before. Third, since Roswaal is lower in status than her. His staff are in a way also her staff. So you already serve her officially.
Upon hearing his reasonings for why she should choose Emilia instead of him, Rem cackles like a maniac.
"H-Hey! Rem-rin! What's so funny?" He blushes in embarrassment.
"Hahahahahaha! Oh…oh! Oh…that's good." Tears of laughter flow down her face. "I-I'm sorry. Your reasons are so stupid that I had to laugh!"
"W-What?! What do you mean they're stupid?" Now Subaru is even more embarrassed.
Once Rem finally calms down, she explains, "Your first reason. Irrelevant. I don't care. I care far more about what is on the inside of a person than their status. You and that clown being a prime example of that."
He rubs the back of his head, "Ah…fair point."
"Second reason, money isn't going to be an issue for reasons you already know. But even if you paid me less than he did, or not at all; As long as I've got someplace to stay, something to eat, and can still see everyone, especially Nee-sama, then I don't need much else. I lived in a somewhat poor village for a lot of my life, so it wouldn't be all that hard to get accustomed to that kind of living again."
"Even so! You deserve to have a nice place to stay at, free from the dangerous mabeasts in the forests. Not to mention, you need to have opportunities to buy things for yourself! That's part of being an independent person! You're right about money not being a problem in the future though, presuming this all goes to plan."
"I…really appreciate that. Thank you. Third reason. Sure, in a way I am officially her maid. But regardless of whether she is or isn't, I'd still need to become a personal maid since I don't want my name attached to the Mather's Domain anymore. Part of the job of being a personal maid is to spend a lot of time with their master so that they're ready to tend to them whenever it is needed. Between you and Emilia-sama, when it comes to who I want to spend more of my time with…I don't think I need to tell you who I'd choose."
Now it is Subaru's turn to laugh, "Hahaha! Oh man! You sure got me there Rem-rin. You destroyed each of my points beautifully. Well, in that case, I look forward to working with you Rem!" He holds out a hand.
She suppresses a laugh as she takes it and shakes it, signifying the deal as done. Rem would now serve Subaru personally from now on rather than everyone equally.
"I look forward to working with you too! Though it won't be recognized by the Mather's Domain until we file the paperwork for that."
"Even if you're my official maid now, you'll still help everyone else when they need it, right?"
She nods, "Of course. I'll still help everyone else out with their tasks or requests should they need it. However, I'd like to ask that I never do anything for that clown ever again."
"Yep! Consider it done! I promise I won't make you do anything for Roswaal."
"Thank you Subaru-kun!"
"Well, with all that settled…Rem-rin, ready to begin operation Kick Roswaal's Butt in Every Way Possible?" Subaru grins, every bone and muscle in his body ready to deal with all this Sanctuary nonsense once and for all.
"I'm ready if you are! We'll show that clown the consequences of fooling us all and treating us as tools to achieve his goals!" Rem grins right along with him, equally ready to deal with their problems once and for all. She preys that this is the final loop they have to go through.
"First stop, Nee-sama." Rem announces.
"And while you're with her, I'll check on Emilia-tan. Good luck on convincing her, Rem-rin."
"Thank you. Best of luck to you as well."
With well wishes to one another, Subaru and Rem begin to walk back to the house they're staying at.
-Author's Corner-
As of posting this chapter, it has been exactly one full year since I've started Re: Rem's Journey. I've only just recently realized if I had started this two days sooner, it would've been on Rem's birthday! Such a missed opportunity looking back. Oh well, two days late isn't too bad, right?
Anyway, I think this is a notable milestone for the fic, and I want to thank each and everyone one of you who decided to check out and read it in the past year it's been out! The support has been amazing and if it wasn't for it, I know I wouldn't have gotten as far as I have so far. I'll do my best to continue providing quality chapters as this fanfic enters its second year.
As for the chapter itself, not much to say honestly. It's more of an exposition chapter than anything about the future plans for Subaru and Rem. And while I didn't show every last thing they planned out, I'll make sure to provide sufficient details about their plans as they're relevant! That is, they survive long enough to enact said plans.
danielsantiago4545: Thank you! They've got big plans on how to tackle the problems before them this time, so let's see if they pull through this time!
demon god noir: Indeed, Beatrice's fate as a mostly emotionless doll only following the orders of her master is quite unfortunate. Whether Rem will try to put up a fake act for a while or immediately become hostile to him, she's got big plans on how to deal with him.
codywhite162: Thanks! I hope you enjoyed this chapter.
Deathenglegamers1144: The Rem and Ram talk will be occurring in the next chapter. Killing is really extreme here! Highly doubtful either sister will get to that state. As for Beatrice, mostly agreed! Technically she'd still have a purpose, which is to protect "That Person". But…yeah, blindly following "That Person's" orders with no regard for her own feelings or life is terrible and not at all a good way to live.
Maximum Rhapsody: Nope, Subaru sure didn't like how Beatrice acted in the last loop. Due to Rem being emotional, she will have some difficulty suppressing her anger for Roswaal. As for Emilia, I'm sure she'd be pretty concerned about Rem and asking questions about how she's feeling.
K: I've gotten some concerns over this. I have valid reasons for why Rem acted the way she did, for the most part. I have a more detailed explanation in the comments on AO3 in reply to someone who brought up these points. If you wish to see the full thing, go find it there. I'll provide a snippet here though that addresses Rem's calmness at Ram's death. "The main reason why she was able to be somewhat calm (though less so than Subaru) is because she knows, deep in the back of her mind, Subaru can reset and bring her back. Is it absolutely selfish of her to think about having Subaru die to bring back her sister? Absolutely. But who wouldn't at least have the thought? So, with that in mind, she's able to focus less on the death of her sister and grieve and instead fuel her fury towards Roswaal. Now, I could've made the reactions more dramatic and have more screaming. Upping that to some extent would be a bit more in line with Rem's emotional behavior." I do really like your idea of her holding off her announcement of leaving her job as the Manor's maid and instead becoming Subaru's personal maid until the end of the arc. I'll see if I can make that happen.
Masked weirdo: Yep, another dark ending. I'm happy to have surprised you with Beatrice's behavior! As mentioned in another comment, Beatrice didn't exactly have no purpose. Her purpose (according to her) is to protect her master at all costs. Which in a way is a noble cause, but the way she goes about it is terrible. Thanks! Glad you enjoyed the last chapter!
TheEndBoss: Thankfully they avoided that fate thanks to Subaru's quick thinking! Couldn't stop Rem from feeling guilty though. And yeah…Beatrice's fate in the last loop was pretty depressing. Finally, thank you!