Information. Early on in human history, wars were fought, and in those cases, information was king. The side that knew more, prepared more, and stacked the deck in their favor with their gathered information almost always won.

Sure, there were instances that even that information worked against them, or was flat out rendered useless. Exceptions only prove the rule, in those cases. When the Mongols tried to invade Japan, they didn't expect not one, but two monsoons to stop them in their tracks, destroying their armies in the process.

Had they the foreknowledge that such a thing would happen, they would have surely timed their attempt on a different day.

The same could be said with relationships. Interpersonal relationships are built upon the knowledge of each other, the wants and needs of each person you interact with. Even self-awareness could be the case. Knowing oneself was the first step to victory and all that.

Therefore, one could say that I am the premier example of winning.

I hoarded knowledge, and used each bit to my advantage. In doing so, I had gained allies in the form of a Lugunican Duchess, the Sword Saint, and hell, even a veteran from the losing side of the Demi-Human War.

All for the sake of getting home faster.

Would they have been my allies without the little information network I set up? Maybe, maybe not. In the case of Felt and Rom, I would think so. They were good workers, for one, and were unlikely to betray me for a bit of coin, unlike many of the others I could have taken in. Trust was always a premium currency that I kept close at hand, and those two certainly earned it.

Astrea was likely always going to be an ally, though the degree of which could vary. Literally nobody in the capital, bar the old men who were terrified that Astrea would single handedly take over the country with his strength and outright criminals, had anything bad to say about him. He would likely still be a sad lonely bastard who'd just wanted someone to talk to.

…Damn, yeah, thinking about it like that, no wonder that guy was that socially anxious despite being touted as the strongest.

As for the others? Karsten, Hoshin and Barielle were all up in the air. I suppose it was up to whether my younger self would have seen the value in their proposals beyond mt vehement opposition to politics.

You know, Hachiman, I don't know why you're even thinking about this.

Neither do I, Hachiman. This happened well over five years ago, didn't it?

I know, right? This is all old news! I should be focusing on the task at hand!

Wait a minute, don't tell me. Thinking about the past, trying to get new perspectives on old events, figuring out if the people I'm relatively close with would be the same if I wasn't me. Am I going through my sentimental arc?! Dammit Zaimokuza! Stop writing me like a stereotypical brooding teenager!

…

I joined Karsten after making sure that Beatrice had sealed the library. The box containing the Witch Factor was safely kept inside, though neither I nor Karsten had fully trusted the Archbishop and his Fingers to not do anything untoward.

To that end, the Duchess had the older Astrea guard Romanée-Conti, while her more forgettable men guarded the Fingers.

Sorry, faceless knights, you really are just relegated to being background characters. I'd say I'd offer you a drink next time around, but I would probably forget who they were.

We made our way outside, followed by Emilia and her camp. I wasn't surprised that the silver-haired elf let Karsten take the lead. As strong as she portrayed herself earlier, that didn't change that we were dealing with a military matter. I suppose that's a good mark for her - to be an effective leader, one needs to sometimes let others take the lead.

Regardless, it was time to figure out two things: one, how to deal with the Archbishop of Gluttony. This was the more pressing matter. If they had had the White Whale under their control, then we should expect someone at least as strong, if stronger, than the mabeast. Smarter too, now that I think about it.

Frankly, I was nervous about tackling such a foe. I didn't have any information with that specific Archbishop. All I had were rumors, except they overlapped way too much to be completely true. Sometimes, they would have rumored sightings in Gusteko, only for another sighting in Priestella to contradict it entirely.

Not even Romanée-Conti knew how they were able to do it. Apparently, while he knew of the Archbishop of Gluttony and their control over the White Whale, that was all he knew. He couldn't even confirm whether the other Archbishop was a man or woman!

Which made me paranoid, I must admit. Without anyone knowing what the Archbishop looked like, they could have been standing next to me and I would be none the wiser, up until they kill me that is.

Secondly, I needed to find out why Natsuki was so damn jumpy. In fact, wasn't he even more high-strung than normal? That wasn't ideal. Every time he was like that, something happened. Granhiert, the Whale, each time Natsuki's paranoia borne of his obvious clairvoyance, shit hit the fan, and quickly.

It was even more nerve wracking when that look of panic that he tried to hide was directed to me.

"You're monologuing again." Karsten muttered to me as we made it outside. I glanced at her from the corner of my eye, raising an eyebrow.

"I didn't realize you knew me that much." I muttered back dryly, "I'm touched. Not."

"Hardly. I just know you enough that if you're quiet, it's because you're too busy thinking about nonsense." Oi, I resent that. You may think nonsense when you monologue, my thoughts are an organized file system that's the backbone that makes me as efficient as I am!

Oh, I said that out loud.

Karsten rolled her eyes as her shoulders relaxed a fraction. Heh. Even this Valkyrie could feel the pressure, huh?

"Alright, what the hell is going on?!" The somewhat pleasant atmosphere was broken by Natsuki's exclamation. I calmly stared at him as he stomped to the front of us. Well, I said calmly, but I was more than prepared to make a portal underneath him if he tried something stupid. Both for my safety and his.

"Subaru? What are you doing?" The Elf.

"Ha, how typical of you to say something as brazen as that." The Maid.

"Subaru Natsuki?" And the Duchess. Karsten spoke for the both of us as she frowned, "What are you referring to?"

"This! You and Hikigaya being all buddy-buddy!" He gestured towards the two of us as if this weren't a common occurrence. Well, to be fair, Karsten and I haven't really spoken to each other in front of Natsuki, so it must be a surprise to see the two of us having an amicable conversation.

Still, it was a standard client-provider relationship. It wouldn't be good for business if I didn't have decent relationships with the people I worked with, after all.

"...Explain yourself." Going by the imperious stare from Karsten, she took it much worse than I did. I had to raise an eyebrow at her tone, "Why is it that you think that Hikigaya and I would not get along?"

She was taking this way too seriously.

"Erk." Natsuki took a step back, and I could practically see the sweat form on his brow as Karsten continued to glare at him, "I-It's just that, didn't you say you've never spoken to Karsten before, Hikigaya?"

Oi, oi, oi, what the hell?! Why are you throwing me under the bus, and by saying words I never said to a woman that can detect lies?!
"Brat, I never told you anything of the sort." Even before Karsten could call him out on it, I interjected, "I-"

"How are you both telling the truth?" Karsten interjected my interjection. Woman, don't you know it's rude to copy other people's thing? Others may say that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, but I say that that's just intellectual property theft! Or was it copyright infringement? I could never remember.

No, stop that. Damn, what the hell's been wrong with me? I know I'm prone to going off on tangents in my own head, but ever since a while back, it feels like it's been harder and harder to keep focus. It feels as if my mind is wandering way too much.

I can't let that happen here, not when Karsten's question was met with silence. I narrowed my eyes. It was in how he phrased the statement that got me suspicious. The same with Karsten, I suppose. In the past, she might have overlooked it. Nowadays, after years of phrasing whatever I could into non-answers whenever I was dealing with her, she could fish me out any day of the week.

Natsuki did not have years of experience against that.

Ergo, he meant what he said. I had told him that, except I don't remember it.

"Did you somehow fuck with my memory?" Natsuki wasn't the type to do that, at least, from everything I know of him. Unless it was accidental, in which case, I could see it happening. It would certainly explain my scattered thoughts. I just needed to know how much I should kill him if he answered yes.

"Wait, no, I didn't do anything to you!" He waved his arms defensively, panicking even more. The subtle shift from Karsten was enough for her to convey that Natsuki was telling the truth. Again.

It was then that Natsuki started breathing deeply, as if he were preparing himself for some great undertaking, "You're not going to let me go without explaining, are you?" There was a desperate note in how he said it, almost enough to make me take pity on him.

I crushed that part of me mercilessly, "No, now explain."

"Alright. Alright, alright, alright." He started pacing in place. Jumping on one foot and then the other. Hands on his waist as he started breathing faster and faster. What the hell was I looking at?

"Right, here it goes. It shouldn't do anything…I think." He muttered that last bit a touch too loudly. What was even the point of muttering it then?

"First off, I just want to ask, how many did we lose to the White Whale?" Well, I didn't expect that. Still, the answer was easy enough.

"None. Everyone returned alive."

"No, that's wrong." At this, Natsuki gave such a humorless chuckle that had he not been standing there, I would have thought it a different person, "Six of us died to the fog. None of you remember it, but they're the reason why we're alive in the first place. They spotted the Whale when it was coming towards us. I heard them, and I immediately tried to get your guys' attention. It all worked out in the end, but still…"

"Subaru, what are you saying?" Emilia stepped forward to gently place a hand on Natsuki's arm, her voice betraying her worry despite her face being turned away from us.

"Emilia-tan, Crusch-san, Hikigaya, Rem. And Ram, of course." He tried to laugh, even interesting a bit of a joke in there. None of us laughed. All of us stared. If what he was saying was true - and Karsten had made no indication that anything he said was in any way fals - that meant that Natsuki could-

"I don't know why, and I don't know how, but I can remember people who got killed by the Whale's fog. That's why…That's why I was telling the truth. You did tell me, only, it was before the Whale's fog changed things." Then, as if remembering something, Natuski wildly drew back with, arms curling in front of him protectively. I don't know why he did that, was he expecting us to attack him or something after revealing that?

Natsuki was going to be in for a surprise then.

"Subaru Natsuki. I am willing to offer you a plot of land once I win the selection, so long as you join my camp." Just as I expected, Karsten came out strong with her offer.

"Wh-Wha?" The brat pulled down his arms slowly, staring at Karsten in confusion. He really shouldn't be. The ability to remember those destroyed from history by the Whale was unheard of. I know, I checked. I had my informants gather any information regarding White Whale survivors, and all they told us was that they had been away from wherever they had been at the time.

They couldn't even say who was in their village. Rather, they said that they were the only people living in whichever village they were the survivors of. Which wouldn't make sense. Why would it be considered a village if only one person lived there?

I dove deeper into that rabbit hole once the right questions were asked. Census records, sparse as they may be in remote villages, showed that the only living people in those areas, before the Whale attacked, were those survivors.

The records hadn't been altered since they were first written. So either, entire villages consistently only had a small group as their populations, or some fuckery was involved. I had, much like anybody with more than a brain cell, concluded the latter.

Natsuki being able to recall details, truthfully, was a miracle that not even Astrea could do. Whatever means he got his Divine Blessings, the Sword Saint would still be affected by the memory deletion, which doubled as fucking reality warping, of the White Whale.

That meant that Natsuki's ability was a once-in-several-lifetimes level of rare. The level of importance was such that entire nations would likely want him just for that alone. As demonstrated by Karsten. Where was she now? Around four acres of land? Damn, she's going up fast.

Sadly, it looks like Emilia didn't get the memo. Oh, looks like Ram and Rem were picking up the slack. Ganbare, you two, you're going to need it.

As for me? Well, I was still taking everything with a grain of salt. At the end of the day, what would remembering those whose entire presence even do anymore? Really, the more you think about it, pragmatically, it did nothing. Literally nothing.

After all, can you feel bad about something you'd never be able to recall? For a person whose entire existence, proof of existence, actions, and everything in-between, had been deleted?

In short, no.

Guilt necessitated that you had done some sort of wrong. But what if that wrong never existed in the first place? The answer was obvious: the guilt would never exist either.

I was…satisfied by how things were. Not because things were good, but because they could have been worse. Though, one last question came to mind.

"Oi, brat." I finally stepped into their bidding war. The two maids and the lost elf trying to one-up the Duchess over Natsuki. Ha. Had this been a romantic comedy, this would've been an end credit scene to the season finale. I schooled my features as the question I wanted to ask came to the forefront.

There were only a few reasons I could see why I would tell Natsuki that. The beginnings of one such reason I could see even now. I wasn't particularly close with the nameless knights of Karsten, even when she and I were more or less familiar with one another. I doubt that them dying would have changed much in my life, as callous as that sounds.

Meaning, someone else had been a victim to the Whale, beyond the ones that Natsuki said. And if it was enough to affect my working relationship with Karsten, then I must've been involved in some way shape or form.

I sucked in air through my nose as I focused. Maybe I'd hate myself once I found out what I did. Why I was here now instead of whoever had died. I won't know until I know.

"What the hell happened?"

I refuse to run away. To shelve this for another day - or until the end of time. I need to know, no matter the cost.

…

A/N: So, I kinda forgot to say this last week, but this chapter was delayed due to an event I needed to attend last week. The same can be said for next week's chapter over on Chronal Disassociation. Though, I say that, but this chapter and CD's next chapter have already been published over on the land of patrons. I will warn you, however, that the early chapter next week will also be delayed due to another event.

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.