...

  3rd Pov

  "Arghh!" Subaru grabbed his chest as he started panting, he looked around to find himself in the guest room.

  "Is it after Emilia had left the room?" he muttered; however, he was sure it was the case.

  "That bitch" he spat with hatred in his eyes as he recalled how she killed him without any mercy.

  "What should I do? I will die again; I don't want to die again" he said while tears escape recalling how horrifying his death was.

  Normally a single hit would have been enough to kill him, however due to his increased vitality he was forced to live, with his bones crushed, his chest crushed, his limbs becoming squashed mess, his head cracking under her assault.

  "Only if Reina can come here- Wait! Can I call her?" he suddenly realized, is it possible to seek her help if he was to call her name?

  Didn't she have like one million and one Divine Protections? She should have an ability to know if someone calls her name desperately.

  'However, chances are not that great' he sighed and decided to test it out ter on.

  He came outside the room and then searched for Betty's library, once he found it, he entered the library.

  "How rude to enter Betty's library without Betty's permission" Beatrice said as she looked at the intruder.

  'Should I say that I am 'that person'?' he thought, Echidna wanted Betty to choose her 'That person' however instead Betty waited for the imaginary 'that person' who never came for her.

  'Leave it, there is no need to tell her that. Although I can be her 'that person' as of now I am not her that person' he thought.

  "Sorry, it seems I entered the wrong room, however which room is this?" he asked.

  "This is Betty's Library, I suppose" she said and stared at him with unkind eyes.

  Subaru entered the room and looked at the books neatly arranged in the bookshelves 'Damn this is basically fountain of knowledge' he thought.

  "Can I take one book?" he asked however he received a gre from her.

  "No one can take Betty's books without her permission, in fact" she said and rejected him.

  "I see" he sighed, and thought how good it was if he could touch the books and focused on a book, wanting to read it.

  Suddenly the book came out of the bookshelf and floated in front of him.

  "What?!" the book fell on the ground with a thud and Beatrice stood up from her chair, she looked at the book and then at him with glint in his eyes.

  "Why was the book floating?" she asked him, as she didn't sense any magic being used.

  "I- I don't know, all I wanted is- for the book to come towards me and it happened" suddenly the book again started floating as he focused while Beatrice's eyes narrowed.

  "Impossible, you are not using mana. How are you doing it, in fact?" she asked in a cold tone.

  Subaru meanwhile ignored her and instead became excited he tested his new ability, just like how he wanted the book floated, he wanted it to revolve around him and so it did.

  He started testing it more and decided to focus on other books, suddenly multiple books came out of the bookshelf and started floating around him, if one was to look carefully, the books were covered in a blue light.

  "Hey! Don't ignore me!" Betty suddenly got angry and touched him, Subaru froze and suddenly he felt all of his mana being drained out.

  "You seem to have a decent amount of mana, I suppose" she said with a sadistic grin on her face.

  He fell on the ground and so did the books, he groaned in pain and slowly stood up.

  "Why would you do that?" he asked and she snorted.

  "Hmph! For ignoring Betty, I suppose" she replied and then continued "Now show if you can still float the books" as if ordering him.

  Subaru groaned and tried to lift up the books, suddenly a blue stream of energy came out of his body and lifted up the books in air, with no reduction in power.

  "I have drained you all of your mana, yet you can achieve this. This isn't magic! But an authority, in fact!" she said and looked at him.

  "I can smell witch's miasma from you. Are you an Archbishop of Sin?" she asked with suspicion and got on guard.

  But again, will an Archbishop will be stupid enough for her to drain his entire mana? She couldn't help but doubt.

  "Nah, I am cursed by the Witch. That's why I reek of Miasma. As for why I have the ability to move things without mana? Honesty, I am not sure" he said honestly, however he did have an inkling of what was happening.

  It was Telekinesis, and since with each death, his abilities have been increasing. Maybe his psychic ability has increased?

  In fiction it is often stated that if someone's mental capacity increases beyond a certain amount. They can use psychic abilities.

  Perhaps, that's the case.

  'I will have to test how strong this ability is, as for its name? Let's call it Ruler's Authority' he picked the name from a certain Shadow Monarch, as it matched.

  "Is that so?" she stared at him with suspicion and then her eyes got a glint.

  "Something that isn't Magic or Authority, and neither curse! It's a totally new type of ability!" her eyes shined as she realized how precious this knowledge was.

  She looked at Subaru as if looking at prey, Subaru couldn't help but shudder seeing her sparkling eyes, however she soon realized her mistake and recovered from her excitement.

  "The fact that something like this isn't recorded in Forbidden Library is totally unexpectable, in fact!" she said as she eyed at Subaru.

  "If you let Betty analyse this ability of yours. You can read books from the library, I suppose!" she said as she looked at him for his reply.

  "This is totally a deal worth it!" Subaru smirked and grabbed her small hand and shook it.

  "Hmph! Remember it doesn't mean you can disturb Betty, I suppose" she said and he nodded.

  "How about you come for breakfast? It should be prepared by now" he asked and she hesitated for a moment before nodding.

  They came out of the forbidden library and met Rem "Are you the guest Miss Emilia has talked about?" she asked and then looked at Beatrice standing beside him in surprise.

  "Miss Beatrice you are outside the library?" she asked and Betty snorted.

  "Yes, Betty is outside of her library, I suppose" she said and Rem decided to not say anything lest she angers her.

  She then escorted them to the dining hall, where Subaru again met with Roswaal, and had breakfast.

  Finally, he made the same requests as he had made with him in previous loop, first to get a lot of money and second for someone to tutor him, as he hadn't finished learning the nguage of this world.

  He then wondered if he should tell he reeks of miasma due to the curse of the witch, like the previous loop.

  In the end he decided to come clean and said the same thing, as for whether they believe or not?

  It's their problem, st thing he wants to feel guilt.

  'Then again, I must be ready to face Rem. I should go in forest and check my abilities first' he thought and left the mansion and went to the forest.

  He took out his two knives and swung it against a tree, a deep ssh mark appeared in it.

  "As of now, I have only these two knifes as my weapons, however I would prefer to shift to a sword" he muttered.

  He wanted to shift to a sword, because the strongest weapons in Re Zero were the Ten Legendary Swords out of which Dragon Sword was strongest that could cut through the concepts.

  Yes, unless Reinhardt draws the Dragon Sword, he cannot cut through the concepts.

  If he could obtain even one of them, then he can be becoming a powerhouse.

  That's why he preferred sword as his main weapon, unfortunately right now he just had the two knives he had stolen from the thieves back in Lugunica as his weapons.

  After testing his abilities for a bit, he came to a realization.

  He could now smash away trees with his fists alone, his speed had increased immensely, almost doubled.

  'Wait! Doubled? Does that mean all my abilities double with each death?' he thought and realized it should be the case.

  After all, if his abilities tripled or quadrupled then he would have been ridiculously powerful by now, and if his abilities increased just by 50% or 70% percent, he wouldn't have been this strong.

  He had hit the mark.

  He then returned to the Mansion, ready to fulfil his promise with Beatrice and learn about his newfound telekinesis.

  ...

  "Hmm, intriguing, you can move things- or even bend spoons with your intentions alone, however the blue glow suggests some type of energy at work, in fact" said Betty as she looked at the floating books with curious eyes.

  She took out a notebook and started jotting down the notes.

  Then she looked at him and said "We should give this energy a suitable name, I suppose"

  "Let's call it psychic energy and let's name the ability to move objects without touching Telekinesis" he said and she looked at him surprised.

  "You are good at naming, I suppose" she said.

  He shrugged and then said "Also, let's call the ability as whole, Ruler's Authority"

  "Ruler's Authority?" she frowned hearing such a grandiose name simir to witch's authority.

  "Yeah, the ability to move objects with will alone, isn't it like a Ruler who can affect the surrounding people by his presence and will alone?" he argued and she nodded, hitting the realization.

  "You are not half-bad, I suppose" she commented, which surprised him as he knew Betty never praised anyone easily.

  She blushed realizing what she had said however remained silent.

  "Well, I should leave. I will finish up learning how to read and write the nguage, then I will come here to read books" he said and left the library; however, he could sense her gaze lingering till the door closed.

  "A-Are you betty's that person?" she clenched the book in her hand and looked at the closed door.

  ...

  "Stupid Ozoe, doesn't know to read and write" said Ram as she opened the notebook.

  "Atleast you know the basic alphabets right?" she stared at him with a questioning gaze.

  "First, I don't like the nickname you gave me. Secondly, didn't Roswaal told you to treat me with respect?" he asked her.

  She clicked her tongue and said "Fine respected guest, Ram shall now teach you this letter is..."

  Two hours passed in a blink of eyes, while Ram stared at Subaru with a dumbfounded look, no matter what she taught he could learn it instantly!

  It won't be wrong to say he had learned almost one-fourth of the words present in the dictionary!

  "Are you trying to act illiterate deliberately?" she asked with narrowed eyes.

  "Nah, I am just that good" he shrugged, he had now Eidetic and photographic memory, to add cherry on the top his comprehension abilities were also top-notch.

  Ram's eyebrows twitched hearing his words and she muttered "Shameless"

  'Says the woman with Stockholm syndrome' Subaru rolled his eyes.

  Next Ram left with the excuse she had to work, which he knew was a lie. In previous loop he had just seen her try to 'work' and the real work was done by Rem.

  Subaru didn't mind her and continued reading, ready to learn the nguage by the end of the day.

  In fact his reading speed too has been enhanced, he flipped page in every ten or so seconds, instantly learning what was written in the pages.

  ...

  After having the dinner, he wondered if he should go to Betty's library and spend the night there, at least it will be safer there.

  'Leave it, I am quite angry with that bitch, I wanna see that Bitch try' he thought with a cold look, if this Rem was to attempt to murder him, then he was gonna thrash her well.

  To be honest he really wanted to kill her, but that would make him enemies with Ram and probably puck, even Emilia won't like it.

  Not to mention his reputation would be jeopardy.

  'What a pain, doesn't matter this time I will take her limb or two at least if she dares' he thought before going to his bed.

  Just like the st time, his pn was to wait for two hours to see if she would come.

  After nearly 30 minutes someone walked in and he jumped out of the bed, holding the two knives, without any surprise it was Rem, her expression extremely cold.

  "It would have been better if you were sleeping, it would have been painless" she said as she held her Morningstar.

  "Really? I can sense the hostility from you. But to think you want to kill me- Let me guess because of the Witch's miasma?" he said and she swung her morning star.

  He dodged it and broke through the window falling to the garden, 'Should I scream for help?' he wondered.

  The only one who would probably help him will be Betty and Emilia.

  As for Ram and that clown? Leave it.

  He ran towards the forest, seething with anger, this time his speed doubled, if he wished she could have never catch up to him.

  However, he deliberately slowed himself for her to catch up to him. Once he reached a considerably open area he stopped.

  "Running away is futile, you will die here... Filthy witch cultist" she said as if totally assured of her victory.

  "El Huma!" his eyes narrowed as she used magic, multiple ice spears materialized in the air.

  "Dona!" he used Earth magic and a wall of stone rose up in front of him blocking the spears.

  Thankfully he used quite a bit of magic, so wall was extremely sturdy and he was safe behind him, finally he yelled, "Reina! Emilia! Betty! Anyone! Help me!"

  He didn't know if anyone try to come to help him, but it was worth a shot.

  "Foolish! Do you think someone will come to save a filthy witch cultist?" she snarled however the next moment a girl materialized in front of Subaru.

  "..."

  She stared speechless at the fair girl that has just appeared, her red hair swayed with the wind, her pristine blue eyes stared at Rem and then she turned her head, a gentle smile appearing on her face.

  "I am here, Lord Zero" she said and Subaru couldn't help but feel excited and relieved, he quickly hugged her from behind.

  She yelped in surprise; blushed and then hugged him back and joy appeared on her face.

  Of course, Rem was the type to wait, she quickly chanted, "Al Huma!"

  A massive dense pilr of ice, seeing which Subaru eyes widened and the next moment it shot towards them.

  Reina didn't even look back, a cold look appeared on her face as she moved her hand towards the incoming ice pilr and simply flicked her finger.

  *Boom*

  The Ice pilr shattered spectacurly with the shards flowing backwards, the shockwave released from Reina's flicking him Rem and she was thrown away like a ragdoll crashing against multiple trees.

  Subaru's mouth opened and widened, as he stared at the scene with shock.

  He let go of the hug and Reina said "Don't worry, Lord Zero as long as I am here, she can't even hurt a strand of your hair!"

  "Re-Reina, that was- Amazing! You were so cool!" he said with eyes full of stars, she scratched her nose in embarrassment.

  "I-It wasn't that great" she said, however a smile formed on her lips.

  If it was someone else, they would have been utterly scared of her or downright called her a 'Monster'

  As, Natsuki Subaru was built different, especially his previous self as Ayan Ghosh who loved overpowered Main Characters.

  (A/N: A non-dense OP mc are the best, mark my words)

  Rem suddenly stood up and quickly made a run for the mansion, seeing which Reina stepped forward, she broke the sound barrier and caught Rem by her neck, returning back to Subaru.

  "I have captured her, Lord Zero. Should I dispose of her?" she asked, she didn't know why this blue-haired oni was attacking her Zero, if not for the fact her Divine Blessing told that killing her wasn't the best choice, she would have already sughtered her.

  "No- Let's take her to the Mather's mansion. She needs some expnation to do" he said and she nodded.

  His eyes became cold as he looked at Rem hanging by her neck, she tried her best to break free however she couldn't even use magic.

  As if mana in her body was totally disrupted.

  "Oh, before that- Can you let her down for a second?" he asked and she did as he said, once Rem's feet touched the ground she gred at Subaru.

  "Filthy Witch cu-" before she could say anything a sp nded on her cheek, making her fall on the ground.

  She coughed out a few teeth while her cheek was swollen, she looked at Subaru in disbelief and felt humiliated.

  "What with that expression as I am the bad guy here? You tried to kill me- for what? A fake assumption which was already proven wrong by a god-damn Great Spirit" he said and then looked at hinting her to grab Rem again.

  She nodded and grabbed her neck by again like she was a toddler. Then they walked towards Roswaal's Mansion.

  On the way he expined her everything that happened with him, and why Rem tried to kill him, hearing which her grip over Rem's neck became tighter.

  "Is it true? You tried to kill Lord Zero for that?!" she spat, her eyes became colder and her grip stronger, Rem's face became blue as she started choking.

  "Reina! She will die at this rate! Stop!" Subaru shouted and her grip loosened.

  "Be grateful bitch, if not for Lord Zero I would have erased you" Reina threatened and her face became pale in fear.

  To be honest she wasn't clear about who Reina was, however she knew she was ridiculously strong to fend off her strongest attack with a mere flick of her fingers.

  "Anyway, Reina do you have a Divine Protection that can let us talk with each other without speaking?" he asked and she nodded "Yes, I have"

  Thus, she used her Divine Protection of Telepathy and said directly to his mind 'You can speak Lord Zero'

  'Okay once we reach there, I will make a joke to them" he said with a grin.

  'A joke?' Reina tilted her head in confusion, why would he want to make a joke.

  He quickly expined his pn to her, to be honest she didn't understand why he wanted to do this, but if he wanted to do it, then she didn't care.

  ...

  Soon they reached the mansion, and Reina threw Rem on the ground.

  "Come out!" Subaru yelled; Reina used her Divine Protection to make them wake up.

  Soon Ram, Roswaal, Emilia and even Betty where in the garden.

  "Why are you disturbing Betty so te, I suppose?" she asked despite not needing any sleep.

  "Zero- Wait?! Why is Rem in that state?" she asked looking at Rem who was supported by Ram who was gring at Subaru, while Roswaal had a frown on his face.

  "I am Archbishop of Sin, representing Pride, Zero!" Subaru introduced himself and Rem's and Ram's faces contorted.

  (A/N: Damn, I always thought Pride Subaru was cool asf)

  Even Emilia was shocked "W-Wait, what are saying Subaru?"

  "You are a god damn witch cultist?!" Ram's eyes widened, while Rem too was surprised wondering if she had hit the mark.

  Even Roswaal was taken aback by Subaru's decration.

  "Do you take Betty for a stupid girl? I sense that the Red-haired woman beside you is the current sword saint, why would she will help a witch cultist, in fact" Betty pointed out, surprising Rem.

  "S-She is the famous Sword Saint?!" Rem gasped, realizing whom she was fighting against.

  "Indeed, isn't what you thought of me Rem? A filthy witch cultist, right? Now tell me Reina am I a witch cultist?" he asked her.

  She shook her head with a smile "I swear on my name of Reina Van Astrea, whatever Lord Zero has spoken is a lie, he is no cultist or part of witch cult"

  "I-Impossible! He must be controlling the sword saint!" Rem shouted, but then Subaru started ughing.

  "Oh? So, you are saying, I am controlling the strongest successor of Sword Saint? If that was the case, kingdom would have been in my pocket" he said sarcastically, leaving Rem unable to refute.

  She was about to something again when Subaru said "Rem! Wisdom has always been chasing you! But you were always faster!"

  "That was a nice one!" Reina's eyes sparkled looking at Subaru as if looking at her idol.

  "W-Wait! What's that suppose to mean?" Rem asked with a gre.

  While Ram's and Roswaal's eyebrows twitched, while one can almost see questions marks appear above Emilia's face.

  "He is calling you stupid, sister" Ram said after taking a deep breath.

  Rem again felt humiliated; however, this time Reina's cheerful face was gone.

  "So, tell me Roswaal, your maid tried to unjustly murder Lord Zero, how you intend to deal with it?" asked Reina with bloodlust in his eyes.

  Roswaal sweated while gritted his teeth, he screamed internally 'This wasn't written in the book!'

  Wasn't Reina supposed to be busy with Felt? Wasn't Subaru supposed to die a few times to Rem? Then convince her by saving the vilge?

  He was also supposed to be deeply in love with Emilia, and was supposed to be weak.

  He doesn't know what is happening, but he needs to follow the book, to ensure Echidna is resurrected.

  For that he is willing to do anything.

  "Well, I am still shoooort of details. Would you graciously expin meeee what exactly happened?" he asked and Subaru recounted everything that has happened, he then asked Rem who recounted things from her side.

  However, anyone could see that she was at the fault.

  "Rem! Why did you do that?! Didn't Master told us to treat him with greatest honour?!" Ram gred at her.

  She herself was suspicious of Zero, however she didn't think of murdering him.

  Honestly if Rem had been successful in killing Subaru, she would have helped her dispose of his body, but now things failed she could only bme Rem to save her.

  "Y-You tried to kill Zero? Because you thought he was witch cultist?" Emilia said and looked at Rem in disbelief.

  "S-So would you try to murder me because I look like the witch?" she asked and Rem said nervously "I-I won't do that Lady Emilia!"

  "Don't give me that! It is still the same, you tried to kill him just because he reeked of the miasma! It is just as same, how people assume bad of me just because I look like the witch!" she gred at Rem.

  Rem became speechless, she realized what she had done, she still wanted to accuse Subaru- however things had become obvious enough for her to understand.

  She tried to murder an innocent person just because of an assumption.

  "Rem! Apologize to Zero!" Emilia said, and Rem looked at Subaru gulping her saliva.

  "A mere apology won't cut it, what's your decision Lord Roswaal?" asked Reina crossing her arms.

  "Rem, as of now you are banished from Mather's mansion forever, don't ever show your face here again" he said and Rem was left stunned.

  "B-But Lord Roswaal!" Ram tried to change his mind however receiving a gre from him shut him up.

  She bit her lips and stared at her sister with a sad expression and looked away, not daring to meet eyes with her.

  Rem's face became pale, and a horrified look appeared on her face.

  "Banished? For attempting to kill Lord Zero, she must be executed!"

  "No!" Ram immediately retorted, however the cold gre from Reina pierced through her.

  "If that's what you wish, Miss Reina then I guess Rem shall be executed" Roswaal said without blinking an eye.

  Rem hung her head down, biting her lips as if accepting her fate.

  Tears appeared on Ram's eyes and she immediately stepped forward and knelt in front of Subaru, "Si- No Lord Zero! Please spare my sister! I beg you!"

  "Miss Reina! Shouldn't Rem just apologize and receive punishment? Getting executed is too harsh of a punishment" said Emilia, even though her retionship with maids wasn't good, she couldn't bear to see them die.

  "Let me ask Emilia, what would have Puck done if someone tried to kill you, because you look like Witch and nearly succeeded in it?" he asked her and she shuddered and she replied "H-He would kill that person"

  He nodded and then looked at Rem who stared at her sister and said "Sister, don't beg for me. What I did is unforgivable and I should be punished for it!"

  Before Ram could say anything, Subaru stepped forward "I have decided, I won't execute Rem and neither banish her from Mather's mansion"

  "R-Really?" Ram asked in disbelief and relief, even Rem was shocked.

  "I believe in second chances for those who are capable of redemption. However, it doesn't mean you won't be punished and if you try this second time, you won't be forgiven if there is a next time" he said seriously, looking at Rem.

  However, Rem's face became grateful and so did Ram's, while Reina's cold eyes stared at Rem 'Lord Zero is too kind- for this filthy world' she thought.

  Roswaal's lips broke into a smile "I am gratefuuul Zerooo, for forgiving Rem"

  "Anyway, I do have another punishment for her in mind" he said and Roswaal nodded and asked "Ooooh, tell meee"

  "For next three months, she shall be my private maid and only do tasks for me" Roswaal's expression fell.

  While Ram wondered if Subaru had bad intentions towards Rem, however she could just grit her teeth.

  "Also no need to worry, I won't be asking for Night services, I found it distasteful to force someone" he said.

  Reina's expression became joyful and nodded "Lord Zero speaks the truth"

  Ram's expression eased hearing Reina's words, and she even felt a tiny bit of guilty for doubting Zero.

  "Hmph! If that's it, then Betty shall take her leave, I suppose!" Beatrice who was silent till now, disappeared from her pce, teleporting back to the library.

  Emilia too was relieved by how things turned out to be, and she couldn't help but look at Subaru with gratefulness.

  (A/N: Emilia is too kind and innocent for this world)

  "So how about it Loooord Roswaaal?" asked Subaru with a smirk and Roswaal nodded with frozen expression.

  He could not only think about what dreadful thing he will have to eat tomorrow.

  "Uh! Now things are settled Lord Zero, there is still thing one left for me to say" she said garnering everyone's attention.

  "Now that I think, why are you calling me Lord Zero? There is no need to add 'Lord' before my name, Reina" he said and looked at her confused.

  "It is only right, that I call my future Lord with respect" she said surprising everyone, and then knelt before him on her one knee.

  "Lord Zero, I Reina Van Astrea, offer myself as your Knight" she said stunning everyone, even Roswaal was shocked.

  "W-what are you saying Reina?" Subaru asked in disbelief.

  "As I have said, Lord Zero I want to be your Knight" she said with a smile on her face.

  She had done it; she had made her choice.

  To be continued...