Gojo stood just outside the door, leaning his weight against the cold stone wall of the hallway.
From behind the heavy oak frame, he could hear it——Subaru's voice, raw and cracking, spilling rage toward Crusch like venom.
Satoru kept his eyes closed as he overheard what was going on. The guy wasn't just angry; he was vibrating with a desperate, frantic kind of grief that felt far too heavy.
The door swung open in an instant. Subaru stormed out, his face a mask of burning frustration——until he skidded to a halt. The fire in his eyes flickered, replaced by a strange, disturbed look.
"G-Gojo-sensei?"
There was a hitch in his throat. Hesitation. Surprise. And beneath it all, a deep, hollow well of shame.
Is that sadness in his eyes? Or just a really loud kind of fury? Maybe both...? It's not exactly hard to tell, but it is strange that he's feeling the way he does, unless he's been doing stuff and failing behind my back.
Satoru gave a small, casual nod, his hands buried deep in his pockets. He looked as unbothered as ever, a stark contrast to the chaos radiating off his student.
"I caught the important parts..." Gojo said, his voice smooth and steady. "Sounds like the Witch's Cult is planning a little party at Roswaal's mansion and the village, right?"
Subaru's expression shifted. The breath left his lungs in a rush, his eyes widening with a flicker of hope so bright it was almost painful to look at.
"T-Then... does that mean you'll actually help me...?"
Gojo tilted his head back, flashing that trademark grin that suggested the world was nothing more than a game he'd already won.
"Is that even a question, dude? What kind of teacher would I be if I didn't have my one and only student's back? I can't have you failing just because some crazy people decided to get grabby."
Subaru froze. The smile he tried to return faltered, crumbling at the edges.
That's what he said last time, and what did I do? I dragged him into a nightmare. I watched him get torn apart. Because I was weak. Because I was small.
His fists clenched at his sides, his fingernails digging crescents into his palms. His brows narrowed into a storm of conflicting emotions—the crushing weight of guilt warring with a newfound, terrifying determination.
I'll get stronger... I'll save Emilia. I'll save Rem and Ram, Gojo-sensei too! And every last villager. I don't care how much it hurts. I don't care how many times I have to feel a painful death. I'm going to win.
Gojo's grin softened slightly. He noticed the shift—the way Subaru's posture lost its frantic edge and settled into something harder. Something forged.
"I like that look~ you've already bounced back, huh? Just a day ago you were a total wreck——honestly, I thought I was gonna have to carry you home like a sack of potatoes."
Subaru met Gojo's gaze. For the first time, he didn't look away from the intensity of the man's presence.
He gave a crooked, tired smile and raised a trembling fist.
"Heh... well, what kind of student would I be if I just sat there and gave up on the guy who's supposedly 'The Strongest,' right?"
Gojo chuckled, a genuine sound that lightened the heavy air of the corridor. He stepped forward and bumped his fist against Subaru's with a solid, satisfying thud.
"Seems you actually can learn a thing or two when you aren't busy screaming at the scenery."
"H-Hey! I was making a point!" Subaru grumbled, the familiar banter finally grounding him.
Rem, who had been standing a few paces back watching the two of them with a look of profound relief, felt glad that her Hero had already begun smiling again.
———————————————
A quiet room in a dimly lit tavern.
Gojo lay flat on his back across the thin mattress, staring at the wooden beams of the ceiling with his hands tucked behind his head.
I'm still more than a little suspicious about how Subaru's "intuition" is suddenly so precise. But if he's right about the body count, I won't play the interrogation game just yet.
Rem sat on a wooden stool nearby, her fingers twisting the fabric of her apron. "Then... Subaru-kun, if even a fraction of what you're saying is true, time is a luxury we no longer possess."
Subaru flinched. "If...?"
He caught himself, shaking his head to keep the sting of her doubt from showing.
He knew how he sounded and couldn't blame her for not completely believing it.
"Shall we return to Roswaal-sama's manor immediately?" Rem asked, her voice hovering between duty and dread.
Subaru folded his arms, his gaze dropping to the floorboards as he remembered the events of the last loop. "No. We wouldn't be able to kill them all..."
He looked over at Gojo, the man who represented the absolute peak of power in his world.
"...Even with Gojo-sensei here. It wouldn't be enough."
Gojo sat up, a curious, razor-sharp smirk playing on his lips. "Oh? Careful there, dearest student~ You sure you're not underestimating the guy who carries your grades?"
Subaru didn't answer. He just stared at the sunglasses.
You wouldn't believe me if I told you...
"There aren't enough of us," Subaru muttered. "We'd get picked apart."
Gojo shrugged, reclining back against the headboard with a casual air that didn't quite match the sudden intensity in his eyes. "Well, if you're that certain, I'll take your word for it. For now."
Subaru paced the small room, his frustration boiling over. "What is Roswaal even doing? His home is being targeted by a literal death cult and he's... where?"
"Roswaal-sama is traveling..." Rem answered instantly. "He was summoned to a mid-point meeting with officials regarding the domain's border taxes. He is not scheduled to return for several days."
Subaru scoffed, throwing his hands up. "So that explains it. He's conveniently doing nothing while his own estate gets turned into a butcher shop."
Subaru moved on to the next problem, but Gojo didn't. The sorcerer's smirk faded into a thin, contemplative line.
Roswaal... Every time that clown's name comes up, the math doesn't add up... If a dude like Subaru can sniff out a cult movement, there is zero chance the greatest mage in the Kingdom like Roswaal is 'out of the loop.' And yet, he's vanished right as the fuse is lit?
Gojo clicked his tongue sharply. "He's right about one thing, I guess. We need reinforcements. Three people against a coordinated strike is a messy way to spend a Tuesday."
Gojo raised a brow, his tone shifting into a mockingly light lilt. "So, by reinforcements, do you mean begging the Royal Candidates? You realize one of them—the strongest and most gorgeous one, mind you—is sitting right in front of you?"
Subaru blinked, a spark finally returning to his eyes. "Wait——Reinhard! Gojo-sensei, can't you just send Reinhard? He could wipe them all out before breakfast!"
Gojo's expression faltered. He looked away, his gaze drifting toward the dusty corners of the tavern room. "Weeeell... funny thing. My knight has a bit of a scheduling conflict. He mentioned he'd be 'tied up' with capital business for the next few days. Apparently, the Council of Sages has him on a very short leash lately... more than usual."
The timing is too perfect... Reinhard's out, Roswaal's out. It's like someone's clearing the board to make it harder for us.
He shrugged. "I could try to call on the Astrea Estate, but by the time they got their armor polished and marched out there, everything would probably be done and dusted."
Subaru nodded, the gears in his head grinding. "Okay, so no Reinhard... or a private army... that's annoying, how about..."
"Just skip Priscilla Barielle, to be honest... I've spent five minutes in a room with her. She wouldn't lift a finger unless it served her 'divine' whims. She's far too self-absorbed——she wouldn't stoop to helping someone she considers a 'common insect'."
"S-Someone like me!?" Subaru snapped, his ego taking a hit.
Gojo raised a hand, waving off the protest. "Hey, I'm just translating 'Priscilla-speak' for you. No offense intended, even if it's true."
He leaned back, his mind already sorting through the remaining players. "Your best bet? Anastasia Hoshin, probably. She's a merchant, which means she understands the value of a debt. Plus, she's got that 'Iron Fang' mercenary group I'd heard a little about. They're a small army just waiting for a paycheck."
He paused, then frowned, his blue eyes visible for a second as he adjusted his sunglasses. "But... even then, I dunno. Especially after that little 'performance' of yours in the capital. You didn't exactly make a great impression on her knight, Julius."
——————————————
Gojo didn't look up as the tavern door's bells jangled with a frantic, aggressive rhythm. He was too busy deconstructing a plate of local delicacies.
Damn, this world's cuisine is the only thing here that isn't a headache!
He raised his eyes just as Subaru slammed into the chair across from him, the boy's face a storm of frustration.
Rem hovered a step behind, her hands clasped tightly in front of her while she looked at Subaru with sadness.
Gojo chewed, swallowed with deliberate slowness, and flashed a sharp smirk. "Sooo... I'm guessing the whole 'Power of Friendship' speech didn't move the needle, huh? Did she say no, or did she just laugh you out of the room?"
Subaru scowled, his palms hitting the table with a dull thud. "No——worse! I tell them the literal Witch's Cult is mobilizing, and they act like I'm giving them a weather report about a light summer drizzle! They're 'observing.' They're 'evaluating.' They're doing everything except moving their asses!"
Gojo took a slow, methodical sip of his drink, setting the glass down without a sound. "To be fair, Subaru... they're thinking tactically. In both worlds, that's called 'prudence.'"
He raised a single finger, tracing the rim of his glass. "They have zero stake in Roswaal's mansion. Sure, no one likes a massacre, but from a political perspective? If Emilia's camp gets wiped out, a major rival for the throne simply vanishes. It's strategic apathy, student. They aren't being mean, they're just being efficient."
He leaned back, his chair creaking. "The only reason I thought they'd bite was for the PR. Stopping a Sin Archbishop is a hell of a way to top the polls. Guess the risk-to-reward ratio didn't look good on their spreadsheets."
Subaru let out a sigh, slouching so low he looked like he might slide under the table.
He turned his desperate gaze toward the maid. "Rem... what about the knights? Did the 'Roswaal' name carry any weight?"
Rem hesitated, her posture stiffening. Her voice was small, burdened by the failure she felt she was delivering. "As you asked, Subaru-kun, I reported the Cult's movements to the station under Roswaal-sama's authority. But... they claimed to have already received several 'anonymous tips' this week. None verifiable. They categorized ours as... more noise."
Gojo's eyes narrowed. "That's convenient... almost like someone's trying to make this harder for us."
Subaru's jaw clenched so hard his teeth ached. His mind was a flickering projector of horrors.
No army. No allies. No one willing to lift a finger... then it'll happen again. The village. The mansion. Rem... broken and cold.
And then... the man in white.
The memory surged back like a lightning strike, visceral and sickening. He saw Gojo shoving him aside without a moment's hesitation. He heard the explosion of blood, a sound that shouldn't belong to a human body.
He saw it again: the left side of Gojo's torso simply destroyed. Not cut, not crushed. Just gone, as if the universe had decided Satoru Gojo no longer had the right to occupy that specific space.
Subaru took a sharp, shuddering breath.
He forced the image down, his voice coming out steady despite the cold sweat prickling his neck. "Then we go back. Now... as fast as possible, we get Emilia and Ram out... somewhere. I don't care where. We pack a carriage and we go until the sun comes up. If we leave this second, we can reach the manor by morning."
Gojo watched him in silence, the playfulness gone from his expression. He saw the tremor in Subaru's hands and the look of fear he was attempting to hide.
——————————————
Later that evening, Subaru sat up front in the carriage, shoulders hunched, his eyes darting toward every shadow that lengthened in the twilight. Beside him, Rem held the reins with practiced grace, her expression a mask of calm that didn't quite reach her wary eyes.
In the back of the carriage, Gojo lay sprawled out, legs dangling over the edge and hands folded behind his head. He looked like a man on a summer vacation, staring up at the darkening sky with a lazy, half-lidded gaze.
Then his posture shifted. It wasn't a large movement, just a slight tension in his shoulders that hadn't been there a second ago.
"...Hmm?"
He sat up slowly, his eyes tilting toward the horizon. The Six Eyes alerted him quietly. It wasn't just one presence; it was a cluster of them.
"Hey, Subaru."
Subaru jumped, his head snapping back. "W-What? Did you see something?"
Gojo didn't answer immediately. His gaze locked on a silhouette standing perfectly still by the roadside.
As the carriage drew closer, the figure came into focus. It was a man clad in a deep green cloak, his gray hair neatly tucked under a matching green hat. He wasn't hiding; he was standing there with an expression of mild, pleasant interest, smiling as if he'd been waiting for an old friend to drop by for tea.
———————————————
The nocturnal chorus of the Lugnican woods provided a fragile layer of white noise, masking the heavy silence that usually followed Subaru's bouts of planning.
At the center of the clearing, Otto Suwen's modest campfire crackled, its orange light licking against the canvas of the merchant wagons and casting long, dancing shadows that seemed to shudder with every breeze.
Otto poked the embers with a dry branch, his brow furrowed with the kind of anxiety only a merchant with a sensitive Divine Protection could harbor. "Are you sure it's wise to travel so late?" Otto asked, his voice barely rising above the hiss of the fire. "The roads... they've been feeling 'heavy' lately. My ears haven't stopped ringing since we crossed the Lifaus border."
Subaru sat rigidly, his eyes locked on the flames as if in thought. Beside him, Rem remained just as quiet, her gaze never straying far from Subaru's pale face.
Gojo, leaning against a wagon wheel with his legs crossed, finally exhaled a long, measured breath. "We might as well just bunk down... I trust my senses more than most, but I don't make a habit of pushing my luck, especially when the air feels so... strange. We stay."
The decision acted as a physical release; Subaru's shoulders dropped an inch, and even the ground dragons seemed to huff in relief.
As the camp settled into the rhythmic quiet of a shared vigil, Gojo stood up with a lazy, cat-like stretch. "Well, before this little campfire chat turns into a therapy session, I'm gonna go catch some air."
Subaru glanced up, blinking away the trance of the flames. "Eh? Chill where? The woods are literally crawling with—well, probably everything."
Gojo offered a dismissive wave over his shoulder, already drifting toward the perimeter. "Somewhere quieter. You'll manage without me for ten minutes, right? Try not to start any more diplomatic incidents while I'm gone."
He wandered past the wagons, his footsteps making no sound on the dry leaves. He stopped where the firelight died and the moonlight took over, standing with his hands in his pockets, his chin tilted toward a sky that looked both familiar and alien. The breeze stirred his white hair.
"Hm...?"
The grass rustled softly—it wasn't the jagged movement of a cultist or the heavy prowl of a Witchbeast.
Rem stepped up beside him, her blue maid's uniform silvered by the moon. She didn't speak immediately; she simply mirrored his stance, her eyes fixed on the dark silhouette of the distant mountains.
"Didn't expect company."
"You didn't seem like the type to wander off alone without a reason, Satoru-sama," Rem replied softly.
Gojo let out a short, dry laugh—more of a huff of air than a sound of amusement. "In all honesty? I just like the night. Back where I came from, me and... my best friend used to stay up just to gaze at the stars. It was the only time the world didn't feel like it was screaming for our attention. A way to escape reality, I guess."
He trailed off, his gaze softening as he looked at a cluster of constellations that were unrecognizable. "Funny, huh? Even when you've got power... the kind of power that makes people look at you like a monster or a god, it's still easier to lose yourself in the sky than deal with the mess down here."
Rem was quiet for a long moment, the wind catching the ribbon in her hair. "I used to do the same. With my sister. We would sneak onto the roof of the mansion and watch the sky until the cold forced us back inside. We didn't need to say anything. The silence was... nice."
Gojo's smirk turned into something more genuine. "Guess it doesn't matter which place you're from, huh... peace is peace."
She looked at him then, her blue eyes searching his face. "Was your friend... important to you?"
The question hung in the air, heavy and sharp. Gojo hesitated for a moment before nodding. "Yeah. More than I realized until it was too late to do anything about it."
Rem didn't offer empty platitudes.
She simply nodded. "You seem like someone who has carried many burdens, Satoru-sama. Yet... you keep walking as if the world is light."
Gojo exhaled through his nose, a wry smile tugging at his lips.
"That's one way to put it. Or maybe I'm just too stubborn to admit my feet hurt." He turned to her, his gaze curious. "What about you? Why follow me out into the dark?"
Rem blinked, her expression briefly vulnerable before she turned back to the horizon. "I don't know, perhaps I didn't want to be alone with my thoughts. And I sensed that, for all your strength, you might be feeling the same."
That caught him off guard. The smirk faded completely, replaced by a quiet, muted understanding.
"Haaa... you know, Subaru's real lucky. He's got people like you watching his back. I didn't have many people who looked at me without seeing a weapon."
Rem folded her hands neatly. "He is precious to me. No matter how many times he falls, or how much he breaks... I want to be the reason he chooses to stand back up."
Gojo nodded slowly. "Is that what love is? That's the one thing I've never been too knowledgeable of."
Rem didn't reply, but the faint softening of her shoulders was an answer in itself.
"Well, that's enough brooding for one night. I think I've hit my quota for 'deep and meaningful' conversations for the year." Gojo turned back toward the fire.
Rem turned to follow him, her steps light. "You hide it well behind your jokes, Satoru-sama, but... you are a kind person."
Gojo gave her a sideways glance, one brow raised in mock horror. "Tch. Don't go around saying that! You'll ruin my reputation as an untouchable jerk."
Rem smiled. "Your secret is safe with Rem."
————————————————
The caravan pressed forward and a line of a dozen carriages cutting through the suffocating dark.
Lanterns swayed rhythmically from the wagons, their amber glow struggling against the encroaching wall of darkness.
Gojo leaned against the hard wooden frame of the leading carriage, the wind tossing his white hair. He'd wanted to wait for the sun, but Subaru's insistence had been incredibly annoying, the the kind of desperation that didn't leave room for logic.
I guess we aren't waiting for the morning. But the air out here... it feels strange. Something is deeply wrong with this place.
"It isn't ideal..." Rem said softly, her hands steady on the reins despite the tension. "But if we keep pushing through the night, we should enter the Mathers Domain by dawn."
She glanced at Subaru, seeking a nod, a sign that his internal storm had calmed. Subaru just stared ahead, his face pale in the lamplight.
"Subaru-kun, you haven't noticed, but there's a map in your bag. Could you show it to me? I want to verify the shortcut through the forest."
"Huh? A map?" Subaru blinked, shaking off a trance.
He rummaged through his pack, producing a crumpled piece of parchment.
He tried to flatten it on his lap, but the shadows were too thick. "Erk... I can't see a thing."
"Oh, right!" Subaru flicked open his old flip phone. A tiny LED beam cut through the dark.
"You still have that thing?" Gojo's voice rang out, playful and far too close. "I think I lost mine somehow, silly me."
Subaru gasped in surprise as the phone beam illuminated Gojo's grinning face. "What the hell!? Where did you come from!?"
"Climbed out of the back. Ran along the roof. Now I'm hanging on for dear life," Gojo said, his legs dangling precariously off the edge of the moving wagon as if sitting on a park bench. "Good cardio~"
Subaru let out a shaky laugh. "You're going to give me a heart attack before the Cult does..."
Rem tilted her head, her blue eyes narrowing at the glowing device. "What... is that, Subaru-kun?"
"This? Just a little piece of tech from home. A cellphone. It's a paperweight here, except for the light... and it's on its last bar of battery..." He held it over the map, the dim glow allowing Rem to trace their route.
"Just a bit further..." she whispered, her finger hovering over a landmark. "We should see Flugel's Tree soon. Once we pass that, we're home."
Gojo's brow furrowed, his gaze snapping toward the horizon. "You don't mean that absurdly massive skyscraper made of wood stretching into the clouds, do you?"
Subaru sighed, exhausted. "What do you think, Sensei?"
Gojo gave a low, sharp whistle, but his eyes suddenly lost their humor.
His expression shifted beneath the sunglasses. "...Something is missing."
Subaru's head snapped around. "Wait... where's the merchant who was driving right beside us? The guy with the red wagon?"
Otto, riding a few carriages back, shouted over the wind. "Natsuki-san? What are you talking about? We're the only ones this far forward! No one has been beside you for miles!"
Gojo pulled himself into the back of the carriage, his expression flattening into a mask of cold calculation. "Should probably look up instead of talking about mysteries, you guys——"
Without warning, the beam of Subaru's phone caught something in the sky.
An eye.
A colossal, golden orb, shimmering with ancient, silent malice, peering down from directly above.
Subaru's breath hitched. Gojo's hand went to his glasses, sliding them down.
"...Shit."
The sky roared with a scream of pure vibration so deep it rattled the marrow in their bones. Mist exploded outward from the eye's position, a blast of high-pressure fog hitting the caravan like a tidal wave.
Subaru was thrown from his seat, tumbling backward into the carriage bed. "What the hell—!?"
Rem launched into motion, catching Subaru mid-air and pinning him to the floorboards as the wind threatened to peel the roof off. The mist swallowed the world in seconds, a blinding white erasing the other carriages.
Gojo's hair whipped wildly as his fingers wove into a sign. He stared into the dense fog, his cerulean eyes flashing with predatory clarity as a grin slowly tugged at his lips.
Through the churning mist, a behemoth revealed itself: a floating, nightmarish continent of flesh. The White Whale. It drifted through the sky like a ghost ship, plumes of fog pouring from its body.
"Ahh... that's right." Gojo's grin widened, his cursed energy flaring in an instant.
"It's my prey!" He tilted his head, glaring through the haze. "Hides pretty damn well, though. Sneaky for a giant sushi roll."
"D-Do you see that thing!?" Subaru's voice cracked, his knuckles white against the wagon wood.
Rem, struggling against the gale, shook her head frantically. "I can't see! It's too dark, the fog is swallowing everything!"
The creature roared again, a shockwave of pressure rattling the carriage wheels off the dirt.
Gojo's expression dropped. "This fog is a real pain in the ass at midnight."
He calmly removed his glasses, letting them hang from his collar.
In that moment, the mist parted. Massive, tree-sized teeth emerged from the white as a gaping maw opened directly beneath them. The gale ripped Subaru loose, flinging him toward the monster's open throat.
"SUBARU-KUN!!" Rem screamed.
Gojo raised a single hand. "Blue."
A translucent sphere of azure force erupted from his palm. Space itself groaned as it contracted. Subaru was yanked backward with impossible velocity, his body flying through the air like a ragdoll before being caught firmly by Gojo's hand.
"Yo~" Gojo chirped, though his eyes never left the whale.
Before Subaru could even gasp, Rem jumped. A streak of blue and white launched from the moving carriage as her spiked flail spun in a blurring arc, burying itself in the whale's flank with a sickening crunch.
The creature screeched in irritation. Rem's horn flared on her forehead, glowing with demonic light as she yanked the chain, tearing a trail of dark blood from the beast before flipping backward and landing on the carriage roof, her weapon already spinning for a second strike.
Gojo processed the battlefield in milliseconds, looking at Subaru with a deadly serious gaze. "You should probably hold on to something that isn't me."
"Huh... WAI——"
Gojo didn't wait. He tossed Subaru across the carriage bed like a sack of grain, ensuring he hit the far corner safely, and launched himself into the air.
Then, he repelled off empty space, streaking through the fog like a purple comet with a manic grin carved into his face.
"GOJO-SENSEI!!"
In the distance, the White Whale rolled in the sky, its massive form peeling back the clouds.
Satoru hummed to himself as he leveled out in mid-air, floating effortlessly above the jaws of the beast.
"...When they said 'White Whale,' I thought it was just a metaphor for a big problem... Guess I forgot this was a fantasy world."