Re:Zero Kara Hajimeru Isekai Seikatsu (LN) - Volume 1 - Chapter 2

CHAPTER 2 

A STRUGGLE TOO LATE 

1 

“…What’s wrong, my man? You’re staring off into space.” 

“…Huh?” 

When a man with a white scar across his stern face spoke to Subaru, that’s all he could respond with. 

The man with the scar twisted his face. 

“Look, I’m asking you what you’re going to do! Are you going to buy that abble or not?!” 

“…Huh?” 

“An abble! You want to eat one, right? You started talking to me, and then you suddenly stopped and stared off into space! I almost freaked out! …So, what’ll it be?” 

The muscular, scar-faced man, put a round, cute-looking red fruit into the palm of Subaru’s hand. Whatever it was, it looked almost exactly like an apple. 

After Subaru looked at the fruit and then back at the man’s face, he said, “No—I mean, didn’t I tell you already? I’m forever and everlastingly broke.” 

“You kidding me?! I’ve had enough of you wasting my time. Get outta here! I’ve got a job to do. I don’t have time to deal with your nonsense.” 

The man annoyedly pushed Subaru aside and went across to another part of the shop. 

Subaru continued to look around, puzzled. “Huh? What? What’s going on?” 

He was so flustered, it was a miracle he was even able to get a sentence out as he tossed his questions around. 

2 

The main road was full of people as always, and apart from the lizard carts that would pass by, the full width of the street was filled with pedestrians. 

It was still at a time when the day was bright. It wasn’t as though it was really hot outside, but it would be enough to make you think that the wolflike half-humans walking around in their fur coats must be sweating. 

“But this is totally not the time to be reflecting on the state of the setting!” 

Subaru held his head in his hands and twisted about, and his strange poses of distress were enough to gather curious glances from all around. However, now, Subaru really didn’t have the capacity to worry about that. 

“After all…it was just night a minute ago, wasn’t it?” 

The sun was high in the sky. At the very least, according to what Subaru had sensed, it should already be night. 

The night flipped immediately from night to noon. The change was so sudden it reminded Subaru of when he was summoned to this world in the first place. However, that and this were under completely different conditions. 

“My stomach…isn’t cut open, is it?” Subaru lifted up the top of his tracksuit and looked at his stomach. 

Earlier, it had been cut open with what must have been a large blade, and he had bled so much that he was sure he was going to die. 

However, not only was the wound not there, there were not even any traces of blood. Actually, Subaru’s beloved tracksuit wasn’t even dirty. 

The convenience store bag he held in his hand was also as full as it had ever been, and his cell phone and wallet were where they should be. 

In every sense of the phrase, he was back to square one. 

—It was enough to make him feel like he was going crazy. 

Realizing there were gaps in his memory, Subaru tried to think of what happened right before he had lost consciousness. 

His stomach had been cut open and he was moments from being killed. He thought that he had heard a woman’s voice. He had found a corpse in the loot cellar, and the person who probably had killed that man attacked Subaru. 

In that state of near death… 

“…That’s right! Satella!” 

Satella, who must have been worried about Subaru and entered the building, had also been cut down by the same weapon that took him out. 

As soon as Subaru realized that, he felt his innards twisting in pain. The feeling of guilt was even stronger than the feeling of pain he had felt when he himself was attacked. 

“Wasn’t I told to take care of Satella?!” 

Subaru thought back to Puck’s words right before he disappeared. 

The promise Subaru made with that cat certainly wasn’t a joke. Despite the fact that there were at least three times he should have turned back, he had missed every opportunity to do so. 

Satella had told him as well. If anything happened he was to call her. He didn’t even do that. 

“Am I an idiot? Well, of course I am. I don’t even have time to just hang my head depressed like this. I’ve got to go find Satella and Puck…” 

Both of them might be dead. When that thought crossed his mind, Subaru shook his head to brush it away. 

Subaru didn’t have any positive qualities, and he couldn’t make himself useful at all. He was something like a mob character, or at best the comic relief character, and yet he was still alive. 

If that were the case, there was no way that good-natured Satella, who could use magic and wasn’t honest with herself but was true to her ideals, or that aloof weirdo spirit cat could be dead. 

At the very least, he didn’t want them to be. 

“At any rate, I’ve got to go back to the loot cellar…” 

Since that was the last place he was in before his consciousness was cut off, there must be some kind of hint left there. 

As soon as he thought of that, Subaru moved to act. This was where his quick decision-making could shine. In the previous world, most of that was used in decisions like “I’m not going to school today,” but right now it was important for him to act quickly and cut off all his doubts. 

However, as soon as Subaru had made his decision and was ready to go… 

“Hey, kiddo. How about let’s have some fun.” 

Subaru unfortunately had his path from the alley cut off by three men. When Subaru looked at who had talked to him, he couldn’t help but gape. 

“Hey, what’s with the stupid look on yer face?” 

“I bet he doesn’t realize the mess he’s gotten himself into. How ’bout we tell ’im?” said another man in the group mocking Subaru, as they smiled with sinister smiles. 

After staring at the men for a little longer, Subaru felt as though he was being forced to watch a farce. 

There were three men. Even if you were trying to be nice, you couldn’t call them well put together. Their bad personalities and bad upbringings just seeped out of them. They were classic thugs. 

With all of this, Subaru was feeling an incredible sense of déjà vu. 

“Did all of you guys hit your heads on something while I wasn’t looking?” 

These were the same guys who had served as the reason for Subaru and Satella’s meeting just hours before. 

Sure, they were nothing more than mob characters, but it was hard to imagine that three other guys with the exact same faces were doing the exact same thing. 

“In other words, now that you’ve found me alone, you want to get revenge…is that it? I understand that you want to kick me when I’m down, but this is really not the time for me to be dealing with you. You guys…” 

“What the hell are you babbling about? Have you lost your mind or something?” 

Subaru had wanted to just talk his way out of this, peacefully, but given the way these guys were acting, even Subaru was starting to get ticked off. The only reason that he wanted to solve the issue peacefully in the first place was because he was in a hurry. Normally, Subaru had a pretty short fuse. 

“Now listen here, kiddo. If you just put down everything you’ve got and walk away, we’ll let you go.” 

“Ah, is that right? Everything I’ve got. Gotcha. I’m in a hurry, so that’s fine with me, really.” 

“But you’ve got to get down on all fours and act like a dog first! Say, ‘Save me, save me, please!’ too!” 

“All right, I’ve had it with you idiots!” They just had to push it too far, didn’t they? Subaru had already lost it. 

The men weren’t prepared for Subaru’s sudden change of attitude, and were shaking. Of the three, as they stood dumbfounded, Subaru picked the skinniest of the group to hit first. It was the one who had the knife, the source of Subaru’s defeat before. 

“You’re first! Guys like you who don’t know the preciousness of life can go to hell!” 

Subaru landed an uppercut on the man’s jaw with all his strength, and then threw a punch into his open abdomen. The man slammed against the wall and was out like a light. Subaru immediately moved to trip the next man beside him. 

Unable to react, the kick landed and the man fell over. As soon as he was down, Subaru tackled the remaining man. His tackle aimed low, and with the force of it he was able to carry the man and slam him into the wall. 

After the man lost his breath from the impact of his back against the wall, Subaru landed another kick to finish him. 

Subaru then turned around to the man he had just tripped and motioned him with his hand. 

“Now it’s one-on-one! Come at me with all you’ve got!” 

“Who’re you to act all fair and square with that surprise attack?! You little punk!” 

The man ran at Subaru and grabbed his collar, trying to push him into the wall. 

“Not good enough!” Subaru yelled, and took hold of both of the man’s wrists and pulled them away. Looking at the startled man’s face, Subaru’s expression twisted into a fiendish smile. “Don’t underestimate the free time of a truant! I spent so much time swinging around a sword because I didn’t have anything better to do that my grip strength is over seventy kilograms of force! I can bench eighty kilos, too!” 

The man cried out as Subaru crushed his wrists, and as soon as he had broken his stance, Subaru struck him with his elbow, and the thug cried out. 

As Subaru spun around behind him and put his arms around his waist he said, “If I accidentally kill you, don’t hate me too much for this, but I’ve always wanted to try doing a suplex on someone without mats!” 

Subaru lifted the man up part of the way and then threw him backward. Unable to react, the thug’s head collided with the wall behind them and he slumped to the ground, unmoving. 

After making sure the other two men were silent, Subaru walked over to the first man he hit, the one with the knife. 

Although the man had comparatively taken little damage, you could see that he was sweating. As Subaru came closer he tried to pull out his knife. But as he did, Subaru kicked him relentlessly in the face. He was out. 

“Hmph! Well that was easy! In this world, evil never triumphs!” said Subaru Natsuki as he struck a pose to celebrate his victory. 

After checking for sure that none of the men had actually died, Subaru immediately left the alley. 

“Even with this, it’s not like the situation has gotten any better. I’ve got to hurry to the loot cellar.” 

Subaru noticed as he was leaving that there were onlookers who were wowing and gasping in surprise that he had left the alley unscathed. 

If you realized I was back there, then you should have gone to the guards! Subaru thought as he held back the urge to lecture them. Right now he couldn’t let any minute go to waste. 

3 

After having enacted his revenge back in the alley, Subaru headed toward the deepest part of the slums, and when he arrived at the entrance to the loot cellar, the sun had already moved far across the sky. 

“F-finally…finally I’ve found it. …It sure took me a long time, damn,” said Subaru, wiping the sweat from his brow, and slumping down to rest. 

He had spent nearly two hours running around before he finally had reached his destination. 

“I was just here, so I thought I would be able to find it again without getting lost, but…” 

Probably the biggest problem was that Subaru couldn’t read any of the signs. Additionally, it wasn’t as if he could mention the name “loot cellar” outside of the slums, so he had to rely completely on his memory. 

“Last time we came here I was talking with Satella, and my eyes were on her most of the time, so I guess it’s no surprise I don’t remember the way very well, damn it,” said Subaru as he continued to drip with sweat. 

However, the greatest sin Subaru had to face was now right in front of him. While he was doing his best to ignore it by talking to himself, his heart wouldn’t be fooled. It started to beat louder and louder as his pulse quickened, and Subaru felt his hands grow heavy. His mouth felt dry and his ears were ringing again and again inside his head as though someone was hitting him. 

The answers that Subaru sought were inside that loot cellar. 

For an instant, Subaru had a flashback as he closed his eyes: the old man’s corpse, his own sliced-open abdomen, and the figure of Satella, whom he had dragged into all of this. 

“Don’t be scared. Don’t be scared. Don’t be scared. Are you an idiot? …Well, of course I am, but do you think I’m really going to come all this way and then go back empty-handed?” 

Of course, it wasn’t as though Subaru had any place to return to. Right now, this was the only place that he could cling to. 

Finding his determination and facing forward, Subaru realized that his knees were shaking as he tried to walk. He slapped his legs to calm himself down and after a deep breath he finally moved forward. 

In the orange light of the early evening, the rough door to the loot cellar looked as though it was wordlessly rejecting him. 

“Is there anyone home?” 

After pushing away these negative feelings, Subaru knocked on the door and raised his voice. 

The dull sound rang out, but there was no answer. With uncomfortable silence as his only answer, Subaru became frightened by that very silence and knocked harder on the door. 

“Someone… I know there’s someone in there! Come on, answer me! …Please.” 

Clinging to a fleeting sense of hope, hoping and praying that what was happening right before him was somehow a mistake, he beat harder. Unable to take the force of Subaru’s sudden desperation, the door began to creak and its hinges started to bend, and then… 

“Cut it out already! What are you doing, trying to break the door down just because you don’t know the password?!” 

The door was suddenly opened with a great force, and Subaru, who had been leaning up against it, was thrown back. 

Subaru was thrown about five meters from the entrance to the cellar, where he rolled a few times and then looked up, completely startled. At the end of Subaru’s gaze was a giant, red-faced, bald old man. 

The man had ragged clothes that covered his muscular body, and the red light of the setting sun shone on his polished bald head. In other words, it was a giant, very energetic-looking old geezer. 

“Who are you, boy?! I’ve not seen you around here before! How did you know where to find this place? How did you get here? Who told you?!” 

With astonishing speed, the old man closed the distance between him and Subaru and lifted Subaru up by the collar. 

Feeling his feet leave the ground, Subaru very quickly learned his place. Subaru had thought that in most circumstances he could win in a fight, but these were not ordinary circumstances. As he was held up by this six-or seven-foot-tall old man, Subaru lost all desire to resist. 

“My name is Natsuki Subaru, the ever-busy and never-free wandering vagrant…… For now at least, would you be so kind as to put me down? Let’s talk with both our feet on the ground,” Subaru added, giving it his all just to squeeze out that indirect request. 

4 

While his violent first encounter in the place had left a terrible first impression, in the end, Subaru was let in to the loot cellar. 

Subaru had described the man from whom he’d first gotten information about the loot cellar, and told the giant old man that he was the one who introduced him to the place. 

In front of the counter that was facing the front door, Subaru sat on a fixed chair meant for visitors and shifted uncomfortably. There were splinters sticking up out of the seat, and they kept poking him in the rear. If he’d had to go to the bathroom, those splinters could have been the trigger to make him pop. 

“Why do you keep moving about like that? Are you that concerned about where your balls are?” 

“Of course not. My boys are just fine. But, really? That’s the first thing that comes out of your mouth in this situation?” 

“Giant” was the best way to describe the old man, since he wasn’t just tall, and he looked cramped as he bent down behind the counter. When he came back up, he had a bottle of liquor in his hand, and after pouring himself a glass, brought it to his lips. 

“Well, you interrupted my drinking time. I hope you have a good reason for coming here. If not, that’s just terrible.” 

“The sun’s just started to set and you’re already drinking? You’re going to die an early death if you keep that up.” With that retort, Subaru, holding his chin up with his hand and elbow on the counter, took a quick look around the inside of the loot cellar. 

There was not a single trace of the tragedy that Subaru had witnessed the previous evening he had been here. As he looked at all of the various stolen items strewn about the room, he couldn’t tell whether they were organized in some way or not. 

The old man noticed Subaru looking about, and narrowed his eyes in a knowing way. 

“So, kid, are you interested in some of these goods?” he said, striking right away at the heart of the matter. The giant old man, who had given his name as “Rom,” smiled as he poured himself another shot of liquor into his dirty glass. “There are really only two reasons that people come to this place: they’re either bringing something in they stole, or they have some business with the stolen items themselves.” 

“…Well, one of those is one of the reasons I’m here.” 

“One of the reasons…huh. So that means you’ve got some other business being here?” Rom raised one of his eyebrows as Subaru gave a conditional agreement. 

Subaru nodded, and then, reluctantly, knowing full well that he probably wasn’t going to be taken seriously, said, “This may sound a bit odd, but… Old man, have you…uh, died recently?” 

Subaru decided not to add in the details about the decapitated arm or sliced throat. 

Old Man Rom opened his gray eyes wide for a few moments before; as if to signal time starting back up again, he broke into a laugh. 

“Ga-ha-ha-ha! I was wondering what you were going to say! Now I may be an old man with not much time left to live, but too bad, I haven’t died yet! I suppose when you get to this age, I don’t imagine it being that far off, though.” 

Apparently, Rom took Subaru’s question as some kind of edgy joke, and took out another glass for Subaru. “Want a drink?” 

Subaru refused the alcohol with a hand signal, followed up by a “Sorry, not right now.” 

Subaru had managed to get his first question out, but the others inside him were multiplying. 

The corpse that Subaru had seen in the loot cellar…there was no question about it. It was definitely the corpse of the old man who was sitting in front of him right now. 

Sure, it was dark, and it was the first time Subaru had ever seen a corpse, so it wasn’t as though he’d been in a perfect state of mind. However, this old man had so many characteristic features about him, Subaru couldn’t imagine mistaking him for someone else. 

But Subaru could turn the question he just asked on himself. He, too, had been inflicted with mortal wounds as well. 

Subaru started to think that it had somehow been all a dream. He wasn’t sure he could trust what was inside his own head. 

Was all of what happened here really a dream? If it was, then how much of it was a dream, and why am I here in the first place? 

The burning pain Subaru had felt, the warmth he felt from that girl’s touch, the overwhelming pangs of guilt…if they were all just some leftover traces of a dream, then why was he here right now? 

It would make more sense to say that everything since he’d been summoned to this world in the first place was a dream. 

“Rom, have you seen a silver-haired girl around here lately?” 

“Silver hair…? No, I can’t say I have. Silver hair’s one of those things that stands out in a bad way, too, so even if my memory’s starting to fail me, I don’t think I would have forgotten if I saw someone like that,” said Rom, following up with a laugh. 

But that didn’t make Subaru feel any better. 

Rom must have noticed the seriousness in Subaru’s expression, because he wiped his own smile away and said, “Drink,” putting a glass in front of Subaru again. 

Rom tilted the glass and filled it up full with an amber-colored liquid. Seeing that Subaru did nothing but stare silently at the glass, once more he said, “Drink.” 

“I’m sorry, but I don’t feel up to it right now. Plus, I’m not so much a little kid that I want to drink to act like I’m cool.” 

“What are you talking about? Drinking and acting up is exactly what kids like you are supposed to do! So go ahead and take a big gulp and burn up your insides. When you do that you’ll be able to cough up a bunch of things you’ve got stuck inside because they won’t be able to take the heat. So drink!” said Rom a third time, pushing the glass on Subaru. 

Overpowered by his attitude, Subaru took the glass in his hand and brought the amber liquid to his nose. A strong smell of alcohol struck the inside of his nose and Subaru’s face twisted as he almost started coughing. 

However, despite all of Subaru’s resistance, there was a part of him that wanted to do as Rom said. Subaru had thought that drowning one’s troubles in alcohol was the mark of a lame adult, but… 

“All right…here goes!” 

Subaru tilted the glass and drank all of it in one gulp. Immediately his esophagus began to scream as it was burned. Subaru slammed his glass on the counter. 

“Argh! Gah! That’s terrible! It’s hot! It’s so bad! Ugh! Disgusting!” 

“You don’t have to say it that many times! Come on! You’re going to lose out on half of the fun in life if you can’t understand how good liquor tastes!” 

As Subaru spewed out comments along with the heat from the liquor, Rom yelled at him and drank again. This time he took the whole bottle up and gulped from it. 

After drinking about three times as much as Subaru just had, Rom gave a mighty burp and smiled. 

“But still, you should be proud of yourself! That was good form there! So how about it? Do you feel like letting any of that stuff inside you out now?” 

“…Yeah! Just a little! Old man, it’s time for me to take care of that one other reason I’m here!” 

Turning the old man’s smile back with a wicked smile of his own, Subaru wiped his mouth with his sleeve and pointed into the back of the cellar, where it looked like most of the stolen articles of value were concentrated. 

Rom’s face took on an air of seriousness, and Subaru told him directly. 

“I’m looking for a badge that’s got a jewel embedded in it, and I want you to let me have it.” 

This was Subaru’s original goal. Other than confirming Satella’s safety, it was the main reason he was here: to retrieve the thing so important to Satella that she would face danger just to get it back. 

Even while Subaru still felt insecure about the state of Satella’s well-being, he thought that if he could at least get a handle on the state of the badge, he would have a clue toward finding her. 

After Subaru had stated his goal with all of his emotions thrown behind his words, Rom made a difficult expression on his face before replying. “A badge with a jewel… I’m sorry, but no one’s brought in anything like that.” 

“…Really? Think long and hard about it—you sure you’re not going senile yet?” 

“If I can’t remember when I’m at my best with liquor running through me, then I really have to say I don’t know. However…” 

Just as the last thread of Subaru’s hope was about to be cut, Rom gave him a sly grin. 

“Someone’s made plans with me to bring something in later today. I’m told it’s something valuable, too, so it might just be the thing you’re looking for.” 

“Is the person bringing it in, by chance…a girl named Felt?” 

“That’s exactly the case, but…what? You actually know the name of the thief who took it?” 

Subaru couldn’t help but strike a victory pose. 

Just as he’d thought he had lost all of his leads, things had connected once again. Felt’s name had just come up. Felt, the name of the girl who had supposedly taken Satella’s badge. If that were the case, Felt’s existence would prove Satella’s existence. At the very least, Subaru would be able to be sure that Satella wasn’t some figment of his imagination. 

“I was just about to think that my love of silver-haired heroines had made me delusional…” 

“I’m sorry to interrupt your strange sense of relief there, but you don’t have any guarantee that you’ll be able to buy back the item, even if she brings it here. If it’s got a jewel embedded in it, it’s going to fetch a high price.” 

“Ha! You can look around at me all you want, but I’m sorry. I’ve got nothing! I am eternally and peerlessly penniless!” 

“Then you’re out of luck!” Rom yelled back, taken by surprise. 

But just as he did that, Subaru lifted up a finger in front of his face and waved it back and forth. “Tsk-tsk-tsk. It’s true, I may not have any money. However! In this world, you do not necessarily need money to obtain things. There’s this wonderful system called ‘barter’—haven’t you heard?” 

Rom didn’t argue back, he just nodded in silence, egging Subaru on. Subaru dug around in his pants pocket, and in his hand when he took it out was… 

“…What’s that? It’s the first time I’ve ever seen anything like it.” 

“This object that I now raise up is fantastic magical item that can be used to freeze any object in time! It is called a ‘cell phone’!” 

It was a compact-size, white-colored, thin-model cell phone. As Rom looked on amazed at this mysterious item he had never seen before, Subaru quickly moved his fingers and a moment later a white light flashed in the darkness inside the building. 

As a loud shutter sound rang out along with the flash, Rom fell back behind the counter. It was such an exaggerated reaction that Subaru couldn’t help but laugh, but Rom was obviously mad. 

“What are you doing?! Are you trying to kill me?! Don’t think you can fool me with your funny moves!” 

“Wait, wait, calm down. Take a deep breath, relax, and come over here and take a look.” 

Rom was still red in the face, and it wasn’t because he had been drinking, but nevertheless Subaru held out his cell phone in front of him. After a doubtful look at Subaru, his eyes opened wide as he looked at what was in front of him. 

“This is…this is my face. How did you do that?” 

“I told you, didn’t I? This is a fantastic item that cuts out a piece of time and freezes it. Using this item, I cut out a bit of your time, just before now, and sealed it within this device.” 

Then, Subaru changed the direction of the camera and pointed it at himself, and took another picture. When he showed the screen to Rom again, it showed Subaru making a peace sign. 

“It cuts out little pieces of time, just like that. So how about it? Pretty rare, huh?” 

“I can’t get terribly excited about that lame pose of yours, but this really is…hmm…” 

After insulting Subaru’s pose, Rom looked very intensely at the cell phone. Subaru made a fist and squeezed it, emboldened by the fact that Rom seemed more interested than he expected. 

“This is my first time seeing one of these, but…basically, this is a mitia, isn’t it?” 

“A mitia?” Subaru was about to say, “It’s just a flip phone,” but caught himself. Rom nodded again. 

“It’s what you call things you can use to do magic without opening up a gate, like magic users do. That said, they’re mostly used as gifts rather than tools…” 

So magic items were called “mitia.” Subaru nodded, thinking the word fit pretty well. Rom, who had continued to look closely at the cell phone, finally put it back on the counter. 

“I’m not sure I can put a definite price on this. I’ve worked here in the loot cellar for a very long time, but this is my first time handling any mitia. …I can say, though, that it certainly would sell at a high price.” 

It seemed that rare items commanded attention in any business, even for those working the black market. Rom’s voice had quickened in excitement, and he rubbed the tip of his chin as he looked down at Subaru. 

“To be honest, even if it has a jewel embedded it in, exchanging something like this for a purely decorative item really puts you at a loss. You’d be better off trading it for something more expensive… Well, really, you can’t compare it to any of this stolen junk I have here.” 

For someone involved in illegal activities, it was strange for Rom to give him such a kind warning, and Subaru responded with a weak smile. To anyone else, what Subaru was trying to do must seem stupid. 

“No, it’s all right. I’ll exchange this mitia for the badge that Felt brings in.” 

“Why would you go so far to do that? Is that badge really worth more than this mitia? Or are you saying that it’s worth more than money can buy?” asked Rom, unable to come to terms with Subaru’s decision. 

Honestly, if Subaru was in the same position as Rom, he thought he might have said the same thing. 

“Well… Actually, I haven’t seen the badge myself yet, but I don’t think that it could be worth more in money than this cell phone, and I’m sure I’m going to be taking a loss.” 

“If you understand all of that, why do you want to go through with it?” 

“Isn’t it obvious? I want to take a loss.” 

Rom blinked a few times at Subaru, but at the same time Subaru felt a sense of exhilaration, because this…this was his answer. 

“I want to pay someone back. I’m someone who always feels like they have to return a favor. I’m one of those modern kids who can’t handle the feeling of being indebted to someone. I wouldn’t be able to sleep at night. So, even if I have to take a big loss, I’m going to take back that badge.” 

“Hmm… So, it sounds like this badge isn’t actually yours… Is that right?” 

“It belongs to a beautiful silver-haired girl who saved my life. I don’t understand why, but it’s very precious to her.” 

“But what about that person who saved you? Why isn’t she here?” 

“I’m currently looking for her! Actually, right now I’m not even sure she’s not a figment of my imagination that I created because I was feeling down!” 

Subaru gripped his fist and laughed off his previous anxiety by putting it into words. 

Subaru was going to get this badge back, and then once again meet that girl. He wanted to see her smile. 

“You’re quite the idiot, aren’t you?” laughed Rom as he looked on at Subaru and his determination. 

5 

After having gotten through the first round of negotiations, Subaru spent the next while chatting with Old Man Rom. Given how interested Rom seemed to be in the mitia, Subaru mused to himself that gadgets were something men were fond of, no matter what world you were in. 

“Whether it be your clothes or this, you’ve really got a lot of strange stuff on you, don’t you? I mean, these things here are delicious!” 

“I know, right? Hey, wait! I thought you said a bite! Those are my corn chips! That’s the last food I had on me!” 

“Oh don’t be so stingy. If you keep something as tasty as this all to yourself, you’re gonna fall straight to hell, I tell ya.” 

“Oh and you won’t, for eating all them yourself?! Blaming others while you’re doing the same yourself is a really bad habit of you baby boomers… I said, stop eating those!” 

Subaru thought he was just being kind by sharing some of his snacks, but after seeing them all get eaten like this, he sure did regret it. As he put his empty snack bags back in his convenience store bag, he was close to tears. 

By the time they both heard a knock on the door, it was already quite close to sunset. 

It was just as Subaru was starting to doze off, and when he looked up, he saw Rom move his giant body lightly toward the door. 

After quietly putting one ear against it, Rom whispered. 

“To the giant rats…?” 

“We give poison.” 

“To the great white whale…?” 

“We lend a fishing hook.” 

“To our most honorable great dragon…?” 

“We say, ‘Burn in hell!’” 

To each of Rom’s short questions came a curt answer. Along with the special knock, those had to be passwords. Satisfied with the answers, Rom unlocked the door. 

“Sorry I took so long, Old Man Rom. I had someone really persistent on my tail, and it took me a long time to lose ’em.” With a friendly tone in her voice, a young girl slipped past Rom, bragging of her exploits. 

The girl’s blond hair was semi-long, and her eyes were red like a rabbit’s. From the side of her mouth peeked a mischievous canine tooth. The clothes she was wearing looked easy to move in, but they were in tatters. 

Subaru stood up without thinking, causing a clatter. The girl immediately looked his way and wiped the smile from her face. 

“Who’s this? Hey, Rom. I told you I was going to bring something big, so I didn’t want anyone to be here, didn’t I?” 

“I understand how you feel, but that uh…kiddo there has some business with you, Felt, and it’s not completely unrelated to that ‘big thing’ you said you were bringing in.” 

Rom’s answer only made Felt more suspicious. By the way she was unconsciously drawing her hand close to her chest, it appeared that that’s where she was holding the badge. Felt continued to be on her guard as she looked at Subaru. 

“What’s with that guy? You didn’t sell me out, did you, Rom?” 

“Just how long do you think we’ve been working together? I’d never do anything like that. The only reason he’s here is because I think that he’s got an offer for you that ain’t too bad.” Rom winked at Subaru, “Right?” 

While feeling disgusted at being winked at by an old man, Subaru cleared his throat to help dispel his nervousness and, ignoring Rom’s continued gaze, turned to face Felt. 

“You don’t have to be so nervous. Why don’t you just sit down and have a glass of milk first?” 

“Stop it with that stupid face of yours. I can tell you don’t know what you’re doing… Look, I don’t know what you’re scheming, but I’m not interested in anything you have to say, unless I’m sure it means more money for me. So go ahead and get straight to the point.” 

Felt’s reaction was cold. Subaru’s shoulders fell at how bad his first impression went by, but… 

“I begged this old man here to give me some time to talk to you, but…my business is actually with that jeweled badge you have hidden away in your pocket there.” 

The girl raised her eyebrows along with the level of her caution. Subaru knew not only about her theft, but exactly what she stole. But Subaru raised both of his hands in front of her, trying to calm her down. “I’m not planning on doing anything. I’ve only come here to talk. That is, to negotiate.” 

Subaru then, with his two hands still in the air, pointed down at a small table near the counter. 

“Let’s aim for a result where both of us come out on top. In other words, a win-win situation.” 

After a short pause, Felt nodded, and both sat down on either side of the small table. 

Rom then poured two glasses of milk and set both in front of them. 

“I’ll give you the place and this milk, but you’re on your own when it comes to negotiating.” 

“Don’t worry, I’ve come here prepared to have everything taken from me. Just watch me as I lose it all,” said Subaru, punching his fist into his other hand as if he was bragging, about to enter a fight, though saying nothing to be proud of. 

Rom snorted, but Felt, who had already begun to drink her milk, twisted her face. 

“Hey, Rom. You haven’t watered this milk down, have you? It tastes terrible!” 

“Why does everybody have to insult the drinks?! I’m showing you some kindness here…!” said Rom before taking his giant hand and rustling Felt’s hair. 

Subaru thought it looked as though Rom was going to tear Felt’s head off, but it was clear from Rom’s face that he meant no harm and was just patting her head like any old man would his grandchild. Plus, Felt looked used to it. 

“You two look closer than I thought you would be. I’m getting lonely over here all by myself.” 

“Don’t say something wimpy like that when you’ve got a face that looks just as awful as this old man’s.” 

“I’ve had my face insulted before, but really? As bad as this guy?! Come on!” yelled Subaru, shocked as he looked back up at Rom’s bald head and was stricken with horror. 

While Subaru didn’t have the most handsome features and was often mistaken for some kind of thug, he didn’t think they were so bad as to be compared with this six-foot-tall giant of an old man. 

“…You’re right. Sorry about that, I went too far,” replied Felt. 

“Here’s where I’d want to say that, to make it up to me, I’d like you to call me ‘big brother’ in a cute voice for the rest of the discussion, but I’ll go ahead and forgive you for now. You’ve got to be careful so you don’t say anything too hurtful, or… Rom, what’s wrong?” 

“I’m really beginning to think you two have teamed up together just to come in here and make me angry…” Rom was smiling, but a vein was popping out of his forehead. Subaru and Felt looked at each other and shrugged their shoulders. 

Rom let out a deep sigh. “Just when I thought Felt had made a new acquaintance around her age, you turn out to be just as twisted as the others.” 

“…Rom, please. I know you think you’re helping, but I’m going to ask you to stop saying such embarrassing things,” said Felt. 

“Plus, ‘around her age’…? Although I suppose from your perspective everyone else looks like they’re in the same age group.” 

Subaru took another look at Felt, but even taking into account the fact that she was probably thinner than she should have been, she looked about twelve or thirteen. If you wanted to give her the benefit of the doubt and stretch your imagination, she might have been able to pass for fourteen years old. 

It was enough of an age difference for Subaru to feel embarrassed if Felt were referred to as his acquaintance or friend. 

But Subaru’s analysis aside, Felt and Rom’s argument continued on without him. 

“What do you think is going to happen to you if you keep up this ‘lone wolf’ attitude of yours? Sooner or later, I’m going to get too old to be able to take care of you anymore. Do you really think you can make it on your own?” 

“Just how many times have you told me this already? Isn’t it a mark of senility to say the same thing over and over again? But other than that, it’ll be a long time before you’re too old for anything, and before that happens I’ll…” 

“…You’ll do what?” Subaru said, jumping in, as Felt’s sentence trailed off. Felt suddenly looked up, irritated. 

Given that he seemed to have asked a question he shouldn’t have and was in danger of wrecking the mood, Subaru cleared his throat. They had gotten very sidetracked, and it was time to return to the main point. 

“Anyway, let’s go ahead and start our negotiations. So, uh…Felt. You’ve got that badge, right?” 

“…Yeah, I do.” 

Subaru cut straight to the point, and in response, Felt answered honestly. 

Reaching into her breast pocket, Felt took out something and set it silently on the table. 

It was the badge that Subaru had been looking for. What first stood out to Subaru was a design on it that was in the shape of a dragon. The badge itself was about the size where it would fit easily in the palm of your hand. While Subaru couldn’t exactly tell what material it was made out of, the design of the winged dragon was intricate, and in the dragon’s open mouth was a red jewel that made it look very unique. 

Subconsciously, Subaru was drawn to the sparkle of the jewel in the badge’s center. 

“So…” 

Felt’s voice caught Subaru’s attention and brought him back to where he was. She then slid the badge over to the edge of the table, as if to remind him that it still wasn’t his yet. 

“Now it’s your turn to show me what you’ve got. As you can see, this is no ordinary badge, and I went through a lot of trouble to get it. If you can show me something that will match both the badge and my efforts, we can both be happy, right?” 

“While I see you’re trying to test me with that evil-looking smile of yours, I’m sorry. I’ve only got one card to play. After all, you would have to look far and wide to find one as destitute as me!” 

Subaru proudly threw out his chest, but Felt didn’t look all that happy. 

The moment I say “poor,” everyone makes that face at me, don’t they? thought Subaru. 

But Subaru’s feelings aside, he went ahead and played his only card. 

Subaru slapped his cell phone on the table, and just as he thought, Felt looked confused. However, that reaction was just the kind he was looking for. Subaru started up the cell phone’s camera and… 

“Take this! Nine-frames-per-second continuous shooting!” 

“Wah! Wha—?! What are you—?! Hey, what’s with that noise, and why is it so bright?!” 

A white light flashed and a mechanical-like shutter sound went off several times at a rapid pace. Felt seemed like she had something to say about Subaru’s terrible breach of manners, but before she could open her mouth, Subaru held the cell phone’s screen in front of her face. 

Upon seeing her own self on the screen, she opened her eyes wide and said, “That’s…” 

“That’s right! I made a copy of you! This mitia cuts out a slice of someone’s time and stores it away! I want to trade you this mitia for that badge you’ve got.” 

Having played his best card right away, Subaru was able to push the negotiations in his favor. 

It was an established negotiation tactic, and depending on the situation, could be used to force a conclusion to be made right away. 

Of course, this also meant telling the person you’re negotiating with that you had no stronger cards to play, and Subaru had said that already in the first place, but it seemed to work. 

“I see. That’s pretty amazing. Rom, how much do you think this mitia would go for?” 

Felt looked at the screen and nodded a few times, but Subaru thought that her reaction was incredibly indifferent. 

Her eyes didn’t light up and she didn’t even take the cell phone in her hands to look more closely. She wasn’t interested in the cell phone’s uses or its rarity, but only how much money she could turn it into. 

“So this fascination with high-tech stuff is only limited to men in this world, too?! Somehow that makes me feel really sad and lonely!” 

“Oh, shut up. What’s there to make a big deal about? If this so-called mitia can sell for more than this badge, then I couldn’t be happier. For that, I trust Rom to give me a proper appraisal.” 

“Well, I can’t say exactly how much I think it would go for. To be honest, I don’t think the two objects can be compared. I think that badge could go for a lot of money…but not as much as this mitia. In other words, I think you have a lot to gain by making this trade, Felt. That’s what I think.” 

“I see, I see. If that’s the case, then why not?” 

Felt seemed pleased when the trade got Rom’s seal of approval. 

While Felt’s reaction was a little bit different from what Subaru had expected, it appeared the trade was going to happen as planned, and Subaru couldn’t be any happier about that. 

However, as soon as he reached across the table toward the badge, Felt interrupted him. 

“Wait. Our cards have been played, but that doesn’t mean I’m not going to try to sweeten the deal.” 

“…I’m not sure how I feel about you saying that so plain and clear, but no matter what you say or do, I don’t have anything else. Like I said before, I am peerlessly and infinitely broke.” 

“I’m not that cruel, and after all, Rom said so himself. Your mitia is worth more than this badge. However, I doubt that you don’t have any more cards to play.” 

Felt stood up and looked down at Subaru. Her red eyes were lit up, and he could see that she was sizing him up. A cold sweat ran down Subaru’s back. 

Subaru had already played the strongest card he could in their negotiations so far. However, Subaru still had a few other things on him that he thought might be valuable in this world. At the very worst, he thought he might be able to play a few more cards, but… 

“I said not to worry, didn’t I? I don’t plan on trying to take any more from you. I’ll be happy enough if I know I can just turn this thing here into money.” 

Felt lightly clapped her hands together and smiled, appearing pleased at the look of anxiety on Subaru’s face. 

Subaru gulped upon seeing Felt’s reaction and, taking a few deep breaths, looked away in hopes that he could hide just how shaken he felt. 

“So then, if that’s the case, what do you mean when you say you still want to ‘sweeten the deal’?” 

“Hmm? Oh, that? It’s simple. It just means that you’re not the only person I’m negotiating with.” 

Subaru looked confused, but Felt stuck out her pointer finger and explained. 

“The reason I stole the badge in the first place is because someone asked me to…in exchange for ten blessed gold coins.” 

“So you’ve already got a price settled with the person you stole it for?! Ten gold coins, huh… I don’t really understand how much that is, but…” 

Subaru glanced at Rom, who took the hint and nodded back. 

“If it were me, I might be able to sell this badge for four, at best five gold coins. There’s also the possibility that I would get talked down to three.” 

“So that means that they’re already paying twice its worth?” 

“Didn’t you hear her? She said blessed gold coins. They’re made of blessed gold, which is much rarer, so ten blessed gold coins is closer to twenty gold coins in worth.” 

“So they’re paying four times as much?!” 

“Why are you acting so surprised? With that mitia of yours, even in the worst case you could easily get twenty blessed gold coins. Besides, there are probably collectors out there who would pay even more. You can’t even compare the two.” 

Subaru really didn’t understand the general cost of goods in this world, but he had thought that gold coins were the most valuable currency. The thought that his cell phone’s worth was measured in a currency even greater than that, and not just one or two but twenty coins, was enough to take him by surprise. 

“If this mitia really does fetch a higher price, then I have no intention of honoring a prior agreement with someone else, and I don’t have a problem telling them that.” 

“Then why are you saying you’ll ‘sweeten the deal’?!” 

Felt’s mischievous grin twisted into an even more villainous smile. “If I tell them you’ve made such a ridiculous counteroffer, if they still want the badge, don’t you think they’ll try to offer me something more?” 

“In other words… Is that what you’re saying? If the other side turns around and offers more than twenty blessed golden coins…then if you don’t show me all the rest of your cards, you won’t have a chance.” 

Felt’s villainous smile had become so villainous it had reached a breaking point and become more like something refreshingly triumphant as she said those last words. 

On the other hand, with this ominous turn of events, Subaru’s expression started to cloud over. 

“So when are you planning on meeting with this person who commissioned you to steal the badge? I assume you’ll let me sit in on the negotiations, right?” 

“Of course, if I put you at too much of a disadvantage, I might end up losing some of the money there is to be made. But don’t worry about the location, we’re meeting here,” Felt said, tapping the edge of the table with her finger, before leaning against the back of her chair and looking up at Rom. 

“As long as Old Man Rom’s around, most people will forget about using violence as an option. Just the thought of having to fight this scary old man sends shivers down your spine, don’t you think?” 

Felt looked to Subaru for agreement, and after one quick glance at Rom, Subaru nodded several times. 

On the other hand, Rom didn’t seem too bothered about their having that kind of opinion of him. 

“You really can’t do anything without me, can you, Felt? I worry about you. Would you like another glass of milk? I also have some other things that are a little sweeter.” 

Rom had started to look like the grandfather who spoils his granddaughter like she was a cute kitten. Rom looked thrilled as he poured another glass of milk for Felt. Subaru looked at the two of them, and let out an exasperated sigh. 

“Really, if you had already called that person here in the first place, were you planning on trying to negotiate the price with them even if I didn’t show up?” 

“Of course I was! Just how much do you think I had to go through to steal this thing? What if poor little me had to meet with them all on my own and got talked down on the reward? Wouldn’t that be sad?” 

“‘Poor little me,’ huh…” 

Felt was small and thin and though from that outward appearance one might be tempted to describe her as such, given how strong and stubborn a personality she had Subaru had a problem thinking of her as helpless. Thinking back to when Felt had run away after having stolen the badge, she had left Subaru for dead as he was being assaulted by those thugs. 

Remembering that episode left Subaru a bit angry, so he couldn’t help but bring it up. 

“Speaking of which, don’t you remember me at all?” 

“Huh? Did we meet somewhere before? I mean, unless it was some really sort of shocking encounter, I don’t think I’d remember you. I’m quite busy, and to be honest you look pretty plain. Only your hair and clothes stand out.” Felt cackled. 

As far as he could tell from the way she said it, Subaru didn’t think that Felt was lying. There was also the fact that he had just had the plainness of his overall appearance insulted, so it was enough to put him into a minor state of shock. 

It was starting to seem like there really was no such thing as common human decency in this world. Not if anyone could so easily forget passing by the scene of an attempted murder and robbery. 

But then again, there were people like Satella, who had saved Subaru even though there was nothing in it for her, and this old man who, despite being a bit of a villain, you just couldn’t bring yourself to hate. Even in this different world it wasn’t as though everyone was the same. It wouldn’t be right just to judge everyone based on the actions of a few bad eggs. 

“Anyway, that’s enough about your terrible memory, Felt. When is that other person supposed to be coming?” 

“I’m not sure I like your attitude… But I said I’d finish the job by sunset, so we agreed to meet here after sunset… Since the sun’s already set they should be here any minute now—I think?” 

That conversation might have triggered an event flag, because just then came a sharp knock on the door. All three people at the table looked at one another. 

“Did you tell ’em about the special knock?” 

“Ah… No, I didn’t. It’s probably for me, so I’ll go check.” Felt stuck her tongue out at Rom and she leapt from her chair and went over to the door. The way she acted, you’d think she owned the place. 

“You really okay with letting her get away with that?” Subaru said as he turned to Rom. 

“Well, it’s not like I just met her. We’ve known each other for a long time… I suppose I can let her depend on me every now and then.” 

Subaru thought Rom actually looked very happy to be depended on, as the old man went into the back of the cellar and returned with a large club. 

The club was about the length of a bamboo kendo sword, and it seemed to be made of wood. At the tip and sticking out in various places were sharp points, and it looked like a clean hit would easily leave a fatal wound. 

The closest thing to compare it to would be a bat with nails in it, but even in this world it looks like clubs are pretty standard equipment… 

Wielding a club like that seemed to suit the six-foot-tall, musclebound old man. Subaru thought that if his clothes were a bit more torn and he was wearing a loincloth it would be an even more perfect fit. 

“Upon seeing your uncivilized figure in all its glory, even I can’t help myself but wince and smile at the same time.” 

“You sure like to run your mouth, don’t you? Just who do you think you have to thank for getting this far? Woe is me,” Rom added, shaking his head. 

Subaru looked back at Rom for a few moments. 

“Well, to be honest, I’ve very thankful for your help. It’s not like everything’s over yet, but I’m almost there, and the only reason things have been going so well for me is because of your help, so…thanks.” 

“…If you suddenly start being honest with me like that, I’m not going to know what to do,” said Rom in response to Subaru’s thanks, scratching at his bald head before letting out a deep sigh. 

“You have more to thank yourself for in finding this place and making use of what you had on ya. I haven’t done anything deserving of your thanks.” 

“You know that’s not true. After all, Rom, you knew that Felt was planning on discussing the price of what she stole here with someone, right? Then, as soon as you heard what I had to say, you had all the reason to just throw me out.” 

“…” 

“You’re the one who gave me a chance to even talk to Felt. Of course, it was my efforts—my efforts!—that took it from there!” 

It was important so Subaru had to say it twice. 

As Subaru proudly pointed his thumb at himself, Rom’s expression grew complicated and he was silent. 

Thinking that Rom had finally grown tired of his antics, Subaru started to regret his eagerness to praise himself. 

“I wouldn’t call the way I feel about it ‘thanks,’ but…if either of us is to thank the other, it should be me, rather than you,” muttered Rom, softly, just as Subaru’s feeling of regret was starting to show on his face. 

The old man’s wrinkles deepened as he put on a smile. 

“There’s the fact that you have a mitia and then there’s your clothes and the look about you… You come from a pretty well-off family, don’t you?” 

“Well, I wouldn’t exactly say that…” 

“You don’t have to hide it. I bet that you can’t make public the fact that Felt stole that badge. If for nothing else, I’m very grateful of the fact that you’re trying to settle this in a peaceful way.” 

It seemed that Rom had formed his own conclusions about Subaru’s mysterious background, and that inside his head, Subaru was something of a very thoughtful gentleman. 

“Felt and I…we’ve been together about as long as she can remember, since when she was a little girl,” Rom said. 

“I remember you saying something like that a little while ago…Have you two been here that whole time?” Subaru nodded his head in the direction of the surrounding slum area. 

Rom nodded. “In a place like this, everyone’s just struggling to survive. In that kind of environment, the young ones tend to gangs from others like them, but…Felt really isn’t suited to that.” 

“If the way she’s been acting is the way she acts to everyone, I’m not that surprised.” 

Felt’s attitude so far seemed resolute and bold, but while that sounded good, there was no question that all of that resolution was geared toward her own ends. If you act like that, Subaru thought, anybody who wants a mutually beneficial relationship with you isn’t going to be too thrilled. 

“But isn’t there also a problem in how she approaches you, Rom? I don’t mean to be rude or anything, but I think that part of the reason her selfishness has gotten so bad is because you’re always there for her.” 

“…I don’t have anything I can say to that. After all, it’s true that I tend to spoil her,” Rom said softly as he ran his hand over his bald head. 

The way the old man looked when he said that made it clear to Subaru that Rom felt as though Felt was family to him. They probably weren’t related by blood, but at least from Rom’s side, there was a clear bond between them. 

“Well, I hope it’s not a one-sided sort of thing,” Subaru muttered, without being clear on who the subject was. 

But Rom must have heard, because he whispered, “I don’t mind, even if that’s the way it is. …Actually, it’d be best if it were that way.” 

But just then it looked as though their time was up. 

“What are you two doing, muttering to yourselves? It’s creepy, so cut it out,” said Felt, annoyed, as she returned. Behind Felt, who was doing a terrible job of putting on a fake smile, was one other person. “I was right, it was for me. We’re over here, would you care to take a seat?” Felt motioned, pushing Subaru aside, and turned back to the person behind her while attempting to be courteous. 

When Subaru looked up, preparing himself to face the next person he was going to have to negotiate between, he was a little bit surprised. 

Felt had invited in an incredibly beautiful woman. 

She was very tall for a woman, about the same height as Subaru, and she looked as though she were in her early twenties. The beautiful woman had eyes that angled down toward their edges and she had a certain calmness about her. One thing that stood out about her in the darkness of the loot cellar was the almost sickly whiteness of her skin. She was wearing a black coat, but the front was open and you could see that her clothes underneath were also black and were tightly fit against her skin. While she was fairly thin, she definitely had curves where they should be, and a very nice body overall. 

Like Subaru, the woman also had black hair, which seemed to be very rare in this world. Her hair was tied in a braid that reached all the way to her hips, the tip of which she was twirling around in her fingers. 

In short, she was a bewitchingly beautiful older woman. For Subaru, who had no real experience being around women even in his own world, seeing a woman like this was so new to him that he could not help but feel extremely nervous. 

Having already lost his cool, Subaru followed Felt’s directions and gave up his chair without any complaint. Felt took that seat, and Rom took the seat to the left of her. Subaru just stood to Felt’s right, unable to hide his nervousness. 

With so many people awaiting her arrival, the woman didn’t seem upset, but she did look puzzled. “I get the feeling that there are a lot of unrelated people here.” 

“I can’t just let myself be in a position to be talked down on price, you know? It’s the wisdom of the weak. Anyway, Subaru, go fetch us some drinks.” 

Felt motioned to Subaru with her hand, like she was ordering a servant around, but Subaru couldn’t bring himself to talk back, and so went behind the counter and picked out some relatively clean glasses, filled them with milk, and came back to the table to set them down. 

The woman said, “Thank you,” to Subaru before looking him up and down. 

“I understand that old man being here, but who is this?” 

The woman must have been able to tell by Subaru’s demeanor that he was not very used to the place. Rather than being wary of him, she had posed a simple question. 

In response, Felt smiled her evil smile. “This guy here is your rival. He’s come to negotiate as well,” she declared, and her process of “sweetening the deal” began. 

6 

“I see. I understand what’s going on now,” said the woman before taking a sip from her glass and licking off the milk left on her lips. 

The woman, who went by the name Elsa, gave off an air of eroticism in every move she made. While Felt was explaining the current situation to Elsa, she turned her glance several times toward Subaru, which made him so flustered he could hardly handle it. 

“That’s the way it is, so now we’ll start the bidding. I don’t really care who walks away with this badge, so it’ll go to the one who can offer me the best deal.” 

“That’s a nice attitude you have there. I can’t say I dislike it. …So, how much did that boy over there say he would pay for it?” 

Elsa originally said that she would pay ten blessed gold coins. 

If Subaru was going to compete with her offer, she must have thought that he had offered more money. Thinking that it would be better to not take a “wait and see” approach, he took out his cell phone for the third time and demonstrated its use. A flash lit up the inside of the cellar and Elsa’s image was captured by the device. 

Elsa raised her eyebrows in response to Subaru’s sudden actions, but Subaru immediately showed her the screen. 

“What I have to offer is this mitia. It’s a rare item, and it’s probably the only one in the entire world. According to this muscular man, it should sell for over twenty blessed gold coins.” 

“A mitia…” Elsa said, staring at herself on the screen and slowly nodding. With this, Elsa should have realized that Subaru was looking to barter for the badge, not pay outright, and that his offer was not a bluff. 

Elsa took a small leather bag out of her pocket and placed it on the table. In the bag was probably the payment she had prepared for the badge—Subaru could hear the sound of heavy metal objects clanging together as she set it down. 

Felt fixed on the bag with her eyes like a curious cat, as Rom wordlessly reprimanded her. Elsa placed her white fingers on top of the bag she had placed on the table. 

“The truth is, I was given a little extra by my employer, in case you happened to have second thoughts about the price, so I do have a little more to offer.” 

“Your employer…? So you’re just following someone’s directions to pick up the badge?” asked Subaru. 

“That’s correct. The one who wants the badge is not me, but my employer. …Are you by chance involved in the same sort of work as I am?” 

“If that were the case, then that would mean you’d have to be unemployed!” 

“So, this unemployed kid over here is saying he’ll pay a much higher price than you offered. Just how much is your master willing to pay?” asked Felt, challenging Elsa. 

Elsa silently opened the mouth of the bag, and turned it over. What came tumbling out were several shining blessed gold coins. Felt’s eyes sparkled as she saw the coins layer on top of one another, and even Rom made a sound in his throat. 

Subaru was more concerned with the number than the coins themselves. If he counted correctly… 

“Twenty coins, exactly,” said Elsa. 

“This is all that my employer has given to me. This is what they decided would be enough to pay for the badge, but…am I correct in thinking their estimates may have been a little off?” asked Elsa, directing her question at Rom, rather than Felt. 

After counting the coins, Rom gazed down at a nervous-looking Subaru, and then smiled. 

“There’s no reason for you to act like such a baby. You should be embarrassed. Aren’t you a man? …It’s true that twenty blessed gold coins is an outrageous amount. However, I remember saying that in the worst case, your mitia should sell for twenty gold coins. In other words, it’s worth more than that.” 

Rom took his giant callused hand and roughly patted Subaru on the head. 

“The way I see it, the negotiations lean in favor of the kid. No offense to your employer, but it looks like you’re going to have to bring them their money back,” Rom said, shoving the coins back toward Elsa. 

Subaru let out a cry of excitement. Felt threw her hands up in the air to signal that she didn’t have a problem with the decision, and Elsa shrugged but did not look all that displeased herself. Subaru followed up with a triumphant pose, but that exaggerated action just made him stand out from the crowd. 

“W-what? I’m happy, all right? Let me be! This is the first time I’ve actually accomplished something here! What’s wrong with a little celebration?!” said Subaru, embarrassed. 

“I didn’t say anything. If you want to celebrate, then celebrate. As long as I get my money, I’m happy,” said Felt. 

“My employer doesn’t actually need that badge, so I don’t have any reason to beg you to reconsider,” added Elsa. 

Both Felt and Elsa seemed uninterested in Subaru’s antics. 

However, while Subaru wasn’t so mean-spirited that he was hoping for Elsa to beg and plead, he found it strange how disinterested she seemed, despite the negotiations not going her way. 

“Well, I’m sorry, Elsa. I imagine your employer’s going to be angry at you.” 

“There’s no helping it. It would be different if I failed because I was the one who made a mistake, but in this case, it’s my employer’s fault for thinking that they would be able to get away with paying so little for the badge.” 

“But when you plan for as much as twenty blessed gold coins and that turns out to be not enough, that’s got to be tough,” remarked Rom. 

“Well, I guess it just means that my luck is in full swing! Does this mean that my era of greatness has finally come?” Felt laughed, oblivious to the mood, in contrast to the two males who were showing sympathy for Elsa. 

Either way, Subaru had managed to complete one of the goals he had in coming here. Without having to fall back on a plan B, it looked as though there was a glimmer of hope that he would be able to pay Satella back. 

Normally, it would be best to report to Satella that Felt and Elsa were the ones responsible for the theft, but Subaru didn’t have it in him to do anything that might result in either of them getting locked up. 

It had been simple opportunism. 

“Well, as the negotiations did not go in my favor, I think I’ll take my leave now.” 

Elsa stood up and gulped down the last of her milk. Again, she used her tongue in an erotic way to lick up the last few drops of milk, before looking at Subaru. As she stared at him, it felt as though her eyes were binding him in place. “By the way, what is it that you were planning on doing with that badge?” Elsa asked in a somewhat deep, frozen sort of voice. 

The sweet ring of her voice threatened Subaru’s eardrums and made him feel, by some delusion, as though he couldn’t lie. 

“…Oh, I was planning on returning it to its owner.” As soon as he said it he knew he had made a terrible mistake. 

He had just declared, in front of both the girl who had stolen it and the woman who had ordered the theft, that he was going to return the stolen item to its owner. 

“I see. So you’re with them.” Subaru’s words were enough to set Elsa’s cold murderous intent into motion. 

“Wha—?!” Subaru felt a sudden impact from his side. The impact was enough to force him to the side, and unable to catch himself, he tumbled to the ground. From Subaru’s perspective there was first pain and shock, his vision spinning as he hit the ground. When he looked up he saw that Felt was clinging to his side. 

“What do you—” 

“Are you an idiot? Pay attention and get out of the way! You want to die?!” Felt yelled. 

“—think you are doing?!” The last part of Subaru’s shout was drowned out by Felt’s. 

Subaru was in shock. From his low vantage point he saw Elsa facing toward him. 

“Oh, it looks like you managed to dodge that one,” she said, her head tilted in surprise. 

Elsa held in her hand a weapon that glimmered with a dull light. The weapon was, according to Subaru’s knowledge, a kukri blade, and it clashed with the rest of Elsa’s image. It was easily a foot long, with the body of the blade bent inward as it extended from the handle. Due to the weight of the tip it was a weapon that was often used similarly to an ax to decapitate enemies or prey, and just by looking at it, it was not hard to imagine the weapon’s vicious brutality. 

Despite wielding the blade, Elsa’s serene smile was unchanged. From her stance, it was clear that she had already swung the weapon once. Which meant the only reason Subaru was safe was that Felt had leapt up and tackled him out of the path of the weapon. 

Fear, late in coming, made Subaru’s hands and feet shake, and he felt nauseated. However, the situation wasn’t going to stop just for him. 

“Rrrragh!” Old Man Rom let out a roar as he rushed toward Elsa, swinging the club that had never left his grasp since the negotiations had begun. The spiked part of the club came barreling down toward her head. Despite the club weighing at least twenty pounds, Rom swung it as if he were swinging a twig, and it cut through the air before slamming against the floor of the cellar. 

As the club sprang off the floor it felt as though the entire building had shook. Several stolen articles flew from the shock of the impacts, which continued as Rom and Elsa traded blows in front of Subaru. 

“This is my first time in mortal combat with a giant,” said Elsa. 

“Go ahead and keep talking, little girl. I’ll turn you into mincemeat and feed you to the giant rats!” As Rom threw his insults he swung his club even faster. Before the power of that swing, any untrained attempt to block would be no more effective than a sheet of paper. 

Inside the cellar, there was very little room to move around, and allowing the swings of that club to corner you could easily be a fatal mistake. 

However, Elsa’s skill was of such a high level it could only be called freakish. 

While still wielding her kukri, dangling from one hand, Elsa, herself like a black shadow, was able to slip around each of Rom’s surely fatal swings. Her movements were precarious, walking a thin line, just barely away from life-threatening danger, and still it was she who was in control of the fight, not Rom. 

This can’t be good, thought Subaru instinctively. Something in his head was setting off an alarm. “This is bad…” muttered Subaru, his lips shaking. 

“Don’t worry. There’s no way Old Man Rom can lose! Ever since I can remember, I’ve never seen Rom lose a fight!” Felt yelled back, putting her trust for Rom in words as if to dispel her own doubts. 

In Felt’s words were experiences built up over long years; experiences that formed her unshakable trust. But even without Felt telling Subaru outright, he could see their trust in how close they were when they interacted with each other. 

Despite Felt’s confidence, Subaru was preparing for the worst. But he couldn’t figure out why. 

“Take that!” 

Before Subaru could pin down his anxiety, there was a change in the flow of the fight. 

Rom yelled and kicked over the table, the same small wooden table they had been negotiating around. The table split and splintered from the force of the kick, and for an instant Elsa, who was up against a wall, was hidden behind its fragments, her line of sight cut off. 

Rom swung his club down with all his might. If the hit landed, it was sure to be an instant kill. However… 

“Rom!” Felt’s distraught scream shook the air inside the loot cellar. 

Subaru then saw the result that scream had sought to prevent. 

Something was flying, spinning in the air. 

It was Rom’s right arm, still tightly gripping his club. 

The arm, which had been severed at the shoulder, flew through the air, spraying blood everywhere before it landed against the wall. 

The whole room had been showered with blood. Subaru and Felt were no exception. 

Felt screamed again. 

“If I’m going down, I’m taking you with me!” Having lost his right arm, Rom was spraying blood out of his shoulder like a hose. Without even trying to stop the flow of blood, Rom leapt forward toward Elsa, to attack her with his one remaining arm. 

As the splintered wooden table fell to the ground, Elsa stood behind it, still holding the position of the follow-through of her swing. 

Before Elsa could flip the kukri back around, Rom’s giant body would crush her. But in that fleeting moment of Rom’s last stand… 

“I forgot to tell you before, but thank you for the milk.” 

…he was cut short. With her other hand Elsa struck with a broken shard from the very glass she had been drinking from. On the sharp tip of the shard were droplets of blood—blood that had come from Rom’s slit throat. 

His arm severed and his throat cut, blood frothed from the old man’s mouth, and as the light from his eyes vanished, he collapsed on the ground. Though his body convulsed there was no strength left in it, as Rom’s life was dragged away even as it clung to his body. 

Elsa bowed once gracefully toward the body, as if paying her respects. 

While Rom’s body continued to twitch, Elsa gently placed the remains of the glass down by his feet. “I’ll give this back. I don’t need it anymore,” she said coldly, before twirling her kukri around in her hand and pointing its red-stained tip toward Subaru and Felt. However, Subaru, still collapsed the floor, was unable to say anything. 

All of Subaru’s thought processes had been arrested by the slaughter that had taken place before his eyes. 

Someone that he had been talking to just a few minutes ago was now dead. Dead not by sickness or an accent, but killed by the actions of another, plain and simple. 

“Ah, I see that you’re the one with the courage,” Elsa said, impressed, and Subaru, still unable to move, looked up. 

While Subaru was still in a state of shock, Felt had stood up and was slapping her legs to keep her knees from shaking. She then pushed back her blood-soaked hair. 

“How… How dare you…” 

Subaru was behind Felt, so he could not see her expression. However, it was clear from her voice that she was not choking back tears. 

“If you put up too much of a struggle, you will only end up hurting more,” said Elsa. 

“I bet you’d still plan on killing us even if we didn’t fight back, you psycho…!” 

“If you move too much I won’t be able to make a clean cut. …I’m not all that skilled with a blade.” As Elsa said this, she twirled the kukri around and pretended as if she were practicing the proper cuts to butcher Felt. 

But Felt was empty-handed. There was no way that she could win. 

In his mind, Subaru had reached the conclusion that he should cry out. He needed to distract Elsa, even if only a little bit, to allow time for Felt to escape. 

If he could just give her time to call for help, or even just escape on her own… But even though Subaru had made his decision, he couldn’t stop his body from shaking. 

“…I’m sorry for getting you wrapped up in all of this,” Felt said to Subaru in an apology little above a whisper. 

“I-I…” In response, Subaru’s face jolted up toward Felt, and forgetting the words he should have said to her, he could only manage a choked mutter as though pleading for her forgiveness. 

But Felt left Subaru’s sentiments forever behind her as she dashed forward. There was a loud sound as she kicked off from the ground, and it was as though a gale had suddenly blown through the cellar. Just when Subaru thought that Felt had vanished from his sight, he saw Elsa’s body twist. 

A high-pitched sound rang out, and Felt clicked her tongue from Elsa’s side. In Felt’s hand was a small knife, and with Elsa’s overwhelmingly fast reaction she was able to dodge Felt’s attack. 

Felt leapt back, riding the gust of air she made as she flew. With Felt’s irregular movements, even the walls of the cellar became like ground to her. Even Elsa seemed to be surprised by Felt’s acrobatic feats. 

“So you have the protection of the wind. Oh, how wonderful. The world must adore you…I envy that.” Elsa’s ecstatic smile suddenly turned, and her eyes were filled with hatred as her arm bent back. 

“Wha—” Felt was cut down in midair by a slice that extended across from her shoulder, and unable to catch herself, she hit the ground and entered a roll. 

The opening of the wound cut across her chest, from the left shoulder to her right underarm, and it was so deep it cut through bone and into her organs. 

Ending her roll faceup, with every beat of her heart Felt spewed blood like a fountain, and it was clear that she had already lost consciousness from the pain and shock of the cut. She didn’t move an inch. In just a few seconds the flow of her blood lost its pressure, silently signaling the end of her life. 

Subaru could not move. 

He wanted to go to Felt’s side and try to stop the bleeding. If it was too late for that, then he at least wanted to close her eyelids. But Subaru’s arms and legs rejected his plea, and he could do nothing but shiver, shamelessly. 

“The old man and the girl are both down, but you won’t move. Have you already given up?” Elsa said in a tone as though she pitied him, with eyes that looked bored. 

All she had to do was walk a little closer and strike a single time with her knife. That much was obvious to her, hence her bored look. In Elsa’s movements was not even the slightest hint of hesitation. It even seemed as though she was trying to hold back a yawn. 

In response to Elsa’s attitude, Subaru felt an uncontrollable anger welling up inside him. The two people fallen in front of him were people he had met just under an hour ago. But they had not only talked, they had bared emotions to one another. To take those two people and kill them, and feel no guilt whatsoever, was to Subaru absolutely unforgivable. 

Furthermore, he could not forgive himself. He had just watched as both of them were slaughtered by this vile woman. 

“So you’ve finally gotten to your feet. It certainly took you a while. I doubt you’ll entertain me much, but it could be worse.” 

The anger welling up inside Subaru, though far too late, finally gave him the power to move his arms and legs. 

His limbs still shaking, Subaru slowly pushed against the ground and was somehow able to stand up, though his movements were almost animalistic. 

Was his shaking due to fear, or anger? Or was it both? Subaru didn’t care. 

Facing Elsa and her kukri blade held at the ready, Subaru charged forward with all his strength and spirit, teeth bared. 

He would fly at her and beat her down, pushing his own strength past its limits. But that mad rush of Subaru’s was… 

“Pathetic.” 

…brought to a swift end as Elsa elbowed him directly in the face. As she spun around, using the least amount of movement necessary, she had stuck Subaru with her elbow, and as he was reeling, Elsa, still in her spin, traced an arc with one of her long legs and landed a kick. 

Subaru was thrown back into a shelf filled with porcelain and came crashing to the ground. In one single round of attack, Subaru had both his nose and front teeth broken. His side, which took the brunt of Elsa’s kick, was in terrible pain, and he could feel that a number of his ribs had broken. 

But still, Subaru shoved his fist against the ground and immediately stood back up. Subaru’s brain had already started excreting endorphins and was rejecting the pain, which was greater than any Subaru had felt before. 

In this aroused state, his breathing abnormal, Subaru launched another mindless attack…but he was again struck back. 

Subaru’s flailing arms could not reach Elsa, and with her flowing limbs she struck Subaru with the blunt side of her blade, breaking his left shoulder. 

Then, as if she was annoyed by having to listen to his screams of pain, she threw in a kick straight up into his jaw, which immediately shut him up. It also succeeded in knocking out the rest of Subaru’s broken front teeth. 

Elsa looked down at Subaru as he tumbled to the ground. 

“You’re no good at all. You’re just as inexperienced as you look, and your movements are all over the place. You don’t have any divine protection, or any special skills. I thought you might use your head and have some trick up your sleeve, but I see you have nothing. Just how did you ever think you could stand a chance against me?” 

“Shuddup… It’s called being stubborn… You dink I’ll just dake dis lying down?” Subaru’s nose was broken, so he couldn’t even make a proper comeback. 

Thanks to the last counterattack, Subaru couldn’t use his arm anymore. Everything from his left shoulder down was dangling limply. He couldn’t feel any pain, but the ringing in his ears was getting unbearable. He was intensely nauseated, and it felt as though his anger was seeping away out of his mouth. 

Subaru was beaten. He could never win. His chances of even landing a hit were minuscule. 

“Well, I’ll admit that you’ve got at least an unusually high amount of determination. If you had gotten yourself up a little earlier, there might have been a different outcome for these two.” With the tip of her knife, Elsa pointed to the two bodies lying abandoned on the floor. As Subaru followed Elsa’s motion and looked at the corpses he suddenly felt a strange feeling come over him. 

Why? Why did he feel that he had seen this all before? 

The loot cellar, with its floor a sea of blood… The giant corpse with its missing arm… The dull glint of a reddish blade… 

In the back of his mind, a thought shot through him like lightning. 

“Let’s put an end to all of this. I’ll send you off to go meet the angels.” 

Elsa licked her red lips, and with a sensual smile vanished into the darkness. Whether or not it was by some trick, to Subaru it looked as though Elsa had sunk down into the shadows of the cellar. 

Subaru looked left and right, unable to find Elsa. “Wh-where are you?!” 

Subaru began to panic, looking this way and that, listening as hard as he could for any sound. He looked like the prey of a ferocious predator just waiting to be devoured. From Elsa’s perspective, nothing could make her less excited, but that just made her want to get it over with even more quickly, so in a brilliantly direct slice… 

“Wha—?!” 

As soon as Subaru realized that the attack was coming for his abdomen, he managed to get clear, with not a hairbreadth to spare. 

Subaru jumped back, pulling his stomach in, so that the horizontal slash only just grazed him. The skin of his abdomen was sliced open, but Subaru gritted his teeth and bore the sharp pain. 

“Ughraaah!!” 

Then with all of his might, Subaru was able to strike Elsa’s upper body from the side with a spinning kick. As Subaru twisted himself and landed his critical hit, he was able to confirm that he had been able to retaliate at least once. 

However… 

“Ah… That one was very satisfying,” Elsa said as, with a second kukri she had drawn from her waist, she sliced about 70 percent of the way through Subaru’s abdomen with her other hand, spilling out his blood and guts. 

“Huh…?” Subaru took one step, two steps back, and as his shoulder brushed up against the wall, he slid down against it and fell to the floor. 

As Subaru looked down he could see the blood flowing out of his abdomen and staining the floor bright red. With a shaking arm he tried uselessly to return the blood, but the bloody clumps of tissue spilling out of his stomach pushed his hand away. 

“Are you surprised? I opened up your stomach as you rushed me. It’s my speciality, really,” Elsa said with a smile, walking splish-splash across the sea of blood. 

Elsa approached Subaru, who was unable to say anything but gurgle out cries of pain, and stared at his bloody, blackish innards with a look of ecstasy on her face. 

“Ah…just as I hoped. Your intestines have such a beautiful color to them.” 

This woman was out of her mind. 

At the pain that even his endorphins could not negate, Subaru’s consciousness started to fade. He realized that he seemed to have fallen on his side. With shaking fingertips, he weakly touched Elsa’s foot. 

“Uu…ugh…” 

“Are you in pain? Does it hurt? Are you sad? Do you want to die?” 

With his hand still grabbing at her ankle, Elsa knelt down beside Subaru and looked him in the eyes. Elsa’s eyes were filled with ecstasy. She had absolutely no qualms about taking another human life. 

Instead…she seemed to be incredibly happy, filled with bliss. 

“Slowly, slowly, slowly, ever so slowly your body will lose its heat and you will go cold.” 

Subaru could feel Elsa’s voice vibrating his eardrums, torturing him, savoring him, pitying him, affectionate for him, loving him. 

Before he knew it, Subaru couldn’t see anymore. His loss of blood was too great, and bit by bit he was dying. Now, he couldn’t hear anything. He couldn’t smell anything. He couldn’t see anything. He could only feel his body growing colder, his body dying, and the fear that came with it. 

In this space, not knowing exactly when the light of his life would be extinguished, Subaru could not separate himself from the fear of death. 

When will I die? When will I die? Am I still alive? Am I not already dead? How do you define life? Can you even say that I’m alive in this state, lesser than any insect? What is life? What is death? Why is dying so frightening? Is it really necessary to live? No? 

I’m scared. I’m scared. I’m scared. I’m scared. I’m scared. I’m scared. I’m scared. I’m scared. I’m scared. I’m scared. I’m scared. I’m scared. I’m scared. I’m scared. I’m scared. I’m scared. I’m scared. I’m scared. 

As an absolute and unconditional death grew ever closer, Subaru’s mind instinctively rejected it. At the end, that rejection filled everything that Subaru was, and as his vision whited out, he thought… 

Ah…I’m dead. 

And with that very last thought, Subaru Natsuki’s life flickered out.