Chapter 5 - Chapter 4 - Fourth Time's The Charm

4.1

"Wallet…check. Cell phone…check. My corn soup chips and cup ramen are

also here. My tracksuit and sneakers are at zero damage, and of course…"

Subaru lifted up the hem of his tracksuit top and twisted around this way and

that to look at his back. There were no scars or any other traces of a wound on

his back, around by his hips, or around the front of his abdomen. There wasn't a

knife sticking out of him, or anything else unusual.

"Phew. Good. There's no greater embarrassment for a swordsman than

getting stabbed in the back. As someone who did kendo in middle school, even

if I take a wrong turn off the road when it comes to life, I can't let myself lose

the way of the swordsman."

The sun was high in the sky and a gentle breeze brushed up against Subaru's

skin. People bustled about, back and forth on the main street, and yet again

that same lizard cart passed by.

"Well, with this much circumstantial evidence, I've got no choice but to

accept this, do I? It's a little bit hard to believe, but…"

All of the wounds on Subaru's body had disappeared; the rips and bloodstains

on his tracksuit were gone as well. In Subaru's hands, inside that plastic

convenience store back were his unopened chips, waiting for Subaru to eat

them.

"So, it's one of those things, huh…"

He put his hand that had been up against his jaw out in front of him, and then

snapped his fingers so that everyone on the street could see him.

"Whenever I die, I start back at square one in my initial state. At least, that's

the way it seems."

Subaru had thought that his theory was stupid before, but he finally decided

to accept it.

4.2

"I guess I'll call it 'Return by Death'… The fact that it's a power that assumes

you're going to lose really makes it fitting for me, doesn't it?"

It was a power that activated once the user had lost their life. If the heroic

thing was to come back from the brink of death and win the day, then getting a

chance to do things over after you've lost felt more like something a cheat

would do.

"More seriously, though…would you call this sort of thing time travel?"

A loop phenomenon that only activated under certain conditions. If you were

to think of it as a game, you could say it was like Subaru was being brought back

to an auto-save point, one he had no control over, whenever he died.

"So a loop or a time slip, huh… I mean, I'm used to this sort of thing

happening in manga, but I saw somewhere that realistically it was really hard to

explain time travel to the past…like, that it would be easier to remake the world

from scratch rather than slip back in time."

With what Subaru knew from the Internet, where knowledge was vast but

shallow, going back in time was about as unrealistic as you could get. However,

given that he had already been summoned to another world, he wasn't really in

a position to be debating degrees of unrealism.

"But if you consider that this Return by Death thing is really happening, then

everything so far starts to make sense."

Looking back, Subaru had already died three times in this world.

The first time was when he and Satella had visited the loot cellar together.

The second time was when he, Rom, and Felt had all been cut down by Elsa's

blade. Then the third time, which to Subaru just felt like it happened a few

minutes ago, he'd died a dog's death.

Unlike the first and second times, the third death was the worst, and he

couldn't make any excuses about it. He didn't think that he could mess up so

badly as to be killed by weak mob characters while he was still in the prologue.

"Still, dying three times in only half a day is just way too high of a rate."

Given that normally people only had one life to live, dying three times in half

a day was just absurd.

Sure, Subaru had lived the previous seventeen years of his life peacefully, but

depending on how you looked at it, if you multiplied 17 years by 365 days, and

three resets, Subaru had lived through quite a few days on which he could have

died.

"Or…if you looked at it another way, I just suck at living."

The difference between the difficulties of staying alive in his previous world

and this one was far too great. There were tons of places here that threatened

Subaru's life. There were dangerous places wherever he turned.

"Given the similarities between the first and second time…Elsa was probably

the culprit the first time as well."

The first time, the one who was hiding in the shadows of the loot cellar was

probably Elsa. The giant corpse was Rom, and he and Satella had arrived after

Felt and Elsa had had their negotiations.

"I can't be sure, but Felt probably asked for too much, and after negotiations

broke down…that's what happened."

After Elsa had finished making sure no one was left alive to tell what

happened, Subaru and Satella had been unlucky enough to walk right in.

"The second time is simple. I was already with Rom and Felt when

negotiations broke down… To be killed twice by the same person… Is Elsa the

kind of character that when you run into them it means certain death?"

Subaru tried to pass the idea off as a joke so that he could lie to himself about

how scared he was of her.

It was obviously foolish to even think of any options he might have if he ran

into her.

The only place where Subaru had a chance of encountering Elsa was the loot

cellar, and the only reason that Subaru needed to go to the loot cellar was to

take back Satella's stolen badge, and the reason he wanted to take back

Satella's stolen badge was because he wanted to return the favor to Satella for

saving him.

However, because Return by Death had sent him back in time, his duty to

return the favor to Satella was left behind in the world of his first run-through.

When Subaru met Satella on his third run-through, her cold reaction to him

was proof of that.

Satella didn't know Subaru anymore. The favor that he was supposed to

return got lost along the way as he was reset.

If so, it would be best for Subaru to forget about Satella and focus on avoiding

the threat of Elsa.

Subaru didn't know why had been thrown into this Return by Death scenario,

but because of it, he was fortunate enough to know the future. He knew what

mines to avoid. Avoiding them was the right thing to do.

"Well, it's about time I got moving. Fortunately, I know that I can turn my cell

phone into cash, so I'll just amass some funds, and live a good life using my

modern knowledge. It'll be full of dreams! Don't you think, old man?"

"Just when I thought you were muttering some nonsense to yourself, you're

asking my opinion? I don't know what you're talking about, and I don't care."

As Subaru looked back to the man in the shop from before, seeking

affirmation, the man gave his retort with an annoyed look on his face.

With that cold response of his Subaru felt a little hurt inside. No matter what

world you're in, the way people interact with strangers isn't all that different.

"But you see, there are some people out there who, even if it puts them in a

tight spot, can't help but help other people out."

Even after something precious had been stolen from her, and even as she was

in the middle of chasing after the person who'd stolen it, Satella had helped a

completely and utterly useless stranger, took the time to heal his wounds, and

tried to walk off without accepting any thanks.

She accepted that useless person's selfishness and for her trouble met a

horrible end.

"When you do the same thing three times, there are a couple of things that

you begin to understand. Well, more like after three times you'd have to be

incredibly stupid not to understand those things. I may be a little stupid, but not

that stupid."

"Just what nonsense are you talking about?"

"There's probably a pattern here. Some kind of inevitability. No matter how

many times you do something over, at least a few things will never change. Or

at least there's some sort of strong force that tries to keep things that way. For

example…"

All three times, Satella had her badge stolen by Felt. The first and second

times, Elsa caused a bloodbath. Even the third time around, it had probably

happened as well, unrelated to Subaru's death.

"I don't know if I can win against Elsa. I still don't know. But there is one thing

I do know."

If on the fourth time around Subaru didn't do something, Felt and Rom would

be killed by Elsa. It was also unavoidable for Elsa and Satella to fight as well.

So what if those two died? Subaru thought. One's a bit of a villain who deals in

stolen goods, and the other one is a bold girl who tries to overcharge for those

stolen goods without any sense of shame or regret.

Both of them were criminals, so wouldn't it be better off if they were gone?

But still…

"Well…I guess I really am a product of the modern age. Even though I always

used to make fun of people like this when I sat in front of a computer screen…"

Subaru used to act as if he thought pity and compassion were stupid. It wasn't

that he thought of it as an act, however. He just thought of himself as someone

who didn't really care all that much. That way, no matter what situation he

found himself in, he was able to keep himself from getting too emotional about

it. It didn't matter to him if a few people he knew died. At least, that's how he

used to think.

"But you know, I hate it. It feels terrible. I know those two are far from being

saints, but knowing that someone you know is going to be killed…that's just

impossible to ignore."

In the past, when he acted uncaring, it really must have been nothing more

than an act. It was the product of his interactions happening in a virtual world.

Now that he had to deal with these heavy issues in real life, there was a whole

different level of weight to them. But at the same time, Subaru thought he was

shallow for changing one of his core beliefs about life, just as soon as things got

hard.

"And of course there's also Satella—I mean, that girl. I just can't just abandon

her like that."

After calling her by that name and seeing her reaction, Subaru realized that

"Satella" was a fake name. When he thought back to the first time around, she

didn't seem to be too fond of being called by that name. Then with the third

time, it was painfully clear.

In other words, that meant that she didn't trust him enough when she'd told

him that name. Subaru hadn't built up enough relationship points with her, so

at one of the scenario forks he failed the test for getting her real name.

"In that case, I guess I'll just have to work hard enough for her to actually give

me her real name this time."

Subaru stretched and twisted his body around, popping several joints as he

got himself pumped up. The storeowner looked on at Subaru's strange actions

with a surprised look on his face.

Subaru, in response, suddenly lifted up his hand and said, "There's just some

times where a man's gotta do what a man's gotta do! Right, old man?"

"Yeah, yeah. That's exactly the way it is. Totally agree. So go on and get outta

here."

Subaru thought that he had struck a good pose and said that line pretty well,

but given the storeowner's terribly monotonic reaction, he could feel his face

starting to twitch.

Once the annoyed storeowner finally pushed him out of the store, he hurried

along. After running about two hundred meters down the crowded street, he

stopped and stood for a moment.

"Now, then…" Subaru lifted up his short bangs with his hand and then in

exaggerated motions looked this way and that. Then he put his hand out to a

nearby wall and leaned against it.

"Where do I need to go if I want to meet Not-Satella…?" he said. It wasn't a

phrase that inspired confidence about his actions, but he wasn't going to just sit

around and wait.

4.3

Now that Subaru thought of it, most of the circumstances surrounding his and

Satella's meeting were coincidence.

Both the first time and the third time Subaru had run into Satella in a place

not far from this main street, but that was about the only thing in common. At

the very least, it would help if Subaru knew when the theft would be taking

place…

"Just how long was I sitting glumly there in front of that fruit shop?"

Subaru felt like it could have been a few minutes, but at the same time it

could easily have been almost an hour.

"Should I just wander about and leave everything to chance? Hope that the

red string of fate between me and her will bring us together?"

Subaru had lifted both of his pinkie fingers in front of his face, twisting them

around as if they were dowsing rods while spectators watched on with curious

glances.

As Subaru continued searching he realized that he was in a place that he

remembered seeing before.

"I guess my ties to fate are working pretty well after all!" Subaru said, full of

himself, before realizing just where he was. Before he knew it, he had

wandered into an alley.

"Isn't this the place where I first met Satella…?"

He felt that it was similar, but he couldn't be sure. Even if this was the exactly

same alley as before, there was no guarantee that she would come running

down it.

"After all, the dead end I was at when I was killed the third time was in a

completely different place…"

Even if it was certain that Not-Satella would get her badge stolen by Felt every

time, the route that they took after that would differ depending on the

circumstances. It was possible that the first and second times the route they

took was the same, but the third time, because of Subaru's interference, fate

must have shifted slightly.

After thinking that far, Subaru realized just how shallow his thinking was. If he

entered this familiar alley, it was possible he would run into Felt and Not-

Satella. However, that also meant meeting another set of people as well. In

other words…

"I really am tired of looking at your faces, Dumb, Dumber, and Dumbest," said

Subaru wearily as he turned around, and saw the same three thugs blocking his

path out of the alley.

Their looks, their clothes, their faces—everything was the same. Both their

goals and their equipment must be the same as well. Subaru was making

absolutely no progress at all. Subaru supposed that made sense, though; after

all, he was just walking around the same places as before.

"Why these guys when I have so much trouble finding Not-Satella and Puck…"

The reason Subaru was having trouble meeting up with Satella was that her

actions were probably affected by several other random factors besides Subaru.

However, the reason that Subaru kept encountering Dumb, Dumber, and

Dumbest was probably because they had picked him out for a target early on.

That's why, even if he picked a different alley, he would always run into these

guys. Their event was unavoidable.

"Even if I've come up with a splendid theory as to why all of this is happening,

it doesn't make me any happier. So what do you want with me, guys?"

"Just what is this fool mumbling about?"

"He's probably just too clueless to understand what's going on. How about we

show him."

Dumb and Dumber's conversation was the same as ever, and that made

Subaru feel even lousier about the whole thing. However, this didn't mean that

he could let his guard down.

The bar set for the conditions necessary to clear the Dumb, Dumber, and

Dumbest event wasn't very high, but there wasn't a 100 percent chance that

Subaru would be able to make it out of this alley. After all, they were the ones

who had caused his death the third time around.

As he was thinking about that, Subaru's thoughts drifted to what happened

the last time, just as he was dying. As he lay dying, he was able to pick up some

of the sounds of what was happening.

Subaru tried to remember the final conversation that Dumb, Dumber, and

Dumbest were having. What were they afraid of? There was a word that they

said. Subaru thought he should be able to remember it…and it was…

"Guards!!"

Hearing Subaru's sudden and unexpected SOS, Dumb, Dumber, and Dumbest

jumped. The silence of the alley was broken and the volume of Subaru's yell

was sure to have reached the main street.

With all of Subaru's training in kendo, his sense of shame about suddenly

yelling out was long gone.

Additionally, Subaru, who realized at this point in his life what a loser he was,

wasn't one to let his pride be hurt by suddenly calling for help.

"Someone! Someone please call some men over here!"

"Wha… What, are you kidding me?! You're really going to start calling for

help?! Who does that?!"

"In this sort of situation you're supposed to listen to us if you want to avoid

getting hurt! You're just going to ignore us and call for help?! That's not

normal!"

"What?! Don't give me 'That's not normal'! In what world is this not normal?!

Oh! It can't be! You're not saying that you're trying to do something where it'd

be trouble if I called out, are you? Oh my God!"

"Shut up! You know what we mean!"

"I'm not listening! I can't hear you through that thick wall of insincerity!

Police!!"

Subaru continued to yell and keep the thugs on their toes, but on the inside

he was breaking out into a cold sweat.

As Subaru had been breathing his last during his third time around, just as his

consciousness was leaving him, Dumb, Dumber, and Dumbest had said the

words "guards" and "run." In other words, in this world, there was an

organization that functioned like a police force.

That information led Subaru to the new option, "Call for Help." Even he

thought it was a pretty lame tactic.

But unfortunately, Subaru didn't seem to get a very encouraging reaction

from the crowd out on the main street.

"Well, looks like that didn't work…"

"Threatening us like that…I almost got a little bit scared there, man."

"Just a little bit!"

"Not even a little bit! Only a tiny bit!"

In unison, Dumb, Dumber, and Dumbest proceeded to deny how pathetic

they were, in about the most pathetic way possible.

As the men tried to regain control of the situation, after looking at each other

and nodding, each of them took out their weapons. One took out a knife, one

took out a rusty hand ax, and finally the last one…

"Why are you the only one without a weapon? What? Didn't you have the

money to buy something?" Subaru taunted.

"Shut up! I'm stronger without a weapon! I'll beat you to death, you little

punk!"

"Man, I would have loved to show you all what happened to you guys the

second time around."

Remembering how he had landed that perfect suplex, Subaru wanted to give

himself another pat on the back, but at the same time, he realized that he was

in a pretty bad spot right now. It was looking more and more like Subaru wasn't

going to make it out of this.

"Can't you guys let me off easy? …I'm not a big fan of pain."

After going through the experience three times already, Subaru knew that he

was never going to get used to dying. To top it all off, the cause of death in all

three instances was because of wounds inflicted by a blade. The sharp pain that

went along with those wounds always felt fresh and was always a shock, as if

his nerves were being whittled away.

Subaru didn't want to experience that kind of death again, and that was not

all.

"Just because I've been Returned by Death a few times already, there's no

guarantee that it will happen this time as well…"

Subaru had no reason to think his Return by Death had a limitless number of

uses. Subaru didn't notice a number on his body or anything, but as the saying

goes, Buddha only has the patience to save you three times.

If what was happening to Subaru was a gift of the Buddha's good graces,

Subaru had already used up all of his continues.

"If I die here, my life in this new world may really come to an end. …I guess

my best bet is to try to run away, even if I get injured in the process."

The weapon that looked the most able to inflict a mortal wound was, of

course, the tried and true knife. The hand ax really did have a lot of rust, so if

Subaru blocked himself with his convenience store bag, he'd get away with a

blunt hit rather than being cut. Of course, the weaponless guy was a safe bet.

So Subaru focused all of his attention on Dumber, the one with the knife, and

played through his escape in his head.

Three… Two…

"That's enough."

That voice suddenly and clearly cut right through the dry tension of the alley.

In the voice's gallant tone there was no sense of hesitation, and no ounce of

mercy. Just listening to the voice was enough to be overpowered by its

existence, and it was a perfect match for carrying the voice's owner's

intentions.

Subaru lifted up his head, and Dumb, Dumber, and Dumbest turned around.

In front of them was a young man.

What stood out about his appearance, more than anything else, was his

flaming red hair. Underneath it were sparkling blue eyes that could only be

described as "daring." His extraordinary good looks helped magnify his sense of

gallantry, and with one glance you could tell that this young man was a cut

above the rest.

He was slender and tall and wore well-made black clothes, and while it did

not have elaborate decor, around his waist he also wore a knight's sword, which

endued him with an inordinately intimidating air.

"No matter what the circumstances are, I will not allow you to perpetrate any

more violence against that young man. That is enough."

As the young man said this, he walked straight past Dumb, Dumber, and

Dumbest, and got between them and Subaru.

Subaru was at a loss for words at the young man's bold attitude, but Dumb's,

Dumber's, and Dumbest's reactions were different.

All of the thugs' faces went pale, and with quivering lips they pointed at the

young man.

"That burning red hair and sky-blue eyes…plus that knight's sword sheath

engraved with the image of dragon's claws… It can't be…"

The thugs stared on in disbelief.

"Reinhard… Are you the Master Swordsman Reinhard?!"

"Well, I suppose I don't have to waste time introducing myself. …Although I

am not fond of that title everyone gives me. It's still too heavy for me," the man

called Reinhard muttered with a tinge of self-deprecation in his voice. But the

light in his eyes was unwavering.

The thugs, overpowered by the young man's stare, took one step back. They

looked at each other as if trying to determine the best time to escape.

"If you're planning on running away, I'll let you off this time. Just head back

out toward the main street. However, if you plan on being stubborn, you will

have to deal with me."

Reinhard put his hand on the hilt of his sword and motioned to Subaru behind

him with his chin.

"We're down three against two. They have the advantage on us in numbers.

I'm not sure if the little help I can give will be enough to make a difference, but I

will do the best I can, on my honor as a knight."

"Wha-what?! Are you kidding me? This isn't even a contest!"

After hearing what Reinhard had said, Dumb, Dumber, and Dumbest were

completely out of sorts. They scattered like baby spiders, forgetting to even

hide their weapons as they ran out onto the main street. Unlike the first time

around, none of them threw any insults as they ran. That was a testament to

the difference in scale between them and this young man.

As soon as the thugs left the alley, the heightened tension that had

permeated it immediately faded away. Realizing that this was something the

young man did purposefully, Subaru was again at a loss for words.

More than anything else…

"For you to do all of that and still keep so cool…it's like you and I aren't of the

same species."

The level of human purity in his face, his voice, his stance and actions, were all

way too high. If his personality and upbringing were also the same way, if he

wasn't doing something corrupt on the side, there was no way it all could

balance out.

Putting his jealousy aside, Subaru let out a flat-sounding laugh, and then

prostrated himself on the ground.

"You have saved my life, and I, Subaru Natsuki, am forever grateful. I must say

that I am impressed with both your honorable intentions and bravery…"

"You're giving me too much credit. It was because their advantage of three

against one fell to three against two that they became unsure of themselves. It

would have been different if it was only me against them."

"No… Given how scared they were of you, even if it were ten against one…or

even a hundred against one, I still think they would have run away. But what's

with your gallantry stats?! You're like a saint both in body and mind. You're so

brilliant I think I'm going to go blind!"

To be honest, there was such a difference in their looks, Subaru really didn't

want to be standing next to him. Subaru examined Reinhard again, but the

more he looked at him the more he thought that this beautiful young man had

to have been chosen by God.

However, he did not look like he was a guard.

"Umm…I can just call you by your name, Mister, uh…Reinhard…right?"

"I don't need the 'Mister.' You don't have to be so formal, Subaru."

"Well, we're pretty close all of sudden, huh? Anyway, thanks again, Reinhard.

You're the only one who came running when I called. I have to say, it makes me

feel a bit lonely that no one else seemed to care."

Given how many people were out walking on the main street, it wasn't

possible that Reinhard was the only person who heard Subaru call out. But as

Subaru complained, Reinhard lowered his eyes slightly.

"I don't really want to say this, but I think I can understand them. For the

majority of people, the risk of interfering when thugs like those are involved is

too great. You were right to call for guards."

"The way you're saying that…are you a guard, Reinhard? You don't look like

one at all."

"I get that a lot. I am off duty today so I'm not wearing my uniform, and even I

know that the way I look, I'm lacking the sternness of an authority figure,"

Reinhard said, spreading both his arms, but Subaru thought differently.

The biggest reason that Reinhard didn't look like a guard was that he

appeared to be far from the lowly, rough sort of idea Subaru had of what a

guard should look like.

"Now that I think of it, didn't they call you something like 'master

swordsman'…?"

"My family's position is rather special, you see. So I've got a lot of heavy

expectations placed on me. Every day's a battle." Reinhard smiled, shrugging his

shoulders. Apparently Reinhard had a sense of humor as well.

Subaru was now completely sure that this guy was the perfect human being.

Forget about lamenting to God about the unfairness of it all, at this point,

Subaru was just impressed.

"By the way, I thought that your hair and clothes, and also your name are

pretty unusual, but… Where are you from? Why did you come to the capital of

Lugunika?" Reinhard asked, looking down at Subaru and his appearance.

Given that Subaru's background was unclear, it seemed to be a pretty natural

response for someone who was a guard.

"It's a little hard to answer that first question. Last time when I said, 'a small

country to the east,' it didn't work, so let me rephrase that. I've come from a

place even farther east than here, a place no one has ever seen before—from

the ends of the Earth," finished Subaru with a glint in his smile. Subaru thought

that it was a pretty safe answer, but Reinhard looked surprised.

"Farther east than Lugunika…? You can't mean beyond the Grand Cascade. Is

that supposed to be a joke?"

"Grand Cascade?" Subaru tilted his head with the unfamiliar term.

Cascade…like, a waterfall? Subaru, who wasn't familiar with the geography of

the surrounding area, had no idea what Reinhard was talking about. The only

places Subaru really knew in this world were the main street, alleys, the slums,

and the loot cellar.

"It doesn't seem like you're trying to fool me or anything, but… Well, that's

fine. Anyway, it looks certain that you're not from the capital, but you have a

reason for being here, right? Right now, Lugunika is not as peaceful as it usually

is. It's falling into a state of unrest. Whatever you're here for, I'd be glad to

help."

"Come on, it's your day off, right? There's no need for you to waste a day off

just to help me out, you've really done more than enough already. …But, I

would like to ask you a question, if I could."

Subaru shook his head in response to Reinhard's offer, but then he raised up a

finger as if he suddenly remembered something.

"I'm all ears. I'm not a very informed individual, so I'm not sure I can help all

that much, though."

"Well, it's less of a question and more me asking about a person, so no

worries. So anyway, have you seen a silver-haired girl with a white robe walking

around in this area?"

Not-Satella's appearance was one that stood out. Of all of the things about

her, the color of her hair and that hawk-embroidered white robe in particular

stood out the most. If someone like that was walking around in the capital,

there was a good chance that Reinhard, a guard, had noticed.

"A white robe and silver hair…"

"If I were to add anything, she's extremely beautiful. Also, there's this cat…

Well, it's not like she's carrying it around in front of her, but she has one, if

that's helpful."

If there was someone who was wearing a white robe, had silver hair, and had

that cat spirit, then it had to be her. However, the cat was usually hidden away

inside her hair, so expecting a sighting that included the cat was hoping for a

little too much.

"…What do you plan on doing when you find her?"

"Something she lost…er…I guess something she's looking for? Anyway, I want

to give what she's looking for back to her."

Of course, Subaru didn't have it on him right now, and it was even possible

that she hadn't had it stolen from her yet, but there was no need to complicate

things.

Reinhard narrowed his eyes at Subaru's response, and then silently thought

for a few moments before answering.

"Unfortunately, I can't say I've seen anyone like that. If you'd like, though, I

don't mind helping you find her."

"I can't ask that much of you. It's all right, I'll figure things out on my own."

Subaru lifted up his hand to refuse Reinhard's request, and then turned to exit

the alley and walk along the main street. It was possible that he would run into

Not-Satella again, like he did the third time around.

If possible, it might be better to catch Felt and keep her from stealing the

badge in the first place. Considering what would happen otherwise, Subaru

thought that might be the best approach to take.

"The problem is, considering how fast Felt is, whether I could really catch her

or not. In the worst case, I could get some guards to come to the loot cellar,

but…"

"Loot cellar?"

"Oh, don't worry about that. Forget I said anything. It's just the name of a

place an old man I know likes to hang out."

As Reinhard reacted to his statement Subaru tried to divert his attention and

at the same time rejected the idea of getting guards involved. Even if Subaru

brought guards with him, with Elsa as an opponent there was a good chance

that it would only result in more casualties. That's just how superhuman that

assassin's skills were.

"Well, if all of the guards here were superhuman as well, it might be a

different story… Anyway, I guess I should head back to the main street."

"Are you going?"

"Yeah, I am. Thanks again, Reinhard. I'll have to return the favor one day. …

Can I meet you again if I go to a guard station or something?"

"I think so. If you just give my name, they'll know where to find me. I'd love to

see you again, so stop by for any reason at all."

"Have I really done anything, or said anything to raise our relationship score

that much? …Anyway, if I ever get stuck or lost again I'll be sure to stop by,"

said Subaru jokingly, waving his hand good-bye.

"Be careful," said Reinhard, as cool and gallant as ever.

Pushed on by those words, Subaru was able to exit the alley with absolutely

zero damage, all the while not noticing just how much the young man with the

blue eyes was sizing him up as he watched him leave.

4.4

Now that Subaru had made it safely back to the main street, he did his best to

look for Not-Satella. However, all that he could really do was open his eyes wide

and stare at the passing crowd. Using his memories from the third time around,

Subaru positioned himself near the fruit store he had become familiar with.

The face of the scarred store owner that Subaru could see out of the corner of

his eye was very stern.

"This time our meeting wasn't exactly the best, was it… But, I know that you

really are a kindhearted guy!" Subaru said, giving the villainous-looking shop

owner a thumbs-up, to which the shop owner turned his face away from,

annoyed.

Subaru drew his thumbs back feeling unloved, and then returned his gaze to

the street. As always there were tons of people passing by, of all shapes, sizes,

and kinds.

It had been over ten minutes since Subaru had started his lookout, and it had

already been nearly an hour since he had started his fourth run.

"I'm not sure I can trust my sense of time, but it would be strange if the theft

hasn't happened yet…" said Subaru to himself, when an anxious thought

crossed his mind.

"Hey, old man."

"What is it, Mr. Penniless?"

When the shop owner came out in front of his store and looked at Subaru, he

had already given up trying to hide how annoyed he was.

"Well, it's true that I am penniless, so I won't deny that, but… Old man, I've

got something I'd like to ask you. Have you seen any sort of commotion happen

around here lately?"

"You've got guts asking me a question without buying anything."

"Well I know that, but last time… Wait…"

As Subaru was talking he realized why the shop owner was in such a bad

mood. The first time around, when Subaru and Not-Satella had visited the fruit

shop together they had met again with…the shop owner's daughter. She hadn't

been saved yet this time around.

"How could I have forgotten about that?! Don't tell me that I have to go find

her first?"

"What are you talking about? Oh, fine. Whatever. Look, kiddo. Those sort of

'commotions' you're talking about aren't exactly unusual around here."

"I'm glad you answered my question, but are you serious?!"

Now that Subaru thought about it, the loot cellar was filled with things stolen

from all over the capital. If there were that many thefts occurring, it spoke

volumes about the level of security in the capital.

"Does this mean I've completely run out of options…?"

"However, the most recent commotion wasn't the usual fare. Someone was

using magic and shot off two or three blasts of it. Just look."

The shop owner leaned forward and pointed to a stall about four spaces to

the left. When Subaru followed with his gaze, he saw that right beside that stall

was an alleyway, and there were a few holes gouged out of the wall leading into

it.

"Oh, wow."

"There were some icicle-shaped things that were used like arrows, and one of

them stuck inside that wall. It disappeared immediately afterward, though."

Each of the four holes was a little bigger than a quarter. Since they were able

to make a hole like that in a stone wall, Subaru shivered to think what would

happen if they hit a person.

"This magic looks like it's on a different scale from the first time I saw it… I

wonder if Not-Satella's a little more upset than usual this time…"

If Subaru approached her without thinking, he might be the one on the

receiving end of that magic. Subaru felt a cold sweat form on his brow.

"But if that's the case then I was too late this time as well."

If the theft had already taken place, it was going to be difficult for Subaru to

meet up with Not-Satella on his own. In other words, what he should shoot for

now was…

"I need to try to meet up with Felt. If possible, I need to try to catch her

before she enters the loot cellar, and then exchange my cell phone for the

badge, but…"

Given that was a place at which he had already been killed twice, Subaru

wanted to avoid the loot cellar as much as he could.

"If I go too late, then it'll be what happened the first time all over again.

However, if I go and meet up with Rom and wait for Felt, then I'll end up

repeating what happened the second time around…"

What was most important was Felt's location. Right now, Felt was probably

being chased around the capital by Not-Satella. If he could, Subaru wanted to

meet up with her before she arrived at the loot cellar.

"Maybe I could just rely on my Return by Death and use this time just to

gather information…?"

While that seemed like a viable option, Subaru shook his head and quickly

rejected that plan. This was something he realized after experiencing death

three times, but every time it was incredibly painful. He didn't want to

experience something like that ever again.

Subaru was anxious about relying on his Return by Death power when he

didn't know how or why it worked. Say Subaru decided to throw away this

fourth time around by watching things unfold with the intention of dying

afterward so he could reset everything. What if when he did that, his Return by

Death didn't activate because he had run out of the number of times he could

use it? No one would be laughing at that end.

"In the end, I've really got to cling to life as long as I can. Well, I suppose that

goes without saying, though."

After making his decision, Subaru twisted around to stretch his body. The

shop owner didn't seem too pleased as Subaru did his radio exercises in front of

his store, but as Subaru finished and was jogging in place he waved back at him.

"I don't know why you suddenly decided to help me, but thanks, old man."

"It's no big deal. Just a little while ago, another penniless person like yourself

helped my little girl out, you see."

As he listened to the shop owner's reply, Subaru first was surprised and then

burst out laughing. Oh, the power of fate. No matter how troubled this shop

owner's little girl was, someone was going to save her. Just knowing that made

Subaru feel that it was worth coming here.

"All right! I'm really going to get going now. Next time I'll buy one of your

abbles for sure!"

"Well, if you do you'll be a customer, and I'll welcome ya. Work hard, Mr.

Penniless," the shop owner said in a monotone.

"Gotcha. I really am praying that the next time I come back here will be with

money in my hands, I tell you," said Subaru as he left running.

Subaru's destination was the slums, but this time, in a different direction from

the loot cellar. If he headed toward the loot cellar, he was sure to raise a couple

of bad flags, so this time he was going to try a different route.

4.5

"You're looking for where Felt lives? If you just take that road over there until

it turns into another street, you should be able to find it."

"Thanks, you really helped me out, brother."

"No problem, brother. You uh…live strong and take care of yourself out there,

okay?"

The middle-aged man Subaru was talking to smiled at him weakly as he

disappeared behind a creaking door. Throughout their entire conversation, the

look of pity on the man's face never once disappeared from his awkward smile.

Subaru tightened his fist, happy that his plan was working.

"It was a strategy I formed after my experiences from the first and second

times in the slums, but…I never imagined it would work this well," Subaru said,

shaking the sleeve of his tracksuit, which was caked in dried mud.

In order to help him track down Felt, the brilliant plan he'd thought of after

arriving at the slums was to make himself look as down and out and destitute as

possible.

The first time around, when Subaru visited the slums with Not-Satella, Subaru

had not long before been beaten up by Dumb, Dumber, and Dumbest. Because

of that, most of the slum's inhabitants had pitied him and been fairly

cooperative. The second time, however, when Subaru hadn't taken much

damage, the people gave him a comparatively cold reception. The difference

was like night and day. So remembering that, Subaru made himself look so bad

he had risked overdoing it.

"Well, I did step in the poop of who knows what kind of animal, after all.

Anyway, I think I've pinned down where Felt sleeps, but…the problem is

whether she'll come back here or not before she goes to the loot cellar."

Fortunately, of the four people he was able to get information from, all of

their answers about the location of Felt's living place matched up. However,

Subaru thought the chances of her coming back to it were about fifty-fifty.

There was also the possibility that she did not want to risk having her place

found out by returning there while she was being chased.

"Well, sitting around and worrying about it won't help me at all, so let's stop

worrying. Okay!"

No sense in worrying about things that can't be helped. This is where Subaru's

decisiveness shone.

As he continued to scrape off more caked mud from his clothes, Subaru

dashed off deeper into the slums. It was dark as ever and there were puddles of

who knows what here and there that Subaru had to jump over to avoid. But just

as he was doing so, he almost ran right into someone who suddenly appeared.

Subaru was able to turn just in time and hit his back against the wall of the

alley, giving off a grunt as he lost his breath.

"Oh, I'm sorry about that. Are you all right?"

"Don't worry. Don't worry. I'm actually a pretty sturdy fell…ow…?!"

As he was trying to play himself off as tough, Subaru looked up and when he

realized who he was looking at his sentence trailed off and ended in a high-

pitched squeal.

After hearing Subaru's voice like that, the black-haired woman laughed softly.

"What a funny guy. Are you sure you're all right?" she said, lifting her hair

back behind her ear.

Even that simple motion was somehow sexy, and Subaru reaffirmed the belief

inside himself that every move this woman made was extremely erotic.

She was definitely someone Subaru did not want to meet again.

It was the woman who had cut open his abdomen and spilled his guts—twice.

It was Elsa.

"You don't have to act so scared. I won't do anything to you."

"I-I'm not sc-scared, okay? W-why would you think that….?"

"You smell…" replied Elsa, seeing past Subaru's empty attempts to seem

tough as she slowly narrowed her eyes as part of a beautiful smile.

"Smell?" thought Subaru, confused. But Elsa just breathed in through her

beautifully formed nose.

"When people are afraid, they smell afraid. Right now you are afraid…and also

angry, it seems…at me."

Elsa seemed to be having fun revealing what Subaru was thinking, as she

looked up at him. Subaru answered with silence and a false smile, taking deep

breaths and doing his best to control the quickening pace of his heart.

As Subaru went silent, Elsa narrowed her eyes like a snake. While Subaru felt

pinned down by her stare, at the very least he would not be so weak as to look

away.

Elsa licked her lips in response to Subaru's empty display of strength.

"…I can't say I'm not curious, but fine. I can't risk causing a fuss right now."

"Th-that doesn't sound very nice. If you scare people too much your beauty's

going to be put to waste, you know?"

"Well, don't you have a way with words. …If you could better hide the

animosity you have for me, I might have been impressed."

Elsa took her finger and gently pushed on his forehead, and Subaru's frozen

body loosened up. As Subaru gasped and heaved, trying to get his breath back,

Elsa put her finger to her lips.

"Well then, I'll be going now. I have a feeling we'll meet again."

"If the next time we meet is in a bright place with lots of people around I'll be

able to relax, too," said Subaru cynically, but it was all he could do just to get

that out.

Elsa gave a longing smile as if she didn't want to leave Subaru just yet, but

turned back around, with her black robe fluttering as she melted back into the

darkness.

After Subaru watched Elsa literally vanish from sight, he leaned up against the

wall, feeling like he had run a mile.

"I…I definitely didn't expect to run into her again just yet. I guess she was just

wandering around the area before she went to the loot cellar…?"

At the unexpected encounter with the final boss, Subaru felt as though his

spirit was about to break. In terms of how mentally prepared he was to deal

with either, meeting Elsa had much more of an impact on him than meeting

Not-Satella. Subaru prayed that this was the last time he was going to have to

see Elsa.

"I think that Felt's place is just farther down ahead, but…Elsa couldn't have

found Felt and already wreaked havoc, could she…?"

She was a deranged psycho who derived pleasure from cutting open people's

stomachs. It was not unthinkable that she would have slaughtered two or three

people just to kill time. Plus, with this being the deepest part of the slums,

Subaru had a bad feeling about what he might find.

"I-it's probably all right. I didn't see or smell any blood. …I think."

Given the stench of rotten garbage that filled the alley it would be impossible

to discern the smell of blood, and it was so dark that Subaru wasn't sure he'd be

able to see traces of blood if they were there. But it was probably okay. Surely it

was. So Subaru hoped at least.

About five minutes after his encounter with Elsa, Subaru reached a

dilapidated shack.

"With the information I was given, I think this is it, but…does this really count

as a living space?" said Subaru, confused as he stood in front of the wooden

plank that was serving as a door to the shack.

The inside of the shack was about the size of two portable toilets, the kind

used at construction sites. It was as though someone took the phrase, "You only

need half a tatami mat for standing, and a full one for sleeping," to heart.

"Well, I suppose if it's just a place to sleep, then it fits the description…"

However, the thought that such a small girl was living in a place like this made

Subaru feel pity for her. He supposed he could forgive her for being so obsessed

with money.

"So she's living out her life here, huddling her already small body into an even

smaller space. I guess it's no surprise she'd turn out as twisted as she is. Ah…

How pitiable, how pitiable is she."

"Oh come on! It's not that bad. Just who do you think you are, kid, belittling

my place?"

Just as Subaru was entering his pitying mode, he heard a voice behind him

and turned around.

There in front of him, glaring at him, was the little blond figure of…Felt.

The way she looked was not particularly different from the other times they

had met. If anything, she looked a little dirtier than before, but that seemed like

the result of her getaway being a quite a bit more rough on her than last time.

"What's with you, looking at me like that with those pitying eyes?! You

underestimating me just because I'm a girl and just a little bit filthy?"

"I think you're reading the wrong emotion there, but…I'm just glad I've found

you."

While Felt didn't even try to hide how irritated she was, Subaru

subconsciously relaxed his shoulders in a sense of relief. Subaru was genuinely

happy to meet up with her again. He was worried about what might have

happened after his near-miss incident with Elsa, but in the end, things seemed

to be looking for the better, rather than the worse.

In response to what Subaru said, Felt replied, "Oh, so you're a customer." She

breathed out her nose, pleased with herself.

"The fact that you came here means you've got business with me, right? From

the way you look, it's clear that you're not from around here."

"Oh. You're quick to see that I'm not really one of you. You've got good eyes

there."

"The people around here would at least take a little bit more care about the

way they look. You're trying way too hard. Plus, the way you're trying to fool us

with that dirty trick of yours, you look like you're even worse a person than I

am."

As always, this girl really knows how to be insulting, doesn't she? Subaru

thought, quickly wanting to take back everything he'd said about pitying her.

"So, what do you want? If you want something stolen, I'll need the money

first. Depending on who the target is I may ask for more later, though."

"'If I want something stolen,' huh… This is quite a business you're running

here. Are you really that proud of your thievery?"

"It's called making a living. If I don't do this, I'd have to sell my body. Anyway,

so what's it going to be? Or do you have some other business for me?

Depending on your answer…" said Felt, quickly moving her fingers as if showing

off her dexterity.

In her hand was a small knife that appeared as suddenly as if it had been

summoned by magic. It was clear that she meant to show that she could defend

herself.

If Subaru had to fight Felt, given both her dexterity and the fact that she had a

knife, he had no chance of winning. But Subaru had no intention of fighting.

He lifted up his pointer finger and shook it left and right while clicking his

tongue, as Felt continued to be on guard.

"I only have one item of business to discuss with you. I would like to buy from

you that badge you stole."

4.6

Having come this far, Subaru thought that being indirect or trying to dodge

the topic would just worsen Felt's impression of him. There was also the fact

that Elsa was still wandering around the area, so Subaru wanted to dive right

into negotiations.

However, Felt put her hand over her chest where it was likely she was holding

the badge.

"How do you know that I stole a badge? The only person who should know

that is the one who hired me, and I only stole it just a little while ago. This is

way too quick a response for you to have just heard about it on the street."

"When you put it that way… Yeah? That's a good point. That was too careless,

even for me, right?"

"…You really need to do a better job of hiding your intent, kid. A little taunt

like that and you're already spilling the beans?"

As Subaru held his head in his hands at his mistake, Felt looked as though she

had lost the heart to keep up her hostility.

Felt dropped to her knees so that she was eye level with Subaru.

"So you want to buy this badge off me, huh? What are you trying to do? You

can't be on the same side as that woman, right? Is she your rival or something?"

"More like my archenemy, maybe? Like how you'd feel if she killed your

parents. Or rather, if she killed you."

"What are you talking about? Well, whatever, I don't really care about that."

As Subaru was trying to figure out how he was going to talk his way out of this

one, Felt just laughed. She then took the dragon-adorned badge out from her

breast pocket and waved it in front of Subaru.

"I'll sell this to whoever can offer me a higher price. Even if there's a chance

that woman'll be angry if I break off our deal."

"Yeah, there's definitely a possibility she'll just snap, but… Anyway, I'm just

talking to myself, you can ignore me."

Subaru cleared his throat, and put on a serious face.

"So does this mean you'll hear me out?"

"Only if it looks like there's money in it for me. That's obvious, right?"

"Sounds good to me. …I've prepared an item that is worth more than twenty

blessed gold coins, and I would like to buy your badge with it."

Felt's ears perked up, and her red eyes narrowed like a cat's. It looked as

though she was trying not to appear shaken, but if she had a tail it would be

twitching back and forth, so Subaru could not help but smile.

"Huh, I see. That's quite a price. It looks like my hard work's finally gonna pay

off. …But unfortunately for you, your rival has already offered me the same

amount, you know?"

"Cut the crap! The deal was for ten blessed gold coins, right? You get too

greedy and you'll die! No, like, seriously."

In actuality, it was pretty clear that that was why she died the first time.

Cause of death: greed.

With Subaru having gotten the price right, Felt must have thought that she

couldn't play it off anymore. After staring wide-eyed at him for a few moments,

Felt lightly scratched the side of her head.

"What, you know that much, too? …Yeah, okay? The deal was for ten blessed

gold coins. But you know, if I tell the person who hired me that another offer

was made, she might counteroffer with more, you know?"

"That one's not a lie, you know?" Felt, the thirteen-or fourteen-year-old,

added, curling the edges of her mouth.

"You really are sly, aren't you? I'd like to say just give it up and take the deal,

but I don't suppose you'd listen to me, huh?"

"Of course not! Plus, I'm not sure I can trust you. My ears didn't miss a word

you said. You didn't say you brought twenty blessed gold coins, but only

something worth that much. Isn't this a little unfair, with me knowing nothing

about what you've got up your sleeves, but you knowing all about me?"

"I think it's more of a matter of how much you can prepare that really matters

in negotiations…but it is true that without showing you this first, we're not

going to get anywhere."

Subaru wanted to avoid having Felt sulk too much and wasting time, so he

took his key item for the negotiations, his cell phone, out of his breast pocket.

Upon seeing the small device, Felt raised her eyebrows a little bit, but that was

it.

As always, she didn't respond to anything unless it was clear that it would

lead her to money.

"Twenty blessed gold coins for this thing? It only looks like a hand mirror to

me…"

"This is one of those immensely popular mitia. It can take a slice of time and

freeze it, saving it away."

Subaru turned on the continuous shooting mode. A light and mechanical

sound went off several times. The bright light flashed through the alley and

showered Felt with light.

"Whoah!" she said, in a rare show of girliness as she reacted.

Felt looked as though she was about to complain, but Subaru quickly showed

her the cell phone's screen.

"This is the power of this mitia. Using it you can leave behind a clear image.

Another thing to add is that this is a very rare item. This is the only one like it in

the entire world. How about that?"

Subaru had gotten used to explaining the cell phone's function at this point,

and when he finished, Felt went, "Hmm…" and looked carefully at the cell

phone in Subaru's hands, before nodding in agreement.

"…It doesn't seem like you're lying. But this is me? You said a clear image, but

I think I'm quite a bit better looking than this."

"If you weren't in such a terrible environment and eating better, and—while it

may contribute to what you might think of as shrewd business sense—if you

could rid yourself of that sly, dirty personality of yours, I'd say there's hope for

you! It's really just a matter of how you're dressed up."

"If we're talking about choosing the right words to say, you have no talent

when it comes to holding a conversation, do you? Geez."

While Subaru might have scored himself a bit of irritation from that last

statement, things were going well overall. However, one of the strong points of

the people who lived in the slums was that they never easily agreed to

anything.

"I'll accept that this thing you have is rare, but I'm still not sure I believe you

when you say it's worth twenty blessed gold coins. I'm not such an airhead that

I'll just take you at your word."

"Well…that's to be expected. I don't mind personally that you've got a spongy

brain, but you're right. We need a third party's opinion."

It would have been great if Subaru could have pushed the negotiations

through then and there, but he expected that that wasn't going to work. The

problem was who to use as a third party…

"Deep in the slums, there's this place called the loot cellar. It's just as the

name suggests, but I think that the quickest way will be to ask the weird old

man that's there. He's fair when it comes to appraisals. He's very experienced,

so I think he won't have a problem, even with this mitia."

"I thought this would happen…"

Subaru had expected Felt to suggest Rom. It was also her meet-up point with

Elsa, as well as a place where she'd have a bodyguard if things went south.

Given that an appraising eye was necessary for Subaru's mitia card, there

really was no other choice. However, Subaru really wanted to have everything

settled before they ended up at the loot cellar.

"I have no problem with having the old man look at it, but…"

"Are you really going to call him 'old man' without even having met him yet?

You may regret it, you know? He's pretty rough with people who don't know

how to show respect."

"Despite that, he seems to be quite doting on a certain foul-mouthed young

girl, always giving her milk and all…"

Subaru thought about the bald old man who always looked at Felt with calm

eyes. From Rom's perspective, it must be like taking care of a granddaughter.

But Subaru had no problem with him; it was the place that was the issue.

"I don't know what you seem to have a problem with, but if you're in such a

hurry, we should go ahead and get going to the loot cellar. To be honest, there

was something else that I was planning on doing, but…"

"Planning on doing?"

"Well you see, the person I stole this badge from is a lot more persistent than

I thought, so I thought I'd try to sabotage her a bit. After all, you give the guys

hanging around a little money and they'll do anything for you."

"All right, let's get going, immediately. Right now. Let's go go go!"

Subaru pushed on Felt's back as she started walking and hurried her along

toward the loot cellar.

"What's with you?" complained Felt, puffing up her cheeks, but Subaru was

proud of himself for being able to avoid as many casualties as he could.

A little cash was way too low a price to offer for anyone to stand in Not-

Satella's way when she was in a hurry. If the alternative was getting hit with a

block of ice and squirming on the ground, Subara was sure they'd rather clutch

their hungry stomachs instead.

"My only condition is that we have the old man take a look, settle the deal

quickly, and then get straight out of there."

"Why are you in such a hurry, kid? You're all sweaty, you know. Live strong

and take care of yourself."

"Everyone seems to say that, but is that like the slogan of the slums?!"

Subaru had the feeling they should change it from "live strong" to "live

rough."

As Subaru put that thought behind him, he made his way with Felt to the loot

cellar for the third time in total this fourth time around.

He would leave immediately. He would dash right out of there, even if he had

to leave everyone else behind. Having made his decision, Subaru pushed harder

on the back of Felt in front of him.

"That hurts!"

"Ow!!" said Subaru as he was kicked.

4.7

After meeting up with Felt at her shack, Subaru and Felt made their way

through the slums toward the loot cellar.

The space between buildings was very narrow, and it was difficult for sunlight

to make it through into the winding alleys. This additional darkness from the

shade of the buildings only made the slums seem even drearier.

"…"

Subaru could feel a dampness underfoot. There were broken bottles of

alcoholic drinks and scraps of paper all over the place, and every now and then

there was a strong unpleasant stench that struck the inside of his nose.

Whether it was with Felt or Not-Satella, this was not the kind of place to be

walking alone together with a young girl.

"Now this would just be so much better if we were holding hands and in a

more beautiful and colorful place."

"Cut it out with that disgusting talk. Don't tell me that you're into little girls."

"I'm more into older women. You don't have to be so cautious, come on over

here."

Perhaps because Felt had sensed danger from what Subaru had said, she

started to pull away, but Subaru called her back. Reluctantly, Felt edged closer.

"No funny business, okay? You're the one who's going to be more in trouble if

this deal goes south. We clear?"

"Why can't you just see that I'm doing my best to get this wary little kitten I'm

dealing with here to relax so we can be friends? If you're so against me being

friendly, why don't you stop messing around and actually take me to the loot

cellar?"

"…How did you…?"

"How did I figure it out? Oh, come on, I'm not that stupid. I mean, I'm not

incredibly familiar with this area, but I'm confident in my sense of direction. The

way we've been zig-zagging around like this, even I'm going to start to get

suspicious," said Subaru, looking down at Felt, who went silent, and shrugging.

With Subaru being right on the mark, Felt couldn't help but look away, but

Subaru himself was extremely nervous, his heart racing.

After all, everything Subaru had just said was mostly a bluff. Subaru had been

bothered by the fact that Felt's route didn't quite match up with the way he

thought was the right way to get to the loot cellar, but what really caused him

to question Felt was the fact that he had seen the same graffiti that was written

on the wall twice, though at a distance, in a short period of time. However, at

this point, his bluff was all he had to rely on.

"I know it's asking too much for you not to doubt me, and from your

perspective, what I have to offer probably sounds too good to be true, so I can't

blame you for wanting extra time to look me over."

"You've figured all that out, and you're not angry?"

"Well I understand that it makes sense for you to doubt me, and I am being

unreasonable. However, I will not compromise on time. Please, take me straight

to the loot cellar. I'm begging you, please," said Subaru, raising his hands,

pleading.

Felt was startled, her eyes opened wide as she hesitated for a moment, not

sure how to react, but she then took her hand and roughed up her blond hair.

"Well damn, I just don't get you. I don't get you but…I feel like I've got to pay

you back for not getting angry at me just now. Fine, I'll take you straight there.

I'll just leave the rest of my doubts in Rom's hands."

"I don't dislike that attitude of feeling totally free to rely on others, but…

well…I, uh…nevermind."

Just as Subaru was about to lecture Felt, he realized what he was about to say

and muddied his words.

What did Felt really mean when she said she'd leave everything to Rom? Rom

treated Felt like she was a cute granddaughter of his, and he felt so strongly

about her that he was ready to lay down his life for her. But how did Felt feel

about Rom?

Subaru didn't want to think that that bald old man, whom he couldn't bring

himself to hate, was just being used by her.

Felt narrowed her eyes as Subaru suddenly trailed off, but she didn't pry.

Instead, having changed her attitude toward Subaru, she led Subaru straight to

the loot cellar, without taking any detours this time.

As Subaru kept after Felt as she trotted on ahead, he thought again about the

course of events that would happen once they got to their destination. It was

already Subaru's fourth time doing this. He wanted to go the best route he

possibly could.

As Subaru continued to walk, lost in thought, he saw that Felt had stopped,

and was glaring at him.

"Stop looking down as you walk! You'll get infected by the gloominess around

here, you know?"

"Well, I'd love to keep my head up, but it's not exactly clean and organized

down around my feet, so it's dangerous if I don't pay attention. …What do you

mean 'infected by the gloominess'?"

"You know exactly what I mean. I'm talking about the attitude of all the losers

who live here."

Felt nodded her head to show she was talking about the surrounding area,

the slums. The way she spit out her words showed clear animosity and hatred

for the place, and Subaru opened his eyes wide.

"Losers…? Don't you think that's a bit harsh?"

"How's it harsh? I'm talking about people who languish in this alleyway life

and lose the will to even try to get out of here or better themselves someway. I

hate losers like that."

Subaru had spent a good amount of time talking with the people who lived

here in the slums. It wasn't as though they had fallen so far that words wouldn't

reach them, but like Felt said, he couldn't deny that they seemed to be content

with life here, or rather, they seemed to have given up on getting anywhere

else.

It would be easy to say that that kind of attitude couldn't be helped, but Felt

wouldn't accept that answer. In the dim light of the alley, the light from Felt's

crimson eyes would not fade one bit.

"I have no intention of living out my whole life here in these slums. If a chance

comes my way I'll cling to it and make it mine. The same goes for this deal

now."

"So that's why, huh…"

The second time around, Felt had done everything she could to find

weaknesses in and get more out of Elsa and Subaru. It was easy to explain those

actions simply by saying she was greedy, but knowing what he did now, Subaru

thought he could understand why Felt was so persistent.

Felt wanted to leave the slums, to break out of the circumstances of her

orphaned childhood. At the root of all her actions was a desire for something

more.

"So, with twenty blessed gold coins, will that dream of yours come true?"

"…It'll definitely be closer to coming true, and if I were going alone it might

just be enough, but I don't know," Felt muttered.

"If you were going alone?"

Subaru's sharp ears wouldn't let that one slip, and he raised his eyebrows in

response. Felt realized her mistake, clicked her tongue, and looked away.

"It's nothing. We're not so friendly that I'm going to talk about… Why am I

being so talkative today in the first place?" said Felt, clearly regretting the slip of

her tongue.

"Maybe you're loosening up a little because your goal's in sight?" replied

Subaru, as he felt himself grinning.

Felt said if she were "going alone," she might be able to make it. This meant

that she had someone else in the slums she couldn't leave behind. For Felt, who

held such a feeling of animosity toward the people of the slums, there could

only be one person she could feel that way about.

Thinking about who that was, Subaru couldn't help but grin.

"What's your problem? That smirk of yours is starting to tick me off."

"It's no big deal. I just realized that I was worrying too much about something

I didn't need to be worrying about. Of course that's how it is. Of course. I don't

know why I was worrying so much," said Subaru, showing his teeth as he

smiled. Everything suddenly made sense to him.

The second time around, Felt and Rom seemed to treat each other like family.

Both were killed by Elsa, but even as they were dying they must have been

thinking of each other.

Plus, Felt had saved Subaru's life in the nick of time once before as well.

If Subaru felt indebted to Not-Satella, then he should feel indebted to Felt as

well.

"Let's hurry up. We've already lost too much time."

"I still don't understand why you're—Hey, wait. I said stop that!"

As Subaru started off and walked past Felt, he put his hand on her head and

roughed up her blond hair. Her hair with its thin strands, which had probably

never been combed, didn't feel bad flowing through Subaru's fingers. After Felt

left the slums one day, and was dressed up a bit, Subaru thought she would

probably shine bright.

So, in order to also put Felt on a path to reach her dreams…

"I've really got to make this work, don't I? …I'm the only one who can do

this!"

"Stop saying all these weird things and getting obsessed with yourself! I'm

gonna bite you!"

With Subaru's hand still on Felt's head despite her protests, he silently

solidified his determination.

He would change the fates of not just Not-Satella, but Felt and Rom as well…

all of the people who had moved his heart.

That must be why Subaru kept repeating this day over and over again.

"I said, cut it out!!" Felt said, before biting Subaru.

4.8

"To the giant rats…?"

"Where might I find me some boric acid–laced dango? Now that's some

poison."

"To the great white whale…?"

"You know, the first guy who comes to mind when I think of the word

'captain' is that good ol' Captain Ahab. Bet he has some fishing hooks."

"…To our most honorable great dragon…?"

"Since this is a fantasy world, I bet they really exist, but man, if I ran into one

of those I can guarantee you I wouldn't be able to do anything. But you know,

they are really cool, so I do kind of want to see one, but what a contradiction,

huh? Those mixed-up feelings of mine can burn in hell!"

"Can't you just say the passwords without having to throw in all that

nonsense?! Can you be more irritating?!"

The door to the cellar slammed opened so hard it looked as though it was

going to come off its hinges, but Subaru, who expected this, had stepped back

and was dealt no damage. Growling in frustration, too tall for the entrance, was

the bald giant Rom, whom Subaru had grown used to seeing at this point. His

face was red, his blood pressure probably high.

"If you get all angry like that, you'll pop a blood vessel. Even if we had modern

medicine, I'd say your situation looks pretty bad."

"If you think it's so bad for me, then don't make me angry! Just who are you

anyway?! I'm not supposed to let anyone in today, so scram!"

"Uh… Sorry about that. This guy is actually my customer, so could you please

let him in?" said Felt, who had been hiding behind Subaru's back and just

peeked out from behind him.

Rom slowly relaxed his shoulders. As Felt looked between a disappointed Rom

and a whistling Subaru, she let out a sigh.

"You really have a terrible personality, kid. Without being too mean, it's

simply the worst. Anyway, we're coming in, Rom."

As Felt slipped past Rom, still looking down, she entered the loot cellar as if it

were her own place.

Rom first looked at Felt for further explanation but was ignored, so he turned

his annoyed face toward Subaru.

"She really marches to the beat of her own drummer, huh? Us normal guys

just get left behind, am I right?" said Subaru.

"I'd like to start back at square one, where I was first teaching her what

different words meant… Anyway, get inside," replied Rom, with the tone of a

man who had given up and washed his hands of everything, before shrinking his

giant body back away into the cellar.

Subaru followed after Rom into the dusty air of the loot cellar. He tossed a

few cautious glances this way and that, but fortunately there was no sign that

Elsa or Not-Satella were hiding somewhere inside.

Felt was casually sitting at the bar counter, drinking a glass of milk as if it were

her own.

"What? This is the only cold one left. I'm not letting you have it," she said.

"I can't believe you're not the least bit bothered by how shameless you're

acting… Hey, old man, I'll just have some alcohol, whatever you've got. Thanks,"

said Subaru.

"You're one to talk! I'm not sharing with you! You're not getting any, you

hear?!" shouted Rom as he ran across the room and rushed behind the counter,

creaking the floorboards as he went, trying to hide what looked like his stash.

Rom's overreaction was enough to inspire pity, and Subaru just said, "I'm

joking," with a chuckle.

"Well then, old man. We've already wasted a lot of time, so before we get

sidetracked, I'd like to get straight to the point."

"I get the feeling we've already gone way off track, but…what's up?"

"Basically, I want you to appraise something. I would like you to put a price on

this mitia I have here, and guarantee its worth to Felt."

When Rom realized that the conversation was turning to business, his gray

eyes turned serious. Old Man Rom looked at Felt, who nodded in confirmation,

before turning to look back at Subaru.

Realizing that Rom was wordlessly asking to see the item, Subaru took his cell

phone out of his pocket and handed it to Rom. It seemed that the metallic look

of the phone was what first caught Rom's eye, and while he ran his fingers over

it it looked like a tiny toy in his oversized hands.

"So this is a mitia. Even for someone like me, this is my first time seeing one

of these…"

"I'm pretty sure this is the only one of its kind in the whole world. Also, it's

rather delicate so please be careful with it. If you break it I really have to kill

myself, and I'm not joking about that…of course, meaning so I can start over."

Rom spent a while carefully looking over its outward appearance, but then

slowly opened the folding phone. Rom had his first surprise as the phone

started up and let out a sound, and he got his second surprise when he saw the

phone's wallpaper.

"This picture…"

"I thought that this would be a good time to use that one. In order to show

you the device's abilities, I put a scene from Felt's day as the wallpaper."

The wallpaper was one of the pictures that Subaru had taken of Felt when he

met her in the alley. He picked the one he thought looked the cutest, and given

the image quality he thought it was quite nice overall.

Rom looked from the image over at Felt, who was sipping her milk, and said,

"Well, you've certainly surprised me. I don't think there's anything else out

there that could draw such a perfect picture."

"This is a mitia that takes out a slice of time and stores it away. It doesn't even

compare with a picture someone has drawn, does it? If you'd like I can take one

of you as well."

"I'm interested, but it seems kind of dangerous. It doesn't take any of your life

away, does it?"

"No matter what age and no matter what world, it looks like that superstition

about photographs persists, huh…?"

Subaru gave a weak smile in return to Rom's reaction, something that seemed

like it should be out of the Taisho period, or before, and replied, "Even if I take

your picture, you'll easily live until you're eighty or so."

Felt's reaction as she was listening to the conversation was also cute, and so

after getting his permission, Subaru took a picture of Rom and showed it to him.

"Hmm…" Rom nodded.

"This is certainly something. If I were to take care of it, in terms of blessed

gold coins maybe fifteen…no, I could absolutely get more than twenty for this. I

believe it's worth that much."

Rom's business sense sparked; his eyes were shining as he made his appraisal.

While Subaru thought he was unsure how proud he could be to get the seal of

approval from someone in the business of selling stolen goods, it certainly did

put him at ease. His nostrils flaring with confidence, Subaru turned to Felt.

"Well, there you have it. This is the card I have to play. Like I said, it's worth

more than twenty blessed gold coins. So now, I'd like to trade you this for that

badge you've got."

"I see you seem to make that face a lot, but it really is annoying."

Apparently unimpressed that everything looked as though it was going

according to Subaru's plan, Felt made a face. However, that didn't change the

fact that this new information made the deal sound even better to her.

"Well, to be honest, I'm happy that I've got a guarantee that I can turn this

mitia into cash. It looks like I don't have to doubt you anymore about it being

worth twenty blessed gold coins, either. I accept the card you have to play."

"Right?! So anyway, it looks like our negotiations have gone well. It'll be your

job to sell it, but I wish you the best of luck! Now that's wrapped up, how about

we go off somewhere and have a drink to celebrate our success?"

Subaru quickly walked over to Felt and put out his hand to take the badge,

but Felt slowly pushed it back.

"Wait a minute. Why are you in such of a hurry?"

"Life has its limits. You've got to treat every second of it as precious, and it's a

shame to waste any—"

"Right, right, enough of that," Felt said, narrowing her red eyes, and with a

calm attitude stuck at the heart of her doubts.

"Why do you want this badge in the first place?"

4.9

Subaru paused, holding his breath, and as both Rom and Felt saw that, Subaru

realized he had made a mistake. What he should have done was say a bunch of

nonsense, just like he had before. However, nothing would come out.

As Subaru kept his silence Felt's mouth loosened up into a smile.

"The older lady who asked me to steal it in the first place didn't want to talk

about it either, and it looks like you're the same?"

"…Well, stealing is pretty bad itself, so with theft involved, I'm sure everyone

has some ulterior motives they wouldn't like to talk about…"

"But in your case, you stand out more than one usually would. If I slow down

and think about it, you're trying to steal this away from whoever wanted me to

steal it in the first place."

Felt's attitude was like one of a cat torturing its prey.

"Just what is this badge anyway? It's worth more than it looks, isn't it? That's

why everyone wants it. In other words, it's worth more than even this mitia."

"Wait, Felt. That line of thought is really dangerous. I pretty much already

know what you're planning on saying right now, even if I'm just drawing on my

experience from playing games, but…really, you need to stop."

As Subaru watched Felt's miserly gauge rise, he broke out in a sweat as he

tried to stop her. If negotiations dragged on any longer than this, the bad end

that was just waiting for them was going to be a reality.

"This deal is for more than twenty blessed gold coins! Just take it! Don't be

any greedier than that! El—The one who commissioned you can only pay

twenty blessed gold coins herself. She won't pay any more than that."

"How do you know that?"

"Well…"

"The more you talk the more you're giving away. You're in league with her,

aren't you?"

Subaru wished he could just tell her that he knew because of his Return by

Death ability, but of course he couldn't. Even if he did explain it that way, there

was no guarantee she would believe it.

As Felt's eyes filled with even more doubt, Subaru knew that whatever he

said, she wouldn't believe him anymore. At this point, he might have to wrestle

the badge away from her.

But if I did that I'd have to deal with this muscular geezer…

"Well, she's got you dancing in the palm of her hand, doesn't she, kiddo?

Must be embarrassing given that she's younger than you."

"It's all your fault for giving her free rein. She's so tough I feel like I'm about to

cry."

If Subaru tried to be violent, all that would happen would be his getting beat

to the ground by Rom. Even if he was able to grab it away from Felt, he didn't

think he could outrun her. Subaru had seen how she could run like the wind.

There was no way he could escape.

"Felt, please…"

"Don't think begging is going to get you anywhere. Look, I accept your deal as

an option, but it's not fair to make a deal without hearing what my original

client has to say about it all. If you would tell me how much this badge is really

worth and are able to prepare what it's really worth in payment, then I may

reconsider, though."

In Felt's eyes was not even the slightest amount of compassion or mercy. Her

two eyes were desperately trying to draw out the truth from Subaru's attitude.

However, Subaru's reasons for wanting the badge were not the same as Elsa's.

He only wanted to return it to its owner.

But while Felt didn't know Subaru's intentions, he knew hers. Subaru knew

why Felt was so desperate to negotiate the best deal possible. He knew who

she was trying so desperately for. So after a pause, he told the truth.

"All I want is to return that badge to its rightful owner."

"…What?"

Telling the truth was the most sincere thing he thought he could do. So while

Felt's eyes opened wide, Subaru just repeated what he said before.

"I want to return that badge to its rightful owner. That's why I want it. That's

all."

Felt's red eyes glinted full of animosity, but Subaru stayed silent. He didn't

have it in him to joke around at this point, so he just bowed his head.

"…Felt, I don't think he's lying," said Rom.

"Don't you be tricked by him! This has got to be a joke! Return it to its rightful

owner? By paying all of this money to buy it back from the person who stole it?

How stupid can you get? If that's what he wanted to do, he should have

brought a guard with him to round us up!"

Of course Subaru couldn't do that. Not-Satella didn't want to get the guards

involved. That's why Subaru had refused Reinhard's offer. Subaru couldn't go

against Not-Satella's wishes.

It was the least that Subaru could do, and it was his answer to the one who

had saved his life.

"If you're going to lie, do a better job of it! Even if you act like you're serious, I

won't be tricked! If I don't… That's right. I won't be tricked…" Felt said, as if

shaking some thoughts from her head, ending in a feeble-sounding voice.

"Felt…" said Rom in a caring tone with a painful expression, probably knowing

what was going on inside Felt.

Either way, it didn't look as though Felt was going to change her mind. In

other words, negotiations had failed.

"…Who is it?"

Suddenly, Rom's expression changed and he looked toward the entrance.

Subaru, still in a state of shock from the negotiations breaking down, was too

late to react to Rom's voice.

"It could be my client. It does seem a little early, though."

Felt went over to the door, with her angry expression still on her face, and

reached to open it.

Subaru suddenly identified the impatient feelings welling up inside him. The

loot cellar, a knock at the door, Felt's client—all of those signals could only lead

to one thing.

"Don't open the door! We'll all be killed!!"

It was earlier than Subaru had expected. From the windows he could see the

sun still high in the sky. It was too bright to be past sunset.

The first and second times around, despair had come knocking after sunset.

Subaru hadn't let his guard down about their limited time, but still, this was way

too early.

Subaru still hadn't accomplished anything he needed to do to change this

world. Subaru didn't make it in time. Her hand was already on the door, and it

was pushed open from the outside, and the reddish light of early sunset swept

the dimness of the cellar away. And then…

"What do you mean, 'be killed'? I'd never do anything that violent without

warning!" said a silver-haired girl with a sour look on her face as she stepped

into the cellar.