Negotiations in the Loot House

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Having returned to the trading street, Subaru immediately started trying his hardest to locate Not-Satella..

Although, all he could really do was stare into the crowd with eyes as wide as dinner plates. In the third world, he wasn't very far from the fruit shop when he encountered her, so he decided to position himself around there for now. Subaru could see the shopkeeper's face in the corner of his vision and his expression seemed rather stern.

"Our meeting didn't go that well this time… But I know that you're actually a great guy deep down! I know it!"

Subaru directed a smile and a thumbs up at him, and the shopkeeper immediately averted his eyes with an expression that looked like he'd seen something unpleasant.

Subaru felt somewhat lonely as he withdrew his thumb, and once again directed his gaze toward the street.

The street was swarmed with all sorts of people as usual.

Diverse inhabitants of a fantasy world, and among them Subaru saw what one could perhaps call a beastman, a bipedal dog-like being that had incredibly fluffy fur which caused him to freak out. He wanted to feel it, really badly.

"What's with that loveliness… They've already won at birth, just like Reinhardt or Not-Satella, it's sinful."

Their gait was tottering due to their short stature, giving them the charm of a small animal.

"Kh… Calm down, my right arm… This isn't the time to feel them up, have you forgotten why we're here?!"

He somehow gained control of his arm that was going to reach for that white fur, and after he regretfully watched them walk away, he returned his gaze to its original position.

However, it had already been almost ten minutes since he started watching the road, and he didn't find anyone that looked like her. Confirming the time on his phone, he found that it had almost been an hour since his reset.

"My sense of time feels off, but going off my memories it'd be weird if the theft hasn't happened by now…"

As he said this, an unpleasant premonition suddenly flashed through his mind.

Once he felt the chill of doubt, there was no escaping it. Subaru scratched his head and let out various 'Aahs' and 'Oohs', and having no other choice, he walked toward the stall before him.

"Hey, old man."

"What, broke kid."

Standing before him was the owner of the fruit shop, clearly annoyed that Subaru dared to show his face again as he responded.

True or not, that was a pretty harsh way of saying it Subaru thought as he forced a smile, and without being discouraged,

"It's true that I'm broke so I won't deny it, but… There's something I wanna ask you, old man. Has there been a pickpocketing incident around here?"

"You've got some nerve asking questions without even buying anything… Also, too bad, but that sort of thing is really nothing unusual."

"Seriously?!"

Subaru couldn't help but raise his voice in surprise at this mean-spirited response. But it wasn't as if he didn't understand. To begin with, the loot house was a place where stolen items from all over the capital were gathered. There was enough theft going on to fill that giant storehouse, which gave an idea as to the level of public order around here.

"Does this mean I'm out of luck…?"

"―But, I do remember the commotion just now since it was unusual. There were two or three blasts of magic, you see. Have a look."

He leaned out of his stall and pointed to the left, at a stall about four spaces away. Subaru's line of sight followed and,

"Woah, incredible."

"Those icicles pierced that wall like arrows and left that damage. They disappeared immediately, though."

Right next to the stall was the entrance to a narrow alley, and one of its walls had holes bored into it.

There were four of them, and each one was around the size of a 500-yen coin. Since they were able to piece a stone wall, the thought of their speed and power at the moment of impact sent a chill down his spine.

"This isn't like those ice rocks she fired before… I wonder if she's angrier this time."

If he approached her carelessly, he might end up getting blasted with them himself. The thought of this caused a cold sweat to form on his forehead.

"But this means I was too late this time too."

Setting aside his frightening imaginations, he wiped the sweat off his forehead as he muttered this.

Not-Satella was most likely the one who left these marks behind. If it was a theft involving her, it was probably alright to assume that Felt had snatched the insignia from her.

That being the case, it meant that he had lost the means to link up with Not-Satella.

At least, there was no surefire way to meet her as far as Subaru knew.

In other words, what he ought to prioritize was,

"Meeting up with Felt who has the insignia, huh. I'd like to get to her before she reaches the loot house, and trade my phone for the insignia on the spot if possible."

He truly did not want to approach the loot house, considering he had been slaughtered there twice.

Strictly speaking, what he actually wanted to avoid was getting involved with Elsa there.

"It'll just be a repeat of the first time if I'm too late. Having said that, reaching Rom first and waiting for Felt would be no different from the second time."

So the crucial point was Felt's location.

At the moment, she was probably desperately running around in order to shake Not-Satella off. Of course it wasn't like she could run forever so he figured it should be possible to catch her somewhere, but such a thing would prove extremely difficult for Subaru who was even less familiar with the capital than the average person.

"Should I rely on Return By Death and just use this attempt for investigation…?"

It certainly seemed like an effective strategy, but Subaru shook his head and rejected it right away.

First, having experienced death three times, he didn't think he could make the decision to throw his life away in order to retry. All three deaths were quite literally so painful he could die. If he could settle things without tasting death, then he'd rather only ever experience it at the very end, on his deathbed.

In addition, he was also concerned about the fact that he didn't know exactly how Return By Death worked. Throwing his life away only to find out he had zero left wouldn't even be funny as a joke.

"In the end, I guess I'll just have to struggle all I can while I've still got life. That much is obvious, though."

He twisted his waist, grinding his joints, and started bending and stretching to warm up.

The shopkeeper seemed annoyed by the fact that he was doing radio calisthenics in front of his stall. Having warmed up, Subaru raised his hand toward him as he jogged away.

"Alright, thanks a lot, old man. I'll be leaving now. I'll definitely buy some appas next time."

"Yeah, you'd be more than welcome as a customer. Work hard, broke kid."

"For sure.― I really am praying I have some money the next time I show up here."

The shopkeeper apathetically saw him off as he broke into a run.

He was headed toward the slums―But not in the direction of the loot house. He had already decided that he'd be raising BAD END flags if he went there. That being the case, it was time to try a new angle of attack.

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"Where Felt lives, huh? Head two streets down that way, it's ahead of there."

"Thanks a lot, you're a lifesaver, brother."

"It's no problem, brother. ―What was it, live strong?"

The middle aged man said with a weak smile as he disappeared into the creaking door.

Thinking back to how the man's strained smile was filled with sympathy from beginning to end, Subaru pumped his fist at his strategy's success.

He was covered in mud and dirt, his appearance was such that even slum dwellers found it pitiful.

"It was a strategy I devised from my experiences in those first two times, but… That sure was effective, huh."

As he said this, Subaru wiped off his sleeves which had become crusty now that the mud on them had dried.

Having arrived here, he devised an ingenious plan to pinpoint Felt's destination, which was to play the part of an extremely downtrodden person.

When he was wandering around the slums with Not-Satella in the first world, he had just recently been beaten into the ground by Tonchinkan, and the inhabitants' reception was correspondingly sympathetic and cooperative.

Completely different from the second time, when their reaction was cold and curt since he had no real damage to speak of. Thinking back to that, he ended up going a little overboard with his appearance this time.

"Well, I did end up stepping in some unknown animal's dung and stuff."

Thank goodness he barely managed to avoid falling in it, he thought as he trembled.

Since it only got on his shoes, his honor was probably still intact.

Unfortunately, even as he thought this there wasn't the slightest hint of honor or anything of the sort left in his filthy appearance.

"I've got four reports right now… Three of them match."

Sympathizing with him, four people gave him information. Right now, three of the comments about Felt's location matched. Unless they were all conspiring to screw him over, it was probably okay to assume the information was accurate.

The one differing report came from an old woman who was hard of hearing, so she definitely wasn't trying to deceive him. Maybe.

"I think I've found out where she sleeps, but… Now the problem becomes whether or not she'll come here."

He did find out where she normally stayed, but since she was currently in the midst of escaping it was fifty-fifty whether or not she would run here. If she was worried her pursuer would destroy her place, perhaps she would think it better to avoid it.―If that happened, he could only say he had no luck.

"It's not like worrying about it will do anything. I'm not going to worry about things I can't answer, alright."

Even when he was at a loss, he wouldn't waste time on things that couldn't be helped. His decisiveness shined here too.

Subaru jogged deeper into the slums as he knocked the hardened dirt off his clothes. When he first came here, he couldn't even do anything besides hide behind Not-Satella let alone independently gather information, he had developed quite a bit. Made him want to reward himself.

"A reward for my hard work… Am I going to open my corn potage again?"

As he fished around in his bag, he approached a road. He then almost collided with someone who suddenly emerged from there.

He moved out of the way in a panic, but his back ended up colliding with that narrow road, knocking the wind out of him. Watching him, the person he was about to walk into spoke in a gentle manner,

"Oh, do excuse me. Are you alright?"

"I'm good, I'm good. Despite how I look I'm actuallyyyy!"

Subaru raised his face to play it off, but was unable to end his sentence when he saw who he was talking to. Hearing his high-pitched voice, the black-haired woman giggled slightly.

"You're a fun kid, aren't you. Are you really alright?"

She brushed up the hair covering her ear. Even this gesture was somehow sexy, and Subaru thought to himself that her each and every action was as erotic as usual.

A sexy beauty who behaved in an erotic manner―Someone he absolutely did not want to meet.

"―You don't have to be so afraid, I'm not going to do anything to you."

"Af-afraid? It's not like I'm afraid of anything? What proof do you have to claim that I'm nervous? I'm seriously freaking out, though―, but you can't talk down to me like that―, I'm really nervous, though―"

"Your scent…"

Ignoring his attempt to act tough, her eyes narrowed into a sweet smile.

Subaru cocked his head at this, and in response she used her well-shaped nose to sniff.

"When someone is afraid, it shows in their scent. Right now, you're scared… And you're angry too. At me."

She seemed to be having a good time exposing his inner feelings as she looked up to him.

Subaru went silent, only responding with a forced smile as he took deep breaths to calm his rapidly beating heart.

Her words were true.

Subaru was afraid of her. The woman before him was the most terrifying person he knew in this world.

She was also the one he hated most in this world.

He truly wanted to beat her down if it was possible for him to do so, and before that he had an unbearable urge to run away immediately.

He had died by her hand twice now. She inspired fear from the bottom of his heart, and who could laugh at him for it?

Elsa narrowed her eyes like a snake in response to his silence. But even as he felt her gaze pinning him down, he would not allow himself to show weakness by averting his eyes.

She licked her lips at his bravado,

"… I am somewhat interested, but it's fine. It wouldn't do to cause a fuss right now."

"T-That's not a very nice thing to say. Act too scary and that beauty will go to waste, you know?"

"Ah, very nice.― Hide your hostility and it'd be even better."

She reached out and lightly tapped his forehead with her finger, and this simple gesture released the tension from his body.

Subaru exhaled, his shoulders heaving, and Elsa placed her finger against her lip,

"Well then, I'll be taking my leave. I get the feeling we'll see each other again."

"If it's a bright place with lots of people around, I'll be able to relax too."

It took everything he had to get those sarcastic words out.

Elsa flipped her cloak with a longing smile as she disappeared into the alley's darkness. After he watched her quite literally disappear, Subaru felt exhaustion rush through him as he leaned against the wall.

"That… That was an unexpected encounter, seriously. To think she was prowling around here before going to the loot house…"

This unexpected encounter almost tore his heart apart.

In terms of mental preparation, this was far more of a shock than Not-Satella. He wanted to pray that this would be his last encounter with her if possible.

"Felt's place should be around here, I believe… But surely it's not possible that Elsa already destroyed it…?"

She was a pervert who drowned in pleasure when she sliced people's bellies open.

It wouldn't be strange if she carved up a few people to kill time before the appointment. Furthermore, now that he was heading deeper into the slums, he couldn't help but imagine all sorts of horrors.

"I-It's okay, probably. There isn't the stench of blood, nor do I see any, maybe."

The garbage and the rotten smell made it impossible to discern the smell of blood, and it was too dark for him to confirm if there were any bloodstains around, but there definitely wasn't any blood. That's what he wanted to think.

He didn't have the courage to run right now, so he slowly continued onward with stealthy steps.

Even the hum of an insect or the sight of a not yet empty bottle of alcohol would cause him to freak out as he searched.

About five minutes after his encounter with Elsa, he finally reached a rundown shack.

"This should be it according to my information… But does a human really live here?"

Subaru tilted his head as he stood in front of a wooden board that seemed to be the door.

The shack before him was around the size of two of those porta potties one would see around construction sites and the like. It felt like someone was actually putting the saying, 'half a tatami mat to stand, one tatami mat to sleep' into practice.

"This is definitely what you call a place to sleep, so I guess that's about right."

Even so, the idea of such a small girl living in a place like this caused him to feel some pity. He felt like he could forgive her, that her ambition and greed couldn't be helped.

"She's curling up her already small body and living in a place like this. Guess it couldn't be helped that her personality would turn out so warped. Aah, it just couldn't be helped, poor thing. Aah, how pitiful."

"You're going way too far, it's disgusting. I can't believe you're looking around someone else's bedroom like that."

As he was entering his sympathetic mode, a voice from behind him caused him to turn around.

Before his eyes was a small blonde girl glaring at him with disgust―Felt.

She didn't look particularly different from their previous meetings. That her slightly dirty clothes were now dirtier than usual was probably a sign that the chase was much more intense this time.

"What's with that increasingly pitying expression? You looking down on me just 'cause I'm a girl and a little bit filthy?"

"It's a different sentiment, but… Most of all, I'm glad we could meet."

She made no attempt to hide her displeasure, and Subaru instinctively dropped his shoulders in relief.

He was truly happy that he was able to find the girl he was looking for. He was worried about what might have happened after his near miss with Elsa, but looked like things were alright after all.

In response to his murmur, she snorted, "What, a customer?"

She stared at him, still cautious,

"Since you came all the way here, I assume you have some business with me? … Judging by your look, you're not from around here."

"Oh. To see that I'm not one of you, you've got good eyes."

"Even the guys around here are a little more careful about their appearance. That level of filth is just unnatural. In truth, you're even dirtier than us right now."

As usual, she always had a comeback―Made him want to retract his earlier sympathy.

Felt ignored his inner feelings even as his veins popped, and stepped back, "Well?"

"What do you want? If you want something stolen, I'll need payment in advance. Depending on the target, I might ask for more after the fact."

"Commissioned thefts… This sure is a greedy business you're running. Are you proud of your sticky fingers?"

"It's how I stay alive. If it weren't for this, I'd have to sell my body. So, what'll it be? Or do you perhaps have some other business? Depending on what it is…"

Felt rapidly moved her fingers to show off her dexterity.

Suddenly, a small knife appeared in her hand as if by magic. Probably a warning that depending on why he was here, she would use it to defend herself.

Speaking practically, if he ended up fighting her now he would have no chance of winning. She would just disappear from his sight with that speed of hers, and before he knew it he would complete the 'Stabbed to death in a back alley: BAD END 2' route.

"What I want is just one thing.― I want to purchase the insignia you stole right here and right now."

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Having reached this point, Subaru decided that beating around the bush would only worsen her impression of him.

There was also the fact that Elsa was prowling around the area, so he wanted to finish this up as soon as possible. However, this caused Felt to become even more cautious.

She placed her hand on her chest, presumably where she was keeping the insignia.

"How do you know that I stole an insignia? I don't imagine the one who requested it would have leaked it, and I only just stole it. It certainly isn't the sort of thing you'd just happen to hear."

"Now that you mention it, that was far too impatient. I'm so damned careless!"

"… You can't possibly negotiate with anyone if you show your hand that easily. You crumbled way too easily to a bit of pressure."

As Subaru stressed over his thoughtless blunder, the hostility left Felt's face.

Subaru crouched down with his head in his knees and Felt knelt down to meet his gaze as she spoke, "Well?"

"So you want to purchase this insignia, what's that about? You're not with the woman who made the request, right? A business rival or something?"

"I guess you could call her a business rival, but there's probably a mountain of things that doesn't cover?"

"I don't get it. Well, I don't really care about that anyway."

As Subaru agonized over how to talk himself out of this one, Felt seemed indifferent as she laughed it off. She then extracted the draconic insignia from her bosom.

In her hand was the insignia, the jewel within it glowing red. She dangled it before him as if to flaunt it,

"I'll just sell it to whoever can offer me the highest price. That woman will probably be mad if I scrap her request, though."

"It's even possible she'll go crazy, but― Never mind, I'm just talking to myself."

Setting aside these words that would only complicate things, Subaru once again cleared his throat and donned a serious expression,

"So, you're going to allow me to negotiate for it?"

"I'll hear anyone out so long as they can bring me some profit. Ain't it obvious?"

"Talk about a strong will…　I'm going to be offering an item worth more than twenty holy gold coins. I would like to use it to purchase your insignia."

"Hmm, I see. You're offering quite a bit, huh. That'd certainly reward my efforts… But your rival's offering that much too, you know?"

"Yeah, right. The deal was ten holy gold coins. Too much greed is going to kill you, you know? Seriously."

Practically speaking, he did think that that was probably why the first massacre happened. Cause of death: Greed.

Since he even knew the exact number, she must have thought that her tricks wouldn't work. After her eyes widened slightly, she scratched her head in resignation,

"What, you even know that much? … That's right, it was ten holy gold coins. Even so, once she learns she's got a rival, she's bound to offer more, isn't that right?"

"That much is true, you know?" The edges of the perhaps fourteen or fifteen year old girl's lips curled upward.

She sure is sly, as Subaru felt a certain degree of admiration toward her boldness he was also excited at the prospect of negotiating from a superior position like this.

"I don't suppose you'd listen if I asked to make the deal right here and now?"

"Obviously. I mean, the stuff you said earlier is pretty suspect too. I definitely didn't mishear you, and what you said was not that you have twenty holy gold coins, but rather something worth that much. It's unfair for only one side to know what cards are being played in a negotiation, right?"

"I think what really matters in a negotiation is how much you can prepare beforehand, but… I suppose it's also true that you can't make a decision without knowing what I've got."

He didn't want to waste time with her grumbling.

Making a decision, he pulled this negotiation's key item, his cell phone, out of his breast pocket.

The sight of this small contraption caused Felt to raise her eyebrow slightly, but that was it. As usual, she didn't really care unless there was a clear connection to money.

"That's supposed to be worth twenty holy gold coins? Doesn't look any different from a hand mirror or something to me."

"This is one of those 'Meteor' things that are all the rage these days. It can freeze a moment in time. Alright, now check this out―NATSUKI FLASH times eight!!"

Subaru turned on continuous shooting mode, causing mechanical sounds and flashes of light to emanate in rapid succession.

White light filled the alley, and as the light covered her, Felt reacted to the sounds and flashes with a rather unfeminine shriek.

Subaru was happy to have gotten a better reaction than last time, and quickly thrust the screen before her when it looked like she wanted to complain. Her red eyes widened in surprise.

"This is the power of this meteor. It can produce exquisite pictures in this manner. And if you'll let me add some PR speak, it's the only one of its kind in this world. So, how about it?"

As Subaru looked down at her with pride, Felt hummed in response. She examined the phone in his hand closely, and once she'd looked it over, she nodded in understanding.

"… Doesn't look like you're lying. But is this supposed to be me? You said it produced a clear picture of the world, but I think I'm prettier than this."

"I get the feeling that you've got a fine base, but when the presentation is this bad there's really nothing to be said… If we cleaned you up and put you in some nice clothes, you'd be like a totally different person, for sure."

"That condescending attitude and the way you ended that sentence piss me off… Kinda makes me want to never show you that."

He had needlessly provoked her, but Felt's attitude seemed favorable..

But then, that these slum dwellers didn't easily go along with others' plans was one of their strengths.

Felt smiled sadistically at his proud expression,

"I'll admit you've got something unusual there, but it's still unclear how much it's worth, you know? Let me warn you, I'm not so much of an airhead as to just accept everything the other party says, I'm not going to believe this thing is an easy twenty holy gold coins just like that."

"… Well, that's obvious. I wouldn't really mind if your brain were a sponge, but I suppose we do need a third party's opinion."

It would have been nice to keep things going and settle it right here, but he did expect that it might not work. The problem now was who to use as a third party,

"Deep in the slums, there's a place called the loot house. The place is as the name would suggest, I think it would be quickest to ask the weird old man in there. He appraises things fairly, you know? He's got some experience, so he should be able to judge a meteor as well."

"It comes to this after all…"

He also expected that she would end up suggesting this.

From her perspective the loot house was the place she was supposed to meet Elsa, and also a place that had a bodyguard she could rely on in case things got violent.

When you also added the appraisal of the meteor, there was no other choice. Despite this, Subaru really did wish to settle this before they reached the loot house.

"I'm fine with having the old man take a look, but…"

"You're suddenly calling him an old man even though you've never even met him, you might end up regretting that, you know? He's actually pretty scary if you're rude to him."

"Although he does seem to dote on a certain foul-mouthed girl, giving her milk and stuff…"

This was clearly irrelevant, but Subaru did feel like it was as if he was doting on his granddaughter.

Regardless, the problem wasn't the person, but the location.

"Can you not call him out here or something? You can use my phone if you want."

"Even if you ask me, I've no clue what I'm supposed to do."

"That's true, isn't it.― I've only got family and stuff in here, anyway."

And to pad his lonely contacts list, he also had the police station, fire department, ambulance, time announcement service, weather report etc. It was like a prideful loneliness.

"I don't know what your issue is, but if you're in a hurry let's head there right away. There was a little something I wanted to do, though."

"Something you wanted to do?"

"Ah, the owner was a lot more persistent than expected, it was a real pain to get away so I wanted to sabotage her. Give 'em a little money and the guys around here will happily do it."

"Alright, let's go, right now, immediately, in a flash!"

As Felt started walking, Subaru started pushing her shoulders from behind and hurried her toward the loot house.

"What the hell?" She pouted as Subaru hurried her, congratulating himself for minimizing unnecessary damage.

To try to hinder Not-Satella while she was chasing after her insignia, there was a limit to how far you could go for a little money. If it meant being blasted by ice and writhing in pain, it was probably better to just stay home clutching their empty stomachs.

"But we'll have him look quickly and then seal the deal on the spot."

"Man, why are you in such a hurry? You're getting pretty sweaty, live strong."

"Looks like everyone around here says that, is it a slogan or something?!"

Subaru thought it ought to be revised to 'live stubborn'.

Leaving such impressions behind, he headed to the loot house for the third time, in this fourth world.

―He'd get out immediately. He'd dash out of there. He'd leave even if he had to leave them behind.

Having come to this decision internally, Subaru was fire up and pushed hard at the shoulders before him.

"That hurts."

"That hurts!"

He was kicked.

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"To the rats,"

"Where do they sell boric acid balls? Poison."

"To the skeletons,"

"Digging is a lot harder than you'd expect, huh. Pitfall."

"To the noble dragon we are,"

"It probably really exists since this is a fantasy world, but if I were to actually face it I definitely wouldn't be able to do anything. But it certainly fascinates me, so I do want to meet it. I can't deceive this wavering heart of mine, however I can't say I dislike it. A real shitbag of a feeling."

"Can't you just say the password without adding all that crap?! You're too damned annoying!"

The door opened from within with such force that it was like it had been kicked open, but Subaru had anticipated this and quickly leaped backward to avoid taking damage.

There was a giant standing there, too tall for the door and growling in frustration―It was the bald old man Rom whom Subaru was already familiar with. His face was red, it seemed like his blood pressure had spiked.

"You'll have an aneurysm if too much blood flows into your head. That's pretty dangerous even with modern medicine."

"If you know it's bad for me, don't anger me! What's with you?! I have to keep the place cleared out today, so you can't enter! You can't! Serves you right!"

Rom stamped his feet in a very immature fashion. But, what wiped the smirk off his face was,

"Aah, sorry. This guy's one of my guests too. Let him in, old man."

Felt who was hiding behind Subaru.

She looked at Rom with sympathy as his shoulders dropped in disappointment. She then cast a sidelong glance at Subaru whose expression was apathetic as he whistled,

"You've got a pretty horrible personality, huh. You're the worst, and that's putting it lightly."

"I just somehow end up wanting to tease people. The type that shines when they get to mess around, huh… I thought I'd discovered my M tendencies, but it turns out I was an S as well…? Isn't this the perfect offense and defense?!"

"I don't know and it looks like it'd be best not to know so I'm not listening. We're coming in, Rom."

Felt slipped by Rom who was hanging his head and entered the loot house as if it were completely natural.

Rom's gaze seeking an explanation was ignored, so he turned his confused face toward Subaru instead. Subaru nodded at his wrinkled face,

"This is why self-centered people are troublesome. Average fellows like us just get left behind, huh?"

"I'd like to start over from when I was teaching her what words meant… Get in quickly."

Rom seemed to have given up on everything as he carelessly shrank his giant frame and went back in. Following him, Subaru entered as well, welcomed by the dusty interior.

Still cautious, he snuck a glance inward, but fortunately it didn't look like Elsa or Not-Satella were lying in wait.

Felt casually sat at the counter, drinking some milk like she owned the place. She noticed his gaze,

"What? This is the only cold one, I'm not giving it to you."

"Your shamelessness doesn't bother you at all, huh. I'll take some booze, old man."

"You're just as shameless as she is! I'm not giving you any! None at all!"

The floor creaked under Rom's giant body as he ran to the other side of the counter to hide a box that seemed to contain his drinks. His turmoil almost inspired pity, and Subaru chuckled in response, "That was a joke."

"I see, so that's where the alcohol is. Now that I know where it is, it's practically mine already…"

"You're saying that out loud! To try to loot booze from the owner of the loot house, you wanna be lower than the lowest?!"

"Woah… You'll make me blush. And it's not like I'll do the stealing myself. I'll be hiring Felt."

"Sorry, old man. I can't turn down a job."

"Will no one take my side?! Isn't this my house?!"

By this point he was actually worried about Rom's blood pressure, so he decided to stop teasing him.

Felt seemed disappointed since she was just getting into it, but Subaru brushed her off with an ingratiating smile and turned to the counter

He didn't want to sit on these seats any longer than he had to, so he got the point right away.

"Alright, old man. We got sidetracked, but let's get to the point."

"Feels to me like that was mostly your fault, but… What do you want?"

"What I want to request is an appraisal, basically. I'd like you to put a price on this meteor I've brought and guarantee its value to Felt."

Rom's gray eyes became serious when the conversation turned to business.

He looked at Felt to confirm this, and returned his gaze to Subaru after she nodded.

His eyes suggested he wanted to see the item, and Subaru took it out of his pocket.

What first caught his eye was its metallic appearance. It looked like a toy in his oversized hands as he gently handled it.

"This is a meteor, huh. Even I've never seen one before."

"There's probably only one of this thing in the world. Also, it's pretty delicate so handle it carefully. If it breaks, I'll seriously have to die."

Meaning a retry.

As he felt around its exterior, he gently opened the flip phone. Its startup sound was what first surprised him, and the wallpaper was the next surprise.

"This picture is…"

"I thought it was perfect timing, you see. To show you how effective this thing is, I decided to use a scene from Felt's day as the wallpaper."

The phone's wallpaper had been set to one of the pictures of Felt he had just recently taken.

He picked the one he thought looked the cutest, and the image quality was decent as well so he thought it was pretty nice to look at.

Rom compared the picture with the real Felt who was sipping milk right next to him.

"What a surprise. I don't think there's anything out there that could produce such an excellent picture."

"It's a meteor that seals away a moment in time, you see. A human couldn't draw anything even close to this, right? I could even photograph you if you'd like."

"I'm interested, but it's also somewhat frightening. It doesn't shorten your life or anything, right?"

"Regardless of the age and regardless of the world, looking at a picture brings to mind that kind of superstition, huh…"

Rom's reaction felt like it came from before the Taisho period. Next to him, Felt's ears pricked up when they started talking about lifespan. Subaru reassured them by responding, "You'll live to eighty just fine even if you get photographed", and then used the camera function to photograph Rom.

Rom hummed as he looked at the picture.

Doing this before his very eyes was probably sufficient as a demonstration of the phone's abilities. To begin with, he already knew from personal experience that Rom's impression of the phone would be favorable.

"This is definitely something amazing. If I were selling this, I'd take at least fifteen… No, twenty holy gold coins. That's how much it's worth."

Perhaps his smuggler spirit had been stimulated, his eyes were sparkling.

He dealt in stolen goods, Subaru wondered if such an occupation was really one to be proud of, but he was still relieved to receive Rom's seal of approval.

Subaru turned to Felt, his nostrils flaring as his face filled with pride.

"Well, that's what I'm offering you. Just as I said, an item worth more than twenty holy gold coins. I'd like to trade this for your insignia."

"Seems you make that face often, it's annoying."

Perhaps unhappy that things went as he expected, Felt's expression was one of displeasure. But still, that didn't change the fact that this meant she had a windfall coming her way.

Her gaze moved toward the cell phone in Rom's hand,

"Well, I'm definitely happy now that I have a guarantee that this thing can make me some money. It looks like I don't need to doubt your claim of twenty holy gold coins either. Alright, I accept the card you're playing."

"Right?! Okay, negotiations went off without a hitch. Selling it is up to you, do your best! Anyway, I'm in a hurry, so I'll be taking my leave now…"

He approached Felt in a hurry and extended his hand, seeking the insignia.

However, his palm was gently pushed away.

When Subaru raised his eyebrow, Felt brought her face close to his,

"Hold on a moment. Why are you in such a hurry?"

"It's not like I'm in a hurry or anything? A-Also, your face is too close."

"What, you're the sort that gets shy when a girl gets close to you?"

"Nah, you probably haven't bathed in several days so there's this terrible stench."

She walloped his jaw from directly below.

The pain of biting his tongue brought tears to Subaru's eyes as he recoiled.

"You sure don't go easy on the girls, huh?!"

"And you, can't you take a little joke?! I'm already shedding blood here!"

The cut in his mouth was fairly deep, and the metallic taste brought back some unpleasant feelings.

Felt's face turned red, and she covered her face with her shoulder-length hair.

"Do I really smell that much…"

"I just said that to hide my embarrassment, is what I'd like to tell you but I can't lie to myself."

He turned his face away, still teary-eyed, and collapsed on the spot, his teary form looking rather effeminate. The triviality of this act sent Felt beyond the point of anger, and she simply took deep breaths with her fingers on her forehead.

"Alright. Hold on a moment. Let's get back to what we were talking about. Calm down, cool off."

"What we were talking about, huh. Yeah, that's right. For now, I think it'd be best to start cleaning up around your bed. There's quite a bit of garbage around there, so even when you sleep the stink…"

"How about we forget about my stench and get back to the other thing?!"

"… You… Sure kick, quickly…"

She kicked forward in embarrassment, and scored a clean hit on Subaru's jaw due to the position he was crouching in. He didn't bite his tongue this time, but he hadn't even stopped bleeding yet, and the second impact caused even more blood to pour out.

"Drinking too much blood makes me feel absolutely horrible…"

"If you've learned your lesson, take our conversation more seriously. Well, getting back to our return to the topic at hand, I'll ask you again, why are you in such a hurry?"

She extinguished the anger from her expression, and looked as cold as she could as she asked this.

Rom read the mood and remained silent, so he couldn't look to him for help. Subaru shrugged his shoulders in resignation,

"Life doesn't last forever. Every second is precious, I don't want to waste any…"

"Aah, right, right. That's enough of that. Hey…"

Subaru attempted to cover things up, but Felt stopped him in his tracks.

Her red eyes narrowed, and with a detached attitude she finally pierced the heart of the matter.

"To begin with, why do you even want this insignia?"