At this point, Subaru decided that any unnecessary detours would only worsen the impression.

Considering the danger of Elsa lurking nearby, he wanted to wrap up this business deal quickly. Contrary to that intention, Felt’s level of vigilance rose a notch.

She pressed her hand against her chest, as if to hide the badge, and asked,

“How do you know I swiped the badge? I shouldn’t have let that slip to anyone else besides my client, and I just stole it just a moment ago. Isn’t your ear too big to be eavesdropping?”

“Now that you mention it, you’re right! I really got too flustered!”

“…If you don’t hide your feelings a bit better, we can’t negotiate, you know? Seriously, you’re giving way too much away just from a little poking.”

With Subaru holding his head in frustration over his slip-up, Felt’s face turned a bit less tense.

She crouched down to meet Subaru’s gaze and asked, “So what’s your deal? What do you mean by wanting to buy back the badge? You and the sister who originally asked for this are from different businesses, right? Rivals, perhaps?”

“Well, if you put it that way, I guess you could call it business rivalry, or maybe a mountain of possibilities?”

“I don’t get it. Well, it doesn’t really matter to me.”

As she laughed casually, Subaru wracked his brain trying to figure out how to persuade her. From her pocket, she pulled out a badge shaped like a dragon.

In Felt’s hand, the badge glimmered with a red jewel, which she dangled in front of Subaru, showing it off.

“For me, I’ll just sell it to whoever offers the higher price. There’s a good chance my sister over there will get mad if I break our deal, though.”

“Her getting upset could be really intense… I mean, that’s something we’d have to talk about later, but…”

Putting aside discussions that would complicate negotiations, Subaru cleared his throat, putting on a serious face.

“Then, you’re willing to negotiate, right?”

“I’ll listen to anything with a chance to profit. That’s obvious, right?”

“Quite the savvy one. I’ve got goods here worth over twenty Holy Gold Coins. Under those conditions, I want to buy your badge.”

Felt’s white ears perked up, and her red pupils narrowed like a cat’s. While her expression remained unchanged, her tail wagging clearly indicated her excitement.

With that pseudo-poker face, she crossed her arms and replied,

“Wow, got it. You’re offering a pretty good price there. My efforts might actually pay off… But, your rival’s probably throwing down a similar offer, too?”

“Stop lying, it’s a deal worth ten Holy Gold Coins, right? If you get greedy, you’ll regret it—seriously.”

In fact, the cause of his first death felt a bit like that. Cause of death: Greed.

Having guessed that she wouldn’t be able to dodge the precise numbers Subaru hit her with, Felt lightly widened her eyes, then scratched her head in resignation.

“How do you know that? …Yeah, it’s ten Holy Gold Coins. But if my rival found out I was negotiating, I might have to raise it even more?”

“I’m not lying,” said the presumed fourteen- or fifteen-year-old with a smirk on the corner of her lips.

Feeling a mixture of admiration for her attitude and annoyance at her arrogance, Subaru was intent on maintaining his dominant position in the negotiations.

“You probably won’t listen if I tell you just to settle things with me.”

“Of course not. Besides, your earlier story sounds sketchy. My ears don’t mishear things. You said you had something worth twenty Holy Gold Coins. It seems unfair to let your hand get fully revealed in negotiations.”

“I think the quality of a person is shown in how they manage their hand before negotiations… But it’s also true that I can’t judge unless I reveal what I’ve got.”

Wanting to avoid dragging this on, Subaru concluded and took out the key item for negotiation—his cellphone.

Seeing the small device, Felt only slightly furrowed her brow. Still, she was a kid who only had a faint response if it wasn’t directly connected to money.

“Is that worth twenty Holy Gold Coins? To me, it looks like a hand mirror or something.”

“This is what’s trending right now—a ‘magic tool’. It can freeze moments in time. Now, witness this—NATSUKI FLASH, eight shots in a row!!”

With the continuous shutter function activated, mechanical shutter sounds and flashes went off in quick succession.

A white light slashed through the alley, and Felt, hit by the light, emitted a girl-like “Whoa!” as she reacted to the sound and brightness.

Pleased by her more normal reaction compared to last time, Subaru shoved the screen in front of the girl, whose red eyes widened in shock.

“This is the power of this ‘magic tool.’ It can capture exquisite images. Furthermore, just to brag a bit, it’s a unique item in the world. So, what do you think?”

With a proud smile, Subaru looked down at Felt, who sniffed in response.

“Hmm, huh, doesn’t seem like a lie. But if this is me? If you’re saying it captures the world beautifully, then I think I look a lot more beautiful!”

“Seems like the material has a charm, but with all that decoration, it’s hard to tell… If you cleaned up a bit and wore decent clothes, you might look amazing!”

“High and mighty from above, and your speech is annoying… I really don’t want to show off now.”

Fair enough, but Felt appeared to be in a good mood despite that.

But, of course, the inhabitants of the Poor District aren’t going to just go along with someone else’s plans that easily.

Grinning mischievously, Felt added,

“However, while I can admit it’s intriguing, the actual worth of it is uncertain, you know? I’m telling you, I’m not dumb enough to swallow your claim that it’s worth twenty Holy Gold Coins without a second thought.”

“…That’s to be expected, sure. I wouldn’t mind a sponge for a brain, but we definitely need a third party opinion.”

If he could keep the momentum and speed up the negotiations, that would be great, but he expected that wouldn’t go easily. The problem was determining who would be that ‘well-meaning third party.’

“There’s a place deeper in the Poor District called the Thieves’ Repository. As the name suggests, it should be a straightforward place to check. The old man there is quite peculiar, but he’s got a fair eye for assessing things. He’s got experience, so he should be able to judge the ‘magic tool’ well enough.”

“I figured that might happen…”

It was anticipated that Felt would suggest that.

For her, the Thieves’ Repository was also a meeting point with Elsa and a spot where she could count on a reliable bodyguard if things got rough.

Including the assessment capabilities regarding the ‘magic tool’, there was no choice but to go that route. However, Subaru’s honest hope was to resolve things before reaching the Thieves’ Repository.

“I’m not entirely against having the old man check it out, but…”

“You shouldn’t treat someone you’ve never met like a geezer right away, or you might regret it later. It could be unexpectedly intimidating for an impolite person.”

“Then again, that seems kind of sweet since you once got milk for a rude girl…”

This was clearly a tangent, but he suspected she had a bit of a soft spot, like a grandparent spoiling their grandchild.

In any case, the issue was not the person but the location.

“Could we draw him out to the outside? You know what, feel free to use my phone if you want.”

“Then what? It wouldn’t make any sense to push someone out.”

“You’re right. What I’ve got saved is just family and a few others.”

Then, to bulk up his sadly low number of contacts and harmonize with various criteria like police, fire department, ambulance, time signal, and weather forecast. He couldn’t help but let out a self-satisfied “Look at me!” feeling.

“I don’t get what the problem is, but if we’re in a hurry, let’s head to the Thieves’ Repository already. To be honest, there were a few things I wanted to take care of.”

“What things?”

“Well, the owner actually shows some spirit, and it’s tough to escape him, you know? If you slip him some money, the folks around will gladly help out.”

“Alright, then! Let’s go, right now, quickity-quick!”

With that, Subaru pushed Felt’s shoulder from behind, hastily rushing toward the Thieves’ Repository.

“What’s with that?” she pouted, but Subaru was patting himself on the back for minimizing unnecessary collateral damage.

Chasing after a badge held by a fake Satella for a meager reward was pushing it. It was better to hold onto hunger and lie low at home than endure the pain of ice blocks crashing down on him.

“However, we’re just gonna get in, have a quick look, and make a clean exit, got it?”

“Why are you so flustered, big bro? You’re sweating like mad; just stay strong!”

“Is ‘stay strong’ something everyone says in the Poor District, or is it like a catchphrase!?”

He really should’ve changed “stay strong” to “live smart.”

With those thoughts left behind, they headed for the Thieves’ Repository for the fourth time in this world, the third time for him.

—To get out quickly. To dash out immediately. Even if it meant leaving it behind.

With such resolve igniting in his chest, Subaru pushed firmly against the back in front of him.

“Hey, that hurts!”

“Pain!”

He got kicked.

※※　※　※　※　※　※　※　※　※　※　※　※

“To the big rat.”

“Where can I buy boric acid bait? Poison.”

“To the skeleton.”

“I guess digging isn’t as easy as it sounds. Pitfall.”

“To our noble dragon…”

“In the fantasy world, they probably really exist, but if I met one face to face, I’m sure I wouldn’t be able to do anything. But it’s a romance, so I want to meet them—I can’t lie to such ambiguous feelings, but I also realize that I actually don’t dislike myself. Such a lousy mood.”

“Can’t you just say the password without all this extra fluff? It’s extra annoying!”

The door burst open as if kicked from the inside, but Subaru, anticipating that, quickly leaped back without a scratch.

The one clumsily growling in frustration was the giant—Old Man Rom, someone he was used to seeing by now, with a bright red face indicative of high blood pressure.

“If you let that blood rise too high, you’ll burst a vein. Modern medicine considers it quite dangerous.”

“If you know it’s bad for your body, don’t make me angry! Who are you!? We can’t have anyone inside today, so I can’t let you in! No entry! Just look at you!”

Old Man Rom stomped his feet childishly. However, his triumphant face was soon covered by—

“Oh, sorry. This one is also my customer. Let him in, Old Man Rom.”

It was Felt, hiding behind Subaru.

She looked at Old Man Rom, who was hanging his head in disappointment, with a sympathetic gaze, then turned her eyes to Subaru, who seemed rather nonchalant, whistling.

“You really have a bad personality. Understatedly the worst.”

“I have this irresistible urge to tease him. He’s the type that truly shines when teased… It’s been discovered that I’m an M, yet here I am showing signs of being an S too… Talk about versatile!?”

“I don’t know, and it’s probably best that I don’t.”

Next, Felt walked past the sullen Old Man Rom as if it were natural and entered the Thieves’ Repository.

Ignoring the questioning gaze that sought explanations, Old Man Rom turned a puzzled expression toward Subaru. Just as he was about to nod in agreement with Rom’s wrinkled face—

“People who go at their own pace are just the worst. Someone like us, normal folks, get left behind, you know?”

“You really ought to redo some of those definitions… Now hurry and go in.”

With a demeanor that seemed to have given up on everything, Old Man Rom shrank down to head inside. Following his back, Subaru was welcomed by the dusty air of the Thieves’ Repository.

While casting a cautious glance inside, thankfully, there was no sign of Elsa or a fake Satella waiting to ambush them.

Casually sitting on a counter, Felt poured milk as if she were at home, completely disregarding the fact that she was in someone else’s residence. Noticing Subaru’s gaze, she remarked,

“What’s up? There’s only this one bottle that’s chilled. I’m not sharing.”

“You’re so shameless that it’s hard to read you. I’ll stick with alcohol, Old Man.”

“You’re being quite presumptuous! No sharing! No sharing, you hear?!”

With heavy footsteps, his massive form rattled the floor as he rushed to protect the wooden crates that likely contained the liquor beyond the counter. His flustered movements were almost pitiful, and Subaru chuckled softly, saying,

“Oh, got it, the alcohol’s over there. Now that I know that, it’s my gain…”

“Don’t be letting your real intentions slip! Stealing from the owner of the Thieves’ Repository? That’s downright wicked!”

“No way… It’s embarrassing. Plus, I wouldn’t do it myself; I’d just ask Felt to handle it.”

“Sorry, Old Man Rom, but if I’m asked, I can’t refuse.”

“Is there no ally? Isn’t this my house or something!?”

Realizing that he should tone down the joking about Old Man Rom’s nerves for the moment, it was time to get serious.

Felt, feeling like she’d almost gotten involved in a growing mood, wore a frown, but Subaru merely gave her a polite smile as he approached the counter.

Sitting in a fixed chair, he dove right into the main topic, feeling the pressing urgency of time.

“Alright, Old Man. We veered off topic, but I’d like to get down to business.”

“I feel like the detour was quite self-inflicted, but what is it?”

“What I’d like is an appraisal. I want a price put on this ‘magic tool’ I brought, and I’d like a guarantee regarding that for Felt.”

As soon as the conversation got into business territory, the gray-patched eyes of Old Man Rom lit up with seriousness.

He glanced over at Felt as if confirming something, and when he saw her nod in affirmation, he turned his focus back.

It was clear that his eyes were eagerly awaiting the appraisal item, prompting Subaru to retrieve the cellphone from his pocket. The metallic appearance immediately grabbed their attention, and in Old Man Rom’s massive hands, it looked almost like a toy that he was gently caressing.

“This is a magic tool. Though it’s my first time seeing one of these…”

“It’s probably the only one in the world. And it’s a pretty delicate machine, so handle it with care—if it breaks, that’s a serious issue.”

From a meaning of ‘let’s restart.’

With careful attention, Old Man Rom examined the exterior of the flip phone, gradually opening it. The startup sound produced his first surprise, and the home screen brought about an even greater amazement.

“This image is…”

“I thought the timing would be just right for this. To show its effect, here’s a snapshot of your day, Felt!”

The wallpaper image featured one of the pictures of Felt taken earlier.

Selecting the one he deemed the cutest, the high quality made the image pretty presentable.

Old Man Rom contrasted the heavy gaze of the cellphone with the casual scene of Felt consuming her milk;

“Well, I’m surprised. It’s unlikely anyone could capture such exquisite images.”

“It can capture and encase time. It’s a magic tool; it’s a beauty that cannot be replicated by human hands, right? If you want, I can take your picture too.”

“I’m interested, but it feels risky. What if my life gets taken?”

“Seems like no matter the era or the world, that’s the kind of superstition people think of when it comes to pictures…”

Old Man Rom had a reaction reminiscent of pre-Showa Japan, and next to him, Felt perked her ears at the topic of lifespans. To alleviate their worries, Subaru reassured them, “Getting photographed won’t decrease your life—most will live till eighty,” then snapped a picture of Old Man Rom with the camera feature.

Seeing the finished image, Old Man Rom muttered, “Hmm.”

Seeing this played out right in front of him was more than enough to validate the phone’s performance. After all, Rom’s favorable impression of the phone was backed by firsthand experience.

“Indeed, I’m impressed. If I were to handle this, I could sell it for at least fifteen… no, not less than twenty Holy Gold Coins. It holds that much value.”

Spurred by his merchant spirit, Old Man Rom’s eyes sparkled with excitement.

Selling stolen goods was a rather dubious honor, but his endorsement felt remarkably reassuring.

Now facing Felt, Subaru couldn’t help but let a triumphant smile escape while snorting,

“So, that’s my hand. As promised, here’s the item worth over twenty Holy Gold Coins. I’d like to propose a trade for your badge.”

“Your face is a bit annoying, even if it’s from time to time.”

Annoyed that things were moving so smoothly according to Subaru’s plan, Felt had a disgruntled expression. Still, she couldn’t ignore how warm her purse felt.

Gazing at Old Man Rom, she turned her attention back to him.

“Well, I’m genuinely glad that it’s secured that it can be sold for that amount. I won’t have to doubt the worth of the twenty Holy Gold Coins you mentioned. I got your hand cleared.”

“Right!? Then that means the negotiations are settled! How you sell it from here is up to you. Good luck! I’ll take my leave here since I’m in a hurry, so…”

He briskly approached Felt, extending his hand to ask for the badge.

But her palm gently lowered his.

Frowning in confusion, Subaru leaned closer to Felt as she asked,

“Hold on. Why are you in such a hurry?”

“I mean, I’m not really in a rush! Oh, and don’t get so close to my face.”

“What, are you a type that blushes when a girl’s face gets close?”

“Hey, didn’t you take a bath in a few days? There’s a stinging stench that’s an assault to the senses.”

A punch landed right on his chin.

Reeling back, Subaru bit his tongue with the stinging pain causing him to tear up.

“You’re ruthless towards girls!?”

“And you’re merciless with your smart remarks! Look, we’re already bleeding!”

Having quite successfully cut the inside of his mouth, the metallic taste triggered an unpleasant sensation for Subaru.

Felt’s face turned red as she brought her blonde hair to her face and sniffed.

“Do I really smell bad…?”

“I’d like to chalk that up to you being shy, but… I can’t lie to myself!”

With tears still in his eyes, Subaru turned away, collapsing to his knees while sobbing melodramatically. Felt, irritated to the point of surpassing anger, took a deep breath, supporting her forehead lightly with her finger.

“Okay, got it. Just hang on. Let’s return to the topic at hand. Calm down, and let’s think clearly.”

“Go back to the topic, huh? Alright. For now, I think we should start by fixing the sleeping conditions. That area has a lot of rotting garbage, and just being there gets the stench all over…”

“Let’s veer away from the discussion about my smell and circle back to something else, shall we!?”

“…You, too… you get a bit rough on the bags, you know…”

The front kick meant to hide her embarrassment cleanly hit the chin of Subaru, who was crouching. Though he didn’t bite his tongue, the second shock triggered a renewed flow of blood that had stopped previously.

“Swallowing too much blood can really make you feel sick, you know…”

“If you’ve learned your lesson from that, then respond more seriously in our conversation. Oh, and speaking of returning to the main point, I’m asking you again—why are you in such a hurry?”

Felt’s face straightened as she persisted with a calm demeanor and pressed for an answer.

Seeing that Old Man Rom had gone silent, Subaru resorted to shrugging his shoulders resignedly.

“Life is finite. Every second matters, and by minimizing waste…”

“Ah, okay, okay. That stuff is fine and dandy, but…”

Felt brushed aside Subaru’s effort to evade further inquiry.

She narrowed her red eyes, maintaining her steady demeanor, and finally pressed on the crux of the issue.

“Anyway, why do you want that badge so badly?”

 

---