Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

Kazuma drummed his fingers across the hilt of his sword as his mind wandered. Iris’s meeting should have only been an hour, but it had been over three hours without a sign of stopping.

He sighed as he repeated the motion, feeling antsy. He tugged at the collar of his uniform; it’s too tight, he can’t understand how Claire basically lived in this thing. He took a deep breath and tried to relax. His head knocked against the stone behind him as he leaned his head against it, fingers still drumming on his sword.

Tap, tap.

Tap, tap, tap.

Collars too tight; he tugged at it again.

Tap, tap, tap, tap.

Still. Too. Tight.

Tap, tap.

His chest hurts.

Tap, tap.

He covers his mouth with his gloved hand, teeth digging into it as he lets out a wet, choking cough. Another deep breath as his teeth unclench from his palm. He needs to leave.

Looking at the door, he hesitated for but a moment before nearly lunging for it. His glove wrapped around the handle as he all but tore the door open.

His blade locked with the assassin’s, her eyes gleaming up at him, a too-wide smirk as she pushed him away. Kazuma stumbled back as she attacked him again.

The gloves Iris had given him wrapped around the handle of the door, pulling it open. He relaxed as the warmer air enveloped him, taking a deep breath and letting the tension in his shoulders rest.

As he began to walk toward the gate, Kazuma brushed his hair out of his face before putting a hair clip on. It was starting to get long, but Megumin said she liked it, so he didn’t have the heart to get it cut.

He passed through the gate, giving the guard a nod as he mumbled a greeting out of habit. His body went on autopilot, and he began wandering around. Passing through alleys and wandering down streets, he enjoyed the peace of the Capital.

Kazuma was at a disadvantage. The assassin knew where he was, so {Concealment} was out of the equation, and he still had three people to keep alive. A gurgle sounds on his left, and he turns- a mistake.

It was the old man; he wasn’t dead. Another gurgle as he desperately tried to get oxygen in his lungs around the glass lodged in his throat.

“Oh my,~ getting distracted during our dance? How rude.~” Her voice grates on his ears as he turns back, a blade flying past him with a wet squelch following it. He turns around, only for a moment, and sees his new friend on the ground with a knife in his back.

He calls out, but his voice doesn’t quite make it to his ears as a blade digs into his stomach.

A shiver ran down Kazuma’s spine, and he looked around. Something was wrong–. He dove out of the way of a blur, and Enemy Detect screamed in his mind as he drew his sword.

By the time his sword was out of its scabbard, the blur turned back, flying towards him. It was coming straight at him, and he could see what it truly was: a shadow in the shape of a hand.

It was approaching him fast, so fast that he struggled to track it as it… flew past him. The tendril that carried the hand wrapped around him, constricting his movement as the hand turned back again.

This time, it took its time. It wasn’t going slow, but it also wasn’t speeding at him like before, and that’s all he needed.

“Blast!”

Heat, that’s what Kazuma felt as he casted the spell, a burning heat scorched his back. Then came the noise, a deafening boom, the sound of windows shattering across many blocks, and the screams of citizens.

‘What was that?’

The arm around Kazuma dissipated, and he fell to the ground. His hands shook as his mind raced. He had never seen a monster like that, nor a spell, and it terrified him.

Kazuma’s going to die. The assassin is holding back, toying with him, and he’s still on the back foot.

A scowl crosses his face at the thought; the action makes his face scream with pain; the gash running across his face made sure of it.

He looks up at the assassin; at least he didn’t die without a fight. Her arm was barely holding on; a gash running across her leg kept her from immediately killing him. 

“Feeling proud of yourself?” She giggles, “You did quite well~, but,” Her arm begins to mend, muscles crawl across the gash as flesh pulls itself over it, the same happening to her leg.

“It isn’t quite enough~.” Her teasing tone grates on his ears, “What’s the matter? Cat got your tongue?” His glare only excites her further.

“Oh, right! Sorry about that!” 

She rushes him again, and he’s barely able to get his blade up to stop the attack.

Kazuma’s hand quivered as he reached for his blade– his hair was standing up. Flee activated, and he jumped into the air, sword in hand.

‘I couldn’t even sense it?’

The hand slammed into the ground where he had been moments ago; its sheer force splitting the road open.

‘Wind Breath!’

He slammed through a window, body propelled by the force of the spell. Looking around, the room appeared empty, resembling a storage room. He got up, aching all over as he approached the window.

His breath halted; he had hoped that his hunch was wrong, but to his displeasure, he saw another one of the hands flying past the window.

They turn to him, immediately attempting to reach him. He turned to run as the first hand forced through the window. He cast Wind Breath at the door, causing it to slam open as Flee activated once more.

He skidded out the door, sprinting down a hallway, before bashing open a door. It was a dead end; there was no way out of the room.

“Wind Curtain!”

Kazuma’s shout reverberated throughout the room as a blanket of wind formed behind him. The whirlwind repelled a hand, but the spell had weakened just from the first attack, and he could see the other hand flying down the hall towards them.

He spun around, hand pointed at the far side of the room, and shouted, “Blast!” The spell shot from his hand and ripped the wall apart. He pushed forward as his barrier fell, and the other hand gave chase as he leapt through the smoke.

‘Wind Breath!’

Wind pushed him upward, his body flew above the hole he just created, and the hands flew out under him. It was perfect. His body twisted as he swung his sword, a mutter left his mouth as the blade began to extend.

“Side Slash.”

A flash of blue as his blade ripped through the hands below him, the sheer force of his blade tearing them apart. The hands floated for a moment, just hovering after the appendage that moved them got severed, before they vanished.

His feet detached from the wall, and he began to fall. Kazuma tried to reorient his body before casting another Wind Breath to slow his momentum, dropping him gently on the ground.

The moment his feet touched the ground, he began to cast Teleport. Whatever those hands were, they were dangerous.

‘As long as I can get back to the castle, I’ll be safe.’

His mana warped, leaving his body and entering the air around him. Balls of pure mana radiated from his body as the spell progressed. He felt his body move, the space around him twisting- as his body bent backwards.

The spell broke with his concentration as he stumbled, trying to regain his balance from Auto Dodge activating. He looked around wildly, trying to spot what activated the skill. His hair stood up, his spine tingled, and Auto Dodge activated again.

He twisted to the right, a hand phased into existence, passing by him before disappearing again.

“Shit, Reflect!” His mana pool was too low; he couldn’t cast the spell in full. Thinking fast, he stripped the spell down to its basic principles, removing the reflection and creating a barrier around himself.

He was protected on all sides, but not from below, a hand burrowed underground and slid under his barrier, grabbing onto his ankle.. Its grip was like iron as his bones creaked under it, more hands appearing outside the barrier as he struggled, reaching for his sword before another hand intercepted his, blocking him from drawing it.

‘How did they get through the barrier?’

Twisting his hand, he pointed his palm at the shadow holding it, “Wind Blade!” He shouted as the magic ripped the hand apart. He was free to draw his blade, but the hand holding his leg decided that enough was enough. 

It crushed his shin, destroying the bone as his flesh and muscle tore around it. Kazuma let out a scream, the pain dropping him to his knees as the hand finally let go of his ruined leg.

‘It hurts.’

The hand snaked up towards his chest.

‘Am I going to die?’

It brushed itself against him.

‘Will I come back from this?’

It reached into his chest.

‘Will I see my friends again?’

It wrapped itself around his heart.

‘Will I see Megumin again?’

It squeezed.

Natsuki Subaru thought being transported to another world was a wonderful way to end the day. As he was leaving a convenience store, his vision morphed, and the colors twisted together. The road in front of him became one with the sidewalk, and he nearly tripped over himself.

Bringing a hand up to his eyes, he muttered, “I guess anyone’s eyes would be tired after holing up gaming all day.”

After wiping the blurriness from his eyes, he looked up, and a bright light enveloped him.

The first thing he noticed was that it was bright, much brighter than it had been before, to the point that it almost hurt. The second was that there was much more noise.

His eyes take in the area around him. Subaru could see people, and… people with animal ears? Excitement fills his body as he turns around and takes in the scenery around him; the architecture is almost medieval, bridging the gap between Earthly and fantasy.

He could also see people with different features: cat ears, dog ears, bunny ears, people with scales, and he may even have seen an elf, but he was not quite sure about that last one.

With his mood lifted, he begins to wander around.

‘This place is amazing!’ he thought as he walked along a road.

‘I wonder what I’m meant to do here? Save a princess, and kill the demon king?’

Subaru gets snapped out of his thoughts by a scream. He spinned towards the road and saw a kid on the road, with a carriage going straight at him.

Subaru, being a kid freshly isekaied jumped to conclusions.

‘This is it! The event where I produce magic!’ He striked a strange pose before shouting, freezing when nothing happens.

A choked laugh appeared from behind him before he hears muttering, “Wind Breath,” and the boy rolls out of the way of the cart, seemingly propelled by some kind of magic.

Subaru darted up and spun around to see a boy around his age with a blue and gold coat on that has fur around the coat and hem… and also to his permanent embarrassment, a grin on his face due to his showcase of ‘magic’.

“What was that, dude?” The boy asks, voice shaking from hiding his laughter.

Subaru’s face erupts into a blush, the shade rivaling that of a tomato.

Subaru clears his throat and, “uhm… Stretches! Yeah, I was doing stretches,” began making excuses. Subaru opened his mouth to ask who he is, but immediately shut it when the boy speaks first and asks,

“Are you from Japan?” The boy seems almost hopeful when he says this, eyes sparkling.

Subaru nods slowly, and the boy's eyes widen, almost sparkling as a grin bursts out across his face.

The boy extends a hand out to him, “My name is Kazuma Satou. Nice to meet you, man.”

“Natsuki Subaru…” he shakes Kazuma’s hand, “Are you my mentor or something?”

“No… at least I hope not, especially since I was just summoned too.” Subaru’s eyes were drawn to the sword on his back, and the chestplate under his coat.

Kazuma followed his eyes to his equipment and then clarified, “But I was isekaied to another world before this.”

“We should stick together though; strength in numbers right?” Subaru looks at Kazuma who shrugs and mutters, “Why not?”

The two of them ended up walking around for a bit, before finding themselves in front of some kind of shopping center. There were stalls and signs everywhere.

‘I can’t read this.’ His eyes narrow at the sign, which he recognizes as an unfamiliar language. The symbols are strange; from what he can decipher, they don’t look like any language.

“Hey, those are some strange clothes. Are you traveling?” A green-haired man asked, “Yeah, something like that.” Subaru replies.

“Hm… so you want an appa or what?” Subaru had wandered in front of the man’s stall without realizing. He accidentally walked towards the signs he was trying to read. 

 Subaru realized what the man said and asked, “Appa?”

“Yeah, appa. Do you want one?” the man confirms, but his eyes narrow when Subaru hands over a strange coin.

“What type of money is that? You can’t use that here… that means you’re flat broke.” Subaru grimaces when the man doesn’t accept his money. “Then get out of here! Stop interfering with my business!”

‘Well, that’s promising. Can’t read, and my money is worthless.’ He let out a depressing sigh as he began trudging back towards Kazuma, who was chatting with someone at another stall.

They wander around for a few minutes before Subaru sees a building, “Kazuma, hold up for a second, I want to check what’s in there.”

He doesn’t see Kazuma reaching for him as he walked into one of the doors, only to be greeted by female demi-humans. He chokeed out a greeting before they scream and he gets a greeting in the form of a paw to his face.

“That was stupid-” “Shut up, Kazuma.” Subaru interrupted him while rubbing his face.

“You’re illiterate, aren’t you?” Subaru looked at him in surprise. “YOU CAN READ THIS?”

“Yeah?” Kazuma turned to him, “It’s the same language as the other world I was teleported to.”

Subaru glared at him and continues walking forward into another building. “Uh, Subaru?”

“Can it!”

“You should have listened,” Kazuma said, as a soaking-wet Subaru sat on the steps of an alleyway. He groaned at that while Kazuma leant against a wall, pulling out his Adventurers Card.

An exaggerated sigh escaped Subaru’s lips as he went through his stuff.

“My starting gear sucks! Where’s my Excalibur!” Subaru yelled out.

Kazuma looked up from his Adventurers Card and replied, “I know how that feels, man. I had an alcoholic debt magnet as my only ally when I got isekaied.”

Subaru looked over at Kazuma when he said that. Seeing the strange card in Kazuma’s hands, he asked, “What’s that?”

“It's a card that was given to me that allows me to level up and get skills.” Subaru’s eyes widened at that. “But keep it secret. I don’t know if they have that here yet, and I’d rather not become a test subject.”

Kazuma saw Subaru open his mouth to say something, but narrowed his eyes when the boy’s eyes were drawn to entrance of the alleyway. Following his gaze, he saw people approaching them.

Playing it safe, Kazuma activated Concealment and lowered his form to make his way behind the thugs.

“Is that you? The cute girl who summoned… us…?” Subaru’s voice tapered off as he saw the three men in front of him.

“What’re you babbling about?” The short one said, as the one in the middle approached Subaru.

“If you don’t want to get hurt, cough up everything you’ve got!” The middle one said, grabbing Subaru by the collar. Kazuma stayed behind the thugs, deciding not to step in unless Subaru really needed help.

“Move it, move it!” Kazuma was barely able to step out of the way as a girl ran into the alley. As she passed him, he was able to see that she had golden hair with a bow and was way too thin to be healthy.

“Out of my way!” She shouted again, this time closing in on the altercation.

“Finally! Are you the cute girl who summoned me?” Subaru asked as she passed, and Kazuma fought against the strong urge to facepalm.

“Summoned? I don’t know what you’re talking about, but I’m busy! Sorry! Live strong!” She said, jumping towards the roof, to Kazuma’s surprise.

‘Whoa! That wasn’t wind magic…’ Kazuma was jolted out of his thoughts by Subaru talking to the thugs again.

“That didn’t happen to make you guys less hostile towards me by any chance?” He hesitantly asked, “Actually, it rained on our parade and made things worse.” The largest one said, cracking his knuckles.

“Yeah, of course,” Kazuma noticed Subaru tensing up, and clenching his fists, “You lumps of EXP!”

‘Oh, you’ve got to be kidding me.’ Kazuma thought as Subaru drove his fist into the largest one's face, forcing him to the ground; before spinning around and kicking the shortest one in the face.

The lanky one backed off as Subaru muttered about how hitting someone hurts.

‘I… wasn’t expecting him to beat two of them.’ Kazuma thought in pleasant surprise as Subaru began yelling, “My adrenaline is surging!” Before running at the last one, fist raised.

Kazuma quickly interrupted by punching the thug in the back of the head.

“I totally had that, Kazuma!”

“He had a- LOOK OUT!” The biggest one had stood up, grabbed Subaru by the back of his tracksuit, and threw him to the ground.

Kazuma ran up behind the big guy and struck him in the back of the head. ‘Two sucker punches in one fight… how chivalrous.’

Kazuma froze in his tracks as he saw Subaru on the floor, but that wasn’t what stopped him. It was the fact that the smallest one pulled out a knife and was holding it to his neck.

“Stay back or I'll slit his throat!” Tiny screeched, pressing the knife down hard enough to draw blood. Kazuma watched as a bead of blood dripped down Subaru’s neck, soaking into his tracksuit.

Kazuma raised his palms towards the man and began backing away as Subaru gives him a look that just screamed, “Sorry!” 

The adventurer began to channel mana into his hands, preparing to get Tiny away from Subaru, before he gets struck in the back of the knee. It knocked him down and he turned around to see the lanky one standing over him.

He doesn’t even have the time to prepare what to do before he gets struck in the face by the lanky one. Kazuma can feel the blood dripping from his mouth as he fell to the ground.

“You’re gonna regret that!” The adventurer can’t formulate a response before he gets kicked in the ribs, then the stomach, then the head by the big one. His mana was too low to reinforce his body, so the thugs kicks started to break through his defense stat and deal damage.

He can feel his ribs break after a few more kicks, and he coughed up some blood. ‘Shit, this is bad…’ Looking over toward Subaru, he sees Tiny rummaging through his things, still holding the knife towards Subaru.

A snarl crosses Kazuma’s face  and he begins funneling mana across his body, ignoring the way it pulled at his health, and funneled it into his hands.

“That’s enough!” He froze, eyes widening as he twisted his head under Lanky’s foot to look at the girl.

“Give back what you stole and I’ll let this slide.” No. It’s not her.

“What we stole?” The big one looks confused as he said, “You didn’t come to save these guys?”

Her eyes fall on Subaru, “What strange clothes he has… but no, I don’t know either of them.”

“Then you have no business with us! It was probably the brat that just ran by!” The small one screeches, pointing towards the back of the alleyway.

“Oh no… I need to go after her!” The silver-haired girl says as she runs by. Kazuma’s eyes narrow at her before she leaves his field of vision, and the mana he had prepared sprang to life once more; a purple glow coming from his palms.

But then the pressure on the back of his head eased up after he heard the sound of something hitting flesh. Then he heard it two more times, but with noises of pain leaving the others’ mouths.

“Still, I can’t overlook what is going on here.” Kazuma is surprised that she helped them, and tries to sit up, nearly falling back over when a spike of pain hits his broken ribs. He takes in the environment around him, seeing chunks of ice on the ground.

‘Magic? I didn’t hear an incantation…’  “Magic?” Kazuma looks over at Subaru when he says this, and seeing that he’s relatively unharmed, he began trying to stand up.

As he got to his feet, he stumbles against the wall and quickly began making his way toward the girl and Subaru as he heard the men behind him groaning and standing up.

“Are you alright?” Subaru asked as Kazuma approached, but he waved him off as he stood up straight. Looking over at the men, he saw them stand up and decided to pull Subaru behind him as they begin to approach the group.

“I’m borrowing some of your mana, Subaru.” The mentioned boy let out a squeal as he felt a freezing sensation coming from Kazuma’s hand that was laying on his shoulder.

“I don’t care if you can use magic! I’ll kill you!” Lanky screamed, pointing his knife at the group, “You think you can win when it's three against one?”

“You’re forgetting about me. It's two on three, assholes.” Kazuma said as half a dozen magic circles form behind him. Their eyes widen in fear at the sight of them, and the shortest one backed up a few steps.

“And with me, it’s three on three! That sounds like a fair fight, huh?” A small cat flew from the girl's hair, “Y-You’re a spirit arts u-user?” The big one stuttered, and for the first time since they entered the alley, they sounded afraid.

“That’s correct. Back off now and I won’t come after you.” She said, “Decide quickly, I’m in a hurry.”

They hesitated, looking at each other before Lanky turned to them and said, “You bitch! Next time we see you, we won’t go easy on you!”

“Do anything to her, and I’ll haunt you and your kin forever.” The cat spirit threatened, “Not that you’ll have any kin if I do that.”

Their faces pale and they turn and run. Kazuma immediately dissipates his spell and collapses against the wall.

“You saved us! Thank yo-” “Don’t move” The girl cuts Subaru off as she spun around and approacheed him, causing him to blush and break eye contact.

“See? You averted your eyes because you have a guilty conscience!” The girl says, closing the gap between them, “Looks like my judgment was spot-on.”

“I think it was just an instinctive male reaction.” The spirit said, “I don’t sense any malice from either of them.”

The girl looked over at Kazuma, eyes widening in shock as she saw his hand, glowing green, hovering over his chest. She can see the cuts and scrapes closing on his face.

‘Strange… that doesn’t look like healing magic.’ 

She brushed the thoughts from her mind, focusing on the task at hand, “You know who stole my insignia from me, don’t you?”

Subaru looked apologetic and said, “Sorry, but I don’t have the slightest idea.” The girl looks at Kazuma, who shook his head.

Her expression then turned into one of worry as she turned away from Subaru. Kazuma stood up and said, “You should probably go after her, Miss.” And nearly instantly collapsed back against the wall, face twisted in an ugly grimace.

“I can help!” Subaru says walking towards her. She faces Subaru, eyes narrowed, before Puck interjects, “I don’t sense any malice. I think he can come along.” Puck looks over at Subaru mischievously, “After all, the more shields between you and the ruffians, the better.”

“I’m glad to hear that you think so highly of me.” 

“Are you sure about this?” The girl asked, “I don’t have a copper piece on me.”

“It’s no problem. You helped us with those thugs so this is the least I can do.” Subaru confidently began making his way to the front of the alley, with the girl hesitantly following him.

“What about you?” The spirit asked, looking down at the boy sitting against the wall.

“Ugh, I’ve got to keep that idiot from getting himself killed, so I’ve got to tag along,” Kazuma said, standing up.

“Are you alright? You took quite the beating there.”

“M’fine. Healed most of it, my ribs are still sore though.” Kazuma lied, his ribs were still very broken. He took as much mana as he could from Subaru without knocking him out, but the boy barely had any.

Subaru looked back at Kazuma and asked, “Are you coming along too?” and seems satisfied at Kazuma’s nod.

“Okay! Let’s go find this insignia!”

“I know I talked big,” Subaru starts, “but isn’t this town too big to find one little thing in?”

They’ve been combing the city for over an hour and had no luck. Subaru’s high hopes are beginning to dwindle as they take a break on a balcony overlooking a large portion of the city.

“It’s the capital of Lugunica. You didn’t even know that, um…” The girl says, voice wavering when she realized they haven’t introduced themselves yet.

“That’s right! We haven’t asked your name yet.” The cat said, looking over to Subaru expectantly.

Subaru, thankfully understanding what the cat was implying, stood up and struck a pose. “My name is Natsuki Subaru. Not only am I clueless, but I’m also broke beyond compare!” Subaru reached out a hand. “Nice to meet you!”

“When you say that you really do sound hopeless.” The cat said flying off the girl's shoulder. “And I’m Puck! Nice to meet you!” It cheered while flying into Subaru’s hand.

The girl looked at Subaru in shock and asked, “It’s strange to see someone who can touch a spirit so casually. Where are you from?”

“Well, following the usual pattern, a small island nation to the east.” Subaru ignores Kazuma’s groan and subsequent facepalm and looks to the girl, who seems confused, “Lugunica is the easternmost nation… there’s no nation east of here. “

“No way, really?!” Subaru gracefully ignores another annoyed groan from Kazuma.

“You have no idea where you are, no money,” She placed a hand over her mouth, “you can’t read, and only have one person to help you. You might be in an even more precarious position than I am. Um… Subaru, was it?”

A blush crosses Subaru’s face and he turns away from the girl, “Yes, that’s my name.” Subaru didn’t notice Kazuma’s heated glare and the mutter of, “Oi that’s my thing.”

“When I look at you this way, you look pretty well built,” Puck says, flying up to eye level.

“I do work out every day. For a shut-in who’s got to guard his house, that much is a given.” Subaru says, this time noticing Kazuma looking kind of strange at that, almost embarrassed.

“I’m not sure I understand what a ‘shut-in’ is,” The girl looked confused at what Subaru said before approaching him and saying, “but that means you’re from a respectable family, right?”

She grabs Subaru’s hand, ignoring his embarrassment, “Your fingers too. They’re very pretty. They’re evidence that you don’t live like a peasant at all.” Subaru’s blush had increased, rivaling that of a tomato.

He looked around for anything that could stop his embarrassment before landing on Kazuma. ‘Help?’ He seemed to understand Subaru’s look because he chuckled and shrugged.

‘Bastard.’ Subaru thought as Kazuma gave him a shit-eating grin.

“And your muscles don’t look like the kind you gain from working.” She looked up at him before he pulled away and muttered, “A-anyway, I know your cat’s name now, but I haven’t heard yours yet.”

“My name?” She looked hesitant and backed up, “I’m… Satella.” Subaru is shocked to hear her name, and so is Puck; for a very different reason.

“I have no family name. You can just call me ‘Satella’.” She said, looking away from Subaru. “I see… Satella… that’s a nice name.” Subaru said, smiling at her.

“You have terrible taste.” Puck whispered to Satella, who looks startled at Subaru’s admission.

None of them seemed to notice that Kazuma narrowed his eyes at her.

“Right, time to get back to asking around!” Subaru yelled before Satella interjects, “Wait, we haven’t heard your name yet.” She says, looking over at Kazuma.

“Kazuma Satou, nice to meet you, miss.” He says, bowing his head slightly towards her. Subaru started walking towards the staircase to make his way back into the city before Kazuma said, “I think the girl might be in the slums.”

Puck tilted his head at that and asked, “Why do you think that, Kazuma?”

Subaru stills as he hears that and turns back toward the group, “That… may actually be right.” 

He walked back up towards them, “The girl was kinda malnourished and short for her age.” When Puck narrows his eyes, he raises his hands and clarified, “She looks a few years younger than me!”

Satella looked towards the skyline and pointed past Subaru, “The nearest section of the slums is about a kilometer that way.” Subaru turned around and looked to see what she’s pointing at, and sees smaller buildings that are more damaged than the surrounding buildings.

“Well, let’s get going then!” The overexcited boy shouted.

It had been nearly half an hour since their conversation on the overlook, and they had been making their way steadily towards the slums.

Kazuma was keeping an eye out, looking for anyone to question or the girl herself, before the Elf that was with them said, “Hey, does that girl seem lost?”

He looked over to see her pulling at Subaru’s sleeves and pointing at a girl who seemed to be around the age of ten, with green hair.

‘Hm, she looks similar to the appa merchant.’ Kazuma thought as Subaru asked, “But what about our questioning?”

“It’s also important, but if she’s lost, we have to do something,” Satella said. Kazuma looks at Satella with a surprised expression. The fact that she’s worrying about a child when in this type of situation is shocking to him.

Subaru seemed to share this perspective when he asked, “I’m in no position to talk, but do you know the kind of situation you’re in?”

Kazuma looked back at the child as Subaru said that, and his heart melted as he sees tears dripping down her face.

“She’s crying! You can’t be thinking of leaving her alone right now.” Subaru raises his hands at the vexed look on her face, attempting a rebuttal before Kazuma interjects, “I agree with you, Miss, but I don’t think Subaru meant anything bad.”

The aforementioned boy nods rapidly at that, apologies flowing from his mouth as she looks apologetic at Subaru.

Kazuma, feeling the tension, attempted to break it, “I’m going to continue searching. I doubt that girl would feel comfortable if three people walked up to her, so I’ll let you two help her.”

Satella nodded at Kazuma before beckoning Subaru to follow her and approach the girl.

Kazuma turns around when Satella kneeled and continued his path toward the slums.

The buildings around him are more dilapidated than the rest of the buildings in the commercial district. As he crosseed a bridge, the buildings get noticeably more damaged. The nearest one to him has its roof caved in, and yet he can still hear the hushed whispers of its inhabitants.

Grimacing, he sat at the foot of the bridge, awaiting Satella and Subaru.

Only a few seconds pass before a person passes him. Kazuma looks up only to see the golden-haired girl he saw from before pass by him, the one with the insignia. He narrowed his eyes at her and considers taking the insignia by force, but decides against it as the commotion could cause the slum dwellers to come out and help her.

He activates {Concealment} and pushes himself to his feet. Kazuma followed only a few steps behind her, keeping watch for anything that would reveal his position, and making sure his breath was controlled.

As she made her way through the slums, she cut into an alley. Kazuma followed behind her, staying close as she approached a worn-down shack. Keeping a close eye on her, he approaches the den as she detaches a small bag from the back of her belt.

She begins pulling different items out of them, checking them thoroughly before placing them inside her home. The boy can hear her muttering to herself, seemingly calculating her profits before dumping them into her den and continuing her path forward.

The girl turned around, passing mere centimeters from Kazuma as she goes back to the main road, with Kazuma close behind. As they approach a crossroads, he heard the girl let out a shocked laugh.

“What the hell happened to you, Rachins?” Kazuma follows her gaze to see Lanky standing there with a large bruise on his face.

Rachins jumped at her voice before saying with an embarrassed look, “We tried to mug some foreigners, and a spirit arts user came to their rescue.”

“Wait, was it the guy you were messing with when I passed you?”

“Yeah, him, another guy, and some silver-haired magic user.” Rachins rubbed his jaw at that, with the injury seemingly acting up just thinking about how he got it, “Fucker hits hard, I’ll give him that.”

She chuckles at that before waving him off and saying, “Well, anyway, I’m busy, Live Strong.”

Rachins grumbled, “Yeah, sure, good luck, I guess.”

As Kazuma went to follow the girl, he froze. Rachins had his eyes narrowed at him. Kazuma froze, not moving a muscle. The man shook his head after a moment and continued forward. Letting out a breath he didn’t even realize he was holding, he started moving again.

Speeding up to catch up with the girl, Kazuma began thinking, ‘How did he know I was there? Concealment is nearly infallible…’ His train of thought halted as Felt approaches a building.

He waits at the foot of the stairs as Felt walked up to the door, rapping her knuckles against it.

“For a rat…” Kazuma can hear a booming voice from inside the building.

“Poison,” The girl responds. ‘A password?’ Kazuma thought as the man inside asks another question, “For a white whale…”

“A harpoon,”

“To the noble dragon lord, we are…”

“Shitbags,” Kazuma has to restrain himself from snorting at the last answer, “Sorry to keep you waiting, Old Man Rom.” Kazuma’s eyes widen at the giant who opens the door.

“My target was persistent,” She said while walking into the building, “Took a while to shake them.”

The giant closes the door behind her, and Kauzma decided to not risk heading into the building.

“I wonder where Kazuma is?” Subaru asked, looking towards Satella, “We’re getting close to the slums, and we haven’t seen him yet.”

“Yo.”

A totally manly shriek escaped Subaru when Kauzma stepped out of the shadows.

“How did you do that?!” He shouted, pointing a finger at Kazuma.

“Yeah, it was like you just appeared there,” Puck exclaimed, flying from behind Satella’s hair, “I couldn’t even sense you!”

“A magician never reveals his secrets,” Kazuma responds, raising his hands innocently before continuing, “Anyways, did you get any new information?”

“We figured out her name is Felt,” Satella said. Kazuma nodded at that before walking forward, motioning for them to follow.

“She passed me on the bridge, and I tailed her to a building.” They perk up at that, “I think she’s planning on pawning the insignia off there.”

Subaru frowned as they continue onwards. The state of this place is horrible, and yet there are still people here. His eyes move from building to building before seeing someone in a window glaring at him.

Then another, this time from the steps leading into the entrance. He didn’t notice until now, but the deeper they get into the slums, the more oppressive the atmosphere becomes.

“The air, the atmosphere, and most likely the attitudes of the people living here are awful,” Subaru muttered, looking over at Kazuma, “You sure she’s here?”

“Absolutely. Saw her myself and followed her back to this loot house, didn’t risk a peek inside though.” Subaru sighs at the expected answer, before Satella asked, “Do you think they’d tell us if we asked?”

“No, they wouldn’t sell out one of their own,” Kazuma responds, and Subaru can hear Puck reaffirming Satella of Kazuma’s statement.

“Maybe we should come back later?” Subaru asked, before Kazuma quickly said, “Nah, we’ve got maybe an hour until sunset, I’d say if we can’t find it then…” He looked at Satella, “We might not be getting it back.”

Satella flinched at Kazuma’s statement before yelling, “We’ve got to get it back! This is very important to me!”

“I wasn’t implying we leave it. I was just saying we don’t have much time before it’s gone.” He quickly replied, raising his hands in surrender.

Puck yawned before saying, “Whatever we do, we’ve got to do it quick. I’m running low on time. I might have an hour left if I push it.”

Subaru startled at that, “Low on time? What’re you dying or something?”

“No, no, nothing like that. I’m a spirit; it takes mana to form like this.” Puck began drooping before lifting himself up and continuing, “So at night, I return to my crystal and prepare for sunrise.

“My ideal staying time is nine wind time to five fire time.” Puck finished his little lecture.

“Nine to five? You sound like a civil servant.” Subaru put a hand on his chin, “Employment terms for spirits are more severe than I thought…”

“We’ve still got time,” Satella interrupted Subaru. “We just have to keep moving.”

They continue moving again, this time at a quicker pace. They pass building after building before getting close to the loot house.

Kazuma froze and held up a hand as they reach the street leading to the building. Satella stopped too, as Subaru asked, “What are you doing?”

Kazuma looks at Satella, and she seems to understand whatever he was communicating because they both start running towards the building.

Subaru starts after them, struggling due to their enhanced speed, before he realizes what is happening. The closer he got to the building, the more commotion he could hear inside.

Kazuma reached the door first, with Satella right behind him as he waited a moment to make sure she was ready. She prepared a spell, and Kazuma unsheathed the sword from his back, and Subaru could finally see what it was made out of.

It resembled a wakizashi, with a handle that was crafted with a gold-like metal with a blue wrapping as the grip. The handle was complemented by the blade, which glowed a beautiful silvery blue.

Subaru shook himself from his thoughts as he climbs the stairs. Right as Subaru reached the top, Kazuma kicked the door open, and Subaru’s eyes widened in shock.

He can see a man sitting against a bar, a disgusting crimson red dripped from his mouth, staining his shirt, and flooding onto the ground. His arm is missing, and the remaining bits of flesh below his elbow pour blood like a faucet.

The worst of all is the shattered glass shoved into his throat, which has long since been filled with blood that poured out, ruining his shirt further.

Stomach acid fills his throat as he leans over to vomit, the disgusting taste of his stomach crawls over his taste buds and dribbleed out of his mouth. He coughed and spat as the image ingrained and seared itself into his mind.

He let out a shuddery breath as he rights himself, looking back toward Kazuma, only for him to disappear… no, disappear. Subaru turns his vision into the building to see a woman, dressed in all black, standing in the center.

Subaru can see a blade in her hands, glinting in the minimal light of the building, and rivulets of blood dripping from it. He saw the woman twist her body, and her blade lifted up to meet a sword.

It was Kazuma; he had attacked the woman faster than he could track. “You two, get them out of here,” Kazuma shouted, not taking his eyes off the woman. Subaru blinked in shock, ‘Them?’ He looked around the building to see the girl from the alleyway crouched down further into the building.

He can see a sickening gash across the arm she’s holding close to her body, seemingly only holding on by a few strands of muscle. Subaru wrenched his gaze from his arm and looks at Satella, already moving to help the still giant in the back of the room.

Subaru watched as Kazuma jumps back from an attack that slices the bridge of his nose, before retaliating with a swipe of his sword that nearly disembowels the woman if she had not twisted her body out of range.

Swallowing, he runs across the room to the girl, “I-It’s you.” She whispered, and Subaru’s stomach twists at the look on the young girl's face.

“It’s okay,” Subaru said, raising his arms trying to make her comfort her, “We’ve got to get out of here.” He reaches out an arm, but her eyes widen in shock.

“SUBA-ru!” He can hear Kazuma shout, but something strikes him in the back, knocking him to the ground. The commotion in the room seemingly rises, and the temperature lowers.

He can taste copper in his mouth as he can see sparks fly through his blurry vision. Subaru tries to get to his feet but quickly falls as pain overwhelms him. A flash of light fills his vision, and he turns away only to see the terrified look of Felt in front of him.

“H-Hey, y-y-you’re gonna be alright. Just stay still.” Her hands twitch at her sides, seemingly unsure of what to do until they press up against his side. A flash of white-hot pain encompassed his entire body, and he coughs up a glob of something.

Pulling his vision downwards, he sees something sticking out of his side, causing a flood of red to soak into his tracksuit. On the floor, blood rests right under his face, and it pools near his side, too.

‘Wha-? I-Is all of this my blood?’ Breathing is becoming harder and harder, and his throat feels like it's being filled with liquid. He sputters, and something wet covers the bottom half of his face, but he still can’t breathe.

His sputters transform into coughing and wheezing, his blood is filling his throat, and he can’t breathe. A choked noise escapes him, and Felt’s eyes are drawn to his face.

He chokes again. Felt’s hands are on his face now. He chokes again; he can’t breathe. He chokes again, she tilts his head, and blood spills out like a waterfall. He can’t breathe.

He can’t breathe. He can’t breathe. He can’t breathe. He can’t breathe. ‘Am I dying? When will I die? It hurts. It hurts. It hurts.’ Felt is crying, tears are dripping down her face, mixing with his blood on the floor.

His ears feel like they’re filled with cotton, and yet he can still hear the scream of pain across the room, and feel the temperature rise slightly. ‘No. no. no. no. no. no. no please, no, not her.’

The sound of battle stops, and he can hear the woman laugh from across the room, and yet he can’t make out a sound as she begins speaking.

His vision is giving out, black spots appearing, then growing. He can barely see, can’t see, can’t breathe, it hurts, can’t hear, when will it end?

‘I-I promise. No matter what. I will save you.’ With those thoughts, Natsuki Subaru’s life comes to an end.

“What’s the matter?” A red, vaguely round object is waved in front of him. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

“Huh?” His tongue felt heavy in his mouth; the phantom taste of copper still lingers on it.

“I asked you about the appa,” He waves it in front of Subaru, “The appa! Do you want it or not?”

 “M-mister, I already told you, I’m flat broke.” Subaru chokes out; he can still feel his blood crawling up his throat.

“The hell?” The appa salesman’s face darkened, “If you’re just browsing, then move along, I don’t have time for window-shoppers!”

‘What’s happening?’ Subaru stumbleed away from the stand and takes in the area around him.

He’s back in the capital, just before he met Satella, and it’s the middle of the day.

‘Wasn’t it night a few minutes ago?’ He stumbled into someone, falling over.

‘Where’s Satella…’ His next breath comes quicker than the last, then the next even faster, then even faster.

‘Oh crap, the loothouse!’ He shoved past the person who knocked him down and started running.

Kazuma watched in shock as Subaru brushed past him. He noticed the boy started hyperventilating, and walked over to him to try and help, but it was like Subaru couldn’t even see him.

To be honest, he wasn’t really sure what to do, so he followed behind Subaru to make sure he didn’t hurt himself.

‘Don’t go in there, don’t go in there, damn it.’ Kazuma thought as Subaru ran into an alleyway. Subaru was going to get himself robbed at this point. Kazuma activated {Concealment} and jumped up towards the rooftops.’

“If you don’t want to get hurt, cough up everything you’ve got!” A lanky guy shouted at Subaru, and Kazuma can’t even give the effort to be surprised.

“You guys saw I was alone and decided to jump me, huh.” Subaru growled, glaring at the men. Now that was a surprise, had Subaru gotten mugged once already? Kazuma doubts it as the men looked confused.

“It doesn’t matter, I’m in a hurry.” Subaru grumbled, “Everything I’ve got, right?” He said, dropping his stuff on the floor. Kazuma felt bad for not interfering, but Subaru needed to be self sufficient. He can’t rely on someone to fix everything for him; like Kazuma did with injuries and Aqua.

“Now act like a dog,” The tiny one said, “Get on all fours and and start howling!”

This was too much, Kazuma was going to step in if Subaru got on his knees.

“Don’t get too cocky, Bastard!” Subaru screamed, punching the lanky one in the face. The men were frozen as their friend fell to the ground, and Subaru capitalized on it by kicking the tiny one into the wall.

The big guy swung at Subaru, but the punch didn’t connect as the boy grabbed his arm with both hands and began twisting. A weak whine left the bigger man’s throat as Subaru lifted his foot, and slammed it into his crotch.

Jesus. Kazuma isn’t really one to call out dirty fighting but that was bad.

“I’m in a hurry, so don’t get in my way again!”

Now was a good time to reveal himself. He’s been following Subaru for the better part of an hour, and the boy had somehow made his way to the edge of the slums.

“Hey, Subaru!” Kazuma shouted as Subaru started to cross a bridge to get deeper into the slums.

The boy stiffed up with a scream and spun around, “Kazuma! How did you get here?”

“I’ve been following you…” Kazuma said, maybe he shouldn’t admit that but he doubts Subaru would care that much, “You ran into me at the appa stand.”

Hey, wait, why did Subaru look so relieved, “C’mon, we’ve got to go, now!”

“H-Hey, wait- and he’s gone.” Kazuma tried to stop Subaru as he turned away, but the boy broke into a sprint, leaving Kazuma to try and chase him down.

He didn’t have enough mana left to risk activating a skill or spell, and if Subaru got himself into trouble, he wanted enough to be able to get him out of it; so he was left running after Subaru.

They ran for a few minutes, with Subaru rounding a corner a few dozen meters ahead of Kazuma. When Kazuma was finally able to catch up with Subaru, he found the boy banging on the door of a house, desperately trying to get in.

“S-Someone’s in there, right? H-Hello?!”

“What the hell are doing?” Kazuma asked, confused all of Subaru’s actions for the last hour.

“We need to get in here!” Subaru shouted, still banging on the door, “Answer me! Please!”

“Shut yer trap!” A deep voice came from the building as the door swung open, “You tryin’ to bust down my door without even knowing the passwor-d…”

A giant came from the building, his booming voice quieted down when he saw Subaru. The man grumbled, a sigh left his lips before he walked back in, holding the door open.

Subaru looked at him in confusion, before the man said, “You coming in, or are you waiting for the flies to come in first?”

The aforementioned boy stuttered out an apology before walking in. Kazuma waited for the door to close on him, but was surprised when the giant gave him a look, beckoning him inside.

“What’re you all fidgety for?” The giant asked Subaru, “Are your balls chafin’ ya that much?”

“My boys are fine, thank you very much!” Subaru exclaimed as he continued squirming on the stool where he was sat, “That’s really the first thing you say in this situation?!”

Kazuma chuckled as he sat down in a stool next to Subaru.

“You’re already interrupting my evening booze.” The man grumbled as he took a sip from the large bottle in his hand.

“Drinking while the sun’s still up is a good way to die young, you know.” Subaru said, “Speaking of dying… Have you- this is a dumb question but,” Subaru trailed off, looking hesitant.

“Have you died recently?” The strange question slipped from Subaru’s lips. Kazuma looked at him in confusion, what was he talking about? There’s some crucial context Kazuma was missing in this conversation, and so he stayed quiet, observing.

Fortunately the old giant didn’t take offense to the question, actually, he must have found it quite funny with the way he was cackling.

“I’ll admit I’m at deaths door, but I ain’t died quite yet.” The old man said with a chuckle.

“Then have you seen a girl with silver hair?” Subaru asked another question. How long had the boy been here for? That weird attempt of a spell implied that he had been here for only a few minutes, but now the boy was asking a bunch of questions, acting like he knew much more than he let on when he had first met Kazuma.

“I ain’t seen anyone that conspicuous.” The giant answered, inspecting his liquor as he shook the bottle.

Kazuma looked over to Subaru, who looked deep in thought. “So, what’re you doing here, anyway?” The giant asked a question Kazuma had been wanting to ask the boy since they got into the slums.

“I’m looking for an insignia. It belongs to a girl who helped me out.” Subaru said. Kazuma found it very strange. The boy went from mindlessly wandering around, to now hunting down an insignia? And who was this girl who helped him?

“An insignia…” The old man paused as Subaru described it, “An insignia with a jewel in the center… no, I don’t got anything like that.”

“Are you sure? T-Try to think! Maybe you’re just old and senile?” Kazuma jolted as Subaru insulted the man, he’s going to have to beat manners into the boy at this rate. Thankfully the old giant brushed it off.

“I’m at my best with some booze in me, so if I don’t remember it now, I don’t have it.” The giant said, taking a sip from his bottle, “I got someone bringing in more goods later, so you can try again then.”

Kazuma could see the way Subaru’s stress increased, and if the giants next offer said anything, he could too.

“Here, have a drink.” The man said, pouring out a shot of whatever he was drinking into a small glass, sliding it over to Subaru. Kazuma was suprised when the man did the same for him too.

“What? Ya’ think I was gonna leave you out?” The giant said, taking a small sip of the bottle.

“Sorry, sir, I don’t drink.” Kazuma passed the glass back. He quit… Jesus, over two years ago. He feels old just thinking about it.

“Me either, I’m underage…” Subaru said, also passing his glass back.

“Both of you?” The giant asked, “Well, I know you’re not underaged,” He said while pointing at Kazuma, before moving to look at Subaru “but you’re underage?”

“Yes, I’m seventeen.”

“What? You aren’t underage! Drink!” The giant shouted.

“I’d rather not. Sorry, old man.” Subaru muttered apologetically.

“Bah, I can’t force you.” He said with a sigh and poured both cups back into his bottle. Kazuma noticed Subaru gave him a weird look before asking,

“I thought you were about my age, Kazuma? How old are you?” Subaru asked, it seemed like Old Man Rom’s observation had him curious.

“I’m twenty.” Kazuma answered.

Subaru blinked in surprise. Weird, given how Subaru’s been acting, he figured there would be a bigger reaction. Subaru didn’t have the chance to say anything else before the old man interrupted and said,

“Well, come back after Felt gets here. She might have what you want.”

“Hey, what’re you doing there? You’re in my way.” A girl’s voice said, jolting Subaru from his thoughts. It was a small girl with golden hair and red eyes.

“Felt?!” Subaru shouted in surprise.

“You know me?” The girl asked, looking at him critically.

“Of course I do! I’m here to buy something!”

“Oh, you should have just said that.” Felt said, walking past him and the now awake Kazuma, to the door and knocking.

“For a rat…” “Poison.”

“For a whale…” “Harpoon.”

“To the noble dragon lords we are…” “Shitbags.”

A password system. Probably the one Rom was talking about when he was trying to barge in a few hours ago, and one that Kazuma seemed to have found funny, given the way he snorted at the final answer.

“Sorry to keep you waiting, Old Man Rom.” Felt said as she walked in, “My target was more persistent than I thought.”

Subaru walked in after her, with Kazuma following right behind him. They all sat on the stools at the bar. Old Man Rom passed Felt a glass of milk as they all settled in, with the girl giving a dramatic gag at the taste.

“Did you water this milk down or something? It’s nasty!”

“I give you something out of the kindness of my heart and you call it gross?!” Rom yelled, reaching out to rub at Felt’s head.

“You two are closer than I expected.” Subaru said as he observed the interaction, “I’m feeling pretty left out…”

“Don’t act like a wuss when you’ve got a face as scary as Old Man Rom’s!”

She just said what?

“People have said a lot of awful things to me in my life, but you saying I look like this old guy?”

“You’re right, that was too far. Sorry Bro.” Felt said with a chuckle.

“Aww, you’re feeling left out?” Kazuma’s teasing tone worried Subaru, “Don’t worry, you can get all the head pats you want from Big Bro Kazuma!”

“Get your hands off of me, bastard!” Subaru swatted Kazuma’s hand away from his head, much to Felt and Rom’s amusement.

“Well, let’s get to business,” Felt said, “How much will you pay for it?”

“You really don’t waste time do you…” Subaru muttered before Kazuma interrupted him, “Before we continue, you do have the insignia, right?”

“Of course I do!” Felt said, pulling the insignia from her pocket. It’s a deep blue with a gold design on it, a glowing red jewel sat in the center.

Old Man Rom grabbed the insignia and began inspecting it as Felt continued, “It was pretty tough to get, so you better pay enough to match my effort.”

“Oh, I don’t have any money.” Subaru said. He could damn near feel Kazuma’s jaw drop behind him. He grinned as he could hear Felt and Kazuma both complaining for very different reasons.

“But, I do have things worth money.” Subaru finished his dramatic declaration. He reached into the pocket of his tracksuit and pulled out his phone.

“What I have here is a ‘cell phone’!” Subaru said, “Take this! Nine Shots per Second: Continuous Shot!”

He pressed the photo button on his phone multiple times, blinding the two in front of him with the flash.

“The hell was that!” Rom shouted, getting into Subaru’s face.

“The fuck were you thinking, Subaru!” Kazuma yelled, pulling him away from Rom.

“Hold on, calm down!” Subaru pleaded, holding up the phone to show the pictures.

The two inspected the photo in shock, “That’s me and Old Man Rom’s face!” Felt shouted in surprise, “Although, I am prettier than that.”

“I ain’t seen anything like it.” Rom muttered as he took the metia into his hands, holding it with surprising care.

“This device cuts a moment from time and freezes it!” Subaru explained, “You can store moments in here. Like good memories, or even a grocery list.”

“So this is what a Metia is…” Rom muttered.

“Subaru, come here.” Kazuma said, dragging Subaru acoss the room, “Are you sure about selling your phone?”

“Yeah, why?”

“It’s your phone, man!” Kazuma whisper-shouted, “You won’t get it back! Photos, messages, all of it.”

Subaru… hadn’t thought of that. Hell, he hadn’t thought of his parent since he got here- No, that’s a dangerous line of thinking. He can’t do that now.

“It’s too late now, Kazuma.” Subaru said, trying not to think about the memories he’s offering up for Satella.

He could see the older man chewing at his lip in contemplation before relenting, “If you’re sure about this, then fine.”

They began walking back to the other two, and when they approached, Rom gave them the news, “Well, this metia would certainly get Felt more money than the insignia.”

Subaru’s face lit up in happiness, “That settles it then! Negotiations complete!” He reached out for the insignia, but Felt pulled away at the last moment.

“We’re not done yet.” At Subaru’s noise of confusion, Felt continued, “I’ve still got another buyer to negotiate with.

“This insignia was a job. Had a buyer lined up for it before I swiped it, so you’ve still got to outbid them.”

“And how much did they bid.” Kazuma asked,

“Ten holy gold coins.” Felt responded.

“Well, this metia could get us twenty holy gold coins, at least.” Rom said before passing the phone back to Subaru.

Well, it looked promising. His phone is worth over double what their competitor was offering up. “When are negotiations being held?” Subaru asked.

“The buyer should be here any minute now.” And as if Felt summoned them, there was a knock at the door.

“Did you tell them the password?” Rom asked her as she stood.

“Ah… I didn’t. Oops?” Felt chuckled as she rubbed the back of her head, “I’ll get the door.”

They sat silence as Rom grabbed a club sitting at the end of the bar.

“Are you alright with her using you like this?” Subaru asked with a chuckle.

“I’ve known her a long time; it’s not like we’re total strangers.” Rom said as he sat down, “Don’t tell her I said this, but I think of her like a granddaughter, so I’m more than alright helping her with this.”

Subaru could hear Kazuma let out a little chuckle at that, “I have a little sister who tries to take advantage of me like this too.”

As much as Subaru would have liked to ask Kazuma about that, he couldn’t. Because the buyer had arrived.

“I hadn’t expected there to be outsiders?” Holy shit. She was beautiful.

“Well I’d be in trouble if you bilked me.” Felt explained.

“Mm, well I knew about the old man, but what about these younger gentlemen?” The buyer said, gesturing towards the two who were sitting stiff as boards.

“Those two are your rivals. They also want to buy the insignia.” Felt pointed towards a table, “Let’s sit for the negotiations.”

Subaru quickly stood up and strode to the table, taking a seat next to Felt, and across from Elsa. The two older men stood on opposite sides of the table.

“I don’t really care who gets the insignia, so whoever’s the highest bidder will get it.” Felt explained the circumstances to the woman. Ah, now’s his chance!

“This is a one of a kind metia,” Subaru said, taking a picture of the buyer and showing it to her as a demonstration, “The musclehead over there said it would go for at least twenty holy gold coins.”

The woman looked at Rom for verification, for which he gave a small nod.

“It’s a good thing the client sent me with extra funds then.” Elsa said, but Subaru picked up on something.

‘The client? Someone sent this woman to fetch it…’

She reached into her cloak and pulled out a small bag, before flipping it and emptying it into the table. It was filled with a bunch of coins. Rom immediately went to counting it.

“Twenty…” Rom said, his voice steady despite the sheer amount of wealth before him.

“Hm, so, Subaru wins.” Kazuma observed, looking towards the boy, who was frozen in shock.

The aforementioned boy vibrated for a moment, before crossing his ams and jumping to his feet with a cheer, pumping his fist in excitement much to Kazuma’s amusement.

The room sat in awkward silence for a moment before he finally stuttered out, “W-What’s wrong with a little victory pose! I’m psyched!”

His embarrassment only increased when he saw the smile on Kazuma’s face. His embarrassment was broken by a sigh from Elsa, her hands were moving to bag the coins up as she got to her feet.

“A-Ah, I’m sorry, Elsa… You’ll probably get in trouble for this.” Subaru apologized as the woman drank the last bit of milk Old Man Rom gave her.

“It can’t be helped. It’s my employer’s fault for trying to underpay.” Elsa said, “By the way, what are you planning on doing with the insignia?”

“Oh, I was going to return it to it’s owner.”

“Ah, so you’re with them, then.”

Subaru was thrown to the ground after she said that. Felt had slammed him down for some reason.

“Oh, my! You dodged my strike.” Elsa said, as Subaru finally saw the knife she tried to stab him with. The room was frozen for a moment, but that was broken by Elsa slamming her leg into Kazuma’s stomach, sending him flying across the room and into a wall.

Felt pulled Subaru away from Elsa as Rom ran at her, swinging his club through the table. 

“This is my first battle to the death against a giant!” Elsa exclaimed as she jumped atop  the bar.

“Quiet, girl! I’ll grind you up and feed you to the rats!” Rom yelled, his booming voice shaking Subaru’s chest as another swing pulverized the bar.

Rom chased Elsa and swung again, but the club was effortlessly deflected. Another swing, she dodged. Each attack was shaking the building as the contents were destroyed. A table was thrown at Elsa, but she split it in half with a flick of her wrist.

An overhead slam, dodged, a new hole was created in the floor. Elsa was on the defensive, but not by force.

“This is bad!” Subaru said, worry coating his voice as he looked to where Kazuma was, the dust obscuring his vision.

“Don’t worry, Old Man Rom won’t lose!” Words dripped from her mouth with absolute confidence.

But confidence didn’t mean victory. The giant left himself open for a moment too long during an attack, and Elsa capitalized. Her blade snaked below the club, and she was poised to cut off Rom’s arm before an explosion rocketed through the building.

Subaru and Felt let out a scream as the sound shook the foundation of the old building, the sound of someone landing next to them drew their attention. It was Kazuma. He looked a bit worse for wear, but other than that, the man looked fine.

Something was making a dripping noise as Kazuma yelled out, “Old Man Rom, you alright?!” Drip. Drip. Drip. They could hear coughing coming from the smoke before the old giant responded, stumbling towards them.

Whatever was dripping became worse. The slow drip turning into splats as some liquid flooded to the floor.

“K-Kazuma, are you alri-...” Subaru stopped when he saw what Kazuma was holding in his hand. It was the severed arm of Elsa.

“I’m fine.” Kazuma responded, waving Subaru off with his free hand, “She’s not dead yet.”

“Your senses are quite sharp,” Subaru stiffened up when he heard her voice, how was she still moving. The smoke cleared up, and Subaru could see her standing in the middle of the room, missing an arm.

“And so are your claws.” The woman complimented with a grin, pulling another blade from her cloak.

He could see the way Kazuma’s teeth gritted as he dropped the arm and unsheathed his blade.

“I don’t want compliments from you.”

“How rude! Do you speak to every woman this wa-” She’s interrupted by Kazuma dashing towards her.

“Wind Blade!” A shout left Kazuma’s lips as he approached, and Elsa seemed to swipe at something Subaru couldn’t perceive.

Their blades locked moments later, Kazuma’s sword brushed right off of her dagger as she went in for an attack at his stomach that he easily evaded. They clashed again and again, each attack coming faster and faster until Subaru could barely track their movements.

“You’re strength is rather impressive.” Elsa complimented him as they separated from another clash.

Kazuma didn’t grace her with a response as three magic circles formed behind him, glowing a bright red that bathed the room with their light. Each one of them shot out a ball of red plasma that erupted into a giant explosion as they struck Elsa.

“That surely got her!” Felt cheered.

“Don’t set off a flag!” Kazuma and Subaru both reprimanded her as they heard a giggle come from the rubble.

Elsa had somehow survived the assault, her cape dissapated as she stood up, “If my employer hadn’t given me this cloak then I might have been in trouble.”

Kazuma was barely able to block Elsa’s blade as it came at his neck, “This has truly been enjoyable, but I’m afraid I have to cut this short.”

A newly grown hand slid another blade under Kazuma’s. A wet tearing noise grated against Subaru’s ears as Elsa tore Kazuma’s arm off.

The man jumped back, but it was too late. He lost an arm, and his blade. The fight was over.

“S-Shit…” Kazuma groaned as he put pressure against his stump, “Regeneration is a pain.”

“K-Kazuma!” Subaru jumped to his feet; Rom and Felt seemed to have the same idea as they began moving to defend him. They froze when he waved them off, placing his hand and stump against the floor.

“Create Golem” The ground shifted and wrapped around Kazuma’s arms, creating a prosthetic on his missing arm, and an exoskeleton on his attached arm.

“Drain Touch” A purple glow began emanating from the cracks of the exoskeleton, “Fireball” Flames erupted from the prosthetic arm.

Subaru looked on in awe as Kazuma stood back up, glaring at the bloodthirsty woman.

“Oh, your bloodlust is overwhelming.” The woman said with a blush, “It’s exhilarating.”

Kazuma didn’t give her a moment before moving in to attack. The stone arms he created had claws at the end he was using to tear into the woman.

She ducked under a desperate swipe from his claws, before trying to block an attack that sent her skidding back.

“You’re fighting like an animal now.” The glint in Elsa’s eyes looked dangerously close to respect.

A purple hand ripped her stomach open as he passed, his body forward faster than Elsa expected. Even Subaru could tell the way Elsa blocked the next attack was sloppier than the last. Did he poison her?

Kazuma jumped in again, leaving himself dangerously open to attack, which Elsa capitalized on with a swipe towards his stomach. A loud screech of metal against stone rung out when she attacked, Kazuma’s exoskeleton extended under his clothing and reinforced his body.

At Elsa’s blunder, Kazuma placed both hands on Elsa’s head, one burning, and one sapping away her strength. A weak kick knocked Kazuma away from the woman as she swayed on her feet.

Elsa’s trembling stopped after a moment, and she grinned down at where Kazuma rested on his knees.

“Was that all you had in you?” She taunted.

Her eyes carefully tracked Kazuma’s hand as it lifted up, “Detonation.” 

Elsa’s body glowed a bright orange as an energy built up inside of her stomach. She shouldn’t have let Kazuma touch her. Her eyes widened as she made one last attempt to attack Kazuma, but it was fruitless.

Her body exploded in a rain of gore. Blood, guts, and flames spread throughout the room at the sheer strength of the explosion.  The roof of the loothouse was blown clean off, as if the attack was directed upwards instead of outwards.

Subaru ran over to Kazuma as he slumped forwards, he was still conscious, “Kazuma, stay with me man, keep your eyes open.”

“-un.” Kazuma croaked, his voice not making it to Subaru’s ears, “D-Don’t try to talk man, stay with me.” The blood from Kazuma’s missing arm increased as the stone holding the wound collapsed.

“Run.” The words barely left Kazuma’s lips.

“W-What?” His question barely left his lips before a blade embedded itself into Kazuma’s throat.

A scream left Subaru as he stumbled away from Kazuma’s now dead body, his eyes were drawn to the only other moving figure in the room… Elsa.

Her lips were torn into a snarl. Elsa Granhiert was pissed.