When Subaru was seen catching his breath with a choked grunt, he realized his own blunder.
This was the moment when the light banter from before should have kicked in, but showing his hand like that was the fruit of his bottom-tier social skills.
In any negotiation, there was no faster way to lose your leverage than letting the other side smell weakness.
As a result,
"The lady who hired me wouldn't spill the beans either, but I'm guessing you're the same way, big brother?"
"Well, for starters, the whole act of stealing is shady to begin with, so I'd say everyone here's got something to hide—"
"Sure, but you've got something especially dark going on. I mean, think about it—you were hired to steal something and tried to swipe it on the side?"
With the cruel playfulness of a cat tormenting its prey, Felt pressed Subaru's shortcomings. A sadistic smirk played across her face as she left him tongue-tied, and she continued— "This insignia. What is it? There's more to it than meets the eye, isn't there? That's why you want it so bad. Which means it's worth more than a magic tool."
"Wait, Felt. That train of thought is seriously dangerous. I can basically predict where this is going from the way the conversation's flowing, and that's the gamer brain talking, but—seriously, stop right there."
Watching Felt's miser-meter climb, Subaru broke into a cold sweat even as he tried to put a stop to it. If this kept going, her demands would spiral out of control without limit.
If that happened, the negotiation would drag on, and what awaited him was a BAD END.
"Over twenty holy gold coins—that's the ceiling. Don't ask for more than that! Even the person who... El... the person who hired you wouldn't go above twenty holy gold coins! They won't pay more!"
"How would you know that?"
"Ah..."
"You're practically spelling it out. —You're one of them."
If only he could insist that he only knew because of Return by Death—that would make everything so much simpler.
But even if he tried to explain that, there was nothing that would make anyone believe him.
For Felt, whose suspicion was deepening by the second, Subaru's words had already lost whatever value they once had without an alternative explanation to back them up.
At this point, the only option might be to forcibly wrest the insignia from her— "But I've got this muscular old geezer in the way..."
"Look at you gettin' played proper, boy. How pathetic, losing to a girl younger than you."
"This is all because of your training, you know. You were so tough I nearly cried."
If this turned into a physical altercation, the outcome was obvious—Old
He held several top-three class rankings in other areas, but his bottom-tier performance in long-distance running was enough to tank his overall grade to a B. That was just how it was.
"Felt, please..."
"Doesn't matter if you beg. I'll admit you've got some chops as a negotiation partner. But it wouldn't be fair if I didn't hear the other side's opinion, would it? Tell me what it's worth and put together a proper offer—then maybe we can talk."
Her interrogating gaze held not a shred of mercy or compassion.
The girl's eyes were straining to extract the truth from Subaru's demeanor. But the simple fact was that even if she kept him under constant surveillance, she'd never learn the insignia's true value.
Subaru's reason for wanting the insignia was different from Elsa's—it was rooted purely in gratitude, nothing more.
Beyond that, all he knew was that it was a gem-encrusted insignia, which didn't exactly set his knowledge far above Felt's.
Therefore, Subaru couldn't give her the answer she was looking for.
"The reason I want it... is because I want to return it to its rightful owner."
"—Huh?"
So blurting out the truth—the whole of the sincerity Subaru had to offer.
"I want to return it to its owner. That's why I want the insignia. That's all there is to it."
Facing Felt's wide-eyed stare, Subaru raised his head and repeated the same words.
Her crimson eyes brimmed with hostility and menace, but all Subaru could do was absorb it and keep his mouth shut.
He had no room left for jokes. All he could do was sincerely drop to one knee and bow his head.
"...Felt. This kid doesn't look like he's lying."
"Don't let him con you too, old man. It's obviously a joke, right? Return it to the owner? Buy it back from the person you stole it from—with a fortune to boot? What a joke. Why not just bring a guard, have them arrest me, and call it a day?"
That wasn't an option.
Fake
That was why she'd turned down even Reinhard's offer of assistance.
If doing so would work against her interests, Subaru couldn't do it. That was the only sincerity he could offer—the only answer he could give for the life she'd saved.
"If you're gonna lie, at least come up with a better one. Pretending to be serious won't fool me. Because if you could... that's right. I won't be fooled."
"Felt..."
As if shaking something off, Felt's voice came out strained and hoarse.
Old Rom looked at her with concern—did he know what was going on inside her? His expression was pained.
But her stubborn posture made it clear: it firmly forbade any change of heart.
Which meant the negotiation had ended in failure.
"—Who's there?"
Old Rom's expression shifted as he glared toward the entrance of the loot house.
Subaru, still on his knees with his head bowed, was too stunned by the collapse of the negotiation to react.
That was why his mind was a step slow in catching up to the answer.
A series of sharp knocks echoed through the silence, and Old Rom turned toward the sound.
Felt was the one who nodded. She pointed at herself— "Might be a client of mine. Feels a bit early, though..."
She said it as she moved toward the door, her face still flushed with anger, and placed her hand on the door.
Watching her back, Subaru became aware of a rapidly rising sense of urgency.
Loot house. Knocking. Felt's client—the pieces fit together, and there was only one conclusion.
"—Don't open that door! You'll be killed!!"
It was earlier than it should have been. The slant of daylight through the windows was still somewhat high—tinged with orange, yes, but too bright for sunset.
In the first world, and in the second world, despair had come after the sun went down.
He hadn't been complacent—hadn't assumed he still had time.
That wasn't it, but it was still too early.
—Not a single condition for changing this world had been met yet.
But Subaru's anguished cry was futile. His warning couldn't so much as make Felt hesitate as she pulled the door open.
The door swung wide, and the warm glow of evening filtered into the dim interior of the loot house, faintly dispelling the shadows.
And then— "Killing you or anything scary like that—I wouldn't just up and do that out of nowhere."
With a sour face and pursed lips, a silver-haired girl stepped inside.
※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ "Good—you're still here. ...I won't let you get away this time."
At the sight of the silver-haired girl—Fake Satella—stepping through the door, Felt recoiled without a word.
Her retreating expression was one of frustration, her lips twisted with bitterness as she spat— "You really are relentless, aren't you?"
"A thief playing the tough guy—how novel. If you behave yourself, you won't have to suffer."
The temperature of Fake Satella's voice was ice-cold in response to Felt's teeth-gritting hostility.
In fact, the temperature in the room was already dropping fast, and Subaru couldn't suppress a shudder at the rapidly changing atmosphere.
—Why is Fake Satella here!?
It was only early evening. By Subaru's experience, she shouldn't have even reached the entrance to the slums yet.
From there she'd have to start asking around, then spend nearly two hours more—that was the route from the first timeline.
"So that means... if I hadn't been here, she would've made it this quickly."
Without the detour to treat Subaru in the alley, she would have found her way here on her own—and at this speed, no less.
His own uselessness was being proven across the boundaries of time and space, and he didn't quite know how to feel about it.
While Subaru wallowed in that empty feeling, the situation was moving forward.
Felt had already retreated from the center of the room to the back, and Fake Satella was naturally blocking the path to the door while extending her palm forward.
A faint cracking sound echoed through the air—the result of magic deploying from her palm. Her specialty was ice magic; as ice pillars materialized in the air, the room temperature continued to drop.
"I have one request. —Give back the insignia. That's something precious to me."
Six ice pillars hovered in the air, their tips blunted and rounded—prioritizing weight over sharpness. But if they hit, the impact would be incomparable to a simple thrown rock.
Naturally, sweating at the realization that he was one of the potential targets, Subaru could only watch their exchange in silence, careful not to make a wrong move.
"...Old Rom."
"I can't move. You've brought a nasty piece of work and paired it with a nasty opponent, Felt."
At Subaru's quiet appeal, Old Rom shook his head, his massive frame tense.
In his hand, a familiar-looking cudgel had appeared at some point, but the powerful arm gripping it seemed strangely uncertain. He kept opening and closing his grip as if hesitating, wavering.
"You're giving up before the fight even starts?"
"Just a run-of-the-mill mage, I wouldn't flinch... but this opponent's trouble."
Old Rom reproached the provocative Felt.
He narrowed his gray eyes slightly and looked toward Fake Satella, who continued deploying ice pillars.
His gaze, looking down at her—what floated there was intense wariness, and something even stronger: awe.
"Miss... You're an elf, aren't you?"
Old Rom's trembling question made Subaru instinctively raise his head.
Elves—one of the indispensable races in this sort of fantasy setting.
Long-lived, long-eared, and beautiful.
At Old Rom's question, Fake Satella closed her eyes for a moment, then let out a small sigh.
"That's not quite right. —Only half of me is an elf."
The pain in her voice made Subaru furrow his brows in sympathy.
But the two others reacted far more strongly.
Felt's reaction in particular was dramatic—she lurched back and gasped— "A half-elf... And silver-haired!? Don't tell me..."
"It's just a coincidence! ...I'm dealing with my own problems, you know."
Subaru couldn't fully follow their exchange, but he could sense enough to know that this was something Fake Satella deeply wished to avoid.
Despite her confused denial, Felt's expression didn't soften.
If anything, when she looked at Subaru—who had been silent throughout—her crimson eyes blazed with fierce hostility.
As Subaru's face stiffened with bewilderment, Felt let out a self-mocking laugh— "So, big brother. You played me good and proper, didn't you?"
"What?"
"Saying you wanted to return it to the owner—I thought that was fishy. You were the one who kept those slum kids from cutting in, weren't you? You were working with her all along!"
Accusations laced with resentment. Subaru realized a misunderstanding had taken root.
But at the same time, his theory about how Fake Satella had managed to arrive here in such a short time was nearly complete.
In the original timeline, there was no way Fake Satella could have reached this place at this hour. Normally, the slum thugs Felt had hired would have gotten in the way, delaying her arrival.
But this time, because Subaru had interfered with them instead, that delay never happened—and Fake Satella had appeared here right on cue.
From a causal standpoint, Subaru's involvement was the decisive factor. Felt's anger wasn't entirely misplaced. In fact, the situation was gradually tilting in Subaru's favor.
If no decisive move came from either Felt or Old Rom, the insignia would end up back in Fake Satella's hands through force—whether Subaru liked it or not.
Honestly, he would have preferred to retrieve the insignia himself and hand it back to her, but if it was going back to her either way, he couldn't afford to be picky.
If things went this way, it would count as second-best. But then— "...? What's going on? I thought you two were on the same side?"
Seeing the rift between Felt and Subaru, Fake Satella reacted to it.
To the confused Fake Satella, Felt snorted derisively— "Cut the act. You're the one backed into a corner here. Go ahead and take back the insignia with a big grin—laugh at how dumb I was while you're at it."
"You're being way too self-deprecating. It's just a slight disadvantage—no need to be so dramatic."
"Who's the one who put us in this situation!? Ugh—damn it. I've been had!"
Felt raked her fingers through her golden hair and groaned in frustration.
Watching her completely un-maidenlike display, Fake Satella's frown deepened.
As Subaru observed the slightly off-kilter exchange between them, he clapped his hands and stepped in— "Come on, come on—this is getting too complicated, so let's just drop it. Felt, give the insignia back. And Sa... you, get out of here quick. Make sure nobody steals it again."
"I don't get why you're going out of your way like this, and it's unsettling."
"I'm just as unsatisfied, big brother. What exactly are you?"
The brilliant strategy of smoothing things over and burying the issue in ambiguity had spectacularly failed.
Instead, it had drawn the full attention and fire of the two people at the center of the mess.
Subaru looked to Old Rom for help explaining, but the old man folded his thick arms— "Magic won't cut it. Against spirit arts, I'm no use."
He refused to back him up, his reasoning completely at odds with what Subaru had hoped.
The casual appearance of yet another new term was concerning too, but the combined glare from both women was harder to endure.
Subaru's eyes darted to the door, searching for some way out— —A dark shadow glided soundlessly behind the silver-haired girl.
"—
A serene smile cut through the shadows of the room, and a streak of silver light lunged at the girl's exposed white neck with a coiling, serpentine motion.
An instant later, the girl's head would have been sent flying across Subaru's wide-open eyes—that was the future that should have occurred.
—A piercing ring.
It wasn't the sound of steel severing bone. It was the sharp, resonant ring of steel striking glass, reverberating through his eardrums.
Just barely ducking, Fake Satella's rearguard had deployed a faintly glowing blue magic circle.
It caught the descending blade head-on, completely shielding that white nape from the killing edge.
"Puck...!"
"Close one—truly."
Fake Satella lunged forward and spun around.
Long silver hair followed in the wake of her movement, and peeking over her shoulder was a small gray-furred animal.
The little creature gave a proud "hmph" through its pink nose, then cast a glance at Subaru with its dark eyes— "That was, quite literally, razor-thin timing. You saved me there."
"The one who saved me was you. Thanks."
At the thumbs-up gesture, Subaru offered a weak thumbs-up in return.
Fake Satella appearing before sunset—this meant, without question, that her formidable backup was on the clock.
He'd only called out by instinct, but Puck's performance had exceeded all expectations, and her life had been preserved.
And the attacker, who had been cleanly thwarted— "Spirit... A spirit, hmm. Fufufu—how wonderful. I've never killed a spirit before."
Elsa raised the curved knife in front of her face, her expression one of intoxication—it was the familiar serial killer.
Subaru and Fake Satella tensed at her sudden appearance. But neither of them was the one who acted first.
"Hey—what the hell is going on here?!"
The one who screamed, stepped forward, and roared was Felt.
She jabbed a finger at Elsa, then pulled the insignia from her coat— "Your job was supposed to be buying the insignia! If you wanted to turn this place into a sea of blood, then the deal was completely different!"
"Stealing the insignia was my job, and buying it back was yours. But if you bring the owner all the way here, well—there's no deal to be made, is there? So I've decided to change plans."
Felt's face, already red with fury, went pale as she was locked down by Elsa's murder-soaked gaze and took an involuntary step back. Elsa looked down at the girl's fear with something like tenderness— "Everyone here who's connected to this—will be killed. The insignia will be collected after that."
Delivering the verdict with the same gentle smile of a loving mother, she tilted her head— "—You failed to do your job. It's only natural that you're cut down."
Felt's expression twisted in pain—not from fear, but from something else entirely.
Subaru couldn't tell what chord of hers had been struck. He couldn't—but— "You goddamn bitch—don't screw with me—!!"
Forget the gap in their abilities. Subaru was screaming with a fury that startled even himself.
Elsa looked at him with surprise. So did Felt, Old Rom, and Fake Satella. But the most surprised of all was Subaru himself.
He didn't even understand why he was this enraged.
Since he didn't understand, he decided to let the surging emotions take over and simply vomit everything out— "You think it's fun to bully a little kid like that!? You gut-obsessed sadistic psychopath!! And where did you even come from!? Were you waiting outside for the perfect timing!? Getting my hopes up that things might actually work out—only to have you show up like this! I really, genuinely did not want to see you! Do you have any idea how much pain I've been through, how many times I've nearly cried!? Getting sliced up over and over with a blade—I'd be a millionaire if I got paid every time!"
"...What are you even saying?"
"My tension and anger meters are at MAX and I don't even know what I'm saying anymore! Good evening everyone, how are you all doing tonight—same channel, don't touch that dial!"
At Subaru's incomprehensible tirade, Elsa let out an exasperated sigh—one of the rarest reactions he'd ever seen from her.
Stung ever so slightly by her attitude, Subaru pressed on with the same momentum— "Stalling time's over—do him, Puck!!"
"What a spectacular display of ineptitude. —I'll rise to the occasion."
Puck's lighthearted voice answered Subaru's stomp on the ground, and Elsa raised her head.
All around her, filling every direction—ice pillars with sharpened tips. More than twenty of them.
"I haven't even introduced myself yet, young lady. My name is Puck. —At least remember that much before you go."
An instant later, a barrage of ice pillars from all directions hammered into Elsa's body.