“I don’t know why you suddenly decided to help me, but thanks, old man.”
“It’s no big deal. Just a little while ago, another penniless person like yourself helped my little girl out, you see.”
As he listened to the shop owner’s reply, Subaru first was surprised and then burst out laughing. Oh, the power of fate. No matter how troubled this shop owner’s little girl was, someone was going to save her. Just knowing that made Subaru feel that it was worth coming here.
“All right! I’m really going to get going now. Next time I’ll buy one of your abbles for sure!”
“Well, if you do you’ll be a customer, and I’ll welcome ya. Work hard, Mr. Penniless,” the shop owner said in a monotone.
“Gotcha. I really am praying that the next time I come back here will be with money in my hands, I tell you,” said Subaru as he left running.
Subaru’s destination was the slums, but this time, in a different direction from the loot cellar. If he headed toward the loot cellar, he was sure to raise a couple of bad flags, so this time he was going to try a different route.
5
“You’re looking for where Felt lives? If you just take that road over there until it turns into another street, you should be able to find it.”
“Thanks, you really helped me out, brother.”
“No problem, brother. You uh…live strong and take care of yourself out there, okay?”
The middle-aged man Subaru was talking to smiled at him weakly as he disappeared behind a creaking door. Throughout their entire conversation, the look of pity on the man’s face never once disappeared from his awkward smile.
Subaru tightened his fist, happy that his plan was working.
“It was a strategy I formed after my experiences from the first and second times in the slums, but…I never imagined it would work this well,” Subaru said, shaking the sleeve of his tracksuit, which was caked in dried mud.
In order to help him track down Felt, the brilliant plan he’d thought of after arriving at the slums was to make himself look as down and out and destitute as possible.
The first time around, when Subaru visited the slums with Not-Satella, Subaru had not long before been beaten up by Dumb, Dumber, and Dumbest. Because of that, most of the slum’s inhabitants had pitied him and been fairly cooperative. The second time, however, when Subaru hadn’t taken much damage, the people gave him a comparatively cold reception. The difference was like night and day. So remembering that, Subaru made himself look so bad he had risked overdoing it.
“Well, I did step in the poop of who knows what kind of animal, after all. Anyway, I think I’ve pinned down where Felt sleeps, but…the problem is whether she’ll come back here or not before she goes to the loot cellar.”
Fortunately, of the four people he was able to get information from, all of their answers about the location of Felt’s living place matched up. However, Subaru thought the chances of her coming back to it were about fifty-fifty. There was also the possibility that she did not want to risk having her place found out by returning there while she was being chased.
“Well, sitting around and worrying about it won’t help me at all, so let’s stop worrying. Okay!”
No sense in worrying about things that can’t be helped. This is where Subaru’s decisiveness shone.
As he continued to scrape off more caked mud from his clothes, Subaru dashed off deeper into the slums. It was dark as ever and there were puddles of who knows what here and there that Subaru had to jump over to avoid. But just as he was doing so, he almost ran right into someone who suddenly appeared.
Subaru was able to turn just in time and hit his back against the wall of the alley, giving off a grunt as he lost his breath.
“Oh, I’m sorry about that. Are you all right?”
“Don’t worry. Don’t worry. I’m actually a pretty sturdy fell…ow…?!”
As he was trying to play himself off as tough, Subaru looked up and when he realized who he was looking at his sentence trailed off and ended in a high-pitched squeal.
After hearing Subaru’s voice like that, the black-haired woman laughed softly.
“What a funny guy. Are you sure you’re all right?” she said, lifting her hair back behind her ear.
Even that simple motion was somehow sexy, and Subaru reaffirmed the belief inside himself that every move this woman made was extremely erotic.
She was definitely someone Subaru did not want to meet again.
It was the woman who had cut open his abdomen and spilled his guts—twice. It was Elsa.
“You don’t have to act so scared. I won’t do anything to you.”
“I-I’m not sc-scared, okay? W-why would you think that….?”
“You smell…” replied Elsa, seeing past Subaru’s empty attempts to seem tough as she slowly narrowed her eyes as part of a beautiful smile.
“Smell?” thought Subaru, confused. But Elsa just breathed in through her beautifully formed nose.
“When people are afraid, they smell afraid. Right now you are afraid…and also angry, it seems…at me.”
Elsa seemed to be having fun revealing what Subaru was thinking, as she looked up at him. Subaru answered with silence and a false smile, taking deep breaths and doing his best to control the quickening pace of his heart.
As Subaru went silent, Elsa narrowed her eyes like a snake. While Subaru felt pinned down by her stare, at the very least he would not be so weak as to look away.
Elsa licked her lips in response to Subaru’s empty display of strength.
“…I can’t say I’m not curious, but fine. I can’t risk causing a fuss right now.”
“Th-that doesn’t sound very nice. If you scare people too much your beauty’s going to be put to waste, you know?”
“Well, don’t you have a way with words. …If you could better hide the animosity you have for me, I might have been impressed.”
Elsa took her finger and gently pushed on his forehead, and Subaru’s frozen body loosened up. As Subaru gasped and heaved, trying to get his breath back, Elsa put her finger to her lips.
“Well then, I’ll be going now. I have a feeling we’ll meet again.”
“If the next time we meet is in a bright place with lots of people around I’ll be able to relax, too,” said Subaru cynically, but it was all he could do just to get that out.
Elsa gave a longing smile as if she didn’t want to leave Subaru just yet, but turned back around, with her black robe fluttering as she melted back into the darkness.
After Subaru watched Elsa literally vanish from sight, he leaned up against the wall, feeling like he had run a mile.
“I…I definitely didn’t expect to run into her again just yet. I guess she was just wandering around the area before she went to the loot cellar…?”
At the unexpected encounter with the final boss, Subaru felt as though his spirit was about to break. In terms of how mentally prepared he was to deal with either, meeting Elsa had much more of an impact on him than meeting Not-Satella. Subaru prayed that this was the last time he was going to have to see Elsa.
“I think that Felt’s place is just farther down ahead, but…Elsa couldn’t have found Felt and already wreaked havoc, could she…?”
She was a deranged psycho who derived pleasure from cutting open people’s stomachs. It was not unthinkable that she would have slaughtered two or three people just to kill time. Plus, with this being the deepest part of the slums, Subaru had a bad feeling about what he might find.
“I-it’s probably all right. I didn’t see or smell any blood. …I think.”
Given the stench of rotten garbage that filled the alley it would be impossible to discern the smell of blood, and it was so dark that Subaru wasn’t sure he’d be able to see traces of blood if they were there. But it was probably okay. Surely it was. So Subaru hoped at least.
About five minutes after his encounter with Satella, Subaru reached a dilapidated shack.
“With the inform
ation I was given, I think this is it, but…does this really count as a living space?” said Subaru, confused as he stood in front of the wooden plank that was serving as a door to the shack.
The inside of the shack was about the size of two portable toilets, the kind used at construction sites. It was as though someone took the phrase, “You only need half a tatami mat for standing, and a full one for sleeping,” to heart.
“Well, I suppose if it’s just a place to sleep, then it fits the description…”
However, the thought that such a small girl was living in a place like this made Subaru feel pity for her. He supposed he could forgive her for being so obsessed with money.
“So she’s living out her life here, huddling her already small body into an even smaller space. I guess it’s no surprise she’d turn out as twisted as she is. Ah… How pitiable, how pitiable is she.”
“Oh come on! It’s not that bad. Just who do you think you are, kid, belittling my place?”
Just as Subaru was entering his pitying mode, he heard a voice behind him and turned around.
There in front of him, glaring at him, was the little blond figure of…Felt.
The way she looked was not particularly different from the other times they had met. If anything, she looked a little dirtier than before, but that seemed like the result of her getaway being a quite a bit more rough on her than last time.
“What’s with you, looking at me like that with those pitying eyes?! You underestimating me just because I’m a girl and just a little bit filthy?”
“I think you’re reading the wrong emotion there, but…I’m just glad I’ve found you.”
While Felt didn’t even try to hide how irritated she was, Subaru subconsciously relaxed his shoulders in a sense of relief. Subaru was genuinely happy to meet up with her again. He was worried about what might have happened after his near-miss incident with Elsa, but in the end, things seemed to be looking for the better, rather than the worse.
In response to what Subaru said, Felt replied, “Oh, so you’re a customer.” She breathed out her nose, pleased with herself.
“The fact that you came here means you’ve got business with me, right? From the way you look, it’s clear that you’re not from around here.”
“Oh. You’re quick to see that I’m not really one of you. You’ve got good eyes there.”
“The people around here would at least take a little bit more care about the way they look. You’re trying way too hard. Plus, the way you’re trying to fool us with that dirty trick of yours, you look like you’re even worse a person than I am.”
As always, this girl really knows how to be insulting, doesn’t she? Subaru thought, quickly wanting to take back everything he’d said about pitying her.
“So, what do you want? If you want something stolen, I’ll need the money first. Depending on who the target is I may ask for more later, though.”
“‘If I want something stolen,’ huh… This is quite a business you’re running here. Are you really that proud of your thievery?”
“It’s called making a living. If I don’t do this, I’d have to sell my body. Anyway, so what’s it going to be? Or do you have some other business for me? Depending on your answer…” said Felt, quickly moving her fingers as if showing off her dexterity.
In her hand was a small knife that appeared as suddenly as if it had been summoned by magic. It was clear that she meant to show that she could defend herself.
If Subaru had to fight Felt, given both her dexterity and the fact that she had a knife, he had no chance of winning. But Subaru had no intention of fighting.
He lifted up his pointer finger and shook it left and right while clicking his tongue, as Felt continued to be on guard.
“I only have one item of business to discuss with you. I would like to buy from you that badge you stole.”
6
Having come this far, Subaru thought that being indirect or trying to dodge the topic would just worsen Felt’s impression of him. There was also the fact that Elsa was still wandering around the area, so Subaru wanted to dive right into negotiations.
However, Felt put her hand over her chest where it was likely she was holding the badge.
“How do you know that I stole a badge? The only person who should know that is the one who hired me, and I only stole it just a little while ago. This is way too quick a response for you to have just heard about it on the street.”
“When you put it that way… Yeah? That’s a good point. That was too careless, even for me, right?”
“…You really need to do a better job of hiding your intent, kid. A little taunt like that and you’re already spilling the beans?”
As Subaru held his head in his hands at his mistake, Felt looked as though she had lost the heart to keep up her hostility.
Felt dropped to her knees so that she was eye level with Subaru.
“So you want to buy this badge off me, huh? What are you trying to do? You can’t be on the same side as that woman, right? Is she your rival or something?”
“More like my archenemy, maybe? Like how you’d feel if she killed your parents. Or rather, if she killed you.”
“What are you talking about? Well, whatever, I don’t really care about that.”
As Subaru was trying to figure out how he was going to talk his way out of this one, Felt just laughed. She then took the dragon-adorned badge out from her breast pocket and waved it in front of Subaru.
“I’ll sell this to whoever can offer me a higher price. Even if there’s a chance that woman’ll be angry if I break off our deal.”
“Yeah, there’s definitely a possibility she’ll just snap, but… Anyway, I’m just talking to myself, you can ignore me.”
Subaru cleared his throat, and put on a serious face.
“So does this mean you’ll hear me out?”
“Only if it looks like there’s money in it for me. That’s obvious, right?”
“Sounds good to me. …I’ve prepared an item that is worth more than twenty blessed gold coins, and I would like to buy your badge with it.”
Felt’s ears perked up, and her red eyes narrowed like a cat’s. It looked as though she was trying not to appear shaken, but if she had a tail it would be twitching back and forth, so Subaru could not help but smile.
“Huh, I see. That’s quite a price. It looks like my hard work’s finally gonna pay off. …But unfortunately for you, your rival has already offered me the same amount, you know?”
“Cut the crap! The deal was for ten blessed gold coins, right? You get too greedy and you’ll die! No, like, seriously.”
In actuality, it was pretty clear that that was why she died the first time. Cause of death: greed.
With Subaru having gotten the price right, Felt must have thought that she couldn’t play it off anymore. After staring wide-eyed at him for a few moments, Felt lightly scratched the side of her head.
“What, you know that much, too? …Yeah, okay? The deal was for ten blessed gold coins. But you know, if I tell the person who hired me that another offer was made, she might counteroffer with more, you know?”
“That one’s not a lie, you know?” Felt, the thirteen-or fourteen-year-old, added, curling the edges of her mouth.
“You really are sly, aren’t you? I’d like to say just give it up and take the deal, but I don’t suppose you’d listen to me, huh?”
“Of course not! Plus, I’m not sure I can trust you. My ears didn’t miss a word you said. You didn’t say you brought twenty blessed gold coins, but only something worth that much. Isn’t this a little unfair, with me knowing nothing about what you’ve got up your sleeves, but you knowing all about me?”
“I think it’s more of a matter of how much you can prepare that really matters in negotiations…but it is true that without showing you this first, we’re not going to get anywhere.”
Subaru wanted to avoid having Felt sulk too much and wasting time, so he took his key item for the negotiations,
his cell phone, out of his breast pocket. Upon seeing the small device, Felt raised her eyebrows a little bit, but that was it.
As always, she didn’t respond to anything unless it was clear that it would lead her to money.
“Twenty blessed gold coins for this thing? It only looks like a hand mirror to me…”
“This is one of those immensely popular mitia. It can take a slice of time and freeze it, saving it away.”
Subaru turned on the continuous shooting mode. A light and mechanical sound went off several times. The bright light flashed through the alley and showered Felt with light.
“Whoah!” she said, in a rare show of girliness as she reacted.
Felt looked as though she was about to complain, but Subaru quickly showed her the cell phone’s screen.
“This is the power of this mitia. Using it you can leave behind a clear image. Another thing to add is that this is a very rare item. This is the only one like it in the entire world. How about that?”
Subaru had gotten used to explaining the cell phone’s function at this point, and when he finished, Felt went, “Hmm…” and looked carefully at the cell phone in Subaru’s hands, before nodding in agreement.
“…It doesn’t seem like you’re lying. But this is me? You said a clear image, but I think I’m quite a bit better looking than this.”
“If you weren’t in such a terrible environment and eating better, and—while it may contribute to what you might think of as shrewd business sense—if you could rid yourself of that sly, dirty personality of yours, I’d say there’s hope for you! It’s really just a matter of how you’re dressed up.”
“If we’re talking about choosing the right words to say, you have no talent when it comes to holding a conversation, do you? Geez.”
While Subaru might have scored himself a bit of irritation from that last statement, things were going well overall. However, one of the strong points of the people who lived in the slums was that they never easily agreed to anything.
“I’ll accept that this thing you have is rare, but I’m still not sure I believe you when you say it’s worth twenty blessed gold coins. I’m not such an airhead that I’ll just take you at your word.”
Re: Zero -Starting Life in Another World- Vol. 1 Page 16