Now that Subaru had made it safely back to the main street, Using his memories from the third time

around, Subaru positioned himself near the fruit store he had become familiar with. The face of the scarred store owner that Subaru could see out of the corner of his eye was very stern.

"This time our meeting wasn\'t exactly the best, was it… But, I know that you really are a kindhearted guy!" Subaru said, giving the villainous-looking

shop owner a thumbs-up, to which the shop owner turned his face away from, annoyed.

Subaru drew his thumbs back feeling unloved, and then returned his gaze to the street. As always there were tons of people passing by, of all shapes, sizes, and kinds.

It had been over ten minutes since Subaru had started his lookout.

"I\'m not sure I can trust my sense of time, but it would be strange if the theft hasn\'t happened yet…" said Subaru to himself, when an anxious thought crossed his mind.

"Hey, old man."

"What is it, Mr. Penniless?"

When the shop owner came out in front of his store and looked at Subaru,

he had already given up trying to hide how annoyed he was.

"Well, it\'s true that I am penniless, so I won\'t deny that, but… Old man, I\'ve got something I\'d like to ask you. Have you seen any sort of commotion happen around here lately?"

"You\'ve got guts asking me a question without buying anything. Whatever. Look, kiddo. Those sort of \'commotions\' you\'re talking about aren\'t exactly unusual around here."

"I\'m glad you answered my question, but are you serious?!"

"Does this mean I\'ve completely run out of options…?"

"However, the most recent commotion wasn\'t the usual fare. Someone was using magic and shot off two or three blasts of it. Just look."

The shop owner leaned forward and pointed to a stall about four spaces to the left. When Subaru followed with his gaze, he saw that right beside that stall was an alleyway, and there were a few holes gouged out of the wall leading into it.

"Oh, wow."

"There were some icicle-shaped things that were used like arrows, and one of them stuck inside that wall. It disappeared immediately afterward, though."

Each of the four holes was a little bigger than a quarter. Since they were able to make a hole like that in a stone wall, Subaru shivered to think what would happen if they hit a person.

But when he remembered how Rem send flying that thugs when help him, he felt this is not something impossible again.

But if that\'s the case then I was too late this time as well."

If the theft had already taken place, it was going to be difficult for Subaru to

"I need to try to meet up with Felt. If possible, I need to try to catch her before she enters the loot cellar, and then exchange my cell phone for the badge, but…"

Given that was a place at which he had already been killed twice, Subaru wanted to avoid the loot cellar as much as he could.

"I don\'t know why you suddenly decided to help me, but thanks, old man. 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.

"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 Rem, 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. 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

"With the information 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…"

"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.

In response to what Subaru said, Felt replied, "Oh, so you\'re a customer."

"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.

"I only have one item of business to discuss with you. I would like to buy from you that badge you stole."

However, Felt put her hand over her ċhėst 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 brėȧst 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 brėȧst 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."

"Well…that\'s to be expected. I don\'t mind personally that you\'ve got a spongy brain, but you\'re right. We need a third party\'s opinion."

It would have been great if Subaru could have pushed the negotiations through then and there, but he expected that that wasn\'t going to work. The problem was who to use as a third party…

"Deep in the slums, there\'s this place called the loot cellar. It\'s just as the name suggests, but I think that the quickest way will be to ask the weird old

man that\'s there. He\'s fair when it comes to appraisals. He\'s very experienced, so I think he won\'t have a problem, even with this mitia."

"I thought this would happen…"

Subaru had expected Felt to suggest Rom. It was also her meet-up point with Elsa, as well as a place where she\'d have a bodyguard if things went south. Given that an appraising eye was necessary for Subaru\'s mitia card, there really was no other choice. However, Subaru really wanted to have everything settled before they ended up at the loot cellar.

After the little scenes where Felt take Subaru on detour and a small talk about her dreams in the end they arrive in the loot cellar, a traumatic place where Subaru is die two times.