1.4.5

"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 Elsa, Subaru reached a dilapidated shack.

"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…"

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."