1.4.6

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 metia. 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 metia. 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 metia."

"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 metia card, there really was no other choice. However, Subaru really wanted to have everything settled before they ended up at the loot cellar.

"I have no problem with having the old man look at it, but…"

"Are you really going to call him 'old man' without even having met him yet? You may regret it, you know? He's pretty rough with people who don't know how to show respect."

"Despite that, he seems to be quite doting on a certain foul-mouthed young girl, always giving her milk and all…"

Subaru thought about the bald old man who always looked at Felt with calm eyes. From Rom's perspective, it must be like taking care of a granddaughter. But Subaru had no problem with him; it was the place that was the issue.

"I don't know what you seem to have a problem with, but if you're in such a hurry, we should go ahead and get going to the loot cellar. To be honest, there was something else that I was planning on doing, but…"

"Planning on doing?"

"Well you see, the person I stole this badge from is a lot more persistent than I thought, so I thought I'd try to sabotage her a bit. After all, you give the guys hanging around a little money and they'll do anything for you."

"All right, let's get going, immediately. Right now. Let's go go go!"

Subaru pushed on Felt's back as she started walking and hurried her along toward the loot cellar.

"What's with you?" complained Felt, puffing up her cheeks, but Subaru was proud of himself for being able to avoid as many casualties as he could.

A little cash was way too low a price to offer for anyone to stand in Not-Satella's way when she was in a hurry. If the alternative was getting hit with a block of ice and squirming on the ground, Subara was sure they'd rather clutch their hungry stomachs instead.

"My only condition is that we have the old man take a look, settle the deal quickly, and then get straight out of there."

"Why are you in such a hurry, kid? You're all sweaty, you know. Live strong and take care of yourself."

"Everyone seems to say that, but is that like the slogan of the slums?!"

Subaru had the feeling they should change it from "live strong" to "live rough."

As Subaru put that thought behind him, he made his way with Felt to the loot cellar for the third time in total this fourth time around.

He would leave immediately. He would dash right out of there, even if he had to leave everyone else behind. Having made his decision, Subaru pushed harder on the back of Felt in front of him.

"That hurts!"

"Ow!!" said Subaru as he was kicked.