Chapter Text
Ritsuka Fujimaru
I tumble to the ground as I try to catch myself. No matter how many times I experience it, Rayshifting never gets any easier, but this time it was different. Not only was it more violent and sickening, but right before we began the process there was an alarm. Some kind of error perhaps? I slowly get on my feet supporting myself by placing a hand to a nearby wall.
Breathing heavily, I open my eyes as they adjust quickly, I can tell I am in an alleyway, luckily, I did not end up falling out from the sky like in many other cases before. I sigh in relief but the moment I relaxed the awful feelings of nausea got out of control instantly which made me throw up all over the floor. Making disgusting sounds as I try and completely fail to control myself, I am about to fall to the ground once more, but I somehow manage to hold onto the wall.
“This sucks…so bad…” I mutter that the moment I finish spilling my guts out.
Taking more deep breaths, I get myself together enough to be able to walk slowly towards what I think might be a street of sorts, as I notice light and hear lots of people walking by the end of this alleyway. Coming out of the shadows of the buildings into the light makes my eyes sting but they acclimate to the brightness of the sunlight. I witness what is right in front of me, it makes me feel somewhat unsurprised to be honest.
The main street is full of people, be it humans and I can assume faeries of some kind? No, they might not even be faeries but other beings altogether. Maybe like Russia these are human and demonic beast hybrids? There are also food stands and other things being sold.
Though unlike Russia which had mostly wolflike people as the ones being the dominant species instead of humans, I see many different ones here that have animal features, straight up being lizard men, or some other type of human beast creature. It could still be faeries since I recall them also coming in many different shapes and forms. Maybe I should try to know what is happening and where I am.
Also, I did not realize that I am completely alone. I look at my right hand and see my Command Spells, but it is better to save them for when I truly need them. I tried to contact Chaldea, but I also got no response whatsoever. Some of the people walking look at me with a bit of confusion but they immediately keep walking on away from me. That is for the best, I do not want to gather much attention, though my Mystic Code might make me stand out a little bit compared to what everyone wears. I walk aimlessly for now as I look for any of my servants who might also be around here.
For a moment I feel a bit of a chill run down my spine as I look behind me a gust of wind goes by me at extremely fast speed, I said that it was only wind but since I have gotten rather used to keeping up with telling servant’s movements during their fights, I can tell easily that is not just some “wind” but actually a young blonde girl, just as fast as she went by me she also seemed to go around a girl, who If I were to describe her in one word it would be just “white” and the immediate reaction of hers was to retaliate against the girl who moved like the wind, which just as quickly that she came she went away, the retaliation came in the form of the “white” girl to shoot pieces of ice shards that just as fast as they were created they also disappeared as if they never even existed to begin with.
Then a chase began between them. Honestly part of me wants to know what happens next or to help that unknown girl. I have zero leads currently, cannot contact Chaldea, have no servants with me as all of them seem to be gone.
Magecraft seems to also be rather common here since everyone reacted in a rather underwhelming manner, yes still with surprise but nothing too major. Should that make me worried? My magecraft isn’t as good as most mages so this can put me at a disadvantage if worse comes to happen before I reunite with anyone. Well, standing around doing nothing will probably put me in a worse position so might as well ignore that and just continue the search.
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“I can’t get anything substantial…” I can only state that to myself in defeat, I have been walking in the direction where that mysterious “white” girl went without really thinking, so I am in some alleyways once more, they seem to be rather desolate compared to the main street.
I feel a little off, my instincts are telling me that there might be something that is coming.
I look behind me, and I see three men, they look rather dirty and messed up. The one at the forefront was a man with a rather white complexion that made me think of some others I had met before similar in that, though I decided to think about the current situation. Being a third-rate mage, with barely real combat experience, I mean, as in hand-to-hand combat of course, since servants are my main strength in battle and all… being also a young girl alone in a different world and facing three obviously dubious men in a dark alley. Am I cooked?
I mean I have had some little training here and there, and got into a punching match against Goetia, but even then, I find myself in a strange world I know little about, and magecraft seems rather common. I could try and fight them or maybe I could try something else. Not to mention I am still out of sorts since I got here.
“Hand over anything you have.” the biggest man in their group demanded in a very intimidating tone.
For a moment I try to use my Command Spell to call upon a Shadow Servant, but I only suddenly feel extremely weak in the knees almost falling over, I breath with difficulty, and feel cold sweat all over my body. I just made my own situation worse than it was with that failed try.
“Oh, thank goodness someone came to save me!” I yelled and looked behind the three men who were not expecting my sudden change in demeanor and looked behind themselves, but there was nobody, before they could react, I had already bolted from there. I could hear some screams of anger behind me, but I was quickly leaving them behind. I haven’t been running all over Singularities and Lostbelts for nothing.
Though I am faster than they are I still feel rather weakened, not to mention my failed summon from before made it ten times worse. So, forcing myself to run as fast as I can, I look behind me, and I can tell they are still following me, and slowly getting closer.
As I run without being careful with what is in front of me, being too preoccupied with what is behind me, as I turn on one of the corners I crash onto a wall. That’s what I thought for a moment since it felt like that.
“Hey, watch i—” I could hear a girl’s voice for a moment exclaim in a very angry tone, one that I recognized.
Right before I fell on my butt inches from touching the floor, she held both my hands and pulled me on my feet, though I was still reeling from the crash and viewing stars, because she was still holding onto my hands, I was able to stay standing on my feet.
“Fujimaru? I finally found you.” called the one in front of me, I get to compose myself enough that I see her clearly this time. Her expression is a mix of annoyance and worry, the black armor that covers her almost completely from head to toe, which I guess is why the crash I had with her just now really hurt. Honestly, even though I am mostly used to being surrounded by so many servants, many who are either very good-looking men or beautiful women, I can’t help but still feel captivated by Jeanne Alter for a moment.
“Ah, what a relief, Alter, I have been going all over—”
“You won’t get away from us!” shouted the men who were still in pursuit of me.
I was so happy and relieved about my reunion with a familiar face that I had completely forgotten I was being chased at this very moment. The men notice that I am not alone anymore, so they stop on their tracks, they seem to be unsure on what action to take.
“I feel like having a déjà vu from what happened earlier…” said the biggest guy in their group with a solemn tone in his voice. The smaller guy nodded to his companion’s strange statement, while the pale man brandishing knives in both hands seemed to be considering options, instantly, it felt like the atmosphere itself had become solid and was weighing me down. Though not too unused to the feeling, it is always hard to not feel the pressure when a servant is giving off their killing intent.
“So, you were having fun chasing around my Master?” Alter said with a rather sinister smirk on her face, letting go of my hands she placed herself between me and the thugs. Even without having her attention directed at me, it became a little hard to breathe. I could see the three men frozen in absolute terror, they were covered in sweat trembling, almost like they had faced death itself.
“We are s-sorry, we will leave her alone.” yelped the biggest man, managing to break the other two out of their frozen state of fear. They turned tail and run away desperately but Jeanne Alter caught up to them before they could even move a few steps, grabbing the shortest man by his right leg, lifting him up with one hand and swinging him against both his comrades, the men were all sent flying like a bunch of leaves being blown by the wind, quite the surreal view of a girl swinging a man like a ragdoll, but at least I could tell she was not going all out as they were only left on the floor all beat up, but not dead. I internally sighted in relief that it did not escalate too much.
“Hah! See how it feels like to be the ones on the receiving end, dumbasses!” After Alter exclaimed with a rather enthusiastic tone she walked back towards me, taking my hand and pulling me along to some other place. The heavy atmosphere from before was gone as if it was never there in the first place.
“Fujimaru, how come a bunch of pathetic low lives got you running like that?” Alter asked me that as she kept pulling me along with her. She did not turn to look back at me but kept looking forward.
“To be honest, I have been feeling off and couldn’t call any Shadow Servants. Sorry it might just be the Rayshift.” I stated things as they are, though it is quite embarrassing to be sent running like that in a weird way.
Alter stopped abruptly on her tracks and turned to look me in the eyes. She had a troubled look on her face, she closed her eyes for a moment, and her shoulders slumped a little bit.
“So, we are not in the best conditions. For my case I can feel barely any mana coming my way, so I am also not doing at my best capacity currently. And it's fine not like a Master should be fighting their battles by themselves anyways.” Alter said in a defeated tone.
“T-this is not good. I am guessing you have not seen anyone else from our group?” At the very least I hope that Alter might have a clue. But…
“Nope. Sorry, but I have not sensed any other servants nearby nor have I seen anyone that came with us.” Was the answer I got, it was disheartening.
This time I began walking and pulling Alter along with me. At the very least it makes me feel calmer to not be alone in an unknown place. Maybe we could go to the main-street again and we could ask some locals about this place, normally I would do that with Mash and the others, but currently I felt drawn to know about what happened to that mysterious “white” girl from before, I had even ended up in this situation exactly because I couldn’t help it but follow her.
“Hmph! This is nothing new to us by now, so there shouldn’t be any issues!” declared Alter, though I cannot tell if she is telling me this or just speaking to herself, I only glance back at her and nod. Even so I do feel much better even with that.
We reached the main street in no time. I was still surprised to see such a vivid city, with many people moving all over the place. One wouldn’t expect this place to be rather dangerous even with so many people even with-it being daytime. Almost getting mugged on my first day, probably even killed considering those men were armed and all. Not to mention whatever happened earlier with the two girls.
Now that I can take in the scenery better, I am basically back to the place where that crime had taken place earlier, I only ended up running in circles.
I approached a fruit stand, the merchant was a muscular man, with a twig in his mouth, and green hair that was banded back into a slick-back style. The most notable feature of the man was his face which had two large scars running down from his forehead to his chin, and right below his left eye. Normally anyone would be intimidated by someone like him, but with the many things I have seen so far, I have come to know that appearances can be deceiving.
“Excuse me sir. Could I ask you a few questions.” I try to interrogate the man, but that might not have been the best approach. The man had a friendly air at first but the moment I questioned him his expression soured. I could tell that change made Alter also react in kind as she crossed her arms over her chest, because of her armor a lot of her movements she would make would elicit a clanging sound.
It would seem the man had quickly caught on that what we wanted to ask him was not related to his work. He only made a “tsk” sound and sighted in annoyance.
“Why does today have me dealing with strangely clothed people and probably broke too…” the man seemed to be feeling rather dejected as his business might not be getting much on the profit side of things.
I could tell Alter was about to retort back and before I could chime in, Alter stopped as she twitched in surprise and looked next to her. In her left side there was a little girl, probably around ten years old or less, she had bright green hair styled in a bob style haircut, the pink dress she wore only added to her cuteness.
The little girl was peeking at Alter’s face intently, or so I thought but the girl spoke, “Your hair reminds me of that Big Sis from earlier.” so it was not her face but her hair that she was interested in.
The merchant made a very complex expression for a moment and was about to speak when the girl continued, “She was really nice even though she seemed scary at first.” was not something we expected to hear.
“Pfft…” I tried to contain my laughter at Alter getting called scary to her face like that. Alter seemed to be very confused by the backhanded compliment that came out of nowhere. The little girl grabbed Alter's cape.
“Your cape and armor are very cool, It makes you seem mysterious, Big Sis.” praised the little girl with a very sweet tone in her voice.
Immediately Alter’s demeanor changed completely from the confused state into a very prideful one, puffing her chest as she had her hands on her hips now all filled with confidence. I could even see her shine as she laughed completely content.
“Of course I am the coolest. You have a great eye for people indeed, little girl.”
Yeah, she is that easy. Alter just pats the little girl in her head with her left hand. She was saying things like “truly a person of culture,” “of course I am awesome,” “I can tell you have been raised the right way,” and many other things like that.
The merchant seemed taken aback by how things are turning, but his expression softened.
“Sorry for the way I spoke just now, earlier a couple of kids helped my little girl, so I will answer your questions.” The man had a very kind look on his face; I am sure he loves his daughter a lot.
I smile in kind, and we begin our conversation. I asked the man about the city, which seems to be the Royal Capital, in the Kingdom of Lugunica. The man was confused about us not knowing anything about the world which seems to have made him worry quite a lot. Since Alter and I could not read or write in this world’s language, nor did we know how currency worked here, much less know where we even are. As we kept chatting about the kingdom, I could see Alter and the little girl, whose name was Plum Risch, while her father, the merchant’s name was Kadomon Risch, those two were surprisingly getting along, mostly because Plum just kept giving her compliments and asking Alter about herself.
Who could have seen the Dragon Witch get strung along like that by a little girl, well that side of Alter is one I enjoy.
I also asked Kadomon if he had seen certain individuals, those being my other servants, by giving him descriptions of them, but he told me he had never seen anyone like that. Though, he might keep an eye out for us just in case. After we said our goodbyes to them, we decided to keep wandering some more around the capital. But Alter did not sense any servants at all whatever we went to.
It was good that we could move around without much issues considering many around here had unusual hair colors or wore things that one could see servants wear normally, be it armor, or even robes, and other strange attires here and there.
Though my white uniform might make me stand out, Alter’s black armor also makes her stand out even among the people wearing armor. So, both black and white would indeed be the sort of thing that gains attention to a degree.
From time to time, I see some passersby look our way, and that made me think of the statement Plum made before, about Alter’s hair. So far, I have not seen many others share that sort of hair color, except for the “white” girl and the pale man, though his hair also had a splash of pink color to it. Maybe I am overthinking it.
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Alter and I decided to get to the slums after going almost everywhere in the Capital. It was very helpful that servants can feel each other through distances, so we did not need to investigate every little corner.
The difference between the areas in the Capital was astounding. Even in the darkness of the night, I could still see well enough with the moonlight that the place was all run down. The paved roads were all now just dirt, there was trash here and there, and the buildings were very damaged and seemed to be about to fall sooner rather than later. While we were moving around, we tried to look for Leylines, but we had no luck at all.
“Fujimaru, at this point it seems like it’s a better idea to find a place to rest up.” Since my attention went to her the second I got my eyes off the road I tripped and almost fell on my face. Luckily Alter caught me quickly and helped me up on my feet.
“Jeez, today you can’t stop falling for me.” The way Alter said that showing some bravado was cute, so I could only respond to her in kind.
“It’s not my fault that I got swept off my feet since we met,” I was partially teasing her of course, though only a little.
I peered at her reaction; she seemed to be completely taken aback as I could clearly see her get completely red at my sudden remark. I really enjoy how easy she can be to read.
“You truly got brain damage Fujimaru, what kind of person would think like that about someone who was trying to murder them?” it seems my response might have had the opposite effect of what I thought, maybe she is not embarrassed but furious at me?
“Sorry if that was a weird thing to say. You are correct, we should find a place to sleep for tonight, probably camping outside of the city?” I guess I am just not good at these sorts of things. Not that it matters for now, so the focus should still be on getting in contact with Chaldea, finding the others, and getting to find whatever truly is the issue here in this, maybe singularity.
“Weirdo… I do not dislike that.” muttered Alter in a voice so low that I could have misinterpreted the whole thing so it is best to assume I might be misunderstanding.
I look around the place, we could also stay around here, though I am not sure sleeping in such a place that seems rather on the unsafe side of things would be the best idea. As I scanned my surroundings, I noticed in quite the distance from us, a familiar figure that stood out in the darkness.
“Oh.” Escapes my mouth.
Alter follows my gaze as she notices what is it that has caught my attention.
“Do you know her?” Alter questioned me.
“Not exactly, I only saw her once before. When I got here in this singularity she was walking on the main street and out of nowhere some other girl with blonde hair came up running at incredibly high speed at her, and while I couldn’t tell what the blonde girl did to her well…” I explained the events and how following her ended up leading to finding Alter.
The mysterious girl was in front of a huge building, at least compared to many others I had seen on my way, it was not high storey but it was still a wide building, it could probably be some sort of store. Not to mention there was a huge wall right behind said place.
“Isn’t it odd to see a girl like that here in the middle of the darkness?” Alter seemed to find it suspicious. If we ignore ourselves also being two girls roaming around in the middle of the night without any specific place to go, then yes.
Just when I consider going her way to finally talk to her, the girl gets inside the building. As I was still in the middle of moving forward that place, Alter grabs onto my arm and pulls me back.
“Hey, why the sudden—"
“Something is not right.” Alter’s gaze was not on me but fixated on the building. Alter was now on guard; her sword had already materialized in her left hand at the ready for anything.
“What is it?” I tried to not show any doubts in myself.
“I can smell it. The scent of death.” She finally let go of my arm after that statement.
If the building is a dangerous place and that girl walked inside like that. Though it could also be the other way and it was her who did something?
Alter takes notice of my brain spiraling and continues, “I could smell blood inside that building the moment that chick opened the door.”
Servant’s extremely developed senses are something that keeps shocking me even after meeting countless of them for years now. Be it sight, be it hearing, or smelling, I always get reminded of how while they are still people, they are still beyond anything that would be considered human.
“Isn’t that even more reason to check it out?” I am trying to act confidently.
“Normally if you had said ‘jump’ I would ask you ‘how high?’ but currently as of how things are with you feeling like shit, it could go south quickly. Not to mention we might be very late already.”
“How can you be so su—”
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“—re?”
I tumbled to the ground face planting on the stone floor, the pain on my nose was a bit bad but it was far from any other pain I had felt before. The sudden fall and physical pain were bad; the feelings of sickness and nausea came crashing down on me so instantaneously that I ended up throwing up while I was still laying there.
Now I was in a pool of my own vomit which made me vomit even more out of the repugnance I was feeling more than just the nausea from before.
I got on my knees coughing and looking at myself, all stained with vomit on my uniform and other places of course. It did not help that my uniform is white colored, though being a Mystic Code, it can be cleaned easily. Wait, stone floor? My eyes adjusted quickly to the brightness, though still in the darkness of shadows it was clear that it was no longer night time.
I looked around me, the tall buildings were around me covering me in their shadows, it was daytime, and the same alleyways I found myself in earlier today.
I had already experienced this many times before. Be it in summer or in Valentines. Was I in a time loop again?
Taking off my jacket from my uniform, I clean myself in the back side of it to at least not be walking around all dirty in vomit, though the smell might be bad.
Alter is of course missing again; this will get troublesome if we do not find each other again soon. So now we must deal with an unknown land plus possible time shenanigans? We cannot get a single moment of rest, can we?
At the very least I know for sure Alter is around somewhere here in the capital, perhaps I could try to go to the last place we found ourselves in. What if I just went around too screaming for her like a crazy person? Since her senses are very good, she should be able to find me, though when we ran into each other the first time I still crashed into her even with her senses being so good. Her bad habits and tendency of being careless do not help, she did say she is not at her best.
I inhaled a lot of air into my lungs and exhaled it all slowly. Calm down me, this is going to work somehow.
Getting out of the darkness of the alleyway once more, I am met with the stream of pedestrians walking in many different directions, the many stores open with merchants chatting with customers and selling their goods.
People still look my way for a moment since my attire is still too off compared to other’s clothes but is still not enough to only give them a passing thought. As I am looking around, I notice that one of the stores is the one from Kadomon, maybe I could stick here and wait around for Alter. Then again that big building in the slums might also be the other place I should go to for meeting up, that would be counting if she is also aware of the possible time loop. Considering her class skill as an Avenger, she should remember to a degree.
Wouldn’t be surprised if this was one of BB’s pranks again. I heard commotion and saw it happen again, the event with the “white” girl and the blonde one repeated the exact same way.
What if the reason I felt drawn to that girl was because of fate. It’s weird already that I found her in the slums at night, now the whole thing going on here, and the possible loop. I decide to follow the girl running behind her when she initiates her chase. Of course, having gone back to how I felt when I arrived, I was very weakened.
Even when I was confident in my physical prowess and speed those girls were so quick that I was losing track of them fast. We got into the alleys and that was already a red alert in my head knowing that the three men might be in there somewhere.
I pushed myself to keep on moving to not get left behind, my breathing was getting ragged and my body was aching from over exertion. If I was at my best, I would be able to run for a very extended amount of time, but now I feel incredibly powerless.
I could not keep their trail any longer even though they were still between reasonable reach, I had to stop running. Completely out of breath I tried to wipe some of the sweat running down my face with my black shirt.
“Damn it, what do the people here get fed with?” This world had some incredible individuals.
“Why are you following me?” I heard a somewhat familiar voice, because of that familiarity I let my guard down and turned around to face the person.
“Mash?” The voice sounded so oddly alike to that of my kouhai that I did not question the contents of what the person was even saying to me.
“Who is Mash? And when asked a question it is only polite to answer first.” The person speaking was none other than the “white” girl I had been chasing around. It was a bit strange that she was now behind me, but considering her using magecraft before this should not be that much of a stretch for her to teleport or something.
Because I am facing her now and rather closer than before I got a good look at her. She was very beautiful, had long silver hair and purple eyes. Her outfit was predominantly white but it had some purple as well which matched her eyes perfectly, along with it a flower in her hair. She might be around my age or maybe slightly older.
The girl extended her hand at me and ice shards appeared floating next to her. She seemed to be extremely on the defensive so to make myself less threatening I put my hands up in a less aggressive gesture.
“Are you working with that girl?” I could feel the temperature keep dropping.
“Woah! Wait! I do not even know that person!” I shook my head from side to side in denial.
“Then why are you chasing me around like that?” The girl’s voice lacked emotion.
The best way to go would be to go to the point, “Have you done this exact same thing before?” my question would be very odd I suppose so I continue, “Like you experienced the same thing twice today?”
“What are you talking about?” I could see question marks appear on top of her head already trying to understand me. If I did say that the day seems to be repeating, I feel like she would suspect me even more and probably find me insane. Unless time spells or magecraft is a common thing here, I highly doubt it.
“I felt the need to help you.” That is one of my most honest thoughts, I can surmise that the blonde girl probably did something to the “white” girl to make her upset like that. And I cannot just ignore that sort of thing. Of course, the fact that she was both one of the first people I saw in this world and one of the last before that time loop restart was also another matter.
But Alter’s words about smelling blood in that run down building that the girl had walked into was very unnerving. If I can stop things from going badly for someone, I want to give them a hand.
“I do not understand why you would want to help me.” The “white” girl finally seemed to relax.
“That person appears to be rather genuine, Lia.” stated a disembodied voice. The impression was like when a servant is in their spirit form so in a way that was not too shocking to me.
A tiny catlike creature came out of the “white” girl’s hair. It had light gray and white fur, with a pink nose and bright aqua blue eyes. It was very adorable.
“She does seem to be rather sickly though.” The tiny cat pointed out immediately at my poor condition.
The ice shards that the girl had made dissipated into thin air. It appears that the two of them do not see me as an immediate threat anymore. I let out a sigh of relief letting the stress be washed away.
“I cannot keep on wasting my time with you, sorry but I am in a huge hurry.” The girl walked away again. But she made a pause and turned my way again, a complicated look on her face.
“But maybe you could come and help me out a little, if you have any leads or something…” the girl was reluctant to both leave me but also to take me to help her.
“It’s okay, Lia, this girl does not seem to be a liar nor does she seem too bright to make some sort of elaborate scheme.” The tiny cat floated in front of the “white” girl whose name I assume might be Lia. It came towards my way and said in a lower voice, “I am sure she just can’t ignore your current state.” He winked at me in a playful manner.
Should I feel a little upset about the insult that was thrown my way? Well, it is better to be branded as that than something worse.
“Is your name Lia?” I decided to ask her directly; I would like to get to know her better.
Lia was about to answer me, then pondered my question, and seemed to resign herself to answer.
“No, that is just what Puck calls me. My name is…Satella.” The oddly serious expression she was making while saying that, was a little odd, not to mention Puck’s reaction to her seemed confused and disapproving. Could it be that is not her name?
It's strange if she is giving another name, but it's not the first time for me considering servants tend to try to keep their names secret whenever they are in a Holy Grail War. Better just accept it as it is. I extend my hand towards Satella.
“Nice meeting you, Satella. My name is Ritsuka Fujimaru.” I give her a reassuring smile.
Satella got closer to me and shook my hand, looking slightly bashful and confused. She could just be a little shy, the feeling of her hands was soft but also, I could tell her hands were getting a little sweaty. This is cute.
Looking intently at me in the face now I am the one getting nervous here.
“Is something wrong?” being stared at like this by a very adorable girl who is still holding my hand, well, not the first time for me but it never gets easier. Perhaps the one with the sweaty palms was not her but me.
I let go of her hand and moved back a couple of steps.
“Your forehead and nose are a little red.” She pointed out at my face.
“Oh, yeah I fell face first earlier today, it’s nothing though!” I touched my forehead just rubbing it as if it was just that, nothing. Though the feeling I got from that action was painful I did not show it.
“Don’t say it like that, let me see it.” Satella approached me and held a hand out towards my forehead and nose though not directly touching them, there was a light coming from her hand, the lingering pain I still had was gone and there was a feeling of warmth.
“Do you feel better now?” Satella observed me with a softer look in her eyes.
“Y-yeah! Thank you for the kindness, I uh…” calm down me, I still need to know what is going on with Satella or this singularity.
I could have used the Mystic Code I am wearing to heal myself, but I am worried that I will over exert myself like I did when I attempted to summon Shadow Servants. The last thing I want is to be completely out of it when I can try and find out what is happening.
“You stated earlier that you do not know that girl, so I was wondering how you would help me find her, you do not come off as someone who is too capable to be honest.” The way Satella is saying this in a non-mocking way makes it hurt a lot more than it probably should.
It hurts more when it comes from someone who is not even attempting to insult but stating facts.
“Ouch, that went straight through…” I made an exaggerated reaction by placing a hand over my chest.
“It is fine, no worries! I am sure I will be of help with this, could you tell me more details of what happened though? I did witness the event but I need more information about it.” I place my hands on my hips imitating a certain corrupted saint in her shows of confidence.
“I am looking for my insignia, it was stolen and it is of extreme importance to me.” Declared Satella in a matter-of-fact way.
“Did you also tell the authorities around here?” I would think Satella’s first thought would be to report that to them for help, if it is something of great importance.
She shook her head and continued, “No, I cannot go to them no matter what, this matter is one that I have to deal with by myself.”
“Alright, by the way I am also looking for a person very dear to me, have you seen a pale woman wearing pitch black armor, has grayish hair, and is very adorable looking? Oh, and she might also be wandering around with a flag.” I hope she has at least gotten a glance of Alter somewhere.
“Never seen someone like that before, sorry. So, we are both in search I suppose?” Satella realized.
“If you help me find my insignia I will also lend you help to find your friend.” Satella’s reaction pointed to her now understanding better why I would want to help her.
I guess a stranger saying something like that without gaining anything in return is awfully suspicious, while not false that I genuinely wish to help her, it makes it easier if she believes it to be just for my own benefit.
“Let’s get back to the crime scene, I am sure we will get more intel there.” Accepting my idea, Satella followed me.
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On our way back to the place, Satella did not continue walking and her attention was elsewhere. I followed her gaze and spotted a young girl with green hair and a pink dress. I wanted to sprint to her and greet her as I already knew who she was.
But we had not met each other yet in this timeline, so a random stranger running to her would be scary, not to mention knowing the name and address of that child would get me jail time.
Even so it did not stop me from going to see what was going on with her, she was all alone in the middle of the street, so I can only assume she was lost.
Plum was very distraught and the moment she perceived me coming her way she reacted with some worry, after all I am someone unfamiliar to her, not to mention wearing a bizarre outfit to the people here.
I attempted to look the least menacing possible and got on my knees to meet her gaze directly.
“Hello, are you perhaps lost?” I smiled softly at Plum as she was about to speak. She noticed Satella approach us, her reaction went from nervous to terrified instantly and she tried to hide from her, crying her eyes out.
I remembered how she reacted to Alter, about her looking scary to her at first but comparing her to someone else like that. Perhaps my assessment about hair color earlier was not off. I cannot understand why that would be the case, but I can only wait to ask about this to Satella later.
I saw the hurt in Satella’s eyes, I mean having a child cry at the sight of you must be rather harsh.
I patted Plum’s head which got her attention away from Satella, “No worries that pretty big sis is a kind person, she even healed my forehead and nose earlier.” I showed her my forehead which was no longer red.
Plum stopped crying, still looking nervous but no longer scared.
“Hi, would you like us to help you find your parents?” Satella approached us and lowered herself to our level.
We took Plum into a walk, she was holding Satella’s hand to keep her from getting separated from us. It did not take too long to find Plum’s mother which was a huge relief.
Remembering Mr. Kadoman had mentioned something about someone strange helping his daughter before, maybe Satella was the one who did it. Though I also recall it having been “a couple” of kids rather than one person. Was someone else with her before? Maybe me changing things altered that outcome, for better or worse.
We found ourselves now in a park, just chilling on a bridge that was on top of an artificial pond, it had various fountains there spraying water from time to time. There were some sales stalls nearby as well, which attracted the people with the nice scenery.
Satella looked up at the sky, lost in thought, “You did not even think much about helping that little girl.”
“Ah, sorry I know we are in a hurry to find your insignia or my friend.” I did not consider that I am with someone else currently, but I cannot ignore someone in need if I can do something about it.
“No no it is fine, I was going to go there to help her even if you would be against it. I do not think leaving a scared little girl by herself is the right thing to do.” Satella turned to look my way.
“You come off as the sort of person who would waste her whole life helping others.” That was said in a factual sort of way by Satella, though she did not seem upset about it.
I get the feeling that she is no different at all, at least when it comes to giving others a helping hand. She herself was going to do the same.
“We should get going now.” I head to the way I believe is where the crime had taken place.
We got to talk to Kadoman to tell us about the blonde girl since we had helped Plum. Not only that but Satella also got a flower clip as a gift for the help, it was a very heartwarming thing from Plum’s part. But my mind is gone to whatever that old building is in the slums. Not to mention I couldn’t find Alter anywhere even when asking around.
Perhaps she went around in her spirit form which would make it nearly impossible to track that way, considering she herself said to not be at her best it seems like the best way to save up energy.
We went to the slums towards the outer side of the kingdom, near the wall that is protecting its borders. It's gotten late again, the sun is setting now.
Since it is still earlier than the time I got here with Alter, I could see the place better, and it was more depressing than I thought before, dirty, some homeless people laying on the sides of the street, other people looking ragged and tired and some even giving us clear animosity.
“The people here seem to be an extremely friendly bunch don’t you think?” I could only say that with a sarcastic tone.
“We can always ask someone about it.” Satella voiced her thoughts, she tends to try to do things the right way, which is not bad at all, but it does complicate things when it comes to more pressing matters.
“There is no way they would rat out someone if that person is one of their own.” Puck came out of Satella’s hair, the way he speaks is that of one who is used to Satella’s more closed up mind set of right and wrong.
“The both of you should just decide now if you are to continue the search or end it today. My time is about to run out.” Puck yawned as he warned us, looking very tired.
“Is something wrong?” I must know if there is some sort of curfew that the city abides by.
“Even with my adorableness I am still a spirit, my mana runs low the longer I stay in my physical form, so I must return to the crystal I am summoned from. I can only be around from nine to five.” Explained Puck to me, rubbing his little eyes.
I also ended up yawning after trying to suppress it from seeing Puck yawn just a moment ago.
I did not know spirits had specific times like that, at least compared to servants who can go about nonstop if they have mana, only sleeping when they feel like it or to save up some mana. I guess in that way it is similar, even so it is a very specific curfew regardless of that. I suppose spirits here and in Chaldea might work with very different rules.
“We should still be okay, even without Puck.” Satella’s voice carried an air of insecurity to it but I did not object to her.
“Yeah, if anything happens, I am good at making escapes! Trust me I have gotten away from crazy situations myself!” more shows of fake confidence from myself, it feels odd but as things are I believe it’s the best to just not show any weakness in the face of uncertainty.
“I shall trust my daughter to you for now, be her meat shield if needed.” Puck spoke jokingly but I could sense a little bit of honesty from his statement.
“I shall be her shield as a dear friend of mine was my shield for a long time!” I did a salute like the ones the military give to their superior officer.
“Very well, Lia, if you need me, you can always use your Od and I will be there in a heartbeat!” with those parting words Satella took off a green crystal she was wearing and Puck got on top of it.
“I am sorry I have been pushing you hard today, Puck, do not worry about us, we will be alright.” The way Satella and Puck spoke to each other, the way they look to the other as if they are the most precious thing in the world. It gave me the impression of that of a real father and daughter.
While I have made very close connections to people and servants in my years working for Chaldea, I hoped that the others around me found me just as precious as I find them, just like these two are to each other.
Puck then vanished, his small body turned into a small ball of light and then it melted into the air as if it became one with it, it was different to how servants take spirit form, somewhat similar yet different. Truly a different world, isn’t it?
“Time to continue the search.”
Was the last thing I said before we continued to move forward, asking others around for information, which most would turn us away or straight up ignore us. Many did not seem to be very fond of Satella as they would usually glare at her, be it with hatred or fear. So, I was the one to do most of the talking.
Because of my more messed up appearance after today’s little accident, not to mention a bad smell coming from my jacket which is still a mess, some of the inhabitants would indeed speak to me though still weary from Satella’s presence.
At last, one of them finally gave us information about the building known as the Loot House, in which most stolen goods would end up in. Just as I thought, the building was the same one I saw in the first loop, the huge run-down building near the wall.
“I guess this is it then?” I felt a sense of dread just from seeing it from afar.
“Yes, the master of the place should be inside if what that man told us is true.” Satella, compared to me, was more composed.
There was still some light, but was about to become dark, the same as when we got here. Maybe I will be able to witness what truly happened inside. The place was so ominously quiet, like all life in the zone had just disappeared.
The best thing would be if I could get Alter here, maybe I should call her with a Command Seal, but I do not want to use it just yet. I do not know for how long I will be here and what makes me a Master is those spells in my right hand.
“Satella, I should be the one to go first.” If anything, I would rather not have her expose herself. I have great reflexes and I know that I cannot let my guard down, also I want to keep my word to Puck.
“That sounds like an awful idea.” Immediately denied by her!
“It's fine, it's fine! If something jumps at me there, I can always call for your help. I will convince the master of the Loot House into giving us the insignia. As the last master of humanity, I always make the impossible into possible!” I gave Satella a thumbs up.
“I have no idea what you mean by that, but I can tell that it is of great importance to you.” Still having doubts in her tone, she continues, “Alright but I will stay alert to anything.”
“Alright! Well thank you very much for trust—”
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“—ing in me?!”
I tumbled to the ground, but this time I was able to stop my fall with my arms. It hurt a little, but it was still way better than falling on my face like last time. The nausea came instantly which led to me vomiting all over the floor for a third time now, it was still as disgusting as the other two times.
It must be connected to that place. There is no way it keeps happening whenever I arrive there. Or maybe connected to Satella, unless it is something else entirely that I am missing. I kept playing the events in both loops and the only differences were that I was with a different individual in both but everything ended when arriving at the Loot House. I can only hope this does not turn into a one million times loop like in valentines.
Maybe I should go there by myself, it couldn't hurt to try and see if it only applies to when Satella gets there, considering both times I got there, she was there too.
Just as things were going to repeat the exact same way, with me getting to the main street, having pedestrians look at me weird, or Satella getting her insignia stolen, something changed completely.
“Wait! P-Please, wait!”
A boy who yelled suddenly came out of an alley next to Kadoman’s fruit store, he seemed to almost be tripping on himself.
“Wait! Satella!” His voice rang strong all over the marketplace, and everyone stopped moving and looked his way, from their reactions they looked very concerned or even insulted as if the boy had just screamed something terrible.
In the middle of it all was Satella who also paused, I could sense some tension in the air.
But the boy who was too tired and desperate to notice the ambiance just kept on going, “Please don’t ignore me! My dying and not doing what you said were my fault! But I was desperate! I went back to the loot house after that, but I couldn’t find you…” he was panting.
“I’m sorry for only thinking of myself. But I’m glad you’re all right, Satella.” I can tell his words are genuine and truly filled with regret.
She turned towards the boy, her gaze was icy cold as if she had never met the boy ever before, which is weird since the boy clearly knows her even by her name.
“What are you thinking?” asked Satella in a furious tone.
“Huh?” escaped the boy’s lips being at a loss for words.
“I don’t know who you are, but don’t call me by the name of the Witch of Envy! What are you thinking?!” Even though that anger was not directed at me, I still felt it all the same as if I would have been the one on the receiving end. I could not imagine how the boy was feeling.
“I will ask one more time. Why did you call me by the name of the Witch of Envy?”
“Because you told me to.” They boy’s words were not a lie, after all, she told me the exact same thing in the past loop.
“I don’t know who told you that, but they have terrible taste!” complained Sa—
No, not Satella, so her name is something else entirely. I suspected as much from Puck calling her Lia. She did mention that was a nickname between the two so I cannot tell any more than that.
Lia continued, “The Witch of Envy is the very symbol of taboo, and you call me by her name, which most dare not even say!”
“That’s right!” exclaimed a lizard man.
While a cat-like man with gray fur added, “That’s going too far, boy!”
“If you have nothing to say, I’m leaving. I have things to do.” Lia was closing their conversation with that, turning around to leave the scene while the boy, dumbfounded, tried reaching a hand towards her in desperation.
There I saw the blond girl jump from a rooftop and approach Lia as she was walking away from the boy.
“Felt!” shouted the boy.
And just as she did in past loops the blonde girl moved like the wind and took advantage of the moment that Lia’s attention was elsewhere. By the time Lia had turned around it was too late, the blonde girl had taken the insignia and gotten away. Lia checked her pockets, noticing the lost object.
“Were you stalling me? Are you working with her?!” she was again facing the boy, now placing the fault onto him.
“N-No!” denied the boy without much hesitation.
Lia continues once more her pursuit of the girl.
“Hey! Wait… Wait a minute! You’ve got it all wrong! I’m…” the boy stopped himself from speaking as Lia was long gone, not to mention all the people on the street kept looking at him with judgment, as if he was lower than dirt and scum.
What should I do?
Lia making up a name is not bad, again not my first rodeo with that, but it’s still extremely odd. Can’t imagine myself using a name that is so cursed for everyone in the world. Or at least that’s what I gather from everyone’s reactions to this Witch of Envy person.
Now the thing that gathers my attention is that strange boy, why would he appear now compared to the other past loops he was not there at all. Could he also be in the loop?
Wait, his clothes. He feels so out of place because the clothes he was wearing were normal clothing from my world. That was a tracksuit, sneakers and was carrying a plastic bag in one hand. Not to mention the black hair which I have not seen anyone so far having.
I need to follow him. If he is indeed from my world or another similar to it, what is he doing in here?
I ran after the boy who in turn was following Lia. It was problematic that I had been so stuck on my thoughts about the whole thing that I was left behind them all. I put everything I have to be able to catch up to them as fast as I can. Since they are following the blond girl, whose name I can guess might be Felt, or so the boy called her when she appeared.
I hear some angry yelling coming from an alleyway, that was the voice of the boy. Then other screams resounded as I got closer, they sounded very familiar to me.
I lowered my pace into a walk and got to see what was happening in the alleyway. It was the three delinquents from earlier, the three were surrounding the boy who was sprawled on the ground. Then I noticed in the boy’s back something was sticking out of it.
The smaller of the three men pulled the knife out of the boy’s body which made things worse for him as the blood was flowing nonstop out of the stab.
“What are you doing?!” the biggest man in their group called out to the smaller one.
“Well, no sense in wasting him! Take anything on him that’s worth selling!” squealed the short man.
How have things turned like this so fast? I was frozen for a moment and then I used my Mystic Code. Pointing a finger in their direction I shot Gandr, a curse that immobilizes its target. My target was the man with the largest build; he was sent flying backwards from the hit of the attack, and immediately dropped to the ground without any resistance.
The issue now is that I am also about to fall from using it, I felt the strength on my legs give out almost instantly once I had used the Mystic Code. It was like what happened in the first loop with the Command Spell.
Even so I did not care, I forced my body to keep myself from falling. And called for help, the guards or anyone I shouted to gain everyone’s attention.
Things were happening so fast that the two other men did not know what to do or how to respond to my unanticipated appearance and attack.
I could see the boy on the ground was losing too much blood, I wanted to just run over to him and use healing magecraft from my Mystic Codes, but my body cannot keep up for much longer.
I walk forward looking at the boy’s face as I move agonizingly slowly towards him, his face contorted in pain and disbelief, I could see some tears running down his face from the pain and fear.
The men had moved to try to help their friend up, so that made it easier to approach without being in immediate danger, reaching down to h—
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I stumbled to the ground once more, supporting myself from the fall with my arms before hitting the ground.
The nausea came instantly and I began to throw up. No matter how many times it happens the feeling does not get any easier, it gets worse.
This is going to be one of those loops that has very specific rules, ain’t it? I stand up, ignoring the feeling of weakness in my body. Crossing my arms over my chest I walk away from my vomit, which stank bad. Now that I can focus on my thoughts.
The first loop had me find Alter who was roaming around the city, saw Lia getting her insignia stolen by the blonde girl who I presume her name is Felt, the three criminals who are looking for easy prey, Mr. Kadoman and his daughter, and lastly the loot house at the outskirts.
The second loop there were some slight changes, for once I did not find Alter, another was finally getting to know Lia more personally, meeting Puck as well, did not get into trouble with the delinquents, helped Plum to return to her mother, learning more about the spirits in this world, and then again, the loot house.
And finally, the third loop, it was the shortest so far. But the biggest change was that boy. Not to mention Lia may know him, because he called her Satella, the name she used when we met. That boy ran into the delinquents who then stabbed him.
Putting all my experiences here so far like this helps me come to different conclusions. A person not from around here. That boy might be someone important to this. Him also knowing ‘Satella’ though that can easily be just her lying to people around her, but it just does not add up to her getting so angry and confused when getting called that.
She also was very kind; I cannot imagine her tricking others like that just for her own satisfaction. I get a headache from thinking about her reasoning.
I remember in the first loop Kadoman mentioned a couple helping Plum. Could it be Lia and that boy?
My mind keeps going in circles. I do not have enough information to get a clear answer.
“GAAAHHH!! This is so annoying!” I hold my own head in my hands as if that will help with anything.
Might as well just go to that loot house to get the answers about what is going on there.
This is a loop, so my guess is the events should repeat, yet I cannot imagine the boy once again appearing if he is also aware of the loops. Only someone aware would change the events after all.
The boy was wearing clothes from my world, which would make him not from around here, could he be like Musashi and be jumping around worlds?
I had been stuck in my mind for a long period of time, it made me realize I might lose the chance to stop the stealing of the insignia, I moved quickly exiting the alleyway. But I was indeed too late by then. I witnessed the event repeat the exact same way it did the first time.
Had I been a few seconds earlier maybe I could have warned Lia about it. If there comes another time loop then I should go with the prevention, though I could only warn her since ‘Felt’ moves too fast. Using a Mystic Code like Gandr could work but if I were to miss, I could hit someone with that curse by accident. If I were to jump her while she runs at that speed, I feel like it could turn into a very bad “car crash” to put it in that sort of way.
I have survived hits from even cannonballs, and other things like that but, even if I can take that hit, I cannot say the same for the girl in question. Not to mention I do not think I can catch her with her moving that fast anyways.
All things point at just getting to the loot house regardless. Or finding that boy to see what he knows. Maybe I should just use the Command Seals to call one of my servants. No, when I used it for the Shadow Servants it went bad. Yeah, time to see what the whole deal with the loot house.
If I happen to find the boy or Alter on my way the better. I can just do both the search while also moving to the place of destination.
What could go wrong?
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Natsuki Subaru
“Return by Death.”
The statement that I made to no one but myself fell on deaf ears as a carriage being pulled by a dragon went by right in front of me.
“I actually get a time-leap ability, and it only activates when I die. Basing it on my being a loser is typical of me.” I continued with my rambling, there was a merchant nearby but he only thought of me as a loiterer so he did not pay attention to me.
Now that this is my fourth life nothing that happened with Satella has happened here. There is no more debt to her then.
Then the only way to go should be to forget it, sell my phone as a rare metia and use any of my knowledge about my world to my advantage here. I could even become rich with that!
“My dream is taking shape before my eyes! Right Mister?” I questioned the merchant from afar.
“W-Why are you asking me? I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“Aw, that’s cold.” Even if I knew perfectly well that was correct, it still stung.
“I don’t wanna get caught up in other people’s problems. Don’t talk to me.” The man’s attention went back to his work.
I continued going my way. Nobody likes getting involved in the issues that happen around them. People who even when they cannot afford it still stop on their tracks to help a random stranger who has nothing to give them back to.
She had gotten something very important to her stolen, stopped to help me, and even healed me. Even letting this useless me who was a complete stranger feel pleased with myself…
I see a couple walking with a child, both parents holding the child’s hands. Memories flooded in my mind about Satella and me helping the lost little girl. Then the mother of the child accidentally dropped a tomato.
It was unnoticed and no longer any of their problems as it rolled onto the street getting run over by a carriage.
The tomato becomes just a gooey red stain on the floor.
Satella may not know me, but her insignia was still stolen by Felt, which means Elsa will…
Regardless of how many times I go back, history will still repeat itself. Remembering the way, I died getting my stomach cut open. I subconsciously place a hand over my abdomen.
I turned around and ran to the place where things had gotten into motion. I cannot ignore people that I used to know getting killed, especially when I have the knowledge of it!
I had finally gotten to meet with the merchant I kept looping back to, the save point fruit shop. Completely out of breath I asked the man about a robbery happening here. He was very dissatisfied with me asking him that, but he still answered me. Telling me about an unusual case earlier of someone using some magic to stop the thief.
I was late.
The man answered me because someone had helped his daughter who had gotten lost.
“I guess fate is a compelling force, too…” I uttered that with a smile.
The man was confused about my reaction, so I could only promise him to buy an appa from him next time we met. The man gave me some words of encouragement as I kept going my way once again.
With that I must get quickly to Elsa, buy the insignia from Felt before the same thing repeats itself. A tragedy waiting to happen and time is running short. If I can get the insignia back to Satella then… wait her name is not Satella, that was an alias she used for some reason.
“Then I’ve gotta get her to tell me her real name this time!”
As I am running through some alleys I see three figures in front of me, standing on my way. I come to a halt.
“Are the only thieves of this city you three or something?!” I exclaim already tired of dealing with them.
“What is this weirdo saying?” stated the mushroom haired short guy.
“Get all your stuff out right now if ya don’t wanna get hurt!” ordered the pale man.
There should be some sort of law enforcement here from what I recall in the last loop; there was a mention of some sort of guards.
Someone had appeared and gotten into a fight with the men after I had been stabbed. I was already losing too much blood and could barely see things clearly, but it was someone wearing white clothing and had orange hair.
I took a deep breath and cried for help with all my might. I even imitate a more feminine tone of voice to touch upon the sense of pride of some man out there that wants to save a girl in danger.
“Please help me! Someone! I need a man!”
“Stop that! Just shut up!” the pale man was trying his best to make me not call for help. Which only prompts me to continue even more.
“No, don’t touch me! Stop!” I added more to it to appeal to the guards or anyone nearby, but nobody was coming.
“Dear lord, do not pull that off again, that almost freaked me out.” The biggest man spoke in a nervous tone.
“Just a little bit.” The pale man now even paler than before stated.
“Just a tiny little bit.” The smallest mushroom haired one agreed. “Trying to run away won’t help you.” He continued.
The pale man pulled out a knife, while the biggest one pulled out a machete.
“YOU DAMN MORONS ARE AT IT AGAIN?!” resounded the voice of a woman, filled with animosity.
Then a black shadow descended on the three men, it might have come from a rooftop or something because it just fell from up in the air.
The dark shadow quickly made work of the three men, in the blink of an eye they were sent flying in different directions all beaten up.
Now that the shadow stopped moving so much, I could see that it was a woman clad in black armor, a black cape, her short hair was gray and slightly messy giving her a wilder look than that of Not Satella, she wore a piece of armor in an M like shape on her head, her yellow eyes fixed on me, while her looks were entrancing as she was beautiful an air of absolute violence and an overwhelming feeling of fear surged on me.
“What the hell are you staring at?” the woman’s tone filled with annoyance.
She stared in different directions looking for something. She grabbed the pale man by the neck and held him up with one hand.
“Have you seen a dopey looking red-haired girl wearing white clothes?” She interrogated the men. I felt like running away, I felt like my legs were about to give out any moment from the pressure.
The men all denied in unison. The woman then slapped the pale man a couple of times in the face and threw him towards his buddies.
“Where the hell are you…” the woman looked distressed, even though she had the situation in complete control.
“That’s enough!” resounded a man’s voice in the entrance of the alleyway. His voice alone evaporated all the tension in the air instantly; it was gallant and had no doubts nor hesitation in it.
My gaze fell on the man, his looks were incredible like he was the very picture of perfection, he was wearing white clothes that seemed to fit him perfectly, his red fiery hair was very flashy and his blue eyes gave him an air of dignity.
I heard a clanging and steps approach me, my attention was back on the woman who was now standing next to me, now that I had a clearer look to her she was rather young, probably around my age, because I was no longer trapped in the feelings of fear, I could better appreciate her beauty.
The men on the floor attempted to try to gather themselves up.
“Hey, are you like the law enforcer of somethin’?” The girl in the black armor did not hide her emotions as she glared at the man.
“I am off duty currently,” answered the man frankly.
“Well, Mister Off Duty, your fellow workers suck so bad, if you guys did your job properly, she wouldn’t have to run around like a headless chicken… but never mind that, now you have me dealing alone against some armed men with this walking stick?” she motioned with her left hand towards me, then proceeded to grab the knife that belonged to the pale man, it had fallen next to me without me noticing.
She made a casual motion of throwing it towards the man but the way it was thrown was such that I lost sight of the knife, which instead of hitting the man or bouncing on the rock floor it got stuck there making some cracks onto the floor.
The man did not react much to the provocation; he kept himself calm and collected. He took the knife off the floor without any issues.
“My apologies, would you like to accompany me to the captain Marcos. It is only right to be upset about the guards not doing their duties for the people.” The man smiled, not a fake smile but a genuine one, it could probably melt the hearts of the people.
“Pass, I have more important things to do. Just deal with these losers.” After blurting that the girl seemed to realize something.
“Has any one of you seen a girl about my age, slightly taller than me, red-haired, white clothes, and a very naïve and silly look on her face?” I could see the girl clenching her fists out of frustration.
“No, I—” I remembered when I looped last time I saw someone like those descriptions before passing away.
“Sorry, but I have not seen any girls with that description.” The gentleman in white answered.
“Tsk.” That was the last sound that came out of the girl.
After that the girl looked at me as if appraising my very existence.
“Wearing a cheap looking tracksuit in a fantasy setting is quite embarrassing.” After stating that the girl disappeared right in front of my eyes, like she was never here in the first place.
It did not dawn on me immediately, then I realized the words said to me. Someone who knows what I am wearing? If it is someone from here or maybe not, why would someone native from here call it a “fantasy setting”? when I think about it my thoughts get interrupted.
“A spirit?!” The delinquents finally got on their feet, the one exclaiming was the biggest man.
“N-Never mind the spirit! The Sword Saint Reinhard Van Astrea is here!” the mushroom haired short man shouted.
The three men didn’t think twice before running away. Just like that only the red-haired man and I were left there. He came over to me, hanging on the side of his hip was a sword in its scabbard. That made him look more imposing.
“Are you alright? Not everyone could be in front of a scary spirit like that one. I might need to go and talk to the knights about it.”
I breathed easier now without the girl or thieves around.
“Yeah, I am fine, that girl came to my rescue rather quickly.” I explained to the man, I am guessing Reinhard who was listening closely.
“That’s extremely weird, why would a Great Spirit that aggressive do that, though she did mention the search for a girl. Anyway, what is your name?”
“I am Natsuki Subaru, you were called the Sword Saint, Mister Reinhard?”
“Just call me Reinhard, Subaru.” And just like that he ignored any barriers and went straight to the more familiar stand! Is he some sort of hero?
“I am glad you did come to my aid, while I appreciate the reluctant heroine from a moment ago, but she was scarier than those guys.” I felt my soul almost leave my body from the freight I got.
“A pleasure to be of help to you, your clothes and hair… you are not from around here correct? I could still help you if you want.” Proposed by Reinhard, his demeanor turned more serious.
“That would be great! You can come to the loot house and—” I recall how dangerous Elsa is, I cannot afford to place someone in danger like that.
“Loot house?”
“It’s okay, no worries. I will be okay, but just like that girl from a moment ago, have you seen a girl with silver hair, white clothing, and a talking cat with her?” I would rather find her if I can.
Reinhard ponders on my question and denies knowing someone like that, with that I decide to go on my way to visit Rom and get the insignia. I thank Reinhard while leaving him a message for Not Satella in case he sees her, that I will get the thing she lost back to her.
Just like that I continue moving forward.
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I finally found my way to the slums, the sun had already begun to set, so time was running out.
The slums were rather smelly, the roads were made from dirt, and the buildings were showing visible damage. There was a man sitting on the floor in a wooden stand, rather than a stand. It was probably just a set up to keep things from getting dirtied and damaged.
Approaching the man as I held the plastic bag in my left hand, I greeted him in a casual manner, the man was not bothered by it and greeted me back. I asked the man if he knew where I could find Felt, to which he gave me a general direction, about two streets down the road I was walking on.
Thanking the man for his help I continued my search for her. It was strange that the man said to me to “Live Strong” but I took it to wish me luck.
“The question is whether Felt will come back there… I’d rather catch her before she goes to the loot house, and trade her the cell phone for the insignia—” as I was walking, I pulled out the cellphone, but in my ramblings, I got distracted and was not paying attention in front of me.
Because of that I bumped into a person.
“Whoa!” I almost fell, barely managing to keep my balance, the other person did not move at all from the crash.
“Oh… dear! I’m sorry! Are you all right?” The voice was that of a woman, it was sweet to the ears, almost too sweet.
“Yeah, I’m fine. I don’t look it, but toughness is one thing I’ve…got…” I answered the woman.
Then I finally got my eyes on her, a small gasp escaped me. I was face to face with certain death. Elsa, a woman that exuded an aura of both depravity and danger was standing right there in front of me.
Flashbacks of how terrific she was when she was killing everyone at the loot house flashed on my mind, before I realized it my left hand was on top of my stomach covering it as if to protect myself from what was sure to come. I was trying and failing to not shake from the fear and weakness in me. Elsa smirked at me, if I did not know better my heart would beat from the sight of a beautiful woman, but in this case it only beats from the unease creeping up my spine.
“What’s wrong? You don’t have to be so scared. I won’t do anything to you.” From anyone else those words would soothe them, but to me, I can only listen to my own heart which feels as if it's about to burst from my chest.
“I… I’m not scared! What gave you that idea?” I try to hide the fear from reaching my voice.
“Your scent. When people are scared, I can smell their fear. You are scared right now. You’re also angry, aren’t you? At me.”
With those words the woman’s glare on me was like a butcher sizing up a piece of meat. She proceeded to lick her lips in a very arousing way. Just when I was expecting things to turn to the worst, someone grabbed onto my left arm and pulled me from behind with so much strength that I could not even resist it.
“C’mon you idiot, we are getting late to find that chick.” I was just barely able to keep myself from screaming when I was pulled, but now that I could see the person in question it was the girl from earlier that day.
“You—” as I was about to speak the girl ignored me and took me away from Elsa.
“Oh my, who might you be?” Elsa’s tone was still casual, but her stance had gotten stiffer.
“Just your run of the mill country bumpkin so, have a good day lady.” The black armored girl states nonchalantly paying not much heed to Elsa.
Elsa was not amused, but still waved her hand in goodbye to us as we left her there.
Turning her attention back to me the girl continued, “Yeah yeah, I am not listening to your whining.” The girl was walking without any issues while dragging me, who was taller than her away. Considering how she made work out of the three thugs, I am sure she might be stronger than she appears.
She helped me earlier, and now it feels like she is doing it again. What’s her deal?
Minutes passed and we got away from Elsa, who did not look satisfied with the interference.
“Uh…” I try to have a conversation, but the words won’t come out.
“What an annoying woman, truly you have very shitty luck, huh?” the girl’s attitude was as clear as a glass cup, the sort of person who will speak her mind without a care of appearances.
“Y-Yeah, could you tell me who you are?” I was finally able to ask the obvious question.
The girl let go of my arm. She was facing the other way away from me so I could not peek at her reaction, but she was pondering for a moment. Do people in this world just straight up hate giving me their names or something? Or is it just mysterious pretty girls with whitish hair?
“You mentioned my clothes earlier, compared to everyone else I have encountered you did not find my attire strange, are you from Earth or something?” I decided to ask her directly about the fact that she knows something like that which does not seem to be common here is suspicious.
“Yes, that is correct, I am from Earth. And you may call me Jeanne Alter.” She now faced me. Her cold glare and demeanor contrasted with Not Satella’s warmer gaze and attitude.
“Could this be the tsundere heroine?” I just spoke what came to mind first from the different girls I have been meeting so far.
“OH, MY FUCKING GOD WHY WON’T PEOPLE STOP SAYING THAT TO ME?!” Jeanne Alter shouted at the top of her lungs, incredibly mad, so much so fire came out of nowhere, perhaps the ground. Said fire was so hot even though there was not much of it it was hot enough to make me feel like I was inside an oven.
I stepped back away from Jeanne Alter, but the fire went out quickly. I couldn’t help but keep comparing her with Not Satella who had used ice magic I assume compared to the fire magic Jeanne Alter showed a moment ago.
“Maybe I should have let you get mugged by those three idiots from earlier.” Jeanne Alter’s tone is filled with hatred.
“All right all right, sorry.” I half heartedly apologized to her just to quell her anger.
“Bullshit, but I do not care anymore. How the hell did a person like you end up here?”
I cannot just deny something so obvious so I am completely honest when answering her, “I just arrived here today. I was going to shop at a convenience store when I blinked. I was well, in this other world.” It was odd to be having this conversation with someone so seriously, never in my life I expected that I would experience being sent to another world for real.
“So, a normal kid getting shoved in a situation far off his capabilities, figured as much, you do not give off any sort of impression outside of ‘average’ kid to me.” Jeanne Alter stated something that hurts me more than I would like to admit.
“Anyways, have you seen oh wait you denied it earlier, never mind. What’s up with your reaction to that creepy lady from earlier?” she questions me, raising an eyebrow at me.
I consider lying about Elsa to not place Jeanne Alter in danger, but then I remember her making work out of the three men as if they were nothing, not to mention the men calling her a ‘spirit’ so she is not a normal person.
“I am currently trying to stop that woman, her name is Elsa and—”
“Didn’t you just say you arrived here today? From this Elsa chick’s reaction she did not seem to know you, so how the heck do you know her?” Jeanne Alter’s yellow eyes were reading my every move in suspicion.
“I-I am not—” I am failing to explain things without having to explain the whole process of things, but before I try to speak about Return by Death, Jeanne Alter shuts me up by holding up a hand.
“You know what, I do not care. Continue explaining the creep and what is her deal.” She urges me to continue my earlier explanation.
“Well, she made a girl named Felt to steal an insignia from a girl with silver hair, I do not know her name though, but if she gets to this ‘loot house’ Elsa will kill everyone there…” I spilled everything, probably not the best thing to do when just meeting someone who also screams ‘dangerous person’ in her demeanor, but considering she helped me twice today and is from Earth it just made me let my guard down.
Jeanne Alter is considering everything I told her carefully.
“What are a bunch of strangers to you?” her question is logical considering I just told her I had just arrived to this world today.
“I cannot ignore people in danger just like that.” My answer to her was my true feelings. Her expression told me that my answer was not to her liking at all and I could feel her about to explode again in a fit of rage.
“I see, you are like them. Another annoying person for sure.”
An unexpected reaction, while her words were cruel, I could see her eyes soften as she was thinking of something.
“I cannot promise anything, I am in a search myself. But I will keep close by, you do your thing.”
“What is that supposed to mean?” the moment that question leaves my lips Jeanne Alter like how she did before, disappeared into thin air.
What the heck, she left me?!
And here I was hoping she would do something. Made me waste my time. I came to meet with Felt and change the fate that is yet to come.
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Jeanne Alter
I follow the idiot who forgot to give me his name, not that it matters since I heard it from his conversation with that Reinhard dude earlier.
I have been following him since then in my spirit form and I do that again. I can tell he did not understand what I told him, but that is of no importance.
I cannot give much help even if I wanted to, considering I am separated from Fujimaru, I am glad to have the Self-Replenishment skill, but it is not enough to let me go guns blazing as I wish.
If I leave this oaf by himself, it will make Fujimaru upset, and I also do not feel right in leaving someone ignorant to supernatural phenomena to his own luck.
The best way for me to move around is to stay in spirit form as my mana consumption is lowered.
We keep going down the road, everywhere we see is just run down, or nasty looking. So, this is where the low lives are all gathered. Doesn’t matter the time or place, humanity will always have these sorts of issues.
How frustrating.
People looking miserable, malnourished, with little to no hope left for them to see if a tomorrow is coming.
The idiot has finally gotten to what might be that Felt brat’s home. The place is a tiny shack, so small I cannot imagine someone even sleeping there, much less living.
“Someone actually lives here? Elsa hasn’t already been here and trashed it, has she?” spoke the idiot to only himself.
As he is walking into the place as if that won’t upset the owner of the place, I notice someone approaching from behind that dumbass.
“I-It’s fine, I’m sure. I don’t smell blood. It does smell like garbage, though…”
It’s the brat. She is young, quite short, has medium length golden hair with a black bow. Her red eyes fall onto the idiot looking inside her place, she wears a black top, red scarf that really catches the attention of anyone.
I continue my watch of her; she is cautious of that defenseless doofus. Oh she is not happy at all.
She does not approach any closer to him, just standing a few meters in guard, then she breaks the silence.
“What do you think you’re doing, peeking into someone’s house? Sorry, but there’s nothing worth stealing in there. Beat it!”
The boy turned to face the girl, who now has gotten a rather big knife with quick movements. She is rather dexterous in her movements, though I can still tell that she is not going to be much of a challenge at all, though for a normal inexperienced person that does not change the danger someone wielding a knife poses.
Holding his hands up while also still having the plastic bag with snacks hanging there on his arm the boy pleads to the blondie, “No, wait! That’s not what I was doing!”
“Shut up! Don’t argue!” After she yelled at the idiot she swung her knife wildly.
“Whoa, stop!” he evades the swinging of the brat’s amateurish movements.
“Calm down! This is no time to fight!” the pleads keep falling on deaf ears as she just goes wild with her attacks, is this a circus or something?
Maybe I should intervene, I do not think it will escalate to more, but if she ends up killing him, it will fall on me as I was the one who decided to stick around and give a hand.
I materialized behind the girl who was in the middle of doing a spin attack which led to her being unable to stop in the middle of said swing. Her face looked shocked the moment she noticed me standing right behind her.
Her knife struck me on the side of my left upper quadrant of my abdomen. It made a loud clank sound as my armor protected me easily from such a weak blow.
Because the brat did not expect to hit something so hard the knife slipped through her grasp and she yelped.
“Isn’t that enough?” I urge her to stop her attacks, definitely in a non-threatening way of course.
“Who the hell are you?!” being now surrounded from the front and behind the girl is now very wary of us both.
“I am just your run of the mill country side girl just keeping an eye on the idiot behind you.” I point at the idiot in question.
“So, you are still following me?” asking me the obvious I take a deep breath.
“I told you I would… for now think of me as just your shadow, ignore me I am not saying anymore than that.” I move a few meters away from them, keeping my own distance.
“As if some normal chick would be wearing armor around like that… what’s this all about, just a couple of clowns harassing me at my own doorstep?” I could see a little fang protruding in the girl’s mouth, it gave her a livelier aesthetic.
“I don’t give a shit, that guy is just wanting to buy stuff from you and I’m just a shadow, that’s all there is to it.” I state that and cross my arms looking away from them.
“So, you two are just clients then? Couldn’t you speak sooner?!” The girl was at a loss.
“I tried to talk to you but you wouldn’t listen! You attacked me immediately!”
“How about we let bygones be bygones? Oh, and sorry for the hit.” The blonde girl apologized to me, though I can tell she really does not feel sorry at all.
“Whatever, as I said I am just nobody. Y’all just do your order of business.” With that last statement the two continue their conversation.
As they are trying to get down to some sort of agreement, I think about how I could just beat that girl enough so she gives us the insignia thingy and thus we should be able to avoid the whole confrontation.
It would be as easy as taking candy from a toddler, but then a little Fujimaru appears in my mind, not being happy with me resorting to beating a young girl up to steal something from her.
Maybe I can just force her into giving it up, the idiot currently is willing to exchange his phone for that thing, I mean we give her that and we take the stupid thing, win-win, right?
“Can you tell that weirdo you brought with you to stop eyeing me with such a nasty glare? I just feel chills from how little she hides her bad intentions.” The blondie brat hugged herself with a very uncomfortable expression as she returned the glare back at me.
As the girl reluctantly accepted to let us have the chance to get the insignia, she took us towards the so-called ‘loot house’, one of the conditions for that was for me to not go inside the establishment though.
And so, as we got closer to the destination the only thing that came to mind was; So, it really was him who wished to save ‘her.’
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Ritsuka Fujimaru
It took time to find the building again, but I did, this time earlier than I did the other two times.
The place was huge compared to many of the buildings in the zone, so it was not hard to spot it, though it being near the wall also helped to find it.
I knocked at the door, but nobody answered. So, my only thing to do was to keep on knocking until someone would open. I was doing it for some time until a man’s voice resounded from inside.
The door opened and a huge man with dark skin, his bulky figure dwarfed me. Even if he was hunching his back, he has long white eyebrows, wearing a sleeveless vest, he also has a crimson symbol across his left side of his head.
“It’s too early to bother an ol’ man at this time of the day!” he exclaimed, irritated at my incessant knocking.
After letting me inside the place I take a seat by a sort of bar, there are various tables and chairs arranged like a restaurant, so probably there are gatherings here.
Many different objects, some that were of high value and others that could be considered trash, between them, there are armors, some various weapons, and miscellaneous things. The sort of things you would find at a store in a fantasy video game. The wallpaper was damaged and mostly already torn down. The ceiling was high and there was a chandelier hanging from it.
“Sorry, I am looking for a girl named Felt. And someone told me I could find her here.” It was not a lie; it was something I learned from a past timeline.
“Oh, so you are one of her customers, I understand, are you going to stick around here until she comes? Might take a while but she is gonna drop by later anyways.” spoke the older man lazily, drinking alcohol from a big tankard.
“So how do you guys know each other?” I attempt to make conversation, as I will be here for who knows how long.
“We have known each other for some years, so we stuck together so far to make life less boring in this side of the kingdom.”
While speaking the old man made a very fragile smile, like that of a parent or grandparent when they remember the kids they took care of and saw them grow up. Added the soft look on his eyes and that explains everything.
So, people living in such a place in society. It was a harsh reality for many who have not lived outside of commodities.
If I had not traveled the world in the singularities or lostbelts, I would never have known the conditions in which people live out there.
“Would you like something to drink?” he offered me some water and even milk, but I declined.
I thought about how we did not really introduce each other.
“My name is Ritsuka Fujimaru, nice meeting you, Sir...?” I prompted him into giving me his name, I extended my hand towards him for a shake.
“Name’s Rom, that’s a strange name, Ritsuka.” He was pondering about it but just continued drinking.
We continued our talk until we heard someone at the door, Rom went to attend whomever was knocking.
“For a rat…”
“Poison.”
“For a white whale…”
“A harpoon.”
“To the noble dragon lord, we are…”
“Shitbags.”
That was the exchange between him and the voice on the other side of the door, said voice was that of a young girl. I can only guess that to get inside normally there are passwords? Or maybe it’s a “them” only thing?
I am lost in thought when the door is opened, the person who walked inside was the same one that stole Lia’s insignia, I am sure of that. What I did not expect was that behind her was a boy, but that was not what caught my attention.
That was the boy from a past timeline in which he was scorned by Lia and subsequently got himself killed by the three delinquents.
““It’s you!”” we yelled at the same time.
The moment our voices resounded at the same time the boy and Felt got pushed to the sides, the person who moved them out of the way was Alter, standing there staring at me.
“Fujimaru!” she quickly made her way towards me; I got up from my seat.
“What the hell did I say about not coming inside the loot house!” shouted Felt in anger, but after she saw me, she raised an eyebrow in confusion.
Alter stopped on her tracks right in front of me, placing her hands on my shoulders and shaking me.
“I have been looking all over for you! Where the hell have you been?!” she is so cute when she is worried, wait, I can barely keep my thoughts from wandering.
Alter stops shaking me, the world feels like it is spinning.
“I-I’m sowy…” I couldn’t speak properly.
“Who’s this?” Felt questioned Rom, confused to have a surprise guest here waiting for her.
“She said she is a customer of yours, she wanted to do business with you, so she’s been here waiting to meet ya.” Rom explained in a serene tone.
“Is that so? Oh, well, though she seems to know that scary chick or something?” Felt walked towards the counter.
“Heyo… I mean h-hello!” I greet Felt, finally I can get to meet her at last.
“Sup’ I do not care for you two getting all chummy over here, but I do care more about what is it that you want from me. If you want me to steal something you better be ready to pay in advance, depending on the target I will ask for more pay.”
“Yeah, I can wait for my turn in that, I for one thing am interested in the guy you have brought over.” I state my interests at hand. Currently the very obvious Japanese boy in a track suit over there is the one I am also seeking.
“Sorry but he is here for business y’all can just wait til it’s done and you can chat all you want afterwards.”
“I think it would be good to have a chat indeed.” The boy agreed with my sentiment.
After that the boy tries to exchange his cellphone for the insignia. That does tell me that he is also in it with Lia, well, sort of.
Rom is appraising the cellphone calling it a ‘metia’ and that it would sell by a lot. In my case I was going to give one of my Mystic Codes, if necessary, as a payment, but having someone throw something else is convenient.
The negotiations gave the impression to be going well enough, but—
“Now, if we’re done talking, let’s go for drinks to celebrate a completed sale!” the boy exclaimed in an overly positive way, walking away in a cheery almost forceful manner.
“Hold it.” ordered Felt, her tone cold.
That made the boy freeze up like a statue.
“Why are you in such a hurry?”
The boy staying in place slowly turned only his upper body slightly to be able to look at Felt behind him.
“Life doesn’t last forever. Make every second count. Don’t waste any—”
Felt interrupted his speech, “Yeah, yeah. I don’t care about all that. Why do you even want the insignia, anyway? This insignia is worth a lot more than it looks like. That’s why everyone wants it. In other words, this would sell for more than a metia—”
“Hang on, Felt! That’s a dangerous way to think! He appraised it at over twenty holy coins! Just sell it for that! Don’t ask for more!”
Negotiations are falling apart faster than I thought, the boy really is not the best at doing them.
“Should I just make them all stop their idiocy?” Alter was asking me for permission to just use brute force, but I shook my head.
“El— The woman who asked you for it can’t go higher than twenty, either. She won’t pay more than that!” With that statement this is about to get worse.
“Hmph! How do you know that?”
The boy was left speechless, he messed up.
Alter tensed up, her eyes going towards the entrance of the loot house. She got her hands off of me and murmured, “Someone’s coming.” The others did not catch it since it was too low.
“You just admitted that you are with them.” Felt kept pressing on him.
“I don’t have time! Please, Felt!” implored the boy filled with desperation.
“Begging won’t help. I acknowledge you as a negotiating party. But it wouldn’t be fair to not hear what my client has to say.”
“The reason I want that insignia is so I can return it to its owner.”
“Huh?”
“I want to return it to its owner! That’s why I want the insignia. That’s all! So please!” the boy begged Felt, even bowed his head to her, pleading with her with all his might.
Rom broke the silence that followed, “Felt, it doesn’t look to me like the boy’s lying.”
“Don’t get taken in by him. He’s obviously joking around. Return it to the owner? Ridiculous! If you’re gonna lie, make it believable! I won’t be fooled!”
“Felt…” the boy spoke in a soft tone, he was half bowing now as he gazed at Felt.
A knocking on the door startled the boy.
“Who’s that?” Rom asked to Felt.
“It might be for me. It’s a little early though.” Felt walked quickly to the door.
It appeared as if the soul was about to come out of the boy’s body as he was sweating bullets.
The sheer terror on his eyes was of someone who had stared death straight up. It was enough to make me feel uneasy.
Just as Felt was about to reach the door—
“Don’t open it!” shrieked the boy.
“W-We’ll be killed!” he stepped back away from the door, he was not acting, those were his sincere thoughts.
The door to hell was opened, there was nothing to be done now.
“Kill you? I wouldn’t do something so terrifying.” The one to speak was Lia, who poked her head inside the place and then walked in, placing a hand on the door so it wouldn’t be closed shut.
“Huh?” the boy was in disbelief.
“Huagh! A weird sound came out of Felt’s lips.
Lia’s face was filled with indignation. Though she looked rather cute with such an expression on her face.
“I’m glad you’re here. You won’t get away this time.” Lia declared. Felt moved away from her quickly.
“You never quit, do you?” Felt’s voice was irritated.
“Hey, this ain’t that creepy weird ass lady in dark clothing from earlier.” Alter voiced her thoughts.
“Are you perhaps speaking of yourself?” Felt couldn’t help but make that remark.
“GO TO HELL!” roared Alter at the obvious jab at her.
The boy standing near the counter looked defeated, like he got a revelation from the world or something.
“Its okay, Alter, I think you look great, very cute and cool, the best of both worlds.” I try to comfort her and place a hand on her head to soothe her.
“I-I know I am cool and stuff, but stop that.” She grabbed my right hand with her left one, it was a warm hand, I liked that feeling even through her gloves. She was turning red, cute.
“Flirting at a time like this...?” the boy placed a hand over his mouth as if in shock.
“It’s not like that!” Alter’s whole face was even redder than before, perhaps from the anger or from the embarrassment, I say it’s both things.
All the tension that was in the room earlier had gone away from all our little antics.
“What is happening here? No, never mind that, just do as I say and I won’t hurt you.” Lia brought back attention to herself.
Then a bunch of ice shards materialized in the air, all of them floating and pointing at each and everyone of us in the building, the air had gotten cold.
“I have only one demand. Return my insignia. It’s very important to me.” Lia gave her ultimatum.
Rom nervously spoke, “If she were just another magic user, I wouldn’t back down, but this one’s trouble.”
“What’s with you, Old Man Rom? You’re admitting defeat before we even fight?” disappointed at Rom, Felt voiced her concern.
Rom continued, “Young lady, you’re an elf, ain’t ya?”
Lia closed her eyes for a moment before answering, sighing in defeat she responded to him, “Not exactly. I’m only a half-elf.”
“A half-elf? And with silver hair… Wait, are you…” Felt backed away more from Lia in a growing sense of terror.
“It’s an accidental resemblance! It causes a lot of trouble for me, in fact.” Waving a hand in denial Lia was not going to let someone talk about her appearance any longer.
So, this proves that having whitish hair does have some sort of negative view in this world. I still do not understand it all, but I can gather from this exchange and the one she had with the boy before.
After clearing the misunderstanding Rom and Felt both visibly relaxed.
“I don’t exactly approve of having my master getting threatened by someone we barely know. I am feeling like rearing to go now.” Alter smirked after declaring her intentions, her flag in her right hand.
“Stop that! Didn’t you say you would give me a hand?!” the boy yelled at Alter.
“Is that why you were with him?” At my question Alter looked at the floor, then at the ceiling as if to look for a way out.
I do not have the full picture, but I know enough to tell Alter should know about things I do not and probably get told by that boy.
“Alright alright, I get it already. I still do not approve of my master being in someone’s sights. But I also think it is better if things get solved right now.” Stating those words Alter just relaxes her stance.
“That should be enough then, right? Why not just give her back the insignia, Felt?” cheerily the boy spoke to the others in the room.
“So, you set me up to get caught?! I could tell you were suspicious, but that’s plain dirty!” Felt complained, feeling betrayed.
“Aren’t all of you in it together?” conflicted and confused, Lia did not seem to understand what was even happening anymore.
“Once you get the insignia back you should get out of here, Sat—I mean You.” The boy is just moving things along without any regard to whatever the others want. But this might also be for the best in the current situation.
“You all are so weird, like all over the place…” bewildered Lia’s defenses get torn down.
“I am lost too you know!” agreed Felt.
Everyone in the room was no longer in a ready to fight mode. Even Lia with her ice magecraft was no longer appearing threatening. But that was a mistake.
The boy was the first one to notice, something lurking in the shadows.
“Puck! Shield her!” cried the boy out.
Instantly an ice shield appeared behind Lia, covering her from a slash that was both precise and extremely fast, no normal person would be able to react to it in time to defend themselves.
Luckily, the one who was attacked was no normal person, and was not alone. The enemy had jumped away from Lia after the failed attempt.
“That was cutting it a bit closer than I expected. You saved us!” Puck appeared from between Lia’s hair, giving the boy a tiny thumbs up.
“Nice one, Puck! Thank goodness it was before five while you’re still on duty!” responding in kind the boy gives a thumbs up to the spirit cat.
“A spirit… That is a spirit, yes? How wonderful. I’ve never cut open a spirit’s stomach before.” The attacker was a beautiful woman, who wore a very seductive attire that revealed a lot of her stomach and chest, not to mention her legs. Also, the dark clothes she wore made her blend in the shadows very well.
Felt asked the woman, “What are you talking about?”
“I decided that I will slaughter you all, considering the original owner of the insignia is here, then there’s no point to any negotiations now is there? I was expecting more of y—”
I felt Alter let go of my hand, then the next moment Alter was already almost on top of that woman, who was about to continue talking, but got interrupted. Her reaction was as expected inhuman; the woman dodged the sudden charge though it was a close call for her.
The moment Alter hit the floor with her flag pole, breaking the wooden floor into many pieces where she had hit, while making the whole building shake from the brute force behind it. It made everyone else almost lose their footing including me.
“Tch. I was hoping this would end things immediately.”
“Oh my, it's bad manners to just interrupt people’s conversations.” The woman did not show any changes to her bizarrely positive attitude.
“I don’t give a shit, well, you already stated you want to kill everyone here so, what’s the point in making a yap session then?” Alter materialized her sword in her left hand and readied herself.
Then a borage of ice shards rained on the suspicious woman. She evades them all and deflects others with her kukri knife, her movements were so fast and unnatural that even though I have seen servants fight many times before, this still was a sight to behold.
“Mind if we join you in the fun?” Puck floated near Alter whose attention was still on the creepy woman’s movements.
“The more the merrier, just do not shoot my ass if anything.”
“Welp just try to not get shot then.” The tiny cat made a wink at Alter in a playful gesture.
“Now this is how a gathering should be like!” The woman was even more excited to get more people into the fray.
Lia stuck close to Puck, they kept distance from the woman and would fire ice shards at her in quick succession.
The assassin woman was moving at inhuman speeds all the while doing flips, slides, any sort of movement a professional gymnast would make at flawless perfection, at one point she closed in on Lia, but her movements were halted completely by Alter, who approached her in a flash.
There was a clash of metal against metal, the sound of it making a high-pitch whistling as their blades would move through the air. There was a loud snapping sound elicited from one of the blades, probably the unknown woman’s as her smile vanished just as the noise was made.
At that moment of hesitation Alter ducked her head as an ice shard flew over it from behind Alter, the shard directed at the woman’s head.
The woman still avoided the hit by moving her neck and head to the side, though it still grazed her on her right cheek as there was now blood dripping down her cheek and jaw.
Ice shards were made, four on her right, five more on her left, three over her head, and other four behind her, only on her front side none were made as the front was covered by Alter.
The shards were then launched simultaneously at Elsa, being attacked from almost every angle; it gave her only room to evade them by getting down.
“GOTCHA!” it was exactly the movement Alter was expecting as the moment the woman went low, a metallic dark stake came out of the ground as if grew out of it.
The woman unable to completely stop from the motion was still able to not take the stake directly in any vital part of her body, it still made a deep gash on her right upper quadrant of her abdomen, then moved like a spider on all fours to the left side as the ice shards that were hanging over her rained down.
The ice shards that were heading from behind her now were heading towards Alter, she also did not seem to mind them too much as her attention was kept on the spider woman who had evaded attacks coming from every angle. With a quick flick of her wrist, she broke the ice shards with her flag.
“Tch.” It's all Alter could elicit.
As the fight against that woman continued, the boy, Rom, Felt, and myself kept in the back now behind the counter to not get in their way.
“What should we even do? Walking in there is akin to walking into a meat grinder.” In a defeated tone, Felt voiced her concern.
“Three against her should work, right? They could tire her out.” The boy had a glimmer of hope in his eyes.
My body felt heavier gradually, I could tell Alter is trying to not draw as much mana from me as she can currently, so she might be running on just the bare minimum. She knows I am not doing good right now and drawing too much mana could hinder me or worse.
If things escalate then I should just give her everything I have, or use a Mystic Code.
“This can only get worse. The spirit probably only has so much time, the two little ladies might be left to fend for themselves, and while not weak we cannot tell how much they can endure as they grow tired.” The one stating the facts was Rom, who was analyzing the fight carefully.
“How about we leave the building then? If one makes it outside of it then they could get guards or someone.” I suggest that to the others.
“Yeah, that would be a great idea though with ice being shot all over the place and Elsa also running around like that, it makes it quite the hard thing to do, we must wait for a real opening.” The boy was right in his assessment of the situation.
I know it would be for the best if we got out of the way, if they are worried of going all out because we would get trapped in the crossfire this will only get worse. For one I am sure Alter cannot use her flames the way she would in fear of burning us all, though the fact that she does not use her stakes much either for combat does show how weakened she is currently.
While I do not know how strong Puck or Lia are, I am sure they are not weaklings. Rom’s reaction to her before suggests her being on the skilled side of things and I can tell as much from their movements and coordination.
While Puck shoots up a borage of ice shards at high speeds, the creepy lady whose name I guess is Elsa blocks some of them while also evading others with precision. Surprisingly enough, Elsa’s cape came to disappear the moment she got hit with an ice attack.
Because of the ice shards getting shot, Alter is not getting too involved for now, she might be hoping that Puck and Lia will deal with it.
“This fight is quite a fun game.” Elsa’s excitement from before increases.
“For me it has been quite the dull little game this whole time.” Puck responds to Elsa while also yawning, I would think it is a mocking tactic of his but since his time is almost about to run out, I know that is more likely the reason for it.
Elsa stops her quick movements, almost losing her balance, glancing at her feet there was ice keeping her in place.
“So, that was not just some random attack then.” Elsa’s smile vanished for a moment.
“This should be enough.” Lia’s statement made me realize she was the one who froze the woman’s feet in place.
“Good night girlie! I won’t remember you for sure!” Puck exclaimed in a loud voice and then a ray of ice was shot, it was freezing all in its way but—
The woman moved out of the way of such an attack in this closed limited space in an almost instantaneous motion.
“Hah I definitely felt that one” Elsa’s cheeks were flushed red and with an expression of ecstasy. The soles of her feet were bloody as she had forced herself out of the ice trapping her in the last split second. The whole place should feel colder because of all the ice attacks, yet I am sweating rivers over here.
“I won’t recognize you for doing that since you are just some girl. I am sorry Lia, I wanted to end it quickly, but I guess I ran out of time.” Puck got closer to Lia once again with droopy ears and a very disappointed look on his little face.
“It’s okay, Puck, you can leave the rest to us.” Lia spoke to Puck in a soft tone.
“I will come to help if things get too out of hand.” With those parting words Puck dissipated into the air.
“And here I was hoping I would get to open a spirit’s tummy, what a disappointment.” Elsa truly looked like she had just lost the interest in continuing the fight. Though I am sure she one hundred percent wants to kill us all regardless of her attitude.
“I guess now truly is my turn to get to join the game for real now.” Now that there was no other choice nor a crazy borage of attacks flying everywhere Alter can get into it.
Not that we have many options left either.
“The girl with no manners from earlier, are you really going to give me a better time than the spirit, I wonder?” Elsa used the ice to mend her wounds in her feet, and after her statement she readied herself once more.
“Heh! As if I care what you want. Hey you,” Alter did not look back but it was evident she was talking to Lia.
“What is it?” Lia kept her guard up walking closer to Alter, never taking her eyes off Elsa.
“How strong are your ice shields?” Alter’s question confused Lia.
“They are really sturdy, why?”
“Then I will leave the defense to you, I have always sucked at it anyways.” With nothing else to say, Alter's sword got on fire, it was intense enough that the coldness of the loot house from all the ice was fading and warming up fast.
And the next moment there was a clank of metal, it rang strongly, I did not even see the two fighters get into motion.
Any tables and chairs that still stood there were sent flying everywhere, some were just cut into pieces, some were on fire.
The others beside me were completely speechless at the ongoing battle, it was a surprise the whole building still stood after the fight of Puck, now these two inhuman beings going into a battle to the death in front of everyone in a crammed space was nothing short of horrifying.
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Jeanne d’Arc Alter
I should have gotten more involved earlier in the fight.
It did appear that the cat spirit would have taken that nasty woman out, but she is like a cockroach.
The woman would normally not be a huge danger compared to things I have fought before, but maybe that underestimation from my part has made this too drawn out.
I use everything I have right now, which is to say, I am going to burn myself out from scraping every ounce of mana that I have.
The woman is adjusting herself to my pace slowly as she does not lose any speed while in my case I am. I keep my master and the others at the corner of my vision; the white chick is keeping guard to them for the most part though she does shoot in our direction from time to time.
The woman keeps slashing towards my stomach, which makes her movements easier to predict.
I hear wood breaking every time I move as I am using too much force in my legs to keep up with the weirdo over here.
I kick a chair at the woman as we run around the loot house, she proceeds to slash it in half with a swift motion, grabs one of the halves of said chair and throws it at the ice girl, she blocks the sudden object thrown at her with her ice shield. I use that moment to get close to the freak.
The woman perfectly evades one of my slashes aiming at her neck by ducking. I expect her to follow up her attack with a slash towards my stomach but I am wrong, she gets a small knife out of a pocket only to throw it not in my direction but to the others.
The ice girl over there is still distracted as the object blocks her view for an instant, which is enough time for the creeper here to focus on those idiots. In that simultaneous motion the creeper also threw another knife, what is this lady?
I make a stake come out of the ground in front of that Felt brat which blocks the first knife thrown. The second one was aiming for the boy, but before it reached him, he fell to the ground evading it, well I say that, but it looked as if a sudden force just threw him to the floor.
It was Fujimaru who used the emergency evade from her Mystic Code, but she collapsed right at that moment.
“You are getting distracted.” The woman spouted that and she was correct, next thing I know I feel something hit me in my stomach sending me flying backwards, I hit one of the walls of the loot house, it was not enough to send me outside the establishment, though.
In one fast motion I flip my body up from having my back against the wall to be holding onto the wall like a gecko sticking itself to a wall. Not a moment later three throwing needle like knives were sticking in the place I was before.
I looked at the nasty woman who was filled with joy, like a cat playing with its prey before killing it.
The old man Rom, the owner of this loot house took the opportunity to join the fray as he came running behind the annoying woman. He swung a wooden spiked club at her with great swiftness.
Without effort the woman evaded the surprise attack, the old man continued his assault, since both my hands are still grasping onto my flag and sword which is on fire, I am concentrating my mana onto my feet and legs to keep from falling onto the floor.
Now that I get a moment to watch things unfold from a different perspective, I notice the wound the woman had gotten earlier from my surprise stake attack is no longer there.
Regeneration?
I make my weapons turn back to their spiritual form, leaving my hands free. I jump up in the air grabbing the chandelier that was hanging on the ceiling.
“GO TO HELL!!” I roar with force, then I go down on the bitch though not with enough strength that should pulverize even a boulder to dust.
The building shook violently with the windows breaking and things flying everywhere.
I had made sure to land in a way that would have me between the strike and the old man so he would not get hit by any rubble flying everywhere. The white girl had done a great job at covering the others at the back so they also did not get injured by any debris.
I was sure I hit the mark as blood splashed on me and around the ground. Though the view was not too good as there was a cloud of dust now.
“You alright Old Man?” I gazed behind me; the man was sitting on his ass covering his body and face with his arms.
“Y-Yeah. I am fine.” Uttered the old man with a shaky voice.
This should be enough; I cannot imagine her recovering from becoming a red splat on the floor.
I remember now, my master was unconscious after using her Mystic Code.
“Fujimaru!” I call out to her and stride to her position.
“Jeez you truly are a worrywart, aren’t you?” that was the voice that I shouldn’t hear anymore, but I was late as something hit me on the left side of my head sending me flying against a wall, once more the building trembled.
The hit was not as painful as I would expect it to be, but it was still disorienting. Not to mention I am also about to disappear here as I am at my limit without the mana I need.
The woman comes out of the dust cloud ready to slice at me, when she gets hit on her left shoulder by that Felt brat’s knife which came flying her way.
The woman did not show any reaction of pain, but she was still surprised.
“Oh my, and I thought you guys were only statues back there!” Amused, the woman made a disgusting smile. Then the boy showed up from the woman’s right side using the dust to conceal his approach, as he was now brandishing one of the old and rusted swords that was hanging in the establishment.
The boy’s movements were incredibly slow and that of someone who had somewhat of an idea on how to swing, still the woman countered with her kukri knife without looking his way.
As she parries the boy’s swing, I see her taking out a second kukri knife about to slash the boy in half.
Something shot at the woman which made her lose her composure, as shock was all over her face, that attack that came flying at her was the curse attack known as Gandr, it had hit the mark making the woman unable to move.
Ice shards also hit the woman from behind piercing her defenseless back. Everyone in the room hasn't given up yet.
Hah, buncha losers. But so am I!
I get myself together, how can I leave a weakling like this to humiliate my ass!
I absorb mana from my master, not much but enough to keep on going. With that bitch immobile I close my distance to hers effortlessly.
“JUST STAY DEAD DAMMNIT!!”
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Ritsuka Fujimaru
I could barely see anymore, my body was aching all over the place that I did not even register falling on my face once more as something painful anymore. The pain was just there. It was there. It was not going anywhere.
My blurry vision darkened every second it passed, the chaos that has been going is like a nightmare that I am watching from an outsider’s perspective.
Perhaps not a nightmare but a movie.
I can barely breathe, my thoughts are jumbled, but I can still hear.
Everyone else is still fighting. Well, not everyone as I am sprawled on the floor currently.
I heard the others say they would let Felt get out of the building the moment it was clear Elsa was still alive. Thus, everyone decided to give it their all, and that made me also give it a shot by making Elsa immobile.
Though I am now unable to move.
“JUST STAY DEAD DAMMNIT!!” the familiar voice, shouted with power, making my ears hurt.
Something plummets besides me; I can tell what it is because of the sound of his grunt.
It was the mystery boy. Was he launched here?
Then there is a flashing light and an incredible heat that feels like we are into hell itself.
Even with closing my eyes the light is still visible.
I feel like I am being cooked alive. As there is also a booming sound so loud, I might as well be deaf now.
I can feel the boy had shifted himself into covering me from the blast of the explosion.
I want to thank him for that once this is over.
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Natsuki Subaru
I was trembling all over from fear, these people are more like monsters, but even so I gave it all in the face of such inhuman beings.
My surprise attack was intercepted by Elsa who did not even care about it, but that did give an opening to everyone else to keep the momentum going.
The one who looked to have the better odds here came back to her senses, that being Jeanne Alter, who after witnessing everyone’s efforts finally reacted.
Her approach was not subtle but that did not matter as Elsa was stunned, without being able to move, Jeanne Alter got in striking distance, though she was not holding her weapons in her hands that did nothing, Jeanne Alter gripped my left arm and tossed me to the back of the room in a lightning motion, it was painful and felt like my arm was almost going to be torn out but luckily that did not happen.
Even so, hitting the wooden floor at a rapid speed was still really agonizing.
I saw fire coming out of Jeanne Alter’s arm, the fire was rapidly growing in heat and size as everything burned around her and Elsa.
Then throwing a punch directly at Elsa’s mid-section there was an explosion and fire was shot out like a cannon.
My instinct was to cover the red-haired girl who was on the floor like a puppet whose strings were cut.
The booming blast of flames blew up part of the building as it shot out into the sky, my eyes were watery from the brightness, my skin was burning from the heat, and my ears felt like they might not recover from such a loud sound at too close of proximity.
There was a gigantic hole on the roof, or what was left of it as the blast was aimed upwards. Fire was spreading in the building, though it then died down by itself.
Then it hit me, what happened to Not Satella?! I scanned the room and saw her at the other end of the building with an ice shield covering her and Rom from the flames.
I breathed in relief.
Jeanne Alter looks our way and rushes pushing me off of the red haired girl.
“GAH!” I yelp.
“Fujimaru! Are you alright?!” Jeanne Alter holds the girl in her arms with care all while fretting over her.
A Japanese name, so another person from Earth then? Jeanne Alter said she is also from the same world, though she looks very much in place here with her armor. While the red haired girl, Fujimaru, does look less from a fantasy world, her clothes are still not exactly what I would call normal for someone from Earth.
“I am alright too.” With a defeated tone I say aloud.
Jeanne Alter places Fujimaru down on the floor facing up, her eyes survey our surroundings carefully. Her gaze stops upward towards the hole on the ceiling and immediately gets up top of Fujimaru, while also pulling me down to the floor, because of the swiftness of the action I faceplant on the floor painfully, I hear metal scraping.
I move my head enough to be able to see what is happening, now on her left arm there being the sword she was brandishing earlier. Her right arm over my back kept me in place. Then I finally see what Jeanne Alter is staring at.
I am unable to breathe; how can she just take so many attacks and still be standing?!
“What the hell..?” I cannot contain my disbelief.
Elsa drops down from the roof through the hole, her body had some burns, though they were visibly healing.
“What sort of cheat has this creep up her sleeve?” Jeanne Alter looked exhausted, I could feel her hand tremble as she held me in place, she was sweating and running out of breath.
I could see that Not Satella was also at her limit, maybe it was everyone in the room who shared that feeling, especially when an enemy just does not show any signs of getting tired and all their injuries just keep healing so rapidly.
“I guess I shall burn myself out then, I guess it is Noble Phantasm time on this bitch.” Just as Jeanne Alter stated her intentions—
“That’s enough!” The voice of a man, powerful and filled with dignity cut through the tension just the same way it did before. I could recognize it from earlier that day.
Someone else dropped from the hole on the ceiling, his presence alone making the whole world become silent as if it bent to that man’s will.
“Real freaking late! You d—” as Jeanne Alter was about to retort to the Sword Saint who had appeared at the best possible moment, she got interrupted.
“…Argh, Alter wait.” Underneath her was Fujimaru who was regaining consciousness.
“Master!” all the salt she had moments ago as she was directing it to Reinhard, was gone with concern for her friend winning over her.
“We should move towards the others.” I point out to Not Satella and Rom, Jeanne Alter nodded at my suggestion without any reproaching.
I suggested I carry Fujimaru since Jeanne Alter was so exhausted, but she adamantly refused, as Jeanne Alter princess carried her in her arms. We made our way to Rom and Not Satella.
“Be careful Reinhard, that woman is an unkillable monster!” I warn him about Elsa.
“Then it is your lucky day, as I so happen to specialize in hunting monsters.” He stated that as a matter of fact, his smile never once wavering.
“Are you guys all right?” Not Satella questioned us the moment we reached her, next to her was Rom unconscious with some burn marks in his body. Not Satella was treating his injuries with her magic as she did with me before.
“Sorry, at the moment I couldn’t think of anything else but blast that crazy bitch out of existence.” Apologetically Jeanne Alter placed Fujimaru down once more.
“Just give us a warning before firing something like that again.” Not Satella pouted, showing her disapproval.
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Ritsuka Fujimaru
My head is throbbing.
My mouth is dry.
My body aches.
My body does not move.
My body is covered in sweat.
My mind is all over the place.
My breathing is ragged.
My eyes finally barely open.
Ah, this is painful.
Arriving at a fantasy-like world, most likely a singularity or even a lostbelt, has been issue after issue from second one.
If it isn’t being separated from my friends, it's criminals trying to assault me, or even some time looping going on. The problems pile on top of more problems. This should be something I am used to by now, yet, it is something that I do wish would not be the norm of my existence.
I begin to move my fingers, my body regaining strength, I open my eyes, the first thing I can see is Alter being right next to me, almost on top of me I would say. But her attention is on something else.
I move my head enough to be able to see that there is a man in white clothes. He is now confronting Elsa.
He reminds me of a white knight from a picture book, with bright red hair and white attire, though I cannot get a good look at his face. I am sure his looks will scream “bishonen” or something.
The man and Elsa begin to fight, their movements as inhumanly as those of servants fighting.
I use all my will power to not pass out as I can make up bits and pieces of what is happening, as the man deflects every attack the woman throws his way.
Not a single wasted movement from the fighters, it was as if they were the only people existing on this planet.
Elsa moves all over the place with specific patterns as to find the best way to counteract the man.
The boy near us yells something at the two of them, the red-haired man nodding.
Then the two of them stopped getting into their own stances for fighting.
The air around us, no, the space around is shifting and contorting as the two of them speak.
My ears finally catch what they are saying.
“What are you going to show me?” the assassin in dark asked.
“The swordplay of the Astrea family.” Replied the white knight.
The two facing one another.
“The Bowel Hunter, Elsa Granhiert.”
“Reinhard van Astrea of the Master Swordsman’s line.”
The Sword Saint against the Bowel Hunter, the fight against good and evil, light and darkness as the woman stood in it while the moonlight shined on the man.
The energy in the space around the man did as he wished, and thus it concentrated into a single point, the sword he was handling, an old rusted sword that looked like it was going to fall apart any moment, yet in his hand it shone as if it were the ultimate weapon.
Then a blinding shining light engulfed us all.
It was just a single swing of the sword, but that was enough to completely blow up the rest of the loot house to pieces.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa!” the boy wailed as debris was sent flying in all directions.
Then I was covered by Alter, who shielded me with her body.
Saying I was covered was an understatement, she was basically plastering herself onto me, so now I was once again finding it hard to breathe, though part of me was not complaining about it.
I mean at the very least the softest part of her is covering my face and head, so no harm no foul?
No, wait. She is protecting me with her all and I am here thinking ridiculous things. I need some rest after this is all over.
Things going silent now, I am sure the worst came to pass, but I am still pinned down over here.
The one who broke the silence was the boy, “Hunting monsters is your specialty, my ass! You’re a monster yourself!”
“Even I’m a bit hurt by a comment like that, Subaru.” Reinhard voiced his hurt feelings to the boy, whose name is Subaru.
“I’m sorry I asked too much of you. Rest well now.” Those were the words of respect of the Sword Saint to… I could not tell, I heard something breaking but I cannot see anything now as my face and vision are covered with something warm and something I am not about to push away.
“There’s not a shadow of her left, let alone a body… This is all left after just one sword swing?” the boy’s voice trembled with a tinge of fear.
“Hmph! If I was at my best I would have burned that bitch without even leaving any ashes.” I felt the vibrations of Alter’s body as she spoke, this is nice. I do feel something hard on my forehead though, since she has her chains and stuff.
Still okay if I pass out over here from lack of oxygen.
“Yeah yeah, are you going to stay like that? Your frien—” the boy was about to tell Alter to stop covering me like that, but I held out my left hand just enough for him to notice it and wag my index finger from side to side.
“I was joking earlier, but I really did not expect her to play for the other team…” Subaru stated in a teasing manner.
“Other team? You mean as in working with the assassin?” Lia’s tone was filled with worry and confusion not understanding what Subaru meant.
I can feel my face and body grow warmer, at that moment Alter got off me, damn.
“I AM NOT!” It looks like Alter thought he was referring to her, but in reality, it was to me. But getting to see her all flustered from up close is still nice in my book.
I gasped for air as I was truly about to pass out at this rate. Part of me misses her smell, like that of burnt cinnamon. A nostalgic smell.
“I-I’m sorry!” Alter apologizes looking down on me.
“I should be the one thanking you.” I sit up coughing. Alter gives me more space, still red on the face all flustered.
“It’s over now?” Lia voiced what we all wondered.
“Yeah, somehow or other… and I mean that literally.” As Subaru spoke, Lia was barely able to stay standing so he tried to give her support.
“Why are you staring at me? That’s quite rude.” Lia was not fond of others staring at her. I can guess why.
“Oh, just… You still have your arms and legs, and even your head.” That was a morbid thing to tell someone you just met, but if we consider the events so far well…
“Of course I do. Don’t say such scary things.” The two of them continue chatting in their own world, so I direct my attention to Alter, who has been looking at me with anxiety all over her adorable features.
“Are you doing better now? I know you were pushing yourself a lot.” I want to know if she can hang in there longer, I do not know what I would do if I were left by myself in this world.
“No reason for you to worry about me, Master. I am a servant so none of that was a big deal—woah!”
I pulled her into a hug, “Strange of you to get all serious and distant all of a sudden.”
“I am just saying things as they are though.” Alter did not return the sentiment.
“I understand, but for now I need some support because I get the feeling I will pass out at any moment again…” maybe I have gotten a cold or something.
“You two should just get a room already.” The one making fun of us now was the blonde girl, Felt who had finally come back.
“Get lost!” Alter reacted angrily by reflex.
“She was running around the streets in desperation, and she asked my help.” Reinhard explained to us.
“That’s…” seeing Felt, Lia was not going to be letting her go still.
“Now, hang on.” Subaru held up a hand to stop Lia.
“If she hadn’t brought Reinhard, we’d have been destroyed. Just take a look at this face, spare me the ice-statue punishment, okay?” making a case for Felt, even almost begging Lia, Subaru did not want to see the girl get punished.
I do not know Felt enough, but at least I would let her go considering how things turned out in the end.
Turning her face away in indignation Lia replied, “I wouldn’t do anything that violent. And what does your face have to do with—”
Alter and Reinhard flinched at almost the same time, which made me also notice it. There was a sound between the pieces of rubble, then they got thrown all over the place as Elsa emerged from them, covered in injuries she rushed towards both Lia and Subaru.
I was about to use an emergency Evade once more, but it was still too soon for it, not to mention felt a hit of pain in my chest as I was attempting to use magecraft when I should not. For Alter’s case she was being held in my arms currently so she could not just throw me away like a ragdoll to make a move.
To the surprise of everyone in the room, the one who was able to react in time was Subaru who quickly held Rom’s spiked club and used it to shield himself as he pushed Lia out of the way.
“She’ll go for the gut!” Just as he predicted, Elsa’s attack was directed at his abdomen, there was a swish sound as she swung her knife with all her force.
It was enough to send Subaru flying backwards hitting against what was left of one of the walls of the building.
“He got in my way!” There was no more of that playful tone nor her cheeky smile, Elsa was truly furious for once.
“That’s enough, Elsa!” Reinhard got in between her targets and herself.
She threw her knife at Reinhard with everything, but said knife changed trajectory as it approached him, it was as if the knife itself did not want to touch the Sword Saint.
“Soon enough, I’ll disembowel everyone here.” She made a backflip jump, making more distance from us.
She continued speaking, “Take good care of your bowels until then.” And with that last ominous message she jumped out of the remnants of the loot house, getting away.
“It would be best if we got rid of her right now…” the one voicing her concern was Alter.
“No, you are barely hanging on by a tread just as I am. Following her right now might just get someone killed.” There is no point to it if we barely made it out alive.
“Hmph!” that’s all she says to my reply.
“Are you alright?” Reinhard asks Lia who was pushed to the floor by Subaru.
I feel like the one who really needs to be asked is the guy who got thrown by a super human crazy assassin woman.
“Whether I’m all right doesn’t matter! More importantly…” Lia moves Reinhard out of her way and goes to Subaru who is slowly getting on his feet.
“Are you all right? That was far too reckless!”
“Oh, it was no problem.” Subaru was hurt, I do not think getting pushed in that matter would leave any person unscathed.
“I sure took the long road, but finally reached this point.” That’s a strange way to put it in his words.
“My name is Natsuki Subaru! And I just saved your life from a heinous villain! Are we OKAY on that?” as he was talking, he was making a show out of his introduction to Lia, in an exaggerated almost cartoonish way.
Lia blinked a few times, tilting her head in confusion, “Okay?” as that word was in English it tells me that in this world language being Japanese might be exclusive, meaning probably no English and other languages, maybe.
“It means, “Are we clear on that?” So…O K” making an ‘O’ and a ‘K’ with his body, it was a very unserious way to speak to someone else they just met. Not that I am much better to be honest.
“O-Okay…”
“I, your rescuer, saved your life. And you are the heroine I saved! So wouldn’t that mean you should repay me in kind? Wouldn’t it?” he keeps making different and sort of cringey motions, but I can tell it's all in good heart.
Alter on the other hand sees him as if he is human trash. Hey! You are also very chuuni so you should not judge! I wanna say that but I also do not want her to pull away now. So, I will let it slide until later.
“All right, I get it. Only if it’s within my power, of course…” Lia braces herself to whatever “prize” she must give to Subaru.
“In that case, I have only one request!” he points at Lia, still giving her the anticipation,” Yes, my request is…”
Poor Lia looks just about to be unable to breathe.
Subaru grins after seeing her reactions, then closes his eyes momentarily as he snaps his fingers and with a serious tone and face, “Tell me your name.” is his request.
Lia blinks again, confusion written all over her adorable features, she giggles and answers, “Emilia.”
“Huh?” Subaru was probably expecting a more intense reaction from her as the one who is at a loss is him.
“My name is Emilia. Just Emilia.” Still chuckling at Subaru acting over the top for something that minor in return, she places a hand over her own mouth attempting to contain herself.
“Thank you, Subaru. For saving me.” Emilia goes for a handshake with Subaru.
Emilia, now the nickname Lia, does fit her well. I am glad that I finally get to know both their names, and thus far the loop has not happened again. It is connected to them in a way; I still do not know why that is the case. But maybe that is tied to why we are now in this place.
I let go of Alter, making an effort to get on my feet, but my legs are all wobbly and I cannot use them perfectly.
“Welp, now we can look for the others.” I do not want to show too much weakness but next thing I know Alter bridal carries me in her arms. This would be more embarrassing, if I did not get carried around by my servants all the time.
“Thank you, for the help. I do feel bad for having you do this…”
“T-This is nothing, so no reason for you to apologize.” I never get tired of her acting tough; I hold onto her with my arms. Yes, this sits right with me.
We watch Subaru, Emilia, and Reinhard chat. Butting in on them would be strange, so we move towards Rom and Felt, who are in one of the still standing corners of the loot house.
Rom is prone on the wooden floor, while Felt watches over him.
“Hey shrimp.” Called out Alter to Felt.
“What do you want?” Felt did not even have the energy to return the insult to Alter, since she was more preoccupied with Rom’s state.
“I am… sorry. I only did what I thought was best in that situation.” It is shocking to both me and Felt that Alter apologizes for almost blasting him off the face of the planet.
“I know that it was dire, though I still expect compensation at some point.”
“Whatever, not like I can give you much at this moment though.” Alter is not exactly wrong; we really have nothing on us currently.
“Subaru?!” we get interrupted as Emilia cries out in panic.
We turned around to witness what was happening, it was Subaru, his abdomen had been sliced open, he was bleeding profusely on the ground as both Emilia and Reinhard tended to him immediately.
I had the urge to run to Subaru and use my Mystic Code, as it had healing magecraft, but Alter turned around and denied me from it.
“Nope, you are about to collapse at any moment yourself, Fujimaru.”
Instant denial.
Emilia was still able to stabilize him enough so his life would not be at risk.
“There. His treatment is complete. He should be over the hump now.” Emilia sighed in relief.
“By the way, Emilia-sama, what is your relation to Subaru?” Reinhard questioned Emilia.
“A passing acquaintance? I don’t recall ever meeting him before. I thought our meeting today was the first time…”
“But he was looking for you. He said he had something to give you.”
“That’s why it’s so strange…”
“What shall we do with him? I’d be glad to take him to my home as a guest.”
“No, I’ll take him home with me. I can find out what’s really going on that way. But more importantly, what will become of those guys?”
“Huh?! What do you mean ‘those guys’?! Alter shouted upset that we were being bundled together to Felt and Rom.
“Not so loud please…” my head is throbbing still, so having Alter yelling right next to my ear is not helping it.
“Officially, I cannot overlook what they’ve done. But… Unfortunately, I’m off duty today.” Shrugged the Sword Saint with a gentle smile.
“You’re a bad knight.” Emilia tittered.
Alter once more turned over towards Emilia and Reinhard, getting near them, with me still in her arms.
“We really appreciate the help, though, we just got here today.” I strive to make things go smoothly by being honest.
“So, you really are not with them?” Reinhard pondered on that.
“Yes yes, we are just as lost as the both of you regarding that boy over there. Not to mention without anything to drop dead with” Alter aids me with the explanation.
“Where are you from?” the red-haired knight was suspicious.
Alter and I looked at each other pondering what answer to give, this Kingdom of Lugunica is not exactly from Earth, so we really do not know any other places from here. If we say we do not know it could make more misunderstandings.
“We really are not from this place, but we are from a place called Chaldea.” I am choosing my words carefully.
“Chaldea?” I can picture the many question marks appearing behind Reinhard.
“In other words, we got shoved to this place we do not know of and we are completely lost, can’t even read anything here.” Alter shrugged awkwardly.
“I am willing to take you both as guests.” With a heart melting smile Reinhard truly lives up to his Sword Saint title.
“That is very kind but, we want to stick with that boy over there.” I pointed at Subaru on the floor.
“Are you acquaintances?” Now the one who commences the questionnaire was Emilia.
“Nope, we met him today, but he is from the same place as we are. Or from a similar one at least.” The corrupted saint was with Subaru; she has a better understanding of his position.
“Whatever place he goes we will follow, we want to know about him just as much as you two want to know. Do not worry about us staying over your place we—”
“Um… you do not have to go that far; I acknowledge that you two fought together with me against the Bowel Hunter. I am sure you two are just good girls looking out for Subaru.” Emilia held her hands together in front of her.
“Good girls..?” Unamused Alter spat out those words.
“Ah! That is right, Emilia-sama. That one did protect Subaru earlier today; I agree that they are not going to do something bad.” Reinhard crossed his arms and closed his eyes, nodding.
“I am NOT a goody t—” Alter growled in anger, but I covered her mouth before she continued.
“We are definitely good, I swear!” I concur with their judgement.
Emilia accepted to take us all together to her home, thanks to Reinhard chiming in and from Emilia’s kindness, since we did aid in the battle. Emilia moved back on track with her original mission.
Felt looked away from Emilia in shame, expecting a scolding for having stolen her insignia. The silver haired beauty kneels besides the smaller girl.
I sense daggers being pointed my way as I was looking a bit too intently at the girls, I embrace Alter tighter by the neck and rub my cheek with hers.
“I should just drop you to the ground.”
“No worries, you are still cooler. Very cute indeed, and so soft.” That last part is not wrong, her skin is very soothing and comfortable, though that is also not the only soft part of her, but I keep that to myself.
I cannot tell if it is me who is warming up or her right now as I snuggle Alter.
Unexpectedly Alter has been behaving less on edge as of late. Not so tense or in explosive manners. I picture her when we met in Orleans, which is a stark contrast from night and day.
Making connections in Chaldea might have made that change to her or something.
“Reinhard?” Emilia’s voice rang out confused.
We had been fooling around in our own little world, that change in the atmosphere brought us back to reality.
Reinhard was now holding Felt’s wrist.
“You’re hurting me! Let go!” Felt cried out.
“How can this be?” exclaimed the knight, his features were no longer the confident smile that never ceased to be on his perfect features, but one of disbelief.
He continued, “What’s your name?”
“Huh? It’s Felt…”
“And your family name? How old are you?”
“I don’t have anything fancy like a family name! I’m… about fifteen, I think. I don’t know my birthday. Look, just let me go!” Felt pulled herself away from Reinhard with no avail.
“Emilia-sama, I’m afraid I can’t keep my promise to you. I’ll be taking this girl with me.”
“May I ask why? If it’s for stealing my insignia…”
“That is, indeed, no small crime. But it’s trivial in comparison to the gravity of overlooking the crime unfolding before me now.”
Pulling Felt on her feet Reinhard did not hesitate, “I’ll need you to come with me. I’m sorry, but I can’t allow you to refuse.”
“Get over yourself! Just because you saved me—"
Holding his right hand up to Felt’s face as all Reinhard needed to make Felt faint, she was about to fall to the ground like a puppet whose strings got cut, but he caught her with absolute tenderness, like how Alter holds me, he now carried Felt with one arm under her legs, and the other supporting her back.
“What the fuck?” Alter voiced my thoughts, what happened just now?
“That wasn’t very knightly, either.” Emilia was not having that either.
“I was careful to not use too much. Emilia-sama, I will most likely be calling upon you again soon. I hope you understand.” He handed back the insignia to Emilia.
“Please take good care of Subaru, and those two as well.” The shift to his character was scary.
The light of the moon shone on everyone in the remnants of the loot house, like it was the witness to the events unfolding that night.
“Today may be the last chance we have to gaze calmly at the moon.” Reinhard declared with his regular confident smile returning to his face.
It was like a premonition for dire events to come. Like a curse that will engulf the future.