There were drops of blood running down the glass's sharp shards, and following them upward one would find Rom's throat.
He had lost his arm and his throat was ripped apart, which caused a large amount of foamy blood to pour out of his mouth. The light left his gray eyes as he collapsed heavily to the ground.
His twitching body had already lost its vitality, and there was no doubt—
Rom was dead.
Everything had been going so well. Felt had returned to the loot house and the negotiations with Subaru were nearly over. Subaru, desperate to end it peacefully, had offered his phone in exchange for the insignia. A deal that should have saved them.
But it all came crashing down because of his own stupid mistake.
He had foolishly revealed to the mysterious woman that he intended to return the insignia to its rightful owner. And that was when everything turned into a nightmare.
Her lips had curled into a twisted smile.
If it hadn't been for Felt's interference at that moment, Subaru would already be lying dead on the floor.
Now Rom had fought and died in vain against the woman's terrifying skill.
Elsa, the Bowel Hunter, elegantly bowed to his fallen body as though she were paying respects.
She placed the bloodstained glass shard by his still-twitching form.
"I'm returning this. I no longer have a need for it, you see."
Her voice was cruel, mocking, as she twirled her kukri knife with a casual flick, the blade glistening with fresh blood.
Cleaning it with a slow, deliberate motion, she pointed the weapon back toward the two survivors.
Subaru, still sprawled on the ground, could only stare in horror. His throat would not move, his body refused to rise. Someone he had laughed with just minutes ago now lay butchered at his feet—and it was no accident, no illness. This was deliberate, gleeful malice.
"―Ah, so you're the braver one."
Subaru's head snapped up at the sound of her voice, filled with twisted admiration.
Felt had pushed herself to her trembling feet, her hands striking her legs as if to force life into them.
Her hair, drenched with Rom's blood, clung to her face as she glared at the woman before her.
"How dare you…"
Her strained, furious words carried no tears—only venom.
"If you resist unnecessarily, you might end up getting hurt," Elsa warned, a cruel smirk playing on her lips.
"You're going to kill me either way, you damned sadist!"
"I might not cut you properly if you move. I'm not very good with blades, you see."
She spun her knife with ease, mocking her prey.
Felt, unarmed and frail compared to the monster before her, stood with no hope of victory. And yet Subaru could not move. He could not cry out. He could not distract Elsa. His brain screamed at him to do something, anything, but his voice and limbs betrayed him.
"… Sorry for getting you caught up in this," Felt whispered suddenly, her voice quiet, trembling.
Subaru's eyes widened. He forgot his plan to yell, forgot everything, and could only croak a broken reply:
"I… I'm—"
But before he could finish, Felt dashed forward.
Her body seemed to blur, vanishing from his vision, the air itself splitting around her. She was fast—far too fast for Subaru to follow.
A sharp gust filled the loot house as her divine protection carried her. She reappeared beside Elsa, her foot slamming into the assassin's ribs.
Elsa staggered back, her eyes briefly wide in surprise.
"The divine protection of wind… How wonderful. It seems you're loved by the world," she hissed, her face twisting into envy. "―I'm jealous."
Her kukri slashed.
A silver line cut the air, and with it, Felt's small body.
"Ah—"
Blood sprayed like a crimson fountain as her torso split open from shoulder to chest.
She hit the ground, convulsing once before going still. Her pulse painted the air for a few seconds before fading into silence.
Felt was gone.
And Subaru… Subaru could only tremble. His body remained frozen, chained by terror, as though his very muscles had betrayed him.
"The old man and the girl have both fallen, and yet you still haven't moved. Have you given up?" Elsa mocked, walking toward him with lazy steps.
She raised her knife.
And then—
A shadow entered the loot house.
The door slammed open as a figure cloaked in black stepped through, his stride calm and deliberate. The fabric trailed behind him, its folds concealing his form.
For an instant, Subaru's heart leapt. The figure's height was almost the same as his own, and from beneath the hood, strands of silver hair gleamed faintly in the dim light.
"… Atlair?" Subaru's voice cracked, The figure was wearing a cloak similar to atlair's, not to mention the height, hair and the sword he had.
The stranger gave no answer.
The clash was immediate. Elsa's eyes lit up with sadistic delight as steel struck steel, the shrill ring echoing through the loothouse. Sparks scattered like fleeting fireflies as the cloaked stranger pressed forward, his movements sharp and merciless. Fire burst forth alongside his strikes, each swing of his black blade tearing through the air with lethal intent.
Subaru could only watch, half-paralyzed with fear and awe.
"…Atlair…?"
It made no sense. They had only met once, and Subaru hadn't ended off with him in a too 'friendly' manner, But the similar looks atleast as much as he could see and not to mention the hair… there was no one else his mind could cling to.
The figure said nothing. His cloak whipped about him, his relentless offense pushing Elsa back step by step.
And then, Elsa's eyes gleamed.
Then, with a subtle shift of her wrist, her blade slid past his guard.
Subaru's world tilted. A dull thud of impact, then the spreading warmth that gushed across his chest.
"Ah—"
His voice broke as he staggered. He tried to look down, but his vision was already dissolving into shadow. His body felt weightless, as though he were falling through air.
"Wha—" he gasped.
But no reply ever came.
Only silence.
And as the darkness swallowed him whole, a voice echoed faintly in the blood-soaked room—
"Well… It was too late now anyways."
.
.
"―Quit spacing out, man. You want the appa or not?"
When Subaru's consciousness returned, there was a red, ripe fruit before him.
As he gazed at this very apple-like fruit, worthless thoughts such as 'they call it the fruit of wisdom, huh' passed his mind.
A forbidden fruit that resulted in expulsion from paradise if you ate it.
Maybe if he bit into it, he'd be able to escape this incomprehensible situation.
"Hey, you listening?"
The middle aged man knit his brows and once again called to Subaru who had no reaction.
Some distant corner of Subaru's consciousness perceived this which caused his face to jolt upward. He started looking around at his surroundings.
He was standing in front of a stall on a street bathed in early afternoon sunlight.
Within this shop there was a wide variety of fruits and vegetables. This certainly wasn't an unfamiliar sight to him, but there was a small difference.
Filling the crowded street, there were hair colors that were impossible in his old world, as well as races that were quite literally impossible walking around as if it were natural.
Watching all this hustle and bustle, Subaru scratched his head.
His left arm could now move, when it touched his abdomen he felt nothing unusual, and there was no sign whatsoever that his organs had poured out or that his eyes had been slashed.
"I have no idea what's going on here…"
As he murmured this, his rising nausea and dizziness overwhelmed him, causing his knees to give out.
.
.
It's water. Can you drink?"
Accepting the cup offered to him, Subaru gingerly sipped at the water poured within it.
The water was ice cold and spread as if soaking into his parched mouth from the tip of his tongue, it even relieved his dreary mood to some extent.
"Aah, just what I needed. Thank you. ―You really are a good guy, old man."
"Quit it. It'd be no laughing matter if you suddenly collapsed in front of my store, it'd look like my products caused it. Rest in the shade until you've settled down."
The man replied without a hint of bashfulness and then went back into his stall.
Subaru was still sitting on the ground near the road as he watched the man leave, he then leaned against a shop's wall as he sighed deeply.
The one who had helped him when he was overcome by dizziness and was about to collapse was the shopkeeper he was now well familiar with.
Despite his rough appearance, he immediately prepared a wet towel and some drinking water once he guessed that Subaru was suffering from heatstroke, and then brought him into this shade so he could rest.
You really couldn't judge people by their looks. There were muscly bald old men who were like good natured grandpas, and sexy women who took pleasure in murder.
"I thought my stomach and eyes were destroyed…"
He whispered as he felt his eyelids, and once again confirmed that he could see properly.
Naturally there was no wound on his abdomen, and his left shoulder was in good health as well. It seemed his wounds had once again disappeared completely, and perhaps due to some obsession he was placed before the man's stall yet again.
"But even so… That was… Really bad."
He moved his hands from his eyelids and looked at them.
Even though his fingers weren't touching anything, they trembled slightly. This traveled up his arms until it finally became a terrible chill throughout his entire body.
Merely thinking back to it caused his teeth to chatter as he curled up with his head between his knees, the pressing horror so intense it even drowned out the hustle and bustle around him as his body trembled.
It was repulsive, alien, overwhelming, absurd, and the very personification of despair.
He had never been exposed to such malice, he had never experienced such pain and violence, and he had never had his body destroyed to such an extent.
He and his acquaintances had lost their lives, the terror was so heartrending that all he could do was curl up.
He refused to even think of facing such an aberrant entity.
"Stop thinking about it, stop thinking about it, this is absurd. It's hopeless, there's nothing I can do. That was death. That couldn't have been anything but death. That I'm even alive is unbelievable luck, isn't it?"
Seeking agreement from no one in particular, Subaru desperately begged for forgiveness.
The scenes of Rom's grisly slaughter and Felt's final moments after she was cut down repeated in the back of his mind.
And after that came Atlair or atleast someone who looked like him, and then the horrifying memory of being sliced up, broken, opened up, and having his sight stolen.
He felt nausea and dark emotions surge up and he immediately splashed his remaining water on his head.
There wasn't a lot, but it was enough to cover his head in the cool sensation.
He wiped away the water dripping from his bangs and then repeatedly slapped his face to restore his emotional state.
"Alright, let's cheer up. It's simple. Just forget all about that place. There's a mountain of other things I have to do and think about. For instance, I'll have to think about how I should live in this world. I happened to get caught up in some trouble while I worried, and then…"
―I was saved, and wanted to return that favor, and then felt like I was going to die.
"Come on, I said not to think about that."
Even if he tried not to think about that, the silver-haired girl continued to shine within his memories.
To begin with, most of what had happened to him in this world was in some way related to her, so it was impossible for him to forget about her and focus on the world.
However, if he thought back to his time with her, he would ultimately end up at that painful and despair-inducing memory.
His thoughts were once again in a downward spiral.
His shaking wouldn't stop, and his negative thoughts kept going in circles as he completely lost sight of any hope.
What should he do and how should he do it to succeed, would it be fine if he just stood around and did nothing, right now he couldn't grasp even the slightest hint.
"Hey, how do you feel now? Any better?"
With his face peeking out of his stall, he asked this considerate question.
Despite his attempts to act tough, the concern he displayed showed that he was a good man at heart. It wouldn't do to just rely on his kindness like this, Subaru thought as he decided to leave the area for now.
"Ah, I think I've calmed down somewhat. Sorry to trouble you."
He tried not to look weak as he stood up, and then returned the empty cup. The shopkeeper seemed to want to say something as he took it, but he didn't press the matter further.
"I'll definitely pay you back someday."
"That's unnecessary. But if you ever make some money, come to buy some appas."
Subaru's face was meek as the shopkeeper lightly tapped his shoulder, after which he raised his hand and returned to his store.
Feeling good about the man's laid-back attitude, Subaru took a deep breath and stepped toward the road. The crowd continued to move just the same as when he was curling up, and the main street lined with stalls seemed as bright as ever.
"… The loot house."
He should probably go there, he thought vaguely.
He thought about it, but his legs did not move in its direction. Going there meant facing that terror.
If things went wrong and he encountered Elsa again, his life that he had somehow kept would essentially be wasted.
Having been summoned to another world, he would simply rot away without accomplishing anything.
"Ha. It'd be just the same if I run."
He ridiculed himself as he smiled, and then put his hands in pockets and started walking.
In the opposite direction from the loot house. That was what he had decided.
He would throw it all away, give up completely, and turn a blind eye to the favor he had received.
After all, that was what he did before he came here. He never did anything he didn't have to, no need to rock the boat. Stuff like give and take or whatever, human interaction in general was a pain to him, that was the sort of life he lived.
At this point, that couldn't possibly―
"Eh…?"
Someone was walking lazily down the street, chewing on a meat skewer like he had all the time in the world. Silver hair, a black cloak. Subaru's chest tightened.
"Atlair…?"
The name escaped him before he could stop it. He broke into a run, weaving through people and ignoring the annoyed mutters that followed him. His heart pounded like a drum—because after everything, there he was.
The guy turned when Subaru skidded to a halt in front of him. His expression wasn't relief, wasn't recognition—it was pure confusion.
"Altair! Where the hell did you go?" Subaru blurted, too fast. "You disappeared after the Loot House! Weird shit started happening after that, and I couldn't find—"
He was rambling and he knew it, but he couldn't stop.
The silver-haired boy blinked at him, brows drawn tight, looking almost uncomfortable under the barrage.
"…What?" His voice was uncertain. "You—uh… You've definitely got the wrong guy. I think."
Subaru froze mid-word. The response didn't fit. That voice, that look—it wasn't what he expected.
"No, no, wait. You're Atlair. You have to be," he insisted, pointing almost accusingly. "Stop messing with me, alright? You were there at the Loot House! I saw you!"
"Loot what now?" the boy replied. "I've never even—Look, man, I have no clue who you are. Honestly."
Subaru's chest tightened. His mind screamed this had to be Atlair, but the blank look staring back at him made the certainty crack. His protests caught in his throat, half-formed, when a flicker of silver hair in the crowd caught his eyes.
His gaze shifted, locking on to a figure moving briskly past the stalls.
Long hair. Pointed ears. A face he couldn't forget.
Satella.
Subaru sucked in a sharp breath, heart dropping to his stomach.
"Wait here!" he barked at the silver-haired boy, already pivoting on his heel. "If you are pretending, you're a dick—but if you're not, then this is gonna get real messy real fast!"
And before the boy could answer, Subaru bolted—shoving his way through the crowd like a man possessed.
"Hey! Wait—Satella!" he shouted, his voice rising over the buzz of the street.
Behind him, the murmurs of confusion continued, but Subaru didn't look back. His eyes were locked forward, chasing the only thing that mattered.