Puck
As they moved forward, the sound of objects being smashed became more and more distinct.
Emilia fired an ice spike at the tightly shut wooden door, and the three people inside the room stopped what they were doing due to the sudden interruption.
What Subaru Natsuki saw before his eyes was a bald old man over two meters tall, panting heavily.
He was wearing dirty, tattered clothes, and beneath them was a clearly well-trained, massive body.
In his hands, he held a club — a club as thick as Subaru's waist, roughly the length of a bamboo sword, seemingly made of wood, but its tip was covered with many sharp spikes.
Just from appearance, it was an excellent weapon capable of delivering fatal injuries with a single blow.
Not far behind the old man stood a girl with messy, medium-length golden hair.
Her pupils were red like a rabbit's, and a mischievous fang peeked out from the corner of her mouth.
Her petite body was dressed in clothing suited for movement — to put it bluntly, rags.
Subaru instantly understood: this was the thief.
Confronting the old man was a beautiful woman.
She was tall, about the same height as Subaru, probably in her early twenties, with drooping eyes and a graceful, noble air.
Her pale skin was striking even in the dim warehouse.
Though she wore a black coat, the front was open, revealing a tightly-fitting black outfit that drew the eye.
Her figure was slim but well-proportioned — in short, a killer body.
Like Subaru, she had rare black hair in this world. Her long hair, reaching her back, was tied in a braid.
At the moment, she was toying with a curved blade in her hand.
"So this is what they call a robbery," Subaru said, slapping his palm.
"It's not like that! This crazy woman's the one who made the request, and then she suddenly attacked us in the middle of the deal. We're just defending ourselves!" Felt shouted loudly.
Subaru didn't argue with her, because the elegant woman had suddenly glided silently beside Emilia, and swung her curved blade at the white neck.
The motion was smooth, as if painting something — but it carried deadly intent.
A crisp sound rang out.
It wasn't the sound of steel slicing bone, but rather the sharp noise of steel shattering glass.
Emilia leaned forward slightly, and a bluish-white magical circle appeared at the back of her head.
The magic light halted the tip of the blade, barely saving the silver-haired girl's life.
Emilia jumped toward Subaru, who also instinctively ran forward.
The number of people in the room increased to five.
From Emilia's silver hair, Puck emerged and glanced toward Subaru.
"Nice job, Puck! That was a close call — you saved us!"
"Oh, not at all! But first, I need to deal with the one who laid a hand on my daughter!"
Responding to Subaru's enthusiastic thumbs-up, the small cat mimicked the same gesture.
The sun hadn't set yet — which meant Emilia's powerful backing, the Great Spirit Puck, was still on duty.
However, the woman whose surprise attack had been blocked now raised her deadly blade again, her expression dreamy as she muttered:
"—A spirit. A spirit, huh. Hehehe… wonderful. I've never cut open a spirit's belly before."
"Judging from what you just said and your appearance, you must be the Bowel Hunter," said what must have been Old Man Rom.
"If possible, I'd prefer if you called me Elsa," she replied affirmatively.
"You want to cut open my belly? Try it, if you think you can," Puck said.
At that moment, Puck's angry voice made Elsa realize something was wrong.
She looked up — and saw that while she had been standing there, she had become surrounded by over twenty sharp ice spikes.
"I haven't introduced myself yet, miss. My name is Puck — just the name will do, take it with you to the afterlife."
Immediately, the ice spikes crashed into Elsa from all directions like cannon fire.
Their speed far exceeded what had been used earlier on the thugs, and it was difficult to track them with the naked eye at the moment of impact.
The sharp tips could easily pierce the human body, and the blood would surely stain the clear ice red.
There were at least twenty ice spikes — enough to deliver a fatal blow.
However, Elsa's figure, her black hair swirling, broke through the icy mist.
She swung her curved blade, her movements still light and agile.
Apart from losing her black coat and now being clad only in a black bodysuit, she looked no different than before.
"Could it be… that coat was heavy, and after taking it off, she moved more flexibly and dodged them!?" Subaru guessed that she had avoided all the ice spikes by sheer agility.
"That's a fun interpretation, but the truth is simpler. My coat was woven with a magic technique that could ward off just one spell. That's how I survived,"
Elsa replied politely to Subaru's question, lowering her posture and dashing straight forward with her blade raised.
Her curved blade pointed directly at Emilia's chest — she had just finished casting a major spell and had little defense left.
Subaru couldn't help but cry out.
But—
"Don't underestimate a spirit user. Fighting one is truly frightening. The tasks of attacking and defending are divided — effectively, it's like facing two-on-one. That's what makes spirit users troublesome.
One attacks, the other defends.
One can use simple magic to buy time, while the other unleashes their ultimate move…"
Old Man Rom, now standing beside Subaru, remarked with calm breath.
Hearing this, Subaru nodded in agreement.
So that's how it was — the combo of a spirit user isn't so easily broken.
Even as they spoke, the battle raged on.
Countless ice shards appeared one after another, flying freely through the room.
Yet amidst the storm of ice, Elsa's movements far exceeded human capabilities.
It was like watching a video game boss: her dodges and parries seemed invincible.
Despite nearly a hundred ice projectiles being launched, none — aside from the initial attack — struck her directly.
"You're really used to fighting, huh? Even though you're a woman," Puck said admiringly, even as he continued the fierce exchange of blows with Elsa.
If this continued, Puck would eventually win — but his work hours were drawing to a close.
And finally, the tide of battle turned.
Shattered ice fragments had been piling up on the floor.
In that moment, they successfully stuck Elsa's feet to the ground.
At the same time, as if anticipating this, Puck extended his arms forward and gathered the greatest amount of magical energy he had yet used — even Subaru could see it.
The magic was no longer in the form of ice — it was pure destructive energy.
A beam of blue-white light froze everything in its path, instantly dyeing the stolen goods storehouse white.
The energy passed through Elsa, hitting the entrance of the storehouse.
The entire doorway was sealed in ice, and the freezing shockwave extended beyond expectations, affecting even the exterior.
When the aurora-like light passed, only ice remained.
The stolen goods, the furniture, and the counters — all had been frozen solid into permafrost.
Naturally, Elsa — who had taken a direct hit — was no exception.
Inside the ice wall was Elsa's right hand, and beside it lay her corpse. No blood flowed — she had already frozen to death. From the wound, one could see her frozen heart.
"That was close — she actually shaved off the entire sole of her right foot. If I'd been careless, she might've gotten away. Well, Lia, I'm heading to sleep now. I'll leave the rest to you guys to sort out at your leisure."