After leaving the capital's labyrinthine alleys with Subaru and Emilia, the search for clues in the crowded streets began. Trizz, hands in the pockets of his incongruous tracksuit, pretended to scrutinize the faces of passers-by. He knew his efforts were futile, that the wasted time was just a necessity of this first loop, but his hazy memory of the story forced him to play along. He confined himself to giving vague descriptions of the insignia, avoiding mention of the quick, blonde girl—Felt—so as not to deviate from the main path.
Three hours had passed since the start of this charade. Exhausted from walking under a cruel sun, Subaru, Emilia, and Trizz stopped on a stone bridge, overlooking a dark canal.
Subaru: (He leaned against the railing, breathless, his words heavy with frustration.) "We've been looking for this girl and this badge for over three hours! I'm sure if I had a cheat, we'd be done by now! But no, I'm just a neeeeet body with no superpower!"
The boy's frustration resonated. Trizz, too, displayed genuine weariness, although he masked his despair with a theatrical sigh. Helplessness was Subaru's burden, but Trizz's was useless knowledge.
Trizz: (He swung one leg over the void, wearing a jaded expression.) "Oh, a whiner in a fantasy world? Classic. You should at least have the courtesy to die before complaining about your bad starting stat."
Puck: (The feline spirit appeared over Emilia's shoulders, looking affectionate.) "Stop feeling guilty. We've already made good progress. We know the thief's name."
Subaru: (He straightened his shoulders.) "Yes, Puck, you're right. We just have to guess the perfect place where a little girl could hide in a country I don't know! What luck!"
Emilia: (She turned to the two boys, her face marked by painful hesitation.) "But... why are you helping me? I already repaid your debt after healing Subaru, and besides, I'm a half-elf..."
Trizz was confused by the question. He had forgotten how deep Emilia's isolation was at this stage of the story. Subaru, immediately, cut short her doubts with a torrent of exaggerated compliments and heroic gestures.
Trizz suddenly felt ignored. He lightly slapped Subaru's arm with the back of his hand.
Trizz: "Hey, Madam's Stud. We've known each other for over three hours, we're on a bridge, we're tired, but I still don't know your name, you fallen hero."
Subaru, surprised in his chivalrous rush, struck a strange pose, arms spread, an anime icon posture.
Subaru: "My name is Natsuki Subaru! The most broke, the clumsiest, and the most isekai person in this world!"
Trizz blinked, a slight, mocking smile on his lips. Yes, you are. And the most fictional. He felt a little embarrassed by the boy's extreme frankness.
Trizz: "I'm... Trizz..."
He stopped. A gaping void. Why only that name? There was nothing before it.
Trizz: (He shook his head, chasing away the strange memory lapse with a nervous laugh.) "Trizz. Just Trizz. It's cheaper to engrave on a tombstone."
Puck: "I'm Puck, nice to meet you."
Emilia was a little embarrassed by the two boys' antics but replied softly.
Emilia: "My name is... Satella."
Trizz held back a sigh. He knew it was the Witch of Envy's name, the one she used to protect herself, but he remained silent. He didn't want to break the mechanics of the story too soon.
Subaru: (He clapped his hands, full of renewed energy.) "Alright, Trizz, Satella! We've circled around. Let's retrace our steps! We'll go back to where we started. The clue is always where we missed it!"
Trizz shrugged, displaying fake resignation.
Trizz: "Walking the same path twice. Do you really have a fetish for defeat, Natsuki Subaru? Let's go. If we die, I'm making you pay the funeral expenses."
(skip through time...)
The search had dragged on through the noisy crowds of the shopping district when Emilia spotted a small figure in distress. A lost child was sobbing, clinging to the hem of a dress.
Emilia: (Her voice softened, filled with natural compassion.) "Oh. Look, a child seems lost. We have to help them."
Trizz lightly nodded, his fervor to follow the script taking precedence over any other consideration.
Trizz: "Of course. That's the kind of cover blurb that attracts good souls, isn't it?"
Subaru initially refused, annoyed at the thought of straying from their main quest, the insignia.
Subaru: "No, we don't have time for that! We need to find that badge! That's the most important thing!"
But under Emilia's disapproving gaze, and above all, driven by a guilt he couldn't ignore, the boy gave in. By the time Emilia comforted the child with innate gentleness, the little one stopped crying.
Trizz approached Subaru, a sly grin stretching his lips.
Trizz: (He lightly nudged Subaru with his elbow.) "You're a real lolimancer, you are. The harem genius is already starting to follow you."
Subaru: (His face instantly flushed. The bluish tint of embarrassment was complete.) "Fck you, Trizz!"
Subaru started chasing Trizz, a childish chase that violently contrasted with the seriousness of their situation. Emilia and Puck burst out laughing, the crystalline, light sound offering a brief respite.
Emilia: "You two are really funny, Trizz and Subaru."
Subaru froze instantly, as if suffocated by the beauty of Emilia's laughter. He stopped his chase, looking foolish. Trizz, having won the verbal sparring, arrogantly straightened his clothes.
They resumed their investigation, the pace slowed by fatigue, until they found themselves facing the fruit vendor from earlier in the day. The merchant, who clearly remembered the noisy high schooler and his lack of money, quickly recognized them and made his intention to chase them away from his stand clear.
Subaru: (He straightened up, playing the scene with forced confidence.) "No, no! We came with a client! And she's very, very rich, too!"
The argument of wealth, derived from a failed isekai cliché, was both false and pathetic. Trizz backed away, feeling the unease rise, and decided he absolutely did not want to be associated with this clumsy attempt at scamming.
Emilia: (She stepped forward shyly, her tone confused.) "Su... Subaru, I don't know why you think that, but I don't have any money..."
The vendor was about to erupt in a furious rage, ready to curse them, when Trizz, acting with the opportunism of a naive person, gently pushed the found child toward the merchant.
Trizz: (He adopted a sugary voice.) "Look, sir! We found your client! A completely free guardian angel service! Your gratitude is enough for us!"
The vendor, grateful to have found the child, forgot the impending argument. He thanked them loudly.
Vendor: "Ah, thank you very much, you two are brave! Hmm... about that thieving brat and the badge, I heard she hangs out a lot around the slums..."
The information dropped, heavy and precise, into Trizz's ear. The point of no return had been reached.
(skip through time...)
An hour later, the three companions reached the capital's slums. The air was heavy and cold, thick with dampness and acrid smells. The market crowd had been replaced by shady figures and suspicious gazes. Subaru, Emilia, and Trizz began searching for clues, but the fear and suspicion of the inhabitants made the task impossible.
Puck: (He hovered, his cat eyes observing the surroundings.) "I don't think these people will sell out one of their own. They are bound by their misery."
Trizz had an idea, inspired by the scene he vaguely remembered. He pointed to a group of thugs loudly arguing in a dark corner.
Trizz: "Hey, Subaru. Since you're so good at handling thugs—remember, the ambush right at the start, that was you—why don't you go talk to them?"
Subaru, already annoyed by the search's failure, sulked.
Subaru: "But whose fault is it, to begin with?"
Emilia, Puck, and Trizz exchanged knowing glances.
Trizz: (He pointed an index finger at Subaru's chest.) "Yours!"
Puck: "Your fault."
Emilia: (She pointed at the floor with her fingertip, looking serious.) "Well, it is your fault, yes."
Subaru, defeated and visibly reluctant, muttered a string of insults in a language no one understood (Japanese) and headed toward the brutes. He returned a few minutes later, sporting a triumphant and proud air.
Subaru: "Victory! I managed to get some information. That girl's name is Felt, and she's hiding at the Loot House!"
Emilia smiled, a radiant smile of encouragement.
Emilia: "Thank you, Subaru."
Subaru blushed and puffed out his chest with pride. It really didn't take much to make him happy.
Trizz: (He congratulated him, his eyes sparkling with mischief.) "Well done, lolimancer. The White Knight of the slums."
Subaru, clearly not fond of this new nickname, grabbed Trizz's cheek and pulled it, as one punishes a child.
Subaru: "I told you to stop with that!"
Trizz: (The pain tore a genuine stammer from him, forcing him to drop his arrogance.) "I-I'm... sorry, Su... Subaru!"
(Skip through time...)
Forty minutes later, the daylight was beginning to die. The sun was setting, painting the sky in shades of red and blood orange. Puck disappeared into Emilia's cloak, his time of dissipation having arrived.
They finally found the shack. A dilapidated, rickety building, but one from which a strange aura emanated, a feeling of imminent death. Some vague and troubling memories began to disturb Trizz's mind. Blood. Hunger. The Assassin.
Subaru: "I think this is it. The Loot House."
Emilia: "It's a little damaged, don't you think, Trizz?"
Trizz did not answer. He stared at the wooden door, his eyes fixed on an invisible point beyond the wood. The memory of a pain suddenly overwhelmed him. He was pale.
Subaru: (Worried, he put a hand on Trizz's shoulder.) "Hey, mate, are you okay? You're completely white."
Trizz: (He shook his head, forcefully pushing the image away.) "Ye... Yeah. Let's go in."
Emilia decided to stay outside, afraid of scaring Rom or Felt. Subaru knocked on the door, but no one answered.
The door opened by itself, pushed by the macabre breeze coming from within.
The blood.
The scene hit Trizz head-on, with a violence that his vague memories could not prepare him for. A man two meters tall, Rom, lay on the ground. His throat had been slit, the gaping wound resembling a surgical cut made with glass. The smell of fresh blood, spilled entrails, and death filled the small room.
Then, Trizz's gaze fell on the other victim , Felt. The young girl was there, but half of her body had been opened with clinical precision, revealing the cold anatomy of her liver, heart, lungs, stomach, and intestines.
The horror was so visceral, so far removed from his existence as a naively reincarnated high schooler, that Trizz fell to his knees. Disgust overwhelmed him; he vomited bitter, yellow bile onto the filthy floor.
Subaru recoiled sharply, his eyes filled with primitive dread and fear. The fear was absolute.
Before he could even stand up, Trizz felt the room spin. A furtive movement, a shadow masked by the darkness. He lost all feeling in his body, as if his nerves had been severed.
An agonizing, brief pain.
His world became an explosion of red and black, and he collapsed.
Trizz was dead, decapitated, before he even saw the assassin's smile.