Chapter 4: I Felt it in my guts
Today was a good day. After all, today she had snatched a big haul which would help her with getting out these dirty slums.
What she hadn't expected was that she'd be greeted by her victim when she got back to the Rom's place.
"What is this, old man? Did you finally decide to sell me out?" Felt didn't actually believe her own words, they had known each other since she was a child after all, and more importantly was the fact that there was a knight standing inside of the loothouse (not to mention the siblings with senpaku eyes), meaning that he couldn't exactly warn her of their arrival.
"Are ya trying ta piss me off? Of course not! Although I might admit tha' I didn't hate these fine people's company."
"You're Felt, right? You took something that's suuper important to me, so I would be glad if you gave it back to me without us having to fight."
The silver-haired onee-san didn't have to tell her twice. They had already managed to pacify the old man, so it would probably be suicidal to get into an actual fight with these people.
Wait a second, silver hair? Long ears?
She trembled as the gravity of the situation dawned on her, which didn't go unnoticed by Emilia.
"Wait, it couldn't be? Are you-"
"Nonono, that's just an accidental resemblence, and it has caused a lot of trouble for me over the years".
That calmed her down, which would've been good if it didn't create the perfect opportunity to throw knife her way.
Luckily for her, the knight who had stayed silent so far had noticed in time to parry the incoming projectile.
"I thought gathering everyone in one place would've made my job easier, but it turns out I might have underestimated my opponent. You are the sword saint, right?"
The offending party had a deadly smile on her face, as if she had long since gone insane from a lifetime of murder, and if her skill with her Kukiri blades was anything to go off of, she had done exactly that.
"That would be correct, and based on your black hair and iconic knives, you would be the bowel hunter I presume?"
"It's an honor to have my deeds recognised by someone as famous as you! It makes me wonder what color your guts have."
Reinhard tried to draw the sword on his waist, but it didn't want to be drawn.
"I'm terribly sorry, but it appears I cannot draw my sword in this battle."
"I believe I might have been the one who is being underestimated this time."
"It's a quite troubling judgement for me as well."
Seeing the scene playing out right in front of him, Natsuki grabbed a sword hanging on the wall and threw it towards Reinhard. After getting to know the guy for a little while, Natsuki was confident that Reinhard could catch it no matter how terribly he threw it, so long as he aimed in Reinhard's general direction.
"Thank you Natsuki! Now please surrender, or I'll have to kill you."
"How could I say no to such an enticing proposition."
They exchanged names in a display of epicness, after which Reinhard absolutely obliterated the bowel hunter, along with the entire building.
"Sword saint my ass! Is there anything saintly about this?!"
"Geez, my brother can be so annoying when he wants to be. What did you contribute to the battle to be able to spout such words anyway?"
Not only did Natsuki Subaru get a full view of his sister's scornful expression, but he also felt it through their emotional link. He was happy to get a reaction out of her.
"You may be right about that, but it still hurts a little when you say it".
"Mou, apologize to Reinhard this instant Subaru!" Emilia added helpfully with a stern tone.
"Which Subaru do you mean?" Natsuki gleefully countered, before regretting it the very next second when Emilia grabbed him by he ear.
"Alright, alright, I'll apologize! I'm sorry Reinhard for saying bad things about you! Please accept my sincerest apologies! I repent, I repent!"
With a victorious smug smile, Emilia let go of his ear. Seeing this, Natsuki could only react with an "E.M.T!", which made Emilia tilt her head. Natsumi just ignored it since she felt through their connection that he was thinking something stupid.
Felt felt sorry (author's note: sorry) for having stolen Emilia's insignia, or perhaps guilty would be a better way to word that (author's note: yes I'm a wordsmith, guilty as charged), so she was standing on the sidelines, not quite knowing how to apologise.
Elsa had rushed to kill Felt first, and she had even waited for Felt to get here before she attacked.
Honestly, it was quite weird that she would attack only after everyone was gathered here. Elsa should've backed off as soon as she saw Reinhard, but she chose to engage anyways. Perhaps her orders specified that she should attack only after everyone was gathered?
Felt didn't understand how Elsa knew that they would all gather here in the first place, especially together with Reinhard. The mad assasin obviously knew of him, and she didn't seem like the suicidal type, she has so many sadistic things to live for after all... Wait, if she isn't suicidal, that can only mean...
"Careful everone! She isn't dead yet!"
This startled everyone, but it gave them enough time to counter Elsa before anyone was killed. Not without incident though, as Natsuki was the only one close enough to shield Emilia from the assasin who suddenly launched at her.
Natsumi watched in horror and agony as her brother was impaled in the stomach without anything to protect him from the assasin's kukiri blade.
Before the madwoman could continue to push her offensive, Reinhard arrived between her and Natsuki.
Elsa backed off by jumping towards the remenants of the destroyed roof, departing with a sadistic speech about opening people's bowels and whatnot.
Emilia rushed towards the unconscious human. "Natsuki, please stay with us!".
She proceeded to heal him, and luckily managed to stabilise his wounds. Also luckily, Natsuki's connection to his sister had taken on some of the damage, so he just barely managed to survive the attack from the infamous bowel hunter.
After a while, everything had calmed down enough for everyone to be able to continue their conversation. Natsuki was unconscious on the floor, and Natsumi sat next to him, leaning against what remained of a wall.
"Um, I'm sorry for stealing your insignia onee-san, it won't happen again!" Felt bowed to Emilia, and then straightened up to try and get said insignia out of her pocket.
Emilia asked Reinhard to look the other way from Felt's crime this time, to which he steadily agreed.
As she fiddled in her pocket, she continued "Please take care to not get it stolen again."
"It feels weird to hear it from the one who stole it in the first place".
Felt finally managed to grab it, and as she held it up to give it back to Emilia, it started glowing.
"No way. Please state your name and age." Reinhard commanded as he held on to Felt's arm.
"Let go of me! My name is Felt, no family name, and I think I'm 15 this year. Let go!"
As Felt struggled, Reinhard waved his hand in front of her which had the effect of instantly putting her to sleep.
"What did you do to her, Astrea!" Rom said as he approached Reinhard in a threatening manner. Of course he knew he couldn't win againt Reinhard, but here were some things that he just had to protect at all costs.
"Don't worry, I'll just need to take her over to my estate for a little while. You can come with me if you are worried for her safety, Rom-san." He turned towards Emilia and said "I'm sorry I couldn't keep my promise to you, but this is something rather urgent I'm afraid".
"It's fine, but may I ask what this is about? If it's about her stealing my insignia, then I have already forgiven her for that."
"That indeed is not small crime Emilia-sama, but he crime I just witnessed right in front of me is much greater."
They continued to talk for a while, and after the pink haired maid Ram met up with them, Reinhard departed with a sleeping young girl and a weary old man.
"I'll have to take Natsuki to my home in order to heal him properly. You may also come if you want."
"I have no other place to go, so I humbly accept."
On their way to Roswaal mansion, Natsumi made small talk with the half Elf and maid.
It really was just small talk though, such as the following example:
"Could you tell me more about your brother?"
"He's a pervert."
"Hah, don't bring him anywhere near my sister."
Thank you for reading! Your support has been amazing, and I've managed to get through arc 1 fast thanks to that.
Now on to the part I've been waiting for.
What about return by death? What about Natsumi's pride factor? How will Rem handle two people who might or might not both smell like shit? What is Roswaal's angle in all of this? Please stay tuned for arc 2 and beyond.
Oh, and let's not forget about the best drill loli. We can't have that!