You are now at the slums. Grinning, you remember the events right after Subaru learned Felt's general location.

"Off to the slums, we have a thief to catch!" Subaru started running off without you and Emilia.

"Umm, (Y/N), Subaru just ran the wrong way. The slums are in the opposite direction." Emilia sounded disappointed, and for a good reason.

"Don't worry. Stay right here, and I'll go get him." You run off and quickly catch up to Subaru.

"Hey genius, where do you think you're going?"

"I'm going to the slums, where else would I be going?" He was now facing you, who was behind him, while running forward.

You smirk. "Well, good luck with that. I'll be going in the right direction with Emilia. See ya." After saying that, you slow down and come to a stop.

Subaru, on the other hand, kept trucking forward. Unfortunately, he still wasn't looking ahead of himself and ran into a woman, knocking her over. "Was machst du, du dummkopf!"

Hehe. German.

"I'm so sorry, my friend here can be a dolt, so please excuse him!" You grab him and run back to where Emilia was waiting.

Man, the face that Subaru made was priceless! This is now a new core memory!

You snap out of the memory, and focus on the scene in front of you. Unlike the memory, there is nothing here to smile about. There are many houses in very poor condition. They were filthy, and looked like they would fall over if the wind blew too hard.

The same went for the people. They wore rags, and looked as if they never experienced the luxury of a bath. They were frail, and you could tell that that they were extremely malnourished.

What kind of government lets so many people fall this low into poverty?

As you walked around, you could feel the tension in the air.

Nervously, Emilia asked, "Are you sure she's here?"

"Lia, don't you trust that man who gave us this information?" Puck spoke for the first time in what seems to be quite a while.

"Well, he did seem to be trustworthy, but this place is just unsettling. Hey, maybe someone will tell us where Felt lives if we ask them!" Emilia's demeanor brightened up a little after saying this.

"No one would sell out one of their own, so I don't think that would work," said Subaru, "maybe we should come back later.

"No." You say this very firmly. "The more we wait, the higher the chance that she doesn't have the insignia anymore." Besides, you also know that Puck won't be able to materialize for much longer. You bought a few minutes, but this would be cutting it very close. You need Puck in case Elsa comes and tries to kill you all.

"He has a point," said Puck. "Besides, I'll be out of time in the next half hour, so you should hurry up."

"What do you mean, 'out of time'?" Subaru wants to know this, but you already know what Puck means.

"Well, since I am a spirit, it takes a lot of mana just to stay in this physical form, so I return to the crystal I was summoned from when it is later in the day. I usually stay from about 9 to 5."

Hey, that's almost the same as my Saturday shifts! Puck and I aren't so different after all!

"We'll be fine without Puck, so let's keep moving forward." Emilia was determined to get her insignia back, even if it was without Puck.

"You know, I'm still here." Puck deadpanned.

"I-I know! I was j-just trying to-"

"It's fine Emilia, we all try to act cool." Subaru put his hand on her shoulder to console her.

Before Emilia could respond to that, you barged into the conversation. "Well, like you said Subaru, these people won't sell out their own, so you should go and ask one of them."

"What?" Everybody was confused by this.

"What I meant was you look pretty beat up, so you fit right in with them. Because of this, you can probably ask one of them and get a response."

"And whose fault is it that I look like this?!" Subaru got really angry at this comment.

"It's your fault."

"Yours"

"Your fault."

You, Emilia, and Puck simultaneously answered, leaving Subaru in a state of rejection.

"Fine..." Subaru trudged off, and after a couple minutes, he came back.

"Apparently, we can find her at 'Old Man Rom's loot house', which is just up that hill." His mood was soured by everybody's reflection on his sorry state.

To help him a little, you tell him, "Good job Subaru. None of us could have gotten that information, so thanks."

"Yes, I agree. Thank you Subaru!" Emilia gave Subaru a smile, which made his mood do a 180. His spirits were high once again.

"Well, somebody's got to do these things."

You feel like time is just being wasted at this point, so you speak up. "Well, if you're done now, lets go!"

The conversation died, and all of you make your way up to the loot house. Remembering what happened the first time that Subaru came here in the anime, you come up with a plan. "Hey Puck, can yo-"

"Sorry, but my time's up. Lia, if you need me, don't hesitate to summon me again." After saying this, Puck disappeared.

"Wow. It looks like he died," Subaru commented.

The door to the loot house opened, revealing a black haired woman with a very revealing outfit. "Why don't we make that two of you, then?"

You all look back to see Elsa Granhiert, also known as the bowel hunter, plunge her blade into Subaru's midsection.

You eyes widen in shock.

No way.

This is very bad.

What do we d-

Your thoughts were interrupted as Elsa moved at inhuman speeds and sliced your stomach open. You clutch your wound as you fall to the ground.

The pain you feel is more intense than you could have ever imagined that it would be.

Your entire front feels like it is burning with the hottest fire, and it can't be doused.

You start to feel drowsy, and you eyelids begin to close, but not before Emilia's limp figure comes crashing down.

"No matter what... I'll save you..." You heard Subaru softly whisper this before he stopped moving.

It wasn't supposed to end like this. Please let me have an ability that keeps me alive. Please don't let me die. I'm too young to go like this. Please stop this pain. Please help me...

A single tear escaped your eye before you see for the last time.

There is a vision of black hands and a silver-haired woman.

"The conditions have been met. Your wish will come true."

You open your eyes and see yourself and Subaru in front of the Appa stand. For some reason, Subaru can't seem to hear.

"Come on man, stop joking around. We just got here, and you're already going to get some people angry. First, you embarrass us by doing that weird pose, and now you're going to get yelled at. Can't you just normal for once?!"

"What?" Subaru cupped his hands by his ear, and looked genuinely confused.

A sudden realization hit you.

Oh no.

This is what Subaru did after the first time that he died. This makes sense, since this is the first save point.

Does this mean that he's already died? Why can't I remember? What happened?

Well, I guess that the only way that I'll know is to ask.

About that, how can I ask him without directly referring to his ability?

After coming up with a safe way to ask him, you pulled Subaru to the side of the street where nobody else could hear you.

"Subaru... have you died recently?"

Hey guys, here is another chapter!

I don't know about you, but the end of this chapter has me excited for what's to come.

Well, I'll see you next time!