To have a higher chance of finding someone that can identify the thief, you split into groups. Subaru went with Emilia and Puck while you stayed with Reinhard.
You all agreed to meet back at the alley after 1 hour, and then Subaru and company left.
The first thing that you did was describe Felt to Reinhard so that he would be able to ask other people about her.
"Well, she was short. The top of her head probably comes to the base of my neck." You put your hand up to your neck to demonstrate.
"Her hair is blonde, but I didn't get a good look of her eyes." You paused, and tried to think about what else to say. "I also noticed that she was able to move in a way that if nimbler than a normal person, so she probably uses some ability to run away."
With this, Rienhard nodded. "I appreciate the information. Is there anything else that you noticed?"
You think, and then reply, "No. That's all that I can think of currently. I'll let you know if anything else pops into my head." Since this is the Master Swordsman you are talking to, you try to sound as polite as possible, similar to how you had to treat customers at work.
He nodded again. "Thank you, (Y/N). Since I now know what you know, let's start asking around about this girl."
"Okay."
You wished that you could come up with something cooler to say, but you came up short. Because of this, an awkward silence started between the two of you.
It was only broken when Reinhard spotted a semi-busy street. "Let's go over there. I'll take the left side, and you take the right." Without hesitating, he walked towards the left side of the street.
You go to the right, and start asking people if they know anybody that fits Felt's description.
Time Skip
You sighed. Nobody had recognized Felt's description, and the hour was almost up. Reinhard noticed this, and says, "Don't lose hope yet (Y/N), maybe Lady Emilia and Subaru managed to get some information."
He patted you on the back, and started making his way back to the alley.
Since you had been interrogating people around the city, you had actually gone quite far from the meeting place. It took a whole 12 minutes to walk back.
When you got there, you saw Subaru waiting impatiently. "It's about time you got back, (Y/N)! We've been waiting for almost half an hour now!" He smirked.
Subaru, unlike you, already had a plan in mind. He had slowly directed his group toward the place that the lost little girl would be. Sure enough, she was standing there, and Subaru and Emilia were quick to reunite her with her mother and then go to the Appa vendor to find out about Felt.
"Subaru, don't be mean!" Emilia playfully punched him, which evoked an amused expression from you and Puck.
It looks like those two are getting along really good. I wonder what happened while we were separated.
"I assume that, since you were back so early, you were able to identify the thief?" Reinhard questioned.
"That's right. Her name is Felt, and she lives in the slums. That's all we've got, but it should be enough!" Subaru looked enthusiastic, and after he said this, he pumped his fist.
His display of excitement riled some of the others up.
"Yeah! Let's go to the slums and get Lia's insignia back!" Puck did a little flip in the air, which made you and Reinhard smile.
"Why not, we've got no time to lose!" Reinhard exclaimed. You look around, and everyone seems to be in good spirits now.
I hope that things will stay like this for a while. Just a little cheer goes a long way, but life always seems to find a way to extinguish it.
Time skip
The five of you are now at the slums. Once again, the tension is making everybody feel uneasy. As you walked, you could almost feel the strength of the stares that were concentrated on your group.
"Um..." whispered Subaru, "things feel really weird. Is this normal?"
Reinhard shook his head. "I've never been here, but I would assume that things aren't normally like this. I'm afraid that I may be attracting a lot of unwanted attention."
This made a lot of sense. It wasn't every day that you saw one of the most powerful people in the world pass by, especially in a place like this.
"I agree, but there isn't much we can do about this." You don't suggest Reinhard splitting up from you because he was the most important person to be with right now. If Elsa just happened to show up, you need him close by so that somebody doesn't die.
Of course, Puck would be able to stay materialized for a while because Subaru was able to get information on Felt hours earlier than he previously did, but Reinhard was your best bet for success, which was living to see another day.
"I know, why don't I go ahead of you guys and see if anyone will tell me about where Felt lives? I should fit in pretty well, so it's worth a shot." Subaru brought up the plan from his previous experience since it worked well the last time.
"That's actually not a bad idea," said Puck. "Go ahead. If you can't get someone to tell you soon, come back so we can come up with a different plan."
"Alright, here goes nothing..." With this said, Subaru walked off on his own.
After a few silent minutes, he came back with a victorious look on his face. He gave you a thumbs up. "Success! They told me that we can find Felt at Old Rom's loot house at the top of the hill over there." He pointed at it.
"Nice work Subaru," congratulated Reinhard. "Now lets see if she's there."
You walk to the loot house, and knock on the door. "Who is it?" A gruffly voice came from inside.
"We're here to see Felt."
"What's the password?"
Everyone looked at each other, and shrugged their shoulders. "Uh," you mutter, "she didn't give us one..."
"Is that so?" You all anxiously wait for his response.
"Well, if you're here to see Felt, come on in. She's not here yet, but she will be soon enough."
You pump your fists. The first step to getting the insignia back is complete.
Before the door is opened, Reinhard excused himself. "I don't think that me going in there is a good idea. I do not want to scare Felt away, so I will make myself scarce until I believe that my assistance may be required." With that, he walked away.
"Oh well, he's probably right," you comment. "By the way, is it a good idea for you to be coming in, Emilia?" You turn to her while Subaru was waiting with his hand on the door handle.
"Y-yes! I need to be able to solve my problems without someone doing that for me every step of the way!" She was determined to go in, so you just go with the flow.
"Okay then. Subaru, you can open the door now."
"You don't have to tell me that..." He opened the door, and you finally see the interior of the loot house.
Sitting at the back was Rom, the old giant. He was drinking some sort of alcohol, and he didn't seem to really notice you until he said, "Come on, take a seat. If you're comin' in, you might as well be comfortable."
You all accept his invitation and sit down across form Rom at the bar table.
"Now, why do you need to see Felt?" He got straight to the point, a fact that you liked. You weren't the type of person that liked to engage in small talk and slowly get to the point.
Emilia was about to answer when you cut her off. "We'd like to bargain for that insignia that she stole today."
"Well, I don't know what she has, but I was told that Felt was bringin' a fine pile of loot today. If you want to get that insignia, you're goin' to have to pay up."
This statement made all of you freeze. All of you were broke, and there was no hiding this fact. "Well, you see, I was wondering if we could do a trade. We're all broke, but we have some pretty interesting items with us." You save the deal by remembering what happened in the anime.
"I've noticed," grumbled Rom. "Why don't you show me what you've got?"
You and Subaru then pull out the very few things that you brought from your worlds. Subaru has his snacks and flip phone, and you just have your phone.
"I've never seen these before. What are these?" He pointed to the phones.
"Well," started Subaru, "these are magical devices called cell phones! They can stop time for anyone at any time!"
"How?!" Both Rom and Emilia seemed surprised by this.
"Let me show you." Subaru opened his flip phone and took a picture of Rom "Nine Seconds Per Shot: Continuous Shot!" Once he called out the name of his 'magic', he then turned it around to show Rom and Emilia.
Just as promised, this picture had 'stopped time' for Rom, which impressed him. "That's my face! Just what is that?"
Subaru grinned. "Like I said, this is a magical item that can freeze time for objects, and then store them inside so that you can look at them later!"
Rom gasped. "Is this a metia? I've heard that those are devices that let non-magic users use magic, but I've never seen one before."
"Yeah," you say. "That is a metia, along with this." You pick up your phone. "This one does the very same thing, but it's just a lot fancier."
Right after you said that, a certain blonde haired girl came barging in. "Hey, what're you doing here?" She then saw Emilia. "YOU!" She pointed an accusatory finger. "I'm not giving your insignia back, so don't even try to do something to Old Man Rom!"
"Wait a second Felt," said the giant "They're actually here to trade for it, so I don't see anything wrong with that."
Felt let out a 'hmph'. "Fine. As long as they don't pull off any funny business, I'll let them stay."
She then pulled up to the table and sat down.
Rom then showed her the phones, and their 'ability' shocked her as well. "If I had to guess, just one of these are probably worth at least 20 holy coins!" Old Rom gave his best appraisal.
"How much is the insignia worth?" asked Subaru.
"Well, you see, a client specifically asked for us to grab this, and they offered 10 holy coi-"
"It's settled then!" exclaimed Subaru. "One of our metias for the insignia!"
"Wait just a second!" yelled Felt. "You can't have it just yet. You have to wait until our client gets here. They may be willing to pay for a higher price."
"You are absolutely correct about that." Everybody turned their head to see none other than the Bowel Hunter standing in the doorway. "Now, what is it that these young people want?" She did her creepy smile, and you finally experienced true fear.
Sure, you thought that you knew what fear was before, but that was just nervousness. This, the feeling you got when Elsa smiled at you, was true fear.
She noticed this, and it made her smile even more. You and Subaru were frozen in place, but there was another that spoke up. "We're here to bargain for my insignia!" Emilia tried to be brave and speak up, but that was a grave mistake.
"Oh," Elsa narrowed her eyes. "So that's what is going on."
You know what is about to happen, so you call out, "Puck! Protect us!"
Right as you said that, the Bowel Hunter made a dash toward all of you, but her attack was halted by many shards of ice that came veering toward her.
"Nice one, (Y/N)! If you wouldn't have called for me just now, you'd be dead."
You gulp at that word.
Dead.
Can I really die? With Subaru restarting over and over, what happens to my soul when I die? Does it go somewhere, or is it sucked back in time?
This thought worries you. At the worst, you might never be able to have eternal peace. You might just have to suffer in this cruel world without end.
"Cat got your tongue?" Elsa said, commenting on your silence.
"Actually, I've got yours!" Puck shot ice at Elsa's face, but she was able to dodge all of it.
I hope that Reinhard comes soon. This might get messy if he doesn't get involved.
"Everybody, get behind the table!" Rom got his club and motioned for you to hide. At first, you wanted to help fight, but then you did as you were told. With no known ability, you decide not to risk dying and jeopardizing your current mission.
Elsa saw you and Felt move behind the table, and she took note. She also noticed Subaru, who refused to move. "I'm going to help Emilia, because what use am I to her if I won't help her fight!?" Subaru, deciding to be stubborn, charged Elsa.
"I'm not interested in you. You're insides aren't worth my time." She then looked straight at you. "You, on the other hand," she licked her lips, "I'm going to enjoy dissecting."
With this said, she bounded towards the table where you were hiding. Puck tried to force her to move somewhere else, but the Bowel Hunter was too quick. She got over the table, and brought her blade down, about to kill both you and Felt in one fell swipe.
You push Felt out of the way, but in doing so your stomach is sliced cleanly; all of its contents opening up on the floor.
You feel immense pain, and you know that your time is about to end.
Sorry Subaru, but I'm not going to make it. If you survive this, move on without me. I know that you can, so don't give up.
"(Y/N)!" you faintly hear Reinhard screaming your name after he finally came in. You smiled.
I guess its too late for me.
Heh. At least I got to have some fun before I died. Well, goodbye cruel world. If I wake up again, screw you.
You blacked out, but instead of seeing the light, you saw a mysterious white-haired figure.
...I love him... so help him...
You wake up with a start. Your wounds are completely healed, the only evidence of your life-ending wound being your sweatshirt having a hole in it. And of course there was blood everywhere. Your blood.
What the crap? I thought I died... Is my ability something on the line of regeneration? If I'm correct, then I'm like Ban from the Seven Deadly Sins, and I can't die.
You smirk. How amusing. Both Subaru and I can't die, but because of different powers. They are so alike but so different at the same time.
He dies to fix his mistakes. I'm going to live to fix them.
You finally get up, and seeing this, Elsa freezes. "WHAT?!" She wasn't the only one that was astounded by your revival. However, Reinhard held his concentration and used this opportunity to attack Elsa. His sword connected with her body, and a huge explosion resulted from this.
The attack completely destroyed the loot house, so most everybody assumed that Elsa had been defeated.
"What the crap man! I thought you were a swordsman, not a freaking explosion freak!" The grave situation didn't keep Subaru from speaking his mind.
"Well you see..." Reinhard stopped talking when he noticed some movement in the still settling dust.
"I thought that I was going to die." Standing up was Elsa. The only thing that appeared to take damage was her clothes.
All of a sudden, she ran for the person closest to her, which was Subaru. He picked up Rom's club, and blocked the attack.
"That's enough, Bowel Hunter!" shouted Reinhard.
She scowled. "I will come back one day and disembowel all of you!" She glared at you. "And you..." without finishing her sentence, Elsa ran away.
"Are you all right?" Emilia worriedly asked Subaru.
"Of course I'm all right! Can't you see that I expertly blocked her blow?" He held up the club, which was now sliced in half. "Oh poop."
He noticed that his midsection was bleeding, and then he passed out for the second time in a day.
Hey guys, I hope that you enjoyed this chapter!
(Y/N)'s power has now been revealed! What do you think about it?
I welcome all suggestions and/or criticism. I want to be able to make the best story for you, my readers.
Thank you, and I'll see you next time!