Subaru walked on the fourth floor, the picture of who he was in this new world formulating a bit better. 'The bottom… huh….' The pipe workers did not like anyone outside of them, and they weren't appreciated by anyone else either. He wasn't exceptional, at least yet. While his 'death' and 'revival' could be considered abilities…

The young man shook his head and rubbed some coal off his face tiredly. No, that couldn't be possible; it felt too painful, too real; it must have been some sort of stress that caused that.

The fourth floor was much less industrial, instead made up of overfilled dwellings. The few glimpses inside the brick buildings he had showed rows upon rows of hammocks, like the underdeck of an ancient ship, filthy men, women and even children going about their day.

The Copper Head was also not too hard to find, Subaru spotting an overhead sign hanging in the distance.

"The C_pe_r _ea_" Walking past the boarded-up windows, he could finally read the half-erased letters and see the knight helm nailed to it, the copper so oxidised that it was green.

'The way they talked about her, I did not think that this "Felt" would live in such a dump.' Taking a deep breath, he would knock.

"Hello? I would like to see-" Subaru would go quiet as he heard heavy stomps behind the door, their volume increasing by the second. The adolescent suddenly felt an acute need to turn around and run away.

Before his decision could be made, the sagged wooden door would fly open, nearly knocking him out.

"ALRIGHT, YOU ~HIC~ LOCOMOTIVE CUNT! I AIN'T SCARED! YOU AIN'T TAKIN' 'ER!" A hand would dart out, grabbing him by the scruff of his coat and lifting him off his feet.

"Any last ~hic~ WORDS!?" Rom, or at least by Subaru's assumption, was at least two heads taller than the young man, the matted shoulder-length white hair and bulging eyes making the already imposing figure appear insane.

As Rom lifted his arm, Subaru noticed that his forearm was completely steel before the fist would unhook, showing what looked like a barrel. While the adolescent maybe would have fought back, the way the giant acted made him freeze up like a deer in the headlights.

"Well!?" There was an audible click, the young man seeing a piece of white-hot steel load itself at the other end of the barrel. "Say hi to Minister ~hic~ McMahon when you go to the void-!"

Subaru would finally snap out of the paralysing panic that came with the rush at him, "Wait! WAIT! I'm not with any Locomotive; I'm a pipe worker! A pipe worker! I swear!" He would desperately pull on his jacket, trying his hardest to show the plate on his chest.

"A Pipe…" Rom would lower his in-built weapon, measuring the young man with an absent drunken gaze, his expression lighting up with understanding, "Ooooooh… A pipe worker, aye…." The grasp on his jacket would relax, Subaru almost falling as he landed, stumbling back, catching his breath.

"Co- ~hic~ come in, we got er… we got it… whatever we got…." The metal-armed giant would grab his hand and click it back into place, concealing his 'weapon' machinally before leaning down, making sure not to hit his head on the doorway, and stomping inside, mumbling something incoherent to himself.

Recovering a little from the shock, the adolescent suddenly understood the warning Crowley and Heim gave him, scratching the back of his head. He supposed he was lucky that the monster of a man didn't just send him to Kingdom Come. 'One hell of a temper for sure….'


The wooden chair under Subaru was so rotten that the young man tried to not lean onto it too much, just in case it gave out under his weight and sent him tumbling.

"An'- An' ya know what!?" Rom had settled behind the bar and had continued drinking whatever foul-smelling liquid he had in the bottles, hunched over the taps. "W-w-we didn't have those… things ~hic~ in our chests when we lay the… the… the tracks. No, sir, we did NOT! Those fucken' Royals wouldn't ~hic~ spare a dime for the railway workers, not even for that… that thing… right, like, there the heart one, the thing, uh…."

"You mean… the Pipe..?" It felt like walking in a minefield, the adolescent squeezing every word out as carefully as possible while he observed the drunk's expression for any sign of the same rage that almost got Subaru killed.

"Yeah! ~hic~ That's it!" The giant pounded his chest. "All organic! The blood flows through me, and I don't need a… a…."

"A Pipe..?"

"That's it! That's…" A big intoxicated tear rolled down Rom's cheek as he lost his train of thought, beginning to mumble to himself. "I gave… I gave my best years to that, damn it! I ~hic~ gave my arm for it!"

"F-for what..?"

"The railw-w-wu-way! What else!? Who do you think put all of this down, huh!? Us! Old Pipers!" Rom would sweep the rest of the empty bottles off the table, the glass breaking with a crash. "They ueueused us up ~hic~ and threw us away! No funeral for those that froze, nothing for us after we were done! Barely anything against the ~hic~ freeze!" The giant would wave his hands angrily, his hand-gun unhooking and-

Ka-chick—

The slight breeze by Subaru's ear burnt painfully, the adolescent dropping to the floor, his body recoiling naturally, holding onto the side of his head. "GAH! WHAT THE-!"

"Ah ~hic~ shit, I -er, it's me rivet gun." The adolescent ignored Rom's excuses, looking at the wall in the far end of the bar behind him. A glowing hot piece of metal was stuck in the cracked brick, sizzling slightly as some of the molten brick around it dripped down the vertical surface.

Lifting the hand from his cheek, he felt the pang of a burn on his face. The rivet missed him, but the closeness of the super-heated metal must have scorched him. Hissing as he stood up and picked up the chair that tumbled with him, Subaru sat down again, ignoring the giant's ranting, which continued even without a visible listener.

"Aye! They said they nee- ~hic~ needed the job to be done faster so they uh, they took me hand and-"

"Excuse me?" While Subaru still tried to be polite, not wishing to get taken out by the pissed-off giant, by this point, it was getting absurd. Listening for a minute or two may have calmed Rom, but sitting around and listening to the nonsense was also wasting time that could be spent looking for the thief.

"I heard that you were close with Felt and-"

"Oh aye! Felt's ~hic~ a good… uh… kid. Really good. I'd take ~hic~ one for uh… for her."

"Yeah, yeah, but could you tell me where I could find her?" The change in Rom in response to the question was instant, the mist of alcohol settling as his brows furrowed.

"And uh, why ye askin'..." Sitting back, the giant would take a slow swig from another bottle he pulled out from under the counter, his unblinking glare locked on Subaru's face, the young man wanting to look away but persisting and continuing to stare back.

"I wanted to ask about-" Subaru cut himself off, almost giving out the 'complete' truth. If he were to say that he wanted to get the stolen good back, he would probably receive the same unwanted attention as he did from Heim and Crowley. "I heard that Felt stole something very important, and I wanted to buy it off of her." That would have less unpleasant implications, possibly some self-interest, but it couldn't be too bad.

"Heh, it ain't for ya, she got it by contract and-"

"Well, she is getting paid for it, right? What if I were to offer more than the original job provider? Couldn't you give me an exception?" The young man sat forward, leaning over the bar counter a little, stressing the importance. "Is there no space to negotiate?"

Rom would sit in silence, staring blindly at Subaru, before grumbling and closing his eyes, "Bah, you've, uh, got a point. If you weren't a piper, I'd have told you to fuck off… but fine, you can negotiate."

"Great!" Subaru gleamed with relief, "So should we-"

"Bah, you're too late for negotiatin' with ~hic~ me. Felt's, uh, off. Off to meet her contact. In the Empirum Rosee." The giant visibly relaxed, tossing the bottle to the side, Subaru's heart sinking. "If you can go fetch her, you can negotiate with her. Tell her, uh, I sent ya. Bah, just tell her the password to the door, 'Burst the engine, retch the steam, Locomotive, down the stream'."

"Right!" Subaru burst to his feet, grabbing the hot pot bag and turning tail.

"Ya better hurry up! She's been gone a while!"


The third floor seemed to be the most mixed of all the five, neither sliding into the mercantile opulence of the second floor nor the impoverished industry of the fourth and fifth. It was also the most crowded; while the second floor seemed emptier due to exclusivity and the fourth and fifth due to desolation, the third flashed with all the colours of the social spectrum.

Singing came out of the pubs as their guests mingled, better-dressed youth read foreign poetry out loud, piper workers cheered as two shirtless men brawled in the middle of the crowd, Travelers kept to themselves as they raised their tankards. The third floor welcomed everyone with its warmth and food.

Unfortunately, Subaru didn't have the time to appreciate any of his surroundings, instead making his way through the floor, mumbling to himself, repeating the name of 'Empirium Rosee' as if that repetition would help him find it faster.

"Catch the bastard!"

"There he is!"

"Here's our payday!"

Someone smashed into Subaru's shoulder, the adolescent so focused he didn't see the person. "Wh- hey- sorry-!" The voice seemed vaguely familiar, the young man turning his eyes to notice the recognisable worried face, light hair, and green overcoat.

"You again!?"
"You again!?"

The two exclaimed in unison, Otto warily pushing himself away from Subaru, "S-sorry about before! I have to-!"

"There he is!" The Traveler would catch up to his prey, smashing a fist into Otto's face, the merchant crumpling to the steel floor.

"Good one, boyo! Stopped him like a brick to the head and didn't even raise a fist! Ye may be a pipe worker, but I guess yer useful for something!" The armoured man cackled, giving the adolescent a thumbs up as he grabbed the unconscious Otto by the hair, dragging the unfortunate man away to the crowd of other rowdy mercenaries, blood running down the merchant's face.

The whole process happened so fast that Subaru did not even have the time to respond; instead, he gaped at what had just occurred before sighing and continuing his search. Otto may have been unfortunate, but considering how it could have been Subaru in his place in that alleyway and how the merchant was OK to simply leave him there, the young man didn't have much sympathy right now. While he would have helped, the urgency of his current mission didn't allow for any more distractions.

Rushing past several of the last buildings of the floor, he would dive into a passage between the two sides of the Roarer's inner structure, crossing to the other side, past the boarded-up windows and sleeping homeless.

'Empirium Rosee, Empirium Rosee…' He spotted the sign, just like with the Copper Head, but unlike the abandoned hovel hidden in the fourth-floor corner, the Empirium took centre stage of the third floor, the shine of the incandescent bulbs giving it a golden glow.

"Aha!" Putting his last strength into the final stretch of the run, Subaru would stumble to the stairs leading to the entrance, doubling over and catching his breath.

"Oi, disperse." The phrase was spoken with habitual boredom, the young man recognising it instantly and lifting his head.

A look of disgust on the pallid face, thin arms in light armour, Chin stared back with a disgruntled look, one of his eyes busted.

"~huff~ You?" Subaru was too out of breath for any phrase longer than that.

The Traveler-in-training grimaced, leaning against the wall behind him. "Ah, you're the one who lost me my pay…." There was a click, the gauntlets on Chin's hands closing around his fingers. "You're fucking lucky I'm on duty; screw off."

The young man straightened out, his lungs back to normal; it seemed the Pipe had an easing effect on exhaustion. "Sure, just may I get in-?"

"You dumb? This ain't some pipe bastard bar, where's your ticket, coal-head!?" Chin retorted loudly, before seeming to hold himself back and grimacing again, "Everyone wants to see the Songbird of the North, get a ticket for the evening seance. Tch, if it wasn't for your little Locomotive bitch, I'd have beat your ass right now."

"Say the spirit's name, and it shall come before ye." A second voice sounded behind the adolescent, Subaru feeling relieved, the even tone and unemotional softness accompanied by the click of heels.

Emilia seemed to have caught up, her own investigation leading to the same place. "Oh, I remember you; you were the one who attacked my warm companion." There was little intonation in her words, but even Subaru felt a shiver run down his spine. "You should move aside."

Chin's lips thinned out as he stared at the silver-haired woman, his jaw visibly clenched, not daring to move. Finally, as if resolving his internal conflict, he would take a step towards the two, "Look, I don't know what you want, but you gotta dispe-"

"I want to go inside the Empirium Rosee. Right now." Emilia lifted her hand, her palm directed at the Traveler-in-training, "Or would you like to experience the Odite Seismoprojector again? Usually, people have enough at one demonstration."

The man would freeze, still desperately trying to retain any form of authority, "You're not allowed in there."

"I am a Locomotive member associate; I am allowed everywhere." Emilia lifted her hand, showing what looked like a small iron symbol, "Let us through. Or…" As Emilia pronounced that, her arm glowed green between the ceramic plates and the air in front of Chin would suddenly "shake" accompanied by a painful noise as if someone was slowly starting up a plane engine, the Traveler-in-training tripping as he recoiled backwards.

"Alright! Al-fucking-right! I get it! You already fucked my face up! Go on through and don't touch anything!" Chin hissed, the humiliation in his facial expression barely hidden.

"Thank you, I did not wish for this to devolve further, but I am in a rush." Emilia nodded politely, grabbing Subaru by the sleeve, the adolescent trying to stay a small distance away, not getting in between the two clearly more powerful individuals.

Being dragged through the doorway, Subaru noticed the hateful gaze the Traveler-in-training gave the two before disappearing behind the closing oak doors.

"Thanks. You really helped me there." Subaru chuckled as Emilia released him and straightened his tracksuit top, checking that his bag was still with him.

"Travelers tend to forget that the Locomotive is above them." Her tone said as even as before, the tiny twitch of her ears seemed much more erratic, annoyed even. "Are you heavily injured? Your cheek is burnt."

"Oh! No, o-of course not, heh." The scalded skin did sting a little bit, but the young man still felt bashful that the elf cared enough to ask him.

"Mhm," Emilia responded, looking away. "I think you are quite lucky to have reached the same conclusion as me; otherwise, we may have been separate; otherwise, I would have to investigate by myself."

"Oh! Right, why are you here?" Subaru was so glad that the elf girl came around that he completely forgot to be surprised, "How did you find your way here?"

Emilia stared at him expectantly, a meaningful pause already in the air.

Subaru scratched his head awkwardly, letting about half a minute pass, feeling a sense of deja-vu, "Is this the part where I'm supposed to explain first, even though I asked the question?"

Emilia reached her hand out, patting him on the head, the prosthesis fingers feeling heavy in his hair. "You are very emotionally aware. Good boy."

Shaking her hand off his head, Subaru sighed, "I'm not a kid…."

"Oh…"

"You forgot, didn't you..?"

"Mmmm…" Emilia blinked, "Would lying in this situation be victimless?"

Subaru feared giving an answer but sighed, "I guess there wouldn't be any harm in that-"

"No, I haven't forgotten." Emilia paused again. "..."

The adolescent remembered his previous intention, "Oh, right, explanation."


The entrance room the two had entered turned out to be a cloakroom; making it all out in the darkness was difficult; it seemed that the building was closed until the next performance. The inside of the Empirium Rosee was like something out of a Victorian novel. The exclusive walnut staircases lead past some bare lightbulbs mixed in with candles to give the minimum lighting needed to proceed without stumbling into walls, paintings of some royal-looking individuals staring menacingly off the walls, contrasted by slightly raunchy pin-up-like drawings.

"Hm, so the thief is actually quite famous?" Having left her coat back at the entrance, the elf led the way, stepping carefully, her arms giving a low whir, the green glow flickering but still there.

"Yes, I almost got a rivet to the head for my questions-"

"It seems you did not apply enough coal to your clothing."

"No, I think applying any actually made it even weirder to them."

"How unfortunate."

There was a pause as the two finally reached a set of doors leading into the performance hall. Emilia would turn around and put a finger to her lips, "I believe it is best if I go first; my combat experience is much greater than yours. Please wait here; I will call you if I require assistance."

"You sure? I can still be of some help." Subaru rolled up his sleeves, giving a self-assured grin.

Emilia nodded, pushing the door just enough to slip into the room. "I am sure. I will make sure to call you. See you in a short while."

The elf disappeared into the darkness silently, as if slipping into the depths of a swamp, the shadow not showing even a ripple of an image, only the green glow still blinking weakly in the void.

Subaru gulped and looked away, sliding down the wall into a sitting position, the bag next to him giving a slight crackle as he settled it next to himself. He wasn't sure why he was so tense, Emilia looked like she could handle it, but something was off. The quiet was deafening, unnatural.

Trying to calm himself, the young man thought over his situation. It was strange, really. His past life wasn't one he wished to continue, but this fantasy world felt crooked, nothing like the isekai he wanted to be in. It was like seeing your reflection in broken glass, the features still visible, but the picture being formed being wholly shattered. There was a unique ability, but it was not exceptional and, in fact, hindered him even more; there was a potential love interest, but her curiosity was almost wholly utilitarian, and instead of a warm exotic land, he was thrown into a savage land built on copper and ice. Closing his eyes, the adolescent gave a shaky sigh.

'My story will begin to unravel… yes it will… I'm the protagonist….'

"Subaru! If you may," The young man's eyes fluttered open at the call from the room, Emilia continuing, "I think I found your thief if you cou-"

There was a sound, a whistle, the same that appears when swinging a long stick, and a thud, like a bag of potatoes hitting the floor, then a glugging noise, like dropped bottle leaking its insides and then…

Silence…

"Emilia..? Emilia!" The young man jumped to his feet, his heart racing. 'The door!'

Throwing caution to the wind, the adolescent burst through the set of doors, a weak light flooding into the void. It was a venue, which wasn't unexpected, tables and cushioned seats, a small stage, the illumination making the illustrious decorations seem haunting.

'Shit. Shit. Shit.' Taking a couple of steps forward, the young man tightened his fist, straining his senses. Nothing seemed off-kilter, except for-

His eyes spotted a crumpled mass on one of the tables in the middle of the room, "Emilia!" Subaru would ignore several of the chairs, running into them painfully, the loud clatter probably alerting whatever could be waiting for him.

Stumbling to the table, he would recognise the red cloak, the potent smell of rust crawling into his lungs, his gag reflex almost having its way.

The thief's body was smashed into the table, her body was hard to make out under the robe, the gas mask partially ripped off her face, blonde hair pooled in crimson, and a red eye staring emptily into the distance.

"Hey, are you alri-" Reaching out his hand and turning her over, Subaru's eyes widened, the adolescent suppressing a scream and falling back.

There was a gurgling wheeze as the young girl resurfaced from her unconsciousness, the thief moaning painfully as her other side was uncovered from the cloak. Her side convulsed in agony, the shredded flesh and muscle hanging off in strands, her arm missing entirely, a stump.

"D-don't l-look at my face…." The sobbing whisper sounded through the respirator.

"What!?" Subaru felt like he was about to vomit, his mind frozen as he was unsure how he could correct this situation. "Y-your… face?"

Grunting, she would drag her remaining hand to her face, "I-I'm not a L-Lugnica, p-please don't… don't h-hurt me…." Her whimpers would soften until they went silent.

'Is… is she….' Taking a couple steps back, he would touch something cold, whirling around.

The half-elf's gaze was very calm, her head staring back at him from the floor, her expression impossible to determine.

"a-ah! AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" A scream battled its way out of Subaru's throat, the panic rendering reason utterly useless, the youth forgetting about Emilia, the insignia, and the magical world, the horror like a thick smog. In his fit, he scrambled to his feet and tumbled into a random direction as he barely controlled himself, his mind only wishing to get away.

WOOSH

"AAAAAAAAAAA-" Subaru felt a sudden lightness as he fell forward, hitting his head on the floor, blacking out for a second.

As his mind clawed its way back to reality, he understood he could not breathe. Opening his mouth, he tried to force his lungs and let out another scream, to continue running.

Nothing…

The base of his neck felt very warm, but very…

'IT HURTS IT HURTS, OH GOD IT HURTS IT HURTS IT HURTS'

" Warm. Blood. Warm. " The sound of actuators, the shirking of metal, hungry moans.

'IT HURTS IT-'

CRUNCH


"…ecaf ym ta kool-l t'nod-D ""

Tick… Tick… Tick…

".erehwyreve dewolla ma I ,etaicossa rebmem evitomocoL a ma I"

Tick… Tick… Tick…

"!elihw a enog neeb s'ehS !pu yrruh retteb aY"

Tick… Tick… Tick…

"!-diov eht ot og uoy nehw nohaMcM ~cih~ retsiniM ot ih yaS"

Whirr…

Clink!