Chapter 2
"Before we head to the mansion, I have a few things to buy." Emilia told Itsuki.
"Well, allow me to accompany you." Itsuki said. "I'll help carry your things."
"Are you sure?" Emilia asked as her gaze softened. "I wouldn't want you to-"
"Nah, it's fine." Itsuki told her. "I have nothing else to do. So, if you don't mind, allow me to be of some help." Itsuki offered a genuine smile.
After a moment, Emilia returned the smile. "Okay!"
As the two began walking down the street, a small kid suddenly bumped into Emilia, before dashing off, looking back at the silver haired girl with a smile. Immediately, Emilia began searching her pockets.
"H-hey!" Emilia shouted.
"What's wrong?!" Itsuki asked.
"She just stole my insignia!" Emilia replied, worry and desperation clear in her voice. "If I lose that-"
That was all Itsuki had to hear before giving chase after the short girl.
Seeing her turn down an alley, Itsuki followed quite a ways behind.
Quickly running down the dark alley, Itsuki saw the small girl jump off the walls of the buildings, making her way up to the roof. Knowing he couldn't copy her moves, Itsuki instead followed the alley. With his gaze upwards, Itsuki didn't notice the four people standing in the alley until he was almost on top of them.
Quick to react, Itsuki placed his hand firmly on one of their backs, using his weight and momentum to make the man lean forward, allowing Itsuki to easily vault over him and continue the chase.
Taking a second to glance back at them, Itsuki saw there were he had knocked two of them down.
"Sorry!" he yelled before continuing the chase.
Itsuki had no idea where he was going, and that meant this girl had the advantage. If she knew every nook and cranny of this place, then this chase was doomed from the start.
But that didn't stop Itsuki from at least trying.
Seeing the girl jump behind some buildings, breaking his line of sight, Itsuki quickly made his way to the other side of the buildings, only to see the girl had vanished in the sea of people.
"Damn..." running his hands through his hair, Itsuki didn't want to go back empty handed. However, as he thought about it, Itsuki now realised he had no idea where Emilia was. "Damnit..."
Placing a hand against his forehead, Itsuki began to slowly retrace his steps.
A few minutes later
Having gotten lost in the massive city, it took a while for Itsuki to retrace his steps.
Approaching the alleyway he cut through, Itsuki stopped just as Emilia emerged from the darkness.
"Itsuki! Did you get it back?" Emilia asked, hopefully.
Itsuki replied by shaking his head. "I wasn't able to keep up with her. She was pretty damn nimble." he bowed his head. "I'm sorry."
Emilia tried to hide her disappointment but Itsuki could easily see it.
"It's fine." she let out a sigh. "Guess we'll just have to look for the girl who stole it. I feel bad for dragging you around looking for an item I lost."
Itsuki shook his head. "Don't be. As long as I get-"
"Hey! Wait up!"
Emilia looked back as a boy, around Itsuki's age, came running out of the alley. The first thing Itsuki noticed was the clothing he was wearing and the tracksuit jacket he had on his left hand.
"Was there something else you needed?" Emilia asked the boy. "Just so you know I can only spend a little more time with you, okay?"
"Figured you were gonna shut me down." the boy said under his breath before waving his hand. "Anyway, you lost something important, right?" the boy asked before pointing to himself with his thumb. "Well then let me help you find it."
"You said you didn't know anything about my insignia." Emilia then gestured to Itsuki. "Besides, he's already helping me search for it."
Meeting the boy's gaze, Itsuki gave a two finger wave before looking to Emilia.
"Actually." he began. "If he wants to help, why not let him? After all, the more people who search for the same thing, the faster we'll find it."
Emilia took a second to think it over. "You're right. Very well! You two may both help me look for my stolen insignia." she then paused as her expression grew a bit softer. "If you want..."
"Yes!" the boy cheered before looking to Itsuki. "Thanks for the assist!"
Itsuki found his over-excitement to be rather strange. Why would some guy get so hyped to help a random girl look for something that was stolen? Itsuki was doing it for a possible job, steady income, and a place to sleep, if he was lucky. But this guy...well...Itsuki wasn't sure.
"I won't be able to offer you a reward." Emilia told the boy.
"I don't need one. I'm here because I wanna thank you." the boy replied. "And to show how much I appreciate your help."
"I didn't do anything deserving of that." Emilia replied. "I told you: I've already received amicable compensation for healing your wounds."
"In that case..." the boy began. "I guess I'm gonna help you for my own sake, too. I should probably set an objective... So, uh... Right! One good deed per day!"
Again, Itsuki found this guy's behavior to be rather strange. Eh, guess you can't really blame him. He seems like the kinda guy who'd do anything for a pretty girl.
"U-uuuuuh..." Emilia held her chin in thought. "Erm..."
Suddenly, a small, cat-like creature, jumped onto Emilia's left shoulder.
"I don't sense any malice here, so I think you can just accept his offer." the creature said. "After all, the more shields between you and the ruffians, the better."
Before the conversation could continue, Itsuki pointed at the small creature perched on Emilia's shoulder.
"Uh, excuse me, what is that?" Itsuki asked, doing his best not to sound too impolite.
Emilia's expression suddenly lifted suddenly. "He's a spirit."
"A spirit..." Itsuki repeated. "Riiight..."
"Shouldn't we get looking for your insignia?" the spirit asked.
"Right!" Emilia said as if she had forgotten all about it.
A few hours later
Coming up empty everywhere they looked, Emilia, Itsuki, and the random boy all decided to take a break.
Coming to a rest at a staircase leading to a lower part of the city, Itsuki leaned against a pillar that was supporting the roof of a building. Emilia was leaning against the railing, looking over the city. And as for the random guy, he sat on the stairs, his back turned to both Itsuki and Emilia.
"I know what I told you before..." the guy said, breaking the silence. "But isn't this town too huge to find one little thing in?"
"This town is the capital of Lugnica." Emilia replied. "How could you possibly not know that, uh..." she looked to the boy.
"Hey, that's right, how rude of us!" the spirit said. "We haven't asked his name yet. Shouldn't we all introduce ourselves?"
"Oh yeah. Guess so. Might as well go ahead and get the ball rolling first then!" the boy said before getting to his feet. Striking a pose, he introduced himself. "My name is Subaru Natsuki! Not only am I totally clueless, I'm also broke beyond compare!" he held his hand out to Emilia. "Nice to meet ya."
"If that's how you introduce yourself, you truly do sound hopeless." the spirit said. Flying in front of Subaru's eyes, the small cat spun around. "And my name is Puck. It's nice to meet you!" flying towards him, the small creature plopped into his open palm as if to shake Subaru's hand.
"It's very unusual to see someone who can touch a spirit so casually like that." Emilia said. "Where are you from exactly?"
"Well," Subaru crossed his arms as Puck flew beside him, mimicking Subaru's actions. "if things follow the usual pattern, it's a small island nation to the East."
Emilia placed a finger to her chin as she looked up in thought. "But Lugnica is the Eastern most nation on our continental map. There are no more countries in that direction."
"No way. Really? There's nothing East of here?" Subaru asked, uncrossing his arms.
"You have no idea where you are, you have no money, you can't read, and you seem to have no one around who can help you." Emilia said while placing a hand to her lips. "You might be in an even more precarious position than I am." she removed her hand from her lips. "Uh, Subaru, right?"
Subaru's face grew red as Emilia said his name. "Yes, that's my name."
"If I didn't know any better," Itsuki spoke up, drawing the attention of the three. "I'd say Subaru here is just a bit worse off than I am."
"A bit?" Subaru repeated.
"Out of everything she just pointed out, the only thing I have over you is that I can read the words on the signs. Other than that, we're in the same boat."
"You can re-" Subaru suddenly shook his head. "Of course you can read." he said as if he just realized what he asked was extremely stupid. "You learned it when you were little I'd bet."
"Actually no." Itsuki told him. "Like you, I'm not from around here. But, once I arrived, everything that was written seemed to just come to me. I've never even seen this kind of writing before, and yet I can read it perfectly."
"Huh..."
"Hmm..." Emilia once again placed her finger on her chin in thought. "There are very few individuals who can understand every written language, yet you're the first I've encountered. I believe it's an ability they have at birth."
Itsuki was about to reply when he stopped himself. He wasn't able to read other languages back in Japan. This 'ability' only kicked in once he was transferred here.
"Maybe I'm one of them." Itsuki said with a shrug.
"All that aside," Puck said while floating up to Subaru's eye level. "I gotta admit, you seem like you're in pretty good shape."
"I do try to workout everyday." Subaru replied. "You see, when you're the shut-in protector of your own house, you gotta stay fit as much as possible."
"I'm not sure if I understand exactly what a shut-in is but I assume it means your from a reputable family, right?" Emilia asked.
"Oh, you couldn't be further from the mark." Itsuki said under his breath as he gave a quiet chuckle.
Reaching for Subaru's hand, Emilia looked it over. "Your fingers, too. They're very pretty. They don't look like the working hands of a peasant at all. And your muscles don't look like the kind you gain from doing field work."
"Eh..." Subaru took his hand away from Emilia as he looked off, completely embarrassed.
She then looked to Itsuki. "You, on the other hand, seem to have a completely different physique."
Itsuki shrugged. "Like Subaru said, I try to keep in shape myself. Although, when I was still in high school, I was the best on our gymnastics team. It's been a while since I dropped out, so I'm pretty rusty when it comes to that sort of thing."
A thought suddenly occurred. Now that Itsuki was in this whole new world, maybe he should knock off some of that rust. As he saw today, athletic types seem to hold quite a bit of an advantage. Maybe it's a skill that'll come in handy. He's always wanted to try free-running, which would probably come in handy if he ever needs to chase someone like the girl who stole Emilia's insignia.
"So anyway," Subaru said, completely brushing off Itsuki's words. "I know your cat's name now but I still haven't heard you say your name yet." he then glanced to Itsuki. "Or yours."
"O-oh...my name?" Emilia said slowly. "It's..." she looked away from Subaru. "It's Satella."
Puck, Itsuki and Subaru all stared at Emilia. Puck stared in shock, Subaru in just silence, and Itsuki in absolute confusion.
"No family name." Emilia added. "So that's the way you may address me, alright?"
"That's-"
As soon as Itsuki tried to speak, Emilia shot him a look that said "please don't say anything."
"I see." Subaru said, ignoring Itsuki once more. "Satella it is." Subaru smiled. "That's a nice name."
"Eh?!" Emilia looked at Subaru with a slightly startled expression.
As she looked at Subaru, Puck flew behind Emilia's hair, disappearing from view.
"If you're still interested, I'm Itsuki Hinote."
After a few seconds of silence, Subaru pumped his fist.
"Right. Time to get back to asking around!"
As Subaru walked off, Natsuki grabbed Emilia's arm.
"Hey..." he whispered. "You got a sec?"
"What is it?" she asked.
"Just now, you said your name is Satella. But you told me it's Emilia." Itsuki said.
"I don't expect you to understand, but I don't fully trust this boy. He's too...eccentric." Emilia replied. "I didn't lie to you, but please hold off on telling him my true name."
Itsuki understood her doubts about him all too well. "Yeah, okay."
A few minutes later
Walking through the busy streets of Lugnica, Emilia suddenly stopped in her tracks. Noticing this, Subaru and Itsuki both stopped to see what Emilia was looking at.
"That child over there." Emilia pointed to a little girl with green hair. "Do you get the feeling she's lost?"
The little girl was looking around on the verge of tears, showing obvious signs she had no idea where to go.
"Maybe, but what about our questioning?" Subaru asked.
Immediately, Itsuki gave Subaru a glare. "Dude. If she's lost, we gotta do something. Who knows where her parents are. We should at least help."
"Exactly." Emilia agreed.
Together, the two approached the small child.
Crouching down to meet the girl's eye level, Emilia was the first to speak.
"Hey there, it looks like something's the matter. Maybe we can help you. Did you come here on your own or with your mommy and daddy?"
The little girl whimpered as the tears formed in her eyes.
"Oh, I'm sorry!" Emilia apologized. "I didn't mean to make you cry. I'm just here to help, not to do anything bad, I promise."
Suddenly, Subaru jumped in holding a coin, showing it to the girl.
"What you see before you is a rarity around here." Subaru said. "A jagged edge, ten yen coin."
Immediately, Itsuki's eyes widened at what Subaru just said. "Yen..?"
"Observe closely as I take this coin and clutch it tightly in my hands." Subaru did as he was saying. "Tight. Tight. Tight, like that!" he slowly opened his hand to show it was empty. "Now...where'd it go?"
The little girl looked from Subaru's hand to him, her tears having dried up entirely and her previous emotion replaced by curiosity.
Smiling, Subaru ran his other hand down the girl's hair. "Well, look at this. I figured out where the coin was hiding." pulling his hand back, Subaru had the coin in his hand. The girl smiled at the magic trick.
"Here you go. It's yours." Subaru gave her the coin. "Like I said, it's rare. So take good care of it."
The girl smiled. "Thank you, sir."
A few minutes later
Walking down the street, Itsuki had the girl sitting atop his shoulders. He was the tallest one out of the three, and since the girl was sitting on his shoulders, the girl's parents would have the easiest way of spotting her.
"I see. You got separated from your mom, huh?" Itsuki said, understanding the girl's predicament now. "That can be pretty scary. Don't worry, with you up there, your mom should see you in no time. Keep an eye out for her too, okay?"
"Okay!" the girl replied.
As the three walked, a woman suddenly ran up to Itsuki.
"Mommy!" the girl squealed.
A few minutes later
With the girl now united with her mom, Emilia, Itsuki and Subaru took a break before continuing the search for the insignia.
Standing on a bridge over a large fountain, the three talked.
"Man, I'd bet if it were just me and Satella helping that child, we'd look like a young married couple and their kid." Subaru said.
"I honestly can't see you as anything more than her older brother." Emilia replied.
"How young do you think I am?!" Subaru yelled.
Itsuki chuckled as he leaned against the concrete railing. Emilia sat atop it and Subaru had himself draped over it.
"Okay, so, in my opinion, that whole string of events with the little girl was nothing but a side quest." Subaru said. "But what benefit will you insist that you got out of it? Go on. Tell me." he looked to Emilia.
Crossing her arms, Emilia smiled. "That's easy. Now we can continue our search with our minds at ease knowing we did the right thing." she then looked to Subaru. "Anyway, why'd you end up helping us? Thought you were against the idea."
"Could say I just wanted to show off my magic trick, but that'd be a lie." Subaru replied. "Like I told you before: finding your insignia will be my one good deed of the day."
"But...didn't you technically do a good deed by helping us with the girl?" Itsuki asked.
"You are being super nitpicky!" Subaru glared at Itsuki. "It doesn't hurt to do more than one nice thing a day, does it?"
"Eh." Itsuki shrugged. "Doesn't really matter to me, man."
"If I were to guess, you're the type who basically wastes their whole life, right?" Emilia asked Subaru.
"Seriously? You're the last person who should be saying that to anyone."
"I admit, you're not a bad boy, though." Emilia said.
"Why do you act like I'm so much younger than you?" Subaru asked. "Honestly, I'm guessing there aren't that many differences between us."
"You may think that, but all of your gueses would be wrong." Emilia's gaze fell. "Because...I'm actually half-elf."
Itsuki and Subaru both looked to Emilia's ears to see they were indeed that of an elf's.
"Makes sense now..." Subaru said. "From the moment I met you, I thought you were cute. Elves are always beautiful, aren't they?"
Emilia looked to Subaru. "Didnt you hear what I just said? I'm a half-elf."
"So?" Itsuki asked.
Looking back and forth between the two, Emilia hopped off the concrete railing and crouched down, holding her head.
With her back turned, Puck suddenly came out and punched Subaru, then Itsuki.
"What the heck was that for?" Subaru asked.
"I didn't hit you in the face out of anger or anything! In fact, it was quite the opposite!"
"You two are such dunderheads!" Emilia looked back at them.
"Who says dunderhead anymore?" Subaru and Itsuki asked at the same time.
Immediately, the two looked at one another.
"Jinx." Itsuki said softly.
"Whatever!" Emilia said as she rose to her feet. "More importantly we have to get back to the search. So let's go."
"Hold up." Itsuki said.
"What?"
"Instead of trying to go around, asking random people if they've seen the girl who took the insignia, let's head back to where it was stolen and ask around there. Maybe someone recognized her."
"That's a good idea, Itsuki."
A few minutes later
Standing in front of one of the many shop stands, Emilia, Subaru and Itsuki asked the owner if he saw anything. Only to be brutally shut down.
"Hey mister!"
"Huh?" looking over, the little girl from earlier and her mom approached the three.
"Thanks for your help earlier." the mother said.
"What brings you this way?" Subaru asked.
"This is my husband's shop and we just wanted to stop by." the mother replied.
The little girl hugged the stand owner, looking up at him with a smile. "Wait a sec, how do you know these good-for-nothings?" the shop owner asked the mother.
"She got lost and they helped bring her back to me." the mother replied.
The little girl then approached Itsuki. "Thanks again, mister." holding her hands out to him, Itsuki saw a flower pin in her palms.
"She was hoping we'd find you." the mother said. "Please, accept that token as her way of showing gratitude."
Taking the pin from the girl, Itsuki couldn't help but smile. "Thank you."
Attaching it to the collar of his shirt, Itsuki turned to Emilia.
"It looks cute on you!" she said with a smile.
Hearing the shop owner clear his throat, the three looked to him.
"Sorry about before. You helped my daughter. I wanna show my appreciation, so ask me anything!"
Hours later
Walking through the slums, the shop owner gave a name, Felt, of a possible suspect as well as where she usually is.
As they walked, Puck suddenly yawned.
"I'm at my limit." he said as he slowly began to fade. "Good luck, guys."
"What's going on?" Itsuki asked.
"I'm a spirit." Puck said. "When day becomes night, I return to my crystal, waiting for the sun to emerge. On average, I'm able to stay out from around nine to five."
"Nine to five? Sounds like you work in an office." Subaru said.
"We'll be fine without you, Puck." Emilia told her comrade. "We'll keep moving forward on this."
"Alright..."
With that, Puck returned to the crystal.
"Alright." Itsuki said as he stretched his arms. "Time to find Felt and get a good night's rest."
"I'll contact the lesser spirits." Emilia said, stopping in place.
"Lesser spirits?"
"They're beings that haven't quite become full spirits yet. They grow little by little over time and when they gain enough strength and self awareness, they become full spirits just like Puck." Emilia explained.
Closing her eyes, Emilia's lips began to move but she wasn't talking. After a few seconds, countless glowing orbs surrounded her. After around a minute, they vanished and Emilia was ready to move on.
A few hours later
Having searched a lot longer than expected, the three stood outside of a lute house. Night had fallen over everything, making it so the three had to use a lantern to see.
Looking over the outside of the building, Itsuki was the first to step up to the door.
"I'll head inside first to check it out." he told them. "If it comes down to it, we may have to bargain for the insignia."
"Leave that to me." Subaru said.
"Alright. Follow me in whenever you're ready." Itsuki added. "I'll try to butter Felt up and see if she's willing to trade."
"Sounds good." Subaru gave a thumbs up.
Slowly entering the building, Itsuki looked around using the lantern. Walking around, Itsuki heard the soft splash of a liquid as he walked further in.
Stopping dead in his tracks, Itsuki looked down to see he was standing in a puddle of blood with a severed arm laying next to it.
Feeling his chest tighten at the sight, Itsuki began to fight just to keep himself calm.
"Oh dear, you found that?" a woman's voice said softly from the darkness. "Well, then I have no choice then. No choice at-"
Before she could finish, Itsuki finally gathered himself just enough to warn Emilia and Subaru.
Turning to the door, Itsuki tried to make a break for it. "Guys don't come in- hrk!"
Rolling across the ground from a heavy blow, Itsuki came stop in the near a window. Everything around him was engulfed in shadows except for the moonlight that seeped through the window.
Slowly sitting up, Itsuki looked at himself to see a dark patch of his clothes was slowly spreading. Looking at his hand that he held over the dark patch, Itsuki saw it was coated in blood.
Feeling the thick liquid invade his mouth through his throat, Itsuki coughed the blood onto the ground.
"Itsuki?!" Subaru and Emilia rushed inside.
"Guys...run..." Itsuki groaned out.
But it was too late.
Emilia was cut down in an instant, her death swift and painless. As for Subaru, he was injured just like Itsuki. Falling beside Emilia, Subaru slowly reached out to her hand.
At this point, Itsuki had bled to death, leaving Subaru alone.
Taking Emilia's hand, Subaru spoke in a raspy voice. "No matter what happens...I'm gonna...save you..."
Slowly opening his eyes, Emilia was the first thing Itsuki saw. "Itsuki... Itsuki..." Emilia's voice was a bit distorted but slowly cleared up. "Are you okay? You look ill."
Emilia placed a hand to Itsuki's forehead.
"Nah, I'm fine." Itsuki replied. "Just a bit light-" he stopped as he realized he was back where he and Emilia exchanged names. "Wait..."
As he tried to understand his surroundings, a small girl ran into Emilia before taking off in a sprint, only to look back and give Emilia a taunting smile.
This had happened before. Itsuki remembered that-
"She just stole my insignia!" Emilia shouted.
End of chapter 2