Chapter 2: To topple a spider
"Are you okay man? Do you want to buy an appa-"
"Glrgh… Uuurgh!"
"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING!?"
Subaru heard a man yelling at him.
Subaru felt incredibly dizzy and confused, and a million questions filled his aching head.
What the hell happened? Where am I? Why do I feel sick? Did I just throw up?
And most important of all:
Is Satella okay?
"Get lost! You'll make my appas look bad!" The man who was yelling at him repeated.
Wait… is that the shop owner from before? How did I get here… Well, it doesn't matter. I have to find Satella!
His adrenaline higher than it has ever been before, Subaru fought his intense feeling of sickness and started running towards the slums.
But as he made his first turn through a nearby alleyway, three familiar figures approached him from both sides.
"You again…? I don't have time for this…!"
"You there, just give us everything you've got on you, and there's no need- ugh! What the hell is this?!"
Subaru, as he had stated, couldn't be bothered to deal with the three thugs, so he webbed the face of the one who was blocking his path. The man tried to rid himself of it to no avail while crying in revulsion, causing the disgust-from-spider-webs score to now be an even 2-2.
"You think you can mess with us?!"
"We'll put you in a world of hurt!"
His two companions ran toward Subaru, who had begun to run past the webbed man. However, they had no hope of catching up - he shot his webs to the top of a building and swung from one building to the next at an inhuman speed.
I can't let anything happen to her!
"This time… I'll definitely save you…!" Subaru muttered weakly between heavy breaths.
When he arrived at the slums he switched to running. Not only because of the short buildings, but also because he could feel the last embers of the strength he somehow managed to gather starting to dwindle.
He didn't stop to think about the current usefulness of him in a fight. The only thing he knew was that he needed to get there. He would figure something out.
His run was soon reduced to a slow jog, and then to a walk. He finally reached the loot cellar on wobbling feet, and tried to open the door with what little strength he had left.
But much to Subaru's despair, the door seemed to be locked. He fell to the ground, his strength abandoning his legs.
"No… Someone… I know there's someone in there! Come on, answer me! …Please." He begged while continuously knocking at the door.
"Cut it out already! What are you doing, trying to break the door down just because you don't know the password?!"
The door was suddenly opened with a great force, and Subaru, who had been leaning up against it, was thrown back.
Subaru landed about five meters from the entrance to the cellar, where he rolled a few times and then looked up, completely startled. At the end of Subaru's hazy vision was a giant figure, which he couldn't fully identify.
"Who are you, boy?! I've not seen you around here before! How did you know where to find this place- hmm?"
The man, although initially very angry, was very confused to see a half-dead person lying on the ground before him.
"What exactly are you trying to do?" He asked said half-dead Subaru.
"I need… to get… inside…" Subaru replied, his voice hardly being able to be heard.
"Wait, are you the one who came to buy today's loot? Felt said you'd come at night."
"Ummgh…" Subaru let out an Incomprehensible noise.
"Hey! Answer me! I can't let a client die, but I can't just let in some random stranger!"
But Subaru had already lost consciousness, exhausted.
"Ugh…! Dammit! You better be the client, or you're gonna regret it!" The man said angrily, though Subaru wasn't able to hear him. He begrudgingly carried Subaru inside while muttering an array of curses.
"Ugh… Wha…?"
Subaru opened his eyes, feeling somewhat dizzy, but nowhere near as before. He seemed to be in a house, and as he turned his head to look around, he saw artifacts of all sorts adorning the walls of the building. This place seemed very familiar to Subaru, and then he realized.
"This is the loot cellar!" He jumped up from what could hardly be considered a mattress, let alone a bed.
"Oh, you're finally awake. Are you Felt's client or not?"
The figure from before, who was sitting in what seemed to be a reception desk, quickly closed the distance between him and Subaru. Subaru could now see his features clearly. He was a giant, red-faced, bald old man with ragged clothes that covered his muscular body. He had seen that body before, and not in a state as well as the current one was in.
"Hk-!" Subaru let out a panicked sound.
"What's that?"
"...Uh, not really-"
"Then get the fuck outta here!" Enraged, the man grabbed Subaru by the collar and dragged him outside."
"*cough cough* Wait…! I'm not the client, but I still came for the thing she stole…!"
"Oh? Really? Good, then this wasn't a waste after all." The large man let go of Subaru seconds before he was about to be swung without any webs.
"You were asleep for three hours. I didn't expect you to wake up so soon - you interrupted my drinking time."
"Perks of being Spider-Man, I guess…" As Spider-Man, Subaru's recovery was incredibly fast, even in extreme situations like his.
Wait a minute, I've been sleeping all this time?! What about Satella?
"Hey, old man, have you seen a silver-haired girl around here lately?" He asked the man in an urgent tone.
"Silver hair…? No, I can't say I have. Silver hair's one of those things that stands out in a bad way, too, so even if my memory's starting to fail me, I don't think I would have forgotten if I saw someone like that," said Rom, following up with a laugh. But Subaru wasn't laughing in the slightest.
I need to find her!
"Wait, where do you think you're going?!" The man asked as Subaru turned to leave the building.
"Sorry, someone I know might be in real danger right now-"
"That's a very sketchy excuse! You don't look like you can help anyone the way you are now." The man told Subaru in a skeptical tone while moving to block the exit.
"It doesn't matter. I just need to find her, and then I'll-"
"So you don't even know where this person is? I'm starting to suspect even more that you're just trying to run away from here."
"N-No, get out of the way, I can still…"
Can I save her though, in my current condition…?
Seeing Subaru's distressed face, the man placed his large hand on Subaru's shoulder.
"Here, have a seat and calm down. I can't have my customer going crazy. But you better actually be a customer." The man said as he guided Subaru to a chair in front of the counter, after which he sat on own seat behind it.
Come to think of it, what had actually happened up until now…?
Scattered across the counter were the contents of his grocery bag. Weirdly enough, the two cups of instant ramen seemed to not have been opened yet.
The old man, the instant ramen, even me… Many strange things have happened to me, but this is by far the strangest…
"These are some weird things you got there, boy. I've never seen anything like 'em."
"Don't just go rummaging through other people's stuff without their permission…"
"Ha! Says the guy who knocks himself out in front of someone else's house! So, you have some business with Felt, huh?" The man asked Subaru, trying to gain more information about the relationship between them. He smiled as he poured himself another shot of liquor into his dirty glass. "My name's Rom, I'm the master of the loot cellar."
"I'm Natsuki Subaru, the amazing Spider-Man… Well, that's one of the reasons I'm here."
"One of the reasons… huh. So that means you've got some other business being here?" Rom raised one of his eyebrows as Subaru gave a conditional agreement.
Subaru took a better look around the inside of the loot cellar. There was not a single trace of the tragedy that Subaru had witnessed the previous evening he had been here.
"Th-This may sound a bit odd, but… Old man, have you…uh, died recently?"
Rom opened his gray eyes wide for a few moments before breaking into a laugh.
"Ga-ha-ha-ha! I was wondering what you were going to say! Now I may be an old man with not much time left to live, but too bad, I haven't died yet! I suppose when you get to this age, I don't imagine it being that far off, though."
Apparently, Rom took Subaru's question as some kind of edgy joke, and took out another glass for Subaru. "Want a drink?"
"Sorry, I'm kind of on an empty stomach, it seems…" Subaru denied his offer, noticing that he was incredibly hungry.
He tried to reorganize his thoughts and his questions that were constantly multiplying.
The corpse that Subaru had seen in the loot cellar… there was no question about it. It was definitely the corpse of the old man who was sitting in front of him right now.
Sure, it was dark, and it was the first time Subaru had ever seen a corpse, so it wasn't as though he'd been in a perfect state of mind. However, this old man had so many characteristic features about him, Subaru couldn't imagine mistaking him for someone else.
But Subaru could turn the question he just asked on himself. He, too, had been inflicted with mortal wounds as well. He wasn't sure he could trust what was inside his own head. Subaru started to think that it had somehow been all a dream, perhaps a precognition given to him by his spider-sense? But if it was, then how much of it was real, and why was he summoned here in the first place?
Was all of this somehow all connected to that fateful spider bite?
"I'm getting away from the point… I need to figure out what to do for now…" Subaru murmured to himself.
Rom's right. Running around aimlessly won't do anything besides tire me - I need to pinpoint Satella's location. But where would she be… Wait a minute. This place is her target destination, so she'll actually come straight here. That means it's best for me to wait for her here. Plus, if something dangerous happens, I'll be ready to stop it before she arrives!
"Hey, do you mind heating up some water real quick? I'll give you something in return."
"Hmm…? You're an odd guy, you know? But now I'm even more curious about what you have in store." The man went to light the fireplace as per Subaru's request.
And while I'm waiting for her, my priorities should be regaining my strength and trying to get her insignia back.
"Here, the water's ready, you can do the thing that you wanted." Rom informed him a few minutes later, curious to see what he would use the hot water for.
"Oh, thanks." Subaru opened the two instant ramen cups and poured the hot water into them, causing a nice smell to spread throughout the building.
"I was wondering what those unusual things were! So it turns into a broth when you add hot water? This could probably fetch quite the price…" Rom said as he took one for himself and started eating.
"Hey! I was gonna give you one as payment, but the way you just took it without asking is kinda rude…" Subaru said, a little irritated, as he started eating as well. But what Rom had said actually gave him an idea for a bargaining chip.
"The thing that Felt stole is a insignia that's got a jewel embedded in it, right?" Subaru tried to make sure before continuing further.
"She told me it's something valuable, so it might be the thing you're looking for." Rom replied. "But if it's got a jewel embedded in it, it's going to fetch a high price. You don't have any guarantee that you'll be able to buy back the item, even if she brings it here."
"I don't have any money on me, but you said that my stuff could fetch a high price right?"
"Well, not anymore. Now they're just dirty cups. Wait, do they also do something else?" He replied after taking his third slurp, which with his incredible size, managed to finish the entire cup.
"No, not that! I was talking about the other things I have!" Subaru said as he picked up his cell phone. "Can I barter with this?"
"…What's that? Another strange item?"
Subaru showed his cell phone's camera function to Rom, who fell behind the counter due to his surprise from the unexpected action. After calming him down and explaining what had happened once more, he asked for Rom's assessment.
"This is my first time seeing something like this, but… basically, this is a metia, isn't it?"
"A metia?" Subaru repeated what Rom had just said.
"It's what you call things you can use to do magic without opening up a gate, like magic users do. That said, they're mostly used as gifts rather than tools…" Rom seemed lost in thought for a moment.
"I'm not sure I can put a definite price on this. I've worked here in the loot cellar for a very long time, but this is my first time handling any metia properly…" He paused, appearing to remember something.
"Hmm… Actually, I did receive one a while back, but the client rejected it before I could appraise it, so it's just sitting here, gathering dust. I swear, those rich folk are the most annoying people ever. They came in, made lots of bad comments about the place, and why did they leave, you ask?"
"Uh-"
"They said they didn't like the color!" Rom shouted in anger, not seeming to actually want Subaru's answer.
"I went through great lengths to get it, and it was in good condition, completely intact and functional! Black isn't even that bad a color, why the hell would someone reject it just because of that…?! Oh, sorry, I guess I went rambling on for a while… I can say, though, that it certainly would sell at a high price."
"Oh… Good! Do you think it'll be enough to buy the insignia?" Subaru replied as he finished his cup, a bit taken aback by Rom's rant.
"To be honest, even if it has a jewel embedded in it, exchanging something like this metia for a purely decorative item really puts you at a loss. You'd be better off trading it for something more expensive… Well, really, you can't compare it to any of this stolen junk I have here… even the other metia - I haven't done any maintenance on it for ages…"
For someone involved in illegal activities, it was strange for Rom to give him such a kind warning, and Subaru responded with a weak smile. To anyone else, what Subaru was trying to do must seem stupid.
"No, it's all right. I'll exchange this metia for the insignia that Felt brings in."
"You're strangeness knows no bounds… Why would you go so far to do that? Is that insignia really worth more than this metia?" Rom asked, unable to comprehend Subaru's decision.
"Remember the silver haired girl I talked about before? She's a really good person. She was willing to save me when I was in a pathetic state and get nothing in return. The insignia's hers, and I don't know why, but it's very precious to her. As Spider-Man, helping her get it back is the least that I can do…"
"Heh, you called yourself that before, but what the heck is that title even supposed to mean?"
Subaru opened his mouth to answer, but suddenly stopped, pondering to himself.
"Yeah, I wonder… what does it mean, really…?"
"Why would you use a title you don't know the meaning of?" Once again, Rom didn't seem to comprehend Subaru's thinking.
"Well, part of it is this." Subaru said nonchalantly as he leapt upwards and touched the ceiling, which was a good few meters above them. But instead of falling, Subaru's hand stuck to the ceiling, causing him to be suspended in the air.
"Wha…"
"But the more important part is what I choose to do with these powers. I've set myself some huge goals, but I have no idea how to actually fulfill them…"
"...You know what? I give up trying to understand you…" Rom mumbled with a look of resignation on his face.
By the time they both heard a knock on the door, it was already quite close to sunset.
Rom moved his giant body toward the door, and after quietly putting one ear against it, he whispered.
"To the giant rats…?"
"We give poison."
"To the great white whale…?"
"We lend a fishing hook."
"To our most honorable great dragon…?"
"We say, 'Burn in hell!'"
To each of Rom's short questions that were probably passwords, came a curt reply. Satisfied with the answers, Rom unlocked the door.
"Sorry I took so long, Old Man Rom. I had someone really persistent on my tail, and it took me a long time to lose 'em." With a friendly tone in her voice, a young girl slipped past Rom, bragging of her exploits.
But much like Rom, Subaru had seen this girl before.
"Felt!" He called out to her, his voice filled with many conflicting feelings.
Noticing him, the girl immediately looked his way and wiped the smile from her face.
"Who's this? Hey, Rom. I told you I was going to bring something big, so I didn't want anyone to be here, didn't I?"
"I understand how you feel, but that uh… kiddo there has some business with you, Felt, and it's not completely unrelated to that 'big thing' you said you were bringing in."
Rom's answer only made Felt more suspicious.
"I've never met this man in my life. What's with him? You didn't sell me out, did you, Rom?"
"Just how long do you think we've been working together? I'd never do anything like that. The only reason he's here is because I think that he's got an offer for you that ain't too bad." Rom winked at Subaru, "Right?"
But Subaru, on the other hand, was very confused.
"Wait, don't you remember me at all?"
"Huh? Did we meet somewhere before? I mean, unless it was some really sort of shocking encounter, I don't think I'd remember you. I'm quite busy, and to be honest you look pretty plain. Only your hair and clothes stand out."
"Your definition of 'shocking' must be broken. I don't know who wouldn't consider what happened with you earlier to be shocking…" He told her, insulted by how little their encounter before seemed to matter to her. "Anyway, yeah, I want to buy that jeweled insignia you've stolen."
The girl raised her eyebrows along with the level of her caution. Subaru knew not only about her theft, but exactly what she stole. But after a short pause, she seemed to let go of her worries.
"So that's it? All right, I'll hear you out." She nodded and took a seat at the counter near Subaru.
"Hey, Rom. You haven't watered this milk down, have you? It tastes terrible!" She complained about the glass of milk Rom had set in front of her.
"Why does everybody have to insult the drinks?! I'm showing you some kindness here…!" said Rom before taking his giant hand and rustling Felt's hair, like any old man would his grandchild.
"..."
"Huh? Why are you looking at us like that?" Felt asked Subaru, who was staring at their interaction with eyes somewhat devoid of life.
"Hmm? Oh, it's nothing."
"That gaze makes your face look even scarier than Old Man Rom's!"
"People have said many things about my face, but you're telling me I'm as bad as this guy? Come on!" Subaru exclaimed.
"…You're right. Sorry about that, I went too far," replied Felt.
"I'm really beginning to think you two have teamed up together just to come in here and make me angry…" Rom said, a vein popping out of his forehead.
"Anyway, let's go ahead and start our negotiations. So, Felt. You've got that insignia, right?" They had gotten very sidetracked, and Subaru thought it was time to return to the main point.
"…Yeah, I do." Felt answered honestly as she took something out of her breast pocket and set it on the table.
"As you can see, this is no ordinary insignia, and I went through a lot of trouble to get it. If you can show me something that will match both the insignia and my efforts, we can both be happy, right?"
It was the insignia that Subaru had been looking for. The insignia itself was about the size where it would fit easily in the palm of his hand, just as Satella described. It had an intricate design of a winged dragon, which had a red jewel in its open mouth.
"The color's fine, right?" Rom asked him, unsure what to make of Subaru's examination of the insignia.
"I don't care about the color! Yeah, it's what I've been looking for. I guess it's my turn to play my cards."
Subaru took out his cell phone, and showed her its ability to take photos.
"I see. That's pretty amazing. Rom, how much do you think this metia would go for?"
Rom repeated what he told Subaru when he asked the same question before, stating that the trade would be in her favor.
"I see, I see. If that's the case, then why not?"
Felt seemed pleased when the trade got Rom's seal of approval.
"Good, then that settles it!" He announced while reaching across the table toward the insignia.
Now I just have to wait for Satella to arrive-
"Wait. Our cards have been played, but that doesn't mean I'm not going to try to sweeten the deal." Felt interrupted him with an evil smile on her face.
"I hate to break it to you, but I don't have anything else that I can trade." Subaru replied, one eye twitching in irritation.
"Don't worry, I'm talking about my original client. They promised me ten holy gold coins in exchange for it! Well, actually maybe you should be a little worried…"
"I don't really know how much that would be worth…" Subaru glanced at Rom, who took the hint and nodded back.
"That metia you've got is worth at least double that amount, so I'd say you're safe. There are probably collectors out there who would pay even more…"
"Really? That's great! Now my client will have to pay even more if they want it!" Felt's mischievous grin twisted into an even more villainous smile.
I wanted to avoid this, but it looks like I might need to use subtler means after all…
"So when are you meeting your client? I want to get this over with as soon as possible. And it better be somewhere near, I need to be in this area."
"They should come any moment now, and don't worry about the location, we're meeting here. As long as Old Man Rom's around, most people will forget about using violence as an option. Just the thought of having to fight this scary old man sends shivers down your spine, don't you think?"
Felt looked to Subaru for agreement, but instead of nodding, Subaru looked at Rom for a few moments, appraising him.
"Hmm… Not really…"
With my debuffs gone, taking him on shouldn't be too hard…
"Huh?! You're kidding, right? You don't look like you can even beat me!"
"Try me." Subaru accepted her challenge, a little offended that he was compared to a girl in her early teens.
"Would you bet your metia on it? I don't want to lose my chance of getting it if I accidentally knock you out, so if you lose then I get to keep it."
"Okay, but if I win-"
"Hyaa!" Felt launched a roundhouse kick at Subaru before he could state his demands in the case of his victory.
But before her leg could reach Subaru, he shot webs at it, sticking it to one of the chairs at the counter. Having her motion restricted so suddenly and in such an awkward position, she flailed around a little before falling on her back with her leg up, still glued to the chair.
"What the heck is this? It's disgusting!" She shouted at Subaru. The people-disgusted-from-spider-webs team has now taken the lead with a score of 3 - 2.
"The only thing that's disgusting is the way you attacked me!" Subaru retorted, glad that his spider-sense was reliable as ever.
This attack is actually very useful, since no one expects me to just shoot webs out of my hands. I should really use it more often.
"Well, anyway, I've won, so give me the insignia."
"I haven't agreed to this! Rom, help me!" Felt retaliated while begging the large old man to come to her aid.
"You know what, Felt? You brought this upon yourself. This will be a good lesson for you not to jump at every opportunity that presents itself before you." Rom told her, although Subaru could tell that a part of him just didn't want to fight Subaru after seeing his ability.
"Yeah, that's your fault for not waiting until I finished talking!" Subaru said as he approached her, ready to claim his winning prize.
"Rom, you backstabbing piece of-!" Felt let out a variety of curses so wide and creative that even Subaru, who has spent his fair share of time online, became a little hesitant in his approach.
"You know what, maybe you should go a little easier on her…" Rom said, his face a few tones paler than what Subaru remembered. But Subaru wasn't going to let that chance slip.
"Listen Felt, just give me the insignia peacefully and I'll free you."
"Over my dead body!"
She now had a knife, and was thrashing around chaotically like a panicked cat after trying and failing to cut Subaru's webs.
Subaru sighed. He then suddenly shot a web directly at the insignia, and followed by pulling back on it, freeing the insignia from her grip and delivering it into his.
"Give it back!"
"Be grateful I didn't web the rest of your limbs. The webbing should dissolve in about an hour, so use this time to reflect on your dirty tactics."
"I'm gonna make you pay for this-!"
But just as Subaru was about to thank Rom for his hospitality and leave, there was a knock on the door. The three people inside suddenly became quiet.
"That's for you, right? Did you tell 'em about the special knock?"
"No, I didn't!" Felt answered Rom's question while turning her head away from him in anger, still feeling betrayed.
Although Subaru didn't regret the way he managed to get a hold of the insignia, he felt kind of bad letting Felt deal with her client not only empty handed, but upside down all the while.
"I'll let you go so you can explain yourself to them, but I'll be confiscating that first." Subaru said as he took away her knife the same way he did the insignia, and webbed it to one of the walls.
He knelt down next to her to release her leg.
"And don't try anything, or the next time you'll be stuck to the ceiling."
This seemed to intimidate her enough, and so she quickly hurried to the door. Subaru turned his head to face Rom.
"You tried to have her learn a lesson, but you chickened out really quickly. I don't mean to be rude or anything, but I think that part of the reason her selfishness has gotten so bad is because you're going easy on her."
"…I don't have anything I can say to that. After all, it's true that I tend to spoil her." Rom said softly as he ran his hand over his bald head. "Felt and I…we've been together about as long as she can remember, since when she was a little girl."
The man stood up and walked toward one of the walls of the building, where he picked up a large club. It seemed to be made of wood, and sharp points were sticking out of it in various places.
"In a place like this, everyone's just struggling to survive. In that kind of environment, the young ones tend to gang up on others like them, but… Felt isn't really cut out for that. That's why I gotta look out for her." Rom said as he returned to the counter.
"I'm very sorry! I've made a huge mistake…" Felt said as she returned from the door. "That's the person that has the insignia. You can try and buy it from him if you want, but I'm not sure if he'll agree…" She added, hoping that the option she presented would make her look less guilty.
When Subaru looked up to see Felt's client, he was a little bit surprised.
She was very tall for a woman, about the same height as Subaru, and she looked as though she were in her early twenties. The beautiful woman had eyes that angled down toward their edges and she had a certain calmness about her. One thing that stood out about her in the darkness of the loot cellar was the almost sickly whiteness of her skin. She was wearing a black coat, but the front was open and you could see that her clothes underneath were also black and were tightly fit against her skin. While she was fairly thin, she definitely had curves where they should be, and a very nice body overall.
Like Subaru, the woman also had black hair, which seemed to be very rare in this world. Her hair was tied in a braid that reached all the way to her hips, the tip of which she was twirling around in her fingers.
(Description copied and pasted from the LN. It's not like I could've described her differently, sue me)
But despite her beauty, Subaru could feel that something was off about her.
"I see." She looked around to see the fallen chairs caused by Felt's rampage and the knife stuck to one of the walls.
Felt ran behind the counter and returned with a glass filled with milk. She set it down on one of the tables that wasn't toppled down with a nervous smile on her face.
The woman thanked Felt before sitting down.
"My name is Elsa, and it just so happens that my client sent me with some extra funds. Would you be willing to sell it to me for twenty holy gold coins?" She asked him before taking a sip from her glass and licking off the milk left on her lips.
"I'm sorry, but I don't really intend to give away the insignia." He told the woman in an urgent tone, trying to wrap up the conversation as quickly as possible.
"This guy was willing to trade a metia worth more than that for it, so you wouldn't have been able to buy it anyway." Rom added.
"Is that so? Then there's no helping it. It's my employer's fault for thinking that they would be able to get away with paying too little for the insignia."
Subaru found it strange how disinterested she seemed, despite the negotiations not going her way at all, adding to his alertness of her.
"Well, short as they were, the negotiations did not go in my favor, I think I'll take my leave now."
Elsa stood up and gulped down the last of her milk. Again, she used her tongue in an erotic way to lick up the last few drops of milk, before looking at Subaru. As she stared at him, he could feel his spider sense's alertness spike. "By the way, what is it that you were planning on doing with that insignia?" Elsa asked in a somewhat deep, frozen sort of voice.
Subaru scratched the back of his head, trying to look natural.
"O-Oh… I'm just helping out someone who saved me a while back…" He replied, his answer incredibly vague. Rom looked surprised by his unusual phrasing, but didn't comment on that.
"Hmm…? Well, I wish you the best of luck with that." She looked at him with a piercing gaze, as if knowing that he's trying to hide something, but nonetheless turned to leave.
Phew… Insignia acquired. Now I should probably wait outside for Satella to arrive.
"Thanks for everything, Rom. You helped me out a ton."
"…If either of us is to thank the other, it should be me, rather than you. I'm very grateful for the fact that you at least tried to settle this in a peaceful way." Rom redirected Subaru's thanks while looking at Felt.
"I-I'm not gonna forget about this, you hear me!?"
"You are welcome to try and attack me or steal from me at any time. I'm sure the ceiling will welcome you with open arms!" Although it was small, Subaru wore a smile on his face for the first time since entering the loot cellar.
"Well, I'll be on my way. Good luck in the future!" And so, right after Elsa, Subaru finally left the loot cellar, insignia in hand.
After leaving the building, Subaru decided to climb on top of it to be able to see farther. But just then he spotted a silver haired figure in the distance.
"Hey! Satella!" He called out to her, trying to get her attention as he ran towards her.
She had no wounds visible on her body, and her clothes seemed to be in perfect condition, including the flower shaped pin given to her by the little girl.
Thank god… now I can finally give her back her insignia and save the day-
"…What do you think you're doing? Not only stealing, but also calling someone the same name as that Witch of Jealousy?!" She replied with a furious voice.
"…What?"
It was the first time Subaru saw her being genuinely angry. Even when facing off against the three thugs in the alleyway, which she thought were associated with the theft, she had managed to keep her cool.
He had worked hard for this moment, but his anticipation was drained instantly when he heard her unexpected reaction. The night suddenly seemed very quiet, and he himself was frozen in place.
With her severe stare, Satella was waiting for Subaru's answer. However, unsure of what he was guilty of, Subaru couldn't think of how to answer.
"I'll ask you one more time. Why are you calling me by the Witch of Jealousy's name?"
"What do you mean? That's what I was told to call you…"
"…I don't know who told you that, but whoever it was, that's in incredibly poor taste. Even if you're not the one who thought of it, it's bad enough that you agreed. This is the Witch of Jealousy we're talking about, the embodiment of all things taboo. Most people would hesitate to even utter such a name, and you're using it to name me?"
"Hey, wait! This must be a misunderstanding! I… I came here to return your insignia!" He said as he showed it to her.
"I find that hard to believe. Why exactly would you be incentivized to do that?"
"Because I'm indebted to you… didn't we agree on that?"
"I don't remember ever seeing you, much less talking to you." The girl, who's name didn't seem to actually be Satella, denied his claim.
"Huh? You too…?"
Subaru thought that Felt forgetting about him was very strange, but this girl forgetting about him after them spending almost an entire day together was borderline impossible.
"I don't know what you think that you remember. Hand over the insignia and I'll pretend this never- hk!"
"I see. So you were with them, then."
"-!"
The silver haired girl was interrupted as a kukri blade was held against her throat. And its wielder, much to Subaru's horror, was-
"Elsa! What the fuck are you doing?!" Subaru shouted at the attacking figure.
"...I knew it! You had some scheme planned!" The silver haired girl said, being careful not to accidentally get cut by the blade.
"You shouldn't make a noise too loud, or I might just help myself to your bowles." Elsa said while running her free hand over the girl's abdomen. "You're planning to use your od for something aren't you? You better stop that as well."
The girl complied without much of a choice, and so Elsa turned to Subaru.
"Now, would you kindly hand over the insignia? I can't have you returning it back."
Subaru suddenly realized something from the way Elsa emphasized the girl's stomach.
"-! You were the attacker in the loot cellar!"
"-? I'm not sure what you're talking about. I was ordered to be as discreet as possible, it's just that now I don't seem to have a choice."
"Huh? Why attack her then?! I'm the one who has the insignia!"
"Isn't it obvious? To topple a spider you must first sever the connections of its web."
Subaru didn't seem to understand, so Elsa elaborated.
"I couldn't help but notice you swinging here from the middle of the city. The webs in the loot cellar confirmed that it was indeed you who did that. Although I hate to admit it, with the speed you were traveling at and your strong alertness of me you could have probably escaped if I tried to attack you directly."
"But it seems that you are very attached to this half-elf for some reason, so using her to get to you was the obvious choice." She said while looking at her captive, who had a bit of confusion mixed into her scared expression.
"I'm surprised you haven't taken measures to avoid such a situation, since you display your abilities so freely." Elsa concluded her explanation with a critique. But it was too late for that to be of any use anymore.
"Well, now that you understand my reasoning, come and hand it over. Surely you don't think you can somehow wiggle out of this."
"..."
He did understand, and that terrified him. Because of his actions, the silver haired girl was now in mortal danger. He couldn't just give away the insignia that was so important to her and that he worked so hard for; but it didn't seem like he had a choice.
With a defeated look on his face, he approached Elsa, much to the silver haired girl's dismay. However-
"-!"
Just before he reached her, he quickly shot webs out of his wrists, each aimed at a different target. The first one hit the blade at the girl's throat, and after a strong tug, it released it from Elsa's grip, disarming her.
The second one, on the other hand, was aimed at-
"Hya-!" The silver haired girl let out a short scream after being hit with the other web. But just as Subaru was about to pull her to safety-
"So you chose to fight anyway? That's a shame."
Elsa grabbed the web stuck to the girl and pulled it herself with strength not proportional to her size. And so, instead of securing the girl's safety, Subaru was sent flying directly at the danger.
As he quickly approached Elsa, he could see a faint glint in her hand in the dim moonlight. Trusting his spider sense, he twisted his body to an inhuman degree to avoid the second kukri blade that Elsa drew from her waist.
The silver haired girl used Elsa's distraction from her counter attack to escape captivity, creating some distance between them.
"So the two of you aren't together? Well, either way, I'll take you down first!"
She then started chanting, causing multiple chunks of ice to materialize near her and shoot toward Elsa at blinding speeds.
"Here! Take the insignia and run! I'll take care of her!"
Subaru, who had fallen painfully on the ground, shouted towards the girl while trying to rise to his feet once more in order to help her. His spider sense was screaming to alert him of danger, and when he got up, he realized why.
Blood was flowing out of his abdomen and staining the grass dark red.
"Ah-!"
"Are you surprised? Your moves were impressive, but there is a limit to how much one can maneuver in mid air, you know. You don't need to feel bad about being hit - I would say that this is my speciality." Elsa said with a smile, easily dodging and blocking the silver haired girl's barrage of ice.
Subaru dropped to the ground with a cry, suddenly feeling the intense pain of having his innards exposed. He tried to web the wound shut, but that didn't stop the blood from flowing out entirely.
"I'll take a better look at your bowels later. They're bound to be interesting, given your special skills… Now that I think of it, Mama was quite interested in phenomena such as yours for a long time now… Oh well, it's too late for that anymore."
Elsa said casually while approaching the silver haired girl, all the while avoiding her attacks.
No! I have to… let her escape!
His consciousness wavering, Subaru dragged his body toward the insignia that had fallen on the ground a short distance before him.
Give it to her!
With each push he could feel his strength waning and his life force being chipped at bit by bit.
Give it… to her!
His body betrayed him one heave before reaching the insignia.
"Take one more… step and… give it to her… dammit…!"
But his body wouldn't listen to him no matter how much he tried or begged or cursed. His blood loss was simply too high.
No… I can't let her die… not again…
As his life faded away, he could only watch helplessly as the Prowler of Guts went to claim her next victim.
I've failed…
And with that very last thought, the amazing Spider-Man's life flickered out.
Thus concludes Subaru's second loop.
Now, many of you are probably wondering "What? How could have Subaru died to Elsa twice if he has Spider-Man's powers? This writer's just killing him off for no reason!"
To explain my descision I'll power scale Elsa once more.
Deadliness: Elsa is far deadlier than all of the original Spider-Man villains, since unlike them, she only needs one hit to kill someone.
Speed: Elsa is much faster than all of the original Spider-Man villains (except for Electro).
Agility: Elsa's agility is far superior than that of any of the original Spider-Man villains, and is comparable to Spider man himself. In the novels Subaru even directly calls her a "Spider Woman".
Experience: Elsa is far more experienced in her craft than any of the original Spider-Man villains. This is especially true compared to this universe's Subaru, who thus far has only done stunts. Since their fighting style is similar, Elsa should know the ins and outs of it by heart.
So as you can see, Elsa is very much capable of killing Subaru, especially when he has to protect someone else in the meantime. Hope this clarifies the matter!
Elsa's actions in this loop will later prompt Subaru to hide his identity, since he saw that revealing it puts others in danger. There are a lot of similarities between Elsa's and Subaru's fighting style and general strength, so Subaru will have to learn how to use them differently.
Also, Elsa's last line has some huge foreshadowing for the deeper lore of this universe, which I plan to start unveiling at arc 3.
A very good point of criticism that I've received is that my first chapter (not the prologue) was very similar plotwise to the original story of Re:zero. While I do think that what I've written suits the character of Spider-Baru, I can see why this would not be very entertaining for Re:zero fans, since they have to reread a lot of content. So from now on, I'll try to skim over the overlapping content as quickly as possible and write more in depth about the things unique about the fic.
That being said, my next chapter will be completely distinct and will cover some interesting themes. In terms of concept alone, it should be my best chapter thus far. Now I just need to write it in a way that suits it.
As always, all questions, reviews and criticisms are welcome to help better the story.
That's all I have to say. Hope you enjoyed the read. Till next time!