Edit: I uploaded this chapter by mistake today. Uploads are still on Tuesdays and Saturdays. Currently, visiting Japan, and they are one day ahead. Rip my mistake. I don't want to take this down for whoever got a notification, so enjoy an early upload.

Chapter 5 - Swords, Knives, and Daggers

"Let's get straight to the point, Subaru-Sama. Are you a danger to Lugnica? Respond with Yes, or No. Anything else will be taken as a yes." Crusch said.

Sweat rolled down Subaru's face as he was reeling back from everything that had happened previously. Shivering, he wrapped his arms around himself. This time, he tried to calm down before speaking. He knew his life was on the line in multiple different ways. Based on the response to this question, this loop has already failed.

"Return by death really does send me back in time. I'm alive after all, I think so at least. They are probably already more suspicious because I'm wrapping myself up randomly, but I can't help that I feel so damn cold! Ok, Subaru, Calm down, just say no, you can think about other stuff later." Subaru collected himself and put his hands down. He puts his arms down to show that he was "normal," and responded to the dreaded question.

"No" It was such a simple word, with no character, or substance besides affirming or un-affirming something, similar to a flat relationship with no true love, but also similar to those relationships, even if the words or relationships are flat and uninteresting, they can both affect your life in huge ways you'd never expect.

With the simple word, Wilhelm's aura ceased to exist, and Crusch's turned once again to a light yellow. Subaru had successfully disarmed the conversation.

"Ah, so Subaru-Kyuh isn't a witch cultist. So, now I can officially see you as human, and human boys have raging hormones, so stay away from Crusch-Sama!" Felix said in a joking manner.

"Ah, Felix, how can I be serious when you say those kinds of things." Crusch laid back and relaxed. She was now in a much more casual posture. This was a sign that the interrogation was over.

"Tsh, if things go the way they did last time, Crusch will give me a room, and Felix will drone on about Crusch for hours," Subaru thought to himself, but eventually he'd need to confront what he was thinking in the back of his mind "Now that I know that Puck is coming, time to call in some favors, leave the Capital, and become rich with my modern-day knowledge, maybe I could find a wife I love and have 2- no 3 children!" It wasn't Subaru's responsibility to help any of these people. One was a woman he barely even talked to normally, the other was an old guy already at death's door, and the last one was a healer. He could probably get himself out of the cold anyway… right?

Sure, a couple thousand people die, big deal? Back in his world, this kinda stuff happened every minute, so what would one more add. Puck said it himself, the deaths would be painless. Subaru wasn't some hero, he wasn't some saint. He wasn't going to do the dirty work of others. God had the chance to give him the power to become one, but nah, he blew it. Just like a parent that expects a child to walk when it could barely crawl, god is just expecting too much from him. These people are just dumb fantasy people, probably better that they weren't taking up all of this space anyway.

"I'm glad Subaru-Dono is not a foe, but alas a friend. I have many foes already, and an old man like myself doesn't need another" Wilhelm removed his sword, and placed it on the table. The grip was facing away from him. This was one of the biggest signs of respect a sword man can give.

"This is new." Subaru thought to himself, he frowned at the idea of leaving these peop- No! It didn't matter anyway, he was just an old guy.

"Old Man Will really does have a soft spot for you, Subaru-Kyuh. Sorry if it was a rocky start, but let me be the first one to say it with heart. Welcome to Lugnica, and the Karsten Domain!" Felix said with a genuine smile on his face.

"You're saying my welcome wasn't genuine Felix?" Crusch frowned and looked away from Felix while covering her face in a feigned look of sadness. Of course, Felix either didn't know, or care, and took the bait.

"N-No, Crusch-Sama! I was just uh uhmm saying that uhh" Felix usually was smart, and simple with his words, but he turned into a stumbling mess when trying to figure out how to get himself out of the fake hole Crusch dug for him.

Crusch turned back to Felix with a smile on her face instead of a frown. She covered her mouth and laughed a bit at Felix's dismay. "You never do fail to bring a smile to my face, Felix." Crusch praised Felix's loyalty to her.

"You do look a lot better when your smiling Crusch-San, I don't know why you have to cover your laugh." Subaru did pity her, knowing that she may die soon, but he at least wanted her to have fun before that happened…

"Are you saying the Crusch-Sama is not good looking whe-" Felix was about to start a monologue about how amazing Crusch is, but was thankfully stopped.

"I'm sure Natsuki-Sama was well-intentioned when he was saying that Felix," Crusch put an end to Felix's monologue, to be. "As for your statement, I need to be regal when guests are here, and I don't believe I look good when smiling. It's something I would like to improve in the future." Crusch responded to Subaru with a bit of shame mixed in.

Felix's eyes widened a bit. Surprised by the fact that Crusch decided to share that piece of information with someone that could still be considered a stranger.

Subaru knew he was weak. Mentally, physically, and ideologically. Every way someone could be weak, he was truly the lowest of low. He couldn't even hold onto a plan that would leave him with no problems and tons of money. He left his plans after a few minutes.

"Mom was always right along, I'm soft after all." Subaru would like to be able to think of himself as someone that doesn't care much for things such as death. He saw it on the news so many times that he eventually grew num to the idea. Nobody in his family has died, so he was never exposed to the cold, gritty reality of death. Lives drifting threw the emptiness of space, waiting for their "time."

"Changing my core beliefs due to a girl laughing. That's what some trashy romance novel character would do. Guess I was never really better after all," Subaru paused his thoughts, and then looked at all the people around him. "Even if they can't remember, I do. If I know they are going to die, then screw fame, and screw having an easy life. I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I didn't go out there and fight for what's right." The wimp that was an insect to whoever he lived with would finally start to grow some wings.

"Like every protagonist with a problem, I need to figure out my win condition," A chilling image of Puck appeared in his mind "Step one, I need to find whoever Lia is. Step 2. Stop her from dying. Step 3, enjoy the rest of my damn life." Subaru had bags under his eyes and was struggling to stop feeling cold from a simple breeze. "I need to leave immediately before Crusch can offer me anything." Just on time, a voice was heard calling out to someone.

"Give me back my insignia you thief!" The shout of a girl was heard

"There seems to be some trouble nearby, Crusch-Sama. Shall I assist the girl? It would certainly improve your image." Wilhelm requested

This was the all-or-nothing moment, this might be the only way to get out of the conversation without ruining potential connections for the future. So, in all of his wisdom, Subaru decided to do what everybody told him not to do.

Lie

"That was my sister, I need to go help her out! Sorry Crusch-San, but I'll have to be leaving the conversation for now." Subaru thought it was a great idea to get out of the situation until… "wait, she can tell if people are lying… I'm screwed. She is going to call me out, and I'll instantly get on everyone's bad side. They might even throw me in that prison cell again." Subaru was preparing for the worst when he stood up to leave.

Crusch stared at him without saying a word. He swore he was starting to sweat a bit. Natsuki Subaru truly had prepared for the worst.

"Your sister, huh? Well, as an apology for wasting your time Natsuki-Sama, please take Wilhelm with you. Think of him as a temporary bodyguard to make sure you're safe." Crusch didn't have an expression when speaking. Remaining completely neutral, as if weighing the pros and cons.

Crusch went into her pocket and pulled out two golden coins, and tossed it to Subaru. "It's pocket money if you want anything you see in the capital. You could treat your sister a bit." Crusch continued talking, pretending to not see the wind of untruth blowing around Subaru.

"Crusch-Sama, you can't just give people two gold coins randomly for pocket change." Felix apprehended Crusch's unwise money choice.

"I pay you and Wilhelm quite a few Holy coins, do I not?" Crusch tried to use Felix's logic against him.

"But Subaru-Kyuh is a freeloader! Wilhelm and I work for it!" Felix responded

"We'll talk about this later Felix. Wilhelm and Natsuki-Sama need to head off now" Crusch allowed an exit for Subaru, and as such he took it.

With the two dashing off through the mansion, and into the streets, the door of the discussion room closed.

"Anyhow, about Subaru-Kyuh being a fre-" Felix was about to continue, but then noticed Crusch's serious stare. That was the signal to let go of trivial matters.

"Let's go, Felix, we're following after them. Whoever that man is, he is hiding something big," Crush then looked away from Felix "Who are you really, Natsuki Subaru."

There was one small thing Subaru forgot to calculate in his plan. Wilhelm was light years ahead of him in speed. Even with him holding back, Subaru was struggling to stay within a couple of feet of him.

Running through the large Crowd, on the rough rocky ground was Subaru, Wilhelm, and the two mysterious girls in front of them.

"Come on Subaru-Dono, We have to hurry, or the thief may harm your sister!" Wilhelm tried to encourage Subaru to make haste, but Subaru wasn't having any of it.

"I don't even know why I'm going after these girls. Ugh, Wilhelm is strong, he'll beat the thief, and then I can go find Lia," Subaru said while swimming through the crowd of people. "Why are there so many people anyways!" Subaru thought in frustration

"I can't exactly move much faster than thi-" Subaru shouted before Wilhelm interrupted him

"They went into an alleyway, hurry!" Wilhelm then did a sharp cut through the crowd, and into the alleyway.

"Why do you guys move so fast." Subaru managed to barely get out of the crowd, and into the alleyway.

"You have nowhere else to go, thief!" The white-haired half-elf shouted at the cornered thief.

"Now, give Lia back her insignia!" A flying cat that seemingly came out of nowhere appeared.

"A spirit's art user?! You got to be kidding me!" The thief shouted.

With those simple words stated, Subaru's body went into shock. Half-Elf, Check. White-haired, Check. Basically has the same face as the Witch of Envy, Check. Her name? Lia.

"The person she warned me about is here! They really do look the same… What if she planned to kill me the whole time?! Tsh, I can't let her see me like this, or else I'm dead meat, but if I leave, Puck will kill everyone," Subaru thought back to his time on earth and remembered a hobby that he use to do. "I never thought this skill would be useful, but I guess there is a time for everything."

"Psh, Wilhelm-San, if my sister got her stuff stolen, then maybe my other family members did as well. You seem capable, so can I trust you to keep her safe?" Subaru was lying through his teeth but hoped Wilhelm didn't notice.

"You can leave it to me" Wilhelm unsheathed his sword, signaling to Subaru that he could leave. Before he could do that, he tossed the boy a mobile mirror. "It's for communicating long distances. I usually only use it for dangerous situations, but for now, this is an exception." With that, Subaru was seen running out of the alleyway. "The boy lied two times so far, I can tell by the look in Crusch-Sama's eyes. What are you playing, Subaru Natsuki." Wilhelm thought as he watched Subaru run away.

"Now, I need to find a clothing shop, tsh, where could I find one here, and I wonder if the money I have is enough" Subaru didn't have enough time to tour a whole city just to find a clothing store, so he asked the first woman he could find.

"Hey! Do you know where any clothing store is?" Subaru asked a woman who was eating a hamburger outside. She was accompanied by an orange-haired cat girl. The woman in question had long purple hair, wore a fluffy white outfit accompanied by a white hat, and lastly had a scarf that draped over her.

"Ya' should work on how you ask people for stuff, but, there is one across the street. It has a lady with yellow hair standing outside, you can't miss it!" The lady said.

"Thank you so much, you are a life saver." Subaru then winked and walked to where the lady pointed too

"Mimi really likes the burger!" The cat girl now known as Mimi spoke with a mouth full

"Come on now Mimi, remember to eat before you chew" The purple-haired apprehended Mimi. She then looked down with a frown

"Why are you sad?" Mimi tried to make the purple-haired lady feel better

"It's nothing, I just got a weird chill when he said lifesaver, that's all." The purple-haired lady looked at Mimi with a smile to calm her down.

"Hey lady, you sell clothes here right?" Subaru asked the yellow-haired woman a simple question

"Myyyyyy, Myyyy, What a cutie we have here? Of course, we have anything related to fashion~~ What would you like deary, maybe some leather shoes, or a tux to impress a gir-" The yellow-haired woman was cut off.

Subaru tossed two gold coins at the yellow-haired woman, and with no emotion said.

"1 dress, 1 wig, and some makeup, make sure it fits within the budget."

At first, the woman was surprised by the request but decided not to ask any questions. Two gold coins should be enough if she doesn't overdo anything. With that, she got the clothes ready and allowed Subaru to change into them.

"My, My, I wouldn't expect such a handsome young man to look so graceful in a dress." The yellow-haired lady teased Subaru

Subaru practiced cross-dressing with his mother's old clothes back in the modern world. He never liked the way he looked in the mirror, so this was one of the ways to get away from his self-hatred. He can't hate himself if he is technically a different person now, right?

"I don't need to hear it right now." Subaru said while blushing. He padded his chest with specialty bras the store had. He wore a black dress and had a black scarf on. His hair was long, and to finish it off, he had a red ribbon connecting the two ends of his scarf.

While wearing this, he was officially known as, Natsumi Schwarz.

"You truly are an interesting young man. What would your name be." The yellow hair lady asked

"Natsumi Schwarz."

"Sundari, no last name"

With the exchange over, Subaru walked back out onto the streets and opened his flip mirror.

"How does this thing even work anyways." Subaru flipped the mirror open and started talking. "Wilhelm, you there?"

The mirror inside stopped reflecting him, but instead showed Wilhelm. "Ah, Subaru-Dono, I see you changed your outfit." Wilhelm immediately noticed the change in style.

Subaru blushed and responded "Ah, cut it out, I have good reasons. Anyways, where are you? Did you keep track of them?" Subaru asked

"I'm sorry to inform you, but the thief is more tricky than she lets on. She ended up escaping when three goons appeared. As for the half-elf, she dashed off looking for the girl before I could say anything." Wilhelm looked genuinely disappointed at himself.

"It's fine, do you have any clues as to where they could be?"

"The girl had ripped clothes, and the fact that she was stealing in the first place lends herself to living in the slums. It's in the southeast of the alley we were in before. Use the mirror once you get there so we can meet up. It's an area that is very… lacking, so you'll know when you get there." Wilhelm's voice was filled to the brim with pity for the people of the slums.

"Gotcha sees ya th-" While Subaru was running, he tripped and fell straight on his face. All the passerby's stared at him.

"Oh yeah, dresses aren't the best to fight in."

After asking a few people some questions, and getting lost a bit, Subaru and Wilhelm finally found each other in the slums.

"You don't know… how much I… wish I had… proper pants on… right now," Subaru said in between every breath he took. Running in a dress is a lot harder than the people in movies show it. He now has a lot more respect for girls that have to wear them 24/7.

Wilhelm turned away from Subaru for a second and looked down at his hands. Subaru was confused by this action, as you thought he was going to get teased for being weak.

"Pardon me, you just reminded me of how my wife used to always wear dresses while fighting." Wilhelm solemnly said. Wilhelm said use which Subaru knew all the well to be a word that meant death. He didn't have much to say to Wilhelm right now, but he wanted to help him a little bit.

He put his hand on Wilhelm and said "I'm sure your wife is happy right now." and showed one of his signature Subaru smiles.

"She was quite beautiful, wasn't she?" Wilhelm and Subaru smiled. Sadly, they didn't have too much time to reminisce on the past. They had a girl to save.

"So, we know the general location of the girl, but how the hell do we find her?!" Subaru placed his left hand on his face and groaned.

"Unlike the rest of Lugnica, the people of the slums don't believe in having a community much," Wilhelm pulled out 3 golden coins. "Asking where they are shouldn't be that hard." He handed the coins to Subaru. "I won't ask why, but you seemed to be dressed up as a girl. So, I believe it would be best for you to ask someone."

"The women's curse, am I right? Anyways, while I'm dressed like this, please call me Natsumi. Right now, there is a person I don't want knowing my true identity." Subaru told Wilhelm

"Ah, so that's why you're wearing your mother's clothing."

"uh, yeah, my mother's," Subaru said. He then spotted a guy looking outside, sitting on his chair. This was his time to strike.

"Hiiii, how you doing?" Subaru said while walking to the man

"I see Volcanica brought me a lovely lady today. What might your fine self be after?" The man looked at Subaru's big eyes.

Subaru let out a fake giggle "I have a friend I need to do business with, but she never told me where she was. I was just wondering if you could... Help out. Subaru then touched the man's hand and slipped the 3 gold coins in. "She was rather small, and had blonde hair."

'Ah, Felt huh? She stole something for a noble like yourself. Seems like she is moving up in the world, good for her," The man looked at the coins and smiled. "I'll tell ya where she is, but first…" The man got close to Subaru and used his fingers to move his chin up. "How b'out you go in the back with me."

"S-Sorry, I don't have much time, so would you please just tell me where she is." The man started to get aggressive with Subaru

"Looky here, a woman like you has to do ther-" The man noticed a firm hand grip on his shoulder.

"You got your coins, didn't you? Why don't you just tell us where she is." Wilhelm didn't have to do much more than speak to scare the life outta the young lad.

He let go of Subaru. "Tsh should've just told me ya got 'em with ya. Down the road, two left's down, and then a righ't." The man, obviously annoyed, said the directions.

Subaru walked over to Wilhelm after he shook his head. They then started heading over to the place Felt should be located.

Right before that, Wilhelm turned around and gave the man a death stare.

"If I ever catch you roughing around with a woman again, trust me, you'll never want to see them again." With that, Subaru and Wilhelm faded into the distance for the young lad.

"That was disgusting, felt like I wanted to vomit," Subaru said after getting out of hearing distance from the man. His mind was driving in circles, trying to figure out his emotions from that encounter.

"Well, I guess you can take it as a lesson, Natsumi-Dono. Women are fierce creatures, and humanity doesn't credit them enough." Wilhelm knew this first hand when his first reaction after he lost to his wife was disgust.

"Women really are strong, huh." Subaru thought back to his Mom that raised him for all of these years. He does wonder she felt about him. Oh well, she probably got over him already. He was just a burden anyways.

Wilhelm snapped him out of his thoughts when he said "It seems like we reached our destination. With that, Subaru looked up at the loot house and shivered. It gave off a terrifying aura. The whole house had a black aura. "So, things can have an aura too, huh?" Subaru decided to use this knowledge to warn Wilhelm.

"Wilhelm-San, I don't know what's in there, but I can sense it. Something dangerous is in there, so I recommend taking out your sword." Subaru looked at Wilhelm, and the Old Man nodded.

"You can sense danger, huh? That would have been useful long ago." Wilhelm said distantly. He unsheathed his sword and started walking to the door of the loot house.

Subaru didn't know what was so different about this, and any other haunted house he has ever been to. Sometimes the things at the haunted house looked scarier, but right now, walking to the door. He feared for everything dear to him.

Ah, wait, he realized why. The smell. Even in the worst haunted houses, or the scariest rides. It always smelt fine, just like any other day, but this time, it was different. It was almost like you could smell the terror, fear, blood, and despair coming from within. "They also said that smelling brings back the most memories, huh?"

As they finally got to the door and opened it. They were meant with a scream.

"Old Man Rom!" Felt shouted. Accompanying the sound was the image of an Old Giant on the floor spewing blood from his arteries, onto the cold, hard, cheap wooden floors. Each time the blood goes in between the cracks of the wood, an accompanying drip could be heard. Lastly, the star of the show could be seen with a broken bottle of alcohol that was covered in blood that wasn't hers. She wore a revealing dark dress and had an eerie cape that made you want to run with your brain and think with your legs.

"That's her, Elsa, the bowel hunter," Wilhelm warned Subaru

"Ah, special guests! Congrats on being the 1 millionth customer." Elsa smiled, her bloodied fingers staining her face.

"You'll get a bottle of our most lavish, Granhiert."

With those words uttered, the battle began.

Come back on the next episode of Dragon Ball Z.

For real though, this chapter was really fun to research.

Fun fact, the last part about Granhiert was because Elsa got her last name from the alcohol bottle she used to kill her first-person! So, that explains the ending of this chapter.

Lastly, after some research, I decided to convert the Lugnican money like this:

Copper Coin = 1$

Silver Coin = 10$

Gold Coins = 50$

Holy Coin = 100$

So, the two gold coins Crusch gave Subaru were worth 100$.

I loved your reviews! I replied to most of them, so if you do leave a review, I'll most likely reply.

See ya!

-TonkaDev