Re:Zero Kara Hajimeru Isekai Seikatsu-Volume 3, Chapter 6: A dangerous pair

Relying on memory to reach the loothouse, it was an aging dilapidated house in the farthest corner of the capital’s slums.

I wonder if the people building the capital made a mistake or something, it was maddeningly how large a building it was; almost as if they were trying to hide all the unused space with it. For the sticky-fingered inhabitants of the slums, regardless of the legality or illegality of an item it would end up here through a various means, the one managing this place sold these goods out on a massive scale.

Like its name implied, this place was a hotbed of roguery.

“It’s completely and totally gone. There’s nothing left here at all.”

Standing in an empty lot Subaru stared at the demolished remains of the former loothouse.

The loothouse building had disappeared without even a trace, the scrap wood and dangerous materials that would normally remain after a building collapsed had all been cleaned away, not one piece remained. There were traces of a building left on the ground along the edges of the foundation, but if you ignored that, it wouldn’t be all that odd to doubt whether the place had ever really existed in the first place.

Thinking back, it’s hard to think that a single sword strike could do all this.

“Yep, I don’t think we can count Reinhard as human anymore…”

Reminded of a certain red-headed good looking man, Subaru’s praise for him wasn’t limited to the restraints of humanity. Then again, rather than positive this ‘praise’ had more of a negative tint to it; whether the person in question would be happy to hear this praise was another subject in itself.

“I suppose it doesn’t need to be said, but it looks like nobody’s living here anymore. Subaru, what will you do?”

This terrible scene was laid plainly before his eyes. Or maybe it was more accurate to say he couldn’t help feeling like the place had been tidied up, faced with this spectacle Subaru was overwhelmed. Rather than Subaru, the more goal oriented Emilia was the first to speak.

“Also, I think getting in touch with Reinhard would be the best option…”

“Yeah, that’s probably the right. I thought we could get in touch with Felt or Rom-jii by coming here and then we’d know what to do next, but I guess things never go that easy.”

The criminal always returns to the scene of the crime, well not exactly, but his common sense was such that he’d sort of been expecting that the stage for the end of the first event would somehow become the place for a sequel. However, reality doesn’t go like fiction; our two criminals got taken away building and all. Quite literally, the only thing remaining were remains, and even those seemed like they were meager enough to be carried away in the wind.

“In other words we’ve no more use for this place. Goodbye loothouse. You served your role well as an event trigger.”

Subaru picked up the bag of appa at his feet, giving a thumbs-up in remembrance as they departed; pulling Emilia by the hand. He lived his life never looking back. Goodbye yesterday, hello tomorrow. Please come in, Mr. Wedding-day.

“Anyways, since the slums are dangerous let’s hurry and get out of here. Next is… searching for Reinhard I’d think. Felt got taken away by Reinhard right?”

“Yeah, that’s correct. He said he didn’t mean them any harm, but… he changed his expression so quickly.”

Thinking back on what Emilia said, Reinhard settled the incident by saying he’d overlook those two. It may have been just a verbal promise, but he was a young man who seemed like he’d risk his life to uphold his convictions; not the type to break promises so easily. Incidentally Reinhard had also taken charge over treating Rom-jii’s injuries too.

“It would have been nice if we could have spoken a bit more at least, we had our own issues though and had to return to the mansion quickly.”

“What do you mean?”

“… Come on, we had a certain someone who had their stomach torn open you know? We couldn’t think of anyone other than Beatrice who could heal it properly, so we were in a rush.”

“And thank you very much for that assistance!”

He was wondering what she was talking about but it ended up being about himself. After throwing out a loud-voiced apology. “Now then” he said, trying to change to mood

“In any case, it looks like the conversations looped backed to searching for that pretty boy. I get the feeling there was something he said earlier, something about going to the royal guard station if we ever needed him…”

Digging through his memories of the conversation they had when they first met, Subaru was able to pull something out that seemed like it might be a lead. Well then, there you have it. Although he didn’t have too much confidence in it. At any rate, if he is at the guardhouse I guess that’d mean Reinhard had somewhat of a policeman type position in the city.

“Like hell someone like that’s just a policeman! I’m at least 90% sure that bastard’s an actual knight and just wanders around town for fun.”

He had an expensive looking sword, and even had some ridiculous nickname like ‘sword saint’. On top of that he had some insane power. If that was the strength of an average soldier then he’d never be able to walk in the capital again out of fear. Looking like she agreed with his assessment, Emilia gave a small nod.

“I think so too, the probability that Reinhard is at the guard station is rather low. But, even if the person himself isn’t there, there might be someone there that knows him.”

“Well, either way he’s probably some kind of soldier, and maybe in the guard station they’d have the castle’s phone number written down somewhere… they don’t have phones here do they?”

“Phone?”

Emilia put a finger on her cheek while tilting her head. “Cute!”, Subaru thought to himself while wracking his brain on how best to explain.

“If I put it simply… it’s a way to talk with people who are far away. Ah, and it’s not some primitive method like shouting in a loud voice.”

“If you’re talking about a communication mirror, I think they’d have one…”

TL: 対話鏡

This time it was Subaru’s turn to tilt his head at the word she spoke with confidence. She could see he didn’t know from his reaction, “hmm…” she groaned softly.

“It’s a magical item used for long-distance conversations. When you stand in front of it on one end and another person stands in front of it on the other end, their image and voice will be projected over and you can have a conversation. It’s one of the more popular magical devices, you can see them around in a lot of places.”

“Hahaa, so they had this kind of method after all. Mirror, a mirror… this really is a magical world huh, fantastic!”

When you stand in front of it, it works something like instead of reflecting your own image it reflects the image of the person you are trying to talk to. When it came to magical items, the only thing that came to mind was his ‘magical’-phone that he tricked Rom-jii with and passed off as a fake. Hearing that they actually had something similar to a phone got him excited, kindling his boyish spirit.

“Even if I don’t have magical aptitude, maybe it turns out that I can fight using magical devices. This time for sure, my happy fantasy-world adventure is about to begin. ”

He was aware he lacked ability, but his nature was one that wanted to avoid situations where he’d have to use it in the first place. He had drawn up quite the fantasies about having grand adventures after being summoned to this new world, even though after facing reality he knew just how unrealistic this was. Facing this extreme situation, what had he done aside from forgetting his dignity and clawing to stay alive desperately?

Gloomily, his thoughts sank back into a negative direction. Shaking his head he dispelled his despondence. As for why he’d fallen into this line of thinking in the first place, that’d be due to the long silence that had settled between the two.

“Emilia-tan?”

“…Huh? What’s wrong?”

Her reaction was a few seconds delayed. Looking at Subaru her purple-blue eyes twinkled with light. Seeing her indifferent response Subaru’s face soured.

“That’s what I want to know. You got quiet all of a sudden. Is there something on your mind?”

“…No, it’s nothing. So, off to the guard station?”

From her attitude it didn’t really seem like it was nothing, but her response indicated he shouldn’t press any further on this issue. Acting like he’d accepted this explanation, Subaru tried his best to give out a vague reply.

“Since the guard station is over in the nobles’ district, from here it’s a bit of a walk. Let’s hurry a bit shall we, if we take too long Rem’s going to sulk.”

Originally Rem was the one who was supposed to accompany Subaru around the capital, but since she had a lot of work related matters to tend to, crying and crying, she had to hand over Subaru’s charge to Emilia. Right now she should still be furiously tending to miscellaneous matters at the place they were staying for tonight.

Pulled by hand while they walked down a street heading out of the slum district, Subaru gazed silently at Emilia’s back. Facing her white hood and robe embroidered with the emblem of a hawk, Subaru couldn’t get a word in.

Whenever he was beside Emilia, he never failed to feel invigorated and excited. That’s why there wasn’t anything worse for him than getting the cold shoulder like this. ‘What’, ‘when’, Subaru fell into a panic as he raced to find what he’d done to put her in a bad mood.

If he got rejected by Emilia then he’d be all alone in this world. In this world Emilia had become his sole meaning of existence.

As the wheels in Subaru’s head started grinding, the way he defined himself worked itself in a bad direction. His vision dimmed as nerves in his head screamed. A dark emotion crept up in his heart. He subconsciously understood this was the same as the dark hand he’d seen before. His lips trembled as the negative emotions started to run wild.

“That’s enough of that, Subaru.”

A voice resounded in his head unexpectedly, snapping him out of his stupor. Subaru opened his eyes in surprise. The words uttered felt like they were whispered directly into his mind. In front of him, Puck rested on top of Emilia’s hood, rubbing his own belly while gazing out towards Subaru.

“This looks like a pretty bad sign to me, so I’m here to put a stop to it. I’d hope you wouldn’t do anything improper with my daughter. I don’t want to come to hate you.”

Twirling a mustache, Puck came out with his reasonable as always tone. Subaru was a startled by the words as his face stiffened, looking at Emilia’s back fearfully. However, Emilia didn’t notice his panic and kept walking.

“You don’t have to worry about Lia hearing, I’m speaking directly to your mind.”

“…Can you hear what I’m thinking?”

“Telepaths can only do this when there’s a large difference in power. Well, you can just think of this as the difference between you and me.”

He could see Puck laughing dryly, but no sound was emitted. Although he could no longer be surprised at this emotion-reading-cat, the discomfort of speaking directly through his mind was something he didn’t think he’d easily get used to. Anyways,

“Ah, I’ll just say my thanks. Just now, I was a bit weird for a second there.”

It was like he was the only one left in the world, he hated it so much; desperately struggling to get away. Hysterically, he reached out his hand to cling onto Emilia’s back in front of him. ――Shaking his head, even Subaru didn’t know what had come over him just now. It was like he wasn’t himself, a strange thought had run wild.

“I’m going to be blunt about this, the reason Ria’s in a bad mood isn’t because of you. She’s angry at herself after remembering some things.”

For Subaru who had doubted himself, Puck’s words brought him back to his senses. He tilted his head at Puck’s words.

“At herself?”

“There was something that reminded her of a bad experience. She’s only pouting over that. If you overlook it a bit, it’s pretty cute.”

Puck’s expression was one full of a father’s love for their child. Seeing this attitude Subaru felt alienated like he was being left out, he’d come to a sharp realization.

――I don’t know anything at all about her past.

The Emilia that Subaru knew was an impressionable beautiful girl with silver hair and purple-blue eyes. She was a half-elf, and a potential candidate for the queen of this Lugnica kingdom. Living at her Patron Roswaal’s mansion, she brought along a spirit named Puck who was close enough to call family. She was honest, always acted tough, soft-hearted, she’d take care of someone even if it meant losing something herself, she was like a big-sister, and on top of it all extremely easy to trick.

It’s been two weeks since he met Emilia and this was everything he’d observed of her. It was completely surface level information. Only now did Subaru realize that he hadn’t managed to step any closer to her.

Thinking of it, he didn’t even know about the king-selection until recently. And him coming to the Roswaal mansion was only due to what happened the day he met her.

He was in a daze, he’d only taken the things given to him, and never sought to know more than that. This mess of a situation was his reward. Unlike Puck who knew her circumstances, Subaru who knew nothing and could do nothing but hold his peace.

“Bottling up your feelings like that, it seems you’re quite the difficult child.”

Even though he had kept his mouth shout on the outside, his couldn’t keep the feeling on his inside quiet. Against Puck who could skim the top of Subaru’s mind there was really nothing he could do. Subaru shrugged his shoulders.

“Bottling up my feelings? I think you’ve missed the mark on this one; my candidness loses to no-one. It seems the great spirit-sama still has much to learn.”

Poking fun of Puck in an exaggerated manner, Subaru acted to cut off any further discussion on this subject. However,

“Hey, Subaru”

Regardless of what Subaru wished for, Puck wasn’t done with the conversation.

He didn’t even have the option to block it out. The words were whispered directly into his mind, rather than through his eardrum. Even though he was silent his feelings leaked out through his thoughts. And from his attitude it was clear these actions were not welcome. Irrespective of the other party’s interest, Puck broke through one-sidedly and informed him.

“I’d like if you didn’t expect too much. From me, and Lia too.”

“…Hah?”

“Hope is a gentle poison. Even if you know it, it will eventually eat away at your body. If you delude yourself into thinking something is within your reach there’s no way you won’t reach for it. Without a doubt, you are poison.”

Narrowing his black eyes, Puck erased his expression as he glared at Subaru. Faced with those expressionless eyes, his body froze up instinctively. Being stared at like he was being judged, he fought the urge to grind his teeth.

“You, what do you mean by that…”

But, before the incomprehensible Puck could give his reply――

“We’re here”

Emilia who was still pulling him by the hand stopped her feet. f𝗿e𝙚𝘸e𝐛𝚗𝐨𝙫𝚎𝙡.c𝒐𝐦

“Oops”

Falling forward, he just barely managed to catch himself before almost bumping into her from behind.

He had been focusing too much on the conversation with Puck, disconnected from reality, finally the streets of the city came back into his view. Compared to the buildings that were jumbled together in a disorderly fashion, the buildings here were lined up neatly row-by-row. 𝘧𝗿ee𝚠𝙚𝙗𝑛o𝚟𝐞l.𝐜૦𝗺

The nobles’ district. If it was like the name implied, this was probably the place where people from society’s upper echelons lived. The scenery here was naturally more polished than from the districts where the masses lived, speaking directly, the way they spent money was different. The buildings were a given, along the roads were walls, and greenery was planted to maintain a beautiful view.

The other side of the street in front of him was like a completely different world. And, as if blocking the entrance to this new world a giant building had been erected. Even among the complete change in scenery this conspicuously tall building stood out. Like in his former world most of the buildings here were two or three stories tall, but this establishment in front of him looked to be about as tall as a six story building. The rear portion of the building joined into the outer wall behind it, the top portion had a terrace that could probably look out over everything. But rather than being intended to enjoy the view, he thought the terrace was probably built in order to look down over the people below. Even though he’d never done anything wrong, he was always timid in front of police; Subaru made a bitter face, remembering his own disposition as a member of lower-middle class society.

“This is the station for the guards that patrol the capital. People that want to go in and out of the nobles’ district need to have their social status confirmed here.”

“So that’s why they built something like this… but I guess no matter what era you’re in, the police organizations have a kind of strange power that’s hard to go against.”

The pressure he felt was the same. From the feeling this place gave off, what he could tell was this definitely wasn’t the type of place you’d go lightheartedly to about something like a lost child or forgotten item. He’d take the police boxes over this any day.

TL: Japanese Police Boxes

“Anyways, let’s go talk with Reinhard inside… why are you doing all curled up?”

“It’s a conditioned reflex. There are some policeman out there that like to target people like me for questioning.”

“I don’t really know what you’re saying… but doesn’t that just mean you can’t do anything bad?”

“Impressive, now you’re starting to get it.”

Seeing through the spirit of Subaru’s statement, Emilia let out a sigh. Looking in front, she walked forward to knock on the door of the guard station. Chasing her hood-wearing back with his eyes, Subaru realized instantly that a certain little cat’s figure was missing. Disappearing off unnoticed, he was probably hiding in her silver hair right now.

Puck said what he wanted and left in a flash. Subaru scowled at his words, what exacted was he trying to say?

Whatever. Even if he worried about it it’s not like he’d get an answer. Folding his arms, he quickly ditched thinking about it as he moved his feet to line up behind Emilia. Almost immediately after she knocked on the door.

“――What’s this, what a coincidence to meet you here.”

The doors of the guard station opened outwards, a young man appearing from inside. The young man bowed respectfully to Emilia,

“It’s been a long time, Emilia-sama. Has anything come up in the meantime?”

He called her Emilia while she still had her hood on. Just from that Subaru’s heart filled with cautiousness. Emilia fidgeted a little after seeing him bow, but was overall calm.

“…Yeah, thank you. Nothing’s changed in particular. Um, Julius.”

“I’m honored that you remembered. I’m glad that your beauty is also unchanged, Emilia-sama.”

The man named Julius flashed his teeth with a glitter when he smiled. He said such a cheesy line without even flinching.

He was quite tall. It looked like he was at least 10 centimeters taller than Subaru, so around 180 centimeters in all. His hair was moderately long, purple with a tinge of blue; it made him seem both arrogant and polite at the same time. His body was slim, but rather than being frail it was more accurate call him supple and limber.

He had a big mouth fitting for a lady-killer. Amber colored eyes that women love and men couldn’t help but be jealous of.

From his appearance and the fact he’d just emerged from the guard station, Subaru came to an understanding.

“Isn’t it rare for a royal-guardsmen like you to be at a station like this?”

There were ornate decorations burnishing his uniform. A dragon symbol was woven into the sleeves, and a rapier hung from his waist like the wind. Most of all was Julius himself, it was clear from his appearance what his occupation was.

“Holding a ceremony for the guards, and inspecting the city… I suppose you could say. I came on the request of a friend, it’s fine to prioritize friendship once in a while”

He replied to Emilia while brandishing his hands, as if to sing a song. His talkative mouth spun words like he was getting drunk just from listening to himself speak. Apparently trying to cut him off, Emilia in front of him followed up his words, “anyways…”

“Stretching my legs like this for a stroll through the city, no sooner than a single step was I able to come across such a beautiful flower. What more happiness could I wish for than this.”

Saying this, Julius took Emilia’s hand in a practiced manner and knelt on the spot. Before she could even let out a single breath he placed a kiss on her white hand.

Dumbfounded, Subaru was at his wit’s end at having witnessed such a chain of events. One second later his emotions were seething, on top of this guy being arrogant he had to go out and do something like this that’d undoubtedly rub Subaru the wrong way. However,

“Thank you, Julius. And I’m sorry to spring this on you suddenly but…”

Seeing Julius’ nostrils flair wildly, Subaru was about the let out a warcry but was instead interrupted by Emilia holding out her palm to stop him. Not understanding her intentions Subaru couldn’t move. In front of him the situation slowly progressed.

“I have some business to take care of, could I have you act as an intermediary between the castle…?”

“Ah, I see. So you need the station’s communication mirror. I understand, allow me to guide you.”

Standing up and opening the door, Julius glanced inside the facility.

“Originally I’d feel a little awkward bringing Emilia-sama inside such a squalid place as this…”

“You don’t have to mind things like that. Please.”

“Well then, please come in…”

Emilia nodded at his words as Julius returned inside the station like he was going to guide her. Seeing this Emilia followed after. Scrambling, Subaru hurried to chase after them but,

“Subaru, wait here.”

“Huh?”

Before the door closed, Emilia glanced back and turned him down cleanly. Words wouldn’t come out. He tried to show his objection through gestures, but Emilia only shook her head.

“It’d be nice if I could bring you with me, but I don’t think Julius would be too happy if you tagged along. Wait here.”

“What the hell. Is that guy’s good mood more important that mine?”

Subaru’s mouth soured, from the way it came across it sounded like she was prioritizing Julius. Emilia protested with a troubled expression, “that’s not it”

“It’s not because it’d put Julius’ in a bad mood, it’s because it’d definitely be an unpleasant experience for you. That’s why I want you to stay. Please, understand.”

“It’s already quite the unpleasant experience for me.”

The kiss on her hand. Even if it was an action that expressed reverence and respect, for Subaru it was something that was hard to forgive. He’d already gone on a date with her and held hands with her in the capital, yet she completely didn’t see him as a member of the opposite sex. That’s why kissing was something that he’d been struggling especially hard to do. Seeing another man cross that threshold so easily it was only natural he saw him as an enemy.

If possible, he didn’t want that man to touch Emilia anymore. Far from that, he was actually seeing her go off to that guy’s place without out him. That was Subaru’s male instinct.

“It’s not going to be that long before I get back so be a good kid and wait here. And don’t wander away from the guard station.”

It was worded kindly, but the color of rejection was still thick. Emilia was thoroughly keeping him away from her matters, fearing to step in any further Subaru couldn’t say anything.

The door closed between them, interrupting the two. Subaru laid his hand heavily on the door and hung his head, spilling out a long, long sigh.

“I’m so lame… what am I even doing? I’m not even doing anything.”

What came out was only self-derision. He bared his jealousy openly, sinking in it. A jealousy that would never run out or be used up. However, he was already aware of his own incompetence, if he left it alone he’d just get depressed.

“Knowing my luck, if I stay outside the station too long sulking like this I’ll get picked up for questioning.”

Looking at it from an outsider’s perspective he was definitely suspicious, thinking this Subaru hurried away from the station.

Nonetheless, since he had instructions from Emilia he only moved across the street, still in view of the station. After taking an appropriate distance, he put his back to the wall and let out a second sigh.

“That smug guy… an imperial guard was it?”

If that was right, then he’d be a knight. Among all the knights groups, the imperial guard were special. Originally they were directly under the command of the royalty, but now that the country has no king I wonder what’s going to happen.

“That smug guy had a pretty obvious elite feeling to him. Licking and drooling all over Emilia-tan’s cute hand so casually…”

His memories had already been revised. In his mind Julius was slowly changing into a heinous sexual deviant.

All he could do for now was wait and brood on negative emotions like this. Praying that Emilia would hurry to complete her task and make it back safely without being attacked by that sexual deviant Julius.

“And, after being defiled by that man’s hand. Enter stage left. “Subaru, I’m no good anymore…” “That’s not true, Emilia-tan… no, Emilia! No matter what happens to you, the Emilia that’s reflected in my eyes is more beautiful than anyone else! Your eyes are more precious than any gemstone…” or something like that.”

His delusions exploding into a full-blown story, tears came to Emilia’s eyes as she closed them, leaning her lips in towards his. It was then that a figure crossing the street caught his eye.

“I-impossible.”

His lips trembling as the theater he had built up in his head collapsed. The lovely image of Emilia blushing vanished into his dreams, but a very real spectacle lavished his eyes, unable to avert his gaze.

In front of the shocked Subaru, an adorable therianthrope crossed the street.

It was only about about as tall as Subaru’s waist, its short body swaying side to side as it walked. Tottering with each step, its body was covered with an unbelievably fluffy looking white fur. It couldn’t even be compared to the beast-eared Demi-humans, this was the perfect figure for a therianthrope.

It was likely a dog, I think it’s a dog anyway. It had long fur that was pure white like freshly fallen snow, which it wore with a loveable roundness.

In just one moment he was completely captivated. The heartbreak he’d just experienced from Emilia’s attitude paled in comparison to this ultimate fluffball crossing the street in front of him. That is, he’d lost the will to fight even before the battle.

His soul as a fluff-a-holic, the resentment he’d built up since coming to this world, the self-loathing he’d wrapped himself up in just a few minutes ago, the torrent of emotions he could never seem to express to Emilia, through the combination of all these factors Subaru no longer possessed full control over his decisions.

I want to bury my hands in it. I want to rub my fingertips in the fluffy white fur. Hug it to my heart’s content, press my face in it, pick it up and spin it around, sing my love for it to the world. Fluffing is love, fluffy is the cornerstone of world peace, fluff shall save the world. Even without fluffing, you can still fluff. However, because you fluff you want to fluff. To fluff is precisely the deepest desire of a fluffist. To not fluff despite being able to fluff is equivalent to choosing death to a fluffist. In summary, to fluff = a fluffist’s life, without fluff the radiance that is a fluffist’s life would…

モフることが愛であり、モフりこそが平和の礎であり、モフこそが世界を救う。

モフらなくてもモフれる。だが、モフるからにはモフられたい。モフってモフることにこそモフリストとしての本懐があり、モフれるにも関わらずモフらないことはモフリストにとっては死を選ぶに等しい。つまり、モフること＝モフリストにとっての生であり、モフっていなければモフリストの命の輝きは――。

TL: Exhibit A for why this WN is hard to translate.

“I got so caught up doing that, where the hell am I…”

When he came to his senses the therianthrope was gone, at his wits end Subaru stood looking around in shock.

Spread around him, his surroundings were a series of small alleyways he had no recollection of. The road in front of the station that was there a second ago was now gone. At the very least his surroundings were completely different from the showy nobles’ district. He was too preoccupied with fluffing, this what he got for disregarding everything.

“I can’t even sit still and wait, am I worse than a dog!? I guess after the point I got excited by the dog-like fluffball that much was already decided though.”

Having his sanity stolen away by the appearance of the fluffball, he followed it in a daze and now he’s here. He didn’t know how much time had passed, if he didn’t hurry he’d be in for another one of Emilia’s scoldings. Right now she must be waiting uneasily at the guard station, praying to be reunited with him even a minute sooner. That’d be nice if she thought that. Once she completed her objective and returned, she’d see the absence of our lost child Subaru who couldn’t even sit still and wait obediently.

Subaru shuddered at the cold-treatment in store for him.

“I’ll definitely get abandoned. This isn’t the time to laugh and make a cute pose!”

TL: There’s really no way to translate this one so I just called it a ‘cute pose’. It’s literally called ‘laugh-slurp'(てへぺろ) and is a very specific pose where the character laughs while sticking their tongue out and acting coy.

Scratching his head, he recognized he was now in the emergency situation of emergency situations. First I’ve got to get out to the main street, he thought to himself; dashing down an alleyway. But on top of being unfamiliar with this area, the alleyways all looked the same to him so he couldn’t tell up from down.

“Shit, why’d this have to happen now of all times… I’ve got it! I remember hearing that when you’re in a labyrinth, if you stick to one side of the wall you’ll eventually get to an exit. Piece of cake! Alright I’ll go on this side of the wall… hogyaaa!!”

Reaching out triumphantly to the wall, when his hand came in contact with the filth covered wall he felt a smearing sensation and his ‘unpleasant feeling coefficient’ immediately shot up to max.

“What the hell is this, it’s all sticky and slimy! This seriously better not be vomit!? Why the hell is this sprayed all over the walls, even with the power of alcohol you couldn’t do something like this!!”

Wiping this vomit, excrement, or whatever other unknown substance, off onto another wall; not being able to ask some grandma for directions he was completely at a loss. It just had to be at a time like this, he couldn’t feel the presence of anyone in the nearby streets. For Subaru who couldn’t live without relying on other people, he couldn’t find anyone at all to rely on.

“Like this, trapped in the labyrinth without possibility of escape, Subaru gave up on thinking… BAD END #8. Death by isolation… Ok seriously this isn’t funny!”

Not having the composure to mess around anymore, Subaru upped his movement to the max. At least let this be towards a place with people… the moment he thought that,

“You bitch! Stop messing with us!”

While he wondered whether he should get closer or not, his eardrums had certainly picked up traces of people.