“Oh my, are you a half-elf?”
Elsa seemed entirely oblivious to her injuries and pain.
The corners of her eyes curved upward, her red lips parting into a smile.
“The color of your bowels must be absolutely beautiful as well.
I want to slice your stomach open and see~”
“Hey, behave yourself, you crazy woman!”
Subaru questioned Elsa without a shred of politeness.
“Who is your employer?
And why did you kill Felt?”
“I won’t disclose my employer’s information, you know.”
Elsa raised a trembling left hand to grip the edge of her cloak, struggling with great difficulty to wipe the blood from her face.
“Ah, ah, wonderful.
You really are as strong as a monster, boy.”
“My body is in tatters, I’m missing a leg, it hurts so much… but it’s wonderful.
This is what it feels like to be alive… it’s wonderful.”
“Wonderful… wonderful… wonderful…”
Elsa’s eyes glazed over.
She stared up at the moon, repeatedly murmuring the word “wonderful” over and over again.
Psycho… Subaru couldn’t comprehend Elsa’s mindset at all.
This woman’s expression, actions, and way of thinking made him feel incredibly uncomfortable.
It was as disgusting as having a black widow spider crawl onto the back of his neck.
“Let’s just ignore her for now and go inside to find the insignia together.
We can call the guards to come arrest her later.” Subaru turned his head away, not wanting to look at Elsa anymore.
“Anyway, most of her bones are probably broken, she’s missing a leg, and she won’t stop bleeding.
She might not even last until the guards get here.”
“Let’s go.” He gestured for Satella to step away from the outside area.
“There are two gruesomely murdered corpses inside, and some messy stuff sprayed on the walls.
You should mentally prepare yourself.”
“Rest assured, Subaru, I am not that fragile.
We’ll have to trouble the guards to retrieve their bodies as well.”
“You’re really amazing, thinking of retrieving their bodies.
I almost threw up just a minute ago.”
Subaru deeply admired players with a strong heart like Satella.
As expected, the mental fortitude of a native to this other world was far superior to that of a modern-day deadbeat like himself, who had lived a sheltered life for over a decade.
“No, no, Subaru, the truly amazing one is you.” Satella pressed her hand against the door, seemingly bracing herself mentally.
“To defeat such a strong enemy… Subaru, you’re amazing!”
“Oh, right!”
Satella hurriedly pulled her hand back and gripped the emerald pendant at her chest.
Her blue-purple eyes darted toward Subaru before quickly darting away.
“Subaru, I need to apologize to you.”
“Eh?
For what?”
“I am very sorry, i-it’s just… when I introduced myself this morning, I used a fake name.
I’m actually not named Satella…”
The girl took a deep breath, patting her chest a few times to calm her nerves, before looking straight into Subaru’s eyes with a bright gaze. Find the original chapter at g.com.
“Let’s introduce ourselves again.
I am…”
But before she could finish, Subaru beat her to the punch, pointing his finger toward the sky.
Left hand on his hip, right hand pointing straight up, legs slightly wider than shoulder-width, thrusting his pelvis forward, he shouted at the top of his lungs: “My name is Subaru Natsuki!
Ignorant, foolish, an undying wandering rogue of the heavens!”
Subaru flashed a dazzling, toothy grin, snapped his fingers, and gave a cool thumbs-up.
“Please, tell me your name.”
“Honestly, Subaru…” Covering her mouth with her hand, a blush spreading across her pale cheeks, the silver-haired girl laughed.
“I was just about to say it!”
The smile on the girl’s face wasn’t one of despair, nor was it a fleeting, illusory smile, and it certainly wasn’t a tragic smile made with grim resolve.
It was a smile of pure happiness, a completely genuine, radiant smile.
“My name is Emilia.
Just Emilia.” Emilia reached her hand out toward Subaru.
“Thank you, Subaru.
Thank you for helping me resolve this!”
Looking down at the pale, translucent hand offered to him, Subaru reached out and touched it with trembling reverence.
Her fingers were so slender, her palm so small; delicate and incredibly warm.
It was the hand of a living, breathing girl.
“Well then, I look forward to working with you from now on!” Subaru said, laughing along with her as he firmly squeezed the girl’s—Emilia’s—hand in return.
“Emilia-tan!”
“Mhm!
I look forward to working with you too, Subaru!
But… ‘tan’?
What does ‘tan’ mean…?”
Squelch!
Two uniquely shaped kukri knives pierced straight through Emilia’s back, slicing forcefully down toward her abdomen, cutting right through the red flower accessory pinned to her left chest.
Her unfinished words were replaced by fresh blood welling up from the corners of her mouth.
Emilia’s body suddenly pitched forward, falling toward Subaru.
He reflexively reached out to catch her.
A warm, soft sensation transferred to his palms, and Subaru couldn’t help but hold his breath—
Drip.
“—Emi…”
Drip, drop, splash.
“—Emilia?”
Splash, splash, splash, splash.
Unable to answer Subaru’s words, Emilia slowly collapsed into his arms.
Her jewel-like, blue-purple eyes gradually lost their light, reduced to cheap glass beads discarded on the roadside.
Emilia coughed in agony, coughing up chunks of unrecognizable internal organs mixed with a massive amount of blood.
Resting her head on Subaru’s shoulder, Emilia continued to vomit blood.
Mangled intestines spilled from the lacerations on her abdomen, causing her body to grow lighter.
Wait, huh?
No way…”
“Emilia!!!”
If screaming, shrieking until his throat tore open could make him forget everything—
Then he would scream right now.
He would tear his throat apart and forget to his heart’s content.
In the dim slums, Emilia’s face was illuminated by the sparse moonlight, looking deathly pale.
The body in Subaru’s arms gradually grew lighter, growing cold, as if she had never existed in this world to begin with.
The blood flowing from her body wouldn’t stop.
Subaru’s body turned red, getting redder and redder.
“Oooohhh… ahhhhhhhh-yyyaaahhh—”
“Ah~ Such a beautiful scream.
How wonderful~”
—The voice Subaru wanted to hear the absolute least came from behind Emilia.
“A half-elf’s bowels truly are—too beautiful!
The sensation of slicing open her stomach is more exquisite than ever before!!!”
“Ah, ah~~ It’s~ so~ won~der~ful~”
The sound of high heels clicking against the ground approached.
Subaru looked up.
Standing before him was the black-cloaked woman, her outfit revealing her voluptuous figure without hesitation.
Her black hair, as rare as Subaru’s own, was tied into a braid.
She exuded an abnormal, erotic charm, and her face was stunningly beautiful.
“Elsa?”
“Ah, it’s me.
Genuine and uncounterfeited.” Elsa greedily licked a scrap of large intestine clinging to her kukri.
“I’m still alive and kicking!”
…
“My name is Emilia.
Just Emilia.”
“Thank you, Subaru.
Thank you for helping me resolve this!”
…
“Thank you for bringing me this far, Subaru.
I’ll try to figure something out on my own from here… Regardless, I absolutely cannot ignore that child.”
“Why did you help that child?
It’s simple!
This way, we can continue our search with a clear conscience!”
…
Emilia pinned the flower accessory to the left chest of her white robe, and a smile brighter than the flower itself bloomed on her face.
“You see?
Good deeds are rewarded!”
Emilia proudly placed her hands on her hips, speaking to Subaru with a joyful, skipping tone: “It ended up benefiting us in the end, didn’t it!”
…
…Ah, Emilia is dead.