Arc 1 – 13: Ending And Beginning

Arc 1 – Chapter 13: Ending And Beginning

“Just give up already! There’s a limit to incorrigibility!”

Subaru was tired of seeing these guys and kicked the ground in frustration.

This was their third encounter, and it was once again a three on one in an alley. Despite how fruitless their first and second attempts were, they still continued to hound him, he was truly surprised by this tenacity.

If the situation wasn’t as it was, he might have even applauded them.

“I don’t have time for you guys. I’ll face you when things settle down, so get out of my way.”

He was a little uneasy, but he had managed to beat them solo last time so he kept his composure.

If he intimidated them a bit, there would probably be an opening. That’s what he expected, but,

“Get out of his way, huh? What do you say we do?”

“I don’t like his attitude, not one bit. It doesn’t look like he understands who’s going to be giving the orders here.”

“You pathetically lost three on one, why the hell are you trying to act tough...? Even the sorest loser would show more shame.”

To be honest, Subaru couldn’t help but feel like a sore loser himself right now.

In other words, this place had turned into a gathering of beaten down losers.

“That’s way too negative! I thought I was a more optimistic character!”

“It’s no good, he’s completely messed up in the head. We decided to target him because of his weird getup, but maybe this is...”

The men started talking to one another, clearly annoyed by his loud monologue. The empty-handed one and the one with the nata seemed to be losing interest in Subaru, but the biggest threat, the one with the knife, still had a sharp gaze.

Those eyes seemed to have given up on his value as a wallet, but there was another dark desire cruelly wavering within them.

The man’s look caused Subaru to internally mutter, “This could be dangerous”.

Having faced them twice, Subaru concluded that the man with the knife was the most troublesome among them. In addition to his lethality, he was also the one with the quickest temper.

Forget fighting, it would be wise to avoid even getting close.

“Got it. I won’t resist. Just state your demands.”

Subaru said this as he raised his hands, emphasizing that he had no intention of fighting them.

He had completely dropped the confident attitude he had, and instead changed to one of compliance.

The reason being that he decided to prioritize getting out of here, and wanted to keep the man with the knife calm. He had decided that some losses couldn’t be helped, and it would be best to just get out of here for now.

―Well, there was also the unfortunate possibility that they were aiming for revenge and would beat him to a pulp.

If things looked to be moving in that direction, he’d run away with all he had before they had the chance to stab him. If he managed to make it to the main street, they probably wouldn’t be able to do anything conspicuous.

As Subaru vigilantly formed plans to ensure his safety within his mind, the men’s attitudes toward him relaxed.

They spoke as if to ridicule his cowardliness for being willing to take their demands,

“C’mon, if you were that scared you should have just done that from the start.”

“You bastard. You sure talk big for a scaredy cat.”

“Isn’t this great? You heard him say he wouldn’t do anything, right? What a coward.”

Their words annoyed him, but Subaru forced a smile and laughed them off. He found some satisfaction in naming them ‘Ton, Chin, and Kan’ in his mind.

[TN: Tonchinkan = Foolish, irrelevant]

“Well, just want demands do you intend to make of this idiot?”

“For now, set down everything you’ve got. Even those weird clothes and shoes. You can keep your underwear, we’re not devils after all!”

They mercilessly mocked Subaru who had humbled himself before them.

So they have the concept of devils here too, huh, along with such irrelevant thoughts their words also instilled a strong sense of unease.

Everything he had, even his clothes and shoes, this demand was surely―

“You guys, you really have gone and hit your heads somewhere, haven’t you?”

This was the exact same as what they had asked the first time he encountered them.

Perhaps they’d hit their heads, or maybe the poor bastards lacked the brainpower to even remember what they had said before, it could even be that they overused the same template so much they didn’t even remember who they said it to.

They were irredeemable to the core, but their attitude toward Subaru who had once beaten them down was strange, considering this, there was one more possibility

“There was Felt too, looks like there’s a lot of memory problems around here...”

“Quit flapping your gums. Don’t wanna follow your orders? Or do you not have the brains to follow them?”

“You’re the last guys who ought to be talking about brains...”

This last mutter stopped in his mouth, and Subaru showed that he was willing to do as they said.

As he wondered if he should at least try to keep his clothes, or maybe deal with them all in one go now that they’d gotten closer, he stuck his hand in his bag―

“Huh―?”

He frowned, this was his most unsettling experience yet in this world.

“Why...?”

He muttered as if groaning, as he slowly confirmed the contents of his plastic bag.

In it was his shoyu tonkotsu cup ramen, his wallet and phone that were too troublesome to keep in his pocket, and finally, a golden snack of a flavor he was extremely fond of.

Right, the gold-colored snack― The corn potage flavored snack.

It was the first thing he had eaten since he came to this world, and it also proved very useful to calm Rom’s rage at the loot house, after which most of it was supposed to be used up.

―But right now, it was completely full and back in his bag.

“I had no choice. What if he escaped into the street? It’d be a real pain for us.”

“Aaah, this is bad. You hit his guts so he’ll probably die... It’s even drenching his clothes.”

Is that all you think about when you stab someone, a complaint through the horrendous pain.

He couldn’t afford to think of anything else, he was in so much pain that it was hard to even stay conscious. And judging by what Ton said, his wound was such that he wouldn’t be getting back up.

He at least had to do something while he was still conscious.

Deciding this, he scraped together all the strength he had left, steadily gathering it as he prepared to shout.

Bringing it to his tongue, he tried to scream,

“Aalright, here’s a second one before you go and try anything!”

A second knife was mercilessly thrust right into middle of his back.

“―Ough”

The numbness that spread through him like an electric shock canceled out his shout.

He was already far beyond the point where he could bear the pain or attempt to do anything like scream. There was no longer anything he could do.

The damage to his back seemed to have reached his lungs.

Even as he repeated his hoarse, rough breaths, his lungs would not expand and breathing became more and more painful.

Oxygen deprivation was affecting him severely, he was becoming so weak it seemed he would soon lose the ability to even think.

He lost sensation in his limbs, and no longer knew whether he was facing down or upward.

Even though his eyes weren’t slashed this time, he still couldn’t see anything as his vision had gone black.

―What do you mean, ‘this time’?

It was pitiful to cling to an idea he had already dismissed as absurd.

If he was going to cling to it, he might as well do so to the fullest.

―Don’t think about your impending death. Before you die, analyze the world around you.

His eyes were dead. So were his limbs. All he had left were his nose and ears. That being the case, he would have to make full use of them. Any sort of lingering scent would be fine, he didn’t mind hearing all sorts of abuse. The stink of the dirt in the alley. The rising metallic scent of blood. His nose just died. It was gone. His ears were at death’s door as well, and were barely even functioning.

“―St take... Valuables...”

“―It! The guards... Co...!”

“...Un! This is bad! ...If we get...!!”

He could only pick up these fragments of conversation. Picking them up was fine, but too much of his brain had died for him to understand what he had heard. Since it was dead he could only hear. He didn’t know if he would remember what he heard. What exactly did he mean, remember? What did he want to do by remembering? What was want? What was what―

As if following the parts that died first, his other functions steadily disappeared, and at the very end, with the scraping sound of something being pulled from him, Natsuki Subaru lost his life for the third time.

※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※

When his consciousness returned, Subaru was in darkness.

Realizing it was a darkness of his own creation, he gently opened his eyes― And had them burned by the dazzling sunshine, causing him to groan as he used his hand to cover his eyes.

“So, how about the appa?”

A familiar voice asked a familiar question right before his eyes.

His ears were fine. The hustle and bustle of the street was as loud as usual, completely different from the dreadful silence he had experienced in that alley.

Despite the fact that if he considered the distance, he was only one turn away.

“I couldn’t even make it past this street, pretty pathetic...”

The scarred stall owner overhead his words of self derision, however he started to frown, seeming displeased that he wasn’t getting a response.

Subaru knew from personal experience that though he looked intimidating, he was in truth a very kind man. Naturally, the shopkeeper probably had no memory of this.

As he thought such things, Subaru once again faced him,

“Say, how many times have you seen me?”

“How many times, you’re a fresh face, man. I wouldn’t forget such a conspicuous look.”

“What’s today’s date?”

“It’s the fourteenth day of the month of Tammuz.”

“Thank you.― I see, the month of Tammuz, huh.”

He had no idea what that was.

To begin with, he didn’t even know how they recorded this world’s calendar.―But it seemed they used days and months, and he could probably assume that they used a solar calendar.

It was likely common knowledge, but he hesitated to ask about it. Especially to someone like the owner of this stall, who was completely focused on selling his goods.

The shop owner was being very patient with him, but as expected he seemed to be thinking that he was wasting far too much time just to sell a single fruit.

Holding out that apple or whatever in his palm, he asked for the umpteenth time,

“So, the appa?”

He tried his best to hide his anger with a smile.

His white scar was twitching, and his forced smile looked more like an expression that would scare kids away.

In response, Subaru placed his hands on his hips and puffed his chest out,

“Sorry, but I’m totally, absolutely broke!”

“Get the hell out of here―!”

This angry shout caused him to recoil instinctively, after which he scurried away.

I can’t go back there for a while, he thought, two meanings in mind.