Chapter Text
Chapter 1: “Alms, Harassment, and Shrapnel”
Natsuki Subaru was not a genius. Nor was he a hero destined by the prophecies of the cosmos, nor a formidable warrior with the mental fortitude of a military saint.
Subaru was, in the plainest and most glory-deprived definition, an average seventeen-year-old high school student.
A shut-in boy who had just crossed the automatic doors of a convenience store holding a cheap plastic bag containing potato chips, a cup of instant pork noodles, and an apple soda.
One second earlier, his retinas were adjusting to the garish flicker of the store’s fluorescent light.
The next second, a harsh draft, steeped in the unmistakable stench of beast dung, wet cut grass, and the deafening murmur of a medieval crowd, invaded his nostrils with the violence of a punch.
“Huh?” Subaru muttered.
He blinked once, twice, three times.
Tokyo’s gray asphalt had disappeared.
In its place, his synthetic-soled sneakers stepped on uneven cobblestones, worn by the passage of gigantic carts driven by four-legged creatures that looked like a grotesque fusion of draft horses and green-scaled reptiles.
Around him, no hurried salarymen in black suits walked with empty stares at their cell phones;
instead, a crowd dressed in linen tunics, rough wool cloaks, leather armor, and—to his absolute visual delight—people sporting feline ears, small horns, and fluffy tails.
Subaru felt a jolt of pure otaku adrenaline run down his spine.
He brought his hands to his face, adjusting the collar of his tricolor polyester tracksuit
—which he considered his sacred armor—and took a deep breath.
“Ha... Hahaha! It’s the cliché! The legendary cliché of midnight light novels!”
he exclaimed at the top of his lungs, raising his right arm at a forty-five-degree angle toward the sky while pointing at the clouds with his index finger.
Two dog-headed merchants pushing a cart full of strange vegetables stopped dead, staring at him with a combination of deep pity and clinical caution.
“Listen, inhabitants of this fantasy plane!”
Subaru continued, completely ignoring the lack of applause and adopting a shonen-style combat pose.
“I have been summoned! Natsuki Subaru, the talentless boy with hidden charisma, has set foot in your world!
Where is the beautiful girl who summoned me?
Where is my level ninety-nine deception skill?
I demand my sacred sword, my floating stat screen status, and my inventory menu! Make way for the future champion!”
A group of demi-human children playing nearby, with rabbit ears and fox tails, stopped dead at the spectacle.
Their eyes widened with childish fascination at the strange boy gesturing like a possessed puppeteer.
One of them, the smallest, tugged at his older brother’s sleeve and pointed at Subaru.
“Look, look! That guy is doing weird stuff!”
“Yeah,” the older brother replied, laughing.
“Poor thing! He must have lost his mind!”
A second child, a girl with cat ears, covered her mouth with her hands and let out a sharp giggle.
“He looks like a clown! A street clown!”
“A clown?” intervened a third, a boy with small horns.
“Clowns get paid to make people laugh! This one does it for free! He must be really crazy!”
The children began to clap and jump, pointing at Subaru and laughing their heads off.
The spectacle drew the attention of adults.
A dog-headed merchant, the same one pushing the vegetable cart, shook his head and spoke to his companion in a low voice:
“Another delusional lunatic. Ignore him. These types always show up after mana storms.
They think they’re storybook heroes.”
His companion nodded, but his gaze lingered for a moment on Subaru’s clothes.
The tricolor fabric, the strange cut, the synthetic materials gleaming under the afternoon sun.
“But... have you seen his clothes? I’ve never seen fabric like that. And those words... ‘other world’... ‘summoned’...”
murmured the second merchant, one eyebrow arched.
“Do you think he’s really from somewhere else?”
“Bah,” replied the first, shrugging.
“He’s probably a street comedian, a jester. Look how ridiculous he is. It must be his act.”
Meanwhile, Subaru closed his eyes and waited.
He waited for the sound of a digital interface.
He waited for the flash of a floating goddess.
He waited for the power status to overflow his mind.
Nothing. Only the creak of an ungreased wooden wheel and the screech of a three-winged bird flying high above.
“Huh? Weird... No menu screen?”
he murmured, opening one eye while touching the air in front of his nose hoping to activate an invisible button.
“Maybe with a voice command? Menu! Status! Stats! Attributes! Divine Storage Inventory!”
The silence dragged on.
Subaru opened both eyes and began touching the air frantically, repeating commands as if trying to unlock a cheat in a video game.
A woman with rabbit ears passing by, carrying a basket of bread, stopped and watched him with a mix of compassion and amusement.
“Oh, poor boy,” she said aloud, addressing her companion.
“He seems to have lost his mind. Look how he talks to himself and touches the air.”
“Yes,” replied her companion, a man with ram horns.
“But it’s funny. Look at his face, he’s as serious as if he really expected something to appear.
It’s entertaining.”
The woman smiled and, without thinking twice, pulled a copper coin from her pocket and tossed it toward Subaru’s feet.
“Here, boy!” she said cheerfully.
“Keep making people laugh!”
The coin rolled over the cobblestones and stopped right in front of Subaru’s sneaker.
The boy froze. His face, which until a second ago expressed heroic determination, flushed bright red from his neck to his forehead like a thermometer boiling over.
‘Alms...?’ he thought, as his mind processed the scene with the slowness of a frozen computer.
‘Alms?! They’re giving me ALMS?!’
Another passerby, a fruit merchant with a dog head, burst out laughing and also threw a coin.
“Here, jester!” he shouted.
“For making the children laugh!”
A third, an old woman with cat ears, smiled and tossed a silver coin.
“How funny this young man is. I wish all street comedians were this entertaining.”
Soon, a rain of coins began to fall around Subaru.
Copper, bronze, some silver coins jingled as they hit the cobblestones and rolled to a stop at his feet.
The children laughed and clapped.
Some adults stopped to watch the show, smiling and shaking their heads.
A demi-human child approached Subaru with shining eyes and tugged at his jacket sleeve.
“Again, again!” he shouted.
“Do the gesture again! The one with the finger pointing at the sky!”
Subaru opened his mouth, but only a choked babble came out.
His face was a perpetual red traffic light. His hands trembled.
His eyes bulged like a fish out of water.
“Th-This isn’t... I’m not...”
he tried to say, but his voice cracked into a high-pitched squeal.
“I’M A HERO! NOT A BEGGAR! NOT A STREET CLOWN!”
The children laughed harder. An adult patted his head as if he were a lost child.
“Sure, sure,” he said with a condescending smile.
“You’re a hero. And I’m the King of Lugunica. Keep it up, you’ve got talent.”
Subaru fell to his knees among the coins, face burning and dignity shattered.
His tricolor jacket, his proud polyester tracksuit, now felt like a carnival clown costume.
The Lawson bag was still in his hand, but it felt like an accessory to his public humiliation.
‘God! This is worse than any nightmare!’
he thought, as his mind filled with images of his mother Naoko laughing at him and saying:
“That jacket was born for your delinquent face.”
‘Mom, you were right! My delinquent face has turned me into a street buffoon! They’re giving me ALMS BECAUSE I LOOK LIKE I’M BEGGING FOR MONEY!’
Subaru brought his hands to his face and let out a muffled groan that sounded more like a wounded animal than a summoned hero.
The children kept laughing and some adults walked away, satisfied with the midday entertainment.
A dog-headed merchant, the same one who had dismissed Subaru as a “delusional lunatic,” approached his companion and murmured:
“Did you see? The Scorpion Weirdo is around. I heard she’s looking for someone.
We better leave before she causes another scene.”
“Shaula?” asked his companion, paling slightly.
“Again? Hadn’t she gone to the suburbs?”
“I don’t know, but I don’t want to find out. Let’s go.”
The two merchants pushed their cart and quickly walked away, leaving Subaru alone in the middle of the plaza, surrounded by coins and staring blankly into space.
Subaru took a deep breath, got up awkwardly, dusted off his clothes, and adjusted his jacket collar.
He looked at the coins at his feet and hesitated for a second.
‘I should return them. I’m not a beggar. I’m not a buffoon.’
But the passersby had already left. Only a few curious onlookers remained, watching him with condescending smiles before continuing on their way.
Subaru sighed and, reluctantly, began picking up the coins one by one.
He put them in his pocket, feeling the weight of copper and bronze against his thigh.
“Well...” he murmured to himself.
“At least I have some money to start with... even if it cost me my pride.”
He stood up, adjusted his jacket, and sighed deeply. His mind, which had been in “light novel hero” mode, began processing the harsh reality.
“Wait, wait, wait...” he said, bringing a hand to his forehead.
“Is this real? Is it not a dream?
Is it not a bad joke? Because if this is real...
it means I have no powers, no money that’s worth anything in this world, the locals mistake me for a street beggar, and on top of that...”
He lifted the Lawson bag and examined it in despair.
“...my only sustenance is potato chips and instant noodles. EXTREME POVERTY SIMULATION!”
He ran his hands through his hair, messing it up even more, and spun on his heels,
trying to orient himself in the city. The plaza was huge, bustling, full of food stalls, carts, and people of every imaginable race.
“Okay, Subaru. Think. You’re an otaku. You’ve seen hundreds of isekais. You know how this works.”
First, find the girl who summoned you. Then, discover your special ability. Then, save the world.
It’s that simple.
He turned toward the center of the plaza and looked up at the sky.
“Come on!” he shouted, with renewed energy.
“The future champion of this world doesn’t give up so easily!”
From behind him, an almost imperceptible whisper filtered through the bustle of the crowd. A feminine voice, sharp, full of contained emotion.
“Master...”
Subaru slowly turned, with a confident smile.
“Huh? Did someone speak to me?”
He saw nothing. Only the crowd, the stalls, the children playing.
And then, a blurry mass of brown hair and green eyes lunged at him at the speed of a derailed freight train.
“MAAAASTEEEEER!”
The scream pierced his eardrums. The impact on his chest was comparable to a dynamite explosion.
---
Chapter 1 (Continued)
His feet lost contact with the ground and his body flew horizontally half a meter before crashing onto his back against the cold cobblestones.
The air stored in his lungs was violently expelled in a pathetic, high-pitched screech.
“Aaaaghhhh! My ribs! My digestive system! My seventeen-year-old youth!”
Subaru shrieked, writhing like a worm on the stone while desperately trying to catch his breath.
On his chest, pressed with a pressure that threatened to crack his sternum, was a young woman of terrifying and incongruous beauty.
She wore long brown hair tied in a giant ponytail that waved like a beast’s tail, wore ridiculously scant clothing that barely covered her prominent curves,
and her green eyes shone with an overflowing mix of madness, unbridled devotion, and a blind love so scorching it turned sunlight into a faint spark.
“Master! Master, master, master!”
Shaula shouted, licking Subaru’s cheek with canine, uncontrollable energy while rubbing her face against the collar of his jacket.
“It’s Master! I knew you were here! You smell exactly like my adored, great, and perfect Master!”
“Gahh! Someone call the authorities!”
Subaru bawled, pushing the girl’s forehead with the palms of his hands,
only to discover that Shaula’s neck had the structural density of a titanium block.
“Harassment! I’m being harassed by a mythical exhibitionist with hydraulic press strength!”
“Please, Master!”
Shaula begged, opening her mouth without any filter to try to give a playful bite to the fabric of Subaru’s shoulder.
“Pet me! Step on me! Use your synthetic footwear to crush my face if that consoles your heart!
I missed your smell of cheap tracksuit and despair so much!”
“Don’t bite my clothes!”
the boy shrieked, kicking on the ground.
“It’s recycled polyester, it’ll give you indigestion! And let go of my trachea, I’m running out of oxygen!”
But Shaula didn’t loosen her grip.
On the contrary, her green eyes shone with an intensity bordering on demonic as her tongue ran across Subaru’s cheek.
“Master, your flavor... your aroma...
it’s even more delicious than I remembered!”
she exclaimed, with a voice that oscillated between religious devotion and sick obsession.
“I’ve waited four hundred years to feel this again! Four hundred years without your head pats!
Four hundred years without your insults! It’s been torture, Master!”
Subaru, with bulging eyes and a heart beating at two hundred beats per minute, could only think:
‘Four hundred years? What the hell is she saying?
And why is she calling me Master? I just got here!
I have no idea who this crazy woman is!’
The crowd, which had witnessed the shocking tackle and the subsequent scene of public harassment, began to murmur.
Some merchants shrugged and went on their way as if nothing extraordinary were happening.
A royal guard knight patrolling the plaza looked toward the alley, saw Shaula on top of Subaru, and looked away with suspicious speed.
He adjusted the collar of his armor and walked away whistling, as if he had seen nothing.
“Huh?” muttered another soldier, pointing at the scene.
“Isn’t that the Scorpion Weirdo? The one who’s always looking for someone?”
“Yeah,” replied his companion, pulling his arm to move him away.
“Don’t get involved. Last time someone bothered her, they ended up with their uniform shredded and a harassment complaint.
Let’s just pretend we don’t see her.”
The two soldiers turned on their heels and walked away without looking back, leaving Subaru at the mercy of his mythological stalker.
Subaru, meanwhile, was still struggling with Shaula, who was now trying to sniff the Lawson bag.
“Master!” she said, eyes shining.
“You brought provisions! Are they for our first date? How romantic!”
“They’re not for a date!”
Subaru shouted, trying to recover the bag.
“They’re my noodles! My potato chips! My only means of survival!”
“Then we’ll share them together!”
Shaula declared, with a radiant smile.
“Like a couple of lovebirds!”
“WE ARE NOT A COUPLE!”
And then, a raspy, vulgar voice echoed from the shadow of a nearby wall, loaded with absolute condescension:
“Ha, you look pathetic, Flugel.”
Subaru twisted his neck awkwardly, keeping Shaula at bay with his elbow pressed against the girl’s chin.
Leaning against the stone wall of an adjacent alley was a tall man with broad shoulders and a half-open red tunic that exposed a chest crossed by old scars.
He had hair as bright red as living fire, tied in a messy braid, and small eyes sharp as a predator’s who finds his prey boring.
In his right hand he held a round red fruit
—similar to an apple but with golden hues
—that he had just stolen from a merchant’s basket without even looking at him.
“Hey... you shameless redheaded geezer...”
Subaru bellowed, choking on his own saliva as he tried to get up without Shaula stopping hanging from his shoulders like a sack of potatoes.
“Who the hell are you calling Flugel?
My name is Natsuki Subaru! I’m a free, law-abiding Japanese citizen with a clean record!”
“Shut your mouth, you noisy brat,”
Reid said, taking a thunderous bite of the apple.
“I don’t give a shit what you call yourself now.
You’ve got that same face of a powerless idiot and that stale smell that makes draft beasts dizzy.”
Reid chewed with irritating parsimony, looked at the sky, made a noise in his throat, and spat the seed straight at Subaru’s forehead with the precision of a projectile.
Thwack!
“Ouch! My forehead!” Subaru shouted, rubbing the affected area.
“That broke the sound barrier!”
“Besides,” Reid continued, pointing at Shaula with the apple.
“...the crazy scorpion only follows you.
So either you’re Flugel pretending to have amnesia so you don’t pay your debts, or you’re his test dummy.
Either way, you have to pay for my alcohol today.”
Subaru felt a cold sweat run down the back of his neck.
The copper coins in his pocket weighed like lead.
‘Alcohol... money? I just got here and they’ve already given me alms!
AND NOW I’VE GOT AN OLD MAN STEALING THE COINS I JUST GOT!
WHAT KIND OF SHITTY WORLD IS THIS?!’
---
Subaru was still processing the impact of the tackle, the humiliation of the alms, and the appearance of the redheaded old man when Shaula decided it was the perfect moment to intensify her harassment.
“Master! Master, master, master!”
Shaula hummed, rubbing her face against the collar of Subaru’s jacket like a cat in heat.
“Your aroma! Your aroma is so comforting!
It smells like cheap polyester and existential despair! It’s the smell of my beloved Master!”
“Let go of me, you textbook stalker!”
Subaru shouted, pushing her forehead with both hands.
“Your legs have the strength of a hydraulic press! You’re crushing my organs!”
“But Master, I’ve waited so long!”
Shaula looked up, her green eyes shining with tears of happiness. “Four hundred years locked in that tower!
Four hundred years without your head pats!
Four hundred years without your insults!
It’s been torture!”
Subaru blinked, confused.
“Four hundred years? But I just...”
he tried to say, but Shaula didn’t let him finish.
“But then I got free!”
she continued, with a radiant smile.
“A year ago! A whole year searching for you all over the world! And I finally found you, Master! Finally!”
Shaula’s eyes grew even brighter, and her smile twisted into a grimace of pure devotion.
“Now I’ll never let you go!” she declared, hugging him with a force that made his ribs creak.
“We’ll be happy forever! You, me, and our future babies!”
“BABIES?!”
Subaru shrieked, face red as a tomato.
“THERE WILL BE NO BABIES! THERE WILL BE NOTHING! LET GO OF ME!”
But Shaula, in her ecstasy, did something that would change the course of Subaru’s story forever.
She leaned over his shoulder, opened her mouth, and, with the precision of a predator, snatched the tracksuit jacket with her teeth.
“Mmm!” Shaula murmured, biting the fabric with delight.
“The flavor of my Master! What a delicacy!”
“WHAT?!” Subaru felt the tug on his shoulder.
The jacket, his precious tricolor jacket, was being sucked into the mouth of a crazy woman with titanium strength.
“NO! THAT JACKET IS NOT EDIBLE!”
But Shaula was already chewing the polyester fabric with canine, uncontrollable energy.
The saliva coating her teeth began to bubble and steam slightly, as if it were a mild acid.
“What’s happening?!”
Subaru shouted, watching the edges of the jacket begin to melt.
“YOUR SALIVA IS CORROSIVE! YOU’RE DESTROYING MY SACRED ARMOR!”
“Master, your clothes are so delicious!”
Shaula exclaimed, mouth full of polyester.
“It has such an... authentic synthetic touch!”
“IT’S NOT A GOURMET DISH! IT’S MY JACKET!”
Subaru tried to snatch it back, but Shaula was faster.
With a movement of her head, she tore off a large piece of fabric and swallowed it with a radiant smile.
The jacket, which had survived years of daily use, his mother’s mockery, and his father’s comments, began to fall apart into gray shreds.
Subaru froze. His hands, which until a second ago were struggling, fell limp to his sides.
His eyes widened like saucers as the fabric of his beloved jacket turned into gray ash and fell to the ground like dirty snow.
“No...” he whispered, voice broken.
“It can’t be...”
And then, like a tsunami of memories, the flashback hit him.
---
Tokyo, two years ago.
Naoko Subaru, his mother, was sitting on the living room sofa, a cup of tea in her hand and a mocking smile on her lips.
Subaru had just come back from the clothing store, wearing his new tricolor tracksuit jacket, proud as a peacock.
“Mom, look!” he said, spinning on his heels to show off the tracksuit.
“It’s recycled polyester! And it has side stripes!”
Naoko looked him up and down, and her smile widened into a grimace of pure amusement.
“Oh, Subaru,” she said, shaking her head.
“That jacket was born for your delinquent face.
Are you sure you didn’t buy it at a secondhand store?”
“No!” Subaru protested, cheeks flushed.
“It’s brand name! Well... a brand you might not know... but it’s quality.”
Naoko laughed and got up from the sofa to fix the collar of his jacket.
“You’re right, son. It’s your delinquent face. And this jacket...”
she gave him a pat on the shoulder.
“...is your second skin.”
---
Kenichi Subaru, his father, appeared in the doorway with a newspaper in his hand.
“What’s going on here?” he asked in his deep, cheerful voice.
“Did my son buy himself a clown jacket?”
“Dad!” Subaru shouted, embarrassed.
“It’s not a clown jacket! It’s sportswear!”
Kenichi approached, gave him a light tap on the back of the head, and smiled.
“It’s a joke, Subaru. It looks good on you. Besides...”
he leaned in and lowered his voice.
“...it’s your second skin. Don’t let anyone take it from you.”
“Of course not!” Subaru replied, proudly.
“This jacket will accompany me to the end of the world!”
Naoko and Kenichi laughed, and the family scene froze in Subaru’s memory like a faded photograph.
---
The flashback faded.
Subaru blinked. The plaza of Lugunica came back into view.
The crowd, the stalls, the children laughing. And in front of him, Shaula, mouth full of polyester and a smile of satisfaction.
The jacket, his jacket, his second skin, was completely destroyed.
Only gray shreds remained on the ground, mixed with Shaula’s corrosive saliva and a smell of burnt plastic.
Subaru opened his mouth. No sound came out. Only a tremor in his lips.
And then, the scream.
“NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!”
The wail of agony echoed through the alley with a force that made several passersby turn around.
The children stopped laughing. The merchants stopped. Even the draft beasts raised their heads.
“MY 2,000-YEN JACKET!”
Subaru shouted, falling to his knees and gathering the shreds with trembling hands.
“THE JACKET THAT WENT TO SCHOOL WITH ME! THE ONE I WORE ON MY FIRST DATE! THE ONE MY PARENTS GAVE ME AS A SECOND SKIN!”
Tears began to stream from his eyes, not from sadness, but from pure comedic agony.
“IT WAS MY SACRED ARMOR, MY HERO’S CAPE, MY LAST LINK TO MY WORLD!”
he shouted, raising the shreds to the sky as if offering a sacrifice to the gods.
“AND YOU DESTROYED IT FOR A MERE POLYESTER TASTING!”
Shaula, who until a second ago was on her cloud of happiness, froze. Her smile faded and her green eyes widened with surprise and confusion.
“M-Master...?” she said, voice trembling.
“Did I... do something wrong...?”
“SOMETHING WRONG?!” Subaru jumped to his feet, shreds in hand and face bathed in tears.
“YOU JUST DESTROYED THE ONLY OBJECT THAT CONNECTED ME TO MY FAMILY! AND ON TOP OF THAT, YOU ATE IT! YOU’RE WORSE THAN A LOCUST PLAGUE!”
Shaula took a step back, hands covering her mouth. Her eyes filled with tears.
“I’m sorry, Master!” she whimpered.
“I didn’t know it was so important! I thought it was just a cheap polyester jacket!”
“IT WAS MY JACKET!!!”
Subaru collapsed to his knees again, hugging the shreds as if they were a corpse.
The crowd, which had witnessed the whole spectacle, began to murmur. Some laughed.
Others shook their heads. Some, the ones who knew Shaula, quickly walked away.
A dog-headed merchant approached his companion and whispered:
“Look, the Scorpion Weirdo has caused another scene.
And that boy? Looks like she shredded his clothes.”
“Yeah,” replied his companion. “Poor guy.
Last week she did the same thing to a fabric merchant. Since then, nobody sells her anything with polyester.”
“Well, at least she hasn’t killed anyone. Yet.”
The two merchants shrugged and went on their way.
Shaula, meanwhile, approached Subaru with hesitant steps.
“M-Master...” she whispered, with a childlike voice.
“Can I... can I do something to make it up to you?”
Subaru looked up, eyes reddened and shreds still in his hands.
“Make it up to me?” he asked hoarsely.
“How do you plan to make up for destroying my jacket?”
“I know!” Shaula exclaimed, eyes shining again. “I’ll make you a new jacket!”
“With what material?” Subaru asked, skeptical.
“With my scorpion skin!”
Shaula replied, proudly.
“It’s resistant to flames, cuts, and magic! And it has a soft, velvety feel!”
Subaru was speechless.
His face, which until a second ago was bathed in tears, transformed into a grimace of pure horror.
“Y-YOUR SKIN?” he shouted.
“YOU WANT TO MAKE ME A JACKET OUT OF YOUR SKIN? ARE YOU CRAZY?”
“Yes, Master!” Shaula replied, with a radiant smile.
“And when you wear it, you’ll feel my warmth all day! It’ll be like I’m always hugging you!”
“THAT’S EVEN MORE DISTURBING!”
But before Subaru could continue protesting, a raspy, vulgar voice cut through the atmosphere.
“Hey, brat in the t-shirt,”
said Reid, still leaning against the wall, the apple already half-devoured.
“Since you’ve lost your clown jacket, why don’t you focus on what matters? Get me alcohol. Now.”
Subaru turned toward Reid with a look of hatred that was already warming his insides.
“ALCOHOL?!” he shouted.
“I JUST LOST MY JACKET, I’VE BEEN GIVEN ALMS, AND ON TOP OF THAT I’M BEING HARASSED BY A CRAZY WOMAN WHO WANTS TO MAKE ME CLOTHES OUT OF HER SKIN! AND ALL YOU THINK ABOUT IS DRINKING!”
Reid shrugged and threw the apple core to the ground.
The small piece of fruit hit the cobblestones with the force of a hammer and cracked the stone.
“It’s not my problem that your things are low quality,”
Reid said, crossing his arms.
“But if there’s no alcohol in five minutes, I’m going to have to find entertainment some other way. And you won’t like it.”
Subaru felt a chill run down his spine.
Reid’s gaze, though lazy, had a predatory gleam that promised nothing good.
“Okay, okay...”
Subaru murmured, getting up and putting the shreds of his jacket in his back pocket with an almost religious bow.
“I’ll find your damn alcohol.
But I don’t have money from this world.
I only have copper coins they gave me out of pity.”
“That’s not enough,”
Reid said, with a mocking smile.
“But whatever... I’ll manage.”
And as he said this, Reid took a step forward and stretched lazily, raising his arms above his head as if he were going to yawn.
In the movement, his red tunic lifted slightly, revealing a brief flash of something dark and rectangular between his underclothes.
A book.
Subaru blinked, confused.
‘What... what was that? A book? Why is he carrying a book in his pants?’
But he had no time to process it.
Reid lowered his arms and his yellow eyes locked onto Subaru with an intensity that made the boy take a step back.
“You have five minutes,” Reid said, pointing with his finger.
“If you don’t find alcohol, I’ll start cutting things.”
Shaula, still glued to Subaru’s back, leaned in and whispered in his ear:
“Don’t worry, Master! I’ll protect you!
And if he tries to hurt you, I’ll rip his head off and make you a necklace with his teeth!”
“I DON’T WANT A NECKLACE OF TEETH!”
Subaru shrieked, shuffling away.
“I JUST WANT TO SURVIVE!”
Subaru walked down the main street, with Shaula glued to his back and Reid following a few meters behind.
The crowd parted as they passed, some with nervous smiles, others with expressions of pity.
A fruit merchant, upon seeing Reid, paled and offered him a free apple.
“T-Take it, Mr. Astrea!” he said, trembling.
“To go with your drink!”
“Astrea?” Subaru murmured, confused.
“That old man’s name is Astrea?”
Shaula, still glued to his back, nodded enthusiastically.
“Yes, Master!” she replied, with a radiant smile.
“He’s the First Sword Saint! The founder of the Astrea house! But all the merchants mistake him for his descendant,
Heinkel Astrea, the commander of the Royal Knights! And that’s why they give him free stuff!”
“THE COMMANDER OF THE ROYAL KNIGHTS?!”
Subaru exclaimed, eyes bulging.
“AND HE’S DEMANDING ALCOHOL FROM ME! THIS IS MADNESS!”
“Don’t worry, Master!”
Shaula said, jumping around him.
“I’ve got a reputation too! The knights call me ‘the Scorpion Weirdo’ and look the other way when I pass!”
“THAT’S NOT A REPUTATION! THAT’S A DANGER WARNING!”
Subaru brought his hands to his head and clenched his fists in despair.
As he walked, he heard the jingle of coins in the distance and remembered the alms he had been given.
The weight of the copper coins in his pocket was a constant mockery of his situation.
‘This is my new world...’
he thought, with tears of despair welling in his eyes.
‘Alms, a crazy woman who wants to make clothes out of her skin, an old man demanding alcohol, and a jacket destroyed by corrosive saliva.
What kind of summoning is this? IT’S THE WORST OF ALL!’
And in that moment, as he walked down the main street with his shredded t-shirt and despair in his soul, Subaru felt a new thought pierce his mind like a sword.
‘But... I can still do this. I can still survive.
I just need to find a way to control these two monsters. If I can keep them at bay...
maybe I can find the silver-haired girl. Maybe I can find a purpose in this world.’
He clenched his fists and looked up.
“Okay, Subaru,” he told himself.
“Now is not the time to give up.
Now is the time to...”
he searched for the words.
“...manipulate these two lunatics with cunning and determination.”
And of course...
he looked at the shreds of his jacket in his pocket.
“...I’ll have to find a way to avenge my jacket.”
Shaula, still at his side, leaned in and whispered:
“What did you say, Master? Avenge the jacket?
I’ll help you! Let’s destroy everyone who owns polyester!”
“IT’S NOT A WAR AGAINST POLYESTER!”
---
Subaru walked down the main street of the Royal Capital of Lugunica with his t-shirt stained with gray ash,
the shreds of his jacket stored in his back pocket as if they were sacred relics, and a feeling of absolute defeat weighing on his shoulders.
Shaula walked literally glued to his back, arms around his waist and head resting on his shoulder.
Her warm breath brushed his nape as she whispered:
“Master, your smell of despair is so... stimulating. Can I smell you more?”
“No!” Subaru replied, tiredly.
“You’ve smelled enough for today! And you’ve bitten enough too!”
“But Master...” Shaula frowned with a childish pout.
“I just want to make sure your fragrance is still the same. Last time I lost you, I had to sniff a hundred thousand people to find you. It was exhausting!”
“I’m not a search object! I’m a person!”
“You’re my Master!” Shaula declared with a radiant smile.
“The most important person in the universe! My future husband! The father of my future babies!”
“STOP SAYING THAT!”
Subaru tried to free himself from her embrace, but Shaula had a grip comparable to a bench vise.
For every push Subaru gave, Shaula tightened her arms more.
“Let go of me!” Subaru shouted, kicking on the ground.
“People are staring at us!”
And it was true. Passersby, merchants, children, all watched the strange group with a mix of amusement and caution.
Some pointed at Shaula and whispered:
“Look, it’s the Scorpion Weirdo.”
Is she looking for someone again?”
“Yeah, but it looks like she found him.”
“Poor guy. His clothes won’t last long.”
“Neither will his dignity.”
A fabric merchant, upon seeing Shaula pass, quickly hid his rolls of polyester under the counter and put up a sign that read:
“WE DO NOT SELL SYNTHETIC FABRICS.”
Subaru saw it and felt a comedic tear roll down his cheek.
“My jacket...” he murmured. “My poor jacket...
has created a collective trauma in the weavers’ guild.”
“Master, don’t worry!” Shaula said, jumping beside him.
“I’ll make you a new jacket with my skin! It’ll be stronger than steel and softer than silk!”
“I ALREADY TOLD YOU I DON’T WANT A SCORPION SKIN JACKET!”
“And why not?” Shaula asked, tilting her head with genuine curiosity.
“Don’t you like my skin?”
“IT’S NOT ABOUT WHETHER I LIKE IT OR NOT! IT’S ABOUT IT BEING DISTURBING!”
Shaula frowned and began to unbutton the top clasp of her scant clothing.
“So, do you want to see my skin to convince you it’s quality?”
she asked, with an innocent smile.
“Look, Master, it’s soft and elastic!”
“DON’T SHOW ME YOUR SKIN IN PUBLIC!”
Subaru shouted, lunging at her to forcibly button her dress.
“YOU’RE CRAZY! TOTALLY CRAZY!”
Shaula smiled, satisfied at having provoked that reaction.
“I love it when you worry about me, Master.”
“I’M NOT WORRIED ABOUT YOU! I’M WORRIED ABOUT MY REPUTATION!”
Reid, who was walking a few meters behind them with his hands in his pockets and an expression of infinite boredom, stopped and pointed at a tavern with his thumb.
“Hey, brat. There’s a tavern there. Go in and bring me something to drink.”
Subaru turned toward him with bloodshot eyes.
“WITH WHAT MONEY?!” he shrieked.
“I HAVE COPPER COINS THEY GAVE ME OUT OF PITY! IT’S NOT EVEN ENOUGH FOR A BOTTLE OF WATER!”
“That’s not my problem,” Reid said, shrugging.
“If there’s no alcohol in five minutes, I’ll start breaking things.”
Subaru felt a vein pulsing in his forehead.
“You’re a useless drunk geezer,”
he muttered through his teeth.
“What did you say?” Reid raised an eyebrow, and his yellow eyes gleamed with a dangerous flash.
“I SAID YOU’RE A USELESS DRUNK GEEZER!”
Subaru repeated, with a courage he didn’t know he possessed.
“You spend the day stealing fruit, demanding alcohol, and threatening to kill people! And on top of that, you have the nerve to call me pathetic!”
Reid stared at him for three eternal seconds.
The tension in the air was so dense that passersby began to instinctively move away.
And then, Reid smiled.
“You’ve got guts, brat,” he said, giving him a light tap on the forehead with his index finger.
“Even though your head sounds hollow, at least you’ve got some value.
But it’s useless if you don’t get me my alcohol.”
Subaru rubbed his forehead, feeling that Reid’s tap had been stronger than it appeared.
“Okay, okay,” he murmured.
“I’ll find your damn alcohol. But don’t blame me if I end up in jail for stealing it.”
“If you end up in jail, I’ll get you out with a kick to the door,”
Reid said, indifferently. “But then you’ll have to pay me double the alcohol for the trouble.”
“THAT’S NOT A SOLUTION! THAT’S EXTORTION!”
As Subaru tried to process the most absurd conversation of his life, Shaula pressed against his ear and whispered:
“Master, I have an idea. What if we steal alcohol from a merchant and then blame the redheaded old man?”
“We’re not stealing anything!” Subaru responded, in despair.
“And we’re not blaming anyone either!”
“Then what will we do?” Shaula asked, with a playful smile.
Subaru sighed, bringing his hands to his head.
His fingers tangled in his messy hair, and for a moment, his gaze was lost in the void.
“We’ll have to find a job,” he said, with a resigned voice.
“Or a way to earn money without having to beg or steal.”
“Oh, Master!” Shaula exclaimed, clapping excitedly.
“What a practical idea! We can open a food stall! I can cook!”
“Can you cook?” Subaru asked, with a mix of hope and skepticism.
“Of course I can!” Shaula replied, proudly.
“I know how to prepare seventeen types of poison! And three of them are edible!”
Subaru was speechless. His face, which had shown a glimmer of hope, transformed into a grimace of horror.
“P-Poison...?” he stammered.
“Yes, Master!” Shaula smiled with pride. “It’s a very useful skill for eliminating enemies.
But don’t worry, I always taste the food before giving it to you. If I survive five minutes, it’s safe.”
“I DON’T WANT A COOK WHO TESTS POISON ON HERSELF!”
Reid, who had been watching the scene with growing boredom, let out a loud sigh and scratched his stomach through his tunic.
“Brat, if you don’t get me my alcohol in three minutes, I’m going to start decapitating passersby and selling their rings to buy it myself.”
“DON’T DECAPITATE PASSERSBY!” Subaru shouted. “THAT’S INHUMAN!”
“I don’t care what it is,” Reid said, shrugging.
“As long as there’s alcohol.”
---
Subaru felt despair wrap around him like a wet blanket. He looked around, searching for a way out, and his eyes landed on a side alley.
An idea, as crazy as it was brilliant, began to form in his mind.
“Wait,” he said, raising a hand. “I have an idea. What’s this city called?”
“It’s the Royal Capital of Lugunica,” Shaula replied, with a smile.
“Why do you ask, Master?”
“Because in this capital there must be a merchants’ guild,”
Subaru said, eyes shining. “Or a bank.
Or some place where I can exchange coins from my world for money from here.”
“Do you have coins from your world?” Reid asked, raising an eyebrow with interest.
Subaru smiled, feeling that he finally had an advantage.
He reached into his pocket and pulled out his cloth wallet.
With ceremonial slowness, he drew out a 500-yen coin and held it up as if it were a relic.
“Yes!” he declared, proudly. “I have coins from my world! Coins minted with the effigy of a prosperous nation! Coins that, surely, will have great value here!”
Reid looked at it with disdain.
“That’s a coin? Looks like a shirt button.”
“It’s not a button!” Subaru protested.
“It’s a 500-yen coin! Legal tender in Japan! A technologically advanced nation!”
Reid raised an eyebrow and extended his hand.
“Let me see it.”
Subaru, with a mix of pride and wariness, handed him the coin.
Reid examined it with his fingers, turned it over several times, and then, without warning, brought it to his mouth.
“Hey!” Subaru shouted. “Don’t eat it!”
Reid bit the coin hard, testing the density of the metal.
His teeth grated against the nickel and copper, and a grimace of disgust drew across his face.
“Toy metal,” he declared, spitting the coin to the ground.
“Light and soft. It’s not even good for scraping the tartar off my teeth.”
“BUT IT’S LEGAL TENDER!” Subaru shouted, picking up the coin stained with saliva.
“IT’S THE PILLAR OF A PROSPEROUS NATION!”
“I don’t care what nation it is,” Reid said, with disinterest.
“Here, the metal that’s worth anything is gold and silver. That thing you’ve got there is garbage.”
Subaru felt his heart break into a thousand pieces.
“Garbage...?” he murmured, voice broken.
“My 500-yen coin is garbage...?”
Shaula approached and gently touched Subaru’s shoulder.
“Master, don’t worry,” she said, with a sweet voice.
“I have some silver coins I’ve collected on my travels. I’ll give them to you so you can buy the old man’s alcohol.”
“You have money?” Subaru asked, with a flash of hope.
“Yes!” Shaula replied, with a radiant smile.
“I stole it from the merchants’ pockets while you distracted them with your ridiculous poses.”
“YOU STOLE MONEY WHILE I WAS HUMILIATING MYSELF IN PUBLIC?!”
“It was for you, Master!” Shaula declared, proudly. “So we could survive!”
Subaru opened his mouth to protest, but the words got stuck in his throat.
He looked at Shaula, with her satisfied smile, and felt reality hit him like a wave of cold water.
‘She’s... she’s a thief. A stalker. An exhibitionist. And on top of that, she wants to marry me.’
“Okay,” he said, with a defeated voice.
“We’ll use the stolen money to buy alcohol. But then we’ll have to return it.”
“Return it?” Shaula asked, with a confused grimace.
“To whom do we return it? I have no idea who the merchants were.”
“Then we’ll donate it to charity!”
“What’s charity?”
“IT’S A THING GOOD PEOPLE DO!”
Reid, who had been watching the exchange with growing impatience, clicked his tongue.
“Enough chatting. Money or death. Decide.”
Subaru felt the pressure crushing him. He looked at the 500-yen coin in his hand, stained with saliva, and put it back in his pocket with an almost religious bow.
“Okay,” he said, with a trembling voice. “I’ll use the stolen money to buy the alcohol.
But I’m not going to stop looking for a way to exchange my coins. Someday, the world will recognize the value of the Japanese yen!”
“It’s not going to happen,” Reid said, with total certainty.
“YES IT IS!”
A dog-headed merchant passing nearby, upon hearing the word “yen,” stopped and approached the group with an expression of curiosity.
“Did you say ‘yen’?” he asked, with a friendly smile.
“That white metal coin?”
Subaru turned, eyes shining with hope.
“Yes!” he exclaimed. “Do you know it?”
“No,” the merchant replied, shaking his head.
“But there’s a collector of rare coins in the northern district. Maybe he can help you.”
“A collector!” Subaru shouted, jumping with joy.
“That’s fantastic! Where is he?”
“Three streets north,” the merchant said, pointing with his thumb.
“But be careful, he’s a strange type. He only accepts trades if he’s interested in the merchandise.”
“It doesn’t matter!” Subaru exclaimed. “We’ll go right now!”
Reid rolled his eyes.
“And my alcohol?”
“Alcohol can wait!” Subaru declared, with determination.
“This is more important! The redemption of the Japanese yen!”
Shaula jumped to his side, clapping excitedly.
“Master, you’re so passionate! I love it when you defend your national currency!”
“IT’S NOT DEFENDING MY CURRENCY! IT’S DEFENDING MY PRIDE!”
Subaru set off toward the northern district, with Shaula skipping at his side and Reid following, dragging his feet.
The crowd parted as they passed, some laughing, others shaking their heads.
A royal guard soldier who saw them pass brought his hand to his sword, but his companion stopped him.
“Leave them. It’s the Scorpion Weirdo and that vagrant who looks like Heinkel Astrea. Better not get involved.”
“Heinkel?” asked the soldier.
“The commander of the Royal Knights?”
“No, it’s his double,” replied the other, with a mocking smile.
“But all the merchants mistake him and give him free stuff. It’s a scandal.”
“And who’s the kid in the t-shirt?”
“No idea. But he seems to be the one controlling the other two. And that...”
the soldier shrugged. “...that’s more dangerous than any sword.”
As they walked, Subaru heard the jingle of copper coins in his pocket and felt a new humiliation hit him.
‘Alms... stolen coins... an alcoholic old man... a textbook stalker... and a destroyed jacket.’
‘This is my new world.’
‘But I’m not giving up yet.’
He clenched his fists and looked up at the sky.
“Come on, Subaru!” he told himself.
“The hero of this story doesn’t give up so easily!”
Shaula pressed against his side and whispered:
“Did you say something, Master?”
“No!”
“I thought you said you were a hero.”
“I’M NOT A HERO! I’M A VICTIM!”
“But you’re my favorite victim,”
Shaula said, with a radiant smile.
Subaru opened his mouth to protest, but the words got stuck in his throat.
‘This is going to be a long life.’
And as he walked toward the northern district, with Shaula hugging his arm and Reid grumbling behind him, Subaru felt the weight of his destiny fall on his shoulders like a lead slab.
But he also felt something else.
A flash of determination.
“I’m going to survive,” he whispered, teeth clenched.
“I’m going to find a way to control these two monsters. And then... then I’ll find a way to go home.”
“What did you say, Master?” Shaula asked, curiously.
“I SAID I’M GOING TO SURVIVE, DAMN IT!”
“And I’ll help you!” Shaula declared, jumping around him.
“I’ll be your shield! Your sword! Your poison cook! Your future wife!”
“YOU WILL NOT BE MY FUTURE WIFE!”
“Not yet!”
Subaru felt a comedic tear roll down his cheek.
‘This is my world.’
‘Full of lunatics, monsters, and worthless coins.’
‘But it’s my world.’
‘And I’m going to conquer it.’
“Let’s go, Shaula!” he shouted, raising his fist to the sky.
“Let’s go find that rare coin collector! And then, let’s drink until we forget this nightmare!”
“That’s my girl!” Reid exclaimed, from behind. “I like hearing that!”
“I’M NOT YOUR GIRL!”
“Whatever you say, Flugel!”
“MY NAME IS SUBARU!”
And so, the most chaotic group in the Royal Capital of Lugunica advanced toward the northern district, leaving behind a trail of dust, coins, and screams of despair.
---
They arrived at the northern district after twenty minutes of walking. The area was quieter than the bustle of the central plaza: cobblestone streets, wooden houses with slate roofs, and an air of established commerce.
The rare coin collector turned out to be a hunched old man with a gray beard, magnifying glasses, and a dark, dusty tavern. A wooden sign hung over the entrance: “The Dragon’s Eye: Ancient Coin Exchange.”
Subaru pushed the door open and entered. The smell of dust and stale wood enveloped him.
“Good afternoon!” he exclaimed, with a forced smile. “I’m looking for the rare coin collector.”
“That’s me,” replied the old man, looking up from a book. “What do you have?”
Subaru, with a mix of pride and nervousness, pulled out the 500-yen coin and placed it on the counter.
“I have this coin,” he said, with a serious voice. “It’s from my world. I’m sure it’s valuable.”
The old man took the coin, examined it with his glasses, and turned it over several times. His expression went from curiosity to confusion and then to indifference.
“It’s an interesting piece,” he said, with a neutral voice. “But it has no value here. It’s not gold or silver. It has no magical or historical value. In my opinion... it’s a toy coin.”
Subaru felt his heart break into a thousand pieces.
“A t-toy...?”
“Yes,” confirmed the old man, returning the coin. “It may have value in your world, but here it’s not even good for buying a loaf of bread.”
Subaru took the coin with trembling hands. His dream of exchanging Japanese yen for silver coins had vanished.
“Okay,” he murmured, putting the coin back in his pocket. “I understand. Thank you for your time.”
“You’re welcome,” said the old man, returning to his book. “And have a good day.”
Subaru left the shop with a broken heart. Shaula and Reid were waiting outside.
“What happened, Master?” Shaula asked, with concern.
“It’s worth nothing,” Subaru replied, with a broken voice. “My coin is worth nothing in this world.”
“I already knew that,” Reid said, shrugging. “I put my finger in your pocket and bit it. It’s garbage.”
“YOU PUT YOUR FINGER IN MY POCKET?!” Subaru shouted.
“Yes. While you were with the old man, I took the opportunity to inspect your merchandise. There’s nothing of value.”
Subaru was speechless. Reid’s words hit him like a wave of cold water.
“Nothing of value?” he repeated, with a trembling voice.
“Nothing,” Reid confirmed, with total indifference. “Just toy coins and a plastic bag with stale food.”
Subaru reached into his pocket and pulled out the Lawson bag. He waved it in the air in despair.
“This is valuable!” he shouted. “These potato chips and instant noodles are my only food!”
“Potato chips?” Reid raised an eyebrow with curiosity. “Let me see.”
Subaru, with reluctance, handed him the bag. Reid opened it and pulled out a package of chocolate cookies. He examined it with his fingers and then bit it, including the plastic wrapper.
“Mmm,” he murmured, chewing. “This... goes well with alcohol.”
“YOU’RE EATING THE WRAPPER!” Subaru shouted.
“It doesn’t taste bad,” Reid said, shrugging. “It’s got a crunchy touch.”
Subaru opened his mouth to protest, but the words got stuck in his throat.
‘My Lawson bag... my chocolate cookies... my last link to my world... is being devoured by an alcoholic old man.’
Shaula, seeing Subaru’s despair, approached and patted his head.
“Don’t worry, Master. I’ll make you a special dinner. With poison.”
“I DON’T WANT DINNER WITH POISON!”
“Are you sure?” Shaula asked, tilting her head. “Scorpion venom gives it a spicy touch.”
“I DON’T WANT ANYTHING SPICY!”
As Subaru tried to process the absurdity of his situation, Reid finished devouring the package of cookies and tossed the wrapper to the ground. Then, with a lazy movement, he brought his finger to his nose.
“Brat,” he said, with indifference. “Since your coin is worth nothing, we’ll have to find another way to get alcohol.”
“How?” Subaru asked, with a trembling voice.
Reid smiled, and for a moment, his yellow eyes gleamed with a dangerous flash.
“You have a healthy body. We can sell your organs on the black market.”
“I’M NOT GOING TO SELL MY ORGANS!”
“Why not?” Reid asked, with a confused grimace.
“You’re not using them well. And with the money, we can buy a good jug of wine.”
“IT’S NOT AN OPTION!”
Shaula, seeing Subaru’s despair, stepped between them.
“Don’t touch Master!” she exclaimed, eyes shining.
“If you want to sell organs, sell your own.”
“Mine are expired,” Reid said, shrugging. “Nobody would want an old man’s liver.”
“Then let’s not sell anything!” Subaru shouted.
“We’ll find another way!”
“Like what?” Reid asked, with a mocking smile.
Subaru fell silent. His mind, which had been running at full speed, stopped on an idea.
‘The 500-yen coin... even though it’s worth nothing here, it’s still a strange object. Maybe I can use it as a distraction or as a bargaining tool.’
“I have an idea,” he said, with a serious voice. “If the coin is worth nothing, at least we can use it to impress someone. Or to distract a merchant while... while we do something.”
Reid raised an eyebrow with interest.
“Like what?”
“Like stealing a jug of wine,” Subaru said, with a trembling voice. “With the coin as bait.”
Reid smiled broadly and clapped slowly.
“That’s what I wanted to hear, Flugel! You’re finally thinking like a real thief!”
“I’M NOT A THIEF!” Subaru protested. “I’M JUST BEING PRAGMATIC!”
“Pragmatic, thief... whatever. As long as there’s alcohol.”
And with those words, Reid extended his hand and took the 500-yen coin from Subaru’s pocket.
“Hey!” Subaru shouted. “Give it back!”
“I need it for the bait,” Reid said, with indifference. “It’s an interesting piece. Looks like a shirt button, but it has a strange shine.”
“IT’S NOT A BUTTON! IT’S MY COIN!”
“Doesn’t matter,” Reid said, shrugging.
“Now it’s my coin.”
And before Subaru could protest, Reid brought the coin to his mouth and bit it hard.
“Don’t eat it!” Subaru shouted.
But Reid didn’t eat it. He held it between his fingers and examined it carefully.
“It’s soft,” he said, with surprise. “Like cheese.”
“IT’S NOT CHEESE!”
“Well, it tastes like cheese,” Reid said, with a mocking smile.
“Cheap cheese, but cheese nonetheless.”
Subaru felt a vein pulsing in his forehead.
“GIVE IT BACK RIGHT NOW!”
“No,” Reid replied, with total indifference. “It’s my coin now. And I’ll use it to buy alcohol.”
“You can’t buy anything with that coin! It’s worth nothing!”
“Then I’ll use it as bait,” Reid said, with a smile. “I’ll put it on a tavern counter and, while the bartender looks at it, I’ll take a jug of wine without paying.”
“That’s theft!”
“Call it whatever you want,” Reid said, shrugging. “But it’s effective.”
Subaru opened his mouth to protest, but the words got stuck in his throat.
‘My coin... my precious 500-yen coin... is being used as a tool for a robbery.’
“Fine,” he said, with a defeated voice. “Use the coin. But promise me you won’t hurt anyone.”
“I don’t promise anything,” Reid said, with indifference.
And then, with a quick, lazy movement, Reid brought the coin to his mouth and, without warning, spat it out.
The sound was a metallic PING, but not the sound of a coin falling to the ground. It was the sound of a 500-yen coin fragmenting in the air from the pressure of the spit.
Thousands of metal micro-fragments, tiny shards of nickel and copper, shot out in a fan of death.
“WHAT...?!” Subaru barely had time to react.
The world turned red.
CRASH!
Shaula, who was at his side, transformed in the blink of an eye.
Her legs became arthropod limbs, her skin became chitinous armor, her back became a tail with a stinger the size of a lance.
A colossal mystical beast, a scorpion of black chitin, interposed itself between Subaru and the shrapnel.
“MASTER!” Shaula roared, with a voice that was neither human nor animal, but the vibration of pure pain.
The fragments pierced her shell as if it were rice paper.
PUM! PUM! PUM!
Shaula emitted a shriek of agony, but it wasn’t enough. The fragments continued their trajectory and pierced Subaru’s chest.
Subaru felt the impact before he heard it. It was as if a dozen hot needles pierced his sternum at the same time. Blood spurted from his mouth and nose in a gush.
“Ah... agh...” he tried to speak, but only a gurgle came out.
His blood. His own blood. It was coming out and he couldn’t stop it.
He fell to his knees. Shaula’s scorpion form shrank, returned to her human form, but she was covered in blood, in holes, in despair.
She crawled toward him with trembling hands, trying to cover the perforations in his chest.
“Master! Master, no, no, no!” Shaula shouted, her voice a torn scream.
“Master, stay with me! Forgive me! I couldn’t protect you!”
But Subaru wasn’t listening. His attention was fixed on a single point.
In the background, leaning against the alley wall, Reid Astrea brought a finger to his nose.
He picked a booger with total indifference, observed it for a second with annoyance, and flicked it to the ground.
CRACK!
The booger hit the cobblestone with the force of a hydraulic hammer.
The stone cracked, a fissure of several centimeters opened beneath his feet. Reid didn’t even blink. He just wiped his finger on his tunic.
“Is he dead yet?” Reid said, with a tone of infinite boredom.
“How fragile this Flugel is. He couldn’t even handle a toy coin.”
Subaru looked at him. He looked at him with hatred.
It wasn’t the hatred of an angry teenager. It was the hatred of a man who has been destroyed by indifference. A man who has seen how his life, his jacket, his coin, everything he brought from his world, had been pulverized by an old man who hadn’t even taken the trouble to look at him.
Subaru’s eyes burned. His determination was a fire that not even the blood escaping his chest could extinguish.
Reid saw it. And then, for the first time, he smiled.
It wasn’t a mocking smile. It was a smile of sadistic approval.
“I love that expression,” Reid said, crossing his arms.
“That hatred, that determinati
on... it’s the only interesting thing you have, brat.
But it’s useless. Not now. Not here. So just... die already.”
Darkness closed over Subaru. His vision blurred.
Shaula’s face, distraught, screaming his name, faded away.
‘Reid Astrea...’ Subaru thought, as the cold of death enveloped him completely.
‘I hate you. I hate you with all my soul. And when I wake up again...’
He didn’t finish the thought.
Consciousness went out.
And so, Natsuki Subaru died for the first time.
End of Chapter 1