Chapter 4: Chapter 4: Negotiations And The Bowl Hunter
The old bald man looked at the group before yelling even more. "What's wrong with you people??!! I've never even seen your faces around these parts! Why did you come here?!"
"... My name is Natsuki Subaru... The ever-busy and never-free wandering vagrant." Being the first to react, the black-haired young man introduced himself once again.
In succession, following that, Nilcaris also spoke. "I'm Nilcaris Love, and we're here to buy something from you."
"... I'm Emilia..." Emilia simply followed along because she was left a bit shellshocked due to the sudden change in plans since she could no longer, just not be directly involved.
"Am the great Puck." Not wanting to be left out, Puck also joined in.
The old man looked at them all and sighed, before signaling for them to come in. Soon they followed behind him.
Inside, a bar-like environment could be found with a few tables, while on the walls various diverse items were put up like some sort of art exhibition. Further, on the back, a bunch of crates could be seen just lying around. The source of light inside was candle holders with a crystal at the top instead.
They sat across from the old man at one of the wooden bar table's bench seats. There was silence for a bit before the old man started speaking.
"You people interrupted my drinking time, so this better be worth it." The old man drank from a glass cup of what seemed to be wine, that was already at the table when they came in.
"The sun's still up there and you're already drinking? A geezer like you shouldn't be looking for an early death." Subaru commented with an absent-minded tone.
"Alcohol is good in moderance, it refreshes the soul, Subaru, you clearly don't know a thing." Nilcaris objected as he shook his head.
"Aren't you too young to be talking about drinking?" Emilia looked at the short blue-haired young man with suspension and apprehension.
"Let us not mind the details, real men know how to drink," Nilcaris replied with his arms crossed and his face full of determination.
"Hehehe! The kiddo's right! That's the spirit!" The bald old man laughed obviously pleased by Nilcaris' words, then he turned to the other one and, "As for you, who are you calling a geezer? The name's Rom and you better show me some respect!" Rom called Subaru out before he took another sip of his cup.
"... Alright, Mr. Rom..." Subaru nodded in acceptance.
"Good, that's more like it." Rom nodded then took another sip, before asking. "So, the blue-haired little one said you wanted to buy something, what are you after?"
There was a bit of silence as hesitance to speak took over, but Nilcaris did not let it last.
"We're for a stolen badge." The amethyst-eyed young man said with a nonchalant tone.
This caused Rom to stop for a few instants then he replied. "Sorry, but I don't have anything like that here."
"Really?! Think long and hard about it! If you're not senile yet, you should remember!!" Subaru yelled and got up, his expression showing his disbelief.
"Calm down, kid. If I can't remember with alcohol running through my veins, then that's that. However, someone is bringing in something new later today, and I've been it's pretty damn valuable." Rom informed with a calm look, seemingly unbothered until he noticed he had no more wine.
"Is it perhaps a girl with blond hair bringing it?" Emilia asked with a serious expression.
"Yeah... How did you know that?" Rom was slightly confused by this.
"YEAH!... Looks like we got it right!" Subaru celebrated with a wide smile.
"Don't get too happy, if it got stolen like that, there's probably a buyer, and we'll have to outbid them to get it back... Since it's the black market, it might escalate into a fight even if we do." Nilcaris burst his bubble bringing up the reality of things.
Emilia looked at him, worry clear on her face as they had no money at all, hoping that maybe he was not broke as well, but Nilcaris shook his head, as he too was flat broke.
"Yup, just like the Kiddo said, you'll need some good money to get it." Rom nodded.
"Don't get me wrong, I'm flat-out broke, but money's not the only way. Rejoice as I present to you, the wonders of bartering!" Subaru smiled then pulled out his clearly old flip phone and then, "This in my hand is a magical device that can capture any moment in time! It's called a "Cellphone"!"
Not wasting another second, Subaru took a picture of Rom, which caused the old man to fall to the ground in shock after being hit with the flash. Once Rom recomposed and got up, Subaru showed him the picture of himself.
"That's my face... How did you do that?" Rom was surprised to see such a device at work.
Before Subaru could say anything, however, Nilcaris was the one to speak. "It's a Mitia, not something you could easily get your hands on. You should at least know that much."
This shocked both Emilia and Rom who looked at the cell phone in awe, while Subaru looked at Nilcaris confused but said nothing deciding to trust him.
"So it really is one... No wonder, but to think you would want to trade this for a mere badge... I can't even put an accurate price on it, that's how valuable it is!" Rom said a bit startled to see how willing to get that badge they were.
Hearing this, Emilia grabbed Subaru's hand and said. "That won't be necessary! I could never ask you to give up something that valuable!", there was a serious expression on her face mixed with a bit of anger as she could not believe he would go that far.
"I don't know what's going on between you two, but she's right. A mitia is an item that allows you to use magic without using your gate, it's not something to give up willy-nilly. Most people will never even see one in their whole life." Rom added having concluded that Subaru was a rich young master who didn't know the world with eccentric taste traveling with servants.
"So what? It's mine so I'll do what I want with it. So, I'll exchange this mitia for the badge when it's brought in." Subaru insisted with a smile on his face.
On the other hand, Emilia had a slight frown on her face after being completely disregarded.
"Don't be too mad, it's not on purpose, he's a bit dense, so I hope you're patient, it is his mitia to use however he sees fit," Nilcaris commented seeing her like that.
"... I guess, you do have a point, it just feels like a little too much." Emilia was clearly uncomfortable with the situation but could not bring herself to stop it.
"Calm down, I'll make him understand his mistake later, but right now getting your badge is the most important," Nilcaris added.
To this, the silver-haired young woman nodded sighing in acceptance as even if this was not ideal, she did need to get her badge back.
"Is that badge really worth more than a mitia?" Rom asked genuinely intrigued by this decision.
"I don't know, I've never seen the damn thing, but I'll take this loss because it matters to someone important," Subaru said in full confidence.
Looking at this behavior, Emilia couldn't help but smile a little bit.
"You're one hell of an idiot, but I guess that's fine when you have heart, hahaha!" Rom was entertained and laughed it off before saying. "You're one hell of an odd group, an idiot with weird clothes and even a mitia, a snarky kid talking like he knows the world, and an elf with a troublesome hair color accompanied by a spirit... Just who are you people, really?"
At that time, before any response was given...
Knock Knock
The door of the loot cellar was knocked.
"Oh well, it doesn't matter, it seems like she's already here anyway." Rom got up and went to the door, then questioned. "To giant rats?"
"We give poison!!" A reply came from the other side.
This was the first of three questions used as the password for the Loot Cellar. In quick succession, they were all answered and Rom opened the door.
Coming in was the awaited thief, as the golden-haired girl stepped inside.
"Sorry, I took so long. It just got suspicious when that persistent person suddenly stopped chasing, so I went all the way around just to be safe." The golden-haired girl said as she sighted seemingly in relief.
"Are you sure you lost them? It could be a trick you know." Rom replied to her with his arms crossed.
"I know that... I'm no amatou-... You! Rom that's her! How dare you rat on me?!" The golden-haired girl reached for the knife on her lower back as she yelled and took a defensive stance.
"What are you on about?! After all this time working, I thought you'd know better. They're only here because they've got a good offer for you." Rom was still calm as he explained.
"You old fool! That girl! She's the one I stole from!" The golden-haired girl yelled in great frustration.
"OH! That's a problem!" Rom created some distance from the group by backstepping and getting closer to a big wooden club that was just lying there.
It was then that, Nilcaris intercepted the old man's path. "I guess if it comes to that, I'll be your opponent."
(If a fight does break out, I'll just have to stall until that Bitch's here.) The amethyst-eyed young man thought to himself.
[Or you could have just help mitigate the situation before it goes too far.] Genive commented.
(I'm not the peace-making type, plus this will do great as a warm-up. Emilia won't kill them, so it's fine. Puck is here, so she should be safe, and Subaru is Subaru.) Nilcaris had not a single worry.
[You're a lost cause.] Genive could not hide the disappointment in her tone.
"Don't you tell me! You'll get us killed! I knew it was a mistake to work with a senile old man!" The golden-haired girl complained and was ready to turn to hit the run.
"Tch! This wouldn't happen if you bothered to give me all the mission details instead of half-assing it!" Rom had the wooden club in hand and took a combat-ready stance.
"Don't worry too much, you probably won't die," Nilcaris said.
"It seems your friend is not the only one who's terrible with his words." Rom shook his head as he looked at the amethyst-eyed young man.
At the same time, Puck got high up, and with a simple movement of his paw froze the door and windows, locking down the building.
"No leaving until negotiations are over." He smiled as he said.
"All I want is my badge back, this doesn't have to become a battle, just hand it over. Do the right thing, or I'll have no choice but to force your hand. I promise to let you go if you do." Emilia right under the cat-like spirit spoke with an air of seriousness.
"As if I'd believe that! Besides, I stole this in good faith! If you want it back, pay up!" The golden-haired girl rebuked fully prepared to engage in combat.
"Yeah! I thought we had a deal, kiddo!" Rom complained as he looked at Subaru.
"Hey! Calm down, everyone! I don't think we'll need to fight, if you want payment, you can have it! The mitia is right here!" Subaru jumped in between both sides raising the cell phone in his right hand.
"Subaru, you don't need to-" Emilia shook her head but was interrupted.
"I don't need it anymore... So, why don't just take it easy and get back to negotiations instead?" Subaru suggested cold sweat all over as he trembled ever so slightly.
"... You won't listen at all... Fine, so long as I get my badge back, I guess that works." Emilia sighed.
"What are you two on about? I won't fall for petty tricks like those!" The golden-haired girl gritted her teeth.
"Calm down, Felt, this is actually pretty good, their offer was not bad at all." Rom seeing the chance for de-escalation shimmed in.
"Hmph! I was about to be paid ten blessed gold coins for this, they all look way too broke for that. A thief's intuition is good for this kind of thing." Felt shook her head in doubt.
"The mitia that kid brought would definitely go for at least 20 blessed coins," Rom replied with a serious expression.
"A Mitia? That's not bad at all actually... Where is this thing?" Felt put her knife down.
Flash Flash
Just like that, Subaru took a bunch of pictures of her and then showed them.
"Ah... That's pretty cool, are you sure it goes for that much, old man?" Felt asked the bald old man.
"Who do you think I am? Of course, I'm sure, but again that's bear minimum it could go for." Rom responded.
The tension in the room disarmed, and once again, the group got around the table, and ice locking down the building was already taken care of by Puck.
"What a pity we didn't get to have some fun, I was ready to test the old man." Nilcaris sighed a bit disappointed.
"Tch! You kids these days really don't know any better." Rom shook his head at those words.
"So, where's the badge?" Subaru asked.
"Oh, it's right here." Felt pulled it out of her top.
"Great! Now we have just-" Subaru tried to reach out for it, but was cut off.
"Nope! You said, you wanted to negotiate, and the way I see it, this badge could go for way more once the original buyer gets here. Don't worry though, we just have to wait a bit and they should get here, then I'll give it to the side that pays best." Felt spoke shamelessly.
Knock Knock
Right then there was a knock on the door.
"Speak of the Devil, it looks like they're here." Felt got up and went to the door.
Meanwhile, Rom held tight to his wooden club.
"That club really suits you, savage look works," Subaru spoke casually to the old man.
"You talk too much, if you're not careful, you'll get in trouble. Plus, shouldn't you be thanking me for helping you get the deal?" Rom shook his head.
"He's a bit stupid, don't worry about it, it happens when you don't leave your house often enough," Nilcaris added.
"Hey! I did leave my house... Though it was just to go to the store sometimes... And thanks, it would be hard to convince her without your help." Subaru tried to protest.
"As expected... So you really are a rich kid. Also, don't try to be sincere with me now. It doesn't fit you. However, I have to thank you for choosing to solve this peacefully. That girl tends to be too stubborn for her good." Rom expressed with a smile.
"Well, I wouldn't really say I'm rich, but I felt it would be best if we just did it this way since we can." Subaru blushed slightly a bit surprised by the old man's words.
"It's not over yet, don't let your guard down, in a way, you could say the real battle starts now," Nilcaris said to Subaru then signaled to Puck to be alert with his hands.
"What are you three on about in the corner?... It looks creepy... Anyway, I was right, it was for me." Felt returned with a smile.
Next to her, however, a black-haired young woman wearing a promiscuous black and purple dress could be found, standing there with a perverse smile.
"Block!" Nilcaris yelled as he saw the woman move.
In an instant, her demeanor changed as she threw a black dagger at Emilia. This was swiftly blocked by Puck, who employed an ice barrier.
"Thanks, Puck... that was a close one," Emilia said feeling rather relieved.
"Nice catch, Nil, this woman is pretty fast, be careful," Puck said as began creating icicles all around him.
At the same time, Felt created some distance by backstepping as the woman tried to cut her down too. "Damn it! She had to be crazy too! I was about to make such a huge profit..." She complained visually frustrated.
"Would you look at that? It seems we have a few fun targets here, tonight's hunt will be an interesting one." The black-haired young woman rushed at Emilia as she spoke. "There's even a spirit, I've never opened one's stomach, so you first."
Various icicles were launched at her as she approached the young half-elf, but that was far from enough to stop her, as she parried most of them, then dodged the rest, and continued to advance.
Only to be attacked by Rom who came from the side with his club, ready to smash her, he slammed it down on her with both arms as strongly as he could, not even trying to prevent damaging the place at this point.
In a show of impressive raw strength, she parried the attack with her arm and went in for the neck with a dagger.
However, she was stopped by a line 5 floating amethyst disk that appeared out of thin air, 4 out of the 5 cracking then breaking as they disappeared, but had no time to do anything else being forced to backstep as more icicles came her way, only for an amethyst disk to come flying and scratching her face.
(It worked, using incomplete portals as shields and even as a weapon will come in handy, but this b*tch is even more dangerous than I remembered though.) Nilcaris smiled as he realized just how dangerous this was in reality.
"Hehehe... what an odd ability, and for you to actually hit me, I like you. I'm Elsa, and they call me the bowl hunter. I hope you enjoy this hunt as much as I do." Elsa licked her lips as blood could be seen going down her cheek where the disk cut her.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone