Chapter 3: Searching For A Thief

As three people stood in an alleyway, the silence was broken as she responded.

"I mean... I guess having some help would make the search faster." The silver-haired young woman replied a bit hesitant but ultimately nodding. 

"Lia, look at you being honest for once." Puck poked her face as he spoke in a teasing manner.

"I'm always honest... Well, most of the time anyway." She rebutted with a slight blush, her embarrassment clear. 

"See, what I mean?" Puck asked the two young men.

Which resulted in Subaru nodding with a knowing expression, and Nilcaris shaking his head with a tired look.

"Hmph, that's no fun, Puck, but I have to ask, who are you two? Your clothes are quite unusual." Emilia questioned with a curious look. 

"Yeah, you guys have some odd vibes, I can totally tell, you're not from around here." Puck crossed his arms as he floated next to Emilia's face.

"Natsuki Subaru at your disposal!" Subaru posed once more just as he did before full of energy.

"Nilcaris Love, you can just call me Nil, though." Nilcaris joined the introduction.

"Oh... I'm... Emilia, so do any of you have an idea as to where the girl who stole my badge went?" Emilia asked with a serious look on her face.

"Hmm... I can't really say I do..." Subaru was quick to say with a thoughtful expression.

"No, but I might have a way to find out," Nilcaris smirks as he says.

"Really?... I would like your help, but you should know I have no way of rewarding you, It might come as a surprise, but I have no money." Emilia said with a straight face.

"Don't worry, that makes two of us. And I don't need any thanks! I want to help you for my own sake!!" Subaru replied with a small smile.

"Yeah, yeah Romeo, relax... I would have liked a reward, but I guess it's fine since I'm helping a friend." Nilcaris looked too tired to bother.

"Nice, this is good, Lia. Since I won't be here to help once the sun sets, having two targets to defend you and keep the enemy busy is great." Puck said shamelessly.

"Alright, since even Puck is saying this, but I really have nothing to give in return." Emilia insisted on making it clear.

"Got it!" Subaru nodded.

"I guess this will do as my good action of the year." Nilcaris joked with a straight face.

This however went over the others' heads, so they simply looked at him, thinking he might just be an edgy teen.

(I won't even bother, these people can't appreciate good comedy.) Nilcaris shook his head.

[Or maybe, you're just not doing it, right. That seemed very stiff, that's probably it.] Genive pointed out.

(Truly it seems only I have a sense of humour in this world.) He shamelessly ignored her completely.

[Hmph! I was trying to help, but that was a bit better.] Genive scoffed at his attitude.

Meanwhile, Subaru approached Puck.

"So, you really can't come out at night?" Subaru asked looking a bit surprised.

"Yeah, I look pretty cute and all, but I'm a spirit, and I'm using a lot of mana to materialize a physical form like this. Once it's nighttime, I go back to the crystal working as my vessel. I'm usually only out nine to five." Puck responded he floated around, having a bag his size strapped over his shoulders.

"What are you, A public service?" Subaru inquired with an uncertain look.

"None! I'm just Puck. I might not look like it, but I could turn you into dust in an instant." Puck introduced himself with a smile.

"The ignorant, unintelligent, forever and everlastingly broke, Natsuki Subaru!" He re-introduced himself as he struck the same pose as he did before.

"What kind of lame introduction is that? At least show some confidence while introducing yourself." Puck shook his head completely unimpressed.

At the same time, Emilia went to talk to Nilcaris.

"You said you have an idea of where the thief went, could you please tell me?" She asked looking hopeful.

"Yeah, so I'm pretty sure she belongs to the slums, that's the kind of place you go to exchange stolen goods for money after all," Nilcaris said with a casual tone.

"That's true... You're probably right, we should just go ask around there." Emilia nodded.

"You're a spirit user, right? Can't you just ask the spirits?" The amethyst-eyed young man inquired.

"Yes, I was about to... You're pretty knowledgeable... Your friend seems a bit more... free-spirited." Emilia commented curiosity written all over her face.

"He's a little eccentric, but when push comes to shove, he has a good heart and a pretty decent head on his shoulder." Nilcaris expressed his opinion sincerely.

This caused Emilia to smile before she closed her eyes and began focusing with her hands joined as if it were a prayer. 

"What is she doing?" Subaru asked.

"Oh, that? She's communicating with lesser spirits. Since they have a degree of intelligence and exist almost everywhere, spirit users can talk to them to gather some information." Puck explained as they looked at Emilia.

Around the silver-haired young woman, various small spheres of varying colors began to gather and glow, illuminating the area.

Blue, green, and yellow spheres going about as more appeared like a lightshow, they glistened and brought their own sense of warmth.

Amazed by the lightshow, Subaru walked toward them like a moth to the fire, but before he could reach them, Nilcaris grabbed his arm.

"Don't do that, you'll scare them. It would be very dangerous if you did." There was no anger or distaste in his voice, only merely concern even if most of it was directed toward himself.

"Uh… Sorry, I didn't know that." Subaru had an awkward expression on, realizing he was about to commit what he interpreted as a serious mistake.

"Just don't go randomly touching things, you could die, or worse, get me involved in something troublesome." Nilcaris had a nonchalant expression as he replied.

"You make death sound minimal…" Subaru chuckled at his newfound friend's attitude.

In no time, Emilia opened her eyes and said, "I found her!"

"Really? That's great, spirits are pretty amazing." Subaru was surprised at the efficiency shown.

"Of course we are, did you ever doubt?" Puck shimmed in with a smug and his chest puffed out.

"Good, then lead the way and let's get this over with." Nilcaris replied looking ready to be done with the whole situation.

From then on, Emilia guided them through the stone filled old European styled building with people of all walks going about their day.

As they were passing through the crowded streets, Emilia stopped to look at a little girl standing on the side of the street, looking around looking quite intimidated and overwhelmed.

"Hey, Guys… That kid is lost, isn't she?" Her eyes bretreyed her worries immediately despite her attempts to look and sound neutral.

"Well, I don't really want to say this, but… Don't you think you should be worried about your badge right now?" Subaru commented with a bit of hesitation in his expression and tone.

"Look at you, saying the right things, I guess my influence is doing something good." Nilcaris talked like a proud bad influence.

"No! Can't you see she's about to cry? We've got to talk to her now!" Emilia insisted completely adamant on it.

So, she approached the little girl rather awkwardly, unable to stop her from crying, and so in stepped Subaru.

"Ladies and gentleman! All feast your eyes on this amazing 10 yen coin!" After yelling and calling up a bit of attention, he did the basic coin trick making it 'disappear', before walking up to the little girl and pulling it from the back of her ear.

This had a few onlookers clapping and made the little girl happy as she began giggling while looking at the coin in wonder.

Even Emilia herself was also looking at the coin in wonder.

"It's a basic trick, don't tell me you're shocked?" Feeling bored, Nilcaris decided to tease the young half elf a bit.

"I!… That! I just never saw anyone do it before! I think it's fair even if I react this way." Emilia was blushing deeply as the embarrassment sipping in.

"Hahaha, I see it now, Subaru, the cuteness that made you fawn for this half-elf girl!" Nilcaris spoke loudly as he found himself deeply enjoying the half-elf's reaction.

"Don't say it like that! Actually don't say it at all! It's weird if she knows how pretty I think she is, you know." Subaru who was now holding the little girl's hand, responded to the amethyst eyed young man without thinking much.

"Hahaha!" At this, Nilcaris laughed.

While Emilia's bush deepened on the side, Subaru also began blushing as he realized what he said.

At the same time, Puck came up and hit both Nilcaris and Subaru on the head.

"What the hell was that for?!" Subaru complained.

"I think I heard somewhere that you can eat spirits just fine." Nilcaris added clearly frustrated by it.

"I'm not sorry, I had to nudge you two a bit, you're confusing Lia. Good on you two though, I wonder if we'll get a good old fashioned duel for love, hehehe." Puck said shaking his head.

(This bastard… lumping me into his games to get his late bloomer daughter a boyfriend…) Nilcaris rolled his eyes.

"Confusing? I did nothing though, and why you suddenly talking about duels! You're making no sense!" Subaru continued to complain his confusion very apparent.

Soon the group made their way through the streets, only to find midway through that the same vendor who yelled at them before was the father of the little girl they found.

"Mom! Dad!" The little girl ran to her parents.

"We've been looking for you everywhere!" Her parents hugged her.

"Hey, it's the grumpy old vendor from before!" Subaru pointed out.

"Now I kind of feel bad for helping him, then again it's not the child's fault if their parents suck." Nilcaris commented.

"… Oh, it's the guys who were talking nonsense in front of my stand instead of buying anything." The vendor was surprised to see them again.

After that, the vendor thanked them in tears, clearly relieved to have his daughter back unharmed. This lead, Emilia and Subaru take the chance to talk to him about the stolen badge.

The vendor than explained that there was a place called the Loot Cellar in the slums, where such items are typically sold.

Once that was over, they got the directions to the slums and the child gave Emilia a flower as thank you.

Not wasting more time they headed towards the slums.

"Didn't you ask the spirits for information, you should have known we had to come here." Nilcaris pointed out.

"Well… I was going to bring us here, but then that little girl was crying and-" Emilia looked away having been caught red handed.

"Don't worry about it, I don't care, I was just teasing you, hahaha." Nilcaris laughed it off.

"You!" Emilia fake hit him with a slight pout.

"Jeez… Nil, you'll have to teach me your trick to getting along with people." Subaru had an awkward smile on.

"It's easy, just be Subaru, you'll be fine, we've gotten well enough, after all." Nilcaris said before walking into the slums not waiting for an answer at all.

"Just be Subaru, huh?… Hahahaha, as if that would work…" Despite his words, Subaru had a small smile on his face. "Yeah… Just be Subaru. Let's go then! Into the slums we go!!"

Having revigored energy somehow, the black haired young man followed right behind the amethyst eyed young man.

"These two are an odd combo, don't you think?" Puck asked the silver haired young woman.

"Yeah, but it's nice to be around them… it's weird how they don't seem to mind me at all." Emilia too had a smile on her face as she walked in right after the other two.

"That's because they don't… the sooner you realize the better. It seems Lia is finally making friends." Puck mumbled to himself and just followed the group.

Unlike the clean and sophisticated look of the rest of the city, this area was much rougher and had clear impoverishment.

The building had cracks everywhere, holes, and parts missing, many of the houses had no doors, windows or even roofs sometimes. There was trash, empty bottles of alcohol, and even excrement. The overall dirtiness could not be overstated.

Residents of this area were found wearing rags, or clothes near wasting away, and there were even unconscious, or maybe dead, bodies just laying here and there.

Due to the strong horrid odor of the area it even felt warmer than the rest of the city, something that might due to its state or maybe just a quirk of the land where it stands.

Forcing it through, group followed Emilia, who quickly guided them by using the information she got from the spirits.

(The time to deal with that psychopath is coming… Since we got here early, we still have Puck… So it should be doable… I wonder if I should have looked for Reinhard?) Nilcaris thought to himself.

[Of course you should have! It would have made everything 10 times easier! That guy is pretty broken.] Genive replied sounding worried.

(Cute, worried about me? I'll survive regardless, plus Subaru would never let it be a bad ending for Emilia, so why would i choose the easy way out, when I have the chance to pummel Elsa with my own two hands!) Nilcaris smiled at the thought of it.

[You're lucky the others will be fine or I wouldn't forgive you! Good luck, though… I know you can win.] Contrary to the amethyst eyed young man's expectations, She cheered him on actually putting trust on him.

(Hahaha! You got me all lustful with that, good thing Elsa is a great punching bag, if only I was strong enough to beat her without relying on my particularities, but one step at a time, today I relay on you 3, and tomorrow you'll be relaying on me!) Nilcaris smirked fully ready to face what was up ahead.

It took a bit, but they eventually reached the location of the Loot Cellar, which was a building with a big pitch black door.

Off to the back a bit farther, the city walls could be seen as they had reached the edge of the city.

"It's huge… just how big is the black market?" Subaru asked upon seeing the large building and door.

"It's probably why they call it a cellar and not a shed…" Emilia commented also a bit surprised at it.

"You two stop talking about big black things and get on with it." Nilcaris said with a straight face, knowing exactly what he's doing.

"Are you a child?" He said despite clearly trying to contain his laughter.

Meanwhile Emilia was confused, "What? He's right, we were wasting time talking about the big-"

"Emilia-tan! Please don't saying it anymore." Subaru stopped her.

"Depends on who's asking. Hehehe. Plus, it's not like I made a that's what she said joke." Nilcaris responded with a machiavellian smile.

This caused Subaru to cover his mouth to not laugh while Emilia gave Nilcaris a clear look of disapproval.

"Don't fake your age, it won't lead to good things." She scolded not understanding the other stuff he said.

"Lia's right, Adults are dangerous, just like me!" Puck played along with her and opened his mouth showing various enormous teeth from a bit before going back to normal.

"Ehhh! That's way too creepy!" Subaru was in shock seeing that.

"That's pretty neat." Nilcaris said sincerely.

"Creepy? Don't be rude." Puck lightly hit Subaru with no actual strength behind his moves.

"Hahaha… that tickles…" Subaru grabbed Puck who was holding onto his face and refusing to let go.

"Hahahaha! It seems you guys get along well enough." There was a wide and sincere smile in Emilia's face as she watched them.

"Enough of that! We have something important to do, remember?" Nilcaris called them out.

"Of course, you're right, let us go in at once." The silver haired young woman nodded her head.

"Wait! I think Emilia-Tan should wait outside first while we check inside, it will be a problem if the thief recognizes her." The black haired young man suggested with a serious expression.

"You're right… I'll properly apologize for this trouble once we get my badge back." Emilia said with an expression that showed her worry.

"What are you talking about, apologizing? If anything, wouldn't it be much better to get a "Thank you" with a smile from you." Subaru said as he while still holding his plastic bag in his hand.

"… You Dummy!" That time Emilia's smile was pure and genuine as her heart warmed up to those words.

"Look at Subaru, having your way with words. Though, it's as he say, if I'll be around a pretty girl, I would rather have her smiling, pouting or blushing than anything else." Nilcaris adds with a smirk at hand.

"… You two… I-" The silver haired young woman was about to saying something but was interrupted.

"If you have something to say, say it after we get your badge back." Nilcaris stopped her before turning to go into the building.

"Hehehe! I really like these two, you found yourself some interesting people, Lia." Puck commented as he watched the two go with a smile.

As Subaru tried to push the door it wouldn't budge, so before anyone did anything, Nilcaris knocked on the door violently and aggressively.

Soon a click sounded from the door and it opened, which the amethyst eyed young man avoided and the black haired young man got pushed by it.

"Cut it out already! Are you trying to break the door because you don't know the password or something?!" A tall bald old muscular dark skinned man with extra white long eyebrows yelled clearly irritated.

This while Subaru had his ass on the floor, his plastic bag next to him, and quite quickly Emilia went to help him up.

(So it seems he's still alive, we're even earlier than I thought.) Nilcaris concluded looking at the man.

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?!"

This startled both Emilia and Subaru, while Nilcaris was simply bothered by how loud the old man was.

Soon, the time for them to face the bowl hunter, would come.