Chapter 10: Whoa, the Yandere Girls and Boys Are Here (Patreon)

Eh?

"So... does this mean we're partners now?"

Subaru Natsuki blinked, startled by Old Man Rom's sudden shift in tone and expression. The old man's weathered face flushed slightly under the scrutiny, and he clicked his tongue. Damn brat — completely clueless about reading a room. He'd made his feelings obvious enough already; did he really need to ask?

Well, if it's coming, let it come.

He'd hidden Felt away for all these years, but maybe, deep down, he'd never quite given up the thought that she might need to reclaim her royal identity someday. Otherwise, why stay lurking in the capital instead of fleeing this most dangerous of places for some other kingdom?

If things ever truly came to light, worst case, he'd fight to the death to cover her escape. This Subaru Natsuki kid talked a lot of nonsense, sure, but even this short a time together was enough to see it — the boy genuinely had no malice in him. Someone worth dealing with. Someone worth trusting.

If it ever came to that, letting him take Felt and wander the world together — that would probably be a good enough outcome.

"Yes! Finally, time to get started on something big!"

Whoa!

Felt threw her chubby little fists into the air, tilting her head back to cheer at the sky.

"Too hasty." Old Man Rom said slowly, "Even if I support this — even if we manage to fix everything inside the slum — once this place grows strong enough, someone important up above is bound to take notice, and not kindly."

"Best case, they just send people to shake us down for money, demand bribes — that we can handle. Worst case, some big shot up there feels his pride wounded and decides to tear this whole place down by force, refusing to let it improve at all... What would you two do then?"

This time it wasn't opposition — on this point, Old Man Rom was simply being cautious. He knew all too well how filthy the kingdom's powerful men could be.

Felt tilted her head, unconsciously looking toward Subaru. "Right... so what do we do?"

Wait, no!

Grrrrrrowl!

Felt shook her head wildly. What was that? She'd made it this far on her own two feet, independent and strong — so why, the moment she met this Subaru guy, had she started trusting him enough to reflexively look to him for answers whenever a problem came up?

That was way too pathetic.

Subaru found her head-shaking utterly baffling, but there wasn't time to dwell on it. He propped his chin on his hand, thought for a moment, then broke into a bright grin. "Well, we'll figure it out when we get there. There's always a way. People don't just die from holding it in, you know? Best case, we solve it peacefully."

As for if peaceful didn't work out...

Subaru glanced at the reward listed on his notebook's status screen for completing the quest. Maybe by then he'd have picked up a bit of martial skill himself?

Never letting evildoers who'd shatter the peace go unpunished — Emperor Subaru Natsuki, here to save the day. Heh heh, who knows, maybe he'd roll the cosmic tyrant Frieza's power and instantly spike to five hundred and thirty thousand battle power!

"You really are way too optimistic..."

Felt stared blankly. How did this guy manage to be both this weak and this deludedly confident at the same time?

Well, whatever — actually, that suited her just fine. If any stray dogs dared reach their paws into the slum, she'd chop those paws right off!

Subaru nodded, satisfied — looked like they'd reached an understanding. "So how do we split the money? My thinking is, we set aside at least twenty percent of everything from the magic shows and all the tips that come our way, to cover improving and maintaining the whole district. The rest, well — Felt, how big a cut do you and Old Man Rom want?"

"You — what are you even talking about?"

Felt didn't answer, just puffed out her cheeks like an indignant blowfish, glaring at Subaru with pure contempt. "Subaru, I despise you!"

"Huh?!"

Why had things suddenly taken this turn — had time skipped somewhere, had he missed something? Since when did this turn into contempt?

Felt's eyes went sharp, glaring daggers at him. "This whole time, haven't you been thinking I'm some money-grubber, secretly calculating in your head how big a cut you'd need to give me to shut me up and keep me from causing trouble?"

"Mind reading?!"

Had this mysterious little shrimp opened some third eye?!

"Caught red-handed! You just exposed your real thoughts, you jerk!"

Felt bared her little fangs, gesturing wildly, grumbling and huffing in annoyance. "The percentage doesn't matter at all! What matters is getting started on the big stuff first! Money can wait, more or less doesn't matter, I don't mind taking a smaller cut. What's the rush to divide things up now — if we split the money first and then never actually get anything done, that'd be way more embarrassing."

"I've completely changed my opinion of you, Felt..."

Subaru stared, dumbfounded. This little shrimp had a character this unshakeable? It felt like his whole worldview had just been flipped upside down.

"That's because you, you gullible fool, are clearly the type who'd never let anyone else take a loss no matter what you're doing — you'd rather shortchange yourself. Now that this girl's said her piece, you're probably touched half to death, and you'll go and give her an even bigger cut on your own. She'll make a killing, and you'll end up thanking her for it."

Old Man Rom cackled, wheezing with laughter. He'd raised Felt with his own two hands — the moment her eyes so much as flickered, he knew exactly what mischief was brewing in that head of hers. But he couldn't let the boy get cheated too badly — sincerity, after all, is what earns sincerity in return.

"You're leaning way too far to his side! Whose side are you even on, you old geezer!"

"What? Felt, born wicked to the bone, will never allow you to bully our good old man, the one who protects us — Old Man Rom!"

Felt's face burned with embarrassment, muttering under her breath as she stormed toward Old Man Rom with fists raised. Subaru saw this wouldn't do and immediately planted himself between the two of them like a mother hen shielding her chick. Furious, Felt turned her small hands on his head instead, mussing his hair into a complete mess.

Having vented her frustration, she felt thoroughly satisfied, planting her hands proudly on her hips, positively glowing with happiness.

With that done, though, her eyes started to drift, and after a moment's hesitation, she worried Subaru might genuinely mistake her for some heartless miser, so she grudgingly muttered something under her breath, just a little.

"Well... it's not entirely about calculating profit, it's just, um..."

"If we're all part of the same crew now, there's no need to be so fussy about it — we're all on the same side, right? As long as outsiders don't take it from us, that's all that matters... so, you know what I mean, right?"

Uh...

Subaru's face went blank. He honestly hadn't caught most of that, only piecing together enough to guess that Felt wasn't a miser after all. Was there some deeper meaning buried in the rest? "What exactly does that mean?"

"It means that since we're already part of the same crew, you'd better not betray us, and you'd better not break us up, you idiot, you dummy, you giant fool!"

A furious shout!

Felt unleashed her whole tirade in one rapid-fire burst of the Divine Words, then leapt straight out the window on the spot. "I'm going to go dig up my savings, hmph!"

"Uh..."

What was that all about? So that's all she'd meant, this whole time.

Subaru couldn't hold it in and burst out laughing, the sound light and easy. What was there to even make such a fuss over? Of course, now that they were all part of the same crew, they'd stick together — always.

Always. Always, always. Always, always, always.