"Oh ho."
Subaru Natsuki shot Satoru Gojo a bizarre look.
Well, this was great. The rightful owner had found them.
"Satoru, I think you've stirred up some trouble," Subaru whispered, looking at Felt. A thin layer of frost had formed under her feet, freezing her to the ground. She was currently struggling in vain to move.
"Yeah, the weather really is nice today, isn't it?"
"Isn't she your friend? Are we just going to stand here and do nothing?"
"Dessert? You want to go get dessert too, right? I knew we were on the same wavelength!"
Satoru Gojo gave Subaru a thumbs-up, looking like he wholeheartedly agreed.
The conversation between them, however, was a total case of "the chicken talking to the duck"—they weren't even on the same frequency. Faced with Satoru playing deaf and dumb, Subaru didn't know what to say.
The girl named Felt wasn't exactly his "type," but she was the kind of beautiful girl you only see in anime or games. Seeing a girl like that about to be lectured by the person she robbed made Subaru feel a tiny bit of pity.
Satoru blinked but remained silent.
Truth be told, this situation was more or less related to him. And since he'd just claimed the girl was his "friend," if the owner actually tried to do something truly nasty to her, Satoru wouldn't mind creating a small opening for Felt to slip away.
As the two of them whispered, a somewhat youthful voice rang out above their heads.
"Are you two her accomplices as well?"
Subaru looked up and saw a small, bluish-gray cat wearing a tiny satchel, floating in mid-air. It was tilting its head as it spoke to them.
"A... a talking cat?"
Subaru rubbed his eyes. Too many things had shocked him today.
"Satoru Gojo, you bastard! What are you just standing there for? Do something already!"
Felt couldn't break free. Hearing the spirit's words, she didn't hesitate for a second to drag Satoru and the others down with her. It was this guy's fault she was in this mess in the first place.
"Hear that, Satoru? This is between the two of you. It has nothing to do with me," Satoru Gojo said with a face full of righteous conviction, poking Subaru. He then raised both hands toward the cat in the sky to signal his innocence.
"It has nothing to do with me, Subaru Natsuki, either! You should just deal with them," Subaru said, looking at his companion who had so quickly washed his hands of the matter. He opened his mouth to argue, but was immediately captivated by the figure walking from the other end of the alley.
In the faint light at the end of the alleyway, a figure walked against the glow.
She was slender and tall, her steps light and graceful. By the time she stood before them, Subaru was completely unable to look away.
She was a beautiful girl who looked like she only appeared in high-end game cinematics. Her silver hair, reaching down past her waist, was striking; her exquisite, flawless face was like a work of art painstakingly carved by God. Most notably, her amethyst eyes were like deep whirlpools, constantly drawing his spirit inward.
"Return what you took now, and I can let this go."
"Otherwise, don't blame me for being unkind."
The girl's voice was crisp and melodious, incredibly pleasing to the ear.
"Exactly, exactly."
"Our Lia is a kindhearted child..."
"Puck!"
Being called that in front of so many people made the silver-haired girl look a bit embarrassed, and she quickly cut the little cat off.
Puck waved a small paw by his face and stuck out his tongue, acting cute.
"So you like this type?" Satoru Gojo squinted and spoke to Subaru with a grin, wearing an "I've already seen through everything" expression.
"Wh-what are you talking about? When did I ever tell you that?" Subaru reacted defensively, his inner thoughts having been exposed by Satoru.
"Hey! You two! What the hell are you doing?!" Felt watched these two unreliable guys whispering to each other and started to get anxious.
"Actually, I think you should just give the thing back," Satoru said to Felt, glancing at the cat above.
The silver-haired girl was even more direct. She extended a hand toward them, and ice-blue light began to converge in her palm. It quickly solidified into several shards of ice, each slightly larger than a baby's fist.
"A magician," Subaru murmured.
Satoru was watching her with equal interest. After the "Supporting Character System" had granted him the starter pack, his Six Eyes could not only detect Cursed Energy but had also become effective against the powers of this world.
As the girl cast her magic, Satoru could see clearly through his Six Eyes that many special particles in the surrounding air were converging toward her palm, eventually forming the shape of ice. The mechanics of how the magic operated appeared vividly before him.
This was not just the first time Subaru had seen magic; it was Satoru's first time as well.
"Ding-dong! Wrong answer. Not a magician, but a Spirit User," the cat named Puck corrected, waving a paw.
"Alright, now hand over the insignia. As long as I get it back, I won't pursue this further."
The silver-haired girl spoke coolly, staring straight at Felt.
This time, Satoru and Subaru moved in perfect sync, stepping aside to the left and right. They leaned against the alley walls, leaving Felt completely exposed behind them.
Felt's teeth itched with rage at the sight. But facing the magic in the girl's hand and her current inability to move, Felt quickly made a calculation.
From the perspective of "minimizing losses": if she returned it now, the worst that would happen was a failed mission and losing that fat reward. But if she didn't return it... once that magic hit her while she was defenseless, she'd end up returning it anyway, and she might get hurt. Not only would she be in pain, but she might have to spend even more money on treatment, and resting would interfere with her time to make more money...
Weighing the pros and cons, Felt finally, resentfully, pulled the insignia—which hadn't even gotten warm yet—from her pocket and tossed it toward the little cat in the air.
"Take it back!" she shouted unwillingly.
Puck flew nimbly through the air, caught the insignia in his arms, and flew back to the silver-haired girl.
"Lia."
The girl took the insignia and inspected it carefully. When she saw the light glow on the insignia, she nodded to confirm it was the right one and let out a complete sigh of relief.
"This is it."
"Phew, good thing we found it. Otherwise, it would have been a real headache, meow."