"Huh!"
Subaru froze the moment he saw Caelus, because the other person's attire clearly did not fit the style of this fantasy world. That outfit was clearly a modern trench coat. Could it be that this was a fellow countryman?!
"What are you staring at, kid? You didn't give the signal, just kept pounding on the door and shouting nonstop. Don't you know the rules?"
Old Man Rom looked at the dazed kid and shouted, clearly looking displeased.
"Ah!"
Subaru came back to his senses. He looked at the corpse that had been lying lifeless on the ground not long ago, now casually talking in front of him, and felt that everything that had happened before was as absurd as a dream.
Subaru remembered that previously, there had only been two corpses in this house. One was this large, middle-aged to elderly man in front of him, and the other was the yellow-haired girl who had stolen Satella's insignia.
Then who was this guy currently sitting by the table, whose style was clearly different?
Considering the current situation, night had turned into day, he was standing in front of the apple stall again in a daze, and the dead person was alive and kicking in front of him... Could it be that everything that had happened was just him awakening the ability to foresee the future, and then seeing a possible future?
"What on earth are you dazing off for?"
"Oh! Um, I'm here to find Felt."
"If you're here to make a commission, wait a while. Felt isn't here right now. Or, if you want to commission something, just tell me directly, and I'll pass it on. Of course, you'll need to leave some money as an advance payment first."
"Uh, will this money work?"
Subaru, feeling slightly embarrassed, pulled a few coins from his pocket. Old Man Rom examined them closely, shook his head, and said, "Judging by the engravings and the material of these coins, they certainly count as currency, but this money is useless here."
Subaru thought for a moment, then pulled out his flip phone. He used the phone's functions, recording audio, video, and taking pictures, to claim it was a magical artifact, and tried to sell it.
Caelus just watched quietly from the side.
The two haggled for a long time, and finally, Old Man Rom was willing to pay with Holy Gold Coins, but he did not have that much money on hand right now and would need to wait until the magical artifact was sold before he could split the money.
At this moment, Felt burst in and greeted them with a smile.
"Oh! Felt, you're back just in time. We have a guest here who says he's looking for you."
"Huh! What do you want with me, mister? I don't recall ever seeing you before."
"I know about the thing you stole from a half-elf girl. Give it to me, and I can pay for it."
"That won't work. This is my payment for a job, and the person offering it is very generous. I don't think you can afford it."
"I'm selling a magical artifact here, you know. I don't believe for a second that the thing you stole is more expensive than a magical artifact."
"Really? Old Man Rom?"
"Hmm, it's indeed very novel. A magical artifact that ordinary people can use, selling it to those nobles will definitely make a lot of money."
Caelus was ignored by everyone as if he did not exist. They were all enthusiastically discussing the price. Without realizing it, the sky had changed, and it was dusk. Just then, the door was pushed open again, and a person cloaked in a cape walked in.
"This is the client. If you want that insignia, talk to her."
When the cloaked figure who entered heard that someone else also wanted to purchase that insignia, they removed the hood concealing their face, revealing a bewitchingly alluring and eerie countenance.
Just as the people in the warehouse were intending to see what this client had to say, to their surprise, accompanied by a flash of blade light, the person moved to kill without hesitation.
In the split second that person made their move, accompanied by the sound of freezing, the woman was frozen in place. A large number of ice crystals appeared on her body, and then, as if encased in crystal, she stood frozen on the spot.
Only then did Felt react. The curved blade held in the woman's hand was mere centimeters from her body. Given the woman's speed, if it had been even a split second later, Felt suspected she would have been gutted.
"Caelus! Thanks to you this time. If you hadn't been here, we would probably all be finished!"
Old Man Rom was also breaking out in a cold sweat at this moment.
"Huh? Old Man Rom, when did you get to know such a formidable character? How come I didn't know?"
"Well, that was a long time ago. Caelus and I haven't seen each other for many years. Don't look at him as being so young now. In reality, he might be older than me. At least since I first met him, I remember him always looking like this."
"Wow! So how did you two meet? I never knew you had such a powerful friend. If we had his help, we could probably leave the slums very soon!"
"That's a long story. Let's wait until later for me to tell you. Right now, we should figure out what exactly is going on. Who exactly did you steal that item from?"
"It was just some silver-haired half-elf."
"Silver-haired and a half-elf! That sounds like trouble. It seems we've likely been used as pawns. I suspect this woman isn't the mastermind either, but was sent out to carry out the mission just the same, specifically to silence us and ensure the trail ends with us. If not for Caelus's help, we would likely be dead by now."
Caelus looked at the woman he had frozen. The effect was completely beyond his expectations. He had originally intended to use the power of memory to freeze the opponent's actions, but perhaps within the opponent's memories, there was a deep obsession with cold and frost, so it naturally formed a type of ice created from memory that sealed her up.
"It seems she is also a person with a story."
Just as Caelus was wondering whether to enter her memories to take a look, Subaru leaned in and said with a hint of nervousness, "Big brother, forgive my boldness, but may I ask where you come from?"
"I don't have a fixed residence. I am just a wandering Traveler."
"Could it be that you are also a reincarnator?"
"Yes, but I am different from you. I do not come from your world."
"Wow! So this world actually has many reincarnators! Looking at your performance just now, you must be a powerful mage. Freezing someone in an instant, that's truly amazing. Unlike me, I look much weaker, and my ability seems to be of the precognition type, with absolutely no direct combat capability."
"No, your true ability is actually Death..."
In the second before Caelus could finish his sentence, he once again felt a thick black fog suddenly appear. This time, a hand reached out from the black fog, tightly gripped Subaru's heart, and crushed it.
Caelus watched as Subaru, who had suffered a fatal attack right in front of him in an instant, entered a dying state. His consciousness was about to fade, and confusion and pain still lingered in his eyes.
He crouched down and, within the few seconds before time reversed, said, "Sorry, it seems your ability cannot be known by outsiders. In these last few seconds of consciousness, remember this: your ability is to rewind time after death."
The black fog completely obscured everything in the world, and the torrent of time struck again. When everything returned to brightness, Caelus looked up at the sun in the sky.
"The sun is on the clock again. How hard it works."
(To be continued.)
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◇ One bonus chapter will be released for every 200 Power Stones.
◇ You can read the ahead chapter on Pat if you're interested: p-atreon.c-om/Blownleaves (Just remove the hyphen to access normally.)