Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
As Emilia spoke, an ice sphere crystallized in her palm and shot forward, targeting Lillian who was darting along the walls of the alley and climbing to the rooftops. The sphere hit the walls with a sharp sound, but its speed was too slow to catch the swiftly moving Lillian. In the blink of an eye, he was already atop the roof.
Looking down briefly before vanishing, Lillian left Emilia stomping her foot in frustration, frowning. "Puck, his physical abilities are incredible. If we let him go…"
Just then, a blonde girl accidentally bumped into Emilia from behind. She looked embarrassed. "Sorry! I didn't mean to."
"Ah… it's fine…" Emilia didn't mind. The girl smiled and ran off. But after a moment, Emilia noticed something: her waist pouch's zipper had opened without her realizing it, and her Dragon Emblem had disappeared!
"That girl!!" she realized instantly, her face turning pale. That emblem… she had to get it back! For the moment, she completely abandoned chasing Lillian and pursued the blonde girl full speed.
As she ran out of the alley, Lillian's figure appeared again atop the rooftops. He had been hiding all along, watching to see if Emilia would chase him. Unexpectedly, he witnessed the moment Felt stole her emblem. Naturally, Emilia could no longer chase him—losing the emblem would disqualify her from participating in the Royal Selection.
"So, the story will still unfold as before, with Subaru intervening to retrieve the emblem?"
Lillian didn't know. Given Emilia's speed, she probably couldn't catch up. With Felt's [Wind Blessing], she wouldn't easily succeed.
This confirmed for him that the plot had only just begun, but he felt it wasn't his problem.
Lillian didn't particularly want to get involved. For one thing, Emilia already had a poor impression of him. If he appeared in front of her again, she would probably attack immediately… What a "coincidental" difficulty, starting his first day in this world in subtle opposition to the heroine. He suspected that the twisted goddess might have deliberately adjusted the "causality" to make trouble easier for him.
Speaking of causality, Lillian also knew this world had various prophecies—such as the "Gospels" held by the Archbishops, which could foretell the future. Would there be a prophecy concerning his appearance?
Subaru himself had a prophecy already… Lillian was different. Though Subaru was a traveler, he seemed intricately connected to this world before traveling. Lillian, on the other hand, was purely a newcomer. Perhaps there was a difference.
For now, he put that aside. Having collected the money, he headed straight to a clothing store.
Emilia was right—his vigilantism was essentially wrong. But unless the system was perfect, there would always be discrepancies between procedural justice and actual justice. Lillian wasn't a saint or a devil—just a regular person pursuing a goal with some boundaries. As for Emilia, he didn't dislike her. If more people were like her, the world might improve—but that was unlikely.
At the clothing store, he bought a plain black linen outfit popular in this country. Once changed, he blended into the streets much better.
"That's better."
Now he wouldn't be mistaken for a foreigner and could move about more discreetly. Unlike Subaru, who stubbornly kept his tracksuit on, he didn't want attention drawn to him. He wasn't immune to a little "look at me, I'm different" desire, after all.
The clothing was inexpensive, leaving him with some money. He grabbed a quick meal, then found a blacksmith shop.
"Yo, young man, looking to buy something?"
The owner, a minotaur-like demi-human, smiled warmly. His tall frame bent thirty degrees to meet Lillian's eyes. He gestured to the iron racks in the back. "All of these are my creations. Take a look."
"Thanks." Lillian nodded, examining the weapons. He wanted a sword. Having trained with a greatsword in the SAO for over half a year, he had mastered many techniques. He wanted to continue using them here. But there was a problem: swords in this world were fragile.
Unlike in games, where swords rarely break, a real iron sword had limited durability. A minor magic attack could shatter it, let alone clashing with other quality blades. Lillian, poor and unknown here, couldn't obtain a masterfully crafted sword.
He couldn't exactly ask Reinhard, the world's sword saint, for a fine blade. Even if Reinhard were kind, he would likely see Lillian as insane.
So, Lillian simply chose a standard one-handed sword. Wearing it at his waist made him look like a typical young mercenary—easy to blend in. After all, there were countless young people dressed similarly in the city.
With his remaining money, he could barely afford dinner and lodging later. The small-time thugs had spent their meager funds already, so Lillian needed to handle this promptly.
Exiting the shop, he stopped as his eyes fell on a fruit stall… more precisely, a boy staring at an apple in front of the stall.
"First save point, huh."
Lillian noticed the sign, just like a confused Subaru. He couldn't read the language yet—he could speak and listen, but couldn't write or read, which was a critical problem. To convincingly play a local, he needed literacy. He could make excuses like "poor family, no education," but the keen-eyed would notice.
"Well, I don't have a Ram to teach me…" Lillian thought. He had no intention of interfering with Subaru. Doing so would be extremely dangerous—Subaru carried the [Jealous Witch] inside him. Lillian didn't dare provoke it. As for Subaru himself, Lillian wasn't afraid.
Simple logic: he could kill Subaru with one finger. Even if Subaru resurrected endlessly, it wouldn't matter—Lillian's memories were unaffected, at least prior ones.
This meant other characters wouldn't remember him after "Return by Death," but Lillian retained knowledge from before arriving. Even if Subaru's Return affected him, it would only apply from the save point to death.
Still, Lillian frowned. He didn't want to forget anything. Subaru hadn't died yet, so he couldn't verify the effect.
Should he kill him once as a test? Lillian considered mischievously. With his power, it would be effortless—the boy wouldn't even see the attacker. Zero information would be gained. Even if his timeline rewound, he'd gain valuable insight.
…but better not.
Such action would certainly draw the Witch's ire. And if the plot didn't change, Subaru would surely die several times that day anyway.
Lillian stopped and looked ahead. Subaru had left the fruit stall, heading toward a nearby alley. Lillian quietly followed.
"If I were summoned to another world, why hasn't the beautiful girl summoning me appeared yet?"
Subaru grumbled, displeased, checking his phone. "Signal's out. No good starter gear either… no Excalibur, or full Strength stat or anything…"
He spotted the three thugs lying on the ground and perked up, excited. "Oh? Triggered a side quest? After helping them, will they say, 'Thanks for your help, here's our heirloom' or something?"
Approaching them, he said, "Uh…" before the white-haired thug on the ground grabbed his ankle.
"You bastard…" The thug gritted his teeth. The others shouted as they rose.
"Finally back on my feet, that hurt!"
"That bastard! Don't let me see him again!"
Subaru, seeing their anger, felt this wasn't the "side quest" he imagined. He forced a laugh. "Uh, sorry, I'll leave…"
"Where are you going?" The three surrounded him. White Hair glared. "We just got robbed, you know!"
"R-Robbed?" Subaru said. "I can help you find the guards!"
"Guards? What's that?" The short one rubbed his hands, eyeing Subaru's plastic bag. "That guy took our money. You're paying for it!"
"Uh??"
Subaru froze in confusion. Lillian, observing from the rooftops, frowned: coincidence… or does this world have plot correction?