The Twelve Trials Starting from Zero

"Of course, that's enough. But speaking of which, why was Su Qisang so certain from the beginning that I might encounter danger?"

"It's simple. For Natsuki-san, who is weak, has an unusual appearance, and lacks common sense, this other world, where the law of the jungle is even more blatant, is full of danger."

*Thud* As if pierced by a sharp arrow, Natsuki Subaru clutched his chest, his face contorted with pain, and said, "Lord Su Qi, I have deeply felt the cruel reality of my own weakness and incompetence. Please don't emphasize it any further; spare my fragile and pure heart."

Su Qi glanced at him, didn't reply, and continued, "That's fine, but what's more dangerous is that when he can't even protect himself, Mr. Natsuki Subaru, who overestimates himself, still wants to become Princess Satella's knight and actively throws himself into dangerous events... He has no self-awareness, and that's the most dangerous thing."

“Hmm…” Natsuki Subaru was genuinely stung by the harsh reality. He paused for a moment, then habitually began to use witty remarks to cover up his embarrassment. “Suki-san is surprisingly sharp-tongued, but for men, even sharp-tonguedness can’t be a cute point.”

"As a straight man, I don't need anything like 'cuteness'."

Su Qi glanced at him, a look that made the latter feel a sense of shame at being completely seen through, but he calmly said, "I am just providing Natsuki-san with some subjective judgments based on my perspective as the newly appointed security consultant."

Su Qi sees himself as a mentor in this world, and the training began from their first encounter, and is now gradually entering a more transparent phase.

“I understand…” Natsuki Subaru slowly exhaled, his emotions, which had just risen slightly due to Su Qi’s help, calmed down again. “Su Qi-san was also doing this for my own good. I’m very sorry for causing you trouble, but… I still have to repay Satella’s kindness.”

"The current trouble is still within my acceptable range... So how do you plan to help her?"

“If we’re going to help Satella, we naturally need to find the thief, but the problem is, where do we even begin to look…”

As he spoke, he subconsciously turned his gaze to Su Qi. After their conversation, he knew very well that the latter's thinking was more comprehensive and insightful than his own, so he subconsciously sought the latter's opinion.

"Su Qisang, what do you think we should do?"

However, Su Qi shook his head slightly and said, "It's not us, it's you. I just said that if you want to pursue Miss Satella, you need to work hard yourself, right? I don't owe Miss Satella any favors, so you need to overcome these difficulties yourself."

That's right, it's me who owes the favor, not Su Qisang. Giving me the opportunity to incur a favor is already more than generous; to ask someone else to repay a debt is simply too selfish…

Although he understood this principle, Natsuki Subaru was still inevitably disappointed. Moreover, he was unfamiliar with the place and how was he supposed to find a thief he had only met once?

"Replace questioning with thinking."

At this moment, Su Qi spoke again: "Nothing exists in isolation. Everyone has their own place, and different places have different environments. Different environments have different rules. Where there are rules, there are clues to follow... Carefully recall all the information you currently know, and use it as a basis to deduce something. Perhaps you can come up with something."

Natsuki Subaru was slightly taken aback, and then subconsciously began to think silently as he had suggested.

Her tattered clothes and her identity as a thief suggest a poor living situation; the stolen goods are valuable, indicating she needs to dispose of the stolen property, and it won't be easy to sell them. In this medieval fantasy world, where is it most likely that someone so young would be forced into thievery...?

“The slums.” Subaru Natsuki’s eyes lit up, and he said excitedly, “That thief is very likely from the slums. If we go there, we might be able to find clues about her.”

Su Qi remained noncommittal, simply asking calmly, "Are you sure slums exist? Do you know where they are? Do you know how many people live there? Have you thought about how to find her? Do you know if the people in the slums are xenophobic, and whether it would be dangerous to easily enter such a place?"

"Uh... well... I have absolutely no idea. I'm just guessing based on my impressions from novels and games, since we're new here too. But we can go out on the street and ask around. As for safety... I understand now why Su Qisang said I might be in danger."

"If I want to find that thief, I'll probably have to deal with the people in the slums, and even some thugs, right? And I'm powerless to protect myself, so going to a place like that would be like a lamb entering a tiger's den."

He still didn't judge whether Natsuki Subaru's idea was right or wrong, but continued, "Who do you want to ask? Who could possibly know this information? And will they seriously answer our questions if we are dressed strangely and have unknown origins? What if we are misled?"

Subaru Natsuki pondered for a moment and said, "Besides Satella and Puck, the only person we've had a normal conversation with is that fruit shop owner. If he's a local, he should know the location of the slums. The best way to get people to answer our questions properly is to offer them a reward, but we're penniless. We can only offer them the little supplies we have left, or we can sincerely beg them. If we ask a few more people, some kind souls will answer us, and we can verify each other's answers."

Have you thought it through?

“I’ve roughly figured it out…” He nodded, then said gratefully, “Thank you, Su Qisang. If it weren’t for your reminder, I might have been running around like a headless fly.”

"I didn't help you with anything; it was all the result of your own thinking."

"Su Qisang, because you're a man, even if you're arrogant, it won't be a cute point. But right now I have a high level of affection for Su Qisang, so if I put in a little more effort, maybe I can set a flag for him."

"If it stands up, then break it." Su Qi smiled kindly. "I mean break it in a physical sense. Would you like to try?"

Click!

As if hearing the sound of something precious about him being broken, Natsuki Subaru shuddered and immediately said, "Please forgive me for refusing! And because of a slip of the tongue, I regret to inform Su Qi-san that my FLAG event has failed."

"Oh, that's wonderful," Su Qi said in a cold voice.

Afterward, the two, having identified their target, began their mission, exchanging playful banter and deepening their relationship, gradually omitting the honorifics they used to address each other. Because they were very close to the alley, it wasn't long before they arrived once again at the fruit stand where they had first traveled through time.

"It's you two penniless bums again." Upon seeing the two arrive, the fruit stall owner named Cardmon said irritably, "Get out of the way and don't block the other customers from buying things."

"Hey, hey, don't be so cold, uncle." Natsuki Subaru acted as if he hadn't heard him and said shamelessly, "Anyway, there aren't any customers coming right now. How about you use your free time to help us with a little something? As the saying goes, helping others is the source of happiness. If you can help us, we will sincerely thank you, uncle."

"And the compensation?"

"Sorry, although I'm completely different now than before, we're still broke."

"So what? What do you want me to say to two penniless guys?"

"Um, actually we'd like to know if there are slums around here? If so, where are they? Could you point us in the right direction?"

"Enough! Can't you understand human language? I have no interest in wasting my time helping you. Get out of here."

Seeing the atmosphere getting increasingly tense, and the boss about to kick people out, Su Qi, who had been watching from the sidelines, shook his head and finally said, "Alright, Subaru, you really are a conversational genius. Let the professionals handle this."

From now on, chapters will likely be around 4,000 words each...

Chapter Nine: I'm quite confident in my sharp tongue.

"Boss, thank you for helping me with the directions earlier, otherwise I wouldn't have been able to find this guy so quickly."

Signaling Subaru to step aside, Su Qi stepped forward, first expressing his gratitude for what had happened earlier, which eased Cadmon's tense expression slightly, but...

"Hmph, if you want to thank me, leave now and don't disturb my business. Besides, empty words of thanks are too insincere; it doesn't matter whether you say thank you or not."

"Of course, although we are indeed penniless, we can still offer a small token of our gratitude."

After saying that, he asked Natsuki Subaru for a bag of potato chips and handed it to Cadmon.

"What is this?" Looking at the strange, colorful packaging, the latter did not take it, his face filled with suspicion.

You can think of our local specialty snacks like this.

Su Qi took the potato chips back, tore open the packaging, took out one and handed it to Subaru Natsuki, indicating that he should eat it.

Although the latter had doubts, she still trusted Su Qi's judgment and ate it as instructed. She chewed it and felt the aroma and crispy texture of the potato chips spreading in her mouth. She said with some reluctance, "Hmm, potato chips are still so delicious. It's a pity that every one I eat is one less."

Ignoring his sentiments, Su Qi handed the potato chips to Cadmon again, revealing a genuinely kind smile. "See, there's no poison in them. How about the boss tries one?"

The latter did not make a move, but merely looked at Su Qi, whose expression was sincere and whose eyes held no trace of gloom, still somewhat hesitant.

Su Qi remained calm and simply smiled, "The boss has a daughter, right? This kind of snack is very popular with children where we're from. Your daughter will be very happy to have it."

Cadmon's expression changed slightly, and he asked warily, "How did you know I have a daughter?"

Su Qi raised his chin slightly and looked behind him. "There are some toys behind your counter, some new and some old, so they're probably not just temporarily stored there. It's probably because children often come here to play. Also, the toys are mostly dolls and paper flowers, things that girls would like, so it's more likely that they belong to your daughter... I'm just making a simple guess."

Cadmon glanced back and, as expected, breathed a sigh of relief. "You're a sharp-eyed kid, quick-witted and better at speaking than that clueless brat over there. You might just become a big shot someday."

"How about you do me a small favor first? A shrewd businessman would invest like that, wouldn't he?"

As Su Qi spoke, he handed the potato chips in his hand forward a little further.

"I was just being polite. Becoming a big shot isn't that simple."

While Cadmon was blunt, he took a potato chip from the bag, paused, carefully put it in his mouth, and chewed it.

The next moment, his eyes lit up, and he grabbed the potato chips in his hand, suppressing the urge to eat another one. With a straight face, he nodded and said, "Hmm, very... good, this stuff is indeed quite delicious. For my lovely daughter, I'll accept your gift. But let me make it clear first, this is just a gift for the previous gift, it doesn't mean I've accepted any payment or will help you."

"Hey, that's our last precious bag of potato chips..."

Natsuki Subaru was slightly indignant and was about to speak when Su Qi stopped him with a gesture. "Indeed, it's a reasonable judgment, but we are currently penniless and the matter we need to handle is very important and urgent. So, could you please ask the owner to let us owe you some money first? We can come back to this stall to buy more Rikka when we have the money soon, how about that?"

Kadmon didn't refuse immediately, but looked the two men over and asked with some doubt, "Will you pay back the debt?"

“Although we’re broke right now, as long as we can survive, we can always earn money. The boss doesn’t think we’re going to starve to death on the streets, does he? As for the issue of credit… rest assured, I, Nicholas Zos, have always treated people with sincerity. There’s absolutely no way I would renege on the payment for a mere dozen or so pieces of fruit.”

Seeing the other party's seemingly sincere appearance, he hesitated for a while, looked at the potato chips in his hand, and finally said, "Fine, I'll let you owe me this once."

As she spoke, she glanced at Subaru Natsuki and said, "Although that guy doesn't seem very reliable, at least you don't look like someone who would starve to death on the streets."

So, am I being told I'm destined to be unemployed and starve on the streets? It's a little annoying, but surprisingly hard to argue with...

The latter wanted to complain, but remembering her status as a shut-in who had dropped out of school, and recalling Su Qi's instructions earlier, she ultimately kept quiet.

Afterwards, the two successfully learned the location of the slums from Cadmon.

“Great, that’s a good start. Keep up the momentum, then ask other people to verify the information and get the items back.”

On his way away from the fruit stand, feeling himself moving closer to his goal, towards Satella, Natsuki Subaru was invigorated.

However, Su Qi suddenly poured cold water on him, saying, "Mao, you made eleven mistakes during and after the negotiations just now."

"Huh!?" Subaru Natsuki looked surprised. "I know my communication skills are terrible, but are they really that bad?"

Su Qi neither spoke harshly nor offered gentle comfort, but simply said in a calm tone:

"A rash action is a mistake; it's about negotiating with the other party without thinking about how to communicate properly."

The second mistake was failing to make appropriate preparations based on the identity and potential needs of the other party's businessmen.

Being rude is wrong in three ways; even though you need someone's help, you don't adjust your attitude.

Fourth mistake: Being slow to notice. The other party is clearly becoming increasingly dissatisfied with you, but you fail to realize it immediately and continue talking to yourself.

The fifth mistake was making a slip of the tongue. In another instance, someone asked for a favor but failed to choose appropriate wording. They not only touched on the other person's sore spots but also used flippant language and imposed their own views on the other person.

Making a hasty decision is a mistake; the negotiations have barely begun before he's revealed his hand.

Impulsive mistake number seven: interrupting during my negotiations with the other party could have a negative impact.

Misjudgment eight: Which is more important, potato chips or intelligence? The priorities should be clearly distinguished.

Being short-sighted leads to nine mistakes; during negotiations, one lacks strategy and simply demands the other party's help.

He made ten mistakes due to oversight, and after negotiations, he did not deeply realize his errors.

"Laziness is eleven out of ten faults. Even though negotiations failed, there seems to be no subjective willingness to reflect or improve... Subaru, do you think my judgments are wrong?"

"..."

Natsuki Subaru's face darkened, and he remained silent. Upon careful reflection, he realized that while the other party's judgment was overly strict and nitpicky, it wasn't entirely wrong. He admitted that he had indeed made many mistakes during that brief negotiation.

"Perhaps my judgment is too harsh, but Subaru... you want to become Miss Satella's knight, right? You want to be someone worthy of her, right? Then is it okay not to be so strict with yourself?"

That's right, I want to become Satella's knight, to become someone worthy of her, and even to become a hero so that she looks at me with admiration and respect... But right now I'm just an incompetent otaku. How can I succeed without working hard and being strict with myself?

"I understand." He took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing the irritation and displeasure that welled up from being directly criticized for his mistake. Then he stopped and bowed deeply to Su Qi. "Su Qi, thank you for your criticism. Please be stricter with me in the future and point out my mistakes without mercy."

Su Qi also stopped, seemingly quite interested, and said, "Do you really want me to do this? I'm quite confident in my sharp tongue; if I go all out, I might make you wish you were dead."

Natsuki Subaru's heart skipped a beat, but he still gritted his teeth and said, "No problem! Please scold me as much as you like! You can even use corporal punishment! I know very well how incompetent and lazy I am. Whenever I encounter difficulties, I always think of running away. But this time I don't want to run away again, so it would be best if Su Qi-san could urge me on!"

“Strange…” Su Qi scrutinized him, his eyes flickering. “Does love really have such a powerful magic? Can just one meeting give someone such strong motivation?”

Because he could read other people's emotions, he knew the person before him was serious and resolute, but that was precisely why he found it hard to understand. Could a mere moment of love at first sight, being saved once, truly give someone the intense obsession to overcome countless tragic deaths just to bring happiness to that person?