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Tsurugi no Joou to Rakuin no Ko:Volume 1 Chapter 8

2013-05-03T08:26:17Z

89.77.202.20: /* Chapter 8 – Distorted Blade of Poison */

==Chapter 8 – Distorted Blade of Poison==

The sword Minerva was using was so heavy that it would need two men to barely raise it. It was three times wider than ordinary swords, more than two times thicker as well. To the unskilled, it might be even heavier than the armor.

“Carla told me that this sword is necessary for my style of fighting, and made me hold it ever since I was taught how to fight.” Minerva told Chris while sitting on her horse.

If Minerva’s sword was hung at a side of the saddle, the horse would be unable to move due to the inability to balance itself. Because of that, she would always carry the sword on her back, in the dead center.

“What kind of teacher is this…… Actually making a little girl hold a sword like this.”

Chris was taken aback at her words. However, whenever the name Carla came up in their conversation, the swordsmen riding in the same row as them would cringe. It seemed like this Master Carla was indeed a rather famous person. Just knowing that this person was Gilberto and Minerva’s teacher in swordsmanship was scary enough; it was just plain stunning that this person’s way of teaching was so unequaled as well.

“Is there anything of the matter?” Minerva puffed out her cheeks and said in displeasure: “Carla once said that the weight one person is able to bear is limited. To be able to deal with every attack of the enemy, instead of dividing the weight to armor, it would be better to focus on a mobile part to raise the reaction speed and efficiency. Apart from that, attack power will increase as well.”

Regarding Minerva’s statement, Chris thought that such verbal theories were rather ridiculous. However, from his personal experience, Minerva’s power of foresight and her arm strength did indeed prove such a theory.

“However, even Carla was shocked when I could really wave this sword……” Minerva said.

''— Then wasn’t that just baseless conjecture?''

Such a thought couldn’t help but surface in Chris’s mind when he heard Minerva’s statement.

“In any case, that is the only way of battling that I am familiar with, and the only way I know how to fight.”

While saying that, Minerva turned around to look at the long line of soldiers behind her. That moment, the Zaccarieco streets and castle that they left behind were already hidden behind a cliff, and couldn’t be seen anymore.

“It’s better to be attacked on a battlefield that in the city, since people will definitely be involved in that case.” Minerva said.

Chris understood that it was the reason she requested the troops to set out immediately, and nodded in agreement. But when he recalled that it was a future that she had seen, he couldn’t help but feel downcast.

Some time before, Chris heard Minerva’s proclamation that a unit skilled in the use of hidden weapons would attack, and thus suggested to increase the protection of the city, facing the enemies’ units at the same time. Hearing that, Minerva stared at Francesca without even turning around, seemingly agreeing with his opinions completely. On the other hand, Francesca could only shrug while giving the order to send the troops. However, Chris thought, Minerva had no other choice but to escape from the pursuit of death on battlefields filled with death, such a life was just too miserable.

“What kind of look is that? Are you unhappy with the advanced schedule of going out for battle?”

“Eh? Ah, no, you’ve misunderstood.”

Minerva’s question when she noticed Chris looking at her from a side made him hurriedly turn his gaze to the sword on his belt.

“Meena, though that kiddo came back to the crowded streets with us after so much, he never went out to have fun at all. I think he might even be happy that we’re going out for battle early!”

The surrounding knights heard Minerva’s question and gradually interrupted one after another.

“I’ll say that he reaaaaaally likes fighting, doesn’t he? This guy’s personality is seriously shocking, just like you, Meena!”

“That’s right, we went through so much tricking him to a whorehouse, and he actually ran away just like that!”

“What, y- you went to a place like that!” As Minerva cried out, she suddenly kicked Chris’s stirrup.

“I only went as far as the door, and I wasn’t late to the practice after that either!” Chris explained hurriedly.

“It’s not the problem of being late or not!” Minerva retorted.

“Eh? Then…… What problem would that be?”

“That—” Minerva froze all of a sudden when Chris asked her with his eyes wide, and hurriedly looked away while pursing her lips. The surrounding men smiled wryly at the same time.

“You are my, my tool. How can you loiter around as you wish without my permission……”

Without turning back, Minerva spoke of the heart of the problem she mentioned in a soft voice.

“Ah…… S- Sorry.”

Chris clenched his fists and placed it on his knees— ''T- That’s right. I am Minerva’s umbrella, and I exist to shield her from the hurricane of her death omens.''

“I’m sorry. I won’t go half a step away from your side anymore.”

“I- I said— that’s not the problem!”

“Eh…… That’s not the problem either?”

“Ah, well…… A- Actually it’s not wrong…… But……”

Minerva still didn’t turn back, speaking in garbled, stumbling sentences. From the start, her feet on the stirrup kept fidgeting, causing even the horses to keep looking back at her with puzzled gazes. There were even some knights who were not able to hold in their mirth anymore.

That moment, Chris urged his horse closer and spoke in a low voice by Minerva’s ear:

“Say, did you manage to identify what kind of people were in the assassination unit?”

Minerva shook her head and said quietly: “…… No. I did not even hear sounds of friction of the armor on them. I know that their movements do not emit any noise, but I am still unable to grasp their traits. Excluding the images that surface in my mind in battles, I usually see only blurry images, and am unable to see them clearly.”

''— So that’s why Minerva have higher chances of surviving only in battlefields.'' Chris bit his lip.

Just at that moment, the leader of the main force raised a small flag and waved it slightly. It was the signal of the investigation unit’s return.

In the evening, the Order of the Silver Egg arrived at a position close to a military unit of the Celestial Kingdom that was about to move north. Francesca ordered the troops to hide in the forest and await further orders, bringing a small unit including Chris to a place where they could have unobscured vision.

“What is the matter with those people’s strongholds? We’ve never seen such a model before, have we?” One of the officers asked Francesca, who was at his side, when he saw a crude fort towering over the place on a cliff some distance away from a patch of barren ground.

“That seems to be a military fortress remodeled from an old monastery. However, this fortress is truly positioned at a troublesome geographical location.”

Francesca spread a map and muttered as the map fluttered continually in the wind.

Chris knew that quite a few forts of the Principality army were remodeled in this way. As the residents living at the edge of the Queen’s land were suppressed due to their belief in the Palkai gods, many of the churches and monasteries fell into disuse when the believers and clergymen moved away.

“I think they’re probably staying there to wait for the other units originally stationed in the south.”

An old knight expressed his views in a low voice. Francesca nodded as well.

“I’d say that this unit has about two thousand men. But how do we stop them from joining the other units, thus expanding their power?” Another asked.

“Let’s burn their rations.” The young commander voiced out her view after she heard the problem: “We’ll feint a direct attack, dispatching another unit to attack from below the cliff.”

“From below the cliff? How do we do that? Isn’t that impossible?”

“A monastery like this should have an opening for them to throw out the trash on the side of the wall facing the cliff— Chris, you probably came across quite a lot of similar forts on the battlefields before this, didn’t you? Have you seen such a design?”

Francesca suddenly turned her attention to Chris, causing him to be startled, but he still managed to nod.

“But the opening probably isn’t being used anymore— Over there, can you see it? There are a few piles of white things at the bottom of the cliff.”

Chris heard Francesca’s explanation, narrowing his eyes to look at the direction of her pointing finger at the same time— Indeed, there were a few piles of white objects accumulated at a patch of ground where it was less steep. And those were……

“Human bones.”

When Francesca finished her words, the surrounding soldiers’ eyes widened in shock. The reason they had such a reaction was not because they found out that those were human bones. Soldiers risking their lives on the battlefields would not feel surprised at such a small matter. The thing that stood out to them was the fact that the bones still had human shape.

“This seems to be a punishment commonly used by the early Palkai church. They would spread a special type of oil on the bodies of sinners, allow the oil to solidify on their bodies, and then let them bake to death on execution sites as tributes to their gods. The soldiers of the Celestials find these things revolting, so they don’t usually approach this opening.”

“We don’t feel like approaching either……”

“Feels like we’ll be cursed by the heavens if we touch these corpses……”

After the valiant soldiers heard Francesca’s explanation, each of their faces clouded over. In fact, the awe for the Palkai gods was still deeply rooted in the hearts of the people of the Seven Countries of the East. After seeing that, Francesca shrugged and smiled disdainfully, “I have no other choice but to choose impious men to join this assault unit then.”

When night fell, the Order of the Silver Egg split into two units. The unit in charge of the feint walked out of the forest under Francesca’s instructions while holding torches, and would definitely be quickly noticed by the troops stationed in the fort.

“…… S- So after a while, w- we’ll be heading out!”

In the darkness, Paola turned around and said to the other unit. The assault unit that she was leading consisted of around two hundred men. Chris was in the unit as well. He turned around to look at the soldiers behind him. They were all younger people. Apart from Chris, he could see Minerva with her red hair as well, and even Gilberto was in the assault unit. Looking from this perspective, the personal guard formed by Francesca was just mere formality. She was just keeping people she liked at her side. When there was truly a need for it, all of these people could be relinquished of their duty to protect their mistress, joining the frontline for battle.

“During reconnaissance, Gilberto made some markings at the base of the cliff. So…… So…… Although we might not be able to see these markings at night, we can follow Gilberto up the cliff. Five men will go up first and let the rope down. At most, two people can be on the rope together at one time, and if you’re noticed by the enemy in the process…… Um…… Even if you’re halfway up, you must still come down and disperse, leaving the people who succeeded to battle alone. But it’s fine even if the enemy provisions aren’t completely burnt down. Do remember not to go in too deep.”

Paola stumbled over the battle plan in one go, and then heaved a deep sigh after pressing her hand on her forehead. However, when she gave the order in the end, she still forcibly straightened her body, crying out with high morale: “May fortune of war smile upon us! Everyone, let us depart!”

They passed through the darkness and the wilderness as the night wind blew. That moment, Chris suddenly remembered something and asked Minerva in a low voice, “…… Say, was it during nighttime that you saw yourself attacked?”

“Didn’t I tell you that I don’t know already!” Minerva answered with a look of displeasure: “You are extremely annoying! My power of foresight do not allow me to see each and every future.”

“Okay……”

Chris answered in a voice so weak that it was almost swallowed by the roaring wind.

“But speaking of which, Minerva, from the scene that you saw, shouldn’t you have stayed in Zaccariesco instead? Then wouldn’t the future of you being ambushed have changed?”

“I do not know that either.” Minerva narrowed her eyes in the chilly wind, “After that night, I did not see any images of a new future anymore, but actually, the movements of fate will not be easily changed, that is my conclusion formed from my past experiences. I can only dodge blades and arrows that are supposed to end my life by a fraction. Excluding these methods, fate is generally set in stone. And if there are truly other ways to change destiny, one day……”

''One day……'' Minerva’s unspoken words were buried in the sounds of military boots trudging forwards in the wilderness. And then……

“— T- That is why!” Minerva suddenly raised her voice and spoke to Chris: “That is why you must always be at my side! Because you exist only for this, do you hear me!”

“Ah, y- yes, I know.”

“You are only a shield protecting me from arrows. That is all. Do you really understand?”

“I understand. But isn’t that a given?”

“W- what do you mean that’s a given? So y- you said all those perplexing things while knowing your own part?!”

“Why are you suddenly getting all worked up again……”

“Hey, Meena, be quiet!” “We’re in a battle right now!” “You lovebirds can have your fight when we get back!”

The others voiced out reproof, and Gilberto even bumped Minerva with the hilt of his sword, making Minerva stay silent with her mouth pursed.

''— Can I really protect her?''

Chris gripped the hilt of the longsword on his waist, sinking into deep thought.

''— The beast is currently sleeping, and if Minerva’s death omens appear at this moment……''

''— Am I truly able to stop fate of death from descending on her?''

As their feet continued to move, they gradually got closer to the cliff. In the darkness, the monastery was a pitch-black shadow, blocking the brilliance of the starry skies. Chris attempted to hide the unease in his heart.

The bones covered in solidified oil under the cliff seemed to have turned weathered. For some reason, the oil that had undergone changes was still able to reflect the starlight, presenting a translucent appearance, shocking everyone who approached into silence.

Shouts came from the fort as faint maroon of fire tinged the dark night skies. It seemed like the feint unit led by Francesca had already started their attack.

Paola gave the order to start the battle, only touching her comrades’ shoulders instead of using words. Gilberto took the lead in climbing the cliff, his armor of black fading slowly and soundlessly on the rocks in the pitch-black darkness. His movements were so quick that he did not even seem like he was climbing with his hands at all. Four men, including Chris, hurried to catch up as well. Similar to Gilberto, they were carrying heavy rope ladders on their back as well. Everyone was shocked when they saw the shadow trailing down from above and his silent rock-climbing movements and speed.

When they saw the opening after they climbed up the cliff, they couldn’t help but feel that instead of saying that it was a part of the monastery, it was actually more like an ordinary cave, where nothing could be seen inside due to the darkness. However, the cave was extremely large, and had a considerable amount of dust and dirt accumulated in it.

Driving the piles to let down the rope ladder was the job that required the most concentration in this battle, as they would be easily discovered by the enemy if they made any sound by driving the piles too forcefully. After the first group of soldiers mounted the cliff and let down the rope ladder, the second group led by Minerva carried the oil up. When the unit of ten holding torches climbed up, a disturbance of friction between large rocks rang at their surroundings. Gilberto and Chris noticed the abnormal situation immediately, and quickly dashed towards the light source shining on them from behind, their blades viciously stabbing into the bodies of their enemies with the momentum of their sprint at the very instant they unsheathed their swords. Two young soldiers of the Celestial Kingdom who were holding torches at a window near the trash disposal opening fell while spitting out blood. Then, Gilberto jumped into the monastery from the window, silencing the other soldier who was about to sound a warning with just one attack.

''— Can the battle at this stage continue? Or should we stop the soldiers below the cliff from climbing up?'' In the darkness, Chris and Gilberto exchanged opinions with their gazes in an instant. However, they heard footsteps approaching from the steep, meandering pathway.

“Hey! There’s someone there!” “And someone already fell!” “Hurry up and tell the Captain!” “Ahhhhhhhhh!”

Gilberto hurriedly returned to the trash disposal opening and made a gesture downwards.

“Stop, stop! Those on the rope ladder, get down immediately!”

Paola’s calls rang from below the cliff.

Light from a few torches appeared in the tunnel, illuminating the silhouettes of the Order’s assault unit. Less than fifty men managed to climb up. They walked behind Gilberto, the luminescence of their torches lighting up the whole tunnel as they continued to move.

“Enemies—“

“What, this side as well?!”

They cut the throat of a soldier whose face was full of fear and continued moving, leaving behind the corpse on the ground. The run-down monastery gave people the feeling that it was swaying slightly. They even felt that the aged rock building might collapse at any time.

“Ignore the small fries. We’re heading directly to the basement!”

In the lead, Gilberto called while suppressing his voice. After all, if an enemy soldier appeared at the side of the cramped pathway, their group would be cut off from the middle. That was definitely a bad thing. Chris suddenly saw a suit of armor of the Celestial Kingdom flit past his eyes as he passed a branching pathway, and instinctively cut down the soldier’s arm in an instant. The spear was thrown backwards along with the severed limb and collided with the wall, creating small sparks.

The basement where Gilberto made the markings when he went inside for scouting was indeed the place where the military provisions were stored. The five sentinels stationed there were instantly silenced by the members of the Order. They hurriedly poured oil on the hill of wooden crates and sacks, setting fire on them after that. A thick, charred smell and soot permeated the high-ceilinged vault as the blazing flames lit up the large stone pillars supporting the ceiling and the alcoves on the wall.

Chris looked around, thinking that the place might not be a storeroom, but an underground cemetery. And since the place was so extensive, even the large-scale fire was unable to illuminate the end of space.

“Gilberto, enemies are approaching!”

“Hey, this place should be a dead end, so are we going back to the corridor to meet them head-on?”

Hearing the cries of his subordinates at the entrance, Gilberto immediately answered: “You guys move the hoard of provisions to the entrance and burn them. Get some time for us— Minerva! Head inside. The wall there looks unstable. Break it down and we can get out from there.”

“What sort of digging tool are you treating my sword as!”

Minerva grumbled instantly, but still ran towards the end of the room supported by stone pillars with her large sword on her back. However, she stopped halfway along the way. Chris saw the silhouettes behind a pillar, lit up by the fire. Minerva was planning to bring down the person along with the pillar when a cry suddenly rang at that moment:

“— Wait a minute, please wait!”

After that, a silhouette ran out from behind the pillar. The radiance of the torches shone on a young female garbed in gray. Bands were bound on her head and her waist, showing her identity of a nun who devoted herself to the Palkai gods. Behind her, quite a few women wearing similar clothing and also three bald men wearing black priest robes walked out together.

“Identify yourselves!”

Minerva raised the sword in her hands and interrogated the people who suddenly appeared. Chris quickly ran to Minerva’s side as well. The other members of the Order followed behind them, making the nuns hide behind the pillar in fear once again. One of the men wearing a priest’s robe hurriedly waved his hands as he explained: “O- Our identity is as you can see…… We were chased out from Santuario, and were planning to seek refuge with the churches in Zaccaria. We arrived at this monastery halfway through your journey, but met the troops of the Celestial Kingdom here. In the end, we were locked in this place!”

Chris glanced at Gilberto, who had just arrived.

“Have the women remove the veils on their faces first.”

Gilberto said coolly. Chris perceived the suspicion of these people’s identity from his words. The nuns exchanged gazes and timidly removed the veils covering their faces after a few quiet words with the priests.

The priests’ heads were extremely smooth as medication was used so their hair dropped off since youth. That was proof that they had dedicated themselves to the gods.

“Fine. I believe you.”

Gilberto said as though he was sighing. Minerva and the other knights lowered their swords gradually as well.

“You can escape with us, but if you encounter any trouble, we definitely won’t help out. We cannot guarantee the safety of your lives as well. It is best for you to resign yourself to the danger of getting dragged into death at any time when you are near us.”

Hearing Gilberto’s proclamation, the priests nodded one by one. That moment, Chris suddenly felt a sense of dissonance from them. From the time these people arrived at the end of the spacious basement along with Minerva until he saw her break down the wall before their eyes, that feeling did not disappear.

''— These people feel strange.''

Chris did not doubt their identity as clergymen, but he felt that the presence given off by them was somewhat ominous.

''— Yes, it’s the eyes……'' Chris noticed that their gazes were not focused on Gilberto when he questioned them, but instead, they flitted between the other people, lingering especially on Minerva. They kept looking at Minerva, as though they were scheming something.

''— Am I just thinking too much?''

All of a sudden, the flames behind them swayed tremendously, causing the shadows on the stone pillars to shake vigorously as well— the flow of air had changed due to the large hole that was drilled open on the wall.

“You can leave first. I shall stay to bring up the rear.”

After Minerva said that, the other members ran outside together. Various sounds caused by the blazing fire resounded behind them: sounds of wooden crates collapsing, windows cracking and roars of pursuing soldiers. There was a space outside the hole opened by Minerva, its low ceiling giving people a sense of heavy oppression. Numerous neatly arranged depressions could be seen on both sides of the walls.

''— A bone storage room?''

It was the moment when everyone ran into the bone storage room with only Chris and Minerva staying to bring up the rear that Chris’ suspicion towards the clergymen solidified into a concrete sense of danger. After the priests and nuns watched Minerva break down the wall from afar, they stealthily approached while suppressing their footsteps. After that, murderous aura made Chris swing the longsword in his hands subconsciously.

Shrill noise of metallic collision rang, a noise that would even make people feel that their skulls were resonating with the sound waves. One of the nuns had taken out a dagger as fine as a needle from her robe. Her dagger met Chris’ longsword at a position that almost pressed onto Minerva’s side abdomen. The two forces clashed and trembled as they frantically tried to overcome each other.

Minerva reacted like a lightning bolt. Lashing out with her large sword while jumping backwards, she managed to sever the left arm of a priest who was attacking with a dagger.

“— You!”

“Meena! What’s wrong!” “What happened?”

“Never mind this! Go!”

Minerva shouted while swinging her sword, cutting apart the abdomens of two nuns at one go. Countless thin daggers fell to the ground from the bloodstained clothes. Chris was surrounded by three nuns. He evaded the first attack that flashed past his neck and severed his opponent’s arm, then quickly ran to Minerva’s side after ramming the nun with the other two.

That moment, those people had already let go of their masks of priests and nuns, surrounding Chris and Minerva while holding their blades.

''— Why are these people doing this? Haven’t they already devoted themselves to the gods?''

Their gazes were chilling. No matter how many wounds their comrades suffered, pure killing intent still burned in the eyes of those who remained.

“They’re from the Tuekay shrines.”

Minerva sighed in a low voice. Chris noticed as well that although those people were clergymen, they did not serve the Palkai gods.

“From the Celestial Kingdom……?”

While muttering to himself, Chris looked around at the assassins. That moment, one of them smirked and spoke.

“How fortuitous that we are able to meet Lady Minerva here. Now we do not need to go as far as Zaccaria. This is truly thanks to the Tuekay Goddess.”

''— Is it them? Were they the ones who brought the signs of death on Minerva?''

''— Assassins from the Celestial Kingdom? ''

The priest did not continue his words. Chris sensed that if they turned around to reaffirm their escape route, they would definitely be killed on that instant. In addition, if Minerva’s prediction was accurate, their blades were all poisoned.

''— Besides that, not one of these people are afraid of death as well.''

''— This…....''

''Must be finished in an instant.'' Chris passed the thought to Minerva through contact with her shoulders.

“AHHHHHHHHHH!”

The two of them emanated a presence so imposing that even the faraway fire shook from its mighty force. On the instant their shoulders parted, a battle of blades immediately started. A priest took a blow from Minerva’s sword, causing his body to collide with a stone pillar and debris to be showered from the ceiling as well.

As the poisoned blade flitted past the tip of Chris’ hair, he dashed between two nuns, lacerating one of the nuns’ shoulders. She fell even before she was able to cry out. Through the blood and froth that was spat out, Chris saw the other nun rushing at him with a swing of her dagger while stepping on her comrade’s corpse. The blade slashed past the side of his ear and hit his shoulder armor. The blow made him stumble and fall, his back colliding vigorously with the ground. He raised his longsword with his back on the ground, and pierced through his opponent’s throat the moment before she was able to cut him. Her crazed eyes nearly pressed onto Chris’s two eyes.

“Chris!”

As the call resounded, Chris’ view was obstructed by a thick blade. Minerva’s large sword was thrust into the abdomen of the nun on Chris. The nun with the cut abdomen rose. And even though she was already unable to hold her dagger properly, she still staggered towards Minerva.

That moment, the presence of another person suddenly appeared behind the nun. Chris swallowed and hurriedly stood up from the ground. A large amount of blood suddenly spurted from the nun’s throat once again. Without warning, a sword pierced through her coat. It belonged to the last priest standing behind her. He pierced through the nun’s body with his sword.

''— This guy actually used his comrade’s blood as smokescreen!''

Minerva frowned as she tried to push the nun’s corpse away. However, the blade piercing through the corpse, stained in blood and poison, was already thrust in her direction.

Chris subconsciously caught hold of the sword’s tip. He was not in a position to feel the pain of his palm being pierced through, but instead, he frantically pushed the sword back with his arm and fingers. However, even if his reflexes were one step faster, he was still unable to block the force of his opponent’s force, causing the tip of the blade to slide on Minerva’s upper arm, carving out a trail of blood. When Chris saw the blood that trickled from the wound, his consciousness was almost sucked into the purplish-black blood in his despair.

''— I…… got Minerva hurt.''

''— The poison……''

All of a sudden, the cold, hard object was pulled away from his palm, and at the same time, pain as though his arm was viciously twisted a few rounds sank into his body. He bit his lip, and frantically held onto the pain in his body and the flickering red flames at the edge of his vision to maintain his fading consciousness.

He forced his eyes open, and saw that the heads of the priest and nun had already fallen, and were rolling on the ground.

''— Minerva? Where is Minerva?''

Just the action of turning his head made him feel as though the blood in his body was frothing, causing his consciousness to spin in a daze. With her sword, Minerva leant against the wall with the hole she created. The wound on her arm looked swollen with its purple color. Other members of the Order were already standing at her side.

“Hey, Chris! You—“

Chris pushed away his comrades who ran towards him, and forcedly stood up, walking towards Minerva.

“…… Idiot…… D- Don’t keep moving…… Compared to mine, the poison in your body is……”

With his eyes half-closed, he ignored Minerva’s urges, and pulled out the dagger on his chest, slitting open Minerva’s swollen wound.

“Chris! You—“ “This isn’t the time to do something like this, the enemy is almost upon us!”

The surrounding soldiers gave wail-like calls, but Chris was already unable to hear them anymore. He gouged out the flesh around Minerva’s wound and pressed his lips on Minerva’s wound. As he sucked and spat out blood, only the image of thousands of purple entangling snakes writhing around could be seen in his eyes. After that, his limbs gradually lost all feeling due to numbness as well.

Chris and Minerva finally collapsed at the same time. Across Minerva’s pale face, Chris saw the scene of military provisions being engulfed in fire. The blazing fire looked extremely like flames licking the darkness.

''— Once again, everything…… is burnt down……''

''— Blood flowing like a river……''

''— Even though I vowed to protect Minerva……''

''— Why can’t my hand move?''

''— I’ve already done my best to kill so many……''

''— But she still has to die in the end?''

''— Just like mother…… She still has to die huh……''

''— Just like mother……''

''— Like mother……''

*

Chris felt pain as though his whole body was burnt by fire. The dark ceiling seemed to swirl continuously in his eyes.

For a number of times, he felt someone force-feed hay and bitter liquid into his mouth. A sense of nausea churned his stomach, making him feel like throwing up, but he was unable to turn around.

“Will he live through this?” “I don’t know.” “Any other person would have died long ago.”

“He’s my cute personal guard, of course I won’t let him die!”

“Chris, you idiot, if you die just like this, I definitely won’t forgive you!”

Sounds rang by his ears. To Chris it was as if they were churning his hearing, making him feel pain. His body continued to emit heat, causing his consciousness to blur, and he was unable to distinguish who said what. His half-closed eyelids obstructed his vision. That moment, what he could see was like a sleek, long crescent moon. However, in this sleek, long moon that was like a crescent moon, he could clearly see a girl. The girl had long hair that was a red as vivid as flames. With black eyes moist with tears, she kept calling his name.

''— Mother?''

Chris caught hold of the warmth on his palm and pleaded.

''— Mother, forgive me……''

''— Forgive me for being unable to save you……''

''— Mother……''

Chris felt like he was thrown into a hole leading to the center of the earth, or even a place deeper and darker than that, submerged in endless pain. He tried to catch hold of the rocky walls around him, but his fingers caught fire when they came in contact with the rocks, burning it all up until even the bones were burnt down.

“Mother—“

Chris returned to that night— The storeroom continued to burn in the crackling flames, with the bare roofs almost collapsing. The back of his mother caught fire, but her body had already lost the warmth that should be owned by a person, turning into a chilly corpse.

“Mother!”

He tightly held the other hand in his hand, and continued to call his mother. Hot tears burnt his cheeks, and at the same time, tortured his heart.

*

When he regained consciousness, the whole world was swaying slightly. The tremors continued to shake his foggy consciousness. After a while, he dimly realized that he was lying down somewhere.

When his vision recovered slightly, two faces came into his view. As his gaze was still unable to focus, he only knew that one of them was a bespectacled man, while the other was a woman with light brown hair.

“…… Chris? Can you hear me? Can you see?”

Paola raised her hand and waved it in front of Chris, and tried to prise Chris’ eyelid open. Chris pushed her hand away, trying to nod, but his neck was unable to move as though it was fixed with glue. He tried to speak, but then noticed a strange feeling stuck in his throat.

“Ahhh, wait a minute! Don’t breathe in, the medicine will jam in your throat if you do so!”

Nicolo extended his fingers into Chris’ throat, taking out a piece of wet, green object in the shape of a ball, probably herbal medicine, and then Paola disappeared from his view in a flash.

“Lady Fran! Chris woke up, Chris woke up!”

The words drifted away, leaving behind silence that gradually spread, and also sounds of clanking metallic collisions. He finally realized that he was lying in a horse cart carrying weapons. The reason he felt the whole world swaying was because the horse cart he was on was moving.

“If I grind your flesh and bone, selling them as medicine, it will surely net me a ton of cash.” Nicolo lazily straightened his feet and said as he smiled wryly: “What kind of body do you have there? I never saw many people who could still live after taking in so much poison.”

''— Poison……''

Chris sprang up abruptly. Numbness and pain spread throughout his whole body. He twisted his body, struggling to rid himself of the troublesome pain.

“Oh? Well aren’t you energetic. Can you walk already?” Nicolo asked.

“— Minerva!”

The raucous call cut through his parched throat, making him feel a pain as though his throat was being torn apart.

“…… Where’s Minerva? How is she? She hasn’t……”

Chris’ first reaction after he regained consciousness shocked Nicolo. After heaving a sigh, Nicolo pointed in the direction of bamboo baskets containing bows and arrows. Cloths were messily spread on the wooden floorboards of the horse cart, and a person with messy, red hair strewn on the cloth was lying there. Chris pushed away the surrounding weapons and crawled towards Minerva. There was barely any color of blood on Minerva’s face, but he could clearly see her chest rising slightly as she breathed.

“The two of you slept for two whole days. But actually, your condition should be far more serious than hers.”

Nicolo was still sitting at his original position as his voice spread into Chris’ ears from behind.

''— Two whole days? I slept for this long?''

“We’ve already passed by a hill. Since we can’t go back to Zaccariesco right now, we’re hurrying along at breakneck speed.”

After saying that, Nicolo told Chris that he would get water for him, and then clambered out from the horse cart. After a while, Minerva finally opened her eyes.

After their gazes met, Minerva turned away to look outside the horse cart. The low sun shone on the floorboards in the horse cart, dying the floorboards bright crimson— ''Is the sun setting? Or is it rising?'' No matter which it was, Chris felt that it was rather dazzling.

As he moved his eyes, thinking of looking at the wound on Minerva’s arm, pain blossomed in his eyes as though thorns were growing in his eye sockets, but he could still barely see that the position near her elbow was wrapped with bandages. He couldn’t help but tightly clench his knees, “I’m sorry……”

“…… What are you sorry for?”

“I…… I nearly made you die……”

After hearing that, Minerva abruptly raised her body, but then fell onto Chris’ chest due to a sudden sense of dizziness. However, she still stretched out her hands and clenched Chris’ neck, “You!” The hands on his neck trembled continually, “Who told you to use such a reckless way— There isn’t any poison in my body anymore!”

Chris pushed Minerva away from him and took two steps backwards, raising his right hand at the same time. He removed the bandages wrapped on his right palm with his mouth.

“What are you doing!”

Minerva cried out as she stretched out a hand to stop him, but was pushed away by Chris. The strangely itchy wound was slowly closing. He even felt clotting blood beneath the wound trying to move.

“What are you doing! Hurry up and stop, idiot— Don’t move anymore!”

Minerva roughly wrapped the bandage back on Chris’ hand. After that, she grasped Chris’ hand.

“…… What I saw was an image of my hand being pierced through…..”

She turned her face away, so Chris could only feel the tremors in her voice and chin.

“I…… I never told you to change my fate with such a twisted way!”

''— But…… Was there any other way?''

“Why…… Why are you doing all this for me till this extent!”

''— Why? What do you mean why? It’s because you……''

''— Because you are my……''

“— Your mother is already dead!”

Minerva’s shouts caused the thing that was hidden in an old bone in Chris’ heart to shatter. His lips trembled slightly, and he gazed at Minerva’s face with a blank expression.

''— Mother? Why mention mother all of a sudden?''

“You kept calling for your mother!”

Chris swallowed in a daze— That’s right, he remembered. He did indeed have a memory of calling his mother continually. He caught hold of someone’s— probably Minerva’s— hand, gripping it tightly as he called his mother.

“No matter how much you call out for her, she won’t come back to life anymore, because you’ve already eaten her up!”

''— Yes. I was unable to save my mother…… But if it was Minerva—''

“It was the same for me, I could not save my mother as well!”

Minerva suddenly screamed in agitation. That caused Chris to swallow in his ignorance.

''— Minerva’s……. Mother?''

That moment, Minerva suddenly realized that she had let slip something that should not have been said, and hurriedly covered her mouth.

“This is of no concern to you. You had best pretend you never heard anything.” She said.

“But……”

“Never mind this! From now on, just continue to stay by my side…… But you…… You, you were actually so reckless……”

Minerva entangled her five fingers between Chris’ fingers on his hurt palm, and gripped his hand forcefully.

“Idiot…… What can you get even if you did so…… Treating me as a substitute since you were unable to protect your mother……”

Her words viciously tore open Chris’ wounds. He was unable to answer. He could not do anything except for holding Minerva’s hand tightly.

The speed of the horse cart had slowed slightly. A silhouette climbed in from the back of the cart. Minerva pounded on a wooden crate by Chris and curled up at a corner of the cart.

Through the tidily arranged spears, Chris saw Francesca’s golden hair. She silently walked towards Chris, squatted by his side, stretched out a hand and extended it towards his bare chest after flipping open his shirt.

“Ack, no, Fran, my wound isn’t there!”

Flustered, Chris tried to escape, but the pain from the wound on his hand caused him to be able to crawl away, and was thus unable to run away.

“Fran! Y- You’re at it again!” With her face flushed, Minerva quickly separated the two.

“It’s your fault, as you made me think Chris can’t be saved anymore with the dark expressions on your faces.” Francesca said.

“I’m still alive, isn’t it clear from a look!”

Chris pushed away Francesca’s hand and rearranged his collar.

“I already heard it from Gil.” With a serene expression, Francesca sat down on a bamboo basket, “He said that you were attacked by a group of priests and nuns, is that right?”

Minerva glanced at Chris and nodded. Francesca pressed her hand on her forehead and sighed deeply, “I was too careless. I had thought that the future you foresaw would not be realized. I never thought that you would actually be hurt with a poisoned blade by a group of people from god knows where……”

“I never thought you would actually underestimate my oracular powers.”

“It’s because you’re still seeing futures of Chris killing you. Isn’t that right?”

Francesca said, making Minerva and Chris to hold their breath.

''— That’s right, Minerva predicted a future of me killing her with this longsword as well, and these two futures……''

The death omens that appeared on Minerva were contradictory.

“If so, compared with being killed by those people of unknown origins, it’s more possible for me to be killed in Chris’ hands huh……” Minerva’s voice contained visibly strong anger. However, Francesca unexpectedly nodded in affirmative without hesitation.

“Why!”

Ignoring Minerva’s questions, Francesca’s gaze locked on to Chris.

''I wouldn’t kill her no matter what!'' Chris was angry at himself for being unable to say those words.

''— She must know something! This person— Francesca definitely knows a lot of key answers.'' Chris sensed this from her usual attitude, while Francesca finally turned away at this moment and shook her head as she said: “Because I can’t think of anyone who would want to take Minerva’s life. After all, if these people were from the Celestial Kingdom, Meena would have long foreseen their identity. However, I do not think that the Consort Prospects would wish to dispose of Minerva.”

“…… Those people…… were shrine maidens and priests serving the Tuekay Goddess.”

Minerva’s answer shocked Francesca into silence. After that she nodded weakly:

“So, the powers among the Celestials are divided into separate struggles, huh……”

''— Is Minerva anyhow related to the Celestials?'' Chris was about to ask the question when he was instantly intimidated by Francesca’s powerful glare, making him swallow his question.

From the gaze, Chris perceived that Francesca meant that he should ask when Minerva was willing to tell. When Francesca reaffirmed that Chris did not have any intention of speaking, she continued to speak her heartfelt words:

“…… I’ll say, actually I really want to bring you two back to Zaccariesco and lock you in my room, putting on so many elegant silk robes that you won’t be able to move, so that my two cute personal guards won’t be hurt on the battlefield anymore. I really don’t want to see you like this.”

“Fran, please.”

Minerva couldn’t help but sigh while puffing out her cheeks.

“I joined the Order for war. As long as I am still able to hold the sword, I will stay on the battlefield forever.”

“That’s true. When your injuries heal, I’ll have to count on you to fight in the next battle as well.” Francesca said with a sigh. Although he was unsure how much was in jest, and how much was serious, Chris still caught hold of the longsword lent to him by Gilberto and nodded in agreement at his liege lord.

“Say, where are we headed to right now? And what happened to the fort?”

Minerva pressed her head with her hands, trying to clear the sense of dizziness that did not stop from the moment she awoke, saying to Francesca at the same time.

“Our attack successfully delayed their meeting with their units. And yesterday, we finally grasped battle plans of the Celestial Army as well. They are dispatching troops in four different directions, and are slowly moving in the direction of Medoccia.”

Medoccia. It was the Eastern country nearest to Santuario, and the shelter of the Archbishop who escaped from a siege on the main Church.

“How many men do they have?” Minerva asked.

“About thirty thousand.”

Francesca’s answer made Chris shudder. After all, even the battle with Princinopolis used only twenty thousand men, but the numbers of men this time far outnumbered that number.

“If we don’t make it, Medoccia will probably fall in three days.”

Francesca’s tone was calm and tranquil, like that of a person in charge of stamping documents.

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| Back to [[Tsurugi_no_Joou_to_Rakuin_no_Ko:Volume_1_Chapter_7|Chapter 7]]
| Return to [[Tsurugi_no_Joou_no_Rakuin_no_Ko|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[Tsurugi_no_Joou_to_Rakuin_no_Ko:Volume_1_Chapter_9|Chapter 9]]
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Tsurugi no Joou to Rakuin no Ko:Volume 1 Chapter 6

2013-05-02T18:00:10Z

89.77.202.20: /* Chapter 6 – Battle of Retreat */

==Chapter 6 – Battle of Retreat==

Francesca laid the map down on the floorboards in the tent, while Gilberto placed two cobblestones on the map to represent the two units of the enemy. One of them departed from the river valley Chris and Minerva escaped from, and were heading towards the camp of the Order. On the other hand, the other unit was assaulting from northwest.

"The numbers and branches of the army units?"

"Two thousand cavalry each."

Hearing Gilberto's report, Chris couldn't help but clench his fists in tension— ''Four thousand cavalry, it's four times the people here...... And judging by their speed, we don't have time to escape at all......''

"That's quite the big parade of an attack. Perhaps they already found out that their adversaries are we, of the Order of the Silver Egg?"

"Most probably, I think it's because I scattered too much money in the enemy camp. My apologies for this."

"Never mind that. It's thanks to you doing that that Meena is safe."

After saying that, Francesca walked out of the military camp. She loudly gave the order for the soldiers outside to dismantle the tents, and then sounds of metallic greaves bumping together rang outside the tent. Chris gripped his arms, gazing downwards at his fingertips while listening to the sounds by his ears.

—''The enemy is here...... Is it because I am here?''

The night of the new moon had just passed. He thought, the assault by the enemy might be the misfortune brought on by the influence remaining in the beast in him as well.

Francesca continued to give orders to the soldiers outside, causing the hustle outside to become louder and louder. That moment, Gilberto approached Minerva's side, while Minerva turned around with a look of guilt.

"When did you return?" Gilberto asked.

"......Yesterday."

"I don't care what kind of future you saw, but your actions were already that of one abandoning the Order, running away."

Minerva's hands gripped her arms, causing Chris to almost speak out in defense of Minerva.

"I know. I am willing to accept punishment." However, as though she was deliberately stopping his action, Minerva hurriedly answered in a low voice.

"I do not have the authority to punish you, but I wish to know what Lady Fran said." Gilberto said.

"I said, I'm letting the issue rest if she hands over the beautiful beast." Francesca returned to the camp right that moment, and continued with an exceptionally bright voice: "Alright, it's about time for us to retreat."

However, Gilberto ignored her and pointed at Chris while saying: "Why is this person in Lady Fran's military tent? Isn't he an enemy? We should kill him directly instead."

"Wait a minute! Gilberto, he's my slave, I brought him back—"

"Since he looks so cute, I'm enlisting him in my personal guard— Gil, teach him the rules here properly."

"I have heard about this from the soldiers outside. Please don't make a joke like this! Do you know what kind of a person he is? I heard that it's all thanks to this person alone that the army of the Celestial Kingdom brought down Dekrecht and Raborazia!"

"I know that." Francesca answered nonchalantly. Chris froze in her nonchalance.

"Do you know why I said that it's all thanks to 'this person alone' as well?" Gilberto asked with his eyes narrowed.

"Of course. It's because the Celestial army devised plans of sneaking inside more than ten times, and all of the squad members died with only him being the survivor, isn't that right?"

—''She actually knows even these details......''

''—Then were the efforts I did to hide my identity all for naught?''

Even though they did not know that the reason was the Brand of the Beast on Chris, he already knew what would occur to his surroundings. The fact before his eyes caused Chris to have the illusion of his feet sinking into icy water, drowning gradually. This caused him to avert his gaze from the other three.

"The 'Star Eater' is but a myth. Even Gil believes in that?" Francesca asked.

"This is not a myth. It is possible for even ordinary people to do things like this. In other words, it is very much possible for him to kill his other comrades so that he could escape alone."

Gilberto's words caused a fire to flare in Chris's mind. He subconsciously stood up to grab Gilberto. However, without even flinching, Gilberto rapidly caught hold of the hilt of the sword on his belt. Then, Chris had the illusion of the world splitting into two. In a flash of light, his hand was caught. His body shook reflexively in surprise. On the other hand, Gilberto's half-unsheathed sword was pressed down as well, causing his facial muscles to convulse.

Red hair fluttered between Chris and Gilberto, falling on the slender shoulders of its red-haired owner.

"Stop it, idiot!"

Minerva was the one who grabbed Chris's hand. They failed to notice her movements due to her startling speed, as though it was a wall of flames that rose and fixed itself between Chris and Gilberto.

"You as well, Gilberto—"

Minerva caught hold of Gilberto and scolded him. However, Chris's consciousness sank into a daze, and was already unable to hear what Minerva was saying.

''—What...... What did I extend my hands for just now......''

''—He said that I killed my comrades so that I could escape alone...... Did I move to deny his statement? Or was it to explain that all of that was done by the beast in my heart?''

''—But wasn't that the truth? As he said, I...... I......''

"Look, the pair of beastly eyes." Gilberto put away his longsword and took a step back, glaring furiously at Chris at the same time, "Are you planning to keep a ferocious beast like this by Lady Fran's side?"

"He is my property!" Ignoring Gilberto's words, Minerva determinedly approached him, "I will suppress him, and will not allow him to make trouble. Let me feed him and watch over him! If anything happens, I will kill him. I will not allow him to harm anyone in the Order!"

"Why are you doing this for him until this extent? Didn't you just meet him on the battlefield a few days ago?"

"As for the reason...... I cannot say."

Minerva's head drooped when she answered. Chris bit his lips without saying anything as well.

"But don't get things wrong. This person is just my tool. I'm keeping him by my side because there is something that cannot be accomplished without him. That's all. There's no other reason."

Just at that moment, flustered footsteps rang outside the tent, and someone ran inside.

"Lady Fran, I-I heard that I will be the one to hold the flag later on. Is that true!"

Chris turned around, and saw that it was Paola, the female medic that he had met before. She was startled by the tense atmosphere in the tent, and her body leaning forward shrunk back.

"Ah...... S-Sorry......"

"It's fine, Paola. Come on in." Francesca waved at Paola, "The units of ten must depart first. You shall be the leader of the main force." While saying that, she removed the Silver Hen flag from a post, draping it on Paola's shoulders like a cape.

"M-Me?" Paola said in shock.

"If the beauties are staying to bring up the rear, how will the men in the team think of running away? Hurry up and go." Francesca said.

"Lady Fran, you're not guiding the units?" Gilberto asked after hearing that.

"I shall bring up the rear. If the general flees first when the squad is retreating, both the enemy and our people would make a joke out of it."

Her words caused Chris's eyes to widen. His eyes flitted between Francesca and Gilberto.

''—The commander bringing up the rear?''

Chris had never heard of such a thing. What surprised him more was the fact that Gilberto and Minerva sighed deeply and nodded, as though they weren't planning to raise objections at all.

"E-Excuse me......" Paola, who had just received the team flag, turned around and asked: "Speaking of which, there's another member in the guard, right? T-Then, why don't we celebrate Chris's arrival after this?"

"Hurry up and go. I shall give my all to guard Lady Fran's life, and I will send her back to the camp safely even if I have to sacrifice my own life." To that, Gilberto merely answered coldly.

"N-No. I mean, everyone must safely—"

Before finishing her words, the soldiers outside were already calling Paola's name. She looked at the other people in the military tent with her large watery eyes, and immediately turned around to walk out of the tent.

"Almost everyone in the main force retreated!"

Nicolo shouted in the strong night gust. Chris thought back on the camp stationed with troops some time before while looking at the tents abandoned by the troops in the deserted camp illuminated by the campfire.

"Sigh, my blankets and sheets were really expensive...... I will have to buy new ones now, how troublesome......"

Nicolo sighed, but his tone did not sound all that sorry.

''—So the troops are retreating directly, abandoning the camp equipment?''

Even so, under pursuit by cavalry, they would still be caught up with sooner or later. Chris pondered if it would be more feasible to face the attack with a formation before the camp, turning around to look at Francesca's calm face at the same time.

"We are now a unit running away from battle in loss. I don't want my cute soldiers to make unnecessary sacrifices for a meaningless battle."

As though she saw through Chris's thoughts, Francesca explained with a smile.

At that moment, only troops of about a hundred, including Chris and the members of the personal guard, were left at the camp, while sounds of hoof beats could already be heard from afar. It seemed like the cavalry was getting near.

"Raise the fires— Quick!"

Under Francesca's orders, the soldiers scattered towards various spots in the camp.

''—Raise the fires? Ah, I see! Doing so can indeed hide the fact that the main force has already retreated......''

''—If so, is she planning to raise a few more campfires, making the enemy think that our troops are still stationed here?''

That moment, firelight could already be seen beyond the horizons. As Gilberto had described, two units of cavalry had been dispatched to attack them.

''—But isn't this just a trick to deceive children? If they find out that the whole camp has already retreated, and change target to the main force led by Paola won't the whole Order be finished?''

"It's about time for us to hide as well— Sigh, I real don't feel like fighting...... Everyone, don't let the enemy get near me!"

While speaking, Nicolo hurriedly stuffed medical equipment into a bag of cloth.

''—Why is the military doctor staying to bring up the rear......'' Nicolo seemed to have seen through Chris's look of surprise. He leisurely gave Chris the thumbs up and pointed at his chest while saying:

"Think about it, what if people get injured while I'm not here?"

His words caused Chris to be dumbstruck— ''Even if people get injured on the battlefield, how would there be time for him to deal with it......''

"And Paola isn't right here as well. When Captain or Meena gets hurt, it's an opportunity of the lifetime for me to treat them!"

A perverted smile surfaced on the military doctor's face as he spoke. Chris was not only dumbstruck, the words caused his head to spin as well.

"If things get so serious that I get hurt, you would have long died."

While Francesca interrupted, her golden hair fluttered in amusement.

"Actually, I don't think you should stay at all, Francesca." Chris couldn't help but interject behind her.

"Didn't I ask you to call me Fran? Besides, what does it matter if I stay? Gil, Meena and you will protect me, isn't that right?"

"You can't just say—"

"Stop fooling around and check out the condition of the weapons."

Gilberto spoke up in annoyance while Chris was about to rebuke her. Chris could only look at the longswords and spears arranged on the ground obediently.

The sword that Chris used before had shape and forging of the highest standard, but it was already broken by Minerva. In comparison, the weapon given to him would be mediocre no matter which one he was given.

''—Whatever, let's not think of meaningless things......''

Chris picked up a longsword and slid his fingers from the side to the tip of the blade.

''—Since Minerva is staying, I have no other choice but to do my best.''

However, the doubt that Chris was harboring was whether the sword in his hands had the power to protect the others. However, he shook his head in the end, casting off the meaningless doubts.

''—I am a beast, I have to devour the people approaching me, more ferociously than usual.''

''—I will bite them to death, and I only need to do that.''

"You stay by Lady Fran's side. Don't do anything suspicious, or I will cut your head down immediately!"

Gilberto's warning rang behind Chris. He stood up after nodding and exchanged gazes with Minerva at a side. That moment, she was holding her large sword by Francesca's side. A shadow of sorrow flitted through her eyes for a brief moment. However, with a gust of wind, her red hair behind her covered her face, causing Chris to be unable to see her face anymore.

A soldier raised the long flagpole, erecting the flag of the duke on the ground.

''—They aren't thinking of facing the assault at a place like this, are they? Shouldn't they at least keep some distance from the tents?''

"If you're worried about an attack of arrows, that's not a problem at all— and they're here."

Francesca's reminder jolted Chris back to his senses in surprise, and he immediately turned around to look at the source of the imposing hoof beats.

That moment, they could already hear the roars of the enemy troops, but the majestic shouts were almost hidden by the deafening clatter of four thousand galloping horses. A heavy rain of arrows fell, slashing through the night skies. Minerva dashed forward, her red hair turning into madly dancing flames. The military tent in front was already trampled by the enemy troops. Among the neighing of the horses, a hundred-odd cavalrymen appeared before them at the same time.

"It's the flag of Zaccaria!"

"It's the duke's daughter! Capture her!"

"The Vixen who raised a flag in rebellion—"

"We'll drag you back to Santuario, the Holy Capital, for public display!"

Minerva's small silhouette shot into the crowd of cavalry verbally abusing her comrades. The campfire nearby reflected a strong ray of light on the large sword she was holding, and in an instant, the vicious sword raised a torrent of wind, whirling dust, bent spears, soldiers' blood and severed horseheads into the air.

"—Wha?!" "What's wrong with this person!" "We must go on— Surround her, hurry!"

The blade that was swung around continuously like a windmill created a space that allowed only a strand of hair to pass through while Minerva's white sleeves danced in the darkness. The sword in her hand spun continually like a windmill. Armor flew in the air along with soldiers' flesh, terrifying the soldiers' horses into bouts of fearful neighs. The forward troops of the enemy had already fallen apart due to Minerva's attack.

"Blast, let's just ignore her. The enemy troops haven't even assembled a formation. Their main forces had probably ran away long ago. Hurry up and assemble to vanquish these enemies!"

The commander donning a helmet with long feathers shouted while raising his sword to point at Francesca, who was in front of him. The order raised the morale of his troops. They charged at their enemy with deafening horse beats once again. Minerva was kicked away by the horses of the enemy force. Her delicate body spun in the air.

"Minerva!"

Just when Chris was about to dash outwards, a hand caught hold of his shoulders, forcibly dragging him back.

"Don't act rashly. She is our sole vanguard."

It was Gilberto. His voice made Chris extremely uncomfortable, like a thorn was stabbing him.

"How can you say such a thing!"

"Defend the position that you are stationed at. She can deal with it even when she is alone!"

Gilberto was absolutely right. After Minerva was kicked into the air, she regained balance after a somersault. She even lowered her position when she reached the ground as well, effortlessly evading the spears stabbing her directly in front and from the side. After that, she raised the huge sword in her hands, and immediately cut a soldier into half along with his horse from below.

Chris gazed at Minerva. Even though he saw that the white skin on her face and shoulders was stained with her and the enemies' blood, he could only suppress the urge in his heart and squatted down in a stance with his sword raised— the tent at the side had already been lifted. A second and third wave of troops was charging towards them with torches held high.

"Vixen of Zaccaria, your useless subordinates already escaped. Look at how dumb they are, scattering everywhere holding torches. I'd say that you don't have any face to save anymore, so hurry up and yield!"

Chris blocked the spear lashed out by the first cavalryman who charged at him, stabbing his sword into his opponent's abdomen along the way. The sense of his sword swirling in flesh and blood came from his hand. With a wail, his assailant fell from his horse, his armor making clanking noises when they banged onto the ground. He had only just finished dealing with the attack when the next spear stabbed at him yet again. Chris waved his arm, barely blocking his opponent's attack with his wrist guard, and immediately took the chance to check out his comrades' battles.

The style of Gilberto's attacks was completely different from that of Minerva's, but there was an imposing presence that would make people shiver as well. He was teamed up on by quite a few cavalrymen, but his feet never shifted from their original position. The longsword in his hands slashed like flowing water, using momentum to block his adversaries' spears, then cut off each of the horses' front legs one slash after another. Francesca stood behind him, imperiously gazing upon the starry skies with her head raised.

''—Wait...... Her eyes are closed?''

''—What is she doing? Enemies are already at her side—''

''—Does she believe in Gilberto's capabilities to this extent?''

The enemy forces were all focused on Francesca alone. As she was to be caught alive, they did not use arrows. Apart from that, their assault pathways were limited at the camp where tents were erected everywhere. Was that a strategy to counter their attack? Chris was puzzled. Disregarding that fact, what was she planning to do next?

''—Most of their men had left. But we really can't hang on any longer......''

Chris gritted his teeth and decided not to think of the problems any more. The most important thing was that they were already drowning in a sea of enemy cavalry, and the missing Minerva. He must do his all to kill another person, killing more enemies to protect Minerva from harm, making this place into a sea of blood that could only tolerate corpses.

A blow at the edge of his sight from an enemy cavalryman scraped away Chris's shoulder armor. The impact caused him to kneel down on the ground. At the same time, his adversary immediately landed a kick on him as well. Chris spat out a mouthful of blood, and swung his sword to kill the enemy soldier with his body arched. His attack made the enemy cavalryman fall down with copious amounts of blood gushing out below his helmet. Then, as though he wanted to suppress Chris's presence, yet another cavalryman rushed forward to crash suddenly into Chris, directly charging at Francesca right after that. Francesca stood there proudly without moving, eyes closed and head facing the starry sky. Gilberto turned around as he realized the soldier's intent, piercing through the warhorse's throat with his sword, but was unable to stop the soldier from abandoning his spear for a sword, pouncing at Francesca from his horse— ''This is bad, we won't be able to make it......''

All of a sudden, the sound of a sharp object slashing through the air whistled. The soldier's body flew in the air, turning in a back somersault and landed before Chris. There were two sharp daggers buried in his face.

Right after that, the same killing aura flashed past Chris's head a few more times as he continued to kneel down on the ground. Then, he saw daggers buried in the eye sockets of a few heavily armored cavalry men as they fell one after another. Chris turned around in a tremor.

"Ack, idiot, don't look over here, I'll be noticed by the enemy!"

''—Nicolo?''

Chris saw a belt full of daggers tied to Nicolo's chest as he concealed himself at a shady spot at the edge of the tents, and he threw viciously like a whip once again.

Now, he finally understood the reason Nicolo stayed to bring up the rear with Francesca's personal guards. Each time his whip-like arms lashed out, another enemy soldier fell in piteous wails.

''—Isn't such accuracy a bit too scary? So he really isn't just any doctor......''

"Stop spacing out!"

Gilberto shouted at Chris. Chris finally came to his senses with a jolt, and raised his longsword high to meet the next attack from a halberd, turning in a circle to reach his opponent's side right after that. His gaze met that of the soldier's shortly. Seeing his profound eyes distorting in terror, he pierced through the enemy with his longsword, feeling through his blade the sense of metal piercing through armor, stabbing into flesh and blood.

Chris took a step backwards after pulling out his longsword, his elbow actually coming into contact with another unfamiliar arm that was hard as steel. He turned around abruptly and saw that Gilbert seemed to have long predicted his movements, and already retreated to Francesca's side. The eyes bright like marbles did not look clouded even when it was stained in the enemy's blood and dust from the ground.

"E-Everyone, scatter! Bring down the tents and let the unit surround them in a circle— Archers, stand out, quick!"

The enemy commander raised his voice to shout at the soldiers under his command in panic. After that, the smell of rust faded like ebbing tide. What was left on the battlefield was hills of corpses of horses and soldiers. Among them, a sole white flame that burnt, pressing close to the ground, was over there......

"—Minerva!"

At Chris's shout, the girl whose red hair was dyed in blood turned around and gave him an absent-minded smile— ''So beautiful......'' That thought surfaced in Chris's mind on instinct. The long hair behind Minerva that was like burning flames had a red stronger, more vibrant color than blood. Holding her huge sword, she stood on the hill of corpses without a hint of fear on her face. And such a radiant appearance—

''No! This shouldn't be so......'' A trace of sorrow surfaced on Chris's chest and gradually spread— ''This shouldn't be so, no...... If her fate is to stand in this rain of pain, attracting people's gaze with her radiance, then......

—''I will devour this fate!''

"The second wave of enemy troops has arrived."

Gilberto said in a low voice. At the same time, Minerva shifted her attention to the foes before her. Chris listened to the sounds that ran in the night— Clatter of hooves resounding in front, and sounds of a commotion approaching. It was the hoof beats of another troop of horses. It seemed like the pursuit unit left behind by the rear unit of the enemy troops had finally arrived.

Chris turned around to look at Francesca. Even with Gilberto's protection, the enemies' blades and blood still flashed past her skin on occasions, but she was still standing there without moving, with her eyes closed and head raised......

''—She's listening?''

Just when Chris realized the true meaning behind her appearance, the gold-haired girl radiating elegance had already opened her eyes.

"Start the fires!"

Under Francesca's orders, every single military tent that occupied their horizons in the camp suddenly burst into roaring flames. The blazing fire that almost burnt down the whole wilderness lit up the originally pitch-black night. Its tremendous presence caused Chris to take two steps back, bumping into Francesca as a result.

"Everyone, retreat!"

The young commander gave another sonorous order. At the same time, Minerva and Chris turned around instantly, preparing to flee the battlefield. Chris was slightly slower. After taking his first step, he hurriedly quickened his footsteps and gave chase. The soldiers holding torches at various locations in the camp assembled into an orderly unit after escaping from the burning tents and retreated from the battlefield. On the other hand, Nicolo joined their procession from a shady location at the edge of the tents as well, with his luggage on his back. In the process of retreating, wails and roars of anger as well as panicked whinnies of warhorses in the fire continually resounded in their ears.

''So the reason Francesca ordered the soldiers to prepare a fire was for this moment......'' Oil could be smelt from the remaining ashes that floated over from the burning tents. At the same time, Chris understood that Francesca stayed to use the flag of the Dukedom and she herself as bait, tempting the enemy forces into the fire that she designed. As long as the remaining people thought of a way to block the path of the enemy vanguards, they would be trapped when fires were set when their reinforcement arrives.

"—Captain, hurry up!"

Shouts of the soldiers rang in front of them. At the end of the camp, a few tents were lined up in an orderly manner. When the flaps were opened, quite a few horses could be seen inside.

" Don't let them escape! It's just a tactic of flames of such a degree, just to disperse our focus!"

The angry roars of the enemy made Chris turn around as he ran at the end of the processing. He saw posts of a few tents collapsing due to the tongues of flames licking at them, burying quite a few enemy soldiers. The purple flag was whirled into the sea of flames as the fire spread. However, under the orders of the enemy commander, quite a few arrows still shot out from a few military tents burning by Chris's side. It was the enemy forces. In the confusion, they managed to gather two lines of cavalry to pursue them.

" They're catching up!" Chris shouted.

"Just ignore them and run!" Gilberto couldn't help but say.

Wooden posts crackled in the sea of flames and fell. Hoof beats gradually approached from behind. However, the extent of wounds on Minerva and Gilberto prevented them from escaping at their maximum speed.

"We won't make it, huh......" Gilberto clicked his tongue while his expression twisted.

''—No, they'll catch up at this rate!''

''......If so— Why did I stay in the first place!''

Chris turned around as he came to a decision.

''—My sword, the sword of the Beast, is one that will not be used for the protection of other people. If so......''

''—Let the beast inside of me swallow everything, and survive for slaughter!''

He raised his sword hilt to the side of his mouth and held it with his teeth so that his hands could move freely.

"What are you doing!"

Minerva noticed his abnormal actions and turned around to call him. So that he would not stumble over her voice, Chris quickly ran in the direction of the enemy soldiers. He saw the mercenary in front of him glare at him.

"Are you crazy, kid? Die—!"

His adversary waved his lance, swinging it at Chris while slashing through the dust on the ground. Chris focused his attention completely on the opponent's hilt. Horses approached rapidly while raising dust. The instant before he was kicked by hooves, Chris's feet viciously stomped on the floor, dashing forwards all at once.

"—Wha?!"

The expression on the enemy soldier's face twisted in surprise, and he raised his spear to fend Chris off. However, Chris leapt when his feet stepped on the tip of his opponent's spear, stretching his hand out to frantically grab the rope tied to the horse's head, kicking the soldier off the horse right after that.

"Y-You—"

Chris took the horse, but saw another cavalryman passing by his fallen comrade, rushing towards Chris while swinging his spear. Chris held firm on the saddle and lowered his body to evade the spear from behind. His horse was startled by Chris's action, and was about to turn tail and run when Chris halted it with a single hand, taking back the longsword in his mouth with his other hand at the same time.

"Actually using a dirty trick like this—"

The horse Chris was riding on was quickly caught up. As he did not do his best to stabilize his sitting position after leaping onto the horse, focusing his attention on warding off the opponent's attacks, his riding speed dropped continually.

"You actually look down on us so much, I'm definitely making you regret this—"

In the foes' roars, Chris pulled on the rope, causing his horse to collide with that of the chasing soldier's. The two horses neighed in pain at the same time, maniacally twisting their bodies to rush towards the burning tents. Chris used the opportunity to swing the longsword in his hand and landed a blow on his enemy's hand holding the spear, using the momentum of the force to correct the path of his horse. However, his adversary did not have any chance to do so, and thus rammed directly into a burning tent. Right after that, Chris heard hoofbeats of quite a few horses and panicked breathing behind him, and guessed that there would be blades flying at him yet again. He rode his horse between the burning tents, his actions almost all done on instinct. After he severed the umpteenth head of the enemies, the longsword of poor workmanship finally snapped. A startling sense of foreignness spread from the sword to his hand.

"Damned kid, actually giving us so much trouble! It's time for you to die, so DIEEEEEE—"

Accompanied with curses, the sword in his enemy's hand had already swung towards him, while Chris— he raised his right hand, catching the sword with one hand. The action caused his enemy to sink into shock, the expression on his face abruptly clouded over with fear, as Chris quickly snatched over the sword in his hands.

Although Chris raised his hand high so that the speed of his foe's sword could not reach its maximum, the swing was already enough to cut the leather armor on his palm, causing his palm to be cut open. However, under such excitement, Chris was unable to feel any pain. He applied force with the hand holding the blade, directly knocking his adversary off the saddle. After that, he quickly turned around to knock the horse catching up behind him on its head, causing the enemy cavalryman to fall with his horse.

''—I am a beast!''

''—My body and the pain on my body belongs to the beast!''

''—I must struggle frantically, sucking people's blood dry, then finding a place for me to die.''

"—Chris!"

Just when his consciousness was gradually fading into the bloodstained surroundings, a voice pulled him back to reality. Flames of red and white appeared in his eyes......

"Do you want to die? Hurry up and get down from the horse!"

''—Minerva? Why......?'' A red-haired girl came into Chris's gaze that was blurred due to blood— ''She rode back to find me? Then have we escaped from the camp?'' But there were still soldiers in pursuit, and sounds of tents collapsing, roars of the enemy troops, clanking of armor and horses raising dust by stomping frantically on the ground could still be heard behind them. ''If this goes on, we'll still be caught up—''

"Just ignore that! Hurry up and get down!"

''—Why? Why is Minerva telling me to get down the horse?'' Chris did not understand, and did not have the energy to care anymore. He planned to continue killing, slaughtering the enemies without exception. However, before he turned around, he saw Minerva standing up on her saddle—

She jumped over from her saddle, embracing Chris with her slender arms. Her red hair fluttered in the air, drifting past Chris's face. At the same time, an unexpected strength pressed on him, bringing him away from the saddle, floating lightly under the pitch-black night.

Chris and Minerva fell onto the ground together, and rolled on the grassy land while holding each other tightly before stopping. When Chris supported his bloody right hand on the ground and was about to clamber up......

"Release the arrows—"

A loud order resounded through the area. It was not Francesca's voice. The voice was more tender, and it sounded like its owner was younger than Francesca...... It was Paola. Just when Chris made out the owner of the voice, he saw a silver flag waving under the pitch-black skies. At the same time, bolts descended from the sky like heavy rain, frantically pelting on the soldiers in pursuit of him.

They had indeed left the camp. The camp with military tents burning in a cluster was currently at the lower end of the sloping land of the hill.

The ones who launched an ambush counterattack on the enemy soldiers was the archer unit of the Order of the Silver Egg, in an orderly formation. Even the cavalry unit charged forward.

They turned back to support the squad bringing up the rear, under Paola's command.

''—If so, were the torches held by the members of the Order that the enemy saw when they attacked the camp a smokescreen by Francesca as well?''

Chris thought, such a strategy could not be described just by the word 'daring'. Francesca handed the commanding power of the main force to her subordinate, standing on the front lines as bait. Such a thing would be absolutely impossible without guards who can be trusted, and everyone had to complete their own tasks completely as well.

Apart from Minerva, Gilberto's swordsmanship was gained through rigorous training as well, so the feats that he accomplished were all backed up by true skill. As for Paola, she definitely had her own merits as well. After all, she and Francesca did not have any time for discussion of strategy before the battle at all. However, she accurately perceived the meaning of Francesca's arrangement, commanding the cavalry to run away with torches, all for the sake of a chance for a counterattack.

Chris lied blankly on the cold grassy land, staring at the soldiers of the Celestial army who were forced by the troops holding silver flags to scatter and escape into the camp with blazing tents in loss. Chris was in a daze, and completely forgot about the pain of his bleeding wounds, and didn't even notice the warmth of the body squashed under him.

"......Hey!"

Only when a fist pressed onto his abdomen did he come back to his senses.

"How long are you trying to squash my body for!"

[[Image:TnJtRnK v01 126.jpg|thumb]]

Minerva was squashed under Chris's body with her back on the grassy land. She flailed her arms, trying to crawl out from under his body.

"Ah, s-sorry......"

Chris tried to rise, but his head suddenly spun, causing him to collapse onto Minerva before he was able to do anything else.

"W-What are you doing, idiot!"

''—Blood...... There's so much......''

''—This is bad...... So cold......''

"And also, didn't you go a bit overboard by stealing an enemy's horse all by yourself? What if you couldn't get the pursuing soldiers off your tail? You're my tool! You can't just die when you want, idiot!"

Minerva tried her best to carry Chris while her brows furrowed. Although her injuries weren't as serious as those of Chris's, she was hurt all over as well. With her clothes charred in many places and bloodstains all over them, they were already in rags.

"Hey, Nicolo, somebody call Nicolo over! Chris, you can't sleep, my body is not your mattress!"

That moment, Minerva's curses were like tender caresses to Chris's ears. He leant closely to the warmth pressing on his body, trying not to lose consciousness.

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"Chris, you can't sleep! I forbid you to die easily by yourself like this! It's just a little injury! You can't sleep, idiot! Wake up already!"

While Nicolo treated Chris's injuries, Minerva was still doggedly calling him by his side. With a helpless look, Nicolo was forced to assign tasks of boiling water and changing towels to her, trying to make her speak less. However, as soon as Minerva's tasks were completed, she would immediately run to Chris's side, pinching his cheeks to wake him up.

When Nicolo finished treating the hurt, unexpectedly, Francesca asked them to move through the night.

"The tents were all burnt down. We need to walk for at least two days and two nights before we can sleep at the village closest to this place. Hurry up and move if you know that it's troublesome as well." She said.

It was actually a wise decision. After all, it was not impossible for the Celestial army to continue assigning pursuit units to chase them. Besides, since the tents burnt down, the men did not have the time and mood to console themselves by drinking in the wilderness while waiting for their wounds to heal anymore.

Chris slept on the horse cart containing weapons and armor. Seeing him turn when the horse cart moved, Minerva cried out and asked Nicolo: "H-Hey, I-Is it really okay for that guy to lie down in the horse cart?"

"Sigh, probably?" Hearing her question, Nicolo answered in a sleepy, lazy tone: "He's a monster. His arrow wounds from yesterday are almost completely healed. What does that guy usually eat for him to have a body that recovers so quickly......"

''By eating people's lives—'' Chris stil couldn't say those words. However, Nicolo's words raised a question in Chris's heart......

''—My injuries heal very quickly? Is that so? Is it possible that it's because my body is really the body of the Beast?''

The thought caused him to shudder. In fact, he never had the military doctor of his squad tend to his injuries in the past. So, there was not any information for him to judge if his wound recovery was quick or slow. However, that moment......

''—So I really '''am''' a beast living on by swallowing lives.''

When he thought of that, Chris felt like tearing open the freshly-stitched wounds open with his fingernails...... When he woke up from his nightmare, he saw Minerva on the same horse cart as he was as soon as he opened his eyes. Her gaze was on him, and she turned away right after that.

He tried to lift his head slightly and shift his gaze outside the horse cart, and saw Gilberto riding on a horse while Francesca was by his side, her golden hair reflecting the morning rays exceptionally dazzlingly.

''—Was the situation the same as well?''

''—This time, did I survive because of the Beast's blood as well?''

Chris could not reach a conclusion. He closed his eyes once again.

After midnight of the next day, the members of the Order finally arrived at a large village. It was already Zaccarian territory. Because of that, the villagers eventually came out to welcome Francesca when they saw her. But speaking of which, the total number of soldiers was over a thousand, and with the horses as well, if they really had to stay for a few days, finishing up the horse feed and well water was something that would happen sooner or later.

"I wish to borrow your storerooms for us to have a night's rest here. Can you please give us some food and water? I shall send someone over with the payment after this."

"What payment? How can we take that! Our village doesn't have anything but if you want beer, we ''can'' provide some for you instead."

The village chief's answer gave the soldiers much excitement. Even though Francesca reminded them that they shouldn't drink too much as they had to set off from the village in the morning, not one of them listened.

They drank by campfires. Chris sat on a patch of grass at a side as well, looking at them laughing while he leant on the pile of luggage at a shady spot.

He felt a sense of alienation from the surroundings, from the scene, from the wounds, the bright illumination from the campfire surrounded by people, and the people laughing around there......

''—Is it really fine for me to stay here?''

''—Should I allow myself to continue living?''

''—The battle ended, but I'm in a situation where everyone is smiling at each other in a circle. Is that really okay?''

"Hey, newbie!" "Don't fall asleep! You won't be able to wake up if you do!" "Wahahaha! Look at him! Is that Meena's doing?"

All of a sudden, the topic of discussion focused on him while he was hugging his knees by the pile of luggage, making him raise his head. That moment, a crowd of unfamiliar soldiers— no, Chris had already seen these people. He just never asked for them, and never spoke to them before. They headed towards Chris, each looking quite drunk.

"I-Is there anything wrong?" Chris asked the people.

"Isn't it cold for you to sit here? That's bad for the wounds." "See how we make your body warm from inside to the outside!"

"Ah, um, wait a minute......"

Disregarding Chris's intentions, the people forcibly pulled him to the campfire, stuffing a cup the size of an urn into his hands. Chris took the cup before he was able to refuse them, and all of the surrounding people came to pour beer for him. The others surrounding the campfire gradually sat by Chris's side as well.

''—What the heck? Why are these people suddenly......''

"......Um, about the beer......"

Chris was unable to swallow wine stronger than grape wine.

"How old are you?"

One of them asked. When Chris answered that he was seventeen, "Then just drink while pinching your nose!" An illogical answer tossed the question back again. Then, the people started clamoring, even poking him with their elbows to urge him to drink. Chris did not have any choice but to take a sip, and frantically coughed after that with his face flushed, making the surrounding soldiers fall onto the ground laughing.

"......Sorry for yesterday."

One of them abruptly said. Chris stared blankly at him with his eyes widened.

"Saying that you're a harbinger of misfortune who would kill one of your own...... Haha, it seems like your legend did not affect our luck at all."

"Yeah, and this guy helped us protect the Captain's small butt from being violated by the enemy."

"Sorry." "Yeah, the Captain's chagrin is more important to us than the land of the Principality!" "Haha, that's true!"

''—Why......''

''—Why are these people apologizing to me? Even though I'm......''

"Say, where did you learn that way of killing from?"

"All of us shuddered when we saw that. Good thing we didn't meet you three days ago." "Yeah. You would've been our enemy that time if so!"

"Hah, we have good luck, didn't I keep telling ya? Our Captain is a goddess who brings luck!"

Listening to the soldiers' hearty chuckles, he felt tortured, as though someone was prying open the wounds on him with a pick.

''—Luck? There's no such thing......''

''—There will be one day when the beast in me will......''

''—Sooner or later I will have to swallow your fates to the bones......''

''—No, please don't talk to me anymore, please...... Don't laugh by my side......''

"Can you please stop counting Captain in? It's enough with Paola alone. She's not some sort of goddess of luck, but a true goddess of fortune!"

"Yeah! A true goddess of fortune!"

"If so, doesn't that mean we have a true soul reaper as well? It's Meena!" "Ahahahaha!"

The laughs by the people surrounding the campfire whooshed by Chris's ears like cold wind.

"Say, the Meena yesterday wasn't like a soul reaper at all, but just an extremely normal pure maiden!"

"Yeah, seeing her face drained of blood, like she's asking what she should do if this kid died."

"It was the first time I saw her like that" "She looks cuter that way!" "Agreed!"

"Hey, I'll say, if it's this kid......" "Yep!" "There's a chance!"

As the surrounding people chatted, meaningful smiles suddenly surfaced as they exchanged perverted gazes. Then, "Kid, listen, you're the only man in the Captain's squad of personal guards." The soldier with light brown eyes sitting by Chris's side said to Chris with his mouth curling.

"......The first? But......"

''—What about Gilberto? Isn't he the head of the Captain's personal guards?''

"Even though our Chief's strong, he still isn't a man." "Yeah, no balls." "Captain asked him to sleep in the same room as her, and he actually refused!" "Yeah, it's an opportunity all of us dream of!" "Kid, you'll have to investigate this properly for us!" "Because we started bets on things like, is the hair under Meena red, and the like......" "Wahahahaha, but nobody had the skill to confirm that, so the money we bet is still hanging there!" "People who would dare to do that would lose their lives, after all!" "Most probably, the only person who can evade that sword is the Chief." "Yeah. Pity he doesn't have balls."

That moment, the people sitting opposite to Chris suddenly paled, springing up from the ground and the chairs, while the insensitive people sitting by Chris froze all of a sudden as well. A foreign presence that was totally alien to the atmosphere appeared behind Chris, making his head hurt so much that he wanted to look for a hole to hide in— he actually wasn't able to notice his appearance at all. However, from the shocked reaction of the surrounding people, he should have noticed it long ago.

Chris slowly turned around and saw a suit of pitch-black armor and a cold longsword. When he raised his gaze, he saw the pair of bright marble-like eyes.

"Ah,haha, ahahaha......"

A soldier in black laughed emptily.

"C, C-C-C-Chief— Ah, um...... W-We— We're talking about cannonballs of the catapult machine!"

"T, T-T-That's right, we're thinking where we should look for the supplies......" "Oi, you idiots, we don't ''have'' a catapult machine at all!"

The voices with slight quavers hissed to each other. When Gilberto took a step forward, the people tossed their cups away and hid at the other side of the campfire.

However, Gilberto didn't even look at them. He shifted his gaze to Chris, looking at him coldly. Under a subconscious impulse, Chris put down his cup and stood up from the ground.

"......Are your injuries okay?"

Gilberto's question made Chris's eyes widen in surprise. He never thought that Gilberto would be concerned of his injuries, and thus nodded somewhat unnaturally.

"Did you battle in that way from before?"

"......Huh?"

Gilberto suddenly grabbed Chris's right arm, causing cold sweat to seep abruptly from Chris's face.

"You always target the enemies' weapons or wrists. Is that your subconscious choice? Is it because you don't wish to kill?"

Chris swallowed after hearing that.

"If you keep doing dumb stuff like that, normal swords would break in no time."

Gilberto noticed it. In the few seconds when they were dealing with the enemy back to back......

"After this, don't think of rushing into the enemy's ranks like a mad dog. If you die, their attacks will reach Lady Fran very quickly, so it's best if you remember this."

Chris averted his gaze, retracting his right hand at the same time, locking his hand on the arm of his left hand, applying force to squeeze his left arm with his fingertips.

''—But I don't know other ways of fighting......''

''—How can a person like me be someone's guard? How can a person like me know how to fight to protect the other?''

That moment, Gilberto placed his hand on the hilt of the longsword tied to his waist, making Chris take a step backwards.

However, Gilberto's action was not to unsheathe his sword, but to untie the longsword instead, handing it to Chris. His act shocked Chris. He gazed blankly at the longsword before his eyes and turned around to look at Gilberto again.

"I'm lending you this sword." Gilberto said.

"......Eh? Huh? What?"

"I think you can't change your way of fighting at a moment's notice. Material superior to the metal making up the sword probably can't be found even if you comb through the Seven Countries of the East. Take it. After all, members of the personal guards can't always look for weapons in battles. That will danger Lady Fran's life. Don't you lose this sword. Return it to me when you find a better weapon that suits you more."

Chris took the sword that Gilberto was handing to him, his heart still in disbelief over what was happening before his eyes. The workmanship of the sword in his hands was startlingly good, and it was unbelievably light in the hands. It was definitely not something that one would lend people just like that.

''—Why did he......'' Chris raised his head to look at Gilberto with a look of disbelief once again. That moment, he suddenly tossed a question to him again.

"Name?"

"Huh?"

"I'm asking you for you name— I haven't heard it from you personally."

Before answering, a sound choked in his throat, moving his heart.

''—When...... was the last time I told the others of my name?''

''—The name Mother gave me...... Minerva knew it before we even met......''

''—Even so, right now...... I want to answer him...... I want to tell Gilberto my name. Why is that?''

"—Cristoforo......"

Hearing Chris's answer, his brows furrowed for a moment. He then turned around and said, "You can just call me Gil."

From the instant Chris took the sword from Gilberto, the surrounding people were looking with bated breath. That moment, all of them gulped at the same time, and some even made sounds of admiration. Chris could think of the reason. It was because, Francesca was probably the only person in the whole Order who could call him Gil.

"It's hard for one to call a person's full name on the battlefield."

Gilberto said coldly, and rose to leave. Chris held the longsword with his hands, staring blankly at his leaving silhouette.

''—What the heck is this guy thinking......'' Chris did not understand. However, the longsword he was holding was unquestionably lent to him by Gilberto.

"You're...... seriously amazing......"

"Chief, he......" "Didn't he?" "It was the first time we saw him like that......"

Chris gazed at the silhouette of the knight clad in black armor while listening to the surrounding soldiers' thoughts, then pressed the cold longsword to his chest. That moment, the people's clamors reached his brain once again, various smells stimulating his senses as well. Fragrance of wine, the aromatic smell of grease from roasted meat, and the smell of grass from the farm, all of the smells mixed together in the night breeze, emanating through the whole village.

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As she said from the start, the place Francesca slept in was the storeroom in the village head's house.

"She really won't go back on her words......"

The village chief couldn't help but smile wryly when they talked about Francesca's stubborn personality as he led the way for Chris at the outskirts of the farm. Francesca probably told the village chief that she couldn't sleep in someone's warm house since she already mentioned before her men that she was to sleep in someone's storeroom.

"This way, please. Then allow me to excuse myself."

The village chief stretched out his hand to point at a small house emitting a fait glow through the windows and the door seams, bowed at Chris and turned around to leave after handing the oil lamp he was holding to Chris.

The storeroom was spread full of white cloth. There were so much that it would make people wonder if they were collected after searching through the whole village. The flags of the Dukedom and the order were hung on the wall. Francesca lied elegantly on soft wool, enjoyably sipping her apple wine. Minerva squatted by Francesca's side while doing something under Paola's instructions. When she saw Chris entering, she suddenly hid her hand behind her. It seemed like she was holding something.

"D-Don't just barge in all of a sudden!"

She called out while randomly grabbing something to throw at Chris.

"S-Sorry!"

Chris hurriedly shut the door and left, almost smashed by the object thrown by Minerva that hit the door instead of him. It fell before the seam of the door. It was actually a stone pestle used to grind herbs.

"What does it matter. Enter. It is cold tonight. You can warm my feet in place of beast fur."

"Fran, don't act recklessly!"

"Hmm...... Speaking of which...... This medicine was ground for Chris, so why don't you put it on for him, Meena?"

"Paola, don't be such a busybody!"

Chris listened to the three girls talking in varying degrees of loudness and couldn't help but sigh. He removed the sword on his waist and hung it on the wall outside the storeroom, sitting down by the windows.

"Chris, didn't I ask you to enter?"

The window opened, and Francesca poked her head out of the window. Paola approached the windowsill as well.

"I, um...... I'm here as security. Gilberto handed me the job......"

"You sleep at other storerooms, it's enough for me to guard her!" Hearing that, Minerva came closer to speak to Chris as well: "You're hurt! Who told you to be a guard— This is your medicine, here— Hurry up and scram after taking your medicine and look for a place to sleep!"

Minerva pressed the outstretched herbal medicine by Chris's ear. Warmth lingered on the freshly-ground herbs from its grinding, and it had a strong smell of grass as well. However, Minerva's rough actions almost stuffed the herbs into Chris's ears.

"Um...... Herbs aren't used like that......" Paola timidly said at a side.

"Huh? That sword?"

Francesca was the one to notice it first. From the side, Minerva's eyes widened as she saw it as well.

"Isn't that Gilberto's sword? Why is it on you?" Minerva asked.

"......He lent it to me."

Although Chris did not think they would believe it, he still explained the things that occurred thoroughly. Hearing that, Minerva heaved a sigh and shrugged, while Francesca said while smiling after repeating the same actions for a few times: "That guy really isn't truthful enough......"

"Speaking of which, where's Gilberto? Where did he run off to? Didn't I say that the five of us have to celebrate?"

"Hmm, I seem to recall that he said that he's going back to the Zaccaria Castle to report the results of the battle." Minerva said.

"Didn't I tell him to go there tomorrow...... Whatever, then let the four of us have a pajama party to celebrate ourselves!"

Minerva furrowed her brows when she heard that and pulled Francesca and Paola into the storeroom. She closed the window forcefully, almost hitting Chris's nose.

"......But I deliberately arranged a place by your side to sleep at." Francesca said.

"Shush, hurry up and sleep!"

After the conversation got cut off abruptly, Chris leant against the wall while hugging the longsword Gilberto lent to him. However, the window was suddenly opened once again. It was Minerva. She stretched out her arm and threw out quite a few white cloths that covered his head.

"......Ah...... Thank you."

After thanking her, the window was closed once again without any response from her.

Chris used the cloths to cover his body with the areas above his neck exposed, raising his head to look at the unblemished night sky. Not far away from the fence, there were still people fooling around the campfire. There were songs that went off-pitch due to drunkenness as well.

Chris thought that all of that was just surreal. Even though it was the night-time that he was the most afraid of, even though a battle had finished, he couldn't remember the faces of the enemies he met the previous night, the feeling of piercing through enemies' flesh and blood with his sword, the pain of his flesh cut open by the halberd, and the condition of the enemy soldier who died with blood seeping out from his neck at all. He closed his eyes, seeing the happy faces of the people who survived. It was the first time in his life that he experienced such a night.

Chris woke up suddenly from his bleary sleep due to an abnormal movement around him. He stretched out his hands to search for the longsword covered below the white cloths by his hand. That moment, the campfire was already extinguished, while the sounds of frolicking around the campfire had gone silent. All was silent under the night sky. The only thing that was still awake was the dark grassy land and the estate surrounding the house. The coldness almost made people yawn. Such an atmosphere was probably just a scene before daybreak. There weren't any sounds around at all, and neither were there moving people and animals. However......

''—What was that small noise just now?'' Chris noticed it. The abnormal presence came from behind him— from the storeroom behind him.

''—Someone is crying?''

Just when he was stretching his hand out to open the window, the voice that passed through the wall made Chris convulse without prior warning.

"Don't move, don't you move......"

It was Minerva's voice. She noticed Chris's movements. Chris saw the scene through the window in the instant she cried out. That moment, Minerva had her back against the wall of the storeroom, and was sitting down on the floor while hugging her knees.

Chris breathed out, and turned around to sit down while leaning against the exterior wall of the storeroom once again.

"I'm fine, you just stay outside...... I'm just feeling a bit of pain, it's okay......" Minerva said to Chris through the wall of the storeroom.

''—Did she...... see a scene from the future once again?''

''—That's right, I remember her saying that she hates sleeping......''

''—Seeing the future......''

''—Because she can feel the pain of death from the death omens she sees......''

"Just stay outside the door." Minerva said.

Her words made Chris clench his ten fingers on his kneecap.

''—What kind of pain is this......?''

''—When did Minerva start shouldering such torture......?''

Minerva stretched her hand out from the window. Her white arms were trembling continually. Chris caught hold of Minerva's hand in his confusion. The two palms overlapped tightly. At first, Chris could still clearly feel Minerva's five slender fingers trembling continually, but when her palm started to get warm in Chris's hand, the trembling gradually calmed down and stopped.

A long silence enveloped the area surrounding his and her palms, the fading time almost making people feel that it was about to get light. After some time of consolation, Minerva finally stopped her choking, but the surroundings were still bathed in the pitch-darkness of the night sky. She suddenly pushed Chris's hand aside again. Chris felt her pressing her hand back to her chest, hugging her knees.

"W-Who asked you to care for me......?" For some reason, Minerva suddenly snapped at Chris: "Forget what happened just now— Ngh...... Whatever, it's nothing!"

"That's not the case at all......"

Minerva was about to close the window when Chris realized it and hurriedly stopped the closing window. From the seam, he saw a pair of slender ears and neck through the red hair on Minerva's back.

"W-What are you doing, I don't need you to care. Even though you said that you're going to guard the door, you still dozed off in the end, useless fellow!"

"......Sorry. But...... But I just wanted to look at your face and hear your voice. That's all, so just relax......"

Because Minerva was the only person who did not die even though her fate was swallowed by the beast. If she were to go missing one day, Chris would have to avoid all contact with other people, walking alone in the night once again.

However, Minerva did not seem to understand. With a turn, she grabbed Chris's wrist, clenching furiously onto him, "Idiot! Only you were able to sleep well, I-I—"

"What sort of future did you see?" Chris asked.

"You don't need to know!"

"Tell me, because I am staying by your side just to eat up the signs of death that you foresee."

"Shut up!"

"Why!?"

Chris grabbed the longsword by his side and squeezed his upper torso through the window. Minerva raised her head, her moist eyes meeting that of Chris's. That instant, their voices were completely hidden in the profound night.

Chris opened his mouth, but was unable to speak, and could only huff out breath that lost all temperature. On the other hand, Minerva's gaze wandered, and refocused on Chris in determination after some effort. She said: "It's you!" While biting her lips so hard that it almost bled, Minerva thought of how to speak of her next words as she trembled.

"You used that sword to kill me, I saw my face reflected on the blade of the sword!"

Her words made Chris grip the hilt of the sword in his hands reflexively, and he was unable to realize the significance of Minerva's words that moment.

"I saw it...... I saw you using that sword— Gilberto's sword to pierce through my brows!"

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| Back to [[Tsurugi_no_Joou_to_Rakuin_no_Ko:Volume_1_Chapter_5|Chapter 5]]
| Return to [[Tsurugi_no_Joou_no_Rakuin_no_Ko|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[Tsurugi_no_Joou_to_Rakuin_no_Ko:Volume_1_Chapter_7|Chapter 7]]
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</noinclude>

Tsurugi no Joou to Rakuin no Ko:Volume 1 Chapter 6

2013-05-02T17:58:24Z

89.77.202.20: /* Chapter 6 – Battle of Retreat */

==Chapter 6 – Battle of Retreat==

Francesca laid the map down on the floorboards in the tent, while Gilberto placed two cobblestones on the map to represent the two units of the enemy. One of them departed from the river valley Chris and Minerva escaped from, and were heading towards the camp of the Order. On the other hand, the other unit was assaulting from northwest.

"The numbers and branches of the army units?"

"Two thousand cavalry each."

Hearing Gilberto's report, Chris couldn't help but clench his fists in tension— ''Four thousand cavalry, it's four times the people here...... And judging by their speed, we don't have time to escape at all......''

"That's quite the big parade of an attack. Perhaps they already found out that their adversaries are we, of the Order of the Silver Egg?"

"Most probably, I think it's because I scattered too much money in the enemy camp. My apologies for this."

"Never mind that. It's thanks to you doing that that Meena is safe."

After saying that, Francesca walked out of the military camp. She loudly gave the order for the soldiers outside to dismantle the tents, and then sounds of metallic greaves bumping together rang outside the tent. Chris gripped his arms, gazing downwards at his fingertips while listening to the sounds by his ears.

—''The enemy is here...... Is it because I am here?''

The night of the new moon had just passed. He thought, the assault by the enemy might be the misfortune brought on by the influence remaining in the beast in him as well.

Francesca continued to give orders to the soldiers outside, causing the hustle outside to become louder and louder. That moment, Gilberto approached Minerva's side, while Minerva turned around with a look of guilt.

"When did you return?" Gilberto asked.

"......Yesterday."

"I don't care what kind of future you saw, but your actions were already that of one abandoning the Order, running away."

Minerva's hands gripped her arms, causing Chris to almost speak out in defense of Minerva.

"I know. I am willing to accept punishment." However, as though she was deliberately stopping his action, Minerva hurriedly answered in a low voice.

"I do not have the authority to punish you, but I wish to know what Lady Fran said." Gilberto said.

"I said, I'm letting the issue rest if she hands over the beautiful beast." Francesca returned to the camp right that moment, and continued with an exceptionally bright voice: "Alright, it's about time for us to retreat."

However, Gilberto ignored her and pointed at Chris while saying: "Why is this person in Lady Fran's military tent? Isn't he an enemy? We should kill him directly instead."

"Wait a minute! Gilberto, he's my slave, I brought him back—"

"Since he looks so cute, I'm enlisting him in my personal guard— Gil, teach him the rules here properly."

"I have heard about this from the soldiers outside. Please don't make a joke like this! Do you know what kind of a person he is? I heard that it's all thanks to this person alone that the army of the Celestial Kingdom brought down Dekrecht and Raborazia!"

"I know that." Francesca answered nonchalantly. Chris froze in her nonchalance.

"Do you know why I said that it's all thanks to 'this person alone' as well?" Gilberto asked with his eyes narrowed.

"Of course. It's because the Celestial army devised plans of sneaking inside more than ten times, and all of the squad members died with only him being the survivor, isn't that right?"

—''She actually knows even these details......''

''—Then were the efforts I did to hide my identity all for naught?''

Even though they did not know that the reason was the Brand of the Beast on Chris, he already knew what would occur to his surroundings. The fact before his eyes caused Chris to have the illusion of his feet sinking into icy water, drowning gradually. This caused him to avert his gaze from the other three.

"The 'Star Eater' is but a myth. Even Gil believes in that?" Francesca asked.

"This is not a myth. It is possible for even ordinary people to do things like this. In other words, it is very much possible for him to kill his other comrades so that he could escape alone."

Gilberto's words caused a fire to flare in Chris's mind. He subconsciously stood up to grab Gilberto. However, without even flinching, Gilberto rapidly caught hold of the hilt of the sword on his belt. Then, Chris had the illusion of the world splitting into two. In a flash of light, his hand was caught. His body shook reflexively in surprise. On the other hand, Gilberto's half-unsheathed sword was pressed down as well, causing his facial muscles to convulse.

Red hair fluttered between Chris and Gilberto, falling on the slender shoulders of its red-haired owner.

"Stop it, idiot!"

Minerva was the one who grabbed Chris's hand. They failed to notice her movements due to her startling speed, as though it was a wall of flames that rose and fixed itself between Chris and Gilberto.

"You as well, Gilberto—"

Minerva caught hold of Gilberto and scolded him. However, Chris's consciousness sank into a daze, and was already unable to hear what Minerva was saying.

''—What...... What did I extend my hands for just now......''

''—He said that I killed my comrades so that I could escape alone...... Did I move to deny his statement? Or was it to explain that all of that was done by the beast in my heart?''

''—But wasn't that the truth? As he said, I...... I......''

"Look, the pair of beastly eyes." Gilberto put away his longsword and took a step back, glaring furiously at Chris at the same time, "Are you planning to keep a ferocious beast like this by Lady Fran's side?"

"He is my property!" Ignoring Gilberto's words, Minerva determinedly approached him, "I will suppress him, and will not allow him to make trouble. Let me feed him and watch over him! If anything happens, I will kill him. I will not allow him to harm anyone in the Order!"

"Why are you doing this for him until this extent? Didn't you just meet him on the battlefield a few days ago?"

"As for the reason...... I cannot say."

Minerva's head drooped when she answered. Chris bit his lips without saying anything as well.

"But don't get things wrong. This person is just my tool. I'm keeping him by my side because there is something that cannot be accomplished without him. That's all. There's no other reason."

Just at that moment, flustered footsteps rang outside the tent, and someone ran inside.

"Lady Fran, I-I heard that I will be the one to hold the flag later on. Is that true!"

Chris turned around, and saw that it was Paola, the female medic that he had met before. She was startled by the tense atmosphere in the tent, and her body leaning forward shrunk back.

"Ah...... S-Sorry......"

"It's fine, Paola. Come on in." Francesca waved at Paola, "The units of ten must depart first. You shall be the leader of the main force." While saying that, she removed the Silver Hen flag from a post, draping it on Paola's shoulders like a cape.

"M-Me?" Paola said in shock.

"If the beauties are staying to bring up the rear, how will the men in the team think of running away? Hurry up and go." Francesca said.

"Lady Fran, you're not guiding the units?" Gilberto asked after hearing that.

"I shall bring up the rear. If the general flees first when the squad is retreating, both the enemy and our people would make a joke out of it."

Her words caused Chris's eyes to widen. His eyes flitted between Francesca and Gilberto.

''—The commander bringing up the rear?''

Chris had never heard of such a thing. What surprised him more was the fact that Gilberto and Minerva sighed deeply and nodded, as though they weren't planning to raise objections at all.

"E-Excuse me......" Paola, who had just received the team flag, turned around and asked: "Speaking of which, there's another member in the guard, right? T-Then, why don't we celebrate Chris's arrival after this?"

"Hurry up and go. I shall give my all to guard Lady Fran's life, and I will send her back to the camp safely even if I have to sacrifice my own life." To that, Gilberto merely answered coldly.

"N-No. I mean, everyone must safely—"

Before finishing her words, the soldiers outside were already calling Paola's name. She looked at the other people in the military tent with her large watery eyes, and immediately turned around to walk out of the tent.

"Almost everyone in the main force retreated!"

Nicolo shouted in the strong night gust. Chris thought back on the camp stationed with troops some time before while looking at the tents abandoned by the troops in the deserted camp illuminated by the campfire.

"Sigh, my blankets and sheets were really expensive...... I will have to buy new ones now, how troublesome......"

Nicolo sighed, but his tone did not sound all that sorry.

''—So the troops are retreating directly, abandoning the camp equipment?''

Even so, under pursuit by cavalry, they would still be caught up with sooner or later. Chris pondered if it would be more feasible to face the attack with a formation before the camp, turning around to look at Francesca's calm face at the same time.

"We are now a unit running away from battle in loss. I don't want my cute soldiers to make unnecessary sacrifices for a meaningless battle."

As though she saw through Chris's thoughts, Francesca explained with a smile.

At that moment, only troops of about a hundred, including Chris and the members of the personal guard, were left at the camp, while sounds of hoof beats could already be heard from afar. It seemed like the cavalry was getting near.

"Raise the fires— Quick!"

Under Francesca's orders, the soldiers scattered towards various spots in the camp.

''—Raise the fires? Ah, I see! Doing so can indeed hide the fact that the main force has already retreated......''

''—If so, is she planning to raise a few more campfires, making the enemy think that our troops are still stationed here?''

That moment, firelight could already be seen beyond the horizons. As Gilberto had described, two units of cavalry had been dispatched to attack them.

''—But isn't this just a trick to deceive children? If they find out that the whole camp has already retreated, and change target to the main force led by Paola won't the whole Order be finished?''

"It's about time for us to hide as well— Sigh, I real don't feel like fighting...... Everyone, don't let the enemy get near me!"

While speaking, Nicolo hurriedly stuffed medical equipment into a bag of cloth.

''—Why is the military doctor staying to bring up the rear......'' Nicolo seemed to have seen through Chris's look of surprise. He leisurely gave Chris the thumbs up and pointed at his chest while saying:

"Think about it, what if people get injured while I'm not here?"

His words caused Chris to be dumbstruck— ''Even if people get injured on the battlefield, how would there be time for him to deal with it......''

"And Paolo isn't right here as well. When Captain or Meena gets hurt, it's an opportunity of the lifetime for me to treat them!"

A perverted smile surfaced on the military doctor's face as he spoke. Chris was not only dumbstruck, the words caused his head to spin as well.

"If things get so serious that I get hurt, you would have long died."

While Francesca interrupted, her golden hair fluttered in amusement.

"Actually, I don't think you should stay at all, Francesca." Chris couldn't help but interject behind her.

"Didn't I ask you to call me Fran? Besides, what does it matter if I stay? Gil, Meena and you will protect me, isn't that right?"

"You can't just say—"

"Stop fooling around and check out the condition of the weapons."

Gilberto spoke up in annoyance while Chris was about to rebuke her. Chris could only look at the longswords and spears arranged on the ground obediently.

The sword that Chris used before had shape and forging of the highest standard, but it was already broken by Minerva. In comparison, the weapon given to him would be mediocre no matter which one he was given.

''—Whatever, let's not think of meaningless things......''

Chris picked up a longsword and slid his fingers from the side to the tip of the blade.

''—Since Minerva is staying, I have no other choice but to do my best.''

However, the doubt that Chris was harboring was whether the sword in his hands had the power to protect the others. However, he shook his head in the end, casting off the meaningless doubts.

''—I am a beast, I have to devour the people approaching me, more ferociously than usual.''

''—I will bite them to death, and I only need to do that.''

"You stay by Lady Fran's side. Don't do anything suspicious, or I will cut your head down immediately!"

Gilberto's warning rang behind Chris. He stood up after nodding and exchanged gazes with Minerva at a side. That moment, she was holding her large sword by Francesca's side. A shadow of sorrow flitted through her eyes for a brief moment. However, with a gust of wind, her red hair behind her covered her face, causing Chris to be unable to see her face anymore.

A soldier raised the long flagpole, erecting the flag of the duke on the ground.

''—They aren't thinking of facing the assault at a place like this, are they? Shouldn't they at least keep some distance from the tents?''

"If you're worried about an attack of arrows, that's not a problem at all— and they're here."

Francesca's reminder jolted Chris back to his senses in surprise, and he immediately turned around to look at the source of the imposing hoof beats.

That moment, they could already hear the roars of the enemy troops, but the majestic shouts were almost hidden by the deafening clatter of four thousand galloping horses. A heavy rain of arrows fell, slashing through the night skies. Minerva dashed forward, her red hair turning into madly dancing flames. The military tent in front was already trampled by the enemy troops. Among the neighing of the horses, a hundred-odd cavalrymen appeared before them at the same time.

"It's the flag of Zaccaria!"

"It's the duke's daughter! Capture her!"

"The Vixen who raised a flag in rebellion—"

"We'll drag you back to Santuario, the Holy Capital, for public display!"

Minerva's small silhouette shot into the crowd of cavalry verbally abusing her comrades. The campfire nearby reflected a strong ray of light on the large sword she was holding, and in an instant, the vicious sword raised a torrent of wind, whirling dust, bent spears, soldiers' blood and severed horseheads into the air.

"—Wha?!" "What's wrong with this person!" "We must go on— Surround her, hurry!"

The blade that was swung around continuously like a windmill created a space that allowed only a strand of hair to pass through while Minerva's white sleeves danced in the darkness. The sword in her hand spun continually like a windmill. Armor flew in the air along with soldiers' flesh, terrifying the soldiers' horses into bouts of fearful neighs. The forward troops of the enemy had already fallen apart due to Minerva's attack.

"Blast, let's just ignore her. The enemy troops haven't even assembled a formation. Their main forces had probably ran away long ago. Hurry up and assemble to vanquish these enemies!"

The commander donning a helmet with long feathers shouted while raising his sword to point at Francesca, who was in front of him. The order raised the morale of his troops. They charged at their enemy with deafening horse beats once again. Minerva was kicked away by the horses of the enemy force. Her delicate body spun in the air.

"Minerva!"

Just when Chris was about to dash outwards, a hand caught hold of his shoulders, forcibly dragging him back.

"Don't act rashly. She is our sole vanguard."

It was Gilberto. His voice made Chris extremely uncomfortable, like a thorn was stabbing him.

"How can you say such a thing!"

"Defend the position that you are stationed at. She can deal with it even when she is alone!"

Gilberto was absolutely right. After Minerva was kicked into the air, she regained balance after a somersault. She even lowered her position when she reached the ground as well, effortlessly evading the spears stabbing her directly in front and from the side. After that, she raised the huge sword in her hands, and immediately cut a soldier into half along with his horse from below.

Chris gazed at Minerva. Even though he saw that the white skin on her face and shoulders was stained with her and the enemies' blood, he could only suppress the urge in his heart and squatted down in a stance with his sword raised— the tent at the side had already been lifted. A second and third wave of troops was charging towards them with torches held high.

"Vixen of Zaccaria, your useless subordinates already escaped. Look at how dumb they are, scattering everywhere holding torches. I'd say that you don't have any face to save anymore, so hurry up and yield!"

Chris blocked the spear lashed out by the first cavalryman who charged at him, stabbing his sword into his opponent's abdomen along the way. The sense of his sword swirling in flesh and blood came from his hand. With a wail, his assailant fell from his horse, his armor making clanking noises when they banged onto the ground. He had only just finished dealing with the attack when the next spear stabbed at him yet again. Chris waved his arm, barely blocking his opponent's attack with his wrist guard, and immediately took the chance to check out his comrades' battles.

The style of Gilberto's attacks was completely different from that of Minerva's, but there was an imposing presence that would make people shiver as well. He was teamed up on by quite a few cavalrymen, but his feet never shifted from their original position. The longsword in his hands slashed like flowing water, using momentum to block his adversaries' spears, then cut off each of the horses' front legs one slash after another. Francesca stood behind him, imperiously gazing upon the starry skies with her head raised.

''—Wait...... Her eyes are closed?''

''—What is she doing? Enemies are already at her side—''

''—Does she believe in Gilberto's capabilities to this extent?''

The enemy forces were all focused on Francesca alone. As she was to be caught alive, they did not use arrows. Apart from that, their assault pathways were limited at the camp where tents were erected everywhere. Was that a strategy to counter their attack? Chris was puzzled. Disregarding that fact, what was she planning to do next?

''—Most of their men had left. But we really can't hang on any longer......''

Chris gritted his teeth and decided not to think of the problems any more. The most important thing was that they were already drowning in a sea of enemy cavalry, and the missing Minerva. He must do his all to kill another person, killing more enemies to protect Minerva from harm, making this place into a sea of blood that could only tolerate corpses.

A blow at the edge of his sight from an enemy cavalryman scraped away Chris's shoulder armor. The impact caused him to kneel down on the ground. At the same time, his adversary immediately landed a kick on him as well. Chris spat out a mouthful of blood, and swung his sword to kill the enemy soldier with his body arched. His attack made the enemy cavalryman fall down with copious amounts of blood gushing out below his helmet. Then, as though he wanted to suppress Chris's presence, yet another cavalryman rushed forward to crash suddenly into Chris, directly charging at Francesca right after that. Francesca stood there proudly without moving, eyes closed and head facing the starry sky. Gilberto turned around as he realized the soldier's intent, piercing through the warhorse's throat with his sword, but was unable to stop the soldier from abandoning his spear for a sword, pouncing at Francesca from his horse— ''This is bad, we won't be able to make it......''

All of a sudden, the sound of a sharp object slashing through the air whistled. The soldier's body flew in the air, turning in a back somersault and landed before Chris. There were two sharp daggers buried in his face.

Right after that, the same killing aura flashed past Chris's head a few more times as he continued to kneel down on the ground. Then, he saw daggers buried in the eye sockets of a few heavily armored cavalry men as they fell one after another. Chris turned around in a tremor.

"Ack, idiot, don't look over here, I'll be noticed by the enemy!"

''—Nicolo?''

Chris saw a belt full of daggers tied to Nicolo's chest as he concealed himself at a shady spot at the edge of the tents, and he threw viciously like a whip once again.

Now, he finally understood the reason Nicolo stayed to bring up the rear with Francesca's personal guards. Each time his whip-like arms lashed out, another enemy soldier fell in piteous wails.

''—Isn't such accuracy a bit too scary? So he really isn't just any doctor......''

"Stop spacing out!"

Gilberto shouted at Chris. Chris finally came to his senses with a jolt, and raised his longsword high to meet the next attack from a halberd, turning in a circle to reach his opponent's side right after that. His gaze met that of the soldier's shortly. Seeing his profound eyes distorting in terror, he pierced through the enemy with his longsword, feeling through his blade the sense of metal piercing through armor, stabbing into flesh and blood.

Chris took a step backwards after pulling out his longsword, his elbow actually coming into contact with another unfamiliar arm that was hard as steel. He turned around abruptly and saw that Gilbert seemed to have long predicted his movements, and already retreated to Francesca's side. The eyes bright like marbles did not look clouded even when it was stained in the enemy's blood and dust from the ground.

"E-Everyone, scatter! Bring down the tents and let the unit surround them in a circle— Archers, stand out, quick!"

The enemy commander raised his voice to shout at the soldiers under his command in panic. After that, the smell of rust faded like ebbing tide. What was left on the battlefield was hills of corpses of horses and soldiers. Among them, a sole white flame that burnt, pressing close to the ground, was over there......

"—Minerva!"

At Chris's shout, the girl whose red hair was dyed in blood turned around and gave him an absent-minded smile— ''So beautiful......'' That thought surfaced in Chris's mind on instinct. The long hair behind Minerva that was like burning flames had a red stronger, more vibrant color than blood. Holding her huge sword, she stood on the hill of corpses without a hint of fear on her face. And such a radiant appearance—

''No! This shouldn't be so......'' A trace of sorrow surfaced on Chris's chest and gradually spread— ''This shouldn't be so, no...... If her fate is to stand in this rain of pain, attracting people's gaze with her radiance, then......

—''I will devour this fate!''

"The second wave of enemy troops has arrived."

Gilberto said in a low voice. At the same time, Minerva shifted her attention to the foes before her. Chris listened to the sounds that ran in the night— Clatter of hooves resounding in front, and sounds of a commotion approaching. It was the hoof beats of another troop of horses. It seemed like the pursuit unit left behind by the rear unit of the enemy troops had finally arrived.

Chris turned around to look at Francesca. Even with Gilberto's protection, the enemies' blades and blood still flashed past her skin on occasions, but she was still standing there without moving, with her eyes closed and head raised......

''—She's listening?''

Just when Chris realized the true meaning behind her appearance, the gold-haired girl radiating elegance had already opened her eyes.

"Start the fires!"

Under Francesca's orders, every single military tent that occupied their horizons in the camp suddenly burst into roaring flames. The blazing fire that almost burnt down the whole wilderness lit up the originally pitch-black night. Its tremendous presence caused Chris to take two steps back, bumping into Francesca as a result.

"Everyone, retreat!"

The young commander gave another sonorous order. At the same time, Minerva and Chris turned around instantly, preparing to flee the battlefield. Chris was slightly slower. After taking his first step, he hurriedly quickened his footsteps and gave chase. The soldiers holding torches at various locations in the camp assembled into an orderly unit after escaping from the burning tents and retreated from the battlefield. On the other hand, Nicolo joined their procession from a shady location at the edge of the tents as well, with his luggage on his back. In the process of retreating, wails and roars of anger as well as panicked whinnies of warhorses in the fire continually resounded in their ears.

''So the reason Francesca ordered the soldiers to prepare a fire was for this moment......'' Oil could be smelt from the remaining ashes that floated over from the burning tents. At the same time, Chris understood that Francesca stayed to use the flag of the Dukedom and she herself as bait, tempting the enemy forces into the fire that she designed. As long as the remaining people thought of a way to block the path of the enemy vanguards, they would be trapped when fires were set when their reinforcement arrives.

"—Captain, hurry up!"

Shouts of the soldiers rang in front of them. At the end of the camp, a few tents were lined up in an orderly manner. When the flaps were opened, quite a few horses could be seen inside.

" Don't let them escape! It's just a tactic of flames of such a degree, just to disperse our focus!"

The angry roars of the enemy made Chris turn around as he ran at the end of the processing. He saw posts of a few tents collapsing due to the tongues of flames licking at them, burying quite a few enemy soldiers. The purple flag was whirled into the sea of flames as the fire spread. However, under the orders of the enemy commander, quite a few arrows still shot out from a few military tents burning by Chris's side. It was the enemy forces. In the confusion, they managed to gather two lines of cavalry to pursue them.

" They're catching up!" Chris shouted.

"Just ignore them and run!" Gilberto couldn't help but say.

Wooden posts crackled in the sea of flames and fell. Hoof beats gradually approached from behind. However, the extent of wounds on Minerva and Gilberto prevented them from escaping at their maximum speed.

"We won't make it, huh......" Gilberto clicked his tongue while his expression twisted.

''—No, they'll catch up at this rate!''

''......If so— Why did I stay in the first place!''

Chris turned around as he came to a decision.

''—My sword, the sword of the Beast, is one that will not be used for the protection of other people. If so......''

''—Let the beast inside of me swallow everything, and survive for slaughter!''

He raised his sword hilt to the side of his mouth and held it with his teeth so that his hands could move freely.

"What are you doing!"

Minerva noticed his abnormal actions and turned around to call him. So that he would not stumble over her voice, Chris quickly ran in the direction of the enemy soldiers. He saw the mercenary in front of him glare at him.

"Are you crazy, kid? Die—!"

His adversary waved his lance, swinging it at Chris while slashing through the dust on the ground. Chris focused his attention completely on the opponent's hilt. Horses approached rapidly while raising dust. The instant before he was kicked by hooves, Chris's feet viciously stomped on the floor, dashing forwards all at once.

"—Wha?!"

The expression on the enemy soldier's face twisted in surprise, and he raised his spear to fend Chris off. However, Chris leapt when his feet stepped on the tip of his opponent's spear, stretching his hand out to frantically grab the rope tied to the horse's head, kicking the soldier off the horse right after that.

"Y-You—"

Chris took the horse, but saw another cavalryman passing by his fallen comrade, rushing towards Chris while swinging his spear. Chris held firm on the saddle and lowered his body to evade the spear from behind. His horse was startled by Chris's action, and was about to turn tail and run when Chris halted it with a single hand, taking back the longsword in his mouth with his other hand at the same time.

"Actually using a dirty trick like this—"

The horse Chris was riding on was quickly caught up. As he did not do his best to stabilize his sitting position after leaping onto the horse, focusing his attention on warding off the opponent's attacks, his riding speed dropped continually.

"You actually look down on us so much, I'm definitely making you regret this—"

In the foes' roars, Chris pulled on the rope, causing his horse to collide with that of the chasing soldier's. The two horses neighed in pain at the same time, maniacally twisting their bodies to rush towards the burning tents. Chris used the opportunity to swing the longsword in his hand and landed a blow on his enemy's hand holding the spear, using the momentum of the force to correct the path of his horse. However, his adversary did not have any chance to do so, and thus rammed directly into a burning tent. Right after that, Chris heard hoofbeats of quite a few horses and panicked breathing behind him, and guessed that there would be blades flying at him yet again. He rode his horse between the burning tents, his actions almost all done on instinct. After he severed the umpteenth head of the enemies, the longsword of poor workmanship finally snapped. A startling sense of foreignness spread from the sword to his hand.

"Damned kid, actually giving us so much trouble! It's time for you to die, so DIEEEEEE—"

Accompanied with curses, the sword in his enemy's hand had already swung towards him, while Chris— he raised his right hand, catching the sword with one hand. The action caused his enemy to sink into shock, the expression on his face abruptly clouded over with fear, as Chris quickly snatched over the sword in his hands.

Although Chris raised his hand high so that the speed of his foe's sword could not reach its maximum, the swing was already enough to cut the leather armor on his palm, causing his palm to be cut open. However, under such excitement, Chris was unable to feel any pain. He applied force with the hand holding the blade, directly knocking his adversary off the saddle. After that, he quickly turned around to knock the horse catching up behind him on its head, causing the enemy cavalryman to fall with his horse.

''—I am a beast!''

''—My body and the pain on my body belongs to the beast!''

''—I must struggle frantically, sucking people's blood dry, then finding a place for me to die.''

"—Chris!"

Just when his consciousness was gradually fading into the bloodstained surroundings, a voice pulled him back to reality. Flames of red and white appeared in his eyes......

"Do you want to die? Hurry up and get down from the horse!"

''—Minerva? Why......?'' A red-haired girl came into Chris's gaze that was blurred due to blood— ''She rode back to find me? Then have we escaped from the camp?'' But there were still soldiers in pursuit, and sounds of tents collapsing, roars of the enemy troops, clanking of armor and horses raising dust by stomping frantically on the ground could still be heard behind them. ''If this goes on, we'll still be caught up—''

"Just ignore that! Hurry up and get down!"

''—Why? Why is Minerva telling me to get down the horse?'' Chris did not understand, and did not have the energy to care anymore. He planned to continue killing, slaughtering the enemies without exception. However, before he turned around, he saw Minerva standing up on her saddle—

She jumped over from her saddle, embracing Chris with her slender arms. Her red hair fluttered in the air, drifting past Chris's face. At the same time, an unexpected strength pressed on him, bringing him away from the saddle, floating lightly under the pitch-black night.

Chris and Minerva fell onto the ground together, and rolled on the grassy land while holding each other tightly before stopping. When Chris supported his bloody right hand on the ground and was about to clamber up......

"Release the arrows—"

A loud order resounded through the area. It was not Francesca's voice. The voice was more tender, and it sounded like its owner was younger than Francesca...... It was Paola. Just when Chris made out the owner of the voice, he saw a silver flag waving under the pitch-black skies. At the same time, bolts descended from the sky like heavy rain, frantically pelting on the soldiers in pursuit of him.

They had indeed left the camp. The camp with military tents burning in a cluster was currently at the lower end of the sloping land of the hill.

The ones who launched an ambush counterattack on the enemy soldiers was the archer unit of the Order of the Silver Egg, in an orderly formation. Even the cavalry unit charged forward.

They turned back to support the squad bringing up the rear, under Paola's command.

''—If so, were the torches held by the members of the Order that the enemy saw when they attacked the camp a smokescreen by Francesca as well?''

Chris thought, such a strategy could not be described just by the word 'daring'. Francesca handed the commanding power of the main force to her subordinate, standing on the front lines as bait. Such a thing would be absolutely impossible without guards who can be trusted, and everyone had to complete their own tasks completely as well.

Apart from Minerva, Gilberto's swordsmanship was gained through rigorous training as well, so the feats that he accomplished were all backed up by true skill. As for Paola, she definitely had her own merits as well. After all, she and Francesca did not have any time for discussion of strategy before the battle at all. However, she accurately perceived the meaning of Francesca's arrangement, commanding the cavalry to run away with torches, all for the sake of a chance for a counterattack.

Chris lied blankly on the cold grassy land, staring at the soldiers of the Celestial army who were forced by the troops holding silver flags to scatter and escape into the camp with blazing tents in loss. Chris was in a daze, and completely forgot about the pain of his bleeding wounds, and didn't even notice the warmth of the body squashed under him.

"......Hey!"

Only when a fist pressed onto his abdomen did he come back to his senses.

"How long are you trying to squash my body for!"

[[Image:TnJtRnK v01 126.jpg|thumb]]

Minerva was squashed under Chris's body with her back on the grassy land. She flailed her arms, trying to crawl out from under his body.

"Ah, s-sorry......"

Chris tried to rise, but his head suddenly spun, causing him to collapse onto Minerva before he was able to do anything else.

"W-What are you doing, idiot!"

''—Blood...... There's so much......''

''—This is bad...... So cold......''

"And also, didn't you go a bit overboard by stealing an enemy's horse all by yourself? What if you couldn't get the pursuing soldiers off your tail? You're my tool! You can't just die when you want, idiot!"

Minerva tried her best to carry Chris while her brows furrowed. Although her injuries weren't as serious as those of Chris's, she was hurt all over as well. With her clothes charred in many places and bloodstains all over them, they were already in rags.

"Hey, Nicolo, somebody call Nicolo over! Chris, you can't sleep, my body is not your mattress!"

That moment, Minerva's curses were like tender caresses to Chris's ears. He leant closely to the warmth pressing on his body, trying not to lose consciousness.

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"Chris, you can't sleep! I forbid you to die easily by yourself like this! It's just a little injury! You can't sleep, idiot! Wake up already!"

While Nicolo treated Chris's injuries, Minerva was still doggedly calling him by his side. With a helpless look, Nicolo was forced to assign tasks of boiling water and changing towels to her, trying to make her speak less. However, as soon as Minerva's tasks were completed, she would immediately run to Chris's side, pinching his cheeks to wake him up.

When Nicolo finished treating the hurt, unexpectedly, Francesca asked them to move through the night.

"The tents were all burnt down. We need to walk for at least two days and two nights before we can sleep at the village closest to this place. Hurry up and move if you know that it's troublesome as well." She said.

It was actually a wise decision. After all, it was not impossible for the Celestial army to continue assigning pursuit units to chase them. Besides, since the tents burnt down, the men did not have the time and mood to console themselves by drinking in the wilderness while waiting for their wounds to heal anymore.

Chris slept on the horse cart containing weapons and armor. Seeing him turn when the horse cart moved, Minerva cried out and asked Nicolo: "H-Hey, I-Is it really okay for that guy to lie down in the horse cart?"

"Sigh, probably?" Hearing her question, Nicolo answered in a sleepy, lazy tone: "He's a monster. His arrow wounds from yesterday are almost completely healed. What does that guy usually eat for him to have a body that recovers so quickly......"

''By eating people's lives—'' Chris stil couldn't say those words. However, Nicolo's words raised a question in Chris's heart......

''—My injuries heal very quickly? Is that so? Is it possible that it's because my body is really the body of the Beast?''

The thought caused him to shudder. In fact, he never had the military doctor of his squad tend to his injuries in the past. So, there was not any information for him to judge if his wound recovery was quick or slow. However, that moment......

''—So I really '''am''' a beast living on by swallowing lives.''

When he thought of that, Chris felt like tearing open the freshly-stitched wounds open with his fingernails...... When he woke up from his nightmare, he saw Minerva on the same horse cart as he was as soon as he opened his eyes. Her gaze was on him, and she turned away right after that.

He tried to lift his head slightly and shift his gaze outside the horse cart, and saw Gilberto riding on a horse while Francesca was by his side, her golden hair reflecting the morning rays exceptionally dazzlingly.

''—Was the situation the same as well?''

''—This time, did I survive because of the Beast's blood as well?''

Chris could not reach a conclusion. He closed his eyes once again.

After midnight of the next day, the members of the Order finally arrived at a large village. It was already Zaccarian territory. Because of that, the villagers eventually came out to welcome Francesca when they saw her. But speaking of which, the total number of soldiers was over a thousand, and with the horses as well, if they really had to stay for a few days, finishing up the horse feed and well water was something that would happen sooner or later.

"I wish to borrow your storerooms for us to have a night's rest here. Can you please give us some food and water? I shall send someone over with the payment after this."

"What payment? How can we take that! Our village doesn't have anything but if you want beer, we ''can'' provide some for you instead."

The village chief's answer gave the soldiers much excitement. Even though Francesca reminded them that they shouldn't drink too much as they had to set off from the village in the morning, not one of them listened.

They drank by campfires. Chris sat on a patch of grass at a side as well, looking at them laughing while he leant on the pile of luggage at a shady spot.

He felt a sense of alienation from the surroundings, from the scene, from the wounds, the bright illumination from the campfire surrounded by people, and the people laughing around there......

''—Is it really fine for me to stay here?''

''—Should I allow myself to continue living?''

''—The battle ended, but I'm in a situation where everyone is smiling at each other in a circle. Is that really okay?''

"Hey, newbie!" "Don't fall asleep! You won't be able to wake up if you do!" "Wahahaha! Look at him! Is that Meena's doing?"

All of a sudden, the topic of discussion focused on him while he was hugging his knees by the pile of luggage, making him raise his head. That moment, a crowd of unfamiliar soldiers— no, Chris had already seen these people. He just never asked for them, and never spoke to them before. They headed towards Chris, each looking quite drunk.

"I-Is there anything wrong?" Chris asked the people.

"Isn't it cold for you to sit here? That's bad for the wounds." "See how we make your body warm from inside to the outside!"

"Ah, um, wait a minute......"

Disregarding Chris's intentions, the people forcibly pulled him to the campfire, stuffing a cup the size of an urn into his hands. Chris took the cup before he was able to refuse them, and all of the surrounding people came to pour beer for him. The others surrounding the campfire gradually sat by Chris's side as well.

''—What the heck? Why are these people suddenly......''

"......Um, about the beer......"

Chris was unable to swallow wine stronger than grape wine.

"How old are you?"

One of them asked. When Chris answered that he was seventeen, "Then just drink while pinching your nose!" An illogical answer tossed the question back again. Then, the people started clamoring, even poking him with their elbows to urge him to drink. Chris did not have any choice but to take a sip, and frantically coughed after that with his face flushed, making the surrounding soldiers fall onto the ground laughing.

"......Sorry for yesterday."

One of them abruptly said. Chris stared blankly at him with his eyes widened.

"Saying that you're a harbinger of misfortune who would kill one of your own...... Haha, it seems like your legend did not affect our luck at all."

"Yeah, and this guy helped us protect the Captain's small butt from being violated by the enemy."

"Sorry." "Yeah, the Captain's chagrin is more important to us than the land of the Principality!" "Haha, that's true!"

''—Why......''

''—Why are these people apologizing to me? Even though I'm......''

"Say, where did you learn that way of killing from?"

"All of us shuddered when we saw that. Good thing we didn't meet you three days ago." "Yeah. You would've been our enemy that time if so!"

"Hah, we have good luck, didn't I keep telling ya? Our Captain is a goddess who brings luck!"

Listening to the soldiers' hearty chuckles, he felt tortured, as though someone was prying open the wounds on him with a pick.

''—Luck? There's no such thing......''

''—There will be one day when the beast in me will......''

''—Sooner or later I will have to swallow your fates to the bones......''

''—No, please don't talk to me anymore, please...... Don't laugh by my side......''

"Can you please stop counting Captain in? It's enough with Paola alone. She's not some sort of goddess of luck, but a true goddess of fortune!"

"Yeah! A true goddess of fortune!"

"If so, doesn't that mean we have a true soul reaper as well? It's Meena!" "Ahahahaha!"

The laughs by the people surrounding the campfire whooshed by Chris's ears like cold wind.

"Say, the Meena yesterday wasn't like a soul reaper at all, but just an extremely normal pure maiden!"

"Yeah, seeing her face drained of blood, like she's asking what she should do if this kid died."

"It was the first time I saw her like that" "She looks cuter that way!" "Agreed!"

"Hey, I'll say, if it's this kid......" "Yep!" "There's a chance!"

As the surrounding people chatted, meaningful smiles suddenly surfaced as they exchanged perverted gazes. Then, "Kid, listen, you're the only man in the Captain's squad of personal guards." The soldier with light brown eyes sitting by Chris's side said to Chris with his mouth curling.

"......The first? But......"

''—What about Gilberto? Isn't he the head of the Captain's personal guards?''

"Even though our Chief's strong, he still isn't a man." "Yeah, no balls." "Captain asked him to sleep in the same room as her, and he actually refused!" "Yeah, it's an opportunity all of us dream of!" "Kid, you'll have to investigate this properly for us!" "Because we started bets on things like, is the hair under Meena red, and the like......" "Wahahahaha, but nobody had the skill to confirm that, so the money we bet is still hanging there!" "People who would dare to do that would lose their lives, after all!" "Most probably, the only person who can evade that sword is the Chief." "Yeah. Pity he doesn't have balls."

That moment, the people sitting opposite to Chris suddenly paled, springing up from the ground and the chairs, while the insensitive people sitting by Chris froze all of a sudden as well. A foreign presence that was totally alien to the atmosphere appeared behind Chris, making his head hurt so much that he wanted to look for a hole to hide in— he actually wasn't able to notice his appearance at all. However, from the shocked reaction of the surrounding people, he should have noticed it long ago.

Chris slowly turned around and saw a suit of pitch-black armor and a cold longsword. When he raised his gaze, he saw the pair of bright marble-like eyes.

"Ah,haha, ahahaha......"

A soldier in black laughed emptily.

"C, C-C-C-Chief— Ah, um...... W-We— We're talking about cannonballs of the catapult machine!"

"T, T-T-That's right, we're thinking where we should look for the supplies......" "Oi, you idiots, we don't ''have'' a catapult machine at all!"

The voices with slight quavers hissed to each other. When Gilberto took a step forward, the people tossed their cups away and hid at the other side of the campfire.

However, Gilberto didn't even look at them. He shifted his gaze to Chris, looking at him coldly. Under a subconscious impulse, Chris put down his cup and stood up from the ground.

"......Are your injuries okay?"

Gilberto's question made Chris's eyes widen in surprise. He never thought that Gilberto would be concerned of his injuries, and thus nodded somewhat unnaturally.

"Did you battle in that way from before?"

"......Huh?"

Gilberto suddenly grabbed Chris's right arm, causing cold sweat to seep abruptly from Chris's face.

"You always target the enemies' weapons or wrists. Is that your subconscious choice? Is it because you don't wish to kill?"

Chris swallowed after hearing that.

"If you keep doing dumb stuff like that, normal swords would break in no time."

Gilberto noticed it. In the few seconds when they were dealing with the enemy back to back......

"After this, don't think of rushing into the enemy's ranks like a mad dog. If you die, their attacks will reach Lady Fran very quickly, so it's best if you remember this."

Chris averted his gaze, retracting his right hand at the same time, locking his hand on the arm of his left hand, applying force to squeeze his left arm with his fingertips.

''—But I don't know other ways of fighting......''

''—How can a person like me be someone's guard? How can a person like me know how to fight to protect the other?''

That moment, Gilberto placed his hand on the hilt of the longsword tied to his waist, making Chris take a step backwards.

However, Gilberto's action was not to unsheathe his sword, but to untie the longsword instead, handing it to Chris. His act shocked Chris. He gazed blankly at the longsword before his eyes and turned around to look at Gilberto again.

"I'm lending you this sword." Gilberto said.

"......Eh? Huh? What?"

"I think you can't change your way of fighting at a moment's notice. Material superior to the metal making up the sword probably can't be found even if you comb through the Seven Countries of the East. Take it. After all, members of the personal guards can't always look for weapons in battles. That will danger Lady Fran's life. Don't you lose this sword. Return it to me when you find a better weapon that suits you more."

Chris took the sword that Gilberto was handing to him, his heart still in disbelief over what was happening before his eyes. The workmanship of the sword in his hands was startlingly good, and it was unbelievably light in the hands. It was definitely not something that one would lend people just like that.

''—Why did he......'' Chris raised his head to look at Gilberto with a look of disbelief once again. That moment, he suddenly tossed a question to him again.

"Name?"

"Huh?"

"I'm asking you for you name— I haven't heard it from you personally."

Before answering, a sound choked in his throat, moving his heart.

''—When...... was the last time I told the others of my name?''

''—The name Mother gave me...... Minerva knew it before we even met......''

''—Even so, right now...... I want to answer him...... I want to tell Gilberto my name. Why is that?''

"—Cristoforo......"

Hearing Chris's answer, his brows furrowed for a moment. He then turned around and said, "You can just call me Gil."

From the instant Chris took the sword from Gilberto, the surrounding people were looking with bated breath. That moment, all of them gulped at the same time, and some even made sounds of admiration. Chris could think of the reason. It was because, Francesca was probably the only person in the whole Order who could call him Gil.

"It's hard for one to call a person's full name on the battlefield."

Gilberto said coldly, and rose to leave. Chris held the longsword with his hands, staring blankly at his leaving silhouette.

''—What the heck is this guy thinking......'' Chris did not understand. However, the longsword he was holding was unquestionably lent to him by Gilberto.

"You're...... seriously amazing......"

"Chief, he......" "Didn't he?" "It was the first time we saw him like that......"

Chris gazed at the silhouette of the knight clad in black armor while listening to the surrounding soldiers' thoughts, then pressed the cold longsword to his chest. That moment, the people's clamors reached his brain once again, various smells stimulating his senses as well. Fragrance of wine, the aromatic smell of grease from roasted meat, and the smell of grass from the farm, all of the smells mixed together in the night breeze, emanating through the whole village.

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As she said from the start, the place Francesca slept in was the storeroom in the village head's house.

"She really won't go back on her words......"

The village chief couldn't help but smile wryly when they talked about Francesca's stubborn personality as he led the way for Chris at the outskirts of the farm. Francesca probably told the village chief that she couldn't sleep in someone's warm house since she already mentioned before her men that she was to sleep in someone's storeroom.

"This way, please. Then allow me to excuse myself."

The village chief stretched out his hand to point at a small house emitting a fait glow through the windows and the door seams, bowed at Chris and turned around to leave after handing the oil lamp he was holding to Chris.

The storeroom was spread full of white cloth. There were so much that it would make people wonder if they were collected after searching through the whole village. The flags of the Dukedom and the order were hung on the wall. Francesca lied elegantly on soft wool, enjoyably sipping her apple wine. Minerva squatted by Francesca's side while doing something under Paola's instructions. When she saw Chris entering, she suddenly hid her hand behind her. It seemed like she was holding something.

"D-Don't just barge in all of a sudden!"

She called out while randomly grabbing something to throw at Chris.

"S-Sorry!"

Chris hurriedly shut the door and left, almost smashed by the object thrown by Minerva that hit the door instead of him. It fell before the seam of the door. It was actually a stone pestle used to grind herbs.

"What does it matter. Enter. It is cold tonight. You can warm my feet in place of beast fur."

"Fran, don't act recklessly!"

"Hmm...... Speaking of which...... This medicine was ground for Chris, so why don't you put it on for him, Meena?"

"Paola, don't be such a busybody!"

Chris listened to the three girls talking in varying degrees of loudness and couldn't help but sigh. He removed the sword on his waist and hung it on the wall outside the storeroom, sitting down by the windows.

"Chris, didn't I ask you to enter?"

The window opened, and Francesca poked her head out of the window. Paola approached the windowsill as well.

"I, um...... I'm here as security. Gilberto handed me the job......"

"You sleep at other storerooms, it's enough for me to guard her!" Hearing that, Minerva came closer to speak to Chris as well: "You're hurt! Who told you to be a guard— This is your medicine, here— Hurry up and scram after taking your medicine and look for a place to sleep!"

Minerva pressed the outstretched herbal medicine by Chris's ear. Warmth lingered on the freshly-ground herbs from its grinding, and it had a strong smell of grass as well. However, Minerva's rough actions almost stuffed the herbs into Chris's ears.

"Um...... Herbs aren't used like that......" Paola timidly said at a side.

"Huh? That sword?"

Francesca was the one to notice it first. From the side, Minerva's eyes widened as she saw it as well.

"Isn't that Gilberto's sword? Why is it on you?" Minerva asked.

"......He lent it to me."

Although Chris did not think they would believe it, he still explained the things that occurred thoroughly. Hearing that, Minerva heaved a sigh and shrugged, while Francesca said while smiling after repeating the same actions for a few times: "That guy really isn't truthful enough......"

"Speaking of which, where's Gilberto? Where did he run off to? Didn't I say that the five of us have to celebrate?"

"Hmm, I seem to recall that he said that he's going back to the Zaccaria Castle to report the results of the battle." Minerva said.

"Didn't I tell him to go there tomorrow...... Whatever, then let the four of us have a pajama party to celebrate ourselves!"

Minerva furrowed her brows when she heard that and pulled Francesca and Paola into the storeroom. She closed the window forcefully, almost hitting Chris's nose.

"......But I deliberately arranged a place by your side to sleep at." Francesca said.

"Shush, hurry up and sleep!"

After the conversation got cut off abruptly, Chris leant against the wall while hugging the longsword Gilberto lent to him. However, the window was suddenly opened once again. It was Minerva. She stretched out her arm and threw out quite a few white cloths that covered his head.

"......Ah...... Thank you."

After thanking her, the window was closed once again without any response from her.

Chris used the cloths to cover his body with the areas above his neck exposed, raising his head to look at the unblemished night sky. Not far away from the fence, there were still people fooling around the campfire. There were songs that went off-pitch due to drunkenness as well.

Chris thought that all of that was just surreal. Even though it was the night-time that he was the most afraid of, even though a battle had finished, he couldn't remember the faces of the enemies he met the previous night, the feeling of piercing through enemies' flesh and blood with his sword, the pain of his flesh cut open by the halberd, and the condition of the enemy soldier who died with blood seeping out from his neck at all. He closed his eyes, seeing the happy faces of the people who survived. It was the first time in his life that he experienced such a night.

Chris woke up suddenly from his bleary sleep due to an abnormal movement around him. He stretched out his hands to search for the longsword covered below the white cloths by his hand. That moment, the campfire was already extinguished, while the sounds of frolicking around the campfire had gone silent. All was silent under the night sky. The only thing that was still awake was the dark grassy land and the estate surrounding the house. The coldness almost made people yawn. Such an atmosphere was probably just a scene before daybreak. There weren't any sounds around at all, and neither were there moving people and animals. However......

''—What was that small noise just now?'' Chris noticed it. The abnormal presence came from behind him— from the storeroom behind him.

''—Someone is crying?''

Just when he was stretching his hand out to open the window, the voice that passed through the wall made Chris convulse without prior warning.

"Don't move, don't you move......"

It was Minerva's voice. She noticed Chris's movements. Chris saw the scene through the window in the instant she cried out. That moment, Minerva had her back against the wall of the storeroom, and was sitting down on the floor while hugging her knees.

Chris breathed out, and turned around to sit down while leaning against the exterior wall of the storeroom once again.

"I'm fine, you just stay outside...... I'm just feeling a bit of pain, it's okay......" Minerva said to Chris through the wall of the storeroom.

''—Did she...... see a scene from the future once again?''

''—That's right, I remember her saying that she hates sleeping......''

''—Seeing the future......''

''—Because she can feel the pain of death from the death omens she sees......''

"Just stay outside the door." Minerva said.

Her words made Chris clench his ten fingers on his kneecap.

''—What kind of pain is this......?''

''—When did Minerva start shouldering such torture......?''

Minerva stretched her hand out from the window. Her white arms were trembling continually. Chris caught hold of Minerva's hand in his confusion. The two palms overlapped tightly. At first, Chris could still clearly feel Minerva's five slender fingers trembling continually, but when her palm started to get warm in Chris's hand, the trembling gradually calmed down and stopped.

A long silence enveloped the area surrounding his and her palms, the fading time almost making people feel that it was about to get light. After some time of consolation, Minerva finally stopped her choking, but the surroundings were still bathed in the pitch-darkness of the night sky. She suddenly pushed Chris's hand aside again. Chris felt her pressing her hand back to her chest, hugging her knees.

"W-Who asked you to care for me......?" For some reason, Minerva suddenly snapped at Chris: "Forget what happened just now— Ngh...... Whatever, it's nothing!"

"That's not the case at all......"

Minerva was about to close the window when Chris realized it and hurriedly stopped the closing window. From the seam, he saw a pair of slender ears and neck through the red hair on Minerva's back.

"W-What are you doing, I don't need you to care. Even though you said that you're going to guard the door, you still dozed off in the end, useless fellow!"

"......Sorry. But...... But I just wanted to look at your face and hear your voice. That's all, so just relax......"

Because Minerva was the only person who did not die even though her fate was swallowed by the beast. If she were to go missing one day, Chris would have to avoid all contact with other people, walking alone in the night once again.

However, Minerva did not seem to understand. With a turn, she grabbed Chris's wrist, clenching furiously onto him, "Idiot! Only you were able to sleep well, I-I—"

"What sort of future did you see?" Chris asked.

"You don't need to know!"

"Tell me, because I am staying by your side just to eat up the signs of death that you foresee."

"Shut up!"

"Why!?"

Chris grabbed the longsword by his side and squeezed his upper torso through the window. Minerva raised her head, her moist eyes meeting that of Chris's. That instant, their voices were completely hidden in the profound night.

Chris opened his mouth, but was unable to speak, and could only huff out breath that lost all temperature. On the other hand, Minerva's gaze wandered, and refocused on Chris in determination after some effort. She said: "It's you!" While biting her lips so hard that it almost bled, Minerva thought of how to speak of her next words as she trembled.

"You used that sword to kill me, I saw my face reflected on the blade of the sword!"

Her words made Chris grip the hilt of the sword in his hands reflexively, and he was unable to realize the significance of Minerva's words that moment.

"I saw it...... I saw you using that sword— Gilberto's sword to pierce through my brows!"

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| Back to [[Tsurugi_no_Joou_to_Rakuin_no_Ko:Volume_1_Chapter_5|Chapter 5]]
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| Forward to [[Tsurugi_no_Joou_to_Rakuin_no_Ko:Volume_1_Chapter_7|Chapter 7]]
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Tsurugi no Joou to Rakuin no Ko:Volume 1 Chapter 6

2013-05-02T17:54:29Z

89.77.202.20: /* Chapter 6 – Battle of Retreat */

==Chapter 6 – Battle of Retreat==

Francesca laid the map down on the floorboards in the tent, while Gilberto placed two cobblestones on the map to represent the two units of the enemy. One of them departed from the river valley Chris and Minerva escaped from, and were heading towards the camp of the Order. On the other hand, the other unit was assaulting from northwest.

"The numbers and branches of the army units?"

"Two thousand cavalry each."

Hearing Gilberto's report, Chris couldn't help but clench his fists in tension— ''Four thousand cavalry, it's four times the people here...... And judging by their speed, we don't have time to escape at all......''

"That's quite the big parade of an attack. Perhaps they already found out that their adversaries are we, of the Order of the Silver Egg?"

"Most probably, I think it's because I scattered too much money in the enemy camp. My apologies for this."

"Never mind that. It's thanks to you doing that that Meena is safe."

After saying that, Francesca walked out of the military camp. She loudly gave the order for the soldiers outside to dismantle the tents, and then sounds of metallic greaves bumping together rang outside the tent. Chris gripped his arms, gazing downwards at his fingertips while listening to the sounds by his ears.

—''The enemy is here...... Is it because I am here?''

The night of the new moon had just passed. He thought, the assault by the enemy might be the misfortune brought on by the influence remaining in the beast in him as well.

Francesca continued to give orders to the soldiers outside, causing the hustle outside to become louder and louder. That moment, Gilberto approached Minerva's side, while Minerva turned around with a look of guilt.

"When did you return?" Gilberto asked.

"......Yesterday."

"I don't care what kind of future you saw, but your actions were already that of one abandoning the Order, running away."

Minerva's hands gripped her arms, causing Chris to almost speak out in defense of Minerva.

"I know. I am willing to accept punishment." However, as though she was deliberately stopping his action, Minerva hurriedly answered in a low voice.

"I do not have the authority to punish you, but I wish to know what Lady Fran said." Gilberto said.

"I said, I'm letting the issue rest if she hands over the beautiful beast." Francesca returned to the camp right that moment, and continued with an exceptionally bright voice: "Alright, it's about time for us to retreat."

However, Gilberto ignored her and pointed at Chris while saying: "Why is this person in Lady Fran's military tent? Isn't he an enemy? We should kill him directly instead."

"Wait a minute! Gilberto, he's my slave, I brought him back—"

"Since he looks so cute, I'm enlisting him in my personal guard— Gil, teach him the rules here properly."

"I have heard about this from the soldiers outside. Please don't make a joke like this! Do you know what kind of a person he is? I heard that it's all thanks to this person alone that the army of the Celestial Kingdom brought down Dekrecht and Raborazia!"

"I know that." Francesca answered nonchalantly. Chris froze in her nonchalance.

"Do you know why I said that it's all thanks to 'this person alone' as well?" Gilberto asked with his eyes narrowed.

"Of course. It's because the Celestial army devised plans of sneaking inside more than ten times, and all of the squad members died with only him being the survivor, isn't that right?"

—''She actually knows even these details......''

''—Then were the efforts I did to hide my identity all for naught?''

Even though they did not know that the reason was the Brand of the Beast on Chris, he already knew what would occur to his surroundings. The fact before his eyes caused Chris to have the illusion of his feet sinking into icy water, drowning gradually. This caused him to avert his gaze from the other three.

"The 'Star Eater' is but a myth. Even Gil believes in that?" Francesca asked.

"This is not a myth. It is possible for even ordinary people to do things like this. In other words, it is very much possible for him to kill his other comrades so that he could escape alone."

Gilberto's words caused a fire to flare in Chris's mind. He subconsciously stood up to grab Gilberto. However, without even flinching, Gilberto rapidly caught hold of the hilt of the sword on his belt. Then, Chris had the illusion of the world splitting into two. In a flash of light, his hand was caught. His body shook reflexively in surprise. On the other hand, Gilberto's half-unsheathed sword was pressed down as well, causing his facial muscles to convulse.

Red hair fluttered between Chris and Gilberto, falling on the slender shoulders of its red-haired owner.

"Stop it, idiot!"

Minerva was the one who grabbed Chris's hand. They failed to notice her movements due to her startling speed, as though it was a wall of flames that rose and fixed itself between Chris and Gilberto.

"You as well, Gilberto—"

Minerva caught hold of Gilberto and scolded him. However, Chris's consciousness sank into a daze, and was already unable to hear what Minerva was saying.

''—What...... What did I extend my hands for just now......''

''—He said that I killed my comrades so that I could escape alone...... Did I move to deny his statement? Or was it to explain that all of that was done by the beast in my heart?''

''—But wasn't that the truth? As he said, I...... I......''

"Look, the pair of beastly eyes." Gilberto put away his longsword and took a step back, glaring furiously at Chris at the same time, "Are you planning to keep a ferocious beast like this by Lady Fran's side?"

"He is my property!" Ignoring Gilberto's words, Minerva determinedly approached him, "I will suppress him, and will not allow him to make trouble. Let me feed him and watch over him! If anything happens, I will kill him. I will not allow him to harm anyone in the Order!"

"Why are you doing this for him until this extent? Didn't you just meet him on the battlefield a few days ago?"

"As for the reason...... I cannot say."

Minerva's head drooped when she answered. Chris bit his lips without saying anything as well.

"But don't get things wrong. This person is just my tool. I'm keeping him by my side because there is something that cannot be accomplished without him. That's all. There's no other reason."

Just at that moment, flustered footsteps rang outside the tent, and someone ran inside.

"Lady Fran, I-I heard that I will be the one to hold the flag later on. Is that true!"

Chris turned around, and saw that it was Paola, the female medic that he had met before. She was startled by the tense atmosphere in the tent, and her body leaning forward shrunk back.

"Ah...... S-Sorry......"

"It's fine, Paola. Come on in." Francesca waved at Paola, "The units of ten must depart first. You shall be the leader of the main force." While saying that, she removed the Silver Hen flag from a post, draping it on Paola's shoulders like a cape.

"M-Me?" Paola said in shock.

"If the beauties are staying to bring up the rear, how will the men in the team think of running away? Hurry up and go." Francesca said.

"Lady Fran, you're not guiding the units?" Gilberto asked after hearing that.

"I shall bring up the rear. If the general flees first when the squad is retreating, both the enemy and our people would make a joke out of it."

Her words caused Chris's eyes to widen. His eyes flitted between Francesca and Gilberto.

''—The commander bringing up the rear?''

Chris had never heard of such a thing. What surprised him more was the fact that Gilberto and Minerva sighed deeply and nodded, as though they weren't planning to raise objections at all.

"E-Excuse me......" Paola, who had just received the team flag, turned around and asked: "Speaking of which, there's another member in the guard, right? T-Then, why don't we celebrate Chris's arrival after this?"

"Hurry up and go. I shall give my all to guard Lady Fran's life, and I will send her back to the camp safely even if I have to sacrifice my own life." To that, Gilberto merely answered coldly.

"N-No. I mean, everyone must safely—"

Before finishing her words, the soldiers outside were already calling Paola's name. She looked at the other people in the military tent with her large watery eyes, and immediately turned around to walk out of the tent.

"Almost everyone in the main force retreated!"

Nicolo shouted in the strong night gust. Chris thought back on the camp stationed with troops some time before while looking at the tents abandoned by the troops in the deserted camp illuminated by the campfire.

"Sigh, my blankets and sheets were really expensive...... I will have to buy new ones now, how troublesome......"

Nicolo sighed, but his tone did not sound all that sorry.

''—So the troops are retreating directly, abandoning the camp equipment?''

Even so, under pursuit by cavalry, they would still be caught up with sooner or later. Chris pondered if it would be more feasible to face the attack with a formation before the camp, turning around to look at Francesca's calm face at the same time.

"We are now a unit running away from battle in loss. I don't want my cute soldiers to make unnecessary sacrifices for a meaningless battle."

As though she saw through Chris's thoughts, Francesca explained with a smile.

At that moment, only troops of about a hundred, including Chris and the members of the personal guard, were left at the camp, while sounds of hoof beats could already be heard from afar. It seemed like the cavalry was getting near.

"Raise the fires— Quick!"

Under Francesca's orders, the soldiers scattered towards various spots in the camp.

''—Raise the fires? Ah, I see! Doing so can indeed hide the fact that the main force has already retreated......''

''—If so, is she planning to raise a few more campfires, making the enemy think that our troops are still stationed here?''

That moment, firelight could already be seen beyond the horizons. As Gilberto had described, two units of cavalry had been dispatched to attack them.

''—But isn't this just a trick to deceive children? If they find out that the whole camp has already retreated, and change target to the main force led by Paola won't the whole Order be finished?''

"It's about time for us to hide as well— Sigh, I real don't feel like fighting...... Everyone, don't let the enemy get near me!"

While speaking, Nicolo hurriedly stuffed medical equipment into a bag of cloth.

''—Why is the military doctor staying to bring up the rear......'' Nicolo seemed to have seen through Chris's look of surprise. He leisurely gave Chris the thumbs up and pointed at his chest while saying:

"Think about it, what if people get injured while I'm not here?"

His words caused Chris to be dumbstruck— ''Even if people get injured on the battlefield, how would there be time for him to deal with it......''

"And Paolo isn't here right as well. When Captain or Meena gets hurt, it's an opportunity of the lifetime for me to treat them!"

A perverted smile surfaced on the military doctor's face as he spoke. Chris was not only dumbstruck, the words caused his head to spin as well.

"If things get so serious that I get hurt, you would have long died."

While Francesca interrupted, her golden hair fluttered in amusement.

"Actually, I don't think you should stay at all, Francesca." Chris couldn't help but interject behind her.

"Didn't I ask you to call me Fran? Besides, what does it matter if I stay? Gil, Meena and you will protect me, isn't that right?"

"You can't just say—"

"Stop fooling around and check out the condition of the weapons."

Gilberto spoke up in annoyance while Chris was about to rebuke her. Chris could only look at the longswords and spears arranged on the ground obediently.

The sword that Chris used before had shape and forging of the highest standard, but it was already broken by Minerva. In comparison, the weapon given to him would be mediocre no matter which one he was given.

''—Whatever, let's not think of meaningless things......''

Chris picked up a longsword and slid his fingers from the side to the tip of the blade.

''—Since Minerva is staying, I have no other choice but to do my best.''

However, the doubt that Chris was harboring was whether the sword in his hands had the power to protect the others. However, he shook his head in the end, casting off the meaningless doubts.

''—I am a beast, I have to devour the people approaching me, more ferociously than usual.''

''—I will bite them to death, and I only need to do that.''

"You stay by Lady Fran's side. Don't do anything suspicious, or I will cut your head down immediately!"

Gilberto's warning rang behind Chris. He stood up after nodding and exchanged gazes with Minerva at a side. That moment, she was holding her large sword by Francesca's side. A shadow of sorrow flitted through her eyes for a brief moment. However, with a gust of wind, her red hair behind her covered her face, causing Chris to be unable to see her face anymore.

A soldier raised the long flagpole, erecting the flag of the duke on the ground.

''—They aren't thinking of facing the assault at a place like this, are they? Shouldn't they at least keep some distance from the tents?''

"If you're worried about an attack of arrows, that's not a problem at all— and they're here."

Francesca's reminder jolted Chris back to his senses in surprise, and he immediately turned around to look at the source of the imposing hoof beats.

That moment, they could already hear the roars of the enemy troops, but the majestic shouts were almost hidden by the deafening clatter of four thousand galloping horses. A heavy rain of arrows fell, slashing through the night skies. Minerva dashed forward, her red hair turning into madly dancing flames. The military tent in front was already trampled by the enemy troops. Among the neighing of the horses, a hundred-odd cavalrymen appeared before them at the same time.

"It's the flag of Zaccaria!"

"It's the duke's daughter! Capture her!"

"The Vixen who raised a flag in rebellion—"

"We'll drag you back to Santuario, the Holy Capital, for public display!"

Minerva's small silhouette shot into the crowd of cavalry verbally abusing her comrades. The campfire nearby reflected a strong ray of light on the large sword she was holding, and in an instant, the vicious sword raised a torrent of wind, whirling dust, bent spears, soldiers' blood and severed horseheads into the air.

"—Wha?!" "What's wrong with this person!" "We must go on— Surround her, hurry!"

The blade that was swung around continuously like a windmill created a space that allowed only a strand of hair to pass through while Minerva's white sleeves danced in the darkness. The sword in her hand spun continually like a windmill. Armor flew in the air along with soldiers' flesh, terrifying the soldiers' horses into bouts of fearful neighs. The forward troops of the enemy had already fallen apart due to Minerva's attack.

"Blast, let's just ignore her. The enemy troops haven't even assembled a formation. Their main forces had probably ran away long ago. Hurry up and assemble to vanquish these enemies!"

The commander donning a helmet with long feathers shouted while raising his sword to point at Francesca, who was in front of him. The order raised the morale of his troops. They charged at their enemy with deafening horse beats once again. Minerva was kicked away by the horses of the enemy force. Her delicate body spun in the air.

"Minerva!"

Just when Chris was about to dash outwards, a hand caught hold of his shoulders, forcibly dragging him back.

"Don't act rashly. She is our sole vanguard."

It was Gilberto. His voice made Chris extremely uncomfortable, like a thorn was stabbing him.

"How can you say such a thing!"

"Defend the position that you are stationed at. She can deal with it even when she is alone!"

Gilberto was absolutely right. After Minerva was kicked into the air, she regained balance after a somersault. She even lowered her position when she reached the ground as well, effortlessly evading the spears stabbing her directly in front and from the side. After that, she raised the huge sword in her hands, and immediately cut a soldier into half along with his horse from below.

Chris gazed at Minerva. Even though he saw that the white skin on her face and shoulders was stained with her and the enemies' blood, he could only suppress the urge in his heart and squatted down in a stance with his sword raised— the tent at the side had already been lifted. A second and third wave of troops was charging towards them with torches held high.

"Vixen of Zaccaria, your useless subordinates already escaped. Look at how dumb they are, scattering everywhere holding torches. I'd say that you don't have any face to save anymore, so hurry up and yield!"

Chris blocked the spear lashed out by the first cavalryman who charged at him, stabbing his sword into his opponent's abdomen along the way. The sense of his sword swirling in flesh and blood came from his hand. With a wail, his assailant fell from his horse, his armor making clanking noises when they banged onto the ground. He had only just finished dealing with the attack when the next spear stabbed at him yet again. Chris waved his arm, barely blocking his opponent's attack with his wrist guard, and immediately took the chance to check out his comrades' battles.

The style of Gilberto's attacks was completely different from that of Minerva's, but there was an imposing presence that would make people shiver as well. He was teamed up on by quite a few cavalrymen, but his feet never shifted from their original position. The longsword in his hands slashed like flowing water, using momentum to block his adversaries' spears, then cut off each of the horses' front legs one slash after another. Francesca stood behind him, imperiously gazing upon the starry skies with her head raised.

''—Wait...... Her eyes are closed?''

''—What is she doing? Enemies are already at her side—''

''—Does she believe in Gilberto's capabilities to this extent?''

The enemy forces were all focused on Francesca alone. As she was to be caught alive, they did not use arrows. Apart from that, their assault pathways were limited at the camp where tents were erected everywhere. Was that a strategy to counter their attack? Chris was puzzled. Disregarding that fact, what was she planning to do next?

''—Most of their men had left. But we really can't hang on any longer......''

Chris gritted his teeth and decided not to think of the problems any more. The most important thing was that they were already drowning in a sea of enemy cavalry, and the missing Minerva. He must do his all to kill another person, killing more enemies to protect Minerva from harm, making this place into a sea of blood that could only tolerate corpses.

A blow at the edge of his sight from an enemy cavalryman scraped away Chris's shoulder armor. The impact caused him to kneel down on the ground. At the same time, his adversary immediately landed a kick on him as well. Chris spat out a mouthful of blood, and swung his sword to kill the enemy soldier with his body arched. His attack made the enemy cavalryman fall down with copious amounts of blood gushing out below his helmet. Then, as though he wanted to suppress Chris's presence, yet another cavalryman rushed forward to crash suddenly into Chris, directly charging at Francesca right after that. Francesca stood there proudly without moving, eyes closed and head facing the starry sky. Gilberto turned around as he realized the soldier's intent, piercing through the warhorse's throat with his sword, but was unable to stop the soldier from abandoning his spear for a sword, pouncing at Francesca from his horse— ''This is bad, we won't be able to make it......''

All of a sudden, the sound of a sharp object slashing through the air whistled. The soldier's body flew in the air, turning in a back somersault and landed before Chris. There were two sharp daggers buried in his face.

Right after that, the same killing aura flashed past Chris's head a few more times as he continued to kneel down on the ground. Then, he saw daggers buried in the eye sockets of a few heavily armored cavalry men as they fell one after another. Chris turned around in a tremor.

"Ack, idiot, don't look over here, I'll be noticed by the enemy!"

''—Nicolo?''

Chris saw a belt full of daggers tied to Nicolo's chest as he concealed himself at a shady spot at the edge of the tents, and he threw viciously like a whip once again.

Now, he finally understood the reason Nicolo stayed to bring up the rear with Francesca's personal guards. Each time his whip-like arms lashed out, another enemy soldier fell in piteous wails.

''—Isn't such accuracy a bit too scary? So he really isn't just any doctor......''

"Stop spacing out!"

Gilberto shouted at Chris. Chris finally came to his senses with a jolt, and raised his longsword high to meet the next attack from a halberd, turning in a circle to reach his opponent's side right after that. His gaze met that of the soldier's shortly. Seeing his profound eyes distorting in terror, he pierced through the enemy with his longsword, feeling through his blade the sense of metal piercing through armor, stabbing into flesh and blood.

Chris took a step backwards after pulling out his longsword, his elbow actually coming into contact with another unfamiliar arm that was hard as steel. He turned around abruptly and saw that Gilbert seemed to have long predicted his movements, and already retreated to Francesca's side. The eyes bright like marbles did not look clouded even when it was stained in the enemy's blood and dust from the ground.

"E-Everyone, scatter! Bring down the tents and let the unit surround them in a circle— Archers, stand out, quick!"

The enemy commander raised his voice to shout at the soldiers under his command in panic. After that, the smell of rust faded like ebbing tide. What was left on the battlefield was hills of corpses of horses and soldiers. Among them, a sole white flame that burnt, pressing close to the ground, was over there......

"—Minerva!"

At Chris's shout, the girl whose red hair was dyed in blood turned around and gave him an absent-minded smile— ''So beautiful......'' That thought surfaced in Chris's mind on instinct. The long hair behind Minerva that was like burning flames had a red stronger, more vibrant color than blood. Holding her huge sword, she stood on the hill of corpses without a hint of fear on her face. And such a radiant appearance—

''No! This shouldn't be so......'' A trace of sorrow surfaced on Chris's chest and gradually spread— ''This shouldn't be so, no...... If her fate is to stand in this rain of pain, attracting people's gaze with her radiance, then......

—''I will devour this fate!''

"The second wave of enemy troops has arrived."

Gilberto said in a low voice. At the same time, Minerva shifted her attention to the foes before her. Chris listened to the sounds that ran in the night— Clatter of hooves resounding in front, and sounds of a commotion approaching. It was the hoof beats of another troop of horses. It seemed like the pursuit unit left behind by the rear unit of the enemy troops had finally arrived.

Chris turned around to look at Francesca. Even with Gilberto's protection, the enemies' blades and blood still flashed past her skin on occasions, but she was still standing there without moving, with her eyes closed and head raised......

''—She's listening?''

Just when Chris realized the true meaning behind her appearance, the gold-haired girl radiating elegance had already opened her eyes.

"Start the fires!"

Under Francesca's orders, every single military tent that occupied their horizons in the camp suddenly burst into roaring flames. The blazing fire that almost burnt down the whole wilderness lit up the originally pitch-black night. Its tremendous presence caused Chris to take two steps back, bumping into Francesca as a result.

"Everyone, retreat!"

The young commander gave another sonorous order. At the same time, Minerva and Chris turned around instantly, preparing to flee the battlefield. Chris was slightly slower. After taking his first step, he hurriedly quickened his footsteps and gave chase. The soldiers holding torches at various locations in the camp assembled into an orderly unit after escaping from the burning tents and retreated from the battlefield. On the other hand, Nicolo joined their procession from a shady location at the edge of the tents as well, with his luggage on his back. In the process of retreating, wails and roars of anger as well as panicked whinnies of warhorses in the fire continually resounded in their ears.

''So the reason Francesca ordered the soldiers to prepare a fire was for this moment......'' Oil could be smelt from the remaining ashes that floated over from the burning tents. At the same time, Chris understood that Francesca stayed to use the flag of the Dukedom and she herself as bait, tempting the enemy forces into the fire that she designed. As long as the remaining people thought of a way to block the path of the enemy vanguards, they would be trapped when fires were set when their reinforcement arrives.

"—Captain, hurry up!"

Shouts of the soldiers rang in front of them. At the end of the camp, a few tents were lined up in an orderly manner. When the flaps were opened, quite a few horses could be seen inside.

" Don't let them escape! It's just a tactic of flames of such a degree, just to disperse our focus!"

The angry roars of the enemy made Chris turn around as he ran at the end of the processing. He saw posts of a few tents collapsing due to the tongues of flames licking at them, burying quite a few enemy soldiers. The purple flag was whirled into the sea of flames as the fire spread. However, under the orders of the enemy commander, quite a few arrows still shot out from a few military tents burning by Chris's side. It was the enemy forces. In the confusion, they managed to gather two lines of cavalry to pursue them.

" They're catching up!" Chris shouted.

"Just ignore them and run!" Gilberto couldn't help but say.

Wooden posts crackled in the sea of flames and fell. Hoof beats gradually approached from behind. However, the extent of wounds on Minerva and Gilberto prevented them from escaping at their maximum speed.

"We won't make it, huh......" Gilberto clicked his tongue while his expression twisted.

''—No, they'll catch up at this rate!''

''......If so— Why did I stay in the first place!''

Chris turned around as he came to a decision.

''—My sword, the sword of the Beast, is one that will not be used for the protection of other people. If so......''

''—Let the beast inside of me swallow everything, and survive for slaughter!''

He raised his sword hilt to the side of his mouth and held it with his teeth so that his hands could move freely.

"What are you doing!"

Minerva noticed his abnormal actions and turned around to call him. So that he would not stumble over her voice, Chris quickly ran in the direction of the enemy soldiers. He saw the mercenary in front of him glare at him.

"Are you crazy, kid? Die—!"

His adversary waved his lance, swinging it at Chris while slashing through the dust on the ground. Chris focused his attention completely on the opponent's hilt. Horses approached rapidly while raising dust. The instant before he was kicked by hooves, Chris's feet viciously stomped on the floor, dashing forwards all at once.

"—Wha?!"

The expression on the enemy soldier's face twisted in surprise, and he raised his spear to fend Chris off. However, Chris leapt when his feet stepped on the tip of his opponent's spear, stretching his hand out to frantically grab the rope tied to the horse's head, kicking the soldier off the horse right after that.

"Y-You—"

Chris took the horse, but saw another cavalryman passing by his fallen comrade, rushing towards Chris while swinging his spear. Chris held firm on the saddle and lowered his body to evade the spear from behind. His horse was startled by Chris's action, and was about to turn tail and run when Chris halted it with a single hand, taking back the longsword in his mouth with his other hand at the same time.

"Actually using a dirty trick like this—"

The horse Chris was riding on was quickly caught up. As he did not do his best to stabilize his sitting position after leaping onto the horse, focusing his attention on warding off the opponent's attacks, his riding speed dropped continually.

"You actually look down on us so much, I'm definitely making you regret this—"

In the foes' roars, Chris pulled on the rope, causing his horse to collide with that of the chasing soldier's. The two horses neighed in pain at the same time, maniacally twisting their bodies to rush towards the burning tents. Chris used the opportunity to swing the longsword in his hand and landed a blow on his enemy's hand holding the spear, using the momentum of the force to correct the path of his horse. However, his adversary did not have any chance to do so, and thus rammed directly into a burning tent. Right after that, Chris heard hoofbeats of quite a few horses and panicked breathing behind him, and guessed that there would be blades flying at him yet again. He rode his horse between the burning tents, his actions almost all done on instinct. After he severed the umpteenth head of the enemies, the longsword of poor workmanship finally snapped. A startling sense of foreignness spread from the sword to his hand.

"Damned kid, actually giving us so much trouble! It's time for you to die, so DIEEEEEE—"

Accompanied with curses, the sword in his enemy's hand had already swung towards him, while Chris— he raised his right hand, catching the sword with one hand. The action caused his enemy to sink into shock, the expression on his face abruptly clouded over with fear, as Chris quickly snatched over the sword in his hands.

Although Chris raised his hand high so that the speed of his foe's sword could not reach its maximum, the swing was already enough to cut the leather armor on his palm, causing his palm to be cut open. However, under such excitement, Chris was unable to feel any pain. He applied force with the hand holding the blade, directly knocking his adversary off the saddle. After that, he quickly turned around to knock the horse catching up behind him on its head, causing the enemy cavalryman to fall with his horse.

''—I am a beast!''

''—My body and the pain on my body belongs to the beast!''

''—I must struggle frantically, sucking people's blood dry, then finding a place for me to die.''

"—Chris!"

Just when his consciousness was gradually fading into the bloodstained surroundings, a voice pulled him back to reality. Flames of red and white appeared in his eyes......

"Do you want to die? Hurry up and get down from the horse!"

''—Minerva? Why......?'' A red-haired girl came into Chris's gaze that was blurred due to blood— ''She rode back to find me? Then have we escaped from the camp?'' But there were still soldiers in pursuit, and sounds of tents collapsing, roars of the enemy troops, clanking of armor and horses raising dust by stomping frantically on the ground could still be heard behind them. ''If this goes on, we'll still be caught up—''

"Just ignore that! Hurry up and get down!"

''—Why? Why is Minerva telling me to get down the horse?'' Chris did not understand, and did not have the energy to care anymore. He planned to continue killing, slaughtering the enemies without exception. However, before he turned around, he saw Minerva standing up on her saddle—

She jumped over from her saddle, embracing Chris with her slender arms. Her red hair fluttered in the air, drifting past Chris's face. At the same time, an unexpected strength pressed on him, bringing him away from the saddle, floating lightly under the pitch-black night.

Chris and Minerva fell onto the ground together, and rolled on the grassy land while holding each other tightly before stopping. When Chris supported his bloody right hand on the ground and was about to clamber up......

"Release the arrows—"

A loud order resounded through the area. It was not Francesca's voice. The voice was more tender, and it sounded like its owner was younger than Francesca...... It was Paola. Just when Chris made out the owner of the voice, he saw a silver flag waving under the pitch-black skies. At the same time, bolts descended from the sky like heavy rain, frantically pelting on the soldiers in pursuit of him.

They had indeed left the camp. The camp with military tents burning in a cluster was currently at the lower end of the sloping land of the hill.

The ones who launched an ambush counterattack on the enemy soldiers was the archer unit of the Order of the Silver Egg, in an orderly formation. Even the cavalry unit charged forward.

They turned back to support the squad bringing up the rear, under Paola's command.

''—If so, were the torches held by the members of the Order that the enemy saw when they attacked the camp a smokescreen by Francesca as well?''

Chris thought, such a strategy could not be described just by the word 'daring'. Francesca handed the commanding power of the main force to her subordinate, standing on the front lines as bait. Such a thing would be absolutely impossible without guards who can be trusted, and everyone had to complete their own tasks completely as well.

Apart from Minerva, Gilberto's swordsmanship was gained through rigorous training as well, so the feats that he accomplished were all backed up by true skill. As for Paola, she definitely had her own merits as well. After all, she and Francesca did not have any time for discussion of strategy before the battle at all. However, she accurately perceived the meaning of Francesca's arrangement, commanding the cavalry to run away with torches, all for the sake of a chance for a counterattack.

Chris lied blankly on the cold grassy land, staring at the soldiers of the Celestial army who were forced by the troops holding silver flags to scatter and escape into the camp with blazing tents in loss. Chris was in a daze, and completely forgot about the pain of his bleeding wounds, and didn't even notice the warmth of the body squashed under him.

"......Hey!"

Only when a fist pressed onto his abdomen did he come back to his senses.

"How long are you trying to squash my body for!"

[[Image:TnJtRnK v01 126.jpg|thumb]]

Minerva was squashed under Chris's body with her back on the grassy land. She flailed her arms, trying to crawl out from under his body.

"Ah, s-sorry......"

Chris tried to rise, but his head suddenly spun, causing him to collapse onto Minerva before he was able to do anything else.

"W-What are you doing, idiot!"

''—Blood...... There's so much......''

''—This is bad...... So cold......''

"And also, didn't you go a bit overboard by stealing an enemy's horse all by yourself? What if you couldn't get the pursuing soldiers off your tail? You're my tool! You can't just die when you want, idiot!"

Minerva tried her best to carry Chris while her brows furrowed. Although her injuries weren't as serious as those of Chris's, she was hurt all over as well. With her clothes charred in many places and bloodstains all over them, they were already in rags.

"Hey, Nicolo, somebody call Nicolo over! Chris, you can't sleep, my body is not your mattress!"

That moment, Minerva's curses were like tender caresses to Chris's ears. He leant closely to the warmth pressing on his body, trying not to lose consciousness.

<center>*</center>

"Chris, you can't sleep! I forbid you to die easily by yourself like this! It's just a little injury! You can't sleep, idiot! Wake up already!"

While Nicolo treated Chris's injuries, Minerva was still doggedly calling him by his side. With a helpless look, Nicolo was forced to assign tasks of boiling water and changing towels to her, trying to make her speak less. However, as soon as Minerva's tasks were completed, she would immediately run to Chris's side, pinching his cheeks to wake him up.

When Nicolo finished treating the hurt, unexpectedly, Francesca asked them to move through the night.

"The tents were all burnt down. We need to walk for at least two days and two nights before we can sleep at the village closest to this place. Hurry up and move if you know that it's troublesome as well." She said.

It was actually a wise decision. After all, it was not impossible for the Celestial army to continue assigning pursuit units to chase them. Besides, since the tents burnt down, the men did not have the time and mood to console themselves by drinking in the wilderness while waiting for their wounds to heal anymore.

Chris slept on the horse cart containing weapons and armor. Seeing him turn when the horse cart moved, Minerva cried out and asked Nicolo: "H-Hey, I-Is it really okay for that guy to lie down in the horse cart?"

"Sigh, probably?" Hearing her question, Nicolo answered in a sleepy, lazy tone: "He's a monster. His arrow wounds from yesterday are almost completely healed. What does that guy usually eat for him to have a body that recovers so quickly......"

''By eating people's lives—'' Chris stil couldn't say those words. However, Nicolo's words raised a question in Chris's heart......

''—My injuries heal very quickly? Is that so? Is it possible that it's because my body is really the body of the Beast?''

The thought caused him to shudder. In fact, he never had the military doctor of his squad tend to his injuries in the past. So, there was not any information for him to judge if his wound recovery was quick or slow. However, that moment......

''—So I really '''am''' a beast living on by swallowing lives.''

When he thought of that, Chris felt like tearing open the freshly-stitched wounds open with his fingernails...... When he woke up from his nightmare, he saw Minerva on the same horse cart as he was as soon as he opened his eyes. Her gaze was on him, and she turned away right after that.

He tried to lift his head slightly and shift his gaze outside the horse cart, and saw Gilberto riding on a horse while Francesca was by his side, her golden hair reflecting the morning rays exceptionally dazzlingly.

''—Was the situation the same as well?''

''—This time, did I survive because of the Beast's blood as well?''

Chris could not reach a conclusion. He closed his eyes once again.

After midnight of the next day, the members of the Order finally arrived at a large village. It was already Zaccarian territory. Because of that, the villagers eventually came out to welcome Francesca when they saw her. But speaking of which, the total number of soldiers was over a thousand, and with the horses as well, if they really had to stay for a few days, finishing up the horse feed and well water was something that would happen sooner or later.

"I wish to borrow your storerooms for us to have a night's rest here. Can you please give us some food and water? I shall send someone over with the payment after this."

"What payment? How can we take that! Our village doesn't have anything but if you want beer, we ''can'' provide some for you instead."

The village chief's answer gave the soldiers much excitement. Even though Francesca reminded them that they shouldn't drink too much as they had to set off from the village in the morning, not one of them listened.

They drank by campfires. Chris sat on a patch of grass at a side as well, looking at them laughing while he leant on the pile of luggage at a shady spot.

He felt a sense of alienation from the surroundings, from the scene, from the wounds, the bright illumination from the campfire surrounded by people, and the people laughing around there......

''—Is it really fine for me to stay here?''

''—Should I allow myself to continue living?''

''—The battle ended, but I'm in a situation where everyone is smiling at each other in a circle. Is that really okay?''

"Hey, newbie!" "Don't fall asleep! You won't be able to wake up if you do!" "Wahahaha! Look at him! Is that Meena's doing?"

All of a sudden, the topic of discussion focused on him while he was hugging his knees by the pile of luggage, making him raise his head. That moment, a crowd of unfamiliar soldiers— no, Chris had already seen these people. He just never asked for them, and never spoke to them before. They headed towards Chris, each looking quite drunk.

"I-Is there anything wrong?" Chris asked the people.

"Isn't it cold for you to sit here? That's bad for the wounds." "See how we make your body warm from inside to the outside!"

"Ah, um, wait a minute......"

Disregarding Chris's intentions, the people forcibly pulled him to the campfire, stuffing a cup the size of an urn into his hands. Chris took the cup before he was able to refuse them, and all of the surrounding people came to pour beer for him. The others surrounding the campfire gradually sat by Chris's side as well.

''—What the heck? Why are these people suddenly......''

"......Um, about the beer......"

Chris was unable to swallow wine stronger than grape wine.

"How old are you?"

One of them asked. When Chris answered that he was seventeen, "Then just drink while pinching your nose!" An illogical answer tossed the question back again. Then, the people started clamoring, even poking him with their elbows to urge him to drink. Chris did not have any choice but to take a sip, and frantically coughed after that with his face flushed, making the surrounding soldiers fall onto the ground laughing.

"......Sorry for yesterday."

One of them abruptly said. Chris stared blankly at him with his eyes widened.

"Saying that you're a harbinger of misfortune who would kill one of your own...... Haha, it seems like your legend did not affect our luck at all."

"Yeah, and this guy helped us protect the Captain's small butt from being violated by the enemy."

"Sorry." "Yeah, the Captain's chagrin is more important to us than the land of the Principality!" "Haha, that's true!"

''—Why......''

''—Why are these people apologizing to me? Even though I'm......''

"Say, where did you learn that way of killing from?"

"All of us shuddered when we saw that. Good thing we didn't meet you three days ago." "Yeah. You would've been our enemy that time if so!"

"Hah, we have good luck, didn't I keep telling ya? Our Captain is a goddess who brings luck!"

Listening to the soldiers' hearty chuckles, he felt tortured, as though someone was prying open the wounds on him with a pick.

''—Luck? There's no such thing......''

''—There will be one day when the beast in me will......''

''—Sooner or later I will have to swallow your fates to the bones......''

''—No, please don't talk to me anymore, please...... Don't laugh by my side......''

"Can you please stop counting Captain in? It's enough with Paola alone. She's not some sort of goddess of luck, but a true goddess of fortune!"

"Yeah! A true goddess of fortune!"

"If so, doesn't that mean we have a true soul reaper as well? It's Meena!" "Ahahahaha!"

The laughs by the people surrounding the campfire whooshed by Chris's ears like cold wind.

"Say, the Meena yesterday wasn't like a soul reaper at all, but just an extremely normal pure maiden!"

"Yeah, seeing her face drained of blood, like she's asking what she should do if this kid died."

"It was the first time I saw her like that" "She looks cuter that way!" "Agreed!"

"Hey, I'll say, if it's this kid......" "Yep!" "There's a chance!"

As the surrounding people chatted, meaningful smiles suddenly surfaced as they exchanged perverted gazes. Then, "Kid, listen, you're the only man in the Captain's squad of personal guards." The soldier with light brown eyes sitting by Chris's side said to Chris with his mouth curling.

"......The first? But......"

''—What about Gilberto? Isn't he the head of the Captain's personal guards?''

"Even though our Chief's strong, he still isn't a man." "Yeah, no balls." "Captain asked him to sleep in the same room as her, and he actually refused!" "Yeah, it's an opportunity all of us dream of!" "Kid, you'll have to investigate this properly for us!" "Because we started bets on things like, is the hair under Meena red, and the like......" "Wahahahaha, but nobody had the skill to confirm that, so the money we bet is still hanging there!" "People who would dare to do that would lose their lives, after all!" "Most probably, the only person who can evade that sword is the Chief." "Yeah. Pity he doesn't have balls."

That moment, the people sitting opposite to Chris suddenly paled, springing up from the ground and the chairs, while the insensitive people sitting by Chris froze all of a sudden as well. A foreign presence that was totally alien to the atmosphere appeared behind Chris, making his head hurt so much that he wanted to look for a hole to hide in— he actually wasn't able to notice his appearance at all. However, from the shocked reaction of the surrounding people, he should have noticed it long ago.

Chris slowly turned around and saw a suit of pitch-black armor and a cold longsword. When he raised his gaze, he saw the pair of bright marble-like eyes.

"Ah,haha, ahahaha......"

A soldier in black laughed emptily.

"C, C-C-C-Chief— Ah, um...... W-We— We're talking about cannonballs of the catapult machine!"

"T, T-T-That's right, we're thinking where we should look for the supplies......" "Oi, you idiots, we don't ''have'' a catapult machine at all!"

The voices with slight quavers hissed to each other. When Gilberto took a step forward, the people tossed their cups away and hid at the other side of the campfire.

However, Gilberto didn't even look at them. He shifted his gaze to Chris, looking at him coldly. Under a subconscious impulse, Chris put down his cup and stood up from the ground.

"......Are your injuries okay?"

Gilberto's question made Chris's eyes widen in surprise. He never thought that Gilberto would be concerned of his injuries, and thus nodded somewhat unnaturally.

"Did you battle in that way from before?"

"......Huh?"

Gilberto suddenly grabbed Chris's right arm, causing cold sweat to seep abruptly from Chris's face.

"You always target the enemies' weapons or wrists. Is that your subconscious choice? Is it because you don't wish to kill?"

Chris swallowed after hearing that.

"If you keep doing dumb stuff like that, normal swords would break in no time."

Gilberto noticed it. In the few seconds when they were dealing with the enemy back to back......

"After this, don't think of rushing into the enemy's ranks like a mad dog. If you die, their attacks will reach Lady Fran very quickly, so it's best if you remember this."

Chris averted his gaze, retracting his right hand at the same time, locking his hand on the arm of his left hand, applying force to squeeze his left arm with his fingertips.

''—But I don't know other ways of fighting......''

''—How can a person like me be someone's guard? How can a person like me know how to fight to protect the other?''

That moment, Gilberto placed his hand on the hilt of the longsword tied to his waist, making Chris take a step backwards.

However, Gilberto's action was not to unsheathe his sword, but to untie the longsword instead, handing it to Chris. His act shocked Chris. He gazed blankly at the longsword before his eyes and turned around to look at Gilberto again.

"I'm lending you this sword." Gilberto said.

"......Eh? Huh? What?"

"I think you can't change your way of fighting at a moment's notice. Material superior to the metal making up the sword probably can't be found even if you comb through the Seven Countries of the East. Take it. After all, members of the personal guards can't always look for weapons in battles. That will danger Lady Fran's life. Don't you lose this sword. Return it to me when you find a better weapon that suits you more."

Chris took the sword that Gilberto was handing to him, his heart still in disbelief over what was happening before his eyes. The workmanship of the sword in his hands was startlingly good, and it was unbelievably light in the hands. It was definitely not something that one would lend people just like that.

''—Why did he......'' Chris raised his head to look at Gilberto with a look of disbelief once again. That moment, he suddenly tossed a question to him again.

"Name?"

"Huh?"

"I'm asking you for you name— I haven't heard it from you personally."

Before answering, a sound choked in his throat, moving his heart.

''—When...... was the last time I told the others of my name?''

''—The name Mother gave me...... Minerva knew it before we even met......''

''—Even so, right now...... I want to answer him...... I want to tell Gilberto my name. Why is that?''

"—Cristoforo......"

Hearing Chris's answer, his brows furrowed for a moment. He then turned around and said, "You can just call me Gil."

From the instant Chris took the sword from Gilberto, the surrounding people were looking with bated breath. That moment, all of them gulped at the same time, and some even made sounds of admiration. Chris could think of the reason. It was because, Francesca was probably the only person in the whole Order who could call him Gil.

"It's hard for one to call a person's full name on the battlefield."

Gilberto said coldly, and rose to leave. Chris held the longsword with his hands, staring blankly at his leaving silhouette.

''—What the heck is this guy thinking......'' Chris did not understand. However, the longsword he was holding was unquestionably lent to him by Gilberto.

"You're...... seriously amazing......"

"Chief, he......" "Didn't he?" "It was the first time we saw him like that......"

Chris gazed at the silhouette of the knight clad in black armor while listening to the surrounding soldiers' thoughts, then pressed the cold longsword to his chest. That moment, the people's clamors reached his brain once again, various smells stimulating his senses as well. Fragrance of wine, the aromatic smell of grease from roasted meat, and the smell of grass from the farm, all of the smells mixed together in the night breeze, emanating through the whole village.

<center>*</center>

As she said from the start, the place Francesca slept in was the storeroom in the village head's house.

"She really won't go back on her words......"

The village chief couldn't help but smile wryly when they talked about Francesca's stubborn personality as he led the way for Chris at the outskirts of the farm. Francesca probably told the village chief that she couldn't sleep in someone's warm house since she already mentioned before her men that she was to sleep in someone's storeroom.

"This way, please. Then allow me to excuse myself."

The village chief stretched out his hand to point at a small house emitting a fait glow through the windows and the door seams, bowed at Chris and turned around to leave after handing the oil lamp he was holding to Chris.

The storeroom was spread full of white cloth. There were so much that it would make people wonder if they were collected after searching through the whole village. The flags of the Dukedom and the order were hung on the wall. Francesca lied elegantly on soft wool, enjoyably sipping her apple wine. Minerva squatted by Francesca's side while doing something under Paola's instructions. When she saw Chris entering, she suddenly hid her hand behind her. It seemed like she was holding something.

"D-Don't just barge in all of a sudden!"

She called out while randomly grabbing something to throw at Chris.

"S-Sorry!"

Chris hurriedly shut the door and left, almost smashed by the object thrown by Minerva that hit the door instead of him. It fell before the seam of the door. It was actually a stone pestle used to grind herbs.

"What does it matter. Enter. It is cold tonight. You can warm my feet in place of beast fur."

"Fran, don't act recklessly!"

"Hmm...... Speaking of which...... This medicine was ground for Chris, so why don't you put it on for him, Meena?"

"Paola, don't be such a busybody!"

Chris listened to the three girls talking in varying degrees of loudness and couldn't help but sigh. He removed the sword on his waist and hung it on the wall outside the storeroom, sitting down by the windows.

"Chris, didn't I ask you to enter?"

The window opened, and Francesca poked her head out of the window. Paola approached the windowsill as well.

"I, um...... I'm here as security. Gilberto handed me the job......"

"You sleep at other storerooms, it's enough for me to guard her!" Hearing that, Minerva came closer to speak to Chris as well: "You're hurt! Who told you to be a guard— This is your medicine, here— Hurry up and scram after taking your medicine and look for a place to sleep!"

Minerva pressed the outstretched herbal medicine by Chris's ear. Warmth lingered on the freshly-ground herbs from its grinding, and it had a strong smell of grass as well. However, Minerva's rough actions almost stuffed the herbs into Chris's ears.

"Um...... Herbs aren't used like that......" Paola timidly said at a side.

"Huh? That sword?"

Francesca was the one to notice it first. From the side, Minerva's eyes widened as she saw it as well.

"Isn't that Gilberto's sword? Why is it on you?" Minerva asked.

"......He lent it to me."

Although Chris did not think they would believe it, he still explained the things that occurred thoroughly. Hearing that, Minerva heaved a sigh and shrugged, while Francesca said while smiling after repeating the same actions for a few times: "That guy really isn't truthful enough......"

"Speaking of which, where's Gilberto? Where did he run off to? Didn't I say that the five of us have to celebrate?"

"Hmm, I seem to recall that he said that he's going back to the Zaccaria Castle to report the results of the battle." Minerva said.

"Didn't I tell him to go there tomorrow...... Whatever, then let the four of us have a pajama party to celebrate ourselves!"

Minerva furrowed her brows when she heard that and pulled Francesca and Paola into the storeroom. She closed the window forcefully, almost hitting Chris's nose.

"......But I deliberately arranged a place by your side to sleep at." Francesca said.

"Shush, hurry up and sleep!"

After the conversation got cut off abruptly, Chris leant against the wall while hugging the longsword Gilberto lent to him. However, the window was suddenly opened once again. It was Minerva. She stretched out her arm and threw out quite a few white cloths that covered his head.

"......Ah...... Thank you."

After thanking her, the window was closed once again without any response from her.

Chris used the cloths to cover his body with the areas above his neck exposed, raising his head to look at the unblemished night sky. Not far away from the fence, there were still people fooling around the campfire. There were songs that went off-pitch due to drunkenness as well.

Chris thought that all of that was just surreal. Even though it was the night-time that he was the most afraid of, even though a battle had finished, he couldn't remember the faces of the enemies he met the previous night, the feeling of piercing through enemies' flesh and blood with his sword, the pain of his flesh cut open by the halberd, and the condition of the enemy soldier who died with blood seeping out from his neck at all. He closed his eyes, seeing the happy faces of the people who survived. It was the first time in his life that he experienced such a night.

Chris woke up suddenly from his bleary sleep due to an abnormal movement around him. He stretched out his hands to search for the longsword covered below the white cloths by his hand. That moment, the campfire was already extinguished, while the sounds of frolicking around the campfire had gone silent. All was silent under the night sky. The only thing that was still awake was the dark grassy land and the estate surrounding the house. The coldness almost made people yawn. Such an atmosphere was probably just a scene before daybreak. There weren't any sounds around at all, and neither were there moving people and animals. However......

''—What was that small noise just now?'' Chris noticed it. The abnormal presence came from behind him— from the storeroom behind him.

''—Someone is crying?''

Just when he was stretching his hand out to open the window, the voice that passed through the wall made Chris convulse without prior warning.

"Don't move, don't you move......"

It was Minerva's voice. She noticed Chris's movements. Chris saw the scene through the window in the instant she cried out. That moment, Minerva had her back against the wall of the storeroom, and was sitting down on the floor while hugging her knees.

Chris breathed out, and turned around to sit down while leaning against the exterior wall of the storeroom once again.

"I'm fine, you just stay outside...... I'm just feeling a bit of pain, it's okay......" Minerva said to Chris through the wall of the storeroom.

''—Did she...... see a scene from the future once again?''

''—That's right, I remember her saying that she hates sleeping......''

''—Seeing the future......''

''—Because she can feel the pain of death from the death omens she sees......''

"Just stay outside the door." Minerva said.

Her words made Chris clench his ten fingers on his kneecap.

''—What kind of pain is this......?''

''—When did Minerva start shouldering such torture......?''

Minerva stretched her hand out from the window. Her white arms were trembling continually. Chris caught hold of Minerva's hand in his confusion. The two palms overlapped tightly. At first, Chris could still clearly feel Minerva's five slender fingers trembling continually, but when her palm started to get warm in Chris's hand, the trembling gradually calmed down and stopped.

A long silence enveloped the area surrounding his and her palms, the fading time almost making people feel that it was about to get light. After some time of consolation, Minerva finally stopped her choking, but the surroundings were still bathed in the pitch-darkness of the night sky. She suddenly pushed Chris's hand aside again. Chris felt her pressing her hand back to her chest, hugging her knees.

"W-Who asked you to care for me......?" For some reason, Minerva suddenly snapped at Chris: "Forget what happened just now— Ngh...... Whatever, it's nothing!"

"That's not the case at all......"

Minerva was about to close the window when Chris realized it and hurriedly stopped the closing window. From the seam, he saw a pair of slender ears and neck through the red hair on Minerva's back.

"W-What are you doing, I don't need you to care. Even though you said that you're going to guard the door, you still dozed off in the end, useless fellow!"

"......Sorry. But...... But I just wanted to look at your face and hear your voice. That's all, so just relax......"

Because Minerva was the only person who did not die even though her fate was swallowed by the beast. If she were to go missing one day, Chris would have to avoid all contact with other people, walking alone in the night once again.

However, Minerva did not seem to understand. With a turn, she grabbed Chris's wrist, clenching furiously onto him, "Idiot! Only you were able to sleep well, I-I—"

"What sort of future did you see?" Chris asked.

"You don't need to know!"

"Tell me, because I am staying by your side just to eat up the signs of death that you foresee."

"Shut up!"

"Why!?"

Chris grabbed the longsword by his side and squeezed his upper torso through the window. Minerva raised her head, her moist eyes meeting that of Chris's. That instant, their voices were completely hidden in the profound night.

Chris opened his mouth, but was unable to speak, and could only huff out breath that lost all temperature. On the other hand, Minerva's gaze wandered, and refocused on Chris in determination after some effort. She said: "It's you!" While biting her lips so hard that it almost bled, Minerva thought of how to speak of her next words as she trembled.

"You used that sword to kill me, I saw my face reflected on the blade of the sword!"

Her words made Chris grip the hilt of the sword in his hands reflexively, and he was unable to realize the significance of Minerva's words that moment.

"I saw it...... I saw you using that sword— Gilberto's sword to pierce through my brows!"

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| Back to [[Tsurugi_no_Joou_to_Rakuin_no_Ko:Volume_1_Chapter_5|Chapter 5]]
| Return to [[Tsurugi_no_Joou_no_Rakuin_no_Ko|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[Tsurugi_no_Joou_to_Rakuin_no_Ko:Volume_1_Chapter_7|Chapter 7]]
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Tsurugi no Joou to Rakuin no Ko:Volume 1 Chapter 6

2013-05-02T17:52:16Z

89.77.202.20: /* Chapter 6 – Battle of Retreat */

==Chapter 6 – Battle of Retreat==

Francesca laid the map down on the floorboards in the tent, while Gilberto placed two cobblestones on the map to represent the two units of the enemy. One of them departed from the river valley Chris and Minerva escaped from, and were heading towards the camp of the Order. On the other hand, the other unit was assaulting from northwest.

"The numbers and branches of the army units?"

"Two thousand cavalry each."

Hearing Gilberto's report, Chris couldn't help but clench his fists in tension— ''Four thousand cavalry, it's four times the people here...... And judging by their speed, we don't have time to escape at all......''

"That's quite the big parade of an attack. Perhaps they already found out that their adversaries are we, of the Order of the Silver Egg?"

"Most probably, I think it's because I scattered too much money in the enemy camp. My apologies for this."

"Never mind that. It's thanks to you doing that that Meena is safe."

After saying that, Francesca walked out of the military camp. She loudly gave the order for the soldiers outside to dismantle the tents, and then sounds of metallic greaves bumping together rang outside the tent. Chris gripped his arms, gazing downwards at his fingertips while listening to the sounds by his ears.

—''The enemy is here...... Is it because I am here?''

The night of the new moon had just passed. He thought, the assault by the enemy might be the misfortune brought on by the influence remaining in the beast in him as well.

Francesca continued to give orders to the soldiers outside, causing the hustle outside to become louder and louder. That moment, Gilberto approached Minerva's side, while Minerva turned around with a look of guilt.

"When did you return?" Gilberto asked.

"......Yesterday."

"I don't care what kind of future you saw, but your actions were already that of one abandoning the Order, running away."

Minerva's hands gripped her arms, causing Chris to almost speak out in defense of Minerva.

"I know. I am willing to accept punishment." However, as though she was deliberately stopping his action, Minerva hurriedly answered in a low voice.

"I do not have the authority to punish you, but I wish to know what Lady Fran said." Gilberto said.

"I said, I'm letting the issue rest if she hands over the beautiful beast." Francesca returned to the camp right that moment, and continued with an exceptionally bright voice: "Alright, it's about time for us to retreat."

However, Gilberto ignored her and pointed at Chris while saying: "Why is this person in Lady Fran's military tent? Isn't he an enemy? We should kill him directly instead."

"Wait a minute! Gilberto, he's my slave, I brought him back—"

"Since he looks so cute, I'm enlisting him in my personal guard— Gil, teach him the rules here properly."

"I have heard about this from the soldiers outside. Please don't make a joke like this! Do you know what kind of a person he is? I heard that it's all thanks to this person alone that the army of the Celestial Kingdom brought down Dekrecht and Raborazia!"

"I know that." Francesca answered nonchalantly. Chris froze in her nonchalance.

"Do you know why I said that it's all thanks to 'this person alone' as well?" Gilberto asked with his eyes narrowed.

"Of course. It's because the Celestial army devised plans of sneaking inside more than ten times, and all of the squad members died with only him being the survivor, isn't that right?"

—''She actually knows even these details......''

''—Then were the efforts I did to hide my identity all for naught?''

Even though they did not know that the reason was the Brand of the Beast on Chris, he already knew what would occur to his surroundings. The fact before his eyes caused Chris to have the illusion of his feet sinking into icy water, drowning gradually. This caused him to avert his gaze from the other three.

"The 'Star Eater' is but a myth. Even Gil believes in that?" Francesca asked.

"This is not a myth. It is possible for even ordinary people to do things like this. In other words, it is very much possible for him to kill his other comrades so that he could escape alone."

Gilberto's words caused a fire to flare in Chris's mind. He subconsciously stood up to grab Gilberto. However, without even flinching, Gilberto rapidly caught hold of the hilt of the sword on his belt. Then, Chris had the illusion of the world splitting into two. In a flash of light, his hand was caught. His body shook reflexively in surprise. On the other hand, Gilberto's half-unsheathed sword was pressed down as well, causing his facial muscles to convulse.

Red hair fluttered between Chris and Gilberto, falling on the slender shoulders of its red-haired owner.

"Stop it, idiot!"

Minerva was the one who grabbed Chris's hand. They failed to notice her movements due to her startling speed, as though it was a wall of flames that rose and fixed itself between Chris and Gilberto.

"You as well, Gilberto—"

Minerva caught hold of Gilberto and scolded him. However, Chris's consciousness sank into a daze, and was already unable to hear what Minerva was saying.

''—What...... What did I extend my hands for just now......''

''—He said that I killed my comrades so that I could escape alone...... Did I move to deny his statement? Or was it to explain that all of that was done by the beast in my heart?''

''—But wasn't that the truth? As he said, I...... I......''

"Look, the pair of beastly eyes." Gilberto put away his longsword and took a step back, glaring furiously at Chris at the same time, "Are you planning to keep a ferocious beast like this by Lady Fran's side?"

"He is my property!" Ignoring Gilberto's words, Minerva determinedly approached him, "I will suppress him, and will not allow him to make trouble. Let me feed him and watch over him! If anything happens, I will kill him. I will not allow him to harm anyone in the Order!"

"Why are you doing this for him until this extent? Didn't you just meet him on the battlefield a few days ago?"

"As for the reason...... I cannot say."

Minerva's head drooped when she answered. Chris bit his lips without saying anything as well.

"But don't get things wrong. This person is just my tool. I'm keeping him by my side because there is something that cannot be accomplished without him. That's all. There's no other reason."

Just at that moment, flustered footsteps rang outside the tent, and someone ran inside.

"Lady Fran, I-I heard that I will be the one to hold the flag later on. Is that true!"

Chris turned around, and saw that it was Paola, the female medic that he had met before. She was startled by the tense atmosphere in the tent, and her body leaning forward shrunk back.

"Ah...... S-Sorry......"

"It's fine, Paola. Come on in." Francesca waved at Paola, "The units of ten must depart first. You shall be the leader of the main force." While saying that, she removed the Silver Hen flag from a post, draping it on Paola's shoulders like a cape.

"M-Me?" Paola said in shock.

"If the beauties are staying to bring up the rear, how will the men in the team think of running away? Hurry up and go." Francesca said.

"Lady Fran, you're not guiding the units?" Gilberto asked after hearing that.

"I shall bring up the rear. If the general flees first when the squad is retreating, both the enemy and our people would make a joke out of it."

Her words caused Chris's eyes to widen. His eyes flitted between Francesca and Gilberto.

''—The commander bringing up the rear?''

Chris had never heard of such a thing. What surprised him more was the fact that Gilberto and Minerva sighed deeply and nodded, as though they weren't planning to raise objections at all.

"E-Excuse me......" Paola, who had just received the team flag, turned around and asked: "Speaking of which, there's another member in the guard, right? T-Then, why don't we celebrate Chris's arrival after this?"

"Hurry up and go. I shall give my all to guard Lady Fran's life, and I will send her back to the camp safely even if I have to sacrifice my own life." To that, Gilberto merely answered coldly.

"N-No. I mean, everyone must safely—"

Before finishing her words, the soldiers outside were already calling Paola's name. She looked at the other people in the military tent with her large watery eyes, and immediately turned around to walk out of the tent.

"Almost everyone in the main force retreated!"

Nicolo shouted in the strong night gust. Chris thought back on the camp stationed with troops some time before while looking at the tents abandoned by the troops in the deserted camp illuminated by the campfire.

"Sigh, my blankets and sheets were really expensive...... I will have to buy new ones now, how troublesome......"

Nicolo sighed, but his tone did not sound all that sorry.

''—So the troops are retreating directly, abandoning the camp equipment?''

Even so, under pursuit by cavalry, they would still be caught up with sooner or later. Chris pondered if it would be more feasible to face the attack with a formation before the camp, turning around to look at Francesca's calm face at the same time.

"We are now a unit running away from battle in loss. I don't want my cute soldiers to make unnecessary sacrifices for a meaningless battle."

As though she saw through Chris's thoughts, Francesca explained with a smile.

At that moment, only troops of about a hundred, including Chris and the members of the personal guard, were left at the camp, while sounds of hoof beats could already be heard from afar. It seemed like the cavalry was getting near.

"Raise the fires— Quick!"

Under Francesca's orders, the soldiers scattered towards various spots in the camp.

''—Raise the fires? Ah, I see! Doing so can indeed hide the fact that the main force has already retreated......''

''—If so, is she planning to raise a few more campfires, making the enemy think that our troops are still stationed here?''

That moment, firelight could already be seen beyond the horizons. As Gilberto had described, two units of cavalry had been dispatched to attack them.

''—But isn't this just a trick to deceive children? If they find out that the whole camp has already retreated, and change target to the main force led by Paola won't the whole Order be finished?''

"It's about time for us to hide as well— Sigh, I real don't feel like fighting...... Everyone, don't let the enemy get near me!"

While speaking, Nicolo hurriedly stuffed medical equipment into a bag of cloth.

''—Why is the military doctor staying to bring up the rear......'' Nicolo seemed to have seen through Chris's look of surprise. He leisurely gave Chris the thumbs up and pointed at his chest while saying:

"Think about it, what if people get injured while I'm not here?"

His words caused Chris to be dumbstruck— ''Even if people get injured on the battlefield, how would there be time for him to deal with it......''

"And Paolo isn't here right isn't as well. When Captain or Meena gets hurt, it's an opportunity of the lifetime for me to treat them!"

A perverted smile surfaced on the military doctor's face as he spoke. Chris was not only dumbstruck, the words caused his head to spin as well.

"If things get so serious that I get hurt, you would have long died."

While Francesca interrupted, her golden hair fluttered in amusement.

"Actually, I don't think you should stay at all, Francesca." Chris couldn't help but interject behind her.

"Didn't I ask you to call me Fran? Besides, what does it matter if I stay? Gil, Meena and you will protect me, isn't that right?"

"You can't just say—"

"Stop fooling around and check out the condition of the weapons."

Gilberto spoke up in annoyance while Chris was about to rebuke her. Chris could only look at the longswords and spears arranged on the ground obediently.

The sword that Chris used before had shape and forging of the highest standard, but it was already broken by Minerva. In comparison, the weapon given to him would be mediocre no matter which one he was given.

''—Whatever, let's not think of meaningless things......''

Chris picked up a longsword and slid his fingers from the side to the tip of the blade.

''—Since Minerva is staying, I have no other choice but to do my best.''

However, the doubt that Chris was harboring was whether the sword in his hands had the power to protect the others. However, he shook his head in the end, casting off the meaningless doubts.

''—I am a beast, I have to devour the people approaching me, more ferociously than usual.''

''—I will bite them to death, and I only need to do that.''

"You stay by Lady Fran's side. Don't do anything suspicious, or I will cut your head down immediately!"

Gilberto's warning rang behind Chris. He stood up after nodding and exchanged gazes with Minerva at a side. That moment, she was holding her large sword by Francesca's side. A shadow of sorrow flitted through her eyes for a brief moment. However, with a gust of wind, her red hair behind her covered her face, causing Chris to be unable to see her face anymore.

A soldier raised the long flagpole, erecting the flag of the duke on the ground.

''—They aren't thinking of facing the assault at a place like this, are they? Shouldn't they at least keep some distance from the tents?''

"If you're worried about an attack of arrows, that's not a problem at all— and they're here."

Francesca's reminder jolted Chris back to his senses in surprise, and he immediately turned around to look at the source of the imposing hoof beats.

That moment, they could already hear the roars of the enemy troops, but the majestic shouts were almost hidden by the deafening clatter of four thousand galloping horses. A heavy rain of arrows fell, slashing through the night skies. Minerva dashed forward, her red hair turning into madly dancing flames. The military tent in front was already trampled by the enemy troops. Among the neighing of the horses, a hundred-odd cavalrymen appeared before them at the same time.

"It's the flag of Zaccaria!"

"It's the duke's daughter! Capture her!"

"The Vixen who raised a flag in rebellion—"

"We'll drag you back to Santuario, the Holy Capital, for public display!"

Minerva's small silhouette shot into the crowd of cavalry verbally abusing her comrades. The campfire nearby reflected a strong ray of light on the large sword she was holding, and in an instant, the vicious sword raised a torrent of wind, whirling dust, bent spears, soldiers' blood and severed horseheads into the air.

"—Wha?!" "What's wrong with this person!" "We must go on— Surround her, hurry!"

The blade that was swung around continuously like a windmill created a space that allowed only a strand of hair to pass through while Minerva's white sleeves danced in the darkness. The sword in her hand spun continually like a windmill. Armor flew in the air along with soldiers' flesh, terrifying the soldiers' horses into bouts of fearful neighs. The forward troops of the enemy had already fallen apart due to Minerva's attack.

"Blast, let's just ignore her. The enemy troops haven't even assembled a formation. Their main forces had probably ran away long ago. Hurry up and assemble to vanquish these enemies!"

The commander donning a helmet with long feathers shouted while raising his sword to point at Francesca, who was in front of him. The order raised the morale of his troops. They charged at their enemy with deafening horse beats once again. Minerva was kicked away by the horses of the enemy force. Her delicate body spun in the air.

"Minerva!"

Just when Chris was about to dash outwards, a hand caught hold of his shoulders, forcibly dragging him back.

"Don't act rashly. She is our sole vanguard."

It was Gilberto. His voice made Chris extremely uncomfortable, like a thorn was stabbing him.

"How can you say such a thing!"

"Defend the position that you are stationed at. She can deal with it even when she is alone!"

Gilberto was absolutely right. After Minerva was kicked into the air, she regained balance after a somersault. She even lowered her position when she reached the ground as well, effortlessly evading the spears stabbing her directly in front and from the side. After that, she raised the huge sword in her hands, and immediately cut a soldier into half along with his horse from below.

Chris gazed at Minerva. Even though he saw that the white skin on her face and shoulders was stained with her and the enemies' blood, he could only suppress the urge in his heart and squatted down in a stance with his sword raised— the tent at the side had already been lifted. A second and third wave of troops was charging towards them with torches held high.

"Vixen of Zaccaria, your useless subordinates already escaped. Look at how dumb they are, scattering everywhere holding torches. I'd say that you don't have any face to save anymore, so hurry up and yield!"

Chris blocked the spear lashed out by the first cavalryman who charged at him, stabbing his sword into his opponent's abdomen along the way. The sense of his sword swirling in flesh and blood came from his hand. With a wail, his assailant fell from his horse, his armor making clanking noises when they banged onto the ground. He had only just finished dealing with the attack when the next spear stabbed at him yet again. Chris waved his arm, barely blocking his opponent's attack with his wrist guard, and immediately took the chance to check out his comrades' battles.

The style of Gilberto's attacks was completely different from that of Minerva's, but there was an imposing presence that would make people shiver as well. He was teamed up on by quite a few cavalrymen, but his feet never shifted from their original position. The longsword in his hands slashed like flowing water, using momentum to block his adversaries' spears, then cut off each of the horses' front legs one slash after another. Francesca stood behind him, imperiously gazing upon the starry skies with her head raised.

''—Wait...... Her eyes are closed?''

''—What is she doing? Enemies are already at her side—''

''—Does she believe in Gilberto's capabilities to this extent?''

The enemy forces were all focused on Francesca alone. As she was to be caught alive, they did not use arrows. Apart from that, their assault pathways were limited at the camp where tents were erected everywhere. Was that a strategy to counter their attack? Chris was puzzled. Disregarding that fact, what was she planning to do next?

''—Most of their men had left. But we really can't hang on any longer......''

Chris gritted his teeth and decided not to think of the problems any more. The most important thing was that they were already drowning in a sea of enemy cavalry, and the missing Minerva. He must do his all to kill another person, killing more enemies to protect Minerva from harm, making this place into a sea of blood that could only tolerate corpses.

A blow at the edge of his sight from an enemy cavalryman scraped away Chris's shoulder armor. The impact caused him to kneel down on the ground. At the same time, his adversary immediately landed a kick on him as well. Chris spat out a mouthful of blood, and swung his sword to kill the enemy soldier with his body arched. His attack made the enemy cavalryman fall down with copious amounts of blood gushing out below his helmet. Then, as though he wanted to suppress Chris's presence, yet another cavalryman rushed forward to crash suddenly into Chris, directly charging at Francesca right after that. Francesca stood there proudly without moving, eyes closed and head facing the starry sky. Gilberto turned around as he realized the soldier's intent, piercing through the warhorse's throat with his sword, but was unable to stop the soldier from abandoning his spear for a sword, pouncing at Francesca from his horse— ''This is bad, we won't be able to make it......''

All of a sudden, the sound of a sharp object slashing through the air whistled. The soldier's body flew in the air, turning in a back somersault and landed before Chris. There were two sharp daggers buried in his face.

Right after that, the same killing aura flashed past Chris's head a few more times as he continued to kneel down on the ground. Then, he saw daggers buried in the eye sockets of a few heavily armored cavalry men as they fell one after another. Chris turned around in a tremor.

"Ack, idiot, don't look over here, I'll be noticed by the enemy!"

''—Nicolo?''

Chris saw a belt full of daggers tied to Nicolo's chest as he concealed himself at a shady spot at the edge of the tents, and he threw viciously like a whip once again.

Now, he finally understood the reason Nicolo stayed to bring up the rear with Francesca's personal guards. Each time his whip-like arms lashed out, another enemy soldier fell in piteous wails.

''—Isn't such accuracy a bit too scary? So he really isn't just any doctor......''

"Stop spacing out!"

Gilberto shouted at Chris. Chris finally came to his senses with a jolt, and raised his longsword high to meet the next attack from a halberd, turning in a circle to reach his opponent's side right after that. His gaze met that of the soldier's shortly. Seeing his profound eyes distorting in terror, he pierced through the enemy with his longsword, feeling through his blade the sense of metal piercing through armor, stabbing into flesh and blood.

Chris took a step backwards after pulling out his longsword, his elbow actually coming into contact with another unfamiliar arm that was hard as steel. He turned around abruptly and saw that Gilbert seemed to have long predicted his movements, and already retreated to Francesca's side. The eyes bright like marbles did not look clouded even when it was stained in the enemy's blood and dust from the ground.

"E-Everyone, scatter! Bring down the tents and let the unit surround them in a circle— Archers, stand out, quick!"

The enemy commander raised his voice to shout at the soldiers under his command in panic. After that, the smell of rust faded like ebbing tide. What was left on the battlefield was hills of corpses of horses and soldiers. Among them, a sole white flame that burnt, pressing close to the ground, was over there......

"—Minerva!"

At Chris's shout, the girl whose red hair was dyed in blood turned around and gave him an absent-minded smile— ''So beautiful......'' That thought surfaced in Chris's mind on instinct. The long hair behind Minerva that was like burning flames had a red stronger, more vibrant color than blood. Holding her huge sword, she stood on the hill of corpses without a hint of fear on her face. And such a radiant appearance—

''No! This shouldn't be so......'' A trace of sorrow surfaced on Chris's chest and gradually spread— ''This shouldn't be so, no...... If her fate is to stand in this rain of pain, attracting people's gaze with her radiance, then......

—''I will devour this fate!''

"The second wave of enemy troops has arrived."

Gilberto said in a low voice. At the same time, Minerva shifted her attention to the foes before her. Chris listened to the sounds that ran in the night— Clatter of hooves resounding in front, and sounds of a commotion approaching. It was the hoof beats of another troop of horses. It seemed like the pursuit unit left behind by the rear unit of the enemy troops had finally arrived.

Chris turned around to look at Francesca. Even with Gilberto's protection, the enemies' blades and blood still flashed past her skin on occasions, but she was still standing there without moving, with her eyes closed and head raised......

''—She's listening?''

Just when Chris realized the true meaning behind her appearance, the gold-haired girl radiating elegance had already opened her eyes.

"Start the fires!"

Under Francesca's orders, every single military tent that occupied their horizons in the camp suddenly burst into roaring flames. The blazing fire that almost burnt down the whole wilderness lit up the originally pitch-black night. Its tremendous presence caused Chris to take two steps back, bumping into Francesca as a result.

"Everyone, retreat!"

The young commander gave another sonorous order. At the same time, Minerva and Chris turned around instantly, preparing to flee the battlefield. Chris was slightly slower. After taking his first step, he hurriedly quickened his footsteps and gave chase. The soldiers holding torches at various locations in the camp assembled into an orderly unit after escaping from the burning tents and retreated from the battlefield. On the other hand, Nicolo joined their procession from a shady location at the edge of the tents as well, with his luggage on his back. In the process of retreating, wails and roars of anger as well as panicked whinnies of warhorses in the fire continually resounded in their ears.

''So the reason Francesca ordered the soldiers to prepare a fire was for this moment......'' Oil could be smelt from the remaining ashes that floated over from the burning tents. At the same time, Chris understood that Francesca stayed to use the flag of the Dukedom and she herself as bait, tempting the enemy forces into the fire that she designed. As long as the remaining people thought of a way to block the path of the enemy vanguards, they would be trapped when fires were set when their reinforcement arrives.

"—Captain, hurry up!"

Shouts of the soldiers rang in front of them. At the end of the camp, a few tents were lined up in an orderly manner. When the flaps were opened, quite a few horses could be seen inside.

" Don't let them escape! It's just a tactic of flames of such a degree, just to disperse our focus!"

The angry roars of the enemy made Chris turn around as he ran at the end of the processing. He saw posts of a few tents collapsing due to the tongues of flames licking at them, burying quite a few enemy soldiers. The purple flag was whirled into the sea of flames as the fire spread. However, under the orders of the enemy commander, quite a few arrows still shot out from a few military tents burning by Chris's side. It was the enemy forces. In the confusion, they managed to gather two lines of cavalry to pursue them.

" They're catching up!" Chris shouted.

"Just ignore them and run!" Gilberto couldn't help but say.

Wooden posts crackled in the sea of flames and fell. Hoof beats gradually approached from behind. However, the extent of wounds on Minerva and Gilberto prevented them from escaping at their maximum speed.

"We won't make it, huh......" Gilberto clicked his tongue while his expression twisted.

''—No, they'll catch up at this rate!''

''......If so— Why did I stay in the first place!''

Chris turned around as he came to a decision.

''—My sword, the sword of the Beast, is one that will not be used for the protection of other people. If so......''

''—Let the beast inside of me swallow everything, and survive for slaughter!''

He raised his sword hilt to the side of his mouth and held it with his teeth so that his hands could move freely.

"What are you doing!"

Minerva noticed his abnormal actions and turned around to call him. So that he would not stumble over her voice, Chris quickly ran in the direction of the enemy soldiers. He saw the mercenary in front of him glare at him.

"Are you crazy, kid? Die—!"

His adversary waved his lance, swinging it at Chris while slashing through the dust on the ground. Chris focused his attention completely on the opponent's hilt. Horses approached rapidly while raising dust. The instant before he was kicked by hooves, Chris's feet viciously stomped on the floor, dashing forwards all at once.

"—Wha?!"

The expression on the enemy soldier's face twisted in surprise, and he raised his spear to fend Chris off. However, Chris leapt when his feet stepped on the tip of his opponent's spear, stretching his hand out to frantically grab the rope tied to the horse's head, kicking the soldier off the horse right after that.

"Y-You—"

Chris took the horse, but saw another cavalryman passing by his fallen comrade, rushing towards Chris while swinging his spear. Chris held firm on the saddle and lowered his body to evade the spear from behind. His horse was startled by Chris's action, and was about to turn tail and run when Chris halted it with a single hand, taking back the longsword in his mouth with his other hand at the same time.

"Actually using a dirty trick like this—"

The horse Chris was riding on was quickly caught up. As he did not do his best to stabilize his sitting position after leaping onto the horse, focusing his attention on warding off the opponent's attacks, his riding speed dropped continually.

"You actually look down on us so much, I'm definitely making you regret this—"

In the foes' roars, Chris pulled on the rope, causing his horse to collide with that of the chasing soldier's. The two horses neighed in pain at the same time, maniacally twisting their bodies to rush towards the burning tents. Chris used the opportunity to swing the longsword in his hand and landed a blow on his enemy's hand holding the spear, using the momentum of the force to correct the path of his horse. However, his adversary did not have any chance to do so, and thus rammed directly into a burning tent. Right after that, Chris heard hoofbeats of quite a few horses and panicked breathing behind him, and guessed that there would be blades flying at him yet again. He rode his horse between the burning tents, his actions almost all done on instinct. After he severed the umpteenth head of the enemies, the longsword of poor workmanship finally snapped. A startling sense of foreignness spread from the sword to his hand.

"Damned kid, actually giving us so much trouble! It's time for you to die, so DIEEEEEE—"

Accompanied with curses, the sword in his enemy's hand had already swung towards him, while Chris— he raised his right hand, catching the sword with one hand. The action caused his enemy to sink into shock, the expression on his face abruptly clouded over with fear, as Chris quickly snatched over the sword in his hands.

Although Chris raised his hand high so that the speed of his foe's sword could not reach its maximum, the swing was already enough to cut the leather armor on his palm, causing his palm to be cut open. However, under such excitement, Chris was unable to feel any pain. He applied force with the hand holding the blade, directly knocking his adversary off the saddle. After that, he quickly turned around to knock the horse catching up behind him on its head, causing the enemy cavalryman to fall with his horse.

''—I am a beast!''

''—My body and the pain on my body belongs to the beast!''

''—I must struggle frantically, sucking people's blood dry, then finding a place for me to die.''

"—Chris!"

Just when his consciousness was gradually fading into the bloodstained surroundings, a voice pulled him back to reality. Flames of red and white appeared in his eyes......

"Do you want to die? Hurry up and get down from the horse!"

''—Minerva? Why......?'' A red-haired girl came into Chris's gaze that was blurred due to blood— ''She rode back to find me? Then have we escaped from the camp?'' But there were still soldiers in pursuit, and sounds of tents collapsing, roars of the enemy troops, clanking of armor and horses raising dust by stomping frantically on the ground could still be heard behind them. ''If this goes on, we'll still be caught up—''

"Just ignore that! Hurry up and get down!"

''—Why? Why is Minerva telling me to get down the horse?'' Chris did not understand, and did not have the energy to care anymore. He planned to continue killing, slaughtering the enemies without exception. However, before he turned around, he saw Minerva standing up on her saddle—

She jumped over from her saddle, embracing Chris with her slender arms. Her red hair fluttered in the air, drifting past Chris's face. At the same time, an unexpected strength pressed on him, bringing him away from the saddle, floating lightly under the pitch-black night.

Chris and Minerva fell onto the ground together, and rolled on the grassy land while holding each other tightly before stopping. When Chris supported his bloody right hand on the ground and was about to clamber up......

"Release the arrows—"

A loud order resounded through the area. It was not Francesca's voice. The voice was more tender, and it sounded like its owner was younger than Francesca...... It was Paola. Just when Chris made out the owner of the voice, he saw a silver flag waving under the pitch-black skies. At the same time, bolts descended from the sky like heavy rain, frantically pelting on the soldiers in pursuit of him.

They had indeed left the camp. The camp with military tents burning in a cluster was currently at the lower end of the sloping land of the hill.

The ones who launched an ambush counterattack on the enemy soldiers was the archer unit of the Order of the Silver Egg, in an orderly formation. Even the cavalry unit charged forward.

They turned back to support the squad bringing up the rear, under Paola's command.

''—If so, were the torches held by the members of the Order that the enemy saw when they attacked the camp a smokescreen by Francesca as well?''

Chris thought, such a strategy could not be described just by the word 'daring'. Francesca handed the commanding power of the main force to her subordinate, standing on the front lines as bait. Such a thing would be absolutely impossible without guards who can be trusted, and everyone had to complete their own tasks completely as well.

Apart from Minerva, Gilberto's swordsmanship was gained through rigorous training as well, so the feats that he accomplished were all backed up by true skill. As for Paola, she definitely had her own merits as well. After all, she and Francesca did not have any time for discussion of strategy before the battle at all. However, she accurately perceived the meaning of Francesca's arrangement, commanding the cavalry to run away with torches, all for the sake of a chance for a counterattack.

Chris lied blankly on the cold grassy land, staring at the soldiers of the Celestial army who were forced by the troops holding silver flags to scatter and escape into the camp with blazing tents in loss. Chris was in a daze, and completely forgot about the pain of his bleeding wounds, and didn't even notice the warmth of the body squashed under him.

"......Hey!"

Only when a fist pressed onto his abdomen did he come back to his senses.

"How long are you trying to squash my body for!"

[[Image:TnJtRnK v01 126.jpg|thumb]]

Minerva was squashed under Chris's body with her back on the grassy land. She flailed her arms, trying to crawl out from under his body.

"Ah, s-sorry......"

Chris tried to rise, but his head suddenly spun, causing him to collapse onto Minerva before he was able to do anything else.

"W-What are you doing, idiot!"

''—Blood...... There's so much......''

''—This is bad...... So cold......''

"And also, didn't you go a bit overboard by stealing an enemy's horse all by yourself? What if you couldn't get the pursuing soldiers off your tail? You're my tool! You can't just die when you want, idiot!"

Minerva tried her best to carry Chris while her brows furrowed. Although her injuries weren't as serious as those of Chris's, she was hurt all over as well. With her clothes charred in many places and bloodstains all over them, they were already in rags.

"Hey, Nicolo, somebody call Nicolo over! Chris, you can't sleep, my body is not your mattress!"

That moment, Minerva's curses were like tender caresses to Chris's ears. He leant closely to the warmth pressing on his body, trying not to lose consciousness.

<center>*</center>

"Chris, you can't sleep! I forbid you to die easily by yourself like this! It's just a little injury! You can't sleep, idiot! Wake up already!"

While Nicolo treated Chris's injuries, Minerva was still doggedly calling him by his side. With a helpless look, Nicolo was forced to assign tasks of boiling water and changing towels to her, trying to make her speak less. However, as soon as Minerva's tasks were completed, she would immediately run to Chris's side, pinching his cheeks to wake him up.

When Nicolo finished treating the hurt, unexpectedly, Francesca asked them to move through the night.

"The tents were all burnt down. We need to walk for at least two days and two nights before we can sleep at the village closest to this place. Hurry up and move if you know that it's troublesome as well." She said.

It was actually a wise decision. After all, it was not impossible for the Celestial army to continue assigning pursuit units to chase them. Besides, since the tents burnt down, the men did not have the time and mood to console themselves by drinking in the wilderness while waiting for their wounds to heal anymore.

Chris slept on the horse cart containing weapons and armor. Seeing him turn when the horse cart moved, Minerva cried out and asked Nicolo: "H-Hey, I-Is it really okay for that guy to lie down in the horse cart?"

"Sigh, probably?" Hearing her question, Nicolo answered in a sleepy, lazy tone: "He's a monster. His arrow wounds from yesterday are almost completely healed. What does that guy usually eat for him to have a body that recovers so quickly......"

''By eating people's lives—'' Chris stil couldn't say those words. However, Nicolo's words raised a question in Chris's heart......

''—My injuries heal very quickly? Is that so? Is it possible that it's because my body is really the body of the Beast?''

The thought caused him to shudder. In fact, he never had the military doctor of his squad tend to his injuries in the past. So, there was not any information for him to judge if his wound recovery was quick or slow. However, that moment......

''—So I really '''am''' a beast living on by swallowing lives.''

When he thought of that, Chris felt like tearing open the freshly-stitched wounds open with his fingernails...... When he woke up from his nightmare, he saw Minerva on the same horse cart as he was as soon as he opened his eyes. Her gaze was on him, and she turned away right after that.

He tried to lift his head slightly and shift his gaze outside the horse cart, and saw Gilberto riding on a horse while Francesca was by his side, her golden hair reflecting the morning rays exceptionally dazzlingly.

''—Was the situation the same as well?''

''—This time, did I survive because of the Beast's blood as well?''

Chris could not reach a conclusion. He closed his eyes once again.

After midnight of the next day, the members of the Order finally arrived at a large village. It was already Zaccarian territory. Because of that, the villagers eventually came out to welcome Francesca when they saw her. But speaking of which, the total number of soldiers was over a thousand, and with the horses as well, if they really had to stay for a few days, finishing up the horse feed and well water was something that would happen sooner or later.

"I wish to borrow your storerooms for us to have a night's rest here. Can you please give us some food and water? I shall send someone over with the payment after this."

"What payment? How can we take that! Our village doesn't have anything but if you want beer, we ''can'' provide some for you instead."

The village chief's answer gave the soldiers much excitement. Even though Francesca reminded them that they shouldn't drink too much as they had to set off from the village in the morning, not one of them listened.

They drank by campfires. Chris sat on a patch of grass at a side as well, looking at them laughing while he leant on the pile of luggage at a shady spot.

He felt a sense of alienation from the surroundings, from the scene, from the wounds, the bright illumination from the campfire surrounded by people, and the people laughing around there......

''—Is it really fine for me to stay here?''

''—Should I allow myself to continue living?''

''—The battle ended, but I'm in a situation where everyone is smiling at each other in a circle. Is that really okay?''

"Hey, newbie!" "Don't fall asleep! You won't be able to wake up if you do!" "Wahahaha! Look at him! Is that Meena's doing?"

All of a sudden, the topic of discussion focused on him while he was hugging his knees by the pile of luggage, making him raise his head. That moment, a crowd of unfamiliar soldiers— no, Chris had already seen these people. He just never asked for them, and never spoke to them before. They headed towards Chris, each looking quite drunk.

"I-Is there anything wrong?" Chris asked the people.

"Isn't it cold for you to sit here? That's bad for the wounds." "See how we make your body warm from inside to the outside!"

"Ah, um, wait a minute......"

Disregarding Chris's intentions, the people forcibly pulled him to the campfire, stuffing a cup the size of an urn into his hands. Chris took the cup before he was able to refuse them, and all of the surrounding people came to pour beer for him. The others surrounding the campfire gradually sat by Chris's side as well.

''—What the heck? Why are these people suddenly......''

"......Um, about the beer......"

Chris was unable to swallow wine stronger than grape wine.

"How old are you?"

One of them asked. When Chris answered that he was seventeen, "Then just drink while pinching your nose!" An illogical answer tossed the question back again. Then, the people started clamoring, even poking him with their elbows to urge him to drink. Chris did not have any choice but to take a sip, and frantically coughed after that with his face flushed, making the surrounding soldiers fall onto the ground laughing.

"......Sorry for yesterday."

One of them abruptly said. Chris stared blankly at him with his eyes widened.

"Saying that you're a harbinger of misfortune who would kill one of your own...... Haha, it seems like your legend did not affect our luck at all."

"Yeah, and this guy helped us protect the Captain's small butt from being violated by the enemy."

"Sorry." "Yeah, the Captain's chagrin is more important to us than the land of the Principality!" "Haha, that's true!"

''—Why......''

''—Why are these people apologizing to me? Even though I'm......''

"Say, where did you learn that way of killing from?"

"All of us shuddered when we saw that. Good thing we didn't meet you three days ago." "Yeah. You would've been our enemy that time if so!"

"Hah, we have good luck, didn't I keep telling ya? Our Captain is a goddess who brings luck!"

Listening to the soldiers' hearty chuckles, he felt tortured, as though someone was prying open the wounds on him with a pick.

''—Luck? There's no such thing......''

''—There will be one day when the beast in me will......''

''—Sooner or later I will have to swallow your fates to the bones......''

''—No, please don't talk to me anymore, please...... Don't laugh by my side......''

"Can you please stop counting Captain in? It's enough with Paola alone. She's not some sort of goddess of luck, but a true goddess of fortune!"

"Yeah! A true goddess of fortune!"

"If so, doesn't that mean we have a true soul reaper as well? It's Meena!" "Ahahahaha!"

The laughs by the people surrounding the campfire whooshed by Chris's ears like cold wind.

"Say, the Meena yesterday wasn't like a soul reaper at all, but just an extremely normal pure maiden!"

"Yeah, seeing her face drained of blood, like she's asking what she should do if this kid died."

"It was the first time I saw her like that" "She looks cuter that way!" "Agreed!"

"Hey, I'll say, if it's this kid......" "Yep!" "There's a chance!"

As the surrounding people chatted, meaningful smiles suddenly surfaced as they exchanged perverted gazes. Then, "Kid, listen, you're the only man in the Captain's squad of personal guards." The soldier with light brown eyes sitting by Chris's side said to Chris with his mouth curling.

"......The first? But......"

''—What about Gilberto? Isn't he the head of the Captain's personal guards?''

"Even though our Chief's strong, he still isn't a man." "Yeah, no balls." "Captain asked him to sleep in the same room as her, and he actually refused!" "Yeah, it's an opportunity all of us dream of!" "Kid, you'll have to investigate this properly for us!" "Because we started bets on things like, is the hair under Meena red, and the like......" "Wahahahaha, but nobody had the skill to confirm that, so the money we bet is still hanging there!" "People who would dare to do that would lose their lives, after all!" "Most probably, the only person who can evade that sword is the Chief." "Yeah. Pity he doesn't have balls."

That moment, the people sitting opposite to Chris suddenly paled, springing up from the ground and the chairs, while the insensitive people sitting by Chris froze all of a sudden as well. A foreign presence that was totally alien to the atmosphere appeared behind Chris, making his head hurt so much that he wanted to look for a hole to hide in— he actually wasn't able to notice his appearance at all. However, from the shocked reaction of the surrounding people, he should have noticed it long ago.

Chris slowly turned around and saw a suit of pitch-black armor and a cold longsword. When he raised his gaze, he saw the pair of bright marble-like eyes.

"Ah,haha, ahahaha......"

A soldier in black laughed emptily.

"C, C-C-C-Chief— Ah, um...... W-We— We're talking about cannonballs of the catapult machine!"

"T, T-T-That's right, we're thinking where we should look for the supplies......" "Oi, you idiots, we don't ''have'' a catapult machine at all!"

The voices with slight quavers hissed to each other. When Gilberto took a step forward, the people tossed their cups away and hid at the other side of the campfire.

However, Gilberto didn't even look at them. He shifted his gaze to Chris, looking at him coldly. Under a subconscious impulse, Chris put down his cup and stood up from the ground.

"......Are your injuries okay?"

Gilberto's question made Chris's eyes widen in surprise. He never thought that Gilberto would be concerned of his injuries, and thus nodded somewhat unnaturally.

"Did you battle in that way from before?"

"......Huh?"

Gilberto suddenly grabbed Chris's right arm, causing cold sweat to seep abruptly from Chris's face.

"You always target the enemies' weapons or wrists. Is that your subconscious choice? Is it because you don't wish to kill?"

Chris swallowed after hearing that.

"If you keep doing dumb stuff like that, normal swords would break in no time."

Gilberto noticed it. In the few seconds when they were dealing with the enemy back to back......

"After this, don't think of rushing into the enemy's ranks like a mad dog. If you die, their attacks will reach Lady Fran very quickly, so it's best if you remember this."

Chris averted his gaze, retracting his right hand at the same time, locking his hand on the arm of his left hand, applying force to squeeze his left arm with his fingertips.

''—But I don't know other ways of fighting......''

''—How can a person like me be someone's guard? How can a person like me know how to fight to protect the other?''

That moment, Gilberto placed his hand on the hilt of the longsword tied to his waist, making Chris take a step backwards.

However, Gilberto's action was not to unsheathe his sword, but to untie the longsword instead, handing it to Chris. His act shocked Chris. He gazed blankly at the longsword before his eyes and turned around to look at Gilberto again.

"I'm lending you this sword." Gilberto said.

"......Eh? Huh? What?"

"I think you can't change your way of fighting at a moment's notice. Material superior to the metal making up the sword probably can't be found even if you comb through the Seven Countries of the East. Take it. After all, members of the personal guards can't always look for weapons in battles. That will danger Lady Fran's life. Don't you lose this sword. Return it to me when you find a better weapon that suits you more."

Chris took the sword that Gilberto was handing to him, his heart still in disbelief over what was happening before his eyes. The workmanship of the sword in his hands was startlingly good, and it was unbelievably light in the hands. It was definitely not something that one would lend people just like that.

''—Why did he......'' Chris raised his head to look at Gilberto with a look of disbelief once again. That moment, he suddenly tossed a question to him again.

"Name?"

"Huh?"

"I'm asking you for you name— I haven't heard it from you personally."

Before answering, a sound choked in his throat, moving his heart.

''—When...... was the last time I told the others of my name?''

''—The name Mother gave me...... Minerva knew it before we even met......''

''—Even so, right now...... I want to answer him...... I want to tell Gilberto my name. Why is that?''

"—Cristoforo......"

Hearing Chris's answer, his brows furrowed for a moment. He then turned around and said, "You can just call me Gil."

From the instant Chris took the sword from Gilberto, the surrounding people were looking with bated breath. That moment, all of them gulped at the same time, and some even made sounds of admiration. Chris could think of the reason. It was because, Francesca was probably the only person in the whole Order who could call him Gil.

"It's hard for one to call a person's full name on the battlefield."

Gilberto said coldly, and rose to leave. Chris held the longsword with his hands, staring blankly at his leaving silhouette.

''—What the heck is this guy thinking......'' Chris did not understand. However, the longsword he was holding was unquestionably lent to him by Gilberto.

"You're...... seriously amazing......"

"Chief, he......" "Didn't he?" "It was the first time we saw him like that......"

Chris gazed at the silhouette of the knight clad in black armor while listening to the surrounding soldiers' thoughts, then pressed the cold longsword to his chest. That moment, the people's clamors reached his brain once again, various smells stimulating his senses as well. Fragrance of wine, the aromatic smell of grease from roasted meat, and the smell of grass from the farm, all of the smells mixed together in the night breeze, emanating through the whole village.

<center>*</center>

As she said from the start, the place Francesca slept in was the storeroom in the village head's house.

"She really won't go back on her words......"

The village chief couldn't help but smile wryly when they talked about Francesca's stubborn personality as he led the way for Chris at the outskirts of the farm. Francesca probably told the village chief that she couldn't sleep in someone's warm house since she already mentioned before her men that she was to sleep in someone's storeroom.

"This way, please. Then allow me to excuse myself."

The village chief stretched out his hand to point at a small house emitting a fait glow through the windows and the door seams, bowed at Chris and turned around to leave after handing the oil lamp he was holding to Chris.

The storeroom was spread full of white cloth. There were so much that it would make people wonder if they were collected after searching through the whole village. The flags of the Dukedom and the order were hung on the wall. Francesca lied elegantly on soft wool, enjoyably sipping her apple wine. Minerva squatted by Francesca's side while doing something under Paola's instructions. When she saw Chris entering, she suddenly hid her hand behind her. It seemed like she was holding something.

"D-Don't just barge in all of a sudden!"

She called out while randomly grabbing something to throw at Chris.

"S-Sorry!"

Chris hurriedly shut the door and left, almost smashed by the object thrown by Minerva that hit the door instead of him. It fell before the seam of the door. It was actually a stone pestle used to grind herbs.

"What does it matter. Enter. It is cold tonight. You can warm my feet in place of beast fur."

"Fran, don't act recklessly!"

"Hmm...... Speaking of which...... This medicine was ground for Chris, so why don't you put it on for him, Meena?"

"Paola, don't be such a busybody!"

Chris listened to the three girls talking in varying degrees of loudness and couldn't help but sigh. He removed the sword on his waist and hung it on the wall outside the storeroom, sitting down by the windows.

"Chris, didn't I ask you to enter?"

The window opened, and Francesca poked her head out of the window. Paola approached the windowsill as well.

"I, um...... I'm here as security. Gilberto handed me the job......"

"You sleep at other storerooms, it's enough for me to guard her!" Hearing that, Minerva came closer to speak to Chris as well: "You're hurt! Who told you to be a guard— This is your medicine, here— Hurry up and scram after taking your medicine and look for a place to sleep!"

Minerva pressed the outstretched herbal medicine by Chris's ear. Warmth lingered on the freshly-ground herbs from its grinding, and it had a strong smell of grass as well. However, Minerva's rough actions almost stuffed the herbs into Chris's ears.

"Um...... Herbs aren't used like that......" Paola timidly said at a side.

"Huh? That sword?"

Francesca was the one to notice it first. From the side, Minerva's eyes widened as she saw it as well.

"Isn't that Gilberto's sword? Why is it on you?" Minerva asked.

"......He lent it to me."

Although Chris did not think they would believe it, he still explained the things that occurred thoroughly. Hearing that, Minerva heaved a sigh and shrugged, while Francesca said while smiling after repeating the same actions for a few times: "That guy really isn't truthful enough......"

"Speaking of which, where's Gilberto? Where did he run off to? Didn't I say that the five of us have to celebrate?"

"Hmm, I seem to recall that he said that he's going back to the Zaccaria Castle to report the results of the battle." Minerva said.

"Didn't I tell him to go there tomorrow...... Whatever, then let the four of us have a pajama party to celebrate ourselves!"

Minerva furrowed her brows when she heard that and pulled Francesca and Paola into the storeroom. She closed the window forcefully, almost hitting Chris's nose.

"......But I deliberately arranged a place by your side to sleep at." Francesca said.

"Shush, hurry up and sleep!"

After the conversation got cut off abruptly, Chris leant against the wall while hugging the longsword Gilberto lent to him. However, the window was suddenly opened once again. It was Minerva. She stretched out her arm and threw out quite a few white cloths that covered his head.

"......Ah...... Thank you."

After thanking her, the window was closed once again without any response from her.

Chris used the cloths to cover his body with the areas above his neck exposed, raising his head to look at the unblemished night sky. Not far away from the fence, there were still people fooling around the campfire. There were songs that went off-pitch due to drunkenness as well.

Chris thought that all of that was just surreal. Even though it was the night-time that he was the most afraid of, even though a battle had finished, he couldn't remember the faces of the enemies he met the previous night, the feeling of piercing through enemies' flesh and blood with his sword, the pain of his flesh cut open by the halberd, and the condition of the enemy soldier who died with blood seeping out from his neck at all. He closed his eyes, seeing the happy faces of the people who survived. It was the first time in his life that he experienced such a night.

Chris woke up suddenly from his bleary sleep due to an abnormal movement around him. He stretched out his hands to search for the longsword covered below the white cloths by his hand. That moment, the campfire was already extinguished, while the sounds of frolicking around the campfire had gone silent. All was silent under the night sky. The only thing that was still awake was the dark grassy land and the estate surrounding the house. The coldness almost made people yawn. Such an atmosphere was probably just a scene before daybreak. There weren't any sounds around at all, and neither were there moving people and animals. However......

''—What was that small noise just now?'' Chris noticed it. The abnormal presence came from behind him— from the storeroom behind him.

''—Someone is crying?''

Just when he was stretching his hand out to open the window, the voice that passed through the wall made Chris convulse without prior warning.

"Don't move, don't you move......"

It was Minerva's voice. She noticed Chris's movements. Chris saw the scene through the window in the instant she cried out. That moment, Minerva had her back against the wall of the storeroom, and was sitting down on the floor while hugging her knees.

Chris breathed out, and turned around to sit down while leaning against the exterior wall of the storeroom once again.

"I'm fine, you just stay outside...... I'm just feeling a bit of pain, it's okay......" Minerva said to Chris through the wall of the storeroom.

''—Did she...... see a scene from the future once again?''

''—That's right, I remember her saying that she hates sleeping......''

''—Seeing the future......''

''—Because she can feel the pain of death from the death omens she sees......''

"Just stay outside the door." Minerva said.

Her words made Chris clench his ten fingers on his kneecap.

''—What kind of pain is this......?''

''—When did Minerva start shouldering such torture......?''

Minerva stretched her hand out from the window. Her white arms were trembling continually. Chris caught hold of Minerva's hand in his confusion. The two palms overlapped tightly. At first, Chris could still clearly feel Minerva's five slender fingers trembling continually, but when her palm started to get warm in Chris's hand, the trembling gradually calmed down and stopped.

A long silence enveloped the area surrounding his and her palms, the fading time almost making people feel that it was about to get light. After some time of consolation, Minerva finally stopped her choking, but the surroundings were still bathed in the pitch-darkness of the night sky. She suddenly pushed Chris's hand aside again. Chris felt her pressing her hand back to her chest, hugging her knees.

"W-Who asked you to care for me......?" For some reason, Minerva suddenly snapped at Chris: "Forget what happened just now— Ngh...... Whatever, it's nothing!"

"That's not the case at all......"

Minerva was about to close the window when Chris realized it and hurriedly stopped the closing window. From the seam, he saw a pair of slender ears and neck through the red hair on Minerva's back.

"W-What are you doing, I don't need you to care. Even though you said that you're going to guard the door, you still dozed off in the end, useless fellow!"

"......Sorry. But...... But I just wanted to look at your face and hear your voice. That's all, so just relax......"

Because Minerva was the only person who did not die even though her fate was swallowed by the beast. If she were to go missing one day, Chris would have to avoid all contact with other people, walking alone in the night once again.

However, Minerva did not seem to understand. With a turn, she grabbed Chris's wrist, clenching furiously onto him, "Idiot! Only you were able to sleep well, I-I—"

"What sort of future did you see?" Chris asked.

"You don't need to know!"

"Tell me, because I am staying by your side just to eat up the signs of death that you foresee."

"Shut up!"

"Why!?"

Chris grabbed the longsword by his side and squeezed his upper torso through the window. Minerva raised her head, her moist eyes meeting that of Chris's. That instant, their voices were completely hidden in the profound night.

Chris opened his mouth, but was unable to speak, and could only huff out breath that lost all temperature. On the other hand, Minerva's gaze wandered, and refocused on Chris in determination after some effort. She said: "It's you!" While biting her lips so hard that it almost bled, Minerva thought of how to speak of her next words as she trembled.

"You used that sword to kill me, I saw my face reflected on the blade of the sword!"

Her words made Chris grip the hilt of the sword in his hands reflexively, and he was unable to realize the significance of Minerva's words that moment.

"I saw it...... I saw you using that sword— Gilberto's sword to pierce through my brows!"

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| Back to [[Tsurugi_no_Joou_to_Rakuin_no_Ko:Volume_1_Chapter_5|Chapter 5]]
| Return to [[Tsurugi_no_Joou_no_Rakuin_no_Ko|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[Tsurugi_no_Joou_to_Rakuin_no_Ko:Volume_1_Chapter_7|Chapter 7]]
|-
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</noinclude>

The Zashiki Warashi of Intellectual Village:Volume2 Chapter 4

2013-04-29T10:24:28Z

89.77.202.20: /* Part 6 (Jinnai Shinobu) */

{{Incomplete|parts=15/20}}
==Chapter 4: ??? @ The One Who Covers Up a God==

===Part 1 (Jinnai Shinobu)===

''I need to head toward cover. I need to head toward somewhere with plenty of places to hide behind and protect myself.

Fleeing toward the mountain with that in mind may have been a mistake. I was being led toward an area with no people where illegal violence could be employed without issue.

''What is going on?

''How could this happen?

I was in the Intellectual Village known as Noukotsu Village. Packages involving Youkai would occasionally happen here, but it was still an easier place to live than the city. That remained true even if the rural scenery was faked by various types of technology.

And yet…

“Shinobu!!”

I heard my uncle’s shout make its way through the gaps of the forest’s trees.

But I did not respond. I couldn’t!

Several people were tied up in ''this messed up situation'', but each person’s survival was based on the same condition: ''To survive, you must kill one of the other participants.'' It was a simple, clear, and unavoidable rule. Both my uncle and myself had been closed in by that framework.

In other words…

My uncle and I were destined to try to kill each other.

And when it came down to pure violence, a normal high school student like me did not stand a chance against a professional police detective like my uncle. He likely outdid me in pure unarmed combat, but he might also have a handgun.

I could not trust anyone.

Given the situation, we could no longer work together.

However…

I still did not want to kill my uncle and the others. My mind stubbornly worked to find a way to get around the rules, find a loophole, or otherwise reach a conclusion where no one had to die.

But then…

The true disaster that arrived was enough to make me forget all about the rest of the horrible situation.

“''Shinobu!! Don’t go that way! She’s coming!!''”

I had forgotten to wonder why my uncle would be calling for me in this situation of mutual suspicion. When I thought about it, letting the others know his position in this thick forest would only put him at a disadvantage.

And then something happened.

A sound exploded out from my body as if something solid had been knocked out of place.

I had been struck from behind. I tried to turn around, but my head would not turn like I told it to. I twisted my waist around while lying collapsed on the grassy-smelling dirt and managed to roll onto my back. Only then did I catch a glimpse of who had attacked me.

It was a woman with the sort of Japanese paper used for calligraphy forcibly pasted all over her body. She was like a monster created by spell words congealed into a human form. Something had been skillfully written on the Japanese paper with black ink, but the papers were so crumpled up to perfectly match the lines of the woman’s body that the words were distorted.

I could not read what was written on them.

I somehow managed to squeeze out a voice while barely breathing at all.

“…Hishigami…Mai…?”

If that monster was taking part in this killing game where blood was washed away with blood, then it was much too obvious who would win in the end.

This paper-covered Hishigami Mai crouched down as if to peer at my face. Her hands reached out for my neck. I tried to twist my body around to escape, but I could no longer move properly.

She mercilessly brought her hands in as if to strangle a chicken.

And then my heart literally stopped beating.

===Part 2 (Uchimaku Hayabusa)===

After finally getting a day off, I visited an indoor fishing pond that had opened in Ikebukuro. Even when I had lived in Noukotsu Village, I had preferred playing by the river instead of the mountain.

The fishing pond’s greatest feature was its large tank for migratory fish that functioned like a lazy river at a water park. The pond’s tagline was “the leisure spot where you can catch a bluefin tuna”. The tank ran through a donut-shaped circuit in a building the size of fair-sized aquarium and the customers paid to fish in it.

The reception area was one floor below and the inside of the tank could be seen through tempered glass. The tuna I could see swimming through it were only about 70 cm, but they still technically qualified as a small type of bluefin tuna.

According to the smiling receptionist girl, “If they were any larger than this, normal fishers would have difficulty catching them. Even if you are wearing gloves, there would be a danger of losing a finger to the line.”

Any tuna you caught would be prepared for you in the facility’s restaurant and (if you were willing to pay) you could still eat tuna if you did not catch one, so I had not eaten anything despite this being my day off. As I drank some vegetable juice to tide over my empty stomach, I rented a fairly thick fishing pole and some spear squid for bait and headed in for the challenge.

“Hey, detective.”

“What? Why are you here even on my day off, mystery freak? Don’t you know that people need to periodically perform maintenance on and refresh their minds?”

“Heh heh heh. Now I get a fishing pond date with you. …But what’s with that vegetable juice? Aren’t you drinking that as an excuse rather than for your health or its nutrients? Are you trying to look good?”

“Shut up. Let me enjoy my time alone.”

“C’mon, detective. They may be small, but these are blufin tuna. Do you really think you can eat one all on your own if you catch it? Look around you. It’s nothing but families and couples.”

“Shut up! It really hurts if you point it out!! I didn’t expect it to be like this before I got here!! I thought fishing was a man’s pastime. How casual has it gotten!?”

“Oh, look at your pole, detective. Something’s tugging really hard.”

That was a fishing pond for you. I frantically grabbed the fishing pole that was beginning to bend like a bow. Of course, the reel was electric and had a specialized program installed and a young instructor lady came running over when she saw I had caught something, so I did not actually need any real strength or skill to battle the tuna.

As the instructor reached for the fishing pole from behind me and gave me some literally hands on advice, the mystery freak glared at her.

“This system is not suited for couples. I just hope I don’t hear any of the same rumors as from those parks and amusement parks with famous ponds.”

As I ignored her nonsense and battled the tuna (or rather, enjoyed a recreation of battling it), something huge burst from the surface of the water with a splashing noise.

“Hyah!?” shouted the instructor woman in surprise.

She grabbed onto me from behind for some reason and the look in the mystery freak’s eyes grew even sharper.

I was surprised too.

But not because I had caught an unexpectedly large tuna.

This was not even a fish.

Hanging from the line was a girl wearing a short kimono and hagoromo who looked like something from an ancient picture book.

“G-gyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!?” I cried out as if I had done something horrible.

The girl in question’s expression did not change despite having a thick fishing hook in her mouth with her entire weight pressing down on it. She remained perfectly expressionless.

''Wait…

“She isn’t bleeding? Wait, the hook isn’t even piercing her mouth?”

“Oh? She isn’t human,” said the mystery freak as if remembering something. “She’s a Youkai…or rather, a manmade Shikigami. I don’t know too much about that, so I couldn’t tell you how it works. But what I do know is she belongs to my sister. She’s the Deadly Dragon Princess.”

“She’s Mai’s?” I said in confusion.

The Deadly Dragon Princess gave little reaction. She simply swayed back and forth while hanging from the end of the fishing pole with the spear squid in her mouth. And for some reason she made the V-sign with both hands while still perfectly expressionless.

“But this is odd,” said the mystery freak.

“Everything about this is odd. I can’t think of a single thing about this that isn’t odd.”

“That’s not what I mean. My sister has a habit of saying she has ''100% lost'' if she has to use the Deadly Dragon Princess.”

''That monster woman said that?

I had never sensed the slightest weakness from Hishigami Mai, so I could not imagine her ever facing a situation she could not handle.

“It’s twue,” added the Deadly Dragon Princes while being dragged up onto land by the electric reel.

She had likely meant “true”, but she was talking while chewing on the squid.

It was raw and still had its guts inside, so she was quite the wild “person”.

Eventually, the Deadly Dragon Princess spat something out like used gum. It was the powerful hook used to land 200 kilogram tunas, but it had been horribly crushed.

“Detective, the hook is tied into a bow.”

“Now that’s a powerful kiss I want to avoid at all costs.”

The Deadly Dragon Princess ignored our exchange and spoke with the expression of someone following a program.

“''Hishigami Mai has lost.'' I have been instructed to pass on an emergency message.”

“She lost…?”

“Yes.”

“What are you supposed to tell us?”

“It is quite simple.” With no change of expression, the Deadly Dragon Princess grabbed another spear squid from the cooler I had rented. “After she lost to them, an organization known as Akki Rasetsu took control of Hishigami Mai’s physical body. She has become their puppet to use as a weapon. If you wish to save her, you must head to the Intellectual Village known as Noukotsu Village.”

I sighed and covered my face in my hands. While looking over at the Deadly Dragon Princess who was eating my squid without permission, the mystery freak revealed an unnecessary piece of trivia.

“That’s your hometown, isn’t it, detective?”

“Why do you know my personal information?”

===Part 3 (???)===

A certain rest stop was located near an ordinary rural city.

The area’s economy had fallen into a slump so the public transportation facilities such as buses and trains had declined. This naturally made private automobiles a necessity to live in the area. Nothing could be seen but long runway-like stretches of road that naturally obstructed travel and further stagnated the economy. The stereotypical cycle of decline had kicked in.

An old black foreign car was parked at one end of a parking lot large enough to hold a soccer match on. It was a famous car from the ‘60s known as a Hitman Tuxedo, but a car like that would violate the exhaust standards if it was used as is on public roads. For that reason, the inner workings had been remade into a sanitary hybrid car. This was another of the classics businesses that also gave new life to old houses. The president of the custom workshop had claimed it took a lot of doing to produce such a deep noise of exhaust from such a thin engine. He had said the experience made him feel like an expert craftsman of brass instruments.

A man and a woman sat within the car.

The woman had her hair tied to either side of her head and was wearing a pink camisole, hot pants, and jacket. She was named Saijou. The muscular man had a blonde pompadour, wore a tank top and work pants, and had his shirt wrapped around his waist. His name was Nanjou.

Saijou Ai and Nanjou Kakeru were the two new leaders of Akki Rasetsu after they had taken control of the organization from the old leaders.

And…

''A human sized piece of luggage'' was lying in the leg space of the backseat.

“Toujou-san is dead.”

“Yes, he is.”

One portion of the blue sky was blocked out by a long, narrow trail of smoke as if from a chimney. But in reality, this black smoke was coming from the remains of the prisoner transport vehicle carrying Toujou. It had been blown to smithereens while travelling along the highway.

They had not wanted to use something as flashy as a bomb in a country like Japan, but the vehicle had been armored. Anything that could be disguised as a natural accident would have no guarantee of killing their target.

While sitting in the left-side driver’s seat, Saijou nervously tapped her index finger on the steering wheel.

“And Houjou-san was hung from a tree after his project in Kyoto failed.”

“Does it really matter?”

“What do you mean?”

“Nature will decide the size of the organization. This is no different than how smaller groups of friends naturally form within a school. Those old idiots tried to expand the size of the organization to achieve their objectives, but they went too far. That causes internal rifts and makes it hard to come to agreement over anything. If you radicalize around a single objective, it is only natural for the organization to be automatically trimmed.”

“Eh? Then the same goes for Toujou-san and Houjou-san?”

“Both of those were accidents, but the organization would have grown more condensed either way. In fact, regulating the number of people will improve the purity of our focus on a single goal. …We had become fat and bloated like Hyakki Yakou. They have 100 members at the level of leaders alone, which is just stupid. And I hear not even a third of them can even use the occult.”

“I see,” said Saijou with a less than satisfied expression.

She did think a problem existed as far as the percentages were concerned, but that was still 30 people who could wield the occult on a level feared as a natural disaster and with an exclusive shrine constructed toward suppressing their power. Even by the standards of their field of work, having that many of such people gathered in one group was not normal.

But she changed the subject instead of pursing that further.

“What should we do next?”

“Houjou was an idiot who couldn’t even protect himself, but he did give us an interesting report. ''He found some interesting Youkai we can use in the Intellectual Village known as Noukotsu Village.''”

“I kind of liked Houjou-san.”

“Well, you both work in similar ways. Not to mention that ''you managed to make Higashiami Mai your own after picking her up injured in Kyoto.'' He was the one that did that damage, so you should at least thank him. Not that it has anything to do with me.” Nanjou looked in the rearview mirror to observe the backseat. “Speaking of which, is this really safe?”

“''Mai-chan'' will be just fine. Her entire body is bound by Kosode no Te.”

“That’s a kimono Youkai that curses anyone who wears it, right?”

“Exactly. I made plenty of copies of one and attached them all over ''Mai-chan''. The controller is running properly, so there is nothing to worry about.” Saijou casually turned the conversation back on track. “So what are we going to do? Should we head to that Intellectual Village Houjou-san visited?”

“Well, if we find the Youkai he spotted, we should be able to assemble what we have been hoping for.”

Saijou spread out a paper map to check on the location of Noukotsu Village. She did not use a convenient GPS system because she did not want a third party using it to track their location. This hybrid Hitman Tuxedo was not a rental car or stolen car she was willing to abandon.

“Oh, right,” said Saijou Ai as she looked at the map like a father reading the newspaper at the breakfast table.

Nanjou Kakeru frowned and asked, “What?”

“You said those old men, Houjou-san, and Toujou-san were purged in the automatic adjustments to the optimal size for the organization, right?”

“What about it?”

“In that case, isn’t it a bit odd for Akki Rasetsu to have two leaders left? It seems to me just the Saijou group or just the Nanjou group would be enough.”

“…”

“…”

The sound of something soft being crushed exploded out within the car.

Saijou Ai pulled out a sleeping bag, stuffed a human-sized mass inside, and threw it into the backseat.

She then said, “It’s getting a bit crowded back there, but bear with it, ''Mai-chan.''”

That famous ‘60s car called the Hitman Tuxedo let out its low rumbling one could feel in the gut as it left the rest stop’s large parking lot. The black foreign car smoothly began its journey to the Intellectual Village known as Noukotsu Village.

===Part 4 (Jinnai Shinobu)===

''Noukotsu Village is a bit of an ominous name, isn’t it?<ref>Noukotsu refers to the process of placing someone’s cremated remains into a funerary urn.</ref>

That thought about my hometown came to me thanks to a slightly belated summer greeting postcard. It had come via ridiculously expensive airmail.

''Couldn’t they just send an email?

Oddly enough, the postcard was addressed to the Succubus rather than the Jinnai household. It just outright had “Succubus” written on it. And the sender was…unknown. It just had a weird string of numbers in that field.

At any rate, I made my way up to the attic and asked the micro bikini-wearing demon.

She smiled and replied, “It’s from an old friend. She’s an old demon, so she likes old systems. Of course this is an age where quantum computers could soon be a reality, so I’m amazed she thinks a simple numerical replacement for the letters while be enough to hide her true name. …But I wonder how she figured out I’m here.”

“Hm. So who is she?”

“Tselika Wien Alpha Chely-…wait, stop that! Asking for a demon’s name will not end well for you. This is no fairy tale!”

It seemed the world of demons had its own problems. There was no point in asking further, so I quickly changed the subject.

“So where is this picture from?”

“A place not far from Paris. They have some wonderful catacombs there…”

The Succubus looked spellbound with the idea, but I was not entirely sure what catacombs were.

After reading the text, she handed the postcard back to me in disinterest. I walked down the long hallway and to the western style living room where I found the glamorous Zashiki Warashi lying on the floor watching TV with the Yuki Onna. There was a TV in her room as well, but it was hard to resist the draw of this larger screen.

They seemed to be watching a rerun of a quiz show.

“The topic is Australia’s circular farms. These green plains look quite mysterious in the middle of the vast desert. Now for your question. What percentage of the world’s wheat is grown on them!? You have three possible answers and those of you at home can play along with your terrestrial digital remote controls!!”

I tossed the postcard into a postcard storage box no one used much anymore. As I did, the overall flat Yuki Onna spoke to me expressionlessly.

[[Image:Zashiki_v02_361.jpg|thumb]]

“Listen to this. They’re horrible. They’re all so horrible…”

“What happened?”

“They have been using the remote to take part in the quiz game, but they won’t let me have a turn.”

“Isn’t this a rerun?”

“And that untidy Youkai lying there always says the answer right before the host does…”

“Like I said, it’s a rerun.”

''But what fun is it to watch a quiz show if you know all the answers already?

“The answer is the biggest option: 25%! Surprising, isn’t it? But the people of Australia think it is not enough. There are a some problems such as cyclones and an outbreak of locusts, but with some help from Japanese technology…”

The Zashiki Warashi must have grown tired of teasing the Yuki Onna because she made me her new target.

“Shinobu, I want a popsicle.”

“What?”

“Carry me.”

I had no choice but to take that indoor Youkai to the kitchen by rolling her along the floor like a metal drum tipped on its side. This did some interesting things to the hem and collar of her Yukata, but she did not seem to mind showing off that much skin.

She calmly said, “We just can’t win with numbers alone, can we?”

“Are you talking about Australia? They use large scale farming where the seeds are sown from an airplane. A country like this where you have a hard time finding land where the horizon is visible has no chance of winning. Due to the race for the lowest prices, the beef, rice, and onions in the gyudon you buy will probably all come from Australia.”

However, it was hard to manually manage such vast amounts of farmland, so I had heard they would rent a farming infrastructure with technicians included that used precision equipment made in Japan and Korea. This created a strange situation where the Japanese were importing crops grown by other Japanese in foreign countries.

After complaining that the Zashiki Warashi got a yogurt despite saying she had wanted a popsicle, my overall small granny entered the kitchen.

“Shinobu, Shinobu.”

“What is it, granny?”

“I think there are more trees in the yard than usual.”

“…What?”

“I do not really understand, but it might be a Youkai.”

I was not sure what she meant, so I had her and the Zashiki Warashi wait in the kitchen while I headed for the yard.

I put on a pair of beach sandals and stepped off of the long porch.

“What is this giant tropical looking tree?”

There was indeed an extra tree. It was obviously a different type of plant from those around it and it was growing right in the middle of the small path between the parking spot and the yard, so it could not have been more in the way. Anyone would notice a tree growing here.

This out-of-place feeling and strange sense of caution I felt for an unfamiliar plant likely came from living in an Intellectual Village. Just as stocking a river with black bass could destroy the river’s ecosystem, a living thing that did not fit the village’s colors was a scary thing.

And then some cat-sized creature poked its head out from behind the mysterious tropical tree.

But the creature’s face was oddly stern.

“Good day. I am Shisa.”

“Eh? Shisa!?”

“This Chinese banyan tree is Kijimuna. He is my friend.”

“Wait, wait! Let’s go through this one at a time. Is a Shisa even a Youkai? I thought the term Shisa referred to the statues themselves and not some creature they were modeled after. Y’know, like the Komainu at a Shinto shrine.”

It was also possible this was technically not a Shisa but a Tsukumogami of a Shisa statue, but I had no way of knowing which it was.

However, the Shisa did not seem the type to listen to what people said.

“I am from Okinawa, so I have never seen snow. I heard from some travelling Youkai that I could find a Yuki Onna if I came here. Have her make it snow.”

“Hey! What the hell happened to our household’s privacy!?”

“Here is some awamori as a gift. Give it to your parents. …It is not for children, okay?”

Having said that, the Shisa (?) jumped up onto the porch and entered the house without permission. He was so bold about it that I let it happen without thinking.

After being left behind, I looked up at that tree that was a type of mangrove.

“If you’re a proper Youkai, you won’t mess with the ecosystem of the normal plants around here…will you?”

The branches shook, making a rustling noise, but I did not know if that was a yes or no.

“At any rate, you’re kind of in the way here, so could you head further back in the yard while you wait?”

After more rustling, it began moving. But rather than walking on legs, the movement was more like all of its roots were snakes.

It may have gotten into a turf war with the Furutsubaki in the back of the yard because it began that odd rustling again. (By the way, the Furutsubaki would occasionally transform into a beautiful woman, but it was not the type that killed people. My Youkai-loving mom hand picked it up from somewhere.) But before I could focus on the two Youkai trees, I heard a commotion coming from the thatch-roof house.

In fact, the Yuki Onna ran out barefoot into the yard with Xs for eyes.

“Wh-what is this all of a sudden!? You’re making everything too hot!! I don’t know who you are, but I think we are horribly incompatible!!”

“I am Shisa.”

“I was not asking for your name!”

“I want to make an igloo. Make it snow.”

The Shisa (?) continued to not listen to anything anyone said as the Yuki Onna scurried over to cling to me.

“P-please do something about him!!” she begged me.

''Yeah…

''But…

“Apparently, he’s never seen snow before, so he came here all the way from Okinawa. Can’t you at least make it snow for him?”

“Kh… By any chance do you have a fetish for being NTRed away from people? A-and an animal fetish…?”

It seemed the Yuki Onna had made an incredibly rude misunderstanding, but she was in no state to be corrected while she was being chased around by that symbol of summer. She was running around the yard with the hem of her white kimono trailing along the ground behind her.

''If she really can’t stand being around him, I need to create a way for them to talk this out…

But as soon as I had that thought, my cell phone rang. This was a brand new model because my old one had broken after being soaked in water.

“Eh? What do you need, uncle?”

After a short exchange, I frowned.

“I see. So you’re on your way here?”

===Part 5 (Uchimaku Hayabusa)===

Unfortunately, there was no way I had any paid leave left.

However, the Shikigami sent by Hishigami Mai did not care in the slightest about the problems of a working man.

“Please begin searching for Hishigami Mai right away. If you do not, I will kill you,” said the Deadly Dragon Princess bluntly.

No matter how unreasonable this seemed, I had no chance if it came down to a competition of physical strength. And I could hardly go into work with that Deadly Dragon Princess tagging along 24/7. I was ultimately forced to lie and say my wounds from the Jinmensou case had reopened.

Of course, I didn’t have any paid sick days left either, so this was eating away at my already low pay.

At any rate, I travelled to Noukotsu Village.

As I stepped out onto the platform of the village’s one unmanned train station, I looked up at the midsummer sun and grimaced.

“…So I’ve come back here yet again.”

The first problem facing me was the combination of having a lot of luggage and the station’s lack of a bus stop or taxi loading area. However, I had called Shinobu ahead of time, so the real question was who would be sent to meet me. My older brother was a man who focused 100% on his work, so he would never leave his brewing facility. With any luck, my old man would come pick me up in his car, but…

“Well, there’s not much chance of that happening. I guess I’ll just walk to the house.”

“S-so I will finally get to greet your parents, detective!?”

“What are you doing here, mystery freak?”

The girl-shaped Deadly Dragon Princess was clinging to my back and silently eating some squid snacks, but I had not noticed Enbi until she had spoken to me on the platform. Had she tailed me like a true mystery freak?

She lightly waved her index finger back and forth and said, “For once, my sister is actually in a real pinch. This is actually more my issue than yours, detective.”

“Then do something about this Shikigami. And while you’re at it, how about you stay away from me too?”

But I was not even sure if the village even had an inn. Even if it did, I did not know if Enbi could afford it. That meant keeping her from traveling with me would force her to sleep on the streets. Forcing a teenage girl to do that for my own personal reasons went against everything I believed a police officer should be. And of course, thinking that way was falling right into the mystery freak’s trap.

As I held my head in one hand, I dragged my travel bag along and walked toward the ticket gate.

I was already feeling irritated when I heard the grating high-pitched voice of a female announcer coming from some TV.

“Blueprint of a Hit is on at Thursday at 7:00!! This week we will approach the secrets of Daikawara-san, the producer of the beautiful Onmyouji girls unit Seman Stars! We will reveal the trick to coming up with the group’s novel ideas such as the skillful blend of idols and spiritual mystique as well as the unique fan service of giving individual fortune tellings instead of a simple handshaking event! Don’t miss it!!”

I looked over to find the mystery freak had turned on the 1seg TV function of her cell phone.

“Wow, this is really is the middle of nowhere. There are almost no TV channels. All the commercial broadcasting is covered by a single local station.”

“You can order any show you want to watch over satellite or the internet.”

“What do you think of Seman Stars? Don’t you think Tarot Girls 22 is cuter?”

“There are too many of them, so I can’t keep track. Add in the backups and there are 56 of them, right?”

Sitting around at the empty station forever would do no one any good, so I began walking along the paved road with the Deadly Dragon Princess still clinging to my back. The mystery freak would stick with me whether I said anything or not, but I was having trouble deciding whether that was convenient or presumptuous.

The midsummer sun was so hot that I seriously began to wonder if it was not a mirage I was seeing and the road was really melting. Nevertheless, I continued to walk across the asphalt and toward my family home. The distance and heat must have been too much even for the mystery freak because she said nothing as we walked.

The Deadly Dragon Princess was clinging to my back and forcing her entire weight onto me, so my strength was being worn down quite quickly. It reminded me of poison damage in an RPG.

“Ahhh!! Detective, are there no cafes or family restaurants around here?”

“Give it up. This village only has a sweets shop. If you need a rest, there’s a bus stop with a roof not far up ahead.”

“This is horrible! Is this really part of Japan!?”

“I moved to the city to get away from this, so complain to someone else.”

As soon as we finally arrived at the bus stop, the mystery freak practically flung herself onto the bench but then started writhing around on top of that natural frying pan that had been heated by the sun.

“Hgywaaaaahhhh!?”

“Your problem is that you’re the type of mystery freak whose brain stops working altogether when you don’t have a case to solve. Why couldn’t you at least guess that the angle of the sun can still let it reach the bench despite the roof?”

“U-uuhhh… This is just cruel. ''There’s water so nearby yet I can’t drink it.''”

“Huh? ''What is this doing in an Intellectual Village?''” I muttered as I approached the object.

And that turned out to be a deadly mistake.

===Part 6 (Jinnai Shinobu)===

Despite emphasizing how soon he would be here over the phone, my uncle never arrived. I frowned and called him back a few times, but I couldn’t reach him.

“What is going on?”

Had he run into some kind of trouble?

Noukotsu Village had an extremely slow train schedule. Counting both directions, only 5 trains came through in a day. One of those should have arrived at the station already. If my uncle had been on that train, he should have arrived in the city by now.

“Hmm… Maybe I should go down to the station to check.”

I had hoped someone would go with me, but the Zashiki Warashi’s policy was to refuse to do anything that would be too much of a bother and the Yuki Onna did not want to head out into the hot sun. As I looked around in search of someone to rope into going with me, the Nekomata turned away from me.

''Is this because of how Youkai naturally hate my uncle so much?

“Oh, that’s right. We’ve got a demon in addition to these Youkai.”

And so I headed up to the attic using the steep and narrow wooden stairs that were practically a ladder.

The house was quite large and the attic was not divided into individual rooms, so it contained a decent amount of space. However, it had a dank and stuffy impression due to not being a proper living space, so it was not a place I liked going to.

But Youkai and demons tended to like places humans found uncomfortable, so it was quite well liked by them.

“The answer is #3: 50 countries!! The worldwide agricultural revolution focused on Australia is known as the International Plantation Project. Vast land is used to grow the specialties of countries the world over, such as Brazilian coffee, French grapes, and German potatoes. The standard is to use circular farms, but some crops use a combination of perfectly enclosed plant factories and megasolar facilities…”

It seemed the Succubus was watching the same quiz show rerun the Yuki Onna had been. I could hear the voice of the announcer who was known as the trivia king.

While standing on that steep ladder-like staircase, I stuck my head into the square attic. For some reason, the Succubus was sitting with her legs spread in an M-shape as if waiting for me. If I had been careless, my face would have run right in the center point of the M.

“What are you doing?”

“Just watching TV. Why do you ask?”

It seemed that sitting like that was as natural to her as sitting in the seiza style or cross-legged. After I explained the situation, she rolled backwards with her legs still spread in an M-shape. The movement somehow reminded me of a dead cicada.

“Demons prefer the darkness and Succubi rule over the night and dreams!! Why would you ever think I would go on a healthy walk under the midsummer sun!?”

Apparently, my uncle’s nature worked long range and was just as effective on Western monsters as Eastern ones.

I ultimately had no choice but to head for the station alone.

As soon as I stepped outside, I was reminded just how unbearable the direct sunlight was. For an instant, I considered taking a page out of those Youkai’s book and turning right back into the house, but I managed to resist.

I borrowed the Zashiki Warashi’s electric stickboard and took off down the farm road that was barely wide enough for two light trucks to pass each other.

“There are no stores on the way, so there’s almost no chance he took a detour.”

I raced alongside rice paddies filled with rice plants swaying in the wind as I took the shortest route to the train station. Someone must have been hunting down some dangerous animal because I heard what sounded like gunshots coming from the mountain. The old man who lived next door would sometimes share some boar meat with us, so I did not find it to be an unpleasant sound.

And then…

“?”

I spotted something sparkling on the side of the road. I ignored it, but I saw something else reflecting the sunlight a bit further on. After spotting three or four similar objects, I started to think it was strange.

''What are those things?

They were objects I had seen on TV.

But…

“A cat-repellent water bottle?”<ref>In Japan, putting out filled plastic water bottles is thought to keep stray cats away.</ref>

I stopped the electric stickboard to check. The label had been removed from the plastic bottle and it was filled with water. I had often seen them placed in front of urban houses on TV.

But they were rarely used in Intellectual Villages.

For one, there was no scientific or zoological evidence they worked. Also, filling a round plastic bottle with water allowed it to function like a lens. When placed under the sun, it could easily start a fire.

Intellectual Villages thoroughly regulated their environment with all sorts of technology, so they had ways of more efficiently and effectively keeping stray cats away.

After all, this was where a bunch of grapes cost 30 thousand yen. When you could almost say that money did grow on trees, you would never protect those trees with mere superstition.

“What is this doing here?”

In my confusion, I approached the cat-repellent water bottle to get a closer look.

And then…

“No, Shinobu!! If you approach that, you’ll be caught in it too!!”

There was nothing he could have done.

By the time I heard my uncle’s voice, I had already been caught in the Package.

===Part 7 (Uchimaku Hayabusa)===

''Shit.

''Shit, shit, shit, shit!!

I had been so focused on being caught in the Package myself and searching for a way to escape this Youkai that I had been unable to stop a new sacrifice from appearing. And this was my nephew Shinobu. What rules did any supposed god use to run this world?

I frantically ran over to Shinobu but felt a dull pain run through my right ankle.

It felt like wooly caterpillars that a mere touch from would cause a rash had broken through the skin and burrowed into my body. It hurt, it itched, it was uncomfortable, and it filled me with revulsion. The negative feelings seemed enough to cover up the pure pain.

It was a string.

It was painfully clear that a spider’s web had burrowed inside me.

“Uncle, what is-…!?”

Shinobu trailed off as his face twisted in pain and he frantically crouched down to hold his right ankle with both hands. He was obviously experiencing the same symptoms as us.

I shouted into the distance.

“Mystery freak, there’s a water bottle over here too! We missed one!! Shinobu has been caught in the Package!!”

Hishigami Enbi and the Shikigami named the Deadly Dragon Princess approached. Those two, Shinobu, and I were the current group caught in the Package. If possible, I did not want anyone else to be added to that group, but…

“What is going on, uncle…?”

“It’s a Jorougumo. Someone has set up a Package using that deadly Youkai,” I replied in a bitter voice.

Once we had understood the details of the Package to a certain extent, we had started by gathering all of the water bottles set up around the village. Everyone who approached them would be caught inside the Package, but the mystery freak and I were already caught. Touching the bottles could not cause any more harm to us. We had hoped to retrieve them all before someone else fell victim to them, but that had not happened.

The mystery freak explained the situation to Shinobu.

“A Jorougumo is generally known as a Youkai that transforms into a beautiful woman during the day and sucks human blood as a giant spider at night. But this one seems to be a slightly different type. This is the Jorougumo said to appear at the Jouren Falls. The cat-repellent water bottles are a trap meant to apply the situation of ‘taking a rest next to the water’ to the target. ''Anyone who spends a certain amount of time near one of the bottles is designated a target.'' The bottles may even have actual water from the Jouren Falls inside.”

Simply passing by was no problem. However, if you stopped, the danger shot way up. We had not actually tested this, but the entire village would have been caught if the target simply had to approach within a certain distance.

“What exactly does this Youkai do?”

“It wraps its spider web around the ankle of any travelers resting near the waterfall and drags them into the waterfall basin to kill them. In the story, a traveler cut the web wrapped around his ankle and tied it around a tree stump to escape.”

Shinobu looked at me.

I shook my head and replied, “We’ve tried it. The web is invisible, but we can grab it. However, nothing happened even when we tried to tie it to the bus stop sign, the bench, or anything else. We even went to the mountain and found a stump, but that didn’t work either. We can remove it temporarily, but it reappears back around our ankle before long.”

Technically, it dug into our ankle in this Package instead of just around it.

“So they’ve altered that portion,” commented Shinobu.

The mystery freak sighed and said, “We don’t know who did this, but it is obvious what they are after. Either everyone caught dies or they must fight each other to the death. The person behind this wants us to make that ultimate choice.”

“What? I don’t know what the time limit for this is, but don’t we just have to find what has been designated the ‘stump’ and reattach the web to that?”

“The problem is what that ‘stump’ is,” I cut in. “The mystery freak wrapped her web around my ankle as a joke, but that was the only time it did not reappear on her. …It was kind of awkward, so she reattached it to her ankle.”

“…Wait. You’re kidding.”

“The bastard that assembled this Jorougumo Package has cruelly set the other participants as the ‘stump’.”

As a police officer, this situation made me click my tongue, but it would have been unfair not to explain it.

“In other words, we have two options. We can wait until our time is up and all die, or we can force our web onto another participant before our time is up. Those are the only two options.”

“I doubt there is a limit to the number of webs someone can have forced on them, so one death would be the best we can hope for,” added the mystery freak.

Naturally, no one wanted to be thrown into a deadly game of musical chairs.

That would decide who the sacrifice would be by a truly primitive method. In other words, all the participants would try to kill each other, forcing all the damage onto the weakest one.

Shinobu looked back down at his ankle and said, “By the way, how exactly will we be killed once our time is up?”

“We don’t know. Since the story is about being dragged into a waterfall basin, drowning or falling from a great height would make the most sense, but the Jorougumo is a bloodsucking Youkai. And since the stump was pulled from the ground and dragged into the basin, being crushed to death may also be possible.”

The only question was what the criminal wanted from this.

A rural area like an Intellectual Village had few main roads, so it would not be hard to catch someone in the Package by setting up the water bottles along those. However, it would be difficult to catch a specific target.

Was this nothing but indiscriminate murder?

Packages were developed by groups of dozens or even hundreds, so it seemed unlikely one would be built around the pleasure of an individual.

“I have a question,” said Hishigami Mai’s Shikigami all of a sudden. “A web has been attached to my ankle as well, but can this Jorougumo kill a Shikigami?”

“I’m not a specialist, so I couldn’t tell you,” replied the mystery freak. “But if this was assembled under the assumption that it would be killing humans, the damage set to drown or crush the victim might not be enough to kill you.”

“I agree. And with that settled…”

“?”

We all focused on the Deadly Dragon Princess.

The Shikigami then said, “''All of you can attach your webs to me. That will allow you to escape this danger. Even if my core structure is destroyed, I can be remade if you manage to rescue Hishigami Mai.”

The last resort.

Once it was suggested, there was no point in rejecting it.

If time ran out with the webs still around all of our ankles, we would all die. The Package was put together to kill every last one of us. Denying that last resort would only increase the number of victims.

For that reason, the Deadly Dragon Princess’s view was not wrong.

It was not wrong.

However…

“We can’t, uncle.” As expected, my nephew Shinobu spoke up. Even if it was being idealistic, I felt he should be proud of still being able to say that here. “There has to be another way! A Package is a much larger system than it appears, so there are a lot of gears that can be removed. If we can find one of those, we won’t have to make this choice like the criminal wants us to!!”

“But we have no way of knowing if we will succeed before time runs out. In fact, we do not even know the full scope of this Package. We have not even narrowed down who the suspects might be. If we begin gathering information now, we will never finish in time.” The mystery freak’s words stabbed at him coolly. “From the state of our ankles, the detective and I only have about 10 minutes left. The time limit meaning our deaths may be after that, but the web digging into our ankles will be too much for us soon. This strange itching is spreading so much it feels like my ankle is suffering necrosis.”

“…”

“Shinobu, don’t worry. The limit will clearly come for us first. If worst comes to worst, you can attach your web to one of us. You at least can survive this.”

“That’s not what I’m trying to say!!”

I knew that he was trying to correct a fundamental mistake.

But we did not have time.

“We of course want to do whatever we can too. But think about what could happen. We are the first wave and you are the second. If you wait around until the entire first wave is gone, you will be the only person left. Once that happens, ''you will have no one to attach your web to.''”

Shinobu gritted his teeth and looked over at the Deadly Dragon Princess.

That monster looked like a slender girl.

“I will be fine,” she said to Shinobu expressionlessly. “No Youkai is used in my construction. I am a Shikigami designed from the ground up with organic material. If my physical body is destroyed, it can simply be exchanged for anoth-''ghh.''”

She misspoke at the end after biting her tongue.

Or so it seemed.

A slender and lithe arm pierced through the Deadly Dragon Princess’s back and out of the center of her chest.

''What?

''Who did that?

''When did they approach?

I belatedly realized that asking those obvious questions was getting my priorities out of order.

If what the Deadly Dragon Princess had said was accurate, she was a Shikigami, an artificial Youkai, created by Hishigami Mai.

Normal methods would never be enough to kill her, so how had a human killed her barehanded?

“According to my sister,” Hishigami Enbi’s lips trembled as she spoke, “the Deadly Dragon Princess is a model case for a potential enemy. She assumed she would be able to stand up to most any Youkai if she redesigned her own body so she could defeat it with a single punch.”

That means…

The most likely candidate for who had destroyed the Shikigami in a single strike was…

“Hishigami Mai!?” shouted all three of us almost in unison.

The attacker pulled her slender arm out from the Deadly Dragon Princess’s back and casually tossed the wreckage to the side. The Deadly Dragon Princess had said she would be fine if she was destroyed, but I had no way of knowing how true that was.

And I could not even focus on her battered form.

Every nerve in my body refused to let me look away from the attacker.

The attacker was indeed Hishigami Mai. I recognized the bloody arm and the hair that had been damaged by direct sunlight. However, I had never seen that look on her face. And half of her body was covered.

Covered in what, you ask?

Covered in Japanese paper used for calligraphy. Or perhaps you would call them magic charms. At any rate, about half of her body was covered with Japanese paper with strange writing on it. We had not exchanged a single word, but it was obvious that Mai was not her usual self. It was possible she could not even hear us. She looked like spell words congealed into a human form.

The Jorougumo Package had been unbeatable enough already.

And now the trump card we could use as a last resort had been destroyed.

Plus the enemy that now faced us was the worst possible enemy I could think of.

“We can’t win,” I calmly analyzed. Neither Shinobu nor the mystery freak attempted to argue. “Don’t try to fight her!! Our top priority is finding a way to escape this Jorougumo Package!!”

To make sure we were not all killed at once, we ran off in three different directions.

Hishigami Mai would likely pursue one of us.

This was like a game of musical chairs.

If we wanted to survive, we had to choose at least one person to die.

A much more direct, obvious, and horrible choice than the Jorougumo Package had presented itself.

===Part 8 (Jinnai Shinobu)===

In the end, I was cornered before I had been able to resolve anything.

This was Hishigami Mai.

She was the worst possible person I could think of to have as an enemy. I had run toward the mountain to get away from her.

But that may have been a mistake.

Then again, there may not have been a correct answer when it came to confronting that monster of a woman.

“Shinobu!!”

My uncle called from somewhere.

He must have run after me because he was worried about me. Or so I thought at first. Doubt came soon after.

The final trump card that had existed ever since my uncle and that twintailed girl were caught in the Package was now gone. That Youkai(?) known as the Deadly Dragon Princess could no longer be given all of our webs. To escape the Package before the time limit, my uncle, the twintailed girl, and I had to force our Jorougumo web onto one of the others.

It was possible he had changed his plan.

My uncle and the twintailed girl had fallen into the Jorougumo Package before I had. That of course meant they had less time than me. They might want to force their webs onto me “for the moment” since I had more time.

If we then found a new way out of the Package, that was fine.

But what if we did not find one?

Once all the webs had been temporarily forced onto me, the only option would be my death.

“…”

I did not respond to my uncle’s cry. I couldn’t!

I could not decide whether I should hold my breath and stay where I was or run off at full speed despite the noise it would make. When it came down to pure violence, a normal high school student like me did not stand a chance against a professional police detective like my uncle. And he might also have a handgun.

If he shot me in the leg, my options would drop considerably.

''I can’t risk agreeing to my uncle’s compromise.

But just as I thought that….

“''Shinobu!! Don’t go that way! She’s coming!!''”

“Eh…?”

I had grown so lost in my suspicions that it took me too long to realize what my uncle meant. And my enemy did not overlook that mistake.

A sound exploded out from my body as if something solid had been knocked out of place.

I could not turn my head around to check behind me, much less continue standing. The best I could manage was twisting my waist around as I collapsed to the grassy-smelling dirt.

Only once I was lying on my back did I catch a glimpse of who had attacked me.

It was that monster of a woman who had half her body covered in Japanese paper or magic charms.

Somehow, she did not seem all there. It looked like she was sleepwalking.

“…Hishigami…Mai…?”

She gave no response.

She crouched down as if to peer at my face and her hands reached out for my neck. I tried to twist my body around to escape, but I could no longer move properly.

She showed no mercy.

She brought her hands in as if to strangle a chicken.

And then my heart truly did stop beating.

===Part 9 (???)===

Something out of place was mixed into the gentle atmosphere of Noukotsu Village. Saijou Ai hummed as she looked at her cell phone and leaned against the side of her black luxury car known as a Hitman Tuxedo.

The text on the screen was short, but absolute and accurate.

“Jinnai Shinobu: Confirmed dead.”

“Uchimaku Hayabusa: Confirmed dead.”

“Hishigami Enbi: Confirmed dead.”

The possibility was incredibly low, but it was possible Hishigami Mai could have left Saijou’s control and was now sending false information. However, that may have been worrying too much. And Saijou Ai held the core of the Jorougumo Package.

She wore a glove that appeared to be made of a thin silk.

Technically, it was spider silk woven into the form of a glove using the same techniques used for making violin strings.

It had originally been made along with the Jorougumo Package for a perverted nouveau riche old man who wanted to play the gamemaster in a killing game. The spider web glove that stuck to the palm reacted to the emotional disturbance of the game participants and reproduced them as virtual feelings. Basically, it let the wearer “feel” the death agonies of the players.

The perverted old man had absolutely loved the idea of holding people’s invisible souls in his hand, but he had ended up taking part in the game as a player after he failed to pay the ''fairly expensive'' rental price.

At any rate, the glove could be used to check on the progress of the Package by seeing who was dead and who was still alive. The Jorougumo would continue hunting its target until that target was dead.

All feeling had left the glove.

It was receiving no response from any of the players.

The arrival of the three emails had matched perfectly with the disappearance of the feeling.

This confirmed that Hishigami Mai was still under Saijou Ai’s control and she had quickly killed every player, including her own sister.

But…

“Really, it could have been anyone,” muttered Saijou Ai casually.

She had merely needed to cause a commotion within Noukotsu Village. That had been the point of the Jorougumo Package that forced people to kill each other, and that had been the point of Hishigami Mai.

She had actually wanted to get more people involved and use the Jorougumo Package to ''alter the atmosphere of the entire village'', but this was enough. A diversion was meant to be abandoned anyway. As long as the true objective was achieved in the meantime, everything would work out in the end.

Her specialty was not sneaking deep into enemy ranks like a ninja from the Sengoku period. She instead created a flashy commotion and moved along in its shadow. Houjou and Toujou had often said she was like a stun grenade, but they were dead now.

“…”

Someone approached slowly as if sleepwalking.

Hishigami Mai looked to be in a horrible state with half of her body covered in magical charms that looked like Japanese paper. Technically, they were not charms but Youkai represented in textual form. Saijou Ai was well known among certain enthusiasts as a calligrapher who created nothing but ominous works.

Her methods were similar to Houjou’s as he sealed power within Youkai art. It was said that kanji had been originally created by simplifying pictures, so this was not too surprising.

She had created hundreds of Youkai curses which were now robbing Hishigami Mai of control of her body.

The blood splattered on Hishigami Mai’s body symbolized how far she had fallen.

That was the blood of those who had once been her companions or family.

This further confirmed what the emails and the Jorougumo glove had said.

She had shown no mercy.

She had slaughtered all of them and returned to Saijou Ai.

Saijou’s commands were absolute.

No matter how much of an expert Hishigami Mai was, she could not escape this curse.

Saijou waved at her.

“Are you done?”

“…Are you?”

“I swiped them while you were having your fun, Mai-chan.”

Something banged on the inside of the Hitman Tuxedo’s trunk. Two Youkai that had been living in Noukotsu Village were contained inside.

“An Umbrella Obake and a Lantern Obake. …I doubt many people in Japan know just how important these Youkai are, but ''Youkai that have no set purpose are quite rare and are quite valuable.''”

There was a Youkai known as Nurarihyon.

This Youkai was known as the leader of every Youkai in Japan. However, that characteristic had mostly been created by humans.

It had originally been a type of ocean Youkai, but no one had known what it did.

And it could be freely remade into almost anything because its role was not decided.

In other words…

Depending on the situation, the Umbrella Obake and Lantern Obake could be remade in the same way.

They could be remade into a controller that could command any Youkai in Japan.

“And on top of that, the Umbrella Obake and Lantern Obake are Tsukumogami. They are the type of Youkai that gain power the longer they are kept as possessions. That means I can make them change in convenient ways if I arrange their surrounding environment correctly. You could view it like a storehouse for wine or cheese.”

The Hitman Tuxedo’s trunk had already been remodeled for that purpose. The Umbrella Obake and Lantern Obake stored within would likely become Youkai controllers in about half a year.

Once a single trivial problem was dealt with, that is.

“Mai-chan, may I ask one last task of you?”

“Ask me anything.”

“A child named Yonesaki Hiro lives in this Intellectual Village. Kill him. The Umbrella Obake and Lantern Obake only have value as neutral Youkai that hold no purpose, but it seems they have taken on the role of protecting their family. The purity of the final product should rise if that is completely destroyed before the assembly begins.”

“Understood,” she easily and readily replied.

Her killing techniques were valuable enough for Hyakki Yakou to frequently hire her. If she obeyed this command and used those techniques to their fullest, it was obvious what would become of Yonesaki Hiro.

Once Yonesaki Hiro was killed by Hishigami Mai and they escaped from Noukotsu Village with the Umbrella Obake and Lantern Obake, Saijou’s objective would be complete.

The ultimate objective of Akki Rasetsu – which was now only Saijou Ai – was to perfectly fuse a human and a Youkai. She wished to obtain a physical body that was not bound by a lifespan and could ignore the laws and systems of the human world. However, she needed to create a controller to safely and surely gather plenty of sample Youkai. It was the bare minimum to ensure she was not killed by her own prey.

“I will be going then.”

“Finish this quickly.”

“Of course.”

Saijou Ai did not make a habit of seeing puppets off.

She turned away from the pathetic loser and began thinking about her upcoming path to success.

And then…

Hishigami Mai’s slender arm mercilessly stabbed into Saijou Ai’s side.

===Part 10 (Hishigami Mai)===

“…Hh…Gh…?”

I heard an odd voice.

What was it she found so confusing? The fact that a giant hole had just been opened in her side or the fact that the slender arm of a lady could do that?

Or was it that I, Hishigami Mai, was not under her control?

“B-bghh!? Cough cough!! Wh-why!? Ngh…bheh!?”

''Disgusting.

''You don’t even hear noises like that when cleaning bath pipes.

“Saijou-chan, was it? Y’see, I thought there was something beyond Houjou in Kyoto. I figured I would hear plenty of information if I purposefully let myself be taken into the enemy ranks. I’m disappointed at how little depth I found. A controller for all Youkai? Transplanting an Umbrella Obake and Lantern Obake into the Nurarihyon method? That’s much too shallow. If this is all that’s left of Akki Rasetsu, I feel sorry for the old leaders you went to the trouble of purging.”

I had of course made sure to tie up the loose ends before enacting this plan. I had sent the Sunekosuri to tell the Illness Magic User to help the Amemura family ''move to a new home''.

“Hh…bh?”

“I had expected you to easily believe I had been defeated as long as I released my precious Deadly Dragon Princess to help out…but to be honest, this was too easy. If you’re going to control my body, at least test it out with some sexual harassment.”

''C’mon, I’m going to the effort of explaining it to you.

''Don’t pass out yet. You have to hear me out.

“B-bfhh!! Cough cough!! Gygybh!! Hhy? Why? Y-you were…byhbh!? My Kosode no Te…were perfect…!!”

“Yes, yes. The Kosode no Te. That’s a kimono Youkai that curses the wearer, right? Even if curses are difficult to avoid or defend against, it is relatively easy to deflect them into a different direction. Surely you know that the foundation of curse countermeasures is to deflect them back at the user, right? I was so covered in this Japanese paper that I was able to send the curses at each other, causing them to cancel out each other’s effects.”

“Jhbbh!?”

“So of course, I was never obeying your orders from the beginning. Yes, I stopped Jinnai Shinobu-kun’s heart. The same with the detective and my sister. …But I resuscitated them after exactly 20 seconds. The Jorougumo Package excludes anyone who dies. ''And it does not track what happens to people who have been excluded.''”

''Thank you for falling for this so wonderfully.

''But you can never survive in this world if that is all you have.

“If you really want to kill me, you either have to place the routes of the curses so I cannot calculate them or send in an overwhelming amount of curses like the Illness Magic User does. Get it now?”

“Bshbh!? Grgrh!! Gbhghchghrhbhjfbhfhjbhchbhrhfjdhcyehfhgyfjchhdfy!!!???”

“Those were some horrible curses and they have been running nonstop this whole time. The excess power has been building up like a bowstring being drawn. Let’s just say it won’t even leave behind a corpse.”

I began removing the cheap magic charms attached to my body while paying no heed to Saijou-chan who had been ''sucked up'' down to the last drop of blood.

''Wait, this is bad. If I take these off, I’ll be naked. Um…Let’s see. Oh. There’s a blanket in the backseat of this ugly car. A gun too.

''Now then…

''It’s Hishigami Mai-san’s turn now.

My job would have been so much easier if defeating a smalltime villain like her was enough to bring an end to this incident.

===Part 11 (Hishigami Mai)===

I retrieved the Deadly Dragon Princess Shikigami I had released as decoy information needed to convince the enemy I had really lost. I then returned her to her “original world”.

''Hmm, I did a nice job of destroying her. I need to make sure to fix her later.

From what I had caught a glimpse of while pretending to be controlled, it seemed that Shikigami had taken a liking to that detective. I had commanded her to stick with him, but she had gone farther than that. It was possible he had lured her in with her favorite food.

I had already resuscitated the detective, my sister, and Jinnai Shinobu-kun, so their lives were not in danger.

They arrived wanting an explanation, but I still had other things to do. I opened the trunk to Saijou-chan’s ugly foreign car.

Inside I found…

''Ohh, what’s this!? They’re so cute!!

“Bwahh!! Wh-what is going on!? Why would you suddenly lock us in here!?”

“It is too hot in here! Especially with this Umbrella in here too!! …Wait. Who are you? Wh-why are your eyes glittering as you stare at us!?”

The Umbrella and Lantern who each had a single comical eye were shouting about something or other.

''Oh, how wonderful.

''It’s the same as with that Sunekosuri. It scares me how I lose all self control when I see these cute harmless Youkai.

As I watched the Umbrella and Lantern hurry back to their home, I said, “Now then. Time for the real problem.”

“What? I thought you defeated the person behind this. Did they get away???”

People sometimes made that mistake when I did not even leave a corpse behind.

But that was not the issue here.

“I pretended to have my body controlled to enter the organization named Akki Rasetsu. From what I saw and heard, it seems they were being supported by someone.”

“You mean like a patron?” asked my sister.

“No, nothing so well-defined. More like someone who was observing Saijou from afar and secretly eliminated any dangerous elements that might have gotten in Akki Rasetsu’s way. Akki Rasetsu probably had no idea this was happening.”

I doubted a group too dimwitted to notice the threat I posed could have detected “them”.

The detective frowned and said, “What does this ‘someone’ want to do?”

“I don’t know, but they definitely thought Akki Rasetsu’s project would benefit them. They snuck in this far for some clear objective, so they are not going to remain silent now. To be blunt, they will likely attack this Intellectual Village in place of Akki Rasetsu.” I glanced around the area. “Northeast, west, and south-southwest. Somewhere between 700 and 1000 meters away. I sense a few people watching us.”

“What?”

Jinnai Shinobu narrowed his eyes and stared into the distance to answer his question, but that careless action only made me sigh.

“It’s no use trying to see them from here. If you turn such obvious focus in their direction, they will hide. And if you do spot them, they might blow a hole right through the center of your body with a sniper rifle, so be careful.”

“…”

“Do you have any guesses as to who they are?” asked my sister.

“They seem like soldiers to me. From the way the unit is deployed and the way they hide themselves, I would guess SAS. I could narrow it down further if I could intercept their transmissions.”

Jinnai Shinobu looked confused.

“What’s SAS? Some kind of space defense force?”

“They are a British unit. However, they are seen as the standard for special forces, so plenty of other countries emulate them. They even have official lectures for the troops of countries allied with England, so this alone is not enough to know what organization is behind this.”

Of course, this was connected to the occult, so it was unlikely that this SAS-style special forces unit would be our only enemy. My guess was this enemy was on the level of an entire nation and so they could freely use special forces to support their project.

The detective sighed and said, “What are they doing here? If we figure out who they are and learn what they are after, could we use that to fight them off?”

“That is what I’m about to try.”

With that offhanded comment, I pulled out a device that looked like a cross between a cell phone and a radio.

It was my usual satellite phone.

My little sister frowned and said, “Who are you going to contact with that?”

“Hyakki Yakou, of course. They have the most information of this sort.”

===Part 12 (???)===

Hafuri, the girl of about ten who was the current head of Hyakki Yakou, sighed when she answered the phone. The tearoom in the flying wing cruising at an altitude of 9000 meters was still enough for that slight movement of air to be seen as a definite flow in the room’s atmosphere.

“I had thought it was odd for it to be suggested to destroy the living environment of Noukotsu Village by disseminating hydrogen sulfide and making it look like a volcanic eruption. It seemed too forceful to simply put an end to Akki Rasetsu’s project to take control of any Youkai in Japan. I did not like the idea of slaughtering those innocent villagers when it is our role to protect them.”

“Hmm.”

“That means a few of the 100 officers that took part in the meeting may have realized who is hidden behind this incident.”

“Do you have any guesses who that might be? It should be someone who can freely use SAS-style special forces.”

“''A witch most likely,''” replied Hafuri.

“That’s what I thought. That is the most likely option for a foreign force. The real question is ''what type of witch is it?''”

“Not a European or American one. They would have no reason to attack Japan. They confiscated most of our documents when we lost the war long ago. With all that detailed information, they would have no reason to sneak in and try to steal any data now.”

“So it’s a witch from somewhere else?”

“Witches have scattered all over the world, but we can narrow it down quite a bit since she is using SAS-style special forces. …And there just so happens to be one major country not in Europe or America with special forces based on the SAS.”

“''I see.''”

Hafuri scratched her chin with the same small hand holding the phone receiver. The main problem was that some of the 100 officers knew about this. And that they had brought forward that ridiculous plan to destroy the Intellectual Village in response.

“The 100 officers may have chosen a rather forceful method of eliminating this person behind Akki Rasetsu,” she said.

“No, we need to assume the worst goes much deeper than that.”

“What do you mean?

“Hyakki Yakou’s meetings with the 100 officers are not contained to the flying wing, right? They use the internet and speak without showing their face. That prevents others from influencing their opinion, right?”

“Yes.”

“Then ''it is possible some of the real officers have already been killed and replaced with someone else entirely.'' Perhaps they are the ones behind Akki Rasetsu and they are having Hyakki Yakou take action to ensure their plan progresses smoothly. You lost a lot of the commanders in the confusion of that coup d’etat recently and had to replace them, so it wouldn’t have been that hard to take advantage of the situation.”

“True.” Hafuri gave a slight nod. “We have special software that can remove their anonymous state. The 100 officers do not know about it. We will use it to investigate this.”

“This is a group that uses decoys on top of decoys to hide their identity, so that alone may not be enough.”

“Then what do you say we should do?”

“Lay a much flashier trap. I’ll help you with that.”

“What should we do first?”

“For now, ''approve the plan to destroy Noukotsu Village.'' I’ll fill you in on the rest after you do.”

===Part 13 (Jinnai Shinobu)===

We left the foreign car used by the person from an underground group called Akki Rasetsu and walked back to my thatch-roof house. It seemed the Hishigami sisters intended to use it as their home base for the moment. Mai was only wearing a blanket for some reason, so she borrowed a yukata. The way she wore it still did not leave much to the imagination, though.

Just as I was hoping everything was settled, Hishigami Mai told us something unbelievable.

“What!? You had her give the go ahead for a project to slaughter everyone in the village!?”

“Don’t get so upset. This is a trap. We can’t fight back until we uncover the enemy. We must be defeated if we want to eliminate every enemy from this Intellectual Village, right? You just have to turn a blind eye to the slight risks involved.”

“So who is this enemy?”

“A witch strongly influenced by western methods. ''Probably an Australian one.''”

“Why would someone like that do this? Is she trying to steal brand name fruit seeds from the Intellectual Village?”

“What they want is something more occult,” replied Hishigami Mai offhandedly.

She then grabbed the remote control for the television at one end of the Japanese-style living room and turned it on. She changed the channel to an afternoon talk show.

“Australia’s circular farms are having a large effect on the grains market, but recent cyclones and an outbreak of locusts has caused serious damage to their wheat crop. This has caused unrest to spread through the futures market and…”

“Come to think of it, they were talking about this on the quiz show rerun the Yuki Onna was watching. What about it?” I asked.

“Natural disasters and outbreaks of pests are stereotypical forms for divine punishment. Even Japan’s ancient documents record several such incidents. With these incidents causing great damage in Australia, it is not too surprising that some have decided to put together a countermeasure.”

“What does that have to do with Japan?”

“Australia is part of the new world just like America. But that is technically just what the Europeans decided to call it after they destroyed the cultures that already existed there. This of course angered the native god of the slighted land. This situation could easily lead to natural disasters, but the Australian government that ignored the older culture for so long has no idea how to pacify this god. After all, they have no scriptures to act as a manual.” Hishigami Mai spun the TV remote around in her hand. “Akki Rasetsu, the organization I was dealing with, was looking for a method to control Youkai and gods. This Australian witch may have thought she could use that, but I think that was just a digression. ''Her true goal lies elsewhere.''”

“…?”

“It’s simple. Witches worship demons to borrow their power. …So what exactly are demons? There are two types: the pure species of demons and the altered forms of gods from other religions that have been registered as ‘evil gods’ by the world’s largest religion which uses the cross as its symbol. Witch rituals come from those old religions as well. In that case…”

Nothing she was saying really clicked in my mind.

The expression on my face must have made that clear.

Hishigami Mai winked and gave me a further hint.

“They are especially skilled at twisting polytheistic religions. And what structure is created by the gods of this country?”

“You don’t mean…”

“It’s a stereotypical situation. A witch that wishes to use a god for her own purposes would find Shinto or Buddhism to be almost irresistible. That said, the process of turning a god into a usable demon does weaken the god a fair bit.”

“So this witch’s group wants to reconstruct a god of this country into the form known as a ‘demon’? So this is just like a Package where people build a Youkai into a system that makes use of one of that Youkai’s properties?”

“Exactly. That is why they want to slaughter everyone in the Intellectual Village by disseminating hydrogen sulfide disguised as volcanic gases. The most common reason for the downfall of gods the world over ''is the destruction of the land they rule over.'' By devastating an area of land within Japan, the witch’s group can affect the god in that area.”

“…But is it really that easy?”

“Old gods will naturally change into fairies and Youkai with the passage of the era. And that is especially true for polytheistic gods. That is why gods are enshrined in large temples and shrines to ensure they do not change form. But regardless of how difficult the method is, these are still gods we are talking about. They are the largest pillars supporting their cultures. If they fall, it could even cause damage to diplomatic relations.” Hishigami Mai shrugged. “Once a god has been turned into a demon, it can be used to suppress the old god wreaking havoc in Australia out of anger. …That will simply cause even more friction with the ancient culture, but the government only wants to protect the current system of society from further economic damage. They feel this is worth the risk. If they did not feel the situation was that dire, I doubt they would have ever contacted this witch in the first place.”

“That explains the government’s reasons. What about the witch?”

“The witch has something else to gain from this. ''And we can use that as a trap.''”

===Part 14 (Hishigami Mai)===

This village would soon become a battlefield.

However, the flow of time in the thatch-roof house felt so slow you would never have guessed it. A Zashiki Warashi with excessively large breasts was flying a small toy modeled after an autogyro around the room to chase after a Yuki Onna who was running all over the place to avoid it. A Keseran Pasaran that looked like a white furball was floating around near the ceiling. It was curiously trying to approach the autogyro, but it could not keep up with the toy’s speed.

The scene made it seem ridiculous to bring up the terms “Hyakki Yakou” or “agent”.

What I saw before me was likely something I could never obtain as long as I immediately chose brute force as a means of resolving Youkai-related problems.

But then I spotted a familiar face among the Youkai.

The Youkai seemed to notice me as well and walked over. It was a white Nekomata that was overflowing with elegance.

“What are you doing here?” she asked.

“I’d rather know why ''you'' are here. Is this the territory of a former ace of Inga Ouhou?”

Inga Ouhou had been a revenge group with three Itako leading it. They would give form to the residual thoughts of the dead to hear their voices and punish their murderers. I believe the organization came about due to displeasure with the current laws that disallowed Youkai testimony or evidence obtained via paranormal means from use in court. …But then the three Itako had started accepting money to freely alter what the dead told them. At that point, they became nothing more than an assassin group.

The Nekomata’s master had been killed due to that cheating despite being a top member of Inga Ouhou. When I had been sent in to resolve some issues Hyakki Yakou was having with them, the two of us had destroyed the entire organization in just over two weeks.

I was left with one primary question.

“You have enough power to destroy an entire organization, so are you not going to use that power to help Jinnai Shinobu-kun?”

“I try not to rely on my power too much. My direct power is no more than that of a Doberman. I merely have the added bonus of being able to ''transform into the person I bite to death.''”

That was why she did not fight her enemies head on. Instead, she would sneak into a group of enemies and slowly cause more and more victims. Her strategy was perfect for destroying a large organization from within by spreading doubt and suspicion. I quite liked her means of fighting.

“But the strength of a Doberman seems reliable enough for a normal high school student who can only arm himself with a bat or box cutter. Plus, blades and handguns are not enough to kill you.”

“There was a recent commotion in which a small lost boy fell into a flood control reservoir. He is the kind of idiot who jumped right into the water to search for that boy, but he still had no intention of involving the Yuki Onna or myself.”

“…”

“But it does not seem he has some admirable goal in it such as preventing any danger from approaching his ‘family’. He has no problem running to the Zashiki Warashi for help. …Basically, it is an issue of degree. If he asked a deadly Youkai like the Yuki Onna or me for help, things would get a bit ''messy''. And once things get ''messy'', there is no guarantee it can be neatly cleaned up.” Despite looking like a cat, the Nekomata formed an obvious smile as she spoke. “His reasons are nothing more than the irrational stubbornness of a child, but that does not mean it is always okay to make such a ''mess'' by sending in something like me. That is the way I see it. And so I will remain the cute pet that soothes the family. I will fool no one and I will kill no one. Understand?”

Having said that, the Nekomata walked off somewhere else. On her way, she chased after the light of a pen-shaped laser pointer Jinnai Shinobu was holding. She gave several cat punches to an empty wall.

''Chehh…

I meaninglessly felt as if I had lost. I thought I had met a fellow killer for the first time in a while, but now I felt like I had spotted an old classmate pushing a stroller with her husband.

I grabbed a broom leaning against the wall, walked out into the hallway, and banged the handle against the ceiling partially to release my anger.

“Hey!! I know the Succubus from the European Security Force is up there!! If you want to live, start cooperating!!”

I then heard a lot of banging that was clearly not coming from the broom. It almost seemed like the attic was shaking.

''You idiot. Did you really think Hyakki Yakou didn’t know you were here? The young lady has only been overlooking you out of respect for Jinnai Shinobu who did so much to quell Hyakki Yakou’s internal strife at that hotel in Fuuka Village.

The best thing to use against a western witch was a western demon.

With the final piece gathered, it was finally time to set the trap and settle this.

===Part 15 (Jinnai Shinobu)===

The final battle began smoothly.

It began with a comment by the glamorous Zashiki Warashi who was walking around using my smartphone as a music player as usual.

“Shinobu, you just got an email about an active volcano warning. Do you know what that means?”

“…That’s it!! That’s the camouflage warning on the notification network!!”

Even if it was only a decoy warning to make the hydrogen sulfide look like volcanic gases, it was a complete joke. They had obviously timed it so no one would make it out in time even with a car. And if we did move faster than expected, the SAS-style special forces would obviously do something to handle it.

Hishigami Mai brought her large satellite phone to her ear.

“This is going just as expected. Young lady, you’re flying right over us, right? ''Jump down at the last second before the hydrogen sulfide is disseminated!!''”

I walked out to the thatch-roof house’s porch, put on my beach sandals, and walked out into the large yard. I looked up into the blue sky and spotted a large V-shaped passenger plane called a flying wing. Several smaller planes were flying around it to protect it.

Something was dropped from the flying wing.

At first I thought it was a bomb, but it was not. It was a girl wearing a kimono and a parachute.

Hishigami Mai had run outside with me and she now shouted into the satellite phone.

“Okay, good! Any member of Hyakki Yakou that puts the bloodline first will work to protect your life no matter what. In other words, they will do whatever they can to stop the hydrogen sulfide plan so you will not be killed. But the members of the Australian witch’s group mixed into the 100 officers will not care about that. ''The ones who insist on continuing with the plan are our enemies.'' Have all of them restrained!!”

I heard a low rumbling noise.

It did not belong to a gasoline engine. It was the engine sound effect added to electric cars as a safety measure.

It came from my grandfather’s light truck, but my uncle was the one sitting in the driver’s seat.

“Hey! The truck’s ready!!”

“Understood. Everyone get in!! The witch’s group will have noticed the young lady floating down. She is the leader of Japan’s largest Youkai organization. Plus, she has plenty of information from ancient books. I don’t know where the witch’s group is hiding in the village, but they will jump at the chance to take her hostage. They will definitely want some of Hyakki Yakou’s documents as supplementary material for their project to control a god!!”

I was worried, so I spoke up without thinking.

“Hey!! What exactly is a witch!?”

“Instead of using a Package that builds a Youkai’s power into a system, they bring a portion of a demon’s power into themselves. While a Youkai might be able to handle one, a witch’s powers are incredibly effective against humans. And as much of an oddity as I may be, I have not left the category of a ‘human’. ''In a direct fight, we would probably be fairly evenly matched.''”

As I said before, my uncle was sitting in the light truck’s driver’s seat. The twintailed girl was in the passenger seat. Those were the only two seats, so Hishigami Mai and I climbed into the back of the truck.

“Okay, let’s end this. Let’s crush the witch’s group that will have gotten greedy and gathered at the young lady’s landing spot!!”

===Part 16===

===Part 17===

===Part 18===

===Part 19===

===Part 20===

===Notes===
<references/>
<noinclude>
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| Back to [[The_Zashiki_Warashi_of_Intellectual_Village:Volume2_Chapter_3|Chapter 3]]
| Return to [[The_Zashiki_Warashi_of_Intellectual_Village|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[The_Zashiki_Warashi_of_Intellectual_Village:Volume2_Afterword|Afterword]]
|-
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</noinclude>

The Zashiki Warashi of Intellectual Village:Volume2 Chapter 4

2013-04-29T10:23:51Z

89.77.202.20: /* Part 7 (Uchimaku Hayabusa) */

{{Incomplete|parts=15/20}}
==Chapter 4: ??? @ The One Who Covers Up a God==

===Part 1 (Jinnai Shinobu)===

''I need to head toward cover. I need to head toward somewhere with plenty of places to hide behind and protect myself.

Fleeing toward the mountain with that in mind may have been a mistake. I was being led toward an area with no people where illegal violence could be employed without issue.

''What is going on?

''How could this happen?

I was in the Intellectual Village known as Noukotsu Village. Packages involving Youkai would occasionally happen here, but it was still an easier place to live than the city. That remained true even if the rural scenery was faked by various types of technology.

And yet…

“Shinobu!!”

I heard my uncle’s shout make its way through the gaps of the forest’s trees.

But I did not respond. I couldn’t!

Several people were tied up in ''this messed up situation'', but each person’s survival was based on the same condition: ''To survive, you must kill one of the other participants.'' It was a simple, clear, and unavoidable rule. Both my uncle and myself had been closed in by that framework.

In other words…

My uncle and I were destined to try to kill each other.

And when it came down to pure violence, a normal high school student like me did not stand a chance against a professional police detective like my uncle. He likely outdid me in pure unarmed combat, but he might also have a handgun.

I could not trust anyone.

Given the situation, we could no longer work together.

However…

I still did not want to kill my uncle and the others. My mind stubbornly worked to find a way to get around the rules, find a loophole, or otherwise reach a conclusion where no one had to die.

But then…

The true disaster that arrived was enough to make me forget all about the rest of the horrible situation.

“''Shinobu!! Don’t go that way! She’s coming!!''”

I had forgotten to wonder why my uncle would be calling for me in this situation of mutual suspicion. When I thought about it, letting the others know his position in this thick forest would only put him at a disadvantage.

And then something happened.

A sound exploded out from my body as if something solid had been knocked out of place.

I had been struck from behind. I tried to turn around, but my head would not turn like I told it to. I twisted my waist around while lying collapsed on the grassy-smelling dirt and managed to roll onto my back. Only then did I catch a glimpse of who had attacked me.

It was a woman with the sort of Japanese paper used for calligraphy forcibly pasted all over her body. She was like a monster created by spell words congealed into a human form. Something had been skillfully written on the Japanese paper with black ink, but the papers were so crumpled up to perfectly match the lines of the woman’s body that the words were distorted.

I could not read what was written on them.

I somehow managed to squeeze out a voice while barely breathing at all.

“…Hishigami…Mai…?”

If that monster was taking part in this killing game where blood was washed away with blood, then it was much too obvious who would win in the end.

This paper-covered Hishigami Mai crouched down as if to peer at my face. Her hands reached out for my neck. I tried to twist my body around to escape, but I could no longer move properly.

She mercilessly brought her hands in as if to strangle a chicken.

And then my heart literally stopped beating.

===Part 2 (Uchimaku Hayabusa)===

After finally getting a day off, I visited an indoor fishing pond that had opened in Ikebukuro. Even when I had lived in Noukotsu Village, I had preferred playing by the river instead of the mountain.

The fishing pond’s greatest feature was its large tank for migratory fish that functioned like a lazy river at a water park. The pond’s tagline was “the leisure spot where you can catch a bluefin tuna”. The tank ran through a donut-shaped circuit in a building the size of fair-sized aquarium and the customers paid to fish in it.

The reception area was one floor below and the inside of the tank could be seen through tempered glass. The tuna I could see swimming through it were only about 70 cm, but they still technically qualified as a small type of bluefin tuna.

According to the smiling receptionist girl, “If they were any larger than this, normal fishers would have difficulty catching them. Even if you are wearing gloves, there would be a danger of losing a finger to the line.”

Any tuna you caught would be prepared for you in the facility’s restaurant and (if you were willing to pay) you could still eat tuna if you did not catch one, so I had not eaten anything despite this being my day off. As I drank some vegetable juice to tide over my empty stomach, I rented a fairly thick fishing pole and some spear squid for bait and headed in for the challenge.

“Hey, detective.”

“What? Why are you here even on my day off, mystery freak? Don’t you know that people need to periodically perform maintenance on and refresh their minds?”

“Heh heh heh. Now I get a fishing pond date with you. …But what’s with that vegetable juice? Aren’t you drinking that as an excuse rather than for your health or its nutrients? Are you trying to look good?”

“Shut up. Let me enjoy my time alone.”

“C’mon, detective. They may be small, but these are blufin tuna. Do you really think you can eat one all on your own if you catch it? Look around you. It’s nothing but families and couples.”

“Shut up! It really hurts if you point it out!! I didn’t expect it to be like this before I got here!! I thought fishing was a man’s pastime. How casual has it gotten!?”

“Oh, look at your pole, detective. Something’s tugging really hard.”

That was a fishing pond for you. I frantically grabbed the fishing pole that was beginning to bend like a bow. Of course, the reel was electric and had a specialized program installed and a young instructor lady came running over when she saw I had caught something, so I did not actually need any real strength or skill to battle the tuna.

As the instructor reached for the fishing pole from behind me and gave me some literally hands on advice, the mystery freak glared at her.

“This system is not suited for couples. I just hope I don’t hear any of the same rumors as from those parks and amusement parks with famous ponds.”

As I ignored her nonsense and battled the tuna (or rather, enjoyed a recreation of battling it), something huge burst from the surface of the water with a splashing noise.

“Hyah!?” shouted the instructor woman in surprise.

She grabbed onto me from behind for some reason and the look in the mystery freak’s eyes grew even sharper.

I was surprised too.

But not because I had caught an unexpectedly large tuna.

This was not even a fish.

Hanging from the line was a girl wearing a short kimono and hagoromo who looked like something from an ancient picture book.

“G-gyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!?” I cried out as if I had done something horrible.

The girl in question’s expression did not change despite having a thick fishing hook in her mouth with her entire weight pressing down on it. She remained perfectly expressionless.

''Wait…

“She isn’t bleeding? Wait, the hook isn’t even piercing her mouth?”

“Oh? She isn’t human,” said the mystery freak as if remembering something. “She’s a Youkai…or rather, a manmade Shikigami. I don’t know too much about that, so I couldn’t tell you how it works. But what I do know is she belongs to my sister. She’s the Deadly Dragon Princess.”

“She’s Mai’s?” I said in confusion.

The Deadly Dragon Princess gave little reaction. She simply swayed back and forth while hanging from the end of the fishing pole with the spear squid in her mouth. And for some reason she made the V-sign with both hands while still perfectly expressionless.

“But this is odd,” said the mystery freak.

“Everything about this is odd. I can’t think of a single thing about this that isn’t odd.”

“That’s not what I mean. My sister has a habit of saying she has ''100% lost'' if she has to use the Deadly Dragon Princess.”

''That monster woman said that?

I had never sensed the slightest weakness from Hishigami Mai, so I could not imagine her ever facing a situation she could not handle.

“It’s twue,” added the Deadly Dragon Princes while being dragged up onto land by the electric reel.

She had likely meant “true”, but she was talking while chewing on the squid.

It was raw and still had its guts inside, so she was quite the wild “person”.

Eventually, the Deadly Dragon Princess spat something out like used gum. It was the powerful hook used to land 200 kilogram tunas, but it had been horribly crushed.

“Detective, the hook is tied into a bow.”

“Now that’s a powerful kiss I want to avoid at all costs.”

The Deadly Dragon Princess ignored our exchange and spoke with the expression of someone following a program.

“''Hishigami Mai has lost.'' I have been instructed to pass on an emergency message.”

“She lost…?”

“Yes.”

“What are you supposed to tell us?”

“It is quite simple.” With no change of expression, the Deadly Dragon Princess grabbed another spear squid from the cooler I had rented. “After she lost to them, an organization known as Akki Rasetsu took control of Hishigami Mai’s physical body. She has become their puppet to use as a weapon. If you wish to save her, you must head to the Intellectual Village known as Noukotsu Village.”

I sighed and covered my face in my hands. While looking over at the Deadly Dragon Princess who was eating my squid without permission, the mystery freak revealed an unnecessary piece of trivia.

“That’s your hometown, isn’t it, detective?”

“Why do you know my personal information?”

===Part 3 (???)===

A certain rest stop was located near an ordinary rural city.

The area’s economy had fallen into a slump so the public transportation facilities such as buses and trains had declined. This naturally made private automobiles a necessity to live in the area. Nothing could be seen but long runway-like stretches of road that naturally obstructed travel and further stagnated the economy. The stereotypical cycle of decline had kicked in.

An old black foreign car was parked at one end of a parking lot large enough to hold a soccer match on. It was a famous car from the ‘60s known as a Hitman Tuxedo, but a car like that would violate the exhaust standards if it was used as is on public roads. For that reason, the inner workings had been remade into a sanitary hybrid car. This was another of the classics businesses that also gave new life to old houses. The president of the custom workshop had claimed it took a lot of doing to produce such a deep noise of exhaust from such a thin engine. He had said the experience made him feel like an expert craftsman of brass instruments.

A man and a woman sat within the car.

The woman had her hair tied to either side of her head and was wearing a pink camisole, hot pants, and jacket. She was named Saijou. The muscular man had a blonde pompadour, wore a tank top and work pants, and had his shirt wrapped around his waist. His name was Nanjou.

Saijou Ai and Nanjou Kakeru were the two new leaders of Akki Rasetsu after they had taken control of the organization from the old leaders.

And…

''A human sized piece of luggage'' was lying in the leg space of the backseat.

“Toujou-san is dead.”

“Yes, he is.”

One portion of the blue sky was blocked out by a long, narrow trail of smoke as if from a chimney. But in reality, this black smoke was coming from the remains of the prisoner transport vehicle carrying Toujou. It had been blown to smithereens while travelling along the highway.

They had not wanted to use something as flashy as a bomb in a country like Japan, but the vehicle had been armored. Anything that could be disguised as a natural accident would have no guarantee of killing their target.

While sitting in the left-side driver’s seat, Saijou nervously tapped her index finger on the steering wheel.

“And Houjou-san was hung from a tree after his project in Kyoto failed.”

“Does it really matter?”

“What do you mean?”

“Nature will decide the size of the organization. This is no different than how smaller groups of friends naturally form within a school. Those old idiots tried to expand the size of the organization to achieve their objectives, but they went too far. That causes internal rifts and makes it hard to come to agreement over anything. If you radicalize around a single objective, it is only natural for the organization to be automatically trimmed.”

“Eh? Then the same goes for Toujou-san and Houjou-san?”

“Both of those were accidents, but the organization would have grown more condensed either way. In fact, regulating the number of people will improve the purity of our focus on a single goal. …We had become fat and bloated like Hyakki Yakou. They have 100 members at the level of leaders alone, which is just stupid. And I hear not even a third of them can even use the occult.”

“I see,” said Saijou with a less than satisfied expression.

She did think a problem existed as far as the percentages were concerned, but that was still 30 people who could wield the occult on a level feared as a natural disaster and with an exclusive shrine constructed toward suppressing their power. Even by the standards of their field of work, having that many of such people gathered in one group was not normal.

But she changed the subject instead of pursing that further.

“What should we do next?”

“Houjou was an idiot who couldn’t even protect himself, but he did give us an interesting report. ''He found some interesting Youkai we can use in the Intellectual Village known as Noukotsu Village.''”

“I kind of liked Houjou-san.”

“Well, you both work in similar ways. Not to mention that ''you managed to make Higashiami Mai your own after picking her up injured in Kyoto.'' He was the one that did that damage, so you should at least thank him. Not that it has anything to do with me.” Nanjou looked in the rearview mirror to observe the backseat. “Speaking of which, is this really safe?”

“''Mai-chan'' will be just fine. Her entire body is bound by Kosode no Te.”

“That’s a kimono Youkai that curses anyone who wears it, right?”

“Exactly. I made plenty of copies of one and attached them all over ''Mai-chan''. The controller is running properly, so there is nothing to worry about.” Saijou casually turned the conversation back on track. “So what are we going to do? Should we head to that Intellectual Village Houjou-san visited?”

“Well, if we find the Youkai he spotted, we should be able to assemble what we have been hoping for.”

Saijou spread out a paper map to check on the location of Noukotsu Village. She did not use a convenient GPS system because she did not want a third party using it to track their location. This hybrid Hitman Tuxedo was not a rental car or stolen car she was willing to abandon.

“Oh, right,” said Saijou Ai as she looked at the map like a father reading the newspaper at the breakfast table.

Nanjou Kakeru frowned and asked, “What?”

“You said those old men, Houjou-san, and Toujou-san were purged in the automatic adjustments to the optimal size for the organization, right?”

“What about it?”

“In that case, isn’t it a bit odd for Akki Rasetsu to have two leaders left? It seems to me just the Saijou group or just the Nanjou group would be enough.”

“…”

“…”

The sound of something soft being crushed exploded out within the car.

Saijou Ai pulled out a sleeping bag, stuffed a human-sized mass inside, and threw it into the backseat.

She then said, “It’s getting a bit crowded back there, but bear with it, ''Mai-chan.''”

That famous ‘60s car called the Hitman Tuxedo let out its low rumbling one could feel in the gut as it left the rest stop’s large parking lot. The black foreign car smoothly began its journey to the Intellectual Village known as Noukotsu Village.

===Part 4 (Jinnai Shinobu)===

''Noukotsu Village is a bit of an ominous name, isn’t it?<ref>Noukotsu refers to the process of placing someone’s cremated remains into a funerary urn.</ref>

That thought about my hometown came to me thanks to a slightly belated summer greeting postcard. It had come via ridiculously expensive airmail.

''Couldn’t they just send an email?

Oddly enough, the postcard was addressed to the Succubus rather than the Jinnai household. It just outright had “Succubus” written on it. And the sender was…unknown. It just had a weird string of numbers in that field.

At any rate, I made my way up to the attic and asked the micro bikini-wearing demon.

She smiled and replied, “It’s from an old friend. She’s an old demon, so she likes old systems. Of course this is an age where quantum computers could soon be a reality, so I’m amazed she thinks a simple numerical replacement for the letters while be enough to hide her true name. …But I wonder how she figured out I’m here.”

“Hm. So who is she?”

“Tselika Wien Alpha Chely-…wait, stop that! Asking for a demon’s name will not end well for you. This is no fairy tale!”

It seemed the world of demons had its own problems. There was no point in asking further, so I quickly changed the subject.

“So where is this picture from?”

“A place not far from Paris. They have some wonderful catacombs there…”

The Succubus looked spellbound with the idea, but I was not entirely sure what catacombs were.

After reading the text, she handed the postcard back to me in disinterest. I walked down the long hallway and to the western style living room where I found the glamorous Zashiki Warashi lying on the floor watching TV with the Yuki Onna. There was a TV in her room as well, but it was hard to resist the draw of this larger screen.

They seemed to be watching a rerun of a quiz show.

“The topic is Australia’s circular farms. These green plains look quite mysterious in the middle of the vast desert. Now for your question. What percentage of the world’s wheat is grown on them!? You have three possible answers and those of you at home can play along with your terrestrial digital remote controls!!”

I tossed the postcard into a postcard storage box no one used much anymore. As I did, the overall flat Yuki Onna spoke to me expressionlessly.

[[Image:Zashiki_v02_361.jpg|thumb]]

“Listen to this. They’re horrible. They’re all so horrible…”

“What happened?”

“They have been using the remote to take part in the quiz game, but they won’t let me have a turn.”

“Isn’t this a rerun?”

“And that untidy Youkai lying there always says the answer right before the host does…”

“Like I said, it’s a rerun.”

''But what fun is it to watch a quiz show if you know all the answers already?

“The answer is the biggest option: 25%! Surprising, isn’t it? But the people of Australia think it is not enough. There are a some problems such as cyclones and an outbreak of locusts, but with some help from Japanese technology…”

The Zashiki Warashi must have grown tired of teasing the Yuki Onna because she made me her new target.

“Shinobu, I want a popsicle.”

“What?”

“Carry me.”

I had no choice but to take that indoor Youkai to the kitchen by rolling her along the floor like a metal drum tipped on its side. This did some interesting things to the hem and collar of her Yukata, but she did not seem to mind showing off that much skin.

She calmly said, “We just can’t win with numbers alone, can we?”

“Are you talking about Australia? They use large scale farming where the seeds are sown from an airplane. A country like this where you have a hard time finding land where the horizon is visible has no chance of winning. Due to the race for the lowest prices, the beef, rice, and onions in the gyudon you buy will probably all come from Australia.”

However, it was hard to manually manage such vast amounts of farmland, so I had heard they would rent a farming infrastructure with technicians included that used precision equipment made in Japan and Korea. This created a strange situation where the Japanese were importing crops grown by other Japanese in foreign countries.

After complaining that the Zashiki Warashi got a yogurt despite saying she had wanted a popsicle, my overall small granny entered the kitchen.

“Shinobu, Shinobu.”

“What is it, granny?”

“I think there are more trees in the yard than usual.”

“…What?”

“I do not really understand, but it might be a Youkai.”

I was not sure what she meant, so I had her and the Zashiki Warashi wait in the kitchen while I headed for the yard.

I put on a pair of beach sandals and stepped off of the long porch.

“What is this giant tropical looking tree?”

There was indeed an extra tree. It was obviously a different type of plant from those around it and it was growing right in the middle of the small path between the parking spot and the yard, so it could not have been more in the way. Anyone would notice a tree growing here.

This out-of-place feeling and strange sense of caution I felt for an unfamiliar plant likely came from living in an Intellectual Village. Just as stocking a river with black bass could destroy the river’s ecosystem, a living thing that did not fit the village’s colors was a scary thing.

And then some cat-sized creature poked its head out from behind the mysterious tropical tree.

But the creature’s face was oddly stern.

“Good day. I am Shisa.”

“Eh? Shisa!?”

“This Chinese banyan tree is Kijimuna. He is my friend.”

“Wait, wait! Let’s go through this one at a time. Is a Shisa even a Youkai? I thought the term Shisa referred to the statues themselves and not some creature they were modeled after. Y’know, like the Komainu at a Shinto shrine.”

It was also possible this was technically not a Shisa but a Tsukumogami of a Shisa statue, but I had no way of knowing which it was.

However, the Shisa did not seem the type to listen to what people said.

“I am from Okinawa, so I have never seen snow. I heard from some travelling Youkai that I could find a Yuki Onna if I came here. Have her make it snow.”

“Hey! What the hell happened to our household’s privacy!?”

“Here is some awamori as a gift. Give it to your parents. …It is not for children, okay?”

Having said that, the Shisa (?) jumped up onto the porch and entered the house without permission. He was so bold about it that I let it happen without thinking.

After being left behind, I looked up at that tree that was a type of mangrove.

“If you’re a proper Youkai, you won’t mess with the ecosystem of the normal plants around here…will you?”

The branches shook, making a rustling noise, but I did not know if that was a yes or no.

“At any rate, you’re kind of in the way here, so could you head further back in the yard while you wait?”

After more rustling, it began moving. But rather than walking on legs, the movement was more like all of its roots were snakes.

It may have gotten into a turf war with the Furutsubaki in the back of the yard because it began that odd rustling again. (By the way, the Furutsubaki would occasionally transform into a beautiful woman, but it was not the type that killed people. My Youkai-loving mom hand picked it up from somewhere.) But before I could focus on the two Youkai trees, I heard a commotion coming from the thatch-roof house.

In fact, the Yuki Onna ran out barefoot into the yard with Xs for eyes.

“Wh-what is this all of a sudden!? You’re making everything too hot!! I don’t know who you are, but I think we are horribly incompatible!!”

“I am Shisa.”

“I was not asking for your name!”

“I want to make an igloo. Make it snow.”

The Shisa (?) continued to not listen to anything anyone said as the Yuki Onna scurried over to cling to me.

“P-please do something about him!!” she begged me.

''Yeah…

''But…

“Apparently, he’s never seen snow before, so he came here all the way from Okinawa. Can’t you at least make it snow for him?”

“Kh… By any chance do you have a fetish for being NTRed away from people? A-and an animal fetish…?”

It seemed the Yuki Onna had made an incredibly rude misunderstanding, but she was in no state to be corrected while she was being chased around by that symbol of summer. She was running around the yard with the hem of her white kimono trailing along the ground behind her.

''If she really can’t stand being around him, I need to create a way for them to talk this out…

But as soon as I had that thought, my cell phone rang. This was a brand new model because my old one had broken after being soaked in water.

“Eh? What do you need, uncle?”

After a short exchange, I frowned.

“I see. So you’re on your way here?”

===Part 5 (Uchimaku Hayabusa)===

Unfortunately, there was no way I had any paid leave left.

However, the Shikigami sent by Hishigami Mai did not care in the slightest about the problems of a working man.

“Please begin searching for Hishigami Mai right away. If you do not, I will kill you,” said the Deadly Dragon Princess bluntly.

No matter how unreasonable this seemed, I had no chance if it came down to a competition of physical strength. And I could hardly go into work with that Deadly Dragon Princess tagging along 24/7. I was ultimately forced to lie and say my wounds from the Jinmensou case had reopened.

Of course, I didn’t have any paid sick days left either, so this was eating away at my already low pay.

At any rate, I travelled to Noukotsu Village.

As I stepped out onto the platform of the village’s one unmanned train station, I looked up at the midsummer sun and grimaced.

“…So I’ve come back here yet again.”

The first problem facing me was the combination of having a lot of luggage and the station’s lack of a bus stop or taxi loading area. However, I had called Shinobu ahead of time, so the real question was who would be sent to meet me. My older brother was a man who focused 100% on his work, so he would never leave his brewing facility. With any luck, my old man would come pick me up in his car, but…

“Well, there’s not much chance of that happening. I guess I’ll just walk to the house.”

“S-so I will finally get to greet your parents, detective!?”

“What are you doing here, mystery freak?”

The girl-shaped Deadly Dragon Princess was clinging to my back and silently eating some squid snacks, but I had not noticed Enbi until she had spoken to me on the platform. Had she tailed me like a true mystery freak?

She lightly waved her index finger back and forth and said, “For once, my sister is actually in a real pinch. This is actually more my issue than yours, detective.”

“Then do something about this Shikigami. And while you’re at it, how about you stay away from me too?”

But I was not even sure if the village even had an inn. Even if it did, I did not know if Enbi could afford it. That meant keeping her from traveling with me would force her to sleep on the streets. Forcing a teenage girl to do that for my own personal reasons went against everything I believed a police officer should be. And of course, thinking that way was falling right into the mystery freak’s trap.

As I held my head in one hand, I dragged my travel bag along and walked toward the ticket gate.

I was already feeling irritated when I heard the grating high-pitched voice of a female announcer coming from some TV.

“Blueprint of a Hit is on at Thursday at 7:00!! This week we will approach the secrets of Daikawara-san, the producer of the beautiful Onmyouji girls unit Seman Stars! We will reveal the trick to coming up with the group’s novel ideas such as the skillful blend of idols and spiritual mystique as well as the unique fan service of giving individual fortune tellings instead of a simple handshaking event! Don’t miss it!!”

I looked over to find the mystery freak had turned on the 1seg TV function of her cell phone.

“Wow, this is really is the middle of nowhere. There are almost no TV channels. All the commercial broadcasting is covered by a single local station.”

“You can order any show you want to watch over satellite or the internet.”

“What do you think of Seman Stars? Don’t you think Tarot Girls 22 is cuter?”

“There are too many of them, so I can’t keep track. Add in the backups and there are 56 of them, right?”

Sitting around at the empty station forever would do no one any good, so I began walking along the paved road with the Deadly Dragon Princess still clinging to my back. The mystery freak would stick with me whether I said anything or not, but I was having trouble deciding whether that was convenient or presumptuous.

The midsummer sun was so hot that I seriously began to wonder if it was not a mirage I was seeing and the road was really melting. Nevertheless, I continued to walk across the asphalt and toward my family home. The distance and heat must have been too much even for the mystery freak because she said nothing as we walked.

The Deadly Dragon Princess was clinging to my back and forcing her entire weight onto me, so my strength was being worn down quite quickly. It reminded me of poison damage in an RPG.

“Ahhh!! Detective, are there no cafes or family restaurants around here?”

“Give it up. This village only has a sweets shop. If you need a rest, there’s a bus stop with a roof not far up ahead.”

“This is horrible! Is this really part of Japan!?”

“I moved to the city to get away from this, so complain to someone else.”

As soon as we finally arrived at the bus stop, the mystery freak practically flung herself onto the bench but then started writhing around on top of that natural frying pan that had been heated by the sun.

“Hgywaaaaahhhh!?”

“Your problem is that you’re the type of mystery freak whose brain stops working altogether when you don’t have a case to solve. Why couldn’t you at least guess that the angle of the sun can still let it reach the bench despite the roof?”

“U-uuhhh… This is just cruel. ''There’s water so nearby yet I can’t drink it.''”

“Huh? ''What is this doing in an Intellectual Village?''” I muttered as I approached the object.

And that turned out to be a deadly mistake.

===Part 6 (Jinnai Shinobu)===

Despite emphasizing how soon he would be here over the phone, my uncle never arrived. I frowned and called him back a few times, but I couldn’t reach him.

“What is going on?”

Had he run into some kind of trouble?

Noukotsu Village had an extremely slow strain schedule. Counting both directions, only 5 trains came through in a day. One of those should have arrived at the station already. If my uncle had been on that train, he should have arrived in the city by now.

“Hmm… Maybe I should go down to the station to check.”

I had hoped someone would go with me, but the Zashiki Warashi’s policy was to refuse to do anything that would be too much of a bother and the Yuki Onna did not want to head out into the hot sun. As I looked around in search of someone to rope into going with me, the Nekomata turned away from me.

''Is this because of how Youkai naturally hate my uncle so much?

“Oh, that’s right. We’ve got a demon in addition to these Youkai.”

And so I headed up to the attic using the steep and narrow wooden stairs that were practically a ladder.

The house was quite large and the attic was not divided into individual rooms, so it contained a decent amount of space. However, it had a dank and stuffy impression due to not being a proper living space, so it was not a place I liked going to.

But Youkai and demons tended to like places humans found uncomfortable, so it was quite well liked by them.

“The answer is #3: 50 countries!! The worldwide agricultural revolution focused on Australia is known as the International Plantation Project. Vast land is used to grow the specialties of countries the world over, such as Brazilian coffee, French grapes, and German potatoes. The standard is to use circular farms, but some crops use a combination of perfectly enclosed plant factories and megasolar facilities…”

It seemed the Succubus was watching the same quiz show rerun the Yuki Onna had been. I could hear the voice of the announcer who was known as the trivia king.

While standing on that steep ladder-like staircase, I stuck my head into the square attic. For some reason, the Succubus was sitting with her legs spread in an M-shape as if waiting for me. If I had been careless, my face would have run right in the center point of the M.

“What are you doing?”

“Just watching TV. Why do you ask?”

It seemed that sitting like that was as natural to her as sitting in the seiza style or cross-legged. After I explained the situation, she rolled backwards with her legs still spread in an M-shape. The movement somehow reminded me of a dead cicada.

“Demons prefer the darkness and Succubi rule over the night and dreams!! Why would you ever think I would go on a healthy walk under the midsummer sun!?”

Apparently, my uncle’s nature worked long range and was just as effective on Western monsters as Eastern ones.

I ultimately had no choice but to head for the station alone.

As soon as I stepped outside, I was reminded just how unbearable the direct sunlight was. For an instant, I considered taking a page out of those Youkai’s book and turning right back into the house, but I managed to resist.

I borrowed the Zashiki Warashi’s electric stickboard and took off down the farm road that was barely wide enough for two light trucks to pass each other.

“There are no stores on the way, so there’s almost no chance he took a detour.”

I raced alongside rice paddies filled with rice plants swaying in the wind as I took the shortest route to the train station. Someone must have been hunting down some dangerous animal because I heard what sounded like gunshots coming from the mountain. The old man who lived next door would sometimes share some boar meat with us, so I did not find it to be an unpleasant sound.

And then…

“?”

I spotted something sparkling on the side of the road. I ignored it, but I saw something else reflecting the sunlight a bit further on. After spotting three or four similar objects, I started to think it was strange.

''What are those things?

They were objects I had seen on TV.

But…

“A cat-repellent water bottle?”<ref>In Japan, putting out filled plastic water bottles is thought to keep stray cats away.</ref>

I stopped the electric stickboard to check. The label had been removed from the plastic bottle and it was filled with water. I had often seen them placed in front of urban houses on TV.

But they were rarely used in Intellectual Villages.

For one, there was no scientific or zoological evidence they worked. Also, filling a round plastic bottle with water allowed it to function like a lens. When placed under the sun, it could easily start a fire.

Intellectual Villages thoroughly regulated their environment with all sorts of technology, so they had ways of more efficiently and effectively keeping stray cats away.

After all, this was where a bunch of grapes cost 30 thousand yen. When you could almost say that money did grow on trees, you would never protect those trees with mere superstition.

“What is this doing here?”

In my confusion, I approached the cat-repellent water bottle to get a closer look.

And then…

“No, Shinobu!! If you approach that, you’ll be caught in it too!!”

There was nothing he could have done.

By the time I heard my uncle’s voice, I had already been caught in the Package.

===Part 7 (Uchimaku Hayabusa)===

''Shit.

''Shit, shit, shit, shit!!

I had been so focused on being caught in the Package myself and searching for a way to escape this Youkai that I had been unable to stop a new sacrifice from appearing. And this was my nephew Shinobu. What rules did any supposed god use to run this world?

I frantically ran over to Shinobu but felt a dull pain run through my right ankle.

It felt like wooly caterpillars that a mere touch from would cause a rash had broken through the skin and burrowed into my body. It hurt, it itched, it was uncomfortable, and it filled me with revulsion. The negative feelings seemed enough to cover up the pure pain.

It was a string.

It was painfully clear that a spider’s web had burrowed inside me.

“Uncle, what is-…!?”

Shinobu trailed off as his face twisted in pain and he frantically crouched down to hold his right ankle with both hands. He was obviously experiencing the same symptoms as us.

I shouted into the distance.

“Mystery freak, there’s a water bottle over here too! We missed one!! Shinobu has been caught in the Package!!”

Hishigami Enbi and the Shikigami named the Deadly Dragon Princess approached. Those two, Shinobu, and I were the current group caught in the Package. If possible, I did not want anyone else to be added to that group, but…

“What is going on, uncle…?”

“It’s a Jorougumo. Someone has set up a Package using that deadly Youkai,” I replied in a bitter voice.

Once we had understood the details of the Package to a certain extent, we had started by gathering all of the water bottles set up around the village. Everyone who approached them would be caught inside the Package, but the mystery freak and I were already caught. Touching the bottles could not cause any more harm to us. We had hoped to retrieve them all before someone else fell victim to them, but that had not happened.

The mystery freak explained the situation to Shinobu.

“A Jorougumo is generally known as a Youkai that transforms into a beautiful woman during the day and sucks human blood as a giant spider at night. But this one seems to be a slightly different type. This is the Jorougumo said to appear at the Jouren Falls. The cat-repellent water bottles are a trap meant to apply the situation of ‘taking a rest next to the water’ to the target. ''Anyone who spends a certain amount of time near one of the bottles is designated a target.'' The bottles may even have actual water from the Jouren Falls inside.”

Simply passing by was no problem. However, if you stopped, the danger shot way up. We had not actually tested this, but the entire village would have been caught if the target simply had to approach within a certain distance.

“What exactly does this Youkai do?”

“It wraps its spider web around the ankle of any travelers resting near the waterfall and drags them into the waterfall basin to kill them. In the story, a traveler cut the web wrapped around his ankle and tied it around a tree stump to escape.”

Shinobu looked at me.

I shook my head and replied, “We’ve tried it. The web is invisible, but we can grab it. However, nothing happened even when we tried to tie it to the bus stop sign, the bench, or anything else. We even went to the mountain and found a stump, but that didn’t work either. We can remove it temporarily, but it reappears back around our ankle before long.”

Technically, it dug into our ankle in this Package instead of just around it.

“So they’ve altered that portion,” commented Shinobu.

The mystery freak sighed and said, “We don’t know who did this, but it is obvious what they are after. Either everyone caught dies or they must fight each other to the death. The person behind this wants us to make that ultimate choice.”

“What? I don’t know what the time limit for this is, but don’t we just have to find what has been designated the ‘stump’ and reattach the web to that?”

“The problem is what that ‘stump’ is,” I cut in. “The mystery freak wrapped her web around my ankle as a joke, but that was the only time it did not reappear on her. …It was kind of awkward, so she reattached it to her ankle.”

“…Wait. You’re kidding.”

“The bastard that assembled this Jorougumo Package has cruelly set the other participants as the ‘stump’.”

As a police officer, this situation made me click my tongue, but it would have been unfair not to explain it.

“In other words, we have two options. We can wait until our time is up and all die, or we can force our web onto another participant before our time is up. Those are the only two options.”

“I doubt there is a limit to the number of webs someone can have forced on them, so one death would be the best we can hope for,” added the mystery freak.

Naturally, no one wanted to be thrown into a deadly game of musical chairs.

That would decide who the sacrifice would be by a truly primitive method. In other words, all the participants would try to kill each other, forcing all the damage onto the weakest one.

Shinobu looked back down at his ankle and said, “By the way, how exactly will we be killed once our time is up?”

“We don’t know. Since the story is about being dragged into a waterfall basin, drowning or falling from a great height would make the most sense, but the Jorougumo is a bloodsucking Youkai. And since the stump was pulled from the ground and dragged into the basin, being crushed to death may also be possible.”

The only question was what the criminal wanted from this.

A rural area like an Intellectual Village had few main roads, so it would not be hard to catch someone in the Package by setting up the water bottles along those. However, it would be difficult to catch a specific target.

Was this nothing but indiscriminate murder?

Packages were developed by groups of dozens or even hundreds, so it seemed unlikely one would be built around the pleasure of an individual.

“I have a question,” said Hishigami Mai’s Shikigami all of a sudden. “A web has been attached to my ankle as well, but can this Jorougumo kill a Shikigami?”

“I’m not a specialist, so I couldn’t tell you,” replied the mystery freak. “But if this was assembled under the assumption that it would be killing humans, the damage set to drown or crush the victim might not be enough to kill you.”

“I agree. And with that settled…”

“?”

We all focused on the Deadly Dragon Princess.

The Shikigami then said, “''All of you can attach your webs to me. That will allow you to escape this danger. Even if my core structure is destroyed, I can be remade if you manage to rescue Hishigami Mai.”

The last resort.

Once it was suggested, there was no point in rejecting it.

If time ran out with the webs still around all of our ankles, we would all die. The Package was put together to kill every last one of us. Denying that last resort would only increase the number of victims.

For that reason, the Deadly Dragon Princess’s view was not wrong.

It was not wrong.

However…

“We can’t, uncle.” As expected, my nephew Shinobu spoke up. Even if it was being idealistic, I felt he should be proud of still being able to say that here. “There has to be another way! A Package is a much larger system than it appears, so there are a lot of gears that can be removed. If we can find one of those, we won’t have to make this choice like the criminal wants us to!!”

“But we have no way of knowing if we will succeed before time runs out. In fact, we do not even know the full scope of this Package. We have not even narrowed down who the suspects might be. If we begin gathering information now, we will never finish in time.” The mystery freak’s words stabbed at him coolly. “From the state of our ankles, the detective and I only have about 10 minutes left. The time limit meaning our deaths may be after that, but the web digging into our ankles will be too much for us soon. This strange itching is spreading so much it feels like my ankle is suffering necrosis.”

“…”

“Shinobu, don’t worry. The limit will clearly come for us first. If worst comes to worst, you can attach your web to one of us. You at least can survive this.”

“That’s not what I’m trying to say!!”

I knew that he was trying to correct a fundamental mistake.

But we did not have time.

“We of course want to do whatever we can too. But think about what could happen. We are the first wave and you are the second. If you wait around until the entire first wave is gone, you will be the only person left. Once that happens, ''you will have no one to attach your web to.''”

Shinobu gritted his teeth and looked over at the Deadly Dragon Princess.

That monster looked like a slender girl.

“I will be fine,” she said to Shinobu expressionlessly. “No Youkai is used in my construction. I am a Shikigami designed from the ground up with organic material. If my physical body is destroyed, it can simply be exchanged for anoth-''ghh.''”

She misspoke at the end after biting her tongue.

Or so it seemed.

A slender and lithe arm pierced through the Deadly Dragon Princess’s back and out of the center of her chest.

''What?

''Who did that?

''When did they approach?

I belatedly realized that asking those obvious questions was getting my priorities out of order.

If what the Deadly Dragon Princess had said was accurate, she was a Shikigami, an artificial Youkai, created by Hishigami Mai.

Normal methods would never be enough to kill her, so how had a human killed her barehanded?

“According to my sister,” Hishigami Enbi’s lips trembled as she spoke, “the Deadly Dragon Princess is a model case for a potential enemy. She assumed she would be able to stand up to most any Youkai if she redesigned her own body so she could defeat it with a single punch.”

That means…

The most likely candidate for who had destroyed the Shikigami in a single strike was…

“Hishigami Mai!?” shouted all three of us almost in unison.

The attacker pulled her slender arm out from the Deadly Dragon Princess’s back and casually tossed the wreckage to the side. The Deadly Dragon Princess had said she would be fine if she was destroyed, but I had no way of knowing how true that was.

And I could not even focus on her battered form.

Every nerve in my body refused to let me look away from the attacker.

The attacker was indeed Hishigami Mai. I recognized the bloody arm and the hair that had been damaged by direct sunlight. However, I had never seen that look on her face. And half of her body was covered.

Covered in what, you ask?

Covered in Japanese paper used for calligraphy. Or perhaps you would call them magic charms. At any rate, about half of her body was covered with Japanese paper with strange writing on it. We had not exchanged a single word, but it was obvious that Mai was not her usual self. It was possible she could not even hear us. She looked like spell words congealed into a human form.

The Jorougumo Package had been unbeatable enough already.

And now the trump card we could use as a last resort had been destroyed.

Plus the enemy that now faced us was the worst possible enemy I could think of.

“We can’t win,” I calmly analyzed. Neither Shinobu nor the mystery freak attempted to argue. “Don’t try to fight her!! Our top priority is finding a way to escape this Jorougumo Package!!”

To make sure we were not all killed at once, we ran off in three different directions.

Hishigami Mai would likely pursue one of us.

This was like a game of musical chairs.

If we wanted to survive, we had to choose at least one person to die.

A much more direct, obvious, and horrible choice than the Jorougumo Package had presented itself.

===Part 8 (Jinnai Shinobu)===

In the end, I was cornered before I had been able to resolve anything.

This was Hishigami Mai.

She was the worst possible person I could think of to have as an enemy. I had run toward the mountain to get away from her.

But that may have been a mistake.

Then again, there may not have been a correct answer when it came to confronting that monster of a woman.

“Shinobu!!”

My uncle called from somewhere.

He must have run after me because he was worried about me. Or so I thought at first. Doubt came soon after.

The final trump card that had existed ever since my uncle and that twintailed girl were caught in the Package was now gone. That Youkai(?) known as the Deadly Dragon Princess could no longer be given all of our webs. To escape the Package before the time limit, my uncle, the twintailed girl, and I had to force our Jorougumo web onto one of the others.

It was possible he had changed his plan.

My uncle and the twintailed girl had fallen into the Jorougumo Package before I had. That of course meant they had less time than me. They might want to force their webs onto me “for the moment” since I had more time.

If we then found a new way out of the Package, that was fine.

But what if we did not find one?

Once all the webs had been temporarily forced onto me, the only option would be my death.

“…”

I did not respond to my uncle’s cry. I couldn’t!

I could not decide whether I should hold my breath and stay where I was or run off at full speed despite the noise it would make. When it came down to pure violence, a normal high school student like me did not stand a chance against a professional police detective like my uncle. And he might also have a handgun.

If he shot me in the leg, my options would drop considerably.

''I can’t risk agreeing to my uncle’s compromise.

But just as I thought that….

“''Shinobu!! Don’t go that way! She’s coming!!''”

“Eh…?”

I had grown so lost in my suspicions that it took me too long to realize what my uncle meant. And my enemy did not overlook that mistake.

A sound exploded out from my body as if something solid had been knocked out of place.

I could not turn my head around to check behind me, much less continue standing. The best I could manage was twisting my waist around as I collapsed to the grassy-smelling dirt.

Only once I was lying on my back did I catch a glimpse of who had attacked me.

It was that monster of a woman who had half her body covered in Japanese paper or magic charms.

Somehow, she did not seem all there. It looked like she was sleepwalking.

“…Hishigami…Mai…?”

She gave no response.

She crouched down as if to peer at my face and her hands reached out for my neck. I tried to twist my body around to escape, but I could no longer move properly.

She showed no mercy.

She brought her hands in as if to strangle a chicken.

And then my heart truly did stop beating.

===Part 9 (???)===

Something out of place was mixed into the gentle atmosphere of Noukotsu Village. Saijou Ai hummed as she looked at her cell phone and leaned against the side of her black luxury car known as a Hitman Tuxedo.

The text on the screen was short, but absolute and accurate.

“Jinnai Shinobu: Confirmed dead.”

“Uchimaku Hayabusa: Confirmed dead.”

“Hishigami Enbi: Confirmed dead.”

The possibility was incredibly low, but it was possible Hishigami Mai could have left Saijou’s control and was now sending false information. However, that may have been worrying too much. And Saijou Ai held the core of the Jorougumo Package.

She wore a glove that appeared to be made of a thin silk.

Technically, it was spider silk woven into the form of a glove using the same techniques used for making violin strings.

It had originally been made along with the Jorougumo Package for a perverted nouveau riche old man who wanted to play the gamemaster in a killing game. The spider web glove that stuck to the palm reacted to the emotional disturbance of the game participants and reproduced them as virtual feelings. Basically, it let the wearer “feel” the death agonies of the players.

The perverted old man had absolutely loved the idea of holding people’s invisible souls in his hand, but he had ended up taking part in the game as a player after he failed to pay the ''fairly expensive'' rental price.

At any rate, the glove could be used to check on the progress of the Package by seeing who was dead and who was still alive. The Jorougumo would continue hunting its target until that target was dead.

All feeling had left the glove.

It was receiving no response from any of the players.

The arrival of the three emails had matched perfectly with the disappearance of the feeling.

This confirmed that Hishigami Mai was still under Saijou Ai’s control and she had quickly killed every player, including her own sister.

But…

“Really, it could have been anyone,” muttered Saijou Ai casually.

She had merely needed to cause a commotion within Noukotsu Village. That had been the point of the Jorougumo Package that forced people to kill each other, and that had been the point of Hishigami Mai.

She had actually wanted to get more people involved and use the Jorougumo Package to ''alter the atmosphere of the entire village'', but this was enough. A diversion was meant to be abandoned anyway. As long as the true objective was achieved in the meantime, everything would work out in the end.

Her specialty was not sneaking deep into enemy ranks like a ninja from the Sengoku period. She instead created a flashy commotion and moved along in its shadow. Houjou and Toujou had often said she was like a stun grenade, but they were dead now.

“…”

Someone approached slowly as if sleepwalking.

Hishigami Mai looked to be in a horrible state with half of her body covered in magical charms that looked like Japanese paper. Technically, they were not charms but Youkai represented in textual form. Saijou Ai was well known among certain enthusiasts as a calligrapher who created nothing but ominous works.

Her methods were similar to Houjou’s as he sealed power within Youkai art. It was said that kanji had been originally created by simplifying pictures, so this was not too surprising.

She had created hundreds of Youkai curses which were now robbing Hishigami Mai of control of her body.

The blood splattered on Hishigami Mai’s body symbolized how far she had fallen.

That was the blood of those who had once been her companions or family.

This further confirmed what the emails and the Jorougumo glove had said.

She had shown no mercy.

She had slaughtered all of them and returned to Saijou Ai.

Saijou’s commands were absolute.

No matter how much of an expert Hishigami Mai was, she could not escape this curse.

Saijou waved at her.

“Are you done?”

“…Are you?”

“I swiped them while you were having your fun, Mai-chan.”

Something banged on the inside of the Hitman Tuxedo’s trunk. Two Youkai that had been living in Noukotsu Village were contained inside.

“An Umbrella Obake and a Lantern Obake. …I doubt many people in Japan know just how important these Youkai are, but ''Youkai that have no set purpose are quite rare and are quite valuable.''”

There was a Youkai known as Nurarihyon.

This Youkai was known as the leader of every Youkai in Japan. However, that characteristic had mostly been created by humans.

It had originally been a type of ocean Youkai, but no one had known what it did.

And it could be freely remade into almost anything because its role was not decided.

In other words…

Depending on the situation, the Umbrella Obake and Lantern Obake could be remade in the same way.

They could be remade into a controller that could command any Youkai in Japan.

“And on top of that, the Umbrella Obake and Lantern Obake are Tsukumogami. They are the type of Youkai that gain power the longer they are kept as possessions. That means I can make them change in convenient ways if I arrange their surrounding environment correctly. You could view it like a storehouse for wine or cheese.”

The Hitman Tuxedo’s trunk had already been remodeled for that purpose. The Umbrella Obake and Lantern Obake stored within would likely become Youkai controllers in about half a year.

Once a single trivial problem was dealt with, that is.

“Mai-chan, may I ask one last task of you?”

“Ask me anything.”

“A child named Yonesaki Hiro lives in this Intellectual Village. Kill him. The Umbrella Obake and Lantern Obake only have value as neutral Youkai that hold no purpose, but it seems they have taken on the role of protecting their family. The purity of the final product should rise if that is completely destroyed before the assembly begins.”

“Understood,” she easily and readily replied.

Her killing techniques were valuable enough for Hyakki Yakou to frequently hire her. If she obeyed this command and used those techniques to their fullest, it was obvious what would become of Yonesaki Hiro.

Once Yonesaki Hiro was killed by Hishigami Mai and they escaped from Noukotsu Village with the Umbrella Obake and Lantern Obake, Saijou’s objective would be complete.

The ultimate objective of Akki Rasetsu – which was now only Saijou Ai – was to perfectly fuse a human and a Youkai. She wished to obtain a physical body that was not bound by a lifespan and could ignore the laws and systems of the human world. However, she needed to create a controller to safely and surely gather plenty of sample Youkai. It was the bare minimum to ensure she was not killed by her own prey.

“I will be going then.”

“Finish this quickly.”

“Of course.”

Saijou Ai did not make a habit of seeing puppets off.

She turned away from the pathetic loser and began thinking about her upcoming path to success.

And then…

Hishigami Mai’s slender arm mercilessly stabbed into Saijou Ai’s side.

===Part 10 (Hishigami Mai)===

“…Hh…Gh…?”

I heard an odd voice.

What was it she found so confusing? The fact that a giant hole had just been opened in her side or the fact that the slender arm of a lady could do that?

Or was it that I, Hishigami Mai, was not under her control?

“B-bghh!? Cough cough!! Wh-why!? Ngh…bheh!?”

''Disgusting.

''You don’t even hear noises like that when cleaning bath pipes.

“Saijou-chan, was it? Y’see, I thought there was something beyond Houjou in Kyoto. I figured I would hear plenty of information if I purposefully let myself be taken into the enemy ranks. I’m disappointed at how little depth I found. A controller for all Youkai? Transplanting an Umbrella Obake and Lantern Obake into the Nurarihyon method? That’s much too shallow. If this is all that’s left of Akki Rasetsu, I feel sorry for the old leaders you went to the trouble of purging.”

I had of course made sure to tie up the loose ends before enacting this plan. I had sent the Sunekosuri to tell the Illness Magic User to help the Amemura family ''move to a new home''.

“Hh…bh?”

“I had expected you to easily believe I had been defeated as long as I released my precious Deadly Dragon Princess to help out…but to be honest, this was too easy. If you’re going to control my body, at least test it out with some sexual harassment.”

''C’mon, I’m going to the effort of explaining it to you.

''Don’t pass out yet. You have to hear me out.

“B-bfhh!! Cough cough!! Gygybh!! Hhy? Why? Y-you were…byhbh!? My Kosode no Te…were perfect…!!”

“Yes, yes. The Kosode no Te. That’s a kimono Youkai that curses the wearer, right? Even if curses are difficult to avoid or defend against, it is relatively easy to deflect them into a different direction. Surely you know that the foundation of curse countermeasures is to deflect them back at the user, right? I was so covered in this Japanese paper that I was able to send the curses at each other, causing them to cancel out each other’s effects.”

“Jhbbh!?”

“So of course, I was never obeying your orders from the beginning. Yes, I stopped Jinnai Shinobu-kun’s heart. The same with the detective and my sister. …But I resuscitated them after exactly 20 seconds. The Jorougumo Package excludes anyone who dies. ''And it does not track what happens to people who have been excluded.''”

''Thank you for falling for this so wonderfully.

''But you can never survive in this world if that is all you have.

“If you really want to kill me, you either have to place the routes of the curses so I cannot calculate them or send in an overwhelming amount of curses like the Illness Magic User does. Get it now?”

“Bshbh!? Grgrh!! Gbhghchghrhbhjfbhfhjbhchbhrhfjdhcyehfhgyfjchhdfy!!!???”

“Those were some horrible curses and they have been running nonstop this whole time. The excess power has been building up like a bowstring being drawn. Let’s just say it won’t even leave behind a corpse.”

I began removing the cheap magic charms attached to my body while paying no heed to Saijou-chan who had been ''sucked up'' down to the last drop of blood.

''Wait, this is bad. If I take these off, I’ll be naked. Um…Let’s see. Oh. There’s a blanket in the backseat of this ugly car. A gun too.

''Now then…

''It’s Hishigami Mai-san’s turn now.

My job would have been so much easier if defeating a smalltime villain like her was enough to bring an end to this incident.

===Part 11 (Hishigami Mai)===

I retrieved the Deadly Dragon Princess Shikigami I had released as decoy information needed to convince the enemy I had really lost. I then returned her to her “original world”.

''Hmm, I did a nice job of destroying her. I need to make sure to fix her later.

From what I had caught a glimpse of while pretending to be controlled, it seemed that Shikigami had taken a liking to that detective. I had commanded her to stick with him, but she had gone farther than that. It was possible he had lured her in with her favorite food.

I had already resuscitated the detective, my sister, and Jinnai Shinobu-kun, so their lives were not in danger.

They arrived wanting an explanation, but I still had other things to do. I opened the trunk to Saijou-chan’s ugly foreign car.

Inside I found…

''Ohh, what’s this!? They’re so cute!!

“Bwahh!! Wh-what is going on!? Why would you suddenly lock us in here!?”

“It is too hot in here! Especially with this Umbrella in here too!! …Wait. Who are you? Wh-why are your eyes glittering as you stare at us!?”

The Umbrella and Lantern who each had a single comical eye were shouting about something or other.

''Oh, how wonderful.

''It’s the same as with that Sunekosuri. It scares me how I lose all self control when I see these cute harmless Youkai.

As I watched the Umbrella and Lantern hurry back to their home, I said, “Now then. Time for the real problem.”

“What? I thought you defeated the person behind this. Did they get away???”

People sometimes made that mistake when I did not even leave a corpse behind.

But that was not the issue here.

“I pretended to have my body controlled to enter the organization named Akki Rasetsu. From what I saw and heard, it seems they were being supported by someone.”

“You mean like a patron?” asked my sister.

“No, nothing so well-defined. More like someone who was observing Saijou from afar and secretly eliminated any dangerous elements that might have gotten in Akki Rasetsu’s way. Akki Rasetsu probably had no idea this was happening.”

I doubted a group too dimwitted to notice the threat I posed could have detected “them”.

The detective frowned and said, “What does this ‘someone’ want to do?”

“I don’t know, but they definitely thought Akki Rasetsu’s project would benefit them. They snuck in this far for some clear objective, so they are not going to remain silent now. To be blunt, they will likely attack this Intellectual Village in place of Akki Rasetsu.” I glanced around the area. “Northeast, west, and south-southwest. Somewhere between 700 and 1000 meters away. I sense a few people watching us.”

“What?”

Jinnai Shinobu narrowed his eyes and stared into the distance to answer his question, but that careless action only made me sigh.

“It’s no use trying to see them from here. If you turn such obvious focus in their direction, they will hide. And if you do spot them, they might blow a hole right through the center of your body with a sniper rifle, so be careful.”

“…”

“Do you have any guesses as to who they are?” asked my sister.

“They seem like soldiers to me. From the way the unit is deployed and the way they hide themselves, I would guess SAS. I could narrow it down further if I could intercept their transmissions.”

Jinnai Shinobu looked confused.

“What’s SAS? Some kind of space defense force?”

“They are a British unit. However, they are seen as the standard for special forces, so plenty of other countries emulate them. They even have official lectures for the troops of countries allied with England, so this alone is not enough to know what organization is behind this.”

Of course, this was connected to the occult, so it was unlikely that this SAS-style special forces unit would be our only enemy. My guess was this enemy was on the level of an entire nation and so they could freely use special forces to support their project.

The detective sighed and said, “What are they doing here? If we figure out who they are and learn what they are after, could we use that to fight them off?”

“That is what I’m about to try.”

With that offhanded comment, I pulled out a device that looked like a cross between a cell phone and a radio.

It was my usual satellite phone.

My little sister frowned and said, “Who are you going to contact with that?”

“Hyakki Yakou, of course. They have the most information of this sort.”

===Part 12 (???)===

Hafuri, the girl of about ten who was the current head of Hyakki Yakou, sighed when she answered the phone. The tearoom in the flying wing cruising at an altitude of 9000 meters was still enough for that slight movement of air to be seen as a definite flow in the room’s atmosphere.

“I had thought it was odd for it to be suggested to destroy the living environment of Noukotsu Village by disseminating hydrogen sulfide and making it look like a volcanic eruption. It seemed too forceful to simply put an end to Akki Rasetsu’s project to take control of any Youkai in Japan. I did not like the idea of slaughtering those innocent villagers when it is our role to protect them.”

“Hmm.”

“That means a few of the 100 officers that took part in the meeting may have realized who is hidden behind this incident.”

“Do you have any guesses who that might be? It should be someone who can freely use SAS-style special forces.”

“''A witch most likely,''” replied Hafuri.

“That’s what I thought. That is the most likely option for a foreign force. The real question is ''what type of witch is it?''”

“Not a European or American one. They would have no reason to attack Japan. They confiscated most of our documents when we lost the war long ago. With all that detailed information, they would have no reason to sneak in and try to steal any data now.”

“So it’s a witch from somewhere else?”

“Witches have scattered all over the world, but we can narrow it down quite a bit since she is using SAS-style special forces. …And there just so happens to be one major country not in Europe or America with special forces based on the SAS.”

“''I see.''”

Hafuri scratched her chin with the same small hand holding the phone receiver. The main problem was that some of the 100 officers knew about this. And that they had brought forward that ridiculous plan to destroy the Intellectual Village in response.

“The 100 officers may have chosen a rather forceful method of eliminating this person behind Akki Rasetsu,” she said.

“No, we need to assume the worst goes much deeper than that.”

“What do you mean?

“Hyakki Yakou’s meetings with the 100 officers are not contained to the flying wing, right? They use the internet and speak without showing their face. That prevents others from influencing their opinion, right?”

“Yes.”

“Then ''it is possible some of the real officers have already been killed and replaced with someone else entirely.'' Perhaps they are the ones behind Akki Rasetsu and they are having Hyakki Yakou take action to ensure their plan progresses smoothly. You lost a lot of the commanders in the confusion of that coup d’etat recently and had to replace them, so it wouldn’t have been that hard to take advantage of the situation.”

“True.” Hafuri gave a slight nod. “We have special software that can remove their anonymous state. The 100 officers do not know about it. We will use it to investigate this.”

“This is a group that uses decoys on top of decoys to hide their identity, so that alone may not be enough.”

“Then what do you say we should do?”

“Lay a much flashier trap. I’ll help you with that.”

“What should we do first?”

“For now, ''approve the plan to destroy Noukotsu Village.'' I’ll fill you in on the rest after you do.”

===Part 13 (Jinnai Shinobu)===

We left the foreign car used by the person from an underground group called Akki Rasetsu and walked back to my thatch-roof house. It seemed the Hishigami sisters intended to use it as their home base for the moment. Mai was only wearing a blanket for some reason, so she borrowed a yukata. The way she wore it still did not leave much to the imagination, though.

Just as I was hoping everything was settled, Hishigami Mai told us something unbelievable.

“What!? You had her give the go ahead for a project to slaughter everyone in the village!?”

“Don’t get so upset. This is a trap. We can’t fight back until we uncover the enemy. We must be defeated if we want to eliminate every enemy from this Intellectual Village, right? You just have to turn a blind eye to the slight risks involved.”

“So who is this enemy?”

“A witch strongly influenced by western methods. ''Probably an Australian one.''”

“Why would someone like that do this? Is she trying to steal brand name fruit seeds from the Intellectual Village?”

“What they want is something more occult,” replied Hishigami Mai offhandedly.

She then grabbed the remote control for the television at one end of the Japanese-style living room and turned it on. She changed the channel to an afternoon talk show.

“Australia’s circular farms are having a large effect on the grains market, but recent cyclones and an outbreak of locusts has caused serious damage to their wheat crop. This has caused unrest to spread through the futures market and…”

“Come to think of it, they were talking about this on the quiz show rerun the Yuki Onna was watching. What about it?” I asked.

“Natural disasters and outbreaks of pests are stereotypical forms for divine punishment. Even Japan’s ancient documents record several such incidents. With these incidents causing great damage in Australia, it is not too surprising that some have decided to put together a countermeasure.”

“What does that have to do with Japan?”

“Australia is part of the new world just like America. But that is technically just what the Europeans decided to call it after they destroyed the cultures that already existed there. This of course angered the native god of the slighted land. This situation could easily lead to natural disasters, but the Australian government that ignored the older culture for so long has no idea how to pacify this god. After all, they have no scriptures to act as a manual.” Hishigami Mai spun the TV remote around in her hand. “Akki Rasetsu, the organization I was dealing with, was looking for a method to control Youkai and gods. This Australian witch may have thought she could use that, but I think that was just a digression. ''Her true goal lies elsewhere.''”

“…?”

“It’s simple. Witches worship demons to borrow their power. …So what exactly are demons? There are two types: the pure species of demons and the altered forms of gods from other religions that have been registered as ‘evil gods’ by the world’s largest religion which uses the cross as its symbol. Witch rituals come from those old religions as well. In that case…”

Nothing she was saying really clicked in my mind.

The expression on my face must have made that clear.

Hishigami Mai winked and gave me a further hint.

“They are especially skilled at twisting polytheistic religions. And what structure is created by the gods of this country?”

“You don’t mean…”

“It’s a stereotypical situation. A witch that wishes to use a god for her own purposes would find Shinto or Buddhism to be almost irresistible. That said, the process of turning a god into a usable demon does weaken the god a fair bit.”

“So this witch’s group wants to reconstruct a god of this country into the form known as a ‘demon’? So this is just like a Package where people build a Youkai into a system that makes use of one of that Youkai’s properties?”

“Exactly. That is why they want to slaughter everyone in the Intellectual Village by disseminating hydrogen sulfide disguised as volcanic gases. The most common reason for the downfall of gods the world over ''is the destruction of the land they rule over.'' By devastating an area of land within Japan, the witch’s group can affect the god in that area.”

“…But is it really that easy?”

“Old gods will naturally change into fairies and Youkai with the passage of the era. And that is especially true for polytheistic gods. That is why gods are enshrined in large temples and shrines to ensure they do not change form. But regardless of how difficult the method is, these are still gods we are talking about. They are the largest pillars supporting their cultures. If they fall, it could even cause damage to diplomatic relations.” Hishigami Mai shrugged. “Once a god has been turned into a demon, it can be used to suppress the old god wreaking havoc in Australia out of anger. …That will simply cause even more friction with the ancient culture, but the government only wants to protect the current system of society from further economic damage. They feel this is worth the risk. If they did not feel the situation was that dire, I doubt they would have ever contacted this witch in the first place.”

“That explains the government’s reasons. What about the witch?”

“The witch has something else to gain from this. ''And we can use that as a trap.''”

===Part 14 (Hishigami Mai)===

This village would soon become a battlefield.

However, the flow of time in the thatch-roof house felt so slow you would never have guessed it. A Zashiki Warashi with excessively large breasts was flying a small toy modeled after an autogyro around the room to chase after a Yuki Onna who was running all over the place to avoid it. A Keseran Pasaran that looked like a white furball was floating around near the ceiling. It was curiously trying to approach the autogyro, but it could not keep up with the toy’s speed.

The scene made it seem ridiculous to bring up the terms “Hyakki Yakou” or “agent”.

What I saw before me was likely something I could never obtain as long as I immediately chose brute force as a means of resolving Youkai-related problems.

But then I spotted a familiar face among the Youkai.

The Youkai seemed to notice me as well and walked over. It was a white Nekomata that was overflowing with elegance.

“What are you doing here?” she asked.

“I’d rather know why ''you'' are here. Is this the territory of a former ace of Inga Ouhou?”

Inga Ouhou had been a revenge group with three Itako leading it. They would give form to the residual thoughts of the dead to hear their voices and punish their murderers. I believe the organization came about due to displeasure with the current laws that disallowed Youkai testimony or evidence obtained via paranormal means from use in court. …But then the three Itako had started accepting money to freely alter what the dead told them. At that point, they became nothing more than an assassin group.

The Nekomata’s master had been killed due to that cheating despite being a top member of Inga Ouhou. When I had been sent in to resolve some issues Hyakki Yakou was having with them, the two of us had destroyed the entire organization in just over two weeks.

I was left with one primary question.

“You have enough power to destroy an entire organization, so are you not going to use that power to help Jinnai Shinobu-kun?”

“I try not to rely on my power too much. My direct power is no more than that of a Doberman. I merely have the added bonus of being able to ''transform into the person I bite to death.''”

That was why she did not fight her enemies head on. Instead, she would sneak into a group of enemies and slowly cause more and more victims. Her strategy was perfect for destroying a large organization from within by spreading doubt and suspicion. I quite liked her means of fighting.

“But the strength of a Doberman seems reliable enough for a normal high school student who can only arm himself with a bat or box cutter. Plus, blades and handguns are not enough to kill you.”

“There was a recent commotion in which a small lost boy fell into a flood control reservoir. He is the kind of idiot who jumped right into the water to search for that boy, but he still had no intention of involving the Yuki Onna or myself.”

“…”

“But it does not seem he has some admirable goal in it such as preventing any danger from approaching his ‘family’. He has no problem running to the Zashiki Warashi for help. …Basically, it is an issue of degree. If he asked a deadly Youkai like the Yuki Onna or me for help, things would get a bit ''messy''. And once things get ''messy'', there is no guarantee it can be neatly cleaned up.” Despite looking like a cat, the Nekomata formed an obvious smile as she spoke. “His reasons are nothing more than the irrational stubbornness of a child, but that does not mean it is always okay to make such a ''mess'' by sending in something like me. That is the way I see it. And so I will remain the cute pet that soothes the family. I will fool no one and I will kill no one. Understand?”

Having said that, the Nekomata walked off somewhere else. On her way, she chased after the light of a pen-shaped laser pointer Jinnai Shinobu was holding. She gave several cat punches to an empty wall.

''Chehh…

I meaninglessly felt as if I had lost. I thought I had met a fellow killer for the first time in a while, but now I felt like I had spotted an old classmate pushing a stroller with her husband.

I grabbed a broom leaning against the wall, walked out into the hallway, and banged the handle against the ceiling partially to release my anger.

“Hey!! I know the Succubus from the European Security Force is up there!! If you want to live, start cooperating!!”

I then heard a lot of banging that was clearly not coming from the broom. It almost seemed like the attic was shaking.

''You idiot. Did you really think Hyakki Yakou didn’t know you were here? The young lady has only been overlooking you out of respect for Jinnai Shinobu who did so much to quell Hyakki Yakou’s internal strife at that hotel in Fuuka Village.

The best thing to use against a western witch was a western demon.

With the final piece gathered, it was finally time to set the trap and settle this.

===Part 15 (Jinnai Shinobu)===

The final battle began smoothly.

It began with a comment by the glamorous Zashiki Warashi who was walking around using my smartphone as a music player as usual.

“Shinobu, you just got an email about an active volcano warning. Do you know what that means?”

“…That’s it!! That’s the camouflage warning on the notification network!!”

Even if it was only a decoy warning to make the hydrogen sulfide look like volcanic gases, it was a complete joke. They had obviously timed it so no one would make it out in time even with a car. And if we did move faster than expected, the SAS-style special forces would obviously do something to handle it.

Hishigami Mai brought her large satellite phone to her ear.

“This is going just as expected. Young lady, you’re flying right over us, right? ''Jump down at the last second before the hydrogen sulfide is disseminated!!''”

I walked out to the thatch-roof house’s porch, put on my beach sandals, and walked out into the large yard. I looked up into the blue sky and spotted a large V-shaped passenger plane called a flying wing. Several smaller planes were flying around it to protect it.

Something was dropped from the flying wing.

At first I thought it was a bomb, but it was not. It was a girl wearing a kimono and a parachute.

Hishigami Mai had run outside with me and she now shouted into the satellite phone.

“Okay, good! Any member of Hyakki Yakou that puts the bloodline first will work to protect your life no matter what. In other words, they will do whatever they can to stop the hydrogen sulfide plan so you will not be killed. But the members of the Australian witch’s group mixed into the 100 officers will not care about that. ''The ones who insist on continuing with the plan are our enemies.'' Have all of them restrained!!”

I heard a low rumbling noise.

It did not belong to a gasoline engine. It was the engine sound effect added to electric cars as a safety measure.

It came from my grandfather’s light truck, but my uncle was the one sitting in the driver’s seat.

“Hey! The truck’s ready!!”

“Understood. Everyone get in!! The witch’s group will have noticed the young lady floating down. She is the leader of Japan’s largest Youkai organization. Plus, she has plenty of information from ancient books. I don’t know where the witch’s group is hiding in the village, but they will jump at the chance to take her hostage. They will definitely want some of Hyakki Yakou’s documents as supplementary material for their project to control a god!!”

I was worried, so I spoke up without thinking.

“Hey!! What exactly is a witch!?”

“Instead of using a Package that builds a Youkai’s power into a system, they bring a portion of a demon’s power into themselves. While a Youkai might be able to handle one, a witch’s powers are incredibly effective against humans. And as much of an oddity as I may be, I have not left the category of a ‘human’. ''In a direct fight, we would probably be fairly evenly matched.''”

As I said before, my uncle was sitting in the light truck’s driver’s seat. The twintailed girl was in the passenger seat. Those were the only two seats, so Hishigami Mai and I climbed into the back of the truck.

“Okay, let’s end this. Let’s crush the witch’s group that will have gotten greedy and gathered at the young lady’s landing spot!!”

===Part 16===

===Part 17===

===Part 18===

===Part 19===

===Part 20===

===Notes===
<references/>
<noinclude>
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| Back to [[The_Zashiki_Warashi_of_Intellectual_Village:Volume2_Chapter_3|Chapter 3]]
| Return to [[The_Zashiki_Warashi_of_Intellectual_Village|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[The_Zashiki_Warashi_of_Intellectual_Village:Volume2_Afterword|Afterword]]
|-
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</noinclude>

A Simple Survey:Volume2 Reaper04

2013-04-26T16:57:01Z

89.77.202.20: /* Part 2 */

==Reaper Game 04: Natural Enemy==

===Part 1===

“Kozue!!”

The people who ran in shouting that name were likely the other members of Player 2. They were three college-aged men and women. They circled around where Kozue was collapsed on the floor and then glared at Higashikawa and the others with intense hostility.

But one woman of Player 2 had beaten down Hiyama.

Hiyama entered the bar outside the Hell Hospital while propped up by Rachel’s shoulder. When Player 2 saw the trail of red blood flowing from Hiyama’s temple, they held back the comments they were about to let fly.

“…”

“…”

The two groups glared at each other.

As far as direct damage went, Player 1 and Player 2 had both had a single woman injured. The amount of damage was identical, so it seemed neither side could blame the other.

However…

(No. That isn’t how it works.)

Higashikawa could feel a strained atmosphere filling the bar.

Anger, hatred, and resentment could not be cancelled out like that. Regardless of the level of actual damage, it would continue flowing out until the person was satisfied. Even a soldier who had mowed down countless guerrillas or terrorists would be overwhelmed with hatred if one of his comrades in arms was killed.

One could only hold back one’s emotions with reason when in a situation where acting out of pure emotion would most definitely lead to a worse situation.

In most cases, the police, military, or prisons played the role that held people back. But none of those things were present here, so the brakes that controlled their overflowing emotions were not functioning properly.

If they threw insults at each other and grabbed their weapons, the situation could quickly become bloody for everyone involved.

(The ones who hold the key to a bloodless resolution are…)

Higashikawa glanced over at Hiyama.

And then at Kozue whose breathing was very shallow.

The resentment and hatred held by both Player 1 and Player 2 was based in those two injured women.

If those two direct victims could tell everyone they did not want an attack on their behalf, the other members would lose their justification for letting their emotions explode out.

Of course, logic did not always apply when it came to human emotion.

However, if someone attacked without that justification, the entire situation would be different. Instead of a confrontation between Player 1 and Player 2, it would be a confrontation between that one person and the nine other members of Player 1 and Player 2.

A fight with makeshift weapons between two groups of five would be a disaster.

But what about nine against one?

With that overwhelming difference, they might be able to restrain the one person without injuring them too badly.

If everyone retained their right to speak, a natural structure would form that could act in place of the police and restrain anyone who grew violent.

Ideally, they could do that without creating a dictator, but…

“…”

“…”

Whether Hiyama and Kozue realized their importance or not, they averted their gaze when Higashikawa looked toward them.

It was no good.

Higashikawa then heard a slight noise. It was the sound of Kazakami taking a slight step forward. As Player 2 was made up of four women and one man, the college-aged man was naturally the one who responded by stepping slightly forward himself. If the information on the corkboard was accurate, his name was Anzai Kyousuke.

The situation was going to explode.

The atmosphere reminded Higashikawa of a balloon filled with too much air.

(Hiyama and Kusaka Kozue are not going to do anything. But the idea of changing this from 5 against 5 to 9 against 1 wasn’t a bad one. Is there any way I can do it? Is there any way to lead them to that same result without using the two direct victims!?)

Higashikawa had disassembled a floor lamp to create the hole out of the Hell Hospital. In other words, he held a weapon.

He tightened his grip on it and took a deep breath.

And he spoke.

“Listen. I don’t want to die here.”

As expected, Kazakami and Anzai both turned hostile eyes in Higashikawa’s direction.

“What’s your point?”

“You’re thinking the same thing, aren’t you? If either Player 1 or Player 2 puts their hands up in surrender, we can achieve safety.”

Higashikawa grinned when he heard Anzai say that.

This would work.

He was willing to talk. Since Anzai had not yelled or attacked without listening at all, the situation was better than it might have been.

“Yes.”

Trying to be idealistic would help nothing here.

Saying something that would reach none of them would simply confuse the situation.

And so…

Higashikawa Mamoru pointed his handmade weapon straight forward.

“I was thinking the same thing. Which is why I’m doing this.”

He pointed his weapon at Kazakami who was still on the verge of attacking Player 2.

He pointed his weapon at a member of Player 1 who should have been his comrade.

Everyone in the bar froze.

Kazakami was the one with the weapon pointed at him, but everyone including Matsumi, Rachel, and the five of Player 2 all gasped.

Before anyone could do anything else, Higashikawa continued to speak.

If he did not take the initiative here, bloodshed would be unavoidable.

“Who knows what will happen if we fight 5 against 5. But what if that balance is broken? I don’t care whether I’m with Player 1 or Player 2. I’ll join the winning side. I’ll join the side that lets me survive. So put your weapon down, Kazakami. Or do you want to take on the rest of us by yourself?”

“…Damn you. I thought we were on the same side.”

“The organizers decided that, not me.” After saying that, Higashikawa then pointed his weapon at Anzai Kyousuke of Player 2. “And if you decide to fight, I’ll be Player 2’s enemy. Let me be blunt. You all have the advantage while I’m sticking with Player 2. That destroys the five against five structure. Do you really want to give that up just to begin a 50/50 fight to the death? Wouldn’t it be better to keep the odds on your side?”

“…Tch.”

Anzai clicked his tongue and took a step back.

After seeing that, Higashikawa questioned the five members of Player 2 once more.

“We need to exchange information if we are to escape this place alive. Not that I think we have much useful information we could give the people who have been monitoring us this whole time.”

“Understood.”

He had moved from Player 1 to Player 2.

They had escaped the bloodshed for the time being, but a strained atmosphere still filled the bar. Before Higashikawa could walk over, Hiyama whispered in his ear.

“(Thank you for that.)”

However…

“(But there was a chance you could have been attacked by everyone else for doing that. Do not carelessly make that sort of choice.)

A chill ran down his spine.

Player 1 could have easily hated him as a simple traitor.

Player 2 had no real reason to accept in a traitor.

He could have been rejected by both groups.

That would create a situation of nine against one.

The exact situation Higashikawa Mamoru had set up as a penalty could have been forced onto him.

===Part 2===

[[Image:Survey_v02_359.jpg|thumb]]
The plain-looking male college student was Anzai Kyousuke.

The blonde-haired, blue-eyed woman who used slightly-broken Japanese was Harumi.

The tall beautiful woman who had long black hair and gave a cool-headed impression was Hotaru.

The woman wearing headphones and bandages was Kozue.

The girl with a showy hairstyle who would have fit in at a cabaret club was Aisu.

The above five members of Player 2 introduced themselves. Unlike Higashikawa and the others of Player 1, they all attended the same university and had known each other before taking part in this attraction.

Player 1 had been required to construct their interpersonal relationships from the ground up under such extreme situations, so they felt a bit jealous of Player 2.

However, this was a situation where a mistake would get someone killed. When all of the possible deaths would be someone you knew, the situation could be seen as even worse than simply having to be suspicious of everyone.

“This way.”

Higashikawa followed Anzai out of the bar.

Harumi and Hotaru went with them. Kozue was injured and Aisu was remaining in the bar to treat her.

The scenery changed dramatically upon leaving through the door.

“…What?”

“It’s a supermarket or a giant shopping center. That’s what it looks like anyway.”

Unlike the Hell Hospital, this area was quite large and brightly illuminated by fluorescent lights. It looked two or three times as large as a school gym. Shelves filled with precooked food and seasonings were lined up like the bookshelves of a school library or the shoe lockers in a school entrance. Perishable foods like vegetables and fish were displayed along the outer perimeter.

Hotaru, the tall woman, spoke while maintaining a set distance from Higashikawa.

“Do you perhaps find this place to be familiar?”

“Familiar? …No, wait.” Higashikawa frowned. And then it hit him. “This is a lot like one of the places in the attraction monitor videos. What was this one? I think it was the one with stopping someone’s heart and reviving them with an AED.”

That attraction had taken place in a large supermarket.

In that case…

“There are more,” added the blonde-haired, blue-eyed Harumi as she pointed in one direction.

There was an employee door near the perishable foods.

Higashikawa opened the door and found something completely different.

It looked like a standard room from a multi-tenant building.

All of the furniture had been removed, so the square space looked like a concrete cage.

He did not need to think about where he had seen this before.

A special tool was set up prominently in the center of the room.

“A guillotine…”

It had no blood on it and the blade shined as if it was brand new, so Higashikawa could not tell if it had actually been used in an attraction or not.

Anzai let out a heavy sigh and said, “There are a few other attraction stages. Or at least rooms altered to resemble them. But unsurprisingly, we haven’t found that domed stadium or Corpse Island.”

“The stages that are too large to fit indoors might be nearby outside,” said Hotaru while fidgeting with her black hair.

That idea gave Higashikawa a very bad feeling.

“So we’ve been brought to the place that soaked up all of that blood in those attractions?”

“The only place that makes no sense is the Hell Hospital,” said Harumi with a shrug. “We never saw it in any of those attraction movies.”

“Come to think of it…”

The Hell Hospital had originally been the location where lobotomies were performed. That likely had nothing to do with these attractions. And if they were going to create an attraction for the Hell Hospital’s operating room, it would normally involve sadistic rules involving surgical equipment.

Anzai cut in to say, “At any rate, the person behind this had to have been involved in incidents all across Japan to acquire those videos.”

“All across Japan?”

“That’s right.”

“But I thought all of the attraction stages were here?”

“The Hell Hospital had an original. The actual incident happened there. In that case, doesn’t it make sense to assume everything else here is a reproduction of the facilities in which incidents across Japan happened? The detail of these stages is too much to simply be basing it off of information from talk shows or tabloids. ''I get the feeling whoever is behind this was involved in the original incidents.''”

“So they first cause these horrible incidents around Japan and then create an identical stage here?”

“Yes, look.”

Anzai pointed toward the guillotine in the center of the room.

The blade was glittering beautifully in the light.

Hotaru nodded and said, “It is possible that bunny girl was involved behind the scenes with the Hell Hospital incident. It is almost as if they are causing these incidents just to increase the ‘value’ of this place.”

If that was the case…

Higashikawa bluntly stated the question that floated up in his mind.

“But what do they hope to gain by gathering these model rooms?”

“We have not figured that part out yet,” said Harumi.

It was true that the incident in the real Hell Hospital had been very different from the attraction Higashikawa and the others had been forced to go through using those handguns.

The stage had been thoroughly arranged and fine-tuned to perfection, but then the most important pillar had been switched out with something else.

Higashikawa almost groaned as he said, “It just doesn’t fit. ''Could there be a meaning in having it not make sense?''”

“Not make sense, hm?” muttered Anzai quietly.

But unlike Higashikawa who was completely at a loss, Anzai almost sounded like that had given him an idea.

Hotaru sighed.

“If you include those monitor videos, this is an incredibly large scale project. Whoever is behind this must find it to be very important.”

They checked through the facility for a bit longer, but they could not find any sort of exit.

They found a few doors that would not open, but they would not budge no matter how hard they pushed or pulled. They began to suspect the doors had been sealed up with concrete after Player 1 and Player 2 had been thrown in or that the doors were only a part of the wall made to look like a door.

“But the people behind this had to have gotten in here to set this place up, right?” said Higashikawa.

“We just have to pray they didn’t seal up the single exit with concrete after the preparations were complete,” replied Anzai.

“There might be a secret door!” suggested Harumi.

“Even if there is, they would have at least locked it,” pointed out Hotaru.

They could find no hint, so they turned around to return to the bar.

But on their way, they found someone rummaging through the shelves in the shopping mall. It was the college-aged cabaret club girl. Higashikawa was fairly certain her name was Yakushiji Aisu. She threw several small boxes into the cart next to her.

Higashikawa honestly asked, “What are you doing?”

“I need bandages and disinfectant to treat Kozue and the other woman’s wounds. Fortunately, we have plenty to work with here. We need to take whatever we can use.”

Higashikawa was not the only one to frown at that.

Hotaru gave a cautious look around and said, “Can we really use the products here? What if they have been tampered with?”

“That is of course a possibility. But if we use some reagents, we can tell if it’s safe or not.”

“Reagents…?”

Anzai seemed confused, but Aisu continued as if it was nothing.

“Even kids in elementary school know purple cabbage can be used in place of litmus paper. You can test for quite a lot of things with just some everyday items.”

From the way Aisu spoke, it was clear this was not something she just had a passing knowledge of. It was possible she was in the collage of science at her university.

Hotaru placed her index finger on her chin and tilted her head slightly.

“So do you think you can manage?”

“Just leave it to me,” replied Aisu offhandedly before adding something else in a quieter voice. “And I need to make sure to treat that Hiyama woman. Even if I didn’t have much of a choice, I still hit her with that fire extinguisher.”

Higashikawa and the others filled the cart with the fruits, vegetables, and seasonings she indicated. Higashikawa had no idea how each of them could be made into a reagent.

After gathering what they needed, they headed back to the bar.

The high school girl named Matsumi frowned when she saw the full shopping cart.

“What’s all this? Is it time to eat?”

“Treating the injured comes first. Let’s see, I need to create some reagents, so first I need this portable camping stove…”

After Yakushiji Aisu, the science student who would fit in at a cabaret club, said that, Kazakami grabbed an apple from the shopping cart and bit into it.

“This isn’t all that fresh. It’s really dry.”

“Didn’t I just say I need those to make reagents out of!? What if it’s poisoned!?”

“Poisoned!? Wait...Is that why it tastes so bad!?”

“At least you seem to have plenty of energy!” said Harumi.

Yakushiji Aisu prepared the reagents almost entirely on her own. She chopped and squeezed out vegetables and roasted them on the portable stove, but Higashikawa could not imagine what components she was trying to draw out.

After she finally confirmed the safety of the disinfectant and bandages, she began treating the injured.

First came Kusaka Kozue.

“Gh…!! Th-that stings. That really stings!!”

“Yes, yes, but you’re not a child that needs a shampoo hat. In fact, I’ve heard people who are truly in bad shape do not feel any pain. This means you’re doing quite well.”

“At least you seem to have plenty of energy!”

“Harumi, I don’t think we can get through this with that alone!!”

And then Hiyama Tomoko.

She had received a blow to the head, so Aisu simply arbitrarily applied the disinfectant and bandages and then pressed a bag filled with ice against her head.

However, it seemed even that little bit helped a lot.

Hiyama brought her hand up to the bag of ice Higashikawa was holding in place and then sighed.

“Are you okay?” he asked.

“I feel fully conscious and my senses have not numbed. I am no expert, but I think I should be fine.”

“But you were hit on the head,” said Matsumi.

Rachel also spoke up from a short distance away.

“I-if only you could get a proper examination.”

“Either way, we have to get out of here first,” said Kazakami offhandedly before grabbing a snack out of the shopping cart.

Yakushiji Aisu had deemed the food safe, so they could eat it without worrying.

The biggest surprise came from Player 2. Hasegawa Hotaru, the tall college girl with long black hair, opened a bag of sugary cereal. Higashikawa had gotten the impression she was more of a cool beauty than that.

While being treated, Kusaka Kozue spoke with a distant look in her eyes.

“Hotaru is a romanticist.”

“That has nothing to do with hunger.”

“That’s right, it doesn’t! So don’t hog that sugary cereal, Hotaru. Pass it over here!!”

“I may be in liberal arts, but I’m not above punching someone.”

“Hey, are you sure she’s a romanticist?”

After the two injured people had been treated, their attention naturally turned toward the leftover products. Higashikawa had not expected to be hungry in a situation like this, but his stomach quickly started demanding food after he took a bite of canned pineapple.

With a meaningless triumphant look, Kazakami said, “See? You really are hungry!!”

“Maybe our mental hunger and physical hunger are a bit out of sync… Come to think of it, how long has it been since all this began?” muttered Rachel as she nibbled on the edge of a rusk.

The little tidbits of conversation gradually grew.

“That was a horrible job…”

“Really, we should have been more suspicious when Harumi told us about the job! She’s the type to politely step on every single landmine!!”

“Hey, it was not my fault. Tell them, Anzai-kun!”

“I suppose if you compare it to that corpse-washing job at the hospital, that tuna-gathering job at the train station, or that deep forest search party…”

“What kind of ridiculous world have the two of you been living in while we haven’t seen you?”

The conversation naturally spread through the members of Player 2 first. They had already known each other, so their threshold was of course lower than that of the Player 1 members who had only just met.

With a sports drink in hand, Matsumi sat down next to Higashikawa who was sitting on the floor battling a can of pineapples. While showing a bit of concern about her short skirt, she said, “It seems they all go to the same university.”

“Yeah?”

“But we had no idea who anyone was. We could have lied during our introductions.”

Higashikawa wondered why she was bringing that up now.

He did not catch on to how odd it was that she felt the need to state something that should be obvious.

Which is why he smoothly replied, “We somehow managed to work together. We managed to rely on each other.”

“…” Matsumi glanced over at Higashikawa. “We don’t know anyone’s background.”

“Does that really matter? Our academic backgrounds and savings mean nothing here. It doesn’t matter what kind of titles we have.”

“Then…”

Matsumi started to say something, but she trailed off.

She looked around cautiously before speaking in a lower voice.

“What if one of the organizers is mixed in with us?”

“Eh? But that can’t be, can it?” muttered Higashikawa as if the possibility had only occurred to him now. And then, “We would need to find out where they stand. I’m willing to use anyone that might be useful.”

“You idiot. We should just gang up on them and beat them to a pulp.”

“I doubt this situation is set up so that would help us. And from the way you put it, we wouldn’t know why they’re mixed in.”

“…Why they’re mixed in?”

Matsumi frowned and Higashikawa used his chin to point at the members of Player 2.

“Remember what happened with them? If this hypothetical person is a real spy or they’re trying to get in our way, that’s one thing. But what if they were thrown into this attraction as a penalty for betraying the organizers or something? I doubt we would actually be able to make an ally of them, but they would make a reliable ally if we could. They would know the organizers’ methods and any hidden circumstances.”

“…Hm.”

Matsumi sipped on her sports drink and looked away from Higashikawa for some reason.

She then slowly scooted away from him while still sitting.

“You’re too soft.”

“?”

Higashikawa was confused.

And then…

It was as if they had waited for the moment when they let their guard down due to the minimal first aid and food.

A change came over the laptops placed in front of the three chairs at each of the several round tables.

The information and images from the Hell Hospital disappeared and they all began displaying the same image.

That image was…

“Ha haaa haaa!! Oh, dear. What a shame. The attraction to lead Player 1 and Player 2 to kill each other ended in failure.”

It was a face they all recognized.

However, they had never actually met this person.

Before being taken here, they had seen this person in charge of those countless deadly attractions shown in the monitor videos.

“The bunny girl!!”

“Thank you, Captain Obvious. But Higashikawa-san, you and the rest of Player 1 setting foot in the bar holds great meaning. And I’m sure Player 2 knows very well what that is.”

“!!”

Aisu, the woman who looked like cabaret club girl and had been handling the attractions for Player 1, gave a frightened start. Were they to receive some sort of punishment if the attraction failed?

“But we have our own circumstances,” continued the bunny girl. “This is still not enough for us. What a problem, what a problem.”

“What are you saying?”

“You don’t need to know. Anyway, we will give you a chance to get back in the game. I will personally let you enjoy a top rate attraction. You should thank me from the bottom of your hearts.”

An attraction.

An unpleasant feeling ran down Higashikawa’s spine as soon as he heard that term. And he was likely not alone. In a very short period of time, the meaning of that word had changed drastically.

But the bunny girl on the screens did not stop speaking.

She could not be stopped.

With a smile on her face, she continued playing the role of host.

“Now then, pay careful attention to the giant monitor to your left.”

The room was made to look like a bar and one wall was covered by a giant monitor used for decorative lighting.

[[Image:Survey_v02_375.jpg|thumb]]

Higashikawa did not want to look.

His peripheral vision was enough to tell him it showed a close up of the bunny girl. And he knew it would soon be used to display some horrible, inhumane, and nonsensical rules.

But what actually happened greatly exceeded his expectations.

With a great noise, the giant monitor suddenly burst apart and the bunny girl jumped out.

“W-w-waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!?”

All of them cried out in surprise.

But Kazakami’s cry as he fell to the ground in shock drowned out all the rest.

Meanwhile, the bunny girl lightheartedly wiggled her hips back and forth.

“Fwah hah hah!! Thanks for the nice reaction. …Kazakami-san, you didn’t piss yourself, did you?”

“Fweh!? Wha-? You…? Wha-? From the screen!?”

“C’mon. This isn’t a horror movie. There was a small room behind a flat screen monitor.”

“…!!!???”

Kazakami’s mouth wordlessly flapped opened and closed while too overwhelmed to move.

Meanwhile, a hand grabbed the wooden stick from a disassembled floor lamp that Kazakami had dropped.

It was Anzai Kyousuke, the only male member of Player 2.

However…

The bunny girl did not even look in his direction.

“Aaanzaaai-shwaaan.”

“…”

She spoke just before he charged at her.

That was all it took for Anzai’s shoulders to jump.

“You could view this situation as a question. Is that really your answer, Anzai-san?”

“My…answer?”

“What I mean is…”

The bunny girl finally looked toward Anzai.

But only with a sidelong glance.

The oozing color in her eyes held him in place.

“If you gang up on me when I suddenly appear, do you really think you will all be able to escape safely? ''Is that how you think this attraction works? Do you think the rules are that simple?''”

The attraction.

The rules.

Both Player 1 and Player 2 knew all too well what the penalty was for breaking those rules.

No one had explained the rules to them.

And yet they would be penalized if they stepped outside of them.

Not knowing the rules meant they could not even try to outwit the maker of the rules. They were at an overwhelming disadvantage.

“…Do it,” muttered Kazakami as he sat on the floor. His voice quickly grew into an explosive shout. “Do it!! The piece of shit toying with our lives is standing right there! She isn’t on a screen or behind some protective wall. She’s right here!! So!!”

“Oh, dear. Kazakami-san, you become a lot more forceful as soon as it isn’t you who will be dirtying your hands. It may be against the rules, but it will of course not be you who is punished. ''Not you''.”

She insisted on repeating those last two words.

As if to shake off those words, Hotaru from Player 2 spoke up.

“You are one of the organizers, so whatever the rules are, won’t this ridiculous attraction end as long as we neutralize you?”

“Neutralize! Oh, what a wonderful word!! You never say ‘defeat’ or ‘kill’, so you feel no guilt!! Allies of justice find that word so useful!! But,” added the bunny girl, “what makes you think I am one of the organizers?”

“…”

Those words seemed to make all of their hearts contract unnaturally tight.

The ten members of Player 1 and Player 2 had been divided up by the organizers and forced into an unreasonable conflict with each other. Cruelty could be seen in the entire setup.

“Well, I’ll admit I am not some poor victim, but do you really think a soldier on the front lines controls everything? In a situation like this where you beat people up the instant you find them, like Kusaka Kozue-san here? Do you really think the person who controls everything would leave safety to come here? ''Surely that is not your answer.''”

Yes.

Preparing this stage and gathering the ten of them did not seem possible for an individual. Some powerful organization existed behind the bunny girl. And those organizers had created the attraction’s rules and were now ensuring it was carried out.

Killing the bunny girl would not bring this to an end.

And if the attraction continued after her death, they would of course be penalized for it.

Otherwise, the bunny girl would never had left safety.

They simply had to think of it from her point of view.

What idiot would come unarmed to a scene where she was outnumbered?

Who would choose that?

“Okay. If you have all come to your own conclusions, it is time to see if you can stay in the game.”

“Hey, wait a second. We-…!!”

“Higashikawa-san?” the bunny girl grinned. “You are free to choose not to participate. However, think of this like a quiz show. Can a performer win if he is not sitting in the answer seat? No matter how smart he is, he has no chance of victory if he cannot press the answer button.”

And…

What did it mean if they lost in this attraction?

“…”

None of them could move.

They had free use of all four limbs and yet none of them could move an inch.

The bunny girl alone could move. She lightheartedly toyed with one long ear of her costume.

“Okay, let’s get the preparations over with. Your names have been entered into the drinking counter. Think of the spot with your name as your answer seat for the quiz. Please go stand in your spot.”

The ten of them all exchanged a glance.

This was the final line.

Would they rebel or would they obey?

While propping herself up on Rachel’s shoulder, Hiyama weakly shook her head.

“We have too little information. The penalty could be our deaths.”

“But if we take her hostage…”

“Higashikawa-saaan. Is that your answer? Well, if it is, then do as you like.”

The bunny girl brought her hands behind her back, turned her back to Higashikawa, and held her hands out toward him while wiggling her butt back and forth.

She seemed to be just waiting for someone to break the rules.

After finally getting over his shock, Kazakami slowly stood up, but Matsumi silently held out an arm to block his path.

She was telling him not to give into the temptation.

Even if they were going to rebel, this was not the time.

The ten members of both Player 1 and Player 2 all stood in front of their “answer seats”.

The bunny girl smiled and said, “Okay, the preparations are complete.”

She clapped her hands together in front of her chest.

And she tilted her head to the side slightly.

“Just so you know, there was no rule protecting me here.”

As soon as she said that, all stability disappeared below Higashikawa’s feet. It was a pitfall. By the time he realized it, he had completely vanished from the bar.

And it was not just him.

All ten of them had fallen at the exact same moment.

“Wha-!?”

After falling about three meters, Higashikawa’s fall ended abruptly. He was dangling in midair while wrapped in some kind of transparent film that was hanging from a thick wire.

This was like a giant version of the plastic bags used to hold goldfish caught in a festival goldfish scooping game.

Higashikawa’s body weight had caused the wire to tightly close off the opening of the bag, so he had no way out. And he was not about to try to break his way through the thick plastic material.

The reason for this was quite simple.

“…Y-you’re kidding me!!”

It was Kozue who managed to force those words out through her dry throat.

She was looking straight down.

All that could be seen there was a deep darkness. No floor or ground was visible. It was unclear how deep the pit was, but it was at least more than 10 or 20 meters. It was blatantly obvious what would happen to someone dropped from that height.

A great ravine.

Or a window washer’s scaffold.

The height brought those images strongly to mind. That overwhelming depth, the feeling of dangling from a single wire, and the unsteady footing of plastic all filled them with terror.

The bunny girl’s voice could be heard coming from somewhere.

“Now then. All of you should have a single card in your bag. It is an important item, so handle it with care.”

Higashikawa felt around in the darkness and felt something solid. It was hard to see in the dim light, but it seemed to be a card with red on one side and black on the opposite side. It had no numbers, symbols, or illustrations.

“What is this card?” muttered Kazakami.

The bunny girl replied, “The action you must take is simple, but the rules are a bit complicated. I will not repeat myself, so please pay close attention.”

“…What are you going to have us do?” said Harumi.

“On my signal, all of you are to hold your card out. It’ll be a ‘ready, set, go!’ kind of thing. But it is up to you which side of the card you have facing forward. The next part is very important.”

And…

She explained the worst possible rules.

“Anyone who chooses red will survive. But if everyone chooses red, you will all be killed, so be careful. Anyone who chooses black will be killed. But if everyone chooses black, every single one of you will survive. If you do not all choose the same color, only those who chose black will be killed.”

“But…” Anzai was bewildered as he dangled in midair like the others. “But anyone would choose red in that situation! That ensures you survive! How is this an attraction!?”

“But if you all choose red, you all die. If you all take the easy path, you will all be killed.”

“But…” exclaimed Aisu while at a loss for words.

If nine of the ten chose red, the greatest number could be saved. However, if that last person chose red too, there would be zero survivors.

They would all be killed.

In this situation, their wire would likely be severed to send them to the bottom of the abyss.

“Uuh…” groaned Hiyama.

This was probably more than just her wounds hurting. She may have imagined something unpleasant.

Higashikawa had done the same. He had pictured the scene of a tomato in a plastic bag smashing against asphalt. The color red was splattered across the inside of the transparent plastic.

“B-but if we all choose black, we all live, right?” said Matsumi who was sitting in the bottom of her bag out of concern for her miniskirt. “So we just all have to choose black, right?”

Kazakami mockingly replied, “If nine of us choose black and the last person chooses red, it’s all over! Nine of us die and the traitor gets to live on. Red is a sure thing! You’ll definitely be saved!! We have no guarantee that all of us would be able to resist that sure thing when it comes down to it!”

“Well, it seems you understand the situation,” said the bunny girl. “Will you try for all black and make fools of yourselves or will you compromise with red and die? Which way you take this is part of the attraction!”

The bunny girl seemed to be enjoying herself.

It was as if this suffering had been carefully calculated out.

“Okay, your time starts now. The judgment will begin in 10 minutes. You can discuss, threaten, persuade, or beg however you like until then. …Then again, the optimum solution has already been suggested☆”

Having said that, the bunny girl’s voice disappeared completely.

The optimum solution.

All black.

It was simple enough to say. Anyone would choose it as a theoretical answer. But lives were on the line here. Their own lives were on the line.

The problem was that choosing red would certainly save an individual.

“Black…is best, right? If we all choose black…!!” said Kozue to brush aside her unease.

Kazakami once again gave the rebuttal.

“Like I said, red is a sure thing.”

“But if we’re going to be saved by red, someone has to sacrifice themselves!!” said Harumi.

“I’m not saying we should all choose red to save ourselves! Red is a sure thing, but if all ten of us choose it, we’re all dead. If we say we’re going for all black, the group that chooses red at the last second will definitely be saved!!”

“We wouldn’t do that!!”

“What proof of that do we have!? Winning with red is easier than winning with black. As long as one sacrifice is tricked into choosing black, the rest of you get to survive!!”

The rest of you.

Higashikawa had no idea what basis Kazakami was using to divide them up.

But he felt Kazakami’s fears were hitting at the true meaning of this attraction.

Suggesting they all choose black and agreeing on it in a strategy meeting were easy enough to do. It was based in the fundamental goodness of humanity, so it felt good to agree to it.

But once the lid was opened, was it possible no goodness would be found?

Was it possible Higashikawa alone would choose black and the rest would choose red?

They did not know each other well enough to feel united.

And that was not just due to the division between Player 1 and Player 2.

Even within Player 1, the bonds between Higashikawa, Kazakami, Matsumi, Hiyama, and Rachel were not strong enough to know anything for sure.

And…

Even as he considered the complicated rules, Higashikawa also thought of what would happen after the fact.

It was near impossible for them all to choose black.

So if someone chose red and survived, what happened then?

What if it was not an extreme situation of 9 and 1? What if it was 5 and 5? What if half were killed and half survived?

Would there be any trust left between the survivors?

They had been unable to handle that bunny girl with all ten of them united, so what could the survivors do with their trust destroyed?

That was the point of this attraction.

Player 1 and Player 2 had been set up to kill each other, but they had met and united instead. This was the first step toward destroying that union so that they would fight amongst each other once more.

In all likelihood, the bunny girl and the other organizers did not expect them to all choose red and die.

Nor did the bunny girl and the other organizers expect them to all choose black and survive.

They expected something in between.

It could be 7 and 3, 6 and 4, or 5 and 5.

Instead of all red or all black, only the sly would survive. The single group would be destroyed and broken into multiple individuals.

“…Ah.”

After thinking over the jumble of thoughts in his head, Higashikawa Mamoru realized a fundamental fact.

“Ahhhh. Aaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!”

Higashikawa suddenly held his head in his hands and shouted out. The other nine jumped in shock.

“Wh-what is it?” cautiously asked Anzai, but Higashikawa gave no reply.

He had realized something.

He had become aware of something.

He knew the true purpose of this balancing act of an attraction using red and black cards. He knew who the true target was.

Before coming here, Higashikawa had purposefully pretended to betray Player 1 and join Player 2 so that he could avoid a conflict between the two groups. He had destroyed the power balance to prevent a 50/50 fight, but that had proven something to the others.

It had proven Higashikawa Mamoru was willing to betray his group.

He had resolved the situation back then. He had managed to keep it at a level where the others knew he reluctantly did it to ensure they all survived.

However…

What if Higashikawa chose red and survived in this attraction?

His justification disappeared.

He had said he did it for the sake of all 10 of them before, but this would show he would not hesitate to betray others for his own sake.

Even if multiple people survived by choosing red, Higashikawa Mamoru could not join them.

He would be the only one to have betrayed his group more than once.

And what would happen to him once he was driven out of the group?

He would be isolated.

And it would not end there.

The others would not want the traitor causing any more problems. They would want stability. They would want to come up with a definite plan to eliminate the uncertain element.

And if that happened…

The other attraction participants would be as much his enemy as the bunny girl and the other organizers. If he was isolated as the attractions continued, he would have every disadvantage forced onto him. It was even possible he would be beaten to death before the next attraction even began.

Higashikawa Mamoru could not win by choosing red.

The only way he could win was with black.

(But…)

A cold sweat poured from his face and he gritted his teeth.

(But!!)

If he told them all to choose black, who would go along with it?

Even if some did, it did not matter unless every single one of them did.

If even a single person chose red, it was all over.

And that was exactly the point at which the strategy meeting was stuck.

It was impossible for them to all survive by choosing black.

In that case…

In that case, what could Higashikawa do?

Even if he won with red, he would have no hope afterwards.

Even if he tried to win with black, someone would choose red and he would die.

Ultimately, that was what the bunny girl was after.

When Player 1 and Player 2 had been about to clash, Higashikawa Mamoru had used the traitor card to avoid the conflict. There had been a chance that would isolate him sooner or later.

That was why the organizers had lost interest.

They had no interest in watching when they knew how it would turn out. And so they had prepared an attraction where Higashikawa Mamoru would be destroyed no matter what he chose.

And…

That meant…

(There’s no hope for me? Every single one of my options is nothing but choosing between different cruel deaths?)

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Higashikawa Mamoru felt some sort of intense emotion swirling in his gut.

It was not simply anger.

It was not simply fear.

In fact, it was something that made him feel like he would burst out laughing if he let his guard down. He felt like his stomach was filled with boiling water, but he also felt a mysterious pleasure and ecstasy.

Higashikawa himself did not know how to classify the feeling.

However…

He felt the rails of his thoughts switching over. The usual thoughts of trying to avoid death were swapped out for something completely different.

He could not be saved.

He could not be saved.

He could not be saved.

In that case, what should he hope for in this final attraction?

A high score.

With that goal set, his thoughts moved at tremendous speed. His instincts and bodily limiters may have been out of order because his vision grew oddly bright and wide. The great torrent of tension and emotion may have been affecting the dilation of his eyes, but that did not matter.

He would give that bunny girl a shock.

He set his top priority according to this feeling that was neither hatred nor joy. With that priority, what was the best way to use his red or black card?

He found his answer almost immediately. It was quite simple.

As long as he ignored his own survival, that is.

“Listen.”

The other nine seemed to be observing Higashikawa’s odd state from a distance.

Isolating himself from the group should have been what he avoided at all costs.

However…

When he knew he could not survive, this way was more convenient.

Higashikawa Mamoru took a single breath and then spoke a decisive statement.

“I will choose black.”

“Have you even been listening?” asked Kazakami in irritation. He was frustrated at having to argue the same thing again and again. “Even if you say that, you have no proof every single other person will choose black too!!”

“I know that,” cut in Higashikawa. And he added one more decisive statement. “The rest of you should choose red. That will minimize the sacrifices!!”

He heard someone gasp.

He had no way of knowing if it was simply out of shock or if it was also out of relief over a surefire method of saving oneself.

He did not care either way.

“You don’t have to think about choosing black. You just have to assume choosing red will save you! If we all choose red, it’s all over. But if I choose black, you don’t have to worry about that possibility!!”

“Why…?” said Hotaru while looking at Higashikawa as if she could not believe what she was seeing.

That was the obvious reaction.

With this plan, there was zero chance of Higashikawa surviving.

Kazakami had been left dumbfounded, but he now clenched his teeth and shouted, “I don’t believe you. If you choose black alone, you’ll die!! At the last second, you’ll-…!!”

“What good would playing red at the last second do me? That would just mean we all die. Whether I choose red or black, I will die. What do I gain by betraying you in that situation!?”

“…May I ask why you are doing this?” asked Hiyama, but Higashikawa gave no answer.

Instead he said, “Whatever any of you say, I am playing black. I’ve already made up my mind. …Listen, if you all choose red, you will all survive. Or will you all gamble on black? I promise you that everyone who chooses black will die along with me. If you want a sure thing and if you truly want to survive, then do not hesitate to choose red. Understand?”

He would not be saved.

He could not be saved.

As that truth permeated his chest, he began to see an odd new objective. He did not want to die for no reason. He wanted the odd sense of accomplishment of someone who tore of his own flesh to feed a starving child.

It was nothing more than an illusion.

It was nothing more than an escape.

But giving up on this attraction had given him an option he could not have seen otherwise. Even as an unpleasant sweat poured from his entire body, Higashikawa clung to that objective.

It was as if he was doing his best to avert his gaze from his approaching death.

“Listen! All of you choose red! That will definitely save you!! I’m not telling you to trust me. But anyone who chooses black will look like an idiot! Don’t forget that!!”

And the nine-against-one structure Higashikawa’s death would create would not be the structure of betrayal and suspicion that the bunny girl wanted.

After all, Higashikawa was no longer part of Player 1 or Player 2.

This was 5 and 4 and 1. After using betrayal to avoid the conflict between the two groups, he had been left hanging in between.

What would happen if he was sacrificed here?

The group would not split. They would either have eliminated the traitor or they would feel a mutual guilt over sacrificing a single person to save themselves. Player 1 and Player 2 would truly unite.

He was guiding the attraction’s result away from what the bunny girl and the other organizers wanted.

(This is the only way for me to win.)

He could not avoid being taken out of the running.

He would die no matter what he chose.

He had accepted that. He had no choice but to accept it. And after accepting it, this was the only place he could put up his final fight. This was all he had left.

(I won’t let that horrible bunny girl have her way!! I’ll guide this away from the path she is imagining! As long as I can do that…!!)

“Hey!!”

With sweat pouring from his face and bloodshot eyes, Higashikawa looked over at Anzai.

And he shouted.

“This is the end for me. But promise me one thing. Promise me there will be no more Player 1 and Player 2! ''From here on, you’re the protagonist!'' Escape here not just with your friends, but with everyone else too!! Do everything you can to achieve that! Make sure you do that!!”

“Your time is up,” said the bunny girl after her long silence.

She did not sound worried.

Her top priority was the elimination of Higashikawa Mamoru who the organizers had grown tired of. That would still happen, so those monitoring them had no reason to be worried.

Or so they thought.

Higashikawa felt they were naïve.

Even if it was decided he would die, he could still choose how he died. At the very end, Higashikawa had realized that.

And so he would not lose.

Even if he died, he would not lose.

“Have you made up your minds? Have you put together your strategy? Do you think you can win? Do you think things will go as you hope? Well, whatever your answer, the time has come. Get your cards ready, everyone. Think of it like the referee displaying a card in soccer. No saying you meant to display the other side after the fact. Anyone who refuses to display their card will be killed. If you understand, then grab your cards.”

There were ten of them.

All of their lives held equal value and they each had a single card to entrust their fate to.

Higashikawa Mamoru.

Hiyama Tomoko.

Kazakami Shinzou.

Matsumi Shirauo.

Rachel Skydance.

Anzai Kyousuke.

Harumi Quartervalley.

Hasegawa Hotaru.

Kusaka Kozue.

Yakushiji Aisu.

“Ready, set…”

The bunny girl’s cheerful voice sounded horribly out of place.

And it was their final signal.

“Go!!”

With a stiff smile, Higashikawa Mamoru displayed the black side of his card forward.

And the other nine chose…

===Part 3===

A few seconds passed.

Silence filled the area.

Higashikawa’s erratic breathing and pounding heart sounded unusually loud to him. He had chosen his own death. Instead of avoiding it, he had chosen it himself. His mind was horribly clear. All worldly thoughts had disappeared from it and no hint of human feelings remained.

This may have been the mental state of someone who jumped from a tall building or subway platform.

(It’s over.)

He muttered those words in his heart as well as under his breath.

It was over.

When would his fear return? As Higashikawa wondered that, he realized the fear did not seem to be returning at all. He only felt an odd heat swirling in his head. Some important part of the nerves in his brain may have already been fried and he would never regain the ability to think normally.

When the actual task of killing him began and he felt unimaginable pain, the fear might return.

Or he may have been broken beyond the point of feeling pain.

“…”

His breaths were sometimes shallow and sometimes deep.

Finally, the other bags hanging down entered into Higashikawa’s vision.

They looked just like the bags used to hold goldfish.

The thick, transparent plastic and the thick wire made for an extremely unreliable gondola.

Higashikawa looked over to view the result…and then he froze.

Hiyama was contained in the neighboring bag.

He had seen the color of her card.

It was black.

For an instant…

For just an instant…

The unpleasant heat in Higashikawa’s head disappeared. He could not process what he was seeing.

And after a few seconds, it finally hit him.

He realized what it meant.

“You-…!!”

His strategy had failed. Not all of the other nine had chosen red. This was a pointless death. He had no idea why she had done it, but Hiyama would simply be killed along with him.

But…

His expectations were overturned even further.

When he looked again, Hiyama was not the only one to choose black. Anzai, Matsumi, and Rachel had too.

More needless deaths.

Once half of them died, the survivors would be suspicious of each other. This would kill all of them, just more slowly.

But he was wrong again.

''There were even more.

“Eh…?”

He looked around.

He looked around again.

He finally realized that every single card was the same color. It was not just that a few had chosen black. All 10 participants had chosen black. Every card was black as if it had been arranged ahead of time.

(Why?)

That simple question filled Higashikawa’s mind.

This was the best result, but he had seen no way for it to happen.

“We had no choice,” spat out Kazakami. “You were going on about choosing black on your own, so there was no other way to save ‘us’.”

“You could say we woke up,” continued Hotaru. “That bunny girl set up all sorts of rules, but there was never more than one option.”

“Your conviction to choose black no matter what gave us the push we needed,” said Harumi.

Matsumi then said, “To be honest, I was hesitant to not choose red. But then I wondered what I would do in the future attractions if I survived alone. I need to use anyone that might be useful.”

“From our position running the attractions, we saw you working together to complete them,” added Aisu.

Kozue said, “If you had not stepped in when the Player 1 and Player 2 structure collapsed, I would have died. It felt wrong to not repay that debt.”

“We may have argued about a lot in the attraction.” Anzai let out a slow sigh after he was sure everyone had chosen black. “But those conflicts were necessary for us to all survive. Once someone decided to choose black, it was obvious what we had to do.”

“…”

It was simple.

It was a simple truth.

Higashikawa Mamoru had put together his strategy on the assumption that he would not survive. With that assumption, the high score was the survival of the other nine and the elimination of any source of conflict.

But…

They had thought about it differently.

It had not been about whether they would survive themselves.

It was about whether everyone would survive or not.

While Higashikawa had quickly given up, the others had continued to struggle for total survival.

That was why they had come to an impasse and why they had argued.

Seeing the all black result finally woke Higashikawa up. The self-sacrificial thought processes he had built up to escape the fear of death came crumbling down.

He was not strong or clever.

He had simply looked away.

The ones who deserved that award were the other nine who had continued arguing while never giving up on their ultimate objective.

“You may have been imagining this as 9 against 1 or 5 against 4 against 1,” said Hiyama as she held her injury. “But we are simply 10. And it is all thanks to you betraying us all to protect us all.”

Higashikawa could find no words to speak.

As he sat there in a daze, he heard the bunny girl’s voice.

“Ooookay… Kind of unexpected, but I’ll announce the attraction’s result anyway.”

She was disappointed.

Dejection filled her voice.

And then the true cruelty of the attraction showed itself.

“Hiyama Tomoko-san, Kazakami Shinzou-san, Matsumi Shirauo-san, Rachel Skydance-san, Anzai Kyousuke-san, Harumi Quartervalley-san, Hasegawa Hotaru-san, Kusaka Kozue-san, and Yakushiji Aisu-san. ''According to the rules of the attraction, the above nine people will be killed.''”

“……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………Ah?”

This was more than a splash of cold water to the face.

Every thought in his mind was cut off.

A noise escaped his mouth, but it held no meaning.

This truly unreasonable and unexpected turn of events sealed off even a shout.

“Why?” muttered Higashikawa finally.

He could feel his entire body trembling. The unpleasant heat swirling in his head before was completely gone. Now he felt like the core of his body was filled with icy water.

“Like hell that’s the result!! We all chose black!! Every single one of us!! Why does that mean the other nine have to be killed!?”

“Oh?” said the bunny girl in obvious mockery. Hers was the voice of someone who had not been damaged in the slightest. “The rules said the following: If you do not all choose the same color, only those who chose black will be killed.”

“And!?”

“And,” repeated the bunny girl. “Higashikawa-san, your card is a very dark brown.”

He felt like his entire personality had been wiped clean.

The ridiculous situation caused his tear glands to writhe oddly. His expression crumbled under an odd torrent that could not be classified under any of the standard emotions.

The card.

The card itself had been sabotaged.

He forced his trembling body to move and looked down. He looked at his own card. He observed it in the dimness.

It looked black.

It could be nothing other than black.

But…

Even so…

“Well, I don’t blame you for not noticing with normal eyesight. Under the CMYK values, the magenta has been increased two or threefold. But that is still technically classified as a very dark brown. It isn’t black. When the brown pigment melanin is concentrated enough, we call it black hair, but technically…technically, it is still classified as brown!!”

“D-don-…Don’t mock us!!!!”

“And so you unfortunately failed to all choose black! You failed!!”

He should have thought of the possibility.

He should have been on the lookout for a trap when those cruel organizers prepared an option that would allow them all to survive.

But even if he had…

Even if he had…

“You were trying to corner me, right!? You knew I would be isolated sooner or later, so you lost interest in watching me! If you kill them, you won’t be able to continue these attractions that toy with our group psychology!! Are you really fine with that!?”

“Oh, come on.”

The bunny girl seemed to be enjoying herself.

She sounded like someone who had stuck an insect in a maze and was watching it as it struggled to find its way.

“You think this attraction was just for you? Just to eliminate you? ''Why would we go to all this trouble just for you?'' Aren’t you thinking a little too highly of yourself?”

“…!!”

“Also, our objective is not to continue these attractions forever. In fact, this sudden end, this unexpected conclusion, and this unreasonable turnaround is much more important.”

“What…are you saying…?’

“After all, that’s the nature of the absurd.”

She truly, truly seemed to be enjoying herself.

The bunny girl’s voice sounded enchanted.

This was different from the mocking voice from before.

“Seeing an obvious story structure would hardly be absurd, now would it? When the cute heroine does not die and is always assumed safe, that is not absurd. If the protagonist of a two hour drama survives the entire two hours, that is not absurd. …We seek the absurd. And that is why we must destroy all of those standard assumptions.”

“The absurd…?” muttered Anzai in shock. “Did you just say the absurd!?”

“Ha hah ha! It is sometimes referred to by the name Objective Alice. Securing that White Girl who is associated with the Banshee and Prometheus is no easy task. After all, this is a difficult existence to deal with. Her only rule is that no rules can govern her. Even after running an emulation experiment, our odds of success are completely unknown. But not being able to read anything about the situation may be proof that we are approaching Alice who stands in the center of the absurd.”

But Higashikawa could not guess the true meaning of those words. He did not have the mental leeway left.

He had misread the enemy’s objective.

The bunny girl had not set up the attraction using red and black cards in order to eliminate Higashikawa.

That was why he had failed.

That was why he had failed…or was it?

“Now then, now then! I am sure you have all vaguely realized it by now, but you are going to die!! This is quite an absurd turn of events, don’t you think!?”

Higashikawa’s footing shook.

After that vibration of another arm latching on, the wire began to be reeled in.

He was being taken up.

He alone was being taken away from death. He alone was being lifted up to safety.

“Wait…”

Higashikawa had tried to save the other nine by choosing black and having them choose red.

The other nine had all chosen black despite the danger so they could save him.

The killing was beginning.

“Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiitttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttt!!”

Shouting out was meaningless.

Higashikawa was dragged up to the bar alone and the pitfall closed beneath him.

That single panel divided this safe area and the abyss.

And in the darkness below, nine lives were lost.

<noinclude>
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| Back to [[A_Simple_Survey:Volume2_Intermission6|Records of Player 2's Actions]]
| Return to [[A_Simple_Survey|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[A_Simple_Survey:Volume2_Intermission7|What Each Person Held]]
|-
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</noinclude>

A Simple Survey:Volume2 Reaper02

2013-04-25T18:07:54Z

89.77.202.20: /* Part 1 */

==Reaper Game 02: Setup==

===Part 1===

It seemed the blonde-haired, blue-eyed woman was named Rachel.

She attended a junior college in the city and had found out about the monitoring through a help wanted section in the newspaper.

But the high school girl named Matsumi did not have it in her to focus on each of their individual situations.

“…Hey, the wall has crumbled here,” said the man in the work uniform named Kazakami.

He was peering into one of the five rooms the time bombs had detonated in.

Either the shock had been too great or it had been set up that way from the beginning because one entire wall had crumbled leading to another space beyond.

Hiyama in her showy suit and Rachel with her skin too white to be Japanese leaned over to peer into the room.

(He settled that quite well.)

Matsumi was focusing on a single participant out of the other four.

He had given the name Higashikawa.

He appeared to be about college age. It may have been due to the extreme situation or he may have always been that way, but his expression did not seem to change much.

He had said every single one of them needed to survive in order to get back at the organizers.

It was an excellent goal.

And as a fellow participant, Matsumi had no real reason to reject it.

And on top of that…

(The bonds of a group are often strengthened by finding the odd man out and attacking him.)

As a high school girl, Matsumi knew that process quite well. That problem weighed down on anyone in the confined area known as school life.

(Normally, that odd man out has to be kicked out of the group first. Once he is not part of the group, the situation will not grow violent so easily.)

For example, say a nearby school is seen as a rival in an upcoming mock examination or club competition. A competition between the regulars of a school will unavoidably grow into a mess on the surface and behind the scenes. However, when the scope is expanded beyond the school, the competition can amazingly be carried out in a pure fashion.

Defusing that delicate situation had taken quite a lot of skill.

Although Matsumi was not sure if Higashikawa was aware of the situation he had created or not.

(Anyway…)

Matsumi switched over her train of thought.

She could not deny that she wanted to seize the initiative in the conversation, but forcing herself into an already settled situation would only cause unnecessary problems.

She double checked where she stood.

If she was going to give up on remaining neutral, she would need to focus on not being pushed outside the group.

She did not fully agree with Higashikawa’s view and she was not prepared to remain with the other four to the very brink of death. But her sense for how to remain within a delicate group told her she must not let them realize that.

They had already been united into a group opposing the organizers. If she said she would prefer to act on her own discretion, she could easily be seen as disrupting the harmony of the group. In the worst case, she could even be labeled an ally of the organizers.

She glanced over at Hiyama and Rachel, the other women.

On the surface, they seemed to agree, but had they truly not realized the risks? Or had they and they were simply making sure no one noticed just like Matsumi was?

She could not tell what they were truly thinking.

They had officially united as a single group, so the others might begin suspecting her if they thought she was trying to sound out the others.

“What are you doing?” asked Higashikawa, the one who had set up the situation.

While using her facial muscles to create a harmless-looking smile, Matsumi replied, “Wait. I’m coming.”

She then passed through the steel door that had been warped in the explosion and entered the room.

The room had been bare to begin with, but the blast had created cracks in the walls and the ceiling. Small fragments must have rained down because the floor gave an overall impression of being disorderly.

Then again…

One major factor behind that impression may have been the corpse that had been blown to pieces and scattered across the floor and walls.

Matsumi did her best not to look at that.

The main issue was the back wall.

Unlike the rest of the room, the entire wall had crumbled. Another area continued on beyond it. It was a long passageway. The linoleum floor was covered mostly in a cold darkness and was eerily lit by an emergency exit.

This was not the same as a school.

It seemed more sterile yet gave off a strong impression of death.

Yes.

“This looks like a hospital,” muttered Matsumi.

As no one gave a differing opinion, it seemed they all felt the same.

The five moved further in.

This passageway had a window. The darkness outside made it clear it was night. But it would prove difficult to leave through the window. They appeared to be over 10 stories up.

And…

“What the hell? Metal bars?” said the man with a slight beard and a work uniform.

Yes.

Several thick steel bars were welded to the inside of the window. They did not provide enough room to squeeze through and they looked too sturdy to remove. Plus, they could be booby-trapped with a bomb or high voltage current.

The metal bars over the window were partially there to keep anyone from leaving, but they also gave off a sense of humiliation like they were trapped in a cage at the zoo.

Hiyama pointed down the passageway.

“Hey, I see some more bars up ahead.”

“…What?”

“Is this a mental hospital?”

Hospitals equipped with metal bars would occasionally show up in movies or dramas. However, a high school girl like Matsumi had no idea if real mental hospitals were equipped with such inhumane bars.

However, it brought a certain image to mind.

She recalled a certain term that had recently been all over the tabloid headlines and the hanging advertisements on trains.

“…Is this that Hell Hospital?”

“Ugeh!? Not that…” groaned Kazakami with a visibly displeased look.

However, he had to be thinking something else as well:

That was an idea the organizers of these deadly attractions would find absolutely mouthwatering.

Higashikawa wiped sweat from his brow and said, “What was that again? Some kind of facility that took in children who refused to go to school and claimed to help them return to society? But they were actually thrown into a hospital filled with metal bars and put through torturous rehabilitation, right? They ignored the kids’ personal situations and assumed they had dropped out due to an immature mind.”

“An expert medical institution backed them, so the kids’ parents did not suspect a thing. I heard that by the time the authorities realized what was going on, the group had become so utterly twisted that they insisted the children were simply sleeping even though they had been mummified in their beds. I wonder how much of that was true.”

Matsumi only had the information from tabloids, but one theory said the children who made mistakes would be given a special punishment in which they were dragged to the operating room, had their skulls opened up, and received a lobotomy.

She had no idea how much of it was true, but it had been on a large enough scale to leave its mark on the history of Japanese crime.

And since it seemed like a cult linked to medicine, it was also said the health food and diet booms had helped instigate it.

However…

“We have no way of knowing if this is the real Hell Hospital,” said Higashikawa. “We saw a lot of different stages in those attraction videos. This could be a building the organizers created to resemble the Hell Hospital for their twisted purposes.”

“That’s right.” Kazakami looked back out through the barred window. “I can’t see the lights of a city outside. And is that the sea in the distance?”

They could only see in the one direction, so they could not be certain if they were on the coast or on an island. That difference would greatly change what they had to do after escaping the building.

At any rate, they had to keep moving, so they continued on.

However, they found more metal bars not even 20 meters down the passageway. A small door someone could pass through was installed, but it was of course locked.

Higashikawa stared at the small door.

“I guess it won’t be that easy.”

“But there was only one path here. Is there a key hidden somewhere in the passageway like in the rooms or were five different passageways meant to open up in the explosions?”

“Hey, look,” said Kazakami as he pointed at the bars.

Or more accurately, past the bars. The area was too dark to see it immediately, but a small sign had been set up in the middle of the passageway. It resembled the ones used to warn of a wet floor.

But a scrap of notebook paper had been taped to it.

Extremely round writing had been written with a thick permanent marker.

It said: Beware the traitor.

“…”

“…”

“…”

“…”

“…”

An unpleasant silence fell over all of them.

It was a simple sentence. It had no basis and they had no guarantee it was accurate.

But…

(This is bad.)

It did not matter if it was true or not. Seeing that here would cause them to begin to wonder if there was a traitor among them. To put it bluntly, that was information that must not be inputted within them. Once it made its way into their heads, it would remain as a prickling in the corner of their hearts no matter how much they denied it on the surface. It would sow the seeds of suspicion.

“They’re just trying to shake us. It’s obvious what the organizers want here,” spat out Higashikawa as he averted his gaze from the sign.

Rachel and Kazakami did the same.

“…”

Hiyama stared at the sign for a bit, but finally sighed and did the same as Higashikawa and the others.

Matsumi did not follow anyone in particular’s lead, but followed the overall flow of the situation and looked away as well.

===Part 2===

In truth, Matsumi had no memories.

It had felt similar to when the monitoring had ended midway and she had found herself in a dark room. All she remembered was a dull throbbing pain in her head and the surrounding memories growing vague.

However…

Unlike this time, the gap in her memories had been quite large.

Starting from the moment she had woken up, the gap had stretched back almost 15 years.

That first time, she had woken up inside an empty train.

The long benches on either side of the train had no one else sitting in them. Matsumi seemed to have been sleeping while sitting on the end of one of the benches near the door. When she frowned at the odd headache and tried to look around, she heard a slight noise.

It came from her school bag falling from her lap and to the floor.

Matsumi frantically grabbed the bag, but no one had seen her. The hanging advertisements shaking with the movements of the train displayed the faces of those in charge of the facility nicknamed the Hell Hospital.

She could not remember what subway line she was on or what station she was heading towards.

And that single question quickly made her aware of more and more things she could not remember. Once she realized that included her own address and even her name, Matsumi felt a chill run down her spine. The dull headache made its presence very well known.

In an attempt to control her unstable heart, Matsumi frantically undid the latch of her school bag and rummaged through it.

From the textbooks and notebooks she found, she learned she was a second year high school student.

She began to grow worried when she checked through every pocket and could not find a wallet or subway pass. She checked two or three times but still could not find them. She could tell the monster known as panic was opening its giant maw, but then she felt something on her thigh. She stuck a hand into her skirt and checked the pocket.

She found a sparkling pink wallet made of lamé and a cell phone that reflected light in the same way.

But when she switched on the cell phone, it displayed a password prompt. She of course did not know what that password was, so she could advance no further.

She looked through the wallet.

It also seemed to function as a card case as it held an IC-type subway pass. The surface had the normal stations she travelled between printed on it: Shirasagi to Kusanomine. The first one printed would normally be where her home was, so she guessed her home was in Shirasagi.

She also found a few store point cards with addresses in Shirasagi. The user name given on the cards was Matsumi Shirauo.

(Is that my name?)

Matsumi tilted her head but it did not feel real to her.

She also found a folded photograph inside the wallet. She unfolded it to find someone with her same face smiling between a middle-aged man and a middle-aged woman.

It was a family photo. And using a paper photo in the age of digital cameras seemed like something an old man would insist on. From that, she guessed she got along well with her family and did what her parents wanted.

The wallet also contained a few 1000 yen bills and quite a bit of change. The change pocket also held a key. It may have belonged to her house. It was not one of the uniquely shaped keys that belonged to a bicycle or scooter. She found no receipts. She must have been the type who threw them away at the register.

Nothing in the wallet listed her exact address or phone number.

All of that personal information was likely contained in her cell phone. She had had no reason write it out when it was stored there.

“Shirasagi. We will be stopping at Shirasagi next. Everyone using the Bungaku Line or the Special Coastal Line must switch trains. I repeat: we will be stopping at…”

Matsumi frantically stood up from the bench when she heard the flat voice of that announcement.

The subway train stopped at a station in the tunnel.

She stepped off onto the platform, but it was as oddly deserted as the train.

She knew her home was somewhere in Shirasagi, but she knew nothing more detailed than that. As she wondered what to do, she suddenly recalled the subway pass in her wallet.

She pulled it out again to check and it was indeed the IC card type. It was made so she could pass through the ticket gate just by touching the card to it.

And that meant it had her personal information registered in it.

She followed the arrow on the sign to walk across the platform and to the ticket gate. She used her subway pass to leave the station and approached the automatic ticket machine. She inserted her pass and called up the menu to change the registered information.

Her name, address, and contact information appeared immediately.

It seemed she lived in an apartment rather than a house.

But before she could feel relieved, Matsumi’s expression froze over.

Something she had not expected was listed along with the other personal information.

Her occupation.

Due to what she was wearing, she had assumed that field would simply have “student” entered, but it did not. Something else was written there:

''Temporary Employment

''Attraction Land Sales Department

===Part 3===

Due to the metal bars across the passageway, they could not continue on. Could it have been a coincidence that Matsumi and the others had come here? Were all five rooms meant to have a wall crumble to reveal five different passageways?

In the worst case, they would need to head back to the original five rooms and try to destroy the walls, floor, and ceilings of the other four. The five of them turned back and carefully investigated the passageway. The only illumination came from the emergency exit light which was beyond the metal bars.

That was why it took them so long to notice.

It was unclear if the organizers had even intended to hide it.

“Here…” said Rachel in a feeble voice as she felt along the wall overly slowly out of fear of a poisoned needle or some other trap. “Is this a door?”

The others gathered around her.

They felt along the wall too and it did indeed feel odd. It was cold like a sheet of metal. It likely was a door just as Rachel had said.

However, it had no knob.

It was nothing more than a flat metal panel.

“What kind of door is this? How do you open it?”

Kazakami was the one to voice the question all of them were thinking.

Matsumi pushed with both hands, but it would not budge.

“Could this be…?” muttered Higashikawa before crouching down.

He seemed to be feeling around for something in the darkness.

He primarily focused on the floor.

“I was right. There’s a switch here. You step on it to open the door.”

“Is this for an operating room? I think they make it open with a switch on the floor so the doctor does not dirty his hands,” commented Hiyama casually, but then she seemed to realize the weight of the words she had just said.

A great tension ran through the darkness.

The Hell Hospital had partially earned its name due to what went on in the operating rooms.

Children in perfect health had been forcibly dragged in, had their skulls opened, and had their brain operated on for a lobotomy. It was a bloody experimental ground.

Their surroundings did not give an enjoyable impression.

Whether this was the real Hell Hospital or not, the organizers of the attractions would feel the strongest attachment to and interest in this stage. Unless they were cruel enough to actually betray even that basic assumption, the organizers would have something set up here.

“What do we do?”

“I don’t want to go in there any more than you do, but there’s nowhere else to go.”

“…”

Rachel was too afraid to speak.

Matsumi slowly opened her mouth to speak in order not to provide too much of a stimulus.

“The odds are good this is some kind of trap or the next attraction. We need to be careful.”

Matsumi heard the sound of scraping metal.

Higashikawa must have pressed the button near the door.

The double doors opened inwards. In the next moment, the bright fluorescent lights of an operating room lit up. They were left momentarily blinded.

Matsumi instinctually held a hand up to her eyes and managed to maintain some of her vision by squinting.

The area inside was surprisingly large.

The lack of any special equipment may have strengthened that impression. It was about as large as a classroom. The color scheme was entirely made of a light blue and the walls were tiled. The ceiling was about 2 stories high. The walls of the upper floor were covered in glass. New doctors and others could observe the operation from there.

The operating table and a characteristic surgical light were installed in the center of the room. The surgical light was a device created from many different individual lights.

The two pieces of equipment gave off an impression of being isolated because the operating room was completely empty otherwise.

“What…?” said Higashikawa as he entered the operating room.

Matsumi and Rachel followed his lead and walked in after him side by side.

And suddenly, a series of loud musical tones played.

“…Oh, was that too loud? My bad, my bad,” said an equally loud voice.

The great noise brought them all to a stop.

The door to the operating room slammed shut behind Matsumi. Hiyama and Kazakami were still out in the passageway. Rachel frantically ran over to the door, but it would not budge no matter how much she pushed and pulled.

There was a foot button on the floor near the door, but nothing happened when Rachel tried it.

“I-It will not open!!”

They could hear someone pounding on the door from outside.

Kazakami’s voice shouted, “Hey, what happened!? Are you holding it shut!? This button just opened the door, right!?”

“…”

Matsumi silently looked around the operating room and spotted a speaker near the ceiling.

A female voice said, “I thought you would all give up, but it seems you are a surprisingly greedy bunch. That means it is time to begin the 2nd attraction. If you clear it, you will be given the key to those metal bars. If you fail, the door to the operating room will never open again.”

A high-pitched noise exploded out.

It came from the upper floor.

The glass protecting the observation space had shattered. Not much rained down, but Matsumi and Higashikawa jumped back as far as they could whether it was actually falling toward them or not. Rachel was slower to react, so Matsumi ran into her and they fell to the ground.

A woman stood in the space above.

It seemed she had broken the glass with a chair. She threw four objects about the size of landline phone receivers through the hole that was too large to call a gap.

Some landed on the surgical table and some missed and fell to the floor.

Higashikawa’s body stiffened in shock when he saw them.

Matsumi did not want to look toward them.

But before she could, the woman who had broken the glass spoke.

“Two of the handguns hold a real bullet and two hold only blanks. Two of you will participate. Each participant must choose whichever two of the handguns they want, aim the guns at each other, and pull one of their two triggers when I give the sign. It’s quite a simple attraction.”

“You’re insane!!!!!!” shouted Higashikawa without thinking.

At first glance, it seemed this was a decent reaction, but Matsumi felt the organizers would only rejoice at the outburst of impotent rage. The woman might have been purposefully provoking them, but that might also be too farfetched.

“By the way, the guns have laser pointers attached, so we will know if you try to aim away. Make sure to aim at the center of the other’s face before pulling the trigger.”

For an instant, Rachel’s gaze moved between the handgun and the woman on the upper floor.

She may have been considering taking the gun and shooting the woman.

But Matsumi doubted it would work. It was the organizers who had prepared the guns. They would have countermeasures prepared to keep them from being used against them.

Matsumi looked up at the upper floor.

This woman claimed to be a fulltime employee of Attraction Land.

But Matsumi had never had a proper conversation with those fulltime employees. It was unknown what the woman’s purpose was in throwing her into this situation. It was unclear if the woman even viewed Matsumi as on the same side as her.

The woman then clearly met Matsumi’s gaze.

And she smiled.

Then she announced, “The two who will take part in this attraction are the following: Matsuuumiii Shiraaaauoooooo!! Raacheeeeellll Skyyyyyydaaaaaaance!!”

“Ee!!”

Rachel let out a voice like a hiccup as her entire body stiffened.

Matsumi silently gritted her teeth. If the explosions had opened a different path, would a less cruel fate have awaited them? However, thinking on possibilities that may never have existed would not help.

“A catfight like this can only be seen tonight!! The feigned innocence of these girls is likely to come crumbling down, so I hope you’re prepared to be disillusioned, boy!! Now, let us begin. Both of you must choose two of these handguns!!”

“No!” frantically shouted Higashikawa to stop the designated girls.

He may have forgotten the simple fact that a raised voice would wear at people’s nerves in an extreme situation regardless of the intent behind it. Or perhaps he had not forgotten and was doing it purposefully.

“They’ll do anything to enjoy this. They’ll never keep their promise. They probably all have a real bullet inside so they can laugh at the idiots who honestly take the challenge!”

“No, no.”

An odd change suddenly came over the voice of the woman on the upper floor.

It grew quieter.

It grew eerily sincere.

“We strictly adhere to the rules and results of the attractions. It does not matter if that leads to a sickening happy ending where you all survive.”

Before Matsumi and the others could think on it or analyze it, the woman’s voice reverted to the same as before.

“But whether you believe me or not, the attraction is beginning! If you use up all your time, you will all be killed!”

“Shit…” cursed Higashikawa despite having escaped the attraction himself.

Was he cursing his inability to stop his allies from killing each other or was he cursing his own relief over having escaped?

“If you have not made your preparations within 10 minutes, you will be killed. Tah dah!! I have a beer case full of Molotov cocktails prepared. …Hm? You can’t see them from down there? Well, I’ll be tossing a ton of them down there, so I doubt you will be able to escape. The door won’t be opening either.”

“Shit!!”

Higashikawa was the first one to act.

Matsumi followed suit and approached the four handguns scattered near the operating table in the center. Rachel sat on the floor with her face absolutely pale and remained perfectly motionless.

“We have to check,” muttered Matsumi more to herself than anyone else. And then she shouted out because that encouragement had immediately failed. “We have to find some way to tell which ones have a real bullet and which ones have a blank! If we know how to tell, we will automatically know if the rules are fair and how to safely clear this attraction!!”

All of the handguns were revolvers.

“If we can determine which handguns have blanks, we can clear this attraction with no one dying.”

Matsumi picked up one of the handguns and tried to remove the cartridges, but the cylinder would not open like she had seen in movies.

At first she assumed she simply did not know how to do it, but Higashikawa shook his head after he tried with a different gun.

“It’s no good. They’ve been altered so the cylinder won’t open.”

“We can’t check the cartridges, so we can’t tell which ones are real bullets and which ones are blanks!”

They were revolvers, so the cylinder was made to hold six shots in a circular pattern. If the bullet aligned with the barrel was viewed as 12 o’clock, the bullets at 2 o’clock and 10 o’clock could be glimpsed by staring into the holes on the cylinder.

However…

“Dammit, they all look the same.”

If they could not check, they could not choose between the four guns.

If they simply chose at random, the odds of no one dying were almost nonexistent. If either of them chose the gun with a real bullet, it was over. And it was possible one of them would end up with both options holding a real bullet.

Given the different patterns, the odds of someone dying were 3/4.

That was three times as high as in Russian roulette.

“Just under seven minutes to go!”

“…”

They could not tell which were real bullets and which were blanks just by looking in from outside.

The odds were too poor to simply choose at random.

There had to be a way.

There had to be some other way of telling apart the four handguns.

“…Wait.”

“What?”

“Do you have something like an eraser? And something like a ruler!!”

“How is that going to help? All of the guns are the same model, so measuring their length won’t-…”

“Just do it!! I’m not measuring their length!!” shouted Matsumi as she looked over at the operating table in the center of the room. More accurately, she looked at the four legs supporting it. She grabbed one of those square rods and pulled hard.

It was affixed to the table with a screw, so it would not budge.

Matsumi looked to Higashikawa and said, “Help me tear this leg off!!”

“Why? What are you going to use it for?”

“We have a chance if we use it! Hurry!!”

Higashikawa did not hold back any longer.

He circled around to where Matsumi was and held the operating table in place so it would not move. When they worked together, the square rod seemed to slowly bend. But it was actually the screw holding it in place beginning to break.

A high pitched snapping sound rang out.

It had bent a bit, but the leg had come off. The operating table fell over diagonally, but Matsumi did not care.

She took off the leather shoe of her school uniform and placed it on the floor.

She then carefully placed the center of the operating table leg on top.

It was a seesaw.

Or…

“…Scales?”

“Real bullets and blanks don’t weigh the same, right? The heavier gun should be the one with a real bullet inside. We can tell them apart by weighing them!!”

“How much time is left!?” shouted Higashikawa toward the upper floor.

The organizer woman replied, “Just under three minutes.”

“We can make it,” muttered Higashikawa under his breath. His voice then grew louder. “We can make it. We can clear this attraction without anyone dying!!”

===Part 4===

Meanwhile, Rachel was not watching Matsumi and Higashikawa work as she sat on the operating room floor.

She was looking towards her feet.

She was looking at the gap between her thighs.

Rachel was not simply frozen there out of fear. She had noticed something. Something had been written on the operating room floor with a ballpoint pen. She had sat down so she could read it without the others noticing.

Due to her position, it was hard to read.

But her life could be riding on even the smallest piece of information.

The round writing said the following:

''Comparing the weights is an elementary trap, so be careful.

''The trick lies in the principle of leverage.

“…Ah.”

She accidentally let out a voice and briefly panicked over whether Matsumi or Higashikawa had heard her.

Yes.

The principle of leverage.

Scales only worked when the bar extended equal distances in both directions from the fulcrum in the middle. So what if those distances were not equal?

Moving the fulcrum, which in this case was a leather shoe, would be difficult. With two people working on it, someone would notice the change.

But what about the handguns placed on either end of the bar?

Moving their position by just a few centimeters would be enough to lose all equality. The lighter blank handguns could be made to look heavier. Unlike normal scales, there were no plates. It would not be difficult to casually alter the positions of the handguns slightly.

In other words…

If the person measuring it wanted to, they could change the result to whatever they wanted.

They could create fraudulent results.

They could cheat.

(But they have no reason to do that.)

Rachel reflexively denied that dreadful thought that had come to her mind. The five of them were working together to survive and to ruin the organizers’ plans for them. She wanted to rely on that wonderful idea.

But…

''Beware the traitor.

There was the sign beyond the metal bars in the Hell Hospital passageway. Its powerful message flashed in the back of her mind. She could not completely deny the possibility. She wanted to but could not.

There was one reason.

There was one reason someone would do that.

(Matsumi-san can give me the two blank handguns and take the two real ones for herself. Then she will survive no matter which gun I choose at the last second. But in that case, the gun fired at me has a 100% chance of being loaded with a real bullet.)

The organizers would be at fault.

They would be seen as having tricked both Matsumi and Rachel.

And so everyone’s anger toward the organizers would increase, but Matsumi would not be kicked out of the group. Even if she protected herself by creating a situation that ensured Rachel’s death, she could easily deflect the hatred.

“Got it!! The right two have blanks and the left two have real bullets!!”

“Hurry, Rachel-san! Let’s finish this before that woman says the time is up and throws those Molotov cocktails down here!!”

She felt like she was hearing the voices of demons.

What should she do?

Rachel thought for a moment and finally stood up slowly. She approached the operating table to ensure the others did not see the small writing on the floor.

As expected, Matsumi grabbed two handguns and held them out towards Rachel.

She was keeping Rachel from making the decision.

“Be careful. The one in your right hand has a blank and the one in your left hand has a real bullet. …Rachel-san, please don’t mix them up. Just think of it as shooting with your dominant hand.”

“Um…” Rachel slowly spoke up and made a suggestion. “Both of us have one with a real bullet and one with a blank, right? We have the same setup, right?”

“Y-yeah. Why do you ask?”

“Sorry, but could we swap guns? These ones…um…they’re kind of dirty.”

“Fine, it’s the same either way,” replied Matsumi as she held the two guns meant for herself out towards Rachel. “The right one is the blank and the left one is the real one. It’s the same as before, so don’t get it wrong. Fire with your right hand on the signal. Got it?”

“…Y-yes.”

After Rachel took the two revolvers, Matsumi grabbed the two she had given to Rachel earlier.

Higashikawa shouted up towards the upper floor.

“We’ve chosen! How do we begin the attraction!?”

“Matsumi-san and Rachel-san, please move against opposite walls. Press your backs to the walls and aim your guns at each other. If you press the small button on the grip, the laser pointer will activate. Use that and aim at each other’s faces. Failing to do so will get you all killed, so be careful.”

“…”

“…”

Matsumi and Rachel followed their instructions and moved to either end of the classroom-sized room.

Rachel’s mind was filled with confusion as she pressed her back against the wall.

Matsumi had readily swapped out the guns.

If one set had both blank guns and the other had both real guns, that would have been a fatal move.

Was the idea of a traitor nothing more than seeds of suspicion sown by the organizers? Had Matsumi and Higashikawa both distributed the guns properly? If she did as instructed and fired the gun in her right hand, would they clear the attraction with no one dying?

(But…)

A very bad feeling swelled up in the back of Rachel’s mind.

She had found that message written in ballpoint pen on the operating room floor. It had warned of someone cheating using the principle of leverage.

But could she be sure it had been written by the organizers?

In other words…

Rachel stared blankly at the girl wearing a school uniform.

Could Matsumi have written that message on the floor while no one was looking?

Had she intentionally made Rachel suspicious?

Had she lured Rachel into asking to swap out the guns?

She could have divided the four guns into the two blank ones and the two real ones and then given herself the blanks at first.

Her preparations would be complete once Rachel asked to swap out the guns out of the fear brought on by the message on the floor.

Matsumi could fake the outcomes of the measurements with a trick using the principle of leverage. But that still held some risk of suspicion being turned toward Matsumi once Rachel was killed. After all, Matsumi had suggested using scales, Matsumi had taken the measurements, and Matsumi had handed Rachel the handguns.

But what if Rachel made an irregular request?

If that coincidence was added in…

No one would suspect Matsumi of any ill will. If Rachel had not suggested swapping out the guns, Matsumi would have been the one to die. She moved from the position of perpetrator to the position of victim.

Matsumi had lured Rachel in.

And Rachel had fallen for it.

“Wai-…!!” shouted Rachel frantically, but the organizer woman spoke up to cut her off.

“The 2nd attraction will now begin. I will start the countdown. When I reach zero, each of you is to pull your chosen trigger!!”

A calm smile could be seen on Matsumi’s lips.

Was she certain of her victory?

Did she know there was no way she could die?

“Three. Two. One!”

The count continued.

The guns in Rachel’s right hand and left hand both felt horribly empty.

She could not win.

No matter which one she shot, she would only be firing a blank. Matsumi had both real guns. The bullet that flew out along the path of the laser pointer would certainly blast straight through Rachel’s forehead. Even if she swung her head to the side at the last second and successfully evaded the bullet, the organizers would kill her. Molotov cocktails would rain down from above and the flames would burn Rachel to death.

She could not be saved.

She could not survive.

All five of them surviving was the sole means of defeating the malicious organizers. When Rachel had first heard that, she had been moved, but she had been unable to pull it off. The malice leaking out from each of them had eaten away at that ideal.

[[Image:Survey_v02_296.jpg|thumb]]

(In that case!!)

Rachel gritted her teeth.

She had guns in her right hand and left hand.

She poured all her focus into one of them.

(At the very least, I do not want to end this as a mere puppet!!)

“Zero!!”

The sounds of two gunshots seemed to stab into her heart.

===Part 5===

As Higashikawa watched on from the side, he seriously thought the shock would crush his heart.

The noise was so loud he thought something was wrong with his eardrums.

Finally, silence came.

The organizer woman on the upper floor said, “And with that, the 2nd attraction comes to an end. I hope the survivors will enjoy the upcoming attractions.”

The figure on the upper floor tossed something small through the large gap in the broken glass. It glittered with a silver light and sounded like a coin when it landed, so it was likely a key. It would be the key to the door in the metal bars.

When they looked back up, the woman was gone. She had left.

And then the solid and unmoving door opened on its own.

Hiyama and Kazakami cautiously peered in.

“Wh-what happened? We heard one hell of a noise.”

“Ha…ha ha.”

They heard a relaxed and powerless laugh.

It came from Matsumi where she stood against one wall. She was holding a handgun that still had a bit of smoke rising from it. The tension holding her in place was gone, so she slid down the wall into a sitting position.

Matsumi had survived.

The 2nd attraction was over and the operating room door had opened.

They had the key to the metal bars blocking the passageway, so they could continue on.

And…

As for Rachel at the opposite wall…

“Ha…ha?”

Her entire face was soaked with sweat and her expression was one of confusion. It was as if she did not understand how she had survived.

Higashikawa took a deep breath and said, “All of us managed to survive again. Let’s keep this up.”

He then walked over to the high school girl named Matsumi.

It was only once he approached that he noticed something.

Her face still held a grim and somehow irritated look.

“Take these,” she said while pressing her two handguns into Higashikawa’s grasp.

“Hey.”

“One of them still has a real bullet inside. Fire it somewhere harmless …Oh, I know. Fire it at the observation seats up above.”

She then used her chin to point toward Rachel who had sunk to the floor.

“Do the same with hers. Hurry.”

“?”

===Part 6===

Two gunshots rang out.

Higashikawa had fired the two handguns with a real bullet inside straight up.

The situation seemed over.

Matsumi grabbed a gun away from Higashikawa and pulled the trigger while aiming at an empty wall. However, it seemed all but the first shot had been loaded with blanks. The cylinder turned again and again, but no bullets were fired. It would clearly be of no use as a weapon, so she tossed it to the operating room floor.

Once more, all five of them had survived.

They had no idea when or where the 3rd attraction would begin, but it seemed they were doing quite well.

However, the situation was not that favorable.

After that game of aiming a gun at each other and pulling the trigger, Matsumi alone knew the truth.

In the final instant, Rachel had fired the handgun in her left hand.

Rachel had been told the right one had the blank and the left one had the real bullet.

And yet she had fired the left gun.

Saying she panicked and got mixed up was not an acceptable excuse. Rachel had clearly chosen the left gun she knew would fire a real bullet.

And Matsumi had predicted it would happen.

She had handed Rachel a safe pair of guns, but Rachel had then asked that they swap guns. Matsumi had no idea what foundation Rachel was working off of, but she had clearly grown suspicious. And so Matsumi had secretly swapped out the guns in her right and left hands before handing them to Rachel.

That had saved her life.

If she had faithfully handed over the guns like normal, Matsumi would have been killed.

“Hoo…”

Giving the guns to Higashikawa afterwards had also had meaning.

A handgun with a real bullet loaded was a powerful weapon, but it was too dangerous for Rachel to hold. However, Matsumi doubted Rachel would have agreed if she had demanded Rachel hand over her gun. Anyone would want a weapon in this situation.

If Matsumi had tried to force Rachel, there had been a risk she would have been shot.

And so she had left her own guns with Higashikawa first. She had created an illusion of fairness on the surface. And if Rachel did snap and grow violent, the danger would fall on Higashikawa rather than Matsumi.

Fortunately, Rachel had agreed to hand her gun over to Higashikawa.

(But…)

Matsumi still did not know what had led Rachel to try to shoot her.

The attraction’s rules gave no reason to want to eliminate the other participant.

However…

''Beware the traitor.

The words written on that sign tore into Matsumi’s chest.

She doubted those words had been referring to Rachel. The opposite was more likely. Rachel may have somehow realized a certain fact.

She may have realized that Matsumi Shirauo was on Attraction Land’s side.

(Either way…)

She quietly thought while overcome with the relief of overcoming that great hurdle and the tension of the danger she had yet to escape.

(It seems simply accepting that everyone is working together for our mutual survival will not be enough to survive.)

On the surface, everything appeared to be going well.

But unseen cracks had definitely begun to spread.

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| Back to [[A_Simple_Survey:Volume2_Intermission4|Progress Report #201]]
| Return to [[A_Simple_Survey|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[A_Simple_Survey:Volume2_Intermission5|From the Items Left Behind by a Dead Freelance Writer]]
|-
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A Simple Survey:Volume2 Reaper02

2013-04-25T17:57:57Z

89.77.202.20: /* Part 1 */

==Reaper Game 02: Setup==

===Part 1===

It seemed the blonde-haired, blue-eyed woman was named Rachel.

She attended a junior college in the city and had found out about the monitoring through a help wanted section in the newspaper.

But the high school girl named Matsumi did not have it in her to focus on each of their individual situations.

“…Hey, the wall has crumbled here,” said the man in the work uniform named Kazakami.

He was peering into one of the five rooms the time bombs had detonated in.

Either the shock had been too great or it had been set up that way from the beginning because one entire wall had crumbled leading to another space beyond.

Hiyama in her showy suit and Rachel with her skin too white to be Japanese leaned over to peer into the room.

(He settled that quite well.)

Matsumi was focusing on a single participant out of the other four.

He had given the name Higashikawa.

He appeared to be about college age. It may have been due to the extreme situation or he may have always been that way, but his expression did not seem to change much.

He had said every single one of them needed to survive in order to get back at the organizers.

It was an excellent goal.

And as a fellow participant, Matsumi had no real reason to reject it.

And on top of that…

(The bonds of a group are often strengthened by finding the odd man out and attacking him.)

As a high school girl, Matsumi knew that process quite well. That problem weighed down on anyone in the confined area known as school life.

(Normally, that odd man out has to be kicked out of the group first. Once he is not part of the group, the situation will not grow violent so easily.)

For example, say a nearby school is seen as a rival in an upcoming mock examination or club competition. A competition between the regulars of a school will unavoidably grow into a mess on the surface and behind the scenes. However, when the scope is expanded beyond the school, the competition can amazingly be carried out in a pure fashion.

Defusing that delicate situation had taken quite a lot of skill.

Although Matsumi was not sure if Higashikawa was aware of the situation he had created or not.

(Anyway…)

Matsumi switched over her train of thought.

She could not deny that she wanted to seize the initiative in the conversation, but forcing herself into an already settled situation would only cause unnecessary problems.

She double checked where she stood.

If she was going to give up on remaining neutral, she would need to focus on not being pushed outside the group.

She did not fully agree with Higashikawa’s view and she was not prepared to remain with the other four to the very brink of death. But her sense for how to remain within a delicate group told her she must not let them realize that.

They had already been united into a group opposing the organizers. If she said she would prefer to act on her own discretion, she could easily be seen as disrupting the harmony of the group. In the worst case, she could even be labeled an ally of the organizers.

She glanced over at Hiyama and Rachel, the other women.

On the surface, they seemed to agree, but had they truly not realized the risks? Or had they and they were simply making sure no one noticed just like Matsumi was?

She could not tell what they were truly thinking.

They had officially united as a single group, so the others might begin suspecting her if they thought she was trying to sound out the others.

“What are you doing?” asked Higashikawa, the one who had set up the situation.

While using her facial muscles to create a harmless-looking smile, Matsumi replied, “Wait. I’m coming.”

She then passed through the steel door that had been warped in the explosion and entered the room.

The room had been bare to begin with, but the blast had created cracks in the walls and the ceiling. Small fragments must have rained down because the floor gave an overall impression of being disorderly.

Then again…

One major factor behind that impression may have been the corpse that had been blown to pieces and scattered across the floor and walls.

Matsumi did her best not to look at that.

The main issue was the back wall.

Unlike the rest of the room, the entire wall had crumbled. Another area continued on beyond it. It was a long passageway. The linoleum floor was covered mostly in a cold darkness and was eerily lit by an emergency exit.

This was not the same as a school.

It seemed more sterile yet gave off a strong impression of death.

Yes.

“This looks like a hospital,” muttered Matsumi.

As no one gave a differing opinion, it seemed they all felt the same.

The five moved further in.

This passageway had a window. The darkness outside made it clear it was night. But it would prove difficult to leave through the window. They appeared to be over 10 stories up.

And…

“What the hell? Metal bars?” said the man with a slight beard and a work uniform.

Yes.

Several thick steel bars were welded to the inside of the window. They did not provide enough room to squeeze through and they looked too sturdy to remove. Plus, they could be booby-trapped with a bomb or high voltage current.

The metal bars over the window were partially there to keep anyone from leaving, but they also gave off a sense of humiliation like they were trapped in a cage at the zoo.

Hiyama pointed down the passageway.

“Hey, I see some more bars up ahead.”

“…What?”

“Is this a mental hospital?”

Hospitals equipped with metal bars would occasionally show up in movies or dramas. However, a high school girl like Matsumi had no idea if real mental hospitals were equipped with such inhumane bars.

However, it brought a certain image to mind.

She recalled a certain term that had recently been all over the tabloid headlines and the hanging advertisements on trains.

“…Is this that Hell Hospital?”

“Ugeh!? Not that…” groaned Kazakami with a visibly displeased look.

However, he had to be thinking something else as well:

That was an idea the organizers of these deadly attractions would find absolutely mouthwatering.

Higashikawa wiped sweat from his brow and said, “What was that again? Some kind of facility that took in children who refused to go to school and claimed to help them return to society? But they were actually thrown into a hospital filled with metal bars and put through torturous rehabilitation, right? They ignored the kids’ personal situations and assumed they had dropped out due to an immature mind.”

“An expert medical institution backed them, so the kids’ parents did not suspect a thing. I heard that by the time the authorities realized what was going on, the group had become so utterly twisted that they insisted the children were simply sleeping even though they had been mummified in their beds. I wonder how much of that was true.”

Matsumi only had the information from tabloids, but one theory said the children who made mistakes would be given a special punishment in which they were dragged to the operating room, had their skull opened up, and received a lobotomy.

She had no idea how much of it was true, but it had been on a large enough scale to leave its mark on the history of Japanese crime.

And since it seemed like a cult linked to medicine, it was also said the health food and diet booms had helped instigate it.

However…

“We have no way of knowing if this is the real Hell Hospital,” said Higashikawa. “We saw a lot of different stages in those attraction videos. This could be a building the organizers created to resemble the Hell Hospital for their twisted purposes.”

“That’s right.” Kazakami looked back out through the barred window. “I can’t see the lights of a city outside. And is that the sea in the distance?”

They could only see in the one direction, so they could not be certain if they were on the coast or on an island. That difference would greatly change what they had to do after escaping the building.

At any rate, they had to keep moving, so they continued on.

However, they found more metal bars not even 20 meters down the passageway. A small door someone could pass through was installed, but it was of course locked.

Higashikawa stared at the small door.

“I guess it won’t be that easy.”

“But there was only one path here. Is there a key hidden somewhere in the passageway like in the rooms or were five different passageways meant to open up in the explosions?”

“Hey, look,” said Kazakami as he pointed at the bars.

Or more accurately, past the bars. The area was too dark to see it immediately, but a small sign had been set up in the middle of the passageway. It resembled the ones used to warn of a wet floor.

But a scrap of notebook paper had been taped to it.

Extremely round writing had been written with a thick permanent marker.

It said: Beware the traitor.

“…”

“…”

“…”

“…”

“…”

An unpleasant silence fell over all of them.

It was a simple sentence. It had no basis and they had no guarantee it was accurate.

But…

(This is bad.)

It did not matter if it was true or not. Seeing that here would cause them to begin to wonder if there was a traitor among them. To put it bluntly, that was information that must not be inputted within them. Once it made its way into their heads, it would remain as a prickling in the corner of their hearts no matter how much they denied it on the surface. It would sow the seeds of suspicion.

“They’re just trying to shake us. It’s obvious what the organizers want here,” spat out Higashikawa as he averted his gaze from the sign.

Rachel and Kazakami did the same.

“…”

Hiyama stared at the sign for a bit, but finally sighed and did the same as Higashikawa and the others.

Matsumi did not follow anyone in particular’s lead, but followed the overall flow of the situation and looked away as well.

===Part 2===

In truth, Matsumi had no memories.

It had felt similar to when the monitoring had ended midway and she had found herself in a dark room. All she remembered was a dull throbbing pain in her head and the surrounding memories growing vague.

However…

Unlike this time, the gap in her memories had been quite large.

Starting from the moment she had woken up, the gap had stretched back almost 15 years.

That first time, she had woken up inside an empty train.

The long benches on either side of the train had no one else sitting in them. Matsumi seemed to have been sleeping while sitting on the end of one of the benches near the door. When she frowned at the odd headache and tried to look around, she heard a slight noise.

It came from her school bag falling from her lap and to the floor.

Matsumi frantically grabbed the bag, but no one had seen her. The hanging advertisements shaking with the movements of the train displayed the faces of those in charge of the facility nicknamed the Hell Hospital.

She could not remember what subway line she was on or what station she was heading towards.

And that single question quickly made her aware of more and more things she could not remember. Once she realized that included her own address and even her name, Matsumi felt a chill run down her spine. The dull headache made its presence very well known.

In an attempt to control her unstable heart, Matsumi frantically undid the latch of her school bag and rummaged through it.

From the textbooks and notebooks she found, she learned she was a second year high school student.

She began to grow worried when she checked through every pocket and could not find a wallet or subway pass. She checked two or three times but still could not find them. She could tell the monster known as panic was opening its giant maw, but then she felt something on her thigh. She stuck a hand into her skirt and checked the pocket.

She found a sparkling pink wallet made of lamé and a cell phone that reflected light in the same way.

But when she switched on the cell phone, it displayed a password prompt. She of course did not know what that password was, so she could advance no further.

She looked through the wallet.

It also seemed to function as a card case as it held an IC-type subway pass. The surface had the normal stations she travelled between printed on it: Shirasagi to Kusanomine. The first one printed would normally be where her home was, so she guessed her home was in Shirasagi.

She also found a few store point cards with addresses in Shirasagi. The user name given on the cards was Matsumi Shirauo.

(Is that my name?)

Matsumi tilted her head but it did not feel real to her.

She also found a folded photograph inside the wallet. She unfolded it to find someone with her same face smiling between a middle-aged man and a middle-aged woman.

It was a family photo. And using a paper photo in the age of digital cameras seemed like something an old man would insist on. From that, she guessed she got along well with her family and did what her parents wanted.

The wallet also contained a few 1000 yen bills and quite a bit of change. The change pocket also held a key. It may have belonged to her house. It was not one of the uniquely shaped keys that belonged to a bicycle or scooter. She found no receipts. She must have been the type who threw them away at the register.

Nothing in the wallet listed her exact address or phone number.

All of that personal information was likely contained in her cell phone. She had had no reason write it out when it was stored there.

“Shirasagi. We will be stopping at Shirasagi next. Everyone using the Bungaku Line or the Special Coastal Line must switch trains. I repeat: we will be stopping at…”

Matsumi frantically stood up from the bench when she heard the flat voice of that announcement.

The subway train stopped at a station in the tunnel.

She stepped off onto the platform, but it was as oddly deserted as the train.

She knew her home was somewhere in Shirasagi, but she knew nothing more detailed than that. As she wondered what to do, she suddenly recalled the subway pass in her wallet.

She pulled it out again to check and it was indeed the IC card type. It was made so she could pass through the ticket gate just by touching the card to it.

And that meant it had her personal information registered in it.

She followed the arrow on the sign to walk across the platform and to the ticket gate. She used her subway pass to leave the station and approached the automatic ticket machine. She inserted her pass and called up the menu to change the registered information.

Her name, address, and contact information appeared immediately.

It seemed she lived in an apartment rather than a house.

But before she could feel relieved, Matsumi’s expression froze over.

Something she had not expected was listed along with the other personal information.

Her occupation.

Due to what she was wearing, she had assumed that field would simply have “student” entered, but it did not. Something else was written there:

''Temporary Employment

''Attraction Land Sales Department

===Part 3===

Due to the metal bars across the passageway, they could not continue on. Could it have been a coincidence that Matsumi and the others had come here? Were all five rooms meant to have a wall crumble to reveal five different passageways?

In the worst case, they would need to head back to the original five rooms and try to destroy the walls, floor, and ceilings of the other four. The five of them turned back and carefully investigated the passageway. The only illumination came from the emergency exit light which was beyond the metal bars.

That was why it took them so long to notice.

It was unclear if the organizers had even intended to hide it.

“Here…” said Rachel in a feeble voice as she felt along the wall overly slowly out of fear of a poisoned needle or some other trap. “Is this a door?”

The others gathered around her.

They felt along the wall too and it did indeed feel odd. It was cold like a sheet of metal. It likely was a door just as Rachel had said.

However, it had no knob.

It was nothing more than a flat metal panel.

“What kind of door is this? How do you open it?”

Kazakami was the one to voice the question all of them were thinking.

Matsumi pushed with both hands, but it would not budge.

“Could this be…?” muttered Higashikawa before crouching down.

He seemed to be feeling around for something in the darkness.

He primarily focused on the floor.

“I was right. There’s a switch here. You step on it to open the door.”

“Is this for an operating room? I think they make it open with a switch on the floor so the doctor does not dirty his hands,” commented Hiyama casually, but then she seemed to realize the weight of the words she had just said.

A great tension ran through the darkness.

The Hell Hospital had partially earned its name due to what went on in the operating rooms.

Children in perfect health had been forcibly dragged in, had their skulls opened, and had their brain operated on for a lobotomy. It was a bloody experimental ground.

Their surroundings did not give an enjoyable impression.

Whether this was the real Hell Hospital or not, the organizers of the attractions would feel the strongest attachment to and interest in this stage. Unless they were cruel enough to actually betray even that basic assumption, the organizers would have something set up here.

“What do we do?”

“I don’t want to go in there any more than you do, but there’s nowhere else to go.”

“…”

Rachel was too afraid to speak.

Matsumi slowly opened her mouth to speak in order not to provide too much of a stimulus.

“The odds are good this is some kind of trap or the next attraction. We need to be careful.”

Matsumi heard the sound of scraping metal.

Higashikawa must have pressed the button near the door.

The double doors opened inwards. In the next moment, the bright fluorescent lights of an operating room lit up. They were left momentarily blinded.

Matsumi instinctually held a hand up to her eyes and managed to maintain some of her vision by squinting.

The area inside was surprisingly large.

The lack of any special equipment may have strengthened that impression. It was about as large as a classroom. The color scheme was entirely made of a light blue and the walls were tiled. The ceiling was about 2 stories high. The walls of the upper floor were covered in glass. New doctors and others could observe the operation from there.

The operating table and a characteristic surgical light were installed in the center of the room. The surgical light was a device created from many different individual lights.

The two pieces of equipment gave off an impression of being isolated because the operating room was completely empty otherwise.

“What…?” said Higashikawa as he entered the operating room.

Matsumi and Rachel followed his lead and walked in after him side by side.

And suddenly, a series of loud musical tones played.

“…Oh, was that too loud? My bad, my bad,” said an equally loud voice.

The great noise brought them all to a stop.

The door to the operating room slammed shut behind Matsumi. Hiyama and Kazakami were still out in the passageway. Rachel frantically ran over to the door, but it would not budge no matter how much she pushed and pulled.

There was a foot button on the floor near the door, but nothing happened when Rachel tried it.

“I-It will not open!!”

They could hear someone pounding on the door from outside.

Kazakami’s voice shouted, “Hey, what happened!? Are you holding it shut!? This button just opened the door, right!?”

“…”

Matsumi silently looked around the operating room and spotted a speaker near the ceiling.

A female voice said, “I thought you would all give up, but it seems you are a surprisingly greedy bunch. That means it is time to begin the 2nd attraction. If you clear it, you will be given the key to those metal bars. If you fail, the door to the operating room will never open again.”

A high-pitched noise exploded out.

It came from the upper floor.

The glass protecting the observation space had shattered. Not much rained down, but Matsumi and Higashikawa jumped back as far as they could whether it was actually falling toward them or not. Rachel was slower to react, so Matsumi ran into her and they fell to the ground.

A woman stood in the space above.

It seemed she had broken the glass with a chair. She threw four objects about the size of landline phone receivers through the hole that was too large to call a gap.

Some landed on the surgical table and some missed and fell to the floor.

Higashikawa’s body stiffened in shock when he saw them.

Matsumi did not want to look toward them.

But before she could, the woman who had broken the glass spoke.

“Two of the handguns hold a real bullet and two hold only blanks. Two of you will participate. Each participant must choose whichever two of the handguns they want, aim the guns at each other, and pull one of their two triggers when I give the sign. It’s quite a simple attraction.”

“You’re insane!!!!!!” shouted Higashikawa without thinking.

At first glance, it seemed this was a decent reaction, but Matsumi felt the organizers would only rejoice at the outburst of impotent rage. The woman might have been purposefully provoking them, but that might also be too farfetched.

“By the way, the guns have laser pointers attached, so we will know if you try to aim away. Make sure to aim at the center of the other’s face before pulling the trigger.”

For an instant, Rachel’s gaze moved between the handgun and the woman on the upper floor.

She may have been considering taking the gun and shooting the woman.

But Matsumi doubted it would work. It was the organizers who had prepared the guns. They would have countermeasures prepared to keep them from being used against them.

Matsumi looked up at the upper floor.

This woman claimed to be a fulltime employee of Attraction Land.

But Matsumi had never had a proper conversation with those fulltime employees. It was unknown what the woman’s purpose was in throwing her into this situation. It was unclear if the woman even viewed Matsumi as on the same side as her.

The woman then clearly met Matsumi’s gaze.

And she smiled.

Then she announced, “The two who will take part in this attraction are the following: Matsuuumiii Shiraaaauoooooo!! Raacheeeeellll Skyyyyyydaaaaaaance!!”

“Ee!!”

Rachel let out a voice like a hiccup as her entire body stiffened.

Matsumi silently gritted her teeth. If the explosions had opened a different path, would a less cruel fate have awaited them? However, thinking on possibilities that may never have existed would not help.

“A catfight like this can only be seen tonight!! The feigned innocence of these girls is likely to come crumbling down, so I hope you’re prepared to be disillusioned, boy!! Now, let us begin. Both of you must choose two of these handguns!!”

“No!” frantically shouted Higashikawa to stop the designated girls.

He may have forgotten the simple fact that a raised voice would wear at people’s nerves in an extreme situation regardless of the intent behind it. Or perhaps he had not forgotten and was doing it purposefully.

“They’ll do anything to enjoy this. They’ll never keep their promise. They probably all have a real bullet inside so they can laugh at the idiots who honestly take the challenge!”

“No, no.”

An odd change suddenly came over the voice of the woman on the upper floor.

It grew quieter.

It grew eerily sincere.

“We strictly adhere to the rules and results of the attractions. It does not matter if that leads to a sickening happy ending where you all survive.”

Before Matsumi and the others could think on it or analyze it, the woman’s voice reverted to the same as before.

“But whether you believe me or not, the attraction is beginning! If you use up all your time, you will all be killed!”

“Shit…” cursed Higashikawa despite having escaped the attraction himself.

Was he cursing his inability to stop his allies from killing each other or was he cursing his own relief over having escaped?

“If you have not made your preparations within 10 minutes, you will be killed. Tah dah!! I have a beer case full of Molotov cocktails prepared. …Hm? You can’t see them from down there? Well, I’ll be tossing a ton of them down there, so I doubt you will be able to escape. The door won’t be opening either.”

“Shit!!”

Higashikawa was the first one to act.

Matsumi followed suit and approached the four handguns scattered near the operating table in the center. Rachel sat on the floor with her face absolutely pale and remained perfectly motionless.

“We have to check,” muttered Matsumi more to herself than anyone else. And then she shouted out because that encouragement had immediately failed. “We have to find some way to tell which ones have a real bullet and which ones have a blank! If we know how to tell, we will automatically know if the rules are fair and how to safely clear this attraction!!”

All of the handguns were revolvers.

“If we can determine which handguns have blanks, we can clear this attraction with no one dying.”

Matsumi picked up one of the handguns and tried to remove the cartridges, but the cylinder would not open like she had seen in movies.

At first she assumed she simply did not know how to do it, but Higashikawa shook his head after he tried with a different gun.

“It’s no good. They’ve been altered so the cylinder won’t open.”

“We can’t check the cartridges, so we can’t tell which ones are real bullets and which ones are blanks!”

They were revolvers, so the cylinder was made to hold six shots in a circular pattern. If the bullet aligned with the barrel was viewed as 12 o’clock, the bullets at 2 o’clock and 10 o’clock could be glimpsed by staring into the holes on the cylinder.

However…

“Dammit, they all look the same.”

If they could not check, they could not choose between the four guns.

If they simply chose at random, the odds of no one dying were almost nonexistent. If either of them chose the gun with a real bullet, it was over. And it was possible one of them would end up with both options holding a real bullet.

Given the different patterns, the odds of someone dying were 3/4.

That was three times as high as in Russian roulette.

“Just under seven minutes to go!”

“…”

They could not tell which were real bullets and which were blanks just by looking in from outside.

The odds were too poor to simply choose at random.

There had to be a way.

There had to be some other way of telling apart the four handguns.

“…Wait.”

“What?”

“Do you have something like an eraser? And something like a ruler!!”

“How is that going to help? All of the guns are the same model, so measuring their length won’t-…”

“Just do it!! I’m not measuring their length!!” shouted Matsumi as she looked over at the operating table in the center of the room. More accurately, she looked at the four legs supporting it. She grabbed one of those square rods and pulled hard.

It was affixed to the table with a screw, so it would not budge.

Matsumi looked to Higashikawa and said, “Help me tear this leg off!!”

“Why? What are you going to use it for?”

“We have a chance if we use it! Hurry!!”

Higashikawa did not hold back any longer.

He circled around to where Matsumi was and held the operating table in place so it would not move. When they worked together, the square rod seemed to slowly bend. But it was actually the screw holding it in place beginning to break.

A high pitched snapping sound rang out.

It had bent a bit, but the leg had come off. The operating table fell over diagonally, but Matsumi did not care.

She took off the leather shoe of her school uniform and placed it on the floor.

She then carefully placed the center of the operating table leg on top.

It was a seesaw.

Or…

“…Scales?”

“Real bullets and blanks don’t weigh the same, right? The heavier gun should be the one with a real bullet inside. We can tell them apart by weighing them!!”

“How much time is left!?” shouted Higashikawa toward the upper floor.

The organizer woman replied, “Just under three minutes.”

“We can make it,” muttered Higashikawa under his breath. His voice then grew louder. “We can make it. We can clear this attraction without anyone dying!!”

===Part 4===

Meanwhile, Rachel was not watching Matsumi and Higashikawa work as she sat on the operating room floor.

She was looking towards her feet.

She was looking at the gap between her thighs.

Rachel was not simply frozen there out of fear. She had noticed something. Something had been written on the operating room floor with a ballpoint pen. She had sat down so she could read it without the others noticing.

Due to her position, it was hard to read.

But her life could be riding on even the smallest piece of information.

The round writing said the following:

''Comparing the weights is an elementary trap, so be careful.

''The trick lies in the principle of leverage.

“…Ah.”

She accidentally let out a voice and briefly panicked over whether Matsumi or Higashikawa had heard her.

Yes.

The principle of leverage.

Scales only worked when the bar extended equal distances in both directions from the fulcrum in the middle. So what if those distances were not equal?

Moving the fulcrum, which in this case was a leather shoe, would be difficult. With two people working on it, someone would notice the change.

But what about the handguns placed on either end of the bar?

Moving their position by just a few centimeters would be enough to lose all equality. The lighter blank handguns could be made to look heavier. Unlike normal scales, there were no plates. It would not be difficult to casually alter the positions of the handguns slightly.

In other words…

If the person measuring it wanted to, they could change the result to whatever they wanted.

They could create fraudulent results.

They could cheat.

(But they have no reason to do that.)

Rachel reflexively denied that dreadful thought that had come to her mind. The five of them were working together to survive and to ruin the organizers’ plans for them. She wanted to rely on that wonderful idea.

But…

''Beware the traitor.

There was the sign beyond the metal bars in the Hell Hospital passageway. Its powerful message flashed in the back of her mind. She could not completely deny the possibility. She wanted to but could not.

There was one reason.

There was one reason someone would do that.

(Matsumi-san can give me the two blank handguns and take the two real ones for herself. Then she will survive no matter which gun I choose at the last second. But in that case, the gun fired at me has a 100% chance of being loaded with a real bullet.)

The organizers would be at fault.

They would be seen as having tricked both Matsumi and Rachel.

And so everyone’s anger toward the organizers would increase, but Matsumi would not be kicked out of the group. Even if she protected herself by creating a situation that ensured Rachel’s death, she could easily deflect the hatred.

“Got it!! The right two have blanks and the left two have real bullets!!”

“Hurry, Rachel-san! Let’s finish this before that woman says the time is up and throws those Molotov cocktails down here!!”

She felt like she was hearing the voices of demons.

What should she do?

Rachel thought for a moment and finally stood up slowly. She approached the operating table to ensure the others did not see the small writing on the floor.

As expected, Matsumi grabbed two handguns and held them out towards Rachel.

She was keeping Rachel from making the decision.

“Be careful. The one in your right hand has a blank and the one in your left hand has a real bullet. …Rachel-san, please don’t mix them up. Just think of it as shooting with your dominant hand.”

“Um…” Rachel slowly spoke up and made a suggestion. “Both of us have one with a real bullet and one with a blank, right? We have the same setup, right?”

“Y-yeah. Why do you ask?”

“Sorry, but could we swap guns? These ones…um…they’re kind of dirty.”

“Fine, it’s the same either way,” replied Matsumi as she held the two guns meant for herself out towards Rachel. “The right one is the blank and the left one is the real one. It’s the same as before, so don’t get it wrong. Fire with your right hand on the signal. Got it?”

“…Y-yes.”

After Rachel took the two revolvers, Matsumi grabbed the two she had given to Rachel earlier.

Higashikawa shouted up towards the upper floor.

“We’ve chosen! How do we begin the attraction!?”

“Matsumi-san and Rachel-san, please move against opposite walls. Press your backs to the walls and aim your guns at each other. If you press the small button on the grip, the laser pointer will activate. Use that and aim at each other’s faces. Failing to do so will get you all killed, so be careful.”

“…”

“…”

Matsumi and Rachel followed their instructions and moved to either end of the classroom-sized room.

Rachel’s mind was filled with confusion as she pressed her back against the wall.

Matsumi had readily swapped out the guns.

If one set had both blank guns and the other had both real guns, that would have been a fatal move.

Was the idea of a traitor nothing more than seeds of suspicion sown by the organizers? Had Matsumi and Higashikawa both distributed the guns properly? If she did as instructed and fired the gun in her right hand, would they clear the attraction with no one dying?

(But…)

A very bad feeling swelled up in the back of Rachel’s mind.

She had found that message written in ballpoint pen on the operating room floor. It had warned of someone cheating using the principle of leverage.

But could she be sure it had been written by the organizers?

In other words…

Rachel stared blankly at the girl wearing a school uniform.

Could Matsumi have written that message on the floor while no one was looking?

Had she intentionally made Rachel suspicious?

Had she lured Rachel into asking to swap out the guns?

She could have divided the four guns into the two blank ones and the two real ones and then given herself the blanks at first.

Her preparations would be complete once Rachel asked to swap out the guns out of the fear brought on by the message on the floor.

Matsumi could fake the outcomes of the measurements with a trick using the principle of leverage. But that still held some risk of suspicion being turned toward Matsumi once Rachel was killed. After all, Matsumi had suggested using scales, Matsumi had taken the measurements, and Matsumi had handed Rachel the handguns.

But what if Rachel made an irregular request?

If that coincidence was added in…

No one would suspect Matsumi of any ill will. If Rachel had not suggested swapping out the guns, Matsumi would have been the one to die. She moved from the position of perpetrator to the position of victim.

Matsumi had lured Rachel in.

And Rachel had fallen for it.

“Wai-…!!” shouted Rachel frantically, but the organizer woman spoke up to cut her off.

“The 2nd attraction will now begin. I will start the countdown. When I reach zero, each of you is to pull your chosen trigger!!”

A calm smile could be seen on Matsumi’s lips.

Was she certain of her victory?

Did she know there was no way she could die?

“Three. Two. One!”

The count continued.

The guns in Rachel’s right hand and left hand both felt horribly empty.

She could not win.

No matter which one she shot, she would only be firing a blank. Matsumi had both real guns. The bullet that flew out along the path of the laser pointer would certainly blast straight through Rachel’s forehead. Even if she swung her head to the side at the last second and successfully evaded the bullet, the organizers would kill her. Molotov cocktails would rain down from above and the flames would burn Rachel to death.

She could not be saved.

She could not survive.

All five of them surviving was the sole means of defeating the malicious organizers. When Rachel had first heard that, she had been moved, but she had been unable to pull it off. The malice leaking out from each of them had eaten away at that ideal.

[[Image:Survey_v02_296.jpg|thumb]]

(In that case!!)

Rachel gritted her teeth.

She had guns in her right hand and left hand.

She poured all her focus into one of them.

(At the very least, I do not want to end this as a mere puppet!!)

“Zero!!”

The sounds of two gunshots seemed to stab into her heart.

===Part 5===

As Higashikawa watched on from the side, he seriously thought the shock would crush his heart.

The noise was so loud he thought something was wrong with his eardrums.

Finally, silence came.

The organizer woman on the upper floor said, “And with that, the 2nd attraction comes to an end. I hope the survivors will enjoy the upcoming attractions.”

The figure on the upper floor tossed something small through the large gap in the broken glass. It glittered with a silver light and sounded like a coin when it landed, so it was likely a key. It would be the key to the door in the metal bars.

When they looked back up, the woman was gone. She had left.

And then the solid and unmoving door opened on its own.

Hiyama and Kazakami cautiously peered in.

“Wh-what happened? We heard one hell of a noise.”

“Ha…ha ha.”

They heard a relaxed and powerless laugh.

It came from Matsumi where she stood against one wall. She was holding a handgun that still had a bit of smoke rising from it. The tension holding her in place was gone, so she slid down the wall into a sitting position.

Matsumi had survived.

The 2nd attraction was over and the operating room door had opened.

They had the key to the metal bars blocking the passageway, so they could continue on.

And…

As for Rachel at the opposite wall…

“Ha…ha?”

Her entire face was soaked with sweat and her expression was one of confusion. It was as if she did not understand how she had survived.

Higashikawa took a deep breath and said, “All of us managed to survive again. Let’s keep this up.”

He then walked over to the high school girl named Matsumi.

It was only once he approached that he noticed something.

Her face still held a grim and somehow irritated look.

“Take these,” she said while pressing her two handguns into Higashikawa’s grasp.

“Hey.”

“One of them still has a real bullet inside. Fire it somewhere harmless …Oh, I know. Fire it at the observation seats up above.”

She then used her chin to point toward Rachel who had sunk to the floor.

“Do the same with hers. Hurry.”

“?”

===Part 6===

Two gunshots rang out.

Higashikawa had fired the two handguns with a real bullet inside straight up.

The situation seemed over.

Matsumi grabbed a gun away from Higashikawa and pulled the trigger while aiming at an empty wall. However, it seemed all but the first shot had been loaded with blanks. The cylinder turned again and again, but no bullets were fired. It would clearly be of no use as a weapon, so she tossed it to the operating room floor.

Once more, all five of them had survived.

They had no idea when or where the 3rd attraction would begin, but it seemed they were doing quite well.

However, the situation was not that favorable.

After that game of aiming a gun at each other and pulling the trigger, Matsumi alone knew the truth.

In the final instant, Rachel had fired the handgun in her left hand.

Rachel had been told the right one had the blank and the left one had the real bullet.

And yet she had fired the left gun.

Saying she panicked and got mixed up was not an acceptable excuse. Rachel had clearly chosen the left gun she knew would fire a real bullet.

And Matsumi had predicted it would happen.

She had handed Rachel a safe pair of guns, but Rachel had then asked that they swap guns. Matsumi had no idea what foundation Rachel was working off of, but she had clearly grown suspicious. And so Matsumi had secretly swapped out the guns in her right and left hands before handing them to Rachel.

That had saved her life.

If she had faithfully handed over the guns like normal, Matsumi would have been killed.

“Hoo…”

Giving the guns to Higashikawa afterwards had also had meaning.

A handgun with a real bullet loaded was a powerful weapon, but it was too dangerous for Rachel to hold. However, Matsumi doubted Rachel would have agreed if she had demanded Rachel hand over her gun. Anyone would want a weapon in this situation.

If Matsumi had tried to force Rachel, there had been a risk she would have been shot.

And so she had left her own guns with Higashikawa first. She had created an illusion of fairness on the surface. And if Rachel did snap and grow violent, the danger would fall on Higashikawa rather than Matsumi.

Fortunately, Rachel had agreed to hand her gun over to Higashikawa.

(But…)

Matsumi still did not know what had led Rachel to try to shoot her.

The attraction’s rules gave no reason to want to eliminate the other participant.

However…

''Beware the traitor.

The words written on that sign tore into Matsumi’s chest.

She doubted those words had been referring to Rachel. The opposite was more likely. Rachel may have somehow realized a certain fact.

She may have realized that Matsumi Shirauo was on Attraction Land’s side.

(Either way…)

She quietly thought while overcome with the relief of overcoming that great hurdle and the tension of the danger she had yet to escape.

(It seems simply accepting that everyone is working together for our mutual survival will not be enough to survive.)

On the surface, everything appeared to be going well.

But unseen cracks had definitely begun to spread.

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| Forward to [[A_Simple_Survey:Volume2_Intermission5|From the Items Left Behind by a Dead Freelance Writer]]
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</noinclude>

A Simple Survey:Volume2 Attraction08

2013-04-24T18:29:06Z

89.77.202.20: /* Attraction 08: Washing Away Blood with Blood */

==Attraction 08: Washing Away Blood with Blood==

The island that acted as our stage seemed to be sinking into the ocean that appeared to absorb the darkness of the night.

It was known as Corpse Island.

The entire island had been developed as a coal mine a few decades ago, but it had been entirely abandoned as time went on. The high-rise housing complexes that were not made to withstand earthquakes had not been blown up or demolished, so they had grown old and damaged until they collapsed. The exposed rebar and emergency staircases that ended halfway up showed just how unsafe the place was.

The place felt more like ruins than a deserted island.

No shouts or screams would reach anyone and the ocean surrounding the island prevented any escape.

It was perfect for being an attraction’s stage.

A bunny girl holding a cheap megaphone in one hand spoke with men in work uniforms on either side of her.

“Does everyone have a key on their right wrist?”

I heard a light metallic noise. An elastic band similar to those that held pool locker keys was around my wrist and had a key attached.

“The rules are simple. Each individual key is worth 100 million yen. When the attraction ends at dawn, you will be rewarded according to the number of keys you have. However, the key you have at the beginning does not count. Please acquire someone else’s key whether by negotiation, threats, or force.”

It was immediately obvious that the attraction could be easily ended if all of the participants traded their keys in a circle.

However, the trick was that the more keys we had at the end, the more we would be paid.

We would earn more if we did not simply trade in a circle. And if you attacked the person with the most keys, you could jump to the top regardless of what had happened before that.

And…

There was a good chance the six participants gathered on this island were all in a bad enough situation that 100 million yen would not be enough.

They might need 200 million yen or 110 million.

At any rate, the attraction had been intentionally created such that trading the keys in a circle would not be enough.

Those watching on from a safe place wanted to see us participants chose of our own free will to throw away the safe opportunity handed to us. Their cruel taste was painfully obvious.

But I did not care.

We were all in the same situation.

I had no reason to go easy on them.

“Okay, everyone draw one of these lots.”

We each chose one of some crude lots made from chopsticks. As if she was revealing the prize on a quiz show, the bunny girl then pulled away a large cloth to reveal something that had been hidden.

“These items will help you advance through the attraction. According to the lots you all drew, Tanaka-san gets two handguns, Tetsuyama-san gets a flamethrower, Tatsukawa-san gets a stun gun, Hikarikawa-san gets a 15-ton mobile crane, Harumura-san gets a military knife, and…ohh! Hayashino-san gets the joker prize! Hayashino-san’s prize is Karen-chan!!”

“…What?”

I frowned. This was partially due to not having any idea what kind of item that was, but I also did not like having my name called out repeatedly. I did not want to gather attention this early in the game.

To answer my question, the bunny girl pointed her thumb at the center of her chest.

“That’s me!!”

“Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait!!” shouted someone. It was the man who had won the mobile crane. “What do you mean he gets one of the organizers on his side!? Doesn’t that give him too much of an advantage!?”

“This has nothing to do with whether it is an advantage or not. Drawing lots is unfair by its very nature. And how can you complain after winning that wonderful mobile crane?”

“B-but…”

“And this is just your initial equipment.” The bunny girl named Karen grinned. “If you don’t like it, then swipe someone else’s after the attraction begins. And that of course means we might attack you in order to steal that crane.”

“…”

Every single participant was focused on us. The bunny girl was probably doing it on purpose.

Even if we would end up killing each other eventually, there was still a proper order for this.

“Okay, everyone. Let’s see…The attraction begins in 20 minutes. Take a nice stroll through the island until then.”

She of course meant we should hide before the battle began.

We all exchanged a glance before the other participants ran off in different directions. They were likely planning to hide somewhere on the island and wait for an opportunity.

Left behind, I looked over at the bunny girl.

While the others received deadly weapons like a flamethrower, handguns, or a giant vehicle, I ended up with a girl.

“…So what exactly can you do?” I asked.

Karen swung her arms and legs around to create some strange stance before saying, “I can defeat a dinosaur with my fists! I can break through a rocky mountain with my kick!! And my special ability lets me make three actions in a single turn!”

''Did I draw the dud lot that means all the other participants will come to kill me? Maybe I need to attack them by surprise sooner rather than later.

After noticing I did not seem very excited with the weapon I had won, the bunny girl began wiggling her hips around.

“Okay, okay. Let’s talk seriously now. We only have a bit longer until the attraction begins. Where will we go hide?”

“This island’s structures are divided into three overall areas. The coal mine, the old city, and the harbor. The entrance to the mine will likely have been sealed with steel plates when it was closed. All of the warehouses at the harbor had collapsed, so I don’t remember seeing any remaining buildings there. That presents a problem. Do you know what that is?”

“We can’t escape from the mobile crane.”

“Exactly.”

After all, that was a 15 ton monster. Even if it was safely driven at 50 kph, a person on the ground could do nothing to oppose it. And it was blatantly obvious what would happen if you were chased around by it.

“That means we need to go to the old city. If we hide on the upper levels of a building, the crane can’t run us over.”

“We could hide in the coal mine, couldn’t we?”

“Forcing our way into a mineshaft with rusting footing and supports is a bad idea. If we break through the ground, we could fall over 100 meters down.”

We ended up heading to the old city.

Since this was an abandoned island, there was no illumination. The deep darkness seemed to press in from every direction. Somewhere in that darkness hid attackers wielding deadly weapons. That malice made the darkness feel even deeper.

A lot of people must have worked in the mine when it was being used because the housing complexes were packed in unbelievably tight. Only a few dozen centimeters existed between buildings, so it looked like people could jump from window to window.

Some buildings had collapsed from the natural deterioration of time and they had caused a domino effect in some areas. The rubble was even piled up in the roads, so the supposedly orderly cityscape had become something like a maze.

Everyday items were strewn about along with the rubble. With all of the dust covering them, it resembled some strange piece of reclaimed land.

I picked up a bag lying on the ground that had originally had Imada Construction printed on its surface. I then tossed it toward Karen.

''…Imada Construction, hm?

“Gather some random egg-sized pieces of concrete and put them in that bag.”

“…What will you use them for?”

“We have no weapons, so I want to procure some before the attraction begins.”

What came to mind when you thought of projectiles? Guns? Bows? If you just needed something from the BCE time period, all you needed was a leather belt and some small stones. If you made a U-shape out of the belt, held a stone inside, and swung it around to throw the stone with the centrifugal force, you had a sling. That could be deadly enough.

However…

I had heard that some tribes could kill wild beasts from a distance of over 100 meters, but even half that distance would be difficult for me. It was night and my targets would be moving. The distance I could throw the stone and the distance from which I could hit and injure someone were two different things.

“You sure are knowledgeable.”

“The Swords and Firearms Control Law is well made, but it can’t restrict access to items that are everywhere. You keep the bag. Swinging it around will work in place of a blackjack.”

“What is that you’re gathering there? Fishing weights?”

“Just a bit of insurance.”

I entered a random crumbling building and headed up to the second floor so the mobile crane could not attack. I wanted to be low enough that I could jump to the ground if another participant had me cornered.

“What are you doing?”

“Looking for something to light a fire with.”

“…In this darkness?”

“Now is my only chance. This is still the preparatory period. Once the killing starts, the point of light could lead to my death.”

I found a rusted portable stove. The gas cylinder had of course been removed, but I managed to light a fire by holding the ignition plug against an old scrap of cloth.

After a few more tricks, my preparations were complete.

“You thought this through.”

“We need to move. I don’t want to stay where that fire was.”

We jumped from the building’s window into the neighboring building’s window.

I hid in the darkness with the bunny girl.

“…It should be starting soon.”

Our personal possessions had been confiscated so I had no clock, but I could estimate based on about how much time I spent on travelling and preparations.

I stared at Karen in her bunny outfit.

“By the way, I forgot to ask. Do I have any guarantee you won’t betray me mid-attraction?”

“None at all,” said Karen nonchalantly. “Handguns have a risk of exploding, a portable crane has a risk of stalling, and I have my own risks. Do I really need to explain this?”

“…”

“Hm? Are you thinking you should silence me now if I might betray you later?” she said readily. “That is one path you could take, but then you would really, truly be unarmed. Although if you think you can fight the others like that, I won’t stop you.”

The bunny girl was right. Nothing she had said was wrong.

But why was she able to remain so objective at a time like this?

Did she not fear for her life?

“What will you do? If you ask me, you should make up your mind quickly.”

“…I’ll use you for the time being.”

“Is that so?”

A bright flare shot straight up into the sky in the distance.

That signaled the beginning of the attraction.

The killing game on Corpse Island where we would wash away blood with blood had begun.

As the attraction began, Karen and I continued to hide on the second floor of that housing complex.

This was simply because we heard the sounds of an engine from directly below.

It was that 15-ton mobile crane.

Such sounds were not uncommon in a city, but this was an abandoned island completely wrapped in darkness. The noise sounded much louder than normal. It sounded so loud I wondered if someone in the mine would have been able to hear it.

“What do you think?” I asked.

“He may be searching. He has been circling around the same area again and again and again, so he isn’t chasing someone.”

I did not think Karen was wrong, but we could not remain stuck here.

“Let’s go.”

“Oh, already? Rushing things will lead to mistakes. It is still 7 hours until dawn. Slowly solidifying a foundation may be better than forcing yourself to-…”

“I don’t want to let the other participants do that,” I replied quickly in a quiet voice. “Two handguns, a flamethrower, a mobile crone, a stun gun, a military knife, and you. That is the only information we all have. But that will change as time goes on. I don’t want a situation where it looks like an enemy only has a knife, but then attacks with a projectile.”

The bunny girl had called out everyone’s names before the attraction began, but I did not remember who was who. After being thrown into this cruel attraction, human life was worth less than a small tool.

And so Karen and I began moving.

If we made our way to the ground, the mobile crane would have devoured us. Fortunately, the housing complexes were only a few dozen centimeters apart and the glass was missing from most of the windows, so we could easily jump from building to building.

“How do you plan to find the participants who do not have a loud mobile crane?”

“Can’t you do something?”

“If you like, I can show off my mind reading skills!! Oh, or would you prefer a tarot fortune telling?”

I sighed in exasperation.

But I did not have a plan either.

“The routes between the old city, the harbor, and the mine are limited, so the standard method would be to set up a trap along them.”

It was a small island, but it would take time to walk across the entire thing. And the other participants would constantly be on the move, so we could easily miss each other.

The mobile crane made plenty of noise, so it was no problem. However, it seemed I would have to kill the others the instant I ran across them or else I might never see them again.

Or…

''Instead of searching, can I set up a trap so they come to me?

As soon as that idea entered my head…

“Freeze.”

As soon as we heard that sudden female voice, Karen and I hid behind two lined up pillars. The woman might have simply been probing out the situation, but I was not willing to risk my life on that optimistic assumption. And I knew what weapon the person using that term would have.

The two handguns.

I heard a footstep.

Someone had entered the room.

“It’s too late to hide. Just so you know, the enamel material on that bunny’s outfit glitters a lot. That’s probably why the crane has been driving around this area for so long.”

I could not tell what she was after.

If she simply planned on shooting me and taking my key, she should have fired already. Or did she not want the crane to hear the gunshot?

Karen looked over at me from behind her pillar.

I gave her an order by making a sign with my fingers.

But I was not having her attack. If she did that, she would simply be driven back by a barrage of bullets. And this woman would hardly let us live in a situation like this.

Now then.

The real question was whether that creepily smiling bunny girl would follow my instructions or not.

It was entirely possible she would betray me at this first sign of real danger and join with the woman and her two handguns.

And then…

“Okay, okay. I get it, I get it.”

She readily walked out from behind the pillar while pouting her lips like a child who had been playing video games when her mother asked her to run an errand.

She handled it so lightly even I was shocked and I was the one who had ordered her to do it.

“Oh? So you can use her like that,” mockingly said the woman with the two handguns.

The bunny girl smiled and said, “It’s what I was asked to do.”

“Did you think I wouldn’t shoot you because you’re with the organizers?”

“You’ll probably shoot. And I’ll die if you do.”

''What is going on in that head of hers?

I had assumed the organizers who had put together this attraction were no normal people, but this was more than I had expected.

The woman with the two handguns seemed to pick up on how strange this was.

But…

“This is just as I expected or maybe even more. You look worthy of joining forces with,” said the woman.

“…”

“You come out from behind that pillar, too. My gun is a 9mm. If you use this girl as a shield, I can’t hit you.”

I did as instructed.

This was the first time I would speak with one of the other participants.

“What are you after?” I asked.

“The defeat of our strongest enemy.”

“I’d say the most dangerous one here is you with your two handguns.”

“No, I’m not. These aren’t anti-materiel rifles. Even a thin metal plate can deflect a 9mm. I want to defeat that mobile crane before it has a chance to reinforce itself like that.”

And once that enemy was gone, nothing could stop her.

The flamethrower also looked quite dangerous, but the ones that ran from a tank worn on the back had a maximum range of only about 10 meters. Any more than that would roast the user with the heat. Her handguns could fire at a target 150 meters away, so she could easily kill him. If she adjusted the front sight and fired a bit upwards, she could reach him.

But…

It was true I would have no hope of winning if we didn’t do anything about that mobile crane. As soon as he thought up a means of reinforcing the driver’s seat with something like a metal plate, he would be unbeatable.

I had actually been hoping these two powerful enemies would end up killing each other, but it seemed I would be used as a pawn in the process.

“What can we do?”

“I do not have unlimited ammo. Specifically, I have 30 shots between the two guns. It would be difficult to make sure I shot the driver while running away from the crane. But,” added the woman, “I have much better odds if I can focus on shooting while the crane pursues a different target. I’m no gunman, so I doubt I can manage it in just a shot or two even then. But I should be able to manage it before the magazines are empty.”

“And you want us to lure him out?”

“I can’t ask the other participants.” The woman moved one of the gun barrels between Karen and me. “But you are different. The rest of us have only one life, but you have two. We can use that to our advantage.”

“…I see.”

Karen could betray me at any time, so it was unclear if she would follow my instructions to the very, very end. But if we began to lose to the mobile crane, I could ditch Karen and escape while the crane was focused on the woman with the two handguns.

And more importantly, if I refused here, I would be shot. The woman wanted Karen as a pawn, not me. She would probably try to threaten Karen after killing me.

“I guess I have no choice but to agree.”

“If that is your decision, then we can do that,” said Karen while smiling as always.

She made no complaint about the plan.

“But if we’re going to lay a trap, we’ll need your help,” I told the woman.

“Could you be more specific?”

“Karen is not a participant, so she doesn’t have one of the keys worth 100 million yen. In other words, she doesn’t need to be killed. She needs some other form of bait if the crane is going to chase after her.”

“I told you to be more specific,” said the woman while waving a handgun.

That seemed to be the source of her absolute confidence, but it was what I was after.

“Give Karen a handgun. That is my condition.”

“…Are you serious?”

“You said I have two lives, right? Well, unlike the other participants, you have two weapons. Even if you give up one, you will still have a decent advantage over everyone else.”

And the handguns were the most powerful weapon. If the crane spotted Karen with it, he might try to eliminate the threat or acquire the weapon, but either way he would not be able to ignore it.

The woman stared cautiously at Karen and me.

“Isn’t it possible a shootout will begin as soon as I hand over the gun?”

“Then take out the ammo before handing it over. We just need bait for the crane. The guy in the driver’s seat won’t be able to tell if it’s loaded or not.”

“Understood. …Don’t move.”

She would be the only one with a loaded gun.

The woman agreed because she would retain her advantage.

But…

“(Karen.)”

Whether it was a revolver or a semi-auto, all handguns had a common factor when it came to removing all of the ammunition. Do you know what that is?

The answer is simple.

Doing so required the use of both hands.

“(Attack on my signal. I’ll take the right; you take the left.)”

Sudden footsteps reverberated through the room.

“Eh? Ah…”

The dumbfounded woman frantically tried to hold up her gun, but she was holding the one with no ammunition. The usable one was in its holster. The slight hesitation due to her sudden decision and her indecision over whether to target the enemy to the right or left created an even greater lag.

That lag allowed us to overcome the deadly speed of a handgun that could kill with a single movement of the index finger.

Karen was holding a bag filled with egg-sized pieces of concrete.

The makeshift blackjack made a great noise as it split open the woman’s skull.

I grabbed the handguns from the pool of blood and tossed one to Karen.

I had read in a book somewhere that humans found a sense of security in symmetry and found it beautiful. Whether it had anything to do with that or not, a woman with the side of her head smashed in was not a pretty sight.

Karen used the bag of concrete to wipe the blood off of the gun.

“Oh, my. We have already gotten the best weapons. Does that mean we’re the strongest?”

“We can’t just sit around celebrating. If the others find out two people have guns, they will all become our enemy. I don’t want them deciding the danger is worth teaming up against us.”

“Now that we have the guns, what will you do with the sling?”

“The more options, the better. If they think this is our only weapon, they might let their guard down.”

“What is our next target?” asked Karen.

I turned on my handgun’s safety and replied, “The flamethrower.”

“Oh? Not the crane?”

“That is our greatest enemy, but I’m not sure two handguns are enough. A flamethrower would make it a lot easier. The crane runs on gasoline after all.”

When it came down to simply killing people, the flamethrower would be the top ranked weapon. I did not want to take it on with nothing but a metal pipe or a makeshift sling. But we had handguns now. As long as we had them, we could easily kill the man with the flamethrower.

“But the flamethrower has a range of 10 meters, right? If the crane is driving at full speed, won’t it be too late by the time it is within range?”

“I’m not going to use it like that,” I said while focusing on the engine noises coming from outside the window. “Its tank is filled with fuel, so we can use it like a bomb by setting it up on the ground. If we lure the crane in, we can watch it explode from a safe distance.”

We had no hint to go on. We took the time to search around the island and ran into the man with the flamethrower on the mountain near the mine.

I had thought we could finish him off with a bullet or two, but we used a lot more ammo than I had expected. We may have focused too much on staying at a distance for safety.

“I have two bullets left.”

“I have only one!”

The bunny girl named Karen pulled her handgun’s slide to eject the final bullet in the chamber and tossed it to me.

We had originally had 30 shots between us, so it was a regretful amount of waste.

“We need to retrieve the flamethrower from the corpse right away. People could hear those gunshots all across the island.”

“How about we turn it on the other participants?”

“We need the tank as full as possible to make sure we take out the crane in the explosion.”

Also, I had no intention of using the flamethrower without special equipment like a firefighter’s uniform. A change in the wind could easily leave me with serious burns. Even if the flames did not touch me directly, the hot wind could fuse my clothes to my skin.

“Will we wait for the crane here?”

“An open space is bad for setting the trap. And it has no elevated location to watch on safely. It would be best to set the trap in the old city.”

I already had a handgun and the sling, so I gave the flamethrower’s tank to Karen.

We entered the old city.

The easiest spot to set a trap was an entrance to the city. Buildings had been built up in such great concentration in such a small area, so the points from which the mobile crane could enter or exit were limited.

“It may be cracked, but this is asphalt. You can’t dig a hole to bury it.”

“We just need to pile up some concrete fragments the crane can crush in its path. If we hide the flamethrower tank inside, it’ll work as a landmine.”

“How are you going to make it explode?”

“By having the flamethrower’s ignition plug…”

I trailed off as a brilliant light stabbed into my eyes.

Our stage was an abandoned island with no electricity or running water.

There was only one possibility.

“The crane!!” shouted Karen.

“Don’t try to set it up now! Take the tank with you!!”

This was one of the areas the crane could easily pass through, so it could of course set a trap for us. Chased by the sounds of the engine, Karen and I leaped into a nearby building.

The crane smashed into the entrance after us.

The front entrance’s glass had already been broken, but now the entire door was smashed to pieces. Huge fragments flew into the building. I frantically rolled further inside. The mobile crane’s bumper continued to approach while dragging the destroyed interior of the building with it. It looked like a giant hammer.

Everything shot towards us like a flood.

But then a single exception presented itself. A thick square pillar did not break. Several dozen pieces of rebar bent and stuck out, but the entire pillar did not snap. It stopped that 15 ton mass.

“!”

I immediately held up my handgun, but the crane backed up and left the building so quickly its tires screeched.

“Hurry! Upstairs!!” shouted Karen from the emergency staircase while holding the flamethrower tank.

She was right that I would be in trouble if the crane charged in again. I did not want to be around when that happened.

We both ran up the emergency staircase and arrived on the building’s second floor.

Still holding the tank, Karen said, “If he is still focused on crashing into the building, isn’t this our chance? If we throw the tank from a window, we might be able to drop it right on top of the crane.”

“No…Wait. What is that sound?”

The mobile crane’s engine was loud enough to hear even outside the old city, but the sound had changed.

I looked over at the window without thinking.

I had somewhat relaxed because the crane could not crash into the second floor.

But then something unexpected happened.

Something huge mercilessly crashed through one of the external walls on the second floor.

I fell over after being hit by some of the rubble, but I think it was more the surprise from the sudden noise that knocked me over. Karen and I crawled along the floor to frantically move away from the window (or rather, the spot where it had been a moment before).

A tremendous amount of dust limited our vision.

“Oh, my!! Would you look at that.”

“He’s swinging something around with the crane’s wire? Has he strapped together steel frames to use in place of a wrecking ball?”

I felt like the entire floor had tilted. It was not often that a building made of reinforced concrete felt so unreliable.

I heard the sound of something roaring through the air.

The second impact was coming.

I looked around in hopes of finding a way of jumping to the neighboring building. But I did not make it in time. I did not have the guts to stand up in this situation. With a great shock, some large object broke through the wall and flew into the building. If that so much as grazed a human, he would be smashed.

Cracks ran through the ceiling and a piece larger than a tatami mat fell down.

“Um…”

“What?”

“If the crane is swinging something around, doesn’t that mean its center of gravity is higher than normal? A crane needs to use a special leg to fortify its position when extending its arm. That means the crane cannot move right now. Doesn’t that mean we can more safely approach it right now?”

If we did nothing, the third impact would soon arrive.

At this rate, even a normal building would be utterly destroyed. And this was one that had been abandoned for decades and had dubious earthquake resistance.

Standing up and running along would be easy enough, but anyone who was willing to do so while everything was shaking so much had to have a death wish.

If only there was some way to finish off the man controlling the crane without having to move.

“…I just had a horrible idea.”

“What is it?”

“After that wrecking ball made up of pieces of metal framework hits the building, how long do you think it takes to pull it out from the rubble?”

“Well…About 10 seconds I think, but what can we do in 10 seconds? That isn’t enough time to get up and jump out the window, much less head downstairs.”

“We attach the flamethrower tank to the wrecking ball. It has to pass right by the main body of the crane while swinging, so we just have to detonate it at that exact moment.”

“…Are you serious?”

“Tying it on with rope would take too long, but 10 seconds should be enough to attach something like a hook onto a wire.”

With that makeshift wrecking ball making a mess of the place, bent pieces of rebar that could be used as a hook were lying everywhere. With a bit of preparation, I would be able to make something to attach the tank.

“Approaching that seems crazy to me,” said Karen.

“This is the same as my first decision.”

“?”

“If I had given into those two handguns and handed you over, I would have ended up cornered somewhere. Insisting on safety will get me nowhere. In this attraction at least, I need to take on some risk if I want to win.”

The third impact was coming.

If it so much as grazed me, I would be smashed into a pile of meat.

But this was my last and greatest chance.

A burnt smell and orange flames assaulted the senses.

In reality, this attraction that used real human lives did not progress like scripted entertainment. In other words, it was not structured such that each consecutive enemy was more powerful than the last.

In my opinion, my most powerful enemy had been the first woman with the two handguns.

And with the two handguns, the flamethrower, and the mobile crane defeated, I had already eliminated the most obviously dangerous enemies.

That just left the military knife and the stun gun.

They simply could not compare to the previous enemies.

That meant the situation had reversed. With the enemies more powerful than myself defeated, it was my turn to hunt the others down and kill them.

“This didn’t turn out right at all!” I groaned.

Gunshots rang out. But they were not being fired by us. They were likely audible everywhere on the island. Naturally, this was a new turn of events. I half-leaped behind the rubble of a crumbling warehouse at the harbor to hide alongside the bunny girl.

I heard a noise.

It had come from a man’s corpse rolling to a stop right next to me.

He held a military knife in one hand, but he remained so motionless that he looked frozen.

“That just leaves the stun gun. Or did the last participant have the stun gun’s owner hold the knife before killing him?”

“Hayashino-san… Did you forget the introduction back at the beginning? A girl had the stun gun.”

But it was impossible for a self-defense item like that to blow a hole in a human body.

The only possibility I could think of was…

“Dammit. Was there an old hunting weapon left behind in the rubble or one of the buildings?”

“Seems that way. If the powder grew damp, it would have been useless, but it can keep for decades as long as it does not touch the outside air.”

I could not say this was a wise move on my enemy’s part. I had no way of knowing if this gun truly had been sitting on this island for decades or if it was a new one set up by the organizers. However, using an old gun that had been thrown out like an old rusted pipe was suicide.

Nevertheless, the enemy had acquired a powerful weapon by taking that risk that was akin to walking barefoot across a minefield.

The bunny girl leaned towards me and said, “From the look of that body, this is a rifle and not a shotgun.”

“I doubt she can hit a very distant target without a scope, but we only have three shots. If we don’t finish her off right away, the gunshots will tell her where we are.”

“What about that sling made from a belt? There are more small stones than we could ever need here.”

“It’s all over if we’re shot while swinging it around to build up centrifugal force. And it was only ever meant as a diversion. It isn’t enough to kill in a single strike.”

We had no idea how many bullets the enemy had, but if she had a full complement, we were at an overwhelming disadvantage.

Searching for a new weapon would require we carelessly travel through an open area. Yet staying in one place would allow the enemy to widely circle around and target us with the rifle while out of range of our attacks.

I could hear the rifle being fired intermittently and the nearby ground and rubble was worn away bit by bit. She was searching for us rather than actually trying to kill us. But that would not last long. And her ability to do that showed she had plenty of ammunition. If she figured out how little we had, she would force her way in.

''…So we’re cornered.

I breathed in and then out while hiding behind the rubble.

I asked the bunny girl, “This attraction’s prize is determined by the number of keys acquired rather than the number of people killed, right?”

“Yes, and?”

“It’s a long shot, but I’m going to take a gamble based on that.”

An explosive noise and a cloud of dust scattered throughout the dark harbor.

“Cough.”

Tatsukawa Shouko, the girl who had drawn the lot for the stun gun and was now using a hunting rifle she had found in the city area, coughed lightly after breathing in some of the dust that flowed her way.

She had been intermittently firing at areas her enemy might be in the hopes of driving them into a panic, but something must have ignited because the rubble had suddenly exploded.

“Cough, cough. What was that? Did I shoot the fuel tank of a fishing boat?”

And then…

As Tatsukawa peered cautiously through the rifle’s sight, she spotted a man’s leg lying next to the flaming rubble.

“…Did that blow him up?”

Just to be sure, she fired two or three more shots in that direction but received no response. She doubted he was still hiding amid that burning rubble.

“So did I do it? Oh, there it is, there it is.”

She spotted a man’s arm in a gap in the rubble. She had no idea what had happened to the rest of the body. Just the arm was stuck there.

And a single key was visible on the elastic band on the wrist.

And several other keys came jangling from the clenched fingers.

“He’d collected a lot of these. Looks like waiting until the very end to make my move was the right decision.”

Two handguns, a mobile crane, and a flamethrower.

While the others were winning powerful weapon after powerful weapon, Tatsukawa had won a stun gun. The other participants had likely looked on her with pity.

But she had not seen it that way.

The rules never said she needed to fight with only her initial equipment.

She had guessed the other participants would hunt down those with the most threatening weapons first and leave the easy jobs until later. And so Tatsukawa was off their radar. She had weaved through the gaps in the city and acquired a new powerful weapon.

She doubted she would have been able to do that if she had won a powerful weapon during the drawing.

Everyone would have focused their attacks on her, preventing her from moving around freely.

“One, two, three… Oh, this is everyone’s! What an idiot. He had collected so many and yet he let me steal them all in the end.”

She still had a fair bit of time until the time limit at dawn.

But she had all the keys and all the other participants were dead.

There was no real reason for the attraction to continue.

“Let’s see. He was given that bunny girl as a weapon, but is she dead too? Hey! Who’s running this thing!?”

“Coming.”

Like a family restaurant waitress arriving to take her order, the bunny poked her head out from where she had been hiding nearby.

Tatsukawa Shouko was cautious, but…

“Oh? Didn’t you call for me?”

“…Hm? Oh, I get it. Your owner lost the gamble, so you don’t belong to anyone now.” Tatsukawa lightly waved the man’s arm before tossing it aside. “Anyway, I have all the keys. I’ve won it all. There’s no point in continuing, so count the keys and pay me already.”

“Hmm. But the time limit is not until dawn.”

“I don’t want to stay in this dusty place a second longer than necessary.”

“I’m impressed you were willing to use that old hunting rifle. Weren’t you afraid it would explode and blow your face off?”

“Ugeh. That can happen!?”

Either due to a sense of superiority over defeating everyone else or due to a fear of losing everything by blowing herself up in the very end, Tatsukawa hurriedly threw the hunting rifle to the ground.

The bunny girl continued smiling and said, “Are you sure you want me to add up your winnings with those?”

“Just get it over with.”

“Understood.”

The bunny girl checked over each of the metal keys attached to the elastic band Tatsukawa held out.

Still smiling, she said, “Um, you have 0 valid keys according to the rules. As such, you will receive no reward.”

For an instant, Tatsukawa Shouko did not understand what she had just been told.

“What!? But…that can’t be true! I have all the keys!!”

“Well, y’see, Tatsukawa-san. As explained at the beginning, the key you started with does not count toward your reward.”

“I’m not talking about that one! What about the ones you have there!?”

“Oh, these?” The bunny girl tossed the keys to the ground like trash. “These are fakes created by making a mold of a real key and pouring melted lead inside. Fishing weights were easy enough to find and lead is well known for having a low melting point.”

“Wh-wha…?”

“Oh, that blown-off arm? That belongs to the knife man you shot. He even had the knife with him, so it wasn’t too hard to set up.”

Tatsukawa Shouko’s mind went blank, but then a thought came to her.

Tatsukawa had called for the bunny girl to end the attraction because she had thought everyone else was dead and she had all the keys. The original limit had been dawn, so if she still had not found all of the real keys…

“It isn’t over, you idiot,” said a male voice to the side.

But before Tatsukawa could turn around, Hayashino, who held the real keys, unhesitatingly pulled the trigger of his handgun loaded with the three remaining bullets.

Exactly three gunshots rang out and Tatsukawa collapsed to the side.

And so everything really did come to an end this time.

Brilliant light covered the entire island, making it seem the darkness from before had never been there. It seemed countless spotlights of the type used in theatres had been installed. The light had no warmth, but the brightness seemed to restore reality like a film projector room after the movie had ended.

A large number of men and women in work uniforms appeared from somewhere.

The bunny girl smiled and spoke to me.

“Well done.”

“I was just lucky. If she had seen through the lead keys I made as insurance, if she had seen through the severed arm, if the lead keys had melted in that fire, or if she had been more cautious and kept the hunting rifle, I would have been done for. You can’t say I had everything under control.”

“That isn’t what I meant.”

I knew what she was trying to say.

Today, I had definitively decided to kill someone myself.

No matter how much I had succeeded here, I could never return to where I used to be.

“You win a full 500 million yen. How would you like to be paid?”

“In cash.”

“A diamond would take up less space.”

“I said in cash.”

Without ever dropping the smile, the bunny girl snapped her fingers. The surrounding people in work uniforms began contacting someone.

“By the way, may I ask what you need this 500 million for?”

“It’s nothing special,” I spat out. “I just need a foothold to begin a bit of revenge. Revenge against someone like you.”

''Did you see that, Imada?

''I’m no longer just all talk. I can actually kill people.

Imada Construction was one of the largest underworld general contractors that helped construct the stages for this sort of attraction, but if I could play the part of someone with a fair bit of wealth, I could likely make an appearance at their salon.

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| Back to [[A_Simple_Survey:Volume2_Attraction07|Attraction 07]]
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| Forward to [[A_Simple_Survey:Volume2_Attraction09|Attraction 09]]
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</noinclude>

A Simple Survey:Volume2 Attraction06

2013-04-24T17:47:35Z

89.77.202.20: /* Attraction 06: Grand Slam Homer */

==Attraction 06: Grand Slam Homer==

It may sound like bragging, but I was the type who could do anything I set my mind to.

My batting average was .31. I could bat right handed and left handed which was an excellent way of putting pressure on the opposing team’s pitcher.

But baseball was a team game.

Some idiots who were sulking over being kept on the bench went on a drunken rampage and cost us the chance to compete in a national competition. If it had not been for that, I would have had the perfect chance to be scouted by the pros.

Do you think I should have accepted the discipline and waited for next year?

I thought the same thing at first.

But I ran out of patience when one of those second string idiots laughed and said the following:

“Heh heh. Don’t get your hopes up. I’ll cause trouble to fuck up your chances next year too. And as many years after that as it takes. Seeing you clenching your teeth like that makes me feel so refreshed.”

I beat him again and again with a metal bet.

It turns out hitting a human head does not ring out in the same way as hitting a ball.

I had thought there was nothing inside that head of his, but I was wrong about that.

So how does over 50 strikes all across his body sound to you?

To be honest, I don’t think that was enough. I always regretted stopping there.

“Okay, let’s get this attraction started.”

I was in a domed stadium.

A bunny girl stood on the pitcher’s mound.

If I had been the person I used to be, I might have run at her swinging my bat when I saw that amateur standing there not wearing cleats.

“We will be using this!” The bunny girl lightly tapped a large machine next to her. “Tah dah! It’s a pitching machine. It’s one of the latest models. Its straight fastball can reach a maximum of 180 kph and it can also pitch curveballs, forkballs, sinkers, and sliders.”

“…”

“It will pitch 10 balls. If you can manage at least one homerun, you will clear the attraction. As a prize, you will gain the right to take part in a public non-professional baseball tournament. You can do your best there to catch the eyes of scouts from 12 baseball teams.”

A power hitter made up for all of his mistakes in a single hit.

Even if he swung two strikes in a row and got foul after foul afterwards, he would become a hero if he hit a single homerun.

That was the case here too.

Of course, such a wonderful opportunity did not come without its risks.

After all, I was a person the police should have been pursuing.

“If you fail all 10 times, your right elbow and left knee will be shattered with a hammer. Without anesthesia of course. But we usually kill people, so that almost sounds like a joke.”

“Just out of curiosity, why are you not going with that usual punishment?”

“Because this is more fun,” said the bunny girl with a smile.

She had wonderfully cruel taste.

With a metal bat in hand, I stepped into the right-handed batter’s box.

My life as a baseball player was riding on this attraction.

But my life would have been over if I had not agreed to this. I just wanted this one last game. I didn’t care how shady it seemed; I wanted to throw my life away into a serious game that wore at my very spirit.

“This is the newly constructed People Dome that even pros would love to play in. What is it like to stand on this stage of your dreams?”

“I’ll stand here for a more legit reason someday. And I will get there without anyone else’s help.”

The distance to the outfield seats was about 100 meters on either side and 115 meters down the center.

This was a domed stadium, so I did not need to worry about the wind.

The bunny girl had said the pitching machine was one of the latest models and could manage several types of pitches, but I was not particularly worried about that.

Pitching machines had a characteristic weakness.

What I needed to watch out for most was…

“Oh, if the pitch misses the strike zone making it a ball, that pitch does not count. So feel free to let it go.”

“Yes, but I don’t want that thing to hit me with the ball again and again.”

“How about this? If the pitching machine hits you three times in a row, I will pitch instead. …But don’t try to make it hit you, okay?”

The subsequent mechanical noise was louder than I had expected.

I could tell a baseball was being loaded into the pitching machine’s tube.

A thick roller on either side of the small ball provided it with tremendous kinetic energy and it shot out with amazing speed.

''Ah…!!!???

I heard a sharp noise.

I did my best to swing the bat with all my strength along the path of the ball, but a horrible pain ran through my wrists. Instead of flying forward, the ball soared diagonally backwards into the net behind me.

“Okay, Pitch 1 was a failure.”

“Gh…”

The bunny girl had not used some special trick to alter the timing of the pitch.

It had been a straight fastball at the machine’s top speed.

180 kph.

That pure feat of strength created a force no human pitcher could easily replicate. Even in the Major League, a pitcher who could throw 160 kph was thought to have an excellent arm. She had seen straight through me. And so easily.

“Wow. You actually managed to hit the ball at the 180 kph setting. The ball did pop up a bit due to the output being too high, though. You might not have even grazed it otherwise.”

“…”

“Oh? Is the genius athlete getting worried?”

“…No.”

I smiled. It was small, but I could still smile.

I opened and closed my stinging palms a few times and then squeezed on the bat’s grip once more.

“That makes a good reference point to start from.”

I did not need to panic. No matter how many times I failed, it would be a success if I hit the very last pitch.

The optimum pitch.

Every pitch before that was nothing more than preparation for that one. Even with a full count of three balls and two strikes, the final pitch could change everything. And that first pitch had been a good lesson in that way.

“Okay, time for the second pitch. Get ready, get ready.”

The smiling bunny girl pressed a few buttons to send instructions to the pitching machine. With a mechanical noise, the “neck” that shot out the ball rotated around.

This would be a different sort of pitch.

The pitching machine was the type that shot the ball using two high speed rollers. And some pitches gave the ball spin to make it curve.

In other words…

The quickest way to mechanically implement those different types of pitches was to alter the locations of those two rollers. That was why the “neck” portion could move.

And so…

Unlike a real pitcher, I could easily tell what kind of pitch was coming!

“A forkball!?”

The ball moved too quickly to follow it visually after it was fired.

I lowered my aim based on my observation of the pitching machine, dug my cleats into the ground, and rotated my hips. I paid careful attention to the shifting of my weight as I began to control the path of the bat. I pictured the semicircle path of the bat and the curving path of the ball intersecting.

A powerful impact ran through my hands holding the metal bat.

This was a solid hit.

I continued the swing.

After a slight delay, the characteristic sound of a metal bat rang out with a higher pitch than a bell.

The ball flew in a large arc.

The ball curved a bit towards third base, but not enough to worry about it being foul.

Out of habit, I let go of the bat and began running toward first base, but then I recalled I was in the middle of a homerun gamble.

Would this be it?

Would it make it?

''No!!

“Ahh. Too bad. That made it to the 85 meter line. Just fifteen meters more!! Fifteen more meters and it would have been a homerun!!”

“…”

Whether it was 15 meters or 1.5 millimeters, a ball that did not make it into the outfield seats was meaningless.

But I had gotten the hang of it.

As long as it was not another ridiculous straight fastball, I could handle these specs.

I had eight pitches left.

''I can win this!!

But despite my optimism, I failed 5 pitches in a row after that.

“Dammit…”

But not because I had needlessly tried and failed to hit pitch after pitch that was outside the strike zone. Nor was it because the bunny girl cruelly sent five straight fastballs in a row.

I accurately hit all five pitches.

I hit them solidly with the metal bat. I hit them with the end of the bat to provide the maximum amount of kinetic energy.

It had all gone as perfectly as I could have hoped.

Except…

“Oh, dear. The 90 meter line again. Just a bit more power and you would have reached the outfield seats at 100 meters.”

“You…”

I had thought the same at first.

But after so many failures in a row, it was obvious something was up.

I lightly swung the bat around in my right hand.

Its weight and hardness seemed about right. It was possible something had been altered inside it, but I found it unlikely. I would have noticed something like that while holding and swinging it.

Which meant…

“You did something to the balls, didn’t you!? You’ve made them softer and more shock absorbent than a regulation high school baseball!!”

In both professional baseball and high school baseball, what counted as a “regulation” ball gradually changed as the rules changed. One change to the materials in the ball could alter a player’s batting average.

But the bunny girl smiled and tilted her head.

“Oh? I do not remember anyone saying anything about using regulation balls. In fact, if we were following all the rules, this pitching machine would be out of the question. You also would not get 10 chances.”

“…”

“If you want to give up, feel free. But that will count as a forfeit. Your life as a baseball player will be at an end.”

''Dammit.

Either way, this opportunity was my only option.

I had no choice but to play under this bunny girl’s rules. I doubted there was any way I could succeed, but I had to find some loophole to overturn that assumption.

Was there anything I could use?

I needed a homerun to win the bunny girl’s game.

But I could not reach the 100 meter line at the outfield seats with those balls.

I needed something to overturn that fact.

If I simply tried to hit the balls fired by the pitching machine normally, I would never overcome that wall. I needed some way to earn a homerun without using that 100 meter line. Was there a wonderful loophole in the rules like that?

I went over my score with the previous pitches. I went over the paths taken by the balls I had hit. No ball was wasted in baseball. The result of every individual pitch built up to create the overall flow of the game. Vast amounts of information were hidden within that. I could not give up yet. I had to solve this. No information could be more useful to a batter.

“…Wait.”

I looked straight up.

There was something.

This environment gave me something.

This was not just a theoretical situation that only existed in the rules. I had heard about professional players doing it in the past which resulted in fights with the umpire.

“Well? Will you give up?”

“No.”

I looked forward once more to glare at the bunny girl on the pitcher’s mound. I pointed the tip of my metal bat towards her.

I thrust it out toward her.

Even an elementary school student would know what that sign meant. I had given my sign.

“I’ll continue.”

“Excellent.”

I had three pitches left.

I was completely changing my methods from before. Would I have time to readjust with only three pitches?

The eighth pitch came.

It was an inside corner curveball that very nearly scraped against my upper body. This threw off my timing. I frantically swung the bat, but did not make it in time.

The ball was knocked upwards, grazed right by the domed stadium’s ceiling, and then fell directly behind me.

“That was a stereotypical catcher fly.”

“…”

Could I do it?

From a distance standpoint, this should be easier, but it seemed the equation was not that simple.

But I could not hesitate.

I had already changed my tactics.

I had to give everything I had to succeeding this way!

“Here goes.”

The ninth pitch.

It was a slider. I got the timing right this time. The trick was to hit it by scooping up from below. The solid sound of the bat hitting the ball rang out and the ball arced high into the air.

I had one chance left.

One chance!!

“Hmm. It looks like that’s your limit,” said the bunny girl in a fairly disappointed tone of voice. “You aren’t even hitting it into the outfield now. Did you get so nervous you fell into a slump?”

“…”

“It doesn’t matter to me. Okay, let’s decide this with that wonderful straight fastball!!”

''You are a horrible person!!

I dug my cleats into the ground. I rotated my hips. I gathered all of my strength into moving the end of the bat.

The ball was coming.

This was my final chance.

This was my ticket.

Observing the angle of the pitching machine told me what kind of pitch it would be and on what course the ball would take, so I would not miss. As long as I had the power needed to overcome the overwhelming force of 180 kph, I would make it.

And…

The metal bat collided with the white ball.

A solid sound rang out.

The ball veered far from the ideal course toward the outfield seats. It flew up and up and up.

The bunny girl needlessly placed a hand over her eyes as she looked up toward the ceiling.

“Oh, dear. Looks like you failed again.”

“Don’t be so sure.”

“…?”

The bunny girl looked at me in slight puzzlement, but then her confusion grew even further.

This was the final pitch.

The ball had not flown toward the outfield seats, yet my expression showed no hint of despair.

I had no reason to despair.

I had succeeded in the very, very end, dammit.

“It isn’t coming down,” I said.

“Eh? Oh… You don’t mean!!”

“What happens if a ball does not come down? I believe there is a special rule for domed stadiums. It explains what happens if a ball strikes the light fixtures or gets stuck in the framework. This is People Dome, right? What does the stadium’s rulebook say?”

Even just barely along the foul line on either side, the distance to the outfield seats was 100 meters. However, the highest point of the dome’s ceiling was only about 50 meters up. The change from horizontal to vertical made a difference, but the ceiling was the better target as far as distance was concerned.

And more importantly…

Power hitters (especially foreign ones) hit the dome ceiling fairly frequently.

“So that means…Eh? You’re kidding…”

“That’s a homerun. I win.”

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A Simple Survey:Volume1 End2

2013-04-22T17:24:48Z

89.77.202.20: /* Part 1 */

==Hotaru’s Case==

===Part 1===

“What a coincidence. That’s the same as me,” said Hotaru.

She was tall and had long, black hair. She was beautiful, but it was the type of beauty that brought words like “shudder” or “scary” to mind. To be blunt, Anzai felt she would be the hardest to find anything to speak about with.

“You would probably like the same movies,” said Harumi.

“It is not like anyone is wrong, but it would be annoying for everyone else if you talk about it. Well, it is still better than talking about baseball.”

“Aisu, you need to do something about your habit of grabbing strange guys with one arm in the diner while watching TV and holding a beer mug in the other hand…Oh?”

Kozue trailed off.

As they left the auditorium, she looked up into the night sky and held up her palms as if to catch something.

Hotaru frowned.

“Is it raining?”

As soon as she muttered that, Anzai felt a large drop fall on the top of his nose. That drop was followed by what seemed like buckets of rain. The school building was a good distance from the coffee shop and none of them had an umbrella. The five of them frantically ran back into the auditorium.

They had turned off the lights when they left, so it was pitch black. However, it was not locked. Or rather, it had been left unlocked.

“Hyaahh!! The rain is really coming down!”

“With rain this heavy, it probably will not last all night.”

“I’m soaking wet.”

“Unfortunately for you, boy, it is pitch black. If the lights were on, you would have gotten a fanservice scene out of all four of us.”

Anzai ignored Hotaru and instead checked on his things. He did not carry much in the way of school supplies in his bag, but it seemed the water resistant spray the department store clerk had talked him into buying had been effective. He unzipped it and stuck his hand inside, but nothing felt wet.

Next, he checked the cell phone he had in his pants pocket.

Anzai pulled out the phone and turned it on. Luckily, the usual passcode screen came up. It did not seem to be broken.

As Anzai focused on his cell phone, the cabaret club-looking girl named Aisu screamed.

“Gyaaahhhh!! Just as I thought our wet and see-through clothes had been protected by the defense of darkness, he brings out that backlight!?”

“?”

“As requested, I shall perform the safety blindfold security!” shouted Harumi from behind Anzai who had instinctually turned in the direction of Aisu when she had screamed.

In the next instant, his eyes were covered by two wet hands. His vision was suddenly cut off and at the same time he felt something soft press against his back.

Something like an electric current shot through the core of Anzai’s body.

It went beyond simply seeming like her guard was too low.

“Aisu, you tried to make it look like you were embarrassed while letting out that shout to draw all the attention to yourself, didn’t you?”

“No, that was my real response! And with the way she is clinging to him, I think Harumi has won the most points here!!”

“She is just smiling and keeping that same position!?”

“What? What? What are you getting so worked up about?” asked Harumi.

“Honestly, what are you people doing?” said Hotaru in exasperation.

Anzai then felt someone take the cell phone from his hand. When Harumi removed her “blindfold” from him, all light sources were gone. Someone returned his cell phone to him in the darkness.

“The cell phone is off limits. Got it?”

“I was just checking to see if it still worked, so that’s fine by me.”

“Aisu, you failed to draw enough attention to yourself. Harumi overshadowed you,” commented Kozue.

“We’re always like this, aren’t we?”

Anzai could hear them speaking in the darkness, but he did not try to join in. The best he could manage was nodding in the direction he thought Hotaru was in.

“This rain is lasting longer than I expected,” said Hotaru’s voice. “With how strong it was, I assumed it would end quickly.”

“If it’s going to last until morning, we’re going to have to prepare ourselves,” replied Anzai offhandedly.

He of course was not talking about staying there overnight. He was talking about running home through the rain.

Aisu continued, “This auditorium is pretty big, so there might be an umbrella stand with an umbrella left in it.”

“Taking things that are not yours is wrong, Aisu.”

“We can return it tomorrow. It is at least worth looking into.”

But they could find nothing of the sort near the entrance of the auditorium. They were forced to search by feeling around with their hands, but the umbrella stand appeared to be empty.

“Just like car demolitions, the teachers might periodically remove any left behind.”

“But this means we have no way of leaving.”

“I know!” said Harumi. “This is an auditorium, so they must have lots of trash cans. If we can find the office, maybe they will have new trash bags.”

“If you put one of those over your head, walk through the metropolitan shopping district, and ride the bus or the train, I say they should make a statue honoring your bravery to put at the school gate.”

“Huh?” said Anzai.

Because of the small bit of illumination from the outside lights, the path was faintly lit just outside the entrance to the auditorium. He spotted something shiny there. The girls seemed unwilling to let him see them with their wet clothes making their underwear visible, so they were not approaching the light. However, Anzai was in a different position. He approached the glass door to check and he figured out what it was.

“There’s a plastic umbrella on the ground there.”

Two or three pieces of the metal framework were broken, so the plastic sheet was fluttering. A strong gust of wind or something else must have broken it, so its owner had thrown it away. However, it would likely still keep the rain off of them.

Anzai laid his bag and phone down on the ground, opened the glass door, and headed back outside. He picked up the broken plastic umbrella and hurried back.

“To the victor go the spoils. It looks like we can move on to the next step. …Wait, what is it?”

The area within the auditorium was even darker than the area right next to the glass door where Anzai stood, so he could not see them. However, he sensed a tenseness in the atmosphere.

Hotaru broke the silence.

“For future reference, girls do get embarrassed when they see the underwear of a member of the opposite sex.”

“? More importantly, I got us an umbrella…”

“No, not more importantly! Argh, just come here!!”

“Aisu, are you going to embrace him because you are unable to restrain yourself?”

“What!? I’m saying guys need the defense of darkness as well!!”

At their urging, Anzai headed back into the darkness.

“Anyway, I found an umbrella.”

“Yes, yes. An umbrella.”

“…It is physically impossible for all five of us to fit under this half-broken umbrella.”

“Kozue, did you just gulp in anticipation?”

“No, I would think that was Aisu.”

They were ignoring Anzai as they continued the conversation.

“Anyway, can’t we just have one person use this to head to the convenience store and buy some more umbrellas?” he suggested.

“Oh! Nice one! Nice idea!”

“Well, that is at least realistic.”

“Wait, young ones! You are suggesting one of us heads out into those lights while soaking wet!!”

“This could become a night to remember.”

Anzai decided it would be a bit harsh to force that on a girl when her underwear was clearly visible.

“Well, I suggested it, so I’ll go.”

“Wait, boy!! Personally, I think you would be the most dangerous option!!”

“?”

“If one of us must have embarrassment brought upon us, I think we should decide it using rock paper scissors.”

“I suppose, but I’m the guy. I might as well…”

“No, that is the very reason! It is because you are a guy that you must not, you idiot!!”

Anzai was stopped by logic he could not comprehend. It might have been some kind of special rule of groups of girls.

Even so…

“But we have to head through the shopping district to get home. And you mentioned using the train or bus. We’re all going to have to head out into the light eventually.”

“…!?”

“!”

“!!”

“…!!”

His casual comment received four gasps in response. It seemed to be a matter of life or death for the girls.

“H-how long does it take for clothes to dry?”

“It would take all night for them to air dry. We might need a hair dryer or something.”

“No, that won’t cut it. We need a proper clothes dryer.”

“Give this proper thought,” said Kozue. “Are you suggesting we use a laundromat without a change of clothes? What are we supposed to do while our clothes tumble around in the dryer?”

“You say that, Kozue, but you actually think this might be your chance, don’t you!?”

“C-could you stop projecting your own thoughts onto me, Aisu?”

As the conversation started derailing in a strange direction, Hotaru tried to correct its course.

“Anyway, we first end to acquire enough umbrellas for all of us to have mobility. We must decide who will head to the convenience store using rock paper scissors.”

“Okay, let’s start! Rock, paper…”

“No, wait,” cut in Anzai. “We can’t see each other’s hands in this darkness.”

They all fell silent.

In the end, they chose themselves to abandon the defense of darkness that had protected them all. The four girls were forced to expose their forms by approaching the glass door through which illumination from the outside lights entered. The state of their clothes was less of an issue for Anzai than the way they embarrassedly wriggled their bodies.

“Rock paper scissors!!!!!”

They swung their arms half in desperation, but once the game was over, a thought came to Anzai.

“…I just realized. We could have just called out our hands in the darkness.”

In the next instant, four “rocks” flew his way.

===Part 2===

To be blunt, the four wet girls with see-through clothes left more of an impact with Anzai than the mysterious survey. What stuck with him strongest was Hotaru’s underwear. Her atmosphere had been that of a cool beauty from beginning to end, so he had not expected them to be so unorthodox…or to be a little more blunt, crazy.

And so…

When Anzai woke in his bed the next day, he had already forgotten about the survey. It was no different from a report he had already turned in, so there was nothing to be gained by remembering it.

However…

The world contained some strange things. They were there whether you wanted to admit it or not.

Or rather…

To put it simply, that thing he had thought was over was not over in the slightest.

===Part 3===

Rainy days were so melancholy.

After barely paying attention to a foreign language lecture he doubted he would remember, Anzai ran across Hotaru who he had been 80% sure he would never see again. It seemed the other three were not with her.

She was beautiful, but she was the upperclassman type of girl who was so beautiful that guys would be reluctant to speak to her.

She was the type of beauty that would bring about silence during karaoke.

Anzai himself could feel the gears within him clenching up.

“Anzai-kun was it? What is your next class?”

“Math. Today’s the day I work through my general education requirements.”

“So skip it.”

“What do you mean ‘so’?”

“You’ll never use what you learn in that class, right?”

Anzai had a feeling that same line of reasoning would make all 5 subjects through middle and high school unnecessary, but he did not particularly want to go to math class that day, so he did not argue.

The real issue was what they would do instead.

“So what are we doing? Are we going somewhere?”

“Remember yesterday’s survey?”

They left the lecture hall as they spoke.

Hotaru’s expression did not change.

“Do you remember the name of the professor who ran it?”

“Tanaka-san, I think. I’m pretty sure he introduced himself before the survey.”

“Yes, that is all the information I had. I had some business with the office, so I asked them while I was there, but it seems there is no professor named Tanaka at this university.”

“…Hah?”

Anzai’s thoughts froze up.

He understood what the words Hotaru was speaking meant, but he could not grasp what she was getting at.

“Tanaka is a common name. It’s probably in the top 5 of Japan’s most common family names. The fact that there is not a single person with that name working here left a strong impression with the office worker I asked. He called it a university with no Tanakas.”

Anzai’s mind was blank, but he could still feel sweat on his cheek. It took a bit longer for him to realize why it was there. It was raining outside. The actual lecture hall may have been a bit warm, but a pleasant coolness from outside had filled the hallway. In other words, the sweat had not been produced by heat.

“…Then who was that professor? …Or what was that survey for that matter.”

“It makes you curious, doesn’t it? Some suspicious person came in from outside the university, gathered some students, gave them a creepy survey related to their minds and hearts, and then left. What was it all for? And how did he do it? This is a national university, so its security is decent. He could have carried out this survey anywhere, so why did he choose somewhere as dangerous as the university. Also, why did he choose us and go so far as to research our personal situations to lure us in?”

“Wait, what does this mean about my credits!? If this supposed Tanaka-san isn’t a professor here, I might not actually make it through the first term!”

“…”

Hotaru fell silent and kicked Anzai lightly in the shin.

Anzai cried out, jumped back, and had tears fill his eyes.

“Can you please not ruin the mood?” she said expressionlessly.

“I don’t want to hear that from the person who convinced me to skip class!!”

===Part 4===

Their university had no professor named Tanaka.

In that case, who was that supposed professor?

And what had that survey been? What had been taken from them?

That was what they were looking into, but…

“So what exactly are we going to investigate while I skip class?” asked Anzai. “That Tanaka-san is not from our university, right? We aren’t going to find anything wandering around in the university.”

“I wouldn’t be so sure,” said Hotaru, easily denying his comment. “I may not know what the point of that survey was, but I have a guess as to where he got the short films used in it. They were likely filmed by the university’s film studies club.”

“Do you have any proof of that?”

“I recognized some of the locations in the short films. I think they were shot on campus here. Most likely, whoever this was claiming to be a professor named Tanaka casually requested that the film studies club produce the short films.”

“…So he was on campus for more than just the short time last night?”

“Creepy, isn’t it? It makes him sound like a Youkai or something.”

Following Hotaru, Anzai arrived at the film studies club room. (Was club room the right term? Anzai was not part of any club, so he was not sure.)

“Naturally, it’s locked.”

“You can get a mold by pouring rubber adhesive into the keyhole. Getting it out can be tricky, though.”

“…''You'' seem like a Youkai to me.”

Hotaru used a slightly uneven key made of what was likely tin rather than iron or aluminum, and the door easily unlocked.

As they entered, Anzai asked a question.

“So what is in here that you want?”

“I don’t know what is in here, but there is something I am hoping is.”

“?”

“Those short films. I am curious about a few things. I would like to watch them again to check.”

After a bit of searching, they easily found what they were looking for. It was a USB drive with “For the Survey” written on the sticker meant for the owner’s name.

“Huh? Wasn’t it on a giant film reel when he showed it in the auditorium?”

“They probably edited it digitally and then burned it back onto film. The film studies club can be oddly picky about that kind of thing. This is a 20,000 yen high capacity USB drive and the films needed the entire thing to themselves. Video certainly does eat up space.”

“That can be changed using compression, but I suppose this is the film studies club after all. Even though the human eye can’t tell the difference, people like that still refuse to use any kind of video compression.”

Anzai wondered what Hotaru wanted to check about the short films.

She stuck the USB drive into a slot on her smartphone and played the video on the small screen.

Anzai wondered how long it would take, but Hotaru nodded after only 3 minutes.

“Aha, I was right. Look, here, here, and here.”

“Is there a ghost in the video?”

“Even better.” Hotaru paused the video. “Are you familiar with the term ‘gray fiction’?”

“…You mean like alien movies?”

“That isn’t entirely wrong.”

She responded to his joke with a serious expression.

Anzai was feeling a bit over his head, but Hotaru expressionlessly continued.

“It refers to a fiction story that cannot be labeled as nonfiction due to various circumstances. You sometimes hear about this issue due to political reasons, but it was used recently in a film that showed a UFO research facility and a horror film with the motif of a vengeful spirit of a Heian period noble.”

“What about it?”

“These short films are the same.” Despite how ridiculous what she was saying was, her expression was perfectly composed. “Gray fiction works leave small signs that the general viewer will overlook. Those signs can be seen in these short films. It is possible these things just so happened to get caught in the frame, but in all likelihood it was no accident.”

“Eh? Wait…do you mean this ''white-haired girl'' at the edge of the frame?”

“No, not that.”

(But then who is this girl?)

Anzai still had questions, but Hotaru was not about to let the conversation head in that direction.

“My conclusion is that all of the short films shown were gray fiction.”

“…You mean they were actually nonfiction?”

“Yes.”

“But weren’t there fairies and ninja in those!? Wasn’t one story about slicing apart a troll in an RPG-style Middle Ages-esque fantasy world that never existed in history!?”

“Don’t ask me. I don’t know how it is possible either.” Hotaru sighed. “But it seems like the short films do not show the entirety of some strange world. It feels more like just one room or one section from that world. Perhaps there is some room in some building or some underground dome where those things are happening. Or perhaps there is no mysterious world and there is merely some room somewhere on earth that just looks like some mysterious world.”

(That’s ridiculous…)

If you were told that a hero and demon king existed somewhere on the earth, would you believe it?

And a computer virus that spoke like a human seemed in a way more fantastical than even the hero or demon king.

“But what is the definition of nonfiction?” asked Anzai.

“Hm?”

“Nostradamus’ The Prophecies is considered nonfiction. In other words, nonfiction does not mean the contents are true. It just means the author wrote it ''thinking'' it was true. In that case…”

“The professor was just insane?”

“Thinking about it that way puts me a lot more at ease.”

“Perhaps,” admitted Hotaru. But then, “Or perhaps there is a single common rule behind all of this that has convinced the professor that he has actually seen these things.”

“…You mean like hypnotism?”

“How cliché. At least go so far as to say he made short films showing what he has witnessed in his time chasing after a certain large plot.”

Anzai had no response.

For one thing, the signs of it being gray fiction may have been something the supposed professor had put in there as a prank.

But what meaning was there in doing that?

“In the end, what did that professor want to do? What meaning was there in having those filmed? In fact, what was the purpose of the survey itself?”

“Who knows.” Hotaru said noncommittally before adding another cryptic remark. “But I get the feeling there is a connection.”

“?”

“I feel there is a connection between the strange events told of in those short films and how that professor snuck into the university, carried out that survey, and then disappeared. And if there is a connection, we may become indirectly wrapped up in some strange events that began with those short films.”

“…I don’t like the sound of that.”

“No. But if those short films really are gray fiction, that professor may have come to the proper conclusion.”

“What do you mean?”

“People who loudly insist they were abducted by a UFO are a type of ‘strange’ different from the UFOs themselves. Absurdities, you could call them. Or if there was a specialist who you could ask questions to like a customer service line but only about demons, that specialist would be an absurdity of a different sort from demons.” Hotaru paused for a second. “In other words, those who work to analyze mysterious things will by dyed by the thing they are facing and become a type of absurdity themselves. With the experience it would take to put together that survey based on gray fiction, that mysterious professor has likely been completely changed into an absurdity. …Whoever he might have originally been.”

“…”

After hearing all that, Anzai finally realized something.

The survey was not the most dangerous thing.

Neither was the professor.

The most dangerous thing was before his very eyes.

“H-hey, where are the people from the film studies club? If you wanted to learn about these short films, wouldn’t it have been best to ask them first? They were the ones who actually had the cameras rolling before these mysterious things.”

“This would have been a lot easier if that was possible.”

She did not give any specifics.

However, Anzai sensed some kind of ominous end in her ambiguous statement.

They could not check with those people.

They could not speak with those people.

They had no idea where those people were.

Yes.

It was the same as with the professor.

“Your theory was that the professor went crazy while analyzing these mysterious things, right? Let’s set aside whether it’s due to something physical or something mental, though.”

“Yes, it is just a theory. But that is what it is like with grimoires and magic circles, isn’t it? They merely display the workings of the world in text or diagram form.”

“Well, if the change can happen just by analyzing these things…”

Anzai pointed.

He pointed at the most dangerous thing.

He pointed at the USB drive in Hotaru’s hand that contained the short film footage.

“…Isn’t just having that thing around dangerous?”

“Yes. Compared to the survey, the professor, the people from the film studies club, viewing each individual short film, or gray fiction itself…”

Hotaru smiled.

As she was usually expressionless, it was a surprisingly big smile.

“…Don’t you think this USB drive has the absurd in a much, much more condensed form? It is like a magic wand that allows you to level up without end simply by waving it around.”

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The Circumstances Leading to Waltraute's Marriage:Volume1 Chapter 2

2013-04-14T09:47:59Z

89.77.202.20: /* Part 8 */

==Chapter 2: The Weapons of the Gods were not Created by the Gods==

===Part 1===

As usual, Waltraute the Valkyrie was peering down to the human world of Midgard from the 3rd runway of Bifröst which acted as the entrance and exit of the heavenly world of Asgard. Waltraute was married to a boy who lived in the human world, but she had been forced to live apart from him due to various circumstances.

Frigg, the goddess married to the head god Odin, had lately started spending her time on the 3rd runway as well (she was more interested in happily watching Waltraute and the boy’s relationship than she was interested in the boy himself), so that 3rd runway had been unusable for quite some time. There were even rumors that Iðunn, the goddess who grew the apples of immortality, was planning to open a street stall there. Heimdallr, the watchman who was in charge of Bifröst, had reached the state of resignation.

Then along came a goddess who was completely unable to pick up on the mood of the situation.

Appearance-wise, she seemed about the same age as Waltraute.

“Nyaho! It is I, Freyja, Asgard’s most beautiful goddess. How are things for you fleeting stars that are hidden by the sun of my beauty!?”

Waltraute loudly clicked her tongue to express her annoyance at the intrusion.

“…Oh, it’s the pig.”

“Don’t be so blunt, Miss Valkyrie!! It may be true that I am also known as Sýr which means sow, but I am a fertility god, so it can’t be helped. Pigs and boars are common symbols of gluttony and fecundity.”

“So why are you here?”

“I have of course come to congratulate you, Waltraute. Congratulate you for reaching life’s graveyard!! Ga ha ha ha ha ha ha!!”

She seemed to be referring to marriage.

Freyja wiggled her hips, causing her pigtailed hair and the ends of her frilly outfit to shake about.

“Congratulations on the marriage, Waltraute!! Another star shining in the sky has gone out, making my own radiance all the brighter!! Isn’t it great!? Isn’t it wonderful!? Nya ha ha!!”

“…But aren’t you married? What happened to Óðr?”

“He suddenly disappeared one day, so I am now transcendentally free!! I’m still receiving all sorts of proposals from the giants, but I just reject them all! I’m starting to get tired of their different efforts, though. One even teased Thor by hiding Mjölnir which made him cry!! Fwa ha ha!! It sure is tough being a popular girl!!”

Frigg had remained silent for the past bit not because she had been overwhelmed by Freyja’s presence but because she was desperately trying to contain her anger after having the purpose of her existence denied like that. No one was better at angering other women than that (self-proclaimed) goddess of beauty.

“Well? Well? Who is this boy that won over a Valkyrie?”

“Uuh… What does it matter? I would rather not tell a pervert like you.”

Waltraute was hesitant to tell her.

After all, Freyja was the goddess said to have forgotten her chastity inside her mother when she was born. She defiantly insisted it was part of her job as she was the goddess of fertility, but she clearly acted out of her own interests. She had even slept with 4 dwarves simply because she wanted the necklace called Brísingamen, so it was obvious she was simply crazy.

Waltraute was not about to introduce that boy to someone like that.

“Hm? So are the rumors of it being some fat, hairy, black-hearted old man true?”

“He is a boy!! Look, it is that slender but strong-hearted boy using that ash tree to stay out of the rain! Do not insult the one who won my hand, you fool!!”

“I see. I see.”

Waltraute immediately regretted having said that, so she began violently smashing her forehead against the 3rd runway and very nearly destroyed a portion of Bifröst. But it was too late.

The goddess of beauty peered down into the human world and said, “Oh, he looks so cute. So you’re into that kind of thing. Do you play the older sister character?”

“N-no!! This was the result of a serious competition! And I am one of the ones who must watch over the results of conflicts and competition in the human world. It just so happens that boy was on the winning side of the competition!!”

“But don’t you feel a bit lucky? At the very least, you have to think this is better than the hairy and black-hearted old man I mentioned before.”

“…”

Waltraute let fly a spear-like glance.

Heimdallr would have balled up his body as if he was trying to fit inside a wooden box, but Freyja merely folded her arms and grinned.

“But let me be honest here. That boy might be good enough for a roll in the hay or two, but is he really worth offering the rest of your life to? I would go for more of a dandy who…”

Before Freyja could get completely lost in her own world, the boy hiding from the rain in Midgard looked up into the sky.

He could of course not see all the way to Asgard with his naked eyes.

He simply looked up into the sky that was covered in rain clouds and said, “Hang in there, sun.”

Freyja, the goddess of fertility, accidentally got serious.

A malfunction of her powers as the goddess in charge of harvest and the weather began to cause a serious drought in the human world.

“Wait! Freyjaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!! Why are you letting my husband get to you!?”

“What!? Wh-what did I just do…?’

“Don’t act like you don’t know!! And the weather is under your brother Freyr’s jurisdiction! Are you really so horrible that you will butt in on someone else’s territory just to show off!?”

As Freyja worked to stop her nosebleed and regain her cool, the weather in Midgard became a calm sunny day.

With her bleeding stopped, Freyja cleared her throat and began spewing abusive language once more to regain the previous tone of the conversation.

“Anyway. How are things now that you have wandered into life’s graveyard aka marriage, Miss Valkyrie? Have your days of housework and looking after your husband given you joint pain and the smell of an old lady!?” Freyja’s tone made it obvious she knew just how rude she was being. “Oh, but I heard you are living apart. Have things cooled down so soon after the honeymoon? Gya ha ha! What a disaster! This is just a disaster!! Are you on the path to a break up just a few days after getting married!? That’s hilarious!!”

“Th-that is not true.”

“Nyah?”

“W-wait, no! I did not mean it like that, you fool! I was the loser and so I cannot have you insulting the victor!!”

“Fine, fine. So did something happen? Or is something coming up? Tell me, tell me.”

Freyja grinned and Waltraute’s shoulders trembled as she responded in a low voice.

“…We have a date in 3 days.”

“What?”

Freyja froze in place.

It seemed Frigg had also not known this because her eyes opened wide.

Waltraute awkwardly continued, “Also, I just got back from one. That is why I am observing the boy to determine his reaction. I need to know what I did right and what I did wrong.”

“…You go on dates…even though you’re married…?”

“How innocent!! Oh, Waltraute!! You are just so innocent!!”

Frigg seemed to especially lose her self-control over this. It was possible she had issues with Odin as a husband.

“This goes back to that original challenge. As I lost, I must do my best to serve the victor. For that reason, I must go on a date when that boy wishes for it. The name of the victory prize he asks for does not matter.”

“So in other words, ‘Ahh, I lost! But I am relieved because you have the courage to ask me on a date. Thank you, boy. Smooch smooch.’ ”

“Please explain to me what about my explanation led you to that conclusion.”

“There was definitely a casting mistake in having that role played by that muscular machoman Heimdallr before. The high-pitched goddess Freyja is much better suited for the role!!”

Waltraute’s sharp gaze was unable to stop the two goddesses.

The goddess of beauty moved in closer to Waltraute and asked, “Well, well? What’s with the post-marriage dates? From that I’m going to assume the two of you haven’t done it yet. I can’t picture this at all, so tell me what this date you just went on was like.”

“N-nothing happened that would make an interesting story.”

Waltraute, the Valkyrie who was top class when it came to strength, began to tell the story…

===Part 2===

Waltraute lived in the heavenly world of Asgard while the boy lived in the human world of Midgard, so they did not often have a chance to speak with each other.

Waltraute had given the following instructions to the boy if he wanted to contact her:

“Whenever you wish to tell me something, tie a letter to the weather vane on your house’s roof. The two ravens will retrieve the letter and take it to me.”

Huginn and Muninn were fed up with being used for odd jobs, but they found Waltraute’s gaze too frightening to say no when she told them to act as carrier pigeons.

It all began with one of those letters.

When she saw the boy’s handwriting saying “I want to go on a date with you”, Waltraute magnificently overturned a container of an Asgard alcoholic drink and frantically headed down to Midgard.

“What kind of joke is this!? I would never go along with such a shameless demand!!”

“Yay, you came to go on a date with me!”

“Eh? No! That is not why I am here!! Do not continue the conversation without listening to me. Wait! Do not start unpacking that lunch!!”

“?”

“Do not look so puzzled, you fool. A competition. We must decide this with a competition! If you insist on making such an unreasonable demand, you must defeat me first!!”

When she had previously challenged him to see if he could climb the world tree Yggdrasil, it had all spun off in an unexpected direction. Waltraute had learned her lesson from that.

She was no longer going to hold back.

There was simply too great a difference between a Valkyrie and a human when it came to physical ability. Waltraute would win in almost any form of competition.

As such, Waltraute stood in a position where she could crush the boy’s hopes.

“O-okay. Then I challenge you to a game of Super Rune Duel Cards!!”

“Dammit!! You chose something that gives you the advantage thanks to the target demographic!!”

Waltraute started tearing at her beautiful blonde hair, but she was not completely ignorant of that card game that used wooden cards.

The Einherjar the Valkyries gathered and controlled were originally souls from Midgard. For that reason, the culture of Midgard had a way of leaking into Asgard.

And so…

“B-but we must ensure this competition is fair. We must determine each other’s strengths and weaknesses and set up strict rules to ensure-…”

“Duel start!!”

“Wait, why are you starting already!? Honestly, that is the problem with your age group…!”

“Eh heh heh. I get to play card games with Waltraute on our date.”

“This is our competition to see if said date even happens! This is not part of the date!!”

“I use contact on Thurisaz and Raido! Together, the two cards quadruple the damage dealt!!”

“Wait, wait! What do you mean together!?”

“You don’t know, Waltraute? It’s a new rule they added with the third edition.”

“I-I see. I suppose information taken from the dead would indeed be out of date. But I reverse Hagalaz! The damage is sent right back to you!!”

“They got rid of the reverse rule in the second edition.”

“Ehh!? Wait! You need to tell me that kind of thing ahead of time!”

“Okay, two more cards added for a total of four combined together. That’s 16 times the damage. And boom! There goes all your health!!”

“Vahh!! Vahh!!”

And before Waltraute could figure out what was going in, they had a date to go on.

Waltraute blushed, but she had no choice but to carry out her duty as the loser.

“Hm, hm. Hm, hm, hm! And then what happened, Waltraute!? Tell Freyja what happened on this date!!”

“U-um, it was a punishment, so it was nothing as enjoyable as you seem to be imagining.”

Waltraute continued the story while averting her gaze.

Whatever she might say, a loss was a loss.

And so she had to go on a date.

She could not bring a mere human boy to Asgard (Technically she could, but doing so would kill him), so Waltraute had to go to Midgard.

Normally, it would have been the boy’s duty to escort her, but he did not have the financial ability to do so at his age and he had no way of knowing anywhere beautiful enough to satisfy a Valkyrie that could travel freely through the 9 worlds and to any number of castles and palaces.

For that reason, Waltraute was in charge of deciding what they would do on their date. Her plan was to use an Asgard-born white horse to visit various sightseeing spots throughout the human world.

After they got on the horse, the boy said, “Why are you holding the reins from behind me?”

“Because you would fall off otherwise.”

“I feel like I’m being completely enveloped by you. Shouldn’t our positions be reversed?”

“With our difference in height, you would not be able to see anything from behind me.”

“Also, you armor looks like it would hurt because it’s so hard.”

“Y-you do not have to touch it directly! You fool!!”

“…”

“J-just enjoy the scenery!! Do not worry about me! I will show you a view that can only be seen from one of these Asgard-born horses that can easily travel any dangerous route!!”

===Part 3===

“And that is what happened.”

The goddess of marriage Frigg and the goddess of beauty Freyja had initially been brimming with curiosity, but they gradually grew less interested as they listened to the story.

Frigg was holding her head in her hands and seemed unable to speak, so Freyja chimed in.

“…Um, one quick question.”

“What?”

“Why were you in full armor during a date!? Meeting him like that is simply too surreal!”

“This is how a Valkyrie dresses! A-and despite how he looks, he is still a guy. Wh-wh-who knows what could happen!!”

“Eh? That’s out of the question even after you got married? Then what exactly is your goal? When are you going to join together!? And are you going to continue just leading him on even after marrying him!? If you do that, the boy’s libido is going to eventually explode out from within!!”

“Eh?” Waltraute’s body stiffened slightly. “…What? Human bodies can explode if you do not handle them properly?”

“No, no. That’s not what she-…” started Heimdallr the watchman, but he was silenced by a hand over the mouth by Freyja and a kick to the gut by Frigg.

They no longer cared if she was mistaken.

They had to correct the ridiculous way that Waltraute treated being a wife.

“This is dangerous. This is really dangerous. The countdown has probably already begun. Frigg would probably know better than me though since she rules over marriage.”

“Y-yes, that is right. Ho ho ho. Waltraute, marriage is a ceremony to allow a man and woman to come together and bring about the next generation. If you only go halfway and leave him hanging, it is like forcibly damming up a river. Once the river builds up and breaks the dam, you have quite a disaster on your hands.”

“…”

A frown remained on Waltraute’s face for a while.

The two goddesses were silently urging her to strip off her armor and to at least wear some cute clothes for the next date with the boy. But…

“…I am not sure I believe you.”

“Tch!! Why do idiots only use their heads at the most inconvenient times!?”

“Heh heh heh. So I was right. You are simply trying to mess with our relationship for your own amusement! Yes, yes. Marriage is a bond between two souls!! We can be together forever without stooping to such indecent acts!!”

“…Eh? You’re setting that aside forever?”

“You might have been raised to be too obsessed with fighting…”

The two goddesses held their heads in their hands, but they both decided what they would do next at the exact same moment.

It did not matter what it took.

They had to make that boy strip Waltraute of her armor!!

===Part 4===

And so the goddess of marriage Frigg descended to the human world of Midgard.

Frigg used Bifröst just like the Valkyries did, but it did not produce any flashy effects because she was not wearing the aurora armor. And that was just fine as far as Frigg was concerned.

Normally, it was the duty of the Valkyries to convey the will of Asgard, so the gods themselves did not often go to the human world. …One exception was Odin himself who would often head to Midgard while transformed into a human or animal (and he would usually induce killings or wars between humans). He set a very bad example for all the gods below him and completely ruined the idea that gods must not head to the human world.

By the way, it was often said carelessly crossing between the nine worlds could cause a war, but the only type of war the goddess of marriage was like to cause would be fights between couples. It was possible somewhere in the world on that day, a dragon-slaying warrior and a rune-using witch got into a serious fistfight.

Frigg was officially heading to Midgard in the name of celebrating a marriage occurring there, but after shocking the lucky bride and groom to the bottoms of their hearts, she dropped by the small house where a certain boy lived.

If she had entered through the front door, she would have surprised the boy’s parents and made the whole situation more troublesome, so she entered directly through a window on the second floor.

“Good day, boy.”

“Who are you, miss?”

“Good, good. Miss. Heh heh heh. You called me miss. Heh heh heh heh! Good, good!!”

After having unintentionally struck the bullseye, the boy merely tilted his head innocently, so Frigg frantically cleared her throat.

The boy may have possessed some kind of additional attack spell called Charm.

“Ahem. I am Frigg, the goddess that rules over marriage and Waltraute’s boss. Technically, her boss is that war-obsessed idiot Odin, but I am taking over that role for now because he is surprisingly useless. He does do some things well, though.”

“?”

“You do not need to understand. That is not what I came here to discuss.” Frigg sat on the plain windowsill. “You have a date with Waltraute in three days, correct?”

“Ehh!? How did you know that!? Miss, are you a beautiful spy!?”

“Miss…heh heh…beautiful…heh heh heh heh heh!!!!! …No, I am not. I manage the nine Valkyries that Waltraute is one of. It is only natural I know her schedule. And I also know of a problem concerning that date.”

“...Can she not go? Is there something else she has to do?”

“No, no. Of course not. In fact, I approve of the date. But it is obvious the date will be a failure at this rate. So I want you to get rid of the reason behind my concern.”

“What is the reason behind your concern?”

“Well.” Frigg grinned. “To be blunt, Waltraute’s armor. As long as that is removed, everything should go well.”

===Part 5===

Meanwhile, Heimdallr the watchman desperately tried to hold back a Valkyrie. Ultimately, Waltraute knocked him out of the way and started stomping down the third runway.

The goddess of beauty Freyja started sweating a bit.

“Oh, dear.”

“Hey, Freyja!! What is going on? Why are you preventing me from seeing what is happening in the human worl-…waaahhh!? Why is that boy with Lady Frigg!?”

“Just so you know, she is not trying to seduce that boy into cheating on you. …If anyone’s going to do that, I’ll make sure it’s me. I don’t wanna get married, but the thought of taking him as a quick snack makes me drool.”

“I know that and I have no interest in who that boy speaks with!!”

“ ‘Nooo! Boy, only look at me, Waltraute! I’ll even let you use my lap as a pillow and feed you cherries from my mouth.’ ”

“E-enough of your nonsense, you fool. I am asking for an explanation of what is going on!!”

Waltraute shoved Freyja out of the way and looked down at the human world of Midgard.

When she did, her magically heightened sense of hearing picked up the boy’s words.

“Eh? I don’t need to do that.”

“Why not? You were attracted to Waltraute’s femininity, weren’t you? Then don’t you want her to remove that armor and wear a cute outfit at least while on a date?”

“Hmm. But I like that armor.”

And…

Waltraute averted her gaze slightly with her arms folded and let out a “hmph”. Needless to say, something belying her attitude could be seen on her face.

Freyja replied in shock, “I guess he is a young boy. Is he just at the age where they love swords and shields?”

“You fool, this is not something so simple. His unclouded eyes have seen the pure white light that is the essence of a holy Valkyrie.”

But then the boy in the human world added, “I like that armor because it’s sexy.”

“That’s the essence!! That’s the essence of it right there!!” shouted the goddess of beauty Freyja as she held her sides and rolled around.

Waltraute then began destroying pieces of the rainbow runways of Bifröst left and right.

===Part 6===

However, the goddess Frigg had her own objective, so she used various arguments to convince the boy. Ultimately, she succeeded in motivating the boy by convincing him that he would enjoy the date even more if Waltraute removed her armor.

Frigg explained, “The armor worn by Valkyries is special, so it cannot be destroyed by normal blades. Naturally, it would be difficult to remove by hand. …Talking about ‘removing an aurora’ makes no sense, right?”

“Then what am I supposed to do?”

“Head to Niðavellir.” Frigg responded with a smile to the boy’s innocent question. “That is the underground world of the dwarves. They are extremely skilled with their hands, so they are the ones to create the tools and weapons we gods use. If you are able to receive the help of a dwarf, you can have a tool made that can remove a Valkyrie’s armor.”

“I see.”

Normally, no human from Midgard would ever think of approaching another world deep underground, but as usual, this boy had no such misgivings.

And it seemed the goddess of marriage Frigg intended to let him head off after giving him only a cursory explanation.

“The reason the previous date was a failure is likely because Waltraute was unable to get her mind off of work while still in her work outfit. If she removes that armor and puts on a cute outfit, you will get to see a different side of her.”

“Oh… Thanks, miss.”

“Heh heh heh heh heh heh heh!! Then I will be going. I should really stay with you for safety’s sake, but as the goddess of marriage, I cannot come between a man and woman any further than this.”

“Bye bye, miss.”

[[Image:Waltraute_v01_079.jpg|thumb]]

“Heh heh heh heh heh heh heh heh heh heh heh heh heh heh heh heh heh heh heh heh heh heh heh heh heh heh heh heh!!”

Frigg left with a smile as if she was some kind of gentleman thief. She seemed to truly enjoy that innocent appraisal over any form of flattery.

And so…

After his trip up towards the heavenly world of Asgard, the boy began a trip to the underground world of Niðavellir.

===Part 7===

“Y’know…”

A single goddess looked annoyed up in the heavenly world of Asgard.

It was Freyja.

“Lady Frigg is trying her best, but will this really turn out okay?”

“What do you mean?”

“He may look cute, he may be the type I just want to devour, and he may make me drool, but isn’t that boy a little too delicate? Simply put, I doubt he can make it to the underground world of Niðavellir on foot.”

“Th-that is where you are wrong! Despite how he looks, he has a strong core. He is the boy who did not hesitate to take on the world tree. Heading to the underground world will be a simple… Ah!?”

“…Hee hee.”

“Why are you grinning like you are holding back from saying something, Freyja!? Is it that strange for the loser to refuse to overlook any insults turned toward the victor!?”

“Hah. Not at all. ‘My darling is so powerful and cool. I will not let anyone speak badly of him.’ ”

“I take it you want tonight’s main dish to be a sow ginger sauté…”

“Then how about we make a bet to turn this into a competition? I’ve been wanting a new accessory anyway, so if that boy does not make it to the underground world of Niðavellir, you give me those decorative feathers on your head!!”

“Wha-…? If I lose these, I will have no idea who I even am! No one will be able to tell it is me!”

“But I thought he was going to make it? You’ll win the bet, so does it even matter? You said that boy has a strong core, so he can easily make it to Niðavellir, right? Hee hee.”

“Uuh…!! B-but… What do I get if I win this competition?”

“Then Freyja here will give you a very hands-on lecture on what pleasures can be achieved between two wome-…Nothing, nothing. I was just joking.”

Waltraute pulled out her Spear of Destroying Lightning, so the goddess of beauty Freyja quickly corrected herself.

“Then how about this: As the goddess of harvest and fertility, I will give that boy an abundant harvest from the asparagus growing in his garden.”

“That still does not actually benefit me…but if that boy is satisfied I suppose he might be less likely to challenge me to strange and reckless competitions. If I look at it as adjusting the frequency of future competitions, it does benefit me.”

“ ‘I, Waltraute, want to see that boy’s joyous face. I will go to any effort at any opportunity in order to see it, so rub my head, darling!’ ”

“How about you repeat that nonsense after I hang you upside down?”

“If you’re going to tie me up, make sure my legs are spread.”

At any rate, the competition had been set.

Waltraute was betting the boy would make it to the underground world of Niðavellir while Freyja was betting he would not.

“(Idiot. Have you forgotten what will happen if that boy does make it to Niðavellir? I look forward to seeing your cute form after that boy removes your aurora armor, Waltraute. Nya ha ha!)”

“Hm? Did you say something?”

“Nyothing at all! Okay, now that the bet has been made, let’s see what’s going on in Midgard!!”

“Then again…” Waltraute may have consented to the competition, but she seemed worried about something else. “Hey, Freyja.”

“What?”

“Will that boy be okay? When he tried to climb the world tree Yggdrasil to reach Asgard, he almost died due to issues with the atmospheric pressure and altitude. There will not be any trouble like that this time, will there?”

“It’s hard to say,” replied Heimdallr the watchman in all seriousness. “The pressure and altitude will not be an issue this time because he is heading down. But heading to the underground world means heading deeper and deeper into a cave. As the space grows narrower and narrower, he might not have enough oxygen, and it’s possible he could run across some volcanic poisonous gases down there. You can’t exactly say the journey is without its risks.”

“Is there no way to take measures against those risks? I do not want to have to act at the last second like last time.”

Everyone else there thought “that is only because you were too stubborn”, but they did not dare say it.

Heimdallr honestly replied, “I hear they use canaries in mines. When the oxygen is too low or dangerous gases are floating around, they react in a special way to inform you.”

“…”

Waltraute then turned to the two messenger ravens Muninn and Huginn.

They both began protesting.

“I don’t want to do a dangerous job like that!!”

“No good can come from acting as a sensor by being the first to collapse!”

The Valkyrie then slowly held up the Spear of Destroying Lightning.

“If you can make that much noise, you are perfect for the role. Now go.”

After Waltraute sent the two ravens to the boy, Freyja spoke up.

“But how are we supposed to see what happens in the underground world? We can’t see down their just by looking down from the runway.”

“Heimdallr. Hand over the horn.”

Heimdallr’s shoulders jumped when she held her hand out toward him.

Waltraute ignored that and continued.

“The Gjallarhorn. It stretches down to Jötunheimr so you can use it to drink the water of wisdom, correct? If we have it stretch down to the underground world, we can use it to view the boy’s movements.”

“Y-you can’t!! The Gjallarhorn is also used as a siren for the heavenly world! The final battle of Ragnarök could start at any moment! My duty as watchman is to inform everyone if I detect its coming!! So I cannot let go of the Gjallarhorn no matter wha-…!!”

“What a pain.” Waltraute shook her head slowly. “Are you really asking for me to become a tyrant once more?”

“Me too!? You’re going to do to me what you did to Muninn and Huginn!?”

He was in danger of becoming a heavenly meal.

After Waltraute swiped the horn from Heimdallr, it stretched out using magical power. It quickly stretched all the way to the human world of Midgard before stabbing down through the ground and into the cave leading to the underground world.

Waltraute and Freyja peered in through the mouth of the horn.

“Hm. It looks like we can watch using this.”

“I can kind of see why Lord Odin feared this marriage of yours. But as long as the galactic pretty girl Freyja can enjoy it, none of that matters!!”

“Are you coming up with groundless suspicions again, you fool?”

Thanks to the Gjallarhorn’s magical effects, it would easily move around even while stabbed in the ground as long as it was moved slightly from above. They would have no problems keeping the boy in sight.

As they viewed what was happening underground, they spotted the boy double-checking his possessions at what was more or less the entrance to the cave.

“Handkerchief: check. Snacks for when I get hungry: check. Water bottle: check. Okay, time to go!”

“He’s packing that lightly again!? He’s clearly only wearing sandals. And he doesn’t have any kind of light despite heading into a cave!!”

“Whoops, my hand slipped,” said Freyja unconvincingly as she tossed a torch into the mouth of the horn.

After a hard clattering noise echoed through the horn for a bit, the torch fell out from the roof of the cave the boy was in.

“?”

The boy looked puzzled, but then he picked up the torch and headed further into the cave.

“Wasn’t that against the rules?”

“We never set any rules.”

After casually turning aside Waltraute’s question, Freyja went back to watching.

The cave had many complexly intertwining paths that stretched out over vast areas. Plus, the underground world was split into two large categories. The boy found himself at a junction between many different paths. Among them, one led up to the surface, one led to the underground world of Niðavellir, and one led to the underground world of Svartálfaheimr.

“Niðavellir… Nidavlure…”

“Oh, dear… It’s so hard to say, he’s started to say it wrong!!”

“He’s definitely going to get lost.”

“But there is a sign right there telling him which way to go…”

“If that other path leads to Svartálfaheimr, doesn’t that mean the dark elves come through here? I wonder if those prank-loving elves have switched out or altered the sign.”

The residents of the heavenly world grew quite worried, but the boy continued on into the cave with no real trouble.

The ravens Muninn and Huginn were secretly watching over the boy, but they did not start yelling about lack of oxygen or poisonous gas.

“Hm. This is quite normal. Nothing interesting is happening,” complained Freyja.

“Yes, this would be boring to the one who bet he would give up. But this is going extremely well for me since I bet he would make it safely. Nothing happening is for the best. All hail nothing happening! Who needs drama!?”

“ ‘Oh, I’m so worried. Waltraute is so worried about that boy. I hope he doesn’t get hurt. I hope he doesn’t get lost. Once he gets back, I’m going to give him a nice big hug!’ ”

“Do not start spewing strange nonsense just because you are bored, you fool!”

“By the way, aren’t you kind of denying the whole reason Valkyries exist by praising normalcy? Your job is to watch over and retrieve the souls of humans who die in dramatic ways.” Freyja gave an annoyed sigh. “But he’s headed to Niðavellir in order to request the dwarves make a tool for him, right? But don’t they make their items out of gold? And there are always a lot of extra issues to go with their tools. I wonder if he’ll be okay. I’d say the real challenge is yet to come.”

“Shh, wait. Someone is approaching that boy.”

The area near the entrance to the cave was very complex, but once one got onto the route heading to Niðavellir, it was just a single path following Yggdrasil’s root. A figure could be seen walking toward the boy from the other end of the passageway.

“Is it a dwarf?”

“They aren’t that tall. Ugeh!? That’s-…!!” shouted Waltraute when the figures face was illuminated by the boy’s torch.

The boy did not know who it was and the figure spoke to him.

“Oh? A resident of Midgard here? How unexpected.”

“Who are you, mister?”

“Ha ha ha. Sorry, but your skill is useless against a male god.”

The figure merely smiled at the sort of talk that had elated Frigg.

As he smiled, the male god said, “I am Loki. My origins are pretty complicated, but I am one of the Æsir.”

Meanwhile, the Valkyrie was trying to throw any and all weapons available to her into the mouth of the horn.

Freyja was frantically trying to stop her from destroying that treasure of the gods and the military level of the nine worlds.

“D-do not stop me!! That is Loki! ''That is Loki!!'' He killed the god of light Baldr as a joke, shaved off the blonde hair of the harvest goddess Sif as a gag, chaotically fathered both Fenrir and Hel, and is one of the primary causes of the final battle of Ragnarök!! It is so obvious he is lying about this being unexpected! He is definitely waiting to pull some kind of trick!!”

“That’s almost certainly true, but just calm down!! You’re about to destroy the world!!”

“I must do this to preserve the fairness of our competition!!”

“Yes, yes. I’m sure you want to go kiss that boy right now and just kiss and kiss and kiss!!”

Freyja tried to hold Waltraute’s hands behind her back but was thrown off. The giant boar the goddess of beauty usually rode around on slammed into the Valkyrie to buy some time. Meanwhile, the conversation between the boy and Loki continued in the underground cave.

“What are you doing here?” asked the boy.

“I was having the dwarves make a magic tool for me. That bastard Thor was really pissed that I shaved Sif’s head. I needed some replacement hair.”

“That’s why I’m here, too.”

“You also shaved a goddess?”

“I came here to have a tool made.”

“Oh, so that’s it. But ordinary methods won’t work with those dwarves. If you simply ask them, they’ll take an exorbitant fee and then run off without giving you anything.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. There’s a certain trick you have to use when asking something of them.”

Goose bumps appeared all over Waltraute’s body.

“He’s creepy!! That smile of his is creepy!! Vahh, vahh!! Get away from that boy right this instant!!”

“Just calm down!!” said Freyja. “While he’s most certainly a pervert, you’re in luck. He’s a male god! He won’t try anything of that sort with the boy, so just calm down!!”

“That is not what I was talking about! The fairness of the competition and the boy’s life are both at risk!!”

“Yes, I know what you claim your reason is. But this grouping won’t result in any kissing, so don’t worry!!”

“I-I suppose so.”

Waltraute finally calmed down a bit.

But then Heimdallr made an unnecessary comment.

“But what if he’s gay?”

“!! That’s right! This is dangerous after all! And come to think of it, Loki transformed into a horse, was mounted by a different horse controlled by a giant, and then gave birth to Sleipnir!! He was both a horse and the bottom!! Is there any less trustworthy god when it comes to sexual preferences!?”

“Dammit, Heimdallr! Why did you have to say that!? D-don’t worry, don’t worry. Such a turn of events may make me drool, but this isn’t going to turn into anything of that sort that maidens would love to see!! Calm down, calm down.”

As she pacified the angry Valkyrie, Freyja wiped a cold sweat from her brow.

Meanwhile, the conversation in the underground cave continued.

“What do I do to get them to make me a tool?”

“It’s simple. You have to…”

===Part 8===

After receiving advice from Loki, the boy parted ways with the male god and headed further into the cave.

And up in the heavenly world of Asgard, Waltraute was wrapped in self-hatred after awakening from her anger.

“How much effort am I going to give for that boy…?”

“Well, you are married to him, so it isn’t wrong to react somewhat.”

The boy stopped to eat his snacks, drink from his water bottle, and fill his empty stomach with hard rye bread, but he finally made it to the end of the cave.

He had arrived at the entrance to the underground world of Niðavellir where the dwarves lived.

“So he has safely arrived at the other world. Ha ha ha!! I win the bet!!”

“Yes, yes. I’ll make sure the boy gets tons of asparagus. I’ll give him a forest of asparagus.”

“…Why do you not seem the least bit upset that you lost?”

(Because this means the project to strip you of your armor is well on its way to success. Hee hee hee.)

The goddess of beauty Freyja hid her true intentions and instead said, “Wasn’t the difficulty level of the previous challenge to climb the world tree just too high?”

“H-hmph! That was a competition officially arranged with a Valkyrie to manipulate her fate in the form of marriage! It was only natural for it to be that difficult!!”

“Can you make up your mind over whether you want to be hard on him or soft on him?”

The boy entered the underground world of Niðavellir.

Unlike the damp cave, the inside glowed with gold. Literally. All the buildings and roads were made from pure gold. That glow seemed a bit gaudy to the residents of the heavenly world, but it was an excellent scene for stimulating human greed.

The dwarves were only about half the height of an adult human and their skin was dark. They all mined and forged metals as both miners and blacksmiths.

But…

“Excuse me. Where is the blacksmith?” asked the boy.

“I don’t know,” replied a dwarf.

“I need the blacksmith. Y’know, the guy who heats up metal and then beats it.”

“?”

“No, no. That isn’t going to work at all, boy,” said Waltraute as she held her head, but her voice could not reach the boy. “All dwarves possess skills as a blacksmith, so there is no specialist known as ‘the blacksmith’. The person you are looking for is right before your eyes, but you will never find him if you do not know how to ask.”

“…You sound more like a mother speaking to her child than a newlywed.”

After repeating that failed exercise a few times, even that boy realized something was off. He grabbed one of the dwarves walking along the golden path and asked him a question.

“Tell me which dwarf can make me a tool.”

“Y-yes,” said Waltraute. “That’s right. That is what you must say. It certainly took you some time to figure out something so simple. You really are hopeless…”

“That look on your face says quite a lot, you newlywed wife. Should I repeat out loud what that grin of yours is saying?” said Freyja.

The dwarf led the boy to his workshop.

The dwarf asked, “What would you like made?”

“Um…Mrs. Frigg said I could enjoy my next date more if I had a tool to remove a Valkyrie’s armor.”

“Ah!?” exclaimed the Valkyrie in realization. “I was so caught up in that competition that I forgot success means having my armor removed!!”

“So you finally caught on, hm!? But it’s too late now!!”

As Waltraute frantically tried to cover up her chest with both hands, the dwarf’s next question reached her ears.

“Can you pay?”

“But…wait. Wait a second!” said Freyja.

“What?”

“Can we really have that dwarf make this golden tool?”

“O-of course not!! It is simply unthinkable to have my armor stripped off! B-but…I suppose… I suppose if that boy gets this tool made and earnestly asks me, I will have no choice but to go along with it…”

“That’s not what I meant, you exhibitionist,” spat out Freyja coolly. “The tools created by the dwarves are of such high quality that not even the Æsir can copy them. Even the lightning god Thor’s Mjölnir and the head god Odin’s Gungnir were made by the dwarves.”

“What is your point?”

“They put a curse on the gold they use,” continued Freyja with a serious expression. “Especially when it comes to those that shirk the bill like Loki suggested he do. Even the tools we use have a dwarf curse on them. The reason we remain unharmed is because our properties as gods repels the curse. But if a human who cannot repel it was to hold them…”

“…”

“Loki stole some gold from the dwarf named Andvari and gave it to the human Siegfried. It became one of the reasons behind the death of that hero who even sliced the dragon Fafnir in two. The magic sword Dáinsleif is usable by human hands, but it is also said to be one of the triggers for Ragnarök. Surely you have heard the stories. It is often said that humans cannot fully use the weapons of the gods, but that is a lie. In truth, the humans cannot withstand the curse put on the weapons by the dwarves.”

“Th-th-then…” Waltraute asked a question in a trembling voice. “What will happen once that boy accepts the golden tool the dwarf makes?”

“Hmm.” Freyja looked straight upwards. “He’ll probably die.”

===Part 9===

And in Valhalla, the great hall of the heavenly world, the head god Odin was plotting.

“Honestly, I didn’t know what to do when Loki showed up. But now that boy will finally join the war dead.”

“What do you mean, father?”

That question was asked by the lightning god Thor who was Odin’s son.

Thor had been thoroughly beaten by a pissed Waltraute last time and had been on the verge of losing any meaning to his existence thanks to losing in a competition of lightning, but he was just barely holding onto his position as the lightning god.

Odin arrogantly replied to Thor from his throne.

“Well, it seems my wife Frigg and some others are tempting that boy into something. I have been watching on all the while, but I realized that allowing it to happen is better for us than to try to stop it.”

“So we let him have a dwarf create this tool?”

“Yes. The dwarves’ curses are not enough for us Æsir. But humans do not have that same protection. If they are handed a dwarf tool, there is only one possible result.” Odin grinned. “Did he not learn his lesson last time? Trying to cross to another world only brings death.”

“Oh, oh. Ohh!! I get it now. This will add that perseverant and courageous boy to the ranks of the Einherjar war dead! That is excellent!”

“Isn’t it, though!? Midgard is filled with all sorts of humans, but not many have tried to cross over to two other worlds!! Given the awe the average soul born in the human world feels for the world tree and the general unease they feel towards other worlds, they would find this completely unthinkable!! This boy will make an amazing war dead! And then the Wagner-style group of nine Valkyries will return to normal. Our preparations for Ragnarök will be perfect!! Ah hah hah! Gah hah hah!!”

The goddess of marriage Frigg held her head in her hands when she saw how pathetic the head god had become.

“Don’t tell me you actually think this will progress exactly like that.”

“You screwed up this time, Frigg!! I won’t do a single thing. After all the trouble you went to save that boy’s life, you have now handed his soul to me!!”

“…Sigh. You sound like some kind of great demon king.” Frigg sighed as she felt a serious headache coming on. “And do you really think this did not occur to me when I put together my plan?”

“It doesn’t matter what you say now! It’s too late!! That boy has already ordered that dwarf to create a golden tool. Once he received the tool from the dwarf, the curse will activate. A soul born in the human world has no way of defending against it. Even if a Valkyrie and a goddess are protecting him from afar, he cannot escape his fate. That level of protection isn’t enough. You need the protection we gods are born with to repel a dwarf’s curse!!”

Frigg was shaking her head at a loss for words, but she then added, “You two should really be more worried about a more pressing danger.”

“Hm?”

“What do you mean, mother?”

“You may claim to just be watching, but you plan to bring that boy to join the war dead if this does not go well, right? Now how did you order Waltraute to deal with people who manipulate pure thoughts like that?”

[[Image:Waltraute_v01_101.jpg|thumb]]

“……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………Oh.”

The trauma from the other day came back to Odin.

With a great roar and a bluish-white flash of light, the wall of the great hall was smashed from the outside. A single Valkyrie stomped in through the rubble.

“E-eee!! Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!”

Odin was completely shaken by this development. He frantically tried to grab the holy spear Gungnir, but a Spear of Destroying Lightning mercilessly stabbed into the weapon. Sparks flew and Gungnir rolled into a corner of the great hall.

While standing in a foolish pose because his grasp had reached only air, tears filled Odin’s eyes.

“I-I’m the head god!! The head god!!”

“Rank and strength are unrelated, you fool. Do you need to be ripped apart before the giant wolf Fenrir devours you?”

“Shit!! War has been distorted again because that boy carelessly traveled between the nine worlds!!”

Waltraute had become more frightening than a deadly dragon, but Frigg merely sighed.

“Waltraute, calm down a bit.”

“Come to think of it, you are the one behind it this time!!”

“Th-that’s right! That’s right!” chimed in Odin. “I did nothing this time. I only watched! It was Frigg that led that boy to the underground world of Niðavellir! She is the one that told him to have the dwarves make him a golden tool!! This is all her fault!!”

Frigg spoke to Waltraute while ignoring Odin who was charging down the path of the pathetic.

“Like I said: calm down a bit. Don’t worry. This will not end like that bearded old man say it will.”

“…What do you mean?”

“It is true that the golden tools and weapons created by the dwarves are cursed. And it is true a human could not withstand that curse.” Frigg admitted all that, but she continued. “But there is a certain trick regarding that curse.”

“?”

===Part 10===

She was still not entirely satisfied, but Waltraute returned to Bifröst with the goddess of marriage Frigg. When they arrived, the goddess of beauty Freyja spoke while peering down from the third runway to the underground world of Niðavellir.

“Oh!! Look, look! This has gotten interesting!!”

“What do you mean?”

With a suspicious look, Waltraute peered into the Gjallarhorn.

“Here. Will this work?” asked the dwarf.

“Wow, wow!! Thanks!!” replied the boy.

“W-wait!! Isn’t that dwarf handing him the golden tool he made!?” cried Waltraute. “He’ll be taken out by the dwarf’s curse!!”

“Shh. Look more closely, Waltraute.”

“It’s a multi-tool knife! It opens up!!” exclaimed the boy.

“Ha ha ha. Each tool inside automatically removes a portion of the Valkyrie’s armor. Just press the button and hold the tool out. It will do the rest on its own.”

“…What?” said Waltraute. “It does not look like he is being affected by the curse.”

“Of course not. It isn’t cursed,” replied Frigg nonchalantly.

“What?”

Waltraute froze in place and the goddess of marriage continued speaking.

“The dwarves only put a curse on the gold because the Æsir did not pay them an amount worthy of the effort the dwarves put in. Most of the time, the tools were taken without payment at all. In the worst cases, the dwarves were threatened into making the tools with a blade pressed up against them.”

“Well, with that bearded old man who loves war as the main god, the gods are all overflowing with brute strength and little else.”

“When made to make the tools under those conditions, it isn’t surprising that a curse or two was added. But those war-obsessed idiots who think it is only natural to speak through their power may not be able to understand such subtleties.”

“Th-then…?”

“You snapped and came to attack Valhalla partway through, right? You missed what happened in the middle. Freyja, could you explain to Waltraute what happened while she was away?”

“Um... but nothing very dramatic happened.” Freyja’s gaze wandered into the sky as she casually opened her mouth. “When the dwarf heard what the boy wanted, he asked about payment. He bluntly asked how much money the boy had brought.”

“Normally, the Æsir would either lie at that point or use their brute strength to threaten the dwarf.”

“The boy said the little he had on him was all he owned and therefore was all he could pay. I think it was about 7 silver coins.”

“That must have angered the dwarf. You said they needed to be paid an amount worthy of their effort, right? This is a tool made with the same handicraft as the weapons of the gods. Seven silver coins from Midgard would never be enough.”

“But that isn’t what happened.”

“?”

“When the dwarf saw those shabby silver coins, he asked the boy how much time it took him to gather the coins.” Freyja shrugged. “And the boy said it took him about a full month of work. What was it he said? I think it was something about it being what he earned helping out the mead maker he apprentices under.”

“…”

“But the dwarf finally smiled and said he would have to put in a month’s worth of effort to match it. It was horrible. A sparkling beauty like me hates, hates, hates that kind of sweaty conversation.”

“That is what happened,” concluded Frigg. “The dwarves do not care about how much money is given. They put in enough work to match the effort put into acquiring the money. For the Æsir who rule the nine worlds, a giant pile of gold coins can be acquired with little to no effort. That will not get anything out of the dwarves. And they feel disappointment and hatred toward those who fail to pay even that amount.”

“But…that boy…was different?”

“The dwarves’ curse is a reversal of their sense of professionalism and their sincerity. The curse appears when their pride as a blacksmith is betrayed. If a serious negotiation is made and their skills are respected, there will be no curse. And, Waltraute, you should know better than anyone what kind of person that boy is. It was my knowledge of who he is that told me this plan would work. In other words…” Frigg paused for a second. “Odin and the others brought about their own ruin by trying to use a challenge the boy had no chance of losing. Do you still have any reason to be mad?”

===Part 11===

It seemed the entire issue had been cleanly wrapped up, but one problem remained for Waltraute.

Yes.

“That boy now has a tool to remove a Valkyrie’s armor, doesn’t he!? Wh-what is this…? I feel a silent pressure telling me to strip!”

“…Yeah, but going on a date in full armor is just creepy. The military is all sweaty and nasty!! A boy does not want that from a girl!! Or do you think your husband has some ridiculous parameters like a sweat fetish!?”

“You fool! Of course I do not want to hear that we have to be in a gym during summer for him to be happy!! But…!!”

“Then strip! Strip off that armor! Strip! Strip!!”

“I do not like it… I do not like it, but since he has the golden tool, am I even able to resist? After all, the weapons and tools created by the dwarves are directly linked to the attributes of the gods. Just like the lightning god Thor must wield the lightning hammer Mjölnir and the head god Odin must wield the holy spear Gungnir, a tool to remove a Valkyrie’s armor must have the ability to remove my armor.”

“If you understand, then we need to decide what cute outfit you’ll be wearing! Will it be a nice dress? Or maybe some tight pants? Gwa ha ha ha ha ha!! Or maybe you can try some underwear that’s strings need to be tied together in such a complex way that no one would ever wear them under normal circumstances!!”

“Even if it is nothing but your wild delusions, that is going too far!!”

“Damn, this is one annoying Valkyrie,” complained Freyja, but Heimdallr once more added an unnecessary comment.

“Um, if you are that unwilling to remove your armor, can’t you just resist? Even if he has a tool to remove your armor, he is still only human. If you actually tried, you could…gyah, gyah, gyaaaaahhhhhhh!?!?!?”

The giant boar Freyja always rode around on slammed into Heimdallr and dragged him around the runway.

Freyja refused to have Waltraute grow stubborn once more thanks to an unnecessary comment.

Waltraute climbed onto her white horse while Freyja saw her off with a smile.

“I am going to head off for my date. We arranged this three days ago, so I have no choice!!”

“Okay, okay. If you like, you could reward the winner with some bonus points by bringing the goddess of love and lust along for a threeso-…never mind.”

The goddess of beauty shrank down when she saw the tip a Spear of Destroying Lightning.

Waltraute and the white horse used Bifröst to break their “existence” down to individual particles and descend to Midgard while creating an unnatural aurora across the sky.

Once the Valkyrie was gone, a smiling figure arrived at the third runway.

She was the goddess of marriage Frigg.

“…How is it going?”

“It’s just starting. Oh, Waltraute just met up with the boy!”

“Oh! Waltraute just led the boy to a deserted water mill!!”

“Well, it would have been quite a shock to the boy’s parents if she headed into his house. They would probably think their son was going to die soon.”

“F-fine,” said Waltraute down in the human world. “If you do not like my armor, you may remove it. But only in private.”

“Seriously!?” exclaimed Freyja. “She’s going to let the boy do it himself!? I-is this the scenario where the older girl teaches the little boy how to do it!?”

“I have prepared a number of outfits appropriate for a date according to the fashion sense of the human world,” continued Waltraute. “But my armor must be removed in order to change into them.”

“Ehh!? That’s what she’s doing it for!? She’s only stripping to prepare for the date!? That water mill is your goal point, so why are thinking about going somewhere else from there!? She really is the queen of the cock teases!! She’s such an amateur that you would almost think she was an expert!!”

“Does Waltraute know what is supposed to happen at the end of this date?”

While still probably having no idea what it meant, the boy pulled out the golden tool he had the dwarf make for him. Several devices opened up on their own from the multi-tool knife.

“I-I had not seen it up close like this before. It really is amazing. P-please be gentle.”

“This is my first time, so I don’t really know how to do it.”

“Go slowly. Just go slowly, okay?”

Freyja shouted out, “Just listening to this makes it sound really erotic!! I can’t believe she is actually trying to keep away from that!!”

“As the goddesses of marriage and lust, this almost feels like blasphemy…”

At any rate, the situation was bound to improve at least somewhat once the Valkyrie’s armor was removed.

If she removed that armor that was the symbol of her professionalism and put on some cute feminine clothes, they might catch a glimpse of Waltraute’s private side.

That was the point of a date.

If those two were going to deepen their relationship without using the attributes of those goddesses of marriage and lust, it might take quite a bit of time. But they had plenty of time. In that case, letting things develop at those two’s pace could possibly lead to deeper bonds than trying to rush things.

And that was why the two goddesses simply watched on.

“Huh?” said the boy.

“What?”

“It needs 8 devices to fully remove your armor, but that leaves one device it doesn’t use.”

“Come to think of it,” muttered the goddess of marriage Frigg. “The dwarves make their devices out of gold, but they will add on an extra tool if they have excess materials. Even the gods’ primary weapons often have ‘extras’ added on.”

“Yeah, and those extras can alter the rankings of the gods. Those dwarves really are something.”

As the goddesses spoke, the situation was growing odd down in the human world of Midgard.

“Hmm. Let’s try it out.”

“Are you sure that is a good idea?”

“No, but here goes.”

“If you don’t know, then don’t bring it ou-…waahh!!”

Waltraute let out a rare urgent shout.

Frigg and Freyja frantically looked back down to the surface. The following scene was displayed there.

The golden multi-tool knife in the boy’s hand had some tentacle-like objects slithering out of it. They were much too flexible to think they were made of metal. Their numbers, length, and size were so great, they seemed to completely ignore the law of conservation of mass.

“Wh-wh-what are those!?” shouted Waltraute. “What are they used for!?”

“? I don’t know. What could they be for?” replied the boy.

“N-no, do not look so puzzled. …I mean…well…I can take a guess that they are used for…um…you know…”

“Huh? There’s a button here.”

“Do not mess with it anymore, you fool!! What am I supposed to do if they wrap all around me and start to vibrate!? Dammit, this is the problem with fantasy settings!!”

The boy was not listening at all, so he pressed the button. The familiar voice of a certain dwarf came from the handle of the multi-tool knife.

“Well, you see… It’s our style to add on a little something extra if we have some excess materials, but I was having trouble figuring out what to do for this one. I can’t exactly give someone like you a hammer that can smash anyone’s head.”

“H-how does that lead to making these tentacles?” protested Waltraute.

“But then I had an idea. You wanted a tool to remove a Valkyrie’s armor. But the fun doesn’t end with just stripping the girl. You didn’t look like you were used to handling a woman, so I thought it would be best to add on something to help you out with that.”

“…”

“This is a magic device that will automatically take a Valkyrie to heaven once it has been activated!! It doesn’t matter how stubborn or frigid she is. By combining this with the tool to remove the armor, you are almost guaranteed to defeat any Valkyrie!! Gah hah hah! When I told the other dwarves about this, they all gathered together to give this their all! It might be too effective, so I wouldn’t be surprised if the Valkyrie ended up passing out while foaming at the mouth!!”

“I think I want to try that tool out…” said Freyja with her eyes glittering, but her voice did not reach Midgard.

The water mill had contained a nice atmosphere not long before, but it had completely frozen over due to Waltraute’s killer intent. (The boy felt left behind because he did not understand what any of it meant.) Waltraute stood up from the floor, swiped the golden tool from the boy’s hand, and needlessly adjusted her armor that had not yet been removed.

With a Spear of Destroying Lightning glowing bluish-white in her right hand, she gave a quick instruction to the confused boy.

“…Wait here a moment.”

And…

The wrath of the gods rained down on the underground world of Niðavellir.

<noinclude>
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|-
| Back to [[The_Circumstances_Leading_to_Waltraute's_Marriage:Volume1_Chapter_1|Chapter 1]]
| Return to [[The_Circumstances_Leading_to_Waltraute's_Marriage|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[The_Circumstances_Leading_to_Waltraute's_Marriage:Volume1_Chapter_3|Chapter 3]]
|-
|}
</noinclude>

Sword Art Online:The Day Before

2013-04-13T15:52:43Z

89.77.202.20: Undo revision 241677 by 112.215.65.231 (talk)

==The Day Before==
[[Image:Sword Art Online The Day Before - 000.jpg|300px|center]]
===Part 1===

Aincrad Standard Time, Year 2024, 23rd October, 9 PM.

I, the level 96 swordsman, Kirito, have proposed to the level 94 fencer, Asuna, and she has accepted.

Of course, this happened in a VRMMO known as Sword Art Online—a scene within a RPG. In the real world, Asuna and I have not even seen each other's faces, and in the first place, I'm not even at an age that can legally marry. —Asuna might be just about there in terms of that, though.

I do not know what was the game that first adopted the «Marriage System», but marriage between fellow characters has always been popular in the world of MMOs, even back since twenty years ago. Some sort of advantage is provided to «spouses» characters in most series, so there are many cases where marriage was done for that purpose alone, and of course, with there being players who marry as a part of their earnest roleplaying, it seems there were also some among those where the in-game marriage ended up being an impetus for marriage in the real world. This is merely my own assumption, but I believe that even if all of the MMO players in the entire world were to be asked the question «Do you have any experience of marrying in a game?», it's possible that more than half of them would give an affirmative reply.

However, even if it's regrettable (though I'm not quite sure if I should describe it as so), I have never ever married anyone, within all of the MMORPGs I have played thus far.

The reason is—well, it's probably due to my weak interpersonal communication skills, but alongside that, I had absolutely no idea on what to make of the concept of an «in-game marriage». If the male character, Kirito, controlled by me, Kirigaya Kazuto, were to marry a female character, Somegirl<ref>Originally "Dareko", or when transliterated, "who-girl".</ref> (fictional), controlled by a female, or perhaps a male (this is easily possible as well) who exists somewhere in this world, is it okay for me to simply interpret it as a permanently fixed party with this Somegirl-san? Or would I have to go to the extent of roleplaying my love for that Somegirl-san? Or perhaps—I would even have to be wary of that certain living being behind Somegirl-san...?

To be honest, it's not like I had no experience of receiving the offer, "Wanna get married （〃＾▽＾〃）", from female characters who were registered as friends or guild members in the games I played before SAO. However, in every single one of those cases, I would freeze in front of the monitor while breaking out in cold sweat and end up giving a reply like "（´ノω；｀）".

I was too cautious, too analytical, too nervous; even I think so myself.

However, to begin with, the reason why I indulged in MMO games was because they were temporary worlds. Behind each and every character, there exist unfamiliar players with unrevealed genders and ages. As a result, it can't be helped but to wonder "Who exactly is this person?". Everyone isn't quite themselves, myself included.

Despite that, to me, the system, «Marriage», is to collide head-on into that recognition. Even if the marriage was within a game, one can't help but to be self-conscious when linked to a certain someone through a special relationship. Of that «certain person» moving the mouse and typing on the keyboard in the real world.

As such, I shirked away from becoming permanent partners with people in net games and of course, that shouldn't have changed even in this unnatural death game, Sword Art Online. No, with their avatars and actual appearances being the same, it might provide all the more reason to keep a distance from others.

However, the one who slowly dispersed, shrunk and finally erased my discomfort—or perhaps anxiety, was certainly Asuna.

In the slightly less than two years since the start of the death game, though the situation differed at times, that girl did not ever disappear from my sight. She was first a casual party member of mine, and shortly after that, a comrade within the clearing group even after she joined the guild, Knights of the Blood. There was that time we investigated the strange murder case in the area together and that other time I got her to cook an S-grade food item for me. Through those exchanges with Asuna, I realized it.

That in this world—and definitely in the real world as well, and just maybe in the non-fulldive MMO games I played before SAO as well, what determined whether the people before my eyes really are themselves, was my own self. If I were to leave those doubts and distance aside, they would become lies. If I were to put my trust into them and compromise, they would become real.

Now, right before my eyes, there is a swordswoman named Asuna.

I enjoy the time I spend with her. Asuna fighting, Asuna laughing, even Asuna getting angry, watching each and every one of those moments brings forth strong emotions in my heart. She was always within reach and it seems clear that she was interested too. When I look at Asuna now, I don't ponder upon what exactly her true self is like anymore, not even in the slightest.

Hence, I proposed to Asuna.

Honestly speaking, it's not that my various doubts are gone. I still do not have the conviction to claim that this emotion of mine that seeks for Asuna to be that so-called «love». I've always kept a distance from my family in the real world and ever since I've come to this world, I've relentlessly persisted on in my solo playing, making me wonder if I really did have the heart to love someone else.

However, I figured I might be able to find the answer to that final doubt if I'm together with Asuna.

—And, all of that was the «comprehension of marriage in SAO» I had arrived at thus far.

On another topic, as it really is marriage, even if it happened in the world of a game, there are still the customary material aspects to it. To be specific, what to do about getting a new home, so to speak.

We will naturally live together after marriage, but in that case, before even considering my refuge in the back alleys of the main city of Algade on the fiftieth floor, Asuna's mansionette in Salemburg, on the sixty-first floor was already slightly too cramped. Not to mention, putting the issue about the physical area aside, there are circumstances that forces us to be unable to live where we've resided in until now.

The sub-leader of the guild, «Knights of the Blood», Asuna the «Flash», could be said to be the player most highly idolized in Aincrad at present.

She was almost always first in the player popularity polls in the newspapers published by the information brokers, even having several fan clubs, with a major general store chain offering not a CD debut, but a RC (recording crystal) debut, though it seems that she drove them off with thrusts from her rapier.

It feels like ages since her «Little Red Riding Hood» phase at the start of the death game when she kept her hooded cape on the entire time, but anyway, if the public were to know of the marriage of an idol like that, there's no doubt it would get picked up by each and every one of the newspapers, all at once.

Her many fans will lament and moan, and energy might just be formed by that, eventually converting into a curse property attack, causing her partner in marriage, me, to suffer a drop in my real luck—even if you were to leave that aside, being interrogated and the like is no way to spend a newlywed life, so I would like to keep as much of the truth behind the marriage under wraps as I could.

Of course, we did send messages to that girl's many friends, and my few ones, so we didn't expect it to stay a secret for long, but nevertheless, we weren't in any position to stay immersed in our honeymoon mood for too long. It has only been four days since the floor boss of the seventy-fourth floor, «The Gleameyes», has been defeated and it should take some time before the boss room on the seventy-fifth floor, the current front lines, is found, but both Asuna and I have no choice but to participate in that boss battle, even if we can desert the labyrinth tower's mapping.

As such, if we could have ten days... no, two weeks... until that happens, we would have to search for a home where we could pass our time slightly more peacefully.

If we list the items we have accumulated through our gameplay on the newspapers' classified section, converting most of those we have no pressing need for into col, we might just be able to afford a detached house in the area... or in other words, one within the city walls. However, if we were to set up a new home in a place like that, it would end up being found out by the information brokers on that very day. One that's on a cleared floor unfrequented by players, not to mention built on its edge and having a reasonable amount of space while not being eye-catching—such a house would be ideal.

Those were rather harsh conditions, but in actual fact, I have already had an inkling of a fitting unit before I proposed.

It has already been more than a year and a half since the front lines was stationed at the twenty-second floor of Aincrad. It was a low floor while being spacious, but nearly all of it was covered in deep forests, grass plains and lakes, possessing a beautiful, yet smooth topography, and furthermore, neither important quests, nor field bosses exist there. The players of the clearing group took a straight route to the labyrinth from the main town, Coral Village, scrambled up the tower with its mild degree of difficulty, defeating its boss in a number of days quite below the average back then. At the present moment, the only players who visit the twenty-second floor would probably be fishermen heading to the assorted sized lakes and woodcrafters gathering wood materials in the forests.

Hence, it would be a place I haven't visited for over a year either, but for some reason, a certain spectacular view it had was fixed in my memory.

It was on the day the twenty-second floor's boss was crushed, when I ran about alone, trying to clear as much of the quests I've left undone ever since I accepted them.

I found a narrow, small path on the bank of the clear, blue lake, one that wouldn't be noticed unless close by. It seemed unrelated to the quests, but when I tried following the path and climbed the hill, I found a deserted detached log house erected there at the end, surrounded by a thick forest of coniferous trees.

Its log walls were covered in moss here and there, while two or three saplings poked out from the roof, but it didn't give off the sense of rotting away at all. Rather, it blended in with the nature surrounding it, giving off a sense of beauty, as if it was a home owned by one of the Elven race.

I quietly opened the wooden gate (as that was possible, it couldn't have belonged to another player), checked the interior with my Search skill (as it was empty, it wasn't a NPC's home either), and after I approached the terrace at its front, I finally found it. A «FOR SALE» wooden tag that hung from the door knob.

Not having made it to even level 40, I could only point at the price listed on the wooden tag while I counted the number of digits, let out a sigh, and left the place behind while stubbornly glancing back over and over again. Whilst holding on the dream that someday, I will get my item storage bursting with enough col to buy this house.

In actual fact, when my level was in its seventies while the fiftieth floor was conquered, there was nothing I couldn't afford if I really wanted it. But as one of the clearing group, I couldn't have a place that requires a twenty minute trip to get to the nearest teleport gate as my base of operation. In the end, I set up a refuge in the main city of the fiftieth floor, Algade, and ended up spending my sleeping time there up till several days ago.

It has actually been a year and a half since I found that house in the forest on the twenty-second floor—

I decided to propose to Asuna and when I thought about what to do about a new home, what immediately came to mind was that log house. I believed there was no better choice.

As my proposal speech, I first revealed information on the aforementioned log house, suggested to move there and finally, I said, "Let's get married".

I do believe that at least a tiny part of the reason behind why Asuna replied "Yes" without even a trace of hesitation was thanks to the divine protection of that house.

===Part 2===

And, so.

It's been a night since the proposal, it's the twenty-fourth of October, sometime after 2 PM. Asuna and I visited the twenty-second floor together.

We called upon the Knights of the Blood headquarters in Grandum, on the fifty-fifth floor yesterday and have already settled the request for both of us to temporarily withdraw. Even if it's temporary, we properly left the guild system-wise, with the guild emblem, the red cross, not existing on our color cursors any longer.

We exited the teleport gate at the main town, Coral Village, and as we walked towards the large lake to the southwest, I casually asked Asuna at my side.

"Hey, how long has it been since you joined the KoB, Asuna?"

"Let's see..."

Shaking her chestnut-colored hair, the fencer lightly tilted her head.

"I think the leader invited me in February last year, so... it would be close to a year and a half, I guess. It was right after the boss battle on the twenty-fifth floor ended, so..."

"I see... The KoB was made right after half of the «Force» got annihilated, wasn't it..."

I glanced up at the underside of the floor above.

Three floors above this peaceful one was the twenty-fifth floor of Aincrad that ended up being the next true trial for the players of the clearing group, ever since the first floor.

Abnormally strong mobs, compared to those on the twenty-fourth floor, obstructed our progress immediately after we left the main city and the field's topography was as complex as a maze; its difficulty created multiple casualties even while we were en route towards the next town. There were barely any NPCs we could obtain information from, while on the other hand, there were plenty of pitfall terrain traps which led to poisonous swamps and by the time we somehow managed to reach the labyrinth tower on foot, the clearing group players were at the end of their rope.

We roused ourselves with all the spirit we could muster, and the one who motivated everyone was the player who led the guild, «Aincrad Liberation Corps»—that's right, it wasn't a «Liberation Force» yet, back then—who was named Kibaou. His wanton cursing of everyone in that Kansai dialect got them into the mood through those "You bastard!" lines, empowering them to get back onto their feet.

However. That was how Kibaou, who was unmistakably regarded as the leader of the entire clearing group back then, got hooked onto false information spread by someone with the twenty-fifth floor's boss battle right before him. With only forty or so guild members that couldn't even make up an entire raid group, they rushed into the boss room first. As a result, over half of the Liberation Corps died... and the main force of the clearing group, inclusive of Asuna and me, finally caught up to them at that point, and although we didn't escape without quite a number of casualties as well, we managed to take the monstrous boss down somehow.

But the joy from crossing Aincrad's quarter point was lacking in everyone. The boss room was permeated in the cries of resentment from Kibaou, echoing throughout the place.

That was where he parted from the clearing group, bringing along the comrades who were still alive, he left for the first floor on the distant bottom. And thus, they merged with the mutual aid organization, «MMO Today», active in the Starting City—it was from that huge congregation, that the «Force» was eventually formed.

"...The entire clearing group certainly was in a state of despair at that point... The ones fighting on the front lines were suddenly reduced to two-thirds of what they were and no one even found out who was to blame for setting up that trap, so I guess that was only to be expected. ...Everyone had sullen expressions even on the first field boss strategy meeting on the twenty-sixth floor... but, that was when the newly-formed guild, KoB, proudly marched in. All of the members were fortified in customized white and red equipment; that really had an impact, huh..."

As we walked on the lake's bank, I recollected what had happened back then and spoke about them in halting sentences. However, the one at my side kept awfully quiet, so I turned to take a glance and strangely enough, Asuna was growing red at her cheeks and subtly looking elsewhere. I snickered in my mind and continued on, pretending not to notice.

"...Especially that sub-leader who stood at the head of the group; all of us... putting Klein and I aside, even Agil was mesmerized, you know. An outfit that was the exact opposite of all of those plain ones till then, that pure white sleeveless bodice with that deep red miniskirt and those white knee highs to top things off... in that single moment, how should I say this, the hearts of those clearing group that were becoming divided all came together and..."

Smack! And a blunt-type attack came flying at my left shoulder, stopping just short of causing damage and interrupted my words. When I took a look, that particular sub-leader had her face in a shade of deep red and her right hand clenched into a fist.

"Geez! Honestly, that time was incredibly embarrassing, you know! I thought that the leader would naturally be at the front, but then with his usual composure, he went, 'I believe we could achieve a much greater effect if Asuna-kun were to stand at the front', having that serious look on, so I went out there in despair!"

"Ha-Hah... —That reminds me, that equipment really was custom-tailored, right? Who came up with the design?"

"......All of the other guild members held meetings for the design countless times while keeping it a secret from me. When they first showed it to me, I rejected it with a 'I can't wear something like this!' and was told, 'The cost of even a single set of this was colossal!' by Daizen-san with tears in his eyes, so I had no choice but to..."

"...I-I see."

It seems that even the guild, Knights of the Blood, said to be truly the strongest with their ironclad rules, were up to pretty humorous antics at the start. That said, there was no mistaking how the debut of the KoB increased the morale of the entire clearing group at that time and have always stood at the front lines of this death game ever since then. —Even at this very moment, parties with figures clad in red and white must be carrying out fierce battles on the seventy-fifth floor, opened not so long ago...

I glanced up at the underside of the upper floor once more. It seems Asuna had read my inner thoughts from merely that. While gently holding onto my left hand with her now unclenched right hand, she spoke.

"You defeated the seventy-fourth floor's boss mostly by yourself, Kirito-kun. You barely had even two or three pixels left in your HP bar. Even if you get away from the clearing for a little while, no one would complain."

"...If the reason for my break were to be exposed, I'll probably get complaints from everyone around, though."

I gave that retort sprinkled with laughter and returned Asuna's gesture. The sub-leader showed an expression unsure of whether to get angry or embarrassed and I gave a short chuckle.

After going about halfway round a large lake, with a diameter of likely one kilometer, noticeably imposing Japanese cedar—or at least, coniferous trees that looked like them, were sprouting up high. When stared at closely from somewhere near those grand roots, the wide path of the lake shore could be seen splitting into a thin, narrow path heading southwest.

"...You found this path? You sure are just as observant of these sorts of hidden routes as always."

I took those thoughts as a compliment and puffed out my chest.

"Back then, I didn't even have «Detection» Mob from the Searching skill, so I found it with only my eyes and instincts. You can see the house right after climbing that hill."

With that, Asuna's face beamed with joy in an instant as well, this time.

"I wonder what the house is like, I'm really looking forward to it! Let's hurry!"

"......Hey, Asuna-san, it's really a log house with nothing unusual, so even if you anticipate it that much, nothing will..."

"Well, it has always been my dream to live in a log house ever since I was small. I would be totally, completely and absolutely satisfied if it just has a Russian stove<ref>A unique type of oven/furnace used for both cooking and heating. Originally "pechika".</ref> and a rocking chair!"

Asuna quickly climbed the hill as she spoke, making me chase after her in a hurry. A rocking chair can just be bought from a furniture store, but really now, I can't possibly be expected to recall if there was a Russian stove. No, it's not definite that there wasn't one. The reason why I found the log house just ahead a year and a half before was for the sake of this very day. If this is the guidance of fate, there must be a Russian stove there as well.

While praying for the existence of a chimney atop the log house's roof, I ascended the hill several seconds after Asuna. I moved beside Asuna, who was standing still in silence and searched for a chimney with my eyes opened wide.

——However.

It wasn't there.

Not the chimney.

What spanned out before our eyes was a round space covered in verdant undergrowth, without even a single man-made object of any sort... in other words, the house itself did not exist.

===Part 3===

This is the wrong place.

That was the most reasonable explanation, so I apologized to Asuna and descended the hill, searching the fields nearby for two hours.

However, not only was there no log house, I wasn't even able to find any other forks leading to a new small path. Climbing up the first hill another time in melancholy, I gazed through the surrounding landscape yet again.

"......It was here, definitely..."

My voice unthinkingly escaped from my mouth.

A broad, lawny garden (merely empty land without a house though), within which a dense forest of coniferous trees stretches out; the towering pillars that support the outer circumference of Aincrad were visible beyond the grove of trees and at the very end was the infinite sky extending forever. This view remained fresh in my memory despite the gap of one and a half year.

But that particular crucial log house did not exist. I doubt it would have any effect, but even after I tried stepping into that blank space and walking to its absolute middle, the house showed no sign of spawning.

As I stood there frozen in a daze, the crunching sound of someone stepping over the undergrowth closed in, stopping right behind me.

I couldn't bear to turn around. Let's move to a log house on the twenty-second floor, just the two of us; those were the words of my proposal. If that house did not exist, wouldn't the marriage proposal itself seem like a sham?

"Asuna... —It's true. That house really was here."

It happened when I feebly spoke that line out, with my eyes lowered.

Cutting in right before me, Asuna slapped down onto my shoulders before she held my face within her palms, raising it up. Those hazel eyes were no different from usual, shimmering with a gentle light.

"I do believe you, isn't that obvious?"

She gave that simple declaration, released her hands, took a few steps back and continued.

"It must have been demolished due to some sort of circumstances with the system. It's a pity, but still, it's a very lovely place even without the house, so I'm glad that I got you to bring me here, really."

She spun around atop the emerald grass, her skirt fluttering. The scene of the afternoon rays of sunlight shining upon her long hair and silver bosom, reflecting off what hung at her waist, the glittering sheath of the rapier, «Lambent Light», was practically beautiful enough to be used for a promotional video for the game without requiring any editing.

—And I doubt she read that thought of mine, but after Asuna stopped to face me, she knocked on the belt pouch at the right side of her waist and spoke.

"Hey, we came all this way, so let's take some photos to commemorate it. I brought a photo crystal along."

"Ah, aah... That's right..."

I responded with a smile, but perhaps sensing something from my voice and expression, there appears to be traces of concern on Asuna's face.

"Was it that much of a shock? That the house disappeared..."

"Eh, no, not really, it wasn't really..."

I kept my face and hands as composed as still water, but the anxiety did not leave Asuna's expression. If this is how things are, it wouldn't be possible to simply smooth over my inner thoughts anymore, so I gave up and nodded.

"Well... I thought of various things for today in my own way. But it wouldn't work out without the house here, so..."

"Oh? Like what?"

It was difficult explaining with those large eyes staring at me so intently, but there was no use in getting embarrassed now after I've even proposed to her. After lightly clearing my throat, I tried to first enter the explanation system-wise.

"Let's see. «Marriage» in SAO is rather simple if you just consider the method. Switching to the Communication tab from the Main Menu, pressing the Marriage button at the bottom of the various invitation options and then target the other party... with that, it's finished if the other party presses the OK button. There's no need to even send any documents to the government office..."

"You wouldn't even have to give your greetings at my home, going, 'Please let me have your daughter!', huh."

As Asuna abruptly interjected with those words, I inadvertently imagined that forced event (not to mention the one who played the father role was somehow the leader of KoB, Heathcliff), making jolts run down my spine, causing me to shiver. Seeing that, the daughter... no, Asuna giggled, so after audibly clearing my throat, I returned to the main topic.

"An-Anyway! It's because the process of marrying takes only around five seconds that, well, how should I say this, I want to make it so that it'll remain in Asuna's memories forever; that's what I was thinking of. But unfortunately, we are unable to hold a grand marriage ceremony, so at the very least, I hoped to properly buy a new home and figured that it would be best getting married in front of that house, so..."

The latter half more or less ended up as murmurs while I looked downwards, but I somehow managed to finish speaking and exhaled a breath of air.

Immediately following that, I received a high-speed tackle which made me unsteady on my feet. The unexpected impact sent me falling onto my back, onto the grass, but it seemed like Asuna wasn't planning on delivering knuckle attacks after getting in a mounted position on me; she laid on my chest and gave a succinct whisper.

"......I'm happy."

"Eh, no, well, that's just what I was thinking of."

"Like I said, I'm happy. After all, Kirito-kun thought that far and tried so very hard to search for that house for me."

When I took a proper look, misty tears were running down Asuna's eyes as she grinned right before me. In response to this, I pressed my chest against her as well, wrapping her slender frame within my two arms.

We stayed that way, embracing each other for over two minutes on the grassy plains as a gentle breeze blew through, before Asuna's soft voice reverberated next to my ear.

"This is enough."

"Eh...?"

"I already feel like I'm blessed right now. So, shall we have the marriage here and head back for today? We can look for a house another time."

It's true that the afternoon rays bathing the upper floor's underside have been gaining quite the yellow tint to it. Nightfall will likely approach in another hour or two.

"I guess... you're right."

I rose gently while still hugging onto Asuna and inspected the verdant garden that grew out, as if to encircle the coniferous forest.

If we persist, we would definitely be able to find another player home that fulfils the condition of being «a detached house without monster spawns despite being outside the area, in a place with barely any visitors». It wasn't like we couldn't put a request to Argo the information broker either. Even if she's the «Rat», she wouldn't sell the coordinates to our new dwelling, probably.

Hence, like what Asuna mentioned, there was no need to get all hung up on that phantasmal log house. This lawny garden was memorable enough by itself; even if SAO were to be cleared, it should remain in Asuna's—and thus, my memory for a long time to come.

......However.

That is that, and this is this. Something remained stirring in a corner of my mind, completely unrelated to the marriage. If I have to describe it, I would say it was similar to an uncleared quest, with its solution unfound despite effort put in, festering under the log window.

"......Kirito-kun?"

My gaze recoiled with a start when my name was called out all of a sudden. Before I knew it, the thought, «I can tell exactly what you're thinking», showed itself on Asuna's expression right before my sight and my body stiffened up once again.

"Y-Yes?"

"...You were probably thinking, that is that and this is this, or something like that, weren't you."

Gulp.

A face that suited that particular emotion seemed likely to form, hence I seized the initiative of making a poker face.

"Eh, ju-just what would you be talking about?"

"I understand, you know. About your desire to find out the reason behind the disappearance of the house that was supposed to be here, at least."

—And so, it appears that I possessed no talent for poker. Denying it any further in this situation would simply deepen the humiliation as I have already learnt, so I acknowledged it with a nod as well.

"Well, that is to say, yes... Y-You see, it's way too strange, having a player home vanish by itself and all. You said that it was due to circumstances in the system earlier, but there aren't any GMs in SAO, so it's impossible for it to have been demolished through the management's instructions. Even if it's said to be the result of a program performing a cleanup, it's not like a house with unlimited durability could rot and neither earthquakes nor volcanoes occur in Aincrad... also, as for any of the other possible causes... let's~see..."

I was about to enter my usual conjecture mode as I spoke, but Asuna's index finger shot forward onto my mouth.

"Alright, pause! ...Well, we've been together for a long time. I understand that you aren't one to leave something like that alone, at least..."

Before she could finish her light sigh, I cancelled our poses.

"Th-Then, I know this is our precious break time, but could I... have just a little time to investigate?

Asuna softly went on about how she knew it would turn out like this and how it would just change the whole point of us coming, before taking in a deep breath of air and announcing thus.

"You'll only get until the end of tonight to investigate!"

===Part 4===

Among the countless terrain objects distributed over each floor of Aincrad, over ninety-nine percent of them possess the «immortal» attribute. It's applied over those from nature, such as rocks and trees, as well as those man-made, like houses and castle walls, shielding them from purposeful destruction by players.

Depending on the dungeon's design, there could be «destructible walls» inside them every now and then, while «smashable rocks» and «fellable trees» could be found in the field, even if they're rare, but I have never even heard of stories involving «breakable houses». In the first place, on the very day a person were to buy a house that could be broken, a huge hole would be suddenly created while that person sleeps, with those from orange guilds flocking in through there... even such a scenario could occur. It's not like we're in the "Three Little Pigs" here.

And thus, I could hardly imagine that the disappearance of that personal home, that log house I have once found and dreamt of, was due to destruction caused by players.

"...Well, that's what I believe too."

Upon hearing what I had conjectured so far, Asuna nodded once and continued.

"Unless someone discovered an extra skill like «Land Speculation», that is."

"Th-There's no point in doing any of that in a place like this, is there? The lake shore at Salemburg is another story, though."

"Aah, it's true that the lakeside's expensive there. It's going for three times the cost of my room. ...But that's right, if we can't find the house here, having a detached house there as our new home might be nice."

"Th-That's kind of... that might be tough with my income..."

It's a joke, a joke, Asuna told me as she laughed at me, who had turned pale, for a short while before her expression tensed up. Half of it switched over to the clearing group's commander mode as she stared at the empty land fixedly.

"In that case, let's eliminate the possibility that someone demolished it. ...Just to confirm, but the exterior and roof of player homes are outside of the range of customization, right?"

"Eh... what do you mean?"

"Look, when you buy a house, you gain control over the Customize Menu exclusive to its owner, don't you? You can install and remove furniture from there, can't you?"

Finally understanding what Asuna was getting at, I nodded.

"I see... the possibility that some other player might have bought the house, then removed the walls, roof and flooring through Customize to make it into an empty lot, huh. Hmm... I haven't lived in anything except those similar to apartments, so I haven't really seen the Customize Menu for a detached house..."

"Actually, I'm the same. ...That's right, I'll try asking Liz."

Asuna opened her Main Menu straight away and skillfully typed out a message to her bosom friend, the blacksmith, Lisbeth.

Liz was my friend, as well as the benefactor who crafted me my beloved sword, Dark Repulser, so she's in the list of those who'll be informed about the marriage between Asuna and I, one among those few players. We planned to send messages to ten or so people, including Liz, right after we're done with buying a house here and the marriage procedures—but to think it would become a discussion over residential issues instead.

It appears that she received a reply immediately and after Asuna's eyes raced through the words on the window only she could see, she gave a curt nod.

"It looks like that the exterior and roof can't be removed or moved. Changing the colors or adding objects like bay windows or flower beds seems possible if you fork out a large sum of money, though..."

"...I guess even if you can change its colors, it's not like you can make the entire house transparent."

Both Asuna and I have walked all over this empty land since earlier, so it's confirmed that there weren't even any sort of traces. If there was a transparent house built here, we should have already knocked our noses into it.

"So... what about the options? Like... some device to hide it underground?"

As Asuna mentioned something like that and poked the ground with the grass at her feet with the tips of her boots, I unintentionally broke into a wry smile.

"Haha, it's not like it's the secret base of some evil organization. In the first place, if you were to dig out a hole large enough to bury a house, you'll fall right into the floor below."

"Eeh, doesn't it sound lovely. Like a home belonging to the Hobbits."

"I do recall that being digging tunnels through hills... Won't the underground be dwarfs instead? See, there was that humongous underground Dwarven castle stretching tens of storeys, wasn't there."

"I hate that place. It's damp in there and there were so many bug-type monsters appearing... in the first place, wasn't that really just the insides of a mountain in the field?"

"That's the problem with Aincrad's structure, there's a limit to the thickness of the ground, so a true to form, gigantic, RPG underground labyrinth can't be made."

"It's fine not having something like that! ...Rather, are you fine with this? Chatting and all. I'm enjoying myself, so I don't mind, though."

Having it pointed out by Asuna, I turned to look towards the outer circumference with a start. Scattered, wispy clouds gently flowed through a sky of deepening orange. It'll probably get dark if you give it another two hours.

"Th-That's right, let me see, if it's not transparent or some secret base, next would be... a mobile base? Nah, if there was an object like that, it would be a piece of cake to reach the labyrinth from the main town... so I guess an aerial fortress's out too, huh..."

At my words that drifted from guesses to delusions, Asuna looked up at the skies with a stumped look. On the other hand, I gazed downwards profoundly and continued earnestly pondering over the matter with my arms crossed.

"It doesn't look like it vanished through the Customize function. To begin with, that would mean that some other player had already bought it... So I guess it's really a phenomenon unrelated to players..."

"......Hey."

"That means... a field boss capable of breaking apart terrain objects...? Nah, even the fifty-sixth floor's «GeoCrawler» couldn't break through the village's gates. If such a ridiculous boss appears on the twenty-second floor, there would have been a rapid call to arms for a subjugation raid..."

"Hey, c'mon, Kirito-kun."

With Asuna tugging away at my cloak's sleeve, I broke off my conjectures and looked at her.

"...What is it?"

"......That."

Asuna had her right hand, fitted in a long, white glove, raised up, so I trailed the direction her index finger pointed towards with my sight.

It was there, in the space right above a conspicuously large Japanese cedar tree, north of the empty area.

Hovering unsteadily at a height almost touching the underside of the next floor, there was a single detached house— Although nearly nothing but its underside could be seen from the ground due to the angle, there was no mistake that it was the log house I was seeking, judging by its structure that was formed by a number of splendid logs.

Despite the joy in finding the house without much difficulty, the surprise from it floating ninety meters above my head overshadowed that, leaving me muttering in bewilderment.

"......Wh-Why is... the house flying......"

"......Like what you said earlier, Kirito-kun, an option for an aerial fortress... guess that's not it, huh..."

Following what Asuna mentioned, I concentrated on looking through each section of the house, appearing as small as specks from here, but there doesn't seem to be any wings, balloons or propellers attached to it.

On the other hand, I noticed two other new things with my sight enhanced through a skill.

Firstly, there was a shimmering swirl of air much like heat haze underneath the house. That log house was likely airborne by being on something similar to a «tornado fixed in position».

And the other issue.

A face timidly poking out from one of the house's windows facing south and a hand frantically waving at us, who were far away on the distant bottom; there was someone there.

"Th-There's a person there."

After I pointed it out, Asuna went "Eh" before she leaned her body forward.

"Y-You're right. ...We really can't tell whether it's a NPC or a player from this distance..."

The only definite difference between a player and a NPC in terms of outward appearance was limited to the color of the «Color Cursor». However, with this much distance in between, the color cursor wouldn't even show up.

I still had no idea whatsoever as to why the house was flying, but if that figure was not a NPC, but a player, there was no way we could leave that alone. After all, even if it's a one in a million chance, anyone's HP would definitely turn to zero if they were to fall from that height.

"Wh-Which is it..."

It happened as Asuna and I held our breaths while gazing upwards—

Suddenly, the hand that the figure was waving about withdrew, before thrusting out once more. The hand released something it held, gleaming as it reflected the rays of the yellow sunlight. It drew a slow arc in the air as it fell towards the empty land we stood on.

"Wo.... wo-woah..."

After I got to its endpoint with four strides to the right and three quick steps forward, I caught the small object with my hands. As Asuna immediately rushed after me, both of us examined it in closer detail.

"A bottle of recovery potion... that has already been used...?"

I nodded at Asuna's remark before turning up to look at the log house floating in the sky once more, and shouted.

"—It's a player!"

An empty potion bottle drained dry of its content will break apart in ten seconds if left alone and vanish. To prevent that and store it as an «Empty Bottle» item, it has to be put away into any sort of bag, or perhaps the item storage at least once. That's not an action taken by NPCs, so the possession of an empty bottle would mean that the one trapped in that flying house is a player.

"W-We have to help..."

I spoke with the small bottle held in my right hand and Asuna instantly pointed out.

"H-How do we!?"

"........."

That was a truly natural question. In Aincrad, no, in SAO, the means for players to take flight generally do not exist. If there were such a thing, one could ignore the labyrinth tower and head for the next floor... no, they could reach the final goal, the hundredth floor, in just a single flight, after all.

Several months ago, I did go through the experience of grabbing onto a white dragon's tail and flying alongside Lisbeth, the smith that Asuna sent a message to earlier, but we couldn't choose where to go, there aren't any dragons on this floor, and above all, I have no desire to go through that a second time.

"......F-For now, let's try going directly below the house."

Asuna flashed a doubtful look at my thoughtless suggestion, but soon nodded.

As we stepped into the forest from the empty space, the forever overlapping branches above blocked the flying house from our view, but I walked straight ahead with a skill not part of the system, «Intuitively Walking Straight». In the forest with no landmarks for my eyes to latch onto, it was unexpectedly difficult. The trick to it is to move your legs as though they're executing an autorun... which was how I explained to Asuna the other time, although she just gave a look wondering what the heck was I going on about.

Our aim was true and after merely two or three minutes since we started moving, a remarkably gigantic Japanese cedar tree came into our sight. This was unmistakably that tree growing directly under the house. Scanning upwards as I approached, I looked through the many overlapping branches, allowing me to confirm the silhouette of a lazily hovering speck.

"...So, what can we do? Even if we climb this cedar, it doesn't look like we can reach the house at all, you know?"

A question from Asuna while she walked with her view in the skies and a reply from me in the same posture.

"I thought a shout might reach if we were to get right below it, but... that doesn't seem possible either..."

"I see, if we could talk, we could receive an explanation for what happened, huh. Maybe we should really climb the tree? Shouting from the treetop might provide enough range."

"But you see, it's tough climbing coniferous trees like this... Without the «Acrobatics» skill, it might be pretty precarious..."

It happened then, when we got within five meters or so from the huge cedar with our faces pointed upwards.

A mob's howl roared out at point-blank range, catching us unaware and we sprang up.

"Woof, woof woof woof!!"

I instinctively held on to the grip of my beloved sword, Elucidator, hanging on my back, but ceased that motion there. The reason for that was because the originator of that howl was a quadrupedal beast, with a length of approximately forty centimeters... or to be specific, a «dog».

Its relatively long coat was of a pale tawny color, its eyes big and round, with a blue ribbon on its fluffy tail to boot. The color cursor showed yellow—a color for NPCs, the pets of beast tamers, or perhaps a non-active monster that hasn't been aggro-ed.

"Wah, how cute!"

As Asuna showed a reaction befitting a girl of her age, she squatted and tried to reach out with her hand, causing me to restrain her in a panic.

"Ho-Hold on, hold on!"

"Why should I, it's so cute."

"I-It might be some sort of trap, you know! In the first place, it's strange having a dog in the field. What will you do if it morphs into a Dire Wolf or something the moment you touch it."

"Geez, it's fine, look, even its tail is wagging so much."

—And during our exchange, the small dog continued its din, insisting "Hug me, hug me!" as it bounced about and barked in front of Asuna. While I grabbed and held onto Asuna's sword belt when she was about to squat down again, I checked the whelp's cursor once more. The name displayed was «Toto».

"...Toto? That shouldn't be a species name... is it a name unique to this dog...?"

"Wah, the name's cute too! C'mon, come here, Toto!"

"Like I said, you shouldn't..."

While I frantically tried to bring back Asuna, who was at a level of tension as if she was already afflicted with a Charmed negative status, I attempted to see through the whelp's, no, Toto's full, round eyes, searching for any fiendish schemes it might be concealing.

Then, I noticed that, though belated. Floating around two centimeters atop the dog's round head, a small «?» mark.

"Hey... a quest mark!? But why is it in progress...?"

It seems that Asuna noticed the mark too, after my shout, and the vigor she showed earlier dwindled.

"You're right, there's a question mark on it, huh..."

The number of quests given out in each of Aincrad's floors was practically endless. They can generally be received from NPCs with «!» marks floating above them, while NPCs related to a quest in progress have that mark changed to a «?».

In other words, that would mean that this pup was a key person, or rather, a key animal for a quest in progress. But the problem is... I have absolutely no recollection of receiving a quest related to dogs and it's likely the same for Asuna, so...

"Th-That's it!"

I ended up releasing Asuna's belt due to her sudden cry. The rapier-user spun around and continued with an intense gaze on me.

"We always end up having to deal with the clearing of the labyrinth and floor bosses normally, so we don't take up many sub-quests, right? That's why it ended up as a blind spot in our thoughts. If some sort of unexplainable, strange phenomenon happens, the cause is usually a quest. Like... a house flying in the sky, for example!"

"......I see."

I nodded as it was a plausible deduction and Asuna twirled about once again, facing the tyke that was still making a din.

"That is to say, if we want to find out what's behind the flying house... we would definitely have no other path than to go into contact with Toto-chan here! I know you'll understand, Kirito-kun!"

And, with that speech that wasn't exactly completely devoid of adventurous spirit and willingness for self-sacrifice depending on how it's interpreted, Asuna squatted down without giving me a chance to seize her and reached her two hands out to the runt.

"Woof woof woof!"

The small, tawny dog leapt into Asuna's chest with a delighted yap, licking her face while it rapidly wagged its tail.

"Ahaha, that tickles! Haah, it's so cute! I've always dreamed of keeping a puppy like this!"

—Fortunately, it doesn't seem that Toto will be transforming into a huge, man-eating wolf all of a sudden.

However, the phenomenon that occurred several seconds later was beyond my expectations by approximately three light years.

Without any warning, a gale blew at our feet as it spiraled around us into a swirl. The tremendous speed the wind travelled at left no opportunity for us to right our stances. Staggering, our feet left the ground—and frighteningly enough, could not reach the ground regardless of how hard we tried.

"Ki-Kirito-kun!"

I instinctively caught onto Asuna's extended left hand while she was holding onto Toto with her right. And that was how we, two persons and one animal, were whisked away in a constrained tornado. The surrounding scenery swung by us in dizzying circles while my coat's hem fluttered about prominently along with Asuna's miniskirt (a phenomenon that would never happen with the usual amount of wind in the fields), but the situation certainly didn't allow me the composure to focus on that.

"Wa-Waa-Waaah~", I screamed;

"Kyaaaa—", Asuna shrieked;

"Woof woof woof!!", the whelp happily barked, and that was when it happened.

We soared upwards, making a beeline for the log house that was suspended up in the air far above.

===Part 5===

"...I-It's completely pointless if you come here toO!<ref>Argo has an odd speech quirk where she accents the last syllable in her sentences or sentence fragments. It is reflected in the translation by capitalizing the last letter at those positions.</ref>"

And that was the first line from the player who asked for help in the log house.

Approximately ninety seconds ago—

Asuna, the dog and me were swallowed into the small tornado and flew above the roof of the flying log house, then sucked into an open chimney at its corner, one after another. Beyond the dark, narrow tunnel was a spacious living room with a plain wood finishing and an astounded female player stood alone before us, who landed on our bums.

To re-activate her head that was frozen by the stunning turn of events, I stared intently at the prior visitor while sitting on the floor. Surprisingly, her face was one I was extremely acquainted with, but as I didn't have the energy to express my shock yet again, I tried saying some greetings.

"Good day. Long time no see."

And that was how the exclamation from earlier came about.

One way or another, we should first exchange our information.

And that female player agreed and loosened the tension in her shoulders at my suggestion, pointing at the round table set up on the living room's floor with her right hand. After Asuna, still clutching onto the dog, and I sat down side-by-side, the girl took a seat as well, a large distance away, on the opposite side.

It seems Asuna had finally returned to her usual mode by this time and greeted the female player who was a mutual acquaintance of ours.

"It's been a while, Argo-san."

"...Hello, Aa-chan. And you too, Ki-bou."

Patterns of three whiskers were distinctly painted onto each of the cheeks of this female player who waved her hand nimbly with a delicate expression on. The name of this girl who stuck to this face paint for roughly the two years since the start of the death game, no, adding one month on when including the beta period, was «Argo the Rat». Aincrad's most resourceful information broker.

She was an associate of Asuna and I since the starting of the game, selling and buying information from us countless times. Aside from that, we have saved and gotten saved by each other on several occasions, but there were clearly no feelings of antagonism between us. Hence, it doesn't make sense for Argo to display caution towards us like what she was doing now of all times, but let's just put that aside and get to the main topic.

"——So. Argo, what exactly happened?"

This was a question asked as I waved my right hand around, indicating the entire log house which was radically flying, even now, and the information broker's two eyes blinked incessantly deep within her golden auburn curly hair.

"What you ask, Ki-bou, if you've gotten in 't this far, you should've gotten 't too, righT? It's a quesT, a quesT!"

"Ah, aah... well..."

When I glanced at the tyke dozing off while held at Asuna's chest, the ? mark above its head was lit up. In other words, it meant that some sort of quest was in progress, but—

"But rather than receiving a quest, it clearly feels like we've been dragged into one, you know..."

I said that and Asuna gave a curt nod as well.

"That's right. We got blown here merely by me picking up this kid, after all. How should I say this... it's like I picked up a quest that someone left behind halfway, that's what it feels... like..."

Her mouth suddenly shut close after saying that and she met my glance. I instantly realized what the girl had figured out.

If «a quest that someone left behind halfway» was what brought around this situation, the one responsible could be no one other than this Argo the Rat right before our eyes.

Argo lowered her head as though she understood what was up when Asuna's and my sight flicked towards her simultaneously, and spoke.

"......I'll start from the beginninG."

—Recently, I got the information that several strange new quests have been occurring on the lower floors of AincraD. Like a masked ogre that revives over and over again even when defeated, or a jump spinning, fire-breathing tortoise, or a white-clothed female undead creeping out from a cursed message windoW.

—'Twouldn't be possible to publish the «Complete Quest Walkthrough Guide Book» if I didn't get information on the new quests immediately. That's why, the day before yesterday, I came to investigate this southwestern area of the twenty-second floor, where there were rumors of a new quest and 'twas fine until I succeeded in finding the quest's starting point, but there was a slight complication with the quest's descriptioN. When I leapt into this house without bringing along the key character required to proceed with the story, the house was suddenly engulfed in a tornado, totally surprising mE!

And that's why for the two days after that, I was stuck inside this flying house, waiting for someone to reset this quesT.

When her explanation reached that point, Argo spread her arms out in exasperation.

«Resetting a quest» was the action of returning a partially-finished quest that has been left alone for a long time to its initial state, through a menu operation. There were quests that couldn't be taken up by other players at the same time in SAO, though few, so such a mechanism was prepared. Of course, you would have to first get close to the NPC who was the starting point, though.

In other words, if we opened the Quest tab in the Main Menu when we noticed that ? mark above the head of that pup, «Toto», below that cedar tree, the reset button—might have been there. However, now that we got on the quest, neither Asuna nor I would be able to reset.

"...Well, I more or less understand the situation now, but... there are still parts I don't get. Argo, what did you mean by the 'complication with the quest's description' earlier?"

When I voiced out the doubt that naturally came to me, the information broker made the aforementioned delicate expression and sneaked glances at Asuna... or to be specific, the small, moving object sleeping in Asuna's arms.

"W-Well, that'S... even I have things I'm good at and those that I'm not reallY..."

"Aah, so that's it. Argo-san, so you're bad with dogs!"

And in that moment, Asuna completely saw through her with a smile on which caused the three whiskers on the information broker's cheeks to narrow.

"I-I can't help 'T, that's just how my base stats werE! And Aa-chan, I heard the news that you're bad with Astral-type mobs toO!"

"Th-That's because those are ghosts! It's only natural to be scared of ghosts. But puppies are cute, you know? Here, how about you try hugging it?"

"St-Stop 't! Just let 't continue sleeping therE!"

—And leaving aside Argo and Asuna, who were showing their intimacy through their actions, I took some time to ponder.

If Argo (despite being a «Rat») was bad with dogs, the fact that the quest in progress mark atop the dog's head was lit up means...

"Hahah, I get it. Argo, you managed to start the quest, but with the key character being a dog, you dashed away with all your AGI and after you jumped into this house, the quest continued making you fly up, but got stuck because the dog couldn't enter the house, getting you trapped here in the sky for two whole days... that's it, huh. Hahaha, looks like you've been through a pretty fun experience, huh. If you put stories of your experiences in a book like, "Argo's Great Adventures", in the future, it'll sell."

Upon hearing my talk while laughing, the Rat momentarily made a face that said, "Will it really selL?" before she shouted.

"'Tis no laughing matter, Ki-bou! With things this way, both Aa-chan and you are stuck now too, you know!"

"Don't make such a fuss about it, at the most, we'll just have to use a teleport crystal to travel to some other city, right?"

It happened just as I was about to start laughing again after replying so—an odd expression appeared on Argo's and Asuna's faces at the same time. They exchanged a quick glance and Asuna took the initiative to open her mouth.

"...Hey, Kirito-kun. I don't think there's any chance that Argo-san hasn't tried that out yet."

"Heh?"

"It depends on the quest, but during these compulsory events, most of them prevent teleporting, don't they? Right, Argo-san?

"Of course 't does!"

"......Seriously?"

Seeing me finally breaking out in a cold sweat, Argo replied with a nod and an expression that seemed to show her disappointment.

"Well, as a last resort, there's always still jumping out from the window and teleporting immediately before crashing into the grounD... I don't quite want to try that, reallY."

"I-I don't want to do it either, reallY..."

I took a peek out at the sky extending out beyond the window and realized something after all that side-tracking.

In the first place, what exactly happened on this quest. If one were to receive the quest from the dog in the forest and enter the house together, the house will take flight through the tornado? The links between each part of the story make too little sense at this point. The ones in charge of the SAO game servers' administration should have already been separated from Argus, the developers, so it's not like the quest's scenario could have been written by staff from Argus. In that case, exactly who was one who thought up these illogical developments? And at the present moment when the GM Call does not function, how can we escape from this stuck status...?

".....Wait, hold on, now that I think about it."

Asuna, who was stroking Toto's head, and Argo, who was looking in that direction with a wary glance, turned in unison at my words.

"If the reason why this quest got stuck was because the dog... Toto was left behind on the ground, that should have been dealt with already... —So, doesn't that mean that the quest should have been back in motion...?"

"Ah...!"

Argo snapped her fingers and dashed right beside the window in a breakneck motion. She looked down towards the ground and instantly shouted.

"W-We're movinG! Or rather, it looks we're nearly going to lanD!"

"R-Really!? Thank goodness, looks like we'll be able to go back before it gets dark."

Asuna spoke, relieved while looking towards the windows as well, but I couldn't be as optimistic. You could call it a hunch.

Having an introduction of making an entire house take flight was rather major as a quest. A story that starts this flashy was unlikely to end so easily. In all likelihood, it would make us go this way to search for something, go that way to help someone out... I believe such a development would definitely happen. First of all, even if we work hard at clearing the quest, there was no guarantee that this log house will return to its previous status of being on sale. In that case, would Asuna and I really be able to marry...

"Ugh."

I gave a weak moan and took a look at Argo's meager frame from behind as she kept a subtle distance away from (the dog within the arms of) Asuna.

She was an old friend of mine, but there was no way I could let her find out about my marriage with Asuna before it happened. If the cat gets out of the bag, an article will end up on the newspaper, «Weekly Argo», with a flourish and I will be cursed to death by everyone in Asuna's fan clubs.

Hence, it's risky to have her stick around for too long to complete the quest. There's no choice, but to clear it in haste and say "Good work!" before the «Rat's» nose senses something.

At roughly the same time as I got up while making up my mind, a dull sound rang out from the log house, announcing its arrival at a location unknown to us.

===Part 6===

"...Now that I think about it, what was the name of this quest?

Argo opened a window at my question and answered.

"«Witch of the West and the Three Treasures», 't sayS."

"...How common. And the build-up was so surreal too..."

It was the first time stepping onto the ground firmly for Argo in two days, whereas fifteen minutes for Asuna and me, and what stood before the three of us was the next key character shaking about as its body wobbled.

However, once again, it wasn't a human. Its torso joined into a cross by wooden poles, it was a doll with a round, stuffed head of hemp fiber—namely, a scarecrow. Despite its humorous appearance, it was a splendid monster. These were often placed in horror-type floors, a mob of the «Scarecrow» type.

What came to meet us wasn't merely the scarecrow. On the left was a hollow set of plate armor, a monster of the «Living Armor» type. And on the right was a lion head atop a human body, a monster of the «Werelion» type. None of the three showed any will to attack. The color cursor also remained as the non-active yellow status.

Just as I wondered what would happen now, the scarecrow suddenly spoke.

"Oh, we've certainly been awaiting you!"

Those words prompted the «!» mark floating above the scarecrow's head to change into a «?», denoting a quest in progress. At the same time, the mark vanished from the pup's head.

"Awaiting... you say?"

I gave an appropriate reply in the meantime and the scarecrow launched into a tirade, accompanied by violent swaying of its head. To sum it up, the contents are as follows.

—We, «Scarecrow», «Tin» and «Lion», were out on a journey to become humans, but on our way, a female girl who was our companion got kidnapped by the «Witch of the West». We want to help her out, but the witch stole away what was in Scarecrow's head, the gem that was a substitute for Tin's heart and the golden mane that fuelled Lion's courage, so we are unable to battle. Thus, to enlist a swordsman able to fight the witch with us, we cast a tornado spell onto the dog the girl kept, «Toto», and sent it beyond the wall.

"Ha, hahah... I get it..."

Nodding, I took a glance behind.

According to the map, we were currently still on the twenty-second floor, in the northwest. An area sealed off by a steep cliff, unreachable by foot. The «wall» that Scarecrow referred to was likely that cliff.

I somehow understood the setup of the quest, but that did not change my assessment of the entire story as being weird. In SAO, where magic did not exist, wouldn't the problem be whether a «witch» or a «tornado spell» was even possible in the first place? And besides, putting Scarecrow and Lion aside, why exactly would the Living Armor's name be «Tin»?

—And just as I racked my brains over these, as most would agree, pointless doubts, Asuna murmured all of a sudden.

"...I get it. What this quest is supposed to be."

Continuing on, Argo nodded as well.

"I get 't too. No wonder the house went flyinG."

"Heh? What do you mean?"

I asked as I looked right and left, and Asuna grinned as she voiced out something I didn't expect at all.

"I think you should have read it when you were a child too, Kirito-kun. Bits and pieces are different if you look at it in detail, but this quest... originated from «The Wizard of Oz»!"

"...Ah, aah, I see, so that's it!"

And, that was what I shouted out, but to be honest, I couldn't recall a single thing about that tale. A girl and her pet dog were blown away by a tornado with their house and when they landed, they found themselves in a parallel world, went on adventures here and there alongside a scarecrow, a tin figure and a lion before finally returning to the real world—that was how the story went, probably.

It was now clear why the Living Armor became «Tin», but I still felt anxious about what has yet to come.

"...If that is the case, this quest is going to be horribly long, huh..."

Asuna made a questioning, "Why?", expression when she heard me voice that out with a sigh, so I shrugged my shoulders and continued.

"Well, you see, if you take a look at how it goes, we'll have to get Scarecrow's brain, Tin's heart and Lion's mane one after another, right? How long will even one of them take..."

Asuna and Argo exchanged looks at my grumbling and for some reason, smiled complacently.

"Ki-bou, you don't quite remember how the story went, do you?"

"Ugh... no, well, that's exactly it though..."

"Fufu, I doubt there's any need to collect the key items. Let's skip that and march right into the witch's castle straight away!"

"E-Eeeh!?"

I must have imagined those three faces that showed the same "Eeeh" emotion on Scarecrow, Tin and Lion, accompanying my yell.

I checked the map once again and saw that golden «!» marks (the next objective) were displayed on three parts of the elliptical quest area, with a single grey «!» mark (the final objective, but with its flag yet to be triggered) aside from those. Thinking about it normally, it would be useless even if you go to the final destination before completing the golden marks at those three places, but there was no sign of hesitation in the steps Asuna and Argo took.

The three monsters who wanted to become human and I chased, with uncertain strides, after those two who briskly proceeded through the road paved with yellow bricks. The tyke held in Asuna's arms was likely the the reason why Argo stayed a slight distance behind.

Argo and I had suggested for Toto to be left behind in the log house since it had ceased its role as a key character when the quest mark atop its head vanished. However, Asuna kept hugging onto the dog firmly while uttering a "Uu~" with her eyes upturned, so I couldn't persist with much more than that. Personally, I don't care either way, but it seemed a little like a test of emotional strength for Argo who was apparently a dog-hating character.

If she's keeping to it that thoroughly, it must be as the person herself mentioned earlier, not simply a roleplay limited to this world alone. The Argo of the real world was definitely bad with dogs as well. However, if I was in her shoes, I wonder if I could so frankly show off my inner self—my true self. Wouldn't I forcibly keep my feelings in check, putting on a composed appearance in order to retain the image that I had built up and assumed time after time in this world?

Could those feelings for Asuna from a person like that really be called love......?

"......What do you think?"

I asked of one of the quest NPCs who walked at my side, the lion male who had his «courage» stolen from him, in an extremely soft voice.

Most NPCs among the countless number set in Aincrad possess an algorithm that did no more than to cycle through pre-set patterns of replies, making it impossible for them to properly hold a conversation with a player. So I wasn't exactly hoping for an answer, but,

"...Was something taken from you as well?"

And the lion male gave a subdued response, so I was slightly... no, rather surprised.

"Hmm... well, that might be the case, huh. After all, I don't remember ever loving anyone for real until I came here."

When I got carried away and answered that way, the Werelion male, who looked significantly more dispirited in comparison to those it was based on, the Werelion race that appeared near the fortieth floor, nodded with a distinctively sorrowful expression.

"I see. Honestly, I don't have confidence either. In whether I really had «courage» before the witch stole my mane from me."

The lion male lowered his head with a sigh, exposing the sorry state that a portion of the mane behind his head was in, with much of it gone now as though someone went through it with a pair of clippers.

When approaching it from that angle, there were stitches at the back of Scarecrow's head, as if there was once a tear in the crudely patched up cloth, while he bounced step after step at the lion male's side and a large hole closed up by an adhesive bandage could be seen on Tin's breastplate too, as he walked ahead. Each of those was probably a relic from the time that «Witch of the West» person stole the items important to the three of them.

Of course, I have no recollection of my «heart to love others» being stolen by the witch. If I had lost that somewhere, it would be my own fault, keeping a distance away from those around me from young... even from my own family.

In that case, I wonder where I would have to search to retrieve that heart. Would I find it if I marry Asuna and live together with her? But as the lion male had said, what if it was something I didn't have from the start as a human...?

And, at that moment, as if she sensed my unease, Asuna turned back to face me from several meters in front. She tilted her head slightly to the side before showing me a smile, one no different from the usual ones she gave me. She pointed her raised right hand forward and shouted out cheerfully.

"Look, Kirito-kun, you can see it now!"

Argo clapped together the metal claws equipped on her hands without a moment's delay.

"If I didn't know about this quest, 't has to be an unexplored dungeoN! There's going to be plenty of untouched treasure chestS!"

"...Hey now, even if you say that, this is the twenty-second floor, so it's obvious there won't be anything amazing."

Cutting off the observation that was unlike me, I sped up to chase after those two while gazing up at the castle that appeared beyond a grove of trees. It had an excessive number of long, narrow towers reaching up, with its walls in a shade of grey close to black. Its towering visage with the skies blotched in a deepening red as a backdrop gave off an atmosphere fit for a «witch's castle».

This quest should be cleared if the witch who resides deep inside there was defeated, but we can't even get in the castle right now, can we? Ordinarily, if the sub-quests at each location weren't finished and Scarecrow, Tin and Lion have not gotten their mind, heart and spirit back yet, the door to the final dungeon wouldn't open or the boss wouldn't spawn. No, rather than all that, wouldn't it be a little pitiful to just ignore what those three are searching for...

Even as I pondered that issue, Asuna and Argo continued walking rapidly with that delicate distance from each other maintained, and the eerie castle gate just minutes away on our route. The black cast iron gates reaching five meters high were cleanly closed, with no sign of opening as expected—

Crack, crack, clank.

And following that distinct unlocking sound, the gates automatically opened to the sides, causing my mouth to open as well. The tyke held by Asuna was woofing away, but I doubt that was the cause of it opening.

The two female players nodded to each other as if they predicted it, but I personally didn't get it at all. Exchanging looks with Scarecrow and company, who got their brain, heart or mane stolen, I shrugged my shoulders and stepped through the gateway.

At that moment, a ferocious howl rang out and four monsters spawned within the front yard of the castle. A black panther head atop a bulky torso, they were from the Werepanther race. Witches make use of black cats, so there was no need to say that it was an appropriate choice for guards... perhaps.

"Gyaoooo!"

The panthers roared once again and the moment they unsheathed their scimitars with jagged edges, Scarecrow and the other two screamed out a shameful "Eek" and cowered down. It wasn't certain whether they were afflicted with the «Fear» negative status, or simply truly scared; I didn't expect much battle potential out of them, but if they're going to be like this from the start, I worry for them when we get to the boss battle.

I lightly shook my head and drew my beloved sword, Elucidator, from my back and concurrently targeted the two Werepanthers rushing in from my right. I activated the offensive single-hit, area of effect sword skill, «Serration Wave», of which not many exist for one-handed swords.

The sword that was brought down onto the ground vibrated at a high frequency and a light effect similar to a saw blade spread out in a radial pattern. Two of the panther males were swallowed by that and stumbled forward. It was a technique meant to impede movement to begin with, dealing barely any damage, but they were monsters appearing in a quest on the twenty-second floor, after all. Before they could right their postures, their HP got shaved away and the panthers split apart before dissipating away in succession.

The remaining two were killed by Asuna with her left hand still holding onto the tyke, and Argo who was actually pretty strong in an one-on-one situation, ending the battle in an instant. One of the panther males dropped a key with a quest item mark on it, so we used that to open a small door at the corner of the castle.

I peered at the sky another time before passing through the door; violet had started to mingle into the scarlet. It was around an hour before nightfall, huh. The castle was of quite a formidable size, so it seemed like it would be hard to clear it before sunset.

—As though reading my mind once again, Asuna pat my back and spoke.

"Don't worry, I've brought plenty of food."

No, I wasn't exactly worrying about dinner, but whether I would be able to marry you within today, Asuna.

I couldn't answer with that, so I simply nodded in an odd angle and Argo flippantly spoke out.

"I'm looking forward to thaT! I've totally caught those rumors that say Aa-chan succeeded in producing soy saucE!"

It has been merely ten minutes since we've infiltrated the castle belonging to the «Witch of the West».

Asuna, Argo, Scarecrow, Tin, Lion, that dog and me; our party of six people + one animal have reached a large door that presumably leads to the boss room in no time at all.

It's due to our battle ability level being far higher than the one suitable for the quest, but what could be considered even more unreasonable was Argo's mobility. She jumped onto balconies that really should require a detour as it was too high, or onto footholds narrow enough for even me to hesitate, with ease, taking short-cuts throughout the route. Thanks to that, there were still tinges of red in the sky from what I could see through a small window.

"...Shall we have the food after the boss battle?"

Asuna asked, seemingly rather amazed, and Argo calmly nodded with a "Guess sO". The monster trio had the usual is-this-really-alright faces on, but their representative, Scarecrow, bounced forward and the single stitch on its cloth head that served as its mouth moved.

"...The «Witch of the West» uses various terrifying spells. If only my head wasn't quite so empty, I could remember how those spells went..."

...As I thought, we really should have dealt with it in sequence through each sub-quest. That was what I thought, but Asuna pat Scarecrow's shoulder (or at least, the pole that served as it), showing no sign of worry.

"It's alright, if the three of you put your strength together, we'll definitely be able to save Do... that girl who's your friend. Now, let's go."

Finishing her speech, she turned a gallant arc towards the front and steadfastly pushed the large door open.

Inside was a rectangular, spacious area that truly gave off the feel of a boss room. The moment we stepped in, creepy green candles on the chandelier attached to the high ceiling lit up. Our viewpoints gradually grew brighter, allowing us to spot a big cage placed near the wall on the other side.

The captured young girl collapsed in the cage—beside her, a black-clothed hag stirred away at an enormous, simmering pot with a long ladle.

"Ooh... that's a witchy witch..."

My thoughts unintentionally escaped. Offensive magic generally do not exist in SAO, thus there was the belief that magicians do not exist as well, so that would make a monster with a design like that remarkably rare.

Now then, what kind of attack would that granny use? Just as I was in the midst of wondering that—Scarecrow gave a sudden shout.

"Oh, Dorothy-san! Dorothy-san will turn into soup at this rate!"

Continuing on was the noise from each parts of Tin's clattery armor.

"Dorothy, danger, let's help, hurry!"

Finally, Lion tried his best to bristle a part of his closely-cropped mane.

"Hold on, Dorothy! We'll immediately... we'll...."

But at that point, Lion's mane shriveled, Tin's armor muted, and Scarecrow's shaft bent.

Replacing the trio who sunk into silence, Asuna, Argo and I stepped forward. Looking at the witch who continued stirring the big pot from her side, we approached with caution.

The black-robed witch raised her face and looked this way. Her eyes thinning into a complacent expression as they shone yellow, she muttered in a high-pitched voice.

"Wouldn't the lot of you like to drink the soup this kid makess? One mouth will return your youth, two will endow you with power; it's such a delicious, delicious soup, you know? Yii-hi-hi-hi."

If we were to carelessly answer "Yes" here, we might just proceed straight to a forced event where the girl who seems to be called Dorothy ends up simmering in the pot, so I yelled a reply back.

"No! We're here to help that child!"

"I seee, I seee, what a pityy. In that case..."

That was when the witch scooped out some of what was in the pot with the ladle before vigorously exhaling.

"...I'll make the whole lot of you soup too! Yiii~hi-hi~~~!"

Along with that shriek, she splattered the contents of the pot towards us. That converted into a mist dyed a venomous-looking purple, enveloping all of us.

At the moment, a green-framed debuff icon lit up below my HP bar at the top-left of my sight. Paralysis.

"Geh..."

Without even the time to moan, Asuna, Argo, Scarecrow and the rest collapsed onto the ground with me. For all three high levels to be unable to resist, this must be a forced paralysis event, but that doesn't change the peril of this situation. I rushed to retrieve a cure potion from my pouch, but somehow, even my right hand, which should normally be able to move when paralyzed, was numb.

"Hi-hi-hi... no~ow then, who shall be the first one to be boiledd..."

While waving around the ladle that served as a replacement for a magic wand, the witch approached in a dance-like motion. This might actually be pretty bad, I thought, desperately trying to stand, but my body was utterly incapable of movement.

"Yihihi, it's no use, it's no use. Nothing can break this spell aside from a lion's roar."

—Oh, I see.

I shifted my vision at that terribly obvious hint, somehow managing to take a look behind. Scarecrow and Tin certainly were paralyzed like us, but Lion alone did not have a debuff icon. If he were to go "gao" and roar just once, the paralysis for all of us should be cured.

It should, but.

Great. Lion was cowering down and trembling with his arms hugging his head, his mane laid completely flat. Hey hey, I retorted in my mind before finally realizing.

This was inevitable. His «courage» was still with the witch. This wouldn't have been acceptable if we've finished that sub-quest, reclaiming the golden mane that was the source of his courage, but there was no way he could rise up in the current circumstances. It was a predictable outcome, so why exactly did both Asuna and Argo think that there was no need to go about doing the three sub-quests—

"Woof, woof woof woof!"

And, the energetic tyke's barks rang out, interrupting my thoughts.

That wasn't all that stopped. Lion's shivering made a sudden stop as well, and its mane that would lose to no other at shriveling up was gradually swelling up, wasn't it. Why. His courage should have been lost.

Lying on the ground, I opened my eyes and watched as Lion picked himself up slowly. He had his usual droopy face, but a light definitely shone within those two eyes of his.

"I... I am here to help Dorothy!"

He strongly shouted that out and sucked in the air, inhaling his chest to a large extent—Lion went "garooo!", letting out a rousing roar. As though it was blown away by that lion's roar, my paralysis icon vanished.

The witch tried her paralyzing attack for the second time, but Tin went next after Lion and even Scarecrow stood up after that, dispelling her charms. Perhaps having exhausted her supply of spells, the witch swung her ladle about as she ferociously charged towards us.

The black-robed witch with a pointy hat on didn't look capable of weapon skills no matter how you looked at her, but the long ladle she brandished above her glowed red, slightly surprising me. As expected of a resident of this world, it seems she could command sword skills of the Poleax type.

"Kukeeeee——!"

She swung down the ladle with that shriek, but I easily took it on with my «Vertical Arc». I countered, driving her attack back, and Asuna turned towards the knocked back witch before switching in with a leap.

I do wonder if she really had to continue holding onto that tyke with her left arm even in this situation, but still, as expected of her, she succeeded in invoking a sword skill. Receiving five merciless stabs, one after another, the witch got blasted away even further. It was now Argo's turn, charging in without even giving her the time to land. With a dash that would exceed even Asuna's, she went under the witch and burst straight in with skills of the Wild Dance type, using the metal claws on her two hands.

As expected of a quest boss, the witch survived with barely any of her HP bar left over after suffering a skill combo from three high levels. She fell onto the floor with a thump, but stood straight up without getting stunned and ran back to the big pot deep within the hall. We were about to chase after her the moment our skill delay ended, in anticipation of her casting another spell with that mysterious soup—but it happened before we even could.

The tyke, no, Toto suddenly jumped out of Asuna's arms and shot after the witch with the intensity of a bullet, biting onto her black high heels. Her leg snagged, the witch pitched forward and tumbled over with great force, plunging head first into the big, boiling pot with a splash.

Seconds later, a grand monster death effect sprouted up from the inside of that soup.

Having let out from the cage, the girl, Dorothy, expressed her gratitude to us repeatedly while embracing her pet dog, Toto. It seems that the girl will be continuing her travels with Scarecrow and the rest to search for «Emerald City» somewhere in this world.

After seeing off Dorothy and her party at that log house from earlier, I clapped the backs of a reluctant Asuna (probably due to parting with the dog) and a relieved Argo (this was due to the dog too) at the same time. The final «!» mark of the quest was floating within the log house. We should definitely be able to return to our original position if we enter the house and close the door.

"Now then, let's get back."

I watched the sky to the west while saying that line; the setting sun was just about to sink below the sea of clouds.

===Part 7===

The scarecrow, tin figure and lion sought for a brain, a heart and courage, respectively, even in the original "The Wizard of Oz"—that was what Asuna taught me on the way back through the skies.

However, they did not get them in the end. The Wizard of Oz said this at the end of the tale. That in saving Dorothy, who was kidnapped by the witch, Scarecrow used his wisdom, Tin expressed emotions, and Lion exhibited courage. Hence, all of you already have what you've wanted—

"...So that's it, huh. That's why both Argo and you knew that Lion and the rest would stand up even without clearing the sub-quests?"

I spoke with a bitter smile and just as the female team were about to nod in pride, the house landed with a scraping sound.

Upon exiting, I confirmed that this was the empty land in the forest where I found the log house long ago. Without waiting for Asuna and me as we stood still, Argo briskly cut through the lawn and spoke with a satisfied smile on.

"Thanks for today, both of you. In return, I'll keep that bit of information a secret and not sell it."

"Hah? That bit of information... what are you referring to?"

"You know, don't you!"

She gave me a quick wink—

"I wish both of you the best, Ki-bou, Aa-chan!"

Leaving us both frozen in shock, Argo disappeared from our sight with the stealth of a ninja.

Seconds later, Asuna started giggling, prompting me to follow along and loosen the tension in my face. As we laughed together, I felt that final thorn, that was embedded deep within my chest, vanish, leaving not a single trace behind.

—What I wished for, was already within my grasp the moment I stepped forth, wanting it.

[[Image:Sword Art Online The Day Before - 070.jpg|thumb]]
I asked for Asuna to always be together with me and proposed. Hence, I have already found what I had lost then. The emotion of loving another.

"......Asuna."

Upon calling her name, Asuna stared at me with a smile still on her face.

I looked straight into those hazel eyes, glistening beautifully in the afterglow visible beyond the roof of the log house, and opened the Main Menu. Moving through two tabs, I softly pressed my finger against the button I was looking for.

I pressed down on the word, «Marriage», and touched the name, «Asuna», next.

Asuna's eyes shifted, noticing the small window appearing before her. Raising her right hand, her slender finger gently caressed the window—

"......Kirito-kun."

Asuna whispered that single word with her eyes unwaveringly on mine and pressed down on the «YES» button.

We found out the name of the autonomous control system that regulated this world, «Cardinal» a mere few days later.

As for the extraordinary «Automatic Quest Generation Function» that Cardinal was installed with, we were informed about that much, much later in the future.

<div align=right>(End)</div>

==Notes==
<references/>

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</noinclude>

The Zashiki Warashi of Intellectual Village:Volume2 Chapter 3

2013-04-12T18:37:46Z

89.77.202.20: /* Part 7 */

{{Incomplete|parts=19/24}}
==Chapter 3: Uchimaku Hayabusa @ Shibuya Girl A ==

===Part 1===

The value of land inside the ZR Yamanote Line was generally ridiculously expensive, but Ochanomizu was a student district. That meant a thorough enough search would turn up apartments cheap enough for a student.

But that meant the apartment was meant for a student. Normally, a single man with a job would be ashamed to live in one. In fact, the landlord would usually refuse someone like me, but I had managed to avoid that.

It seemed the female college students felt safer when they knew a police officer lived in the same apartment building.

I was a bit annoyed that the landlord used my private information as a sales point, but it was the best place I could find. As a pitiable public servant, I could not afford to do anything about it.

And so…

I was in the living room the apartment had despite only being meant for students. The table held quickly-made toast, milk, a premade salad, and simple scrambled eggs made in the microwave. While I ate that breakfast, my cell phone rang.

It was my sister-in-law’s number.

It was likely about the cardboard boxes in the corner of my room.

“Did you get them?” she asked.

“Yes, unfortunately. Three boxes is going too far.”

“Don’t be picky. They contain Intellectual Village-made rice, summer vegetables, soy sauce, miso, mirin, and sake. You would have to wait to even make a reservation to get that from a restaurant.”

That was true. And if word got out I had it, it would probably bring in tons of thieves and robbers.

“Please, give me a break. You know I can’t cook.”

“Um, this may be an awkward question, but how do you survive, Hayabusa-kun?”

“These days, you can make a dinner by buying a premade salad and side dish at the supermarket, throwing a pack of white rice in the microwave, and adding hot water to a cup of miso soup.”

“That is not how to live a happy life.”

I wanted to protest that I simply used the extra time for things other than food.

But before I could, I heard the sound of a struggle over the phone.

“Um, nee-san? What is going on?”

“The Yuki Onna and Nekomata are fighting behind me. They cannot agree whether to watch The Unknown Secrets of the Antarctic or The Pet Café that Cats Love. …Now, now, stop that! If you keep acting that selfishly, Shinobu will grow to hate you.”

The sounds of a struggle immediately ceased.

My nephew’s rare disposition seemed to have taken effect once more. Weren’t the Yuki Onna and Nekomata both deadly Youkai? Then again, my disposition making them hate me and my brother’s disposition making them fear him were quite something too.

After being sure the commotion was over, I returned to the conversation.

“Could you at least send cucumbers or tomatoes or something else you can slice up and eat as is? I don’t even know what to do with a squash. I don’t like getting a long line of brand-name crops the gourmets of Akasaka would drool over and just watching them rot.”

“I will take that into consideration, but I cannot do anything about what I already sent you. If you are not going to learn to cook, you can use them to get to know your neighbors.”

Having said that, my sister-in-law ended the call.

She probably just ran away because she did not like how the conversation was going.

But…

I was the one police officer living in an apartment building meant for students. I was never going to get to know my neighbors very closely. There would be a larger rift between us than between an elementary school student and a frightening looking PE teacher. If I rang my neighbor’s doorbell, they would probably think some incident had happened.

Then again, I couldn’t stand for brand-name crops on a level where a bunch of grapes cost 30 thousand yen to rot away into organic fertilizer, so I nervously headed to the neighboring room.

I rang the doorbell and a female voice so unambitious I wondered if she had low blood pressure came over the intercom.

“What is it…?”

“Um, my family went a little overboard in sending me summer vegetables, so do you have room for any?”

I heard frantic footsteps, a crash, and then a shout of “Slippers!? Where are my slippers!?” from beyond the door.

The door shot open and a college girl in a track suit with a towel around her neck and a compress on her shoulders charged out with a full-faced smile.

“How wonderful, you Kasajizou!! Now I can escape this life of soaking ramen in water to infinitely double it in size!!”

“How low on money are you!?”

===Part 2===

Despite all that trouble, I still had to leave for work at the same time. As much as I would have loved some more time. After closing the front door of my apartment, I headed on foot to the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department.

My workplace was in a nice place like Sakuradamon. That was why I wanted a place to live in Ochanomizu.

“Oh, if it isn’t the detective.”

“What the hell are you doing here, mystery freak?”

When I turned around toward that sudden voice from behind, I’m betting my expression was not a pleased one. A girl with twintails named Hishigami Enbi was smiling at me.

That mystery freak could be summed up as “a suspicious person who frequently appears at the crime scenes of bizarre murders”.

The mystery freak preferred to wear revealing outfits such as swimsuits, but now she was wearing the obvious outfit of a student: a short-sleeved blouse and a wine-red pleated skirt. I was fairly certain it was the uniform of a nearby high class girl’s school. I had no idea if the kneesocks were a designated part of the uniform.

Knowing her, she would say she chose to wear them herself because they were necessary to solve a murder. But as long as you did not look too deeply, she was just a nice rich girl.

There were even banks and heavy industry companies that used the name Hishigami.

If you flipped through the channels during primetime, you would probably find a commercial for a company affiliated with her family.

“I’m just headed to school. You’re the one out of place here, detective. I thought you usually used the subway.”

“Why do you think I would be walking to work in this horrid heat while dressed in a suit, mystery moron?”

“Hah hahn. The suit looks cheaper than necessary, but it also looks new. Did your boss tell you to hurry up and break it in so you can run around in it?”

“…That’s right, dammit,” I relied in annoyance.

Police detectives did not wear cheap suits because they had no fashion sense. While it was not as bad as the police dramas where everything was resolved in 60 minutes, a police detective was one of the few jobs that required physical labor in a suit. The suit would get muddy, bloody, and torn by suspects armed with blades. And so no one would wear a custom-made high-class suit.

And since we had to run around a lot, a brand new suit could be a bit restrictive. That was why we intentionally put an extra burden on a new suit to break it in.

For that reason, police detectives gave the impression of being the public servants with zero fashion sense who wore cheap mass-produced suits that were horribly beat up.

“By the way, detective, what are you pursuing now?”

“I can’t tell a civilian that. Employees have a duty to keep secrets.”

“I’m feeling a bit depressed. You could always let me join in if it’s something I would enjoy.”

“?”

The mystery freak pouted her lips, but we had arrived near the famous rich girl’s school. Enbi waved and then left.

Afterwards, I wiped away my sweat with a handkerchief and stopped at a convenience store for water when I couldn’t stand it anymore. Finally, I made it to my workplace in Sakuradamon.

It was the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department, the symbol of the city’s law and order.

Due to the influence of police dramas, it seemed to have become the symbol of Japan’s police force as a whole. Looking at that awe-inspiring building was enough to improve even my mood a bit. It always made me realize my job would directly affect people’s lives for better or worse.

The uniformed police officer standing in front of the entrance gave me a faithful salute.

However, the usual fastidious greeting did not accompany it.

Instead, a middle-aged police officer whispered to me.

“Oh, Uchimaku-san. You probably shouldn’t look inside right now.”

“Eh? Is something going on? Things do seem a bit noisy… Are they filming a drama?”

The front of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department was one of the leading location filming spots in all of Japan. But to prevent terrorism, the inside shots were all done on sets back at the studio. I highly doubted a request to directly film inside would have been approved.

In response, the middle-aged police officer shook his hand side to side and said, “No, no. Um, it’s summer break, so it seems a group of elementary school children is being given a tour. Naturally, they weren’t allowed to bring in their cell phones or any other recording devices.”

“Oh… Yeah, I don’t want to get caught up in that.”

With that offhand comment, I peered through the glass door and into the front lobby. Even through the glass, I could hear a chaotic deluge of voices.

“Do you have katsudon!?”

“Where’s Investigator Itako from TV?”

“Can you show us the investigation headquarters!?”

There were a lot more kids than I had expected. It looked like more than 100 but not quite 200. A young female police officer was waving a small flag in front of them, so she looked somehow like a bus tour guide.

I whispered to the middle-aged police officer who was still hanging around for some reason.

“Looks like the Sakura Police have plenty to do. Oh, wow. Look at the face of the big guy from the organized crime countermeasures division. I’ve never seen him look so exhausted. I gotta snap a photo of this.”

“Wait, don’t do that, Uchimaku-san! If he notices, he’ll constrict your carotid artery!!”

“You say that, Nakada-san, but I can see your shoulders shaking as you try to hold back laughter.”

Just as I held up my phone, my eyes met with those of the big man displayed on the small screen.

That fifth dan in judo (openweight) opened wide the eyes of his stone-like face and pointed straight at me.

“That’s a detective from Department 1!!”

“Bh!?” I spat out.

Well over 100 children all turned to look in my direction.

“A detective?”

“A detective from Department 1!”

“Investigation Department 1 is where they shoot handguns all the time to kill the criminals!!”

“Th-th-that bastard!! He turned them on me because Department 1 is more popular!!”

Just to be clear, detectives in Investigation Department 1 did not shoot handguns all the time. It would be a lot easier if we could, but we prided ourselves at being the best in the world when it came to capturing criminals alive.

The middle-aged police officer then said, “Uchimaku-san! If you’re going to run, do it quickly! You can enter through the materials delivery entrance. Otherwise, the children will surround you!!”

“No, it’s a bit late for that! Wah! This is like a store during a really good sale!!”

''I need to turn their focus somewhere else!! But is there any job more popular than a detective from Department 1!?

Just as I started to panic, a god of salvation appeared.

Mezu Gen. He was an older man with deep wrinkles on his face. His hair was a very shiny black because it was dyed. While he was not as muscular as the large man from the organized crime countermeasures division, his sharp gaze held enough force to silence a fifth dan in judo. He was the leader of my department. However, he was often called “cute” by the young female police officers because of his habit of wearing the necktie he received as a father’s day present.

“…What is this commotion?”

Instead of answering his simple question, I pointed at him and raised my voice as loud as I could to announce, “That’s the chief of Department 1!!”

To make a long story short, he slammed his fist down on my head later on.

But do not forget that the department chief pointed at a man in the prime of his life who came running up after a jog around the imperial palace (accompanied by an extremely annoyed looking bodyguard in black) and shouted “That’s the superintendent general!!”

===Part 3===

I worked for Investigation Department 1 of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department.

But that did not mean I was always having meetings at the investigation headquarters or rushing out to suspects’ houses based on an important new piece of investigative information.

Sometimes not much was going on.

The department chief would not call out to a low-ranking detective like me often, yet he suddenly did just that.

“Uchimaku, you have the safety class today, right?”

“…What?”

Since I had nothing better to do, I had been trying to work up my own original blend by mixing together several different types of coffee beans, but now my eyes opened wide.

The department chief went on to say, “Y’know, the safety class where you head out to a school to put on a puppet show and kamishibai. The materials you need are here. Be there in half an hour. That is all.”

“Wait, wait, wait! That isn’t a job for Department 1. What about the Life Safety Division or Traffic Division? In fact, why is anyone from the main police department doing it? Can’t an officer from the school’s area handle it?”

“Normally, yes. But it seems middle and high school students these days don’t like kamishibai or puppet shows, so they keep falling asleep. They want a detective who has felt real danger to more effectively explain the recent SNS trouble. Someone who reeks of blood should give it more tension.”

“Geh.”

As the department chief breathed a heavy sigh, I recalled a certain fact.

It had been me who had brought an end to the SNS murders back in May.

“But won’t we get complaints if we use an actual incident to draw their attention?”

“The police’s job is not just to resolve crimes that have been committed. We must also prevent crimes before they are committed. We will use whatever means we have available to us. But be careful. Make sure to hide all personal information.”

The department chief placed a giant envelope on my desk and quickly left.

I had no choice but to check inside the envelope.

“How am I supposed to know what to say when I have to be there in half an hour?”

“I can still hear you, Uchimaku. I did not tell you until now because I did not want to deal with your complaining. Do you understand now? Then get going.”

The safety class was a school activity, so I could not be late. I glanced through the materials, put them back in the large envelope, and left.

While I rode the elevator to the first floor, it stopped midway down. A detective from the Life Safety Division got on. Unlike me, he was the type of detective that always wore a nice suit.

“Hey, Uchimaku.”

“Toujou-san.”

“I heard you have to go out in this heat to present a safety class at a middle school. This is the middle of summer break, so the students probably won’t be happy about it. Try not to lose the attention of every single student in the school while they’re gathered in the gym. Nee ha ha.”

“Chehh. I take it I was the only one that didn’t know about this ‘surprise party’.”

“You need to be around some living people every once in a while. It’s not healthy to deal with nothing but murder cases.”

Once the elevator reached the first floor, Toujou-san left.

While it was true I dealt with nothing but murder cases, I did try to keep my focus on living people.

===Part 4===

The middle school was within walking distance. Most of the police officers gathered there were uniformed officers from the “usual” station. I felt out of place as the only murder case detective in the bunch.

And…

“…You can’t be serious.”

“Is something the matter?” asked the school’s female director in a refined manner.

That was a very difficult question to answer.

Outside the window of the faculty room, I could see the mystery freak waving at me with a big smile on her face.

''This is her school?

A very bad feeling wrapped around me despite having no proof anything was going to happen. But just as I expected, my cell phone rang. After receiving the never-before-heard threat of “come on out or I’ll charge into the faculty room and kiss you”, I had no choice but to exit the school building.

“Hello, detective.”

“What do you want, mystery freak? I’m kind of busy.”

“So am I. I need to get to the gym soon for the school assembly. But let’s talk first. If you ignore me, I’ll forcibly have my way with you here.”

I let out a heavy sigh.

My mental state was similar to some chocolate melting under the hot sun.

“If you’re interested, I take it this is about some kind of incident.”

“That’s right. What about you, detective? Why are you here for this SNS safety class? Are you using it to get into the school because you caught the same scent I’m after?”

“?”

I had no ulterior motive for being here, but was something actually happening around the mystery freak?

“If it’s urgent, I’ll hear you out. Despite how you act, you are civilian and I am a police officer.”

“So you understand.”

I had tried to warn her by emphasizing the fact that she was a civilian, but the mystery freak did not give in at all.

She glanced away from me and beckoned someone over with her hand.

“Okay, Tomoe-chaaan. This is the detective I was talking about. There’s no distinction or division between adult and child with him, so he’s our ally.”

''I do to have a division and distinction there!!

[[Image:Zashiki_v02_207.jpg|thumb]]

''It would be a major problem if I still acted like a middle schooler at this age!!

“…Detective?”

A face peered out from behind a pillar along a nearby outside pathway.

She was a girl with an appearance that made you think her braided hair was to help with her school records. She wore glasses, but she looked more like an athlete or martial artist than a bookish girl. Her body was wrapped in supple muscles. She appeared to have a better figure than the mystery freak.

However, both her muscles and figure did not look natural. It may have been the popular thing to do, but it but appeared she had done a fair bit of “grooming”. She was the type who would have tons of diet ebooks on her phone.

You weren’t supposed to push yourself too hard while still growing, but the world was a harsh place.

“No, Enbi. It can’t be a detective. I don’t think he can help us.”

She seemed openly hostile, but it would have been jumping the gun to assume she was hiding something she felt guilty about. During some sort of incident, even the most innocent normal citizen did not want to approach the police.

“Tomoe, he isn’t that kind of detective.”

“Enbi, I decided to ask you for help because you gather information using several different routes, but I am opposed to using him. Forget my request. I’ll do this on my own.”

This Tomoe-chan turned her back on us and muttered one last comment.

Her voice was quiet, but it possessed a piercing sharpness.

“I can’t trust the police. They can’t do anything.”

After watching Tomoe-chan leave, Enbi sighed.

Now then…

“I’m not trying to show off, but explain to me what is going on. This smells really fishy to me.”

“Fine, but neither of us has much time. We can continue this in the afternoon. Let’s finish with this school day first.”

===Part 5===

As expected, the best I could manage in the SNS safety class was to make sure it did not absolutely fail. There was no way I could give much of a presentation when I was suddenly thrown up on stage with no script or rehearsal time. Think of it as the school expecting some high-level acrobatic flying while all I delivered was a safe emergency landing. That required some skill too, but it was tragically difficult for others to tell.

But at least the mystery freak had managed to suppress her laughter while listening to me speak.

After finishing with the school day, Enbi and I met up outside of the school.

“Detective, do you want to get lunch somewhere?”

“It’s exactly noon. Everywhere will be busy.”

“…Oh. That’s a sad statement that shows what sort of restaurant you eat at.”

“More importantly, tell me if you know of anything that might be a serious issue.”

“We can speak while we walk.” The mystery freak raised her index finger while taking the lead. “I will omit any uncertain information if that is okay with you.”

“Just tell me what you can.”

“Lately, Jinmensou have been spreading among high school girls in Shibuya.”

“…In Shibuya?”

I had thought every restaurant in a student district like Ochanomizu would be packed at lunchtime, but we found an empty café a bit off the major roads where the employees were dressed as masters and maids. The mystery freak swiftly moved to a table in the back like she had done it a thousand times before.

“This place makes all the sales it needs for the day with the morning meals they sell in front of the station. Everything else is just a hobby.”

“I don’t care about the restaurant. Tell me about this incident. What was that about high school girls in Shibuya? I’ve never seen those creatures except on TV.”

You could say they were synonymous with lies.

Most anyone could easily tell just how much truth there was in any rumor that began with “according to some high school girls in Shibuya”.

The police received a lot of unreliable-sounding reports and tips, but the credibility dropped considerably if that term was mentioned.

After ordering a hot sandwich and an iced coffee produced in some place with a horribly long foreign-sounding name, the mystery freak said, “Well, just think of that as a symbol or a framework that was easy to use. The Jinmensou problem has reached one of our students. That would be middle school girl in Ochanomizu. It might have reached some elementary school students as well. Think of it as being a problem for all minors who hang out in Shibuya.”

“Just to check: are you sure there really is something to this?”

“Of course.”

I glanced through the menu and grimaced.

''Why is there not a single thing on the menu spelled with less than 50 characters?

The mystery freak ignored my hesitation and ordered something for me without asking.

“Jinmensou, those giant tumors in the shape of a human face, are spreading among those girls. You came from an Intellectual Village, so you know what a Jinmensou is, right?”

“…A Youkai.”

“The story goes that they appear as a symbol of evil deeds when a person has lied or sinned too much. It’s the same as the Futakuchi Onna. But they do not have the ability to kill as they merely appear on the surface of the body.”

Seeing one in an Intellectual Village was one thing, but it bothered me a bit that Jinmensou were appearing in the great metropolis of Tokyo.

Youkai disliked modern cities, so they tended to gather in rural areas. It was possible someone was forcibly altering that aspect of the Youkai so the Jinmensou would spread through these Shibuya high school girls.

The mystery freak put mustard on the hot sandwich when it arrived which made the picky master frown.

“These Jinmensou are a very serious problem when they appear in the sensitive adolescent school society. You would likely be isolated if those around you found out something that creepy had appeared on your body. …And that goes double for a girl’s skin. They hold irresponsible dreams in regards to their skin.

“Would they really be purged like that?”

“It wouldn’t be so bad with a simple scar or burn. After all, it isn’t your fault if you get hurt. But a Jinmensou is a Youkai. And it appears in response to lies and sins. Not only does an ugly tumor several centimeters large appear, but everyone assumes it’s your fault. These people can’t help but be socially purged at an accelerated rate.”

Isolation.

Ostracism.

A student who had no place in the inescapable framework of a school might feel enough fear to end their own life.

Was that the issue the mystery freak was worried about?

No.

That did not include a “criminal” which is what she would be most interested in.

“I understand that this leaves a lot unknown about the appearance of the Jinmensou,” she continued. “But what if this is a Youkai-related Package that allows someone to freely make these face-shaped tumors appear or disappear? That would give this person the ability to ostracize any student in a school at any time. Doesn’t that sound like it would lead to crime? For example, it could be used to control the frightened girls affected by it.”

If that was true, it was indeed a problem with a great risk.

If the situation only advanced below the surface due to the restrictions of a school society, talk of it could definitely spread around without the organizations of adults learning of it.

But…

“…? What’s wrong, detective?”

“Nothing.”

I was unable to work up any motivation without a murder or a corpse and this seemed outside the usual realm of her twisted interests.

“Hm? Are you feeling unmotivated because it’s outside the jurisdiction of Department 1?”

“My job can be rather vague. You could say it’s my job to resolve any major incidents or matters that are not handled by other departments.”

And if I went back to the office, I would just be given another annoying job by the department chief.

I decided to make up a lie about feeling sick from the anxiety of suddenly going up on stage so I could avoid heading back for a while.

“Let’s do some investigation. Where should we start?”

“Shibuya, of course. I’m meeting someone there.”

“Who?”

“One of the rumored high school girls. We won’t get anywhere without first seeing one of these Jinmensou for ourselves.”

===Part 6===

We rode the train to the ZR Shibuya station.

“Did you meet this high school girl on the internet?”

“Yes, but I’m not entirely sure it was really a high school girl I was talking with. It might have been some group of gaudy guys who are trying to become kidnappers. That’s why I asked you to come along, detective.”

“…”

“Just as you explained in the gym today, SNSs are filled with dangers. It only makes sense to bring along some insurance. Kee hee hee.”

''Please don’t laugh like that. Just thinking about how awkward and nervous I was on that stage makes me want to die.

We left the station and headed to a plaza surrounded by countless buildings. The plaza doubled as a large bus roundabout and was often used as a meeting point.

''I beg you, Mr. Uniformed Police Officer. I’m one of you. Just because I have a girl clinging to my side doesn’t mean you need to glare at me with such suspicion.

“But this Jinmensou issue has a delicate side to it, right? Will she really open up to someone like me? I’m a guy, I’m an adult, and I’m with the police. That’s three distinct boundaries.”

“I’d say it depends on the person. Some girls might want to ask for help from someone larger than themselves.”

“But that girl at your school held some pretty blatant hostility towards me. What was her name? Tomoe-chan?”

“Hachikawa Tomoe-chan. Her situation is a bit unique.”

“No, people like you who can talk to a police officer so cheerfully are the exception.”

“Oh, c’mon, detective. Surely you don’t think you’re a whisky-drinking, trench coat-wearing, tough-looking nice guy who lives in a hard boiled world. You’re more like a cute little animal.”

“I’ll have to disagree if you’re trying to say I fill the role of a mascot. But anyway…”

I trailed off before I could continue.

I sharpened my senses and checked my surroundings again.

The mystery freak called out, “Oh, it’s Tomoe.”

“…”

The same Hachikawa Tomoe-chan from before was glaring our way from in front of a convenience store at the base of one of the large buildings surrounding the plaza.

I suddenly recalled that she had said she would “do this on her own”.

“Hey, mystery freak. She isn’t the high school girl afflicted with a Jinmensou you were talking about, is she?”

I received a blatant click of the tongue in response.

But from Tomoe-chan rather than the mystery freak.

“If that was the case, I wouldn’t use such a roundabout method. It would have been simpler just to talk with you at school.”

“I suppose that’s true.”

“…You’re such an idiot. You had enough information to figure that out. If you had thought about it at all, you would have known right away.”

''Yes, but it’s my job to ask those things you can “know right away” dozens or even hundreds of times while watching the reaction of the people I ask.

Hachikawa Tomoe-chan pointed at my nose.

“Anyway, I don’t need anyone as useless as you here. If this Shibuya high school girl learns a policeman is here, she might turn right around and run away. Then we will lose any hint we might have gotten.”

“So you’re saying…um…”

“Hachikawa. Hachikawa Tomoe.”

I of course already knew that, but calling her by her name before she had introduced herself would only have increased her distrust of me. Playing dumb could be a real pain.

“Hachikawa-san, are you here to contact the same person as the mystery frea-…I mean, as Hishigami-san?”

“That’s right. I was the one that asked Enbi for help after meeting this girl online. If I had known that would lead to someone as troublesome as you tagging along, I never would have done so!”

I felt a bit bad for the mystery freak, but this was the normal reaction.

It would have been stranger if some boring man wearing a suit was not rejected upon trying to join a group of sensitive adolescent girls.

However…

“''We can talk about this later.''” I said.

“…What?”

“Move away from the entrance to that convenient store. Pay attention while walking through the city. ''The siren attached under the eaves is on.''”

That was an SOS indicating a robbery.

It had been this I had initially noticed, not Tomoe-chan.

I turned to the mystery freak and said, “I’m going in. You take Hachikawa-san away from here. The robber might try to flee. Stay away from any obvious paths and wait. Understand?”

“Detective, did you bring your handgun?”

“Don’t underestimate me.”

I was of course going to handle this unarmed.

I was a police officer. I would have a chance to be of some use outside of extreme exceptions like Zashou Island where every single villager was guilty and armed with hunting weaponry.

But I frowned in confusion upon subduing the culprit who was shouting while threating the cashier with something like an awl.

The criminal was a high school girl.

And when her skirt flipped up, I caught a glimpse of something on her thigh.

“…A Jinmensou?”

===Part 7===

A report had to be submitted in the process of handing the criminal over to the local police station, so my department chief naturally learned of what happened. He shouted angrily at me with incredible force over the phone, but even he seemed hesitant to be too angry since no one was hurt, no damage was done, and the (attempted) robber had been arrested.

As I killed time in the police station’s standard waiting room, a young detective from the station approached me with a clipboard in hand.

“I am Inoue.”

“Hi, I am Uchimaku.”

“Thank you for your help. We will handle investigation if you do not mind.”

“Sure, sure. Um, do I need to sign this?”

“Yes.”

I spoke to Inoue-san while using a ballpoint pen to sign my name on the paperwork on the clipboard.

“I would like to hear her motive if that’s okay.”

“That is fine, but isn’t this more a job for the Life Safety Division than Department 1?”

“…? Has she already said something?”

“A bit.” Inoue-san lowered his voice to a whisper. “This was an attempted robbery, so she was of course after money. However, the main issue is why she wanted that money.”

“…Have you confirmed that she has a Jinmensou?”

“She showed it to us,” replied Inoue-san. “She has a tumor about 5 cm across resembling a human face on her right thigh. It looks similar to the bump left by a bug bite.”

According to the mystery freak, someone could freely cause these Jinmensou to appear or disappear and could therefore threaten the targeted girls. But for a simple robbery?

As I thought, Inoue-san said something I did not except.

“The girl…Her name is Sayama Yae by the way. She says she needs the money to pay an exorbitant medical fee to treat the Jinmensou.”

“To treat it?”

“Yes.” Inoue-san paused for a beat. “With cosmetic surgery.”

After hearing what I needed to hear, I left the police station. It was already evening. The mystery freak had been troubling the uniformed police officer at the entrance with a barrage of curious questions, but now she ran over to me.

I looked around and asked, “Hey, where’s Hachikawa-san?”

“She left. It looked like this was quite a shock to her.”

“Had it been a shock for a violent crime to occur so nearby or for the person with a hint to the Jinmensou incident to be taken in by the police?”

“More importantly, detective, what did the high school girl who committed that attempted robbery say?”

“I can’t reveal information on an ongoing investigation.”

“Is she in debt over cosmetic surgery that insurance won’t cover?”

“…”

I quickly checked over my suit for any listening devices.

The mystery freak shook her index finger and said, “Tsk tsk. If you think about it, you will come across several odd points, Uchimaku-kun.”

“Oh, is that so.”

“Don’t ignore me!!”

I started to walk to the subway station, but the mystery freak ran up and latched onto my back.

''Stop that! That police officer is getting a dangerous look in his eyes!!

“For one thing, it doesn’t make sense to commit a crime after promising to meet with me or Tomoe. I can only think she was planning to get arrested from the beginning. But what would leave her with so few options? I can’t think of very many situations.”

“What if the person who gave her the Jinmensou demanded she bring them money?”

“Then she would have tried to make sure the robbery succeeded.” The mystery freak moved from my back and circled around in front of me. “That high school girl might have been thinking of opposing the person behind the Jinmensou from the moment she initially contacted Tomoe to meet her. But she must have reached some sort of limit in the time between then and now. Since it was a robbery, it must have to do with money. And if the girl was trying to oppose the Jinmensou, then it isn’t hard to guess how she would do so.”

If the Jinmensou disappeared, she would have nothing more to fear.

So she would remove it by force.

But it was a giant tumor 5 cm across on her thigh. This was different from healing a pimple. If she used a blade to cut it off, she would need to call an ambulance.

In that case, it would be quickest to leave it to a professional.

But…

“What good would it do to have the Jinmensou surgically removed? I thought you suspected the criminal could somehow cause the Jinmensou to appear and disappear. And this is a Youkai that appears as a symbol of lies and sins. Won’t it just appear again if you try to forcibly remove it?”

“Perhaps. But how is that a problem for the clinic being paid to remove it?”

“…”

“If a Jinmensou appears, they can surgically remove it. If it appears again, they can surgically remove it again. …That cycle is perfect for them. It ensures repeat customers, so the clinic probably loves it. It’s entirely possible they have been ''whispering something about these Jinmensou'' just like they use the characteristics of obesity and acne to their advantage in their advertisements.”

We had been assuming the criminal was using the isolated system of a school, but cosmetic surgery did seem to provide the criminal with more to gain.

No matter how deeply the cosmetic surgery clinic was related to this as a whole, it seemed we needed to look into it.

===Part 8===

At 11:30 that night, I finished my work for the day and decided to leave the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department. When I reached the first floor lobby, Toujou-san from the Life Safety Division entered with a lot of subordinates in tow.

“Huh? Were you out for a nighttime raid?” I asked.

“Yes. In fact, you’re the one that gave us this extra work.”

“?”

“We stopped by the cosmetic surgery clinic related to the Jinmensou. We checked any places that had received an unnatural number of new patients recently and found it right away. It was Kaguya Beauty Clinic in Harajuku. It was a stereotypical ‘pitfall’.”

“Ah…”

So it was an illegal business that targeted minors. This was common with OB/GYN, cosmetic surgery, or other clinics that deal with delicate issues. They would charge exorbitant prices and then open up pathways to various underground means of earning money for those who could not pay. These “pitfalls” were designed so people would not be able to pay.

This had mostly started after all abortions in which the mother’s life was not threatened had been banned by the Newborn Protection Law meant to fight the tide of Japan’s low birthrate. These sorts of business had started appearing and spreading what fields they dealt in.

“So where did this pitfall lead? A subcontractor in charge of phone scams?”

“A group that stockpiles cell phones and resells them. It does not look suspicious if high school girls constantly buy the latest phones. This might be related to ''a large criminal organization''. Now we need to meet with the Organized Crime Countermeasures Division. Thanks for the all-nighter you gave us, Uchimaku-kun. Maybe I’ll treat you to something later.”

“…Was the clinic involved in giving the girls the Jinmensou?”

If so, all the loose ends had been tied up.

Toujou-san shrugged and said, “We looked through everything, but that was probably done elsewhere.”

“Do you have proof of that?”

“The disturbance was too great. If Kaguya Beauty Clinic controlled everything, they would have kept it all on a lower scale that would have been harder to find.”

''I see.

That meant the clinic was simply profiting off of something someone else was causing.

The true criminal behind it all was elsewhere.

“Understood. Call me if it looks like you’ll need Department 1 for anything.”

“It is our job in the Life Safety Division to ensure you are not needed.”

I parted ways with Toujou-san and left the building.

It was very late at night, but the roads still had cars on them. That said, there were not many options when it came to eating out. Bars would still be open, but they got expensive if you used them as a primary source of food.

I had no choice but to enter a nearby convenience store and put a microwaveable side dish into a shopping basket.

That was when I ran into the mystery freak.

“Detective.”

“I’m going to stop asking how you always show up like this. And I won’t tell you anything about the clinic. That’s police information.”

“I doubt you found anything. That clinic itself was nothing important.”

“The clinic itself?” I asked as the mystery freak grabbed a package of drinkable yogurt.

“I was able to get my hands on a list of people who used Kaguya Beauty Clinic. It wasn’t just high school girls. The list contains everyone from housewives to elementary school kids. But I recognized some of the names on the list.”

In this case, she did not simply mean she saw the names of some acquaintances.

She went on to say, “Detective, do you remember the SNS murders case you solved back in May?”

“What about it?”

“Go back over it again. That will tell you how deep this goes.”

How deep.

That was what the mystery freak said.

“Can I assume something dangerous is lurking down below all this?”

“If there was not, I would not give you such an unnatural warning. You were the one who directly solved that case even if I helped a bit. The ones behind the Jinmensou likely view you as the most dangerous person to them. So what if you do not stop at the beauty clinic and dig deeper? ''The odds are good the criminals will take direct action against you.''”

“Understood.” I checked on the contents of my basket. “If they introduce themselves so obviously, I will have an easier time arresting them.”

The mystery freak smiled a bit and patted my shoulder.

“You’ll be fine with that mindset. …But really be careful. If I’m right, these aren’t people who will hold back from attacking just because their enemy is a police officer.”

Enbi headed on to the register, paid for her drinkable yogurt, and left the store.

That mystery freak was accustomed to mysterious serial murders, so this must be truly dangerous if she felt the need to warn me so seriously.

I decided to remain focused as I paid at the register and left the convenience store.

But…

I never thought I would be taken out not even 50 meters from the convenience store.

A sudden blunt blow to the back of my head sent me to the ground where I was then assaulted by a storm of violent kicks and punches.

===Part 9===

When I came to, I was in the police hospital.

The sky outside the window was orange. I assumed it was dawn, but it turned out to be sunset. The electrodes attached to me and tube on my arm were enough to tell me something horrible had happened to me.

“You aren’t looking too good,” said Toujou-san of the Life Safety Division from where he sat on a folding chair.

I frowned in the hospital bed and asked, “Um, why are you here, Toujou-san?”

“The witness report said it was a group of boys. As a street fight, it was handed over to our division. …I’m not sure how anyone could tell exactly how old they were since it was dark and they were wearing full face helmets, but people tend to assume late night attacks like that are the work of boys.” Toujou-san gave a slight smile. “But they have guts to attack and try to kill a police officer. We’ll make sure to find who did this.”

“…Um, what exactly is the situation? My memories are hazy after the first hit, so I don’t really know what happened.”

I doubted I had been able to escape in that situation.

Had this enemy simply been giving me a warning instead of trying to kill me?

Or had something caused them to stop before they finished the job?

“Oh, is that so? The attack occurred in the early morning last night near a convenience store in Ochanomizu. A group of four or five helmeted males – well, technically we don’t know for sure they were male, but that’s what the witness said – beat you to a pulp on the side of the road. But the attackers ran off when the witness screamed. It seems the attackers were speaking Japanese.”

“I see. Good….”

It was not my survival I was glad of.

It was that this witness had not been hurt after letting out that scream.

And if I was the only victim, that meant the mystery freak had not been involved despite being nearby.

Toujou-san toyed with the remote to the room’s TV.

“What do you think of the situation, Uchimaku?”

“I don’t like it.”

I had been injured just after receiving a warning.

Unless some unrelated group of boys had coincidentally decided to attack me at that moment, the attacker’s intent might very well have been to assassinate me.

In this country, not many deadly weapons were easily obtained.

But it took skill to sneak up behind a detective who had some knowledge of judo and kendo.

Had the attackers run away when the witness screamed because they had decided killing the witness as well would make the attack stand out too much?

If that was the case…

Whoever was behind the attack had not given up on taking my life. The odds were good they would try to use some other method of eliminating me.

“Don’t look so grim. I don’t know who did this, but they can’t do anything while you are here in the police hospital. You can stay here until I put an end to this.”

“I can’t do that.”

If my opponent saw street violence as but one card among many options with which to kill me, they might be a highly skilled specialist.

It was possible they possessed a card that allowed them to kill a target in a police hospital while making it look like the target’s condition merely took a turn for the worse.

The police hospital may have been secure, but my location could not be hidden while I was hospitalized.

If the enemy arrived to kill me, my safety was not guaranteed.

I gathered my strength to sit up and felt a dull pain in my head and across the rest of my upper body. I grimaced, but ignored with the pain. I could not remain on the defensive. To survive, I had to go on the offensive and hunt down the identity of my enemy.

“Wait, wait. Aren’t you getting a little too hot-blooded? Are you okay?”

“No. It’s because I’m a coward that I feel the need to go on the offensive here.”

Merely changing from the hospital gown and into my suit was enough to make me want to scream, but I had to bear with it.

“I want to talk with the person who saved my life. Can you get me that information?”

“I can, but you explain this to your department chief. I’m not going to save you from him.” Toujou-san pulled out a notepad and flipped through the pages. “Let’s see, it was a student from Ochanomizu. Her name is ''Hachikawa Tomoe-san''. She is a minor in middle school, so be careful with how you handle this. At her age, the people around her will probably make a bigger deal out of this than she will.”

===Part 10===

Hachikawa Tomoe-chan, the witness of the attack, lived in a family-oriented apartment in Ochanomizu. It was seven in the evening, so I was not sure if the pillar of the family, the father, would be home yet. I could smell the scents of dinner being prepared.

''…What a pain.

The situation would be a lot easier to handle if both parents were home. I did not want the father thinking I had intentionally come by while he was away.

The front entrance automatically locked, so I could not even enter the apartment building. I entered the room number to call them over the intercom. As expected, Hachikawa Tomoe-chan’s mother sounded displeased when I said I was a police detective. Although she did not start talking about warrants and lawyers based on what she had seen on TV dramas, so it could have been worse.

But I needed her consent. If she refused to let me in, there was nothing I could do. If I abused my power and claimed she was obstructing the duties of a public servant, I would be stuck writing an apology in the seiza position by the end of the day. I would probably have my pay reduced for a week as well.

''What is she going to do?

Just as I started wondering that, I heard footsteps belonging to someone other than the mother. The mother then called out the name Tomoe. The speaker then produced the sound of a door opening. I tilted my head in puzzlement and Hachikawa Tomoe-chan came running out to the front of the apartment building before long.

“D-dete-detective!? What are you doing out of the hospital!? You were bleeding so much!”

“My injuries were not life threatening. And even if I am a police officer, I am still a working member of society. Everyone knows you have to work if you are able.”

“Everyone knows that…?”

“Well, I know I look pretty pathetic with all these bandages, but I’m doing fine. You don’t need to worry about me. More importantly, do you mind if I ask some questions about last night? The attack might have been related to the Jinmensou incident.”

“…”

Tomoe-chan fell silent.

Finally, she opened her mouth to speak.

“Why are you pursuing this so seriously? This is just another job to you. Unlike me, you have plenty of other incidents to worry about.”

I decided it was best to hide the fact that I wanted a chance to strike back before the enemy could make their next move. It was likely out of guilt over ''not being able to save me'' that she was actually speaking with me and being fairly polite.

“I can’t say this is the job I want to work on most, but it comes in second. I do my job because I want to, so I am willing to risk my life for it. Is that so strange?”

“…You’re an idiot,” muttered Tomoe-chan. “But you might have more guts than that person.”

''…That person?

She may have been referring to the person that had caused her dislike of the police.

But gathering information about the attack came first.

“It would be a huge help if you could go through everything you know about last night’s attack. First of all, what were you doing there?”

“That convenience store may be a good distance from here, but it is a convenient place for reading magazines without buying them. I use it as a destination when I go jogging.”

“…You jog that late at night?”

“I do it just before going to bed. My mom-…My parents let me as long as I keep my cell phone’s GPS on.”

Hachikawa Tomoe-chan had a nice figure wrapped in supple muscles, so she did seem the type who would be mindful of such things.

“Okay, about the attackers then. I remember nothing beyond the first strike from behind. Do you know where they came from or where they went when they left?”

“…? It wasn’t toward the subway station. I think they ran off in the direction of some convoluted back alleys.”

“Were they on foot or did they have a vehicle?”

“I don’t know. They ran away on foot, but they might have had a vehicle waiting further on.”

“I was attacked with blunt weapons, but did do you remember what those were?”

“Hmm… I think one guy had some kind of stick. And one had a sock.”

“A sock?”

“It was long and stretched out. It was swollen like something was stuffed inside. Something to weigh down one end.”

This was going to be difficult. If they did not all use the same sort of weapon, I had less of a hint for my investigation.

If they had used weapons that not many people have such as stun guns or a special sort of baton, I might have been able to hunt them down based on the information alone.

I asked a few more questions, but did not receive much useful information. Partway through, I changed my tactic to seeing if Tomoe-chan was lying, but I saw nothing suspicious in her words or eye movements.

“Thank you very much.”

“…You’re welcome.”

“Just to be safe, you should probably stop your nighttime jogs for the time being. Do you mind if I tell your parents that as well?”

“Tell them whatever you want,” said Tomoe-chan while averting her gaze. She then added, “But I will not stop pursuing this Jinmensou incident.”

“…”

''Oh, come on.

''Don’t you know that is much more dangerous than your nighttime jogs?

''You’re looking right at a man who was beaten to a pulp over it.

“I can’t leave it to that person. I would just get an arbitrary promise and nothing would ever actually be done about it.”

“Um, you mentioned ‘that person’ before as well. Do you mean Hishigami Enbi-san?”

At their school, Tomoe-chan had told the mystery freak she would do this on her own because she could not trust a police detective.

But…

“Eh? Oh. No, no. It isn’t her. I have no reason to blame Enbi.”

“Then…”

“It doesn’t matter who it is,” cut in Tomoe-chan sharply. “But if you don’t know, that means Enbi really did keep quiet about it.”

“…”

''Wait, wait, wait, wait.

''This is starting to sound dangerous.

Not only was Hachikawa Tomoe-chan hiding something, but the mystery freak knew what it was. I had a feeling it would be dangerous to not get the information out of her here, but she was not a suspect. I could not forcibly interrogate her, so there was nothing I could do if she was not willing to tell me.

''…I’ll get it out of the mystery freak later.

“Anyway, I will pursue this Jinmensou incident no matter what happens. Detective, you should not be wandering around with your injuries. You should get back to the hospital. Good night.”

Tomoe-chan then ran back into the apartment building. The lock activated, so I could not pursue her further.

“…Now then.”

What could I do now besides asking the mystery freak for information related to Hachikawa Tomoe?

The day before, the mystery freak had told me to check the list of people who used Kaguya Beauty Clinic and to look for a connection to the SNS murders from May.

It pained me to simply do what the mystery freak told me to do, but it was my best bet.

===Part 11===

But despite my attempt to look cool, the real world was not the same as a police drama in which any case could be solved in 60 minutes. In reality, the police were not blessed with an environment that allowed them to focus on a single case until it was solved. We often had to handle multiple cases in parallel and sometimes private problems that had no relation to the case got in the way as well.

And so at 7:30 that evening…

“Uchimaku, we’re going drinking tonight. You’re coming whether you like it or not.”

“What?”

As soon as I arrived back at work, the department chief, Mezu Gen, told me that with a stern expression. I could only stare at him in shock while still wrapped in bandages.

Needless to say, the department chief and I were not on friendly enough terms to go drinking together.

And regardless of how well we might get along, being asked to go drinking with your boss did not seem as if it would lead to a fun time.

The department chief must have had his own thoughts on the matter because the wrinkles of his usual stern expression grew threefold.

“Looking at your face while drinking is not my idea of a pleasant evening,” he said. “Chief Superintendent Mishima invited us. Refusing would affect both of our futures. If you understand, then get ready.”

“Wait!! That’s two ranks higher than superintendent! Why does someone like that have his eyes on someone unimportant like me!?”

Above a superintendent was a senior superintendent, and another step above that was the chief superintendent.

In terms of numbers, this was at a level even higher than billion or trillion. This was more like a number like googol that you could live your everyday life just fine without knowing about. That was how little in common there was between someone in a dead-end detective job like me and a senior superintendent or chief superintendent.

By the way, there were only two positions higher than chief superintendent.

“Because you did something that stood out enough for him to notice you. And don’t forget that it is thanks to you that I am caught in the middle of this.”

The department chief gave me a horrible glare as we boarded a taxi. The atmosphere in the taxi was so awkward the driver remained silent as he drove us to a residential district in Ningyocho. I had not known that high-cost area filled with office buildings had a residential district. And naturally (?) we stopped somewhere with no sign, main entrance, or parking lot. It did not even have the bare minimum of what one would expect of a bar. It looked like the sort of house you could see anywhere.

“Is this the chief superintendent’s house?”

“…That’s enough. Do not say anything more, Uchimaku.”

We entered what looked exactly like the small yard of a house, the department chief knocked on the back door, and a woman wearing a kimono answered.

“Mezu-sama, Uchimaku-sama. We were expecting you. Come in. Mishima-sama has already arrived.”

''???

The woman in a kimono had a pin mic on her collar and an earphone in one ear. When she led us inside, the scenery completely changed. The building had looked like a small house from outside, but it was a small but luxurious Japanese-style bar inside. This limited space could likely rival the top floor of a resort hotel.

“…What is this place?”

“Did you think Ginza and Akasaka were as good as it gets? Only the nouveau riche get excited over that. In a world where people truly spare no expense, the bars do not have signs.”

The bar had a counter and a few tables, but it was empty except for a single customer at the counter. This was not because the place was doing poorly. Its prices were so ridiculously expensive, it could function with this alone.

That one person raised a hand.

“Hey, hey. Over here, over here. Sorry about the sudden invitation.”

He was Chief Superintendent Mishima.

A lowly detective like me would never have any chance to speak with someone like him even if we were in the same building. He was in his late thirties, but he looked like the perfect example of the bachelor living it up. He was of course older than me, but he must have looked like he had just learned to walk from the department chief’s perspective. The department chief was old-fashioned and had also always hated the elite, so there must have been a powerful force at play for him to be obeying without complaint.

Rising to chief superintendent by one’s late thirties was rare even in the elite Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department. People like him tended to rise through the ranks quickly, but that alone was not enough to explain it.

That monster smiled and said, “C’mon, sit, sit. This is a bit of an odd bar that only serves cocktails with a sake base, so sorry about that. But they’re quite good if you give them a chance. It’s all on me, so drink as much as you want.”

Anyone who took up that offer in a high class bar that did not list a single price on its menu was most likely not a working member of society.

''So why did the chief superintendent call us here?

But without giving any hint towards that answer, Chief Superintendent Mishima began some pointless small talk.

“Uchimaku-chan, I’ve heard you get along quite well with the middle school aged daughter of the Hishigami family.”

“Bh!?”

''That’s the first thing you bring up!?

The department chief’s look grew even sterner, but the chief superintendent’s tone remained unconcerned.

“Oh, I’m not trying to find fault. In fact, that takes talent. ''The Hishigami women invite disaster, after all''. It seems that is actually a rule in that family. Grabbing the reins of one of them and not being thrown off is quite a feat.”

“Wait…eh? What are you saying?”

“If you don’t understand, you don’t need to. Oh, right. We have been arguing over who to choose to be the next ‘police chief for a day’. You have a youthfulness to you that is popular with middle school girls, so who do you think it should be? Who are the popular idols right now?”

“I don’t know!! I can’t keep track of the names and faces of those idol units with dozens of members!!”

“Do you think Omikuji Maidens or Fortune Telling Girls would be better?”

“I think Seman<ref>A Seman or Seman Doman is a type of Japanese magical charm with roots in Onmyoudou.</ref> Stars would be best.”

The department chief glared at me, but what was a poor public servant like me supposed to do? If I had remained silent, he still would have glared at me!

After that, Chief Superintendent Mishima insisted that I try some sake-based cocktails that had been turned into psychedelic reds and blues. Those upside down triangle cocktail glasses could hold a larger volume than I thought.

I also spotted some junmai daiginjo made by my brother behind the counter.

They were named Red Yukata and Black-Haired Beauty, so he must have been fond of that Youkai despite how much she was afraid of him. Looking as frightening as him may have worked against him in some ways.

“You aren’t looking any different.”

“Oh. This is not enough to get me drunk.”

“That isn’t what I meant. Normally, when people are brought to this sort of bar and forced to drink this kind of expensive drink, they want to make informed comments even if they can’t tell the difference from normal drinks. I used to do it myself.”

''Oh, that’s what he means.

This may have been the very best the city had to offer, but I grew up in an Intellectual Village. After drinking entire cardboard boxes full of the finest Japanese sake in the country or even the world, I had lost all sense of its value.

In college, I had searched out the greatest hidden bars the city had to offer and found none of them could compare to the stuff back home, so I eventually gave up on caring about the quality of sake at all.

But sadly, it was not based on my skill, so I could not brag about it to anyone.

“Oh, right. Uchimaku-chan, I heard about your achievement in that convenience store robbery. You arrested the robber with no injuries or damage, right? It was the best conclusion for both the victim and the criminal.”

Only a child would get excited over being praised here.

As an adult, I had to be extra careful of the department chief who had remained silent for a looooooooooong time now.

“Oh, um…sorry about all that.”

“No, no. I don’t mind. The regulations regarding that are there to allow the police to do their job as efficiently as possible. If you had waited for a police officer in that jurisdiction to arrive, someone might have been stabbed inside the convenience store,” said Chief Superintendent Mishima with a big grin on his face. As an adult, I could sense something unsettling like the alcohol was sending him in a negative direction. “Uchimaku-chan, this shows that you have grown enough to instinctually sense what the purpose of a police officer is. ''You do not need the rules to compensate for you.'' That is something worth praising you for. But,” added the chief superintendent to preface some sort of negation.

“The real system of society is much more severe than what you see in police dramas. You can only ignore the rules ''when doing so will produce a better result than following the rules can.'' For example, think about this convenience store robbery. Safely arresting the robber is fine, but what if your attempt had failed and your actions led to the clerk getting stabbed? Do you think we would cover for you then?”

“…”

“We would not. Police officers are only human, so they will sometimes fail in extreme life-or-death situations. They need to be rebuked in such situations, but they also need to be protected. If they are all too afraid of making a mistake to do anything, we could not protect the law and order of this country. But certain appearances need to be upheld while protecting the people of our organization. If you follow the rules and do everything right but do not make it in time, we can protect you. But if you break the rules and act on your own initiative and that leads to someone’s death, we can do nothing to protect you. ''Do you understand what I mean?''”

“…Yes.”

“Good. Whether you know the risks or not makes a lot of difference. I will overlook it just this once. This may sound trite, but I have great hopes for you. Especially when it comes to cases related to Youkai. Otherwise I would not have set up this opportunity to speak with you.”

I did not like the sound of having myself and Youkai linked together like that.

But as an adult, I made sure not to show it on my face.

“But you will find things more difficult in the future. The power of the police lies in the power of the organization. If you lose that power, you will be in much more danger than you realize. Keep that in mind.”

After a few hours, I was released from that drinking party that left me with a stomachache.

The department chief had remained completely silent the entire time, but he spat out a comment as soon as we left the bar.

“That is not someone you want paying such close attention to you.”

“…I know that all too well. If I was drawing a picture diary, today would probably be filled in completely black.”

“I doubt a monster of that level would care about a simple detective. This may be a disaster brought on by that Hishigami girl, but be careful. Appearing ‘useful’ to the people at the top is not always a good thing.”

===Part 12===

When I went into work the next day, I entered the archives room to view the files I had been unable to view the day before. The area was crowded with steel racks which were all filled with thick clear file folders of case records. A lot of them were unsolved, so the mystery freak might have drooled if she saw this collection.

Most of the data was searchable by computer, but some records were abbreviated or changed slightly in format or presentation in the process of digitization. The best method was to check the computer first and then check the physical reports for the details. I had not written all of the reports for this case.

The May SNS murders.

The case had not been called that from the beginning. For one thing, it had not been a murder case initially.

We simply had some strange suicides with no apparent motive.

As they were investigated, it turned out all of the people had used a certain major SNS service. The incident had produced five “suicides” in a single month and had spread to many different areas through the wide range of people’s online connections.

As you might imagine, it had been a complete pain in the ass dealing with different police stations fighting over whose jurisdiction it fell under. Fortunately, it had not spread overseas.

The victims had ranged from elementary school age to high school age. At the time, they had been judged isolated suicides due to people “flaming” the opinions the kids posted online. They had gathered attention as proof of how modern society was lowering the age at which children committed suicide.

Ultimately, digging into the suspicious aspects turned up a group at a prestigious private university and four people were arrested. Once that happened, the talk shows began covering it as a demonic murder spree by candidates for the upper levels of elite corporations.

The mystery freak had told me to go over that case once more.

But not much about it was still suspicious. We already knew how they had disguised the murders as jumping suicides and how they had used other victims’ accounts to contact them.

The only thing left was…

“The motive.”

When questioned, the four arrested had given nothing but ridiculous statements. Some people said they were trying to get a psychiatric examination to lessen their punishment and other people said they were following the disturbing logic of twisted elites. But those four had found a stable and successful means of killing people and no one had found a clear answer as to why.

Was it related to this Jinmensou case?

To be honest, I was doubtful.

But when I compared to the documents on the Kaguya Beauty Clinic and the SNS murders, I did find some odd information.

“…A few names show up in both.”

Some students had been involved in both cases.

But the SNS used had been a popular one, so the number of related individuals was quite large.

It was not too surprising to find a few of those had also used Kaguya Beauty Clinic. And yet…

The SNS and the Jinmensou.

As I puzzled over the two cases, my cell phone rang.

It was from the mystery freak.

“Hah hah hah. Have you arrived at the truth yet, detective?”

“I feel like an idiot for worrying when I realized you were near the scene of the attack.”

“H-huh? You mean I could have grabbed at your heart by pretending to have been attacked?”

''It won’t work if you just pretend.

''Not that I want you to actually get attacked for that reason.

“You’re hiding something about Hachikawa Tomoe, aren’t you? If something happens because of that, I will officially blame you.”

“This involves her privacy, so I wanted her permission. But whatever. Let’s meet for a chat. Detective, you were attacked despite my warning. You clearly need all the help you can get, so I’ll lend you a hand.”

“You said the SNS murders and this Jinmensou case are linked, right? I’ve found a few common names between the two, but…”

“I’ll tell you about that as well. Just compare the two cases. Don’t the structures seem similar?”

“?”

“The SNS murders killed people while making it look like they committed suicide over the flaming on their page. The Jinmensou case uses a giant tumor to isolate the target from their school life. …Do you see the common theme?”

“…Ostracism.”

“That’s right. Isolation from an organization or group. Detective, you thought the masterminds of the SNS murders were those four elite candidates from that prestigious private university, ''but it may have gone deeper than that.''”

“…”

And now the person controlling it from the shadows was using someone else for this new case. Was that why the Jinmensou case showed hints of being similar to the SNS murders?

“If that is true, this is a big deal.”

“It already is a big deal. You can’t say you don’t know what happened to you. At any rate, we can discuss this further when we meet. This is something that needs to be discussed in person.”

===Part 13===

That evening, I met up with the mystery freak in an unpopular café in Ochanomizu.

“You’re late.”

“Oh, am I?”

I walked over to the mystery freak’s table in the back and sat down. As always, she had chosen a café with ridiculously long-named items on the menu, but this time I pointed at something random and ordered it.

“Let’s cut to the chase. How exactly is the solved SNS murders case linked to the current Jinmensou case?”

“Let’s start with the hidden side of the SNS murders.”

The mystery freak pulled out a smartphone with a leather cover that made it look like a memo pad.

She placed it on the table and said, “On the surface, the victim’s page was flamed to make their murder look like a suicide. But you know that of course.”

“Wait, wait. On the surface?”

“Evidence has turned up that the flaming itself was intentionally created by a different group. In other words, the criminals did not want to target the people who were flamed. They attacked those people because someone else flamed them.”

“…So they had some other purpose?”

“Question: what do the five victims of the SNS murders have in common?”

“Their ages and locations were all different.”

“They were students from elementary school age to high school age.” The mystery freak called up a few documents on her smartphone. “The four from the prestigious private university did the actual crime, a few others handled the flaming, and some leader controlled it all. Now, were these murders based on an abnormal motive that normal people cannot understand? If so, ''would the other members of the organization have been able to understand the motive either?''”

Most serial killers worked alone because abnormal motives could not be shared.

There were different categories of murderers, but different people would not get along and cooperate in abnormal murders just because they fit the same category.

Which meant…

“Is this not an issue of individual ideology? Did the entire group gain something from this? …Like money maybe?”

Desire for money was the most obvious common factor between people. Unlike with serial killings, it was easy to see several people working together to rob a bank.

However…

“All of the victims were minors. I doubt they had much money and they had no life insurance. What did the entire group gain from killing those five?”

“I came up short there too. No matter how much I researched the victims, I could not find anything.” Enbi displayed a new document on her smartphone. “Which is why we need to think about this differently. What the criminals gained ''came from someone other than the victims.''”

“…What?”

“Look at this. You should get it right away.”

Enbi pointed at the smartphone in the middle of the table and I looked down at it.

The screen was small so the smaller text was difficult to read, but I was able to read large headline right away.

Child Board Meeting Plan.

“…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………”

As I read the details, I could feel my mind growing blank.

''…What is this?

“The Child Board Meeting. To put it simply, it’s a plan to influence the children of the management and stockholders of large corporations. Those powerful adults cannot be influenced by external pressure. But what about their children? Someone who knows how to use the internet has control of the ‘general consensus’ on the SNS. They can ostracize a specific target by thoroughly flaming them. ''By creating an environment that harms their children, they can indirectly influence and control the adults in the corporations.'' That is the Child Board Meeting.”

“But can’t the parents just keep their kids away from the SNS once the problems begin?”

“Those information tools are already a part of school life, detective. Information is just as necessary to them as water and oxygen. If they do not take part, they will be isolated. If they do no reply, they will be ostracized. And no matter how powerful their parents may be, their power is of no use in the closed environment of a school. But if they know their precious child is being ostracized in that ‘holy ground’ where adults have no influence, what options are left to them?”

''I see.

One was a case of using the information services making up another side of school life to freely isolate a chosen target. The other used the physical effects of a Jinmensou to alter the social standing of the target. Looking at it that way, they were very similar at the core.

“But isn’t that banned under deceptive obstruction of business laws?”

“Maybe. But even with rules punishing obvious violence and bullying in schools, limited actions carried out within the range of groups of friends may not be stopped. That is why parents and teachers tell kids to choose their friends carefully. Seeing something directly is one thing, but distant whispers of people abetting in a crime is unlikely to lead to legal restrictions.”

“But that isn’t a system for murdering the children. In fact, they would want it to spread below the surface without causing too much trouble.”

“The SNS plan did not work well. They may have influenced a few people, but a few children chose to oppose them without bothering their parents with it. They were of course ostracized as a result. Both on the SNS and at their actual school. I suspect some of those children approached the truth in their desperate resistance. And the criminal group needed to quickly eliminate those clever children.”

“…And they disguised it as suicide, hm? The suicides stood out because of their ages, but they camouflaged it with the false motive of ‘flaming’ because adults would not really understand it. Even if they had tried to tell someone something important before they died, people would assume they felt so cornered due to more childish reasons.”

“This data,” the mystery freak tapped the side of her smartphone, “is based on what I found on a page separate from the SNS. I have confirmed the details with other sources. It seems it was gathered by the ostracized children as they tried to follow the movements of suspicious information.”

“It looks like those four from the prestigious private university were working for someone else. Do you know who that was?”

“No. The children were all eliminated in the SNS murders before they made it that far.” The mystery freak sighed. “But I think the Jinmensou case is being done for the same reasons. You should go back and look into the family of the girl who tried to rob that convenience store. You should find a manager of a corporation, a large shareholder, or someone else who holds power.”

We did not know how large this criminal group was, but if they were trying to slowly manipulate the financial activities of the country with simultaneous attacks on multiple large corporations, they were likely quite large.

It was possible something on the level of ''a large criminal organization'' was behind it.

“This is a tough one.”

“Yes, it is.”

“Now I see why you are so interested in the Jinmensou case despite only caring about corpses. It’s connected to the SNS, so you could say that murder case isn’t over yet.”

“You’re making me blush.”

“Why would that make you blush? And how does the rest of this fit in?”

“What do you mean?”

“Why is Hachikawa Tomoe-chan pursuing this case? She saw me beaten up right in front of her. She should know the risks all too well. Also, she seems to dislike the police and keeps mentioning some mysterious person. How does all of that fit in?”

“Oh.” The mystery freak let out a small groan. “I did not want to get into more uncertain information. This is all on Tomoe’s word alone. I have not confirmed any of it, so do not simply accept it as true.”

“?”

“Tomoe says her neighbor is being affected by a Jinmensou. The girl’s name is Tsumada Mio. She is also in middle school, but I have never met her because she goes to a different school.”

If that was true, I might be able to find something that led to the heart of this case. After all, I had not met many people directly related to the case. The high school girl from the convenience store robbery was the only other one.

But…

“We can’t speak with her. It seems she has disappeared and no one can find her.”

“…She’s gone missing?”

She had gotten involved in a crime related to the group behind the SNS murders and then went missing. The situation looked quite serious.

“That part is a bit unclear. She might have simply run away from home or she might just be hiding in her apartment. Also,” the mystery freak raised her index finger, “the timing is a bit odd.”

“The timing?”

“Tsumada Mio fell victim to the Jinmensou during April of this year. Yet the other cases we know of were recent. In fact, the SNS murders had not even come to the surface at that time.”

''What is going on?

While Jinmensou were rare, they were still a type of Youkai. It was entirely possible Tsumada Mio had just so happened to develop one with no relation to this case.

Or…

“April is when the class change happens. It is possible Tsumada Mio simply made some mistake during all that and ended up holing up at home. Her worried parents could have later heard about the Jinmensou incidents and decided she was a victim of it too,” said the mystery freak.

“But this isn’t an Intellectual Village; it’s the capital of Japan. Youkai hate modern cities, so I doubt one would naturally appear here.”

“We have never actually seen Tsumada Mio. We have no way of knowing if she actually has a Jinmensou or not. She may have started wearing more clothes to cover her skin, but that could always have been due to a scratch unrelated to the Jinmensou. Right?”

“…”

I could not say she was wrong.

After all, we had too little information.

“Then let’s go check. We just need to gather enough information to say for sure.”

“?”

“If Tsumada Mio has been reported missing and she it turns out she is actually holed up at home, her parents will be guilty of a false police report or falsifying public documents. …It’s a bit of a forceful method, but I can use suspicion of that to get some information out of the family.”

“You can do that if you want, but won’t you get in trouble if it fails?”

“I’d definitely get a pay cut,” I said decisively. “But it is possible Tsumada Mio will become a victim similar to the victims of the SNS murders. If we find out she is unrelated, that is fine by me. At any rate, we need to take a step forward.”

===Part 14===

And it failed splendidly.

Despite showing up in the evening, Tsumada Mio’s parents led me to the empty girl’s room. It seemed the report of her having gone missing in April was accurate. The room was attentively cleaned, but showed no sign of being lived in.

“It may be a problem to hear this, but we are not all that worried,” said Tsumada Mio’s father with a slightly sad smile. “She has always been good at grasping how things work. She is probably making use of some structure of society to provide herself with a new place to live.”

“…Do you mind if I look through any notes or memos of hers?”

“No, but the…what was it? Life safety? Anyway, the group that deals with children already went over it.”

“Just to be sure.”

I looked around the room while taking a mental note to ask Toujou-san or someone else from the Life Safety Division for the data later.

It was a stereotypical room with a desk, a bed, and a bookshelf. But it seemed lacking in entertainment. I could see almost no electronics. Not only did it not have a TV, but it had no audio equipment either.

When I pointed that out, the father scratched his head and said, “I do not know what it is called, but she had one of those things that is about the size of a notebook. The ones you use your fingers directly on the screen with.”

“A tablet computer?”

“Yes, that’s it. She used it for both movies and manga.”

“Do you know where that tablet is?”

“Mio-chan took it with her.”

That was too bad.

That may have been why I could not find a school bag despite seeing plenty of textbooks.

If she used it that heavily, it was probably filled with personal information and information on her friends.

If she kept her data on the cloud, I might be able to access it via the internet provider, but teenagers like her tended to be more sensitive about personal information than adults. If she had kept the cloud setting off, it would be impossible to reach the tablet’s data.

I ended up just checking through what was in the room.

I found a notepad with a ton of small photo stickers on it, but I doubted it would help me find where she had gone. I could check who the people in the photos were, but the Life Safety Division would have already done that. And they were probably just friends from school.

There were a lot of the photo stickers and she was photographed with both boys and girls. Given how many of them there were, I doubted they were all from just one class. Either her social network extended beyond just her class or she was involved in clubs or the student council.

From what I could see, I doubted she had made some huge mistake during the class change in April like the mystery freak had suggested. She seemed like the type who would make herself the center of the class wherever she ended up.

“Okay, this might be painful to think back on, but did anything about your daughter change just before she disappeared?”

“What?”

“For example, did she suddenly start wearing stockings or tights as if to hide her skin?”

“Now that you mention it,” muttered Tsumada Mio’s father.

For the convenience store robbery girl, it had been on the thigh. Even so, it was too soon to assume it always appeared on the thigh. But still…

“She started wearing the bottom of a track suit below the skirt of her school uniform. I told her to stop because it was indecent, but she said it was popular in her class.”

It seemed I needed to check the school she went to.

“By any chance did you ever see below those pants?”

“Of course not. That would be below her skirt. She is hardly the age to be bathing with her father. I doubt even my wife would know.”

In the end, all I knew was that Tsumada Mio had started to hide her legs before she went missing. The situation would change greatly depending on whether there had actually been a Jinmensou there or not.

“No, wait a second,” said the father suddenly.

“What is it?”

“I never saw Mio-chan’s legs, but I know someone who might have.”

“Who is that?”

''Someone who would have seen her thighs below a miniskirt? Her boyfriend maybe?

However, my guess was wrong.

“Her school had a physical examination just before she went missing. It is possible the health teacher saw her legs.”

I used my cell phone to call Tsumada Mio’s school.

Given the time, most of the faculty had left the school already, but when I explained this was related to a police investigation, I was eventually connected to the teacher in question.

The middle-aged female voice told me, “Y-yes. Tsumada Mio-san had a large tumor in the shape of a human face on her right thigh.”

===Part 15===

“Bingo.” I met up with the mystery freak after leaving the apartment. “In April, before the SNS murders in May, Tsumada Mio already had a Jinmensou.”

“Just to be sure, is it possible the health teacher was lying?”

“It’s possible, but this makes sense.”

“What do you mean?”

“Her personal notepad was covered in small photo stickers, so she must have had a lot of friends. She was popular. So why did she disappear in April during the class change? She wouldn’t have had any complaints about her school life.”

“What if she did not disappear of her own free will?”

“Or her position in the school changed once the Jinmensou was discovered during the physical examination in April.”

Enbi frowned slightly.

“But she defended against it by wearing the track suit pants below her skirt, right? I doubt she would have let it be revealed so easily. Couldn’t she have come up with a reason to delay her examination until after school when everyone else was gone?”

“At the very least, the health teacher knew about the Jinmensou,” I said calmly. “But people are not perfect. The teacher might have told someone.”

“…That would have been terrible,” groaned the mystery freak in a low voice.

As someone at the same sensitive age, she may have been able to more clearly imagine what a tragedy that would have been.

“We still do not know if this Jinmensou is the same as the ones related to the incident connecting back to the SNS murders. But we can explain it if it is.”

“How?”

“As a test case. The criminals are trying to ostracize any child from their school with a Jinmensou. That way they can manipulate their parents who are managers or large shareholders. If they fail, they make an enemy of adults with a lot of power. In that case, they would want to test it out beforehand. ''They would want to prove they could ostracize even the most popular kid in a class.''”

“The SNS murders did not come to light until May, but the trouble that prevented them from manipulating the adults must have happened before that. And once the SNS plan failed, the criminal group would have prepared for their next project.”

“And after they proved they could ostracize a popular kid with a Jinmensou, they prepared to use it on a larger scale…which is what we are seeing now.”

“Wait.” The mystery freak placed a hand on her chin. “So in Tsumada Mio’s case, they had yet to fully establish their Jinmensou Package, right? They would not have deemed it a success just by viewing her from a distance. They might have made a slight mistake and left some hint to the person behind all this.”

“Or Tsumada Mio might have seen something herself.”

Either way, it seemed Tsumada Mio’s circumstances were different from the other victims. And even if that was not the case, I still needed to find a way to protect her and soon. Given the circumstances, I was not easygoing enough to optimistically think she had simply run away from home and would be back eventually.

“I’m heading back into work. I want to go through the data the Life Safety Division gathered on her. Mystery freak, what will you do?”

“I want to go into the Metropolitan Police Department with you.”

“It’s too late for a field trip.”

“Then I will try to track down Tsumada Mio on my own. I don’t know how far I can get, though.”

“Do as you wish.”

“Don’t forget that you were attacked yesterday. Detective, you are probably still standing in a very hot position.”

And then we heard a footstep.

The mystery freak and I turned around to find Hachikawa Tomoe-chan. She was wearing stylish sportswear and spats, but I had no idea if that was the uniform of her school or a teen brand. I had forgotten she was Tsumada Mio’s neighbor. If she was out now, she may have moved her night jogs to the evening.

Or perhaps she was attempting to track down Tsumada Mio as well.

The mystery freak tried to keep her voice as tender as possible as she spoke.

“Tomoe.”

“I will not stop,” cut in Tomoe-chan. “I will not stop no matter what. …Detective, do not become the same as that person.”

After spitting out that comment, she disappeared into the apartment building.

In the end, I forgot to ask Hachikawa Tomoe-chan who “that person” was.

===Part 16===

Fortunately, I was not beaten up on the streets two days in a row.

The Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department was a government office, so it of course had set work hours. However, the type of work we did meant it had almost no limits on overtime. For serious cases such as serial killers, it was common to work 70 hours straight and seeing people napping with a blanket on the floor was not unusual.

But the place was still mostly empty in the middle of the night.

All of the lights were off in the building and it was covered in the same eeriness as a hospital after lights out.

Inside, Toujou-san from the Life Safety Division said, “It’s a good thing you caught me before I left.”

“Sorry about this.”

“You needed the investigation data on Tsumada Mio, right? That case is not being treated with any importance. We deemed it to be a girl running away from home of her own free will. We investigated the Tsumada household with the family’s consent, but we did not find much.”

“It seems she had quite a lot of friends, so could she have gone to a friend’s house when she ran away?”

“No. It seems something happened to Tsumada Mio just before she disappeared. We decided she ran away because her social standing in school collapsed. I doubt she would have relied on someone from school.”

“Um, I saw her notepad and it had quite a lot of photo stickers on it. Would all of those people really have turned against her?”

“Some people just want to see someone popular fall. Having a lot of friends does not say anything about the strength or depth of those friendships.”

“…”

''Then where did Tsumada Mio disappear to?

Four months had passed since then. I doubted a kid could rent an apartment just by saving up her allowance. Not to mention that she would need a guarantor to sign the contract.

Was she using a facility like an internet café? Or had she pretended to be in high school to get a part-time job?

I could come up with a few ideas, but none of them seemed realistic. She was a middle school girl. At that age, she was supposed to be protected by her parents or another guardian. If she was forcing herself to live independently, she would stand out enough for a uniformed police officer or someone else to notice.

“I heard Tsumada Mio disappeared with her tablet computer. Did you check the GPS?”

“All of those obvious functions were turned off. She hasn’t been communicating using it at all. We have been sharing information with other police stations, but have found nothing. Okay, I’ve sent the data related to Tsumada Mio to your computer. If you want more accurate data, head to the archives room. The number is…”

After jotting down the number, I bowed in thanks to Toujou-san once more.

“Sorry about keeping you for so long.”

“It’s fine, it’s fine. I can still just barely make the last train. Tell me now if you need anything else. If I have to turn around again, you’re paying for my taxi. Got it?”

Toujou-san then quickly left the dimly lit floor.

Now that I was truly alone, I turned toward my computer.

I did not care how trivial it was.

I just wanted any kind of hint I could find that would lead me to Tsumada Mio.

“…”

I scrolled through the information for a bit, but none if it stood out to me. It included some personal information I had not known, but I could have found any of it on my own if I had taken the time.

But…

“…Huh?”

After a bit of scrolling, the text grew corrupted. The attached image files were so corrupted I could not tell what they were supposed to show.

Had they been damaged during the transmission process?

I turned toward the hallway, but Toujou-san had likely already left the building. And he had said he would just barely make the last train. I could not bring myself to call him back now.

Fortunately, he had told me the file number ahead of time.

“I guess I have to check the paper files in the archives room…”

I walked down the hallway and put some change into a vending machine selling breads with different foods inside. Food and drink were not allowed in the archives room, so I ate a korokke bread before continuing on my way.

The building was empty enough in the middle of the night, but I truly was the only person in the archives room. I walked along the metal shelves lined up like in a library and pulled out the clear file folder I needed. I carried that giant folder with me and sat down at a reading desk.

I used the narrow field of light from a desk lamp to read through the text.

It detailed the information regarding the investigation of Tsumada Mio’s disappearance. It listed the date of her disappearance as well as various details about her before and after her disappearance: what she had said and done, her relationship with her friends, any sightings of her, how much money she was thought to have, etc. However, none of it seemed it would help me.

How had she lived during the four months since her disappearance?

And where was she now?

“I guess this is all they’ll have for a disappearance with no hint of foul play,” I muttered out loud.

The police would not treat a simple disappearance as an important incident. And when it looked so much like she had voluntarily run away from home due to her personal circumstances, not much would be done. Her information would be sent to the police around the country and we would hope one of them would find her.

“Hm?”

As I reflected on that fact, something seemed off to me.

I lifted the thick file folder up a bit. It was quite heavy. The report was at least as thick as a dictionary.

But why?

Cases of runaway girls were fairly common, so why had such a thick folder been created for Tsumada Mio’s case?

I was confused.

But I was not given enough time to find an answer.

With a loud zapping noise, an arm circled around from behind and pressed a torn electric cord against the center of my chest.

“Gah…gh…!?”

I heard a loud thud. It was the sound I made when I collapsed from my chair. My vision had been turned sideways, but I could see someone looking down at me from above.

''Is this person…insane? Murdering someone…inside the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department…!?

“Oh, don’t worry. It’s fairly common for police officers to kill themselves inside the police department. Although they almost always use a handgun.” The speaker seemed to be grinning. “Also, I doubt this will be enough to kill you. Most people who try to commit suicide outside of their home will prepare multiple tools in case the first one does not finish the job properly. …And sometimes they will persuade a decent normal person to help.”

When I heard the person’s voice, I finally figured out what was going on.

''The corrupted information…on Tsumada Mio…was not a mistake… It was a trap…to lure me…out to the archives room…!!

“Tou…jou… Toujou…!!”

Strength was gradually returning to my arms and legs, but would he give me the few minutes I needed to recover? Toujou pulled something out of his suit pocket. It was a fruit knife inside a plastic sheath. It was neatly packaged in a plastic bag to keep it from catching on the fabric of his clothes.

“When making a murder look like suicide, it’s important not to make any wounds on the hands that look like they were made in defense. But don’t worry. The investigation will show you stabbed yourself in the throat after the electric cord did not kill you.”

''He sounds so delighted!!

Since he was trying to kill me, Toujou was most certainly related to the SNS murders and the Jinmensou. When I thought back, I realized Toujou had been involved in the investigation of the “group of boys” who attacked me, the search of the beauty clinic, and the search for Tsumada Mio.

He had been in the perfect position to limit the information found to keep the investigations from getting anywhere.

The SNS murders had grown to such a large scale that Investigation Department 1 had been called in. They may have kept the Jinmensou incident on such a small scale to make sure it remained within Toujou’s Life Safety Division.

Yet I had taken action this time too.

And I was the one who had put an end to the SNS murders.

Was that why?

“…Toujou…kh…!!”

“You keep calling me Toujou, ''but who exactly do you mean by that?''”

I did not know what he meant.

The person trying to kill me was most certainly the Toujou I knew.

“If you think I am Toujou Miyabi of the Life Safety Division, you are wrong. He happened to share the same family name as me, so it was easier to switch out with him. The real one is buried in a mountain somewhere.”

''That bastard!!

“And if you think I am a pawn of those behind the SNS murders and the Jinmensou, you are wrong again. Do not put me in the same category as that pathetic organization that can’t even assemble one little Package. Did you really think I was a pawn of that insider group that thinks they’re such intellectuals? …What I am interested in is the ''bug'' they accidentally created.” Toujou smiled while pulling the fruit knife out of its plastic sheath. “I will find Tsumada Mio. I will use her in a much more wonderful way than they would have. So, well, just give up. The pain will be gone soon.”

In the end…

His mistake was in crouching down so he could put the blade in my hand. He either failed to follow his duty as a police officer or had never been one to begin with, so he gave me what I needed for my counterattack.

I was able to move my arms and legs a bit, but I was still not strong enough to support my body’s weight and sit up.

I somehow managed to reach my arm out toward Toujou’s belt as he crouched down before me.

I found what I was looking for. It was near his right pants pocket.

[[Image:Zashiki_v02_279.jpg|thumb]]

''Hey, Toujou. Real police detectives don’t carry their guns around everywhere like on TV.

''If you acted more like the real deal, you wouldn’t have to worry about this!!

In the next instant, several dry gunshots rang out.

“…!!”

With the gun still in its holster, I had removed the safety and pulled the trigger. The bullets strayed too far to the side to injure Toujou, but it still gave him quite a shock. He had been kneeling down near me in order to safely falsify the evidence, but he suddenly moved away from me.

“Gh…!!” I groaned while still unable to stand up.

My face was covered in sweat, but I did not have time to wipe it away.

“O-oh, c’mon. Are you an idiot? At least use a .38.”

After making sure the gun was still in its holster, anger filled Toujou’s face.

He unhesitatingly held up the fruit knife.

“Uchimaku!!”

“If you’re gonna do it, then do it. But everyone in the building will have heard those gunshots. Whoever’s on guard duty will be here before long. 30 seconds maybe?” I sneered at him from the floor. “You can kill me easily enough, but can you dispose of the body? If you can’t, you’re going down with me.”

“Tch!!”

Toujou made up his mind quickly.

He turned back on the safety of his holstered handgun, kicked open the door to the archives room, and ran out. But even if it was the middle of the night, this was the headquarters of Tokyo’s law enforcement. He would not get away that easily.

Not long afterwards, a few uniformed police officers ran into the archives room.

“Hey, why did it take you three minutes to get here?”

“Wh-what happened?” asked the men while looking around at the obvious signs of a struggle and the walls with bullet holes in them.

It seemed I had put a large burden on myself by forcing myself to act as soon as I had. A wave of nausea belatedly hit me and I tried to force it down as I spoke to the men.

“Attempted murder is what happened. Put out a notification for the arrest of Toujou Miyabi…or someone using that name.”

===Part 17===

I went back over the information in my mind.

Someone was working behind the scenes of a single incident that connected the SNS murders and this Jinmensou incident. While investigating Tsumada Mio’s disappearance to uncover this person, the Life Safety Division detective named Toujou Miyabi had attacked me.

But it seemed he did not belong to the organization behind the Jinmensou.

When talking about Tsumada Mio, he had not been interested in the Youkai-related Package but in a bug created by an adjustment error. The details were unclear, but Toujou Miyabi saw some form of meaning in the bug that Tsumada Mio had become and had therefore taken her from the Jinmensou group.

Now then.

“I was the one attacked, so why am I the one in an interrogation room while that bastard Toujou is still walking free?”

I tried to remain calm, but it made no logical sense.

Just as I angrily kicked at the table screwed to the floor, the interrogation room door opened. Mezu Gen entered. He was the department chief for Investigation Department 1.

“You caused quite a commotion.”

“I think you mean I had one forced onto me.”

“I cannot believe there were gunshots in the middle of Tokyo’s law enforcement headquarters. And with a .45 caliber which is not the caliber of the handgun you are issued. …We could not find the gun in question, so where did it go?”

“I was the one that fired it, but its owner left with it.”

''Dammit, Toujou. How did you manage to escape from somewhere as strict as this?

The department chief sighed and his face grew even more wrinkled than usual.

“Investigator Toujou Miyabi left the building over 2 hours ago. And he was not found anywhere in the building at the time. Keep in mind that all of the entrances and exits were sealed the instant those gunshots were heard. What do you make of this situation?”

“He told me the real Toujou Miyabi is buried in a mountain somewhere. What am I supposed to make of that?”

“Uchimaku.” The department chief spoke my name to cut me off. “Think about how I feel when I am woken up and have to head back into work after the last train to deal with a subordinate’s scandal. If you keep up this nonsense, I will snap your neck. Let us speak frankly. I have never liked your jokes. I was being honest with you. Now, be honest with me.”

“Do you think I snuck a .45 caliber handgun past the strict security here to fire wildly into the walls of the archives room? Why would I do that!? What do I gain from that!? Do you seriously believe I did that, department chief!?”

“That is not what I am talking about. No matter how unreasonable it seems, if the evidence at the scene says you are guilty, you are guilty. That is how the system works. So, Uchimaku, clearing your name will be quite difficult. Someone from Department 1 will not have a fun time in jail. Just because you are a former detective, does not mean you will be given a private room.”

“Toujou Miyabi – or someone using his name – used an electric cord to shock me in the archives room. He was about to stab me with a fruit knife to make it look like suicide. I fired the handgun in Toujou’s holster to escape my predicament. Toujou fled with the gun still in his possession. No matter what anyone says, that is the truth!!”

“Uchimaku.”

“He said something about finding special value in Tsumada Mio who he called a bug in a Package! The Jinmensou organization was trying to do something with her, but he said he would steal her from them!! We cannot waste time here. If you insist on restraining me, at least send someone else to search for Tsumada Mio!!”

“…Uchimaku.”

The department chief brought a hand to his forehead and let out a heavy sigh.

He then spoke to me in such a low voice that I could barely hear him.

“I do not often feel like this. It feels like I am rushing down a set of invisible rails. It feels like I am acting according to the plans of someone I have never seen. I am aware of that.”

“…?”

“But I have never seen anyone reach a happy ending when they try to force their way off of those rails. Some are unnaturally demoted, some are driven insane, and some suddenly disappear or commit suicide. This is not an interrogation room. ''It is a set of rails telling us to waste our time.'' Making a mistake here will lead to a horrible fate. You need to understand that first.”

“Department chief!! Do you really think I am someone who would back away from a case for my own saf-…!?”

I shouted back at the department chief, but he reached over the table and grabbed my collar.

He then pulled with tremendous strength.

But he then whispered in my ear so quietly that it could not be recorded or seen on a video.

“I am never able to reach the truth. I can only send people like you out to find it.”

“Wha-…?”

“So when I see people like you, I get the urge to tell you the following: whatever you choose, always weigh the risks before choosing.” He paused for a moment. “But your life belongs to you. How you act now is your own decision.”

Strength left the hands holding my collar.

I dropped back down into my seat.

A slight silence fell over the interrogation room.

I slowly placed my hands on the table.

And then I forcefully stood up.

“I have been telling you what I want to do this whole time.”

Some problems were beyond solving. For example, there had been an isolated island filled with hunting weaponry where every single one of the hundreds of villagers was the murderer. But I had a chance of resolving this before it reached that level.

I had always been afraid of the look in the department chief’s eyes, but now I stared him directly at him.

I could stare him in the eye now.

“There is still a lot I do not know about the goals of the Jinmensou organization or this person going by the name Toujou Miyabi. But the odds are very high that they intend to do harm to Tsumada Mio. I will find her before they do and protect her. I will not let her become one of the dead who I find so uninteresting. Please let me do this.”

“Is there any chance you will change your mind?”

“I have no reason to change my mind.”

“Fine then.” The department chief slowly stood up. “No matter what assignments I give to the other detectives, you will be stopped somewhere. I will arrange a means for you to leave from here.”

“…How?”

“Do you really have time to worry about that? Until you arrest Toujou Miyabi and clear your name, you will be viewed as a dangerous criminal who fired inside the headquarters of the Tokyo police. …Uchimaku, do you remember Chief Superintendent Mishima?”

“The guy who set up that painful night of drinking?”

“Yes, that monster who should have nothing to do with the likes of us. He is neither an evil man nor a good man. In other words, he does not go easy on his enemies or his allies. He is the sort of person who would deem it an appropriate response to shoot you in a situation such as this. Do you understand what I am saying? If you do not want to be shot by your own colleagues, you must escape Tokyo as quickly as possible.”

===Part 18===

I have no idea what kind of connections or influence he used, but the department chief led me out of the interrogation room. We headed to the underground parking lot where the usual guard from the front entrance was waiting.

“Nakada-san?”

“Over here. Use this scooter. Here’s the key.”

''But isn’t this Nakada-san’s? I’m about to be an escaped dangerous criminal who fired a handgun in the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department, so won’t it be a lot of trouble for him if I use his scooter?

The department chief must have sensed my concern because he said, “It will of course be treated as stolen. This will increase your list of crimes, but do not worry about it too much.”

“…I see.”

''How much of a villain am I becoming on paper?

I put on the borrowed helmet while thinking seriously about the situation.

Nakada-san then added, “Oh, and this is my cell phone. Use it however you wish. Don’t forget to turn your own phone off. Take this handgun, baton, and handcuffs as well. I took them from the storage room.”

“…”

''Wait, wait, wait!! I’m about to be treated as a dangerous criminal who fired in the middle of the police department and then escaped the interrogation room. If I’m carrying this around, won’t I end up shot by a Special Assault Team!?

''And I’m pretty sure that look on the department chief’s face is saying “I didn’t tell you to go that far”!

“Uchimaku, a search across Tokyo is sure to begin soon. Focus on driving safely. Avoid the major roads. Be especially careful when crossing rivers. All the roads focus in on the bridges, so they make excellent checkpoint locations.”

“U-understood.”

“Uchimaku-san, good luck. We cannot leave the rails, so please show that the justice the police claim to protect does indeed exist. That is likely what this missing girl needs the most.”

“That was my plan from the beginning,” I said before opening up the scooter’s throttle and shooting out of the underground parking lot.

Midnight had already passed and the trains were no longer running. Tokyo had long been called the nightless city, but the government district of Sakuradamon had relatively little light and was wrapped in darkness.

I could no longer rely on the organization known as the police.

I needed some other power to search out Toujou Miyabi and Tsumada Mio who he was after.

“I almost feel like I’ve already lost…”

For the time being, I stopped the scooter near the entrance of a park and operated Tanaka-san’s cell phone with my thumb. I was of course calling the twintailed mystery freak, Hishigami Enbi.

Before I could explain anything, she said, “Since you’re using a different number, is this an emergency?”

“Pretty much. I am about to be a wanted man around the country. But what I must do remains the same. I need to find out everything I can about Tsumada Mio so I can find her. I need your help.”

“Oh, I see… Well, fine. You owe me one, though. A big one. Be prepared to at least give me a swimsuit oil massage.”

“Don’t say such indecent things to a police officer!!”

“What are you talking about? Oil massages are good for your health and beauty. They aren’t indecent at all.”

''Dammit.

I could almost see her grinning face.

“Anyway, where are you?” she asked.

“Sakuradamon.”

“Then you can use my base in Kudanshita. It has all the tools and funds you might need.”

“Where’s the key?”

“You just have to enter a number. Today is Friday, so…enter all of the digits in the first 100 digits of pi that create a multiple of 7. Three errors and you’ll be permanently locked out.”

“What a pain in the ass!!”

“If it wasn’t a pain in the ass, it wouldn’t be a very good key. By the way, detective, you can use any of the tools I have prepared, but do you know where you will begin your investigation?”

“I was almost killed in the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department. I’m going to start by investigating the guy who did it.”

“I see. I just received some new information too, so you can look into that while you’re at it.”

“What is it?”

“Tomoe has disappeared,” she said as if she was fed up with all of this.

And yet I was the one who most of everything was happening to.

“Tomoe’s mother just called me. It seems she is calling everyone she can for information. Her mother thinks Tomoe might have run away from home, but I bet she’s chasing after Tsumada Mio.”

“Before, she had at least been following her curfew. Why would she suddenly break that rule?”

“The odds are good she found some information on Tsumada Mio ahead of us. You might find something if you search Tsumada Mio and Tomoe’s rooms.”

I pictured Hachikawa Tomoe’s face in my mind and I remembered something else.

“Come to think of it, who was ‘that person’ Tomoe-chan kept mentioning?”

“Oh, yeah. I forgot to explain that.” The mystery freak hesitated for a moment. “Tomoe’s mother got remarried, so she is not blood related to her current father.”

“…”

''So is this new father “that person”?

But my guess was wrong.

“Tomoe’s real father is a police detective. It seems he would get so lost in his work that he ignored looking after her or even speaking to her, so they did not even possess the bare minimum of familial bonds. Hence why he is just ‘that person’. But he was the first person she asked for help when Tsumada Mio disappeared, so I think she really did trust him deep down.”

That must have been why she hated the police.

He had not been able to find Tsumada Mio and therefore had not lived up to his daughter’s trust.

But now that I was isolated from the police and could use all the help I could get, it might be worth seeing if he might help me.

“By the way, what was this detective’s name?” I asked.

“…”

“Answer me, mystery freak. What was his name!?”

When I asked again, Enbi nervously spoke a name.

It was the last name I had expected.

“Toujou Miyabi. Do you know him?”

I’m pretty sure I stopped breathing for a few seconds.

“Ha…ha ha.”

“Detective…?” asked the mystery freak in puzzlement.

The Toujou Miyabi she had just mentioned was likely not the same person that had attacked me.

The man using Toujou’s name had said the real Toujou Miyabi was buried in a mountain.

''So that’s it.

''It all fits together so nicely, dammit!!

“Hey, mystery freak. You work to find Hachikawa Tomoe-chan. That’s your top priority! Being even a second too slow could be the difference between life and death!!”

“What do you mean?”

“I know why she disappeared. She is likely with someone she believes is her father, but this Toujou is someone else! Given the situation, Tomoe-chan probably realized something due to being so close to Tsumada Mio. And she has given that hint to Toujou. Toujou thinks he can use her, so he is tricking her so she will lead him to the missing girl. And once that is over, he will have no more need for her!!”

“Understood. What will you do, detective? Since you are only interested in the living, I thought you would focus on Tomoe.”

“That does suit me better, but I have something I have to do first.”

I ended the call and sat down on the scooter’s seat.

I started by travelling to the mystery freak’s base.

I grabbed the complete set of forensic kits she liked to use and then headed to Toujou Miyabi’s residence.

===Part 19 (3rd person)===

Hachikawa Tomoe was sitting in the passenger seat of a 4-door domestic luxury car.

Toujou Miyabi sat in the driver’s seat.

He was someone claiming to be her father.

“I have learned that Tsumada Mio-chan has been spotted in the area you just told me about, Tomoe.”

“…”

“She is most likely relying on her grandparents. A girl with no financial foundation will ultimately rely on her relatives rather than some stranger trying to pick her up on the street. Since she was not with her parents, her grandparents or other relatives seem likely,” said Toujou as he merged onto a major road.

“Wouldn’t her relatives have been the first place the police checked?”

“She is not a suspect of any crime. If her family covers for her, there is nothing we can do. We can only write up a report saying they said she was not there. And even if we had done a search of her grandparents’ home, I doubt we would have found Tsumada Mio-chan there.”

“What do you mean?”

“Her grandparents own quite a lot of land. They own several mountains. And according to a neighbor, they built small huts all over their land during the 0-yen lifestyle boom that was big on TV shows for a while. I cannot search private land without a warrant and I would have a hard time finding her hideout in all those mountains even if I did.”

“And so you relied on me?”

“You said you had seen some photos, right?

“…Yes. Mio said she had gone on a bit of an adventure while over at her grandfather’s house over summer break.”

“Do you know where it is?”

“Generally. She drew out a map while bragging about it. But the map was not to scale or anything.”

“That is fine. As long as you can tell me which way to turn, that is enough.”

Hachikawa Tomoe secretly glanced over at the man holding the steering wheel.

He was focused on driving, so she could only see the side of his face.

“…You’re finally acting like a father.”

“I have not done anything yet. When we reach the mountain, I will make sure to find Tsumada Mio-chan.”

The man calling himself Toujou Miyabi secretly gave a slight smile.

Hachikawa Tomoe did not know the meaning of that smile.

However…

“Grr…”

She thought she heard what sounded like a large dog growling.

And it did not seem to be coming from outside.

It seemed to come from within the car.

It sounded as if something in the backseat directly behind her was growling so closely she should have been able to feel its breath on her.

===Part 20===

===Part 21===

===Part 22===

===Part 23===

===Part 24===

===Notes===
<references/>
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