Editing CubexCursedxCurious:Volume8 Prologue (section)

===Part 2===

"Oh man~ So exhausting. Jeez... Why would anyone build a house this deep in the mountains?"

A blond young man was dressed in construction overalls. After bumping up and down along the mountainous roads, he unloaded equipment from the truck at the destination while grumbling. Dressed in the same work clothes, his senior colleague scolded him:

"Idiot, what if the client hears you? In this current recession, you've got to be thankful for any work at all. This is a long-awaited and major client whose job will take quite a few weeks to complete."

"...You're right."

The young man casually unloaded bricks from the truck and piled them up, meanwhile glancing at the house that served as the site for the current job. The more he looked, the stranger he felt. This was a decrepit western mansion that was completely out of place in the calm and peaceful mountain environment. Due to the excessive sense of dissonance, it even gave off an impression as though the house was added as an afterthought, simply dumped here at this location by coincidence.

The work order was also quite strange. The request was to simply repair the house, which was not exactly the same as "making this derelict house livable." The damage distribution was also completely skewed and irregular. Shattered windows, crumbling brick outer walls, several thick pillars had disappeared from beneath the eaves&mdash;On the other hand, the other walls and windows were virtually intact. What kind of lifestyle could cause the house to come to this state? Then&mdash;

"Ah, welcome everyone. So sorry to be troubling you today as well!"

"Oh, good morning! We will be working our hardest as usual today. If you have any questions or requests, please feel free to let us know!"

Probably having heard the truck's arrival, the client came out of the house. After an exchange of pleasantries with the elderly man in charge, she lowered her head and bowed timidly before going back into the house. This client was also quite peculiar&mdash;a girl in a sailor-style school uniform with fresh plaster casts on both of her hands. If one did not call this strange, what else could describe the situation? Out in the mountainous wilderness, living alone in this weird house. For what unusual circumstances or reasons would anyone stay in this kind of place...

"Hey, stop standing there and spacing out! Get to work now! Move it!"

"...Yeah."

But one thing was for certain, furthering pondering would be meaningless. The young man had no interest in finding out in the first place. He simply wanted to escape reality. Scolded by his colleague, the blond young man spat by his feet and slowly started his work.

Then after some time had passed, he saw a visitor arrive. Watching the girl enter the house directly without even knocking at the door, he thought: Seriously, strange people do end up attracting other strange people.

"...What fashion sense. Isn't that getup really like a Santa's?"



With her hands immobilized in casts, only her fingertips could move. But this posed no hindrance to Ontenzaki Satsuko's daily life.

After the water boiled, the gas stove's dial instantly turned off. The cupboards opened themselves. A set of newly bought teacup and saucer floated lightly through the air and landed on the table. Even though this was a supernatural scene that would cause any other person to scream, Satsuko remained calm and composed. She simply watched as a teabag was placed into the cup while the kettle floated in midair as it poured boiling water.

Just at this moment, Satsuko cocked her head. Clearly, more water still needed to be poured, but the kettle's movements suddenly froze. Then&mdash;from somewhere, an anxious voice whispered into her ear.

"Satsuko... Satsuko!"

"Fourt, what's the matter?"

She asked the voice coming from the air. Hovering in midair, the kettle shook intensely nonstop.

"That blond man... The human outside. Kill him. If you can't do it, I'll take care of him. May I kill him?"

"W-What are you talking about~? It wasn't easy to find those people who are willing to fix up the house... Did anything happen?"

"Not just anything happened! That man...! He spat! Inside me!"

"...Awwww~ That's really inappropriate~ But then, if you kill the workman, the progress of repairs will be even slower~ Satsuko will remind them later but please endure for now..."

"Muu..."

Leaking a moan, the kettle shook again. But without notice, its movements suddenly stopped again. In the next instant, the cup and the spoon on the table all floated into the air.

"W-Wah~! I already said no, come on and endure it!"

"Not that! Satsuko&mdash;An intruder! Be careful!"

While Fourteen was speaking, the entrance at the living room was rudely pushed open. Entering the door from outside was&mdash;

"Buon giorno! It's been a while, Satsuko. Are you discussing about killing someone? Need my help?"

"Kokoro-senpai!?"

A beautiful girl was dressed almost monochromatically. Her bold words and attitude stood in stark contrast to her appearance as she approached with great strides. Then suddenly with great affection, she embraced Satsuko.

"Oh~ Oh~ You're just as small as before! I heard you were injured... Kaha, since your arms are still attached, that's not too bad after all. Hurry up and get better. Get better."

"Y-Yes. You look like you're living well too..."

In actual fact, she was definitely not someone who would be considered tall. Compared to Satsuko, she was only a couple centimeters taller&mdash;But that was how she always acted and Satsuko accepted her hug with a smile.

"Oh right, your «Blaze» rank dropped from seventh to ninth because you were defeated, right? What a shame~ You were clearly so close to becoming one of the «High Singles». But simply from the fact that you didn't drop to the double digits, it's obvious that the Commander still sees potential in you. Don't get too depressed. Try harder!"

"Y-Yes... Although Satsuko doesn't know how far someone weak like her can try hard..."

"Kaha, you're still the same like that. Don't worry~ Don't you have a reliable partner? ...Oh, sorry, I forgot to say hi! How are you doing, Fourteen?"

"...Greetings, «Blaze» No.4, Pentangeli-dono." 

A muttering voice responded from the air. Kokoro stopped hugging Satsuko and shrugged in an exaggerated manner.

"Aren't you formal as always? I've wondered since a long time ago, do you happen to find me troublesome? Kaha, how heartbreaking! Can't you greet me in a more friendly manner? If you're unwilling, then I'll have to make a move first."

Saying that, she suddenly opened a curtain within arm's reach. Hugging the window frame, she pressed her cheek and rubbed against the window.

"Eee&mdash;Eyah! What... are... you doing in this kind of... naked spot... Nngghh... S-Stop it... This... is so embarrassing...!"

"On the other hand, I don't find it embarrassing. Next, lemme see... What should I do? How about some licking~"

"Eyah... I-I get it, I get it, okay! W-Welcome, Kokoro-senpai...!"

"Wouldn't it have been nice if you said that at the start? Oh, excuse me, Satsuko, could you brew me a cup of tea please? Running all the way here was really exhausting."

"Oh, yes, of course! Please sit, please sit. Have a seat and wait~"

She asked Fourteen to bring out another teacup. Controlling the poltergeists, Fourteen restarted her tea brewing and shortly after, two portions of tea were prepared on the table. Kokoro was sitting boldly on her chair with one knee drawn up. Although her underwear was visible, Satsuko knew that reminding her was useless. So in any case, she pretended not to see and took a seat opposite to Kokoro.

"So... What brings you all the way out here, Kokoro-senpai?"

"Oh dear, there's actually nothing special. I just thought I'd say hi since I happen to be visiting Japan. Also, since you're the predecessor after all, I wanted to ask for your thoughts after the battle. It should be quite interesting."

"Uh... In other words, Kokoro-senpai, you've also arrived to fight Fear-san and her friends?"

Kahaha&mdash;Kokoro's shoulders shook from her laughter.

"It's Fear-in-Cube. Yes, I've already obtained authorization to make a move on those guys, even though that's not my only purpose for coming here. In fact, there's an even more interesting fellow compared to them. I received news that the target will be coming to this town... Due to over anticipation, I arrived early. Next, I plan on making various preparations while I'm waiting."

"Oh~ If you say so, it must be a very interesting person, right? What kind of cursed tool does the opponent possess? Or is it a cursed tool with human form~?"

"No, a real, living person. According to the in-house combat analysis team, possessing power comparable to the «High Singles» despite a body of flesh and blood, a master of the strongest level... Just from the sounds of that, I can hardly wait!"

Finishing the tea in the cup, Kokoro then added with a smile as though suddenly inspired:

"&mdash;However, ''master'' seems to be a slightly misleading choice of words, eh? Kaha!"

"Really..."

If someone were really strong, does that not make them a master? Satsuko was completely baffled.

Unable to understand the meaning of Kokoro's words or why she was laughing, Satsuko could only respond vaguely while gazing blankly with her head inclined in puzzlement.

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