Editing CubexCursedxCurious:Volume1 Epilogue (section)

===Part 3===

"...So that's what happened..."

After that, Fear suddenly lost her temper and said: "I have something I want to confirm! Hurry and reassemble everything then get out! Also, forget everything you saw just now!" Hence, Haruaki and Konoha returned to the living room to seek refuge and drink tea.

Konoha avoided looking at Haruaki directly and for some unknown reason, Haruaki found himself kneeling in traditional sitting posture.<!--seiza: 正座--> Ending the explanation of what happened to this point, Haruaki had no choice but to submit to the tense atmosphere and continued to speak respectfully:

"So, Konoha-san... Is it possible that... You're still... Angry...?"

"If it looks that way to you, then assume that is the case."

"No no no! But she was just a box, I haven't done anything to be ashamed of. Besides, didn't you show a 'Eh? I'm mistaken?' expression just now, Konoha-san?"

"Although it seemed fine in the first instant, on further thought, how could there not be a problem? Suppose I turned back into a sword. The sword is my body, there is no doubt about that. So if the sword is touched I will feel the sensation of being touched. But that is simply a sensation, and it doesn't mean it is precise enough to tell which part of the body was touched. However—when the most vital part of the original form is touched, it is equivalent to touching a human's most vital part. Do you understand?"

"Yes... Yes!"

Her extremely cold gaze seemed to pierce right through Haruaki, sending chills down his spine. Whenever Konoha drank tea as she insisted she was acting normally, that was when she was scariest.

"You touched it, right?"

"Touched it... I guess..."

"You manipulated it, right?"

"Manipulated... Maybe... I guess..."

After a moment—she shifted her gaze and murmured softly:

"...Pervert."

"I-I'm really sorry! But, umm... My mindset was really treating it as adjusting a box..."

The teacup was returned to the table with a crash. Haruaki cowered back and stopped talking. Konoha was so scary!

At this moment, from the direction of Fear's room, suddenly—

"Noooooooooooooooooo!"

A strange shrill cry was heard. Next came the sound of the sliding door pulled open with great force, followed by footsteps. Turned back into human, Fear rushed into the living room with great surprise on her face.

"Terrible! This is really terrible!"

"W-What happened? S-See, I knew it, because something strange was shoved inside—"

"That's precisely it! I knew this was the reason!"

Fear opened her eyes wide and cried out as if she could not believe it herself:

"The «Iron Maiden» form is no longer accessible!"

"Huh? You mean yourself? Or the weapon transformed from the Rubik's Cube?"

"Both! Basically, neither can take on that form anymore!"

"That means... The curse is weakened?"

Konoha put her anger towards Haruaki aside for now and asked.

"It doesn't feel that way. Simply the form is inaccessible."

"Then what does it mean?"

"Who knows—However, the reason stems from the insertion of the Indulgence Disk. No mistake about that. Originally, when I first awakened I had this strange feeling. I have thirty-two forms in total, but for some reason, two or three of them were unavailable. At first, I thought it was because I had slept for too long..."

"Before I inserted that card, there were a few embedded inside already."

"That's right. It is the result of that disk after all. Why the 'curse-weakening' mentioned by Kirika turned out to be like this, I have no idea, however—the limitation imposed on my torture tool functions is due to inserting that thing. Which is why the iron maiden is no longer usable... Hohoho... Haha..."

Suddenly, she crossed her arms tightly against her chest and started to laugh happily.

"So—to you, this counts as a good thing?"

"Of course! That's right, of course! This is great, isn't it?! One is clearly not enough, if more were inserted, more of those disks... Then all the forms will became inaccessible! Once that happens, even if my heart desired it, I won't be able to hurt anyone anymore! Then I no longer have to be scared of my past self, I no longer have to fear going mad!"

"Right. Then you don't need to worry about anything... And focus on gradually lifting your curse as a normal human being!"

"Certainly!"

"—Well then, where are the rest of the disks?"

"Ah."

Fear froze for a few seconds then sat down on seat cushion.

"Just to summarize what we've learned about the Indulgence Disks. They are things that can be inserted into you, or perhaps they were originally part of you, and once inserted, you become unable to use a particular ability. And..."

"...This thing was found on that axe. To me personally, I'm not sure if it has any meaning, but since others are using them, to other cursed tools—Perhaps the truth really is as Kirika described, the disks have the ability to suppress the effect of curses."

"In other words, the other disks are probably being used in other tools possessed by that organization called the Knights Dominion? I remember that woman saying it was used on objects with particularly powerful curses."

"Yes, I see..."

Haruaki nodded in agreement.

"Summing up, let's bring up the next subject! Konoha, I didn't see you up until just now, what have you been doing?"

"Wait a minute, don't change the subject all on your own! We're talking about me right now! I am the subject of conversation!"

Fear slammed the table top forcefully. Haruaki scratched his head and said:

"But... Even if we know where they are, it won't be of much help. I don't know much about the Knights Dominion, we have no idea where they're located, and neither do we know if they are coming back or not. There are too many uncertainties for us so there is no point in thinking too far ahead. In the end, let's just follow our original plan."

"...Hmm... Original plan... is that so?"

"Yes yes. Anyway, you have to learn common sense first. Once you are able to help around the house, then you can learn lots of things outside. This will take a lot of hard work, so be prepared."

Fear remained silent for a while but then she started tapping her fingertips noisily on the table as she threw a tantrum:

"...Where's my tea? And of course, rice crackers are required as snacks to go with tea!"

Despite saying that, she understood what she had to do and what she was able to do. Haruaki smiled wryly as he got up.

"Ah, since you're going to the kitchen, could you help me out along the way? Make a detour to the entryway."

"Help you out? Sure."

Agreeing to Konoha's request, Haruaki accompanied her to the entryway to find a large amount of luggage there.

"...What is this?"

"Eh? I didn't tell you? I'm going to move back into the main house for now. That was the answer to your question just now, I was packing my luggage earlier. So, I hope you can help me move them."

"No, wait a minute, I never heard anything about this? Why?"

"Yes! Due to the precedent of this incident, I believe it is better if I keep a closer eye on things for now. Living under the same roof, it would be easier to take action if anything happened."

"Intruder incidents shouldn't be that frequent, I think..."

"Also, leaving you two alone together, I would be most troubled if anything indecent happened."

Though she was smiling, it was a terrifying smile.

"If you refuse, Haruaki-kun, I will take that as a confession that you are planning to do something indecent, okay? I will refuse to speak to someone so perverted ever again."

Hearing the threatening tone in her voice, Haruaki slumped his shoulders dejectedly.

"Like I said, just now was because she requested, plus she was even in cube form, so there's nothing indecent... Whatever, after all, there's no disadvantage anyway. You used to live here so you should know your way around. That room over there is free, so you can use that one."

"Got it. Hehe, it's been so long since I lived here. Since I will be in your care here, let me help you with the cooking as much as possible!"

"Whaaaaaaaaaaat!"

Without them noticing, Fear had suddenly appeared behind them. She probably ran out of patience and charged into the kitchen to commit robbery? Held in her hand was the bag of rice crackers.

"Cow Tits here is going to live in the same house? I never heard about this!"

"By the way, the room seems to be next to yours. Pleased to meet you too."

"I-I don't approve of this!"

"Eh, why?"

"That is because... Umm... Y-You, simply looking at that very heavy body part makes me so mad! Shameless! And even sleeping in the room next door? That is fundamentally a problem! Every time you turn in your sleep, you'll surely make noise that disrupts my sleep!"

"Ahaha, hear that, Haruaki-kun? This child is truly amusing... May I give her a sound beating?"

"You're treating me as a child again!"

"How troubling, wait until it's my turn to cook, perhaps I'll accidentally make one children's meal less?"

"To think you'd go for starvation tactics, completely despicable...! Hmph! If I actually ate your meaty cuisine, surely I'd grow really fat! Just like a certain someone, growing meat in useless places! Ha, it's just as well!"

"What... How dare you make up new descriptions to insult me!"

"...Uh... By the way! I have to go check the mailbox, hahaha!"

Using this contrived excuse, Haruaki escaped the scene before he could be embroiled into the conflict. While listening to the noisy dispute behind him, Haruaki quietly made his way outside. Neither of the girls noticed.

Slowly, he opened the mailbox next to the main gate. Amongst pornographic flyers and junk mail, he found a single letter delivered via air mail—sent from his father.

"!"

This was the first time Haruaki received any communication from his father ever since he sent Fear here on his own accord. Haruaki opened the letter immediately in a hurry. There were too many things he did not understand at this point in time. You have explain everything in detail, old man—Thinking that to himself, Haruaki used the light at the entrance for illumination. The content of the letter was rather brief:

'It will take me a while before I can come home. Also, I think quite a few disasters might have happened during daytime, so I gave the superintendent a call. You can save your thank you hug until I get back!'

"No, I completely don't understand what's the meaning of this! As if I'd feel thankful at all!"

Turning the letter over, he waved it to check for any hidden messages. At this time, one of the letters he was holding under his arm fell to the ground. He had failed to notice the letter until now, but the words on the envelope were very familiar to Haruaki. Seeing the words, "Taishyuu Private High School," the name of the school he was studying at, Haruaki had an ominous premonition.

Opening the bulging envelope, he found several folded documents inside. He did not spend the effort to read the fine print, however—one of them was written in large print, realizing his ominous premonition in the worst manner possible.

The first thing he saw was a name written in katakana—"Fear," followed by an arbitrarily chosen family name.

The next line after that was—Authorization of the above-named student's enrollment.

"My old man is such an idiot... Look at what he's done!"

Haruaki slouched dejectedly and gave a deep sigh.

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