Editing CubexCursedxCurious:Volume8 Chapter2 (section)

===Part 5===

After Zenon and Ganon left, night descended. Inheriting the clear sky from the daytime, the night displayed the moon and the stars in full splendor without a cloud in the sky. Although everyone had eaten dinner and taken a bath already, it was too early to go to bed. During this time of excess leisure, all they could do was wait for this unproductive day to reach a conclusion.

Sitting on the veranda, Kirika was spacing out in deep thought. Her wish was easily summed up by the words "hoping that Un Izoey could leave as soon as possible." However, the situation remained unchanged. Things were still okay before Un Izoey regained consciousness, but the letter delivery issue had caused Zenon and Ganon to make a fruitless trip all because of her obstinacy. How absolutely ridiculous.

(The superintendent will be back eventually. Perhaps time will solve everything...)

However, there was another wish occupying Fear's heart&mdash;settling the 'Santa Hunter' matter. The day had passed without any progress. Kirika could empathize with her wish to do things beneficial to humans and to welcome a most wonderful Christmas. As for assisting Fear, Kirika had no objections to that.

(Fear's wish?)

Kirika had a feeling that this was not all. Perhaps there was something that Fear was deliberately trying to stop from showing&mdash;Another wish. Recalling that "cube," Kirika shifted her gaze.

Fear and Haruaki were currently inside the storeroom in the garden. The two of them were talking about something while using a towel to wipe a pot that they held like a cherished treasure... Just as Kirika thought to herself&mdash;

"Shameless brat, to think you'd stuff your little finger into the crack and thrust in and out, what intentions are you harboring!?"

"I'm just trying to clean out the dust that has accumulated inside!"

Another noisy argument started.

Kirika relaxed her expression. She knew about what had happened and also what they believed. Precisely because they believed, they were not going to dwell upon the matter of the "cube," right? Just at this moment...

"Seriously, those two are just so exasperating..."

Sitting by the veranda, Konoha was likewise watching the scene with a wry expression. However, extremely complicated emotions could be seen in her gaze towards the pot. Sitting on her far side was the dark-skinned girl who was staring out at the starry sky with her usual, blank eyes whose emotional fluctuations were impossible to read.

"My request: I wish to take a walk in the garden."

"As long as you don't do anything weird, be my guest."

Barefooted, Un Izoey walked to the center of the spacious garden. Looking up at the moon, she spread her arms and halted in her steps as though trying to block the cold wind.

Feeling a sudden impulse in her heart, then after an instant's hesitation, Kirika borrowed a pair of sandals from beneath the veranda and walked over to Un Izoey.

"...A clean and pure presence. Earth's energy and air's energy. A comfortable, wonderful place."

Perhaps sensing the person behind her, Un Izoey explained with a light murmur. Was this somehow related to the fact that these grounds facilitated the lifting of curses? Although this idea appeared in Kirika's mind, that was not what she really wanted to ask about.

"You&mdash;Why did you join that organization?"

Un Izoey answered without turning her head:

"My memory: that great man came to our tribe. After certain negotiations, the tribe chief promised to give the Lab Chief the staff passed down generations of the tribe. That staff was sealed in a cave in a dangerous jungle. I was given the mission to lead and protect that man until reaching the cave."

"..."

"On the way, that man told me many things. For me who lived only as a warrior and had no doubts about dying as a warrior. Why the sky is blue. How clouds are made. Stories about stars and moon. The lives of people never heard before, in places never seen before. Only then did I know. I know that I know nothing else. Once I know this fact&mdash;the world is not the same world as before. I cannot suppress my desire&mdash;I recall these recollections."

"That's why you decided to follow that man henceforth? Absolutely ridiculous&mdash;Why haven't you realized it!? That man, that organization's abnormality. They are all mad. For the sake of knowing something, they can go as far as to commit murder! Murdering just for the desire to know! That's the kind of place it is!"

Kirika could not help but get worked up. Konoha must have heard her. Perhaps even the two in the storeroom heard her as well. But she did not care.

"Just for living, we sometimes take each other's food, kill other tribe's people. Is this any different? I ask this kind of question."

"Completely different! How absolutely ridiculous!"

"No. I changed after meeting that great man. Realized the surrounding world is full of 'unknowns' and the correct answers existing in it. Very horrifying thing. For me who always thought 'nothing more than this' when looking at the world, death was nothing compared to this horror. Not knowing is unbearable, impossible to survive. 'Knowing' is a kind of food for me now, the buffalo I discovered in the gap between two tribes."

"So for the sake of obtaining knowledge, you don't even care if you harm others!?"

"Of course, what can be avoided should be avoided. However, if what's needed for survival cannot be obtained otherwise&mdash;only death awaits. Only this type of people are gathered."

"Impossible to understand. Indeed, impossible to understand! Is knowing really that important!?"

Kirika heard Un Izoey exhale audibly&mdash;then turned around. Her gray hair shook lightly while her eyes flashed slightly in the moonlight without any emotional fluctuation.

Then she acted as though trying to prove her claim that "'knowing' was equivalent to sustenance."

To the new "unknown" that was born in this instant, she simply sought an answer in earnest.

"Knowing is very important and very wonderful. My question... In this world, does anything exist which does not need to be known?"

"Hmm..."

Irreconcilable viewpoints&mdash;Kirika thought. This girl was probably not a villain. Nevertheless&mdash;they were still irreconcilable.

Kirika tightened her fist and turned around.

"Whatever&mdash;But don't you forget this. You are our enemy. Don't get me involved and don't approach me. If your side intends to cause trouble to me or the others, prepare yourselves well. No matter how many times it takes, I will curse you. Just like last time, I will make your hands taste the sensation of death, to the point of making you go insane!"

What childish threats. Even Kirika thought so herself. These words were completely meaningless.

However, in the instant just before she left&mdash;

"Ah..."

Un Izoey's shoulder suddenly trembled.

An exceptionally fragile expression was seen on Un Izoey's face as she bowed her head like a frightened child.