Editing CubexCursedxCurious:Volume8 Chapter2 (section)

===Part 6===

Late night. Originally eyes closed with her back against the wall, Konoha moved her eyelids.

Inside the dark guest room, Konoha was the only one on surveillance duty. Kuroe and Fear were up next as a team, but it was not their time yet. In light of the blanket incident the previous night and considering the need for surveillance rather than medical attention, having Haruaki and the others sleeping here would only increase the risk. Hence, Konoha had bade Haruaki and Kirika rest in other rooms.

Inside this room devoid of light, Konoha watched as the originally sleeping Un Izoey suddenly sat up.

"My question: does this house have pet ''paruki''?"

"I don't understand that word at all, but I know you're trying to say 'cat.' For a human, your senses are quite sharp."

An instant after murmuring an answer, Konoha jumped up. At the same time, she chopped overhead with her hand.

"Stop sneaking around... Down you come!"

She sliced a ceiling board open, causing a black-clad figure who had been sitting upright on the ceiling to fall down. Realizing the situation instantly, the figure maintained balance and used a knees-bent posture to absorb the impact of the fall. Truly superb martial arts.

"Who are you? Name yourself. While you're at it, take off that strange mask."

More correctly, what obscured the figure's head was not a mask but an industrial welding helmet. Too bizarre.

The mysterious intruder did not answer, instead closing in without warning&mdash;In that instant, this person's threat level jumped from intruder to attacker. However, the one being attacked was not Konoha but Un Izoey who had just lifted her blanket and stood up. Despite Konoha's many reminders, she was still wearing nothing but panties on her lower body.

The attacker made a beeline for her. Un Izoey narrowed her eyes and lifted her dark-skinned leg, but just as she was preparing to perform a spinning kick&mdash;Her body suddenly lost balance. Not because the attacker did something but due to her body tottering uncontrollably again.

(Ahhh, seriously, what the heck is she doing... Does she still have a fever!?)

As though her subsequent intended motions were somehow lost, Un Izoey was tackled by the attacker and pinned to the floor embarrassingly&mdash;It could not be helped.

Konoha instantly stepped forward and aimed a karate chop towards the back of the attacker's head, intending to at least break that ludicrous welding helmet to see the person's face. Nevertheless, the attacker realized her intentions and swiftly drew a dagger from a pocket to block Konoha's chopping hand. Indeed, the enemy had intentionally used a dagger to block a barehanded chop. Furthermore, the attacker's target was Un Izoey. There was only one conclusion.

"You're from the Draconians...?"

As though using the momentum from Konoha's chop, the attacker performed a back flip. Crashing into and breaking the sliding door, the attacker swiftly unhatched a window and escaped into the garden. At this moment&mdash;

"Are you okay, Konoha-kun!?"

"An enemy!? Although I'm already used to it, but how dare this person sneak into this home? Such audacity. Mechanism No.20 slashing type, great blade form: «A Hatchet of Lingchi»&mdash;Curse Calling!"

"Hmm~ ...This was a rare chance to share a bed with Ficchi~ How dare you interrupt our brief respite? Unforgivable."

Discovering the commotion, everyone got up and came running. First of all, Fear rushed outside as soon as she saw the figure in the strange welding helmet, swinging using the back of the axe.

"Woah...?"

Little did she expect the attacker to parry lightly with a dagger then stumble a few steps. Fear tried again with a horizontal swing, but the result was the same.

The attacker's entire body was swaying with unsteady footsteps. Rather than that gripping the dagger, the fingers seem to be holding it weakly by the fingertips. Even the arm wielding the dagger was dangling sloppily by the side of the body.

"Hmm~ This really resembles the drunken fist."

"Yeah... Instead of competing in power, greater emphasis is placed on countering the opponent's moves&mdash;a so-called gentle style of the sword?"

Konoha replied to Kuroe as she followed Fear into the garden where she began to frown.

Because Fear had stopped moving.

However, she seemed to be staring intently at the attacker with inquiring eyes.



Such audacity&mdash;Fear thought. To dare sneak into this home, how utterly foolish. I must defeat the enemy completely. Nothing needs to be said.

"Hmph, unlike what I've heard, you're not red at all this time. But lemme still ask you... What is your goal? Are you trying to defeat that country girl to become strong? Or is it&mdash;"

Strange. Despite clearly telling herself in her mind to defeat the enemy directly without explanation, why were her lips moving on their own? Why did her arms and legs pause?

"Or perhaps... Your goal is this 'cube'?"

Acting on its own accord, her hand took out the solid cube from her pocket. Now was not the time to be talking about this. While thinking that to herself, another part of her was saying: this is trivial. Indeed, asking a few questions won't hurt. She's just trying to confirm the enemy's goal. Of course.

After Fear presented the cube in her outstretched hand, the silent attacker's shoulder suddenly shook.

Fear thought: Just as expected. Of course&mdash;The enemy knows.

The instant these thoughts crossed her mind, Fear began to speak as though under a spell:

"...I knew it, this belongs to you? Although I don't particularly wanna know, please tell me&mdash;What is this thing? How is it used? What needs to be done&mdash;to resurrect someone!"

She asked the question. Fear was shocked by her own behavior.

This did not need asking. Because she neither wanted nor needed to use this tool. Hence, there was absolutely no need to inquire about its method of usage. But why did she ask?

Thump. Her heart began to hurt.

Filled with indeterminate unease, Fear looked up in trepidation.

Ahhh, could it be that... She had simply failed to notice herself, she was simply mistaken.

In actual fact, she did not completely believe that Aiko was still alive?

(That kind of thing... impossible...!)

Fear felt confused by her emotions, troubled by the thoughts that she could not admit.

"..."

The attacker did not answer. Currently, even Fear herself did not know if she wanted to know the answer or not.

Then&mdash;Several seconds later, the enemy took action. Neither answering, nor attacking without answering, a third choice was picked.

The attacker simply&mdash;

Turned and ran away.



Of course, Konoha heard what Fear had said. How contradictory&mdash;She thought. If she did not want to know, there was no need to ask in the first place. However, she could understand why Fear would give voice to that contradiction.

Even though she believed that Aiko was not dead, even if she believed from the bottom of her heart, what if the truth turned out to be the contrary? &mdash;This worry had always existed in her heart. No matter how much she suppressed it, no matter how hard she tried to avoid thinking about it, she definitely struggled in the depths of her heart&mdash;A curse akin to thorns.

But unlike Fear, Konoha's level of self-awareness regarding those worries was different, hence the current result. Seeing Fear surprised by her own words, Konoha thought to herself. The difference lay in whether Fear had limited self-awareness or if she subconsciously suppressed it all along. Somewhere in her heart, she had always harbored this notion&mdash;If Fear only realized it now, her extreme shock was only natural.

But now was not the time to be pondering such matters. Due to her surprise towards Fear's sudden behavior, Konoha halted all movement for an instant. Using this opportunity, the attacker had already retreated to the boundary wall without saying a word.

"S-She's getting away! What are we gonna do?"

"We won't make any progress if she gets away now. Catch her for interrogation&mdash;the «Tragic Black River»!"

"Yes, that's right...! If we want to ask her questions, that can wait until we've caught her! Allow me to draw her attention while you use that capturing move, Kuroe-san&mdash;

Just as the girls stepped forward again&mdash;

"...! Mode: «Cushioning Munemori»!"

Kuroe's hair shot out to block projectile weapons rather than to capture the enemy. Instantly extended, the sleek hair covered Haruaki and Kirika like a waterfall while Konoha halted in her steps. Several throwing knives flew in from the darkness, striking the position where she was about to step into.

"Another enemy?"

Perhaps due to excellent presence concealment, Konoha was unable to instantly pinpoint the location of the person who had thrown the knives. Due to this impedance, everything was too late. The enemy in the welding helmet had already jumped over the wall. Attempting to stop her, Fear was also attacked by the throwing knives, providing the enemy with the chance to disappear into the darkness effortlessly. As much as they wanted to give chase, the critical problem was not knowing where the new enemy was located. They had to take precautions in case Haruaki was ambushed in an unguarded moment. For the next while, they all searched the surroundings for presences carefully.

"...Looks like they're gone. How troubling. They escaped?"

Konoha sighed and relaxed the tension in her shoulders. Fear still gripped the "cube" tightly while gazing at the top of the wall where the enemy had disappeared. Her eyes were wavering with a myriad of emotions. Even Konoha could not discern what feelings were currently contained in there. Was she disturbed by her own behavior, regretting the lack of answers, or simply still ill at ease&mdash;

"Fear..."

"Muu&mdash;N-No, actually I... Really... Don't care about this cube at all. It's just a spontaneous question, because it feels so uncomfortable not knowing the other side's goal. Hmph, that's all there is to it!"

Hearing Haruaki call out to her, Fear turned her face away as though trying to hide something with displeasure. Virtually everyone present already understood what she was trying to hide&mdash;But no one spoke.

Fear swung the axe, but this time, her displeasure was not meant to hide something. She continued talking:

"However, the enemy's movements are really annoying! Soft and squishy all over, I can't believe how hard to handle it was. Had I known, I should have switched to a different torture tool earlier&mdash;Uumu, but that might gave given her an opening to escape. Arghh, damn it, it was clearly a perfect chance to catch the 'Santa Hunter'!"

However, Un Izoey spoke up in her expressionless face as usual:

"Wrong."

"...What?"

"I say and repeat again: wrong. That is not the person attacking me last time."

She started blankly at Haruaki's group as they reacted in surprise.

She even cocked her head and asked them:

"Then who were they?"

...That's what we'd like to ask you too.

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