Editing CubexCursedxCurious:Volume3 Chapter4 (section)

===Part 10===

&mdash;She still remembered what had happened that particular day.

She would report to the chapel late every night. The priest's eyes reflected nothing but the imagery of his mother while he sniffed her hair. Irrefusable. She had tried refusing once and ended up with her face beaten so badly she almost thought she would die. Her cheekbone was broken and she had a fever. Ever since that time, the eye that was beaten could no longer see clearly.

Inhaling and exhaling breaths blew by her ear while a terrifying warmth patrolled her neck back and forth. The air in the chapel was exceptionally cold, causing the priest's touch to feel especially heavy while he embraced her tightly. An ugly and detestable tyrant. Only engaging in disgusting acts, a clergyman like the devil.

She gazed blankly. Indeed, on the front side of the chapel, hanging high on the wall&mdash;A simple intersection of two pairs of parallel lines, a symbol of the sacred, the only God worshiped in these filthy premises. She looked up at that shape&mdash;and cursed it.

But on this day, she suddenly tired of cursing God. She suddenly reached a realization that everything was meaningless.

Hence, she felt incurably ludicrous and laughed out loud. The priest frowned in surprise. Finding things even more ludicrous, she laughed further. Giggling, laughing. The priest roared angrily and began to beat her face. Yet she still continued laughing. The priest covered her mouth, she bit down hard. The taste of blood. Her neck strangled, unable to breathe, but none of that mattered. Ahhh~ How interesting. &mdash;&mdash;, &mdash;&mdash;, &mdash;&mdash;. Muffled laughter. The impatient hands applied greater force. Her consciousness gradually faded, the throbbing intensified progressively. Ahhh, she was about to die. Death was coming.

Just as she realized this calmly&mdash;

How many more seconds could she laugh? Could it happen more quickly? Just as these thoughts crossed her mind&mdash;

The priest's body shuddered.

Then she saw at this moment.

That shape which had appeared at close range. From overhead, that shape which had descended silently from the place where she was gazing upwards until now.

That shape&mdash;Falling straight down heavily, had crushed the priest's body down below.

Therefore. Ahhh, therefore&mdash;

She understood. These acts of the priest's, the nightmare of this church, all were necessary suffering. Wanting to encounter God-like phenomena that transcended humans, wanting to obtain salvation, these wishes could not be allowed so easily. Only with suffering came salvation. Indeed, for the sake of salvation, suffering was essential&mdash;Hence&mdash;



"How could there be... salvation without having undergone suffering... Is my current plight... necessary suffering... that must be overcome...?"

Breathing irregularly, Bivorio gradually sat up. Her hair, which remained quite long despite having already received two haircuts from Kuroe, covered her expression. The black nun's habit was gradually dyed by red-black stains.

Clenching her fist, Fear watched her condition.

"Don't move. I held back with mercy, so you won't die if you get treated. But if you move recklessly, I can't guarantee anything."

"Ahhh... It's almost... time for the arrival..."

"Are you even listening? Listen carefully now. Promise me you'll never come back, surrender! If you do that, we'll give you treatment. Kuroe is able to heal wounds! If not, you really will die&mdash;"

Apparently not listening to Fear, Bivorio stood up. Her expression was still blocked from view. Fear bit her lower lip hard. Could you please understand, I don't want to kill you! Hurry up and say you won't return...!

At this moment, Kuroe remarked lightly: "&mdash;Oh, they disappeared." Fear glanced over to find that all the Bivorios caught by Kuroe had vanished. Breathing a sigh of relief and wiping her sweat, Kuroe turned her hair back to normal. Due to the clones' struggling attempts to break free, she had exerted quite a bit of effort to suppress them.

Walking over to Fear, Kuroe had her head tilted for some reason. Haruaki in the back was also muttering softly:

"...Fear, do you hear something?"

Perking up her ears, Fear discovered a noise that was coming from far away. The noise had a certain rhythm to it, sometimes fast and sometimes slow in a repeating cycle, beating&mdash;No, was it the sound of an engine&mdash;?

Instantly, Bivorio turned tail and ran. She was neither running towards the inland direction that was blocked by Fear and others, nor into the warehouse. Instead, her target was the vast open sea. Seeing her move, Kirika reacted and tried to extend the «Tragic Black River», but ended up collapsing on one knee. Her wounds were not healed yet.

"Kirika, don't force yourself! Damn it&mdash;"

Fear and the others hastily rushed forward but it was too late. The sea bank was not fenced and they watched as Bivorio jumped over the edge towards the sea without any hesitation at all. However, there was no splash to be heard.

Fear and company arrived at the bank, seconds too late. Only then did they understood why they had heard engine noise. There was a small cabin cruiser where Bivorio had landed. Her deathly pale face was smiling at the cruiser's driver&mdash;A middle-aged man in a suit.

"...Thank you, my dear. I'm saved."

"Sorry for being late, there were other difficult matters to handle... Are you okay? Didn't you bring something along as my substitute?"

The man's appearance was rather striking, with bold and vigorous facial features and a thick beard.

"It broke. The SBR as well... I'm sorry, have I become ugly?"

"What are you talking about? No matter what happens, your beauty is unshakable. Regardless how effective that mirror may be, so long as the user is you, that original power of making the owner beautiful is quite meaningless, to be honest."

"I am so glad."

Bivorio and the man's lips came together. Fear had no reason to silently watch this scene proceed.

"Mechanism No.5 impaling type, upright form: «A Skewer Loved by Vlad Tepes», Curse Calling!"

"Mode: «Killing Machine Masakado»!"

Fear aimed the execution stake at the cabin cruiser. Kuroe's hair of steel also followed closely behind, extending towards the two people on deck. But in the next instant&mdash;The stake was struck down and fell into the sea, while the hair was forcibly swept aside.

Wielding a ''giant cross'', Bivorio turned around and swung forcefully.

"Ahhh, darling, darling, Abyss. My beloved Patriarch. I knew that the likes of the Cannibal Cooker could not serve as a substitute cross. The familiarity of control is completely different..."

"Ahhh, darling, darling, Alice. My beloved Matriarch. That goes without saying. Although it was only temporary, for you to be forced to snuggle against another cross, my incompetence deeply shames me."

The voice came from the cross. Obviously, the man visible just now was no longer there.

"An accomplice&mdash;and even a cursed tool as well!"

"Yes, indeed you are right... But he is not an accomplice but 'family'..."

As the cabin cruiser slowly sailed out to sea, the woman in the nun's habit embraced the cross lovingly and stumbled, collapsing.

"Are you okay, Alice?"

The cross turned back into a man and drew his face near the woman. Bivorio murmured something in his ear then closed her eyes and did not open them again. Judging from the slight heaving of her chest, she should not have died yet.

The cabin cruiser  had already sailed far enough to be out of attack range. Was there nothing they could do except watch them escape? &mdash;Fear gnashed her teeth. Just at this moment&mdash;

"...Wait. Let me state this first for the record. To that man over there, listen carefully."

"Kirika?"

"Class Rep, is your body already okay...?"

Kirika had caught up to them, apparently healed. Raising her hand to cut off Fear and Haruaki's queries, she kept her gaze on the man on the cruiser.

"I am the Yamimagari Pakuaki's younger sister. Since you are from the Bivorio Family, you should have heard of this name before&mdash;And just as you witness here, I act as part of this group of people here. Do you understand? The next time you dare make a move on me or these people, be prepared to make enemies of the entire Lab Chief's Nation."

"I see, that would pose a huge problem... I shall bear this firmly in mind."

With no intention of hiding his nude and muscular body, the man answered briefly. He then turned his gaze to Fear:

"So you're «Fear-in-Cube» huh... This is the message Alice just asked me to pass along&mdash;How you wish to deal with the remains of the Cannibal Cooker and the SBR is up to you. They were originally something captured from the Frontline Gathering Knights Dominion. Attached to them are devices that we consider heretical and useless for our purposes."

"Muu? Could they be... Indulgence Disks?"

"That seems to be the name. In any case, if you feel the need, you may have them. This is Alice's goodwill. She sincerely wishes to love you, so please accept it."

"I'll accept the Indulgence Disks, but I refuse her whatever love&mdash;I declare myself incompatible with the Family. If you value your lives, don't ever appear before us again."

"That's not for me to decide&mdash;But I shall bear your words in mind as well."

Shrugging, the man steered the rudder as the cabin cruiser accelerated towards the sea in the distance.

I don't want to see these guys again&mdash;Those were Fear's sincere words. However&mdash;she still had questions for that man and matters which demanded his reprimand. Having lost the opportunity to do so now, Fear could only question in her mind. As a fellow cursed tool, she had doubts she could not figure out no matter what.

(You... For someone to affirm your curse, don't you feel... anything at all...? You don't find it to be a mistake...?)

Fear's fist remained tightly clenched while she continued to glare at the cruiser receding into the distance.



Finally, the engine noise could not be heard anymore and the white wake of the cabin cruiser disappeared completely.

Gazing at the sea whose peace and calm was restored, Kirika murmured:

"How troubling. Hopefully, this was enough to make them give up on Fear as their target... Now that Bivorio herself is heavily injured, they should be avoiding all-out war against the Lab Chief's Nation, right?"

"Class Rep, umm... Is this really okay?"

"Yeah. It's a little like a final prank. Since such a statement can serve as a deterrent against the Family, I had no reason not to say it."

"Final...?"

Kirika slightly relaxed the tension in her face:

"&mdash;I have already quit the Lab Chief's Nation. After I escaped, I gave that guy a taste of a horrifying lesson."

"That guy... You mean the one in the iron mask... I-Isn't that bad? Won't you get scolded or resented, Class Rep?"

"I don't care. I have already made my decision. Although I have no idea what will happen, there will always be a way."

Haruaki could sense a certain refreshing feeling in her expression. Kirika turned her gaze towards the sea again.

"I have lived as a tool all this time. Henceforth, I hope to live as a human&mdash;Fufu, indeed, I am just like Fear and the others. I am really in an equivalent position, no joke at all."

...To be honest, Haruaki did not quite understand. Perhaps because his face betrayed his thoughts, Kirika smiled:

"It's just like I've told you before. I don't need the title of the 'member of the Lab Chief's Nation' imposed on me, so I abandoned it. Instead&mdash;I have chosen for myself the title of 'Yachi Haruaki's friend.' This is simply all there is to it. Don't mind it too much."

"Speaking of minding... I just remembered. Hold out your hand, Haru."

Kuroe looked up with her blank gaze. Prompted by her reminder, Haruaki's completely forgotten pain resurged all at once. His hand currently felt as though it was being chewed apart by wild beasts.

"O-Owwww... R-Right, thanks a lot."

Putting down Konoha, who was unconscious, Haruaki knelt down and untied the handkerchief that was wrapped around his hand. Kuroe and Kirika frowned. Fear, who had been gazing out at the sea, also ran over, greatly alarmed.

"Ah... Haruaki..."

Her face was completely demoralized. Gazing at Haruaki's blood-covered hand, she hunched her shoulders, silver hair trembling nonstop.

"Don't make that kind of face. It's okay."

"But... But... It looks really painful. Very painful..."

"Like I said, it's okay."

"All wrapped up&mdash;Let's do it. Mode: «Satisfied Yorimori»."

Wrapped in many layers of Kuroe's hair, Haruaki felt slight warmth on his hand. The pain subsided substantially. Then Kuroe cautiously wrapped the handkerchief over the hair.

"...Sorry."

Watching this scene, Fear murmured with her head bowed. Twice. Her apologies were directed towards Kuroe and Haruaki.

"It's my fault... Although Bivorio caused it, the root cause lies with me. It's all because I suspected Kuroe that it developed into such a bizarre situation that allowed that woman to alter her approach and capture you guys&mdash;Then your hand... became like this. Perhaps sorry cannot settle things but I still must apologize. Sorry..."

"&mdash;I really didn't mind at all. It's true that my situation was quite suspicious."

"B-Besides, getting kidnapped was because I was too stupid, and that woman was too underhanded. That's it. You don't need to be that disheartened."

Despite their efforts to comfort her, Fear's expression remained unchanged, her eyes continuing to gaze with self-loathing at the blood-stained handkerchief.

"But... Turning out like this... It's still really my fault. What should I do? If it doesn't heal, what should I do..."

"Why are you making such a big deal of it? It's not like Class Rep's case, there was a great hole in her belly."

"B-But it became like this! Like this... Flesh scraped off, so much bleeding! Ahhh, what should I do? Dummy Haruaki... What if your hand cannot move anymore, how could I possibly compensate..."

"Why do you keep thinking pessimistically? I already said it's okay! After getting home, I'm going to disinfect it carefully."

"But I-I know, human bodies are very fragile! One person became a cripple with but a single cut while someone else's heart stopped when pierced with a single spike! No one can guarantee if the same won't happen to you...!"

Her thoughts were caught in a negative spiral. How troubling&mdash;Haruaki scratched his head.

"Like I said to you already, it'll heal, okay! Look, Kuroe gave me treatment already... Right? Even without your worries, I will receive an unending stream of recovery energy. Yes, if you're so concerned, then you'll be responsible for the bandages after we get home! I'll teach you how to wrap them!"

In any case, Haruaki had to make her forget her self-loathing by giving her a mission. A correct decision, apparently. Fear blinked several times and nodded her head vigorously nonstop.

"Yes, of course... Is there anything else I could do...?"

"Eh~ Anything else...? There seems to be something..."

"Oh&mdash;Right. I remember Kuroe mentioned before that keeping the wound warm will make it heal faster. In that case&mdash;"

Fear reached out with both hands and wrapped them lightly around Haruaki's injured hand.

"How is it...?"

"O-Ohhh, hmm... Umm... Thanks."

"Hmm... Why am I not getting any feeling that it's healing faster? It need to be warmer huh... Even warmer... A warm place..."

"Well, just leave the rest to a hand warmer. It's not like you can hold my hand all day long as I can't really calm down like this. Anyway, let's... Woah, hey!?"

"Mmm..."

Haruaki's hand was pressed against some place warmer.

Namely, Fear's chest.

"How is it...? Compared to holding hands... Much warmer, right...?"

Haruaki was sitting on the ground while Fear was kneeling on both knees.

Holding Haruaki's hand tightly with her hands, Fear pressed his hand against her bosom. Although she was frequently called flat, it was not as if she were completely flat. So in other words, there was a bosom. Even separated by clothing, Haruaki could clearly feel by touch, the domain sandwiched by the bulges on her chest. Indeed, it felt unmistakably warm. Much too warm.

"Ohhh, ooooooooi, Fear!"

"Mmm, mmm, how is it... Has it stopped hurting? Almost healed...?"

Fear's hands gently applied greater pressure, bringing a further sense of softness and warmth. Haruaki could recall Konoha doing something similar last time... No wait, now was not the time to be remembering things like that. Last time was because Konoha was half-asleep, so he decided to erase the memory from his brain. But now&mdash;Fear was completely sober. Haruaki could also hear the sound of her warm breath as he watched her quivering lashes. Oh no, this was really bad. Why did friction between clothing sound so loud? Why did Fear's hair smell so sweet?

"Oh my, Ficchi is quite bold."

"Yachi, how long... do you intend... to maintain this...?"
[[image:C3 03-282.jpg|thumb]]

"Hey... Help me here! I can't take my hand away!"

"Don't take it away... I'm fine with it. Sorry I'm very small. But I'll work hard to keep you warm, so... Please continue to maintain this, okay...?"

This was bad. Fear was directing her moist gaze at him while Kuroe simply watched blankly in amusement and Kirika was about to strangle him with her belt. W-Who will hurry and save me&mdash;Just as Haruaki thought to himself&mdash;

"W-W-W-Wha&mdash;? W-What are you doing&mdash;!?"

The Japanese sword cried out with alarm from the side. Fear looked down and threw a glance at the shuddering sword.

"Tsk, the nagging woman has woken up. If only she'd continue sleeping..."

"How could I sleep in such a situation!?"

Poof! &mdash;Konoha returned to human form and approached Fear with a expression of alarm.

"Hmph, you basically slept through everything this time... How useless. Although I knew that already, nothing is worse than junk that swings around all over the place. You should keep sleeping."

"Wha... T-That's because... Umm... Indeed I cannot refute... But this is unrelated to that! Haruaki-kun doesn't like what you're doing, right? Hurry and stop this indecent behavior!"

"What are you calling indecent? This is simply healing treatment."

"What brazen cheekiness...! Anyway, put an end to this, end it!"

Konoha grabbed Haruaki's arm strenuously, trying to pull his hand away from Fear's chest by force. However, Fear pressed Haruaki's hand harder in resistance. Unable to move recklessly, Haruaki could do nothing but keep his arm tensed and immobile.

"Nuu, damn it, let go!" "No, you let go!"

"Umm, you two... Owww, hey, it really hurts!"

"See, he's crying out in pain! I will heal him, so back off, Cow Tits!"

"I understand the principle, but I cannot approve of this indecent method of treatment...! If this treatment must be done no matter what, let me do it! I'm the one who had... Umm&mdash;very clearly there is a difference in insulation ability!"

"What did you say!? Are you still bragging at a time like this!? Yours must be deceitful breasts with useless volume and nothing inside, popping with a bang at a pin's prick, so it's totally meaningless!"

As they argued back and forth, Kuroe suddenly poked Konoha on the shoulder.

"Say, Kono-san."

"What... is it? I... am... currently... busy!"

"I see that you're not getting it, so let me tell you... If you use the same treatment method as Ficchi in your current state, Kono-san, it will really be a great deal. But then again, if you're doing this with full awareness, I'm not going to stop you."

"The problem is which side would be more indecent... It's quite troubling to see Konoha-kun acting like this on occasion."

Kirika spoke with her hand on her temple. Indeed&mdash;Haruaki concentrated on transmitting his mental waves of agreement. Turning his neck with all his strength, Haruaki deliberately avoided watching the battle between the two girls.

"How so? ...Oh right, Haruaki-kun, why has your gaze been avoiding my direction all this time&mdash;!?"

As if deciding time was up for Konoha to notice herself, Kuroe pronounced blankly:

"Hmm, Kono-san, you're buck naked."

Feeling extremely exhausted, Haruaki closed his eyes. Following that, all he heard were sounds.

A supersonic scream. Then the sound of someone sprinting, undoubtedly breaking world records in track and field&mdash;or rather, the sound of fleeing.

Nice body&mdash;Kuroe whispered expressionlessly.

Shaking so openly as if showing off to others, are you mocking me! &mdash;Fear remarked angrily.

Finally, there was Kirika who was the same as usual.

Smiling slightly wryly, she offered a single comment&mdash;Absolutely ridiculous.
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==Translator's Notes and References==
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