Editing CubexCursedxCurious:Volume3 Chapter1 (section)

===Part 2===

The self-styled stalker woman from earlier was standing on the boundary wall. Long-haired, wearing a monocle, with watches on both arms. Unlike during the daytime, she was now dressed in a nun's habit whose color seemed to meld into the darkness. On her back, she was carrying a large musical instrument case almost the same height as her. Who knew if it were a contrabass or something, but in any case, it was clearly not an object for playing wonderful music.

By the time Haruaki and company got up and reached the veranda, the woman had already descended to the garden.

"Good evening, Kuroe-sama. I would like you to understand that this is an invitation as usual."

"That I know. But it was a different person last time, did you switch?"

"Yes, please call me Alice. It is a pleasure to meet you."

Just like earlier during the day, she made a deep bow.

"Hey Kuroe, what is going on? Who is this person? What does she mean by invitation?"

"To be honest, I have no idea. But during my travels, I kept getting harassed by similarly dressed people... I guess it's some sort of uniform? Hence, this is my first time meeting this particular person."

"Uniform? In other words, rather than individuals, they are part of an organization?"

Fear glared sharply at the woman in the garden. But as if completely oblivious to the pressure, the woman&mdash;Alice&mdash;continued to smile gently, as if bathed in holy light coming from behind.

"The Bivorio Family... That is what others call us. Within our circles, the mere mention of the 'Family' is enough for most people to understand."

"I think we've heard the name before? That person from the Knights Dominion mentioned it last time."

Glaring severely just like Fear, Konoha recounted.

"Yes, that's the name. These people kept harassing me, trying to persuade me to go with them. I sent them away and escaped as appropriate, but after a while, they would appear again... This kept repeating. Nothing is more annoying than this. Furthermore, they're polite to an eerie level."

"...Better than being impolite, right?"

Watching the face of the woman who was smiling politely in fact, Haruaki could not help but mutter. However, Kuroe continued speaking with her customarily blank gaze:

"Not necessarily. They were always polite&mdash;inviting me politely, stalking me politely, and even kidnapping me politely from time to time."

"Kidnapping...!"

"We actually have no wish of doing anything violent. But if dialogue fails to make any progress, it can't be helped. After all, using physical methods of invitation is a type of persuasion... To be honest, my current goal here is essentially that."

The woman admitted candidly while maintaining her smile. Then smiling at Haruaki's group who had entered a stance, she put down the musical instrument case she was carrying on her back.

"Wait a minute, I don't get any of this! What is your goal? And what is the Family?"

"Well, simply stated&mdash;"

Alice inclined her head adorably as she undid the clasps of the case.

"&mdash;The Family... Is similar to what you people do."

"What... Are you talking about?"

"Yes, my wish is simply to invite Kuroe-sama to my home, that's all. To have meals together, to have tea together, to chat together, nothing more. See, isn't that what you were doing just now?"

Alice was clearly full of crap. Going "Very well&mdash;" she stretched her body.

Haruaki gulped. What was she going to take out of her massive case? A sword? An axe? A spear? Since she was planning to abduct Kuroe, it could not possibly be anything harmless.

Under everyone's gaze, what Alice took out from the contrabass case was&mdash;

A contrabass.

"...What?"

"Dummy, don't be off your guard, Haruaki! Despite its appearances, who knows what abilities that thing might have!?"

"Indeed, appearances are irrelevant, it simply takes this form on occasion&mdash;Very well, salvation never comes without hardship, right? Let's hope that this invitation will turn out to be necessary hardship."

Uttering incomprehensible words, Alice grabbed the neck of the musical instrument and stepped forward, dragging the gourd-shaped instrument with her. At this moment&mdash;

"Mechanism No.19 gouging type, spiral form: «Human-Perforator», Curse Calling!"

A flash of silver leaped out. It was Fear jumping off the veranda to face off against Alice, already holding in her hand the drill transformed from the Rubik's cube.

"Hmph. Although I have no idea what's going on, Kuroe is my friend who shares the same dining table. I can't stand back silently and watch her get taken away... It can't be helped, I'm entering the fray!"

"Ara. Ara ara?"

An expression of surprise surfaced on the woman's brightly smiling face for the first time. Then she began to murmur to herself:

"Ara, speaking of which, I did receive reports on this... How truly surprising, this is too fortunate. Then how should I proceed now... Mmmhmm..."

"What are you mumbling about? Do you want to fight or not? Get on with it! I'm already prepared!"

Idiot, you don't really need to instigate a fight like that, right? &mdash;Thinking that to himself, Haruaki nonchalantly leaned over towards Konoha's side. Judging from the situation, he might very well have to wield the Japanese sword again.

However&mdash;Alice's next sentence completely exceeded the expectations of everyone present. Lightly nodding "Yes♪" to herself, she said:

"I understand now, so I shall give up on inviting Kuroe-san."

"What?"

"That's too quick for a change of mind!"

"I already said a long time ago, I'd be grateful if you people would just give up. Has the message finally gotten through?"

"Don't believe her. She probably means just this once, right?"

Faced with the various opinions of Haruaki's group, Alice shook her head elegantly.

"No, I truly intend to stop inviting Kuroe-san. Whether by force or by dialogue."

"R-Really?"

"Yes. But conversely... Please allow me to say this. Fear-in-Cube-sama, may we invite you to our Family?"

Fear's shoulders shook greatly while Haruaki gasped.

Thinking back, the person from the Frontline Gathering Knights Dominion they encountered previously had said&mdash;"Fear's awakening is a matter that concerns all organizations involved with cursed tools." Then it was not strange for this Family person to know about Fear. However&mdash;

"Why would you suddenly switch targets to her only now...?"

"Because we only received rumors that she 'seemed to have been found by someone and sent somewhere.' Until I saw her with my own eyes, I never realized she is the famous one&mdash;It's quite embarrassing to admit, but the Family is rather lacking in intelligence gathering ability."

As if expressing "How troubling," Alice sighed while resting her face against her hand. The total lack of tension in her attitude caused Fear to feel agitated instead. Frowning, Fear took a step forward.

"Hmph, you're switching to me now because Kuroe won't go? What a shameless attitude... But very regrettably, I have no interest in chatting over tea with a stalker like you, so go find someone else!"

"Don't say it like that. Could you please come with me?"

The only response she got was the faint metallic noises from the drill that was raised up high.

Sighing lightly, Konoha also walked down from the veranda and readied her hand in a karate chop. Indeed, even someone else other than Fear could not stand to watch without interfering.

"...So this is the situation. I have no idea what your true goals are, but these girls don't have the leisure to listen obediently to your proposals. It's best if you give up sooner and leave."

As Haruaki finished, Alice laughed softly as she remained smiling at the group. Lowering her head slightly, she narrowed her eyes and gently stroked the monocle on her right eye using her finger.

"True... The current situation seems highly unfavorable to me. After all, I've introduced myself so let me return for today."

Putting the contrabass in her hand back into its case, she huffed and returned the heavy-looking case to her back. Then she took another deep bow.

"Seeing as my opponent is the greatly renowned Fear-in-Cube-sama, simple suffering would seem to be somewhat insufficient. I will come up with more ways to invite you&mdash;but before that, please allow me to take my leave for now."

Before Haruaki and company could say anything, Alice had already taken off, her long hair and nun's habit swaying as she ran. Ignoring the unwieldy instrument case on her back, she sprinted and leaped over the wall with only assistance from her hand. After turning a final glance back, indeed she still kept her saint-like smile&mdash;she disappeared behind the wall.

"Listen to me carefully, don't come back ever again! Hey, are you listening!?"

Hearing Fear roar angrily at the other side of the wall, Haruaki sighed.

The whole incident was completely incomprehensible from the very start. Since the lady's goal was to take Fear and Kuroe away by force, she should be categorized as an "enemy," right... But her complete lack of hostility and ever smiling demeanor did not feel like an enemy's at all. What an inexplicably exhausting opponent.

"Seriously, what the heck is this...?"

Hearing Haruaki grumble, Kuroe bowed her head slightly.

"&mdash;Sorry, I've brought trouble to you all."

"Never mind, there wasn't any harm done in particular anyway, don't worry."

"Hmph, it looks like I'm actually quite well-known in these circles. Even if you hadn't led those people here, perhaps we'd still run into them sooner or later... Besides, judging from the way she fled, she most likely lacks confidence in fighting."

"True. I was able to use my meager powers to repel and escape from all the people who came to persuade me so far. Sending only a single person each time, perhaps their numbers are limited."

"Then there's probably no need to pay them special attention. If they come again, just drive them off again."

Kuroe eyed Fear and Konoha in turn, slightly closing those blank eyes of hers that were difficult to read as she spoke:

"...Thank you, Kono-san and Ficchi."

"Wait a minute, are you referring to me with that weird name? Why does it sound so stupid? I demand a revised version!"

"Gladly. What kind of impression would you like instead?"

"Mu? Well... I want something that sounds noble and elegant, conveying the impression of a proper and beautiful lady..."

"H-How could you possibly demand something like that!? Your brazen shamelessness is truly shocking!"

Haruaki smiled wryly as he was about to return to the living room&mdash;Along the way, he suddenly remembered.

"By the way, Kuroe, what's the other reason for coming home that you mentioned just now? The more interesting one."

"Ohoh."

Kuroe clapped her hands in a cliched manner.

"I returned simply because I ran out of money, that's all. So I plan on reopening the shop the day after tomorrow. I will be relying on everyone's help here&mdash;or rather, please help me!"

Expressionlessly, Kuroe glanced at Haruaki's twitching expression.

Maintaining her poker face, she inclined her head cutely and said:

"...Quite a bit of unexpected joy, right?"