Editing CubexCursedxCurious:Volume3 Chapter4 (section)

===Part 2===

'&mdash;Died joyfully!'

All thought interrupted.

Then came understanding.

Instantly, Fear kicked the table flying out of the living room by pure strength alone. The dining table crashed thunderously into the garden, but that did not matter at this time.

"Screw this, screw this, screw this...! What the heck? What is going on!?"

"&mdash;Please quiet down a bit. I can't hear the sound."

Konoha was intently watching the playing DVD. However, her fingers were busy adjusting the glasses over her sharp gaze.

Fear clenched her fists. Wanting very much to escape from the woman who was bringing up unpleasant things, she turned her gaze outside the house. The dining table lay overturned in the garden. The sky was already getting light&mdash;Then several more hours passed. Earlier, Fear and Konoha had returned home to find their important companions disappeared after Alice had vanished during the pursuit like last time. As for their discovery of the DVD in the mailbox, that took place merely half an hour earlier.

Although Fear was facing the garden, she could still hear the sound. She knew she must listen no matter what.

'Could this be&mdash;what they share in common&mdash;?'

It was Haruaki's voice. A voice that now elicited nostalgic feelings.

'Indeed, precisely this. All the people who died are members of the Family&mdash;This is the answer. Asking them to visit the beauty parlor was meant to serve as preferential treatment and a hint. What I call preferential treatment is this&mdash;Since death was coming anyway, they would offer their hair to Kuroe-sama as nourishment. As for the hint&mdash;it was to let you know their faces.'

All their reasoning was reversed&mdash;Fear instantly understood.

Rather than people who visited the beauty parlor were killed...

Simply those fated to die had visited the beauty parlor.

'...Didn't you switch targets to Ficchi? There's no particular need to service me, right?'

Fear glanced at the screen. Just like what she saw earlier, Kuroe remained motionless. Her freedom of mobility was probably taken away somehow, right?

Fear was reminded that she still had not apologized to her.

'Indeed, our primary target has changed to Fear-sama, but I still like you,  Kuroe-sama, and would offer the Family's love as much as possible&mdash;Hence, not only did I visit personally to have you cut my hair, but also told other members of the Family to visit your shop as soon as they arrived to this town. Since I did not prescribe a sequence for the deaths, I allowed them to do as much as they could while they were still alive. Everyone agreed readily to it.'

Kuroe snorted through her nose as her response.

'After all, preferential treatment is simply what it is. Please don't mind it too much. By the way, speaking of which, there was another hint I prepared to help you realize what the members of the Family shared&mdash;But it looks like no one caught it. To draw a connection to my nun's habit, I ordered everyone to wear a cross ornament when entering the beauty parlor... Was that too difficult to spot?'

'! ...I see now, so that's the weird feeling I had when checking the security footage... That was it huh...'

Kirika groaned in displeasure. Oh no... Fear really wanted to tell her "Thank you for your help"... But before she had a chance to express her gratitude, this situation had arose immediately.

'The silver cross. Hair decorations. Key holders on their bags... Speaking of which, I have some recollection of them wearing those. Tsk, how could I fail to notice...?'

'I prepared many similar hints, but until yesterday, you had not even figured out that all of the deceased were customers of the beauty parlor. Does this country have strict standards of privacy protection? The news almost never reported on their appearance. Thus as a further hint, I snipped off some hair from a dead Family member who had had a haircut already and delivered it to Kuroe-sama. Part of the reason was also the fact that I wanted another haircut myself.'

'All thanks to you, I was involved in a great misunderstanding.'

Kuroe's statement caused Fear a pain in her chest. I'm sorry, I'm sorry.

'...So what if we realize the deceased are members of the Family? What's the meaning in doing this?'

'Like I said earlier. I hoped you could realize for yourselves&mdash;The Family affirms curses. We are a wonderful organization who are willing to die for curses. In order to satisfy the curse of this «Cannibal Cooker» here, I asked them to die. And in order to convey our message to Fear-sama, I had them made into cube shapes. My original hope was for you all to solve the riddle using the clues I provided, so that you could realize the meaning behind our actions, to find out in a dramatic manner what sort of organization we are. I believed that only through this sense of drama, only by overcoming suffering before salvation to reach the truth, could you all truly experience how wonderful we are.'

After Alice finished, Kirika's bitter voice sliced through the air:

'I can't understand a thing you're saying, but let me ask you, that curse... Is there a connection to the fact that parts of the victims' bodies were removed?"

'Yes, the curse of this «Cannibal Cooker» is quite simple. It simply compels one to kill and eat people.'

'Eat...!'

Haruaki was rendered speechless.

'I only used it for the first time after coming here... But it's not very tasty actually, oh? Perhaps limited by how the news is reported, none of these details came out very well, which is partially responsible for the failure. This country feels like it was cultivated in a sterile environment, how troubling.'

Fear bit her lower lip hard. The damage to the corpses was completely unrelated to Kuroe's consumption of hair. Everything came about only because this woman and the Bivorio Family were too abnormal&mdash;

Now that Fear understood, the answer was simple. To have been manipulated so easily, she really was incompetent, how frustrating, too embarrassing&mdash;Fear felt her anger rising.

'...Okay, Fear-sama, you now understand the Family's position and the current situation, yes? Once you make a decision, please come to the location indicated on the enclosed map. I won't ask you to come alone. Similarly, I hope the glasses-wearing girl can also become family. You two may come together&mdash;Plus Kuroe-sama, I really would not mind if all three of you joined us at the same time.'

"I refuse. Indeed, I refuse. What am I thinking right now? Nothing but to make you regret the ridiculous acts you have perpetrated... This is truly all that I am feeling right now."

Konoha was murmuring in a terrifying voice, her hand still adjusting her glasses without pause.

Then the video letter ended and the screen turned dark.

Fear took a deep breath. Although she was completely at odds with Cow Tits here, only at the current moment did she feel that their minds were in complete agreement.

"When do we leave?"

"Any time."

The Japanese sword answered immediately. Had she been the one to ask first, Fear would have instantly replied the same.

Konoha stood up, her face resembling the expression Fear had seen in the night forest before&mdash;A cruel and merciless aura.

Ah... I get it. I can understand what she's feeling.

Fear felt the same way&mdash;and was desperately suppressing this anger.

She really wanted to get there earlier. To reach that guy's side as quickly as possible.

But before the that, something apparently had to be done first.

Something needed to be settled first.

"Hey, Cow Tits..."

Just as Fear spoke up&mdash;

There was a great noise from the entryway. It only sounded for an instant.

Fear and Konoha looked at each other for an instant before springing into action, rushing out of the living room.

A few mere steps were enough to reveal the reason for the noise. Completely unexpected&mdash;Whether considered as good news or bad.


Kirika was lying collapsed at the entrance, all covered in blood.