Editing CubexCursedxCurious:Volume15 Chapter2 (section)

===Part 3===

"Purpose? Do you even need to ask? Of course I'm just here to see an old friend. Why else would I be here?"

This was Pendragon's answer to the question "by the way, what are you doing here?" The hosts could not think of anything to refute him, so in the end, they started to prepare tea and refreshments according to numbers present. Haruaki and the others sat down casually on the floor and received the cups.

"Oh, you're the younger of the Houjyou sisters, right? I haven't seen you for a long time too. Looks like you're still following that guy, but once you tire of him, feel free to come over to my side, I'll definitely satisfy&mdash;"

"Pray forgive my refusal."

"Ah, so loyal as always... Oh, the older sister is here too. How have you been lately?"

"...So lazy."

Ganon was lying on her side with her jaw's edge resting on one hand. The surprising thing was that she was not as lazy as claimed, from what Haruaki could see. In other words, it seemed like she was speaking without meaning it.

Pendragon grinned without making a sound. Then receiving the iced barley tea Zenono handed over, he took a sip before looking at the gas mask across him, the superintendent who was drinking through a straw.

"By the way, there's something I always wanted to say to you."

"What is it?"

"Basically&mdash;I can't believe you ran away while you're ahead! In the last ranking battle, you were second while I was third... I really resented you for that back then."

"Well&mdash;I'm truly sorry about that."

Haruaki was reminded. Christmas last year... The incident caused by Kokoro Pentangeli. In the process of resolving the incident, they had come to learn of the superintendent's past.

A former member of the Draconians. The cursed spear «Treason Piercer» whom he loved was destroyed, then he deserted. Ever since, the superintendent had worn a gas mask to hide the tattoo proving his former allegiance to the Draconians, meanwhile searching for a way to resurrect his beloved spear&mdash;

Probably in an attempt to diffuse the boring atmosphere, Fear deliberately ate rice crackers with loud crunching noises to go with her tea while saying:

"So you used to be rivals? Did you ever fight each other?"

"Yes. To be honest, I usually placed lower than him. Although he looks like an utterly broken man now, he used to be very amazing."

"Oh? Even though he's just a masked deviant now?"

"Even though he's just a masked deviant now."

"You guys are really..."

The superintendent shook his head lightly in exasperation then&mdash;

"But even though you usually placed lower than me, that was only because you hadn't found a weapon suitably matched to your own strength, right? You were using a different weapon every time I saw you, so losing was inevitable."

"Back then, yes, that's definitely correct."

"But... Things seem different now."

The superintendent crossed his hands together over the table and rested his chin on them while looking at the opposite sofa.

"Mmmfufu..."

The girl moved slowly over Pendragon, straddled his neck then nimbly straightened her back and said:

"That's right! He finally found me! I'm his absolute guardian&mdash;"

"Oh, I still haven't made introductions. This is Riko who only became mine after you left."

"Hold on! Let me introduce myself with awesomeness at least! Say, declaring so clearly that I am 'yours,' umm, that's too direct, it's embarrassing!"

Riko rubbed her fingertips together in an old-fashioned way, twisting awkwardly. Haruaki already had a rough idea by now.

"So it's just as I thought? This girl is not human..."

Hearing Haruaki, Pendragon immediately grinned and nodded.

"You're correct. As for what she is... Hmm, since we've no intention of fighting, let's keep that unmentioned for now. You guys might feel like fighting if you were to find out, perhaps?"

"Idiot, we're not like you guys. We don't care at all. So&mdash;is it the same for the one over there who looks like she could either be awake or asleep?"

"Correct/incorrect. I am like/unlike you."

"Come again?"

Still expressionless, Granaury was still entirely sunk into the sofa, speaking incomprehensible words (but definitely awake). Fear cocked her head in puzzlement upon hearing her reply.

"Oh, every sentence of hers is a pain, so don't worry about it. Just go with the feeling. The feeling is good enough. Going straight to the point, yes, she is also my partner."

"Hmph... I get it now. So you used to keep losing to the superintendent because of the gap in weaponry, but after obtaining these two, you powered up greatly to become Number One, congratulations... Is that what happened?"

"Not necessarily. More precisely, I believe that before becoming Number One, all he obtained was her&mdash;the one called Riko-kun? That's all."

The superintendent sighed beneath his gas mask before continuing:

"Because she&mdash;Granaury&mdash;''used to attend to the original Number One''."

Once these words were heard, the tension in the air became slightly stronger. However, this did not come from Haruaki's friends but from those who knew about the past. While taking care not to provoke them, Konoha commented quietly:

"Since it's a ranking system, the top will eventually get replaced... That's only natural upon further thought. In other words, the superintendent knew her from before."

"Yes, but rather than me, the one who was truly close with her was&mdash;"

"&mdash;Liz and I were coincidentally/inevitably compatible. That was all."

Granaury's eyes remained almost closed, making it impossible to tell if she was gazing forward, murmuring softly. Liz. The «Treason Piercer». The one whom the superintendent was in love with.

"Hmm. So summing up, you defeated the previous boss and acquired all his rights?"

"Yeah... Defeated huh? To be more precise, I didn't have the luxury of going easy on him&mdash;So it's better to say I killed him."

"Is that so? I guess that's true..."

The superintendent sat back, looking up slightly towards the ceiling and muttered as though to himself:

"The former Number One, the Commander&mdash;He was just an elderly man who called himself Long, meaning dragon in Chinese. He was also the founder of the Draconians. As indicated by his name, he was most likely Chinese. Specializing in physical skills under the category of martial arts, his strength was something no one could imitate, also&mdash;"

"You can also tell from his own name, right? He was quite sloppy in picking names, which is something I must bring up. Whenever he took in babies, he would only prepare a first name. This was why everyone searched for a cooler name after they grew up."

"So you mean..."

Haruaki stopped mid-sentence, swallowing his words. Naming the babies he took in. Pendragon. His past&mdash;was just like Yume's? In other words, Pendragon had killed his own foster father&mdash;

"Speaking of which, I seem to recall him teaching you something, Onee-sama? 'The Void Night Sword requires exceptional talent.' How rare of him to make that kind of comment. Were you able to master it?"

"No, because I was too lazy..."

In fact, the instant she heard Pendragon say "I killed him," Ganon's eyes seemed slightly perturbed. Using this sloppy answer as a trigger, she returned to a full-body sense of laziness. No rather than laziness, perhaps it was closer to the emptiness of self-abandonment.

Ganon switched hands and leaned on her elbow, flipping herself to the other side and whispered:

"...Really? He died? I guess..."

These women's pasts, these men's pasts. Haruaki and his friends were not privy to them, but these pasts carried definite weight. Connections of the past. Bonds of the past.

The superintendent exhaled deeply.

"I always believed this day would arrive sooner or later. But to be honest... I still find it unbelievable. I'm not doubting your ability, Max, it's just that the Long whom I knew was so overwhelmingly powerful."

"There were two reasons. The first being&mdash;"

"Me! It's all thanks to this Riko-sama helping out this weakling!"

"Yes, well said. Good, good."

"H-Ho wow... So honest. I-If only you could be like this every time, seriously."

Riko suddenly poked her head out from his shoulder. Pendragon reached out and wrapped his arm around her head while stroking her hair and rubbing his face lightly against her cheek. Riko's face went bright red while she fidgeted bashfully.

"Second reason... It's just as you say, this day would come eventually. And that time was when it happened. Naturally, I can't defeat the Long whom you knew. However, he cannot remain forever as the one you knew&mdash;So that's what happened."

The superintendent nodded lightly in comprehension.

"In other words... Old age?"

"Frankly speaking, that's what I think at least. Even someone who used to wield such overwhelming power would grow old. No one can escape old age..."

Just as Pendragon finished speaking in a calm and quiet voice, Riko straightened herself and stepped on his shoulder, presumably unhappy that his hand had stopped moving.

"However&mdash;! As long as we're here, Maximilian will be so invincible that there's no need to care about something like that! Although it's unnecessary, even Granaury has also joined our side! Going as far as to absorb the power of the previous strongest fellow, being strongest, we are truly the strongest!"

Fear placed her glass on the floor, resulting in the sound of ice cubes colliding. Then looking sharply at Pendragon's group, she said:

"Ha! Strength, strength, strength... After saying so much, in the end, it looks like you guys are also obsessed with the concept of strength. I knew it, you guys can't be trusted. You're not plotting anything weird, are you?"

"Nope. Didn't I say just now? Right now, I've no intention of fighting you guys."

Pendragon looked up. From the second-floor hallway overlooking the living room, Chihaya was observing the situation below. She frantically pulled back out of sight. Grinning, Pendragon turned his face forward.

"Wasn't sending Yume to your school evidence enough? You guys already know the purpose, right?"

"I remember it was something called the 'Nest Parasitoid Plan'? Although there are still parts I don't understand... It's some kind of plan to steal my strength, right?"

"Indeed. Although the plan went to waste due to getting hijacked by Nirushaaki, the plan itself did not include anything about fighting your side. It was simply about planting someone by your side who idolized you and possibly might grow strong because she idolized you."

"..."

"After becoming Number One, there are things I only started understanding as a result of my position. Even with a desire to become strong, simply challenging others is useless. Certain types of strength cannot be obtained if all you do is that... Ideas of this sort."

Pendragon leaned his elbow on the sofa's backrest while looking at Fear with a calm expression. Fear pursed her lips hard and took on his gaze squarely as though trying to see through his true thoughts.

Haruaki could hear Kuroe and Kirika whispering softly.

"Hmm~ As expected of the boss, his calm and collectedness is not quite the same as the small potatoes... I guess I can say that?"

"Indeed, calm composure is probably a leader's necessary trait, but the issue here is what lies beneath his calm exterior. I hope it's not terrible and despicable desire like that of a certain organization's lab chief."

Haruaki's feelings were similar. Pendragon's way of thinking was not quite the same as the Draconians they had encountered so far. This should be quite certain. The issue was whether he could be trusted.

Haruaki really wanted to believe. Neither did he want any more trouble. Pendragon was not interested in them and did not intend to fight. Coming here was just to have a reunion with the superintendent. Haruaki hoped that this would be the case from start to finish.

If only this could conclude without any problems arising&mdash;

But of course, Haruaki's thought was ultimately an unobtainable wish.

Because even though it was unclear whether Pendragon's side was involved or not, in any case, something had to be done about&mdash;

The "ordinary" major incident, which happened in the next second.

"...Muu? It seems quite noisy outside."

"Did something happen?"

Fear's silver hair shook as she spoke. Zenon went across the living room and opened the large glass door facing the beach. 

As befitting a villa's style, the glass door allowed them to walk directly to the beach from here. In other words, it connected them to the same space as all the other beachgoers.

Hence, riding upon the wind, the beachgoers' noisy commotion&mdash;

Horrifying words which were truly hard to ignore&mdash;were transmitted here.

&mdash;A phantom slasher had appeared.