Editing The Unexplored Summon Blood Sign:Volume8 Chapter1 (section)

===Part 3===

The woman oozed attraction.

How attractive was she? There was a legendary story of the ''secret international meeting'' held by Government, Illegal, and Freedom in New York’s UN headquarters having to pause so a VIP from another country could have their secretary tell her to restrain her attraction before it hindered the proceedings.

To the ignorant people, she was the mysterious queen who smiled beyond a mystical veil.

To those in the know, she was an unbelievably beautiful head of state.

She had to have countless servants, but her waist-length wavy blonde hair had not been carefully woven or blow-dried, but that was probably a part of ''restraining her attraction while on official business''. Although having nothing to adorn her may have actually caused her natural glow to shine through even more.

Was it supposed to look like snow or ice?

Or maybe glass or crystal?

Assisted by the shine of her hair and skin which seemed to emit their own light, she wore a long dress colored a refreshing blue reminiscent of mint ice cream. It left her shoulders bare, but it was not very revealing overall. Nevertheless, the proportions pushing the dress out from within seemed like the ultimate form of human beauty. She wore the crown of Kingdom F’s monarch, but it did not look remotely out of place. It was made of glass and an alloy that mixed iron with a few impurities. That design was apparently meant to represent the principle on which the kingdom was built: the glory of the royals must not place any pressure on the livelihoods of their subjects.

The glass jewels that represented the kingdom’s six regions were supported by the alloy that represented the kingdom’s strength.

In the end, it was not wearing platinum or giant diamonds that made someone shine. In fact, it was the people who were afraid what people would think who felt the need to artificially increase their value with gold and jewels. A truly beautiful woman would feel no such concern. That was why they could choose whatever they wanted without feeling any restrictions. And when someone who possessed that confidence and attraction wore it, even plastic could shine like the sun. The people who went the sour grapes route and tried to forcibly find a flaw would end up disgraced, so it was said her beauty was enough to silence even the critics.

If aliens were writing an encyclopedia entry on earthlings, they might use a photo of her. But that would technically be in error. Kingdom F’s Queen Sinceria Highland’s beauty had already partially left the realm of humanity.

Going through her facial features, skin, curvy proportions, etc. would leave you with too much to list, but her most unique feature was her ears.

They were thin and long like bamboo leaves and they extended outwards.

“Oh, my, my, my. I didn’t see you here earlier, so where did you come from? If you had told me you were here, we could have spent more time together.”

She was a character from a fairy tale.

Her dress was like something from a picture book, yet it looked right at home on her.

“Boo. You say that, but you’re always so busy, mom.”

“I had a good reason to leave you with a wet nurse, but that is an issue for another time. Getting together as a family really is best.”

That ruler of a kingdom pressed her hands together in front of her large breasts, a shining locket was hanging from her neck and half buried in her cleavage, her ears twitched, and she smiled gently at them. Looking at her now showed a strange aura that seemed to combine an adult allure with a childish innocence. That may have been why everyone let their guard down around her and were dragged down into that bottomless pit.

Kyousuke ''was accustomed to inhuman beauty'', so he used that to stay in control of himself.

“The party still has another 30 minutes and everyone is waiting for the final greeting from President Toydream, but let’s enjoy this while we can.”

“Eh? It’s already ending? But I haven’t eaten anything yet!”

“Hee hee hee. To make sure you don’t gain any excess fat, avoid the fatty beef and pork or anything with too many carbs. Other than that, your mother won’t stop you. You finally got started on that figure skating program, so we have to let the Aurora Fairy do its job.”

When Shiroyama Kyousuke heard that, he silently stared at tiny Olivia.

That girl, who was lithe by any international standard, silently averted her gaze.

“Oliiiviaaa.”

“D-do you need something, Onii-chan…?”

“You had trouble zipping up your dress and said it tickled, didn’t you? Olivia Highlaaaaaand???”

As the suspect dodged the persistent old police detective’s questioning, Sinceria placed a hand over her mouth and laughed.

When a vessel ended their contract, they would lose their memories like a normal person. They would return to a normal life until they came in contact with a summoner or vessel once more.

Sinceria had once left her daughter with a wet nurse and avoided seeing her in order to keep Olivia out of any trouble related to the Summoning Ceremony until absolutely necessary, but the White Queen worshipers of Bridesmaid had messed that up. Now she had no need to hide her love for her daughter.

At least there was one positive side to killing the Queen in Houbi Village.

That was how he had to view this.

“Anyway, Via, this is the Cruise Fest tour, so the events are divided up into short time blocks so no one stays in one place for too long. In exchange, they have a breakfast, lunch, dinner, and even teatime scheduled. This is a bit of a late breakfast, so let’s hope lunchtime works out better for us.”

The Highland family had produced female vessels for generations. Whenever a powerful summoner was found within their knights, they would bind a contract with them to ensure the maximum performance in defending the kingdom, even if that meant wasting a chance at reaching Award 1000. A lot was unknown about what changes and side effects occurred when a vessel bound new contracts over and over, but Queen Sinceria was the greatest example of that. (Perhaps even more so than Isabelle who had been forced to repeatedly bind contracts according to certain rules to artificially break her soul.) She had bound so many contracts that the structure of her body was gradually changing and she was obtaining an inhuman beauty.

Kyousuke breathed a heavy sigh and shaped his hand like a bowl to grab Olivia’s small head as she tried to rush toward the mountain of food.

“…What brings you to this event, Your Majesty?”

“There is no need to be so formal. If you marry Via, you will be a royal just like us, so feel free to treat me like your own mother. Hee hee hee. Yes, think of me as a beautiful, kind, and somewhat defenseless mother-in-law♪”

Kyousuke sighed again. He had been pivotal in ending Kingdom F’s civil war, so she may have wanted to bring him into their bloodline so they could call it a victory for the royal family, but like a true ruler, she was acting like it was already a done deal. She gave no thought to his circumstances…or rather, she saw it as the greatest possible promotion in life, so she saw no reason for him to decline. It was the same unbeatable joker played by Cinderella or Snow White to live happily ever after.

No.

Kyousuke’s self-analysis told him he may have simply not known how to handle the strange tolerance of a somewhat careless adult woman.

…Because it reminded him of someone who had vanished at the Queen’s Miniature Garden.

Sinceria placed a slender hand on Kyousuke’s chest and leaned toward him while making sure not to get in the way of her daughter who was clinging to his side.

“(Yes, and if waiting until Via has grown is too much for you, her mother can play that role in the meantime. Yes, as a mother-in-law who is generally perfect but just can’t leave some things alone♪)”

“Your Majesty.”

“Hee hee hee. You can always use me as a sign of what Via’s future holds and be honest with your desires. The world of royalty is still rife with complex family trees and concubine systems in this day and age, so you can leave the standards of commoners behind. …Oh, no. This looks like trouble.”

As Olivia stared blankly, Sinceria stepped away from him like a pendulum swinging back. A moment later, the crowd parted and a new person stepped up. She looked a little older than Kyousuke, so about college aged. The beautiful woman had red hair that fell to her shoulder blades, thin-framed glasses, an athletically-fit build, and an intellectual atmosphere. …However, she wore a white blouse and longish wine red tight skirt with old-fashioned silver armor in places, so it all looked like a strange suite of armor.

The knight with a J-shaped metal staff at her hip had to be trained in etiquette since she was attending this diplomatic function, but she pointed straight at Kyousuke’s nose with an index finger covered in jointed metal.

“You ''again'', foolish mercenary!? You may be the hero who ended our civil war, but stop milking that one good deed for all it is worth! Know some shame and your place, you fool!!”

“Now, now, Rachel. Keep this up, and this will turn into a new type of badger game. Even if normal people forget all about us, ''we'' are the representative of Kingdom F and we must keep up appearances.”

“…My queen, did you just confess that you were flirting with this nobody so blatantly that people would suspect it was a type of financial scam?”

Sinceria cleared her throat and faced the other way. Mother and daughter were much alike here.

Rachel Wormwood was the current summoner contracted with Sinceria. That meant she was Government Award 913 and held the position of the strongest of Kingdom F’s knights. Wormwood was an old poisonous plant that’s name could be found in the book of Revelation. As that name suggested, it was possible her family had not begun as knights. She may have come from a line of witches who had assisted the ancient knights who founded Kingdom F. That would explain how they had entered the world of the Summoning Ceremony.

Meanwhile, Sinceria was not going to remain quiet after what happened. While still facing the other way, she placed her index finger on her slender chin and her long ears twitched more than necessary.

“Hmm. But it seems Kyousuke has a contract with Via now, so I wish the two of you could be more friendly. You know, as the two summoners who protect members of the same royal family.”

“And I am saying that very contract is a sign of his insolence!! There is a second and third ranked member of our knights and they all swallowed their tears when giving up the opportunity for a contract. So how can this outsider waltz in and gain a royal contract with no effort whatsoever!? Hmph!!”

“But merit is everything for the knights, isn’t it? Rachel, you make it sound like you alone are safe, but if you don’t put in more of an effort than Kyousuke, I will choose him for my contract instead.”

“Kh.”

Rachel’s slender shoulders jumped like a scolded child’s. Every single Kingdom F knight knew the severity and cruelty of that decision. Even the knight who had married the queen and had a child with her had been kicked out when he lost the position of the strongest. That was not to say there had been no love there. The locket at Sinceria’s chest contained a photo of that three-person family and she adored her daughter Olivia. But to protect their kingdom, she had to demand top performance from the person standing by her side. The final defense for their people had to be the very best, not just the second or third best. The queen was not so weak that she would allow her personal feelings to influence that system.

Many knights had torn apart that royal family and created a deep rift between them.

And Rachel was the latest part of that.

Whatever she thought in her heart of hearts, Sinceria had smiled and accepted this female knight. So she would surely accept the next knight just as readily. No matter what emotions roiled in her chest.

However.

Kyousuke hung his head even more than Rachel and a dark shadow fell over his face.

“(Please stop doing that. I don’t like being used as a threat to motivate someone.)”

“(Hee hee hee. Rachel is cute and skilled, but I know from experience that they will grow rusty if they lack an obvious rival. Please help me keep Kingdom F’s strongest sword sharp.)”

…In other words, she did not dislike Rachel.

After straightforwardly training to build up her strength, Rachel had no need to feel bad about what had happened to her queen’s husband. The wife had followed the system and the husband had failed to maintain his position as the strongest. It would be insensitive for anyone else to interfere in an attempt to change that outcome.

In fact, Sinceria liked Rachel enough to drag her around on official and personal trips across the globe. That was why Sinceria wanted to protect this contract in any way she could. But without bending the strict rules. Rachel had taken the top spot among the knights, but Sinceria did not want her to stop there.

Kyousuke sighed.

“Now, Your Majesty, we have gotten off topic, but would you be willing to tell me why you are-…?”

“Not so fast, mercenary. How dare you speak like that to my queen? Have you forgotten how very, very, very, very, very, very bitter we knights are that you keep going over our heads?”

Rachel spoke in a low voice and finally drew the staff from her hip.

The end extended like a special police baton.

The nearly 2m silver rod was a Blood-Sign for the Summoning Ceremony. The J-shaped end suggested it was based on a battle hook that was used to grab at an armored enemy knight’s neck or shoulders to knock them down or drag them off their horse. Choosing definite results over valueless decoration told Kyousuke this was the weapon of someone who had to protect their queen and did not see failure as an option. That was a perfect match for Rachel herself, so he quite liked the weapon choice.

But Sinceria sighed and gave a comment of her own.

“Oh, how disappointing.”

“Gh!? M-my queen, what was that sigh for?”

“What a disappointing knight. It could have been a sword or a spear, but you go for a battle hook? Weren’t those popular as a light weapon for revolting peasants who could not master the complex form of a halberd? Doesn’t that mean a rebellious ideology has influenced Kingdom F’s final shield into wielding a friend of the spade and the hoe? …It just seems so unrefined.”

“N-no. This has grown into a truly practical weapon!!”

“Uheh. You sound like one of those historians who have forgotten all about the romance and excitedly argue that a spiked metal ball on the end of a stick is more effective than a sword or spear against someone in full armor. It’s just so…sigh. Well, if that’s your preference, I won’t stop you. Tch. I’ve also heard that the White Queen was killed, so maybe the world really is ending…”

“D-dammit, this is all your fault, foolish mercenary!!”

Rachel panicked and completely ignored cause-and-effect in her accusation.

Her long J-shaped metal rod must not have been as obvious a weapon as a blade or gun because the normal people in the party hall only gave them curious looks. They may have thought it was a specialized tool used to open a manhole cover or to remove the simple awning over a café entrance.

And another trial awaited her.

“Hmm. If you don’t like Onii-chan going over your head, Rachel, then surely ''you’ll'' explain everything. So give a simple and thorough explanation! For Onii-chan!!”

“Nghhh!?”

Olivia smiled and used her two extra sentences to drive further knives into Rachel’s side, so the woman doubled over. Something must have broken when she did so because the battle hook visibly shrunk. The disappointing knight was trembling as she tried to bear with it, but then Sinceria gave a wicked smile and intentionally continued the attack. No, it may have been the merciful finishing blow to a servant writhing in pain on the battlefield. It was psychological euthanasia.

“My, my. That would save me a lot of effort♪ Rachel, you really are an excellent and faithful servant. So will you please do that? You will be speaking in our place, so make sure you avoid any filthy language that would damage the reputation of Kingdom F’s queen.”

“…Sinceria…my queen…”

“A mistake here would be an insult to the kingdom as a whole. That would require a greater punishment than when I tease you in bed, so keep that in mind.”

The mother seemed to have casually mentioned something shocking, but Kyousuke decided to take that secret with him to the grave. Quite a few of Japan’s Warring States commanders had participated in homosexual acts, but there was a theory that had less to do with preference and more to do with avoiding the risk of inheritance issues if mistakes were made in a casual relationship with the opposite sex. So could this queen be doing something similar…?

Rachel suppressed tears behind her intellectual glasses, bent her mouth into a lopsided frown, and glared at Kyousuke with all her might while her athletically-fit body trembled.

“…This is a request from my queen. It breaks my heart to do so, foolish-…”

“''Raaaachel?''”

“Allow me to provide a sincere and whole-hearted explanation!! Ask me whatever you like!!”

She straightened up and saluted.

Kyousuke felt somber, but…

“Then let me ask again. I would like to know what Kingdom F royalty is doing on this ship. Since you are also a summoner and a vessel…could it have to do with ''that'' side of things?”

The Toy Dream Company was doing some unnatural things and trying to spread videos that created an argument for war. The development codename was Blue Film.

Lu Niang Lan of Illegal had suggested this was a result of the chaos following the White Queen’s death and that professional summoners might appear along with the ship’s normal security.

“Is that extremely contradictory statement meant to test me? I see you are as insolent as ever. If it would not place a shadow on my queen’s countenance, I would purge you on the spot. In fact, it is a failure on my part that I cannot.”

She simply could not hide her true character. Rachel was already irritated and tapping her armored fingers against the battle hook she had returned to her hip.

“Hmph. Count yourself lucky as you listen, mongrel. If you are that ignorant, I will remind you. In addition to creating original children’s stories, Toy Dream has accumulated their massive fortune by making films out of their new interpretations of existing picture books and old stories. The royal palaces and silver mountains they have depicted were based on our picturesque Kingdom F. I am willing to praise their eye for aesthetics, but that is a problem in this case.”

“Oh, I get it…”

“The Blue Film they are creating to push for war is a laughable bluff about a mineral vein being blackened by chemical fertilizer created from old shells, but they have used elements of Kingdom F in its creation. ''It depicts a kingdom torn apart by civil war''. Thinking of the heroes who lost their lives in that conflict is enough reason to feel resentful of that, but the Silver Resource War they are supporting will take place in Eastern Europe and they have set the stage for the flames to first fall on our Kingdom F. We will be placed in the nonsensical category of the East Europe Axis.” Rachel spat out the words. “Once war breaks out, we will take direct damage and also have an influx of refugees from the surrounding countries. Not only are they taking advantage of our old wounds, but they are also seeking further bloodshed. That is a clear insult to our kingdom. It is unclear how much Toy Dream is being manipulated here, but it is only natural for the queen who protects all our people to be concerned.”

Of course, the monarch could not immediately take action just because she was worried.

They carried the weight of an entire kingdom on their backs.

Kyousuke looked like he had figured it out.

“So has your kingdom’s intelligence agency already taken action? They have already gathered what intelligence they can and you are using your diplomatic privileges to fill in the leftover blanks? …You can slip right past normal guards since they’ll forget all about you and you can question anyone you want with the full authority of a head of state.”

“Wait. I must make a correction, mercenary. Our righteous and orderly Kingdom F has a proper order of knights, not a pack of filthy rats. What you refer to is not a public agency with a history and traditions born of a monarchy; it is more like a civilian think tank created by modern capitalism. Hmph. Learn something, you ignorant and pathetic nobody. It irritates me to no end that you would make such a careless misunderstanding in my queen’s presence.”

…Whatever the system, what they had to do was the same, but every country had their unique issues, like how Japan could not refer to their patrol boats and escort ships as “warships”. It would be crass to press the issue.

The modern knight placed a hand on her hip.

“We plan to meet directly with President Toydream and determine his true intentions, but since you are here, I can only assume you have your own foolish plan. Hmph. If you intend to sneak around like the mercenary you are, then I will share one piece of information with you.”

The knight breathed from her shapely nose and diligently did her duty despite how irritated she was. She pulled a notepad from behind her breastplate and showed him a photograph contained within.

“As a knight, I cannot publicly recognize my connection with you, so I cannot actually give this to you. Memorize the face here and now.”

“…That won’t be necessary.”

“Hmph. I should have known a mercenary would know some unsavory people.”

Rachel gave a snort of laughter and flicked her armored finger at the center of the photo.

“Illegal Award 999, War Criminal. This summoner stands at the top of one of the three major powers. And rumor has it that he is far in the lead ''when only looking at the number of people he has personally killed.'' He is the ultimate criminal. He has reached a level where an individual’s actions can be seen as a war.”

“…”

“I see. Looking at it that way, this summoner is the exact opposite of you, the king of not killing.”

He silently denied that.

No matter what nice excuses he might make, Shiroyama Kyousuke was probably history’s greatest killer ''when looking at the number of people he had indirectly killed.'' He had not forgotten everything that began with the Queen’s Miniature Garden.

Whether she realized that or not, Rachel stole a glance at his face.

“His profile says he ''adores the White Queen’s destructive power'' rather than her beauty or charisma, but who knows if that is true. Hmph. You have a bizarre history for a nobody, so I am guessing that look on your face means you have met him before.”

“…You could say that.”

That short answer held great meaning.

Kyousuke had supposedly taken out that summoner in a surprise attack five different times. But each time, the summoner had fallen from a dam, been swallowed up in a blazing abandoned factory, or otherwise ''caused even more damage than Kyousuke had expected'' and gone missing. Kyousuke had always lost track of him, so he had failed to force him to retire by taking an eye or an arm that were even more precious to a summoner than their life. And he had since been confirmed to have resumed his criminal activities all over the world. Kyousuke knew Lu Niang Lan had to be aware of it, but his view of the underworld was very different from that modified China dress beauty, so he could predict that she may have been silently accepting the other summoner’s actions.

Would he perform another vanishing act?

Or had the Queen’s death shaken him enough to fight to the very end?

Death always failed to fix War Criminal and Kyousuke would not change either.

“When he gets going, he’ll kill enemy and ally alike, so he cannot work as a group with Illegal as a whole. Mercenary, hmph, that is good news for you.”

That was what it meant for him to fight a war as an individual.

The top of Illegal did not wage war with a large army at his command. He himself was the phenomenon of war and he would bare his fangs against all forms of life within his reach. Once he got started, he would not discriminate between his own army and the enemy army. In a way, he was even more troublesome than Elvast Toydream, the former king of Government. There was still a possibility of War Criminal himself making an appearance, but since nothing he said could get Illegal as a whole to put in an effort, he could not really be taken at his word.

…This new generation of leaders left a bitter taste in Kyousuke’s mouth.

The leaders of the three major powers he had seen at the Queen’s Miniature Garden had been very different from the current ones.

Illegal Award 999, War Criminal.

That ruler of evil was always protected by as many bodyguards as a national president, but everyone knew they were essentially a suicide squad. He went through allies faster than anyone else. When that berserker awoke, it was every man for himself.

Illegal as a whole saw him as a thorn in their side and may have even hoped Kyousuke’s attempts against their leader would succeed. That would explain why there had been no major attempts to retaliate.

Rachel sounded exasperated, either toward Kyousuke or that moral failure.

“Well, because he is so well known, this could be a false report, but there have been scattered sightings of him. We do not know just how deeply this War Criminal is involved in all this. Hmph. But be careful if you face him here. It does not matter one whit to me if you two opposites clash, but do not forget that Princess Olivia, the future ruler of our kingdom, stands by your side. If you allow her to shed a single drop of blood, I will remove your head. Listen, I, Rachel Wormwood, will follow through on that threat, so keep that in mind. Prioritize the princess’s safety over your own silly principles. I am telling you to ''ensure her safety by killing when you have the chance to kill''. Surely even a fool like you can understand that, right?”

Kyousuke did not nod or shake his head. He instead lost himself in thought.

He muttered under his breath to work through the information he had.

“…I see. If he is a gore lover who was attracted to the Queen’s violence above all, then he would find it difficult to accept her death or defeat. It’s like having an unbeatable monster that chases people around with an axe, but then it’s killed by a hail of gunfire. His options are to find a way to prove the White Queen’s superiority or to side with the Colorless Little Girl who killed her. It would make sense for War Criminal to have been shaken by this turning point.”

“That’s enough of that.”

With a gentle smile on her face, Sinceria clapped her hands together in front of her large chest.

The silver locket buried in her cleavage shined brightly.

“We have shared most of our information now, haven’t we? Kyousuke, I assume you know since you infiltrated the ship instead of blowing it up from outside, but there are a lot of unrelated tourists and crewmembers onboard. Keep that in mind when arriving at a solution to the problem.”

“…What kind of person do you think I am, Your Majesty?”

“Oh? I actually find it unusual for the Kyousuke I know to hold back against the enemy. During our civil war, you used the Summoning Ceremony to take out a guard unit’s laser railway gun and then used that to shoot down the Repliglass aerial aircraft carriers flying above the capital. And while ensuring they could all make an emergency landing, of course.”

“They may have fallen into enemy hands, but all of that was Kingdom F equipment! You were overlooked due to my queen’s kindness, but when counting the aircraft inside, each of those aerial aircraft carriers should have earned you a bill of 300 billion. And I am not talking about your yen here. I am talking about the euros trusted the world over! Oh, this foolish boy. Hmph. Whatever your principles might be, you take things too far!!”

Kyousuke could not stop coughing even though he did not have allergies.

That was a different issue from the one here, so Kyousuke had to do his best to change the subject.

“Anyway, Your Majesty. Kingdom F’s official name is the Flanguild Permanently Neutral Kingdom, is it not? You seem to, um, have an awfully large stockpile of weapons for a name like that.”

“Do not be silly. My queen has no need to defend herself here. Permanent neutrality does not mean that we will suicidally put up no resistance. It means we will not instigate an attack ourselves. If another country makes a military strike on our noble Kingdom F, we have not just the knights but also a universal conscription system for the rest of our citizens. Career soldiers who are always whining about money and people who refuse to fight to defend their country are not patriots.”

“Um, uh, it is nothing as strict as that,” said Sinceria. “As their queen, we have attempted to refuse, but they insist on protecting the kingdom and the royal family, so the universal conscription system is not actually written into law… And the Repliglass weaponry is not a product of our kingdom. Even after the eastern powers were broken apart by the Warsaw Pact as a NATO vanguard, America still wanted a deterrent against those eastern powers that wished to gain influence over the Western economies, so they pressured us to buy those weapons. No, it would be more accurate to say we are renting them. Possessing too many weapons causes the surrounding countries to view us as a threat, so it can be a pain to deal with. Honestly… And when Quad Motors sensed the approaching war, they stopped all maintenance and returned to their home country early, so none of them are functioning properly. They are entirely useless to us.”

“This always happens… This is why you can’t trust outsiders!! They are all such cowardly nobodies. Hmph. And that of course includes you, foolish mercenary!!”

“If we really are ‘nobodies’, should you really be getting so worked up over us?”

“Wait…you…why must you always catch me off guard and make a fool of me in front of my queen? Kiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!!”

Doing everything perfectly was not always a good thing. Kyousuke had apparently changed the subject too far.

The sexy blonde woman separated her hands in front of her large chest and held out her palms to soothe the overly-serious glasses knight.

“Calm down, Rachel. You did well, so stand back for now. Even if you are both summoners who protect the royal family, if you keep showing off how well you get along, you might trigger an explosion of royal jealousy.”

“Wha-…my queen! Please avoid making such careless statements in public. No one can read your mind, so such jokes will lead to misunderstandings!!”

“I was not talking about myself. Via is pouting her lips and looking more and more displeased.”

“Ugh, and her purity just makes this more of a pain to deal with…!! You are mistaken, princess!! I was merely fulfilling the task given to me by the head of state!! Not for a second have I felt any kind of affinity with this filthy mercenary!!!!!”

Rachel probably could not afford to make any more casual insults.

Olivia’s cheeks were puffing out like rice cakes.

“If you say so, Miss Friendly. But I don’t care. I’m taking Onii-chan to some dark place where you and mom can’t see us. And then I’ll make sure to gain an insurmountable lead. I can get as close to Onii-chan as I want there.”

“Oh, going with them sounds like a lot more fun. I’ll let Via handle all the pure parts of the relationship, but as her mother, I will make up for the parts she can’t do yet.”

The knight directed killer intent Kyousuke’s way before he could get a word in edgewise.

She was snapping her teeth together so hard he thought sparks would fly from her canines.

“…Foolish mercenary. I hope you are not going to take that seriously.”

“Can someone please rescue me from whatever is going on here?”

“Hmph. Fine, then. You might stand by her side, but do not forget that we live in a very different world from you. Honestly. This ship is enemy territory, so I cannot just ask you to end your contract with the princess, but why does it have to be this nobody of a mercenary of all people?”

“Sit. Stay. Onii-chan, Rachel is just showing off how friendly she is, so can we get going?”

“Your words hurt me, princess…!!”

The knight clenched her fists and worked to endure the humiliation, but Olivia seemed entirely oblivious as she linked arms with Kyousuke as if to show off.

[[Image:BloodSign_v08_118.jpg|thumb]]

And then something fell from the decorative buttons on her flat chest.

It was light and the floor was carpeted, so it did not make a noise. …It could be easy to forget given the circumstances, but they had snuck aboard and Kyousuke did not want to leave anything behind. Without thinking, he reached down to pick up the dropped item, but then he froze.

It was one of those rubber products that used their thinness as a selling point.

The entire atmosphere froze.

He seriously considered trying to hide it under his foot, but when he looked up, he found that both Sinceria and Rachel had seen it. There was no time to recover from this.

“Oh, my.”

“What in the-…!? Foolish mercenary, is that…cough, cough!!!!”

Rachel started choking so badly Kyousuke began rubbing her back, but she simply glared at him.

“Foolish mercenary, allow me to ask again. Did you do this while aware what that item is for!?”

“Oh, my, my. Hee hee hee. Rachel, you take things too seriously… But I would like to hear this too. Yes, yes. I would like to hear Kyousuke himself explain it to us: what is that?”

“(No, wait. This is your time to shine, Kyousuke brain. Does the correct answer mean survival? Think carefully. What will a quick yes or no answer bring other than a pool of blood? I should base the odds of survival on that. So should I play dumb instead? Or I should I just remain silent…?)”

“Oh, my, my, my. So that’s what you’re going with? Hee hee. It seems Kyousuke the Expert is playing dumb so he can hear Rachel explain since she has already implied she knows the answer. He seems to want to see her blush and fidget while she explains the proper use of that item.”

“Foolish mercenary!!!!!!”

“You damn queen! You’re using your knight as a shield to throw oil on the fire from a position of safety, aren’t you!?”

Meanwhile, Olivia did not seem to understand the gravity of the situation. She innocently picked up the dropped item.

“Oh, ''this is the toy from the leisure room Onii-chan took me to.''”

That sounded like an excuse, but it was no excuse at all.

Every last word of it was the worst possible.

She likely did not understand how the terms “leisure room” and “toy” sounded when used together like that.

“Oh, my. Then it seems her mother won’t need to help out after all. That’s too bad, though. Even if this is probably better in the long run.”

Sinceria placed a hand over her mouth and smiled. She had to understand it had been a part of their infiltration mission, but she still poured plenty more oil on the fire.

And she did it all while feigning compassion.

“An ex post facto punishment might be unfair…”

And amid the multi-layer misunderstanding, the knight who protected Kingdom F gave one deep nod and made her announcement.

“But I believe I said I would remove your head if you allowed her to shed a single drop of blood.”