Editing CubexCursedxCurious:Volume15 Chapter2 (section)

===Part 4===

"The timing is too perfect... You guys must be responsible!"

"No no no, I really have no idea."

While listening to the exchange between Fear and Pendragon, the group dashed to the beach first. Ganon, Shiraho, Sovereignty, Chihaya and the others stayed behind to watch the villa whereas the superintendent and Honatsu, who had remained silent all this time, followed.

Soon they found the source of the commotion. A crowd was gathered on an unpaved path made by tire tracks leading to a plaza near the beach for camping purposes. After pushing through the crowd of bystanders, they went up closer&mdash;

"Oh&mdash;My apologies but I'll be staying away for now. Kotetsu, you come with me too."

"...Yes."

Konoha and Kotetsu gave up making their way to the center of the crowd, distancing themselves and looking away. In other words&mdash;At the center of the crowd, a man could be seen in beach pants along with reddish brown stains splattered on the soil.

Seeing a lifeguard standing by the victim, unsure what to do, Zenon and Kuroe went up with a first aid kit and declared they were willing to bandage the wounded man. Putting aside Kuroe who was dressed in a school swimsuit, Zenon was calm and composed, greatly inspiring others with a sense of security. The lifeguard kept nodding and agreed to let them help. Hence, holding the medical kit they had brought from the villa, they took out things like bandages to start treating the wounded victim. Of course, Kuroe secretly placed her own hair under the bandages.

"The wound is on the arm huh... Although the bleeding is serious, his life doesn't seem to be in danger. But this is truly an absolutely ridiculous situation."

"I'm relieved. What on earth happened..."

It was impossible to question the victim himself in the current circumstances, hence, Haruaki and the others first walked out of the crowd surrounding the man then told Konoha and Kotetsu, who were waiting on the side, that the man's life was not in danger.

Arms crossed, Fear glared viciously at the suspects and said:

"I'll say this again. The timing's too perfect. This wouldn't be your goal, would it?"

"I'll say this again too, I really have no idea. It'd be troublesome if you guys got the wrong idea, so I already gave orders that no one as to leave Dragon Island while I was here... But just in case, let me check. Riko, cellphone."

"Get it yourself~"

Despite saying that, she still reached out while clinging to his arm, rummaging through his pants pocket to take out his cellphone. Glancing at the fleet on the sea, Pendragon operated the phone and pressed it against his ear.

"Therese? You should have a good idea of our members' movements to a certain extent, right? Let me ask a question, did anyone act without permission after I came here?"

'...'

The other side answered something. "Yeah, I thought so." Pendragon spoke quietly and quickly hung up.

"My rule is that members are personally free to defy the Commander's orders. But of course, there's one condition&mdash;They must prepare themselves. For example, just like how Nirushaaki prepared for a duel against me."

He grinned proudly and said:

"So in my view, I'm actually hoping for someone to disobey, but unfortunately, this doesn't seem to be the case. None of my subordinates acted on their own."

Hearing that, the superintendent suddenly relaxed his tense shoulders and said:

"So, can you guarantee that this phantom slasher is absolutely unrelated to your side?"

"To be honest, there were a few members who had entered this country a while ago. Right now, there's one team who could have come to this area, but they have no reason to hurt people randomly. After all, the curse requires her to lock people up in order to replenish life force."

"No way, are you talking about Satsuko and Fourteen?"


"You know them? Their progress has kind of stalled lately, but they do have promising talent... Anyway, it's possible they might have come running nearby to greet me, so let me try calling. Let me see~ Ontenzaki, Ontenzaki... Huh? How can it not be here? Oh right, the name I put down was Squishy-ko instead. Despite being so tiny in size, I never thought her waist would be so&mdash;

"Ah! I can't believe you're recalling memories that you shouldn't!"

While Riko kept hammering his head, Pendragon took out the cellphone he was just about to put away, then tapped the buttons. He pressed the phone to his ear but the other side did not pick up instantly. After roughly ten seconds, finally&mdash;

"Hi, it's me. Where are you two?"

Pendragon's lips went "oh~" once he heard the other side's answer.

Then immediately, he took the cellphone away from his lips slightly and grinned suggestively at Haruaki's group.

"Bingo! They're apparently tailing the phantom slasher as we speak... What do we do?"



Leaving behind Kuroe and Zenon, who were treating the victim, as well as the superintendent and Honatsu, Haruaki and company began to run as fast as they could. The superintendent had stayed behind because once the ambulance called by the lifeguard arrived, the commotion was going to spread further, thus depending on the situation, certain strings may need to be pulled with regard to the authorities.  As for Honatsu... No idea. He looked like he was trying to assist the superintendent but it was possible that he simply did not like running. No, before that, Haruaki had felt that Honatsu was keeping his distance from Pendragon and the Draconians the whole time, trying to avoid contact as much as possible&mdash;

"Muu!"

Hearing Fear groan, Haruaki looked up to see a familiar petite figure ahead. Dressed in a sailor-style school uniform with a waist pouch and hair styled into buns as usual, it was Ontenzaki Satsuko.

"It's just ahead not too far away. Let's talk while walking."

The destination was apparently farther. The group slowed down temporarily before speeding up after Satsuko joined them.

The place they were running towards was somewhere in the mountains after taking a turn directly from the path where the slasher incident had taken place. With many trees surrounding them and a narrow asphalt path underfoot, rather than a road for vehicles, it seemed more like a walking trail for tourists to admire the scenery. As one would expect in summer, the sea was more popular than the mountains, right? Anyway, the place was completely deserted.

"Umm... H-Hello again, Commander."

"Hi, Squishy-ko. Are you squishy today too? If there's time later, perhaps we can have a bit of squishy-ing after so long."

"Y-Yes... If there's time... Sure..."

Satsuko looked down with her face red in embarrassment. Riko bared her fangs savagely again.

"I've never heard 'squishying' as a verb! What are you trying to do!? Something dirty? It must be something dirty, right!?"

Running alongside Haruaki, Konoha sighed in exasperation.

"These people are so noisy..."

"Agreed. We're approaching the phantom slasher, so I hope everyone could be slightly more quiet."

"I agree with the shameless brat too. Also, Satsuko."

"Yes?"

"You two wouldn't be interested if this was just an ordinary phantom slasher, right? To start tailing without hesitation&mdash;Is it because you noticed ''it's someone involved in our circles''?"

Hearing Fear say that, Satsuko smiled and replied:

"As expected of you, Fear-san, what an astute observation! Fourt was the one who said: 'There appears to be a presence from some kind of curse.' Then almost at the same time, we heard a scream and rushed over to have a look, then we saw someone injured and a very clearly suspicious person holding a weapon. It really was obvious from first sight that the perpetrator had attacked the victim with that weapon. And lately, Satsuko has been looking for a weapon, wondering if that weapon might be worth a try to see if it's usable~ So we chased&mdash;"

"Meaning that you intend to steal the weapon by seizing the right moment? Seriously, you're still incurable... By the way, are you that desperate for a weapon?"

"Yes, weak little Satsuko definitely still needs a weapon in order to become stronger~ Or rather, this is partially because of you guys, Fear-san~ After losing to you last time, you took away all of Satsuko's weapons and it's been hard to replace them with Wathes on the same level. Satsuko really had a tough time... Oh dear, however, it is evident that someone like Satsuko can't easily get a hold of good tools, what with poor luck, short height and being so weak, with a stout-waisted figure too."

Satsuko nodded seriously for one moment, pouted the next and went gloomy for another, a multitude of facial expressions changing rapidly. Fear went hmph.

"Who cares about you! So, what does that weird weapon look like?"

"Umm&mdash;Oh, rather than have someone like Satsuko explain, Satsuko thinks that it's faster if you see it for yourself. Looks like we're almost there too."

At this moment, a girl in a cape silently descended in front of them. Fourteen. She had probably been following the phantom slasher closely in Satsuko's place just now. Throwing a glance at the group, she said:

"Just around the corner, walking calmly and confidently."

"Yes! Don't let the culprit escape!"

Fear finally accelerated with momentum like a runaway car that was challenging a mountain peak, turning around the corner that Fourteen had indicated.

The right hand side was a concrete reinforced slope while the left hand side was a not particularly sturdy guardrail. Up ahead was the lower part of the slope where trees were growing. Visibility wa fairly open with the sparkling sea surface in view past the foliage.

The person walking along the center of this deserted path looked back without hurrying. Haruaki caught his breath while taking a gulp.

"That's...!"

"The phantom slasher? Ha, definitely looking very weird."

Fear was right. There were two suspicious points at first glance. One was the spear in the person's hand. Without any particularly glamorous ornaments or design, it was a spear consisting of a straight shaft and a sharp tip. The person holding this spear was most likely female. One could not say for sure because the person's face was obscured behind a helmet resembling a visor, leaving only the cheeks and mouth visible&mdash;Naturally, this was the second suspicious point.

Apart from that, she was wearing clothing providing ease of movement, but it was no ordinary outfit because it definitely gave the impression that the wearer was dressed that way while conscious of "battle." It looked somewhat like armor, an outfit that was halfway between light armor and fabric-based clothing.

Turning her helmet towards them, she appeared to exhale.

"Fear-in-Cube huh... I found you a bit too quickly. That said, it was originally just a matter of time in the first place."

"To think you know my name, you are involved in this world as expected."

Fear frowned and muttered whereas Konoha yelled with a furrowed brow:

"Why are you hurting people like a phantom slasher!? Answer me!"

"I&mdash;have no obligation to answer."

"Either way, it must be related to some curse, right? Absolutely ridiculous. Also, allow me to confirm one matter&mdash;"

Saying that, Kirika glanced behind her. As could be expected of someone along the path of strength pursuit, Pendragon was not breathing hard at all. Shrugging his shoulder with Riko attached, he said:

"Let me clarify beforehand, I don't know her. She's not one of our members... Right?"

"Correct. Satsuko doesn't know that person."

"A single 'agreed' is enough to explain it all."

Pendragon threw the question at Satsuko and Fourteen who nodded readily. "I have never seen her either." Kotetsu testified as well. In that case&mdash;

"I'm quite bothered by that outfit that looks like armor. Speaking of armor, you'd think of knights. Are you from the Knights Dominion?"

Fear jumped to conclusions based on appearances without thinking, but unexpectedly, the other side admitted it readily.

"Indeed, I am part of the mission to sweep this world clean of all cursed tools."


"What bold words. Still, I wish you'd announce your name like a knight."

"It would be unpleasant enough to make me shudder and vomit nonstop if you lot were to call my name. However, a knight's etiquette must be upheld&mdash;just call me Sleif."

"Slave... huh? That's quite a lowly name for a knight."

"...Think whatever you want. Indeed it is so."
[[image:C3 15-135.jpg|thumb]]

Due to the helmet covering her eyes like a visor, her expression could not be seen with only her cheeks and mouth visible. Just by looking at these parts of the face, one could tell that she was still calm and collected, although her lips had twisted in disgust just as claimed back when she said that hearing them call her name would displease her.

Her helmet moved slightly, thus indicating a shift in her gaze. After a period of time which felt like she was confirming something&mdash;

"The one over there... Maximilian Pendragon, I suppose...?"

"Haha~ Anyway, we're just here to watch and have no intention of taking part."

Almost at the same time as Sleif's murmuring, Pendragon explained, stuffing his hands into his pockets and swiftly retreating. Naturally, Riko, who was clinging to him, and Granaury stayed with him.

"Hmph, who knows how far you guys can be trusted... Kirika, anyway, I'm leaving Haruaki in your hands. Be careful."

"I understand."

"Don't go too crazy either, Fear!"

Fear did not respond. Staring at the opponent's spear warily, she took out her Rubik's cube from her parka's pocket and took a step forward.

"So, the one called Sleif, back to the question just now. I'll ask again, why are you hurting people?"

"Words coming from a calamity-spreading Wathe sure smell bad. The act of conversing is truly unpleasant. I shall answer only one more time&mdash;I have no obligation to answer you."

Haruaki saw Fear's face twitch then&mdash;

"Looks like there's no point in asking, after all, there can't be any respectable reason, right? I can't let you do weird things anymore, so you must be captured first! Also, whose mouth are you calling smelly? I'll curse you!"

"On the other hand, I don't really think she said that!"

As though declaring "I absolutely won't let you get away," Fear and Konoha both charged to close the distance.

"...No helping it..."

Sleif murmured. Just as Haruaki thought she was going to ready the spear in her hand, unexpectedly, she swiftly secured it behind her back. Instead, she drew a sword from a scabbard at her waist.

The blade was quite long but very slender, probably what one would call a rapier? A sword whose main purpose was for thrusts. It looked light and easy to control, but&mdash;

"Ha! Do you really think something like that can block attacks!? Mechanism No.20 slashing type, great blade form: «A Hatchet of Lingchi»!"

Fear raised the giant chopping blade up high and swung hard. Whether mass or volume, it far surpassed the enemy's weapon in these two aspects. Haruaki originally thought the result would be obvious enough but&mdash;

"What!?"

''It stopped''. With just a quiet "clang!", Sleif's rapier blocked Fear's executioner's blade. Sleif's movements were so light that even an observer like Haruaki found them bizarre. The expected heavy impact from Fear's motion seemed to have been entirely sucked into somewhere else&mdash;

"Why you little&mdash;!"

Fear renewed her spirits and raised her hatchet for a horizontal sweep. However, Sleif turned swiftly and pointing the tip down, used the rapier to block the attack. The hatchet was stopped again. The instant Fear clicked her tongue, Sleif had already withdrawn the rapier tip and retreated, proceeding to use unnaturally light movements to block Konoha's series of knifehand strikes.

"Hmm... What kind of blocking move is this? It feels truly disgusting on every impact...!"

"Disgusting? How dare you say that when you and your kind are disgusting existences... Hoo, hmm..."

Sleif began to make exhaling sounds once in a while, but due to the helmet covering her eyes, her expression still could not be read. She continued to use a slender and fragile sword to block Fear and Konoha's attacks.

"So... This is a cursed sword as well!?"

"Indeed, it is too unusual to have lasted this long without breaking. The feeling on impact is also very odd."

"Shut up, Wathes. You're rotting my ears."

Clink! Clonk! Clank! The impact sounds were faint and fragile, difficult to imagine from the crossing of blades between lethal weapons. The attacks were being blocked unnaturally. Despite the tough looking battle, Fear and Konoha did not give up.

"Ha! It's been so long since the last time I met a knight very much in the style of the Knights Dominion! Let me ask a question, do you have any connection to that woman&mdash;Lilyhowell? Are you chasing after her!?"

"Don't know. That woman is just a traitor."

"Just a traitor huh? That woman is dead, you know? Fighting Nirushaaki to a draw, she avenged her fallen comrades!"

"This I know, but it has nothing to do with me."

No connection to Lilyhowell? Haruaki was quite surprised. Given a knight from the Knights Dominion, he would have thought Lilyhowell would be the main reason. Then why had Sleif appeared here?

Just as Haruaki was thinking over these things, someone rapidly sped past him. Someone who could not hold back any longer.

"Move aside!"

"Nwah!"

Shoving Fear away, Kotetsu focused his center of gravity on his tiger claw and attacked Sleif. A straight line attack prioritizing power. However, his tiger claw did not surpass her rapier either. Kotetsu stepped back for now and clicked his tongue.

"&mdash;Muramasa-sama, pray allow me to assist you."

"Not a problem, but don't forget to spare her life."

The trio of Fear, Konoha and Kotetsu launched wave after wave of attacks. Sleif continued to retreat while taking care not to get hit, using light and nimble sword moves to block all attacks&mdash;But not once did she ever switch from defense to offense. What was she planning? Fear, Konoha and Kotetsu gradually became cautious.

Meanwhile, Sleif's weird breathing was getting increasingly frequent.

"Mmm... Ooh, kuh... Ha, ah...!"

After issuing a grunt of disdain, her breathing rhythm suddenly sped up, then as though reaching some kind of maximum, she panted especially loudly&mdash;By this point, her body finally gave some kind of reaction. A violent shake of her shoulders. Drool dripping from her slightly gaping mouth. Squeezing the inside of her thighs together.

"Guh, ah... This extent, should be enough..."

Instead of panicking from her body's reactions, she kicked the ground to back away greatly as though she had expected this from the start. But still, she was not able to secure enough distance to shake off Fear, Konoha and Kotetsu. The trio chased her relentlessly and closed in. For the first time, Sleif now showed a stance not for defense.

She raised the rapier in her hand lightly.

Although her opponents clearly had yet to enter the range of her rapier's tip, she swung downwards.

What was she doing? Haruaki's puzzlement only lasted an instant.

Even though the blade was not within range of the opponents, even though it looked like an empty swing...

It was still undoubtedly&mdash;An attack.

"W-What&mdash;!?" "Gah!" "Muramasa-sama!"

The unnaturalness of the situation was identical to how the rapier had blocked their attacks. The scene before them was contrary to "the natural conclusion based on expectations."

Unbelievably, what swung out from the rapier was a slashing mass, visible to the naked eye. It was like a spatial distortion imbued with sharpness, so large in scale and power that it was impossible to imagine that slender blade had released it. Like a large-caliber artillery shell, like a runaway train, the slashing mass flew towards Fear, Konoha and Kotetsu with powerful pressure.

Probably out of instinct, the trio instantly leaned close together and counterattacked the slicing pressure in full force. The executioner's blade, the knifehand strike, the tiger claw. Nevertheless, their power was still not enough to resist. The trio was sent flying in different directions.

(Oh no, hold on, it's even coming over here...!)

After the giant, overwhelming and tangible mass of slicing pressure knocked the trio away, it continued to fly in a straight line without slowing down, ripping apart the asphalt, chopping down trees on the roadside in its wake&mdash;

"...Riko."

"No other way, I guess~ Here I go&mdash;!"

Then Haruaki saw it. Pendragon suddenly took a step forward and extended his arm. Still clinging to his arm, Riko poked her little head out in front of his fist and chopped the air with her hand as though joking around. This action alone was enough to produce a strange "smack!" as though distorting the space, whereupon the tangible slashing attack was deflected to the side. After sweeping past Haruaki's group, it smashed into the railing behind them and disappeared in the air above the seashore.

"Ah! I never thought it'd hurt so much! Damn~ Why do I have to do this kind of thing..."

Riko shook her fist with a frown on her tiny face. Pendragon stroked her head with his other hand.

"There there, this is called in for a penny, in for a pound. You did well, Riko."

"B-But you must praise me more. It's not like it'll make me happy, but, umm, it's out of the kindess of my heart so that your efforts don't go to waste! So, uh~  I permit you to stroke slightly harder!"

Ignoring the noise on Pendragon's side, the trio of Fear, Konoha and Kotetsu landed and rolled on the ground before looking in Haruaki's direction with shock.

"Haruaki, Kirika! Are you okay!?"

"Yeah, we're... Oh."

Haruaki suddenly noticed that his body had acted on its own accord to embrace Kirika beside him by the shoulders. Her body warmth. The fragrance of her hair.

"...!"

But the instant she noticed, Kirika raised her hand and shoved Haruaki's body away lightly. After seeing her own hand's movements, Kirika's eyes wandered as though in shock. It looked like hers was a subconscious action as well.

Feeling a slight air of rejection, Haruaki was rendered speechless. For several seconds, the two of them could only stared into each other's eyes. He recalled what had happened before the current situation developed. Before Pendragon's side made their visit. His slip of the tongue under the parasol. Her feelings. What he must do, no matter what&mdash;

Kirika was the first to shift her gaze away. As though trying to hide the cause, she turned to face forward.

Looking at the asphalt ground that had been gouged and scraped violently with straight-line trail, Pendragon muttered quietly. Like a child who had found a new toy, he seemed excited, enjoying the moment.

"Haha~ What amazing power. But why didn't she use this move from the start? Does it require intense concentration? Or it needs to store up something first...? Hmm."

Meanwhile, Fear, Konoha and Kotetsu were staring with a frown at the source of the slicing.

Despite the three of them losing balance completely&mdash;the reason why the enemy had not followed up with further attacks was most likely because&mdash;

There were no remaining signs of anyone in front of them.