CubexCursedxCurious:Volume3 Chapter3

Chapter 3 - The Sadist Who Was Nowhere / "A gasper on the bed, or her cute secret"

Part 1

Building materials crashed down on her body. Out of the way. Out of the way. Hurry and get out of my way!

"Gu... Gaaaaaaaah!"

Manifesting her "nature" all around her body, she straightened her knees and stood up all at once. Accompanied by a cloud of dust, the surrounding timber were all sliced apart and blown away. Involuntarily, her mutterings were mixed with violent intentions.

"What a hindrance! Mere lowly sawdust—how dare such arrogant debris require me to slice them personally...!"

A-A-Ah... That's not right. I... I... The one here is... me.

"...Haruaki-kun... Haruaki-kun!"

The situation was too bleak. A dark premonition... Were that truly the ending, Konoha would seek to destroy the world completely. Such terror reawakened her past self for an instant. Using all her effort to sweep this fear aside, Konoha surveyed her surroundings.

There was nothing.

Only a collapsed abandoned house. A mountain of rubble.

"Ahhh... Ahhhhhh..."

Her heart pounded uncontrollably. Wait, no, this can't be true. So please... Definitely!

Using her hand to slice apart the timber by her feet, Konoha desperately looked for signs of Haruaki. Here, he must be here, absolutely unmistakably. So please... Ahhh... Please!

Konoha found a slightly protruding spot. He—was standing there at the time.

"Haruaki-kun, Haruaki-kun! Are you okay? Hey, answer me please!"

Digging her hands into the rubble, she kept sweeping debris aside.

But she could not find him.

There were no signs of him anywhere.

What she found was... Beneath the pile of timber, the only discovery was—

"...Eh?"

Konoha exclaimed in surprise. Indeed, over there was—simply a strange—

Ornamental bull, made of steel.

On further examination, there was a flash of silver under the bull's belly. Then as the chain of cubes connected to the bull was pulled, a silver-haired girl struggled to get up from the space between the bull and its pedestal. Then—

"...Oh, you two are fine? Thank goodness!"

A certain part of the bull opened up. Out emerged the youth whom Konoha had been searching for.

"I'm the one... Who should be saying thank goodness. I was so worried..."

Perhaps drained from the sudden relief, Konoha collapsed and sat down on the pile of rubble.

Haruaki scratched his cheek and said:

"R-Really? I'm sorry I made you worried. But... I'm also glad you're both okay. It goes both ways, I guess?"

We're both not human. How could something trivial like this threaten us? Idiot.

Konoha simply grumbled in her heart and turned her gaze away with displeasure.

Because if she were to continue gazing at his easygoing face... Watching him worry sincerely about tools—

She knew a certain something was going to flow down her cheeks.

"So, what is this? To be suddenly stuffed into this thing, I have no idea what... Is it a cow?"

"Mechanism No.24 roasting type, sculpture form: «Voices of the Brazen Bull». By itself, there's nothing dangerous right now, but once you imprison someone in it and burn firewood underneath, the iron will heat up and roast the person inside. Sealed inside, the screams sound like a bull's bellows. This form was created by referencing an invention dating back to Before Common Era..."

"Hey, Fear?"

Hmm? —Fear glanced up, looking a little out of it. She must have said all that stuff subconsciously? Her mind was already occupied with other thoughts. Indeed, it was obvious from her expression—definitely certain thoughts of a masochistic nature.

"...Anyway, thanks. I'm saved."

"No need... to thank me."

Fear replied, still in a daze, her gaze moving across the hill of rubble. She simply moved her lips and said:

"She escaped."

"Yeah. Say, did you two see what she did in the end?"

"I saw it. She simply vanished. Probably by using some sort of cursed tool's ability?"

"Such as teleportation...? Seriously, what kind of tool would be capable of doing that?"

Moreover, although it was just an abandoned house, one could not underestimate the power displayed by that hammer and butcher's cleaver in its destruction of the building with a single attack. The likelihood of it being a cursed tool was quite considerable.

"Clearly that woman could not be allowed to escape... She'll keep... again..."

Fear clenched her little fist tightly.

As if unable to forgive a certain person and unable to forgive herself as well.

As if gathering all her strength in that fist. In contrast, her gaze seemed weak and gloomy. Nothing but gloom. Haruaki felt that her gaze resembled the one he had once witnessed on a rainy rooftop some time ago.

"By the way... Isn't this cow's expression kind of stupid looking? It really calls into question the creator's aesthetic sense."

Haruaki patted the bull sculpture and grumbled.

Sh-Shut up, moron—! I'm the one who made it, so are you saying my face looks stupid!? I'll curse you!

Haruaki was hoping for this sort of response, but he never heard it no matter how long he waited.

Part 2

—Switching off the majority of the lights inside, the shop was now her personal domain.

Ningyouhara Kuroe stared at that thing.

Because it was necessary, she had no choice but to do this.

So she reached out with her hand.

Her fingertips felt a sensation they were long accustomed to. Relief—But at the same time, her heart could not help but stir.

Ahhh... In spite of that—There was a need to do this. Hence she focused her gaze on that thing.

What was that thing?

Naturally, Ningyouhara Kuroe already knew the answer.

Several grams in mass. A soft substance. A polymer made of amino acids. Trash. Treasure. One's own appearance. A woman's symbol. A crime of the past. A symbol of life. A god among humans. A vague record of time. A single filament for sorcery. A tool for business. A current necessity. A secret they do not know. And also—

—Nourishment.

Part 3

(placeholder)

Part 4

(placeholder)

Part 5

(placeholder)

Part 6

(placeholder)

Part 7

(placeholder)

Part 8

(placeholder)

Part 9

(placeholder)

Back to Chapter 2

Return to Main Page

Forward to Chapter 4