Editing Apocalypse Witch:Volume4 Chapter3 (section)

===Part 5===

He heard a whooshing sound as a crystal sword appeared in Aine’s hand. It had a short laser sniping unit on the back, making it look like jitte.

Yes, this command was devastating to Machibula Delphi.

To repeat yet again, she was fighting in this tournament because she wanted to increase the reputation of her Greek mythology magic. He didn’t know her specific situation, but she had to have some reason to defeat the crystal magic and become the new world’s strongest.

So she needed him to fight in their match.

She could avoid all the other ones by underhanded means, but if she did not defeat him in front of the cameras, it would look like she got lucky.

And Aine would unhesitatingly carry out any command given to her.

This was not his first time ordering her to cut him down. She had immediately carried out a similar command at the Crystal Beach.

If she was her normal self, she would draw her sword and strike at his neck.

But if she was being controlled by Machibula, who needed to defeat him in their match, that command would be unnaturally canceled.

And Karuta was betting on Aine swinging that crystal sword.

(If she kills me, she’s innocent. If she spares me, she’s guilty. This works as a litmus test! Of course, this only works if I can avoid the attack when she does try to obey my command!!)

The pressure squeezed at his heart.

The neck and head were more difficult targets than the torso and decapitating him in a single blow limited the paths of her blade by a lot. Or so he told himself.

He couldn’t block this with his weak barrier, but he could heal any nonlethal injury in 30 seconds. If he was willing to sacrifice an arm, would he be able to just barely dodge the initial attack? He would have to prove that Letnahe Kurent’s training had not been for nothing.

She was the greatest warrior he knew and he trusted her more than anyone. It was necessary, but now she would be attacking him. Was this what it would feel like to play Russian roulette with your favorite gun?

Utagai Karuta gulped as he waited for the moment to come.

He waited.

And he waited while sweat dripped down his temples.

“Um, Aine?”

She had drawn her sword, so that just left doing it.

This couldn’t be chalked up to it being a ridiculous command.

The quickest path to eliminating everyone’s suspicions was to swing her sword and attack him with the great force she always used.

So why was she stopping?

Why was she biting her lip and trembling like she was resisting something???

“…can’t…”

Some words escaped through her lovely lips.

“I…can’t.”

Karuta grimaced like an invisible needle was being slowly driven into the back of his head.

When things were really bad, the bad feeling only arrived once it was too late.

A scene seemed to explode into the back of his mind.

''“Sacri-sama, Sacri-sama.”

Aine had been acting odd ever since the tournament’s opening ceremony.

Had a third party already hijacked control of her back then?

''“Roger that, Sacri-tama. You can count on me.”

''No.

What if she had simply been excited about the big event?

That was back before Omotesandou Kyouka had announced the new rules given in her altered data, so what if she had been excited about fighting alongside him as his greatest trump card?

When they fought, they would watch each other’s backs and when they stepped out of the ring, he would tell her what a good job she had done.

What if that expressionless fighter had been secretly imagining that likely future?

(Oh, no.)

The impossible continued before his eyes.

Or was it rude to Aine to call it impossible?

She had woken him up in the morning and she had made some odd noises when he asked her about the towel. What had she been thinking when she let Delane dress her up without complaint? Could he be so sure it was ''only'' mechanical and efficient logic?

The girl stood there, biting her lip with the sword trembling in her hand like she was trying to resist something. She held that deadly weapon, but she also gripped her skirt in both her small hands. It was like she knew she was at a dead end, but she was too afraid to attempt the only exit.

(''That answer'' is too dangerous, Aine! Dammit, did I misread her so badly!?)

Another memory came back to him.

''“Suspect our own people? I would never do anything to harm you, Sacri-sama.”

Aine supposedly obeyed his every command.

So what could be overriding this command? Could he really claim he didn’t know? Yes. He himself had done it.

Back when she was sulking over the cat ears he had drawn on her photo.

No, it had started shortly before that.

''“Okay, Aine how about this? This is a request, not a command. I ask that we never harm each other and that we always rush to each other’s aid when we’re in trouble.”

She didn’t need to take it so seriously.

She should have forgotten about that silly promise and prioritized her own safety.

Aine wasn’t stupid. She could adapt to the situation and she could do what was needed to save herself when caught in a bind.

''“What is that, Sacri-sama?”

But Karuta had made the order.

He had told her to prove her innocence even if it meant beheading him. He was doing what he could to protect her, but how would she interpret that in relation to the non-command they had exchanged? He had upheld his end, so what would she do?

This was the answer.

''“It’s called a pinky promise. It’s a human ritual.”

She still had no expression on her face.

(You idiot.)

Clear drops dripped from that inhuman being’s mechanical eyes while she gave her answer.

(How seriously did you take that silly little promise!?)

She used her words to let go of he hand held out to help her.

“''I can’t. I cannot obey that command.''”

A gruesome sound followed.

She did not even hesitate.

Her very nature prevented her from disobeying him, so to protect the dumbass she served, she kneeled, grabbed the sword with both her hands, and drove it through her own gut to forcibly pin her small body in place.

She had said herself she would make herself useful next time.

A promise was not a command.

So if she couldn’t keep it, she could just give up on it and break it.

And yet…