MaruMA:Volume06:Chapter 2

Chapter 2

When Lord von Voltaire opened the door, light violet smoke streamed out towards him.

Anissina was fixated on some ominous froth as she stood in front of her work table waving around containers and she did not even attempt to look up at her childhood friend.

The only one to lift her head in reaction to Gwendal's presence was the girl taking refuge at the window, leaning against the glass with her arms wrapped around her knees.

"Did you find Yuuri?" she asked.

"No."

"... Oh."

She buried her face between her knees again. Even the pigtails bound on either side of her head drooped forlornly. It was already late. Did she intend to spend yet another evening in this room?

"How are you progressing?" Gwendal asked.

Lady von Karbelnikoff Anissina, one of Shin Makoku's Three Great Witches, the woman with the nickname 'The Red Devil' and who was secretly his knitting teacher, set down a flask that was on the verge of exploding as she had finally noticed Gwendal.

"How about you? No, I can tell even without you saying anything. I just need to look at the wrinkles between your eyebrows. The whereabouts of His Majesty are unknown and the reports from the search parties are unsatisfying as well."

"And on top of it all, that spoiled brat... oh, forget it. Have you gotten any further with Lord von Christ?"

"Well, you can see for yourself how things are with him."

Snow Günter still lay in his bed of powdery snow and ice. He, along with the snow rabbit between his legs, had grown even paler than before. It was a color that was closer to a real corpse instead of a body in suspended animation.

Meanwhile, the compact-size Okiku Günter was sitting on a chair narrowing her already narrow, one-fold eyelids that matched her cleanly cut, black hair even more and dangling a cigarette between her lips.

Her eyes stared blankly into the distance.

"He's stopped caring," Gwendal grumbled.

"It seems so."

"... Greta hasn't been sleeping much, has she?"

"Now that you mention it..."

When dealing with Anissina, just about everything not directly related to her experiments was referred to as 'now that you mention it.' Thinking that it would be nice if his youngest brother were here, he suddenly thinks of how Wolfram had completely taken on the role of a parent.

It will be seven days now since Lord von Bielefeld Wolfram had disappeared without permission.

"The girl is probably not getting any sleep because her father is missing," Gwendal observed.

"I have just the thing."

"Oof."

When Anissina spun around, her flaming red hair cut through the air with a snap and caught Gwendal by the chin as if she had intentionally aimed for him.

"My newest masterpiece: Slee~p Slee~p Chi~ld~."

Anissina was pulling out slightly less thick book from the bookcase packed with very thick books. It was about the same size as Lord von Christ's diary, but it seemed a bit thick for a child's book.

On the creepy-looking red and purple cover, the title 'Poison Lady Anissina and the Laboratory of Secrets' was written in ominous letters.

"... P-Poison Lady..."

Now that he's said it out loud, the picture of the cover was a woman with long red hair who was strangling several men to death.

The author was pressing the book towards Gwendal while she breathed roughly through her nose.

"Nowadays children, possibly because of their disorderly lives, simply can not sleep when night comes. Mothers around the world are wearing out their nerves trying to get their children to sleep. Even if they threaten them by saying that a Hamanage was elected at the town meeting to go around saying 'Are there any children crying? Are there any children misbehaving?' it just ends up stirring their childish, insolent intelligence and when the children find out the truth, they end up making a fuss. Lamenting this situation, what I have created to lessen the hardships of the mothers in this country is this: Sleep Sleep Children!"

"It just looks like a long picture book..."

"Calling it a picture book is absurd! Hidden behind its simple exterior, this book conceals 100% perfect magical effect. And its usage is exceedingly easy. No matter how bad a child's sleeping habits, there is a guarantee that once they read a few pages they will surrender. They will roll around in torment, lash out at the bed itself, and admit defeat! And if, against all expectations, it does not work, the item can be returned within a period of ten days."

Gwendal threw a quick glance at the back of the book. The serial number that was required for selling published products was missing.

"Ah, that is because it is not published. Naturally I have contacted the Central Literary Institute of Shin Makoku, but they misguidedly wanted to put this masterpiece of children's literature in the horror section. Unfortunately, I rejected their proposition by saying that I was operating a charity organization. Honestly, why exactly is the second installment full of gripping developments being treated like horror?"

Aha, on the back he could see the title of the first volume and introductions of the sequels.

'Poison Lady Anissina and the Patient’s Will' ... Rather than the patient's will, she's more interested in the development of majutsu and experiments, experiments and more experiments. Are you a Devil? An Ogre? Poison Lady Anissina!

'Poison Lady Anissina and the Mending of a Briefcase'... Watch out! Poison Lady Anissina is in that briefcase!

"... It seems to be a huge collection of stories to scare mazoku."

He suddenly felt rather miserable.

"Okay, now read this to Greta and that kid will fall dead asleep. Oh, that's right. If you read it, it will be even more effective. For some reason, your voice is incredibly dignified, unlike the rest of you. Children will surely be fooled by it. Densham will probably say again that he wants to make it into a recording and sell it, but... Anyway, after hearing that low voice of yours, the weak little boys will hide under their covers frozen stiff and they might even wet their pants!"

If so, rather than 'Sleep Sleep Children' it's more like 'Even Crying Children will fall Silent.'

Spurred on by Anissina's impassioned explanation of the work she took pride in, Lord von Voltaire Gwendal started to read in his unrivaled, deep voice.

'Someone had desecrated the cemetery.'

Right off the bat it was a Baaaad Omeeeen!

---

The 82 year old in the prime of youth was proud of all of his accomplishments in the past year.

He'd gotten engaged and adopted a daughter. He even overcame his picky eating habits. However...

"Ugh! Urrrrrrrrgh... bu... buaarrggh!"

He still got seasick.

"Your vomiting has become more manly since the last time we met."

Behind him was the Angel of the Battlefield and first-rate healer, Gisela, slowly rubbing his back.

What she was saying was random, but her touch was gentle and full of compassion.

"Manly? ...Urgh... I 've alwa-urgh, been a ma-uegh."

"Really?"

Two of Gisela's four companions had quickly retired to their cabins. Only the bald, middle aged soldier and his colleague with the unfriendly sanpaku eyes were on deck watching from a distance.

"Your Excellency~! Don't you want to get in line for dinner~?" called the one with the bald head.

"Don't talk about foo-urgghh!"

"It's understandable, Your Excellency. Nobles don't travel on ships like these."

Their hasty journey that His Majesty the Maou's life depended on did not leave room to be picky about the the method of transportation. Far from a luxurious tourist ship, this cargo ship was so rough around the edges it was about to start growing fur. Despite that, the passengers jammed into the tight quarters without complaint.

Meals were served twice a day meals which one had to get in a long line for with a soup bowl. There was cause to rejoice when dried meat was served and there were days when the meal was only hard bread.

Wolfram had been schooled as a military man and had spent many months doing naval exercises. But now that he looks back on it, that was simply him being 'passed off' to someone else to take care of since he was a child of the ten noble families. The training that he had thought of as severe was probably different than what the regular soldiers had gone through. He even had some experiences on real battlefields, but all had been at the rear which couldn't be considered harsh.

Up to this point, Wolfram had only looked at outward appearances and had lived a coddled and protected life.

For him, boat trips meant gorgeous banquets every night. There would be an afternoon show of harpooning giant fish and then the ship would anchor in a lively port town and all the multi-colored, fancy luggage would be carried off the boat. That's all that comes to his mind.

But all of these passengers are riding on this wooden boat like it's perfectly normal. The only thing of any value is a bronze statue of the ship's first captain and the only purpose that thing will serve is to make the ship sink faster if it starts to take on water. The smooth head was pleasing to the touch, though.

He had just been special and this scene was what was normal.

"Would you like to lie down and rest in the cabin for a while?" Gisela asked.

"... No. I don't think I'd feel any better if I were squeezed into one of those bunk beds. How do you stand those cabins? A jail cell would be more comfortable..."

"You have to hold on just a little longer. For us, this is a perfectly normal trip, but it might not have been appropriate for Your Excellency."

Gisela clapped Wolfram on the back twice as if she were admonishing a younger brother. There was nothing accusative in her tone. Despite that, he felt ashamed of his words.

"Sorry."

Even though he had just become aware of how much he was spoiled, he had once again said something childish.

"No, of course this would confuse you. This is a social class you weren't aware of until now. Unless something extreme happened, you'd never have crossed this gap."

"But he always tries to go 'over there.'"

"Are you talking about His Majesty?" Gisela's skin, pale as was typical of the healing hands tribe, gained a little color. Her calm, thoughtful green eyes narrowed under her eyelashes as she smiled. "His Majesty is wonderful. He really is a special person."

"So you see it that way, too?"

"Yes, and not just me; everyone thinks so. His Majesty is the best. I've never met someone like him. He's different than everyone, yet at the same time he's just like all of us. He puts himself on the same level as his citizens. Although we soldiers and the people in town are his subjects, he treats us as if we were his equals. He never relies on his high birth or his rank, but he also doesn't let anyone intimidate him... His Majesty is a mysterious person."

"You said it, he's really a mysterious and weird guy."

"Oh, I wouldn't say he was weird."

Feeling the air move at his side, Wolfram turned to see Gisela stretching her right hand out towards the sinking evening sun. From her fingertips to her elbows to her cheeks, she was doused in scarlet light.

"... The late Lady von Wincott was like that too."

"Susanna Julia?"

"Yes. Julia- no, Lady Susanna Julia also spoke to me like I was an old friend even before I became a part of the Christ family. She took hold of my bloody, dirty hands, and said that they felt good... don't you think she was similar?"

Being asked that question so suddenly, Wolfram forgot his nausea for a moment.

"With who? With Yuuri? No idea. I never had much contact with the Wincott family. Conrart might be able to answer that."

"That's... that's true. It was just a feeling I had, anyway. After all, His Majesty is not blind and is healthy as can be. It's just that the magic stone suits him so well, I feel like he's the proper owner."

"There's something that's been bothering me for a while..."

Lord von Bielefeld hesitated as to where he should ask her, but in the end, his curiosity won out and all at once he asked the questions that had been weighing on his mind for years.

"Why did Susanna Julia die? Ah, I heard a little bit from Conrart and also that she got involved in actual combat even though she was a member of the reserves. I also know where she was killed in action and how many cities were saved because of her, but... what was the cause of death? People say that she was killed on the battlefield and other say that there was an accident during the return home. There was also talk of an explosion that she accidentally got caught in. But, as long as there was no body buried, none of these claims could be confirmed. Do you know, Gisela? How did Suzanna Julia die? Why did her heart stop? No, I'll be direct. Did her heart actually stop? Did she really die?"

"Why are you asking me that?"

"... I can't stand this uneasiness. If the woman who whispers to Yuuri is her... If Julia the White is still alive and is helping that rookie with his magic... I'm afraid that one day, she'll take Yuuri away to wherever she is now..."

The man with the sanpaku eyes, the one that wasn't Dacascos, walked slowly into the interior of the ship. He hardly even takes his unusually long and thick quiver off of his shoulder and it never leaves his side. He was an odd man. He just leaves his bow in his bunk. While he waited for Gisela's response, Wolfram snickered to himself thinking about the man's odd habits.

"Lady von Wincott Susanna Julia is definitely dead."

The moment Wolfram heard that answer, his tension dissipated. At the same time, he regretted asking such an oddly random question. Should he apologize?

But Gisela continued speaking. There was neither pain nor sadness on her face. She seemed to simply continue telling him the truth.

"It wasn't an accident. It hasn't been made publicly known, but precisely speaking, it might not be able to be called a death on the battlefield. She wasn't directly cut with a sword nor was she shot with an arrow. In fact, not a single external, fatal injury was on her body."

"But then why wasn't anything buried? You can't mean to tell me that soldiers of Shin Makoku would leave the corpse of their fallen comrade behind?"

"I burned Julia's corpse myself."

What did she say?

Wolfram’s fingers grasped the railing. For a moment he didn't trust his ears.

"The assistant who accompanied Lady von Wincott Suzanna Julia was me. I carried out my orders. I had no choice but to cremate her. I'm sure you are aware of this, but the flesh of members of the Wincott family, even corpses, cannot be left unattended. Because, through ancient methods, a rare poison can be made from their blood."

"But even so."

"It was her wish." Gisela closed her eyes briefly and her head sank. Then she quietly raised her head and said that it might be better to talk about it. "Only a few people know about this, but surely Your Excellency has the right to the knowledge. She chose death herself... no, that's not a good way to say it... but she surely knew. She knew what happened to those who used powerful majutsu in human lands where there are few elements that obey mazoku. She knew what would happen if she used maryoku that went beyond her abilities with an injured and weakened body and soul. She knew, yet she did what she had to do. She unhesitatingly threw her life away to stop the enemy forces and save countless towns a villages. And the result was... unfortunately just as predicted. But I made a promise to her at that time."

The setting sun was mirrored in Gisela's incredibly pure and tranquil green eyes that were quite the opposite of his mother's and his own.

"I promised her that I wouldn't let anyone else die like she did."

Without needing to take time to immerse herself in her memories, Gisela immediately turned to face Wolfram again. She was smiling her kind smile that that soothed the sick and wounded.

"Let's bring His Majesty back, Lord von Bielefeld! Before he does something reckless in unknown human lands."

"Yeah."

The ship began to rock heavily and the waves beat fiercely at the side of the ship. To the south, far in the distance, land was in sight.

Once before, Wolfram had stealthily traveled to shore in a lifeboat from this distance. The four escapees had paddled desperately on the lightening, pre-dawn ocean towards the wavering lights on the island. While Wolfram was about to fall asleep, Yuuri had taught him a chant of encouragement from the other world.

Suddenly remembering the nice sound of that rhythm, his fellow traveler next to him on deck.

"Do you know the chant for when you're rowing a small boat? It's like this, Gisela."

Pull and release - he even made the motions.

"Hee hee fuu, hee hee fuu - like that."

"Oh, Your Excellency... that is the breathing technique of a mother giving birth."

"What?!"

He froze in place on 'fuu.'

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