Four years have passed since I uploaded the “Daughter of Evil” song to the Douga website. At the time I made it, I could never have imagined that not only would there be a four-book novel series based on it, but I would be the one to write it myself.
I’d never written a novel before in my life. On the contrary, I was the type of person who was so bad at writing I couldn’t even stick to a journal.
I love to read books. When I was a kid I was always reading. After getting home from school I wouldn’t go outside and play or anything, I’d just be absorbed reading these huge and bulky fairytale hardcovers that I’d gotten from a friend of my parents, which was a twenty book series in total. I don’t know if it was because of that, but I’m really bad at exercising. I was the only one in my class who couldn’t swing up on the horizontal bar, I couldn’t serve the volleyball into the other team’s court…
Even so, I had never written a book myself. There were already so many wonderful books in the world, so I had no need to, after all! What was more, after I got into high school my interests shifted to music, so I my passion towards books waned and I lost my opportunities to write.
I suppose the point at which my viewpoint changed was when I started making VOCALOID songs. I learned how much fun it was to create works. It was still hazy, but around that time I started wanting to take the plot that I was imagining that couldn’t be expressed through song alone, and put it into a book.
I only thought about it—I didn’t tell it to anyone…Or so I thought, but according to one of my friends I apparently declared that I “Will make Daughter of Evil into a novel!” during a drinking party. I myself was quite drunk so I don’t remember it very well, but apparently all the people around us outside of my friend were snickering at me.
The real issue was that at the time, I was a salaryman, so I didn’t have the time to spend making something like that. I had my hands full just making songs, let alone the span it would take to write a novel. The fact that I was able to have novelization discussions just after I quit my job was lucky on both counts.
There were various twists and turns after I started writing. I suffered a lot of anguish. Even so, I somehow managed to make a full book, and the light-novel “Daughter of Evil: Cloture of Yellow” was published without incident. I received some profits, and I learned things.
And so, now I have finished writing “Praefacio of Blue”, the fourth work in the series.
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For now I think I’ll end the “Daughter of Evil” series here. I can’t say that’s everything, but for the most part I’ve put in everything I wanted to write.
My deepest thanks to everyone at the PHP Institute and the Studio Hard Deluxe company, who assisted me in all of the works up to this point and sometimes went along with my willfulness.
As for my drinking buddy You-ring@Kitano Tomotoshi-san, who’s done the cover from the third book onward. My work has gained such brilliant color thanks to you.
And, Ichika-san, who participated in the original works back when “Daughter of Evil” was just a song, and has drawn all the illustrations for the books this time around. Half of the World of Evil is yours.
I offer up my gratitude also to all the wonderful illustrators for the frontispieces and pinups for the books, starting with Yuu-san who has also been here since the first book.
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I have so much appreciation for all the readers who have opted to take up these books.
USE Dark Star Courthouse Director Gallerian Marlon ~In the Union State of Evillious, "Director's Private Residence/Study"~
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“Phew…”
I set the book that I had just finished reading on my desk, and stretched heavily against my chair.
Orange light shined in from the window in front of me on my right. It was already evening. A little bit of regret had sprouted in my mind at spending my precious day off reading, but I hadn't had any other plans to begin with. I was alright with having days off like this every once in a while.
Tomorrow my wife and daughter would be returning from their trip. Once that happened I would likely become quite busy with various things, so I wouldn't be able to take time to quietly read a book like this.
If it had been my own book, taking a long time to finish reading it wouldn't be an issue. But I was borrowing it. The owner wasn't liable to be pleased if I went a while without returning it. Interpersonal relationships were the sort of thing that could begin to break over such trivial matters.
Once more my eyes dropped to the book on my desk. On the cover was written the title “The Daughter of Evil”, and written a little smaller below that was the author’s name, in what appeared to be her own handwriting. It was evidence that this book was none other than a genuine novel written by the famous author of five hundred years ago, "Yukina Freezis".
Knock-knock—there was the sound of someone knocking twice on my door. That would be my servant, Rennert. Out of my servants, Larisa would knock three times, and Katerina would knock much more loudly--so they didn't sound as pleasing as this knock.
I gave permission to enter and the door opened, a face with a small mustache on it peeking his head in from the gap. As I thought, Rennert.
“Pardon me, sir. The scriptwriter, Lady ‘Ma’, has arrived.”
Perfect timing.
“Send her in.”
Rennert answered in the affirmative and then vanished from the room.
Shortly thereafter a single woman entered.
She had long black hair that reached to around her waist, and she wore both a round monocle and a garment of Eastern make called a "kimono". She was beautiful, but of course my eyes were first drawn to her eccentric style of dress.
It seemed that she had noticed the “Daughter of Evil” book was there on top of my desk. “I see you’ve started reading.”
“I’ve just finished, actually.”
“Oh, really?...Then, how was it? What are your thoughts?"
“It’s very different from the version of the “Daughter of Evil” that I know.”
The Freezis Fairytale that this same author had written was a work that even now was well known to people all over the world. In it, the princess was normally executed; it wasn’t written that she switched places with a twin brother.
In spite of the fact that it was written by the same person, the contents of this one were different.
“So, which one is correct?”
Ma pointed to the book in front of me. “This one, of course.”
"You can't just declare that. It's not like you actually saw it yourself."
“Hohoho…I suppose so. But without a doubt, this one is the truth. It is the true story, hidden on the other side of history."
"Hmph. Are you trying to say that sorceresses and demons exist? …Well, whatever. It was a very interesting read. I was able to learn a little bit more about my roots--my ancestry."
I’d known from the start that I was from the royal Marlon family line.
Kyle Marlon was my ancestor. After he restored Lucifenia to independence as a republic, he had abdicated the throne to his younger half-brother and left Marlon.
If he had stayed as king, there was a possibility that I would be a member of the royal family as well. Still, it would be unreasonable of me to hold a grudge against him for that--I couldn't deny that being in the social status that I was now was ultimately owed to my lineage, after all.
I stood from my chair and handed the book over to Ma.
“Then do you intend to make this into a movie, after all?”
When I asked my question, Ma looked at me with flirtatious eyes and put her hand on my arm.
“If I can find a good sponsor….maybe.”
I lightly waved my arm and brushed off Ma's hand.
"You'll have to pardon me. I like movies but I have no inclination to use money on such an extravagance."
The moment she heard those words, all the affection dropped off Ma's face. Looking displeased, she took out a long-stemmed tobacco pipe from her sleeve. Ignoring my remark that this room was non-smoking she lit up the bowl and leisurely started to smoke.
“You’re such a skinflint. You have enough hoarded up as it is."
Ma began to wander around the room. Then she stopped in front of my dresser, picking up a picture frame that was left on top of it.
In that picture, my wife, daughter and I had been photographed smiling together.
While looking at the picture, Ma said suggestively, “Your wife is coming back home tomorrow, isn’t she?...”
I scowled at her.
"Are you threatening me? If you reveal our relationship to my wife--"
Ma suddenly started to laugh loudly. “Hahaha, I have no intention of doing that. That wouldn't be very refined of me, would it!"
She returned the picture to where it was.
After that a long silence stretched on between us.
Eventually, unable to stand the awkward atmosphere any longer, I posed Ma a question to clear the air.
“Come to think of it, does that book have a continuation?”
“A continuation?”
"I'm curious as to whether those characters show up again."
“Ah. There is that, yes. But it's a simple thing, like a memorandum. Shall I bring it next time?"
“…No, that’s alright. You can just tell me the most of it here and now."
I had decided to ask for an explanation regarding what happened to the characters afterwards, to continue the conversation. I knew that Ma liked talking about such things.
The first thing that I was interested in related to those two sorceresses.
"Their names, Gumillia and Elluka, show up again in another book that takes place over a hundred years after this one, don't they?"
“In 'Lemy the Ripper', yes.”
Lemy the Ripper was the name of the culprit behind a series of bizarre murders that occurred in the Republic of Lucifenia, around four hundred years ago. The case was closed as a result of Lemy having been murdered himself, and written in the book as the names of the duo of women who killed him were, if I was not mistaken, "Gumillia and Elluka". If these sorceresses were able to live forever, then I couldn't deny there was a chance that they were the same women.
According to Ma, all that was written in Yukina Freezis' work was that they traveled east. They might have returned to the Evillious region after their journey, but as Yukina was already dead by the time of "Lemy the Ripper" there was no real proof on whether or not it was really them.
Speaking of "Lemy the Ripper", there was another interesting anecdote with that.
There was a woman named "Julia Abelard", who was known as the leader of "Pere Noel", the criminal organization that he was a member of. There were a lot of mysteries surrounding her origins, and many legends being passed around about it in the modern era.
One of those was the preposterous theory that Julia Abelard was the reincarnation of the hero of the Lucifenian Revolution, Germaine Avadonia, or else Germaine herself, having become immortal through being taken in by some cursed power.
Apparently Yukina Freezis wrote that Germaine went out on another trip with Chartette after everything, but she never touched on the prime of her life or her death.
Even in publicly known history, despite her achievements Germaine's latter years weren't entirely clear. It was for that reason that the earlier theories started sprouting up.
If objects like the "Vessels of Deadly Sin" really existed, then perhaps the idea that Julia Abelard's true identity was Germaine Avadonia had a ring of truth to it after all.
…Assuming it's all true, anyway.
“Why was Abyss IR gathering the ‘Vessels of Deadly Sin’?”
I wasn't directing the question at Ma, rather just musing to myself aloud, but she didn't seem to grasp that.
“Because it’s said that if you gather all seven together, any wish you make will be granted,” Ma replied.
Any wish, huh? What a romanticized outcome, considering these were vessels of demons.
“Have you taken an interest in that? If you like, we could go search for them together. Actually, I do have some good informa—“
"No thank you." I cut off Ma's excited proposal to search for the "Vessels of Deadly Sin". "I would need money for that, wouldn't I?"
"Yes, of course," Ma replied, as though it was just natural.
“I don’t need any ‘Vessel of Deadly Sin’.”
Upon my flat refusal, Ma gave off a somehow bold smile.
"Yes…Is that so?"
After she carried her put-out pipe to the fireplace and dropped its ashes inside, she returned it to her sleeve.
“I’ll be heading home, then.”
I called out to stop her as she was walking towards the exit. “Just to be clear, I must insist that you not tell my wife about any of th--"
“I know. You don’t want to cause any grief for Michelle, right?” Immediately after opening the door, Ma suggested with her back to me, “If you change your mind about the movie and the ‘Vessels of Deadly Sin’…Let me know."
After watching her leave, I once more sat in my chair.
I had social status and prestige. I had a daughter I loved.
I didn’t need any ‘Vessel of Deadly Sin’—
At least, that is what I thought at the time, from the bottom of my heart.
Before I knew it, it seemed I’d fallen asleep sitting in my chair.
Rennert was shaking me awake.
“Sir, sir! It’s simply awful!”
I opened my eyes preparing to chide him, 'what is it, I thought I told you to knock when entering my room', but Rennert continued speaking faster than I could cut in.
"Your wife and young miss Michelle have met with an accident."
Everything before me became pitch black. Even though I had just opened my eyes, I was no longer able to see anything.
“It seems the ship they were on sank! Just as it entered the harbor it was attacked by an enormous octopus the likes of which I've never seen—“
The spoon in my mother's hand. Its blue glow was growing stronger.
"Hahaha. How was your mother's confession?
It seemed that control of the body had once again switched to Abyss. She creepily smiled, while still kneeling.
"I would think you know this from the story just now, but…In this body I can put into operation the power of the demon even without any magical ability."
The glow grew even brighter.
I began to feel as though the temperature was rising.
"This is a reaction of the 'Vessel of Deadly Sin' drifting through this area…This woman's body is inept, unable to even notice that, but I shall use it to the best of my ability."
Germaine was still staggering.
It was night, but it was so warm.
On the contrary, it was hot.
It was burning.
Blue flames were surrounding my body.
.
Will I die like this?
My thoughts came to a halt.
I couldn't think anymore.
I didn't want to think anymore.
That was how shocking my mother's admission had been to me.
I've had enough.
Let’s end it this way.
Let my story finish here.
.
<That would put me in a bind.>
…Who are you?
<Your ending things so selfishly, that’s a bit of a problem for me.>
I don’t care. Leave me alone! I’ll make my own decisions on what happens to me.
<You have to write a continuation of the story.>
Story? What story?
<The “story” of Riliane, and Germaine, and even yourself.>
…Kyle said that too. That my role was to propagate this story.
<Exactly. You have to keep living for that.>
Then, are you going to save me?
<I can’t do that. I’m already dead, so I don’t have any power.>
What!? Then you’re useless!
<Haha, sorry. But in my place-->
In your place?
<I’ll have my sisters save you.>
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"L-let go, you wretch!"
Someone was gripping my mother's body from behind. They were trying to steal the spoon she was carrying.
It became easier to breath. The blue flames surrounding me vanished before I knew what was going on.
"Don't interfere!"
When my mother turned to the person struggling with her, she vigorously threw them back. They rolled in the sand like a pumice stone, and finally fell face-up.
"Ouch …"
I recognized the girl in the nun uniform who stood while clutching the back of her head.
"Miss Rin!"
"…I went looking for you out of concern when you didn't come back. I had no idea that something this severe was going on…"
My mother's face was warped with anger. It was like she was a completely different person from the kind mother that I knew.
"Cease your useless…The flames have gone out!"
She once again raised the spoon before herself. A faint blue light was emanating from it.
But after that, the light immediately faded. From then on there was no response from the spoon. It didn't glow or warp, and no demon came flying out of it.
"Wh-what!? What's going on!?"
Instead of the spoon I could see something else glowing, a red light, coming from around my mother's breast. She plunged a hand into her clothes and took something out.
It was the "Glass of Conchita". It was giving off a contrastive red light, as though to neutralize the blue light of the spoon.
My mother's eyes grew bloodshot.
"The "Demon of Gluttony"…No! This is--Ney, is that you!? Tch, interfering at the last moment!"
Her behavior distinctly conveyed a sense of desperation that she hadn't exhibited until now.
At that moment, Germaine approached her, while still wobbling along.
"Looks like it's…the end, for you…Abyss."
She readied her rapier. Her aim was the red cat riding on my mother's shoulder.
But due to her shaky footing, she wasn't able to aim properly at her target.
Fangs bared, the cat beat Germaine to the punch, and attacked her.
"Hisss!"
Germaine hurriedly moved away, but the cat's claws must have slightly grazed her, as there was a faint scratch on the nape of her neck. A thin trickle of blood leaked out.
There was a loud thud.
My mother dropped to the ground like her strings had been cut.
The moment that we were distracted with that, the red cat ran at full speed towards the port town.
She was going to escape--And the moment I thought that, it happened.
.
Maybe it was a hallucination.
But I could clearly see it.
The form of a boy who was nestling up against Germaine, to support her.
And I clearly heard it.
A voice saying, <Here, stand up properly, big sis.>
.
"I don't need you to tell me that, you--"
Germaine once more lifted up her rapier towards the red cat running away.
And then--
"--Idiot little brotherrrr!"
She threw the rapier as though it was a spear.
"AAAAAAAAAGGH!"
The rapier splendidly pierced the red cat's body. After giving out a human-like scream, it suddenly fell on its side and stopped moving.
.
I went to put my arms around my mother's fallen body. It was a little hard for me to lift her alone, but Rin noticed and ran over, supporting her with me.
Germaine carefully approached the red cat, and pulled out her rapier.
A red cat, miserably stretched out on its side.
That was the end of the sorceress Abyss I.R.
…Was it, really?
"I-is she good and dead, Miss Germaine?"
Germaine gripped the red cat's body with a puzzled expression, not answering my question, and lifted it into the air.
"It's not dead or anything…"
Then she shoved the cat's corpse before my eyes.
"What are you doing!? Stop that, Miss Germaine!"
I averted my eyes without thinking.
But…
"…Huh!? This is--"
"Yeah. It's not a cat."
What Germaine was holding, from the way it looked to me--
"It's just a really well-made toy plushy."
.
My mother was sleeping. Her expression was that of the kind mother that I knew.
Several tribulations of the heart that we would have to overcome awaited my family for when she awoke.
But I was by no means pessimistic about that.
.
I couldn’t clearly tell what was right. And I couldn’t designate a basis for my actions.
I was raised with great care, as the only daughter of the Sfarz clan, Marlon's most prominent and distinguished family.
I knew well that my father, Duke Sfarz, loved me deeply. For that reason I could understand why he so greatly objected to an acquaintanceship between myself and Keel Freezis.
He was a man of humble birth getting close to his daughter with his eyes set on the Sfarz family's fortune and ability at gathering information--that was my father's assessment of Keel.
I could understand. But I couldn’t agree.
I couldn't just watch silently while my father tried to use his influence to ensnare Keel.
Before I knew it, Keel and I were on a boat heading to Elphegort together.
At the time, I had already become pregnant with his child.
I had made my decision.
My jewels, gold coins, the mansion, servants...I had made the decision to abandon everything that I had been given from the moment I was born. As long as I had Keel, and--and the child inside my belly, then that was all I needed. I later learned that we were able to get past our pursuers due to the at-the-time prince Kyle's influence.
Elphegort was a region blessed by nature, encircled by forest.
And so we began our new life in the home that we'd rented in the central region of Aceid, the capital.
First, our child was born safely into this world on the day that I celebrated my eighteenth birthday. She was a very adorable baby. Keel had said that she "looks like a little monkey", continuing to cry tears of joy the entire time.
We named that child “Yukina”.
Keel promised to wash his hands of the dangerous work that he had carried out up until that point, saying it was "for our child".
Even so, we had to do some sort of work to survive. Using the scant assets that Keel had brought along when we left Marlon, he started a general store. I also helped in his job as best I could.
But we didn't do so well as merchants. A few customers who were immigrants like us came to the shop as far as it went, but Elphe people were cold towards foreigners, and at first made no effort to even approach our store. We couldn't get on well with only immigrants buying our wares.
After thinking all night about what sort of goods were in demand, we amiably greeted the people passing by our store, and made sure the interior was always immaculate...As our efforts began to pile up, though it was only little by little, Elphes started to come as customers too. The first time we were able to sell something to an Elphe, Keel and I jumped for joy.
However, our proceedings were just barely enough to scrape by. The madam of the inn was a foreigner like us, and so thanks to her arranging for us to have food out of concern for us, being as young as we were, we got by without starving. But I still began to grow anxious about how we would manage if things kept going on like that.
That anxiety grew even bigger when I discovered that I had gotten pregnant again. We were struggling enough as it was--how would things go with another child added to the mix? Around then I heard some gossip from a traveler who had come to the shop as a customer--that a shaman in the village of Yatski was making an abortion drug.
Preparing myself, I headed for the village of Yatski. I continued to cry the entire way. I soon became unable to see through my tears. Because of that I slipped off a cliff during my trip, and fell.
When I came to, I was lying on a bed in an inn.
And to my surprise, I was being nursed to health by King Kyle's mother, the Empress Dowager Prim. I couldn't understand what she was doing there.
It seemed that she had covertly come here all the way from Marlon to see the Yatski shaman as I had. She wouldn't tell me the particulars of it, but as I was able to catch sight of several small glass bottles with white and yellow powder in them in her personal effects it was probably to get those.
I lost my restraint, and opened up to the Empress Dowager about everything. I let out my feelings and circumstances until my voice ran out.
She was silent, and listened to the entirety of my story. And then simply informed me, “You don’t have to abort your child.”
The queen gave to me a present. It was some kind of spoon, and she told me that it was “an item that grants its owner great economic fortune”. As long as I had this Keel's and my shop would succeed, and so I would give birth to a healthy baby without fretting over it--that is what she said to me before returning home to Marlon. Fortunately, falling from the cliff as I did didn't seem to have any influence on the child in my belly.
I was dubious of the effects of the spoon at first. But from the next day onward, our circumstances actually began to change.
I was unable to stand around in the shop as I was recuperating, but according to what Keel told me, that day a single man in shabby clothes appeared in the shop, and, after seeming extremely pleased with Keel's customer service, left after buying only a single pipe.
That was the start of everything. One month later, everything in our store had been about sold out. At the time we didn’t yet know that that shabby man’s true identity was that of Thorny Elphen, the king of Elphegort.
Fame begets fame, and our shop started to go on track. Around the time Shaw was born, we had almost nothing left we needed to worry about in our lives. We had enough means to hire a nursemaid to help in taking care of Shaw, for times when we were too busy with work.
Finally, the fame of our store had extended its reach overseas, and we gained customers who would expressly come to us from far off places. But that wasn't necessarily a good thing.
My father in Marlon had realized our whereabouts.
At that time King Kyle had just inherited the throne from his father, and as many important people had unexpectedly died of illness just before, the state of affairs was in disorder. Nonetheless, my father showed up before me suddenly one day. At that time Keel was absent, having gone out to visit a client.
Standing by my father's side with a grin on her face was the Elphe nursemaid I had hired, holding Shaw in her arms. She was the one responsible for selling our information to my father.
He demanded that I return to Marlon, but I refused. When I did, he told me that he planned to take Shaw back home with him as heir to the Sfarz family. I violently resisted, trying to take Shaw back, but I was held down by the servants that my father had brought with him.
The way things were going, he would have stolen Shaw away.
I won’t hand Shaw over to anyone.
.
--Shaw is mine --
.
When that thought struck in my mind, suddenly my father’s body became engulfed in blue flames.
Not just my father. The servants who had been holding me and the Elphe nursemaid began to burn at the same time.
Even now I can’t forget the screams I heard then.
Before I knew it, everyone had been burned black. Bizarrely, the building, the floor, the ceiling, and my own clothes and body, had not received even a single scorch mark.
Shaw was safe too. I remember quickly giving him medical care, as he had the slightest of burn scars on his back.
I crossed over to Marlon to have an audience with Prim, who had at that time become the Empress Dowager. And she informed me that the spoon was one of the Vessels of Deadly Sin, and that without realizing it I had made a contract with the “Demon of Greed”.
I was warned that the demon would eventually devour and completely destroy not just me, but the souls of Keel and my children. If I wanted to avoid that, I would do as her on-staff sorceress, Abyss I.R., commanded, and help with the Empress Dowager's plans--that is what she demanded of me. The Empress Dowager was seeking for me to become her supporter in place of my father, Duke Sfarz. I had no hope of going against her. I never met directly with Abyss I.R.--all of her orders either came through the "Very Amazing Green Onion" that could deliver her words to me from afar, or were conveyed via the girl named Ney, who would come to me as a messenger.
Part of the wealth that the Freezis Firm had obtained was secretly used as funds for the Empress Dowager's ambitions. Among other things I had King Kyle possessed by a demon using the vessel of deadly sin, the "Venom Sword".
As for Michaela—I feel so horribly sorry for that. I was the one who told her whereabouts to Ney. It was incredibly painful to face Clarith, who had no idea of what I had done. For that reason I was frankly quite relieved to hear that she had quit working as our servant.
I was the one who pushed Keel to participate in the revolution when he was still mulling it over. After the annexation of Lucifenia, I was the one who suggested to Keel that he should collaborate with King Kyle's military expansion. The fact that the Freezis family's economic power grew exponentially as a result of that only increased my guilt. Our happiness had come at the expense of countless people's misfortune.
On the other hand, I was terrified. I was afraid that Keel would discover Abyss I.R.'s existence thanks to what happened with King Kyle, and figure everything out that I had been doing by getting too deeply involved. I was afraid that Abyss might fear that and try to off Keel. And in the end, both of those things became a reality after all.
Visiting Held Monastery was also done at Abyss' direction. It was under the pretense of seeing Clarith, but really it was to observe the former princess of Lucifenia, Riliane. It seems Abyss had kept Riliane's survival a secret from the Empress Dowager.
I know the reason why, now that I have become Abyss' puppet.
Abyss has been considering Riliane as a candidate for a new body that she could control.
Even if she has no magical ability, a body that has been taken over by a "Demon of Deadly Sin" can freely manipulate the "Vessels of Deadly Sin"…
♣ Yukina ~In the Former Lucifenia Territory, “The Anonymous Coast"~
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The coast was quiet at night.
The only sound that reached my ears was the faint crash of waves.
.
I had come here at a time like this to make sure of something Rin had told me at dusk.
She had said, "I saw Madam Freezis out here on the coast". She told me that she had tried to talk to her, but when she ran up to my mother, who had hidden herself under cover, she was already gone. If that was true, then there was a strong possibility that, for the week after my mother had come to visit the monastery at the very least, she had been loitering around here.
Compared to the area around the Lucifenian palace, this place was mostly countryside, so it didn't have a lot of things to look at in particular. Frankly I didn't know what she was after.
Though it may be true that she was here at dusk, I had no guarantee that she hadn't moved somewhere else at this hour, so it was natural to think that about now she'd have taken lodging in the port town somewhere and was getting some rest.
But I had gone through and searched the inns around this town for two days. No matter where I looked I had found no trace of anyone who might have been my mother staying at them.
My mother had not gone to an inn. So in that case no matter how slim the odds were, I thought it was wisest to search for some trace of her at the coast. Even if I didn't run into her, I might find some clue…That was my thought process, walking around covered in sand.
Even so, this coast was much larger than I had thought. Even worse, I couldn't locate anything relevant to my search in this darkness. The fickle light of the lantern that I'd borrowed from the monastery was bound to fail me in my efforts, after all.
Being in the dark is sufficient circumstances to break a girl's conviction…
Continuing my investigation even so, suddenly the fuel in my lantern ran out, and my surroundings were enveloped in darkness. When that happened I had to admit it was time to give up.
I can't keep this up! I guess I'll go back for now…
I began to walk towards the lights of the town shining inland. That's when it happened.
Huh? Is that…
In the darkness to my left hand side, I could see something moving. It was unmistakably a human figure. Perhaps it was Mama. With that hope in my chest, I changed course towards where I could see them walking.
That figure was armed with a sword. When I got a bit closer, I was able to determine this with a serious look, though it was dim.
Miss Germaine…!?
Was she practicing with her sword at this time of night?
After thinking it over a little, I drew up to Germaine further. I figured I'd try talking to her.
The moment before I called out to her, I shut myself up. There was another person in front of Germaine, facing her.
That mask. It was a woman wearing the Almoga Mobarez mask. She didn't look to be carrying a weapon. I couldn't see her face, so I didn't know her expression.
But I knew who that was. She had on a frilly dress, and had a decorative flower on her left breast. It was Mama. Those clothes were that of my mother, Mikina Freezis.
I told myself not to get too excited. I would put the situation in order first. My mother was here, and Germaine was aiming her sword at her. Why? I didn't know. Perhaps Germaine had witnessed her in that flash from back then as well.
Even so, I didn't want her to cut her down without even listening to an appeal. My mother must have had some reason for doing that. There was no need for her to steal the vessels of deadly sin nor kill Ney, to say nothing of doing what she did to my father, who loved me, her daughter, to the point of embarrassing me--so I couldn't imagine that she didn't have some extenuating circumstances for it.
At any rate, I would stop Germaine--as I took a step towards them with that decision in mind, Germaine opened her mouth.
"I've finally found you, Abyss I.R."
--Abyss I.R.!?
I could hear a thick, laughing voice from beneath the mask.
"Ha ha--Oh, so you've figured it out, huh? Impressive…I would say that, but this is a suggestion you got from someone else isn't it?"
That voice was undoubtedly my mother's.
Germaine didn't react. She stared at my mother, without lowering her sword.
My mother turned towards the ocean, not looking particularly phased by that. And then she began to leisurely walk towards it.
"Are Elluka and Gumillia searching in Marlon? That must mean you came here to Lucifenia as insurance."
After two, three steps, she stopped and once more turned to Germaine.
"A safe guess. If I was going to cross the sea from Marlon, then it would be extremely likely I'd come here, to the closest port town. There are no vessels going to Elphegort due to the trade embargo, and Levianta is too far--That's your reasoning, isn't it?"
Germaine brushed through her hair with her left hand.
"Not quite. Master Gumillia went to Levianta."
"I see…That's actually decent preparation, considering it's Elluka."
"I told her. I said she couldn't afford to just go around doing whatever she wanted every time."
The intruder back in Lioness. It seems I wasn't the only one who had recognized who she really was. I regretted just a little in not asking for help from these three.
Thanks to the darkness, the two of them hadn't yet realized I was there.
Their conversation continued, and Germaine asked my mother, "Why have you not left this region after all this time?"
"…I'm searching for something. And I haven't quite found it yet."
"A 'Vessel of Deadly Sin'? Is your goal to collect them?"
"Well, I suppose it's turned into that…"
I steadied my resolve, and walked up to them.
Germaine noticed me first.
"Yukina…!?"
A look of surprise taking over her face at seeing me, Germaine eventually looked again towards my mother, taken aback.
During that time, Mom did nothing. She didn't launch a surprise attack on Germaine, nor did she run away. She just gazed at me through the mask. After a short while, she put her hands on it and slowly lifted it up.
Underneath was indeed my mother's face.
She was smiling.
"Yukina, what's wrong? What are you doing at a place like this, at this time of night…?"
She wasn't smiling out of enjoyment. It was an expression made to calm the other person. That was the kind of smile it was.
And then, she pleaded in a frightened voice, "Please, Yukina, could you help me? Germaine is attacking your Mama, I think she's misunderstood something. I'm very afraid."
Despite her tone of voice she was still smiling. And she gradually started walking towards me.
Germaine stood in front of her, blocking her path.
With her back to me, she said, "Don't be deceived. That is your mom, but it's also not her."
I could tell that for myself. But what I wanted to know was why.
"…Has Mama been taken over by Abyss?"
"Basically, yeah."
"But how!? Abyss' spirit was blown away back then, I thought…"
I was sure that was what Elluka said.
"That isn't what happened. Abyss' soul never entered Elluka's body to begin with."
My mother immediately ceased in her approach.
"Ho…So you've figured that out too…"
Germaine began her explanation so that the both of us could hear. "Elluka had a nagging doubt this entire time. The 'Swap Technique' is an extra-high grade spell…She wondered if there really was another person who was capable of performing it outside of herself. At that point, after what happened in Lioness she arrived at a conclusion."
Germaine lifted her arms and pointed the sword straight at my mother.
"Where has the red cat gone, the one that's always with you?"
In reply to those words, my mother clicked her tongue, and then murmured in a low voice, "…So it seems I was correct after all to hide my true body for safekeeping."
"That's too bad for you. I'll find it immediately."
Germaine hoisted up her sword, and a sigil inscribed on the hilt began to glow.
The light soon turned into a single beam, and it pointed to a shack in the corner of the beach.
"…There. It's unexpectedly close by. If you go too far away you lose your ability to manipulate bodies, is that it?"
"That inscription...is that Gumillia's work!? How annoying!"
My mother and Germaine both ran for the shack at the same time.
Germaine was quicker of foot. She reached the shack a step earlier and kicked in the wooden door.
"Oop--"
She dodged back in response to something. Immediately after, a small figure darted out from inside, and jumped onto my mother's shoulder, who'd arrived later.
I ran up to the shack as well, further behind the two of them. It was hard to run with sand in my shoes.
Riding on my mother's shoulders was none other than that red cat. The cat that Abyss had been walking with, that my mother had taken in.
"…So you're saying that red cat is Abyss' true body?"
That seemed to be the gist of it.
Abyss' spirit hadn't entered my mother. Her body was just being controlled like one would a puppet. By that red cat--Abyss I.R.!
"You let my mother go, Abyss!" I screamed at her, letting my anger take me.
My mother, being controlled by Abyss, didn't look the slightest bit intimidated at my fury.
"How brave, little Yukina. Despite not being able to do anything on your own. Ha ha--"
Her laughter was cut off by Germaine sticking out her rapier right at the red cat.
"Sounds like bravado to me, Abyss. The person you're manipulating right now isn't a sorceress or a soldier--just a normal person."
"…Yes, there was nothing to really do about it since it was a spur-of-the-moment thing, but I suppose Mikina's body is a little inconvenient as feeble as she is. …However." She pulled something out of her bag. "I do have this."
It was too small for me to see it clearly, but from afar it looked like a spoon. The fact that it was faintly glowing blue in the darkness was fairly ominous.
Germaine immediately took several steps back.
"A Vessel of Deadly Sin…!?"
"Exactly. Your perception is quite sharp, swordswoman. Despite not being a sorceress yourself. …And then there's the speed of your recovery from your injuries…There doesn't seem to be any after-effects from the acceleration inscription in the forest… Hahaha, how interesting.
Certainly Germaine had fought in quick succession, from Column forest to Castle Hedgehog. It was a little strange that despite the fact that she must have been injured each time, she was promptly up and around like this. I had thought so when I was working as medic on her wounds in Beelzenia--she healed much faster than the other soldiers.
"My injuries heal up quick after I eat a bunch," Germaine shot back, likely thinking she was being made fun of.
"After eating, huh… I see--I had thought you looked like her before. It seems there's a chance you're a blood relative of her after all--Conchita."
Conchita…Did she mean Banica Conchita? Germaine was--a blood relative of Conchita!? What did she mean by that? A descendant? Or else…
Mother walked a little closer to Germaine. But I could tell she was careful so as to not get within range of her sword.
"Not bad…I want that body," I heard her murmur quietly.
I picked up some rocks at my feet and threw them at the red cat. But they didn't connect, falling to the sandy beach. Neither the cat nor my mother had tried to avoid them. They just didn't reach. My lack of upper body strength was really irritating.
"Give up on such futile struggles, you villain!" I screamed once more. I heard the cat meow, as though mocking me.
"A villain, hm?... Do you mean me, Abyss? Or the person in this body--Mikina?" She continued before I could reply that I obviously meant Abyss. "How much do you know about your mother? Do you really think…that she is an innocent person through and through?"
What…what was she saying!?
"Have you never carried doubts about her? Never noticed something mysterious in her actio--"
There her voice suddenly cut off, and she crouched on the spot.
The groan and the words that came from her mouth. They were of my mother's voice, like before, but her tone was clearly different.
"Ugh…Please…stop…I don't want…Yukina…to…know…"
And then, with the sound of an electric shock, a lightning-like flash engulfed her body.
"Agh!"
Mom suddenly fell, but then quickly stood up again. Her attitude returned to being wicked like before.
"Guess my control was too weak. How impertinent…"
She looked openly displeased for a moment, but then her lips spread into a twisted smile, as though having thought of something. And then she began to talk to not Germaine, nor me, but herself.
"Hahaha, Mikina. In that case I will give a little bit of your body back to you. And then you will admit to everything from your own lips, in front of your daughter."
And once more, her behavior changed. She knelt on the spot, and clasped her hands as though praying. Gripped in her hands was the spoon from before.
"…Y--Yukina…Your Mama has…deceived...many people…until now…"
They were my mother's words. But she was not speaking of her own will.
The red cat's eyes were open wide.
Is Mama being forced to speak by Abyss…!?
"You don't need to listen to this, Yukina!"
Germaine ran before my mother, swinging her sword down on the red cat.
In that moment the blue light of the spoon turned to an intense flash--it was the same kind as I'd seen in the town of Lioness--and Germaine's body was sent flying.
The cat took up a menacing posture with its hair standing on end, as though to tell her not to interfere. Germaine didn't seem to have lost consciousness, but she did look as though she was having trouble standing upright, tottering a little.
Chapter 4, Section 1-The Monastery on the Seashore; Scene 3
Praefacio of Blue, page 238-249
♣ Yukina ~In the Former Lucifenia Territory, “Monastery/Guest Room"~
.
There were several monasteries that offered lodging places for travelers. In fact, during my journey I had been allowed to use such things several times, such as during instances where I had been unable to find an inn out in the countryside.
The Held Monastery was no exception, having a number of guest rooms set up. They were plain in make, but the bed and sheets were cleanly put in order.
Clarith told me, pouring tea into a teacup, "Normally we'd take a small donation for this, but…We've already received plenty of donations from the Freezis family up to this point, so we couldn't possibly accept money from you, Miss Yukina…Naturally, that applies to Miss Germaine as well, being your friend."
Upon hearing that, Germaine happily sat down on the bed.
"Well then, heh heh, I guess I must be pretty lucky, Yukina."
Was Germaine not going back to her own house?
"On that topic…"
When I asked her, Germaine replied, looking displeased, "Apparently it got ransacked a few times during the 'Witch Hunt Order', so when I finally got back home the inside was all trashed. I'm pretty angry at myself for that, and I don't feel like tidying up right now, so I figured I'd find a place to stay outside for a while."
That did seem like Germaine, but I also sensed an incongruity in her actions. Germaine was more the type to prefer working solo, and during this whole journey it had felt like she'd only come along with me because she had to. Why was she taking action to stay with me so positively now?
In truth, I wanted to talk to Clarith just the two of us. Despite worrying it might be a little rude of me I openly suggested that to Germaine, and she responded, not looking particularly cross, "Oh? Alright then. You've probably got a lot to talk about. I'll go rest in the next room, if that's alright."
She moved to the room next door.
"But it really has been quite some time, hasn't it?" I once more turned to Clarith, and the two of us spontaneously smiled at each other.
Clarith had worked as a servant for the Freezis family when we lived in Elphegort. Because she in particular could read and write, despite being a peasant, she was my exclusive maid, as I liked books.
Clarith had often been my playmate. As a child I had loved her a lot.
But, suffering in grief at her best friend Michaela dying, Clarith had quit her duties as a servant and left the Freezis family…
--Well, that was the story as I understood it up until recently.
In actuality, Clarith had started work at a monastery at my father's recommendation. At first she had just been helping out with the orphanage, but now she was engaging in her apostolate duties as a fully-fledged Sister.
My father had kept this hidden from me. He must have thought that if I knew, I would run away from home to go see Clarith. Now that he was unconscious and I was able to freely use his information network, I was able to learn about what happened to her. If not for that I would be in the dark on her whereabouts even now.
Further still, I had ended up running away from home for reasons completely unrelated to Clarith, so in the end my father's deception hadn't really achieved much.
"It looks as though you've kept writing books, hm?" Clarith said, pulling out a single book. On the bottom of its red cover was the name "Yukina Freezis". It was the first novel I'd ever written.
"I have all of the books you've written up until now on my bookshelf."
"You bought them all?"
"Nuns are forbidden from spending money on amusements. These were all donated to me."
I knew the answer to who it was who donated those books.
"…By Mama, huh?..."
The impetus for me receiving information that my disappeared mother had shown up at the monastery had been a letter from none other than Clarith herself.
"For the last six months or so, I think. The madam has started to visit the monastery from time to time."
Clarith quietly started to tell me about my mother.
"She hasn't told me the particulars, but it seems that she's searching for something. If I recall correctly…she said it was the 'vessels of something or other'."
The vessels of something or other--did she mean the "Vessels of Deadly Sin"?
Mama's been--searching for the Vessels of Deadly Sin!?
Clarith continued speaking. "The madam came to the monastery just the other day. But it seemed like there was something off about her. She appeared distracted, almost like…she had been dazed. I was concerned even after she went home, but when I heard from a messenger of the Freezis family that the madam had gone missing…"
"Did Mama say she was heading somewhere?"
"No, nowhere in particular. I had thought that she would beyond a doubt be returning to her home estate in Marlon…"
"How long ago was 'just the other day'?"
"…Four days ago."
In that case there was a chance that she was still nearby. Perhaps we could search for her with the monastery as a base for a little while. I asked Clarith if we could stay here for a few days, and she replied, smiling:
"Of course, you're more than welcome. Once the director learns you're a daughter of the Freezis family there won't be any objections."
After that the conversation moved on to more rambling topics. We talked about what had happened to us in the past five years. Clarith listened in with surprise and deep interest to my stories of my travels.
"Oh dear, it seems we're out of tea."
Just as Clarith stood, empty teacup in hand, the door opened without so much as a knock, and a single girl walked in.
She looked a little bit older than me. Her blonde, short bob-cut hair fluttering around the back of her neck, she set down a fresh pot of tea on the desk, expressionless.
"I thought you might be out about now."
Clarith handed off the empty pot to her.
"Thank you, Rin. Ah, while you're at it you'd be a big help if you took a fresh pot of tea to the room next door as well."
"Alright, sounds fine."
"When that's done, please tell the people on cafeteria duty today to prepare two more meals for dinner."
"…Got it."
Though she seemed a bit displeased at being given consecutive tasks, the girl gave a quick nod.
I stood and greeted the girl named Rin. "Nice to meet you. I am Yukina Freezis."
The other girl bowed deeply to my greeting. "Ah, hello. I'm a nun in training, Rin."
When Rin looked up, she stared fixedly at my face. Her eyes were large, like a doll's.
"If your last name is Freezis, that must mean you're the daughter of the person who gave money to this monastery or something."
"Indeed. I am Keel Freezis' eldest daughter."
"Huh. His wife came over earlier, and now his daughter makes her appearance."
Listening to the conversation beside us, Clarith sternly rebuked Rin. "Mind your manners, Sister Rin."
Rin stuck out her tongue. "Begging your pardon. Well then, is the person in the room next door Miss Yukina's servant?"
Clarith shook her head. "She's not a servant. The person next door is the 'Red Armored Swordswoman', Germaine Avadonia."
"Ger…maine!?"
"Yes, you know that name too, don't you Rin? The one who spearheaded the revolution--"
And there, Clarith cut herself off. Her expression clearly read, "Oh crap".
A loud clatter rang out in the room. Rin had dropped the tray that she was holding. Her face blanched, and her eyes were unsettled.
"I--I'll take the tea to Miss Germaine after all. You can go back to what you were doing before, Rin."
Clarith hurriedly gathered up the fallen tray, putting the empty pot on top of it.
I didn't know the reason for their unrest. Maybe there was some connection between Germaine and this person named Rin. But now wasn't the time for me to lightheartedly grill them on the specifics.
"W-well then, it seems we'll have to continue our conversation tomorrow, Miss Yukina, so please just rest for today!"
Perhaps out of how impatient she was to get out of there, Clarith seemed to have forgotten that we hadn't yet had dinner. She hastily tried to leave the room, pushing Rin from behind.
But they were a step too late.
"Oh, that's just perfect. Hey~ is dinner ready yet? I'm starving…"
The moment Clarith opened the door, Germaine was blocking their way, carefree.
"Uh…"
Rin took a step back, terrified.
Germaine realized that Rin was there. But contrary to expectation, I couldn't see any change in her countenance.
"Oh, who's this? An associate of yours, Yukina?"
It looked as though Germaine didn't know Rin. Germaine, and Rin, and Clarith. It was clear even watching from the sidelines the gap in tension between the three of them.
But that too was just a matter of time. The level of tension between all three of them gradually became equal.
I could no longer sense any of the carefree attitude that Germaine had just a moment ago. She had likely realized that Rin was someone she had a connection to.
When she did, I felt completely left out of what was going on. Perhaps it would have been better for me to play the part of a girl with no ability to read the room, so that I might clear this heavy atmosphere. There was the chance that if I innocently badgered them, merrily going "What is it? What's going on?", everyone would lighten up and break up this scene.
But unfortunately even I could pick up social cues, if a little, and so I was unable to put that into practice. There existed between them, or to be specific between Rin and Germaine, some deeply rooted link that was not just something of a short span of time. I could feel that on my skin.
"…What is your name?"
Germaine broke the long silence with those words. Until that point, she had been staring at Rin's face. It wasn't a glare, but it also didn't feel like a warm, protective look. In the end, only Germaine herself could know what sort of feelings she had loaded her gaze with.
"It's…Rin," Rin replied, as though forcing herself to speak.
"I see…Rin, huh?"
Saying only that, Germaine turned around.
And then, finally, in a voice so quiet it seemed liable to vanish into the air, she murmured:
.
"Nice to meet you."
.
Germaine once more returned to the adjoining room.
"…Well then, I'll excuse myself."
Rin followed suit, leaving the room as though fleeing from it.
"…Phew."
Clarith plopped down on the bed as though collapsing. She was soaked in sweat.
"Clarith, what the heck was that just now!? What relationship do those two have!?"
Taking advantage of the fact that the tension in the room had lessened slightly with the two of them gone, I rapidly pressed her for answers.
Clarith seemed to puzzle over how she should respond for a moment, but finally she said, as though remonstrating me, "…I can't tell you anything now. But I think that someday, when you're a little older, the time will come where I ought to tell you everything. The truth about five years ago--about the 'Daughter of Evil'. Try to forbear it until then."
The...truth about the "Daughter of Evil"!?
"Come, it's almost time for supper. It might not be as luxurious as the meals in the Freezis mansion, but I have confidence in its flavor. Our dishes, lavishly made with fresh vegetables, are quite delicious."
Clarith returned to her lighthearted expression. She left the room, a calm smile on her lips.
.
No meals had been prepared for Germaine and me in the dining hall. It seems that Rin had forgotten to send along the message. Because of that we were stuck having to wait close to thirty minutes while the other nuns and children ate. Well, they were giving us free room and board. Complaining about it wouldn’t help.
.
That night I made several guesses as to what connection Rin had with Germaine while lying in bed. The things I'd seen and heard while on my journey, the knowledge I'd gained from the Freezis information network, and the "Daughter of Evil" from the "Lucifenian Revolution"--
After putting all those things together and sifting through them, I was able to come up with a hypothesis.
--The "Daughter of Evil" was still alive.
I had no proof, and there were several inconsistencies with it. Even I thought it was an absurd theory.
To verify it--I had no choice but to ask the person herself.
I shook my head to dispel such excited thoughts from my mind. What would happen in that case? If "she" was the "Daughter of Evil", would I announce that to the world? Would anyone benefit from that? On the contrary, wouldn't it just bring to madness the life of a person who was currently living happily?
That was something I ought not to do, for now. Why had I come here in the first place?
Yes, I came here to look for my missing mother. It wasn't the time or place for me to go sticking my nose into other peoples' business.
After thinking for a long while, I got pretty tired out. Before I knew it I was fast asleep.
.
And then two days later, the time of my reunion with my mother was suddenly upon me.
Chapter 4, Section 1-The Monastery on the Seashore; Scene 2
Praefacio of Blue, page 235-238
♣ Yukina ~In the Former Lucifenia Territory, “Monastery/Approaching the Front Gate"~
.
The Held Monastery was past the bread shop, at the end of a steeply sloped hill path.
Germaine opened up the gates without hesitation while commenting to herself, "Oh my, so this is how it looks", heading inside. I flusteredly rushed after her. This monastery was built due to my father's donations, but I had never set foot inside of it until today.
It had been much more intense to climb up the hill path leading here than I'd anticipated, and so as I looked around I was a little out of breath. Inside the grounds, which were not all that large, there were various fields, a storage shed, and two main buildings. One of those buildings was probably the monastery itself. The larger one had a belfry, so it was probably that.
Next to the storage shed, a boy about the same age as me was maintaining some farming tools. He noticed the two of us and came our way with a pout on his face. He was holding a hoe in his right hand.
"Do you have some business here? If you're here to worship or seeking lodging, then go inside the monastery. The farm is basically off limits to everyone but the monastery members and orphans here."
Even now, he had a threatening look, as though he was liable to attack us with the hoe. Despite his assertion, the only way to get to the monastery was by cutting through the farm (unless there was some back entrance that we didn't know about), so his anger towards us seemed a little unreasonable to me.
Germaine seemed to take umbrage with his behavior as well, speaking up in an obstinate tone, "What an attitude to take with guests! Looks like this place doesn't discipline its children at all."
"Don't you speak ill of the sisters! And as for you being guests…What kind of business do you have, and with who!?"
"Uhh, well, that is…what was it again?"
Germaine gave me a sideways glance, as though imploring me for help. I stepped up before the boy.
"We came here to see one of the sisters at the monastery."
"…Who? Which sister did you come to see? Tell me her name."
"It's--"
Right as I started to say her name, I heard someone call the boy's own name from inside the building.
"Denis! Don't be so impolite to guests!"
A single nun ran up to us.
She had clear white hair and red eyes. And somehow, she looked to be a little fuller than she had been five years before.
Once she arrived before us, she bowed her head in apology without looking at our faces.
"I'm terribly sorry! He's really a good boy, but he's turned a rebellious age as of late--"
Germaine realized who the nun was too. She looked shocked.
"Well this is a surprise. I can hardly believe I'd run into you here, in a place like this…"
At Germaine's words the nun abruptly looked up, staring into her face.
"Huh? What's going on here? Miss Germaine!? What are you doing here?"
Next the nun shifted her gaze to me, beside Germaine. But she seemed to not know who I was at first, just looking me over with a puzzled expression for a moment.
That was understandable. I had been only nine years old, five years ago. I was a lot taller now, and I figured that my countenance was a little bit more grown-up.
There was the me in her memories, and the me before her eyes now. It appeared as though the two images gradually became one inside her mind, as I could see her red eyes quickly filling with tears. And then it was the both of us that were on the verge of crying.
Unable to bear it any longer, I ran into her arms and hugged her as hard as I could. She gently patted me on the head, just as she had when we'd parted five years before.
"…You've become quite big, young miss Yukina."
I cried loudly, not caring what people around us thought.
Chapter 4, Section 1-The Monastery on the Seashore; Scene 1
Praefacio of Blue, page 232-234
♣ Yukina ~In the Former Lucifenia Territory, “Port Town"~
.
The day would be over soon.
.
"U~gh, I've been done in."
It appeared I had gotten completely lost on my path. I had heard the bells sounding out that it was three o'clock from somewhere to the east. The place I was headed for should have been there, but I hadn't found the road that led there yet. I was positively stumped.
It seemed the worst had come to pass--I would have to find a place to stay in the port town. I gazed at the ocean from the beach, feeling half ready to admit defeat.
The water's surface, steeped in scarlet, was quite beautiful. At a glance it was a very calm ocean, merely sending the waves out and then pulling them back in. But nevertheless I just loved to gaze at it.
I heard a voice from just behind me.
"Are you lost, young miss?"
When I turned around I saw a woman standing there in a red dress.
"Miss Germaine! What are you doing here!?"
"Well that's a fine greeting. I'm originally from here, you know."
Today, Germaine wasn't armed with her rapier or wearing her trademark red armor. She told me that she had come to the Lucifenian territory by a slightly earlier ship than the one I had come over on.
"…Does that mean your responsibilities as Gumillia's bodyguard are up?"
"Yep. I got notice from the lady herself."
When Elluka had the "Vessels of Deadly Sin" stolen from her, she'd been furious. Right now she and Gumillia were apparently going all over Marlon to look for their foe.
"Now that she's reunited with her incredibly powerful mentor, I've been relieved of my position."
"…Well that's a kind of sad way to put it."
"It's not at all. Rather, I think that she was looking out for me, in her own way."
I knew that the criminal who had stolen the "Vessels of Deadly Sin" was not in Marlon. I felt a little ashamed in my mind for having come here without telling them about it.
"Anyway, what are you doing here?"
For a moment I puzzled over what to answer Germaine's question, before finally replying that I was "traveling".
"I'm here to see an old acquaintance."
That in itself wasn't really a lie. But Germaine looked at me a little doubtfully.
"Really~? You sure you haven't run away from home again~?"
"I haven't! I plan to go home right away this time…once my task is finished."
"Oh alright. Well then, where were you headed?"
I told her my destination, and also the fact that I couldn't find the path that led there.
It sounded like Germaine knew the place I was talking about.
"Ah, the one above the hill…In that case, I know it. Though I've never actually been inside."
I suppose that was her knowledge as someone from here. I asked her the route there. But Germaine started to walk towards the east, gesturing for me to come along.
"I'm not good at giving directions. I'll just take you there myself. It's not far from here."
I was against going with Germaine in tow. But once I thought it over I realized that she was a friendly face to her as well. She'd surely be happy to see Germaine.
I followed after her, and we headed for my destination--the Held Monastery.
Chapter 3, Section 2-A Heartbeat in the Rain; Scene 11
Praefacio of Blue, page 223-229
✥ Kyle Marlon ~The Country of Marlon "Marlon Castle/Left Chapel”~
.
Two weeks passed after that.
Up until yesterday it had continued to rain, but today the weather was refreshingly pleasant.
After the grand funeral for the Empress Dowager Prim was conducted for the nation, the country of Marlon once more issued a "Witch Hunt Order". It was to search for the criminal who had killed Prim.
They wouldn't find her. That criminal was now lying in the grave before me.
Ney had been warmly laid to rest here in Left Chapel as a Marlon general.
My mother's grave was here as well. Naturally it was much bigger and more splendid than Ney's.
It would be a lie to say that I wasn't sad. But even more than that I couldn't help feeling simply empty.
Thinking on it, it felt like most of my life had been covered in nothingness. I had hardly ever felt any purpose for myself in my position as king, only a sense of obligation. How ironic that the sole time I had ever been satisfied with it had been when I was possessed by a demon.
At my mother's death, I was finding increasingly less meaning in my being king.
"I'm worthless…" I murmured without thinking.
As the demon had whispered to me, I was a worthless man.
"That's not something for the king of a country to say."
The one who said that as he was approaching me was Arkatoir. He was now my sole relative, my younger half-brother.
"Don't show yourself as such a weak king in front of your citizens, at least," he chided me.
"Arkatoir. I don't know what's right anymore. I don't know what's 'just' or 'evil'--"
"Do you really need to?"
My whining cut off at his words.
"It's not like everything that you do is with a definite basis for doing so. I think that's how it is with anyone."
"…Ha ha, yeah. Yeah, I guess so."
There were still some things I needed to do as king.
For now I need to uphold my promise to Germaine.
Withdrawal from Lucifenia--as well as I could I would restore to normal the world map that had been thrown into disorder from the Marlon royal family's selfishness.
I couldn't clearly tell what was right. And I couldn't designate a basis for my actions.
Even so, I had no choice but to press on.
.
"--Your Majesty! King Kyle!" screamed a small intruder who had suddenly appeared in the Left Chapel upon finding me, clearly out of breath.
It was Yukina's younger brother, the oldest boy of the Freezis family.
"Shaw? When having an audience with me you must go through a messenger--"
"I'm sorry. It's an urgent matter, so I shook off the soldiers and came here."
An urgent matter--
"It can't be--has Keel's condition worsened!?"
"No. He still hasn't regained consciousness but for now he's stable."
"I see…"
But the fact that he hadn't regained consciousness even after two weeks had passed was in itself troubling.
We still hadn't captured the culprit of that incident. According to the soldiers' testimony, it was a "woman" wearing a strange mask. They had been conducting the search focusing on the remnants of the Special Maneuvers Task Force, but they still hadn't found any valid clues yet.
I put a hand on Shaw's shoulder.
"Shaw. If anything unexpected happens to Keel, then you will succeed him. This must be a heavy burden for a child such as you, but if you go to your mother for help--"
"My mother's been missing."
I lifted my hand from his shoulder in surprise.
"…Since when?"
"Since two weeks ago. My mother has a wanderlust, like my big sister, so occasionally she'll abscond without warning. She always comes back after a few days like nothing had happened, so I thought it would be the same this time, but…"
If she had been gone for two weeks, and if she was missing while leaving Keel gravely injured, then it couldn't be just that.
Shaw continued to speak.
"--Yesterday, my sister went missing as well."
"Yukina too!?"
"Yes. And she left a farewell letter addressed to you."
I took the letter from Shaw.
.
To Mister Kyle,
.
By the time you read this letter, I will have already left from Marlon.
In truth, there is something that I have not told you.
It is about that day that my father was attacked and Miss Ney was killed. Right before I passed out, in the last vestiges of my consciousness I saw something.
The mask on the person who had calmly come into the room engulfed in that blue flash--it was an Almoga Mobarez mask. Yes, like the ones that Miss Germaine and Miss Gumillia had been wearing when we went to the ex-Lucifenian palace.
Miss Gumillia's mask was damaged when you attacked during your demonic transformation, Mister Kyle. Germaine's was still left, but my father bought that from her and I put it in my home's storehouse.
When I returned home, that mask was gone.
And, at the same time, my mother had vanished.
According to the servants, she had unexpectedly gone out somewhere a little after we headed for Lioness.
…You can see where I'm going with this, right?
Using the information network that the Freezis family possesses, I tracked down where my mother is. And yesterday, I received word that she was spotted at a certain place.
I worried all night over whether or not I should consult about it with everyone. But all your wounds from the battle haven't yet fully healed. Furthermore I think this is a Freezis family matter. And since my father has yet to awaken, I am the eldest member of the family--so I have to solve it myself.
You will likely be angry with me, Mister Kyle. And my father will surely be even angrier, when he wakes up. But please forgive me. My mother would surely not cause harm to me, her own daughter.
…If anything happens to me, please take good care of my father, brother, and sister.
.
Yukina Freezis
.
The sky that had been so blue before had at some point been covered in thick clouds.
And with a clap of thunder--it once more started to rain.
Chapter 3, Section 2-A Heartbeat in the Rain; Scene 10
Praefacio of Blue, page 222-223
✥ Kyle Marlon ~Once More, "The Town of Lioness”~
.
It was there that I opened my eyes.
The "Demon of Gluttony" was holding me in her arms, shaking me.
"Are you alright!? Are you alive!?"
"Ugh…Agh, you damned demon…"
"What an awful remark. It's me, Germaine."
When I looked more closely I could tell that she was not wearing a dress, but rather red armor.
While I shook my head to wake myself up, I asked her, "Is everyone else alright…?"
"Master Gumillia, Elluka, and Yukina are all alright. They lost consciousness from that flash, but there doesn't seem to be anything else amiss with them now. Everyone's getting some treatment in the next room to be safe. But…"
And at that, she clammed up.
"What is it? Just tell it to me straight."
"…There's several bits of bad news. First is that Keel's gravely injured. It seems his head was struck with a blunt instrument. Although apparently it's not life-threatening, if the doctor's opinion is to be believed…"
"…What else?"
"All of the 'Vessels of Deadly Sin' were stolen. By the time I came to everything on top of the closet except the knife was gone."
So the intruder's goal was the 'Vessels of Deadly Sin'.
Germaine continued with her report.
"Lastly…This is the worst of it, but--"
"…You don't have to say any more."
I didn't need to hear it. The sight before me told me everything.
Or rather--I was able to guess from when I was dreaming before.
.
The sheets on the bed were stained a deep red.
Perhaps it was a small favor that at Ney's death her face had not been filled with anguish, but rather an expression of sleeping peacefully.
Chapter 3, Section 2-A Heartbeat in the Rain; Scene 9
Praefacio of Blue, page 217-220
✥ Kyle ~In “???”~
.
…Where am I…?
When I came to, I was inside a box.
Yes, a box. A pure black box.
I was inside an enormous, black box.
All by myself.
--No, I wasn't. I wasn't alone.
On the other side, far away, there were two people.
I ran towards them.
One was an adult, and one was a child. Both of them were female, and they were walking hand in hand with their backs to me.
I spoke to the adult woman. When she turned around, I saw she looked a lot like Germaine. She was wearing the same red dress that Ney had when she'd done her demonic transformation, and in her right hand that she wasn't holding the girl's with, she was carrying a parasol.
When I asked her who she was, she grinned and replied:
"I am the one you and your kind call the 'Demon of Gluttony'."
I stared fixedly at the child. She was--Ney. She was as she had been when I met her, when I was fourteen.
I inquired as to where the "Demon of Gluttony" was taking Ney.
"This isn't Ney. She is Gretel. The girl who was originally supposed to be born with the name of 'Riliane'. A pitiful girl who took on a different form, led a different life, thanks to a twisted fate."
She wasn't Ney but "Gretel"? She was supposed to be "Riliane"?
I had no idea what that meant.
Ney grinned at me, but immediately after that she looked dejected and apologetic.
"Sorry King Kyle--I mean, big brother. I've done so many bad things, and caused trouble for everyone. So…I've gotta say goodbye to you all."
Ney hastily scrubbed the tears gathering in her eyes and made a somewhat pained smile.
"But…I know I can be reborn again someday! If I'm reborn, then at that time--I'd like to play with all of you. You, big brother, Riliane, and Allen."
That meant that to Ney, Riliane and Allen and I were her siblings, despite me being of a different father and them being of a different mother.
--We were all siblings, huh?--
The "Demon of Gluttony" laughed, looking at Ney with a scornful gaze, "Foolish girl. You will never be reborn again. I will take in your soul, and you will become an incarnation of myself. As a cornerstone that I may become 'Master of the Graveyard'."
Ney didn't seem to hear the demon's voice. She kept on smiling at me.
I wasn't going to hand Ney over to some demon! I tried to strike. But my fist hit only an invisible wall before her.
"Cease such futile actions...We shall meet again someday, 'Soul of Adam' of this era…"
The demon was steadily getting farther away, taking Ney with her. When she did, an ocean suddenly appeared where they were headed.
There couldn't be an ocean inside a box such as this. But there was most definitely an ocean there, and the two of them were entering it.
.
"See ya, bye-bye."
Ney turned around and waved to me once, one last time, before disappearing inside the ocean.
Everything the demon had said was difficult to understand.
But what I could tell with certainty was that now, Ney was--
Chapter 3, Section 2-A Heartbeat in the Rain; Scene 8
Praefacio of Blue, page 211-217
✥ Kyle Marlon ~The Country of Marlon, "The Town of Lioness”~
.
Except for the soldiers running cleanup, the first army returned to Lioness. Having received word from messengers sent their way, the second, third, and fourth armies would return soon as well.
The dead soldiers had all halted in their activity. It would be a massive job to return all the corpses to their graves, but for the time being the situation was returning to normal.
Inside one room in Castle Lioness, above a bed covered in a snow white sheet, Ney slept. Her body was tied to the bed with rope.
All around her stood myself, Germaine, Yukina, Gumillia, Elluka, and Keel.
"Is she alright like that? What if she wakes up and starts going wild…?"
Yukina looked worried.
"As far as it goes we have, dispossessed her of, her weapons, to be sure," Gumillia said, leaving the broken knife (there was no blood on it, so she must have washed it somewhere), glass, and hand mirror on top of the closet next to her.
"This hand mirror…Is that like the one you had, Kyle?" Germaine asked, looking at the closet.
"It is. And…"
I placed the mirror I had been carrying, and the doll, next to the other articles there.
"What's this?" Elluka took special interest in the doll.
"It looks like Michaela, but my mother said it was modeled after someone else. If I recall correctly she said it was the 'original sinner' or something…I…figured that it might be one of the 'Vessels of Deadly Sin' that you were looking for."
Elluka gazed at the doll with an appraising expression for a moment.
"…It looks that way. Gumillia, since we've got all these assembled, line up the vessels you've got in your possession here too."
Gumillia nodded and placed two more mirrors and a sword on the closet. With that, we had four mirrors. If my mother's words were to be believed, that was all of them.
Elluka gazed upon them in satisfaction.
"Assuming there's no more mirrors, then with this sword, glass, mirrors, and doll…We've gathered four 'Vessels of Deadly Sin'. We just need three more…Great~ This feels good~" And then her expression suddenly turned desolate. "Although in the end we were unable to ask Prim directly about what happened to the demon of the 'Venom Sword'…"
I decided to tell Elluka everything that my mother had told me in the tower later.
It seemed Keel was also keen on the 'vessels'.
"The 'Vessels of Deadly Sin' rumored to house demons, hm…They're quite dreadful, but they're certainly tempting articles. Elluka, could you possibly give me back at least the 'Venom Sword'--"
"No."
"--Fine…What a pity. But is it safe here? What if a demon comes suddenly flying out--"
"Nothing to worry about. I've applied some simple sealing."
Germaine cut into their conversation. "Can I have a second? You two should go over the details on this matter later on between yourselves....Right now we need to decide what we're going to do with her."
At those words, everyone shifted their focus to Ney on the bed.
After a momentary silence, Keel spoke up first.
"Normally, I would think the best thing to do would be to let the truth go public and have her face the appropriate judgment of the law--"
Ney had mainly two crimes. Causing disorder in the country by controlling dead soldiers, and--the murder of the Empress Dowager. If the latter in particular was known by the public, a death sentence would be unavoidable.
"--However it seems that our King Kyle here has already moved to conceal the truth."
"Don't be so sarcastic, Keel. I had my reasons for doing that."
Next it was Yukina to voice her opinion.
"Setting aside whether or not she should be charged for her crimes...I think we ought to have her tell us the whole truth! There are a lot of things we still don't know about this event. Now that the Empress Dowager is dead, she's the only one who knows everything."
Hearing the conversation, Elluka gave a small sigh.
"Talk to her, huh...From what I've heard of King Kyle's testimony, I can't imagine that we'd be able to hear the full story upfront from Ney right now."
Upon hearing that, Yukina looked to Elluka with a pleading expression.
"If the cause of Miss Ney's fractured psyche is a demon, then…you can heal her with your magic, can't you Miss Elluka?"
"…Magic isn't some all-powerful thing. I could try to treat her using magic, but I don't think the odds of it succeeding are very high."
Gumillia, having listened to them talk quietly up until that point, opened her mouth.
"But, there is some worth to trying. If Ney is, the one who killed Michaela, then I want to hear that, from her own lips. And, if it's possible…I want her to apologize."
"Apologize? To you?"
Gumillia shook her head greatly at Keel's question.
"No. Not me."
Gumillia didn't say who it was she wanted Ney to apologize to.
Elluka looked to be debating it with herself for a short while, but finally she gently patted the sleeping Ney on the head, as though having readied her resolve.
"…Got it. Let's try it. But like I said earlier, I don't know if it'll go well, and it'll take some time."
Yukina looked a little triumphant.
Germaine was smiling a little, leaning on the wall behind her. And then she said, "If we learn that Ney's deeds were all the fault of Abyss' magic and a demon, then we'll have to take those extenuating circumstances into consideration. Don't you think, Kyle?"
"…Sure."
Even so, would Ney and I be able to become amicable siblings? That would certainly be difficult. We'd been apart far too long.
But still, we could get there little by little, just a fraction at a time. If we could get back the time we'd lost, then surely someday--
…I'm getting ahead of myself. I don't even know yet if we'll be able to bring Ney back from insanity.
Elluka took her hand from Ney, turned around, and said,
"First we should return to the capital Bariti. We need to make some preparations. Gumillia, you take all of the 'vessels', would you please?"
I once more looked at the "vessels" on the closet. I figured that Gumillia might have a hard time carrying all of them.
And immediately after thinking that, a sudden doubt sprung in my mind.
…Where did the spoon go?
The Empress Dowager had said that she'd gathered five "Vessels of Deadly Sin".
But the ones we'd gathered here were four in all.
Yes, the spoon that the Empress Dowager had talked about in her story had been nowhere to be found.
At that time, I heard some clattering sound from outside the room.
"What's that?"
Yukina made a curious expression. There were several soldiers on standby in the castle. It was hardly likely that an intruder had gotten in, but…
"I'll go check it out," Keel suggested. "Since everyone here aside from myself seems to be injured."
Keel laughed off Yukina's rebuttal that she herself was unharmed, and left the room.
Immediately after I heard Keel's voice from outside.
"Oh, what are you doing here? Ha ha, what's that? Why are you wearing that mask--"
There was a dull sound, a thud. Keel's speech cut off there.
Chapter 3, Section 2-A Heartbeat in the Rain; Scene 7
Praefacio of Blue, page 193-210
✥ Kyle ~Once again, in the “Heartbeat Clocktower”~
.
How could this be?
I didn’t know how much of the Empress Dowager’s story was true. But one thing was very clear to me.
“Mother...you’re insane.”
I couldn't maintain my composure without telling myself as much.
I didn't even want to admit that she was my own flesh and blood. But that was a wish I could not grant. The fact that she was my mother was a truth I could not change.
Ignoring my words, the Empress Dowager brought out one hand mirror.
“Do you know what this is?”
It was the same as the one I had once carried—one of the “Four Mirrors”.
“I’ve put the demon of ‘Lust’, which originally dwelled in the ‘Venom Sword’, into this mirror. It's very convenient. That this mirror can move other varieties of demon than its original Demon of 'Pride'."
That must mean that she intended to have me possessed by that demon of “Lust” again.
But—
“Abyss is gone now. Can you perform the magic to have me possessed by a demon when you’re not a sorceress yourself?”
“I can. As long as I have her—the ‘Clockworker’s Doll’.” The Empress Dowager patted the head of the doll that looked like Mrs. Margaret once more. “The demon of ‘Sloth’ dwells in her. …A more accurate way of saying it would be that this doll is the demon of ‘Sloth’ itself.”
At that moment, a blonde haired girl entered the room from the opposite door. Ney.
“Mother~ I’m all finished~”
Instead of a glass, in her hands she was gripping a bloodstained knife.
The Empress Dowager continued to talk, ignoring Ney.
“The ‘Clockworker’s Doll’ is the being that is the mother to all other ‘Demons of Deadly Sin’. And it is only when inside this 'Heartbeat Clocktower' that her true power can be realized--"
The clocktower handbeats, which I should not have been able to hear, reverberated throughout the room.
Ney drew closer to the Empress Dowager while speaking.
“Hey listen, Mother~ They weren’t as chewy as I thought they’d—“
The doll’s eyes began to shine mysteriously.
The Empress Dowager continued to talk.
"As long as I have her, even I can freely control the 'Demons of Deadly Sin'. And I can have you possessed by them--"
“Hey, mother. Listen to m--"
Ney stood before the Empress Dowager, and peered into her face. But she paid no mind to her. She held the doll up overhead.
“Kyle, you think this doll resembles Margaret, don’t you? But you're wrong. Her appearance was based on the ‘Original Sinner’, Eve Moonlit—“
“Mother. Listen, Mother, Mother Mother~”
"Come, Kyle, return to your true self. The you that fits my expecta--"
“I SAID TO LISTEN, YOU WHOOOORE!”
All of a sudden, the noises of the clocktower ceased. The Empress Dowager stopped speaking, and the doll fell to the floor without a sound.
When Ney moved away, blood was gushing from the Empress Dowager's chest.
“Wha…”
What just happened?
I couldn’t immediately grasp the situation.
A knife was plunged into her breast. Her face was hideously distorting. Her face that must have been altered to appear younger ran with wrinkles, and started to look more like her actual age.
“N-Ney…What have you…”
Ney simply laughed without answering the Empress Dowager’s question. No matter what, no matter what she continued that laugh that resounded above the sound of the clock hands from just a moment ago.
Eventually the Empress Dowager collapsed, powerless.
.
My mother died before my eyes.
But I wasn't seized with any emotion. No tears fell. Nor did I tremble with rage.
Perhaps my heart was completely broken.
In that case, then including my dead mother there was no one left in this room but madmen.
Ney still continued to laugh.
I understood, once possessed by a demon myself. There had to be some side-effects of entering a state like that, of acquiring a mind and power that surpassed human knowledge.
Ney had likely been made into Abyss’s guinea pig soon after she was born. Doubtless she had been subjected to things quite similar to demonic possession.
What's more, she had recently been continuing to use the power of the "Glass of Conchita"--the power of a demon--
Ney's laughter abruptly stopped. And when she saw the corpse of her mother, she adopted an expression of enormous shock.
“…Mother!? Agh, Mother! How awful! How did this happen!? Who, who could have done such a—“
This time she turned and settled her gaze on me. The blood that had spurted when she'd stabbed our mother clung to her face.
“…You? You killed her! I ca-ca-can’t forgive you, I can never forgive you! I’ll kill you! I’ll kill you I’ll kill you I’ll kill you I’ll kill—“
While gazing at me with eyes filled with hatred, Ney readied her knife.
--Mother, you were insane.
Because of that you were unable to realize that the daughter you probably never thought of as anything more than a pawn had grown even more insane than you.
I’ve had enough.
Let’s put an end to all of this already.
As the one left behind, I would take responsibility for my family's misconduct. But before that--
I drew my sword.
.
My little sister. I will save you
.
While holding her knife in her right hand, Ney pulled the glass from her pocket with her left.
“I’ll show you the true power of the Glass of Conchita! Demon of ‘Gluttony’, enter my body!” She shouted. In that moment, a strange transformation began to occur in her.
The color of the clothes she was wearing began to change from blue to a fiery crimson. And that wasn't all. The style went from a military uniform to a dress the likes of which a noblewoman might wear.
A demonic transformation…?
A demonic transformation, like what had happened to me with growing wings and claws and such, was probably happening to Ney. The way she changed was different than mine, so perhaps there were differences among the various types of demons.
But unlike me, Ney didn’t seem to be undergoing any physical changes. After her clothes had completely changed into that red dress, nothing else happened. It was just a simple costume change.
“Wha—whaaaat~!?”
Ney too looked a little surprised by that.
“Did I use up too much power by summoning the dead soldiers? …Oh well. Even if I don’t have the demon’s power, I won’t lose to this evil man.”
Evil man—she was talking about me.
In reality, who was the one that was really evil?
The Empress Dowager Prim, who brought many people to disaster for the sake of her own vanity? Abyss IR, who had deceived my mother and scattered the seeds of demons? Ney, who had summoned the dead soldiers and had them attack civilians? Riliane, who had conducted herself in a state of hedonism and brought disorder to the Evillious region? Allen, who had averted his eyes from his sister's pride and sacrificed himself for her? Elluka, who could do nothing to stop countless tragedies while knowing about the existence of demons? Or was it me, who brought forth so much war and strife, unable to go against the expectations around me?
.
What in the world is “evil”?
.
--I’d think about that later. Ney was heading my way with her knife raised. I had to stop her.
There was the sound of blades clashing. I had a broadsword. My opponent had a tiny knife. Yet I was the one who got knocked back. She had more physical strength than I would expect of a woman her size. Perhaps she had taken on some of the influence of the demon's power after all, or else it was her own strength as the head of the Special Maneuvers Task Force.
Her knife was solid, and quick. The men I had come up here with, Seton and Walpole. I realized how two such powerful people even among the rest of the unit had been done in by her.
It took all my might just to block her. But I wouldn't be bested so easily. Even if she had strength, it wasn't infinite. If I kept up my defense, my chance would come eventually. I calmly continued to handle sword stroke after sword stroke.
Perhaps irritated that her knife wasn't reaching me, Ney temporarily retreated while still facing me directly.
She began to slowly circle me. There didn’t seem to be any reason left in her eyes, but her body apparently remembered how to fight. She moved in a wide arc around me, looking for a chance to strike. During that period I continued to change my position so as to not lose sight of her. Then, as though having grown impatient, Ney suddenly lunged. She vigorously slashed at me.
I just barely managed to block, but the gap between us then was much too short. I could feel her breath on my face. A knife would be overwhelmingly advantageous at this distance. In an instant, I struck Ney's face with the handle of my sword--while she was recoiling from the blow, I kneed her in the stomach. The gap between us widened.
Blood was flowing from Ney’s lips. Coupled with the blood still on her from the Empress Dowager, her entire face was red. It matched the color of her dress, and she looked as though her whole body was stained in blood.
And it was there I realized something terrible. On closer inspection, a small crack had started to run on the base of my sword. I had tried to be very careful in maintaining it before setting out for the front, but would it endure Ney's power?
If this kept up I wasn’t going to win—
When agitation began to sprout in my heart, suddenly--a voice began to echo in my head.
.
Give it over
Give over everything to me
.
It resembled the voice that I had heard when I was possessed by the demon. It merely resembled it—it was not the same. Above all other things, unlike back then this voice did nothing to make my heart feel calm. Rather it filled me with a sense of revulsion.
.
Haha, how awful
Have you completely forgotten about me?
.
This voice--it was coming from the mirror Prim had been holding, which had tumbled to the floor.
Ah, that’s right. I remember you.
The owner of the voice was another demon who had possessed me—the personification of “Lust”
.
Give it over
Give over everything to me
.
That’s right. If I borrowed your power, perhaps I would be able to stand against Ney.
But—
I tightly gripped the shell pendant hanging over my chest.
I refuse!
At this late hour I don’t think my sins will ever be forgiven.
Even so, I can't accept you any further.
.
…How boring
You have really boring mind
As ever….hm
.
At that I finally stopped hearing the voice.
.
The conversation with the demon had felt like it went on a while, but in actuality it only lasted a few seconds. If not for that, Ney would have run through my chest long ago.
I didn't know what was funny, but a smile started to spread on her face.
“Ah…I’m hungry.”
Ney spoke, sounding carefree--then she once more launched herself at me. I tried to stop her as well as I could with my sword, giving my undivided attention to blocking while backing away.
“But I don’t wanna eat something as grotesque as that anymore. It’s really, really gross. But I’ve gotta eat. ‘Cause—“
Ney continued to speak using childlike expressions. During her speech she never stopped swinging the knife around.
“—If anything’s left behind, I’ll be scolded.”
The intensity of her flurry of knife strikes increased. I wouldn't be able to keep her at bay with defensive movements for long.
If I'm going to end up getting done in at this rate--
I shifted to a counteroffensive. I stepped out my right foot, and brought my broadsword down on Ney. But she blocked the blade with her knife, and the sword merely broke off at the base.
There was nothing more I could do--Ney rammed me in the solar plexus with her shoulders and knocked me over.
“Come, this ends now!”
Ney straddled me, and brought the knife down
The image of blood gushing from my chest crossed the back of my mind. But that didn’t actually happen.
The knife had shattered into small pieces without cutting in. Both Ney and myself were stunned.
What? What just happened!?
I put a hand over my chest.
There, broken just like Ney’s knife, was my shell pendant.
It wasn't an especially tough shell. Ordinarily it was unthinkable that it would be able to catch such a strong blow from Ney's strong knife, much less destroy it.
"Ch…Is this payback for having killed you? Stop interfering, 'Daughter of Green'!"
Ney’s voice trembled with rage.
I see—so you were the one who killed Michaela, Ney…
I had finally found the target of my revenge. But somehow I couldn’t bring myself to feel any hatred towards her.
"Revenge will only bring you emptiness."
I thought back on the words that Germaine had told me earlier.
We had both lost our weapons, but Ney didn't stop her assault on me. While straddling me, she began to punch me in the face several times repeatedly.
“Die! You! Bastard! Die! Die die die!”
Her fists raining down were much stronger than one would expect of such skinny arms. If I kept up taking her blows like this, perhaps I really would die as she said.
I desperately tried to squirm away from her grip, holding me down from above, but I wasn't successful. I felt as though some abominable curse of some sort outside of Ney's power was keeping my body from moving.
In my dimming consciousness, I heard the sound of a door opening. I guessed someone had come in…but who in the world was it?
"Kyle!"
That was Germaine's voice. If she was here then that must mean she had defeated the crew of the Special Maneuvers Task Force under her own power. …Honestly, what a formidable swordswoman.
It seemed Ney had realized Germaine was there. She stopped bringing her fists down on me, and turned to face the door, where I imagined Germaine to be. Ney was preoccupied with her, and so the restriction on my body lightened just a little.
I put my left hand at my hip. I gripped the hilt of my sword, and brought it up to strike the side of her face.
But she realized what I was doing a second before I could. As she'd immediately brought herself back, the hilt only grazed her cheek.
"Cease your pointless resistance…"
Ney glared at me. Her eyes were full of clear intent to kill, but once she noticed the item on my hand, they widened.
"That's…"
The hilt of my sword was a mere decoy. My true aim had been to bring this out.
When I had shipped out from Lucifenia, Chartette had entrusted to me a secret weapon--her rocket glove.
It was an improved model whose output had been several times upgraded by Chartette's father.
I flicked the switch inside the glove, and it was engulfed in light.
"This is a message from your former workmate. Please accept it, Ney."
"Wha!?"
The ball of dazzling light powerfully collided with Ney's stomach.
"Gugh!"
Struck by the rocket glove at point blank range, Ney flew high into the air, hitting against the ceiling and then crashing back down.
Its power level was much fiercer than I'd anticipated, and there was a large bit of kickback on my end too. The area around my abdomen was hot, as though it was on fire. When I looked, I saw that part of my clothing had completely burned off, leaving my bare skin exposed.
I had heard it was intense up until now, but…
Come to think of it Elluka had inscribed some symbol on the glove the day before I left Lioness.
…Is this because of that?
Germaine dashed over and helped me to my feet.
"Kyle, are you okay?"
"Yeah, somehow. …Worse for wear than you, it seems."
"All the dead soldiers had returned to just being corpses. Thanks to that the army soldiers were able to make it to the courtyard, and then, well…we managed."
That must mean that, incomplete though it was, when Ney had concentrated the magical power of the "Glass of Conchita" into herself, she'd cut off the magic going towards the dead soldiers.
Ney didn't move, prostrate on the ground. When I put a hand to her neck, I felt a pulse. Looked like she'd just fainted.
"Germaine, hand me your sword."
"…What are you planning to do?"
"I'm going to strike the final blow."
But Germaine shook her head.
"No."
"Please. The misdeeds of the Marlon family have to be put to an end by my hand."
Germaine looked a little surprised when she glanced around and caught sight of the Empress Dowager's dead body, but she quickly returned to her calm expression and said to me, "…I don't know what reasons you have, but I'm not going to allow you to kill an unresisting person."
Germaine moved away from me and pulled Ney into her arms.
"I'll take her back with me. You--"
At that moment, several Marlon soldiers entered the room, out of breath.
"Your Majesty! Are you okay!?"
Germaine smiled, and after leaving "Keep them occupied" as her parting words, she exited the room.
I gathered up the pieces of my shell pendant that were scattered on the floor.
"Michaela…You've saved me again."
The soldiers balked before the Empress Dowager, sitting dead in her chair. When I walked up to them they all looked at me with similar disturbed expressions.
"King Kyle…What in the world…"
"…"
I gave them a fake explanation.
The Empress Dowager Prim had been murdered by the sorceress who was controlling the dead soldiers. By the time I'd gotten here it was already too late. The Special Maneuvers Task Force had been manipulated by that sorceress. And she had already escaped. …Something like that.
I wasn't trying to protect Ney. But if her evil deeds went public, then eventually the things that the Empress Dowager had done, and the connection between the two of them, would all come to the surface. If that happened the authority of the Marlon family would be shaken, casting the country into disorder.
I had no wish to smooth over my family's public image at this late stage in the game, but right now I still had to act--to do what I could do, at least--as king.
"As for my mother's body…please be courteous and take it to Marlon Castle for me. And now--I am going to take charge of my mother's valuables."
Once I had picked up the mirror and doll scattered on the floor at her feet, I left the room. I hurt all over, but I managed to walk down by myself.
When I looked out the barred windows midway through descending the stairs, I saw that the sun peeking out from behind clouds.
Chapter 3, Section 2-A Heartbeat in the Rain; Scene 6
Praefacio of Blue, page 182-193
<<Reflections of Marlon Empress Dowager Prim Marlon>>
.
You know that I am from the high-ranking Lucifenian Rogzé family, don't you? Having such an ancient and honorable pedigree had been my pride since I was young. Everyone around me praised me extravagantly, and there was nothing I desired that I couldn't have. I spent my girlhood convinced that I was a chosen person.
Though thinking on it now, all that was merely a misunderstanding on my part. Lucifenia at the time was nothing more than one small country in the Bolganio continent--even the nobles of such a country didn't amount to much. I hadn't understood that, knowing nothing of the world.
I had a best friend since I was a child. Her name was Anne Swee. She was also the daughter of a noble family at the time, but because the Swee family was of much lower breeding compared to the Rogzés, Anne was more like a maid to my family. We were of the same age, and so the two of us got along well, and quickly became friends. And that relationship continued until we became adults.
Anne had better school grades than me, and was more skilled in music and singing. But I didn’t pay that any mind. Because I was a woman of higher status than she was. No matter how she excelled, she would never stand above me--or at least, that's what I'd thought.
Around the time we grew to be of marriageable age, a certain man became the talk of Lucifenia. The valiant prince, Arth Lucifen d’Autriche. Overcoming the opposition of his father, the king, he had begun to expand our territory by declaring war on our surrounding countries, one by one. All the men praised and admired him. And all the women longed to become his wife.
But I was the one who was going to become Arth’s wife. That’s what I decided. I had thought I would marry him because he and I had both had social connections as children, his face was fairly handsome despite being a childish man, he was the owner of blond hair so beautiful that all the women who saw it were charmed, and because I was certain he liked me too.
But there, the unthinkable happened. Anne seduced Arth through some unfair tactics, and settled herself into place as his wife. Impossible. Arth couldn't possibly lose his heart to a girl so inferior to myself. I still wonder what means she used. At any rate, from then on my and Anne’s social positions completely reversed. Around then Arth had already succeeded his father on the throne, so Anne had regrettably obtained the position of queen.
Even so, I blessed the two of them. Anne was my best friend. Her happiness was my happiness. And that fact wouldn't change even after that—that’s how I expected it to be, anyway.
But after a little while passed, Anne and Arth started to keep their distance from me. I didn't know the cause. And I hadn't been given an explanation as to why. So, one day I pressed Anne for an answer. “Why have you been ignoring me?”
She said, “Someone has poisoned King Arth”. And, “This isn't a happy matter, but the culprit is certainly someone close to us”. And she glared at me with eyes as cold as ice.
She had to be joking. What an awful accusation. Like I was the kind of person who would try to kill someone for having given me the cold shoulder! Though I suppose the Rogzés are extremely well versed in pharmaceuticals, so if someone were to have obtained the new type of drug called "Gift", which they said had poisoned Arth, it would have been someone from my family line. Come to think of it I guess I might have put something in his wineglass the last time I saw him. But I'm sure I hadn’t left any evidence behind, and I’d already forgotten about something so long ago in the first place. That wasn’t the point. The important thing was that Anne was suspecting me. Even though we were best friends!
Anne had said, “It’s not that I suspect you”. She spoke lies! I knew that on that day, she had arbitrarily decided I was the culprit. And then she said, “We can't let anyone even slightly suspicious near His Majesty—”
.
Suspicious!?
Call me suspicious!?
.
Calling me, her best friend, someone of such noble birth, a suspicious woman of all things! Oh, what a vulgar woman she was! She must have realized that Arth had some lingering affection towards me, and so was trying to keep the two of us apart. She must have thought it was fine to defy her position in life, despite being of such lower noble birth.
So, right then I decided I would teach Anne a lesson. That no matter what unfair means she used, she would never be able to win against me.
I left Lucifenia, crossed the sea, and arrived here in Marlon. That was in order to marry the previous king of Marlon, your father. At that time he was terribly wasting away at his wife's passing, so I offered him some comfort. I’m sure that my devoted affection got through to his heart. I answered his proposal, and became his second wife. Shortly thereafter, Kyle, you were born.
There were a few children that he’d had with his previous wife. And several children that he'd had with his mistresses. But there's hardly any of them left nowadays. I wonder why in the world that is?
Huh, you think I killed them? Oh no Kyle, are you looking at your own mother with such accusing eyes? You’re being such an awful boy...Well, I suppose it makes no difference now.
Your father didn't have any talents aside from womanizing. He was a king utterly hopeless at protecting the territory he had inherited from his ancestors. I couldn't hope for anything with him. So I put my hopes on you, Kyle. I believed that surely you, since you were of my blood, would make Marlon a greater kingdom than it has been. Naturally, it is a mother's duty to erase anything that would get in the way of that.
Since my younger brother Presi worked in the Kingdom of Lucifenia, I would get updates on all of the current events happening there without fail. At that point my old acquaintaince, the "Witch of Beelzenia" Elluka Clockworker, had defected to Lucifenia and the country was expected to grow more and more. To the point where it would surpass Marlon…You see?
I couldn’t wait for you to grow up. With things the way they were I’d lose to Anne—With that in mind, I began to search for a sorceress who held enough power to rival that of Elluka. At the same time, I proceeded to engage in my own particular research using the magical knowledge I had been taught by Elluka as a foundation. The power of the unknown was an incredible thing. Pretty soon I was captivated by it.
But there were limits to just sticking to the knowledge I could gain from old books, after all. I still needed someone who was able to properly use magic.
At that time, I discovered Abyss I.R. here in the Bloodpool region. She told me that she was a descendant of the sorcerer who had worked for the original owner of this castle, Lord Hedgehog, and that she had inherited his powers.
Of course, I didn't believe her immediately. And it was there that Abyss declared she would demonstrate her power, and presented to me a single blade. That was the “Venom Sword”. I believe you also saw it at the Freezis estate in Elphegort. Doesn’t Elluka’s apprentice have it now?
Abyss told me that the sword was a “charm that makes love blossom”. So, taking along the sword, I returned home to Lucifenia for the first time in years.
Anne and Arth’s relationship had become just a little bit strained. It seemed that was because even though a lot of time had passed since their marriage, Anne had never been blessed with children. I knew this was because she was nothing but a cowardly wretch. God is always fair.
I drew close to Arth. Thanks to the "charm that makes love blossom", he became up-front with his feelings. Before long we came to love one another. Of course, it was kept a secret from Anne.
After a stay of several months, I returned home to Marlon. Immediately after, I learned that I was pregnant.
Without a doubt, this was mine and Arth’s child.
I was ecstatic. “I did it, I’ve beaten Anne!”. I had obtained earlier than Anne what she had not been able to.
As the baby in my stomach was the proof of mine and Arth's love, I naturally told no one else, not even him. Because there was no way I could disguise my belly getting bigger, I chose to insist it was my child with the king of Marlon.
One day during that period, Abyss visited my castle. She offered me her aid towards my ambitions--to make Marlon prosper. Abyss' power had already been proven by what happened with Arth. Her proposal fit nicely into what I desired. With her, my country--I--would be able to obtain powerful magical might….That's what I thought.
In return for lending me power, Abyss presented to me several conditions. First was cooperating in helping her collect the "Vessels of Deadly Sin", items that held the same kind of strange magic as the "Venom Sword". And the other one was to offer her a single baby that she could use as a test subject for her magical research.
The first condition was a simple one. The country of Marlon had within it a man named Duke Sfarz, who owned an extensive information network. I figured it would be a cinch to quickly find such items if I used him.
With regard to the baby of the second condition, I happened to have someone perfect in mind. King Marlon had gotten another mistress set up elsewhere, apparently not having learned his lesson. I had heard that she'd just given birth to a boy named Arkatoir, so I saw an opportunity to give that child to Abyss…That was the plan, anyway.
I was in the last month of my pregnancy by then, so I ended up deciding to fulfill my obligations after things had settled down following my birthing.
After that—you were around 5 years old—I delivered a girl. But there, I faced the unthinkable again.
The issue was, the fuzz growing from my newly born baby’s head was just like her father, Arth’s—blonde. I had black hair, and the Marlon king had the same blue hair as you. I shouldn’t have been giving birth to any yellow haired children. It wasn't a problem then, but someday when she grew up it would become obvious that she was an illegitimate child--I was a bit put out by that, but I quickly hit upon a brilliant idea.
--I changed my plans so that the baby I would offer to Abyss was her.
I already had you, Kyle, and as I'd made certain my victory merely by growing pregnant, I had no great interest in the child that I'd given birth to in the first place. Although I had considered perhaps using her to further ruin Anne and Arth's relationship someday.
I had no need to keep her by my side if it meant risking my own position. Making it out to be a stillbirth, I handed the newborn baby to Abyss. Abyss named that child Ney. Three years after that, children had been born between Anne and Arth. A lovely pair of twins, a boy and a girl. I heard that because of that, their cooled affections had returned to what they once were.
My bad luck continued. Once, when Anne was visiting the country of Marlon, she made a suggestion to me. That we have you be engaged to be married to Riliane, one of her twins, in the future.
It seems as though Arth was originally the one to think up your betrothal. Anne seemed a bit troubled on whether she approved or not, but on the other hand she had apparently regretted her suspicions of me, and so was inclined to let the discussion progress under the idea that we could go back to being friends through this engagement between our two children.
What a joke! Just the thought of marrying off my beloved Kyle to a child of Anne's was repulsive! But the king of Marlon and his chief vassal were simply taken with the idea, so I couldn't protest outwardly.
I hated Arth for scheming something like that. I had secrets with him that I couldn't make public.
--Soon I would kill Arth and his children. That’s what I decided.
When I first started to consider it, I suddenly enjoyed the thought so much that I couldn't stop myself. I wondered, what sort of expression would Anne wear when she had lost everyone she loved? My heart swelled at such fantasies.
Meanwhile, my gathering of the vessels of deadly sin was coming along very well, and I had already finished collecting the glass, spoon, and mirror. Abyss already had the sword, and so including the doll that meant she had five of them.
Abyss applied some further processing on the mirror, and what had once been one was split up into four. I don't know the precise reason why, but she told me that it was more convenient that way. She informed me that with the doll as well, it had only become a doll after she'd improved on its original form.
I dispatched Abyss to murder Arth and the twins. It would be no small feat to off three people of the royal family. But she replied that she could do it. I decided to leave the methodology up to her.
First, Abyss used the power of the "Glass of Conchita" to make the Gula disease spread. In order to keep it from having much of an impact on Marlon, she started by having it spring up in the Beelzenian Empire, the furthest spot from here. At the time Arth was in the middle of a campaign to capture Beelzenia, so he was infected with the disease immediately. It was less effective than I would have thought, but eventually Arth passed on.
Next, when the twins turned six she plotted their assassination using the "four mirrors" and the ambitions of my younger brother Presi. Apparently she’d been able to kill one of the twins, Alexiel, but had failed on Riliane. And in that incident, Presi died too. That had been unfortunate, but he had always been such a useless boy, so perhaps it was inevitable.
My miscalculation had been that I was unable to read Abyss' true motives. She'd had no inclination to help me from the beginning--she was merely using me for her own aspirations. What kind of aspirations? I'm not sure, but she looked to have some animosity towards Elluka. To make Elluka suffer--that was her aspiration. I didn't know why. Why don't you ask her yourself? Ah, that's right, she's already dead isn't she? Ho ho ho…
From there Abyss began to go off course. She killed Anne with the Gula disease. I cried all night long. My best friend was dead! Now that she was dead and laid into the ground, I would never be able to cause her misery!
…There was nothing to be done about her passing, though. Having been left behind, what I needed to do then was to destroy the kingdom that was her legacy, and to drive her memento of a daughter Riliane to die in despair.
Even there, Abyss took her own liberties with the situation. I was fine with her getting Riliane possessed by a demon. But I could not possibly forgive her having you--my Kyle--possessed by the demon of "Lust"…ordinarily, anyway.
But when you were possessed by the demon, you ended up obediently following my wishes far more than you ever had up until then. You broke your engagement with Riliane yourself. I was so incredibly overjoyed at that....I’m sure you’ll understand the feeling if you too become a parent someday.
Riliane died during the revolution, and Abyss recollected the demon that was possessing you, as it served its purpose. However, I wanted you to remain the submissive, adorable child that you were. But I didn't want to use the demon of "Lust" for that…I'd have a problem on my hands if you went around having women here and there like your father, wouldn't I? So instead I had you possessed by the demon of "Pride", as I had no other use for it after it had left Riliane.
From there…It's as you already know. Filled with self-confidence, you flourished and steadily began to spread our territory for me!
But because of that mage and that swordswoman, the demon of Pride left you. You went back to your original self—the Kyle that rebelled against his own mother.
Chapter 3, Section 2-A Heartbeat in the Rain; Scene 5
Praefacio of Blue, page 178-182
✥ Kyle Marlon ~The Country of Marlon, "Heartbeat Clocktower”~
.
The interior of the tower was largely a single path. I ascended the spiral staircase while checking that there was no trace of anyone in any of the rooms on the way. Each time I went up, the sound of the large clock hands grew louder and louder.
The iron bars affixed to the windows lent credence to the rumors that this tower was used as a place of torture. But when this castle came into the ownership of the Marlon family there were no instruments of torture anywhere inside, and no traces of such a thing left.
Rumors were just rumors. I was able to think optimistically about it, but there was the possibility that the Lioness family had disposed of everything beforehand to hide their dark side.
Well, that would have been centuries ago anyway. I wasn't likely to ever learn the truth.
But there's no need to pay any mind to those rumors. My mother has said that there isn't a nicer place to enjoy the beautiful scenery.
I had no basis for it, but I had a certain conviction.
That Ney and my mother were surely at the top of the tower.
Because that was the best place to enjoy the scenery of Bloodpool.
.
The highest room in the Heartbeat Clocktower.
As I thought, Ney and my mother were there.
Strangely, the moment I entered the room, I suddenly became unable to hear the headachingly loud sound of the clock hand.
"It's very interesting. I don't know how it's constructed, but the sound of the clock doesn't enter this room. Despite it not being an enclosed space."
My mother's voice--Empress Dowager Prim's voice--resounded around the room from where she calmly sat in a large, emerald colored armchair. It seemed this place had some special means of canceling out sound.
On top of her knees sat a Gine Doll. I was shocked to see that it was made to look like someone that I knew.
Is that Michaela!? …No, wait, my mother would have never met Michaela.
In that case, the only other person I could think of was Mrs. Margaret--meaning it was a doll imitating my tutor when I was a child.
But why does she have something like that?
Ney stood to her left. She lightly waved a wineglass in her right hand.
"Is this what you're after, King Kyle?~♪"
--The "Glass of Conchita". If I could steal that from Ney, then the dead soldiers would stop moving…or so Elluka told me.
Once that happened, the soldiers fighting in the banquet hall would surge into the courtyard. The Special Maneuvers Task Force would have to retreat at that.
"Hee hee, you're it, try and catch me~♪"
Ney swiftly ran forward and dashed out of the room from a door opposite to the one we entered from. I immediately called to the two soldiers I had brought with me. "After her! Get that glass! …Try not to kill her!"
"Yes sir!"
"Roger!"
The soldiers left the room after Ney, which left only me and the Empress Dowager.
"You're not going after her, Kyle?"
"…I have a lot of things I want to ask you."
The Empress Dowager smiled, patting the doll's head.
"Haha, I see. Come to think of it I don't think we've ever faced each other directly like this before now."
Thinking on it again, she was much more youthful than one would expect of a woman past forty. Clear skin, and glossy black hair. I almost thought that she looked even younger than when I had been a child. Could this as well have been some influence of Abyss' magic or something?
I had some things I needed to ask her. I steadied my resolve, and opened my mouth.
"First, I need to make sure. Aren't you--aren't you here now because you've been captured by Ney, Mother?"
The Empress Dowager closed her eyes, and shook her head.
"No. I am here of my own volition. And I am the one who ordered Ney to let loose the dead soldiers on this country."
My last hope, my hope that had wavered like a candle flame, was just snuffed out.
I quietly accepted that in my heart. Right now was not the time to grow flustered or start lamenting.
"Please tell me the reason why you've schemed up and carried out such a thing."
"…Alright, I will tell you. Why I wanted to make this country prosper even if it meant using a demon."
.
--And so I came to know half the life of the woman called Prim Marlon, and the sentiments that she'd carried therein.
Chapter 3, Section 2-A Heartbeat in the Rain; Scene 4
Praefacio of Blue, page 174-178
✥ Kyle Marlon ~The Country of Marlon, "The Castle of Hedgehog/Courtyard”~
.
The courtyard had become a well, filling up with the rain that was pouring from above.
When we arrived there, Ney was already gone. Two possibilities came to mind. She had either headed further inside the castle already, or else--
She had gone to ascend the "Heartbeat Clocktower" that was taking its position in the center of the courtyard.
"Let's split into two groups," Germaine suggested before the tower. We would split into two units, with Germaine's unit heading further into the castle, and mine into the tower.
"Got it. In that case Germaine, your group should be made up of more people. The interior of the clocktower is thin. Even if I take several people with me in succession, it wouldn't do much good."
"Roger. Well then, may the battle go in your favor."
"Indeed, you too …Hahaha."
I suddenly felt a little strange, and started laughing on the spot. Germaine made a puzzled expression at the sight of me.
"What's so funny?"
"Ha ha…Nah, it's nothing important. I just remembered that we had some similar circumstances to this five years ago."
"Ah…During the revolution." Seemed Germaine understood. "In that case that's not a great sign."
"Why's that?"
"If things go like they did last time, then after this I'll get stuck with a particularly strong enemy."
Did she mean Gast Venom? He was a man that had wielded almost inhuman swordsmanship skills, though I'd only confronted him once. But I couldn't imagine there were any other swordsmen of his caliber around.
However, Germaine's reading of the situation wasn't necessarily wrong.
"--!? Look out, Germaine."
"Got it."
Before I knew it, we were surrounded. These men--or rather, these women--had quietly appeared before us, not making any noise.
"The Special Maneuvers Task Force…!"
The masked unit that Ney served in, who specialized in secret information and intrigue. But their vital leader wasn't there.
"I'm guessing you're here to keep us contained. However--" Germaine readied her sword. "We're proper soldiers, and an elite selection at that. I can't imagine you have much of a chance of success."
The Special Maneuvers Task Force didn't look to be particularly uneasy at that.
Four of the women in their group walked closer to us. All of them were young, and unlike the other members they weren't wearing masks.
The four of them spoke up systematically in turn.
"Keep you contained? No. You will die here, Germaine Avadonia."
"We are a team that excels in assassination even among our Special Maneuvers Task Force."
"What's more, we four have learned an equal measure of the assassin arts--"
"--As the former member of the Three Heroes, Mariam Phatipe."
The four of them pulled out their respective weapons. All of them had a peculiar shape that I had never seen the like of before.
"You've all got concealed weapons, huh? …So the worst situation has come to pass after all. Though, even if you know as much as Mariam on assassination, that doesn't mean that you're just as strong as her." Germaine turned to me, and said, "You go ahead into the tower."
"What are you saying? We should fight togeth--"
"I have no wish to invite the scorn of the Marlon people by having you die. And these lot with us are just soldiers. If their leader is captured in that tower, they'll likely put away their weapons. You have a better chance of surviving."
Germaine was not the kind of woman to tackle a hopeless fight for my sake. It was out of her own judgment from calmly analyzing the situation.
In that case, I would obediently follow her command.
I turned, and shouted to the Marlon soldiers there with us, "Seton! Walpole! You two come with me! The rest of you, fight the Special Maneuvers Task Force! Listen, don't get killed!"
With the four assassin women acting as vanguard, the Special Maneuvers Task Force was slowly closing the distance between us.
"Special Maneuvers Task Force Vice Captain Matski!"
"Ditto, Karna."
"Ditto, Rim."
"Ditto, Non."
"Come--You have breathed your last!"
Right as they launched themselves at Germaine, I slid into the tower.
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