And it hadn’t just affected the Capital—the surrounding regions accepting the massive influx of refugees were showing signs of financial strain as well. The labor shortages were becoming problematic, while the stability of the food supply was constantly in question. The damage to the nation’s economic and political center had cast a grave shadow over the lives of its people.

The current situation filled Kaito with sorrow. The conversation bubbling up around him continued to reach his ears.

“We don’t have enough workers to go around. But none of these refugees are taking any jobs. The Church says they’re working on it, but I dunno. The Capital itself has the paladins watching over things, so it’s doing all right, but everywhere else is in shambles.”

“They keep demanding more mercenaries, huh? They still haven’t caught the Kaiser’s contractor?”

Kaito and Hina instinctively exchanged a glance. Then they quickly distanced themselves from the marketplace.

After all, the Kaiser’s contractor in question was none other than Kaito himself.

The two of them were currently fugitives.

Of course, there was a profound reason behind that.

Once, after a lifetime of abuse at the hands of his father, Kaito had been killed. Following his death, Kaito’s soul had been summoned to another world, where he obtained a new life. And the one who’d summoned him had been none other than the Torture Princess, Elisabeth Le Fanu, a sinner fated to be executed after fulfilling her duty of killing fourteen demons.

Together with Kaito, the Torture Princess slew the demons who’d attacked the Capital, successfully completing the mission handed down to her by the Church. Having finally atoned for her crimes, she was supposed to have been burned at the stake. But Kaito refused to accept the Torture Princess’s fate. Accompanied by the Kaiser, whom he’d formed a contract with, Kaito turned against humanity. As the fifteenth demonic contractor, he’d loudly announced his intent to become a villain to the entire Capital.

All that had been for the sake of granting humanity a new enemy and convincing the Church to postpone Elisabeth’s execution.

This was how Kaito had come to shoulder the heavy burden of sin, now hated by all and on the run.

And as for Kaito and Hina’s current status, they were gathering provisions.

It was a trifling, obvious task. But the fact of the matter was that people needed to eat.

Kaito had yet to fully fuse with his demon. As such, he still required nutrients to survive. But serious obstacles stood in the way of his and Hina’s desire to procure a steady supply of food. First, the town’s food situation was strained because the supply lines had been thrown into disarray. But more importantly, Kaito’s left arm had assumed a beastly form, causing him to stand out considerably. The obvious solution would have been to ask Hina to buy what they needed, but her striking silver hair, emerald-green eyes, and miraculous beauty made that less than ideal.

Of course, Kaito wasn’t at a complete loss. The first time they confronted this problem, he’d turned to Vlad, who was ostensibly his teacher when it came to matters of magic.

“Shapeshifting, disguises, or invisibility spells, you say… Ha, how mundane! You know, I once had a device that could stop time, which would have easily prevented anyone from ever catching you. Back when I was alive, you see, I wasn’t particularly keen on surprise attacks. I would instead spearhead my demonic troops and boldly launch grand invasions. In short, my dear successor, I’m afraid I can’t be of much help. I never took it upon myself to even learn such uninspired spells in the first place!”

Well, he sure was completely useless.

Kaito dejectedly thought back to the pose Vlad had struck as he’d answered the question with a finger pressed against the side of his head. The stone in his pocket containing Vlad’s soul—or rather, a replica thereof—rattled around. He seemed to have sensed the slight against him and was protesting. But Kaito merely ignored him.

Well, at least I was able to cobble something together, in the end.

Kaito let out a sigh as he adjusted the bit where the black cloak covering his head and body had slipped down.

At the moment, Kaito and Hina were taking after the Butcher and concealing their faces behind black cloaks. It was a simple method, and one that would normally make them look rather conspicuous. However, there was no shortage of people in this town involved in illicit business, making their choice of attire quite common.

Somehow managing to avoid being noticed, the two of them turned their attention to their shopping.

“Should we check out that one next?”

“Okay!”

Nodding in agreement, Hina walked up to the fruit stand. There she found a basket left directly atop the cobbled pavement, and she pulled an orange out from it. Or rather, she pulled something that looked like an orange from it, although it might have been an entirely different fruit altogether.

After checking to make sure it had no serious bruises and hadn’t been chewed through by worms, she turned back toward Kaito.

“Is this acceptable?”

“Looks good to me. Let’s grab two of those… That, and two bags of dried figs, please.”

“Comin’ right up.”

The wizened merchant took Kaito’s order with a hoarse voice. Just as Kaito had suspected, the merchant didn’t even glance at his customer, simply bundling up the goods with practiced—albeit indifferent—movements. Kaito frowned as he handed over the payment. It was pricey, as was to be expected. But the price of commodities would probably only continue to rise.

It’s a good thing that Godd Deos was able to save the king and the bigwig aristocrats. The blame for most of society’s woes will probably end up falling on me. The economic decline, the shortage of goods, and the disorder stemming from the apocalyptic despair will most likely continue for a long while, but they should all improve as the Capital recovers. I just hope that things won’t get too bad before then…

It wasn’t only everyday folk who were feeling the squeeze; feudal lords, the representatives of the mercantile guilds, and the Church’s high clergy were under a great deal of pressure as well. All sorts of people and organizations were going broke. But all Kaito could do was hope for them to hold on.

As Kaito became lost in thought, Hina stored the oranges in the magical leather bag they’d taken from the castle. The bag was already loaded up with bundles of rice and herbs, rock salt, a few days’ worth of vegetables, and dried cheese.

“We should stock up on other stuff that’ll keep well, like dried meat and fish.”

“Understood. In that case, we should go there.”

Hina nodded, leading the way to the shop two stalls over. It might have been the shopkeeper’s seniority that made this booth noticeably nicer than any of the other offerings on the street. Slabs of meat hung from hooks affixed to its simple yet robust roof, and wooden wicker baskets lined the roadside in front of it. Chickens and ducks raised a loud clamor from within the cages. It seemed they were butchered beside the nearby well once purchased.

As they approached the shop, Kaito stopped in his tracks. Almost simultaneously, Hina quietly whispered to him.

“Master Kaito…”

“Don’t worry. I noticed.”

Kaito’s response was concise. As they spoke, Hina stooped over and looked at the ducks, while Kaito stood stock-still behind her. Without once shifting their gazes, the two of them searched their surroundings.

At some point, a disquieting presence had become mixed in with the hustle and bustle.

Several gazes filled with tension, wariness, and unmistakable animosity were focused on the two of them.

Furthermore, they could hear a commotion starting up in the distance. Somebody was forcibly stopping the flow of pedestrians. Although Kaito and Hina couldn’t see them yet, whoever the interlopers were, they were ignoring the protests of the people around them and trying to block off the street.

There could be no doubt that their objective was to apprehend the two fugitives.

Kaito shook his head slightly.

“I’ll admit my disguise was pretty garbage, but still… They found us pretty damn fast, didn’t they? What a pain.”

“It was unavoidable. The bounty on your head is rather large, after all. We should be grateful that at least we aren’t being ambushed by someone after they found out about the reward.”

“Yeah… Things got pretty messy last time.”

The two of them let out heavy sighs. The ducks kept on quacking.

At the same time, the crowd began to stir.

A group of armored men were approaching, violently pushing through the crowd. One of them shoved aside a drunkard, who pitched forward and tumbled to the ground. Their determined advance toppled over a handcart full of bouquets, too. An emaciated dog barked as it fled.

A chain of furious protests rang out. The band of warriors didn’t even spare the angry crowd a glance as they encircled Kaito and Hina.

The tension was so thick that you could cut it with a knife. Everyone waited with bated breath to see what would happen.

Completely oblivious to the situation, a shopkeeper-like man emerged from the back of the stall, flourishing a meat cleaver.

“What’s all this ruckus, some kinda fight? I don’t care who’s in the right, but I’ll take the side of a pretty lady any day, my dear!”

“Ah, I happen to be married, so please don’t mind me. My deepest apologies for the trouble.”

With a quick bow, Hina drew away from the storefront. “And I’m her lucky husband,” said Kaito as he embraced her without missing a beat. With a sidelong glance, he confirmed who their pursuers were.

Leading the group were a few paladins from the Church’s local branch office. Everyone else in their party looked weak, both in posture and in build. It didn’t look like there were any mages or priests, even among the lookouts.

In spite of himself, Kaito felt let down. He shook his head a little.

As soon as they rushed at us all frantic-like, I had a feeling they weren’t any run-of-the-mill group.

“Man, they made the wrong choice.”

“Indeed, that they did.”

“Seriously.”

Kaito and Hina nodded at each other. Throughout their whole exchange, the paladins continued closing the distance.

Kaito squinted. The paladins’ silver suits of armor lacked their usual luster, and their gaits were sluggish. It looked like they’d been negligent in their daily training, not to mention failing to take good care of their armor. Despite the town’s size, being transferred here probably amounted to a demotion, and their days had likely been spent idly.

The man who appeared to be their leader raised an annoyed voice, one altogether lacking in zeal.

“You’re Kaito Sena, correct?”

“…Try to keep your foolishness in check, if you don’t mind.”

“Not planning on giving a straight answer, you bastard?!”

The man reached his arm out, his voice filled with pent-up rage. He grabbed Kaito’s shoulder and gave it a yank. Kaito turned around with little resistance. Upon seeing his face, the man gave a short gulp.

Kaito wore a wicked grin, one wholly befitting the Kaiser.

“To think someone would dare to go up against me with such shabby men and arms.”

Kaito’s voice was as cold as ice. The paladin went pale.

The situation would quickly deteriorate if the man was allowed to scream. Not wanting to provoke the crowd more than necessary, Kaito quickly set into motion. He reached into the pocket opposite the one where he kept Vlad’s stone and pulled out a fragment of a jewel.

A blue flash lit up the cobbled road. As it did, Kaito snapped his fingers.

“La (activate).”

The jewel fragment burst from within.

Azure light and black feathers surged up all around them. The two stark colors violently swallowed up Kaito, Hina, and all the nearby paladins. Against the backdrop of the terrified cries of bystanders and livestock, the azure and black wound together in a swirling eddy of magic.

Then, with a small popping noise, they vanished.

Clap, clap.

The soles of his leather shoes audibly struck the ground as Kaito landed.

Then he looked down at his surroundings from atop the ruined hill.

This was the location where the Torture Princess had fought the Duke and eventually burned him to death.

Kaito had traveled to that hill in the blink of an eye.

The jewel fragment was a magical teleportation device. By releasing the magic sealed within it, the user could instantly travel to a location where another fragment from the same jewel was buried.

Kaito had taken an old jewel from Elisabeth’s castle and, under Vlad’s tutelage, had used blood and pain as an intermediary to infuse it with mana for this purpose. Now that he thought about it, Vlad technically had been useful in getting out of their most recent jam.

Moments later, Hina touched down beside him. On the other hand, the paladins failed to stick their landings and ended up tumbling down the slope. One of them stepped on something dry, then screamed.

“Wh-what is this place?!”

Human bones lay scattered atop the hillside.

Due to their fierce battle against the Duke, the land here had been churned up, and many of the coffins resting in the earth had been destroyed.

“Looks like they’re all here.”

Kaito murmured quietly as the confusion and screams continued.

There was a reason he’d specifically chosen to come all the way to this distant place. Due to the Duke’s horrid deeds, the whole region had been deemed corrupted and subsequently sealed off without exception.

In other words, as long as they were here, there was no need to worry about unrelated people getting involved.

“Now then, I’d better do something to reward your foolhardy valor!”

Kaito gave a loud shout. He grabbed the black cloak he was wearing and forcefully hurled it away.

His black outfit, resembling a military uniform with its bloodred embroidery, came into view.

Then the wanted sinner made a grand declaration.

“As the Kaiser’s contractor, and as the enemy of all mankind, I shall be your opponent.”

Over the past few days, Kaito had quickly come to a number of realizations.

First, hitting people with the back of his sword was surprisingly difficult.

And second, trying to strike fear into people’s hearts while taking care not to leave any lasting effects was quite the task.

“Killing one of them by accident would be an absolute mess. Definitely wouldn’t be able to undo something like that.”

“Good work out there! The way you fought was most befitting the ultimate personification of evil, yet at the same time, completely gentlemanly! A splendid job once more! I’m going faint, and my heart is pounding, and I’m head over heels in love with you!”

“Your praise makes it all worth it.”

“Eek, Master Kaito, you’re so cool!” shrieked Hina as she hopped up and down.

Kaito acknowledged her reaction with a raised hand. Their pursuers had fallen into heaps on the ground in front of them, all of them fully unconscious. However, none of them had sustained any serious injuries. Once they woke up, they’d be able to descend the hill and call for help on their own. They might find themselves assailed by nightmares for a few days, though.

They’d better, or I’m in trouble.

Kaito looked down at his downed foes with a serious look on his face.

After all, he needed the people to continue believing that Kaito Sena was the enemy of mankind.

Given his position, he couldn’t content himself with a simple life on the run. His goal was to stave off Elisabeth’s execution. To that end, he needed the Church to keep believing he was a serious threat to humanity.

Each time he took down a would-be pursuer, he made sure to take every chance he got to etch unforgettable fear into them. Fortunately, none of their pursuers had been particularly strong, possibly because the Capital was preoccupied with its own defenses or for some other pressing reason. But Kaito was well aware of the fact that he wouldn’t be able to keep up the farce forever.

Pretty soon, I’m gonna hit my limit.

Before that happened, he needed to figure out a way to have Elisabeth’s execution called off.

And more than anything, he needed to change her mind.

I still can’t think of any way to do that.

The Torture Princess’s sins were far too severe. No matter what justifications she may have had, she could never take back the things she’d done. There was no way she could possibly atone enough to make up for it. Short of changing the past, there was no way to erase the sins she’d committed.

The people she’d killed were never coming back. Kaito knew that, and so did Elisabeth herself.

Kaito closed his eyes, puzzling over what in the world he could possibly do. Then a deep voice rang out.

“You truly are a hopeless, pitiable fool.”

“Kaiser.”

The voice was inaudible to any but Kaito, his contractor, and it replied to him with humanlike laughter.

With his magnificent canine body still hidden, the Kaiser went on.

“Indeed, O contractor of mine. It is I, a flawless hound wholly wasted on an unworthy master such as yourself. How many times must you repeat this foolery before you’re satisfied? The matter should be simple. All you need do is make good on your proclamation at the Capital and amass power by gathering the pain of others in a manner befitting my master. Then you could simply destroy the foundations of this world and reshape it as you desire.”

“How many times do I have to tell you? I have no plans to tyrannize anyone. I’m not gonna become like my father.”

“Ha, a brute that looks down on brutes. That in itself is laughable. What difference is there between one brand of evil and another?”

The Kaiser scoffed, and Kaito narrowed his eyes a little. It was true; considering his current position in a vacuum, he was far more deserving of the descriptor evil than his father ever had been.

He was the enemy of mankind, after all.

Amused in spite of himself by that fact, Kaito was ready to respond.

“Ha-ha, you have a point there… But you gotta understand, Kaiser, it’d be a waste of time for me to try to amass power by hurting people. There’s not a doubt in my mind that Elisabeth would come barreling in and murder me the moment I tried.”

“But at this rate, you’ll find your head removed from your shoulders regardless. How shameful, how utterly shameful. Dying, no matter how it happens, is a disgrace. It follows, then, that you should give in to your deepest desires and try fighting like you really mean it.”

The Kaiser’s words were to the point. Kaito nodded. It was exactly like the Kaiser had told him once before.

The power of demons was supreme, and could first be attained when one extended their hand past the limits of avarice and desire. And one who forgot their greatest wish was naught but a fool masquerading as a saint.

Even so, I’m not going to betray Neue.

Kaito thought back to the boy who’d sacrificed himself for Kaito and been eaten by the Earl’s spider. The boy’s existence was like a knot tied around Kaito’s heart, stopping him from crossing that final line.

He refused to do anything that would cause others to have to sacrifice themselves the same way he had been saved. And he couldn’t bear the thought of becoming a thug who just grinned as they tormented the weak, like his father had done.

But at the moment, he had something far more important to do than respond to the Kaiser.

“So what brings you guys here?”

Kaito called out, his voice ringing with confidence. However, he received no reply. Nevertheless, he leveled a cool gaze toward the shadows behind the gravestones and the shattered coffins. Perhaps shaken by the intensity of his confidence, the air shifted a little.

Immediately after they’d teleported, he had noticed a few presences who’d come along, following the traces of his mana.

Hina had noticed at the same time he had, or perhaps even earlier. But when he cast a sidelong glance at her, he saw that she wasn’t holding her halberd at the ready.

She was simply waiting to spot movement and taking care to avoid putting the other party on guard.

Yeah, that’s the right call.

After all, Kaito couldn’t sense a shred of hostility from their new pursuers.

What were they doing? What was their goal?

As he concealed his bewilderment, Kaito continued staring at the spot where the newcomers were lurking.

Having run out of patience, a few figures finally made their appearances. Just like the set of pursuers prior to them, they were clad in full-body armor. However, the material differed from that of the paladins and Royal Knights, making use not just of metal but of leather and scales as well. Their outfits had a vermilion motif and gave off a unique aesthetic and cultural impression.

But what surprised Kaito the most was their faces.

“…Beastfolk?”

Their new pursuers were not, in fact, human.

They all had animal heads, their bodies were covered in dense-looking fur, and their feet were adorned with pointy claws.

Kaito recalled what Elisabeth had once told him.

“Demi-human-beastfolk crossbreeds. Not an uncommon sight, particularly with the influx of various races in low-class towns. They make up about thirty percent of slum dwellers, and in the north, it exceeds forty percent. Visibly pure-blooded demi-humans and beastfolk are generally in the nobility, though, so they’re rarely seen in human settlements.”

Kaito looked over the beastfolk before him a second time. Their bodies didn’t have all the same parts humans did. While they didn’t look especially noble, they were probably still purebloods. But based on Elisabeth’s explanation, that meant they shouldn’t be showing up on human land.

Why were the beastfolk there, then?

The questions just kept piling up. But Kaito didn’t exactly have time to ask the beastfolk directly.

Their hands already on the hilts of their swords, the beastfolk began moving.

They approached Kaito and Hina, their movement offering no openings.

Raising his hand, Kaito struck a pose that would let him snap his fingers at a moment’s notice. Hina pulled out her long halberd from their bottomless magical bag in a single fluid motion.

The beastfolk peered up at Kaito, as though appraising him.

He returned the examining looks with a composed, questioning gaze.

The next moment, the beastfolk nodded among themselves, then moved as one.

Bending the knee like loyal retainers, they all knelt in front of Kaito.

“………What?”

“Sir Kaito Sena, we presume.”

The voice that spoke up was deep. Dumbfounded as he was, Kaito reflexively thanked his golem body’s native translation functions. The odds were high that the beastfolk were speaking a different language from the one humans regularly used. If not for his built-in translation ability, Kaito probably wouldn’t have been able to understand the beastfolk at all.

The beastman, who had coppery hair, a brilliant tassel atop his sword, and a wolf head, picked up where he left off.

“We wish to humbly request you travel back to our territory with us.”

The beastman raised his face. His golden eyes glimmered with determination as he looked at Kaito.

The next words that came out of the wolf-headed beastman’s mouth weren’t what Kaito had been expecting in the slightest.

“We intend to receive the enemy of mankind as an honored guest.”

“Explain to me what’s going on here.”

Kaito immediately made a firm request.

The moment he’d heard what the beastman had said, memories from his past life had rushed through his mind.

Back in his old world, there hadn’t been any sort of clear menace to humanity like the demons. Because of that, international politics there were a good deal more complicated.

And just the other day, this world, too, had been largely freed from the menace of the demons, with the exception of Kaito.

Kaito knew next to nothing about the historic relationship between humans and beastfolk. However, he had a pretty good sense of the friction that existed between the two groups. Beastfolk were banned from some areas within the human lands, and the border around the area where the pure-blooded beastfolk lived was generally closed off. That information was enough for him to more or less surmise the resentment that plagued interactions between the two races. As a matter of fact, the very hill they were standing on had been the site of a bloody conflict fought by humans and beastfolk long before the Duke had started using it.

At the same time, according to Izabella, the borderland between the pureblood region and the human realm had been the image of tranquility ever since the third peace treaty.

Now that the situation has stabilized, they’re inviting the enemy of another race into their home base.

Kaito wasn’t stupid enough for the implications of that decision to go over his head. He absolutely had to avoid destroying the delicate balance between the two parties. But the beastfolk weren’t out of surprises just yet.

“The reason we wish to invite you is thus. A sudden tragedy has occurred in our lands, and we would humbly ask of you to aid us in settling the matter. Some entity has been attacking our villages, and several terrible massacres have already occurred.”

“Massacres?”

Upon hearing that unsettling word, Kaito instinctively furrowed his brow. The wolf-headed beastman’s lustrous fur rustled as he nodded. It was possible that he’d seen the tragic scenes himself, as he spoke his next words in a pained voice.

“They didn’t spare women, children, the elderly…not even infants. We lost several patrolling warriors as well. I’d never laid eyes on a hellscape like that before. If this goes on, yet more villages will be slaughtered. We need strength.”

“Hold on a second. If you need help to stop the killings, then I’d be glad to lend a hand. But just now, you said that you intended to receive the ‘enemy of mankind’ as an honored guest, right?”

“Indeed, I did.”

The wolf-headed beastman nodded seriously. But Kaito had difficulty finding a connection between that oddly specific choice of phrasing and the massacres in the villages. His tone grew tougher as he gave voice to his misgivings.

“Why do you need the ‘enemy of mankind’? It feels weird to say it myself, but willingly asking for help from the Kaiser and his contractor is plain nuts. If the situation is so dire that you can’t deal with it yourselves, couldn’t you just ask the humans for help?”

“We are requesting your assistance precisely because we do not have that option. We cannot afford to let the humans know what we’re doing. Mankind has been assailed by demons as of late, and in order to be good neighbors, we’ve been freely, albeit surreptitiously, providing them aid in the form of resources and money. However, we cannot see this recent tragedy as anything but a complete betrayal of that goodwill.”

“So in other words…”

“We suspect that the perpetrator is human—and not merely an individual, but a group.”

The wolf-headed beastman nodded, and behind him, his subordinates did the same.

Kaito gulped. The fight against the demons had only just ended. Now there were claims that a tragedy had been carried out by human hands. Could that really be what was happening? Kaito found himself baffled.

The beastman before him spoke with a voice full of bloodlust.

“Allow me to speak frankly. Depending on the circumstances, we may wish to employ you, the enemy of mankind, as a guest commander. The Church’s lauded canon, the Shepherd, La Mules, is no more. But they still possess many other living weapons they call saints. The only ones capable of facing them in a head-to-head battle are the demons.”

“Do you have any proof humans are behind the killings?”

Kaito posed his question in a low voice. But he already had a sense of what their answer was.

The wolf-headed swordsman stared back at Kaito. Fury and conviction burned in his golden eyes.

That was answer enough.

Quietly exhaling, Kaito revised his question.

“All right, then. What’s your reasoning?”

“No kin of ours would have left the corpses in such an appalling state.”

Kaito frowned, unsatisfied by the beastman’s answer. It didn’t seem like anything more than an emotionally charged judgment. But the beastman pressed on, assuring him that it wasn’t so.

“Our sense of morality differs from humanity’s. We use the fur, the skin, and the bones of the deceased, and should circumstances permit, we also partake of their flesh. Such an act may be difficult for humans to appreciate, but that is the way we have held funeral rites all the way back to the age of the Forest King. But these corpses were defiled to an extreme degree.”

He clenched his fists tightly as he spoke. Kaito could practically make out the sound of bones creaking.

“The victims had their innards pulled out while they were still alive. Then their entrails were left to rot alongside the bodies. Our people would never do such a thing, not even to a foe. But it wasn’t the work of a demi-human, either. We share half our territory with them, but their ethics line up closely with ours.”

So process of elimination, huh?

The culprit wasn’t a beastman or a demi-human. That left only one possibility.

Kaito cast his gaze downward. From his human perspective, using the body parts of the dead and consuming them sounded plenty sacrilegious. But even in other worlds, different countries had different death rituals. Having completely different races no doubt only made that effect more pronounced.

On top of that, beastman fur and skin were considerably more robust and versatile than their human equivalents. They probably had a long history of prospering by using their own bodies as resources.

And while Kaito’s spiritual sensibilities as a former inhabitant of modern-day Japan made it hard for him to fully comprehend, the expressions on the beastfolk’s faces clearly showed just how much of a taboo they considered the mistreatment of those corpses to be.

The wolf-headed beastman repeated himself in a voice steeped in hatred.

“We have a hard time imagining anyone but a human could have done this.”

“It could also be someone trying to get you to think that.”

“Of course. That’s precisely why we need your assistance. We must decide on a carefully considered judgment. If this was the act of one of our countrymen, then we must dole out a suitable punishment. And if a human did this, then we must repay their cruelty with blood.”

The beastman spoke quickly and sternly.

Kaito reflexively covered his face with one of his hands. He, Kaito Sena, was the enemy of mankind. It looked like the beastfolk wanted to use his power to secure their territory as well as have him act as a third party who could make calm decisions regarding the tragedy.

The burden being placed on him was surprisingly heavy. He heaved an equally heavy sigh as he removed his hand from his face.

“Why me, though? I said it before, didn’t I? As soon as you get a demon and a contractor involved, don’t you think the situation’s just gonna take a turn for the worse?”

“Sir Kaito, it’s not as though we reached out to you based on no information at all. We’ve heard about the incident with the Earl.”

“The Earl?”

Kaito tilted his head to the side at the unexpected mention of a name from his past.

The Earl was a demon who’d bought up children and used them to perform Grand Guignols. Kaito had gotten wrapped up in one of his hellish games, but Neue had protected him, allowing him to narrowly escape with his life.

He wouldn’t have thought that incident would come up, nor had he thought it would have anything to do with the beastfolk trusting him.

As question marks floated across Kaito’s face, the beastman elaborated.

“Before we came up with our plan to contact you, we obtained some documents that were leaked during the Capital’s destruction regarding the battles against the fourteen demons. Within them was a record that was appended after the Kaiser’s escape detailing the battle against the Earl. The Torture Princess had given a new testimony about the servant she’d been concealing from the Church.”

“About me?”

Surprised by that information, Kaito opened his eyes wide. As he did, he recalled what Clueless had said.

“Elisabeth. You’re the one who failed to report having summoned the soul of someone from another world, aren’t you?”

Elisabeth had concealed some—possibly all—information regarding Kaito from the Church. But after the fight against Clueless, they’d discovered Kaito’s existence, and Elisabeth had probably been forced to give a fresh, detailed report on him.

Elisabeth had never told him what that report contained.

The wolf-headed beastman began talking about its particulars.

“It appeared to emphasize the fact that her servant was a Sinless Soul, one who, at the time, didn’t deserve to be executed. The report also had information about how you tried to rescue children during the battle against the Earl. It seems you even cut off your own hand to that end.”

“…Sure, but in the end, the Earl ate them all. I couldn’t save a single one of them.”

“Even so, you fought desperately, making no distinctions between the demi-humans and beastfolk among the human children. That’s why we decided it would be worthwhile to take a gamble on you. And our conviction has only deepened upon following you and watching you fight. Forgive me the discourtesy of asking, but you were holding back while facing those human warriors just a moment ago, weren’t you?”

“I mean, yeah.”

Kaito nodded frankly. He hadn’t adjusted to his power yet. Apparently, it was obvious to anyone who knew what to look for that he’d been going easy on his opponents earlier. The wolf-headed beastman gave a deep nod in reply.

“The difference between your strength and theirs was plain to see. It would have been all too easy for you to kill them. You could have even done all manner of cruel, unspeakable things to them. But you chose not to. And you don’t give off the thick stench of gold and blood that evildoers do. We’ve come to the conclusion that you’re exactly the person the report made you out to be.”

“I see. Well, if you guys are fine with it, then I don’t have any problems. I’ll take you up on your offer. I can’t make any promises about the whole temp commander part, but lead on.”

Kaito gave his answer. Offering no interjections, Hina just wordlessly pressed herself against him.

The wolf-headed beastman’s golden eyes glittered. He quickly lowered his head and professed his thanks.

“Are you quite sure? You have our gratitude and will enjoy our finest hospitality.”

“I’m gonna say up front that I dunno how useful I’m gonna be. There is something I want to confirm for myself, though… Would you mind leading us to the village where the killings happened? I’m no expert, but there should be stuff I can figure out anyway. Oh, right…”

Kaito opened his mouth to speak. His next few words slipped across his lips a little too naturally.

A light smile crossed his face as he asked his question.

“…Are the bodies from the massacre still where you found them? I wanna have a look at the corpses.”

His tone was cheerful—too cheerful for the words he’d just said.

A moment later, Kaito was aghast at how callous he’d been, and as expected, the beastfolk scrunched up their faces as well. A pervasive look of repugnance flashed across their eyes. It was then that Kaito realized a certain fact.

Man, I really am a demon’s contractor.

He was, without a doubt, the vessel the Kaiser had acknowledged.

The teleportation circle the beastfolk were using was different from those used by humans. The principles behind both methods were identical, but the beastfolk’s circle used shavings from dried organs and a powder made from desiccated blood and crushed bone.

“It is a magical tool made from the remains of a late mage of ours.”

The explanation was given by the wolf-headed beastman, whose name was apparently Lute.

Apparently, even people who knew nothing about magic could use it to go where they pleased. The downside was that you needed to draw the circle a second time when you wanted to go back to where you came from. And while the tool was convenient, it would no doubt be branded as contraband anywhere in human society. Even possessing such a thing would likely carry a stiff punishment.

“The legend of the Saint who carried God within her body is well celebrated in our lands as well. But instead of God, we place more stock in the land and in nature, for they are what foster life. We have escaped Diablo’s affections, and we are far removed from the blessings of God as well. While we have the ability to sniff out and analyze magic’s dregs, those among us who can properly wield magic are few and far between. Because of that, our mage requested that their remains be used as communal property.”

“I see, so it’s kinda unique.”

“It gladdens me that you understand.”

Lute had given his explanation with caution, as though he’d been afraid of incurring Kaito’s revulsion. Kaito nodded. If they’d gotten permission from the mage in question, then he had no intention of disparaging their culture.

As the two of them talked, Lute’s subordinates were hard at work drawing the teleportation circle atop the hill. Before long, the pattern was complete, its form far more geometrical than the kind human mages used.

“Please, this way. First, I can lead to you to the village where one of the massacres took place. We were searching for traces the killer left up until this morning, so…the bodies should still be undisturbed.”

“All right, please do.”

Lute gestured for Kaito to line up next to him, and so he did. Hina followed beside him. Kaito spontaneously reached behind her back and embraced her, and she leaned in tight to his side.

Then Lute drew a scarlet stone from his breast pocket and struck it like flint, pouring a shower of sparks over the places where the shaved organs were piled up high.

“Hoh (A rain of gold), hoh (a tempest of flame), hou (the awakening), hoh (has come), hou (now burst into flame).”

As he did, flames shot up around the teleportation circle’s circumference, and a cloud of red and white sand began billowing forth from its center.

The fierce sandstorm blotted out Kaito’s and Hina’s sight. The two hues blended together in front of their eyes in complex patterns, like a sand painting. The sand then hardened into a wall, cracked, and collapsed.

The red-and-white mass toppled onto the ground in square chunks, then vanished.

When his vision returned, Kaito found himself standing in the land of the beastfolk.

So this is what it’s like, huh?

Kaito recalled the information he’d heard from Hina back when Lute’s subordinates had been setting up the teleportation circle.

The pureblood borough was where the beastfolk nobles lived. That was common knowledge, even among humans. But it was impossible to have a society with only an upper class. Soldiers were needed to protect the borders, farmers to till the land and tend to the livestock, merchants to manage the flow of goods, and all sorts of other people. Beastman society had advanced far past the days of subsistence hunting. But as far as humans were concerned, they generally assumed everyone but the ruling class was treated as nothing more than possessions.

As a result, the perception of the pureblood borough as a “land of aristocrats” had persisted even to the present day.

The logic was that limiting the number of owners made for more convenient negotiations. But the simple village sitting before them proved that vague yet extravagant impression of outsiders was flawed.

The village was surrounded by a wooden fence with toxic vines wound around it, likely as a basic defensive measure. All over the village, Kaito could make out animal-shaped weather vanes and cloth charms hanging low to the ground that made it clear how much the inhabitants revered the wind and the earth. The buildings’ foundations were stone, but pretty much everything else was made of wood, with scales and leather plastered onto the roofs and doors. The beastfolk lands were farther north than where most humans lived, but it was unclear at a glance how much protection from the elements the buildings actually offered. Finally, the last noteworthy feature of the hamlet was the boorish chains strung up between a dozen or so of the houses.

Assailed by unease, Kaito strained his eyes.

The chains were wound together like a spiderweb, and there were a number of pieces of game hanging from them.

There were large figures, medium-sized figures, and figures so small that you could hold them in your arms.

And all of them were swarming with flies. The hanging figures’ silhouettes shifted slightly each time the insects squirmed.

It was at that moment that Kaito noticed the thick, familiar scent of blood and rotting flesh.

Before he confirmed the nature of the figures, he closed his eyes once. The Kaiser’s eerily human laughter resounded in his eardrums. Hina made to step in front of him, but Kaito stopped her with one arm as he prepared himself for the worst.

Then he opened his eyes again and looked straight ahead at the tragedy.

As he’d suspected, the ones strung up were the village’s inhabitants.

The fox-headed beastfolk were decorating the village like spoils from a hunt.

A carnival. The aftermath of a fox hunt.

Imprudent similes flashed through Kaito’s mind. But eventually, he arrived at the most appropriate descriptor of all.

A massacre.

There was no other word that could describe the horrible scene before him.

Blood and bile ran along the length of the chains and dripped slowly to the ground. All the victims had their stomachs carved out, their empty abdominal cavities visible from the outside. White maggots were wriggling around in their flesh.

Clenching his fists, Kaito drew closer to the corpses. He looked up at their expressions. Their faces were all stiff and filled with a terrible sense of anguish. The intensity of that emotion was no different between humans and beastfolk.

“Yeah…I’m sure it must have been painful.”

Kaito spoke quietly. Rage and hatred toward the unknown perpetrator flared up inside him. But his experiences in life had left him well accustomed to those negative emotions, and he quickly regained his composure.

Looking back between the buildings, he posed a question to Lute.

“…What about the insides?”

“The insides?”

“What happened to their innards?”

Kaito gave his inquiry in a dispassionate tone. After being taken aback for a moment, Lute hesitated to answer.

Kaito waited for a response. There should have been a fairly substantial amount of other viscera. However, those organs were nowhere to be seen. He could make out little bits spilled here and there, but most of it was clearly missing.

A few seconds later, Lute gave his pained reply.

“It repulses me just to say it, but they were all shoved into a barn. There is no shortage of people who ridicule beastfolk for engaging in animal husbandry. We came to the conclusion that the way the killer dealt with the organs, too, was intended to provoke us.”

“Have they also been left the way you found them?”

“Given the state they’re in, we deemed it difficult to handle them individually. We plan to burn the entire barn to the ground later.”

“Let me have a look.”

Kaito made his request directly. Stooping over, Lute gave him a worried warning.

“…It’s really quite a dreadful sight, you know.”

“That’s fine. I’ve seen people who had their guts and brains fused together while they were still alive.”

With a sympathetic nod, Lute took the lead and began walking off. However, his underlings stood frozen in place. It looked as though they didn’t want to have to see the grisly scene in the barn a second time.

Kaito and Hina left the subordinates behind and followed after Lute. He stopped in front of a shed adjoining a small farm. After hesitating for a moment, he pulled off the bar sealing its door shut.

He doesn’t want to have to open the door himself.

Once he realized that, Kaito spontaneously took the initiative. Trading places with Lute, he placed his hand on the door.

Then he slowly pushed it open.

Flies buzzed around noisily. The stench of blood and rotting flesh ran thick.

Kaito nodded as he strained his eyes against the oddly subdued, dim red light.

Yeah, seeing this would definitely be traumatic if you weren’t used to this kinda stuff.

With Hina beside him, his stare was fixed on the grisly spectacle.

A mountain of beastman innards sat amid the muck, blood, and tallow clinging to the floor. Ravaged intestines and pulverized stomachs blended together, their contents spilling out. The stench they gave off was even worse than that of the corpses. The various lumps of flesh were so repulsive that it was almost unimaginable to think they’d once been inside people. Upon closer inspection, though, there were things other than innards mixed into the pile.

Kaito spotted pig heads and cow heads, garnishing the pile like comical decorations atop a macabre cake.

Kaito grabbed one of the pig heads by the ear and pulled. It made a grotesque sound as it came out. Mucus leaked from an orifice. After carefully examining the opening at the base of the severed head, Kaito looked back toward the mountain of innards.

A few seconds later, a quiet mumble escaped his lips.

“…There’s no meaning to this.”

Suddenly, Kaito released his grip. The pig head fell. After bouncing once off the floor, it sank back into the sea of guts like a deflated rubber ball.

Behind him, Lute spoke up dubiously.

“What do you mean by that?”

“What I mean is that this isn’t any kind of provocation, message, or sacrilege.”

Kaito’s declaration was firm.

He pointed at the animal heads artlessly mixed in with the innards.

“If they wanted to give it some kind of meaning, there had to have been a better way they could have used the animal corpses. It’s too random, too crude to have been by choice. It relies too heavily on the viewer’s imagination.”

“But then…why use the barn?”

“Oh, that part is real simple.”

Kaito’s voice was lilting as he gave his answer. A spectacle on the scale of the one before him didn’t even faze him anymore.

Because of that, he simply described the situation as he saw it.

“There were stains on the ground from the extracted innards. In other words, the perpetrator started out simply leaving the guts on the ground after they yanked them out. But over time, they started to build up and get in the way. That’s the reason why the killer gathered them all up and shoved them in one place. Then the animals were noisy, so they shut them up. I know it’s a messed-up way to put it, but it was probably all just part of their assembly line.”

As he listened to Kaito talk, Lute’s fur stood on end. Kaito wondered a little if that was a normal reaction, or if Lute’s rage was simply that tempestuous.

Lute’s golden eyes were filled with loathing as he glared alternately between Kaito and the grim scene.

“You…you mean to tell me that that’s the reason they created this monstrosity?”

“Yeah, probably. And you don’t have to glare at me like that, you know. It’s not like I’m the one who did it.”

“…Ah, forgive me. How rude of me.”

Lute hurriedly looked away from Kaito. But the repulsion and disgust he’d directed toward Kaito for coming up with such a fiendish conjecture still remained in his eyes. Kaito, not pointing that out, just nodded and closed the barn door. He then made his way back to the chains between the buildings.

When he did, he resumed his examination of the strung-up corpses.

The victims’ shoulders had stiffened in an odd way. That was due to the fact that the chains had been run into their left shoulders, then behind their necks, and finally back out through their right shoulders. They’d each lost huge amounts of blood. And all that had probably happened while they were still alive.

“So whoever it was, they hung the victims up while they were still alive, then tore open their chests and ripped out their insides, huh?”

“And there isn’t any major damage to the chains, is there? They must have run it through with a single blow each time without any need to try again.”

“There’s no way a regular human could use a chain that way… This must have been done by someone else.”

Kaito and Hina were whispering to each other. Behind them, Lute straightened out his posture. At some point, his subordinates had assembled as well.

The beastfolk were silent, their expressions tense as they awaited Kaito’s conclusion.

I know how they feel.

As he felt their intense gazes wash over him, he realized why they’d thought this atrocity had been committed by human hands. They didn’t want to believe that one of their own could perform an act of such heinous violence, even if it meant ignoring reality. And it was only natural to want to know the purpose behind such an incomprehensibly brutal act.

The witnesses needed there to be some kind of motive in order to come to terms with this tragedy.

That was precisely the reason why the beastfolk had decided their enemy must be mankind.

And there are even parts to that logic that are sound.

Humans wasn’t to blame for this. But it also wasn’t the work of a beastman.

The crime couldn’t have been committed by just anyone. And there hadn’t been any objective beyond causing pain.

It had been perverse.

It was just an insane, evil crime.

“I know who did this.”

Then Kaito made his assertion. Hina quietly nodded. The beastfolk were struck speechless.

“…Who in the world was it, then?”

The chains rattled in the wind. The bodies swung back and forth. The flies took off, and the thick, rotting fragrance wafted by.

Assailed by every unpleasant sensation imaginable, Kaito spoke.

“It was a demon. I’m sure of it.”

But there was a fierce contradiction between that answer and reality.

All fourteen of the demons’ contractors were supposed to be dead.

After all, it had been none other than Kaito himself, alongside the Torture Princess, who had killed every last one.

The sun had long since set, and they’d left the village where the massacre had taken place behind.

They were currently in a different small village, one that sported a row of simple houses just like the last. Its tall fence was crafted from interwoven branches, and Kaito and the others were huddled around an open-air fire near its entrance. Trees spread out in every direction. Humidity percolated in the shadows the trees cast, causing the chill to sink into their skins. However, the strong flames did a lot to help drive the cold away.

A pot full of water sat atop the fire, and finely torn flower petals sat simmering inside it. Before long, the water was dyed a vivid orange hue.

Hina had been watching over the pot, and her maid uniform rustled as she quickly stood.

“All right, if I decoct these any longer, it’ll go bitter. Quickly and carefully…now!”

Removing the pot from the flame, Hina scooped out the withered, mushy petals. She placed them on a separate plate, then sliced up some dried fruit and added it to the pot. As the lingering heat warmed them up, the orange water started to take on a reddish tinge. After deciding the hard chunks had spread out enough, she began ladling the pot’s contents into bowls.

“There you go, Master Kaito and Mr. Lute. Eat up.”

“Thanks, Hina.”

“Oh my, you’ve done a wonderful job with the leaves we brought along. Your functions are a marvel, Madam Hi…na… No, forgive my rudeness. I’d been told you were an automaton, Madam Hina, but I should have referred to you the same way I would a person. In my carelessness, I spoke presumptuously. My apologies. Erm…”

“Hee-hee, please, don’t worry about it. I am my beloved Master Kaito’s eternal lover, his faithful companion, his soldier, his weapon, his love outlet, his sex doll, and his bride—all because I am a puppet. And I take great pride in that fact.”

Hina flashed a gentle smile. His eyes filling with admiration, Lute held his bowl high.

“Well said. Whatever one’s nature is, being able to take pride in it is a beautiful thing. In that case, I wish to express my thanks toward your functions once more.”

Though he was singing Hina’s praises, Lute didn’t bring the bowl to his mouth. It seemed beasts and beastfolk alike favored their senses of smell, as the shape of his mouth relaxed while he savored the aroma. Apparently, it was beastfolk custom to wait for food to cool completely before eating.

Kaito was the first to have a taste. The broth had a curious viscosity to it.

A honey-like sweetness that was mixed with the fruit’s acidity filled his mouth. The flavor seemed to wash all the fatigue from his body. Slowly exhaling, Kaito looked up at the night sky.

As he gazed at the smattering of stars in the darkness, he let out a small remark.

“…I’m not seeing anyone.”

“Quite. And I was so ready to rend them limb from limb.”

“I’ve yet to sense anyone suspicious around us, either.”

As they calmly passed the time, the three of them quietly whispered among themselves. They were feigning being relaxed, but they were constantly surveying their surroundings. Lute’s subordinates were doing the same.

All of them were waiting.

They were waiting to ambush the killer when they attacked a new village.

Their simple yet precise plan had been suggested by a rather unexpected source.

“Let’s put aside the matter of who the killer is for the moment. Right now, we should be focusing on how to prevent the next massacre.”

Back at the village with the strung-up victims, Kaito had shelved the prospect of identifying the one responsible.

Just because they’d figured out that the culprit was a demon didn’t mean they had any concrete way of stopping the killings. Their top priority needed to be preventing the murderer from preying on any more victims. And in order to do that, they had to figure out where the next attack would take place. But even though Kaito had been called in to help, his investigative capabilities were borderline nonexistent. Unfortunately, his presence wasn’t doing much to improve the situation.

They also didn’t have time to add him to the patrols that were going from village to village. More victims would undoubtedly spring up in the interim.

“Is there any way we could figure it out for…oh. Well, I guess we could ask him.”

It was at that point that Kaito thought of asking a particular man for advice.

Specifically, the Kaiser’s previous contractor: Vlad Le Fanu.

After all, the man had committed his fair share of massacres himself. His unique viewpoint might prove useful.

With that hope, Kaito ran mana through the jewel containing the replica of Vlad’s soul.

Extravagant azure petals and black feathers sprang out from within. With that as his backdrop, Vlad made his appearance, as gracefully as always. His cravat paired well with his aristocratic outfit, and it waved from side to side as he crossed his legs in the empty air.

“Do you have some business with me, my dear successor?”

“There’s something I want your opinion on. Do you mind?”

“Hmm… Rather cheerful words, coming from a man who abandons others to mind-numbingly boring jewels once they’ve served their purpose.”

“Sorry about that, then. Back in you go.”

“Let me hear you out.”

It looked like Vlad’s complaints about boredom were rather serious.

The beastfolk were startled by the man’s—who was clearly no saint—sudden appearance, even though he was just a phantom. However, Kaito decided to leave off the explanation for later and instead told Vlad what had been going on.

Stroking his chin, Vlad nodded thoughtfully.

“Lend me a map.”

Something had clearly piqued his interest, as he stared intently at the map Kaito held up. He fired off a series of questions to Lute as he pointed to various locations.

“Where did the past killings take place? Hmm, beastman diets vary from species to species, so villages tend to be homogenous, correct? What types of animal were the victims? What, don’t call them ‘animals’? Oh, quit fussing over minor details. Hmm, I see. Now, how were they killed? Skinned, skewered, strung up… Now then, would you tell me about the species that live in the villages in this radius? Yes, all of them.”

Finally satisfied, Vlad stroked his chin again.

Having been made to recount the details of the past killings, fatigue crept across Lute’s and his subordinates’ faces. Kaito silently swore that if Vlad couldn’t come up with anything after all that, then he’d never let him outside again. But Vlad himself snapped his fingers, his gesture overflowing with composure.

He indicated a particular village with a white-gloved hand.

“The next attack will be here.”

“How can you know that?”

Kaito was taken aback at Vlad’s confidence.

Vlad pointed at the map again, tracing a large circle with the site of the most recent attack at its center.

“Oh, it’s simple. At first glance, the locations of the killings don’t seem to have any rhyme or reason. But they’re all selected from within this circle surrounding the most recent attack, are they not? I think it rather likely that our foe’s teleportation capabilities are restricted to this circle’s diameter.”

“I mean, even so, that’s a big area.”

“Quite. And we had already calculated the range our enemy was teleporting at. But the area is too large to narrow it down to a single village they might target.”

“If that’s the case, then you’d best change your point of view. Take a gander at the villagers who’ve been killed up till now. In order, it’s rabbitfolk, birdfolk, and foxfolk. Skinning, skewering, and stringing up. They’ve each been killed in an appropriate way, but they’re rather diverse, aren’t they?”

“You’re not wrong, but so what?”

“The village I marked is both within the circle and home to deerfolk. In other words, a species with a trait not found in any of the victims to date—their antlers.”

“But what does that have to do—”

“Hmm? Isn’t it obvious, my dear successor? Think about what will happen after they’re killed. The new spectacle, with the corpses all lined up. Think of all the possibilities that antlers offer when you’re tormenting them and using them as decoration!”

A heavy silence descended on them. The very air seemed to have suddenly grown colder.

Kaito was at a loss for words, and Hina shook her head. Lute and his men were practically brimming with bloodlust. As he basked in their judgmental gazes, Vlad smiled sweetly.

Then he brazenly went on, as though it were only natural that he give an answer when posed a question.

“If it were me, I would undoubtedly choose this place! Assembly-line work is best when you’re having fun!”

Man, “unthinkable” doesn’t even begin to describe the way he thought about it… I mean, I called it an assembly line, too, but still.

As he sipped at his flower soup, Kaito ruminated on the earlier events.

There were times when people really should refrain from saying everything that came to mind.

Although they’d gotten into a small quarrel, the group eventually decided to go off Vlad’s hypothesis and lie in wait at the deerfolk village.

While the deer-headed beastfolk were taken aback by the arrival of both the national guard and visitors of another race, they let them in regardless. Despite their confusion, they’d even tried to show their guests a warm welcome. But Kaito and the others had turned them down, instead directing them not to come outside that night no matter what unless they were given the signal to flee.

Then, after holding a meeting on their routes and plans, they took up their positions by the village’s front entrance.

At first, Kaito had been worried about that fact and had asked if it was okay for them to be out in the open. But according to Vlad, his concerns were unfounded.

“Our foe will clearly be lax. After all, if they were to run into a patrol, they could simply annihilate the small fries to the last man! This time, though, those who were fated to become prey have brought along the Kaiser’s contractor. And our foe is unaware of that fact. Because of that, our presence should have little effect on how our foe moves. Go forth and meet them boldly! That is the proper way a tyrant ought to conduct himself!”

Vlad had, in fact, been useful. But his thoughtless remarks toward the beastfolk had crossed the line.

At present, he had been crammed into his jewel once more. It had been squirming in displeasure for some time now. But Kaito blithely ignored Vlad’s complaints.

All’s well and good if his intuition’s on the mark, but…if it isn’t, more people are gonna die.

Anxious, Kaito cast a glance toward Lute. His golden eyes were filled with a tension so fierce that it seemed like he might stop breathing. Lute had agreed to Kaito and Vlad’s proposal. But it hadn’t been anything more than a compromise on his part, as he hadn’t been able to come up with anything more effective. Kaito could tell.

Lute had been the one to invite him. But that definitely didn’t mean he trusted Kaito and his companions. He’d promised them hospitality, but the situation was nowhere near peaceful enough to just take an outsider at his word.

Given that they invited me as a visiting commander, a member of the nobility has to be behind it. I don’t know how monolithic the beastfolk are, but if nothing else, it’s gotta be someone who’s at least involved in their national politics.

Still, he didn’t know who that person was. For that matter, they hadn’t even taken him to their headquarters or told him anything beyond the details of the killings. And in spite of all that, they were having him do dangerous fieldwork for them.

If Kaito’s promise to help turned out to not be of any use, Lute and his men probably weren’t planning on giving him any additional information.

In a sense, it could be said they were taking advantage of his goodwill. But even though he realized that, it didn’t make him feel particularly put out.

After all, I’m just a fugitive right now. I’d much rather be of use to someone than aimlessly running around and trying to find someplace to hide.

Kaito had no desire to get exploited in some scheme and become embroiled in an international controversy. Compared with that, sleeping outside in order to help catch a serial killer was a piece of cake.

Besides, the unease that Lute and his men were feeling was genuine. They wanted to resolve the situation from the bottoms of their hearts.

And the fact that a huge number of beastfolk had been brutally killed was true as well.

Given all that, he had no reason not to lend them his aid.

But the thing that’s bugging me is…

Why was a demon doing this? They were all supposed to be dead. Had a new contractor appeared?

Or could it be that…

On that note, Kaito shook his head and cut off that train of thought. Mindlessly listing off possibilities wouldn’t do him any good. Any matter involving demons quickly surpassed rational expectations.

Right now, he needed to focus on the danger directly in front of him.

As he forcibly changed gears in his mind, he drank down the rest of the floral soup. His bowl was empty, and Hina’s eyes sparkled when she saw that. She raised her hand with the vigor of a puppy wagging its tail.

“Master Kaito, Master Kaito! The seconds your faithful Hina made are over here, my love!”

“Could I have more, then, darling?”

“Of course! I shall serve it alongside a hearty helping of love!”

Hina smiled as she took the bowl from Kaito. As he watched their exchange, Lute displayed a dumbfounded expression. After a moment, though, he oohed admiringly.

“My, how passionate. Could it be that you two aren’t master and servant, but lovers?”

“We’re married, actually.”

“Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeek! My heart’s fluttering so hard that I might just die!”

Upon hearing Kaito’s immediate reply, Hina’s face flushed. Placing her hands on her cheeks, she began twisting back and forth. Lute became more and more bewildered.

“O-oh. That reminds me, Madam Hina, you did just refer to yourself as his bride. I see. So Madam Hina, the automaton, is your wife, then, Sir Kaito?”

“Why? Is that weird?”

Kaito posed the question. Lute had reacted with revulsion and disgust to some of the things he and Vlad had said and done. And the beastfolk revered nature, so there was no guarantee that they wouldn’t feel hostility toward automatons. Kaito gave up, not expecting anything in the way of a favorable response. But to his surprise, Lute violently shook his head from side to side.

“No, not in the slightest!”

Kaito was a bit astonished at how insistent Lute seemed.

He definitely didn’t seem to be lying. Oddly bashful, Lute cleared his throat.

“Ahem, the thing is, you see… My wife is both a decade my junior and a goatwoman. She’s a wonderful girl with a pure heart who loves the wind and the earth…but as you can see, I’m a wolfman. We encountered no small amount of antagonism leading up to our marriage. I am very fortunate that my master is an open-minded one, and that my subordinates get along with my wife so well. To this day, though, there are those who speak poorly of us behind our backs.”

“My goodness, how dreadful! It grinds my gears when people get in the way of mutual love!”

“Thank you for your kind words. You truly are a compassionate woman. In that respect, I see little difference between the two of you, and you clearly hold a great deal of affection for each other. I think the two of you are wonderful for each other!”

With that, Lute patted his chest. Kaito involuntarily softened his expression.

Hina’s cheeks were growing more and more flushed, and she was twirling her fingers aimlessly in the air.

“‘Wonderful for each other’? Oh my… While it’s true that Master Kaito and I are a uniquely fated pair, and that we were bound by destiny the moment the world came into being, hearing you say so makes me feel rather bashful. Eek!”

“Yeah, hearing you say that makes me real happy. I bet your wife’s happy, too, having a husband who thinks so fondly of her.”

Kaito’s pleased expression and Hina’s bashfulness seemed to be contagious. Lute laughed in embarrassment as he scratched his head.

His subordinates were looking their way in amusement. Upon noticing that fact, Lute got flustered and called out to them.

“Now, look here, you lot! What do you think you’re doing, listening to us so intently?!”

“Lucky you, Captain, getting to brag about your wife to someone new!”

“All of us have heard every last one of your stories a million times already, after all!”

“Be quiet! Ahem… My goodness, though, what a surprise, being able to bond with another devoted husband like this.”

“Yeah, same goes for me.”

Kaito nodded. Lute’s smile reached his golden eyes as he whispered gently.

“You see, we beastfolk don’t much care for lies. So to speak quite candidly, I had thought you a rather cold-hearted man. But deep down, it seems that you’re a compassionate gentleman after all.”

Kaito found himself blinking at how unexpected the remark had been.

Lute’s red tail swayed gently as he slowly went on.

“When we came to invite you, I purposefully gave you few reasons to lend us your assistance. I didn’t even mention offering remunerations for your military advice. But despite all that, you came with us anyway. To tell you the truth, we’d been prepared for a much more protracted negotiation.”

“Really? Wait, did I totally just miss a chance to get information out of you guys?”

“We held several trump cards to use if you tried. But if we’d had to, we probably wouldn’t be sharing this fire as we are now. When inviting along a demon’s contractor, great care must be taken in evaluating their character. Or so I’d thought, in any case, but it appears the impression of you that we got from the battle against the Earl held true.”

Lute flashed him a faint smile, to which Kaito responded with a strong nod.

As he’d thought, Lute and his men didn’t plan to offer up any information regarding the beastfolk. Even so, though, it looked like his amenable behavior had curried him some favor. They seemed to hold more trust in him than he’d expected.

That fact alone made Kaito truly glad.

Lute raised his bowl to try to conceal his bashfulness. He completely drained the cooled floral broth, then spoke.

“By the way, Mrs. Sena, might I trouble you for seconds?”

“Eeeeeee! He called me ‘Mrs. Sena’! He called me ‘Mrs. Sena’! For that, you can have as many refills as you want!”

“Wait, Hina, hold up. We’re lying in ambush here, we can’t drink too much, or—huh?”

Then Kaito trailed off midsentence.

Something was shining near the edge of his vision. Upon closer inspection, the moonlight was reflecting off something in the tree line. But there was nothing natural that should have glinted like that late at night in the forest.

Everything was completely silent, the lively atmosphere from a moment ago having vanished like a distant memory.

First Hina, then Lute stood up. Kaito rose to his feet as well.

Then he looked at the “thing.”

“…What is that?”

It looked like neither a human nor a beast.

In fact, it didn’t look alive at all.

At first glance, it looked like a silver spider.

Or, perhaps, a better way to put it would be to describe it as an intricate mass of rubbish.

Kaito squinted. Whatever it was that had appeared out of the darkness, it was made out of a series of joined pieces of metal. But although it did have eight legs, its basic shape was like that of an insect or a crustacean. However, the metal plates that made up its body constantly shifted and squirmed as they glimmered. The fact that its exterior was constantly undergoing minute changes caused its appearance to be wholly divergent from that of any creature found in nature.

Kaito involuntarily racked his memories for something similar to compare it to.

Suddenly, an old memory flashed through his mind. His teacher back in elementary school had been fond of visiting art museums, and Kaito thought back to the contents of a picture his teacher had enthusiastically described during recess one day.

…Avant-garde art.

The picture had been a piece of art enclosed in inorganic material that was designed to ridicule the living.

That was the closest thing he could come up with to describe the entity before him. But there was no reason for it to exist in this world, let alone within the beastfolk territories. It was probably akin to an underling that someone had created.

As he vigilantly collected his thoughts, Kaito felt a sense of unease.

All the underlings up till now have been weirdly large animals and hideously distorted people.

Underlings were, fundamentally, living creatures who’d undergone terrible transformations. Because of that, no matter how hideous they became, they usually resembled their original forms, more or less. But the thing he was facing now was far too alien to be a mere mutation.

It was simply too inorganic. And it was giving off too much power to be classified as a familiar.

But then what the hell is it?

Kaito found himself at a loss.

Then the thing—which probably resembled a machine more than a work of avant-garde art—began moving.

It immediately became oddly blurry as the chunks of metal making up its body started audibly vibrating. Then, as though it had received some kind of order, it spread its eight legs wide.

It looked almost like a massive silver lily sitting atop a grassy field.

Then it vanished.

“…Huh?”

Kaito lost sight of their foe. At the same time, his arm moved. His beastly left arm practically moved on its own to pursue the path the silver thing had taken. His sharp claws dug into and caught the flying machine.

Sparks flew, as though two swords had just collided.

After taking stock of the situation, he came to the realization that his arm was numb.

It was so very heavy.

Kaito let out a shout from the depths of his diaphragm.

“Hrrragh!”

Using all his strength, he swung down the arm he’d caught the thing’s leg with.

The machine nearly crashed into the ground. Just before it made impact, though, it gave off a clacking noise and rearranged its body. Its previously straightened legs sprang joints. They gently bent, reducing the impact and allowing the machine to make a clean landing.

—Screeeee, scraaaaaw!

It let out a high-pitched, roar-like noise.

Hina frantically rushed over to Kaito’s side. He turned to her, then asked a question.

“Hina, you know what that thing is?”

“I’m very sorry. My Self-Recording Device contains no information on anything resembling that. It isn’t an automaton, and it isn’t the same type of construct as the Church’s communication devices. Whatever could it be?”

“Oh-ho! Now there’s a surprise!”

A deep voice rang out from somewhere rather unexpected. Kaito’s eyes went wide. It was rare for anything to elicit a response from the Kaiser. With his body still hidden, the supreme hound laughed in amusement.

“Why, if it isn’t Deus Ex Machina! I surely didn’t expect to see that in a land such as this!”

“—Wait, what did you just say?”

Kaito frowned at the strange echo. However, he didn’t have time to sit around asking questions.

The shrill noise rang out once more.

—Screeeee, scraaaaaw!

The machine rose to its feet. Its torso didn’t so much as twitch as its eight legs began rapidly revolving. Spraying mud every which way, it drilled its way into the dirt.

Then, in the blink of an eye, the machine disappeared from the surface.

“…It burrowed.”

“Master Kaito, I implore you to stay within a range I can defend you from.”

Their entire party surveyed their surroundings. For a moment, the area was silent. The leaves on the trees rustled ever so slightly.

Then the ground exploded. The machine came flying out, its eight legs gathered to form a spear.

So fast that it seemed to have been shot from a catapult as it hurtled toward Lute.

“Captain!”

“I’m fine!”

Without needing to be told, he’d already anticipated that he might be attacked. As he calmly replied to his subordinate, Lute dropped down low to the ground. As he prepared for the impact, he readied his sword and let out a cry.

“You shall pay for the atrocities you’ve committed on our people! Starting with those legs of yours!”

As he raised his stormy battle cry, Lute brought down his sword. He’d probably assumed already that his weapon wouldn’t pierce it, so instead of trying to cut the machine, he used the whole of his blade to strike it.

A hard noise rang out. His attack had landed cleanly on the machine. But as Kaito watched, he was taken aback. Even though the machine had been caught by Lute’s intense blow, it was just casually floating in the air.

Its legs had grown even more joints, and those appendages coiled around Lute’s sword.

“Rgh!”

“Lute!”

Kaito tried to snap his fingers.

Before he could, though, a graceful, explosive blow landed squarely on the machine’s torso.

“Hiyah!”

The hem of Hina’s maid uniform fluttered in the wind as she lashed out with her ax kick.

The sound of metal scraping echoed out from where the sole of her foot had connected with the machine.

After resisting for a second, the machine was blown away, sword and all. It crashed loudly into a tree. The tree’s trunk bent, creaked, then snapped, crashing to the ground with a thunderous noise amid a pillar of fumes.

Her silver hair swaying, Hina quietly lowered her foot, and her billowed-out skirt came to a gentle rest.

“Please, pull yourself together! You don’t want your wife mourning for you!”

“Ah, how shameful! I vow to return the favor!”

As he replied to Hina’s reprimand, Lute tried to adjust his grip on his sword. However, it had been sent flying along with the machine. His ears flopped limply. But he shook his head vigorously, and they stood right back up. Having regained his dignity, he directed a sharp cry to his troops.

“A spare sword!”

“Here!”

One of them pulled a new sword from their luggage and tossed it to him. Upon catching it, Lute nodded and drew his new weapon from its scabbard in a sweeping motion.

As he did, the machine rose back to its feet. Seemingly stunned, it began joining its silver metal plates together.

—Screeeee, scraaaaaw!

Destroying it with brute force is gonna take a while. If we even can, that is.

Having arrived at that conclusion, Kaito wiped away the sweat clinging to his brow. If they were able to fix it in place, they’d probably be able to pull out a victory. But if worse came to worst and it successfully burrowed its way to the village, another tragedy was bound to unfold.

The question, then, was how to finish the battle quickly and decisively.

Kaito racked his brains for the method that seemed most effective. Then he suddenly recalled a certain entity’s existence.

Wait, that’s right. I have seen something similar to that thing, and it’s not just the avant-garde art.

During the short period he’d attended school for, he’d seen one of the bosses in a video game that his classmate had been playing. It had been composed of a series of planks, and his classmate had used a variety of weapons to tear it apart.

The boss had been powerful. But individually, the planks weren’t anything special.

Abruptly, Kaito spoke.

“Kaiser.”

“…”

“Kaiser!”

“What are you causing that racket for? A master as unworthy as you should take care not to call me so frivolously.”

“I’m gonna stop that thing. Lend me your power.”

With that, Kaito made his plea. The Kaiser scoffed in irritation. Then he let out his humanlike laugh.

“Ha, as if. That thing has nothing to do with demons. And destroying it would do little to exemplify my strength. Why, then, should I go out of my way to lend you my fangs?”

“…It doesn’t have anything to do with demons?”

The Kaiser’s words weren’t just surprising; they came as a legitimate shock.

Put another way, they meant the thing before them was neither an underling nor a familiar. But it wasn’t a human, beast, or spirit, either.

What, in that case, could it possibly be?

…“Deus Ex Machina”?

That was what the Kaiser had called it.

Kaito couldn’t afford to simply stay in the dark regarding the machine. He needed to find out what it was. But although his instincts were screaming that fact out to him, he temporarily swallowed his questions.

Right now, I gotta focus on taking out the enemy in front of me.

With that objective in mind, he gave voice to a different query.

“Answer me this. That thing is pretty strong, but the chunks of metal it’s made of aren’t all that tough…right?”

“Something to that effect, I suppose. I can make out power residing in each of its pieces, but only by coming together as a colony can they demonstrate their strength. But whether you cut it or strike it, destroying its metal with your own is likely no mean task. And I’ve little desire to eat anything so hard. Now then, what do you intend to do?”

“To be honest, I’m still not all that great at magic. But I’ve got a method that’ll definitely hit it and should be effective, to boot.”

Kaito made his assertion. The Kaiser was silent for a few seconds. Eventually, though, he seemed to understand.

Having guessed at the method Kaito was thinking of, the Kaiser finally took on an interested tone.

“I see. As always, the manner in which you think leaves me unsure as to whether you’re a madman or a fool. So what would you have me do?”

“I’ve just got one request. I need you to bring me over there as accurately as you can.”

“Hmmvery well, I suppose.”

Considering the lengthy time that he’d taken in consideration, his tone was rather indifferent even though he had agreed to help.

All the while, the machine had been determining the new arrangement for its metal plates. Minute changes were taking place atop its arachnoid back. In the blink of an eye, it had gained a set of airplane-like wings.

It looked like Kaito’s hunch had been right on the mark.

The longer the fight went on, the greater its range of attack would grow.

Oscillating its metal plates one by one, the thing flew high into the air. Hina readied herself to hurl her halberd after it. But Kaito stopped her with one hand. With a confused expression, she stood down.

“Master, if I may, why—”

As she was in the middle of asking her question, the Kaiser materialized next to Kaito. The hound could alter his form on a whim, but at the moment, he’d chosen to stand as tall as two adult men.

As he stooped down, the Kaiser uttered a languid murmur.

“I suppose I don’t mind tossing you from my mouth.”

The next moment, he bit down on Kaito’s collar and hurled him into the air.

The machine was silently making its descent from on high when Kaito flew precisely in front of it.

His military uniform fluttered as he blocked the machine’s path. It seemed like it hadn’t anticipated his actions, either, so it didn’t intercept his flight. However, it reached out one of its feeler-like sections and spontaneously ran Kaito through.

Its appendage met little resistance as it pierced through his flesh and bone.

“Master Kaito!”

“My word!”

Hina screamed, and Lute looked up at Kaito in astonishment. A moment later, though, a sliver of relief spread across Hina’s face.

Kaito had given her a nod. The Kaiser would be in trouble if his contractor died. The throw had been highly precise, and the part that had gotten stabbed was Kaito’s right shoulder. Given all those facts, Kaito’s life wasn’t in much danger.

Nice throw, Kaiser!

Then Kaito turned back toward the machine and grabbed on to its feeler with his beastly left arm. Purposefully gouging his wound, he ripped out a chunk of his flesh.

Blood spurted forth, and he dashed the red, mana-rich liquid all over the machine’s body.

When he did, his blood began seeping into the spaces between the sheets of metal.

After verifying that he had done what he needed, he let go of the feeler. He snapped his fingers as he began making his descent.

“La (overflow).”

Instantly, his blood transformed into water. Then, using Kaito’s pain and mana as its fuel, the water began growing.

As it expanded, the water filled up and pressed against the gaps between the metal slabs. The internal pressure proved too much for the machine to bear. The links between the sheets crumbled in an instant.

The water took that opportunity to freeze over.

The machine had been transformed into a spherical chunk of ice. Its metal sheets, separated and in disarray, were imprisoned within. The block of ice collapsed onto the grassy ground with a thunk. It showed no signs that it would ever move again.

At a glance, the individual sheets of metal didn’t individually have enough power to break out of Kaito’s ice after all.

“Got ’em!”

Kaito nodded in satisfaction. Nobody but him had gotten hurt. He’d been able to keep the number of victims to a minimum, just like he’d planned. Hina would probably be livid, though. He turned around, intending to apologize to her.

When he did, he saw Lute charging toward him with the ferocity of a raging bull.

“Youuuuuuuuuuuuuuu!”

“Well, that’s a surprise.”

He was even letting out an enraged cry for some reason. Kaito blinked rapidly.

All the fur on Lute’s body was bristling as he grabbed Kaito’s arm, and it remained that way as he inspected Kaito’s wound. Upon seeing the vast amount of blood gushing out, he spat out orders to his subordinates.

“Bring over the bandages and magical salve! Hurry!”

“I-I’m fine. You really don’t need to go that far. And I can more or less use healing magic myself, so…”

“Even so, just what do you think you’re doing? In front of your wife! I hardly think someone who prides themselves on being a devoted husband should cause their wife such worry!”

Lute shouted at him. Kaito nodded, suddenly understanding. But it looked like that wasn’t the only reason for his anger. Lute scratched violently at his head, as though to demonstrate how irritated he was.

“Damn how feckless I am! To think you would risk your life for us so! How am I ever supposed to repay such kindness?!”

Although he was clearly vexed, Lute seemed to be feeling somewhat ashamed. Kaito was at a loss for what to say. If he told Lute not to worry about it, it would undoubtably have the opposite effect.

For starters, he once again turned down the magical salve that Lute’s subordinates had brought him; the beastfolk had few magicians among their numbers, so it was likely quite valuable to them. Instead, he applied healing magic to his shoulder himself.

The wound closed up without a hitch. But after seeing the way Kaito’s skin had knitted together, Lute put forth a proposal.

“We should pay a visit to our headquarters. You’d best get that looked at by a medical specialist, just to be on the safe side.”

“I appreciate it, but…is it really okay for you to take me there?”

“Please! It pains me that you would think us such unfeeling monsters! Know this, Sir Kaito! Our people place far more pride in repaying debts than humans do!”

Visibly indignant, Lute let out a shout that seemed vaguely rude to humans.

His subordinates hurriedly got to work drawing a teleportation circle atop the grassy earth. Based on how quickly they’d reacted, it didn’t seem like any of them opposed the notion. Apparently, Kaito’s conduct had yielded unforeseen effects.

It looks like they trust me now, I guess… Huh.

As he sat there dumbfounded, a number of empty-handed beastfolk approached the block of ice.

They had no way of knowing if the machine had been alone, so there was no way they could pass up this chance to gather important information on their foe. But after consulting with his comrades, a single gray wolf with a sturdy physique broke off from the group and moved away from the ice.

As he approached Kaito, he called out to him worriedly.

“It might be sealed up, but doesn’t your wound still hurt? Here, let me give you a hand.”

“No, no, I can walk on my— Hwah!”

“While we’re grateful for your concern, the two of us will be fine on our own. I shall carry Master Kaito.”

“H-Hina?”

Before he’d had a chance to react, Hina had scooped him up and was carrying him under her arm. As he hung embraced by her slender arm, his eyes darted about.

The gray wolf gave her a sympathetic smile and a short bow. Then, clearly not wanting to get involved in a lover’s quarrel, he quickly left the two of them alone.

Kaito timidly glanced up at Hina’s face. Her shapely lips were tightly pursed.

Not looking toward him, she murmured quietly.

“For now, I shall say nothing. But Master Kaito, do know that I intend to get quite upset at you later.”

“I’m, uh, I’m sorry. Really, I am.”

Kaito reflexively slumped. A human laugh resounded deep in his eardrums.

“You know, I find myself thinking this somewhat frequently, but as far as human males go, you really are quite pathetic.”

Kaito, to his credit, tried to offer a rebuttal. But the moment he opened his mouth, Hina broke into a run toward the men who’d just finished drawing their teleportation circle. After nearly biting his tongue, Kaito decided to shut up.

As his bride carried him at a brisk dash, he cast a sidelong glance at the block of ice.

Then, all of a sudden, he realized something.

Deus Ex Machina.

He had seen something similar to it since coming to this world.

The Boondock Saints.

A titan of blades that only the Torture Princess could create.

…That’s what that thing looked like.

However, as far as figuring out what it all meant, Kaito hadn’t the foggiest.

“Yes, uh, ma’am. It’s a…great honor?”

“There’s no need to be so stiff. We would never dream of forcing our etiquette on a visitor of another race, much less one from another world. Please, be at ease.”

Vyade’s words were kind. Even after being told that, though, Kaito stumbled over his response.

Due to his experiences in his past life, Kaito held a certain amount of distrust and antipathy toward public authority. But the nervousness this woman was sparking in him was of another type altogether. It was the first time Kaito had ever found himself wondering if it was really all right for someone like him to be talking to a person of her status.

I guess there really are places where you can find people who’ve been aristocrats their whole lives.

“Or could it be that you’re unaccustomed to beastfolk? If that’s the problem, then, here.”

A hard, clicking noise rang out. The air in front of Kaito began gently shifting.

A gentle fragrance floated up, and the soldiers’ stress became even more pronounced.

Whether he wanted to or not, Kaito immediately sensed what had happened.

Vyade had come down from the throne and was currently stooping in front of him. As he panicked over what best to do, he quickly found that his hand had been taken. A wolfish hand—one that, much like a human’s, had five long fingers—was wrapped around his. It was covered in soft, white fur and sported a pad in the middle of its palm.

If Kaito was allowed to be completely blunt, it was squishy, and felt kind of nice.

“How do you find it?”

Vyade gave a small laugh. Taken wholly aback, Kaito raised his face.

His gaze was met with a beautiful pair of blue eyes. Vyade showed him a warm smile.

“Ah, you finally looked me in the eyes. I really must thank you, you know. You fought for the sake of our people, not even hesitating to receive wounds. And as for you…”

Suddenly, she cast her gaze to his side. As she did, Kaito received a shock. Hina was watching Vyade grasp his hand, and the look in her eyes was terrifying. Kaito broke out into a cold sweat. But Vyade just gave a small chuckle, before reaching out her other hand toward Hina. Then she caressed Hina’s cheek as one would to comfort a child.

“I must thank you as well, Madam Hina. Your efforts were indispensable.”

“I—I am my beloved Master Kaito’s maid! It was all Master Kaito’s doing, so…I am undeserving of your kind words.”

“Hmhm. Now that the two of you have been kind enough to look at me, let us speak of what is to come.”

Vyade lightly rose to her feet. Then, with the springy footsteps of a young girl, she returned to the throne. But as soon as she reassumed her rightful seat, she swathed herself once more in majesty and dignity.

As he watched her, Kaito found himself dumbfounded.

Vyade was a wolfwoman who gave off a strange impression. She seemed like both a teenage girl and a woman over a century old. Humans had difficulty gauging beastfolk’s ages in general, but hers was even more of an enigma.

Then she looked down on them with gravitas befitting the second imperial princess of the Forest King.

“We’ve carefully removed those sheets of metal from within the block of ice and run some tests on them. However, at the moment, our technology is proving insufficient to determine much, other than the fact that their material seems impossible to reproduce. I find it unlikely that we’ll derive much useful information from the remaining specimens going forward, either. And we still have no guarantee that only one of those things exists.”

“Yeah, I thought of that, too. Even if it can change its form, there’s no way it committed all those massacres single-handedly.”

“Consequently, I wish to ask for your continued sojourn and cooperation until we can definitively state that we’ve put a stop to the massacres. We need to determine that thing’s true nature and, if it has one, who its master is.”

Upon hearing what Vyade had to say, Kaito narrowed his eyes.

That was no doubt the reason she’d used such innocent-seeming methods to demonstrate her affection for them. She’d been very intentionally trying to get Kaito and Hina to feel a bond toward the beastfolk.

Depending on what master that thing serves, it might even have intended to start a war between these guys and the humans.

After a few seconds of deliberation, Kaito chose his words carefully.

“You know, I really do think that thing came from a demon.”

The Kaiser had declared it had nothing to do with demons. But Kaito was intentionally keeping that fact to himself.

He’d decided he needed to do whatever he could to prevent a war from breaking out.

Although it seemed she’d guessed at his true intentions, Vyade replied with a calm nod.

“No matter what race they originally hail from, a demon’s contractor is an enemy of all who live in this world. If our foe truly is a new contractor, we’ll need to send notice to the human side as well. Truly, we need to find out what that thing was, and quickly. You yourself may be a contractor as well, but your soul is a proud one. For lending us aid yet harming none, Sir Kaito, you are a great friend to us indeed. We would ask that you continue lending us your strength going forward; what do you say?”

Vyade smiled, as though to encourage a favorable response. While it was unclear if the smile itself was genuine or not, the confidence and trust it contained clearly were. Kaito nodded. Genuine or not, his choice was the same.

It was all too clear what he needed to do.

“I’ll stop the killings and find out who our enemy really is. And until we’re done, I’ll give you all the help you need.”

“You have our gratitude. For now, that will be more than enough. Once we’re finished, depending on how things end, we can negotiate from there. But as for today, I’m sure you’re tired. Fia, would you show them the way?”

A rabbit-headed lady-in-waiting standing nearby nodded. Her ears flopped as she bowed to Kaito and Hina, after which she gestured for them to stand.

The two of them gave Vyade deep bows, then followed after Fia.

The imperial princess’s soft voice called out to them from behind.

“I hope you two will believe in me, Sir Kaito and Madam Hina, when I say I wish for us to be close friends. And we wish to remain good neighbors to the humans as well. That is precisely why we must quell this distressing situation.”

“Don’t worry, Your Highness. We believe you.”

Kaito gave a courteous response. And in truth, he suspected that everything she’d said had been true.

As Fia led them through the building, Kaito thought back to what Lute had told him. Apparently, the second imperial princess was a calm, levelheaded individual. That was in stark contrast to the first imperial princess and third imperial prince, both of whom were allegedly hot-blooded and fixated on expanding the beastfolk territories.

Vyade, the second imperial princess, hadn’t informed the two of the killings. That was precisely the reason why she’d needed to call in Kaito, a third party, to act as her pawn. The fact of the matter was, she had made stopping the massacres her top priority. In other words, her desire to avoid war was genuine.

She had no desire to send the beastfolk to ruin, nor to see the forest desecrated.

And Kaito felt the same way. He didn’t want to see anyone have to get hurt or suffer.

Deus Ex Machina.

In order to achieve that, he needed to find out that thing’s true nature as quickly as possible.

What was the killer secretly hoping to achieve?

Or what were they trying to start?

“Hey, Kaiser… Kaiser, can you hear me?”

After the lady-in-waiting led them to their guest room, Kaito called out to his demon as he sat atop the bed. However, there was no reply. The Kaiser was proud, and fickle to boot. Because Kaito had repeatedly called on him for matters of little importance in recent memory, he seemed to have chosen to completely obscure his form.

Kaito probably wouldn’t be able to ask him about Deus Ex Machina until the following day, at the earliest.

“Seriously, why do you have to be such a pain in the ass?”

Undeterred, Kaito tried to play on the Kaiser’s emotions. Even so, there was no reply. It would appear the Kaiser had completely blocked out his master’s voice. The jewel in Kaito’s pocket containing Vlad’s soul rattled around, as though expressing its amusement. But Kaito had no business with Vlad, so he completely ignored him in turn.

“Dammit, why now?”

Sighing, Kaito adjusted his seat on the bed.

Then the door to the room opened, and Hina stuck her head in.

“How did it go, Master Kaito? Any response?”

“Nah, nothing. Doesn’t look like he’s planning on chatting today.”

Then Kaito gasped.

Hina tilted her head as she stood before him. Her damp silver hair rustled.

“Is something the matter?”

Her outfit was a complete one-eighty from her usual maid uniform.

Before settling down in the guest room, Hina had decided to take a bath. She was an automaton, so she didn’t normally need to take baths, but the lady-in-waiting had offered her one anyway, suggesting it might be nice to wipe the dirt from her body and use some of their scented oils.

Kaito had been in favor as well, so she’d been away from the room until her return moments ago.

Currently, her supple white skin was dressed in a thin, floral-patterned negligee. The exotic garment’s soft hem fluttered as Hina did a little twirl.

“Ah, did I catch you by surprise? My maid outfit had gotten a bit dirty, so they were kind enough to let me borrow this. Is it unseemly, do you think?”

“You’re so pretty.”

“Wh—?!”

“Ah, sorry. Err, I mean, I’m not sorry. It just kinda slipped out.”

Kaito pressed down on his quickly reddening face.

Hina blinked rapidly. A moment later, her cheeks went bright red as well. She began bashfully fidgeting as she tripped over her words.

“M-Master Kaito, y-you really mustn’t attack me b-by surprise like that. It’s really quite unfair.”

“I mean, I wasn’t trying to attack you by surprise or anything. One minute I was thinking it, and before I knew it, I was saying it.”

“That’s what’sh sho unfair about it… Now I can’p even talg write… Ohhhhh, how embarrashing.”

Hina crouched and balled herself up like a pill bug. Kaito watched her, finding it adorable.

Eventually, after burying her head all the way down in her arms for some reason, Hina whispered softly.

“……………………………………………………………I’m so happy that I could die.”

“No, wait, don’t do that. I’d really rather you kept on liv…ing…”

It was at that moment that Kaito realized the important dilemma the two of them were now in. He frantically cast his gaze around the room.

Much like the other rooms, the guest room’s stone walls were adorned with vegetation. In fact, beastfolk held nature in such regard that they didn’t normally build buildings out of stone at all. But due to the climate and their use of fire, they’d searched for an appropriate material and eventually settled on a unique strategy of mixing stone with various other materials.

The room they were occupying was simply another one of the fruits of that technique.

Its windows were large and arranged so as to allow as much sunlight in as possible. At the moment, though, it was covered by the largest pelt Kaito had ever seen. It looked like it was designed to be rolled up when the weather was nice. A mattress stuffed with hay was placed atop the wooden bed, as were a number of blankets. All of them, along with the carpet on the floors, were decorated with intricate embroidery.

And on top of all that, the room was impressively spacious. It would no doubt have been a pleasant place to while away the hours.

However, it had an important problem to it as well.

Th-there’s only one bed.

In other words, at this rate, Kaito and Hina would end up sleeping together.

In his mind, Kaito could imagine Lute giving a hearty laugh. Upon hearing they were married, Lute had probably thought it the tactful thing to do. But his good deed had, in fact, been gravely unnecessary.

Kaito and Hina had slept in the same bed once before. But now that they’d confirmed their feelings for each other, he doubted it’d end at just that, nor did he have faith in his ability to stop there.

At a loss for what to do, Kaito looked around the room again.

Luckily, the carpet was thick. If he snagged one of the blankets off the bed, it would be more than comfortable enough to sleep on.

Nice! I can just sleep on the floor, and then we’re all good!

As Kaito clenched his fists, having made his decision, though, he noticed something.

That’s…huh?

He’d finally noticed that Hina was acting strangely. She’d stood up at some point and was staring a hole into the bed while deep in thought.

“Hina, what’s the matter?”

“Well, Master Kaito…”

“Hmm?”

“We are married, you know.”

Kaito broke into a violent coughing fit.

He certainly wasn’t dense enough to miss what she was implying. Flustered, he opened his mouth, then thought twice and closed it tight. Insecurity was welling up in Hina’s big green eyes.

Her gaze was imploring, and hopelessly forlorn.

Kaito narrowed his gaze a smidge, then thought back to the earnest words Hina had once said to him.

“I wish…to become a family with you…Master Kaito.”

She’d broken her body on his behalf, even going so far as to lose her arms and legs, and that had been the one wish she’d made of him.

And his teary reply had been thus:

“You’ve always been… The moment we met, you became my companion, right?”

And that was how, at the end of that battle, after making the insane choice he had,

Kaito Sena had finally found a family.

“Master Kaito, if you don’t find it objectionable… I think it would be an appropriate time to, you know…”

Hina gripped her clothes tightly as she spoke. Her voice trembled as she went on.

“…Do you…not want to?”

Then her nervousness finally surpassed her limits, and her cheeks flushed the reddest they had yet.

Completely losing her usual assertiveness, she shook her head in a panic.

“I—I apologize for being so forward! I will take the floor, so please forget I said—”

“Hina!”

Kaito abruptly grabbed her slender wrists. Her expression turned to one of shock.

Although he was on the verge of insisting on sleeping on the floor himself, Kaito shut his mouth. That wasn’t it.

No! That’s not what I’m supposed to say here!

Silently, the two of them stared at each other. Her eyes were as moist as a puppy’s. About to reflexively look away, Kaito resisted the urge and opened his mouth. But at the last moment, he couldn’t get the words out.

Hina gently hung her head. When she did, though, Kaito silently pulled her toward himself.

Then he hugged her tight.

“M-Master Kaito?”

Hina’s voice was shrill. As he listened to it, Kaito felt his vision blur.

The palpitations of his heart and the sounds of Hina’s gears were deafening. For a moment, he was concerned the two of them were both just going to drop dead like that. But then Hina returned his hug, squeezing so hard that she was practically hanging on to him, and he knew he’d made the right choice.

She’s right. We are married.

In sickness and in health, no matter what dangers befell them.

Until death did them part, Kaito and Hina planned to stay together.

“Hina, I’m never gonna let go of you again. That way, we’ll never be apart.”

“Master Kaito, I’m undeserving of such blessed words. I’m so, so very happy right now. I feel like I’m in a dream.”

“So, I’ll, uh…um… I wonder what I’m supposed to say now.”

“Give it your best try, Master Kaito!”

“I’m trying! I am! So, I’ll, uh… You know, after this, I want to spend the rest of my life with you. And I promise to take good care of you! So…”

Then Kaito extended out his arms and suddenly let go of Hina. She was a good bit taller than he, and as he looked up at her face, he saw her waiting for him to finish with a serious expression on her face.

Kaito inhaled, exhaled, and upon getting his breathing in order, posed his question.

“Tonight, would you be interested in becoming one, together, as a couple?”

“Yes! Oh, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes!”

His tension had caused his wording to come out affected and overly formal.

Hearing it, Hina nodded so fast that her head bobbed up and down, and a smile spread across her face like a flower opening its petals.

The bed creaked.

Hina had lain down in front of Kaito, her cheeks tinged scarlet.

As he sat beside her silver hair, he gently placed his hands on the bed. It creaked again. While all she was likely doing was automatically mimicking human breathing, Hina’s large breasts heaved up and down beneath her thin negligee as though to demonstrate how tense and excited she was.

Kaito swallowed. But then he quickly lifted his arms and adjusted his posture.

Still horizontal, Hina blinked repeatedly.

“Master Kaito, if I may, why are you sitting with your legs folded underneath you?”

“Oh, it’s just that my old man and his mistresses would always just go at it like dogs in heat. I figured it’d be better to say something before we get started, so I wanted to sit more formally in seiza.”

“Say-za? How interesting! I’ll do that, too!”

Hina bounced to her feet, then knelt the same way Kaito was.

The two of them were sitting facing each other. Both of their expressions were meek, but then, at the same time, they both burst into laughter.

After the two of them finished giggling together, Kaito placed his hands flat on the bed in front of him and gave Hina a deep bow. She followed his lead.

“Then, with that, please take good care of me. Thank you? No, that sounds kinda weird. Here I come? No, no, no, wait, that one doesn’t count! Uh… I promise to take good care of you!”

“Please, come at me all you wish! Until the day my steel heart stops beating, I, too, wish to spend my life with you, to protect you, and to eventually break by your side. But until then, I hope we spend many long years together.”

The two of them lifted their heads at the same time. As evidenced by the continued reddening of their cheeks, both of them felt somewhat embarrassed.

Then Hina averted her gaze for just a moment. Kaito tilted his head to the side, wondering what was wrong this time.

Rather hesitatingly, she posed a question to him.

“The thing is… I’d thought it best to ask you beforehand, but please, you must promise to try not to take offense.”

“Hey, what’s the matter?”

“Would it be preferable if I were to act bashfully? Or would it be acceptable for me to act somewhat vulgarly?”

“Khak!”

Kaito found himself having another coughing fit. He heaved as air forced its way out of his lungs.

Hina reached an arm out to him in concern. With one hand, she gently stroked his back.

Thanks to that, he managed to settle down. Upon sensing that fact, Hina slid her pale hand up to the nape of Kaito’s neck. Her slender fingers tickled, sending a shiver down Kaito’s spine.

“Hi…na…”

“Master Kaito.”

Then she shifted her weight backward and fell once more horizontally atop the bed.

Spontaneously, Kaito ended up falling on top of her.

Bashful as she was, a seductive smile spread across Hina’s face. Her abundant breasts were pressing softly against the bottom part of Kaito’s body. The sensation was warm, and they felt as though they’d melt between his fingers if he grasped them.

Whoa.

Kaito suddenly felt a violent spell of dizziness come on.

Bringing her face close to his ears, Hina exhaled and gave a sweet whisper.

“Please, Master Kaito, kiss me.”

“S-sure.”

As she’d requested, he laid his lips atop hers. Hina timidly surrendered her tongue. As their lips gingerly became acquainted with each other, Kaito clumsily followed her lead. Immediately, Hina’s tongue movements became much more confident.

Lascivious sounds filled the air, and the moment seemed to last an eternity.

Eventually, Kaito withdrew his lips from hers. After taking a breath, he whispered.

“I…I feel all dizzy, and giddy, and it’s hard to breathe, and it feels like my head’s gonna explode.”

“Hee-hee, how adorable.”

“If anything, you’re the cute one. By the way, Hina. You don’t have to worry about stuff like making sure you do it right, or about adapting to my tastes. I doubt I’m gonna be doing much of a great job, after all. As long as you do what feels natural, then I’m happy… Hey. What’s that grin for?”

Hina was giving a slight chuckle. On reflex, Kaito replied with a petulant frown.

Hina stuck out a finger and poked Kaito affectionately on the nose.

“I can’t help it. It makes me so happy to see how kind you are, even in the bedroom.”

“I…I see.”

“There is one thing, though.”

“What?”

To that, Hina replied by raising her face and nuzzled Kaito’s nose with hers like a puppy. Then, like a small bird, she planted light kisses all over his face. Finally, she turned toward him once more.

The smile she showed him was warm and blissful, and the voice she whispered to him in oozed like sweet honey.

“I’m so very happy that doing ‘what feels natural’ is bound to be rather immodest.”

Kaito’s face flushed scarlet. He tried to say something, but Hina stole his lips away with hers. After sharing a long kiss, they drew their faces apart. Their eyes met, and they smiled at each other.

“Master Kaito, I love you so much.”

“I love you, too, Hina.”

Then, as if they couldn’t help themselves, they pressed their lips together again and again.

The bed quaked.

And then came the sound of rustling clothes.

Given all that, he wouldn’t have been shocked to discover that their destination lay a mile up in the air or something.

Hina and the Kaiser were quick on their feet, so he wasn’t particularly worried about either of them. But he had little confidence that he himself would be able to make it out of such a situation in one piece.

I’ve gotta be ready for whatever comes my way.

With all that in mind, Kaito put up his guard. The golden petals and white light had melted together before his eyes and formed a firm cylinder, but before long, it shattered and collapsed like molten gold.

It turned out that Kaito’s fears had been partly unfounded, as their destination was on proper, solid ground.

The spectacle before him, however, was bizarre enough to make up for that fact.

“…Wh—?”

Kaito had found himself standing in a small village wedged in the ravine between two precipitous mountain ranges.

There were lines of tightly packed, slate-colored buildings flanking him on both sides, both of which seemed to practically cling to the narrow ground. Based on their appearance, the buildings looked to have been made exclusively from boulders quarried off the mountainsides. Each one probably weighed a considerable amount, but they’d been expanded so haphazardly that the pressure had caused them to warp. A few of the buildings had even caved in from the weight of their neighbors.

All in all, they gave off a similar impression to cotton balls packed tightly into a snowdrift.

In other words, the village was old, decrepit, and desolate.

The gap between the mountains that the village sat in grew narrower the higher up one went. As a result, simply by standing in the middle of the town, Kaito felt as though something was oppressively looming over him. Furthermore, the whole place was starved of sunlight, and not even the wind could reach its streets. A single brush with illness could have spelled disaster for its entire populace. But while no standards would have deemed it fit for human habitation, the town’s most peculiar aspect was unrelated to its layout.

The honor belonged to the fact that human corpses sat crucified along the walls of each of the buildings.

Their bones were countless and filling up the view for as far as the eye could see.

Three descriptors immediately rushed to the forefront of his mind.

Massacre. Sacrifice.

And finally, torture.

The crucified corpses had iron stakes running from their palms to their shoulders and from their feet to their thighs.

They also looked rather old, as their flesh had long since rotted away. Because of that, the scars on their bones were visible, making it evident that the iron stakes weren’t the only form of torture they’d suffered.

The anguish they’d felt leading up to their deaths looked to have been fierce and protracted.

Every single building in the town was decorated with corpses in that state. Kaito didn’t feel the need to bother checking inside any structures to confirm his dreadful theory.

Even if we went looking for survivors, I think the odds we’d find any are slim.

In all likelihood, every single person in the village was dead. The mountain-cradled settlement was like a single giant coffin.

On that note, a vague thought drifted through his mind.

It reminds me of Elisabeth’s…no, the Torture Princess’s hometown.

“You know of a similar location, don’t you, mister? She and I are both Torture Princesses, after all.”

Once more, Jeanne displayed her cheery expression as she spread her arms wide. The chains on her wrists rattled as she spun around, and her honey-blond hair glistened as it swayed.

When she did so, the ornamented, exposed nature of her attire caused her to evoke the very image of a dancer.

“As you’re well aware, birthing a Torture Princess requires the pain of a suitable number of sacrifices. Elisabeth killed her people and offered them up to herself. I was given offerings, and those were who I killed. Same difference, ya feel me?”

Kaito frowned. He had no idea what she meant. But even though he couldn’t understand her, he could somehow make out what she was trying to say.

This village was similar to Elisabeth’s hometown in many ways. But there was one major difference between the two.

There were no resentful voices here.

Countless people had been tortured and killed here. Yet in spite of that, Kaito couldn’t sense any malicious aura emanating from the gray settlement. The air filling the village was still and silent.

“Elisabeth killed her people and offered them up to herself”… “I was given offerings, and those were who I killed.”

Kaito turned Jeanne’s words over in his head. “Same difference.”

In other words, this village’s inhabitants had willingly offered themselves up to the Torture Princess.

But why?

“Call forth Vlad, boy. We’re making no progress at this rate.”

The Kaiser growled, and Kaito turned to look at him. When their eyes met, the Kaiser scoffed.

“Twisted as you are, your form was originally that of a proper glass sphere. Don’t be conceited enough to think you can converse with the likes of her. The best way to deal with a lunatic is to send a lunatic of our own.”

“You have a point there. I can’t even begin to tell what she’s talking about.”

Nodding at the Kaiser’s suggestion, Kaito fed mana to the stone in his pocket.

Azure petals and black feathers swirled through the air. Their numbers were on the reserved side this time, but Vlad made his ever-extravagant appearance from within them regardless. He crossed his long legs in the air.

His eyes were glittering with childlike curiosity. Without so much as a preface, he launched into his speech.

“How intriguing, to artificially construct a Torture Princess that way. I don’t know who came up with the idea, but I certainly can’t deny its creativity. I have to say, though, I find myself more interested in the creator than the creation… Just who was the beautiful madman who devised you?”

Vlad’s head seemed to practically be in the clouds, the question he was posing having just about nothing to do with Kaito’s. Still expressionless, Jeanne pointed toward one particularly misshapen building. The bones crucified against its warped walls were clad in gold adornments.

“Mm.”

“Ah, martyring even himself, I see. How thorough. You’ve been entrusted with the rest, then, I take it. Which brings us to Elisabeth and Kaito Sena. You’re trying to make them your servants.”

Upon hearing her infantile response, Vlad stroked his chin in understanding. Jeanne nodded back. Apparently, the two of them had been able to successfully establish communication. That said, Kaito still couldn’t make heads or tails of it.

He frantically called out to Vlad.

“Hey, Vlad, hold up a minute. What the hell were you able to get from that? As far as I’m concerned, it was all just more gibberish. What happened here? What’s her goal? If you understand what’s going on, man, you gotta lay it out for me.”

“First, let me start with a fairy tale.”

“Excuse me?”

It seemed even Vlad planned to talk in riddles. He’d always been odd, but Kaito was concerned that he’d finally broken. Across from him, Vlad took an elegant bow, like an actor giving a performance.

“Perhaps you’ve heard it, my dear successor? No, wait, you hail from another world. It would be odd if you had… Confound it. Now all my fun’s been spoiled.”

“I don’t care what’s spoiled. Just answer the question already.”

“Long, long ago, a saint carrying God in her body remade the world, then vanished. Today’s story takes place just afterward.”

Ignoring Kaito’s complaints, Vlad carried on undeterred.

His voice proud and velvety, he poetically spun his tale.

“Now, for some reason, a whole clan of pedigreed alchemists went missing. It’s said this set back humanity’s magical developments by over a century. Everyone and their mother went searching for them; even I myself spent some time trying to hunt them down. The likeliest location was held to be the stretch of land between the beastfolk’s and the demi-humans’ lands—the two races share an amiable relationship, so surveillance at the border is lax. People suspected they’d taken up hiding in a blind spot between the two.”

“So what?”

“That is precisely where we’re standing right now.”

Vlad’s story had seemed unrelated, but everything suddenly fell into place.

Flustered, Kaito cast a sweeping glance over the village among the mountains. It was true that the village was short on paths or other ways to get in and out. Describing it as hidden would be completely apropos. But if Vlad’s story was true, then why had the alchemists chosen to shelter in this place?

Waving his hands like a conductor, Vlad gestured at his surroundings as he continued his fairy tale.

“The alchemists hid themselves away here and spent many years searching for a method to work against a certain objective. In the end, they created a Torture Princess. The clan had bolstered their ranks through inbreeding, and they all gave themselves up as offerings to empower her.”

“Why the hell would they—?”

“…In short, you’re saying they needed martial power?”

Hina, who’d been standing beside Kaito on high alert, finally spoke.

Vlad cast his gaze toward her, as though he’d only just registered her existence. He seemed altogether surprised. But then his mouth curled up into a gentle, refined smile.

“Good thinking. It would seem the rubbish I once tossed together has attained excellence. Your growth far exceeds my expectations; as a mage, I must say I find that rather delightful. Why, you seem downright human.”

“Given that they were willing to go so far as to sacrifice themselves, I conjecture the opponent they were facing was not an enemy of theirs personally. After raising her as the Torture Princess, they entrusted her with fighting against ‘something’ that, while dreadful, they had no personal connection to. That is my hypothesis, as someone familiar with the power and fate of another Torture Princess, Lady Elisabeth. Would you agree, Master Kaito?”

Splendidly ignoring Vlad’s rude remarks, Hina laid out her theory. Kaito glanced over toward Jeanne. He hadn’t expected a response out of her, but she actually gave a small nod. In other words, Hina’s hypothesis had been on the mark.

As he considered that, he found himself plagued by a violent sense of dizziness.

Every answer he got was raising new questions.

In order to fight this “thing,” whatever it is, they made a Torture Princess? Man, sacrificing themselves must have taken a boatload of resolve and conviction. What in the world were they fighting against? Torturing themselves and feeding demon flesh to her would—no, wait.

Kaito quickly hit the brakes on his runaway train of thought. Then he gave voice to the question that had just bothered him.

“So which demon’s flesh did she eat, exactly?”

“Since you’ve already died once, mister, you should already have something of an idea even if you don’t know the answer, right?”

Jeanne turned to Vlad and prompted him on. He nodded, having understood.

Kaito instinctively fixed a stare on Vlad. Vlad then whispered to him, as though he were sharing some great secret.

“I suspect the flesh she consumed came from the same demon mine did, you see.”

If he had eaten the same flesh Jeanne had, then that meant…

It’s not the Kaiser’s meat… No, wait, that’s just totally wrong.

“That’s…right…”

Finally, Kaito realized the contradiction therein. Vlad had been the Kaiser’s contractor. In order to accomplish that, he’d somehow procured demon flesh. Kaito had never spared that much thought. But without getting help from someone, he would have needed to eat a demon’s flesh in order to be able to summon the Kaiser.

And anyway, there’s no way the proud Kaiser would ever allow anyone to consume his flesh.

After gathering up enough pain to preserve his own life, Vlad had chosen to take on a mentorship role and had stopped accumulating strength. As a consequence of that, he’d been beaten by the Torture Princess. But even so, Vlad was no mere human. He’d fed a demon’s flesh to Elisabeth, his successor, and he’d no doubt partaken of demon flesh himself.

If that were the case, though, then which demon’s flesh had he consumed?

Vlad gave a hearty laugh, and his expression contorted into one of pure evil, a sight Kaito hadn’t seen in quite some time. The man whose very existence seemed demonic went on in a honeyed murmur.

“When I was searching for a way to summon a demon, I arrived at the most efficient way to attain the power I desired. And after negotiating with the individual who brought me that information, I received a demon’s flesh from him as well.”

“Who was that?”

Kaito’s response was near-automatic. A glimmer of bloodlust flashed across his eyes.

Just like Vlad, that guy’s responsible for the fourteen demons terrorizing the world. And if not for him, the Torture Princess wouldn’t have had to fight… Well, I guess in that case, her illness would have killed her, but still. Still! Vlad’s real body got burned at the stake, but what about that guy? Is he still alive?

If whoever it was was still in good health, Kaito had an idea of how to proceed. As Vlad watched Kaito’s fierce reaction, his smile grew broader and broader. But in the next moment, he gave a theatrical shrug.

Then he shook his head, as though disappointed.

“Oh goodness, to think it had still escaped your notice. Why, I doubt you so much as suspected a thing! Quite frankly, I’m astonished! I can’t say I was much help on that front, but still. For you to be this dull…”

“Quit playing around and spit it out already. What was it I didn’t suspect?”

Kaito had recoiled upon hearing Vlad’s wording. He’d been implying the mystery individual was someone Kaito knew. But even counting both his lives together, the number of people Kaito knew was hardly vast. He frantically racked his brain.

Who could it be? Who do I know that…?

“…!”

“…Hina?”

Hina reacted, having thought of the party in question quicker than Kaito. He looked at her, silently asking her what answer she’d arrived at. But he couldn’t bring himself to ask. Her face had gone terribly pale.

“It can’t be,” she silently mouthed.

“Oh, but it can,” said Vlad’s smile.

“The Butcher told you himself, did he not? He deals in meats, no matter what kind of meats they may be.”

The bonfire was scattered. The fire went out, and the meat was crushed.

All his efforts had gone to waste.

Despite that, though, the Butcher still smiled.

An unfathomable grin still lurked beneath the deep darkness of his hood.

“Wait, hold up a second. The Butcher? There’s no way; he’s just your plain old demi-human merchant!”

The shout practically ripped itself from Kaito’s mouth. In his mind, he could visualize the Butcher’s familiar hooded likeness hopping up and down in protest. But Vlad merely replied to Kaito’s objections with a shrug.

“An honest assessment from an honest man, my dear successor. Come now; the mere fact that he went peddling his wares at the Torture Princess’s castle should have been more than enough proof of his irregularity. The Kaiser made a fine point, you know. If you don’t do something about that earnest nature of yours, you’re liable to get yourself killed one of these days. Take this as a lesson.”

An unpleasant grin spread across Vlad’s face once more.

He stroked his cheeks with his white-gloved fingers.

“After all, in this world where demons dwell, those deserving of trust are few and far between.”

As he stood in the center of that unfamiliar town, Kaito felt a deep dizziness come over him. It felt like the faces of the corpses surrounding him were curled into mocking sneers. He pressed down lightly on his forehead, trying to calm down.

Everything that had happened up until then flashed back through his mind.

He has a point—the Butcher’s way too strong to be any ordinary merchant.

The Butcher’s past was shrouded in mystery, and he seemed borderline fearless. And on top of that, he even kept a dragon as a mount.

Kaito and Elisabeth had often found themselves pondering what his true nature was. But no matter how many of his peculiarities they uncovered, it had somehow felt like they were all in character for him.

Furthermore, the Butcher had helped Kaito out on a number of occasions in the past, each time with the same distinctively upbeat manner.

But still, he’s right about what the Butcher told me.

“I can procure any meat you desire, so long as it is ‘meat.’ I await your instruction.”

Did that include demon meat, too?

Kaito felt almost as though the ground beneath his feet was crumbling.

What secrets were lurking behind the surface of all those desperate battles I fought?

Ever since the new Torture Princess had shown up, everything had gone off the rails.

It was like the very stage they were standing on had started crumbling beneath his feet. Kaito still couldn’t make out what lurked in the abyss beneath it. He didn’t even know if it was something that mortals were meant to see.

“Well then, let me repeat myself once more. Act as my loyal servant, Kaito Sena. All this is for the sake of salvation.”

What the hell do you mean, “well then”?!

The situation was chaos, and Kaito gave an internal scream out of frustration. He turned his hollow gaze toward Jeanne.

The golden Torture Princess had appeared out of nowhere, then proudly proclaimed herself a saint and a whore.

Then she’d gone on and on about “salvation” this and “salvation” that.

How noble. The young girl, a saint, was going to save the world.

At that thought, Kaito found himself filled with a seething sense of irritation and doubt.

What was “salvation” anyway? Why did the world even need to be saved?

“What does me serving you have to do with salvation? All fourteen demons are dead. Elisabeth Le Fanu sacrificed everything to defeat them! The threat to humanity is over. Why’d they send you out into the world so late? What the hell were you created to fight?!”

“It ain’t over for shit. Things are just getting started, you stupid little Hanged Man.”

His question had been heartfelt, but the reply he’d received was full of scorn.

Kaito’s eyes went wide. But his fierce irritation had the opposite effect as one would expect on his emotions and caused their heightened state to subside. He placed his rebuttal on hold, then patiently waited for Jeanne to finish explaining.

The chains on her wrists rattled as she raised her index finger.

Then she pressed it against her lips, as though she were sharing some great secret with him.

“The curtain has only just begun to rise. In fact, it was the two of you Lovers who set it off.”

Kaito and Elisabeth weren’t in any romantic relationship to speak of. But as Jeanne spread her arms wide, that was what she’d likened them to. Her face still expressionless, she gave a single spin, as though trying to wrap the entire world in her embrace.

Then, in the town assailed by death, Jeanne made a bold proclamation.

“The fourteen chess pieces were successfully destroyed, but the board has become severely cracked. What did a certain group think when they saw those tainted wounds? What did they wish for, and what did they begin plotting? The problem lies therein.”

As always, it was difficult to tell what Jeanne was talking about. But with the bearing of a great prophet, she went on.

“If things continue as they are, the world will perish ‘just as planned.’”

Smiling as she made her declaration, Jeanne opened her mouth to continue speaking. For once, it looked like she was going to elaborate on her explanation. But suddenly, she stopped and snapped her fingers instead.

Snap!

—Grrr?

The beast made completely of fangs reared its head from within Deus Ex Machina.

Jeanne spoke softly, as though she were sending her own child out into the world.

“Go on now, Bandersnatch. Duty calls.”

The moment she did, the beast took off at a dash. The stone ground cracked in its wake.

As the beast sprinted, it damaged everything it came in contact with. The fangs comprising its skin, muscle, and bone undulated. Bandersnatch was both an individual and a collective, and it glistened with a sinister shade of silver. It looked almost like a school of small fish swimming together in the shape of a monster.

Then it kicked off against a wall and pulverized the bones affixed to the surface as it leaped high into the air.

A figure began to emerge from behind the building, and Bandersnatch sank its fangs into it. There was a hard, crunching sound.

The initial blow had been stopped by a metal arm—its foe was wearing silver armor. But the beast’s face collapsed, and its fangs began whirling freely. One by one, it drove them into the armor’s joints.

A dull scream echoed through the air. Blood gushed forth and trickled onto the cobbled ground.

As the armored figure reeled back, the lily crest on their chest came into view.

Upon seeing their foe’s attire, Kaito let out a puzzled cry.

“…A paladin?”

He’d never have expected his pursuers to make it this far. In fact, he was fairly shaken. But Jeanne shook her head and refuted what he was thinking.

“The paladins aren’t here in pursuit of you, mister. I’m their target.”

“You? Wait, the paladins know about you? They know about the second Torture Princess?”

“Yes. Or rather, a small group of them do, a group operating directly under a faction within the Church’s leadership. To be even more precise, it could be said I’m at fault for the Church nudging you toward this territory.”

“…What?”

Kaito shouted in sheer astonishment. As far as he was aware, he’d come to the beastman lands of his own volition.

Before their eyes, the paladin had fought through the pain to draw his sword and was trying to use its handle to extricate the metallic beast from his flesh. Bandersnatch separated from the paladin; either it had thought the resistance disagreeable or had merely determined the situation to be inefficient. As it landed, its whole body trembled.

Then, letting out a howl, it began launching fangs from its front like bullets.

The paladin clumsily swung his sword, but the act was wholly inadequate to repel the veritable buckshot coming his way. Fangs pierced into the gaps in his joints and helmet in rapid succession. Blood burst out, staining the ground a ghoulish shade of red.

Unaffected by the spectacle, Jeanne spoke dispassionately.

“Belated though it may be, allow me to clear up one of your misunderstandings. I was not the one responsible for the beastfolk massacres. I accumulated all the pain I needed here. Also, like hell I’d have killed them in such a gross way.”

“What?! Then what was up with that machine in the village?”

“I sent that one out to test how strong you were, mister. It would have killed you if you’d failed, but it seems you narrowly passed. And damn, do I mean narrowly! You cut that crap hella close!”

Kaito was taken aback. Apparently, losing to that machine would have meant his death either way.

Continuing on unabashedly, Jeanne laid out new information about the massacres’ perpetrators.

“My pursuers must have figured out my intentions to get in contact with you after I set out from here. Because of that and the fact that they needed to gather pain, they invaded the beastfolk territories, committed the murders, provoked Vyade, and intentionally leaked the information about the battle against the Earl. In doing so, they lured you away from the human lands and, in turn, away from the prying eyes of the rest of the Church. Then they deduced I’d take you here to give you your explanation. If things had gone well for them, they would have been able to kill both of us without having to make any overt public moves. That was their scheme.”

“Wait, hold up. If you’re right about all that…then that means not only are the masterminds humans, but they’re from the Church, too?”

Kaito’s blood froze. Even if they were just members of a fringe cell within the Church, if Lute and Vyade found out who the perpetrators were, then war was inevitable. But Jeanne shook her head.

“Whether or not the killers were human is a difficult distinction to make. You noticed it too, right, mister, that the atrocities in the villages wouldn’t have been possible for humans to commit? You were correct. After all…”

At that moment, Kaito realized something.

The battle between the paladin and the beast was unfolding in an unexpected manner. The way the paladin was swinging his sword didn’t match up with the severity of his wounds. Upon closer inspection, each and every one of the fangs wedged in the openings of the paladin’s armor was being pushed out from within. Trails of blood followed them through the air as they clattered to the ground.

“…the slaughterers had undergone transformations.”

Bandersnatch let out a wary cry. Then it lifted its silver head and howled. To put it in terms from Kaito’s old world, the way it proceeded to shoot out its fangs was like machine-gun fire.

The paladin took them head-on. But even with his eyes crushed and swathes of his skin riddled with fangs, he still held his sword aloft and hurled it with deadly accuracy. The blow rippled across the beast’s body as the sword impaled it through the midsection.

After taking the attack, the beast lay in pieces. But the scattered fangs quickly resumed their original formation, and Bandersnatch reassumed its stance. The paladin stood before it, having somehow completely stanched his bleeding. Upon closer inspection, his flesh had begun swelling peculiarly. A grotesque pink shade had stopped up his wounds and was bulging out of the openings in his armor.

Humans didn’t metamorphose like that. Seeing the repulsive spectacle, Kaito found himself at a loss for words.

Is he even human?

Given the paladin’s state, it was difficult to say for certain.

Bandersnatch and the paladin squared off against each other. Then came an ominous rattling noise.

A number of other silver-armored men had made their appearances. But something about them was off. All of them, the one Bandersnatch had just shot included, were emitting low groans from beneath their helmets. Then suddenly, one member of the group looked Kaito’s way.

“Urr…grr…ahh…ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!”

The moan turned to a howl, and the paladin charged at him.

As he did, Hina stepped in front of Kaito. In concert with the sharp maneuver, she brought her halberd crashing down.

“Not one step closer to my beloved husband, you wretch!”

The paladin she was facing off against swung his sword up from below. Each of their weapons carved a wide arc before crashing into the other.

Sparks flew. As they did, the impossible occurred once more.

“…!”

Hina had swung her halberd down, and the paladin had swung his sword up.

The two of them were vastly different when it came to reach and stance. But despite having every possible disadvantage working against him, the paladin had managed to stop Hina’s blow. No normal human would have had the strength to pull such a feat off.

Perplexed as he was, Kaito snapped his fingers as calmly as he could.

“La (dance).”

A blade came hurtling out of thin air and flew at the paladin’s flank. But the strike, which Kaito had carefully calculated to avoid being fatal, was knocked out of flight by another silver knight. The new paladin had stopped the blade with strength alone.

Before Kaito could manipulate it again, the paladin hurled it. The blade cleft deep into the surface of the road.

Hina and the paladin she faced continued trying to push each other away. With the distance between them having grown, Hina stiffened her guard.

Kaito bit down on his lip. He’d been holding back during his last attack, but still, no human should have been able to stop it with brawn alone. Or to put it another way, no human was meant to be able to.

“What’s up with these guys? They look like paladins, but are they abnormal or something?”

“Allow me to ask you a question, mister. Are you positive you saw the Monarch die?”

A surprising question came from Jeanne. As soon as she spoke, Bandersnatch leaped in front of the paladin who’d blocked Kaito’s blade, casually taking over Kaito’s fight.

Kaito was on the verge of giving Jeanne an answer, but he stayed silent instead. He’d tortured the Monarch, then killed him. Kaito was certain he’d decapitated the wailing, agonizing demon. But there was something tugging at him, preventing him from giving an authoritative answer. Then recollection of a certain fact jolted through his brain like lightning.

After they die, demons collapse and turn into a cloud of black feathers.

Kaito hadn’t properly seen the Monarch’s death through to the end.

“N-no. I cut off his head, but I didn’t make sure he did the final transformation.”

“I fuckin’ knew it, ya stupid piece of shit. You are quite the Fool! Even if they’re beheaded by a guillotine, human beings can survive for several seconds. And demons can take even longer than that to die. Someone must have reattached his head and kept him alive. I caught a glimpse of some Church documents detailing how you tortured him in order to amass power, mister, but did you by any chance leave behind a magical formula of healing?”

“Yeah…I did.”

Everything Jeanne had pointed out had been right on the mark. Kaito had been done with the formula, but he’d left it beneath the cage regardless. The Church reviled dark magic. He’d assumed they’d erase it by the following day, but Jeanne refuted that notion.

“Reusing that formula would have been feasible. They could have erased the part that transferred pain but left the part that healed. In doing so, they could shave off as much meat from the Monarch as they wanted, completing their magical rite. Wouldja look at that? The Monarch became a handy piece of livestock! A fine, good-lookin’ swine!”

“Using a demon as livestock and harvesting their meat… You can’t mean that they…!”

“That’s right, bud—they chowed down.”

Jeanne’s reply was blunt.

As she pointed toward the paladin Hina was fighting, the chains on her wrists rattled.

“Those men were induced to consume the flesh.”

Kaito’s gaze swung toward the paladins so fast that it was like he’d been slapped.

Their faces were all covered by helmets. There was no way for him to tell if any one of them had been a member of Izabella’s squad or someone else he knew. The only thing he could make out was that they clearly weren’t sane.

The eyes peering out from within their helmets were bloodshot and tinged with madness, and crimson foam was frothing around their mouths.

Kaito recalled something Jeanne had just said.

They needed to gather pain.

“If one must consume the flesh of demons, there is an optimal portion size, and it takes several years before its roots finish spreading through people’s bodies to the point of being bearable. But they each ate more than double that amount. In their current states, they’re little more than weapons, seeking out the pain of others to alleviate their own. They ain’t nothin’ more than pawns to be used up and chucked aside.”

As a result, the paladins hadn’t hesitated in carrying out those massacres.

The strung-up corpses flashed across Kaito’s mind. Just like he’d suspected, that had all been assembly-line work dispassionately carried out with the intention of causing pain. And just as Vlad had suggested, whoever was designating the sites of the murders must have been selecting them with their own personal amusement in mind.

In one sense, that was definitely a demon’s doing, but in another, it was a human’s.

“I had no idea this was how—”

“Feeling personal responsibility for this would be both illogical and pointless. You’re a very kind person, mister. And even though you might be an incorrigible asshat, this turn of events was bound to occur regardless.”

Jeanne gave him a light shrug. Kaito clenched his fists tight.

As they did, Hina had begun pushing the paladin back and was now swinging her halberd in earnest. The paladin fell back in order to avoid her torrential blows. Taking on a bestial stance, she spoke in a low voice.

“You would do well not to underestimate the depths of my love. Take a single step forward if you do not value your life.”

The paladin fighting Bandersnatch had retreated in much the same way. But the corrupted paladins hadn’t given up yet. Five more members joined them from the group hanging back. Apparently, their plan was to win with sheer numbers.

Kaito and Hina stood at the ready again. The Kaiser scoffed, motionless. Vlad crossed his arms.

Then Jeanne listlessly gave an order.

“Bandersnatch, my first, Gargantua, my second, Jabberwocky, my third, and Pantagruel, my fourth—don’t let them flee.”

One of them was a beast made of nothing but fangs. Another was an automaton, shaped like a human except for its fatally warped frame.

One of the other monsters was a lizard with limbs made from pipes and wings of glass. And the final one was a bipedal suit of armor with no visible seams on its body.

The four of them advanced, their movements perfectly controlled.

Then silver streaks flashed across Kaito’s vision.

A metallic mass had appeared in front of the paladins. Even upon seeing the “thing” in full, Kaito still found himself unable to properly parse it. In all likelihood, it was beyond mankind’s ability to comprehend altogether.

What the hell…is that?

It was firm, and it was supple. It was a sword, a shield, a bullet, and a wing. It was massive, twisted, and formless. Its whole body was both curved and straight, and it writhed as it bore down on its foes.

Then, at long last, Kaito realized what it was.

Deus Ex Machina breaks down its component parts, then combines them at will, transforming into something completely new each time.

As befitted the name Deus, the lot of them were normally just parts of one, larger weapon. They ran their hard, metal, lance-like conical feelers gently along the ground. Their movements were wholly inconsistent with their forms, and the attacks they launched defied all human expectations. With each strike, they severed the paladins’ arms and legs, silver armor and all.

Countless limbs went flying through the air. The scene would have been funny if it wasn’t so grisly.

They didn’t know if the paladins had eaten the demon flesh of their own volition. As Kaito was about to stop the tragedy by calling that fact out, though, he swallowed back his words. Before his eyes, the paladins’ wounds had begun roiling.

Their pink flesh began swelling up, burbling horribly as it did. It began taking on the shape of arms and legs.

One paladin’s helmet went flying off, exposing his face below.

“Grblargh, brglahhhhhhh, brglahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!”

His eyes had turned almost completely inside out, and his engorged lips were tearing even as he cried. His veins had risen to the surface, forming a grotesque, melon-like lattice over his face.

Even if they left the paladins alive, they were beyond help.

Jeanne’s voice as she stared at the hellish spectacle was even and dispassionate.

“They ate the Monarch’s flesh. What meat did Vlad and I eat, then? That was what you asked me as you buzzed about like a fruit fly, or maybe like a giant pain in my ass. It is necessary for you to know, so tell you I shall. Or rather, I shall show you. It is necessary, so that is what I shall do. It’s become noisy as shit around here, after all.”

And with that, Jeanne shrugged.

As Deus Ex Machina continued one-sidedly butchering the paladins, Jeanne turned her back on the fight.

Her honey-blond hair swayed as she walked, her gait so light that she nearly seemed to be dancing. She approached one of the corpses on the walls, the one she’d pointed out to Vlad earlier, and the only one whose bones were adorned with gold. They’d probably been an important figure, even for an alchemist.

Jeanne reached out toward the rose-colored gem resting on the corpse’s necklace.

“Time to bring down the house. The end.”

A hard, crunching noise rang out. Jeanne had, for whatever reason, crushed the gem in her bare hands.

Its rosy fragments scattered through the air. That was when it started.

A violent quake ran through the town, as though some sort of lever had been pulled.

Unable to keep his footing, Kaito lost his balance. That very instant, Hina took off at a dash and extended her arms outward. Half-hugging him, she propped him up gently, yet firmly.

“Master Kaito, please put your arms around me.”

“Right, thanks.”

The two lovers wrapped each other in a tight embrace, and in doing so, endured the steadily worsening tremors.

The sky, the earth, and everything in between was shaking.

It felt as though the end of the world had arrived.

Roused by the noise, Vlad let out a rare cry of admiration.

“Oh, how bold! And how calculated! A mechanism designed to flatten an entire town!”

Kaito followed Vlad’s line of sight. Red lights were flashing in succession at the base of the two mountains. It would seem magic circles had been concealed among the rocks and trees. One after another, the dazzling light carved away at the mountains’ surfaces. Each one empowering the next, the lights snaked their way up to the peaks.

A loud, massive explosion rang out. Then the two mountains began crumbling as though they’d been struck by lightning.

As a consequence, rocks began raining down on the village.

“Sorry, Hina! I’m gonna have to leave evasion to you!”

“I don’t mind in the slightest! I shall protect you to the last!”

Hina quickly scooped Kaito up. The footwork she then displayed in avoiding the boulders wouldn’t have been out of place at a fashionable ball. Kaito used his beastly arm to bat away some of the smaller rocks.

One of the paladins got crushed. Deus Ex Machina, on the other hand, casually pulverized the boulders coming its way with its metal arms. The Kaiser languidly bit one in half. Vlad, being phantasmal, merely shrugged, then vanished.

As for Jeanne, she simply looked up at the sky.

The way she gazed up at the heavens, one would think she was watching a gentle rainfall.

The boulders fell atop everyone equally.

That, more than anything, made it feel like punishment meted out by the heavens.

The alchemist’s hidden village was crushed, as though it had invoked divine wrath. But the one who’d brought it about was none other than the girl, the village’s sole surviving inhabitant.

“Now should be a good time.”

Suddenly, Jeanne set off. The rattling from the chains on her wrists could be heard all throughout the crumbling town. Then she began elegantly twirling. As she did, Deus Ex Machina took its place by her side.

Its fused form collapsed, and its four sub-components joined Jeanne in her dance. They waltzed, as though to extol her, and mana began gathering between them. Golden flower petals started whirling up.

“Master Kaito!”

“Yeah, let’s go!”

Kaito and Hina hurriedly made their way into the circle. The Kaiser followed after them. The remaining paladins also rushed forward but were repelled by the wall of gold petals and white feathers.

Then the teleportation circle activated, mercilessly abandoning the paladins to their fates.

Paying no heed to their howls, Jeanne spoke.

“Now then, to continue from where I left off before I was so rudely interrupted. The demon’s flesh we ate. A visit to the Capital’s abandoned underground tomb should make it quite apparent where we obtained it from. And that is where I intend to show to you…”

Gorgeous, cold light began filling their vision.

Then they left the crumbling village behind.

Jeanne continued, as though to build up anticipation.

“…a true nightmare, the likes of which you stray sheep have never seen before.”

However, the black princess didn’t spare the golden princess so much as a glance.

Her crimson gaze was focused on one man, and one man alone.

Her servant, Kaito Sena.

“…Kaito.”

“Elisabeth.”

Elisabeth called out his name concisely. Kaito replied in kind.

As luck would have it, they were standing in the Capital, surrounded by land consumed and released by the mass of flesh. In many ways, it resembled the moment they’d parted. Back then, when the battle had ended, Elisabeth had been left there alone.

That, too, felt like it had been a century ago.

Elisabeth closed her eyes. Then, just like before, she turned her head up toward the faint rays of sun peeking through the clouds. Every conceivable form of anguish crossed her face: anger, sorrow, grief, and loneliness. Then her expression changed to that of a child, pleading for something unknown. But abruptly, all of that vanished.

She opened her eyes back up once more, then looked at Kaito, her gaze calm and absolute.

A moment later, even that faded.

Her crimson eyes went wide, and she balled her fist up tight. Then, thrusting that same hand forward, she pointed at Kaito with a single black nail.

As she did, she made her bold declaration.

“Brace yourself, Kaito. Your death is nigh.”

“Is this really how it has to be?”

Kaito found himself questioning if that was how events were meant to play out.

Surely, there were other things that needed to be said, if nothing else. But before he could lend a voice to his exasperation, a shrill noise rang out.

Apparently, the Church’s communication device had recovered from the blast. As it violently flapped its white wings, its puppeteer, Yah Llodl, shouted at the top of his lungs.

“Ha-ha-ha, splendid, splendid! Well said, Torture Princess, what a fine hound you are! Go on, then—fulfill your role! Remember your sins, and remember the shackles you bear! Until the day of your death, try to do some—”

With a thump, a stake wedged itself in the talkative orb’s center. The voice coming from within cut off.

As it did, Elisabeth spoke, her tone as cold as ice.

“You lot brandish your whips at your chained hounds, driving them as you please. But I am the proud wolf and the lowly sow.”

White lights began running all across the communication device.

Then, with a loud boom, it exploded in midair.

“I am no mutt.”

A cascade of white feathers fluttered down toward the earth, providing a dramatic backdrop for Elisabeth’s unwavering declaration.

“Go squeal elsewhere, pig. This is a matter for me and my rage alone.”

A few stray feathers landed on her head, and she shook it gently. Her silken black hair flared out, then returned to its resting position.

As the feathers fluttered down to her feet, her expression shifted.

“Now then, Kaito. For a servant, you’ve been fooling around long enough. I do hope you’re ready for your punishment.”

Her smile was nostalgic in a sense, but it was also fiendish through and through.

Seeing it, Kaito Sena realized something.

Ah, I see… I guess we gotta get that out of the way, don’t we?

Elisabeth had made up her mind to punch him with all her strength. Everything else could come after that. In fact, at the moment, nothing else seemed to matter.

She was standing there, and so was he. They’d reunited. That was all there was to it.

And for precisely that reason, Kaito replied with a wicked smile of his own.

“Damn straight I am! I’m more than ready. And I’m ready to fight back, too.”

The former master-servant pair glared at each other. Ignoring the bewildered paladins completely, the two of them both began summoning their strength. The air was flush with tension. The force they were emitting was so fearsome that no one dared tell them to stop.

Then, in the next moment, they both cried out at the top of their lungs.

“Executioner’s Sword of Frankenthal!”

“La (dance)!”

Elisabeth drew her sword, and Kaito snapped his fingers.

A blade danced across the ashen ground, and a lavish blast of crimson flower petals and darkness exploded to life.

That was the signal that the curtain had risen on the battle.

Confused as they were, the paladins charged as one.

The battle between the Torture Princess and the Kaiser’s contractor had begun. Although they’d been thrown into disarray, the paladins leaped into action as well.

Watching them charge, Hina and the Kaiser sighed. Displeased, the two of them spoke in turn.

“My beloved Master Kaito and my dear Lady Elisabeth are in the middle of their battle, I’ll have you know! They don’t have time to be dealing with you small folk! If you all would go lie down and wait like good little children, that would be splendid!”

“You think of challenging me, with such frail human bodies? How delightful. If the boy weren’t such a nag, I’d have gladly gobbled you all up. Not that you lot look to have much meat on your bones, I suppose.”

Hina deftly repelled the paladins’ attacks from all directions with her halberd. With a displeased expression on his face, the Kaiser swept away his attackers with his tail alone.

Slowly but surely, the battle had gotten underway. It was a chaotic affair, with little rhyme or reason to it.

Izabella brought her palm to her face in spite of herself.

Wh-what’s going on? This is a mess, and the situation makes no sense. There are too many unsolved mysteries… But even so, trying to bring my men together at this point would be a fool’s errand. If I want information, I’ll simply have to emerge victorious.

With that, Izabella made her decision. She readied her sword, prepared to carry out her orders.

It was then that she noticed someone’s gaze on her. Jeanne was staring at Izabella, as though in expectation. Then the golden girl gave her fingers an elegant snap.

“Bandersnatch, Gargantua, Jabberwocky, Pantagruel—go forth.”

One by one, the machines took off. In the space of an instant, Izabella understood—the golden girl meant to oppose her. But even if she squared off against the machines head-on, she was no match for them.

My blade is unsuited to deal with their kind.

Fully understanding that, Izabella still dashed toward Bandersnatch. The fanged beast stopped in its tracks, then began shooting fangs at Izabella like bullets.

Refusing to break stride, Izabella drew her spare sword from her back. Then she thrust it into the ground. Kicking off against its hilt, she leaped high into the air. Bandersnatch’s fangs met nothing but empty air.

Upon landing, Izabella resumed running. Gargantua moved to block her path. It was shaped like a twisted human figure, but its appearance gave her little to work with as far as figuring out an effective way to take it down. Instead, she dodged it and leaped to the side. The figure followed her in hot pursuit. Without a moment’s hesitation, Izabella reached down and scooped something off the ground—the destroyed communication device.

She threw it at the humanoid.

Pierced by the figure’s arm, the orb let out a final explosion. The orb itself shattered, but it caused the humanoid figure to violently lurch. Jeanne spoke, the admiration in her voice diminished by her affected tone.

“Oh my, how unexpected.”

“Probably blasphemous, what I just did. But it was past the point of being repairable. No harm done.”

Izabella smiled as she spoke. Having slipped past Bandersnatch and Gargantua, she was now standing directly before Jeanne.

Her body brimmed with tension as she squared off against the mysterious girl.

Jeanne’s expression was still disturbingly mechanical as a compliment made its way across her lips.

“I see, miss. Foolish as you are, you aren’t half-bad for an ignorant pawn of the Church.”

Although Izabella had no way of knowing it, the compliment she’d just earned was rare in the extreme.

Jeanne nodded deeply, her honey-blond hair bobbing as she did.

“I’ve taken a liking to you. I think I’ll keep you for myself, li’l lady.”

“I—I can’t help but find your phrasing disturbing, but I have a great many things I want to ask of you, as well! If it’s a fight you desire, then I’ll gladly oblige!”

Izabella dashed toward Jeanne. A little closer, and her sword would reach her. Before it did, though, Jeanne snapped her fingers.

Bandersnatch reared up behind Izabella. As it did, she made a humiliating realization.

…She’s underestimating me!

Based on its appearance, Bandersnatch’s method of attack was the easiest to gauge of the four. In other words, Jeanne was saying that if Izabella couldn’t even deal with it, then she had no value as an opponent.

As Izabella was pursing her lips over that fact, the beast leaped. Before it could catch her in its maw, Izabella kicked it in the side. But the beast relentlessly tried to slip its fangs into the joints of her armor.

That very moment, Izabella detached her mantle. Then she scooped up the beast’s entire floating, fanged body in it. The sturdy fabric endured for just a moment, which was long enough for Izabella to smash the whole thing—mantle, beast, and all—into the ground.

Then she closed in on Jeanne.

“You’re mine!”

As she tried to strike Jeanne’s exposed chest with the flat of her blade, though, Jabberwocky leaped forth. The unpleasant-looking machine took the blow in its master’s place. Sparks flew, and Jeanne nodded once more.

“Impressive.”

“I am a commander, after all.”

Izabella showed no signs of stopping. As she drew back her blade, she leveled a palm strike at Jeanne’s jaw.

Jeanne blinked in shock, but the surprises would not end there.

“Oh?”

“Huh?”

At that moment, the two of them were both blown to the side.

And it wasn’t just them, either—the paladins met the same fate. Only Hina, who’d clung to the Kaiser, managed to endure. The Kaiser himself said nothing, but his annoyance was written all over his face.

Deus Ex Machina frantically reassembled itself, transforming into a warped yet supple metal net. Jeanne swooped down atop it, like a princess being caught by her valet.

Izabella, for her part, managed to twist herself around in the air before sticking the landing on her own. She then looked up, trying to figure out what was going on. When she did, she immediately grasped the situation. She let out a quiet murmur, forgetting for a moment the fact that she was in the middle of a fight.

“…This is chaos.”

A massive Wicker Man had just ruptured from within, its chest shredded to pieces. Kaito, having made his escape, wiped the sweat from his brow. Based on his expression, he was clearly in over his head. After all, normal circumstances would leave him woefully unequipped to go up against the Torture Princess. By some miracle, though, he was managing to endure her relentless attacks.

Elisabeth, on the other hand, showed no signs of letting up.

“Gibbet! Ducking Stool! Hellhole!”

“Takes me back, y’know, watching you go all-out like that!”

Kaito let out a half-desperate shout as he dashed. And just as he’d implied, the space around was growing more dangerous by the moment. One of the paladins fell into the pit of man-eating bugs, and another one hurriedly pulled him out.

As he ran, Kaito avoided it altogether. But one of the five simultaneously deployed Ducking Stools found its mark. Right before he was bound in place and plunged underwater, Kaito called out.

“Kaiser!”

“What, you can’t even deal with this yourself?! I’ll have your head if you die on me, O unworthy master of mine!”

Although he had yelled out in frustration, the Kaiser moved in a flash. Grabbing the back of the chair in his teeth, he hurled it into the air. A tank of water appeared in the ground, but instead of falling, Kaito went flying over it.

Letting loose his blade, he cut himself free from his restraints. He then managed to land safely somehow.

Once more, he and Elisabeth faced each other. He, for one, was exhausted. But Elisabeth’s face didn’t have so much as a bead of sweat on it. Crossing her arms, she cast an angry glare his way.

“Why do you run, Kaito?”

“Is that a serious question?! If I took that shit head-on, it woulda killed me! C’mon, Elisabeth, hold your fire for a minute and hear me out!”

As Kaito launched his ardent plea, Hina snapped her neck up.

It was hard to make heads or tails of her situation—she was hoisting up one paladin who’d fallen in the water, yet at the same time, kicking away another who’d come to cut her down.

Even though her surroundings had descended into chaos, though, she still spared the time to call out.

“That’s right, Lady Elisabeth! Even though I’m Master Kaito’s companion, I’ve been getting the sense that I’d best not intrude in you two’s battle! But if you insist on harming my beloved Master Kaito any further, my dear Lady Elisabeth, I will have to stop you, even if it means I must kill you!”

“You too, Hina, enough from you! Not stopping Kaito when he decided to leave… Fools, the lot of you!”

Elisabeth’s rebuke was swift and brutal. It was so threatening, in fact, that Hina found herself at a momentary loss for words.

Elisabeth’s black hair fluttered as she turned back toward Kaito, before ruthlessly snapping her fingers once more.

“Iron Maiden. La Guillotine.”

“Man, a guy can’t catch a break.”

Another vortex of darkness and petals. A pair of maidens, red and white, lined up from within. They each had a decidedly different ambience.

One was bewitching, and the other was pure. But while the impressions that the two statues gave off differed, they had their beauty and monstrous, overwhelming presence in common. As he glared at the two women, Kaito’s thoughts raced.

I wanna get as far back as possible. If Iron Maiden hugs me, it’s all over. And from here, I won’t be able to deal with the speed of La Guillotine’s blades.

Kaito set off an explosion of mana at his feet. With speed surpassing that of any human, he fled.

La Guillotine brought its arms together as though in prayer, then opened them again. A blade shot out from its elbow at unbelievable speeds. No matter how high Kaito raised his physical capabilities, following them visually would be impossible.

He snapped his fingers, virtually on instinct alone, and launched five blades into the air.

“La (stop)!”

One of them crashed against La Guillotine’s blade. The strength of the impact sent the two slabs of metal spiraling off in opposite directions. As the paladins scurried about to avoid them, each cleft into the earth and vanished, leaving huge gashes in the ground.

Kaito breathed a sigh of relief. As he did, though, he felt a chilly breeze at his back. Panicking, he whirled around.

Fu—

The red maiden was standing there behind him. With a smile full of affection, Iron Maiden extended its arms.

Then its neck was rent to the side. The kindness of its expression didn’t waver, even as its head toppled to the ground. It crumbled to pieces, then transformed back into rose petals and scattered.

As it vanished into nothing, Hina stood holding her halberd in Iron Maiden’s wake. Her emerald eyes were wide and crazed.

“Only I, his companion, am allowed to embrace Master Kaito, you hunk of junk that knows nothing of love.”

“Thanks, Hin— No, get back!”

As Kaito shouted, Hina leaped backward.

Torture devices and chains had mercilessly borne down on him once more.

The back-and-forth between Kaito and Elisabeth continued on in much the same way.

At some point, they’d become the only two still fighting.

The paladins simply gazed at the two of them, dumbfounded. And Izabella had been captured by Jeanne, who’d finally gotten serious. Deus Ex Machina had merged together and was presently pinning her to the ground.

“Stop that at once! Let me go! Are you listening to me?!”

“Quiet now, miss. I don’t have any more time to play with you. This is turning out to be quite the show.”

Jeanne crossed her arms as she calmly observed the battle.

Desperate as they were, Kaito’s efforts were impressive. He continually summoned blades, with no time to even gather his breath. Each time the beheading axes and innumerable iron stakes bore down on him, he drove them back. Occasionally calling on aid from Hina and the Kaiser, he successfully continued prolonging his life.

The difference in strength between him and Elisabeth was overwhelming. But in spite of that, he continued putting up a valiant fight.

Armed with tenacity and zeal, Kaito fought back with all his might.

His actions clearly weren’t driven by a fear of death, either. It was as though he was crying out in violent protest.

“Like hell I’m gonna let Elisabeth kill me,” he was screaming.

“Like hell I’m gonna let her kill anyone else she cares about,” he was screaming.

“To go to such lengths… Such folly, and such conviction.”

Jeanne murmured. Azure and crimson rose petals were whirling like tempests before her eyes.

The two masses coalesced, then crashed straight into each other. Each wave of vividly colored darkness was trying viciously to engulf the other.

Her dress and hair whirling about in the wind, Elisabeth let out a cry.

“You chose to become the enemy of humanity, Kaito! You chose that path yourself, bearing sins you had no business bearing! That being the case, hurry up and present me your neck already!”

“Screw that nonsense! And screw dying! Just listen to me, Elisabeth!”

“No, you listen! What’s nonsense is becoming mankind’s enemy without the resolve to die doing so! You’re but a little sheep, bleating with neither determination nor resolve! Cease your foolery!”

“It’s not like you wanted to die either, right?! It’s fine, just listen—”

“Time and time and time again… You’re the one who refused to listen!”

“What—”

“I told you countless times! There was no need for you to bear those sins!”

Chains shot forth, veritable agents of Elisabeth’s frustration. They carved at the ground beside Kaito. Having gone too fast, they also cruelly scraped away at the Saint statue’s cheeks. Massive fragments toppled to the ground, and dust billowed up where they fell.

Agitated cries rose up from among the paladins. Elisabeth ignored them as she called out again.

“’Tis a heavy thing, to harm others, to be loathed by the world, and to constantly shoulder sins, I told you!”

“Elisabeth…”

“’Tis too heavy a burden for you to bear, I told you!”

It was like a desperate wail.

Or perhaps the screams of a child.

Hearing her heartbroken voice, Kaito ground his teeth into his lip. He’d never wanted to make her cry.

I swore to myself that I’d protect you.

He’d sworn to himself that he’d keep his hero alive, no matter the cost. But had that really been right?

Kaito tossed that question around in his mind. Seeing Elisabeth’s face, could he state that with any amount of confidence?

Did I really make the right choice?

Kaito Sena closed his eyes, just for a moment. His younger self sat before him in the darkness, just like he had once before. The young man innocently yearning for his hero gazed questioningly at Kaito. But when he sheepishly reached out and grasped Kaito’s fingers, the real Kaito clenched his fists tight as though to squeeze back.

And with that, Kaito let out an internal bellow.

DAMN RIGHT I DID!

“I’d rather bear it a million times over than let you die!”

Then, at long last,

Kaito Sena snapped.

The Earl’s Grand Guignol. The Governor’s banquet. The Grand King’s circus.

There was no shortage of things that had sparked Kaito’s fury in the past.

However, because of his experiences from when he was alive, his emotions had a sort of built-in brake. Whenever he was about to succumb to his negative emotions, he quickly regained his calm. And the decisions he’d been able to make as a result of this trait had come in handy time and time again. But as a result, Kaito Sena had never truly snapped.

Yet now, he’d gone well, truly, and completely off the rails.

All the common sense, reason, and composure in his brain had evaporated away into nothing.

Taken over completely by rage, Kaito snapped his fingers. Six blades, the most he’d ever been able to summon, began whirling above his head. At times, strong emotions, even negative ones, could grant people abnormal bursts of power. His anger had surpassed its limits, and a new image welled up within Kaito.

Then Kaito shouted, his eyes open as wide as they would go.

“La (transform).”

The blades lay atop one another, then merged into one. They melted like sugar, writhing as they took on a new form.

A jet-black long sword hung in the air. Then it plunged straight down, directly into the earth.

Kaito snatched it up by the handle as though selfishly claiming it for himself. Perhaps he’d been unconsciously mimicking Executioner’s Sword of Frankenthal, as azure runes glittered across its blade.

All things are pardoned unto me. But I am ruled by none.

After flashing once atop the jet-black blade, the runes faded away.

Still holding its handle, Kaito called out the sword’s name, as though the weapon itself were speaking through him.

“Nameless.”

Then he swung his black blade down, cleaving through the air and leveling its tip toward Elisabeth.

She responded by snapping her fingers. All the torture devices vanished.

Only Executioner’s Sword of Frankenthal remained.

The two of them faced each other, silently. Then they dashed in unison.

Unlike when she’d fought against the King’s replica, Elisabeth didn’t resort to underhanded tactics.

Executioner’s Sword of Frankenthal and Nameless collided.

The blow they’d exchanged was head-on.

For a brief moment, a torrent of sparks shot out. Without even pausing to step back, they swung their swords again. Due to the point-blank range, swordsmanship played essentially no role in their fight. It had devolved into a simple slugfest. But if either failed to block so much as a single blow, it would no doubt prove fatal. Such was the savagery of the blows they were trading.

Under normal circumstances, neither would have been able to let up for even a moment. Despite that fact, though, they exchanged shouts as well as slashes.

“Screw your promise to the people! Screw your oath! Sure, I know about that! Hell, I’ve seen the mountains of corpses you’ve made with my own damn eyes! There’s no way you can atone for the sins you’ve committed! Well, tough shit! The Torture Princess deserves to be put to the stake! But what about me?! What’s gonna happen to the guy you saved, huh?!”

“’Tis hardly my concern! Go live out your second life as you please! Live strong and stand on your own! Why, you even have a wife! Is there no limit to your greed?!”

“Now who’s spouting bullshit?! I’m not the only one! You’re just gonna ignore all those people you helped, Elisabeth, all those people you saved, and go off and burn at the stake?! That isn’t right! You didn’t save us just so we could watch you go get killed! Screw that! There’s no way I’m gonna let things end like this!”

Kaito swung his sword like a madman. His cries and his attacks were in sync, and he succeeded in pushing Elisabeth back just a hair. She and her sword were forced back as one. Yet still, she responded to his cries and his blows in kind.

“’Tis naught but your own selfishness speaking!”

“The hell’s wrong with me selfishly choosing to put you above the world?!”

Kaito’s words were firm and resolute. Elisabeth bit her lips. Then they swung their swords once more, each imbuing their strike with the full weight of their fury. A loud clanging noise rang out as sword collided with sword. The two blades grated against each other.

As he gazed at their relentless battle, one of the paladins let out a vague murmur.

“I don’t get it. They’re clearly fighting to the death, but…”

…but if anything, it looked more like a simple quarrel.

His words were lost on the two fighters, though, their cries reaching fever pitches as metal grated on metal.

“I died, you know! I lived a worthless, joyless life, and then I died! But because you saved me from that, you’re more important to me than the whole world put together! So I don’t give a shit! I don’t give a shit about the stuff you’ve done! Here, Elisabeth, here’s what I should’ve said from the very beginning: For my sake, let me save you!”

“Your arguments made little sense from the start, and now your words are no different! Surely, you know such a trifling reason hardly merits rejecting another’s pride, let alone rejecting their lifelong oath!”

“Sure I know that, but that doesn’t change what I have to do!”

“This is absurd! The whole situation is an absolute mess! The Butcher, ‘salvation,’ the imminent end of the world, nonsensical matters keep piling up left and right!

“Yeah! And the whole deal about the first demon’s flesh!”

“Hmm?”

“Huh?”

And then, as though a pin had dropped, the two of them came to an abrupt stop.

They each stared at the other, then exchanged quizzical looks. Then, gathering strength in their swords, they each leaped back, before finally surveying their surroundings.

Hina was standing by, waiting, and she looked to be on the verge of tears. The paladins had simply been watching the fight in a daze. And in the back, Jeanne still stood beside Izabella, who had been struggling against the machine’s arm the entire time.

As expressionless as always, albeit with the corners of her lips turned up just a smidge, Jeanne spoke.

“Well? Are you two finished with your little lovers’ spat?”

““It’s not a lovers’ spat!””

Kaito and Elisabeth shouted their protests in unison.

And that was how, at long last, the two of them finally settled down enough to talk.

“Now that you mention it, there does seem to be some inscrutable little golden lass here, and the Church’s orders were decidedly enigmatic. Kaito…to what end did you come here?”

“The gold girl’s name is Jeanne, but it’d take forever to explain her whole story. I asked her where the first bit of demon flesh came from, and she said she’d show me.”

“The Butcher said much the same—that by coming here, many things would become clear. Explaining that would prove lengthy as well, though.”

They looked at each other anew, then fell silent. After a while, Elisabeth heaved a heavy sigh. Violently mussing up her bangs, she clicked her tongue in irritation.

“I haven’t forgiven you, mind. Nor do I have any intention of doing so hereafter. But it seems a short ceasefire is in order. There are matters we ought to clear up before resolving our conflict.”

“Yeah, you can say that again.”

Kaito and Elisabeth both nodded. As they did, they sensed someone quickly trot up to them.

They both quickly whirled to the side.

When they did, they found Hina standing there. She was silent, instead merely gazing at the two of them with her big, round, emerald eyes. Upon seeing her meaningful, teary gaze, both Kaito and Elisabeth found themselves slightly taken aback.

Eventually, Kaito smiled to try to set her mind at ease, then extended his hand to her.

“C’mere, Hina.”

Hina took it and squeezed it tight. Then she turned toward Elisabeth. Elisabeth met her gaze with a curt, puzzled frown. Before long, though, Hina’s puppy-dog eyes beat her down, and she held out her hand as well.

“All right, all right. Go on, then. But you mustn’t forget. This is but a temporary…truce…”

Not waiting for Elisabeth to finish her sentence, Hina took Elisabeth’s hand firmly in hers. Based on her expression, Elisabeth was at something of a loss. Hina was still silent. She simply squeezed their two hands with all her might.

As she did, a troubled voice rang out from the background.

“Stop this! Unhand me at once! What is the meaning of this?! Am I being taken prisoner?! Even if that’s the case, surely there must be a better way to transport me!”

“Please settle down, miss. You had things you wanted to know, didn’t you? And with me kidnapping you like this, you even have a pretext.”

“But that’s…”

Kaito turned to look behind him. Deus Ex Machina had taken on a humanoid form and was carrying Izabella bridal-style. It looked almost affectionate at first glance, but its metal fingers were holding her firmly in place.

When she’d heard Jeanne’s quiet cajolery, Izabella’s expression had wavered. However, she was still nobly pursing her lips, no doubt trying to force out words of protest. Before she could, though, Jeanne went on.

“And one other thing. It ain’t often my buddy here takes a liking to someone, ya feel? You’re gonna wanna settle down there, li’l lady. You wouldn’t want one of those hard bits to shlick into someplace weird, wouldja?”

Upon hearing Jeanne’s extreme tone shift, Izabella froze up again. Apparently, her brain had decided to just give up. Not having heard their exchange, several of the paladins rushed over, planning on mounting a valiant rescue for their captured commander.

As she turned to face them, Jeanne cast a chilly glare their way.

“I’d stay there if I were you, misters, if you value your commander’s life. Who’s a good boy? That’s right, it’s you, you filthy dogs!”

The paladins obediently lowered their swords, and Jeanne gave them a nod. Then her honey-blond hair fluttered as she turned back toward Kaito. She began matter-of-factly giving out instructions.

“Summon Vlad, if you would. His presence will be helpful to explain things going forward.”

“…I find it nearly impossible to tell if that girl is mad or not, you know.”

“Yeah, tell me about it.”

As he agreed with Elisabeth’s impression, Kaito ran mana through the stone in his pocket. Azure rose petals and darkness swirled to life. As he elegantly crossed his legs in the empty air, Vlad made a displeased remark.

“Good heavens. You forget those you’ve dragged along with you, then throw yourself into absurd situations time and time again. What a cruel, heartless state of affairs. And it’s not even as if I greatly mind the treatment, but I had my doubts as to whether or not you’d survive.”

“Oh, right. I guess you were in my pocket that whole time.”

“I’d ask that you try to do a better job of remembering me, my dear successor. Why, I was even kind enough to avoid saying anything about that disappointing display you put on last night; one that anyone but that doll of yours would have been sorely disillusioned by… No, wait, stop that. Do be so kind as to stop trying to smash me against the ground. You shan’t hear another peep out of me, I swear.”

Vlad quickly shut up. As the Kaiser gave a deep, amused snort, Elisabeth tilted her head to the side in confusion. Hina, still clutching Kaito’s and Elisabeth’s hands, kept gently crying, and Izabella resumed her attempts to struggle free.

Jeanne looked at the whole ensemble. With the violent battle having finally come to an end, she made a loud declaration.

“Now then, the time is upon us—let us proceed and lay bare the secrets of this world.”

Jeanne’s gait as she walked was leisurely, as though nothing at all had happened.

Behind the whore claiming herself to be a saint of salvation, the enemy of the world, his bride, a peerless sinner, the commander of the Holy Knights, a demon, and the demon’s old contractor followed after.

The seven of them strode onward, to the site the Church had worked so hard to keep hidden.

They strode into the underground tomb, where the kings of old were interred.

Thunk, thunk, thunk, thunk, thunk, thunk, thunk!

Thousands of swords designed for decapitation impaled the snowy owl through its body. It looked like a living pincushion.

Opening its beak, it let out a miserable, throaty voice.

“Ahhhhhhh, ahhhhhhh, AHHHHHHH, aHhHhHhH.”

Its voice was neither avian nor monstrous. It was the voice of a human. As he heard that, a terrible possibility welled up within Kaito’s mind.

The birds La Mules summoned vanished right away.

Why, then, had the owl before them not?

Perhaps, in order to secure the summoned beast to this world, they’d mixed a human in as well. That was the horrible suspicion Kaito had. But between his sentimentality and his revulsion, he had no space left to thoroughly examine that possibility.

“Graaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!”

The scream went up in pitch, rising nearly to the level of a shriek. After forcing her way out of Deus Ex Machina’s arms, Izabella hit the ground running. Then, upon crashing into the sword-ridden owl, she grabbed the handle of one sword buried particularly deep in the bird’s chest and twisted it.

The snowy owl screamed even more violently. As it did, Izabella wrenched the sword free.

A horrible squelching noise resounded throughout the chamber. Dark blood gushed from the wound and ran across the floor.

The sword had been puncturing the owl’s pulsating heart.

Its massive eyes still as wide as dinner plates, the owl convulsed. Its head and torso began transforming into white light, and the feelers comprising the rest of its body turned into black feathers. Halfway through, though, both transformations stopped.

Its tragic corpse then toppled to the ground, the right to even vanish as a demon or a holy creature taken from it.

Izabella was drenched in blood. The sword clanged against the ground as she dropped it, and when she looked up, her face was trembling. For a second, it looked like she was going to collapse. But she managed to right her footing with willpower alone.

She then placed her arm horizontally over her chest and gave a bow.

“No longer must you be bound by the chains of your tortured existence. Your efforts guarding the tomb did not go unnoticed.”

That was the dedication she gave to the monster. Nobody else said a thing.

As though it were accepting her words, the man-made monster drifted into its eternal slumber. Its feelers stopped twitching. After confirming that fact, Izabella toppled to the ground.

Then she broke into a silent sob.

She cried and she cried, as though trying to parse the absurdity of it all and change it all into rage.

A massive pool of blood spread through the room. Izabella sat motionless in it.

“Hey, Izabella…”

Kaito called out to her in hopes of comforting her. But before he could finish, the light sound of footsteps splashing echoed through the room.

Jeanne had approached Izabella with an easy, almost dance-like gait. To everyone’s surprise, she spun forward and wrapped Izabella up in a tight hug. Izabella’s eyes went wide.

Jeanne’s expression was as cold as always, but her embrace was warm and kind.

“I knew I liked ya for a reason, li’l lady. Fools demonstrating their pride is not so unpleasant a thing. You got a backbone on ya.”

Using her own pale hand, Jeanne wiped the blood off Izabella’s face. After wiping away the filth, she stroked Izabella’s scarred skin as she went on speaking.

“Their weakness is precisely what drives the foolish to be strong. That was the ideal you were striving toward, miss. You’re a good kid.”

Upon hearing the gentle words, Izabella blinked several times. But she didn’t have a chance to reply. Deus Ex Machina scooped her up in its arms once again.

“No, I… This again?”

Izabella tried to resist. But a moment later, she wearily let her body go limp. She seemed to have given up and was now obediently allowing herself to be carried.

Standing up herself, Jeanne raised her bloody hands.

“Come now, just a little farther—how exciting.”

Kaito cast another glance around the room.

He hadn’t noticed at first due to the feelers covering it, but the room was constructed like a large hall. To his alarm, the walls didn’t seem to have any joints or seams on them, and a number of delicate crystalline lamps hung from the room’s hemispherical ceiling.

Was this room really made by people?

Kaito found that fact dubious. At the same time, he realized that the room offered no way for them to advance. He couldn’t see any hallways or stairs branching off it. It was a dead end.

The one thing he did see, though, was a deep carving in one of the stone wall’s sections that had been covered up by feelers. The carving’s craftsmanship was so impressive that the person depicted seemed to be alive.

Kaito walked up to it. The Saint was embracing something swaddled in cloth, but it was impossible to see what lay within. What was clear, though, was the Saint’s benevolent smile. A demi-human attendant was standing beside her.

His face was cast in shadow, concealed by his hood. Kaito let out a dazed whisper.

“…The Butcher?”

Putting the dots together, Kaito thought back to the statue he’d seen in the Capital’s plaza.

A statue of the Saint shedding tears of blood had been installed next to Godd Deos’s headquarters. And in front of her had been another statue, a kneeling apostle wrapped from the head down in tattered rags. Surprisingly, the apostle had been a demi-human. Legs with scales engraved in them and sharp claws had peeked out from the bottom edge of the rags.

He’d looked as though he was both rejoicing in and lamenting the Saint’s suffering.

Absentmindedly, Kaito reached out to touch the engraving. Before his hand reached it, though, someone grabbed him by the wrist.

Elisabeth had been the one to stop him. She spoke, her voice cold.

“Do you have a death wish? Go on, then—touch it. Not even ash will remain.”

“Oh. Uh, my bad.”

Kaito narrowed his eyes and appraised the amount of mana stored in the wall. Elisabeth had been completely right.

It was hard to tell at just a glance, but the entire wall was covered in a fiendish barrier. Anyone who touched it would probably have their very existence annihilated. But then he tilted his head to the side in puzzlement.

There was something odd about the mana the barrier was giving off.

It’s the same here…good and evil mixed together.

Sacred mana blended together with malicious mana, sealing the wall up firmly.

It was at that moment that Kaito realized something.

“Wait, this thing isn’t designed to protect something, is it?”

Something was hidden there. Or perhaps it was sealed away there. That was the impression Kaito had gotten.

But…what?

His ominous premonitions worsened as he carefully looked back over the mana and the general vibe the wall was giving off. Then he realized that there was something lurking on the other side of the sturdy wall.

What…what is that? Is that a noise I hear?

Kaito strained his ears, taking great care not to touch the wall. After a moment, he realized what the nature of the noise was. Something was breathing, inhaling and exhaling at a steady, fixed rhythm.

Something was sleeping back there.

Like a child, taking a calm, tranquil nap.

“Now then, today shall be a day worth commemorating. Let us unveil the secret within.”

There wasn’t a tinge of fear in Jeanne’s voice. She opened her palms wide. A black jewel sat atop one, a white jewel atop the other. When she pressed them together, they merged into one, then transformed into the shape of a key. Once they had, Jeanne thrust it into the face of whatever it was the Saint was holding.

—Grgrahhh.

As the strange noise rang out, Jeanne gave a sweet, gentle whisper.

“Beyond that wall lies the true source of the flesh we ate.”

Apparently, the groaning noise from a moment ago had indicated it was now unlocked. The hefty wall began shifting, creaking and kicking up dust as it went. Like a chastity belt dropping, the Church’s revolting, long-kept secret was laid bare.

Beyond the hefty wall

sat a child’s bedroom.

It was quiet inside.

The deep, deep silence within felt as though it had lasted centuries, if not millennia.

At first glance, it didn’t look like anything besides a room for a normal child, its walls decorated with wallpaper and ribbons. It was a harmless, charming little room. But a second glance would reveal the room’s dark, twisted nature.

There were human faces sprouting from the wallpaper in place of a floral design. All of them were wordlessly writhing. Although they had no vocal cords, their mouths were contorted into silent, anguished screams.

As for the ribbons hanging overhead, they were made from various types of human entrails, dangling from the stomachs of people suspended in the air. And given their vivid hues, the owners were still alive.

And in the center of that grotesque, pain-adorned room sat a massive cradle.

It seemed almost cruel how pure a shade of white it was, the only unsullied object in the room.

Within it, something was sleeping.

Whatever it was, human vocabulary was ill equipped to describe it.

It was alive. It was in deep slumber. It had flesh.

If someone wished to describe it in words, that would have to be enough.

“That there is the first demon—a far higher entity than the fourteen who descended after it, and a being with the power to shatter the world’s very foundations.”

Though she faced a horror that surpassed human comprehension, Jeanne’s speech was dispassionate. Kaito found himself at a loss for words.

That thing isn’t supposed to exist in this world.

He thought back to the exposition Elisabeth had given him right after he’d reincarnated.

“We call the entity who created the world ‘God’ and that which destroys it ‘Diablo.’ Hence, Diablo can only interfere with the world of man once God has abandoned it. But there is an exception. If Diablo has a contractor, then all bets are off.

“But summoning Diablo, who possesses enough power to destroy the entire world, is no small feat, and there is no one vessel who can contain it, so it has yet to manifest.”

That was how things were supposed to be, yet there could be no mistaking the fact that Diablo, who held enough power to destroy the entire world, was sleeping before them.

The Kaiser said nothing, his thoughts inscrutable. A sublime smile was plastered across Vlad’s face. Hina was making no efforts to hide her revulsion, and Izabella was wearing the expression of a child who’d just been struck by a parent.

Something that shouldn’t exist, exists.

Faced with that irreconcilable contradiction, Kaito felt a wave of vertigo. Elisabeth shook her head from side to side as she cast a sidelong glance his way. Then, with a displeased look on her face, she posed a question to Jeanne.

“Without a contractor, Diablo should be unable to manifest in this world. Who, then, is this thing’s contractor? My power is all but supreme, and not even my body could withstand such a feat. Nor is it possible for Vlad, nor the Grand King, nor you. The vessel would shatter. No man should be qualified.”

“That isn’t the case, though. A person with such power does exist, a person that even the stray sheep are familiar with.”

Jeanne’s answer bordered on singsong.

Kaito and Elisabeth furrowed their brows. If such a person really existed, they’d have to be a pretty big deal. Ignoring their doubts, though, Jeanne launched into a seemingly unrelated story.

“The Saint manifested God through her body, saved the world, then fell into an eternal slumber. Because of that, it can be said the world of man was built atop her suffering, her devotion, and her sacrifice. That forms the basis of the Church’s doctrine. But therein lies a contradiction. The Saint manifested God through her body and rebuilt the world. In that case, though, who was the one who destroyed it?”

“…That would be Diablo, naturally. No. Wait.”

Elisabeth covered her mouth. Kaito, too, noticed the contradiction.

“Diablo can only interfere with the world of man once God has abandoned it.”

If that was the case, then the Saint shouldn’t have been able to manifest God. After all, once God abandoned the world, then as one of his creations, she, too, would have been a target for destruction.

The mystery had been dangling right in front of everyone’s noses, yet none of them had even noticed it.

The world had been saved once. But what had happened right before that?

“Exactly, miss. Normally, there’s no way that God could have responded to a human’s summons and dwelled within their body. All humans would have been destroyed the moment he abandoned the world, after all. In other words, the order is backward.”

“…Backward?”

“Even though God had yet to renounce the world, Diablo destroyed it anyway. That was why God appeared in response to a human’s summons, and that was why He rebuilt it. The girl who carried God within her body, the girl who wasn’t destroyed, was the only person left in the world. But if she could summon God, she would also have been able to form a contract with a demon of equal power. In other words…”

The chains on Jeanne’s wrists rattled and jingled as she raised one index finger in front of her lips.

Then, as though she were telling them a secret, she divulged the truth that had been hidden for so long.

“First, the girl formed a contract with the mighty Diablo. While it’s unclear what her objective was, she was unable to maintain control and ended up destroying the world. In her regret, she summoned God, formed a contract with Him, and rebuilt the world. But she was unable to endure her two contracts, nor was she able to die, so instead, she fell into a deep slumber. That is what it all means.”

And in that moment, one of the fundamental doctrines underpinning human society crumbled at its very foundation.

A crack formed in Izabella’s expression. But Jeanne didn’t stop, instead making one last declaration.

“The Suffering Saint, the one venerated by the Church, is none other than the first demon’s contractor.”

And because of that, the Church had hidden away the first demon, the one she’d called forth.

The alchemists must have obtained its flesh before its existence had been covered up. Then, knowing it would one day awaken, they went into hiding and began preparing countermeasures. And for some reason, the Saint’s apostle, the Butcher, had bided his time before giving the demon’s flesh to those wishing to form contracts.

Kaito and Elisabeth thought back on what the Butcher had told her.

“It’s a nonsensical little fairy tale, and one that’s gone on for a very, very long time.

There are those who’ve worked to bring these events about, and those who’ve worked to prevent them.”

“In the course of the slaying of the fourteen demons, the chessboard sustained heavy damage. The upper echelons of the Church, a number of their fanatics, and some of those who wish to escape the burden of having to restore the Capital seek to awaken the first demon, expand the destruction, and in doing so, urge God to rebuild the world. They believe that when the destroyed world is restored, the righteous devotees will remain.”

“There’s no way. That line of thinking is way too optimistic.”

Kaito replied, his voice cold. Of all the people present, his knowledge pool was the shallowest. But despite that, he was confident in his assertion. Ever since he’d seen La Mules firsthand, he’d known.

God created the world, and Diablo destroyed it. That was all there was to their respective existences.

The fact remained that neither was an entity man was meant to interact with.

“Yes, very much so. Rebuilding is the act of blotting out the current painting, then drawing a new one atop it.”

Jeanne reaffirmed Kaito’s sentiments. Kaito envisioned the scene in his mind.

People were frolicking atop a massive canvas and painting a picture. But now, warped fissures ran across the painting. Then someone sitting in front of the canvas abruptly picked up a brush.

And the first thing they did was paint over the picture with black.

“If a new world is born, then all humanity with the exception of the Saint, the painter, will perish. I was created to prevent that. But my knowledge of the common world is lacking. The alchemists lacked the power to accompany me, instead choosing to die and become my nourishment, but their final request to me was that I made sure I found suitable servants.”

After having heard what Jeanne had to say, Kaito was now keenly aware of the difference between Jeanne’s “salvation” and the Church’s. One side wanted to preserve the world as it was, and the other wanted to build the world anew.

I still don’t know what motive the Butcher had for selling demon flesh, though.

No matter what reason he may have had, though, the seeds of evil he’d planted had successfully borne fourteen demonic fruits.

And he’d described Kaito and Elisabeth’s resistance as “unexpected.”

Not knowing that the stage they’d been fighting atop had been prepared long before, the two of them had taken up the sword and fought. Countless people had died in the course of their desperate resistance. But apparently, their efforts had changed nothing.

Right now, the final flower was trying to bloom. And Jeanne was trying to nip it in the bud.

Then the maiden of salvation who proclaimed herself the saint and the whore gave her haughty continuation.

“Now, dear Lovers, you understand the truth, and the gravity of the situation. Kaito Sena. Elisabeth Le Fanu. I know that the two of you are destined to fight each other to the death. But now you must throw that all away and serve me as faithful slaves.”

She turned her rosy gaze directly on the two of them.

And when she did, Jeanne de Rais, the artificial Torture Princess, went on as though it were only natural.

“At this rate, our world will be destroyed, and not so much as a trace will remain.”

Her words rang out through the chamber like a final verdict.