After being forced to acclimatize himself to this world and his bizarre situation, Kaito came to understood a couple of things.
To avoid confusing souls, the golem body created by Elisabeth was equipped with automatic translation functionality using the soul's own knowledge as a foundation. As a result, Kaito was able to understand the language in this alternate world. Not only could he speak it but he was also to understand the main gist of what people said. However, the rules governing this kind of conversion were rather fluid.
Certain specialized terms spoken by Elisabeth came from ancient language and were not found in the alternate world's lingua franca. These words would then sound like a foreign language to Kaito's ears. Furthermore, for many things, even if the names were the same, they might represent different objects in each world. Take for example, the seasonings in this world. Putting aside the most basic ones such as sugar, salt and pepper, due to the excessive differences in customs and sensibilities between the two worlds, trying to use seasonings as though they were from his original world would be a recipe for disaster.
"And that's why my cooking tastes bad."
"No, the poor taste of the food you prepare has already reached the realm of art. This cannot be the only reason."
With arms bound in chains, suspending him from the dining hall's ceiling as though he were a prisoner, Kaito was explaining himself to Elisabeth. However, Elisabeth insisted with disappointment that it was Kaito's own fault, shaking her head while sitting on a cabriole-leg chair.
The remains of the "grilled pig kidney paired with fresh salad" made by Kaito were spilled on the floor. There was sharp spike protruding from the ground. A slight lowering of the chains and Kaito's right foot would fall upon it.
This was a very simple and classic method of torture. Shaking his body, Kaito protested.
"Stop making that disappointed look! At the end of the day, it's by your whim that my fate is decided! Please don't do this, I promise I'll do anything you want."
"I am completely baffled whether your attitude counts as defiance or not... You are too useless. Were it not for your ability to make pudding, I would have scrapped you directly without bothering to torture you."
"I never thought pudding would save my life."
"Hmph, be grateful to pudding."
(Good heavens...)
Kaito was in shock but Elisabeth nodded contentedly.
At that moment, Kaito suddenly thought of something. Elisabeth's outfit was quite revealing for starters, with only leather straps to cover up the vital bits, practically exposing most of her breasts. And right now, Kaito's perspective was from a high angle.
From his vantage point, Kaito could even see down her cleavage all the way to the deepest part.
"Elisabeth, uh... Miss Elisabeth? Isn't this a bit dangerous?"
"Hmm? What are you talking about? ......Hmm, you are dead!"
"You're pretty much the one who exposed yourself, okay!? I simply pointed it out to you, so that's way unreasonable of you! The same goes for the cooking issue. Didn't you say my food was great last time, after we returned from the village where The Knight rampaged? That's when I skewered slices of liver and roasted them with pepper and salt!"
"That counts as cooking in your mind, is that so?"
"It doesn't count?"
"Of course not."
Elisabeth was about to snap her fingers when Kaito appealed to her pity with pleading puppy dog eyes, but she simply scoffed. Just as Kaito braced himself for sharp pain...
"Hmm? Isn't this the Meat Supplier?"
"Whoa!"
Elisabeth suddenly dispelled the chains binding Kaito's arms. Kaito resigned himself to death but the spike under him had also disappeared. While Kaito was stunned on the ground, unable to to get up, Elisabeth already stood up gracefully to welcome someone. Kaito turned to look at the dining hall's entrance and jumped in surprise.
A strange man shrouded all over in black cloth was lugging a heavy blood-soaked sack, standing there. From gaps in the swaying fabric, Kaito could catch brief glimpses of the sharp claws and scales on the man's feet.
Extending her hand, Elisabeth gestured towards Kaito, who finally managed to get up, to introduce him.
"It would be a breach of etiquette to punish a servant in front of a guest. Kaito, feel grateful to the Meat Supplier. Meat Supplier, this dim-witted servant is the one who turns the fresh innards you deliver into kitchen trash every time."
"Pleased to make your acquaintance, Milord Dim-witted Servant. I am your friendly neighborhood Meat Supplier, the friend of gourmets and customers with peculiar tastes. I am utterly grateful to Milady Elisabeth's patronage every time. So long as it is meat and only limited to meat, I am certain to provide satisfaction to your every need and desire."
"Uh... Thank you for your dedicated service."
Kaito showed hesitation on his face. Putting aside the Meat Supplier's appearance, his self-introduction was also filled with dangerous signals. Seeing Kaito's expression, the Meat Supplier seemed to have a thought, scratching his face through the black fabric.
"Oh dear, it is true that my appearance is quite out of this world, even for a demi-human. Even I have no idea what is my primary ancestry. However, I am no different from the other demi-humans you know, so there is no need to be so surprised."
"Demi-humans... Uh, I think I've heard of them from video games or something... A race, right?"
"Ah, so there are no demi-humans in your world, I see. Do not be concerned, Meat Supplier, he is actually someone from a parallel dimension, an extremely lost soul. Just leave lost souls be."
"As you wish. Please confirm the merchandise as per our custom."
The Meat Supplier nodded and turned to Elisabeth again. Taking out the fresh internal organs from his sack, one after another, he presented them individually to Elisabeth before returning them to the sack.
"Chicken and pigeon gizzards, pig intestines, cow tongue and heart. If there are no problems, I shall move them to the ice spirit magic storage."
"Your efforts are much appreciated."
"Let me confirm something, you don't eat human organs, right?"
"Of course not. Human flesh is disgusting and completely unfit for consumption. Why would I waste good money on purchasing it?"
"Ah, assuming it is being used as food."
Kaito could not help but fall silent. Including this transaction in process, there was a heavy menacing air hanging over everything. However, the Meat Supplier suddenly announced as though he had thought of something.
"Human flesh is quite sour and there is a great variation in flavor across different individuals, so there is quite a large market consisting of customers with a penchant for that. Currently, the price is relatively cheap, so if Milord Butler would like to have a try, I highly recommend it. What are your thoughts? Would like to open the gate to an entirely new diet?"
"No thanks, I don't thank that kind of door should be opened."
"My, what serious words."
"No thank you."
"Hmm? Did you say cheap? I have not heard of war breaking out in nearby villages. From where did you acquire the bodies?"
"Well, in a certain territory, there are many bodies in the cemetaries of villages and the moats of castles. The most delicious parts of those bodies have all gone missing. As the Meat Supplier, I find that quite unfortunate, but it has made the procurement of ingredients much easier. Are you interested? Barbecue made from the rib portion is quite worth a try."
Listening to the Meat Supplier, Kaito and Elisabeth could not help but exchange glances. They silently committed to memory, if one day a great number of corpses surfaced with missing parts, this guy must surely be the culprit.
"Hey, Meat Supplier, I suspect this might be the work of demons."
At a loss, the Meat Supplier scratched his head in embarrassment.
"As the Meat Supplier, I am ashamed to say that I am completely unconcerned about everything and anything apart from the quality of meat."
Kaito narrowed his eyes in disgust and said:
"Yeah, there are definitely people like that. I've met many of them in my previous life."
Putting this aside, Kaito and Elisabeth inquired of the location of the territory from the Meat Supplier and decided to make their way there.
* * *
"To think I even remember this kind of remote little town, I cannot help but marvel in amazement at how good my own memory is!"
".........I am more amazed that you had the self-awareness to get changed."
The two of them had gone to a back alley in the destination town. With arms akimbo, Elisabeth was exclaiming energetically. The surprising thing was that she was currently wearing a proper dress.
The corsetted design accentuated her narrow waist while the flounced skirt was adorned with several gorgeous ribbons. Her hair was done up and decorated with lovely flowers.
Fabric of pure white, paired with a noble face, it was like cheating.
Transformed into a lovely noble woman, Elisabeth puffed out her chest proudly.
"Hmph, I am plenty smart. The commoners are still carrying on with their everyday lives and the demon has yet to show himself. I am well aware that I need to dress accordingly when coming to a place like this. However, although I have taken the guise of an endearing well-bred woman, you still look like a dog dressed in human clothing with that butler uniform on you, fufu."
"Who cares about that! In that case, why can't you find me a more fitting set of clothes... Hey, Elisabeth."
Ignoring Kaito's grumbling, Elisabeth strode ahead. From the dark alley, she approached the main road with Kaito following frantically behind her. The voices of vendors promoting their wares were mixed with the noise and footsteps of the crowd, coming at them like a wall of sound.
Stepping out, Kaito arrived in a town in a foreign country.
More precisely, this was another world. However, the colorful scene, featuring the noise of many people talking to one another, complicated smells, all this matched the "foreign feel" that Kaito had experienced from movies a long long time ago.
Elisabeth turned towards the stunned Kaito, causing the decorative flowers on her hair to sway, then smiled radiantly.
"I suppose I ought to say this once. 'Welcome to another world.'"
Gold paired with blue, black paired with gray, red paired with green... There were all kinds of hair and eye colors in the people moving about.
A woman wearing a shawl walked past a man dressed in a shirt with pants held by suspenders. Close by, a girl in a dirndl-style dress was selling flowers and a man in frock coat was smoking a pipe.
Among the multitude of vendors and stores were things Kaito recognized as well as many goods that he had never seen before. Translucent medicine bottles with artistic shapes. Sweet smelling pink leaves that were apparently for wrapping tobacco. Fruit resembling bird eggs were being sold alongside apples.
A massive gong sounded and a black-haired youth was holding a big ladle in his reptilian hand, serving fried rice with pieces of slightly reddened meat to customers. The dish looked quite tasty but had a distinctive strong odor. Most of the customers eating the fried rice had dog ears and tails.
"Reptilian arms and dog ears?"
"Hybrids between demi-humans and beast folk are not rare at all. This is because the immigration of other races is a major issues in poor neighborhoods. They make up roughly 30% of the population in slums and this surpasses 40% in the north. However, the ones with completely different appearances from humans are pure-blooded demi-humans and beast folk nobility, so you will not be seeing them in human territories. It would be a problem if you jumped in surprise at the slightest thing, so please get used to it."
"What the heck... So this really is another world."
"Furthermore, trying out fruit requires you to pay for it, so refrain from doing that carelessly."
Kaito almost accepted a honeyed grape from an old woman and frantically withdrew his hand. However, Elisabeth picked up a fresh and juicy berry to pop in her mouth, then casually flicked a copper coin into the vendor's hand.
Elisabeth was holding her head high, striding openly through the crowd. Sellers were shouting, customers were haggling, skinny dogs and rats were scurrying at people's feet... Amid such a scene, Elisabeth's slender figure of pure white was so striking. However, she was not concerned at all. The crowd would naturally avoid and make space for her too.
"Hey Elisabeth, where are you going?"
"Mind your own business. For the moment, just keep your mouth shut and follow me."
Kaito obeyed and stayed behind her. Just as Kaito was starting to suspect whether Elisabeth was simply wandering aimlessly, the appearance of the surrounding shops began to change.
Gone were the stores, the seats of roadside eateries and large carts, leaving only filthy little stalls in sight. There was also a clear decrease in merchandise quality. Judging from this, this area was probably where transactions took place for the likes of not-so-fresh perishable food, illegal drugs and weapons.
Between warehouses built from stone, they found many people drinking soup made from unknown ingredients. Elisabeth stopped walking. At the same time, Kaito overheard a certain term.
"I hear that the Marquess of Blood is recruiting servants again."
Surprised, Kaito turned his gaze to a gray-haired old woman. The old woman had been walking along the street, selling herbs from a small box at her side. She was now chatting with a couple of women who seemed to know one another well.
"I thought people stopped selling children to that castle when it was rumored that they ate them?"
"Are you talking about Anna...? I heard she sold her fourth son for a piece of silver."
"Giving children away just because there's silver, is there no justice? That being said, I can't believe she sold her precious son just like that. As expected of that greedy sellout. I'll bet next time round, she won't balk at selling her fifth daughter for a piece of gold."
"At least it's much better than ending up in a brothel. From what I've heard, the Marquess has even gathered children from impoverished lesser nobles to serve him recently. Getting eaten aside, if it's just doing menial labor, it might be possible for them to earn perks whenever they please the Marquess."
"The carriage of the old woman who recruits servants has been here today too. I wish I were younger."
"You're as ugly as a monster. Hell's gonna freeze over before anyone buys you."
The relatively younger woman made a rabbit ears gesture and grinned with exposed yellow teeth.
Elisabeth nodded and walked towards them. Hearing the acute sound of her heels, the women looked up in surprise, staring at Elisabeth as though they were looking at something strange. Kaito could feel viscous hostility from them and hastily followed Elisabeth's white silhouette.
"Hold on a sec, Elisabeth. Where are you going?"
"A large number of dead bodies have turned up without causing a riot. This implies that the majority of victims were the poor. Even if left alone, the poor would randomly die on their own from the cold, drowning, hunger or disease. A mere dozen or so people going missing would not be enough to cause an uproar."
"Why are you putting things in such a terrible way?"
"Facts are facts regardless whether I hold back my words or assert frankly. Hence, that is why you felt compelled to come here to gather information, and sure enough, we obtained the desired information. Fortune has been favorable so far... Ah."
Elisabeth stopped at a corner. A black horse-drawn carriage was parked in front of a collective residence built from red brick. A well-dressed old woman had stopped a mother and young daughter, speaking fervently about something. However, the mother shook off the old woman's grip on her shoulder and rushed upstairs, escaping to her room. The old woman clicked her tongue in displeasure and prepared to return to her carriage.
"Does this carriage belong to the Lord Marquess? How wonderful! My name is Flora. Hearing that the Lord Marquess is hiring maidservants, I came to apply for the job. My father is a great landowner but we are on poor terms, so I snuck out secretly to enjoy myself, never expecting to encounter such a marvelous opportunity! It is my greatest wish to live like a true lady! I implore you to take me along so as to serve by the Lord Marquess' side!"
Kaito stared with widened eyes at Elisabeth as though she had gone mad, but she acted as though she did not know him, simply inclining her head with an innocent expression. Even so, the old woman still directed a gaze of suspicion at Elisabeth. In return, Elisabeth smiled like a flower and said:
"Oh, I almost forgot. I met Miss Anna on the main street earlier and she made a friendly recommendation, bidding me to mention that she is the one introducing me to the job."
Hearing this, the old woman smiled radiantly and nodded. She cautiously inquired of Elisabeth the name of the landowner she had mentioned as well as whether her escape from home had been discovered, before hastily opening the carriage's door.
Pushing Kaito and Elisabeth onto the carriage, the old woman issued orders to the driver as though fleeing in a rush. The carriage began to speed off immediately. Kaito glanced secretly at Elisabeth from the corner of his eye.
Next to the smiling old woman, there was an even more evil grin on her face.
Leaving town, the carriage went past a field of wheat on the right then entered a riverside road. After continuing for a while, a massive castle build on the narrow river bank came into view.
The castle was constructed from yellow sandstone and gray rock without any unity in appearance. The thick and sturdy walls, supported by cylindrical towers, extended east and west. The castle's reflection in the water was like a giant crow with outspread wings, staring at the river surface.
Crossing the drawbridge over the moat, the carriage entered the castle.
Thus, Kaito and Elisabeth arrived at the castle belonging to the Marquess of Blood.
* * *
Perhaps due to the current castle lord's preferences, the interior of the castle was lavishly and vividly decorated in contrast to its dull exterior. Featuring a grand staircase, the great hall was illuminated by a shining luxurious chandelier with the floor covered by a carpet with gold and silver thread. Judging from the carved banisters and the plaster sculptures of vineyard patterns decorating the walls, every object was created with exquisite craftsmanship.
Everything in view had been acquired by sparing no expense in wealth and labor.
(Rich people's homes are so different.)
Kaito could not help but narrow his eyes in disdain. Following after Elisabeth, he passed through the hall and was about to enter the passage on the right when suddenly, a brawny man guarding the entrance grabbed his shoulder violently.
"You're no noble, right? Go that way."
"Eh? Hold on, Eli—Lady Flora!"
Dragged away, Kaito screamed out. Elisabeth turned her head back gently and made a thumbs-up gesture at him, probably implying "Figure things out for yourself, okay? Since your body is immortal, don't give up, you are a capable lad." That being said, Kaito was already used to her momentary whims and fancies.
By this point, there was no helping it. With a twitching expression, Kaito gave up and followed the man. The man raised a flag with an embroidered emblem hanging in the left passage to reveal a hidden entrance behind the flag. Following the stone built passage that was lit by torches, Kaito's suspicions grew stronger and stronger.
Soon after, the man stopped in front of a genuine prison.
"Get your ass in there."
"Why am I treated like this suddenly with no warning!?"
—I might as well play along and protest, deriving some psychological comfort too.
However, Kaito's complaints fell on deaf ears and the man simply kicked him into the cell. Kaito yelped lightly and looked up, only to see that there were boys and girls of humans, beast folk and demi-humans in the unexpectedly spacious prison.
The children, of varying ages and races, were all showing fearful expressions. This was a troubled look of not knowing how to react, a very familiar expression to Kaito. After racking his brains for a moment, Kaito raised a hand, hoping to calm them down.
"Uh, hi."
"Kyah!"
Suddenly, another person was kicked into the prison. A girl dressed in a soft red dress resembling a poppy. She crashed into Kaito and fell. Kaito hastily caught her. The girl's lustrous brown curly hair fluttered. Matching her brown hair well were her chestnut-brown eyes that stared timidly at Kaito. She was a girl with a plain but endearing face. Noticing that she was being held tightly in another's arms, she blushed intensely then straightened her posture.
"F-Forgive me for embarrassing myself. My name is Melanie Esclough, daughter of Earl Esclough. What on earth is this place...? According to my aunt, I was sent here to work so as to learn the ways and customs of nobles."
"I'm Sena Kaito...... Uh, excuse me if I'm being rude by asking this question. Could it be that your father passed away, so you were adopted by your aunt and then imprisoned here?"
"Eh? How did you know, Lord Kaito? Do you happen to know my aunt by any chance?"
"Ah, well... As much as it pains me to tell you this, I've got to warn you first. You and I are currently in a very dangerous situation, so best prepare yourself. Just run away if anything happens. I'm not too sure how terrifying things will get either."
"Oh no... What on earth is going on? What will happen to me, you, and all these children?"
"I haven't got a clue, but I know that shock can render people unable to react immediately, so it's best to be mentally prepared at least."
"Come out, you are summoned."
Kaito was interrupted and the cell door was opened. Together with the children who began to cry in fear, Kaito was escorted out of the cell by several men. Kaito, a red-haired youth of similar age and the youngest child inside the cell, the three of them were helpless with swords held at their throats. Although Kaito was immortal, he feared that putting up reckless resistance here would endanger the other two, so he clicked his tongue and complied obediently.
Soon after, a doorway came into view at the end of the underground passage. On the two sides of the doorway were wooden doors illuminated by torches. These wooden doors were carved with depictions of spiders and crows. A great number of crows were flying overhead while spiders were weaving webs below, as though intending to devour those crows... Such was the tasteless scene depicted. Men opened the pair of doors and kicked Kaito and the others inside. The doors slammed shut as soon as they were kicked inside.
"Do your best."
(What kind of encouragement is that?)
Accompanying the ominous words of encouragement was the sound of a lock being closed.
Kaito turned around and was stunned.
Inside the room was a bizarre scene.
The ceiling was extremely tall, domed like a church's. The center of the ceiling was decorated with exquisite stained glass with floral patterns. However, the kaleidoscopic brightness was completely ruined by the multitude of barbed wire surrounding the ceiling like brambles. Furthermore, a great number of crows were sitting on top of the barbed wire, silently looking down at Kaito and the others.
(What the heck is that flock...? Damn it, I can't shake off this ominous feeling.)
Suppressing his disgust and uncertainty, Kaito shifted his gaze downward. The marble floor was violently chipped in several places. In addition to ditches, there were mounds of earth with tall trees planted on them.
There were small patches of woodland all over this room. What the heck was going on?
Suppressing the ominous feeling surging in his heart, Kaito turned his gaze to the center of the room that he had been trying his best to ignore.
On top of the round stage, an obese man in a tuxedo was snoring away. Suddenly, the man stood up and scratched his massive ass before turning to Kaito's group. On his face was a white crow mask.
"Mmmmmmmmmmm, weeeeeeeeeeeeeelcome to your Grand Guignol!"
Filled with energy, his voice was cheerful, earsplitting, and rather hoarse. Kaito could feel himself breaking out in cold sweat all over. The man's cheerfulness, creepiness and repugnance were all making Kaito's instincts moan in fear, warning him.
This man is a terrifying demon.
Standing before Kaito was an opponent he could never handle on his own, yet of all places, he had to be right here.
"Hold on... I never heard anything about going on stage, Elisabeth."
"You people are simultaneously the audience, the playwrights and the actors. I hope you will enjoy yourselves fully. Scurry and flee here as much as you wish, for only the final survivor can be saved. Reducing your numbers on your own is totally fine tooooooooooooooo."
The man's voice grew even hoarser, his tone even more insane. Ending his speech sloppily, the man collapsed backwards. Before Kaito had a chance to analyze what his words meant, a crow took flight from the barbed wire.
Kaito could not help but widen his eyes. The crow flying down had a wingspan comparable to a grown man's height. The crow dove down at Kaito's group, the fierce wind from its wings forcing Kaito to close his eyes. At that very moment, he heard a scream from close by.
"No, doooooooooooooooooon't!"
A boy was abducted from right in front of Kaito's eyes. Using hooked talons to catch the boy, the crow flew up, approaching the side of the domed ceiling. A closer look revealed many spears embedded at that spot.
(What are those for?)
As soon as the question surfaced in Kaito's mind, the crow impaled the boy on a spear as though to answer him.
Just as how a shrike would impale their prey for later consumption, the boy was skewered in the abdomen, hanging on the ceiling, crying out hoarsely and feebly, arching his body violently like a shrimp. Soon after, he started spewing a great amount of bloody froth from his mouth, convulsing mildly. However, his chest continued to heave up and down.
Confronted with such a horrific scene, Kaito was speechless.
Earlier, his attention had been drawn to the crows, which made him overlook the roof. But now, many children, too feeble to even scream, where hanging like specimens all around the ceiling. They were enduring endless suffering while still alive.
Cold sweat slid down Kaito's forehead. Given the situation at hand, regardless of his immortality, things would be over as soon as he was impaled on a spear like the rest of them.
Many crows took flight. Frozen in fear, the children stood motionless. Kaito yelled out loud:
"Run for your lives, all of youuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu!"
As though freed from a binding curse, the children began to scatter and flee.
Kaito sensed strongly that this was a fresh new hell.
* * *
Several children were gathered at the entrance to the underground passage, but the doors were locked.
"This isn't gonna work. Don't gather there. Hurry and run!"
Kaito yelled at the crying boy who was banging at the doors and started running with the other children. Someone bumped into Melanie, causing her to fall. In the confusion, Kaito grabbed her pale arm decisively.
"This way, Melanie."
"Lord Kaito."
"No, no, mommy, mommyyyyyyyyy!"
In front of Kaito, a crow had caught a demi-human girl by the shoulder. Kaito grabbed the girl's ankle while she was suspended in midair. The girl thrashed her arms wildly while her tears and snot dripped on the ground.
"No, no, no, no, oww, save me, don't let go, mommy, mommyyyyyyyyy!"
"Hang in there!"
Kaito gave the girl's ankles a vigorous tug to the side, causing a chunk of flesh to be gouged deeply from her shoulder, making her to scream sharply. However, the crow crashed into a nearby crow, loosening its grip as Kaito predicted.
"Guh."
Kaito managed to catch the falling demi-human girl and ran together with Melanie. Kaito's shoulder gradually grew wet and heavy from the girl's tears. Another few children were caught in their surroundings.
Black feathers drifted down while deafening screams were heard. Blood dripped down from the ceiling, staining the floor.
The children crying and screaming but no one came to save them. Amid this despair, everyone was a helpless victim for the crows to prey on. Feeling a burning sensation in his stomach, Kaito almost vomited before cursing in his thoughts.
"Screw this!"
Taking Melanie and the demi-human girl with him, Kaito barely made his way into a patch of woods. There were several clusters of trees in the great hall with thick foliage, enough to block the crows' view temporarily to enable them to escape.
These trees were apparently placed by the demon for the sake of prolonging the game. Despite his seething anger, Kaito had no choice but to feel thankful for this gimmick. Checking the shoulder wound of the crying demi-human girl, Kaito grabbed the hem of Melanie, who was sitting next to him, and tore it forcefully.
"Sorry, I need to use this!"
"L-Lord Kaito, why are you doing this?"
"Help me bandage this child's shoulder. Over here and that part too. Please!"
"Oh, I-I see. I shall help right away!"
Melanie clenched her fist and clumsily began to stop the girl's bleeding. At that moment, Kaito sneaked a peek at the crows from between gaps in the trees. The crows had yet to discover Kaito and his companions, but many of them had caught a boy that was fleeing to the center, impaling him on a spear.
"Damn it."
Kaito could not help but turn away from the cruel scene, but then he noticed something strange. Between the trees were axes and swords wrapped in cute ribbons. Kaito naturally realized the intent and instantly felt all the blood in his body run cold.
The demon had said, "Reducing your numbers on your own is totally fine too."
In other words, he was asking them to kill one another here.
"...............Fuck this... shit."
Kaito poured all the anger from his heart into these words. At the same time, he felt as though a switch had been pressed in his heart. Like the negative emotions he frequently experienced in his past life, the extreme anger, resentment and fear seemed to light a fuse, gradually enabling Kaito to regain his earlier calmness.
Staring straight at the weapons, Kaito decided there was no need to follow the organizer's intent obediently. Instead, he would use them as tools that might be able to break through despair.
He called out to Melanie.
"Could you listen to me, Melanie?"
Melanie turned around but for some reason, her gaze was fixated behind Kaito, eyes widened in surprise. Feeling a chill run down his spine, Kaito trusted his instinct and instantly lunged forward.
At the same time, there was a sound of slicing wind behind him.
"You're..."
"!"
Kaito turned around, only to see the red-haired youth standing there, the one around his age who had been threatened by a sword earlier together with him. The youth held up a large sword in both hands and was trembling. Kaito had no idea what this guy was doing and the situation was quite dangerous.
Kaito raised both arms to show he bore no ill will and slowly spoke to the youth.
"Calm down or you'll fall for the demon... the enemy's trickery. In this scary situation, can you really believe the enemy's words?"
"...Ooh, oooh."
"Even if you end up as the last person remaining, is there any guarantee you'll actually be saved? Instead of killing each other, why don't we find a way to escape and call for help?"
"Shut up! Who's gonna come save me!?"
The youth suddenly yelled emotionally and swung the sword hard. Kaito raised his arms again to appease him.
"Calm down. Just calm down. Take a deep breath first. Let's start from the beginning. Why do you think that?"
"H-How could anyone possibly come to save me!? Even my own mother left me to die! She left me to die for the sake of others in the family! How could anyone come to save me, who would come to save me!? If that's the case... if that's the case, I've no choice but to do this!"
"I get it... So your fragile little mind couldn't take it."
The youth's face was twisted, almost about to cry. Kaito felt compelled to agree with what he had said.
Humans were willing to do anything, whatever it took, if they firmly believed that it was the only path to survival. But unfortunately, things were probably not going to end well. In his previous life, Kaito had given up on thinking and kept helping that guy with his dirty work, but still ended up strangled to death by him. However, this youth probably would not listen even if Kaito were to share his personal experience here.
While slowly edging towards the weapons he had just discovered, Kaito tried his best to keep the conversation going.
"That's why you have to kill me? Do you think you can kill me easily?"
"Shut up! You're wearing nice clothes, I'm sure you must've lived a privileged and easy life! In that case, the least you could do is die for me in the end!"
"Like hell there'd be anyone stupid enough to die for sympathy! And if life had been so easy for me, I wouldn't be in this situation now!"
Just a little more and a weapon would be within reach. However, the youth seemed too close. His expression was violently distorted as he vigorously raised his sword over his head. Just as Kaito was thinking this was a crisis, he heard the sound of flapping wings.
Cawwww!
A crow had spotted them from the air and flown down. Screaming strangely, the youth swung his sword randomly in a frenzy. Prepared to be injured, Kaito took this opportunity to grab an ax. After looking back and forth between the crow and Kaito, the youth screamed in despair. The crow flew at the youth whereas Kaito raised his ax.
Thud, Kaito smashed the crow's head heavily.
The crow fell to the ground and Kaito swung the ax down on its head several times. Since the enemy was no ordinary crow, failure to kill it thoroughly could prove fatal.
Kaito completely chopped up even the crow's organs, only stopping when he was certain of death. After finishing his job, Kaito turned to the youth who had collapsed limply. Raising the bloody ax, Kaito said:
"That's how you should use a weapon."
The youth's face began to twitch, tears rolling out of his eyes. Seeing that, Kaito realized the youth was afraid of him. Shaking his head while in a hazy dream-like state, he lowered his ax.
"Uh, basically, you can break a locked door just by using an ax. The underground passage is narrow, so it shouldn't be that easy for the crows to chase us there. There's a chance of surviving once we escape into the passage. Although the weapons were left here for us to kill one another, we've got to let the enemy know that they made huge mistake in doing that."
"...I-I..."
"How much longer are you gonna just tremble there? I'm not mad at you. Hurry and stand up."
No matter what, Kaito had already been killed once. He could afford to be lenient towards attempted murder.
He waved his hand, gesturing for the youth to come over. This light-hearted action finally made the red-haired youth stop trembling. Timidly, he reached out and held Kaito's palm tightly.
Thus, Kaito and his party began their counterattack and escape.
* * *
A crow caught the arm of a young beast folk hiding in the forest and spread its wings.
Secretly approaching from behind, Kaito jumped out and severed those black wings in one chop.
The crow fell silently to the ground and the red-haired youth stabbed the crow's body repeatedly with his sword. Melanie gently hugged the crying beast folk kid. Wiping away sweat that had slid to his chin, Kaito turned around.
"So this is everyone, right?"
They had been moving between the trees and managed to gather eight children. Were there so few survivors? Kaito was quite surprised, but there was no time to be shocked right now.
Since they had been hiding in the trees and aiming for instant kills on every strike, the crows had not yet realized something was wrong. Crows that had finished their hunting duties were resting on the barbed wire. If Kaito and company were to escape, now was probably the only chance.
Kaito pulled out a new ax and dagger from under a tree, handed the more easily handled dagger to the beast folk kid, then crouched down. Looking into each and everyone's eyes, he then patiently told them what the plan was next.
"Listen carefully, we're going to make a dash for the entrance to the underground passage. If the crows come at us, swing your weapons wildly like we agreed. No need to kill the crows, just protect yourself. Keep yourself alive, whatever it takes. We're moving out!"
Leading the children, Kaito rushed out. It was open ground in front of them, lacking in cover, the floor looked as though it stretched endlessly. Running desperately as hard as they could, they finally reached the entrance.
Kaito turned around. During this time, the crows were already closing in from behind. Swinging his ax, Kaito attacked the door.
"Spread out close by as we agreed earlier!"
At the red-haired youth's command, the children fanned out, brandishing their weapons. However, this was probably not going to buy a great deal of time. Ignoring the impact and intense pain hurting his shoulder, he swiftly attacked the part of the door surrounding the handle. Chopping off and pushing the lock away, Kaito kicked the door open amid the crazy screaming.
"The door's open, hurry—"
At the same time, he heard a scream from behind. Kaito turned around to see that a boy wielding a scimitar had his eye pecked out by a giant beak and the weapon dropped from his hand. His little head also fell on the ground like a fruit, bouncing once. Death was instantaneous, presumably.
Enraged by what was happening before him, Kaito saw red and sprang into action. Unconcerned with the tearing of arm muscles, he raised his ax and threw it with all his might. The crow that had killed the boy and was about to chase other children was bifurcated by the flying ax. Other crows got caught in this attack and fell one after another. Kaito yelled as loud as he could:
"Run away now!"
With Kaito's vigorous roar as a signal, the children rushed to the door. The red-haired youth followed at the back.
Picking up the scimitar that had fallen from the dead boy's hand, Kaito chopped off the head of nearby crow while he was at it, and strenuously tossed the corpse towards the flock. Dodging the corpse, the crows flew up. Seizing this opening, Kaito rushed through the doorway and grabbed a torch next to the door then tossed at a dead crow's body. The fire began to spread, which ought to buy them some amount of time.
While the crows were flapping their wings to fan away the smoke they hated, Kaito rushed back to the door. Melanie and the children had set off already, but for some reason, the red-haired youth was waiting for Kaito. Blinking, Kaito yelled:
"Hey, what are you waiting for? Hurry and run!"
"Uh, oh..."
The red-haired youth and Kaito began to run together. The noise of crows gradually faded behind them. The fire seemed to serve as an effective barrier. Kaito sincerely hoped the crows would not chase after them.
Inside the dim passage, only the footsteps of Kaito and his companion echoed. Hesitating, the youth spoke up:
"I-I'm Neue. What's your name, mister?"
"I'm Kaito. Sena Kaito."
"Sena Kaito... Sorry, Kaito."
"What's this about?"
"I tried to kill you just now and even said you had a privileged and easy life."
"Forget about that. People say all kinds of crazy things in sudden situations like this."
"But you were much calmer than us and even killed crows to save us. You're amazing, so amazing. Why can you be so brave—"
Neue stopped mid-sentence. Kaito and he turned to look behind them in surprise. Kaito could sense a terrifying presence swelling up. Accompanied by a rustling sound that was difficult to describe, something black was restless.
The columns of bug eyes shone. Eight stout legs were dragging along the stone walls.
Behind Kaito and Neue was a giant spider.
On further examination, Kaito saw that this abomination was covered by several crow's worth of feathers and even had a sharp beak. Kaito realized why the crows had not pursued them.
Thinking that the fire had succeeded in buying time, what a naive notion.
Knowing that their original forms were at a disadvantage in the underground passage, the crows had merged together to become a spider.
The spider discharged silk and Kaito immediately defended using the scimitar. In the next instant, he pulled the scimitar back for a wind up then threw it. The blade struck the spider but did not embed itself into the spider's body. Instead, it bounced off the thick crow feathers and slid to the ground. The spider cried out impatiently and discharged silk again. This time, the target was Neue, whose face was twisted in fear. Seeing his expression, Kaito felt as though he were looking at his own past self.
This young man had been cursed by his parent to go and die, then abandoned in this god forsaken place where no help was to be found.
Man, no helping it... Resigning himself, Kaito braced himself and extended his left arm.
Spider's silk wrapped around Kaito's arm. Kaito immediately snatched Neue's sword to chop the silk. The spider's silk felt almost like steel. Decisively, Kaito gave up on severing the silk and chopped his own arm off instead. The spider dragged its silk back and made a dissatisfied noise while eating Kaito's flesh with motions that were completely not bug-like.
Intense pain pierced Kaito's brain like a flash of lightning, but Kaito had some resistance towards pain and his body was immortal too, so the agony of an amputated arm was not unbearable. If he failed to endure it, he was going to die here.
Kaito returned the sword to Neue, gripped his arm stump tightly and continued to run. Running by his side, Neue cried.
"Why, why why why, why did you do that!? Why!?"
"Don't worry. I've already died."
"What the heck? Are you retarded?"
"That's no way to talk. In truth, I'm not from this world."
"What are you talking about?"
"Don't ask. Listen to me first. In another world, my father used me to the limit and in the end, he killed me like throwing away garbage. My life was like a piece of shit. I originally thought things were over, but... I guess you'd call her a mage? Anyway, she summoned me to this world and forced me into this fake body."
Kaito felt compelled to tell his story and continued. After eating Kaito's arm, bone and all, the spider released silk again. This time, Neue blocked the silk with his sword but the sword was dragged away. Just as Neue's expression froze, Kaito sighed deeply and resigned himself. He actually preferred if he did not have to do this, but there was no other option. He held his breath and told Neue:
"Since I'm dead anyway, next time the spider shots silk, let it eat me. Take that chance to escape."
"What rubbish are you saying again? You must be retarded!"
"I'm not retarded. If I get eaten completely, I'd probably die, but I never wanted to come back to life in the first place, so ending things here isn't that bad. In contrast, you shouldn't die yet, but should live on, right?"
Kaito looked at Neue's still child-like face. Neue stared back at Kaito. Tears welled up in Neue's eyes.
(Yeah, as expected. I knew it.)
Kaito nodded.
A child crying in fear should not be staying in this kind of place.
Right now, Kaito already had no tears to shed.
"You can't die yet. You must do everything you can to live. Do your best."
Kaito spoke to Neue rather cheerfully. At that moment, the spider emitted a weird sound. He bit his lip hard.
Confronting death again was still very scary. His forgotten fear resurfaced. Eaten alive, how terrifying was that going to be? Even so, there was no other way. Kaito exhaled softly.
In order to save someone who resembled his past self, he made up his mind to die.
He wanted to be what his past self once wished for... A hero to come to the rescue.
When his thoughts reached this point, Kaito felt that this was not a bad way to put an end to this injuring time extension to his boring life. Just as Kaito came to terms in his mind, the spider discharged silk. Without hesitation, he stopped running but at that moment—
"——Huh?"
Neue shoved him away heavily.
Neue's skinny back became stuck to the spider silk. Lying sprawled on the ground, Kaito watched the scene before him in surprise. He reached out for Neue while asking the stupid question that suddenly surfaced in his mind.
"W-Why?"
"Why, I wonder?"
Probably Neue himself did not know either. His voice was confused. The spider retracted its silk.
At that moment, with a convulsive expression, Neue muttered:
"Ah, I'm probably hoping... You could find happiness in this world, I guess."
Neue cursed "damn it" softly and was gradually dragged away with a smile that was almost about to burst into tears. Then came a terrifying scream.
Kaito stood up, only to see the spider eating something, totally absorbed in its meal. When Kaito realized the nature of the sound, rage and hatred instantly consumed his mind, which ended up restoring his calmness. Kaito suddenly stopped and murmured indifferently in a cold tone of voice, the irrevocable truth.
"Yeah...... Dead people cannot be saved."
In the next instant, Kaito turned around and sprinted. Even he himself was surprised by his current calm state. His face was expressionless but the unquellable anger was gradually surfacing before his eyes. Like moaning, he repeatedly muttered "kill-it-kill-it-kill-it-have-to-kill-it, have-to-have-to-have-to-have-to-have-to-have-to-kill-it."
Kaito expressed his killing intent and fled as fast as he could. If he were to be caught here, Neue's sacrifice would have been in vain. He must not let Neue's death be worthless like a dog's. With such conviction in his heart, Kaito ran like the wind.
Soon after, a door came into view. The secret entrance was probably locked too, but he had asked one of the bigger kids to take the ax in advance. Now that so much time had been bought, they must have managed to break through the door, right? However, Kaito narrowed his eyes. There was not even a scratch on the door. Could it be that it was not locked?
Just as he was wondering, the door oopened. The first to appear was a red dress resembling a poppy. Then Melanie emerged from the door. Speaking in an endearing voice, she ran over to Kaito's side right away.
"Lord Kaito!"
"Melanie? Why are you running back to this side!? Hurry and escape!"
Ignoring his warning, Melanie hugged him tightly. Her soft arms wrapped themselves around the back of his neck, bringing her cherry lips close to his ear. Accompanied by her sweet breath, Melanie whispered something.
In that instant, the door opened again. Kaito felt a vivid color imprinted onto his retinas.
Even redder than Melanie's dress, yet undoubtedly pure white originally, a dress fluttered.
"Oh, Kaito!"
A nonchalant shout, making Kaito wonder if he was in the wrong place.
All covered in blood, Elisabeth was waving energetically to Kaito.
* * *
"Oh my, I was just about to head over, so this saves me quite some trouble. To think you came over on your own, now aren't you quite a smart lad? Hmm? What are you all covered in blood? By the way, aren't you on the verge of dying from blood loss? Where did your arm fall off? Don't tell me it is detachable? In any case, tie it up with a chain first... Eh, a bug? Uwah! Isn't this a bug!? I hate bugs! Seeing spiders makes me mad!"
Looking behind Kaito, Elisabeth jumped in surprise. The instant she landed, a swirl of darkness and red petals flew up, rushing at the ceiling. Immediately a large hole opened up over the spider with a gigantic weight featuring countless barbs.
The terrifying weight fell down, crushing the bug.
"Death by squashing!"
Elisabeth raised a fist to the sky. This joke of an attack did not seem like a joke at all.
That terrifying spider was now completely crushed like a cockroach flattened under a slipper. The bleeding from his arm was stopped through the extremely violent measure of tying it up with a chain. The pain was making his mouth gape open. Melanie was gripping Kaito's shirt, looking like she feared Elisabeth.
Under this heavy silence, Elisabeth cocked her head slightly, completely failing to read the mood.
"So, what exactly happened?"
At that moment, something broke inside Kaito's mind. Elisabeth's overwhelming strength as well as that carefree expression that Kaito found nostalgic, his nerves, tensed to their limit, instantly relaxed.
Frantically, he told Elisabeth about the situation.
"E-Elisabeth, a demon has appeared over in the secondary building. It said something like 'welcome to your Grand Guignol! You people are simultaneously the audience, the playwrights and the actors. I hope you will enjoy yourselves fully.' Then the crows..."
"Oh, I understand. I see now. Hmm, oh? Heh."
In a state of confusion, Kaito narrated nonstop in a flood of words, even exhausting every inconsequential detail. Elisabeth clasped her hands together behind her head and walked through the door then into the hall directly to advance through the passage on the right. Then without stopping, she entered a staff passage.
Hugging the trembling Melanie's shoulders, Kaito followed after Elisabeth.
"Are you listening, Elisabeth? There's a demon there."
"Kaito! Look!"
She halted her footsteps in front of an ajar door. Kaito leaned forward and peered inside, only to see a kitchen.
A noble girl was on the cutting board, her beautiful dress tragically splattered with blood. Her rib area had been gouged away. Next to the dead girl was a man with a bull's face, dressed in a cook's coat, whose thighs had been severed by a saw. This was apparently a devotee in the guise of a cook, probably killed by Elisabeth.
"As testified by the Meat Supplier, part of the dead girl's body has been removed. This is because nobles tend to have purer bloodlines than commoners, so they also taste better. Nobles are eaten while the commoners are used for entertainment. It looks like their original plan was to have fun with you and the commoner girls at the secondary building before enjoying a meal at the main house. Oh dear, what extravagance."
Elisabeth nodded, "yes, yes." Kaito clenched his fist, once again confirming the anger and killing intent in his heart. Not understanding Kaito's tumultuous emotions, Elisabeth turned to him and shrugged.
"Although it would be quite entertaining to round up those fools who tried to make food out of you, then force them to spit out what they knew about the secret passages before killing them, there are too many of them and they have fled to the courtyard, so taking care of them will be quite a hassle."
"Elisabeth, I fully understand why it took you so long to arrive. However, none of this matters at all. What we need to do now is head over to the secondary building to kill that demon."
"Hmph, quite a rare sight to see you so motivated. Look at your arm, a human unafraid of pain is very uncommon indeed... However, Kaito, how were you able to muster the determination to forsake your arm, overcoming adverse tribulations, only to remain oblivious of the truth before your eyes?"
"What do you mean?"
While they were talking, Elisabeth continued to advance. She left the kitchen, reached the corridor, then stopped in the middle of the hall. In addition to the devotees, the rest of the demon's subordinates might have all fled too. The main house was completely silent.
Under the beautiful and luxurious chandelier, Elisabeth turned around, her black hair fluttering.
"More than just gaining strength, what this demon genuinely seeks is to make playthings out of humans. This desire for entertainment surpasses The Knight's and matches my own tastes. Human suffering is delight while human screaming is joy. However, this demon prefers entertainment that takes effort to set up and Grand Guignol would serve as an excellent example. Now think about this. What exactly is the strongest and deepest despair that someone with such a twisted and aberrant personality would desire and painstakingly create?"
In the beginning, Kaito had no clue what Elisabeth was talking about but he then flashed back to the memory of his father strangling him. Given water just as he was developing signs of dehydration, for an instant, Kaito thought he was going to be saved, but unfortunately, the delusion went by in flash and he was killed.
The strongest despair was when the light of salvation was snatched away and utterly extinguished just when you think you had found it.
"....Offering hope, making the other side think they could be saved, then pushing them down the abyss."
"Precisely! When the participants are down to two, to let one person think that all he needed to do was kill this weak girl to become the last survivor, then killing him brutally just as he was convinced he was saved... Now that is undoubtedly the most entertaining way to do things! However, things have deviated greatly from this plan thanks to you, but for that demon, the variation probably provides a different sort of fun. In any case, not a single child managed to escape to this place."
Reading between the lines to catch Elisabeth's hint, Kaito closed his eyes. The hall was silent. He could not hear sounds of children at all. Kaito shook his head and backed a few steps away from the lone survivor, Melanie.
The children who had escaped from the game of death, which wretched beast's jaws had they disappeared into...?
"So there you have it. I suspect that the demon is loathe to stay in the feeble form a moment longer."
With a smile of tender affection, Elisabeth scrutinized Melanie's face. Then with a disdainful tone, Elisabeth asked Melanie, who was trembling nonstop.
"As the daughter of an earl, why were you chosen to participate in the game instead of being used for food?"
Instantly, the poppy-like dress began to swell like tumor. The lovely girl's form was transformed into a bundle of cloth that had been stuffed with meat inside. Her skin ruptured with pus overflowing from within.
Inside was a naked man with unusually pale skin all covered with crow feathers and even sporting spider legs.
The ugly, fat and bald man opened his crow's beak and made weird noises. Staring at the massive man with the bizarre appearance, Elisabeth clicked her tongue at the spider legs and touched her chin while saying:
"The man on the other side is probably a devotee or a fake. After losing human form, taking on a young girl's guise is quite easy, I suppose... Nay, judging from the fact that he takes boys as sacrifices too, perhaps cross-dressing is just a hobby. Hmm, how repulsive. And despite his human identity as a marquess, to think that the demon he merged with was just The Earl. Getting my hopes up, only for me to find that there is only small fry waiting for me, what an outrage!"
"Who cares about that stuff? Just hurry and kill this guy."
"What is the matter? You have been acting unlike yourself since just now, you know? Do you bear a grudge against him by any chance?"
"That's right. I'm willing to do anything in my power. So please, kill this guy cruelly for me."
Kaito repeated himself with emphasis. The intense desire for bloodshed was creating a powerful vortex in his chest.
To think that he was the sole survivor. The Earl had slaughtered all the children. This made Kaito feel completely ridiculous. How could such a bastard be allowed to live? So long as this Earl before him could be killed, Kaito did not care even if he lost his own life, hard enough as it was to save.
"—Hah."
Elisabeth scoffed instead of answering. In the next instant, she floored Kaito with a kick and stepped on his back. Exerting pressure that could very well break Kaito's spine, she placed her entire weight on him.
"Gah!"
"Ordering your own master is not allowed, you useless dog. I do not need you to tell me, of course this thing is my prey. Even if you did not beg me, I would enjoy this prey to my heart's content."
Elisabeth declared coldly and gave Kaito a vigorous kick, almost rupturing his belly. Kaito was sent flying to a corner by the wall, coughing up bloody vomit all over the ground. Next, Elisabeth turned to The Earl again.
"I apologize for my servant's rudeness. Now, all hindrances are gone."
She spread her arms majestically, conjuring a dance of darkness and red flowers that enveloped her body.
After the darkness dissipated and the petals fell to the ground, Elisabeth was dressed in her usual bondage outfit of black. Held in her delicate hand was the Executioner's Sword of Frankenstahl.
Elisabeth placed her hand on her exposed chest and curtsied towards The Earl.
"Welcome to my Grand Guignol! I am simultaneously the audience, the playwright and the actor. I have no plans to enjoy this, so all you need to do is scream like a pig and writhe like a caterpillar and that would be fine."
Elisabeth declared loudly then swung down her sword sharply. Chains extended out of thin air, sweeping at The Earl's location. Using eight spider legs, The Earl easily deflected the chains then jumped back, breaking the chandelier. Mustering strength in his unusually pale body, The Earl shot out countless crow feathers from his skin. At the same time, he spat out spider's silk from his mouth, sending innumerable attacks at Elisabeth.
"Ha, too naive!"
Elisabeth rapidly dashed left and right, evading every attack. The floor and ceiling became riddled with holes but Elisabeth remained unscathed. Even so, it looked like Elisabeth was too occupied to counterattack. Seeing that the chains stopped attacking, The Earl laughed malevolently and continued his violent wave of attacks.
However, he failed to notice the darkness and red petals swirling overhead and underfoot.
Suddenly, the ceiling and the floor came together, clamping him violently.
More precisely, he was sandwiched between two massive slabs of stone that had flown out of the ceiling and the floor.
The Earl was clamped between two massive round slabs of stone. There was a golden rod embedded in the center of the stone, resembling the crank of a street organ.
By the time Kaito noticed, Elisabeth had already sat down on the handle portion of the rod. She smiled at The Earl who was blinking in confusion.
"The Feel of Death. I used it just now on your familiar, crushing it to death, well then—You shall proceed to be ground into minced meat bit by bit."
With an ominous sound, the round stones began to turn. Every time the crank went up and down once, the two stones would rotate like wheels. One turned clockwise while the other turned counterclockwise. Caught in the middle, The Earl's body made unpleasant wet noises while gradually grinding away. As the stones turned, the crow feathers were plucked off, the bloated pale flesh was ground into minced scrap. Mixed with flesh and fat, blood gradually dripped to the floor.
The Earl emitted a terrifying scream as his beak fell off. The human lips originally hidden beneath were trembling nonstop in pain and terror. His ears were ripped off while the opposite sides of his head were getting scraped in clockwise and counterclockwise directions, screaming madly in this fate worse than death.
"EE-Elisabeth, Elisabeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeth!"
"What is the matter, Earl? Your voice is an affront to the ears just like a pig's squeal. Could you not show a little dignity and caw like a crow?"
"H-How about a deeeeeeeeeeeeeeeal with me?"
"Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm?"
The wheels suddenly stopped. With a vicious look in his eyes, Kaito muttered:
"...Like anyone would accept a deal from you."
"F-From what I have heard, Torturchen will face death by fire after hunting the thirteen demons. You will not need to die if you do not kill me. Am I right? Our interests are aligned, right? L-Let me go."
The Earl's face was compressed from the left and the right, spitting out blood and spit from this lips that had been squeezed into a vertical form. Elisabeth suddenly murmured then jumped lightly off the handle. She smiled at the ugly man that was stuck between the wheels. Trembling in fear, The Earl smiled disgracefully at her in return.
"You imbecile!"
With a great shout, the wheels started to turn again. Giving off strange sobbing noises, The Earl thrashed his arms and legs randomly. However, his arms were ground away and even his shoulders were scraped flat. Like a fruit, The Earl was gradually pressed and juiced. Progressively increasing in viscosity, his blood was spreading filthily across the floor.
With cold light akin to absolute zero in her eyes, Elisabeth glared at The Earl and said:
"Oppressive rulers need to be killed, tyrants need to be hanged, genoiciders need to be slaughtered brutally. This is natural law. What awaits at the endpoint of the path of torture is hell without a shred of redemption, adorned by one's own screams. Only then does the torturer's life come to a conclusion. Are you inflicting torture without even understanding such principles? Stop making me laugh, Earl."
Elisabeth was currently in a rage, expressing unprecedented anger. Finally, with a thunderous crash, the two wheels slammed together. Viscous blood flowed out from gap between the stones. Elisabeth mercilessly stepped on the wheel crushing The Earl to death and murmured softly:
"Whether you or I—Both of us are to be forsaken by all creation across heaven and earth, to ultimately die."
At the same time, the pool of blood turned into black feathers, flying up to stop in the air for a moment before falling down slowly.
In this serene and beautiful scene akin to the falling of black snow, Kaito clenched his fist.
"...Hey, what about those children, impaled alive on spears at the secondary building..."
"Their lives were merely sustained magically by The Earl's powers. As soon as The Earl dies, they will presumably perish too."
"...I see."
"Nothing to get depressed about. This is much better than living in endless pain and suffering."
Elisabeth scoffed with disinterest. Kaito stared blankly at her. He used to think that Elisabeth's ways were no different from the demons, but now he got the sense that she and the demons were not alike fundamentally. At least, Kaito could see two major differences.
Enduring his body's pain, Kaito forced himself to get up while speaking to her:
"Thank you, Elisabeth."
"Why words of gratitude? I am simply entertaining myself. Furthermore, your gratitude is not only hilarious but also filled with misunderstanding."
"After you kill those thirteen demons, you have to die too, right? Yet you still helped me to kill this guy."
"That is neither here nor there. I did not do this for you at all. The thirteen demons are simply the last thirteen individuals that the Church has permitted me to torture. The thought of extorting them to save my own life never crossed my mind. Since I was captured after sacrificing a great number of the populace and sentenced to death, it is my duty to be burned to death."
Elisabeth walked out, her heels clicking sharply, the black hem of her skirt fluttering.
"Cruel and proud, I extol life like a wolf, and will ultimately die like a sow."
Saying that on her own, Elisabeth gradually walked away. In a very tiny voice, she murmured at the end:
"—This is preordained."
Left behind, Kaito stared blankly into the air. Black feather brushed past his cheek as though in mourning.
He recalled Neue and thought about the dead children. In the end, he was the only survivor... Did this escape drama end with such a ludicrous outcome? However, no matter how much he regretted, harsh reality was neither going to change nor was it possible to change.
Since he had survived, there was one thing he was obliged to do.
He recalled Neue's last words and muttered quietly:
"I don't think I'll be able to find happiness in this world, will I?"
I guess I'll try struggling as much as I can and see.
Next, Kaito grabbed his lost wrist and began to run. At the same time, a black feather fluttering in the air burned intensely with blue flames. After that, the countless flying feathers all went ablaze, gradually setting the room on fire.
Finally, the blue flames started burning the entire castle.
As though mourning the numerous dead, the tongues of flame silently licked the stone walls.
After being forced to acclimatize himself to this world and his bizarre situation, Kaito came to understood a couple of things.
To avoid confusing souls, the golem body created by Elisabeth was equipped with automatic translation functionality using the soul's own knowledge as a foundation. As a result, Kaito was able to understand the language in this alternate world. Not only could he speak it but he was also to understand the main gist of what people said. However, the rules governing this kind of conversion were rather fluid.
Certain specialized terms spoken by Elisabeth came from ancient language and were not found in the alternate world's lingua franca. These words would then sound like a foreign language to Kaito's ears. Furthermore, for many things, even if the names were the same, they might represent different objects in each world. Take for example, the seasonings in this world. Putting aside the most basic ones such as sugar, salt and pepper, due to the excessive differences in customs and sensibilities between the two worlds, trying to use seasonings as though they were from his original world would be a recipe for disaster.
"And that's why my cooking tastes bad."
"No, the poor taste of the food you prepare has already reached the realm of art. This cannot be the only reason."
With arms bound in chains, suspending him from the dining hall's ceiling as though he were a prisoner, Kaito was explaining himself to Elisabeth. However, Elisabeth insisted with disappointment that it was Kaito's own fault, shaking her head while sitting on a cabriole-leg chair.
The remains of the "grilled pig kidney paired with fresh salad" made by Kaito were spilled on the floor. There was sharp spike protruding from the ground. A slight lowering of the chains and Kaito's right foot would fall upon it.
This was a very simple and classic method of torture. Shaking his body, Kaito protested.
"Stop making that disappointed look! At the end of the day, it's by your whim that my fate is decided! Please don't do this, I promise I'll do anything you want."
"I am completely baffled whether your attitude counts as defiance or not... You are too useless. Were it not for your ability to make pudding, I would have scrapped you directly without bothering to torture you."
"I never thought pudding would save my life."
"Hmph, be grateful to pudding."
(Good heavens...)
Kaito was in shock but Elisabeth nodded contentedly.
At that moment, Kaito suddenly thought of something. Elisabeth's outfit was quite revealing for starters, with only leather straps to cover up the vital bits, practically exposing most of her breasts. And right now, Kaito's perspective was from a high angle.
From his vantage point, Kaito could even see down her cleavage all the way to the deepest part.
"Elisabeth, uh... Miss Elisabeth? Isn't this a bit dangerous?"
"Hmm? What are you talking about? ......Hmm, you are dead!"
"You're pretty much the one who exposed yourself, okay!? I simply pointed it out to you, so that's way unreasonable of you! The same goes for the cooking issue. Didn't you say my food was great last time, after we returned from the village where The Knight rampaged? That's when I skewered slices of liver and roasted them with pepper and salt!"
"That counts as cooking in your mind, is that so?"
"It doesn't count?"
"Of course not."
Elisabeth was about to snap her fingers when Kaito appealed to her pity with pleading puppy dog eyes, but she simply scoffed. Just as Kaito braced himself for sharp pain...
"Hmm? Isn't this the Meat Supplier?"
"Whoa!"
Elisabeth suddenly dispelled the chains binding Kaito's arms. Kaito resigned himself to death but the spike under him had also disappeared. While Kaito was stunned on the ground, unable to to get up, Elisabeth already stood up gracefully to welcome someone. Kaito turned to look at the dining hall's entrance and jumped in surprise.
A strange man shrouded all over in black cloth was lugging a heavy blood-soaked sack, standing there. From gaps in the swaying fabric, Kaito could catch brief glimpses of the sharp claws and scales on the man's feet.
Extending her hand, Elisabeth gestured towards Kaito, who finally managed to get up, to introduce him.
"It would be a breach of etiquette to punish a servant in front of a guest. Kaito, feel grateful to the Meat Supplier. Meat Supplier, this dim-witted servant is the one who turns the fresh innards you deliver into kitchen trash every time."
"Pleased to make your acquaintance, Milord Dim-witted Servant. I am your friendly neighborhood Meat Supplier, the friend of gourmets and customers with peculiar tastes. I am utterly grateful to Milady Elisabeth's patronage every time. So long as it is meat and only limited to meat, I am certain to provide satisfaction to your every need and desire."
"Uh... Thank you for your dedicated service."
Kaito showed hesitation on his face. Putting aside the Meat Supplier's appearance, his self-introduction was also filled with dangerous signals. Seeing Kaito's expression, the Meat Supplier seemed to have a thought, scratching his face through the black fabric.
"Oh dear, it is true that my appearance is quite out of this world, even for a demi-human. Even I have no idea what is my primary ancestry. However, I am no different from the other demi-humans you know, so there is no need to be so surprised."
"Demi-humans... Uh, I think I've heard of them from video games or something... A race, right?"
"Ah, so there are no demi-humans in your world, I see. Do not be concerned, Meat Supplier, he is actually someone from a parallel dimension, an extremely lost soul. Just leave lost souls be."
"As you wish. Please confirm the merchandise as per our custom."
The Meat Supplier nodded and turned to Elisabeth again. Taking out the fresh internal organs from his sack, one after another, he presented them individually to Elisabeth before returning them to the sack.
"Chicken and pigeon gizzards, pig intestines, cow tongue and heart. If there are no problems, I shall move them to the ice spirit magic storage."
"Your efforts are much appreciated."
"Let me confirm something, you don't eat human organs, right?"
"Of course not. Human flesh is disgusting and completely unfit for consumption. Why would I waste good money on purchasing it?"
"Ah, assuming it is being used as food."
Kaito could not help but fall silent. Including this transaction in process, there was a heavy menacing air hanging over everything. However, the Meat Supplier suddenly announced as though he had thought of something.
"Human flesh is quite sour and there is a great variation in flavor across different individuals, so there is quite a large market consisting of customers with a penchant for that. Currently, the price is relatively cheap, so if Milord Butler would like to have a try, I highly recommend it. What are your thoughts? Would like to open the gate to an entirely new diet?"
"No thanks, I don't thank that kind of door should be opened."
"My, what serious words."
"No thank you."
"Hmm? Did you say cheap? I have not heard of war breaking out in nearby villages. From where did you acquire the bodies?"
"Well, in a certain territory, there are many bodies in the cemetaries of villages and the moats of castles. The most delicious parts of those bodies have all gone missing. As the Meat Supplier, I find that quite unfortunate, but it has made the procurement of ingredients much easier. Are you interested? Barbecue made from the rib portion is quite worth a try."
Listening to the Meat Supplier, Kaito and Elisabeth could not help but exchange glances. They silently committed to memory, if one day a great number of corpses surfaced with missing parts, this guy must surely be the culprit.
"Hey, Meat Supplier, I suspect this might be the work of demons."
At a loss, the Meat Supplier scratched his head in embarrassment.
"As the Meat Supplier, I am ashamed to say that I am completely unconcerned about everything and anything apart from the quality of meat."
Kaito narrowed his eyes in disgust and said:
"Yeah, there are definitely people like that. I've met many of them in my previous life."
Putting this aside, Kaito and Elisabeth inquired of the location of the territory from the Meat Supplier and decided to make their way there.
* * *
"To think I even remember this kind of remote little town, I cannot help but marvel in amazement at how good my own memory is!"
".........I am more amazed that you had the self-awareness to get changed."
The two of them had gone to a back alley in the destination town. With arms akimbo, Elisabeth was exclaiming energetically. The surprising thing was that she was currently wearing a proper dress.
The corsetted design accentuated her narrow waist while the flounced skirt was adorned with several gorgeous ribbons. Her hair was done up and decorated with lovely flowers.
Fabric of pure white, paired with a noble face, it was like cheating.
Transformed into a lovely noble woman, Elisabeth puffed out her chest proudly.
"Hmph, I am plenty smart. The commoners are still carrying on with their everyday lives and the demon has yet to show himself. I am well aware that I need to dress accordingly when coming to a place like this. However, although I have taken the guise of an endearing well-bred woman, you still look like a dog dressed in human clothing with that butler uniform on you, fufu."
"Who cares about that! In that case, why can't you find me a more fitting set of clothes... Hey, Elisabeth."
Ignoring Kaito's grumbling, Elisabeth strode ahead. From the dark alley, she approached the main road with Kaito following frantically behind her. The voices of vendors promoting their wares were mixed with the noise and footsteps of the crowd, coming at them like a wall of sound.
Stepping out, Kaito arrived in a town in a foreign country.
More precisely, this was another world. However, the colorful scene, featuring the noise of many people talking to one another, complicated smells, all this matched the "foreign feel" that Kaito had experienced from movies a long long time ago.
Elisabeth turned towards the stunned Kaito, causing the decorative flowers on her hair to sway, then smiled radiantly.
"I suppose I ought to say this once. 'Welcome to another world.'"
Gold paired with blue, black paired with gray, red paired with green... There were all kinds of hair and eye colors in the people moving about.
A woman wearing a shawl walked past a man dressed in a shirt with pants held by suspenders. Close by, a girl in a dirndl-style dress was selling flowers and a man in frock coat was smoking a pipe.
Among the multitude of vendors and stores were things Kaito recognized as well as many goods that he had never seen before. Translucent medicine bottles with artistic shapes. Sweet smelling pink leaves that were apparently for wrapping tobacco. Fruit resembling bird eggs were being sold alongside apples.
A massive gong sounded and a black-haired youth was holding a big ladle in his reptilian hand, serving fried rice with pieces of slightly reddened meat to customers. The dish looked quite tasty but had a distinctive strong odor. Most of the customers eating the fried rice had dog ears and tails.
"Reptilian arms and dog ears?"
"Hybrids between demi-humans and beast folk are not rare at all. This is because the immigration of other races is a major issues in poor neighborhoods. They make up roughly 30% of the population in slums and this surpasses 40% in the north. However, the ones with completely different appearances from humans are pure-blooded demi-humans and beast folk nobility, so you will not be seeing them in human territories. It would be a problem if you jumped in surprise at the slightest thing, so please get used to it."
"What the heck... So this really is another world."
"Furthermore, trying out fruit requires you to pay for it, so refrain from doing that carelessly."
Kaito almost accepted a honeyed grape from an old woman and frantically withdrew his hand. However, Elisabeth picked up a fresh and juicy berry to pop in her mouth, then casually flicked a copper coin into the vendor's hand.
Elisabeth was holding her head high, striding openly through the crowd. Sellers were shouting, customers were haggling, skinny dogs and rats were scurrying at people's feet... Amid such a scene, Elisabeth's slender figure of pure white was so striking. However, she was not concerned at all. The crowd would naturally avoid and make space for her too.
"Hey Elisabeth, where are you going?"
"Mind your own business. For the moment, just keep your mouth shut and follow me."
Kaito obeyed and stayed behind her. Just as Kaito was starting to suspect whether Elisabeth was simply wandering aimlessly, the appearance of the surrounding shops began to change.
Gone were the stores, the seats of roadside eateries and large carts, leaving only filthy little stalls in sight. There was also a clear decrease in merchandise quality. Judging from this, this area was probably where transactions took place for the likes of not-so-fresh perishable food, illegal drugs and weapons.
Between warehouses built from stone, they found many people drinking soup made from unknown ingredients. Elisabeth stopped walking. At the same time, Kaito overheard a certain term.
"I hear that the Marquess of Blood is recruiting servants again."
Surprised, Kaito turned his gaze to a gray-haired old woman. The old woman had been walking along the street, selling herbs from a small box at her side. She was now chatting with a couple of women who seemed to know one another well.
"I thought people stopped selling children to that castle when it was rumored that they ate them?"
"Are you talking about Anna...? I heard she sold her fourth son for a piece of silver."
"Giving children away just because there's silver, is there no justice? That being said, I can't believe she sold her precious son just like that. As expected of that greedy sellout. I'll bet next time round, she won't balk at selling her fifth daughter for a piece of gold."
"At least it's much better than ending up in a brothel. From what I've heard, the Marquess has even gathered children from impoverished lesser nobles to serve him recently. Getting eaten aside, if it's just doing menial labor, it might be possible for them to earn perks whenever they please the Marquess."
"The carriage of the old woman who recruits servants has been here today too. I wish I were younger."
"You're as ugly as a monster. Hell's gonna freeze over before anyone buys you."
The relatively younger woman made a rabbit ears gesture and grinned with exposed yellow teeth.
Elisabeth nodded and walked towards them. Hearing the acute sound of her heels, the women looked up in surprise, staring at Elisabeth as though they were looking at something strange. Kaito could feel viscous hostility from them and hastily followed Elisabeth's white silhouette.
"Hold on a sec, Elisabeth. Where are you going?"
"A large number of dead bodies have turned up without causing a riot. This implies that the majority of victims were the poor. Even if left alone, the poor would randomly die on their own from the cold, drowning, hunger or disease. A mere dozen or so people going missing would not be enough to cause an uproar."
"Why are you putting things in such a terrible way?"
"Facts are facts regardless whether I hold back my words or assert frankly. Hence, that is why you felt compelled to come here to gather information, and sure enough, we obtained the desired information. Fortune has been favorable so far... Ah."
Elisabeth stopped at a corner. A black horse-drawn carriage was parked in front of a collective residence built from red brick. A well-dressed old woman had stopped a mother and young daughter, speaking fervently about something. However, the mother shook off the old woman's grip on her shoulder and rushed upstairs, escaping to her room. The old woman clicked her tongue in displeasure and prepared to return to her carriage.
"Does this carriage belong to the Lord Marquess? How wonderful! My name is Flora. Hearing that the Lord Marquess is hiring maidservants, I came to apply for the job. My father is a great landowner but we are on poor terms, so I snuck out secretly to enjoy myself, never expecting to encounter such a marvelous opportunity! It is my greatest wish to live like a true lady! I implore you to take me along so as to serve by the Lord Marquess' side!"
Kaito stared with widened eyes at Elisabeth as though she had gone mad, but she acted as though she did not know him, simply inclining her head with an innocent expression. Even so, the old woman still directed a gaze of suspicion at Elisabeth. In return, Elisabeth smiled like a flower and said:
"Oh, I almost forgot. I met Miss Anna on the main street earlier and she made a friendly recommendation, bidding me to mention that she is the one introducing me to the job."
Hearing this, the old woman smiled radiantly and nodded. She cautiously inquired of Elisabeth the name of the landowner she had mentioned as well as whether her escape from home had been discovered, before hastily opening the carriage's door.
Pushing Kaito and Elisabeth onto the carriage, the old woman issued orders to the driver as though fleeing in a rush. The carriage began to speed off immediately. Kaito glanced secretly at Elisabeth from the corner of his eye.
Next to the smiling old woman, there was an even more evil grin on her face.
Leaving town, the carriage went past a field of wheat on the right then entered a riverside road. After continuing for a while, a massive castle build on the narrow river bank came into view.
The castle was constructed from yellow sandstone and gray rock without any unity in appearance. The thick and sturdy walls, supported by cylindrical towers, extended east and west. The castle's reflection in the water was like a giant crow with outspread wings, staring at the river surface.
Crossing the drawbridge over the moat, the carriage entered the castle.
Thus, Kaito and Elisabeth arrived at the castle belonging to the Marquess of Blood.
* * *
Perhaps due to the current castle lord's preferences, the interior of the castle was lavishly and vividly decorated in contrast to its dull exterior. Featuring a grand staircase, the great hall was illuminated by a shining luxurious chandelier with the floor covered by a carpet with gold and silver thread. Judging from the carved banisters and the plaster sculptures of vineyard patterns decorating the walls, every object was created with exquisite craftsmanship.
Everything in view had been acquired by sparing no expense in wealth and labor.
(Rich people's homes are so different.)
Kaito could not help but narrow his eyes in disdain. Following after Elisabeth, he passed through the hall and was about to enter the passage on the right when suddenly, a brawny man guarding the entrance grabbed his shoulder violently.
"You're no noble, right? Go that way."
"Eh? Hold on, Eli—Lady Flora!"
Dragged away, Kaito screamed out. Elisabeth turned her head back gently and made a thumbs-up gesture at him, probably implying "Figure things out for yourself, okay? Since your body is immortal, don't give up, you are a capable lad." That being said, Kaito was already used to her momentary whims and fancies.
By this point, there was no helping it. With a twitching expression, Kaito gave up and followed the man. The man raised a flag with an embroidered emblem hanging in the left passage to reveal a hidden entrance behind the flag. Following the stone built passage that was lit by torches, Kaito's suspicions grew stronger and stronger.
Soon after, the man stopped in front of a genuine prison.
"Get your ass in there."
"Why am I treated like this suddenly with no warning!?"
—I might as well play along and protest, deriving some psychological comfort too.
However, Kaito's complaints fell on deaf ears and the man simply kicked him into the cell. Kaito yelped lightly and looked up, only to see that there were boys and girls of humans, beast folk and demi-humans in the unexpectedly spacious prison.
The children, of varying ages and races, were all showing fearful expressions. This was a troubled look of not knowing how to react, a very familiar expression to Kaito. After racking his brains for a moment, Kaito raised a hand, hoping to calm them down.
"Uh, hi."
"Kyah!"
Suddenly, another person was kicked into the prison. A girl dressed in a soft red dress resembling a poppy. She crashed into Kaito and fell. Kaito hastily caught her. The girl's lustrous brown curly hair fluttered. Matching her brown hair well were her chestnut-brown eyes that stared timidly at Kaito. She was a girl with a plain but endearing face. Noticing that she was being held tightly in another's arms, she blushed intensely then straightened her posture.
"F-Forgive me for embarrassing myself. My name is Melanie Esclough, daughter of Earl Esclough. What on earth is this place...? According to my aunt, I was sent here to work so as to learn the ways and customs of nobles."
"I'm Sena Kaito...... Uh, excuse me if I'm being rude by asking this question. Could it be that your father passed away, so you were adopted by your aunt and then imprisoned here?"
"Eh? How did you know, Lord Kaito? Do you happen to know my aunt by any chance?"
"Ah, well... As much as it pains me to tell you this, I've got to warn you first. You and I are currently in a very dangerous situation, so best prepare yourself. Just run away if anything happens. I'm not too sure how terrifying things will get either."
"Oh no... What on earth is going on? What will happen to me, you, and all these children?"
"I haven't got a clue, but I know that shock can render people unable to react immediately, so it's best to be mentally prepared at least."
"Come out, you are summoned."
Kaito was interrupted and the cell door was opened. Together with the children who began to cry in fear, Kaito was escorted out of the cell by several men. Kaito, a red-haired youth of similar age and the youngest child inside the cell, the three of them were helpless with swords held at their throats. Although Kaito was immortal, he feared that putting up reckless resistance here would endanger the other two, so he clicked his tongue and complied obediently.
Soon after, a doorway came into view at the end of the underground passage. On the two sides of the doorway were wooden doors illuminated by torches. These wooden doors were carved with depictions of spiders and crows. A great number of crows were flying overhead while spiders were weaving webs below, as though intending to devour those crows... Such was the tasteless scene depicted. Men opened the pair of doors and kicked Kaito and the others inside. The doors slammed shut as soon as they were kicked inside.
"Do your best."
(What kind of encouragement is that?)
Accompanying the ominous words of encouragement was the sound of a lock being closed.
Kaito turned around and was stunned.
Inside the room was a bizarre scene.
The ceiling was extremely tall, domed like a church's. The center of the ceiling was decorated with exquisite stained glass with floral patterns. However, the kaleidoscopic brightness was completely ruined by the multitude of barbed wire surrounding the ceiling like brambles. Furthermore, a great number of crows were sitting on top of the barbed wire, silently looking down at Kaito and the others.
(What the heck is that flock...? Damn it, I can't shake off this ominous feeling.)
Suppressing his disgust and uncertainty, Kaito shifted his gaze downward. The marble floor was violently chipped in several places. In addition to ditches, there were mounds of earth with tall trees planted on them.
There were small patches of woodland all over this room. What the heck was going on?
Suppressing the ominous feeling surging in his heart, Kaito turned his gaze to the center of the room that he had been trying his best to ignore.
On top of the round stage, an obese man in a tuxedo was snoring away. Suddenly, the man stood up and scratched his massive ass before turning to Kaito's group. On his face was a white crow mask.
"Mmmmmmmmmmm, weeeeeeeeeeeeeelcome to your Grand Guignol!"
Filled with energy, his voice was cheerful, earsplitting, and rather hoarse. Kaito could feel himself breaking out in cold sweat all over. The man's cheerfulness, creepiness and repugnance were all making Kaito's instincts moan in fear, warning him.
This man is a terrifying demon.
Standing before Kaito was an opponent he could never handle on his own, yet of all places, he had to be right here.
"Hold on... I never heard anything about going on stage, Elisabeth."
"You people are simultaneously the audience, the playwrights and the actors. I hope you will enjoy yourselves fully. Scurry and flee here as much as you wish, for only the final survivor can be saved. Reducing your numbers on your own is totally fine tooooooooooooooo."
The man's voice grew even hoarser, his tone even more insane. Ending his speech sloppily, the man collapsed backwards. Before Kaito had a chance to analyze what his words meant, a crow took flight from the barbed wire.
Kaito could not help but widen his eyes. The crow flying down had a wingspan comparable to a grown man's height. The crow dove down at Kaito's group, the fierce wind from its wings forcing Kaito to close his eyes. At that very moment, he heard a scream from close by.
"No, doooooooooooooooooon't!"
A boy was abducted from right in front of Kaito's eyes. Using hooked talons to catch the boy, the crow flew up, approaching the side of the domed ceiling. A closer look revealed many spears embedded at that spot.
(What are those for?)
As soon as the question surfaced in Kaito's mind, the crow impaled the boy on a spear as though to answer him.
Just as how a shrike would impale their prey for later consumption, the boy was skewered in the abdomen, hanging on the ceiling, crying out hoarsely and feebly, arching his body violently like a shrimp. Soon after, he started spewing a great amount of bloody froth from his mouth, convulsing mildly. However, his chest continued to heave up and down.
Confronted with such a horrific scene, Kaito was speechless.
Earlier, his attention had been drawn to the crows, which made him overlook the roof. But now, many children, too feeble to even scream, where hanging like specimens all around the ceiling. They were enduring endless suffering while still alive.
Cold sweat slid down Kaito's forehead. Given the situation at hand, regardless of his immortality, things would be over as soon as he was impaled on a spear like the rest of them.
Many crows took flight. Frozen in fear, the children stood motionless. Kaito yelled out loud:
"Run for your lives, all of youuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu!"
As though freed from a binding curse, the children began to scatter and flee.
Kaito sensed strongly that this was a fresh new hell.
* * *
Several children were gathered at the entrance to the underground passage, but the doors were locked.
"This isn't gonna work. Don't gather there. Hurry and run!"
Kaito yelled at the crying boy who was banging at the doors and started running with the other children. Someone bumped into Melanie, causing her to fall. In the confusion, Kaito grabbed her pale arm decisively.
"This way, Melanie."
"Lord Kaito."
"No, no, mommy, mommyyyyyyyyy!"
In front of Kaito, a crow had caught a demi-human girl by the shoulder. Kaito grabbed the girl's ankle while she was suspended in midair. The girl thrashed her arms wildly while her tears and snot dripped on the ground.
"No, no, no, no, oww, save me, don't let go, mommy, mommyyyyyyyyy!"
"Hang in there!"
Kaito gave the girl's ankles a vigorous tug to the side, causing a chunk of flesh to be gouged deeply from her shoulder, making her to scream sharply. However, the crow crashed into a nearby crow, loosening its grip as Kaito predicted.
"Guh."
Kaito managed to catch the falling demi-human girl and ran together with Melanie. Kaito's shoulder gradually grew wet and heavy from the girl's tears. Another few children were caught in their surroundings.
Black feathers drifted down while deafening screams were heard. Blood dripped down from the ceiling, staining the floor.
The children crying and screaming but no one came to save them. Amid this despair, everyone was a helpless victim for the crows to prey on. Feeling a burning sensation in his stomach, Kaito almost vomited before cursing in his thoughts.
"Screw this!"
Taking Melanie and the demi-human girl with him, Kaito barely made his way into a patch of woods. There were several clusters of trees in the great hall with thick foliage, enough to block the crows' view temporarily to enable them to escape.
These trees were apparently placed by the demon for the sake of prolonging the game. Despite his seething anger, Kaito had no choice but to feel thankful for this gimmick. Checking the shoulder wound of the crying demi-human girl, Kaito grabbed the hem of Melanie, who was sitting next to him, and tore it forcefully.
"Sorry, I need to use this!"
"L-Lord Kaito, why are you doing this?"
"Help me bandage this child's shoulder. Over here and that part too. Please!"
"Oh, I-I see. I shall help right away!"
Melanie clenched her fist and clumsily began to stop the girl's bleeding. At that moment, Kaito sneaked a peek at the crows from between gaps in the trees. The crows had yet to discover Kaito and his companions, but many of them had caught a boy that was fleeing to the center, impaling him on a spear.
"Damn it."
Kaito could not help but turn away from the cruel scene, but then he noticed something strange. Between the trees were axes and swords wrapped in cute ribbons. Kaito naturally realized the intent and instantly felt all the blood in his body run cold.
The demon had said, "Reducing your numbers on your own is totally fine too."
In other words, he was asking them to kill one another here.
"...............Fuck this... shit."
Kaito poured all the anger from his heart into these words. At the same time, he felt as though a switch had been pressed in his heart. Like the negative emotions he frequently experienced in his past life, the extreme anger, resentment and fear seemed to light a fuse, gradually enabling Kaito to regain his earlier calmness.
Staring straight at the weapons, Kaito decided there was no need to follow the organizer's intent obediently. Instead, he would use them as tools that might be able to break through despair.
He called out to Melanie.
"Could you listen to me, Melanie?"
Melanie turned around but for some reason, her gaze was fixated behind Kaito, eyes widened in surprise. Feeling a chill run down his spine, Kaito trusted his instinct and instantly lunged forward.
At the same time, there was a sound of slicing wind behind him.
"You're..."
"!"
Kaito turned around, only to see the red-haired youth standing there, the one around his age who had been threatened by a sword earlier together with him. The youth held up a large sword in both hands and was trembling. Kaito had no idea what this guy was doing and the situation was quite dangerous.
Kaito raised both arms to show he bore no ill will and slowly spoke to the youth.
"Calm down or you'll fall for the demon... the enemy's trickery. In this scary situation, can you really believe the enemy's words?"
"...Ooh, oooh."
"Even if you end up as the last person remaining, is there any guarantee you'll actually be saved? Instead of killing each other, why don't we find a way to escape and call for help?"
"Shut up! Who's gonna come save me!?"
The youth suddenly yelled emotionally and swung the sword hard. Kaito raised his arms again to appease him.
"Calm down. Just calm down. Take a deep breath first. Let's start from the beginning. Why do you think that?"
"H-How could anyone possibly come to save me!? Even my own mother left me to die! She left me to die for the sake of others in the family! How could anyone come to save me, who would come to save me!? If that's the case... if that's the case, I've no choice but to do this!"
"I get it... So your fragile little mind couldn't take it."
The youth's face was twisted, almost about to cry. Kaito felt compelled to agree with what he had said.
Humans were willing to do anything, whatever it took, if they firmly believed that it was the only path to survival. But unfortunately, things were probably not going to end well. In his previous life, Kaito had given up on thinking and kept helping that guy with his dirty work, but still ended up strangled to death by him. However, this youth probably would not listen even if Kaito were to share his personal experience here.
While slowly edging towards the weapons he had just discovered, Kaito tried his best to keep the conversation going.
"That's why you have to kill me? Do you think you can kill me easily?"
"Shut up! You're wearing nice clothes, I'm sure you must've lived a privileged and easy life! In that case, the least you could do is die for me in the end!"
"Like hell there'd be anyone stupid enough to die for sympathy! And if life had been so easy for me, I wouldn't be in this situation now!"
Just a little more and a weapon would be within reach. However, the youth seemed too close. His expression was violently distorted as he vigorously raised his sword over his head. Just as Kaito was thinking this was a crisis, he heard the sound of flapping wings.
Cawwww!
A crow had spotted them from the air and flown down. Screaming strangely, the youth swung his sword randomly in a frenzy. Prepared to be injured, Kaito took this opportunity to grab an ax. After looking back and forth between the crow and Kaito, the youth screamed in despair. The crow flew at the youth whereas Kaito raised his ax.
Thud, Kaito smashed the crow's head heavily.
The crow fell to the ground and Kaito swung the ax down on its head several times. Since the enemy was no ordinary crow, failure to kill it thoroughly could prove fatal.
Kaito completely chopped up even the crow's organs, only stopping when he was certain of death. After finishing his job, Kaito turned to the youth who had collapsed limply. Raising the bloody ax, Kaito said:
"That's how you should use a weapon."
The youth's face began to twitch, tears rolling out of his eyes. Seeing that, Kaito realized the youth was afraid of him. Shaking his head while in a hazy dream-like state, he lowered his ax.
"Uh, basically, you can break a locked door just by using an ax. The underground passage is narrow, so it shouldn't be that easy for the crows to chase us there. There's a chance of surviving once we escape into the passage. Although the weapons were left here for us to kill one another, we've got to let the enemy know that they made huge mistake in doing that."
"...I-I..."
"How much longer are you gonna just tremble there? I'm not mad at you. Hurry and stand up."
No matter what, Kaito had already been killed once. He could afford to be lenient towards attempted murder.
He waved his hand, gesturing for the youth to come over. This light-hearted action finally made the red-haired youth stop trembling. Timidly, he reached out and held Kaito's palm tightly.
Thus, Kaito and his party began their counterattack and escape.
* * *
A crow caught the arm of a young beast folk hiding in the forest and spread its wings.
Secretly approaching from behind, Kaito jumped out and severed those black wings in one chop.
The crow fell silently to the ground and the red-haired youth stabbed the crow's body repeatedly with his sword. Melanie gently hugged the crying beast folk kid. Wiping away sweat that had slid to his chin, Kaito turned around.
"So this is everyone, right?"
They had been moving between the trees and managed to gather eight children. Were there so few survivors? Kaito was quite surprised, but there was no time to be shocked right now.
Since they had been hiding in the trees and aiming for instant kills on every strike, the crows had not yet realized something was wrong. Crows that had finished their hunting duties were resting on the barbed wire. If Kaito and company were to escape, now was probably the only chance.
Kaito pulled out a new ax and dagger from under a tree, handed the more easily handled dagger to the beast folk kid, then crouched down. Looking into each and everyone's eyes, he then patiently told them what the plan was next.
"Listen carefully, we're going to make a dash for the entrance to the underground passage. If the crows come at us, swing your weapons wildly like we agreed. No need to kill the crows, just protect yourself. Keep yourself alive, whatever it takes. We're moving out!"
Leading the children, Kaito rushed out. It was open ground in front of them, lacking in cover, the floor looked as though it stretched endlessly. Running desperately as hard as they could, they finally reached the entrance.
Kaito turned around. During this time, the crows were already closing in from behind. Swinging his ax, Kaito attacked the door.
"Spread out close by as we agreed earlier!"
At the red-haired youth's command, the children fanned out, brandishing their weapons. However, this was probably not going to buy a great deal of time. Ignoring the impact and intense pain hurting his shoulder, he swiftly attacked the part of the door surrounding the handle. Chopping off and pushing the lock away, Kaito kicked the door open amid the crazy screaming.
"The door's open, hurry—"
At the same time, he heard a scream from behind. Kaito turned around to see that a boy wielding a scimitar had his eye pecked out by a giant beak and the weapon dropped from his hand. His little head also fell on the ground like a fruit, bouncing once. Death was instantaneous, presumably.
Enraged by what was happening before him, Kaito saw red and sprang into action. Unconcerned with the tearing of arm muscles, he raised his ax and threw it with all his might. The crow that had killed the boy and was about to chase other children was bifurcated by the flying ax. Other crows got caught in this attack and fell one after another. Kaito yelled as loud as he could:
"Run away now!"
With Kaito's vigorous roar as a signal, the children rushed to the door. The red-haired youth followed at the back.
Picking up the scimitar that had fallen from the dead boy's hand, Kaito chopped off the head of nearby crow while he was at it, and strenuously tossed the corpse towards the flock. Dodging the corpse, the crows flew up. Seizing this opening, Kaito rushed through the doorway and grabbed a torch next to the door then tossed at a dead crow's body. The fire began to spread, which ought to buy them some amount of time.
While the crows were flapping their wings to fan away the smoke they hated, Kaito rushed back to the door. Melanie and the children had set off already, but for some reason, the red-haired youth was waiting for Kaito. Blinking, Kaito yelled:
"Hey, what are you waiting for? Hurry and run!"
"Uh, oh..."
The red-haired youth and Kaito began to run together. The noise of crows gradually faded behind them. The fire seemed to serve as an effective barrier. Kaito sincerely hoped the crows would not chase after them.
Inside the dim passage, only the footsteps of Kaito and his companion echoed. Hesitating, the youth spoke up:
"I-I'm Neue. What's your name, mister?"
"I'm Kaito. Sena Kaito."
"Sena Kaito... Sorry, Kaito."
"What's this about?"
"I tried to kill you just now and even said you had a privileged and easy life."
"Forget about that. People say all kinds of crazy things in sudden situations like this."
"But you were much calmer than us and even killed crows to save us. You're amazing, so amazing. Why can you be so brave—"
Neue stopped mid-sentence. Kaito and he turned to look behind them in surprise. Kaito could sense a terrifying presence swelling up. Accompanied by a rustling sound that was difficult to describe, something black was restless.
The columns of bug eyes shone. Eight stout legs were dragging along the stone walls.
Behind Kaito and Neue was a giant spider.
On further examination, Kaito saw that this abomination was covered by several crow's worth of feathers and even had a sharp beak. Kaito realized why the crows had not pursued them.
Thinking that the fire had succeeded in buying time, what a naive notion.
Knowing that their original forms were at a disadvantage in the underground passage, the crows had merged together to become a spider.
The spider discharged silk and Kaito immediately defended using the scimitar. In the next instant, he pulled the scimitar back for a wind up then threw it. The blade struck the spider but did not embed itself into the spider's body. Instead, it bounced off the thick crow feathers and slid to the ground. The spider cried out impatiently and discharged silk again. This time, the target was Neue, whose face was twisted in fear. Seeing his expression, Kaito felt as though he were looking at his own past self.
This young man had been cursed by his parent to go and die, then abandoned in this god forsaken place where no help was to be found.
Man, no helping it... Resigning himself, Kaito braced himself and extended his left arm.
Spider's silk wrapped around Kaito's arm. Kaito immediately snatched Neue's sword to chop the silk. The spider's silk felt almost like steel. Decisively, Kaito gave up on severing the silk and chopped his own arm off instead. The spider dragged its silk back and made a dissatisfied noise while eating Kaito's flesh with motions that were completely not bug-like.
Intense pain pierced Kaito's brain like a flash of lightning, but Kaito had some resistance towards pain and his body was immortal too, so the agony of an amputated arm was not unbearable. If he failed to endure it, he was going to die here.
Kaito returned the sword to Neue, gripped his arm stump tightly and continued to run. Running by his side, Neue cried.
"Why, why why why, why did you do that!? Why!?"
"Don't worry. I've already died."
"What the heck? Are you retarded?"
"That's no way to talk. In truth, I'm not from this world."
"What are you talking about?"
"Don't ask. Listen to me first. In another world, my father used me to the limit and in the end, he killed me like throwing away garbage. My life was like a piece of shit. I originally thought things were over, but... I guess you'd call her a mage? Anyway, she summoned me to this world and forced me into this fake body."
Kaito felt compelled to tell his story and continued. After eating Kaito's arm, bone and all, the spider released silk again. This time, Neue blocked the silk with his sword but the sword was dragged away. Just as Neue's expression froze, Kaito sighed deeply and resigned himself. He actually preferred if he did not have to do this, but there was no other option. He held his breath and told Neue:
"Since I'm dead anyway, next time the spider shots silk, let it eat me. Take that chance to escape."
"What rubbish are you saying again? You must be retarded!"
"I'm not retarded. If I get eaten completely, I'd probably die, but I never wanted to come back to life in the first place, so ending things here isn't that bad. In contrast, you shouldn't die yet, but should live on, right?"
Kaito looked at Neue's still child-like face. Neue stared back at Kaito. Tears welled up in Neue's eyes.
(Yeah, as expected. I knew it.)
Kaito nodded.
A child crying in fear should not be staying in this kind of place.
Right now, Kaito already had no tears to shed.
"You can't die yet. You must do everything you can to live. Do your best."
Kaito spoke to Neue rather cheerfully. At that moment, the spider emitted a weird sound. He bit his lip hard.
Confronting death again was still very scary. His forgotten fear resurfaced. Eaten alive, how terrifying was that going to be? Even so, there was no other way. Kaito exhaled softly.
In order to save someone who resembled his past self, he made up his mind to die.
He wanted to be what his past self once wished for... A hero to come to the rescue.
When his thoughts reached this point, Kaito felt that this was not a bad way to put an end to this injuring time extension to his boring life. Just as Kaito came to terms in his mind, the spider discharged silk. Without hesitation, he stopped running but at that moment—
"——Huh?"
Neue shoved him away heavily.
Neue's skinny back became stuck to the spider silk. Lying sprawled on the ground, Kaito watched the scene before him in surprise. He reached out for Neue while asking the stupid question that suddenly surfaced in his mind.
"W-Why?"
"Why, I wonder?"
Probably Neue himself did not know either. His voice was confused. The spider retracted its silk.
At that moment, with a convulsive expression, Neue muttered:
"Ah, I'm probably hoping... You could find happiness in this world, I guess."
Neue cursed "damn it" softly and was gradually dragged away with a smile that was almost about to burst into tears. Then came a terrifying scream.
Kaito stood up, only to see the spider eating something, totally absorbed in its meal. When Kaito realized the nature of the sound, rage and hatred instantly consumed his mind, which ended up restoring his calmness. Kaito suddenly stopped and murmured indifferently in a cold tone of voice, the irrevocable truth.
"Yeah...... Dead people cannot be saved."
In the next instant, Kaito turned around and sprinted. Even he himself was surprised by his current calm state. His face was expressionless but the unquellable anger was gradually surfacing before his eyes. Like moaning, he repeatedly muttered "kill-it-kill-it-kill-it-have-to-kill-it, have-to-have-to-have-to-have-to-have-to-have-to-kill-it."
Kaito expressed his killing intent and fled as fast as he could. If he were to be caught here, Neue's sacrifice would have been in vain. He must not let Neue's death be worthless like a dog's. With such conviction in his heart, Kaito ran like the wind.
Soon after, a door came into view. The secret entrance was probably locked too, but he had asked one of the bigger kids to take the ax in advance. Now that so much time had been bought, they must have managed to break through the door, right? However, Kaito narrowed his eyes. There was not even a scratch on the door. Could it be that it was not locked?
Just as he was wondering, the door oopened. The first to appear was a red dress resembling a poppy. Then Melanie emerged from the door. Speaking in an endearing voice, she ran over to Kaito's side right away.
"Lord Kaito!"
"Melanie? Why are you running back to this side!? Hurry and escape!"
Ignoring his warning, Melanie hugged him tightly. Her soft arms wrapped themselves around the back of his neck, bringing her cherry lips close to his ear. Accompanied by her sweet breath, Melanie whispered something.
In that instant, the door opened again. Kaito felt a vivid color imprinted onto his retinas.
Even redder than Melanie's dress, yet undoubtedly pure white originally, a dress fluttered.
"Oh, Kaito!"
A nonchalant shout, making Kaito wonder if he was in the wrong place.
All covered in blood, Elisabeth was waving energetically to Kaito.
* * *
"Oh my, I was just about to head over, so this saves me quite some trouble. To think you came over on your own, now aren't you quite a smart lad? Hmm? What are you all covered in blood? By the way, aren't you on the verge of dying from blood loss? Where did your arm fall off? Don't tell me it is detachable? In any case, tie it up with a chain first... Eh, a bug? Uwah! Isn't this a bug!? I hate bugs! Seeing spiders makes me mad!"
Looking behind Kaito, Elisabeth jumped in surprise. The instant she landed, a swirl of darkness and red petals flew up, rushing at the ceiling. Immediately a large hole opened up over the spider with a gigantic weight featuring countless barbs.
The terrifying weight fell down, crushing the bug.
"Death by squashing!"
Elisabeth raised a fist to the sky. This joke of an attack did not seem like a joke at all.
That terrifying spider was now completely crushed like a cockroach flattened under a slipper. The bleeding from his arm was stopped through the extremely violent measure of tying it up with a chain. The pain was making his mouth gape open. Melanie was gripping Kaito's shirt, looking like she feared Elisabeth.
Under this heavy silence, Elisabeth cocked her head slightly, completely failing to read the mood.
"So, what exactly happened?"
At that moment, something broke inside Kaito's mind. Elisabeth's overwhelming strength as well as that carefree expression that Kaito found nostalgic, his nerves, tensed to their limit, instantly relaxed.
Frantically, he told Elisabeth about the situation.
"E-Elisabeth, a demon has appeared over in the secondary building. It said something like 'welcome to your Grand Guignol! You people are simultaneously the audience, the playwrights and the actors. I hope you will enjoy yourselves fully.' Then the crows..."
"Oh, I understand. I see now. Hmm, oh? Heh."
In a state of confusion, Kaito narrated nonstop in a flood of words, even exhausting every inconsequential detail. Elisabeth clasped her hands together behind her head and walked through the door then into the hall directly to advance through the passage on the right. Then without stopping, she entered a staff passage.
Hugging the trembling Melanie's shoulders, Kaito followed after Elisabeth.
"Are you listening, Elisabeth? There's a demon there."
"Kaito! Look!"
She halted her footsteps in front of an ajar door. Kaito leaned forward and peered inside, only to see a kitchen.
A noble girl was on the cutting board, her beautiful dress tragically splattered with blood. Her rib area had been gouged away. Next to the dead girl was a man with a bull's face, dressed in a cook's coat, whose thighs had been severed by a saw. This was apparently a devotee in the guise of a cook, probably killed by Elisabeth.
"As testified by the Meat Supplier, part of the dead girl's body has been removed. This is because nobles tend to have purer bloodlines than commoners, so they also taste better. Nobles are eaten while the commoners are used for entertainment. It looks like their original plan was to have fun with you and the commoner girls at the secondary building before enjoying a meal at the main house. Oh dear, what extravagance."
Elisabeth nodded, "yes, yes." Kaito clenched his fist, once again confirming the anger and killing intent in his heart. Not understanding Kaito's tumultuous emotions, Elisabeth turned to him and shrugged.
"Although it would be quite entertaining to round up those fools who tried to make food out of you, then force them to spit out what they knew about the secret passages before killing them, there are too many of them and they have fled to the courtyard, so taking care of them will be quite a hassle."
"Elisabeth, I fully understand why it took you so long to arrive. However, none of this matters at all. What we need to do now is head over to the secondary building to kill that demon."
"Hmph, quite a rare sight to see you so motivated. Look at your arm, a human unafraid of pain is very uncommon indeed... However, Kaito, how were you able to muster the determination to forsake your arm, overcoming adverse tribulations, only to remain oblivious of the truth before your eyes?"
"What do you mean?"
While they were talking, Elisabeth continued to advance. She left the kitchen, reached the corridor, then stopped in the middle of the hall. In addition to the devotees, the rest of the demon's subordinates might have all fled too. The main house was completely silent.
Under the beautiful and luxurious chandelier, Elisabeth turned around, her black hair fluttering.
"More than just gaining strength, what this demon genuinely seeks is to make playthings out of humans. This desire for entertainment surpasses The Knight's and matches my own tastes. Human suffering is delight while human screaming is joy. However, this demon prefers entertainment that takes effort to set up and Grand Guignol would serve as an excellent example. Now think about this. What exactly is the strongest and deepest despair that someone with such a twisted and aberrant personality would desire and painstakingly create?"
In the beginning, Kaito had no clue what Elisabeth was talking about but he then flashed back to the memory of his father strangling him. Given water just as he was developing signs of dehydration, for an instant, Kaito thought he was going to be saved, but unfortunately, the delusion went by in flash and he was killed.
The strongest despair was when the light of salvation was snatched away and utterly extinguished just when you think you had found it.
"....Offering hope, making the other side think they could be saved, then pushing them down the abyss."
"Precisely! When the participants are down to two, to let one person think that all he needed to do was kill this weak girl to become the last survivor, then killing him brutally just as he was convinced he was saved... Now that is undoubtedly the most entertaining way to do things! However, things have deviated greatly from this plan thanks to you, but for that demon, the variation probably provides a different sort of fun. In any case, not a single child managed to escape to this place."
Reading between the lines to catch Elisabeth's hint, Kaito closed his eyes. The hall was silent. He could not hear sounds of children at all. Kaito shook his head and backed a few steps away from the lone survivor, Melanie.
The children who had escaped from the game of death, which wretched beast's jaws had they disappeared into...?
"So there you have it. I suspect that the demon is loathe to stay in the feeble form a moment longer."
With a smile of tender affection, Elisabeth scrutinized Melanie's face. Then with a disdainful tone, Elisabeth asked Melanie, who was trembling nonstop.
"As the daughter of an earl, why were you chosen to participate in the game instead of being used for food?"
Instantly, the poppy-like dress began to swell like tumor. The lovely girl's form was transformed into a bundle of cloth that had been stuffed with meat inside. Her skin ruptured with pus overflowing from within.
Inside was a naked man with unusually pale skin all covered with crow feathers and even sporting spider legs.
The ugly, fat and bald man opened his crow's beak and made weird noises. Staring at the massive man with the bizarre appearance, Elisabeth clicked her tongue at the spider legs and touched her chin while saying:
"The man on the other side is probably a devotee or a fake. After losing human form, taking on a young girl's guise is quite easy, I suppose... Nay, judging from the fact that he takes boys as sacrifices too, perhaps cross-dressing is just a hobby. Hmm, how repulsive. And despite his human identity as a marquess, to think that the demon he merged with was just The Earl. Getting my hopes up, only for me to find that there is only small fry waiting for me, what an outrage!"
"Who cares about that stuff? Just hurry and kill this guy."
"What is the matter? You have been acting unlike yourself since just now, you know? Do you bear a grudge against him by any chance?"
"That's right. I'm willing to do anything in my power. So please, kill this guy cruelly for me."
Kaito repeated himself with emphasis. The intense desire for bloodshed was creating a powerful vortex in his chest.
To think that he was the sole survivor. The Earl had slaughtered all the children. This made Kaito feel completely ridiculous. How could such a bastard be allowed to live? So long as this Earl before him could be killed, Kaito did not care even if he lost his own life, hard enough as it was to save.
"—Hah."
Elisabeth scoffed instead of answering. In the next instant, she floored Kaito with a kick and stepped on his back. Exerting pressure that could very well break Kaito's spine, she placed her entire weight on him.
"Gah!"
"Ordering your own master is not allowed, you useless dog. I do not need you to tell me, of course this thing is my prey. Even if you did not beg me, I would enjoy this prey to my heart's content."
Elisabeth declared coldly and gave Kaito a vigorous kick, almost rupturing his belly. Kaito was sent flying to a corner by the wall, coughing up bloody vomit all over the ground. Next, Elisabeth turned to The Earl again.
"I apologize for my servant's rudeness. Now, all hindrances are gone."
She spread her arms majestically, conjuring a dance of darkness and red flowers that enveloped her body.
After the darkness dissipated and the petals fell to the ground, Elisabeth was dressed in her usual bondage outfit of black. Held in her delicate hand was the Executioner's Sword of Frankenstahl.
Elisabeth placed her hand on her exposed chest and curtsied towards The Earl.
"Welcome to my Grand Guignol! I am simultaneously the audience, the playwright and the actor. I have no plans to enjoy this, so all you need to do is scream like a pig and writhe like a caterpillar and that would be fine."
Elisabeth declared loudly then swung down her sword sharply. Chains extended out of thin air, sweeping at The Earl's location. Using eight spider legs, The Earl easily deflected the chains then jumped back, breaking the chandelier. Mustering strength in his unusually pale body, The Earl shot out countless crow feathers from his skin. At the same time, he spat out spider's silk from his mouth, sending innumerable attacks at Elisabeth.
"Ha, too naive!"
Elisabeth rapidly dashed left and right, evading every attack. The floor and ceiling became riddled with holes but Elisabeth remained unscathed. Even so, it looked like Elisabeth was too occupied to counterattack. Seeing that the chains stopped attacking, The Earl laughed malevolently and continued his violent wave of attacks.
However, he failed to notice the darkness and red petals swirling overhead and underfoot.
Suddenly, the ceiling and the floor came together, clamping him violently.
More precisely, he was sandwiched between two massive slabs of stone that had flown out of the ceiling and the floor.
The Earl was clamped between two massive round slabs of stone. There was a golden rod embedded in the center of the stone, resembling the crank of a street organ.
By the time Kaito noticed, Elisabeth had already sat down on the handle portion of the rod. She smiled at The Earl who was blinking in confusion.
"The Feel of Death. I used it just now on your familiar, crushing it to death, well then—You shall proceed to be ground into minced meat bit by bit."
With an ominous sound, the round stones began to turn. Every time the crank went up and down once, the two stones would rotate like wheels. One turned clockwise while the other turned counterclockwise. Caught in the middle, The Earl's body made unpleasant wet noises while gradually grinding away. As the stones turned, the crow feathers were plucked off, the bloated pale flesh was ground into minced scrap. Mixed with flesh and fat, blood gradually dripped to the floor.
The Earl emitted a terrifying scream as his beak fell off. The human lips originally hidden beneath were trembling nonstop in pain and terror. His ears were ripped off while the opposite sides of his head were getting scraped in clockwise and counterclockwise directions, screaming madly in this fate worse than death.
"EE-Elisabeth, Elisabeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeth!"
"What is the matter, Earl? Your voice is an affront to the ears just like a pig's squeal. Could you not show a little dignity and caw like a crow?"
"H-How about a deeeeeeeeeeeeeeeal with me?"
"Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm?"
The wheels suddenly stopped. With a vicious look in his eyes, Kaito muttered:
"...Like anyone would accept a deal from you."
"F-From what I have heard, Torturchen will face death by fire after hunting the thirteen demons. You will not need to die if you do not kill me. Am I right? Our interests are aligned, right? L-Let me go."
The Earl's face was compressed from the left and the right, spitting out blood and spit from this lips that had been squeezed into a vertical form. Elisabeth suddenly murmured then jumped lightly off the handle. She smiled at the ugly man that was stuck between the wheels. Trembling in fear, The Earl smiled disgracefully at her in return.
"You imbecile!"
With a great shout, the wheels started to turn again. Giving off strange sobbing noises, The Earl thrashed his arms and legs randomly. However, his arms were ground away and even his shoulders were scraped flat. Like a fruit, The Earl was gradually pressed and juiced. Progressively increasing in viscosity, his blood was spreading filthily across the floor.
With cold light akin to absolute zero in her eyes, Elisabeth glared at The Earl and said:
"Oppressive rulers need to be killed, tyrants need to be hanged, genoiciders need to be slaughtered brutally. This is natural law. What awaits at the endpoint of the path of torture is hell without a shred of redemption, adorned by one's own screams. Only then does the torturer's life come to a conclusion. Are you inflicting torture without even understanding such principles? Stop making me laugh, Earl."
Elisabeth was currently in a rage, expressing unprecedented anger. Finally, with a thunderous crash, the two wheels slammed together. Viscous blood flowed out from gap between the stones. Elisabeth mercilessly stepped on the wheel crushing The Earl to death and murmured softly:
"Whether you or I—Both of us are to be forsaken by all creation across heaven and earth, to ultimately die."
At the same time, the pool of blood turned into black feathers, flying up to stop in the air for a moment before falling down slowly.
In this serene and beautiful scene akin to the falling of black snow, Kaito clenched his fist.
"...Hey, what about those children, impaled alive on spears at the secondary building..."
"Their lives were merely sustained magically by The Earl's powers. As soon as The Earl dies, they will presumably perish too."
"...I see."
"Nothing to get depressed about. This is much better than living in endless pain and suffering."
Elisabeth scoffed with disinterest. Kaito stared blankly at her. He used to think that Elisabeth's ways were no different from the demons, but now he got the sense that she and the demons were not alike fundamentally. At least, Kaito could see two major differences.
Enduring his body's pain, Kaito forced himself to get up while speaking to her:
"Thank you, Elisabeth."
"Why words of gratitude? I am simply entertaining myself. Furthermore, your gratitude is not only hilarious but also filled with misunderstanding."
"After you kill those thirteen demons, you have to die too, right? Yet you still helped me to kill this guy."
"That is neither here nor there. I did not do this for you at all. The thirteen demons are simply the last thirteen individuals that the Church has permitted me to torture. The thought of extorting them to save my own life never crossed my mind. Since I was captured after sacrificing a great number of the populace and sentenced to death, it is my duty to be burned to death."
Elisabeth walked out, her heels clicking sharply, the black hem of her skirt fluttering.
"Cruel and proud, I extol life like a wolf, and will ultimately die like a sow."
Saying that on her own, Elisabeth gradually walked away. In a very tiny voice, she murmured at the end:
"—This is preordained."
Left behind, Kaito stared blankly into the air. Black feather brushed past his cheek as though in mourning.
He recalled Neue and thought about the dead children. In the end, he was the only survivor... Did this escape drama end with such a ludicrous outcome? However, no matter how much he regretted, harsh reality was neither going to change nor was it possible to change.
Since he had survived, there was one thing he was obliged to do.
He recalled Neue's last words and muttered quietly:
"I don't think I'll be able to find happiness in this world, will I?"
I guess I'll try struggling as much as I can and see.
Next, Kaito grabbed his lost wrist and began to run. At the same time, a black feather fluttering in the air burned intensely with blue flames. After that, the countless flying feathers all went ablaze, gradually setting the room on fire.
Finally, the blue flames started burning the entire castle.
As though mourning the numerous dead, the tongues of flame silently licked the stone walls.
