Chapter One: Geveduan and Enable
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A flock of migrating butterflies–
It was just as Sherlock’s Cognis had predicted for Lisa and me.
「That’s some brilliant deduction, Sherlock.」
I sent off this compliment of my former formidable opponent toward the sky.
This is the second time that Lisa and I have witnessed this sight.
The first time was in front of the windmill just before our flight from Bourtange.
Before I had seen her form as『The Beast of Gévaudan』or she had seen me in Hysteria Mode, when we formed our Master-Servant contract– we saw the migrating butterflies.
And today we saw them again.
Now we had both seen each other’s true form.
And in one fateful instant, aggression had gone out the window.
Throwing a leg over Lisa’s large, golden wolf form that was dog paddling west–
「It’s『Dragon Harbour』. I see it, Lisa and Katze.」
Snatched back from the brink of death, my Hysteria Mode Agonizante’s improved eyesight picked out the enemy line on the wild Dutch coast and pointed toward it.
Using the tip of her nose, Lisa nudged the V-2 escape capsule across the ocean current while the Witch of Cursed Water, Katze, inside it manipulated the ocean current with a waggle of her finger.
Half submerged in the water; Lisa began swimming toward the land. High in the sky, the sun shone faintly through the clouds, outlining the V-2 launch site where there was not a single trace of any person.
Stealthily, we crept closer toward the secret GRENEDA base hidden in the cleft behind the waterfall…
Inside there was chaos.
I saw Nazi uniformed girls running around, seeming to lack any kind of direction.
Naturally, they would have Everita’s leadership, but now she is boarding her U-boat.
It appears that having observed the V-2’s crash, they are intending to mount a mission to retrieve Katze… who is currently cupping both her hands like a megaphone and shouting『I’m Here–! Enemy attack!』However, due to the airtight nature of the high-altitude capsule, she was entirely inaudible to anyone outside. Katze kicked and screamed inside the capsule, but the hatch distorted by Lisa did not open. She picked up a communication device receiver, then angrily hurled against the wall–apparently having broken in the crash. Such a predictable child.
I don’t see Yen or Sarah… I don’t want to make any bad moves.
Looking up at the large ship that was GRENEDA’s stronghold, I heard the clack of Patra’s heels on the upper deck and read her lips as she said:『Bring Jeanne here.』
Behind Patra, a rope hung down from the rear mast, and a loop was tied A gallows.
「Patra thinks Lisa–『The Beast of Gévaudan』is dead, so it’s pointless to keep the sacrificial Jeanne alive. Come on. We have to hurry.」
I whispered into Lisa’s ears as she curled up, hidden behind a rock, but–
The effects of the sudden decompression and pressurisation in such a short span at high altitude without a pressure suit had no small effect on my circulatory and respiratory.
My body was numb, and breathing was difficult… forcing myself wouldn’t be smart.
「–In order to do that, we’ll have to trick them in order to split their strength. Lisa, you have to do as I say.」
The legendary sword Durandal in hand, I mounted Lisa once more. Resolved to show myself to GRENEDA.
「I suffered a painful experience in Hong Kong at the hands of GRENEDA due to a『ship』. I want to pay them back for that. To start with, you’ll jump up onto the prow, alright?」
I ordered Lisa– and she sprang up, leaving the capsule with the harmless Katze inside.
Kicking off the rock, she leapt up onto the figurehead shaped like a sea serpent. It was one smooth, and swift movement.
「…! –Now, attack!!」
「It’s Gévaudan and Enable!」
I appeared like something from the film『Princess Mononoke』, and the Nazi girls on the deck shrieked.
Terrified of her huge form, one by one, they all fled the ship.
It was like a rout… It appeared that all of them were maids dedicated to taking care of GRENEDA’s fighters; personal belongings
Good. The young girls ran away and escaped. Involving small fry is against the rules of FEW.
「–H-Hey! Deserters will be sentenced to death by firing squad!!」
Everita shouted as she looked at the girls diving into the water below her and leaning over the railing on the conning tower of the U-Boat to fire a warning shot– she leaned too far and tumbled into the water herself.
Then, unable to swim, she began to shrilly cry「Help! Help me!」as she bobbed up and down in the water. What is this?
Well, putting those engaged in comedy aside… let’s continue with our own tactics.
「Lisa, cross the rigging that runs from the front of the ship to the back.」
I said as I slapped her back, and Lisa took several rapid steps– *Tap!* *Tap!* Springing from the figurehead to the forecastle, several large ropes ran down from the rigging and moored the Acapulco Galleon to the wall of the grotto.
Lisa skilfully balanced in the rigging on her four paws, as if balancing on a tightrope, as I reached down and severed each of the lines with Durandal, saying「Next!」after each one. Lisa cross quickly from one rope to another… *Grr!*… and the entire huge body of the ship quivered.
Inside『Dragon Harbour』there was a sluggish current of groundwater. The ship was carried along by it–
With all the retaining ropes cut, the ship began to drift slowly.
Heading toward the waterfall curtain across from it.
「… Tooyama, Kinji…!」
Looking down at Patra as we jumped above the spanker sail, I gave her a wink–
「–Dig right here, Lisa!」
Jumping down onto the poop deck, Lisa shredded the planks with her claws.
I already knew where Jeanne was. It appeared that she intended to take advantage of the mayhem outside free herself–one of the cannon ports on the stern of the ship was frozen from the inside.
With that as a marker, Lisa ripped and burrowed into the wooden structure…
Finally, she reached the gun deck where Jeanne had originally been imprisoned
「… Tohyama!」
It appeared the Jeanne couldn’t twist off her anti-ESP handcuffs, so I got off Lisa’s back and severed them with Durandal–
「That…that’s『The Beast of Gévaudan』…!」
I handed over Durandal to her as she stood with wide sapphire eyes.
「That’s right. But fortunately, this child is also a girl.」
「I see, so does that mean that you have tamed her? As expected of the gigolo Tohyama.」
「Uh, from that scary expression on your face, it looks like you think you understand, but really that’s not it at all… She shouldn’t eat you. That’s limited to the opposite sex isn’t it?」
As I gave a wry smile, Jeanne–
She embraced her beloved possession, Durandal, twice, no, three times.
「Merci, Tohyama… you saved me.」
「You don’t need to thank me. You saved me at the Musée de la Guerre École」
Sensing the approach of an enemy, I drew my Beretta and remounted Lisa’s back.
Looking up, with a *Riiip!* Jeanne tore the skirt of her sacrificial dress intentionally.
She must have done it in order to increase her mobility to fight, but it gave me a brief glimpse of her porcelain white thighs–adding fuel to the fire of my Hysteria Mode.
「This is the formation of the chivalric order of Jeanne D’Arc, isn’t it? One leader and one knight.
「Fufu! That’s right. I guess that makes me the knight.」
Jeanne quipped, putting her hair up in a braid to signify she was ready to fight, much like she had done in the underground storage area.
Launching myself up onto the deck–
There, Patra waited for us, dressed in a swimsuit-like costume and a sparkling golden cobra crown.
Goodness, she seems like a veritable amazon! But with Jeanne and The Beast of Gévaudan behind me, I didn’t retreat a step.
With the moorings of the large ship unfastened, it moved slowly toward the curtain of the waterfall. Swaying slightly, the footing wasn’t so good.
「–Tohyama, leave this to me.」
With ice crackling as it covered the Durandal’s blade, Jeanne advanced.
Single combat between her and her fellow female knight– at least that was the impression I got as the Nazi uniformed girls who took refuge on the U-Boat shouted encouragement to Patra.
「Understood. I’ll take care of the rest.」
Looking down at us from the yard arm of the bonadventure mast was Typhoon Sarah…
I sensed her faint bloodlust and urged Lisa to turn around.
Jeanne and Patra are both very proud girls.
I don’t want to get caught up in a duel with a longbow, but I owe Sarah a grudge as she is the one who defeated my『Billiard』. I’m not good with snipers, but she is my opponent.
「Patra, back in I.U. you were my senior, but I won’t hold back. This is a battle of Far East War. Surely you cannot refuse.」
「–Quite naturally. I have always detested you of Daio. With the passing of the late Sherlock, I am free to chastise you properly. However, I shall not kill you. You could not serve of my Medjay, but despite your weakness, you should be capable of fulfilling the duties of a slave」
–『The Diamond Dust Witch』versus『The Sand Witch』–
There isn’t any sand around Patra like there usually is, but her crown and necklace transformed into a curved scimitar. A solid golden sword seemed insufficient to face the legendary sword Durandal, but even with that handicap– of the witches, Patra is the one with the greater presence. There isn’t any pyramid-shaped structure nearby, but she is pulling quite a bit of magical power from somewhere.
Overawed by Patra, I told Jeanne…
「Jeanne, you are not the same person as when you were in I.U. By fighting us and then Katze, you’ve certainly improved. Show that to Patra. I’ll be watching you.」
Leaving her with that, I cocked the hammer of my Beretta and leapt up with Lisa. Toward Sarah.
*************************************************
The descendant of Robin Hood, Sarah, the witch able to control the wind–
Lisa leapt up onto the mast, landing with a *Plop!*
Seeing no defence, Lisa simply pursued.
Defying the sheer momentum of a beast of prey, with a *Tap!* *Tap!*, Sarah bounded lightly from the yard arm toward the lookout.
Like the two S poles of a magnet, Sarah seemed to be repelled and keep her distance from Lisa… and I understand the trick. Sarah is manipulating the wind, keeping something like an air cushion between herself and Lisa. Each time she does it, she holds down her feathered hat to keep it from flying off– but the frenzied flapping of her chequered miniskirt is clear evidence of the fact.
Lisa’s claws and fangs and catching nothing but air, but Sarah cannot do anything but run. Sarah is an archer. Without giving her distance, she doesn’t have the time to nock an arrow, but bullets are not easily affected by the wind–
–*Bang!* I fired my gun, trying to get a lead on Sarah, but she had already loosed an arrow.
With only a slight manipulation, it intercepted my bullet– *Clang!*
『Billiard』…!
She had turned that fateful technique back on me. Even using a bow.
My opponent is a girl, and that makes me a bit nervous–
Despite the fact that we are chasing Sarah toward the prow, she seems a bit too eager.
Besides that, the swordfight between Jeanne and Patra unfolding below is diverting my attention.
*Whoom!*–
Something shot up from within the forecastle aimed at Lisa.
–Artillery!?
In my position as a rider, I couldn’t see what it was, but from the shock I felt pass through Lisa, it appeared to be some kind of artillery fire coming up from directly beneath.
With a howl, Lisa roared–
–and sh-shrank mid-air.
「…Lisa!」
Beneath, Lisa began to return to human form before my eyes, and I used my hands and feet to perform a shock-absorbing technique, Kikka, to push away from the collapsing forecastle.
「A…ooh… I-I apologise, Master…」
Clutching her abdomen, Lisa spoke in human speech– smoke went up from her golden body hair, and the front of her body… became bare skin. Her back from her butt down remained hairy, and she still had her tail.
Her flowing blonde hair stream out from between pointed ears. It was like something from the anime and manga that Riko likes, a dog-girl.
Thanks to her Gévaudan form, she was able to survive the attack, but from the looks of it, the damage was severe…
As she concealed herself with a curtain from the rubble, I looked around.
It wasn’t artillery.
Though I would have preferred that.
「There was a snake and an oni in Europe… I knew that. The snake, Patra’s cobra is here. I guess I guess I don’t have to wonder where the oni is.」
Saying that as I stood up and looked back over my shoulder–
I turned and scowled at the person who had just felled the Beast of Gévaudan with a kanabou that looked to weigh approximately 100 kg.
Large, brawny, and wearing an African-style colourful kimono… there was a female oni.
–Yen.
Huge. Both Ranbyou-sensei from LOGI and Kazumi Katori are bigger than me, but she is much larger than either of them. Her height is somewhere near 2 metres.
At the edge of my field of view, Sarah stirred slightly… Her chequered skirt fluttered as she set herself down onto the deck of the U-Boat.
Now I see. I thought that Lisa had been running away from the start, but now I realise that she had been leading us to Yen. Sarah had tricked me again.
*Drip!*…*Drip!* *Drip!*….*Drip!* *Drip!* *Drip!*
Carried along by the current, the tip of the ship began to enter the waterfall curtain.
「M-master…!」
The upper part of her body was hidden by the curtain, but her visible dog ears evinced worry–
「Yen, Lisa can’t fight any more. As her master, neither can I. But I can’t ask you to overlook both of us, can I? However, since there isn’t anyone else, I will be your opponent.」
For my part, I was worried about Lisa as I made this request to Yen.
Hearing that, she tilted her head in a confused expression–looking handsome despite the fact that she was a woman…
「Tohyama. Wouldst thou take care to tread upon a specific insect before thee, or wouldst thou tread upon everything alike?」
From her words, I got the impression that she had lost in interest in Lisa particularly.
As for the result, she seems willing to overlook Lisa…
But she is wrong. She is treating Lisa as an insect.
But because she brought Lisa down, I entered Hysteria Mode King Mode. It won’t help me to get too angry.
*Whooosh!*
The line of water falling into the ship began drawing closer to us.
「We’re headed to the open sea.」
「That is correct.」
「Then let’s start our bout on the other side of the waterfall. ‘Out with the oni’, as they say, so that would apply to yourself as well, I would assume?」1
「Ever since I have known the samurai Tohyama, thou hast said incomprehensible things.」
She said seriously while sluggishly moving her kanabou about… resting it lightly upon her shoulder like a large metal pipe.
「I wanted to ask you this before… You aren’t human, are you?」
「Indeed. Although I may appear as such.」
「Please excuse the rude question, but are you a woman?」
「Indeed. I am not hermaphroditic」
I did not understand some of what she said, but… when it comes to Hysteria Mode, it is important to know whether or not she is a woman. I don’t know whether or not an oni and a human can have offspring, but not knowing… I can’t let myself think too hard on it.
Given the fact that Yen can be seen as a woman, I have to fight her, holding in my heart that she is an oni.
…*Whooosh!*…
Standing on the starboard and port sides of the ruins of the forecastle, respectively, the waterfall washed over myself and Yen.
Then as the curtain of water hid us from each other’s sight–
I was already pointing my Beretta at Yen.
「Now then, let’s start this oni extermination.」
With a wink–*Bang!*
Without so much a flinching from the muzzle flash of my gun, Yen– *Snatch!*
With a small noise, she snatched up the bullet with the hand that didn’t hold her kanabou.
「Hm. It appears that there hath not been much improvement since the days of matchlocks.」
Still dripping wet, Yen pinched the bullet between her fingers and examined it…
Just now, she used something like my Zero, but based on a different principle, to stop my bullet.
She couldn’t have decelerated it entirely by hand!
「… How did you stop it? The bullet.」
I asked for clarification as drops of water fell from my bangs…
「Hm? It came at me quickly, and I grasped it in my hand.」
She replied with serious face and an answer that did not clarify anything at all.
Uh… Was it that natural for you, Yen? Or is it that you aren’t that intelligent?
At any rate, it appears that my gun is worse than useless. That does it for that.
「All over the world, people say that there is no such thing as onis… but that appears to be untrue. In my life, I’ve met 3.」
「Oh? On what occasion and with whom have you had these encounters?」
「As an original member of GRENEDA, shouldn’t you know, Yen? I fought Vlad in Yokohama, and the vampire Hilda in Oshiage. Vampires are onis, right?」
「Nay. Such talk is foolishness.」
Yen’s mouth turned down slightly.
「Onis are more clever than most, stronger than beasts, and are the ultimate beings of all living things. Those are just vampire bats unworthy to be called onis.」
… I see. If Hilda heard such a thing, she would be angry.
But what she said–
Coming from Yen, it sounded convincing.
She’s strong. Even though she’d not as big as Vlad, or as flashy as Hilda. This is raw, unmingled power–this oni walking toward me. That is the situation.
Analysing the combat potential of this unknown enemy is difficult, but it is a good assumption that she is strong. Just how strong is unclear.
In reality, she was able to knock Lisa and myself from the sky in a single blow.
I’m dead, even if I make a tiny mistake.
Even with Hysteria Mode a cold sweat broke out on my forehead, hopefully the drops of water from the waterfall will hide that…
「An oni… Yen, you are Habi’s associate, correct? So, do I understand correctly that this is a battle of representatives in FEW?」
I spoke to gain time while seeking to clarify the procedural implications of this fight.
Without answering my question, Yen held the palm of her hand toward me.
「A human shouldst not address Habi-sama without honorifics . Thou shouldst apologise.」
「Even if it is a request from a woman… generally, I do not do so for my enemies. It would feel like a betrayal.」
「… An affront to Habi-sama is an offense against the Heavens. Therefore, to thou, Tohyama, I will–bestow divine punishment!」
Her eyes literally changing to glow red as she glared at me…
Yen seemed to be greatly enraged by my words.
Right now… my time is up.
I haven’t come up with a way, but I will have to before long.
Oni-san, I’m more than willing to do so. I’ve already launched my pre-emptive strike.
Yen, last October on Empty Island, I saw that you were Habi’s subordinate… and that your loyalty was strong. That was about all the gossip I could gather.
「You presume too much. I will lay you low, Tohyama.」
Clenching her hands tight… Yen…
Slowly took up a stance.
But that stance is not found anywhere within human martial arts.
Her kanabou hung down in a waki stance. But it was on the left side of her body.
The posture was meant to conceal the weapon behind the body, but when brandished–
It was a stance with unfathomable power behind it that would launch me high into the sky. Of course, if the kanabou landed a direct hit, then my body would be destroyed and scattered in pieces in the air.
In contrast to the kanabou held low, her right hand was held wide, like a brown bear claw. Almost as if she intended to rip me to shreds with her claws. This isn’t any human form of hand-to-hand combat.
That wasn’t all within her stance that didn’t fit within human expectations, there was also her『head posture』and『facial posture』.
While scowling at me, her face was turned down and across from me, the two horns that sprouted from the centre and left side of her forehead were turned toward me and showing her fangs like a sulking child.
It looked like she was going to attack and gore me with her horns and bite me with her fangs… that was the entirety of her stance.
–Human strength combined with the strength of a large predator.
Is that the essence of an oni?
At least that is my understanding.
「… Understood. Due to my capture by GRENEDA, I suffered from a lack of exercise, but I just finished my calisthenics on the V-2.」
Compared to an oni, I am still human, so my stance has my left hand open and a gun in my right hand. Both my feet are in a defensive posture, and my centre of balance is slightly to the rear.
I learned the Tohyama family style from my father, the Butei style from Ranbyou, I was able to imitate Aria’s Baritsu and mix them all together to form my own style’s posture.
If it had a particular characteristic, it would be setup for a counter… the intent to『Follow-up』as it were.
「…Mine kanabou, Kongourokkaku,2 has the power of a thousand men– See it for yourself!」
In the next instant, facing a literal oni with the power of a single man, I took a step forward.
–*Bang!*–
Making as if I wasn’t going to use my gun– I fired an『Invisible Bullet』.
If I gave no sign that I was going to use my gun, I thought that she wouldn’t be able to catch it… but this was an oni. Raising the kanabou. It was easily blocked with a *Clang!*.
Then from the kanabou– *Whooooooooosh!*
A whirlpool from the space distorted by the explosive power flew toward me.
It was like a larger scale of my Ouka, a supersonic attack…!
But the swing speed of the kanabou wasn’t at the speed of sound, and my eye could follow it.
For just an instant, Yen corkscrewed the kanabou about its long axis at rapid speed, bringing the spines covering its surface up to supersonic speed.
At the explosive sound, Lisa lowered her head
「–!」
I crossed both my arms in front of my face as the debris was kicked up. Large pieces of rubble were blown off of the forecastle…
It appears that onis have mid-range attacks.
The shockwave released from the kanabou was like a tornado, in effect, a scaled version of Bewitching Blade’s Sakuga.
Raising my head for an instant–
「–!」
I realised Yen was at point-blank range.
From her posture, I deduced the kanabou’s trajectory and laid down as if to crawl.
*Whooooom!*–
With that noise, a whirled shockwave came off of the hexagonal kanabou and ripped the sail off of the bowsprit.
The kill-zone of the shockwave attack is limited to the area directly before it. If you think of it like a flamethrower, it isn’t impossible to predict.
On the downswing, I immediately pushed off with both arms and legs to evade it.
Flying through the air, the kanabou impacted on side of the forecastle with full force, causing the entirety of the magnificent 3000 tonne Nao de la China vessel to rock.
「…!…」
Out of necessity, I used Ouka to leap diagonally up toward the bow mast–
Even Jeanne and Patra, engaged in their own fight on the deck, were startled by the sound of Yen’s attack.
I wanted to flash the girls a smile, but I didn’t have that time. Yen was pursuing me like a whirlwind.
–She’s fast…!
Kicking off the mast, I could only escape to the yard from which the sail hung.
Yen– she is stronger than Vlad and faster than Aria. That is my opponent.
No matter how hysterised I am, I can’t sumo wrestle an elephant, or chase a cheetah and win. So, I will have to use my wits.
「–Rousing!」
Flourishing her fighting spirit in a husky cry, Yen stretched out her kanabou, Kongourokkaku–
In response, I nimbly bounded away with a *Whish!*
Then I alighted down onto the spined surface of the hexagonal prism. Now she can’t corkscrew it in a scaled Sakuga. Even if you did, I could oppose it by kicking in the opposite direction with Ouka, right?
「Fuhaha!」
Laughing, Yen met my smiling face.
*Whoosh!*
Using the force behind Yen’s swing, I sailed back up to the yards.
Because the harbour was as a protective bunker for the U-Boat, the masts of the sailing boat were constituted of several collapsible sections. The large mast was made of oak and copper…
If Yen fractures on of the ship seams, it will sink quite easily.
Yen is one the enemies that tried to kill me by drowning. Let her experience drowning for herself.
–With this true motive in mind, I climbed to the fore royal yard…
My opponent spun around easily and leapt up toward me.
From the deck to the top yard, the distance was more than 40 metres.
The ship was swept down the narrow canal-like waterway and out to the Atlantic.
The rising sun peeked out between the clouds, and the winds were in lull where the landward breeze was shifting to a sea breeze.
10 metres from the end of the yard, Yen crossed the distance toward me as I looked out over the land–
「–Man hath but 50 years on Earth–」3
… Whereupon she began to spin.
Without any warning.
She spread her hands out in place of a folding fan with her kanabou in hand.
「In the Fifth Heaven, ’tis but a phantasm of dreams, and nothing there doth not perish.」
This… is graceful and beautiful…
Enraptured, I lost track of all strategy.
This is–the Atsumori.
Fifty years’ time in the human world isn’t anything but a fleeting dream in the Heavens–that is the meaning of the lyrics accompanying her movement, and it is part of an old Japanese dance.
She is dancing in the middle of the duel.
Yen is… such an alluring woman.
Even with her rugged build.
「…Why do you not come down? Instead, you retreat higher and higher. You should come down– If thou hidest in the ship, it would be battle of lurking and hiding.」
The dancing Yen shouldered her kanabou as she spoke with a grave expression.
「It is due to a small issue within my own constitution.」
I answered while applauding her dancing.
However, that was not the reason I had in mind for not adopting Yen’s strategy…
I did not want to descend because I knew that she was not wearing any underwear beneath her kimono. The hem of her clothes was ridiculously short, such that looking up at her was an absolute no-go.
Yen, can’t you wear tiger fur underwear next time?
「What’s more, I couldn’t bring myself to harm a beautiful woman’s skin I have done as much as I could until now, but I will wrestle you to the ground gently. Please do not worry.」
「Thou hast accomplished naught, so do not boast over such small victory.」
Yen looked at me as if disgusted–
「Couldn’t I tell you the same thing? Why don’t you come at me seriously?」
This time I asked Yen a question.
To which Yen made an expression of『Don’t you understand?』with widened eyes.
「I doth not possess the leave of Habi-sama to fight.」
Standing up straight, she held up a palm in front of her, as if to halt me.
「Young warrior from Yamato, I hath acted hastily– until now. Be still now, Tohyama. We still hath time.」
Turning around and looking behind… underneath the low hanging clouds, just skimming the water…
…A bird?
No, it was a white airplane flying directly north-northeast.
But spotting the plane– its fuselage was shaped like a boat. It was a flying boat, capable of taking off and landing on the water’s surface. In order to prevent the engines from contacting the water, it had gull wings… If I had to give it a name, I would call it『Chayka』4, but there’s no doubt that it was a Be-12.
*Sploooosh!*… Pushing its way through the water with a noise and splashing down, Chayka’s still rotating propellers allowed it to taxi on the water as well. What appeared to be rocket launchers and depth charges were mounted under the wings, and the entire craft lack any military insignia… instead, an amethyst family crest was depicted. That–it looks like something I remember seeing in Brussels at Liberty Mason’s hidden lodge.
Coming alongside the ship, a hatch on the flying boat opened and a hook attached to a wire drove into the side– Using an electric pulley, it pulled in close to the gun port that Jeanne had frozen over–
Kaiser…!
Liberty Mason’s representative fighter, with whom I failed to reach an agreement in Brussels, stormed aboard.
If you cared to look, you’d see Watson in an identical coat, crossing to the upper deck.
On the upper deck, having exhausted her strength Jeanne was propping herself up with Durandal.
With her back toward Jeanne, Patra was stuck with her feet frozen in place… Watson pointed a Sig Sauer-P226 at her and she raised both hands.
Liberty Mason–
The must have detected the V-2 launch on radar or something.
Immediately afterwards, they must have rushed to the launch site from Amsterdam.
The fact that they were able to arrange the use of the flying boat must speak well of their organisational capacity.
「For Far East Warfare—the days of idle revelry hasteneth to a close. Tis my duty to watch over the fate of this war… We shall meet again after a time.」
Yen turned her back toward me.
「However, there is but one seasoned veteran with a body capable of matching oni in these current days. That is something of which to boast.」
Half turning back, she gave me a cool, but unnerving smile.
A single body… That was what she said, but even guns are ineffective.
「A final question, Tohyama. Who art thou?」
Diving from the mast into the ocean, Yen took her leave, but I didn’t want her to get away–
「I’m only a high school student. I am a bit below average and attending a rough school.」
–I didn’t want to lose sight of her, but I have to let her go.
If she were serious, everything would have gone to pieces, but now it appears that Kaiser has cornered someone else on the ship… They are trying to throw them self from the ship.
Standing on the fore royal yard in front, far below me on the hull–
A woman in a white robe was fumbling at a gun port, about plunge herself into the sea.
It was Loretta-san, the exorcist bishop from the Vatican who switched sides from DEEN to GRENEDA and used Meiya.
She must have been hiding aboard and delayed her own escape.
Being blind and in such ungainly clothing, she might tumble into the ocean– No, that was her plan.
Clutching a crucifix in front of her large bosom and reciting a scripture…
With a *Whoosh!*, her robes flared out in the air as she jumped, but I had jumped just a few moments earlier to catch her.
When I jumped off, I attached my belt wire to the hull of the ship, and now I hung suspended…
As she frantically glanced around in confusion with sightless eyes, I planted a small kiss on her cheek.
「Kyaa…!」
Stiffening with a jolt, she curled her body up spoke into her ear.
「What was is that Christ said?『Love thine enemy』, was it? Loving is my specialty.」
Softly, oh so softly, I whispered…
Kaiser’s upper body stuck out of the gun port, holding a gun in one hand and saying:
「Hi, Long time no see.」
Giving me a brittle smile.
This casual manner is a good sign.
********************************************************
Afterwards, several more『gulls』splashed down…
Originally Soviet anti-submarine patrol craft, they pinned down Everita’s U-Boat at the mouth of the river as it tried to make its escape.
Sarah had disappeared before anyone noticed, Watson had Katze captured in the V-2 capsule, and The Battle of Dragon Harbour turned into a surprise victory for DEEN.
I crossed over and knocked on the conning tower of the U-Boat.
「I thought so… you truly are a『cursed man』…!」
A swastika-shaped vein bulging on her forehead, Everita held out a white flag made from one of her underlings’ undergarments. As the leader, she must protect those behind her.
「No, it’s『Enable』.」
Everita really is a powerful woman. I didn’t kill Sherlock, G-3, or even Son, and this wouldn’t be the first time.
Onboard the flying boat as it headed to Amsterdam, I made my proper apologies to Kaiser for what happened in Brussels… I pilfered an enemy dress from Dragon Harbour for Lisa to wear, and now she slept softly like a log with her head in my lap.5
That afternoon we arrived in Amsterdam and was guided to Liberty Mason’s lodge–Set free since Dragon Harbour, Loretta-san was prostrate before Meiya, but they told me, somewhat embarrassingly:
「Don’t worry about it. You’ve also had a similar situation in your own organisation」
…To be honest, this whole difficult situation was due to my own stupidity.
Wasn’t I a problem child that they worried about in Butei High?
A Butei that falls into enemy traps easily lack attentiveness, awareness, and is seen as one who brings danger to his teammates.
Students lose trust in them, and they receive corporal punishment from the teachers.
Rather, the one who can catch the enemy in a trap is trusted and praised in a real fight.
What I mean is…
I have to be more careful.
This European expedition is a lesson.
I need to learn from it.
I died once, and that’s an expensive lesson.
Liberty Mason’s Lodge– it was about a 15-minute drive from the Grand Centraal Station where I went with Lisa the other day, at the top floor of the World Trade Building close to the port.
It was designed to display the architectural prowess of the Netherlands, a beautiful emerald-coloured building with a lattice of windowpanes.
Next, Lisa returned with a vast supply of food from Albert Heijn and cooked oversized Dutch portions of food in the lodge kitchen.
If you feed the defeated Patra, Everita, and Katze, they’ll just eat. I had eaten my way to the run raisin ice cream desert.
「…I have just been in contact with the Vatican. I will be transferred to the San Francesco monastery in Sicily. This is the final time that I shall see you, Tohyama-san…」
Loretta-san reported in a whisper after the meal.
「Sicily? I’ve seen it in『The Godfather』, but it was a beautiful island.」
At my wits end due to the older girl sitting beside me, and because my Hysteria Mode had run its course… I could only give such a boring farewell.
The Vatican is going to abandon her like a lizard’s tail into exile.
In order to save face for DEEN and GRENEDA and ensure the result of FEW– was Loretta-san being forced to take the blame after she had accomplished her task?
Well, that’s the ugly side of a corporation… In Japanese companies, involuntary demotions are an everyday occurrence. In short, you have absolutely no luck.
That might be why she employed a luck strengthening fighter, Meiya. Jeanne says that Luck and Misfortune exist in some kind of balance.
******************************************************
DEEN escorted the captured members of GRENEDA from『Dragon Harbour』to Amsterdam, but of the executive class– there was only Patra, Everita, and Katze.
As GRENEDA’s representatives in Europe, they have requested cease-fire negotiations with DEEN… and Liberty Mason has accepted.
The reality approaches a complete victory of FEW for DEEN, making this a de factor post-war discussions.
Still at large, there remained several representative soldiers: Yen, Habi, and Sarah. Post cease-fire, the mercenary duo of Demon Sword and Bewitching blade would respect the outcome of the war.
But I’ll leave these hard conversations to the adults, Kaiser and Everita.
I don’t really have a head for anything except fighting, so I’ll take a break here.
The soldier’s work is over, and now it’s time for the politicians to take over.
The very top of the WTC, the 27th floor opened up into a terrace.
The terrace had a good view… because of the elevation, I could see the entire Dutch countryside, already darkened due to the fact that 4 o’clock had already passed. The view was unobstructed due to the country’s lack of mountains.
Then after a sigh–
「Oi, Tohyama.」
Katze, who also appeared to have nothing to do with anything but fighting, approached with Edgar on her shoulder.
「..Is everything alright with the cease-fire negotiations? It’s been a while.」
「I’m not very good at such complex talks. As Everita-sama said, having too many mouths can be a disadvantage, so she told me to leave my seat. I was prepared to be executed by firing squad, but now she seems to have reconsidered.」
While saying that, Katze made a slightly embarrassed face…
「Instead, it seems that Regiment Hex will be transferred between several DEEN military bases under some conditions.」
She was sorry for her comrades.
That’s why Everita was the one surrendering. For Katze?
Even if they are cold-blooded Nazi leaders, they are still children.
Thinking back to the German ethno-hotel in Chamonix and the Musée de la Guerre, Katze was well-liked by everyone.
Does that mean that she is trying to save Katze’s popularity?
That’s an easily enviable position. My popularity is non-existent.
Then, in the Netherlands, where snow is almost unheard of… stray flakes of snow began to fall.
「–Oh, the weather outside is frightful–But the fire is so delightful–」
Looking up, Katze began to sing Vaugh Monroe’s Let it Snow! Let it Snow! Let it Snow!
But it was in the language hostile to the Nazi party, English.
What’s the meaning of the song? Is the message『I surrender』without saying those words?
It was both a cute and fitting declaration from my worthy opponent Katze.
「It doesn’t show signs of stopping–」
「(And I brought some corn for popping–」
It played at the end of the English film『Die Hard』, and I had already used『Cuckoo』to memorise to words, so I joined in singing with Katze. Now we faced each other smiling.
Katze. If you think about it, we’ve been through a lot together. The Hong Kong tanker and the fall from the Zeppelin NT. Working together to reach Chamonix from Mount Blanc, the fight at the Musée de la Guerre, and the V-2.
This song is one for a reluctant parting on a snowy day–
This is a particularly good way for each of us, whose only skill is fighting, to reach our own cease-fire.
「「Let it snow! Let it snow! Let it snow!–」」
Ending in different octaves, the song came to a close…
Smiling cutely, Katze looked up at me.
「So, what will you do after this, Tohyama?」
「I plan to go back to Japan before long. I still have classes in school.」
「Oh…」
「What are you going to do?」
I asked what the representative soldier planned to do with herself in the post-war period…
「Water just flows, Tohyama.」
Trusting herself to the flow of events. That’s the impression I got from her answer.
Well, I do much the same.
「Ah, now then… As part of the negotiations, I’ll return this.」
Saying that…
Katze removed something from her eyepatch, that was actually an accessory case–
–Aria’s Karagane.
Taking it out, she handed it over.
Karagane was the shell of the『Hidan』that Sherlock fired into Aria while at I.U.
It is an ESP shield to prevent one’s personality from being taken over by Hihiirokane.
There were originally 7, and some of them were stolen by GRENEDA and only 4 remain… Now I was able to reclaim the 5th. I should be able to get one more back from Patra.
I thought I lost it in the fall to Mount Blanc.
「Depending on what happens, we may cross paths again. Japan is an old ally after all!」
Saying this, she replaced her eyepatch…
From the look in her eyes, it seems that she hasn’t entirely given up on her plan to transform me into her familiar. However, a definitive refusal her would be uncouth.
Instead, I remained silent as the light snow fell and blew about upon Amsterdam.
**************************************
A few days later, I stood in the Amsterdam Airport Schiphol.
I was in front of the Philips signboard and the same picture of Cezanne’s『People Playing Cards』as in the Paris Airport on the day I arrived in Europe…
Sitting on a bench, I waited for KLM flight 861 to Narita.
This is one of Europe’s largest airport, but I didn’t lose my way and found my departure gate. That was due to the familiarity with airports gained in Haneda, Narita, Hong Kong, and Paris. I might even be able to make my way in and out of a country by myself.
Jeanne and Watson remained behind to finish up the cease-fire negotiations, but–
「Master, please have these Nissin cup noodles. Japanese cup noodles are very popular as snacks in the Netherlands.」
The maid, Lisa, said while offering me a cup of noodles and a plastic fork.
Lisa was now wearing a sailor suit uniform and happily sitting beside me with a smile on her face…
Now she’s coming. To Japan.
For some reason I don’t understand, she was foisted upon me as a condition of the cease-fire. According to Kaiser, it is a time-honoured tradition to take some convenient people like Lisa as a sort of spoils of war as part of a post-war settlement. What’s more, Lisa had always wanted to come with me.
But I couldn’t do anything about it, and as the one on the receiving end of this exchange were entirely ignored by everyone else in DEEN. Didn’t I contribute to this victory?
However… she might have come anyway. Lisa, that is. I don’t even really have a reason to push her away.
I also showed her around the various places within the shopping district-like interior of the airport, and this was a perfectly suited support role for someone like me who leads a rough life…
…That was the case here. But there is one more person like this. And they are in Japan.
Obviously, my childhood friend, Shirayuki Hotogi-san.
I still don’t know quite where or why, but she has some kind of switch where she becomes a fierce berserker god, scarier than Yen–an unpredictable ideal Japanese beauty swinging a katana around.
In such a case, everything around me suffers harm, and the girl (and myself by getting involved in it) play out in a predictable manner. Empirically, it has been shown that Lisa is capable of the same violent national level emergency as that of the volcanic Mt. Shirayuki, as confirmed and meticulously detailed by Tohyama Observatory.
Yup.
I’m dead. Because I’m with Lisa.
This is checkmate.
But I am the man who makes the impossible, possible. What is a checkmate? Even in shogi, if you are checkmated there is always something you can do besides upsetting the board. I did it with Kaname, after all.
I’ll think about my Shirayuki countermeasures afterwards. Tohyama Charter: Article 2–『Worry about hard problems later.』
If it comes to the Third Great War of My Dorm, Lisa can turn into Gévaudan, and she just might be able to handle it herself. Yes, leave it for others to take care of. I should make that Article 3 of the Tohyama Charter.
「Master, it will be time to board soon. We should board.」
I slurped up the last of the cup noodle broth, and Lisa handed over a handkerchief to wipe around my mouth…
My European campaign has come to a close.
2 people were shown playing cards in Cezanne’s『People Playing Cards』behind me as I stood up– I was a part of DEEN, and Lisa was a part of GRENEDA.
Watson had likened FEW to a card game, but even since the Taisho Era, before she was a child, DEEN and GRENEDA had been involved in some kind of『war』.
Is it still the same 86 years later?
Taking this wry laugh as a final remembrance of the Netherlands, I boarded KLM flight to take off into the blue sky.
Farewell war-torn Europe.
I have a feeling that I will be coming back again, but next time please be a little gentler.
[END]
**************************************************
1. Reference to Satsubun, the Japanese bean throwing festival. At this festival, certain people dress up as onis, and whenever they try to enter a house or room, children throw beans at them, shouting ‘out with the oni, in with good fortune’. This is supposedly supposed to bring good luck, and the shout is what Kinji is referencing.
2. Literally: Adamantine Hexagon
3. A saying attributed to Oda Nobunaga. Supposedly said to a general who said that the odds in a battle were too great. MEaning is to the effect of ‘Carpe diem’
4. Russian for ‘seagull’.
5. Original says ‘sleep like mud’. It is reference to a yokai that lives in the sea. It’s name is the same Kanji for ‘mud’, and when it leaves the water, it slows down to the point of immobility.
Chapter One: Geveduan and Enable
[BEGIN TEXT]
A flock of migrating butterflies–
It was just as Sherlock’s Cognis had predicted for Lisa and me.
「That’s some brilliant deduction, Sherlock.」
I sent off this compliment of my former formidable opponent toward the sky.
This is the second time that Lisa and I have witnessed this sight.
The first time was in front of the windmill just before our flight from Bourtange.
Before I had seen her form as『The Beast of Gévaudan』or she had seen me in Hysteria Mode, when we formed our Master-Servant contract– we saw the migrating butterflies.
And today we saw them again.
Now we had both seen each other’s true form.
And in one fateful instant, aggression had gone out the window.
Throwing a leg over Lisa’s large, golden wolf form that was dog paddling west–
「It’s『Dragon Harbour』. I see it, Lisa and Katze.」
Snatched back from the brink of death, my Hysteria Mode Agonizante’s improved eyesight picked out the enemy line on the wild Dutch coast and pointed toward it.
Using the tip of her nose, Lisa nudged the V-2 escape capsule across the ocean current while the Witch of Cursed Water, Katze, inside it manipulated the ocean current with a waggle of her finger.
Half submerged in the water; Lisa began swimming toward the land. High in the sky, the sun shone faintly through the clouds, outlining the V-2 launch site where there was not a single trace of any person.
Stealthily, we crept closer toward the secret GRENEDA base hidden in the cleft behind the waterfall…
Inside there was chaos.
I saw Nazi uniformed girls running around, seeming to lack any kind of direction.
Naturally, they would have Everita’s leadership, but now she is boarding her U-boat.
It appears that having observed the V-2’s crash, they are intending to mount a mission to retrieve Katze… who is currently cupping both her hands like a megaphone and shouting『I’m Here–! Enemy attack!』However, due to the airtight nature of the high-altitude capsule, she was entirely inaudible to anyone outside. Katze kicked and screamed inside the capsule, but the hatch distorted by Lisa did not open. She picked up a communication device receiver, then angrily hurled against the wall–apparently having broken in the crash. Such a predictable child.
I don’t see Yen or Sarah… I don’t want to make any bad moves.
Looking up at the large ship that was GRENEDA’s stronghold, I heard the clack of Patra’s heels on the upper deck and read her lips as she said:『Bring Jeanne here.』
Behind Patra, a rope hung down from the rear mast, and a loop was tied A gallows.
「Patra thinks Lisa–『The Beast of Gévaudan』is dead, so it’s pointless to keep the sacrificial Jeanne alive. Come on. We have to hurry.」
I whispered into Lisa’s ears as she curled up, hidden behind a rock, but–
The effects of the sudden decompression and pressurisation in such a short span at high altitude without a pressure suit had no small effect on my circulatory and respiratory.
My body was numb, and breathing was difficult… forcing myself wouldn’t be smart.
「–In order to do that, we’ll have to trick them in order to split their strength. Lisa, you have to do as I say.」
The legendary sword Durandal in hand, I mounted Lisa once more. Resolved to show myself to GRENEDA.
「I suffered a painful experience in Hong Kong at the hands of GRENEDA due to a『ship』. I want to pay them back for that. To start with, you’ll jump up onto the prow, alright?」
I ordered Lisa– and she sprang up, leaving the capsule with the harmless Katze inside.
Kicking off the rock, she leapt up onto the figurehead shaped like a sea serpent. It was one smooth, and swift movement.
「…! –Now, attack!!」
「It’s Gévaudan and Enable!」
I appeared like something from the film『Princess Mononoke』, and the Nazi girls on the deck shrieked.
Terrified of her huge form, one by one, they all fled the ship.
It was like a rout… It appeared that all of them were maids dedicated to taking care of GRENEDA’s fighters; personal belongings
Good. The young girls ran away and escaped. Involving small fry is against the rules of FEW.
「–H-Hey! Deserters will be sentenced to death by firing squad!!」
Everita shouted as she looked at the girls diving into the water below her and leaning over the railing on the conning tower of the U-Boat to fire a warning shot– she leaned too far and tumbled into the water herself.
Then, unable to swim, she began to shrilly cry「Help! Help me!」as she bobbed up and down in the water. What is this?
Well, putting those engaged in comedy aside… let’s continue with our own tactics.
「Lisa, cross the rigging that runs from the front of the ship to the back.」
I said as I slapped her back, and Lisa took several rapid steps– *Tap!* *Tap!* Springing from the figurehead to the forecastle, several large ropes ran down from the rigging and moored the Acapulco Galleon to the wall of the grotto.
Lisa skilfully balanced in the rigging on her four paws, as if balancing on a tightrope, as I reached down and severed each of the lines with Durandal, saying「Next!」after each one. Lisa cross quickly from one rope to another… *Grr!*… and the entire huge body of the ship quivered.
Inside『Dragon Harbour』there was a sluggish current of groundwater. The ship was carried along by it–
With all the retaining ropes cut, the ship began to drift slowly.
Heading toward the waterfall curtain across from it.
「… Tooyama, Kinji…!」
Looking down at Patra as we jumped above the spanker sail, I gave her a wink–
「–Dig right here, Lisa!」
Jumping down onto the poop deck, Lisa shredded the planks with her claws.
I already knew where Jeanne was. It appeared that she intended to take advantage of the mayhem outside free herself–one of the cannon ports on the stern of the ship was frozen from the inside.
With that as a marker, Lisa ripped and burrowed into the wooden structure…
Finally, she reached the gun deck where Jeanne had originally been imprisoned
「… Tohyama!」
It appeared the Jeanne couldn’t twist off her anti-ESP handcuffs, so I got off Lisa’s back and severed them with Durandal–
「That…that’s『The Beast of Gévaudan』…!」
I handed over Durandal to her as she stood with wide sapphire eyes.
「That’s right. But fortunately, this child is also a girl.」
「I see, so does that mean that you have tamed her? As expected of the gigolo Tohyama.」
「Uh, from that scary expression on your face, it looks like you think you understand, but really that’s not it at all… She shouldn’t eat you. That’s limited to the opposite sex isn’t it?」
As I gave a wry smile, Jeanne–
She embraced her beloved possession, Durandal, twice, no, three times.
「Merci, Tohyama… you saved me.」
「You don’t need to thank me. You saved me at the Musée de la Guerre École」
Sensing the approach of an enemy, I drew my Beretta and remounted Lisa’s back.
Looking up, with a *Riiip!* Jeanne tore the skirt of her sacrificial dress intentionally.
She must have done it in order to increase her mobility to fight, but it gave me a brief glimpse of her porcelain white thighs–adding fuel to the fire of my Hysteria Mode.
「This is the formation of the chivalric order of Jeanne D’Arc, isn’t it? One leader and one knight.
「Fufu! That’s right. I guess that makes me the knight.」
Jeanne quipped, putting her hair up in a braid to signify she was ready to fight, much like she had done in the underground storage area.
Launching myself up onto the deck–
There, Patra waited for us, dressed in a swimsuit-like costume and a sparkling golden cobra crown.
Goodness, she seems like a veritable amazon! But with Jeanne and The Beast of Gévaudan behind me, I didn’t retreat a step.
With the moorings of the large ship unfastened, it moved slowly toward the curtain of the waterfall. Swaying slightly, the footing wasn’t so good.
「–Tohyama, leave this to me.」
With ice crackling as it covered the Durandal’s blade, Jeanne advanced.
Single combat between her and her fellow female knight– at least that was the impression I got as the Nazi uniformed girls who took refuge on the U-Boat shouted encouragement to Patra.
「Understood. I’ll take care of the rest.」
Looking down at us from the yard arm of the bonadventure mast was Typhoon Sarah…
I sensed her faint bloodlust and urged Lisa to turn around.
Jeanne and Patra are both very proud girls.
I don’t want to get caught up in a duel with a longbow, but I owe Sarah a grudge as she is the one who defeated my『Billiard』. I’m not good with snipers, but she is my opponent.
「Patra, back in I.U. you were my senior, but I won’t hold back. This is a battle of Far East War. Surely you cannot refuse.」
「–Quite naturally. I have always detested you of Daio. With the passing of the late Sherlock, I am free to chastise you properly. However, I shall not kill you. You could not serve of my Medjay, but despite your weakness, you should be capable of fulfilling the duties of a slave」
–『The Diamond Dust Witch』versus『The Sand Witch』–
There isn’t any sand around Patra like there usually is, but her crown and necklace transformed into a curved scimitar. A solid golden sword seemed insufficient to face the legendary sword Durandal, but even with that handicap– of the witches, Patra is the one with the greater presence. There isn’t any pyramid-shaped structure nearby, but she is pulling quite a bit of magical power from somewhere.
Overawed by Patra, I told Jeanne…
「Jeanne, you are not the same person as when you were in I.U. By fighting us and then Katze, you’ve certainly improved. Show that to Patra. I’ll be watching you.」
Leaving her with that, I cocked the hammer of my Beretta and leapt up with Lisa. Toward Sarah.
*************************************************
The descendant of Robin Hood, Sarah, the witch able to control the wind–
Lisa leapt up onto the mast, landing with a *Plop!*
Seeing no defence, Lisa simply pursued.
Defying the sheer momentum of a beast of prey, with a *Tap!* *Tap!*, Sarah bounded lightly from the yard arm toward the lookout.
Like the two S poles of a magnet, Sarah seemed to be repelled and keep her distance from Lisa… and I understand the trick. Sarah is manipulating the wind, keeping something like an air cushion between herself and Lisa. Each time she does it, she holds down her feathered hat to keep it from flying off– but the frenzied flapping of her chequered miniskirt is clear evidence of the fact.
Lisa’s claws and fangs and catching nothing but air, but Sarah cannot do anything but run. Sarah is an archer. Without giving her distance, she doesn’t have the time to nock an arrow, but bullets are not easily affected by the wind–
–*Bang!* I fired my gun, trying to get a lead on Sarah, but she had already loosed an arrow.
With only a slight manipulation, it intercepted my bullet– *Clang!*
『Billiard』…!
She had turned that fateful technique back on me. Even using a bow.
My opponent is a girl, and that makes me a bit nervous–
Despite the fact that we are chasing Sarah toward the prow, she seems a bit too eager.
Besides that, the swordfight between Jeanne and Patra unfolding below is diverting my attention.
*Whoom!*–
Something shot up from within the forecastle aimed at Lisa.
–Artillery!?
In my position as a rider, I couldn’t see what it was, but from the shock I felt pass through Lisa, it appeared to be some kind of artillery fire coming up from directly beneath.
With a howl, Lisa roared–
–and sh-shrank mid-air.
「…Lisa!」
Beneath, Lisa began to return to human form before my eyes, and I used my hands and feet to perform a shock-absorbing technique, Kikka, to push away from the collapsing forecastle.
「A…ooh… I-I apologise, Master…」
Clutching her abdomen, Lisa spoke in human speech– smoke went up from her golden body hair, and the front of her body… became bare skin. Her back from her butt down remained hairy, and she still had her tail.
Her flowing blonde hair stream out from between pointed ears. It was like something from the anime and manga that Riko likes, a dog-girl.
Thanks to her Gévaudan form, she was able to survive the attack, but from the looks of it, the damage was severe…
As she concealed herself with a curtain from the rubble, I looked around.
It wasn’t artillery.
Though I would have preferred that.
「There was a snake and an oni in Europe… I knew that. The snake, Patra’s cobra is here. I guess I guess I don’t have to wonder where the oni is.」
Saying that as I stood up and looked back over my shoulder–
I turned and scowled at the person who had just felled the Beast of Gévaudan with a kanabou that looked to weigh approximately 100 kg.
Large, brawny, and wearing an African-style colourful kimono… there was a female oni.
–Yen.
Huge. Both Ranbyou-sensei from LOGI and Kazumi Katori are bigger than me, but she is much larger than either of them. Her height is somewhere near 2 metres.
At the edge of my field of view, Sarah stirred slightly… Her chequered skirt fluttered as she set herself down onto the deck of the U-Boat.
Now I see. I thought that Lisa had been running away from the start, but now I realise that she had been leading us to Yen. Sarah had tricked me again.
*Drip!*…*Drip!* *Drip!*….*Drip!* *Drip!* *Drip!*
Carried along by the current, the tip of the ship began to enter the waterfall curtain.
「M-master…!」
The upper part of her body was hidden by the curtain, but her visible dog ears evinced worry–
「Yen, Lisa can’t fight any more. As her master, neither can I. But I can’t ask you to overlook both of us, can I? However, since there isn’t anyone else, I will be your opponent.」
For my part, I was worried about Lisa as I made this request to Yen.
Hearing that, she tilted her head in a confused expression–looking handsome despite the fact that she was a woman…
「Tohyama. Wouldst thou take care to tread upon a specific insect before thee, or wouldst thou tread upon everything alike?」
From her words, I got the impression that she had lost in interest in Lisa particularly.
As for the result, she seems willing to overlook Lisa…
But she is wrong. She is treating Lisa as an insect.
But because she brought Lisa down, I entered Hysteria Mode King Mode. It won’t help me to get too angry.
*Whooosh!*
The line of water falling into the ship began drawing closer to us.
「We’re headed to the open sea.」
「That is correct.」
「Then let’s start our bout on the other side of the waterfall. ‘Out with the oni’, as they say, so that would apply to yourself as well, I would assume?」1
「Ever since I have known the samurai Tohyama, thou hast said incomprehensible things.」
She said seriously while sluggishly moving her kanabou about… resting it lightly upon her shoulder like a large metal pipe.
「I wanted to ask you this before… You aren’t human, are you?」
「Indeed. Although I may appear as such.」
「Please excuse the rude question, but are you a woman?」
「Indeed. I am not hermaphroditic」
I did not understand some of what she said, but… when it comes to Hysteria Mode, it is important to know whether or not she is a woman. I don’t know whether or not an oni and a human can have offspring, but not knowing… I can’t let myself think too hard on it.
Given the fact that Yen can be seen as a woman, I have to fight her, holding in my heart that she is an oni.
…*Whooosh!*…
Standing on the starboard and port sides of the ruins of the forecastle, respectively, the waterfall washed over myself and Yen.
Then as the curtain of water hid us from each other’s sight–
I was already pointing my Beretta at Yen.
「Now then, let’s start this oni extermination.」
With a wink–*Bang!*
Without so much a flinching from the muzzle flash of my gun, Yen– *Snatch!*
With a small noise, she snatched up the bullet with the hand that didn’t hold her kanabou.
「Hm. It appears that there hath not been much improvement since the days of matchlocks.」
Still dripping wet, Yen pinched the bullet between her fingers and examined it…
Just now, she used something like my Zero, but based on a different principle, to stop my bullet.
She couldn’t have decelerated it entirely by hand!
「… How did you stop it? The bullet.」
I asked for clarification as drops of water fell from my bangs…
「Hm? It came at me quickly, and I grasped it in my hand.」
She replied with serious face and an answer that did not clarify anything at all.
Uh… Was it that natural for you, Yen? Or is it that you aren’t that intelligent?
At any rate, it appears that my gun is worse than useless. That does it for that.
「All over the world, people say that there is no such thing as onis… but that appears to be untrue. In my life, I’ve met 3.」
「Oh? On what occasion and with whom have you had these encounters?」
「As an original member of GRENEDA, shouldn’t you know, Yen? I fought Vlad in Yokohama, and the vampire Hilda in Oshiage. Vampires are onis, right?」
「Nay. Such talk is foolishness.」
Yen’s mouth turned down slightly.
「Onis are more clever than most, stronger than beasts, and are the ultimate beings of all living things. Those are just vampire bats unworthy to be called onis.」
… I see. If Hilda heard such a thing, she would be angry.
But what she said–
Coming from Yen, it sounded convincing.
She’s strong. Even though she’d not as big as Vlad, or as flashy as Hilda. This is raw, unmingled power–this oni walking toward me. That is the situation.
Analysing the combat potential of this unknown enemy is difficult, but it is a good assumption that she is strong. Just how strong is unclear.
In reality, she was able to knock Lisa and myself from the sky in a single blow.
I’m dead, even if I make a tiny mistake.
Even with Hysteria Mode a cold sweat broke out on my forehead, hopefully the drops of water from the waterfall will hide that…
「An oni… Yen, you are Habi’s associate, correct? So, do I understand correctly that this is a battle of representatives in FEW?」
I spoke to gain time while seeking to clarify the procedural implications of this fight.
Without answering my question, Yen held the palm of her hand toward me.
「A human shouldst not address Habi-sama without honorifics . Thou shouldst apologise.」
「Even if it is a request from a woman… generally, I do not do so for my enemies. It would feel like a betrayal.」
「… An affront to Habi-sama is an offense against the Heavens. Therefore, to thou, Tohyama, I will–bestow divine punishment!」
Her eyes literally changing to glow red as she glared at me…
Yen seemed to be greatly enraged by my words.
Right now… my time is up.
I haven’t come up with a way, but I will have to before long.
Oni-san, I’m more than willing to do so. I’ve already launched my pre-emptive strike.
Yen, last October on Empty Island, I saw that you were Habi’s subordinate… and that your loyalty was strong. That was about all the gossip I could gather.
「You presume too much. I will lay you low, Tohyama.」
Clenching her hands tight… Yen…
Slowly took up a stance.
But that stance is not found anywhere within human martial arts.
Her kanabou hung down in a waki stance. But it was on the left side of her body.
The posture was meant to conceal the weapon behind the body, but when brandished–
It was a stance with unfathomable power behind it that would launch me high into the sky. Of course, if the kanabou landed a direct hit, then my body would be destroyed and scattered in pieces in the air.
In contrast to the kanabou held low, her right hand was held wide, like a brown bear claw. Almost as if she intended to rip me to shreds with her claws. This isn’t any human form of hand-to-hand combat.
That wasn’t all within her stance that didn’t fit within human expectations, there was also her『head posture』and『facial posture』.
While scowling at me, her face was turned down and across from me, the two horns that sprouted from the centre and left side of her forehead were turned toward me and showing her fangs like a sulking child.
It looked like she was going to attack and gore me with her horns and bite me with her fangs… that was the entirety of her stance.
–Human strength combined with the strength of a large predator.
Is that the essence of an oni?
At least that is my understanding.
「… Understood. Due to my capture by GRENEDA, I suffered from a lack of exercise, but I just finished my calisthenics on the V-2.」
Compared to an oni, I am still human, so my stance has my left hand open and a gun in my right hand. Both my feet are in a defensive posture, and my centre of balance is slightly to the rear.
I learned the Tohyama family style from my father, the Butei style from Ranbyou, I was able to imitate Aria’s Baritsu and mix them all together to form my own style’s posture.
If it had a particular characteristic, it would be setup for a counter… the intent to『Follow-up』as it were.
「…Mine kanabou, Kongourokkaku,2 has the power of a thousand men– See it for yourself!」
In the next instant, facing a literal oni with the power of a single man, I took a step forward.
–*Bang!*–
Making as if I wasn’t going to use my gun– I fired an『Invisible Bullet』.
If I gave no sign that I was going to use my gun, I thought that she wouldn’t be able to catch it… but this was an oni. Raising the kanabou. It was easily blocked with a *Clang!*.
Then from the kanabou– *Whooooooooosh!*
A whirlpool from the space distorted by the explosive power flew toward me.
It was like a larger scale of my Ouka, a supersonic attack…!
But the swing speed of the kanabou wasn’t at the speed of sound, and my eye could follow it.
For just an instant, Yen corkscrewed the kanabou about its long axis at rapid speed, bringing the spines covering its surface up to supersonic speed.
At the explosive sound, Lisa lowered her head
「–!」
I crossed both my arms in front of my face as the debris was kicked up. Large pieces of rubble were blown off of the forecastle…
It appears that onis have mid-range attacks.
The shockwave released from the kanabou was like a tornado, in effect, a scaled version of Bewitching Blade’s Sakuga.
Raising my head for an instant–
「–!」
I realised Yen was at point-blank range.
From her posture, I deduced the kanabou’s trajectory and laid down as if to crawl.
*Whooooom!*–
With that noise, a whirled shockwave came off of the hexagonal kanabou and ripped the sail off of the bowsprit.
The kill-zone of the shockwave attack is limited to the area directly before it. If you think of it like a flamethrower, it isn’t impossible to predict.
On the downswing, I immediately pushed off with both arms and legs to evade it.
Flying through the air, the kanabou impacted on side of the forecastle with full force, causing the entirety of the magnificent 3000 tonne Nao de la China vessel to rock.
「…!…」
Out of necessity, I used Ouka to leap diagonally up toward the bow mast–
Even Jeanne and Patra, engaged in their own fight on the deck, were startled by the sound of Yen’s attack.
I wanted to flash the girls a smile, but I didn’t have that time. Yen was pursuing me like a whirlwind.
–She’s fast…!
Kicking off the mast, I could only escape to the yard from which the sail hung.
Yen– she is stronger than Vlad and faster than Aria. That is my opponent.
No matter how hysterised I am, I can’t sumo wrestle an elephant, or chase a cheetah and win. So, I will have to use my wits.
「–Rousing!」
Flourishing her fighting spirit in a husky cry, Yen stretched out her kanabou, Kongourokkaku–
In response, I nimbly bounded away with a *Whish!*
Then I alighted down onto the spined surface of the hexagonal prism. Now she can’t corkscrew it in a scaled Sakuga. Even if you did, I could oppose it by kicking in the opposite direction with Ouka, right?
「Fuhaha!」
Laughing, Yen met my smiling face.
*Whoosh!*
Using the force behind Yen’s swing, I sailed back up to the yards.
Because the harbour was as a protective bunker for the U-Boat, the masts of the sailing boat were constituted of several collapsible sections. The large mast was made of oak and copper…
If Yen fractures on of the ship seams, it will sink quite easily.
Yen is one the enemies that tried to kill me by drowning. Let her experience drowning for herself.
–With this true motive in mind, I climbed to the fore royal yard…
My opponent spun around easily and leapt up toward me.
From the deck to the top yard, the distance was more than 40 metres.
The ship was swept down the narrow canal-like waterway and out to the Atlantic.
The rising sun peeked out between the clouds, and the winds were in lull where the landward breeze was shifting to a sea breeze.
10 metres from the end of the yard, Yen crossed the distance toward me as I looked out over the land–
「–Man hath but 50 years on Earth–」3
… Whereupon she began to spin.
Without any warning.
She spread her hands out in place of a folding fan with her kanabou in hand.
「In the Fifth Heaven, ’tis but a phantasm of dreams, and nothing there doth not perish.」
This… is graceful and beautiful…
Enraptured, I lost track of all strategy.
This is–the Atsumori.
Fifty years’ time in the human world isn’t anything but a fleeting dream in the Heavens–that is the meaning of the lyrics accompanying her movement, and it is part of an old Japanese dance.
She is dancing in the middle of the duel.
Yen is… such an alluring woman.
Even with her rugged build.
「…Why do you not come down? Instead, you retreat higher and higher. You should come down– If thou hidest in the ship, it would be battle of lurking and hiding.」
The dancing Yen shouldered her kanabou as she spoke with a grave expression.
「It is due to a small issue within my own constitution.」
I answered while applauding her dancing.
However, that was not the reason I had in mind for not adopting Yen’s strategy…
I did not want to descend because I knew that she was not wearing any underwear beneath her kimono. The hem of her clothes was ridiculously short, such that looking up at her was an absolute no-go.
Yen, can’t you wear tiger fur underwear next time?
「What’s more, I couldn’t bring myself to harm a beautiful woman’s skin I have done as much as I could until now, but I will wrestle you to the ground gently. Please do not worry.」
「Thou hast accomplished naught, so do not boast over such small victory.」
Yen looked at me as if disgusted–
「Couldn’t I tell you the same thing? Why don’t you come at me seriously?」
This time I asked Yen a question.
To which Yen made an expression of『Don’t you understand?』with widened eyes.
「I doth not possess the leave of Habi-sama to fight.」
Standing up straight, she held up a palm in front of her, as if to halt me.
「Young warrior from Yamato, I hath acted hastily– until now. Be still now, Tohyama. We still hath time.」
Turning around and looking behind… underneath the low hanging clouds, just skimming the water…
…A bird?
No, it was a white airplane flying directly north-northeast.
But spotting the plane– its fuselage was shaped like a boat. It was a flying boat, capable of taking off and landing on the water’s surface. In order to prevent the engines from contacting the water, it had gull wings… If I had to give it a name, I would call it『Chayka』4, but there’s no doubt that it was a Be-12.
*Sploooosh!*… Pushing its way through the water with a noise and splashing down, Chayka’s still rotating propellers allowed it to taxi on the water as well. What appeared to be rocket launchers and depth charges were mounted under the wings, and the entire craft lack any military insignia… instead, an amethyst family crest was depicted. That–it looks like something I remember seeing in Brussels at Liberty Mason’s hidden lodge.
Coming alongside the ship, a hatch on the flying boat opened and a hook attached to a wire drove into the side– Using an electric pulley, it pulled in close to the gun port that Jeanne had frozen over–
Kaiser…!
Liberty Mason’s representative fighter, with whom I failed to reach an agreement in Brussels, stormed aboard.
If you cared to look, you’d see Watson in an identical coat, crossing to the upper deck.
On the upper deck, having exhausted her strength Jeanne was propping herself up with Durandal.
With her back toward Jeanne, Patra was stuck with her feet frozen in place… Watson pointed a Sig Sauer-P226 at her and she raised both hands.
Liberty Mason–
The must have detected the V-2 launch on radar or something.
Immediately afterwards, they must have rushed to the launch site from Amsterdam.
The fact that they were able to arrange the use of the flying boat must speak well of their organisational capacity.
「For Far East Warfare—the days of idle revelry hasteneth to a close. Tis my duty to watch over the fate of this war… We shall meet again after a time.」
Yen turned her back toward me.
「However, there is but one seasoned veteran with a body capable of matching oni in these current days. That is something of which to boast.」
Half turning back, she gave me a cool, but unnerving smile.
A single body… That was what she said, but even guns are ineffective.
「A final question, Tohyama. Who art thou?」
Diving from the mast into the ocean, Yen took her leave, but I didn’t want her to get away–
「I’m only a high school student. I am a bit below average and attending a rough school.」
–I didn’t want to lose sight of her, but I have to let her go.
If she were serious, everything would have gone to pieces, but now it appears that Kaiser has cornered someone else on the ship… They are trying to throw them self from the ship.
Standing on the fore royal yard in front, far below me on the hull–
A woman in a white robe was fumbling at a gun port, about plunge herself into the sea.
It was Loretta-san, the exorcist bishop from the Vatican who switched sides from DEEN to GRENEDA and used Meiya.
She must have been hiding aboard and delayed her own escape.
Being blind and in such ungainly clothing, she might tumble into the ocean– No, that was her plan.
Clutching a crucifix in front of her large bosom and reciting a scripture…
With a *Whoosh!*, her robes flared out in the air as she jumped, but I had jumped just a few moments earlier to catch her.
When I jumped off, I attached my belt wire to the hull of the ship, and now I hung suspended…
As she frantically glanced around in confusion with sightless eyes, I planted a small kiss on her cheek.
「Kyaa…!」
Stiffening with a jolt, she curled her body up spoke into her ear.
「What was is that Christ said?『Love thine enemy』, was it? Loving is my specialty.」
Softly, oh so softly, I whispered…
Kaiser’s upper body stuck out of the gun port, holding a gun in one hand and saying:
「Hi, Long time no see.」
Giving me a brittle smile.
This casual manner is a good sign.
********************************************************
Afterwards, several more『gulls』splashed down…
Originally Soviet anti-submarine patrol craft, they pinned down Everita’s U-Boat at the mouth of the river as it tried to make its escape.
Sarah had disappeared before anyone noticed, Watson had Katze captured in the V-2 capsule, and The Battle of Dragon Harbour turned into a surprise victory for DEEN.
I crossed over and knocked on the conning tower of the U-Boat.
「I thought so… you truly are a『cursed man』…!」
A swastika-shaped vein bulging on her forehead, Everita held out a white flag made from one of her underlings’ undergarments. As the leader, she must protect those behind her.
「No, it’s『Enable』.」
Everita really is a powerful woman. I didn’t kill Sherlock, G-3, or even Son, and this wouldn’t be the first time.
Onboard the flying boat as it headed to Amsterdam, I made my proper apologies to Kaiser for what happened in Brussels… I pilfered an enemy dress from Dragon Harbour for Lisa to wear, and now she slept softly like a log with her head in my lap.5
That afternoon we arrived in Amsterdam and was guided to Liberty Mason’s lodge–Set free since Dragon Harbour, Loretta-san was prostrate before Meiya, but they told me, somewhat embarrassingly:
「Don’t worry about it. You’ve also had a similar situation in your own organisation」
…To be honest, this whole difficult situation was due to my own stupidity.
Wasn’t I a problem child that they worried about in Butei High?
A Butei that falls into enemy traps easily lack attentiveness, awareness, and is seen as one who brings danger to his teammates.
Students lose trust in them, and they receive corporal punishment from the teachers.
Rather, the one who can catch the enemy in a trap is trusted and praised in a real fight.
What I mean is…
I have to be more careful.
This European expedition is a lesson.
I need to learn from it.
I died once, and that’s an expensive lesson.
Liberty Mason’s Lodge– it was about a 15-minute drive from the Grand Centraal Station where I went with Lisa the other day, at the top floor of the World Trade Building close to the port.
It was designed to display the architectural prowess of the Netherlands, a beautiful emerald-coloured building with a lattice of windowpanes.
Next, Lisa returned with a vast supply of food from Albert Heijn and cooked oversized Dutch portions of food in the lodge kitchen.
If you feed the defeated Patra, Everita, and Katze, they’ll just eat. I had eaten my way to the run raisin ice cream desert.
「…I have just been in contact with the Vatican. I will be transferred to the San Francesco monastery in Sicily. This is the final time that I shall see you, Tohyama-san…」
Loretta-san reported in a whisper after the meal.
「Sicily? I’ve seen it in『The Godfather』, but it was a beautiful island.」
At my wits end due to the older girl sitting beside me, and because my Hysteria Mode had run its course… I could only give such a boring farewell.
The Vatican is going to abandon her like a lizard’s tail into exile.
In order to save face for DEEN and GRENEDA and ensure the result of FEW– was Loretta-san being forced to take the blame after she had accomplished her task?
Well, that’s the ugly side of a corporation… In Japanese companies, involuntary demotions are an everyday occurrence. In short, you have absolutely no luck.
That might be why she employed a luck strengthening fighter, Meiya. Jeanne says that Luck and Misfortune exist in some kind of balance.
******************************************************
DEEN escorted the captured members of GRENEDA from『Dragon Harbour』to Amsterdam, but of the executive class– there was only Patra, Everita, and Katze.
As GRENEDA’s representatives in Europe, they have requested cease-fire negotiations with DEEN… and Liberty Mason has accepted.
The reality approaches a complete victory of FEW for DEEN, making this a de factor post-war discussions.
Still at large, there remained several representative soldiers: Yen, Habi, and Sarah. Post cease-fire, the mercenary duo of Demon Sword and Bewitching blade would respect the outcome of the war.
But I’ll leave these hard conversations to the adults, Kaiser and Everita.
I don’t really have a head for anything except fighting, so I’ll take a break here.
The soldier’s work is over, and now it’s time for the politicians to take over.
The very top of the WTC, the 27th floor opened up into a terrace.
The terrace had a good view… because of the elevation, I could see the entire Dutch countryside, already darkened due to the fact that 4 o’clock had already passed. The view was unobstructed due to the country’s lack of mountains.
Then after a sigh–
「Oi, Tohyama.」
Katze, who also appeared to have nothing to do with anything but fighting, approached with Edgar on her shoulder.
「..Is everything alright with the cease-fire negotiations? It’s been a while.」
「I’m not very good at such complex talks. As Everita-sama said, having too many mouths can be a disadvantage, so she told me to leave my seat. I was prepared to be executed by firing squad, but now she seems to have reconsidered.」
While saying that, Katze made a slightly embarrassed face…
「Instead, it seems that Regiment Hex will be transferred between several DEEN military bases under some conditions.」
She was sorry for her comrades.
That’s why Everita was the one surrendering. For Katze?
Even if they are cold-blooded Nazi leaders, they are still children.
Thinking back to the German ethno-hotel in Chamonix and the Musée de la Guerre, Katze was well-liked by everyone.
Does that mean that she is trying to save Katze’s popularity?
That’s an easily enviable position. My popularity is non-existent.
Then, in the Netherlands, where snow is almost unheard of… stray flakes of snow began to fall.
「–Oh, the weather outside is frightful–But the fire is so delightful–」
Looking up, Katze began to sing Vaugh Monroe’s Let it Snow! Let it Snow! Let it Snow!
But it was in the language hostile to the Nazi party, English.
What’s the meaning of the song? Is the message『I surrender』without saying those words?
It was both a cute and fitting declaration from my worthy opponent Katze.
「It doesn’t show signs of stopping–」
「(And I brought some corn for popping–」
It played at the end of the English film『Die Hard』, and I had already used『Cuckoo』to memorise to words, so I joined in singing with Katze. Now we faced each other smiling.
Katze. If you think about it, we’ve been through a lot together. The Hong Kong tanker and the fall from the Zeppelin NT. Working together to reach Chamonix from Mount Blanc, the fight at the Musée de la Guerre, and the V-2.
This song is one for a reluctant parting on a snowy day–
This is a particularly good way for each of us, whose only skill is fighting, to reach our own cease-fire.
「「Let it snow! Let it snow! Let it snow!–」」
Ending in different octaves, the song came to a close…
Smiling cutely, Katze looked up at me.
「So, what will you do after this, Tohyama?」
「I plan to go back to Japan before long. I still have classes in school.」
「Oh…」
「What are you going to do?」
I asked what the representative soldier planned to do with herself in the post-war period…
「Water just flows, Tohyama.」
Trusting herself to the flow of events. That’s the impression I got from her answer.
Well, I do much the same.
「Ah, now then… As part of the negotiations, I’ll return this.」
Saying that…
Katze removed something from her eyepatch, that was actually an accessory case–
–Aria’s Karagane.
Taking it out, she handed it over.
Karagane was the shell of the『Hidan』that Sherlock fired into Aria while at I.U.
It is an ESP shield to prevent one’s personality from being taken over by Hihiirokane.
There were originally 7, and some of them were stolen by GRENEDA and only 4 remain… Now I was able to reclaim the 5th. I should be able to get one more back from Patra.
I thought I lost it in the fall to Mount Blanc.
「Depending on what happens, we may cross paths again. Japan is an old ally after all!」
Saying this, she replaced her eyepatch…
From the look in her eyes, it seems that she hasn’t entirely given up on her plan to transform me into her familiar. However, a definitive refusal her would be uncouth.
Instead, I remained silent as the light snow fell and blew about upon Amsterdam.
**************************************
A few days later, I stood in the Amsterdam Airport Schiphol.
I was in front of the Philips signboard and the same picture of Cezanne’s『People Playing Cards』as in the Paris Airport on the day I arrived in Europe…
Sitting on a bench, I waited for KLM flight 861 to Narita.
This is one of Europe’s largest airport, but I didn’t lose my way and found my departure gate. That was due to the familiarity with airports gained in Haneda, Narita, Hong Kong, and Paris. I might even be able to make my way in and out of a country by myself.
Jeanne and Watson remained behind to finish up the cease-fire negotiations, but–
「Master, please have these Nissin cup noodles. Japanese cup noodles are very popular as snacks in the Netherlands.」
The maid, Lisa, said while offering me a cup of noodles and a plastic fork.
Lisa was now wearing a sailor suit uniform and happily sitting beside me with a smile on her face…
Now she’s coming. To Japan.
For some reason I don’t understand, she was foisted upon me as a condition of the cease-fire. According to Kaiser, it is a time-honoured tradition to take some convenient people like Lisa as a sort of spoils of war as part of a post-war settlement. What’s more, Lisa had always wanted to come with me.
But I couldn’t do anything about it, and as the one on the receiving end of this exchange were entirely ignored by everyone else in DEEN. Didn’t I contribute to this victory?
However… she might have come anyway. Lisa, that is. I don’t even really have a reason to push her away.
I also showed her around the various places within the shopping district-like interior of the airport, and this was a perfectly suited support role for someone like me who leads a rough life…
…That was the case here. But there is one more person like this. And they are in Japan.
Obviously, my childhood friend, Shirayuki Hotogi-san.
I still don’t know quite where or why, but she has some kind of switch where she becomes a fierce berserker god, scarier than Yen–an unpredictable ideal Japanese beauty swinging a katana around.
In such a case, everything around me suffers harm, and the girl (and myself by getting involved in it) play out in a predictable manner. Empirically, it has been shown that Lisa is capable of the same violent national level emergency as that of the volcanic Mt. Shirayuki, as confirmed and meticulously detailed by Tohyama Observatory.
Yup.
I’m dead. Because I’m with Lisa.
This is checkmate.
But I am the man who makes the impossible, possible. What is a checkmate? Even in shogi, if you are checkmated there is always something you can do besides upsetting the board. I did it with Kaname, after all.
I’ll think about my Shirayuki countermeasures afterwards. Tohyama Charter: Article 2–『Worry about hard problems later.』
If it comes to the Third Great War of My Dorm, Lisa can turn into Gévaudan, and she just might be able to handle it herself. Yes, leave it for others to take care of. I should make that Article 3 of the Tohyama Charter.
「Master, it will be time to board soon. We should board.」
I slurped up the last of the cup noodle broth, and Lisa handed over a handkerchief to wipe around my mouth…
My European campaign has come to a close.
2 people were shown playing cards in Cezanne’s『People Playing Cards』behind me as I stood up– I was a part of DEEN, and Lisa was a part of GRENEDA.
Watson had likened FEW to a card game, but even since the Taisho Era, before she was a child, DEEN and GRENEDA had been involved in some kind of『war』.
Is it still the same 86 years later?
Taking this wry laugh as a final remembrance of the Netherlands, I boarded KLM flight to take off into the blue sky.
Farewell war-torn Europe.
I have a feeling that I will be coming back again, but next time please be a little gentler.
[END]
**************************************************
1. Reference to Satsubun, the Japanese bean throwing festival. At this festival, certain people dress up as onis, and whenever they try to enter a house or room, children throw beans at them, shouting ‘out with the oni, in with good fortune’. This is supposedly supposed to bring good luck, and the shout is what Kinji is referencing.
2. Literally: Adamantine Hexagon
3. A saying attributed to Oda Nobunaga. Supposedly said to a general who said that the odds in a battle were too great. MEaning is to the effect of ‘Carpe diem’
4. Russian for ‘seagull’.
5. Original says ‘sleep like mud’. It is reference to a yokai that lives in the sea. It’s name is the same Kanji for ‘mud’, and when it leaves the water, it slows down to the point of immobility.
