Fremd Torturchen - Volume 3 - Chapter 2

2

A Moonlit Banquet

No matter how stagnant it may seem, time always marches on at the same fixed pace.

At the end of the battle, the sun had set, and night had finally arrived. The capital, cruelly transformed as it had been, was concealed behind a thin curtain of darkness. While it was likely only temporary, the mass of flesh had stopped expanding as well. Perhaps having sensed the decrease in available citizens to use as fresh materials, it had also stopped indiscriminately attacking.

“…That felt like it took a lifetime.”

Off in one of the square’s nooks, Kaito muttered to himself. However, all the events that had occurred up until then had taken place in an almost bizarrely short period of time. There had simply been too many bloodstained tragedies, causing his sense of time to be completely distorted. And he likely wasn’t the only one.

At long last, the defenders had finally gotten some time they could use to take stock.

However, the battle was far from over.

Countless drops rained down upon the pavement. Drawn in by the noise, Kaito lifted his head.

When he did, he saw a cylinder of white light appear around a handful of people, then transform into droplets and fall to the ground.

When the light faded, the people who had been standing there were nowhere to be seen. The Church’s teleportation circle was operating without rest. However, someone must have determined that transporting everyone present within the day was impossible, as one of the circles was being used to bring in troops and supplies from outside the capital.

Using the newly delivered grain, the Church’s nuns immediately got to work cooking gruel. The people waiting in line for the teleportation circle, having temporarily overcome their panic that had arisen out of nearly being slaughtered, voluntarily offered up their assistance.

Sending them off with thankful gazes, the priests in charge of the teleportation circle took turns expending their mana. Beads of sweat welled up on their foreheads. And the people in charge of the barrier were even more exhausted still.

I guess battles aren’t only fought on the battlefield.

However, Kaito was unable to assist them.

The mana he currently possessed didn’t solely originate from Elisabeth’s blood; he himself had generated a large supply as well. But he’d obtained it from pain as a result of his contract with the Kaiser. It was incompatible with priests’ mana, which the talented among them could obtain by collecting energy within themselves that they’d accumulated from prayer and that was apparently also called spiritual energy. And although he’d wrapped his beastly arm in cloth so as to avoid scaring anyone, there was a chance it would unravel if he lent a hand distributing the rations.

…Man, it hurts to admit it, but I really am part evil now, huh?

As Kaito thought earnestly, he suddenly found warm steam gently caressing his cheek.

Frantically, he looked up. Upon inspection, he discovered a chipped bowl of vegetable gruel floating in front of his face, and there was even a wooden spoon. One of the Church’s nuns was holding it out to him with an affectionate smile.

“A blessing from God. Please have some.”

“Wh…? U-um, I really shouldn’t—”

“Don’t be silly. If you don’t eat, your body won’t hold out.”

The young nun firmly pushed the bowl into his hands.

Kaito frantically shook his head to stop her. The word inquisition flashed through his head, as well as the various fanatical, exhaustive, scornful things Clueless had said about heretics. Godot Deus’s attitude toward Kaito and Elisabeth hadn’t exactly been friendly, either. That was simply the way the Church’s representatives were.

If that was the case, then what was this nun’s angle?

Bewildered by the unexpected turn of events, Kaito avoided meeting the nun’s gaze.

Why would someone from the Church come give me gruel? Is it poisoned? Could there be poison in it? Could there?

Then Kaito noticed something.

Magical flames lit up the plaza from within a number of containers. The flames posed no risk of accidentally causing a fire, and their golden light served to warm those present. Amid the firelight, the nuns were walking about and distributing the gruel.

It seemed they were handing it out not just to Kaito but to everyone who lacked the energy to go get it themselves.

Kaito gazed dumbfoundedly at the proceedings. The nuns’ faces as they recited words of prayer and concern for those present were filled with genuine kindness, the type Kaito had never experienced back when he was alive. Even though they were dealing with the Kaiser’s contractor, it was difficult to see their actions as malicious.

But if that was the case, then Kaito found himself with all the more reason not to meet her gaze.

Won’t it cause trouble for her if anyone finds out she was nice to a demon’s contractor? Wait…could it be that she doesn’t know who I am?

With that thought, Kaito was finally satisfied. After all, his left arm was currently concealed by a bundle of cloth. While his military uniform would make it difficult for him to be mistaken for one of the townsfolk, he could easily have been confused for one of the mages simply taking a breather.

It that case, what should I do?

The nun’s feelings would probably be hurt if she found out later that he’d been the Kaiser’s contractor. He was at a loss. However, he didn’t want to frighten her. And he didn’t want to refuse the rare kindness.

Ultimately, he ended up taking the bowl with his right hand.

“I’ll take you up on that. Thanks for the food.”

“No, thank you for this afternoon. May God’s protection be with you.”

After closing her eyes and praying for him, the nun smiled again. Then she left, her thick black veil fluttering as she went. Taken aback, Kaito watched her go.

Apparently, she had known who he was. And even so, she’d brought the food just for him.

“…Well, that was nice.”

After nodding a few times, Kaito began scooping the gruel into his mouth. A weak, salty flavor spread across his tongue. However, after a moment, the sweetness of the grain and the vegetables began to sink in.

Due to the abuse he’d suffered in life, Kaito’s sense of taste was weak. As long as it didn’t have detergent or poison in it, he could eat just about anything. Despite that, although it didn’t compare to the home-cooked meals his beloved Hina prepared for him, he felt that the gruel’s flavor was more than decent. Warmth began to spread throughout his empty stomach.

Then he finally realized how hungry he’d been.

“Even after forming a contract with a demon, I still get hungry, huh?”

After muttering to himself, Kaito tilted the bowl up and downed the rest of the gruel. Well aware of how poor his table manners were, he stubbornly scraped at the last few beads of grain with his spoon.

Then he thought back to a similar scene he’d witnessed just a few days prior.

A catlike figure scraping persistently at the bottom of an earthenware pot floated across his mind.

Hmm… Now that I think about it, where’d she go?

Standing up, he quickly looked around. However, the person he was looking for was nowhere to be seen. Given the fact that he’d have immediately been able to pick her out had she crossed his field of vision, it seemed unlikely she was picking up gruel.

After pondering for a moment, Kaito set off and rejoined the end of the ration line.

When he reached the front of the line, he handed his bowl back to the old witchy nun and made his request.

“Um, the woman I’m with hasn’t eaten yet. Would it be possible for me to get another bowlful?”

Snorting out of her hook nose, the nun cast a sharp glance at Kaito’s left arm.

Pierced by her gray, knifelike gaze, he unconsciously straightened his posture. However, after a heavy silence, the nun shook her head slightly and refilled the bowl.

Apparently, she intended to feign not having noticed anything.

“…Thanks a bunch.”

There were two meanings behind the way he thanked her, and after he had, he walked away. With the warm, steaming bowl in hand, he surveyed the plaza. However, as he’d expected, the woman he was looking for was still nowhere to be seen.

“Dammit, Elisabeth, where’d you get off to?”

In search of the Torture Princess’s bewitching figure, Kaito set off once more.

“Ow, hey!”

About half an hour later, Kaito found himself being practically kicked out of the entrance of the plaza by the paladins.

Behind him, he could hear the gate loudly closing. He had been well and truly locked out.

After somehow avoiding toppling over, Kaito guarded the bowl in his right hand to avoid letting any of the gruel within fall out. Brushing his bangs to the side and wiping away his sweat, he turned back to look over his shoulder.

“I get that you’re impatient and all, but would it kill you to be a little gentler?!”

Nobody replied to his angry outburst. The only response the row of paladins offered was their silence.

Livid, Kaito ground his teeth. However, at the same time, he understood why they’d driven him so roughly from the plaza.

After noticing Elisabeth’s absence, Kaito had walked around the square in search of her.

Drawing no small share of dirty looks, Kaito looked in every last tent, eventually going so far as to check under desks. Even so, he couldn’t find her.

As a last resort, he asked the paladins manning the perimeter if they’d spotted her. As a result, he discovered that she’d taken off on her own and was kicked out and tasked with bringing her back.

“As much as you hate us, you still want me to bring her back. If you understand how badly you need our help, you could at least try to treat us like we’re on your side, don’cha think? Although…I can understand why you’re so pissed off.”

Kaito mumbled to himself, then stole one last fleeting look at the paladins.

Seeing their tense figures clad in their silver armor, he swallowed.

At the moment, most of the barrier’s maintenance was being carried out by the priests, releasing the paladins from their heavy, unaccustomed responsibility. However, just like during the afternoon, they were still guarding the perimeter in a state of high alert.

While they were helping to supply the priests with mana, they were also serving as human shields. They were prepared for the fact that if the underlings pressed the attack, they would immediately lose their lives.

However, the Torture Princess had simply forced her way through them.

On top of all that, her servant had come nonchalantly strolling by with a bowl of gruel in one hand.

…Man, I was lucky I didn’t just get punched.

Realizing that the paladins could hardly be blamed for the way they’d treated him, Kaito heaved a sigh.

Then he made his way once more down the road.

With the plaza at his back and moans coming from the mass of flesh behind it, Kaito strode forth.

Earlier, Elisabeth had told Kaito that many of the capital’s residents were wealthy, particularly those who lived not in the mercantile or industrial zones but in the dedicated residential district.

The proof of her words lay in the beautiful townscape stretching out before him. Each row of houses was ornamented with different-colored bricks, the hedges facing the main drag were beautifully maintained, and white stone staircases led up to the porches of the homes.

It reminded Kaito of the touristy European suburbs he’d once caught a glimpse of on TV. However, the colorful, flower-laden townscape was currently steeping in an ominous silence.

Not a single person was in sight. Fortunately, though, nor were any underlings.

Back at the square, the paladins had selected the able-bodied from among those who’d sought shelter and sent their best men along with them to escort them out of the capital. They’d probably done a sweep of the underlings along their path.

Thanks to that, I should be fine, even with the gruel tying up one of my hands.

No longer fearful of dropping the gruel, Kaito energetically picked up the pace. Each time he neared an alley, he stopped, then peeked around its corner. However, he didn’t find so much as a single stray kitten.

It seemed that, for the time being, he was alone.

The moment he realized that, an overwhelming silence filled his ears.

“…Here should be fine. And it’s not like I’ll really be able to chat him up once I’ve found Elisabeth.”

Muttering to himself, Kaito temporarily paused his search.

After fretting for a moment, he let out a low voice from deep in his throat, one that sounded almost like a stranger’s.

“Kaiser.”

“You called, O unworthy master of mine?”

Darkness swirled in front of him. Thin strands of darkness spun together to form supple muscles and fine, velvety fur. Before long, a black dog as tall as the roofs of the nearby houses had materialized. While it was gigantic by nature, it could change its size at will.

The monstrous beast glared down at Kaito, his eyes glimmering with blazing hellfire.

Facing the magnificent hound that housed the Kaiser, Kaito posed a question to him without any trace of fear.

“There’s something I wanted to ask you.”

“What do you wish to know?”

The Kaiser’s response was the very image of servility. Kaito scowled at the snide canine.

“Why didn’t you pitch in when the underlings launched their surprise attack?”

Back then, the Kaiser could have woven his way through the obstructing humans and hunted down the underlings with ease. Despite that, he hadn’t shown his face.

For a moment, silence descended upon them. However, the Kaiser quickly snorted in derision.

“The answer is simple. I have no objections to destroying other demons to demonstrate my power. But why should I, the supreme Kaiser, be made to hunt mere underlings in the service of some humans? That is no task for a hound of my caliber. Are you such a fool that you would use a cannon to destroy an ant?

Geh-heh-heh-heh-heh-heh, fu-heh-heh-heh-heh-heh, geh-heh-heh-heh-heh-heh.

The Kaiser laughed in a voice that resembled a human’s. Kaito narrowed his eyes, as though challenging the Kaiser.

“I’m your contractor. Isn’t it your job to lend me your help when I ask for it?”

“Don’t put on airs, boy. You are my master, my catalyst, my tool, and my flesh. I am not the one being kept. Would you rather I consume you here and now?”

“…Oh, I see. So you’re gonna eat your contractor up, lose your link to our world, and go running back home just as soon as you got here. You’d be the laughingstock of humanity. Nobody’s ever gonna wanna summon you again. Go on, do it. That’d be funny as hell, wouldn’t it?”

Anyone who knelt before a demon would quickly find their head crushed. Kaito instinctively knew that trembling and abasing himself before the Kaiser would be the height of folly.

That was precisely why Kaito was acting so haughty. As he spoke, a dull, heavy sound rang out.

Kaito’s left arm had vanished from the elbow down.

“…Huh?”

Blood gushed forth onto the stone pavement. The sole reason he was able to avoid dropping the bowl of gruel was that the fingers on his right hand had stiffened out of shock, in what could only be described as a miracle.

In front of Kaito’s bewildered eyes, the Kaiser spat something out. A lump of meat tumbled into the pool of blood with a heavy splash, and the black cloth wrapped around it came loose. Kaito stared at it, dumbfounded.

The human arm, which had been largely transformed into that of a beast, seemed almost completely foreign to him.

…Wait, that’s my arm, isn’t it?

The moment that delayed realization set in, an acute pain ran through his nerves.

“—Rrk!”

Kaito immediately choked back a scream. Before that point, he’d tasted the sharp pain of death hundreds of times over. However, even he was weak to surprise attacks.

Closing his eyes, Kaito repeated two words again and again in his mind.

Settle down, settle down, settle down, settle down, settle down! This is nothing.

By purposely tasting it and acclimating himself to it, Kaito tamed the pain.

A few seconds later, he’d completely regained his composure.

The Kaiser’s lip twisted slightly, as though in admiration.

“Oh-ho.”

Stooping down, Kaito set down his bowl on the surface of the road.

It was, in a sense, foolish how he immediately prioritized the gruel’s safety. He snapped his fingers. His spilled blood burst into crimson flower petals. They gathered at his wound, then returned to his body. Afterward, he picked up his left arm and pressed it against the cross section. His bare flesh and bones came into contact, and they made a splatting sound as he crushed them against each other.

“—La (return).”

Darkness and azure flower petals enclosed them as a crude adhesive surface. Bone, flesh, and the fibers of his clothes all stretched out as though hundreds of tiny, ghastly hands had sprouted from them. They became intertwined, fusing together.

In the end, it had all returned to its original state.

Kaito immediately fixed his gaze on the Kaiser.

“You good now, Kaiser? You really gotta do something about that temper of yours.”

“And you ought to do something about your habit of carelessly prodding your own beast… Hmm, it seems your spirit is unbroken. And I see your madman’s guise is intact as well. Very well. Twisted as you are, I shall forgive your insolence. However, what do you intend to do about the contradiction you bear, O unworthy master of mine?”

The Kaiser flopped heavily onto his stomach. Resting his chin on his crossed forepaws and finally taking a proper pose to hold a conversation, he posed his question to Kaito.

Kaito tilted his head at the sudden inquiry. The Kaiser blew air that reeked of rust out through his nose, then gave a throaty laugh.

“What, fool, had you not realized it? You are contractor to a demon, the very embodiment of power designed to destroy the world. Yet, you save others, receive their gratitude, and feel serenity. Absurdities upon absurdities. Such absurd, unsalvageable contradictions. Shame on you, boy.”

“…You were watching that?”

“And laughing all the while. You put on quite the unpleasant, unseemly show.”

The Kaiser snorted mockingly again, blowing fumes in Kaito’s face that smelled distinctly of blood. Kaito clenched his fists as he cast his gaze down. The Kaiser was right. Given his power and situation, his actions were contradictory beyond belief.

As Kaito mulled over that, the Kaiser went on.

“In time, that contradiction will become as a stake and pierce through your chest. Not unlike that woman destined for the stake.”

“Elisabeth.”

Kaito responded to that part alone. He turned his thoughts to her inescapable fate.

After they overcame their current predicament, Elisabeth would be burned at the stake. And given that he was her servant and contractor to the Kaiser, the fact that he hadn’t hurt anyone wouldn’t be enough to let Kaito escape being executed as well.

No matter how many good deeds she piled up, it was too late for the Torture Princess to be forgiven.

Kaito bit down on his lip a little. The Kaiser, watching him, laughed in a low voice.

“The power of demons is supreme, and it is first attained when one extends their hand past the limits of avarice and desire. Do not mistake that, boy. One who forgets their greatest wish is naught but a fool masquerading as a saint. Accumulation of Seventeen Years’ Pain, I— Hmm? It would be inconvenient were I seen, as I care little for the squeaking of mice.”

The Kaiser said no more as his silhouette collapsed and his steely muscles and fine fur gently dissolved. He then vanished into a spiral of darkness, the afterglow of his hellfire the last to go.

Wait, what just happened?

Furrowing his brow, Kaito looked up in surprise. He saw a crooked shadow approaching from the end of the road. Worried that it was an underling, Kaito put up his guard. However, the shadow turned out to belong to two paladins.

Due to the fact that one of them had been supporting the other’s shoulder, the pair collectively appeared to be a monster for a split second.

Their gait was unsteady.

Did somehow aiding in the evacuation efforts get them injured and force them to come back early?

With that as his hypothesis, Kaito began calling out to the two.

“Are you oka—?”

“Come on, walk… I get how you feel, but we can’t avoid headquarters forever. And unless you want someone to find us, you gotta stop that crying.”

“Dammit…dammit, dammit… Dammit all to hell!”

Hearing their conversation, Kaito frantically shut up. Apparently, the two of them had temporarily slipped away from the square. On top of that, the one being supported was wailing and striking himself in the head with the hand not wrapped around his partner’s shoulder. He was clearly in some sort of addled state.

Ah, shit, that’s not good.

Glancing around, Kaito slipped through a gate someone had left open during their escape. Squatting behind a hedge, he balled his body up as small as he could.

After all, there was no shortage of people who would bear animosity toward the Torture Princess’s servant.

And I doubt that guy wants anyone to hear him crying.

Cautiously peeking through the hedge, Kaito looked out toward the road. Of all the places the two could have chosen, the two paladins ended up stopping almost directly in front of him. Kaito held his breath to avoid being discovered.

Not noticing him, one of the paladins whispered as he tried to stop his coworker from harming himself.

“Come on, we can get them to let you rest with the injured. At least head to the first aid station until you’ve settled—”

“Don’t be an idiot! The new kids would be anxious even in the best of situations; I can’t let them see me like this! …Goddammit, dammit… That was horrible… Dammit, I’m sorry, I’m sorry… Ahhhhhh, forgive me… I can’t… I can’t keep this up…”

After regaining his senses, the paladin’s cries grew even fiercer.

As he sobbed, his legs got tangled up and he toppled over. However, his panic didn’t abate. Crawling along the ground as he cried, he curled into a ball and began vomiting.

Kaito couldn’t blame him. He really couldn’t.

The reason he feels so guilty is probably because of what happened at the end of the search-and-rescue operation in the area around the fleshy mass.

That was Kaito’s hypothesis.

The search-and-rescue operation for the people who hadn’t been able to get out in time had finished around sundown.

Although that mission had concluded, their work was far from over. If they’d looked between the buildings a bit more, they probably would have been able to find many more of the residents.

In spite of that, though, the mission had been aborted.

The reasoning was the fact that too many of the rescuers had been exhausted.

Kaito, too, had participated in the mission, and he thought back to the events that had taken place midway through it.

Most people who fell victim to demons met fates that were beyond description. The Church’s staffers were well aware of that, and the paladins had likely made peace with that fact beforehand. However, the way the victims in the capital had been transformed was ghastlier than anyone had imagined.

What had been particularly horrific was the state of the small theater designed for the children of wealthy merchants to hold singing recitals at. The Church had invested in the construction of the building—and as a result, had been able to place restrictions on what could be performed there—which boasted a grand design. Its delicate stained-glass windows cast vivid lights onto the stage. When the mass of flesh had burst through the wall behind the boys and girls lined up on the stage, it had devoured them from the waists down and merged all their brains and organs together.

They’d been transformed into blasphemous, repulsive objets d’art, completely unrecognizable as human. Heightening the horror of the scene was a statue of the bloody tear–shedding Saint hanging from the domed ceiling, symbolically watching over them.

Each time they were cut, the children cried out, occasionally lending their youthful voices to cherubic, haphazard songs.

That was more than enough to stay the hands of the warriors sent to dispatch them, especially the paladins, the Holy Knights. The experience shattered their resolve.

In the end, the duty of butchering the children fell to Elisabeth.

She was the only one who never averted her eyes from the children’s tragic figures.

After that, no small number of young knights had fallen into critical states of psychological agitation.

There were probably still survivors out there, hiding and trembling after having witnessed scenes of comparable atrocity. However, given the fact that the fighting was slated to grow only more severe going forward, they couldn’t risk using up any remaining personnel.

As a result, the search-and-rescue mission had been aborted.

Even Kaito agreed that decision had needed to be made.

However, there were still people like the paladins he had spotted who were weighed down with unbearable guilt.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry. Arghhhhhhhh!”

Even so, apologizing isn’t going to make any difference. If I were one of the residents, nothing they said could make me forgive them.

No matter how much they asked for forgiveness, to the people who’d been abandoned, the decision to stop searching for survivors meant everything. There was no doubt that those people resented the world as much as Kaito had in his past life, if not many times more.

Kaito understood all that, so much so that it hurt. However, he could also appreciate the feelings of those who couldn’t abide by not apologizing.

As if to comfort him, the other paladin rubbed his vomiting colleague’s back.

“…Yeah, man. That was horrible, all right. I’d never seen a place as close to Hell as that.”

“People…people looking like that… Ahhhhhhh! It’s sacrilege. Sacrilege, all of it. Saint, God, why didn’t you protect them? So cruel; it’s too cruel… And on top of that, why did we have to be the ones to do it? With our own hands, our own swords! Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh!”

Clutching his head, the paladin screamed. He banged his head against the stone pavement over and over.

“This isn’t what our swords are meant for. It isn’t, it isn’t, it isn’t. No, no, ahhhh. Don’t look at me; don’t look at me like that!”

“Come on, settle down. I understand how you feel, but you have to get a grip. Please, you have to stop.”

The other paladin held him, though his shoulders were trembling as well.

Kaito found himself on the verge of leaping out from behind the hedge. Wanting to tell them that they’d done nothing wrong, he spontaneously gathered strength in his knees.

As he did, though, the paladin rubbing his screaming comrade’s back—with questionable effect, as they were both wearing armor—spoke up again.

“I can’t accept our commander’s decision—why not just make the Torture Princess handle the underlings?”

Wait…what’d he just say?

Kaito could feel a chill spreading through his head. Because of the abuse he’d suffered in life, anytime his negative emotions crossed a certain threshold, their intensity would decline. In their place, he would regain his presence of mind and become calm.

Kaito pictured the expression on Elisabeth’s face back at the theater.

“How pitiable you all are. Go now to your rest.”

As she ruthlessly finished them off as gently as she could, Elisabeth had been the only one who never averted her eyes.

The Torture Princess was the only one who’d witnessed that tragedy in its entirety.

“This isn’t what our swords are meant for! We should just leave stuff like that to the person already burdened with sin!”

Geh-heh-heh-heh-heh-heh, fu-heh-heh-heh-heh-heh, geh-heh-heh-heh-heh-heh.

The Kaiser’s laughter echoed inside Kaito’s ears. His voice sounded both contemptuous and disturbingly human.

The fur on Kaito’s left arm bristled, and the hem of his long black outfit rustled as he stood. He tore across the lawn with magically enhanced strides, reaching the gate in an instant.

As he did, a dull strike rang out.

“…Huh?”

Kaito reflexively stopped in his tracks. Hiding himself behind the gatepost, he peered out into the street.

There, he saw something wholly unexpected.

The paladin who’d suggested they should leave killing the underlings to the Torture Princess had collapsed onto the pavement, and blood was running from his nose. A beautiful woman with silver hair and red drops dripping from her gauntleted fist was standing in front of him.

Izabella Vicker resembled a sharp, refined sword as she spoke in a low voice.

“Is that all you had to say?”

“…C-commander!”

“We are the swords of the Church, the blades of the Saint, and the shields of the people. If we do not save the innocent who suffer, if we do not kill the underlings…then who exactly do we expect to bear that burden?”

“Like I said, the Torture Princess—”

“You would have us entrust those we ought save to another?!”

Izabella roared at the fallen paladin. Her cold, blazing rebuke echoed loudly. Timidly gulping, the paladin shook his head. However, he continued his complaint, his voice practically a shriek.

“But killing civilians…it’s horrible. This is—”

“What the hell did I tell you?!”

Izabella grabbed the man’s collar through a gap in his armor. He was taller and brawnier than her, yet she hoisted him into the air with ease. His internal turmoil must have bubbled over, as tears began trailing down his face alongside the blood from his nose.

Facing his emotional gaze head-on, Izabella shouted.

“You all should feel no guilt in slaying those warped people! If there is any blame to be had, then as the one who gave the order, I shall bear it, and I alone! When the time comes, the Saint’s forgiveness will guide you to God’s side. The people you slew could surely have no objections to that!”

“Ma’am…Commander Izabella.”

“Throw out your chest with pride and shed tears no more! I won’t forgive any who hold your actions against you, even if it’s you yourselves. And as for you…”

“Ma’am, yes, ma’am! My apologies, my deepest apologies! I just, I…”

The other paladin leaped to attention, blood dripping down his forehead. He then dropped again to grovel against the stone ground, his voice high and shrill. Peering down at the clearly agitated man, Izabella gave him a stern order.

“Go rest at the first aid station. And don’t you dare set foot on the battlefield without a healer’s permission. Or do you intend to endanger your comrades?”

“No, ma’am; understood, ma’am! I will do as you say, Commander!”

“Then go—and you have my apologies for not noticing your condition sooner.”

The prostrate paladin scrambled to his feet. Flustered, the pair apologized repeatedly. Then, realizing they had pressing tasks to attend to, they placed their left arms horizontally against their chests and bowed.

After returning their bows, Izabella gave an affirmative nod. The two paladins hastened down the road to return to base. Through his tears, even the paladin who’d needed supporting up until then frantically pulled himself together.

Soon, they were gone, leaving behind only a heavy silence.

Izabella exhaled briefly and stared up at the sky. After a moment passed, she spoke softly.

“Are you going to come out?”

“You noticed me?”

Surprised, Kaito stepped back onto the road.

Izabella turned to face him. Her silver hair fluttered gently in the pale moonlight. Her blue and purple eyes looked like a pair of gemstones as they focused on Kaito. A gentle, somewhat exasperated smile spread across her face.

“Hard not to with you so eager to draw blood… Intriguing. At first glance, you seem accustomed to battle yet at times act like a complete amateur. First, let me offer you an apology. My subordinates were quite rude. It must have pained you, hearing your master slighted like that.”

“I prefer to think of her less as a master and more like a friend.”

“A friend?”

Yet again, Izabella responded to Kaito’s words with blank puzzlement. With a childish gesture that seemed to clash with her sagacity and beauty, she tilted her head to the side.

Noticing her confusion, Kaito unconsciously began babbling.

“She, you know, uh, there’s a lot of things people misunderstand about her… I mean, she is the Torture Princess, so some of that stuff isn’t really misunderstandings. But she’s got good qualities, too. People think she’s practically a demon, but she’s not. Even now, she’s fearlessly fighting on humanity’s behalf.”

Kaito finished by turning a hopeful gaze toward Izabella, one that asked if she understood what he was getting at.

For some reason, he felt like she would be sympathetic.

Eventually, Izabella gave a slow nod, as though her perception had changed.

“That’s a surprise. The relationship you two have is much better than I’d anticipated… I apologize for this afternoon as well. Although it’s just an excuse, I did have a reason for the counsel I gave.”

“Uh-huh?”

“My younger brother was killed by the Torture Princess. As a result, I harbored doubts about your reliability.”

Without so much as a pause, Izabella revealed an astonishing truth.

Kaito’s eyes widened. Brushing back her silver bangs, Izabella covered her pretty blue left eye. She then wove her next words together as though she were telling a tale of old.

“Even now, when I see my blue eye, I think of him… He wasn’t as skilled at magic as I was. People told him that it would be too hard for him to become a paladin. But his will to live and his sense of justice were strong. I’d braced myself for the day, but I never expected him not to come home from the Plain of Skewers.”

“…!”

As he listened to Izabella’s story, Kaito’s thoughts immediately zipped back to a particular demon.

They’d fought him almost immediately after Kaito was summoned by the Torture Princess. Down in a village full of slaughtered residents, the Knight had cried out like a madman, his arms and legs strung up in chains.

“ELISABEEEEEEETH! ELISABEEEEEEETH!”

His voice was filled not just with pain but with unadulterated fury.

The eyes beneath his armored helmet had been startlingly pure and blue and just as beautiful as Izabella’s. And the Knight’s contractor had been rather young and looked to originally have been quite virtuous.

Facing the man, Elisabeth had whispered gently to him.

“A survivor of the Plain of Skewers, hmm? It must have been painful. No doubt you detest me.”

That guy… Could he have been…? No, there’s no way.

“What’s the matter? You bear a strange expression.”

Izabella frowned as she looked at Kaito quizzically.

After internally debating for a few seconds, Kaito swallowed back the words that had been on the tip of his tongue.

“…No, it’s nothing.”

Even if my guess is right, telling her would accomplish nothing but bring her pain.

Nobody would want to hear there was a possibility their brother had made a contract with a demon.

Having made his decision, Kaito elected to stay silent. Wearing a puzzled expression, Izabella went on.

“I hear you were summoned as her servant from another world. That being the case, you may not be aware, but ever since the Plain of Skewers, every battle the Royal Knights and we paladins fought has ended in ignoble defeat. We had a duty to protect the people, not just from the Torture Princess but from the army of demons Vlad Le Fanu commanded. But until the Torture Princess defected from the demons and we obtained a temporary reprieve, we were constantly overrun. In order to maintain our fragile line of defense, we had to make many sacrifices, the bulk of which consisted of our most talented and experienced men.”

“Wait…could that be why…?”

“Precisely. As a result, many of our current knights are green and weak to psychological attrition. On top of that, most of our surviving senior members are people who were tasked with guarding the border of the area where the pure-blooded demi-humans and beastfolk live. And ever since the third peace treaty, that region has been the epitome of tranquility. For those soldiers to see such tragedies play out in front of them has no doubt sent them into states of panic.”

She made her declaration with lonesome eyes. An image of the calamity they’d seen floated back through Kaito’s mind.

That place had been a hellscape crafted from flesh and blood, a carnival of the cruelest variety. If one wasn’t familiar with fighting against demons, it would have been a harsh spectacle to bear. However, not everything Izabella had to say was hopeless.

“However, with all our forces combined and with the help of the priests, I believe that we have the power to secure the capital’s defense against the encroaching demon. Even though we’re suffering attacks from within our lines, just as I advised Godot Deus, it should be possible.”

“So what you’re still saying is that you don’t need the Torture Princess’s help?”

“I withdraw that statement. In fact, telling you that was my main reason for this conversation. Even if we do possess sufficient power to deal with this situation, just as you said, I wish to save the people as soon as possible.”

This time, it was Kaito’s turn to blink.

Izabella looked straight at him. Her gaze was so earnest it was almost scary.

“I will speak frankly. Even now, I find it difficult to fully trust you two. But between what you said and the fact that the Torture Princess remains on our side in the wake of Godot Deus’s death, it’s enough.”

“…Ah!”

Oh, right… So that was another significance of Godot Deus’s death!

Kaito was shocked at Izabella’s words, almost as though he’d been slapped in the face.

The Torture Princess was bound by the Church’s shackles. However, she could cast them off by forming a contract with a demon. If that happened, Godot Deus had agreed to stop her at the cost of his life and all the spiritual power he possessed. But now he was dead.

Even so, the Torture Princess hadn’t betrayed mankind.

Kaito frantically racked his brain over the way Godot Deus’s death had changed the situation.

As he did, Izabella’s voice quickly brought him back to reality.

“Please lend us your strength.”

Izabella’s silver hair gently sparkled as though to blend in with the moonlight. As Kaito returned to his senses, he found Izabella bowing her head low. Before his flustered eyes, she made her calm, powerful proclamation.

“For the sake of the people.”

Abasing oneself before a demon is the height of folly.

Kaito churned that thought through his mind. He knew that because he was a contractor to one, and the Church possessed enough documents and information on demons that they probably knew as well. The bloody annals of history should have taught them what happened to anyone foolish enough to bow before a demon.

In spite of that, Izabella was sincerely bowing to Kaito.

In other words, she thought of him as human.

When he realized that, Kaito spoke.

“I’m…I’m Kaito. Kaito Sena.”

“Kaito Sena…will you lend us your strength?”

“Of course. You were… Commander…uh…?”

“Izabella is fine. You may also call me Vicker, if you’d rather.”

“Izabella, then. That’s what I should be asking. Please lend us your strength.”

About to extend his right arm, Kaito changed his mind and went with his beastly left arm. As if testing her, he purposely extended it. Without a shred of hesitation, Izabella took her gauntleted hand and grasped his, the proof of his demonic contract.

Fur and metal came in contact. Looking directly at each other, the two of them spoke in unison.

““Let’s take out that demon together.””

As they did, a humanlike laugh echoed around in Kaito’s eardrums.

A low murmur grazed at his ear, one that both threatened and ridiculed him.

You are contractor to a demon, the very embodiment of power designed to destroy the world.

Yet you save others, receive their gratitude, and feel serenity. Absurdities upon absurdities.

Such absurd, unsalvageable contradictions.

* * *

Shame on you, boy.

Even so, Kaito continued grasping Izabella’s palm.

As though saying that if he released it, he would lose something key to his humanity.

About ten minutes later, Kaito set back out along the main road with his bowl of gruel in hand.

Through some stroke of fortune, despite all the ordeals he’d been through, its contents still hadn’t spilled.

The fact that it hadn’t gotten kicked by the two paladins had been nothing short of a miracle. When he’d gone to retrieve it, Izabella had exasperatedly asked him why he’d put it there.

She’d returned to the square just a little bit ago. Apparently, after hearing that the Torture Princess, two paladins, and Kaito had all left the plaza, she’d come after them under the suspicion that a fight might break out.

In other words, the moment she found Kaito and the paladins, she’d completed her initial objective.

“Hmm, now where’d Elisabeth get off to?”

Kaito, now alone, wandered about the wide thoroughfare. Before he’d noticed, the buildings around him had stopped being residences, instead becoming restaurants, shops, inns, and the like. In the distance, he could make out the outer wall surrounding the city’s southern gate. But even as the townscape shifted to one suited for travelers, Elisabeth was still nowhere to be seen.

Still not here, huh…? Don’t tell me she went back already, did she?

Then Kaito stopped in his tracks.

He could hear a voice singing a beautiful song.

The voice responsible for the gentle tune was one he knew well.

Flustered, Kaito checked around to see where it was coming from. Then he noticed a bar-slash-eatery replete with shingled roof and copper signboard with its wooden door left wide open.

The song was coming from inside.

Kaito carefully ascended the stairs, which were made of brick and had been ground down by years of drunkards’ footfalls. He cautiously peeked inside the store. Round tables were lined up atop the worn-out wooden floor within.

And Elisabeth was sitting at one of those tables.

She was crooning to herself as she bathed in the moonlight streaming in from the windows.

Occasionally, she would kick her elegant legs back and forth, like a child playing in water. For some reason, cats were gathered around her. She stroked their soft backs as they nestled up to her, gazing vacantly off into space as the song drifted unconsciously across her lips.

A smile played across her face, one that seemed somehow lonely yet also tranquil.

After watching her for a moment, Kaito timidly called out to her.

“So…you like cats?”

“Hwah!”

Giving a panicked cry, Elisabeth leaped to her feet. All at once, the cats relaxing at her side raised shrill meows and scattered.

Whirling to face Kaito, Elisabeth struck an odd pose.

“K-Kaito! What are you doing here?! Don’t startle me like that!”

The way she was practically hissing with anger resembled a cat with its fur bristling. However, her strange combat stance also called to mind some sort of bizarre bird. Trying to think back to where he’d seen it before, Kaito nodded.

“Oh, hey, that’s the same pose the Butcher made!”

“Do not go lumping me in with that man! ’Tis the height of disgrace!”

Elisabeth roared in indignation. Inside Kaito’s head, his mental image of the Butcher was leaping up and down in protest. If the man himself had been here, he would probably have been shouting something about discourtesy.

Plopping herself back down at the round table, Elisabeth crossed her arms. She scoffed in displeasure.

“Ha, it’s not as if I bear any strong fondness for cats! I merely sat, and they approached me of their own accord.”

“Oh, so you’re the kind of person who cats are attracted to.”

“Quit speaking of me with such peculiar warmth every chance you get!”

Elisabeth hissed with anger yet again. Kaito could practically see a bristling tail sticking out from behind her. Realizing that he’d be forced to sit on a ducking stool at this rate, Kaito shut up.

After remaining angry for a moment, Elisabeth quizzically tilted her head to the side a little.

“Hmm? I shall ask you again. What are you doing here, Kaito? Too much time on your hands?”

“Right back at you. Why’d you head out like that? Sounds like you’re the one with too much time on your hands.”

“Ha, fool. Should I rest for a moment in a place that ridden with knights, I should quite likely find myself challenged to a duel. And crushing all those fleas one by one seems like a hassle.”

Elisabeth shrugged. Kaito nodded in understanding.

Given Godot Deus’s orders, it was unlikely that anyone would try to kill her in her sleep. However, even in their current state of emergency, it wouldn’t have been strange for someone to challenge her to a duel. There were probably also people who wanted to verify her power and true intentions before the decisive battle against the demon.

As Kaito thought through that, Elisabeth’s interest turned elsewhere.

Turning her gaze to the bowl in his hand, she tilted her head to the side once more.

“Hmm? What might that be?”

“Oh, right, here.”

“Oh-ho?”

“It’s tasty.”

“Hmm.”

“Go on, eat it.”

“Mm.”

After their mysteriously short exchange, Elisabeth took the bowl from Kaito. As she scooped at the pale-yellow gruel, she gave Kaito a dirty look. Kaito nodded, urging her to believe him.

Still looking somewhat concerned, Elisabeth dutifully shoved the gruel into her mouth. A complex expression made its way across her face as she chewed. Eventually, she gulped down the mouthful, then murmured.

“Paddle.”

“Why?”

Having a torture device summoned on him without so much as a discussion hadn’t been what Kaito had expected to happen.

Darkness and crimson flower petals swirled. A wooden stick laden with nails swung down on where Kaito was standing. Avoiding the merciless attack with movements that could either be described as graceful or weird, Kaito raised his voice in protest.

“Heyyyyy! I went through hell bringing that to you! And you repay me with torture?!”

“Mm, it was dreadful.”

“Whaddaya mean ‘dreadful’? It was great!”

“It was absurdly viscous and dreadfully pasty! This is some form of harassment!”

“That can’t… Oh.”

Snatching the bowl from Elisabeth and peering into it, Kaito stared, dumbfounded. Due to the grain that had been used, the gruel had hardened into a sticky blob. Dropping his shoulders, crestfallen, Kaito heaved a heavy sigh.

As she watched him, Elisabeth snapped her fingers in acknowledgment and banished the Paddle.

“It seems harassing me was not your intention… Hmm? Hold on a moment, wait. Don’t tell me bringing me that was your sole reason for leaving the square?”

“It was, why?”

“You fool! You leaving for such an idiotic reason is certain to draw the paladins’ doubt! With master and servant having left at the same time, they’re sure to grow suspicious that we’re plotting something!”

“Ow! Don’t kick me! It’s fine; Izabella’s not like that!”

“What do you think you’re doing, acting so chummy all of a sudden?!”

“We met a little bit ago and chatted about stuff! And, uh…”

Blocking Elisabeth’s splendid roundhouse kicks, Kaito opened his mouth to speak. However, before he could finish, he felt a surge of embarrassment.

N-now that I think about it, I have to admit, it was kind of an idiotic reason.

But now that he was here, it wasn’t like he could just turn back.

Turning his head down a little, he gave his reason in a mumble.

“I figured you might be hungry… And it made me really happy when the nun gave me my food, so…”

“That’s all?”

“That’s all.”

Kaito finally turned up his head, as if to ask what was wrong with that. He threw out his chest with pride.

About to cry out in anger, Elisabeth pressed down on her forehead. Her shoulders slumped.

With a “haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah,” she heaved a gigantic sigh.

“So you came all the way out here to bring gruel to the Torture Princess, eh…? Your foolhardiness truly knows no bounds.”

“I feel like you’re making fun of me.”

“That I am, fool.”

Elisabeth snorted. Sitting back down at the round table, she waved one hand aimlessly.

Sensing that the disturbance had settled down, the cats began gathering back around her. They mewled as they snuggled up to her.

As she carelessly stroked their knotted fur, Elisabeth gestured toward the edge of the round table.

Kaito looked and found bottles of wine, smoked meats, olives, cheese, and the like lined up on it. She’d probably gotten them from the kitchen. Flower petals flashed across the mouth of one of the still-sealed bottles.

A fragrance drifted out, and red wine spilled onto the table.

“Well, no matter. You’re here. We may as well make the best of it. Make merry, Kaito, and drink with me.”

“A party, huh? That’s a surprise. Won’t this be bad for the fight tomorrow?”

“As you are now, your magic will purge the impurities from your system no matter how intoxicated you get.”

“Damn, magic’s crazy convenient.”

“Go on, then. Drink.”

Elisabeth took the sliced bottle and tossed it to Kaito. As its contents came gushing out, he caught it. When he did, Elisabeth grabbed an already-opened bottle and took a swig.

A black cat came and sniffed at the spilled wine, then tried to lick it. Watching it, Elisabeth quickly leaped down from the table and gently grabbed the cat by the scruff of its neck.

“No, no, none for you. Come, sit here now.”

The cat mewled after being placed on Elisabeth’s lap. Watching the scene play out, Kaito posed a question to Elisabeth.

“Hey, what are we gonna do about these cats? Based on their fur, it doesn’t look like they belong to anyone. Are they gonna be okay here?”

“Hmph. If all it needs to do is transport cats, I can draw any number of teleportation circles. I’ll toss them through later. If I stick them in some other town, they should be able to manage.”

As she spoke, Elisabeth scratched the cat’s chin.

The cat purred in delight.

“These little ones need not concern themselves with demon invasions and the like.”

Urging Kaito to try the hors d’oeuvres, Elisabeth gulped down her wine. As he watched her eat, Kaito was struck by an ominous premonition.

Will Elisabeth Le Fanu ever have another chance to eat a proper meal outside the capital?

He felt as though his wine had suddenly gone bitter.

This was her final battle. Once they’d defeated the last three demons, there was only one path left for her.

“Hey, Elisabeth.”

“What is it?”

“The sides here are cold, and the gruel got all gross.”

“Mm.”

“After this, when we get back home to Hina, let’s have something warm and tasty to eat.”

Kaito chose his words deliberately. However, no response came.

Elisabeth remained silent. Kaito seemed like he wanted to speak to her again. However, as though wanting to prevent him from doing so, she took a big gulp of her wine.

After downing a sizable amount, she began talking about something else entirely.

“At forenoon tomorrow, we meet up with the Shepherd and begin our all-out attack. Keep your wits about you.”

Kaito, having not heard about that plan, gulped.

That was where their conversation ended. The Torture Princess had nothing else to say.

Kaito did nothing but gaze at her beautiful face in profile. Then he suddenly realized something.

That song just now…

In truth, Kaito had never heard one of those before. After all, his mother had passed before he was old enough to remember her. But he knew that gentle melody couldn’t have been anything else.

That was…

It was a lullaby. He was sure of it.