Fremd Torturchen - Volume 5 - Chapter 5

5

The Grave Keeper’s Zealotry

“Oh, no, it isn’t fine at all. It’s super not-fine. But we all have to do what we have to do. I serve at the pleasure of God and the Holy Mother. The tomb’s seal is broken, and the end is nigh. Soon, the living and the dead will both return to ash. We’ll be just fine leaving a handful of men to protect those worthless old kingly corpses, thank you very much. Besides, I had another part I needed to play.”

The girl’s voice was as smooth as silk. Abruptly, she stood up.

Her long scarlet cloak fluttered, and she continued her speech in an operatic tone.

“I may be the Grave Keeper, but I am also the Messenger. I am the one who blows the horn at the end of days, loudly hailing the sheep—‘behold, for she is awakened, and rejoice, for the devout have been granted a miracle.’”

Kaito squinted. Her speech was strangely verbose. Considering that she was a member of the Church and a fanatic, to boot, the actual contents of her speech themselves were fairly normal. But the fact that they were coming from someone who looked to be a ten-year-old girl was anything but. The most pressing issue, though, was how she’d addressed herself.

“…The Grave Keeper?”

Kaito thought back to the horrors he’d seen in the underground tomb.

Living people had had their pain harvested for pacification down in the cruel nursery. And the room’s gatekeeper had been a monster created by taking a divine creature, feeding it demon meat, and mixing in human parts.

The Grave Keeper had been the one responsible for all that.

As a result, Kaito had come to believe that the Grave Keeper lacked anything resembling morals or basic rationality. But the girl standing before him seemed entirely sane. That fact sent a shiver down Kaito’s spine.

You mean that the person who created that stuff, who was able to create all that stuff, knew full well what she was doing?

Kaito had assumed they had been the deeds of someone consumed by madness, but this notion was dozens of times more horrifying.

Then a sharp noise sliced through the air.

Kaito frantically looked up. When he did, he saw the tip of Lute’s sword resting on the Grave Keeper’s forehead from where he’d swung it. It looked capable of splitting her head open at any moment. However, the only response the Grave Keeper gave was a few blinks. When he spoke, Lute’s voice was full of loathing.

“Just what business does the rotting flesh of the Church have with us?”

“I’m rather disappointed. You seemed so magnanimous, yet your actions are most deplorable. Have you perhaps forgotten about the third peace treaty? Normally, we would not be so lenient toward pagans such as yourselves. But the beastfolk are not our people, nor are they even human. So the Church overlooks your sins and strives constantly to be good neighbors to you. Ah, but alas! Alas, you repay me with violence!”

“Don’t take me for a fool, girl!”

Lute howled. The pelts that made up the portable dwelling’s walls shook from the vibrations.

Kaito swallowed and looked back at Lute’s sword. Fortunately, it hadn’t broken the Grave Keeper’s skin yet. In an impressive display of rationality, Lute had carefully maintained the sword’s position.

“We know all about what you did to our people, how you slaughtered them! Our people place much higher pride in repaying debts than humans do! That, and because a friend of mine put in a good word for you, I have no desire to decry humanity as evil! But betrayal must be repaid with fangs! If you are the Grave Keeper, then you will not leave this place alive!”

“…Wherefore?”

“Wh—?”

“What right hath the likes of the third imperial princess’s private army to bellow at me?”

Her voice had a terrifyingly calm ring to it. She focused her clear, hollow gaze on Lute.

Upon seeing her apparent transformation, Kaito let a breath catch in his throat. Elisabeth gave a light scoff. Lute, like Kaito, had shock spread across his face.

The Grave Keeper continued her diatribe dispassionately in a strangely old-fashioned tone.

“Thou hast no right to take such a tone with me. What evidence doth thou hast of such killings? Didst thou misconstrue the testimony of a demon’s contractor and the Torture Princess as valid, perchance? Thou showest thy naïveté, knave.”

“You would treat me as a child?!”

“As such befits an immature mutt as thyself. A lesson, perhaps, for thee. If thou wishest to turn thy sword on the Grave Keeper, do come up with a better excuse. Vyade would surely do as such.”

“What do you know of Lady Vyade Ula Forstlast?!”

“Will it require an order ere thou understand? What an insufferable simpleton. Now, stand down.”

“Grrr—”

“Stand down, I did say!”

When Lute heard the Grave Keeper’s arrogant tone, his face contorted. His hands trembled in humiliation. A scratch appeared on the Grave Keeper’s forehead, and blood began to drip forth. Wholly unperturbed by that fact, she began speaking in another tone altogether.

“Well, if you really wanna take my head…then go on—go for it! Seeing one of the three kings have to take responsibility? Now, that sounds like a good time! And hey, don’t worry! The restructuring will be a grand repentance, a rite of absolute destruction where all sins get forgiven! Watching our races carve each other up in the meantime sounds like a blast! Everyone’s gonna die anyway, so hey, memento mori!”

This time, she spoke like a young punk, and an energetic smile spread across her face. Kaito was astounded all over again.

What the hell is wrong with her?

The Grave Keeper’s speech patterns were abnormal, and in a different way than Jeanne’s. Hers were incongruous, as though several different people were all mixed together.

The tip of Lute’s sword shook a little. The trail of blood had dripped all the way down to the Grave Keeper’s lips. In spite of that, though, her smile remained the same. Grinding his teeth, Lute raised his sword overhead.

“Hrgh!”

“Lute, no!”

Kaito called out to stop him. Killing the Grave Keeper could easily have drastic consequences. Instead of stopping, though, Lute returned his sword to its sheath. Then he collapsed cross-legged onto the pelt floor.

Kaito breathed a sigh of relief. The Grave Keeper sloppily licked at her blood. After cleaning the area around her mouth in the same manner a cat would, she spoke.

“Ah, how lovely. And the Church is quite magnanimous toward its neighbors. We will overlook your discourtesy this time.”

Man, there’s gotta be a limit to how shameless you can be.

Kaito frowned. Lute grimaced as well, but he looked around the room, seemingly having returned to his senses. His subordinates had been directing murderous rage toward the Grave Keeper as well. Even now, they still seemed poised to spring forward and go for her throat. Lute took a deep breath.

Then, having stiffened his resolve, he bowed to the Grave Keeper.

“I thank you for your generosity.”

His subordinates ground their teeth in unison. Their commanding officer had apologized, and they couldn’t let that apology go to waste. They forcibly choked back their rage. But Lute then continued, his voice practically a growl.

“But make certain you do not forget. This is the World’s End, a land that belongs to no race. If we all seek the same thing, then conflict is inevitable. And the battlefield is a place of many surprises. You may be influential, but I can make no guarantees for your safety. So take care. Remember, any old blackguard might fire the arrow that takes your head.”

“Oh yes, I’ve been aware of that for quite a long while. Why, I’ve seen it myself. That’s simply the kind of place that a battlefield is. Anyone and everyone might find themselves among the ranks of the fallen. The dead will form circles and dance among the skulls, waiting patiently atop God’s palm for the day when all returns to nothing. Such tranquility, such delight! But we are not yet on a battlefield, and I am but a simple messenger.”

The Grave Keeper gently laid her hand atop her chest.

Then, at long last, she displayed an innocent, age-appropriate smile.

“Now, let’s have a chat! Let’s talk peacefully and pastorally so that all God’s creatures can come to an understanding.”

“Have a…chat?”

Kaito let out a dumbfounded murmur. The Grave Keeper’s proposal seemed completely reasonable. But that was what made it seem so completely and utterly surreal. After all, their two camps were working under diametrically opposed goals and beliefs.

Jeanne, Kaito, and the others were trying to protect and preserve the world as it was. That was the salvation they were trying to attain.

The Grave Keeper and the rest of the fanatics, on the other hand, were trying to bring about the world’s restructuring. That was the salvation they were trying to attain.

Most conflicts had some sort of common ground the two sides could agree on. But here, no such thing existed.

There was no way for them to meet halfway. The chasm that lay between them was vast and deep.

Given the situation, then, what could there be to talk about?

“’Twould be meaningless. And surely you know that, Grave Keeper. Exchanging words would amount to naught but a waste of time.”

“Oh my, you state that so assertively. It saddens my heart, it does.”

“You lot endorse the restructuring, and we seek survival. The world will either perish or not perish. The two options leave no room for compromise, which presents us with a rare instance of pure, unadulterated opposition.”

Elisabeth gave voice to the same thoughts that had been going through Kaito’s head.

Still languidly resting her chin atop her palms and crossed legs, she bluntly continued.

“Mutual understanding is impossible for us. One or the other shall have to die.”

“Oh my, I should hope not. We at least have room to talk things over. Elisabeth Le Fanu, you especially should have little reason to want the world to continue.”

The Grave Keeper smiled. Elisabeth sullenly arched an eyebrow.

Kaito immediately picked up on what the Grave Keeper was trying to say.

Elisabeth’s going to be burned at the stake. So it shouldn’t really matter to her whether or not the world goes on… But wait. If we manage to prevent the world from being restructured and show everyone how corrupt the Church is, could we maybe get her sentence reduced?

It was the first time that Kaito had considered that possibility. But the Grave Keeper wasn’t finished yet.

“Let us assume for a moment that the restructuring fails to occur and that you are all successful in borrowing Vyade Ula Forstlast’s wisdom and denounce the Church. A purge would take place within it, to be certain. And Godd Deos’s equilibrium sect would rise to power once more. Even so, the first demon’s existence would still be hidden from the public, and the truth would be concealed once more. Why, I would bet on it. You all would choose to remain silent, and Vyade would, as well.”

Elisabeth offered no response to the Grave Keeper’s bold declaration. Although he was about to vehemently object, Kaito ultimately held his tongue.

The Grave Keeper was right.

She’s right… I won’t say anything. And Elisabeth’s probably the same.

After all, what would happen if he talked?

If he publicly announced the existence of the first demon, the world would descend into chaos. Destroying the very foundation of one of the world’s most prominent religions tended to have that effect. The Church, its followers, some of the aristocrats, and even the royal family would become the subjects of intense hate and distrust. History would be marked by an age of executions and torture.

The will of the masses could transform into a ruthless killing machine. Who knows just how many would hang?

Furthermore, the war against the demons had dealt a grave blow to the world’s economy. If society lost their leaders as well, it would plunge into an unprecedented state of disorder. And if a famine or plague hit, the disaster would be inconceivable.

It was all too easy to imagine. Which left them with but a single choice.

They couldn’t say anything.

“In short, even if your actions allow the world to persist, no grand accolades await you. For you yourselves will be the ones covering it up. Which all comes to mean that Torture Princess’s fate will be unchanged.”

If we made some sort of backroom deal with the Church… No, that wouldn’t work. Elisabeth herself doesn’t want amnesty, and the masses would call relentlessly for the Torture Princess’s head.

The sheep would come to a stop right before plunging into the flames. But then, unknowingly, they would burn their own savior to death.

Kaito clenched his fists. If that was the case, then the issue became which end was more honorable: the world’s restructuring or burning at the stake.

“As I said but moments ago, the restructuring will be a grand repentance. When the end arrives, all your sins will be forgiven. The time has come to ‘pray that God will be your salvation.’ Doesn’t that sound pleasant? It’s a more beautiful end than burning to death, at any rate. The Lord will finally reward you for your efforts.”

The Grave Keeper smiled, as though giving Elisabeth her blessings. As she did, Kaito was assailed by a particular doubt.

True, the Torture Princess is a grand sinner. But…

The masses had no clue how much good she’d done, nor did they even try to learn. That was simply the kind of creatures they were. They listened only to what they wanted to hear and saw only what they wanted to see.

Flocks of sheep were, fundamentally, stupid. And that was the way things ought to be.

…But isn’t that a sin in and of itself?

The ignorant had no right to cast blame, did they? Their entire way of life was fundamentally wrong, wasn’t it? Then didn’t that make the restructuring just a way to rectify that?

“Is that what you think? Then you’re an imbecile.”

A razor-sharp voice forcefully smashed through Kaito’s reverie. With a start, he came back to his senses.

Before him, Elisabeth still sat with her chin in her hands.

“Your premise is flawed, to start. The masses were not the ones who decided to cast judgment on me. ’Twas I. And grand accolades are the furthest thing from my mind. Your restructuring may well be more pleasant for me, but I care naught. In fact, ’tis quite the opposite.”

Elisabeth’s gaze bored down on the Grave Keeper. Her black nails glinted as she whispered.

“Any who say my sins can be forgiven shall die by my hands. ’Tis all there is to it.”

Elisabeth ran her tongue over her red lips. Then, with a sweet smile, the peerless sinner continued.

“Your cajolery has backfired on you, Grave Keeper. Your death shall come swiftly.”

That’s right. Elisabeth is strong.

Kaito had just been forcibly reminded of that fact. Her resolve came completely from within. He had yet to come to terms with that, nor did he fully accept it. But the way she refused to fear death was definitely admirable. Now that he thought about it rationally, Kaito, too, was opposed to the restructuring.

He certainly didn’t want Elisabeth to burn at the stake. But he saw no reason to endorse a plan that involved everyone in the world dying, either. Calling death “salvation” was nothing but base sophistry.

At the same time, Kaito realized something odd. The Grave Keeper’s description was mad from its very premise.

Most of the people who want the restructuring to happen believe that the pious faithful will remain in the new world.

At least, that was what he’d thought. But the Grave Keeper was different.

The whole time, she’d clearly been working under the assumption that all humanity would perish.

“What…the hell?”

Words of doubt spilled forth from Kaito’s lips. The Grave Keeper cocked her head to the side, curious as to what he was trying to say.

As he looked back at the young girl, the words practically leaped from Kaito’s mouth.

“You…you know that the restructuring is gonna kill everyone?”

“Oh no, not everyone. Our revered Saint will surely remain.”

“Still—you know? But then…how the hell could you endorse that?”

Kaito gave voice to his genuine doubts. Believing that their piety would ultimately be rewarded with a miracle and would grant them survival was at least something he could comprehend. And as twisted as it was, looking for validation of one’s devoutness and righteousness made logical sense as a desire.

But if they knew full well that they, too, would be reduced to nothing…

That kind of devotion is just too empty.

That would mean that all their wishes and prayers had been for nothing. Not a single thing they asked of God would end up meaning a thing. Not a single person would be saved.

“Wouldn’t that just make everything meaningless?”

“Why should we seek results from prayer?”

Her voice had a strange, dry ring to it.

Kaito’s eyes went wide. Ignoring his shock, the young girl made a firm declaration.

“That would be blasphemy.”

Kaito had nothing to follow up with. He had no idea what to say. But then, suddenly, a smile spread across the Grave Keeper’s face. To his surprise, her voice took on a gentler tone.

“Ah, I see. It rather makes sense that a man from another world would have difficulty understanding. We know full well of the truth behind our world, you see. That is why we believe. God and the Saint have been seeking this restructuring for many ages. With that being the case, then our annihilation, too, is a thing of joy.”

“What the hell do you—?”

“If God deems our existence a mistake, then that is what is just and proper.”

The Grave Keeper’s voice was solemn. She spoke calmly, as though proselytizing to an ignorant sheep.

“The next world will be God’s kingdom, a perfect, ideal land. And oh, what a marvelous thing that will be. Now is the time for us to repay the Saint for the love she so freely gave us. ‘All glory to God.’ ‘The miracle is upon us.’ ‘There is no need for us here.’ That is what it means to have faith.”

Kaito shuddered. The hair on Lute’s tail stood up.

Now Kaito finally realized.

So she’s one of the “shepherds who would gladly cast themselves into the fire just to catch a glimpse of a miracle” Jeanne was talking about.

At the same time, he ruminated on what Izabella had said: that the Church’s doctrine was necessary.

“Even now, I still hold that the Church’s teachings are wonderful. Using faith as a way to support a life lived nobly and properly is an honorable thing. People are weak. They need something to believe in.”

This girl wasn’t using faith to support herself. She was using herself to support faith. She didn’t even believe that her prayers would reach anyone. She sought nothing from God.

And if she was told to die, she would simply die. That was the nature of her love.

Kaito parted his trembling lips. Still shaking, he asked his question.

“How can you even think like that? You’re so young, but you’re—”

“Enough from you, Kaito. Asking such a thing of the Grave Keeper is nigh comical. Now you’re the one with the flawed premise.”

Sounding annoyed, Elisabeth interjected. She gestured rudely toward the Grave Keeper with her chin.

When she spoke of the adorable young girl she was pointing at, her voice was tinged with loathing.

“The Grave Keeper inherits the memories and personality of every Grave Keeper before them. However, the rite of succession is too great a burden for a baby’s mind to bear. As a result, the personalities blend together, and a kind of natural selection occurs. In the end, all that remains is a single common denominator: fervent piety toward God and the Saint. To put it in a few words, she’s akin to zealotry personified.”

She looks sane, but I guess she really, really isn’t.

Kaito could see that clearly. At the same time, he was reminded once more of the Church’s deep-rooted perversion. Preserving the Grave Keeper’s memories and personality was no doubt a necessary step for them to take in continuing to conceal the deadly secret that was the first demon’s existence. People who could maintain their faith after seeing that thing were probably rarer than rare. But that had resulted in her.

You know, that stuff Izabella said is probably closer to how the Church is normally supposed to be.

But instead, they’d gotten the whole world involved and had sunk deeper and deeper into their mistakes.

What had gone wrong? How had things gotten to this point? No matter how hard he thought about it, no satisfying answer was forthcoming. Ever since the world had been created, or perhaps even before then, thin layers of madness had slowly been trying to engulf everything. But even with the situation as tumultuous as it was, the trigger that had initiated the collapse was abundantly clear. Everything had started when the Butcher had sold Vlad that demon meat.

They really did need to talk to the Butcher directly. With that thought in mind, Kaito asked a new question.

“Where are you guys keeping the Butcher?”

The Grave Keeper completely ignored him, instead tilting her head to the side.

Still surrounded by Lute’s subordinates, Jeanne was sitting coolly on the floor. The Grave Keeper’s gaze shifted to Jeanne’s defenseless profile. Then, in a gentle voice, she called out to the golden Torture Princess.

“I’ve heard reports on you, you know. The other Torture Princess. The girl who proclaims herself the maiden of salvation, who rejects God’s will, who would pour poisoned wine upon the Saint’s lips. You’re a fool of a wholly different sort than we… Although I also hear that despite that mechanical impression you give, you took quite a liking to our Izabella Vicker.”

“So I did. She was my first love, you see.”

Jeanne’s response was instant.

The next moment, the eyes of everyone present save the Grave Keeper went wide.

“Huh?”

“What?”

“Excuse me?”

“I beg your pardon?”

The brief comment she’d given may as well have been a bomb.

Upon hearing the words first love, Kaito, Elisabeth, Hina, and even Lute reeled. Embarrassed by their reactions, they all then shut up, and an indescribable silence descended upon the room.

Other than the Grave Keeper, whose smile was unchanged, they all wore truly peculiar expressions.

Then Jeanne gave her continuation in the same emotionless voice as always.

“I’m sorry. That was a joke.”

“A joke?! I thought you were being serious! Now is hardly the time to be saying such things!”

Elisabeth slammed her fist onto the ground, and it sank gently into the bear pelt. Kaito rapidly nodded his assent. Jeanne’s so-called “joke” was tone-deaf in the extreme. However, she wasn’t done talking yet.

“However, I do feel that it was something similar. But hey, beats me! I was chosen by the alchemists to save the world and raised solely for that purpose. I was a princess and a sacrifice. I was created by them, and I destroyed them. For that was my contract with them. Neither of us resented the other. However, I had little direct contact with humans, so I was concerned as how best to interact with the stray sheep until I obtained a servant. So I went to some bandits in a neighboring mountain, snatched ’em up, and learned from their example.”

“Wait, so that’s why your speech gets vulgar at random intervals?!”

One mystery had been solved, at least. Now they knew the context behind the fact that Jeanne’s word choice would regularly take a turn for the incredibly coarse. But what they didn’t know was why she’d chosen then to share that seemingly irrelevant piece of information with them. Ignoring Kaito’s expression of bewilderment, Jeanne kept speaking.

“So that was my first time.”

“Your first time…what?”

“My first time meeting an ‘ordinary human’ like that.”

This time, Jeanne answered Kaito’s question. For a moment, her rose eyes went vacant.

Then she whispered in an uncharacteristically hazy voice.

“My li’l miss was foolish…but she was gallant, and she had honor.”

That simple sentence hit Kaito like a train. He gazed at her profile and ruminated.

Her interactions with people had been severely limited. That was what had made Jeanne the way she was today, into the maiden of salvation. She never looked back at those she’d trampled over, nor did she spare a thought for her victims. But if a single person she perceived differently existed, then…

If that’s the case, then…that basically is a first love, isn’t it?

Kaito almost said it aloud, but he held his tongue. Pointing it out now wouldn’t do them any good.

Izabella was currently far away from them. She’d carried out her will and returned to the Church. And it was anyone’s guess as to what had happened to her after being captured by the group of executioner-like people.

No, wait. There is one person.

There was a chance that the Grave Keeper knew whether or not Izabella was safe.

Kaito instinctively turned to look at her. As he did, a sleazy smile spread across her youthful face.

Upon seeing it, a chill ran down his spine. Frantically, he tried to ask about Izabella’s well-being. But Jeanne spoke first, as though to stop him. Her voice was coolheaded to the last.

“Even so, trying to use my li’l miss as bait to negotiate with me is a waste of your time, fanatic. I’m too late, ain’t I?! Jackasses like you always go by the same damn playbook!”

“Wait, hold on, ‘too late’? You mean Izabella is…?”

Kaito’s face went pale. The next moment, Izabella’s smiling face flashed vividly across his mind. White light had been exploding at her back, and she’d been smiling. Even with the cruel scars etched across her face, she’d still been beautiful.

Izabella is…

A chuckle slipped unbidden from the Grave Keeper’s mouth.

Kaito reflexively made to grab at her vestment’s collar.

Skreeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

Before he could, though, a shrill noise filled the room. As it did, the leather flap at the camp’s entrance violently flapped inward.

Everyone turned to look. Heaving a stately sigh, the Grave Keeper rose to her feet.

Her crimson cloak trailed behind her as she silently walked to the entranceway and unfastened its leather knot. When she rolled it up, an orb flew inside, along with a mysterious, cutting wind.

The orb was one of the Church’s communication devices. The wings on its sides softly fell out as it alighted on the Grave Keeper’s palm. Runes ran across its surface, ones far more intricate than those Kaito was familiar with.

It looked like the message the Grave Keeper had just received had been encrypted. After she read it, her eyes narrowed.

“Good work out there. Now convey this to the lookout: ‘It’s Yah Llodl all over again.’”

The Grave Keeper gently tossed up the communication device. A fresh pair of wings sprouted from its sides.

Then they flapped, and the orb took off. After watching it get swallowed up by the snowscape, the Grave Keeper returned the entrance to the way she’d found it. Turning back around, she placed a hand atop her chest.

Her scarlet cloak fluttered as she gave a deep bow to those assembled.

“I’m afraid I must take my leave. It’s quite unfortunate, but there are some rather troubling matters I find myself needing to attend to. While it was perhaps too short to glean much importance from, I believe that our little rendezvous was a meaningful one. Pagan hunts and inquisitions are so ineffective, and they leave such poor legacies, after all. Not even I wish to turn all the world’s creatures against me. Instead, I simply pray that you all will find it in yourselves to have a change of heart, even if it’s but a small one.”

The Grave Keeper’s words were chosen carefully. The scariest thing, though, was the fact that the sheer compassion dripping from her voice seemed entirely heartfelt. She placed her small palms together and closed her eyes, as though she was praying.

“‘You are free to act as you will. But pray that God shall be your salvation. For the beginning, the middle, and the end all lie in the palm of His hand.’ The blessings of God and the Saint on you all.”

Then the Grave Keeper raised her head and offered them a sweet smile. Not a single person returned it. Seemingly unhurt by that fact, though, she began walking. The beastfolk stared daggers at her as she rolled up the leather door once more. However, she stopped for a moment before heading out into the snowscape.

“But worry not. We’ll be enemies from here on out, just as you wish.”

With that quiet murmur, she began walking again. The entrance flapped back to a rest.

And with that, she was gone.

It feels like a typhoon just passed through.

Kaito surveyed the room in a daze. It looked no different than it had before, but it felt as though it had been draped in a thick film. That was just how badly the entity known as the Grave Keeper had thrown the mood into disarray. As he tried to shake off a numbing sense of fatigue, Kaito turned his thoughts to Izabella’s well-being.

So…what happened to her?

The Grave Keeper’s twisted smile flashed through his mind. He recognized that sadistic smile; he’d seen it time and time again back when he was alive.

He opened his mouth to speak. But before he could put his tenacious sense of unease into words, Elisabeth stood up.

“We’re leaving, Kaito. A clear target has presented itself to us.”

“A target? You mean we’re gonna tail the Grave Keeper or something?”

If they did that, they’d probably be able to find out where the Church had made their camp. But they also ran the risk of running into the Church’s main force. Kaito chose to leave those concerns implicit. However, Elisabeth shook her head as she replied.

“She knows me not, and as such, she was negligent. Ever since Godd Deos’s time, I’ve been carefully stealing secret records from the Church and breaking their cipher. As such, I was able to read that last message.”

“Wait, seriously?”

“Heh, seeing a code would make any mage wish to crack it. And I had my suspicions that the day such knowledge would become useful would arrive. And now it has. Rather impressive of me, if I do say so myself.”

As she sang her own praises, Elisabeth chugged down the rest of the tea that she’d been continuing to hold the whole time. Once she was finished, Hina, who was waiting on standby, took the empty bowl.

“Good work, Hina. ’Twas splendid as always. Your talents never disappoint.”

“You’re too kind, Lady Elisabeth. Your words fill me with such joy. But, um, if I may ask, what were the contents of the transmission?”

Hina asked this question in a nervous tone. Their next actions as a group hinged on the answer. Everyone swallowed as they waited for Elisabeth’s reply. Its contents, however, were unexpected.

“‘The cage in headquarters was opened. The lookouts were unconscious, struck in the back of the head.’ In other words…”

The scene he’d seen back at Elisabeth’s castle spontaneously flashed before Kaito’s eyes.

The Butcher had been able to unlock even the Torture Princess’s own Gibbet. There was no way any man-made cage could contain him. And what would he do after he escaped the cage?

Elisabeth went on, her voice echoing Kaito’s thoughts exactly.

“At present, the Butcher’s whereabouts are unknown. It would seem that he’s fled somewhere.”