Fremd Torturchen - Volume 6 - Chapter 7

7

The World’s Inherent Tragedy

After the pain caused him to die of shock yet again, Kaito Sena got to thinking.

Specifically, it was during the blank time right after he’d resuscitated, before his consciousness sorted itself out.

Hypothetically, if Elisabeth hadn’t summoned me, what would have become of me?

He certainly wouldn’t have had to repeatedly experience the pain of death. He wouldn’t have seen all those horrible, gruesome sights, either. However, he also would have gone his whole life without ever feeling glad to be alive.

Then like an empty bowl being filled with water—

—memories of the various things he’d experienced in this new world swirled within his mind.

The Torture Princess, laughing innocently. And at times, standing alone atop the battlefield without so much as a tear in her eye.

Hina, smiling gently. And in her reddened wedding dress, holding her halberd at the ready.

The Butcher. Izabella. Jeanne. Lute. Ain. Vyade.

All the people he’d met, all the expressions they’d made, and all the things they’d said to him.

And Neue. The boy who’d protected Kaito during the Earl’s hellish game and been eaten alive by a spider. Kaito hadn’t forgotten the words Neue had said to him as he’d stood on death’s door.

“I guess…I was just hoping you could find happiness in this world.”

Even now, I’m still not totally sure what happiness is supposed to look like. But there’s one thing I do know.

The first time he’d wept with joy at having been born—

—his death had gained meaning for the very first time.

And even if he’d ended up taking on the same curse the Butcher had been bound by—

—no matter how foolish the decision was, Kaito didn’t regret it at all.

He had no regrets.

And because of that, I—

“…to. Sir Kaito. Sir Kaito!”

Then upon being forcefully called, Kaito opened his eyes. Once again, his thoughts had been cut off and swallowed up by the darkness.

He shook his head a little, then looked up. A paladin clad in silver armor, which had atop it a coat of arms featuring a white lily, was standing before him. Behind the man’s rugged shoulders, Kaito could make out stars scattered across the night sky.

Kaito reflexively narrowed his eyes.

This long, precious day was finally coming to an end.

At the moment, he was lying toppled over in an empty lot in the region that had been severely damaged by the Grand King’s plot. He slowly shifted his vision from the skies to the area around him. When he did, the glint of blades came into view.

A number of paladins were surrounding him.

And their swords were all leveled in his direction.

“Oh, this is… I mean, I get it, but…”

Not acting timidly in the slightest, Kaito heaved himself upright. The weapons drew a hair closer as a warning. Kaito completely ignored them, instead checking to see who the people surrounding him were. Their helmets’ visors were down. It was impossible to tell whether or not any of them had fought alongside him back when the mass of flesh had invaded.

Kaito recalled the series of calamities that had befallen the Capital.

Once, thanks to a plot hatched by the Grand King Fiore, the Capital had come under attack by three demons who had fused together. The death count had been high, and countless historic buildings had been destroyed. The massive town market had been leveled, as had a number of workshops and warehouses, not to mention all the teleportation devices, communication devices, and other resources that had been lost. The monetary damages were incalculable. And the influx of refugees from the Capital was causing financial strain across the land. The number of able-bodied workers had declined, and certain types of food supplies were dwindling.

That was the earlier incident.

Now, thanks to the formation of the Diablo pillar, mankind had been dealt yet another grave blow.

And to make matters worse, it had been proven that the culprits behind the world ending were none other than the Church’s reconstruction sect. A group that’d placed their blind faith in God and the Saint had taken advantage of the chaos of Godd Deos’s death and blown the horn of ruin.

At this point, there was no value in trying to hide the truth. Thanks to Lute’s testimony, all three races knew about the Church’s plot. However, this truth had not been formally announced to the people yet. Even so, the rumors about the God pillar had circulated alongside information about the Diablo pillar, leading to the collapse of humanity’s long-standing religious doctrine.

In other words, the paladins’ very reason to exist had been rocked down to its foundations.

With that in mind, it’d be unreasonable to expect their judgment to be completely clear.

Furthermore, by all rights, the Mad King—who was the Kaiser’s contractor, and who possessed the Torture Princess’s heart and an immortal body—should have been the paladins’ enemy. But because he’d received the support of La Christoph, who both spearheaded the moderate sect and acted as the saints’ mediator, as well as that of several prominent aristocrats, they had no choice but to follow his orders.

However, that notwithstanding, given that he’d teleported without advance notice to an abandoned plot of land that had been ravaged by a demon, it was only natural that their swords would find their way into his face.

Kaito could appreciate how they felt. He even sympathized. On the other hand, he found it exasperating.

Their insubordination is too half-assed. If the sheep think the shepherd’s making the wrong decisions, then they shouldn’t have started following him in the first place. If everyone had just taken a minute to think and act on their own, then the world wouldn’t be ending right now.

Kaito shrugged. Unfortunately, though, they clearly took that as instigation.

Perhaps it had touched a nerve, as one of the paladins wrung a deep voice from his throat.

“Sir Kaito Sena. You didn’t inform us in advance that you’d be visiting at this late hour. What business do you have?”

“So is it a good thing that you’re asking me, or is this even more half-assed?”

“Answer the question, if you would!”

An angry shout tore through the air. The wording was one thing, but its tone sounded pretty close to an order.

Kaito was about to answer truthfully, but then at the last minute, he closed his mouth. He gazed off into the distance. The buildings had been engulfed by a demon, rendering the earth strangely smooth, and he could see a silver light approaching. As it drew closer, it left faint glitters in its wake, like a shooting star. However, the paladins still hadn’t noticed it yet.

“What, giving us the silent—?”

As another paladin was about to angrily cry out, all their weapons suddenly went flying. Someone had carefully knocked them into the air by kneeing their hilts. The swords, unbroken, plunged blade-first into the deserted patches of earth.

The sharp, insectoid legs left silver afterimages in the air as the newcomer moved about. Whoever it was, they’d arced to an abrupt stop.

“What do you all think you’re doing?!”

“Cap…Captain!”

The woman was leveling a sharp glare at the paladins. She was down on all fours with her back arched, her stance that of a menacing beast. Her mismatched blue and purple eyes and long, silver hair gleamed in the pale light.

Her face still had the vestiges of its former beauty. Now, though, her entire body was so distorted, it would make one hesitate to even describe her as human. More than half her body was completely devoid of flesh.

Moving in its place were strange mechanical parts, the likes of which would have been out of place even in Kaito’s world.

Gears were spinning in sections of her cheek, and screws were rising and falling within the parts of her wrists and ankles that were peeking out from her uniform.

They clearly differed from normal artificial limbs and body enhancements. Not even Kaito’s world would have been able to manufacture such a thing. The fact that technology wasn’t nearly as developed in this world made it seem all the more out of place. Yet at the same time, she had a strange beauty about her. That was likely thanks to her strong will, which glimmered in her eyes.

It was a powerful light, one that only existed in the eyes of the living. And her voice had pride in it befitting that light.

“That man you were pointing your swords at—Sir Kaito Sena—saved my life! And he’s fighting alongside us to prevent the world from ending! How many times do I have to tell you that before it gets through those heads of yours?!”

“B-but Captain Vicker, ma’am! With all due respect, as paladins, placing our unconditional faith in the Kaiser’s contractor, not to mention the man with the Torture Princess’s heart, is too—”

“Fools! The reluctance you’re feeling is baseless and emotional! If that’s the only reason you have for your actions, then cast it aside! Perhaps you’ve forgotten they’re the ones who rescued us in the battle at the Capital!”

“We haven’t forgotten, I swear! But Captain, surely you understand how we feel. His powers are far too perverse. Even some of the Church leadership was saying he’s our enemy. Why, then, would you have us believe in him?!”

The paladin gave a pained appeal. Despite the fact that he himself was the subject of their mistrust, Kaito nodded in sympathy.

The first demon had been stored away in the Capital’s underground tomb. The paladins’ reality had been shattered in the cruelest way possible. He could hardly blame them for having their doubts. At the moment, they probably felt like they were adrift in the darkness. However, the woman’s clear words cleaved through their hesitation.

“Our faith is just—never let yourself doubt that! No matter what truths the Church may have been hiding, the nobility shown in acting with purity, doing good deeds for the sake of our neighbors, and conducting our lives with prayer on our lips will never change! Thus, it is our duty to be examples of that justice! And in order to do that, we need to devote our full efforts to protecting the innocent!”

“Captain Vicker… Even after having your body changed like that, you still…”

Several of the paladins clenched their fists. They cast their gazes down. When they looked back up, though, some of their hesitation had cleared up, and their stagnant moods had started to shift. Noticing that, the woman pressed on.

“I have nothing more to say. Ian, Leauvas, what happened to keeping watch? Dan, weren’t you supposed to relieve the people guarding the ration line? Bran, did you intend on sending the bishops back without an escort? All of you, return to your posts!”

“Yes, ma’am. My apologies. It won’t happen again!”

The paladins placed their arms over their chests and bowed. Then they hurried back to their posts. None of them turned to look back. The doubts they’d been seized by just a moment ago seemed to have vanished without a trace. Their decisive retreating made fully clear just how much trust and respect they put in their captain.

Before long, they were all gone.

The woman gave her head a small shake. Her silver hair fluttered as the tension drained from her body.

“Well then. My apologies for the discourtesy of my men.”

The woman slowly stood up and straightened her back. The parts in her ankles she’d been using when she traveled wound down with a loud noise and stowed themselves. After giving her back a firm thump, she turned back to look at Kaito again.

“You did well to make it to the Capital, Sir Kaito.”

“Yeah. I’m glad to see you’re doing all right, Izabella.”

Kaito answered her familiar greeting in kind. She nodded.

Just a few days ago, the very Church she’d put her faith in had forced her to consume demon flesh. As a result, she’d fallen into a state that had been harder to undo than even death. However, the golden Torture Princess, Jeanne de Rais, had reinforced her body with Deus Ex Machina and saved her life.

She tried frantically to raise the corners of her mouth. The gears in her left cheek whirred loudly, and her metal parts moved in accordance with her will. However, it was undeniable how artificial her bare, mechanical smile looked.

* * *

Yet even so, Izabella Vicker was beautiful.

“As for your wife, she was aiding in the defense efforts earlier, and she’s currently making the rounds. When the fourth wave attacked what used to be Mage’s Row, she exterminated them practically on her own. It was quite the splendid display.”

“Oh yeah, I already knew about that thing with Hina. That was some sick fighting.”

“You knew? Well, be that as it may, are you not worried that the two of you are fighting separately?”

Izabella’s voice sounded concerned. Its gentle tone echoed through the darkness.

As he climbed the ladder, Kaito answered her question, which had come from overhead.

“All I can do is throw around magic. Of the two of us, Hina’s way better in battle. There’s no way some underlings from the fourth wave are gonna be able to hold her up. Man, my wife’s the coolest, isn’t she?”

“Fine words of praise. Cuteness is far from the only appeal women can have.”

“Oh, don’t get me wrong, she’s cute, too! Really cute!”

“Quite. Even I can tell how unmistakably charming she is. Later, you should make sure you tell that to her directly. I’m sure she’d be pleased— Hmm? Wasn’t it around here?”

At the moment, the two of them were lined up vertically in a cramped space. Stretching out her arm, Izabella fumbled around overhead. Eventually, her metal fingers brushed against the wooden door, and she pushed it open. A square section of the night sky appeared amid the darkness.

Izabella then went up through the door. Kaito, too, made his way to the top of the ladder and stuck his head out into the night. His cheeks were met by a chilly wind. He placed his hands on the stone floor, then lifted himself to his feet.

When he looked up at the sky again, he realized the stars were closer than they had been earlier. However, the moon wasn’t visible. Faint, dark clouds were covering patches of the sky. Because of that, it was difficult to look around.

The two of them were standing atop a watchtower beside the castle ramparts. It had suffered serious damages, so it was currently sitting unused.

Alongside Izabella, Kaito approached the tower’s edge. As he gazed out over the Capital, which was blanketed in night, he frowned.

“…Man, that’s grim.”

“You can see it without binoculars, even in this darkness?”

“Hmm? Oh yeah. I had to teach myself how, but I fiddled with my eyes a bit.”

“…I suppose we’ve both made sacrifices.”

“Sure, but you’ve had it way rougher than me, haven’t you? Hmm… When you consider how long it’s gonna take to clear away all the rubble, restoring the Capital’s gonna be rough. Most of the buildings you’d want to restore are completely leveled. It might just be easier to construct everything from the ground up. Although, I guess compared with the last disaster, even this looks salvageable.”

Kaito let out a heavy sigh. The Capital still bore the cruel scars from the destruction the three demons had wreaked. Now even more damage had been piled atop it. A fire had broken out in the chaos of the underlings’ attack, and the mages in charge of extinguishing such fires hadn’t been able to stop it in time. In order to keep it from spreading, they’d had to knock down a huge number of buildings. But even though they’d resorted to such drastic measures, the area that had gotten scorched was considerable. Conversely, because some aqueducts had ruptured and several bridges had also collapsed, parts of the Capital had been submerged.

No matter where he looked, he saw figures that were undoubtedly corpses. Frighteningly, even some of the buildings that seemed to have been knocked down on purpose had human arms sticking out from underneath.

…Man, just how long is it gonna take to recover all those corpses and identify them? Even if they decide to just burn them all because it’s an emergency, there’s a good chance that an epidemic will break out before they finish.

Next, Kaito turned his gaze toward the large-scale shelter. This time, it wasn’t scattered throughout the various plazas. Instead, the people were all gathered together in a vacant lot left over from the three demons’ attack. Thanks to that, the paladins and priests were able to mount a much firmer defense. Because the saints were all absent, some mages had called forth summoned beasts, and their massive figures could be seen patrolling the area. Furthermore, one of the Church’s undamaged buildings had been opened up to the public as an infirmary. At the moment, they were hard at work passing out rations.

After his verifying all that, Kaito raised an eyebrow.

…What’s that?

Here and there amid the collapsed houses, he could see lights flickering.

Apparently, there were more people than he’d expected who hadn’t taken shelter. He could imagine any number of reasons for that—perhaps they didn’t want to leave the familiarity of their homes, or perhaps they didn’t trust the Church in the wake of the God pillar being erected. However, there was something eerie about them that made goose bumps run across his skin.

Upon closer inspection, the people clustered around the fires that had been lit amid the debris seemed oddly tense.

Something was off. Trusting his instincts, Kaito quietly asked Izabella about it.

“Hey, there’s a bunch of people who don’t look like they’re heading for the shelter. What’s up with them?”

“…In truth, that was something I needed to talk to you about.”

“Well, that’s ominous. Why do you sound so serious?”

“Everyone has their own reasons for not going to the shelter. Many of them probably just don’t want to bear the psychological strain of staying somewhere they’re not used to… However, there are also those among them who fear the masses, and others who are carrying out a plot.”

“People who fear the masses? Carrying out a plot?”

Deep wrinkles etched themselves into Kaito’s brow. It sounded like the former viewed the masses as somehow dangerous, and the latter were committing some sort of crime. Izabella gave him a short nod. Then she elaborated:

“Deplorably, the damages didn’t just arise at the Capital. In fact, the number of incidents here were probably on the lower side. Humanity comprises about eighty percent of the Capital’s population. The farther north you go, and the poorer the towns and villages get, the higher the number of mixed-race demi-humans and beastfolk. If you include all the unreported cases from up there, the incident is more than grave enough to carve a dark page in our history books.”

“Your preface is too long. Just tell me what happened.”

“…You really are just like Elisabeth.”

“Please.”

“Mixed-race demi-humans and beastfolk were massacred.”

A cold, heavy wind blew between the two of them.

Kaito shut his mouth tight. Izabella stopped talking as well. Kaito silently turned to look back at the distant, wavering flames and the corpses scattered about. Then he slowly wrung a quiet voice out from his throat.

“…You’re saying with all these underlings running about and killing people, people started killing their own kind?”

“Tragically, yes.”

“Why? There’s no reason. No, even if it doesn’t make sense, there must be a reason. What is it?”

Kaito’s voice was threatening as he posed his question. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Izabella’s silver hair wave gently. When he looked, he saw she, too, had turned her gaze to the fires blazing in the night. He squeezed his fists tight.

A man-made massacre.

Even if it had some connection to the Diablo pillar, it was still a tragedy that defied comprehension.

To put it simply, it’s something we absolutely can’t allow.

“The cause of it all was the desire for salvation.”

“Salvation? How is salvation related to a massacre?”

“It only became evident after La Christoph’s investigation, but many of the most fanatical members of the reconstruction sect, as well as those who held leadership positions, asked to be transferred out to the countryside at about the same time they started using the transfigured paladins to conduct the beastfolk murders. Then they fled. And at the same time, rumors about the rebuilding began springing up.”

“What kind of rumors?”

“Allegedly, ‘Hark, O ye ignorant faithful. Pray that God shall be your salvation. For the beginning, the middle, and the end all lie in the palm of His hand,’ ‘The end-time is nigh,’ and ‘After the rebuilding, the devout faithful will be led into the new world.’ And now right on schedule, the end-time truly is upon us.”

“The reconstruction sect won’t actually be saved, obviously.”

Kaito spat out the words. Faithful or not, everyone’s fate would be the same. Death. At the same time, he understood. To anyone who’d heard the misinformation ahead of time, it would seem as though the prophecy had been fulfilled. The miracle had occurred. And only the chosen ones would be saved.

“However, the people who believed in that false salvation began massacring mixed-bloods.”

“But why? I don’t understand how the two are connec— No, wait. Don’t tell me… No! That’s so fucking stupid!”

“I see you figured it out. That’s right—they were killing heretics.”

Izabella laid out the horrible truth. Her voice was as cold as ice. Kaito sighed and buried his face in his hands.

To be precise, the beastfolk and demi-humans weren’t even heretics. The Three Kings of the Forest and the Sand Queen they revered had all been created by the Saint during the last rebuilding. Their origins were the same. But from the perspective of the Church’s believers, the divergent beliefs among the various races must have made them look like they were completely different.

And to be even more precise, they probably wanted to treat the other races as heretics so they could use them as that.

What was “that”?

Kaito lifted his face up from his palms. Then he quietly voiced his dreadful hypothesis.

“…To use them as sacrifices?”

“Yes. They were killing heretics so they could sacrifice them and prove their devotion to God.”

Izabella affirmed his suspicions. Kaito shook his head. There was no word to describe those believers’ actions but foolish. After all, it had been meaningless. The Church’s teachings didn’t even mention sacrifices being necessary in the first place. But when faced with chaos and the fear of dying, people were liable to reach out for the simplest, cruelest methods available to them.

Her voice still frigid, Izabella elaborated on her statement.

“The only people who could state with confidence they’d be led into the new world were those who were truly pious. But the end-time actually came. So in order to be saved, people felt they had to immediately start demonstrating to God how devout they truly were. Sacrificing others was a nice, easy-to-measure method.”

“So they said, kill those who don’t believe in God. But in truth, they did it because of how guilty they felt for not believing hard enough themselves, and because of how afraid they were that they wouldn’t be saved, huh… It all sounds like some kind of sick joke.”

“That it does. Other than the few successful businessmen, most of the mixed-race people had no means of self-defense. The demi-humans think blood purity is king. They would never protect those of mixed race. Because of all the chaos, the beastfolk couldn’t muster a response. And we had our hands full with the underlings. In short, they had no way to protect themselves, and nowhere to run.”

Kaito bit down hard on his lip. Several drops of blood ran down his thin jaw.

Once more, he was being forced to confront a cruel reality that he’d thought he understood.

He couldn’t save everyone. Still, though…

…These deaths are pointless. There’s no good reason for them!

Kaito Sena howled internally. Religious conflicts existed even back in his old world. There was no shortage of examples where people carried out racial genocides in times of war, too. Just as people were capable of putting their lives on the line to protect others, they were just as capable of killing one another like insects. Despite possessing reason, they often acted like animals. Kaito was well aware of that contradiction. But right now, being confronted with that fact felt like he was getting his entrails scooped out with a knife.

At that very moment, there were people in the world sacrificing their sanity in order to fight on everyone else’s behalf.

And on the other hand, there were people willing to massacre the innocent simply because they wanted to be saved.

If that was the case, then at the end of the day…

As far as salvation goes…

“In the end, as far as salvation goes, is ours truly right?”

Izabella’s soft murmur overlapped with Kaito’s doubts. He raised his head and looked her way. She was gazing out over the Capital with a pained expression on her face. Her words were practically a soliloquy.

“Our salvation and the salvation the reconstruction sect aims for are divergent. And even within the reconstruction sect, the Grave Keeper’s zealotry was different still. When she spoke, it was with unwavering pride and conviction. She described the world to come as ‘God’s kingdom, a perfect, ideal land.’ ‘All glory to God.’ ‘The miracle is upon us.’”

“‘There is no need for us here,’ huh.”

Taking over for Izabella, Kaito completed the Grave Keeper’s quote. Then he closed his eyes.

In the darkness, he could picture that young girl, clad from head to toe in scarlet, smiling. There hadn’t been so much as a sliver of hesitation in those rich-amber eyes of hers. They were so beautiful that Kaito felt as though they’d suck him in, and he had to shake his head to rid himself of the image.

Izabella quietly exhaled, then continued her confession.

“Allow me to speak candidly. When I first heard about the massacres, I stopped being so confident that the Grave Keeper had been wrong. Before the conditions for rebuilding are met, Elisabeth’s body is going to break. With its contractor gone, Diablo will be released. Then while God is yet unable to act, Diablo will destroy its pillar and return all creation to nothingness. The rebuilding will not come to pass. But in reality, that’s only true as far as we’re concerned. It’s perfectly reasonable to think that, even with His contractor destroyed, God will rebuild a new world atop the blank slate. And mankind will have no involvement in the process. A rebuilding with no one wielding the brush. At the end of it all, the new world will probably be completely different from this one, but…maybe that’s for the best.”

“Izabella…”

“‘There is no need for us here.’”

Izabella quickly recited back the Grave Keeper’s words. She gently closed her eyes.

There was no anger in her voice. Merely a deep, pervasive sadness.

“Given our situation, I find it hard to refute the Grave Keeper’s sayings.”

Kaito Sena narrowed his eyes. He responded with mere silence.

The weakness in her words was unlike Izabella. All the same, however, it was more like her than anything else.

After all, Izabella Vicker believes in humanity.

Even after having her body corrupted and being driven to the brink of death, she hadn’t resented a soul. But the fact that she believed they were worth saving was precisely why she lamented the cruelty and weakness possessed by all of humanity, not just a few fanatics.

Just like that woman who, long, long ago, had tried to save everyone—

—Izabella had been disappointed in exactly the same way.

Kaito thought back to a question he’d once been asked. It was a question that he, too, had asked himself no small number of times.

Flocks of sheep are, fundamentally, stupid. But at the end of that day, is that truly not a sin?

The ignorant had no right to cast blame, did they not?

If that was the case, then didn’t that make their entire way of life fundamentally wrong?

Kaito slowly closed his eyes, then reminisced on all the various horrors he’d seen.

In a sense, the people living in this world deserved all the tragedies that had befallen them. They had brought these terrors upon themselves. After all, the seed of evil strewn in it had only bloomed out of the disappointment of the woman who’d sacrificed herself.

The moment the fourteen demons showed up, it was obvious that something needed to be done about them or the world would suffer a crippling blow. But even though everyone knew that, no one actually tried to do anything.

No one except for one peerless sinner. The Torture Princess.

And that was how the world had reached the here and now.

Hallelujah—that single word the Grave Keeper had said rattled about in Kaito’s eardrums. He shook his head, then opened his eyes.

Still silent, he turned back toward Izabella. The cold night bore down on her as she began speaking again.

“Here I was, telling my men not to waver, and now look at me. How utterly pathetic. But even if we overcome this challenge, the world is too steeped in malice. With all the animosity and fear the people will bear, I have no faith we’ll be able to keep on living like normal.”

“Izabella…”

“If we’re headed for ruin one way or the other, wouldn’t it be best to welcome in a new world? I just can’t get that thought out of my head. We’re fighting so hard to save this world, but…”

…Was their salvation truly the right one?

She posed the question earnestly to the Mad King, the man who fought while shouldering everything on his back.

It was a sincere question, the kind that a child might ask.

Kaito took it head-on. His shoulders, clad in his black, military-like uniform as they were, were frail and weak. His growth had been stunted. Now, though, those same shoulders bore the weight of everything he’d inherited from the Torture Princess.

It was a heavy burden. Yet the Mad King gave his answer without having to think it over much at all.

“Right, wrong, none of that matters.”

Izabella’s eyes twitched as she narrowed them. One of them was surrounded by machine parts, and it moved ever so slightly slower than the other.

Then she stared straight at Kaito, as though trying to figure out what he meant.

Kaito placed his hands on the watchtower’s ramparts, then leaned forward a little. He gazed out over the marred Capital. Among the corpses dotting the land, not all of them had met their ends at the underlings’ hands.

Kaito Sena knew. The world wasn’t beautiful.

It was as filthy as a swamp, and as hideous as a rotting flower.

But in it, I found something truly radiant.

This was the only place that he and the people precious to him existed.

Even if, perhaps, anything and everything about it was wrong, that fact remained.

“What meaning does some imaginary person’s happiness have? Does it matter if some world we’ve never heard of is peaceful? Even if hell is the only thing left for us, I still want the people I know to fight back. And someday, I want them to find happiness.”

Every single person was worthy of finding happiness.

Everyone had that right.

Even if the world had already become hell on earth.

And no matter how foolish the living all were.

Just as he yearned for the ruthless, gentle Torture Princess—

—so, too, did Kaito Sena forgive the world for its contradictions, loving it for them instead.

“That’s why I’m going to protect them.”

The Mad King made his declaration without wavering for a moment. He then looked back at Izabella, his eyes so free of hesitation that they seemed almost crazed. She squinted. She looked as though she was gazing at something dazzling. Eventually, she placed her arm horizontally over her chest and bowed.

Her next words were quiet, practically a prayer.

“Kaito, I have nothing but thanks for you being who you are.”

Not Sir Kaito, but just Kaito. Her words were packed with a much deeper intimacy than usual.

Kaito cast a gentle gaze at her mechanically supplemented body. Then he, too, spoke softly.

“I should be the one thanking you.”

“Hmm? For what?”

“No, I just… The world definitely needs people like you.”

“…Like me? I should hardly think so. All I seem able to do is complain and dither.”

“Not at all. After this, the world’s gonna need people like you way more than people like me.”

Izabella frowned. Then puzzled, she opened her mouth. In all likelihood, she was about to try to put the sense of unease she’d just felt into words somehow. However, Kaito held up his hand and cut her off.

He scratched his head through his faded-brown hair, then abruptly changed the subject.

“So, uh, on that note. I feel kinda bad for saying something so casual after seeing just how bad the situation is, but…I guess that’s also the reason I had something I wanted to ask of you.”

“If it’s within my power to grant, then ask away.”

She cocked her head to the side, wondering what it was that he wanted. Kaito briefly cleared his throat. However, hesitating wasn’t going to get him anywhere. “So here’s the thing,” he began.

Then with utmost seriousness, Kaito made his request.

A few hours later, Kaito had arrived at what had once been Mage’s Row.

Technically, the Row itself was still fine. However, upon determining that it was no longer possible to do business there as befitting its name, the mages put out a notice: Regardless of whether or not the world was actually going to end, Mage’s Row was shutting down.

Kaito stood still atop the narrow, alley-like main drag. After surveying his surroundings, he gave a small nod.

“Huh… You really can tell the fourth-wave underlings hit this area.”

The artificial, boxy buildings around him seemed to intentionally spurn the notion of decoration. The entire sector was seedy. Normally, color would be all but out of place here. Now, though, it was dyed with ominous patches of black and red, and the walls had been transformed into some unidentifiable material so the underlings would have an easier time scaling them. They must have been crawling about on the shops’ surfaces, none of which had had been built with windows or doors in an effort to keep out those who didn’t understand the value and danger of the goods sold within. The viciously rent corpses of the underlings littered the walls.

However, what was surprising was that the demise of Mage’s Row had nothing to do with the grim spectacle before him.

Everything happened shortly after the three merged demons had been successfully struck down. First, the magical merchants quickly made their way back to the Capital. After all, while their operations had been on standby, the market price of magical remedies had exploded. Of course, their trade dealt with a wide variety of dangerous goods by nature, so they were used to being tossed about by the fickle whims of the times. However, none of them could have predicted that the very moment they hung their BACK IN BUSINESS signs up, the bugles heralding the end-time would be blown.

As a result, the merchants flipped out.

If the end-time came, then all the people in the world would die. In other words, they wouldn’t have any more customers. And they clearly refused to stand for that. If they’d thought about the situation a little more carefully, they probably would have realized their own deaths should have been the more pressing concern. But alas. In any case, they’d all taken their strange philosophy and offered their help in the defense efforts.

Because of this, many of the veterans with summoned beasts in tow were actually powerful retirees from Mage’s Row. To them, though, spending all their inventory in battle would mean having to close up shop. Preserving their precious goods and manufacturing magical remedies required quantities of mana that had taken them years to amass. Using this mana up would leave them no choice but to abandon the Capital, set up a workshop, and begin building it up again. But even knowing their actions would drive their own businesses to ruin, they still chose to strive for a world in which commerce was possible.

“All for you, my dear customers.”

Those were the words of the merchant of legend, passed down for countless years.

Anyone who dealt with trade knew and held them as a badge of honor.

Maybe their choice was contradictory, but in a way, it was kind of a happy one, too.

Upon reaching that point in his thoughts, Kaito reminisced on the Butcher’s nonsensical behavior. He didn’t pick up the way he acted and spoke from the Saint, nor did he learn from her his way of thinking as a merchant. Perhaps he’d picked them up while unifying the scattered peddlers in his efforts to make society prosper. And now that time had gone by, the Butcher’s words were still living on in the merchants’ hearts.

Even if someone dies, as long as the world is still there, a part of them lives on.

And if something was worth being passed on, then it deserved to be protected.

Once again, Kaito appreciated the value of fighting back against the impossible. Suddenly, though, he was pulled from his reverie.

“Ma-Ma-Ma-Ma-Ma-Ma-Ma-Maaaaaa—!”

“Mamam?

“Master Kaitoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!”

And with a great whoosh, a maid came bursting through the air.

Or to put it another way, his wife came flying at him.

His wife—

—came flying—

—at him!

You’ve gotta be kidding me.

On the spur of the moment, Kaito used magic to reinforce his body, a feat only made possible by the power of love. Then he spread out his arms, ready to catch her. Upon seeing that, though, she suddenly cast aside the halberd she’d been carrying.

The weapon drew an arc through the air as it went flying off in another direction. Using the recoil from the throw, she made three and a half clean revolutions in the air and corrected her course. And just like that, she plunged headfirst into a nearby shop.

Fragments from the wall sprinkled to the ground. Kaito nervously surveyed the damages.

Her bottom, clad in the skirt of her maid uniform, was sticking out from the wall. Kaito turned and began speaking to it.

“H-Hina? Why exactly did you go and self-destruct there?”

“I’m afraid to admit I got a little too energetic. I was concerned I would hurt you. Oh, I was just ever so excited to see you. My deepest apologies.”

“Well, that’s dumb. Here I was, more than happy to catch you.”

“Oh, Master Kaitoooooo, you’re too kiiiiiiiiind! Everyone, come look, everyone in the whole wide world! This man here is my strong, invincible, perfect, adorable husband! Eek!”

In concert with the “eek!” bit, Hina wrenched her head free from the wall. As she did, she turned about and flashed Kaito an ear-to-ear smile. After his brain finished rebooting, he came to the happy conclusion that she wasn’t injured before going on.

“You know, Hina, I was actually walking around hoping I’d find you. Thanks for coming and finding me, instead.”

“Of course! The moment I sensed your fragrant aroma, I lost myself in it and came flying right over!”

“All right, I’m gonna be honest with you; I’m a little embarrassed you could track me down by smell from that far away.”

“Oh, don’t be! You see, Master Kaito, your blood has a sweet fragrance to it, but your whole body smells warm and gentle, like the sun, or like freshly baked cookies… I mean, perhaps I’m the only one who can tell, but it’s peaceful and pleasant. It’s a lovely, lovely scent! Eek, I said it! How embarrassing!”

“Wait, that’s the part you’re getting embarrassed about? Anyway, Hina, there’s, uh, something I wanted to ask you.”

“What is it, my dearest Master Kaito? What is it? What is it?”

Hina’s cutely frilled skirt gently splayed out as she sat down in front of him. Her eyes glittered as she waited raptly for what he had to say. She resembled a puppy wagging its tail and was just as adorable.

Even though the world was ending, Hina was the same as ever.

Kaito let out a little chuckle. After choking back the affection welling up inside him, he knelt down, lowered his waist, and looked Hina in the eye. She blushed just like a human and began fidgeting restlessly.

“Hoo-wee, our eyes met… It’s been so long that I’m getting all shy.”

“Well, that was an odd noise. You know, Hina, it is weird that we’ve been working in different places, but we haven’t exactly been apart for all that long. Also, isn’t that a funny thing to get hung up on, given that we’ve, uh, y’know, done way more?”

“Oh, Master Kaitooooooo, you mustn’t saaaaaaaaay that. Something terrible will happen to my gears.”

“Hmm? Something terrible?”

“Specifically, they’ll all pop out, and I will die.”

“No, don’t.”

In spite of himself, Kaito’s face went serious. Clutching her cheeks in her hands, Hina violently shook her head from side to side. In order to calm her down, Kaito stroked her head. She froze.

Kaito then rubbed his palm back and forth over the top of her maid cap. As he pampered her, he asked her a question.

“Anyway, my dear, bashful Hina, I have an invitation for you.”

“Master Kaito… Master Kaito is patting my head… Oh… If only I could keep savoring this hand for another seventy-eight hundred years… Wait, an invitation? Of what sort?”

“If you don’t mind…”

Kaito then cleared his throat in an obviously affected way. He stopped stroking Hina’s head. Instead, he reverently took her pale palm in his. She opened her emerald-green, gemstone eyes wide.

Though it was obviously too late to fret, Kaito began worrying he was trying too hard. However, Hina being Hina, he was pretty sure she wouldn’t laugh at him. And because he knew he’d already made his choice, he swallowed back his nervousness and asked:

“…would you like to go on a date with me?”

And with that, he planted an audible kiss on the tip of her finger.

She offered no response. She simply stared at him in a daze. Kaito panicked; perhaps it had been a bad idea after all. Right as he was about to explain himself, though, she opened her mouth.

“O…”

“Oh?

“Overload.”

And with that one, enigmatic word, Hina toppled over backward.

“HINAAAAAAAAA!” screamed Kaito.

Her face looked somehow tranquil, and at the same time, completely at peace.