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Fremd Torturchen - Volume 7.5 - Chapter 8




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Elisabeth’s Daily Routine (Back Side)

Ever since the moment she was first turned on—

—Hina the automaton had been Kaito Sena’s eternal lover.

In his sickness and in his health, she was his soldier, his love outlet, his sex doll, and most importantly, his faithful companion and maid. Constant caring and devotion were Hina’s trademarks.

However, even she had a secret that she couldn’t share with her lover.

Specifically, it was about the “brief little indulgence” she enjoyed before getting to work on breakfast.

Each morning, Hina would go to Kaito’s room and press herself against his door. Kaito’s traumatic past life left him frequently plagued with nightmares, so Hina wanted to make sure she could “accidentally” wake him up whenever he started moaning in his sleep. If his rest was peaceful, though, then that was when the fun really started.

After all, Hina’s secret hobby was listening to Kaito breathe as he slept.

Each and every day, she would devote the considerable full force of her automaton hearing capabilities toward that one task.

Then as she listened to him, she would trace idle little circles in the air with her fingers.

“Pant, pant… Oh, Master Kaito… You’re sleeping so soundly, so defenselessly today. It’s ever so adorable! Why, it hardly seems fair for one person to be so cool and so lovable! Yet nobody in the whole wide world is your better in either regard! Oh, I fall harder for you each day! …Eep, you just said ‘mmm’! How erotic! Oh, if only my most fervent wish could come true, and I could wake you up each morning with a passionate smooch!”

“H-hmm… It feels as though it might be dangerous to call out to her right now, doesn’t it? Ah, but nothing ventured, nothing gained! Now here I go! Ahem… Ms. Lovely Maid?”

“Eep! Wh-who goes there?! Who’s eavesdropping on me?!”

Hina leaped up with a start and wasted no time in assuming a combat pose.

She normally preferred to fight with a halberd, but she was still a force to be reckoned with even when unarmed. She could snap a bear’s neck with her bare hands, and a single one of her kicks could knock a man’s head clean off. And the other party was well aware of that fact.

He quickly raised his hands in a show of surrender.

“I come in peace! It’s me—the one who everyone loves, the one who’s always by your side when you need him most! Your humble Butcher!”

“…Oh, Mr. Butcher?”

“Me, friend!”

“Ah, my apologies… You won’t tell Master Kaito about any of what you just heard, will you, Mr. Butcher? I’m sure I can count on your discretion. And on that note, welcome to Lady Elisabeth’s castle! What brings you here today?”

“Oh goodness. I feel as though if you trusted me any less, my head and torso would be sharing a tearful farewell right now…”

He shivered, and atop his shoulder, the large round sack he was carrying, which was covered in X-shaped patches, shook in turn.

The Butcher was a demi-human merchant who often frequented Elisabeth’s castle. The tattered black cloak he wore covered everything but his scaly hands and feet, adding to his already considerable air of mystery. When Hina saw him tremble like a scared puppy, she hurriedly moved to comfort him.

“Oh no, there’s no need to be afraid! Worry not—as long as you don’t become an enemy of my beloved Master Kaito, I would never dream of attacking you!”

“For words intended to set my heart at ease, they still have a decidedly frightening ring to them… Ah, but I have a task that needs doing, so I had better pull myself together, hadn’t I? I apologize for showing up at such an early hour, but the thing is, I believe I left something here.”

“Oh my! What is it?”

“One of my pieces of meat on the bone.”

Suddenly, a cry of “Again?! How do you keep forgetting those?!” echoed out from Kaito’s room. However, it didn’t sound like he was actually awake. What a dedicated straight man he was. Meanwhile, Hina gently tilted her head to the side.

“Oh, goodness me… I’m afraid I have some unfortunate news. When Lady Elisabeth was drinking and making merry last night, I believe she grilled it and ate it.”

“I’m too late already?! Rgh… How transient and fleeting the life of meat is…”

“Hmm. Come to think of it, though, while I’m certain she got something out of the ice-spirit fridge, it might have actually been something else. Here’s an idea—it’s a little earlier than usual, but I was just about to head to the kitchen to prepare Lady Elisabeth’s morning tea. Would you like to come with me and check?”

“Ah, you’re too gracious! A thousand thanks!”

Without Hina accompanying him, he couldn’t enter the kitchen. It was physically possible, to be sure, but the prospect of Elisabeth finding out was a terrifying one indeed. The Butcher leaped up and down in joy at this fortuitous outcome.

Hina smiled genially. Early as it was, her daily indulgence was complete, and she set off.

Together, the two of them headed for the kitchen.

It was a decision that neither of them put a great deal of thought into.

There was one step remaining on Hina’s morning itinerary.

Namely, preparing Elisabeth’s morning tea.

Each day, she would take the ambient temperature and humidity into account to mix the perfect ingredients for a cup of tea that would hit the spot just right. The thing was, there wasn’t much else she could do for her masters in the morning. Elisabeth’s dress was constructed out of magic, so she never needed assistance getting dressed, and Kaito had firmly turned down Hina’s offers to help him out with his morning routine or bring him any sort of beverage.

As such, she poured all her efforts into Elisabeth’s tea.

This morning, as always, her maid’s spirit fired up as she mixed the tea leaves.

The weather was slated to be chilly, and while it wasn’t supposed to rain, it was definitely going to be overcast.

“In that case, the situation calls for a tea that can warm up body and mind alike to start the day off right!”

With her mission decided, Hina opened up the white cupboard before her. Inside, there was a large selection of cube-shaped boxes.

She popped off a few of their lids, then scooped out some leaves with a silver spoon, blending together, in perfect, exquisite ratios, types that warmed up the body with varieties that had refreshing flavors. Then she added some dried red flower petals and bitter orange seeds.

That way, the tea would come out in a nice transparent shade of vermilion and would have a sweet aroma to pick up one’s spirits.

After successfully finishing the mixing process, Hina turned to move on to the next step. Then she blinked.

The Butcher was standing in front of the ice-spirit fridge, visibly at a loss. Hina hurried over to him.

“What’s the matter, Mr. Butcher?”

“All the meat on the bone I intentionally delivered is still here. In other words, the one that Madam Elisabeth ate last night must have been the one I forgot! Ohhhh, what a cruel turn of fate.”

“Oh no, I’m so sorry. But knowing Lady Elisabeth, I’m sure she at least enjoyed it more than anyone else in the whole world would have!”

“Well, well, well, I suppose that is a silver lining… Being enjoyed is the greatest joy that meat can have, after all.”

“It really is, isn’t it? Come on now, please, don’t look so down! Here, why don’t I prepare you a light snack? First, though, I should check the weather just in case so I can… Hmm?”

The stonework kitchen was cramped and claustrophobic, but it did at least have a window for ventilation. When Hina rushed over to it, she squinted, her artificial skeleton creaking as she pressed her head against the gaps in the window’s iron grille.

By craning her neck, she could just make out the area around the castle’s front entrance—and, more importantly, the person leaving the castle through it.

Thanks to her preeminent vision, Hina could recognize the figure’s silky black hair even in the dead of night.

“…Lady Elisabeth? Shouldn’t you still be asleep?”

“Hmhm, ah, such beauty recognizable even from behind! That’s Madam Elisabeth, sure as a dragon has wings!”

All of a sudden, the Butcher’s head popped up beside Hina’s. However, he was too short for that to make sense. The secret, as it turned out, was that he was standing atop his sack, and what’s more, he was perched precariously on his tiptoes.

Totally unfazed by his sudden appearance, Hina asked him a question.

“Oh, Mr. Butcher, you can see her, too?”

“Heh-heh-heh. To tell you the truth, I’m made of sterner stuff than the average demi-human! There’s a reason I’ve lived as long as I have, I’ll have you know!”

He puffed up his chest with pride. However, doing so caused him to lose his balance. He wobbled back and forth for a moment, then puffed up his chest again. Hina gave him an impressed round of applause. This time, there was no straight man to be found.

Meanwhile, as the two of them shared their friendly little chat, Elisabeth kept on walking. Soon, she vanished into the tree line.

Hina tilted her head to the side. How very odd. Where could Elisabeth be going at such an early hour? Hina crossed her arms. The Butcher did likewise. Then they stepped away from the window in unison and turned to look at each other.

“You know, Mr. Butcher, this is just my intuition speaking, but…”

“…it feels as though there’s something afoot, doesn’t it?”

The two of them both nodded.

And with that, the curtain rose on their small little grand adventure.

The two of them were both the type to act first and think things through later.

After making their decision, both Hina and the Butcher got to work without wasting a moment. Hina grabbed her magic leather bag on the off chance they’d need it, and the two of them rushed outside all helter-skelter and made their way into the forest after Elisabeth.

Luckily for them, they were able to hide in the tall underbrush without anyone spotting them.

As Hina carefully carried the hem of her maid uniform to avoid getting it dirty, she looked to her side.

Standing there, she saw a big green blob. At some point, the Butcher had taken some leaves and grass and affixed them all over his cloak.

“That looks very professional.”

“Hmhmhm, at long last, the time has come for me to leverage the skills I’ve developed in the long battles to establish this world’s distribution channels! Behold—Field-Mode Butcher!”

The Butcher replied to Hina’s compliment in a tone dripping with confidence. All the way back at the castle, Kaito’s unconscious straight-man retort of “What the hell does that even mean?!” echoed through the halls. Sadly, though, there was no one there to hear it.

Down in the dark forest, however, a voice overcome with emotion was heard by just about everyone.

“It’s a wondrous honor to be graced with your radiant presence, O beautiful Torture Princess. O ravishing Elisabeth Le Fanu!”

A group of birds took off at the sudden noise, cawing loudly as they flew away. Hina and the Butcher quickly pulled their heads back, then looked out again.

The speaker quivered passionately and spread his arms wide. As he did, Elisabeth’s mood grew visibly more sullen. This clearly wasn’t someone she was excited to be meeting.

““Hmm,”” Hina and the Butcher murmured. They turned their gazes to the other party.

It was a middle-aged man wearing a high-quality black cloak, with a bowler hat perched atop his head. An ornate mask gleamed on his face, no doubt to capture the attention of any who looked at it and get them to forget the rest of his appearance.

However, his voice was obnoxiously shrill. If Hina used her Self-Recording Device, identifying him would be trivial.

“…Mr. Butcher, I fear this is terribly rude of me to say, but I get this strange feeling that he’s kind of an idiot.”

“Worry not, Ms. Lovely Maid. That there is an authentic Grade A idiot.”

The two of them nodded quietly as they completed their blunt evaluation of the man’s nature.

Then Elisabeth spoke.

“You wake a person at this ungodly hour, then have the nerve to say I’m ‘gracing you with my presence’? If every word that comes out of your mouth is going to be this insipid, I’ve half a mind to slice you in two where you stand.”

“Hyoh-heh, I suppose that’s the Torture Princess for you. That pride, that arrogance…how fitting for the one who will guide us and share our path!”

“What? No, a rebuttal such as that hardly scratches the surface of the Torture Princess’s arrogance. What are you, some wet-behind-the-ears noble? If the Church found out you were saying such things, they wouldn’t just stop at seizing your assets, you know. They’d subject you to a full-on inquisition.”

As though to support their hypothesis, Elisabeth leveled one biting remark at the man after another. Despite having the wind thoroughly drained from his sails, the man valiantly continued talking. After a short back-and-forth, Elisabeth shot him a question.

“Then I shall ask you thus—are you a demon worshipper? An organization that stands against the Church? Or perhaps the leader of a religion all your own?”

Hina and the Butcher nodded in agreement. It was painfully obvious what the man’s affiliation was.

Plus, given that an anti-Church organization had sent Elisabeth an invitation, Hina had a pretty good idea what they wanted from her.

The Torture Princess was beautiful, powerful, and shouldered peerless sins, all of which made her a perfect symbol.

There was no shortage of people in the world who wanted to get their hands on her, and the man clearly numbered among their ranks.

“It would seem I don’t need to introduce myself, I see… Very well! Then let’s talk, you and I. As you surmised, we stand against the coercive brainwashing the Church conducts on the masses, and we hold demons in the highest regard in their stead.”

“I don’t doubt it for a moment. You’re as black a lot as they come; that much is clear enough from your garb. You people do love that color, don’t you?”

Acknowledging her remark, the man launched into a tirade about the Church’s inconsistencies.

Hina and the Butcher nodded some more. Hina wasn’t an expert on the topic by any means, but she was aware of the Church’s corruption. Kaito had told her about the deeds of an inquisitor named Clueless, and that aside, Hina had a bone to pick with any organization that proclaimed themselves good and just while forcing the Torture Princess to fight the demons all on her own.

In contrast, the Butcher didn’t seem to have any specific thoughts on the matter. The darkness beneath his leaf-covered hood was simply black, just the same as always.

Then all of a sudden, Elisabeth said something wholly unexpected.

“That meat was fresh. Were they yet living when you sliced it off?”

“Ah, so you enjoyed our little present!”

“…‘Present’?”

Hina couldn’t help but let out a puzzled little murmur. Apparently, the man had given something to Elisabeth. Hina thought back over what they’d just said. “The meat was fresh.” “Yet living.” “Sliced it off.”

No matter what it was, it couldn’t have been anything wholesome. This time, the Butcher had something to say as well.

“Rgh, just because they’re alive when you cut it off doesn’t mean the meat’s necessarily going to be any good, you know. Some meat is better off being aged in a storehouse, and whether or not you drain the blood has a huge impact on the flavor as well.”

As the Butcher drew from his seemingly bottomless well of expertise, Hina decided to forgo commentary so she could focus on Elisabeth’s conversation.

The man continued his horrible speech in grand fashion.

“Our group holds rituals, which involve human sacrifices, to deepen our bonds and to further blasphemy against God. We take the offering alive and make beautiful artwork out of them. Just like you—just like the Torture Princess!”

Hina tried to rise to her feet right then and there, but the Butcher quickly grabbed her by the arm.

After pulling her back down, he quietly talked her down as well.

“Do settle down, Ms. Lovely Maid. I understand how you feel—I really do! But the man is talking nonsense! Why, he’s best ignored altogether! Besides, if you rush out, he might be able to catch Madam Elisabeth by surprise! Right now, the best thing we can do is wait here and watch them!”

Hina gave his calm words of reason a nod. She clenched her fists tight, but she sat back down all the same.

Meanwhile, Elisabeth’s mood visibly shifted. However, the man didn’t notice the change.

The Torture Princess gave him a sweet smile.

“I see. So you claim to be imitating me, of all things…”

Such were Elisabeth’s words as she gently guessed at the reason the man wanted the Torture Princess on his side. Then she made him an offer in a voice as intoxicating as poisoned liquor.

“First, I must confirm something. Bring me to this meeting place of yours, and I shall see for myself if you’ve prepared a throne befitting the Torture Princess.”

“Y-you’re serious? You’ll become our sponsor—our figurehead?”

“Enough blathering. ’Tis rude to make a lady repeat herself.”

Elisabeth gently raised her fair hand, and the man extended his in kind. His fingers were trembling—perhaps in fear, and perhaps in delight. Elisabeth elegantly took his hand in hers. Then out of the blue, she yanked him toward her.

After bringing her lips close to him, she whispered something in his ear. His eyes went wide.

Then he hurried off with Elisabeth in tow. The driver opened the carriage door, and the two of them boarded it.

Hina and the Butcher were many things, but they were by no means willing to let the opportunity before them slip away. In a flash, the two of them were on their feet.

“Our time has come, Ms. Lovely Maid!”

“I’ll roger that with a big old hurrah!”

Then they broke off at a dash in perfect unison. As the carriage began moving, the two of them lined up side by side and leaped on board. They held on to its roof with their hands and managed to skillfully place their feet so they were only just barely protruding.

The frame lurched. The pair panicked, worried they’d been found out. Fortunately, though, the horses’ strength won out.

The driver assumed that the ride had just hit a rock or something, and the carriage continued on through the forest as though nothing had happened.

The dawn was yet unbroken.

Under the cover of night, the two of them continued their stealthy pursuit.

After exiting the forest, the carriage kept going for a good while longer.

Eventually, though, it came to a creaky stop. Hina looked up.

They were beside a dilapidated manor. However, Elisabeth and the others ignored the main building. Instead, they entered its attached chapel and used the secret staircase beneath its altar to head underground. And Hina and the Butcher followed them.

Taking care not to let their footsteps echo or the reflection from their lantern light shine down the tunnel, Hina and the Butcher continued shadowing the other group.

As she quietly strode across the pooled groundwater, Hina let out a whisper.

“Thank goodness you had a lantern on you, Mr. Butcher. Little holes and bumps would never be enough to trip me up, but it’s certainly nice not having to worry about accidentally stepping in mud and having it splash everywhere.”

“Hmhmhm. It’s a wonderful thing, having a lantern and a fire slime in your sack! No gentleman should leave home without them! Why, in two years’ time, everyone’ll be carrying a pair around! Ha-ha-ha!”

The Butcher struck a bizarre pose as he laughed. He seemed oddly confident in his prediction.

Either way, his preparedness had allowed them to make good time down the tunnel. Suddenly, though, Hina stopped in her tracks. However, the Butcher obliviously strode on, so Hina had to grab him by the scruff of his cloak.

“Mr. Butcher, please wait!”

“And a heigh-dee— Hmm? What’s… Ah. They stopped, then?”

Hina nodded. Around the corner, the other party’s light had stopped moving.

It would appear that Elisabeth’s group had reached their destination. The Butcher set his lantern on the ground and blocked its light with his sack. Then the two of them stuck their heads around the corner to start observing.

Elisabeth, the man, and the driver were standing in front of a door. After exchanging some sort of passcode, Elisabeth and the man went inside. The driver stayed behind. He rolled his shoulders, then set off. There was probably some sort of antechamber he was heading to.

Hina and the Butcher exchanged a glance.

Hina nodded. The Butcher grabbed his sack.

Then he took off and shot down the tunnel like an arrow. The driver turned, but it was already too late.

With one fluid motion, the Butcher drew his signature weapon from the sack.

“Cheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeers!”

His war cry was quiet, but he made up for it in vigor.

As the cry echoed down the passageway, his meat on the bone collided with the back of the driver’s head.

The weapon was blunt, but even so, the force from the blow was enough to make the driver collapse. However, the Butcher swooped down and caught him the moment before he hit the ground. In a pointless display of kindness, he even gently plopped the man’s head down on his lap.

Hina gave him a small round of applause, to which the Butcher replied with a big thumbs-up.

“The man is down!”

“That was a very impressive ‘cheers,’ especially for how quiet it was!”

“That’s what you’re gonna comment on?!” Kaito cried back at the castle. However, there still wasn’t anyone around to hear him.

Over at the actual site, Hina suddenly looked up. She quickly rushed over to the door.

“Now then, our one obstacle is out of the way! Allow me to check on the situation!”

Just like she had at Kaito’s room, she pressed herself against the door. There was a fleshy, nude etching of the Saint carved on its wooden surface, but Hina paid that fact no heed. She brought her head next to its carved breasts and leveraged the full power of her automaton hearing capabilities.

“W-was there something wrong with the sacrifice?”

“Oh, shut up. I have one question for you lot, and one question alone.”

She could hear Elisabeth talking to someone. Her eyes went wide, and she pulled away from the door.

When she turned back toward the Butcher, he tilted his head to the side in confusion.

“What seems to be the matter, Ms. Lovely Maid?”

“The situation is bad! At this rate, things are definitely going to come to blows!”

“Oh my! Are they preparing for a fight?”

“Lady Elisabeth is pretending not to, but in truth, she actually is! Only someone who knows her as well as I do would be able to tell, but that’s her super-mega-ultra-angry tone!”

Hina rapidly nodded up and down. And in no time at all, her conjecture was proven true.


Screams started echoing out from inside the room. Hina pressed herself back against the door to check what was going on.

When she did, she was greeted by a voice dripping with bloodlust and rage.

“‘Just like the Torture Princess,’ eh? You have nerve, I’ll give you that… I must admit, though, this banquet you’ve thrown truly is not unlike my own. I may be unto a demon, but you lot are no different. Very well! I recognize you, then, as having deviated from humanity’s path!”

Hina narrowed her emerald eyes, and her expression contorted in sadness.

Behind her, the Butcher tilted his head in puzzlement and stroked the area that was probably his jaw.

“The thing is, Ms. Lovely Maid…it would appear these enemies are demon worshippers. The means Madam Elisabeth has every reason to fight them, and to be honest, I can’t imagine there being the slightest chance they’ll best her… So even if a battle breaks out, it is what it is. Wouldn’t it be fine just to leave her to her devices?”

“No! Why, I could never do such a thing!”

Hina violently shook her head. She glared at the door.

His interest piqued, the Butcher let out a long exhale. His next question had a strange weight to it.

“Are those your feelings as an attendant speaking, perhaps?”

“That’s correct. Right now, I can’t leave her alone. I wouldn’t be able to forgive myself if I did.”

Hina answered without a moment’s hesitation. The Butcher gave her a slight nod.

Meanwhile, Elisabeth spoke once more. Her voice rang out proud and true.

“And as such, this is a task well befitting the Torture Princess! For killing those who are unto demons is a task that belongs to those just as wretched!”

Even Hina knew.

Sometimes, the only thing that could kill evil was a different brand of evil. That was one of the world’s many truths. And yet—

—in Hina’s opinion, that was far too sad a truth—

—and at the same time, far too contradictory.

The automaton had some thoughts about the words of man.

What exactly was evil that killed evil?

The righteous would never have been able to reach that underground banquet. Would people praise someone who had been invited there and gone on a rampage, then? The answer was no. They would attack the person who reached the banquet and point fingers at them, all while singing the praises of righteousness.

And the Torture Princess wouldn’t even get mad at them. She’d laugh, saying that theirs was a natural reaction. But Hina also knew someone who would get mad at them, who’d rage at them with all his might. It was her beloved master—Kaito Sena.

You’re looking down on someone who got their hands dirty to slay evil while you got to keep yours clean?! he’d shout.

Righteousness is a difficult thing to pin down in this world and in every other. Everything can be right, and anything can be wrong. But…

…believing in your beloved’s words was what it meant to love someone.

Hina reached into her leather bag, a magic device that had no bottom, and pulled out a halberd longer than she was tall. She aimed its brutal blade at the door and launched a swing to break it open. The Butcher immediately let out a yelp.

“No, no, no, no, no, think it through! It’s dangerous to smash down the door all of a sudden! Why, you might well hamper Madam Elisabeth’s focus! Stand dooown!”

“How—very—right—you—are!”

Hina nodded. However, she was already far enough in her swing that stopping the halberd was no longer an option. In an unbelievable display of strength, she changed the blade’s course and cleaved through empty space. As the handle spun up into the air, Hina righted her stance.

Her silver hair rustled as she lowered her head.

“I’m very sorry. My composure was lacking. I offer you both my thanks and my apologies.”

“I must say, for you to be able to restore your posture from that position… You never fail to impress, Ms. Lovely Maid. Now then… It would be nice to find a key that could open this door quietly, or perhaps a different entrance we could use in order to take our enemies and just our enemies by surprise. And both would be even nicer still… Glance.”

The Butcher looked down at the driver, whose head was still resting on his lap. He rapped him on the cheek.

He landed several such strikes before the driver woke up. When the man realized what was going on, his expression froze. It was a reasonable reaction.

After all, anyone would react that way upon discovering that their head was in a mysterious, dark figure’s lap.

The man began to cry Aaaah, a monster! but was stopped; the Butcher spoke in a deep murmur.

“Heh-heh-heh. Be quiet, now, and we won’t have to hurt you.”

“Mr. Butcher, that sounds suspicious in a whole different way!”

“Ha-ha-ha. You say that, but you’re giving off a far more threatening vibe than I am… Now as for you, do you know of any key that can open the door from the outside, or perhaps of another way to get in?”

The driver blinked at the line of questioning. However, his eyes twitched to the side for a moment first. Hina’s preeminent automaton powers of observation allowed her to pick up on the change, and the Butcher caught it, too. Both of the things they were looking for existed.

However, the driver shook his head no. Apparently, he was planning on courageously keeping his master’s secrets. The man’s reaction caused the Butcher’s expression to change. It was still dark beneath his hood, but Hina could tell.

The Butcher was smiling.

“Mr.… Mr. Butcher?”

“Ah, such loyalty. Feeling responsibilities toward your post, fulfilling your duties as your master commands… It’s the mark of a good man, and a mark I can respect. So I take it this means you’re prepared to bear your share of the burden of your master’s sin?”

“…Hmm?”

The driver let out a muffled voice through the Butcher’s hand. The Butcher responded by slowly lifting his other arm. His claws gleamed as he laid them on the scruff of the driver’s neck and spoke in a strangely syrupy voice.

“Goodness, for you to so readily share the sin of whatever horrible ritual is going on in there… Hats off to your dedication, good sir.”

The driver started thrashing about, his eyes wide. He frantically tried to tell them something.

However, the Butcher pretended not to notice, instead digging his claws into the man’s skin.

“Then I suppose I have no choice! I’m a proud Butcher, uninterested in matters that don’t concern meat, but out of respect for your loyalty, I shall deliver the coup de grâce myself!”

“Agh, gack… No, stop, please!”

The driver threw the Butcher’s hand off in utter desperation.

The Butcher stopped for a moment. Before he could say anything, the driver shouted out the information of his own accord.

“Th-the key is in the antechamber! And you can get into the observation balcony from there, too! If there’s anything else you want to know, I’ll tell you anything! Anything and everything! So please spare me, if no one else!”

The driver sobbed as he made his desperate entreaty. Then he even began denouncing his employer. “The banquets are horrible.” “Those demons.” “They’re the worst.” “They’re like fat pigs, all of them.”

The Butcher listened in silence to what the driver had to say. Eventually, he smiled once more within the darkness.

“I see……… So that was the limit of your resolve as an attendant, then.”

“…Mr. Butcher?”

Hina let out a puzzled little murmur. The Butcher’s words were clearly full of all sorts of complicated emotions. But as far as she knew, he himself wasn’t anyone’s attendant. Hina tilted her head to the side. However, she didn’t have time to put that confusion into words.

All of a sudden, the Butcher’s demeanor did a complete about-face, and he spoke in the same cheery voice as always.

“Now then, if you’d be so kind as to lead the way! Tallyho!”

The abrupt change appeared to strike even more fear into the driver. He nodded repeatedly, then practically took off at a dash. The Butcher tallyhoed on after him.

Hina clenched her halberd tight and hurried on to join him.

There was only one destination on her mind.

The Torture Princess’s—Elisabeth’s—side.

“The balcony is just past here.”

The driver pointed at one section of the darkened tunnel. Now that he mentioned it, they could see a stairway hidden there. According to the driver, the organization didn’t officially allow observers, as one of the requirements for taking part in the banquet was to become complicit. However, they were willing to waive that requirement for some of their wealthier financiers.

There was no small number of their older patrons who, while brutal in nature and filled with licentious appetites, lacked the willpower and physical resilience to partake in the banquets themselves. To accommodate them, the organization had built a balcony that was far enough back so as not to dampen the enthusiasm of those down below.

That way, they could enjoy the bloody banquets to their hearts’ content whenever they liked.

“Hmm. For a group of so-called demon worshippers, their business senses seem much more on point than their actual beliefs… Ah, I see you’re in quite the hurry. Fare thee well, Ms. Lovely Maid.”

The Butcher gave Hina a little wave as he watched her race down the stairs like a tempest given flesh.

The decorative carvings on the wall flitted into her peripheral vision one after another as she barreled past them. They featured a horned monster laughing as it ate people. They were impressive pieces of artwork, albeit in rather poor taste. The devout probably depicted what they imagined a demon to look like.

How completely absurd.

Hina found the whole thing exasperating. For she knew one thing—those images didn’t even begin to compare to how horrifying actual demons were.

The pain they inflicted on people was beyond imagination. Admiring Diablo and its demons and altering them to make them more palatable to blindly believe in were both acts of utter ignorance.

No matter how much you change them to suit your fancy, God and Diablo will never be worth believing in.

No matter how many hordes of people praised and extolled them, Hina would never be able to bring herself to join the chorus.

In her mind, there was only one entity worthy of her faith.

It was Kaito Sena, her eternal lover. Him alone.

For that was what love was—madness and faith. And beyond that staircase waited the woman whom the man she believed in believed in himself. And that was why Hina was making such haste. Suddenly, the walls at her flanks ended.

Hina raced out onto the balcony.

A chandelier glittered beside it, and past the balcony, Hina could make out what was going on below.

She gasped. Or rather, she replicated the human gesture of gasping.

The lower level was red with blood.

In all likelihood, the scene that had just taken place was far grislier than any the rich financiers had ever witnessed from atop this balcony.

Now, though, the carnage was over, and the floor below was a sea of blood and viscera. Ravaged corpses were piled up like mounds of dirt. Many of them looked to have been slain by the Torture Princess without so much as a chance to fight back.

At long last, their crime had found its punishment.

However, there was someone down there who was still alive.

A young man with an ax leveled his blade at Elisabeth, squaring off against her with some sort of resolve burning in him. Elisabeth shrugged.

“You never took part in the banquet to begin with, so it’s not as though I’ve any intention of killing you.”

“Shut up! You…you’re no different than they were! How could you do something like this?!”

The man shouted, practically bellowing, and Elisabeth just shook her head.

Then in the same level tone as before, she went on.

“A question, then. Where was this foolhardy bravery of yours to be found when the girl was still alive?”

“I—I…”

“Why, if it’s the brutality you object to, you could have even made this stand of yours back when they were alive. So why now? What will this baying of yours accomplish? Whose pain will it heal? At this late hour, how—?”

“Be quiet! Shut up already, you monster! Yeah, you’re right. I regret it. I regret it, okay! This is what I should have done the moment I stepped into this damn room! I don’t know how long it’ll take me to atone for not doing so, but I’ll do whatever I have to!”

“I see. Well, I know not the scale of your resolve, but if it’s resolve you have, then I shan’t say any more.”

“But here and now, what I need to do is kill you! How am I supposed to move forward if I let a monster like you live?!”

Hina quietly listened as the youth raged. Elisabeth merely nodded. And Hina knew.

When a person met a monster, even if it posed no threat to them personally, it was still their duty to kill it.

Such was the fate of people and monsters. And yet…

“Such is the fate of people and monsters.”

As Hina whispered those words, the young man raised his ax up high. He charged at the Torture Princess. However, his movements were so slow, it was almost sad. One snap of her fingers was all it would have taken for Elisabeth to end things. However, she didn’t move a muscle.

The Torture Princess calmly returned the youth’s gaze. And Hina continued:

“But you, my lady, are no monster.”

Sometimes, the only thing that could kill evil was a different brand of evil. But in the end, only good could break that cycle of malice.

That, too, was one of the world’s many truths. The Torture Princess knew that fact well.

And anyone who knew that fact couldn’t possibly be a monster. She was just Elisabeth Le Fanu, and she was standing motionless.

The executioner’s ax drew ever closer.

“And I will never leave you alone.”

If the people of this world refused to see that, then it fell on those who didn’t fit that criterion to stay by her side.

Namely, a foreigner from another world and an automaton.

Hina practically pirouetted as she leaped off the balcony.

“That’s right. If this was all you saw of her, then that would be a perfectly reasonable conclusion to draw. After all, it is an undeniable truth.”

Her maid uniform fluttered as she descended straight down.

After that ghastly scene, it was impossible to deny the Torture Princess’s brutality. Even so, Hina’s feelings remained unchanged.

“…However, I refuse to let you call her a monster.”

The person whom her beloved admired, a woman whom she herself adored—

—was standing there with a forlorn look in her eyes.

What more reason could she possibly need?

Hina’s silver hair swayed as she gracefully made her landing. She swung her halberd and easily lopped off the head of the young man’s ax. Its blade went spinning through the air, eventually planting itself in corpses’ torsos.

Hina lifted her beautiful face and spoke without a moment’s hesitation.

“Never again utter such rudeness to my dearest Lady Elisabeth.”

“Wha…? I don’t—”

“And heeere I goooo! Hachaaaaaah!”

The young man began to let out a bewildered yelp, but he was cut off by a loud, cheerful cry.

At some point, the doorway had gotten thrown wide-open. The Butcher had used the key. Something large and heavy came hurtling through the entrance—the massive bone-in piece of meat that had put in so much work this day already.

After spinning through the air, it struck the young man square in the forehead. The youth keeled over backward, then went still. It looked like it had given him a concussion. Hina fixed her gaze on him.

His life didn’t appear to be in any danger. When he woke up, he would probably flee. Then he would report what had happened to the Church, and they would learn of Elisabeth’s brutal act. In the end, though, she’d successfully put down an equally brutal group of demon worshippers, so the Church would try to quietly put the matter to rest. Yet even so, the rumors would linger on.

Loathsome Elisabeth. Repulsive Elisabeth.

It was true. The punishment that the Torture Princess had handed down was a fate no person had the right to subject another to.

But at the same time, no more innocents would fall victim to these dark underground halls.

Each was just as true as the other. And because of that, Hina elected to gaze. She gazed straight at Elisabeth. Elisabeth, for her part, blinked repeatedly. This clearly wasn’t a turn of events she’d anticipated.

Eventually, Elisabeth spoke.

“Now hold on a minute… What are you two doing here?”

“One thing led to another, you see!”

“And we ended up tailing you!”

Choosing to omit some details, the two of them proudly puffed out their chests.

Elisabeth scratched her cheek as though unsure of what to say or do. And Hina and the Butcher both knew—even considering how slow he was moving, she could have easily countered the young man’s attack. However, whether or not she had actually needed help was beside the point. Hina simply refused to leave the Torture Princess alone.

Hina and Kaito had promised to stay by Elisabeth’s side, and it was their duty to follow through on that.

She silently addressed her eternal lover.

Isn’t that right, Master Kaito?!

She then cleared her throat, her chest puffed out all the while.

The carriage rattled along the dark night road.

Beside Hina sat Elisabeth, who’d been making a tense expression for some time. The only thing that broke the silence was the Butcher’s occasional cheers of “Heigh-ho!” Eventually, though, Elisabeth spoke in a quiet, stiff tone.

“…You’ve no objections, Hina?”

“About what, might I ask?”

“You saw the atrocities I committed back in that room. You ordered the man not to call me a monster, but…your master is Kaito, not I. There’s no need for you to flatter me. I’m appreciate your diligent service, don’t get me wrong, but you needn’t pretend to hold me in such regard.”

“I’m sorry, Lady Elisabeth, but please don’t misunderstand me.”

Hina immediately rejected Elisabeth’s premise, and Elisabeth turned back toward her so fast, it was like she’d been slapped in the face.

Hina returned her master’s master’s gaze and returned her stare. Her emerald eyes gleamed.

“I might not have a sense of morals the way humans do, but I am aware of how your past deeds and cruel nature have drawn hatred and criticism from many. I can’t refute what they say…but at the same time, it’s my right to choose who I want to protect, and who I want to hold dear.”

My heart is mine and mine alone.

Not even my beloved master can deny me that.

That was what Hina was saying. That was the one thing she refused to waver on. In fact, not even Kaito had the power to change her heart. Whenever he made a big decision, Hina would always think things over on her own first before making her choice.

That was the mark of her dignity. That was the mark of her pride. And that was the mark of her love.

Elisabeth had no answer for that. Instead, she just stared off into space and, eventually, curiously posed a question.

“…How utterly puzzling. What about me do you find so worthy of your admiration?”

“Hmhm, there are oh-so-many things… But the specifics are a secret. That’s something you’ll have to figure out for yourself someday, Lady Elisabeth. It wouldn’t mean anything if I just told you.”

Hina playfully raised a finger in front of her lips.

She and Kaito both adored Elisabeth. However, it was important that Elisabeth figure out for herself why that was. It was important for her to realize there were people who willingly stood alongside the Torture Princess in the hellish wasteland she’d created.

There was something the two of them had changed.

A truth that had seemed unshakable.

“Heigh-ho!” the Butcher cheered once more. Elisabeth let out a little murmur.

“You’re a strict one, aren’t you?”

“Oh yes! I may dote on Master Kaito, but even I know when it’s time for some tough love!”

Hina puffed up her chest with pride. It wasn’t good to spoil people, so at times, even love required a strict hand.

Elisabeth shook her head as though to admit defeat. At long last, the first genuine smile she’d worn that day spread across her face. Hina loved it dearly when Elisabeth made that expression. She thought it was very becoming.

Then Elisabeth whispered to her.

“You know, in the interest of avoiding a large hassle, what say we—?”

“Keep this all a secret from Master Kaito? Oh, of course.”

They exchanged a glance, and with that, their girls’ promise was official. A moment later, they both broke out into laughter.

Another strange “Heigh-ho!” echoed through the air as the carriage rattled beneath the dawn sky.

And back at the castle, Hina’s favorite person in the whole world was still sleeping soundly.



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