Ishura - Volume 4 - Chapter 9

Chapter 9: Castle Garden Theater Underground Passageway

Shortly before the beginning of the third match, in the complex corridors underneath the castle garden theater’s spectator seats.

With Soujirou the Willow-Sword’s match imminent, Yuno had been ordered to remain there on standby. Her assignment was trivial, simply recording the climate conditions before the match—and the state of the audience.

…I don’t have the time to be doing this.

Ever since the moment she laid eyes on the name Kiyazuna the Axle, vengeance was the only thing on her mind.

I couldn’t let things stand the way they were back then. I decided to get my revenge on Soujirou…

It was why Yuno had brought Soujirou this far. The only place under the horizon where death awaited, where someone more powerful than Soujirou the Willow-Sword could appear—the Sixways Exhibition. If Soujirou was defeated in this match, she’d be able to carry out revenge on yet another. She could believe that there were still things she was capable of…

…because she needed to kill Kiyazuna the Axle no matter what.

Has the match already started?

With her papers sitting on her lap, long finished with her recording work, she had nothing do as she waited for Haade’s return.

Yuno looked at the clock.

That’s strange. He should have been back by now…

Unable to continue waiting, she stopped one of the patrol soldiers and asked them.

“Excuse me. I’m the Twenty-Seventh General’s secretarial assistant, Yuno. Do you know where General Haade is?”

“Oh, Lord Haade?”

At Yuno’s question, the soldier answered with a similarly pondering look.

“He appeared to have departed the garden theater before the start of the match. Maybe he had some urgent business to handle.”

“What…?”

Did something happen? Where had he gone? Neither of those were the issue.

She had believed that, for Haade, Soujirou’s match today had his entire political career riding on it. That he was risking everything on this battle, just like Soujirou was. Had she been mistaken?

In spite of all that, he was so ready and able to leave the match for some urgent business or another.

Much more than that, a young girl like Yuno was, compared to this urgent business of his, someone he didn’t give any second thought to leaving behind.

“Th-then, am I…?”

She clenched down on her recordings, nearly crushing them. Meaningless and destructive actions flashed through her mind.

She had known. Even if she thought she had acted together with the deviant visitor Soujirou and gotten Haade to acknowledge her existence, ultimately Yuno was still an inconsequential presence.

“Am I still on standby?”

“Like I have any idea—Lord Haade’s the only one who could tell you that. Did you want to go up and watch the match?”

“That’s not…that’s not what I mean…!”

She understood that talking back to this soldier wasn’t going to accomplish anything.

When it was all said and done, Yuno was still totally ignorant, whether it came to General Haade or this Sixways Exhibition.

“…Pardon me!”

With a violent bow, Yuno left her position.

It’s not enough. Not enough. Not at all.

She had left her recordings behind. She was sure to be reprimanded by Haade for her actions, but to Yuno, that was the least of her concerns. Everything was—

Not enough. For my vengeance, everything, it’s still—it’s not enough!

With her thoughts in chaos, she continued walking.

Before she knew it, she had reached the deepest recesses of the complex corridor network.

The one area she was in was dark, with the lights on the walls extinguished.

“…Oh.”

She stopped. A young girl, close to Yuno’s age, appeared from out of the door in front of her.

She wasn’t one of the garden theater staff.

“……”

The girl silently stood there, her golden eyes looking at Yuno.

…Unbelievable.

The young girl was so beautiful that she felt her chest tighten before her thoughts could go anywhere else.

“Um, are you—?”

Yuno shut her mouth as soon as she opened it. From a crack in the open door, she saw a soldier sitting up against the wall. They were unconscious…or perhaps dead.

Right. There should have been one of Haade’s guards…in the corridor I just turned down.

Yet Yuno had been able to trespass this far just by wandering around aimlessly. Where were the guards? Haade had left the scene, and in that time, a foreign presence was infiltrating the area.

In which case, she was an enemy. Haade and Soujirou’s enemy.

The gears in Yuno’s head weren’t slow. She was able to reach the conclusion within moments of their encounter.

“You’re…”

“……”

If she was indeed an intruder, what was Yuno supposed to do to this girl?

The girl didn’t appear to wield any weapons. Her hair black as night, her skin terribly white.

“Hey. Someone’s over there. Who’re you? Give me your name!”

Suddenly, a voice from behind Yuno interrupted her thoughts.

A different patrolling soldier had approached them.

I can do…whatever I want.

Yuno the Distant Talon was still not enough in every way—but now…

“I’m Yuno the Distant Talon! My apologies… She’s my, um…a friend. She’s my friend. The spectator seats were all full, so we were coming to inquire if it was possible to watch the match from the players’ passageway. Do you know where General Haade is?”

“Distant Talon. General Haade’s secretary? Outsiders aren’t allowed to be inside the premises. General Haade is gone, as well! Where is the guard who was positioned here? Does that friend of yours have some identification?

…It’s no use.

Yuno closed her eyes. Why did she want to try saving this girl?

Simply by covering for this girl just now, she could be tried under suspicion of being a spy.

“Please wait, sir.”

The young girl spoke. She took the soldier’s hand and showed him a small seal.

“I have my authorization right here.”

It was meaningless. A seal that could be stolen after she infiltrated the area wouldn’t serve as a pass through the security. The seal was handed over when one passed into the area—and returned only when one left. That was exactly why guards like them were patrolling the area.

This girl’s trespassing, after all. Why am I doing something so stupid…?

“…I’ve confirmed your authorization’s valid.”

“Forgive me for the trouble. Let us be off.”

Her delicate hand pulled Yuno’s own.

Even after they had started walking off, Yuno hadn’t the slightest idea about what had just happened.

Why? There’s no way that excuse should have worked. It didn’t seem like this girl did anything, either. Why…why is she holding my hand?

Even while they went up the stairs to the surface, they continued to hold each other’s hands.

If she was being honest, Yuno was in such a state of confusion that she didn’t have the presence of mind to let go.

“J-just…,” Yuno asked, her voice cracking, “…who…are you?”

With but a few words, she made the soldier submit to her. Was she some sort of preposterously important person, like the Queen herself, and Yuno simple didn’t know it? When the girl stared back at her, Yuno’s heart pounded for reasons she didn’t understand.

“Um.”

The young girl averted her eyes apologetically and spoke with a thin voice.

“Thank you kindly. You tried your best to help me out.”

“…It’s fine. You’re…an enemy of General Haade and Soujirou, aren’t you?”

“……”

“If it’s difficult to answer that, then forget it. I’m Yuno the Distant Talon. You are?”

“…My apologies. I owe you a debt a gratitude, yet I failed to first introduce myself. I am Shadow Laden. Linore the Shadow Laden.”

A young girl whose blouse and skin were almost transparently white, yet with an evanescence, like she would melt into the darkness.

Her face was once again close to Yuno’s. Her beauty was enough to make even another woman like Yuno sigh at the sight.

Perhaps, she could even more than Lucelles.

What—?

She turned her head aside and expelled the thought from her mind.

What am I thinking…?! There isn’t anyone out there prettier than Lucelles. To me, it was she, and she alone… That should be a given, so why…?!

She couldn’t let it be otherwise. That was why this was different.

“Why did you offer me your help?”

“If…if you really are their enemy…I want to defeat Soujirou, too.”

“…Miss Yuno, you’re Mr. Haade’s secretary, correct?”

“Do you think that’s weird? But really… This isn’t what the Sixways Exhibition was supposed to be like for me. I need to get revenge. Before I start anything else. Faster… Before I settle into my current position and find peace. I need something…any sort of lead, any sort of first step. A starting point for my vengeance.”

“Revenge…”

Yuno as she was couldn’t even land a single blow in a battle between the powerful. It was possible she held some sort of expectation in her heart for Linore, who was taking action despite being a girl close to her in age.

On the other hand, it also seemed like that was less than half the reason why. Perhaps, ever since seeing Kiyazuna the Axle’s name, she had been in a constant state of desperation.

Until the two of them exited the garden theater, it appeared they wouldn’t be questioned by any of the soldiers.

However, the third match was starting. Yuno wouldn’t be able to see the results.

A bit of hesitation and guilt came to her—until.

“Oh.”

Next to her, Linore unexpectedly fell to her knees.

Yuno instinctively supported her with her shoulder. There was a pleasant smell, like a pale flower.

“Whoa there.”

“…P-please…do not…worry yourself.”

“Are you okay? Was that little bit of running enough to tire you out?”

“…I do not…handle sunlight well. I am quite ashamed to say…”

Linore weakly smiled. Her loveliness was enough to send a shudder down one’s spine.

“We’re outside at this point, so no need to rush anywhere. Let’s rest in that street stall over there.”

“…We’ve only just met, Miss Yuno. I cannot ask you to continue showing me such kindness…”

“I’m not really doing this out of goodwill or anything anyway.”

She needed to ask about her circumstances. That much was for certain, at the very least.

The two ordered the same drink and sat down opposite each other out in front of the street stall.

“…Well then, are you ready to tell me? Why exactly were you back there?”

“Um.”

Linore began, looking timid and nervous.

“Miss Yuno, why are you going out of your way to be so kind to me? Well, um… I… I could be planning on doing you harm. Much more, there’s no guarantee that I will be useful to you at all.”

“…Good question! Maybe because you’re pretty?” Yuno hotly replied. She had to be upset, she thought.

She was absolutely biased. Without a doubt, this girl was a dangerous and suspicious individual. Supposing if the person she had encountered was a much shadier older person, or a terrifying ogre, would she had have come to their aid and been as interested in them as she was now?

“Um.”

Linore cast her eyelashes down.

It was devious. It was her fault for being pretty. Despite being someone other than Lucelles.

“…Pretty…?”

“What, is that weird? Answer me, what were you doing back there?”

“…Y-yes, um, well. If it’s not any trouble to you, Miss Yuno, I’d like to repay you for your kindness.”

The young girl placed a document on the table.

She had likely knocked out the soldier in order to steal this document.

However, the document used a system of writing with a low adoption rate. Nothing a mere soldier would write.

“This is a document written in welkin language. With written communication, subordinates won’t be able to decipher it, and even if the person who wrote it isn’t there to exchange the message directly, it’s possible to confirm the original writer by their handwriting. This is likely the way Mr. Haade, or someone in a similar high position, uses soldiers to relay vital information.”

“From the ‘cerebrum’ to the ‘brain stem.’ Depending on results, it may be necessary to adjust ‘terminus excision’ period. Negotiations underway with ‘insect.’”

“…! You can decipher what it says?”

“I mean…yeah. I was a Nagan scholar at some point, after all. Luckily, I just happen to know welkin language. The words actually written on the page, though… It’s all military code top to bottom, so I still don’t really understand it anyway.”

“In that case…”

Linore brought her face in close and peered down at the document with Yuno.

Long eyelashes. Golden eyes. Why was such a beautiful girl sitting beside her?

“…can you read it for me?! I will decode what it means!”

“S-sure… Got it. Um, can you give me a bit more space…?”

“Oh, m-my apologies.”

“It’s just a bit harder to um, read… That’s all, okay? Sorry…”

At the end of what must have been the hundredth of these awkward exchanges, Yuno read out the contents of the document, while opposite her, Linore interpreted what everything actually meant.

As they conversed, Yuno was hypnotized by Linore’s attractive features.

Insight far more precise than any of the Nagan scholars Yuno knew. Just who was she?

“In other words, this is…”

“Indeed. Miss Yuno… If by any chance you intend on exposing Mr. Haade’s secrets. This plan is far too dangerous for you to get involved in. The meticulous planning of whoever thought this up…… It’s unbelievable.”

Linore grabbed both of Yuno’s hands. Yuno searched for the words, but she couldn’t find any.

“……”

Striking back, getting a blow in—this posed a far bigger problem.

“…You have my thanks, Miss Yuno. I promise, no matter what, I will repay this favor in kind.”

Vengeance against the powerful who laid waste to her homeland.

The Sixways Exhibition, set to decide the absolute strongest existence in the land.

A mere inconsequential young girl like Yuno wouldn’t have possessed a single means of facing off against such magnitudes.

However, an accidental encounter had gifted Yuno the possibilities to do so.

The first was a plan unknown to Twenty-Seventh General Haade.

The other was a single shura, making schemes behind the scenes of the Sixways Exhibition. Her true name was Linaris the Obsidian.