Epilogue
Part 1
—[Kouen, City of Brilliant Flames], Underground Prison of the [Salamandra] Palace.
The murky moonlight shone upon the rugged stone paved floors.
Seeming to be the direct opposite of the cloudless sunny day in the morning, the night skies were cloudy tonight.
Feeling lonely, Percher raised her head to look through the small gaps of the grilled metal windows at the moon.
“……Mah, I guess it’s true when they say that you can’t see the stars in [Kouen City].”
Percher stood upon the icy cold stone floors as she mocked the light from civilization. If the Chandelier was the Star of the surface of this region, this Star would also be the Darkness that wipes out the other starlight in the Night sky.
—The warm and soothing temperatures and the radiance in the night sky had completely engulfed the light of the stars.
For them who had died due to the weakening Sunrays, there was nothing more ironic than this and Percher’s instinct was telling her that she disliked this land of the North.
“But……What do I do from here on…….?” She hugged her knees close as she squatted.
Percher and Jin had been sent into the underground prisons as a temporary measure. Although it was just another formality that they were carrying out and the release would be in a few days, this sort of punishment was still too much.
But the problem was much more than that.
The reason for Percher’s worry was about the plans to deal with Rin and the others which she couldn’t come up with any.
“Maybe…… it’s still too early.”
She had declared war on them on impulse, but the real strengths of Rin and His Highness were much stronger than her current powers. The current Percher had no chance of winning against them.
If they met in the battlefield or the course of a Game, she would definitely be overwhelmed before making the move to defend herself. In other words, she would most probably lose her life.
To die before answering the cries of help from the 80 million vengeful spirits, she would be doomed to eternal condemnation.
(……)
Percher wasn’t afraid of all those.
It’s just that in Little Garden, she still had a life’s mission to complete.
She was reminded by the memory of Rin’s parting words. Similar words had been said to her by the Demon Lord who summoned her to the world of Little Garden—The man who led the [Grim Grimoire] had tried to probe her determination as the one who embodied the 80 million souls of the dead by telling her this:
—The fate that is bounded up with the disease of Black Death is an extremely strong connection.
Although he had toured many parallel worlds in his journey, he had confirmed that it all ended with the same situation in the end.
Hence, it would mean that this phenomenon is definitely not one caused by a natural disaster that functioned along the lines of the Probability theory of Fate.
But, one that ran contrary to the Fate of the Stars, a Fate that was embedded with a much more absolute destiny involved—
“……Of course it would. After all, the reason for the rampant outbreak of the pandemic had been caused by the solar cycle and that is a fate that Man is powerless to fight against.”
Chewing on the idea and noting the immensity that was the size of her goal, Percher hugged her knees tighter.
But that man had also declared it possible for her to change that hand of fate.
He had said that the world of Little Garden was the ‘Space where all possibilities existed’.
And it might just be possible to fulfill the revenge against the Sun in the world of Little Garden as well as the key to stop the contagious aspect of the Black Death disease.
Use the vengefulness and condemnation of the 80 million spirits to try change the Fate written by the Stars— The man had thus summoned her to the world of Little Garden with his roaring laughter.
“……However, it seem like he was killed by someone or something and it was all due to him that I got myself trapped in a colored glass to collect dust in some vault for a few hundred years. Haiz……”
Percher gave a sigh at that, which was very rare for her, however, the obstacles weren't just that as well.
Even if she had found the way, the powers that would bar her way from achieving her goals would definitely appear.
The disease of Black Death has always been the foundation for various countries and religion to come into being as noted in the annals. And amongst them were the inspections to weed out the witches during the course of witch-hunts that resulted in a sizable amount of deaths.
Such a strong [Paradigm Shift] that supported the histories of many Gods and their devotees isn’t that easy to come by. If the solution were to be found, she would definitely become the enemy of all the Gods and Heroic spirits. It was even possible for some of the Demon Lords to bare their fangs in response to that act.
“I really want to change the Fate surrounding the disease of Black Death……But even if I discuss with Asuka or Jin about this sort of thing……they would surely be against it.”
“That’s not true.”
Yiyah?! Percher was about to make that embarrassing shout of surprise but she still managed to hold it in.
That voiced sounded like Jin’s and it would mean that he’s been locked up in the adjacent cell with just a wall dividing them.
Percher had been talking to herself all these while as her way to fight off the loneliness. The sudden realization caused her to be embarrassed to the point of rage and her face blushed a shade of peach red as she shouted:
“Se…Seriously! I can’t believe this! If you’re able to hear me, at least speak up earlier! Isn’t that the polite thing to do?!”
“So…sorry. Actually I did want to interrupt somewhere during the middle but I just didn’t know how to do so.”
“……Hmph. So when did you start eavesdropping from?”
“Hm, starting from ‘I guess it’s true when they say that you can’t see the stars in [Kouen City].’”
“ISN’T THAT LIKE EVERYTHING THAT I’VE SAID SO FAR?!” Percher unfolded the blanket before giving the wall a hard punch.
If it weren’t for the wall that stood between them, it might have become a tragic ending for the both of them there.
Because Percher was currently red to the roots of her ears.
“HAaaaaaaah…… Seems like I’ve chosen to follow the wrong person.”
“That…Isn’t that line the kind of thing that people would usually leave unsaid?”
“Baka. Of course I said it out to let you hear. Hmph.”
Percher was throwing a tantrum as she hugged her knees again. The stone tiled walls of the room made it extremely cold during the night. In that sort of situation, it was impossible for anyone to bear the cold if they did not huddle in a corner with the blanket.
Jin was also huddling with the blanket as he spoke to Percher who was behind the wall which he leaned on.
“Oh right, regarding that topic earlier…… I won’t be against it at all, you know? I’m sure that Izayoi-san and the others would also feel the same.”
“…… Then I guess, thank you for your concerns. But be rest assured. I’ve already decided to depend on my own strength to think up of something. I will not give extra problems to [No Name].”
She threw aside the well-intentioned words from the other with those caustic lines of sarcasm. If it were the usual Jin, he would definitely be stumped for words and give up after a few stutters.
But, he seemed to be much more persistent today.
“……okay, I understand. Since that’s the decision Percher has made, I will not pry into it any further. But as the price, could you tell me one thing?”
“What?”
“How did you die, Percher?”
The atmosphere suddenly underwent a complete and dramatic change.
Even with the wall standing between them, the miasma of murderous rage was still able to permeate into the other cell and was directed at Jin.
If it weren’t for that wall, Percher might just have ended Jin’s life at that point.
“……what a surprise. Why are you bringing that up? Did it seem to you that the cursed vengeful thoughts of mine are deeply rooted in me?”
“No, that’s not it. Just that Percher, it didn’t seem like you earlier to be so dispirited. I was just speculating that could it have been the prison setting being too horrifying.”
“……Uu……!”
The Jin today was really too sensitive to the point of being annoying.
How did he judge the spiritedness of a person? By what sort of standard did he use to figure that out? Could it be that he’s just using a conventional expression without much thought? Percher pouted her lips as she gave a sigh.
“If that’s the case, I can help plead for them to release you first. The next attack might come anytime as well and [Salamandra] would be needing all the combat strength it can get. If we can first get the questioning over and done with, it would be much easier to think up a plan to get you out of this pla—“
“Forget it, there’s no need for that……But, yeah, I’m a little afraid of the cell. However, I’m not the kind to be disloyal enough to leave their master in such a cold and lonely place.”
Saying that, she leaned sideways to lie onto the stone flooring. The icy cold sensation seeped through the covers of her clothes and her body started to shiver in reflex.
The chilling touch of the stone flooring seem bent on stealing all of her body’s heat and it gave the illusory sensation of a death-like experience.
……She had spent a long time on a journey that caused her to lose her sense of identity or so she thought she had lost them.
However, the memory of welcoming the cold grip of death had apparently been engraved deep in the recesses of her soul.
The silence between them seemed to drag on for ages and the only sounds were their breaths that reminded them of each other’s presence. Unable to sleep in the bone-chilling prison cell, Percher finally surrendered by muttering:
“……Jin.”
“Yes?”
“Although I hate to admit it, but you’re right. ……It was after my contracting of the Black Death disease that I died in the prison cell of my own home. And it was my own father who had locked me there out of the fear of infection.”
“………!”
“As a measure to eradicate the sources of infection, my father had ordered the killings of all the farm serfs who had been close to me. Male, female, the old and the young, amongst them were also kids who were around my age……Fufu, now that I recall that incident, it sure was a stupid thing to do. Not knowing that the infection of Black Death is through the contact of contaminated blood and fleas, he had joined the move to exterminate them and contracted the same disease in the process, just like all the other members who participated in the killings. The whole family was down with the disease soon enough and the whole lineage was wiped out just like that. Don’t you find it funny?”
Percher had laughed the words out with a tone much emptier than her usual laughs. But reading between the lines would have revealed the amount of pain, hatred, anger and suffering that she had gone through.
The hatred towards her father had never been put out even after death.
“……At the moments before my death, I had shouted a curse from my prison cell at the top of my lungs to make it reach my father’s ears: “Die, die, all of you should die.” Mah, in the end, it came true and it gave me a small amount of spiritual power as my accomplishment. Well, it’s the attainment obtained through the use of curses, you know? Rin had also said that as one of the demonic spirits, such a spiritual attainment is quite a powerful one.”
“……”
“Then after my death, I started to wander around in Europe aimlessly. During which I started to meet more people who had died in the same manner. Those people were just spirits which floated around ……but I just felt that they were always looking enviously towards the people who were alive. Unable to bear looking on at their way of existence, I decided to bring them along with me; As time went by, I had somehow travelled out of the European continent to set foot into the Asian continent having had a journey that spanned several hundred years……. By the time I noticed what I had done, it had already become a huge family of 80 million souls. Well, that’s it, end of story.”
And that was how Percher recounted her life and the path she walked in her second life.
Quietly listening to her recount, Jin held his silence for a little while longer before speaking up suddenly:
“I didn’t know……Percher actually has a soft side as well.”
“—Hah?”
“You said that regarding the people who have died by the disease of Black Death, you were unable to bear looking on at their way of existence, right? So you had searched out for them to bring them along when you left a place right? So as to give them some form of company instead of suffering in loneliness, that’s not something that someone without a kind heart would do you know?”
“……Hmph. Thanks for the thoughts that are clearly partial towards me.”
“No, that’ not the case. At least I now understand the reason for your desire to change history……Mhm, Percher’s really gentle.”
Hearing him repeat it in emphasis, Percher pouted her lips in her little tantrum.
Being praised about an aspect about herself that she didn’t know until now, compared to joy, she was more embarrassed and that made her at a loss for words to craft a reply.
Jin nodded his head as he thought through Percher’s words while standing up.
“—okay, it’s decided. When [No Name] is completely rebuilt, I will come and help you.”
Jin made his oath from the opposite side of the wall.
Percher drew a sharp intake of breath at that as her eyes grew round in disbelieve at the statement he just uttered.
“What?…..What nonsense are you sprouting all of a sudden?!”
“It’s difficult for you to tell this to Izayoi-san and the others right? Then I will do the explaining. Even if they are against it……when the time comes, I will also help you even if I’m alone.”
“That’s not what I mean! I meant that even though Jin’s a good for nothing, you are still a leader! How can you abandon your Community just like that?!”
“No problem. That problem has been solved actually. To be precise, that’s exactly in line with my plans.”
Jin continued to push the topic as he went along with his own thoughts.
Percher was stunned into silence by Jin’s words and she stared at the wall where her Master should be locked behind.
“……Are you serious about that?”
“Yes, I am. About your wish, it should be possible to realize it for the requests of the 80 million souls. After winning the decisive battle with the Demon Lord Alliance and completing the rebuilds of our Community goals……I will be sure to lend you a hand in your mission.”
With a sincerity that permeated through the wall to carry over to the other side, Jin had announced his decision.
Hearing those words, Percher and her master gazed towards each other from the opposite sides of the wall. And her face started to relax into a lovely smile.
“……is that so? Then let’s add this extra condition into the contract.”
“Contract?”
“Mhm. Not only a Demon Lord Servant, but a contract forged between me and Jin Russel. As long as you obey the contract,……I will acknowledge you as my Master forever.”
The full moon peeked out from the cloud cover and spilt the moonlight across the metal grilled window of the cells to bathe the two figures in its light.
Pressing their palms on the wall that separated them, they forged the vows of their special contract within the prison cell.
Part 2
“What’s going on here?!”
Mandra’s intimidating roar echoed around the palace.
After the group from the Demon Lord Alliance have left, the members of [No Name] have been suspected as spies for the enemy. The suspects for smuggling Sandra out of the Palace—Jin and Percher, had already been locked up in the cells below and they were being questioned for their legitimate eligibility to join the Convention.
The trio answered in unison:
“I reserve my rights to remain silent.”
“I reserve the rights to veto your judgement.”
“I will agree with the aforementioned.”
“At this time, just be more serious in answering my questions, you Bastardsaaaaaaaaaaah!”
*Dong Klack BaBoom!* After the continuous hits and banging from Mandra that caused the three types of interesting sounds to be emitted from just the office desk, the desk that is the condensation of the street style of craftsmanship had been destroyed just like that.
The three problem children had remain unfazed by the questioning session and seemed to be giving an accusing stare at Mandra instead.
“Well, in the first place, didn’t Sandra already say that she was the one who pulled Jin and Percher along with her?”
“Moreover those Demon Lord Alliance brats have already been coming in and out of this Palace even from before wasn’t it?”
“……If you want to suspect, isn’t it more logical to suspect the Community of [Salamandra]?”[105]
Their retorts were logical and supported with evidence and that made Mandra unable to refute.
Although his rage had just increased in its reserves by several times, but he held it back to cool off for a moment. Seating himself once more, Mandra sighed as his head throbbed with a headache.
“Regarding about this incident, we are indeed to be blamed for the neglect. Actually,”
“[PIED PIPER OF HAMELN]—That grimoire had also been bought from them right?”
Izayoi interjected.
Mandra clamped his teeth and bit on his lips as he nodded.
“…… Yes that is so. After Onee-san had left home, [Salamandra] has always been on the verge of dispersing into factions. Even after Sandra assumed the position, in-fighting continued to occur……then it started to become so bad that we couldn’t help but downgrade our Community to relocate to the Five Digit territories.”
“So in the effort to raise Sandra’s charisma in leading the Community, there was a need to defeat a Demon Lord. And the ones sent to conduct the negotiations at that time were these two brats, am I right?”
“No, there were three others. One was a middle aged subordinate who emitted a serious air around him, a woman who was dressed in long robes and a golden haired maid.
“Oh……” Izayoi replied blithely.
Hearing to that point, the start and end of the whole incident could be easily seen.
The Demon Lord Alliance had brought the [PIED PIPER OF HAMELN] to find Mandra to request the summoning of Percher.
When he was still worrying about the capabilities of young Sandra of that time, the other had proposed the idea to him:
“Why not use the cover of the Festival of The Fire Dragon’s Birth to invite Shiroyasha over as well? It would be fine that way won’t it?”
With the strongest [Floor Master]- Shiroyasha around, even Sandra with her still developing powers would be able to win the battle against the Demon Lord. And those were the honey coated words that they used to coerce Mandra.
Hence the Demon Lord Alliance would be able to seal Shiroyasha with ease and get rid of the soon-to-be [Floor Master] who was Sandra.
“What a nice plan of killing two birds with a stone.”
“Mhm Mhm. But with that, there’s no way for us to investigate into the Demon Lord Alliance from [Salamandra]’s side……. But just asking tentatively, at that point in time, you guys did not know that those two were people from the Demon Lord Alliance right?”
“Of…Of course! If we knew that, we would definitely have some defensive measures in place!”
Mandra frantically explained to defend his people. And currently, it is difficult to determine who the questioner really is.
Sighs came from a few people in unison as they started to feel troubled about the dark futures that they could not envision about.
Only Izayoi continued to pinch his chin as he pondered over the identity of the enemy.
“……[A Three headed Dragon that bites its tail] right?”
“Eh?”
“The design that was on the Flag they held. At a glance, it looks like the symbol of the [Ouroboros]……just that I’m not really sure about it.”
Izayoi was speaking of something in such an ambiguous manner and that was a rare scenario.
Although he was unsure, the design he had seen on the Demon Lord Alliance Flag was indeed the [Ouroboros]—‘The snake that bites its own tail’.
Asuka and Yō tilted their heads in puzzlement as they looked towards Izayoi with a slight tension in their gazes.
“Izayoi-san has gotten a clue on that flag?”
“No, it’s not confirmed. After all, it is originally the symbol of many things and it should have been changed or modified in this particular symbol. Originally the most commonly drawn logo would be ‘The snake that bites its own tail’. And it is the symbol that represents ‘The cycle of Death and reincarnation’ or even ‘recycling to obtain something in return’……meanings that are linked to the phenomenon of immortality…”
Speaking up to that point, he then lapsed into silence for a moment.
However, having tossed the idea around in his mind without a solution, Izayoi who temporarily reached that conclusion decided to give a casual shrug while giving his usual loud laugh.
“……Oh well, at the end of the day, we have finally managed to catch a glimpse of our enemies’ appearance. So you two better get ready for what is to come okay?”
Izayoi laughed fearlessly as the duo nodded their heads in agreement.
“Mhm. The day that we will come into contact with them is close and I can almost feel them within my grasp.”
“With this, …. We can get it back finally, right?”
—Getting back the Community’s [Flag] and [Name]. With the clues getting this close to them, the trio were getting pumped up with enthusiasm.
Believing that the battles in the future would definitely be useful to gradually close in on their goal, the trio were clapping in excitement.
“Those people will be revealing themselves in the near future and their targets would definitely be the [Floor Master]s.”
“The full force will be here in three days, so let’s start preparing before that.”
“Mhm. Let’s go report this to Kuro Usagi immediately—”
“Ya, Yahouhoh! Everyone from the [No Name]! Thanks for your hard work!”
Jack the Pumpkin Head had entered through the doorway with the door making an audible *Clack* as it opened inwards. But his laugh wasn’t as bright and cheerful as before. The Pumpkin Head was wobbling slightly and giving off a strange creaking noise.
Seeing Jack who had rushed in with that laugh that they couldn’t make out if he were happy or in pain, the three of them exchanged a glance in surprise.
“Hey Jack, what’s the matter?”
“Did something happen?”
“Are you hungry?”
“That’s only you, right? Kasukabe-ojousan!”
“Mhm.”
*Guuuh~* Came the sound from Yō’s tummy.
But Jack ignored Yō as he pointed to the corridors outside:
“Kuro Usagi-san, she…Kuro.Kuro Usagi-san’s in trouble!”
The expressions of the three of them changed immediately as they took on a serious and nervous look. The Palace doctor had said that Kuro Usagi’s life wasn’t in danger but since it’s a severe wound, even if something were to happen after a delay, it would be highly probable as well.
Turning back to look at Mandra, the trio said simultaneously.
“Excuse us for now, if there’s anything, we will discuss it later.”
“Please release Jin!”
“And prepare some dishes for us to eat!”
“There’s no time to talk about that you know?!”
Even in the midst of an emergency, Yō was still loyal to her instincts and she cocked her head in the most serious way possible in response to the rebuttal.
However, it was true that it wasn’t the time for them to joke around and the trio had hurriedly followed the Pumpkin Head to transverse the corridors to rush to the ward of Kuro Usagi.
Arriving at the patient ward, the trio had squeezed in at once.
“Oi, Kuro……”
The word ‘usagi’ never had the chance to come out and the other two were thinking the same thing. The atmosphere they had around them had suddenly evaporated as they took on a stunned and disappointed gaze while looking at Kuro—No , it should be her(她).[106]
“Every…Everyone……!”
The fortunate thing was that she had already recovered her consciousness.
Most of the wounds had also healed and there was no need to worry. But all those were just the minor parts as there was a bigger problem about her that was more severe than the fact of her lost and severe injuries.
Asuka and Yō were opening and closing their mouths.
“Kuro. Kuro…..”
“……Uso[107]?"
Although it might have been extremely rude towards her who had large tear drops falling from her eyes, it wasn’t wrong for the two of them to say that. In fact, it was an accurate metaphor.
Kuro Usagi who lay on the bed crying loudly had pressed the back of her head where her ears were located as she screamed.
“Uu. UuUu… … Kuro Usagi’s Usagimimi… My Usagimimis are gone—!!!”
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