4
One of the city’s great sluice gates had been opened, allowing a deluge of water to consume Pristella.
The mass of water had left the confines of the city’s channels, creating a flash flood that spilled out into every corner of the city. That much water was unheard of, and almost half the city had been submerged at one point. The still-flooded roads scattered here and there around the city were a remnant of that.
It was miraculous that Subaru had survived the flood and was simply plucked out of one of the canals.
“The one silver lining is that the gate that was opened was quickly closed again, which is way better than just leaving it open. And almost all the residents managed to escape to the shelters, too…,” Liliana explained.
“But not all of them.”
“…Most likely, yes. It’s sad and unfortunate and heartrending to say, though,” she said, nodding in response to Subaru’s regretful murmur.
Thanks to her, he had a general grasp of what had happened to the city while he was unconscious. A massive flood from the gate being opened, which would have required access to the control towers that controlled the gates. The only ones who could have done it were the members of the Witch Cult, who were currently occupying the towers.
Meaning the flood had been their doing, and—
“It was revenge for attacking city hall, then. Makes sense.” Priscilla had reached the same conclusion as Subaru.
“Ngh.” Subaru grimaced.
“What, do you mean to tell me you didn’t expect your actions to have consequences? If you act, so will your enemy. Making an example early on is just standard practice,” Priscilla declared mercilessly.
“If anything, this feels almost half-hearted,” she continued, fanning herself gently as she tried to deduce the Witch Cult’s aims. “I would have expected something even more despicable if they are as disgraceful a rabble as the rumors say. I suppose I should assume they value the items they demanded on the broadcast as too important to allow themselves to get too carried away.”
Hearing her cold, calculating deductions, Subaru was chagrined to realize that his actions were likely what had brought about the current situation. Ever since coming to the city of water, he had suffered a string of complete and absolute failures: He had been killed by Sirius three times; Emilia had been kidnapped by Regulus; Beatrice was in a coma after saving him; he had gone to city hall in order to face Capella with his friends, only to end up being toyed with by her; and to top it all off, the town had been almost totally flooded by the cultists in retribution. He was on the verge of exploding in anger at how pathetic he was.
Subaru covered his face with his hand and stared up at the sky.
“Um, um… Please don’t brood, Sir Natsuki. The situation is definitely awful, though—almost ‘What’s next, tying my arms and legs and throwing me in a lake?!’ levels of terrible!” Liliana was waving her hands and legs as she held her lyulyre against her scrawny body, and her twin tails flapped around on either side of her face.
That she still did not give in to despair, even in this dire situation, was splendid, truly worthy of praise.
And—
“Aaaargh! Damn it! You think I’ll let it end like this after losing this much?!”
“Wah?!”
The hand covering Subaru’s face clenched into a fist as he howled. Liliana, who had been intending to raise his spirits, leaped backward instead to cling to Priscilla in shock at the sudden shout. Naturally, Priscilla dodged the bard and casually knocked her aside. Ignoring Liliana’s cute cry as she hit the ground, Priscilla looked at Subaru with something akin to interest for the first time.
“That’s unexpected. So you refuse to break over something so trifling, I take it?”
“Setting aside the question of whether this is trifling or not, that’s the general idea. This is nothing compared to that nasty Witch’s trials. It’s way too early to be giving up on anything.”
Every battle had been a loss, his right leg was covered in some alien black substance, and the city was headed downhill fast—but he wasn’t about to give in just because of all that.
Now that he had a firm grasp on the current situation, he steeled his will as he came to a conclusion about what he should do first.
“—I need to meet up with everyone who stayed back at the Muse Company. Once we regroup, we can kick those assholes out of the city for good.”
“Can you really do that?”
“That isn’t the real question. It’s whether we do it or don’t. And I’m not about to choose don’t. Whatever we do, though, priority number one needs to be rejoining the crew. What are you going to do?”
“ ”
There was a flame dancing in Priscilla’s eyes. She stood there silently, waiting for Subaru to continue.
“You know, I still haven’t forgotten what happened back at the Water Raiment Inn—if anything, I’m still holding a grudge about it—but this and that are two different things. But being with someone you know is good for peace of mind, and Al was with us, too, not long before this. It might be easier for you to find him if we stick together.”
“Al was with you?”
“Yeah, though he left before the fight. He was wandering around the city looking for you.”
Al had split off from the group before the assault on city hall, but Subaru was still a little worried about whether he had gotten caught up in the flood. He wanted to assume Al was safe, what with how aloof and perceptive he seemed to be, but…
Hearing that, Priscilla thought for a moment.
“I understand your line of thought, but I have something I must see to first. And I have no intention of accepting your invitation if it means putting that off.”
“What could be so…?”
“But your show of resolve wasn’t half bad. So I’ll grant you a reward.”
“A reward?”
Subaru cocked his head at the unexpected response.
Priscilla reached out and grabbed Subaru by the shirt and pulled him to the ground, where he fell down next to Liliana with a grunt. He looked up in order to give Priscilla an earful for suddenly throwing him down—
“What the hell was that for all of a…? Wha—?!”
—until he saw a misshapen silhouette leap out violently at Priscilla.
“—!!”
The grotesque being howled sinisterly as it launched itself high into the air. It had four short, hound-like legs and twisted fangs lining its mouth. Just that would mark it as little more than a particularly ugly beast, but everything else was abnormal. It had swords and spears protruding from its back and torso. Not hanging from its body. Not stuck into it. The weapons were growing out of its body. It was literally a fusion of flesh and steel creating a truly hideous silhouette.
“That’s…not a demon beast! What is that?!”
“Ahhhhhhh! That’s a demi-beast!” Liliana screamed as she crawled across the ground.
While that was going on in the background, the grotesque monster that Liliana called a demi-beast took aim at Priscilla’s pale neck. Its sickening, unclean fangs drew near, but Priscilla easily deflected it to the side with the fan in her hand, forcefully knocking it down. One of the swords fused with its body gouged the earth underneath, creating a groove in the ground between Subaru and Liliana. A shout froze in his throat as he saw how sharp and dangerous it was.
“Well? Unsightly, isn’t it? These hideous, inferior brutes are rampant in the city right now. Not even beasts, and yet insufficient as tools. Incomplete from birth, a botched job from creation—thus demi-beasts.”
Priscilla stood there calmly, having knocked aside the demi-beast with her fan as Subaru watched stiffly. He was shocked by how at ease she appeared as he pulled Liliana away from where the demi-beast had fallen.
Behind them, the demi-beast writhed in agony as it leaped up, its spit-flecked jowls twisting around as it searched for the one who had attacked it. Something about it felt off to Subaru, and he quickly realized why. Its eyes.
“It doesn’t have any eyes… Did something blind it? Wait, did it just never have them to begin with? What?”
Its head looked similar to a dog’s. It had a snout with a vaguely canine nose and jaws, but there were no eyes where there should have been. It was true that some creatures simply didn’t develop vision, then, but this one had empty, hollowed-out pits where eyes would have been. It had eye sockets but no eyeballs. There were no scars or any other signs that they’d been removed, either. It was all incredibly cryptic. What were demi-beasts?
“Look closely, commoner. If you would wander this city, you might encounter one of these monstrosities at any time. They are coarse and incomplete creatures, but they have enough strength to easily hunt down one or two helpless fools.”
“Hey, who’s supposed to be helpless?! I’ve…”
Subaru reached for his trusty whip to drive home his point, but he had lost it either in the fight with Capella or else when he fell into the water. Farewell, Guilty Whip.
And with him unable to deny the helpless-fool point anymore, Priscilla intentionally made a sound with her shoe, drawing the demi-beast’s attention toward her. Gnashing its fangs, it obediently bounded toward her, drawn by the sound.
“Look how it clings to sound. It is comical how inexperienced they are in dealing with their world without sight. That shows this is not their natural state. But that is just the sort of being they are.”
“What are you saying…? Hold on a second! You said they’re all over town? There are more like this out there?!”
“They have spawned everywhere. Without eyes, without ears, without a mouth…like a mockery of a living creature, they are all flawed in some form or another. One can only assume their creator’s sense of beauty is catastrophically broken.”
Right after Priscilla said that, the demi-beast launched itself into the air again. Unable to see, it relied on its ears to leap toward her approximate location. Naturally, she swayed out of the way of such a clumsy attack with ease. When the demi-beast’s fangs caught only air, it quickly turned after landing and prepared to attack again—
“—What a truly pitiful existence. In my great mercy, I shall grant you rest.”
And, having said that, Priscilla slowly drew a crimson sword from the sky.
“ ”
Subaru was shocked by the sudden appearance of the sword, but more than that, he was enchanted by the sword’s beauty.
The bright-red blade that appeared was gilded with strange and beautiful ornamentation. It was radiant enough to be easily worthy of being called a treasure sword. From the hilt to the blade, it was entirely scarlet, and in Priscilla’s hand it glimmered brilliantly, like she held a living flame.
“—Ah.”
Cloaked in an inferno that enchanted all who beheld it, the sword flashed as Priscilla allowed the blind demi-beast to experience the blade firsthand in all its glory. The creature split down the middle and then burst into flames. There were no dying cries as the single crimson slash transformed the demi-beast into cinders.
“The gleam of this sword of sunlight and the knowledge that demi-beasts abound are my reward for your determination,” Priscilla said as Subaru watched the demi-beast’s death with eyes wide open.
Looking over at her, he saw that the crimson sword was already gone from her hand, replaced by her usual fan. It almost felt like it had been an illusion, but the demi-beast’s ashes were proof enough that it had been real.
“That’s quite the foolish look on your face. Don’t tell me you missed your opportunity to see something you will never see again? If so, my whim shan’t visit again, so you have only your own unworthiness to blame.”
“…There’s so much to comment on there that I’m not even sure where to start. What even is your actual power?”
“What an empty question. I can’t even work up the will to answer.”
Priscilla fanned herself leisurely as she openly ignored Subaru’s question. Liliana, whom Subaru had forgotten he was still holding under his arm, started flapping her arms and legs.
“Come on, Sir Natsuki!”
“Huh? Ah, my bad. Did I touch somewhere inappropriate? Though where would that even be on you?”
“How rude! They may be small, but they are there! But this isn’t the time for that!”
Twisting her body, she slipped free from Subaru’s arm, hit the ground with a thud, and quickly leaped to her feet. She left Subaru and Priscilla behind and ran to the intersection up ahead. Peering around the corner, she waved at them to come over.
“I knew it! Look! There is someone hurt here! Help! Please help him!”
“There is?! Were they attacked by that demi-beast?!”
Subaru frantically rushed over to Liliana. There was a young man lying facedown in a pool of blood. He had wounds on his shoulder and back.
“Are you okay?! Hey! Crap, he’s totally out of it. The wounds aren’t too deep, but…”
There was no response when Subaru called out to the young man. After checking his wounds, Subaru quickly tore the man’s shirt and performed simple first aid.
“You seem quite familiar with how to deal with this sort of thing…”
“It’s the product of my mentor’s spartan training. I’m amazed you noticed he was here, though.”
“Yes, I was sure I heard something. Like a heartrending voice pleading for aid.”
“What are you, some hero of justice…? All righty, that’ll do for first aid.”
Subaru sighed in relief after stopping the bleeding and tying off a splint. The wound did not look life-threatening, at least.
“But we can’t just leave him lying here, either. What do we do…?”
“Then carry him, commoner. My goal is the shelter down this street. If you take him there, they should be able to stabilize him.”
“There’s a shelter nearby? Right, you mentioned having some errand or other when you turned me down…”
“Let’s go. Do not slow me further.”
Paying no heed to Subaru, Priscilla said whatever she pleased and then started walking away. Subaru silently shook his head and then lifted up the unconscious man. He felt a dark irony that he was practically relying on his blackened right leg to brace himself as he followed Priscilla. Liliana tottered along behind them, still full of concern about the young man’s fate.
“Time and again you really do seem to be a man with good timing.”
“What?”
Priscilla flashed a dark, crimson smile.
“You should etch into your eyes one more time just what the current state of this city is.”
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