Strike the Blood - Volume 12 - Chapter 3.1

Intermission iii 

Around the same time as when Yuiri Haba and the others were under attack by the monsters… 

The vehicle Kojou and Yukina were aboard was kicking up a dust cloud as it raced across a winding mountain road. 

The vehicle was a North American Union–manufactured Armored Personnel Carrier. It was not a vehicle from the Self-Defense Forces. The vehicle had a diplomatic license plate attached to it. 

The driver was the Oceanus Girls’ platinum-blonde beauty, wearing fatigues with a bandanna wrapped around her head. Navigation from the assistant driver’s seat was handled by a rich-looking girl with a blue kerchief. 

Kojou, Yukina, and the rest of the Oceanus Girls were riding in the APC’s passenger compartment. 

The cargo compartment was cramped—chock full of a large quantity of firearms and munitions. Kojou and Yukina were sitting side by side, shoulder to shoulder. Now that the uniform cleaning was finally complete, they were on their way to rescue Nagisa. 

However, they did not speak to each other. All that passed between them was a heavy, strained silence. 

Yukina’s mood had been thoroughly soured ever since the bath incident. 

“Now, Himeragi, about that stuff earlier—” 

Unable to bear the unpleasant atmosphere, Kojou reluctantly broached the subject. However, Yukina did not meet his eyes as she bluntly shook her head. 

“It is quite all right. There is no problem.” 

“Huh…? How do you figure that?” 

“I saw nothing. Therefore, I have no knowledge of senpai’s indecent exposure.” 

“I wasn’t indecent! I was just naked in the bath!” Kojou replied irritably, trying to avoid what Yukina was insisting. 

She gave him a cold, half-lidded glare as she said, “Kisaki was wearing a swimsuit just fine.” 

“She decided to come in all on her own! And having a swimsuit or not ain’t the problem—it’s that Kisaki barged into the men’s bath!” 

“Haah.” Yukina sighed. “I suppose that’s true,” she said half-heartedly. 

“Just to make this clear, having you peek on me in the bath isn’t enough to bother me so you don’t need to worry about it, Himeragi. Nagisa’s walked in on me when I’m changing clothes, so this is nothing new.” 

All the same, when Kojou blithely walked in when his little sister was getting dressed, she didn’t speak a word to him for three days, something he still felt was unreasonable to the extreme. 

“It…it was not that I was peeking…but if that is what you say, I shall not mind it.” 

For some reason, Yukina’s demeanor suddenly softened when she heard Kojou’s words. She made a tiny cough to clear her throat as he saw a soft, pleasant smile come over her. She’d been so taken aback by the explanation Kojou had given that her mood underwent a dramatic change. 

Overhearing Kojou and Yukina’s conversation from the driver’s seat, the beautiful girl with the red bandanna asked the girl with the blue kerchief, “Hey, Martha…normally, being treated the same as someone’s little sister makes a girl angry I think, so why is Yukina in such a good mood?” 

Martha giggled, revealing a knowing smile as she said, “You see, Vika, the Fourth Primogenitor is particularly known as a man…who has a thing for little sister types.” 

“Ahh! So being in the same category as his little sister means that’s how much he cares about her. Wow!” 

“We can hear you, y’know!” 

Wow, my ass, thought Kojou, pressing a palm to his cheek in a visible sulk. 

“N-no, I’m not in that great of a mood because of that!” 

Yukina’s face was beet red as she spoke. However, as she did so, the Oceanus Girls turned warm, smiling faces toward her that seemed to say, It’s okay, we get it. 

“…And for that matter, why are you girls coming with us? I mean, I’m grateful you’re driving us all the way to Kannawa Lake and all…,” Kojou said with a sigh, though his question was somewhat late at this point. 

Martha, the girl in the blue kerchief, glanced back at Kojou, tossing a suggestive smile his way as she said, 

“The Duke of Ardeal commanded us to give the Fourth Primogenitor our utmost hospitality, you see.” 

“Besides, we can’t let such an interesting…er, amazing situation slip by…er, escape our attention, so!” Gripping the wheel, the voice of the girl in the red bandanna suddenly spiked at the end. 

“Well, thanks.” Kojou’s shoulders sank in dejection as a listless, dry laugh trickled out of him. 

Though they were aiding Kojou as he risked his life to rescue his little sister, it was apparently no more than an amusement to pass the time for them. Somehow, even thanking them for it felt wrong. It seemed less Vattler’s mischievous nature spreading to them than a bunch of celebrities with way too much time on their hands. 

But since their passing the time was helping him out, he couldn’t exactly object. 

Up ahead were SDF soldiers standing at the fork for the narrow road heading to Kannawa Lake. A checkpoint. 

“Civilian vehicles are not permitted past this point. Please turn around.” 

A guardsman spoke those words to them as he stared suspiciously at the APC’s diplomatic license plate. 

From the driver’s seat, Vika shot Kojou a delighted expression. OK if I bust through the checkpoint? was her unspoken question to Kojou. 

Certainly, given the APC’s specs, busting through the checkpoint barricade was not a difficult task, but he mentally cringed at pointlessly making enemies of the SDF. That said, he didn’t think politely explaining the situation would result in being allowed to pass. 

What should we do? Kojou pondered. That moment, Yukina suddenly rose to her feet. She leaned over toward the driver’s seat and stated to the soldier at the checkpoint with a businesslike tone: 

“Bureau of Astrology. I am heading to Kannawa Lake on a demon beast subjugation assignment.” 

“Bureau of Astrology?” 

“You have heard it is an emergency, I take it?” 

“Ah…yes, but…” 

“I have an Attack Mage license and ID. Please confirm for yourself.” 

“Priestess of the Six Blades…t-twenty-nine years old?!” 

The soldier’s eyes went wide with surprise when he checked the ID that Yukina had passed to him. Then he glanced at the ID photo one more time, comparing it to Yukina’s face. 

“Is there something amiss?” 

The corner of Yukina’s lips twitched as she raised a particularly frigid voice. 

“No. Pardon my rudeness.” 

The SDF soldier swiftly saluted, lifting the barricade to let Kojou’s car through. 

“Thanks,” said Vika, the girl in the red bandana, politely waving as she put the vehicle into motion. 

Then, when the SDF soldiers were no longer in sight, the interior of the vehicle was engulfed in bursts of laughter, both at how Yukina had presented herself as twenty-nine with a straight face, and how funny it was that the soldier had completely fallen for it. 

“Why do you find that so funny—?!” 

Yukina was glaring at Kojou with annoyance. Kojou wiped tears from the corners of his eyes as he said, 

“No, I’m, like… The fake IDs Kisaki gave us were actually helpful.” 

“Urgh…” 

Why did I have to go through this? thought Yukina, resentfully biting her lip. Kiriha Kisaki had given them fake Bureau of Astrology IDs before parting their separate ways. They had proven their worth moments earlier, but setting Yukina’s age so that she was “pushing thirty” felt like malice on Kiriha’s part. 

“Fourth Primogenitor…” In the assistant driver’s seat, Martha addressed Kojou in a gentle voice. 

The smiles on the faces of the remaining Oceanus Girls vanished. 

Multiple SDF vehicles were approaching their APC from the other direction. The vehicles bore numerous scars, perhaps traces of combat with demon beasts, causing a painful air to hover over them. The driving was sloppy for vehicles going downhill on a narrow mountain road. They were like a routed army with no time to worry about such petty concerns. The faces of the troops riding the vehicles bore a bizarre amount of tension—and unconcealed fear. 

“It appears they are transporting casualties.” 

“Yeah…but something’s weird.” 

Kojou both agreed with Yukina’s murmur as he felt separate doubts. 

If they were retreating with casualties in tow, he could understand the anxiety he sensed from them. But the raw fear emanating from them was plainly separate from the exhaustion and fatigue engendered by their injuries. 

It was as if they were desperately fleeing from a foe drawing near— 

“Stop the car!!” 

Kojou shouted as soon as he felt the presence of enormous demonic energy. 

By that time, Vika had already hit the brakes. The APC slid against the shoulder against the road, riding up it at an incline, whereupon Kojou immediately leaped out. 

He could see giant figures standing on the other side of densely packed trees—gleaming, metallic, humanoid monsters. 

“Himeragi, that’s—” 

“Yes, golems. The ritual is not one I have seen before, but there is little doubt…!” 

Yukina replied as she deployed her folded silver spear. 

Kojou audibly clenched his teeth. It was still some distance between them and Kannawa Lake, where Nagisa awaited. He’d never imagined their path would be obstructed by monsters in a place like that. 

“Please, all of you, stay here! If it looks bad, don’t think—run!” Kojou shouted to the Oceanus Girls as they began preparing weapons. 

“We understand.” 

“We have no intention of hindering you.” 

“Fight well.” 

The girls replied with tones of voice that somehow felt rather refined. 

Thanks, said Kojou’s silent nod as he raced toward the monsters. It was a moment later that his vision caught sight of a new demon beast. 

“What the…?! A dragon?!” 

Kojou grimaced when he saw it. It had the body of a serpent and malevolent wings, four stout limbs and an enormous frame. 

Dragons were so rare that they were rumored to be extinct; even in Itogami Island, a Demon Sanctuary, none had ever set sight on the species. The sudden appearance of such an endangered species took him by surprise. Even so, Kojou’s feet did not stop. He’d seen Nalakuveras and Leviathan; he was a bit shocked that a “mere” dragon was not enough to stop him in his tracks. 

There was a girl in a school uniform wielding a long, silver sword, trying to protect that dragon. 

“Yuiri?!” 

Noticing the girl, Yukina called out her name in surprise. 

“Himeragi, you know her?” 

“She is a Sword Shaman of the Lion King Agency. We were at High God Forest together—” 

I see, thought Kojou, exhaling in relief. Steel-colored monsters that looked like products of sorcery, or a girl protecting a wounded dragon—the faint, remaining conflict over which side to help vanished from his mind. 

“Guess we don’t need to worry about which side to lend a hand to!” 

“Right!” 

Clenching her silver spear, Yukina leaped toward the monsters. For his part, Kojou summoned one of his Beast Vassals to support her.