Strike the Blood - Volume 9 - Chapter Ep

OUTRO 

On a bench in a small park with a view of the sea, a single woman sat. 

Small-statured, she was also young, or rather, had a very childlike face. She did not look more than eleven or twelve years old. She was clothed in an elegant, laced-up dress, and carried a small parasol. The sight of her gazing at the sea without stirring was like looking at a beautiful Western-style doll, left and forgotten. 

Perhaps a strong wind had blown through, for the park’s flower bed was a mess. It looked like a typhoon had just passed through. 

Yet, the sea was calm; the sky, clear. 

With Leviathan’s withdrawal, the evacuation order for Blue Elysium had been lifted. It would take time to restore Demon Beast Park, but it was said that the pools and amusement park would be back in operation as soon as inspections were complete. 

About 30 percent of the visitors had fled the island, but the remaining 70 percent seemed to be spending their time in leisure. The daily routines of the Demon Sanctuary’s residents could not be shaken by a mere demon beast attack. 

Not even if the attacker was the World’s Mightiest Demon Beast. 

Finally, a new figure came to visit the park, sitting at the same bench as the woman with the parasol. 

This girl wore a long, plain skirt that seemed a poor match for a resort. She had unfashionable glasses and a hairstyle that did not stand out. She held a thick book over her lap. 

“—It would seem the chairman of Kusuki-Elysée has been arrested on suspicion of terrorism,” said the woman with the parasol, speaking first. 

Belying her adorable face, her tone of voice conveyed an air of majesty. 

“Him being a financer of ecoterrorism will kick up quite a scandal in itself. There’s no talking him out of this with so much evidence left behind. I do feel a little sorry for how they’re treating what he tried to control like a common sea serpent.” She smiled slightly, seemingly pitying Kusuki. 

Leviathan was a living weapon from the Age of the Gods: an inviolable, sacred monster. If it was established that it had fallen under human control, albeit temporarily, there was no guarantee that someone else would not emerge to try to control it again, like he had. 

Hence, they had locked the truth away. 

It was not Leviathan that Kusuki had tried to use as an instrument of terror, but a lowly sea serpent—and the common demon beast had been exterminated by the Island Guard, turning it into tasty fish paste. That was the summary of the incident released to the public. 

Kusuki-Elysée had been disbanded, and the heavily damaged Demon Beast Park was given new life as an enterprise under the Gigafloat Management Corporation. As a result, the Demon Sanctuary of Itogami Island had effortlessly obtained a facility for keeping demon beasts. It was an unanticipated side effect of the uproar. And… 

“This time, we were saved by the Fourth Primogenitor, yes?” the girl with the book said, a hint of laughter in her quiet voice. 

The woman with the parasol shrugged her shoulders, seeming a little beside herself. “You have some nerve to say that. Were you not the ones who dragged him into this?” 

“Had we not done so, we would have lost a number of precious cards to play. As a result, Blue Elysium was saved as well.” 

“Cards to play… I see. So you played against the moderates in the Bureau of Astrology?” 

“Mm-hmm.” The parasol woman laughed derisively. 

The women of the Lion King Agency had understood everything from the beginning: that the Bureau of Astrology was using Kusuki, and that their goal was to eliminate Asagi Aiba. 

Hence, the Lion King Agency had infiltrated Kusuki-Elysée with a Shamanic War Dancer, setting up contact between Lilith and the Fourth Primogenitor. Getting Asagi Aiba to Blue Elysium was simply an expedient means of containing the damage. From the beginning, the women had intended to make Leviathan and the Fourth Primogenitor fight each other. 

Perhaps it was not too much to say that as a result, the situation had concluded in precisely the manner the Lion King Agency had wished. 

“Due to this incident, the Bureau of Astrology owes us greatly. Many political enemies within the government shall surely lose standing as well. There should not be another attempt on the Priestess of Cain like this for some time.” 

“I would hope not. It isn’t a good feeling to have the lives of one’s adorable pupils targeted—” 

The woman with the parasol spoke in a tone neither fully in jest, nor fully in earnest. Then, she slowly shifted her gaze and looked at the girl. 

“—Incidentally, what is he doing?” 

“He, you say?” the girl with the book inquired with a questioning look. 

The woman with the parasol twisted her lips, resembling a child forced to eat spinach. “He’s here, isn’t he? The idiot combat maniac who blew off a dazzling opportunity to pick a fight with a powerful foe like Leviathan.” 

“Ahh, I see.” She giggled and shook her head. “He is not on Itogami Island at present.” 

“He isn’t…?” 

“No. I do not believe it is mere coincidence that the Bureau of Astrology provoked this incident during his absence…but he likely has his own ideas. He is a rather fickle man, after all.” The girl spoke in a rather evasive tone. 

“His own ideas, you say… Though it does not sound like he will return to this land soon.” 

The parasol woman’s thin eyebrows rose at the girl’s suggestive words. She twirled her parasol in apparent annoyance as she glared at the girl. 

“Then let me ask you, Lion King Agency: Where is he?” 

The girl calmly received the hostile witch’s glare as she raised her face. She stroked a page of the book on her lap as she shifted her gaze to the distant horizon. 

“The Third Primogenitor’s Dominion in Central America—the Chaos Zone.” 

“So…tired…” 

Kojou was walking on a Blue Elysium sidewalk carrying Yume, asleep, on his back. 

His destination, the cottage, was another two- or three-minute walk away. Yume’s body weight was no great burden to a boy-turned-vampire like Kojou, but the powerful rays of the nearly midday sun were rather hard on him. 

“I suppose,” concurred Yukina. 

There was no great change in the girl’s invigorating outward appearance, but judging from how easily she had accepted his words, she might have been fairly run-down as well. At any rate, they were on the way back from having grandly fought the World’s Mightiest Demon Beast; not being tired would have been far stranger. 

For her part, Sayaka had said she’d overused her ritual energy and was unable to move, so she was resting at the villa of a friend of Asagi’s for a while. Kojou was somewhat curious about the booming, antiquated music and the sound of tanks in the background on her end, but broke off the call without comment. He wanted nothing to do with a nonsensical “friend” like that. 

“But I am relieved the damage was no greater than this. All the beasts at Demon Beast Park appear well, and the pool and amusement park shall return to normal operation, it seems.” 

“Yeah… Well, people living on Itogami Island get kinda used to typhoons passing through and stuff…” 

Kojou wasn’t sure if his murmur amounted to sound logic, but he decided it made sense anyway. A lot had happened, but at any rate, the island was safe. Also, they’d come back with Yume. There ought to have been no better time to feel satisfied. 

“But I really don’t feel like playing around on a day like this… Figure I’ll loaf around at the cottage.” 

Kojou breathed a sigh of relief when he looked up, finally approaching the cottage. 

The silver lining was that Kojou and the others were still scheduled to stay for another night. With nothing to do that day or night, Kojou could spend his time in limp idleness until morning. 

With Kojou hardening his resolve toward that underwhelming goal, for some reason, Yukina gave him a mystified look as she said, “I suppose you could. But are you really all right with that, senpai?” 

“Huh?” 

“Er, I mean… Or perhaps you have forgotten that—” 

Out of concern for Kojou, Yukina seemed to hesitate before continuing her words, when… 

“Aaah?!” 

With a patter of steps, a figure ran out of the cottage, shouting loud enough to bother the neighbors. It was Nagisa. 

“Kojou, Yukina, welcome back! Yume’s with you, too?! I’m so surprised! When I woke up everyone was gone—ah, more importantly, oh no, Kojou! The time, the time!” 

“Hey, calm down. What time is it, anyway?” 

Kojou inquired in a rational voice, trying to calm the worked-up Nagisa. As Kojou did so, he heard an nn from behind and sensed that Yume was waking up. Nagisa’s boisterous voice had apparently stirred her. And beyond that: 

“K-Kojou! S-save me!” 

Asagi came running toward Kojou and the others, chasing after Nagisa—or more accurately, fleeing from some terrifying thing. Naturally, even Kojou was surprised that the normally unflappable Asagi was so unnerved. Asagi hadn’t even panicked from the knowledge that Leviathan was drawing near. Kojou could not help but subconsciously be on guard at whatever had managed to scare her that much. 

“Asagi, what the heck happened…?” 

“She’s here! L-look! Over there—!” 

“……Eh?” 

Kojou shifted his gaze in the direction Asagi pointed…and froze. 

A familiar electric cart was in the parking space in front of the cottage. 

It was an all-white, corporate cart with little in terms of decoration. The driver’s side door had a logo pasted on it from a franchise named Radaman Pavillionz. Standing beside the cart was a young woman wearing a tight skirt—the female proprietor of the poolside food stand. 

“Ch-chief…?!” 

“Ahh, Akatsuki. Welcome back. I just arrived to pick you up. It’s time for that fun part-time job again!” 

Chief had been shooting the breeze with Yaze, but realizing that Kojou had returned, she held out a beckoning hand. 

Yes, Blue Elysium’s pools were back in operation, even immediately following an uproar of that scale. If the pools were in operation, it naturally meant that the stall had to be staffed, too. Kojou felt dizzy when that fact sunk in. 

“Y-Yaze—?!” Kojou abruptly shouted at Yaze, who didn’t seem that troubled. 

“What? I don’t really get what you want, but I can’t do anything, ’kay? You’re the one paying for the travel expenses with part-time work, after all.” 

Yaze spoke the truth. Having to fight something like Leviathan before part-time work was all on Kojou and Asagi. But even so, having such a hard part-time job waiting for them as their reward for saving the island via deadly combat was too horrible for words. 

But then, as a look of despair washed over Kojou and Asagi, a clear, female voice spoke up to refute Yaze: 

“Please wait—!” 

Yume wedged herself between them, arms wide. 

The sudden intervention of the elementary school girl surprised Yaze, the chief, and of course, even Kojou. 

“Y-Yume?” 

“Mr. Kojou can’t work. He’s coming with me to have fun.” 

“…Huh? What?” 

“Well, you promised me, Mr. Kojou. You said you’d take me to the pool and the amusement park. I am an expert swimmer. It’ll be fun!” 

Yume looked up at Kojou with a sparkling, childlike gaze. 

Yaze and chief, put in the uncomfortable position of being at odds with Yume, looked at Kojou. Nagisa grumbled, as if Yume’s plea put her own prized position as his little sister in jeopardy. What’s that supposed to mean? said Asagi’s half-lidded glare at Kojou. 

Kojou wore an expression of shock as he looked back at Yume. 

“P-promise…?” 

“Yes. You said it yourself, didn’t you, Mr. Kojou? That you’d make me happy for life.” 

“For life… Uh… Uhhh?!” 

Kojou took half a step back, confused. What the heck? he asked himself. He remembered having spoken words similar in meaning, but he thought them inconsistent with her leap of logic. 

She made it sound like he’d proposed—words he’d never speak to Yume, an elementary schooler, even by mistake. 

“I…said something like that?” 

Hoping for any foothold, he glanced at Yukina, who’d been right there at the time, to vouch for him. Yukina—Yukina, of all people—would surely prove Kojou’s innocence. 

In spite of that, Yukina’s statement was merciless. “Unfortunately, you said something that certainly could be taken that way, senpai.” 

“That’s crazy,” Kojou whined, clutching his head. 

And with Kojou rocked by the unfounded accusation that he was a lolicon, Yume wrapped her arms around him and said, “Tee-hee-hee. We’ll be together forever.” 

Her eyes narrowed in a happy smile as she spoke. Her expression was truly adorable, enough to make anyone think she was five years old. 

“Kojou…” 

“Kojou, don’t tell me…you really are a…?” 

Nagisa and Asagi shot Kojou gazes filled with distrust. Meanwhile, Yaze commented, “Mm, well, they look happy,” sending irresponsible words of encouragement their way. 

Kojou shifted his gaze to the sky, seemingly to avert his eyes from the harsh reality. 

Looking up at the serene, blue sky, he was seized by the sense they were at the bottom of the ocean. 

“Gimme a break…” 

The murmur of Kojou’s voice faded away in the distant sky. 

Demon Sanctuary of Itogami Island, Subfloat Blue Elysium. 

It seemed that the busy day on the island, with a name fit for an amusement park, would continue for a while thereafter.