C³ Vol 10 Chapter 4

Chapter 4 - The Pendulum After Four Minutes / "A hand stops, but never reverses" Part 1

Hinai Elsie.

The Frontline Gathering Knights Dominion—«Four Minutes».

Haruaki's group swiftly entered defensive positions against her. Staying on high alert, Haruaki stared at her while she approached leisurely, took out his cellphone and was just thinking he should call when—

"...I have already called Kirika just now to wake her. She should be hurrying over soon."

"Himura-sensei."

Hiding somewhere until now, staying on guard for Elsie's arrival, Himura appeared next to Haruaki's group without them noticing. Holding a cellphone in hand, he was watching Elsie cautiously like Haruaki and the others. Just as he claimed, soon after—

"Sorry I'm late!"

Kirika rushed out of the stairwell. She had already extended the «Tragic Black River» from her sleeve, readying herself for battle. Having confirmed her arrival, Haruaki operated his cellphone again—To call someone else rather than Kirika. After a brief report, he hung up.

Elsie did not look like she was in a hurry, walking as though taking a casual stroll, taking large strides towards them. She was still quite far away. Fear glanced to the side.

"No matter what, I really hope to move Amanda far away from here... Hey Himura, your mask can eliminate presences, right? If you push the wheelchair while wearing the mask, what's the result?"

"Regrettably, there won't be much effect. For things I'm holding or transportation I'm traveling on, the only effect is reducing the attention they attract from people. Clothing is fine but even if I wear «Il est dans Bastille» while sitting in a car, it won't cause normal drivers to crash violently from being unable to see the car. The same goes for Amanda's wheelchair. Particularly in these circ.u.mstances, the enemy will be staring intently at her wheelchair—"

"In other words, you cannot erase your presence together with the wheelchair. What a useless man. Is there anything else you can do?"

"If I had to say more, «Il est dans Bastille» here is unable to completely mask the wearer's hostility and killing intent. When the wearer actively thinks about harming someone, the enemy will see through where he or she is hiding."

"It can't even be used for a sneak attack? What a completely useless man... Then why don't you just wear that mask and stay far away from getting involved!?"

"...Is this an order?"

"Of course it's an order. Otherwise, you're in the way too much. In an emergency, we have no effort to spare for protecting you!"

"I understand. Then I'll retreat for now. But if something arises that I could help with, I will surely help."

Himura took out the evil-looking and familiar mask from the bag by his feet. His presence was extremely weak to begin with. Now that he put this on, he vanished all at once—By the time they noticed, there was completely no trace of him. In actual fact, this was probably just their impression.

Kirika watched with eyes filled with complicated emotions, glaring at the spot where Himura had disappeared. But she immediately shook her head as though casting away those thoughts.

"Well then—We'll just have to use the same tactics as last time. With relatively lower combat strength, Yachi and I will be in charge of Amanda while using this opportunity to move her to a safe location... Any problems?"

"A huge~ problem. I advise you guys to give up. Because it's a waste of effort. Say, while you guys have your backs turned to me, it's already a great crisis, you're giving me a ma.s.sive opening~"

Elsie commented nonchalantly while pulling out from her collar the «Clockwork Life» pocket watch and swinging it back and forth.

This is just a bluff—Haruaki thought.

"What bold words... We already know everything about how you fight, your weaknesses and what you've been doing."

"Eh, really?"

Haruaki glanced upwards. Next to the school building's external wall where the large clock was embedded, on a neighboring rooftop, a figure could be seen. This was the person whom Haruaki had just phoned to inform of Elsie's arrival.

"Zenon-san!"

After Haruaki yelled out, the figure nodded lightly and with a flick of her arm, a glimmer of silver light, even fainter than the stars in the far distance, flew towards the clock face. In the next instant, the sound of the protective gla.s.s could be heard shattering. Both the long hand and the short hand stopped due to the thrown knife. This was followed by a series of silver flashes as steel knives were repeated thrown to attack the clock's hands, finally—

Accompanied by a crisp cracking sound...

The two hands were severed and their remains fell down in front of the school building. Taking a bow, the figure on the rooftop immediately vanished.

"Ohoh~ I was wondering why all the clocks I found were broken. I see what happened now. Elsie finally UNDERSTAND~"

"That's right. In order to prevent you from breaking clocks, in order to prevent the pocket watch in your possession from storing time—"

"Oh my oh my, oh my oh my, what's this~? You guys really don't understand."

Elsie laughed in derision. This reaction sent chills down Haruaki's spine. What was going on? When she broke large clocks, was she not trying to acc.u.mulate more time for her pocket watch to use? Could it be that they had... misunderstood something...?

"What~ a~ shame~ I'm sorry to say this, but Elsie has already stored up the full four minutes already!"

"What—No way, so the three you broke in the beginning, were enough for you to already...?"

Fear groaned, causing Elsie to laugh with abundant mirth.

"So I'll explain, that's not how it works~ The act of breaking clocks is simply a necessary step in prior preparations to allow this «Clockwork Life» to store up time, but it's not the actual process for storing time itself. This tool was created by a certain clockmaker who wanted everyone to understand that 'time and life are equally important.' Hence, 'I never noticed usually but time and clocks turn out to be so important after all' is the kind of feeling this pocket watch gathers from the surrounding people to use as energy. Everyone usually doesn't notice but once a clock they're used to reading is broken, they will think: 'Oh no, this clock was actually so convenient' before taking out a cellphone from their pocket. In other words, this type of feeling that people develop towards clocks is what I'm gathering. Although a single person's feelings are weak, large clocks are all located where crowds gather, so naturally, it's possible to gather feelings from many people. Like slowly acc.u.mulating a tenth of a second, a tenth of a second repeatedly... In this manner, this pocket watch finally begins to define the time known as life."

In that case—

In that case, in other words, what they had been doing all along—

"That's right, you guys ended up helping Elsie. All Elsie only needed to do was run over to stand under a disabled clock in order to collect the feelings from all the surrounding people with inconvenience written on their faces. So I guess I should still thank you all—You saved me a lot of effort, thanks!"

Right before their eyes as they watched in shock—

Elsie slowly reached towards the her pocket watch's stem—

As though showing off to them, the spring of the cursed watch clicked while it was being wound.

Part 2

Hinai Elsie listened with delight to the sound of «Clockwork Life»'s spring being wound.

Surrounding her, the spring was not the only clock sound she was hearing.

Tick tock, tick tock, tick tock, tick tock.

A clock's inorganic noise was calming. Without it, she could not possibly live on—Literally.

These clock ticks were coming from the headphones she was wearing on her ears, the music being played nonstop on repeat by her portable music player.

This was the curse of «Clockwork Life». She must listen to the sound of clocks. As soon as she stopped hearing the sound, her body would be overcome by a sense of extreme discomfort and nausea. Although not to the point of causing immediate death, should the shortage persist, she would probably go insane and die within a day. However, she was never worried at all. Because this was the way things were. She was going to listen to this sound forever. Starting from the moment she first obtained this tool, forever—

Guided by a clock's steady sounds, past scenes surfaced in Elsie's mind.

Once upon a time in a certain town, there was an insane clockmaker. He loved clocks and watches zealously and only made bizarre timepieces. As a result, he lived in dest.i.tute poverty, finally going mad, unable to win recognition from others. Hence, he started advocating that time ruled over everything; time was precious. To people, time was "life" itself.

Starting from some unknown point in time, he started believing that his mission in life was to spread this truth among the other foolish humans. Hence, he began to take action towards this goal.

Namely, he would lock two people in a cellar and make them kill each other. These two people would be linked by an existing, deep bond such as being family or lovers. Once he prepared the location and the circ.u.mstances, all he said was the following.

I'll give you four minutes to kill each other. If one of you succeeds, the survivor shall go free. Once the time limit is reached, I will release poison gas to kill you both.

Finally, to inspire the foolish humans, he gave a single hint—"Time is life."

The cellar contained nothing, except for a pocket watch that merely counted up to four minutes, specially made for this experiment, attached to a long silver chain. One minute to grasp the situation, one minute to hesitate, one minute to understand what needed to be done and commit oneself, one minute to take actual action. Hence, he decided on these four minutes as the time limit.

Everyone locked in the cellar died. Confronted with an order to kill a loved one, everyone was at a loss on what to do. Meanwhile, four minutes pa.s.sed and the clockmaker released the poison gas. Among the victims, there were some who made their decision to kill the other person, but they either met opposition or failed to kill within four minutes. Barehanded, there was simply not enough time.

However, the clockmaker was not asking for something impossible. He had given a hint.

Only one person understood his hint.

Only one girl, locked into the cellar together with her father, understood the significance in the words "time is precious" and used the only tool present in the cellar, namely, the pocket watch's long silver chain, to strangle her father to death—

In terms of time, this was but a moment's reminiscence.

Tick tock, tick tock, tick tock, tick tock.

Currently, Elsie found the ticking sounds, coming from both her headphones and the pocket watch in her hand, especially nostalgic. In that particular cellar, this pocket watch was making these noises as it mercilessly marched on for four minutes.

In this dream-like state yet not in a dream, she kept staring at the clock hands. The rhythmic movement seemed extremely slow to her. Like eons—yet a brief duration.

Ahhh, the clockmaker's ideas were not wrong—Back then, the time defined by this pocket watch was indeed life itself. The time known as her own life was concentrated in those four minutes.

Click click. Click click. Elsie turned the watch stem. She had already spun it enough for two minutes' worth, probably. But still not done yet, still too early. Click click. Click click.

Time, i.e. life, was gradually injected into the pocket watch. New power was injected into the pocket watch.

Then «Clockwork Life» began to animate.

It was as though it were trying to imitate the answer prepared by that clockmaker back then.

Part 3

While Elsie was winding the spring, the pocket watch's silver chain began to squirm.

The silver chain's tail end shook, jumped and vibrated, flying out of her collar like a living creature. Presumably, Elsie had been keeping the silver chain wrapped around her neck. The silver chain flew out and continued to squirm nonstop. Rattling continuously while it slid, sliding towards Elsie's neck, shoulders and b.r.e.a.s.t.s, then wrapping around her many times. Such a long chain could not possibly have been kept concealed beneath her clothing all this time, so—Did the silver chain extend?

Haruaki's group watched in terror as this unusual scene unfolded. Of course, Konoha and the girls were biding their time, looking for an opening to charge forward and attack—Nevertheless, Elsie continued to turn the watch stem, unconcerned with the silver chain that was slithering like a snake, her body giving off a dangerous pressure that made others fearful of making a false move.

"Ooh... I was thinking you guys might come charging to attack me while I was turning the watch stem. How right a decision you made. If you had recklessly entered my attack range, even while I was in the middle of winding, I can still activate the cursed ability and quickly slaughter you."

The silver chain continued to squirm. While extending in length, it wrapped itself around Elsie's entire body, twisting many times around her neck as though treating her like a prisoner, sliding across her cleavage between her b.r.e.a.s.t.s, sliding into her skirt and between her thighs, spiraling to tie her arms downwards—

Elsie continued to turn the watch stem. Despite her body being tightly bound by the silver chain, apart from pain, she seemed to be experiencing other sensations as well—

"Ahhh... Coming, coming, coming! Ahhh... Hooh... Mmm... I-It's taking effect... Coming coming, motivation is coming! HIGH TENSION!"

Finally, after Elsie's body shook once, especially violently, she forcefully turned to pocket watch's stem, which then made a crisp "click." For that instant, she seemed to be immersed in some sort of aftertaste, her head hanging low without moving.

"Hmm...!"

Thinking this must be a good chance, Kirika pushed Amanda's wheelchair and tried to move. However—

"...«Clockwork Life»."

"What... the!"

The sound of a concrete wall getting pierced could be heard. No sooner had Kirika taken a single step when a flash of silver light extended from Elsie's hand, preventing Kirika from advancing any further. The object buried into the school building's external wall was undoubtedly—

"Controlling the silver chain... To the point of possessing powers similar to the «Tragic Black River»...!?"

"No no~ Accuracy and extensibility are completely nothing amazing~ Right now, I also missed. This is basically the only type of move I'm capable of using. Besides, swinging a weapon from a distance is not my style, so I usually do things this way."

Shortening the silver chain that had pierced the school building's wall, she pulled it back to her hand. Wrapping the silver chain around the set of fingers on her right hand, she clenched her fist, turning the chain into a fist guard, a tool for increasing the destructive power of punches.

"Then... Are we ready? As soon as Elsie's left hand leaves the watch stem, time will begin. The four minutes with your lives on the line will begin. Ready OKAY?"

"Guh!" Fear and the girls clenched their teeth tightly, exuding a sense of tension from all over them.

"Hmph... We just need to keep Amanda safe and endure for four minutes. Too easy, hahaha."

Fear spoke in a stiff tone of voice that did not match what she was saying. Konoha nodded in turn.

"Our priorities remain the same. Ueno-san, Haruaki-kun, as soon as you find an opportunity, take Amanda-san and leave this place. Although she says the accuracy is not high, given that the enemy possesses a long range weapon—This is probably no easy task."

"...Yes. Originally, I was thinking I might be able to use the «Tragic Black River» to pull us up to the roof, but that looks like it's not going to work. We'll be struck down on our way up. Besides, given that silver chain, she could very well climb up in pursuit as well."

"If only my hair could pin down her movements to some extent. Hmm, what should we do...?"

Elsie slowly raised the pocket watch before her chest.

Her eyes seemed to be expressing enjoyment of the current situation while she swept her gaze over the group in their defensive stances.

Then she extended her tongue to lick her lips, while at the same time—

She released the watch stem.

"Well then... Let's begin. Although time is very short, I hope you'll savor things carefully—bestowed upon you all, the last of your clockwork life!"

Tick tock, tick tock.

In front of her chest, the pocket watch advanced, second by second.

Until the pocket watch stopped—Four minutes still remained.

Part 4

"We'll try to stop her. Even if we can't stop her, we must create an environment easier for engaging her in battle!"

The first to take action was Kuroe. With unprecedentedly serious eyes, she took a step forward.

"Mode: «Sarga.s.so Tsunemori»!"

Kuroe's hair spread out along the surrounding floor in a wide area, forming a black carpet—or a sea of sarga.s.so seaweed. This sea of hair kept bulging upwards in certain places, forming ripples and exhibiting a chaotic form similar to a dense forest of marine flora, waiting for the invader to arrive. As soon as some one stepped into the zone, a great amount of hair would surely entangle the person's ankles without warning, preventing them from taking another step outside. This was an inescapable trap territory.

"I get what you're trying to do, but all she needs is jump across!"

"In that case, I'm counting on you two to intercept her! Compared to her running over, this will be easier to pinpoint her direction!"

"I see! Then leave it to me, Mechanism No.8 crus.h.i.+ng type, circular form: «Breaking Wheel of Francia»!"

Fear transformed the Rubik's cube into the torture wheel. Elsie had already started using her compressed time to move at high speed, breaking into a mad dash. As Kuroe predicted, she jumped high just before Kuroe's hair carpet. Discerning her route of advance, Fear was just about to throw the torture wheel at her landing spot when—

"Too naive!"

In midair, Elsie once again extended the silver chain that was wrapped around her fist, looping it around the trunk of a decorative tree then quickly shortening the chain to produce tension—At the same time, she stepped onto the chain, extended straight and taut through the air, then ran along the chain in this manner.

"Th-That's way too unreasonable...!"

Haruaki groaned but the situation still did not improve. Using the wire created by the chain she had shot out, Elsie traversed the sarga.s.so sea of black hair, circling over to their side. Her movements were like a mirage, zigzagging at high speed, meanwhile with a forceful kick, she crushed the paved path underfoot and closed in rapidly. Since this sarga.s.so sea was essentially spread out in the forward direction, the sides were quite weakly defended. Taking a light leap, Elsie swung her fist at Kuroe who was frantically turning her gaze.

"Kuroe! Pull your hair back!"

"Ku... «Cus.h.i.+oning Munemori»!"

Hair, which was originally by Kuroe's feet, instantly gathered and shot up to form a s.h.i.+eld to block the impact. Next, Fear's thrown wheel stood further forward, forming a second s.h.i.+eld. Nevertheless, even with this double defense, Elsie's destructive might could not be stopped. The wheel creaked from the impact while Kuroe's body was sent flying from the ground, her pet.i.te body smas.h.i.+ng into the bushes, breaking branches and causing a large amount of leaves to flutter in the air.

"d.a.m.n... it...!"

"Ohoh!"

Fear gripped the torture wheel hard then threw it out. Elsie struck it down using her chain-wrapped fist.

"Mechanism No.20 slas.h.i.+ng type, great blade form: «A Hatchet of Lingchi»!"

"That's quite some spirit you have there! But it's a little too much spirit! Absolutely the GOODEST!"

The ma.s.sive hatchet's swing was parried as well. Then a flowing backhanded fist immediately attacked, striking Fear in the head, rendering her pet.i.te body instantly unsteady. Nevertheless, Fear gritted her teeth hard and pushed her body, swinging the blade again. This time, Elsie countered with a hook to the gut.

"Gah-hah...!"

Liquid flowed out from the corners of Fear's lips, perhaps saliva or stomach juices, a painful sight to behold nonetheless. She stabbed the hatchet into the ground to serve as support and prevent herself from flying backwards—Even so, the impact still forced Fear's body to slide back a couple meters. Elsie closed in on Fear with lightning speed again, raising her snow-white thigh in a kick towards her chest. Fear was supposed to be quite heavy but in spite of that, her body was effortlessly sent hovering to midair. Fear groaned painfully and swung her hatchet down forcefully while in the air, trying hard to retaliate. However, Elsie turned her body lightly and dodged Fear's attack again. The hatchet embedded itself into the ground. Elsie clenched her fist and laughed:

"Oh my oh my... Aren't you durable? I guess I'll wait until later to destroy you! Because right now, my goal is to quickly kill off that straggler! So it's time for you to stand down!"

"I... re... fuse! Sorry, but I won't hold back, so don't hate me! Mechanism No.12 extinction type, revolving blade form: «Tornado of Souls»!"

Fear left the hatchet stuck in the ground then jumped back herself, transmitting the order to transform through the chain of cubes. Using the momentary opening when she dodged Elsie's fist by the slimmest of margins, she converted the hatchet next to Elsie into the revolving pillar of blades. Without any hesitation, she instantly caused the tornado of blades to spin at top speed—

"Wow! This is such a fun ATTRACTION! THRILLING!"

"Wha—!"

Elsie blocked the blades with the silver chain on her fist then bent down and jumped lightly. Despite being in range of the bladed pillar that was spinning faster than the naked eye could follow, she dodged every single blade. Then weaving past the tornado of blades, closing in on Fear at a certain separation—

"«Clockwork Life»!"

Wrapped around her fist, the silver chain extended its end towards the side, aiming for a decorative rock that stood up from its buried position in the center of a lawn. Within the blink of an eye, the chain wrapped itself around the giant boulder, roughly stout enough for a person to hold in one's arms, uprooting it from the soil. Next, using centrifugal force, Elsie swept the boulder horizontally, tied up by the chain, towards Fear's body—

Fear had probably expected Elsie to charge her directly and reacted half a beat too slow. Unable to recall her torture tool in time, she was mercilessly struck by the thick hammer of rock. Sent flying as though struck by a car, Fear's entire body bounced away. At the same time, accompanied by series of cracking sounds, something breaking could be heard. But when Fear smashed into the wall of the school building, these sounds were instantly covered up by the loud crash from the impact.

"Haha~ How rare for me to have such perfect control. Wonderful, wonderful."

Haruaki could do nothing but watch. No problem. There should be no problem. Absolutely no problem. Surely, Fear and Kuroe were going to stand up soon. How long would it take? A minute? Too long, d.a.m.n it—!

As though taking over for Fear, Konoha swiftly closed in on Elsie. With an astoundingly savage expression, she chopped with her hands, her legs, using all sorts of martial techniques, she engaged Elsie in direct combat.

"Ahhhhhhhhhh!"

"Looks like you're all fired up too! Five, six, seven... Amazing, that's a new record! EXCELLENT!"

After throwing the rock away, she wrapped the silver chain around her fist again and began to play a song of heavy metal while clas.h.i.+ng nonstop with Konoha's knife hand. Before the noise vanished, the next set of noises appeared, followed by another set of noises. Haruaki's eyes could no longer follow the scene before him. Through vague afterimages, he could only see objects moving back and forth at astoundingly high speeds between the two girls.

Smack! Then completely different noises began to creep into the earlier sounds. The sound of skin getting torn open, flesh getting sliced open, bones creaking noisily. Konoha began to bleed from various parts of her body, because she was gradually unable to deflect all of Elsie's attacks.

"I admit you're trying hard. But in this world, there exist things that cannot be solved by mere motivation. Just like the way no one can stop the pa.s.sage of time."

"Guh... Ahhh... Ahhhhhh—!"

"In other words, what Elsie mean is that time is valuable and it's time for you to stand down—Are you listening? Hmm, you don't actually look like you're listening!"

Elsie suddenly ducked down as though her back had snapped. Then Konoha made a thrust with her knife hand. In the next instant, Elsie stretched her body upwards while her bare knee had already embedded itself deeply into Konoha's chest. To think that she had used her knee in a cross countering strike... Absolutely unbelievable.

"Ga-ah...!"

"You've done very well. Truly very GOODEST. In past tense, I guess it's GOODESTED?"

After Konoha stopped moving, Elsie raised her clasped hands together to deliver a hammering blow to the back of Konoha's head. Konoha crashed down like a mannequin, her head striking the ground hard. Cracks instantly appeared on the paved path as concrete fragments flew away. Probably through sheer willpower alone, Konoha groaned and attempted to stand up—But of course, she was unable to do so.

...Two minutes.

In the end, in merely two minutes, everyone was down.

But giving up because of that was not an option. Haruaki desperately mustered strength in his legs that were almost about to give way. Glaring at Elsie, he pondered what he should do, what could he do—

"So, so, although it's the same situation as previously, this time, the happy time of life continues to turn. In other words, your time has ended. Hurry and let Elsie finish the job!"

Elsie charged at high speed. Instantly, Haruaki felt someone shove him hard, causing him to roll on the ground.

Naturally, the one who pushed him was the person who was protecting the wheelchair-bound Amanda together with him—

"Come on, at least I can tell what you're thinking... Absolutely ridiculous. Indeed, it's truly and absolutely ridiculous. I'm the one who should be doing this first instead. This is my duty. Just like that time...!"

After pus.h.i.+ng Haruaki away, Kirika stepped in front of the wheelchair, the «Tragic Black River» sliding out of her sleeve. In the face of Elsie's intimidating aura, the «Tragic Black River» seemed quite small and powerless in comparison.

"As a sign of respect for Miss j.a.panese Sword for trying so hard just now, Elsie will use a knifehand strike as well to take care of you! I'll first skewer your body then chop you apart together with your clothes, finally stabbing into Mummy Maker's heart all at once! EXCITING!"

The same scene was about to be replayed, with Kirika planning to use herself as a meat s.h.i.+eld, with Kirika planning to use her immortal body as a meat s.h.i.+eld, along with Elsie in complete nonchalance, Elsie who possessed the power to completely annihilate Kirika's immortality.

Last time, they were saved only because Elsie had reached her time limit. But now... Currently it was still—

"No... Cla.s.s Rep!"

Elsie effortlessly dodged the extending «Tragic Black River» and closed in swiftly. Kirika did not move. Because Amanda was right behind her, she could not move.

Hence, Elsie's knife hand was swinging at high speed, slicing through the air faster than the naked eye could follow, to "kill" Kirika—

"—Kirika!"

The body of the man who had suddenly taken off his mask and appeared...

The hand stabbed into Himura's body when he rushed out in front of Kirika to protect her.

Part 5

The feeling of her hand burying into flesh. The splatter of the familiar color. The familiar odor of the viscous body fluid.

Hinai Elsie did not feel any regret at all. In fact, it was the opposite.

Instead, she was thinking that she had accomplished her task concretely.

She had no idea why she needed to do it. Neither was she interested.

All she needed to do was act according to that man's orders. Simply as a knight of the Frontline Gathering Knights Dominion, obeying the words of him who stood as the absolute ruler.

She recalled that voice over the telephone.

'Do you understand?'

(Yes, my lord, I understand clearly.)

'The target will block your way at the last moment. Do not miss that opportunity. I repeat once more...'

(Yes, I won't miss the opportunity. I will definitely accomplish it!)

The sense of achievement made Elsie's back tremble. She had fulfilled her mission perfectly.

Recalling the words the Dominion Lord finally said to her, Elsie climaxed once again as expected.

'Do not forget. Your target—The man named Himura Sunao.'

Part 6

"Huummm... Ahaa..."

Drawing out her bloodstained hand, Elsie stayed in place for some reason, her back shuddering in waves.

"Ga-hah..."

"H-Himura...?"

Himura's body instantly collapsed with a crash. Kirika gazed down at him in disbelief. A large hole had pierced Himura's abdomen and blood kept gus.h.i.+ng out.

Haruaki could see Kirika's legs suddenly lose strength as she collapsed on her knees, her wavering eyes staring at Himura, watching him who had received a heavy injury to protect her.

"W-Why? But... I'm... immortal...!"

"Cough cough... You should... also know, right? There is no concrete evidence... that you cannot die. Even.. if there really is... but I... Because I... am serious. That's why... I want to... protect you..."

"—"

Kirika's eyes wavered even more as she reached her hand out slowly towards Himura's body.

"I-I..."

Kirika's face was showing an expression that Haruaki had never witnessed before. As though feeling fear about something, yet agonizing over a dilemma, also appearing to be seeing something beyond what was before her eyes, also accompanied by pain, recalling distant memories from the past—

But just at this moment—

Kirika's hand suddenly stopped just as she was about to touch Himura's body.

A furrow appeared on Kirika's brow. Groaning while looking up, stumbling as she tried hard to stand up, Fear and the others were looking at Kirika. Having lost cognition, Amanda was looking at her. Only Elsie was the exception, still dazed with ecstasy on her face.

Kirika's hand did not touch Himura's body. Keeping her arm half extended, she remained motionless.

What was Kirika pondering?

What was she thinking?

Also—What was she remembering?

Naturally, only Kirika alone would know.

Part 7

She remained rooted to the spot in shock for quite a while.

What was visible to the eye—or invisible to the eye—both were leaving her in disbelief.

What happened? What was going on in the current situation?

"...Kirika."

"Ah... Himura-senpai, it's been a while."

While she was in a daze, he had started standing behind her. Truly, it had been a while since they last met.

Upon joining the Lab Chief's Nation, Kirika was a.s.signed to a department, but due to a lack of progress and accomplishment, this department was sc.r.a.pped several weeks earlier. After all, funding was not unlimited, this was only natural... In these matters, her brother was quite rational and decisive.

The department's personnel were all split up and rea.s.signed to other departments. Kirika and Himura were no exception. Presumably, the higher-ups decided that Kirika did not need to follow a mentor anymore. Indeed, Kirika was also confident that she had already grown quite accustomed to this organization, the Lab Chief's Nation. Even in a new department, her research was going quite smoothly—although she also felt that the higher-ups had intentionally a.s.signed her to a department whose research could be successfully carried out by someone like her.

After the department was sc.r.a.pped, Kirika found herself estranged from Himura for quite some time. But rather than a sense of nostalgia, she was more confounded by the sight before her. Perhaps he might know something about it.

"That... puppy... is gone. But clearly, he was still here yesterday as usual... Did someone take him out for a walk? Senpai, do you know where he went?"

"...Unknown. Indeed, why do I get this kind of feeling... Unknown."

He looked quite strange, his eyes simply staring blankly at the empty kennel. Apart from that, nothing seemed to be reflecting in his eyes, not even Kirika who was standing before him.

"So that's why I am pursuing. I desire. I desire that, even if it means forsaking all else..."

"...Senpai? Uh... What is it that you desire...?"

At this time, he finally focused his gaze on her. Directly, sincerely—yet madly.

Inexplicably, Kirika's back shuddered in terror.

Terrifying. The way he was right now... Terrifying.

"What did you want to ask me? Of course it's you. Kirika. I desire you."

"Eh...?"

"Immersing myself in research all along, I experienced it for the first time. I am certain that this is the greatest research theme that cannot be elucidated even by devoting a lifetime's effort. This is my happiness. As long as I obtain you, I will feel happy. So in order to obtain you, I am willing to do anything. I have been poisoned by the happiness named Kirika and at the same time, infected by the hunger for the happiness named Kirika. However, the fools have separated me from you, transferring you to a promising laboratory where you don't need to do any dirty work, while a.s.signing me to a dull laboratory that could be sc.r.a.pped any moment. This means forcing me to produce results, right? Very well, in that case, I shall produce results. In order to become a man worthy of you. Hence, I used it."

"You used... it...?"

"My happiness... My happiness belongs only to me... to me alone. Hence, it was perfect."

Himura was essentially confessing his love to her right now. However, it did not matter. Kirika could not dispel the awful premonition occupying her mind. Gulping, she asked the man who exuded a dangerous aura, standing before her like the devil.

"...Where is that child?"

He smiled gently and said:

"Don't worry. You can see it if you come to my lab—although only the head remains by this point."

Kirika instantly collapsed and sat on the ground, her view felt as though the entire world was spinning around. Her brain was about to overheat. Discomfort, nausea. In fact, she really did vomit. He simply watched her without saying a word. Scorching, scorching. Both her body and the depths of her mind felt scorching.

Ah, that's what this is—Fury.

Never experienced before, almost maddening—Wrath.

Kirika swallowed her sour and bitter saliva, looking up.

"You used that child—to use... in an experiment...?"

"I forgot to mention something important. If explaining too much caused me to fail in conveying my main point, that would be putting the cart before the horse. So I must state clearly for the record—Kirika, I love you."

They were clearly talking past each other. No good. This person, this man—

Stop s.c.r.e.w.i.n.g around. Stop s.c.r.e.w.i.n.g around. Stop s.c.r.e.w.i.n.g around!

By himself, he continued to pratter incessantly:

"Recently, I produced quite splendid results. Soon after, we should be able to work together again. I expect to receive valuable Wathes afterwards... Oh right, although I only heard by chance, you seem to have recently obtained a Wathe possessing excellent cursed abilities—"

So what? So what!? What 'I love you'? To think she believed so much in him. All this time, she had deemed so many researchers as inhumane and insane. So he turned out to be one of them. He? No, calling him 'that guy' was sufficient. What 'I love you'? Totally disgusting, nauseating. Unforgivable. She could not empathize with any of this. Completely crazy. To think that guy murdered the puppy for the sake of research. Impossible to understand. Anger and derision overflowed endlessly.

Hence, all she did was murmur softly.

Directed towards everything before her eyes—

From the bottom of her heart—

Accompanied by a curse.

"Honestly—Absolutely ridiculous...!"

Part 8

A momentary daydream. After experiencing a feeling similar to dizziness, Kirika regained her senses.

Before her eyes was Himura collapsed. He was currently staring at her intently. Her hand was extended halfway, stopped in midair. If his wound were not examined quickly to stop the bleeding, he could very well die. Even so, her hand remained motionless.

"Arghhh... How absolutely ridiculous..."

"Cla.s.s... Rep...?"

Pushed aside by her just now, Haruaki sat up and gazed at her. He must be trying to ask her why she stopped. Until that very instant, this same question had surfaced in her own mind.

However, she figured it out now. Due to that daydream, she understood everything.

Why she had suddenly stopped—That was because she felt that something was not right.

Kirika glanced at Elsie who was staring into s.p.a.ce with a face filled with ecstasy. Although Kirika had no idea why she was like that, it did not matter because at this close range, there was nothing that Kirika could do if Elsie decided to act again. Hence, she could only take a gamble on Elsie not taking action for the next while.

"Yachi... I know the situation doesn't permit this. I also hope you won't see me as cold and heartless. However, for just a moment—Please give me some time."

"Time...?"

"Yes, give me time to confirm."

Kirika answered briefly before turning her gaze to meet Himura's eyes again. She could feel the cold from the bottom of her heart. Indeed, she was cold and heartless after all, even in this critical moment of life and death, she was still suspicious of others, unbelievably.

However, she must suspect.

Present on scene was not only herself but Haruaki and the other girls. If anything happened as a result of a superficial, humane impulse—If she was the only one to perish, that could not be helped. But she absolutely refused to let the others get caught up in it.

Staring at the collapsed Himura, Kirika questioned:

"Before I help you up, allow me to confirm one matter—Why did you take off your mask before rus.h.i.+ng in front of Elsie?"

Himura did not answer. Kirika continued to point out what she had found suspicious.

"If you wanted to protect me, fine. But your «Il est dans Bastille» only erases the sense of presence. It does not mean that your body disappears physically. Even if you continued to wear the mask while forcing your way between Elsie and me, her hand would still pierce your body unknowingly. As a result, it doesn't change the fact of acting as a meat s.h.i.+eld. But why, under those urgent conditions, did you still forcibly take off the mask? If there's any reason, hurry up and tell me."

"...Ha."

Himura laughed instead.

At the same time, he swiftly took out a rectangular object from his front pocket and raised it before Kirika's eyes.

Not a weapon. From the looks of it, the object seemed to be a rectangular, wooden, photo frame but without the photo that should be kept inside it. Then feeling a terrifying chill, Kirika reflexively distanced herself from him.

Himura slowly sat up, then glancing at the thing that resembled a photo frame in his hand, he laughed as though finding something ludicrous.

"Haha... Hahaha... Really? So in the end, it still didn't work? Even after going this far, it still didn't work!? Hahahahaha!"

Part 9

While Haruaki could not comprehend what was going on, the situation continued to develop. The clock's hands continued to turn.

"If it doesn't work, it can't be helped. I have already prepared myself for a change of plans."

While slowly standing up, Himura muttered quietly, mixed with laughter. Standing in front of Haruaki's group who were utterly baffled, he turned his gaze and said:

"Hinai Elsie, «Four Minutes». It's me."

"Ah... This voice... My lord...!"

Originally in a daze, Elsie's eyes recovered a sense of self-awareness. Haruaki's group could not comprehend what she said. Lord? Was she referring to Himura?

"How much longer are you going to s.p.a.ce out for? The next target is Yachi Haruaki. Kill him. That will achieve the state of shock required to activate this «Article 15»."

"Yes! As long as it's your wis.h.!.+"

Elsie turned her gaze towards them. The entire group shuddered.

"Guh... Ooh. d.a.m.n it, what the heck is going on...!?"

"No idea. But now is not the time to worry about that! «Tragic Black River»!"

The cursed belt extended forward to restrain Elsie. Although it was instantly cut into shreds, it did achieve in buying an opening of a few seconds.

"Kuroe-san! Please throw me! Hurry!"

Collapsed on the ground, Konoha turned back into a j.a.panese sword. Crawling out from the bushes, Kuroe used her hair to grab the sword and threw Konoha towards Haruaki. A second before Elsie entered attack range, the j.a.panese sword flew into Haruaki's hands.

"Don't think you'll succeed... I absolutely won't let you succeed!"

Konoha's howl resembled a scream. The j.a.panese sword was controlling Haruaki's body fiercely, bringing out his body's full potential to strike down Elsie's attacks. I can't see. I really can't see anything. Was Konoha and the others fighting this kind of opponent all along? Simply in blocking, I can hear my bones creak. Simply in dodging, I feel like my muscles are about to tear apart.

What about the time? What about the time? Not yet? Still not yet?

The despairing instant seemed to stretch on forever. The situation was changing every second—but in a deteriorating direction.

After Kuroe extended a bundle of hair, Elsie used her right hand's silver chain to entangle the hair in reverse, then severing it with a forceful twist. Elsie also grabbed Kirika's extended «Tragic Black River», pulling her in, then immediately sent her flying with a left punch. This alone was enough of a severe injury to almost break and fracture Kirika's shoulder. All covered in wounds, Fear rushed forward, wielding her drill. Elsie lifted her leg and kicked downwards, sending Fear sinking into the ground. All this happened simultaneously.

Then—

"Ahhh... Ahhhhhh! I-I must protect Haruaki-kun! Absolutely!"

"Wow~ Amazing amazing. But I think this is already the limit when you're relying on a human body."

As Elsie spoke, Haruaki felt a sharp pain coming from somewhere on his body. In that instant, his mind was plunged into darkness.

Instantly, he realized it was the end for something.

A spear hand strike was aiming towards his heart. Resisting in desperation, Konoha controlled Haruaki's stiff arm. Instead of her own body, the sword, simply forcing Haruaki's arm to extend in front of his heart was already taking all of Konoha's efforts.

Elsie's fingertips penetrated Haruaki's arm. Then Haruaki felt an astounding impact. Completely unrelated to awareness, simply due to damage to the body's physical structure, Haruaki could feel the j.a.panese sword falling from his hand. Then after he flew backwards a great distance, his back smashed hard against the ground—

Finally after a second's delay, ma.s.sive pain arrived.

He could not suppress a scream.

"Uwah—AHHHHHHHHHHHH!?"

Part 10

A lot of time still remained. How completely effortless.

"Here comes the finis.h.i.+ng blow." Just as Hinai Elsie intended to advance with lively footsteps—

Suddenly, she felt a chill down her spine.

This was a presence from h.e.l.l, cold, merciless and cruel at the same time, one that she had never felt before. As though drawn by the darkness behind her, Elsie looked back.

Extremely close range, near enough to feel the other party's breath. Left and right in midair. Time seemed to stop for an instant.

Rus.h.i.+ng in rapidly, the two figures spoke simultaneously in a tone of voice as cold as ice, completely devoid of emotion:

"Die."

Part 11

Fear was listening to Haruaki's scream, listening to a scream that made her heart tremble.

She could feel her past memories, a dark presence rearing its head from the depths of her body.

The pulsation of insanity, the thirst for violence. After an instant of boiling, her brain had gone cold after boiling excessively. Amidst these cold thoughts, Fear partially accepted her darkness.

She would not go insane enough to lose sight of her enemy, but she shall allow violence to rule her. After all, the enemy had done something so terrible.

—Absolutely unforgivable.

She wanted to use the «Iron Maiden» to open large holes in that girl's body. She wanted to use «The Duke of Exeter's Daughter» to stretch that girl's body out for shredding. She wanted to use the «Inquisitional Wheel» to violently crush that girl's spine. She wanted to use «The Flocking Storks» to deprive that girl of her freedom, giving her a long period of time to reflect upon her sins. She wanted to use «The Blessed Virgin Mary's Steel Embrace» to surround that girl with death's embrace. She wanted to use the «Cat's Paw» to carve incomparably ugly scars on that girl's back. She wanted to use the «Spanish Spiders» to hang that girl up like an onion, sun-dried into a dessicated human. She wanted to use «The Teeth» to shave away that girl's limbs while inflicting pain and suffering. She wanted to use the «Judas Cradle» to pierce that girl's crotch, allowing her to die in shame and anger.

Ahhh, not enough. She had already lost several of the violent acts she sought. Irritating.

Even so, what she needed to do remained the same.

Even if the types of pain she could inflict had grown fewer in number, there was still only one end result. Currently, that alone was sufficient.

So, girl. Foolish sinner whose name I've even forgotten. Rejoice all you want.

—I will kill you.

Muramasa Konoha was looking at Haruaki's blood, looking at the color she absolutely did not wish to see.

Dizziness. Chills. Nausea.

However, she understood very well. Now was not the time to be feeling unwell. Neither was it time for trembling, vomiting, or staying her hand from reaching towards the enemy who had committed an unforgivable crime.

Ice-cold wrath compelled her to steel her determination. It compelled her to steel her determination to admit.

Currently, there was no need.

No need for that sort of lie.

Once she admitted it, the color of fresh blood, visible in the surroundings, began to convey other meanings. It became extremely nostalgic, exciting, causing one's heart to leap, and exceptionally—

Satisfying.

Dizziness, chills and nausea had all vanished. Hence, she simply sprang into action.

Casting away the lie she had been telling since a long long time ago.

She had not lifted her curse at all—

Neither was she even close to lifting it—

Her curse, equally deep as that shouldered by the cube of torture and execution, continued to surround herself—

Her fear of seeing fresh blood was not due to the backlash of almost lifting her curse—

Rather, it was only because it reminded her of the fact that she had simply undergone self-hypnosis in order to stay with him.

She simply took action.

O fool who intends to take his life. Enemy whom I resent even more than the Tokugawa. Boast all you want.

—I will kill you.

Haruaki's view was blurred by the tears from the pain, but there were definitely two figures ahead.

Fear and Konoha were closing in on Elsie. Despite clearly lying sprawled on the ground a second ago after being blown away. Despite clearly spinning in the air as a j.a.panese sword a second ago.

"Mechanism No.3 severance type, descending form: «Guillotine»!"

"!"

Elsie drew her neck back. The iron guillotine made a metallic grating sound right in front of her face. After turning back to human form, Konoha jumped, unconcerned with her full nudity, attacking at high speed with her four limbs in midair. Elsie bit her lip and attacked with her fist in return.

"Guh... Ah... Oahhhhhh!"

Crack! With the sound of something shattering, Elsie and Konoha jumped back from each other. Elsie simply retreated a few steps but the silver chain on her fist had been severed. She made the chain extend from the severed location and wrapped it around her fist once more. In front of her gaze was Konoha who was bent over the ground on all fours like a beast.

Had Fear and Konoha lost their self-awareness? Haruaki was not sure. Fear was not quite the same as the last time when she was devoured by past memories. Konoha was also acting differently from when she lost herself to anger in the past.

But compared to those past occasions, the two of them were even more scary now.

Without any eye contact, they simply spoke quietly:

"O cube, thou shalt not hinder me."

"Cut the c.r.a.p."

This short exchange served as some sort of secret signal. Simultaneously, they started taking action in perfect unison.

"Mechanism No.20 slas.h.i.+ng type, great blade form: «A Hatchet of Lingchi», Curse Calling!"

Fear held the hatchet up and swung it down forcefully. Unlike previous times, she did not attack with the back of the blade. This time, she swung the front edge as hard as she could, a slas.h.i.+ng strike filled with intent to kill. Elsie dodged swiftly. As though having predicted this, Konoha jumped straight over Fear's pet.i.te body and rushed at Elsie. After receiving Konoha's attack, «Clockwork Life»'s silver chain was cut and fell apart. Having lost her defense, Elsie's fist began to show minor cuts where blood flew out. Konoha was supposed to be quite afraid of blood—But for some reason, she did not stop. The instant she landed, she spread both legs to rotate her body and swept her leg, imbued with a sword's sharpness, towards Elsie's lower body. Elsie's body was strengthened to begin with, as a result of time compression, but Konoha in her current state was able to cut her fist even when protected by the silver chain. Elsie had no time to extend the silver chain to her legs for defense. In order to dodge Konoha's sweeping kick, Elsie jumped lightly—

"!"

She made eye contact with Fear who was looking up at her from almost directly underneath. Crouching on one knee on the ground next to Konoha, Fear had withdrawn her hatchet that was buried in the paved path, ordering the hatchet to transform.

"Mechanism No.5 impaling type, upright form: «A Skewer Loved by Vlad Tepes»!"

Fear twisted her body and shot the execution stake upwards at a very steep angle, in other words, straight into the air where Elsie had jumped.

Extremely close range. Despite being unable to brake in midair, Elsie still yelled loudly:

"Don't think... you can hit me—!"

She twisted her head forcefully. Originally going to pierce her face, the execution stake shaved off a large chuck of flesh instead, brus.h.i.+ng past her neck and flying towards the school building behind, stabbing high up the outer wall, causing concrete to shatter and fall with a clatter.

Immediately, the vector of Elsie's jump turned to descent, intending to crush Konoha and Fear with the speed of her falling momentum, but the two girls dodged the attack at the very last moment. Due to rolling on the ground to evade the attack, they both lost balance. Elsie must have found it an excellent opportunity. As soon as she landed, she raised both arms, intending to swing them towards the two girls at the same time—

"—Don't you think that I'm much cooler like this, compared to that itty bitty pocket watch?"

"What... the...?"

"I can measure time too. I will use this pendulum to measure out the time for extinguis.h.i.+ng life! Mechanism No.4 swinging type, oscillatory form: «The Pendulum», Curse Calling!"

The chain of cubes held in Fear's hand seemed to rattle. Connected to that chain was the execution stake she had just launched, currently stuck to the school building's external wall. But now, it was no longer an execution stake. With the portion buried in the school building as the pivot, a long steel chain extended from there with a ma.s.sive scythe blade attached to its swinging end—A killing pendulum.

The scythe traced out beautiful curves while swaying. Elsie lowered her body to escape the silently approaching pendulum of death. The giant scythe pendulum measured the unit of time known as intent to kill while sliding slowly. Elsie's rabbit cap was slashed open.

"Do you really think you'll be safe just by bending over? How excessively naive. Of course my mechanism can extend and shorten freely with just a change in chain length. This mechanism's chain was designed to extend according to time to begin with—In other words, this is a form of execution taking delight in the way people watched in terror as the blade gradually approached their head. Also—"

"Ooh! M-My feet...!"

"Mode: «Sarga.s.so Tsunemori». You shouldn't limit your attention to above."

"«Tragic Black River»... Did you really think that Fear-kun and Konoha-kun are the only ones who posed a threat...? Literally dragged down by your feet... Absolutely ridiculous."

Kuroe was supporting herself, pus.h.i.+ng with her arms against the ground. Probably rupturing her wound due to forcibly getting up, Kirika was using her right hand to press her half-severed left arm against her shoulder. Elsie's feet were entangled by black hair and the belt, deprived of her freedom. As much as Elsie tried to escape with all her might, it should take her some time.

The killing pendulum swung to its highest point on one end, stopping momentarily, then the scythe was about to return to its original location in accordance with pendulum motion. Towards Elsie ahead on its trajectory, towards Elsie who could not move.

In that instant—

"No, no, no! Elsie... Elsie must complete the mission—! Thus, thus, thus—«Clockwork Life»!"

Elsie neither dodged nor intended to block the swinging pendulum.

Instead, she shot the pocket watch's chain towards Haruaki.

Haruaki had almost lost consciousness from the intense pain and was unable to move, only watching blankly as this scene unfolded. The chain was flying at high speed. The chain whose power could could penetrate the school building's concrete. It was flying straight towards Haruaki's face—

However, mere centimeters from his face, the silver chain was deflected simultaneously with a clang. Missing its target, the chain flew past Haruaki's face, stabbing into the ground behind him. That silver chain was definitely fired towards me, Haruaki thought. What happened?

However, he had no time to think further. Fear's killing pendulum was tracing out curves with delightful speed while descending. Konoha was charging like a wild beast, intending to kill Elsie once and twice again.

"Jeez—That scared me! By this point already! But it's over, I won't allow you to beg for mercy or leave any last words. Just go and die!"

At this moment, Haruaki saw in the corner of his eye.

The silver chain, slowly withdrawn from his side—

As though losing all its strength, it plopped down on the ground.

Haruaki's eyes widened with surprise as he opened his mouth to yell:

"Time's up! We won! So—Don't kill her! Fear, Konoha—!"

However, the life-taking pendulum did not stop moving.

Part 12

"Heave-ho... Heave-ho... Wait, I still need to wrap more. Even if it means going bald, I need to wrap more."

"Kuroe, you don't need to push yourself that far. This uses life force, right? You don't look too well in the face."

"You look even worse, Haru."

Kuroe had plucked many strands of her hair and wrapped them around the wound on his arm after applying healing power to them. Haruaki felt the warmth from his dressing while surveying the surroundings. First, he saw Amanda with her blank expression. The direct hazard intending to kill her was already gone. For that, he felt happy from the bottom of his heart, although indirect hazards still lingered.

The silver-haired girl was standing next to Amanda. Watching her, Haruaki said:

"Fear... Thank you."

"Yeah. That was so close. Seriously... So close..."

Fear showed a dazed face while answering. No matter what other emotions she was feeling, surely one of them must be relief. Relief for not having to kill someone. That alone was salvation. She was not going to turn back into her former self.

"Konoha, thank you too... Are you okay? You don't look very good... Oh, sorry."

With her back facing him, Konoha was crouching down where her clothes had fallen. However, she did not reach out to pick up her clothes. Instead, she simply had her head bowed and looked like she was adjusting her breathing. In other words, she was still completely nude and Haruaki could see her backside. Was the Immorality Blocker going to come flying again? Hence, Haruaki frantically turned his gaze away.

"No—You're... right. After all, having seen so much blood, I'm feeling quite unwell. Please wait... Give me a little time. Until I return to my usual self—Please give me... a little more time... than usual..."

Konoha continued to keep her head bowed while murmuring softly. Then slowly, she picked up her clothes. She seemed a bit strange, but perhaps that could not be helped. Elsie really was very formidable.

Right now, Elsie was lying collapsed on the ground, having lost all strength. Although she was still conscious, she simply stared out into s.p.a.ce without reacting at all.

Back then, instead of a knife hand strike, Konoha had used the bottom of her palm to push Elsie's upper torso backwards. On the other hand, Fear had instantly adjusted the length of the pendulous execution scythe. As a result, the killing pendulum had simply sliced open the surface of «Clockwork Life» that was hanging before Elsie's chest, then sliding past.

Probably deciding that they should not lower their guard even after the powerful cursed tool was gone, Kirika used the «Tragic Black River» to tie Elsie up securely. Then pressing down on the squirming wound of the left shoulder while it healed, Kirika turned her gaze viciously—

And glared at the final enemy.

"Himura...!"

"Hahaha, how strange. This is really too strange. Zero marks. To think I calculated so precisely beforehand."

Shoulders trembling, Himura held his mask under his arm and watched the ending as a spectator.

"You people actually defeated Hinai Elsie? That's truly beyond my calculations. An unknown, both pleasing and displeasing... Haha!"

Unbelievable. Haruaki had no idea what exactly happened, but the only thing he could understand was—He... They had been deceived. Despite Himura's sincere-looking behavior, he was actually scheming something in secret—

Haruaki originally thought that Kirika did not need to be that wary of Himura. He had always thought that perhaps Himura was not as bad a person as she believed.

But now he understood. He was completely wrong. It was the opposite.

Kirika's wariness of Himura was only na