Blood-Sign

Chapter 34

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Stage 03: Another Who Escaped h.e.l.l and Overcame Death[edit]

“Ahn?”

“So is 3A your bra si-…ow!!”

(Stage 03 Open 07/06 01:10)

Another Who Escaped h.e.l.l and Overcame DeathPart 1[edit]

I am the summoner known as Freedom Award 903, Alice (with) Rabbit. I made a lot of mistakes and got into a lot of trouble, but that helped me get much better at what I do. I am nothing like I used to be, so it would take a lot to get to me.

“Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!! Gwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!”

Shiroyama Kyousuke felt something spark deep in his mind and all of his a.s.sumptions were blown away. He opened his mouth toward the ceiling, and released the overflowing disgust and hatred as a scream that felt like it would rend his throat asunder. He tried to fling his arms and legs wildly around like a child. No, all of his muscles and even his internal organs wriggled and convulsed like separate life forms and seemed to explode with motion as he tried to throw off and distance himself from the great evil clinging to his back.

But there was nothing he could do.

There were only two slender arms around him, but they easily robbed the puny human of all his freedom. In fact, the White Queen released occasional sweet voices as she accepted all the vibrations of his body and embraced him.

“Nn, hh, ha ha…☆ Further. Go further, brother. Release more of your animal side! Reach deep, deep, deep into your soul, find the urges your rational mind normally keeps sealed away, and reveal them before me. Don’t worry. No matter how ugly they might be, I will consume it down to the marrow and swallow every last drop. After all, this is Tanabata, the most romantic time of the year for two lovers to meet!!”

“Why…? I didn’t sense even a hint of your presence until now… Azalea hasn’t reached the Founder’s Gallery, no one has acquired the Natural History’s missing entries, and they haven’t made use of Renge or Higan. So it makes no sense for you to be heeeeeeeeeeeeere!”

“————. Mentioning 3 other girls in front of me? That’s quite the triple seven you hit there, brother. But I really want to make this work☆ I’ll overlook allllll of that, so you can indulge yourself as much as you want. Here, I’ll give you cheek rub, rub, ruuub☆”

“Gwooooooaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!”

Kyousuke thrashed about like he had a killer jellyfish’s tentacles wrapped around him, but that only delighted the Queen who was enjoying his resistance. In a way, the boy had genius talent when it came to bringing her joy.

“You’re so hardheaded, brother.”

The White Queen swayed her body in time to her beloved boy’s movements, gently bit his earlobe, and slipped a horrifically sweet poison into his ear. Yes, her words were a deadly poison.

“Don’t those facts only point to the possibility that I was summoned here by someone other than Bridesmaid?”

His movements stopped entirely.

If Sekurt.i.ti had not been here, he might have shamefully wept right then and there, but he just barely kept h
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is thoughts lashed to reality.

Hadn’t there been a mysterious summoner who had shown up outside of Bridesmaid’s plan?

(Claude…Magentarain. It can’t be…it can’t be!)

The person from his memories mixed together with the man who had used a child a.s.sa.s.sin and stolen the Diamond Master Key. He had definitely referred to the White Queen as someone to fear, so he had not deified her. But had that changed? Was the White Queen such a ma.s.sive presence that she could break even that man’s powerful soul!?

“Now. Then.”

The Queen’s skinny fingers moved.

She used her palms to rub along his chest and then her hands reached down toward his lower stomach. With no prior knowledge of the situation, he might have pa.s.sed out from the superb sensation, but at the moment, this was such a great torture that he felt like he was going to vomit up magma. He truly could not stop the bizarre writhing of his stomach. She enjoyed the sensation of his entire body rejecting her and then her fingers grabbed something.

It was an apple-sized chest that resembled an antique music box.

It was the Golden Treasure Chest.

“I think it’s about time I joined the game too. Yes, I have no use for this item whatsoever, but if I have it, I know you’ll come chasing after me, brother. Isn’t that right?”

“…”

The White Queen naturally knew that Shiroyama Kyousuke was after the Founder’s Gallery. And that he was doing so to find a way to destroy her.

But she did not crush the chest in her grasp.

She took it from him for the sole purpose of having fun with him. She preserved it. She was not at all concerned about the one-in-a-million or one-in-a-billion chance it might contain.

Was love really this brutal? Did it really blind one to logic and efficiency?

“Why, Queen…?”

“?”

“No matter how much you struggle, there’s no going back to how things were between us. You have to understand that.”

“Is that really so?”

She embraced him from behind, rubbed her cheek against his, blew a sweet breath on him, and asked the fundamental question.

“It’s true that you can never get along with me now. We have already pa.s.sed that crossroads, so it would be incredibly difficult for our paths to merge once more. However…”

A spellbound, melting, and yet incredibly evil flower bloomed.

“If I send you plummeting down to the most transcendent depths imaginable so you mentally regress to a childlike state, won’t that revert time to before we pa.s.sed that crossroads? True, you might forget how to speak and only babble like a baby, but, well, I’m confident I can love you just as much no matter what form you take. Kyah☆”

Shiroyama Kyousuke shuddered in fear.

This was not an obvious explosion of disgust like before. The fear chilling him to his core was silently washing in from another world.

It was this level of love that made her the White Queen.

And this was not some constant goal seen in all her previous actions. It had only just now occurred to her. She was just trying it out for now. If it worked, she would celebrate, but if it failed, she could just move on to the next thing. That was the extent of the thought she put into grabbing and toying with Shiroyama Kyousuke’s life or the entire world.

What did it matter if there was love behind it all?

What could it be called except for evil?

“Okay, brother. That’s all for tonight.”

The gentle warmth of a mother slipped away from his back and he could finally breathe again. He half crumpled to the ground and looked back just in time to see the White Queen lightly kiss the Golden Treasure Chest she held. The ecstasy and self-absorption he saw there reminded him of the dancer girl who had won over a king with her sensual dance and acquired the head of a saint.

“Also. Since I will be taking part in this game, I will be giving you a little something in return. It isn’t much, but please take it.”

All she did was casually snap her fingers.

Immediately, the entire zoo shook with a tremor so sinister it seemed to squeeze at his heart.

Unable to support themselves, Kyousuke and Sekurt.i.ti fell to the floor and failed to see how the White Queen had left. The next thing they knew, she was simply gone. In fact, they had to wonder if it had all been a dream or illusion.

“Shiroyama Kyousuke…”

“…”

Kyousuke could not answer Sekurt.i.ti and simply crawled slowly over to grab Azalea and Fractal. He picked them up and then started toward the exit from this underground floor.

He knew something was not right. The din he heard and the tremor reaching his skin did not match up. With the explosive sounds he was hearing, cracks should have been running through the ceiling and the entire zoo should have been crushed so flat it was only 3 mm thick.

And yet he seemed separated from all that like he was sitting in the living room watching a news report about a war halfway around the world.

He was being protected by the Queen. That fact burned at his heart.

It was all over.

He saw countless unmoving figures below the cold Milky Way.

Even if Azalea had been defeated, just how many a.s.sa.s.sins had remained in the zoo? Just how much damage could they have caused if they began to rampage with the Summoning Ceremony and Repligla.s.s? Kyousuke and Sekurt.i.ti had used incense to stop the Offering Team from killing themselves, but he doubted that would have destroyed all of them. Breaking his way out should have taken quite some doing.

And yet…

Nevertheless…

He found absolute destruction. There was not even a scratch to the zoo’s ground. Infuriatingly enough, he found a definite pulse when he checked a few summoners collapsed nearby. The White Queen had instantly taken out all of the a.s.sa.s.sins in the zoo and she had intentionally let them all live. Needless to say, she had only done so because she knew that was what Kyousuke would want.

The difference in power was too great.

Her standards were so thoroughly broken that she did not hesitate to use that while truly only “playing a game”.

“…It’s begun.”

Kyousuke spoke as he blankly and somewhat furiously viewed the aftermath.

“Her time has begun…”Part 2[edit]

Dawn arrived and the gentle morning sun conquered the Milky Way.

“…”

With her long and wavy blonde hair spread out and wearing only a thin red negligee with a spritz of rose perfume, The Saint slowly sat up on an extra-large bed in a suite. She then worked her groggy mind to remember why she was in a luxury hotel.

She had heard what had happened at the zoo. With their position of absolute safety overturned and with Azalea Magentarain and many other members lost, she and their remaining forces had quickly left their hideout using the haunted house’s back door. Losers of the summoning ceremony could not keep a secret even if they were not tortured. Once their location was known, Government and Illegal would pour in with great numbers.

Needless to say, if it came to an all-out conflict, they could take on all three major powers stationed in Toy Dream 35. But they were only a bridesmaid for the pure white bride, so their great power was meant to add to her beauty.

It was out of the question for The Saint to protect herself with the treasures gathered for the Queen.

So she had chosen a swift retreat despite the difference in strength.

That was their unique way of thinking.

(Well, I’m sure there are some of our recruits who are afraid of revealing a personal weakness if they come into conflict with summoners from their old organizations.)

The Saint slowly got her mind working.

(And if the multiple organizations bring together their sources, they might reveal that we drove some of their groups to failure in order to recruit them.)

Even their personnel were gifts for the White Queen. They could not allow those celebratory gifts to be marred even slightly by any petty discord now.

Toy Dream 35 was a bankrupt regional city that was trying to recover as an amus.e.m.e.nt park. They needed to serve a great number of tourists, so there were plenty of lodging facilities. Staying at a suite under a fake name did not stand out here.

The reports from the scene had been fragmentary and inadequate, but she had heard that a pure white flash had been seen at the end. Did that mean someone had used the Summoning ceremony to carve out the name of the peak of the peak? Or…?

“Phew.”

Whatever the case, Bridesmaid had lost everything: the Diamond Master Key, the Golden Treasure Chest, and the ancient map. They did not have a single one of the hints needed to reach the Founder’s Gallery. And Azalea could have best made use of the Gallery’s information, but she had been defeated and could not be contacted.

But the Founder’s Gallery was not the only way of approaching the White Queen. Perhaps she needed to focus on regrouping their remaining forces, give up on the Gallery, and work at another method.

(No, I can’t.)

But The Saint rejected that idea.

With anything else, it would not have mattered, but things were different when they had to do with the White Queen.

(Bridesmaid must not pull our hand back from Her Majesty and turn the other way.)

That dark and cold flame had yet to be extinguished.

Her ability to make this decision may have been a sign of her faith.

“Nn…”

Meanwhile, a small boy of about 10 stirred in the same bed. The Saint’s movement had woken him.

The boy was simply known as the boy.

He was The Saint’s vessel, but he was not received coldly. For one thing, there was no clear master and servant between the two of them. But not because they both respected each other and gave them that privilege. There truly was “nothing” there.

“Oh, it’s morning… Should we do that then?”

Wearing only a thin red slip that gave off a rosy scent, The Saint reached for a coin on the bedside table. But this was not a tip for the room’s cleaner. Reaching toward the bedside table caused one of the slip’s shoulder straps to fall down her arm, but the woman who could be called a sensual holy woman or a pure witch did not mind.

The Saint flipped the coin with her thumb and placed it on the back of her hand.

They both peered down at it.

“…Tails.”

The change was dramatic.

The Saint rolled out of the large bed, got down on one knee, and bowed her head. Conversely, the boy slowly placed his feet on the floor and calmly stood up.

This was their daily ritual.

A flip of the coin determined everything. Heads and The Saint was master for the day; tails and the boy was. They would not resent whichever result they received.

“Good morning, master. Breakfast…would be difficult to prepare in a hotel. We can call room service for that, so I will prepare a bath for now.”

The boy waved a hand while toying with the egg-shaped GPS security buzzer he wore as a restraint for mental stability. With permission granted, The Saint crossed the wide room and entered the next room while wearing a slip that left her legs exposed all the way up to the base of her thighs.

The boy worked his sleepy mind to think on the situation.

In truth, the boy did not particularly care if The Saint was a holy woman, a witch, his master, or his servant. He only wanted to be with her, no matter what form it took. Or to put it another way, he had no interest in the past or future and he simply wanted the “present” to continue forever.

Ultimately, this perfectly ordinary boy did not even care about the White Queen. He just knew that failing to pursue her would lead that woman to leave him and would destroy the “present”, so he went along with it. He had a special kind of stagnant mentality that refused to think even a second into the future, but in a way, he may have had the strongest mind of all. Even in the face of that pure white, he was able to stay true to himself without being dyed by longing or hatred.

The Saint returned with her bright thighs still bared.

“I never realized that a large bathtub would have its own problems. It will probably take about 20 minutes to fill.”

“Nn.”

“What would you like to do until then? You could always take just a shower first.”

He shook his head at that. If they had time to wait, there was something he wanted to get done in that time.

He pointed the summoner toward the window and they sat at the same table there. Spread out on the table were the fragmentary reports from the tragedy at the zoo early that morning.

The boy glanced through the reports as casually as someone reading through an English language newspaper with breakfast. The Saint seemed focused on where Shiroyama Kyousuke and Sekurt.i.ti had gone, but the boy thought pursuing them would be a waste of time. Both enemy and ally had shown up at the zoo for the exchange. They would have covered their tracks when leaving, so there would be nothing to pursue.

“Here.” The boy tapped at one of the reports on the table. “The others couldn’t pick up everything they said, but a certain name shows up at a few points in what we have: Claude Magentarain. It seems odd that both Azalea and Shiroyama brought him up.”

“Are you suggesting one or both sides are sheltering that person? The Magentarain name is concerning, but Azalea is something of a heretic in her family.”

“That isn’t the important part.” The boy pointed at a spot on another page. “No one ever did see the Diamond Master Key that night. The report suggests that Shiroyama didn’t want to give it up, but then this doesn’t make any sense.”

“…That he temporarily handed over Sekurt.i.ti?”

“Shiroyama’s response to the Offering Team is proof enough that he prioritizes human life, so it doesn’t make sense that he offered the ancient map before the key.”

“But wasn’t that his method of retrieving Meinokawa Higan?”

“…Has anyone proven that?”

Shiroyama Kyousuke had never once brought out the Diamond Master Key. What if that was not due to reluctance or as part of a plan? What if he had some pressing reason preventing him from doing so?

And if both Shiroyama and Azalea did not have the key, where was it now?

“Claude Magentarain. We need to look into him.”

“Understood.”

This clearly ran counter to The Saint’s intent to directly pursue Shiroyama Kyousuke or Azalea, but she did not protest. That intent had been yesterday’s way of thinking and it no longer applied thanks to the coin toss.

“Hopefully, he’ll have the key. But even if he doesn’t, capturing him should force both Shiroyama and Azalea to act. He will make a good starting point.”

“Your discerning eye never ceases to amaze me. Losing Azalea and the Natural History’s missing entries is unfortunate, but that is not what Bridesmaid truly seeks. In order to more perfectly learn what Her Majesty likes and to become even better servants, let us continue our pursuit of the Founder’s Gallery. Oh, it would seem the bath is ready.”

After hearing a light beeping, the woman in the red slip lifted her b.u.t.t from the chair. The boy watched her and also thought to himself.

The possible presence of the master key was only secondary to him. He was not actually interested in the White Queen, so he was equally disinterested in the Founder’s Gallery and the Natural History’s missing entries. His focus was on something else: Claude Magentarain.

That boy who loved the “present” could intuitively tell that man would bring about some kind of major change. Ignoring him could easily lead to losing that woman.Part 3[edit]

“Zukooon.”

After preparing enough breakfast for everyone on the top floor of the luxury apartment where Aika lived, Biondetta sounded as exasperated as if she had been presented with a bed of nails.

She bent her hips, set plates down on the gla.s.s table, shook her tail, and showed off her thighs between the black knee socks and the risqué bottom of her Oiran-style mini-yukata.

“So after I went to so much trouble removing the other 23 possible locations for you, the Diamond Master Key has gone missing and the Golden Treasure Chest was stolen by the Queen? And retrieving the hostages was only a detour. Our goal wasn’t the tomb keepers or the twin shrine maidens; it was the Founder’s Gallery and the Natural History’s missing entries, wasn’t it? What are you even doing, you useless little brother?”

Biondetta even added a lineup of brown bottles full of antibiotics no one else wanted.

She may have been right.

If they were only after the Founder’s Gallery, then what he had done was indeed mostly a detour. He would not acquire the missing entries by rescuing someone. Government would have retrieved the pa.s.sed-out members of Bridesmaid along with the traps Kyousuke had set up around the zoo, but he doubted they would provide any further hints. But as long as he went by the name Alice (with) Rabbit, he could not abandon a life about to be lost before his eyes. Especially when those lives would be lost due to a distortion caused by the White Queen.

And more importantly…

“C-can someone please explain to me what is going on with Claude Magentarain and the White Queen? What happened, why did it happen, and where did the Diamond Master Key and Golden Treasure Chest end up?”

“Oh? It isn’t often you don’t have a complete grasp of the situation, Onii-chan. Is this an especially tricky one?”

Even before the food had arrived, Aika had been sitting at the gla.s.s table and fidgeting in her swimsuit. She sat with her legs below her and her ankles angled out to either side, her hands were planted on the floor between her thighs, and her bikini b.u.t.t was wiggling restlessly.

The breakfast Biondetta had made had as much oil and cream as carbonara and her huge sweet tooth led her to make truly devastating drinks and desserts, but Aika’s messed-up sleep schedule meant she was fully awake early in the morning and she put little concern for her health into her meals. The two of them seemed to be a good match here.

The only part of this Kyousuke could call a win was rescuing all of the hostages. The Diamond Master Key and the Golden Treasure Chest had been stolen, but he still had the ancient map. Renge, Higan, and Sekurt.i.ti were safe and they had captured Azalea and Fractal.

It felt like the derailed last train had finally been brought back on track. They were already at the point where they could observe the White Queen without an Artificial Sacred Ground, but they could still get a new start on this. No one else could force them to action and they could continue at their own pace.

Speaking of Renge and Higan…

“H-hey, Onii-chan? Those shrine maiden sisters are wandering over toward the liger again, so do something about it.”

“Really? Again!?”

“Why are people’s souls so inexorably drawn toward warm fluffiness? Even in their mindless state, they may be affected by a desire to return to their starting point…that is, the womb.”

“I really doubt this is anything so profound. And Higan! Not that way!!”

The blonde shrine maiden was slowly crawling toward the strongest creature, so Kyousuke grabbed her by the hips and pointed her in a different direction like a toy train. The white liger herself looked a little frightened, like a wild animal coming across the light and noise of a smartphone for the first time, but that was not a good thing. A wild beast was at its strongest not when it was hunting but when it came across something irregular and felt the need to protect itself.

The twins would most likely be back to normal that afternoon.

Repeating the same action endlessly was the same as continually using up energy without any rest, so he wanted to feed them if possible. But…

“Tah dah! Today’s breakfast is cream pasta, which counts as noodles and stew at the same time. But I made sure to make it Hokkaido-style by adding in plenty of potatoes, carrots, and broccoli, so it should go down easy despite its full volume.”

“…None of that sounds like something I want to eat in the morning.”

“The secret to increasing the illusion of luxury is to add a square of b.u.t.ter on top☆”

“I really don’t think this is Hokkaido-style! Are you sure it isn’t just the potatoes and b.u.t.ter making you think that!?”

Kyousuke doubted this breakfast would go down easy anywhere except for at a judo training camp, but he could not refuse what he was served.

“What about you, Sekurt.i.ti?”

“If you give me a small plate of it, I will make an attempt. It has a very fascinating aroma.”

Modified China Dress Lu Niang Lan had not said a word this entire time, but she only held her raised knees between her arms, collapsed onto her side, and wallowed in her melancholy. She did an impressive job of reminding him of a cicada sh.e.l.l.

“Heh. Eh heh heh. Showing off your cooking skills and winning everyone over through their stomachs used to be my job. She’s taken everything from me…”

“Lu-san. That doesn’t matter and you should probably get up. Your underwear is pretty much entirely exposed right now.”

“Ah!? W-what am I doing? Was I hoping to win Kyousuke-chan over that way just because I was losing sight of myself? I am the Perfect Dragon who killed Government Award 1000 barehanded. I need to have more confidence in myself.”

“What does a look at your panties matter? My client has gotten a nice look at my white and pink stripes, so it’s nothing to worry about.”

“Ohh!? She beat me to the punch there too!?”

The modified China dress truly started to sink into an invisible bog, so it looked like ignoring her for the time being would be the best option. Also, the temperature of Sekurt.i.ti’s gaze had been dropping ever since the topic of panties came up, so he really wanted to change the subject.

Then again…

“It’s not like you’re any match for the girl only wearing bandages and some decorative lace. She was wearing a yukata yesterday, but she’s reverted to this at some point.”

“Ahem. That was only a disguise meant to blend into the crowd so we could rescue the hostages. There was no real reason to continue wearing it. …More importantly, Shiroyama Kyousuke, do you really think a girl’s underwear is more than just a piece of cloth? Do you see more value in it than is evident at face value?”

“If you think that’s going to make you sound normal, I’ll have to seriously ask you if you really don’t see how wearing only bandages is perverted. And don’t think you can get out of this by calling it your uniform.”

Kyousuke’s expression was entirely serious, but Biondetta’s was entirely the opposite as she whispered to him from the side.

“By the way, I actually haven’t been wearing any underwear since I changed into the yukata.”

“Bff!?”

Not even Kyousuke could ignore that comment.

“W-wait… You mean even back then…or the other time when you were going a little crazy?”

“Neh heh☆ Then do you want to see for yourself?”

With a devilish look on her face, Biondetta gently grabbed the sides of her mini yukata’s hem and emphasized how close to the very base of her thighs it was.

The chaos continued as they ate breakfast.

Biondetta’s incredibly misguided selection turned out to be as terrible a choice as Kyousuke had expected, but the skill of her cooking was not bad. It would have been perfect if he was coming back to it after an exhausting day instead of waking up to it.

“Nhh! Cough, cough!!”

The brown bandage girl (with Y-shaped lace decoration) choked after eating just a little bit, but when Kyousuke tried to rub her back, she held out a hand to stop him. She seemed to be enjoying it, so this may have been her way to experience it. It was more like playing with fire than supplying nutrients.

The smell seemed to draw out the white liger’s hunger, but she ate a gigantic hunk of raw meat like normal. It looked wild, but this was because a pure carnivore’s digestive system was surprisingly delicate. Unlike omnivores like humans, carnivores were restricted to only meat.

“Scallops,” said Aika. “I don’t see any at all, but I can taste scallops in this…! So good..!!”

“Well done noticing the secret ingredient paste I added, little lady. After all, this is Hokkaido-style.”

“But it oddly doesn’t compete with the meaty flavor of the thick-cut bacon!?”

“That’s just how wonderful Hokkaido is. And if you eat it in such a hurry, you’ll get your cute cheeks and modest chest covered in the sticky white sauce. Or are you doing that on purpose?”

“Stop that.”

When Sekurt.i.ti lightly scolded them with the golden tiara on her head, Biondetta worked with Sekurt.i.ti to wipe off Aika’s mouth and chest.

Kyousuke started to think he should leave Biondetta here instead of in his cruiser. The seasonal Oiran mini-yukata demon was pulling off history’s greatest performance as a shut-in sitter.

“So, Kyousuke-chan, what are you going to do now?”

In the name of observing the enemy, Lu Niang Lan took a spoonful of the cream pasta soup (it was mostly a white stew) and tasted it with the tip of her tongue. She also cut to the heart of the matter. Her bad mood may have made her feel like being a little mean.

Kyousuke spun his fork around for no reason as he answered.

“Whatever we do, we’ll have to settle each thing in turn. Our main focus will of course be on Claude Magentarain. Since he isn’t connected to Azalea and Bridesmaid, we can probably throw out the theory that he’s made from some detailed humanoid Repligla.s.s. In that case, we need to start making some guesses as to how the real Claude would have started working with the White Queen and pursuing the Founder’s Gallery. Nothing is as frightening as fighting someone whose actions you can’t explain.”

He could only come up with 2 possibilities.

Either Claude himself was seeking the Founder’s Gallery or he was trying to prevent Kyousuke from reaching it.

“If he is interfering because he’s afraid I’ll find a way to oppose the Queen, then I think the Diamond Master Key and the Golden Treasure Chest will have already been destroyed.”

“Munch, munch. You don’t look too concerned about that possibility, sir.”

“In that case, the Queen would have crushed the chest as soon as she took it from me at the zoo. Since she went out of her way to take it back with her, I doubt it has been destroyed for the time being.”

Of course.

Knowing the White Queen, she very well might have been waiting to slowly crush it underfoot in front of him at a later date. And with both the chest and key, they could unlock the former. He had to be on the lookout for despair on the level of finally taking it back and finding it empty or finding the real data swapped out with something completely unrelated.

“But this also changes depending on the relationship between Claude and the Queen. If he’s purely a worshiper, he’ll do anything she asks. If he’s trying to use her for his own purposes, then he would have control of what they do. And in that case…”

“Then it would be more than just the Queen’s selfishness. Claude would have to have a reason to go after the key and chest.”

Sekurt.i.ti soaked the tip of her fork in the white soup as she spoke. She did not seem to observe Aika using a spoon to scoop up as much as she wanted across the table.

Kyousuke fell silent for a moment.

He recalled what that man had said:

“The Natural History’s missing entries and the Queen’s territory beyond that are too much for you to handle. Leave this to a ghost from the past. If I feel like it, I’ll give you some of the leftover sc.r.a.ps. …You see, I too have business with her.”

The eyepatched man had definitely said that as he smiled and adroitly stole the Diamond Master Key.

“Is Claude after the Founder’s Gallery? He did mention the Natural History’s missing entries. But if so, what for…? To create a doll or artificial vessel like Azalea wanted?”

If Kyousuke was going to start somewhere, it had to be there.

Also, it did not sit right with him that Claude was seeking the Founder’s Gallery and yet already had the completed White Queen with him.

If he was trying to place the Queen’s soul inside an artificial vessel just like Azalea, then it was possible his was incomplete and could only be activated temporarily. And if he would be able to fill in the missing piece once he reached the Founder’s gallery, the White Queen would gain eternal stability in this world.

If that theory was correct, it would truly mean the end of the world.

“…”

Meanwhile, it did not particularly matter to Kyousuke if Claude was the first to discover the Founder’s Gallery. He could always tail them to the location. Of course, that would require him to defeat Claude before the man achieved his goal. It would be difficult to find a way to safely hand over the ancient map on Sekurt.i.ti’s back, but if he could disguise it as a coincidence…yes, if he had a detailed a.n.a.lysis of the Lifelong Emblem on her back done at a hospital, and then intentionally let that data leak out, he could get it to Claude.

“Whether to defeat him or manipulate him, his location is what matters. I just hope we can find a way to locate him.” Kyousuke stopped spinning his fork around.

And he spoke.

“Lu-san. I’d like to purchase something fairly dangerous from your Illegal supply shop. Can you calculate out how much it’ll cost me?”Part 4[edit]

The one-armed man with a leather eyepatch over his right eye had his long blond hair slicked back and tied behind his head.

Claude Magentarain relaxed. He was in the nicest of all the sleeper trains that ran to and from Toy Dream 35. The train’s luxurious interior was designed in the European style and it remained stopped longer than it ran. Of its 15 cars, the back 5 were normal sleeper cars, the middle 5 were entertainment facilities such as a restaurant, a casino, and a theater, and the front 5 were each individual suites. Claude naturally had the prime spot of the first car. Of course, he would be the first one crushed like an empty can in an accident, so the luxury was reminiscent of the Sword of Damocles.

He looked in the mirror, poked at the eyepatch over his right eye, and shook his head which still ached dully.

I’ve changed too, he thought as he looked at his face in the mirror.

He had lost an eye at the Queen’s Miniature Garden and he had lost his dominant arm in his life after that. What had he gained in exchange? The flow of time had placed years on his soul whether he liked it or not.

(What a pain. Are my thoughts growing so poetic because of the alcohol I had yesterday?)

However, a real man did not rely on herbal medicines or energy drinks at a time like this.

A hardcore man’s morning began with a cup of whisky.

Someone who ordered a single malt on the rocks with a subdued look on his face was not much different from someone who forced himself to drink his coffee black. Intentionally mixing in some kind of impurity was the best way to draw out the quality of the primary ingredient. For example, a sprig of mint or some cigar smoke. That was enough to transform the drink in any number of ways. Only a child would take everything at face value. By the time you were old enough to enjoy alcohol, you had to be a big enough person to think about how to draw out the inner side of your partner.

However…

“Huh? Where’d my Queen on the Ice ’12 go? Isn’t it usually right here? I don’t care how drunk I was; I seriously doubt I would misplace my drink bottles.”

“I threw them out. Every last one.”

“You what!?”

The expressionless girl named 3A suddenly popped in from the side and Claude yelled at her at the top of his lungs. Her hair color was more ice than silver and her eyes were colder than perpetual snow. Her body was too tiny to call delicate, but she was actually 15, demonstrating how bizarre modern technology had become. Her dress had a long skirt and a blue ribbon on the chest. It was so thin that her slender silhouette showed through in the backlight, but that was a trick. It was only an optical effect meant to hide all the weapons hidden inside.

She was an a.s.sa.s.sin who had used special breathing methods and organ movements to intentionally disturb her hormonal balance and reject her secondary s.e.x characteristics as a way to walk right up to her targets.

Claude shouted hysterically at the demonic sword that had been honed down so sharply that it looked like it would break in two.

“Threw them out? Wh-what do you think you’re doing!? Why would you do that!? Are you stupid!? Don’t you know the amount of Queen on the Ice produced was drastically limited due to a worker’s strike, the underground reserves were wiped out by a major cold wave, South America’s cheap Sol Diablo killed the company’s stock value, and it’s only sold at exorbitant prices by professional resellers on online auctions!?”

“The window was open, so I thought...why not?”

“You didn’t even use the trash can!? That’s just plain dangerous!!”

Also, that absurdly high price says nothing about the quality of the drink. Nothing at all.”

No one would have questioned the large and muscular man if he had claimed to be a professional pirate, but his shoulders drooped when the child scolded him.

“…Everyone’s favorite dandy can’t work up any energy without his fuel.”

“I had a feeling you would say that. Drunk Man, here is a new bottle.”

“?”

Just by looking at her, 3A’s lovely silhouette seemed to show through her dress, but she now held a bottle of colorfully green liquid in her small hand and pa.s.sed it to Claude, who frowned.

“What’s this? A liqueur? This scent…is it mint flavored? What do you mix it with?”

“You swish it in your mouth.”

“Bfhhh!! Cough, cough! This is mouthwash! I just chugged like half of it!!”

There were baseless rumors that said swallowing mouthwash or toothpaste would give you a trippy experience or that putting eye drops in an alcoholic beverage would put it on the level of a sleeping pill, but nothing like that happened here.

3A remained expressionless but formed a small triangle with her mouth as she put a Gozaru Samurai puppet on her right hand and made it talk.

“(You reek. Whatever’s coming back up from your stomach makes you smell like an alcoholic gutter. Can’t you take proper care of yourself? And why do I have to pay for it in the form of this stench? Do you want me to cut open your gut, pull out your stomach, and wash it out with a neutral detergent?)”

“I can hear that! I can hear everything you’re saying, young girl. And Gozaru wouldn’t speak in that chilling of a voice!! A-and being told I reek by a girl really hurts this dandy’s heart, you know? Heh. But if you want to show off your femininity, could you do it in the form of b.o.o.bs?”

“Ahn?”

“So is 3A your bra si-…ow!!”

A heavy thud rang out. It was the windla.s.s pike. The storage device was more like a solid vise than a fishing reel and it had fallen right onto Claude’s little toe.

“Are you stupid!? Don’t you know the difference between a joke and-…”

“Did that wake you up, you piece of s.h.i.t? Enough that you don’t need to rely on a hair of the dog?”

3A looked coldly down on Claude as he held his toe and writhed around on the floor, but she was actually sadly dedicated to him. It might look like she was rebelling against her master’s orders, but deep down she was showing her concern for his health.

And that was the opposite of what Claude wanted.

After crushing a certain criminal organization, he had happened to pick up 3A who the organization had been keeping like a pet. She had essentially been a machine that did nothing more than swiftly kill whoever she was told to. Feeling responsible for her after picking her up, he had decided to look after the girl until she was independent enough to seek freedom even if it mean killing her temporary master. But at this rate, her dependence was only going to grow and she was even working against his initial goal.

(I really need to do something about this soon…)

Claude gave that topic some serious thought, but then 3A held down her dress’s skirt as she looked down at him.

“What do you think you’re doing with that serious expression on your face? Going for the low angle like that is the absolute worst…”

“Hold on just a second. You’re the one that set things up like this. And even if I did look up your skirt, all I’d see are a ton of blades and some cute little cotton- dobwah!?”

She kicked him in the back and the pirate began mimicking a shrimp.

3A ignored that and pulled out the key hanging at her dress’s chest on a thin chain.

“Are you sure you want me to hold onto this?”

“Gh, cough… Yes, yes. After all, it’s safest with you. I can’t exactly put it in the room’s safe. Even if someone doesn’t know its value in our industry, it still has a 30-carat diamond in it. Anyone could try to steal it.”

Claude pouted his lips as he answered, but then he got up and approached the nearby amber-colored closet.

In fact, he opened the double doors.

The back of the closet and the back of the opened doors were entirely covered in paper doc.u.ments.

The paper came in a variety of types: from old papyrus and parchment to modern waterproof paper and high-resolution photosensitive paper. The small writing and diagrams filling the papers were not limited to any specific religion or mythology. They included Pygmalion, crystal skulls, sokushinbutsu, Joan of Arc’s heart, and organs pickled in salt. They were all legends from all over the world concerning the preservation of the human body or the creation of dolls.

The various rectangles of paper were gathered together into a single shape.

It almost looked like a human silhouette made from pixels.

“You’ve gathered most of it, haven’t you?”

“That just goes to show how surprisingly irresponsible the world is. And I honestly thought I’d be stopped somewhere before I had all of this together.”

It was still only the silhouette.

But some letters of the alphabet were placed over its head like an angel’s halo: iu – nu – fb – a – wuh – ei – kx – eu – pl – vjz.

That name had transformed history. It was the pure white descended upon a world of vibrant color. If you still could not tell what he was trying to do at this point, you had unfortunately failed to study up on the world’s laws.

One piece was blatantly missing. There was a large hole where the heart should be.

“Everything is here. They were right when they called the human body a miniature universe.”

“…Who are you calling miniature?”

“If you know that would refer to you, why would you-…no, never mind.”

Claude sadly retracted his opinion and poked at the missing heart of the silhouette on the wall.

His fingertip tapped on the chic wood.

“The Natural History’s missing entries, huh?”

“What do you plan to do with it once you complete it?”

Claude did not answer 3A’s question.

He instead closed the closet with both hands.

“Anyway, you take care of the key needed to reach the gallery. That’s the safest plan.”

“If you say so.”

“Well, I’ll admit I’m a little worried that your flat chest is somewhat lacking in the cushioning department. Gwa ha ha ha-…ow!! Wait, stop! Don’t climb on top of me and pin me down! There’s no ref here, so this only leads to an infinite h.e.l.l!!”

The train was stopped and yet the sleeper car’s suspension began to creak, but then they were interrupted. However, it was not a righteous conductor growing suspicious of the man staying with a much younger girl who did not seem to be his daughter. For one thing, normal people could not perceive Claude while he was outside their field of vision. 3A was a different matter because she had been intentionally kept at a lower Award level (so she could kill summoners and vessels too).

The window and the entire wall around it were blown away and another summoner and vessel walked inside.

It was a nun in a graceful habit and a small boy. Unlike with Claude, the boy seemed to be leading the nun. Relationships between a summoner and a vessel came in all kinds. But in most of them, the two partners had some kind of distortion that only applied to them.

And there was no need to immediately jump to the occult just because this destruction could not be done by human hands. This was a sleeper train, but it was currently stopped and attaching an explosive to the outside wall would suffice.

They could also have set up enough to blow the entire car to smithereens, but they had gone out of their way to arrive as a summoner and vessel. a.s.suming they were not just dumb, that meant there was something inside the car they did not want blown up. For example, the silver key with a 30-carat diamond that hung from 3A’s neck and hid in her modest chest.

“Off you go.” Claude gently pushed the girl off of him. “That was faster than I expected.”

He sounded impressed. Only Shiroyama Kyousuke and those close to him would know that the Diamond Master Key had been stolen, but he doubted they would have let anyone else know that. It had to have been difficult to find Claude’s name in the fragmentary data and it could not have been easy tracking down his accurate location and putting together this attack plan given how many fake names and fake IDs he had used. And yet these two had done it in such a short time. Their speed was worth praising. It was a shame they would not be recognized for this anywhere.

The small boy waved his hand.

“Dorothea, explain.”

“Of course. The Founder’s Gallery is a stepping stone to allow us to better understand and better reach Her Majesty. So we have no reason whatsoever to stop. We will start by making a recovery here. We will have you tell us everything you know and give us everything you have.”

The nun spoke smoothly, bit her index finger with her canine tooth, and then brought her lips to it. When she pulled the finger away as if pulling something out, a single long and thick stick was pulled stickily out along with sweet saliva.

It was a Blood-Sign.

In a certain world, this was the same as throwing a glove at your opponent’s face.

“Hmm,” groaned Claude at length.

At some point, something like a shiny and varnished amber-colored baton had appeared in his hand. When he lightly swung it, it extended to nearly 2 meters in length. It was structure just like the special batons used by police, but due to the man’s pirate captain look, it may have reminded more people of the telescopes of an older age.

“Well, I suppose this is right in a way. Since someone like you showed up, the Natural History’s missing entries must be the real deal. If I obediently follow this thread, I bet I’ll find the ‘answer’. I can feel it waiting for me.”

And Claude was missing an arm. He could not hold a Blood-Sign accurately with just the one. He held the grip near the bottom while 3A held it between her index and middle fingers near the tip to help him aim.

It was just like a three-legged race.

But while demonstrating frighteningly smooth teamwork, Claude Magentarain sounded truly troubled.

“But, well, you look even dumber than I’d expected.”Part 5[edit]

They had moved to the used tool store run by the modified China dress beauty in C Block’s Chinatown.

“Was it hard getting here with the containers everywhere? Sorry the entire area reeks of fireworks.”

“If it wasn’t you saying that, I wouldn’t be so worried.”

“Oh, there’s nothing to worry about this time. This job is above board. It’s just that everywhere needs some fireworks right now. Fireworks these days are pretty amazing. They come in containers as a single module that turns back and forth like a fan while launching fireworks according to a program. They can easily launch 10,000 of them a minute.”

“Why does Chinatown love fireworks so much? Especially during the largescale lux restrictions in place for looking at the stars during Tanabata.”

“That’s because we all want to go a little nuts the instant Tanabata is over and the restrictions are removed.”

Lu Niang Lan of Illegal had brought them some information.

She leaned over the counter and waved a report held together with a metal clip.

“I didn’t find anything on Claude Magentarain, but a search for 3A did turn up something. That stands for All-Around Armament, right? Is this her?”

Claude Magentarain. Kyousuke and the others had visited C Block’s Chinatown to pick up the “product” they needed to lure out that unseen opponent.

And while they were there, the modified China dress beauty rested her elbows on the counter of her shop, squished her large chest against the counter, and explained what she had found.

“Of all the things you could’ve run across, it turns out she’s like a later model of me. The Perfect Dragon was only unintentionally created, but this project a.n.a.lyzed me from a variety of angles and attempted to stably ma.s.s-produce more of me. That’s the Illegal-sponsored 3A project. And this girl seems to be a successful product of that.”

With her glossy black hair and clear blue eyes, Lu Niang Lan was not pure Chinese, European, Indian, Latina or anything else. She was one candidate for the creation of a truly superior race by mixing bloodlines from every race around the globe. She was an excellent vessel and she also had the skill to slay a top rate summoner without using the Summoning Ceremony. And she had in fact killed Government Award 1000 barehanded.

Between the three major powers, Government and Illegal were the most directly opposed to each other and they faced 2 major problems. The first was whether or not they could freely use Repligla.s.s and other cutting-edge equipment. The second was the number of vessels they had. Government was increasing their number of summoners using systematic military-style training, but they were chronically short on vessels who were reliant on a certain type of inborn talent. That was what kept Government from relying on pure numbers.

That said, Illegal did not have an abundant source of vessels either.

In that case, what would they search for? For one, they would try to secure as many vessels as they could. But at the same time, what if they found a way to reduce their opponent’s numbers without using their own summoners and vessels?

If they had a great number of the 3As, a standardized and ma.s.s-produced unit of Lu Niang Lans, that would become possible. They would begin a new age in which masters of ordinary martial arts could exterminate the occult.

Of course, that was only if the technique at the foundation of the plan was complete.

“They have their overall theory, but it seems like they haven’t had much success. They’ve just had this one girl who developed more than the rest.”

“If that’s the best they can do, then I’m sorry to say the project might not have a future.”

“Oh, is that so? You could tell that much?”

“If that girl had really reproduced what you can do, I would’ve died at that zoo. She couldn’t even land a surprise attack, so she clearly hasn’t reached your level.”

He was not being figurative or modest. If he was unable to use the Summoning Ceremony, then he would be helpless against that modified China dress beauty. That was one situation he never wanted to plan for.

“Still, I’m sure Illegal will continue with this. Even if they know it’s all a farce.” Lu Niang Lan flipped through the report she placed on the counter. “Being a worthless child in the underworld is always a tragic thing. A lot of people mistakenly think it’s a kind adult’s duty to give them value. They’ll probably continue working and failing. Maybe they’ll make a breakthrough and maybe they’ll finally realize they can never break through that wall.”

“Lu-san…”

“I’m fine. My body was made entirely in the search of what was most logical. If Illegal is purely seeking power, there won’t be any room for more sleazy desires. They won’t keep people in animal cages like when I was in Government.”

Government Award 1000.

That tyrannical king had been nothing like Award 2799, Humanism, that Kyousuke had seen in the Queen’s Miniature Garden. He had been an incarnation of selfishness that had swallowed up the word “justice”. Just thinking about him made Kyousuke grimace. There was nothing positive there.

“…Let’s get back to 3A.”

“Right. Their stable ma.s.s-production project didn’t go as planned and the research group needed some extra funds, so they seem to have started renting out the relatively successful 3A in the name of field testing her. She was basically a mercenary. She did a fair bit of work, but she suddenly disappeared one day. Some other summoner crushed the organization she had been rented out to.”

“So was that Claude Magentarain?”

“The research group seemed to think she was buried below the rubble. They said she couldn’t be given any further commands without the Quartz Pendulum made from artificial crystal. And if 3A did start to regain a sense of self for some reason, I think we can all guess why that ‘miracle’ occurred.”

None of that conflicted with the Claude Magentarain Kyousuke knew. And that made it all the more confusing why he would be fixated on the Diamond Master Key and Golden Treasure Chest, be seeking the Founder’s Gallery, and be working with the White Queen in any form or fashion.

With that proper past and twisted present, Kyousuke could not get a firm grasp of who Claude was.

Had that oppressive charisma swallowed and remade Claude just as it had Azalea?

“If 3A is in Toy Dream 35, we should be able to search for her with a photo of her face. Unlike Claude himself, she isn’t a high Award summoner, so normal people can perceive and remember her. I recommend begging that shut-in girl to let you use her public agency.”

However, that was limited to the areas visible by cameras.

Modern a.n.a.lysis technology did not need a head-on shot. They could create a color palette for the area around the face and use the target’s gait to identify them, but if the target was aware of that in advance, there were countermeasures they could take. Even if they occasionally made a mistake, there would not be surveillance records for every moment of the day. It would be best to use that to narrow down the range of a search and then use something else as a finishing blow.

“Lu-san, do you have what I asked for?”

“This, right? Just to be clear, this was not easy to get ahold of. Ohh, I’m so glad I had a chance to reclaim my honor.”Part 6[edit]

The battle was over and the Artificial Sacred Ground had vanished.

Claude rested his retractable Blood-Sign on his shoulder and muttered to himself.

“Dammit. This is the problem with these religious cults. Win or lose, nothing good ever comes of it.”

The luxurious suite room had been entirely trashed. And not just the furniture and interior; the walls and ceiling had been blown away, turning it into an open-air car. Since there was no explaining this to the conductor, they would have to leave immediately. Being a high Award summoner who was quickly forgotten came in handy at times like this.

“What about the doc.u.ments in the closet? It’s hard to even tell which sc.r.a.ps were the closet.”

“Not a problem.”

Claude casually shook his blond hair and tapped his pirate-like eyepatch with a fingertip. Almost like he was indicating his lost eye.

“I’ve got it all here.”

When Claude jumped out through a large hole in the wall that had split open like a burst can, there was no real disappointment on his face. He then spoke to 3A who followed him in her dress that let her silhouette show through (or that appeared to in order to hide all her weapons).

“What’s all that stuff you’re holding there?”

“Gozaru Samurai, Bubble-kun the Racc.o.o.n, and Onbu-chan the Monster Tanuki. It’s too bad there’s no sign of the Phantom Girl even here in Toy Dream 35.”

“Why are you taking that c.r.a.p with-…ow! Idiot, not the shin! Don’t kick me in the shin!”

Claude hopped back a bit, but…

“W-well, I do have one thing to thank you for.”

“?”

“Since you threw out all the drink bottles on the shelf, I was able to give up this hideout without any real regret. Thank you very much.”

“If you could stop being so full of yourself, you might actually be a model citizen. Good medicine is hard to swallow, so should I break your nose? Or would going for the b.a.l.l.s work better?”

“Heh. Don’t be silly. My big magnum is too much for a little girl like you to handle. Grabbing it with your tiny little hands wouldn’t accomplish anything. In fact, it’d probably toss you around. Hah hah!”

“If you don’t shut up right this instant, we’re going to find out how you like being kicked there.”

The two of them continued their discussion as they walked below the monorail track. Claude’s vessel, the bird of prey, was circling elegantly overhead.

“Where should we hide next?”

“Anywhere’s fine. Every Toy Dream city has plenty of hotels to serve all of the tourists. How about a luxury cruise ship with a pool? Unlike China, j.a.pan’s Tanabata apparently has a lot of events linked to bathing. Oh, I’m sorry. I suppose a 15-year-old with a body of such modest proportions she has to use a name like 3A wouldn’t want to wear a swimsuit at a resort pool, would-…oof!?”

True to her warning, 3A kicked her master hard enough that he rose from the ground a few centimeters and then rolled along the ground. She then looked down at him like he was a dung beetle. Claude crouched down in the world’s most pathetic way and hopped up and down for a while.

“You…hold on…I’m trying to focus.”

“I wonder what would happen if I kicked you again.”

“Nnnnnnn! Nnnnnnnnn!!”

“So what were you saying had modest proportions?”

“Y-your diet has a modest proportion of sodium!! So your chest is quite healthy!!”

She must have not felt like dealing with his nonsense because she finally released Claude. He immediately started hopping again.

“You really hit my b.a.l.l.s cleanly into the bunker. It’s artistic in a way! I’m having a hard time figuring out how to get them back on the green, dammit…”

“More importantly.”

3A ignored Claude’s shout of “What could be more important than this!?” and she looked overhead.

No, she looked at…

“Your partner is acting oddly.”

“3A, you’ve always been quite the s.a.d.i.s.tic perv-…no, I didn’t say anything. So what’s that about Ricky?”

Claude also looked in that direction.

And the eyepatch man saw…Part 7[edit]

The situation changed just before noon.

“Ah!?”

The black-haired shrine maiden suddenly sat up on the top floor of a luxury apartment.

Meinokawa Renge had no idea why she was here and she shuddered at the unfamiliar flavor she found in her mouth.

“Huh? What was I doing? What happened!? The date on the TV is different and what happened with Azale-…with all that???”

And before even checking on her disheveled clothing, she checked for her sister. She looked around the area in a panoramic view.

“~ ~ ~”

She did indeed see a blonde shrine maiden (with a flushed face) who had apparently woken up just like her, but her eyes immediately locked onto the gloomy hoodie b.a.s.t.a.r.d who was embracing her cute twin sister from behind.

“What the h.e.l.l do you think you’re doing to my Higan!? This calls for the death penalty!!”

“No, Renge, you need to watch out! Um, behind you!!”

“Hm?”

Confused, she turned around and saw a 5 meter beast there: the white liger☆

“Ah, abyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!?”

She got up and tried to scramble away, but she tripped quite spectacularly and made a perfect hole-in-one on Shiroyama Kyousuke and Meinokawa Higan. I see, she thought. So Higan woke up shortly before I did and followed the exact same pat

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