The smile Femme had until now became stiff from Yoyo’s words. Seeing that reaction, Yoyo grinned and gained her conviction. “It is like that after all.”“What is?”“Fufu, if you have grown senile then you shouldn’t have reacted a little while ago.”“............ You, didn’t anyone say you have a bad personality?”“I think it is not as bad as yours, you know?” Femme gritted her teeth. “You, haven’t you understood your situation? You don’t have your freedom now, right? Depending on what I feel-.” Step step, she approached Yoyo with loud footsteps. She retrieved a knife from her breast pocket and held it against Yoyo’s neck. “Like this, you will immediately die, you know?”“...... can you do it?”“What did you say?”“You have an objective. I was kidnapped because of that objective. That’s also why you restricted my movements. If you were a bandit, I might have been killed, sold, or made into his plaything. However you are different. There should be a reason that if I die you will be troubled. At the very least, you can’t kill me right now. Did I guess correctly?” Because Yoyo said so with indifference, Femme’s face flushed nervously and the knife in her hand trembled. “E-Even if I can’t kill you, it is possible to beat you. Shall I do that? Mind your words if you don’t want a wound that can never be healed!” Femme thought that Yoyo would at least shows a frightened expression but, “I see, then do it.” Because of the unexpected reply, Femme face became distorted in her surprise. “I-I am not joking, I will really do it! You shouldn’t want such a wound because you’re also a woman!” Disregarding the glaring Femme’s statement, Yoyo calmly opened her mouth. “It is so. But let me say one thing.”“Wh-What!”“If you even put a scratch on me then….”“Then, then what?”“...... think that your life will be ended there.”“W-What-...... kh!?” At that time, the maid that accompanying Femme appeared and, “...... a guest.” She only muttered that. When Femme heard that, she put the knife back in her breast pocket and she grinned. “I have been waiting………… Souji Alkasha.” She tuned around and in front of her was a tail-coat wearing, red-haired boy in a slight bow. “I have come to pick you up, Yoyo-ojousama.” Souji, set foot into the ruins of the church, discovered that Yoyo was lying down on the altar and her body was restrained with rope. He was relieved because she seemed to be safe. “Please let me introduce myself first. I am the butler who serves Yoyo Yatsugi Crowtail-ojousama, Souji Alkasha.” The one who answered him was the girl who called herself as Dresoj. She was a beautiful girl with a different charm compared to Yoyo. The girl raised her silver hair with her hand and smiled. “I am Femme D. Dresoj. The maid here is Testarossa.” Next to Femme, the expressionless woman with light blue hair bowed slightly. “This ends the formalities. Well then, I want you return Ojou-sama.” He diligently said that with a smile and, “I don’t mind, however there is a condition.” He already expected that. There are no kidnappers who don’t have demands. If it was not related to money and goods, Souji had guessed that it was related to him.Perhaps he was called because he unknowingly created resented between them. He thought she was going to demand his life, and he into her eyes. “I wonder what kind of condition it is.” He will hear her for now. However Femme immediately declared something that surprised him. “I want you to become mine!” His thoughts froze for a moment. Just now, what did she said? He tried to run her words once more through his head. I want you to become mine? If it is just as the words mean, she wants me to serve her. In truth, he had thought he was the cause of this matter, he just never thought it’d be for such a reason. He had guessed that the kidnapper at the very least was someone who resented him. Even Yoyo who was lying down had her mouth agape as she watched them. She never expected that kind of objective. “...... for confirmation, are you telling me to serve you?”“That is right! A n.o.ble existence like mine is the only one suitable for an existence like yours!” Though her chest flatness would not lose to Yoyo, she displayed a satisfied expression that might be either because of her great confident or because of the declaration just now. “...... don’t tell me, did you kidnap Ojou-sama just to gain the upper hand and smooth out the negotiation?”“That is right! It is as you just said as I was not sure if you will accept it.”“No no, even if I say I am going to serve you here, no other people could prove it. So I’ll quickly betray you.”“Fufufu, I already prepared for that.” Femme took out a black, cylindrical object from her breast pocket. Smiling suspiciously, she opened the cylinder’s lid and a rolled up paper removed from inside. “Do you know what this is?” She unrolled the paper and shown it to him. “Blood Oath…”“Oh my, though I didn’t ask you, it is as you said.” Though it was Yoyo who answered, Femme lightly nodded in confirmation. “I see, a Blood Oath huh. A.k.a Blood Covenant. A catastrophe is said to befall the one who put his seal on that if he doesn’t adhere to what’s written on it.”“It is so, this is originally used to sign a contract between mechanical dolls (automata) and the puppeteer, but of course it can be used between humans. Even though I said that, this thing is rare and very expensive.”“Certainly, an excellent doll was said to have feelings. That is a magic tool that was made to prevent dolls with feelings from betraying their masters huh.”“Fufufu, how amazing. To know that much even though there aren’t many of it on the market, it make me want you more and more.”“Though I am honored by it, in short you are saying that I must put a blood seal on that if I want to rescue Ojou-sama, right?”“That is so.”“I refuse.”“............ then, is it okay for me to do as I like to this woman?” She took out the knife, and was ready to stab Yoyo in the chest. “That will be a trouble. However, I advise you that it will be better to stop.”“Can I hear your reason?”“Ee, that person is my master after all.”“......?”“If you even put a scratch on her….” Souji’s smile vanished, he narrowed his eyes as he coldly glared at her and, “I will annihilate you, okay?” A clear killing intent gushed out from Souji. Femme who met that, “U…,” held her breath. Testarossa completely entered battle mode.However, even as her mind and body were exhausted from being bathed in killing intent, Femme was still smiling. “I want you! You are as just good as expected! Testa!” Femme called out to Testa, Testarossa lifted her skirt and she took out two big black l.u.s.trous objects that were equipped on her thighs, then she held them in her hands. (Dual-gun? Their forms, magic guns huh….) They had much smaller muzzles compared to normal guns. Just as their name said, they were loaded with magic power and shot bullets made of condensed magic power. Their firepower depended on how much magic power was supplied, but they were tricky to wield due to the ability to rapid-fire. “Just deprive him of his movement!”“... Acknowledged.” Testarossa narrowed her eyes just like a hawk’s and she pointed the guns at him. Souji promptly jumped sideways from his location, and he was hidden in the shadows of the rows of chairs.The magic bullets destroyed chairs, and punctured the wall. They packed considerable power. If his defenseless self was. .h.i.t by those, he would literally be unable to move. (Well then, I wonder how I shall proceed….) Souji murmured that in his mind was as if he was organizing doc.u.ments.“Floated a smile” appears so often that I wish I knew what the author meant by it. I’m just going to a.s.sume it means he smiled. ↩