Volume 1 – Following the Maze Drawn With Lines of Blood
Marry hugged Calaria tight.
Prepared for death, Calaria timidly asked:
“Why…… You shouldn’t be able to see yet.”
“Oh, I can.”
“There’s no way! That light should have destroyed your sight!”
“Yes…… So I destroyed my eyes myself, and regrew them.”
Still groaning from the pain of her lungs being destroyed, Mary talked while smiling.
Her words meant that she used her fingers to destroy her own eyes.
Calaria understood.
This woman really was a novice.
But her resolution, no, her heart was already broken.
Understanding this however did not mean she could escape from this predicament.
“Your own eyes…… Just because you’re a novice, I took you too lightly……”
Countless ‘beasts’ materialized from Mary’s back.
They opened their mouths while exposing their bones, and closed in on Calaria to eat her alive.
She completely relaxed her body, knowing that she could no longer flee.
“You’re not going to resist?”
“Do whatever you want. Regret is for the afterlife.”
“You’re a strange person, trying to look cool while wearing that outfit.”
“I’m not the one who wanted the maid outfit.”
“That just makes you even stranger.”
But since Calaria worked for Slava, there was no need to hold back on her.
The teeth growing out of Mary’s back bit into Calaria’s skin, then suddenly stopped.
“Why…..?”
“……What are you doing? Just kill me. Or do you want to torture me to death?”
Mary didn’t react after what Calaria said.
Mary stared at the stairs leading up to the second floor and froze up.
“Sis……ter……”
“Hey, what are you…… Whoa!?”
Then, Calaria was violently thrown away.
Mary left her on the ground, and, for some reason, rushed to the stairs.
Then, she looked at the spot where there was ‘nothing’, and shouted.
“Sisteeeeeeeer!”
Indeed, her eyes really did see someone who should be dead: her sister, Francis Pulsherima, sitting down.
She looked the same as before she died; gentle, and smiling like a mother.
Mary quickly rushed over to her and tried to hug her, but she could not touch her and instead smashed her face against the stairs.
“Agh! Ouch…..!”
“What’s that girl doing…..?”
Calaria dubiously watched on before taking her sword that had dropped to the ground.
She could kill Mary now.
Strangely, however, she relaxed her hand, feeling as if someone was whispering to her that she should not kill Mary.
“Sister, sister, sister! You’re alive! You’re alive, sister!”
“Long time no see, Mary.”
“Sisteeeeer!”
Mary broke into tears after hearing her sister’s lovely voice.
However, Francis was completely translucent, and Mary could not touch her.
Was it a ghost?
Or, was Mary hallucinating?
“Hey, Mary, calm down and listen to me.”
“I can’t calm down, sister, not when you’re here like this!”
“I understand how you feel, but I won’t talk unless you calm down.”
“Uh…… O-Okay.”
Mary’s shoulders dropped.
(What is she doing…..? What the hell is happening?)
Seeing this, Calaria couldn’t help but shudder at how different Mary seemed now compared to just earlier.
“Okay, you’re a good girl, Mary. Umm, I think, you probably shouldn’t kill Calaria.”
“Sister…… But, she works for Dugan! The same guy who got you killed, you know!?”
“First of all, let’s just start by hearing her out. I think that’ll definitely be helpful to you, Mary.”
“R-Really…..?”
“If you can’t believe me, just take one look outside. You’ll understand right away then.”
“Ah…… S-Sorry for doubting you. I know you always guide me with the right words, sister!”
“Hmm, I feel like that’s a bit of an overstatement. You should move ahead on the path you choose yourself. But, I just want you to listen to me and talk to her this time.”
“Okay, sister, if you say so.”
“Thanks Mary, you’re a good girl.”
Francis reached out and caressed Mary.
She could not touch her, of course, but Mary thought back to her memories and squinted her eyes.
“Okay then, I should get going.”
“Please wait, I want to stay with you, sister! Please don’t go anywhere!”
“There’s no need to worry about that. I’m always with you. I’m always by your side, watching over you. As long as you’re alive, we’ll meet again one day.”
“Sister…… Wait, sister! Sisteeeeer!”
Mary frantically tried to hug her to no avail.
Her sister’s figure gradually faded, and finally disappeared.
“Sister……”
Mary sat down on the spot in blank amazement.
She was dazed for a while, not making any movements, and Calaria stared at her, then her blade.
After a while, Mary rubbed her eyes with the sleeves of her dress and stood up before turning around to Calaria.
“Miss. Calaria.”
“Y-You still want to fight?”
“No, I want to talk to you.”
“A change of mind? I’ll have to refuse, because I have nothing to talk about with a crazy monster like you!”
“I don’t want to talk with an underling of Dugan either, but, since my sister told me to……”
“Your sister? Were you hallucinating or something?”
“It wasn’t a hallucination! My sister was right here just now! Couldn’t you see her?”
“I didn’t. To me, it just looked like you were talking to yourself.”
“B-But……”
Mary was probably afraid of that too.
She knew that she was pushing herself too hard, and that she was covering for the instability in her heart using her desire for revenge.
(Still…… That was a hallucination? I really don’t think so.)
She couldn’t touch her.
But, the thing moving around there was too lively of a vision to be created from Mary’s memories alone.
She didn’t want to dismiss it as nothing but a hallucination.
“I’m not going to let you defeat me again. Come at me.”
“Please wait! Yes, my sister told me I’d understand if I looked outside!”
“So you’re going to run away?”
“You’re the one who lost, aren’t you?”
“Ugh……”
“So, please go have a look outside, Miss. Calaria.”
“……It doesn’t feel right, but, fine. I’ll do it.”
Calaria approached the door while walking backwards with her sword in hand.
Then, she kicked the front door open.
The joints creaked and the scene revealed afterwards, was not the estate where they should be, but only an empty, black darkness.
“Wha…..!?”
“Miss. Calaria, what’s happening?”
“Impossible, that’s impossible……”
Calaria dropped her sword and collapsed on her knees.
Mary approached closer, but Calaria still didn’t take a fighting stance.
Mary dubiously stared at Calaria before opening the door with both hands.
Indeed, there was nothing but an endless darkness beyond the door.
“Miss. Calaria, do you know what this is?”
“……”
“Miss. Calaria!”
“Ah…… S-Sorry. This was done by a sorcerer. I know who did it.”
“When did they have time to do something like this?”
“No, not just a sorcerer”
“What do you mean?”
Calaria opened her eyes and shouted at Mary.
“It was an arcana user.”
Mary couldn’t help but gulp after sensing the desperation in Calaria’s voice.
If her words were true, in short, Calaria was bait.
She was taken to this estate to lure Mary into a trap.
But, this only led to more questions.
How did Calaria know that this was done by a sorcerer the moment she saw it?