Volume 1 – Following the Maze Drawn With Lines of Blood
Slava Army General, Defale Noville.
And Dugan Slava’s butler, Platy Cranflus.
The two were attacked by soldiers in an office inside the military base.
But Defale had already noticed the coup d’état, and did not resist.
He knew that over half the soldiers had switched sides to Majoram.
Defale cursed to himself, ‘Like hell you’re bad at politics, you damn Noted’, but did not blame him.
All of Slava’s weapons were manufactured by Majoram.
If noted wished, he could make all of them malfunction.
Perhaps having imagined this situation beforehand, 1 year ago, Dugan had secretly purchased weapons manufactured by Pupa as well, but they were just a small part of his supplies.
It wasn’t enough to win against the resources secured by his opponent.
And most of all, His Highness Duke Slava was suddenly in mental derangement.
He had abandoned his dream of independence, and was so obsessed with killing Mary that he even killed commoners.
The man named Dugan Slava was no longer there – that’s what Defale decided.
Defale was bound and taken out of the office along with Platy, who did resist.
And though they were traitors, the soldiers still respected their general.
“We’re not going to hurt you if you quietly enter the jail, and we’ll secure you a position after the fighting is over.”
That’s what they had declared.
Defale had no interest in his position after Dugan’s death, but if this would save two lives, then it was the best choice.
He was led by the soldiers and taken to an underground jail to wait until things ended.
(I can’t believe the dream is ending in such a miserable way……)
Defale walked through the corridor while lamenting to himself.
Platy was quietly looking down.
But, the soldiers were cut in two by something right before Defale’s eyes.
It was a skinny girl wearing a robe and a mask, Diji.
The silver sword in her hand was not stained with even a drop of blood after taking so many lives.
She laughed under the mask.
“General, butler, I’m here to pick you up.”
To Defale, she looked like the guide of Hell.
◇◇◇
Digi easily broke through the defense network after that.
The alerts immediately started ringing and barriers came down, but she could cut through anything with her sword.
She lightly broke through the security, which was supposed to be the best in the world, and the three entered a car to head for Dugan’s underground hideout.
“Answer me already, who are you?”
Defale repeated his question many times in the car.
He did try asking Platy, who knew about Digi, but the answer ‘She is an acquaintance of His Highness’ was not convincing.
That’s why he tried asking the person in question herself, but……
“I’m a loyal retainer of Dugan. I’m more loyal and do more for him than anyone.”
That’s all she told him, which was not a satisfying answer.
Useless questions continued until they reached the hideout, and after that, Digi continued giving ambiguous answers.
Defale’s frustration started piling up.
However, since she handled the soldiers, and since they had come all this way, there was no choice but to obey her.
The door opened.
In the gloomy room they were taken to, Dugan was sitting on a chair and quietly turning the pages of a book.
“Your Majesty! What’s going on? What are you thinking!?”
“……”
“Your Majesty!”
Dugan did not react, even after Defale shouted.
“Well, it looks like he’s focused on reading. I guess it must be an interesting book. Hmm, is it a novel? ‘For the Sake of This Beautiful World’. It says it’s a bestseller. Do you know it?”
“I don’t give a damn! Digi, what did you people do to His Majesty? Is this the hand of King Henry!?”
“The king…… The king. Well, let’s just say that it is.”
“Give me a proper answer! Platy, stop being quiet and say something, can’t you see what happened to your master!?”
“……If His Majesty falls into ruin, then I will follow that path with him.”
“Platy!?”
“Hahahahaha! I get it, I definitely get it! Not everyone has the strength to fight back. Going with the flow is just another choice.”
“You speak like you know everything!”
Defale couldn’t take it any longer, and tried to hit Digi, who was leaning against Dugan’s chair.
She nimbly did a backflip and evaded Defale.
“Hehehe, but, General, I’m sure you know, right? You know that there’s no going back after you come here.”
“Grr……”
Digi pulled out two syringes filled with red liquid from inside her robe and showed it to the two.
“Our final battle against Mary and her friends will begin soon. You’re both loyal retainers, just like me. You have to protect Dugan…… right?”
Then, the syringes flew through the air and stopped by the hands of Defale and Platy.
The two were confused.
There was a red mark which looked to be made from an injection on the nape of Dugan’s neck, who was not reacting to anything.
◇◇◇
After that, Digi left Defale and Platy behind and left the room.
Digi honestly did not care what happened to those two.
She put a comms device up against her ear, leaned back on a wall and started talking with someone.
“Hello? This is Digi. I used the ampoule. Thanks.”
“There were the pills as well, so I’m anemic right now. I need to eat a lot of meat.”
“Sorry, sorry, our foe’s fighting power was higher than I expected.”
“I’m joking. I had already stocked up on them, so you can use them as you want. They should have good quality.”
“That’s good. By the way……”
“Aoi and Kalinga?”
“No, I’m fine with that. It looks like suicide, in a sense. By the way, about ‘Angel’. You called that thing ‘Phase One’, right? When did you rename it?”
“I named it on the spot.”
“Ahahaha, you must think that’s so cool. Angel…… Angel, huh……? Buheh, I just can’t, it’s too funny.”
“Is it that bad?”
“Maybe you like those kinds of names, but wasn’t there anything else?”
“For example?”
“Like Muscleman, or Meatman.”
“……I definitely didn’t expect something that horrible.”
“Well, I think they’re charming and cool.”
She was very serious about that.
She laughed for a while before the other party changed the subject.
“More importantly, how is his physical condition? All good?”
“If you mean Dugan-”
“Not him.”
“Oh, he was really shocked. It’s a problem of the mind, rather than the body.”
“Can he go out?”
“He’ll probably fly out when he hears the name ‘Mary’. And when he comes back or dies, he’ll be grateful to you.”
“I’m relieved to hear you say that. So, what about Dugan?”
“I knew you’d ask about him too. His condition is stable. I think it will work.”
“That’s good. This will grant our wish from 16 years ago, I’m sure it’s what he wants too.”
“He really is a fool, you know. If he had not involved himself in World Destruction, Mary would already be destroyed 16 years ago, and none of this would have happened.”
“Mary’s survival is the beginning of this entire disaster. It’s all because that fake thing is still alive.”
“…Was she different when you actually met her?”
“Of course. Some vestiges remain, but she can’t be a replacement.”
“That’s good. I was worried you’d get mad at me if I accidentally killed her.”
“Don’t worry. I’ll be happy if you kill her, and even if she survives, the other homunculi will just be glad they’ll get a chance.”
“I’m going to give it my all, then. Along with him.”
“Good luck, I’ll be praying for your success from afar.”
“Thanks.”
Their conversation ended so lightheartedly, despite it being right before the deciding battle.
Despite the fact that they might die soon.
Despite the fact that they might not speak again.
“Frantically saving me from Hell, then acting so cold right before seeing me off, that’s so irresponsible.”
But that should have been enough for a Beta Type like Digi.
“……’Good luck’, huh? Does that person really want to destroy the world, I wonder?”
She muttered to herself, feeling a little lonely.
And when she quickly left the room, she stopped in front of another room in the same hideout.
She knocked on the door, and spoke after seeing that there was no reply.
“Hello? I know you’re in shock, but we’re not going to make it if you don’t get ready soon. It’s our revenge match with Mary.”
◇◇◇
There was an evacuation order given to everyone in Captis on that day.
The city suburbs were full of aristocrats driving their personal cars, and the commoners were heading for the evacuation shelter prepared by the army.
The members of the Liberation Front were helping the army with the evacuation efforts
This was not only because manpower was needed, but also to show that the military and the terrorists were cooperating, to make it known that this was a state of emergency.
Many people were confused by the fact that Dugan and Majoram were now enemies.
But there was no time to explain, and the only choice was to move the commoners by telling them, ‘Something terrible is about to happen, you need to run away’.
Meanwhile, Mary and her friends were looking down on the town from the building’s highest floor.
“There’s so many people! They’re like ants!”
Ami was cheerfully jumping around.
She was wearing a hand-me-down dress from Cutie, and looked like a doll.
She had tidied up her hair and did not look like a small-town girl now, but she didn’t look fit to be in a battlefield.
Of course, Cutie, who gave her the clothes, recommended her to wear something easier to move around in, but Ami chose the dress after saying ‘I want to be like my sis!’
“I heard there were a lot of aristocrats in this town, but there are more commoners than I thought as well.”
“Only a few of them could set up estates here.”
“A lot of people are necessary to support the aristocrats’ luxurious lives.”
“I’m sure Dugan will notice so many people fleeing, though.”
“The hideout is surrounded by over a thousand soldiers. There’s nowhere for him to run.”
“And it’ll be our turn if an arcana user comes out…… Where is that damn Magician hiding……!?”
Calaria stared at the crowd with sharp eyes.
Then, Cutie looked at Mary and spoke.
“I’m still surprised that you accepted this strategy though, Mary.”
“I want Dugan to be taken captive first, so that I can kill him afterwards.”
“What if Majoram chooses to let him survive?”
“I’ll still kill him.”
“I wonder if you can get through our security. I won’t make the mistake of letting Tower get through it again.”
“Don’t worry Cutie, I’ll cooperate with Mary too.”
“Me too, me too!”
“……3 people may be too much for us, I suppose.”
“You’re going to follow Mary too, right?”
“Well…… I’ll at least oppose my father.”
“Hehe, thank you”
“There’s no need to thank me for a hypothetical.”
“Besides, Miss. Cutie, it’s not certain that everything will go according to plan.”
“Don’t say ominous things like that.”
Despite saying that, Cutie did not expect things to go completely according to plan either.
Mary put her hand on her chest and faced the unease stirring in her heart.
(I have Star, Hanged Man, and Tower’s powers. Only these three. As for Hemlock’s Wheel of Fortune, which was already inherited, why is that arcana……)
If it was going to come out, it would be in this fight.
But, Mary had a bad feeling when she thought about what form she would have to confront it in.
“Hey, Cutie.”
“It’s Miss. Cutie to you.”
“I am royalty.”
“Brat……”
Cutie’s forehead veins bulged.
Ami was just joking with her, and did not really think she was royalty, but…… She had been quite the rascal ever since she got healthy.
“Cutie. The commoners have fled to the evacuation shelter, right?”
“Ugh…… Yes, that’s right, by my father’s orders.”
“So Mr. Noted expects a large-scale battle, doesn’t he?”
“Majoram has taken control of the army. We control the weapons of mass destruction, so they won’t be used, but that also depends on the arcana users”
“The homunculi could also give up on ending things here and abandon Dugan……”
“Because there’s no need to overreach unless they really want to destroy you here, Mary.”
“It would be a happy ending if nothing happens. But, well……”
Someone from the soldiers aiding in the evacuation efforts were acting strangely.
For some reason, he grabbed his rifle, aimed at a commoner and pulled the trigger.
It was a well-aimed headshot.
Blood splattered and the commoner collapsed.
A woman nearby screamed as chaos suddenly spread around.
Other soldiers also started firing in this confusion.
“Yeah, it’s expected to have some problems during such a big event.”
“It may have been a mistake to bring the public into this.”
Calaria took her rifle and aimed it at a soldier far off in the distance.
She got ready, squinted one eye, and shot.
The bullet hit the soldier in the head and smashed it to pieces.
She did not even wait for the bullet to land before aiming at the other soldiers and shooting them one by one.
But, it only increased the number of soldiers aiming at the citizens.
“Tsch, looks like there’s quite a lot of them.”
“We have to take them all out directly!”
“Let’s go!”
The building’s windows were still broken from the fighting.
Mary and her friends jumped down through the windows.
Cutie was the only one likely to be hurt by jumping down from there, and when she was about to take out a pen from her chest pocket, Calaria grabbed her instead.
She seemed to be worried about Cutie.
“Idiot! What are you doing all of a sudden!?”
Cutie protested, but Calaria did not care.
The four arrived before the main entrance and Cutie was put down.
She could have voiced her objections then and there, but they were racing against time.
(I’ll be patient. Because I’m an adult!)
Cutie said that to herself as they rushed towards the center of the chaos.
They ran through the crowd of people running away from the gunshots.
On the way, Mary saw a man standing in the center of the crowd.
“Sis?”
Ami also stopped with Mary, but Mary did not hear her.
Pink hair.
A tattooed face and countless piercings.
And, most of all, those unforgettable eyes.
“……Why?”
Mary had put this in a corner of her mind as an impossible thing.
But, the memories of that day suddenly erupted like a volcano.
The death of her beloved sister.
Her sister’s corpse being treated like a toy.
Getting thrown off a cliff, and the pain and suffering of death.
The turning point where Mary’s life turned completely upside down.
“Magraaaaaaaat!”
She reflexively brandished the giant scythe she pulled out of her arms and leaped at the man.
He was expressionless as she saw Mary coming at him with hatred, and smiled while exposing his teeth, just like Magrat would.
It was as if life was breathed into a doll.
“Ah…… Well, let’s enjoy this. Our second act!”
He held up his hand and an invisible sphere collided with Mary’s scythe.
It was unmistakably an arcana power – the power of Hermit.