Volume 2 – The World Sneered
Ami returned to Cutie and Calaria, who finished recovering.
She somehow brought the arcana user of Lover with her, and Calaria uttered with surprise, ‘Wha……’
“That’s…… Why did you bring her here!? She might kill us!”
“She said she’ll talk. Also, she said she can’t shoot arrows without an arm.”
“Still, though……”
“Come on Calaria, it’s fine. She can’t move under those restraints, anyway.”
Elastis’s breathing was shallow, and she staggered when she tried to stand up.
Unable to ignore this, Cutie hugged her for just a few seconds.
The wound of her arm closed, and she stopped bleeding.
“Th…… Thanks.”
“We can’t let you die before you talk. But, I’ll kill you if you do anything weird.”
“Oh, I already said that earlier, Cutie.”
“No harm in making sure.”
They were drawing too much attention here.
The group took Elastis with them and moved to the shadow of a building with no people around.
“Okay, interrogation time. Can I ask you to introduce yourself?”
As the eyes of onlookers disappeared, Calaria clenched her handgun-type sorcery gun and pushed it against Elastis’s temple.
Ami’s restraints were also still strong.
But they were still dealing with an arcana user.
But Elastis answered the question honestly.
“My name is Elastis Amatus. I’m 25 years old. I was born in the Kingdom of Westio.”
“Where’s Westio?”
“It’s a country to the southwest, and most of its land is a wasteland. The country itself is wealthy thanks to the mining of magical stones, however.”
“Wow.”
“They don’t have much of a relationship with the Kingdom of Orvis. I’ll ask just to make sure, is your arcana Lover?”
“You’re right. My power is Love is Dead. I can fire a magical ‘cupid’s arrow’ using a bow.”
“And the person it hits falls in love with whoever is nearby, yes?”
“Yes. But it doesn’t work that well on completely unrelated people. There has to be something there, at least. Because the poison won’t work unless they kiss.”
“……Kiss?”
Ami tilted her head and looked at Calaria.
Cutie was also suspicious.
“Wait…… Did you kiss Mary?”
“……No, I wouldn’t put it like that. I didn’t want to, but she chased after me.”
“So you did?”
“B-But…… that’s so unfair, Calaria!”
“That’s what poisoned me, so I wouldn’t call it unfair!”
Calaria reflexively shouted.
Since she almost died, she did not want anyone to envy her, even as a joke.
“That’s true, but still……”
“Well, let’s leave that aside.”
“I have to get sis to kiss me too later…… and I want her to talk to me in a more familiar way again……”
“Again?”
“Yes!”
“She’s just not used to it, so it can’t be helped.”
“Mnnngh……!”
“Don’t cause trouble for Mary.”
“So, about that arrow power…… I heard it can pierce through obstacles. In other words, you also have the power to see through obstacles. Right?”
“You’re right. Love is Clear. I can see through objects.”
“Are these two your only powers?”
“As far as I know, yes.”
Elastis was answering the questions honestly.
She did not hide her Sorcery Rating either – 10,823.
“I’m going to ask some questions next.”
Calaria asked with her gun in her hand.
“Who ordered you to go after us?”
“……General Ox from the Kingdom of Orvis. There was also a girl wearing a mask.”
“You said you’re from Westio. What did you do for a living there?”
“I was the princess’s guard. Ever since I was little.”
“Why did you come to Orvis?”
“Because I was ordered to…… by the princess.”
Elastis’s emotions were shaken.
It was apparent that the reason she begged for her life lay behind this.
“You look like you didn’t want to come here.”
Elastis hung her head down after Ami’s remark.
“Of course not…… I’m the princess’s knight, you know? It’s pointless for me to hide.”
“Knight? You think very highly of yourself. Does the princess call you so as well?”
“Yes, me and the princess were lovers, recognized by the king.”
“……Lovers? And recognized by the king?”
Cutie reflexively repeated Elastis.
They were both women.
Leaving aside a hidden love, it was hard to imagine that a king would recognize the love between a princess, who had to give birth to an heir, and a servant.
“We’ve always been together, ever since I was little. I swore to protect her no matter what. And the princess…… also held me very dear.”
“But she still suddenly asked you to come to Orvis?”
“I opposed it, of course! I mean, this is not the duty of a knight. But…… she said she would release me from my duties if I did not go. She said we would separate and not ever meet again…… I didn’t want that…… I don’t want this either, but separating with her is a lot worse……!”
Cutie looked at Calaria and shrugged her shoulders.
Calaria slowly put her gun down and sighed.
“I still haven’t kept my promise to the princess. But I can’t die! I can’t see her again if I die…… that would, in the truest sense, be the end of everything……”
Elastis sobbed as her shoulders trembled and tears rolled down her face.
Cutie had seen many ‘bad people’ up until now, but she did not seem to be acting.
“We heard something like this before too, right?”
“You mean Hierophant? Yeah, he said he was born in the Theocracy of Feluse.”
“……That’s not good.”
“What do you mean, Cutie?”
“In short, this means that the big-wigs in Feluse and Westio are controlled by World.”
“Yeah, just like with Dugan. They might already have the whole world in their control.”
Defending the head of state was the most important thing in any country.
But World easily got through this and took his rivals under his control.
Even if he had to give blood to them, it should not have been that easy.
It was still not completely clear what his powers did, which Cutie and Calaria felt uneasy about.
Meanwhile, Elastis, who learned she was being controlled, was curious to know more.
“Controlled…… the princess? What is World? Arcana!?”
“They didn’t tell you anything, did they? This is going to be a long talk, so let’s go somewhere else.”
Sensing that the conversation would be a long one, Cutie offered to change locations.
Calaria and Ami nodded in agreement.
“Elastis, is the spell you put on Mary lifted now?”
“Of course! She should be back to normal already.”
“Good, then….. Well, we’ll think about your crimes later.”
“We’ll keep the ring on her, right?
“Of course. I don’t mind.”
“Yes. I don’t think we can trust her either after she attacked us.”
Cutie decided that they could only trust her as a source of information.
Still, whether that would be permitted or not was a different story.
The group headed for the hotel Mary was waiting in, ready to kill Elastis at any time.
◇◇◇
The smell of blood choked the group the moment they entered the room.
Cutie and Elastis frowned.
Calaria was unphased.
Mary looked exhausted as she lay on her bed.
She had noticed that the powers of Lover were lifted, and unrestrained herself.
Her wounds were also healed thanks to her restorative powers, but the bloodstains proved the pain she suffered.
Ami ran over to Mary.
“Sis!”
She grabbed Mary’s hand and brought her face closer to hers.
The two looked at each other up close, and Mary smiled.
“Welcome, Ami. Miss. Calaria, Miss. Cutie, I’m glad you’re safe too. Who is that, by the way?”
“The culprit.”
“Is she the arcana user, then?”
It was normal for her to be surprised.
Then, still restrained, Elastis went down on her knees in front of Mary and hung her head down.
“Princess Mary…… I deeply apologize for my rude actions earlier. I know words are not enough to be forgiven after trying to kill you, but…… Please, at least let me keep my life.”
“O-Oh……”
“I know this is confusing. It looks like this woman has a reason to live for, no matter what.”
“Then she shouldn’t have attacked us in the first place.”
Mary spoke coldly.
The anger in her voice surprised Elastis.
Mary’s resentment was only natural after her body was used to hurt Calaria.
“If that was anyone other than Miss. Calaria, she would have been dead, right?”
Calaria could endure the poison thanks to her body.
Even Cutie would have died if it was her instead.
“I’m sorry…… I’m sorry…… I’m so sorry……!”
But all Elastis could do was to apologize.
She firmly scraped her head against the ground, staining it with blood.
Mary loudly sighed when she saw this miserable display.
“Okay. I will not forgive you, but we need information. Let’s hear you out first.”
After Calaria let her live and brought her here, Mary was not planning on killing her anyway.
In terms of personal feelings, however, it was true that she wanted to do so.
“Okay, let’s continue the interrogation as we make sense of what we learned so far.”
Cutie took charge and started the investigation again.
They learned many things as a result of this.
First, Elastis, who was constantly with the princess, did not know when World’s powers were activated.
He could not only give his blood to someone, but also mix foreign substances in their drinks.
Like with Andre.
The Theocracy of Felus’s pope was surely heavily protected.
It was World’s power that easily passed through that protection.
Next, she talked about the spies in this town.
Elastis did not seem to know a precise number, but she knew the movements of Mary’s group.
So much that she could have shot even without eyes that saw through obstacles.
The group’s actions inside their room being leaked meant only one thing – there was a spy among Majoram’s workers. Cutie held her head after hearing this.
And finally, she talked about Ox’s location.
He was hiding in a village called Lemingen to the East of the royal capital, or North of Luvana.
Digi was only coming to the safehouse sometimes, so her current whereabouts were not known.
And, it was highly probable the remaining arcana user was Chariot.
They acquired over three pieces of important information from Elastis.
They could not fully trust her, of course, but if she was just trying to lure them into a trap in Lemingen, it would have been more effective for her to approach Mary and the group in a friendly manner in the first place.
There was also the precedent of Andre.
Elastis’s story could be judged to be highly authentic.
“Basically, the arcana user in Ox’s hands is only Chariot.”
“That makes two, including him.”
“What do we do, Mary? Should we atack?”
“I do want to be on the attacking side now and then. Let’s do it.”
They had always been one step behind so far.
But it was the other way around this time.
Mary smiled with determination and Ami suddenly grabbed her arms and clinged to her.
She got her mouth closer to Mary’s ear, and whispered something the others could not hear.
“Kiss me too next time, okay?”
“……Huh?”
Mary’s eyes opened wide after hearing these unexpected words.
In contrast, Ami was smiling as if nothing happened.