Chapter 72.1
――How many times does my heart have to break before I can be forgiven?
[???: And it’s already over…… this job really wasn’t worth taking]
In a dark warehouse, gazing down on the three corpses submerged in an ocean of blood, a black-robed beauty slightly tilted her head .
Even in this blood-suffused scene, the absurdity of her skill ensured that she wasn’t touched by a single drop, while the abnormality of her mind was such that she remained utterly unfazed by this carnage .
Without a doubt, this was what they’d call a monster in human skin .
Stepping across the floor soaked in blood, the monster looked over the fallen corpses with interest .
A giant old man with one arm severed at the shoulder and profuse blood draining down his head . A black haired youth with a perfect line sliced across his stomach, having died writhing as his intestines spilled out .
――And, a silver-haired girl, slashed in two from her left shoulder to her right waist .
――How many times had he struggled and fought just so he wouldn’t have to witness this scene?
[???: In terms of the outcome of the assignment, this is as bad as it gets…… Now just what is all this, I wonder]
Holding a finger to her red lips, the monster casually made this awfully out-of-place mutter . Dangling in her other hand, was a sinister, bloody, crooked blade―― her Kukri Knife .
Swaying the weapon that had just stolen three―― no, four separate lives in this loot house, the monster named Elsa let out a splendid smile .
[Elsa: ――Aya]
Elsa tilted her head, and lightly leaped backward .
Immediately, a blade of ice stabbed into the floor where Elsa had been standing . A sequence of icy spears followed, pursuing Elsa’s steps with shearing, biting fangs .
[Elsa: Now this is……]
[????: How―― dare you]
Before the evading Elsa, dim specks of light gathered in the empty space as the figure of a small spirit took shape .
The floating cat-spirit――Puck’s expression was perilous, while his androgynous voice was trembling with rage .
[Puck: You shall regret taking Lia’s life――]
[Elsa: Ah, so the girl…… was a Spirits-Arts User . Marvelous… I’ve never opened a spirit’s stomach before . ――Though]
Facing the battle-ready Puck surrounded by floating ice lances, Elsa’s expression reveled in the premonition of battle . But, before raising her guard, she squinted a single eye,
[Elsa: Why didn’t you show up before that child died? Spirits and Spirit-Arts Users should be teams of two――it’s a shame if I can’t enjoy the full experience]
[Puck: Shut it with your drivel, murderer . ――If I weren’t bound by my contract, I…]
Puck shook his head with an expression twisted in vexation .
He bared his fang, pointing his little arm at Elsa,
[Puck: I have no intention to chat . I will freeze you, and lay Lia’s soul to rest . After you, the Kingdom, the world, then the Dragon and the Witch . Everything]
[Elsa: Hhaa~, marvellous―― I’ll be enjoying this!]
Elsa leaped, crawling along the walls and ceiling like a spider . With her slender frame as the target, icicles shot forth in quick succession, piercing the walls of the loot house and freezing the atmosphere, as its shrill shrieks rang through the air .
All vision clouded over with white, until nothing could be seen .
Not the incidentally intertwined fingers on the floor, nor Subaru and Emilia’s corpses . Nothing .
※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※
――How many times do I have to be betrayed by this world before I can be rewarded?
[Rem: I was merely preventing the situation from getting any worse . By the time I found him, Subaru-kun’s state was already beyond saving . ――He would have wished to be put down immediately]
[Emilia: And, so…… that’s what that… horrible end…was . Is that what you are saying… Rem? Subaru was my benefactor, and there was so much we would have liked to talk about…… and you…]
He heard the quarreling words of his two beloved girls .
One voice called out within Subaru both immense adoration and insurmountable grief .
And the other voice, when he stood in the face of adversity, how many times, how clingingly, how imploringly, and how sweetly, had he wished to be touched by that voice .
The blue-haired girl and the silver-haired girl faced each other, as a turbulent atmosphere flowed throughout the room .
The place was the lounge in the Mansion, the two were seated on either side of the table, and the situation was set to explode .