At the Ancient Capital

“We will be arriving at Garm shortly. All passengers, please prepare for arrival.”

“…Mmn.”

The voice roused Menou from her slumber.

She felt as if she’d been dreaming of the past, but whatever memories she’d been reliving left her as she woke.

They were in the economy car. The train would be arriving at its final stop shortly; conductors were going around to check on each car.

Akari had already been exhausted, and even Menou wound up falling into a deep slumber after everything that happened. As she blinked dazedly at her surroundings, she saw the other passengers beginning to gather their belongings.

After the terrorist incident, the passengers transferred to a different train.

Once everyone had calmed down, Menou and Akari spent the night in seats in the economy car of the new train. They were offered better seats as thanks for their helpful deeds, but Menou firmly declined out of an overabundance of caution, just in case they somehow ended up in the same car as Ashuna against all odds.

After that, things proceeded smoothly, and they arrived in Garm. Momo would likely be on a later train.

Akari was leaning against Menou as she slept. Her somewhat long black hair tickled Menou’s neck, while her long lashes fluttered in her sleep.

She was utterly defenseless.

Clearly, she trusted Menou completely. It would be crazy to doubt that after they were able to connect so smoothly via Guiding Force.

As she felt the sleeping Akari’s weight and warmth against her, Menou couldn’t help but wonder why.

They had only just met three days ago.

But it wasn’t a bad feeling.

Menou gazed at Akari’s sweet, sleeping face for a moment before gently shaking her shoulder.

“Wake up, Akari. We’re almost there.”

“Wha—? …Oh. Mm’kay. Mornin’?”

“Yes, it is. Good morning, sleepyhead.”

“Awww, man. Why does night hafta end? I wanna sleep s’more… So yeah, g’night, Menou. Zzzz…”

“Don’t be silly. Wake up.”

“Phweee?!”

As Akari started to doze back off, Menou lightly pinched her cheek. Akari shrieked, but Menou ignored her and started gathering their things.

Finally waking up, Akari yawned and stretched.

“Ahhh… So we’re about to reach what’s-it-called, huh?”

“Indeed. Just take a look.” Menou pointed at the city, which was visible through the window.

The train was rapidly approaching a city made largely of stone. At the city’s heart was the former royal castle and a grand cathedral. Both were magnificent structures with storied histories, but the most famous feature of the ancient capital Garm was the Guiding Light rising from the other side of the city.

“Whoa! What the heck is that?! It’s so bright! It’s like the sun!”

“Heh. Impressive, isn’t it?”

Akari forgot her sleepiness as she exclaimed delightedly, and Menou smiled proudly.

The light seemed to reach up into the heavens. It was the glow of the barrier to the astral vein. One of the church’s greatest achievements in technology using Guiding Force, it drew power from the earthen vein and connected it to the heavenly vein, thereby protecting inhabited human settlements from the Wild Frontier.

Shielded by the glowing light, the starting point of the border pilgrimage route was also the former capital of Grisarika Kingdom.

“That’s the ancient capital Garm.”

They had arrived at the destination where Akari was to be killed.

The ancient capital Garm.

It was the former royal capital of Grisarika Kingdom and still a major city on the border with the Wild Frontier. Garm was a very safe city, known for its beautiful sights. As a result, it saw a great deal of tourism. Once they stepped onto the platform, Menou confidently led the way down the main road and past a fountain plaza, heading toward the cathedral in the central district. Archbishop Orwell should be there to greet her.

Following Menou, Akari looked around at the stone architecture, her eyes sparkling.

“Menou! Hey, Menou! I really wanna go sightseeing!”

“Fair enough. If we have time. But we have things to do now, so it’ll have to wait until later. We can hardly go sightseeing without securing a hotel.”

“Later, then! It’s a promise. A date! So you can’t break it, okay?!”

“Yes, yes.”

Akari seemed very hyperactive at the moment, Menou thought as she absently responded to the girl. Was it because the city was so scenic or because she was expecting to be back in Japan soon? Either way, the Otherworlder was so restless, they wound up holding hands.

Otherwise, Menou was afraid Akari would get lost if she took her eyes off her for a second. Any chance she got, Akari pulled Menou along by the hand toward one sight or another. Menou felt like she was taking a particularly large dog for a walk.

“Wow, Menou! That building’s so pretty! It’s a castle! Can we go inside there?!”

“Ah, that’s the former royal castle.”

Akari was excitedly pointing at a castle surrounded by a moat. At present, part of it was open to the public for sightseeing, while other parts were used as a station for the Order of Knights to carry out their law enforcement duties.

That was the last place Menou wanted to go near in this city.

“Our business is over here. That place isn’t on the way.”

“Awww, c’mooon…”

Menou dragged away the reluctant girl. Before long, they arrived at an angular cathedral made of white stones.

It had a bell tower with a clock and a sharp steeple, from which the transepts spread in all directions. This was a church of great historical value, the pinnacle of an architectural style that had prospered here about a hundred years ago.

“Ooh, this place is pretty, too.”

“We’re here on business, not for pleasure. But the interior is even more impressive than the exterior, so perhaps we can take a nice long look around afterward.”

“’Kay!”

When Menou stated her business, they were escorted into the cathedral, so Orwell must have sent word about the situation in advance.

Indeed, the ornamentation inside was even more detailed than the outside. Overhead was an arched ceiling, with decorative stained glass images all around. It had a formidable presence, yet it was so finely made that the details were very pronounced.

“Whoooa… Cool…”

“Close your mouth, Akari. You look like an idiot.”

Akari’s mouth was hanging open as she stared around, but she shut it at once when Menou scolded her.

“An idiot, huh…? Y’know, you can be pretty mean sometimes, Menou. Even though I like you so, sooo much! I think you could stand to show me a little more love!”

“I don’t know how much ‘sooo much’ is exactly, but I’m only mean when you act like a ditz.”

“Waaah. How can you be so mean to me when I’m going home soon?!”

“I’m being normal. I’m always perfectly normal.”

The pair teased each other as they walked through the church.

“But you’re not wrong. This place really is remarkable. This is actually my first time going inside—it’s quite overwhelming.”

Though it seemed like Menou was agreeing with Akari, she was actually observing something quite different.

Since Menou had intimate knowledge of conjuring studies like crestology, materialogy, and conjuration studies, she could understand from a practical perspective just how incredible this cathedral was. The detailed construction certainly had aesthetic appeal and a historical style of architecture.

However, it was more than just pretty to look at.

These details had a very practical use.

The cathedral also served as an emergency evacuation shelter. If the conjuring crests that appeared to be decorations were activated, it would likely become an impregnable fortress. In addition to creating a barrier around the outside wall, it created interior boundaries as well. Inspecting the construction of the crests out of pure curiosity, Menou continued walking as they were led into a room that was closed off to the general public.

Waiting inside was an elderly woman escorted by a young priestess.

The old woman wore priestess robes made from thick white cloth, embroidered with gold thread. Knowing that only the archbishop was permitted to wear such clothes, Menou bowed her head in reverence.

“Archbishop Orwell. It’s an honor for you to greet us.”

They had communicated through the altar before, but this was the first time Menou was officially meeting her in person. Following suit after Menou, Akari hastily ducked her head.

“The pleasure is mine. I understand the situation, so please leave it to me. We’ll have things taken care of in no time… Ms. Akari, I understand you’ve been through some misfortune, but please rest easy now.”

“Th-thanks!”

Evidently sensing the archbishop’s gravitas, Akari responded in a shrill, nervous voice.

Orwell smiled warmly in response, then turned her attention to Menou.

“Ms. Menou, once the ceremony to send Ms. Akari home is complete, what do you plan to do? If you wish to embark on a pilgrimage across the border, we can take care of your travel expenses.”

“Really? Thank you so much…!”

“Oh, don’t mention it. Now, the ceremony will be ready the day after tomorrow. I would love to sit and have a chat with you before then.”

“Yes, of course.”

Since Akari was present, the official story was that they were preparing a ceremony to send her back to her world, but in truth, it was intended to kill her.

Menou had already been informed that it would take time to prepare the ceremony. As she bowed her head deeply, Orwell smiled.

“And one more thing, Ms. Menou. Including today, you’ll be staying here in the city for three days, yes? I have a request I’d like to ask of you, if you wouldn’t mind.”

“…O-of course.”

As the priestess attending the archbishop produced some documents, Menou inwardly heaved a sigh.

No wonder she had become the supposedly benevolent archbishop. Clearly, she wasn’t the sort of person to give things out for free. However, Orwell was kind enough to set them up with a hotel while they were staying in Garm.

The hotel lent out and managed old monasteries and churches that had been remodeled for such purposes. Normally, staying in such culturally important buildings was considerably costly. But Menou and Akari would be staying there for free.

“She really didn’t have to do this…”

Menou had never been put up so luxuriously in all her missions as an Executioner.

Executioners from the holy land were seen as parasites to other parishes. Though they were ranked in the Faust all the same, the job was undeniably a dirty one. Since they showed up and acted outside the local chain of command, and even claimed expenses for their missions, the Executioners were often openly despised by the Faust of their respective parishes.

Normally, simply being ignored would be preferable treatment, yet now Menou was being housed in a fancy hotel, served with a smile, and given full cooperation on her mission. It was unheard-of. Menou expressed her gratitude to Orwell.

A certain idiot was shaking Menou’s shoulders, oblivious to her state of mind.

“Hey, can we go sightseeing now? Menooou? C’mon, let’s gooo! It’s still early eveniiing. We’re young, so our night’s just getting started, right? Riiight?”

“Stop shaking me already! Not today. I have to write up an expense list for my pilgrimage.”

“Awww, c’mon! Let’s have fuuun. I wanna hang out with you, Menou! …You don’t wanna hang out with me?”

“I want to calculate my expenses. Truly. Desperately.”

“Mrr…”

Akari’s expression shifted from pleading to pouting, but Menou paid no attention to her, looking instead at the map. They were going to provide expenses for her. It was only courteous to submit a comprehensive projection.

Thoroughly ignored, Akari rolled onto the bed.

“Menou, you’re so meeean… What did that old lady ask you to do, anyway?”

“Nothing too important.”

“Really? But if you do it, they’re gonna give you money for, uh…the border pilgrimage route thingy, right?”

“Yeah. Crossing the border means passing through the Wild Frontier, so it’s pretty hard.”

Menou half-heartedly explained to Akari as she calculated the funds needed for a pilgrimage across the border.

“You mentioned that Wild Frontier place on the train, right? What is it, exactly?”

“Basically, it’s a general term for areas where humans were unable to settle. It’s a dangerous environment, but there’s a relatively safe route through it known as the pilgrimage route. On the other hand, places where humanity has been able to settle and create a community are known as ‘nations’… But you’re going back to your own world soon, so you don’t need to worry about all that.”

“Riiight…”

The subject must have gotten too difficult, because Akari didn’t ask any more questions. She probably just wanted Menou’s attention and didn’t care much about the actual facts.

“But if we’re not going sightseeing, I guess I’ll take a bath.”

“Enjoy. Nice that each room here has its own bathtub and shower.”

“Yeah. Oh, I know. Why don’t you take a bath with me? We can wash each other!”

“Wash each other? Listen…”

Akari looked as if she’d come up with a genius plan. Menou let out a sigh.

“You know, this isn’t the first time I’ve noticed, but…you really ought to be more careful about getting close to people so quickly. You know that, right?”

“Huh? Nah, not really.”

They had only known each other for less than three full days, yet Akari was inviting her to bathe together. Menou turned back to her work, but Akari’s face was suddenly very close to hers.

“I told you when we first met, remember? That it felt like fate.”

Menou looked up at her doubtfully, caught off guard by Akari’s expression.

The girl looked surprisingly serious.

“If you think I’d act like this toward just anyone, you’re dead wrong! I’m only trying to cozy up close to you because I like you so much, Menou. Besides, you seem like the kinda person who wouldn’t notice someone’s feelings unless they really get in your face about it.”

“That’s…not true?”

“Oh yeah?”

Akari narrowed her eyes and pursed her lips.

“Then do you know how I’m feeling right now? I wanna spend what little time I have left here being close to you! Do you get it, Menou?”

“Right. Just go take a bath, please. By yourself.”

“Hmph! You don’t get it.”

Why was this girl so sad that she insisted on bathing with someone she’d just met? Menou shooed her away with one hand.

Really, Akari’s fondness of her was a mystery.

She could understand Momo’s attachment, since they’d known each other for so long, but she and Akari barely knew each other. Since the moment they met, Akari’s completely unguarded affection for her was downright bizarre.

“Fate, she says…”

Where in the world did she get that idea? Menou always tried to be sociable toward her targets on a mission, but she had never encountered someone so aggressively friendly. Akari seemed to really believe in things like fate, but Menou couldn’t understand the reasoning behind her confident conclusion, no matter how hard she tried.

“Surely there must be some reason…”

But since she couldn’t figure it out, she couldn’t help being curious.

Still, perhaps there was no need to worry about it any longer. Menou picked up the documents from Orwell and looked them over again.

In addition to the archbishop’s request, it contained details on the ceremony for destroying Otherworlders. They hadn’t been able to discuss this information in person, since Akari was there.

“…Looks like it should all end as planned.”

That was a good thing, so why did she feel a little sad about it?

Once she heard the water running from the shower, Menou stepped out onto the balcony.

However, it wasn’t for a breath of fresh air.

“Darliiing!”

As Menou suspected, Momo appeared out of nowhere and latched on to her.

This was a third-floor balcony, but Menou wasn’t surprised when her assistant embraced her tightly.

“Your Momo was sooo worried about leaving you on that train that she nearly died of lonelineeess!”

“Good work back there. And I’m surprised you knew where to find me.”

“Of cooourse! I’ll always track you down, whether it’s through fire, flood, or even the Wild Frontier, darliiing!”

It had only been a day since they last saw each other, but Momo rubbed her face against Menou as if it was a long-awaited reunion.

“Ahhh. I can’t believe there were terrorists on our traaain. Oh, listen to this, darliiing. Some damned princess knight called Ashuna showed up, and she was even worse than the terrorists, you knooow. Momo worked sooo hard to keep her away from you, darliiing. That stuck-up princess has instincts as sharp as Master’s. She was such a pain that I wanted to crush her to death, but I held back. Instead, I wrapped up our little fight and ran away, then shook her off my trail. Aren’t you proud of meee?”

“Yes, yes. Very good.”

“Hee-hee.”

Menou patted Momo’s fluffy hair, and Momo’s cheeks flushed with glee.

“I’m so happyyy. I basically live for your praise, you knooow.”

“All right, all right. So, Momo, do you mind if I ask you a favor?”

Once Momo calmed down a little, Menou pulled out the documents she received at the church, as well as a report of the events on the train from her perspective.

“…We finally reunite, and you want to talk about work alreadyyyy? You’re so cruel.”

“Well, we’re in the middle of a job right now. I can’t help it.”

Momo pouted a little, but this was a request straight from the archbishop herself. Orwell was providing funds for Menou to cross the border, and even going so far as to forge documents for her. Since she owed a debt to someone who ranked high above her, Menou couldn’t exactly refuse her request.

Momo’s frown deepened as she accepted the documents and looked them over.

“A series of disappearances, is iiit? Hmm… And the victims are all young women? Is there a human trafficking problem in this city, maybeee?”

“That doesn’t seem to be the case. They’ve already investigated around the brothels, and they didn’t find anything unusual.”

Orwell’s request was an investigation of the rash of disappearances occurring in this city, which she’d previously mentioned in their call while Menou was in the royal capital.

“There’s a considerable number of people missing, and none of them have been found. It’s no wonder the archbishop is so concerned.”

“Hmm. Maybe some heathens are collecting sacrifices to summon demons?”

“It does seem like it could be related to a Concept of Original Sin, but we don’t have enough information to say for sure just yet.”

“Truuue. Doesn’t this still fall within the knights’ duties, then? Why would the archbishop ask us? And how does she expect us to do it in three days, anywaaay…?”

“We’re not expected to solve it—she just wants a fresh perspective, she says. And if we don’t find anything, that’s all right, according to her.”

Momo’s complaints were correct, but Orwell seemed to be fully aware of all that.

An Executioner had a different perspective from ordinary knights and priestesses. No doubt the archbishop had asked her in the hopes that she might uncover some new clue.

This incident was occurring right in her own backyard, after all. It was no wonder she was willing to try any and all means.

“Just blow it off, theeen.”

“I can’t do that. I owe her.”

“Waaah. Sometimes you’re diligent to a fault. Since this place borders the Wild Frontier, a little crime is inevitable, if you ask meee. Ah, so what are you doing tomorrow?”

“Er, tomorrow…”

Menou had plans in place, but she looked away guiltily.

“I’m, er…sightseeing…with Akari.”

“………………”

The look in Momo’s eyes was indescribable.

The documents in her hand crumpled as she clenched her fist. Even without meeting her eyes, Menou broke out in a cold sweat under the pressure from Momo’s steely gaze. She carefully looked anywhere else.

Truthfully, Menou did feel bad for essentially goofing off while pushing the work on her assistant.

“Right, of cooourse. She does need to be guarded, after all. I get it. If young women are being kidnapped in this city right now, we can’t have that boob-lady wandering around alone. And you can’t investigate these incidents with such an utterly useless girl on your hands, of cooourse.”

“E-exactly. I’m so glad you understand, Momo! I’d expect no less of my dear assistant!”

“Riiight.”

As Menou talked a little too quickly, Momo graced her with a lovely smile.

“Momo loves you sooo much, darling, so I’ll do whatever you saaay… And I’ll wrap up this investigation in no time, just you waaait!”

For better or worse, Momo seemed to be revving to go. Menou felt worse about the situation, but she hastily changed the subject.

“And the archbishop is going to prepare the ceremonial hall to take care of the Akari problem. She says it’ll be ready by the day after tomorrow.”

“Ohhh? The archbishop of this nation really is very cooperative. A ceremony to kill Otherworlders… I’d never heard of such a thing befooore.”

“Neither had I. But I suppose it’s because Master’s general policy was for us to figure it out on our own.”

“Ahhh…yes, Master is quite particular. She really hates ceremonial conjuring, since it requires a large group, toooo.”

“Uh-huh.”

No matter the mission, their old Master never suggested cooperating with anyone. Other people were just tools to be used, and even those closest to you should always be treated with suspicion of being a forbidden entity, according to her needlessly thorough paranoia. Her emphasis on this lone-wolf approach was evident in their education in the monastery, too.

As Menou nodded in agreement with Momo’s assessment, she remembered something else she had to mention.

“Oh, right. Momo.”

“Yeees?”

“Be careful of the Order of Knights in this city.”

Something one of the terrorists had said still rang in her mind.

“If we don’t make it to Garm, we’re gonna get hanged anyway.”

In other words, if they did manage to make it to Garm, they had a plan in place for their getaway.

That meant the terrorists on the train were almost certainly working with someone in this city. Menou suspected the coconspirators in question were the ancient capital’s Order of Knights.

There was the fact that the terrorists had known the whereabouts of Ashuna, who was a royal but also a knight. The fact that they somehow had obtained prohibited weapons like Guiding guns and the Primary Red Stone. And the fact that they were confident they could get away if they reached Garm, despite their flagrant crimes. Put it all together, and it made sense that they might be connected to the Order of Knights, who were in charge of the law enforcement in Garm, a city that bordered the Wild Frontier.

This was just an educated guess, of course. Menou had no proof.

However, the probability was very high. It might not be the entire Order of Knights, but there must be some number of them who were corrupted.

“All riiight. I understaaand.”

Menou’s advice had been brief, but it seemed to get through to Momo.

Watching as Momo made her way down from the balcony in darkness, swiftly and carefully to avoid being seen, Menou touched the black scarf ribbon that Momo had given her when they were children.

She had worn that ribbon ever since.

“…Maybe I should buy something for Momo.”

She murmured the thought aloud. Momo wasn’t just her assistant. She was her junior, but one that she could always depend on more than anyone else.

Menou felt nothing but gratitude toward her.

I’ll find something she might like when we go out tomorrow and buy it for her to show my appreciation, she decided.

The next day, their sightseeing went smoothly.

As the former royal capital of Grisarika Kingdom, the ancient capital Garm had a storied history.

The capital had been relocated out of necessity when a change in the astral vein resulted in Garm bordering the Wild Frontier, an area where human settlement was impossible. At the same time, it was virtually untouched by modern civilization. Many adventurers aimed to make a killing by finding and selling rare items that couldn’t be made by human hands, so now that Garm bordered the place, there were more people of that ilk in the city.

While the shift in occupational demands resulted in a slight decrease in overall public safety, the ancient capital was as lively as it had been in its prime. Amid the thriving crowds, Menou and Akari went on a tour of the biggest sightseeing areas.

Soon, it was their third day in the city.

Menou led Akari toward the cathedral.

“All that sightseeing was sooo fun!”

Everything in this city must have looked remarkably new to the eyes of a Japanese person like Akari. She looked absolutely delighted as she walked beside Menou.

If only you knew, Menou thought.

The Executioner was all too familiar with the fact that the beauty of this town was hiding all of its darkness under the surface.

“This world is pretty rad!”

“I’m glad you think so.”

But there was no need to reveal all that to Akari. Instead, Menou simply agreed.

Come tomorrow morning, Akari’s life in this otherworld would be over. As far as she knew, she would be going back to Japan. Menou had fooled her into believing as much.

In truth, her life would be over altogether.

Menou’s journey with Akari was ending far sooner than she had expected when she first discovered Akari’s immortality. She would die in this town, and Menou would travel alone on her pilgrimage out of this nation. That would mark the end of this mission.

Akari skipped along next to Menou, oblivious to her plans.

She was holding Menou’s hand, swinging it back and forth happily when they came upon a certain stall.

It was marketed primarily to sightseers. In addition to premade items, customers could create simple handmade accessories. Essentially, it was a tourist attraction that allowed people to make their own souvenirs.

Akari noticed Menou’s lingering gaze immediately.

“Are you interested in that stall, Menou?”

“…I suppose. Do you mind if we take a look?”

“Of course!”

Since they had left the hotel early, there was still some time before their scheduled meeting with Orwell. Menou called out to the woman running the stall.

“I’d like to make one of these, please.”

Most of the accessories displayed were metal, but the one that caught Menou’s eye was a cloth scrunchie.

The woman handed her the materials, and she set about making two of them. Metal decorations that clinked together could make stealth more difficult, so she limited herself to one small accent on each. The smiling shopkeeper cooed in approval at her delicate touch, so Menou murmured vague thanks as she worked, fending off Akari as she slid closer. Before long, Menou had finished the two scrunchies.

“There. All done.”

Menou wasn’t one to sing her own praises, but she thought they had come out simple yet cute.

Akari looked at the finished product with her eyes sparkling.

“Hey, Menou. Since you made two, that must mean…you want to match with me!”

“Um, no?”

“No?!”

Where did she get that idea? Menou carefully put the purchased scrunchies into a bag.

“This is for a junior of mine. She’s always looking out for me.”

She was acting on the idea she’d thought of the day before: a symbol of gratitude to thank Momo for all her hard work.

Akari puffed up her cheeks unhappily.

“Why?! We’re saying our good-byes soon, but you’re not gonna give me anything?!”

“Er…”

She can be so difficult, Menou thought, but coldly pushing her away would only make it worse. And from Akari’s point of view, it was true that they were about to go their separate ways.

Akari stared at Menou intently. Smelling a business opportunity, the shopkeeper put on her best smile.

Oh, all right. Menou sighed.

“Let me see that for a second.”

She reached over and plucked off Akari’s headband to make something different from the scrunchies.

Menou’s fingers moved swiftly, forming a flower shape out of the cloth. She tied this to the headband as a flower decoration, put it back on Akari’s head, and smiled.

“There. Very cute.”

“…Hee-hee.” Akari broke into a smile, peering into the mirror at the stall and blushing happily. “You’ve got good taste, Menou. I like that about you, too.”

“Thanks. It’s the perfect accessory for someone who’s all hearts and flowers, if I do say so myself.”

“Hey, did you just say something super mean?!”

Menou ignored Akari’s cry as she paid the shopkeeper. The real reason she had chosen a flower decoration was simple.

It was an offering, a tribute to Akari’s imminent death.

Once they finished at the accessory stall, Menou and Akari headed for the cathedral, where a great deal of worshippers and tourists were leaving the chapel area. They weaved their way against the flow of the crowd into the room where they were brought before and found Orwell waiting for them.

“Welcome. Over here, Ms. Menou. You too, Ms. Akari.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Okaaay!”

Orwell led the way, her cane in hand. Menou and Akari followed her through the chapel room and deep into the inner sanctum.

“I know I’m going home, but I kinda wish I could stay here a little longer, y’know? I’ll probably never get to go to another world again.”

“Listen, Akari. You probably shouldn’t keep saying things like that.”

“Indeed. There are some people who wish to go home but can’t. It’s better to appreciate your good fortune.”

“Hrmm, true. I’m sorry. That wasn’t very considerate of me,” Akari apologized meekly. Her ability to be understanding was one of her good points, at least. “I just wanted to spend more time with Menou, that’s all.”

“Oh my. You two seem to have gotten quite close.”

“Of course! Right, Menou?”

“Uh-huh. Yeah.”

They chatted aimlessly as they walked through the hallway and down a staircase. They seemed to be heading for the mausoleum beneath the cathedral. The sound of their slow footsteps mingled with that of the cane on the stone steps, echoing as the three of them made their way down the dimly lit stairs.

At the bottom of the steps was a large door.

It was a stone door with no lock or handle, but it had a special mechanism that identified people through their energy. Orwell placed her hand on the door.

Guiding Force: Connect—Door, Crest—Authenticate [Open Door]

The archbishop’s delicate gesture opened the door.

Behind it must be the ceremony hall for destroying Otherworlders regardless of their Pure Concept.

Menou’s mission would be over soon.

Meanwhile, Momo had made her way into the sewage system beneath the city.

It was dark, damp, and dank. The sound of the water flowing through the underground channels was anything but pleasant, with the thick, sickly bubbling clinging unpleasantly to her ears.

Garm was a bustling site of tourism. Its surface cleanliness was a necessary part of that image. The poorest inhabitants had been shunted out of the sightseeing areas and into the slums that had sprung up underground.

Though they supported the foundation of society, they were treated as a garbage dump that never saw the light of day. If something shady was going to happen in this city, nine times out of ten, it would take place in the massive underground sewage system.

The other possibility was that the kidnapped young women were being taken out of the city—in other words, to the Wild Frontier—but Momo doubted that.

“Be careful of the Order of Knights in this city.”

Momo fully understood the meaning of Menou’s words. If the knights were potentially connected with the scoundrels known as adventurers, who worked in the Wild Frontier, then there was only one place to go and investigate: the part of the sewage system under the former royal castle where the knights now made their base.

She used one day to map out an infiltration route and the other two days to enter the sewage system and make her way to the area near the castle.

With only three days, if one lead didn’t yield any results, the investigation would be over. Or so she thought—but along the way, she discovered a hidden passage that led to a very unusual area.

“Wooow. Well done, Momo.”

Muttering her own praises, Momo made her way along the passage.

It was a strange place. The passage was made out of something like polished black stone. The walls seemed to swallow the darkness, creating a smoothed-out space. It was obviously intended for use in some kind of ritual, but even Momo had no knowledge of what these materials might be for.

However, judging by the immaculate cleanliness of the passage, it was definitely still being used and maintained.

As Momo continued cautiously down the passage, she suddenly froze.

Around the corner, she sensed someone else’s presence.

It was only one person. Whomever it was, they were strong. And they seemed to have noticed Momo’s presence, too.

Momo reached into her priestess robes, pulling out a coping saw by the handle.

The other person seemed aware that she had noticed them, too. There was no point in hiding. Deciding to capture the person alive and force information out of them, Momo jumped around the corner—but when she saw her target’s face, she let out a groan.

“Ugh.”

“Oh-ho?”

As Momo scowled, the other person’s sword froze in place, too.

“Why, if it isn’t Momo! What a coincidence!”

An unfittingly bright voice echoed through the black passageway.

It was none other than the Princess Knight Ashuna, looking as graceful and dignified as ever even in this strange dark place. Just the other day, they had been fighting to the death, but she waved with both hands as cheerfully as if she’d just run into an old friend on the street.

“This is our second chance meeting in such a short time. And to think it would be here—I’m even more certain this must be fate!”

“Oh, choke on your own tongue and diiie…”

Momo sighed deeply, but since it didn’t seem like the princess was going to attack her, she tucked away her coping saw. Ashuna was known for wandering around and sticking her nose into all sorts of affairs, but she wasn’t a knight of Garm. She couldn’t be connected to this particular incident.

Momo moved forward to continue her investigation, and Ashuna fell into step beside her as if it were perfectly natural. Even when Momo shot a glare at her, Ashuna seemed utterly unbothered.

“How strange. This isn’t the sort of place an ordinary priestess would wander into, now is it?”

“The church is providing me with funds for a pilgrimage in exchange for a little favor. This might be news to you, Princess-poo, but money’s very important, you knooow.”

Momo loaded her words as scathingly as she could, but Ashuna just nodded blithely.

“Ah yes, that makes sense. By the by, your nickname for me is really quite adorable. I thought so on the train, too.”

“Excuuuse me?”

“Well, I’ve never had anyone address me like that before, so it’s quite refreshing. Please call me Ashuna-poo from now on, Momo!”

“Ugh! I’ve never met anyone so annoying in my life!! Die!”

No matter how much verbal abuse Momo hurled at her, it didn’t seem to bother the princess. Momo clicked her tongue irritably and decided to change tactics. Ashuna’s confidence was too high to be swayed by attacks on her character, so perhaps she could target her weapon instead.

“That sword of yours is looking shabby. What happened to that royal toy you were using befooore?”

“Ah, yes, it got nicked a bit during our fight. I brought it to my most trusted swordsmith for repairs. This is a backup, you see. Hardly worthy of my swordsmanship, to be sure, but it will do for now.”

Despite Momo’s obviously snide attitude, Ashuna’s arrogance and tolerance seemed to know no bounds.

“That battle on the train was electrifying. It’s been a long time since anyone got my blood pumping! How could you run away before we were through? I was left so unsatisfied that I had to come here to let off some steam… But since that led me to run into you yet again, clearly the heavens are on my side!”

“I should’ve just killed you back then. I knew iiit…”

“Hrmm? It would be a huge problem if a mere priestess were to murder a member of the royal family, no?”

“If they found your precious royal body there, they would’ve just assumed you were killed by the terrorists. And nothing mooore.”

The mismatched pair continued down the dark hallway. It was mostly a single straight path, and there were no signs of any other people. Their voices echoed as they continued walking.

“Speaking of the battle on the train, I felt a strange sensation toward the end there. Do you have any idea what caused that creepy feeling, Momo?”

“How should I knooow?”

Momo feigned ignorance with a shrug, but the truth was she had an inkling of the strange feeling’s source.

Akari Tokitou.

After reading and digesting Menou’s report on the situation that unfolded on the train, Momo had formed a theory that Akari may have turned back time in the process.

Judging by the documents Menou gave her, there was a high possibility that the train had been bound for an accident that would have resulted in many casualties. In reality, if Akari had stayed in the economy car and waited, even Menou likely would’ve been unable to stop the accident from happening.

However, that massive disaster had been averted—because Akari had reversed time and prevented it.

Akari must have lost her memories of doing so in the process. Momo suspected the cause of the unpleasant sensation was something akin to motion sickness, as the world shifted away from the course it should have taken.

It was such a massive feat that it was physically sickening, but such a thing was possible only with the horrifying power of Pure Concepts, which was exactly why its users had to be destroyed with great prejudice.

“Sooo? What are you doing here, anyway, Princess Ashuna-poo?”

“Ah, well. When I arrived in Garm and set out to the former royal castle to pay my respects, I caught the foul scent of collusion, so I couldn’t help myself. I decided to follow the trail and secretly slipped into the basement.”

“Hrmm.”

So Momo’s hunch was right.

The Princess Knight’s instincts for these things were impressive. Momo despised Ashuna, but she had to acknowledge her abilities nonetheless.

“And judging by the existence of this bizarre area, it looks like I was dead-on, as usual. My gut never lies.”

As Ashuna was bragging, the two suddenly stopped.

They’d reached the end of the dark hallway and found a ceremonial hall.

It was a domed space engraved with elaborate crests. There were giant statues set up in all four directions and two massive overlapping pentagrams in the center of the room.

The overall atmosphere seemed ancient, but all the materials were brand-new.

“Now, a high-level ceremonial hall is outside my wheelhouse. What in the world is this? I have no idea, myself.”

“Oh. You’re so obsessed with fighting that your knowledge of everything else is that of a chiiild, Princess Ashy-poo.”

“Indeed. So I am glad to have you with me, Momo. Investigate for me.”

“Uuugh…”

Ashuna’s area of expertise was obviously in battle. Momo leaned that way herself, but she was still an assistant Executioner. However, the construction of this particular ceremony happened to fall squarely within her field of study.

“This is a teleportation test site.”

Their investigation appeared to be a failure, although not entirely without results. Most likely, this was an experimental test site for the Otherworlder summoning that had taken place in the royal capital.

“The statues against each wall transcend boundaries by opposing the concept of the cardinal directions. The overlapping pentagrams represent the union of two planets in different phases. There’s more to it than just that, but those are the basics.”

Guiding Force: Connect—Scripture, 1:1—Invoke [Transcribe the miracle before my eyes, for it must be recorded.]

As Momo inspected the area, she invoked conjuring, recording an image of the room into her scripture as proof.

At first, she assumed the kidnapped women had been brought here through the underground passage and used as materials for summoning demons, but there were no signs that this had occurred. What had happened here was undoubtedly prohibited activity, but this ceremonial hall was proof of heresy committed by the Noblesse, and it was unrelated to the recent disappearances.

“Teleportation, eh? Then the experiments and preparations for the Otherworlder summoning in the royal capital were carried out here, then.”

“Probablyyy.”

Conjuring is the art of willing the power in one’s soul to materialize in the form of a specific phenomenon. There is a limit to what a lone individual can accomplish.

However, that all changed in the case of extraordinary levels of power such as a Pure Concept, which an individual should normally never have. An idea that had built up over time through human history could naturally turn into a form of conjuring; tap into the energy of the astral veins, which runs through the heavenly vein and the earthen vein of the planet; and create a unique power spot. As a result, the concept itself assumed a huge amount of power in the form of Guiding Force.

The forbidden technique known as Concept Conjuring drew from this irregular space, which has become a spot to gather power, so it was capable of conjuring that bended the rules of reality.

“You’re not upseeet, Princess Ashy-poo? This means there’s proof of your father’s crime, you knooow.”

“Oh, that’s fine.”

Ashuna was a member of the Noblesse. Momo was on guard for the possibility that she might try to destroy the evidence and cut her down to silence her, but the princess didn’t show any intention of attacking.

“I won’t tolerate anyone committing this kind of foolishness, either. The punishment ought to fit the crime, even if it was committed by my own family.”

“Ohhh? Since you like all things powerful, I thought you’d looove Otherworlders, Princess-poo.”

“You misjudge me, Momo. The human soul attains the light of energies through intensive study and training. The true beauty of strength lies in the effort it took to earn it. But not so with Otherworlders. They are nothing more than victims.”

“Huh.”

There was such a thing as conjuring in irregular spaces where power beyond that of any ordinary individual accumulated, but the only way to draw out and use the pure power of the concept was to summon a human from another world and attach the powers of this planet to their soul in the process.

No other ceremony could fuse an entire concept into a soul.

Thus, the frightful power that dwelled within an Otherworlder was known as a “Pure Concept,” but it was true that this didn’t align with the aesthetic appreciation of power that Ashuna so often boasted.

Still, Momo didn’t care about Ashuna one way or another. This wasn’t what she’d been instructed to investigate, but if she relayed an image of this place to the Holy Inquisition in the royal capital, it would certainly be a fine gift. I hope Menou will praise me, too, she thought, continuing to record images of the room.

“Still, it’s strange that they were able to reproduce this so accurately. I doubt Noblesse would have the knowledge and skills to do this, even if they got materials from the Wild Frontier from adventurers, you knooow?”

“Hrm?” Ashuna tilted her head at Momo’s statement. “What do you…? Ah, I see. I’m surprised you’re so easily swayed, Momo. So you really came here as a ‘favor,’ eh?”

Ashuna nodded as if she’d made a connection that explained everything.

Momo furrowed her brow at Ashuna’s somewhat disappointed tone. She had never been swayed by anyone but Menou. And she had never once referred to Menou’s existence in front of the princess.

“What do you meeean?”

“Think about it. It’s not that hard to figure out, is it?”

Ashuna grinned self-importantly and pointed at Momo.

“First of all, it’s obvious the Faust and Noblesse in this city are colluding. The Faust must be the masterminds.”

“Excuse me?” Momo stopped for a moment.

Ashuna smiled impishly, pleased that she’d caught her off guard.

“Since there’s a teleportation ceremony set up here, the Faust of Garm must be connected to the summoning in the royal capital, too. I thought you were here in Garm to investigate your own people from the inside, but… Heh. Since you said it was a ‘favor’ to the church, I guess you’re rather naive after all, Momo. Isn’t that cute?”

“And what makes you say thaaat?”

“My father—in fact, our entire royal family—didn’t have the knowledge or materials to attempt to make this ceremony happen. If it’s a question of where they got that technology from, the first guess that comes to mind is that they had supporters in the Faust.”

That was true.

Now that Ashuna mentioned it, Momo realized she should have suspected as much right away.

“The cathedral is right next to the former royal castle. Awfully convenient, if you think about it. It puts them in the perfect position to make something like this. I’d imagine there’s an underground passage connecting the two.”

Since the ancient capital Garm was so far from the royal capital, and it was the archbishop herself who requested the investigation, it had never even occurred to Momo to suspect the Faust.

“If it’s on this large a scale, the mastermind could even be more powerful than a bishop. Say, Momo. I don’t suppose you’d tell me who asked you to investigate this as a ‘favor’?”

Momo ignored Ashuna.

She stopped recording images in her scripture; her priorities had suddenly been overhauled. In Momo’s mind, there was no benefit in staying here any longer. She had to report this to Menou right away, so she opened her scripture and began conjuring.

Guiding Force: Connect—Scripture, 1:4—Invoke [The Lord’s will is relayed through all of heaven and earth, reigning—

“…Tch!”

The conjuring for communication she’d used on the train was blocked, its construction falling apart midway through.

Momo quickly looked around the ceremonial hall, but she couldn’t locate a medium that might be blocking her conjuring. It seemed to have reacted to her attempted spell, but it would be too difficult for Momo to pinpoint the source while conjuring at the same time.

Momo scowled, her scripture still open. Ashuna peered at her curiously.

“Was that to communicate? That’s exclusive to the Faust, yes?”

“Could you be quiet, pleeease? If you could just die and be silent forever, that’d be even better. Thaaanks.”

“Was it blocked just now? Momo. Could you try it again for me?”

Momo’s scowl deepened. She’d been planning another attempt anyway. If that didn’t work, she would leave this place at once and contact Menou from outside.

Guiding Force: Connect—Scripture, 1:4—

Just as Momo felt the interference again, Ashuna spoke. “Hrmm. I’d say it was here, here, and here.”

Ashuna swung her sword at the wall a few times. Just as it scratched through the crests that were engraved there, Momo felt the power that had been inhibiting her communication conjuring disperse.

Invoke [The Lord’s will is relayed through all of heaven and earth, reigning far and wide.]

A little surprised at her success, Momo quickly connected with Menou’s scripture and relayed a short summary of her discoveries.

Once she’d finished writing out the information with Guiding Force, she turned to Ashuna, who was eagerly peeking at the scripture to observe the process.

“What is it, Momo? No need to thank me. Getting to witness communication up close like this is a rare—”

“Okay. See ya.”

“—Hey, now. That’s just cold.”

Momo didn’t bother with a word of thanks to Ashuna as she hastened to leave. She had to run to the cathedral and find Menou. Just as she turned on her heel to head back aboveground—

Guiding Force: Auto-Connect (Conditions Met)—Ceremonial Hall Passage, Crest—Invoke [Ceremony of Descent]

Guiding Force: Merge Materials—Primary Red Stone, Inner Seal Conjuration—Invoke [Primary Red, Fury Dragon]

Guiding Force: Sacrifice—Original Sin, Envy: Body, Spirit, Soul—Summon [Original Sin, Torsion]

Before Momo’s eyes, the black passageway they’d taken to get here began to warp.

It was a trap that had been set up using a conditional activation crest. There were materials and crests embedded underneath the black stone, and they had activated when they detected intruders in the ceremonial hall.

Within the dark passage came the sound of something being born from dark, abyssal conjuring.

“Aha. Here it comes. Well, it makes sense that they wouldn’t allow intruders to find the proof of their transgressions without setting up a few traps.”

For some reason, Ashuna looked pleased as she readied her sword.

It was a makeshift backup weapon. Even though she wasn’t at her full strength, the Princess Knight seemed to be genuinely thrilled at the promise of a strong enemy.

From the sound of it, whatever had been created in the passage was getting closer. There was the almost watery sound of something slithering and a series of dull footsteps that shook the underground room.

Momo and Ashuna surrounded themselves with the light of Enhancement.

“Let’s fight side by side this time, Momo. ‘Yesterday’s enemy is today’s friend.’ An excellent ancient proverb.”

“Oh, all riiight. I want to wrap this up quickly, toooo.”

Two enemies emerged: a hideous stringlike creature that twisted and writhed as it advanced, and a wingless red dragon with loud, clattering footsteps. Both looked far too large for any ordinary human to battle.

“Heh-heh. A conjured soldier in the shape of a dragon and a summoned demon, eh? Excellent opponents. I never thought I would see the like outside the Wild Frontier. And there’s one for each of us—perfect. Which do you prefer? I suspect the demon is more to your liking.”

“I’ll take the dragon. Thaaanks. You can go ahead and get squeezed to death by that thing, Princess Ashy-poo.”

Momo hated Ashuna enough that she wished her dead, but at the moment, they had to work together.

There were two beasts bearing down on them. They had to make quick work of both.

If Ashuna’s guess about the mastermind was right, then the person who was in the most danger right now was none other than the one individual Momo cared about most.

Even Menou had never seen the ceremonial hall Orwell led them to before.

It was in the shape of a dome, perfect for a ceremonial hall. The spherical shape was the closest form to perfection in this world. The spotless white walls were engraved with various crests, but the coating on the walls was special. Even with Menou’s extensive knowledge, she couldn’t place what materials had been used to render the walls so perfectly white.

There was an altar set up in the center of the ceremonial hall, where more than ten priestesses were preparing for the ceremony.

Generally, any large-scale conjuring that interacted with the astral vein or the Concept Dimension required a large number of people. Menou and Orwell watched the proceedings in a separate area. Sitting on the altar looking bored, Akari occasionally smiled and waved at Menou. She seemed to be quite unconcerned.

Outside the ceremonial hall, Menou gave her a little wave back.

The flower decoration on Akari’s headband bobbed gently.

There was a twinge in Menou’s chest.

“You two seem to be quite close. It’s hard to believe you only met a few days ago.”

“Yes, well… That’s how she acted toward me all along.”

Menou was just as puzzled about Akari’s strong attachment to her. Still, she let the matter slide. There was no need to delve into it any deeper.

After all, Akari was about to die.

“I apologize for all the trouble, Archbishop Orwell. I don’t know how to thank you…”

“Don’t you worry about that. I’m sure this won’t be easy for you, anyway.”

Menou fell silent at the unexpected response. Now that Orwell had put it into words, she realized the true meaning of the pain that had been pricking at her heart and closed her eyes.

It’s guilt.

Ah, I’m so cruel.

The thought buried itself in her chest. Menou had killed people before. Why did she feel particularly emotional about murdering Akari now?

I am the villain.

As Menou sank into silence, Orwell crinkled her eyes.

“There’s no need to compare yourself to that Master of yours, all right? That strange little girl was always anything but normal, for better or for worse.”

Hearing the archbishop refer to her teacher as a “little girl,” Menou was reminded of just how vast the difference in their experience was.

“That girl has always solved everything on her own, but that doesn’t mean you have to do the same. There might be times like this one, when someone else knows of a method that you did not. There’s no shame in accepting help from others; in fact, it’s often necessary to solve a problem.”

“…You’re right, of course.”

“Heh. I have always been curious about you, too, since she took you under her wing. I’m glad we can finally meet like this, not just through a call.”

“I’m humbled you would take interest in someone like me.”

“You mustn’t abase yourself so, Ms. Menou. You are one of the chosen few who bear the burden of a role opposite to mine. I would never take you lightly.”

Without a doubt, Orwell had probably saved more people than anyone else in this city.

It wasn’t just Menou’s hometown. There was also the matter of battling and defending against the looming menace of the Wild Frontier. Not to mention the charitable works that had occurred in this nation under her leadership. She had brought salvation to many others on her road to becoming the archbishop.

Truly, she was the opposite of Menou.

So her words carried all the more weight.

“You are a necessary part of this world. I want you to realize that.”

“…Yes, ma’am.”

Orwell seemed to correctly guess the meaning of Menou’s hesitation, but her gentle smile didn’t waver.

“I hope you truly understand it one day.”

Her experience was incomparable. Whenever Menou interacted with Orwell, she was painfully reminded of her own immaturity.

Menou resolved to watch the ceremony all the way to the end. She couldn’t look away, even in the moment when Akari died. That was her role—and all that she could do at present.

As she focused her vision, Menou noticed that her scripture was flickering with Guiding Light.

It was a message from Momo. She started to open her scripture, then stopped when she remembered she was next to her superior. It would be rude to read a message in the middle of their conversation.

Instead, she probed the minute changes in the way the energy reacted in her scripture. Messages conveyed in this way were composed using Guiding Force. If the receiver’s control over its power was precise enough, they could learn the contents of the message without opening the book.

As Menou read the message from Momo, a wave of shock crashed through her mind. All the different pieces that occurred to her came together to form one conclusion.

“…Archbishop Orwell.”

“What is it, Ms. Menou?”

Guiding Force: Connect—

As soon as she finished absorbing the information she’d been sent, Menou quietly charged her scripture with power.

“About the ceremony Akari’s going to undertake. You acquired the materials beforehand, correct?”

“Yes. What about it?”

Scripture, 3:1—

Menou had put Akari on the altar by convincing her it was a return ceremony. She did it because Orwell, in turn, told Menou that it was a ceremony to destroy a Pure Concept. The preparations were going on right before her eyes.

So Menou spoke very casually as she began to conjure deep within herself.

“What sort of ceremony is this, exactly?”

“Oh my,” Orwell murmured. Her eyes went to Menou’s scripture, and she smiled calmly.

“You received a message, hmm? I never imagined someone would find that place and escape from the trap… It seems I overlooked a possible threat.”

She didn’t seem shaken, yet she didn’t deny anything, either. Instantly, Menou was sure.

Orwell was her enemy.

Menou released the conjuring she’d been quietly constructing.

Invoke [And the oncoming enemy did hear the tolling of the bell.]

Guiding Light burst from Menou’s scripture, forming the bell of an artificial church.

It was a powerful attack that sent a clanging blastwave charged with power in all directions. Between its range and intensity, it was not an easy attack to defend against by any means.

Most of all, Orwell wasn’t holding a scripture. There was no reason not to take advantage of that fact.

First, the preemptive strike would suppress the other priestesses as well as Orwell. There might be a crest barrier to protect them, but the ranged attack would stop anyone from moving. Using this as a starting point for her strategy, Menou moved to pile on her next attack.

Orwell moved her hand slightly.

As always, the hand was resting on her cane, which supported her elderly body. When her wrinkled hand shifted aside, it revealed inlaid gems in the head that shone in the three primary colors.

Menou’s eyes widened.

Guiding Force: Connect—Holy Cane, Primary Triad—Invoke [Three Colors, Ten Eras, Hundred Blossoms, Thousand Wars]

Orwell’s conjuring instantly crushed Menou’s.

The three primary colors mixed together, blossoming into ten colors, then transforming into a hundred shining hues that then formed lines of Guiding Light in numbers that could easily reach a thousand.

The countless colored beams bloomed, crashing against the pseudo-church Menou had created, and destroyed it.

The speed and amplification of the conjuring was terrifying.

Menou could invoke conjuring with her scripture as quickly as any crest, but this was no ordinary skill if it could catch up to hers. The beams of light crushed her bell before it could peal out a single sound, then instantly rained down on Menou. She managed to avoid a direct hit by jumping out of the way, but Orwell’s target didn’t seem to be Menou herself.

The beams of light pierced through the floor, breaking it open.

“?!”

The ceremonial hall in the underground mausoleum concealed an even deeper underground space. With her footing lost, Menou began to fall.

“Menou?!”

Akari cried out her name from the altar, alarmed by the sudden development.

But Menou could scarcely save herself, let alone the other girl. As she was plunged into empty air along with the remains of the floor that had been beneath her feet, a red streak of light shot toward her hand. Unable to dodge in midair, she could do nothing to stop her scripture from being struck and catching fire.

“Akari, run!”

With that short cry, she charged energy into her scripture before it burned beyond use, choosing the best conjuring available from the pages that were still intact.

Guiding Force: Connect—Scripture, 13:13—Invoke [The spirit of a martyr is so precious, it is almost foolish.]

The scripture exploded with a violent flash.

It was self-destruction, not intended as an attack so much as a way to maintain the secrecy of the scripture’s contents. The implosion made the floor collapse even further. It probably didn’t reach the ceremonial hall, but it was certainly big enough to affect the place where Orwell was standing. The archbishop had likely protected herself with the defensive crest in her robes, but as long as she lost her footing and plunged down with Menou, that was good enough.

Akari hadn’t been restrained. Menou hoped she would at least have the sense to run away under cover of the explosive distraction.

Gravity dragged Menou down, even deeper than the ceremonial hall where Akari had been at the altar. The hole wasn’t especially deep. Before long, Menou landed, and she promptly drew the dagger from the belt around her thigh.

The room she found herself in was a strange test site. In stark contrast with the purity of the room above it, it stank horribly of blood and agony.

The stone cellar contained cots lined up at regular intervals. And lying atop each cot was a young woman.

Draped limply on the beds, they had all had their innards removed. Their heads had been carved open, their empty skulls lolling, and their blood had been drained away, leaving them in an almost mummified state. The young women’s eyes were open and clouded, never to show the spark of life again.

In the center of the lab, amid human parts that had been hung from the ceiling, were two giant flasks.

One was a flask collecting the red elements from the human bodies, so as not to waste the materials left over from the experiments. The other contained the remaining dregs of human material that had been separated from the red.

How many human lives had been expended to extract these materials?

The flasks, so big they towered over Menou, were more than half full.

“…I have a long way to go, if I can still be fooled so easily by the promise of help with my mission,” Menou said.

“It would seem so. But you’re still quite young, so there’s no need to let it get you down. The older one grows, the more cowardly one becomes, and naturally one learns how to manipulate the young in the process.”

A beautiful staircase had materialized, leading down from the hole through which Menou had fallen. Composed of the three primary colors, it was substantial enough to support Orwell, letting her calmly and safely make her way to the floor.

Orwell smiled gently. Her compassionate gaze looked the same as ever.

Biting back frustration that she’d been separated from Akari, Menou was forced to confront the truth she didn’t want to acknowledge.

Orwell was the mastermind behind the disappearances she herself had asked Menou to investigate—and that wasn’t all.

Menou’s assumption that the Order of Knights in this town were corrupt had been naive. There was someone far worse who had worked with the Commons terrorists, conducted human experiments, and finally provided the Noblesse the technology with which to summon Otherworlders.

All the incidents Menou had encountered in this nation were the work of the archbishop.

“You’re calm and collected for your age—talented, too—but you lack the caution and cowardliness of that girl—of Flare. Without it, you won’t be a properly frightening Executioner, you know.”

“It pains me to hear that.”

If Orwell, the leader of the nation’s Faust, was part of this conspiracy, then it was no wonder the Noblesse king so confidently dared to attempt a summoning.

If they were going to fight here and now, the biggest problem would be the materials slotted into Orwell’s cane.

The red, blue, and green crystals were rare, prohibited items that should never be in the hands of a holy woman.

“Now then, Ms. Menou. How much do you know about the Primary Color crystals, I wonder?”

“I know they’re made of the three purest colors in this world: red, blue, and green. Part of the Concept Dimension, which was formed by the planet’s powers and human history, these stones allow access to and conjuring from the Concepts of Primary Colors that paint this world. The materials can also express any color in the world through conjuring.”

Orwell’s inquiry was as polite as ever, so Menou responded with the same calm expression.

The Primary Color stones weren’t the only frightening part of this fight. The complex conjuring Orwell had used for her previous attack was executed with dazzling delicacy. Her ability to control Guiding Force, so important in the process of conjuring, was clearly high above Menou’s.

“With those stones, I imagine someone of your level could even create entire conjured worlds, Archbishop Orwell.”

“That’s correct. I’d expect no less of that girl’s pupil. Your knowledge of designated taboos is impeccable.”

Though she maintained her even tone, Menou was anything but calm on the inside.

There was only one reason she could think of that Orwell would have lured them here.

She was after Akari.

More precisely, she wanted Akari’s Pure Concept. Most likely, the ceremony she was trying to perform up in the hall wasn’t to kill Akari. It must be some sacrilegious ritual intended to use her Pure Concept in some way.

“Well then, since you’re aware of the difference in our skill, I would appreciate it if you would surrender.”

“Unfortunately, my Master never taught me how to give up.”

Can I win this? Menou asked herself.

Can I beat Archbishop Orwell?

She was a powerful figure, a genius among the Faust, with an unbreakable spirit, and she’d built up many achievements over time to reach the position at the top. Her very first attack had burned up Menou’s scripture, her single greatest weapon, in a matter of seconds. Menou was at an obvious disadvantage. It was in her best interest to retreat.

But as if she had read Menou’s thoughts, Orwell chose that moment to charge the cathedral with energy.

Guiding Force: Merge Materials—Cathedral, Church Construction Conjuring Crest—Invoke [Multi-Wall Sanctum Barrier]

The ornate, complex crests in the cathedral activated. The Guiding Force that Orwell had flooded into the walls created a layered, impenetrable barrier that cut off the inside of the cathedral from the rest of the world.

“Now you can be certain that help is not coming, Ms. Menou.”

In spite of the fact that she’d just infused a massive barrier with power, Orwell seemed none the worse for wear. Between the speed and accuracy of her conjuring and her vast amount of natural power, enough to create a wall around the cathedral, she was in a league all her own.

Menou’s only possible advantage was the fragility of Orwell’s aging body. Her legs were so weak that even Enhancement couldn’t strengthen them sufficiently. The only way to take her down would be in close combat, but there was no doubt in Menou’s mind that the archbishop would have a few tricks to defend herself. It would be unwise to recklessly charge her.

“May I ask your reasons? I assume you funded the summoning in the royal capital as well, yes?”

Menou continued analyzing her opponent’s strengths, searching for weaknesses, but inwardly, she was kicking herself with regret.

As an Executioner, she should have realized what was happening. Yet she had carelessly brought Akari right into the heart of heresy.

“Ah, well. I only assisted the Faust to prevent the Order of Knights from finding out about this. When I offered them the technology for summoning, a by-product of my experiments here, they were all too happy to cooperate.”

The Otherworlder summoning in the royal capital had set off this whole chain of events. It was all connected: the multiple ceremonies that were designed to mislead an Executioner and the movements of the Faust that tried to lure Menou into a trap. In retrospect, they had known far too much about the methods of Executioners, whose very existence wasn’t even public knowledge.

“I lent a hand to that Commons terrorist group and their little schemes because I wanted them to collect young girls for me. It’s always better to have more materials, is it not?”

That explained the Guiding guns the terrorists had on the train, and more importantly, the Primary Red Stone, which required a great deal of conjuring proficiency to acquire and utilize. For the archbishop, who controlled all the churches in the royal capital, it would be an easy feat to acquire and distribute these prohibited weapons…

…all the more so if she was collaborating with both the Noblesse and the Commons.

“The Faust can hardly go about kidnapping people publicly. So in exchange for assisting them, I had them bring the girls to this basement for use in my experiments.”

“…I see. Then you must have had some reason for the terrorists attacking the train, too.”

“Wasn’t Princess Ashuna on that train?”

Orwell responded without hesitation, as if she had no reason to hide it anymore.

“Her Highness has always had sharp intuition. When I heard she was coming here, I wanted to ensure she didn’t find out about my endeavors, so I attempted to distract her with you instead. I knew she would act if an incident occurred on the train, and as a priestess, you would have to do something about it as well.”

This made sense: Without the terrorist incident, Ashuna wouldn’t have run into Momo. And because Menou was aware of the princess’s presence, she was forced to act accordingly.

“The timing was perfect, since her father’s plans had just been derailed by an Executioner. Knowing Princess Ashuna’s personality, there was no doubt she would take a keen interest in such a person’s existence. I’m sure it made things much more difficult for you as well, Ms. Menou.”

Indeed, the matter of Ashuna had deprived Menou of a valuable resource in the form of Momo. If Momo hadn’t knocked Ashuna off the train, Menou’s movements probably would have been greatly limited under the princess’s watchful eye, too.

Orwell had pretended to help the terrorists and used them as disposable pawns to force Menou and company into a confrontation with Ashuna. Without taking a single step out of Garm, she had guided Menou and Ashuna right into her hands.

“The one unexpected factor was that assistant of yours. I assumed that if she was wandering around investigating underground, she would bump into the princess and start another fight… But since she was able to communicate with you despite finding that ceremonial hall, perhaps they worked together? In that case, I’ll have to dispose of the pair of them later, too.”

“…How far you’ve fallen, Archbishop Orwell.”

Now that she had all the information, Menou glared sharply at the archbishop.

The polar opposite of Menou, Orwell was supposed to be using her conjuring and position to help people. That was her role as a holy woman—especially as the archbishop.

However, this person, at the very top of the Faust, had sunk her hands so deep into the unthinkable with all these careful plans.

“Unlike me, you’re supposed to save people. Why would you do all this?”

“Ah, you don’t understand, do you…? I suppose you do nothing but kill, after all. Ah yes. It all makes sense now, Ms. Menou. No wonder you don’t know.”

Orwell looked at her as if witnessing a child’s ignorance of the world.

“You see, when you save too many people, the cries for help get very annoying.”

“Wh…?” Menou was speechless.

Orwell continued, unaffected:

“Help us. Save us. Why won’t you come to aid us? Why won’t you give us more? Make more miracles! Don’t hold back! Give us everything! Your time, your power, your entire life! Save us! …They follow you about endlessly.”

She sounded every bit an exhausted old woman as she finished her confession.

“And yet not one of them ever saves themselves…”

Guiding Force: Connect—Holy Cane, Primary Triad—Invoke [Deceit, Hellfire]

Orwell channeled her power into one of the three Primary Color stones in her cane, the Primary Red Stone, invoking a conjuring.

Unnaturally vivid red flames rose up, quickly covering the floor.

“Ngh…”

Menou flinched at the attack created by the primary color.

It was vastly different from any limited conjuring created by crests and scriptures. With the materials and Orwell’s advanced control over her powers, it could draw out and manifest phenomena from the Primary Color Concept, one of the dimensions created by the planet’s astral vein and human history.

The conceptual flames produced no heat waves, yet if they touched Menou, they would incinerate her to ash, bones and all.

Guiding Force: Connect—Dagger, Crest—Invoke [Guiding Thread]

Activating the crest, she threw the dagger up to wrap around an ornament on the wall. Then she pulled on the attached thread and jumped, escaping from the crimson flames that licked the floor.

“Heh. Very impressive.”

“You…!”

Landing back on the floor once the flames died down, Menou gnashed her teeth in frustration at her lack of options.

Since that first light-beam attack had destroyed her scripture, the only battle-conjuring invocation mediums she had left were the crests on her daggers, to invoke Guiding Thread and Gale, and the one in her robes, to invoke Barrier. She was up against a wall, with no apparent way to win.

Even if she wanted to run, she was trapped by the barrier around the cathedral.

“Hmm, where were we? Ah yes. You asked why I would do all this, didn’t you? My apologies, dear. When you get to be my age, you lose track of a conversation very easily.”

Orwell didn’t seem at all bothered to see Menou avoiding her conjuring. On the contrary, she wore the smile of someone watching affectionately as an energetic child played outside.

“You know, these days, my back aches terribly.”

“Excuse me?”

Menou had no idea what she was talking about.

Your back aches?

What does that have to do with anything?

Whether or not she was aware of Menou’s inner confusion, Orwell lightly patted her own bent back as she continued.

“Every morning when I wake up, my first thought is always ‘Ah, my back hurts,’ you see.”

Menou braced herself, assuming this was a preamble leading to some grand, sweeping reason, but Orwell just carried on with the common complaint of the elderly.

“It’s so painful to get out of bed. I have to borrow the aid of someone younger to get up, and when I take my first step, you can hear my knees creak. Oh, dear me. It’s just terrible. Do you understand? You see, I believe this is the weight of all the people I’ve saved dragging me down. They’re just so terribly heavy.”

“What are you saying…?”

“Ah, but of course you don’t understand. You are young, after all.”

The feeling Orwell was directing toward the young Menou wasn’t jealousy—

“I suppose I didn’t understand, either, when I was your age. But this is the thing of it, Ms. Menou. In the end, I’ve failed to become a proper holy woman. I’m just an ordinary person who happened to be able to help others because of my powers. Now that I’ve reached this frail old age, I finally realized it for what it truly is. That’s all there is to it.”

—it was pity, for a young woman who didn’t yet know the fear of old age that would eventually descend on her.

“But still, since I’ve saved so many people, I think it’s only fair that I should be allowed to kill just as many to save myself now.”

Menou silently looked around the room.

In this lab, countless kidnapped young women had been subjected to human experiments, dissected to research the source of their youthfulness, and converted into materials, all so that Orwell could escape aging.

Menou couldn’t comprehend that motivation in the slightest. And so she gave up on attempting to guess the old woman’s feelings.

“…And that’s why you wanted Akari.”

The Pure Concept of Time. For an old woman who feared her own deterioration, Akari’s Regression must be incredibly tantalizing.

“How did you intend to use her Pure Concept? That’s not the kind of thing anyone can use however they wish, even a distinguished conjurer like yourself.”

After her experience brushing against the Pure Concept that dwelled within Akari back on the train, Menou’s understanding of this was painfully clear. Even using someone else’s Guiding Force was difficult enough.

But naturally, Orwell must be aware of the dangers of a Pure Concept, too.

“Goodness, Ms. Menou. Please don’t misjudge me. Surely you know I’m well aware of the instability inherent to one that’s improperly attached to an Otherworlder. I would never attempt to lay a hand on one directly. How do you think I’ve lived to such an old age? I know my limits very well.”

The archbishop spoke calmly of her own common sense, as if she hadn’t kidnapped young girls and conducted experiments on them.

Then how…? Menou wondered, until it occurred to her.

The ceremonial hall they’d been in before they fell down here.

“That hall above us seems to be the source of your confidence. How were you going to use it to control a Pure Concept?”

“Indeed. Well, it’s actually rather relevant to you, so I suppose I could explain.”

Orwell smiled warmly, as if imparting another lesson on the younger priestess.

“That ceremonial hall was originally created to brainwash summoned Otherworlders, you see.”

“Brainwash…?”

“Indeed. Or perhaps blanch their minds would be more accurate.”

The teleportation experiment Momo had found wasn’t actually being used for the summoning in the royal capital.

Orwell had created it for a very different purpose.

“It’s a test site for erasing personalities. It’s intended to wipe a person’s spirit and soul clean, leaving nothing but white. I had hoped that using it on an Otherworlder would mean acquiring their Pure Concept to use as I wished, but it was quite difficult to adjust it to the proper level of cleansing. In one case, even the Pure Concept itself was turned Ivory, which was quite difficult to cover up. You’re quite familiar with that incident, though, aren’t you?”

A small smile cracked the corners of Orwell’s lips.

“The Otherworlder who was partly blanched turned an entire town white, as you may recall.”

The shock that struck Menou was difficult to put into words.

This unexpected revelation shook her far more than the initial realization of Orwell’s heresy. For a moment, her thoughts froze. Her mind went almost completely white. She nearly dropped her dagger, her grip on the handle slackening.

The blade shook in her trembling hand.

“You… For how long?”

“I told you, didn’t I? From the very beginning.”

When Menou managed to choke out a question, the wrinkled old woman smiled mischievously.

From the very beginning.

Whether she wanted to or not, Menou realized with horror just how far back that really went.

Menou’s hometown had turned to white snow, as had her memories of it. Her family, her friends, and the town itself had all turned white and drifted away as one. Menou was all that stayed behind, her heart left so blank, not even sadness remained.

That incident, which Menou couldn’t process as a tragedy despite being a survivor, was all the work of the woman before her eyes.

And for what purpose?

“After some experimenting, I determined that rather than trying to brainwash Otherworlders, it was better to blanch their souls and spirits into pure white, leaving them as Pure Concepts with no will of their own. But even then, an Otherworlder trying to use their power is still a danger.”

Orwell explained the truth plainly.

“That’s where you come in, Ms. Menou. Together, you and Ms. Akari mean something. You have the potential to manipulate that girl’s Pure Concept, right?”

On being told that she herself was meant to use Akari, Menou remembered again the incident on the train.

Menou had no barriers around her spirit and soul. When her hometown turned white, she was blanched almost entirely blank as well. That was why Menou was able to connect her energy to Akari’s—and with startling ease, at that. She had avoided touching the Pure Concept on the train, not wanting to expose herself to needless danger, but it was possible that she could have used that as well.

“I believe you could. You survived that white town, reborn as the finest of materials. You can perform the connection with others easily—and under Flare’s tutelage, your conjuring has improved to the point where you are now also called Flarette. I have no doubt that you would be able to manipulate her Pure Concept.”

Orwell had turned that entire town to white snow in order to create material for controlling Pure Concepts. Material in the form of Menou.

Her target wasn’t just Akari. It was Menou and Akari together.

“…Ah, I see.”

Menou’s mind, which had nearly gone numb, started to churn again.

The doubts she had slowly been building up during the events of the past week began to click into place, one after another.

The Pure Concept of Null belonging to the boy she killed without ever knowing his name could have eventually developed into immortality. The only reason Akari was chosen to survive instead was because her Pure Concept of Time was more convenient for Orwell’s purposes. This also explained why an important figure like the archbishop would take such interest in Menou, a mere Executioner.

Orwell had kept her eye on Menou all this time because she was a necessary ingredient for her plans.

“So you really were behind all of it from the beginning.”

“That’s right. There was a bit of luck and coincidence involved, to be sure, but when you spend ten years seizing every small opportunity you can find, eventually you’ll achieve the results you want.”

Simmering heat began to bubble up from deep in Menou’s stomach. She was angry—at being deceived, at being used for so long that it was never even a betrayal to begin with, and at her own foolishness for failing to notice it and revering Orwell all the while.

“I’ve been waiting for you, my precious material, to grow enough to be able to control a Pure Concept. That is why I prompted the Faust to execute the summoning.”

Orwell had patiently, carefully built this plan over a long time. Summoning the forbidden entities known as Otherworlders, luring in the Executioner known as Menou—it was all one small part of a plan spanning over ten years.

“…Heh. From beginning to end, there was only one person who ever doubted me. The Executioner known as Flare.”

Menou gripped her dagger more tightly.

Noticing this, the sharp-eyed archbishop smiled in delight.

“Oh my, have I angered you? But why? Why would you get incensed just now? For who? Surely you’re not angry over losing your hometown? You don’t even have a self, after all. These thoughts you’re having now are well after the fact, aren’t they, Ms. Menou?”

It all went back to digging up that pure-white day when Menou was reborn into this world.

“You’ve forgotten everything. It’s all been wiped.”

Her anger reached a breaking point.

Guiding Force: Connect—Dagger, Crest—Double Invoke [Guiding Thread, Gale]

Guiding Force: Connect—Priestess Robes, Crest—Multi-Invoke [Multi-Barrier]

Menou threw the blade and sped it up with Gale, but it was knocked away before it could reach Orwell.

Orwell had activated the crest in her robes. The multiple barriers that formed were far tougher than the armor of the magic soldier Menou fought on the train. On top of that, Orwell’s conjuring speed was far faster than hers.

Menou pulled on the thread to recover her thrown dagger. Orwell chuckled pleasantly, not in mockery of her attack.

“How fitting that you call yourself ‘Flarette.’ My once perfectly white materials have now taken on far too great a resemblance to that girl.”

“That’s right. I am a villain, after all.”

Expressionless, Menou took a step forward.

After her anger exploded, her mind was strangely calm.

Whatever Menou’s own identity might be, whatever Orwell’s intentions were, there was only one thing she had to do.

“Using an Otherworlder is categorically prohibited. As is the use of human body parts as materials.”

No matter who was doing it or why—none of that mattered.

Menou stared coldly at the heretic before her eyes.

Orwell had sunk to the use of the forbidden. She had escaped even from Menou’s Master and run all the way to the very peak of the Faust, the First Estate.

Even so, Menou’s mission was unchanged.

“You have committed a grave offense, so I must kill you. That’s the reason for my existence.”

“Indeed. Come, then, young one. Poor child who could not share the fate of your hometown.”

Orwell’s gentle smile never wavered. She was touching the two flasks that contained the materials she’d gained from dissecting so many humans.

Guiding Force: Connect—Primary Red Stone, Primary Color Pseudo-Concept [Red]—Invoke [Primary Red, Willful Seraph]

Guiding Force: Sacrifice—Original Sin, Pride: Spirit, Body, Soul—Summon [Original Sin, Turf Creeper]

All the red in one of the flasks began to transform, and the human body parts in the other became a sacrificial medium for summoning.

The red materials formed into an androgynous nude figure with wings. And the shadowy, muddy substance that appeared at Orwell’s feet grew eight legs and turned into a sort of chair.

Orwell motioned for the red angel to wait while she lowered herself to sit on the summoned demon. Her hand firmly clutched the holy cane with the three Primary Color jewels.

“Whenever you’re ready, dear. I’ll go easy on you. I’ve no intention of taking your life. I’ll see to it that you and Ms. Akari serve your rightful purpose.”

The heretical leader of the nation smiled softly.

Left behind in the ceremonial hall, Akari’s eyes widened.

She was surrounded by priestesses, most of whom had their scriptures out and looked ready for battle.

Unfortunately, the short opportunity Menou created by throwing her scripture had little effect. Akari wasn’t experienced enough to run instantly upon being told to do so; while she was still frozen in surprise at the explosion, the other women surrounded her.

“Don’t move, Otherworlder. You’ll forget everything soon enough.”

“Ummm…what?”

Akari barely had any idea what was happening, since everything was moving so quickly, but her instincts were beginning to suspect that she might be in a dangerous situation.

“We know all about your ability. If you can only use Regression, then there’s no way you can resist.”

The priestesses continued the ceremony, keeping close watch on Akari’s movements.

The group hustled her along, gathering at the altar in the center of the hall.

Guiding Force: Connect—Ceremonial Altar, Ceremony Construction Conjuring Crest—Invoke [Pseudo-Reproduction: Partial Blanch]

The edges of the ceremonial hall warped and twisted.

It wasn’t the walls themselves that had started moving—it was the stark-white paint that covered them. The coating began to gather at the peak of the ceremonial hall’s domed ceiling—in other words, directly above Akari and the altar.

Once the white liquid converged on that one point, it began to condense into a single, large droplet.

“This is a fragment of the Starhusk—the floating clouded sphere of the northern continent. Even an Otherworlder can’t resist its blanching effect.”

“Wait, whaaat?!”

Panic rose in Akari’s chest as things unfolded around her. Something crazy was going on, of that much she was sure. Most likely, she and Menou had been tricked somehow. But Akari had neither the mental fortitude nor the means to escape from this dangerous situation.

The disturbingly white liquid overhead trembled and was about to fall, when suddenly…

Guiding Force: Auto-Connect (Conditions Met)—Improper Attachment, Pure Concept [Time]—Release [Regression: Memories, Soul, Spirit]

There was the soundless echo of a clock ticking, and time for Akari alone shifted away from that of the rest of the world. All at once, the unease vanished from Akari’s face.

“Hmm? This is… Ah, I see. This is like that time in the cathedral in Garm. And whoa! This is my present from Menou!”

Her attitude completely changed, Akari took off her headband and looked at it excitedly. The priestesses stared at her, confused by her sudden strange behavior.

The ceremony was nearly complete now. As the priestesses observed the proceedings to ensure she didn’t escape, a little laugh suddenly escaped from the girl on the altar.

“Okay, I’m gonna resist now.”

With that, Akari lightly twirled her index finger.

Her opponents didn’t even have time to react.

Guiding Force: Connect—Improper Attachment, Pure Concept [Time]—Invoke [Suspension]

The conjuring happened as naturally as taking a breath.

The people around her froze in place, illuminated by the Guiding Light emitting from Akari’s finger. Even their breathing and heartbeats ceased, but that didn’t mean they were dead.

Time had temporarily stopped for the priestesses.

However, the concentrated white droplet didn’t stop entirely. It was affected by the suspension of time, but its own order to blanch the target lessened that effect. Slowly but surely, without the normal speed of gravity, it continued to drag downward.

“That thing won’t really stop, huh? I wonder why.”

Unhurriedly, Akari stood up and got down from the altar. The white droplet broke through and fell, hitting the altar where Akari had been moments before and turning the whole thing white.

“Yeah, sorry. I don’t intend to follow anyone but Menou or be used by anyone but her. And most of all… I really, really don’t want anyone but Menou to kill me.”

Akari didn’t even look fazed by the unusual sight as she waved her finger like a conductor’s baton. This time, she invoked a different kind of conjuring.

Guiding Force: Connect—Improper Attachment, Pure Concept [Time]—Invoke [Teleportation]

She was interfering with space, a matter closely connected to time. Akari performed the conjuring with the practiced ease that only an Otherworlder with an intimate understanding of a Pure Concept could achieve.

The priestesses suspended in time had now vanished. Paying no mind to their absence, Akari leaned her head sideways and folded her arms, as if scouring her memories.

“Now, at this point in time…yeah. Unlike the time on the train, there’s no need to turn things back… Hee-hee. I guess the most natural way would be to have Momo let loose.”

Speaking the name of someone who she technically hadn’t met yet, Akari grinned as if she’d hit upon a sneaky idea.

Guiding Force: Connect—Improper Attachment, Pure Concept [Time]—Double Invoke [Teleportation, Weathering]

Two conjurings occurred at once. Akari had called upon them to transcend space, enacting their effects somewhere else entirely.

Akari snickered as she imagined the results.

“Was that too mean of me? I always was a liiittle jealous of those ribbons. It’s no fair, having a memento of their past like that.”

She stuck out her tongue at someone who wasn’t there to see it. Then, after this childish display of retaliation, Akari hugged the headband with its flower decoration close to her chest.

“Hee-hee… Lucky me. There aren’t many Times I get something as wonderful as a handmade gift from Menou. I’m so, sooo happy.”

After murmuring to herself, Akari shaped her right hand into a gun, pointing the index finger at her own temple.

“Okay, then. It’s all right. I’ll just have a sense of déjà vu, like always. And I’ll still love Menou! …So I’m not scared at all.”

While Akari spoke quietly as if trying to convince herself, her right hand shone.

Guiding Force: Connect—Improper Attachment, Pure Concept [Time]—Invoke [Regression: Memories, Soul, Spirit]

The light she’d produced shot into her head.

Once the glow of the conjuring faded, an unharmed Akari blinked a few times.

“Hwuh?”

She furrowed her brow, trying to figure out why she was standing when she’d been sitting just a moment ago. And on top of that, the people who’d been surrounding her were suddenly gone.

“Ummm…?”

While she wondered what had just happened, Akari nevertheless started walking.

She had a feeling she had to go somewhere important.

It was the same thing that had happened on the train. She didn’t know why. She just knew she had to do it.

As she ventured farther into the ceremonial hall, she came upon a staircase. For some reason, Akari knew immediately that going down would lead her to Menou.

“Hrmm…”

Akari crossed her arms and thought for a moment.

Menou told her to run, but Akari thought that wasn’t really what she was supposed to do. No, it wasn’t even really a thought—more of a strong compulsion. Something deep inside her was urging her forward.

“Okay. If Menou’s in trouble, I’ve gotta go to her!”

Coming up with a reason to assign to the impulse, Akari headed down the stairs. She’d surely never been here before, but a strong sense of déjà vu guided her. Although she didn’t know where she was going, she didn’t hesitate.

She just moved in a straight line toward the place where she needed to be.

“Even if she gets mad at me for coming, I’m just gonna tell her off. I didn’t do anything wrong!”

Akari hurried onward toward Menou.

Ashuna’s sword slashed sharply, cutting through the demon shaped like a twisted string.

But the creature, which seemed to consist of a tangle of sticky black thread, didn’t recoil. The piece that had been cut off turned into a second creature, attempting to attack Ashuna from her blind spot and coil around her.

Ashuna swiftly crushed the offshoot creature without hesitation. Unable to maintain its form, it fused back into the main body.

“Hrmm.”

Ashuna tilted her head elegantly.

Cutting off a piece of the main body made it turn into a being of its own, and when that being was crushed, its remains were absorbed back into the main body. And yet, she couldn’t seem to find any kind of core in the enormous, writhing main body of the demon.

“Momo, how do you kill this creature?”

“How should I knooow?”

With a quick glance at Ashuna’s battle, still hoping she would be killed by the demon, Momo sliced off another one of her own opponent’s scales with her oscillating coping saw.

Momo was preoccupied fighting a pure-red wingless dragon.

Unlike Ashuna’s demon, it didn’t have any special abilities—it was just a dragon-shaped soldier that was gigantic and therefore strong. Its enormous body gave most of its attacks deadly weight, but Momo was nimble enough to dodge them all.

Figuring there was nothing to fear, Momo boldly went in for close-combat battle. Her top priority was getting out of this place. She was even willing to foist the dragon off on Ashuna if it meant ending this battle more quickly.

The red dragon, evidently angered by the attacks chipping away at its giant body, whipped its head around to shake off Momo, and it opened its mouth wide.

Guiding Force: Connect—Primary Red Stone, Inner Seal Conjuration—Invoke [Red Flame]

Fire began to form within its mouth.

The flames created by the red Primary Color Pseudo-Concept were as red as a splash of the purest paint. Though they emitted no heat, the flames had even more power to burn than an actual flame might as they licked outward.

I can make it.

Making a snap judgment, Momo estimated the amount of power within the flames and pushed forward.

Guiding Force: Connect—Priestess Robes, Crest—Invoke [Barrier]

Activating the crest within her robes, she stepped into the center of the vortex of flames. Naturally, she focused most on protecting her head as she created the barrier, covering for the thinner areas by strengthening her body’s constitution with Enhancement.

Just as Momo had calculated, she made it through the flames in the instant it took for the barrier to burn away—or very nearly.

In that instant, there was a flash of Guiding Light that mingled among the red flames.

The result was a frightful conjuring that weathered the passage of time in the immediate area. Time had teleported here from the cathedral before activating, eating through to form two small holes in the defensive barrier that Momo had created around her head.

In the exact areas where her hair was held in place by ribbons.

“…What?”

Just as she was about to cut through her opponent’s nose with her coping saw, Momo suddenly froze in place.

Her hair had come undone.

Normally tied up in pigtails, it suddenly drifted free in the air. As she felt her curls come loose, Momo turned away from the dragon and looked behind her—at the ribbons that had burned up and fallen to the floor.

The two red ribbons she had always worn, the ones Menou had given her.

“Ah…”

The coping saw in her hand fell to the floor with a thud. As Momo stood stock-still, the dragon took this opportunity to attack.

Momo didn’t even try to dodge.

With a roar, the dragon’s massive body crashed directly into Momo’s small frame, crushing her against the wall.

“Oh dear.”

As Ashuna was fighting with relative ease, attempting to figure out how to slay the demon, she heard the crash that shook the underground space and narrowed her eyes.

Well, that must have killed her.

Whatever the reason, Momo had suddenly stopped and stood still in the middle of battle. Ashuna herself was another story, but she couldn’t imagine Momo surviving that situation. What an anticlimactic end, she thought, disappointed.

The giant clouds of dust began to disperse. Thinking she could at least bury her later if a corpse remained, Ashuna squinted into the vanishing dust, but the scene that emerged made her doubt her own eyes.

The enormous red dragon, its mass increased by a huge amount of Guiding Force, was flailing its legs and tail.

“Hmm?”

On closer inspection, this was in fact Momo’s doing. Despite the attack she’d just taken head-on, Momo looked virtually unharmed, even pinning the dragon down by the nose with one hand.

And that wasn’t even the strangest part.

“…Hic!”

Momo was crying.

The tint of the Guiding Light enhancing her body as she cried was deeper and darker than it had ever been before.

Amid the exaggerated sobs of a crying child, there was a dull crack.

It was the sound of the dragon’s nose being crushed into a more convenient shape by Momo’s unnaturally powerful grip.

“Waaah… WAAAAAAAHHH!”

In the midst of the intense battle, Momo started wailing in a gracelessly loud cry.

She continued to cry as she lifted the dragon one-handed and whipped it around, causing a massive whoosh. The ground shook as the dragon’s gigantic mass crashed into it over and over, but Momo paid it no mind. She bashed the giant dragon every which way, like a child throwing a tantrum with a pillow.

“Why?! Why?! I protected them. I know I did! So hooow…? It’s not faaair. This isn’t… Waaaah! No! No! No, this is all wrooong! WAAAAHH!”

“Er, uh, Momo? We’re underground, remember? If you keep that up—”

“Shut uuup! Go awaaay! Die!!”

“Whoa?!”

Tears still pouring down her cheeks, Momo flung the dragon directly at Ashuna. She managed to dodge it, but the beast crashed into the demon, sending both flying into the wall with a powerful crash.

Knowing full well what would have happened if it had hit her, even the princess felt a chill run down her spine.

Meanwhile, Momo didn’t spare a glance at the results of her wild toss. She just dropped to the floor and scooped up the ribbons tenderly.

“Wehhh… Hic… B-but my darling gave these to me. What do I do…? She might think I’m a bad girl wh-who destroys presents… Nooo…it’s not faaair. Nooooooo!”

Squeezing the remains of the ribbons to her chest, Momo bawled uncontrollably like an infant.

Crying children were outside the Princess Knight’s area of expertise. As Ashuna hesitated in a rare moment of uncertainty, Momo’s watery eyes fell on the two monsters trying to extract themselves from the wall.

“Waaah… Waaaah!”

Rage flared in her tearful eyes.

“This is all your faaault! Those were a gift from my darling! They were so precious, so, sooo important to me! Die, die, die! DIIIIIE!”

Momo whipped out her scripture and charged it with energy.

Guiding Force: Connect—

A massive amount of power pumped out of her soul and into the book.

Scripture, 1:4, Full Passage—

Momo continued to draw it out of her very being—more than what ordinary priestesses could ever produce together.

Invoke [“What are you doing?” asked the king. The woman answered, “I am digging a well.” The earth was dry. The ground was cracked. Sand was all around. The king thought this strange. There was no water in this ground. Why here, at the end of the world? The king said—

To manifest the conjuring Momo was trying to invoke, the scripture directed the flow of energy deep underground to disrupt the earthen vein. Compared to Menou, who had done something similar for an instant atop a moving train, Momo’s control was downright clumsy.

However, the amount of power she was using was exponentially higher.

Ashuna deduced from where the power was aimed what Momo was trying to do, and the color drained from her face.

“W-wait, Momo. Surely you’re not—? The earthen vein—”

“I don’t care about good or bad.”

Momo paid Ashuna’s warning tone no heed.

“I hate everything except for my darling. For all I care, the rest of the world can just disappear. Let everything but her fall to ruin. The world would be better off if she was the only thing left.”

[“—no water will appear. This vein has run dry. The oil, too. There is no peace. No order. What could flourish in this world? What could be planted? What could be found? What is left to be dug up…?” The woman answered, “It is not—

The earthen vein thrashed.

Ceremonial conjuring normally required multiple people, but Momo was reproducing it on her own in a short time, albeit on a very small scale.

The section of the vein that passed under the ancient capital Garm bent and swerved toward the surface under Momo’s conjuring.

“How? Why? I love everything about my darling. How could you take away her gift to me? I’ll never, ever forgive you. Never!”

[—dead. This land is full of power. If I dig deeper and deeper, I will strike upon the light of great power. The truth of this world. The source. Salvation will spring from the ground’s lifeblood and into the heavens, connecting all across the—

Normally, conjurers would carefully manipulate the power produced by the earthen vein, but Momo’s control was not nearly delicate enough.

She simply twisted until it gushed forth. She made no effort to control it, nor did she want to.

“I hate it all! I hate everyone! I hate this entire! Stupid! World!”

[—sky, and with the light of this planet create a wall that shall surely bring peace to all.” The king believed her. He had not been forsaken. He gathered the people, dug through the earth, saw the light, and knew. Of hope. Of that which connects. Yes—

As she unleashed a conjuring on a far larger scale than one individual, Momo wept and screamed aloud.

“Everyone but my darling should just die!!”

[—the Lord’s will is relayed through all of heaven and earth, reigning far and wide.]

From deep below the earth, up to the surface, the torrent of power that gushed forth from the earthen vein crashed upward, bursting through the entire ceremonial hall.

Directly above where Momo had invoked her conjuring, in the royal castle, an unprecedented panic had broken out.

Part of the castle, which boasted a history of more than eight hundred years, had suddenly been destroyed.

A burst of light from underground had abruptly blasted through it, breaking the part of the castle that was reserved for sightseeing. No one was hurt, since it wasn’t open at the moment, but a throng of people had quickly gathered to see what was happening.

The knights guarding the area flew into a panic, running around trying to find the source. Some of them knew about the ceremonial hall underground and suspected that it might be related, but they couldn’t release that information to the public.

As they ran outside the building to get a better grasp of the situation, the knights gaped in disbelief.

Their very own Princess Knight Ashuna and an unknown priestess were fighting some strange creature.

“Heavens. What a stirring display, Momo!”

Ashuna chuckled delightedly, having withstood the burst of power with simply Enhancement. The blast had left her looking quite a bit the worse for wear, but none of the injuries were too severe.

“Well, after a show like that, I’ll just have to go all out, too! …Stay back, riffraff! I can’t promise you won’t get caught up in all this!”

It was a mistake to hold back in case we caused too much damage underground, she thought with a grin. If Ashuna got serious, she might actually demolish what was left of the castle nearby, but…

“Oh well. No big deal.”

In the end, it was just an old castle that had become a gathering place for the corrupt. The people inside seemed to have fled already, so annihilating it might even make her feel better, Ashuna reasoned as she charged her blade.

Guiding Force: Connect—Sword, Crest—Invoke [Slash: Expansion]

Ashuna’s energy surged through the crest carved into her sword.

The sheer level of strength was far too much to be contained by a single crest. She was deliberately charging it with excess power. Like Momo’s display of power, this was much more than any ordinary individual should be able to produce alone, and it resulted in a conjuring far more powerful than any the crest would normally manifest.

Momo’s scripture had managed to hold up to the excess Guiding Force and invoke the conjuring successfully, but Ashuna’s sword was only a poor substitute.

Cracks began to appear in the blade, but Ashuna dismissed them, continuing to feed the sword with power. The blade snapped and broke—but it didn’t fall apart.

The light held the broken pieces of the sword together, creating a giant sword far larger than any ordinary weapon.

“Now then, demon.”

As the beast writhed in pain from the force of the earthen vein, Ashuna raised her shining sword and smiled sweetly.

“Surely even you will die if you’re destroyed without a trace, yes?”

She swung the blade of light.

With its slashing attack expanded, the light sword cut neatly through the demon and scattered it into dust—but that wasn’t all.

The slash of the enormous blade cut diagonally through the half-wrecked castle, delivering the finishing blow.

For a moment, the upper half of the building slid to one side where it had been cut. Then it fell apart under its own weight, and in the next instant, the former royal castle began crumbling into pieces.

“Ha-ha-ha! It sure feels good to cut down history!”

The Princess Knight let out a hearty laugh as she watched the old royal castle fall apart.

When she turned to see how Momo was doing, the girl was still crying.

“Need any help?”

“Do you have a death wish?”

Momo paid no attention to the earth-shaking sounds and dust clouds as the old royal castle fell to pieces, nor did she meet Ashuna’s eyes as she held down the thrashing dragon with one hand.

The castle was tumbling down before them. There was a crowd of people exclaiming in alarm as the historically significant building was destroyed, but for all Momo cared, the whole crowd of them could die, too.

Unlike Ashuna, who was laughing aloud, Momo’s emotions were still in turmoil.

Tears continued to pour down her cheeks as she cursed the world. She held down the flailing dragon with her right hand, clutching the remains of the ribbons in her left.

The only thing more important to her than the ribbons was a single person. Momo was considering punching Ashuna once she finished taking care of this dragon—when she remembered that she had someone far more urgent to destroy.

This was all the archbishop’s fault.

She turned toward the culprit’s base and found there was a barrier erected around the cathedral.

Why had she ever held back in the first place? Certain places, circumstances, and obligations had been restraining Momo’s spirit.

That was why her ribbons got burned.

Even if she wanted to go beat the source of her problems, the barrier around the cathedral was too tough.

Fine, she thought, and she charged her powers into the perfect weapon that she just so happened to be gripping in her right hand.

Guiding Force: Connect—

Momo’s rough intrusion was met with violent resistance from the Fury Dragon.

It was the conjured soldier’s automatic defense protocol, designed to defend it from outside influence. Anyone who tried to connect to it outside of the approved means would have their Guiding Force pushed back into them, attempting to crush their spirit and body alike.

Menou had defended herself from this with her scripture.

But Momo didn’t have that level of skill.

So instead, she forced her way through with her massive amount of power.

Fury Dragon, Inner Seal Conjuration—

Momo’s Guiding Force stamped down the Fury Dragon’s thrust and expelled it.

The countercurrent was forced back by even more energy, allowing Momo to break down the energy powering the dragon’s core and replace it with her own.

The stored energy that kept the dragon-shaped soldier running was ejected, stopping it completely. The Primary Red Stone ceased to serve as the conjured soldier’s core, forced back into its state as mere materials.

Then Momo used even more of her own Guiding Force to charge the stone and begin conjuring.

Primary Red Stone, Primary Color Pseudo-Concept [Red]—

Momo used the material in her hand to vent her frustrated feelings.

Invoke [False Sun]

The primary color summoned a related Pseudo-Concept: False Sun.

It was an unnaturally stark red sun, producing neither heat nor light. The strange, uneven circle that appeared looked like one a child might make with vivid red paint.

All eyes in the ancient capital Garm gathered on the artificial sun that had suddenly appeared.

However, Momo ignored them, including the fascinated gaze of Ashuna. Still choking out sobs, she fixed her gaze on the cathedral.

“It’s all your fault.”

Momo sprinted toward the cathedral, the two-dimensional pseudo-sun still present in her right hand. Her strength and speed still boosted by Enhancement, she bounded over the moat of the former royal castle and took an even bigger leap.

As Momo soared through the air, her eyes fell on the clock tower of the cathedral.

With its eight hundred years of storied history, this feature of the building was considered to be a particularly poignant symbol of the nation’s Faust. Factoring in its cultural value, it was too priceless to describe.

All this meant about as much to Momo as what she’d had for breakfast yesterday. To her, it was of such little importance that she could easily forget about it within a week.

Crying like a child, Momo raised the flat sun over her head…

“Begone!”

…and smashed her raging feelings against the barrier with the fire of a false sun.

Menou was fighting to buy herself time.

Using the two crests carved into her dagger, Guiding Thread and Gale, she dodged with erratic movements. Never entering the range of Orwell and her demon and angel servants, Menou fought purely to keep at the same distance.

Purely in order to survive.

Her stamina was slowly wearing down, as was her energy supply. Orwell wasn’t seriously attempting to attack her, either. Her goal was to capture Menou alive, after all. She just had to wait until the girl ran out of strength and energy.

“…This is ridiculous,” Menou grumbled without thinking.

Orwell was certainly old, but she was also a skilled conjurer who had polished her already high natural talents to the extreme. Under normal circumstances, Menou would never fight an opponent like this head-on. She would sneak up on them from behind to attack unnoticed, or feign friendliness to get the upper hand, or catch them in a trap to run down their strength.

However, her enemy had outmaneuvered all of her usual Executioner tactics.

The archbishop used the excuse of requesting an investigation to send Momo away, lured Menou along with Akari into her home territory, and forced Menou into a head-on battle.

From the moment she arrived in this nation, she’d been playing into the palm of Orwell’s hand.

Since the cathedral was sealed off with a barrier, she couldn’t even run away. But Menou stubbornly persisted, drawing out the battle as best she could.

Even surrounded by enemies, she knew there was one thing she could rely on.

And soon the time came.

Tremors shook the ceremonial hall.

Dust sprinkled down from the ceiling. It wasn’t an earthquake but a powerful impact aboveground that had rattled the entire cathedral. Some sort of problem evidently arose in the building’s conjuring crests, shutting down the barrier that had trapped Menou inside.

“What in the—?” Orwell started.

“I do have one thing to be proud of, you know.”

As the tremors rocked the underground laboratory, Menou interrupted the alarmed archbishop and charged toward her. She was protected by the angel floating at her side, but that didn’t matter.

A small smile spread across her lips at the change she’d been waiting for.

Menou heard footsteps coming down into the basement.

“You see, I have the most skilled assistant in all the—”

“Menou!”

“…What are you doing here, you ditz?!”

Realizing this wasn’t Momo arriving to back her up as she’d hoped, Menou quickly leaped away from Orwell.

It was Akari, of all people. Doesn’t she ever learn her lesson? Menou thought, absolutely stunned.

“Dammit, Akari! Why are you here?! What goes on in that empty head of yours?!”

“Huh? What? Why are you getting mad at a cute girl coming to rescue you?!”

“Because you’ll only slow me down, obviously!”

This was the second time she’d gotten in Menou’s way mid-battle, counting the train incident. It was only natural that Menou would be taken aback.

“Argh! I told you to run, didn’t I?! I knew you were an idiot, but this is ridiculous!”

“B-but I couldn’t just leave knowing you were in danger, Menou! It’s not right to abandon people. I wanna be nice to you, and I want you to be nice to me, too! So I didn’t do anything wrong!”

“Fine, then! Next time I ask you to do something, I’ll put a leash around your neck to make sure you listen!! Happy?”

“Menou! That’s a little too kinky for me! Even if it’s with you, I don’t think I’m really mentally ready for that! Let’s work our way up to stuff like that, okay?!”

“Oh, shut up!”

Their exchange quickly deflated the tension of the battlefield. However, Orwell was so stunned that she didn’t even attempt to take advantage of the moment. The priestesses who had surrounded Akari in the ceremonial hall were trueborn elites. Even with the little opportunity Menou had created, they weren’t the sort who would let their prey escape so easily.

And yet, here Akari was.

“But how—?”

Just as Orwell started to voice her consternation, the ceiling rumbled again.

This time, it was more than just a tremor or two. It was as if a giant were throwing a tantrum aboveground, causing massive quakes one after another. The ceiling of the underground lab shook and began to crack. As Menou looked up, the cracks in the ceiling continued to spread.

BOOM. A low thud shook the ground and reverberated in her bones.

The underground ceiling had hit its limit. The cracks broke open all at once, gaping full of holes, and finally fell apart entirely. The stones turned to rubble as they came down in a landslide, burying the floor below.

Menou and Orwell immediately activated the barrier crests in their priestess robes to weather the cave-in.

“Curses. It’s one thing after another…!”

Orwell’s usually calm face twisted with displeasure at the onslaught of unexpected developments.

Not least of which was a petite girl with fluffy hair kicking her way down through the remains of the ceiling.

Immediately, Menou grabbed Akari and covered her eyes from behind.

“Um, Menou? What’s up? Some kinda blindfolding fetish? Well, I guess that’s not so bad… Yeah, I can handle this. Okay. Let’s keep developing our love nice and steady.”

“I’m not into that sort of thing, so keep your mouth shut, please.”

“Mm-hmm.”

Surprisingly, Akari willingly pressed her lips closed. More important, the backup Menou had anticipated before was finally here.

However, she had broken in far more violently than even Menou was expecting.

She’d made a hole with brute force from the cathedral above all the way to this underground area. She had broken through the barrier. Menou could see through the crumbling hole that the cathedral’s ceiling had been blown off and the bell tower broken.

Menou wasted a moment calculating the damage, then noticed something far more concerning.

Momo was crying.

When Momo was in tears, she lost almost all sense of reason. It would be far too dangerous for her to go on an indiscriminate rampage here. Still covering Akari’s eyes, Menou desperately tried to signal Momo with her own gaze.

Her assistant opened her mouth as if she wanted to say something but then forced it closed with visible effort.

Though she was essentially in berserk mode when she cried, Menou was the one person who could get through to her. This was the primary reason why Momo was still a white-robe and Menou’s assistant, in spite of the overwhelming natural talent that would have otherwise easily made her the equal of any full-fledged Executioner.

“…Hmph.”

Momo sniffled, looking at the way Menou almost appeared to be hugging Akari from behind. Tears streamed from her eyes as she fought the urge to scream out questions, but she managed not to speak out loud so that her voice couldn’t be identified.

She knew what Menou was warning her: She couldn’t let Akari see her face or hear her voice.

So she turned her attention to Orwell. And punched the angel squarely in the face as if to relieve her frustration.

“Wh-what was that noise…?”

“Don’t worry about it.”

The loud, dull thuds, as if someone was doing demolition work with their bare hands, was actually the sound of Momo dragging the floating angel down from the air and beating it into the ground.

Momo’s natural store of Guiding Force was incredibly large—so large that she usually suppressed most of it.

Normally, when tapping into this energy, one draws power from one’s soul and controls it with the spirit. But in Momo’s case, the amount of power in her soul was far too large, so she was careful to draw out only small amounts, lest it throw her spirit into chaos.

Which it had, in this particular case.

Without her spirit to keep it under control, her power was practically spilling out according to her raw emotions. In this state, Momo couldn’t stop until she used up all of that energy, so she would probably calm down by the time she finished beating the angel to a pulp.

The problem was that the battle still wasn’t over.

“Goodness… This is quite a spot of trouble you’ve caused.”

With the cathedral—her home base—destroyed, Orwell glared at Momo in irritation.

“You certainly are talented, aren’t you? But while this girl is frightening…if she’s just on a rampage, I’m sure she’ll run out of power soon enough. So you are still my top priority, Ms. Menou.”

Even without her angelic protector, the archbishop still had the advantage.

She had the holy cane with the three Primary Color stones and the demon she was sitting atop for mobility. The crests in Menou’s dagger and priestess robes wouldn’t be enough to outmatch her.

On top of that, there was the issue of Akari. Menou could hardly move around while protecting her and covering her eyes.

“Huh? Hey, Menou, wait a sec. Did I actually come at a really bad time?”

“Yeah. Incredibly so.” Menou sighed. “That’s why I told you to run… Ugh. Why would you come here when you knew it was dangerous?”

“Only ’cause…”

Her eyes still covered, Akari’s lips formed into a pout.

“The safest place I know of in this world is at your side, Menou.”

For a moment, Menou couldn’t respond. She tried to come up with a rebuttal but couldn’t find the right words. Finally, she groaned in defeat.

“…You really are an idiot.”

“Grrr. You’re so mean, Menou! You could’ve seemed a little more touched by that line, y’know!”

“And you’re cheeky to boot…”

Menou sighed deeply at Akari’s perpetually carefree attitude.

“But I suppose it’s all right, since your face reminded me of something.”

“Huh? What, really? So I’m helpful?”

“I’m begging you: Please be quiet for a minute.”

“Mmph!”

Menou pulled Akari’s head against her chest, keeping her eyes covered with one arm.

It wasn’t just so that she didn’t see Momo—this entire scene would be poisonous to Akari’s peaceful life.

Seeing her happy-go-lucky face had reminded Menou of the incident on the train platform in the royal capital.

She had more crests to serve as invocation mediums than just her weapon and robes.

Menou used her free hand to produce a single coin from her purse, then opened her mouth and put the five-in coin on top of her tongue.

Guiding Force: Connect—Five-In Coin, Crest—Invoke [Guiding Bubble]

The coin on Menou’s tongue began to produce bubbles.

They were sparkling bubbles of light, intended to entertain children, the very same sort she’d shown Akari and the child on the train platform. The Guiding bubbles were difficult to break and could be moved slightly with the will of the conjurer, but that was all.

They multiplied until they filled Orwell’s vision entirely.

Guiding Force: Connect—Dagger, Crest—Invoke [Guiding Thread]

Menou used what little energy she had left to activate the crest in her dagger, bending back her arm to throw it a short distance.

“Your fondness for diversions is just like that girl, too.”

Sitting atop the demon, Orwell easily dodged the dagger, then smiled slightly when she saw where it landed.

The dagger had pierced into a Primary Red Stone that had spilled out of the flask when it was shattered during the cave-in.

“Oh, how clever. You’ve thought this out quite carefully, but I’m afraid you failed.”

“Did I?”

“Now, there’s no need to pretend…”

She assumed the bubbles were a distraction while Menou tried to use Red via the Guiding thread. Orwell chuckled with amusement at the effort as she had the demon cut through the fiber, but then her expression stiffened.

Menou wasn’t holding the other end of the cord attached to the dagger.

She was still covering Akari’s eyes with one hand and holding her in place to prevent her from moving with the other. With both her hands occupied, Menou spat out the five-in coin still resting in her mouth.

Then she stuck out her tongue, as if in childish mockery.

The tip of her tongue touched one of the floating bubbles.

They had scattered enough to fill Orwell’s vision, but a few among them were stealthily arranged to form a single, continuous path.

“The real trick is over here.”

Orwell had assumed the bubbles were just a distraction, but enough of them had connected to create a line, connecting to a different Primary Red Stone from the one the dagger had pierced.

Menou sent power through the bubble her tongue was touching.

Guiding Force: Connect (via Guiding Bubbles)—

Her energy flowed through the bubbles and into the red materials from the flask.

Primary Red Stone, Primary Color Pseudo-Concept [Red]—

The materials made of primary colors were an invocation medium for conjuring from its respective Concept, the way Orwell had used them before. If they weren’t infused with anyone else’s Guiding Force, then they were nothing more than empty vessels anyone could use.

And while she wasn’t on Orwell’s level, Menou was a conjurer with skills far beyond her years.

Invoke [Deceit, Hellfire]

It was an artificial manifestation of the flames of the underworld. A violent attack from behind, but a necessary ploy for fighting an opponent this dire.

“It’ll take more than that…to defeat me!”

Guiding Force: Sacrifice—Turf Creeper, Body—Summon [Original Sin, Flyskull]

Orwell whirled around immediately, sacrificing the body of the demon beneath her to change its form into a new demon through summoning. The demon shifted from a multi-legged seat into a swarm of tiny black creatures, biting back at the flames Menou had summoned, getting burned up but still resisting.

“…Yes, yes. A very clever move. But still not enough.”

Orwell turned her gaze from the flames back toward Menou, charging her cane with power.

Guiding Force: Connect—Holy Cane, Primary Triad—

But just as she swiveled to send a nasty conjuring toward Menou and Akari—

—Orwell found herself face-to-face with a tall priestess with dark-red hair.

“…What?”

Orwell froze. The sudden change in the few seconds she’d been looking away were too unexpected for her thoughts to process, and her conjuring fell apart right before completion.

It was a priestess with hair the color of dried blood. That was who was holding on to Akari. Without a doubt, this ominous figure was the one person who had always been suspicious of Orwell since she turned to the darkness of forbidden activities.

“Flare?! How…? No, it can’t be. Did you disguise yourself as Ms. Menou from the very beginning to get close to—?”

“You were right about one thing.”

The image of Flare wavered like a mirage.

There was a sort of ripple through space, and the red-haired priestess’s appearance slowly changed.

When the light fell away, she settled back into Menou.

“I’ve always loved a good diversion.”

“Wha…?!”

The archbishop gasped in disbelief.

Manipulating the particles of light individually to create Guiding Camouflage was a special, advanced technique developed by Flare. People had begged her to teach them on many occasions, but none had ever managed to master it to the point of being able to use it in the field.

Not even Orwell herself.

“But that girl was the only person able to manipulate Guiding Force like that—”

“I’m afraid not. I’m certainly not on Master’s level, but I can still use it in battle.”

It was thanks to Orwell’s knowledge of the Master’s personality and the difficulty of her technique that she jumped straight to the absurd conclusion that Menou had been her in disguise from the beginning. Flare was the sort of person who might really do such a thing to deceive the archbishop.

While Menou couldn’t keep up her disguise as another person while moving, she could maintain the illusion effectively enough while staying still.

After all, the first technique she had been thoroughly taught was Camouflage.

“It’s because I learned this technique that I am called Flarette.”

Menou had been thoroughly instructed in conjuring in a bizarre order, unlike any ordinary education. Most important, she’d been wiped clean, such that she could absorb these teachings like a material in herself. It was because of these two factors that Menou was able to master Camouflage, albeit imperfectly.

There was one more factor—the most dangerous of all—that Orwell had overlooked.

The most dangerous person in the room wasn’t Momo, who was beating up an angel; or Orwell, the archbishop who had committed a taboo; or even Menou, who could manipulate Camouflage.

It was the summoned Otherworlder.

Menou wasn’t kind enough to tell her opponent the whole truth about her intended strategy. The other tricks were all just to distract Orwell from Akari’s existence long enough for Menou to make her actual move.

“Let’s go, Akari.”

“’Kay… Mmn!”

Menou used her Guiding Force to draw out power from the other girl, causing Akari’s shoulders to twitch, her body squirming as if being tickled.

This was the real strategy that she had thought of when Akari arrived.

Guiding Force: Connect—

Of course, when attempting to use someone else’s power, normally the user and the vessel alike would take damage to their spirit and soul—but not so between these two.

Since her rebirth, Menou was able to accept other people’s spirits and souls.

And Akari gave her soul and spirit to Menou with unconditional trust.

Just like on the train, Menou used Akari’s magic to invoke a high-power conjuring. Without her scripture, she would have to use the crests in her dagger, but Akari’s latent Guiding Force levels far outmatched those of even Momo.

Orwell was still shaken by the Camouflage. That was how threatening the image of Flare was to her. In her current condition, she wouldn’t be able to manipulate the complex conjuring of Primary Colors Concepts. She could probably use simple crests, but that wouldn’t be a problem. If she used plenty of Akari’s power to invoke Gale and throw her dagger, she could break through Orwell’s multiple barriers.

Menou was sure of her victory until the very next moment.

“Truly a shame, Ms. Menou. You were so close.”

Guiding Force: Auto-Connect (Conditions Met)—Cathedral, Church Construction Conjuring Crest—Invoke [VIP Protection Barrier]

In a flash, the cathedral’s barrier activated, and Guiding Light shined around Orwell, protecting her.

Menou’s eyes widened.

It wasn’t Orwell’s will that had invoked this conjuring. The cathedral’s barrier was constructed with conditions that would automatically activate it. Most likely, the destruction of its outer barrier from an outside attack was a condition to construct an even stronger barrier protecting the most important people on the inside.

This is bad. Menou began to grow nervous.

The powerful barrier that protected the entire cathedral was being concentrated on a single person. Even with Akari’s Guiding Force, Menou couldn’t break through its toughness. She could see this all too well because of her ability to accurately gauge the amount of power in a conjuring.

Menou clenched her teeth. She should have predicted this. She had seen the cathedral’s crests during their first visit. She wasn’t able to analyze all of them, but she did notice there was not only an exterior barrier but one that worked on the interior as well.

She had taken it too lightly.

Orwell smiled triumphantly and began to charge her holy cane at a leisurely pace.

Guiding Force: Connect—

Menou hesitated.

She knew she was about to do something she shouldn’t.

But she had no other options. She had to choose. That was what her Master had taught her.

Making the snap judgment that she had to use a forbidden move if she was going to win, she acted immediately.

Akari Tokitou, Pure Concept [Time]—

Menou delved even deeper into her connection with Akari than she had on the train. Borrowing Akari’s energy alone wouldn’t be enough to break through Orwell’s barrier. So instead, she had to rely on the Pure Concept that was improperly attached to Akari’s soul.

Menou’s power made contact with Akari’s soul.

Then, in that instant, her spirit was plunged into a deep abyss.

There wasn’t even any time to resist. Menou’s spirit was completely overtaken. The chronology of her consciousness was thrown into chaos, and the Menou of the past and present became impossible to distinguish. She could no longer tell where she was or what time it was. There was no internal clock for her to fall back on.

Naturally, she couldn’t conjure in this state. This was a realm no human consciousness was meant to enter.

She had made a gamble and lost.

Menou’s consciousness spiraled from the outside world to deep inside herself, drawn into the far reaches of time.

When she opened her eyes, Menou was her younger self, standing in a pure-white realm.

She was a child again, her hair long and unruly. And yet, she held her scripture in her left hand and her dagger in her right.

The liquid dripping from her dagger slowly stained the scenery crimson.

Menou didn’t know where she was—or even when. Her sense of time was all jumbled up into one confusing tangle.

Aimlessly, Menou began to wander through the white land.

She had no destination, no sense of direction, and no landmarks to go by. She simply kept putting one foot in front of the other. No matter how long she walked, there was nothing around her but snow. Her feet sank in with every step, making progress increasingly difficult. She couldn’t see anything but endless whiteness. Was she going in the wrong direction, or should she not even be walking at all? Menou had no sense of what was right or wrong, but she pressed on.

How long must she have walked?

Eventually, she turned around and looked back at her path.

Amid the white scenery, the route she had taken alone was dyed red by the liquid spilling from her dagger.

“……”

Looking back at her red-stained path, Menou was overwhelmed by a terrible sense of emptiness.

Maybe I should die.

The thought came all too naturally.

It wasn’t as though she had never wondered whether she’d chosen the wrong path, like her Master had said.

Though she declared that she would become a villain, she was unable to completely detach herself from everything. She boasted that she would dirty her hands for other people’s sake, yet she yearned to be a pure, proper, and powerful priestess.

And she continued to kill people.

Looking back at her perpetually contradictory life, Menou slowly raised the point of her dagger to the tip of her neck.

She was swallowed up in Time, walking through her own inner world in a strange, suspended state. She kept on walking and walking, but in the end, she couldn’t find it.

She couldn’t find the town where she was born.

The parents and friends she must surely have had were all buried in unending white. Even the path where she’d trodden over them was dyed a dark red.

If this was all there was, then Menou thought there might not be any worth to her having been born in the first place.

Every once in a blue moon, Menou had this one dream.

The dream was in some classroom in Japan at a school she’d never been to.

Everyone was in different uniforms. There were students in jackets, blazers, sailor uniforms… Even though their clothing clashed, nothing seemed out of place for some reason.

When she entered the classroom, they all stopped talking and looked at her.

The space was warm—hushed with no conflict. Nobody was armed with weapons. Other than dipping into their studies, everyone was free to spend their time however they chose.

When she greeted them, they welcomed her with friendly smiles, chatting about nothing in particular.

She was friends with everyone in the class, and among them was her best friend.

They were very close. There were no secrets between them. It made her happy to see her friend upbeat. And it made her friend happy when she was in a good mood, too. They understood each other because she knew about her friend’s tragic past and her friend was aware of her regrets.

She talked with her best friend about nothing in particular as they waited for class to start.

It was a ridiculous dream, of course, and she could never tell anyone about it.

But when she killed someone and had that dream, the next morning, she always wondered: Maybe if I died, I could go to that classroom, too.

Menou was about to draw the blade of her dagger across her carotid artery when something happened.

“It’s all right.”

Someone else’s hand stopped hers.

She looked up in confusion, and somehow, she locked eyes with Akari.

Without Menou realizing it, the white world around her had vanished. Noticing that she was now somewhere completely different, Menou looked around.

They were inside a building. There was a blackboard in the front decorated with chalk doodles, rows of desks and chairs worn down from long use, and the gentle light of dusk streaming in through the windows.

Menou had never seen this place before. Yet for some reason, it felt incredibly nostalgic.

Standing in a Japanese classroom, wearing a sailor uniform, Akari looked at Menou as if she knew everything about her and gently pulled her fingers away from the blade she was pointing at her own throat.

“It’s all right—don’t worry. No matter what happens, no matter what anyone says or does, whatever Time it might be…”

Akari’s serious tone was a far cry from the carefree girl Menou knew, and she spoke with absolute certainty.

Taking the dagger from Menou and tossing it aside, Akari hugged Menou tightly and murmured a promise in her ear.

“I will always be your best friend, Menou.”

The blade clanged against the floor.

Menou’s eyes opened.

Her consciousness was pulled back to reality. The reins of her spirit, which had been swallowed by the Pure Concept, had returned.

And almost no time at all had passed.

“…Right.”

She closed her eyes for just a second, then opened them again.

Of course she couldn’t find anywhere she belonged in the dreamworld. She’d lost her hometown along with her memories of it, but she had still started walking. Her young self, standing in the midst of that white land of salt, had looked up at her red-haired Master and made a decision.

Her reason for living, the place where she belonged—all that lay right in her arms.

She was an Executioner, existing solely to destroy forbidden entities.

Akari had lost consciousness, perhaps because someone else had touched her soul. Menou squeezed the unconscious girl tightly and whispered quietly in her ear, only because she knew she couldn’t hear her.

“Thank you, Akari.”

Shaking off her uncertainty, Menou fixed her gaze on Orwell.

The archbishop had already finished preparing her attack conjuring, pointing her cane at Menou and Akari.

Orwell was a heretic who had stained her hands with the unthinkable in order to flee from old age. Now that she had drawn out Akari’s Pure Concept, Menou launched an attack that would be a fitting death for the elderly woman who longed for youth.

Invoke [Aging]

Invoke [Colors vivid, hues of paradise, all tints and shades]

Menou used Akari’s Pure Concept to invoke a conjuring and send it directly toward Orwell.

At the same time, the archbishop launched her own attack from her cane.

It was dazzling and destructive. Though the archbishop’s had begun second, it smoothly shot out in technicolor, draining the hue from everything it touched and destroying it.

But the Pure Concept of Time rejected the Concept of Primary Colors.

It didn’t even have a moment to resist—there was no contest whatsoever. The pure-white Guiding Light that shot from Menou and Akari swallowed Orwell’s attack entirely. Without losing even a fraction of its speed, the Pure Concept sped straight onward, breaking through the cathedral’s barrier, which was protecting the archbishop.

The Guiding Light that the two of them produced together landed a direct hit on Orwell.

“Ah…”

Orwell’s body began rapidly aging at once. Her already-wrinkled skin lost all moisture and began to crack, her muscles atrophied in seconds, and her legs gave way, forcing her to crawl on all fours.

“Aaaah…no… I was so clooose…!”

Dragging herself along the ground, the dying old woman reached out toward Menou.

“I’m not…like you. I have…killed no one…saved so many…and so…I must live… I deserve…”

“Archbishop Orwell.”

As the elderly woman clung to life, Menou held her dagger to Orwell’s forehead as their gazes met.

“With all that ambition of yours, with your goal right in front of your eyes… Why didn’t you use your scripture?”

“Ah…”

The scripture was a priestess’s most trusted weapon.

Certainly, the Primary Color stones were a formidable weapon, but if Orwell had combined that with the multipurpose conjurings possible through the invocation medium, surely she could have backed Menou into a corner she couldn’t have escaped from.

She had summoned demons, created angels, and controlled the primary colors, yet from beginning to end, Orwell had never once used her scripture.

“Ah yes… Heh. Indeed.”

Suddenly, the stubborn determination fell away from Orwell’s face.

“I thought I had to cast it aside, I suppose. At first, I took up the scripture because I wanted to be the kind of person who helps others, you see. But somewhere along the way, that morphed into an oversized ego. The cries for salvation clung to me and ate away at my heart.”

She had saved so many people. She tried to hold on to her faith as a priestess, but she aged and rotted, unable to completely withstand the heavy weight.

In her search for truth, the one person she could not save was herself.

“I thought that if I cast aside everything I believed in, everything that was right and beautiful, perhaps I could find a way to live. I hoped to understand the meaning of my life, something I couldn’t grasp in a life that was purely righteous… Say, Ms. Menou.”

No longer crawling, Orwell chuckled one final time.

“Since your life is so opposite of mine, perhaps you know the answer?”

“…I don’t know.”

Menou couldn’t possibly understand.

From the very beginning, she had never examined her way of life.

She had always simply killed people for the sake of others.

Orwell smiled faintly.

“I see. Well, I hope you’re able to find what I could not. In fact, I’m sure you will, though I hate to admit it. Keep on walking so that you find it someday…”

As she slowly but surely faded into death, the archbishop, who had gone so far as to kill people in order to escape aging, quietly imparted her last words to Menou.

“You’ll find…your way of life.”

With that final blessing, Orwell breathed her last.

All that remained was the withered body of an ancient woman, dressed in the pure-white robes of a bishop.

A little ways away, Momo ran out of strength to keep punching the angel-shaped soldier and collapsed. She didn’t seem to be seriously wounded. After a good night’s rest, she should be able to move again just fine.

It was over.

Once she confirmed that everything had ended, Menou leaned back and looked up at the sky.

They were underground, but light streamed down on them from above.

The Guiding Light of the astral vein that protected Garm shone through the hole that led aboveground.

Mysteriously, the beam was centered directly on the archbishop’s body.

“……”

Menou took a single step back—away from the light and into the shadows.

That was where she belonged.

As she stood in the darkness where the light couldn’t reach, she offered a prayer for the departed.