An unthinkable mass slaughter on the Sword Slave Island, triggered by the activation of the Curse Decree.
In the final instant, the thing that took Subaru's life was the sharpness of a cold knife.
But just before that, the sensation of his body slowly dying from its extremities had without question been corroding Subaru, working to cruelly kill him.
In the end, the reason why everyone else—
Why was Subaru the sole exception, the only one who died later?
It was probably a question with no answer, even if he thought about it.
There was no one to ask, and it wasn't worth spending time and brain cells on.
Rather, he had to focus on the information he had definitely obtained.
"Todd's reaction back then... the Curse Decree—that's the answer."
It had been a choice made with a brain lacking blood, on the verge of death, but he'd drawn the right answer.
If he'd gotten stuck on the idea of Arakia's magic back then without reconsidering, Subaru wouldn't have been able to return with any confidence.
Because Subaru had struck a nerve, Todd had decided to kill him in that instant.
Because he'd judged Subaru to be a danger that needed to die right now, not merely a dying child.
That speed of Todd's switch was the basis for Subaru's conclusion that it was the Curse Decree.
"But why is it the Curse Decree?"
Now that he'd eliminated the poison gas possibility and found evidence supporting the Curse Decree, he wasn't going to cling to the notion that it was merely a bluff.
But then, Gustav's behavior was too unnatural.
Subaru's basis for thinking the Curse Decree didn't exist was that Gustav hadn't inflicted its punishment on Subaru, who'd defied the Sword Slave Island's rules and tried to disrupt order.
Gustav certainly didn't want Sword Slaves to die, but comparing just Subaru versus the island's order, it made no sense for Gustav to hesitate to use the Curse Decree.
So, thinking about it in reverse— "When I provoked him, Gustav couldn't use the Curse Decree even though he wanted to. But when the island's people were being killed, he met the conditions to use it?"
For now, that was the best organization of events he could piece together with his current information.
"...So Gustav is an enemy."
Since the Curse Decree had been used, there was a nine-in-ten chance that the administrator Gustav was their enemy.
In other words, the enemies were Todd and Arakia, with Gustav making three. Being able to confirm that Cecilus wasn't an enemy was a gain, but there was no room for celebration.
Even Cecilus had been threatened by that Curse Decree.
"————"
In exchange for the information gained, bad material was being thrown into the pot one after another.
Could he strain the bubbling, blackening contents and see through to the bottom?
And the bad material kept piling on.
Because— "Schwartz..."
"—!"
"This shaking..."
Subaru, uninjured but clutching his chest where the impact of the stabbing lingered, crouched down.
Hian, who'd been worried about Subaru, was startled by the trembling rising from the ground. Of course, Subaru knew this was coming and what the shaking meant.
But he knew, yet there was a major problem.
The grace period before the drawbridge started moving was shorter than in the previous "death."
△▼△▼△▼△ If he looked away from the things he didn't want to think about and plugged his ears, his feelings wouldn't sink.
But if he let his feelings become a defeated dog, the method to win against defeat that was approaching would disappear.
So no matter how unpleasant the reality, he couldn't close his eyes and plug his ears.
—Even if the restart point had been thrown back a dozen or so seconds.
"————"
The anomaly that had struck the Authority of "Return by Death" that Subaru possessed was working at full, terrible capacity.
A restart point that was off-base was one thing, but this time there was a slight time shift—a reduction of about a dozen seconds in the grace period.
This was different from the previous cases of extremely limited grace periods, and it was the perfect thing to stoke Subaru's anxiety and despair.
This time it had been a dozen seconds, but there was no guarantee it wouldn't become even shorter.
If this anomaly continued to stack, and eventually the time until death became less than a second, or if "Return by Death" stopped working entirely—what could Subaru do?
Even if he didn't want to assume "Return by Death," he had to factor it into his strategy.
Shrunk down as he was now, Subaru was even more powerless than before his body had shrunk. The soil of this Empire wasn't kind enough for him to sit content in self-pity.
So— × × × "Hey, Schwartz... you're seriously going to camp out here?"
"I am. Please, for this one crucial moment, don't chicken out on me, Hian."
"I'm not chickening out! I'm not, but—"
Even his trembling voice made it obvious to anyone listening that Hian was scared. Gritting his teeth, he hesitated to speak, standing right beside Subaru.
Hian's fear, his desire to make Subaru reconsider—that was understandable.
If they were caught, it wouldn't end well, and he couldn't see why they'd do something so reckless.
But if Subaru explained what was going to happen honestly, whether Hian believed him or not, there'd be no way to get Hian's cooperation.
So Subaru had tricked Hian, getting him to cooperate under a false pretense.
That Hian was putting himself at some risk to obtain information that couldn't be ignored.
That "information that couldn't be ignored" was— "Like hell, a messenger from the Imperial Capital is bringing show business talks? Give me a break..."
"Right. I've asked Weitz to buy us time. We're going to eavesdrop on the details."
"I know, I know that much..."
Hian was tense and frustrated. What worried him was the island's show—the performances where Sword Slaves fought each other to the death as entertainment, the primary reason Guinunhive was run.
The Sparka was where they fought to survive, and the death matches between Sword Slaves had environments designed to reduce fatalities. But the show was where the greatest danger to their lives lay.
Subaru had claimed there was information about this show in order to get Hian's cooperation.
And the result— "Come in. Let's hear what you have to say."
Along with that stern voice, the sound of a door opening echoed through the room.
Two log-like arms threw the entrance wide, and the air grew heavy with the return of the room's owner.
"————"
At that appearance, Subaru clamped his mouth shut and tapped Hian's shoulder. Hian responded silently, and it seemed he'd steeled himself for a situation with no turning back.
Of course. Subaru and Hian could no longer afford to make any clumsy moves.
Because— "General Arakia, and..."
"Todd."
The large figure who'd opened the door—Gustav's words were answered by a brief, curt female voice. There was a sense of a wry smile behind that short, unfriendly reply— "
Yes, the voice of the man who'd crush Subaru's soul continued speaking.
Without a care for their feelings, the two who'd been ushered in—Todd, and the brown-skinned, eye-patched woman Arakia—entered the room.
This was Gustav's office. The same room Subaru had been summoned to for a stern warning just the other day was now being entered by Todd and company, messengers from the Imperial Capital.
"For a Governor-General, this is quite a modest room."
Standing beside the reception sofa in the center of the room, Todd surveyed his surroundings.
Indeed, Gustav's room had few things in it. A work desk and bookshelf—a room with only the bare essentials befitting the name "office."
It made sense that his eye would be drawn to that. But Subaru wished he hadn't looked around.
Especially toward the bookshelf in the corner of the room.
× × × "This is my office. Everything I need for my work is here. Are you here for an audit?"
"Not at all. I'm merely accompanying General Arakia. The 'General' is quite particular about personnel—aside from me, she has no subordinates."
"Few, elite."
"Elite is rather flattering."
Todd shrugged at Gustav, who'd closed the door and settled behind his desk. He didn't react to Arakia's words that followed either, slowly sitting down on the sofa.
With that, his line of sight shifted away from the bookshelf, and Subaru let out a huge, enormous sigh internally.
An incredibly tense moment.
Todd was the kind of person who could make even the worst you'd imagined seem pleasant by comparison.
So Subaru had been terrified, from the bottom of his heart, that they'd be discovered again.
—There, beside the bookshelf, blending into the surrounding landscape with his mimicry, Hian was draped over him, and Subaru was there, straining his ears to listen to the situation.
"————"
What Subaru had done was: he'd asked Weitz to delay a dragon carriage, and in that time, he'd broken into Gustav's office with Hian and used Hian's mimicry to hide.
The delay had precedent for working, but whether the mimicry would go undetected was something that could only be tested by doing it. Even though Subaru thought he understood Hian's mimicry and its mechanisms from the first Sparka and their subsequent conversations, certainty was something else entirely.
The accuracy of Hian's mimicry was affected less by his physical and mental state than by whether he had the nerve to stay still. If he had the guts to remain in one place, merged with the landscape, he was virtually invisible. And Subaru, holding his small body, would receive the same effect.
However, the moment he moved, the mimicry's scales would fall into disarray, and it would become a game of hide-and-seek with a clearly visible child.
In the fight against that lion-like gladiator beast, that cowardice had killed him multiple times. What negated Hian's greatest strength was his own weak heart.
—But this time, the mimicry should have been working on correcting that weakness.
"As long as we're not found, there's no risk of anything happening to us. The envoy coming is one of the 'Nine Divine Generals' and a sharp-eyed adjutant, but if your mimicry holds steady, we'll be fine. Besides—"
"B-besides...?"
"—I'm with you."
Before this, before entering the office, Subaru had looked him straight in the eye and told him that.
Even if they were the words of a small child with short limbs who hadn't even hit puberty—they'd reached Hian, who'd had his life and those of his comrades saved. It had seemed to resonate.
—So this time, Hian's mimicry had gone undetected for the "first time."
This was the first time he could begin to find out what Arakia had come to this island to discuss with Gustav, bringing her adjutant Todd along.
"General Arakia, won't you sit?"
"...I'm standing. Also, I'm not at ease."
"Not at ease?"
"Apparently there have been various incidents since we arrived on the island. Perhaps because the dragon's nest is nearby."
Arakia shook her head despite the invitation to sit, remaining standing. Todd sat on the sofa with his superior standing behind him—an odd arrangement.
Still, the sight of Todd with his superior at his back didn't feel incongruous. Perhaps that was because Subaru had such an overwhelming image of Todd as something immense and terrifying.
It would be unreasonable not to be wary of an opponent who'd come to kill you the moment Hian's mimicry slipped— "If that suits you, I have no objections. So, the purpose of this visit?"
"Getting straight to business—much appreciated. We don't want to take too much time either. General, shall I present the letter?"
"Do as you like."
"Much obliged. Governor, this is a letter from the Imperial Capital—from the Prime Minister."
Ignoring Arakia, who was standing there like a piece of furniture, Todd produced a letter from his coat and handed it to Gustav. In Gustav's hands, the letter bore sealing wax, and the sender's stamped seal appeared to be properly affixed.
Though Subaru couldn't verify the seal's mark from where he was.
"The Empire... the Prime Minister..."
Subaru's tongue went dry at the words revealing whose letter it had been entrusted to.
According to the disagreeable Abel, that person in the Prime Minister's position had been one of the chief culprits who'd driven Abel out of the Imperial Capital.
A letter from the nasty Prime Minister who'd driven out the nasty Abel had been delivered to Gustav. And the one who'd delivered it was the devil-human Todd.
Given what was about to happen on the Sword Slave Island—the mass slaughter—it was a letter that could only bring bad omens.
"
"That assessment is correct."
"Though it is His Majesty's order, the position of administrator of the Sword Slave Island Guinunhive is a despised one—hardly fitting for a blood relative of the Volachian hero
As if backing up Subaru's premonition, the air in the room sharpened.
The cause was Todd's presumptuous, almost rude manner of speaking. And from their previous encounters, Subaru knew what made Gustav angriest.
More than being insulted himself, what made Gustav angry was— "Are you, by any chance, questioning the judgment of His Majesty the Emperor?"
Disloyalty to His Majesty—meaning Abel=Vincent.
× × × "————"
At that fierce aura Gustav emanated, Arakia glided smoothly to stand beside Todd.
With a face that showed nothing of what she was thinking, Arakia's mere presence gave the impression that she would crush the righteous loyalty Gustav had expressed with raw force.
However, it was Todd himself who checked Arakia with a "General" and a hand gesture.
"That was my words going too far. The Governor's anger is justified."
"...But you won't kill him. There's a vendetta. For a friend. Right?"
"Yes, of course. That's exactly why I'm alive right now."
While restraining Arakia's attitude, Todd's expression at that reply bore a flash of anguish.
At Todd's demeanor—being pointedly reminded of his friend's vendetta by Arakia—Subaru tried not to miss a single word, yet couldn't help the corners of his mouth curving upward.
Todd and a vendetta—those sounded like they'd go together about as well as oil and water.
Not that Subaru knew Todd well enough to say that, but it meant that even Todd had someone precious to him.
Despite having abandoned his fiancée he'd been so eager to see, and planning to kill so many people on this island.
"I'm sorry for the insensitive words, Governor. Both General Arakia and I have some concerns on our minds. That's why our attitude was poor. I apologize."
"...I accept the apology. But rash words invite misfortune."
"On that note, the words sting. I'm keenly aware of it."
Todd, who'd reined in Arakia, made a bitter face at Gustav's warning. Ignoring Todd's reaction, Gustav broke the sealing wax with a thick finger, and the letter was opened.
The contents of the letter from the Empire's Prime Minister—the one who'd shouldered a share of bringing the Empire to ruin—were: "This..."
"About that rude remark earlier—there was no ill intent. I merely wanted to say that if the Governor has grown weary of managing the Sword Slave Island, this would work out conveniently."
Gustav ran his eyes over the letter and etched a small crease into his stone-like face. Todd squinted one eye, as if widening a crack that had appeared in solid rock.
Leaving the silent Arakia aside, Todd continued, wearing the face of a chief envoy.
"There is a risk of internal disorder among the island's Sword Slaves. His Majesty the Emperor wishes for them to be disposed of en masse."
△▼△▼△▼△ × × × Todd asked Gustav to dispose of the Sword Slaves on the island—several hundred people—with the same bland matter-of-factness as discussing garbage day.
"————"
The only reason Subaru could endure this being dead center of his worst predictions was that he'd already witnessed the mass slaughter of the entire island firsthand, and had steeled himself mentally.
And the miracle was that Hian, caught completely off guard, hadn't let out a scream.
To be more precise, he'd been so stunned that he couldn't even process it.
"————"
It was such an unreal pronouncement that Hian forgot to even move.
But despite the stroke of luck that his mimicry didn't slip, Subaru could do nothing but grit his teeth.
This request was what had led to the activation of the Curse Decree that killed everyone on the island.
Just as he'd feared, the three of them—Todd, Arakia, and Gustav—were the enemy.
Unless this trio's atrocity was stopped, the mass slaughter could not be prevented.
"Risk of internal disorder, you say."
"Internal disorder is internal disorder—unfortunates who, however boldly, cast a shadow over His Majesty's magnificence. That said, the Prime Minister doesn't think you, Governor Gustav, are harboring them. Your loyalty is genuine."
"————"
"That's exactly why it must sting. Since you were posted here, the quality of Sword Slaves presented in the shows has been incomparable to what it was before—so I hear."
Having ordered the disposal of these very Sword Slaves, Todd still maintained the demeanor of commending Gustav's efforts.
Gustav's expression didn't change as he looked down at the letter. Whether Todd's words were resonating inside him—Subaru, constrained in his ability to observe the situation, couldn't tell.
"Unnecessary deaths were reduced, the fundamentals of combat were taught, and rather than trying to outdo each other, they stood together—thus the quality of the surviving Sword Slaves improved."
Still, there was a quiet pride in Gustav's voice as he answered, reflecting his own philosophy and the way Sword Slave Island had been run.
He hadn't merely turned Sword Slaves into spectacle. Gustav had trained them, nurtured them, and rewritten the island's rules so they would meet the standards of the Emperor and the Empire's citizens.
That probably didn't include any soft sentiment or affection for the Sword Slaves.
It was simply the resolve of a man placed in the position of Governor-General.
"Are we done talking?"
Arakia asked Gustav, who had all four hands placed on the desk and his eyes closed after setting the letter down.
The question, which completely bulldozed over the flow of conversation, was the kind of thing that might have made Subaru angry enough to redden his face if he were in Gustav's position.
But Gustav didn't object, and Todd took it as par for the course.
"I hear there's a Curse Decree convenient for disposal. A cursed artifact handed over by General
× × × "It is possible."
"Then this is simple. Let's wrap it up quickly and head back to the Imperial Capital together. Preparing new Sword Slaves will take time, so we'll close Guinunhive for a while—"
Todd spoke as casually as discussing putting away tools after a lesson. That flippant tone was interfering with the reboot of Hian's still-frozen mind.
But even if Hian hadn't rebooted yet, the big picture was running out of time.
If Gustav activated the Curse Decree as ordered in the document Todd's party had brought, everyone would be wiped out.
He knew the future—one that couldn't be stopped on a whim—and the only way to prevent it was for Subaru to act here. But how?
If he revealed himself without a plan, being killed immediately was a foregone conclusion.
But to take Gustav—the one who would use the Curse Decree—as a hostage... Gustav himself seemed stronger than the two of them combined.
"I refuse."
Yes, if Gustav refused Todd's demand, they could seize on that. Seize on that.
Seize... seize on?
"...What?"
Even Subaru, who'd been desperately trying to get his brain working, had his thoughts thrown into disarray, just like Hian.
While Subaru's thinking ground to a halt, Todd's voice was cold and sharp.
The air in the room seemed to thicken, gaining viscosity, Subaru felt.
This was fundamentally different from the heat when Gustav had gotten angry at Todd's words. Not in temperature but in color—a different atmosphere entirely.
Wrapping himself in that air, Todd stared at Gustav, who had his hands planted on the desk.
"Is there a discrepancy between the contents of the order and your understanding?"
"There is not. The letter contains the same content as what you just told me. The Prime Minister's name and the seal are both correct."
"Then what kind of statement are you making?"
Todd spread both hands, addressing Gustav, who had rejected his demand.
Subaru couldn't understand what was happening either. Gustav had refused the use of the Curse Decree—the demand from Todd, from the Imperial Capital—to eradicate the Sword Slaves.
Somehow, that was— "I was given a direct order from His Majesty the Emperor. To train sword slaves who are physically and mentally tempered, in preparation for a crisis."
"The Prime Minister's seal reflects His Majesty's will. You're saying you can't judge because of a discrepancy with a previous order? The order document is authentic."
"I'm not questioning its authenticity. I accept it as the Prime Minister's order."
"...This is absurd."
Todd screwed up his face and looked at Gustav as though seeing something incomprehensible.
At that moment, Subaru happened to agree with Todd. He was grateful that Gustav was rejecting the demand, but he had no idea what Gustav was truly thinking.
And so, before Subaru and Todd, who shared the same bewilderment, Gustav continued: "I received my order directly from His Majesty the Emperor."
"So the order document is meant to override that, and you should comply with the new directive—"
"It was when I was appointed as this island's Governor-General by His Majesty's order."
Todd's words were cut off as Gustav stated the basis for his choice. The time, several years ago, when Gustav had been posted to the Sword Slave Island as Governor-General.
It was— "His Majesty said this to me: 'Even if I myself should later give you a command, do not disobey this first order.'"
"————"
Those words were, without question, the guiding principle for Gustav in this situation.
They were words that anticipated Gustav being placed in exactly this position—prepared with such thoroughness that the word wasn't sufficient, a prescient foresight without which it couldn't have been conceived.
A move toward the future, made by Volachia's Emperor Vincent—no, by Abel.
"So because of a past order from His Majesty, you can't comply with the current order from His Majesty?"
"He also told me I need not know the details. I agree. Regardless of what I know or don't know, my assigned role remains the same."
Gustav shook his head and firmly answered Todd's question.
At that unyielding stance, Todd narrowed his eyes slightly. His gaze was not that of someone considering how to persuade Gustav.
He had no reason to exhaust his words trying to convince someone who wouldn't listen.
In other words— "Arakia. Negotiations have broken down."
"—!"
Yes, Todd addressed Arakia in a flat voice.
The next instant, before the fatal situation could arrive, Gustav grabbed the four corners of the desk his hands had been planted on and lifted it, about to hurl it at the two visitors.
The muscles in his thick, powerful arms bulged, and the desk—nearly a hundred kilograms—was lifted with ease— "Whoosh—"
With a half-hearted cry, Arakia pointed a wooden stick she'd grasped at Gustav.
Immediately after, a tremendous jet of water erupted from the tip of the stick, blowing away Gustav's head and rock-like face in their entirety, transforming his life into death.
△▼△▼△▼△ A heavy sound rang out as the desk, briefly lifted, crashed back to the floor. A beat later, Gustav's body—headless from the neck up—collapsed forward as if flinging itself onto the desk.
Blood gurgled and surged from the wound of his missing head, ruthlessly staining the office floor.
The spreading crimson seemed to emphasize how shockingly, almost absurdly easy Gustav's death had been.
"Multi-armed or not, it doesn't matter how many arms you've got. Should've grown extra heads instead."
Todd cracked his neck bones as he looked down at Gustav's corpse. Then he turned to Arakia, who was staring intently at the stick's tip, and tilted his head as if to say "What's wrong?"
"You're not seriously surprised by your own power, are you?"
"No. But I am surprised. Just water, with that much force..."
"Yeah, that. If you're targeting a wide group, fire's better, but for a single person, water's definitely the way to go. Next time, even just a cupful is enough—put the water inside their head."
"Understood. Todd?"
While proposing something horrifying, Todd approached Gustav's corpse. Arakia called to him with a furrowed brow as he drew a large knife from his coat.
Todd didn't answer. He walked around behind the body on the desk and, without mercy, drove the knife into the thick back, slicing it open vertically.
The movements were as ruthless as filleting a fish.
The amount of blood that had flowed from his neck was considerable, and the blood splatter from an already-dead body was minimal, but even so, as Todd was drenched with a fair amount of blood, he dismembered Gustav's corpse.
"————"
Involuntarily, Subaru averted his eyes and became aware of his own trembling.
Until now, Subaru had feared Todd as a terrible enemy, but this was his first time witnessing such grotesque behavior. Dismembering a human being like an animal.
He'd always assumed Todd's violence was laser-focused on eliminating enemies and threats.
If Todd had a hobby of destroying corpses, then after every time Subaru had been killed, had his body been destroyed in the same way?
Thinking that, an unbearable fear and loathing seized his entire body.
In the midst of the repulsive sounds he wanted to cover his ears against, Subaru couldn't even plug his ears.
Even in moments when instinct screamed to shut down his mind, he couldn't know what was sleeping inside. Perhaps if he ran from Todd and there happened to be a corpse, his attention might slip toward it.
Even thinking such absurd things— "Found it."
"—? Found what?"
Suddenly, the unpleasant water sounds stopped, and the conversation between Todd and Arakia shifted.
Arakia had also been keeping her voice low at Todd's poor taste, but Todd answered casually, wiping the blood that had splashed on his cheek with the back of his hand.
"A cursed artifact. A cursed artifact. This type, I figured would be embedded in the body."
"A cursed artifact..."
"Required for the activation of the Curse Decree. Well, doesn't matter if you don't get it. Anyway—"
As he spoke, Todd pulled from Gustav's body a dark sphere that had apparently been embedded in the center of his massive frame.
About the size of a golf ball, Todd called it a cursed artifact.
One that was necessary for activating the Curse Decree.
In other words— "With this, it doesn't matter whether the owner lives or dies. That was a foolish thing to do."
Todd fiddled with the cursed artifact in his hand as he addressed Gustav's brutalized, headless corpse.
His voice held no pity or sympathy. Just a flat, exasperated tone.
"Thinking you could stand a chance against a monster—that's the real joke."
Todd's muttered words were probably aimed at Arakia, who'd killed Gustav in one blow.
But to the fallen Gustav and to Subaru, who was present, that "monster" could only refer to Todd himself.
"————"
—And from that "monster," he had to seize the cursed artifact at any cost.
"Arakia, give me some water. I want to wash the blood off, then deal with the island's people—"
Todd's attention turned to Arakia as he wanted to wash his blood-soaked knife and hands after opening Gustav's body.
He set the cursed artifact he'd been holding momentarily on the desk, then turned toward Arakia.
—Instinct told him, this is the only chance.
"Oh."
At Arakia's round-mouthed exclamation, Todd turned. His eyes widened as they found a child who had materialized from nowhere in the room, reaching for the cursed artifact on the desk.
Hian's mimicry had performed brilliantly.
So thoroughly that even the meticulous Todd and the monster-class Arakia had failed to notice their presence.
"Hian!"
The instant his fingertips hooked the cursed artifact, Subaru called to Hian, who was merged with the floor.
But his gaze was aimed in a completely different direction—the entrance to the office.
He shouted toward that: "Blow this entire room away!!"
"—! Arakia!"
Hearing Subaru's tense shout, Todd instinctively called for Arakia. Arakia pressed close to Todd's side, keeping guard toward the door.
Prepared to counter even an outrageous attack from the entrance.
However— "A bluff!"
In the one second that nothing happened, Todd saw through Subaru's aim. But that one second was all Subaru needed.
He grabbed the cursed artifact, and— "RAAAAH!"
Howling, Hian flew through the air and latched onto Subaru's waist. Together, they plunged toward the opposite of the entrance—the office window.
Their bodies crashed through, shattering the window frame as Subaru and Hian burst outside.
The moment they flew out— "Whoosh—"
A casual cry unleashed a torrent of unimaginable power, and a wall of water ravaged the office.
The tremendous hydraulic pressure blew away the upper level of the Sword Slave Island, sweeping away the bookshelf Gustav had meticulously arranged, the furnishings—everything without mercy.
But— "They're gone."
Arakia stepped on the wet floor and murmured, watching the room's contents pour out through the shattered wall.
Below, outside the destroyed office, white cloth was tied in strips along the wall, visible when looking down.
If you grabbed it and let your hands slide, you could descend.
"This..."
"They were lying in wait, fully prepared. What the heck was that kid?"
Todd, standing beside Arakia and looking outside the wall the same way, covered his mouth with his hand and murmured.
Narrowing his eyes in thought, Todd let out a small breath and said: "Arakia, go get the cursed artifact back. You can kill them."
"Understood. And you, Todd?"
"What I'm about to do—you don't need to know."
Todd shook his head, deflecting Arakia's question. But Arakia didn't press the matter—she leaned through the shattered wall and dropped out.
No tricks—dropping dozens of meters with nothing to help her.
Watching Arakia chase after the intruders, Todd sighed, and: "...That was one unpleasant-smelling brat."
—with colorless eyes, he muttered and clicked his tongue in annoyance.