Volume 11 Chapter 4 The End Of The Festival
As the sun set, the sound of the broken loudspeaker echoed through the evening sky.
"Very soon, the evening festival will begin," it said.
Rikka walked down the street, listening to the announcement.
The kids had already gone back to the orphanage. The vendors were already packing up, and besides, she didn't have any money, so there was nothing to buy.
So, this was just a pointless stroll.
But her gaze kept drifting towards the crowd.
As if she was searching for someone.
"...what am I doing, anyway?"
The atmosphere unique to the end of the festival, like a pale sky, slowly cooled Rikka's head.
Maybe it was because she felt unfulfilled.
Doing something so pointless.
"...maybe I should head back"
Just as she muttered that,
"――Rikka Vallet, isn't it?"
A voice came from behind her.
Not a friendly voice, but one with a hint of malice.
"...what, you guys?"
When she turned around, the Inquisitors were there.
Each of them had their hands on their weapons, creating an atmosphere of tension.
Rikka, unaware of what was going on, took a step back, intimidated by their hostility.
The Inquisitors took another step closer, as if to chase her down.
"You're suspected of being an accomplice to the Noa Collector."
"Wh, what...?"
She didn't understand what was going on.
But she knew she was being treated like a criminal.
"I, I'm just a coworker...what's wrong with that? What did Noa do?"
"Noa Collector is a Phantom."
"Eh..."
The sudden revelation stopped Rikka's thoughts cold.
And because of that, she created a fatal opening.
"...ahh!?"
Suddenly, a sharp impact hit the back of her head.
She lost her balance and fell to the ground, her face down.
When she realized she had been hit, Rikka's vision had already turned black.
"Shall we accompany you?"
"Yeah..."
The festival's noise grew fainter and fainter....
＊
As I entered the alley, the Insect User was waiting.
A red butterfly fluttered around them.
The Insect User didn't try to escape. I couldn't sense any hostility either.
It was as if they were waiting for me to arrive.
"...You're the one who spread cursed equipment throughout the city, aren't you?"
The Insect User nodded slightly.
"Why...you..."
Even with the hood deep over their face, I could see their real face up close.
That face was very familiar.
"Why...Miss Roreis?"
"......"
Miss Roreis didn't answer right away.
A serious and just Inquisitor who strongly detested cursed equipment.
Why would someone like that...
"...It wasn't what I wanted."
She eventually replied, her voice barely above a whisper.
"Everything was according to Chester Ville's orders."
"Orders?"
"Yes."
Miss Roreis spoke in her usual flat tone. But, perhaps due to guilt, she didn't look me straight in the eye like she usually did.
"I couldn't disobey."
"Why?"
"Because I was being blackmailed. After I was assigned to this city, Chester Ville took notice of me. Maybe he didn't like how I was a bit rebellious, so... he put a cursed equipment on me."
"..."
The butterfly that watched over the city and devoured the Funeral Director.
I thought it was an unexplainable phenomenon, even with normal equipment.
But it was indeed the power of cursed equipment.
"But why use cursed equipment?"
If he didn't like her, there were other ways to deal with it.
He didn't has to resort to something as roundabout as using cursed equipment.
"It's also because he wanted a pawn that wouldn't betray him. If it was known that I was a 'cursed one'...you know what would happen, don't you?"
"..."
In the Holy Kingdom, possessing cursed equipment was an absolute evil.
Just touching it was enough to warrant execution.
No one would listen to what a cursed equipment user had to say, especially if they were trying to condemn Chester.
To obey or to be killed――those were the only two options she had.
"I only realized how weak I was when I was faced with death. I became an Inquisitor to protect the citizens with my life, but I ended up being afraid of death and chose to cooperate with Chester Ville's plan."
"Chester's plan...?"
"It's a plan to spread cursed equipment throughout the city. Chester Ville would release the cursed equipment, and then hunt it down himself, repeating the process."
"What's the point of that?"
"It's to get ahead in life. If he hunts down a lot of cursed equipment, he can get on the fast track to success."
It was an all too simple motive.
I could understand it, but I couldn't accept it.
"Is that all there is to it?"
My voice trembled.
"Is that all you're willing to do, sacrificing many people... Miss Roreis?"
"...You're angry, aren't you? Even for me."
Miss Roreis slightly narrowed her eyes.
"But... my situation is fine. What's more important now is Phantom――you."
"Me...?"
"Yes. Chester Ville is trying to kill you. That's why... he took Rikka Vallet as a hostage."
"What...!"
"She's the person closest to you, so she must have judged. He's probably planning to use the hostage to trap you. So――"
Miss Roreis took a breath before continuing.
"――Please, don't save the hostage."
"Huh?"
Suddenly, Miss Roreis pulled out a sword and cut her own wrist.
Fresh blood spurted out like a blooming flower, scattering everywhere.
The droplets of blood looked like insect eggs.
They seemed to squirm around in mid-air, as if they were about to hatch like a spider's eggs.
"――Bind, Blood Insect"
"...!"
The blood spiders shot out threads all at once.
I quickly cut them down with my Slime Sword.
"...What's your intention?"
"I'm going to hold you back."
Miss Roreis didn't show any signs of guilt, and instead, cut her wrist.
The bloodstains that scattered on the ground began to take the shape of insects before my eyes.
"You're trying to rescue the hostage, even though you know it's a trap?"
"That's bad, isn't it?"
"Yes, that's correct."
The blood that had transformed into bees buzzed loudly with their sharp wings, closing in on me. I tried to counterattack with my sword, but there were too many of them. Their irregular movements made it difficult to match my sword with theirs. They were troublesome enemies.
"Ugh..."
"I have high expectations for you. You're strong. To realize justice, your power is necessary. So... I can't afford to lose you here."
"...That's quite a selfish opinion, don't you think?"
"I'm aware of that."
I jumped back, creating some distance between Miss Roreis and myself.
"...Show me where Senior Rikka is."
I couldn't keep playing along with Miss Roreis forever.
I pretended to catch my breath, secretly giving a signal to my Compass Eye (Ra Shingan).
The needle of the Compass Eye was pointing towards――
――the direction of the Curse Site.
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