I
dreamed of angels. But how did I know it was an angel?
Because
they had beautiful white wings.
『Claudia,
it's almost time for salvation. Have faith in me』
I
nodded to the angel who told me that.
There's
no way I can doubt it.
『Trust
your sister.
Save her. Don't ever abandon her』
That's
a strange thing to say, I thought.
I'm
the one who's being held captive.
↓ Continue to Read ↓
↓ Continue to Read ↓
『The devil is trying to
feed you something. Making you sip your sister’s blood and once you've sipped it,
you'll fall under the devil's control. Then there's no way to save you』
I
don't know what that means.
But
God gives us trials.
The
words of the Bible are always difficult to understand, and the true meaning is
shown behind the haze, to be grasped by one's own will.
After
I thought that, I open my eyes, sit up and ruminate on the dream I just had.
The
dream is swept away into the depth of oblivion as my consciousness awakens.
This
is a dream that must never be forgotten. It should be.
I must
imprint it on my consciousness, ruminate on it, and find its true meaning. It
must be a clue to my salvation. It has to be.
At the
same time as I remember what I dreamt, the memory of last night just before I
fell asleep comes back to me.
（Huh?
What's with this memory?）
I
can't help but frown at the inexplicable feeling of discomfort.
（No...
maybe I just feel that way because it's too unrealistic, that's all）
Last
night, just before I fell asleep, I heard my sister's voice directly in my eardrums.
『Claudia!
Now, I'm talking to you, with the help of the angel. I’m almost here! Don't give
up! They'll take advantage of your kindness. Never show mercy to the devil!』
Sister's
voice, angel's dream.
She’s
almost there. That's all I can think of.
And it
ignited a spark of hope in my frail heart.
（It
doesn't matter if Fumio disgraces the angel. But, My God! My Angels! I will not
abandon the righteous!）
I
prayed in my heart. Then, almost as soon as I looked up, the door opened and Centipede's
maid came into the room.
「I see
you're awake... It's time for breakfast」
「...It
got pretty quiet last night, so I slept well」
That's
right. Usually the sound of women panting and beds creaking would keep me up
until almost morning, but last night it quieted down around midnight.
I was
worried that he might come to me, but he didn't, and I was able to sleep
comfortably for the first time in a long time.
There
was also the matter of my sister's message. So, I tried to trick this maid into
thinking that things might have changed somehow.
But--
「Ah,
since Taka-chi-sama fainted early yesterday, Confinement King-sama was visiting
Kyoko-sama's room」
Without
any particular hesitation, Centipede replied.
I've
never heard the names of all these people before, but I guess they are the
names of the women who fell victim to Fumio's poison. Nothing seems to indicate
that trouble is brewing.
After
placing the tray on the floor, Centipede tilts her head slightly.
「Today's
breakfast is white stew」
「...You
know, stew is heavy in the morning, and when a white liquid like this is served
in a place like this...」
「Don't
worry. There's no way a prisoner like you can afford the luxury of eating
Master's white slime」
「Luxury...!?」
（It's
scary that she doesn't even pretend to be joking...）
When I
frowned, Centipede said.
「It's
fine if you don't want to eat, but since Confinement King-sama's schedule for
tonight is to train Claudia-sama, I think it would be wise to eat. If you're
hungry, you'll die, won't you?」
**b
◇ ◇ ◇
「Kizuna...
give me a fried egg」
「Okay,
okaaay, hold on a second」
While
I was taking care of my brother's breakfast, my phone on the table vibrated.
After
dropping the eggs into the frying pan, I picked up my phone to find a message
from Sato-chan.
It
said――
『I’m
in trouble with the summer homework! No, I'm seriously in trouble! So, I
secured a genius who had already finished her homework. Today at 13:00, I'm
hosting a human-powered copying contest at a family restaurant in front of the
station. How about you, young lady, will you come?』
「A
human-powered copying contest?」
I
smiled and replied with a short message.
『Extremely-hot』
Of
course I'm going.
As far
as I was concerned, I had already planned to pretend that I had left my
notebook at home on the first day of the summer vacation and postpone the
submission.
「Onii-chan,
I'm going out with Sato-chan this afternoon to do homework」
「Hmm,
yeah... where's Saki-chan?」
「She's
not coming」
「I see」
「Yeah」
Brother
didn't say much, but I could tell that he was worried about me.
Shiratori-senpai is still quite suspicious, even from my point of view.
I
don't know who this “genius” is according to Sato-chan, but she must be a
classmate of mine. Even though it is less than a week before the summer
vacation starts, she must be a serious girl because she has finished her
homework.
A
little after twelve o'clock and after preparing lunch for my brother, I leave
the house.
Then,
when I arrived at the family restaurant--
「Hey!
Kizuna, over here, over here!」
Sato-chan
waved her hand to me.
On the
table, besides the drink bar, there were texts and notebooks spread out.
Across
from Sato-chan sat a girl who looked familiar to me. Sato-chan and I are in the
same class. But I believe she is from the next class.
She is
a quiet girl with long bangs and her eyes are almost completely hidden.
When I
sat down next to her, she turned her head shyly.
「Let's
see, this girl belongs to our club, Moribe. Kizuna, Is this your first meeting
with her?」
「Yeah,
I vaguely know her face, but she's in the next class...」
In
response to Sato-chan's introduction, Moribe-san just said in a faint voice,
"I'm Moribe".
Yesterday,
Sato-chan had sent messages to everyone she knew to see if they had finished
their homework.
There
were several people who had finished their homework, but only Moribe-san agreed
to let her copy her homework.
However,
looking at Moribe-san's behavior, I think the truth is, Sato-chan forced her
rather than she agreed.
She is
probably the type of person who cannot say NO to a request.
↓ Continue to Read ↓
↓ Continue to Read ↓
Even though
it is summer vacation, it is a weekday afternoon, and there are only a few
customers, so there is no sign of being kicked out even if we stay long.
While
picking up a drink from the bar and a pile of fries, we begin to copy Moribe's
notes lazily.
But when I saw her notebook, I
thought to myself, "Are you serious?" because it was a decent
notebook.
However,
there was no way it would end with just three girls gathering together and
quietly copying notes.
It's
mainly Sato-chan who made a lot of noise, but gradually Moribe-san started to
get to know us and joined in the conversation little by little.
「So,
Moribe, how's it going with that brother of yours?」
「Bwah!?」
Moribe-san
choked at Sato-chan's question.
「I-I
don't care! I'm not going to do anything! I-I'm just happy to see him every
morning.. at radio gymnastics...」
「Radio
gymnastics? Are you a kid in elementary school or something?」
From
her attitude, Moribe-san seems to be in love with a man she called,
"Onii-chan".
Sato-chan
made a dumbfounded face, then suddenly turned to me.
「Kizuna,
as a true brocon, why don't you teach her some tricks?」
「You...
Madiderau~ea...」 (*Note => Seriously?)
I
said, glaring at her, and Satou-chan gave me a puzzled look.
「Derau~Ea?
What's that?」
「It's
my original gal-speak. If I raise the end of the word, it's like
"yeah" and if I lower the end, it's like "Gero". I
thought I'd give it a shot at the buzzword award」
「No,
you can't」
When
Sato-chan said this with a straight face, Moribe-san erupted with a “pfft”.
- it's an easy title to look up when you read it back later. （laughter）
