Chapter 38 The Ballad Of The Monster To You, Part Two
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
――――Is it enough… to keep this child safe?
――――Yes, a curse has been cast. Be very careful.
――――A curse?
――――Yes, to avoid turning into a monster.
――――…I don’t really understand.
――――That’s okay if you don’t understand. If this child can live a normal life, this child can pass away without knowing anything too.
――――…
――――You seem unhappy?
――――…It’s not exactly that.
――――What do you mean?
――――…Is there no way to remove this curse?
――――…There is.
――――…The condition for the spell to be lifted is this child’s death.
* * *
”Please, take off the chains. I won’t fight back, I promise.”
In the dark underground cell, I remained chained, my arms and legs bound tightly, on the edge of insanity due to a strong feeling of urgency.
”Please, she has a very high fever… I will die if nothing changes.”
”…”
I keep asking the silent men in front of the room for help.
How long has it been since I started asking desperately?
They look empty, and I don’t know what they are thinking.
”Please, just one thing. Take off the restraints.”
I will keep asking forever until they respond.
Sometimes, the Divine Princess’s control weakens.
It can happen for different reasons, like outside interference, a strong burst of mana, or a sudden change in the ruler’s health.
It’s possible for the control to be released unexpectedly, and, although rare, they may go against the commands even while under control.
I think it happens when something touches their sense of right and wrong or pride.
That’s why I keep talking, hoping to touch their hearts.
”Just one thing, please.”
I am weak.
I can’t do miracles.
”Please… “
Frau-san is breathing hard, her head on her knees, and it’s getting harder to breathe.
”Frau-san…”
If this continues, she might die.
Frau-san was never good at dealing with mana, and the Divine Princess’s mana torture is too much for her.
It’s amazing that she’s still conscious and talking.
She’s probably doing it for Lute-sama’s sake.
”Frau-san… Hold on… Lute-sama will come to help you for sure…”
”――――…――――…”
When I mentioned “Lute-sama,” Frau-san’s eyes showed a brief spark of determination.
But soon after, her eyes lost focus, and she seemed confused and distant.
She can’t take it anymore.
”――――”
I can only offer words without any guarantee. Why am I so powerless?
The only thing I know how to do is hurt people.
But even that has failed, and Frau-san’s life is in danger because of me.
”Help… If the thing that holds me does not work, give us some water… I want to give it to this girl… She is very hot…”
Stop crying.
…
Crying does not help.
”Help, please. This girl, she loves someone. I do not want her to die.”
If only they could do what they want…
I do not care if they are bad people.
If I could give myself away and get some water, I would do it now.
”She said he finally talked to her.”
I’ve been there for a few months.
Frau-san loves someone for more than ten years.
How much she feel may not depend on time… But time still matters.
She has thought of Lute-sama for more than half of her life.
If she starts living when she knows who she is, then she has loved Lute-sama all her life.
So, I don’t want her to die.
I really don’t want her to die. But Frau-san’s breathing is getting weaker. All I can do is wipe the sweat from her forehead and weakly hold her trembling hand.
”…………Lute…-sama…”
”………”
”………”
”………Fr… Frau-san?”
”………”
”………Frau-san? Hey, Frau-san?”
”………”
”………”
Her mouth opens a bit.
”Frau-san?”
Her focus is completely gone.
”Hey.”
Her body, which was shaking a lot, is losing strength quickly.
”No good, Frau-san.”
Her face, which should have been hot with a fever, is getting paler and paler.
”I’m sorry, Forte. I was slow.”
”I have a plan. We will go to the Empire. We will use you and the kid to make Lute-sama come to the Empire. Then we can take Lute-sama without Kanon-sama’s interference.”
Stop,
Stop, Frau-san.
”You said Lute-sama is more important than Draconia. The Empire needs magic tools very much, so this is good for him. They really want Lute-sama to be there.”
”We can get Lute-sama, so we can talk to the Empire. We had to choose between the Empire and the Holy Kingdom, but the Holy Kingdom does not like people with weird and strong powers, so the Empire is better.”
He will come soon.
Lute-sama will open the door to the dungeon and jump in, and save you like a hero.
…
”Oh……?”
”Oh……? Did the kid die?”
They said it well, and I like them even more now. Frau-san is very important to me.
”Look, Quintet, she’s still alive.”
”She’s just about hanging on, Quartet, there’s no way to save her. She was always weak.”
”You two, please… help…”
”Sigh~ Quintet, I’ll help her.”
”…Huh? Why are you helping? It doesn’t matter.”
”I don’t get what you’re saying. Forte gave us important information. We can’t let her die.”
”Having two people might ensure success, but even one hostage will do.”
”What? Listen, Quintet. There’s no point in killing without reason. We should only kill when necessary. It’s different from when we were in the Divine Princess’s guards.”
”What? Listen, Quartet. We don’t have time to waste on such things. Let’s focus on what’s necessary. The Divine Princess and the Divine Princess’s guards haven’t changed fundamentally.”
(Lute, I will sacrifice myself for you. If you face a serious problem, I will sacrifice my life. I will give my all in a fight for him, and then die.)
”I don’t remember teaching you to think like that. We should help those who can be helped. Only harm those who deserve it.”
”I don’t recall raising you that way. It’s alright to do only what is necessary and efficient. There’s no need to assist worthless people, even if you did help them.”
(If I die now, it will be a terrible death. Because I made a mistake. Frau risked her life to protect Lute’s secret, but everything has been exposed.)
”Snap out of it! We are not murderers. Killing everything isn’t the solution.”
”Are you coming back to your senses? Did Forte attack you? It’s about both of us surviving together.”
(I will do my best too. Survive and return to living in Lute’s house.)
”She can’t breathe… no… no… no…”
”………”
”………”
”Frau-san, please… please…”
”………”
”………”
(What will you do? Maybe we should just live for now. I still want to do many things for Lute-sama.)
”…Stop. I will do it by myself. Go away, Forte. You are not helping.”
”…You can’t do it. Even with Quartet. It is too hard. It is no use.”
”I have to try to know. And also, you did too much and made this happen.”
”You don’t have to try to know. And also, I did not do too much. It is just that this child is very weak. I don’t know what is wrong with her.”
I…can’t…stop…
”Frau-san…! Frau-san!!! Her breath!!!!”
The twin sisters who look the same and gave mana to Frau-san were kneeling in front of me. They looked at her face with worry.
They had gray hair that was cut at the same length as their eyebrows. They had lines on their foreheads.
Quintet and Quartet are very good at giving mana to living things.
It does not matter if it is for hurting or healing, the way is the same.
”Frau-san, it’s okay. Everything will be okay. It will definitely be okay.”
All I can do is hope. The treatment for Quartet may not last forever. However,
”?”
After a while, Quartet raised her eyebrows and looked at the ceiling of the underground dungeon.
”What’s wrong, Quartet?”
”………”
While continuing to flow mana, Quartet kept staring upwards.
”………Quartet?”
”………”
Quartet turned to Quintet, twisted their head with a confused expression.
”Quintet.”
”……?”
”How many guards did you assign?”
”Huh? Um… I think it was around 50? I don’t remember.”
”I only sense about 30.”
”………”
”Quintet?”
”………”
”………”
”………”
”Quintet, go check the situation.”
”What about Quartet?”
”I will help this kid.”
”………”
”She’s losing magic. If I stop now, she will die from pain.”
”………”
”Quintet?”
”………OK, I will look.”
She said that and left quickly. She was the twin sister.
”Be safe. Something is bad.”
”………I know.”
She looked lonely when she left.
* * *
They are very good at killing.
They do not leave any magic behind, because they use only their skills to go near and cut their necks.
Some are also pulled into the dark and have their necks broken.
”……”
A person came out of the dark. She had light purple hair in two parts.
Her eyes were small from the fun of killing, and from her mouth, magic smoke that she could not stop came out with a noise.
”Beth……♡”
”………”
She had knives in her hands. I gave them to her when she worked for me.
Those knives, made from the teeth of old dragons, were also a way of showing her I liked her.
We met a long time ago, but Beth does not talk. We have many things to say, but she is very busy.
”You are bigger now, right? ♡ And you kill very well. Fast and clean ♡”
”……”
”You killed many people, right? ♡”
”……”
”I was worried… Kanon-sama doesn’t like war, right? You said no to fighting the kingdom… I thought maybe she did not let Beth kill anyone.”
”……”
”But it’s okay… You are killing well now ♡”
――――――――Hmph…
Beth’s shape became fuzzy, gone. I smiled and moved my body back, Beth’s sword missed me.
Beautiful.
It was very close to my neck, where my blood is.
”――――!!”
Now, Beth looked at me with big eyes, I smiled back, jumped back fast to avoid the foot that tried to hit me.
”Wow, wow! ♡♡♡”
She kept coming, one after another.
The sword hits were so fast that I couldn’t keep up with them. They cut through my gray hair, and the punches aimed at my arms made a loud sound as they hit my crossed defenses. As I hid a small knife in my left hand and quickly switched it to my right hand for a strong thrust, it was blocked above my eyes. Then, I spun around and threw the knife from my right hand, and got stabbed in the shoulder.
Using the wire attached to the knife handle, she pulled me closer and then kicked me forcefully, making me fly back due to the recoil. Mana leaked out like steam as I gritted my teeth, resembling a wild animal.
”Ha…!”
She was strong opponents.
”Gu…!”
And there was no time to get my sword out.
Blood flowed from my eyes and shoulder, and I could feel my heartbeat getting faster.
It’s been a while since I faced such an exciting opponent.
TShe ismuch stronger than me.
”Beth… ♡”
As Beth saw me unsheathing my sword with a loud sound, her gaze became even sharper, and she started to jump lightly in one place. She has always used a unique form of martial arts since she was young, but I wonder who taught her those movements.
”Are you feeling better after Bottleneck Syndrome? ♡”
”……”
”Hey, did you know you can become a Divine Princess right away? ♡”
”……”
”Oh, you’re being so cold ♡ Even though I’ve been nice to you… ♡”
With a loud noise, Beth moved closer to my troops, releasing mana and making them scared.
In a situation where I can’t use Quartet combination one-on-one, I would probably be killed in a few minutes.
But once I survived the initial attack, I was already in a better position.
I had enough time to summon controlled soldiers using mana.
”Are you getting impatient? ♡”
”―――――…”
Furthermore, for some reason, Beth was hurt.
There was a lot of blood coming out from the bandage around her forehead, and her mana, which was very dense, fluctuated occasionally.
She is not fighting me?
”Beth… You will lose if you wait too long. You should have killed them right away… I told you that when you worked for me, right?”
”………”
”Also, you have no chance to win a long fight against the Divine Princess. I made the soldiers stronger. They are not very good by themselves, but they are hard to beat as a group.”
”………”
”You are not good at fighting face to face… That is bad. You are not being yourself if you try to fight in the way that your enemy likes.”
”………”
”What you need to do is not make the guards less, but―――――――――――――――
――――――Zuuu…..
I felt a small feeling of wanting to kill me from above, and I moved away from there.
She got to the top of the tower without me seeing, and came down from there.
”―――――!”?
I heard a loud noise, and then a quick, bright sword passed where my body was. In the direction I looked, a finger’s tip floated in the air.
”Träumerei…!”
When Träumerei landed, her long hair moved, and her eyes, without much emotion, had a dim light.
It’s always hard to sense her magical power.
Unlike Forte, this Divine Princess is not someone I want to face directly.
”Quintet…”
”~~~~~!”
The pain from my cut finger started to hurt more.
”It’s not good… if I don’t take the advantage…”
―――――I have to defeat them right away.
When Träumerei said that without expression, I told the nearby soldiers to attack Träumerei all at once.
* * *
”Forte… I’m sorry. I do want to help.”
”Wait… Quartet… please…”
Quartet, looking worried, glanced up at the ceiling briefly and then looked back at me.
”The guards are moving… Quintet has started fighting. Aren’t Aria or Beth coming?”
”Wait…! Please… I, I will… talk to them…”
”…That’s impossible. I can’t free you either. I’m not that simple-minded. And if you try to talk to them, it means those fighting Quintet will come here, right? By then, Quintet will be in trouble. I want to protect Quintet.”
”Please…! Quartet… help Frau-san…”
I held onto Quartet’s arm and pleaded. Quartet hesitated for a moment.
Her eyes landed on Frau-san’s body, who had already stopped breathing and was lying on my lap.
Quartet used her magic to make the blood flow and the lungs work. It was hard to watch, but it was true.
”Please…!”
”…………”
”Quartet… Frau-san…”
”Forte…”
I’m sorry.
She said that and got up.
Frau-san’s body shook one time,
”~~~~……”
In my arms, she stopped moving.
”…………”
Her eyes, a little open, had long lashes that looked fake.
”…………”
Her yellow hair was pretty like the sun.
”……ugh…………”
She had the cutest face ever,
”Frau-san…”
I held her, and her body was warm like she was still alive.
”………”
Ah…
I hear a song.
It sounds lonely.
As if…
―――――Like a ballad.
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Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
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