Torture Princess: Fremd Torturchen, Vol. 3 Page 10

  Idly rubbing the edge of the writing desk, Kaito frowned doubtfully.

  “Elisabeth, you said that you’d met all the demons but the Grand King, right? Shouldn’t you know something useful?”

  “Your point is painfully valid, but I know naught. Had I known anything of the sort, I’d have taken measures before the battle.”

  “Yeah, that makes sense.”

  “Neither the King nor the Grand Monarch possesses any talents of particular note… No, wait. Upon further consideration, that might not be true of the King.”

  “Whaddaya mean?”

  On hearing Kaito’s question, Elisabeth pressed down on her forehead. She frowned, as though rummaging through her memories of the days she’d spent as Vlad’s beloved daughter.

  “The King’s prowess with arms was considerable, and he boasted that the talent itself was his natural ability. However, at this point, the odds of that having been a lie seem considerable.”

  “A lie? You mean he was lying to his own comrades?”

  “Mm, precisely.”

  “And he even fooled Vlad, huh…? Did the King really distrust his allies that much?”

  “Nay, his reason likely lay elsewhere. I just told you, did I not? He was fond of boasting about his prowess in combat.”

  Elisabeth shook her head.

  Illuminated by the lamplight, she interlaced her fingers.

  “The King seemed to hold Vlad, the Kaiser, in high esteem. But he was always the first to mock the Governor, who possessed an ability suited for naught but assassination. And even though his rank was lower than hers, he held the Grand King’s powers of mind control in contempt as well. Although, in the end, that resulted in her getting the drop on him and stabbing him with her needles.”

  “Given her personality, it’s no wonder she took advantage of that opportunity.”

  “What a pitiful fellow… It goes to show just how much credence the King held in martial prowess. In following, he likely just felt ashamed of his ability and concealed it from the rest. At this point, that much is clear.”

  Kaito recalled the colossal face that had appeared on the mass’s surface. That had probably been the King.

  The muscles in his face had been slack, and the impression he’d given off had been squalid. However, his physique had still possessed remnants of the chiseled, stubborn features of a warrior.

  Then Kaito stumbled upon a question.

  “Okay, let’s say that hypothetically, the King’s ability is a mental attack. Of all the people who got hit, why was La Mules the only one to commit suicide, then? We don’t know when everyone else is gonna wake up, but their pulses and breathing are all stable.”

  “Mm, and the curiosities don’t end there. La Mules was a high priest, and God’s blessing was strong with her. Furthermore, she didn’t possess consciousness. In following, she should have been incredibly resilient against mental attacks. With all that taken into account, then, what in the world happened?”

  Crossing their arms, the two of them sank deep into thought. However, they couldn’t come up with answers. And there was nobody they could get information out of. Kaito had already asked Vlad if he remembered anything related to the demon’s attack.

  Vlad had responded with a laugh.

  “Oh, I haven’t the foggiest. Hmm… Don’t you think it’s interesting, though, coming all this way just to find yourself facing a foe who holds fresh secrets?”

  Given how excited he seemed, it didn’t appear as though he was lying.

  Kaito furred his brow. He silently cursed at Vlad, lambasting him for his uselessness. As if sensing his thoughts, the stone in his pocket squirmed. Ignoring it, Kaito kept thinking.

  Eventually, Elisabeth uncrossed her arms and let out a heavy sigh.

  “Given the information we have, giving the matter more thought is naught but a waste of time. Godot Deus had his theories as well, but getting wrapped up in conjecture is folly. One way or another, one thing’s for certain—the demon’s been carved down a notch.”

  “Yeah, thanks to La Mules.”

  “Given the opportunity we’ve received, it’s been decided that I’m to attack the demon directly tomorrow morning. Without firepower on par with La Mules’s, any damage we deal the demon from outside will fail to keep up with its ability to recover. And long-range attacks could leave us vulnerable to meeting the same fate as La Mules. In following, I shall make for the weakened King and Grand Monarch and attack their true bodies directly.”

  “What?!”

  Hearing Elisabeth’s sudden declaration, Kaito unintentionally raised his voice. She frowned, as though telling him to quiet down. His thoughts racing, he immediately reprimanded her.

  “Are you insane? What the hell are you thinking? We don’t even know what the enemy did to us yet! A-and one other thing. Give me a second.”

  Kaito hurriedly pressed down on his forehead. The words attack their true bodies directly repeated frantically in his mind.

  A twisted scene floated through his head.

  The area around the mass is stained gray for miles around.

  The buildings within the encroaching radius had been weathered like old paper, and some of them had transformed into shapes and materials that defied the laws of physics—some glassy and vitreous, others foamy and granular. The very nature of space had shifted once past a certain threshold, as though it had been cut away with a knife.

  It was simply consuming its surroundings in a different manner rather than physically corroding them.

  The world was being destroyed… And who knows what the hell is going on in there?

  The Torture Princess, Elisabeth Le Fanu, boasted absolute power.

  Up until then, she’d been handily slaughtering the fourteen demons. Even so, she’d never gone inside a space as bizarre as that one.

  “This should mark the first time you’ve ever seen a demon literally destroy the world. Going in there would be suicide, even for you, wouldn’t it?”

  “True, we know little of what’s transpiring within the area of acute encroachment. However, our foe has already begun healing. Once it’s finished, it shall resume accumulating pain, as well. The longer we leave it be, the more victims it will claim, and the worse our position shall grow.”

  “Still!”

  “It’s not as though I yet lay in Sacrifice’s clutches. As far as sheer power goes, I hold the upper hand. If you would not have me face them now, then when? And one other thing. Think back, Kaito.”

  Then Elisabeth stopped talking. She cast a sharp gaze Kaito’s way.

  He reflexively gulped. Elisabeth began speaking again, her tone deadly serious.

  “When the battle is over, I shall be burned at the stake. In following, the Church is within their rights to order a sow such as myself to put my life on the scales. However, they’re no doubt loath to send anyone else into the encroachment area. So the command they’ve given is appropriate. I have no objections nor any complaints. I simply intend to win. That is all.”

  Hearing her say that as dispassionately as she did, Kaito clenched his fists.

  And the truths the Kaiser had dropped on him weighed heavy on his mind as well.

  Suddenly, he found himself at a loss as to how to express the turmoil swirling within his heart.

  I can’t just tell her to flee. And the way things are, I can’t forsake the capital.

  Furthermore, he was well aware of the grisly deeds the Torture Princess had committed. He’d witnessed the scars her slaughter had left on her hometown with his own eyes. Crimes ought to carry commensurate punishments.

  Kaito himself had once screamed that Elisabeth should just clean up her mess and then descend to Hell like she swore she would.

  However, the conclusions he’d arrived at were no longer quite the same.

  Godot Deus is gone. And the paladins have taken a serious hit. Maybe once everything’s over…

  A thought crossed his mind. Would she still submit, once this was all over? H
owever, in his heart, he knew.

  “Having lived the cruel and haughty life of a wolf, I shall die like a sow.

  “…For that is the choice I made.”

  He knew Elisabeth Le Fanu wouldn’t run.

  No matter how much pain and despair awaited her, she would accept the consequences of the life she’d led.

  Elisabeth Le Fanu would take responsibility for the horrible life she’d led.

  She would pay for her sins as the Torture Princess.

  As he racked his brain about that fact again and again, Kaito found himself at his wit’s end.

  It’s no good… What can I do?

  Closing his eyes, he desperately turned over his thoughts again. After thinking, thinking, and thinking even harder, he opened his eyes wide.

  Then, led by his heated thought processes, he made a truly odd proposal.

  “Hey, Elisabeth.”

  “What?”

  “Go on a date with me.”

  For the rest of his life, Kaito would never forget the face Elisabeth made in that moment.

  Thanks to her expression, the experience of being asked, “Are you an idiot?” became precious to Kaito for the first time in his life.

  “Are you an idiot?”

  “Ah, there it is.”

  He’d expected her to turn him down. However, the fact that he expected it didn’t make her verbal arrow sting any less.

  He suffered a fair deal of emotional damage. He unconsciously staggered back a step. Before him, Elisabeth fiddled idly with the tips of her black hair. Surprisingly, she too seemed flustered.

  A moment passed, and Elisabeth went, practically grumbling. “Or rather, how to put it? I fail to grasp your meaning, and I think it somewhat problematic for a married man to be asking someone out.”

  “I agree.”

  “And for that someone to be myself, well, then problematic all the more.”

  “Still agree.”

  “Hmm, might you be coming down with something? Did the King’s attack hit you as well? You’d best turn in early. Don’t go pushing yourself, okay?”

  “Man, what am I gonna do? This is the first time Elisabeth’s ever been nice to me.”

  The fact that she was so concerned for him was kind of sad in and of itself.

  Kaito reflexively looked off in another direction. However, he couldn’t afford to give in that easily. After somehow scraping together his composure, he asked again.

  “C’mon, let’s go. We don’t have to call it a date. I’m fine with whatever, I just want to take a walk around the town.”

  “I-is that really the sort of thing one ought to propose in the hours leading into a decisive battle? It feels as though you’ve lost your wits… Are you quite certain you’re all right?”

  Elisabeth stood up from the bed with great vigor, then pressed her pale palm against Kaito’s forehead. It seemed she was checking to make sure he didn’t have a fever. Kaito doubted that golems could catch colds, but apparently what he’d said had been enough to elicit concern out of her.

  Now then, what’s to be done?

  I mean, sure…maybe I have lost my wits.

  At present, the capital was being overrun by a demon. There was no way of knowing where its underlings might be lurking.

  And Elisabeth was planning on heading to near-certain death the following morning.

  No matter how you looked at it, now was no time for a proposal such as Kaito’s.

  However, he also knew that it was now or never.

  “After you die, my inquisition is probably gonna end with me getting the death sentence.”

  Kaito spoke. As he suspected, Elisabeth said nothing.

  The fact that the Torture Princess was going to be burned at the stake tied in closely with the cruel fate awaiting Kaito. As both her servant and the Kaiser’s contractor, the Church was unlikely to forgive him.

  “So I wanna check out the capital while I have the chance.”

  Kaito went on. In truth, thoughts of his future weren’t the main reason he was making this request. At the same time, though, it wasn’t as though he was lying.

  After all, in his past life, he’d died surrounded by flies in the corner of a cramped little room.

  He did, in fact, wish to see the big wide world around him.

  Elisabeth thought on it for a few seconds. But after opening and closing her mouth, she heaved a deep sigh.

  “Fine. I shall accompany you.”

  “Hey, thanks.”

  Nodding at Elisabeth’s response, Kaito extended his hand. He turned his palm up, as though inviting her to a dance.

  Then she reluctantly placed her hand atop his.

  With his still-human right hand, Kaito clasped her pale palm.

  And with that, the two of them strolled into the night.

  “Hyah!”

  “Yikes.”

  Before Kaito’s eyes, Elisabeth kicked open the pawnshop’s door.

  Her crimson skirt fluttered as she dashed down the short staircase. Bathed in the pale moonlight, she took a short leap before landing with both feet pressed together.

  Landing magnificently on the stone pavement, Elisabeth looked over her shoulder toward Kaito.

  “How do you like that, Kaito?! I’ve done it once more! Tremble in reverence as you praise me!”

  “Yes, yes. Full points.”

  Kaito’s response came practically in a monotone.

  Elisabeth planted her hands on her hips in dissatisfaction.

  She was swathed in a crimson dress, a far more respectable one than her usual bondage outfit, with a high collar reaching up to her throat. It was an elegant, high-class article. However, when she did another spin, her immaculate shoulder blades peeked out from behind the dress’s audaciously bare back.

  The inside of her skirt was all frills, and they spread out like the petals of a rose. She stopped in place, and they returned to their original position.

  Pressing her palm against her bosom, Elisabeth pouted.

  “Now listen here, you! Show more enthusiasm when you praise me! You’re the one who told me to change!”

  “I mean, I can’t deny that, but…”

  “Heh-heh, ’tis quite the splendid find, for a pawnshop we selected at random! Unlike you, who appears seedy regardless of what you garb yourself in, ’tis showy and extravagant! Wouldn’t you say so?”

  Elisabeth’s fashionable plumed hat began to droop. As she fixed it, she puffed her chest out with pride.

  Looking her over from head to toe, Kaito crossed his arms with an audible “hmm.”

  “It does look kinda nice.”

  “Doesn’t it? Then you ought to be more verbose in your praises. You’re an impertinent one, for a servant!”

  “I mean… There is a reason I told you to change, you know. If you were wearing your Torture Princess outfit while we were walking around, running into someone could end poorly.”

  “Mm, we find ourselves in agreement on that point. ’Tis why I agreed to change.”

  “But when you think about it, what we’re doing is really just looting. Are we gonna be all right with you picking out something so conspicuous?”

  “Don’t go calling people looters! What a self-centered man you are!”

  Elisabeth hissed in anger. Regardless of what she said, though, Kaito had been completely blindsided by how flashy the outfit she’d chosen was. He hadn’t known that her tastes ran that way.

  Man, how’re we gonna explain this if we run into any paladins? Kaito wondered, concerned. Elisabeth, on the other hand, hesitated for a moment—no doubt deciding whether or not to call forth a torture device—before snorting. She tapped her heel against the ground to urge him on.

  “Well? What did you intend to do from here?”

  “Huh?”

  “Don’t ‘huh’ me. I’ll have your head.”

  Pressing down on her forehead, Elisabeth took in a deep breath, then exhaled.

  Adjusting the angle of her hat once more, she ra
ised her lips in a pout.

  “This situation as a whole is foolish beyond belief, but having said I’d accompany you, I’ve accepted my fate. Rejoice. I know not what this is, be it a date or what have you, but I intend to accompany you to the location of your choosing! Be honored by my charity. Now, where did you want to go?”

  “Well, when you put it that way, I guess there wasn’t really anywhere in particular.”

  “Just who do you think you are? I’ll have your head!”

  Elisabeth shouted at him, livid. Whatever she had to say, though, the fact remained that Kaito knew next to nothing about the capital. And even in his past life, he’d never had a chance to just go for a walk around a town.

  Telling a person like that to imagine somewhere they wanted to go was asking a bit much.

  “See, the thing is…”

  Kaito conveyed those facts frankly to Elisabeth. Murmuring her assent, she knit her brows as she nodded.

  Eventually, her shoulders slumped in dejection.

  “Well, your past life being what it was, I suppose I can take your extenuating circumstances into account. But listen here, you…”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  “Inviting someone on a date like that… Even I, the Torture Princess, find that a tad questionable.”

  “I agree with you completely. I have nothing to say in my defense.”

  “Given your sorry state, that wife of yours is liable to leave you.”

  “Hina wouldn’t do that.”

  “In truth, I must agree.”

  “I’ve got an awesome wife, don’t I?”

  “Mm, and one wholly wasted on you at that.”

  “Man, that hurts. Anyway…what about you? Do you have anywhere you want to go visit?”

  “A place I wish to visit, hmm?”

  Elisabeth crossed her arms as she pondered this.

  As she did, the plume drooping from her hat rustled and fell directly in front of her face. With feigned composure, she brushed it back up. But it simply rustled back in her way once more.