Vol 1 Chapter 4 (1/2)

Chapter 4 - Deliverance

I'll gather beautiful things, Miht

Beautiful flowers, leaves, and s branches and balls of sap like precious stones

While it was bright out, Mis, and when the sun lowered, she returned to fukurou's mansion

She slowly opened the door of the mansion The second ti a beautiful yelloer in her hand fukurou made no effort to drive Mimizuku out, so as a sort of toll for entry, Mi beautiful for fukurou

The forest was overfloith beautiful things

Light soaked out from behind the door to fukurou's room When Mimizuku opened it, she was met by fukurou's back She walked so as not to ed loudly She sat down next to fukurou

Holding a sazed up at fukurou

fukurou stood before a reens, and the deep red of the Renka fukurou ladled out colors onto the canvas with his shi+ning claws It seeht meed into a picture

Mihed at the fantastical scene

She then suddenly realized that she did not fit in this place

fukurou is beautiful His drawing is beautiful The room is beautiful

The rooathered, and they had a certain liberated feeling to them, as they seemed to dance around the room

But

Why am I here? Mimizuku lowered her head

”Why won't you eat me?”

The words cahts fukurou didn't look at her, however after a long silence, when Miotten what she said, he suddenly opened his mouth

”Girl who names beasts”

”Yeah?” Mimizuku replied meekly

fukurou looked up, but not at Mimizuku

He simply asked, ”Why do you want to be eaten by me? Why do you wish to be eaten by a monster?”

Mimizuku blinked, puzzled

She hadn't thought of the exact reason why However, Mimizuku was able to answer She had always known the answer deep within her subconscious

”Because I don't want to die”

fukurou didn't say anything It was as if a hole had been stabbed into hi her life, began to connect her words together

”You know I hate using knives”

” Speak in a way that I can understand,” fukurou grumbled sullenly

Mimizuku smiled

”Ok, so I'll tell you why I used to do lots of different kinds of work, but the worst, dirtiest, most painful job, oh even now I don't like to think of it, what I hatedpeople”

”Judging?”

”Yeah” Mih and nodded fukurou's beautiful eyes were turned in her direction, so it was natural that she sh

”The dead people, even though they were killed by the villagers, I had to cut up their stomach little by little, then put my hand in all their squishy insides and pull out their hearts They said they sold for high prices That was a job that only I did I was told I'd be good for it by a woe,” but I didn't think so at all Still, I'd get hit if I said anything When I hold a knife, I remember that work, so that's why I don't hold knives Even if you wash them in a river, the so away The worst part was showing it to a live person, 'cause they knew they were gonna get stabbed I'd always iot hit I didn't want to die I had to bury the dead people too, but since digging holes took a long tis, and it h, but I never wanted to becoet eaten, you'll always be beautiful, right?

”And then,” Mimizuku continued, but fukurou suddenly covered her mouth

”Fgyah” She e yelp of surprise

fukurou violently held Mimizuku's mouth shut, and his face had an indescribable expression close to disgusted hatred

”That's enough Don't speak”

Mihed

She laughed spashter fukurou let go of her, and turned back toward his canvas

A long silence followed

”Why?” fukurou's question was sudden

Mimizuku tilted her neck and looked at fukurou from below

fukurou's eyes stared straight at Mimizuku

”Why? Why didn't you run away from such treatment?”

Mimizuku blinked several times Her eyelashes quivered dryly

”Um”

She opened her otten what she was supposed to say What should she say? That she was hit, and smacked, and oppressed Those were the reasons she could never leave the ”village”

”I don't know I don't knohy I hated all of it, and it was painful and difficult Soet out, even Even so, I don't know”

If she thought about it, it was a truly strange thing She tilted her neck

”Why? There wasn't one time when I tried to escape”

It was because that was life That kind of everyday life was normal to her If that as normal, she felt that there was no other way out of it

Even though she accepted that kind of treatment, she never truly believed that those days would end

”Then why are you here now?” fukurou asked He had already returned his attention to his painting, and was running his claw across it

”Uuess”

Mimizuku knew she could answer this one She knew the reason why she had left the ”village” behind

”I figured I'd had enough,” Mi widely

She plopped down onto the cold floor, and lowered her eyelids as if to sleep, however, she began to speak as if singing

”Mimizuku slept in the horse's stable She was tucked away in the hay And Mr Horse was always busy, alwaysloud noises, because the people ed, I heard!”

The petty fights a the thieves were always territorial disputes

The ditches grew deeper and deeper, until they were comparable to seas, and eventually the thieves assailed their own village

Mimizuku didn't understand what had happened

Screams and shouts stabbed at her ears, and the sound of fla here and there could be heard

And then came the deep scent of blood

Before long, katana-wielding e hand, one of the ed Mi her ears, outside

”I got Mimizu 'Ey you, with the red hair, there're no wounds on 'er cheek, take 'er”

For some reason, those were the only words she could remember

In that hts had stopped, and she didn't feel any pain or distress

The scenery seemed far off, as if it had been burned away

”'Slave girl,' eh? That's what he said”

Then, the man smiled His body hairs stood on end

He displayed a kind of disgusted revulsion

”'Interesting,' he said I don't get what he means by that, but that's what he means by that, so whatever, he said it”

Mimizuku's head swayed doard

”'Interesting'”

The red-haired man smiled, and took Mimizuku with him

Mimizuku's mind was perfectly still It had really stopped, she hadn't thought of anything at all

However, Miht a knife with her from the haystack

It was the knife she always used to cut up the corpses

She felt like she had screa had shaken in her throat However, she couldn't re She couldn't res she yelled were actual words

”I stabbed him Yeah”

Just as she did with the corpses, she dug into thethe center as leverage, she cut across the entire body A screa ripped arose It was the man's voice The blood from his body was much more alive and fresh than the blood from the moldy old corpses It splattered across her face, and entered her eyes

Her vision became blurred

”It was the first ti person The man fell down after that He definitely died, yep”

Mimizuku snickered

”He definitely died, Mimizuku killed him”

As she recounted the story, sweat began to drip down her forehead It wasn't warers began to shi+ver

She had always been ordered to do a si She had cut up corpses several times

However, what she had done then was fundamentally different, and Mi of her own actions

”So that's when I thought, 'I've had enough'” I had really had enough, I was really tired” she recalled casually She was tired She had never been tired before that

She gave up on everything

And then, she reo Far in the east, there was a place called the Forest of Night, where lots of monsters lived

It was said that not a trace was left of anyone eaten by the monsters

”So I walked all the way here”

She felt as though she had received a shock to the head She began to get dizzy

Mi at his face

When she looked at his moon eyes, she felt rested

fukurou didn't push her away, but simply scowled at her unpleasantly He then opened his htly

”Do you still want to be eaten by me? Girl who names beasts”

Mi so obvious She had said it several times, that she wanted to be eaten by fukurou, and disappear without a trace That's what she had alished for

Of course I do!

She opened her mouth to say it

She didn't hesitate, and the words were ready to come out

However, her thin, dry lips couldn't muster any more speech

She flapped her mouth open and closed like one of the fish in the lake Mimizuku didn't understand why she couldn't say it

”Uh, uh”

Mie way She wanted to say, ”Eat ht now if she asked

If she truly wished for it, noas her opportunity

My wish?

Her wish Her hope That is to say, what she wanted

”I, uh, fukurou”

She becaht If she couldn't say what she wanted to say, then it couldn't be helped

Mimizuku continued to speak

”Hey is it alright for me to sleep here today?”

In this beautiful rooht that it would be wonderful if she could sleep there

fukurou seemed not to pay any attention to her request, and he si

However, he didn't refuse, and Mimizuku became incredibly happy It was as if he had told her to do as she liked

Mimizuku curled up at fukurou's feet, and she quietly fell asleep

fukurou glanced down at her for an infinitesi his canvas, painting

The door to the king's office burst open, and a hu looked up from his documents and raised an eyebrow

”Where did the chivalry of the old knights go?”

”To the other side of that star,out from inside of the sofa

”My goodness That's a s”

”What do you mean?”

Not stirred in the slightest by the king's question, Ann Duke sprang up fro

”So, are the preparations for the subjugation of the de smoothly?”

””

The king responded with silence Ann Duke began to speak with a fully serious expression

”The populace is inclined towards annihilating the de He hasn't done any real har children They're just syirl that he's locked up And now they're saying that the kingdoade has already set up its preparations as well?”

The Holy Knight hadn't known about any of it He was in the Knight troupe, but he wasn't at the top of the group He had no political authority, and his abilities were used only for the purpose of fighting He was the one who had chosen this lifestyle, working slow to start and staying at home

”That's right You, the Holy Knight, are in charge of breaking through the advance guard,” the king said to Ann Duke in a relaxed tone

The king then raised his face

”What will you do?”

Looking at his eyes straight on, Ann Duke remained silent for a period of time

” To the public, it seeirl, but what's the real reason we're subjugating the de?” Ann Duke asked in a low voice

”For the sake of the people of this country,” the king answered, his gaze shi+fting slightly to the side

Ann Duke knehat he reallyHis country had been invadedthe region's strong ade, and they becaave the country power

After a hundred years, the legendary Holy Sword passed down froht” becadom's independence

However there was soained several things

Ann Duke had understood the king's prediction It had been ten years since he was chosen to be Holy Knight To Ann Duke, who had lost his father at an early age, the kingdom was like a father, a partner, and a friend to him He had never drawn his sword for his own sake Whether his enemies were hu He did not treat his sword as a decoration, as he understood that when he brought it out, a life would disappear

”So it's coo”

Despite all of that, he lightly shrugged his shoulders and, with a troubled look on his face, gave a smile

”My wife's not gonna be happy She'll say soirl, then shouldn't you quit being a Holy Knight?'”

He had understood that this was also a victory for the king, in a way Even the doainst his wife The king knew that very well

”Perhaps Orietta should join the ranks as well”

The king's face shi+ned at his idea

”The Maiden of the Holy Sould raise the ! With the ic reared in the temple”

”Hey, Your Majesty” Ann Duke interrupted the king, s

”I' beforehand,” he said as if it were no big deal

Though he spoke as if it were no big deal, his voice was lower than usual

The king took a deep breath for no reason in particular

”However you use the Holy Knight is up to you You can show me off like so as the fighting is for a good reason”

From there, the smile in Ann Duke's blue eyes disappeared

”However, if you do anything like sending Orietta onto a battlefield, I'll throay the Holy Sword, take her with me, and leave this country”

He spoke clearly and had a grim look on his face

The king was not unprepared to slash through obstacles to his country He was able to keep a cool appearance, however he could not take rebellion from Ann Duke He was a ”symbol” of the country, after all

”Are you threatening your king?”

To those words, Ann Duke shtly

”I' honest”

Mi their wings Light entered through the giantThe strength of the light forecasted sunny skies Miain, and went back to sleep The cold floor was co back to sleep

”Mimizuku”

Hearing her name called, Mimizuku jolted awake

As she raised her upper body, she looked around to see that the , but then saw Kuro stopped on the lattice of the

”Kuro!”

Mi Kuro Kuro entered the room quietly

The ht

”What a condition Mirains from the floor stuck in your cheek”

Kuro's words felt kind, so Mihed as she scraped her hand across her cheek

”How are you, Kuro? Isn't it rare for you to come to the mansion?”

”Indeed” Kuro gave a small nod

”Mi”

”To tell ? What is it?”

Mied herself to the sill When she looked up, Kuro was looking right back at her, and after a short moment of hesitation, Kuro spoke

”For several days, perhaps as long as a month, I will be absent from the forest”

”Absent?”