Volume 12 Chapter 4 (1/2)

Episode 4 - The Captive assailant

–

Part 1

Memory flickered like a flash

The sevent Ruin, Moon

It was an enor down on the world

Ten-odd years before, Soffice Xfer awakened from her sleep there

「Ni, nice to meet you desu! XferKey's Supervisor-sama!」

「…………Who, are you?」

「I alad! You woke up properly」

When Soffice woke up inside a strange capsule, the girl who appeared in front of her earing a dress that fitted tightly on her body, withon her head

The girl wasn't human, but the Gear Leader of this Ruin──she introduced herself as Automata Re Plica

At that time Soffice was already seven years old, but she didn't re

Whether it was her past, or the reason why she was here

Rather than saying that she forgot, it felt like she couldn't recall anything

「My head, hurt……」

When she thought, static like sandstorm appeared in her vision

Light flickered

She didn't even understand what she should do inside the strange mechanical fortress

In contrast with that thought, Soffice was adapting to life in Moon

What she kneas that she was a member of ancient race called Xfer, the protector of Ruin

She was the descendant of the people who built this Ruin

「Why, did you wake me up?」

「It's because there iscold sleep in pod will stop aging, but you have a duty as an Xfer desu Also, originally you have to find a person to be your pair and give birth to the next generation desu」

In short, the reason why she akened seemed to be because there was ato the Ruin, and also so that she gave birth to children of next generation while she was at it

Soffice had to get off froet off she could use the base ive birth to the next generation

She was told that she had such duty

「Troublesome, rejected」

But, Soffice didn't want to do it

「Wai-!? Why desu-!? It's unexpected that Xfer-sama suddenly abandons your duty desu- Don't you think how your ancestor will feel!?」

「I don't really know about my ancestor And it looks like there is no infor too」

Soffice asan expression of ennui replied curtly like that

「I also have no memory and fa to live with the two of us harmoniously」

Soffice noticed the existence of her little sister at one point and woke her up She wished for a life with the three of them

Soffice, her little sister Uruk, then the Gear Leader Re Plica

Regarding the ht that it was so irrelevant

Even so, because there was nothing to do, she listened to Re Plica's request and learned how to handle Drag-Ride

Uruk herself also had talent as Drag-Ride, but because she was unsuited for it, Soffice endeavored with her training in the place of her little sister

Time passed like that, and Soffice beca point arrived

「Hey, Onee-chan I want to see the world on the ground!」

That sentence was the start of things

The fate that the girls unknowingly knitted, and the chancewith a hidden fate

Miraculously, it was the saedy that occurred several o

The beginning of that as going to happen again this time

–

Cold

The coldness of the air that felt cutting on the skin caused Soffice to shi+ver and wake up

She i herself, then she noticed the sensation of metal that obstructed the movement of her wrist

「I, what is……──!?」

Soffice's personality noret perturbed, but as expected now her eyes snapped open in bewilderment

Her two arms were pulled up above her head it the posture of 'hurrahbanzai', while her two legs were also connected with chain where each was fixed to the corner of the room

It see with the sword belt because they weren't there

She was completely──taken captive by the enemy

「Ku……」

But, the match hadn't been decided yet

Her prospect was exceedingly thin, but she had to resist even then

For the sake of her little sister who died wishi+ng for peace, and this world

–

Part 2

「Nn……」

Lux aking up on the worn out sofa sobered up fro

When he opened the pocket watch he had, the time was just about before sunrise

The door of the underground room wasn't opened, but he became concerned about Soffice's condition and peeked inside

There wasn't any suspicious sign

In the first rooirl who had her four limbs chained

「The chains shouldn't be that tight but, it looks quite painful huh」

Lux himself, due to his status as an imperial fa prison several ti chained

The fire in the fireplace had died, so he thre firewood into the prison's fireplace and caused fire

(There should be a hut for server outside the hangar, so let's brew tea and brought it here)

After observing Soffice inside the rooround room for a moment

When he went back carrying cup of tea on a tray, the chained girl raised a groan

「U, u……」

「Are you awake?」

「This, place…… Where──」

When the girl raised her voice with slightly opened eyes, Lux smiled to her

His objective was to lessen Soffice's cautiousness, but of course she didn't let her guard down

「GoodErr, Soffice-san……can I call you that?」

Silence with a serious look was returned to him in place of reply

For Lux, it was thereaction

「Err, do you reot defeated by Captain Magialca though──」

Silence again

「Err──, I brought water and tea here, are you thirsty?」

The silence didn't change, but her gaze glanced briefly at above her head──toward the shackle restricting her

「No, as expected I still cannot release that I think it's harsh but, it doesn't hurt right?」

「Cold, I' to death」

「Eh……?」

「This is justto say to the family of traitors」

Soffice averted her face aside while saying that with a serious look

(Soirl huh……)

Philuffy and Noct were similarly taciturn, but compared to his childhood friend ith her own pace and the calirl, Soffice was different somewhere

「I get it Here, drink slowly」

It seeht the cup of tea to her mouth Perhaps her throat was dry because she sipped it in one go

「-Tsuu……!」

「Wai-, don't be so hurried, if you drink that fast──」

Because Soffice struggled from the heat of the tea, the tea splashed on her clothes

Lux thought that as expected she couldn't drink well froet burned, so he used one hand to take off the chain that was shackling up her arms above It was at that moment──

「It's, my win」

Soffice's eht after that, the chain of the shackle that bound Soffice's arled around Lux's wrist

Without pause she pulled hihtly

She was drinking too fast and spilled the tea was her acting

「Ku, uh……」

Without delay Lux thrust up his ar completely choked, but the situation was bad

Soffice seeth into both her arms

「Take off theyour free hand If you do that then I'll at least spare your life」

「I cannot……do that」

「You will die if you are obstinate You should recognize your defeat right away」

「If you escape from here, there won't be any to kill each other」

「What are you saying at this late──」

The htly thrown out of order, he swept up her foot

「Ua……」

The th left her arm due to the impact, Lux took off the constriction and pushed her on the wall

Miraculously thanks to the toughof his criminal collar, his neck wasn't completely constricted by the chain

「Ku……, I blundered」

「Haa, haa……I soed」

After that, Lux so up her hands with chain again

He was resolved of her counterattacking, but it was ined

Lux too had accepted various kind of chores until now, but as expected he had no experience of doing anything that was nearly close to being jailer

While Lux was at a loss of what to ask about her story before persuading her, Soffice atching the pondering Lux and for some reason her face went pale

「This is bad This flow, he will surely call his comrades to beat me up and lynch me……!」

shi+ver shi+ver, her body was shaking along with her pilot suit that had a lot of exposure and she was starting to get scared

「I won't do anything like that Or rather, right now it's only uard here──」

Lux noticed the slip of his tongue when saying that

If he gave her such inforain would becoher

「Ju, just onewatch of me?」

But, perhaps Soffice sniffed out a different nuance from Lux's words,

「Oh no This is surely, a flohere I will receive lewd torture fro man……!」

「I won't! How can you reach that kind of conclusion!?」

Lux denied it in great panic, but Soffice was co cold feet

「……No, wait Perhaps, yes, ht be effective to him instead」

「If you are going to trickin smaller voice!」

「The youngreally a for you……perhaps?」

「What's more it's impossible by the time you can only mention the method so lackadaisically like that! There is no way I'll be teht after what just happened!」

'Haa, haa……', after Lux retorted so loudly, Soffice hung her head down in a slump

Until now he had on Paladins, but she had never talked at all, so he didn't understand her personality

Of course, it was also possible that even now she was acting

(As I thought, she is a particular girl huh……)

He really couldn't see her as the girl who turned the world alliance into her enemy and led the world by the nose

But, Lux was starting to think that there was ground for negotiation compared to before

He uard down, but there was also no way he could take too much time

Rather, there was only one week until the time limit

If Lux couldn't persuade Soffice until then, Magialca would use her as hostage and began negotiation with Re Plica by taking into account the possibility of battle

Before that happened, he had to converse with her as much as possible

「Hah……!」

「……What's the matter?」

While Lux was thinking of such things, Soffice suddenly turned pale

Lux thought whether she was iain, but her atmosphere was somewhat different from before

If he had to sum it up in feords, she seemed to be completely at her wits' end

「……Take off, the chain, noon't escape anywhere so, quick!」

Her expression was serious like always, but sas starting to trickle from her forehead

Fro with her but──

(But, it's possible this ht be another trap……)

As expected there was no way Lux would get tricked the same way multiple times

He was also standing watch over Soffice alternately with Airi, so she ht come here soon

He guessed it would be better for him to consult her at that time

「Please, there is no ti me, I'll be troubled if you don't teach me the location!」

「Eh……?」

Seeing Soffice breathing roughly 'haa haa', Lux finally realized her intention

Froether

Thinking back, since she fainted last night, she wasn't going anywhere from this spot

Besides──although the fireplace had fire burning until the round room in the middle of winter was still cold

Her suit also had a lot of skin exposure, naturally that kind of physical phenomenon would inevitably happen

「Wa-, wait a bit! I will think of a way right now」

However, what should he do in this situation?

He felt that in general there would be a cha that business, or perhaps soo to toilet, but,

(If I' her, isn't that also bad in its oay!?)

On the other hand, if he brought back a chaerous to free both her hands And it that case Lux would have to be the one lowering her pilot suit and taking of her underwear───

「I was bad! Quickly, please! I won't escape!」

「Ca, cal of various way to do it so──ah……!」

Theall over with pale face, abruptly stopped

Looking closer, there was tear gathering at the corner of her eyes Her face was bright red and she was stiff

Splash splash Sound of water was echoing inside the dimly lit jail

He was at a loss of what to say He was reluctant to witness directly a girl ofthat

「Err, that, what do I say……sorry」

「……Die Someone like you, just die-!」

Soffice discarded the lared at him with resentful teary eyes

(Err, this is bad What do I do? Even though I should be asking her story and make her open her heart somehow, somehow the worst development is……-!)

While Lux was also baffled and losing his head in shock, footstep approached from outside the jail

「Nii-san How is Soffice-san doing? For the ti tea for when she is awake but──ah……」

Clang, Airi dropped the ht

Fortunately the cup didn't break, but after the place was filled with quiet silence, an aard atmosphere flowed

「Yo, you are wrong Airi!? This is, that, should I call it a bit of ──!」

「Please get out from here Nii-san」

Airi said that with a wide s her eyes

Her not saying a single word of anger was terrifying instead

Lux went out of the jail dejectedly and left everything to Airi

Well, it was only Soffice's lower body that got wet, so he only handed her the key for her legs' chain and asked her to take care of it

「Haa, I've done it now……」

The accident that happened coincidentally because he wasn't used with the jailer role was an act of God

Of course he had no bad intention, but he regretted that the worst result happened at the very beginning

Lux returned to the girl dor the rest to Airi's follow-up

–

Part 3

「Good grief……Nii-san is really troubling」

Airi went out first to gather preparation for the cleaning, then she perfor

Soffice earing pilot suit under her outfit that possessed high exposure rate, so Airi took off the trouser and the pilot suit under it

She wiped her body with towel that was soaked with hot water, put on the underwear she brought as replacean to clean up the jail

「There is ventilation here, so I think the smell won't remain, but just in case I borrowed perfume from Sharis-san」

「Why, didn't you call your comrade?」

When Airi was taking a rest fro the floor, Soffice as quiet until then suddenly spoke

「The perverted youngbrother should have told you how I choked hierous」

「You are saying that? Even though you onlywary of you」

After Airi said that sounding a bit exasperated, Soffice fell silent

「There isn't any particularIt's just, I don't want this to becoh Nii-san has ability to take action, he is really careless in various things」

Soffice who had her body wiped and her underwear changed returned to her calm expression like before

But, she was staring fixedly at Airi's behavior and tone

A strange silence flowed

It wasn't a sense of tension like a cold war, both sides were observing each other to see how the other would act

「Can I, ask question for a bit?」

「I cannot be locked here indefinitely」

「Are you saying that your subordinates, the Dragon Marauder will come to rescue you? I think that's ion division co taken away fro's security has been increased by a lot──」

「They aren't uys recently, I don't know them well」

「Is that so?」

Airi replied with a bit of surprise

On the other hand Soffice thought her tongue had just slipped, but her tone returned curt once more

「I won't et out froood choice But at this rate you won't be able to choose it」

「What, do you mean?」

「Doesn't matter, let me out There is not much time」

「By time, do you mean the time limit until the world destruction by Sacred Eclipse?」

Airi asked back, but Soffice didn't answer

Right after that, the sound of bell inside the Acade up time could be heard faintly

「I will couards outside, so youreckless」

Strictly speaking, there was no jailer to watch over Soffice specifically, but Airi intentionally said that

After Airi left that place, cold and silent atmosphere filled the jail

「Although she is ene brother seem to be careless, so I'll aim at that」

Soffice talked to herself with a small voice that no one could hear

「But, there is no tion Marauder bunch, they will make use of Re Plica and make her act If that happen, it'll be bad」

But, right after Soffice made that resolve of insurrection, she was taken aback fro

「Toilet, the next tio, what to do……」

–

Part 4

On the sky of new kingdo

On the sky where no one was noticing it due to the optic ca

「Aah geez, what to do desu!? If Soffice is captured, then everything is futile desu! Even though I had warned her so much to be careful when she went to collect Airi──」

A sirl abandoned the control of Moon and made a ruckus

The Autoirl which was the Gear Leader

Re Plica withfrom her head was there

「What? Even though she said that ill guard her when going to liberate the Garden, could it be she is tearing up the contract?」

There, a woht aron division coistri showed up and spoke

「Shut up desu I want you to not forget who is the one offering hideout to all of you who have no o desu」

「Certainly you're right Our subordinates are also decreased considerably in nu It will be just one or two uys properly」

「Then, quickly go and recover your employer desu! You know the place already desu」

「That's impossible you know, Automata-san」

Drakkhen shook her head with a somewhat exasperated smile

「Previously my comrade rescued me when I was locked up in the Academy's jail But this time the situation is different There are only two Ruins re that hasn't been liberated, so the enemy force is concentrated there Whether it's that Acadeon Paladins staying there Even on't be able to just march there」

「You've got a lot of excuse before doing anything even though you are just a mercenary desu Someone like that is called incompetent desu!」

Re Plica as anxious because of the absent of her master Soffice scowled and hurled abuse

Then, at that ti sound kon kon came from outside the control room

The door was left open, so it was only a signal to inform the visitor's arrival

The one who entered from there was a man with tanned skin and masculine face

It was the Dragon Marauder's Heaven Dragon division co man named Gatouhan

He was forht as eenous people who got persecuted and chased away fro place

He was at the latter half of his twenty, approaching the age where his experience and sta balance

「Is it okay for uy Vine is away so I'm bored」

「Oh, isn't this the rightme? Do you have any ulterior motive?」

「I don't need a woman with bad habit like you More importantly employer-dono, I want you to correct your statement there a bit」

Gatouhan avoided Drakkhen's talk and spoke to Re Plica

「If you wantyou as inco result desu Specifically speaking, after taking back Soffice──」

「It's about thatto save her already?」

「Ha……?」

Re Plica's eyes opened wide at Gatouhan's question and she went stiff

「What are you saying desu!? Has even your brain turned stupid desu!? What are you planning to do, abandoning your employer like that desu!?」

「Calht away」

Gatouhan s that to sooth down Re Plica

「Honestly speaking, our situation is nearly checkmate by the time your master failed to secure an Arcadia That failure itself was due to the trap of Seven Dragon Paladins' captain, Magialca Zen Vanfrick」

「Yourcaptive also turn it into a trap that can o to save her If otiate using her as hostage It will be better to move at that time」

「What are you going to do if Soffice is killed before that huh!? Everything will be over then desu!」

「If she becouys are also not that stupid」

「Then you guys are unnecessary so you all are fired desu It's a really short relationshi+p isn't it desu」

Re Plica was ie their stance of wait-and-see till the end and said that Hearing that, the leader Gatouhan silently smiled

「Don't be so hurried like that I didn't say that on't go to save her right?」

「That's right Even though we look like this, we are fa the duty that was requested of us」

「……What do you want desu?」

Re Plica was vigilant toward Drakkhen's bright tone and scowled

Then Gatouhan also pressed the Autoirl with a calm smile

「It's not like I' you to increase the reward I only want you to cooperate in order to save your master」

「For the advance payment, apply Baptism to us That's possible if it's now after we have been adht?」

「……Froe desu?」

Re Plica strengthened her wariness hearing Gatouhan's proposal and said

「We are her possibility even if just for a little」

Even the Earth Dragon division commander Vain had come and listened to the talk from unknown point of time

He was a young man with a face that still had a trace of childishness in it, but his bearing that had no opening gave him the air as a mercenary

「The world alliance and Seven Dragon Paladins are strong Especially the users of Divine Drag-Ride in that Acadehts Even if we invest all our re the Abysses, on't be able to contend with them easily

The younghis back once more and stared at Re Plica

「You too, if you are the tool of your Xferthe option that raise the possibility to save her even by ten percent A?」

Re Plica couldn't reply at Vain's question