C³ Vol 16 Chapter 1

Chapter 1 - The Withdrawn Cube / "Cage x Collapse x Chivalrous" Part 1

Her master was currently sitting in the wheelchair. Sleif—the demonic sword Dainsleif—followed his gaze, staring at «Dieu le veut» standing upright on the ground surface. In order to confirm its state.

As kindred, she could sense the cursed aura released from the spear. It was operational indeed. The prior preparations she had undertaken in this town were not in vain. Likewise for the bloodshed and pain suffered by that lowly allegedly immortal girl.

"Looks like it's definitely operating properly, isn't it~? Standing perfectly straight, it's truly wonderful~"

Taciturn was giggling while she spoke. Sleif was displeased to see her act so frivolously in front of the master, but that was how Taciturn always behaved. The master whispered:

"A foolish question—Anything else would be troublesome."

"Then the only thing left to do is wait. Everything is progressing so smoothly~"

Sleif could not ignore these words. Turning her helmeted face towards Taciturn, she said:

"Do not lower your guard, Taciturn Chatterbox. It is our turn to enter the stage. Until territorialization completes, twenty-four hours remain—We must guard the spear until then."

"Yes yes yes, I got it~ To perform territorialization in such a conspicuous place, it goes without saying that a certain group will interfere."

"Carelessness would be folly. Preparation is essential. Before this place becomes a castle, it must first be made into a stronghold. Dainsleif, instruct the knights to start establishing a stronghold."

"Acknowledged."

Hearing the master, Dainsleif turned around and issued directions to the knights in formation awaiting orders.

Having received their task, the knights returned to the "mobile territory" of the transport helicopter and started to move supplies. These were supplies for setting up camp, including tent equipment, rations, weapons and various sundries.

Needless to say, the place where the master was staring at, with «Dieu le veut» stabbed in the ground, would be the headquarters. With this as the center, the camp was gradually set up outwards.

Of course, this could not compare to the Knights Dominion's headquarters in the homeland, but the camp still followed the style and overall layout back home. Indeed—This was equivalent to a "throne room" despite serving as temporary headquarters. Upon the pride of knights, this place must be presentable.

The knights started to build a raised level above the ground, similar to a throne's platform, so as to house the master's wheelchair. Then from the entrance of the soon-to-be erected tent all the way to the throne, a red carpet was laid to enhance the atmosphere of an audience hall. Then several sets of silver armor were moved out of the mobile territory and carefully lined up on the left and right sides of the carpet. Though they may take up a lot of room, these were indispensable furnishings. As for decorations, there was a practical and high-cla.s.s work desk, a vase on the desk, candlesticks for illumination, embroidery on the tent fabric—All sorts of things. Apart from this throne room that was to be temporary headquarters, they also planned to set up several tents for the knights to rest, but that could wait until later.

Looking at the knights setting up camp progressively, Taciturn suddenly c.o.c.ked her head and asked:

"Miss Dainsleif, as important setting up headquarters may be, isn't there something else of higher priority? Doesn't establishing a stronghold mean more than that? If you were to forget, I would be forced to laugh and jeer at you, yes?"

"Please stop talking incomprehensibly. Your worries are redundant. I have already issued orders for «Auschwitz-Birkenau» to be prepared."

"Oh dear, really~? Very well. But on further thought, why do I get the feeling that using that might be making mountains out of molehills?"

The master answered this question.

"Caution above all else. Now that it is decided for this land to become the Second Knights Dominion, failure is absolutely not an option."

"That I do understand."

"If someone were to obstruct the founding of our territory—Fear-in-Cube's group is the most likely. My personality cannot allow their existence and threat to be ignored. Even if others might view this as cowardice, it would be folly not to prepare properly in advance."

"..."

Dainsleif subconsciously pressed her hand on her own chest. She could not understand why she did so. The beating of that fake object accompanying her human form, as well as the foreign body inside her. No change came to either of them at all.

"Indeed, the necessary tasks must be finished first. Dainsleif, order Barbarossa Lee to lead a squad to move out. I need not specify the destination, do I?"

"Of course not. Nothing would be better if this squad could accomplish the task of destruction on their own, but otherwise, they could still buy time.. Depriving the enemy of the chance to take action is also a very important mission. I will tell them to do everything in their power."

"Heeheehee, in addition, things will get troublesome if they don't take this opportunity to get out~ Well then, my lord, this can't be all there is to your plan, can it? That's why I am present."

"Foolish question."

The Dominion Lord turned his head lightly. The tent covering this place was still being set up with only half of the canopy erected. Hence, the view was still very open, allowing one to see—

The school building facing this sports ground, as well as the numerous students still looking at the knights' direction, most likely having no idea what was going on.

Seated in the wheelchair, the Dominion Lord looked up at them expressionlessly and whispered:

"We shall set up two barriers to guard this place. One being the physical barrier formed by «Auschwitz-Birkenau». The other being—"

"A psychological barrier. In other words, hostages whom those people absolutely cannot ignore, right?"

Taciturn rudely finished the Dominion Lord's sentence. Placing a hand on her forehead with a giggling face, she made a motion as though looking out afar. Naturally, what she looked at were also the students in the school building. Then she grinned—

"Wow~ With this, I've discovered extremely suitable things that happen to be over there. And many of them too."

Dainsleif knew in advance that things would come to this, but still, she could not help but proceed in caution. Briefly, she asked the Dominion Lord:

"Pardon my impudence, but may I inquire on the progress of negotiations?"

"Already complete. Even if this school's superintendent—Seikaibashi Gabriel—or anyone else tried recklessly to bring in the police or the media in an attempt to get in our way, there will be no effect whatsoever. Do not worry about interference from outsiders."

Seikaibashi Gabriel was apparently a man of substantial influence in this town. However—so-called connections were absolutely unable to oppose connections of greater power than one's own. The Knights Dominion had been active all over the world since a long time ago for the legitimate aim of eliminating cursed tools. Naturally, they were able to overwhelm one person's meager power as soon as they got serious.

"In other words, there is nothing to worry about? In that case, I will busy myself with a bit of work."

Legitimate aim. There was no doubt that the destruction of loathsome Wathes was a legitimate aim, but the actions taken as a means to achieving this end—namely, that of involving innocent commoners—surely most would frown at that thought, wouldn't they? At least, Dainsleif was self-aware in this regard. However, even so, establishing the Second Knights Dominion on this land, to utterly crush and destroy Fear-in-Cube and her fellow Wathes, to obliterate their refuge as well—

This mission held priority above all else.

It was duty towards guiding the world towards the right path.

Looking left and right, Taciturn grabbed a young knight nearby.

"You'll do. Come and help me. Here, hold this."

"S-Sure. But I've been a.s.signed a task too. Please give me some time to get someone else to take over—"

"There's no time for that~ We need time to move. Okay, walk, hurry and get moving. You won't be scolded because you are following my orders. Also, I'll treat you to a drink at least, okay? Heeheehee, I don't mind either if you would like some other reward."

Taciturn took out a small device from her pocket and handed it to the young knight, then wrapped her arm around his neck intimately and started walking. But then, she looked back slightly and said:

"Oh no, but what if he asks for a s.e.xy reward, what should I do~? What do you think, Dainsleif?"

"Think about it yourself. Before that, stop disrupting discipline at this critical hour."

"You're so cold~ There's a full twenty-four hours ahead of us, so I just want to tell you this: staying tense all the time won't help~"

"Do not be careless. Cut the idle chatter and get to work."

As soon as Dainsleif finished, a change occurred in Taciturn's expression and appearance. Her face still displayed a teasing smile but her eyes and lips were giving off malicious airs of a taunting nature.

"Careless? Do I look careless?"

Dainsleif exhaled. She really did not want to waste time on this kind of dialogue.

"Yes. However... What matters is the actual result. As long as you produce results, I have no complaints."

"You should know, right? Despite being a carefree woman normally, I always do what needs to be done. I always finish my work completely, perfectly, absolutely splendidly, you know?"

She knew. Taciturn was indeed a perfectionist in her work—More precisely, it was not limited to work alone. Rather, it was whenever she was taking direct action for the sake of "a certain person."

"I hope so. Never forget that you are allowed to be so carefree only because you produce results."

"Heeheehee, that body of yours, reeking of a curse, is also allowed to exist only because you produce results, demonic sword."

Needless to say, dialogue of this sort was also the same as usual in a certain sense. Dainsleif was beginning to regret taking her seriously. Exasperated, she said:

"End of conversation. Hurry and be on your way."

"Yes yes~"

Taciturn started walking again while waving to Dainsleif over her shoulder. From the image of her back, one could not feel any remorse or hesitation towards the imminent task of taking all the students hostage.

This was only natural. Rather, this must be the way.

The woman who called herself the "taciturn chatterbox" was frivolous, unrefined and rude. For a human, she was absolutely the type Dainsleif disliked.

For an organization like the Knights Dominion, Taciturn was undoubtedly useful. It could be a.s.serted that she was someone absolutely unshaken by conscience or naivete.

Indeed, she was a true perfectionist. Doing necessary things when they needed to be done, doing them no matter what the situation. Doing everything in her power, working hard to complete a.s.signed missions impeccably. To this date, she had accomplished them all.

Whether infiltrating places reeking of feces and animal stench, conducting investigations that grated on one's willpower, cajoling with joy and humiliation, engaging in frown-inducing torture and interrogation, kidnapping while listening to the screams of young children, inflicting mind-breaking abuse, or performing underhanded and dishonorable a.s.sa.s.sinations.

The decisive condition of "necessary" was very simple.

Given just the reason that the Dominion Lord truly wished for it, she would carry out all missions without hesitation. Abandoning her usual frivolity to become a truly loyal retainer, she would sacrifice her mind, her body and everything else.

In other words, Taciturn was a perfectionist only within the limited scope of working for the Dominion Lord.

Because she is—The Lead Auxiliary.

Standing at the top of all auxiliaries in the Knights Dominion...

She was the one and only existence who had received the honor of acting as Dominion Lord Trinac Agana's direct auxiliary.

Part 2

How I really wish to kill, destroy her. It was anyone's guess how many times this thought crossed her mind.

Even now, her arm might take action as soon as she lowered her guard. If her gaze were to carry a blade's sharpness like her arms and legs, that block of metal would have turned into pulverized dust a long time ago, sucked into a vacuum cleaner. Sin. Punishment. Execution. A development most natural. A right most natural. A result most natural.

However—

"Hooooo—" Konoha took a deep breath slowly on purpose. She could feel all the pores on her skin still forced open by tension. As though about to charge forward any moment, her body's impulse to act autonomously still remained at the maximum limit, like water that barely avoided overflowing from a cup only due to surface tension.

And that surface tension was named rationality. That being said, who knew whether it was a necessary existence or not.

(We were definitely backed in a corner at the time. If no one did anything, it really would have developed into an unsalvageable situation...)

She closed her eyes and thought back. Overwhelming battle technique. Armor that rendered even the Counter sword skills ineffective. Herself, caught by the enemy's hand. Him, in a vulnerable state. The enemy, pulling back his bladed fist to acc.u.mulate force for a finishing blow. If time had continued to flow from that point—

Surely... Everything would have been over for everyone.

(No, but, even if that might be true...!)

Konoha shook her head, going in circles inside her mind. Agitated. If she were asked whether it was possible to forgive, naturally, the answer was unforgivable. That foolish girl had harmed his body. This was the one fact that must not be forgotten.

Sitting on the tatami floor, Konoha looked up lightly. Her view was obstructed. Sitting heavily on the table, that eyesore of a cube was to blame. Should she slice it up into a million pieces after all?

"Like I said~ You should say something at least. Staying like this forever isn't a solution, right?"

Of course, the one who had forcibly transported her to the living room, despite her current silent state, was Haruaki. Right now, he was smiling wryly and helplessly at the cube on the table, drinking tea from his cup.

Even in this kind of situation, he was still so carefree, a nice guy to a fault. She could not help but wonder how was he still able to make such an expression?

Clearly, his left hand under the table—was injured from that girl going berserk. Clearly, he had lost fingers. Clearly... they were irrecoverable.

If the fingers had simply been chopped off, perhaps swift treatment from Kuroe might have been able to reattach them. However, conditions were extremely terrible at the time. Their original foothold, the ship, had broken into two halves due to the fight between Fear and Pendragon, sending everyone into the ocean. Under those conditions, it was completely impossible to retrieve chopped fingers. As reluctant as she was to admit, simply surviving was very fortunate already. Even now, she still found it a miracle that all of them had made their way back to the superintendent's cabin cruiser.

"I've said so many times already. I'm not angry. If you hadn't done that, everything would've ended there. Everyone understands that."

"Yes..."

"Yeah, that's right—"

Kirika and Kuroe were also present. They nodded with exhausted expressions and ambiguous gazes.

They probably still had yet to sort out their emotions, Konoha thought. Had Fear not gone berserk at the time, Kirika really would have died. Pendragon was also going to use his astounding power to force Kuroe into being his. Even so—

Konoha believed that Kirika could be more angry. She believed that Kirika was ent.i.tled to this right. Her position was the same as Konoha's. Seeing his body harmed, how could she possibly stay silent—

(...No, I suppose... There is this. Speaking of rights—Perhaps I... I am the one who has no right instead...)

She felt an extremely cold pillar of ice stab into her heart.

Seeing his body harmed?

Had she forgotten? Not too long ago, had she not trampled his body as well? Had she not pierced his shoulder with her hand, feeling his flesh and blood, rubbing her thighs together in l.u.s.t—?

She narrowed her eyes. In order to endure that pain, or perhaps to record that pain.

Then Konoha sighed deliberately again. Why had things turned out this way? What should they do next? She was unable to organize her thoughts.

Staring blankly at the cube on the table, she started drinking tea as well to relieve boredom. After she put down her empty teacup—

"Muramasa-sama, would you like a refill—Is what I would like to ask, but the hot water is finished. I shall go boil more."

"Oh~ Thank you~ ...Kotecchan, there are some sweet snacks at the bottom of the left cupboard, could you please bring some while you're at it~?"

Sitting uncomfortably all this time, Kotetsu swiftly got up. Seeing that, Honatsu made a request as though he suddenly remembered. All this time, Honatsu was simply sitting on the floor, leaning his back against a column in the veranda, s.p.a.cing out while gazing upwards at the ceiling. He was probably pondering something.

Sweet snacks. Sitting on a corner of the table was a dish of snacks that had been pushed aside to make way for the eyesore of a steel cube. However, the number of rice crackers on the dish remained constant the whole time as though it were the most natural thing in the world—

(Turning into a square like this, covering your ears to escape, what else could you hope to accomplish...?)

Konoha inquired of the cube using her gaze instead of turning her thoughts into words. Although she could not confirm if her question was received, she did not care either. She did not expect an answer in the first place.

The crime of harming him. She had committed the same crime before. Mistake. Penance. Karma. True nature.

As cursed tools, their destiny—

She had devoted much thought to this subject. She had no choice but to think.

However, she could not remain trapped forever in these abstract thoughts. Reality stood before them too. Pendragon wanted to obtain Kuroe, Haruaki was injured, Fear had withdrawn herself from reality.

Their next move and countermeasures must be decided first. In that case—

Just as Konoha was about to speak—

A cellphone ringtone was heard.

An inauspicious sense of deja vu. The nightmarish events this morning had also started with a phonecall.

Haruaki subconsciously tried to open his cellphone with his left hand but then his face twisted and he switched to holding with his right. His numbed sense of pain was probably starting to reawaken. Seeing him suffering—Konoha felt a complicated sense of pain surge in her heart too.

"...h.e.l.lo?"

'Hi, it's me.'

Just from hearing this one sentence, one could tell who the caller was. Haruaki frowned. A tense atmosphere hung in the living room. Sitting on the table like an object, the cube also seemed to tense its surface of steel.

In the end, this deja vu was right on target. Identical to last time on two points: the phonecall conveyed unfortunate news and that it was an unexpected caller.

Then the caller—Yamimagari Pakuaki—started to explain.

The terrifying situation currently taking place somewhere else outside this house—

Part 3

"Eh, what's that?"

"Who knows... They're starting to walk back and forth busily."

"And setting up tents too. What's going on?"

"Hey, students, hurry back to your seats—! Cla.s.s is starting again... That should be fine, right? They didn't say anything in the staff meeting today either..."

Once disrupted, order in the cla.s.sroom was hard to recover. Even the teacher standing at the lectern was tilting his head with a troubled look.

In this kind of situation, Un Izoey continued to observe intently from beside the window—the Knights Dominion's movements. Her mind was devoting all thoughts to deciding on the next course of action. Meanwhile, it was best to keep her eyes wide open to gather information, of course.

"Hmm, have a look at that tent, my dear Kana-Watson. The way I see it, this must be an unexpected surprise event that the superintendent made to look like a circus! This is his painstaking plan to reward and inject vitality into us after the exhausting exams!"

"Isn't unexpected and surprise kind of redundant in meaning? But really? Tai-Holmes! But it really looks plausible! Ah~ So that's why people are carrying things resembling swords? They're gonna perform those martial arts dances? Hmm, all mysteries are over in the name of my grandpa!"

While Taizou pretended to smoke on an invisible pipe, Kana was nodding with exaggerated motions. The two of them were standing at the adjacent window, chatting noisily, but Un Izoey was in no mood to correct them.

She was staring at the movements in the sports ground. Knights setting up tents. Knights moving supplies out. As well as—

(That is...)

A group of knights were walking to the edge of the sports ground. Staying vigilant, they checked out their surroundings without lowering their guard. Then they stopped before the fence. Next, holding a reel-like device taken from the helicopter, they started pulling a certain something out from it—

(...Barbed wire...?)

Un Izoey focused her gaze but reached the same conclusion. It was barbed wire, or one could call it wire fencing. The knights were swiftly and cautiously laying a small wire on the inner side of the fence, weaving it through gaps or tying other wires to secure it. The barbed wire seemed to be much longer than a few meters and the knights apparently intended to keep extending it. Splitting up, the knights continued to extend that flimsy-looking barbed wire along the fence.

Incomprehensible. Normally, wasn't barbed wire or wire fencing used as walls? This school already had fences and walls. Even if one were to encircle the school with that kind of narrow wire—

(No... In other words, there is a need to do this intentionally?)

Then that thing must be more than what its appearance suggested. In other words, that wire was useful enough that the Frontline Gathering Knights Dominion went as far as to suspend its destruction—

It was cursed.

a.s.suming it was cursed barbed wire, what kind of curse would it carry? What kind of taboo power could be drawn out? Truly a new unknown.

Un Izoey had a foreboding feeling. Perhaps it was time to start taking action—Just as she was about to leave the window side quietly—

The faint crackling of static was heard in the cla.s.sroom. It was the school's public announcement system.

'Eh—Ah~ Ah~ Testing, testing, one two three.'

Un Izoey could not ignore this voice. Whether students or teachers, everyone was looking up at the speaker where this stranger's voice was coming from. The expressions on their faces were not all the same. Some were staring in surprise, others were deeply intrigued, all of them wondering if an explanation for what was happening outside was finally coming.

The voice continued to speak. Listening to the woman's voice coming from the speaker, Un Izoey felt that something was not right. It felt very distant—like transmitted through a thin curtain—Was it her imagination? Anyway, the content of this woman's speech was more important at the moment.

'Ah~ My name is Taciturn Chatterbox. Members of the Knights Dominion should know what precautions to take next, right? Trash who don't know will have to be punished, a separate discussion. Okay? Then hurry and let's—'

"!"

This was a different kind of foreboding feeling, as though something was rushing up one's heel after stepping on something. A sensory type of fear, without any logical basis at all. It felt as though she had stepped on something. Like a ferocious beast's tail, a poisonous insect's stinger, a highly toxic wild plant.

That type of terror instantly invaded her entire body. Calves, the back of her knees, thighs, waist, then—

'—Hört!!'

The quality of the woman's voice coming from the speaker suddenly underwent a dramatic change.

It became a twisted sound enough to blow away all prior sense of dissonance. It turned into an extremely hoa.r.s.e voice—Indeed, as though it had gone through an amplifier of exceedingly poor quality—

The instant she heard the twisted voice spoken in some unknown language, Un Izoey felt her instinctive chill turn into a clearer sensation, rising up along her spine. It was like a poisonous snake reaching her neck, its fangs approaching her throat while dripping with venom. This voice—This voice was very dangerous!

Every hair of hers stood on end suddenly. Instead of using her mind to think of countermeasures, her body moved automatically on its own. With her back to the speaker, her hands reached for her head—No, just as she was about to reach over—

"What's going on? Haha~ My deductions will be proven, right?"

"Hohoh~ Is it time for the murderer to confess? I was just thinking of walking on a cliff."

Right beside her, Taizou and Kana, still looking up at the speaker casually, entered her view.

Totally unaware—

Completely uninvolved with curses or the Knights Dominion—

To Yachi Haruaki's group and herself, they were simply precious cla.s.smates—

The two of them.

For an instant, their existence, and the fact that the two of them were right before her eyes, occupied her entire mind.

Without thinking, her body acted on its own again.

"Uwah!"

"Kyah?"

If one were looking for a reason, it was purely because they were within arm's reach—That was probably all there was to it.

Un Izoey wrapped her arms around their heads and sat down on the floor, pressed their faces against her chest then clamped her upper arms on their ears. At the same time, she managed to cover her own ears with her palms. Instantly—

Within the world where sound had become very distant...

Something happened.

Several minutes later.

Un Izoey watched that scene in surprise, still covering her ears.

Originally gathered near the windows, those students who had been watching the sports ground with interest...

Those students who had looked up at the speaker with puzzled expressions after hearing the sudden announcement...

All of them started looking around with faces that read "Eh? What was I doing just now?" In the next second—

Everyone took out their cellphone from their pocket or schoolbag, then started making calls at the same time.

Part 4

'—Hört!!'

This was the keyword required to activate the forbidden power of the cursed megaphone «Demon's Mouth», the conical device hanging at her waist. The curse of command and hypnosis had arisen from an internment camp's warden, whom everyone called a demon, who had coerced captives to listen to and obey brainwashed orders. The keyword was the first step to making use of its power.

Taking the «Demon's Mouth» out of its holder at her waist, Taciturn gripped its handle with both hands to raise it up. Keeping her lips to the microphone, she pondered.

Her mission was to take the students hostage in order to keep Fear-in-Cube's faction at bay. If an emergency arose, the students' lives could be threatened to prevent their group from invading the school. Hence—first of all, before that "emergency" arrived, the students must continue to remain in school. Furthermore, it must be as though nothing had happened, with neither resistance, opposition, rebellion nor suspicion.

During the twenty-fours before "territorialization" completed, it was not possible to subjugate all students by force and keep them subdued persistently. Even having brought the ultimate legion to this country, they did not have excess personnel to a.s.sign knights for this kind of task that would be a waste of labor and manpower.

(Well then, the actual announcement will be—)

This «Demon's Mouth» was capable of producing a simple brainwashing and hypnosis effect on those who listened to it. Similarly, its weakness was also very simple. Its effects were not 100% guaranteed. Despite being very simple to use and having powerful effects, depending on the situation, it could also be completely ineffective. Such was the paradoxical two-sided effect of this Wathe.

Specifically, a stronger the listener's vigor and willpower, the more likely they could resist even after listening to the commands issued through this megaphone. In addition, the more unnatural the hypnotic suggestion and command, the harder it was to take effect. But in this particular instant, completely oblivious students could not possibly react to her words with special vigor or resistance. Even if people involved with Wathes were present, so long as they were unaware of the «Demon's Mouth»'s details, it was impossible to be mentally prepared.

In any case, back to the hypnotic suggestion.

Simply considering the goal of "keeping the students inside the school to use as hostages when necessary," there were plenty of hypnotic suggestions to choose from. However, each of these options had their own flaws and was not the most suitable solution. For example, suggestions leading to life-threatening risk would have a high rate of resistance. Maintaining that kind of state would lead to even greater trouble. Also, she was unable to control the human body's physiological phenomena completely—Such as ordering students to remain asleep the whole time, for example. Hypnotic suggestions were not omnipotent. Depending on the content of commands, the situation could turn into chaos.

She must fulfill the Dominion Lord's orders perfectly without absolutely any compromise whatsoever.

Hence, the suggestion must be natural with the following traits—posing no direct threat to human lives, low rate of resistance, no strain imposed on the students, no provocation of opposition from the students, ideally lasting twenty-four hours, meanwhile keeping them confined in school definitely.

If possible, the suggestion would ideally conform to reality.

For example, a suggestion that would make the students act obediently as hostages for twenty-four hours without realizing they were hostages.

In fact, Taciturn had already decided what to say, but she was just going through final confirmations in her mind. Was this okay? It should be fine. She could only go ahead with this speech. It was the best answer after balancing all respects.

Taciturn took a deep breath and said:

'—Everyone listening shall forget all memories starting one hour prior to now. In addition, for the next twenty-four hours, you will likewise forget the previous hour's memories whenever an hour elapses, thus repeating in a cycle. Naturally, none of you will notice the changes in the sky from the time of the day.'

In other words, this was ordering all students and teachers, the targets of the hypnotic suggestion, to repeat the previous period and break endlessly. Suggestions took effect on the cortex, which meant that it was relatively easier to cause deviations in cognition and mixups in memory.

Taciturn continued as a followup. This part was crucial too.

'The next bell about to ring is the end-of-lesson bell from an hour ago. All intervals will be based on this. Also, for the next twenty-four hours, you will all ignore any strangers appearing inside the school as well as movements related to them, as though you had not seen anything.'

She could feel her words turning into a curse, flying off somewhere else. Presumably due to using a cursed ability, she felt a sense of exhaustion and chill attack her back, gooseb.u.mps developing and an instant rise in heart rate.

There was more to the «Demon's Mouth»'s curse—Currently, it was purely akin to caloric consumption. Even so, she still accepted it as something that could not be changed. How loathsome. Naturally, all Wathes were loathsome.

"...Huff...!"

Shutting off the megaphone for now, she moved her lips away and panted hard. The old device's weight was making her wrists ache. In the first place, this was not a portable megaphone like those commonly sold on the market. It was merely a loudspeaker originally installed in the internment camp's building, forcibly modified into a megaphone that could be held in one's hand while avoiding its curse as much as possible.

In any case, in addition to the school building's interior, her earlier speech should have reached all students via the public announcement system throughout the school, including the sports ground and the gym. With that, they were going to behave according to orders the whole time. Without noticing the endless repet.i.tion, they were going to keep repeating their usual school lives and the previous period.

Although the situation was very strange, the actions themselves were no different from daily school life. Ignoring what was contradictory, forcing cognition to match memory—This was the extent of the confusion caused by the curse. In terms of suggestion difficulty, this was medium level. In other words, level of resistance was also medium. Without proper mental preparations beforehand, the students had no way of resisting.

Fortunately, suggestions issued from this «Demon's Mouth» were effective for as long as thirty hours. There was probably no need to apply additional hypnosis—As long as the "emergency moment" caused by Fear-in-Cube's faction did not arrive.

Naturally, when the time came, she intended to issue forceful commands such as "all students break nearby windows and jump out." Since this kind of order would involve survival instincts directly, it might not affect everyone, but so long as half the people actually jumped down, there would be no problem. In fact, if half the people remained, they could be used as a bargaining chip for a second time, perfect.

Using her hand to wipe drool and sweat that had dripped without her noticing, she felt dizzy. It was as though she was suddenly about to forget what she had been doing just now. To dispel that feeling forcefully, she deliberately puffed out her chest hard.

(Well~ Well well... I hope there were no idiots among our knights who were hit by the hypnosis just now. Apart from that, I wonder if anyone among the students and teachers successfully resisted the suggestion...?)

That being said, Taciturn had no way of confirming and could only wait for reports. In order to confirm the effects of just now's suggestion and to take care of unaffected people, a few knights who had been standing by on the sports ground had probably entered the school building and the gym by now. Even if their numbers were not enough to subjugate all students by force, only a few people were needed if it was just taking precautions against the risk factor of people unaffected by the hypnosis.

"Well, let me continue with my task."

There were more steps to complete. Although the students and teachers inside the school could follow the suggestion just now and repeat lessons as though nothing had happened, other trouble could arise as a result next.

Pressing the switch to turn on the megaphone's mic, she said the keyword to activate the taboo power again. In other words, the opening line that demon of an internment camp warden broadcasted to the captives, forcing them to listen.

'—Hört!!'

Her heart palpitations were getting worse. Sure enough, the strain two usages in succession was too great.

'Starting now, call home. The message is as follows—You just found out that the school is suddenly holding disaster training today, so you can't go home. To safeguard against sudden emergency situations during disasters, everyone will be staying in the gym, practicing how to use sleeping bags and open canned food. If no one picks up at home, leave a message.'

They were going to be hostages for the next twenty-four hours. If children (or husbands or wives) failed to return home and one or two family members ran to school to check things out, it would still be fine, but if a huge crowd rushed to school because parents were worrying "did something happen to the entire school?", it would be bothersome. Even if the police and the media could be suppressed.

Putting aside whether this lie was convincing or not, so long as it was a plausible explanation overall, Taciturn believed it ought to hold for twenty-four hours. Even if some parents got suspicious, as long as it was not the entire parent body taking action, it would be fine.

"Phew..."

Taciturn exhaled deeply. It was finally over.

"What remains... is broadcasting in the staff room or at a few key locations, to order teachers to phone various student families so as to reinforce credibility. I also need to devise responses beforehand for cases when people call the school to complain 'this is so incomprehensible'~"

If some parents still remained unconvinced, would they really rush over to scream and yell? Then there was no helping it, while pitying their lack of good fortune, they would have to be eliminated by force... However, were there really any family who would take so much initiative? This was quite doubtful. In any case, all explanations will place the blame on Sekaibashi Gabriel, hence Taciturn believed that the families might accept unexpectedly readily, even replying: "Oh, it's that whimsical superintendent doing something weird again... Can't be helped."

"Then again, this additional hypnosis can wait until I recover my energy first. I need to take a break now..."

While confirming her subsequent plans, Taciturn slowly sat down on the spot.

She kept breathing deeply, patiently waiting for her utterly exhausted stamina and mental energy to return.

Despite feeling a powerful urge to call home, she managed to suppress the impulse.

Part 5

Cautiously and even more cautiously, Un Izoey checked out the surrounding situation—Finally, she made her decision and moved her hands from covering her ears. In the next instant, the students' overlapping conversations shook her eardrums.

"Ah, h.e.l.lo? It's me~ I'm telling you, today—"

"Umm, there's apparently disaster training today at school—"

"We will be staying overnight in the gym. Huh? Dinner? It's also part of the simulation. I think there'll be canned food."

"Feels just like camp. Anyway, I'll be staying in school today and won't come home, yeah."

"Uh, even if you say that, after all, this is a school event..."

After taking out their cellphones all at once, everyone talked on their respective phone. Whether boys or girls, even the teacher, everyone was doing the same thing. They were totally unaware how bizarre this scene looked, their faces nonchalant as though this was perfectly natural, speaking into their phones.

Disaster training? What were they talking about?

Just as Un Izoey frowned—

"Weird~? Why is everybody suddenly making phonecalls? Say, what's this about a disaster simulation?"

Only then did Un Izoey notice the cla.s.smate held in her embrace, Miyama Kana. Staring in surprise, Kana was looking up at the noise in the cla.s.sroom.

Un Izoey gazed into her eyes intently.

"My question: is this activity of disaster training known to you? I confirm by making this kind of confirmation."

"Eh? You're asking if I knew about this? No no no, it's my first time hearing about it~ Oh, but I think there was an announcement just now, so they might have mentioned it. By the way, Un-chan, why did you suddenly hug me?"

Un Izoey ignored the question.

"Even so, to think everyone would make phone calls together with such perfect timing, I can only say: very weird. To engage in a strange activity previously unheard of at such a timing, with everyone accepting readily too and calling home—Is this even possible?"

"Hmm... I do find it a bit weird."

"Also... They're no longer concerned about the people in the sports ground at all. Not even one person is showing curiosity. Really, this must be—"

At this moment, Un Izoey felt warm sweat dripping down her back.

Apparently, the poisonous snake quietly approaching her neck earlier had left without sinking its fangs into her—Conversely, it had already injected its venom into the other students.

She recalled the terrifying and despairing chill from back then, causing her body to spring into action as a result. Just by hearing the announcer's voice, her entire body was filled with a sense of crisis. Instinct had saved her. Even she could not help but feel impressed that she was still able to take action.

(Curses come in myriad forms. Naturally, there also exist curses that use sound as a medium... I think I recall the Lab Chief mentioning this before. Did my brain memorize this sentence?)

She could not recall if he had said it while researching and lecturing, or during one of those usual chats. But since this knowledge came in handy now, it meant that it was absolutely not meaningless chatter.

Nothing less expected of the Lab Chief. She immediately corrected her opinion of him which had been trending downwards recently on the respect front. At this moment, someone tugged her uniform hem lightly.

"Uh, umm, Un-chan, it's a little embarra.s.sing with you hugging me nonstop, can I stand up now~? On the other hand, compared to me, the other side has an even more serious problem."

Speaking of which—Un Izoey recalled another person's existence.

Opposite to Kana who was hugged by her left arm—In other words, the other cla.s.smate pinned to her right chest. After she relaxed her arm, he awkwardly lifted his nose up from her chest.

"Ehhh? Oh~ So soft—What? Oh right, phone call... Yeah, phone call...? Disaster training... Phone call... Uh, what phone call...?"

Taizou's eyes were glazed over and unfocused while he rummaged his pockets in search of his cellphone. Unlike the surrounding students, he was particularly sluggish and felt quite unsteady. Like swaying or perhaps tilting slowly like a set of scales.

Effectiveness aside, it was worth testing out at least, right? Thinking that, Un Izoey proceeded to—

"..."

Without saying a word, she slapped him. Furthermore, it was at full strength and maximum speed.

Smack! The crisp sound reverberated throughout the cla.s.sroom.

"Wow~! Hmm, now that I think about it, getting slapped is only natural after burying your face in a girl's chest! I fully support Un-chan! Good job!"

Kana seemed to be approving of her actions out of entirely different a.s.sumptions, clenching her fist with excitement on her face.

So, what about the result? Un Izoey looked at Taizou.

"Gwah, ouch! What the heck, what happened?"

"...Who are you trying to phone?"

"Huh? What phone call? What's with this pain, did a bee sting me? Will I die?"

"Do you have any recollection of the words: disaster training?"

"Maybe... I heard it... No, probably not...? Gimme a hint, a hint!"

"Hey, Taichi! Before that, apologize to Un-chan first! I am now the defender of maidens! Hurry and mumble your apologies, do it quick!"

"Ehhh! My cheek really hurts. I thought you were worried about me but you're actually angry? Why!?"

Un Izoey exhaled "phew." This was his usual self. Probably because his ears were not covered fully, the curse had affected him halfway just now.

(Curse... Cursed words. A Wathe whose forbidden power brainwashes or hypnotizes? Quite powerful too.)

If all it took was for targets to hear the voice, its ease of use would be hard to quantify. It was even more astounding that its effects took hold even when heard indirectly, like through the announcement earlier. Its range could be extended arbitrarily. However—

(Like for us, it doesn't work on people who failed to hear it. Even if someone listened to it partially, a shock can force a recovery—While powerful, this cursed ability also has many weaknesses.)

That being said—Un Izoey surveyed her surroundings in the cla.s.sroom while getting on her feet. Kana and Taizou also stood up with puzzled faces.

The bell happened to ring right at this moment. This was originally the bell to announce the end of the fifth period, but the surrounding students did not seem quite concerned. Some of them continued talking on the phone while others finished their calls. Those who had finished making calls began to behave normally as they should after cla.s.s. This could definitely be called a change.

"Like I said~ Yeah, that's it."

"No no, lemme explain again, 'kay? Oh~ Sure. Uh, disaster training is..."

"Great! So, what's next period? Math?"

"Excuse me~ Can I borrow a mirror for a bit~?"

The people who had finished their calls were mixed among the people still phoning home. The normal atmosphere after a lesson was spreading further. However, everyone was the same, no longer concerned with the Knights Dominion people on the sports ground—

Apart from these two cla.s.smates by her side, whom she had involuntarily reached out to save.

"Eh? Next period should be Cla.s.sical j.a.panese, right? We just had Math."

"By the way, has the mystery of what's going on outside been cleared up~? Oh, looks like the tents are about to be done."

Un Izoey rapidly spun her mind. Taizou had recovered his sense of self most likely because the curse had only hit him partially. She did not believe that a slap would bring the other students back to their senses, given how naturally they were following the hypnotic suggestion. Although slapping was still worth a try, given the situation at hand, it was not a priority.

(Making the suggestion as close to reality as possible, is it to minimize labor? Hypnotized to ignore the sight of the Knights Dominion. Intent to maintain this state for a long period of time. Reason being—)

She immediately reached the answer.

The activated «Dieu le veut», the people who would most likely end up as the most threatening interlopers, this place near them, and the twenty-four hours of buffer time.

—Naturally, it was for turning them into hostages.

"...!"

Un Izoey secretly clenched her fist and tensed the muscles in her thighs.

Right now, the hypnotic suggestion applied to the students was still pa.s.sive in content, but it was anyone's guess how things would develop next. Perhaps they might be ordered to jump off the roof later. A most terrible situation. The fates of all the students in the school were under the Knights Dominion's control.

(There should be limits to unscrupulousness...!)

She felt an unpleasant feeling surge from the depths of her heart. What this feeling should be called was still unknown. Anger? Sense of justice? Perhaps, or it could be some other emotion different from these two. Turning it into something properly known would take time, hence she decided to shelve it for now. Currently, she had to turn some other unknown into a known.

Very simply—What should she do next?

Right now, there were still other students using cellphones. But no one knew what might happen next. This was probably the only chance to do it while mixed among the others.

Un Izoey took out from her pocket the cellphone that she had finally gotten used to operating recently, then dialed hastily. Naturally, she was calling the person whom she needed to report her current unusual situation with top priority, to rely on his instructions as well.

The power of knowledge. The person who desired knowledge more than anyone else. In other words, the one most suitable to handling the current situation that was filled with unknowns.

'h.e.l.lo, how are you~? I am the Yamimagari Pakuaki you wanted to find.'

"Lab Chief, emergency situation."

'This is already known.'

It felt like he was grinning on the other side of the line.

'However, what is known to me is merely superficial news from the outside. A report from you on the inside is what's truly valuable. Tell me... Oh, since it's not guaranteed how long they'll allow you guys to contact the outside world freely, best make it as quick as possible.'

"Yes. Then—"

Just as she was about to continue speaking to the cellphone—

Out of the corner of her eye, she accidentally saw. She accidentally remembered. The existence of those two people.

"By the way, everyone really seems to be getting ready for Math cla.s.s... Seriously? Are we seriously having Math twice in a row? What happened?"

"No way! I was planning to catch up on sleep during Ancient j.a.panese cla.s.s—!"

"Ahaha~ Taizou and Kana, no matter how much you hate Math, you can't just skip it, right?"

"I see now, you two are planning to infect the whole cla.s.s with this kind of thought, then everybody will prepare their Ancient j.a.panese books and wait for the teacher to arrive! Then the Math teacher will get caught up, say: 'Did I remember wrong?' and leave—You wish! Even if he leaves, he'll come back soon!"

"Eh? Uh, but I wasn't joking. I never do this kind of comedy routine where people first play along and then pop out the punchline... Right...?"

"Sigh, Taichi... Don't you find everyone acting a bit weird...? What's everybody talking about...? Eh? Or are we the weird ones instead...?"

By this point, Kana and Taziou finally seemed to notice that something was not right.

The strange behavior of the surrounding students.

The strange atmosphere shrouding the entire school.

The strange people who appeared on the sports ground, strutting around school as though they owned the place—

"..."

Un Izoey hesitated for only an instant. She was probably responsible. Although it was her body that had moved on its own, she was responsible for saving these two.

Pressing her cellphone against her ear, Un Izoey glanced out the window. It was just the students who had stopped paying attention, but the scene in the sports ground had not changed at all. Instead, things were progressing as the enemy hoped. The erected tents, the drawn-out barbed wire, as well as the knights walking towards the school building with tense expressions while staying vigilant of their surroundings—

Suppose the Knights Dominion were to find students who were not hypnotized and still remained sane, what would happen? No need to think, surely that scene would not be anything happy.

In that case—No helping it, she had no choice.

"My judgment: guessing that we will be trapped here unless action is taken before cla.s.s starts..."

"Woah!?"

"What what—!?"

"I will explain later, anyway, come with me first."

Keeping her cellphone against her ear, Un Izoey pushed Kana and Taizou's backs with her arms, forcing them walk.

They must leave the cla.s.sroom first to find a hiding place. Once it was safe, then she would explain to them.

Explain what? Naturally, a certain unknown that the two of them wanted to find out.

Un Izoey only understood vaguely that this was no easy task and sighed in front of her. Then she spoke to the cellphone that must have transmitted her sigh to the other side:

"—Sorry. I am busy on this side too, so I will talk while moving around."

'Oh my~ Looks like things are getting really interesting.'

Even in this kind of situation, his voice still sounded a bit flippant from the receiver.

She could no longer suppress a tone of sarcasm in her reply:

"Yes. I am very sorry for enjoying all this on my own. I confess this kind of confession. So... If you say you want to switch places with me, Lab Chief, I will gladly switch any time. Please tell me how to pa.s.s you the baton."

Part 6

'In any case, this what the school has become. By the way, after explaining the basic situation to me, Un Izoey's call was cut off. I tried calling back many times but could not connect. Neither could I reach the cellphones of other people inside the school, so I'm afraid the Knights Dominion must have set up a signal jamming device in that vicinity. Of course, calls to the school's land line aren't going through either. Oh my oh my, they've really got things totally airtight—'

Coming from the cellphone, which had been switched to speaker phone, was Yamimagari Pakuaki's voice.

Haruaki was rendered speechless.

How unbelievable—How could anyone believe this? Impossible. It could not have happened.

However, in spite of that—

Because the situation was too serious, he could not help but understand that Yamimagari Pakuaki was not lying.

Organize them. Organize the thoughts in your mind again. Although it was not clear whether it was possible.

Simply stated, what happened?

—The Knights Dominion had occupied the school and even taken all the students hostage.

"...!"

Haruaki clenched his fists tightly, then immediately, his face became distorted. This was not only due to the unbelievable and despairing news but also due to the intense pain coming from empty part of his left hand that felt like high-voltage electric shock after he exerted forcefully. However, he desperately controlled himself and avoided moaning pathetically at least. He must not make the others worry about him again.

While Haruaki was clenching his fists, he also heard a tiny, strange noise in the living room. It sounded like metallic friction or some hard objects pushing against one another.

He turned to see Fear—still in cube form on the table—with a number of parts popping out from her body. Small components had popped out like trays with slanted corners. The opened gaps looked like cracks.

"Fear... It's time you turned back, right?"

Wanting to see her face and hear her voice, he tried asking her.

However, the cube remained silent. Several seconds later, she retracted her mechanisms back into her body with a series of clicks. That was all.

Haruaki exhaled, unable to muster more strength easily to continue persuading her.

"In other words, all the students at school today are hypnotized... Well, Taizou-kun and Miyama-san are okay, on the other hand..."

"I really don't know if we ought to thank Un-chan. To be honest, I don't even know what to feel."

'It is my hope that you won't hold her too responsible in this regard. Apparently, her body sprang into action on its own and rescued them only because they were incidentally within arm's reach.'

Indeed, Taizou and Kana.

Haruaki recalled the situation of these long-time, best friends. Completely in the dark, these two were now moving around in Un Izoey's company.

Ahhh—Clearly when the two of them had nothing to do with curses at all, why did things turn out this way? No wait, this also applied to all the students. Why were they plunged into this crisis—

The instant Konoha mentioned Taizou and Kana, Fear twisted the cube's corners with a series of mechanical sounds again. To her, these two were both cla.s.smates and best friends. She probably wanted to scream and yell loudly. And her yelling was probably the sounds of metallic impact from her body's involuntary squirming.

Next to speak up with deathly pallor—but looking straight ahead with a firm and resolute expression—was Kirika.

"...Yamimagari Pakuaki, if you manage to contact Un Izoey again, tell her this. Although it's absolutely ridiculous, under these conditions, we can only rely on her. Tell her that for the sake of protecting Taizou and Kana... For the sake of convincing those two to follow her directions and to win their trust, she is free to say whatever she wants. Regardless what she explains to them, it is fine—Is that okay?"

Her final question was directed at Haruaki together with her gaze.

Naturally, Haruaki knew what she was implying.

What she was asking him was whether it was fine to tell Taizou and Kana everything. Curses, cursed tools, this house, them—Everything. The cursed, the uncursed, the non-humans, those who want to become human, the matter of the cursed garment that could not be taken of.

As well as deceiving them all along—This fact.

Haruaki resolved himself and inhaled at the same time.

"...Yeah, it's okay."

To be honest, this was a very scary choice. He had always thought that it would be best if this day never arrived.

However, if those two were to be lost because they failed to realize how serious the situation was... This would be even more unforgivable.

Konoha and the girls also nodded. After a moment's delay, the sound of a metallic tray opening and closing was also heard as though in agreement.

'Hmm, it is totally unknown whether it's possible to contact her again. Besides, Un Izoey seems to have prepared herself to explain the truth to them to a certain extent. In any case, I will bear this in mind.'

After Pakuaki said that, more time pa.s.sed—

"Also—d.a.m.n it! That's why I said the spear must be destroyed... In the end, their conspiracy worked! This wouldn't have happened if we had retrieved and destroyed it at the time...!"

Kirika was clenching her teeth hard, unable to hide her groans of anxiety.

"We searched the sea so thoroughly already but still failed to find it. Does that mean we fell into a certain person's trap from the very start? That said, who knows if the Commander really is the culprit."

"Yeah. Now that it's in the past, it is too late for regrets now."

Sitting in a corner of the living room, Kotetsu and Honatsu offered their comments. Then immediately, Honatsu glanced at Haruaki's cellphone.

"By the way, Pakuaki-kun, I'd like you to explain in detail one more time."

'Explain what?'

"The Knights Dominion's objective in taking over the school. I already know about «Dieu le veut», the Nation Founding Flag Spear of the Crusaders, which acts as the Frontline Gathering Knights Dominion's backbone and was used to create their headquarters in England. Then just now, you mentioned that their current objective is bringing one of the spears to create 'a new and additional Knights Dominion' in this town. What I want to know is what happens after that. If this town were to become a 'second Knights Dominion,' what would occur specifically?"

'I didn't explain it? Hahaha, very well, since it's the answer to an unknown sought by the infamous Yachi Honatsu, after all. It is truly a hedonistic joy for me to elucidate the unknown for you as the Lab Chief—'

"Make it quick."

Honatsu half-narrowed his eyes and interrupted. Even through the cellphone, one could tell that Pakuaki was shrugging on the other side.

Then—Pakuaki continued to explain. In other words, he explained the changes that would occur after the town completely "Knight Dominionized," the same as what he reportedly told Un Izoey a few days earlier.

Effects could be divided into two categories.

One was a holy war effect on those belonging to the Knights Dominion. After all, having acquired the meaning of "the land existing for their sake," the land naturally confers even more advantages to them. Simply stated, those belonging to the organization would have their abilities augmented. Simple to an annoying degree.

The other type was—

'Standing in contrast to the first type of change, but of course, this is only natural too. You can also call it a secondary outcome... By the way, Kirika should already know about this from that Knight Dominion girl, right? That's why you tried so desperately to destroy that spear, didn't you?"

"...!"

Kirika suddenly gasped, frowned hard and looked down. As though trying to calm her heartbeat, as though scolding her quickened breathing, she clenched the front of her shirt forcefully, to the point of creasing it.

"Cla.s.s Rep..."

Haruaki recalled the way she looked back when they first rescued her from Sleif.

Back then, she was consumed by total despair, even to the point of wanting to give up her own life. She was single-mindedly praying for a certain task, undertaken using her fresh blood, to stop as soon as possible. After being rescued from Sleif's hands—She had kept silent as though speaking of that matter wou