Published at 29th of October 2020 06:59:19 PM
Chapter 2.5
Fox Mask at Midnight
“—I don’t get it.”
The executive staff meeting has ended. Belius Inu Kerbero walked down the floor inside the Seven Crimson Office, as he muttered these words. The time moved around 8pm. The sun had already sunk beneath the horizon, as darkness filled the view outside the windows, hiding the Mulnight Imperial Palace.
“—You don’t get it? Are you unsure about her Excellency’s three sizes?”
“What are you on about?”
Chaostell walked next to him, speaking absurdity as always. He possessed great talent in tactics and battle, but always had the weirdest thoughts.
“Then, what were you referring to?”
“I was talking about Her Excellency Terakomari. She undoubtedly has charisma befitting her position—but I can’t figure out what lies at the bottom. For example, I could figure out right away that you are a deviate.”
“And you can’t tell with her Excellency, is what you’re saying.”
“Exactly. From her choice of words, I felt her relatively young atmosphere, but the rest is something else. I can’t put it into words…It’s like my hair is standing on edge just by dealing with her. It felt like I stood in front of an overwhelming ruler.”
“Hm…That reminds me, her Excellency never gave off any magical power. It almost felt like she didn’t possess any to begin with. That in itself is odd.” Chaostell showed an ominous grin, and caressed his camera.
For the sake of the world and its inhabitants, it would be best if he got arrested right away.
“But, what about that then? Her Excellency is her Excellency. Nothing more, nothing less, correct? As long as she allows us to bathe in war and battle, what should we complain about?”
“That is true, but…”
If I don’t know her true identity, I can’t trust them—Belius had these thoughts at that time. Then again, it was probably because Belius had sharp senses. Anybody but him—in other words, every other idiot of the 7th Corps genuinely trusted that girl, becoming a fan even.
“Well, I do understand your worries. I actually looked into her Excellency’s origin.”
“How did you…?”
“I looked through the records of the public office.”
“…That’s illegal, isn’t it.”
“Now, just ignore that. Anyway, what I found out is that Terakomari Gandezblood is an absurd Black Box.”
“What do you mean?”
“A part of her career is shrouded in mystery. Until she was twelve years old, she lived her life like a normal girl, went to school, and practiced her magic. From thereforth—meaning that ever since three years ago, we have no information whatsoever.”
“Maybe there just wasn’t anything to write about?”
“That’s what I thought as well in the beginning. But, the circumstances apparently differed.” Chaostell said, handing Belius a single paper.
It was parchment with small words written on it. It took Belius more than just a second to even grasp what it said, seeing that he had no education whatsoever.
“What is this?”
“It is a secret report of the imperial court.”
How did he even manage to get his hands on something like that?
“It speaks of the details about the incident three years ago, but this was never actually published to the populace. It had been kept secret by the government.”
“…And, what does this have to do with her Excellency?”
“As it turns out, her Excellency was the source of that incident.”
“What?”
“Three years ago, the Imperial Academy was attacked. From the school’s side, we have 30 confirmed deaths, and another 70 from the Imperial Army’s 3rd Corps who moved to intercept back then. All of them had been killed with the use of a single pinky.”
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Even the usually ignorant Belius knew about this incident. Three years ago, a slaughter had occurred at the academy. The criminal had been a student there, and newspapers as well as magazines all pressed this incident on every single issue. However—
“Wait a second. Someone else was supposed to have been the mastermind, right?”
“They changed it. Originally, it should have been published with the name of the criminal being ‘Terakomari Gandezblood’, but it was changed to ‘Millicent Bluenight’, someone entirely unrelated to this. Then again, it is questionable if this Millicent person even existed in the first place.”
“I don’t get it.”
“Neither do I. All I know is that Terakomari Gandezblood had committed history’s greatest manslaughter three years ago.”
Belius felt a shiver run down his spine. If that was really true—then what could have happened?
“I do not know why she would cause such an incident. However, ever since then, her Excellency had retired from the Academy, and hid herself.”
“What did she do then?”
“Who knows. Since the government is keeping it a secret, I highly doubt it was something like office work or attending a reform school. If you’re that curious, why not ask her personally?”
“………”
Belius didn’t answer. Or rather, he couldn’t. With his arms closed, he could just keep walking, as he thought. Just who is that girl? Met with this Black Box as Chaostell called her, his body froze in discomfort.
“Well, there is also the possibility that this secret report is fake all-together—Hm.” Chaostell stopped in his tracks.
It happened right after they stepped out of the Seven Crimson Office’s gate. Next to the water fountain, spraying up navy blue water, stood a shadow, barely recognizable. This shadow wasn’t all too tall, and wore a black robe. And, on its face, it had a fox mask. No matter how you thought about it, this personally didn’t belong here. Chaostell crossed his arms, and started analyzing the situation.
“I see, I see. I can’t see the face, but it probably is a woman. Not a young girl however. She should be around fifteen or sixteen. I highly doubt she’s older than that. I can tell from the scent. This drifting scent of flowers would make me feel drunk otherwise.”
There was actually another suspicious person. However, Belius knew about that already, and ignored him. Instead, he glared at the person with the fox mask.
“Hey, you woman. Outsiders are not allowed at the palace. If you don’t want to get killed, you should make your way home.”
The person with fox mask showed silence for around ten seconds. And then, a sickly-sweet voice spoke up.
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“—The royal place unexpectedly has a high guard. I thought of visiting the Empress and slaughter her really quick, but I couldn’t get inside because of the barrier magic.”
Tension filled the area. And, Belius subconsciously grabbed the handle of this axe. ‘Kill the Empress’ is something you often hear inside the castle palace. It is the typical climate in the Mulnight Empire to overthrow your superiors, and the Empress herself allows this, as she possesses unwavering confidence in herself. However, this word ‘Kill’ that this mysterious person just used gave off evil on a different scale. There was no logic behind it. Belius instincts as a beast were telling him so—That this fox mask person is dangerous.
“Are you aiming for the Empress?”
A faint snort could be heard from behind the fox mask.
“Eventually, I will. But, not now.”
“Oh? Then what did you come here for?”
“Nothing big. I just came here to confirm something. It said that this Terakomari Gandezblood became one of the Seven Crimson Devas, right? Is that true?”
Right after that, Belius readied his weapon. He didn’t know who this person was, or what they were talking about, but he could just hear them out after they were slaughtered—with this logic, he kicked off the ground. At the same time, Chaostell activated his space magic
“Naive. You can’t beat me with that magic.” The person with the fox mask used a beginner-tier light attack magic, called
Belius saw a chance in this, and raised his axe—and just when he put strength into his arm to swing it down, the irregularity occurred. The fox mask with the person wearing it vanished.
“—! Above!”
Together with Chaostell’s voice, Belius looked up. And there, he was astonished. The fox mask person was floating in the air, with the moonlight at their back. Belius readied himself against the incoming attack, prepared to evade, but that attack never came. Instead, that person was just looking down, snickering.
“Huh. I guess that the person mentioned in the newspaper was really Terakomari.”
Belius glared at the fox mask. Although it really didn’t matter in this situation, a miniskirt appeared from beneath the black robe, and revealed what should have been hidden by that super easily. No doubting it, this girl must be quite the pervert, using
“…Who are you.”
“That doesn’t matter, does it. This is a problem between her and me. It’s got nothing to do with some dirty mongrel and degenerate.”
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“What did you say…!?”
“I cannot ignore that. Who is supposed to be a degenerate?”
The person with the fox mask let out a roar of laughter.
“You aren’t nearly enough of a hindrance for me. But, this is the result of your work. So, give Terakomari my regards.”
“Hey, wait!”
They couldn’t stop the person. Right when Belius threw his axe, the person with the fox mask, disappeared into something like a candle flame. Having lost its target, the axe just spun through the air, vanishing into the darkness. The enemy probably used
“…So they were aiming for her Excellency after all. What should we do.”
“The best we can do is figure out their identity and deal with them.”
“That does make sense, but…Should we tell her Excellency about this?”
Chaostell grinned.
“If her Excellency were to act, she would be able to capture this scoundrel in less than a day. Then, there is nothing else for us to do. In order to gain the right to ‘Lick her Excellency’s foot’, I have to deal with this enemy myself.”
“However…”
“However whatever, I say. We shall not have her Excellency act for something like this. It is our work to support her in any way possible.”
“I guess that makes sense…” Belius commented.
The 7th Corps was known for not sharing information with their leaders. And thus, Komari’s worries had grown yet again, without her even knowing about it.
Unofficial illustration of what this fox mask person supposedly looks like
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