From the Warlord's Empire (17 page)

Their ages were around seven or eight. There was a girl with a strong glint in her eyes and a girl with light chestnut-colored hair.

Set against a chilly backdrop in the middle of winter, the barefoot girls strongly held each other’s hands, cuddling close together, as if it was the two of them against the whole world.

Looking at the picture, Kojou suddenly remembered.

Yukina had said she didn’t remember her own parents.

It was probably the same for Sayaka. The Lion King Agency gathered up orphans from all over the country, raising them to be young, elite Counter-Demon Attack Mages. Sayaka had said she’d spent more time with Yukina than her real family. But to her, that also meant Yukina had been by
her
side for an equally long amount of time.

To Sayaka, having lost one family, had finally gained another one in Yukina after who knows how many months or years. Thinking of it that way, he could completely empathize with the level of love and affection Sayaka had for Yukina.

“Hmm. That’s certainly cute.”

Kojou looked over the picture of the girls one more time. Both Yukina and Sayaka had traces of their looks from childhood even now, he thought. They looked a little like super-deformed character mascots in the photo.

Of course, Sayaka puffed her chest out, full of satisfaction.

“I said it from the start, didn’t I? My Yukina is an angel.”

“Er, of course this goes for Himeragi, too, but you were quite pretty back then yourself…”

“Huh…?!”

Like a statue, Sayaka’s entire body froze at Kojou’s comment, made without any thought whatsoever.

Internally, Kojou had no notion that he’d said anything odd in the slightest. Certainly there were issues with her personality, but if she weren’t speaking, she’d no doubt be a beautiful girl. Especially in that childhood photo, she was as adorable as a fairy. If Yukina was an angel back then, Sayaka must surely have been one as well, he thought.

“Th-that’s…crazy…what are you…”

However, Kojou’s casual comment had caused an amusing-looking level of panic in Sayaka. She was bright red, as if her pale skin was coming to a boil; both of her shoulders trembled.

Then…

“…I really should kill you here and now!”

“What for?!”

As Sayaka suddenly drew and raised her sword, Kojou leaped back from her in a hurry. As they did so, for a moment, a powerful beam of light glimmered in the corner of their fields of vision.

Slightly after the fact, a dull exploding sound echoed through the air. In midair, an orange fireball swelled up, looking like fireworks, breaking apart into black fragments before vanishing. Finally, flame shrouded in ominous black smoke rose from the ground, high into the air.

“What was that?! It looked like a chopper got shot down…”

“An accident? Or perhaps…”

Kojou and Sayaka murmured while standing still in shock.

To shoot down a helicopter in one shot—that meant a surface-to-air missile or a similar weapon. The only kind of people who’d let something like that loose in an urban area were those one normally called terrorists.

“Maybe it’s the Black Death Emperor Front?!”

“That direction… That’s the sub-float extension under construction!”

Sayaka and Kojou shouted at the same time as both began to rush down the emergency stairs.

Yukina may have told them to meekly reflect, but if the Black Death Emperor Front was truly running amok, this was no time to loaf around.

Kojou didn’t think the helicopter crash had anything to do with the Nalakuvera, but the Dead Black Emperor Front was a terrorist group in the first place. He couldn’t reject the possibility they’d begin indiscriminate attacks on the city. He couldn’t ignore this.

But just as they hurried down to the first floor of the gym, Kojou suddenly stopped. Annoyed, Sayaka tried to throw Kojou, now an obstacle in her path, out of her way.

“What is it, Kojou Akatsuki? You’re in my way!”

“What’s this scent…?!”

“Scent?”

As if baited by Kojou’s words, Sayaka made a loud sniff. Her expression then changed to one of confusion. She, too, noticed the strange smell drifting inside the school.

“The smell of blood?!”

“No…it’s similar, but this isn’t blood…”

Kojou opened the nearest window and leaped into the school building. The strange smell of almost-but-not-quite blood grew only stronger. Realizing the source of the scent, Kojou sprinted, forcefully opening the clinic room door.

“…Astarte?!”

What Kojou saw there was the homunculus girl, lying on her side on the floor, covered in light crimson body fluids.

“These wounds…gunshots?! What the hell happened?!”

Sayaka ran over and pulled Astarte’s clothes away to check the condition of her wounds. There were ghastly scars remaining on her body from having been pumped full of lead.

Though no longer able to move of her own volition, Astarte seemed to have barely retained consciousness. Identifying Kojou by sight, she made a frail exhale mixed with blood.

“…Report to the Fourth Primogenitor: twenty-five minutes, thirteen seconds prior to present time, a person calling himself Kristof Gardos appeared within school grounds. He has taken Asagi Aiba, Nagisa Akatsuki, and Yukina Himeragi with him.”

“Wha…?!”

Kojou was in complete shock at the information Astarte conveyed.

Certainly, Yukina had said she was bringing Asagi to the clinic room. Nagisa had to have gone with them. But in the clinic room, only the bloodied Astarte remained. There was no sign of Yukina or the others…

“Their destination is unknown. I apologize… I was unable to protect…them…”

Astarte’s light blue eyes wavered as she spoke. A large clot of blood spilled out from her throat. She shouldn’t have been speaking in a condition like hers. It was a near miracle that she was alive at all.

“H-hey, Astarte?! Astarte, stay with me…!” Kojou desperately called out to the homunculus girl.

To the side, Sayaka began stopping Astarte’s bleeding in earnest.

Yukina and the others were in a cramped room with the windows covered.

Originally, it had probably been a warehouse for storing foodstuffs and
the like. It was a dreary room, not furnished with even a single chair. The pipes on the ceiling were bare and exposed; the floor was slightly rusted.

Having been blindfolded when they were brought in, they didn’t know the conditions around them. The room was probably belowground. The gentle rocking of the building that they felt might have simply been from being brought by helicopter.

“Hey…where do you think this is?”

Asagi, curled up on top of an empty wooden crate, asked tentatively.

The look on her face was harder than usual, perhaps because she felt responsible for Yukina and Nagisa being abducted along with her. But that didn’t mean she was in a panic.

Taking relief in that, Yukina shook her head.

“I do not know. I believe that the helicopter flew for about ten minutes, so I do not think we could have been brought very far but…”

Watching that reaction from Yukina, Asagi narrowed her eyes in apparent suspicion.

“You’re very composed, huh? You’re not scared?”

“Eh? Ah, er…that is not so, but ah, you’re calm, too, Aiba.”

“Is that so?” Asagi murmured, looking slightly embarrassed as she glanced at the side of Nagisa’s face as she slept.

Nagisa was still out cold as she clung to Yukina’s shoulder. Asagi must have thought that Nagisa had fainted from fright at the abduction.

However, the truth was, as she was falling into a state of panic, Yukina knocked her out with a blow. Though she took no pride in her violent means, it was the only way she could protect Nagisa in that situation. She’d have been in danger of a complete mental breakdown if Yukina had left her alone like that.

Yukina felt that Nagisa’s fear toward demons was indeed abnormal. It was clearly unnatural for a resident of a Demon Sanctuary.

“…It’s because I saw Nagisa like that. I felt like, I have to keep it together, see.”

As if noticing Yukina’s misgivings, Asagi spoke with a strained smile.

“Do you know why Kojou and his family moved to Itogami Island?”

“…No.”

Yukina slowly shook her head. Kojou and his family had relocated to the Demon Sanctuary four years ago. Even the reports of the Lion King
Agency did not contain the reason why. This was in spite of all immigrants to the Demon Sanctuary undergoing thorough background checks…

“I’d like you to keep this just between us.”

Asagi stood her index finger up against her lips as she lowered her gaze slightly. It was rare for her to display a frank, serious expression.

“Nagisa almost died once.”

“Eh?”

“Four years ago, she got wrapped up in a train incident involving demons. She somehow survived, but they were saying she might never regain consciousness, let alone return to a normal life…”

Asagi shook her head a little as she spoke. Yukina’s lips quivered in complete astonishment.

“But Nagisa doesn’t show the slightest sign of…”

“Yeah. I don’t know the details myself, but she’s apparently getting some kind of special treatment. This is a
Demon Sanctuary
, after all.”

Yukina fell silent at Asagi’s explanation.

The Demon Sanctuary of Itogami Island was a scholarly city. Research was performed on demonic bodies and abilities on a daily basis, leading to the development of new technologies and products. And that research included top-level medical technology: experimental, unapproved medical technology.

“Her wounds are completely healed, but I expect she gets regular checkups even now; seems like it cost a lot of money, too. I think it has something to do with why, after their parents divorced, their mom doesn’t get back to the house much.”

Having said so much, Asagi made a large shrug of her shoulders. She seemed embarrassed at having spoken in such an uncharacteristically serious manner.

“So that might be why Nagisa’s afraid of demons?”

“You’d have to ask her about that, but I wouldn’t be shocked if it is.”

Yukina nodded without a word.

She felt like she understood why Kojou, having gained vampiric powers against his will, was so desperately trying to hide the fact from his little sister. The daily life they currently enjoyed couldn’t possibly continue if Nagisa learned that one of her blood relatives had become a demon himself.

Seeming concerned as Yukina fell silent, Asagi suddenly spoke in her usual, lighthearted tone of voice.

“Also, sorry. It’s my fault you’re involved in this.”

Yukina felt guilty as she shook her head. Asagi didn’t need to feel responsible for the Dead Black Emperor Front’s crimes. If anyone was responsible, it was Yukina for having been unable to protect them.

“Aiba, are you aware of why they would abduct you?”

“Nope, dunno.”

Asagi carelessly spread her arms wide as she sighed.

“It’s not like I have no clue, though. They did say they have a job for me to do.”

“A job, you say?”

Yukina parroted the words back, a blank look on her as she tilted her neck.

“I keep this secret from school,” Asagi said, sticking her tongue out a little. “I do something like part-time freelance programming, see. Sometimes what’s requested is a lot like illegal hacking. Of course, I’ve never had my arm twisted this much till now.”

“Part-time…hacking, you say?”

Yukina was more and more confused. Though Yukina was a nationally qualified Counter-Demon Attack Mage with in-depth knowledge of ritual magic, the drawback of that special education was that her knowledge of other subjects was below that of other girls in middle school. Even though she’d heard the term
hacking
before, she couldn’t picture the details in any concrete way.

“It’s a special job using computers. It’s stuff like writing custom programs, invading corporate networks, deciphering passwords…”

“…Why would the Black Death Emperor Front go out of their way to demand you do such work for them?”

With the Island Guard in pursuit, the Black Death Emperor Front was taking quite a risk abducting a mere high school girl like this. She couldn’t understand why they wanted a single programmer to the point of courting such danger.

“I think it’s strange, too. The Black Death Emperor Front’s terrorists who were causing problems in Europe a few years ago, right? I wonder what got their attention on me.”

Asagi, using her receptionless cell phone in place of a mirror, straightened
out her disheveled front locks. As she did so, she indeed looked like nothing more than an ordinary high school girl. Yukina didn’t think she was a person of such unusual ability as to catch Gardos’s eyes. But…

Suddenly, Gardos threw the door open and entered, speaking in a very soldiery voice. “…It seems you are unaware of your own fame, Miss Aiba.” Asagi sucked in her breath and turned around.

Behind Gardos, two men stood, wearing urban camouflage military uniforms. They were probably all beast men.

“At the very least, there is not a single technician in our employ who does not know your name. Of course, not even they thought that the famed Cyber Empress is such a pretty young lady.”

“Do you think transparent flattery like that is going to put me in a cooperative mood?”

Asagi spoke as she glared up at the stern Gardos, not backing down.

The aged officer made a satisfied laugh at her reaction.

“Forgive my rudeness. I do not mean this as empty flattery, but I highly value your composure and resolute attitude. Not to put down civilians who’d lose their minds in this situation, but I wouldn’t want to entrust important work to them.”

Gardos looked down at the reactionless, still-asleep Nagisa as he carried on.

Asagi made a displeased look as she got up.

“If I’m the only one you want, let these two go home first. Business can come after.”

“If you absolutely insist, then I will comply with your demands, but…”

Gardos made a gentle, strained smile.

“If you earnestly wish for these girls’ safety, I cannot support that decision.”