Year 141_Keireki Era_Spring/08
If she looked at me, next is a quieter voice.
I'm not here for conversation.
My job is simply to distract.
Provocative actions, prodding with information that feels insightful.
Not elegant?
Well, I was born and raised a bandit.
Even a brief glance gave Ginesis's intangible blade the opening to slice a part of Senia's body.
Ginesis capitalized on the gap my words created.
As Iserina said, there seem to be few battles that man can't handle alone.
Senia took a step back to create distance.
I thought she was refocusing on the battle—but no.
"Do you know my master's name?"
A conversation.
I always thought undead were driven by resentment and would just spew hateful words, but even my understanding of undead was based on fragments of memory of unknown reliability.
Not trustworthy at all.
"No, I don't."
"Then do you know how they died?"
"Ginesis just told me that. But that's all. Nothing detailed."
"… It seems you are quite uneducated."
"Sure, I can read and write, but learning's not my strong suit."
"If you had studied properly, you might have managed a more refined provocation."
Point taken.
… Perhaps I should study while I can, instead of moaning about it.
But that's for after I get out of this alive.
"If you are willing to teach, I might just learn something."
Her expression flinched.
Ah, I see.
She projected me onto her master.
With the title "Boy King," I'd assumed someone younger, but this might be unexpected fortune.
"Senia, is there any way you can let go of your resentment toward Ginesis and his ancestors?"
If not, it's time for some verbal jousting.
Senia's face twisted bitterly.
And into that bitterness, Ginesis's intangible blade mercilessly flew.
A dark, semi-transparent blade attacked the maid spectacularly.
This wasn't just provocation.
Ginesis hadn't struck before the battle began, but it seemed conversation during battle was a different story. Honestly, that was a relief.
Senia dodged before responding.
The flickers at the edges of her body… they seem to follow a pattern, like they're directed.
… The flickers appear to lead or connect toward the direction of the severed head.
Let's test it. If my guess is right, the anchor for Senia's existence is...
I gripped a stone tightly and hurled it with all my strength.
Timing the throw perfectly with the ghostly maid's evasive maneuver against the intangible blade, even a skilled thrower would struggle to counter at that instant.
And precisely because it's the same kind of skill, I knew what she'd hate.
"Aaagh!"
The thrown stone shattered the basket and struck the neck.
"What are you doing? Why do you not protect me? If I disappear, then you..."
"Be quiet."
Senia may no longer be affected by taunts.
But the head seems different.
I have one stone left.
As Ginesis closed in and resumed his fight with Senia, I circled widely around toward the head.
If Senia turned her attention to me, it would create an opening for Ginesis to finish her.
My job is to create openings.
"Hey, ancestor-in-a-head. Why are you helping Senia?"
"A foolish question. I am not helping her. That woman has cursed this head."
Seeing me take another stone out of my pocket and making it visible, the head engaged in conversation.
Apparently, being hit with a stone still hurts, even as just a head.
"A curse?"
"She sealed my consciousness in this head and deprived me of death. Through a forbidden magic passed down to a few in the kingdom. This magic also affects the one who casts it."
"Curses come with their own cost, huh?"
For Senia, it was a double win.
She cursed her ancestor while making herself undead.
"This forbidden magic will only vanish when that woman is satisfied. If she doesn't disappear, neither can I. Isn't it audacious for a mere maid to use such magic on me? I was born under the star of a grand knight, yet this is my fate."
"Born under the star," meaning they weren't a prominent noble at the time?
If they had a clear title, they'd likely boast about it.
The head groaned wordlessly.
Then, continuing with an unpleasant sound, it spoke again.
"Why must I alone be cursed? Yes, I created a gap in the defenses under the Duke's orders that day. Yes, I slightly altered an order. Exploiting the complacency of peaceful fools was child's play. If the king was abducted, isn't the abducted king at fault? Isn't the maid who failed to protect him to blame? No executioner wanted to kill their own king, so I simply carried it out. What was wrong with that? I did what was required of me. I acted for my glory. Why am I condemned for it?"
As expected of one who is cursed, they began spewing appalling things.
I'd assumed someone involved in executing a king would hold a significant position, but they were just a Duke's lapdog?
The succession war is said to have been a dark age, but even the events leading to it were pitch black.
When given a chance to vent such curses, they spewed freely, devoid of self-restraint.
This is the undead I know.
"What are you…"
Hearing this, Ginesis faltered in both words and actions.
If they had merely been glaring at each other, it might have been fine.
But stopping mid-battle was a mistake.
It happened amidst their close-range clash.
Senia's hand struck through Ginesis's body, crushing his life.
"… Generations fought to free our ancestors, but this curse was a punishment for the folly born of our bloodline…"
Falling to his knees, Ginesis collapsed.
"There is no longer any reason to fight…"
No, it wasn’t a mistake.
Ginesis willingly gave up the fight. He surrendered his life to Senia.
"No… ah, this is not the outcome I wanted. I only wanted to be killed, to prove my existence was meaningless. Why—"
The ghostly maid, full of undead-like resentment, muttered in anguish.
Ginesis's sword fell from his hand, and as his body hit the floor, a dry sound echoed.
The source of the sound was the basket shattering.
Vines sprouted from the severed neck, skittering like insect legs.
The grotesque motion momentarily derailed my thoughts.
I realized I had two options: flee immediately or move toward Ginesis.
But the latter was soon ruled out.
I had been waiting.
Waiting, waiting, waiting.
I had been waiting for this moment.
Using the forbidden magic on numerous descendants, offering curses and invitations, drawing them to this haunted mansion.
But most died before reaching the place.
Only this man.
This man alone reached the maid.
And beyond that, such strength.
Strength unimaginable for this bloodline. It was extraordinary.
This was an unexpected delight.
The blood descendant was magnificently killed by Senia.
Into the deep wounds, I slipped.
The cursed vines of forbidden magic were bestowed by the Duke.
Originally meant to immobilize the king and his entourage, they matched me perfectly.
The power of these vines was far more precise than my body, functioning as muscle substitutes.
But even with them, I was killed by Senia because my body was weak.
Senia's forbidden magic forced me to be a tool ensuring her existence until her grudge was satisfied.
Disguising the cursed vines as hers, I lured descendants.
Those lacking promise were cursed to death from afar—crushing hearts with the vines was simple.
This power affected only those of my blood, which was how I brought them here.
It felt like destiny, drawing them to this place.
Finally, a vessel capable of killing Senia had appeared.
Sliding into the wound, I removed the unnecessary organs and re-grew my head in its rightful place.
The descendant's head burst apart. Useless. Such a thing is unnecessary.
"Grh… grhr… grga… g, gill…"
It was difficult to speak without ink, perhaps from not having used my body in ages.
But the intent should be clear.
"Zenia, I will gill yo. What wrong wit gilling da king? Pwove that I was wight!"
The situation twisted and turned.
Stay calm. Understand the situation.
Chronology. Compile it chronologically.
Piecing together the puzzle will help me stay composed.
The royal's death triggered the Succession War.
The executioner was deeply involved.
The executioner severed the Boy King's head.
The Boy King's loyal maid then cut off the executioner's head in revenge and disappeared.
From here, my thoughts contain much speculation.
Think, think. I don't want to die easily in this life.
The maid believes that if she had been there she could have protected the Boy King.
But in reality she wanted to be killed by the executioner because she wanted to believe that her existence was meaningless (hypothesis).
However, the executioner was killed so easily that she wanted his descendants to fulfill that desire (tentative).
Ginesis arrived here after many years of twisted revenge story (confirmed).
However, Ginesis was killed by Senia when the executioner told him the truth (confirmed).
The executioner took his body (confirmed).
The executioner's goal is to take revenge on Senia for treating him as a tool for so many years and for being angry that his leisurely life as the Duke's dog was stopped (almost certain).
...
Okay, Ginesis who wanted to complete this request is no longer there.
This incident no longer has anything to do with me at all.
Let's run.
Let's get out.
What do you think about this chapter?
