QualiA – Chapter 49: And another one appears ⑤

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At around the same time, the castle was suddenly really noisy.

The time is a little after 5 p.m. The knights have finished their training, and the maids have finally finished their work of the day and were about to inform of their job done.

The first ones to notice the abnormality were the maids. One of the maids that were supposed to be working together with them has suddenly disappeared, and then other ones disappeared as time went on. The maids that were remaining were in fear, and were curled up at a corner of the kitchen.

And there, what they saw was the Magic Division Leader -Makirus- with a strange aura about her as she entered the kitchen.

She was clearly in an abnormal state. In order to let others know about this, maids dispersed, and one of them coincidentally came across the princess, and told her about the abnormal situation.

The information she was told of didn’t have a clear point, and so they searched for the maids that they don’t know where they are. The Princess Prim was advancing through the corridor while angered.

“What is Makirus trying to pull here? Argh! One after the other! What’s going on?!” (Prim)

“The information is convoluted. We are in the middle of investigating.” (Miyuna)

“Did you manage to get in contact with the Prime Minister and the other Cabinet Ministers? Or more like, they should still be working! Those damn old racoons should move already!” (Prim)

“We are currently contacting them, so please calm down.” (Miyuna)

While listening to the Blue Wings Captain -Miyuna- that is walking by her side, Prim was biting her nails. Seeing that state of Prim, Lieutenant Filmina, who was together with Miyuna, was racking her brains about what to do.

“For now, we should return and—” (Miyuna)

The thought of Miyuna was that, even if they blindly search for the person in question, they won’t be able to find her, however, right after she thought that, a scream was raised further down the corridor.

“—!!!”

“Prim-sama! Please wait!” (Miyuna)

Hearing this scream, the first one to immediately rush was Prim, and the other two run after her. Miyuna raised her voice, and Filmina was on guard of the surroundings as she follows after the two.

“Filmina, don’t lower your guard!” (Miyuna)

“Understood!” (Filmina)

The two tops of the division had reached the conjecture that this situation might not be just Makirus acting alone as they continue to follow Prim. There’s no way Makirus would act in such a foolish manner on her own.

“Could it be the Prime Minister’s—” (Miyuna)

“It is possible. Let’s prioritize capturing Makirus-sama first.” (Filmina)

Filmina cut off the question of Miyuna, and proposes to resolve the situation at hand first.

“—! Prim-sama!” (Miyuna)

Right after Miyuna reconsidered that that was exactly right, a shadow suddenly jumped in front of Prim.

“Kuh! —Wa?!”

The ones who appeared in front of Prim with a twirl of their skirts were two maids. However, the eyes of those maids were blank, their mouths half-open which was clearly an abnormal state, and their movements were lacking elegance.

“What’s with these maids?” (Prim)

“Prim-sama! Don’t approach them carelessly!” (Miyuna)

“I won’t mess up like that!” (Prim)

Miyuna had caught up and Prim had reflexively turned her face around.

“Prim-sama!” (Miyuna)

“—!!”

But using that opening, the maids jumped and shortened the distance, pinning Prim from both sides.

“Kuh—W-What’s with this strength?!” (Prim)

“Prim-sama!” (Miyuna)

Prim raises a voice of anguish at the unexpected strength of the maids pinning her. However, even when she tried to free herself from them, unbelievable strength was coming from the thin arms of the maids, and she couldn’t move. When her lightweight armor was beginning to make strange sounds, cold sweat ran down her forehead.

“What’s with you people?!” (Miyuna)

“Captain! These girls…they seem to be controlled!” (Filmina)

The two knights were trying to save princess from the two maids that suddenly appeared.

“Are you saying this is also the doing of Makirus-sama?!” (Miyuna)

“Most likely. However, at this rate, Prim-sama will…!” (Filmina)

“I know!” (Miyuna)

Miyuna answered immediately at Filmina’s words, and with a ‘Sorry!’, she does a chop onto the back of the maids’ neck. However, the maids didn’t feel a thing, and without reducing their strength, continue to hold down the princess.

“W-What—Kuuh!” (Miyuna)

“Captain!” (Filmina)

Miyuna was dumbfounded for a moment at the unexpected result, and using this opportunity, two other maids grab her arms. Filmina tried to shake them off, but because there’s a maid she is acquainted with, she ended up hesitating, allowing for more maids to block her path to the princess as well.

“…Oh my, it is turning quite bad.”

A voice as if mocking the agitated two reverberated in the place, and someone was walking the corridor with their steps ringing.

“M-Makirus!”

“Hello…No, good evening I suppose, Princess-sama.” (Makirus)

The young woman in a robe having a daring smile in her face -Makirus- showed herself from the darkness and makes an elegant bow.

“Y-You were the one who made the maids—!” (Prim)

“Yeah, that’s right. Save me the stupid questions like: ‘Aah, why are you doing this?’. I will answer, no need to ask.” (Makirus)

“Wa?!” (Prim)

Cutting off Prim’s words, Makirus snorts.

“This is simply an experiment.” (Makirus)

“E-Experiment, you say?” (Prim)

“That’s right. An experiment. This is an experiment to gauge just how great are the things I made.” (Makirus)

The words of Makirus were drawing an arc in her mouth, and that smile that has madness in it was making chills run down Prim’s spine.

“That’s why, Princess-sama, please cooperate as well, okay? In this sublime experiment of mine—” (Makirus)

“W-What are you—! R-Release me!” (Prim)

Makirus slowly walks towards Prim. The color of madness that’s spiraling in her eyes was a sign that she is not seeing her surroundings at all, and she fixes the position of Prim’s head by pushing Prim’s chin with her fingers.

“Prim-sama! Please run away—Kuh! Get your hands off me!” (Miyuna)

“Oh my, for a knight to raise their hand against maids… How barbaric.” (Makirus)

“Don’t mess around! Return these girls to normal!” (Miyuna)

Trying to tear off the maids that are grappling her, Miyuna once again does a chop to the back of their necks, but the result was the same as before. Makirus laughs at the actions of Miyuna with a provoking tone, and she was stirring the anger of Miyuna.

“Please don’t struggle. It is okay, it won’t hurt.” (Makirus)

“R-Release me! You…! You know that you won’t be getting scot-free from this, right?!” (Prim)

“Of course. —That’s why, when I am finished with getting the results of my experiment, I plan on leaving this country.” (Makirus)

Makirus was unfaltering to the extreme, and that fueled the fear of Prim. As if reacting to the indifference of Makirus, the strength of the grappling maids had increased further from before, and from the suffocation, she unintentionally opened her mouth to breath.

“—Ngh!” (Prim)

“Fufu! …It saved me the trouble that you opened your mouth at the right time, Princess-sama.” (Makirus)

Something was suddenly thrown into Prim’s mouth. She tried to vomit it out, but Makirus herself held her mouth shut and she was unable to. Feeling that that something slowly melted inside her mouth, the corner of her eyes had tears flowing out, and she desperately tried to free herself by struggling.

“It is okay. Even if you don’t swallow it, it can be easily absorbed.” (Makirus)

In other words, once it enters the mouth, it is the end. Prim didn’t know what in the world she was made to drink. She stopped struggling and she directed eyes as if questioning Makirus about it, but the only thing that she returned was a disgusting smile filled with madness.

At that instant, Prim struggled even more than before, but the maids were not only not releasing their restrain, in fact, it got even stronger. That grip of theirs was making Prim groan in pain and shake her head.

“Makirus! You bastard! What did you force-feed Prim-sama with?!” (Miyuna)

“Oya oya, I am of a higher standing than you, you know?” (Makirus)

“Shut up, you traitor!” (Miyuna)

Miyuna was angered to the extreme. She was trying her best to not hurt the maids, but if it is to save her master from danger, it is obvious which life she would prioritize.

It won’t be possible to get away from these maids with half-hearted effort. The reason is because mind controlled people can be made to push out strength that surpasses their limit. Even if they managed to be released from the mind control, it is questionable if they could manage a normal lifestyle ever again.

(That life, for the sake of the Princess…)

Resolving herself, Miyuna begins to shape magic power.

“Prim-sama!”

At that instant, from deep in the corridor, a silver haired maid leaps out, and a single silver line flashes.

“—! Hm. Oh my…quite the late arrival.” (Makirus)

Turning her body around, Makirus took distance from Prim evading the silver shot, and as if substituting her, a silver haired maid lands in front of Prim; Niva. Raising her finger at the maids that were pinning Prim, she lightly waves it. Right after, the maids that Prim was unable to free herself from no matter how much she struggled had collapsed powerlessly, and Niva supported the staggering Prim.

“As expected of the Night Reaper. To be able to accurately cut off only their consciousness.” (Makirus)

“…I don’t want to hear your tedious talk. Hand me the pills you have in your possession, Makirus-sama.” (Niva)

Looking at Makirus with cold eyes, she swings her arm once…twice. An instant after, several lights glitter, and several sounds of something falling reverberated in the corridor.

“—! Thanks for the help, Niva-dono!” (Miyuna)

“Prim-sama! Please hang in there!” (Filmina)

That was the sound of the maids retraining the two knights collapsing, and having been released, Miyuna unsheathes her sword and faces Makirus. Filmina runs to where Prim is.

“Filmina-sama, please bring Prim-sama to the third medical room. We will soon follow after.” (Niva)

“Understood!” (Filmina)

Obeying the order of Niva, Filmina carried Prim, and after a short nod, she runs off.

“Miyuna-sama, Makirus-sama is most likely using body strengthening magic, so be careful.” (Niva)

“Acknowledged!” (Miyuna)

Niva and Miyuna take their stance as if saying they won’t allow Makirus to go after the princess, but she wasn’t showing any signs of moving from her place.

“…You…know about the real identity of my pills, don’t you?” (Makirus)

The probing eyes of Makirus as she furrows her brows were answered by Niva indifferently.

“Yes, of course I do know. —Decomposition Death Virus…the poison that you spread at the city.” (Niva)

“…I see. As I thought, that really was the case.” (Makirus)

The shoulders of Makirus began to shake lightly, and then, she suddenly began laughing out loud. This sudden eccentric act made Niva furrow her brows, and Miyuna was dumbfounded for a moment.

“As I thought, that man was really not just a simple ordinary man!” (Makirus)

“…Why do you think that?” (Niva)

“Isn’t that obvious? Was there anyone in this country that could see through my magic till now? —None, not a single one!” (Makirus)

Looking down on her with her eyes, Makirus’s madness was running wild.

“In this country filled with incompetent people, seeing through my magic…no, the idiots in this world wouldn’t be able to see through my perfect magic! It is impossible!” (Makirus)

“…What a fool.” (Niva)

“But it is the truth, right? And yet, after the hero summoning…things that surpass my expectations were happening all the time. To the point that I was feeling the illusion as if I were being kept in check somewhere. That’s all related to that man, right? Hey, isn’t that right?” (Makirus)

“Please confirm the answer yourself.” (Niva)

“Fufu, mortified? Must be the case… You even got the disease of the King wrong after all! But I am different! I am a chosen one… I am a human chosen by God!” (Makirus)

At first, they didn’t intend to keep company on Makirus’s chaotic statements, but they couldn’t stand the insults about the King. Niva bit her lips, and Miyuna shouted ‘Shut up!’.

“See? Incompetent people should just comfort each other as incompetent ones.” (Makirus)

“Stop!” (Miyuna)

Makirus had taken a step back and Miyuna dashes towards her, but with a smile still on her face, Makirus runs off.

“Gyah!” (Makirus)

However, only a few steps later, she hit an invisible wall, and Makirus showed a pathetic sight as she fell.

“…What a noisy granny.”

The tiresome voice of a man suddenly rang.

His figure was nowhere in sight. Miyuna looked around, and Makirus was holding her pained nose as she looks around as well.

“Eh? W-Wa…The sound has suddenly…”

“What’s that about perfect magic? What you are doing is the worst kind of self-satisfaction.”

A shadow slowly appears from her back. Makirus hurriedly tries to face back, but in the next instant, a hand grabbed her head and her face was pressed against the invisible wall.

“W-Who…are you?” (Makirus)

“Me? I am Crow.”

What she could barely see from the corner of her eye was the jet black mantle and mask. An abnormal existence that has all black in everything that’s visible. The voice of the man laughing at her back was one that would annoy anyone who hears it, and even when she tried to push away the arm of the man, it wasn’t budging at all.

“Kuh. You—Wa?!” (Makirus)

“Oi oi, don’t struggle. I am trying to keep my strength in check so that I don’t mistakenly crush your head. I am being considerate here, you know?” (Crow)

It looks as if he is not putting much strength in that one arm of his, so she thought that it would be possible to push it off since she has body strengthening magic on herself. But in reality, she couldn’t ward it off, and the other side seems to not be serious at all.

“Good grief, looks like there’s the need to teach reality to noxious insects like you.” (Crow)

“Guuh…Ah, agah!!” (Makirus)

Her bones were making cracking sounds, her cranium letting out sounds as if it were screaming from the pressure, and her legs and arms were flailing around. Crow was using a dagger he had taken out from who knows where, and continued cutting her.

“Ngyaah!! Ah…Aaaah!!” (Makirus)

“Shut up for a bit. Because of you, I am now busy in a variety of things.” (Crow)

“W-What are you…” (Makirus)

“Ah, you haven’t noticed yet? Then what you said just a while ago was just a speculation. Well, it was like placing your own worthlessness in a pedestal and putting the blame on others. Oof, that’s pathetic, Magic Division Leader-san.” (Crow)

“…C-Could it be…” (Makirus)

The words of the man were making Makirus tremble in anger, but what the man said next made Makirus’s emotions explode.

“If I had known you were this much of a hopeless piece of shit, I would have taken away more than just your ability to use summoning magic.” (Crow)

“—-! …Ah, aaaah, YOU ARE….!” (Makirus)

“You really are noisy.”

The place was controlled by the sudden intruder -Crow- throwing Miyuna into a state of confusion. But the one other person was the same as always, walking to Makirus, who is flailing around wildly and shouting, with cold eyes directed at her, she puts a hand into the robe of Makirus.

“Wa?! What are you—” (Makirus)

“I wasn’t expecting you to obediently hand it over anyways… Ah, found it.” (Niva)

“Ah…” (Makirus)

Makirus lets out a dumbfounded voice as Niva takes out her hand from the robe, and gives it to Crow.

“…Yeah, no doubt about it.” (Crow)

Looking at the light brown bottle in Niva’s hand, Crow nods lightly.

“Hey, Makirus. Is this a concentrated version of the undiluted solution?” (Crow)

“…”

“They do say silence is confirmation, but right now, I am in a bad mood.” (Crow)

“Gyaaaah!!” (Makirus)

Being pressed onto the invisible wall, the sound of her cranium making cracking sounds could be heard vividly in the area.

“O-Ouch! Agaaah…” (Makirus)

“If you answer, I can loosen a bit. Now, yes or no?” (Crow)

“…!! …T-That’s right.” (Makirus)

“I see. Then, where’s the Detorashta Bulb?” (Crow)

“—!!”

The statement of Crow made Makirus react slightly.

“Is it at that basement? Or do you have a personal route? …Hey, tell me.” (Crow)

“W-Who would tell y—” (Makirus)

“You know, you should learn already that there’s nothing you can do in your current state.” (Crow)

“Kuh! …It is because of you…!!!” (Makirus)

“There’s no time, so it is fine already.” (Crow)

Right after the low tone of Crow as if it had come from the depths of the ground, a thunderous sound made the floor tremble, and a screech like that of a crushed frog resonated.

What was at the cloud of dust this created was Makirus with half of her face buried on the ground.

“I thoroughly hate people like you that play around with the life of others for their own self-satisfaction.” (Crow)

Looking down at Makirus who twitched once and didn’t move anymore, Crow turned around after those words.

“I leave the rest to you.” (Crow)

“Understood.” (Niva)

Speaking to his back, Niva answers while lowering her head. Crow raises his hand lightly at Niva and his figure suddenly disappears.

“H-He disappeared?!” (Miyuna)

Miyuna was absendmindedly watching their exchange, but when Crow suddenly disappeared, she looked around to search for him. However, Miyuna was unable to find his figure and presence at all, and she was on the verge of a nervous breakdown.

“Miyuna-sama, let’s hurry and restrain her.” (Niva)

“Ah, yeah…” (Miyuna)

Unknown to where she had prepared it, Niva had two plaited cords in hand, and she gave Miyuna one of them.

“…She…is alive, right?” (Miyuna)

“She has a pulse, so there’s no problem… He probably held back…despite the looks.” (Niva)

“I-Is that so…” (Miyuna)

“Yes. He is the one that defeated Latius-dono in a one-on-one after all.” (Niva)

“I see…eeeeeeeeeehhh?!” (Miyuna)

Miyuna was listening to the words Niva was saying indifferently, but the last statement was something she couldn’t just let pass by, and she unintentionally let out a loud shout as she looks at Niva. However, Niva ignored Miyuna and was tying up Makirus in a practiced manner.

At some point in time, the invisible wall was gone, and the silence had returned to the noisy one, but Miyuna had only noticed that after a while later.

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