Even a Scoundrel Gets Tired

160 – Closing at the Estate

Blazing, golden sunlight,

Perhaps due to the sun-drenched glass.

Today, especially,

The light stands out, beautifully stark.

Beneath the glass, radiating light like a prism,

The ever-present

Statue of a goddess catches the eye.

Though none have seen her

In the flesh,

The goddess’s likeness is

Vivid, as if modeled after

A living person.

A high, sculpted nose,

A delicate jawline,

Hair that cascades down, nearly reaching her waist,

And draped across her shoulders, a flowing

One-piece dress –

Unmistakably the visage of a beauty.

Before this beautiful statue,

Someone kneels,

Clad in the white of

Purity,

Clutching tightly the

Crucifix hanging from their neck.

They murmur ceaselessly.

“Ah, my mother.

Why do you withhold

Your words any longer…?”

The atmosphere shifts instantly,

As a chillingly ominous

Voice echoes through the space.

Gone are the blazing

Sunlight and the

Wide, blue sky stretched out beautifully;

In their place, the churning sound

Of black, oily waves surges forth.

Crack, cra-ack.

The once dazzling furniture now fractured, gilded surfaces spider-webbed with cracks.

The cabin housing them

began to crumble as well.

Ashes returned to ashes,

wood to earth,

but the deep,

impenetrable darkness they craved could not return.

Why?

He was consumed by the question.

Despite the white robes

he wore,

he yearned for the darkness.

The darkness, one of the first things, and the adversary of light, he yearned for it with all his being.

Could darkness never be

one with the light?

No matter what he did?

That answer, surely,

rested only with God.

He firmly believed it once more.

He would continue to follow his “God.”

*KWAhhh─*

Finally, as he opened the door of the darkened cabin and stepped out,

the cabin shattered

into a million pieces,

and outside, it had grown so dark that one couldn’t see an inch ahead.

“Black Shards…only two left, then?”

As a sliver of moonlight

touched his body,

his once pristine white robes were already stained black.

“It won’t be long now…”

My God,

Origin of all beginnings.

*

“Hmm~”

“Oh, Miss? What about the Academy…”

“Ah, the lecture

I was supposed to attend today was cancelled, you know?”

“Ah… I understand~”

Jennison departed

for the Academy,

Shino Charlotte,

she trailed after him, then

returned, as she was, to the manor.

It didn’t seem as though tailing

him now would yield anything

particularly amusing, and besides,

following him would only

draw crowds of people.

She loathed commotion above all else.

‘His expression was so amusing… heh.’

For a moment, she perched

herself anywhere, replaying

the earlier scene.

The girl, appearing

to be her own age, who’d

suddenly rushed into his arms,

and him, caught

off guard, catching her.

A girl clearly stored

somewhere in her memory.

Her memory was rather formidable,

so she knew the girl was someone she’d met during the midterms.

‘Surely… her name was Lianna?’

An unusual child.

Something… something felt smeared onto her…

Until recently,

she hadn’t detected such

a strangeness at all.

Could her sudden shift in

personality be the reason?

From what she recalled,

Lianna hadn’t possessed such a disposition…

‘Well… for now, it looks like it could be interesting… shall I put it on hold?’

It seemed like some

sort of clue regarding him

might surface,

but she decided to leave it be.

After all, she and

Lianna weren’t exactly close, and

interfering in her affairs felt like too much of a waste.

Her intuition was screaming at her.

If she just let this go,

left it to fester,

it would return later as something monumental.

‘For now, I should tell them to just keep watch…’

*Whooshhh*─

“…Huh?”

That was the moment.

The moment all the shadows in the room began to stir.

The gossamer shadows of the curtains,

born from the sunlight.

The shadows created where light pierced

the clear glass cup.

Even the shadows of the plate of sweets

he’d given her, along with the warning

to only eat a little before dinner.

All of them began to gather in the middle of her room,

then burst upwards.

A form and magic so utterly,

inimitably familiar.

The magic radiating from those shadows

was shockingly, precisely like her own.

“…Father?”

“Haha, my daughter recognized me right away.”

*Thud─*

With the listless voice of

Duke Charlotte, something gave way.

Hot, crimson blood began to pool and solidify

on the floor.

*Thud─*

A shockingly large mass of blood,

once more, landed hard,

staining the carpet.

And Shino, witnessing it,

acted as if such occurrences were commonplace.

She stepped outside,

returning with a towel,

bandages, and medicine.

“Father, where did you go and get hurt like this, again?”

“Hahaha, is my little girl perhaps…

…worried about her old man?”

Though slight, it was undeniably there,

the concern woven into her voice.

Duke Charlotte, ever the evasive one,

tried to brush it off with a blustering nonchalance.

But Cino, she was a Charlotte, too.

A family of assassins who, once they latched on,

never, ever relinquished their target.

Of course, she wouldn’t be

taken in so easily.

Even if she didn’t know the full story,

someone had clearly touched her father.

*Kkwaak*—

Deliberately tightening the bandage,

she continued her questioning.

“So, where was it?”

“….”

“If Father won’t tell me,

shall I simply ask the men?”

“No…that’s…”

“What’s this…? Someone even treated it,

however minimally.”

“Yes, I met with

the Saintess, you see.”

“…?”

“…Aria, was it? That child?”

“Ah? Ah…”

“I should see that child.

It’s best to make things clear, if possible.”

“What things?”

“Give her a choice, of course.”

Whether to abandon the family,

or preserve it.

He intended to grant her that choice.

*

“Saintess, is this

truly the right way?”

“Why do you ask so suddenly,

Sister Siren?”

“Well… it’s only been

“It hasn’t even been that long…”

“….”

“I question whether coming out like this is even permissible.”

*Hee-hee-hing.*

With the horse’s cry,

the clatter of hooves resonated,

and at its very center,

a carriage belonging to the Order

rattled and swayed.

*Hee-hee-hing, hee-hing, hee-hee-hing.*

However, the number

of steeds was unsettling.

As if truly heading off to war,

white horses, armored at the shoulder,

all maintained a certain distance

around the carriage,

darting with speed.

*Clackety-clack, clackety-clack.*

The thunder of hooves echoed.

Frankly, it felt like excessive…

‘It can’t be, Holy Maiden?!’

‘If you aren’t taking at least *this* many escorts with you!!’

‘We absolutely cannot

permit you to leave!!’

‘You must consider

the hearts of the faithful, Holy Maiden…’

As the Holy Maiden who had collapsed

and returned to the Order just recently,

she simply couldn’t overcome

the worries of the faithful.

“…Honestly, so many people

see me as so weak, you know.”

“…Because you are weak.”

“That’s not true?! I’m totally strong, you know?”

“But Holy Maiden, you have trouble even lifting heavy things—”

“Silence!!”

“…Regardless, taking this many…”

“Was there truly a matter that demanded you come out?”

The carriage and horses continued their rapid pace.

Ordinarily, she

should be resting

soundly at the cathedral by now.

It had barely been a day

since she awakened, and

the high priests or the few

devoted followers insisted

her safety was paramount,

unwilling to

permit her to go

outside.

Of course, many rebelled against such

overprotective measures, but

since quite a number of the faithful shared that sentiment,

they couldn’t openly

disregard the

opinion.

“Oh, isn’t the breeze invigorating?”

“Saintess, it’s dangerous!

Leaning out of the carriage while it’s moving—”

“Just a little bit of breeze, please~”

“Ah…”

And yet, she so brazenly

ignored such warnings,

venturing out like this

to feel the wind…

Sister Siren, who had accompanied her for the purpose of attendance,

couldn’t help but be

concerned for her.

Of course, the high priests had later come to her privately,

tasking her with the secret mission

of ensuring the Saintess didn’t act alone, and

she, too, was a

loyal follower of the cathedral, so,

the Saintess’s safety and well-being

were among the most

important matters to her.

“Saintess, is there truly

a reason you *must* go

to the Reinhardt household right now…?”

“….”

“Saintess?”

“..Someone requested

a favor of me.”

“A favor…?”

“Yes, and also,

I feel like someone

I wish to meet is there.”

Siren Sister frowned, puzzled

by her enigmatic words,

but because the one speaking

was none other than the Saintess,

she believed even this

must have a reason.

How long had they been riding?

The horses leading the way

suddenly halted.

The concentration of mana

around their destination

felt unusually potent.

Heeigh─heeeigh─

The sudden, frantic actions of the horses

caught the Holy Knights assigned as escort,

and even the Saintess and Sister

within the carriage,

completely off guard,

and then, someone appeared in the distance.

“Ah, you’ve finally arrived?”

“Who else did you call?”

“That…the crest on the carriage…?”

Three Dukes revealed themselves.