The Chase Through Vatian
"Haa—they're gonna catch up any second!"
May Flove was racing through the streets of Vatian, shouting in frustration, but all she got in return were disapproving glares from the people around her.
"Sorry. It's because of me."
"Forget it—just run!"
"Okay!"
She yelled to Lucia between ragged breaths, yet May knew full well that if anyone asked her to explain why she was doing this right now, she wouldn't have an answer.
A dagger whistled past her ear from behind.
It grazed her hair, sending a few strands of her reddish-brown locks fluttering down like paper boats drifting on a breeze.
Seeing the blade buried in the ground, May's eyes flared wide.
"That crazy bastard!"
Doing this in the middle of the city?
But with the crowds swollen by the Saintess election, the dagger vanished under the stampede of feet. If anything, she was more unsettled by how boldly and accurately the guy could throw a dagger at her even with this many people around.
What the hell is this?
Why.
How did it come to this?
The time rewound thirty minutes.
Crouched in an alley, May sucked on a piece of candy, hands shoved deep into the pockets of her jumper, as she told her story to Lucia, whose eyes sparkled with interest.
"Wow, so he saved you like that?"
"Yeah. Before that my feelings were kinda vague, but I think that's when I really started liking him."
The story of how Daniel McLane had rescued her when she was kidnapped by the former pirate officer Zavalanco.
Living so damn romantically for an eighteen-year-old.
The Daniel who had laughed as he peeled off the blindfold that day had burned himself into May so intensely she would never forget it for the rest of her life.
"That's so cool! Did he come on this field trip too? I'd love to meet him."
"Nah, he didn't come this time."
"Oh, that's a shame."
If she told Lucia that Daniel had been barred from the field trip for disrupting academy morals, what kind of face would she make? It would probably twist into something pretty weird, but May didn't bother going that far. Better to leave her with a clean memory than drag out a messy story.
May dipped her head a little and looked at Lucia. With bangs covering her eyes, she spoke without caring.
"Drop the formal speech. You're eighteen too, right?"
"Y-yes, that's true, but..."
"It's fine. Just drop it."
"...Okay, got it!"
Seeing Lucia happier than expected, May gave a small snort of laughter. Thinking she was a pretty decent kid after all, she was about to suggest they go grab a bite when—
A man's shadow fell across the alley.
His long shadow stretched out as if it were about to swallow the two girls whole, head craning forward hungrily.
"What the..."
She thought it might be fifth-year Telman coming to pick another fight, but the build was completely different. That guy used his big frame as an advantage in fights, but the man blocking the alley now—even with a robe and hood pulled up—was clearly on the skinny side.
...This doesn't feel right.
As someone who had become the queen of the back alleys through sheer instinct, May sensed a chill of murderous intent sharp enough to raise goosebumps.
"Who are you? Does May know you?"
Lucia asked worriedly, thinking another fight was about to break out, but surprisingly the man's finger pointed at the blonde girl.
"Leave that girl behind, and I'll pretend I never saw you."
"What?"
Suddenly leave Lucia behind?
May scowled and was about to demand an explanation when a dagger whistled past her ear.
"...!"
"I won't say it twice. Get lost."
May glanced at Lucia, signaling with her eyes to ask if she knew anything, but Lucia only shook her head slightly, saying she had no idea.
This guy's no ordinary fighter.
Swallowing hard, May felt something prickling sharply at her back.
"Hah, okay. I'm not about to risk my life for some kid I just met today. I'm out."
May immediately turned and slipped out of the alley. Lucia wanted to run too, but her body wouldn't move properly under the weight of his killing intent.
"Lucia, nun of Helios. You're one of the Saintess candidates this time, right?"
"Ah..."
An assassin!
If the vague fear from a moment ago had been sticky mud clinging to Lucia's legs, now an overwhelming sense of powerlessness clamped around her entire body like iron chains. She couldn't even breathe properly. It felt like her heart had been seized by him.
"H-how..."
The nuns' faces were all kept secret. Even the other nuns didn't know who their competitors were. It was a precaution against exactly this kind of situation. So how had he found her?
As Lucia floundered in that helplessness—
Thwack!
A rock the size of a fist—the very definition of a perfect throwing stone—came flying and smashed into the man's head.
"Guh!"
The man staggered and checked his surroundings, but May, already reinforcing her body with mana, was kicking him square in the chest. The assassin tumbled across the ground. May snatched Lucia's hand and bolted out of the alley.
"Let's go!"
"M-May!"
Why was she doing this?
May honestly didn't know herself why she was pulling a stunt like this. The old May would have cleanly pretended not to see and stayed out of unnecessary trouble.
They say you become like the people you like.
She'd fallen for that damn busybody of a man who stuck his nose into everyone else's business, and somehow she'd gotten infected too.
And the story returned to the beginning.
Looking at the hair slightly cut by the dagger the pursuing assassin had thrown, May bit her lip.
"That bastard's giving me a warning right now."
"Huh?"
To Lucia, who clearly had zero street smarts about this kind of thing, May explained so she could understand.
"Throwing a dagger without hesitation in a crowd this big means he's that confident in his skills. But he didn't hit me."
"..."
"He's telling me to ditch you right this second. The son of a bitch is treating people like water."
"M-May. Actually, I..."
"I heard earlier."
Lucia had been about to reveal her identity, but May answered flatly.
"Never thought I'd end up friends with one of the hottest people in Vatian right now."
"Friends..."
Lucia chewed on the word. May glanced around and let out a sigh.
This is seriously dangerous.
She wanted to call the guards, but the moment she showed any sign of it, a dagger would be buried in her throat.
Looks like his goal is to kidnap Lucia.
He could kill her right now if he wanted, but he was only warning her—so she could roughly guess his intentions.
"Eek!"
Just now, if she hadn't dodged, it would have pierced her shoulder dead-on. If the commotion got any bigger, the guy would kill her without hesitation. Even surrounded by the crowd, May felt a lonely isolation as she fretted over what to do—
"My, this ice cream is simply delicious."
A schoolgirl's voice rang out clearly from the throng. Standing in front of the ice cream shop, talking to herself with no one around, the owner of that radiant blonde hair—Elise—met May's eyes and winked.
"If you turn left at the skewer shop on that intersection over there, it'll taste even better if you eat it in the alley."
"Miss, what are you talking about?"
The ice cream shop uncle looked bewildered, but May cursed under her breath and couldn't hold back a smile.
"How the hell did she know? Damn, I'm so grateful I could cry."
"Huh? What do you mean?"
"Nothing. Just that backup just showed up."
May sprinted straight to the intersection, spotted the skewer shop, and immediately swung left into the alley. The man came charging right after her. He drew a dagger from his coat, ready to act even more boldly now that no one was around—
"Long time no see, Den."
"..."
Like white snow falling from the sky. Sen, former member of the Execution Squad, appeared with her white hair streaming. She drove a dagger down in a surprise attack on the man called Den, and he staggered as the blade sank into his shoulder, losing his balance.
"Sen?"
May turned her head and confirmed Sen's back. She'd expected someone would come help since Elise had spoken, but she never thought Sen would be waiting.
"Go on. I've got some business with this guy."
Sen spoke coolly over her shoulder without even looking. May hesitated for a moment, then tightly gripped Lucia's hand again and ran.
"Thanks! I'll buy you a meal later!"
May and Lucia vanished, and Sen slowly settled into her stance.
Den.
When he pulled back his robe's hood to stop the bleeding, white hair twisted into the same bizarre shape as Sen's was revealed.
"Sen, the traitor. I got a report you might be around."
"Looks like you made it as a full member."
"Unlike you, I swore my loyalty."
Even under Den's provocation, Sen asked without a single change in expression.
"I'm curious why the Execution Squad is after that girl. Feel like telling me?"
"Crazy bitch, you think I'd tell you that?"
Den sneered. Sen nodded as if that was only natural and charged forward.
"You were always beneath me, yet you always talked a big game."
"Shut up! Now that I'm a member, you—!"
Den's vision spun. The injury to his shoulder from a moment ago was joined by an even more violent surge of pain, forcing even an Execution Squad member accustomed to agony to let out a snarl of pure spite.
"Grrrk!"
"See? Back then and now. You're always under my feet."
Den couldn't understand what had just happened. But one thing was certain: he had been defeated without even managing a proper counterattack.
"Damn it! If I hadn't been ambushed and injured...!"
"Excuses again."
Sen stomped hard on the wound in his shoulder. Den screamed in agony, but she felt nothing. Meeting Daniel McLane had made her forget her original self for a while, and now it was coming out again. Sen wanted to end this situation quickly—
"...Huh?"
It was a peculiar purple line. Like a child playfully scribbling a line this way and that across paper with a pen. The flexible line brushed past Sen—and a small hole opened in her side.
"Lady?"
As Sen toppled backward, she took in the sight of the Execution Squad's second-in-command at the end of the alley, a purple parasol resting on her shoulder—then closed her eyes.