Chapter 34
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 34
Chapter Title: I Will Teach You Fear (8)
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Luiple Manor was in the full swing of festivities.
In the midst of the revelry, where everyone had cast aside their worries to indulge in drink, Anes and Belka had blended right in.
"Haaah... This feels so refreshing..."
Belka had been pressing her iced glass against her cheek nonstop, but Anes hadn't touched a drop, merely spinning her cube now and then.
"This mission seems easier than I thought..."
Anes gazed at Belka with an expressionless face.
"We are still on duty. Don't let your guard down."
"Ah, yes..."
"No one knows when danger might strike."
"Yeees..."
Belka wilted, peeking only at Anes's reactions.
It made sense—for a girl like Belka, who feared human interactions themselves, Anes was a natural predator. Her stiff speech and icy demeanor didn't help.
"Um, how long do we have to stay in Luiple...?"
"At least a week."
Anes answered while spinning her cube with one hand.
Assuming they couldn't pinpoint the cause, wouldn't it be right to observe for at least a week to confirm Luiple was truly safe? Plus, they needed results for their record.
...If they found and eliminated the cause, they could return immediately, but that was easier said than done.
"This bet... it's a really big deal, right? I heard if we win, we get access to the imperial reports..."
"Of course it's extremely important, but it's not just about the imperial reports."
"Huh...? There's another reason it's that crucial...?"
Belka's pink eyes widened round.
"The exchange summit between the six Magic Towers is coming up soon, isn't it?"
Belka still looked puzzled, so Anes elaborated slowly.
"The Imperial Magic Tower has skipped the summit more than ten times. The other towers must be starting to sense its instability."
"Yeah...?"
"But if we rack up achievements here in Luiple, those suspicious eyes will ease a bit. It lowers the chances of slander, too."
"S-s-slander? They do that at the summit?"
"...Do you think the summit is some tea party?"
Anes clicked her tongue.
"It's just packaged as an 'exchange,' but it's essentially a battlefield. Lives are on the line."
"Why? Why have a meeting like that...?"
"Magic only advances through rivalry and desperate struggles to survive. Just like swordsmanship, magic is a discipline built on blood."
"That's scary... Can't we just skip it...?"
"We postponed the tower's sale by promising results. How could we not participate? Think a little..."
Anes trailed off with a deep sigh.
...Why was she cursed with such poor luck in people?
Her superior was utterly unpredictable, and her junior seemed hopelessly dim. Did I lose my mind quitting as Imperial Administrator?I must have...
The silver lining was that Belka was her junior—meaning she could be managed.
"If you have questions, don't act on your own. Go through proper channels and ask your senior. Understood?"
"Ah, yes!"
Belka replied with surprising firmness for once.
"Lady Anes, if this bet is so crucial like you say, is it okay for us to just be here...?"
"Of course not."
"Then why is the Inspector...?"
"...She's someone who defies common sense from the start."
That question was at least reasonable.
But.
The next moment.
"Um, Lady Anes... are you senior to even Sunweed?"
"...?"
A completely baffling question flew out.
"I won't respond to nonsense from now on."
"It's not nonsense..."
Belka fidgeted with her fingers.
A moment later.
"Lady Anes... may I use the restroom...?"
"You don't need to ask permission for that."
Anes unconsciously pulled out her notepad.
[Junior is hopeless too.]
[Better off just enjoying the feast.]
She scribbled the two lines swiftly.
Her superior was unpredictable enough, but the junior was even worse. It almost seemed better to keep enjoying the feast inside the manor.
Instead of wandering outside and causing a disaster that cost them the bet, better to kill time in this guaranteed safe spot—a simple judgment.
"Um, Lady Anes..."
"Think three times before speaking to me."
Anes cut Belka off curtly.
"If after three thoughts you still feel it absolutely must be said, then speak. Got it?"
"No... it's not that..."
Belka pointed toward the manor wall with her fingertip.
"Isn't that a magical beast...?"
Grrrrrrrr—!
"...?"
It was real.
"...!"
Like waves crashing over a breakwater, countless magical beasts leaped the walls and surged in.
The two instinctively sought one person.
"W-We need to fetch the Inspector...!"
"Damn that Inspector...!"
The moment the women turned toward the residence.
Craaaaaack—
The entire residence froze white in an instant.
An overwhelming chill rippled through the manor.
Step— step—
On the iced-over ground, Zekiel walked without slipping, gradually closing the gap with Tirbi.
'No openings at all. Or are they all openings?'
Zekiel approached as if strolling, yet he didn't seem careless.
It was an attitude born of ironclad self-confidence. Tirbi admitted it cleanly—that confidence was well-earned with such mastery of freezing arts.
"D-Don't come closer."
Tirbi gripped her greatsword's hilt tight. Trembling wrists—this was a first.
"I said don't come closer—!"
Whoosh—!
The greatsword traced a near-perfect horizontal arc. Its massive blade unleashed monstrous power.
"..."
But the strike missed by a hair.
Tirbi froze in place.
"..."
But not because her blow hadn't landed. Far from it.
'...He didn't even blink.'
A few strands of Zekiel's bangs had been sliced and fluttered away.
It had been that close—any deeper, and his skull would have split cleanly, brains splattering everywhere...
...Yet he hadn't blinked.
As if he'd known it wouldn't connect from the start.
Or as if it wouldn't matter even if it did.
"Is that all you've got?"
Calmly, impassively—that was his entire reaction.
He was different from the humans Tirbi had faced before.
Tirbi always held the advantage, victory came easy. Humans inherently carried fear.
...But what if the foe lacked fear?
'No way. No way...'
Tirbi channeled aura into her greatsword to its limit.
'Grudge Soul Slash.'
A technique gathering the terror of grudge souls she'd collected over time. Innumerable ones.
—Fear me!
—I'm scared!
—Save me!
The grudge souls began wailing.
Rumble—
The entire residence shook violently.
A tremendous power, vividly felt.
This strike would do it. Tirbi was certain. It held the terror of a thousand souls. Flooded all at once, no one could endure.
Maybe his brain would burst.
Step—
The moment Zekiel took another step closer.
"Raaargh—!"
Tirbi swung down with all her might.
Grudge souls rose from the blade, jaws gaping to devour Zekiel. In that split second, she saw him—still unmoving, taking no action.
It'll land. It has to.
BOOM—!
With a deafening roar, the residence's four walls exploded. The ceiling crumbled into dust and debris.
When all rubble cleared at last.
"...!"
Zekiel was unscathed.
Ice had formed an armored collar around his neck; the greatsword was lodged there, unable to sever it. Tirbi's eyes bulged as if to pop out.
In all her battles, had she ever faced such an absurd skill gap? Not once had her mind conceived it.
Zekiel spoke nonchalantly.
"A sword that devours fear—intriguing."
"H-How..."
"Hey."
Zekiel said.
"Ever imagined your own end?"
"..."
Tirbi couldn't answer, so Zekiel spoke again. Still utterly calm.
"Decide. How you want to freeze."
"Ah... Ah..."
Tirbi couldn't continue.
Her mind had frozen solid. She'd lived without ever considering the day she'd meet her end.
Then, in that instant.
Zekiel nodded as if satisfied.
"That face right now—perfect for your finale."
Her reflection on the iced ground.
It was utterly terrified.
"Agh!"
Tirbi felt excruciating pain and dropped her sword. The fear-devouring demon blade was trying to devour her whole.
The reason was obvious.
'Me...? Feeling fear? Me?'
The moment fear took hold, she couldn't wield the sword. Fearlessness was the bare minimum to grip it.
Zekiel quietly extended one hand.
"Freeze."
With those words, everything froze.
One high-ranking demon.
Frozen with a face of utter terror, breath stilled.
End.